Tonight at boot camp was one of the hardest workouts I've done to date. Seriously, I threw up in my mouth- twice. Just a little, but it happened. I was grunting like a warthog, and quivering like I was in Rhode Island in January, in a bikini. Cold was the least of my worries though. Curtis had us doing Isometric holds again, but not just any hold... Contracting every single muscle we could possibly contract WHILE holding. It's amazing what a little butt-clenching can do to you! I was shaking at the start and throughout each round. I'm actually very surprised and pleased that not ONE time did I have to stop or drop down to my mat :) Doesn't mean I didn't want to though.
I never thought I'd experience contractions when I wasn't in child labor or having a charlie horse. And definitely not intentionally. When I was in labor with my oldest Elika, my mom would say things like "relax" and "breathe" and "calllllm"... well duh.. But it's not that easy. You THINK you're relaxing, but until you focus on an exact body part to relax you're still tensing up and not realizing it. I thought it was so annoying listening to my mom coach my sister through her labor.. She had this soothing voice, I'm sure it was amazing for my sister, but as an onlooker, I couldn't wait for the whole event to be over just so I wouldn't have to hear the "breeeeaaatthee, reelaaaaaxxxxx, shhhhhhhhhhhh." So when it came my turn, I dreaded that voice HA HA! Little did I know when she told me to "relax," the way she actually said it was totally different to me. She went down the list of every muscle I was tensing and said to release it. "Relax your face" was more like "relax your eyebrows, your cheeks, your lips" Etc. Probably sounds bogus and weird, but having that focus brought to my attention really did amazing wonders.. I'm SO glad my mom was there!
Why does any of this matter, besides the part of contractions during labor and contractions at RSBC? What my mom was doing has the exact effect for the contrary. Curtis was saying "contract every muscle". I thought I was, until he stood right in front of me and went down the list. "Are you contracting your:
butt-cheeks?
shoulders?
tri-ceps?
bi-ceps?
calves?
back?
lats?"
check-check-oh wait, missed that one... missed that one too...check..hmmm. I THOUGHT I was flexing everything I possible could. WRONG. Once I was fully activated- wow. After that I was able to make a mental check list and make sure I was really flexing every single thing I could. I was totally spent by the end of the night. Totally.
Friday (tomorrow) I have a doctors appointment with my general practitioner to see if there are any underlying issues that I'm having that might hinder my weight-loss. Sadly I haven't lost much poundage since I started this whole thing 36 weeks ago :( It's depressing. I've lost about 10-15 pounds, and that fluctuates. It's so frustrating to work so hard, harder than I ever have in my life, and not have results. Yes I'm slimmer, I'm more toned, I'm stronger. At this size though, the number on the scale really DOES matter. Anyway, I still have my goal of 50 lbs by summer. I still have time. Hopefully I can get some answers and maybe I just need to increase my activity even more.
March 17th I'm doing the Gladiator Rock N Run 5K obstacle challenge. I'm a little freaked out, but I can do it. Seeing my fellow campers complete The Spartan Race was so motivating, I had to get a piece of that action. My husband is going to join in on the fun too! Hopefully someone will be there getting pictures as evidence that I did it!
So here is the big picture update, I see a little difference from the last one I took at week 21. Overall-- wow. My legs look pretty nice in those tights, not gunna lie.
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| Excuse the phone pic-- I had Joel snap it right before I left for camp! |
