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!

30 Days of Fitness Challenge: Week 3 Follow Up + HUGE Skinny Teatox giveaway {over}

The last week has really been up and down with my workouts. I've had some rather large obstacles that made it impossible to workout on some days but life happens sometimes and you can't beat yourself up about that. Despite this I am sticking with the challenge and will update my progress and workouts completed in this post. If you missed the post regarding the challenge, here is a link to it 30 Days of Fitness Challenge.

Here is what I have accomplished for the last 7 days:

1. Yoga- Seane Corn Detox Flow Yoga (35 min)
2. Toning- The Firm's Hi-Def Sculpt complete workout (45 min)
3. No workout- family outing
4. Yoga- Trudie Styler's Weight Loss yoga, total body yoga (24 min)
5. Toning- The Firm Hi-Def Sculpt Express workout (25 min)
6. Yoga- Seane Corn Detox Flow Yoga (65 min)
7. No workout- sick :(

Weigh in:

• Starting weight: 145 lbs
• Last week: 143.5 lbs
• Today's weight: 143.0 lbs

The scale doesn't seem to want to budge very much but I'm definitely firming up and that's enough to keep me going. Hopefully next week will be better. I know that if I keep at it I will eventually see the results I want and that keeps me motivated!

If you haven't heard of Skinny-Teatox yet, they are currently holding a HUGE giveaway right now! I haven't tried their products yet but have been hearing a lot of buzz about them and hope to soon. Check out the contest if you are interested, it's a big one!!

$1,200 Victoria's Secret & Teatox Giveaway- Enter here!

Here is a link to their website if you just want to check them out- skinny-teatox

See you next week!

Xo Amy

30 Days of Fitness Challenge: Week 2 Follow Up

It's been 2 weeks since I challenged myself to 30 days of fitness. It's been a challenge alright. Trying to find the time and having enough energy are my biggest challenges so far. As much as I feel good after completing a workout and keeping up with the challenge, some days I feel like I just can't do it. Despite this, I am pushing myself and that's part of the point; sometimes we need a push and it has to come from within ourselves, no one else is going to do it for us. The motivation comes from whatever it is we desire; wanting a better body, better health, better sleep, a better outlook or just being able to fit into all our clothes.  Whatever our motivation is, we have to use it as a powerful tool to get ourselves going and to stay on track.

I don't want the challenge to end after 30 days, I want this to become a habit, a way of life. That is another point to this challenge for me- to make fitness a part of my daily routine, to find the time, to make the time, to find forms of exercise that I enjoy and keep at it!

Over the past 7 days of this challenge there were some days that I just wasn't up to doing much of anything. But, for the most part, I chose to do some form of activity rather than do nothing (with the exception of one fail day.) I will list the exercises that I chose to do over the last week and you will see that I found many options for those days that I didn't have the time or energy. I will link to items I used in my workouts this week where possible.

Here is what I have accomplished for the last 7 days (Day 9-15):

1. Fail
2. Yoga- Trudie Styler's Weight Loss yoga, total body yoga (24 min)
3. Yoga- Sara Ivanhoe's Candlelight yoga (45 min)
4. Toning- The Firm's Hi-Def Sculpt complete workout (45 min)
5. HIIT- 7 Minute Workout App -it's free! (7 sweaty minutes...lol)
6. Toning- The Firm Hi-Def Sculpt Express workout (25 min)
7. HIIT- Youtube video- Fitness Blender's Brutal Fat Burning Cardio HIIT (27 min)

Weigh in:

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

Despite my one fail day, I chose an activity on 6 out of the 7 days, which I don't feel bad about at all. I'm not beating myself up over a fail day or even a shorter workout day as it's better than what I was doing before this challenge ie. nothing! Even on some of my most limiting days I found a way to squeeze in a little workout. For instance, some of the DVD's I have offer shorter workouts, and I finally used an app that I've had on my cell phone for eons- the "7 Minute Workout." It was a great workout and I actually worked up a sweat! Even though it was only 7 minutes, it felt good to get in a workout that day. I'm impressed with the app. and will definitely use it again.

I've read a lot of research over the last few years which says that they are finding out that short bursts of exercise are more beneficial than longer more traditional workouts.  Along those lines, HIIT or "High Intensity Interval Training" is gaining more and more popularity due to its purported benefits over conventional workouts. Many of you are probably familiar with or have heard of it. HIIT is basically a form of exercise where you alternate high intensity exercises with low intensity ones. One example would be running quickly for a few minutes and then walking for 1 minute (your rest period). This style of exercise is supposed to burn fat much more effectively than a steady paced workout. Here is Wikipedia's description of HIIT.

I may not have lost any weight but that's okay, I feel I am toning up already!

If you know of any great workout DVD's or app's please let me know.

Xo Amy