My Exercise Journey

Sunday Weight-In

2010-08-15T14:45:00.000-07:00

The last couple of weeks have been crazy. First, I did the rebounder all week long and lost some, almost making it below the zero of the same set of tens I've been working on from the beginning of this journey a few months ago. Then, the next week we went on vacation and I did the rebounder three days and nothing the next four days. I was still disappointed to see a huge gain. The next week I did absolutely nothing and went below my loss from two weeks prior. Now, this past week I began a beginner's running program and have put about a pound back on. Really, though, on Tues I enjoyed two bowls of vanilla ice-cream with chopped, sugared strawberries at a Relief Society meeting. Wed my Visiting Teacher brought me a plate of no-bake cookies. Thursday, while home-teaching, the family gave us an ice-cream sandwich (while earlier I had made an apple pie for my family), then Fri and Sat enjoyed chips and a liter of an orange drink from a pool party we almost had before the weather ruined it. So, it hasn't been the healthiest eating this last week. I hope to do better this week, continue running and get down past that zero and down to the next set of tens in the numbering system!

The weight-loss record since the last time I recorded:

7-25-10 1(?)0.8
8-1-10 1(?)4.2
8-9-10 1(?)0.4
8-15-10 1(?)1.0

Started New Workout and Weight-In Update

2010-07-18T15:58:00.000-07:00

I had a horrible week last week and had the most difficult time sleeping. I had hoped to begin exercising again, but found no motivation for much of anything. I didn't even work in the garden. The week before I somehow still lost weight. It's been crazy for the past few weeks, but I really want to workout. I've determined that right now that P90X is just to much for me. When I was 50 lbs lighter I loved working out and it gave me more energy. Today, it wears me out and is so hard to do. So, I've determined to do something else until I loose about 10 pounds. Then, I will re-evaluation my physical ability to push myself a bit more.

Tonight, I did the Urban Rebounder, Intermediate Workout. It's been a long time since I did all 12 routines, but I did tonight. That's 20 minutes of breaking a sweat and a 5 min warm-up. I'm reminded about how much I really like this routine. He follows all of my rules for exercise videos. It's the perfect routine for me.

Here's my weight loss record since the last time I posted them:

6-27-10 = 1(?)2.2
7-4-10 = 1(?)3.4
7-11-10 = 1(?)1.6
7-18-10 = 1(?)3.0

As you can see, I'm yo-yoing up and down within the same few pounds. But, I really haven't done anything consistent or in an effort to really loose. Hopefully, that changes from this point forward.

No Workout Again

2010-06-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

This morning I was woken at 5:30 am to the sound of tornado sirens and had no power. So, I woke three sleeping teenagers and took them to the basement until the threat appeared to have subsided. I still had no power until about 9:30 am. By that time I had worn myself out feeding and watering the meat chickens.

Sunday Weigh-In

2010-06-20T18:05:00.000-07:00

Thursday, I did the 05 Legs and Back P90X workout. Instead of doing only the first 4 lower body moves, I did the NEXT five moves (minus the back moves).

Friday, I woke early and, with a friend, spent 3 hours weeding the garden. (Getting closer to finishing the dense weeding)

I have lost 3 pounds since last week. I'm not surprised, though. It always seems that the first week I loose an amazing amount of weight and then it begins to lose more slowly.

Today's Weight: 1(?)3.0

I still have a lot distracting me from working out every day. Mainly, the garden!

Weeding, Weeding and More Weeding

2010-06-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

I woke early this morning to weed the garden for over 2 hours with someone who offered to help me. I did not work out. I am, though, very sore all over my body, including my triceps :) Last night I only had one thin slice of cake and a large chocolate strawberry. Had I not been resisting I would have had a slice from each of the three cakes we were taste-testing and a couple more yummy strawberries. But, I was resisting...

03 Shoulders and Arms

2010-06-15T13:44:00.000-07:00

I woke again this morning and worked out a second day in a row! Today I made it through FOUR sets of the P90X's Shoulders and Arm routine (I used 10 lbs weights for each of the first 3 moves, and 5 lbs for all the rest). I have to admit that I didn't do the chair dips - just really didn't feel like doing those this morning. Only had to stop 3 times to vacuum up those gross centipedes. Then, I worked for 2 hours in the garden pulling weeds using a short stool my daughter had been using (I snatched it away - she's young and doesn't need it! :)

I'm a bit sore today from yesterday. At least I can still walk.

I ate pretty well yesterday and the only "junk" I had was a bowl of popcorn that I finished off this morning. Tonight will be tough as I'll have to resist cake. We are having a cake decorating activity at church. Can I make it?

05 Legs and Back

2010-06-14T05:49:00.000-07:00

Today I woke up and worked out with the P90X 05 Legs and Back. I did 4 exercises and they about killed me. To top it off, I spent about 10 extra minutes during the workout fighting centipedes. We have this very nicely finished, walk-out basement that seems to be calling centipedes from across the nation. I spent the first 20 minutes before the workout vacuuming them up and then continued to do so as they appeared throughout the workout. I don't know why we are fighting this battle, but it's very gross and irritating, for sure! It's raining this morning, so I've been blessed with not having to go out and weed the garden after wearing out my lower body. Good thing, too, as I can barely stand right now. This is why I was resisted the last couple of weeks to both workout and weed the garden. Tomorrow should be easier as I will be doing the arms and shoulders workout; but, I expect that my lower body will be very sore :)

Sunday Weight-In

2010-06-13T12:16:00.001-07:00

Maybe sometime soon I will post something other than Sunday Weight-In's! I was nervous this morning knowing that I would be weighting-in. I didn't expect to see anything good. I had spent another week without any workouts (still weeding the garden). Then, I went out of town for a Youth Conference and ate lots of yummy food that are great for the pallet and terrible for the body. When I returned home I enjoyed my bi-annual strawberry shortcake. Today, my DD made us brownies. So, no surprise when I weighted myself and found:

Today's Weight: 1(?)6.8!!!!!!

I have returned to my original weight from when I started this journey eight weeks ago! So, I've decided that I will workout every morning this week BEFORE I weed the garden. I will need to bring a stool out for me to sit on because there is no way I'll be able to stand and weed as I've been doing. I am completely disgusted that I've done this AGAIN! I want to loose the weight and keep it off, not make room for gaining more!

Sunday Weight-In

2010-06-06T14:33:00.000-07:00

Again, why do I even bother. This week was worse than the week before. On Monday I did the 03 Shoulders and Arms workout through three routines. Reducing the weight did help. Then, I went to work in the garden for an hour pulling huge weeds from the onions. I continued to do that every morning all week long. I still need to finish it this week and move on to the green beans. I just couldn't get enough energy to do both, workout and work in the garden. I'm not a physical labored type of person and I needed to choose the more important task of weeding the garden. Unfortunately, I also ate like a pig. I had a couple of ice-cream cones from DQ, helped eat a couple of bags of chips, and had a kit-kat or two. Uughh! So, I've determined that this week I will eat right despite not planning to workout.

Today's weight: 1(?)5.0

So, I'm almost back to where I started. I always seems to be starting over.

P90X

2010-05-30T16:54:00.000-07:00

I decided to spend a little time this afternoon looking through a couple of the routines I'm trying to build the strength to actually finish. I didn't look through the first one because I can actually finish it. Don't be too impressed, though, because I'm doing girl push-ups and using a chair for my pull-ups, lol! It's the best I can do right now. This is what I learned by watching the full videos:

02 Plyometrics:
There are 6 groups. All of them repeat once. There is so much jumping in this routine that I should probably wear better shoes (I workout barefoot :)

So far I've regularly completed 2 complete groups and have been working on my 3rd. I believe this workout will take me a while to master before I even gain enough strength to go deeper and jump higher.

03 Shoulders and Arms:
There are 5 groups that repeat once. This one drives me crazy as there are so many bicep curls. I've regularly completed 2 complete groups and have tried to start and 3rd quite a few times. I'm just so tired of MORE bicep curls that I quit. So, I've determined to reduce my weight on the bicep curls in order to allow me to complete the workout. I've only been using 8 lbs! This has been enough weight to make me struggle toward the end of my sets. But, going again and again and again with these bicep moves is too much. For the sake of actually continuing with the workout, I will reduce my weight.

05 Legs and Back:
This one is a killer. By the time I have mastered this workout I should be looking really good. Then, to actually give it deeper squats, increased weight, etc, I should have buns of steel. This workout is crazy! Anyway, there are a total of 23 exercises. The pattern is to do two types of lower body moves and then give the legs a break by doing a type of pull-up. However, because I'm not following the P90X program as recommended, I choose to pass over the pull-ups because if I follow my own plan I would be doing them the next day in the next workout.

So, there are 8 types of pull-ups. This leaves 15 lower body exercises, of which I have only regularly completed 5! I've made it through two more a couple of times, for a total of 7. I have a long way to go. There isn't much I can do to alleviate the difficulty of this workout. Some of the moves call for weights and most of them call for my own body weight. All I can do is resist going too deep so that I may have the strength to complete the workout.

The Goal
Much of my goal is to finish these workouts for the endurance while building strength and muscle through the exercises. The question is raised whether the goal should be to finish the workout by reducing weights, not going so deep, or jumping so high and so on, or rather to give each move my absolute everything and stop the entire workout when I've reached my max. I'm not sure which solution is ideal. Until I have different information convincing me otherwise, I will make it a goal to finish the workout. Then, as I build strength I will increase my weights, go deeper, and jump higher as my strength allows.

Actually, I do have information that contradicts this plan in one of the articles I reference in this blog, No Pink Dumbells. They argue that in order to build muscle I must be using weights that allow me to barely finish the last two reps, and to do less reps vs more in order to afford me heaver weights to build the muscle necessary to burn the fat. At first I thought that wouldn't be a good idea as I don't want to become bulky; however, they pointed out that saying that I didn't want to lift weights because I don't want to become bulky is like saying I don't want to run around the block because I'm not interested in running a marathon. In order to become bulky I would have to follow this method for a lot longer than necessary to loose the weight. The reason I have decided that my first goal should be endurance is because I don't have any. I can do something for a short period of time, but I need to build up my lungs and.... my endurance. So, that has become a first goal. I feel that I will meet that goal by actually finishing each video. Then, after that goal has been met I will work on increasing the difficulty. What I've caught myself doing as I build strength, especially with the Plyomectrics, is going a little deeper and jumping a little higher. I allow myself a little latitude, but try to hold back a little bit because it will prevent me from being able to continue further into the workout.

Sunday Weight-In

2010-05-30T13:44:00.001-07:00

Why do I even bother!? I feel I'm back to where I started a few weeks ago. Of course, I've not eaten really good all week and I only worked out twice. On Monday, I did P90X's Arms and Shoulder's and Tuesday, I did P90X's Lower Body Workout. Then, by Wednesday my poisen ivy on my arm was so bad I couldn't think of doing much, let alone something that would make me sweaty and likely scrap my breakout. Also, I was struggling with sleeping and wasn't getting up early enough to dedicate time to exercising. All week I found myself not eating all morning and not eating really well at night. Now I have to find the motivation to begin, AGAIN! :(

This week's weight-in: 1(?)3.6

Tomorrow morning I don't plan to workout because we will be working in the garden as a family. That will wear me out. I can't do both. :(

Sunday Weigh-In

2010-05-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

I almost forgot to weight myself this morning and did so after I showered, with wet hair. I wonder how much that made a difference? I really didn't make any progress this week, but then again I worked out only three times, went out to eat at an all you can eat restaurant on Saturday night, and then went to DQ on the way home and had a small vanilla cone dipped in chocolate. I also didn't eat perfectly all week. I didn't eat junk; Saturday's exception. I just didn't eat and then was desperate toward the evening. In reality, I'm glad I didn't go UP!

My new weight is 1(?)3.4. That's two ounces more from last week. It must've been the wet hair, lol!

I've decided to start with the upper body workout this week. Basically, I will be reversing the order of the video's I've been doing because I'm getting strong with the first two, but not the last two.

I will have a challenge tomorrow. I'll share that on Tuesday :)

This Week...

2010-05-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

This week I did....

Monday: P90X 01
Tuesday: P90X 02
Wednesday: P90x Shoulders and Triceps
Thursday: I didn't work out - I had a lot of cleaning to do and was worried about exhausting myself and not being able to finish it. It was a good thing, too, because the cleaning exhausted me.
Friday: I didn't work out using a video, but I did in what I tried to accomplish outside. I moved only 6 bricks. They are over a foot squared and about 2 inches thick. I could barely lift one and three of them over-taxed my wheelbarrow. Then, I dug up some huge plants and transplanted them to where the bricks had been. I had planned to complete a huge area, but only finished about 3 square feet. Uhhhggg! I worked harder than I had I done the Plyometrics and Shoulders and Triceps workout together! Hubby asked me what I wanted from DQ and I told him, "nothing". Although, later that night I wish I had said, "yes!"
Saturday: No workout. Have finished cleaning house and have a young teenage boy here who will hopefully help me finish the bricks! :)

Starting Again!

2010-05-18T07:34:00.000-07:00

Well, It's been about a month since I started working out again. When my tops began to feel tight and my "fat" dresses that I've worn for the past 5 years during my weight gain are no longer fitting, I feel that I've reached the point of deciding in which direction I am heading. It's time to get serious. I'm going to post to the right of this blog my weight loss record, without disclosing the actual pounds (because I'm too embarrassed, yet). I really don't like to weight myself because if I'm not loosing, then I've always become discouraged and stopped and if I'm loosing sufficiently, then I over-reward myself with sabotaging snacks and slothfulness. Still, I've decided to weight myself on Sunday mornings to be able to track my progress and patterns.

I say I've started a month ago, but in reality I started a few months ago. I would lift a few weights here and there throughout the week, but nothing much more than more than doing nothing. (If that even makes sense). When the weather became warmer I would walk about 45 minutes. I had tried walking to my parents for my very first walk of the season and that turned out to be a big mistake. They live just over 3 miles away and it was too much for breaking me in for the season. I spent the next week treating a hurt ankle caused by walking on the side of a country road for over an hour. My dad had to drive me home, lol! He helped me measure the road that circles in my neighborhood and it turned out I would need to walk around it 5 times to equal the distance to their house. So, for the next two weeks I built up my strength to walk 5 times around the neighborhood. Then, the Sunday I determined enough was enough, my "fat" dresses were no longer fitting, I walked to my parents home AND back! I walked every day in the evening and did the P90X in the morning. I stayed away from ALL junk food and ate moderate and correct portions for each of my meals. I lost 4 pounds that week. It was exciting, but I didn't believe it, either. Really! I didn't believe it because I knew in the past I would loose some, gain some, loose some, gain some and so on. I really never lost anything because it would come back on again. Down 3, up 2, down 1, up 3, etc. I waited until the next week and found that I had put 2 more pounds on. No surprise. The next week I lost some more. That was 3 total weeks. Then, I lost control of my sleeping schedule, was stressed out about a deadline, and was given a huge box of cheese popcorn for Mother's Day that I took a week off. I put a little back on. Today, I started again.

That first week of walking AND P90X was the last week of walking. The gnats came out and I would have eaten a bunch in order to walk. My schedule has been like this:

Mondays: P90X, 01 Chest and Back. This is a tough workout for me because I cannot do a full pushup and cannot even do a pull-up. So, I do girl push ups and use a chair to allow me to do a pull-up. My goal was to make it through the entire video, which I've achieved. For most of the push-ups and pull-ups I'm doing 5 each, with the exception of regular ones which I did 8. Because I'm feeling stronger I increased my push-up count to 8 for each and 12 for the regular. I'm only feeling slightly stronger for the pull-ups. It's going to take time, for sure. I just don't have the strength. The only exersize in the video I do not do are the dive-bomber push-ups. Since I cannot even do a full push-up, then those are impossible for me at this time.

Tuesdays: P90X, 02 Plyometrics. My goal was to complete the video. I'm still working on it. I've made it through the third routine. Today, I was about to start the fourth and realized I'm just not ready. It's MORE jumping and I just finished a bunch of jumping and can barely keep myself going. I need a few more weeks of going through the 3 and then I'll add number 4.

Wednesdays: P90X, Shoulders and Biceps. I will have to make note of how far I go in this one. There are so many bicep moves that my elbow areas begin to hurt before I really feel I've maxed out my muscles.

Thursdays: P90X, Legs and Back. I skip the back in this because I return to first workout for Friday's. The legs I work on until the wall squats. Last time I was able to make it a few more moves before I was finished.

Fridays and Saturdays I return to the first two workouts. At least that's the plan. I don't like the other two workouts he has for those days and I need to build my strength for the first two, so I return to them. However, only one of the weeks did I even remotely do this. To be quite honest, it seems every single week I find a day, or two, that somehow I don't workout. So, I make sure I get through these four workouts once.

