My SUPER EARLY Birthday Present

I know it's only March but I decided on getting myself a super early birthday present. I bought an elliptical! Yes, it may have hindered my down-payment-for-a-house savings for a month or two, but this is a savings plan on a whole different level: my health!

Two years ago, when I first started my weight loss journey, I hated the thought of exercise. I loved junk food, carbs, and my couch with such passion, you'd think I were married to them. (I still get butterflies thinking about Mac n Cheese....)

This bad boy weighed a TON! We needed two fine upstanding gentlemen to bring the box indoors.

So I took baby steps. I started walking after dinner. At the time, I lived in an apartment complex which was laid out in an oval shape that was about half a mile all the way around. I started by walking once around the complex after dinner. Then I walked around twice. Two laps turned into four, and then six, and finally eight. I was walking for two hours, but I didn't feel exhausted afterward, and I didn't feel that terrifyingly painful stabbing in my chest, and my lungs didn't feel like they were at the point of exploding. These are all the things I absolutely detested about running and jogging. I hate the feeling of being out of breath. I hate that my knees start buckling after twenty seconds. I hate how my shoulder blades start burning and my back seizes up. I was 24 years old and you'd think I were 500.

But walking four miles after dinner also meant that I shot all evening plans. There was no "relax and unwind" time after work anymore. I had to quickly cook and eat dinner, and had a half an hour post-dinner break before I laced up my sneakers. So while the scale was making me happy every morning, my lack of a social life was making me very UNhappy.

My manly man putting together the elliptical. Isn't he so manly?

I finally trudged my ass to the fitness center at my apartment complex. I glanced at all the equipment, sighed, and hopped on the elliptical. I can't say I loved it, or that I stayed there for long. I remember the first day, I was only there for fifteen minutes. But over time, I built up stamina and stayed longer and longer. I set little goals like "today, I'm going to be on the elliptical five minutes longer than yesterday" and "I want to hit 1/2 a mile extra today than I did last time."

Sometimes, I made a game of it. I'd set a goal to hit 300 calories, and once I'd reach that goal, I'd notice I had covered 1.3 miles, so I told myself I'd be done when I reached 1 1/2 miles. When I reached 1 1/2 miles, I realized I had been running for 28 minutes, so I told myself I'd stop at 30 minutes. By that time I was up to 330 calories, so then I'd work toward hitting 350. I kept going, little tiny steps at a time. And it worked! I didn't just lose weight; the gym also became slightly more enjoyable. It's a psychological thing. People like to do things in which they excel. Things they know they can accomplish. Sure, there are some people who love a challenge, and love doing things they're not skilled at, and who use failure as a means of motivation. I am sooo not one of those people. In school, I sucked at math and had no intention of "mastering" it. I liked art, but I was lousy at drawing real life objects, so I focused on abstract doodles. But I wasn't trying to become an astrophysicist, or paint portraits for a living, so it was ok for me to not be an overachiever and master any of those things. Losing weight and becoming healthier however, was definitely on my to do list. I had to make sure I wouldn't give up, and I did what I could to make sure I "won" everyday. I had to be the master of the gym, and my weight loss, or else I would give up.



Hit 400 calories at 44 minutes. Just one more minute. Oh! And then just until I hit two miles!!!

Eventually though, I moved in with my boyfriend, and we didn't have a free community gym. We had a gym nearby, but we lived in a sketchy neighborhood, and I wasn't keen on going. I did maintain my weight loss by continuing my healthy eating habits, but my muscles were gone, as were the sexy lines in my stomach and legs I worked so hard to get. We just moved to a huge house though, three weeks ago, and we now have the space for gym equipment. Now that my hatred for the elliptical has dissipated, I decided to buy one so that there will never be another reason or excuse for not working out.


It says to me "you can't watch Breaking Bad until you climb on first!!!"

Roy and I spent a whole weekend test driving a bunch of different ellipticals, and I did research online for reviews and ratings of the models we liked. I finally settled on a Pro-Form elliptical that fit in my $1000 price range. And, I even got a 15% coupon on it, so I spent $901 with taxes included. Three hours after bringing it home, a slightly tired Roy finished putting it together. We both have been using it, and we love it. I feel lucky to have the means to buy myself something so extravagant. And I'm so proud of myself for buying something that will benefit my health, instead of a new electronic gadget or fancy wardrobe. I've come a long way since I was Flabby Gabby (yes, that used to be a charming nickname bestowed upon me). And most of all, I'm so proud of my new self confidence, positive attitude, respect and love for myself. I used to be so down on myself, hate myself, disgust myself. I had such bad body image issues, self worth issues, and self esteem issues I didn't know how to change. But I will say, it wasn't just losing weight that "fixed" my problems. I think it was the fact that I set a goal and actually stuck to it. I lost five dress sizes over a year instead of a month because I wasn't on a quickie diet but a lifelong commitment. I got over my fears of a gym and made sure I went, even if it was only fifteen minutes a day. I overcame my hatred of vegetables. I changed ME, not just my waist size. I think that's what helped the rest of my issues.

I won't say I'm perfectly happy and healthy in my view of myself. I'm pretty sure my best friend chewed me out yesterday for complaining about my thunder thighs. So there's still more work to be done. But two years ago, I didn't even have any friends, because I was too ashamed of myself. So, progress, ya know?



Rocking it out! Woot woot!

Now, I make sure to "hit the gym" every day or at least every other day. Roy and I got Netflix so we can watch shows while we are working out. I made a deal with myself that if I want to watch a show, I have to be on the elliptical to watch it. It's a keen motivator. And the shows are just long enough (45 minutes) to run through the whole episode.

Anyone want to recommend some good shows to watch?

Til next time!

-Kale Queen