Week 2- Isn't This supposed to get easier

HELL NO!!!!!So we are getting new campers this week. Today Estee from Brookly NY joined us. We had alot to talk about me being a Brooklyn boy and all. Monday we started out with a short bike ride to the park. After spending 1 1 /2 hours at this partk all my wonderful childhood memories were destroyed. Parks are supposed to be fun not TORTURE chambers but John and Sarah succeeded. I will no longer look at a park the same. As you may have figured our days consist of about 5 hours of training. We have a few group activities and one personal PT session a day. The one saving grace has been Chef Angela. I finished my evening with Halah the "therapist". She wore me out more mentally then I was physically. She says I am an interesting person. Hell we all knew that. But in all seriousness working out the issues of the mind will help the body. Tuesday I woke up and was sore all over. I did not want to get out of bed but I managed to do so as today was one of my more enjoyable days ( I thought). It was tennis day but today was different. Today Sarah joined us and she brought this HUGE heavy rope. In between hitting return shots we had to make "waves" with the rope. We had three more ladies join so now I have a harim. Tennis was brutal but good. My PT was with SWEET Sarah......she is no longer sweet she is a mean mean woman. She worked my abs so hard today with core movements that for the first time ever even when I had gotten thin last time my abdoman spasamed. I now believe I know the pain of "that time of the month" for women.It was excrutciating. Thank God I had Yoga today to relax. So we have NO weigh ins but I have to fly on a business trip tonight(on the plane now). I brought my own food. I am upgraded to first class and have not eaten the meal or had a drink( Flight Attendents want to know if I am OK). So there are two wonderful things to share. The first is that I did not need a seat belt exstension....YEAH and I fell asleep and did not SNORE. You here that I did not Snore.Bye for now aa it is the little steps that mean alot.

July 8- The Value of Friendship

Today was my first day off. Yesterday after finishing up boot camp I went to my friends Chris and Darlene White. I was treated like a king. On Sunday after running me around to get all the items I needed I drove towards home and stopped at an old friend from High School Denise Cotler. I had an amazing few hours just cathing up with her and hearing about her family and children. I was saddened to hear of the loss of her mother last year. This was an amazing weekend as it made me realize just how lucky I was to have the friends that I have. This weekend I was able to spend time with friends from all time periods and fazes of my life: Childhood/high school, Early part of my career, and more recent professional friends. I really am blessed. My friends are loyal, loving, honest and caring. It took me a long time in life to learn the difference between friends and aquaintences. Today I was with friends. Life is Good and I am blessed. Wish me luck with week two!!!! Three new campers join us

July 5-6- Day 5 and 6

On Friday my day started like all other days at Core at 6:30 am with breakfast while watching Wimbledon and then off to downtown St. Pete for beach boot camp. We had a chance to play soccer and volleyball. We played 3 on 1 against John. Apparently he had never "lost" and we beat him and made him do laps so even though we were 3 on 1 there was some satisfaction....lol. Then off to swimming. Unfortunately Doug has been sick so John has trained me for my last two sessions and he has his own unique philosophy and he is not afraid to impart it on me between him and Sarah I have been reacquainted with my old friend Mr Kettle Bell. What a wonderful piece of equipment...NOT. All in all it was a good day and I am feeling stronger. My shoulder has held up so far but there are definatly things that cause me pain and discomfort. I got the chance to meet my friend Biff last night as he was in Tampa for a meeting. I had an aaahhaa moment when I met his friends daughter and I knew that I was in the right place at the right time. Saturday started off early and although I felt strong yesterday I woke up today sore all over. This was one of those days where I wanted to stay on bed but I have made up my mind that I am on a mission. I have a goal and unless I am injured I will participate in all activities and follow the rules. So we had another beach boot camp with Mr Kettle Bell. I did not realize how many different excercises one could do with a kettle bell it is kinda like Forrest Gump and shrimp. I did have a nice 8-9 mile bike ride and then we had a foam rolling class. Again foam rolling isnt that supposed to be relaxing, working out the kinks well....it was quite painful. After finishing at 12PM I drove to my friends Chris and Darlene brought my own food and hurt Darlenes feeling because I was not having a home cooked meal but I think that I explained myself well and she has forgiven me. So the purpose of my visit was to relax via deep sea fishing. So I was treated like a king on the boat. I even had my hooks baited....All in all it has been a great week. Sadly Jo will be leaving tomorrow but we have three new "campers" coming...all women...Life is Great for Ira....

Independence Day- July 4 Day on the Water July 5

I decided to take a day off from writing as it was Independence Day and we should all be thankful to the men and women who have given us the oppurtunity that we have. So how appropriate that my Personal Trainer for the day was a former Army Ranger John and he definatly brought it. Wednesday July 4 was a tough day for me as it started out with a beach boot camp and then we went on a bike ride. Last time I was here I developed a love of biking and even though I have not been on a bike in a year I felt that it would come back easy....what a bad thought. We went on about a 10 mile bike ride on the Pinellas Trail with a few hills and a bridge. The highlight for me was when I came last time I had to walk over the bridges at least I was able to bike over them. Later in the day I had my first PT with John( former Army Ranger) now into causing pain thru cross training. The surprise of the day though was pilates....isnt that supposed to be a "girly" workout....I will NEVER say that again. I finished my evening with a massage and then my appointment with Haleh the local therapist. One of the reasons that I came back to core was that I felt that they offered the complete package. Weight loss or life style changes do not just come with hard work and better eating but resolution of the internal issues that and Haleh is good. She is trying something callled "Brain Spotting". For my sake I hope it works. Today Thursday started with my meeting with Gay the nutritionist. It was nice to have a more relaxing morning but Core made up for it in the afternoon as I had workouts from 11:15-1:45. 2 1/2 hours of Cardio, Personal Training and kickboxing and then after 1 hour to rest we were off to kyaking.That was fun as it took multiple kyaks to find one that I did not capsize....it was fun. We finished the day with Cardio Tennis 5 hours of training today. I am sore and beat. Here is the first change that I have noticed in and on my body. When I came here I had swelling on my ankles and could not even seen the ankle bones. I have a news flash I do have ankle bones.....Have a great night as I go to bed

