Was I lying to myself?

The week before Christmas I was at the mall getting a race car for S2. While there I noticed that the gym was having a special where childcare was free with membership (the gym had a kiosk at the mall, not a gym in the mall). Well, I have always claimed that I am out of shape because even if I could pay $20 a month to go to the gym, I couldn't afford the $80 - $100 in child care it would cost me while I went to the gym. Now, was that just an excuse or was it the truth? Time to test myself.

So I asked the guy about it and found out that for just $279 I would have a 15 month VIP membership (so that's averages out to $18.60 per month), which included up to 90 minutes of child care for each of my kids every day! The only catch was that you had to pay it either up front or in three installments, no month to month. So now I had to face myself and find out if I had been lying to myself (and to everyone else) or if this was the deal that I had been waiting for. It was the deal I had been waiting for. Taking some money that we had gotten for Christmas, I paid for the whole thing up front.

I started going to the gym the day after Christmas and have gone 5x a week ever since. So in the three weeks that I have been going, I have lost two pounds (not very impressive) AND 2% of my body fat! Hooray. Needless to say those stats are keeping me motivated. I also signed up for a personal trainer once a month ($20 a month) to help me keep on track and help me feel accountable. My eating habits have also changed. Instead of eating only one or two meals a day (because I am always running around) I am eating at least four and am keeping a food journal.

Plus, I LOVE going. It is so nice to have time and do something for myself! It is also a great stress reliever so I can better deal with what is going on. I feel so much better now. The first two weeks I was too sore and tired to feel better, but that has gone away now. It's so good to really sweat again. When I was in high school, I played basketball, volleyball and softball plus rode my bike everywhere. In college I didn't play as many organized sports, but I still rode my bike and I took swimming and weight training. After I got married and moved to the frozen land of Rexburg, my activity decreased as I was working full time and commuting. Then I got pregnant and well, it's been downhill ever since. The more out of shape I got, the worse my back and knees got preventing me from doing things and making a vicious cycle.

Well, apart from the other improvements I've made in three weeks, I have strengthened my back so much that it doesn't bother me as much as it used to and my knees are doing fine. So there is more motivation to continue. The only down side is that in order to get the child care at the times that I need it, I have to call in a week in advance-the furthest out they'll let you schedule. So it is a bit of a pain to try and remember to call every morning to get the best times, but it is well worth it. Plus, I usually go when S1 is in school and S2 and S3 love to go to the gym daycare.

Okay, here is the nitty gritty for those of you who care to know (and for journaling purposes), for the rest, just go to another post. When I go, four days a week I warm up on the bike for 10 minutes. Then I do my weight training, which is a four day cycle which I always mix up so my body doesn't get stuck in the same old rut. One day it's triceps, another back and biceps, another shoulders and abs, and last my legs. Then if I have time before my child care is up or I have to leave early to get S2 from preschool, I do 20 minutes on the treadmill. On my fifth day I do cardio. It's 10 minutes on the bike, 20 minutes on the treadmill and then I repeat it.

As far as eating, I have been told that if you don't eat within an hour of getting up, then your body goes into starvation mode and stores the first 1000 calories that you eat as fat (a random trainer told me that). How much of that I buy into (especially the one hour part), I'm not sure. But breakfast is supposed to jumpstart your metabolism and if it's not going, you aren't going to be burning as many calories. So, I bought a box of Slimfast Meal Replacement Drinks and I have one of those for breakfast (meal #1)as I get kids off to school. I have to pour it over ice and choke it down over the course of a half an hour, but it seems to be helping. The first two weeks I went to the gym I was still busy eating all the holiday crap that we had around. I just can't throw it out- that would be a waste!

Meal #2 is mid morning and it's usually whole wheat toast with either an egg or fruit. Meal # 3 is some kind of lunch with veggies or salad and a sandwich with some type of protein. Sometimes it's fresh salsa (only if I can get it on sale) and chips with avocados (also on sale). Meal #4 is dinner. That I keep pretty normal but I am trying to watch how many "extra" calories get added to it in the way of dressings and such.

Plus I am drinking a ton of water now. At least one glass with every meal, but usually closer to two. And I am taking a multi-vitamin. One of those that I have had in my cupboard for ages just I never remembered to take it! Now I get one almost everyday.

So, hopefully the next time you see me I will be looking better. I know that I will at least be feeling better- especially since I am not a liar!