50 year old women kicking my butt

Those who know anything about being an auditor will have to agree that maybe busy season isn't necessarily the best time to start working out an eating healthy. We work 55-65 hour weeks, eat lunch, dinner and snacks at our desk on most days and are too drained to workout after leaving work late... (this is my story for not starting to make changes in January and I'm sticking with it! :))

Busy season ends for me in early/mid March... April rolls around and I'm supposed to go see Dr. S. in 2 months but still no change in my habits! (See http://myjourneytosizefour.blogspot.com/2010/08/how-it-started.html for frame of reference)...

I don't know when the exact moment was but the very first week in April, I turned to Google (oh how I love google!) and searched for exercise groups in the Houston/Katy/Richmond/Sugarland area! I knew at this point that I couldn't go at this alone. I needed some sort of support system. Adventure Houston Boot Camp caught my eye! (http://www.houstonareabootcamp.com/).

I almost didn't do it! I was thinking to myself- why pay $200 a month when I can go to a gym and pay $50? What can they offer that I can't get at a gym... I very quickly learned that what Adventure Houston gave me was other women who wanted to be healthy and who drew others into the group by holding them accountable!

My first week at boot camp was miserable. I thought the 1/2 marathon shed some light on how unfit I was but trying to keep up with the women at boot camp definitely confirmed that! I could not keep up with women in their 30's, 40's & 50's. Most of them are mothers, wives and carrier women and they were kicking my behind!!! I could not run as fast or as long as them, I could not do as many situps, crunches, push ups, squats, arm curls etc as them! Simply put, I could not keep up.

I said in my previous post that those who know me know when I commit to something, I like to follow through... But to be perfectly honest, I was extremely discouraged and was so close to giving up. I was impressed by most of the women there but I was motivated by Larisa, Sandy, and Yvonne! They all look 10 years younger than their age! These women and of course our wonderful instructor- Linda, were very friendly, encouraging and motivating! My one month of trying out boot camp became 1 year!

I say all this to say to the one person who feels embarrassed about working out with other people around- Find a friendly environment. Get a support system. I think the 1st step to losing weight and getting healthy is to go at it with people who will do it with you! Sometimes, you think joining a group is too much money. Well, don't buy that cute top you like, or those really cute shoes or that frappuccino from Starbucks! Make sacrifices for your health! Yes, $200/month was quite a bit but that's what I need for me. Find what works for you and do it!


Look out for subsequent posts where I'll talk about how much weight I lost in 1 year, how I went about it.

Peace.