yoga Posts

12Mar
Off

My Workout Routine Is Working For Me!

Staci G. sent an email applauding my recent weight loss. When I wrote back to let her know that I’ve now lost a total of 14 1/2 lbs. in the past 30 days, she fired off an immediate request that I share details about my workout routine on the blog.

I’m happy to do so — especially since I didn’t have anything else in mind to write about today — but keep in mind: (a) I’m not a fitness trainer; (b) I don’t claim that what I’m doing would work for you, it’s simply what’s working for me; and (c) I’m not at all efficient about exercise so doing a 90 minute workout actually requires a 2-hour commitment for me.

And, no, that’s not a typo: I’m setting aside 2 hours out of my day to exercise 6 days per week. Before someone wastes time typing in the comments “Oh, I don’t have that kind of time every day” let me just point out that YES YOU DO. If you’ve got time to read blogs and comment on them, you’ve got time you could be exercising. You’ve simply made a choice not to.

It’s no coincidence that I’ve been blogging less while exercising more. That’s a choice I’ve made for my life, and now that I’m seeing the benefits — losing weight without an outrageously restrictive diet, better sleep, less joint pain, clearer skin and seriously lower stress levels — it’s a choice I intend to stick with. Because, as I mentioned before, it works for me… but you may need to find something else that works for you.

That said, here’s what I’m doing:

    Monday, Wednesday, Friday

  • 10 minutes yoga (usually with Wii Fit) to warm up
  • 30 minutes “Sweat I/II” from Power90 In-Home Boot Camp
  • 10 minutes “free run” on Wii Fit hitting 1.5 miles
  • 15 minutes cardio workout with My Fitness Coach
  • 30 minutes “free step” on Wii Fit at fastest pace

Total minutes: 95 per day

    Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday

  • 25 minutes yoga with Wii Fit to warm up
  • 15 minutes cardio workout with My Fitness Coach
  • 30 minutes “Sculpt I/II” from Power90 In-Home Boot Camp
  • 15 minutes “free step” on Wii Fit at fastest pace
  • 5 minutes balance games on Wii Fit to cool down

Total minutes: 90 per day

Yes, it’s a lot of exercise. Yes, I’m sore in the mornings. Yes, I get tempted every single day to skip my workout. But I won’t, because giving into that temptation is exactly what helped me get fat in the first place. (Okay, that and a hell of a lot of pizza.)

And what’s really strange about it is that I AM LOVING EXERCISE these days. So, okay, seeing the scale dip lower each morning might be part of it. But the majority of it comes from simply knowing that I’m doing what I know, deep down, is the right thing to do if I want to lose weight.

Which reminds me: it’s time for me to get offline. See, I have some shopping to do now that I need yet another pair of smaller-sized jeans.

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Exercise and tagged with , , , , , ,
17Feb
2

Lessons From The Wii Fit

My back got to feeling better late last week, so I’m back to working out daily with my Wii Fit.

No, wait, let me be even more specific: I’m back to working out an hour per day for five days in a row now, thanks to my Wii Fit. And that doesn’t count the time I spend playing Raving Rabbids, one of the funniest games I’ve ever played, or the time I spend playing hardcore-yes-I’m-grunting tennis on Wii Sports.

You know how exercise is supposed to give you more energy? I’m still waiting for that part to kick in. I’m tired! Every morning when my alarm clock goes off, I am so tempted to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep. The only thing stopping me? My arms are too freakin’ sore to move quickly enough to reach the dang thing before that incessant buzzzzzing wakes up everyone else in the house. So, I drag myself out of bed, turn the alarm off, and groan as I shuffle to the bathroom.

Working out barefoot hurts!
First lesson learned — okay, second lesson, since my first one involved not getting too over zealous doing the hula hoop game — Crocs work just fine on the Wii Fit balance board. This was an important one, since my feet were killing me for the first week. Picture a large baking potato bouncing up and down repeatedly on two grains of brown rice and you’ll understand why. So, after weighing in on the balance board, I now slip on my Crocs for my workout. Ah, relief!

Avoid the Wii Wobbles — Wear a good bra!
Next lesson: a good sports bra is worth every penny you pay for it. Seriously. I tried exercising in my regular bra for the first few days and rubbed my right nipple raw in addition to stretching out the elastic on my shoulder straps. Two super-strength sports bras and one tin of Udder Cream later (yes, really, it’s good stuff!) and I’m no longer wincing when I step into cold air, if you know what I mean.

Yoga is NOT a substitute for stretching.
Stretching before the Wii Fit workout is imperative, even if you plan to start off with yoga! Now, despite being overweight, I’m a fairly limber person to start with. I can still do front splits with either leg leading, for instance, and as far as touching my toes… well, I can almost put my elbows on the floor. (Yes, my husband is appreciative of both skills, thanks for asking.)

But I’m also 41 years old, and certain parts of my body are definitely unused to bending, twisting and gyrating, so I’ve taken to stretching for 5 minutes or so before beginning my workout. I have little doubt that the lack of stretching is somewhat to blame for last week’s back injury. I also have little doubt that stretching is the primary reason why I’ve shaved my Wii Fit age from 47 when I first started (ugh) to 34.

Learn to love the jackknife.
My abdominal area is definitely in the most need of help. After 6 years of spending most of the day blogging, I’ve lost whatever abdominal and back strength I used to possess and it shows. Oh, I’ve done crunches and bicycles sporadically over the years, but even when going at them regularly I’ve seldom seen any improvement in the bulge beneath my belly button. Two weeks of doing the jackknife exercise twice daily (20 reps each time) has changed that. Yes, it hurts. But it hurts in a good way… and I am glad to be fitting into a size smaller jeans today because of it.

As an added benefit, the combination of the jackknife and torso twist strength-training exercises and yoga’s triangle pose is great for stimulating the body. (That’s yoga-speak for “you’re finally going to shit out that gum you swallowed in second grade.”) Yes, it’s possible that has something to do with the smaller-size jeans, but who am I to complain?

Don’t have a Wii or Wii Fit? Hurry — Amazon has them in stock!

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Guilty Pleasures, Living With Fat and tagged with , , , ,
21Jan
Off

Still Dieting? Relax, Already!

I’ve always admired those serene, slender women who gracefully saunter through life, their lean legs and contented faces carrying them through even the most turbulent of times.

Until recently, I’d assumed they probably had the same amount of stress as the rest of us, only they were self-disciplined enough to take out their frustrations at the gym instead of in front of the fridge.

Turns out, though, maybe they aren’t as stressed as the rest of us. Maybe that’s their secret to being slender: chilling out by mellow meditation, instead of cooling their heels with a vat of Chunky Monkey.

At the end of a two-year study, women who followed a programme of yoga and meditation had lost weight and kept it off, while those who focused purely on exercise and nutrition had not.

The ‘relaxed’ women were also generally happier and healthier at the end of the study.

Experts believe that reducing stress stops cravings for fatty foods and sweets.

The study suggests that dieting and exercise — although they do bring health improvements — may not actually be the key to weight loss.

All together now: Ommmmm. [Link]

Posted by Chubby Mommy in Dieting Humor, Weight Loss Matters and tagged with , , , , ,