Week 17: My Health and Weight Loss Journey to Get Fit and Lose Weight!

Welcome to week 17 of my Health and Weight Loss Journey.

Workout wise, it was a pretty boring week. I just went for walks and did my personalized weight lifting routine. At least I did a lot better that last week (post linked here).

I continued to use the Pedometer App. which I am still loving!

It has been scorching hot and humid but I've been going for my walks again despite the heat.

I think it's good to sweat, it's an easy way to get rid of toxins.

What!?!?!

Baby Egret

One day, I saw something flying past me that looked VERY strange. It looked like a bird of some sort covered in fluff. I thought it's either got some disease or it's some very strange looking bird. In 40+ years, I have never seen a bird like this. I wasn't able to get a picture of it, but I googled it and found exactly what I saw. I wanted to share a picture of it, it's such a strange looking bird. It was a baby Egret. Never heard of them, but apparently they were almost extinct at one time.

Personalized Workout Chart

+ 15 reverse lunges, 15, reverse angled lunges, and 15 walking lunges.

Note: I'm still using 8lb weights for the above weight routine.

It was a slow start to the week but I finished strong.

Here are my workouts for the week:

Day 1- 

Day 2- 

Day 3- 

Day 4- 30 minute walk + weight routine above

Day 5- 30 minute walk

Day 6- 30 minute walk + weight routine above

Day 7- 30 minute yoga - 5 Day Fit Yoga DVD (Pm routine with Rod Stryker)

Weigh in :

Weight: down .5 lbs 

Fat: no change

Let me know what you're doing to stay in shape this summer!

See you next week!

Week 16: My Health and Weight Loss Journey to Get Fit and Lose Weight!

This is going to be the quickest and shortest weekly update on my fitness journey. Not only did I eat like crap all week, but I only worked out 1 day out of 7 .

If you want to check out last weeks post you can find it linked here.

I did weigh in this morning and nothing has changed. It doesn't seem to change if I workout or don't workout, so what's the point? Being and feeling healthier and stronger even if I don't lose weight!

I know there are going to be weeks like this, so instead of beating myself up over it, I'm just going to do my best to do better next week.

Here are my workouts for the week:

Day 1- 

Day 2- 

Day 3- The Firm Fat Burning, Cardio Toning - 30 minutes

Day 4-

Day 5- 

Day 6-

Day 7- 

Weigh in :

Weight: no change

Fat: no change

I hope to do much better next week. See you then!

Week 15: My Health and Weight Loss Journey to Get Fit and Lose Weight!

As I write this post, I can hardly believe that it's the end of week 15 of my Health and Weight Loss Journey to Get Fit and Lose Weight. 

Here is a link to last weeks post if you'd like to check it out.

I tried a new DVD this week called Happy Hormones by Ana Brett. It's Kundalini style yoga which I've been doing on and off for years. I like to mix up my workouts a lot as you can probably tell.

I was a little disappointed with this DVD as it didn't have any preset workouts. You can program your own workout with the matrix, but I really appreciate preset workouts. I enjoy most of my other Kundalini DVD's by Ana Brett but this one was a bit of a disappointment. I'll still use it and see if it does help with hormones etc. and report back on it.

I continued walking when I could and I also continue to use the Pedometer App. which I cannot recommend enough!

This screenshot above was a longer walk as I decided to walk to the store that day- save gas and get in a little exercise.

I found this great rock while walking. It really sparkles in person so I had to grab it. Now if I could just find some gold!

I also did the Firm's Fat-Burning Cardio DVD that uses resistance bands. It's only a 30-minute routine which I like. I didn't feel that it worked my muscles very much but I did work up a good sweat. Maybe I need a stronger resistance band. 

I really prefer free weights to resistance bands. Although, resistance bands do have their place for things like pilates etc. (which I cannot partake in due to some old injuries).

I also continued with my personalized workout chart. I have to update it as I've added in 15 reverse lunges, 15 reverse angled lunges, and 15 walking lunges.

Note: I currently use 8 lb weights for these exercises.

Here are my workouts for the week:

Day 1- 

Day 2- 57 min walk

Day 3- 

Day 4- Happy Hormones yoga DVD- 1 hr 

Day 5- The Firm Fat Burning Cardio Toning DVD- 30 min

Day 6-

Day 7- 30 min walk + weight routine with 8 lb weights

Weigh in :

Weight: no change

Fat: no change

Let me know if you have any workout recommendations, preferably DVD's that aren't too long and have a mix of strength training with some cardio.. but more focus on weights and strength. 

