Update

It has been quite a while since my last update. I just wanted to update and say that I finished 1 month of the 30 day shred and had my "graduation" on June 11Th. I think I only missed a day or two...but completed a full 30 days (meaning it really took me 32 days to finish 30 days, make sense?)

Anyway...I haven't really weighed myself like crazy, but I do notice a significant change in the way my clothes fit. I still have been watching what I eat - although as of lately, I'm not doing as good as I'd like to be. I'm really lacking in the fruits and veggies department. I still drink plenty of liquids - mostly unsweetened iced tea, thanks to Lipton Cold Brew.

So what have I been doing lately? Am I still doing the shred? Well yes and no. I started to rotate between all three levels....that way I didn't get stuck and get bored doing level 1 for x amount of days and level 2 x amount of days, etc....so I started off with level 1 again, and the next day level 2 and so forth. But that got boring. The biggest thing I wanted to achieve with the 30 day shred was to tone up my abs - heck I just wanted to get rid of my muffin top. I did achieve that, but my abs weren't as flat as I really wanted them. Sure, my pants fit better, but it just wasn't enough for me. One thing that the 30 Day Shred really lacked in was the ab department. So i remembered a while ago that Kristen had a post about Ab-postrophes. A post directing me to my new place to do workouts - exercisetv.tv

I started out with a few she had suggested on her blog, but holy $&@* at Elise Gulan's, Straight to Core. I couldn't believe how hard that was, and quickly passed up on that. But I definitely want to achieve and do the workout sometime soon. Anyway - what I started doing was rotating through a bunch of shorter ab related workouts with a longer 20+ minute workout. Today I worked out for a full hour! Hooray. Hopefully this "makes up" for the horrible past weekend. I only worked out 3 of the past 7 days, which is horrible. Not to mention I probably will not be working out tomorrow because we are leaving early to go to Knott's Berry Farm. So that'll be another full day out of the house.

So that in summary is what I have been up to as of lately. =)

Weigh In

After my purchase yesterday, I hope to have more accurate measurements from now on. Let's just assume that all my previous weigh ins were accurate (even though I didn't take them at the same time of the day, nor did I consistently do it before or after a meal. They were just very random).

So here's today's weigh in at 8:30 am, about an hour after waking up, but before eating or drinking anything.

153.4 lbs
28.1 BMI
41.3% body fat

Sigh. I know that I mentioned in this post that I had a depressing previous measure. I didn't record that measurement. I wrote it down somewhere, but I gained about 1.5 lbs back. Huh? I thought maybe it was just because I did it in the evening, after a full day's worth of eating. But nope, this confirms that I did gain my weight back.

The only thing I'm kicking myself in the butt for is not doing any measurements. After a previous let down with Slim In 6, I didn't loose any inches. I followed the diet, did the workouts for 6 weeks, and I didn't notice any changes. The only thing I did was take measurements last time, not weight. But there were no visible results. So, I was really hesitant to start this program as well. But I'm happy I did, because even though I may not see that many changes on the scale, I do notice visual changes...which are more important to me than seeing the lbs drop. Although they do go hand in hand.

So here's to 9 more days of level 3. Then I plan to re-shred for another month. I think I might do it in this order: 10 days of level 1, 10 days of level 3, and end with 10 days of level 2 for a nice strong finish. If I'm up to it, I might mix it up and do two back to back levels every other day just to add in that extra boost. We shall see.

Day 21 (Day 1 of level 3)

Yay! I made it through to level 3! Yesterday was the first day that I didn't do the shred. But not bad considering I did it for 20 days straight. I'm proud of myself.

Level 3 looks horribly hard, but is surprisingly easier, but in a different way. As I've read on Kristen's blog that level 2 is definitely a WTF level. I wasn't as sweaty as the level 2, but it's more difficult in a sense that there isn't so much cardio in a fast "OMG-my-heart-is-going-to-explode" type cardio. But it was good. I was || this close to doing a back to back workout, but realized I wasn't ready for that. Maybe after 10 days of this. I better take pictures before I forget since this marks the completion of 20 days and starting my last 10 days. I can't believe it. This feels nice that I'm almost there.