Day 2- July2

So I forgot to tell you all my excitement. On Sunday evening the mulch at my home spontaneously combusted causing a fire at my home. Thank god no one was hurt and Savannah is safe. Damage was external and not structural. So.... Anyway Day 2 started with a beach walk this am. I cannot believe how hot and humid it could be at 7:15AM. It was nice as people were staking out their spots for the July 4th Holiday on the beach. I imagine it will be a busy time. We then had "Cardio Tennis" It was not as much fun as I remember it Coach Laz was great but it appears as if the trainers no longer atend the event as they were quite fun to have around as we (campers) could take out their revenge on the courts as most of them were great athletes but not great tennis players, but the goal was to sweat and get a work out and tha I did. I rode on my bike there which may seem pretty simple but this was the first time in 1 1/2 years that I got on it and getting used to "clips" not fun. I did not fall but I almost got killed as I was unable to stop and unclip so I almost hit two cars or should say that they almost hit me. We had yoga and I fell asleep snored a little.... I had my first PT session with Little Sarah one of my trainers. Dont ever let that sweet little look fool you as she is a stick of dynamite and opened up a can of whoop ass on me. Who the hell ever said that you can run on a treadmill when it is not on helping you. I found out today...Not easy. Every muscle in my body hurts even my fingers but I know that you wall would not be able to enjoy your holiday if I did not write. Today was "Dinner out" night so all the campers went to dinner. Outback was the fine dining place that we attended. I ate very healthy and actually was satisfied. Service was slow so I negotiated a discount...what a shocker I am wishing all a great July 4. Needless to say we are not off and my day starts at 7:15am on the beach for boot camp.

Day 1- And so it starts- July 2

6:00 am came very early today as I had my weigh in and fitness evaluation as well as my "pre" pictures. SO I weighed in at 302. The bright spot was that it was 3 pounds less then the first time so I was not a complete failure......LOL I got to meet part of the Core Team as well as my co-campers. So here are the players: My co-campers are Mollie from Atlanta and Jo from England both really nice ladies. Jo is quite and I think that I talk too much and have scared her....lol shocker me talking to much. On the staff side I met Sarah one of my new trainers this am very sweet and to damn spunky at 6:30 am. I met Shannnon Operations manager very nice as well and my old nemesis from my last stay Doug. It was nice to see a familiar face. So today we started by walking to the local park ( about 1.5 miles) for my first boot camp. We had a 4 stations circuit to start and I was put on the heavy rope. About 2 seconds into my routine I was saying Ira WTF did you do to yourself and by the tme the first set was done I felt like a cripple. I had 3 more sets to do and I struggled mightly. I did my best but was not able to do it all. We then had 2 other circuits each with 4 statsions that had to be done 4 times. I literally thought that I would die. It was already hot and muggy and I had trouble grasping air as well as recovering. What a fall from grace when I was at my peak a year ago doing 1 1/2 hour of cardio a day with a great workout. I never have enjoyed working out but learned to enjoy it but there was no enjoyment today.... The highlight of the day was my therapy (mental) and my massage. I know that in the end I will achieve my goals. I know that I will get stronger daily but I am concerned about my shoulder. Many may not know but I injured my AC joint which has needed surgery for 1 year and I put it off. I injected myself before I left with cortisone hoping to be able to get in the game but it did not work. Thank goodness the trainers are knowledgable and they have figured out alternative thing for me to do. Anyway it is 8:37PM and I am off to bed as 6:30 comes early.

Anyone Can Slip Up- July 1 2012

When I last left off in 2009 I had lost 39 pounds at boot camp and was off to the races with my new life. I hired a trainer and a chef and eventually lost 95 pounds. Life was great. I was feeling good, healthy and strong. I came back to my practice rejuvinated and mentally tougher so that I was able to deal with the ever evolving world of healthcare. I even met a women and fell in love. No fault of anyone's things did not work out which can happen in life but the way I handled it was not in the best way. I lost my desire to workout and took solace withfood my old friend. After about 1 year all my hard work was for naught and I was back where I started. Now after I have healed I am mentally ready to restart my journey and I have come back to Core Fitness Solutions where I will redicate myself to getting healthy again. How lucky am I to have the support of my partners and my staff. How many people can walk away from work for 6 weeks? In advance I need to thank them. My friends and family have been great as they helped me through my lapse and supported me by just being there and letting me work through it. Some of you spoke to me multiple times a day. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU So here we go. My body is slightly older now and may not be able to take the abuse like last last time but those of you who know me know that I only know two speeds FAST and FASTER Needless to say I am disappointed to be starting all over again but at least I am back. I will keep you posted