Biggest Loser 8: Season Premiere (and my own grueling gym experience)

I am so excited that The Biggest Loser Season 8 has begun! I finally got around to watching the season premiere and was so motivated and moved by the exchange between Jillian and Shay at the gym. As the heaviest contestant in Biggest Loser history, 476-pound Shay was struggling at the ladder machine and Jillian said to her: "Listen to me: This is a story in your head. None of it is real. All you have to do is change your mind. Get on the ladder and climb for 20 seconds. It's a CHOICE. Make a different choice, Shay. If you don't, then no one can help you."

While I could relate to Shay's self defeatest "I'm a failure, I can't do it" attitude (I think all of us were there at some point in our lives and we all need to move away from there), I was so blown away by Jillian's words. In that moment, she summed it up so perfectly that I was cheering in my head - Yes! That's it! Make another choice. Just do it! The only thing holding you back is YOU! Jillian is totally right - we all need to change the story, the script, the thoughts in our head in order to be successful. I thought 'Jillian's words will certainly resonate with Shay' But seconds later, you see that Shay said she can't do it. Giving up on herself, and disappointing the trainers, she left the gym.

I thought "No!! How could she leave?! How could Jillian's words not have gotten through to her?!"

After they left Shay alone outside for a while, she had this thought "I was thinking of everything they said and everything I was feeling and I realized if I stop now, nothing is going to change." Bravo! She *does* get it! I was so proud of her! And with that, she went back into the gym and finished her workout.

Later in the show, she added: "I will never walk out again because walking out of this gym is walking out on me." Good for her - such a powerful thought and realization!

And watching all of that reminded me of my own gym experience just yesterday...

I arrived at the gym at 11am expecting to do Interval Training, which, admittedly, is a huge challenge for me. This class totally kicks my ass, and I hadn't done it in about 2 months, but I was ready for it. However, when I arrived, the trainer told me that the schedule had changed and this time slot was for something called "Total Body Conditioning", which is sort of like Interval Training but without the aerobics - it's all weights. Now, the thing I like about Interval Training is that the aerobics break up the utter horror and pain of the weights - it's like a break, as far as I'm concerned - the easier part of the class. To hear that I was about to endure an hour of weight related exercise terrified me.

I considered leaving and doing cardio machines instead, but I did not want to walk out of the gym. I did not want to give up on myself before even trying. So I stayed...

We weren't even five minutes into the class when I was in so much pain, my body was trembling with every move. I had to summon every ounce of mental motivation I could find to make it through this class. It's times like that where I channel my 'inner Jillian' and imagine being on the BL ranch and the things she would tell me, or yell at me - that quitting is not an option; that I had better not stop - and I remind myself of the same things I think of on tough hills that I bike: this discomfort is only temporary; this challenge is making me stronger; if I quit now, I am setting myself up to quit again next time things get tough; and the simple 'just do it!'

So I stuck around, and pushed myself as much as possible. I did not sneak out of the class like I had briefly fantasized.

I'm not going to lie, this was the toughest workout I have even done. There were moments in that class that I was on the verge of tears. That has never happened to me before! I fought them back because I was so embarrassed, but they were close. It was a humbling experience because I thought I was in pretty decent shape, but this class made me doubt my own abilities. Every time I felt those negative thoughts creeping into my head I pushed them out. And I persevered. Granted, I did not do as well as I would have liked and it certainly was not easy, but I did not quit.

I was sore yesterday and I am still sore today (my arms are *killing* me - even as I type this, I feel the soreness in my biceps). But I am proud of myself for sticking it out, for talking myself through it, for not giving up. That's what I try to remind you of often in this blog - There will be hard times during your journey - whether it's food, event or activity related, things are not always easy - that's life. All that matters is how you respond in those tough situations, and what you learn from them and how you move on from there.

As for what I learned - I am not nearly as strong as I'd like to be. And if you're wondering, yes - I will be back there next Saturday morning.