Morning Workouts, or Daily Workouts

I find it so difficult to get out of bed on mornings when I don't work, but I know I should, I know I should get up do  quick exercise circuit, but I don't.  I usually laze in bed and then get up, then eat, then play on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest for an hour, then I clean the house, and then I do anything but exercising.  ANYTHING!!  I know this is so bad for me, especially because I am considering saving myself some money by quitting the gym and just getting a family pass at the Collicut for the year.  It's cheaper because Hubby works for the city, so then we can both go.  I know, absolutely KNOW that, hubby would not have half the aches and pains he did if he began working out regularly.  So for 1/2 the price of my gym membership a month, I could take my whole family to one of the City Centers, (Collicut, Rec Center, Dawe) and work out there.  We would also get to go swimming as a family or do lane swimming with other friends.  So the thought of quitting the gym, though it pains me to say it, means that I have to become more motivated at home to stay active and in shape.

The gym has given me some great tools and I am very happy with them.  I am not quitting the gym because I am not happy with my trainer, in fact I would offer my trainer money to come train my hubby and I for one hour a week just to make sure I stay on track.  I am quitting the gym because my family cannot afford the cost anymore, especially if we begin looking into moving away from the city. 

So this is what I have begun in December that I am going to push on my entire house.  (Yes I am that pushy, my 2 y/o will even get involved)  I typed up 14 different quick workouts for us to do in the morning. Some will take 15 minutes others closer to 45.  I am going to print them off and put them onto some Scrapbooking paper then we will put them in a little container.  Each day we will pick one of them to do the next morning, and Hubby and I will for sure do them at some point during the day, then we will pick another one.  We will both get one veto day, or day of rest, but it doesn't have to be the same day.  But when we are working out it has to be the same workout.  If the kids are up they will join us.

Also the days I usually go to the gym we will still go to the gym to workout and we will add another day to that schedule so that we are going to the gym 4 times a week.  I think we will work on cardio mostly, but we will definitely do some strength training too. 

Much to my family's dismay we are going to go be changing some eating habits as well.  Especially my hubby, who still snacks out on chips and goodies all the time.  He is going to be put on my diet and I will be making his lunch and snacks and breakfasts for him and he will eat them..... because I said so with love of course.

I will update my workout cards when I have them done, I need to get pictures for them too, so that we know what we have to do.  But it's going to be so worth it.  I heard awhile ago that a family who works out together stays together.

Dirty Dozen Work Out

This is seriously a hard work out.  We did this workout when my trainer was on holidays.  I think the goal of the substitute trainer was to kill us.  Seriously, we had the most brutal workout. It didn't help that I had been missing a week prior to doing this workout, but I still think it would have been a dirty workout, regardless.  The trainer called it the Dirty Dozen.  I think it was a very appropriate name.

We started with a warm up, whis is a bit unusual, but it wasn't horrible.  We got our heart rates up and warmed up before we went to face death.  The warm up was a collection of cardio activities from jogging, to high knees, to butt kicks, lateral squats and walking lunges.  First of all I have no coordination to do walking lunges I always tip to one side while doing them.  We had practicum students leading the workout and I am probably the worst student to teach.  I rolled my eyes and proceeded through the warmup, only to be faced with a horrible workout on the white board.

The workout looked horrible, and we hadn't even started it yet.  This is how the workout was written
  1. Burpees
   2. TRX Jump squats/ TRX squats ( TRX is the name of the equipment we were using)
   3. KB Swings/ OH press (KB= Kettle Bell/ OH = Over Head Press)
   4. MB Slams (MB+ Medicine Ball)
   5. Bosu push ups ( Bosu are those half balls)

12----->1 then
1------->12

Meaning we had to do these 5 exercises with descending reps, then repeat with ascending.  So we started with 12 burpees, 12 TRX Jump Squats, 12 Kettle Bell Swings, 12 Medicine Ball slams, 12 Bosu Push , then 11 of each then 10 of each and so on and so forth.  When we got down to 1 we started over again at 1 and worked our way back up to 12. 

I made it to the end and back up to 3 reps of each exercise.  Then I died, or wished I had.

