Round 2: Week One, I'm BACK

Well hello my lovelies. Long time no chat. I know, I know, I should do better. Well, I am going to do better... at least for the next 12 weeks anyway. Why 12 weeks you wonder? Because the challenge is back and blogging is yet again the best way to keep myself accountable. This time however, I am going to be doing it a little bit differently and only blog once or twice a week. I am making a lot of life changes at this current juncture, committing to once or twice a week is doable, so we will start with that.

The challenge is also set up a little bit differently this go round. We were all put into teams and have accountability through our captains who will handle our nutrition and such. I am signed up for training again, but now we are focusing on strength training instead of cardio based weight loss since Q did such good job last time of teaching me how to do that on my own.  So now I have two people to keep me in line! My team is owned by my favorite Q of course, and my new trainer is Stephanie.  Meet Stephanie, she is kind of a Crossfit goddess:

 

I was a little bit nervous at first to switch to a new system, given I was used to Q being my rock and I didn't know how being trained by someone I'd never met would work out for me... As it turns out, it works really well. Stephanie is a total badass and I think this is the beginning of a beautiful relationship (thanks for picking a good one Q). So far I have trained with her 3 times and she doesn't take it easy on me at all. She is kicking my ass in the nicest possible way. As you all know, I am a total goofball, and she puts up with me. I think she got jokes of her own though. The other day she told me to make sure when I got home not to just lay around OR I would be sore... well, I went home and stood up for a couple hours while I studied and still couldn't move over the next 3 days... What she should have said was "haha, just kidding, there is no hope for you. I just kicked your ass and your body is going to be jelly no matter what you do". But she didn't say that, she just smiled sweetly and I am still sore almost a week later. This is exactly what she inflicted on me to make me so sore:

 

I look amazing right? Ha, I'm just kidding, I look crazy... 55 pounds doesn't seem like a lot until you are made to pick it up 57 times. It was taking everything in me just to get the damn thing where it needed to go. I did it though. My burpee form severely suffered during the WOD, but I rallied and pushed through.

 

Since finishing the last challenge, the majority of my lifestyle changes and new habits have stuck around. I drink minimally, I try my best not to eat crap food and if I do, I eat in moderation. I split dishes with friends when we go out; and most importantly, I listen to my body. When it says it is full, I stop eating. That is something I was never able to do in the previous 28 years of living. When I weighed in last Thursday, I was lighter than I was when it ended. I have been sitting around 233 for months now.

 

I'm not going to lie though, the fact the scale is not moving is getting on my nerves... but it is my own fault. I did a lot of gallivanting this summer. I spent 2 weeks eating my way through Europe, 4 days in Canada shoveling Poutine in my face, and spent a lot of time down south where fried everything is life. The difference this time is I wasn't only sitting on my ass eating all the artery clogging deliciousness.  I was eating AND hiking, biking, climbing, running, and walking all over Gods creation. It still didn't help me loose any more weight, but it did prevent those Bojangles biscuits from sticking to my ass, so I will consider it a win. But play time is over and it is time to get back to business.

 

This time, the goal is to get below 200, drop my bodyfat by 5% and be able to do an unassisted pull-up. I think it is possible. Getting back on the healthy food only wagon is going to be the biggest hurdle, but with the help and support of my lovelies, I can do anything. Thanks in advance for being here for me ya'll, God knows I'll need it. Here is to a new leg of the journey. Talk to you soon.

 

Day 91: The Golds Gym Challenge is Complete

This morning was the big day. I weighed in. I can't believe it is over. The challenge that consumed my life is complete. I feel so many emotions right now. Happiness, relief, pride, and a hint of sadness. Now, I am on my own to finish what we started.

 

For those of you on your own journey. Good luck. Mine is not over. I'll still be blogging when the mood strikes; but for now, I just have to keep trucking along to get to my end goal. Which is what you may wonder.... For now, I want to be a size 8 with guns, a ripped back and six pack. I think I can do it. Nothing else has been impossible so far.

 

One of the requirements for the challenge was for an essay to be written about your experience. Well, since ya'll know I actually enjoy writing, I wrote a novel. It's posted below this picture. It may be the realest thing I have written to date. 

 

 

"Hi, my name is Nicole and this is the story of a fit girl who lived in a fat girl’s body and the emotional and physical rollercoaster we went on the last 3 months. I guess I should start with a little background. I have always struggled with my weight. I was a skinny kid, a fat middle schooler, an average high schooler (addicted to diet pills, because I wasn’t skinny enough), and hot mess of an adult. Currently, I am 28 years old and in the last 10 years, I have weighed at a low 179 and a high 291. The most concerning jump has been within the last 4 years after I got off active duty from the Air Force. I went from 235 to 291. The crazy part was you would think this jump alone would cause me to really evaluate my life choices, but when I looked in the mirror I didn’t see a fat girl. I still saw someone beautiful. I saw someone funny, charming, smart, educated, talented, loved; I saw someone awesome. My “problem” was not the mirror. My “problem” was life. 

 

I started to realize my weight was an issue slowly, I noticed when I was on the metro, my butt was encroaching on the passenger sitting next to me,and this embarrassed me. When I went to the theater, I could not comfortably fit in the seat. I had to pay more to go skydiving. I worried about weight limits for things like zip lining or Segway tours. Honestly, it was a crapshoot whether or not my behind would properly fit in the seats at amusement parks. I was already irritated that I couldn’t fit into my favorite clothing brands anymore. I was able to ignore that, but I could no longer ignore how my life was becoming limited by something that was completely controllable. 

