A Treadmill Story

Hey guys! Did you all have a great Christmas? Get any cool presents? I got a Fitbit Charge HR and I love it. I'll blog about it soon once I learn all the niftiness of it. For now, I'm going to tell you a story. The story of the fitness gadget that stole my heart before the fitbit did a few days ago.

Are you ready to hear the story of my treadmill? Gosh, how nerdy am I? Haha. 

So, a few months ago, I broke down and bought a treadmill. My family had a really old one that we bought at a yard sale for $50 when I was 14. I’d guess the previous owners had already had it for four or five years, so when it started shorting out and dying after 20 or 30 minutes of running on it, I had mixed feelings. Bummed, of course, because on nights I didn’t feel like playing DDR, the treadmill was a great alternative and sometimes just what I needed to get a break from DDR. But then again, this treadmill seemed to last forever and I had bought it for next to nothing. It definitely had a good life with us and I’d imagine it did well for the people who had it previously! I couldn’t complain about the treadmill itself, but but the cost to buy a new one knowing that I would use it a lot was a bit unnerving. There are sooooo many out there, I research to the death, I’m wishy washy and a bit indecisive and, I’ll admit it, very frugal. If I’m buying something, I want to be sure I’m making the right decision. With that said, I’m the only person in my home that exercises regularly and eats healthily and frankly, the treadmill was my decision and mine alone. I had input and opinions about where and what to buy, but in the end, it was all me. And since I’m the only person who exercises, it was hard to get my family on board to go to different places and test out different treadmills. I drove to a second hand sports store one time but mostly the only other option I had were to look online and read different reviews. I also asked questions in a workout group I’m apart of on Facebook what treadmills, if any, that they have bought to get more opinions. 

In the end, I had it narrowed down to two treadmills. One from Walmart (which would have been bought on Walmart.com and unable to actually test out) with several positive reviews. It was a Weslo Cadence G5.9. The treadmill that was bought at the yard sale was also a Welso and it lasted a long time. It was reasonable (under $300) also, which made it an ideal purchase. The other one was a Proform Crosswalk 415 from Sears, which I actually got to test out at our local Sears when we made a random trip to the mall. I had no intentions of testing out the treadmills but happened to walk past and it seemed to be fate! The sales guy at Sears (shout out to Timothy at the Tri-County Mall in Cincinnati - you were beyond awesome and helpful!) was great and he was really helpful by letting me know how long the sale would last with the treadmill (it was on sale for just over $400) and also printed out something that I could take to another Sears which was a bit closer and buy it there for that price guaranteed. After coming home and researching it I was in a bit of a dilemma. The Proform was a bit more expensive, and whereas the Weslo had over 1000 reviews and a lot of information online, it seemed as if the Proform was hiding. There were less than 50 reviews on the Sears website, there was a video on YouTube that only had a few hundred views, and it was as if the Proform was virtually unknown. Phew. It might not seem like much, but I agonized over this for days! It seemed like the Welso was the way to go, I mean I had all the reviews I needed, ample youtube videos, it was cheaper by $100, my only option was to order online and that would help me earn Swagbucks* through Shop and Earn, and even some of the ladies from the group I mentioned previously had a Welso, although a few actually said they had a Proform and liked it. The Welso had a manual incline vs. the automatic incline on the Proform and that was a con, but still not sure what to do. But in the end? I bought the Proform from Sears. And seriously, I could NOT be happier with it! I sure I would have been happy with either Treadmill, but the cool thing about the Proform is that I got to try it out, I got to hear it run at the store. The sales guy at Sears was beyond nice. If something goes wrong with it, someone from Sears can come and fix it. I think I made the right decision.

I paid for the treadmill completely with money I earned via Swagbucks, which makes it extra awesome. If you’re not familiar with Swagbucks, here is a quick rundown: you earn “Swagbucks” for little tasks you do throughout their site and on their phone/tablet apps. One swagbuck (or SB) equals one cent. You can  one cent or 1SB by voting in a daily poll. You can take, say, a 10 minute survey and earn around 50SB’s (sometimes it’s more, sometimes it’s less. The higher paying surveys are usually a little longer). You can install the Swagbucks TV app on android and iOS and watch videos on your tablet or phone and earn at minimum as of this writing for the US 36SB’s a day. The other day I requested a brochure on a vacation to Alaska through their discover section and I got 68SB’s. I ordered something for my dog a few weeks ago at Petsmart and activated Shop and Earn via Swagbucks and picked it up in the store later that day, and I got 360SB’s ($3.60)! With very minimal effort (it usually takes me about an hour a day give or take a few minutes) I can usually made anywhere from $1-3 a day or 100-300 Swagbucks. Sometimes I make more, and sometimes I make less. But at the end of the month, I usually make anywhere from 3000-5000SB’s, or $30-50 a month. It’s not a lot by any means, but it definitely adds up! You can trade the Swagbucks in for several different gift cards to places such as Walmart, Sam’s Club, Target, Ebay, Foot Locker, Bass Pro Shops, Kohls, a Visa Check Card, and so much more. I usually trade mine in for a Paypal gift card, which can be moved over to my bank account. That’s how I paid for my treadmill! While researching and trying to decide what was right for me, I was Swaggin’ away earning money to help pay for it, which definitely helped with my frugality! I definitely recommend Swagbucks if you’re looking for a quick and fairly easy way to earn a little bit of extra money. Sometimes I take the money and buy work out clothes, shoes, or groceries or even pay bills with it! I have linked Swagbucks with my referral (which is ArrowDancer - get it?! :D) and would love if you signed up to sign up with my referral. It’s not necessary, but I would much appreciate it!

So there it is, the story of my treadmill. All the research, the wishy washy thinking, the major Swag I had, and more was totally worth it. I actually haven’t played DDR once since getting my treadmill. I miss it quite a bit actually, but my workout playlist consists of DDR songs and I will watch DDR videos WHILE running on the treadmill. Oh man. DDR nerd for life!! 

Jillian Michaels' Shred It With Weights - Level 2.

Wow! It’s been a while. Did everyone have a good Thanksgiving? Get any good deals Black Friday shopping? How’s Christmas shopping going? On the subject of shopping, I got tired of doing Level 1 of Shred It With Weights on Youtube, so I went Amazon shopping for myself and bought the DVD so I could move on to Level 2. I thought that would take a few minutes to talk about it! 

Like every Jillian workout, she has two girls doing the advanced and the modified versions. Basheerah and Maddie are back again, doing advanced and modified respectively. In this workout, Maddie used a dumbbell like Level 1 and Basheerah used a kettlebell. I used my 10lb kettlebell for this workout. Like always, it starts with a quick warmup that includes figure eights, hip thrusts, deep squat into a lunge and a couple more moves that I’m forgetting. You move right on to your first circuit. Be afraid. 

Circuit 1 has you doing awful, horrible split jumps (basically a backwards lunge while pressing up your kettlebell or dumbbell, and yes, I hate this move), halo while balancing on one foot, and Rock n’ Roll like Ripped In 30 and Killer Body. I’m going to be honest with you guys - Rock n’ Roll’s have always been really tough for me. Some of it was the limited space I have in my bedroom when I work out. One time I almost busted my head and face coming up from a Rock n’ Roll and while I even made a joke about it when I mentioned it, it was quite terrifying! That was always on my mind when it came to doing that move. I would always modify it, and a lot of times anyway I couldn’t go from the sitting on the floor with my knees up to a standing position (like a deep squat). I would cross my ankles or use my hands to help me up. I moved all my Jillian workout stuff downstairs to our living room, so I have much more room now to swing the kettlebell. I also have less chance of busting my head. So I looked on different websites such as Reddit and on Youtube and researched how to master the the Rock n’ Roll/Deck Squat/whatever you want to call it. I’m not 100% perfect, but I can now do this without crossing my legs or using my hands! It is an AWESOME feeling!! Anyway, that aside, you repeat this circuit on the other side and then finish out this one with star jumps while holding the kettlebell. Have fun, those star jumps are tough! ;)

Circuit 2 coming up! She has you doing Plank Rows. I’m not sure why this is so difficult for me, but I cannot do this with the kettlebell. It’s not because my kettlebell is too heavy, but I think it’s because it sits so high and I feel like there isn’t must to row with how high the handle comes up when I’m in plank! I used the dumbbell for this. Then she has you do something she calls swing throughs, where you do a regular kettle bell swing and then swing it through your legs, looking between them. Next is “plyo swings” where you start out taking steps forward and backward with the kettlebell and then jump forward and backwards. Repeat, and then finish the circuit with deep squats while holding the kettlebell.

