Day 8, same as Monday

Rushing to get this in before midnight, I didn't get home from baby sitting until ten.  I was also up late last night finishing a baby hat for someone that I had to finnish today.
I did the fifteen minute routine again.  This time, more of the moves were back to back than last time, which is what the book recommends.
Gym again tomorrow!

Day 7 Elliptical Trainer at Planet Fitness

First I want to post a follow up to yesterday's workout. My legs are feeling the squats from yesterday. It was more of a workout then I thought! That's good, because it will probably be my workout again tomorrow!
Today I was wondering what I was going to do and I realized I haven't done pure cardio since I started this process. So on my way home I stopped at Planet Fitness and hopped on an Elliptical Trainer for 35 minutes. Here's the screen.

Day 6, Super Fast Total Body Workout Plus extras.

Today was one of my long days at work.  I stayed until about seven thirty getting home at about ten after eight.  I decided to crack open the Women's Health Magazines Big Book of 15 Minute Workouts.  I did the first workout in the book which is supposed to be a full body workout.
The workout consists of four moves.
1. Squats.  I did these with a set of ten pound dumbbells.  Two sets of fifteen.
2. Chest press.  Instead of a bench, I did these on an exercize ball.  I've heard from almost every credible source that in most cases a ball is better since your core is working to stabalize your body on the ball.  Again, I used five pound dumbbells. Two sets of fifteen.
3.  Bent Over Row.  Five pound dumbbells, two sets of fifteen.
4. Bicycle crunches.  Fifteen to each side.
I did two sets of each of the first three excersizes, and I didn't time it, but I'm pretty sure it took me slightly longer than fifteen minutes.  It also didn't feel like much of a workout.  Maybe I need heavier weights.  I have some eight pounders around here somewhere.
I added a few moves to the workout.
1. Bicep curls.  Two sets of fifteen.
2. Crunches on the excersize ball.  Two sets of fifteen.
3.  Tricep extensions.  Two sets of fifteen with an eight pound medicine ball.

I promise tomorrow I will actually make it to the gym!

Day 5 Zumba Rush DVD

For some reason, every time I do a workout at home I feel like I'm cheating.  But one of my rules was that it could be any form of workout.  Tomorrow's workout will probably be from home as well.
Today I did the Zumba Rush 20 min. DVD.  The reason I decided on a home workout today: it was a very busy day.
Lloyd and I went to Lowe's this morning to buy some stuff for the garden.  I planted a few seedlings, and some plants I bought at the home show yesterday.  I then pulled up some weeds, and planted some seeds in some new seed pods.  We also finally went out for my birthday tonight, and when we came home, we watched the Oscars.  I probably could have found time for a more intense workout today, but I am due for a relaxing day too.
Zumba Rush is still quite a good workout to do when you are tight on time.  It actually loosened up some of the soreness I had in my back for a long time.  

Day 4 30 min Express plus a little cardio

It's Day 4 Saturday!  I'm baby sitting tonight, but I wanted to blog for the day too.  I woke up extra early today.  We're officially caught up on sleep now.  We joined Planet Fitness when they opened the location on Portranco because it was very close to us and we could go together on the weekends.  We've both skipped the last couple of weekends.  Today we went to breakfast at IHOP, went to the bank to get some parking money, then went to the gym.  Now Lloyd's normal weekend workout is to park himself on a treadmill for an hour and go, which is great, but it's not what I like to do.  I noticed the express zone was empty, so I went for that again.  This time I upped the weights I put on almost every machine.  I noticed the zone puts a lot of emphasis on upper body work, or at least it seems that way to me.
Ten years ago, when I first joined a gym in Houston, my grandma had just broken a hip.  She was in her eighties.  They told my mom that they were trying to build up her upper body strength.  How much upper body strength can you build in an eighty five year old?  I then looked down at my own arms and decided I should get started early.
I recall some months later looking in a mirror at the gym while doing bicep curls and saying "Wow, are those mine?"  I had definition that I couldn't believe.
I don't think it's so great now, but I definitely am stronger than I was then.  I think upping the weights on the machines was a good choice, but we'll see how it works out.  