 

Once I had this realization, I went to the doctor to have my thyroid checked… you know, because it is easier to blame a medical condition than to possibly admit you have a problem with bourbon, burgers, and bacon. I was normal, just obese with ridiculously high cholesterol for my age. The doctor looked at me and said, “At the rate you are going, you will have diabetes by 30 and dead by 60. You have to decide what to do about it.” 

 

So what did I do? I joined Gold’s Gym. I started out going to Zumba, Air Fit, and Yoga… all the fun classes… but I wasn’t losing any weight. My diet was still horrible, so I decided to start seeing Q for nutrition counseling. I did start to lose a little bit of weight, but my heart wasn’t in it. I did, however, learn a very important lesson about myself and that was in order to succeed I needed accountability. 

 

I was sitting at the smoothie bar one night when Caesare walked up and told me about the challenge. I looked over the personal training package and went home to think about it. I ultimately decided that if I were really going to do this, then choosing the training package for 3 times a week would give me the best chance to succeed. This is the best decision I have ever made. The challenge saved my life.

 

Since Q and I had built a relationship during my nutrition appointments, it was decided she would be my trainer. If it was anybody else, I don’t think I would have accomplished all that I have over these 12 weeks. Because of her patience and guidance, not only did I win a weight loss battle of epic proportions, I won a mental and emotional battle that I didn’t even know I was going to fight.

 

For the first 2 weeks of training, I was absolutely convinced she was a sadist and was in this only to try to kill me. My legs and arms felt like jelly, I couldn’t move without feeling every aching muscle in my body, honestly I wanted to throw in the towel, then the strangest thing started happening. I stopped hurting and started getting noticeably stronger. When training started, I couldn’t do a pushup to save my life. Within 4 weeks, I was doing right angle pushups and holding planks with ease. I could do 100 sit-ups with a 20-pound medicine ball as if it was nothing. I was doing “2-a-days” for the majority of the challenge, training with Q in the morning and coming back at night to do my favorite classes. I hit so many physical milestones during this challenge, I could write a book; but these are just the highlights.

 

I used to walk on the treadmill and watch all the “hardcore athletes” do Crossfit in awe of their ability, thinking to myself “maybe one day.” Now, I do Crossfit with them and love it. I’ve found a serious love for weightlifting. Vicki has somehow brought back all my flexibility from high school and my range of motion is significantly better than even when I was regularly seeing my chiropractor. I am also proud to say I no longer have any lower back pain.  But honestly, the thing I am most proud of is my newfound ability to run. I have always hated running with a passion. I hated it in high school when I played soccer and I hated it in the military when I had to run to keep my job… but for the last 6 weeks of the challenge, Q made me run every day, even the days I wasn’t with her. I got to the point I could run for 15 minutes without needing a break. To me, this was a major accomplishment because I truly enjoyed it, something I never thought possible.

 

The mental and emotional journey for me had the largest impact. One of my many struggles was my challenge with food and alcohol. These things were part of my identity. I am a self-proclaimed foodie. There was nothing I loved more than a gourmet meal and handcrafted cocktail. My hobbies were trying new restaurants and bars with friends; we ate out 5 or 6 times a week. Happy hour wasn’t just 2 drinks with co-workers, it turned into a 5-hour party. The largest things I had to break through were how I looked at food and the need to cut myself off from an environment that revolved around alcohol. 

 

When you take away 90% of what you do for fun, you have to fill the void with other activities. Something that was a bit surprising was that I started filling the void with healthy activities like hiking, golfing, laser tag, putt-putt, and seminars. I also started blogging about my journey. I needed an outlet to help me work through my emotions and to my surprise; it helped other people start their own weight loss and fitness journeys as well. 

 

Most importantly, my diet had to change or all of this would be for nothing. During the first 6 weeks, I asked Q for a list of food items I could eat that I wouldn’t have to think about. She wrote down things like whole grains, fruit, green veggies, lean meats etc., to get my body used to eating clean. She also limited my alcohol to a maximum of 4 drinks per sitting, no more than 2 times a week. 

 

It was hard and I had a couple mess up’s, but ultimately I got through it with her help and that of my friend, Joey. There is something to be said about having a partner do this challenge with you. He gave me strength when I didn’t think I could keep going and Q kept me accountable asking every day what I ate and how was my water consumption. They gave me strength to do what came next, something I never thought possible. I stopped drinking completely for the last 6 weeks and only ate eggs, oatmeal, fish, veggies, spinach, brown rice, sweet potatoes, and drank only water. Looking at food as a source of nutrition instead of a source of pleasure, may be the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. There were many days I broke down and cried myself to sleep, because my life as I knew it was drastically changing.

 

I couldn’t have done this without the support of my trainer, instructors, friends, and family who cheered me on the entire journey. I built relationships that will be with me forever. Now, I sit here writing this 43 pounds lighter, 14.25 inches smaller, with 4.7% less body fat, emotional over the fact that I was able to accomplish something in 12 short weeks, that I wasn’t even able to consider in 10 long years.  This is just the beginning for me, my journey isn’t over. I still have more to go before I am where I want to stay; but now thanks to the challenge, and my new friends, I absolutely know I can and I will."

