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Rough. That is what I am hereby dubbing this week as.

Our initial workouts were nothing to laugh at, but I was able to hold my own. Or at least I thought so. Apparently my body was shrieking at me that no, that’s not quite right. See, I got sick on Friday. Like lay-on-the-bathroom-floor-because-it-feels-good-against-your-cheek sick (and you know which cheek I’m talking about people…think face). And while I didn’t remain on the bathroom floor forever, I did move to the couch – which I occupied until Monday evening. That meant I missed a workout session. It also meant that my diet was out the window – I only consumed toast and other wonderfully carb-based foods. So for a while it was rough going.

When I was finally feeling well enough to resume my diet and workout, I had more “rough-ness” ahead of me. We are supposed to eat every 3 hours. You wouldn’t think it would be hard to eat so often, right? Wrong! At least for now it’s a challenge (or rough) for me. And did I mention that my first day back to working out we had our weigh in?!? Well, we did. And it was an eye-opener (I’m not real big on the whole scale thing…hmm, I wonder why?). Sooo, yeah, that was rough too.

Good news though! This week is over! And so a new dawn approaches. A new beginning. A new week.

Adria

Wow, what another great week. I’ve been working out and training now for about a week and a half. Lisa and the other trainers have really shown me there are so many ways to exercise. Last Friday was really intense. We were running up and down a hill in 80 degree weather. I was so ready to give up but I stuck it out the whole time. It made me really proud because even though I was out of breath and sweating like crazy, I kept moving. It doesn’t matter that I did throw up afterwards haha, it’s moments like that make me realize what I am capable of. This week, we also have worked with kettle bells, which really work out your whole body. I can definitely feel it the next morning. Also, we have been doing lots of cardio whether it’s on the treadmill or doing aerobics. Sometimes I find myself not being able to keep up with the pace of the workouts, but Lisa reminds me just to keep moving and I’ll get there someday. I really appreciate the trainers encouragement and it feels really nice to have such a nice group of woman in this with me.

One of things Lisa keeps reminding us is that whatever you do outside of the gym is just as important as what you do inside the gym. Food is what got me to this weight and food is going to be the hardest challenge for me in losing the weight. I feel like I have made many great improvements like giving up soda and ice cream. But at the same time, I still find myself craving those fatty foods. I am trying to teach myself proper nutrition and it’s not easy. I am just going to take my struggle with food day by day. I want to just really try and think about what I am eating before I put it in my mouth. I need to stop using food for comfort and do other constructive healthy things instead. I want to become an all around healthy person again and exercise and healthy eating is the key.

-Melanie

I kind of think Lisa has been peeking in my windows.  The day she gave us our personalized diets I had pulled ground veal out of the freezer to make salisbury steaks for dinner.  I also checked to see if I had enough bow ties for the garlic butter noodles my kids love to mix with the broccoli I was making.  After our morning routine at the gym on Friday she went over our menus and saved mine for last.  No red meat, no pasta, no bread…  I started looking around for one of the other Ticas at the gym.

We’re not big red meat eaters really but spaghetti is my go-to meal.  My “what-am-I-going-to-make-in-twenty-minutes-that-all-of-the-kids-will-actually-eat” meal. And I also thought having to go to Flab to Fab would give me more reason to frequent the Bread Store more often.  We probably eat it with every meal, every day.  Now, neither my kids nor my husband signed up for this.  I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to have the energy to explain everyday for the next eleven weeks why my four year old cant have his PB&J or my husband, who is half Italian, cant have pasta.  Having children (and a husband) has taught me to pick my battles.  Mommy leaving the house to workout, yes.  Spending a little more money on healthier foods for all of us, definitely.  Twenty uninterrupted minutes to take a hot shower in a locked bathroom after these workouts, with every fiber of my being. Not buying the kids’ favorite breakfast food (English muffins, bagels, and waffles) or my husband’s snacks is not one I have to win…just yet anyway.  So I spent my Sunday cleaning, portioning, and cooking the chicken breast that will make up most of my meals for the week.  It was a pain but it is making eating properly less difficult.  More importantly it has made NOT eating the wrong things less difficult as well.  This is my most difficult part of this challenge.

Its hard to be sedentary with kids so the exercise portion of the challenge is the easiest promise for me to keep. Not finishing my kids’ plates and not eating cereal have been the most difficult. Exercise makes me feel good; it gives me a sense of accomplishment that I carry with me throughout the day. And as silly as it sounds, not having ice cream and cake and cookies and hamburgers and hot dogs when everyone else is, really made me feel left out. But in learning how to deal with such silliness, I have recognized that the things that are in regular rotation at our table are setting my kids up to deal with the same stuff that is holding me down. I cannot allow that to happen. That realization has brought me to this–Lisa can look all up in and through my house. She can even bring Shanna–who is awesome Her plan has not only drastically changed how I will eat but how I think about feeding my family because I intend on keeping them Fabulous. This is my ultimate goal.