We ended the 60 minute workout with ab exercises.  We did a 1/2 tabata or three different Ab workouts.  A tabata is 20 secs of work and 10 secs of rest 8 times. A half tabata is 20 secs of work 10 secs of rest 4 times.  We did Bicycle crunches, the plank and V sit extender. 

I was so sore after this workout!!  But it was a great workout and one that can be altered for at home with little to no equipment.

For example you can do Burpees, Squats, Lunges, tricep dips on a chair, push ups.  Then you can do the tabata as well of ab exercises.  Yup try it let me know what you think!!!

New Diet Planning

I have been doing a lot of reading lately on dieting and planning an appropriate diet, where you get all your nutrients and all your vitamins but where it still tastes good. 

I believe that processed sugar is not great for you, but I believe if you practice portion control and serving sizes, you will do fine with eating a balance of sweets and nutritious foods.  That being said, I do not believe that you can live or subsist on a diet of treats alone, nor if you are entering a competition where they are going to evaluate your body, do I think you should indulge in these treats.  However, if you are only trying to maintain a healthy diet then these habits or portion control and serving sizes will be very beneficial.

I read, in a book, I believe it was Eat, Pray, Love, that the Italians never eat anything, they taste everything but eat nothing.  It's a habit to sample all the food in front of you but to not eat everything.  I don't believe in wasting food, but I believe in second and third helpings if you need them.  That would be the way to truly be able to manage your weight.

So that is my goal for the next 21 days.  I am going to manage my portions and take second helpings if I am hungry but all my meals will be manageable and won't leave me stuffed.  I will use my hand as my guide for what size of portions I should be eating.  Maybe even my plate division, but I am going limit my treat intake to just weekends and during the weeks I will stick to the 4 food groups to maintain my diet and we will see how that goes.

Also as I am on a weight loss cycle right now and not onto maintaining my weight yet, I will be having two protein shakes a day as a meal replacement, one at breakfast and one for a bed time snack, I will post some more recipes that I try in the future in case anyone else wants to join me. 

The next 21 day plan will be exercising, getting back on that stupid Wii fit and making those programs work for me, and doing my Jillian Michaels DVDs.  Bikini Body 2012 is going to be smoking!!!

Weigh Ins again.....

I am getting so frustrated with my weight, but at least my measurements are going down.  My weight is staying up and it's not at a number I am comfortable with, that's just the honest truth.  However, my measurements are down, I went down a whole eight inches on the skinniest part of my waist in three weeks, so I just have to stick to my new diet plan and things should be ok.

I am down 2% in measurements and up 1% in weight.  So it could be muscle mass, and as my clothes are fitting well and even better still I am inclined to believe that.  I just wish the number on the scale didn't mean so much to me right now. It means less and less, but it is the one number I can easily check to keep myself on track. I guess from now I on I have to just check my dress size. 

Protein Shakes

I have been going to my gym for almost ten months now.... that's shocking!!  But it has taken me at least nine months to enjoy Protein Shakes.  I seriously hated them and the thought of having to drink one would turn my stomach.

But now I am enjoying them.  I am even willing to try new shakes.  My good friend Michelle is sending me some Visallis Shakes in the mail to try and may order them if I enjoy them.  But for now I am creating tasty treats in my own home basing my ingredients on my diet plan from the gym.

My two new favourites are:  Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Cup and Vanilla Berry Banana Cup.

The ingredients are listed below in a single serving size but feel free to experiment, it's the only way to find how you like your Whey.......

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cup                                                                            Vanilla Berry Banana Cup

1/2 banana                                                                             1/2 banana

1 heaping tbsp of Peanut Butter                                             5-6 strawberries

1 cup 1% milk                                                                        1/8 -1/4 cup blueberries

1 scoop of Chocolate Protein Powder                                    1 cup 1% milk

2-3 ice cubes                                                                           1 scoop Vanilla Protein Powder

Blend for all it's worth and drink                                            2-3 ice cubes

                                                                                               Blend and Enjoy

It's only a number..

We had our weigh ins again this week.  Sometimes I dread these bi-monthly occurrences but they do help to keep me honest or more honest.


