I'm In a Relationship!

     Yes, friends! I am in a loving, supportive workout relationship! She's the wife to an amazing husband and mother to three wonderful kids. She's my next door neighbor I've mentioned in my previous posts as O. Our relationship has progressed from cordial neighbors to friends and now workout buddies!

      It all started last week when my sisters Tee, Jay and I decided to eat clean and exercise beginning the first of June.  Currently we're between three different programs--Fit Girl, 21 Day Fix and the LoseIt! calorie counter. Since we didn't have all the clean foods we need to complete any one of the programs, we decided to use what we had and practice portion control (something that's been a struggle for me my whole life). My younger sister Tee put together a workout schedule for us with circuits and stretches she found online. We were ready to roll.

     The second day, Tee and I ran into my neighbor O at our usual spot over the wall. In the recent months we've taken great joy talking for at least an hour about life, kids, our struggles, and with that I consider her to be a good friend. We told her about the diet and exercise program we've embarked on and she immediately wanted to be part of it. O and I talked in the past about exercising together, though I was intimidated about doing so because of how knowledgeable she and her husband are in fitness; I didn't think I could commit. But with the wedding coming up I knew the heat is on, and I needed as much motivation as I could get.

The faces I see in my nightmares.

     With our initial meet up, Tee had shown her the schedule and we told her a bit about our plan. O is around the same size and body type as I am, and has a lot of great advice for getting into shape. I was relieved to hear it's been a struggle to get the weight off recently (yay she's human too!) and looked forward to the motivation. We decided to exercise three times a week together--the three of us agreed the accountability would be good and we wouldn't flake out on each other. Since Tee had something to do the next day, O and I decided to meet up at her house at seven to start out our program.

      It took me forever to fall asleep. 'Could I keep this up? What if I oversleep and miss the whole thing? I don't want to disappoint her.' Luckily the next morning my eyes popped open at 6:15 and I got my things prepared to go over. We decided to start with the hardest workout I had: the Biggest Loser cardio. This dvd works me every time, and I'm left shaking and afraid. I hopped the wall and was greeted by their family dog when I walked through the door. "Are you ready?" O asked, setting down cups of water she made us on the tv stand. "Yep" I replied, nervous to begin my day with a truly brutal workout. And with that, we began.

      My body remembered that workout. I started feeling my quads tighten and my breath becoming labored. I remembered everything: the difficult squats, lunges, shadow boxing and the blessed rests. I was pouring sweat half way through. I looked over to see how O was doing, and was puzzled as to why she wasn't dying. After the half-hour workout ended, my face was red and my legs rendered useless. O on the other hand seemed surprised at how fast it ended. "Wanna do a quick circuit?" she asked. I agreed, but inside I was screaming out NO PLEASE I WANT TO GO HOME.

     I need to keep up with this lady. She's older than I am, has way more responsibilities and demands than I do. There's no way I can wimp out. We went out into her garage where her husband kept all his workout equipment. We did 50 jump rope rotations, held ten pound bumper weights (that I had no idea existed until that day) over our heads and lunge walked to one end of the garage, ran down to the end of her lane and lunge walked back to the garage. We did that circuit three times. Three times! And the best part was I didn't die!

      My takeaway from that day was that I need to be challenged. I've always started, stopped then started again. I've never advanced or improved in any of the exercising I've done in the past. With all the initial fears and hesitations, I couldn't ask for a better situation right now. I'm blessed with support in my house and next door, for which I am immensely thankful. O and her family are such a huge blessing, and the timing in so many ways seems right. Divinity works in mysterious ways, and this setup is no accident. I'm scared and excited and grateful and tired. So until next time, I bid you goodnight~

Cheers,
The Daughter