Getting into Shape is Not THAT Hard... A Cool Little Tale

I used to go to the run club that's hosted by Lululemon when I lived within walking distance to the store.  But since I've moved away, I haven't been able to make it.  It should be only a 10 minute drive, but "should" being the key word here.  The 405 during rush hour in LA is not your friend.  Too bad.  No more free "product testing" Lululemon goodies for me!  On the other hand, there is a Lululemon showroom opening down the street from me next week so I can hope they will be equally generous!  I can't believe it.  When I was house hunting, I wanted to live in a neighborhood that was close to a Lululemon store and an Equinox.  Seriously, I have problems I know.  It didn't exactly work out that way, but looks like my wish is coming true after all!  Well at least half of it.  Now I just need Equinox to open another location nearby and I'm all set!

So I've been spending my Thursday nights being trained by my boyfriend along with these two other ladies.  My boyfriend works in the entertainment industry (production and post production, not an actor!) just like everyone else here in LA, which means he doesn't have the 9-5 work schedule.  And with the economy in its current state and so many people out of jobs in California, the movie studios are cutting costs too, and it's hard to be a freelancer.  So he started training people a few months ago on the side.  I actually think he is very good at it because he always knew a lot about working out, and he LOVES to help people.  We'd be at the gym and he would always go up to different people and show them how to do stuff if their forms are wrong.  I don't know, I think it could be kind of annoying for people to get unwanted advice from a complete stranger, but that's just how he is.  Or they could be happy with the help I suppose.  I guess it could go both ways. So I think this trainer thing comes natural to him.  And I am also jealous of the instructor discount he can get at Lululemon!

He trains tons of people now.  I think they all love him.  I really like his work outs too because he spices things up with cardio of different levels and inclines, as well as all kinds of HIIT weights and strength training.  When I do his work outs, I always burn at least 500 calories in an hour, most of the time around 600 (I always wear my heart rate monitor when I work out).  I normally only burn 400 or 450 at the most when I take a hard class at the gym, so I guess he makes me work harder!  In fact, a couple Sundays ago, I took a 75 min spin class at my gym and only burned about 500.  And this instructor is amazing and always gives a great work out!  Ugh.  I was annoyed.  I got to the gym late and skipped running before the class that day.  I normally run for about 15 minutes before that class so my heart rate is already pumping when I get in and don't have to waste the first half of the class warming up.  That way I would end up burning 200 more calories during the whole work out, so 700-800 for the total class, which I think is 15 minutes VERY well spent!

So on Thursday nights, I always work out with these two ladies that my boyfriend trains.  They are older, about 30 pounds overweight, and were definitely not in shape when they first started, about 3 months ago or so.  But they really decided to change their lives for good, they always show up, and they started eating right as well by cutting out all the extra fat, sugar, and calorie overload from their diet.  When we first started working out together, they were pretty slow and weak.  But they always have a great attitude, and did the best they could.  Their work definitely paid off!  Tonight, they were able to run a 5k with me, and about half of it was pretty hilly too!  Each week I see them running faster and lifting more weights, and tonight was a milestone for them because they had never been able to run this much before in their entire lives!  So cool.  I think this was very inspiring to see everyday people get up and decide to do something to get healthier the right way!  They are not doing it for a TV show or for money, they just really did it all for themselves!  It really goes to show that it isn't THAT hard to start getting into shape.  Just a few short months is all it takes once you get your butt up in gear!  Once someone sees results and starts to feel better, it's even more motivation to continue on.  How cool to be a trainer and see people change for the better everyday!  Makes me want to become a trainer too!  And of course there's always that instructor discount at Lulu...

Speaking of Lulu, I went to Equinox to shower after my work out.  I really only use Equinox to shower now, which makes the hefty membership due not worth it.  But what can I say, I just love it, and it's really hard to cancel a membership to a gym that provides Kiehl's products freely in the locker rooms!  So I slobber that shit on!  After my shower and on my way out of the gym, I saw this cute and awesome Lululemon gym bag with tons of pockets at the Equinox Shop.  It's called the Bon Voyage Duffel.  They had black and this dark gray with black graphic print (didn't see the color code).  I didn't buy them there because I wanted to see if Lululemon had more colors, so I got online tonight and saw it in lolo purple and ivy, and I love both!  So I ordered both.  Hehe.  I will have to see which color I like better when I receive them.  I didn't want to wait until the weekend to go into the store and see in person, because the stores always tend to have different stock than the site so I didn't want to chance not being able to get the one I want.  Excited to get them on Saturday!