Circuit three has you doing what Jillian calls Rotating Heroes, where you swing the kettlebell and rotate to the left (or the right when you do it again). You swing the kettlebell over your head and let it hang over your head for a few minutes. Then she has you do inverted pushups while holding the kettlebell horns (or handle). After that, she has you do what she calls punch swings, where you swing the kettlebell with one arm and punch it out. You repeat on both side and then finish this circuit with Russian Swings. After that, cool it down.

All right. I really want to trust Jillian. I really do. I love her DVD’s and they have changed my body in ways I never thought possible. But there are some moves on Level 2 of Shred It With Weights that just do not seem safe to me. I mentioned that I looked on Reddit and Youtube to try and learn how to do the rock n’ roll squat. During that research I also found a lot of people claiming that Jillian’s form with the kettlebell is wrong. I also read claims that her moves on Level 2 was unsafe. I have to admit that as I was doing some of the moves, I was a little concerned of the safety. With that said, I am a beginner to kettlebells; I’m a beginner to all of this. I have never been to a gym and lifted weights inside a gym, I have never been told if my form is correct (I sure hope it is! I think it is.) and pretty much what I’ve learned, I’ve learned by watching and researching and then more watching and researching, and mimicking the moves. So when it comes to circuit 2 and Jillian says it’s time for Swing Throughs, I just do a regular kettle bell swing. For Plyo Swings, I do swings again, but I will step into them more often than I will jump. I actually found a video tonight of a man doing a plyo hop with a kettlebell where he doesn’t swing his arms. I might give that a go. For rotating heroes, I swing and rotate, but I don’t go over my head. I’m trying to research and find a good way to add that into my workout. For pushups on the kettlebell horns, I just toss the kettlebell away and do regular pushups. For punch swings, I just do a one-armed swing. I’ve still done this every night for close to three weeks now. I really like Level 1, and it’s not that I don’t like Level 2. I’m still doing the work, but switching it up a bit. 

So now that I’ve reviewed the whole DVD, here’s what I suggest: Level 1 is on Youtube and it’s great. And Level 2 is a lot of fun, and I like it, when I feel like I’ve got alternatives to the moves and am doing it safer. Personally, I still would have bought the DVD for Level 1, but you could probably do just as well without Level 2. I actually feel like Level 1 is tougher with all the modifying I’m doing to level 2 to make it feel safer to me. 

So there it is: my review on Level 2 of Shred It With Weights by Jillian Michaels. Don’t shoot me, guys! 

My favorite kitchen gadgets

I know that the majority of my posts in this blog are about my workout, but nutrition is very important as well. Sometimes it’s not always easy to keep my nutrition on track but I have a few kitchen gadgets that make it much easier! So this blog post is dedicated to my favorite kitchen gadgets! If I mention a brand name, I’m just mentioning it for the heck of it. I’m not getting paid, I’m just sharing my opinion! ^_^

My food scale is super helpful. I bought a digital food scale (I believe mine is Hamilton Beach) at Kitchen Collections at the Cincinnati Premium Outlet in Monroe, Ohio. It was a bit cheaper than any other digital food scale I had seen at Target, Walmart, Kroger and other places. I think I paid around $15 for it. Total steal! And it’s so helpful because it gives me the exact weight of whatever it is I’m weighing up to 11 pounds. I totally recommend having a scale, whether it’s digital or not. I had bought two non-digital scales previously and neither one lasted a very long time. The first one was because I dropped it and the second one, I think it got messed up from having things at on top of it. I’ve had the digital one for about a month and I love it!

Another kitchen gadget that I love isn’t really a gadget, it’s a kitchen necessity. Measuring cups. They’re great and yes, a total necessity in the kitchen. I measure out everything to make sure that I’m not getting too much or cheating myself. ;). When I eyeball, I tend to give myself way too much or way too less and measuring cups just make things easier.

I love using blender and a mini food chopper. My blender isn’t anything special, it’s just your average blender but I can make so much with it. Smoothies, milkshakes, protein drinks. The same with my mini-chopper. I didn’t spend an arm and a leg, it’s just your average little chopper but it works great. I love chopping up chicken to make chicken salad. I want to chop up some cauliflower and try to make the cauliflower pizza crust sometime but I might need a slightly bigger one (or will have to do it several times!). Both are really helpful.

Another favorite of mine is my pineapple slicer. I got a pineapple slicer earlier this summer and that this is great. I got a really simple and cheap one from Walmart that I was really nervous about breaking but it works great! I have cut up a pineapple without the slicer one time. I never forgot. It was HARD. I’lll be the first to admit that dicing and slicing are NOT my strong points; it takes me probably a full five minutes to dice up a tomato for a salad, so that might be part of my difficulties with slicing pineapple but the slicer still is AMAZING. Plus it’s really fun to take the skin part of the pine apple and drink out of it. ;)

And last night not least, my all time favorite kitchen gadget is my julienne slicer/peeler. I’ve mentioned this thing before when I posted about my zucchini noodles but mentioning it again because IT IS AMAZING. I can take a zucchini or a summer squash and make some yummy noodles out of the vegetables and it’s just great. I’m definitely a pasta girl, but the zucchini and squash noodles are amazing alternatives and most of the time once I get a little bit of cheese and some spaghetti sauce on it, I don’t even notice (that much) that I’m not eating real pasta. And you can used the julienne for so much more, too.

So there ya go. My favorite kitchen gadgets (or kitchen necessities in the case of measuring cups). I truly believe that these things have really helped make a major difference in my journey. Really simple things, like making sure I have the right measurements or weight, having a tool to have food alternatives, a pineapple slicer to make life easier (and more fun, I mean, come on, doesn’t drinking out of a pineapple sound fun).

Do you have a favorite kitchen gadget?

Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown - Level 1

The other day I decided to take a break from the treadmill and Shred It With Weights since my knee and quad have been a bit sore. I went back and forth on what workout to do and decided to give Yoga Meltdown another try. I don’t own the DVD (I do own Yoga Inferno) but Level 1 is on Youtube. 

I still feel like a total n00b when it comes to yoga. I’ve never taken a class and I’m still not 100% confident that I have the poses down correctly, but with that said, I was definitely more confident this time around than I was the last time I did it. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m more flexible than I was the last time or stronger or because I’ve done Yoga Inferno, which from what I understand is like yoga on uppers. :P

Like all Jillian DVD’s, this one has a girl doing advanced moves and another doing modified versions. It starts with a quick warm up that includes chair pose, stretches to warm up your hips, and chaturanga pushups. After the warmup is the first circuit, where you go in and out of poses (“rep it out” as Jillian calls it) and then you do a power pose where you hold the pose for 15 seconds. Circuit one has you popping in and out of crescent pose, doing knee thrusts/donkey kick in downward dog, and then chaturanga pushups. You repeat on the opposite side. After you repeat on the opposite side, she has you do two sun salutations and then you’re ready for circuit two.

Circuit two has you popping in and out of warrior 2, going in and out of camel, and then side planks, where you hold each pose at the end for 15 seconds. You repeat it again on the opposite side. Afterwards, two more sun salutations and then you move on to circuit three. 

In circuit three you’re popping in and out of warrior 3, and then you’re in an ab hold on your elbows doing dolphin (I still love to hate dolphin! Reminded me of Killer Body core workout), and then in and out of locust pose. Repeat on the opposite side, and end it with two sun salutations. And then you’re ready for a cooldown. 

I’ll be honest: Yoga Meltdown is not my favorite. As gross as it sounds, I love getting hot and sweaty after a workout, I love feeling like my heart is about to pop out of my chest. I don’t get that with Yoga Meltdown. It does feel a bit too easy for me. BUT I did feel very relaxed and stretched out! But I will say that the next day, I noticed that my body felt a bit sore. What?! I don’t get that very often anymore, so that opened my eyes that maybe I’m using muscles I haven’t used in a while. So while there was no part of the workout I felt like I was going to die, I wasn’t gargling my heart (a favorite Jillian quote of mine, hahah!), the next day, I still felt it some. I think I might actually do this one a little more often, maybe once every couple of weeks. 

Non-candy Trick or Treat ideas!

All the best ideas come to me in the shower. 

Halloween is just a few days away! One of my favorites because for a few weeks at least, I can get away with dressing up like Sailor Moon, Mary Poppins, dress like a cowgirl… ;) Maybe not that crazy but I can be a bit more creative. And of course, in addition to costumes, there are also things like trick or treat and all that fun Halloween candy! I was thinking (while in the shower, of course!) about how growing up, I’d always get a LOT of candy, and how sometimes a lot of it would end up in the trash just because we got sooo much. I was also thinking about how Halloween opens the door to the holiday season. After Halloween comes Thanksgiving and Christmas and all the things that come with that special time of year: family, happiness, cheer, and a whole lot of food. Christmas cookies, all those Thanksgiving pies. Couple that with a lot of Halloween candy, wow. That’s a lot in three months! Then, of course, I got to thinking about this thing that’s been going around Facebook, reminding people to be kind during trick or treat, with reminders that some children may look disappointed because your bowl has something they’re allergic too, or one child might grab more because they’re hungry or reach in and search because of a sensory thing. It got the wheels turning in my head that there are valid reasons why it would be cool to think of something other than candy that can be given out at Trick or Treat. 

