For those of you that follow me on Instagram, you know that I'm an avid gym rat!  I clock a lot of gym hours.  See a brief interview I did where I talked about my journey.

So on Monday, I was part of the B-Metro Magazine blog team for the grand opening of a new Planet Fitness here in Birmingham, the 6th in the Birmingham Metro Area.

They are located at:

The Shops of Montevallo

4500 Montevallo Rd

Birmingham, AL 35210

205-703-0571

Meet the helpful staff with a trainer who is a certified instructor on duty that will personalized a fitness program for you as part of your Planet Fitness membership.

Next to sewing and fashion, fitness has become the third love of my life.  And I chose a Planet Fitness membership over a year and a half ago because I knew I needed to work out consistently.  Working out at home wasn't cutting it for me and I needed to be a structured atmosphere being inspired by other people getting on their fitness.

What I love most about Planet Fitness is the location.  In my area, it's a franchise and one owner who takes pride in all of his locations.  I love the cost.  It's really low and only the cost of two Starbuck's lattes for the whole month.  I choose to prepay mine for 18 months for $199.  I'm on my second 18 month now.

I appreciate that this is a no frills club.  I'm not a person that needs classes, saunas, towels and a juice bar.  I just want to get in, get it done and be out!

I knew what I needed to work on when I joined and I researched and designed my own program.  But for others that haven't a clue as to where they need to start, there are trainers available to help.  It's really a very non-intimidating environment.

And for those that have a limited amount of time and need to get the best workout possible, the 30-Minute Express Workout area is perfect.  You get a combination of strength training and cardio.

And before or after your workout, you can get what I feel is the equivalent of a deep tissue massage in these amazing massage chairs -- this is part of the Black Card Membership.

The controls are right on the arm of the chairs and I cranked that baby up!

And I also go to try for the first time, the hydro bed massage.  Let me tell you about this.  It was so relaxing that I would probably fall asleep and be asked to leave!  You get a head to feet massage with sounds of the ocean!  It is amazing!

I've been intending to do a six month follow-up post to this one, but I never got around to it.  I guess seven months will have to do!  It has indeed been a ride.  I'm currently 31lbs down!  Go me!  Do the happy dance!  Now, let's talk about how I did it:  Lots and lots of cardio!  In the past, I use to hate cardio.  Well... let's clarify:  I use to tell myself that I hate cardio.  It was a mental thing. And one day it just clicked in my mind that if I wanted to burn fat and make the scale move backwards, then I was going to have to do some sort of cardio. I'm not a runner.  I use to be, but I burned my knees and chins out on pounding on pavement.  And I'm not one for the "dreadmill".  So I choose the elliptical trainer to be my new best friend.

I know by now you're looking at the pictures and thinking 70 minutes on the elliptical?  No way! How boring!  But it's not.  Not the way that I do it.  I do High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), which involves jumping back and forth between relatively low and extremely high cardiovascular workouts. HIIT takes less time than traditional cardio workouts (even though I stretch mine), and provides the same, if not greater, results, such as raising your metabolic rate and increasing your excess post oxygen consumption. HIIT can be done on any machine that allows you to vary your speed or resistance, including an elliptical.  I played with a lot of programs and then I created one that worked for me.  And I've been asked often how I manage to burn so many calories within one session?  Well, this is how!  And I wear a Sportline pedometer which gives an accurate account of calories burned because it's keeping a real account of my actual heartrate since I'm not in constant contact with the elliptical machine.  I find that when I do NOT engage the arms on the machine that I work my legs and core a lot harder and also raise my heartrate quicker.

Now, when I say I do HIIT, this isn't any of that have a conversation with your workout partner while they're on the next machine.  Or flip through the latest issue of Vogue or InStyle.  Or read the latest New York Times bestseller while on the elliptical.  I move and I move fast!  The only thing I can concentrate on is remembering to breath!

