My Decision.

I’ve decided to stop using the Live Fit Trainer.  The thought of heading to the gym everyday with my white binder started to make me cringe.  I always said that I would never force myself to do a certain fitness program, just because everyone else was doing it.

Let’s back up a bit.  I started the Live Fit program with good intentions– to gain muscle mass and to increase my strength.  I remember finding the free program and thinking, “This is the best thing in the world.”  I still believe that the program is great, it just isn’t something that I want to continue doing everyday.  I didn’t follow the program perfectly.   First, my very small gym in my complex did not have all of the needed machines for the daily workouts.  That became frustrating almost immediately, because I felt like I was cheating.  Second, I had to take 2 weeks off in the middle of the program:  one because my gym was closed for renovations and again when I got a nasty cold.  Taking time off made me lose my motivation very quickly.

Now that the weather is starting to warm up (but honestly, did the Philadelphia area even have a winter?!), I can’t wait to start doing more of my exercising outside:  running, tennis, yoga.  The plan just didn’t have room for fun workouts.

I was following a few bloggers’ progress on the program, and honestly felt like I had to keep doing it because I was tracking progress here.  Every day felt like I had to complete my homework before logging into blog.  “What would my readers’ think if I didn’t post my progress on Live Fit!?”  I know it sounds crazy, but that’s exactly what was going on in my head.

After Clare made the decision to end her Live Fit training, I finally took the plunge as well.  I chatted with her a little bit the other day and we talked about guilt and how our love for exercise should not be determined by posting each one of our workouts to the blog and being tied to a binder at the gym.  I was glad to talk with someone who knew exactly what I was going through.

In conclusion, would I try Live Fit again?  Probably not.  However, I do plan on using the weight training workouts when I do head to the gym– just not in the rigid was the program was designed.  I want to continue getting stronger, but would much rather head outside for some workouts as well.