Random Thoughts

OK so I pulled out the turbo jam DVD today and did the 42 minute cardio party. I was seating like a pig after but it was fun. It did get a little hard for the last 15 min but I kept going. The only downfall this morning is the 3 breaks I had to take to run upstairs and put a pacifier in my son’s mouth but each break only lasted 3-4 minutes and I just came back down and started where I left off.
All these videos you see advertised including turbo jam say that they will help you burn fat and tone muscle the quickest so I am going to see what kind of results I get from doing a turbo jam every day this week (except Christmas day). There are shorter videos and one you use 3 pound weights with. I will still walk the dog daily at night but do the video in the morning and measure myself next Wed. and see if my inches loss is faster than with what I have been doing on my own. Maybe next week I will try the video with arm and leg weights and see how those inches measure up (or down).

I will try and keep track and list exactly which video I did on what day. The turbo jam DVD set comes with 5 or 6 work-outs and are all different lengths. It did make me feel good afterwards so that is definitely a plus!

I looked and found a bunch of beach bodies DVD’s on amazon and other sites for about half the price.  The cheaper ones are used but 99% of the time when I buy a used video they work fine because people usually only use them a few times before they give up on them.

This last head cold has kept me down for awhile. I am still congested a somewhat but have started back up onto my work out routine as of yesterday. I measured myself this morning after being sick and have stayed the same on everything but hips have gone down ½ inch. I have tried to still go on the walks with the dog (short ones) while feeling bad so I guess my short 15-20 min. walks have still paid off a bit. Now back to toning and 30 min. dog walks again. I found a couple more videos in a box last night I am going to try too as I am getting bored. The videos are an old kick boxing video and turbo jam that I bought years ago.

This is what I have come up with for myself over the past few weeks.

For the upper body I have started with 3 lb dumbbells and after 2 sets of 20 reps becomes easy I will bump it up to 5 pounds but will not exceed 5 pounds. The key to toning if you do not want body builder muscles is to do less weight with more reps. This is my goal. I want to have long lean muscle tone.

Upper body reps:

• Front fly’s – take weights with semi bent arms in front of chest and extend arms out to side and back to chest again.

• Side flies – with arms down at side extend arms up to side with palm facing side of body in fists and back to legs again.

• Bicep curls – 2 ways. One with arms down by waist and flex weights up to chest keeping elbows at sides. Second, extend arms out to sides and flex arm and bring fists to shoulders.

• Triceps: – 2 ways. One with arms flexed (bent) with fists facing forward up by chest and elbows at sides and slowly bring the weights back behind body with extension while keeping elbows at sides. Second, take arms up over head and keep palms inward with elbows stuck to head. Bend arms back and keep elbows and fists in same position.

• Shoulder press – Arms bent and raises weights straight up over head and come back to beginning position keeping a nice “L” angle at ending position.

For the lower body I use leg weights that I can have anywhere from 1-5 pounds on each of them. I started with 3 pounds and have already increased to 5 pounds. Women are genetically stronger in the lower body then men so this comes pretty easy for me to increase.

Lower body reps:

• Lay on back and bend one leg and almost straighten the other and kick the straightened leg 16 times. Goal is to have my thigh hit my shoulder like it did back in High School. Do this on both legs.

• Circle leg 8 times keeping the same position as above. Bring straightened leg up to chest then out to side and around to floor and then back up to chest. Then 8 times reverse the circle on both legs.

• Bring one leg straight up and bring to chest and extend the other leg out at a 45 degree angle and hold while switching leg positions and at the same time keeping the shoulders off the ground. Do these 2 sets of 8 and then do this for a very slow set of 8-10.

• Standing up sitting down while doing some stretching.

Well I have been able to walk the dog almost every day for 30-40 minutes which is nice for both me and the dog! It is so cold outside too, about 30 degrees or below but after about the first 5 min. it does not seem so horrible.

I have also been using my leg weights and arm weights every day. Since I am walking the dog at a pretty consistent fast speed I am keeping to the toning exercises while watching TV. I am going to post what kind of toning exercise in my next post.

I feel really good. I have a lot more energy during the day and have actually been “chasing” with my 3 ½ year old and keeping up, yay! She loves it and says; “mommy you are the best chaser ever!” This alone is so worth what I am doing, I am actually playing with my daughter again and I love it!

As far as eating goes I am finally starting to be satisfied with one serving at every meal. For awhile there I was going to bed pretty hungry but now I am feeling satisfied with one descent serving. I am also craving fewer sweets (until today which is PMS day) and I have not wanted ANY soda at all. This has been nice. The more I work out the more I crave water and juice. Soda does not even sound refreshing. I am sure come day 1 of my period I will have a soda but we will see.

Things are really looking good so far. Will do measurements after this weekend again. Let’s hope for some good news.

Since my last post about being sick I have been up and moving the last few days. I have started taking the dog for a 30 min again every night and have done some toning exercises. I have not done anymore cardio then walking the dog as I was waiting to feel 100%. Really it is the weight tension on the muscles that burns the best fat and cardio is good but I strongly feel that if you are going to have to leave something else, keep the weight resistance in the work-out. Here are my measurements today.

Bust: 44 (no loss, thank goodness, this is usually the first to go!)
Waist: 46 (lost 2 inches s far yay!)
Hips: 49
Thigh (one): 27 ¾ (1/4 inch loss)
Upper arm: 13

Slowly but surely is the key. I have noticed that I am eating a lot less and craving less “bad” food. This is my biggest goal. I need a lifetime behavior change and if I can keep this up than I am heading down the right road.

Yay me!!

OK so since Monday I have had this stinkin flu, body aches and all.  I am not eating very much but have been so drained.  Not eating as much is good but it will slow down my metabolism if I don’t eat enough and I feel drained.  Hope to be back on the work out horse by tomorrow!!!!

So we see all these hundreds of work-out videos all over our TV anymore. All claiming to be the BEST work-out out there. There is something I have learned over the past 20+ years.

Anything that makes you expend some energy and use some weight resistance will definitely help you along with your weight loss. If you notice, pretty much all of these videos come with the fine print about eating right along with the work-out, well… isn’t that the whole point of losing weight and keeping it off?

I do not claim that one video style is better than another. The reason why I buy videos here and there is for variety. I get bored and maybe will do the video for a few times but then I need something else. This is why I run in front of the TV a lot because I can watch something different every time I work-out. What I like is that if I get tired of running I can throw in some of the things learned from these work-out videos. I have done this in the past and have lost lots of weight by doing this, so I will continue to use them as I move along on my weight loss program. It does not matter if you spend $1-$100 on these videos, I believe (my opinion from my experience) that any of them can help but you don’t NEED them to be healthy.

So I bit the bullet and measured myself today and I DID los 1 inch in my waist. Went from 48 to 47, whihoo!! The rest of the measurements are the same, but not bad for the first week.

This may not seem like a lot to some people but losing weight is a behavior change not a physical change and slowly but surely will help me keep this off permanently as I venture into my new healthier lifestyle. I am excited to see any result and will keep it up!

The last few days I have been doing a lot of free weight exercises because I have been really tired and running is harder. I found a palates DVD at Wal-mart for $5 the other day and figured what the heck. I did about half of it with the leg weights and am a little sore. Today and yesterday I did some of the exercises on my own with the leg weights and it is getting easier.