Well, that's a quick rundown of my month and plan. Wish me luck.... I need it!

February 11, 2010

2010-02-12T03:35:00.000-08:00

Well, Tuesday I did the Rebounder. I do the Intermediate level and there are 12 rounds of nearly the same routine. I did 5.

Wednesday there was a Mother/Daughter activity at church, so that went through my workout time.... so no weights, again.

Tonight, I did the Rebounder. Last time I went through 5 rounds and tonight I did 6. Progress :)

February 9, 2010

2010-02-08T16:40:00.000-08:00

I didn't workout all the rest of last week because I could barely move for 3 days after doing that warm-up. It didn't help that I didn't stretch or barely move during that time. I couldn't sleep that night and came straight home from work the next day and took a sleeping pill to make sure I would sleep that night. I did for 12 hours straight.

Sunday, I finally connected a different DVD to my TV that has a controller. I couldn't do my Rebounder workout because I didn't have a working controller. Who knew that some DVD's won't let you get to the menu without one?! So, yesterday I did that workout for about 10 minutes. Today I was going to do some weight-lifting and my hubby and I moved a couch. That was about all I could do.

So far, I'm not moving very fast. :(

Starting Again

2010-02-02T17:00:00.001-08:00

Over the past year or so I've worked out here and there. Even been consistent for a month or so before I eventually gave up, again. I'm finally getting around to getting serious about this, one more time. I do need to do something, though. Today, while looking at a BMI chart at work - I do work at a hospital, I noticed that I either need to loose weight or grow 7 inches because I'm teetering into the obese column. It's more likely that I'll loose than grow up, uhhmmm, so I'd better get busy.

One of the challenges that I fight is that to have time to work out I need to get up at 5 am. That's tough. When I'm rolling out of bed, still too tired and in a dreamy state, the thought of using my tired and limp muscles to exhaustion is too much to ask. Also, I would get so tired during the workout that I would think about the entire day I still had to make it through. So, instead I would go back to bed. Over the summer I was having trouble sleeping so I would walk for an hour after work and it helped out a lot. What I realized is I can more easily get up and do my school work (I'm in college now) for 1-1/2 hours before work. When I return home I can workout as hard as I can knowing that no matter how tired I get I'm going to bed in a couple hours anyway. It's been a win-win situation.

Tonight, I decided to get started again. After having gained weight, don't know how much since I refuse to weigh myself, I went to my workout area and did P90X's plyometric's warm-up. Yep, that's it. I was tired, breathing hard and already met my max. Really, I should be doing his scaled down version, whatever it's called, but I'm all tapped out of workout video funds. Hubby has banned anymore spending on workout stuff. So, I'll have to make this do. It will take me about a week to get myself introduced to this new lifestyle and then I'll be able to add more to my plate. For now, I'm good at starting new habits of actually getting my butt into gear. :)

Healthy ABC's

2009-09-07T11:24:00.000-07:00

By Carolyn Allen
Read original article here - and also find the following ABC's in poster format.

Healthy ABCs for Strength and Energy

1) Time + 2) A Smart Eating and Exercise Plan = 3) Success!

A = Positive ATTITUDE, Eat APPLES instead of candy, ACT don’t react, Be ACCOUNTABLE
B = BELIEVE in yourself. Our Heavenly Father does! What could be a BETTER standard of your your abilities?
C = CONSISTENCY — not perfection
D = DEVELOP (through prayer) DETERMINATEION, DESIRE and DISCIPLINE
E = EXERCISE for ENERGY; EAT hard-boiled EGGS for quick protein
F = Read “FIT FOR LIFE” By Harvey and Marilyn Diamond recommends FRUIT for Breakfast
G = GREENS — Lots of dark, leafy ones, set small GOALS, and just GO FOR IT!
H = HONESTY is the best policy because your HEALTH and HAPPY future depend on it!
I = Say “I CAN DO IT,” and “I AM WORTH IT!” to yourself;
“The difference between fat and fit is I”
J = JOURNAL, JOURNAL, JOURNAL to find JOY and success
K = KNOWLEDGE is power; KNOW the foods that derail you and KEEP them far away
L = Losing weight wisely is LOVING yourself wisely
M = Avoid MONOTONY with new fruits, veggies, recipes and activities
N = NEVER look back. NO Guilt and just move on! “Today is a NEW Day!” “Now is a NEW time!” O = OBTAINING health is an OPPORTUNITY, not a punishment
P = PRAY for PERSEVERANCE, PATIENCE and your PANTS will soon fit better!
Q = We’re of divine heritage: QUEENS and Kings, so QUALITY is better than QUANTITY
R = RESPONSIBILITY is a RIGHT. REWARD yourself REGULARLY in non-food ways.
S = SHUT Down “SYE (so you eat) SYNDROME to manage boredom, frustration, sadness, etc.
T = TAKE TIME TO TRY new things. THINK and feel with your heart and hand,
not mouth and food
U = UNLOAD frustration on exercise, a journal, a friend or a walk. All work better than food.
V = VARIETY and moderation in all things makes healthy living a joy!
W = WATER (eight glasses a day) and WALKS are WONDERFUL for spirit and body
X = EXAMINE your motives! There are many and they all count!
Y = YOU know what to do, so, as President Kimball says, “Just do it!”
Z = Every ZIPPER is going to slide like silk, so ZIPPITY-DO-DAH!

Weight Gain Myths

2009-05-26T16:01:00.000-07:00

You can't gain Fat by lifting weights

We’ve seen a lot of threads in our forums about weightlifting and weight gain lately and we thought it might be a good idea for a little common sense talk about weight gain myths.

First, it is nearly impossible for even a young adult male to add 5 lbs of muscles doing a weight training program like STS for 3 months. The most muscle a male could hope to add to their body doing a weight training workout for 3 months is only about one pound, less for a female.

Remember, more than half your body’s weight is made up of water. Short term fluctuations in your weight have more to do with increases or decreases in water retention - not muscle and/or fat.

Second, weight gain and weight loss come from three areas of your body:

1. Water - this makes up about 2/3 of your body weight
2. Fat
3. Muscle

Many times you might notice that you gain 3 to 5 pounds in just one day! Relax it’s not fat and it certainly is not muscle. That only leaves one other choice - water! That’s right; the only way anyone can gain 5 lbs of weight in a short period of time is from water retention.

Water retention may come from eating a high sodium meal (Chinese food for example) or your monthly cycle. Water retention also comes from glycogen that is stored in your body. At your peak during the day you have about 1 pound of Glycogen in your body. Glycogen holds onto about 3 times its weight in water. As you deplete your glycogen stores your weight will drop as less water will be stored in your muscles. As you replenish your glycogen in your body by eating your water weight will increase. This is a major reason why you are lighter in the morning than in the evening.

Let me give you an example to expand on this. Let’s say on Tuesday you weigh yourself in the morning and your weight is 145 pounds. On Wednesday you weigh yourself in the evening and this time you freak out because you weigh 150 pounds. How could this happen?

Well, first let’s look at muscle. Even though you did do STS mesocycle three on Tuesday afternoon and lifted some very heavy weights it is impossible to add 5 lbs of muscle to your body in just one day. In fact, it is very hard for a male to add much more than 4 lbs of muscle in a year. So your weight gain wasn’t at all muscle. Well, then it must be fat because the scale says so - right? Well, of course I’m just being funny to make a point. A scale can only tell you how much you weigh, not where the weight came from. To gain 5 pounds of fat in just one day you would have to consume 17500 extra calories more than you normally eat (assuming activity level is the same). This too is impossible as you would have to eat around 32 Big Macs in addition to your normal meals to be able to even come close to adding 5 lbs of fat to your body. Even if a person wanted to they could not eat 32 Big Macs in just one day - It’s just not possible and it is IMPOSSIBLE to gain 5 lb’s of fat in just one day. Stored fat only comes from eating excess food, not exercise. It is impossible to gain fat by lifting weights or breathing air.

So we have eliminated muscle and fat as being the cause of your one day weight gain in the above example. This only leaves “water” as the culprit to your short term weight gain.

Now I will admit that any weightlifting program can cause temporary water weight gain. When you begin any new weightlifting program your body will retain water in the beginning. This is because your body’s muscles will temporarily store more glycogen when you start a new program and this attracts more water to your muscles. This is one reason why your muscles swell. After your body adapts to the new program your body will stop storing excess glycogen and the water retention will decrease.

Finally, scales are not 100% accurate. They have a certain error rate of + or - a certain percentage and may be off as much as several pounds. This may mean that you actually weigh more or less than what the scale tells you. For example, the scale tells you on Monday that you weigh 100 lbs (but your real weight is 102 lbs) and then on Wednesday the scale tells you that you weigh 104 lbs (but your real weight is still 102 lbs). You might think you gained 4 pounds when you actually gained nothing.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

2009-05-07T17:20:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core.

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 10#.
2: Chest Press with/out Hips Raised (54 total..... all 4 sets of the routines): 8#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 8#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. (171 ws & 52 ur): 8# I'm going to do this one last from now on.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

2009-05-05T03:55:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core. (Over did it today. Couldn't finish everything.)

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 10#.
2: Chest Press with/out Hips Raised (54 total..... all 4 sets of the routines): 8#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 8#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. (171 ws & 52 ur): 8#

Well, I don't feel I overworked myself; but, I still couldn't seem to make it through the workout. I didn't want to even get up this morning; but, I did anyway. Then, for the second time in a row I couldn't make it through my entire workout. At least Saturday I had a good excuse.... I overworked myself throughout the workout. Today, though, I just have no energy. I thought through time I should be getting stronger and have better endurance. I don't feel I have any better endurance than when I first started working out.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

2009-05-02T08:24:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core. (Over did it today. Couldn't finish everything.)

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 15# for the first 4 sets. Then, for the rest went back to 10#. I'll be staying there for a while. That 15# killed me for the rest of the workout.
2: Chest Press with/out Hips Raised (54 total..... 4 sets of the routine - with the exception of only doing 8 singles instead of her final 16 singles. Still, progress has been made): 8#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 8#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. (171 ws & 52 ur): 8# Worked really hard at going low and working the muscles.

Stopped there. I could barely make it up the stairs after this workout and I'm still shakin' up an hour later. So, not sure how working it harder helped, but I'm sure it did somehow.

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

2009-04-29T05:07:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core. (Didn't want to get up this morning. Have had a difficult week with sleep - not much of it. I was awake, so even though I was tired I went and worked out. Now I'm glad I did.)

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 10#!!!
2: Chest Press with/out Hips Raised (54 total..... 3 sets of the routine): 8#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 8#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. (171 ws & 52 ur): 8#
5: Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lateral Row (48 D & 56 LR): 10#
6: Squat with Lateral Raise and then Narrow Squat with Anterior Raise. (48 LG ea leg, 54 LR, 8 NS/AR): 5#. Because of the weight increase I only did lateral raises with the very first set each leg. I only did the squats for the rest.
7: Step Ups with Overhead Press. (48 total): also 5# - I did two sets of this routine.

Slim Quick

2009-04-28T16:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, tried the slim quick powder in my drink. YUCK! Unfortunately, their pills have caffeine/ green tea in it. So, the powder was my only option. So, THAT's out!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

2009-04-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core. (I made progress today, increasing my weight to 10 lbs for two routines. But, I'm staring to feel my knees hurt during a couple of moves, which worries me as I haven't even made it past 10 lbs yet nor lost weight and I'm already running into a potentially serious road block.)

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 10#!!!
2: Chest Press with/out Hips Raised (54 total..... 3 sets of the routine): 8#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 8#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. (171 ws & 52 ur): My knees are starting to hurt with this one. 8#
5: Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lateral Row (48 D & 56 LR): 10#
6: Squat with Lateral Raise and then Narrow Squat with Anterior Raise. (48 LG ea leg, 54 LR, 8 NS/AR): 5#. Because of the weight increase I only did lateral raises with the very first set each legs. I only did the squats for the rest.
7: Step Ups with Overhead Press. (48 total): also 5# - I did three sets of this routine.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

2009-04-24T16:35:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core.

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 8#
2: Chest Press with Hips Raised (54 total..... 3 sets of the routine): 8#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 8#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. (171 ws & 52 ur): 8#
5: Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lateral Row (48 D & 56 LR): 8#
6: Squat with Lateral Raise and then Narrow Squat with Anterior Raise. (48 LG ea leg, 54 LR, 8 NS/AR): 5#. Because of the weight increase I only did lateral raises with the very first set each legs. I only did the squats for the rest.
7: Step Ups with Overhead Press. (48 total): also 5# - only did two sets of routine.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

2009-04-22T05:00:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core.

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 8#
2: Chest Press with Hips Raised (54 total..... 3 sets of the routine): 8#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 8#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. (171 ws & 52 ur): 8#
5: Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lateral Row (48 D & 56 LR): 8#
6: Squat with Lateral Raise and then Narrow Squat with Anterior Raise. (48 LG ea leg, 54 LR, 8 NS/AR): 5#. Because of the weight increase I only did lateral raises with the very first set on the first leg. I couldn't get my muscles to do anymore, so I only did the squats.
7: Step Ups with Overhead Press. (48 total): also 5# - only did two sets of routine.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

2009-04-18T09:26:00.000-07:00

Zumba - 20 minute workout. Did two songs = 10 minutes.

Feeling frustrated and discouraged, but will continue moving forward. Some changes have to be made to my cardio days, but i'm sure I'll manage. I'll work harder on the days I do use the weights.

Friday, April 17, 2009

2009-04-17T03:58:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core.

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 5#
2: Chest Press with Hips Raised (54 total..... 3 sets of the routine): 8#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 8#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. (171 ws & 52 ur): 5#
5: Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lateral Row (48 D & 56 LR): 8#
6: Squat with Lateral Raise and then Narrow Squat with Anterior Raise. (48 LG ea leg, 54 LR, 8 NS/AR): 5#. Because of the weight increase I only did lateral raises with the very first set on the first leg. I couldn't get my muscles to do anymore, so I only did the squats.
7: Step Ups with Overhead Press. (48 total): also 3#.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

2009-04-17T03:53:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core.

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 5#
2: Chest Press with Hips Raised (54 total..... actually, only 2 sets of the routine): 8#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 8#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. (171 ws & 52 ur): 5#
5: Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lateral Row (48 D & 56 LR): 8#
6: Squat with Lateral Raise and then Narrow Squat with Anterior Raise. (48 LG ea leg, 54 LR, 8 NS/AR): 3#.
7: Step Ups with Overhead Press. (48 total): also 3#.

Sunday, April 12, 2009 - Weigh-In

2009-04-12T14:41:00.000-07:00

I woke and was weighed by my daughter who informed me I had NOT made any progress during my first week of working out all 6 days and starving through the week. Of course, I ate - I'm not anorexic. I just didn't fill my belly in between meals unless it was with some grapes, an apple, banana or the like. So, I starved in between meals and before I went to bed. So, on to another day and another week.

My daughter is weighing me every Sunday morning without telling me what I actually weigh. I only want to know if I made progress or not. Unfortunately, I wish to hear I made progress over none at all. Uggghhh!

March Bird's Eye View

2009-04-11T09:46:00.001-07:00

Looks like I only exercised 5 times in March, so new use making a Bird's Eye View Calendar.

February Bird's Eye View

2009-04-11T09:38:00.000-07:00

In February I had to be at work three times really early. This interfered with the opportunity to do my scheduled and structured workout. Also, on one Saturday we left very early to go out of town, there again interfering with my schedule. So, I let myself off the hook for those days. Unfortunately, I didn't do much better the rest of the month. I only exercised 10 times out of the total 20 days available to workout. So, that's again only 50%.

Saturday, April 11, 2009

2009-04-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

Zumba - 20 minute workout. Did all four songs = 20 minutes.

I really like this workout and had fun with it today. Of course, it's Saturday and I slept in 'till 9:30 and visited with hubby before I went to workout. It's quite a different story during the week when I have to wake up early at 5 am and immediately go to workout.

I'm sure I'll do this DVD for one more week before I'm sick of it and then move on to his 40 minute workout. I'll probably do 20 minutes of it for a week, then slowly add songs each day 'till I reach the 40 minutes. Then, do that workout for a couple more weeks before seeing what else he has for me. That's the plan, at least.

Friday, April 10, 2009

2009-04-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core. Today I worked to go even deeper and be more specific with each move. It worked, 'cause I couldn't finish the entire workout and now the next day I'm really sore.

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 5#
2: Chest Press with Hips Raised (54 total if I had done 4 sets. I did 3 sets of the routine. Still strengthening from the weight increase): 8#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 8#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. (171 ws & 52 ur): 5#
5: Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lateral Row (48 D & 56 LR): 8#
6: Squat with Lateral Raise and then Narrow Squat with NO Anterior Raise today..... I wore myself out. (48 LG ea leg, 54 LR): 3#.

