training diary, week 1: head like a hole

*** Updated with week 1 picture below! ***

Week 1 was just brutal. Trying to incorporate not just one, but two lifestyle changes into your routine almost killed me. (The other was the GMAT studying - more on that later.) I ended up exhausted and on the verge of a nervous breakdown by Friday afternoon - at which point, I scheduled myself a facial at International Orange and canceled all of my weekend social plans.

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Training Diary, Week 1

Weight: 129 lbs
Body Fat: 30% (official!)
Fitness Level: Fair


Me, Karen and Topher on Sat, 8/20

Workout Record, Sun. 8/14 to Sat. 8/20:

• Sun, 8/14 - Elliptical Trainer, 30 mins
• Tues, 8/16 - Elliptical Trainer, 35 mins; Kickboxing, 10 mins
• Thurs, 8/18 - Elliptical Trainer, 20 mins
• Fri, 8/19 - Strength Training with Mark, 1 hour

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As I said, Week 1 was pretty rough. I was feeling constantly guilty, because I didn't feel like I was either working out or studying enough, as well as completely boxed in from not having my time to myself. I'm a creature of habit; the lesson learned from this is that I need to slowly introduce life changes one at a time. I ended up wide awake at 2 am on Friday morning, unable to sleep from anxiety and washing all of my towels. Even though I was mostly dead all day Friday (my mgr. even pulled me aside because she was worried about me), it helped spark some important decisions on my part.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday were days of renewal and adjustment. I met with Janet McBride, the nutritionist in the whole training program for the 1st time, on Friday afternoon. She's really cool, and I do like her approach to food and nutrition. I also had my first session with Mark on Friday. Despite the fact that I didn't think he was super dynamic at first, I really like him - he has a very understated presence that belies his knowledge, and helps encourage you. I got a great routine from him for home!

After my training work, I headed over to International Orange for my facial and massage. Ohhhhh. It was just what I needed! My skin had been feeling horrid and dull for the last few months, and the facial just ate away at all the dead skin cells and left me with a glow!

On Sat am, I continued my quest to improve my health and also put my life into balance with my first ever trip to the acupuncturist. What a nutty experience - she basically told me to close my eyes and hold out my hands, made a diagnosis (accurate!), stuck pins in me, gave me a really really rough "massage", and then gave me lots of herbs that look like poo pellets. I kinda like it :-)

I woke up on this morning, ready for my Kaplan class, and decided that I was just not going to go. I guess this is a mark of maturity or something - knowing yourself well enough to know when something isn't working for you. Ironically enough, the classes were making me study less efficiently; whenever I looked at the material, I just kind of did a half-hearted job because I knew there was the class. I realized, surprisingly enough, that I study better on my own, so I quit the class and revised my schedule and syllabus for self-study with the Premium Online Course. This frees up an additional 6+ hours of classroom time, and - if today was any indication - will help me study much more effectively.

As Scarlett said, "Tomorrow is another day." Week 2 begins...