Good Week, Getting Moving!

So, I think my new strategy is helping - I got out to the YMCA twice this week. My goal is 10 moves a week and this last week I got up to 8, which is an improvement.

Good Week So Far...

Definitely doing better this week than last. Actually made it to the gym this morning which felt really good. I think I need to set some goals. Goals are more powerful than aspirations. Plans much more effective than dreams...

My Goal is to fit into size 16 jeans again and feel healthy and active and able to keep up with my energetic girls and hubby.

My Plan is to do at least 10 moves a week and work my way up from there.

Trying again... and again...

Well, got discouraged again due to lack of success in the weight loss dept. I've decided to focus more on the moves so I have more control over the achievements I'm tracking. I made a new chart and I'm going to track how many "moves" I make each week. Here are the things I'm going to consider as moves:

Walk to or from School
Half hour of yoga
Half hour on machines at YMCA
Circuit training at YMCA
Swimming at YMCA
20 minutes of kickboxing
Riding bike
Vacuum upstairs and downstairs
One hour of laundry, loading, folding etc.
Scrub all three bathrooms
Scrub kitchen floor

Maybe this will motivate me to do a little more housework each week too :)

Got a Personal Trainer

She's very motivational, practically dragged me downstairs to do my workout yesterday. Then she shows off her boundless energy by jumping on the trampoline for, like, the whole time I'm stretching, then working, then stretching some more... Coach Stella is helping to keep me motivated when I'm not feeling motivated!

Music is the Key

So, I blame a lot of my recent work out success on my new 5 song mix CD's. They really give me the structure and motivation I need to get a good work out without a skinny girl yelling at me or a disgusting Denise Austin video to growl at.

I recently got an awesome "techno" mix CD from my friend Kristy and I made a new CD with three 5 song mixes on it. I was all excited to use it yesterday and I ran down and started it up on the second set because this "Blue" song I'm addicted to starts it out. Took me a minute to find the song, but I'm always getting the track numbers mixed up so I wasn't surprised. But, then I was going through the workout and I was really surprised by my choice of song for light boxing and weight lifting and then heavy boxing was a remix of "dancing queen" by Abba and I knew I had it messed up somehow. I opened the CD player and realized I had Kristy's original mix CD in there instead of my 5 song mix CD! Whew... I was so relieved I hadn't messed up my mix so badly! Today I worked out to the right CD and what a difference it made. I've really got it down what tempo and type of music is good for which part of my work out.

Made a Motivation Page in my "Happy Journal"

Got Busy, Lost Motivation

Ugh... feeling like I'm loosing my drive. I got down there today and it felt great, but then I went to add it to my exercise log and can't believe how little I've worked out this month. Sigh. Trying to keep in mind one of my favorite sayings: "Seven days of no exercise makes one weak." lol

Snow Shoveling Work Out

I can get exercise in ways other than kickboxing. I had a great workout shoveling snow the other day. It was much longer than a usual workout - I was at it for over an hour. And it used many different muscles than my usual workout. I know because they were all very sore the next couple of days! I look forward to adding in more walking and bikeriding this spring.

Feeling the move

I don't just move to loose weight or get healthier or stronger. I move because it feels good! I did an extra long stretching before my boxing today and it felt - so good! I think my body is really happy to be moving and exercising and stretching more.

Motivation from Aunt Jenny!

So, I wasn't going to work out today. I wasn't feeling all that energetic and my core muscles are really sore from my workout on Wednesday. I figured I wouldn't enjoy working out with sore muscles, so I put it off and put it off. Then I get an e-mail from my Aunt Jenny telling me that my blog inspired her! OMG! Totally cool to think I could inspire my totally cool Aunt Jenny!!! So, I couldn't not work out today after hearing that. So, I went down and worked out lightly... not straining my tummy muscles too much. Went great - feel great! Thanks Aunt Jenny :)

In the groove

Wow! I'm feeling so good today. Coffee might be helping a little... but, I got down there and really enjoyed my workout. Stelly has been coming downstairs with me and sometimes she plays with toys, but often she will jump on the trampoline or get on her little boxing gloves and copy my moves. So, I really feel like I'm setting a good example for being healthy and active. Just gotta keep it up! Stelly took this pic of me today - didn't wan't my blog to be all words :)

Keepin' it up and feeling good!

I've only missed one day since the first of the year... ok, ok... hasn't been a week yet - but, I'm feeling really good about it! This is the best I've done for quite a while and I'm hoping to make this a lifetime commitment, so, gotta celebrate each day as an accomplishment right now.

An excuse no more!

So, I usually use my period as an excuse not to kickbox because I work my core so much and figure it would be too uncomfortable and miserable. I just blew that excuse right out of the water! Not only did I get a great work out this morning, but the core working actually helped my cramps! Plus, the hormones really made me aggressive... lol. Nope, not going to use that excuse any more :)

So far so good...

Ok, so the blog seems to be working well so far. I did my kickboxing workout two days in a row, which hasn't happened in a long time. I'm also enjoying the way I've got my workout set up now, which probably helps. For a long time I had it set up so I would do a gradually increasing amount of boxing in each song, ending with all out warfare on my punching bag and complete and total red faced exhaustion. Not something I can talk myself into doing very often. Now, I do a five part work out that leaves me tired, but not obliterated at the end.

1. warm up
2. light Boxing (1-2 punch, kick combinations)
3. hand weights & abdominal exercises
4. heavy boxing (3-4 punch, kick combinations)
5. cool down and stretching

I work in a lot of yoga moves and a few pilates. I'd like to take a class to learn more of those...