4/14/2015 *UPDATE*: Yesterday, I received the phone call I had been waiting on. Judging was complete and I did it. I won the overall local woman's division and was submitted for the national competition. Even if I don't take nationals (which lets be serious, that would be freaking awesome), it still feels amazing to have won my home gym. Guess we will see what happens.

Day 78-90: Winding Down

12 days until the end of the challenge. It almost feels surreal. I stopped posting daily because I would just run out of time by the end of the day, but I did keep notes.

Day 78, Tuesday, 3/31:

Ugh, I feel terrible, but the show must go on. I have Q @ 6 and tanning to follow. Have I mentioned how much I love my tanning salon? I don't think I am going to let myself go this long without tanning again. I feel like me again.

Day 79, Wednesday, 4/1:

I have Q @ 12 today, I cant believe I only have 5 training sessions left.... am I going to be able to keep going without her? Damn... 11 days left, I am so nervous! Thankfully I have work to keep me busy. Off to pack for tomorrows staging.

Day 80, Thursday, 4/2:

I do love that my job is not sedentary. Today I staged a home and was on my feet 6 hours strait. I am not complaining. I love what I do. It feels good to work with your hands. There is something strangely calming about it. Also, the immediate gratification is certainly addictive. 

After the staging I went to see Amy, my tattoo artist, to finish up the piece on my arm. I love it so much.

 

Day 81, Friday, 4/3:

It is becoming increasingly hard not to drink. I think I will go shoot guns. I have Q this morning, need food, must go to Costco... then Pew Pew Pew. Joey and I will have to hit up Elite Shooting Sports this evening. I am in need of some Guntry Club time.

 

Day 82, Saturday, 4/4:

Well I had Q this morning, so I didn't exactly feel bad about that Bloody Mary I had with brunch, damn it was good. Today is the International Pillow Fight Day and we are going to the National Mall to whack strangers with pillows, don't worry, it's organized. We met up with some friends for brunch prior to heading over to the fight. It would seem I am incapable of brunching without booze. Worth it, my Bloody Mary paired perfectly with my smoked salmon and fruit. Nom nom nom. The pillow fight was epic. Such a good time.

After the fight, we wandered over to dinner. I had a salad... and a vodka soda. Am I sabotaging myself at this point?! I mean, I have 8 days left. Fuck Nicole, what is up? After dinner, we headed to Federal Triangle to catch a Capital Steps show. I think we were the youngest in there by 30 years, but whatever, it was hilarious. You can't go wrong with musical political satire in this beautiful city of ours.

Day 83, Sunday, 4/5, Hoppy Easter:

I hit up the sauna this morning to sweat out the alcohol, I guess in my head that would keep me from drinking again today as we are converging on Top Golf this afternoon to celebrate Easter and basically just being awesome. Again, apparently I am incapable of not drinking during certain events... driving ranges seem to be one of them. Joey and I split a bucket of delicious Heinekens. NO REGRETS! But now I am certain I am trying to sabotage myself. Get it together Canole. 7 days left.

Day 84-90, 4/5 - 4/12:

7 days. No more notes. Only zoned in on the finish line. This time I am a competitor before I am a wife or friend. Thank God those who love me understand that. I have worked too damn hard to give up now. I am running twice a day, sitting in the sauna every night, wrapping my stomach and arms with "those crazy wrap things" and weight training in-between. Every calorie is counted, every movement is tracked, every drop of water is measured. I had 7 days and tomorrow is the day. Monday I weigh in.

Day 50: All I Want in Life is a Cheesburger

Seriously, what I would give for a freaking cheeseburger right now. Joey and I just did Yoga then stopped  by the mall and there were Red Robin signs EVERYWHERE. I was about to trade my entire life for a 1500 calorie cheeseburger. Thank God for Joey, I was like "Seriously, lets go to Red Robin". He says "Okay, we are going to go right by it."... we literally drove right by it and I did not get my amazing cheeseburger.

This whole eating the same thing every day SUCKS ASS today. I mean, I am getting creative as all hell, but you can only season Cod and Salmon so many ways before it all starts to taste the same. It has only been 5 days, but it feels like 50. Only 25 more days of this to go. My God, Why?!

The other day, I actually had a dream about bread. One of my favorite local chains, Great American Restaurants, has this little roll that is like heaven in your mouth. It is this round, donut like, little piece of magic in your mouth. They also give you this honey spread to make it that much more delicious. Needless to say, I actually had a dream about this roll. All the dream was, was me looking at my hands that contained a roll, I cut it in 2 and spread the honey butter on it and just stared at it. I never actually ate it, not even in my dream. Bastard. I cant even enjoy it in my dream!

I mean, I am clearly doing this for a reason. I wore a shirt today that I haven't worn in a while and I had Q Take a picture. I am pretty happy, the back fat is starting to go away and I am starting to get a butt. All these squats are paying off. Love it!

 

The rest of the workout we did Tabata training. 5 rounds, 1 minute intervals, 2 minutes rest period between rounds. I did air squats, box step-ups, 300 meter row, crossfit style sit-ups, walkout push-ups, and wall balls. It was a good session.

 

 

I am back to two-a-days when possible. Now that it has gotten to be the busy season with Staging and Design, I am going to be less likely to get back in the evenings, but I am definitely going to make myself go when I can. Tonight, we went back for Yoga and it was fabulous.

 

On that note, I am going to take my fabulous self to the couch and watch my DVR'd Once Upon a Time. I am so happy it's back! I'll talk to you tomorrow.



