I’ve always considered myself to be an avid “gym go-er”. I could be seen at my gym and different group fitness classes at least 5 times a week. Over the last year I’ve trained and ran 4 different 10km races, and felt that I was at the top of my game by doing so. I’ve also always considered myself to be a healthy and strong woman in many respects. Now, in saying all of that, I was never truly happy with my body. I worked out daily, felt good and healthy, but still never seen the results that I wanted. That’s where this contest came into play.
Just after finishing up my first TT Transformation Contest, I realize that I was going about things all in the wrong way. In the last 12 weeks I have learned more about my body and its capabilities than I have in all of the years that I have put into going to the gym on a daily basis - working out in the same way, day after day, after day.
One of the biggest revelations that I had over the last 12 weeks is to STOP focusing on the scale. In hindsight, I think that I was truly addicted to weighing myself. Being a woman makes it very difficult to measure weight accurately. Maybe one week out of the entire month will it show an accurate measurement of weight – that is tricky and depressing when you look at it every day! I now truly comprehend that tracking your success is not about pounds lost, but rather inches lost and STREGTH GAINED!! Thank you for the constant email support and reminders of all this!
I am now a true believer in lifting heavy, and absolutely LOVE it! Probably one of the biggest reasons why I never focused on strength training in the past is the fact that I hated the idea of “lifting light for high reps”. I always felt that I wasn’t getting the results I wanted and was wasting my time. Now, I feel strong and confident in my abilities and love the feeling I get after pushing myself just that extra bit. Watching my progression week after week has really been the highlight of this challenge, and I will continue lifting heavy from here on in. Focus on progression and meeting goals and the inches will fall off. So THANK YOU for providing me with the extra power I needed to continue on with my healthy, training journey. My only regret….NOT taking before and after pictures in my jeans! Everything fits and looks much better than they have in years! I like to think of this challenge as the first 12 weeks of the new STRONG Me!
Programs used - TT Transformation, TT 2K5, and Eat Stop Eat.
Lost - 10lbs and 9 Inches!
My Goals –
1.) To do 15 strong pushups from my toes. GOAL ATTAINED.
2.) To deadlift my body weight by the end of the transformation (at least 5 reps). GOAL ATTAINED, and SURPASSED by 20lbs!
Future Goals - 1.) 8 unassisted pull-ups. 2.) deadlift 2x my body weight.
