So, wow… it’s been 2 and a 1/2 years since I became a published author and this is actually my first real blog post. I’m taking a break right at this very moment from writing swoony romance and hot studs. I’m going to make an attempt to connect with my readers on a different level. I’ve committed to reach out to you in a different way, and that is through some short writings about my life… on a more personal level.
Some might say I’m in transformation…
Because I do want to reach out on a more personal level, I figured this was a good way to do it. In the fast paced, digital world of tweets that zoom out of your line of sight in about three nano seconds, I’m going old school blog to tell you a little bit more about Sawyer Bennett.
The first thing to realize is that my real name isn’t Sawyer Bennett. It’s actually Beth Noble.
*gasp* She just outted herself!!!!
Okay, not that big of a revelation because I’ve never intentionally hidden my true identity. And while it’s true that I chose a pen name originally because I was still a practicing lawyer when I first published, and totally didn’t want my clients Googling my name and then finding this on their search results…
…I really chose Sawyer Bennett because I thought it sounded way more cool and marketable than Beth Noble. Not a very exciting or glamorous name, right?
My life has transformed in so many ways over the years I could write a million blog articles about it. And stay tuned… I’m sure you’re going to hear all about my issues with infertility, my insane love of dogs, how hilarious my husband is, my even more insane love of Steeler and Buckeye football, and I’m sure on more than one occasion about my beautiful daughter, Parker, whom we adopted eighteen months ago.
But today, I’m going to talk a little bit more of a physical transformation I’m going through. I adopted Parker when I was 45 years old. No biggie… lots of more “mature” women have kids these days. Along with “maturity” came gray hairs at my roots and an extra thirty pounds I had not been toting around when I was in my twenties. I didn’t have Parker home more than a week before I realized that I was severely out of shape. As Parker got older and more active, I came to the horrific conclusion that I could not keep up with my nine month old early runner.
I was pathetic. Bones creaking, joints aching, my clothes getting bigger and bigger to hide my size. My beautiful daughter, always adventurous and independent, running full speed and I couldn’t catch up to her.
Something had to be done.
So, with great humility, a little bit of desperation, and a whole lot of fear, I decided to join a gym. The fear increased ten-fold when I decided to hire a trainer.
I started working out 3 months ago. I started out 2 days a week with a trainer, and then tried to commit to at least another 3 days of cardio. Let it be known… I am not averse to hard, sweaty work. I am uber competitive, played college athletics and I’m very goal oriented. I now train 3 times a week and try to do cardio the other 4 days a week.
Three months ago, I was overweight, had no stamina and looked awful in my workout clothes.
This was completely humiliating.
Enter Tra Farrington. It’s not pronounced “Trah” but “Tray”… short for Tramon. He’s my trainer.
No, more than that, he’s my mentor… my motivator. After three months and despite the fact he kicks my ass all over the place, yes… I’ll call him a friend too. He is the most down to earth, humble person you will ever meet. It took me over six weeks to learn that he holds two world records in powerlifting, and only because I asked the right questions. Otherwise, he would have never told me. When my muscles have all but given out, when I’m out of breath, my heart rate pounding at 175 and sweat stinging my eyes, just a quiet, “Come on, Beth… you got this” gives me that needed burst of energy to get it done. He believes in me.
Proof he kicks my ass and still motivates me right here.
I truly can’t explain it, but Tra has made me dedicated to working out. In the past three months, I’ve made some significant improvements. Let me be the first to tell you, I have not weighed myself once since I started out. I’ve been a big believer all my life that the number on the scale is in no way a representation of your total overall health. It’s just a component, and instead of weight, I chose to focus on how I felt first and foremost. Secondly, I watched my clothes and how they fit… made adjustments from there, and tracked my progress that way.
Here’s what happened. Tra took my weight today and we found out in 3 months from when he first weighed me, I’ve only lost 10 pounds. However, my body has changed drastically. I’ve now got definition to my arms (yeah, that tricep is popping now… BAM). I’ve dropped down from a size 14 to a 10, and my 10’s are falling off me. I refuse to buy 8’s though because I just signed up for a 90 Day Transformation Challenge. While I’ve only lost 10 pounds of weight so far, I’ve lost 16% body fat which is why I’m starting to see some definition in my arms and legs.
And best of all?
My back doesn’t hurt when I get out of bed in the morning. I can pick Parker up and swing her around like she’s a feather pillow. My joints don’t pop and creak. And that little monkey can’t out run me anymore, a fact she does not find amusing at all.
I’ve made tremendous progress. I’m committed. I’m going to push even harder with this transformation challenge. I hope to drop down further in dress size, but mostly I want to be healthy with lean muscle and greater stamina. Furthermore, I hope to continue on with this change of lifestyle, and the reason I’m blogging about it today, is because I know there are many of you out there who suffer from the same issues. Sometimes it’s so hard to motivate ourselves to seek what’s best, and I know this because I struggled with it for over twenty-five years before I finally buckled down. My motivation may not be the next person’s, but what I am hoping is that this might inspire someone to go out and seek that motivation. I want to make this blog post a forum to talk about weight issues, body image issues, transformation fears… whatever. What do you need to get you going? What kind of support?
I’m going to try to blog about my transformation challenge every week. Tra is going to provide health tips. Maybe we can form a little community of motivation for each other.
Let’s do it!!!!
Now… I really need to get back to writing about swoony romance and hot studs. That is, after all, what you really love about me, right?
MWAH!!!!
Sawyer
When trying to burn fat and maintain a lean physique, be sure to take in 1-1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Muscles must be supported by protein as they are responsible for burning fat.