1. A clay charm. I’m very artsy, if you don’t know. When I was 9 years old, I asked for a pottery wheel for Christmas. I got it! ;) I’ve always been very into sculpting and clay and one of my favorite things to do is to make fun little charms out of polymer clay. it’s pretty simple to sculpt out some little ghosties that are in the top left of the collage. It's white polymer clay rolled out  and flattened and then cut out with a small cookie cutter. If you don’t feel like buying polymer clay, you can make your own clay. 

2. While on the subject of clay; you can just give a little bit of clay! You can buy polymer clay at your local craft stores, or you can make a big batch out of simple ingredients you probably already have! I used to make the water, flour, and salt version and keep it made up when I was babysitting full time. A small amount is still enough for a lot of fun for kids and a fun alternative to candy! Put an eighth or a fourth of a cup in a small baggie. The issue with this is that parents might be a bit afraid of it because it’s a bit messy. There are a lot of clay recipes at this link!

3. Another thing I thought of, mostly because I love scrapbooking, is to make little bookmarks. Halloween themed, of course! Cut out ghosts, witches, frankensteins, and so on with cardstock and paste them on another piece of cardstock that’s the size of a bookmark. On the other side, you can write an encouraging message. “You are worth it!” “You can do anything!” “You are a treasure!” Sometimes kids need to be reminded of their worth. You never know, maybe a child will flip it over and it'll give them a much needed smile or a sense of hope! You can take clear contact paper to protect the bookmark further. 

Sure, they’re not quite as fun as a candy bar. But I’m sure there will be others! And it’s not as boring as something like a rock. (Poor Charlie Brown!)

Can you think of any trick or treat alternatives besides candy? 

Thanks for reading!

Thanks to the junkies and fictional men.

The last few weeks have been tough! Man. First there was that foot injury. After a few days of rest from cardio, I was back on the treadmill. I also switched from my new shoes (which I’ve decided now are too small) to my old shoes. Knock on wood, things are great with that! Phew. Right as I was getting back into the swing of things, I ended up getting sick. Not crazy sick, but I felt like I was stuck in the coming down stages of something like a cold or suffering from allergies. I was constantly exhausted, my head felt clogged, and I just felt like crap. Not fun! Regardless of all that, I still ran on the treadmill every night for an hour, but Jillian took a back seat. Kind of strange, since the majority of the Jillian workouts I do are around thirty minutes or so and I opted to drop her rather than an hour on the treadmill. Honestly though, Jillian Michaels is a mean mean woman! And her workouts kick my butt! Before I came down with the strange never hit it’s max but sure packed a punch mystery illness, I was doing Shred It With Weights. I still love that workout, by the way, but man. Do those rotating squats while holding the kettlebell kick my butt. I have a love to hate relationship with all her workout programs. I love how I feel afterwards, and honestly, I do enjoy doing them. Most days. But up until recently, it was really easy to drop Jillian for a while. Plus, I love cardio, and when I run on the treadmill, I listen to a lot of fun music. Like, DDR and Disney and other nerdy stuff. ;) I’ll touch base on this in another blog entry later, but I like to make my cardio a lot of fun so I’ll keep going back to it. :D. Sometimes Jillian can get a bet repetitious even if you are switching back and forth to different programs. 

And then… it was getting to where it was getting a bit hard to pick Jillian back up. I took about ten days off doing any type of DVD, which is something I have not done since I started adding her workout programs to my normal routine. It’s not that I didn’t think about doing them; quite the contrary. I thought about Jillian every day. It was just hard to get back on the bandwagon, especially when I still wasn’t feeling quite 100%. What helped me though was a group on Facebook I joined that is dedicated specifically to Jillian Michaels workouts. It’s called Jillian Michaels Workout Junkies, and there are a few very nice women in the group. I’ve never actively posted there but I love reading what they have to say. Some of the posts there helped get me back on the bandwagon! I just decided, screw this waiting to feel better to pop in a DVD or open Youtube. Time to get back on the ball! So far, so good! Back to doing Jillian and getting an hour of cardio in. Reunited with my routine and it feels so good!

It’s times like these when I really feel victorious. It would have been so easy just to put all the Jillian DVD’s away and hide them for a few months, maybe until next Spring. I would have eventually forgotten how I let her run me down every day, right? I refused to let it happen, and that makes me feel like I’ve had a victory! I can’t completely take ownership for it, either, and here’s another epiphany I had. Most of my journey I’ve done alone. I don’t actively talk about it to many people (I actually just shared this blog on my personal Facebook page. If you’re reading this, hi!! Love you!) and I’ve been kind of a loner. And that’s what would have made dropping the DVD’s easier, because it would have been my dirty little secret, I guess you can say. Joining that group and seeing it pop up in my feed on Facebook helps keep me accountable. And I’m able to meet some people who’ve experienced what I’ve experienced, or I’m seeing ladies who are where I was at just a few years ago. And I know that if I am really struggling, I have someplace I can vent to, and that’s a great feeling. Not always something I had while being a loner, running all by myself, eating healthy all by myself. It helps remind me what my ultimate goal is. And because I’m a nerd, here is another thing that helped:  One of my favorite authors recently came out with a new book. Get my workout out of the way so I can read!! Well, actually, yeah, that’s kind of how it was - but wait! There’s more. I’m not going to say who the author is or what book just in case this might spoil (it SHOULDN'T spoil you never know!) but in the book, there are two main characters; a male and female. The guy is a total workout-aholic and an MMA fighter. I’ll admit it; part of me will always love wrestling. I touched base on that before when I mentioned twisting crescent pose reminded me of Hurricane Helms. ;). So in addition to the main character training for various MMA matches, there is constant talks about him being a the gym, training, working out. That helped. Of course, he's fictional. The photo below says it perfect. ;) 

What makes you feel victorious? 

Do you prefer to lone it out while working out, or do you need others around you? 

Thanks for reading!

Zucchini Noodles!

All right, it's about time I post one of my favorite recipes! And one of my all time favorite things to have is yellow squash and zucchini noodles. I love zucchini (and squash) as it is, just cut up and boiled in water or baked in the oven. I love how versatile it is and how you can just do anything to it! And then I learned about zucchini noodles and boom! I immediately wanted to try my hand at making them! So I went to my local  Kroger and I bought a julienne slicer to turn my home grown zucchini's into noodles. Yum!

It's so simple. All you need is a julienne slicer and a zucchini, and the slicers are not that difficult to fine anymore (I purchased mine about a year ago and I looked at a few different stores until I found one). And just slice up your zucchini. What you do afterwards is up to you, but I like putting my zucchini noodles in a skillet and sautéing them in a little bit of olive oil to heat them up. I will add in some tomatoes and some mushrooms and then after both the mushrooms and the tomatoes are heated with the zucchini, I will add in pesto sauce. I've never tried to make pesto myself (looking for a good pesto recipe) so I usually just buy a jar of whatever sounds most appealing at the grocery. I've tried olive oil, parmesan, and tomato basil and all are AMAZING with the noodles. I will season with garlic powder and salt. I love garlic. I don't have specific amount so of seasoning or how much pesto, but I usually go by serving size on the jar and add more or less depending on taste. I'll also sometimes cook up some chicken to go with it and make it a delicious meal! Sometimes I will mix it with spaghetti sauce and meatballs and have it like spaghetti. I love having a pasta alternative! If you need a visual, the image below can help. :)

Not only is it very easy, but it's fairly quick! And there is nothing more fun than sinking your hands into those noodles after you slice them all up. SENSORY OVERLOAD!!!! :D

Have you tried zoodles? What's your favorite way of making them? 

Jillian Michaels Shred It With Weights - Level 1

So here I am with another Jillian DVD review. With this though, I don’t have the DVD. Level 1 is on Youtube and I’ve been doing that! I do plan on buying the DVD when I can find it. 

So, here’s the rundown of Shred It With Weights and here’s my review! As always, Jillian has two girls doing the advanced and the modified versions and this time it’s Basheerah doing advanced and Maddie doing the modified. In this workout, you can use a dumbbell, which is what Maddie used, and Jillian recommended 3-8 pounds and Basheerah used a kettlebell. I’m not quite sure of the weight of the kettlebell though. I have a kettle bell I bought years ago and it’s ten pounds so that’s what I used. For this,  I’m proud to say that I used the advanced version the whole time! Woot! Is that a non-scale victory?! ;) I will say though that I don’t think I noticed much difference between the modified version or the advanced version when ti came to the moves, just heavier weights. 

