Let’s Talk About Nine Months of Gym… It is a Journey…

Can you believe I have been working out a gym for nine months. It took nine months to lose fifteen kilograms and take nearly fifteen minutes off my Parkrun time, not to mention I have become a slightly new version of me. This is my year for getting things done, and I never expected that that would mean getting myself back to health. When I thought it would be a year of cleaning out closets and painting a few walls, rearranging bedrooms and creating some creative spaces. That might be happening, but the entire focus of this year has really been getting my sleep habits under control and getting to gym every morning.

I was so excited when I was asked to blog my “getting back into shape” journey for Sport Science… it ticked all my boxes. My blogging goal for the year was to spread my wings and blog a little further afield than my own blog, but bigger than that I was desperate, after 20 years of mothering to get my body back into any sort of shape. I had tried daily walks, and I had tried this and that, but nothing stuck. I really needed help to get moving. After I got over the initial shock of how unfit I actually was and just how far off track I gotten health wise, it was literally a one step at a time kind of a thing. And this is where I have to say I am kind of glad I never set a weight goal. Because on paper, I have heaps of weight to lose and in practice a goal like that would have left me floundering.

It has been hard work, but I think it has been harder work for my gym instructor than for myself… you see I get to do all the fun stuff, while she just gets to stand there and tell our class what to do. I have to say I love gym… even the things I hated at first, I have just kept on trying and I am starting to get it. I have the best dietician who has never said you may or may not eat this or that. I am not on a diet at all… I eat what I eat. But, and this is important, not what I always ate. When I started gym I would reward myself after every workout… I needed the incentive to keep going. Now I have a Saturday treat and I am fine with that. I make much better food choices for myself and slowly but surely… and I am going to say SLOWLY… I am dropping some kilos. My reward now is going to gym… I can’t want to miss a day and the fact that I go in the morning before the kids wake up means that it isn’t affecting anyone else, apart from the fact that I can’t be the last person in bed at night… I have to sleep, so that I can get up timeously.

When I blogged about my gym journey previously I mentioned just how hard it is to find gym gear for plus size moms… I wasn’t kidding, the struggle is real. Would you read that again… impossible. The people that really need to get into shape, struggle the most to find affordable and comfortable gym gear. I not going to pay close to a R1000 for a pair of leggings, especially leggings made for folk in the size 8-12 size range. I have been searching and searching all year and about three weeks ago I found a pair of leggings that fit properly. And I knew it, I was right all along. When your gym clothes fit you can conquer the world, suddenly I can run freely without worrying that my pants are falling down or if my t-shirt is covering all the gaps. It has changed how I run around the track, it has changed how I feel about running anywhere. If you are looking for gym clothes… just keep hunting they are out there… it will make a difference.

I won’t mention my, ahem, upper body. I nursed eight kids for years, and I really need firm control… Well I can’t find anything… I have searched and searched and short of spending thousands, which I am not about to do, especially since my body is changing shape from month to month. I cannot find anything that remotely fits me. But I know when I do… all those jumping exercises that I thought I couldn’t do when I started this journey will somehow be doable. Now when I hear burpee or star jump, my heart sinks… it isn’t because I can or can’t do the exercise, I am strong enough at last, but… lets just say my underwear isn’t!!! So that is my quest right now… I know I can get up every morning for gym, I know I can get through the workouts, I know I can run around the track… but I am not sure if I can find the right gear for the job!!!

So back to my getting things done… one thing I had to do was organise my wardrobe… and being the ultimate minimalist, there is a real problem when you lose weight and you absolutely hate shopping for clothes. I needed an entire wardrobe even my socks were falling off. And my first shocking surprise… until now, my idea for clothes shopping was to head into a store, find the biggest size and hope it fitted. That’s all changed. I go in and try on actual sizes now… it is remarkably different. Luckily my entire wardrobe isn’t very many clothes, because I don’t like having stuff I don’t use… so this is it:

A pile of what I consider uniforms: gym clothes and clothes I wear for volunteering. Otherwise three bottoms: Jeans, khaki pants and black leggings. Three tops: Three t-shirts: one on, one off and one fancy… and for smarter works days I treated myself over the last few months, so three frocks, which I would absolutely never ever have worn at the start of this year, but now I love. And I forgot to put my sweaters in the photograph… but I have a thick woolly sweater and a thin long sleeved sweatshirt, as well as a all weather wind (not that waterproof!) jacket that I keep in my backpack for extreme weather events while hiking.

My shoe closet… a pair of sneakers and a pair of slops. I have also got a pair of Merrells that I use for hiking and for gym… I have literally worn them out, but new shoes for me for running and working out, will have to wait, three kids need running shoes before I get a turn for new shoes again.

So yes, I am that person that can fit their entire wardrobe into a backpack… and I am also the person that wouldn’t want to own more clothes than I need, ever.

From the start…

• Se7en’s Blog: Se7en’s Journey at SSISA Begins With a Goal…
• Se7en Takes You Through the SSISA Healthy Weight Assessment…
• Se7en’s Blog: From Workouts to Workshops and Everything In-Between…
• Se7en’s Blog: Se7en Begins Week 3 of our Healthy Weight Program…
• Se7en’s Blog: It’s Time to Take Sleep Seriously…
• Se7en’s Blog: Meeting the Healthy Weight Team…
• Se7en’s Blog: And Suddenly We Are in Week 6…
• Se7en’s Blog: There is no Assessment Like Your Own Assessment…
• Se7en’s Blog: 8 Things I Loved About the Healthy Weight Programme…
• Se7en’s Blog: Conquering the Healthy Weight Programme…
• Se7en’s Blog: I Have Made it Through the Intermediate Level…
• Se7en’s Blog: Se7en Secrets to Getting Back into Shape…
• Se7en’s Blog: It Is Time to Set New Goals…
• Se7en’s Blog: So What’s in a Healthy Diet?
• Se7en’s Blog: Slow and Steady Wins the Race…
• Se7en’s Blog: How to Measure Progress When You Don’t Appear to Be Making Any…
• Se7en’s Blog: Finding Your Inner Smile and Feeling Invincible…
• Se7en’s Blog: It Took Nine Months to Discover My Competition…



Previous Posts on This Blog

• When Little Changes Make the World of Difference…
• When You Get Back to Gym After an Endless Break…
• Se7en’s Week Back at Gym…
• Let’s Talk About Gym, and Healthy Weight and Especially Sleep…
• Let’s Talk About Gym and Getting Things Done…
• The Year of Getting Unexpected Things Done… As I Graduate from Beginner to Intermediate.
• Se7en Steps to Getting Your Sleep Back on Track…
• Se7en + 1 Things I Didn’t Expect About Getting Back Into Gym…


And What About Family Fitness

• Se7en Ways to Get Your Kids Moving…
• Se7en Discovers Realistic Sleep, Screen Time and Exercise Expectations for Kids…
• Family Fitness and Joining Your Local ParkRun…


I would like to thank SSISA for the free training/mentoring I am getting in exchange for an honest blog post. This is not a sponsored post and opinions expressed are as usual entirely my own.