I'm currently on hold with Bed Bath & Beyond. I want to purchase this scale:


{source}

Yay! They do have it! We got a gift card from the wedding that I'd like to exchange for this and hopefully they accept my expired coupon. I've read at several places that they do take expired coupons. This has to be way better than using my Wii Fit.

Off to shower and purchase my new toy.

Day 19 and 20 of the shred (day 10 of level 2)

Yesterday I went to a wedding, it was my best friend from jr high. That meant eating a hefty dinner - and cake. I didn't feel so good about it after. I did my 19th day of the shred earlier that day and ate a light lunch because I knew I would be eating a heavy dinner and some cake in the evening.

So today I wanted to take it easy. But I had a really fattening breakfast. So for lunch I ate 2 kashi go lean waffles. I took a nap today and eventually did my workout close to 8:00 PM.

Today's shred was average. I can't believe I got through another 10 days. Tomorrow I start level 3 yikes!

I made the mistake of weighing myself BEFORE my workout and it was quite depressing. I realize the Wii balance board is not an accurate scale, but a toy. I really need to invest in a real scale.

So for dinner all I ate was another 2 waffles, string cheese and some vegetables.

I need to get my act together or I'm going to keep yo-yoing my weight around. Yes, I realize its only 2 lbs, but every lb counts. I do realize I'm loosing inches and have visible results, but I wanna loose in the weight department as well.

Tomorrow will be another challenge as we are going to a friend's son's 1st birthday party. I really need to control myself and stay focused.

Day 18 (Day 8 of level 2) Now Walk It Out

Wow! I can't believe just two more days of level 2. Just when I thought I was finally getting used to level 2, I'm moving onto level 3, yikes! I watched the whole thing the other day and it looked tough.

But yes, I think the shoes are working! Also, one thing I'm trying to do after each workout now is to walk it out. I have the bad habit of sitting down due to exhaustion of the workout, which I know is bad. But I'm just trying to catch my breath! So hopefully with the walking around, the flow of blood will someone make my leg turn into a throbbing, aching hunk of muscle. I don't know the technicality behind it all, but so far it seems to help.

I didn't call the podiatrist today. I should have. I think since I changed my insurance I might have to get a new referral from my general doctor before I can be seen. HMO sucks sometimes.

Wish List New Jillian DVDs

I plan to do the 30 day shred for two months. Next month I'm going to switch up The Shred by going through each cycle every 5 days to switch it up. Or maybe workout 6x a week, and each day two different levels. We will see. I'm not there yet.

But after doing some review research on Amazon, I want to add these to my wish list:



and

Day 17 (Day 7 of level 2) Kitty Gets New Shoes to Save My Foot

So I did some research yesterday and actually found out that my knee/shin problem could possibly be linked to old shoes. Who would have thought, right?

I have been using my old Nike shoes while doing The Shred. I don't even know if they were made for running, all I know is that a few years ago I liked them, found them at Ross and bought them. This has to be more than 5 years ago. I don't do much running, but I have had them for a while and they do run a little tight. I didn't think anything bad of it. They were my only shoes that looked "athletic".

So I decided to hunt for some new shoes. So I did a lot of research on zappos.com and just some basic google searching. I already knew that I was flat flooted. I went to a podiatrist a few years ago and had custom shoe orthotic inserts made. I do pretty good about wearing them most of the year - except for summer. I love flip flops. I love how easy it is to just slip them on and go. The only problem is that these are a killer to my feet. Flips flops typically have no arch support, especially the inexpensive Old Navy ones. OK I'm getting off the subject...So from my research I determined I needed to look for keywords such as "motion control" and "stability".

I happen to have a New Balance outlet by me, so this was perfect because the list I had in my favorites on zappos were all New Balance shoes. I wrote down my favorite styles and decided to check them out. I was able to find about 3 of the styles I originally wanted. One of them was completely ugly, but there were a few other ones in the store that I liked. I decided to ask a sales associate what she recommended for flat footed peeps like me. The shoes she recommended to me weren't as cute, but all I kept thinking was that I'm not planning to wear these out, this is for my health and safety to make sure I didn't injure myself and to ease the pain in my knee and shins.

