Fitness Friday Update

Okay, it feels like Saturday to me because my kids don't have school today.  So now that I finally have my mind wrapped around the fact that it is indeed Friday, I can write my Fitness Friday update.  :)

Since my last update back in January (yikes!), I've been pretty consistent with my exercise.  Working out at home isn't as hard as I thought it would be.  I just put my mind to it and make time in my day for some exercise.  I actually like not having to pack up and head to the gym every day.


Mostly I've been doing exercise DVDs.  The couple that I have right now are The Biggest Loser Cardio Max ...

and The Biggest Loser Power Sculpt.

I borrowed them both from the library, but since I was ordering something else on Amazon today, I went ahead and ordered them.  I like them that much.  Well, I like how I feel once I'm done doing them.  I don't really like how tired and sore my body gets while doing these exercises.  :)  

My opinion on the cardio DVD is that the level 2 cardio with Jillian should be the level 3 cardio.  The blonde (I think her name is Kim) does the level 3 cardio and I think it is the easiest of all 3 levels.  Jillian's is the hardest.  But with both of these DVDs I can customize what workouts I want to do and in what order.  So if I want to do level 3 first after the warm up, I can.  If I only have time for one segment, I can do that too.  Doing the whole thing (warm up, levels 1, 2, and 3, and cool down) takes about 50 minutes.

The plan right now is to do the Cardio DVD on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and the Power Sculpt DVD on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  Once the weather gets nice I do plan to start running again.  If I can squeeze a run in tomorrow, I just might.  It is supposed to be sunny and about 45 degrees.  That is great weather for running outside.

As far as eating goes, I'm still doing fairly well.  I did slip up this week and eat some chocolate from Valentine's Day.  But I don't plan to make a habit of that.  Logging my food and exercise into My Fitness Pal definitely helps.  I love finishing up my day with calories to spare.  I think only once in the last month did I go over my calorie count for the day.

Lastly, I'm down 4.5 pounds!  I still have a way to go and the scale still fluctuates, but I'm feeling better and making progress.  And I'm still plugging away at reading Made to Crave.  I haven't been able to keep up with the online study, but I'm still reading.

Well, that's it for me.  How are things going for you?

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Fitness Friday

So another week has passed and I think I have done pretty well.  I tried Zumba for the first time this week.  It was fun but I felt terribly uncoordinated.  I just can't seem to shake my booty like those ladies do.  :)  Although I was not alone in that respect, so that made me feel better.  I look forward to going back.  Just need to work it into the schedule.

As far as other exercise goes, I exercised every day.  I did The Shred DVD Mon-Thurs, and on Wednesday and Thursday I decided to do both level 1 and level 2.  Ouch!  It was killer!  But I'm not burning enough calories just doing level 1.  I need to kick it up a notch.  Today I shoveled/swept snow then did some Wii Fit, which I'm counting as my exercise.  I burned over 500 calories in an hour, which isn't as good as running, but it still counts!

Speaking of running, I can't wait until the weather is a little more cooperative and I can try running again.  I'm starting to miss it!

This week I also started using My Fitness Pal again.  It really helps to see how many calories I'm consuming.  I already know how many calories I burn since I wear my heart rate monitor when I exercise, but I hadn't kept very good track of my eating.  Having to record it really makes me think about what I'm eating.  I'm also still not eating sweets.  In fact, I threw away some Tootsie Rolls today.  Ugh, it pains me to write that.  :)

I weigh myself on Sundays now, so I don't have a weight update.  It was up this past week.  Not sure why that would be since I've been exercising more and eating less.  Oh well, weight fluctuates.  Hoping it is down this week.  Either way, I feel better.  The headaches are less frequent.  I think they were caused by my body's reliance on sugar/sweets.  Hoping they go away completely soon.

Since the kids got their report cards today, I decided I'd give myself a report card.  This week I would give myself a B-.  Pretty good but definitely room to improve.

How did you do this past week?  Stop over at Girl Talk and spread some encouragement or be encouraged.

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Fitness Friday Update

Since making a new commitment to myself and my health on January 4th (better late then never, right?), I've been pretty consistent in working out and eating healthier.  

I've done The Shred DVD level 1 for 7 days now.  I skipped Sunday (on purpose), but did some Wii Fit.  I skipped Tuesday because the weather was too beautiful to stay inside; instead I went for a walk, with a little running, on the bike trail.  And today I've shoveled snow three times, done the Wii Fit and some Just Dance, went for a walk through the woods with Keira and Alex, and plan to do more Just Dance with the kids this evening.  Instead of popcorn and movie night, we are having a Wii night.  :)   Boy, my shoulders are going to be hurting tomorrow.