After a warm up that included arm stretches, butt kicks and twists holding the kettlebell, and different ways to warm up with the kettlebell (doing halos holding it is one I specifically remember, but drawing a blank on the rest, you’re really to go. This workout has three circuits. It runs around 25 minutes from warmup to cool down. Circuit One has you down on the floor in bridge, pressing the kettlebell up, and then back up for kettlebell swings, and then deadlift rows. She has you repeat that on the other side and then adds in bent leg deadlift which reminded me of bodybuilders, which Jillian even said it was reminiscent of. 

Circuit two has a squat swing with a pass. You squat and swing the kettlebell up with one hand and then pass it off to the other hand. It sounds scary and it kind of is. I still have this fear that I will accidentally lose my grip on the kettlebell and send it flying through the TV or a window, but that hasn’t happened yet! hahaha. Next she has you doing a rack, squat, and press. Then she has you doing rows in a static lunge. These I’m used to, but going up to 10lbs, I definitely feel it more than I did with the 5lbs!! Repeat of the opposite side, of course. After this, she has you down on the mat to crunch and holding the crunch pressing the kettlebell up. 

Circuit three has windmills with the kettlebell (which in this blog I’ve called triangle press previously. It is slightly different as you twist your arm and I guess that’s where you get the idea that you’re “windmilling” the kettlebell), turkish get ups, and this horrible awful move that I love to hate where you squat down and jump up, rotating to the side, holding the kettlebell. OH. MY. GOSH. It’s hard. It gets my heart rate up. I groan every time it’s time to do that. But it works! After you repeat on the other side, she has you do snatches. On this, I’m also a little terrified something terrible is going to happen, haha. It’s where you throw it up with one arm and immediately pull it down. As if your arms weren’t burning enough, right? :D After that one, you get your much deserved cool down. :D

So I really like this one! I’ve been looking for it at my local target and I looked for it at Walmart and no luck yet. I might have to order it online. I started doing this one rather than another Jillian DVD because I wanted to do a bit more strength training since I was getting a lot of cardio in (I recently bought a treadmill and I have been running on that A LOT until I hurt my foot of course. More on that in another blog post) and I felt like maybe needed something with more emphasis on strength. I can say that I really love this workout and am looking forward to finding the DVD to buy to try level 2. I feel like I get a good workout even though it’s fairly short. 

Thanks for reading! Click here to view this DVD on Amazon to learn more. 

I'll show you a bump!

It's official. For a little while there, I had a bump! And boy did it get big, uncomfortable. I was ready to write it an eviction notice to get out of my body! ;) Not like a baby bump though. A large bump on my foot because for a while there, I was on the injured list. Or at least the take it easy and don't do anything too strenuous to re-injure yourself worse list. I'm still in that limbo although last night I worked out with little to no issues. But man, does it stink being injured! :/

A a few weeks ago I bought a treadmill. I had a really old one that I bought at a yard sale a really long time ago for $50. I was 14 when we bought it and I'm guessing the previous owners had already had it for four or five years, so when it started shorting out and dying after 20 or 30 minutes, I had mixed feelings. Bummed, of course, because on nights I don't feel like playing DDR, the treadmill was a great alternative and sometimes just what I needed to get a break from DDR. But then again, it had lasted forever and I had bought it for next to nothing. I really couldn't complain! So, I began searching, doing research on what I felt was best. I had it narrowed down to two treadmills and finally bought a Proform treadmill at Sears a few weeks ago. And I love that thing! DDR has actually taken a back seat while I break that baby in. (My workout playlist has ample DDR songs though!) I'm not the fastest or the best runner but being fairly new to running, I was pretty pleased to get four miles or so in an hour! I felt like that was a pretty decent pace.

And then...boom! I get my cardio in usually anywhere from 10pm-1am. So Wednesday, early early morning, I was running on the treadmill, and I noticed my foot was sore. I pushed through, finished up my hour, and then went on to bed. The next morning, I had a big lump on my foot and it was pretty sore. I took a night off cardio (still did Jillian; I've been doing Shred It With Weights on YouTube, which I will post a review up very soon!) and the next day, it was slightly sore but not too bad. So I thought, hm, why not get a run in? It's Thursday, early morning. About halfway through, my foot started hurting. Then horrible pain. Being the stubborn girl I am, I kept going. Big mistake. The next morning, I had a HUGE lump on my foot. My foot literally looked pregnant, which is how we described it. After a little while of hobbling around, trying to decide what to do, I finally decided it was best to go to the emergency room. I was worried I might have a stress fracture.

In the end, there were no obvious breaks and I couldn't get a definitive diagnosis,  but I was told it could be anything from a pulled muscle to tendonitis. I got a boot and some crutches, a prescription for ibuprofen with 800mg for the swelling and inflammation, and was told to stay off of it, take at least the weekend off running. It was HARD. I really enjoy running on the treadmill. I really enjoy DDR. I actually really love fitness in general! I also had to make sure my nutrition was on point and in my household, it's not easy AT ALL (my family is definitely a southern food lovin' family. Fried chicken, potatoes, the more grease the better whereas I'm trying really hard to eat healthy; 2/4 people I live with, including myself, are IMPOSSIBLE to bend with their unhealthy eating habits. It kind of divides the family. Not to mention, they adore fast food. Blaaaah). So, I searched for some fun recipes to help make things a bit easier and continued to do Shred It With Weights, only modifying some of the jumping to try and keep my foot from getting hurt worse.

Luckily it only lasted around a week. I started transitioning back on the treadmill, 30 minutes and just walking the first day, 30 minutes of Couch to 5k on week 3 as it's not a LOT of running but a good run/walk alternate, and then 50 minutes or so of run walk again. Last night I did a full hour and did the run/walk again, but more running than walking and little to no pain. Hopefully it'll last. I still have a slight knot on my foot but my hope is that it will continue to go down.

As mentioned above, I searched for some recipes. I found some that sound delicious, and some that I actually tried that were super scrumptious! I will definitely share soon!

Have you been injured? What did you do to balance it out? :)

Jillian Michaels Killler Buns and Thighs - Workout 1 Review.

Hey guys! I tried Level 1 of Killer Buns and Thighs the other day and did it for a week straight. I haven’t done level 2 or 3 yet, but I thought I’d talk about Level 1 while it’s on my mind and I have time! 

So far, I love love love this workout and am really looking forward to doing level 2 and 3 when I get a good and stable chair, which is something you need for those two levels. I really enjoy all lower body/leg workouts and I think that’s because they remind me of dance just with all the plyometric moves that Jillian has in her lower body workouts. Plus this one has Natalie and Anita in them, and since my very first Jillian DVD was the 30 Day Shred with them, I loved seeing them on the screen! 

So as always, you start with a warm up. This particular warm up has jump rope, deep lunges in plank (you’re in plank and you bring your foot up by your hands), side lunges, military march, and a pivoting crescent pose. So, I really loved the pivoting crescent pose and here’s why: (WARNING, NERD  ALERT!!!) It reminded me of Hurricane Helms. Yeah. The wrestler. I giggled while doing it! A little bit of nostalgia for me. I used to be a huge wrestling fan. Still am a fan of the old stuff. Okay! Back on the workout!

Circuit one has squat into a lunge, static sumo calf raises, goddess jumps, single leg chair pose pose, and stiff leg deadlifts. Oh Jillian, you are so terrible with those single leg chair poses. My legs are burning just thinking about them!! 

Circuit two has butt kicks, judo bridge, mountain climbers, swimmers, and then plank pose jumping into squat. I actually really liked this circuit and I thought I would hate the plank into squat, but it wasn’t too bad! I’m going to call this a non-scale victory because things like that (plank into squat, burpees and the like) I know I could NOT do before Jillian! 

Circuit three had fire hydrants, donkey kick, side plank leg raises, a leg raise where you lay on your side and bring your leg in front of you 90 degrees (not sure the technical name) and hamstring curls. I was laughing so hard during this circuit. Fire hydrants. Just like you imagine. Jillian even made jokes about her dog. “I can’t remember the last time my dog peed on a fire hydrant, maybe because he’s peeing on everything in the house!” Jillian totally gets it. A dog is a dog whether it’s human is a celebrity or not! Jillian is human too! Those side plank leg raises though were tough even though they looked easy. 

In circuit four there are high knees, front kick back kick combo, a lunge to warrior 3, a super fun move where you squat and then do a front kick, squat again and do a side kick, and then squat for a back kick, and then curtsy lunges. After that, you do your cool down. 

