I'm back!

Wow. Friday was not a good day for me. To anyone who was concerned about me over the weekend, I climbed out of the hole. I'm back to my usual self today and I was raring to go for the workout this morning. It was a good one. I even enjoyed the jumping jacks, because I was so ready to dive back into this competition. I did a lot of thinking Friday and over the weekend and here's what I decided: I would eat whatever I wanted this weekend to get my poutiness out of my system and to prepare to crack the whip on my diet. Starting Monday (today), it's back to South Beach Phase I, because the only time I ever lost significant weight was when I followed that diet. If energy during workouts becomes an issue, I'll add some fruit. Along with the diet changes, I'm adding 5 extra hours of cardio this week. These are the changes I need to make this week to ensure I get the motivation of seeing results on Friday.

I apologized to my trainer today for ignoring him after I got my results. He said it was fine and that he went in and checked them after I left. The other trainers told him I wasn't too happy. He was surprised by my results last week as well. He told me that he's been noticing that I'm really slimming down and toning up, which was awesome to hear since he always sees me at my grubbiest. He said that when he saw me in my regular clothes on Friday that I looked even smaller so he was expecting a big loss. In so many words, he said that I've been busting my butt at the workouts and that I should stick with it and not be discouraged. It was a lot more effective when he said that today than when the other trainers said it on Friday, since he's actually seeing my progress. When someone who works out for a living and sees you turning red and dripping with sweat says you're getting slimmer, it blows away the biggest of gold stars that any teacher could give you. [I can't wait to get home and tell my husband, who I'm sure will respond with, "I told you so."]

Now for the actual workout part of today's workout. We started with a similar breakdown to Friday: weights, abs, cardio. At the weight station, we did bicep curls for the first time in this whole competition. We also did leg work, revisiting the band-around-the-ankles move (hereby dubbed The Band Shuffle) and wall squats. Anyone who has ever done a wall squat will tell you that they are hard, especially when your trainers make you hold them for minutes on end. Today, our trainer made them harder. While in the squat, we had to hold an eight pound medicine ball between our knees. Every muscle in my thighs was burning. It started with the inner thighs, then spread until even my outer hips were burning. I asked Jeff if we could do these again on Wednesday since anything so painful must be very effective. I only got a few dirty looks from the other girls.

Another interesting move we did was a variation on the bridge pose. We did it with our heels on the center of the BOSU trainer, slowly lifting each heel to take tiny steps up and down while holding our hips as high as we could. I could feel my thighs working to maintain stability. A few days ago, we did a different variation where you get into the bridge pose and then hold it while straightening one leg after the other, keeping your knees together. Frankly, the pose is challenging enough for me in its original form, but I guess the variations keep it interesting.

At the ab station, we did bicycles and dying bugs and then moved to leg extensions. I've never been good at them. You lie on your back with your hands under your tail bone and your knees to your chest. Slowly, extend your legs until they are straight and about six inches from the ground. I remember the first time I attempted these in middle school-I could not even do one. All of my weight is centered around my hips and thighs and my abs couldn't hold them. Well, today, I was able to do them! My legs were closer to a foot off the ground, but my abs still got a good workout. Speaking of progress, I did so much better at the incline push-ups today that Jeff noticed and commented.

Summary: Workouts work and I'm back in the game and ready to work even harder.

[It may pay off even more than I thought, because there are rumors that the program will be extended if most people stick with it. I can't say no to free training!]