homethe planprogressrecipesreviews

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Just Do It

No this is not an endorsement for Nike! Just a little encouragement for you! It's something I've been telling myself over and over.  Like every overweight person, over the years I've given excuse after excuse to not workout or eat right.  Well, the excuses stop here! Now! I mean it! I'm not going to allow myself to give another excuse, and you shouldn't either!

No more excuse of no more time.  You can make time throughout the day to get a little in here or there.  You can fold clothes and do squats. You can do sit ups when watching TV.  Got a crying baby? No longer an excuse! Pick him up and run in place, or do jumping jacks with him on your hip (just switch sides half way through :))

Today time totally got away from me.  L has a cold and like any mommy I kept waking up to check on her.  Long story short, we didn't even get out of bed until 11:30 this morning.  Then I got caught up working on a new, much, much better design for the blog.  Next thing I knew, it was time to get up and get dressed to go out for moms night and I hadn't worked out, yet.  No longer making any excuses, when I got home I quickly got dressed and worked out.  I didn't care that it was 10:45 pm that I did it.  What counts is that I did it.  I got my workout in.  Now I don't have to feel guilty, and even better I burned off some of the extra calories I got from eating out!

Ugh, my knee, WORKOUT

I was feeling so hopeful yesterday that my knee is finally better and even had plans to go running on it today. I woke up in the middle of the night with a lot of knee pain. You know how your legs feel after you've been on them all day? That's how my knee feels. I think I just need a few more days of recovery.

It's such a bummer cause I can't do the workouts I want. I can do abs and arms, but not much with my legs.

So here's what I'm doing to work out:

Cardio: hitting the punching bag. I've got to make sure I'm constantly moving and punching with a lot of force to get my heart rate up

Muscle building: Abs
Side plank (2x 15 seconds)
Plank (2x 15 seconds) 

LOVE the workouts in the below video.  I'm not quite strong enough to do them the way Sarah does, so I modify them.  When doing to leg bridges from the first exercise, I do them with both legs down, but still do the same number of reps.  For example, when I should be doing one on each leg, I do two with both legs down.  When doing the side exercises, I cut the reps in half, I just can't get through that many, yet.


Muscle Building: Arms

Biceps Curls with five pound weights (2 sets of 12)


Triceps Curls (2 sets of 12)


Reverse flys (2 sets of 12)

Dumbbell Bench Press OR Push ups (you guessed it 2 sets of 12)

Lateral Raises (2 sets of 12)
Cardio: Punching Bag
You don't need a punching bag to do this.  Just punch the air.  The reason I'm using this as my cardio is because of the knee.  The key to making this a good cardio workout is keeping your feet moving.  If you're unsure how to do this, then watch a video of a boxer on YouTube.  Punch with vigor.  I like getting mad at someone and envisioning their face on the bag :)  Keep your punches sharp and crisp.  Do a combination of uppercuts, jabs, and hooks to get a pretty good ab workout too :)  I do this for however long it takes for me to get to where I can only talk in short sentences.  

I don't do this workout in any particular order.  I've read it's best to workout in intervals, so I'd do a little cardio at the beginning, middle and end.  Do NOT repeat each set back to back.  If you want to do everything in the order it's listed here, then go down the list once, go back to the top and repeat 3 more times.  

**I'm not a fitness expert! This may not be the BEST way to do the workout, but It's what I'm doing until my knee is well enough to do the workouts on the EA Sports Active 2.  It will work the areas.  As with all workouts, be sure to consult a doctor to be sure you're healthy enough for exercise.**





Tuesday, June 28, 2011

In the Begining (starting stats)....

I was really over weight.  I'm totally committed to being completely transparent on this blog, but I have to say, this is probably one of the hardest things I've ever done.  I've seen pics of myself clothed, but to see them when I'm not so clothed is very difficult.  I can't believe I've let myself get this way.  My waist is as big as my bust measurement was when I was skinny :(

Below you'll find my stats.  They are quite depressing this week, but that's all going to change! Please ignore the knee brace.  I hurt my knee last Friday. And please, please forgive me for not picking up the floor before the pics were taken!



Each Tuesday I'll post new pictures and measurements.  If you miss the blog post, you can check up with the progress each week on the progress page.

Product Review: EA Sports Active 2 for Wii

Welcome to my very first product review! I'll do one about every other week, or as my budget allows me to buy things :).  I'll review anything and everything from water bottles and pre-portioned meals to workout gear and videos.


Today, I'll be reviewing EA  sports active 2 for the Wii.  It's a great fitness "game."  It's available on the PS3, XBox 360 also, but I chose to get it for the Wii.  I was able to get it for $25 at Walmart.  It comes with a usb plug-in, heart rate monitor, leg sensor, resistance band, and game disc.  It takes 4 AAA batteries (two for each sensor) that it also comes with.   You'll need to use your Wii remote.  You have the option of using a Wii balance board but it is not necessary.  A yoga mat, or being on carpet isn't necessary, but I do recommend it for the floor exercises.