Skipped the Step Ups with Overhead press altogether.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

2009-04-09T04:39:00.001-07:00

Zumba - 20 minute workout. Did two songs = 10 minutes.

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

2009-04-09T04:37:00.001-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core. Today I increased weights on three routines and went deeper on the three lower body routines.

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 5#
2: Chest Press with Hips Raised (54 total..... actually, almost 3 sets of the routine as the increase of weights wouldn't let me go any furhter, but the 5# were too easy. I'll get them all done as I get stronger): 8#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 8#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. 171 ws & 52 ur): 5#
5: Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lateral Row (48 D & 56 LR): 8#
6: Squat with Lateral Raise and then Narrow Squat with Anterior Raise. (48 LG ea leg, 54 LR, 8 NS/AR): 3#.
7: Step Ups with Overhead Press. (48 total): also 3#.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

2009-04-09T04:36:00.001-07:00

Zumba 20-minute workout. Did one song= 5 minutes.

Monday, April 6, 2009

2009-04-09T04:34:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core.

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 5#
2: Chest Press with Hips Raised (54 total): 5#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 5#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. 171 ws & 52 ur): 5#
5: Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lateral Row (48 D & 56 LR): 5#
6: Squat with Lateral Raise and then Narrow Squat with Anterior Raise. (48 LG ea leg, 54 LR, 8 NS/AR): 3#.
7: Step Ups with Overhead Press. (48 total): also 3#.

Monday, March 30, 2009

2009-04-05T16:41:00.000-07:00

Get Ripped To The Core.

I tried to do with a simple 5# for all of them for the simple getting started and will build up from that point.

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (38 ea leg): 5#
2: Chest Press with Hips Raised (54 total): 5#
3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (32 ea): 5#
4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. 171 ws & 52 ur): 5#
5: Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lateral Row (48 D & 56 LR): 5#
6: Squat with Lateral Raise and then Narrow Squat with Anterior Raise. (48 LG ea leg, 54 LR, 8 NS/AR): Tried 5 lbs, but too much so went to 3#.
7: Step Ups with Overhead Press. (48 total): also 3#.

Get Ripped To The Core

2009-04-05T16:18:00.000-07:00

Starting up again. Last week I did one work out with Get Ripped To The Core. I'm changing back to this one as it is both easier and seems to work more muscles before I completely wear myself out. I've included a count of how many of each I do for each routine, that includes the slow ones and the pulses that she does for many of them. She will often do a slow for four counts up and down, then go to a 3 count up and a 1 count down, then to a 2 count up and 2 count down, then to singles for a set of 8. I really like this workout a lot more, though I plan to build up my strength and endurance to be able to do the Get Ripped 1000 as it has been such a challenge that I want to meet. Here is the workout (of course, I skip the pushups).

1: Reverse Lunge and Side Squat (Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, inner thighs, gluteals, back, core). There are a total of 38 for each move with each leg.

2: Chest Press with Hips Raised (Muscles worked: Pectorales, core, hamstrings, gluteals, deltoids, triceps). I don't raise my hips because it hurts my knees - so I don't know altogether which of those muscles I'm not working. There are a total 54 chest presses in this routine.

3: Bent Leg Dead Lift and Bicep Curl. (Muscles worked: lower back, gluteals, hamstrings, quadriceps, biceps). There are a total 32 Bent Leg Dead Lift and 32 bicep Curls.

4: Wide Squat and Upright Row. (Muscles worked: Inner thighs, hamstrings, quadriceps, deltoids, gluteals, upper back, core). In the Get Ripped 1000 she does bicep curls with the wide squat and I don't find that a natural combination and I don't feel I get a full wide squat workout, either. I really like this one in this video. In this one we do 171 wide squats (this includes the 123 pulses) and 52 upright rows.

5: Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lateral Row (during the Lateral row they go one legged for two routines and then switch legs for the last two routines. I don't do this, yet, because it gives those muscles a break between lower body routines). (Muscles worked: Bicepts, gluteals, hamstrings, back, core). There are a total of 48 deadlifts and 56 lateral rows.

6: Squat with Lateral Raise and then Narrow Squat with Anterior Raise. (Muscles worked: Quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteals, medial deltoids, anterior deltoids, IT band, core). There are 48 leg squats for each leg and 54 lateral raises. Then, there are only 8 narrow squats with anterior raise.

7: Step Ups with Overhead Press. (Muscles worked: Deltoids, trapezius, quadriceps, triceps, hamstrings, gluteals, core). Total of 48 overhead presses.

There is still 1-2 more moves, but I haven't reached them yet. This is all for now.

Monday, March 9, 2009

2009-03-09T05:08:00.000-07:00

Saturday, March 7, 2009

2009-03-07T10:32:00.000-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000.

I did 5 routines! Without cardio. Here they are:
1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step with lateral raises during the middle section of 8 squats and lunges on each side. 5#
2: Stiff leg dead lift 8# with reverse fly 5#
3.Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 8#.
4. Clean and press 8#, Squat and Press 5#, second set of Clean and Press 8#.
5. Wide Squats with bicep curl 5#. I did the whole routing, finally.

Although I finished the full wide squats with bicep curl routine, I cut short the pulse squats and lunges during the last part of the final leg. My legs simply gave out on me. I think I need to go down on weights for the first routine, alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step with the 24 lateral raises. I'm wearing myself out so much during that routine that my legs simply cannot do four more routines that also use lower body muscles. It's the hardest routine for me and I wear out early on. So, I'll lower the weights for that one down to 3# until I've strengthed myself sufficiently to justify bringing on more weights. I'm ready to increase the weights for the stiff leg dead lift with reverse fly, but until I've completed a week of finishing the entire routing of wide squats with bicep curl. I don't want to over exert my energy, which seems to be what is happening through the previously mentioned first routine.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

2009-03-05T05:03:00.000-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000.

I did 4.5 routines. Without cardio. Here they are:
1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step. I added lateral raises during the middle section of 8 squats and lunges on each side. 5#
2: Stiff leg dead lift 8# with reverse fly 5#
3.Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 8#.
4. Clean and press 8#, Squat and Press 5#.

I had a real tough time this morning as I was exhausted. Yesterday, I didn't work out because I was so sore from that one song from Zumba that I was worried I would hurt myself. All of my back muscles were really, really sore.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

2009-03-03T03:37:00.001-08:00

Today I did the 20 Minute Express Workout for Zumba. Actally, I only did the first song. Next time I'll do 3 songs. Today, it was my first time and I just was wore out after only the first. My biggest challenge with exercising is that I get wore out before anything else.

Monday, March 2, 2009

2009-03-02T03:59:00.001-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000.

I did 5 routines! Without cardio. Here they are:
1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step. I added lateral raises during the middle section of 8 squats and lunges on each side. 5#
2: Stiff leg dead lift 8# with reverse fly 5#
3.Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 8#.
4. Clean and press 8#, Squat and Press 5#, second set of Clean and Press 8#.
5. Wide Squats with bicep curl 5#. I did only 2/3's of the routine.

10 Reasons Your Workouts Aren't Working

2009-02-28T10:12:00.000-08:00

Here's another great article that explains some things I remember from that "missing" article I had found a year ago. I think I'm following things correctly, too. Here's the original article

Common exercise errors and ultra-effective solutions for a better workout and a much better body.

Your time is valuable, and for each precious moment you put into your workouts, you want to ensure you get the best possible return on your investment. So, are you getting the results you want? If your body isn't as lean or toned as you'd like, it may be that you're committing some key training mistakes, which can sabotage the efforts of even veteran exercisers.

Of course, you probably know the more obvious mistakes to avoid. For instance, skipping your warm-up may cause you to fatigue early, preventing you from realizing your potential.

Furthermore, leaning on the stair climber or elliptical trainer may allow you to stay on longer, but it drastically reduces the challenge to your lower body as well as the number of calories you burn. But what about the less obvious errors you may be making? Here, we'll discuss some of the more subtle -- yet no less serious -- faux pas of fitness and the strength-training exercises most frequently flubbed, and show you how they can be fixed with nearly effortless corrections.

THE TEN FAUX PAS OF FITNESS
People make small but costly mistakes when exercising every day, and one tiny change can have a huge impact on their results, says Los Angeles–based trainer Ken Alan, a spokesman for the American Council on Exercise. Thanks to Alan and the panel of training experts who weighed in on these faux pas and fixes, you'll error-proof your exercise and see tremendous payoffs, and the time you invest in your workouts will be smart and well-spent. We begin with five errors often made in your approach to exercise, then we'll take a look at five moves frequently flubbed.

THE APPROACH

1. The faux pas Getting married to your strength routine.

The facts If you do the same routine over and over, your muscles will simply adapt; you're likely to hit a plateau because each exercise stimulates only a limited number of muscle fibers. However, if you challenge your muscles from a variety of angles by adding or alternating moves periodically, you'll get significantly more fibers into the act and develop more tone and strength.

The fix For each muscles group, learn an additional 2 or 3 exercises, trying new angles and equipment. (If you can't get instruction from a trainer, there are plenty of books and videos organized by routine for each body part.) For instance, if you usually do the dumbbell chest press on a flat bench, try it at an incline. If you normally use the chest-press machine, try the dumbbell chest press or the bench press with a barbell. Expand your repertoire enough so that you can change your entire routine every 6–8 weeks.

2. The faux pas Performing your reps too quickly

The facts If you zoom through your repetitions when strength training, you'll be using momentum instead of muscle power. You won't get the same stimulus for muscle building, and you won't burn as many calories. You'll also be more susceptible to training injuries such as torn muscles or connective tissue.

The fix Take 6 seconds to perform each repetition: 2 seconds to lift the weight and 4 seconds to lower it. (Since you have gravity to help you lower the weight, you need to slow down even more on this phase in order to give your muscles a sufficient challenge.) Our experts agree that slowing down is the single most significant change you can make to get better results from strength training.

3. The faux pas Exercising too hard, too often

The facts If you don't rest enough between hard cardio or strength workouts, you'll stop making progress and may even lose some of the fitness you've gained. You're also likely to burn out on exercise.

The fix To keep your muscles fresh and your motivation high, alternate shorter, tougher cardio workouts (for instance, 20 minutes) with longer, easier days (40–60 minutes). Don't go all-out more than twice a week. Keep in mind that the more intensely you train, the more time your body needs to recover. It's a good idea to do a couple of tough workouts and take 1 day completely off each week. On the strength-training front, take at least 1 day off between sessions that work the same muscle group.

4. The faux pas Coasting on your cardio

The facts Sticking with the same aerobic workout can sabotage your results as much as pushing too hard. To truly boost your fitness (which enables you to burn more calories with less effort), you need to venture outside your comfort zone a couple of times a week, to the point where you're somewhat winded and can feel your heart pounding.

The fix Instead of zoning out or doing moderate-intensity cardio all the time, mix in some high-intensity intervals twice a week. For instance, after warming up for 10 minutes on the treadmill, increase the speed or incline for 30 seconds to 1 minute, then recover with 1–3 minutes of easy-to-moderate exercise. Keep alternating for 10–20 minutes, then cool down. You also may want to do longer high-intensity intervals -- say, 5 minutes -- where you don't push quite as hard as you do on the shorter ones.

5. The faux pas Lifting the wrong amount of weight

The facts If you lift weights that are too light, you won't see improvements in strength, tone or bone density. If you lift weights that are too heavy, you'll compromise proper form, increasing your injury risk. You'll also be forced to recruit additional muscles, for instance, using your entire body to complete a biceps curl, thus cheating the targeted muscles of a good workout.

The fix For the most significant strength building, perform 4–6 repetitions per set; for more moderate strength building, perform 8–12 repetitions per set, choosing weights heavy enough that you struggle through your final few reps, but not so heavy that your form falls apart. If you get to your final rep and feel that you could perform another one, increase the weight by 5–10 percent. You may find that when you've considerably increased the amount of weight you're using, you'll drop to fewer reps, which is fine, as long as your targeted muscles are fatigued by the final rep. Don't worry: Lifting to fatigue will not leave you with monstrous muscles.

THE EXERCISES

6. Squat

The faux pas Letting your knees shoot ahead of your toes, lifting your heels, dropping your knees inward

The facts These mistakes place excess pressure on the tendons and ligaments of the knee.

The fix Holding a dumbbell in each hand, stand with your feet hip-width apart, legs straight but not locked, chest lifted, abs contracted. Keep body weight toward heels and bend knees to sit back and down, lowering thighs to as parallel a position to ground as possible, torso erect and knees aligned with ankles (shown). Straighten legs to stand back up. Strengthens buttocks, quadriceps and hamstrings

7. Bent-over lat row

The faux pas Rounding your spine and not flexing from your hips, pulling the weights up too far behind you

The facts These mistakes place stress on your spine and reduce the demand on your back muscles, making the move less effective.

The fix Stand with feet hip-width apart and hold a dumbbell in each hand, arms by sides. Bend knees and flex forward from hips at about 90 degrees. Let arms hang in line with shoulders, palms facing in. Contract abs to support back. Draw shoulder blades down and together; maintaining body position, bend elbows up and in toward waist until upper arms are in line with torso and forearms are perpendicular to ground, knuckles pointing down (shown). Slowly straighten arms to starting position without changing torso position. Strengthens middle back, rear shoulders and biceps

8. Triceps kickback

The faux pas Swinging your upper arm, dropping your opposite shoulder, trying to lift your arm and the weight too high behind you

The facts When you make any of these mistakes, your triceps aren't sufficiently challenged, and you also may place stress on your shoulder and elbow joints.

The fix Hold a dumbbell in your right hand and stand to the right of the long side of a bench, feet hip-width apart or in a staggered stance. (You also can kneel on the bench with your left knee.) Flex forward at hips at about 90 degrees, and place left hand on bench for support. Keeping torso stationary, bend right elbow so upper arm is parallel to ground and forearm is perpendicular to ground, palm facing in. Position elbow close to waist and contract abs. Keeping upper arm still, use triceps to straighten arm behind you until end of dumbbell points down (shown). Slowly bend elbow to return to perpendicular position. Strengthens triceps

9. Crunch

The faux pas Jerking your neck, not lifting shoulders, failing to engage abs

The facts These mistakes will result in a sore neck, and your abs won't get any firmer.

The fix Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on mat, hip-width apart. Place hands behind head, thumbs behind ears, fingers unclasped. Hold elbows out to the sides. Contracting abs, draw hips and lower ribs together, keeping buttocks relaxed. Without pulling on neck or drawing elbows in, curl up and forward, keeping head and neck relaxed as shoulder blades lift off mat (shown). Hold, then slowly lower back down. Strengthens abdominals

10. Dumbbell bench fly

The faux pas Lowering your arms too far

The facts This mistake places major stress on your shoulders and rotator cuff, the delicate muscles that sit underneath the shoulders. Plus, it becomes difficult to press arms up and use the chest muscles effectively.

The fix Lie faceup on bench, knees bent and feet on edge. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, arms extended above midchest, in a slight arc, palms in. Contract abs and keep chin level. Maintaining elbow arc, lower elbows down and out to the side until they are even with or slightly below shoulders (shown). Press dumbbells up and in to starting position, without letting dumbbells touch or allowing shoulder blades to rise off the bench. Strengthens chest and front shoulders

Mistake-proof your mind
Your attitude may be the one final adjustment you need to maximize your results. Avoid these three mental missteps:

Focusing on the numbers
Instead of worrying over how many calories you burn or steps you climb, focus on the energy and the strength you feel and how wonderfully you're treating your body. While monitoring your intensity and applying the numbers to ensure you're mixing things up enough is critical for optimum progress, you should simply be aware, not fixating.

Obsessing over one body part
Focusing too much on your "problem area" can backfire, causing you to neglect other muscle groups that are as important for your appearance as they are for your fitness. For instance, if your midsection is your main concern, doing hundreds of crunches isn't the answer; sure, do ab exercises for tone, but don't forget that developing your chest, back and shoulders can take the focus off your middle. Always strive for a balanced workout.

Saturday, February 28, 2009

2009-02-28T09:32:00.000-08:00

Well, I ONLY started and ended the week out right. Life sometimes just gets way in the way. Our family stayed up late one night talking.... way, way past my bedtime. Went to bed one night with a huge, huge headache and decided to sleep in a little longer to make sure it didn't come back. Another morning I had to be at work early, early.... which I knew was going to interfere, and finally I was lazy one other morning. So, I worked hard today. Let's hope I get everything into gear for next week!

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000.

I did 5 routines! Without cardio. Here they are:
1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step. I added anterior raise during the side squats and lateral raises during the lunge back off step. I did this 8 times only, each side. 5#
2: Stiff leg dead lift 8# with reverse fly 5#
3.Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 8#.
4. Clean and press 8#, Squat and Press 5#, second set of Clean and Press 8#.
5. Wide Squats with bicep curl 5#. I did only 2/3's of the routine.