And that concluded one of my all time favorite Jillian workouts. ;) Really, I love this workout. It’s fun. It is a little bit longer than the other Jillian DVD’s that I have and it runs right at 40 minutes, but really those extra five to ten minutes I have never noticed because this is probably my favorite workout, except for the Lower Body workout on Killer Body. What’s also fun about this DVD is that it include bloopers. How cool is that? So far, I can say that I absolutely recommend this DVD! If you're interested in buying, you can check it out on Amazon by clicking here. It is such an amusing workout!

Jillian Michaels Yoga Inferno - Workout 2

Hey guys! Here are my thoughts on Yoga Inferno, workout 2! I did this one every day for two weeks straight, taking Thursdays off. 

As mentioned in a previous post, I’m a total beginner when it comes to yoga. I always held off on doing it because for a long time, I didn't feel like it was an efficient workout. Workout 1 of this DVD totally changed my perspective! And workout 2 just furthered that! During this particular workout, Jillian called it a “yoga hybrid” as she incorporates weights and cardio intervals. For weights, she recommends very light ones such as three pounds or if you were crazy, use five pounds. I don’t think I’m crazy, but I used fives just because I thought the workout was totally doable with fives.

Like workout 1, there are three circuits or sequences. Circuit one contains squat and press, bicep curls with your elbows resting on your knees, squat thrusts for cardio, wide rows a, triangle crunch with a lunge into a bicep curl, renegade rows, squat thrusts again for cardio, and a push-up with our leg going under your body and across (not sure what the technical term is here) and then into a side plank. Repeat this for the other side. By the end of the bicep curls in the static squat position and my elbows on my knees, my biceps were cooking! Kind of strange because it’s been a while since I’ve felt that burn! 

Circuit two contained figure four squats and press, a deep lunge into warrior 3 with a fly, warrior 3 tricep kickbacks, tree pose, and then dragon with your arms in eagle. Like always, repeat on the other side. I thought I would hate the figure four squats since they looked super tough, but I think I did great! What I thought I would really be great at - the eagle pose, I was never able to quite figure out. I’m not sure if it’s a flexibility issue or the fact that I have really short arms and couldn’t get them to fold right!  

Circuit three contained superman angels, press and fly in superman pose, camel with weights, lat pulls in bridge, headbangers with a pelvic thrust, sit ups with weights and a alternating leg raise. You repeat again, but instead of sit ups for your last move, you do a shoulder stance. 

Phew! That’s it! I really love that weights are incorporated in this workout, but I don’t like that after the first circuit (or honestly, I love to hate it!). I’ll admit that the whole Yoga Inferno DVD is not my favorite by Jillian, mostly because again, I’m a yoga n00b! While this program totally changed my mind that yoga isn’t an efficient workout, I didn’t stick with this one nearly as long as I do the others. All the planking really bothered my wrist and I think that might be because I am such a beginner with yoga. I feel like I need to attend a class to make sure I have the poses down pat and my form correct. 

Above all though, I do really like it and recommend it! I can definitely say I’m happy it’s apart of my collection! Thank you guys for reading!

I've lost 100lbs but I've gained so much more.

Hi guys! Well, it's official: I've lost one hundred pounds! It took me close to three years but I did it! If you're new to the blog and wondering how I managed this, here's the short version: I did it without setting food inside a gym, playing a video game, doing workout DVD's created by Jillian Michaels, and by tracking what I eat with the website/app called LoseIt. I'm really proud of myself for what I've accomplished. The last three years have definitely not been easy, but it's been incredibly worth it!

So, like the title says, I've lost 100lbs, but I've gained so much more. Gained what? Well, a plethora of emotions and feelings both very positive and negative. I'm going to touch base about these things. Three years ago when I started this journey, I really didn't expect to lose weight. I was at a pretty low place as it was and I specifically remember signing up for LoseIt and thinking that it was something that would probably never work. I had tracked before and look where it got me. I didn't even believe I had lost weight until a few months later shopping for clothes and I had dropped two pants sizes. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised! Once I realized that it actually was working, it wasn't difficult to stick to it. Finding an activity that I enjoyed was key! Dance Dance Revolution is a lot of fun! As the weight continued to come off, I was proud! I felt strong, I felt beautiful. I remember when the, "Post five photos where you feel beautiful!" thing went around on Facebook, I posted a photograph of myself all sweaty after a workout talking about how working out made me feel strong and fierce and those feelings made me feel beautiful.

As time went on and I hit that plateau, I then started to feel really frustrated. Especially when that plateau seemed to last forever. And then feeling frustrated when to feeling defeated and discouraged. I had no idea what to do, what I could do to change things up. It's something I've blogged about before. Every time someone would ask me if I was still losing weight or how much I'd lost recently, I could just feel my stomach start to tie up in knots.

Adding in Jillian Michael's workouts in addition to DDR broke the plateau! I began doing Jillian workouts on January 11, starting with the 30 Day Shred, then Ripped In 30, Killer Body, and now I'm doing Yoga Inferno. I also really started really keeping an eye on what I ate. In the beginning it wasn't too bad, but now I'm pretty restrictive with my calories and very strict about getting my two workouts a day (except for Thursdays where I take a Jillian break). And that I know is pretty unhealthy. And that makes me feel like a slave and trapped. Sometimes it makes me feel unhealthy. I did not work by booty off to get to the point where I deny myself food before I get a workout in, or only allow myself to eat a salad a day. And that's the negatives to my journey with weight loss. I'm proud as heck, don't get me wrong. But I've been heavy before. Like anyone else who's been overweight, I've been teased, I've cried myself to sleep. I've wished like hell that I was anyone other than myself and the idea of taking a night off terrifies me. Will I fall off the bandwagon for one night off? Well. Probably not. It's something that's always in the back of my mind. I'm working on that. I don't think I ever completely believed that losing weight was the answer to all my problems, but I may have had an idea that it would make my life immensely better. And it has, definitely don't get me wrong. I love being able to run for distances, take my dog on long walks without getting tired. I love being able to exercise for an hour. I love shopping for clothes and not having to look in the plus size section. I went shopping for swimsuit bottoms earlier this summer and the first pair I tried on I ended up buying. That wasn't something I was able to experience three years ago. I look in the mirror and I don't just see someone I hate. I see someone who has worked really hard! So there are pros and cons to this. I've lost 100lbs, but I have gained a lot of anxiety. And also a lot of pride. 

I really don't like looking at old photos of myself because like I said, I used to hate looking in the mirror. I was just so unhappy, so ashamed of my size. I actively avoid looking at vacation photos and my heart skips a beat when I'm tagged in a Facebook photo on Thursdays (haha). But last night, I was looking at old photos to do a before and after since I've been wanting to make this post and I realized something. I've got to love that girl. Give her a lot of credit. Show her some respect. Give her a round of applause. Do not be ashamed of her. It was her, after all, who put her foot down and made the decision to change her life.

And that I think is the best thing I've gained throughout this entire journey.

I can't say that tomorrow I'll be 100% happy with myself, but I think we all have those days. But I can say that when I realized that last night, it helped me a lot.

The left photo is me exactly a month ago, trying on an old pair of overalls. The right is a picture of me at a friends house before junior prom. I was 17 years old.

Yoga Inferno (workout one) by Jillian Michaels

Hey guys! For the last two weeks I've been doing Jillian Michaels' Yoga Inferno, workout one. I thought that I would take a few minutes to talk about it.

I'm a total beginner when it comes to yoga and for a long time, I didn't feel like it was an efficient workout. That's one reason why I've never actively looked into yoga. I've also done Level 1 of Yoga Meltdown and didn't feel overly challenged. I think that I mentioned in my last update though that I've been having a lot of issues with my feet hurting. It was so bad that putting on my shoes to work out was extremely painful. Plus, I was getting a bit bored with Killer Body and I had been doing that for three months, so I knew it was time to move on.

From what I understand (again, I'm a yoga n00b!) by reading other reviews, Yoga Inferno is more Yoga inspired rather than just "yoga" in general. I've only done workout one, but man, do I ever work up a sweat! Workout 1 of Yoga Inferno is all body weight mixed with cardio intervals to get your heart rate up. You start up with a warm up like always, and then you get to work. There are three sequences/circuits and you go through each exercise twice; one for each side. I can't remember all the exercised, but I'll list what I can remember. In the first sequence, she has you sink down into a chair squat on your toes, lunges with arm swings, jumping jacks in chair post (like Ripped in 30!), leg raises with your hands on the floor (or with a yoga block if you need one/have one), deep monkey squats. I think it also has squat jacks, but I can't remember exactly.

