After the Glass of Wine...

I'm not sure if it's the wine, or maybe just because everyone else is asleep? I just know I am already feeling much better! Either way, I have a story to tell.

Last week (I'll never forget the day - Wednesday October 20, 2010) was the first time I did NOT want to go to personal training. It was five weeks exactly that I had been working out with Sergeant Shurts.  I was kind of stressed about work stuff, but mostly I was worked up about the scale. I  had not worked out the Friday, Sunday or Tuesday prior to that day. Monday's workout had been tough to get through and Tuesday was my first day off, since I had started exercise, that I did not even care that I didn't workout.  I get on the scale every single morning. (Save your breath, it's what I do, nothing you say will stop me). Because I get on the scale every morning, I am accustomed to seeing one of 3 things: 1 or 1.5 lbs up, same weight, 1.5 or 2 pounds down.  I know swelling, salt intake, what I ate the day before, what I ate 2 days before, the time of month, dehydration, (hold on...I'm about to talk real classy now) and needing to go #1 or #2 can affect my weight.

I usually don't get too worked up about a small gain. What I am NOT accustomed to, is a weight gain Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday!!! Holy Cow! I know I had cheated a bit, indulging in homemade white bread and alcoholic drinks over the weekend, but was it enough for a 4 pound gain over the next 4 days?! I was just sickened to the core that one weekend of being a bit less stringent would set me back 2 WEEKS of hard earned weight loss. I was truly beginning to doubt my hard work was paying off!

I was thinking about how much I didn't want to continue with the personal training as I drove to meet with Sergeant Shurts on that Wednesday morning.  The closer I got, the more I thought about turning around... Finally, I decided I owed it to myself to show up.  I didn't want to work out, but I thought maybe there would be SOMETHING she could tell me, something to change my frame of mind.

I walked in and Brenda was just packing up after her PT session with Eva. I looked at them both and then blurted out "Eva, we gotta do something! I didn't want to come today. I don't want to be here. I'm sick of this and I'm tired of working so hard. Please measure me. I know it's a week earlier than you wanted, but I need to see if my measurements have changed.

Eva says "Okay, let's do it." I look at Brenda and ask her to write down the numbers, so Eva can do the measuring. Eva hands her "the book" (this is the holy grail of Julie's weight loss, including past "training session accomplishments" and future training session plans, goals and methods of torture. As well as,  the measurements Eva took the morning of my first PT session 5 weeks prior).

She starts with my waist. She doesn't look at my previous measurements. She tells Brenda the number. Brenda says "That's down 2 inches!" She measures my hips. She tells Brenda the measurement. Brenda said "Are you sure? That can't be right. Do it again" I'm thinking "Oh my gosh it hasn't changed, or worse it's gone up!" Eva says "This is her hips, I had to have measured here." I said "Maybe it was here," moving the measuring tape down a bit, where I thought the measurement might me smaller. Eva said "No, that's too low, this is your hips." She was right, the tape measure went right around my hip bones.  I say "Okay, measure again," She measures the same spot again. She tells Brenda the same number. Brenda says "Holy Shit! You actually lost 8 1/4 inches off your hips!"

I didn't hear her right. I must not have heard her. She says it again. She is lying. I almost gave up. She has to be lying. People tell me I look like I've lost weight, my clothes are fitting different, but this can't be true! I think I said, "No" and "It can't be true" and "Are you sure" and "Your lying to me" and then I was shaking. My hands went to cover my face as the tears began pouring out. I was so shocked and happy and scared to believe it was true.  All I could do was cry and say "Oh my Gosh!" over and over again. I felt like someone had just told me I had won a Billion Dollars. Eva hugged me and Brenda hugged me and I was still so shocked. As Eva continued to measure me I stood crying and shaking. I remember them saying I had lost 4 1/2 inches off my booty but all the rest was a blur.  They wrote down everything and totaled it up for me. All in all I lost OVER 20 inches!!!

I woke up Wednesday morning dreading my Personal Training workout. I got on the scale and felt like I had already failed. I was ready to throw in the towel. I was ready to give up... ready to quit... resigned to a life of fat.  Never finding the "Thin" within myself.  An hour and a half later, I was ready to do anything Eva asked me to do. I was inspired, motivated and determined. Losing Inches and Gaining Momentum!

What a "Life Lesson" I learned last Wednesday morning!

Over and Over again, I have to be reminded:
Do not give up on yourself... Do not give up on your dreams...  Do not lose sight of your goals...

As always, Love the Life you Live!
Seriously!
-Julie Brush