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. These are her thoughts and feelings shared with you.
Day 64
Here we go, week 10. I have good days and bad days. Sometimes I feel like I am doing well and coming along and then other days I feel like I am at such a stand still.
I meet with Antonio this afternoon and we do shoulders and back and move on to something new. Antonio has me do a few exercises at four minute intervals. I start in a squatted position with a dumbbell between my legs and swing it through the legs and then over my head. I do this for 30 seconds on then 10 seconds off for four straight minutes. WOW, talk about work. Let’s just say it was rough! After we finish I go in the back and finish out on my own. I do crunches, lunges, waist and abs. I have A LOT of work to do in those areas.
I finish my day with a great dinner and lots of water.
Day 65
Off to work I go with a lunch bag packed with all the good stuff. I have been sticking to my protein shakes, salads, fruit, vegetables and lots of water. I am rarely hungry and as I have said before, it is super easy Monday through Friday since I stay on the exact same schedule.
I head to the gym to meet Antonio. I start with a warm up on the treadmill and move to this leg machine. OH MY WORD……talk about pain and hard work. This caused the most sweat to date. I was shaking it was so hard. We move on to the resistance bands and then a medicine ball. I finish off with 30 minutes on the treadmill and 25 minutes on the Stairmaster. THAT’S RIGHT, I killed it today!
Day 66
I over slept this morning and I am so mad at myself. I like to get to the gym by 4:45 am so I can spend a full 60 minutes before I have to race home and shower and get ready for work. This morning I don’t get to the gym till 5:10 am. That means I have to force myself to up my game on the cardio. I set a goal that I hit by minute 36. I am dripping with sweat but at least I know I can do it and I feel great.
I load my lunch bag up today because I am going straight to the game after work. That means I won’t get home till seven and I can’t go six hours without eating. Before I leave for work I put a pork loin on to cook in the crockpot so it will be ready for us when we get home tonight. I bring chicken, peppers, fruit and a protein bar for later today. I should be set!
We arrive home at 7 p.m. to eat the dinner that has been cooking all day in the crockpot…..NOPE….its raw. Someone (me) turned on the wrong setting…..ugh! We opt for salads and call it a night.
Day 67
OK, frustration is at its highest today. I hate this dang scale more than anything. It has not moved since last Thursday. I just don’t get it. I am being so good, so faithful, working out; eating right, yet the scale reads the same thing day in and day out. I am trying not to give up but it is so discouraging. On the way to work I have a mini breakdown while on the phone with Mike. He gives me the pep talk and assures me it will go down. Tells me over and over how good I am doing and that the scale is not the indicator I should be following. I try so hard to listen and keep up the fight!
I get to the gym and for the first time I have a sore knee. I am a little worried about it and what it means for my work out. I don’t want to start having issues. I warm up and then head to the back with Antonio. We do the dreaded mountain climbers (Oh man they are the absolute worst) then we do planks and move on to a few other drills. I am pleased that my knee doesn’t really bother me. I finish the day with my best friend…the treadmill!
When I get home we have the pork loin that has been cooking for 2 days…..it’s amazing and I steam up some spinach and call it dinner. Mike tells me I need to eat a bigger lunch and smaller dinner to see if that change will help me with the weight loss.
Day 68
Rise and shine and out the door by 4:40 am. I do a 20 minute warm up and then move on to legs. I do 4 different machines and each machine I do three sets of 25. I move on to the back room where I do sit ups, leg lifts, planks, and a few movements for my waist. I couldn’t tell you what they were called I just remember I used to do them while getting ready in the morning during my high school days. Back then I had a tiny little waist so they must have worked! I do three sets of 50 and if anything I feel stretched out. Seriously, doesn’t it sound like I am an absolute stud? Like this fierce warrior on a mission! I mean all this stuff I do daily, all this hard work, eating right, I mean come on….the weight should be peeling off me! I DON’T GET IT!
Today I load up my bag with a bigger breakfast and bigger lunch. Hopefully making this change will help with my weight loss.
Day 69
Up early and to the gym. I do a cardio work out on treadmill and elliptical. I go in the back and do all my own mat exercises. Sit ups, pushups, waist, back, arms, the works. I left after 90 minutes and felt great.
I planned my food for the day since I knew I would be gone most of it. I had my protein shake after working out and then before leaving I had some chicken and fruit salad.
We watched a baseball game for almost 4 hours in the hot sun so not only was I exhausted, I was hungry. We had tickets for the MHS musical at 7 p.m. so it only left us a little time to get dinner and get to the school. We stopped at La Playa and I ordered two taco truck tacos on lettuce instead of the corn tortillas. I didn’t feel too bad, it seems like it was a pretty good choice for a quick meal.
Day 70
My youngest daughter is home for spring break so she came with me to the gym. We started on the treadmill and did some fast jogging and fast walking on an incline. She was pretty impressed with her mom and even mentioned that she had never seen me run in my life and that I had good form! Woohoo! We moved on to a few machines and some barbell weights. I definitely made her sweat! She asked if this was the longest I have ever spent at the gym, proudly I said “no”! I was a beast and made her proud.
We did our usual restocking of the fridge and preparing for the week. Sure makes it easier to pack the breakfast and lunches with a fridge full of only good things!
Ok, here I go again…I am once again going to try to swear off that dang scale. I absolutely hate that thing. It never moves! I seriously don’t get it. I feel like I should be dropping weight left and right and almost ready for a bikini when actually I won’t even put on a pair of shorts yet. I actually wore a short sleeve shirt for the first time and even that was embarrassing.
Please send good vibes my way, I need them!