PUSH!!! Everyday I am saying, “push…just 10 more minutes… push now 5 more… push 1 minute left…push you can do it come on!”  Everyday is a new experience for me, a new challenge, how far can i push myself?  Well the answer is already clear, each day I just push a little bit more.  I did 10 minutes yesterday well today I’m doing 15!  Each time I walk into the gym it feels like a breath of fresh air…I know that everyday I workout is one step closer to being healthy and a more active person…one step closer to running at the park with my son…one step closer to a whole new lifestyle a whole new Kelly!   I did not realize before I started the full effect this would have on every aspect of my life.  Not only do I physically feel better when I workout I have already started to feel better about myself,  I’m happier, I just feel good inside.  I’m not saying by any means it has been easy, because it has not.  Everything we do hurts, but it is worth it and I just have to keep telling myself that.  Sometimes I can’t do what everyone else is doing, but Lisa and all the staff at Flab to Fab understand that, and when I can’t do something they show me a variation that I can do.

We had measurements done week one, this week we stepped onto the scale.  This was the hardest part for me so far, I weighed in quite a bit higher than I thought I would.  I guess the severity of my obesity never really hit me until this competition.   I did not expect this to be as hard as it is…I definitely feel it was an eyeopener to how unhealthy I really am.  I just don’t know how I got to this point, everyone always assumes if you are fat you must eat all the time, for me that’s not the case. I have never had the problem of eating to much,  my problem with food has always been not eating enough, eating more than once a day as well as making sure I eat a variety of foods so that my body gets everything it needs.  I have been eating every 3 hours since we started and I’m trying to eat the foods I need.  I have more energy already, which is amazing.

I can’t wait to see how all of us do!  Every girl in this understands what the other girls are going though and are so supportive,  we stick together we push each other and I’m thankful that these wonderful women are here for this roller coaster to a healthier life with me,  We can all do it and we all will!

Ah, week two in Thin It to Win It… I still really can’t believe I’m part of all of this. I really must say, it’s more than a test of physical strength. Over the past weekend, I was so sore that I thought I might cry, and after a long, long walk, I almost thought I wouldn’t be able to make it on Monday. I had my doubts… Could I keep doing this? Do I really have what it takes? I chased any negative thoughts away, however, and, first thing Monday morning, I was there. What surprised me was that, as I began to work out, I really was beginning to feel better. The ache was going away, and I found myself so ready to keep on going.

Despite my reignited eagerness to get into the action, this week has been slightly precarious. Over the weekend, I must have come into contact with an ill individual, for on Tuesday, I awoke with a horrid case of pink eye. Such a condition is highly contagious, and because I don’t wish to get everyone sick, I’ve been home all week. Both of my eyes have been effected, however, I am getting better. I’ve been doing some rigorous exercising at home, yet I can’t wait for Monday to roll around so I can get in and start up my workouts at the gym once more.

Everyone at the gym has continued to be so amazing… Even when I nearly broke down last week, they encouraged me, and reassured me that I would be alright, and that I shouldn’t feel down about needing to stop when I needed to or being sick. Everyone goes through it. I’ve begun to find my pace, where my strengths and weaknesses are, what areas of my body I need to work on… My diet, although there have been a few slip ups, is excellent and I’ve been doing better than I thought I might. Everything about this program is amazing… I can’t wait to get back in next week and kick some butt!

All I have to say is WOW! I feel like I have been experiencing a whirlwind of emotions lately. I am working out and pushing myself harder than I have in my entire life! We’ve made it through the first week and boy does every muscle in my body feel it. I’ve never been so happy to hurt so much! You know what they say, no pain no gain! That sure is the case here. Every day that goes by I think it gets a little easier for me. I just can’t express how thrilling this whole competition has been.

One momentous occasion we had was our official weigh in…YIKES! I hope to never see that number on the scale again. It definitely scared me but I think it’s going to make me work that much harder. Nobody said this was going to be easy. I think the hardest thing I am dealing with so far is trying to completely change my diet. I never thought I ate that unhealthy but I am quickly realizing I was very wrong. As much as I would love to win, my biggest goal is to make a lifestyle change. I want eating healthy food and working out to be a part of who I am. I already have more energy and stamina than I did when I started! It’s great to have so many people supporting me and cheering me on. I think I might be the luckiest girl in the world.

I’m starting to feel the momentum of our workouts build up behind me.  Working out so hard has motivated me to be more careful with what I am eating because I don’t want to negate the work I’ve done.  I’ve even started to look forward to the workouts!

The pain that I feel after a workout is so worth it!  It shows me that I did the work, and I can feel the proof of it.  I might feel like dying during the workout, but afterwards I feel so good about myself!