Hand in Hand

My gym buddy has put up with a lot over the past 12 weeks.....namely, me. I'm not always the happiest little butterfly in the gym. But then he has had good practice.....we've been married for nearly 13 years.

My workout partner is my husband Troy. 

 (July 2011)

This picture was taken before I started the 12 Week Body Transformation in 2011. And no, I was not pregnant, unless you can give birth to a pina colada baby.....certainly drank enough of them.

In the beginning of my Changing of the Ways, and due to me stopping and starting so many things in the years previously, Troy was not convinced there would be a good result.....or ANY result.  But over the weeks he saw that there was a HUGE difference, not just in my body but in my confidence and by the end of the first12 weeks, he joined in, unofficially.

Since then, he has gained his PT qualification ( A brand new PT, only 2 weeks old), completed Tough Mudder twice and become a lean, mean machine. He officially joined the 12 WBT this round and over the past 12 weeks, he has been at nearly every single gym workout with me, no matter what the time. 5 am one day?  Yep he's there. 9pm the next? Yep he's still by my side.

Working out together is sometimes good and sometimes bad for me. On the many good days, it's a laugh, we race each other, we time each other, we egg each other on.  On the few bad days, he's 'breathing on me' and 'counting all wrong'...yes I am painful and pathetic when I am grumpy. And I hate myself for how I sound to him, when he is only there trying to help me be the best I can be. He is the world's most patient man, he never 'bites' back.

If we have to work out on our own because of work, or kid sport, we miss each other.....knowing that person you trust is not there to 'spot'  results in me not lifting as heavy as I could try because I'm afraid of hurting myself. I miss the chatting, I miss laughing. I particularly miss sneaking a quick perve on him when I'm supposed to be spotting him LOL.

 The workout on my own gets done a little quicker but it's a workout only for the body....not for the soul and the heart (and eyes) like it is when he is there.

( Jan. 2013)

I could not ask for a better workout partner, gym buddy, pep talker, food nazi or friend. Ok, Food nazi is a bit extreme, I really do appreciate all the times Troy has talked me down from a box of maltesers. 

I admire his dedication, his self discipline in his workouts and his nutrition, in staying 'dry' for these past 12 weeks. I am proud of how he has tranformed himself into a tall wall of muscle.  I admire all his little remembrances.....he'll have workout towels and things ready while I'm still fluffing around, he'll put new songs on my ipod for gym. 

And the BIG remembrances.....he drives me all over Victoria at all hours of the morning so I can achieve my goal of a funrun a month, he watched the children, did all the cooking and massaged my legs during and after my run up and down Mt Bogong....... he never fails to buy me orchids every birthday in remembrance of my grandfather who gave me orchids every birthday before he died.

 I love how he believes in me when I don't or can't.  And he is usually right.

My workout partner has seen me through thick and thin, in and out of the gym.  He's seen me at my worst and at my best and the words 'Thank You' just don't seem enough to speak the volumes of gratitude I have.  we make a team like no other...


Here's to the next 12 weeks........