Monday, February 23, 2009

2009-02-23T03:46:00.000-08:00

Starting the week out right. I already know I will miss one day this week.... other than that I plan to have three days of the weight routines and two days of cardio with Zumba. I've been reassured that 4 pounds in one month is a really good achievement. I hope to loose more in this next month.... although I have no dr appts coming up to spill the beans for me this time. :)

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000.

I did 5 routines! Without cardio. Here they are:
1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step. 5#.
2: Stiff leg dead lift 8# with reverse fly 5#3.
Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 8#.
4. Clean and press 8#, Squat and Press 5#, second set of Clean and Press 8#.
5. Wide Squats with bicep curl 5#. I did only 2/3's of the routine.

Tues, Feb 17 - Sat, Feb 21, 2009

2009-02-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

I'm so frustrated! I've been sick to my stomach all week. I didn't work out at all except for Monday.

On the bright side, I went to the doctor yesterday and I've lost 4 pounds. I had asked the nurse NOT to tell me what I weighed because I wasn't going to look. So, she didn't. But, when we were in the room she told me I had lost 4 pounds. Well, since I know where I had started that means now I know what I weigh. Then, when the doctor came in we were discussing my weight loss and he asked about my BMI and I told him how I felt about that. He laughed and looked it up anyway on his handy, dandy digital toy. When he found what he was looking for he decided not to go with the info because it said my ideal weight is 115. He felt that was toooo skinny and is happy with my goals. Yeah!

Now, this week I must start a new, except I already know I will miss one day because of one last day of needing to be there 1 1/2 hours earlier than usual. Other than that, I will plan to work out 5 FULL days in a row!

In spite of my not working out throughout this whole week I was good with my eating. I didn't eat any junk. I also took one week off from taking my appetite suppressant.... which I had decided and started last Saturday.... before I wasn't feeling well. So, all is good there!

Monday, February 16, 2009

2009-02-16T04:04:00.000-08:00

Despite my complete exhaustion, I got up anyway.

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000.

I did 5 routines! Without cardio. Here they are:
1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step. 5#.
2: Stiff leg dead lift 8# with reverse fly 5#
3. Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 5#. I left my notes upstairs and couldn't remember which weight to use.
4. Clean and press 8#, Squat and Press 5#, second set of Clean and Press 8#.
5. Wide Squats with bicep curl 5#. I did only 2/3's of the routine.

No Pink Dumbells

2009-02-14T10:14:00.000-08:00

Last year I had come across an article in a magazine about the mistakes people make when they exercise. I had been spending a lot of time doing aerobic activity but I didn't do anything with weights. I didn't' do the routines that I did when I was younger, lunges and squats, etc. I was trying to do it this time solely through aerobic activity and I wasn't getting anywhere. I would watch friends loose weight through treadmills and walking, while I wasn't making any progress using the same methods. This article reminded me I was going about it all wrong. It was a very nice article that was diplomatic in it's delivery and to the point. I know I tore it out, but I can't find it. Recently, I came across this online article by Tony Gentilcore called 4 Things Your Girlfriend Should Know. Tony is not as diplomatic or to the point and his language can be quite offensive. He is making the same point of the article I had previously read. Here are some key points that stand out to me.

When it comes to general fitness and body compositional goals, most females want and/or need the following:
1. Decreased body fat
2. Increased strength
3. Improved daily/athletic function
4. Increased bone density
5. Increased flexibility

Tony explains the best way to decrease body fat is not through yoga or aerobics. He argues that these methods do not provide resistance sufficient enough to increase or preserve lean body mass (LBM), which is directly correlated with metabolism and thus the rate at which you burn calories. He agrees that beginners might see transient increases in LBM in the beginning, but that's mainly because most women who go from doing nothing to participating in yoga classes are so de-conditioned that their body weight elicits enough of a stimulus to cause a slight change.

Rather than yoga or aerobics, Tony recommends resistance training. Numerous studies have shown that resistance training elevates EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption) for upwards of 24 to 48 hours after you're done training.

As Vladimir Zatsiorsky states in his book, Science and Practice of Strength Training, muscular strength is defined as "the ability to overcome or counteract external resistance by muscular effort; also, the ability to generate maximum external force." (1) In order to generate maximum force (get stronger), a trainee needs to incorporate one of three methods:

1. Maximum Effort Method: Lifting a maximum load (exercising against maximum resistance).

2. Repeated Effort Method: Lifting non-maximal load to failure (albeit still taking into consideration the rule of progressive overload. Relying on one's body weight will only take you so far).

3. Dynamic Effort Method: Lifting a non-maximal load with the highest attainable speed.

Regardless of one's training history or lifestyle, it's clear that the activities chosen to increase bone density need to be progressive and weight bearing in nature.

There are two types of muscle tone: myogenic and neurogenic. The former refers to your muscle tone at rest; the latter refers to muscle tone that's expressed when muscular contractions occur.

Low(er) rep training increases the sensitivity of various motor units resulting in increased neurogenic tone. On the other hand, myogenic tone is correlated with the overall density of your muscles (specifically the contractile proteins myosin and actin) and is vastly improved by lifting heavier weights.

If you train light, you'll keep enough muscle to be able to continue to train light. But given this doesn't take a lot, from a relative and individual standpoint (i.e. it takes more muscle to lift a weight that limits you to 8 reps than it does to lift a weight that limits you to 20) you'll keep what you need to accomplish these generally 'easier' tasks. The key to a lean, hard body is a nice balance between nutrition, cardio, and low rep, heavy weight training. What builds muscle is what keeps muscle."

Tony warns that you will not get "big and bulky" just because you're doing squats and deadlifts. That statement is akin to me saying, "Eh, I don't want to do any sprints today because I don't want to win the 100m gold medal next week." Getting big and bulky isn't easy, just like winning the 100m gold medal isn't easy.

Steady state cardio/aerobics isn't the most efficient way to burn body fat.

1)Steady state cardio doesn't elevate EPOC all that much, which again is one of the main factors in fat loss. Sure, one hour of steady state cardio will probably burn more calories than one hour of resistance training, but it's the calories you burn in the other 23 hours outside of the gym that really matter.

Essentially, once you're done doing steady state cardio, you're done burning calories. However, with resistance training and/or with high intensity interval training (HIIT), your body's metabolism will be elevated for upwards of 24 to 48 hours. Thus, you'll burn a ton more calories.

2)Speaking of metabolism, yours is in direct correlation with how much LBM (lean body mass) you have. The more LBM you have, the higher your metabolism. Given that long duration, steady state cardio actually eats away muscle; you're shooting yourself in the foot in that regard.

3)The "fat burning zone" doesn't exist. It's true that your body will burn a greater percentage of fat at lower intensities; however, the total calories being burned is so small that it doesn't even really matter. Again, it all comes down to EPOC.

4)As Alwyn Cosgrove has pointed out on numerous occasions, your body adapts very well to cardiovascular exercise (in this case, steady state cardio). This is a bad thing. As you get more efficient at running a certain distance, the work required to complete that distance will become less and less as you get fitter.

To improve, you have to go further in order to burn the same amount of calories. What once took you 30 minutes to burn "X" amount of calories, now takes you 45 minutes. Doesn't sound too efficient in my book.

5)A great analogy I like to use is comparing a marathon runner to a sprinter. Marathon runners do a ton of long distance, steady state work, and yet still average anywhere from 11 to 14% body fat (still somewhat lean, but not very muscular at all. Many of them still have the "skinny-fat" look).

On the other hand, sprinters do anywhere from 10 to 120 seconds of "work" and yet average 6 to 8% body fat. Just goes to show that short, intense bursts of energy (anaerobic work) is generally far superior to longer, less intense bursts of energy (aerobic) when taking body composition into consideration.

6)The majority of your fat loss should come via diet, not copious amounts of steady state cardio/aerobics. From a time efficiency standpoint, which makes more sense? Not eating that bowl of cereal at night (300-500 calories) or spending 60 minutes on a treadmill to burn that same 300-500 calories every single day?

7)Steady state cardio/aerobics does little to change how your body looks. Sure, you may lose 20 pounds, but you'll still be the same "shape." You won't look leaner, only smaller (not to mention weaker).

8)Lets be honest, do you really enjoy spending 45-60 minutes on one piece of equipment?

Ladies are four times more likely to have an ACL tear compared to men. Get off the leg extension and leg curl machines and train your posterior chain more! Perform various deadlifts, box squats, Anderson squats, pull-throughs, glute-ham raises, one-legged back extensions, and lots of single leg work.

Tony Gentilcore is a certified strength and conditioning specialist (CSCS) and personal trainer (CPT) through the NSCA.

Saturday, February 14, 2009

2009-02-14T07:45:00.000-08:00

Jari Love Get Ripped 1000.

I did 5 routines! Without cardio. Here they are:
1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step. 5#. Last time I added the weights, this time I added a little bit more weight.
2: Stiff leg dead lift 8# with reverse fly 5#
3. Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 8#. Here again I added more weights.
4. Clean and press 8#, Squat and Press 5#, second set of Clean and Press 8#.
5. Wide Squats with bicep curl 5#. I added more weights and still did only 2/3's of the routine.

I worked harder today for two reasons. Since it is Saturday I have a little bit more energy since I had a little bit more sleep and rest. In fact, I rested after three routines for a couple minutes each, then relaxed in the hot tub after I was finished, then went and took a nap after all that. It's so much easier to wear myself out when I know I don't have to keep momentum going to get ready and then go to work and try to stay energized all day for that, too.

The second reason is that I was reminded yesterday how much I still need to loose. My wonderful, loving and thoughtful husband took me shopping for a new outfit for work... he bought me two! as my valentines gift. I thought that was a PERFECT gift. Well, the process of it was still excruciating since it's hard for me to find bottoms to fit me right. So, while trying on clothes I was reminded just how little progress I've made, although I've made progress, I still have quite a journey ahead of me. So, I feel extra motivated. I could see that I wasn't AS BAD as before, so I've accomplished something, I'm just not off the hook, yet!

Thursday, February 12, 2009

2009-02-12T17:30:00.001-08:00

I finished the intro to Zumba. I began where I left off on Tuesday with the 3rd girl. There were about 6-8 more moves to learn. Saturday I will be ready for the actual workout.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

2009-02-11T03:47:00.000-08:00

Jari Love Get Ripped 1000. I did 5 routines! Without cardio. Here they are:
1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step. 3# (I added the weights and just didn't go as low, which before was as low as I could go)
2: Stiff leg dead lift 8# with reverse fly 5#
3. Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 5#
4. Clean and Press 8#, Squat and Press 5#, Clean and Press 8#
5. Wide Squats with bicep curl 3# (I didn't finish the entire routine, I did about 2/3 of it)

PROGRESS!

Tuesday, February 10, 2008

2009-02-11T03:44:00.000-08:00

I did the intro to Zumba. I reviewed the moves I already learned, about 8, then finished another 8. There are three girls. The first girl taught the first 10, then the second girl taught the next 6. When the 3rd girl started teaching I went ahead and stopped. Not knowing if she was going to teach 6 or 10 or what I didn't have time to finish. So, Thursday I will finish and by Saturday I will be ready for the actual workout. I am looking forward to it as it seems to be fun.

Monday, February 9, 2009

2009-02-09T03:41:00.000-08:00

Starting the week out right.
Jari Love Get Ripped 1000. I did 3 routines, without cardio. Here they are:
1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step. 0#
2: Stiff leg dead lift 8# with reverse fly 5#
3. Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 5#

Friday, February 6, 2009

2009-02-06T03:53:00.000-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000.

Instead of even doing any of the cardio in between the weight routines I used the menu to skip them. I did this for two reasons. One, I plan to do cardio on the alternate days, so I might as well save my energy on these days for the weight exercises. Second, I have a hard enough time making it through these exercises without the added cardio. I would love to add weights to #1 as I feel I could as far as my muscles are concerned. But, my cardio strength cannot even make it through without having to take almost a 5 min break afterwards. I'm wondering if it will ever catch up. I'm seeing progress, but it is such a slow progress that it can be frustrating.

I did 3 routines. Here they are:
1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step. 0#
2: Stiff leg dead lift 10# with reverse fly 5#
3. Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 5#

Since I worked harder without the added strain of cardio I found myself that much more tired after #3. Of course, I only worked out one other time this week and that may have added to my lower level of endurance. I did go deeper during my exercises, so I do know that had a contribution.

Monday, February 2, 2009

2009-02-02T03:48:00.000-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did almost 4 sets.

Here they are:
1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step. 0#
2: Stiff leg dead lift 10# with reverse fly 5#
3. Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 5#
4. Clean and press 10#

January Calendar - Birds Eye View

2009-01-31T10:09:00.001-08:00

I've kept track of the days that I exercised with purple. The grey indicates a Sunday, which is the one day of the week I will not have any planned or structured workouts. This calendar gives me a good idea of how consistent I have been throughout the month, as I still see a lot of white. Most weeks I exercised three times a week, with the exception of one week. The three days a week would've been the Jari Love's Get Ripped.

I still have a lot of improvement. I need to exercise the alternate days, too. This coming up week will be a challenge as I need to be at work over an hour earlier than usual for two days in a row.

I used 15 out of 27 possible exercise days to meet my goal. That's only about 55%, just over half of the month.

If Weight Loss is Your Game, Here are a Few Tips

2009-01-31T06:58:00.000-08:00

By Dian Thomas

(see original article here)

For you that have been regular readers of my column, you will know that I am on a journey to lose at least 100 lbs and, yes, I would be very happy with more.

My journey began four and one-half years ago. I had been just right when I was young, but when I stopped Physical Education and lived a more passive life, weight began to creep up on me. Then it got a real shot in the arm when I became a regular talent on the “NBC Today Show.” I was invited to parties and trips that had the best food in the world. I did not want to miss a bite, and most of the time I did not. My coach Jackie Keller said that I ate with reckless abandon. Yes, she is right.

One day I woke up and said, enough. I can not pack this around any longer. The biggest thing is that I have had to invest time and energy to make a life style change. No, it did not happen over night. Yes, many times I wanted to give up. The most important thing that happened when I wanted to stop was how fast I was able to get back on the track.

In the day that I was eating lots, it was one two-week binge after another, with many days of saying, this was the end and I was going to make that change. If that is you, doesn't despair just mark the journey? I will tell you, it has not been easy and still had it challenges. But what I find is if I keep working at it, I have success and do enjoy the benefits, yes, of getting off the floor by myself and walking a block without stopping several times to huff and puff.

Today in my column I would like to share some of the things that I am doing right now to keep on the journey. Yes, I know that it will be a journey for the rest of my life, but what I have found is that I pick up little tips that help me, and when I put them all together, the result is there. I can mow my front and back lawn in the same day, as well as going on a bike ride and working out at the gym. Here are some things that I am working on learning right now.

There are still activities that are very challenging to me. One is traveling. I went on a weekend trip the other day. When I got home, I was up a little in weight, but not bad for where I was at. When I called Jackie Keller, my coach, I told her I thought that I had done pretty well. I was only up a little. What she told me has had a profound effect on me. I have thought of it so much. She said, “If your goal is to lose weight, and you stayed the same or just went up a little, you did not do very well. Boy, did that stop me in my tracks. This week I have doubled my effort and know that I really must get serious about losing weight and change my belief system.

While on a trip this summer, I heard a saying about exercise. It went like this. There are only two times that you have to exercise to lose weight. You have to exercise when you want to and when you do not want to. This message brought home how important exercise is. As one of my friends who gets up and jogs at 4 AM in California said, “I do not like to do it, but I like what it does for me.”

One of the best things that has helped me, along with selecting the right foods, is portion control. I remember when I used to sit down to eat one tablespoon of reduced calorie peanut butter. Fifteen tablespoon later I would decide I should quit. I have two helpers in portion control. The first is a scale that I picked up so that I can weigh my portions. Often that is the easiest and fastest way to do it. The other are boxes of Ziploc sandwich bags that I buy on sale at Costco. They end up costing about 1 cent a peace. Here are some of the portions that I use.

Snack. 2 T. raisins and 10 almonds. I put this in the zip lock sandwich bags so I am ready when I need a snack. This is great on trips.

The basic meats that I eat are dark meat turkey hamburger, white chicken, pork loin, fish, and smoked salmon. The smoked salmon is portioned in 2oz. portions. The other are measured on the scale in 4 oz portions. I even form the hamburger and put it into the bags. In my freezer I have a box for each. I just take out the portioned meat and put it in the refrigerator two days before I plan to use it.

Most of the time I use the portions that are listed on the container.

I eat three meals a day and three snacks a day. That way I keep my metabolism with fuel all the time. My blood sugar is steady and stays up. I rarely ever get hungry.

