A moment on the lips...

I don’t know about anybody else, but with every fall I seem to become a hungry maniac. This fall is no exception. It could be the increased use of the seasonal spices: cinnamon and nutmeg that is driving the hunger monster. Blast, the smells are everywhere right now! It’s in candles, schools, and coffee shops. My parents have a fresh pumpkin roll on the counter, just bursting with cream cheese filling. NO!

This year I promised myself I would not give in and I certainly have incentive not to. Officially, my 10-week self-improvement journey ended two weeks ago and my numbers do, indeed, show I have made progress.

I started on 8/2/10 and my latest numbers were recorded on 10/10/10.

Another pair of jeans bit the dust this week. Yeah! I’ll be darned-this program does work! I was patient and I am really starting to see results now. They are subtle results in the form of more refined muscles and there’s obviously a reduction in inches. I have also reduced a dress size in nine weeks. Overall, I have lost 5 ½ pounds to date.

I am in the last week of my initial 10-week introduction to this program and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my spare time in the last 10 weeks. I really enjoy the pace of this program, too! It’s slow and steady. I prefer to make the changes over a longer period of time so I have a better chance of maintaining the weight loss over time.

I did need to adjust my schedule somewhat to start accomplishing my goal, but it was certainly worth it. And truth be told, I was one of those people who always said I would never have time to do this, so I didn’t even try. I used time pretty much as an excuse-I realize this now looking back.

I also said there would be no way I could give up my regular routine of dessert and tea at the end of the day. It’s funny what we tell ourselves we can’t do and then what we can actually do. Once I got past the first few days of NOT allowing myself dessert, I was home free.

John & Jamie get ready to clock some laps for me.

Well, it’s my sixth week of training with John Bolesta, the Valley’s guru of posture-based core training. I have to admit it; I love it! I was only supposed to be doing this for 10-weeks and just see if I could lose 10 pounds, but I can’t imagine not working out at this level after the 10 weeks end. It feels good to have new personal goals, and I have met so many interesting people on this journey, especially the folks at Saucon Valley Country Club.

Yesterday, my Monday morning class was packed! The kids are back in school so there were a lot more participants at the SVCC Tennis/Fitness Center. They are all so supportive of me and of John and his program. I have heard from quite a few people now about how this method of training has helped change their lives and not just from a weight standpoint, either, but from an overall fitness and health standpoint.

One woman from John’s class wrote to me and told me that she had been having chronic back pain for years and there just wasn’t any medical recourse for her. She said she began to feel better within a few sessions working with John and eventually the episodes of chronic pain diminished. It certainly inspires me when I hear stories like that.

Will I measure up?

You can tell the people who have worked with John are very loyal to him. She definitely wanted to encourage me to stay with it. So after five weeks of training, I am happy to report that I have gained some strength and flexibility, I am more mindful of my posture during the day and when I am not working out, I am definitely eating better, and I have lost 3.5 lbs. (Tomorrow I hope to get the results of the measurements John recorded and compare them to see if there is any change since Day 1.)

Last night my trainer John Bolesta brought me up to the second floor of the tennis center at Saucon Valley Country Club. The club recently renovated the center to include two first-class floors for fitness: one for classes and free-weight exercise, and the other for circuit training.

I must admit this is where my threshold for exercise is tested. Just looking at this impressive display of equipment-12 state-of-the-art Nautilus machines-for circuit training, I feel incredibly overwhelmed and little bit intimidated. Thank goodness I am working with a trainer, as I have no idea how to even sit on most of these properly.

The Circuit Training Center at SVCC

As we make our way to the first machine, he signals for me to sit down. I signal back in wacky hand gestures that I have no idea how. He laughs. I find I really like working with a trainer. He keeps me focused and allows me to be silly. If I were on my own, by now I would have sat down and tried to pull weight that was way too much for me and I would have been using all the wrong body positions and muscles in the process.