EDITOR’S NOTE: Jeanette Balmut has been selected to participate in the Year of You, a fitness challenge hosted by The Manteca Bulletin, CalFit Manteca and CORE Athletic Performance. Balmut is keeping a weekly journal, highlighting the strides and struggles of her fitness journey.

Day 162

It’s Monday, start of Week 24. It’s a game day so I hit the gym early and do a good work out. I am ready to tackle the day. I attempt to take a half day off at work but to no avail. Busy day. Race off to the first of two baseball games. I am so hungry. Since I expected to be off by 11 a.m. I was going to come home for lunch. No such luck. We finish the first game and head off to the second. McKenna brings me a burger patty wrapped in lettuce for dinner. Oh man was it good. It was all I ate but it was enough for the rest of the day. By the way, won! Manteca Little League Senior Division All-Star Champs!!!

Day 163

I get ready in my “hot” new outfit for the gym, feeling like I look pretty good. I head over to the gym for a workout with Antonio, but unfortunately he couldn’t make it. So, I did what I do best: I got to work on a run, then the elliptical. I did two miles on both. Came home and made an awesome dinner. Barbequed chicken, grilled broccoli with roasted garlic and rosemary quinoa. Fruit salad for dessert, but I saved mine for the morning.



Day 164

I got up this morning and weighed myself. I have to admit I am excited. AND NERVOUS! The weight is coming off now, and just like they said, it would start to burn off faster once I had muscle to burn it. I hit 210.4 this morning. There was a time when that number would never have come out of my mouth. It was a HUGE number, a secret, something I was embarrassed about. Well now…I am shouting it, and proudly. I started at 262 on my scale. As of this minute I am down 51.6 pounds I am 10.4 pounds from the goal I made to be 200 pounds at my nieces wedding. I have 46 days to get those 10 pounds off. And….54.4 pounds to my overall goal. I am not even at the half way point. I feel like this could become a reality now. I get nervous about summertime - vacations, special events etc. and how I will continue to work out and make the right choices. I am so focused right now that nothing could make me waiver, but will that always be? Will I be able to maintain this die hard schedule? Those are the things that scare me. I get to the gym this afternoon and start with a 1.5-mile run. I am already hot, sweaty and debating on tackling legs. I start with the in-out machine and before I even do one rep, Ruben (trainer at CALFIT) comes over and asks me if it’s leg day. I tell him it is and he asks if he can give me a few tips. ARE YOU KIDDING? Of course you can. He explains to me that I should always start with the “major” muscles and then work down. So, I do exactly what he tells me. Ruben was awesome. So helpful and explaining the machines and what they were doing for me. He coaches me on eight different machines and encourages me the entire time. He was the perfect balance. Looking for a trainer? I HIGHLY RECOMMEND Ruben will guide you and teach you and he does it all with a big smile and lots of encouragement. THANK YOU Ruben for helping me today, it worked…I was exhausted!



Day 165-Day 168

Baseball day, last day of work for a week and the day before a holiday….and my last blog of the week…that means early gym time. I have to work hard because this is going to be a “weekend/week of splurge”. I am already worried about maintaining over the next week. With the holiday and then vacation, I am so nervous to even gain one pound. Do you realize how hard it is to lose just one pound? I can literally gain a pound in an hour…but it can take a week to lose it! I am going to wrap it up early since I will be leaving on vacation. You all know what I am going to do over the few days and into next week. My goal is to get up, go for a run, bike, swim, do my sit-ups, my lunges and my squats and anything I can do to maintain a workout. I am going to focus on eating right and NOT snacking on all the good “vacation food”. I can promise you all that I will NOT miss a day. I have gone 165 days straight of not missing a day of working out - I’m NOT going to quit now. I will be sure to keep my blog daily and report back my struggles. My goal is to come back and be at my current weight. I have worked so damn hard to get to this point and I cannot afford any setbacks. Wish me luck!