When I am invited out and I know that I will be challenged with what will be offered, I take some of my own food in a cooler bag. Last week I was invited to attend a luau. I knew that I would have challenges. I had a cooler bag with good food. I went though the line and only took what was appropriate, and then I opened up my bag and served myself my food that I had in healthy portions. I must say that all my friends know that I am working on this project and are very supportive when I am invited to their homes to eat.

If I am going to a family birthday party, I know that ice cream and cake will be served. On the time when I do not take my own dessert, I have a very hard time and sometimes weaken. Often I will take a 100 calorie yogurt. When I am eating my food that I like and enjoy, I do not care about what others are eating. The problem I have is when I have to sit and watch them eat. That rarely works for me.

At the store, I do not like to buy processed food. What I find is that there is usually too much sodium and often too many calories for me. I know that I checked on a chicken noodle soup can, and if I ate the whole thing, one can would be my entire daily allotment.

Find an activity that you can have for a hobby. The more that you move, the better it is. As one friend said, “motion is lotion.” Young ones will not know about this, but if you are over 50, you will know what I am talking about.

Always be on the look out for good food that you like. Today I stopped at a fruit stand to check on what they had. They had three bottles of healthy salsas. I bought all three to try and see if I could find something that I liked. I have been bottling tomatoes for the winter. The garden chili sauce was not great, nor was the corn salsa, but the black bean salsa was great. Tomorrow I will make it and freeze it for the winter.

Stopping for Ice cream was a pastime of mine. I would drive by my favorite store and it seemed to say, “Dian I have a wonderful shake waiting for you.” Now, that is totally off limit, but what I have done is found a replacement, and now I often enjoy it as one of my snacks. I freeze a cut-up banana and put it in one of my sandwich bags in the right portion. I put 1 ½ cups of milk in the blender and the cut up banana with a little vanilla and blend. What a wonderful treat that is at the end of the day.

Well, there you have a few of my tips that have helped keep me on track. I believe you have to find foods that you like as much as the food that you used to eat. When you do that and keep the portion right, you WIN.

If you have a tip that you would like to share with me please email it to dtc@dianthomas.com. I will look for some great tips from you.

During the past 25 years, Dian Thomas has delivered more than 5000 media appearances. She is the author of 18 books, including the New York Times Best Seller Roughing it Easy, which has sold more than a million copies. She was a network reporter — for eight years — on NBC’s Today Show. Tom Brokaw, NBC’s news anchor, said, “Dian made her network television debut on NBC’s Today Show and quickly became one of our most popular featured performers. Dian has some of the most spectacular ideas you can possibly imagine.”

She appeared on the NBC’s Tonight Show as well as several times on ABC’s Good Morning America and then went on the make weekly appearances for six years on ABC’s Home Show.

January 31, 2009

2009-01-31T06:34:00.000-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 4 sets. Here they are:

1: Alternating side squats off the step and lunge back off step. 0#
2: Stiff leg dead lift 10# with reverse fly 5#
3. Pulse squats and pulse lunges off step 5#
4. Clean and press 10#, squat and press 5#, clean and press 8#

Thursday, January 30, 2009

2009-01-30T03:51:00.000-08:00

Today I did the introduction to Zumba. The only thing I could say thus far is that I wish they gave me some indication of how many total moves there were and where we were in the count. I didn't finish the intro because I ran out of time, but if I had known that I only had 2 more then I could've stuck it out. If there were more than that, then I didn't have anymore time. I'll finish next week, maybe this Saturday, and I may learn that I only had one more, who knows.

So far I really like it. The moves really work the mid-section. Let's see how it feels after my body has become accustomed to it.

The benefit of Jari Love's workouts is that there are always ways to increase the intensity, whether it be by going deeper or by adding heavier weights. With cardio, there seems to be a ceiling of intensity.

So far so good, but I haven't done a real workout, yet. (Despite that, the next morning I'm feeling very sore in my back muscles)

Thursday, January 29, 2009

2009-01-29T03:52:00.000-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did almost 4 sets. Forget worrying about the breaks I take. It's better that I do the workout, than worry about how long or if I have to break in between. During the second set I used 8# weights, then for the second part of the exercise I used 5# weights. I used 5# weights during the third sets 64 pulse squats and lunges (off the step). Today I added part of the 5th set (I'll skip the 4th 'cause it's pushups.) I used 8# weights for that and then took it to 5# weights during the second part of that set.... then, quit before doing the third part of that set. I feel good that I made it that far. I will continue doing up to that point until I can feel my body ready for adding a bit more, just like I added this extra part, and if you noticed, I increased the weights, too. Phew! This has been hard!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

2009-01-28T03:47:00.001-08:00

I woke on time to workout.... did the warm up and fast forwarded to where I ended yesterday and didn't do any of the exercises. They all combined with wide squats and narrow squats.... lower body work, and I didn't want to compete from yesterdays workout by overworking those muscles and not giving them their 24 hour break. So, I will do everything tomorrow. I've said that before, I'll just have to really give it my all to continue on anyway.

Portion Control, Key To Loosing Pounds

2009-01-27T17:35:00.000-08:00

Local Family Wins Contest.... Collectively, the five-member team lost just over 130 pounds.

Recently, I was told that I should NOT portion control, but eat 6 meals a day and stay away from carbs. They tried to argue that is the only way to loose weight. I'm of the mind that it is portion control. Today I came across this article that showed it my way. I don't believe that there is any magic formula, in any extreme, or any sole method by which one can loose weight. I believe in moderation in all things.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

2009-01-27T03:44:00.000-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 3+ sets. I took a very short break after the first set! During the second set I used 3# weights, then for the second part of the exercise I used 8# weights and took it back to 5# weights when I could no longer do the 8#'s. I used 3# weights during the third sets 64 pulse squats and lunges (off the step). Today I added part of the 5th set (I'll skip the 4th 'cause it's pushups.) I was so tired, but I fought through it. The pharmacist let me know that the appetite suppressant makes it difficult to sleep. So, I took an over-the-counter sleeping aid before bed. Still went to bed late, but I did sleep. I feel I didn't help myself any by not exercising for about a week. I know that I had planned to do Zumba on the alternate days, but since I didn't finish today's workout more to my satisfaction, I will continue from where I left off today. I'll probably need to do that for a couple of weeks, then start using Zumba on the alternate days.

Monday, January 26, 2009

2009-01-26T04:05:00.000-08:00

I couldn't get up to workout. I'm so disappointed. I was really looking forward to kicking but this morning and I couldn't hardly sleep at all last night. I went to bed when I was tired and layed there for 1 1/2 hours. So, I got up and got some things done on the computer. Went back to bed about another 1 1/2 hours later because I was exhausted. Still layed there and didn't sleep. It is stress, I think. I have something on my mind. So, I didn't get up early enough to workout. I will start tomorrow - no more days off.... as long as I can sleep. I just can't get up and work myself to the bone and drag all day, which I will anyway, but that would've made it worse. I do have to make a living.

Beginning a New Week

2009-01-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

This week I'm starting a new. I tried to get to bed on time tonight, but I couldn't go to sleep. So, I'll add a post here. I thought I had worked out more last week than I had, which is one time. Somehow the rest of the week slipped away without my realizing it. It's much easier to work out every day than every other day. I forgot which day was which and before I knew it the week was gone.

Tomorrow morning I plan to wake and do ALL of Jari Love's DVD (without the push ups, of course - we know how I feel about those!) Then, the alternate days I will go ahead and do zumba. I finally got that in the mail. I had planned to cancel it, but didn't get around to it. So, I'll go ahead and give it a try this week. Let's see how it goes.

What's Wrong With 120?

2009-01-23T20:28:00.001-08:00

Today, while the doctor and I were discussing my weight goal I had mentioned 120. She said that my BMI would be more like 131. Right now I would be happy to be either, but let's take a moment to discuss this.

Last week I had someone else, online who doesn't even know me, ask why 120? Why not, I would like to know?

Here's the thing. At 18 I weighed 104. Then, I weighed 132 at 9 months pregnant with my second child. I lost all that weight and was at 109 three weeks after having that baby number 2. I slowly gained weight to 115 and stayed there. That is what I weighed on my wedding day. That was my simple weight without much effort while I lived out an ordinary life.

Then, after the wedding I went to school, ate junk out of the vending machines when I was hungry, and gained 15 pounds. I was mortified to be weighing then what I had weighed while I was in a full-term pregnancy. Looking back, I now know what they had meant when they said I was all baby! Anyway, I lost most of the extra weight, all except 5 pounds. I was at 120. I was good with that. I worked out, stayed strong and in shape. Not the best shape of my life, but good enough. I stayed a simple 120 without much effort while I lived out an ordinary life.

Then, I gained during the stressful changes in our lives of owning businesses and dealing with the joys of self-employment. Now I'm trying to loose my weight and I'm aiming for my 120 again. I'm not aiming for my pre-baby 104, nor my after baby-wedding weight of 115. I'm aiming for a reasonable 120. It seemed reasonable enough while I was looking at it from behind looking up at that 120; now, for some reason when people look down at if from way up here where I am today, people want to gripe about my 120 goal as if it's some anorexic evil.

My 120 weight wasn't stick thin.... it was a perfect and reasonable weight for me. Why must I now settle for 131 because in the interim I've gained weight and now want to return. Must I forever give up the 11 pounds between 120 and 131 because I failed to keep myself there? Had I not gained the weight I wouldn't have been advised to gain 11 more pounds... but, right now I'm supposed to stop at 131. Did I pass some point of no return when I gained the weight? The message seems to say, "So sorry... you may have been fine at one time to be 120, but now that you've left it behind you're no longer allowed to return. That bridge has been burned."

I hear people use babies or age as an excuse for gaining weight. I just don't see that as an excuse. Maybe a temporary one, but not a permanent one. Now, if we are happy being where we are, then there's not a problem with it, as long as it's healthy. I think people get so used to the bigger them that when they finally do loose, they suddenly feel it's just too skinny - it's just not them. Well, it hasn't been them because they've been big for so long.... but, I bet there was a time that size was just fine being them.... speaking of adult years, not the teenage years. It was fine then, so why not now? Because they're just not used to it, is all.

There's no reason my 120 goal should be a gripe. I could see with all the muscle that I will be building during these torturous routines I'm fighting through I may weigh more than my 120, while still having the same build and figure I did at that 120 - just a bit stronger. That would be fine. I just want the comfy me back.... and, most recently, that was 120.

Doctor's Visit

2009-01-23T20:14:00.000-08:00

It's been a tough week, but when are they not when it comes to keeping goals and changing habits. Anyway, I went to the doctor today and discussed with her my arm. It has been hurting for the past two months, ever since I was given a vaccine, and it has only gotten worse. I can't even lift my covers at night while I roll from one side to the other, without wincing - or even crying outward in pain; not to mention that I cannot even sleep on that particular side because of that pain. So, I talked to the doctor today and she made sure everything was okay. Sure enough, it is. I was afraid to do any arm or upper body work simply because I didn't want to hurt what was already hurting. She said that I can do whatever I can and I will not hurt myself. Therefore, this week I plan to do the lower body one day and the other half of the same DVD, which is mostly upper body the next day. That way I am working out everyday and working my whole body. Eventually, I will build my strength and endurance to the point of being able to complete the entire DVD in one workout. Then, the alternate days I will stretch and soak in the hot tub. My body feels like it could use good amount of both of those right now. :)

Another thing that happened at the doctor's office really irritated me. Last week I had visited another kind of doctor and was weighed, as always they do. I saw the scale and was, of course, disappointed at being at the exact same weight, even though I KNOW I see progress through physical changes. This was disappointing. So, today I looked away from the scale; didn't even feel a glimpse of curiosity to see it's reading. The nurse, however, read it out loud!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it! And, it was one pound more from last week! How encouraging is THAT!? Yes, I know. I have had a terrible week with regards to my workout routine, but give me a break.... I can't believe she said it out loud. I've never had a nurse do that before!

So, I see this doctor again in a few weeks, as well as my other one. Hopefully, I will see better results because I'm having another change this week, too. Today's doctor prescribed me an appetite suppressant. Wish me luck.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

2009-01-20T03:46:00.000-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 3 sets. I did NOT take my break after the first set, YEAH! I used 3# weights during the third sets 64 pulse squats and lunges (off the step). I'm wondering if I may be able to step up the weights on that set soon. I have decided to wait until I can add weights to the first set before I do that.

Saturday, January 17, 2008

2009-01-18T17:43:00.000-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 3 sets. I did take my break after the first set, despite my effort against it. I used 3# weights during the third sets 64 pulse squats and lunges (off the step). The next day I am really sore, so I must've really worked even harder than usual.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

2009-01-14T03:39:00.000-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 3 sets. I'm proud of my progress. I'm seeing results in my hips despite having visited the Dr. Monday and seeing my weight being the same. The nurse assured me not to take their scale seriously as there are many variables in reaching it's reading.... and we were in the middle of the day. Anyway, today I didn't take a break between the first and second set, except to take my pulse, and I used 3# weights during the third sets 64 pulse squats and lunges (off the step). I noticed Monday that I could finally add weights for that set and so I did today. PROGRESS! YEAH!

I would also like to note that she does a terrific job a cuing. Without her cuing I would be tripping over myself and not giving the routines proper focus.

My pulse was 270.

Monday, January 12, 2009

2009-01-12T03:56:00.000-08:00

Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 3 sets. Over the weekend I have been convinced that I need to step up my workout to include the types of routines I'm doing in this DVD. They insist that I use bigger weights and frown on the use of "pink" dumbbells. Well, mine are purple 5 pounders, so I'm safe.... :) Anyway, I will do that, but right now I can barely make it through this routine without any weights during the two lower body routines. So, I will step up the weights, hopefully hubby gets them for my birthday tomorrow, for the arm routines. For the next week, maybe even two, I will continue without weights for the lower body because it's killing me right now as it is. I need to build up to that ability and right my ability stops right where I am right now. I want to make progress, but I don't want to hurt myself, either.

I climbed 337 Stairs.

Feeling Discouraged

2009-01-08T03:54:00.000-08:00

This is the week I'm feeling discouraged. I look at myself and I don't like what I see and wonder if it will ever go away. I had a horrible eating pattern yesterday. I feel I've made no progress. I think of my consistency over the past few months and it doesn't spell out success, yet it is still discouraging to have been trying for all that time and making absolutely zero progress. Although, I slept in during my workout time today and will not be working out, I WILL continue to exercise. I must continue working on developing good, healthful habits. I'm sure eventually it will work itself out. Let's hope.

Week of January 5, 2009

2009-01-05T04:02:00.000-08:00

Monday: I'm starting the week out right. Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 3.5 sets. Over the weekend I counted the number of sets and there are 8.5... at least 8.5 that I will do because I won't get onto the floor for ab routines. The 3.5 that I did today takes me 20 minutes.... and that's not counting the 3-4 minutes it takes for me to catch my breath after the first set. That first set I reach a good 9.5 in the Borg scale, (see right column). I climbed 317 stairs today.
Tuesday: Billy's Bootcamp Ab BootCamp. I only did the first two exercises. I went to bed too late last night and that didn't make it favorable this morning. It only made me not like the DVD even more. I'm already getting sick of it, but I will continue anyway. I climbed 175 stairs.
Wednesday: Three for Three. Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 3 sets. I really need to get to bed on time, I didn't last night. This pattern of going to bed too late, even by 1/2 hour, really makes it hard on me in the morning. I did workout, none the less, and I feel I'm improving.... even if it is by just a itty, bitty bit. I climbed 181 stairs.
Thursday: No morning workout. I climbed 58 Stairs.
Friday: Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 3 sets. I took my heart rate and now realize I messed up. I had counted for 15 seconds and got to 40. I couldn't remember, off hand, how long to count. Anyway, I was an RPE of 9.5! I really worked hard. I climbed 144 stairs.
Saturday: I took a sleeping pill, one that really knocks me out, last night. I didn't bother working out this morning. I'm still feeling very discouraged today. But, I've made some plans to improve that I think will help me with the parts I feel are preventing me from meeting my goals.

Tomorrow is my dd birthday. It is the day we set aside for junk. Although, I already broke my rule this week for many reasons, I'm still going to treat myself and start anew again on Monday. With my few ideas up my sleeve I hope to turn things around.

Home Delivered Food

2009-01-03T09:36:00.000-08:00

I was reading in a magazine this week about the girl who plays in "Without a Trace." She lost the sixty pounds that she gained having her baby. She said that the way she did this was through P90X and restricting her diet to so many calories with the help of a service that delivers the food to her home. Well, wouldn't that be nice?! I looked up the place and they only deliver to two places in California. This isn't the first time I've come across information in a magazine describing a program with very limited service areas. It's frustrating. What about the rest of us over here?!