So I ended up walking out of the store with these:


New Balance WR817

They don't look so bad in the photo, but trust me, they aren't so cute, but not super ugly either. I got a good deal. On the zappos.com website, they list for $99.95, I got them at the amazing deal of $49.95! Sweet!

After running around town and hanging out with my son and also buying him a pair of new shoes, I rushed home and did The Shred. I don't know if it was psychological, but my left knee and shin felt better. I didn't feel so much shock and pressure. I quickly had to take them off and hop in the shower to pick up my son from school. OUCH! I definitely think there is something going on with my leg/foot. It was just in pain and difficult for me to bend/walk. I managed to get around, but slowly.

I think this is a sign that I need to give up flip flops for a few days - maybe forever? And also give the podiatrist another visit and see if there is something major going on that needs further inspection/treatment. This doc was recommended to me by my mom. She had surgery 4 years ago for removing a bunion on her right foot. I noticed that I too was developing a bunion, thus the reason for getting the orthotics in hopes to avoid surgery. I just called too late today to schedule an appointment was already closed.

Overall, today's Shred was pretty good thanks to the comfort of my new shoes. I'm able to endure through the 20 minutes longer. I'm a lot happier with level 2 as each day passes by because I know I did better.

Days 13, 14, 15 and 16 of the 30 day shred (level 2)

This weekend I did pretty well. The only thing that wasn't so good was the diet. It wasn't what I ate, but the times that I ate. I really want to stop all my eating at 8:00 PM, but that's rather difficult on weekends. Maybe I'll bend my rule to be no later than 9:00 PM for weekends and not beat myself up so much.

But today my left knee was just killing me. That by the end, I had to land with the pressure on my right leg. I did some quick research and I knew that this wasn't going to be easy on my knees or shins, but I didn't think I was one of those people to suffer through those types of aches and pains.

I thought about taking a break tomorrow, but my only fear was to loose the momentum and actually stop. So, instead tomorrow I'm giving my left knee a break and doing level 1. I really don't want to do that, but if I want to make it through 30 days, I better take it easy.

Oh and I was very impatient and decided to do another weigh in. I know I was only going to do it every 10 days, but I decided to cheat a little. Here were my stats for today:

27.83 BMI (-.12)
151.2lbs (-.7 lbs)

Yay! I know that isn't so much weight overall lost, but I definitely see the difference in my clothes. Not so much that I'm dropping pant sizes, but I'm definitely not as muffin-topy. Yeah that isn't a word, but even hubby could tell, yay!!!! Progress feels good for all the hard work!

Day 12 (2nd day of level 2) I WANNA DIE

Today I was not motivated to start my workout. I really wanted to workout before eating breakfast, but decided to eat a snack pack of baby carrots in the morning when DS2 ate breakfast.

I then proceeded to do a load of laundry, tidy up the room and lounged around on the computer. It was already almost 12:30 PM, I still did not eat breakfast other than my carrots and already 2 cups of water. I've mentioned here a few times that I liked being sore because to me it was an indicator that something was working on my body. My muscles were being worked, stretched and hopefully it meant some of the fat was melting away. I went to bed whimpering and my husband said I better give my body a rest so that I wouldn't injure myself. Being the stubborn girl that I am, I sucked it up, shut up and hoped tomorrow I would feel better.

Yes, I did wake up this morning with my lower leg feeling better, but I was still sore. So by the time workout time came around I kept thinking...Jillian was right...."I feel like I wanna die!" Level two is TOUGH and she's right, this is no joke. I did better than yesterday, which I'm very proud of, but I'm doing things for the most part Anita-style. I didn't take as many breaks (of course I still had to! Who doesn't on their 2ND day of level 2??). But I definitely was able to stick through it longer. I can't take all the moves in plank position, but hopefully quickly I'll adapt and be able to do them Natalie-style even thought she cheats, lol.

I just have to remember that I'm almost at the halfway point! Monday will mark the day! That's also Memorial Day, which should be a day to sleep in since the kids don't have school. Sigh. I wonder when I'll get around to shredding that day? Oh well, that's still two days from now. Why should I worry now? I should worry about eating lunch already!

