The post about a brutal leg day, leg progress and a clutch...

• Meanwhile, on Instagram yesterday...
• It's #coffeetime and I didn't sleep through my alarm this morning. Success!!! I do however, have to get my butt moving. I'm meeting with Tony in less than an hour. Today is leg day. My favorite. But I know that he's going to make me do at least one circuit of core on the mat, which I hate. It's so much harder when I do it with him vs when I do it by myself at home. That's because I don't work myself as hard as Tony works me and that is why I need him. He's tough on me, but I would never miss a workout with him. Off to change and get my ass handed to me...

• Do I look happy? Because I am. My torture is over. Today was tough. It was the exact same leg day from last week. Tony just upped the weight to 30 pounds. So the walking lunges, half squats, step ups, split squats, and other magical exercises I did were paired with 15 lb dumb bells. One in each hand. And he didn't disappoint. I broke my appendix doing core drills on the mat. 
• Tony talked about his boxing training. He's in the ring in a month. He said training never ends. I told him I could totally relate because maintenance never ends either. The fitter I get, the more I have to step it up to maintain. What worked for me a year ago doesn't come so easy anymore. It sounds exhausting but it's life. Accepting that diet and fitness is always going to be dominant in my life has made maintenance easier. It's a ton of work, but it's worth it because I'm worth it. 
• In other news, this morning I had dinner for breakfast. That's my uneaten meal from last night. Turkey sausage and grilled veggies. It really hit the spot. And let's talk about my ass for a minute. It looks nice and perky and firm just after leg day. Sadly I'll lose that by lunch time:-(

• The area where I've noticed the most progress since working with a personal trainer is the definition in my legs. I've pretty thick legs but they're getting stronger which I love. I've got cellulite, stretch marks and some chunk on my outer thighs, but the chunk will be taken care of in September. Getting a bit of liposuction done. That right there is motivation enough to stay in shape. Don't want to waste my money or have deformed legs from weight gain. The fat never returns to where it was sucked out...

• Transformation Tuesday. The pic on the left was taken 4 summers ago. The right was taken this morning. Doing my drills today with Tony had me carrying 30 extra pounds. And it was freaking hard. I must have been super strong when I was morbidly obese. Then I carried over a hundred extra pounds with me. But I also had pretty bad joint pain, heel spurs and couldn't even climb a flight of stairs without getting severely winded. And my blood pressure was through the roof. All the work I put into my lifestyle is worth it. Being free of medication and the body that used to weigh me down all day every day is worth it.
• Side note: Wanna know what else is awesome about being a normal sized person? Being able to shop pretty much anywhere except for plus sized stores. I save so much money on clothing. The dress was $10 clearance at Reitman's. The shoes from my legs post are Tommy Hilfiger. Ten bucks at Value Village. They looked brand new when I got them!

• Here's today's last word. First off, thank you for all your very kind comments on my legs and transformation Tuesday pics. It's humbling to hear such nice things about yourself. I was actually surprised when I saw the picture of my legs. They look so different from up where I am. It's been a while since someone else photographed me. Motivates me to see progress. It's not always easy to put the work in. But it's worth it. 
• Today I got a good deal on a summer clutch from Chapters. Regular price $24 for $8. Clutches are my new obsession. I also bought a trashy summer read. I've never read this author before but I figure I'll give it a try. Only five bucks. I had dinner out with a client and ended up getting some naked hot wings from Montana's. And I got home at quarter past seven. Too late for winetime. So #watertime it is. I'm beat. Gonna get to bed early. I'm gonna HIIT it up the escarpment first thing in the morning. Wanna be on my bike by 5:30 am. I've got a morning meeting in Toronto. I think it's worth mentioning that my ass cheeks hurt. Those weighted walking lunges did me in this morning...