Working out: getting there is half the battle

A few people have asked how my experience with the personal trainer is going, so I wanted to dedicate this post to filling you all in!

I just finished my 5th session with the trainer, I go twice a week. Now two and a half weeks in and I'm loving it. I just committed to another 5 sessions (there is a 10% discount if you book 5 sessions at a time).

Dare I say that I love it? Hmm, maybe love is a little strong.

What I do know is that each day that I'm supposed to meet with the trainer I always do not feel like going. I convince myself that I've paid and cannot waste the money so I need to suck it up and get my butt to the gym. However, once I get there I'm in a good mood. Really, getting there is half the battle!

It is so easy to make an excuse for why I can't fit it in or why I'm too tired, but once I get myself there I'm ready to put in my hour and get the work done.

I can say that I LOVE my trainer. She is so motivational and takes so much time going over things and answering questions. Today she took time, even after our hour session ran over, and reviewed my meal plan with me and made several suggestions. I will be giving the suggestions a try and I will update you all on any new food choices if I enjoy them.

So what do I do there? Each session starts with a warm-up with various stretches, some jogging, just a little to get the heart rate going. Then she has circuits for me to complete. It is always a mix of cardio and strength and in the last 5 sessions we haven't been repeating things. Sure I've done push-ups in multiple circuits, but they are always incorporated differently. I never know what to expect and with each circuit she tells me what muscle groups we are focusing on and by the end of all the circuits we've hit just about everything. To gauge the intervals we test my heart rate after everything and make sure that I'm in my range. At the end we finish with a cool-down that is again a variety of stretches.

Some of the things she has me do are really difficult for me. Like the other day for one of the circuits I had to run 15 yards then do 10 girl push-ups, then run 15 yards and do 20 mountain climbers, then run 15 yards and do 20 toe touches (I think that is what they are called- basically crunches by your legs are straight up in the air and laying on your back you reach up to touch your toes). Then after all that I had to run back to where we started. Sure, seeing it in print you may think that it doesn't look that bad, but it was a lot more difficult than it sounded. We repeated it 8 times.

During a circuit sometimes I think "I can't do this!" I get the urge to give up maybe. To ease up because I get all in my head with those negative thoughts, but I've been pushing through. I don't know who originally said it, but like we discussed at the gym the other day:

No cutting corners here :)

No matter how out of shape I feel, how out of breath, slow. . . whatever it is that I feel, by the end of the work out I feel such a great feeling of accomplishment. I'm impressed with the amount of things I actually CAN do. It just takes getting myself there.

I can barely believe that 3 weeks ago I said that I was too fat to go to a gym and now I am really enjoying my workouts with my trainer. It is amazing what we can do when we put ourselves out there and just try. You may just surprise yourself like I have!

What exercises or fitness activities do you do that you would consider "fun"?