Rules/Goals

I have been wanting to post a rules/goals post since I started this blog but never got around to it. So in no particular order, here are my personal rules and goals:

• To do the 30 day shred in 30 days. 10 days of level one (DONE), 10 days of level 2, and 10 days of level 3.
• My goal was to lose 5 lbs during the 30 day shred. I aimed low, because I am often a pessimist and didn't want to overachieve something that seemed unobtainable. But guess what? After 10 days, I'm just 2.6 lbs away from my goal with 19 more days to do it.
• My ultimate goal is to lose 30 lbs and be back at 125...but I don't think I've been that weight since high school, which was about a decade ago! So who knows if I'm even being realistic. It's just a personal goal.
  
• Maybe not so much in weight, if that 125 isn't so realistic, I want to be able to at least fit into my size 6 jeans again. (I hope I didn't give them all away.) That would mean dropping from a current pant size of 10 to a 6.
  
• No eating after 8 PM.
• Drink only water, and when that gets boring, some unsweetened hot or iced tea.
• Limit my damn carbs. I love carbs....rice, cereal, pasta, bread, all very yummy. But I have it all the time.
• Eat more fruits and veggies. I was never a veggie lover. I've always been a picky eater. So this is tough. I can do salad mixes, but all the other stuff always doesn't sound too appetizing. I can do a few, like asparagus, carrots, broccoli, bok choy, corn to name a few. Trust me, my likes on the vegetables list isn't too big.
• Sweets, oh my how I love sweets. But thankfully, I have had the strong will and determination to stay away.
  

On top of these rules and guidelines, I also plan to update my twitter account. I'm very new to this whole twitter thing, so excuse me if I just suck at it. I'll be sure to catch up quickly. I will use my twitter account mostly as a food journal. I started off with a tweet what you eat diary, but I quickly got lazy to update it every time I had a meal.

Day 11 (1st day of level 2) YEOWCH!!!!

Today I wasn't looking forward to starting level 2. My whole lower leg (knees, shins and calves) were killing me. I don't know if I was just sore from going deeper into the moves, or if I did a move wrong, but they were just sore.

I watched level 2 yesterday night to just get myself familiarized with the workout. I've heard that level 2 was the hardest/most challenging, so I had to see what it was all about. After watching it yesterday, I thought "I can do that!". But today was another story. I don't know if I just wasn't hyped up, or if I was still trying to wake up, or if it was just hard, but I was struggling.

The warm up was good, I even made it through the walking push ups. I think what the killer was just getting used to all the new moves, moving onto unfamiliar territory. I just didn't have the endurance to get through it and (sadly) had to take a lot of 5 second breathers. I just hope that didn't account to a whole minute of "breathers".

But I'm glad I did get through it and promise myself to try a lot harder tomorrow. This was just the challenge that I needed to break up the monotony of level 1.

Now to eat some breakfast! Kashi Go Lean Strawberry Flax waffles anyone?

Days 8, 9 and 10 - (Level 1) Graduation day & progress!

Yay! I officially made it through 10 days of level 1, hooray! I did it. Nothing to report about days 8 and 9 other than it was really boring. I was getting annoyed - but it made me push harder to get through everything faster. So maybe it was a good thing?

Day 9 I did something different by working out before eating breakfast. I think one thing that I can't get down consistently is working out at the same time of the day, each and every day. It varies anywhere from 9 am to 1:30 PM. It just all depends on what's going on in the morning.

Today (day 10) was one of those days that I had to take a detour from my usual morning workout. I really wanted to workout before eating breakfast. But I had to go to the doctor's for an 'script for a UTI, but that's a whole other story not workout related that I'll leave out of this blog.

So, were there any good results? I think yes. I still haven't had the chance to do any measurements because I haven't gone out and purchased a "paper" measuring tape. But I did take my weight and BMI with my Wii Fit.

Here are the results:

BMI 27.95 (-.45 previous 28.40)
WEIGHT 151.9 lbs! (-2.4 previous 154.3)

Days 6 and 7 (level 1) of the 30 day shred

Hooray! I was actually woke up early (6:30am) to do my workout. Remember I was worried I wouldn't be able to workout Saturday and thought the only time I'd be able to do it was in the morning? Well I did it. Although I would have had time in the evening, I'm glad I did it in the morning.

