The post about squatting at the bar, a new teacher and a face to face transformation...

• Meanwhile, yesterday on Instagram...
• It's #smoothietime and it's too fecken early to choke this shit down. Did not want to get up this morning. Definitely don't want to go to the gym. My right knee is still bothering me and my right rotator cuff is off. I hate complaining. Maybe I just need to get movement in my knee. I'll be at the gym by 5:30 to do HIIT. I best get moving along. After the gym, I gotta drink my coffee, shower and get the boy to school. He's so nervous. Then I have a full day of mileage to get through. Ugh. My most hated work chore. And enough with the heat advisories already. I'm not wanting another day of extreme heat!!! It makes me lazy...

• #Coffeetime was very welcome today. I did a solid workout despite my aches and pains. My real hurt is my rotator cuff. My knee was fine once I started doing HIIT. It must have loosened everything up. So today's workout consisted of:

• 20 mins HIIT ✔ 
• 45 mins of upper body and legs together ✔
• 15 mins of core ✔ 
• A sadistic trainer ✔

• Something new that happened was I did squats with the bar. Tony's getting me ready to lift and today we practiced with just the bar. No added weights yet. But a 45 pound bar resting along your back shoulders while squatting is no joke yo! I still need to work on my form. 
• And I did side squats which only proved to me that I'm super inflexible. This means I need to get back to yoga. I will go tomorrow morning, then follow the regular schedule next week of Monday night, Wednesday morning, Thursday night. Yoga helps with my flexibility, core and balance. 
• Even though it's hotter than hell out, after a hard workout where I'm sweating profusely, I get the chills. After showering I'm in shorts and long sleeves. School drop off happened and it went well. Julien's grade 3 teacher is a snappy dresser and has impeccable taste in shoes. I like her already. Hope she's a good educator...

• It's #transformationtuesday and you get a #facetoface comparison because my official photographer is at school. On the left is a pic from 2010. The right is from this morning. The pic on the left was my favorite for the year. I used it as my profile picture on all social media because I thought my face looked slim compared to other pictures of me. I still like that picture. It was me at a different time in my life. I don't mind any of my old pictures because that was who I was then and I learned a lot about myself by being that person. 
• You know the saying "the struggle is part of the story"? That is true of my past life and continues to be true of present day. Because the struggle and work I put in right now is just a continuation of what I did to get here. And my journey's not over yet. Maintenance is a whole different journey and even though I moan and complain, I can't imagine not living the life I do now. Four thirty AM wake up calls and all...

• My last word comes with an interloper present. Still no Smitty, but Baby has joined me for the night. Tonight I went to see my physiotherapist through the gym where I train with Tony. Because the physio prescribes my program, it's billed under my unlimited physio benefits. So I see Tony for free. We discussed my rotator cuff and he confirmed that I have indeed strained it. So he's given instruction for Tony on how to treat it.
• Lou (the physio) hasn't seen me since the end of May when he last assessed me. He told me he could definitely see progress in my body. Especially in my legs and shoulders. That's where I see it the most too. My hamstring is still an issue and he said that it's because my glutes are weak and my hamstring is working extra hard to compensate for my weak ass. So Tony's instruction will be to start working my glutes more. 
• I saw Tony tonight. I was wearing street clothes and he almost walked by me. He was surprised because he's never seen me in anything but gym gear. Anyway, I've been prescribed 24 more sessions with Tony. I've only got 4 more before I go in for my surgery. Yikes! That's coming fast! 
• Moving onto my food. Not sure why I bother showing my pie charts. My fat is always high and my carbs are always low. I'm not trying to lose weight. My body is just changing naturally. And it will change more once December rolls around. Tony told me that once I start training for boxing, my biggest problem will be eating enough. That's why I track now. To make sure I'm eating enough calories to compensate for my activity. Today I could still eat an additional 700+ but I'm good. Didn't feel like eating more.
• I'm off to bed. I know I said I'd go to yoga in the morning, but I sorta wanna run. I think running will win. Tomorrow I have my pre -op appointment with the plastic surgeon. Exciting times...