30 Days of Fitness Challenge: Week 1 Follow Up

Today marks the one week period since I started my 30 days of fitness challenge.  Here is the link to the original post Day 1: 30 Days of Fitness Challenge . I'll be honest, I have had a few fail days where I just couldn't squeeze in a workout for one reason or another. The point for me is that once I fall off I do climb back on. I am not discouraged. In fact, I feel more motivated to do better next week. I am doing this challenge to try and get back into shape, to challenge myself and to try and develop the habit of workout out. I think they say it takes 27 days of doing something consistently for it to become a habit, so I may have to challenge myself to this again once this challenge comes to an end. And, the reason I allow myself to choose to do whatever workout I'm in the mood for is so I enjoy it! If I'm not enjoying it, I wont want to do it.

I think one of my issues is time management. I always plan to workout but some days time just gets away from me. I also struggle with insomnia and severe fatigue on some days and this is a work in progress.

Today's workout

Here is what I have accomplished for the last 8 days (Day 1-8):

1. Yoga- Seane Corn Detox Flow Yoga (65 min purify workout)
2. Fail- migraine kept me down an out
3. Tony Little's Easy Shaper workout
4. Yoga- Trudie Styler's Weight Loss Yoga (18 +24 min workout)
5. Fail- too tired
6. Yoga- Trudie Styler's Weight Loss (24 min)
7. Yoga- YouTube video (15 min)
8. Yoga- Seane Corn Detox Yoga Flow (65 min purify workout)

Weigh in:

• Starting weight: 145 lbs
• Today's weight: 143.5 lbs

I weighed myself at the same time of day- in the morning before breakfast. I didn't lose a lot of weight, but I am happy that I lost something. With such a small difference in weight it could even be a difference in water weight. Although, I did eat a TON of salty popcorn last night (fail) so I would think that I would retain water. I do feel that I am slowly gaining muscle as I can see some toning going on in my legs. *gets excited

It seems like I really was drawn to yoga this week and a little bit of weights and toning exercises. I think I have steered clear from the cardio partially due to a bad knee. Although, since I have started this challenge my knee seems to be getting a little bit better. The yoga DVD's that I have been doing have mostly been the weight loss kind where you use your body own body weight as resistance and I definitely feel it in my muscles the next day.

Yoga has served me well for weight loss in the past. I had a large weight gain (for me) at one point in my life and I worked out hardcore to Turbo Jam every single day only to gain weight after a month of this. And, it wasn't muscle gain as my clothes became even tighter and my scale showed a higher percentage of body fat. So, I dropped that like a hot potato and I started doing 20 minutes of yoga a day using Sarah Ivanhoe's Yoga Body Makeover Series and suddenly the pounds started melting off! I guess that's what my body wanted and needed. Hey, whatever works right!?

I am excited to continue with this challenge and looking forward to the next week of workouts. That's what's great about allowing yourself to do what you want when you want, you don't end up dreading it!

Let me know what tips you have for staying in shape or keeping on track. Or if you want to join this challenge at any point it's never too late! ;)

Xo Amy

Day 1: 30 Days of Fitness Challenge- Yoga, Cardio, Weights and HIIT!

Talk about perfect timing! With a new month starting today, it's the perfect time for me to start my 30 days of fitness challenge. I've packed on a few extra winter pounds and I'm definitely not happy about it. I did well for most of the winter and I didn't feel like I gained any weight until the very end of winter, sometime around February, when I just felt my body suddenly packing on some pounds. Although, I'm not sure why because I hadn't changed anything. It seems like I have put weight on all over, but, I really notice it in my abdomen area as well as my hips and butt. Most of my jeans had become WAY too tight and I started looking like a sausage in them (best way to make you look even bigger!) And, yesterday, I was more than filling out my biggest pair of jeans!

I had been toying with the idea of challenging myself to either a 30 days of yoga or a 30 day workout/HIIT (High-intensity interval training) challenge. Since I prefer to do a little bit of everything: yoga, cardio, weights and HIIT, I just couldn't make up my mind! So, I decided that I will just do a "30 days of fitness" challenge. This way I can do any of the above as long as I do one form of exercise every day for the next 30 days! And, I will use this blog to keep myself accountable and on track.

I did the dreaded "weigh-in" and it wasn't good, but it also wasn't as horrible as I had expected. I guess I was expecting worse considering the extent that I was busting out of my biggest pair of jeans. Sadly, this indicates that it's most likely all fat that I;ve gained and no muscle- since muscle weighs much more than fat. (Picture 5 lbs of fat vs 5 lbs of muscle.) But, I guess it would be wishful thinking to hope for muscle gain when you're not even working out...

Time for change. I wish I could keep working out all the time once I get started. Not only do I look better when I workout but I also feel better! I go through phases though; I'll work out regularly for a while until something sets me back and then I fall off the "workout wagon." This time I stayed off the wagon for far too long,


The Challenge:

• I challenge myself to do some form of exercise activity daily; whether it be yoga, cardio and/or weights. (workouts can range from 15-60 minutes, depending on how I'm feeling and how much time I have.) note: my workouts will mostly be on a treadmill or following along with DVDs as I do not have a gym membership
• to lose weight and gain muscle.
• to fit into ALL of my jeans.
• to lose 5 pounds, minimum! (it doesn't sound like a lot, but I don't even want to picture what 5 pounds of body fat looks like!)
• and hopefully reap some other benefits along the way! 

 My Stats: 

• My start weight today is exactly 145 pounds and ??% body fat (trying to get my height into the scale to find out my % of body fat)
• My goal weight is 140 pounds (my ideal weight is 135 pounds)
• I am 5.7 and a half (just for reference)
• I have taken my measurements and will share how much I lose, if any 

My Tools:

• variety of workout dvd's (yoga, cardio, weights, HIIT)
• free workouts on YouTube 
• treadmill 
• mini stair climber
• kettlebell
• free weights
• resistance bands
• my body weight (lots of squats and push-ups)
• Old Navy workout clothes, I LOVE their workout gear (seriously, check out their compression pants!) hehe.. had to throw in some fashion!

Some of my gear:

From experience, I know that I look and feel my best around 135-137 pounds, and, I also know from experience that it's a little unrealistic for me to STAY at that weight. Usually, 140 pounds is pretty easy for me to maintain without too much effort.

I will be trying to eat healthier as well, but I will not be going on any "diet" per se. No calorie counting, no diet restrictions. Although, I do try to limit my sugar (especially) and carbohydrate intake as I have for years after a rather large, unexpected and sudden weight gain many years ago (and that's what worked for me to lose the weight.)

I will be keeping a journal and I will weigh in once a week (I don't like to weigh-in daily as our weight can fluctuate daily due to water weight as well as many other factors.) I will also document anything else that comes up during this 30 day journey, such as: stress level, sleep, mood etc. It will be interesting to me to see what changes, if any, may occur during the challenge. I could definitely use a boost in the mood and sleep department!

Here I am in a before shot. I knew I had gained weight, but, I didn't realize that I got this large (for me) until I took this pic a couple of days ago! (I once heard a professional photographer say "a camera doesn't lie"-yikes!) ps. don't mind all the cat toys... lol

Day 1 of 30 (April 1, 2015):

Wow, a picture is definitely worth a thousand words. Didn't realize I got so out of shape! (not sure why the picture is stamped March 2015, it was taken today, April 1, 2015)

Note: I have been having problems with my right knee. If it worsens, I may have to modify what I am doing during this 30 day challenge.

If you like, follow me on Instagram. I'll be posting updates on there as well. https://instagram.com/healthandbeautygirl/


Wish me luck! And, I hope you will join me!


xo Amy