Thanks for coming by this week, and hopefully see you next week!

PS. Come and join in the Blogger fun at The Best of Blogosphere!

Week 14: My Health and Weight Loss Journey to Get Fit and Lose Weight!

Welcome to week 14 of my Health and Weight Loss Journey to Get Fit and Lose Weight!

If you missed last weeks post here is a link to it.

Read on to see what I accomplished this week.

 I found this on Google and found it interesting. As you can see, it recommends that adults engage in 150 minutes of moderate activity a week. Based on this, If I exercise just 30 minutes a day for 5 days a week, I've met these guidelines. Doesn't sound too bad to me. This isn't to say that this is the "gold standard." But, it's at least a guideline for a minimum to strive for.

This week I continued with my walks, even with the sweltering heat. I'm continuing to use the free pedometer app, which I'm loving. I usually walk about 2600 steps during my 25-30 minute daily walks. I walk an extra 2000 steps on the day shown in the above screenshot of my pedometer app. I decided to walk to the store that day to get a few groceries. Save on gas and get some extra exercise in... why not.

Most days I continued on my usual route.

Coming home one day, I spotted this flock of geese. I guess they got lost and headed into someone's backyard. I'm glad it wasn't my yard as they poop everywhere! Not that I don't feel for my neighbours.

Note: I added 15 reverse lunges & 15 walking lunges to the above chart

I'm including my weight routine chart again as I've continued with this routine regularly. I strive for every other day, and I currently use 8 lb weights for all exercises.

I also got a new DVD to try out. It's another Kundalini Yoga DVD by Ana Brett called Happy Hormones. I just got it so I'll let you know how it goes. Let's hope it gives me happy hormones! Being in my 40's, I can use all the help I can get in that department.

Here are my workouts for the week:

Day 1- 25 min walk + 8 lb weight routine

Day 2- 

Day 3- 40 min walk + 8 lb weight routine

Day 4- 

Day 5- 25 min walk + 8 lbs weight routine

Day 6- 53 min walk 

Day 7- 

Weigh in :

Weight: gained 2 lbs

Fat: no change

I exercised 4 out of 7 days again this week. And, here we go with the scale again, up and down every week resulting in no weight change on the whole.

I'm going to incorporate my new Happy Hormones DVD next week, so we'll see if that makes a difference.

Let me know in the comments what you're doing to stay in shape?

See you next week!

PS. come and join all the blogger fun over at The Best of Blogosphere!

Happy International Yoga Day! #internationalyogaday

In honour of International Yoga Day, I'm going to share a few of my favourite yoga items today.

I've been practicing yoga on and off for over 17 years! 

(You can see some of the other yoga workouts I do in my Get Fit & Lose Weight posts.)

Yoga is great for so many things and can benefit anyone of any age.

Yoga can help with:

• Mobility
• Flexibility
• Strength
• Back issues
• Sore muscles
• Insomnia
• Stress reduction
• Lowering blood pressure
• Improving balance and more...

I've done many forms of yoga, from Hatha to hot yoga as well as Kundalini. Hatha is the more common form of yoga with traditional poses and sequencing. Hot yoga, as the name implies, is done in a heated room. Kundalini yoga is very different from traditional style yoga like Hatha yoga. It may seem odd at first to someone who is new to it, but it does a lot of work of the glandular and hormonal systems. I like to mix it up and practice all kinds of yoga styles!

There are many other forms of yoga and I have linked an article to some of the various styles of yoga here.

My Favourite Yoga Gear

My favourite place to buy workout and yoga clothing is at Old Navy. I wait for promos and check the clearance rack for great deals. Their workout clothing is great fitting and great quality! I think it's very underrated.

Here are a few of my favourite picks that I found on Old Navy's website today. The tank is on sale for only $5 today!

Old Navy Go-Dry Performance Muscle Tank

Old Navy Go-Dry Mid-Rise Mesh Yoga Crop for Women

Some of my Favourite Yoga DVD's. 

