Sunday, April 1, 2012

ABSolutely Active: Week Two


I never used to be as into working out, running, lifting, or any physical activity until about 3 years ago. I was the type of person that would put whatever she wanted into her mouth and have no regret of it. I never stepped foot into the gym and running a mile was a huge deal to me. It seemed to playing out well enough because I was content with being lazy. What I wasn't content with was how I looked and the way I felt. Now many girls do this anyways but I would ALWAYS look at another girl who was smaller than me, more in shape than me and think 'Why does she get to look like that' or 'I would give anything to look like that'. But at that point in my life I was not in a place to take on the amount of work it would take to make a difference. Yet I was constantly drowning in my negative self-esteem and bottled up thoughts of how life could be so much different if I were smaller. When my mom passed away in 2009 I found myself really anxious with a lot of emotion that I needed to get rid of. One of my friends suggested that I start running, it worked for them whenever they were stressed out. I instantly thought, 'Yea well you're a skinny little thing, it must be easy for you'. they told me it's not speed or distance, it's about yourself and how you feel during and afterward. So why not. When I was in high school I would walk the mile most times, but I had finished it. At least if I put forth the motivation that I was going to attempt to run I could try and push past a 13 minute walking mile pace. I have to admit it was really hard to get into running because of how much of a mental sport it is. There is need to want to go farther and faster than the last time you ran. But sometimes your body just can't handle that. So I would get down on myself for not being able to do more. But what kept me going was how refreshed I felt when I was done. When I went out for a run, as I laced up my shoes and pulled back my hair I was carrying all of this negative weight with me. By the time I came back and was cooling down I had shed it all off of me. Looking back on all of that I never thought I would be the person I am today or even look the way I do. I used to be almost 200lbs, I wore a size 12/14 pants and there were times when my neck and chin were the same thing. After I started running I dropped a bit of weight and I started to feel good about myself. I got down to a size 10 and had more confidence. But then I let myself go again and it was a constant battle over how I looked and how I wanted to look as I teeter-tottered with my weight. There came a point though, my breaking point, when I just said, 'I can't take this anymore, I WILL BE SKINNY!" I went balls to the wall deep in putting together workouts and took a different approach to my diet that I began to see change. But not just any change, from the time I started in December 2010 to the time I completed the marathon in October 2011 I was down to 150lbs, wore a size 4 jeans and felt AMAZING!

It takes so much time though, and a hell of motivation to believe in yourself that you will one day reach the point you want. Telling yourself that every workout adds up to something feels pointless when results aren't immediate. In fact, even though I had worked my way down to this size there were still things I wasn't happy with: I wanted a flat stomach (in fact all my life all I have ever wanted is some ab definition), more definition in my arms....basically I wanted to be more toned and I wasn't getting these results from endurance workouts. Sure it's impressive to be able to run for 2 or 3 hours but what I need for the goal I had set were more explosive workouts. Which is when I met Jillian Micheals. Well, sort of. My boss's wife had talked to me about Jillian's new video, ripped in 30. She said, 'Sam go get it from Target, I think it's what you're looking for and it's only $10'. Why not? 10 bucks, 30 days and 20 minute workouts, how do you beat that? So I started this 30 day workout and was quite impressed with how much it kicked my butt! I mean I was sweating...no DRIPPING in sweat by the time I was done. The mix of 3 minutes strength, 2 minutes, cardio and one minute abs with the constant movement really takes a lot out of you. Not to mention, Jillian is a beast and there are times when I found myself yelling at my computer screen but I loved her work ethic and her drive. At the end of the program, which was Friday (3/30/12) I could see a difference in my body and I WAS ECSTATIC!!!! My legs, arms and shoulders were more defined and dare I say, I could see a bit of ab definition!!!! Those types of results are exactly what I wanted and knowing that I can reach that point makes me want to keep going and accomplish more! I mean looking at these pictures I put in these posts I already look like half of me. The first two are from my first and second year of undergrad (2008 & 2009). So really it's not all that much time that it took to get to this place, rather it's believing that you can achieve more than you already have.

So week two into my training and I am feeling great, well minus the bit of soreness and fatigue of my muscles, but I made sure to always put the vitamins and nutrients back into my body. I am using protein shakes, vitamins, flax oil, amino acids and glutamine supplements to help my body recover. Also, half of working out is also in the diet, so foods like bananas, soy yogurt, almond milk, and veggies have been staples in my intake. At this point the only thing really dragging me down in my workouts was the fact that I still didn't have my racing bike and I was still doing my bikes inside on a stationary bike. I must have some kind of somethin' to sit on a tri bike that doesn't move for 90minutes at a time and then still have motivation to run or do a core workout. yuck. But my coach emailed me one night and sent me the link to what is now my bike. For the price and the fact that it was new, I bought it instantly. Now it was just a game of waiting for it to come in, and figuring out how in the heck I was going to assemble it. Good thing my brother knows a thing or two about bikes. :)

I finished the week off strong, looking forward to the Shamrock Shuffle on Sunday and the first race of the season. The biggest hurdle for me in this week was moving my workouts around. I had to decide how much time I had and was it enough to get in a workout. There's also the bit that the pool I swim in is only open at certain times of the day. So I reached out to my coach for some assistance. She said it would be ok to move around some of the workouts but that if it came down to it, it won't kill me to skip one every once in a while....as long it's not a long bike ride. Coming to terms with that is more of a struggle than trying to fit in the workout....but I'm workin' it out :)

2 comments:

  1. I love you Sammi! Super proud of you!!

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  2. We purchase abdominal exercise equipment and accessories and try just about everything we are able to believe of to work these stubborn muscles. Then, the day usually comes for all of us when we realize that we do not require a room full of equipment to effectively work our mid-section.

    ReplyDelete