Christie Cash's Full Body Workout with Dumb Bells via GymRa.

In my last post, I talked about breaking up with Jillian. I’m going to talk about the first non-Jillian workout that I began doing consistently. The trainer/instructor is a woman named Christie Cash. I really like this one and I like Christie. This workout is similar to Jillian’s workouts and only 30 minutes long. What I like about it is that it gives a totally different scenery, she’s doing the workout with you the whole time (Jillian had two girls doing the workout for her the majority of the time while she does a few moves here and there but not the whole time - smart woman!), and while the moves are basically the same that Jillian does, it’s still different. Different mannerisms, different everything. You do fifteen exercises for one circuit, a couple minutes of cardio, and then you go through the circuit again, ending with the cardio again. There are a lot of lunges, which isn’t always very knee friendly and she does go quite fast. One thing I’m not sure I like is how fast she goes through the moves, especially if you’re needing a second or two to transition, but since I generally watch the workout before doing it so I have a good idea of what to expect I was okay most of the time, and now that I have the routine down pat, I do well with it. The warm up and the cool down both seem really quick and maybe not quite enough. She doesn’t talk much about correct form, so a beginner might need to watch or make sure they have the form down right before going through this one. Making sure you have the right form is something that Jillian is very good about in her workouts. (You know how I said above that Jillian does a few moves here and there while her modifier and her advanced girls do it all? Jillian is usually showing you the right form!) I always get a good laugh when Christie ends a move with, “You’re [insert body part you just worked] should feel great!” and by great if you mean burning then yes!! Haha. But really, I do like this one. It gave me a much needed change when I needed it the most!

This workout includes bicep curls, shoulder presses with squats, rows, deadlifts, pyramid squats, lunges with lateral raises (which I absolutely abhor), lunges with a knee tuck (which I hate, hate, hate!!), and ab rotations, woodchoppers, side crunches. There is no mat work on the floor but since I hate floor/mat work I like that. ;) Occasionally it seems as if their might be editing problems because there are times where she’ll have you do the moves 20 times instead of 15. It’s all in the first circuit (that I’ve noticed). Cardio is plyo squats, knee tucks, and fast feet. 

I haven’t taken photographs and I didn’t take before and afters with his because I didn’t think that I would do it consistently when I started, but I think I can tell some good changes in my body since doing this one! But because I like it, I recommend it anyway. I use my eight pound dumb bells and I find that I burn anywhere from 200-250 calories as according to my Fitbit Charge HR.

Breakups

Well, it’s official: I have separated with Jillian and moved on. So far it has been an amicable separation; her DVD’s have not fallen in front of me while preparing or doing other workouts and I haven’t given her too much thought since moving. Seriously though, I haven’t done a Jillian workout since June or so, and it really has been a welcome change. After 18 months or so of doing one of her workouts nearly every day, it got to the point where there were times I was literally having dreams about her or hearing her voice in my sleep. Some might not see that as a big deal, but it honestly wasn’t pleasant for me, I would wake up startled. (Kind of like a weird lucid dream). And I’d been wanting to branch out or find something new for a while to switch things up. I would occasionally do GymRa workout here or there, but one night I really did not want to do Jillian, and I had a few extra minutes, so I went to GymRa on Youtube and found this workout. I still alternated this and Jillian for a while, but then I found another GymRa workout that I like with Natalie Yco instructing. Since she’s in a lot of Jillian DVD’s anyway, I felt it was right and have really enjoyed it. I’ve since been switching up a lot, going between three to four workouts on GymRa’s YouTube page, a couple of Keaira LaShae’s dance workouts (I’ve already really liked her!) and even doing stuff like playing Kinect. Zumba, Kinect Sports, and so on. It’s kind of like I’ve been going back to my roots - dancing, video games, and having fun with working out again. For a while there it was beginning to really feel like a chore. I think I just needed a change, but sometimes it still does feel like a chore even with the changes. That concerns me. I know that this is my future, this is my new life. I know weight loss and a journey to getting healthy doesn’t necessarily have an ending, and it concerns me that somedays I find myself getting really tired of it. Sometimes I wonder if I had taken slightly different turn somewhere back there, if things would be different now. When I really started fearing rest days, or when I really started feeling like I couldn’t stray off of my clean eating plan and it brought on a lot of crazy emotions, maybe I should have sought help from someone like a therapist. Maybe instead of doing it completely alone, I should have joined something like Weight Watchers to get out of the “good food, bad food” mentality. Maybe I should have gotten a personal trainer to learn the right amount of exercise and not go at it so obsessively. There are times where I cancel plans or feel an insane amount of panic about missing a workout or eating more calories than I feel is safe for me to eat. I know that that is not healthy either. What’s hard is that I don’t really have anyone who has lost weight like I have. Some people understand to a degree but not 100% and that’s frustrating for all parties. I’m told to balance it out, find moderation, but those are just words to me. I don’t know *how* to do it. It’s like telling someone who breaks their leg to walk it off. 