Sequence two has you go into Warrior 2 and going down to touch the floor and then back up to stretch it out. You go into a twisting crescent pose, and then doing jumping lunges or a running man if jumping lunges are too much. After jumping lunges, she has you get into plank and do plank skaters.

Sequence three, you're in a side plank, and bringing your knee to your elbow to crunch your obliques. Next is standing splits into pigeon pose. Next is mountain climbers for a cardio interval and then after that she has you jump into a sitting position, where you do tricep dips with a leg extension. Then you hold in reverse plank. My poor shoulders. And that's not all! Afterwards, she has you lay on the mat and you do sprawls. After sprawls, she has you crunch up and scissor your legs up and down while holding that crunch. My abs were really feeling that, and at the end of the workout, I'm usually soaked with sweat.

Phew! It's not my absolute favorite just because I still feel like a yoga n00b, but this particular workout totally changed my mind on yoga not being an efficient workout and for that I'll always be happy! :)

So far I really like this one and recommend it. Tomorrow I'm going to do the second workout, which incorporates weights. Jillian recommends 3lb weights and says that the advanced person and herself are using three pounders, but I think I'm going to use my fives. I've watched the DVD so I know what to expect and after doing it a couple times I'll share my thoughts!

Thank you guys for reading! Click here to look at the DVD on Amazon!

I'm back!

I'm back! Well, technically, I was never really gone. I've started writing this post so many times but just always seemed to run out of time at the end of the day. I had Text/Edit open for two or three weeks, and then had a tab with a new entry open when I wasn't getting anywhere with Text/Edit. Another part of my lack up updates has been because there really hasn't been much to report. Up until last week, I was still doing Jillian Michael's Killer Body workout DVD, and still doing DDR at night, so that hadn't changed. I didn't want to bore anyone with, "Well, still doing Killer Body, still DDRing..."

One big thing did change though! On June 20, I stepped on the scale and boom! That special number popped up. I've officially lost 100lbs! I stepped on the scale four times to make sure my eyes weren't deceiving me. They weren't! And they weren't the next day either (just had to make sure, haha!). Woo hoo! I did want to post about finally losing the big 100 and that's where I got a bit stuck. I still haven't even really announced it anywhere, not on Facebook to my family, not on Instagram. So this is the first time saying it publicly: I'VE LOST 100LBS! :D YAAAY! Go me!! Losing 100lbs definitely wasn't very easy at time. I've got some 100-inspired blog posts planned that I think will be up sooner rather than later and I'll touch base more about later.

At my local Target, they had a Jillian Michael's bundle with four Jillian workout DVD's: Yoga Inferno, One Week Shred, Killer Buns and Thighs, and Killer Abs. It's been there for a few months, and I've been planning on buying it, but finally bit the bullet the other day. I really wanted that Yoga DVD because I've really been having a lot of problems with my feet hurting and the yoga seemed like the way to go since it's done barefoot. It was to the point where working out was getting to be extremely painful and wearing shoes hurt so bad I wanted to cry. That didn't make me look forward to working out at all. I've started the yoga DVD and I've done workout one four times now, and man, it's tough! I'm still fairly new to yoga (actually I'm a total beginner) so I'm hoping to master workout one before I move on to workout two, but it doesn't seem like there are levels or anything. Workout one is body weight where as workout two incorporates light weights. I will definitely review not only the Yoga but all the other DVD's I have as I move forward.

I've also gotten really into meal prepping and I'm going to start sharing some recipes so look forward to that! I plan on trying to update at least once a week.

Is there anything you'd like to see on this blog?

Killer Body by Jillian Michaels - Core

The core workout is super tough. I remember on the first day, by the end of the workout, I just collapsed on the floor with how tough it was. I remember shouting and groaning during parts of it!

After a brief warmup, the first circuit has a triangle press, standing side crunch, sumo touchdowns, and then a plank tuck jump. Repeat it and the finish off the first circuit with your minute of cardio with alternating forward knee thrusts.

In circuit two, you do a sit up into a jump squat, which I was familiar with because it’s a move from Ripped In 30. Then she has you go on the mat and do boat sprawls. Then she has you do bicycle crunches in boat pose. Oh man, were my abs cooking after that!! Next  she has you do side plank spinners. After repeating those four exercises, your cardio is twisting high knees. 

Then come circuit three, which I hate. Despise. Abhor. She has you get into an ab hold and do running moguls. Then you go into plank and do elevator planks. Then you get on your back and do a sit up and then rotate into an ab hold with a knee thrust. I hate that move with a passion. And then as if that wasn’t enough, she has you in an ab hold to do dynamic dolphin. It’s several minutes of pure core work! As if that wasn’t enough, your cardio is a three point burpee. Jillian Michaels, you are a mean, mean, MEAN woman. Phew! 

After the rough circuit three, circuit four is much better. She has you on the floor doing a corkscrew crunch. Then she has you go into table and out of table, like she has you do in Ripped In 30. I still have the same problem I did with RI:30 - I HAVE SHORT ARMS! I’ve added textbooks to try and make it a bit more challenging and give my arms a little extra boost. Then she has to doing around the world crunches with a reverse crunch and then a split crunch. After repeating, your cardio is a sledgehammer squat. 

Phew. It sounds easy, but it definitely is not! I think it’s the hardest workout on the DVD. Cool thing though is that I can tell a definite change in my endurance.

Interested in buying a copy? Here's the Amazon link!

Killer Body by Jillian Michaels - Lower Body

The lower body workout for Killer Body is by far my favorite. This one is just like the other two; she has two girls, one doing more advanced moves and the other doing modified versions. One is Natalie from 30DS. She also has Golden, who is 25. Jillian makes jokes that she’s going to enjoy “beating up” the 25-year-old. ;) 

Circuit one had a three-way pendulum lunge with front raise, lateral raise, and a hammer curl. Then she has weighted good mornings with an overhead press. Then she squat jacks into a star jump, which I loved. Then the fourth move is called, Statue of Liberty, which is basically a single leg squat while holding weights in one hand. She has you repeat these, and then your minute cardio interval is a long jump, and then running back twice, and then zigzag jumps upwards and backwards. 

In circuit two, she has you get into static chair pose for 30 seconds. Next is sumo scissor hops, which I was familiar with from RI30. I can totally tell a difference in my endurance! Then she has you doing curtsy lunges with an overhead press, and then lunges on a straight line with weights in one hand. The cardio was standing donkey kick into a rockstar jump. The cardio interval for this circuit was a lot of fun, and boy did it sure get my heart rate up!

I think circuit three is the one I enjoyed the most. It had standing donkey kicks, Supermans (first time without weights, and the second time with weights) and then into Warrior 2 post and reverse warrior from yoga, and then Warrior 3, also from yoga. The cardio with split jumps where you bring one knee up like a high knee, and the other leg would go back like a butt kick. 

Circuit four had sissy squats, surrender lunges, sumo hops on toes, and then weighted deadlifts. For the surrender lunges, she had Golden (the advanced girl) going from being on her knees to hopping up from her knees to her feet. I can’t see myself ever being able to do that without breaking my neck, so I followed Natalie. The last cardio interval is a jumping squat into a jumping lunge. Phew! After a full minute of that one, my poor legs were really cooking!

With that said though, I LOVE the lower body workout. It doesn’t have any mat work, and that might be why I like it so much. DDR is mostly on your legs, and obviously I love that, so that could be why I love this lower body work out. But I really do adore it. By far my favorite workout on the DVD and probably my favorite Jillian workout I’ve come across on all the DVD’s I have. And while it’s fun and my favorite and I love it, by the end, I’m a total sweaty mess! It’s still tough! 

Coolest thing? I remember how I couldn’t do jumping lunges with the 30 Day Shred. I SURE CAN NOW! Woo hoo!

Interested buying a copy? Follow the link to buy on Amazon.

Killer Body by Jillian Michaels - Upper Body

The upper body workout for Killer Body is tough, but doable. Like every Jillian Michaels’ workout, she has two girls, one doing more advanced moves and the other doing modified versions. Many of the workouts I’ve seen in previous Jillian DVD’s but there were a few new ones that I’ve never done before. 

Each workout had a warm up, and four circuits, and then a cool down. After each circuit is a full minute of cardio. The first circuit has walkout pushups, forearm pushups, rocking cobra, and then a single arm row with a static lunge. Repeat that, and then go into your minute cardio interval with crossover jacks. 

The second circuit consists of wide rows into a fly in a squat, renegade rows with a pushup, and a lat pull into a chest press and then a chest fly into a headbanger, all in bridge pose. The cardio is jab cross and then a rockstar. I loved these! 

