After never being ‘that fit girl’ my entire life, and Freshman year, in which I unavoidably gained weight with so little space to exercise and no kitchen, I was bit with ‘the Zumba bug’ my Sophomore year. I had a fantastic instructor (and I hope to take another of her classes, because she is the best Zumba instructor I’ve had), and over the Christmas break that year, I Zumba’d a ton. I’m talking even 2-3 hours. Finally, after being reasonably committed to regular Zumba by myself, and starting up the Tracy Anderson Method again with more earnest, I was feeling pretty good.
Then along came Mom (^.^). My family was out here for a friend's wedding, and I was feeling at least decently proud of my fitness ‘progress’...but my mom said she thought I looked...less good. Well that was not any fun to hear, so I ramped it up. Over Spring and Summer terms, I not only did Tracy everyday, but I made up(using her moves for the most part), a very lengthy abs routine to do, too. It was nearly 400 moves. It’s amazing how quickly that stops hurting after daily performance, though.
Junior year came, and I really made exercise a priority--I did have a weight goal in mind. In the past, I would always just plateau at the same weight, but when I had been a little more exercise-focused senior year in high school, I was about 10-12 pounds lighter than that, so I made an even better goal. With that in mind, I would come home in the two hours I had between classes and do Tracy’s Mat Workout DVD. I was very devoted.
Winter semester, my schedule wouldn’t quite allow for that, and I was in all film classes, so I really had to focus more. I continued to exercise, but not like the previous semester. That DVD is really great. Truly. I got strong on it. However, I was noticing it was harder to see results; Tracy herself wants you to switch it up every 10 days so your muscles don’t get too familiar with your moves. I began doing her Metamorphosis DVD online, which was only 30 (well, for the mat work only) minutes, as opposed to an hour. It was pretty killer, I was surprised.
When I got to the third (of 9) routine, I told Mom that’s what I needed for my birthday, because, what if they stop being posted, or are taken down. So, that’s what I got for my birthday, when I was on level (routine) 4, I believe--already on the second DVD. When I was home for Kiawah, I worked very, very hard. I did Meta, and some things on the side, and cardio. Overall, about 2 hours a day for about 10 days. It was great--especially the amount I could sweat in the humid South!
I have always had a bit of a problem with portion control. Heck, this time last year, my eyes were definitely twice as large as my stomach. I noticed that this was probably preventing me from seeing all the results I would like to, and, again, at Kiawah, I tried to really watch myself. I did well while there, and tried to stay on track when I got back. I did have a bit of a bump in my resolve a month or two later (I love my food, and I love to eat a lot of it in giant spoonfuls), but I did get back on track. I still have to consciously think about it, but I am SO much better! I am much happier not eating myself sick, to the point where anything else seems out of the question. Then there’s room for dessert ^.^ .
Back to exercise. I was decently okay after vacation, but then hit a snag in about September after all the each member of my family had come out separately to see me (weirdly enough). However, I was maintaining really well, and that sort of made it harder. I was no longer needing to hide anything because I was uncomfortable with the way I looked, and I fluctuated between about 2-4 pounds away from my goal weight.
About a month ago, I got tired of my skipping exercise. Turns out I’m a bit of a lazy person, and if my body hasn’t been warmed up from exercise, I don’t want to move, and that makes me feel icky. I was doing a routine at the time that I wasn’t loving, and I had lost arm strength, so much time on all fours was very difficult. I knew that I wanted to get back into full habit again, though. SIDE NOTE: I also give myself $1 per workout (a full Tracy one), but I can’t spend it until I reach $100, at which time I can buy whatever things I desire, as long as they aren’t food. I should have earned my $100 months ago.
With Mom and Liv coming in town in two weeks to shop for wedding dresses, I did the next routine 5 days a week for two weeks, knocking it out. It was hard, because often I want or need to do other stuff ‘til late, and I’ve exercise around midnight a lot. I hate that. But I love the way I look after, so I did it anyway.
Meeting that goal, I felt amazing, and was told, genuinely, multiple times that I was tiny. Crazy enough, my legs, which have been around the same proportion to me my entire life, have shrunk up this last month, and are tiny, and can now totally ROCK leggings. It’s brilliant, and boggling. I love the way I feel and look, so I’m hoping to finish this last routine ‘on time’.
So here’s when I came to realize that this long-term goal, this difficult journey, has been met. Yesterday, though I knew I’d have a more accurate scale at the Greener’s, I weighed myself. It said 115 (which I definitely didn’t want to announce until I’d maintained for a minimum of two days). My scale isn’t the best, so I didn’t want to get too excited. I ate several sliced of gingerbread, had full meals, didn’t even exercise til about midnight last night. So, at the Greener’s, I couldn’t wait ‘til morning to see. I got 115.4. Wow. Then I went to the bathroom, and couldn’t (sorry I’m messed up) resist trying again. 114.6. Wower. After exercising last night, I was even lighter.
My final read in this morning: 113.8. Holy crow. it’s incredible what hard work and persistence can do for you. I started 2 years ago between 127-130.
Here's the most recent, full-body before I could find (2011):
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