I’m sure I’m not alone in feelings like this, but a lot of times I do feel alone. I knew all along that losing weight wasn’t an instant answer to everything, but sometimes I wonder if my strategy hasn’t been the smartest way to go, either. It’s scary to start questioning everything! I’m hopeful that I’ll get the answers I’m looking for soon. 

Are you in the same boat? Or have you overcome this? What did you do? 

Coming up in future blogs: the workouts I’ve been doing in further details (with links!) and a good review of my Fitbit Charge HR now that I’ve had it for several months and feel like I can give a good review. 

Fat Girl Mentality

Hey guys! Wow, so hard to believe summer is almost over! Major bummer! I have definitely enjoyed the amazing weather we’ve had this year - super hot, just the way I like it! Every year I always worry about having a mild summer, which makes those pool passes I get a waste, and this summer has not been a disappointment! I love, love, love getting a good sweat on, but running in mid afternoon heat for an hour is almost an over load. Almost. Running has definitely been a vice for me. I never, ever thought that I would be the girl that got up and got a run in soon after getting out of bed! I look back at myself four years ago and I can’t believe the way I have changed both physically and mentally. The positive changes are astounding!

There are some things that haven’t quite changed and that’s what I’m going to touch base on today. It’s been a while since I’ve put up a new blog post and that’s because this one has been so hard to write. (In fact I had to re-write the opening because when I first started writing this, it was the beginning of summer! See what I mean?) It’s about something I struggle with and I’m always hesitant to write about my struggles here because my goal is to inspire. But I feel like this is an important topic and something that a lot of people deal with, so here it is. I’m going to talk about Fat Girl Mentality. If you’re not sure what Fat Girl Mentality actually is, it’s that constant feeling that people are laughing, pointing, whispering, judging you, and making fun of you all because of your weight and size. It definitely happens when you’re larger, the snide remarks, the stares. That feeling that anyone who looks at you is just judging or even just looking your way because of your size. 

I’m going to be real here, I spent years getting teased and made fun of to my face when I was a child. As I got older, people didn’t say it to my face as much, but I heard things being said when people didn’t know I was there. Let me tell you, things like that tend to scar you for life, especially if you’re like me. I know I’m a sensitive person and things don’t bounce off my shoulders as easily as it does some people, but the teasing still gets me, even as an adult. It doesn’t do miracles for your confidence, I can assure you that. And it sticks with you, it really does. Sometimes I still feel like everyone is looking me, pointing at me, I can even hear the laughter in my head after I leave about the fat girl trying on clothes or shoes and not having any luck. It’s that constant subconscious feeling that you are not worthy and the butt of the joke because of your size. I know I mentioned a few months ago that I desperately need shoes; my old running shoes were a size too big (even with sizing up for running) but they were also over eight years old. You could bend them in half. While looking for new shoes, I must have went to Famous Footwear 10 times, I made a special trip to an outlet mall about 45 minutes away that had 10 or so different shoe stores. Absolutely no luck. I tried men’s shoes, boys shoes, wide width women’s. I have really wide feet, I wear a double wide, and you just can’t easily find double wide running shoes. Shoe shopping is the bane of my existence, I’d rather show for a bathing suit and model it walking through the whole entire mall. Crazy! It was like a reminder of that failure all over again. Who knew that shoe shopping could incite such feelings? It reminded me of shopping for a prom dress or even just a nice outfit for a special occasion and finding nothing that looked right. I imagined the minute I left the store all the sales clerks breathing a sigh of relief that I was gone. It just was such a pain in the butt and I felt so guilty. But all those feelings made me realize that Fat Girl Mentality is totally a real thing. Despite losing over 100lbs, I still feel like the fat girl, the butt of the joke, I see flaws, and while I’ve never been diagnosed, I think I suffer from body dysmorphia. I really don’t know exactly what I look like. I wish I could clone myself or see a girl with the exact same measurements as me, just so I could see what I look like, because I still don’t know what I look like looking in the mirror, or even in pictures. Somedays I think I look great but many other times, I can only point out the negatives and I don’t think I’m seeing myself for who and what I truly am. I still find it hard to believe that’s me in my profile pic on Facebook sometimes!

