The Challenge - First 3 Weeks

Gold's Gym 12 Week Challenge 

Here's a quick review of my experience so far.

Week 1:

So I was really nervous to jump right in to exercise again. I would literally be starting for zero so I knew it was going to be challenging. My worst fear was that I'd make a complete fool of myself and not be able to do anything. Luckily, my MM activities were making me mentally stronger everyday and so I was at least going into the situation with a positive attitude. I really focused my affirmations and visualization on my health and fitness, hopefully giving my strength and positivity as I headed into what was going to be a rough session.

I showed up that Wednesday both nervous and excited. I walked in a bit scared but ready to take on new challenges. Derrick, my trainer, had planned an overall body workout to kind of assess where I was at and make a plan for my training over the next 6 months. We started off with squats - ok, I can do this, no problem. Well after several rounds that included squats and hamstring curls (who knows what they're called) and jumping and pushups - I was done. Oh yeah, did I mention that I kind of didn't get to eat that day? Oops. My day at work got away from me and all of a sudden it was 4. I ate a little applesauce packet before my workout but as you can imagine, it didn't help a whole lot.

I quickly got out of breath, my mouth got drive, my stomach started turning, and I started to panic. My breath was so quick, so Derrick had me lift my arms and just work on controlling my breathing. He was like "Can you feel your breathing slowing down?" and my response was "NO!!! It's getting faster!" and I quickly fell into a complete panic. Derrick had me lay down and just calm my breathing. Once I laid down on the mat I felt a lot better and was able to steady my breathing - but my ego was severely wounded. I felt like a complete failure. I pushed through the rest of the session, really trying to focus on my breathing, but when I left the negative self-talk began. I kept trying to ward it off, telling myself that at least I went, I am trying, it won't be easy at first but I just have to keep trying, something is literally better than nothing, etc. But it didn't matter - I felt defeated.

I got home and just kind of sat there on the couch, trying to build myself back up. Starbuck then promptly began to throw up everywhere. Of course it was right after they ate so it was disgusting. My gag reflux was already heightened from my workout (where I almost threw up), so it was a bad time for me. It was so gross that I then promptly threw up. There I am, feeling like a failure, cleaning vomit from all sorts of places. Kind of killed my appetite - which was bad since I seriously needed to eat. I called Adam crying, just exhausted from experiences that day. He helped me feel better and felt ready to tackle another day.

I prepared myself for Saturday, waking up extra early, making breakfast, and drinking water. I showed up ready. Turned out that Derrick had to run the bootcamp last minute, so I joined the bootcamp. I LOVED it! I felt sooo much better about the experience and started to feel physically stronger. It was such a 180 from my experience on Wednesday and I knew that I could do it and it would only get easier the more I kept at it.

Week 2:

So I really went at this week with 110%. I made it to the gym 6 days this week - which is crazy for me. Granted two of those days were stretching days, but I really made a sincere effort to follow my plan, stretch, and take care of myself in between workouts. The workouts this week were rough, but I always finished and gave it my all. On Saturday I felt like I literally left it all at the gym and legs were basically jelly by the end. I probably looked like Bambi trying to get to my car. It feels good to really work hard and start to feel stronger.

Week 3:

Unfortunately I got sick and missed most of this week. It didn't even occur to me until Friday that I could have probably done my stretching but oh well. I did go to my personal training on Saturday. So when I showed up on Saturday I knew it was going to be rough. Derrick decided we'd do full body since I missed my Thursday training day. I was definitely tired but I pushed through it and kept a good attitude the whole time (which is HUGE for me). I was definitely feeling it though later Saturday and Sunday. I guess it's motivation to not let my workouts slip. :)

 Definitely pumped and committed to kick butt in week 4!