Day Two at the Gym

I'm just going to throw this out there. I was supposed to go to the gym and meet with my trainer on Wednesday, however when I woke up that day and couldn't even walk down the steps because of the pain in my legs, I called in and lied to him; saying that I was called into work. I then crawled back into bed and slept til 1.

Sometimes, I suck.

But I went in today. And he increased the weight on half of the exercises, and moved me from 2 reps of 15 to 3. And I learned something really important.

I have zero upper body strength. Seriously. There's nothing there. It's been an hour since the work out, and as I sit here and type this, my arms are shaking and I can barely keep my fingers on the keyboard.

Good times.

On the whole though, I'm feeling pretty good about it. Sometime this weekend, or possibly on Monday, I'm supposed to go in and do the whole routine on my own. Do I think I'll remember what each machine was? Probably not, but here's hoping!

And now, I need to go stand under the shower for awhile and hope the shaking in my arms stops before work!

Day One to a Brand New Me

Monday I went to the gym. For the first time. Ever in life.

The first conversation between my trainer and I?

Trainer Ben: So, what can you tell me about a gym?

Sarcastic Nicole: That I've successfully avoided them for 28 years.

Trainer Ben: (deviantly rubbing his hands together) Oh, we're going to have some fun with you.

Okay, maybe he didn't rub his hands together, and maybe he wasn't so evil, but he did laugh at me when I couldn't properly name a single machine besides the treadmill and he had to literally walk me through step-by-step through a routine so I will not hurt or kill myself.

I couldn't even tell you what the routine is yet, but you know what I can tell you? That I hurt. So, so much. From the toes all the way to my fingers, I'm in a bit of pain. Walking down the stairs this morning to my Special K Breakfast was excruciating.

Have I mentioned that I also started tanning again this weekend and therefore am severely burnt as well? Yeah, you try putting a bra on without screaming out in pain after all that. I dare you.

But, it's a good pain, right? And don't you hate when people say that? I know that when I go back tomorrow morning, it's going to be a little more difficult than it was on Monday, but I also know that that's good. This is what I signed up for after all. And I wasn't stupid enough to know that getting back into shape was going to be all peaches and cream.

But seriously? The salvation army has a hot tub on sale for $250 and I think that's a perfectly necessary purchase at this moment. If I could find someone to install it in the backyard that is.

As for the whole diet thing? I've stopped eating after 8 at night, and am really limiting my snacking. Drinking a ton more water. Trainer Ben and I are going to go over some more nutritional factors tomorrow, and we're also going to take the measurements so I can keep track of progress as we go along. So that's good too.

But today? Today I hurt.

The Moment That Started It All

I'm going to be honest. The closest I have ever come to being healthy and working out has been watching Celebrity Fit Club on VH1. Usually with chips and salsa and diet coke on the table next to me.

It was brought to my attention last week that perhaps I should do something about this.

I was clothes shopping the other day and had stepped out of my fitting room to get a better view of the shirt I was trying on. I liked the shirt a lot; the cut of the neckline enhanced the cleavage just right, you know?

Out of nowhere this lady with yellow hair and wearing sweatpants appears next to me and smiles at my reflection. Four days later and her words still haunt me.

"That top is just adorable on you! You know, it makes you look just round, not at all like you're pregnant."

Fake smiles and gritted teeth as my friend pulls me back into my own dressing room and quietly assures me that I look neither round nor pregnant. It's too late though, and the damage has been done.

I bought the shirt anyway.

I've known for awhile that I was slowly creeping towards overweight. After cutting out the soda and alcohol last month, I was able to lose 8 pounds and that made me happy. It's time for a new game plan. And here's where I'm at so far.

~I joined a gym. This was the first time I ever even set foot inside of one of those buildings. I have a personal training session first thing Monday morning to learn how to, you know, not kill myself on any of the equipment.

~Because of Lent, I've given up all fast food. Subway does not count in this.

~I am half-attempting the Special K diet... I would go insane eating nothing but cereal all day long, but I will restrict myself to the cereal bars for snacks twice a day.

~I will not eat past 9 at night. Everything I've read says you should stop at 8, but since I stay up later than most, I'm pushing that to 9.


As of March 1st, I weigh 155 pounds. I'm 5'4. According to the BMI calculator at Glamour.com, my BMI is 26.6 which puts me into the overweight category (25.0-29.9)

What's my goal you ask? Ideally, and according to my doctor, I can lose 25 pounds to put me right at 130 pounds. This works for me, because in looking at past pictures, I looked the healthiest around that weight.

I'm not going to set any time frames here because I'm horrible at deadlines, but I will say that I want to be able to comfortably wear a swimsuit come summer time.

I honestly have no idea if any of this is going to work. As I've said, I'm a complete newbie to anything having to do with exercise or dieting. I lack willpower, and I like my food. This is going to be a challenge for sure, but I like to think I can do it.

So, that being said, any tips, ideas, or stories you may have that can help me along? Please, share them!