I’m not exactly sure how I can beat the Fat Girl Mentality I have, and that’s another reason why it is hard for me to write this. I like to have solutions to my problem. I was overweight my whole life (and technically still am considered “overweight” according to BMI charts, which I know are a load of bull in most cases!) and I’ve been at a healthy weight for only a small portion of it, so I know that has something to do with it. The scary thing is that I might not ever be happy with my body. That's what makes all the hard work I've put in the last four years really hard, too; despite it all, I'm still not happy with my body (or certain aspects of my life right now). But with that said, every day I try my best, and I think that is the important thing. I might not ever be completely recovered from this thing called Fat Girl Mentality, but I am recovering. I am trying hard, and that’s all I can do. 

Here’s a shoutout to all those people who are working on loving their body, because it’s that crap is hard, and I commend you!

DIY non-flip gloves and headbands

Have you ever gone to the store to buy some non-slip yoga gloves or a non-slip headband and been blown away by the price?! Who would have thought that such a little extra detail such as non-slip would make things so expensive! Especially when you consider how long these last, which is not long in my experience. Once the grip starts to wear off, they’re just like wearing a pair of regular gloves. Non-Slip yoga gloves are one of my must haves for workouts because they my hands from slipping while doing pushups, in plank or downward dog, or just giving me some extra security while using dumb bells. And having the non-slip headbands help keep those straggly hairs out of the way and make things less annoying. Who wants to pay a pretty penny for such things when you can basically make the same thing for a fraction of the cost? So, get out your hot glue guns because yep, that’s what we’re using. Hot glue. 

;) Really simple! Just get a cheap pair of gloves, some glue sticks and a hot glue gun. I got my gloves from the dollar store. I've had the glue gun for years and years but you can pick them and the glue sticks up at about anywhere. I used sparkly glitter glue sticks because everything is better with sparkles and glitter and I got them at Walmart. You can cut the tips of the gloves or you can just let them go. I’ve personally not cut the fingers off of my gloves, but the yoga gloves I did buy were fingerless. It's up to you and what you like. If you do cut off the fingertips of your gloves, they might unravel. You can try to make a special design with your hot glue, or you can be like me and give it a good effort but still just squirt glue out in random places! Either one works at the grip. The glue might not last forever, but that's been my experience with yoga gloves also, and this is way cheaper (and works just as well). And the cool thing is that you can add more when you need to.

This is how I made the headbands, too! Hot glue. I just got some cheap headbands from Walmart. Mine are about an inch wide and I wish I had gotten a little wider but I wasn't thinking. I don't think it really matters, I just personally like them a little wider. I got a pack of six for under $3, and tried to decorate the headbands by writing words or drawing little designs. Some came out better than others!

You can decorate the underside and keep the outside that shows plain or you can go the extra mile and decorate it all! One thing that might help here is to put your headbands on a piece of cardboard or something so they’re stretched a bit, but it’s not necessary if you don’t have cardboard. I just noticed that when I went to stretch these on my head that it was hard to stretch because of the hot glue. But they stayed on my head find and didn't slip any more (or less!) than what I've bought in the store. Since making them myself was way cheaper than going to the store and buying them and they work just as well, it's a win! A wallet win, and a win for me. :D.

There ya go! DIY Non-Slip gloves and headbands. This would work on socks also to make some non-slip socks. Isn’t it crazy how something so simple seems to be super expensive in the store!

So what do you guys think about something like this? I love, love, love DIY and crafting and when I can tie it in with fitness, it’s just extra great. Got any ideas you want to see? 

Cauliflower pizza bite recipe!

Hey guys! I tried a new recipe tonight and I loved it. It usually takes me a few days to get all my thoughts down and make a blog post (and I’ve actually got another one started!), but these were so good that I just couldn’t wait to share the recipe! It’s meant to be like a pizza muffin but made with cauliflower! And they were super yummy! Here is a printer friendly version!!

You’ll need something to grate your cauliflower with. I used a cheese grater but next time I do this, I’m going to use my ninja chopper so it goes faster. You need four cups of grated cauliflower, three eggs, some seasonings like Italian seasoning, onion salt, and then filling of your choice. I used cheese and black olives. You can add a wide variety of things to these. Just because they're pizza inspired doesn't mean that they have to include pizza toppings! We were thinking of all the fun things we could add in here!

Add three eggs into your grated cauliflower, a tablespoon of Italian seasoning, a teaspoon of onion salt (don’t add in a tablespoon of this salt like we did! Whoops!), a teaspoon of garlic powder, and then your fillings of choice. I used about a third of a cup of cheese and then chopped up some black olives since they’re a favorite pizza topping of mine. You bake them for 30 or so minutes at 400 degrees. When they’re finished, try not to enjoy them too much. ;) But if you do, it's okay! These are super healthy and guilt free!

