My week was bustling with busyness. I spent time getting things ready for the upcoming school year. We are going with a new curriculum this year, so I had some work to do for that. I am looking forward to it! I also kept putting off my workouts because I had so many other things to do. Of course, this meant that my week flew by, and I went days without exercising. I finally came to my senses near the end of the week and told myself that if I didn’t make it happen, I was never going to exercise.
And you know, when I finally did exercise, I was reprimanding myself for having let opportunities slip by. All of the workouts I did were less than an hour long. One of them was only 30 minutes. And here I was complaining that I didn’t have time!
I had to force myself to say, That can wait. I will get to it when I am done. When it was all said and done, the workouts did not cause any sort of delay in what I needed to accomplish. I still got everything done that I needed to. So this week I am going to push myself to send my excuses on a field trip to Mars. That way they’ll be gone for awhile.
After last week’s sad my-bathing-suit-is-exposing-my-gut episode, I decided to attack my abs this week. All of the workouts came from Netflix.
Day 1 – Strength Training
Anything with the word “attack” in it has to be good. Crunch Fat Burning Ab Attack
gave me a 30-minute ab workout that really pushed me to use my abdominal muscles. This was challenging , even if it was only 30 minutes. Catherine Chiarelli has you do a lot of squats as well. When you engage your core to do a squat, you get the added benefit of toning your abs in addition to giving your butt a workout.
What I liked about this is that it targets all areas of your abs, including your lower abs. This area (at least in women) is notorious for having flab. You usually have to work hard to get rid of it, and this workout left me sore for days. My ab muscles were hurting all over. This workout gave me the motivational push I needed to exercise again.
Day 2 – Cardio / Strength Training
While Curtis took the boys to see Cars 2, the girls and I stayed home and quickly found how nice it was to have a quiet house. So I took to attempting some handstands. I could not even hold them longer than two seconds, but I repeatedly tried to do them. Eventually I made my way over to a wall so that I could catch myself with that. And I noticed that when I knew the wall would be there to catch me, I was able to hold the pose longer. And so I did about ten of these, and was very energized afterwards.
I continued with my abdominal workouts by doing Dance Off the Inches: Tummy Tone Party Zone!
This was fun! Marie Forleo does an excellent job in this video. And some of the dance moves were so sexy that I felt like I was a contestant on Dancing With the Stars. Unlike the last dance video I did, this workout actually had me working, and we did dance moves that one would do on the dance floor, all while exercising. I enjoyed this workout, and after two days of attacking my abs, they were so very sore!
Day 3 – Strength Training
I found another workout by Ellen Barrett. Crunch – Super SlimDown: Pilates Yoga Blend
could not have been a more perfect combination. This was a much-needed workout. The stretching felt fantastic on my hurting abdominal muscles. And I have to say – Ellen looks amazing in this video. Oh, how I miss having a body like that! I have got to get with the program. That aside, I was very pleased with this workout. Ellen had some creative moves in this, and it was challenging but invigorating at the same time.
The only irritating part of this workout had nothing to do with the workout at all. Fabi got on her rocking horse and rocked herself right over to my mat. I moved her out of the way, but she kept coming back, and at one point, that horse made its way over so close to my fingers while I was in a child’s pose that she nearly smashed them. All I can say is, the little turkey is lucky that I love her.
I went on another protein shopping trip and picked up a different brand of protein powder as well as some protein bars I had never tried.
While I liked the protein powder I got last time, I wanted to try a different one. I like experimenting with new things, as I am always looking for ways to improve my chances of getting the results I am after. This time I went with Body Fortress Super Advanced Whey Isolate in vanilla creme flavor.
What drew me to this protein powder was the statement on the package that it “provides all of the benefits Whey protein is known for and more, by carefully removing the fat and lactose that you don’t need while increasing the percentage of aminos as compared to regular whey concentrate.” That must be why the amount of protein per scoop is higher than the protein powder I had previously bought.
When I opened this protein powder, I noticed that it looked different than the last one, in a better way. The texture was smoother and softer, and it also smelled better. On top of that, it tasted better and made my smoothies have a smoother consistency. I am pleased with it so far!
Here are the protein bars I purchased:
- Snickers Marathon Protein Bars (2 boxes)- in the flavors Chocolatey Nut Burst and Caramel Nut Rush. These protein bars have much more protein than the ones I usually get, at 20 grams of protein per bar. I thought they might have a strong protein taste to them, but I was more than wrong. These were so scrumptious! They were such a hit that I had to hide them, lest everyone in the house think that these are free for the taking. These bars were on the pricier side, so I wanted to make them last for me.
- Zone Perfect Bars (2 boxes)- I got two new flavors: Strawberry Yogurt and Chocolate Almond Raisin. I did not care for the Strawberry Yogurt ones and the Chocolate Almond Raisin bars were okay. I don’t think these bars stood a chance after I tried the Snickers ones!
- Pure Protein S’mores Bars (1 box)- Zachary picked these out. He went shopping with me and wanted a box that he and Lennon could have. I have tried these before, and they are good. They are also up there in protein amount, at 19 grams per bar.
Don’t miss out on this series! You can read all of the posts in Losing the Baby Weight right here.
Recommended Reading:
My Last Protein Shopping Trip – see what I got the last time I went shopping for protein-related stuff.
A Great Strength Training Workout – this fabulous workout will have you sweating and toning your muscles. Get ready to work those arms and legs!
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