Remotivation

I never thought I would be a woman that has a personal trainer. 

When I joined my gym (the most amazing fitness center ever), I got two free sessions.  The first was a fitness assessment; the second was an introduction to the equipment and set up of a weight training routine.  The membership specialist randomly assigned me to a staff member when I joined.  I got Lisa.

Lisa has been great.  After our first two sessions she has sent me emails to encourage me, and is always friendly when I see her around.  But is Lisa worth $60 an hour?  I found out on Monday.

My weight loss has been slower lately.  I also have tried to start running some, but it hurt my knees a little bit and I was concerned, that as a non-runner, I didn’t know how to do it right.  Plus, my deepest confession is---I have not lifted weights in about a month.  The routine was boring, and I would rather do cardio.  After I won the New Year Challenge, I pretty much lost all interest in strength training.  (Terrible, I know!)

So I made an appointment with Lisa.  She gave me a laundry list of things to do:

1.        Exercise less.  Apparently my four hour workouts on the weekend aren’t helping me as much as I think they are.  Also, I was instructed to take 1 day off per week.  This may sound blissful, but as someone who is obsessed with the concern of losing momentum, this is not easy to hear.

2.       Eat a little more.  Lisa thinks I need to fuel up more to burn more.  My concerns with #1 are equally reflected here.  However, we did talk about how I need to spread out my calories better throughout the day.  I tend to eat small meals for breakfast and lunch and then gorge at dinner.  I don’t do this because I am famished, it is because I realize I haven’t eaten enough and need to take in more calories, but apparently I may be doing as much damage as just not eating enough.  I know that eating 5-6 small meals is better, but I struggle getting it together.  She encouraged me to try at least 4 meals.  I am going to give it some real effort.

3.       “Get off the damn elliptical.”  Yep, that’s a quote.  90-120 minutes daily has my muscles so trained that I am not challenging them and losing the opportunity to become fitter.  This is a going to be hard for me, because on my elliptical row, I am surrounded by my fan club, and I like it.  I am going to take her advice though. 

4.       Get new glass slippers.  My shoes have too many miles on them.  Not sure I have ever worn out a pair of sneakers before.  Especially in less than three months.  That goes on my to-do when funds are available list.

5.       Sleep more.  Well, we talked about that, but it just isn’t going to happen.  I know I don’t get enough, I know it affects my weight loss and fitness and I know more sleep improves overall health.  Well, make the days longer then, because I just can’t. 

6.       Restart my lifting schedule.  She gave me a whole new circuit of activities.  Since I have proven myself as someone who actually will come to the gym, they are a lot harder than before.  Like REALLY hard.  I am actually excited about kicking some ass.

7.       See her again, in 6 weeks.  We scheduled an appointment already!

It was great to have a fitness specialist talk about my challenges with me (Lisa has all sorts of letters behind her name—I am not certain of her exact qualifications, but I know she has credentials).  In many cases, I KNEW what she was telling me, but it still helps to hear it and have someone provide incentive, education and motivation.  If you can work it in your budget, I recommend working in a trainer, at least every few months to keep you on track with your goals!

Baptist East Milestone, or my trainer, Lisa did not request this review and have not compensated me in any way to talk about their services.  All opinions expressed in this blog are my own.  Should Baptist East Milestone or another fitness company want to send me product or coupons for services, I would be happy to share my honest thoughts about how a particular item or service worked for me, and would disclose such perks to readers.   I can be contacted at discoveringmyinnerprincess@yahoo.com.