Day 3 Wii Boxing

Today I woke up sore.  I also did something absolutely nuts.  I drove to work leaving all of my cash as well as my debit card at home.  I also didn't pack any form of a lunch this morning.  

As I was leaving work, I felt, above all else HUNGRY!!!  It was around six twenty and I still had a forty minute commute.  

My wonderful wonderful husband did something great.  He made dinner and it was ready by the time I walked in the door.  

I didn't go to the gym at all today.  Like most people, I just want to get home on Friday.  And also like most women out there, I have a variety of fitness options available to me right here in my house.  

I decided to plug in a video game that I recently found in a different case.  The game is called Gold's Gym Cardio Workout and it almost completely consists of boxing.  

So I put a Wii remote in each hand and pressed the buttons to start the workout.  I looked at the date last played.  Two days before Christmas of 2010.  Nice.  

The animated personal trainer asked me what kind of workout I wanted to do today.  I selected "hardcore".  I had to take three lessons to get a punch stamp on my electronic calendar screen.  These three lessons were fairly simple and took me around twenty minutes.  

I did about another fifteen minutes of lessons on my own.  This took my punch count for the day from around 800 to around 1600.  I recommend this game highly as a stress buster.  I love that I can pound an electronic heavy bag and take out all of my frustrations.  It is absolutely great!

Day 2, Yoga!

Today is my Birthday!  

I got asked a question a lot today at work.  "Are you going out tonight?"  The answer is no.  I went and did the 6:30 yoga class at the JCC.  I am very committed to this journey.  

I haven't done any form of yoga in years.  I do the occasional pose or two with the kids in class, and I've done a couple of teacher training yoga workshops, but nothing grown up since I was in college.  I thought that I could use the stretch after the weights yesterday.  I do, however have a pretty cool yoga mat and an even cooler bag that I made in which to carry it.  

The class itself was wonderful, but I realized how badly I was out of practice.  My balance is terrible!  I'm pretty flexible, but not as much as I needed to be for this particular class.  I was pretty unstable.  I'm sure if I practice, I'll get better.  

The thing about yoga is that instead of feeling energized, I felt relaxed after the class.  Considering the fact that I still had to drive forty minutes to get home and then cook dinner, I"m not sure if that's a good thing. Maybe long term it will be.  I do need to relax more.  Maybe high and low energy days?  I don't know, but I'm open to suggestions.  Post comments please.  

I don't know what tomorrow's workout will be, something high energy I'm sure. 

First workout Posted

Ok everyone, posted here is my before pic.
Today's workout took place after work and it was the Express 30 workout at Planet Fitness.
I really do like Planet Fitness, and I was very very happy when they opened the one close to my house. Here's a pic of the logo, and it really is true, you don't feel judged in the place.  I really feel at home every time I go there.   Membership is also only twelve bucks a month, which doesn't hurt!

I have to admit, I was kind of nervous taking pictures in there with my iphone.  I did not take a picture of any people, just signs.  I don't know if it's totally OK to publish the logo, but I'm doing it.  

I did the PF Express workout, which is 30 minutes of a machines and these little step things with handles.  I just step up and down on them, but some of the other members get fancy.  I saw a guy doing push ups on them!  I like it because it gives people who don't know exactly what to do in a gym a way of knowing what to do.  It's like having a workout program given to you!  The fact that it only takes half an hour is a bonus for me.  I took a pic of the rules poster, here it is.  

Oh and something I forgot this morning.  Here's the before picture.    I had Lloyd take it when I got home from the gym.  Hopefully, I will look amazing in the after shot on Easter Sunday!

Today is the Day!!!

