The Fitness Program

The Program:

• Nutrition plan set up by trainer
• Cardio – 4 to 5 days a week for at least 30 minutes a day
• Strength training – program set up by trainer with 15 pound weights, 2 times a week
• Water Aerobics – 2 nights a week for 45 minutes
• Water Zumba – 1 night a week for 45 minutes

The Story:
I am one of the “been there, done that, bought the T-shirt” people when it comes to exercise programs. I have tried everything and everyone… twice.  I’ve done Weight Watchers.  Jenny Craig.  Workout DVDs.  Workout equipment.  Nothing ever seemed to work.

Since 2008, when I tipped the scale at 260 pounds, I looked around at my life and realized I wasn’t just unhappy… I was miserable.  I was slowly killing myself by poisoning my body with excess food and alcohol, and devastated enough to literally try ending my life more than once.  It was at that point, when I had gotten so bad that looking in a mirror would cause me to burst into a tears, and anxiety attacks would prevent me from getting out of bed in the morning that I decided I needed to change.

I realized I wasn’t helpless. I had gotten myself into this mess, and I could get out of it.  It would take a long time and dedication, but I could do it.  So, inch by inch, pound by pound (30 inches and 66 pounds later, to date!) I have been reclaiming my life and my confidence back.

Today, I am not ashamed to say that I am on Zoloft to handle my panic attacks and Seasonal Affective Disorder.  This is the first time in YEARS that I actually feel like myself, in control, normal, and happy.  I visited with a personal trainer at a well known gym in the state (a gym that trains professional body builders, none-the-less, so to say that was intimidating is an understatement!) and started a very aggressive diet and exercise program.  I know what I can eat, how much, and when.  And I know my butt better be in the gym more than it’s out of it.  Implementing these changes from the trainer has catapulted my loss in the past two months.  I’m down another 24 pounds.

The main thing about the fitness program that has changed this time is how open I am about talking about it, when I succeed and when I fail.  I am doing this solely for myself, not because someone told me to, or someone told me I was fat. I honestly love exercising now, and get anxious if I can’t do it.  I ran a mile in 8:42 yesterday, which is something that I honestly never thought was possible.  All the barriers to who I was and what I could do I am now discovering are just in my head.  There truly are no limits to what you can accomplish!