As far as eating goes, this is day 10 of not eating sweets.  I haven't eliminated sugar completely because I like to have a little to sweeten my hot tea, but I haven't eaten any chocolate, cookies, cake, etc. for 9 whole days!  Plus I've been more aware of what I'm eating as far as breads/carbs goes.  I'm making an effort to eat less.  So if I have a sandwich for lunch, I'll be careful to not eat carbs at dinner.  

I'm also taking advantage of this griddle that Nick got for me for Christmas.  The other side is like a grill.  So we've grilled shrimp and chicken on it so far.  It tastes just as good as if I cooked it outside on the gas grill but I don't have to freeze in this weather.  :)  Plus it is so much better to grill than to add breading and bake.  If you saw yesterday's post, you might have noticed that I didn't eat the healthiest.  That was the only day like that.  And of course it would have to be the day that I document my day by taking pictures.  :)

One bad habit that I need to break is eating before bed.  I'm usually hungry and will grab a small bowl of cereal.  Or sometimes, even if I'm not hungry, it has become such a habit that I'll eat anyway.  Not good!   Definitely need to break that bad habit!

So I'm making some changes ... need to make some more.  But the Wii Fit says I've lost 2.8 pounds in 7 days.  And my Wii Fit age is 29!  Down from 32 a week ago, which was still awesome!  :)  Yay!

Now I'm off to do some Just Dance with the kids.  You Can't Touch This!  :)
Have a healthy weekend!

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Fitness Friday

So, I finally have something to contribute to Girl Talk's Fitness Friday.  I was doing really well until I hurt my knee in October.  I was down 25.5 pounds and was feeling good.  Really good.  Well, except for the knee.  Then I got lazy.  And stupid.  And wasn't being careful about what I ate when I wasn't exercising as much.  And I put 11 pounds back on.  Ugh.

But ...

I'm making some changes.  I bought Jillian Michaels' The Shred DVD for under ten bucks the the other day at Walmart.  I just finished day 3 this morning.  I hate it.  It hurts and I want to quit every time.  And I'm only on level 1.  My calves are killing me and I'm very aware of almost every muscle in my body.  But that is a good thing.  At least I know I'm doing something, right?  And I will keep going.

Also my husband just picked up a Wii Fit Plus with the exercise board this morning while shopping.  We set it up and tried it this evening.  It is fun!  It will definitely make it easier to get in some exercise.  But I will have to do it when the kids are at school so I can get a turn!  :)

The BMI indicator on the Wii Fit shows that I am slightly overweight.  Duh!

So my game plan is to do The Shred 5-6 days a week and add in some Wii Fit plus some occasional walking/running when the weather cooperates.  I wear a heart rate monitor when I exercise (which I will be guest posting about next Friday on Girl Talk, so be sure to stop by), which tells me how many calories I burn ... and I don't burn as many calories as I would like just doing The Shred.  The exercise itself lasts about 25 minutes and I only burn about 250 calories each time.  That's not enough for me.  Probably because when I was running for 30 minutes, I'd burn about 350-400 calories.  So I have that number in my head as my minimum for calorie burning.  So adding in some additional exercise should do the trick.

I also have gone three days without eating sweets.  That may not seem like a huge accomplishment to you, but it is to me.  I have a terrible weakness when it comes to sweets.  I had made banana bread last weekend and between Alex and myself, no one else got much of it.  Although Doug is the only other one who will eat it anyway.  But he mentioned to me that it seemed to disappear pretty quickly.  And I had to fess up that Alex and I scarfed it down.  Ouch.  Nothing like having to admit you failed.  Especially to your husband.

Also I have started reading the book Made to Crave again.  That book is one big reason why I did so well last summer/fall in losing the weight that I did.  It really made me think about my choices and made me realize that God cares about everything.  Even my lack of strength to resist sweets.  So I relied on Him A LOT.  But since then I haven't, and I need to get back to that.  To HIM.  I joined an online study for Made to Crave also - that starts on January 15.  If you'd like to sign up, just click on this link ... Made to Crave.

I'm also going to start logging my food intake and exercise on My Fitness Pal.  I started to last summer, but got lazy about that too.

So I guess my biggest problem has been laziness.  :)  But I'm making changes.  Positive changes.  And I will be relying on God's strength to get me there.

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