One time I signed up for Nutrisystem. I was so disappointed. Despite the expensive and disgusting food in itty, bitty containers that were often fake, I still had to purchase food on top of that to complete the meals. (I only consider real chocolate to be chocolate, chicken better not be fatty as if I just went to a fast food resteraunt, and I don't like powdered milk - YUK - in my soups.) The idea was for them to do the thinking and the preparing and the agonizing for me while providing delicious foods. I lost one pound, did not renew and instead, gave away what was left of the final week's worth of food. You know, that FREE week I was given I gave away.

I guess it doesn't matter, it would be expensive and eventually I would have to actually cook for myself and what proper, healthy and good habits will I have created? None. So, it may be tempting to look for easy and already prepared, but I might as well allow myself the courtesy and experience of taking proper care of myself. Guidance would be nice, but not total abandonment from my part.

P90X is on my wish list. Before I can get it I must build my strength and fully utilize the DVD's that I have right now. I've recently ordered Zumba, too. Between all of these new ones that I haven't yet mastered, I have plenty to keep myself busy while building my strength, endurance, and discipline.

Week of December 29, 2008

2009-01-01T06:25:00.000-08:00

I am not titling my posts by week number anymore.... then, when I have a bad week I feel like I failed and I would rather keep those feelings for when I actually do fail. So, I will title them by the actual dated week.

For Christmas I received a new DVD, Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I'm loving this DVD. I watched it this last Saturday to see what I was in for and she alternates cardio with weight training. I didn't count how many sets (which I consider one cardio and one weight routine a set). I will alternate Get Ripped 1000 with the Billy's Banks Ab BootCamp. I will admit that yesterday I fell to temptation and purchased Zumba. I thought that it would be a good cardio to alternate with Jari's workouts. I also remember when I danced the Lambada dance in Brazil that my midsection was always sore the next day. So, I know those kind of moves really work. I was convinced by their moves allegedly working all of the body. We'll see. It will 4-6 weeks before it gets here so I have time to build strength with these new workouts and I should be ready for a change by the time it gets here.

Monday: Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 2.5 sets. Wow, this is hard and I was taking it easy. I also climbed 203 stairs at work. (I've just added #14 to my instructions on How To Make an Exercise Video that was inspired by this workout. When we are starting the cardio I can't see what her feet are doing because the camera-person is zoomed in on her and they stay there during the first few steps of the cardio. So, I can't see what she is doing until they are fully in the screen. I will have to memorize her order of cardio in order to start with her.)
Tuesday: I climbed 216 Stairs at work.
Wednesday: The holiday really messed with my sleeping schedule and I couldn't get up on time with any amount of energy worthy to exercise.
THE NEW YEAR - Thursday: Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 3 sets. This time I used less weights and worked harder than I did the first time. I had to sit and catch my breath after the first set before moving onto the next or I would've quit right there. One set I didn't use weights at all so that I could focus on proper form, work hard and make it through the routine. Next time I'll add another set. The workout is really targeted and my strength will need to be build up through time. I look forward to being able to kick butt through this DVD and feel up to par with my old self. I climbed only 16 stairs today.
Friday: Billy's Bootcamp Ab BootCamp. I made it through an extra routine today. I'm adding each time to each of my DVD's as I get stronger. There is only one more routine to add before they get onto the floor, so as far as I'm concerned I only have one more routine before I'm finished. I don't do floor work, for many reasons, namely physical limitations. Sometime, when I'm feeling that I have reached my max potential for the DVD, I will add to this workout a few sets from my Body By Jake's ab machine.
Saturday: Jari Love's Get Ripped 1000. I did 3.5 sets. I only used weights for the arm routines. I worked really hard. Next week I will focus on building my strength for these 3.5 sets. During my other Get Ripped DVD one of the very last routines I found the hardest and challenged my cardio, was the side squats off the step with lateral raise. I was always grateful it was toward the back end of my workout. This Get Ripped 1000 starts out with that routine with a different twist. We side squat off the step and then do a lunge off the the step and then alternate those. It kills me. This is why I need to rest after the first set. I then get back to it and am grateful that after the quick cardio we go to an arm routine. But, then after another quick cardio we are back to another version of squats and lunges off the step. She's killing me! That's good, though, because my pear shaped figure needs those routines. So, the difficulty of these routines is why I've chosen not to use weights during the lower body segments. In the end, I made it through another half of a set, but I stopped when I saw that the second part of that set are the push ups. I don't do push ups. I will be skipping those when I am ready to move on. I'm very happy with my results this week. I am eager to continue building my strength.

Fat-Melting Cocktail

2008-12-31T18:45:00.000-08:00

I read this article in a recent magazine and was extremely tempted to give it a try. It sounds so fantastic to loose so easily and quickly. Then, I remembered that I had actually lost almost 27 pounds the summer before last following the Kimkin's method, a very low-cal and low-carb program. I quickly gained it back, which was to be expected under the circumstances, but my desperation compelled me to ignore the programs unhealthy disadvantages. Even if this articles recommendations would work I would rather loose my weight because I made better choices and built my strength and endurance through exercise. Then I will know that the methods I used are both successful enough for me to loose and maintain my weight loss. I'm sure that during my difficult days, while I'm doubting myself or feeling frustrated that I'm not seeing results that I will reconsider this decision or kick myself for not giving it a try, but I know that I am making the right decision.

It's a New Year

2008-12-31T15:34:00.000-08:00

It's the beginning of a new year and like many folks I have made a resolution to get into shape, change my bad eating habits, and loose some weight. First, I will concentrate on changing my habits and replacing them with healthy ones. I plan to exercise more faithfully and consistently, significantly reduce junk from my diet, and eat more appropriatly sized meal portions. We have discussed and agreed as a family to eliminate junk from our household and look forward to pre-designated junk days to satisfy any cravings and help us stay focused in between. The first junk day of the year will be our dd's birthday in January. We will no longer purchase the junk from the store as it is easier to say no once while shopping than regularly while at home. The only problem is that we know how to bake. I won't remind them of this option.

I'm reminded that last year I had started out with great success following an exercise regimen and followed it consistently six days a week, with very few missed days, for almost four months. I weighed myself weekly and was extremely disappointed that the weight was not dropping. Even though I had told myself that I would not use the scale as a measurement for my success it was difficult not to become discouraged when it did not slide downward. After four months of watching it go up and down between the same set of number, I determined that hadn't lost anything and quite.

Almost three years ago I had been exercising faithfully with eagerness and determination. Again, I weighed myself weekly, instead of daily. This avoids the confusion and discouragement from the daily ups and downs expected from the scale. However, the weekly weigh-in didn't help matters. I had lost a little bit, a few pounds, and then became stuck at the same pounds and ounces as the previous week. I found that odd since I found the scale reading would go up and down and up and down on a daily basis and would never stay the same. How did the scale read the exact pounds AND ounces from the week before?! So, I had hubby stand on the scale and it was accurate for him. I got back onto the scale and it gave me a different reading, only about 5 ounces less, but different still. I was heading in the right direction. The next week, however, read the exact same weight as the second reading from the week before. I ignored it. The next week showed the exact same weight again. Frustration was building and I had my hubby stand on it once more, but this time it didn't budge for me. So, I put the scale aside and quit everything all together.

The sad truth is that had I remained faithful and focused on the process instead of the outcome I probably would have made it to my goal by now. Instead, I have gained an additional twenty pounds and I would love to get back to where I was before when I was so frustrated with the scale. This is why I don't weight myself anymore.

A few months ago when I had started this blog I went to the doctor and they weighed me. Then, a month later, after all those weeks of actually being faithful, I visited a different doctor and the scale gave me the same weight. I had to quickly ignore it. This time I MUST focus on the process of creating healthful habits, getting stronger and improving myself for the sake of doing the right thing rather than weighing my success on the downward treand of the scale reading.

One thing I did learn is the reason I was most likely not loosing. Before I had gained weight I loved to exercise. (To put this into proper perspective, realize that I had slowly gained weight starting about six years ago and have reached my worst only in the past three years. It's not like we are talking twenty years ago or something.) Back then, I worked hard at it and would see results quickly. I didn't have much to do to reach my goal because I was so small and already tone and strong. Today, those same results will be seen, but I still have pounds and pounds to loose before I reach my goal. Back then I was strong and energetic. Today, it's hard to exercise to that capacity because I'm out of shape and my efforts are not so quickly rewarded. It has become more work than enjoyment. An obligation rather than an outlet. It makes me feel like I'm climbing an uphill battle without any reward rather than enjoying the process and feeling stronger.

Last year my husband asked me if I had been working out when he heard me breathing heavily and I had only climbed our one flight of stairs from the basement. (Hence the title of this blog). I decided to do the Urban Rebounding intermediate DVD. The beginner one was too easy and a waste of my time. The intermediate was almost too much for me, so I started out with five minutes and did that for about two weeks. Then, I would add another routine from the DVD each week. Little by little I strengthened my cardio strength until I finally reached and finished on a regular basis the twelve routines. But, I hadn't lost any weight. I did TTapp for weeks with no weight loss whatsoever.

I tried a lot of different workouts. Then, I came across an article that explained the mistakes that many people make in their workouts and I realized that it was speaking to me. I need to do weight bearing exercises and work them until my muscles are shaking. I had to reach some point of exhaustion in my muscles and I hadn't been doing that. In fact, I shied away from that point. Now that I've been doing that I see changes in my body, but I haven't been consistent. That is my goal for 2009. To be consistent and really, REALLY work my muscles, build up my strength and endurance, and reach my previous level of enjoyment for workouts. I plan to do this while ignoring the scale and replacing my bad habits with healthful choices. I want to be my old self again.

Week 2

2008-12-25T18:25:00.000-08:00

I didn't wake and do early morning workouts. I did try to make it up in stairs.

Monday: Stairs 261.
Tuesday: Stairs 525
Wednesday: Stairs 292.
Thursday: Christmas.

Week 1

2008-12-15T03:34:00.000-08:00

I've decided to start over. Since my first 8 week goal kept getting interrupted, I felt the best thing I could do was to just start fresh with both a new time-frame and even new workouts. It seems that I always get side-tracked at about 4 weeks. This time I was sick, then my family was sick, then I was sick. My family went to the ER twice. I had some other challenges. That's the excuse this time. Every time there seems to be something. Sometime I will expound on that. For now, let it suffice that perhaps I will just make this a 4 week goal instead of an 8 week goal. Then, I will increase it to a 6 week goal the next time. At work I climbed 223 stairs.

Monday: Legs of Steel with Tamilee Webb. I didn't finish it as it is a very intense 31 minute workout. I did 3 groups of exercises. What I like about this routine is that it IS very intense, we never get on the floor, and we work on one leg at a time. So rather than doing lunges the old fashioned way, we stand on one leg and squat. It really gets the entire leg and tomorrow I expect to be very sore. This video is on a VHS tape. Maybe one day I'll look to see if it's on DVD. I just get tired of buying VHS tapes and then later getting them in DVD. I can't count how many times that has happened to me in the past. I refuse to purchase any more VHS tapes because of it, and YES I've still come across companies only selling their product on VHS! There just not exercise videos.

Tuesday: Billy's Bootcamp Ab BootCamp. This I didn't finish either. I blame this pattern on new videos and having broken my pattern for the past couple of weeks. It is a 35 minute workout and I did about 15 minutes. It seems like a really good workout. So far everything is standing up, however I know I heard him say we will later get on the floor. I won't be, though. He breaks my rules of making an Exercise Video, as he walks around giving instruction. I only need that instruction once. Next time, I'm going to count. I think he does more reps on one side than he does on the other because of his walking around. From that point I started counting the rest and sure enough, he's not worried about proper counting and consistency from side to side. In fact, at one point he actually stops one move to go to the other in the middle of counting the first move. So, he doesn't even complete the counts beforehand. This inconsistency irritates me. With that aside, the moves are unique and very targeted. So, if during the next four weeks I benefit from it and set aside my irritation, perhaps I'll make progress. At work I climbed 74 stairs.

Wednesday: Legs of Steel with Tamilee Webb. I didn't finish it, I did 3 groups of exercises and almost went onto the fourth and quit. I wasn't sore Tuesday from Monday's workout so I allowed myself to worked harder today by going deeper. I was so afraid of being as sore as I was the last time I did the routine many months ago that I must've taken it too easy this time. On the other hand, yesterday's workout has me very sore. I can feel what muscles I worked. I will definitely keep doing that workout until the four weeks are up and keep it on my list of likable workouts.... even though he breaks my rules and he drives me crazy. Tamilee doesn't follow the rules either. Once she gets off beat. She takes too long giving instructions, it's not like her moves are complicated. If we didn't understand at first we would catch on really quickly. She doesn't keep the same count from leg to leg. I'll deal with it for four weeks, though. Then, I won't come back to her video for a while. I also climbed 16 stairs at work.

Thursday: I didn't wake in time for a workout in the morning, so at work I climbed 101 stairs to help make up for it. When I climb stairs I don't jog up on my tip toes or take the next step before straightening my leg from the previous step. I put my entire foot onto the step and using my rear end muscles to lift me up entirely and then repeat on the next leg during the next step up. This makes the effort all that more beneficial for my purposes.

Saturday: Billy's Bootcamp Ab BootCamp. I did 15 minutes and started to go further and stopped. I am liking the workout. I was extremely sore from it the first time. He just drives me nuts, though with his inconsistent counting. The girl he uses as an example even messes up in front of him and he doesn't notice the entire time! On this one move, we are supposed to move only our hips, then only our shoulders, then move both together. While he's over with her giving all these instructions on how to do the move properly, she's moving everything when we are only supposed to be moving our shoulders. Of course, she is the only person we see, 'cause of all the directions he is busy giving. Then, as he walks back to his own spot he reminds us that we should only be moving our shoulders and then takes us directly into moving both. So, it's one of those cases where you need to know the video in order to do it right despite the mistake. I'll be complaining about this video every time I do it, but since it's a good workout I'll keep doing it anyway.

Study: Sugar May Be as Addictive as Some Drugs

2008-12-12T16:43:00.000-08:00

December 12, 2008 - A U.S. researcher says sugar can be an addictive substance, wielding its power over the brains of lab animals in a manner similar to many drugs.

Bart Hoebel and colleagues at the Princeton Neuroscience Institute have demonstrated in rats a behavioral pattern of increased intake and then showed signs of withdrawal.

"If binging on sugar is really a form of addiction, there should be long-lasting effects in the brains of sugar addicts," Hoebel says in a statement. "Craving and relapse are critical components of addiction, and we have been able to demonstrate these behaviors in sugar-binging rats in a number of ways."

In Hoebel's experiments, the laboratory animals denied sugar for a prolonged period after learning to binge worked harder to get it when it was reintroduced to them. They consumed more sugar than they ever had before, suggesting craving and relapse behavior. Their motivation for sugar had grown.

"In this case, abstinence makes the heart grow fonder," Hoebel says.

The rats drank more alcohol than normal after their sugar supply was cut off, showing that the binging behavior had forged changes in brain function, Hoebel says.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology in Scottsdale, Ariz.

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.

Week Whatever....

2008-12-09T16:36:00.001-08:00

Today I walked up 8 flights of stairs in order to get to level 3. By the time I reached the 8th floor I was too worn out to go back down so I took the elevator to the 3rd floor. I walked up stairs all day long.

NOT TODAY! 3 Days

2008-12-04T04:39:00.001-08:00

This week I've started my NOT TODAY! program. Usually, during the day I'm eating junk. There is so much around that it is hard not to have any. But, I've determined, with the help of wise and smarter people than I who have reminded me of this important life fact, that this life is a life to learn to overcome and that includes our cravings, impulses, and bad habits. My eating junk throughout the day, whether it is available or not, fits into that category. If I ever forget why I'm doing this I should remember that it is because it is important to have control over myself and not be subjected to the control of my cravings.

NOT TODAY! MONDAY I had some cream of wheat for breakfast. I should remember that does not curve my hunger for very long. So, I went to the cafeteria and bought a slice of some sort of banana bread. That kept me until lunch. For lunch I went to the cafeteria and had a fried chicken breast, green beans and baked beans. I didn't eat all of the green beans or the chicken breast. For lunch I had a small bottle of Sprite. I then was good all the rest of the day.... then, my husband was in the ER so my daughter went and bought some dinner. I had a box of popcorn, which I bought before I realized we were staying for dinner. I had a sub sandwich and didn't eat the whole thing.

NOT TODAY! TUESDAY I had two egos for breakfast and made it until lunch for Jimmy Johns. I had one of their chocolate chip cookies which took all afternoon to eat. With lunch I had a small bottle of Sprite. I'm not considering that a slip from my NOT TODAY! because it was part of the meal ;) Then, for dinner I had some ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, and a roll (I feel there was something in that meal, but I can't remember it). I had no desert and ate nothing else the rest of the night.

