Health Update - Personal Training

When I found out I was going to have to have open-heart surgery again, one of my first thoughts was – will I have to do cardiac rehab again?  It really wasn’t that bad, but I felt like it didn’t allow me to heal and recover as quickly or as well as I could have in a different environment.  I was the youngest person there BY FAR and after a few weeks I was still only allowed to walk slowly on a treadmill and use the lightest resistance bands.  I’m sure it was to make sure I avoided injury and to bring me back slowly, but I also don’t think they had much experience with a young, healthy rehab patient.  So when I met with my cardiologist at the end of February, I asked if I could do my rehab with a personal trainer at my gym.  I had already looked into it and knew they had experienced trainers who would know how to combine my recovery with my goals for weight loss and overall health.  When he signed the consent form, I was thrilled. 

Heading to gym, coffee first.  

I had my first session a couple of weeks ago and it was just an evaluation to see what I was capable of and so that my trainer (Ted) could come up with a plan.  While I was impressed with my ability to squat, lunge and stretch my legs, upper body and core were a different story.  These have never been my strengths, but I quickly realized I would be starting from the very beginning.  I am working with Ted two times a week, focusing on strength and for now the other days I am just working back into cardio.  We will add a third day of strength once I’m ready. 

Starting slowly

I shared with Ted my reservations about working with a trainer, mostly based on my last experience leading up to our wedding.  The workouts were unorganized, I had no clue what to do when I was on my own and he didn’t ask me anything about my eating habits.  Even after a few weeks, I can tell working with Ted will be MUCH different.  I have a chart to record nutritional facts from MyFitnessPal and each time we work out, there is a plan and a purpose.  MyFitnessPal is good at keeping me motivated, but having to show Ted has kept me accountable.  I could always lie, but that wouldn’t do anyone any good and I’ve always been a rule follower anyway.  It’s helped me to realize that I need more protein, less carbs and less sodium.  WOW sodium!  Eating out (even “healthy”) is tough to do and stay under the recommended 2300 mg of sodium per day.  If you track it, then you understand.

The other reason I wanted to work out at my gym is that I can take my kids with me to childcare.  We used to take Aiden and he did fine, but he hasn’t been in over a year so to say he struggled being left is an understatement.  Audrey went with the flow but Aiden is going to need some time to warm up.  Hopefully with continued visits he will adapt and start to enjoy it.  We hope to make our gym someplace where our kids can grow up and feel extremely comfortable.  It’s all part of our goal to put our health at the top of our priority list. 

Loving the nice weather to go for daily walks.

So it’s been a slow start but it feels so incredibly good to be using my body and building strength.  Along with my trainer, having you all (or maybe just my mom and Andrew ;)) read this is definitely helping me stay on track!