 

Day 40: I Didn't Need That Skin Anyway

Today was crazy busy. I was at the warehouse all day prepping for this weekends staging. I got out of there about 5:30, just in time to run back to the house, walk Fi, and grab clothes for this evening's pole fit workout with Q.... and surprise guest Sabrina! I was so excited. This was her first pole class.

As usual, Q's music was on point. We opened the class with The Weekend's Earned It which is probably my favorite song at the moment. It was all fabulous R&B with a little hip hop mixed in. I always feel so amazing when she teaches. I was even able to CLIMB the damn pole tonight for the first time ever. I still can't invert, but I am getting closer. A few more weeks of arms and I think I will be there.

I told you a few weeks ago that Pole can be "dangerous". I usually end up with bruises and such (which I kind of love)... Well, tonight was no exception. About halfway through the class, I look over and see Sabrina with a pained look on her face, holding her finger. She knocked into the pole wrong and completely took off one of her acrylic nails. OUCHY! With 15 minutes left in class, S runs out to catch up with her hubby and I took her pole. That thing is CURSED I tell you. I was going through our choreography and went to hop up into a pole hold when I heard something rip, immediately followed by the feeling of one thousand tiny needles digging into my hand. I pulled my hand back, looked down and realized my skin just separated from my body. Sexy, right?

That shit hurt like a BITCH! I looked at it for a second, kind of in shock, because it didn't make sense to me. It was a smooth pole.... but upon further investigation of my hands, I realized that I had a callous coming up because of the type of training I am doing. So, between the callous and the alcohol I was using to keep my hands dry enough to grip the pole, my skin decided it no longer needed to be attached to my hand. Needless to say, I am not getting back on the pole without some gloves... which happens to be conveniently sold at the front desk.

Once I figured out what happened, I ran out of class to the front desk, grabbed some pain cream and Band-Aids, and went to the locker room to change for this evenings festivities.  One of my friends (Hi Sophia!) got promoted, so everyone converged on Samuel Becketts' Gastro Pub to celebrate. It was a really good time. I imbibed on some delicious Pinot Noir and a couple shots of Fireball (since this is my last weekend to drink), hung out with some of my favorite people, and met some new friends. It was a great end to a crazy week.

I hope my future weekends will be as much fun without my good friend, red wine. I guess we will find out! I will talk to you tomorrow.

Day 32: That Music Though

Today was quite the productive day. I got an absurd amount of work done. Juggling 3 positions, in 3 companies and a daily blog could prove to be a handful, but a side effect of working out seems to be improved focus and additional energy. This makes keeping things in order a lot more manageable than it was a few months ago. I am digging it.

Part of my focus has to do with the music I listen to when I am working.  I love a lot of different music. Jazz, EDM, Electronica, Rock, Some Pop, Folk, Blues, R&B, even Country when I am in the mood..... but It's no secret my favorite music is Hip-Hop. I love it. Good Hip Hop is pure poetry and good beats have the ability to transport you into a different dimension. Example: today I was listening to Kendrick Lamar - Good Kid, M.A.A.D City and Nas - Illmatic on repeat. Both, excellent. Never get tired of them. I put on the music, I get my focus on, and I do work. It's great.

Let's talk about what is NOT great. //begin rant// Country or Justin freaking Bieber or some other terrible pop shit in a super intense spin class. I love MOI (Mind of Intensity) Cycle and I love Krank, but I do NOT love the heinous music that comes along with it. I need to be able to zone out and fall into the music in order for me to get the most out of this class. If one minute we are listening to some killer Dubstep, going 100 RPM's, then all of a sudden some woman or man child who sounds like a woman comes on crying about their lost love, I AM NOT INTO IT! The mood is now wrecked, I am irritated that I am being forced into listening to some shitastic music, and my legs or arms stop doing what they are supposed to be doing.

 

This has nothing to do with our instructors. Steven Shaw you are a God among men and may the Lord bless you for having to listen to these terrible songs on repeat leading up to the class and still manage to push us into amazing results. I have to BELIVE that our instructors are not the ones responsible for the music in MOI. I suspect these play lists come from the designers of MOI and they go with a predetermined workout. I get it. Not all of the music is bad. Just 60% of it. All I'm saying is I really wish that whoever is designing these playlists would take into consideration the club demographics in urban areas when choosing the songs. I am sure a lot of MOI's playlists are great for somewhere like Aspen or wherever MOI was developed. Not so much for us over here on the east coast. Would it kill you to add a little hip-hop and more EDM or DubStep? Maybe even a class with all electronic music.... SOMETHING?! 

If I have to hear another country song in a spin class, I may get up and walk out. I just can't with this music. Country has a time and place... mostly drinking beer around a tailgate... NOT when I am trying to sweat my ass off with 30 of my closest friends... who, mind you, are ALL bitching about the same terrible music. Please hear my cry MOI. We need better music! //end rant//

Ugh, I am going to cleanse my earholes. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 31: Keep Calm... Or Not.

Today was "leg" day (and by leg day I mean ass day).... LUCKY FOR ME there is no more "taking it easy on Nicole because she is sick" business. I still have a nasty cough, but the color is back in my face and apparently I sound better... So yay for that.

Today we started out on the leg press and did 4 or 5 sets of 25 with God only knows how much weight. The next thing seriously about killed me. I don't even know what it is called, but Q had me bend backwards, balance my shoulders on the weight bench, and grabbed a 40 pound weight bar and placed it on my hips. From this position she had me dip my ass down, then bridge up squeezing everything at the top. I did this movement for 20 reps. Then we went over and did reverse lunges, 20 per side, then back to the dip it low thing. This went on three rounds.  It was exhausting to say the least.

