Weigh In

Last time I weighed 195 lbs on October 14.

Today I weigh....

190 lbs!!!

For a total of 31 lbs lost so far!

Oh my gosh.  Such a great feeling.  To see "31 lbs lost"...it's like crazy.  I'm so excited right now!  AND I'm only 1 lb away from the 180s! Seems like the 190s just flew by!  Hopefully it'll be the same with the 180s LOL

My next weigh in will fall in the middle of our trip to Disney World, so I'm bumping it to the following Friday, so my next weigh in will be November 18th!

And for a quick update, everything's going great.  After doing the Shred for 30 days straight I had a few "injuries" so to speak and had a lot of problems with my back, knees, and most of all, shin splints.  Geez.  Those were feakin' BAD.  I even called the doctor on those ones LOL  But after I finished the Shred I iced the crap out of my legs, took a few days off, and haven't had any problems since.  Now I still get the occasional "aches and pains" after a good workout, but of course that's to be expected. 

I've stuck to my exercise plan and I've been doing a varity of things like I wanted to do.  My original plan was to "do a variety of things", then I thought I would try the 6 week Biggest Loser Cardio Max workout, but that workout is just too long to do at home with the kids, so I'm now back to my "variety of things".  I will still do the BL Cardio Max occasionally, but I'll have to do after Josh gets home and he can watch the bambinos.

I'm still sticking with the kickboxing (although I missed class this week), but I made it up at home by trying a few new things with Josh.  We did the Pure Cardio disc from Insanity on Monday and I thought I was going to die.  Freak that was hard.  I did try to pace myself because he told me it was non-stop, no breaks, so I wanted to make sure I made it through the WHOLE DVD.  When he told me there was only 10 minutes left I tried to kick it up a notch, but I was burnt out by that point, so I had to stay with the same "pace" I was working at before, which trust me, it was still work.  LOL  But hey, I made it through!  And then we did Ab RipperX from his P90X discs, which I've tried before, but I feel like I did MUCH better this time.  It's only like 15 minutes, but it's straight ab work.  Something like some 300+ crunches/sit ups (he says at the end, but I forget the EXACT number).  Anyway,  I think I did better this time around an I might start doing that on a regular basis.

Anyway, I guess my "weigh in" sort of turned into a Weigh In/Workout Watch combo, but that's the update for ya!  And I have a new "mini series" in the works to start sometime in November, so keep an eye out for details on that... ;)

Workout Watch

Okay time for another update....Working out is still going great.   I've still been going to the kickboxing class at the gym and I'm still working out at home as well.

Today I went back and tried the 30 Day Shred again for the first time since I finished my first 30 days.  I did Level 1 and it went great.  It was still an awesome workout, but I can definitely see a difference in my endurance now.  I've been working out regularly for almost 2 months!  Crazy.  Anyway, I did all the moves, no modifications, and powered straight through the bicycle crunches, which were a HUGE challenge for me the first time around.

And I have something else to add that I found kind of "surprising" yesterday.  I went to kickboxing class last night and we were using steps.  I'm sure you all know what that is, but in case you don't it's just a big, hard plastic step that you use to step up on to make certain exercises more challenging.  Anyway, in the middle of class I bent down to get my step and I read something on it.  It says, "MAX recommended weight limit = 225 lbs"....  Now you might be thinking, "So??? Who cares....What does that matter?"  Well, if you recall, before I decided to start this change I weighed 221 lbs... 221 lbs.... So I was only 4 lbs away from being TOO HEAVY to use this specific peice of equipment.  That is just astonishing to me.  I was TOO HEAVY for something. TOO HEAVY to use something, to use this step.  That is just unbelievable.  What else was I missing out on because I was "too heavy"?  What else WOULD I be missing out if I hadn't made this change??

I'm so happy I made this decision and so happy I'm doing this and seeing stuff like that, while slightly depressing, just gives me even more drive to keep going and be healthy and fit!

Weigh In

Last time I weighed 198 lbs on September 30.

Today I weigh...

195 lbs!

I've lost 3 lbs since my last weigh in for a total of 26 lbs lost so far!

I'm so excited!  I haven't been 195 lbs since this time LAST YEAR! I'm stoked!  And I'm only 6 lbs away from being in the 180s! I haven't seen 180-something since HIGH SCHOOL!

Oh, and the best part....I'm over a quarter of the way through my original 91 lb goal!  More than a quarter of the way there!!! That's crazy to me. 

I'm so glad I started this blog and joined MyFitnessPal and started tracking all of this.  Last time I was "on a kick" I didn't keep track very well.  I knew I was losing weight, but I didn't realize how much work I'd actually done, and I think that contributed to me "falling off the wagon", but now that I can actually see what I'm doing and watch the tickers move and see the numbers go down, it really reminds me of how much I've accomplished and how much I still have left to accomplish and keeps me completely motivated to keep going.

