Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Next Chapter Part 2

Pushing 300# June 2011 -- 1 month prior to returning to Genesis...... 6 months prior to becoming a Group Fitness Instructor
 
 July 2014 with my baby sister Lori Tafolla (left) and inner circle friend Sarah Taylor.
Link to Part 1:
http://dgalemore.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2014-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&updated-max=2015-01-01T00:00:00-08:00&max-results=2
-For the uninitiated, Group Centergy is yoga + pilates put to music.

The struggles I was facing prior to joining the Genesis Health Clubs McPherson team seem laughable now. I should have opened up to my inner circle long ago. Big problem was that I attended Group Centergy training in February 2013 with the attitude of "Maybe I'll be good enough to be the sub for another instructor one day". Yeah. That thinking was never going to get me anywhere. I would have been thrilled just to sub and to teach a track or 2 every 3 months in our Group Centergy launches. Sure was setting the bar low. Low self esteem rearing its ugly head again.

Happy that I never considered quitting Centergy.... I kept buying the releases.... but I had less and less faith about getting my own class as the months passed.

I kept waiting for some healthy anger to kick in.... after all, it was self loathing and self rage that brought me back to Genesis and had me fighting to find my calling in life, teaching classes.

The anger never kicked in. Just didn't have it in me concerning Centergy. I kept telling myself I would practice hard each day, but didn't start doing so until a door opened for me in McPherson. New place. New team. I left my baggage behind.

Hand in hand with officially joining the McPherson team came being asked to bring Group Centergy to McPherson. Boom. Did I need a bigger excuse to practice relentlessly?
Worked perfectly.


Helped a lot to be teaching R30 as well. R30 forces me to work more on my coaching skills and ease back a little on my drill sergeant approach in my other bike classes. My drill sergeant voice isn't even allowed in the studio when I teach Centergy.

I zeroed in on the day I was to teach a Group Centergy demo class to some Genesis employees in McPherson. I felt I did well, but was blown away by the responses of my peers. Wasn't even a hint of doubt that I was ready.

The classes since then have been amazing. Negative voices from my past have been silenced. Lots and lots and lots of work ahead, but I am improving every week and my confidence has gone through the roof thanks to my students.

What lies ahead is to continue working hard on form, coaching and learning programming (I feel it takes me far too long to learn each track) ....experience is going to help in all 3 areas.

My words can't do justice to what it feels like to have my own Group Centergy classes. Have to admit I LIKE MYSELF an awful lot teaching Centergy. My message needed to be heard : ANYONE CAN DO CENTERGY. I had an internal struggle for a long time about not being good enough. Perhaps in 2014 it was time once again for the benchwarmer to take charge and bring passion and determination to the game.

Said I wasn't going to mention names, but THANK YOU to Becky Holcomb and Heather Koehn for believing in me and being so supportive.

To my students..... it is only going to get better. Thank you for your hard work and shared love of Centergy!

19# lighter than when I started practicing Centergy every day. Total body workout offered by Centergy helps, but the psychological benefit of Centergy is far greater. Happier = much easier to eat right. Happier = goal crushing mode.   

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Next Chapter Part 1

Group Centergy July 2014 launch
Genesis Health Clubs McPherson 7-17-14
 


I set 1 measurable goal and 1 long range goal. Long range was to practice Centergy every day forever.
Short range goal was to lose 30#.
 
Good news is that I have reached my lowest weight of the year 8 consecutive weeks..... and better yet, there hasn't been 1 MAJOR drop from week to week. Slow + steady = safe & healthy.
What will not allow me to lower my guard is the fact that I weighed in today at 213#, THE SAME WEIGHT I DROPPED DOWN TO EARLY LAST NOVEMBER. I got up to 230# last fall..... and then was back to 230# by mid May. I am human, thus no stranger to yo-yoing on the scale.
 
I had SHOCKING weight loss results in 2011 as I ate clean 95% of the time and had sessions with my personal trainer twice a week. I also did Group Power at least twice a week, a big factor.
My problem the last half of 2012, all of 2013 & the 1st half of 2014 was psychological. I am ALWAYS happy in the gym, but I was miserable most of the time outside of the gym. I was being too hard on myself..... we all do that. I was depressed about my shoulders being bad. Work schedule kept me out of church for 5 years. I had relationship issues.
Yep, I discovered my inner crybaby.
 
Lots and lots and lots of comfort food was my solution. I didn't believe in myself in Group Centergy, so 90% of my workouts were in bike classes. No variety in exercise is not good for us. I always knew that. I pretty much built a house on my plateau and decided to just stay there.
 
Psychological...... that is 99% of the battle. Big turnaround came from an opportunity in McPherson. My attitude started changing the 1st time I subbed there in April. I was so excited about the chance to bring my voice and message to a new group that it reset my focus. After subbing for a few weeks, I had decided to send an email of "Look, you simply HAVE to add me to the team"..... but I was beat to the punch..... I was offered a spot on the team.

Saturday, February 15, 2014

Back to square one



Part of the human condition is how easy it becomes to dwell on our shortcomings, even after tremendous things have been accomplished. The chain smoking fast food junkie from the before picture crushed an awful lot of goals en route to becoming a Group Fitness Instructor blessed with a dedicated group of students.

I was caught in a long cycle of allowing frustration to pile up to the point I had all but stopped fighting for what had been my top goal 9 months ago. Excuses mounted higher and higher as my once tremendous practice habits became lax. Pretty much reached the throwing in the towel stage, something that should have brought healthy anger into play.

My wakeup call came in the form of several texts from a cousin. Cheered me up to be thanked for being an inspiration, but if I failed to inspire myself enough to work hard in pursuit of my top goal....... ahhhh...... there came that healthy anger. Not being a natural at anything athletically requires nothing short of relentless practice habits to get what I want.

Physical results have not been up to par in quite some time. Time to reintroduce VARIETY to my workouts. Calories must be tracked. I have to get more sleep. Those 3 keys will unlock the goals I seek. MUST be all 3. Underachieving on any of the 3 short circuits my pursuit of my physical goals.

Long road to go. One day at a time, one step at a time. Each morning is an opportunity to rededicate myself to the pursuit of my goals. Let it begin.


Supplements are something I seek to learn more about every day. I had staggering results from cycling pretty much everything, something I will never stray from.

4 weeks with stimulants, 2 weeks stim free.
I am currently on a 3 month cycle of Citrulline Malate.

Tons of preworkout and intra workout supplements contain Citrulline Malate, but not enough for what I need daily (8 Grams minimum on workout days/ 6 G off days).
My intra choice, Core Nutritionals Core ABC, provides 2.5 G per serving. Preworkout : Magnum Nutraceuticals Opus  for January, then Athletix High Volume (2.5 G per scoop) for February. Both are stim free. Opus has a proprietary blend, but Magnum Nutraceuticals was kind enough to answer my email and tell me the Citrulline Malate dosage. I fill in the blanks with plain Citrulline Malate, which is fairly inexpensive through AllStarHealth.