After that was done, we went over to the turf and did more lunges, kettle bell swings, squats, and planks till failure... I feel like I am forgetting something... we ended a little early because I got super lightheaded, I just don't remember what I did to make me dizzy. Probably got up to fast... Oh well. Today sucked, but my ass thanked me in the end. I rewarded myself by hanging out in the sauna for 30 minutes, then headed to the smoothie bar to talk to Shep and Matt. It was a good day.

This evening I went back for some Kettlebell with Caes. I finally used a heavier weight for the majority of the workout! I can't even begin to remember everything we did. I was the test dummy tonight and started out with 5 Turkish get-ups (kill me, those things suck) while everyone else did swings. They were supposed to be progressive, but Caes realized this was going to take too long, so we went strait into the workout. We did a couple rounds of one minute swings, in and outs, squats, 3 partner exercises (plank rows, presses, and something else), lunge pass through's, leg lifts, Russian twists, flutter kicks and some other stuff.

The weight I used ranged between 26 and 35 pounds depending on the exercise. During the lunge pass through's Caes made me switch to the 17 pound because my balance was off and he didn't want me to fall over (which was a distinct possibility). I am pleased with my overall performance. A few more weeks at the 35 pounds then maybe I can move up to the big boys. Yeaahhhhh.

After KB, I jumped on the treadmill and walked it out at a varying incline while Joey finished up with Josh. Their session was particularly hilarious this evening. At one point, I look over and see Josh sitting on top of the sled that Joey was pulling through the gym.  I swear to God Josh looked like Santa and Joey was a reindeer. I wish I had taken a picture. It was awesome.

On that note, I think I am going to start my letter to Santa early. Let me get on that. I will talk to you tomorrow.

Day 29: Stretch All the Things

Well, I'm still sick, I'm just not going to let it keep me in bed anymore. My muscles are starting to atrophy. 

This morning I had my PT appointment with Q where we only did upper body. I was glad to get back to weight training, but I'll tell you what I wasn't glad about was the embarrassing amount of weight I was struggling with. I was doing the lat press machine and I was struggling, hard. The first round I did no weight, 20 reps; second set, 10 pounds per arm, 20 reps; third set 7.5 pounds per arm and I was for real hurting. Q looked at me and was like "Really Nicole? 10 pounds and your struggling?!" I mean, I didn't give up or anything... but I had to take a break. I was all sorts of winded and my arms were killing me. It was RIDICULOUS!

I guess it's because I'm still sick, I don't know, but it sucked. I don't even remember what all we did. I know there was some plank holding, more weight machines, crunches and lots of breaks.  But I did manage to do everything she through at me, so Nicole 1, Sickness 0.

As I was leaving, Q told me to take it easy the rest of the night and do some stretching. I took this as the perfect opportunity to go back to the gym tonight for Yoga Chill. I love yoga so much. I don't know why I tend to forget this. The last time I did a traditional organized Yoga class was at the ETC grand opening (like 3 or 4 months ago). Surprisingly, I did awesome. The Pilates I have been doing on Fridays has done amazing things for my flexibility, so I was able to get in and out of the poses with ease. I felt amazingly strong during the class as well. Yoga used to wear me out, but this time I wasn't tired. I was invigorated. At the end, Heidi, our instructor, put essential oils on a cloth and placed it on our heads during final pose. It was magical and just what the doctor ordered.

I think I am going to have to make this a weekly thing. One day of Pilates just isn't enough. I need to keep stretching all the things! Now that I am nice and relaxed, I am off to sleep. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

 

Day 24: Tawhata Training?

I think one of the reasons I fell in love with Crossfit so easily is because as I turns out, Q takes some pages from the Crossfit playbook and adds them into her workouts. This morning we did Tabata training.

This version of Tabata training we did 4 rounds of 30 second intervals instead of the standard 20. The workout included lunges, air squats, battle ropes, leg press, shoulder press, jump rope, kettle bell swings, leg/arm lifts with medicine ball, and some other things that I know I'm forgetting. It was exhausting to say the least, but one thing is for certain... I loved it. At times I felt like I wanted to pass out and die. Thankfully I did not die.

The endorphins I get from pushing my body to the next level is addicting! I would think that it would never be as good the second time (like that first Percocet, the second one is never as good), but it gets increasingly better each time. I totally get the addiction. Unfortunately, I may have pushed myself a little too hard because I feel myself getting sick. God help me, I hope not. I really don't have time to be sick.  I am going to go to sleep and try to get a head of this. I will talk to you tomorrow.

Day 23: #WeAreAllAthletes

Greetings and salutations from your newest Thick 2 Thin apparel rep my darlings!

Do you remember last weekend when I told you about the epic day I had shooting the video for Thick 2 Thin's new Kickstarter campaign to revolutionize female fitness clothing as we know it? If not, well, that happened, it was amazing. 

During the day, all of my suspicions about Andrea (the totally rad chick that started the company) were confirmed. She is, in fact, a magical unicorn who has been sent from heaven to change the world. When we weren't singing #throwbackthursday music at the top of our lungs, we were talking about business and her vision for the future. This is when I knew I had found a company who's message and purpose I could really get behind. This isn't about making money, it's about community and support. As such, I am now the newest proud member of the Thick 2 Thin family. 