By the way, for anyone reading who wants to lose weight or watch what they eat or just be healthier, I definitely recommend signing up for MyFitnessPal.  Click here or use the MyFitnessPal link to the right of my blog.  It really has a TON of tools and resources to keep you on track with your goals, plus there is an entire online community where you can go and ask questions and just get support.  Plus, if you have a smart phone, you can download an app straight to your phone, so you're only a button away from entering your food or looking through the database to get nutritioal info on something.  Definitely worth signing up.

Anyway, that's it for this week's weigh in.  Next weigh in October 28th!

Workout Watch

Okay time to update on my workout routine.  First off, I've been going to a cardio kickboxing class twice a week at the rec center for about a month and half, maybe two months now.  It's a 45 minute class and we do a little a bit of everything, not just kickboxing moves.  The instructor changes it up a bit for every class and some days are A LOT harder than others,but every class is hard and it's a really good workout.  Plus it's a great way for me to get out of the house for some productive "mommy time" and I like being able to change up my routine some.

I've actually been "changing things up" quite a bit and trying a variety of exercises to keep myself entertained LOL  Last week I realized that every time I go into the basement I actually walk right past this giant, dusty piece of workout equipment...an elliptical.  Yeah, we have an elliptical in our house LOL  My parents got it awhile ago, but it never gets used and was just sitting in the basement, SO I dusted it off, threw in some new batteries, and parked it in front of the TV in the basement, so now whenever America's Next Top Model or Teen Mom comes, I just jump on the elliptical and watch my shows.  It's actually a lot harder than it looks LOL  I'm still working on finding the right settings and making sure I keep my heartrate up high enough to truly be burning calories.  It's difficult because the machine gains momentum so you have to make sure you have the resistence set high enough that the machine isn't doing the work for you, which is what I've been working on and I think I may have found my niche.

Also last week, we (Josh and I) took the kiddos up to the rec center pool and I decided to try out swimming as an exercise.  Again, a lot harder than it looks.  When you're just in the pool for fun it's not all that bad because half the time you've got you feet on the bottom anyway, but I got in the far lane and did a bunch of laps back and forth the length of the pool, trying not to stop for too long on either end.  I did some like "breast stroke" style (I think that's what it's called) and then did some holding onto a board in the front so I really had to work my legs. Did that for about 45 minutes while Josh played with the kids in the toddler pool.  Tried to go for an hour, but little ones were growing restless so we had to skidaddle. LOL

And I've still been doing my Biggest Loser Cardio DVD, but I'm finding it difficult to get in a 45-55 minute workout with the kids during the day, so I think I'm going to start incorporating the 30 Day Shred back into my routine, which is what I thought would eventually happen since I love that thing and it's a great 20 minute workout.  What I'll probably do is just evaluate the "situation" and decide which one I think I have time for, so I'll be doing a little of both, but not everyday like I was when I did he initial 30 days.  I never realized how much my body actually benefits from rest days, so I'm going to keep up with that.  I've been doing some sort of workout (either DVD at home or class) five days a week and taking two rest days, on which I do the elliptical because it's so low impact that it still gives my legs, knees, joints a chance to recover.

Anyway, that's the update on my workout routine right now.  It's not really a routine per se since I'm doing a bit of everything, but it has become "routine" for me to exercise which was always the goal and will continue to be the goal :)

Workout Watch

Ok everyone this is going to be my new series where I post workout updates and I've also added another mini ticker to the side bar couting out how long working out has been a part of my life :)

So I started my Biggest Loser Cardio Max DVD on Saturday.  It's a six week program consisting of three levels, but unlike the Shred where you go from one level to the next, with this DVD each level is an ADD ON, so you do Level 1 for 2 weeks, then ADD ON Level 2 for the next two weeks, and then ADD ON Level 3 for the last two weeks so that by the end you'll be doing a warm up, Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, and a cool down.

I started with just Level 1 on Saturday, but I was doing this DVD last summer and didn't make the full two weeks, so I'm pretty familiar with Level 1 already, so today I added on Level 2.  Level 1 is about 30 minutes and is where the majority of the work comes in.  It's pretty much a circuit workout hitting every part of the body with several cardio bursts thrown in between the moves.  Level 2 and Level 3 are both high intensity circuits 10 minutes a piece.  I haven't seen Level 3 yet, but Level 2 is okay.  They have two people "hosting" it.  They're both past contestants, one guy and one chick and they have some sort of awkward sexual tension and they talk and flirt and hit and make fun of each other the whole time.  It's pretty much like watching two 12 year olds in gym class...

I'm not really into joking and talking during my workouts.  I like to get pretty serious and stay focused.  An occasional comment or two I'm okay with, but these two are at it the whole time, right up until the very last second.  Blah. LOL 

Anyway, I did Levels 1 and 2 today and it went great.  There are a lot of jumping jacks, simulated jump rope, and jump squats, and when I first did this DVD last year I couldn't do ANY of it.  I did the modified version of all those moves, but now I can every single bit of it and I'm super stoked.  Can only get better from here!