In terms of exercise, this was a great week for me. Even though I am not up to my goal of exercising five days a week, I am happy that I put three days in! In that sense, I feel like I am accomplishing something. And by what I was able to wear yesterday, I am definitely moving forward. I was able to fit into my size 3 jeans yesterday! Yes, I was excited.
This is tangible evidence that the hard work has paid off. Being able to fit into my jeans gave me a moral boost to take it up a notch next week and work harder to getting my body toned. I really wish I could do P90X: Tony Horton’s 90-Day Extreme Home Fitness Workout DVD Program. But that is not in our budget right now, so I’m gonna have to stick with other ways of getting in shape. Here is what I did this week:
Day 1 – Strength Training
I saw another one of Ellen Barrett’s workouts on Netflix. And I wanted to try it because I love Pilates, and I needed to do something quick while I had dinner cooking. Pick Your Level: Weight Loss Pilates
was only 35 minutes long, so I knew there was no reason not to do this! What was awesome about this workout is that you can pick your own level – like the title says. You can choose to do Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced.
I did the Advanced exercises most of the time. Some of them were too hard, so I had to do the Intermediate ones. I am so glad I did this! This workout was wonderful. The standing Pilates poses were actually great this time around. And the mat poses were terrific too, so overall, this workout was a real winner.
Day 2 – Strength Training
We love to bargain shop. I even have a coupon box. So my husband and I love to get the best deals we can. He came home from Sears with a present for me. An EA Sports Active
game for the Wii
that he got on clearance for $10! So naturally, I had to try it out right then and there. Once I set up my fitness profile, I browsed through their pre-customized workouts and selected “Sports Day (Hard).”
This was brutal! I had to do drills and exercises for basketball, baseball, volleyball, tennis, and track. I mistakenly assumed that because this was a video game, it would probably be easy. Those jumping lunges, jumping squats, and side-to-side jumps nearly killed me. But when it was all said and done, the game gave me my workout summary telling me how many calories I burned and even a compliment that I was a force to be reckoned with on the basketball court. Ha! If it only knew…
Day 3 – Cardio
I promised you last week that I was going to run. So when my husband and I went grocery shopping, he suggested that I just run home from there. Sure, I thought. It’s only 1.5 miles. I started off great. Then my stomach began to cramp. Suddenly, home never seemed so far away. I kept at it, but boy, was I suffering. The sweltering heat didn’t help matters either.
Twice, I slowed down to walking for a few seconds because the cramps were too much to bear. When I finally made it home, I was beet red and headed straight for the shower. I thought I had been gone all evening, but when I asked my husband how long it took me to run home, he replied, “Fifteen minutes!” Funny how fifteen minutes can feel like an eternity.
When I started the Pilates workout, Fabi had just woke up from her nap, so she hung out with me. While I did the standing exercises, she did a downward facing dog. She has no idea how cute she looked! Then when I got down on my mat, she decided that was the perfect opportunity to plant plenty of kisses on my face, so there were a few times when I could not see what Ellen was doing, but it was all good! (By the way, I finally got a picture of my kids up, so you can head on over to my About page and see them).
As for Day 3, it has been such a long time since I have gone running, that I had forgotten how good it makes me feel. I had a runner’s high that lasted for hours after I ran. In fact, when I crawled into bed six hours later, I still had it. I was surprised with how good of a mood I was in. I got an incredible burst of endorphins in my brain just from 15 minutes of running. Pretty amazing, if you ask me.
Don’t miss out on this series! You can read all of the posts in Losing the Baby Weight right here.
Recommended Reading:
No Time to Exercise? Solution: The 5-Minute Workout – Before you dismiss this as an unlikely solution to losing weight, check it out. You may be surprised.
Pilates, Dancing, and Yoga, Oh My! – Three of my favorite things to do. Three of my least favorite workouts. Sounds like an irritating combination to me. No wonder I wanted to go run!
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