Traditional Style Yoga

Sara Ivanhoe's Yoga Body Makeover

Yoga Body Makeover by Sara Ivanhoe is your more traditional style of yoga. It has 6 different routines, each 20 minutes long. I really love this one. For some reason, it has helped me lose weight when cardio-kickboxing was making me gain weight, and it wasn't muscle I was gaining. I guess this is just what my body wanted. I did a new routine each day from this DVD and within a week I started to lose weight! It's a great DVD for anyone, beginner, advanced and everyone in between. Since the workouts are short, it's easy to fit it into your day. And, since it has 6 routines, it's hard to get bored.

Kundalini Style Yoga

Fat Free Yoga (Kundalini Yoga)

Fat Free Yoga Lose Weight & Feel Great  is a Kundalini style yoga DVD. This is one of  the most popular ones by Ana Brett & Ravi Singh. My other favourite by them is "Yoga Beauty Body." It's less popular but I love it!

Most of my Kundalini DVD's are by Ana Brett and Ravi Singh and I own quite a few of them and like to rotate them along with other styles of yoga.

Tools to enhance your practice

Besides a yoga matt, there are a few props that can enhance your yoga workout (Note: these wont help with Kundalini style yoga, but the more common/traditional styles like Hatha).

I'm sure there are other tools, but these are the two that I use when I'm practicing traditional style yoga. They help me deepen into stretches and keep good form. While they aren't necessary, I do find they are very helpful. Keeping good form is essential to prevent injuries, so I do think they are important.

Yoga Strap

A yoga strap can help you enhance your practice by deepening into poses and helping with form if you're less flexible. If you don't have a yoga strap on hand, try a belt.

Yoga Block

The other tool I use to enhance my practice is a yoga block.  Similar to the yoga strap, a yoga block can help you deepen into your poses and also help those who are less flexible.

Badger Yoga & Meditation Balm

I also like to use a meditation balm. These scented balms help you with relaxation and can help deepen your experience whether during yoga or meditation. 

These are some of my yoga favourites. I'd love to hear what yours are!

Amy

xoxo

*Not sponsored. 

Week 10: My Health and Weight Loss Journey to Get Fit and Lose Weight!

Hi everyone, It's the end of week 10 on my Health and Weight Loss Journey. Here is a link to week 9 if
you'd like to check it out.

I think my blog had some kind of glitch and reposted week 1 of this journey somehow, sorry for that.

I am slowly getting better from my injuries and I'm doing what I can while trying to be careful not to
aggravate the injuries.

I've made a few changes this week...

-I have been alternating days with yoga and cardio/weight exercises.

I would like to do yoga everyday even if I do another workout,
but I just can't seem to find the time to do it all. So, for now,
I'll keep this schedule up and see how it goes.

-I have also added a 10-minute walk to the start of each day- before I do anything else.

It's quick, easy and starts the day off right. It's not hard to find 10 minutes, right!?

I do the walk outdoors to get some natural vitamin D and I don't wear sunscreen on my body.
I do this for maximum Vitamin D absorption. You may not agree with this. But, it's something I am 
trying out. It's only 10 minutes and it's not at the time where the sun's rays are at their peak.

Here are some pictures from my walk. I used to do this walk all the time years ago. It's good for the body, mind, and soul to get out in nature. As much as I know this, I don't do it enough.

This is one of the yoga DVDs I used this week. Kundalini yoga is completely different from Hatha style yoga.

If you've never tried it, you should. It has a lot of exercises that are good for hormones etc.

Here is a workout chart that I created for myself. I do these exercises when I'm not doing a workout DVD and I'm just working out on my own. I'll do about 20 minutes of cardio and then use 8lb weights and follow the chart below.

My workouts for the week:

Mon- 20 min Stepper + 8lb weight routine using above chart
Wed- Kundalini yoga - 40 min
Fri- 25 min morning walk (1st day)  + Hatha yoga 20 min

Weight - No change
Fat %- No change

I was hoping to see some changes on the scale this week. But, I know that most weight loss, at least for myself, comes from diet alone. Working out is healthy, but I don't usually lose weight from it. Eating a bit of ice cream everyday doesn't help either. lol  But, realistically, I do my best to eat healthy most of the time, but I'm not going to deprive myself.

It will be interesting to see if the 10-minute morning walk will make any difference as I just started the morning walk at the end of this week.

What are you doing to stay in shape?

See you next week.

Amy

xoxo