Final Stats!

Here we are, saying goodbye! My final stats are: I lost 13 lbs and 21 1/2 inches total. 7 of those inches were off my belly alone. I am excited, nervous and ready to go for it at home. I have a 12 week plan they have set me up with and then the rest of my life to live happy and healthy. I will continue to post how things are going at home.

Welcome to Hell

We made it to the top! For our graduation we hiked to the top of a very steep climb. We blazed our own trail up a mountainside and made it to the top. At one point near the top, I heard a plane flying by and looked up to find it. That is when I noticed that I was above the plane. As you can see we are on top of the world. I asked Wayne if the hike had a name while we were trudging up the mountain and he said "yes, I call it Hell!" Well, welcome to Hell Lisa, you made it!

girls camp break

I took the day off from Premier Fitness Camp Wednesday and went up to girls camp with my girls. I needed a day for a break anyway because I was having breathing problems again. Stupid Asthma! Girls camp was fun, however when you are up in the mountains with a bunch of girls there is not much to eat healthy. I really had to watch out, there were temptations everywhere. For lunch they served Cafe Rio' style salads so I had to be selective and take only the chicken and lettuce. Of course I had to steer clear of the frosted brownies! For snacks, I brought my own carrots, celery and laughing cow cheese while they ate popcorn, pretzels and other goodies. Dinner was the toughie for me, they made homemade lasagna with rolls and salad. I piled on the salad with lots of veggies and and ate a teeny piece of lasagna. As soon as the lasagna hit my mouth I thought I gone to heaven. I had to hold myself back from running down the mountain with the rest of the pan and hiding behind a rock and gorging myself. When they pulled out the triple chocolate mess for dessert...I left.

Retired pants!

Yeah, I have officially retired the pants! We had up-downs today in weight training and my pants kept falling down. I kept mooning our cute trainer, Mindy during the whole hour. At least we had a good laugh at it. We then went to Draper park and did intervals (running/walking) on the running path and I had to hold on to my pants at the waist like those boys that wear their pants too low when I did my running or they would have gone down to my knees, so after lunch a few of us ran down to Target and bought a few more workout clothes. It feels good to be shrinking!

Habits and Triumphs

It has been 21 days! That is how many days you need to do something consecutive to form a habit. I am feeling really good and strong, like I can actually make permanent changes in my life. I had two great triumphs on Saturday that really helped me to feel like I could overcome my challenges and win!
Here is the first:
I made it up the back side of the trail to the lake before the others made it up the face. When I first started this three weeks ago, I had to stop about every 50 feet to catch my breath. Saturday I bounded up it without stopping and in record time. Since I still have problems with my breathing, the doctor didn't want me climbing the faster, steep side. But, here I am in the picture by the lake, they thought they were going to have to wait for me. Hah!!!

My second triumph is that I was supposed to walk the trail around the lake while the others hiked up the rest of the way to the waterfall which was about another 2 hours up. I wanted to try it and I thought I would come back down if my breathing became a problem. The last mile of this hike is called the stair stepper because it is straight up in a rock bed. I made it the entire way and felt fantastic. My breathing was under control the whole time and I was compelled to keep going.
I made It!

Now I am feeling like I can accomplish so much. I can keep going even if it is hard and life throws challenges at me. My good habits are forming and now I have my final week here to solidify those good, healthy habits and make permanent changes in my life and my families. Nothing will stop me now!

and it's not even Monday!

Yet another set back! Really, this is getting a little old. This old, out of shape body is really fighting these new changes. I will win though!
Last night as I was going to bed, I started to feel some tightness in my chest. I did some stretching exercises to try to open my airways and went to bed. All night I struggled to take a deep breath. It was a very panicky feeling. When Wayne got to the home at 5:45 a.m. I told him I was really having a hard time. He called the doctor that monitors us here and left a message for her to contact me. In the meantime, Mart came up and took me to the insta care. They listened to my lungs and decided I might need an enhaler. As soon as I got back, I went to Zumba class and still did not feel any better. There was quite a strain on my lungs. Our doctor called and she advised me to go to the emergency room. Because of my earlier scare with a blood clot in my leg, she wanted to make sure I did not have one in my lungs. So off I went with Cherie as my companion to the E.R. They ran a bunch of tests, took blood, ekg's, and x-rays. They told me they needed to look at a specific blood test to see if it was elevated. If it was elevated it could indicate a blood clot. Of course, the test came back very elevated and so they wheeled me in for a CT scan. Thankfully, everything came out clear and the doctor said I probably have exercise induced asthma. Oh yippie, something else I get to overcome! I was sent home with steroids to try and open my lungs. I am still waiting for that relief. I will have to take it easy tomorrow but hopefully I will be able to get back in the swing of things come Friday. I am antsy to keep moving!

Are my legs still attached?

Boy, did they up the intensity with our workouts this week! Cherie and I were fortunate to have lower body (aka legs) in weight training today after we went up the steep, front side of the mountain on an hour hike. My legs were already wobbly when we entered the gym. Our trainer, Trevor, pushed us to our max. We had platforms that were different heights that we had to continually step up and down on and then sit in a squat afterward for 1 minute. Then we strapped in those bands that go around our waist and we had to pull Trevor across the entire gym with him pulling against us. We did this running forward, backward and side to side. I couldn't catch my breath. Sweat was pouring down our faces and he told us to do it again and again. I think my legs actually fell off on the gym floor and Trevor pasted them back on when he stretched us out.
But hey, I actually managed to do Pilates and dance blast after that. We get to watch Biggest Loser tonight but don't worry, in case you think we are slacking, we will get up every commercial and do sit ups, leg lifts, jogging and stretching. Will You?