And the eureka moment I've been waiting for happens
It's three weeks in and I'm finally starting to feel better, stronger, and leaner. I followed the doc's advice and now go to class in the mornings, with my friend, and have stopped imagining that by the end of this month, I am going to look like Kelly Ripa. Other behaviors of mine have changed as well.
I've stopped caring as much about food. Before I was working out on regular basis, it wasn't a big deal to eat the bagels, donuts, and cupcakes that make an oh-so-often appearance in the office break room. Now that I have to feel that devilish burn between my thighs every morning, a chocolate donut just doesn't seem worth it.
I've also started doing other exercises. Since I typically go to Physique during the week, I find myself getting antsy on the weekends and wanting to -- get this -- work out more. Weird, I know. I've started hiking and finally riding my bike that's been collecting dust.
And I've picked up a few tricks that help me get through each class like a champ ...
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Why breath is my BFF and stretching is important
I've never known how to use breath to enhance my workout and it's only with Physique 57 that I have really started to see how important proper breathing is to getting through a strenuous activity. I used to hold my breath at the gym when I was lifting weights or even running, but now I use breath to get me through the movements and keep my energy up. "The more oxygen you can take in, the more energy you will have for the workout," says Becker. Generally, we inhale as we lengthen the muscle (rest) and exhale as we contract the muscle (exertion).
I also used to only stretch before a workout, which is totally wrong and a mistake many women make. "Stretching before a workout doesn't do much for you," as your muscles are stiff and not malleable, says Johnson. After you've worked the muscle during strength training, stretching the muscle guides it in its re-growth. Then over time, you become more flexible, and the line of the muscle will lengthen to create those long, lean muscles every woman wants, she says. Why be flexible? "When your body is flexible and supple, the recovery from your workouts is a lot quicker and your range of motion is greater," says Johnson. Translation: It means you'll be better able to push your body to the max during your workouts, which is when you torch the most calories and have the best shot at changing your body's shape.
But the best lesson I have learned so far from Physique?
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There is no better motivation than hot people
It's one of the last nights of my month-long journey to a better body, and it's 80s night at Physique 57.
In bounces Kimberly, one of the Beverly Hills studio's instructors, in hot pink shiny spandex leggings and a thong unitard. My jaw drops so far to the carpeted floor that it feels like it's going to dislocate. I quickly realize that I'm staring so hard at her impossibly tight and toned ass that I've stopped blinking. Who, I want to know, looks good in shiny spandex and a unitard? Nobody. Well, nobody except people who have mastered Physique 57.
It's safe to say I worked my body harder in this class than any class I have ever attended. And I come to the conclusion that there is no better motivation than watching a hot person do leg lifts in spandex.
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And my results are in
Weight: 144.7 lbs
Total weight loss in one month: 5.9 lbs
Measurements:
Bust: 32"
Waist: 29"
Hips: 41"
Thighs: 23"
Arms: 12"
Total inches lost all over my body in one month: 9"
I'm sure you can image that with a nine-inch loss all over my body, I am feeling pretty flippin' fantastic. I have so much energy. I feel confident. I feel strong. Yes, my thighs still rub together every time I run up the stairs to work, but I can now imagine the day that they won't.
When I think about how far I have come physically in just one month, I'm seriously impressed. I can now do proper pushups (not many, but hey, something to work toward). I have graduated from five-pound weights to eight-pound weights when I work my arms. And while it's still excruciating, I rest less often during thigh and butt work.
Even better and more shocking? How far I've come emotionally.
In the past, I was ashamed to be naked in front of other women in the locker room. I'd suck in my tummy and scale the wall into the shower, one hand trying desperately to cover my toosh. Now, I strut out of the shower and occasionally even ask a fellow Physiquer to pass me a towel. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I suddenly look bangin' in the buff. It's just that the way I think about my body has changed. I'm proud of it -- not obsessed with every little jiggle or rotundity, but honored for my body's hard work, its capability.
Pushing my muscles to their brink is no longer for the sole cause of looking like Ripa. It's so I can feel great in my own body. I'm officially one of those women I could never understand before: someone kind of obsessed with exercising.
Intrigued enough to give this workout a whirl? Physique 57 classes are only held in Los Angeles and New York City, but anyone can check out the DVDs. While Kimberly won't be there putting your ass to shame in her hot pink spandex, you'll still feel the "fiery depths of hell" ball exercises burn.
And who knows, maybe you'll even start to love your body, too.
Before you judge me on wanting to look like the five-foot-two, less-than-a-hundred-pounds Kelly Ripa, hear this: I fully understand on a fundamental level that I will never, ever look like Kelly Ripa. I'm sane. Reasonable. Not short, or naturally thin. Oh, and I'm a brunette (wink!).
Seriously though -- do I want arms like Ripa's that don't flap in the wind? Yes.
Should my ass be less obtrusive? Probably.
Would it be nice to sit and not have a jellyroll slowly unfold over my jeans? Ab-solutely.
But above all, as a twenty-something woman, do I need to stop considering the walk, I repeat w-a-l-k, up the three flights of stairs to the office my fitness routine for the day? That, my friends, would be an affirmative.
I came to these revelations after a recent visit to the doc. I was sitting in the waiting room and spread across the coffee table were a bunch of "Fitness" and "Shape" magazines with bikini-clad celebs glaring their shiny teeth and flat bellies at me.
There she was -- little-but-larger-than-life Ripa posing in a neon orange two-piece. I picked up the mag and as I thumbed through the pages, reading about her adventures in motherhood, how she never exercised in her twenties, and her "new" love of Physique 57, a trendy workout my friend Tricia was just raving about as I shoveled in a cheesy omelet at brunch, I had a thought.
Do these high faultin' celebrity workouts splashed across glossy magazines actually work for real people? Could I, the former chubbiest girl in the 5th grade whose thighs have never not touched, get the toned body of a celebrity? Could this fitness fad really be as life changing for me as it was for Miss Ripa?
I was determined to find out, to make a change. I was determined to try this Physique 57.