I'm noticing that I'm not breaking out in a sweat as much. I'm also starting to get used to the moves and feel like everything is starting to get too repetitive, and almost too easy. Not that I can master the push up, or get deep into the move - but I guess I want more of a challenge (I guess I just have to wait 3 more days!). Also, I'm not as sore anymore. Not that I want to be sore everyday...but when I'm not sore, I feel like nothing is working. I almost want to switch to the next level...but I just need to hang in there. I'm about to graduate from level 1 - HOORAY! I'm almost there.

I can't believe that I was originally thinking that I'd do level 1 for the first month! What was I thinking? I think I would stop from boredom. I am a little scared to see what's in store for level 2. I've read that it's more challenging than level 3. But then again I've never viewed the second or third levels.

I'm so proud of myself that I've actually did each and every workout this week. The only thing was the whole dieting portion this weekend. I gotta get back on track tomorrow and continue updating my tweet what you eat diary. I also want to buy 5 lb weights. There are portions where I feel I could handle the 5 pounds weights.

Just 3 more days til "graduation" and I progress to the next level.

Day 5 of the 30 day shred (level 1) : Excercise Good; Diet BAD

It took a while for me to get to day 5's workout. I did it at about 1:45 this afternoon. You see, I'm the type of person that easily gets distracted when I work out. I don't like to talk, and I easily get embarrassed when someone is around. I tend to workout in my older son's room (BACKGROUND: My husband and I along with our two son's live under the same roof with my in-laws, my sister in law and brother in law). I don't like when my two kiddos are in the room asking me a million questions because I easily get distracted. Today was sort of the same situation. Father in law was home. I didn't want him wondering why the heck I was jumping up and down a million times upstairs. So, I waited til he was eating lunch before I proceeded with my quick 20ish minute routine of jumping around.

Definitely a better workout. I think I can go a smidge deeper into the push-ups (still modified), and I can actually keep up with everything. I think I took maybe 2 or 3 mini 5 second-ish breathers. I struggle to get through the cardio portion of jumping jacks/jump rope, butt kicks. They really do kick my butt. After that portion when we go into front lunge w/bicep curl...I don't know what's going on, but my feet are killing me! I think it's because it doesn't really have the time to rest between all the jumping around.

I decided not to weigh myself today. Mostly because I ran out of time after my workout (barely had enough time to shower down before picking up DS from school), and also I decided it would be a better test to see what would happen after 10 days. Not to mention I was scared that I would be discouraged if I didn't see any weight loss. For the most part while reading several blogs about The Shred, people don't loose so much in weight, but they do lose in inches. So, I didn't want to get discouraged and feel like nothing was happening.

As far as eating goes today. I failed horribly. I didn't update my Tweet What You Eat at all today. I'm fairly certain I didn't get enough water. I ate 1 piece of Helen Grace mint chocolate, Quizno's tuna melt (which I only know now is a melt after looking at it online to see the calorie content)...that was 530 calories. I also made the kids macaroni and cheese for dinner. The sauce I made consisted of tons of calories I'm sure. It was made of milk, heavy cream, cream cheese, American cheese and Parmesan cheese. Not to mention the pasta. Who knows as that could have been close to 500-(gulp) 1,000 calories. FAILED horribly at today's diet.

Tomorrow is scary as well. It's my son's first communion. We're having lunch at the house and we ordered Thai food. *sigh* I'm also trying to figure out if I'm realistically going to wake up at 6 in the morning to work out. That would be the only time I could incorporate it into tomorrow's schedule and I really don't want to miss a day. I need to focus and get back on track. We shall see what tomorrow will be like for the shred and the diet.

Dinner let down

I really wanted to make dinner for tonight but I have go to go my son's First Communion rehearsal. It will run from approx 5:30-8:00 PM. One of my goals was to stop eating after 8pm. Which means I need to eat prior to the rehearsal. The only problem is that I ate a late lunch (around 2PM).

