On the heels of my initial disappointment in the long-awaited package debacle, I was opening my very own Chalean Extreme. I'm extremely anal with new materials. I removed the contents slowly as not to bump anything and dent any edges. I read the materials without breaking the spine of the book. I work in marketing for a commercial printing, so I was more fascinated with the paper choices, raised lettering and detail than anything else.
Muscle burns fat guidebook, ah yes, science, you don't say, calendar, of course, track my progress, alrightee. It's all there. Fat burning guide, eggs, check, broccoli, check, fish, check, chicken, check, drink water, eat 5-6 meals, stay within calories, check, check, check.
Christmas Day--my first workout--Burn Circuit 1. Take measures, ick. Take torture pictures, double ick. Fit test? Why? I finished the X a month ago. I can do it. Without further ado, I push play--immediately--I am annoyed. The shoulder roll, really? I thought we were not doing Turbo Jam. I have a confession, the warm up is the most boring part of the workout for me, with that being said, I will kill a workout fast if I can't get pass the warm-up and redundancy puts me in a coma. So, with the shoulder roll, I'm hit with Turbo Jam flashbacks and I am not thrilled. I swear if I see a hamstring stretch with an arm circle and two claps, I'm outta here.
Hey what is wrong with my on-screen timer. Does that say 98 minutes??? A quick blink and I'm back to reality. The workout moves smoothly and I'm there, following instructions picking up weights. I started right out the box with 20lbs for the squat and hip raise or whatever it's called. I knew instantly I am going to fatigue in the recommended time frame, good job on weight choice. I'm having a good time. I love weight lifting. Some exercises, I choose too light, some too heavy, but I wrote it all down. It's a process of learning what works for me.
Ok, Chalean. There are a lot of posterior shoulder moves. Is this going to get me lean? Working this little muscle, over and over? I notice very soon, my heart rate is extremely high. I'm working at 81% and above. When I heart rate reached 95% and I felt dizzy, I stopped the exercise and did a couple of deep breaths to bring me back to around 70%. I was three exercises away from being done. I was going to finish no matter what. I was pouring sweat, my exercise clothing was like a second skin. Wait, did she just say cool down. I made it!! I finished!
After the cool down, I was still at 80%. I walked it off. I felt weird but I have no definition for the weirdness. I felt dazed, worn out, dizzy. I didn't feel myself. I devoured some fruit and water and waiting for the weirdness to pass.
The workout is over and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm still waiting for the feeling that warranted my acting like a five year old the whole week I was waiting for this program. Then it happened, the light bulb clicked on. The answer I was looking for was not in the box.
Take a scene from one of my favorite movies, The Wizard of Oz (yes, I did say The Wizard of Oz).
Dorothy: Oh, will you help me? Can you help me?
Glinda: You don't need to be helped any longer. You've always had the power to go back to Kansas.
Dorothy: I have?
Scarecrow: Then why didn't you tell her before?
Glinda: Because she wouldn't have believed me. She had to learn it for herself.
I've always had the power to be strong, fit and healthy. That something mightier and grander I was looking for when I saw that box, was ME. That small box made me face myself. It was now or never time. That small box revealed to me that I had the brains, the heart, and the courage to do this. I had to re-learn--my goal to be healthy--my dream to be fit--are a play button away. I expected the box to be magic, when the magic is and has always been the desire within ME. I was and am the something mightier and grander I was expecting--I need to look no further.
Click, click, click, click, click. This is the sound of me pressing my play button five times. I've always had the power.
Up next- Burn Circuit 2
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