Ripped in 30 days

So after feeling like I am not seeing a whole lot of changes in my body lately other then a slow decrease of the number on my scale, I decided to switch things up a bit.  I have been doing a very similar workout for some time now and started to get worried about muscle memory.  My absolute favorite workout is Jillian Michaels-No more trouble zones and she has never let me down so I decided to go look for one of her videos.  After doing some research I decided on Ripped in 30 days.  The cheapest I found it was 7.99 at costco and definitely feel like that is worth it.  Along with reviews on amazon, I found a blog where a girl posted before and after pictures of herself and she was almost the exact same weight I am now when she started.  You could see a very visible difference from day one and day 30 in her pictures so I am really hoping for some good results.

 It comes with a meal plan and after spending some time trying to decide whether to follow it or not I have decided to continue to to follow weight watchers at 26 points plus daily allowance.  I decided that because it isn't that far off from the amount of calories that Jillian suggests and because it will be easier for me to stay on when I am done.  I have however decided to try and stay away from the processed foods that I sometimes eat when I am hungry in the evening.  I am going to TRY to eat a fruit in the evening when I crave a sweet rather then grab something that comes from a bag.  Otherwise my diet is pretty clean and whole and I don't really think it is all that different.  I think I will allow myself some sort of indulgence once a week but it will be light and fit into my points allowance. 

Ron took a picture of me in my sports bra and some spandex shorts this morning and after deciding that they are probably not modest enough for me to post on the internet I will have him take some more tomorrow morning in something a little less revealing.  I will say that I was suprised to look at a picture of myself.  While I definitely still have some problem areas I am not as "Fat" as I imagine myself.  The areas I am hoping to see a difference in most is my hip and upper thighs.  My body definitely seems to be hanging onto fat there the most. 

I plan on doing the video 5 days a week and trying to get to the gym to run 3 or 4 miles atleast 2 days each week.  I will rest on Sundays.  I bought the video saturday and started it then but am counting today as my first day. It is a four week program and each week the workout changes and increases in difficulty.  It runs in Jillians 3-2-1 fashion which is 3 minutes of strength training, 2 minutes of cardo and 1 minute of abs.  It is only a 24 mintue workout and that is quite a bit shorter then I am used to working out so I was not sure what to expect.  Surprising I am sweating and breathing hard by the end and its only week one so I am confident its going to help.

I will post some things I am eating when I post the pictures of myself tomorrow! 

5 simple, everday weight loss tips

So Sunday was a pencil skirt wearing kind of a day. I was feeling good! =) Last week was a very successful week.  I felt completely in control and lost 4 pounds. Trust me, this is not a normal number nor should it be expected. Some of the weight I gained quickly from a bad weekend so I knew it was going to come off quickly.  Please don't get discouraged if you don't usually loose this much weight in a week.  On a really good week I can loose 2 pounds but that is rare.  The lower I get the harder it gets as well.  I also woke up today and had lost another pound which puts me at my lowest since last fall and that puts me 8 pounds away from my goal. 

I really feel like I can contribute my weight loss last week and this week to the changes that weight watchers made to their points plus program this year.(If you don't follow weight watchers but would like more information about it email me here. I would love to help you out with the resources I use). They recommend if you weren't loosing weight on the new points plus to try going down 3 points but no lower then 26.  I was at 29 points so the lowest I could go is 126 anyways but it has really made a difference.  If you follow weight watchers and don't know about the changes you can see a detailed description at DanicasDailys here.  It is very informative!

Being on this journey for a few years I feel like I have learned a few very basic things that have definitely contributed to my weight loss success and would like to share them with you.  Here are a few.  I will do a nother post with a few more soon.

1. Set a short term goal.  When I was 160 pounds getting down to 130 or 125 felt overwhelming.   I decided to start setting short term goals.  I always set a weekly workout goal and I always set a weekly weight loss goal. It was usually only 2 lbs per week and the lower I have gotten my goal has changed to 1.5/week but it was a number to work towards.    I also have set a goal for  events.  If I was going to be seeing family or had some sort of event I would try to figure out how much weight I could realistically loose in the amount of time till the event.  Whether it was 2 weeks or 30 days I would work towards that goal.  I always tried to make sure that my "Event" wasn't more then 1-2 months away.  More time than that seemed more long term to me. That helped me even more then my weekly goals. 

