Oh the word that is literally the bane of my existence. I usually feel like above- I think I'm allergic to it. It wasn't always like this though.
See- my mom is a dance major, thus I grew up always dancing. Whether it was in her own personal studios or taking lessons- I don't ever remember a time in my childhood that I wasn't part of a dance class. I loved it. Even into high school- I joined the dance team (Go Indianettes!) and loved every second of it. And because i was constantly dancing, I never had issues with eating whatever I wanted and never gaining weight.
Fast forward 15 years....... I apparently and obviously don't dance anymore. That ended with my high school career...and hence, the working out. Oh sure I do some things here and there. I get in a "mood" where I feel like working out and I get a gym membership with all intentions of getting in shape. Then 2 weeks pass by and I'm bored- so I don't go anymore.
About 2 years ago I discovered Zumba. A lady was teaching it for free at my church 3 times a week and so i went. Being a dancer my whole life, this was my thing. This was the ONE thing that I knew I could stick with to get my exercise.
And then I got pregnant with #5. I continued attending my Zumba class until I was about 4 months along and then it just got to be too hard on my body.
So when I decided to start this journey, I thought "I'm going to have to exercise....kill me now". Still to this day (You know.. a whole whopping 4 days into this thing) I still have no desire to exercise and want to continue with my routine of doing nothing.
*Side note: Have you ever worn spanx? LOVE them. seriously.....I need to get a new one because I've worn mine so much. I think even when I lose the weight I'll still wear one :) *
Anywho, I know I'm accountable to everyone who is following this, so I gotta get off my buttookies and get into shape. I'm tired of being the person that keeps looking at other "skinny" people and feeling bad about myself.
I've decided to use my handy dandy Pinterest page and attempt a lot, if not all, the awesome exercises that have caught my eye. I know I need a routine, but until I find what I like and what works for me, you'll get to deal with hearing about my exercise escapades as I attempt them. And I say attempt, because honestly, if you really saw me doing them- you'd think it was a comedy show.
So here are a couple of the exercises I've tried so far and my reviews of them.
Working with Kettlebells:
The exercise routine is found here. I use a 15 lb kettlebell and it's super simple. I crank up the tunes and I actually enjoy it. You sort of feel like you're not really working out until you keep doing it, then it BURNS. It's awesome. I think I like it better as a warm up though instead of an actual main exercise. Doesn't really get the heart rate up and the "burn" doesn't become apparent unless you do it for a while.
Then I have my hand treadmill:
Whenever I've joined a gym, the treadmill has always been my best friend. I can lift weights and do elliptical, but I always spent the most time on the treadmill. I've wanted one for years and finally found a great one for a great deal just this summer. Because I have a form of asthma, I've never been a runner. I've never enjoyed it and I've never done a lot of it because of how much I can't breathe. So I do a combo of walking, jogging for 30-45 minutes. Gets a good sweat going and gets the heart rate up enough to where I can still breathe (kinda fond of the breathing thing....). I will always include my treadmill in my workouts.
Yesterday- I tried this one:
Holy Crapola. My body was NEVER intended to feel the way it does today. When you read the workout, the first thing you'll do is look up every exercise it says to do- because honestly, I've never heard of those words. BUT- once you see the pictures, you'll go "awwww- I've done that before!". So it's simple. But they tell you to do 20-30 reps on each leg 2-3 times. IT. IS. DEATH. It breaks it down to doing 3 "warm up" exercised, 3 main exercises, and then 2 stretches. I did the 3 warm ups just fine. Felt the bur but it was tolerable. Then I got to the first main exercise- I made it through 20 reps once on each leg before feeling like my legs/butt were going to fall off. So I attempted the second one, yah- that just wasn't going to happen. I did as much as I could. But then I did what I always do, shy away from the hard stuff and stick with the stretching. lol
I then moved on to do weight lifting:
I did bench press- lifted a whole 20 lbs thank you very much. (but hey....after doing it like 40 times, my arms actually felt it) I then did arm curls with 15 lbs, then did dead lifts with 20 lbs.
Have you ever tried this workout with the kettlebell?
Don't know what it's called- and I don't bring my hand up to a salute either... but basically- you hold the kettlebell in your hand and let the weight pull you down to the side while bringing your opposite arm to your hip. you flex your abs while doing this and it tones your side abs/aka the muffin top. I've been doing about 30 reps on each side twice and let me tell you, you don't really feel it while you're doing the actual exercise, but I am so sore.. I know it's working.
Now- after all I've tried, I've reached a point (today) where I am so sore, I can barely move. I took 2 tylenol PM's last night and the pain STILL woke up me up- I was that sore. But it's a good pain. I know that whatever I've been doing is starting to work and that makes me happy.
I will continue to do new exercises until I really find what I like- but this seems to be a good start :) At least I can look forward to the day when I don't have to tell myself this:
I'd love to hear about other exercises that you've tried that have worked well too- so comment and let me know!
Yesterdays Weight: 169.8
Today's Weight: 170.2
??? Don't know how that happened and kind of depressing- but hey, I'm still less than where I started.
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