Helping people achieve a better lifestyle, through effective and personalized workouts.
Shawna is an Iron Fit client, likely going through a lot of the same struggles you are.
September 4, 2020
Hey all. I’m baaaaack. For those that don’t know me, I’m Shawna. I am a client of Mark Kay and off and on I have been his client for maybe 3-4 years. I really can’t remember anymore. I was doing a blog, for more than one reason. Mainly, when I was keeping this blog, it was keeping me accountable, because really, there is NOTHING WORSE than having to type to all your followers that you’re a phony.
Well, I really don’t remember where I was when I last “left” you all. I know I was losing weight pretty steadily. But then something caused me to just…stop. Maybe it was because of my finances. Maybe it was because of my work schedules. Maybe it was just my motivation that just stopped working. Who knows. But regardless…I am here. Again haha
Well, after I “quit” with Mark, I wish I could say I did well, but I didn’t. I not only ended up gaining weight, but I ended up gaining more. I ended up at my highest weight ever in life…a number that I vowed I would never ever EVER hit…I weighed in at 308! I told myself that I would never get to 300…but then I did.
I celebrated my wedding anniversary that year as a 300 (plus) pound woman. I use to joke to my husband that “you must like sleeping with a 300 pound woman” and he would laugh it off, thinking I was joking. He didn’t know my true weight at the time. (I later told him in a drunken weakness).
I’m going to fast forward to save you all the boring details. December 31, 2019 I vowed that I can’t afford to be over 300 pounds anymore. I was unhappy. I had knee pain. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis in my knees, and while “skinny” people can also get arthritis, my doctor suggested that losing weight will help. So, I decided once and for and all that this obese lifestyle was NOT for me. Not anymore!!!!
I started to eat healthy. I started to exercise. I went back on my treadmill again. It was January…too cold to go outside. We were having temps of -30s BEFORE windchill. Whatever I was doing, was working.
Then in February 2019 I went back to my doc to ask about weight loss surgery. He had suggested it a few times in the past but I didn’t listen. But I was desperate. So, he did put me on a wait list, which I am still on. It’s a 2 year wait list and I’ve been on it for almost a year.
Do I want surgery? No. But if I absolutely need it…I’ll do it. I know a lot of people who have been successful with the surgery. So, what do I have to lose, except my weight right?
Well, fast forward a little bit more…I am proud to say that today I am 233.4 pounds. I’m down 75 pounds since January 1. And I feel great. My knee pain has gone down a lot!! The arthritis is still there but I can walk up and down the stairs “normally” and not as much like a toddler does – open stair at a time.
It was about a month ago that I started back with Mark. So far, it’s going well. We meet either at his garage, my garage, or on zoom. It’s going well, and I look forward to getting into the 220s…hopefully next week!!!!!
Well that’s a lot of info…and thank you if you all; made it this far!
I look forward to sharing my “new” journey with you all.
Pushups are destroying your child!!!
So, you make your child do push-ups. Your goal is to get them active and moving. However, if all you’re doing is pushups, you’re creating more of a problem than you’re helping. We’ve trained many kids that we’ve had to help correct their posture.
Most kids, and people for that matter, have rolled shoulders. That means the shoulder are forward, leaving a bit of a rounded upper back. This is caused by many things. But desk work and excessive electronics usage are large contributes to this.
If you’re doing pushups, make sure you do something to strengthen the upper back/ rear deltoid muscles as well. Like my daughter Olivia is showing. This will help relieve future problems for your kids. As well as helping create a better overall workout for them.
Who Cares What You Lift?
Remember when you told people you worked out, and got asked “how much you lift” or “how much do you squat”? Ya, you likely still get asked that. But in the long run, who cares?
The amount of weight you lift is almost irrelevant. That’s great that you can bench press 200 pounds. Going to be lifting a car anytime soon? I know in my regular everyday activities, I put 150lbs on my shoulders and squat. No you don’t, and no I don’t.
Your form and your reasoning for doing the exercises is more important than how much you lift. If you’re looking to be functional in your day to day life, knowing how much you can do on a cable pec fly while not having your back supported is much more important than knowing how much you can lie down and press.
Weight training has come a long ways from using machines and doing everything as heavy as you can. Find and develop a program to suit YOUR lifestyle needs, not what you can brag about doing.
Did I lose you at what a cable pec fly was? Give us a call, we would be happy to help you out on your path to reach your health & fitness potential.
Mark Kay
Owner, Iron Fit Personal Training
***Shawna is a client of our ours, that’s willing to share her weight loss journey each month. She’s a mother, wife and works a full time job. All of her comments are in her own words, unedited. Please contact us to start your journey, info@ironfit.ca, 7807184805***
Hello my faithful readers. It’s been a while. I’ve decided to do this blog once a month. I felt like every 2 weeks was too much for me. It put pressure on me if I had a bad week and the scaled showed this. And then I had to come here and tell you all about it. In the beginning, I thought this blog would motivate me a little bit more to stay on plan…because how embarrassing to have to share your failures with a bunch of people. But some weeks, it really doesn’t do much to keep me motivated. I really don’t know what will.
I’m trying something different…I joined Orange Theory Fitness on top of doing personal training sessions. And let me tell you…I absolutely love it! I love the group setting…and I’m already making friends with some of the regulars I see. I also really the coached sessions. So I’m hoping with this new routine I’ve added, that I’ll start to see progress with my fitness level.
I haven’t been all that great with food choices over the past 2 weeks, I will admit. I haven’t gained, but I’m not losing…I’m not necessarily pigging out or anything…just haven’t been making great choices. So my workout sessions have just really been cancelling out the bad food choices. And I know that I’ll find it again. I found it once, way back in January/February/March-ish…I know I have it in me. I just need to kick myself in the ass.
I’m still dealing with the hormonal stuff…that part of my life is really starting to get me down. I can’t even really talk about it here…but I have joined a couple support groups for other people who suffer from PCOS because until you have it…you really don’t truly get what is going through my mind…And I don’t really feel like putting any of that in here. Just know that I’m getting tired of getting the run around from all the doctors. They send me for blood tests only to show that yup, my numbers haven’t changed. So they send me away and tell me that they will check my levels in 6 months. 6 months later…more blood tests, same stupid results, but no fixes. So here I sit…with a body full of whacked-out hormones, and no one will fix me. Anyway…got away from myself there.
So ya, I’m still here and I’m still trying to fight my way back to where I know I can be…It just might take some time…more time than what it has already taken.
I know it’s been a while since I last updated this and I SHOULD have lots to talk about…but I don’t. I’m really not feeling it right now and maybe next month I’ll have something interesting to talk about. I can only hope.
Thank you for being here for me…even if I’ve never met you. I know that there are other people out there who are struggling with this healthy lifestyle and maybe I just needed to let this out in the hopes that someone has some insights to share…
Until next month, I shall keep trucking on.