YYYEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!

I did it!!! My cholesterol is MUCH lower!!!! To celebrate, I've had a fever all weekend...yes, Christmas weekend! Whatever!!! My total was 167, HDL is 57, and LDL (which was the problem that started this whole "life change") is 88--29 points lower than last time! YEA ME!!! :-)

Round 2 With "The Mick"

I was right, he's a dirty old man. My chubby, flabby self does NOT stir this up...here's what happened

The Mick: "With this machine, what you're gonna want to do is (pause...look away from the machine...stare and follow with eyes, head, and body until he's now facing the other direction...wait for it....) work your stomach muscles."

My internal voice: Why did he stop talking?...OH...he IS a dirty old man.

She was about my age, but definately in shape and showing it off, strutting around in her Juicy pants, mid-rif top, and the blonde pony tail wasn't the only thing she had bouncing above the waist!!!

The workout: I still feel pretty good. Suprisingly, I'm not totally wasted after the workouts. I'm starting to get sore, of course. Tonight was a bunch of muscles again. Abs, hips, quads, butt, pecks, triceps, shoulders, back.

I go in for my cholesterol check tomorrow. We'll see how well I did over the past 6 months of changing my diet. I pray this has done me some good. If not, I'm not sure what the doc's going to recommend. He sounded scarey last time though..."If you don't change your diet, I'm going to do it for you." Whatever happens though, I AM going to get a good, solid breakfast with as much cholesterol as I want...maybe even sprinkle some on top for good measure. BRING ON THE BACON!!! and Merry Christmas, of course :-)

First Session

You know the old guy that trained Rocky Balboa, Mickey??? That's my trainer, only he goes by GC. He's 77, been "coaching" for over 50 years, and might have a little bit of a dirty-ol-man inside him. So, it started off with him telling me about how losing weight is a numbers game, input vs. output, blah, blah, blah. Then he said he believed in having a strong core. Then this is what happened:

GC: I want to strengthen your core.
Me: Ok
GC: I want you to get to a point where you can do that (pointing to the people working out with those ball thingys), but for now, let's use this chair.
(My internal voice: GEESH!!! Is it really THAT bad??)
Me: Ok

And, yes, it was really THAT bad. I started shaking pretty quickly, and he explained that in a couple of weeks, that should stop...LOL!!!

We did every machine there was. An intro, if you will. Amazingly, I'm not too sore today, and I feel pretty good. I go back Thursday for another round with "The Mick"...Rocky, Rocky, Rocky!!!!

"Before"...although it's really during...

I have now taken my "before picture" I made sure it captured my most flabby, poochy, and lumpy attributes. Hidiousness, and I'm sharing this for the purpose of explaining that even after losing 15 pounds, I obviously have a ways to go. And, yes, I spared you the back side...LOL!!!

So, what did I do about it??? I signed up for a personal trainer for one year, starting tomorrow. I think I'll have up to 8 sessions per month. According to their schedule, I'm supposed to lose 37 more pounds in the next 6 months, then spend the 6 months after that maintaining. I figure if I can lose 15 on my own, I need to not lose momentum. Of course, it is the holidays. Party party here, and a party party there, here a party, there a party, everywhere a party party. Oh...did I mention there is FOOD at EVERY party? :-) Not doing so hot right now, but hopefully that will change.

Gonna keep on fighting the fight here, and see what happens. I get my cholesterol checked in two days. We'll see how that turned out too :-)

6 Pounds of Holidays

Well, needless to say, the holidays have kicked in. One weekend of Thanksgiving festivities, followed the next weekend with Christmas festivities. BOOM, I'm up 6 pounds from where I was before Thanksgiving. GEESH!!! I honestly think it's all the salty food, coupled with the increased amount of food. I haven't eaten Tex-Mex in over a month, cheese is down by leaps and bounds, ham is up, dressing is up, chocolate is up, eating food at the clinic is up, etc, etc, etc!!! OH...and let's not forget the mounds of chips...I LOVE CHIPS!!! I haven't even made my appointment at the doc yet. I'm supposed to get my blood test this month...yikes! What a waste...sorta. Who knows. Why is change so freakin' hard?!? And...let's not forget that Christmas is still 3 weeks away...LOL!!! Bottom line, I had lost 15 lbs, and now I've gained 6 back. YUCK!!! Back to the drawing board I guess. YUCK!!! ;-)