They were super delicious. After mixing all the ingredients together, I wasn’t quite sure they would come out right but once I pulled them out of the oven, I knew I had done it right! I saw this recipe on our local radio station’s FB page and I’ve been wanting to try them ever since. Since tonight was the Survivor finale, I thought it would be a great opportunity to make these awesome snacks! I think I need a drool face emote! 

Have you made something like this? 

Jillian Michaels Killer Abs - Level 2 Review

Hey guys! I finally decided to give Level 2 of Killer Abs a try. I've done it a couple of times and I think I've got a good idea of how I like it now! If you saw my Level 1 review, you’ll know that I love, love, love it! It was so hard to move to Level 2 simply because I loved and still love the first level so much! So how does Level 2 add up?

Natalie and Nicola are back for Level 2, and the DVD starts quickly with a quick warmup that includes windmill skater, jumping man, halo squats, skipping in place, and snap kicks. After the warmup, you move to the first circuit. The first circuit has you on the floor in a wide pushup, and then into extended plank. I can’t decide if I love or hate extended plank. Next is something I think I do hate, which is chest press, fly, and headbanger in hollow man. The reason why I hate these is because it’s almost a little too much, and I don’t want to downgrade my weights and make it too easy with fives, but using eights, I have to modify and keep my legs down, which is a kick to the ol’ ego. Next you’re doing around the world hip heist, doing doing them in a circle. These always take me a few to get to them. I don’t think I’ve actually done them right once since starting the DVD. Finally it’s sumo boat. I get my eight pound weight and I just feel all excited because I know a year ago I would NOT have been able to do this. Rinse and repeat for the other side. 

On to circuit two, which is my favorite! You start out doing diagonal touch town, which is where you stand in a surfer position and twist, and then extend your weight and leg. Kind of reminds me of a dance move! Then you do alternating side lunges with a back fly. Cardio is standing mountain climber with shoulder presses, and then a good morning press. And then next is a lunge chop which makes me feel like a lumberjack. Repeat on the opposite side. I have no idea why this one is my favorite other than maybe there is some cardio? I LOVE CARDIO. 

Then that damn circuit 3. I think I tend to hate circuit 3 in every Jillian DVD. I know Killer Body core level 3 at one point made me want to cry. Maybe it’s just core workouts?! Anyway, you’re doing another pushup variation where you pushup and go into table or something. I actually just do pushups here because I’m the kind of person that needs to watch the DVD first to make sure I have the moves down. I did that with this one too but I forget what the move looks like. So rather than watching the moves instead of actually doing them to make sure I have it right, I just do pushups and will continue just doing pushups here until I remember that I need to fast forward and watch that part again to see what to do. Then she has you do bicycle crunches in boat which I can totally do now! Woo! I could not do these a couple months ago! After that you do superman rolls into pike, which is a favorite of mine. Next you do a chaturanga pushup with a knee twist, and I tend to modify these because I have never been able to manage chaturanga pushups well. Next is side plank angels, which I also modify. I can’t figure out if I hate this circuit because I have to modify and that is a hit to the ol’ ego again or if its just because these are my least favorite moves. Once you do those, repeat not he other side. Try not to die! Maybe that’s why she ends the circuit with side plank angels?! Haha. 

Circuit four is a little bit better. You’re up doing side to side hops, which I really like. Then you do sit up, stand up which I love to hate. These are in several other Jillian DVD’s and in some of them I do and in others I don’t. Because I can see myself breaking an ankle or flying forward after standing, I usually modify these somehow. In this one, I reverse crunch, and then so a sit up. Next is reverse plank, driving your knee up. After that, you’re doing three point burps. And then you’re not he floor doing scissor abs. Repeat and then you’re done! After a quick cool down, you’re done! REJOICE!

All right, so while I like Level 2, it is not my favorite. I've talked about level 1 enough for everyone to get that it's my favorite ab workout so far! Level 2 just feels more like an ab workout. And of course, that’s what it is, but I abhor ab workouts. I think some of my dislike for level 2 is that I need to modify a lot of it. It’s a bit hard for me to follow, and that’s probably why I don’t like it as much as I do level 1. But in all, I do feel like it’s a good workout! I alternate this one and Level 1 a lot. I felt like I had to move from level 1 because it was just getting way too easy. 

So there it is, level 2! Have you tried it? What do you think? If you're interested in buying, you can check out the DVD on Amazon buy clicking here! 

Springing along!

