Week 1: My Health and Weight Loss Journery to Get Fit and Lose Weight!

I started my fitness journey to get fit and lose weight last Friday, so today it's one week since I started, and I promised to post workouts for the week and any results.

If you missed the first post starting this journey, you can find it linked here.

Week 1 workouts:

Day 1- Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 (level- week 1)

Day 2- Same

Day 3- Same

Day 4- Same

Day 5- Monthly visitor- workout ruined!

Day 6- 30 minutes on stepper 

Day 7- Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 (level - week 1)

The Jillian Michael's workout that I did this week is HIIT (high intensity interval training) style. She does 3 minutes of strength (I used 5 lb weights), 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs. Total workout is 30 minutes. 

I found the Jillian Michael's workout challenging but doable. I had a hard time completing abs and push ups. I haven't worked out in so long so I'm pretty out of shape.

It will be interesting to see how much harder week/level 2 is compared to week/level 1.

I have always been the kind of person to workout at the end of the day. This time I have started working out first thing when I get up. One reason is because I figured if I got it out of the way, I couldn't find excuses later. The second reason I did this is because I thought that I may burn more fat if I workout after fasting. Since my body wont have food to burn as fuel it will use my fat instead. WRONG! After doing some research on this, it's not the way to go. From what I've read, you risk losing muscle and slowing your metabolism if you don't fuel your body before a workout, you also wont have as much energy for your workout. Also, eating before a workout can speed up your muscle recovery after your workout.  From now on I will try to have a small snack before a workout. It's okay to workout after a fast occasionally but not a good idea to do it all the time.

Here is some great info and suggestions on what to eat before and after your workouts from fitnessmagazine.com. 

I weighed myself first thing in the morning on an empty stomach last week and I did the same this week. 

Pounds lost- 1 lb  
fat lost- 1%

I do feel stronger, like I'm building muscle. I've heard that muscle has memory and as I mentioned in my last post, for most of my life I have done some form of exercise.  

I have a long way to go to tone up the way that I want to but I feel like I am slowly starting to and that's pretty motivating. 

It's all up to me whether I want to be fit and firm or out of shape. I choose fit and firm and I will do my best to get there and stay there.

If you want to start a journey to get fit or lose weight or both, it's never too late! Join me if you like. Let me know what you are doing to get into shape. You can also find me on Instagram (link at top of page).

Amy

xoxo

Week 4: My Health and Weight Loss Journey to Get Fit and Lose Weight!

This is my week 4 update of my health and weight loss journey. Here is a link to last weeks if you'd like to check it out.

I didn't even get a chance to do this post until today. It was a super busy week for me.

My Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 DVD broke on me right at the beginning of level 3! So much for finding out if I would have gotten ripped in 30....

I will say that level 3 was tougher. The exercises weren't as enjoyable as in the other 2 levels. I had some trouble with balance during week 3/level 3- and I usually have great balance.

I will also say that I've come to realize that I don't enjoy doing the same workout every day. 

Although, if the DVD didn't break on me, I would have continued with the DVD for the 4 weeks, just to see what kind of results I would have gotten (even if I wasn't able to do the workout every single day).

I have plenty of other DVD's that I can use and rotate through. I think I will enjoy it more when I change up what I am doing more often.

After my J.M. DVD bit the dust, I hit up my treadmill for a little workout.

Here are my workouts of the week:

Day 1- J.M. Ripped in 30 - week 3/level 3

Day 2- No workout

Day 3- J.M. Ripped in 30- week 3/ level 3 (DVD broke!)

Day 4- 30 minutes of HIIT on treadmill (walk 2 min / jog 1 min) + 50 bike crunches + 40 squats with overhead press (8lb weights) + 20 pushups + 40 arm curls (8lb weights)

Day 5- No workout (Thanks to a "visitor") ugh. 

Day 6- No workout  "

Day 7- 20 minute walk on treadmill

I did weigh in Friday morning.

My weight - no change

Fat % - no change

waah!

I hope this coming week will be better and I hope to see some results when I weigh in next Friday.

