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.

Days 65-70: Whirlwind of Events

'Tis the busy season for my job, as such I routinely run out of time by the end of the day and therefore have to condense my blogging to weekly for the time being. This will be an adventure, I can barely remember what happened yesterday, so it should be fun trying to remember what I do for an entire week. 

Day 65, Wednesday, 3/18: Q at 9 am, Restage a beautiful condo in Belmont Bay, go to warehouse and pack for tomorrows staging, head back to gym for second round of abs with Joey... pass out face first from exhaustion.

Day 66, Thursday, 3/19: Stage unoccupied home in Fairfax, head to the gym with Joey, fall asleep and drool on myself.

Day 67, Friday, 3/20:  Q at 9am, 2 Destagings, Dinner with Hubby's co-workers, adventure to Fredericksburg that ended in an internal battle over a drink.

We went to see Insurgent at my favorite movie theater which has a swanky bar and 21+ section. We had an hour to kill, so we sat in the bar chatting where I discovered they had drinks tailored to the faction you identify with... SO OF COURSE I ORDERED DAUNTLESS before it even registered that I wasn't supposed to be drinking. As the drink gets brought to the table, Joey gives me shit about the alchohol. I sat there, took a sip, set it down, stared at it for a while, and eventually gave up and passed it to my husband. Instead I got a water with lemon and headed into the movie. Will Power 1 - Booze 0. Thanks for the push Joey.

Day 68, Saturday, 3/21: This morning I had a consult, tanning, make-up tutorial sesh with Yaya and Sabrina, and TopGolf with Joey and Ryan. Fun stuff aside, today was particularly awesome because I decided to try on a pair of Martin and Osa skinny jeans from 5 years ago and they FIT! I EVEN NEEDED A BELT! 

Honestly, I thought this was a fluke, so I ran to my "skinny closet" with all of my non-fat girl clothes in it and start ripping through jeans, shorts, and skirts from Gap, Banana, Express, and Limited... and I FIT in EVERY SINGLE ONE! I am officially out of fat girl clothes and back into normal sizes. Granted, it is still a 14 and bigger than I want to be, but it is a hell of a lot better than a woman's size 18/20! The picture below is me in the same jeans 5 years ago. I find this pic particularly interesting because even though I am the same size, I appear to be more toned. So yay for weight lifting!

 

Day 69, Sunday, 3/22: Gym, Tan, SHOPPING!  Today was pretty rad. Joey and I went to the gym. I ran for 45 minutes, Joey did Abs, then we met up with Josh and did a virtual Body Flow class. Holy moly that class is hard! It is apparently a mix of Yoga, Pilates, and Tai-Chi. I was sweating like a pig about half way through. I didn't know my body was capable of bending all those ways. After that hour was over, we grabbed a shake, went grocery shopping, stopped by a friends house to say hey, and popped in for a quick tan.

We got home around 5, ate dinner, then I headed off to Nordstrom to see what I could fit my behind into. I was like a kid in a candy store. I picked up a couple of Free People skirts and shirts, a Couture maxi-dress, and a Ralph gown. I can't tell you how much fun it was trying on super cute, trendy clothes.

Listen when I tell you the struggle for fashionable fat girl clothes is real! I have always considered myself a bit of a Fashionista, but trying to remain cute while your fat is pretty damn hard. If it wasn't for ModCloth and Eloquii, I wouldn't have been able to do it. Now, I am SUPER excited because I don't have to worry about that. You best believe my behind will be waltzing right into my favorite store on the planet, Banana Republic, next week.

Day 70, Monday, 3/23: I had Q in the morning and I did Yoga in the evening, other than that, I have no on earthly idea what I did today.

We will see if I can remember what I do next week. Talk to you later, gator.

Day 64: Busy Bee and T2T

Today is the beginning of a very busy week in the land on Nicole. This morning I had my training session with Q, then headed to Fairfax to meet with Piano movers to have my beautiful antique baby grand delivered. Once I got home, I cleaned the house and packed my car for this evening Gold's Gym ETC vending event where I repped T2T. The event went well and as usual I got to meet so many new friends (which is my favorite thing about being a vendor). I got home around 10 and started prepping for this weeks events. I have 2 staging, 2 destagings, a consult, 2 more training sessions, and a weekend full of activities. So, I am going to sleep now. I doubt I will have time to write in the next few days, so I will catch up with you later!

 

 

 

Day 52: I Might Be a Unicorn

Successful two-a-day, check. I am freaking exhausted right now. I really want to go to bed, but I feel compelled to write... and also Ryan, Joey, and I are watching Star Wars, so I can't very well go to bed yet. There is supposed to be a massive snow storm tomorrow, so the boys are staying up late with the HOPE good ole OPM shuts down. Fingers crossed.