Circuit three is this horrible move with traveling pushups and then a crossover pushup, static good mornings with a low row, tricep press into a sumo squat and then a tricep press into a bicep curl into a shoulder press with a squat. And then the cardio is single arm burpees. Oh man. By now my shoulders were BURNING. That single arm burpee is tough, too, especially with your shoulders taking such a beating. 

Circuit four is a pike press into a pike pushup, a bicep curl into a side lunge with a forward press, tricep extensions in a stationary lunge and then a bicep curl with a squat into a punch. The last cardio interval is arm circle kickouts. And then the cool down. 

Phew! Tough. But doable! I like this one a lot. I also have to comment on how funny and likable the two girls are, but I totally loved Mimi! She was super funny! During the single arm burpees, as she's standing back up, she was waving, which made me giggle. And at another point, during those awful traveling crossover pushups, she's shouting call 911, and I giggled more. So a tough but doable and I like it a lot more than the core workout that comes tomorrow. Mwa-ha-ha! If you're interested in buying, you can learn more on Amazon by clicking here. 

Killer Body by Jillian Michael's DVD

I’ve had Killer Body by Jillian Michael’s for a little over three weeks now and have done each workout six times. I’m going to review the DVD as a whole here, and then link to my opinions on each workout below. If you're interested in picking up this DVD, click here to check it out on Amazon.

In whole, I really like the DVD. It’s super tough (especially that core workout - UGH!! Core day is my least favorite day!) and when I’m finished for the day I’m a sweaty mess, but man, do I feel accomplished. I will say that the DVD seems fuzzy at times and that the camera angles seem a bit weird and off at times. But once I get a rhythm down, I hardly notice that. Before I bought the DVD, I read reviews on Amazon that said the same thing and some reviews were low because of that. I can see where it might be distracting, but often times, I turn around and am not completely watching/facing the TV to watch the DVD, I’m more listening to Jillian as I work out. So if I were to knock off points for that, I’d maybe knock off a half star. Beyond that, I really do like Killer Body, as much as you can like doing a Jillian Michael’s DVD! She’s so tough! 

What I like about this one is that with it switching every day rather than the same workout for so many days in a row, I find myself getting less bored and I like the mixup. I did Ripped In 30 for two months or so (going through it all in order) and by the time I was done with RI30 and had bought a new DVD, I was ready for a break from it. So that’s pretty cool about this particular workout program. A change every day! 

The Lower Body workout is by far my favorite, and I like the Upper Body workout fairly well. The Core Workout is TOUGH. Phew. Now that I’ve gotten it under my belt several times, I like it a bit better but in the beginning, there were days it would have been easy for me to skip, just because it’s super tough. I’m taking the fact that I’m doing it and noticing major changes in my endurance with that particular workout a non-scale victory! Woo hoo! 

Click below to see in depth reviews of each workout on the DVD.

Upper Body

Core

Lower Body

So with all that said, I really do like this workout and totally recommend it. I did take measurements and haven’t checked to see if there have been any changes measurements wise. There isn’t any drastic changes with the scale either (still have that darn one pound to lose until I hit the big 100 pound loss! Come on, one pound!) but I feel stronger and this weekend I went shopping and had a great time. I bought four skirts and I really and noticing major changes from when I started this journey. Some days I see it plain as day and then other days I feel like nothing has changed at all. I think that might come with the territory, but seeing the changes more often than not seeing them is a step in the right direction! :)

Thanks for reading!

I've bought Jillian Michael's Killer Body DVD!

Yesterday I picked up Jillian Michael's Killer Body DVD. I've decided to blog about it and give my review!

This Jillian DVD is a bit different than the other two I've owned and completed. This one has three workouts, but instead of having levels where you go up once a week or whatever, you do one workout one day, the next workout the next day, and then the next one on the third day, rinse and repeat. Jillian recommends you do each workout twice a week and take one day off. One workout focuses on your upper body, one focuses on your core, and the other focuses on your lower body. I did the upper body workout today and watched the core workout so I know what to expect for tomorrow. I plan on watching the lower body one tonight.

I can say that the upper body workout is pretty tough but doable, and the core workout looks super tough, so I imagine the lower body will be tough as well! But so far so good! As I get these workouts under my belt and see how things go, I will blog about them further with more details! I'm thinking that switching off be a different way to go about things and might help. I was starting to get a bit bored with RI30 - but it was my second go around with it back to back and I think that had something to do with it.

This is a fairly new Jillian Michael's DVD. Have you tried it? :)

Fitbit: Is it worth it or not?

For a while now, I've been seriously considering getting a Fitbit and wondering if it would be worth it. While I have funds to buy things I want, I definitely am very frugal and am very careful with my purchases. I go through the, "Do I want it or do I need it. Is it necessary? Is it helpful." I'll weigh the pros and cons and research it to the death.

Here's the Fitbit pros.
1. I hear a lot of people say that they're motivating - they make you want to get your steps in.
2. It will tell me approximately how many miles I would walk or jog while doing DDR. (The DDR counter tells me it's about 10 miles. Considering they also tell me I burn just over 2000 calories, I think counter has to be flawed.)
3. It has a sleep tracker.

Here's the Fitbit cons and what goes through my mind when I think if it'd be worth it:
1. I'm already motivated to move. I love DDR. I love to hate Jillian Michaels. I love the treadmill. If I don't work out, I feel gross. When I do, I feel great. I like feeling great over gross, so I'm motivated to move. Plus DDR is fun. Jillian has changed my body in so many amazing ways. It's not hard to get up and go.
2. The sleep tracker and the steps/miles counter would definitely be interesting information. Is it NECESSARY? Hmm.
3. I have to be a Lose It Premium member to have it link with Lose It.
4. The price. Right now it is in sale at Target, if I get the Flex, at least. (I've been going between the Flex, the Charge and the Charge HR) It's $80, which makes it 20% off, but even $80 is significant. $80 is a lot of groceries, or a lot of fun stuff at Michael's, and things like that.

I'm not sure I can justify a $80 purchase for something that is INTERESTING but not exactly NECESSARY and that really sucks. I do want one, I really do. But I have to be smart with my purchases. When I start getting careless, I start slipping. Hm. 

I don't know if anyone reads this, but if you do, leave me a comment.

Do you have a Fitbit? Like it? Hate it?
ARE YOU FRUGAL LIKE ME? WISHY WASHY AND INDECISIVE? PLEASE TELL ME I'M NOT ALONE!

Slaying fears and bad feelings with Non Scale Victories

My weight loss journey has been just that: a journey. A long one, and one I'm still on. So far I've gone up and down, through flat roads, crazy mountains and hills, forks in the roads, twists and turns. I'm not quite sure if my journey has an ending or if it's just going to stretch out forever with little humps. Who knows what the future has for me.

In the days after Easter, I felt like I hit a mountain and wasn't quite sure I was ever going to get to the top. Really though, it wasn't a mountain, or even a hill. It was more like a mole hill. Or if I'm being honest, an ant-hill or something. A crack in the concrete?! The scale didn't budge for a week or so, and man did that get me really down. I know, a week and it didn't move, and I was panicking over that? I just went through a plateau that lasted over a year, and here I am crying over a few days!! Since doing Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred and then moving on to Ripped In 30 in addition to playing DDR (or sometimes running on the treadmill, or playing Zumba on Kinect) and breaking through that plateau, I've gotten to where I look super forward to stepping on the scale and seeing a loss or knowing that I at least didn't put weight on. For a few days there, I was hopping on the scale every day sometimes twice a day or more, feeling really down, really getting worried that I was getting stuck again. I'm the kind of person where the scale has a tendency to dictate what kind of mood I'm in, and well, I was in a bad mood. On top of the bad mood, I got to really thinking about some things, like this journey, and how long it's been. And how far I've gone, but how I'd love for it to end and just be normal, but then again what is normal?! I just got to thinking way too much

I am pretty sure that I've mentioned before that I grew up being overweight or obese. If not, well, yeah. I grew up being heavier than everyone else. Some of it is genetics, but I can't use that excuse for everything. Some of it is because I had poor eating habits that started when I was a child and continued on. I loved (and I still love) chips and dip. I can pass on the brownies, but hand me that Cincinnati Chili Dip ANY DAY! But it wasn't just poor nutrition, but just a total lack of self worth. School (all years, but mostly after elementary middle school and high school) wasn't a walk in a park for me, and many nights I would have panic attacks or make myself sick to my stomach worrying about going to school. I had zero confidence, zero self worth - I probably could have started this journey much earlier if I had realized that I was worth it years ago but it took a huge fight with a friend for me to realize I am worth it. Losing nearly 100lbs (I'm 1-2lbs away from a full 100!!) though has made a major positive impact of my life, but it also has me terrified. I'm terrified of gaining the weight back although I truly enjoy working out and I truly enjoy trying healthy and fun recipes that taste great. I don't see myself stopping any time soon. And that's where those negative feelings creep in. I'm scared. I'm frustrated. I'm a little jealous of people who can go out and eat what they want without having to think twice about it. And for a few days, I was really struggling. The scale didn't budge, Easter had come and I ate super yummy Easter foods, and I just got to overthinking.

