What's next? Personal Workout Update

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http://www.thislittlepiggywenttothegym.com/

My husband and I are in this wilderness. We have seemed to always struggle with our weight. He, obviously more than I, but nonetheless, we both have always been on this mission to lose the weight. We often have said over the last few years of marriage, "I gotta lose some/this weight". (And we really did.)

Recently we started working out at home together, with the Insanity dvd workout program. We both have eaten good. In fact, often times I tell Dave, our splurging is better than some people's diets. Needless to say, and honestly, we did not follow the Nutrition Plan to a T. However, our bodies have still transformed, our strength has definitely increased, and our endurance has seriously improved.

Don't get me wrong, we watch what we eat. We eat the right foods, and don't over indulge. And we're pretty satisfied with ourselves.

But something has happened mentally in us. Our minds & attitudes are not obsessed with the numbers on the scale.

Be honest, there are some of us who want to weigh in daily to see if what we ate yesterday has affected us...and then we plan our eating for the day, based on the number, right? Just admit it. But Dave and I are in this place of that thinking shifting. We have reached destination: satisfaction!!!!

Today is our last day of week 7, with one more week of Shaun T.'s butt kicking Insanity left. So we're now looking ahead to "what to do next?" What is our goal?

We talked and have come to the conclusion that we're happy with our weight. We have finally met the goal & most common New Year's Resolution of 'lose weight'. Weird feeling I tell ya!

It seems like a lifetime of struggling, a lifetime of always eating and working out to LOSE WEIGHT NOW! But after this season of life of being determined to lose the weight...we've finally arrived to that point of a healthy weight, healthy cardiovascular health, and contentment with reaching this goal.

Now, I'm a big proponent of goals and have seen in my own life and others' that if we are not progressing toward a goal, we are probably digressing, right? So Dave and I cannot go into cruise control with this contentment. We cannot eat what we shouldn't, miss workouts, and lose the success we have had over our bodies.


I told Dave that we now need to push our muscles and body to change, grow, and transform as much as we can. We've lost most of the cushion that hides the muscles, now let's beef up the muscle to lean out more.

So how? A new workout regimen is around the corner for us. I feel like some P90X w/ a side of Turbo for cardio & some Insanity every now & then to challenge us. The strength training of P90X is what our bodies need to grow in strength & muscle. The cardio & calorie burning of Turbo will lean us out to see even more definition. And physically prepare us for P90X2 releasing in January 2012!Finally, we're no longer at the defeated place of 'if I could just lose 5 more lbs.' We were both there most of our lives. And it has taken us time to get here (Dave - 3 years, me - 19 mos.), but we finally got here. Now we get to 'have fun' & push our bodies to the limits w/ endurance & strength training. I'm so excited!!!!

When we put our bodies in an environment

to change & adapt, it will.

This plan will work when we continue to work out daily & eat healthy foods! Ain't no Thanksgiving turkey & stuffing on the horizon going to derail me! My sights are set on seeing what this body can do! Can't wait!

Challenged Myself!

I swear by to-do lists. There are certain things that must be done by a certain time.

 

For me, my early, early mornings are for devo time...followed by a workout, preferably to start no later than 5:45 a.m. Once my workout is complete by 6:45ish, I start on my blog, get to my emails, and work on my business. I aim to be done by 8:00/8:30 since this is the time that both boys are awake and their tummies are growling.

 

This allows me to make appointments at 9:30 a.m. & on.

 

The problem lies when I don't start my workout on time. Then I run late with the workout, run over into my computer time, which is something that I try to keep within boundaries for the sake of my kids. Kids easily becoming whiny when we're focused on this thing...and then we feel guilty over it all, right? So if I do it all when they are asleep or dad is here for them...life is good!

 

Here's my challenge...when things don't go as planned - total attitude meltdown!

 

I premise that all to share that this morning, I tried to start my workout at 6:45 a.m. today. NO BUENO!

My mind is racing over all the things I have on the agenda for the morning with emails & stuff I need to work on! To stay diligent and on time with my goals, I have these 2 hours only in the morning (when the kids are asleep) to do my work - otherwise, it never gets done & I end up not progressing!