I am tired because I went back to Caesare's  Kettlebell class for the first time in several weeks and after this mornings training session with Q, my arms were the last thing that wanted to get worked out. Our KB class consisted of 2 rounds of 7 one minute intervals. We did soccer kicks, squats, twists, partner plank rows, partner pass's with mountain climbers in between, and two versions of abs... you are on your back and in one version you have your knees up and reach from above your head and lift the KB and your shoulders off the floor. The second your legs and arms are strait up and you bring your shoulders up. (I don't know what they are called, so I thought I'd explain.)  I used the 27 pound kettle bell this time and it felt a little on the light side for some of the exercises, so I am going to have to bump up again.

Now, for the reason I am a unicorn.  Every girl with big boobs knows how awful it is to bounce up and down for ANY reason. That shit hurts. Well, during the KB soccer kicks, you are basically just jogging in place, which means a lot of jiggle, so I keep my arms up and my hands prepared to grab the girls when the jiggle gets too much. Really, I look like a prancing pony, but unicorns are waaayyyyy more sparkly, so duh. I dubbed myself a unicorn. Caes agrees, I am definitely a unicorn. Thank God that man did not have his camera.

 

Note: I realize this could be construed as I am a mythical creature who can't be found in a gym, but we all know that's not true... and rats are ugly... so I am redefining Gym Unicorn as the sparkly creature who prances around the local gym getting in real work. I am a PROUD Gym Unicorn.

 

My unicorn self was killing it this morning. Q had me doing rounds of the following: walking lunges, leg press, curls with resistance on the way down, weighted rows, and a machine that you pull the weight down with one arm while your elbow is tucked into your side. I don't know how many rounds we did, but it was a lot. The most exciting thing for me is we were waiting on the leg press, I looked over and saw the bench press, so I asked Q if I could try it. I did and it was AWESOME! Apparently I did 90 pounds. Two 25 pound plates and a 40 pound bar. I was so jazzed that I was able to do it, I went for a second round of 6 and made her take a picture.

 

 

I REAALLLYYY love lifting weights, like a lot... and the fact I am slowly building this upper body strength that I never thought I would is like the highlight of my life.

 

One of the highlights of my day started out first thing this morning. Yesterday I mentioned that Q was convinced my weight has been stagnate because I do not drank enough water and was retaining fluid. Yesterday was the first time I had actually drank the recommended gallon... so this morning I hopped on the scale and SURE ENOUGH Q was right... I finally saw the scale move. I was down one pound from the previous 3 days. So again today, I have drank well over a gallon and hope for more movement tomorrow. So off to bed for me, I'll talk to you tomorrow. 



 

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 48: Saturday - T2T Vending Take 2

Today I was at the ETC inaugural combine selling the fabulous T2T apparel. Let me tell you, I am so in love with this company and the product. The shirts are so much fun and I always get to talk to so many great people who are entertained by the shirts. Also, I am really going HAM with my display, I am not going to lie. So much pink! Check it out:

Todays sales weren't amazing given that the combine was rescheduled due to being snowed out the week before and the turnout wasn't what was expected. I did, however, manage to gather enough information to figure our a new strategy. I am going to make myself a pop up boutique. I cannot go through digging for sizes anymore, just to not have them and let down my now disheartened shopper. I came home this evening and made these fabulous size indicators, and bought another rack, so I am going to have all of my inventory available for people to peruse via size so they can get in and out easily. We'll see how it goes! Next event is on March 17th.

Now, I am off to Outback for dinner. I am really about to destroy a sweet potato and salmon. I'll talk to you tomorrow.

Day 43: Before and... During

At the end of todays training session I decided to get into the mirror... I guess its time for me to share. God I hate these photos.

Day 2:
 

 

Day 43:

 

 

 

 

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 33: I Am... Sasha Fierce

Ah, my favorite day of the week, Pilates and Pole! Today was fabulous, I had a 10 am Pilates class, roamed around Michael's for a while, made a bracelet, sold a sewing machine, hung out with some awesome puppy dogs, and went back to the gym for some S Factor Pole Fit where Q was teaching.

 

She had a special valentines surprise for all us ladies tonight. The playlist was only Beyoncé so we could channel our inner Sasha Fierce annnnnddddd we had pink moscato, chocolate covered cherries (which I did not eat), and roses. It was so sweet.

 

I had to take a few shots since everything  always looks better in red light:
 

 

 

After class Ryan, Joey, and I went to outback for dinner. It was so delicious. I had a filet, crab legs (no butter), salad, and potato. I really have no idea how outback cooks their potatoes so perfectly with no butter. It was everything I ever wanted in life. 

 

Now, I must go off to sleep from my food coma, I'll 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 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.