For the longest time - we could go to the gym 4-6 days a week and do a 30-40 minute workout and it "maintained" our weight and allowed me to wear the same size pants to this day. At times they fit better on some days - and on the days that they were a skoche uncomfortable - I'm pretty sure I was crabby and not so much because of what it meant, but mostly because I don't like to be uncomfortable. I always know that it's just a matter of a longer workout or watching what I eat to make those pants/shorts/tops/bra's more comfortable.
But after "the gutting" almost 2 years ago - my metabolism changes on a friggin' dime and nothing I do - eating right, not eating, drinking water, no pop, vitamins, working out - seems to work. So I have to "make it" bounce back and that means working harder. The days of the "quick workout" are long gone! December was the most recent bout with my screwy insides so I had to change my mindset.
That meant - changing a few things. I had to change the "comfort" of the same ole' gym and it's old, rarely functioning equipment. At the old gym - there was no accountability if I decided that I was done after being on the treadmill or elliptical. Often times, once done on the machine I would head to the weights and if someone else was using what I was heading in for next, I would turn to another option, usually also in use and I'd give up, put my jacket on and go. I could also count on, if The Dad was with me - him finishing his machine and being ready to go or him finding someone to chat with until I was done thus causing me to feel like I had to hurry or be frustrated that he was tending to his mayoral duties at the gym versus doing the things we needed to be doing at the gym.
Not that the employees at Golds Gym are holding me accountable in my workout regimen... they aren't. But they are much more hands on and helpful and knowledgeable than I remember the other gym's employees' being. Every day they are working with people on machines, programs and pushing them. That's motivating to me, just "people watching" while I'm doing my cardio.
It was hard to walk in there and start using new machines and equipment that I hadn't seen in the past 12 years at Oz/24 Hour/Sta-Fit without tutorials and of course feeling like everyone was watching as I self taught myself more exercises than I'd done since, like, sucking on my toes in my mothers womb.
So 6 weeks ago I began working out at Golds Gym and I remember that first week I did my half hour on the arc trainer (the well maintained, no "out of order" signs posted, arc trainers) - while that was all well and good - it wasn't really changing how my pants were fitting me after a week or 10 days. For me - as it used to be - that would usually do the trick. Then there was the day - that as I was drying off after a shower, I realized my arms were changing... and NOT for the better. I had to make a decision - learn to live with the evolution on my person of the old lady bat wings and potentially, in who knows how much time - HAVING to move up a pant size or... something else was going to have to change.
I scanned the fitness apps on my i5 and found the Fitness Buddy app. You can enter your weight daily, weekly, monthly as well as your body metrics. You can build a workout to help you meet your needs or do one of their Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Expert, Female Oriented, Body Weight Only, Resistance Band, Stability Ball, Goal Specific, Kettleball, or Sports Conditioning pre-built workouts. It will play your music too if you so choose. Oh... and any exercise you want to do - it shows you how to do them. Say there are 3 steps - you swipe to the first page and read, repeat for pages 2 & 3 and when you swipe one more time - it shows you the exercise in motion. Pretty cool.
You can enter an area of your body you want to work on and it will bring up every possible exercise or equipment you can use to help you in your quest for "non bat-like" arms! You can then pick as many as you want to do and build a workout. So I "customized" a few workouts and started that on January 24th. I am able to input how much time on cardio the resistance and calories burned as well as the weight, reps and exercises I do each day. Of course I had to learn how to remember all of that each day to input into the app when I got home. The app allows me to look at when I've upped the weight and/or reps of certain exercises, though there's also an option to export all of the information I've entered in the event I needed to share that with anyone.
The app also will show me history, graphs and stats of my weight and body metrics. I enter my weight daily, but decided to only do the body measurements for abdomen, arms, calf, hip, neck, thigh and waist beginning on 1/28. Now each Monday after my workout - I begrudgingly grab for the measure (or May-zure... as my mother would say). I can view stats from the past 7 days, 14 days, 3 months, 6 months and year. I can pull up in a graph, for example my maximum weight 30 days ago, the minimum and the average over that time.
Anyhow - the Fitness Buddy app - while not having a good gossip ear and unable to drink a latte with me - has been helpful. Granted, I do ALL of the work. And by being "helpful" I mean - that over the past 5 weeks - as I begrudgingly have picked up the tape measure to see if there's any change at all with my wings with my new exercises - the results have been slow, but positive. Positive enough to keep going, and change them up as well. I must say I knew it was "working" somewhat when we ventured out for our first bike ride a few weeks ago - before the spring snow hit - and while only going just over 10 miles, we finished going uphill and I made it with relative ease and felt great after!
I've got a ways to go - but I'm not ashamed to go forth and "publish" my results thus far:
Abdomen - Start: 36.0; Current - 34.4
Bat Wings - Start: 11.8; Current - 11.2
Calf - Start: 14.2; Current - 14.0
Hip - Start: 38.0; Current - 36.2
Neck - Start: 12.0; Current - 11.5
Thigh - Start: 21.0; Current - 19.8
Waist - Start: 31.5; Current - 29.9
I need to go one step further with this though. Not only am I doing cardio for 30-40 minutes a day, I am then doing stability ball, free weights and core exercises for an additional 30+ minutes. The "usual" no longer works anymore. Simple fact.
So the other day - The Dad gets home from the gym early in the morning after a week and a half of the "usual" 30 minute routine. He hopped on the scale and knowing he wouldn't appreciate that I had watched to begin with I said "Well?" He was frustrated and said it wasn't what he had hoped. He felt like he was running better and for longer but it wasn't making a difference. He was agitated I'd asked and then I said what he most certainly DID NOT want to hear:
WOTY: "Well, you can't go for 30 minutes anymore and think that's going to make the difference. Doesn't matter the distance or speed... 30 minutes isn't going to cut it anymore for us. We are older."
The Dad: "Well, I'm not getting up at 4:45 in the morning to go to the gym so I can get an hour in."
WOTY: "Then you can't get pissed if the scale doesn't change or problem areas don't "go away".
The Dad: <unintelligible>.....
No. He's not getting up at 4:45 - which is a stupid hour. Fact. But he has gotten out of the house by 5:15 for nearly a week running now and getting in an hour +. He downloaded the Fitness Buddy the other day and as with anyone and any new "program" has taken a few days to familiarize himself with it, the workouts and gauge which way he wants to go and what to do.
Yes - it takes more time, but the benefits, the energy that comes from it - is worth it.
Oh - and because of all of this - no more "uncomfortable clothes" days. <knock on wood> That, and hair "therapy" tomorrow - this week leading up to 22 years of wedded bliss with The Dad is turning out fit-tastic!
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