Goals In Motion: Finale

My 9-week "boot camp" at Goals In Motion is over! And I have to say that I'm disappointed that it's over. I thought I would be relieved. ;)

I was getting very discouraged because I wasn't seeing the scale move. I felt disappointment every time I got on the scale...1 lb here, 1 lb there. It was hard to know that I wasn't "losing weight." I kept telling myself that muscle weighs more than fat, but as a woman I wanted to see that scale move.

I did feel strong, though. I loved the resistance training more than the kickboxing (cardio was never my thing). And I was getting good at it. I loved starting a new "level" and thinking I was never going to be able to do something...squat with 50 lbs, do a full pike on a balance ball, wall-sit with 20lb on my lap (and have it be more than tolerable). I had great coaches who nudged me to try more weight or change colors of bands or even use two bands. They were so supportive and not pushy at all, just very encouraging. It was fun.

Don't get me wrong, kickboxing was fun too. My goal was to be able to kick a bag over and I did it! And it was awesome!! I liked feeling like I knew what I was doing (although there's still one kick that I'm not very good at) and hitting that bag did feel good most days. And it was fun to see what the different instructors would do. It was different every time and I really enjoyed that. I also noticed that in my last 3 weeks my thoughts during my workout changed. I was no longer focusing on remembering to breath, how much time is left, that I feel sick, I might throw-up, that I can't catch my breath, that this weight is heavy, how much time is left, I can't get my leg up that high to kick, I'm tired, and how much time was left. I was instead thinking of what to make for dinner, when was the last time I got my hair colored, where did I put that library book, wonder if I can stop by Wal-Mart and run errands before heading home, what was on my Wal-Mart list, why are people here already, is it 5:45 already? My brain was no longer just trying to keep my body working it was actually thinking. ;) It's just a little sign that my body was working hard and I wasn't having to use my brain power to keep it going.

Alright, here are my stats:

Body Weight
initial: 167
final: 155.8 (today I'm at 150.2)

Body Comp
initial: 32.9%
final: 30.2%

Sit Ups (full)
initial: 10
final: 32

Push Ups (modified)
initial: 30
final: 56

Sit and Reach
initial: 17in
final: 21.75

Mile Run
initial: 13:51 minutes
final: 11:55 minutes (which is better than high school)

Before I reveal my pictures, I wanted to tell you that I got third place for overall body change! So even though I didn't see the scale change much, my body changed. I would never have guessed that I would get third place and wish I would've kicked it harder the last few weeks and maybe I would've gotten first. :) I just never thought that I would even place. There were people in my challenge who lost 26 pounds and decreased their body fat by 6% so I didn't think that I would win anything. I was very shocked to hear them call my name. Ok, here they are:

Where I see the most change is probably my face, chin and neck. Also, I don't have as much fat under my right armpit. And my legs look smoother. The belly is another difference. There's actual muscle showing and less/no love handles.

Obviously the belly has changed and I didn't see it when I looked in the mirror but I can really see it in the pictures. I have ab muscles, granted it's no 6-pack but I don't have to look too far to see muscle instead of a belly. Again, my legs are smoother and I have only 1 chin and a neck. Someone said my chest looked perkier, but I think smaller would be more accurate. Why do women lose weight there first?

This is probably my favorite pose. I know I will never have a dancer's body (long, lean) because I know that I'm more of a muscular build. And I love seeing how smooth the back of my legs are. Yay!! Also my shoulders are more toned and you don't see any back fat. My bottom is smaller and my shorts are no longer skin tight.

It was a great 9-weeks. We're planning on saving some of our (hopefully) tax return money so that next year I can join a maintenance challenge (FYI: they do have payment plans if you want to continue after your initial nine weeks). Goals in Motion is a lot of fun. The staff is so encouraging and I can't say enough positives about the workouts themselves. They're great and they're a lot of fun. I have to say that Jeff was probably my favorite instructor because he would usually choose classic rock to work out to. Makes it more fun when you can sing along. Thanks to all of you who supported and encouraged me (Wendi, Karen, April, Kim). You made this process a lot of fun!! Thanks!!