Ease of Use
It's very easy to use.  You just connect the USB plug-in into the back of the wii, pop the game disc in and get ready for a great workout.  Once you have it running, it will give you video directions of how to put on the heart monitor and leg sensor. You'll then be prompted to create a profile for the game as well as an online profile.  You'll also be asked to choose a trainer.  I chose the guy trainer.  

Doing the Workouts
There are two fitness programs to choose from.  There's a 3 week cardio kick start, and a 9 week course as well.  Each have 3 levels of fitness for you to choose from.  Once you choose your program it will take you to a calendar so you can set the days you want to workout.  Don't worry if you miss a day, you can catch up with your missed workouts.

If you're working out on a day not on the program there are other options to choose for your workout.  You can make your own custom workout by choosing from over 70 pre-programmed exercises.  You can also pick an area of your body you wish to workout and your trainer will create a workout for you.  Don't like what he chose? Then just click on regenerate to have a new one generated for you. There are also a myriad of workouts already on the game.

Once you have your workout selected it's time to begin!  The first time you do each workout, it will show you how to do them.  I recommend watching them because there will be little things you need to do with the wii remote in order for the game to realize you're doing the move.  

Pros
  1. It kicks your butt! Absolutely love that I actually get a workout
  2. You do it at home.  No more excuses about having to get ready and go to the gym.
  3. It's very easy to use.
  4. I love the options!
  5. The resistance band offers a good bit more resistance than the old one!
  6. Doesn't require the balance board! This is great since I don't have one ;)
  7. The trainer gives you reminders to get water, and suggests an after workout snack.
  8. In the settings menu, you can choose songs you want to play from a list of songs already on the game
  9. It comes on all of the consoles.
Cons
  1. There's not quite enough time to get the resistance band set up right between sets, when going from no band to using the band.
  2. The menus can be confusing at first, and the instructions don't tell you how to navigate them.  Don't worry, though.  You can't really mess anything up. I do recommend going through everything before working out.
  3. You can't create a workout longer than 30 minutes.  It also caps the amount of calories you can burn.  It's for safety reasons, but sometimes I just want a super 500 calorie burn workout, and I just can't do it.  (there is a 45 minute pre-programmed workout)
  4. Every so often it won't register that you are doing the reps! 
  5. At some point the resistance band won't be enough.  You're limited on your choices of weights because of having to hold the wii remote. This is not a problem if you are using the program on other systems.  I think you can get weights made for using with the wii, however.
I hope this helps you with your decision to BUY this program! I absolutely love it, and am so glad I decided to buy it.  It keeps  the workouts interesting.  I'll be creating a workout group soon and will let you all know what it is so anyone else with the game can join me! 

Monday, June 27, 2011

Recipe: Baked, Sweet Potato Fries


This is one of our favorite recipes around here! Even my veggie-hating hubby loves them! Here's just a few tips to get you started.  Be sure not to cut the slices over a 1/4" thick.    They need to be uniform slices.  Also, make sure to leave a good bit of space around the potatoes on the pan.  They steam a lot and need the room so they don't just steam each other.  You also will need to watch them closely as they can burn easily.  OK, that's it for the tips! Happy cooking!


Flip the Switch

For years now I've been wanting to lose the weight.  I guess I've just never had the right kind of motivation.  Don't get me wrong, I've had tons of motivators.  I want to be healthy for my daughter, be sexy for my hubby, feel good about myself, wear pretty clothes, etc.


I've often complained about my weight to my wonderful hubby.  He's always said, "just do it, you just need will power."  While that's true, it just wasn't good enough for me.  I've often told him that I just can't flip the switch and lose the weight.  The last time I gave that excuse he very lovingly and bluntly told me, "no you can't flip the switch and the weight fall right off, but you can flip the switch and change your lifestyle." This hit me like a dagger.  The next day, I decided to flip the switch.  

We did make a little wager, though.  If I work out 4 days a week, then he will go to church on Sunday.  That's the areas that we've both wanted the other to change, but neither of us ever did.  Apparently, him going to church was just the right motivation.  He is saved, and I know he's going to heaven, but somehow it seems like his soul rests in my hands.  Like if I don't workout then he will not grow in his relationship with God the way he should.  Yes, his soul is the perfect motivation!


Welcome!

Yay! My first post on this blog! This blog is all about my journey to lose weight the healthy way.  I don't want to start a diet, lose the weight quickly then gain it all back.  I want to start on a healthy lifestyle change.  

Each week I'll be posting recipes, healthy tips I've come across, and my daily workout and eating progress.  On occasion, I'll also post product reviews or lead you to other weight loss blogs.  You can check out the tabs across the top of the page to see the things I've already written about.

I know, I'm not super, or morbidly obese.  I'm, sadly, the average sized woman.  I wear a size 14 pants and L/XL shirt.  I'm not, yet, at a point where if I don't lose the weight, then I'll die.  I'm at the point that if I don't make a change now, I'll have serious repercussions.  

Thanks so much for joining me on my journey!