Please remember that pre-2016 Audra NEVER worked out. I walked my dog daily but never for long distances or at a swift pace. I’m busy…dreadfully busy… but taking care of my body and making time for exercise never made it to the top of my priority list. 2016 Audra is hooked on exercise. I feel great, my clothes fit better, and I’m slowly (but surely) losing all the pounds I gained due to my summer 2015 health issues. In January, Beth and I signed up for 3 months of twice per week sessions with a personal trainer at UFC Gym. Now we just don’t know how we are going to live without him. Our 3 months ends mid April and we are considering our options for the future.
Personal training can be expensive and therefore not an option for everyone. I’m not a huge penny pincher but have college tuition looming ahead so Beth and I are trying to be practical about how we proceed after our perfect world of being trained by Jose twice per week. Two things we’ve decided for certain are: 1) We are committed to continuing to workout TOGETHER twice per week. 2) We are joining UFC Gym.
We really can’t live without Jose so we are going to stalk his class schedule and take group classes with him. We also are working on figuring out an affordable amount of time to continue our private sessions on a less frequent basis. Beth and I have observed two of the other UFC Trainers (Kay and Denise) and interviewed some of their class participants and are excited about trying their classes too.
As I ponder my fitness journey thus far, I think Beth and I have gone about it in a perfect way. We had a personal trainer that got to know us and understand our goals and limitations. He guided us slowly through ramping up our exercise stamina. He helped me overcome my fear of dying during a workout and gain the confidence I need to be weaned from his protection and move into the broader realm of group classes. I (honest to goodness) was afraid I would die of a heart attack or permanently injure my back if I tried to complete a real workout. I just noticed that in my #4 Fitness blog that I mentioned I could do a 45 second plank, up from 20 seconds on day one. Yesterday I planked ON A STABILITY BALL for a full minute. Heaven knows what will happen next along this journey!
