What a Difference A Workout Makes

Just one little hour! Yeah, that's right, I changed my mind during today's workout and am still going to see the trainer on Thursday morning at the usual time. Today's workout was the best workout so far with the trainer. For the first time I felt like I was actually getting somewhere and was able to get through everything she set me today (except for squats standing on a half ball that I tried and then said I wouldn't do because it hurt my knee - she gave me a harder version of the same exercise and I was content with that as it didn't hurt my knee).

I felt that today I was able to push myself, and the body responded positively to the increased workload. I think a lot of this is psychological becuase the two of us got off to a much better start today than we do on Thursdays. As I was working out I was thinking about calling things off, but because I was doing so well I started to wonder if I was being a bit premature in making the decision (financial constraints included). I decided to give it my all and see how I felt at the end.

After a series of exercises that were too bizzare to accurately explain, I felt the best I have ever felt at the end of a workout with her. As she was stretching my totally siezed up hamstrings and quads, I told her that we needed to have a chat at the end of the workout if there was enough time. She had said a number of positive things about how I was doing much better today than usual and I think that helped to make me go harder at the exercises she set. She also said that a number of people at the gym were commenting to her on how different I look already, and how much weight I have lost. I definitely responded better to this sort of prompting than to the negative 'vibe' the previous workouts have had.

We sat in the gym meeting area and I started the discussion. I told her about my concerns over the workouts in general and the exercises that I felt were redundant. I also told her that I didn't like the drill sergeant routine on Thusday mornings and felt that perhaps that was kicking things off on the wrong foot and accounted for why I felt that Thursday sessions in particular were no good. I said that I wanted things to be more positive, and that team work approach would work better for me. We discussed a few others reasons that she felt may have affected the workouts, and she thanked me for raising my concerns with her. She is going to give things a different spin this Thursday. I felt like the discussion went well, and I think we made some progress, my concerns having been expressed and I think understood. I'll hold off making any decision to see how things go on Thursday morning this week.

Apparently she has a new cardio routine for me, however it sounds like she will need to rework it after our chat. I don't think she realised that I had been doing her routine twice, and also making it harder. She will grunt it up a bit for me, but has told me not to run until I have lost at least another 10kgs (22.2lbs) for the sake of my knees. I am about to email her as soon as I have completed this post so she can send me the new workout I am supposed to start tomorrow morning. I will be interested to see what comes through.

We also discussed the diet and I told her that it wasn't feeling right to me, but that there were some good things about it that I liked. I think that at the same time as I e-mail her about the cardio workout I will send her my comments on the diet she had me doing to see if there is some room to put in things that I would prefer to eat.

After that workout I am feeling pretty good about things. It has been a good day food wise, although I probably should have eaten a bit more than I have. I think I will have a snack now before dinner to fill the gap, and I might get at that coffee again - it was really nice. My partner is out tonight so I am home alone and fending for myself. Yep, last night's leftovers are the go! I'll save the good food we got at the weekend for when she is home to enjoy my cooking it!