2. If you like sweets like me then Having sweet, lighter snacks around will help. If you are not a sweet eater there is probably something that is an indulgence for you so have a healthier, lighter option around. Whether it is a Fiber one bar, 100 calorie snack pack, snackwells, knowing how many WhoNu, oreo's, or keebler grasshoppers I can have for a low point sweet treat or its having a homemade low point treat around these things have SERIOUSLY helped me be successful.  I crave sweets every single day and there are days when I just cant resist so I try to have something on hand so that when the craving comes or someone around me is having something that is not low fat or low calories then I can grab the better options and don't feel the need to indulge.

3. Find a way to Get AT LEAST 8 cups of water.  When I workout I try to get even more. This is  one of the most basic of basic weight loss tips for many reasons.  For one, water is so important for our bodies but two, if I am not getting enough water I feel hungry more frequently.  I think that a good portion of people have a hard time getting all 8 cups of water so figure out what works for you.

I find that I can drink more water if I am sipping it from a straw rather then drinking it from a cup.  I found a water bottle that I really like that I can refill and sip from all day.  Keep it in a room that you go in and out of all day or else carry it around your house with you. When you see the water bottle take a big huge sip!  I also always keep a water bottle in my purse so that when I am out and about I can be drinking water too.  So figure out what works for you and stick to it because getting all your water in will seriously help you be successful.

4. Have someone to set goals with and to answer to.  Whether its your spouse, best friend, neighbor, sister, coworker or someone else find some who is trying to loose weight and is willing to report and listen to your report regularly.  Make sure it is someone who is motivated as well.  I have tried this with a few people and some people have helped me be successful and some people were just not into it enough. 

5. Work out the way you like.  If you are doing  a workout that you hate then chances are you are not going to stick to it.  I recently read a blog about a women who lost half her weight starting at 165 by walking everywhere she went.  She didn't like to run so she just walked.  Switch things up in your workout. I really enjoy working out but if I do the same thing every single day I get board.  So I switch it up every day.  My regular routine usually consists of running 3-5 miles some days and doing Jillian Michael's videos other days.  However, some days I don't feel like doing either so I pull out one of the movies I have on hand and do that instead. 

These are just a few tips and trust me I am no expert I have just found that they make a didifference for me.  I will definitely be posting some more soon.  If you have other ideas that have made a difference for your success I would love to hear them.  =)

Quick workout-Cardio

For those of you are have a busy day and cant quite fit in a full workout I really recommend this workout. it is only 20 minutes but I was dripping sweat by the end! =)

Fitness Friday!

I have been wanting to implement some sort of workout post into my blog and I saw on Regis and Kelly (while working on the elliptical) this morning that they have a fitness Friday! So I am copying them and doing a fitness Friday every week. This will deal with fitness in some way. This week I wanted to talk about the awesome workout video that my hubby brought home for me yesterday. I am sure you are all aware of the women Jillian Michaels. Most people dont exactly adore her..atleast I dont. But the girl knows how to give a mean workout and she kicked my booty yesterday while doing this workout.

Ultimate Body Makeover: No more Trouble Zones.I highly recommend it. Its only $10 at walmart or $8.99 new at amazon. Its 50 minutes including a 5 minute cool down and warm up. So fourty minutes of the hard stuff! SERIOUSLY! It consists of circuit training and every work out that she does is an arm workout with a leg workout or ab workouts that work several parts of your abs! I did new workouts that I had never tried before and workouts that were some of my favorite from high school cheerleading! There was probably only one workout I could actually do the modified harder version but dont worry...I'll get there! Seriosly ten dollars is not that much so if you are looking to work every part of your arms, legs and abs than go get it and let me know what you think!

P.S. I usually work out for 45 minutes on the elliptical every day and today I only worked out 30 minutes to give myself a break since I got such a good workout yesterday doing this movie!