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 267
Monday morning, start of week 39 and I’m still in this! Today is a Javi day. That means hard work. He tells me its back and biceps today. I do everything he puts me through and then I finish with my usual cardio. I get home and grill up some hamburger patties with grilled onions and peppers and a big salad. We don’t need much. Mitch is gone for the week (Disneyland and visiting his sisters at their colleges) so with just the two of us, it’s super easy.
Day 268
I get to the gym and know before I even start that I am going to do a long cardio. I start with the Stairmaster and do 20 minutes then I move to the elliptical and do 40 minutes on it. Finally I move over to the treadmill and zone out for a full hour. It’s crazy to think how fast two hours can go and how I can easily do it compared to when I started back in January. I get home and heat up some leftovers and call it a night!
Day 269
It’s training day. I already know that today is a circuit day. That usually means a lot of sweat! Javi is so organized and keeps a log of all of my workouts. At any given time I can go to the book and see what I have worked this week and what is to come. He told me on Monday to prepare for circuit today. I kind of like knowing, it helps me gear up for the day. I eat a little more protein at lunch and lots of water. Here we go! We have multiple stations for my circuit and I have to admit, one of the hardest workouts to date. I am dripping with sweat half way through. I do a three minute run, move to dead-lifts, next is squats with weights (over my head) then curls, then side lunges (OMG) and then hit the mat for planks and scissor legs lifts. Do all of it three times. Whoo, it was a good one! I finish with a one mile run on the treadmill and call it a night. I race home, strip and jump in the shower. By far the most I have ever sweated before. Mike barbeques steak and I toss a salad. It’s so easy and the perfect amount. Who needs potatoes or rice or any of the fattening stuff when you have meat and salad/veggies? YUM!
Day 270
I talked to Javi about what I have been doing (all the long cardio on the machines) and we decide we are going to shorten the distance and time and focus more on the intensity level. I’m going to train harder and stronger and work on sweating more. I get to the gym and do exactly what we talked about. I do a one mile run, then raise the treadmill to level 15 and do a one mile uphill walk. I finish with another one mile run. Finally a five minute cool down. YEP, I definitely raised my heart rate and sweated!
I DID IT… I registered for my first 15K. YEP, you read that right….15K (that is 9.32 miles). That is half the battle, right? Registering for the race and paying for it, now it’s on me to prepare and train for it. The race is scheduled for Jan. 10. That is ONE WEEK before the end of this year long journey. I feel like it will keep me motivate, keep me on track and keep me going strong through the end of this. As well as helping me get through my first holidays as a “fit girl” instead of a “fat girl”. I never in a million years thought I could or I would even want to run a race. Look how far I have come. It’s such a great feeling!
Day 271
It’s Friday! It’s training day! I get to the gym and Javi tells me we are doing an upper body circuit. That means bench presses, pull ups, deadlifts, and a few other shoulder drills. We move on to the mat and he shows me what he is expecting me to do next. I smile and say “I’ll try”. No more CAN’Ts in my vocab so I go ahead and try. He filmed me and we posted it so I am sure many of you saw it. WOW, it was so hard….BUT, I DID IT! I finish the night with high intensity on the Stairmaster. Mike and I are on our last night as just the two of us. It’s been easy to cook for just the two of us (but the house is so quiet….I hate it!). We grill up some chicken breasts and toss a salad.
Day 272
Up early, to the gym, do a hard cardio and then back home to shower and start my day. I have lots of errands to run, groceries to buy and meals to prep. I get it all done and ready for Mitch to get home and enjoy the rest of the weekend. Since it’s college football day, I snack on grapes, raw veggies and then for a treat we have buffalo chicken strips. I only have two small ones, that was more than enough! Instead of using anything “fattening” to dip our strips in, we use yogurt .it was so good and you would never know!
Day 273
I oversleep for the first time in a long time. I am exhausted. I’m I guessing I was finally able to sleep soundly knowing Mitch was home and in his own bed! No worries. I do all the house chores, laundry, etc. and then I do the dreaded…..I SIT DOWN IN MY RECLINER. Oh know…will I ever get up? Yep, I force myself to get up and get to the gym. It’s late in the afternoon and no one is there. I gear up for my run…I jump on and do a warm up and then from that point on my goal is to run one mile, hard and fast. I just kept going. I’m feeling too good to stop so I finished just over 2.5 miles. Sweating and heart pounding! I move to the floor and do 80 lunges with weights in each hand and then I do 4 different ab exercises all three times. Great work out! I get home and start dinner. I make up a big fruit salad for the week. I prepare dinner and make a bunch so we will have leftovers for the next day. Easy and good! Tomorrow is weigh-in day. I seem to be stagnant. I’m not too worried about the weight because my body seems to be transforming. I am now in a size 14 (and that is in pants too) and I can pretty much pull a size large off the rack and it will fit. That is the best feeling ever. I was a size 22 and XXL in everything else. I know that familiar saying “muscle weighs more than fat” is definitely showing. I feel like my body is proving that as well. I will just keep on working hard and reminding myself how far I have come. Originally when I computed my goal it gave me a date of June 2016 to reach it (if I was doing it the right way). I am hoping I can reach it before that, but if not, I won’t quit on this either way!