This evening was my first trunk show at Gold's Gym ETC's open house and it went smashingly. This entire morning was a whirlwind. I met Andrea at 11 to pick up the inventory, headed to IKEA to buy racks and displays, and got to Gold's by 4:30 to set up for the 6:30 beginning. I really couldn't have done it without my ETC family, Caes, Q, Morgan, Vicki, Sabrina, Brittany all helped me with something. We drug in boxes, put together clothing racks, set up tables, folded shirts for display, and made sure everything was presentable. (Q is a beast. She had an entire rack put together and was pulling out the shirt displays before I ever had the first bar correctly put together. I am not worthy!) 

I am so blessed to have all of these people in my life. Thanks to all their hard work, we set up a legit pop up boutique equipped with a long mirror in the back for the necessary modeling to ensue. This was the result:
 

The next show will be at the inaugural ETC Combine on February 21, 2015. If you're local, we would love to see you. This is a great opportunity to support up and coming athletes and local business.

 

 

If you are having an event and looking for vendors, give me a shout at nicole@thick-to-thin.com. Also, if you check out the website and find something you love, let me know. I'd love to talk to you!

We had a great night. Sales were good and most importantly I made new friends. When I got home, I celebrated with two fingers of my favorite bourbon and cheers'd to a night well spent. Shhh, don't tell Q ;-)

On that note, later tater, I'll talk to you tomorrow. 

Day 22: Ain't No Half-Steppin'

When I walked into the gym this morning, Q tells me we are going to be straight cardio training today. My first thought was "Shit, she is going to put me back on my arch enemy, the stair climber. I am going to have to make a run for it".... thankfully, she did not. She stuck me on the treadmill for an hour and jacked up the incline to one billion. My head was basically touching the ceiling. It didn't suck like I thought it would though. She does a really good job of keeping my mind off of what I am actually doing.  I ended up burning over 750 calories, I tried to take a picture of the incline, but it turned out all wonky and you can't read it. So Q took this one:

 

 

I am a bit surprised with this picture. Wendy mentioned the other day that she could tell a difference in the side pictures. I could not.... but when I look at this photo, I can. Maybe it is because my arms are up. I don't know. I mean, the numbers don't lie... I know there are major changes going down. I checked my weight again this morning... Since first seeing Q for nutrition in September last year, I have lost 17.1 pounds. 10 of those pounds were lost in the last 21 days. The weight is melting off with this whole insane training schedule I have going.

 

Speaking of melting. Q has me in the sauna for 20 minutes after our workouts now. Apparently its good for your muscles. I had never been in a sauna before. They honestly just looked like a really hot box and not very much fun.... but I was wrong. Saunas are awesome. It reminded me of my once beloved tanning bed. (I used to be an obsessive tanner, but stopped a few years ago because I became absurdly paranoid about skin cancer.) I went to sleep and ended up in there for longer than I meant to be, but not before taking a selfie... 

 

 

After I left the gym I went on about my business. I ran up to Alexandria and had lunch with my friend Desi. I love her. She is the best. She is kind of a social media genius, so she gave me a crash course on all things social. I have my work cut out for me. I left around 5:30 and headed back to the gym for round two.

 

I told you once before I am a bit of a voyeur when it comes to the trainers. I love watching other peoples sessions. When I went back to the gym, I was 20 minutes early for my Kettlebell class with Steven; so, I posted up on one of the stationary bikes. I am fairly convinced those things don't do a damn thing for you body, but I can easily sit in the corner, play on my phone and take unsuspecting pictures of Joey with no one any the wiser. I sat there with my hood up for about 15 minutes before my peoples noticed I was there. See:

 

Hi Joey. I miss your hair (Seahawks lost so he had to shave it all off this morning. Boys an their bets, I will never understand it.) The dude in the yellow is that Josh guy I talk about sometimes. He is one of the Crossfit coaches and personal trainers. He is cool.... kind of... ;)

 

After I got my kicks from watching Joey, I waddled over to the KB class. Sabrina had just finished up with Q so she made her go to the class with me. Poor Sabrina. This is why you have to run out the gym as soon as your time is up, otherwise you end up getting thrown into something else. KB was "fun". I used the 17 pound weight again and realized that I really was tossing that thing around like it ain't nothing. So, Wednesday I really am going use the 26 pounder (I know I said I was last Wednesday, but I was scared). After all, ain't no half-steppin' when it comes to fighting this battle.

 

On that note, I am out. I will talk to you tomorrow.

 

 

Day 19: With a Little Help From My Friends

Man, today started out awesome. I had Pilates with Vicki, which is certainly my most looked forward to class of every week. We have excellent music, excellent instruction, and excellent results. I got some really awesome stretching in. I felt limber, awake and happy, and then my mental shit hit the fan.

I really wish I could wear a shirt all the time that says "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe". I would mostly use it as a reminder for the other me to stop being such a buzz kill when I am having a fabulous day.... but I would also hope that other people would see it and think to themselves "Maybe I shouldn't be such a dick" or maybe they would magically become aware of the shittastic energy they are putting out in the world... but it's whatev's. People are assholes, they have their own shit, I get that. You can't be happy all the time.