Wednesday I had a fried egg, with no yolk, over two pieces of buttered toast. I was hungry before lunch, but hung in there. Then, while I was doing my running around during my lunch hour I stopped by Taco Bell and had two soft tacos with onion and tomato and their fiesta potatoes without any sour cream. I only drank water all day. At work today candy bars were passed around the entire facility that were purchased as a gratitude gift to each other in behalf of a fund raiser for United Way. I received a handful of candy bars. So, I slipped and ate a full-sized Butterfinger as an afternoon snack. Then, for dinner, we had a salad, pork chop and applesauce. We were snowed in and so we watched a movie. I had three scoops of ice-cream with Hershey's Syrup. Today was NOT a NOT TODAY!

Thursday. For breakfast I had two Eggo's with butter and Mrs. Buttersworth syrup. Lunch I had pot roast with two red potatoes with butter and about 4-5 mini carrots. I just had to have my 100 Grand candy bar, one of my United Way thank you's. So, this is probably NOT a NOT TODAY!

NOT TODAY! FRIDAY For breakfast I ate tater tots and 3 slices bacon. Lunch: Part of a ham sandwich on toasted bread. French fries with ketchup and mac and cheese with a sprite. For dinner I had some home style egg noodles with a little bit of ground beef. I actually didn't eat much and I didn't have any junk throughout the day. I'll call this day a NOT TODAY!

Saturday. I had a cinnamon bun with icing for breakfast. Then, I had some potato chips and French Onion dip. Then, later three scoops of ice-cream with Hershey's Chocolate. Then, later 3 slices of pizza. Finally, another bowl finishing off the potato chips and French Onion dip. Today was definitely NOT a NOT TODAY!

Week 5 Continued...

2008-12-04T04:35:00.000-08:00

I didn't do very well last week and this week isn't looking much better. Monday eve my husband went to the emergency room having been sick since last Wednesday. We were up late and I didn't feel like working out the next morning. Then, every morning all week long I needed to take care of some important tasks in his behalf. Between that and having a busy week with meetings in the evening and not sleeping very well, I just couldn't get myself moving for early morning workouts. A bright note, despite my lack of exercise I have been keeping away from junk more. I've had two days this week, thus far, that have been essentially junk free. Of course, It always seems to work out that when I'm staying away from junk I'm not as diligent with my exercise. I need to master doing both at the SAME time!

Monday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 7 exercises, through the step ups with overhead press. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights on all exercises except Chest press (no hip raise), bent leg dead lift and bicep curl, and stiff leg dead lift with lateral rows where I used 5# weights. I took it easy and didn't work too hard.

I may not have made it through any morning exercises for the rest of the week, but I did do my best to take the stairs at work. In fact, on Friday I climbed 8 flights of stairs. To really maximize it's benefits I put my whole foot on the step and used my heal to push me up. I didn't simply jog them up, I used them as a substitute for my lunges. By the time I reach the eighth floor both my leg and rear-end muscles were tired and my cardio had been pushed. I was so glad there wasn't a ninth floor.

Also, I noticed these little round signs throughout the building that say "Health Focus Walking Trail" with little arrows for direction. I asked about it. There is a map to give an idea of where it goes and how, besides the little arrows on the signs. It takes you up and through and down and around and when completed is 1/2 mile. I think I will do that twice a day.... depending on how long it takes me. I'm due two breaks anyway, besides lunch. I'll do that, even if I already worked out in the morning.

Week 5 Continued...

2008-11-27T08:57:00.000-08:00

Finally feeling better. Now, I just need to get back to business.

Monday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 7 exercises, through the step ups with overhead press. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights on all exercises except Chest press (no hip raise), bent leg dead lift and bicep curl, and stiff leg dead lift with lateral rows where I used 5# weights. I took it easy since I had taken almost a week off.

Thursday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 6 exercises, through the side steps off the step with lateral raise. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights on all exercises except Chest press (no hip raise), bent leg dead lift and bicep curl, and stiff leg dead lift with lateral rows where I used 5# weights. I worked hard and couldn't make it past the sixth routine. Probably because I've taken this time off.

Week 5

2008-11-17T04:43:00.000-08:00

Monday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout. I was still sore from Saturday's workout, so I opted to begin the week with Hip Hop Abs. I'm beginning to feel that I need more push on these in-between the difficult days workouts, but not sure what change to make. I think I will continue with everything being the same until I'm finished with the eight weeks and then decide from there what changes to make. I know that I need a more difficult workout, I just don't know which workout video to do as I don't want it to compete with the other days. I will probably spend a week trying out a few of my videos that I don't remember or haven't tried and see if I find what I'm looking for.

It's later in the day and I am feeling the need to really step up the alternate days to my heavy, hard working Jari workout. I'm going to look through my videos. Wish me luck.

Tuesday: I've been fighting what I thought was the flu and it turns out to be something wrong with my stomach. It is uncertain what the cause is, yet. But, it really hurts and makes me feel sick. It has been effecting my mornings. This is why I had opted the easier workout yesterday. Today, though, was really bad. Tonight is, too. If I feel like this in the mornings I cannot work out. That will not help me. I will resume and continue as I feel well enough. Wish me luck getting better.

Week 4

2008-11-11T04:41:00.000-08:00

Monday: I didn't work out because I had a really rough weekend and I needed to sleep that extra time. I also was very demotivated because of all of it.
Tuesday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 7 exercises, through the step ups with overhead press. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights on all exercises except Chest press (no hip raise), bent leg dead lift and bicep curl, and stiff leg dead lift with lateral rows where I used 5# weights. RPE 6-7. I didn't work as hard as usual, but I persevered through my tiredness and weakness today. I'm starting to see good results, though. So, I'm motivated to keep going through even the days I'd rather not even give it a shot.
Wednesday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout.
Thursday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 7 exercises, through the step ups with overhead press. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights on all exercises except Chest press (no hip raise), bent leg dead lift and bicep curl, and stiff leg dead lift with lateral rows where I used 5# weights. Again, I didn't work as hard as usual, but I persevered through my lack of motivation. That mostly effects the lower body exercises, but I did get through it all, even though I really wanted not to even bother today.
Friday: I was at a late meeting and then stayed up working on something business related so I was in bed two hours past my bedtime. I took the opportunity this morning to sleep in one extra hour so I didn't work out. I will tomorrow, though. This week hasn't been very kind to me.
Saturday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did all 7 exercises, through the step ups with overhead press. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights on all exercises except Chest press (no hip raise), bent leg dead lift and bicep curl, and stiff leg dead lift with lateral rows where I used 5# weights. I worked my butt off today... even though I wanted to give up I persevered. I went deep during the lower body routines and really wore myself out. Even though I wanted to skip the last exercise I did it anyway, after all it was the last one. Then, after I was all finished and rested for a few minutes I enjoyed a nice, well-earned dip in the hot tub. Now, 45 minutes later and after a hot shower, I'm still shaking from all the hard work.

It may not have been a full and hard-worked week, but I did make it through. I didn't give up and I'll look forward to a full, dedicated week next week. Week four is finished.

Week 3

2008-11-03T18:21:00.000-08:00

Monday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 6 exercises, through the squat with lateral raise off the step and narrow squat with ant raise. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights on all exercises except Chest press (no hip raise), bent leg dead lift and bicep curl, and stiff leg dead lift with lateral rows where I used 5# weights. I stopped after exercise 6 because I started feeling sick. Later in the day I had a migraine that was accompanied by a sick stomach, so I wonder if it was related to this feeling ill after #6. I took my pulse at this point and it was 176 (44). I was going pretty hard. RPE 7-8.
Tuesday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout. Heart rate 1/2 way through was 136 (34). RPE 4. (I don't find this routine difficult. It is very targeted at those abs, though and I enjoy it.)
Wednesday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 7 exercises, through the step ups with overhead press. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights on all exercises except Chest press (no hip raise), bent leg dead lift and bicep curl, and stiff leg dead lift with lateral rows where I used 5# weights. RPE 7-8.
Thursday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout. RPE 3-4. I took out some hand weights, ones that slip onto the hand like a glove, and plan to try adding that to the workout on Saturday. Maybe that will increase the RPE.
Friday: Through the night I was fighting a cold. Since I needed the extra sleep and my body probably didn't need the extra work, I skipped the workout today.
Saturday: I am feeling much better so I did Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did only 4 exercises, through the wide squats with upright rows. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights on all exercises except Chest press (no hip raise) and bent leg dead lift and bicep curl where I used 5# weights. RPE 7-8. I was feeling extremely tired this morning and couldn't get past the fourth exercise. (It is now Sunday, the next day, and I am feeling extremely sore in those lower muscles. I must have really given it more effort for those few exercises than usual.)

Well.... not a completely full week, but I did keep trying.

My Weight History - Part Two - Diets

2008-11-01T13:22:00.000-07:00

This part will be about the dieting portion of my weight history. As I mentioned before I ate really good before the tables in my life were turned and all my good habits were pushed under the rug in exchange for some really sweet tooth and garbage filled habits. What discipline I exercised before had completely deserted me once I was under the control of these addictive vices. So, I would tried to find good eating alternative that I thought would also quickly drop the pounds. I found nothing to work.

Simply eating right, like before, didn't do it and I really struggled with overcoming temptations when I didn't see results. So, I began looking for opportunities that promised quick results. If only I could get myself back to where I had started and begin again I figured I could keep it there. But, I couldn't get it there. Just eating right didn't help me to loose anything. If I lost anything, I would loose a little initially and then it would stop. So, why resist, I would tell myself. I tried Atkins for three weeks and lost nothing. I tried Foodfit.com for a month or so but the menu's were very expensive and I ate more than I ever did usually. I tried the idiot proof diet, but how much sausage and cottage cheese can one eat for breakfast? Even though I lost some good weight I didn't do that one again. I tried Kevin Trudeau's weight loss cure and cried myself to sleep after about 8 days of starving. I tried Nutrisystem and for three weeks ate expensive and disgusting meals and lost one pound. (They imply that you get everything you need, but you still need to buy a bunch of food and make preparations and add to their meals.) I tried Kimkins and starved myself by eating under 10 carbs and 700 calories a day. I did loose weight, but not good weight and that experience is what motivated me to create my menu plan that I discuss in another blog (see Menu Planning). That was my last attempt at fad diets.

I didn't and won't even bother mentioning the pills I tried. I won't try another pill, either. Besides, they all have green tea in them and I can't have the caffeine. I'm also not good at remembering to take the pills.

Like I said, just eating right doesn't help me loose weight and I noticed that unless I'm starving I don't drop any pounds with eating habits alone. So, I have determined to have a healthy menu that meets my own families needs as a whole and drop the weight through time and healthy exercise. I must be able to loose the pounds without completely changing my diet toward items that I don't care for, in amounts that don't make since, in a way that I won't continue after the weight loss, or in any other drastic way. It only makes since to follow a healthy route, loose using that route, and keep using it afterwards. In that case, I need to loose while eating the foods that my family and I eat, can count on, can afford, and fit our lifestyle.... as long as I'm not talking about high fat, deep fried, unhealthy habits I see no reason that can't be the case.

I've learned that it really doesn't come down to some magical formula, just down to the amount of excessivness in one's diet, in either direction. I try to eat good food. In fact, here is our menu. I created this over the past two years to meet certain criteria. I must be able to grow much of the ingredients in the garden so that I can preserve it through either canning, drying or freezing. I must be able to see a way to store the ingredients long-term. The ingredients should be frugal. The system must be repeatable. We buy a cow every year and store it in the freezer. We raise organic chickens and store in them in the freezer. We cook from there all year round. I utilize those meats throughout my plans.

Am I eating right as I type this? No. I'm tired of working so hard, resisting temptation without any reward. I will though. I'm battling one challenge at a time. I have started my exercise habits again. After I see some progress, which I will, I will begin to battle the eating. It doesn't help that we are in the the Halloween candy era right now. Soon it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Slowly, but surely though I will overcome. I have done it before. I can do it again. I just need the right motivation and consistency. When I see a momentum building with my exercise regime I will be more motivated to resist cravings and watch more weight come off. I have noticed in the past that while simply eating right doesn't do it for me, that chocolate and ice-cream really do stall my efforts. During my really serious efforts I need to refrain from those items in order to make true progress. That time is coming closer.

Taking My Pulse

2008-10-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

According to my research online, these are the details regarding taking my pulse.

Take pulse for 15 seconds and multiply by 4 and that's a heartrate for 1 minute.

Max heart rate is 220 - your age. (220-35= 185)

50%= 92.5 (Beginner)
60%= 111 (Beginner-Average)
70%= 129.50 (Average)
75%= 138.75 (High)
80%= 148 (High)

My Weight History Part 1 - In the Beginning

2008-10-28T17:17:00.000-07:00

I won't get through this in one day, so this will be part one.

In my mind I'm still used to being 120 lbs. After having two babies I weighed, without any effort, 109 lbs. I gained some pounds quickly due to some medication and lost it all except 5 pounds. I then wavered at a weight of 114-115 pounds for four years and a size 6. When I married, stopped working and went back to full-time school I gained 15 pounds and lost all but 5 pounds, again. So, I was 120 pounds and a size 8. I stayed there for seven years. Then, we became self-employed and operated a business from our home. That is where everything changed for the worst where my weight was concerned.

Up to that point I had been health conscience and watched what I ate. I didn't buy junk food, although I loved it. I stayed away from sugar and sugar based products - unless they were natural, like fruits. This wasn't a carb-free diet, it was a refined sugar refrainment. I exercised and love it. Hence all of the videos. I don't like to exercise without someone telling me what to do, at what speed and how many times or for how long. I had earned a nutritional herbology certificate and was highly interested in natural remedies. Life was good. Then, we began a business and my focus switched to learning how to create websites, marketing targeted demographics, organizing and managing an office, attending customers and directing a workforce....

I learned most of it on my own, therefore most of it was not as efficient with my time and resources as I later would adjust it to become. During those early years I would begin work early in the morning, work all day and into the night. When I would finally crash for the night I would be so famished I would eat whatever was available that didn't need much forethought or preparation. Somehow I ended up traped in the wrong food group. This food would not be fruit and a salad, it would be chips, ice-cream and pizza. We would go out to eat a lot, which are huge, usually greasy and not-so-healthy meals.

It wasn't long before I had gained 20 pounds. Just as I didn't have time to eat properly I also didn't have time to exercise. Through time, I finished gaining almost another 20 pounds. I found it no fun at all to exersize, difficult to eat right and refrain from entertraining my new habits. My health and weight were no longer black and white, with good food choices and habits with a healthy dose of enjoyable exercise. Instead, workouts had become a burden of tiring routines that were slow to show results and food became an enemy that I had to overcome while showing no reward for the resistance. Climbing out of this trap has proved equal to fighting an uphill battle during a rainstorm while simultaniously dodging a landslide. What progress, if any were I making? It seemed like nothing. Then, I began to realize what changes I needed to make.

I will return at another time to share more on weight loss journey.

Week 2

2008-10-27T17:37:00.000-07:00

Monday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 6 exercises, through the side steps off the step. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights throughout the workout, but not on purpose. On three of the exercises I wanted to increase my weight to 5# and thought I was, but I was not noticing anything different or more difficult. So, after the workout was over I put my weight on a scale and found that it was ALSO a 3# weight. So, I bought a pair of 5# weights today. We'll see how Wednesday goes.
Tuesday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout.
Wednesday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 7 exercises again, through step ups with overhead press. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights on the exercises for the lower body and 5# weights for the Chest Press with hip raise (BTW, I don't lift my hips because it hurts my knees), Bent Leg Deadlift with Bicept Curl and Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lat Row. I've noticed that during the lunges it is easier to go deeper when my right leg goes back than my left leg. So, I focused on going deeper even when my left leg goes back and noticed that I have a little muscle stretch when I do. I must've hurt it at one time. So, maybe through time this will careflly work itself out as I get stronger. Finally, I wasn't so worked up after doing the squats with lat raise off the step that I was able to do that final exercise. I should take my heartrate during my workouts. Sometime I'll have to find out how to do that.
Thursday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout. This time I took my pulse half-way through. It was 156 (39).
Friday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 7 exercises, through step ups with overhead press. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights on the exercises for the lower body and 5# weights for the Chest Press, Bent Leg Deadlift with Bicept Curl and Stiff Leg Deadlift with Lat Row. Just after the third exercise, wide squats with upright rows, I took my pulse. It was 156 (39). After the sixth exercise, squats off the steps I also took my pulse. It was 168 (42).
Saturday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout. I find that on Saturdays I can kick up my efforts a lot more. That is because I have time to sleep in and have more rest and wake up time before my workout. I had a lot fun this morning with this workout. It didn't show in the heartrate as it was about the same as before.

SECOND FULL WEEK FINISHED!!!!!

Week 1 - Starting Again

2008-10-20T03:56:00.000-07:00

I was sick one week and started a new job the second week. So, I postponed my 8-week goal. I'm starting again this week.

