Growing Confidence

As the end of June approaches, Better U is beginning Week 4 of the challenge. Saturday was a great day as I went to our first nutrition class. It was great seeing all of my fellow Better U ladies, sponsors and gaining more knowledge to make this a permanent, healthy lifestyle change.

It's no secret that growing up battling with my weight that I have had insecurity issues, not a lot of confidence in myself or my abilities. However, losing 100 lbs. is definitely a confidence booster. I'm not completely confident but I'm improving and definitely humbled and thankful for the amazing grace God has given me through this journey. Thank you all for the extra boost on Saturday also; it's nice to know I have a few more cheerleaders and know that I am cheering for you also!

I definitely felt confident and willing to learn more during the session. I know I have tackled a lot of the steps needed to make the changes in my life and I'm also taking the steps to improve my overall health. As we begin nutrition, we are supposed to monitor and journal of our eating. I'm not really looking forward to the journal part and it's not something I want to be bogged down with; however, I know it will also help me to really tune into what needs work and improvement.

As I worked out today, I definitely saw the need for the extra nutrition as the workout are getting more intense. I had not had a snack yet and by the time I had my workout almost complete, I was about to pass out due to my hypoglycemia. So the trainer advised me to definitely have a snack before my workout and I know that I will need more protein to keep from having more reactions. Although it's always a little scary to nearly pass out I'm glad that I was able to see the importance of eating the additional calories.

I also know that if I keep up the two-a-day workouts that I am going to need the extra energy. During the 6 p.m. workout, I worked on the upper body and abs in three sets of three exercises. I know I will be feeling it for the next few days in the lats, biceps, triceps, deltoids and abs. I was also really excited to do some boxing again today; I love it! I love working out at Fitness Together. All the trainers are a great, wonderful help. I really appreciate their time and the comfortable atmosphere that they provide.

After a sensible dinner with the family, I completed my cardio workout tonight. I did get in my 30 mins. with the increased and decreased inclines and speeds. I really enjoy the cardio workout also as I'm able to view how my heart is working and am definitely able to notice the difference.

I know I've said it before but it's worth another mention, I am so blessed to be one of the ladies chosen to be part of the challenge. Every day that I am able to learn more about improving my health, the more blessed I feel. Thank you to all of you who are making this possible!

Praying for all my fellow Better U ladies. Praying God gives you peace, comfort and sweet times with your family during the holiday.

Many Blessings,
Jenn

Going For It!

I'm feeling pretty good and excited after completing my second workout of the day!

I met with the trainer at 5:15 p.m. for my lower body workout, second workout of the week. I completed 4 super sets including: leg presses, leg curls, squats on the leg press, "Good Mornings" with weight bars, wall sits and mountain climbs. I was pretty excited to find out that almost 9 years after my weight training in high school I was able to leg press 95 lbs. on my first day. Although some of the exercises were easier than the others, I definitely gave it my all.

For my second workout of the day, I went to the gym to complete my second cardio session of the week. In a little over 3 hours, I completed 3.1 miles (5K) on the treadmill and was able to burn 300 calories. I still felt pretty good and am pretty excited about the idea of doing a 5K later in the year or beginning of next year. I feel so blessed! God is giving me an amazing amount of strength and determination to get through this challenge. I'm so grateful.

Also, I am super excited that my dear friend, Christie, is going to be my accountability partner! We have been doing Zumba for a few months now and are both committed to making healthier choices in our lives. I'm so thankful for Christie! Love you, lady; you are such an inspiration to me! :)

Finally, I am excited to begin nutrition classes with Fitness Together on Saturday. I will get to see all the ladies again and we will receive some great nutrition education for an hour and a half. FT is providing this service to us for the next five Saturdays. The trainer said today that each class is the equivalent of two sessions at FT. So I am looking forward it!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Many Blessings,
Jenn

Committed

Well I have officially discovered why they call Better U a "Challenge!" It's a challenge in itself to try to fit in three upper, lower and full body workouts with an additional three cardio workouts, and try to function with your everyday let alone an extra busy week. To all the Moms going through the challenge with me, I admire you so much! I don't know how you do it but I would love to hear your experiences! Last week was crazy, good, but crazy!

Nevertheless, I am committed to making myself an overall "healthy" person. In order to take full advantage of the wonderful opportunities available in this program, I decided that it probably work best with my schedule to go ahead and do the two workouts three times a week. I know it will be tough but so worth it & after this challenge & by the end of this year, I expect to be at my goal weight! I will work with Fitness Together on Mondays & Thursdays, then go to the gym for cardio later in the evening. I will also have to fit in another full body workout, as well as cardio, most likely on Saturday. Speaking of Saturdays, we will begin our nutrition classes this Saturday.  