Anyway, so in a two hour time span, I went from being relaxed and happy to tense and pissed off, or on, whichever way you want to look at it, and I took that attitude into what was supposed to be the best training session of the week. Q had set up for me and Lena to do a partner workout on Lena's last day at Gold's. Unfortunately, the first thing we did was get on my sworn enemy, the stair climber. Look, I am not even going to pretend like I was having a good time. I most certainly was not. At one point I was damn serious, I was about to quit the challenge. As the words came out of my mouth, Q yells "I don't train quitters"... which she doesn't. So I didn't quit. I sucked up my pissyness and kept stepping. I made it through the time on the stupid thing, but not without a lot of misery, huffing and puffing. The next twenty minutes I was still pretty grumbly, but then something weird happened and the happy me came back out of the blue. After we finished the 2nd round of inchworms, we stood up and interrupted our workout to dance it out on the turf. We are kind of awesome like that.

The rest of the workout was as fun as it should have be to begin with. Q took some pictures, check it:

Once we were finished, we wandered over to the smoothie bar, grabbed a drink and chatted with Morgan. I even met Joeys new competition, Dominic. Dude has the potential to be a beast. Joey better step his game up! Needless to say, I ended up sitting there until 4pm. The rest of the day went off without a hitch, I wrote, I stayed in my happy place. Lets aim to stay in our happy place next week, okay? On that note, I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 18: BEST. DAY. EVER.

Okay, so first thing before I get into my SUPER exciting news… YAY, I did Crossfit again and it was awesome. Josh instructed, and he is dope. We learned how to do Clean and Jerks and I had way too much fun dropping the weights on the floor. I was like a really awesome bull in a china shop. I’m glad we had a good time because it was the last time I will get to morning WOD with Lena; she is leaving me to go influence young minds and going back to teaching. I will miss her at the gym VERY much…. But I will still get to see her because she loves me, so Yay.

Now on to the most exciting news in my world. Wednesday I got a sweet message from a friend of mine, Julie, who has been reading the blog and wanted to introduce me to her friend Andrea who is kicking ass on this same journey. What I didn’t know at the time is what a badass this woman was. I did a little bit of internet stalking and quickly realized that I had just met someone who is a constant inspiration to THOUSANDS of women who are all on this journey with us. So OF COURSE what else was I to do but message her and spark up a conversation. I couldn’t have made a better decision.

Andrea is the owner, operator, blogger extraordinaire from Thick to Thin, a clothing company that started as a blog in 2011. Her “rants” chronicle her struggle from size 18 to size 6. The blog morphed into a clothing company shortly after when she realized that all workout clothing is made to be geared towards your typically sized athlete. With how much I have read about this company and this woman, I could tell you, but I will let her do it instead:

Thick2Thin // About Us from Altamira Film Co. on Vimeo.

 
My initial message informed Andrea that she was awesome and I am awesome, so naturally we should get awesome coffee sometime soon.  What came next took me by complete surprise and I have been on cloud 9 ever since. Andrea tells me that she has read my blog and thinks I am hilarious and would love it if I could guest blog for them sometime. This in itself almost put me in tears because I could not believe that she, of all people, took the time to read my little ole blog…. But that wasn’t it. She then asked me if I would consider being in their video shoot this weekend for their new Kickstarter campaign to gather funding and awareness to bring affordable and fashionable athletic gear to every woman, no matter her shape and size because #weareallathletes

I may still be in shock that I get to be a part of something this monumental. This particular subject is incredibly close to my heart; not only am I a size 18, but I am also 6 ft tall. I can’t find a decent pair of workout clothes to save my life. So off I will go Saturday morning to meet 7 other beautiful women to tell our stories and hopefully begin to change the world of fitness clothing as we know it. I am so blessed and completely overjoyed.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 17: Work That Pole Girl

Today was SUPER fun! Q surprised me earlier this week with a playlist she was putting together for a private S Factor Pole class for one of our training sessions. This afternoon we got to put that bad boy on and she taught me how to perfect some integral moves. We threw on the red light, cranked up the bass, and I have never had more fun in my life in a personal training session.

Let’s get one thing strait, pole is incredibly difficult. It requires a shitload of upper body strength and trust in yourself that you aren’t going to completely bust your ass. I am a big girl, there is no way around that. I have taken this group class several times, and while I loved it, I wasn’t able to do a lot of the things the others girls could do. LO AND BEHOLD, today I did awesome. Like, really awesome. Like, I don’t even know who this girl was or how she developed enough upper body strength to spin her big ass around the pole as many times as she did.

Q taught me how to perfect a couple of spins which are the firefly, firefly with extended leg, and firefly with leg tucked behind me. She also got me to pole climb with the prance down MULTIPLE TIMES! I have NEVER been able to do this, no matter how many times I’ve tried. So needless to say, I am pretty damn proud of myself. Check me out, this is the pole hold, prior to prance:

 

I am so sore I can barely lift my arms. I’ve got bruises coming up on my feet and legs, my back is throbbing, and I STILL feel like a rock star.  Pole class will beat the hell out of you (if you couldn’t tell), but what it does for your inner goddess is just indescribable. You will just have to take a class yourself and find out. It is amazing and only yours. You don’t have to share it with anyone if you don’t want to.

Even with all this upper body work during pole, I wasn’t about to give up my two-a- days or the opportunity to work with Caesare in Kettlebell. I really do love his class... So, I went back at 6 and rocked it out. We did 2 rounds of double squats with arm press, swings, plank rows, curls, soccer kicks, lunge pass throughs, butterfly kicks and leg lifts.  I am going to have to switch it up next week though. Currently I am only using the 17.5 pound kettle bell, but next Wednesday I think I am going to step up my game to the 26 pound. After all, Caes says: “Train the same, remain the same. Do different things, get different results… TurnUp!!!”

