Intro to Sweat 101

 I know there are a million blogs you could be reading right now. Shiny ones with professional photography (seriously, bloggers hire photographers to take pictures of them these days) and Kate Spade shoes and creme brulee recipes. Or hard bodies. Or video game reviews.

Well. I'm not a fan of having people following me around while I don silly outfits. I am but a mere mortal with some cute investment pieces, a handful of go to accessories and a big ass.

I hope you still stick around.

This is a different kind of blog. Frankly, ill try to keep it pretty and fun. But there is no permanent glaze on life. No flattering filter here. This blog is the new me. This chronicles my journey. My new "sweat" life.  I plan on posting what I'm eating, what I'm wearing, what I'm thinking, and my struggles along the way.

I'm just a normal, out of shape lady with a penchant for loving fancy things, gadgets and good pop music.

Let's kick it old school for a second:

I am not the girl who ran a mile with her shiny ponytail intact and swinging in the breeze. Nope. I was that girl beet red begging for mercy after one lap. And of course I was that cliche last pick in kickball. Let us shed a tear for my bruised preteen ego. 

Because I was never athletic, and because I never WANTED to be in the first place, my life was spent ripping out pages in magazines and watching Clueless over and over. You could say that I believed I could only be one way or the other. Either I liked sports and would commit to sweaty pursuits, or I could luxuriate with a bagel and cream cheese twice a day and do absolutely nothing active, unless you count shopping as cardio. I did. 

You can guess the path I choose. 

Every summer, I reevaluated this position but mostly stayed the same. 

There was yo-yo dieting. 

There where tears.
There were trips to the beach where I tried desperately to hide my glob of a body.
Trips to the beach bikini store hoping I could find something that changed my life for the better (with no work on my part).

There were Juicy Couture bikini purchases that collected dust. 

But other than your here and there sporadic month and a half in the gym (which felt great) I never truly enjoyed working out and being active. And I certainly judged those who clearly lied about enjoying it! That would never be me.

In college, I did lose some weight following the South Beach diet. I began buying products from natural food stores and Whole Foods. I was smaller than I had been in a very long while. But then I was introduced to the wonders of fine dining, and it was two steps forward and one step back. Social eating and drinking got the best of me, and I was slowly but surely no longer able to fit into my new collection of designer jeans.

I briefly took a job at a manufacturing plant for a makeup company as a line manager. It required lots of time on my feet and some heavy lifting. Since I never knew the protocols of lifting a box filled with facial soap, I believe that is when I pulled out my back or slipped a disk. Painful spasms ran down my leg. At one point, it hurt to lift one leg at a time and get up the stairs. And it came out of nowhere one night just sitting on the couch.

That really began the process of my complete deterioration. I was afraid to do ANYTHING. It all seemed like a fast track to hurting even more. I took on a trainer at the gym, but quickly quit because he didn't really listen to my concerns. I saw a chiropractor who said I should get some activity, like yoga. But I could not imagine getting into any position that required lower back strength, because I no longer had any. I lost most of my flexibility as I rigidly went through life.

Back to the future:

Today, I'm overweight and sedentary. I work with my husband fifteen minutes from home after two years running a retail store in greater Philadelphia. 

Those two years were hard and I got very sloppy. With all the sushi, Chinese, Starbucks and Mexican food within one block and a very brief walk to and from our car every morning, I was piling on pounds both from general disinterest and honestly, anger. I had no time for anything. In the winter, we got home at seven and I made every excuse not to do anything but veg on the couch. And truly I WAS wiped. In the summer I was hot and sweaty and wished to be anywhere but there, where time was like a vortex and our drives to and from the city were like slow torture as I watched the sun set before we got home. 

Now that I am home I've begun moving my ass which is essential if you sit on it half the day. I'm still trying to find the connection between mind and body. That activity level that won't overdo it. The right amount of walking and flexibility and strength work. As we only have so many hours in the day, it is a challenge to take that time for myself.

I'm also on My Fitness Pal. I've been on there somewhere within the realm of 200 days, with very little weight loss (about ten pounds). It's very slow going. But I have made some great friends, acquired some new inspirational action heroes/ idols and learned to set goals (with some rewards mixed in). I've also begun weighing my food, working out 3-4 times a week, and paying attention to macros (somewhat).

I am on the verge of completing the first stage in a lifting program, New Rules of Lifting For Women. It is a book that lays out how I can increase strength and change my body. I have really loved stage one. I can now do a proper back squat with a barbell weighing 80 pounds. I do it with my shoes off, feeling my legs power me back up, and feel like a bad ass. 

I also do Pilates at least twice a week and it has done wonders for my lower back pain and flexibility since mine pales in comparison to the days of rocking out and kicking everyone's ass on the Sit and Reach. I love Pilates and my current bind is trying to figure out if I should join a studio and go regularly while lifting. 

So. 

I'm kind of immersed in the sweat life. 

But I'm about to embark on a twelve week program called Drop 2 Sizes and kick it into high gear.
By my calculations, if I start Monday, the 30th, I'll have completed 9 weeks before my vacation. Although it seems my vacation will set me back, maybe I'll make it my mission to work out in the gym on those days? We'll see when I get there.

I'm pausing the New Rules after I am done Stage 1 and focusing on both diet and lifting. I need structure and I need a challenge. And I do really need to lose two sizes since I'm taking a trip to Jamaica!

Another end goal is a healthy pregnancy. We are not currently "planning" for a pregnancy in 2013. But 2014 is more in line with everything. I won't lie. I sometimes think about getting in the best shape of my life only to destroy all progress by getting pregnant. But I know that it's easier to bounce back if you are in good shape, and adapting everything I've learned pre-pregnancy to my post-pregnancy life would also make things easier. So, ideally. I want to get HEALTHY all around.

Will you follow me on this journey?