Pushups 2 Pin ups Boot camp- Day 1

Today I sweat sugar, as they say at Push Ups 2 Pin Ups.

I did it!

This morning I rolled out of bed and instead of heading to my gym to do my standard workout, I begrudgingly fearfully excitedly rolled on over to Concord's local boot camp for women.

When I say that I was scared, I mean that I had to talk myself into going over and over and over and over and over until the moment the doors opened and I walked inside with about a dozen other women.  I hushed the voices that said, "you're tired today, just start on Wednesday.  Don't worry about it.  You know you'll do it eventually, when you're ready.  What's one day? It's going to be so hard.  You'll be the worst one there.  You won't be able to keep up."    I just bit the bullet and I started moving.

I am so proud of myself.

And I was totally the worst one there, but I didn't care and I don't think that anyone else did either.

Even though I work out every day, I'm just not fit.  I work out for lots of reasons, my number one reason being to relieve stress and work through emotions.  I'm not really one to push myself.  Though, I do workout hard from time to time, I usually stay within my comfort zone.

Today, I was so far out of my comfort zone that I forgot it even existed.  I was presented with the hardest workout that I've ever had, and though I had to modify some aspects of it to my own fitness level, I stuck it out and my body feels like jelly.

Again, I am so proud of myself.

The trainer LaTasha, was A-MAZ-ING.  She was the perfect combination of caring and unforgiving.  I felt motivated, understood and inspired the whole time I was there, and I am really excited to return.  I am really excited to push myself.  And I am really excited to get in the best shape of my life.

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment, so I am just going to go back to my gym afterward and try to get in a nice strengthening workout, but on Wednesday I am back to Pushups 2 Pinups for my second boot camp.

As I wrote previously, this is a bikini boot camp for me.  I am pairing these difficult workouts with a very clean and healthy diet for the next two weeks.

After my shower today, I put on my first bikini ever and took my "before" pictures.  Friends, this was a really difficult task for me. I have anxiety just thinking about them.  I even considered posting them now so that they don't haunt me like some sort of dirty secret, but I think that I'll wait until the end of the two weeks so that I can post them with the confidence that I have improved.

My friend Amber texted me this yesterday and I've been thinking about it ever since.  It's really resonating with me, making me feel strong and capable- which all I ever really want to be.  :)

I feel like today was a turning point for me.  Something really good is about to happen.

A New Challenge!

I am super-excited ya'll!  I have won two free weeks at a fitness boot camp called Push-ups to Pinups!  

If you've ever read my blog, you know that last year I lost about 70 pounds in under 6 months time.  Statistically, because of the quick rate of my weight loss, I am damned to regain these pounds (and 25 more) within two years time, and trust me, it's not my first time at the rodeo.  Call me Kirstie Alley.   

The good news, I have kept the 70 lbs that I lost off of my body for 8 months now.  

The bad news, I've gotten a little bit lazy.

I promised myself that after maintaining my weight for six months I would reevaluate my body and decide if I wanted to make any changes.  As planned, a couple of months ago I reevaluated and decided that I'd like to really tone up and lose about 20 more pounds.  Something really needs to click for me when making these changes and I just couldn't get in the right head-space to make it happen at that time.  Motivation was no where to be found.  In the past couple of months I have seen my work-outs become lazier and my diet become sloppier.  I am usually pretty shocked when I get on the scale and see that my weight hasn't fluctuated at all.  

And last week at 8:26.15 on Wednesday morning while the sky was overcast and the sun set low some point, I got back to harder workouts at the gym and someone triggered my motivation button and I began to feel excited about fitness again.

... so I went swimsuit shopping at the TJ Maxx (I can't bring myself to spend $100 on a swimsuit).  While shopping for a trusty tankini, I found a bikini that I LOVED.  And better yet, it was marked from $112 to $29.99.  And despite the fact that I couldn't bring myself to so much as leave the dressing room to look in the vanity mirrors, I swallowed the pill and bought the bikini.  

Isn't it just beautiful? 

The following day I learned that I won this mini-membership to the boot camp.  Because I need a huge change in my exercise routine, this could not have come at a better time.  I feel like I've been sitting at the bottom of a rut and someone just threw me a climbing rope to shimmy up.  

I have decided that beginning on Monday, I will begin both a diet and exercise boot camp.  My challenge will be to see how much I can transform my body in two weeks time.  I will eat 1500 calories per day, mostly in raw vegetables and lean proteins and go to the boot camp or the gym every, single day.  I will drink only water (buh-bye wine) and I will eat no grains (which I'm not supposed to anyway).  

My goal is to feel confident in my new bikini!  At the end of this two week period, I hope that my transformation is enough to post before and after pictures in it! 

Here is what I look like now.  This photograph was taken yesterday.  

I am going to rock this challenge.