 

When this is all on my mind, I cannot stay focused on the workout. As I'm trying to do power jumps this morning, I'm looking at the clock...you ever watch sand run out on the hour glass-- those last bits of sand put pressure on you...pressure you don't want to feel. This was my thinking: my time for all my a.m. stuff is running out.

 
The only downfall is that my husband is my workout partner. So of course I'm trying to hang in there & want to continue to work out with him for his sake...but this frustration over not getting done what I need to is nagging at me! So I just stop & go 'to work'! Now, I will fight to fit in my workout later. (Which will be some Turbo, since Chalene Johnson is my hero & will snap me back into the mood I want.)

 

WE NEED A RESOLUTION!!! 

• The alarms sounds at 5 a.m. - WE BOTH MUST GET UP!!!  No snoozing or dragging butt!
• We must start our workout by 5:30 a.m. - No running late!
• We must be done by 6:30 a.m. - No compromising!

 

See - 1 1/2 mos. ago, I set a goal. As a result, I came up with an action plan of 'pushing play on my business for 90 days'. In this short, but focused amount of time, I can lay a solid foundation for my business!

My obstacles were my lack of time management. So what did I do? I created a schedule to allow myself time to work my business WITHOUT taking from my family.

However, at the same time, I also set goal to complete the Insanity workout program! So, now I have 2 things I have to work on before 8 a.m.

 

All that to say, this morning did not go as planned, so I am challenged. My attitude is challenged! My mood is challenged! Perhaps writing about it will help me release the frustration. Now I have the challenge to work out sometime today. But I'll do a 30-45 min. Turbo as the kids play or something. It's easier to fit a workout in w/ them up & going, than time on the computer...that's for sure!

Thanks for listening. Do me a favor: Keep me accountable to waking up at 5 a.m. daily! Who commit to doing that for me?

Measurable Results!

I am a person who loves seeing results, whatever it is! I love seeing $$$ in the bank, a clean room, empty laundry baskets, people loving on me (healthy relationships), and 'down 1 lb.' on the scale.

The FIT TEST that you do every couple weeks with the Insanity program, shows you that you're improving & I love it. Today is the beginning of WEEK 5. It is suppose to be the beginning of recovery week, but I wanted to start it off w/ a little 'report card' of our improvement. To stay transparent & accountable, I will list my numbers from the first week of starting Insanity...and will list today's results.

FIT TEST RESULTS & IMPROVEMENT:

Exercise/Move                         End of Week 1-June 25th                   Start of Week 5 - July 18th
Switch Kicks                                      80                                                88     (+8)
Power Jacks                                       50                                                65     (+15)
Power Knees                                     106                                               103   (-3) ????
Power Jumps                                      34                                                40     (+14)
Globe Jumps                                      12                                                 18     (+6)
Suicide Jumps                                    17                                                 21     (+4)
Push-Up Jacks                                   13 (most on knees)                        20     (+7)     (on feet too!)
Low Plank Obliques                            56                                                82     (+26)


Now What?

Now, in just another 2-3 weeks, I will reevaluate myself again. This is a great gauge that serves a purpose. One, I see that I am physically changing/improving w/ strength and endurance. And two, proves that this program works.

Another way that I know that I am doing something right - I am down 5 lbs. It's always a challenge for me to drop weight once I hit 134/135. I think it's a mental thing. Since my original goal was to 'get below 137 lbs.', I seem to get stuck at 134...maybe 133...then I go up a pound or 2. This was my original goal - I  wanted to weigh in at this weight because that's what I weighed before I got pregnant w/ boy #2.

Now, I'm wrapping my mind around getting down to 127 lbs., since that is the lowest weight I've ever been in my adult life. I think I was 21 or 22 years old, (12 yrs. ago) when I weighed that...and I did it the WRONG way of using Hydroxycut!

Now, I'm 34 & I'm doing it all-natural. Through diet & exercise! Healthy foods, no artificial/stimulant help! I do have people asking me 'when are you going to stop losing weight?'...Their question needs to be "when are going to stop taking on ridiculous challenges?"