I need to create an excel sheet that will record my body changes in percentages.  I am really good with Mircosoft, but sometimes it's hard because I don't use Excel that often and sometimes my ideas are much more complicated than I initially think they are.  With this spreadsheet I would have actual stats to show me how well my workouts are going.  Also if I stick to my diet I would be able to see how much more the diet helps in the weight loss category because sometimes I am still skeptical at the diet component.


So here is what I found out from the latest weigh-in.  I am up 4 pounds, not good, but I am not worried until I see the differences in the measurements.  It is the inches where it counts.  So the bad news is I am up 2 centimeters in my chest, Jayzus, the one area I want to lose inches, I gain almost an inch.  I mean some girls may enjoy gaining inches in the chest, but I don't want to go up to an E cup. Like come ON!!!  The Ok news, I have not changed in inches thighs, glutes or neck or shoulders.  The good news, I am down  5 cm in my waist, this would be the smallest part of my waist, my calf is down 3 cm, and my bicep is down 1 cm.  


So here is my next goal.  I am going to book a photo shoot with a photographer, or if money is an issue I am going to set up a photo shoot with my friend where we do some glamour shots and do our hair and make up.  I want it to be an Old Hollywood shoot, so I have to get some ideas for hair and make up and then outfits.  But I think this would be great to keep me motivated and it will be a great  activity to do with my friend or friends that want to get involved with this.

Finding a new end date.

I have every intention to continue working out and watching my diet, but I have encountered a slight problem..... yup I find that I don't feel the desire to stay on the diet as strictly as before.

When I started my lifestyle lift, I had long term and short term goals, many of which have fell to the wayside at this point, but the weight loss one stuck.  I felt that I had let myself go since the passing of my father and the subsequent pregnancy etc, etc.  

Not that I had become Jabba the Hut, but I was four rolls short of this happening, seriously, it was not a great situation.  I happen to be one of those people that can put on weight, and I put it on fairly evenly through my entire body so it's not like one area becomes a problem and the rest still look great. No, as I put on weight I develop all the problem areas, belly, thighs, double chin, wingy arms, well you get the picture.

So then I decided I want to get in shape, for the long run, which is a more important factor than any other that I have come up with, to enable myself to have more energy and be healthy for my kids.  I wanted to enjoy their childhoods so that I could participate with them in their activities and not just be stuck on the sidelines watching because I had no endurance to keep up with them.  The shorter term goals had to deal with the wedding and wanting to look amazing in my wedding dress.

Now I am finding that I don't have the same will power to stick to my diet, because I don't have anything that I am working towards.  Just my long term goals, but there isn't really an end date in which I have to bee a certain weight/size by.  I talked with my trainer and she suggested trying to sign up for a bikini show, which is based on how you look and stuff, but I don't know that I am ready for that.  That seems like it might be a long way off when I look in the mirror, so I need something that may be in the middle of that.  She also suggested doing a Boudoir photo shoot.  Which is something I have considered, but now I have to decide how long I want to give myself to set up this end date. 

I have determined that I would like to lose another 15 lbs.  We were talking at the gym the other day that to loose a healthy amount of weight you should take your weight  multiply it by 10% then divide it by 52.  I think that was the formula and if I follow that formula, that would mean I need to loose 1 pound a week.  I don't know that that is the formula, but when we were figuring it at the gym that is what we came up with. 

Therefore, it can be determined that if I want to lose 15 pounds I  should give myself 15 weeks to obtain my goal.  Thus, by Christmas I should be at my goal weight.  But then what goal do I put for myself, do I set up a Boudoir photo shoot as my reward for reaching my goal weight?  Should I set it up for before Christmas on the 22 or should I set it up for just after New Years?  Or just before New Years? 

I am leaning towards doing a Boudoir shoot, so I can pretend I am a model, and maybe I can be discovered.  Then I can reset my short term goals to maybe do a small bikini show, but I have to set my mind to this goal.  I can't just make the goal, but not actually set up the shoot, because if it's not a concrete possibility in my head I won't do it.

Any ideas or suggestions from my readers would be greatly appreciated!!!!