Monday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 7 exercises, through step ups with overhead press. I skipped the pushups. I only have so much time in the morning now, so I wanted to make sure to do the exercises that most targeted the areas of my concern. Maybe I'll add those later. I used 3# weights throughout the workout.
Tuesday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout.
Wednesday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 7 exercises, through step ups with overhead press. I skipped the pushups. I used 3# weights throughout the workout.
Thursday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout.
Friday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I noticed during this week that I didn't have sore muscles the next day at all, so I decided to work harder on this routine today by going deeper on all of the exercises. In so doing I couldn't get beyond 6 exercises, through the side steps off the step. I skipped the pushups. Also, during all of the squats and lunges and whenever possible, I used the TTapp technique of keeping my big toe off the floor. I can always feel an immediate difference in my stance and the effectiveness of the move. During the wide squats I found myself needing to stop that technique during the third round of the routine. That's how effective it is in maximizing the exercise.... that simple little move is huge. I used 3# weights throughout the workout and will probably use 5# weights next week on a couple of the exercises.... we'll see.
Saturday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout.

ONE FULL WEEK FINISHED!!!!!

My Current Exercise Video's

2008-09-29T08:50:00.000-07:00

I have many. Right now these are my focuses:

Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. The reason I love this one is because she works two exercises at the same time and I see results. I don't like how it takes forever to go from one exercise to another, but when I'm giving it my complete all it is nice for the chance to catch my breath.

Hip Hop Abs. Right now I have been doing the Fat Burning Cardio workout. Which is all about the abs so I don't understand why it's titled a cardio workout. It is only 30 minutes and straight to the point while staying fun and thorough. It really works all the ab muscles. My favorite part is the Night Fever combo and the Get Busy combo. He must have really looked into the rules of making exercise video's because he doesn't break ANY of them. He is a good amount of time without taking too long, doesn't waste our time with instructions, fun to watch, keeps it interesting and is good at cueing, just to name a few.

I also enjoy these videos.

Urban Rebounder Because I could not even make it up the stairs without my heavy breathing promoting my being asked if I had been working out, I started this workout. At first I could only go for 5 minutes. Then, throughout the weeks of adding just one more routine each week I finally made it all the way up through the 12th routine. Using the right rebounder is important. I had been using one that had fabric straps and only after two months they wore so much that I was jumping in little concave holes. So, I would buy another one. And, then another one. Finally, I found one with metal springs holding the rebounder to the metal rim. It bounced so easy that I think much of my struggle with the video was by using the wrong equipment.

TTapp I like the videos that I have which target the specific areas. So, one day I can do legs, another day arms, another the mid-section. I also have the complete workout, the leg floor workout, and the Hit the Floor. When I get in a TTapp mood I have a lot to work with and they are easy to incorporate with my other videos because the one's I have are specific. I use the methods that I learned from TTapp while doing my other videos, where possible. For instance, I keep my hips curled up underneath of me where the exercises allow it. Some, like dead lifts, are not safe that way. While doing lunges and squats I try to keep my big toe curled up. This works the muscles differently somehow and makes a big difference. Both of those, and some more, are posture guides offered by TTapp and I use them with all of my videos.

Week One

2008-09-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Monday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout.
Tuesday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 5 exercises, through the wide squats with upright row. I used 3# weights throughout the workout and still only did one-half of the push-ups.
Wednesday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout.
Thursday: Jari Love's Get Ripped! To the Core. I did 5 exercises, again, through the wide sqauts with upright row. Same amount of weight and push-ups. Progress is being made. I felt stronger through the lunges routine and I worked harder on the push-ups. I'm still a little shaky from them.
Friday: Hip Hop Abs - 30 minute Fat Burning Cardio Workout. I had a lot of fun with this today. I found myself really hopping to the music and giving it my all. I might as well have been out dancing. Except I wouldn't have been doing the moves quite in this exact fashion.
Saturday: I didn't sleep good at all last night. It was a long and tiring night. So, I did not work out today. Will resume again on Monday.

How to Create an Exercise Video

2008-09-27T07:05:00.000-07:00

Through the years I have owned between 30-40 exercise videos. I started using them when I was only 16 years old. I loved them. There were a couple of times I did them twice a day because I had so much fun. Through the years I kept buying more and more. Now I'm stuck with a bunch of VHS tapes of old exercise video's and have slowly accumulated DVD's of current and fun routines. Through all of these videos I've noticed things that I WISH they knew BEFORE they created their video. If only they had consulted me! So, I'm adding this information to my blog so that hopefully, they will do a google search for "how to create an exercise video" and find my very helpful instructions. In my opinion, at least.

These items are in no particular order.

1) I thought this one was of least importance because I thought most trainers have realized this through the years, but Billy's Bootcamp Ab Routine makes this mistake! Remember that we are mirroring everything you do. Don't instruct use to use our left leg while you start using your own left leg. It will cause frustration because I will use my right leg as that is what is mirroring your moves. I haven't seen that mistake in a while, but I don't own every video out there to confirm it.

2) Here is another one that I find infrequently, yet still should be mentioned. Years ago I had a set of three videos that were made by Sports Illustrated. I loved them. The only critique that I can remember having about them was that the one trainer wouldn't bop to the music. We like to keep tempo with the music while doing our exercises. It is one of the purposes of having the music. It's fun to keep tempo with it. So, don't bop faster or slower than the music. Stay in tempo. It makes it feel like dancing that way.

3) One of my most important suggestions is to create and maintain a rhythm. I like to get into the groove and maintain it. When something or someone interrupts the momentum it makes it easy to stop right at that point and give up for the day. "Well, I've stopped anyway and all this time I've been trying to just keep at it. But, now that I've stopped I might as well stay stopped." For instance, one of my favorite exercise routines is TTapp. Well, the lady likes to talk and she can't seem to exercise and talk at the same time. She has to be one of the most guilty of this exercise sin. We'll be moving along and she will count all of the exercises to 8, we are in a grove of 8, moving like we are to the tune of a metronome. Then, suddenly she'll stop to give an instruction and I have to stand there waiting to get going again. MAYBE the first time I watch the video I need that, but not by the 3rd, 10th, or 50th time. By then I want to pull HER hair out 'cause I've already pulled all of mine out. A great example of the right way is through my Rebounder video. He is good at staying in the rhythm. Good thing, too, because if he ever stopped I would have taken the first opportunity to end that one. My lack of cardio-vascular strength fights me through that entire routine. Instead of breaking the rhythm for instructions, simply do one or two slow, not toooo slow, while you talk about them. Or, give them while you do the exercise. You're probably going to do at least 8 reps anyway, so we will catch up. Then, next time and the next time and the next time we do your video we already know what you are expecting and not wasting our time anymore.

4) Count! You are a professional and we are going to be doing these over and over and over and over and over again. There's nothing like doing 8 on one leg and then 12 on the other because someone lost count. Then, next time I have to remember to start with the other leg to keep everything even, which is hard to keep track of. It's your job to do that, not mine. I have one video that I haven't even finished or done a second time because of this. She jokes that trainers are bad at counting so although she intends for 8 counts, she keeps losing count. She thought that was funny. NOT funny! If you mess up, redo the recording of that section. OR, hire someone to be behind the camera giving you cues. Be a professional and learn to count for the sake of the video or get help. Jari Love does a great job of counting. In fact, I love how at difficult times she counts backwards. Somehow that just makes all the difference.

5) That brings me to avoiding big mistakes. Mistakes may not always be a big deal while other times they are a big deal. In my Rebounder video he does the same routine 12 times. He counts to 8 and we turn to the right for 4, go back to the middle for 4, then turn left for 4. Sometimes we go "around the world" in that same pattern. During routine number 10 he forgets to go to the left for 4. Oops. No big deal. He's done it right all 11 other times. I actually look forward to the little goof. It allows me a little cheat without actually cheating. Mind you that with this error he never broke rhythm, that would have been bad. On the other hand, TTapp, (which I actually love her program - just not her execution of it) during one of her videos has a balancing routine. After going through the routine for the one leg, it's time to switch to the other leg and do the same routine. But, she starts with the wrong leg the second time! Every time I do the video I have to wait for her to figure this out. This is not good. CUT! Do it over right!

6) Patterns. I love patterns. I love to know either how many reps I am going to do for ALL exercises or to see a time for which we are going to meet to complete each exercise. I love to know what to expect. Without it I find myself giving up just when there were only 5 more reps to go. Had I only known! It also gives a mental end in site. "Just hang in there, she only does 8 for 4 times and then we move on. That's not too long!" is better than "I think she does about 60 of these, I'll just stop now"

7) Another pattern is the choreography. It's okay to have fun and challenging choreography if it makes sense. I have one video that I could never catch on to his pattern. I think it was because he did such silly nonsensical moves that provided no purpose that I saw no sense in it's difficulty and quit for good. It seemed like busy foot work. Most of the time we can catch on after only a few days. Avoid not making your pattern clear, though. When I went to the gym I attended the aerobics/step class. I love the step. This instructor, though, was a horrible leader. She would slow us down to introduce a step, repeat it a couple times to help us get it down. That's okay. Even when we are very familiar with the step, doing it a couple of times slow allows us for a quick breath. Just remember to stay with rhythm and don't take TOO long. The problem she had is when she said, "Okay, now tempo" She would do something completely different! It took me about 2 weeks to realize that she was adding it to the pattern she had already been doing before showing us this new part and did not warn or explain her intentions, nor allowed us to practice the new part at tempo before moving into the previous pattern. I expected to practice that new part at tempo and then for her to say "Now, from the beginning" to cue us to start the pattern over.

8) Cueing. That's a good one. If you have us in a position where we cannot see the TV, cue us when you have us change positions. I don't want to look up wondering when in the world we are going to change and find that you already did. I love good cue'ers. Even when I am looking at the TV. Rebounder is really good at that. Besides, when I'm working my little tail off, and since I work really hard at what I'm doing and loose myself in the workout, it's nice to have someone keeping track and giving me a heads up for the next move. Remember, you don't have to stop the momentum, discussed earlier, to give that cue. That's a big no, no! One of the stretching moves in TTapp, after doing the arm exercises, she wants to tell us to stretch for a count of four, won't even start until after she's explained in detail this little stretch, gives what seems to be a cue, "k, let's start", but then waits a second to adjust and says "now" before she finally starts. That's breaking both the rhythm, cueing and the wasting our time video mistakes!

9) Floor Work. It's not the 80's and 90's anymore. We don't have to get on the floor and do leg lifts and sits ups to get strong and toned in those areas. There are so many great videos that work our legs, hips and abs without getting onto the floor that in order to set yours apart from the competition you will need to maintain that creativity. Turbo Jam, TTapp, Hip Hop Abs do a phenomenal job and don't make us get on the floor. (With the exception of TTapp's two specific floor exercise videos, but they are so unique that she can get away with it. Furthermore, they are easy on my neck as I don't need to lift it) One of the reasons I feel this is so important is bias. I physically am unable to do side leg lifts. My jaw problems prevent me from lifting my head for consistent amounts of time without causing me pain. I know for other folks it is the back problems. So, videos that keep us off the floor with fun, effective, and creative moves are appreciated.

10) Introductions. It's nice of you to introduce your crew, but don't make us wait while you do. I have a video that makes me stand there each time waiting for her to finish making introductions. Rebounder doesn't take as long, but we are still waiting. By the 10th time I'm usually saying the names right along with you. I understand the appreciation for the crew. Can it be fit in somehow during the workout without interfering with time, tempo, count or momentum?

11) Walking around. This may be a personal preference. I do not care for watching the trainer walk around and point out his crews correct moves, or whatever the reason for the move-around. The main trouble with that is the counting isn't consistent because you are paying more attention to what you are saying. It also steers you away from maintaining a pattern. I also wonder if the workout is too tough for you and you would rather get up and focus on something else. I find it distracting, too. After I've watched you give these instructions once, next time I'm trying to focus on working hard on the exercises. Then, since you are off count, I'm thinking "hurry up and get back - I already know this stuff!" If the exercises need to be explained so much that you feel compelled to get up and move around during the workout to use one of your crew as an example then have an instruction section of the DVD for that purpose. Billy Banks and Windsor Pilates are both good examples of always getting up or moving around during segments. I just don't like it.

12) Finally, my personal preference. I know there are videos out there that would solve this problem. But, I like to mix and match my own favorite videos. Most of the time I don't care for all the videos in a set. So, I tend to look online for videos that meet my criteria and it can be difficult. My criteria is that most of the time I do not have an entire hour to work out. I do have 30 minutes, though. I want my 30 minutes to be hard work and specific and thorough. Furthermore, I need to alternate the videos. That can be challenging unless I can find videos that don't all work on the same muscles as the other. That is why I do the Hip Hop Abs alternated with the Get Ripped video. I know that the video I really, really like in the Hip Hop Abs focuses on cardio and heavy abs concentration. Then, I can do the Get Ripped video which is lots of arms, shoulders, legs and hips. Even if it does abs, which it does in an indirect way, it's okay 'cause they're abs. I have cardio videos that do a lot of leg work throughout the cardio. Then, I can't do my Get Ripped the day after. It's hard to find videos that I can mix and match. So, it would be nice if they (meaning the advertisers) would add onto the video information for which day I should incorporate this workout into my plans. That way, while I'm browsing through all my options for a video to fill a particular gap, I don't get it home and realize that it just won't do... they snuck some moves in there that competes with tomorrows workout.

13) Okay, one more thing. The reason I tend not to like videos that I have to purchase in groups covers a few areas. One of the videos usually is phenomenal, while others are just okay. It's like seeing a movie and the sequel just didn't measure up. Maybe the creativity didn't measure up, too many moves that seem like time fillers, or they make me get on the floor. One suggestion that I have is regarding those videos that trainers like to make for those days we don't have as much time. Have you ever noticed that they are also too easy? That still makes me feel like I cheated. If I only have 10, 15 or 20 minutes for a quick workout I want to know that you are busting my but with a variety of moves to target that days goals and making the most of those minutes. I don't want to find myself doing 8 minutes of boxing moves and 2 minutes of warm up and cool down. (I don't like boxing moves so I picked on that one. Sorry.) (I noticed that Hip Hop Abs 5 Minute Ab routine gives us 5 full minutes of a killer ab workout without getting on the floor. He followed this rule very well. )Push us just past our limit during that short time frame. Make us wish we had the extra time to do your other full workout video because now we can barely move. Kick our buts for not having the time!

14) I found another one while using one of my recently new DVD's. I love the workout, but there is one little challenge. The workout alternates between cardio and weight routines. Between each routine the camera is not on the participants. It is actually introducing the next segment, which is fine. When we return to the crew, the camera-person is zoomed in on the instructor and she begins the routine and we can't see what she is doing until the camera finally moves back and we can see the entire body. So, I've been working on memorizing which cardio is when so that I can start with them, even though I can't see what their feet are doing, yet.

For now that is what I can think of off the top of my head. I would like to add that despite my critiques of TTapp, it is actually one of my favorites. Which is why I'm so hard on her. I love the exercises. They are original, effective, and work muscles while standing rather than resorting to the floor. Even her floor routines are phenomenal. She just needs to learn how to execute the leadership of these moves a bit better.

With all that said, I'm glad to have expert trainers that think of all these creative and effective moves to get me in shape, motivated and entertained. I know I couldn't do it. That's why I get the videos!

I may return later for some more. I hope this has been helpful!

In the beginning....

2008-09-27T06:55:00.000-07:00

This week I've started again my exercise regime. Wish me luck! I will need it. This has been going on for a few years now! I will start and then stop after only a short while. Sometimes a few weeks and sometimes I will quite after 4 months. Either way I have not stayed consistent. Maybe if I share my story, get some feedback and encouraging comments (hint, hint) it will motivate me to continue. Another time I will share more of my weight loss history. For now I will report this weeks exercise journey as well as post "how to create an exercise video" according to Erika!

This Week....
I did Get Ripped on Monday. I only did about 4-5 exercises and I didn't try TOO hard because I knew that the next couple of days would be killing me. I even did the push ups, one-half of them. Usually I always skip over the push-ups 'cause I very strongly dislike them. I decided I might as well build everything all together, including those muscles, too.

I did Hip Hop Abs on Tuesday. That's soo much fun! Then, on Wednesday I got into the hot tub during exercising time 'cause I was still too sore to move from Monday's workout.

Thursday we had an early appointment that got into the way of my exercise time.

Friday I was lazy.

Saturday I did the second half of Get Ripped, up until she got onto her knees - which I believe turned out to be the last exercise before the cool down/stretching.

Although, this could be considered the first week, I'm not. This is the week that takes forever getting started and is inconsistent because my body is adjusting to the sore muscles. Next week will be the first week. I have an eight week goal and plan to complete the same videos each week for that eight weeks. Then, I will switch to another two videos for variety.