Is anyone else just ready for Spring? I know I am. I’m tired of these 1-2 days of warm weather only to have it rain and get cold. Phew. I’m ready to get outside and take the dog on some nice walks and really test out my Fitbit someplace besides the treadmill and in my bedroom doing Jillian DVD’s. It’s not that I’m necessarily getting bored with my workouts, but I just am itching for a change somewhere and I think the weather changing would be a great start. 

Nothing has really changed too much lately. Right now my workouts are an hour of treadmill or a run everyday where I average 4.3-4.5 miles. I don’t try to necessarily “kill” it, but I just try to keep a decent pace and get a good amount of cardio in. I still love cardio more than anything else, and I think it’s because I can do my own thing. I can listen to my own music, I can just have a good time. I can run, I can dance, I can listen to cheesy 80s music, Disney, or DDR music. With that said, strength training has changed my body in awesome ways, so I’ve been keeping up with Jillian. As I mentioned in previous entries, I’ve been doing Killer Body - Upper body workout and Killer Abs Level 1 (still not gotten to moving up to Level 2, but I want to. Level 1 is starting to get easy but I love it so, so much!) but just a couple weeks ago I added in Killer Buns and Thighs and I’ve been doing Level 1 of that also. I don’t have a set schedule of what workout where, but I alternate a shower one night and a bubble bath the next and on nights where I shower, I’m more pressed on time, so I tend to do Killer Abs OR Killer Body Upper because they’re shorter. Despite Jillian going on and on about Killer Buns and Thighs being under 30 minutes, she doesn’t know how to count, and that one is 40 minutes from warm up to cool down. Those extra 10 minutes are needed on nights where I shower, wash my hair, and so on. I try to do each workout twice a week. Still struggling with days off, but I’ve been trying to take off one day a month running and Jillian, hmm. I’m iffy with her. Honestly, I really am starting to dislike Jillian workouts and am DESPERATELY looking for a strength training program that is LIKE Jillian’s; same length, same style, but just different. Maybe I need to switch and look into a new Jillian DVD but I think it’s just that I want to branch out to more trainers. But because I am beginning to see Jillian as a chore, it makes me more nervous to take the days off. I’ve slipped off the strength training bandwagon before, and I definitely don’t want that to happen again with Spring and Summer weather coming up! Plus, my ten year high school reunion (really!? 10 years ALREADY?!) is coming up and who doesn’t want to look their best for that?!

Other than that, not much going on. I’ve been dealing with some back pain and I think it’s because I desperately need new shoes. I have really weird feet; they’re extremely wide and pretty small too. They just do not make shoes that are small enough (left foot is a 6, right foot is a 7) and WIDE enough. I mean, they make one or the other, but not both! Not that I can find in my price range at least! I’ve been to so many shoe stores to the point where I feel like the salesclerks picture me in their nightmares. I've bought 3-4 pair of shoes, but none of them work out and I have to return them. I wore one pair of shoes for almost five months thinking, “Okay, gonna break them in any day now!” when I finally realized, okay, after five months constant pain, these shoes are NOT going to work for me. Right now the Nike Air Pegasus’s I’m running in are over 8 years old, and they are literally holding together by threads. They just have no support anymore, and my ankles, legs, and lower back are now really starting to protest these shoes. (Which is why I alternate between baths and showers now; the baths help my legs and back ease enough to where I can sleep. That bath bomb recipe I posted earlier has been a godsend!) I am the only woman I know that would go bathing suit shopping and model for all the strangers in the mall rather than shoe shop. Shoe shopping brings up a whole new wave of feelings, which I hope to touch base on shortly. Ever heard of Fat-Girl Mentality? Oh man, do I have it bad. 

So now that we’re in April, how has your 2016 been going so far? My goal for the year was to have 1000 active miles. I’m already 386 miles into my 1000 goal for the year! Pretty proud of myself! That’s a rough estimate as I always run just over four miles a day, but I also count it as four, regardless if I go just a little over. The treadmill says I run 4.3 miles and Fitbit says 4.6 miles while on the treadmill, so not sure which one is right so I just say four and make it easy! I’m trying to think of new goals to set to try and keep myself on the upside. This has been a rough year so far. My dad’s side of the family has suffered two very sad losses and that’s been hard. It is a reminder that time on earth is limited and a beautiful gift. I’m trying to stress less and enjoy life more, and I’m trying to be as healthy as possible. To be honest, I’m not 100% sure I’m happy and healthy mentally right now, but I will touch base on that soon with a new blog hopefully very soon! 

Think some duct tape will help my shoes?! ;) Phew. Aren't they a mess?!

Happy April!