So I am going to TurnUp again tomorrow. Crossfit with my Lena comes early. We have Josh again, so this should be “fun” and by fun I mean awful...or awesome, I don't know... the Crossfit Kool-Aid has a way with distorting your emotions. I look forward to letting you know how it goes. Talk to you tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

Day 15: You want me to do WHAT with that tire?

Ugh writers block is not fun. I would love nothing more than to sit here and write a hilarious diatribe about today’s fitness adventure, but I’m not feeling it. I need a creative reset. So, here are the highlights:

1. I managed to pull out 15 real pushups (and 30 “girly” pushups)

2. My legs are shaping back up into what they once were nicely. Pretty excited. I need a tan.
3. I have lost 7.2 pounds in 14 days… WOO RESULTS!
4. 2-A-Days continue, 1pm training session, 7pm Barre Fit class
5. Barre Fit is Hard, Barre Fit is Awesome, Barre Fit fixes jacked up backs.
6. Q made me flip a freaking tire so I wrote this Haiku about it:

Rubber touches my fingers

Arms hurt uncontrollably

The pain welcomes me

 

 

 

Now I am going to go to sleep…. or continue watching Fight Club, or start working on a canvas, or clean my kitchen. Who knows, it’s snowing. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 14: Shop the Perimeter, Check!

When I first joined ETC, I learned about this fancy idea called “perimeter shopping”. The idea is to shop the perimeter of the grocery store, where fresh foods like fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and fish are located and avoid the center aisles where junk foods live. I put this in action Sunday as Joey and I roamed around Costco. I picked up delicious fresh salmon, chicken, ground turkey, roast, grapes, blueberry’s, raspberry’s, kale, peas, 5 pounds of nuts, and 7 grain bread.  Eating healthy is a lot less challenging this go round. Probably because I am learning to look at food as fuel for its nutritional value instead of a pleasure source. A side effect to this is that I am learning how delicious truly fresh and non-processed foods are. Overall, I’d say I am winning. One step closer to being even more fabulous! ;-)

Day 12: Welcome Back Flexibility, I’ve Missed You

I don’t have much to say about today other than I LOVE Pilates and holy crap I almost did a split. Last week when I did Pilates for the first time in many years, I left a little disheartened because I could no longer fold my body in the ways I once could. (Note: Many moons ago, I did Yoga/Pilates 5 days a week and was super flexible; I had since lost all flexibility and could barely touch my toes.)  

I am not sure what happened between last Friday and today, but I was killing it. During one set, Vicki had me keep moving my foot further away as I was going down, to the point I was almost in a complete split. I felt the stretch, but I was still in disbelief, so I asked her after class. Sure enough, she said she was so excited because I was in fact, almost in a full split. Next time, she is taking a photo for proof.

Now I am off to enjoy my weekend. We have friends coming over for game night. Yay! Here is to celebrating life and a week well done.

Day 11: Those Burpees are Fun… Said No One Ever.

Well, today started out great. I was all excited for my workout... I just knew it was going to be awesome, just like yesterday, right? But the dream died as soon as I walked through the door and saw Q standing in the Crossfit pit. Next words out of her mouth were “I got bad news, today you’re doing Crossfit again”. I, for the LIFE of me cannot figure out why this has caught on the way it has. I get going hard, but this is just ridiculous. Regular burpees suck, but Crossfit burpees are just plain hell. Why would anyone want to throw themselves on the floor and jump up and clap repeatedly? Ugh. I HATE Crossfit.

I may hate Crossfit, but there are certainly some aspects of it that I enjoy. Like doing front squats with the barbell. I had a 25 pound bar with a total of 55 pounds. I know that’s not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but when doing 50 of these bitches during the skills lab, that little bit of weight starts to feel like 500 pounds. I felt like a beast. 

The other thing I enjoyed was how hard Q pushed me. If she wouldn’t have been screaming at me to give her at least three rounds, I wouldn’t have. I would have quit. No doubt about it. But I didn’t and as such, I can feel my arms gaining strength, I notice it with every movement and every shirt I put on. This feeling is addicting... So does that mean I just contradicted my declaration of deep hatred for Crossfit? I think it does.

Apparently I didn't hate my life too bad because I did go right back there tonight for Krank and Moi Class. I think Krank may be creeping up to be my favorite class. The craziest part is that it is HARD. You sweat like a pig and the music kind of sucks, but the high you get when you are Kranking is immense. I somehow transport myself into another dimension and just role with it. It was over and I didn’t even know it. I just kept going until I realized I was the only one moving. If I was to sit back and diagnose why I love this class, I think it is because it reminds me a lot of basic training with Steven instructing. This dude missed his calling as a drill instructor, no joke. At some point during the first leg of the class, someone said they were bored. This was the WRONG thing to say. Next thing you know everyone is out of their saddle doing lunges and squats. I was like damn, yo, this kind of behavior could cause a mutiny, girlfriend need to stay quiet... BUT AGAIN, that is still part of its sick and twisted charm. I still love it. Can’t you tell by the smile on our faces?

On that note, I must be on my way. I have to get my beauty rest for the best day of the week, Pilate’s Rehabilitation Friday! So cheers to pushing boundaries friends, I’ll talk with you tomorrow.