Shaking Things Up with Cross Training

I've been burning fat since May of this year. Slowly, dutifully, the pounds are coming off. Dieting ceased to work on my metabolism a couple of years back. I'd never been able to lose any weight at the gym, only through dieting.

It's not that I hadn't made the decision many times that I was going to exercise to lose weight. It's not that I didn't try. It's that I didn't know my efforts were lax. I went to all kinds of group exercise classes at the gym. And I noticed that the same fat ladies who were my classmates were still fat a year later. As was I. I actually gained weight. In December 2012, I realized that runners lost a lot of weight. Runners kept the weight off. Runners were thin. Runners were happy. Runners got injured a lot.

So I signed up for a 5K in Disney World for February 2014 and in January 2013 began a Couch to 5K training program I ripped out of a magazine. I didn't follow through. Lost interest in the program. I don't like being told what to do when I don't want to do it. As the race approached, I stepped up my efforts and yes, I did cross the finish line, but was in danger the whole time of being swept up onto the bus because I was so slow.

I didn't run at all afterwards, and we went on a quick Mother's Day vacation. The day we returned, my husband signed us up for the Marine Corps 5K to be run the next day. With no training. And I was weighing in post-vacation at 152 pounds on my 5' frame! Had I known the first two-thirds of the race was uphill, I never would have pinned my bib on. Guess what? I crossed the finish line! And slapped hands with two dozen encouraging Marines.

I tried the Atkins diet again, and only lost a couple pounds. I stayed on the Induction phase for seven weeks and was really disappointed. So once again, I tore a Couch to 5K training program out of a magazine. I was going to do a Run/Walk program as suggested on the Run Disney website. After looking it over, I ripped out a Couch to Half-Marathon training program out and decided to challenge myself. Hey, I had crossed the finish line of two 5Ks, I had that. I don't in a billion years intend to run a half-marathon, but I decided I needed to try endurance training. I ordered an interval timer, and followed the plan diligently for nine weeks. Then something shocking happened. I wanted to run more days than the plan allowed. I wanted to stop walking and run continuously! 

The pounds began coming off as soon as I started the Couch to Half-Marathon program. I discontinued diet attempts. Now I'm trying to just eat mindfully. I lost 14 pounds and then my husband took me to Disney World for my 51st birthday. Yes, I'm that old, and learning to run. We have season tickets and my husband spoils me. They gave me a Happy Birthday button to wear and that prompted the Disney cast to present me with free cupcakes after meals. Three! I gained four pounds. It's been so hard to get those piggie pounds off again. So I stepped up my cross-training. No more stair mill and gentle yoga.

I'm revisiting many of the hard classes at the gym I tried once and didn't like. Guess what? Since I'm lighter, and have been running, my endurance has increased and I'm able to put more effort into the classes with less dread. And no more sneaking out.

This past week, I rediscovered Body Vive, which is a low impact cardio class; PiYo, which is a Yoga Boot Camp Cardio class (the first time I took it I was dizzy the first 40 minutes!) I did just fine this time; and RPM, which is a group cycling class. I'd tried it several times about 18 months ago, but never saw any results. I had the instructor help me set up my bike and my goodness I got a good workout without bruising my lady bits. I don't know if it's those specific bikes, or spin cycles in general, but every woman at my gym goes through a painful learning curve.

I chatted with a lady in the locker room who has lost 35 pounds this year from becoming a group exercise class addict. And she looks great! I never would have guessed she had ever been overweight.

This past week, two more of the piggie pounds came off. I'm back into the 130's! One more oinker pound then I can resume my weight loss journey. I have ramped up my schedule to include more hard classes and more running. It's all inked onto our family calendar.

I'm going to Disney World with my daughter in September. I hope to be a lot lighter by then. And I'm looking at menus now, hoping to make different yet equally delicious meal choices so that I don't gain four pounds again. Have I mentioned my favorite restaurants are on Disney property? The food is so good!