Have you found any great at home workout DVD's? I would love to find a few new and enjoyable one's that work!

Amy
xoxo

Week 2: My Health and Weight Loss Journery to Get Fit and Lose Weight!

Today marks 2 weeks since I started my journey to get fit. 

Last weeks post is linked here.

I treated myself to some workout shorts (pictured above) from Old Navy. They were on sale for around $7 a piece. I paid less with a coupon as you can see in this fun fashion haul!

I get too hot to workout in the summer so I really needed some shorts instead of leggings. I love these ones but I definitely wouldn't wear them to the gym. They are really short!

I continued this week with Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 DVD.

This week I started week 2/level 2 of Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 DVD. 

I found the workout more challenging but still doable. 

I still have to modify my push-ups.

It was nice to begin a new workout as I was getting bored from doing the same one everyday and the extra challenge was nice as well. 

Here are my workouts for this past week:

Day 1- 20 Minutes on stepper
Day 2- Jillian Michaels Ripped in 30 (week 2/level 2)
Day 3- " (same as above)
Day 4- " (same as above)
Day 5- 30 minutes on stepper
Day 6- J.M. Ripped in 30 (week 2/ level 2)
Day 7- No workout

I weighed in this morning and there was no change from last week. It was disappointing after doing so much work - I went from doing nothing to working out everyday. But, I can feel muscles developing and that's motivation enough.

I'm excited to start week 3/ level 3 of the Ripped in 30 DVD and see how it goes.

I also have some nutritional supplements that I'm adding into my routine and it will be interesting to see if those help over the next week.

What workouts are you doing to get in shape? If you're just starting out like I am, let me know what you're doing to get in shape.

Amy

xo

Fitness: My Health and Weight Loss Journery to Get Fit and Lose Weight!

Like a lot of people, I packed on a few pounds over the winter. Even though I'm 5.7", even 5 or 10 pounds makes a big difference on me. I don't feel or look good.

Last year I did a 30 day fitness challenge -(linked here), which was a bit of a success but not entirely as life got in the way near the end of the 30 days.  I'm not going to beat myself up about it either, because sometimes things beyond our control can get in the way of the best intentions.

This time I'm starting my get fit and weight loss journey with no "end date" in mind. Most of my life I have been involved in fitness to some degree with the exception of the last few years. I've always wanted exercise to be a part of my life, not something I do until a certain date and then stop. That wasn't even my intention when I did that 30 day challenge, it was just something I wanted to challenge myself to do for fun and to get the workout ball rolling.

For this journey, I will document all of my workouts and post them weekly. I usually do various types of exercises from yoga, HIIT (high-intensity interval training), weights, and cardio.

I will also document my weight loss and will weigh in once a week.

As I've gotten older I've found I lose weight very slowly and not as easily as when I was younger. These days, I don't usually lose weight with just exercise, it's going to take some modifications to my diet if I'm going to lose weight. I'm not going to go on a "diet" but I will watch my portions and do my best to eat healthier foods.

I have 9 lbs to lose based on my weight today. It doesn't sound like a lot but it looks and feels like a lot to me. I can just imagine what 9 lbs of fat looks like and it's not pretty! I'm fairly certain that I've seen what 5 lbs (or so) looks like on some Dr. Oz episode.

Ultimately, I do want to join a gym. I've wanted to get into weight lifting for quite some time and the type of weight lifting that I want to do, the amount I want to lift, isn't something I can do at home nor do I have the equipment. I currently have a pair of 5 lb weights and 8 lb weights. I can't go too far with those but it's a start.

I don't just want to lose a few pounds, I really want to get fit, firm, and healthy!

Today was day 1- I did Jillian Michael's DVD "Ripped in 30."

Next week I will post my 1 week update with all the workouts I chose to do over the week and any weight loss results.

If anyone wants to join me on this journey, check in weekly here on my site and share what workouts you are doing in the comments or check me out on Instagram (link at top of page). I'm sure we can get some ideas and inspiration from each other.

Amy

xoxo