Weekly Weigh In

I just can't break the 160 sound barrier.
It's not to say that I'm not working.
And honestly, I think that Jillian video is a GREAT workout to lose fat.
But, I'm not working, probably, as strong as I have at other times.
Big surprise. :)
Anyway, down to 160.8.  It always seems like the week after a vacation my body's just reeling from all the changes.  And that's fine. 
I have nothin' but time to get skinny. :)

Workout Du Jour: Jillian's Backside

K, this is really embarrassing to say, but I think Jillian might be my favorite workout video maker.  For real.  I know, throw the rotten produce, who knew?

I got this one from Netflix, it had really high ratings, and I know why.

And now, for the full review:

Total video time: 54 minutes.  You can make it shorter by only doing a few of the circuits, which I was considering but the video isn't that bad... you can do the whole thing. :)
Intensity: I'm gonna have to say moderate.  I was a little out of breath, I was sweaty...
Total Calories burned according to cardio trainer (my phone app) 550'ish
•Weights ***** She does a great job in toning.  Lots of easy, old school exercises that really work.  I love how Jillian makes old school cool. :)

•Cardio *** At the beginning of each circuit you do some cardio.  It's great to have your heart up so you can then do the toning.

•Sweaty *** Fairly sweaty, but no dripping.
•Annoyance * THE LEAST annoying video I have ever done.  There's no music, which I thought would bug me but it turned out I kind of felt like she was ACTUALLY my trainer, and we were ACTUALLY in a gym!  Also, they're just on a white screen so there's nothing to distract.  Jillian is both compelling and "real" I really liked it.

So, there's 6 circuits of about 8 minutes each.  There's no cool down, but I just stretched a bit on my own.  She explains WHY she's going in the order that she does.  It was interesting to know she does abs last because you don't want to burn out your core before you use it with your other exercises.  They say it's for beginners, and I guess it could be (although it'd would be kinda hard if you hadn't worked out for a long time) but it's easy to make it harder.  I did 8 pound weights,and a lot of the exercises can be modified to be harder or easier (which she also shows you in the video).

Anyway, informative, great, I'm sore today so it worked.  I liked it a lot.  I'm gonna do it again on Monday and probably re-put it in my video queue... which doesn't happen often. :)

Simplifying

For anyone that reads my regular blog, you know that we're on the hunt for a new job, a new location to live and possibly a whole new life.

Anyway, I've had to simplify the whole weight loss process.  I have to not stress about it, and I am at the point where I really need to turn my weight loss process into my real life.

This is where the rubber meets the road. :)  Or is it spanx  meets the thighs.... ? :)

Either way.

I'm just trying to eat healthy, and I'm trying to eat.  I tend to just sit and wallow and stress and not eat and I know that will backfire big time.  Fruits and veggies have become a "go to" when I just can't stand the thought of eating.  That's good.

I'm toying with my workouts.  I can't do workouts that entirely exhaust me right now.  I need ot focus on ones that I find fun, stress relieving and enjoyable.  I did some wii EA sports cardio boxing on Monday.  It was good, and I'm sore today but I think that might just be after a week or so of not working out.

Anyway, it seems to at least keep me maintaining.  Hard to say since I went off the wagon in Yosemite, but I'm back on it.  I'm making good choices and I hope that this stress time won't be a weight gain time.  So far, so good, but I know the road is long. :)

Preservatives don't Preserve Me

So, our family just got off a pretty awesome trip to Yosemite.  BUT, while I chose some balanced meals, we also allowed ourselves a little treat nightly from the little store at our hotel.  Aka, candy and chips. 

Yum.

But at night I'd eat my bag of hot tamales (I had a cold, and they were one of the only things I could even taste) I'd think, "blech -- is this how I used to feel all the time?"

Now, I have a confession.  Candy, usually, just isn't my thing.  Drew will give me a bag for Christmas and I can let it sit around forever til' I finally bribe my kids with it.  But, salty crunchy things are more my cup o' tea. 

But I had a fair amount of candy and some other stuff that isn't so good for you (all word of wisdom appropriate -- it's just that about 98.9% of what you find in tiny stores just ISN'T good for you).  And I told myself that was OK.  And it was.  I never let myself do it, I have been losing my mind a little more than usual lately and it was just nice to let myself go free and wild, pretty much eating whatever I wanted.

But, it's just a nice reminder that totally has consequences.  And that I need to eat a lot of fiber now. :)

Eating healthy makes you healthy.  It's just that simple.  Currently, I am crap. :)

Self Workout

Yesterday I did a SELF workout via hulu.  I'm pretty sure this video on the right is the one I did.  You can get it via hulu plus for free.  Might even be able to get it on regular hulu... but I can't really tell that.

I really liked it.  it's all about toning.  It goes through a BUNCH of arm segments (chest, back, shoulders, arms) and then it does lower body and abs.  Your heart gets pumping but I called it a "moderate" intensity workout.

Sadly, my arms don't really feel like that today.  I hope my boobs grew because my chest is SO sore.

I tried to do it with 8-5 pound weights, which is what I've been trying to use but it was NOT working, so I switched to 3 pound weights.  Much better, and I am still sore.  Not sore on my legs, just my arms.  My arms are definitely something I can work on, they are often the "weakest link" in my workouts.

Anyway, I like it and if you have hulu try it out.  It's about an hour long.  In my mind I want to do one dance/cardio workout/week, one yoga workout and one weights workout... it doesn't always workout that way but I feel like it keeps me more balanced.  And, of course I add in some walking and running to those...

In other news, I use cardio trainer to track my weight on Thursdays (with my personal weigh in date being on Saturdays, but I can't figure out a way to change it).  In 7 weeks it says that I've lost 6.42 pounds.  This is particularly interesting because I don't really prep for that weigh in.  I just plug in whatever I weigh when I weigh on Thursdays.  So, the fact that I've been slowly losing is a great feeling. :)  I do weigh in daily and it helps a lot.  I recommend it. :)

On Becoming A Runner

I ran on the treadmill at a 6.0 tonight! Granted it was only for 20 seconds at a time, but still, a 6.0!!!

This is huge for me. I was the fat girl in high school who couldn't even do the weekly "run day" without getting an F. We had to run 1 mile in 20 minutes, should be easy right? No. It always took me the full class... period so, 40-45 minutes to complete it. I could not run it at all, heck I could hardly walk it.

I've never thought that running was something I could do. It's like my trainer said, we're turning me into a runner 20 seconds at a time.

Month Weigh In... the results are in.

Sunday was Drew and my monthly weigh in.

I was pretty happy with the results.

I have lost 3.4 pounds in the month.  Not amazing, but down, so that's nice. :)

The happy thing was the measurements.  I ended-up losing FOUR inches last month!  Of course, measuring inches is always a tiny bit subjective, but either way that's pretty fantastic.  That gives me more than 32 inches lost since Jan 2010.  Hooray!

Anyway, just keeping on plugging on.  Six or 7 more pounds and my BMI will be normal.  I'm kind of feeling like that's all I can hope for with all the stress around here.

Plus, I ate 4 cinnamon rolls yesterday.  :)  Luckily, my weight only weight up .8 pounds... but man, it was worth it. :)

Spring is a great time to lose weight, I love being outside and being active.  Keep it up everybody!