ThatIndieRunner: The Inconvenience Series

The Inconvenience of Losing Weight: The Arena

2018

It has been a few months since I started this journey and instead of making progress, I have failed...

I know what I have to do but it is hard and I know myself, going cold turkey is not going to work so I made a deal with myself. Get Breakfast Right and go die at THE ARENA. So I pretty much get breakfast right except when I am travelling, then I am at the mercy of what the hotel chef decides to feed us. Either way eggs, bacon and avocado never killed nobody.

However... The Arena kills me everytime I go and I am regular there now just like when I was a student. Remember in this post Life Insights Acquired At The ARENA I described the 08:30 monday class as the Lorna Jane class. I don't go to that class anymore as I have a job now and pay tax, at that time I should atleast be at my desk or in traffic to said desk.

Seeing that I am back in Joburg for a few weeks and the doors to the ARENA are still open to me. I decided to make use of this and dominate the ARENA.

This is what my weekly schedule should look like:

Monday: 06:30 Arena Morningside Class & 17:15 Arena Bryanston Class

Tuesday: 18:04 Nike Run Club Rosebank Run

Wednesday: Rest and Vegetate

Thursday: 06:30 Arena Morningside Class & 18:00 Braamfie Runners Run

Friday: Rest and Vegetate

Saturday: Braamfie Runners Run

Sunday: 5km Run/Race Day

In Reality, its not...

I chop and change as I see fit and thats the beauty.

This post has been a long time coming but I feel like now I have been through enough Arena Classes to share my Wisdom with you. So take notes from a Gladiator...

SWEAT

NOT A THOUSAND TIMES, but think about it though. If you do a workout and you dont sweat did you even burn any calories? Was it worth it? Are you satisfied? Well this isnt even a factor here. In that room with multi colour lights and rage festival music, you will sweat!

TRAINERS

They know my name now and if they don't then they know my face now. They will ask me where I have been. I know which trainer delivers which class on which day at which location.

Stef? When I am brave enough to go to a morning and afternoon class, then me and Stef are besties. She is really passionate about core work and loves using the resistance bands. I think blue is the hardest colour and I should stick to it from now on. Then during the class, we plank and if anybody drops the seconds she calls out don't decrease until that person gets in position again. Her music playlist is on point as well, she played We Are Lonely By Studio Apartment it was the first time I heard this song probably since high school.

Buchanan? Yoh, his Thursday 17:15 class is my Phuza Thursday. Last week we spent so much on that treadmill, I felt like it was the only ground I knew. This class always has the highest heart rate for the week. So far I havent had a 1 on 1 with him, but I have seen how he trains AKA on a 1 on 1 and Angazi But I'm Sure.

Sam? I always told myself that when I am older and stronger I would attend a Sam Ryder class. That time hasnt arrived yet...

LOCATION

In the past it was simple, just go to Morningside. Things have changed now do I go to Morningside or Bryanston?

#Questionsthatneedanswers

When it is morning and I don't want to deal with William Nicol traffic then Morningside is the place to be. In the Afternoon, Bryanston is the place to be. This decision is also influenced by my craving for a treadmill that I can set the speed on or a treadmill that I set the speed with my feet. Bryanston has the new treadmills that don't have a motor, they have resistance and a permanent 7 degree incline. I also learnt how to perfect a ball slam here...

COMMUNITY

I did say in this post Life Insights Acquired At The ARENA that it feels like I have joined a fit community. Where trainers know our names and you have a favourite treadmill. It's a vibe...

These past few months, I have decreased my time on the road because I want to build a stronger core and body so I can run better. I am doing that 1 squat and 2 ball slams at a time.

Also this one time, it was just me and Ntai in the class. Then Stef made us do a wall sit and plank, it was bird...

You can wall sit, plank, run, burpee with us. Your first class is free and more info on packages can be found on www.arenawellness.co.za while I am just trying to lose weight.

- As told by Atlegang Mosimanekgosi

#RunRevolution

Tuesday, May 01, 2018
0 Comments

The Inconvenience Of Losing Weight: Choice

2018

Part 1 (Choice)

Standing on a mechanical scale with the needle shyly teetering away from the 100 kg mark. Standing on a digital scale, console in hand, with a rapidly beating heart while the led is blinking.

Once,

Twice,

Three times… then a number appears, a result not far from 100. This reading less than the mechanical scale reading. So which machine is accurate? A disagreement between analogue and digital.

However, this should not matter, this is not the point. The point is, it is close to one hundred…

A few months ago, One Hundred kilograms, seemed like a foreign concept. Too heavy, Too substantial, Too generous, too everything and now it is almost my reality. By that I mean, I am literally one jelly tot away from this reality. Well… I can’t live like this. I miss the old me, I miss my old clothes, I miss my old pace. I long for the days of short shorts and long socks.

So… how did we get here?

It was easy, I have done it before. It begins with bad food choices, junk food tastes so good. You can’t have one slice of pizza when they are sold in pairs. Also the 24 hour burger joint is so convenient after you leave the office when everybody else saying their bed time prayers. It’s also convenient when the kitchen all of a sudden reminds that it requires a lot of your time. That sweet packet that has a permanent space in your laptop bag, gives you the strength to power through those long hours between lunch and knock off time. We shouldn’t forget how refreshing that fizzy drink is on a hot summer’s day and on a cold winter’s night. It complements every meal, I think it’s been engineered that way.

The easy way out is too pull the covers over your head when the alarm wakes you up to go run. You get so good at evading the run, that you can snooze your alarm without opening your eyes. Even when you are awake, you seem to have a dictionary of excuses

· I am too tired

· I won’t survive that session at the ARENA, I am too unfit

· I will run tomorrow when I have more energy

Bad choices brought us here, bad choices resulted in me almost needing new clothes. Bad choices gave rise to this moment, me standing on a scale anticipating this number.

So… what shall we do?

We make good choices, it won’t be easy. We choose to be a part of team 5AM, you know the team that tags #whileyouweresleeping under their Instagram posts. We choose to visit the ARENA more often, especially after a stressful day at the office.

We also make good food choices. The first step is to get breakfast right, a huge improvement from having no breakfast at all. The next step is to get dinner right, no more pizza and definitely no more 24 hour “magic” food. You will drive past their shop because you are changing and will learn how to make your own magic in the kitchen. Step number 3, taking leftovers from dinner as lunch, saving you calories and money. Obviously the fizzy drinks need to be replaced with water, water complements every meal. That’s just the way it is, no engineering. The sweets need to evacuate and make space for better things, a change is coming.

#RunRevolution,

Atlegang

Monday, January 08, 2018
1 Comments

Pages

The Inconvenience of Losing Weight: The Arena

The Inconvenience Of Losing Weight: Choice

Follow Us

Tags

recent posts

Blog Archive

Popular Posts

Instagram @thatindierunner