The Scale Tales: Part One
I actually like the way I feel after I have exercised, so I'm not sure why I don't just keep it up. There are lots of excuses I can come up with, especially since I have had kids. In 2010, I actually wrote a post called The Top 5 Reasons For My Gym Anxiety. Some of the reasons are listed right in that post, I guess, and they haven't changed!
With the start of school just around the corner, I have entertained the thought of getting yet another gym membership just for the exercise classes offered. I like classes better than weight training because I will walk away from heavy weights, like, super fast. They're so heavy and stuff! So, it was especially timely when our friend Sean Millhouse, owner of Fitness 101, offered up a proposition while he, his awesome wife and his two sweet little boys were over at our house this weekend.
(We both have 5-year-old sons that were on the same baseball team together.)
"Do you exercise regularly right now?"
"Umm, no."
(Obviously. He was just being nice about it.)
(I'm just grateful he didn't say, "Hey, I noticed how you hit the doorframe with your butt a second ago. Don't you think it's time you worked out?")
He went on to say that he'd be willing to be my "fitness coach" if I would be willing to write about my experience. (He might have said "personal trainer", but I see in his writing that he uses the term "fitness coach", too. That sounds really official, right?). It truly was a no-brainer because, well, I like to write and also because BIG BUTT.
When I went in yesterday to the gym, I was ALL NERVOUS. I knew that he would have to weigh me and pinch my fat with that Big, Mean Fat Pincher they call a caliper. My husband doesn't even know what I weigh. I yell out "YOU BETTER NOT LOOK!" and stomp on the scale simultaneously at home. That was the hardest part, I think. Letting someone besides a nurse see the real deal.
(For the record, after I came home and told Chris about everything, including how Sean now knows how much I weigh, he asked me to tell him. It was only fair now that I had revealed it to someone else besides a nurse, of course. SO, I TOLD HIM. That was painful. That is just more a motivator.)
Sean said it was like "ripping off a Band-Aid". I just had to get it over with. Rip it and rip it good.
After allllllll of my inches were taken (seriously, I think he measured 100 things) and my weight was written IN INK ON PAPER, we talked about the work-out plan, nutrition and what the measurements were in that Sir Mix-A-Lot song, "Baby Got Back". I brought that up. Sir Mix-A-Lot felt those measurements were ideal in a woman ("only if she 5'3!", he added) and I was curious about how I compared.
36-24-36.
Breasts, waist, hips.
DANG IT.
That ain't me.
Now, before I start getting heat about how a woman can still be beautiful and not be stick thin, know that I get it. I so get it. Women should be valued for their minds and not their bodies and all of that business. I know. I really, really know.
But, I still want it.
I want to be healthier.
I want to ALWAYS choose pistachios over peanut M & M's. Skim milk over Dr. Pepper. (I'm going to allow myself a Coke here and there.) Water over a margarit-- No, scratch that. There is such a thing as going too far with something.
I want to lose 10% of my body fat.
I want to lose 13-15 pounds.
I want to trim some inches.
I want to be one of those annoying people that just has to exercise 3-4 times a week.
And I want you to be annoying with me.
You know it would be MUCH MORE FUN if we did this together. I know some of you have mentioned being on an exercise plan or beginning one soon. I would love for us to be able to encourage each other here to stay on track. I'm praying that having Sean as my "fitness coach" and you in my support group will help motivate me not to flip off all gyms off as I drive right past them.
So, I have picked TUESDAYS as the day I will recap what I've been through fitness-wise since the last time I brought it up. I am hoping to have giveaways from time to time that relate to becoming healthier on those days, as well. You can trust that I am going through this whole thing, too, and trying to motivate myself not to shove four pizza slices right in my yapper while I'm also trying to motivate and encourage you. It's not going to get preachy in here is what I'm sayin'.
To kick it off, I'd like to give one of you a copy of a book Sean co-authored called The Fad Free Fitness Formula AND a $30 gift card to Target where you can go buy some cute (and affordable) workout clothes, water, jugs, granola bars or toilet paper, though I prefer that you not spend it on toilet paper. Or cat food. Or a birthday card for your uncle. This is about FITNESS, homies. FIT. NESS.
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| Guess what page Sean's chapter starts on? 101. Hee, hee. |
If you are in the Northwest Houston area (Spring/Klein/Tomball/Cypress), know that Sean is not far from you. As I mentioned, he owns Fitness 101, hosts the Fitness 101 Facebook page and operates out of the personal training gym at Northwest Personal Training Center located in a red building off of Stuebner-Airline (which is the same street where I ran over all of those ducks, by the way) in between Spring Cypress and 2920. The gym is very spacious, clean and bright. The gym is popular for their boot camp. Girlfriend ain't ready for no boot camp, but you might be! Also, there are towels and water available at the front. You just open the door and grab a water! No charges will be filed!
Sean has been an ACE certified Personal Trainer for 14 years and holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Houston- Downtown. Through ACE, he is also an Advanced Health and Fitness Specialist.
Through his multiple Personal Fitness Programs…Sean has worked with several local celebrities and successful business owners in the Northwest Houston area. His focus is on helping people who have lost control of their lives. Sean teaches that if we start practicing moderation, we can achieve balance and live a healthy lifestyle.
To help change lives through fitness…Sean offers his knowledge for lunch and learn opportunities, health and fitness seminars, and various charity functions.
Sean also publishes a Blog at www.fitness-101.com and weekly e-newsletter “Fit For Life” that help readers stay current with health and fitness topics. Archived articles are available on the blog.
Even if you are not in the area, you can still benefit from Sean's practical book about getting fit and I know that you want you some Target money. Who doesn't want them some Target money?
To be selected as the winner of the Fad Free Fitness Formula ($20 value) and $30 Target gift card, all I ask is that you...
1) Leave a comment.
2) Like Sean's Fitness 101 Facebook page by clicking here.
3) Like the Kelley's Break Room Facebook page by clicking here.
I will pick the winner using random.org by 10 p.m. next Monday night!