I threw on my clothes, made a glass of ice water, grabbed a protein bar, and was out the door in less than 15 minutes. Oh, and I brushed my teeth in there somewhere...
They had us in a separate "beginners" area with a trainer (just for us this week, so we could learn to do some of the basic exercises properly and at a slower rate). I also personally think they didn't want to kill us the first week. We noticed the much larger, non-beginner group moves at a much faster pace.
During the first five minutes, we stretched; just this was hard for me, and my body wanted to lie on the ground and give-up. But, I forced myself to keep moving. The first Monday of the month, Get You in Shape does "fitness testing," so you go through a series of exercises ranging from push-ups to running and you "test" to see how many reps or laps you can do in a minute while your partner records your results. I didn't think I could do *ANY* pull-ups when the trainer showed me the equalizer and how do to a "modified" pull-up. In fact, I think I laughed out loud at the thought; imagine my surprise when I did 31 pull-ups in a minute! Yes, I said 31. I felt a little less defeated in that moment...and once again, I started to believe...yes, I can do this!
Brad dropped little goodie bags off for us during that first workout that included amongst other things an Advocare shake; I knew the trainer was recommending Advocare, which I immediately dismissed as "not real food" and "not worth the money." After that first workout, however, around 6:45 am as I arrived home, my body was shaky and in need of nutrition and water. My husband and I glanced at each other with the same desperate look, and I ran to the pantry to get the blender. We will try the shake!
The shake samples we had were chocolate flavor. I added a banana to my husband's for extra sweetness as he is bigger than me and needs some extra calories. To my amazement, he actually liked it. Neither of us are huge breakfast eaters; most of the week, we skip breakfast. The next morning, however, there were no Advocare shake samples, but I had planned ahead and purchased some additional pouches of another meal replacement shake that looked comparable. My husband and I both felt after Monday that we could "do" a shake for breakfast. I made it, and handed it to my husband as he was leaving for work; he took one sip and said, "no way...it tastes awful." He went off saying he would have a handful of trail mix for breakfast. I drank the shake myself, but I must admit, it wasn't very good.
Tuesday night, Get You in Shape was having an orientation meeting for the Advocare 24-Day Challenge and Summer Slim Down Challenge. It was at 7:15 pm at Brad's home in Coppell. In between Get You in Shape workout days, you have a cardio assignment to complete on your own. Even though I was incredibly tired and sore from the Monday workout, I went out and walked, and even pushed myself to jog for 15 seconds here and there, prior to arriving at Brad's house. By the time I walked into that meeting, I was feeling exhausted and again, shaky (my body just wasn't used to any exercise). He told everyone to grab a drink off the tray in the living room and sit down; I had no idea what the drink was, but I figured extra hydration certainly couldn't hurt me. I drank it...and as the meeting went on, I noticed I was feeling remarkably improved. Then Brad pointed out that what I was drinking was an Advocare energy drink called Spark.
Despite my initial resistance to everything Advocare, I found myself signing up for the whole thing - the 24 Day Challenge, the Summer Slim Down Challenge and all the Advocare products to support them. If Advocare made me feel this great, I knew I had to have some, and I wasn't leaving without getting a box of those chocolate shakes for the next morning (which Brad's wife generously let me have on the honor system)!
It was just as difficult getting-up on Wednesday as it was on Monday. The workout was hard, but incredibly, I was already feeling stronger! Thursday was the 4th of July holiday; I didn't really do my cardio, and I allowed myself to have "one bad meal" within proportions. I still tracked my food though using the MyFitnessPal app on my iPhone. I was so tired by Thursday, however, that I allowed myself a nap in the early afternoon; I thought I would lay down for 20 minutes, but I immediately fell into a deep sleep and conked-out for over three hours. On top of that, I went to bed at 10 pm; no fireworks for me this year...too tired. But, I was very grateful that I was off from work and could allow myself the sleep I needed!
Friday, we got up at 5:00 am and headed to the park, even though my husband and I were technically on vacation and could have gone later in the day. One of the best things about the 5:30 am workout is seeing the sunrise. When the alarm went off, I didn't want to move, but once I was out of bed, I was fine...actually less tired than on Monday or Wednesday. And, after the workout, I felt really good about myself - the way I was eating healthier, exercising, and taking the time to really work on my overall fitness.
I was careful about what I ate and drank the rest of the weekend, and I did some cardio both days; Saturday night we hung out with friends at the pool; while they were drinking beer, I was drinking Spark and then soda water with strawberries and ice in a fun cocktail glass. I never missed the alcohol; the Spark made me smile, and I was on a natural high because I was feeling so great.
Get You in Shape will take our official measurements at the end of Week Two, but we weighed ourselves at home on Saturday and will continue to do so each week. So, what were the results?
My husband lost 10 lbs the first week. I lost 9 lbs. Yes, it was hard work, but seeing that huge loss on the scale made all that effort seem worth it. And, I noticed that I am feeling remarkably stronger, and my back isn't hurting me so much. Finally, I am walking taller and am less tired and winded all the time. It was really an amazing first week with so many positive changes already!
We are ready for Week Two!
Hurray for you! Michael is involved in Advocare and and is very excited about it. He has me on Spark and something else...can't remember! I need the shake! Good job you guys! I am very impressed!
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