And I also do strengthtraining.  I alternate days between upper and lower body.  A lot of women feel that they may bulk up from lifting weights.  Well, some do!  I feel I needed to have a balance of fat-burning cardio mixed with strengthtraining to get me where I needed to be.  Whether you do cardio on the elliptical, are a runner or a swimmer, your body NEEDS strengthtraining.  I especially do as a woman over 40, because there are so many benefits to strengthtraining: 

Things I've learned:  

You can NOT out exercise a poor diet.  Healthy bodies are made in the kitchen and shaped in the gym!  Let's go back to the title of this post about not referring to me as "dieting".  I don't diet. If you want to diet, you go right ahead.  But I needed to change the way I eat and exercise for life.  I'm 44 years old, pretty much perimenopausal.  I can't tolerate a lot of heavy, fatty foods.  And working out 4-5 days a week is just a normal part of my life now.  I see people saying things like they're going to fall off the wagon for whatever reason (i.e. the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday) and get back on.  Enjoy and bon appétit!  I'm not.  I've worked too hard for a 4,500 calorie and 229 grams of fat meal in a single day!  It's not that serious to me.  And in January, I don't plan to add physical fitness to my New Year's resolution once again.

And going on a "diet" will only result in weight gain.  Lowering your calorie intake excessively will only cause your body to go into starvation mode=slower metabolism.  And all of that deprivation eating will piss you off and cause binge eating.  I see and hear about this so much.  And haven't you seen things that tell you that you can lose 30-40 lbs in a month?!  That scares me.  That's basically water weight and muscle tissue.  I lost an average of 1-2 lbs a week. 

What do I eat?

Whatever I want!  As long as I stay within 1600-1800 calories a day!  You know, within reason!  I don't use meal planning... I just use common sense.  I'm not about to go to Five Guys (Nothing against this company.  Just an example of a bad choice for ME!) and order a bacon cheeseburger (920 calories) and fries (1474 calories)!  I'm not crazy!  Nor am I going on a juice or smoothie cleanse for a week either.  I use the My Fitness Pal app to keep up with what I'm eating.  Well, I used it for months.  I don't use it as much nowadays.  I know what I'm eating and how many calories are in things that I eat often.  The only times I pull it out now is when I'm eating or planning something questionable.

Everyone should find something that works for them, but I just wanted to share what I do.  

I'm sure you all noticed that prior to this week, it had been kind of quiet around these parts.  That's because I was getting my life back together!

With the holidays and the vicious winter we're all trying to recover from, I gained a good deal of hibernation weight!  Not wanting to venture out, the comfort foods and libations damn near did me in.

You can fight your way into a pair of Spanx and angle your body into the mirror and lie to yourself all you like.  But the camera does not lie.  Mine is brutally honest.  And if you take as many pictures as I do from all angles, it's a harsh reality that I had to face.  My ass had gotten fat!  

And I was feeling terrible -- physically terrible.  My knees had started to ache and swell often.  And I was constantly feeling bloated.  And my energy level was completely depleted.  At 43 years old, I should NOT be winded walking up stairs.  So I had to get busy.

So, I had a pity party for all of five minutes and then I bought myself a brand new gym membership and downloaded the My Fitness Pal app and got busy!  If you follow me on my Instagram: @ericabunker, you've seen my progress.  I've turned into a total gym rat.  I'm serious about getting in my 4-5 day a week workouts, which include an hour of elliptical cardio (I'm a beast on that thing!  I average around 700+ calories burned.)  And strength training which is excellent for women my age.  Especially those of us experiencing perimenopausal symptoms.  Yes, I'm starting to night sweat and I'm pretty sure this also contributed to weight collecting in my middle.  So I'm pretty much in the fight of my life.

But that's okay, because I'm winning!  A couple of months ago, I couldn't even almost fasten these pants.  Now they slid on and fastened with the greatest of ease!  Now why have I decided to share all of this?  For accountability.  Now that I've put it out there, I have an image to uphold! LOL

Wearing:  Jacket: Simplicity 2250; crepe de chine blouse: Vogue 8907; yellow pants: Simplicity 2562.