It's 5:00 now which means I have 0 time to make the Spinach Shrimp Fettuccine I wanted to make. Oh well. Looks like semi-healthy fast food for me, boo =(

Day 4 of the 30 day shred (level 1)

Feeling much better today. Definitely not as sore - which is a good thing. Yesterdays calorie total was at 1,255. I would like to try and aim at 1,000 calories, but I don't think my body is quite ready for that yet. By the end of the day yesterday I was just beat, tired, and cranky. Not to mention I had a killer migraine. I was also short tempered. It might be a good thing that I'm also keeping track of what I eat. Maybe I can pin-point if certain foods trigger my migraines.

But today's workout was definitely better. I can't believe how fast the workout goes by, and how much I sweat! YUCK! I noticed I was able to go deeper into my push ups. However, I'm still doing the modified one. I'm hoping that on day 6, I can completely stop all the modified versions and do the regular ones.

Tomorrow I get to weigh myself and see if this thing is really working or not! Yay! That should be exciting/interesting.

Day 3 of 30 day shred (level 1)

Today my legs and arms were sore! Just the warm-up alone was killing me. Nothing really different to report today. I haven't decided if I want to do 30 days of level 1 and keep going up a level every 30 days. Or if I want to increase a level every 10 days. I think I want something quick...so I might progress a level every 30 days. But I'm a little scared that I might be moving up too fast. But then again, I don't wanna get bored with doing only level one for 30 days. Hmm, some things to ponder.

Day 3 - Breakfast

Here's what I had for breakfast.

16 oz water 0 calories
Honey Nut Cheerios (3/4 cup) 110 calories
4 oz whole milk 75 calories
1 cup strawberries 50 calories

Total for breakfast: 235 calories

Day 2 Dinner - Salmon with Brown Sugar Glaze

Oooh I just tried out this amazingly easy recipe I stumbled upon a few days ago. It is for salmon with a brown sugar glaze. You can get the recipe here.

I only made this for one portion though as hubby was watching the Laker's game with a friend.

2 pieces (4 oz each) Market Pantry Keta Salmon 140 calories per piece x 2 = 280 calories
1 tablespoon dark brown cane sugar each tablespoon has 15 calories, thus 45 calories
1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard each tablespoon has 5 calories, so approx 2 calories for this
and about 3-4 strawberries cut up. According to this, 8 medium strawberries is 45 calories, so lets say 20 calories for the strawberries
16 oz water. 0 calories

Approx calories for dinner: 392

Day 2, of 30 day shred (Level 1)

Wow! I made it through another day. Although this time it was much more difficult to squeeze it in. Just because its only 20 minutes, doesn't mean it isn't hard to get 20 minutes of time that isn't interrupted?

This morning I was going to do it right before I dropped off younger DS to school. But that didn't happen as I wouldn't have enough time to complete the workout, hop in the shower and get him to class on time.

So I decided to do it after I drop him off. But the same situation had arise. I had to bring BIL (brother-in-law) to the doctors. I wasn't going to have enough time. I would have enough time after I drop him off. After all doctor's appointments take foreevver, right? WRONG.

I got home, started to set everything up, got into my workout attire and my phone rings. It's my mom. She talks on and on to me about my uncle's recent trip to the Philippines, etc. etc. etc. OK, I gotta start this thing. My phone starts to ring again. CRAP. It's BIL asking me to pick him up already! WHAT?! I was home for about 30 minutes and didn't even get to start.

So after picking him up, and eventually picking younger DS up from school, it was time. I did my workout. FINALLY! Things to take note today are my form. I always wondered if my form was right. I do have a mirror in the room, but I always hate to look at myself. I did notice that while doing to bicep curl (I think that's the segment) I'm NOT supposed to be resting my elbows close to my body - but I was. That definitely makes it so much more difficult. For the most part, I think I'm in between a modified and the full motion. I can't exactly go close to the ground, or do a regular push up. But there are some moves where I can go lower than the lady doing the modified version.

I decided to weigh myself every 5 days. So three more days to see if this is working any. Also, I started a new food diary at tweetwhatyoueat. Here's my personal diary.

Day 1 of 30 day shred (Level 1)

So what is 30 day shred? I got this for Mother's Day...