It's Ash Wednesday!  OK as promised, here are the numbers:
Weight, 150.5 lbs.
Body Fat, 39%
Now, I'm not promising this is completely accurate.  I did this on my body fat scale, which is a few years old.  We'll see how this works out.
I still don't know what workout I'm going to do yet, but I can tell you what I probably won't do.  This might sound absolutely terrible, but I don't plan on going to get ashes.  I can't go early morning because I work at a Jewish Community Center, and while I don't think it's ever been forbidden, I don't think walking around with a giant spot on my forehead all day would be very respectful toward that.  Not to mention the kids would be pointing and laughing way more than I am comfortable with.  I went after work last year at the church close to there, which I may do again this year, but it is way too crowded and once I find parking and walk into the church, I'd be lucky to get ashes.  It just seems like more of a headache than it's worth.  I would rather just get started on my sacrifice.
Speaking of ashes, I'm reminded of an interesting story.  My dad and I used to go to church together at my church on Ash Wednesday every year that I lived in my apartment.  The last year I lived there, he was running for office (he's a judge), and that night was the endorsement meeting for a political group; going home between these two events would have been a waste of both time and gasoline, so he went with the giant mark on his forehead.  He gets up to make his speech, says some thing along the lines of "I am here tonight..." and someone from the crowd, probably a family friend yells, "On Ash Wednesday!"  And Dad continued with his speech.  Yes, he went to church in a time and a place that still allowed him to go to this meeting.  While I am positive he was not the only candidate that went to services that day (at least one more told me that he had showered between the two events), he was the only candidate that was marked.  I don't think going to the meeting with ashes on his forehead affected him getting the endorsement at all, he did get it, and he also won the election.  
Up for suggestions on a workout to do today.  I will see what is available.  

Fat Tuesday

In my case, quite literally Fat Tuesday.  Lloyd (my husband) and I had a late night dinner at Red Robin.  He's giving up french fries and soda, so he had a farewell to those things, and I did not work out for anything today.  What am I going to do tomorrow?  I'm not sure yet, but before midnight tomorrow I am going to post my current weight and body fat percentage.  Taking suggestions for a workout to do tomorrow. 

Trying one from my phone

I'm trying a post from my IPhone just to see if it works. I'm reminded that my job is more physical than most. I don't sit behind a desk all day. The question arises: don't I get enough physical activity throughout my day?
The short answer is, I need more. -

Rules Rules Rules

Really the rules for this are more guidelines, because they are subject to change.
A workout must be done every day.  What qualifies as a workout?  Any thing that requires extra activity.  Some days this might include a walk around the neighborhood.  What I am going to do is try different things throughout the city that are available to everyone.  I will try some stuff out and provide a review for it on this blog.  I am open to suggestions as to what to try.  Daily blog posts will begin on Ash Wednesday (February 22), at which time I will post my current weight and body fat percentage (I said in the last post I would sacrifice dignity!)
I do have a few things available to me that I do plan on utilizing.  The first is a membership at the Planet Fitness close to my house.  Planet Fitness is an economical gym that charges around twelve dollars per month for their memberships, but does not offer group exercise classes or childcare.  I don't have children currently, so the lack of child care is not an issue for me.
As I mentioned before, I also have a membership at my place of employment, the Jewish Community Center here in San Antonio.  The JCC does offer group exercise classes and has a wonderful drop off facility where members can leave their children while working out.  I've only tried a couple of the classes in the three years I've worked there, but during this experience I will try more, as my work schedule permits.
Do I plan on dieting?  Nope.  I want to tackle one thing at a time.  Diet may start after Easter.  However, my non-catholic husband does plan giving up french fries and soda, so by extension, my intake of those things will be more limited.  Diet is important, and I will try eating a little better than I currently do.
On days when I am pressed for time, I have The Women's Health Big Book of 15 Minute Workouts by Selene Yeager.   We'll see how that works out as well.
Wish me luck on my journey!  Anyone who wants to workout with me some time let me know!  And tell your friends about this blog too!