(Next challenge may be the Volkslauf. I keep toying with the idea. And I've got to make a decision very soon.)

So, I think the answer to that last question is "NEVER". Because as soon as we stop taking on challenges - we stop growing! And who want to stop growing???? NOT ME!

My Personal Workout Update

This Monday marks Day 1 of my 4th week of Insanity. I am finally shaving off one pound at a time and held at 131.0 today.

I have a ton of people asking me, when are you going to stop losing weight? And here's my thoughts on that question. It's easy to reach a goal weight...and be done, and then just 'maintain'. However, the last time I was 'maintaining', by doing my routine workout, my routine 'eating'...3 lbs. creeped up on the scale. My goal at the first of the year was to continue to weigh in from 130-134.

Last month, I hit 136 while 'maintaining'. I guess you can't call it 'maintaining'...but gaining, right? I know some of you think I am being rediculous, but if you seen how hard I was working out, my 4 days a week, you would understand my frustration with a 2 lb. gain.

The truth was that my eating was getting out of control. I was cheat eating. I was eating a few bites of the kids' noodles/spaghetti, I was having 2 Fiber 1 bars/day, I was having the last bites of basically anything that was on the kids' plate - AGAIN. This is a consistent area that I struggle with.

But instead of focusing on 'not eating' their food, I focused on eating 'my food' while they ate. My tummy was full and it was easier to just toss what they didn't eat in the trash. And then, I focused on the exercise component. Although they say it is 20% - exercise and 80% - food in losing weight, I knew in addition to stopping the cheat-eating, I had to step it up with my exercise program as well.

As a result of get stricter with my food (the 80%): measuring out my servings, cutting the kids' food out, cutting the bars out, adding more water, fruit, lean meats - I've dropped weight.

Getting more consistent with my workouts also helped do the trick. I went from working out consistently 4 days, maybe 5, to working out daily - 6 days a week. I'm still only working out around 45 minutes. (It's the most intense 45 minutes of my day, by the way.)

I did what I needed to do. I was honest with myself and admitted where I was slacking off in my eating, I confessed that my workouts were not priority. I basically identified what I needed to change.

Then, I came up with a new goal. My goal wasn't necessarily to "LOSE WEIGHT". I set a measurable goal of "Complete a workout program, start to finish". With the exception of missing 2 days due to a serious sinus infection/bronchitis last week, I have not missed any workouts.

The results: Down 5 lbs. in 3 weeks! I have this week to finish out, then a 'Recovery Week'...and then the Insanity get's even more insane for the last 4 weeks. I'm hecka nervous, the titles of each workout on the calendar have the word MAX in them. Yikes is right!

Going back to the word maintaining...I don't think for me that the goal of 'maintain' is good. "Maintain" means: to keep in a specified state, position (as per dictionary.com). But when it comes to weight loss, I feel like 'maintain' becomes stagnant. You are no longer challenging yourself, so you get lazy. When you miss a workout, it's easier to not be focus on eating good. So my advice: Never just maintain.

If you get to a weight that you are happy with, then set a goal of running in a 5K/10K, complete a workout program, take a karate class. Set a goal of something that has exercise at the center, something that will keep you focused on training your body. So my advice:

Don't maintain, don't gain - just keep training your body!

Don't know how to step it up & train?

Commit to this:

Going for some INSANE results!!!

This week I started a new plan. I was struggling to make up my mind with my workouts...and then someone very close to agreed to do Insanity w/ me.

A lot of people have done this & have gotten amazing results! And it's a 60 day plan (w/1 week of recovery in the middle.) Since I have an accountability partner, the workouts are under 45 minutes, and I only have to concentrate on this for 67 days, I can complete this one.

Today is only day 3 and I am already seeing results. Down 2 lbs. and I am eating more than I ever have w/ any plan.

INSANITY is definitely not for beginners (ask me about some workouts to begin with), but if you are at a place to take it up a notch or 10 - get this one & transform your body! This is the plateau-buster for sure!!!!