The classes will be meeting for an hour and a half for five weeks. I cannot wait to hear their suggestions for nutrition. I'm anxious to see if I will need to make many more changes or if I've already made the majority of the needed changes. I'm also a little bit nervous about this though too. Since Summer is so busy, I hope I will be able to make all the sessions but I know it too will be a challenge. Definitely a worthy challenge though!

So today's workouts were good. Had a different upper body session today. I worked out a lot on the exercise ball to work on my core while lifting the weights and then did some awesome crunches. Yep, I'm going to hurt again but as they say, "No pain, no gain," and I definitely want to gain muscle. 

The cardio also was more of a workout today. I spent 30 minutes working on the treadmill with the suggested routine and had the extra "glistening" going on when I left. Awesome. Then, I proceeded to go grocery shopping and that was, well, interesting. Lots of interesting people are in the grocery store at 11 p.m., even the nice stores, but at least the music was good & we will be eating good this week.

Well I guess I better sign off before I fall asleep. Thank you all for your continuing support. You are such a blessing to me!

Many Blessings,
Jenn

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Today I tackled 2 workouts. After work, I headed over to Fitness Together for my lower body workout. I had a great time. Definitely "glistened" a lot more today and did some new exercises. The sets today consisted of ball squats, vertical lunges, hip thrusts, hip abductors and T steps on the aerobic step. At three cycles of 15, I was definitely worn by the end of the third set, and then did some stretching.

I really enjoy working out at FT. All the trainers are very personal, encouraging and easy to talk to during the workout. I also found out today that we will be starting nutrition classes soon. I'm so excited to be taught some good nutrition and eventually take some cooking classes. I feel like I really am learning so much and this time it's really going to stick. I am going to be set to make this a permanent lifestyle change. What a blessing!

So funny story, after the workout I was feeling good and headed to my car. There's a slight step outside the gym and as I took the step into the parking lot I almost wiped out! I did catch myself though and let out a big, "Whoa!" :) Then, I proceeded to walk to my car carefully and laugh hysterically in the car on the way home. Laughter is the best medicine... even if you're laughing at yourself. :) 

After a sensible dinner in between workouts, I met Jess at Ozark Fitness for my second workout of the day. I headed to the treadmill to work on my cardio. I laughed at the machine remembering that one of the last times I visited my jacket got caught in the belt and made a hideous noise! :) So yep, I've had lots of opportunities to laugh at myself.

I did a 35-minute cardio routine on the treadmill. Changing the inclines and speeds periodically, I was able to complete 1.5 miles and burn at least 150 calories. After completing the routine and "glistening" again, I took a short rest before doing a set of chest presses. So again, I felt worn out but good at the completion of the workout.  I feel good about all the future possibilities and am so excited to see what happens in the 12 weeks!  All the workouts are definitely going to be difficult to get in during the busy work week; however, I know it's so worth it!

So thankful for this opportunity!

Many Blessings,

Jenn

Moving Forward

Today begins Week 2 in the Better U Challenge. I am extremely encouraged, excited and nervous about this week for several reasons. Tonight I had my first real training time with one of the Fitness Together trainers. Oh. my. goodness. We worked on upper body only and I felt great throughout the workout. I was definitely being pushed and yet she told me that she was taking it "easy" on me for the first time compared to how the other trainers would be in the future. Oh. goodness. I'm excited though. I did bench pressing, free hand weights on one of the half-balance balls, resistant pulls while sitting on a full-balance ball, boxing (which I loved!) and crunches with a medicine ball. Needless to say, by the time the workout was over and I was headed home, my arms felt like spaghetti but I know with continued and improving workouts much success will be attainable. Thursday will be lower body so considering I almost couldn't lift my arms, I'm a little bit nervous about lower body but I am super excited also.

Until Thursday, I will be working on cardio. I picked up my passkey to workout at the St. John's Fitness Center tonight also. It's really nice and a little intimidating also. The gyms definitely make me nervous because I am a very shy and introverted person at first. However, the facilities offer so much I know I will be able to get the job done. This week and the upcoming weeks are going to be crazy busy with fitting in all of my workouts but I am so ready for the challenge and most of all I am just ready and more ready to continue making a better me.

While I am extremely excited about this week and the challenge, I know this week will be hard also. Wednesday will mark 5 years that my Daddy has been gone and I know it that will make this entire week a challenge in itself. However, I also know Daddy's death was one of my motivators for entering Better U. Nothing makes you want to change history more than losing your loved ones due to obesity, heart disease and several other medical complications. For this reason, I am embarking on this challenge, not only to improve my health but also to improve the health of my family, friends, community and future generations. My family has endured so much loss in such a short period of time. I want to do everything in my power to help all of us to live healthier, happier lives knowing that's what our family would want us to do until we do see them again.