[source]

Yep, I'm starting another workout program because the Wii Fit just wasn't cutting it. I was starting to get bored with it too. Plus, after a while I just wasn't breaking a sweat anymore. Nor was I getting sore. I couldn't feel it anymore. So, after hearing many good reviews from Weddingbee, I asked my hubby this along with some weights for Mother's Day!

At first I was a little bit scared to try it. I mean 20 minutes is nothing, but 20 minutes non-stop? That sounded scary. But it was worth a try. I decided to watch it for a few minutes to see if it was really something I could do...without wasting too much time, I decided to jump right in and try it out.

Many did I break out a sweat and my arms and thighs are sore. Something I haven't felt in about 2 weeks because I stopped running outdoors. See I'd love to run outdoors more often, but I'm lazy. I'd rather stay home and workout in the privacy of my own home. And time is another part that makes me lazy. Sometimes it just takes too long. 20 minutes is nothing! I have been doing Wii Fit for about 35 minutes...which is about 45 minutes actual time.

I also decided to stop weighing myself every day. It was too discouraging. Instead, I decided to do it every week. I will do it every Monday. I'm not doing it today. (or maybe I will later) to see what my starting point is and work from there. Let's see where I am in 30 days. I hope to loose at least 5 lbs. That isn't too much to ask, is it?

*edit* I did take my weight on the Wii Fit and hooray! No changes. Not gaining weight is better than gaining weight, so that's a good thing. So my starting stats are:

154.3 lbs and 28.40 BMI. I need to take my measurements, but I can't find my soft measuring tape?

Discouraging

I decided to do the same workout as yesterday cause I'm lazy to think of anything else. Plus, I really liked what I did yesterday. Only I did a slight few modifications. Here's the list:

• Half moon
• single leg twist
• sun salutation
• sidways leg lift
• chair pose
• ADDED rowing squats (didn't do this yesterday)
  
• triangle
• torso twists
• single leg extensions
• standing knee
• dance
• jackknife
• bridge
• spinal twist
• super hula hoop DID NOT DO TODAY
  
• Instead I did rhythm boxing. I completed it this time and unlike the first time I tried it, I didn't realize you had to move your foot on and off the balance board. So this time around I knew what I was doing. Amazed and confident, I decided to try the advanced mode. Halfway through I got lost. I then quit (I know bad to give up!) and did the beginner mode again for the 2nd time.

Discouraged, I decided to Google "how to make wii fit work" and I found this article:

The Wii Fit Workout that Works

Author: boake moore

The WII Fit works. And works well. And it can work for you. Here are my top 10 tips to make it work for you:

Top 10 WII FIT Tips

1. Work out regularly and everyday if possible

2. Do not do the body test every day as directed; do it every other workout or even every third workout. Every day is too often and unless done at the same time each day your weigh will naturally vary 2 pounds

3. Work out for at least 30 minutes each day

4. The balance games do not count in your workout. Only do then after your workout is complete

5. Focus on the aerobics to maximize weight gain. Make sure 80% of your time goes to aerobics. I think I do too much of the yoga and strength. Both yesterday and today I didn't run.

6. Use the yoga and strength modules as rest periods between your aerobic choices

7. After 3 weeks focus on the free steps and free run - do at least 10 minutes of either one every workout. If you can build up to 20 minutes and then 30 minutes of the "Free Steps" or "Free Run" - this will really improve your fitness program and calorie burn

8. To get a 30 minute workout you need to allocate 45 minutes; for an hour of workout you need to allocate 90 minutes. Which is really like working out at the gym when you consider all the waiting time and setting up

9. The balance games make it fun but they don't burn calories. Too many people get caught up trying to break their record - end up doing them for an hour - and then wonder why they didn't lose weight after they worked out for 2 hours. Again the balance games don't burn calories and should not be considered as a workout

10. Find a partner to work out on your same system. Even if you work out together you can see their scores and progress and the competition will drive you to improve and work out harder.

11. Work out regularly and everyday if possible. Work hard and the results will come. Its not a miracle worker but if you try every day you will see the results.

And heres a good workout routine I should try this next time. Maybe I can squeeze it in tomorrow?

