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Gym time (part 1)

By Mary Roberts

There are few questions I get asked on a regular basis. One of them is, “Do you workout/exercise?”

The answer to that is yes.

There is no rule that you have to workout and I know many people don’t love it. I didn’t love it my entire life. It always felt like a chore.  It really is something to do mostly for enjoyment because when it comes to weight loss it really isn’t that much of a factor.

Growing up I was not an active person. As a kid I rode my bike and ran around the neighborhood, but when I got to high school it was a whole different story.

I was the girl who was always looking for a way out of P.E. class. I especially despised having to run the track and I was almost always the last one in – the one everybody was waiting for to finish.

I was queen of getting a doctor’s note to opt out of P.E.  Sometimes asthma got me out of it. Times when the P.E. teacher was female I would claim cramps. (Which I am sure they caught on to because you know, you can’t have cramps all month long, year round.) I would say I had a headache, a toothache and there were times I actually went home sick to avoid P.E. Anytime I needed a dentist appointment I would have my mom schedule it so I had to be picked up from school before P.E. Oh and then there was, “I can’t run today, I forgot my inhaler.”

Exercise was something I saw as punishment. I associated it with something I needed to do to lose weight.

I did not see it as enjoyable. Ever.

Over the years while I battled obesity I would always say things like, “I need to start exercising.” or “Ugh, I have got to find a way to exercise.” or “I just don’t have the time.”  Funny, I had time for tv and reading and chit chatting on the phone with friends, and I definitely had time for eating, but “no time” to workout.

Exercise was daunting. It was exhausting and I never had that “Oh I am so glad I worked out – I feel so much better.” experience. No, I felt like I had been hit by a truck, I was exhausted and all I wanted when it was over was food.

I wish I could say that as soon as I went Keto all that changed, but it didn’t happen quite that way. I started Keto and my plan was to WAIT for exercise and I did.

I didn’t start working out until I had lost about 50 pounds which was about 5 months in. I started slow. A couple of times a week I did some body weight exercises and floor exercises (think old Jane Fonda and Richard Simmons videos…hey, I am an 80’s girl). I would do leg lifts, high knee raises, I would twist back and forth (whittling that waist don’t you know!) and I would jog in place. All this took about 10 minutes.

I would gradually increase my time and I worked up to 4 or 5 days a week and eventually starting running up and down my stairs and jogging in a circle around my living room and got my workout time up to 20-30 minutes.

I had Keto energy I needed to burn. I did the occasional power walk too, but back then walking fast would hurt my back so I used that as an excuse not to do it.

I ultimately ended up joining a gym 7 months after starting keto and I haven’t looked back.

I started at the treadmill because, hey isn’t that why everyone joins a gym? To mindlessly walk fast on a machine that could kill you? Okay, that may be extreme, but have you ever fallen off one? I haven’t….uh…lately.

Anyway, after tiring of the treadmill I graduated to the elliptical and wow that was fun.  (not really)

I would do the torture (read cardio) for 2o minutes and then I would work my way around the machines with weight plates.

All of them.

Everyday.

All of them.

I had no concept of “leg day” or any other “work only this group of muscles today” concept.

I was dedicated though. So much so that sometimes I went twice a day.

Eventually, I realized that there were more efficient ways to workout. I really wanted to do “real weight lifting” versus what I was doing with the machines. Don’t get me wrong the machines are good, but in my research I learned they did a lot of the work for me.

I stared in to the free weight room for a couple of months. I was intimidated (read terrified) by the weight room. Mainly because there were big buffed and often good looking guys in there who scared me. I mean, seriously, I would probably get in their way and they would think, “Who is this fat chick in my squat rack and who is she kidding?”

Somehow I talked myself in to going in there. The first time I did there was no one in there so I made a beeline and picked up some dumbells. Then someone came in and I fled. But those few minutes I was alone, I was hooked.

I had to have a come to Jesus talk with myself. I had been online, I read the benefits and I saw pictures of women with results that I wanted. So I decided to walk in the weight room like a boss and pretend I belonged there.

And I do.

 

 

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About Mary Roberts

Mary is a 44 year old married, mother of three who struggled with her weight and carbs/sugar addiction since the 7th grade.

After trying calorie counting, counting points, appetite suppressors and many other fad things over the years, she didn't find freedom until the Ketogenic way of life was introduced to her.

Over the span of 21 months she got rid of 105 pounds (260 to 155) and went from a size 20W to a size 4/6. Besides weight loss the benefits are numerous: She is med free and no more Type 2 Diabetes symptoms, no more sleep apnea, normal cholesterol, she sleeps better, breathes better, no longer has brain fog and she feels happier and healthier than she ever has.

Mary's life mission now is to help others discover the freedom and health that Keto can bring. She is passionate about inspiring and encouraging others to reach their goals.

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