Thank you, God, for this amazing opportunity and give us the strength to carry on living our lives to the fullest until we see You and our loved ones again.

Many Blessings,
Jenn

Working on a Better Me

I met with the trainer for the first time tonight! Wow. The more I get into this challenge, the more blessed I feel! I really enjoyed the interaction, atmosphere and even the assessments, and I am looking forward to seeing my workout schedule.

I still have improvements that I need to make for my overall health; however, I know the Better U Challenge is going to be the avenue to help me complete this leg of my journey. Tonight, I was able to see areas of my improvement, my numbers and areas that I want to work on in the coming months.

It's so funny and exciting to me to see the change that is happening in my life. I have never been a real active person but in the last 16 months I have made a 180º turn. I find myself wanting to run in little spurts and I actually kind of enjoyed the assessments, much like the physical fitness tests I took in school, how weird and awesome is that?!? Now that is a lifestyle change! ☺

Thank you, God, for this amazing opportunity and the strength you give me to conquer the challenge daily.

Many Blessings,

Jenn

It's Officially Begun!

Yesterday was the official kickoff event for the Go Red For Women Better U Challenge. We were introduced to the sponsors, received information and introduced ourselves to everyone in attendance.

I was able to meet most of the women participating in the challenge and I am looking forward to getting to know them all. I'm looking forward to going through this journey with them.

Today, I found out my results for my cholesterol & diabetes were normal! This is such a praise with my family medical history and the fact that I have not been to the doctor in more than two years! I am just so thankful for this opportunity and still find it hard to believe that I have been given this amazing blessing!

Tomorrow, I will meet with the trainer to go over my family history and do an assessment so he can create a workout for me. I am so ready for this and so excited to using the St. John's Fitness Center!

So in case you can't tell, I am very excited to be one of the 10 women chosen to participate in the challenge! I am so ready to learn how to make this change a permanent lifestyle change and I am so excited to be able to tell everyone that it is all thanks to God! Absolutely amazing!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Many Blessings,

Jenn

P.S. This is really silly but I'm super excited because I received a tweet from Chris August, the reigning CCM Male Vocalist of the Year and one of my favorite artists, today! I posted that I was listening to his album and thinking about going to his show later this month. He responded, "@jenntaylor417: I think that's a pretty good idea :)" How Awesome is that?!!! Yep, I admit it, I am that girl that is a little giddy right now. :)

Ready, Set, Go!

Today marked the official start of my participation in the Go Red for Women BetterU Challenge. While I didn't feel too great, I ate a good breakfast, lunch & dinner, and also was able to get in a 20-minute workout to wrap up the day.

I'm so excited to be a part of this challenge, not only for me but also for those around me. So many women play a huge, influential role in my life. Since heart disease is the number one killer of women, I want to be a positive voice to fight against it.

Please check out the challenge and other information available on the website, http://www.goredforwomen.org.

Many Blessings,

Jenn

Forward: My Testimony

I decided to share my testimony with my church family a few months ago and I thought it might be a good background post for the blog also.

You may view the video here: http://vimeo.com/16451284

Many Blessings,

Jenn

Beginning the Journey

Life is full of journey. From the day we are born to the day we meet our Maker, we embark on different adventures during childhood and the years following. Sixteen months ago, with much prayer, I set out on a new journey to overcome a lifelong struggle with my weight.

After years of battling with unsuccessful diets, I finally gave my struggle to God realizing that He is my Creator; our bodies are the Temple of God; and knowing that any struggle or success I have is only possible by His Will. Once I gave Him my burden, He has blessed me with the strength to make new eating and exercise habits, truly making a lifestyle change. As of May 11, 2011, I have lost 100 pounds. Thank you, Jesus!

I am so thankful to God for this opportunity, and for the tremendous support and encouragement from my family and friends. Furthermore, the journey is about to become even more exciting as I begin the final stretch of my weight loss and once again God has blessed me with a great opportunity to participate in the American Heart Association's BetterU Challenge. I am thrilled to be one of the 10 local women chosen and hope to be an encouragement to many other women during the journey. I am pleased to report that I have already had a successful first visit with a local cardiologist's office and am looking forward to the official start on Monday.

My hope is to share this wonderful experience with you all in this blog, reporting on God's amazing blessings. Thank you all so much for your amazing support and prayers. I look forward to sharing this journey with you.

Many Blessings,

Jenn

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." -- Philippians 4:13