1. Aerobics - run short distance warm up 2 minutes

2. Aerobics - boxing or steps - 5 minutes

3. Strength - 3 routines

4. Aerobics - free run 20 minutes

5. Yoga - 3 routines

6. Aerobics - boxing or stairs

7. Yoga and strength - 5 routines or 10 minutes

8. aerobics - 15 minutes

Have a great workout!

Now the balance games are alot of fun and quite addictive. They can be used as a rest period or a way to take a break. And they are quite addictive - so please be careful or you will find yourself spending an hour playing games versus working out. The best way to use the balance games is a reward for a hard workout. Woork out for an hour and then play the games. Or workout in the morning and play the games in the evening as a stress reliever.

One other hint with the workout. Once you get comfortable with the workout always use the maximum reps allowed. And when you really get comfortable start using free weights with your workout. For example use handweights when you do the 30 minute run or use handweights while doing the strength exercises. And find a friend to push you. Competition on scores only pushes you that much harder


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George "Boake" Moore is an IT Sales engineer by trade and founded a non profit coffee company called Mission Grounds Gourmet Coffee - It donates all its profits and proceeds to helping orphans and impoverished children. We currently are building schools in rural China, orphanages in South America; in Russia and Africa. And helping homeless children Lets make the world better -George "Boake" Moore and Mission Grounds - http://www.missiongrounds.com


Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_768896_23.html

About the Author: Boake Moore owns a great gourmet coffee company called Mission Grounds www.missiongrounds.com - that donates all its profits to helping homeless children and orphans.

http://www.missiongrounds.com

What I learned is that I shouldn't measure myself every day. And if I do, I should do it at the same exact time! Doh! I didn't know that! But for measuring sake...here's today's results...

154.3 lbs (+0.6 lbs)
28.40 BMI (+0.12 BMI)

Sigh! I really have been watching what I eat and trying to drink only water. Maybe tomorrow it'll be better. Or maybe not? It's Mother's Day and we have a party here at the house. That means lots of food and now for me to build a wall of food self control.

A week and a half into things...

So I started getting exercise back into my life routine about a week and a half ago (4/28/09).

Today I had...

for breakfast: Special K Fruit & Yogurt Cereal with whole milk. Yes, I know I need to lay off the whole milk already, but it's hard when I'm trying to give my kids whole milk.

water

snack: 1 banana

This was today's Wii Fit routine:

1. Half moon
2. single leg twist
3. sun salutation
4. sidways leg lift
5. chair pose
6. triangle
7. torso twists
8. single leg extensions
9. standing knee
10. dance
11. jackknife
12. bridge
13. spinal twist
14. super hula hoop

Which was a total of 33 minutes added to my workout bank.

Today's results:
28.28 BMI (-.20 BMI from previous test on 5/6/09)
153.7 lbs (-1.1 lbs from previous test on 5/6/09)

Here are my results since I initially started Wii Fit on the 28th:

• 4/28/09 153.4 lbs 28.24 BMI
• 4/29/09 152.8 lbs 28.11 BMI (everything seemed good, right?)
• 4/30/09 154.1 lbs 28.36 BMI (what happened?? This was discouraging)
• 5/1/09 153.4 lbs 28.24 BMI (OK looked promising again)
• 5/6/09 154.8 lbs 28.48 BMI (Not again! I thought I was supposed to consistently be dropping??)
• 5/8/09 153.7 lbs 28.28 BMI (Yay! I'm loosing again!)

About

Everyone always starts with an about post right?

I'm a girl in her late 20's that's just trying to loose weight. I'm trying to become more actively aware of the importance of exercise and eating healthy.

Currently I'm trying to incorporate light jogging, wii fit, and hopefully for Mother's Day (or sometime soon) I can try and use Jillian Michael's 30-day shred. Sounds promising for a 20ish minute workout.

*edit 5/12/09*
I got it! I got Jillian's DVD for Mother's Day. This originally started as a blog to track my Wii Fit progress, but instead it will track my 30 day shred progress. *end edit*

Goals for the blog are to track current stats, workouts, and hopefully updated with food (and water) intake.

This is my journey to a thinner me.

Is Kitty your real name?
Kitty is my wii character name. It is also my after my nickname my husband and I had when we were in high school, as well as my love (yes I know I'm grown) for Hello Kitty.