2012 Week 8

This week was rather interesting as Cheryl took her ‘first’ little vacation away from her daily environment and routine by traveling from Florida to Illinois for the weekend. Now, the funny thing is that she didn’t tell me so when I was trying to reach her Friday for our weekly ‘check in’ and didn’t get ANY reply until Sunday–my imagination was all over the place, lol. See, being a trainer from far-away canNOT mean that being out of sight is ‘out of mind’, if anything I often feel more focused on someone that I don’t see. It’s extra work on my end to ensure they get the right results, but so worth it when they do! Apparently where Cheryl spent the weekend has less than good cell phone service. I was most pleased when she reached out to me Sunday, in the airport, to say she was just “fine” and actually had a great experience!

 

What she did was experience real ‘life’ while trying to maintain newly adopted lifestyle habits away from home and conveniences that are available to her only where she lives. And she did all the right things! She used what was available to her to get in a couple workouts—the great outdoors! Cheryl, unlike myself, enjoys running so her walk/jogging routines were a perfect fit! By the way I like to refer to those “walk joggers” out there as “woggers”—and there’s NOTHING wrong with that! My only advice would’ve been 12-15 short distant sprints. I do like sprints as you get the whole running thing finished faster and those short bursts of power are a proven fat burning/calorie burning exercise. As for her new eating habits, she made good choices because now she knows that eating right—makes you feel right! She seemed a tad disappointed about not losing a single pound but very proud that she maintained. I have to agree with her on being ‘proud’ that she maintained as I think we all know how easy it is to pack on a few pounds with a weekend of indulgence!

 

This week I’m giving her a new weight training routine. For the past month we’ve stuck to a lower body and upper body workout, along with some ab work. The upper body routines have been pyramid sets and her lower body more the standard 4 sets of 10 reps for a few exercise. I’ve also had her doing non-weighted lunges (ladies, if you want a nice butt, lunges and squats are your BFF’s). I’m proud she’s been keeping up with them, as evidenced by the compliments she’s receiving and the changes she is noticing herself! The only real way to alter your shape, build muscle and curves (healthy curves) is resistance training–period! Cheryl, having lost a LOT of weight previously is now at a place where her frame will really change using weights. I’m SO excited for her and, since she missed about 2 weeks in the gym, I’m granting her a ‘mulligan’ and giving her that time back to keep her ‘on-track’ with her goal. However, she doesn’t know this until she reads this…I don’t think she’ll mind. 😉 Until next week folks, stay focused—and get fit!

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This week was my big test–I went away to Illinois for a long weekend! I was out of my routine and on vacation so I figured it would be interesting to see how I managed. As I said last week, I am starting to see some big changes in my body. I see my legs getting a lot smaller (probably the biggest change to me cause I hate my legs…lol), my shoulders are getting more defined, I am starting to get a more defined and trim waistline, my face looks thinner and OMG I have collarbones (who knew…LOL)!!!

 

I was very afraid that going away would make me gain some weight and throw me out of my routine. What I actually learned was that with the right tools and mindset all you have to do apply what you have learned to a different scenario. I tried to make smarter choices, certainly not as perfect as normal food choices and when I made the “wrong” choices I scaled down my portion size to accommodate for my splurge. I knew working out would be a challenge since I was in a place where all there is for miles is rolling hills and more rolling hills…no gym or treadmill to be found. I made the best of the situation and got up early and did a jog/walk in the morning and despite almost getting run over by a car, chased by two HUGE dogs that jumped over a fence and looked at by the occasional local like “oh yeah this girl is NOT from here”, I was still able to fit my workout in…lol. When I weighed myself bright and early this morning I did not lose any weight but also I did not gain even one ounce…stayed the same…SCORE for me. What I learned is because I’m feeling so great, my body wants more and more success and it’s finally sinking in. Can’t wait to mix up my weight routine this week…BRING IT ON!!!!

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About Angela Lee, B.A., CPT

Angela has spent 16 years in a high-profile corporate career but elected to follow her dream of educating others to take better care of themselves by becoming a Certified Personal Trainer (CPT). She's also a National Physique Committee (NPC) competitor and belongs to one of the nation's largest and successful competitive teams. Lastly, as a survivor of childhood cancer she's learned at a young age the importance of making good choices about health, maintaining a positive outlook on life and the impact both have on overall vitality long-term.