I love reading the blog Brooke: Not On A Diet, and about once a week or so, I will look on her blog. It just so happened that she wrote an AMAZING blog post and posted it the same day I happened oto click on it. BOOM. She said exactly what I've been feeling. She was able to put words to what my brain has been racing with, that I couldn't find words to. She's experiencing what I'm experiencing. I'm not alone! While you definitely should check out her blog because I find her really inspiring, I will say the points that really stuck to me:

"Lately I have been feeling pretty frustrated with how things are going in the way of weight loss. I have been tracking, eating well, working out, and all those good things that should add up to weight loss on the scale. Yet, the scale won’t budge. I continue to bounce between 170-172 from week to week."

"Part of me just wants to be a ‘normal’ person. Someone who doesn’t have to put so much thought into what is going in my mouth, what it is worth, and how it fits into my daily budget. I just want to be able to eat foods I enjoy until satisfaction and keep the indulgences in check."

"I’ll be focusing on those NSVs (non-scale victories) and setting goals not related to the number."

And boom. It was very eye opening. Very encouraging. And I realized I need to stop relying on the scale, I need to stop panicking. I'm not going to gain 10lbs or 50lbs, or 100lbs in one weekend (Easter or not). There is so much more to this. I've got to think of my accomplishments, not panic about going back. I've got to go forward, because this journey is a forward thing! So now I make a point to keep an eye on some of my non-scale victories. I've not been sure what new Jillian DVD to buy, and I was getting bored with doing Week 4 of RI:30 over and over again, so I started again with Week 1, and I've gone through Week 2, and Week 3, and planning on restarting Week 4 tomorrow. You know how I said doing those two minutes in plank killed me the first go around? Not anymore! Still tough, but I can do it! I think that's a victory and it does not include a scale! The duckwalk and the bear crawl in Week 3 about killed my thighs. And they're still tough, but my endurance is so much better! I feel stronger and healthier. I really notice changes. Best of all, I was looking for photos for my Throwback Thursday photo, and I found one with me in the skirt and top I wore to graduation, and just photos of me and friends from high school, and that's when I really noticed it. I've done this. The scale didn't move on it's own. I moved. And I think so far that's my biggest non-scale victory, and it's all mine.

Take that panic, fear, and everything else that is against me, whether in my head or not. :) 

Ripped In 30: Week 4 review (RI30 IS NOW COMPLETE!)

Week 4 of Ripped In 30 is in the books! I truly enjoyed Week 4 much more than Week 3, but not because it was necessarily easier, it’s just that I enjoyed the exercises more. After the warm up, the strength moves in the first circuit were alternating crescent pose, and then down in a squat position for what felt like an hour doing static rows and presses. Strength was plié hops and then jumping jacks, but with a front kick rather than your feet going to the side. I LOVED THOSE!! They felt very Zumba-y and dancey to me, which I loved. Even Jillian mentioned to Basheerah (the girl doing the advanced version) to show off a little Broadway, which was totally cool being the Broadway nerd that I am! Abs was doing down dog with raising your knee to your chest, and then plank walk. 

Circuit 2 was doing superman with a shoulder press, renegade rows with a pushup, and then crossover lunges. I really am starting to like lunges more and more. I used to hate them! I really liked doing the curtsy lunge! The cardio for this circuit was tough. Burpees! Ack! And scissor hops. I’ve never done burpees much but I did enjoy them as weird as that sounds. Although, I had to be careful because at times I felt dizzy because I kept looking down at the floor rather than straight ahead. Haha. The ab moves for this circuit was one where you lay on your back and stick your feet straight up in the air, and then bring them side to side. I’m not sure the right term for it. And then you do hollow man into a sit up. 

Circuit three was a chest fly on the floor in bridge, chaturanga pushups, forearm pushups. I was familiar with the forearm pushups as they were in the 30 Day Shred, and I’ve always liked chest flies but the chaturanga pushups killed me at first! Cardio was in plank, jumping from the side to the center and then back to the side. I actually really liked those. And then double jump rope. Finishing up with abs, she had you do a sit up, and then after the sit up, raise your legs into a crunch. And you’re DONE! 

After the week 4 workout, Jillian gives a little speech about what a bad ass you are for finishing her Ripped In 30 DVD. For the last six days I did RI30, it still got to me every time, in a good way. Man. A year ago I couldn’t have done this workout! I didn’t even finished the 30 Day Shred, let alone RI30! But when I did manage to finish the 30DS this year, I knew that I could continue on and was determined to finish RI30, and told myself I would get a pedicure when I finished it! (I’m still planning on doing that, but just working out a date. But I’m going to see The Longest Ride, too! I might do the pedicure a little closer to Memorial Day and do The Longest Ride as my RI30 finished treat). I remember being cautiously excited when I started it. I remember the days where I didn’t want to but pushed on. I almost cried on my very last day of doing RI30! And also, I’ve seen massive results! I lost around 7 pounds, two and a half inches from my waist, an inch around my hips and bust and half inch from my arms. Finally broke through this plateau that’s plagued me for so long! I highly recommend this DVD. I did not follow the meal plan that comes with the DVD purchase but I track what I eat anyway. But I will say that during this program, one day my family and I went to the chinese buffet, and I baked a cake one day and had a piece for a couple days there. So there were days where I definitely didn’t eat super healthy, but mostly I stayed on track, and worked out consistently. Thank you, Jillian Michaels, for creating a workout that helped me get my life back. :)

I am trying to decide what Jillian DVD I want to get next. I’m going between Six Week Six Pack, Killer Abs, or Killer Buns and Thighs. I like the ones that are right around 30 minutes because that gives me enough time to get lunch cooked for my dad, get a 30 minute workout in, and then be able to come down and tell him goodbye before he leaves for work. 

Ripped in 30: Week 3 review

Jillian Michaels, you are a mean, mean woman, but I love it. Most days, that is. And you own’t believe the love I have for you when I’m cooling down and finished with you for the day!

So, I finished Week 3 of Ripped In 30, and I got to admit, this one was TOUGH. I read some other blogs and reviews about Ripped In 30 before I bought it, and I watch the actual workout before I actually do them so I’m not wasting workout time having to think, “Okay, what did she say again?” so I knew that this week was going to be pretty challenging. But man, I didn’t think it was going to be this tough!

Circuit one had bear crawl and duckwalk, both of which burned so bad the first few days. When I was on day three, I remember realizing that I was getting deeper with my duckwalk, which was exciting to me. I started with the modified and by the end, I wouldn’t say I was duckwalking like a pro, but I was doing decently! Doing wide and low rows after the duckwalk and the bear crawls killed my legs. As if that wasn’t enough, she makes you do jumping backs in a squat position. Oh my goodness. My poor legs. She gives your legs a bit of a breather with skiers. And then in plank for twisting plank, and then this one move where you do squat thrusts for your ab moves.

Circuit two was my favorite, because you do stork stance with a fly, and then, single leg squats, and then my favorite, a rock and roll squat with a reverse crunch. The only problem with that was I kind of have limited space and I nearly banged my head on my bed - phew. THAT’S another way to get your heart rate up. I could just imagine. In circuit three (coming up) Jillian makes a joke about how she doesn’t need any broken ankles or trips to the hospital and every time I heard that one, I kept thinking about how ridiculous I’d look with a big mark on my forehead. “How did this happen?” “Jillian Michaels. She did this to me.” (Unrelated, but my biggest fear is getting an injury. Luckily I’ve not been seriously injured in the near three years since I started this journey.) Cardio was squat jumps and then she has you get in a running stance and pump your arms. She made a joke about how one might feel silly doing that move. Phew. By that time, I had so much sweat running down my face was was ready to flip her off that I didn’t care how silly I looked, I just wanted it over! Haha. But next was abs. One where you hold your weights (if you do the advanced) and it’s crunching across, right arm to left leg, and then legs vertical and crunching up to touch your toes. The ab moves were so welcome after those squat jumps.

In circuit three, your shoulders, triceps and arms totally take a beating. The first circuit killed my legs, and this one killed my arms! Pike pushups (or down dog pushups), single arm pushups on each side while laying on your side, and then tricep dips in table. I didn’t mind the down dog pushups to be honest, but single arm pushups were tough. And I was always forgetting what arm/side I did before. Cardio was jumping lunges. In the 30 Day Shred, I could not do these for the life of me when they came up on Level 3, but this time, I could do them no problem! Woot!! And then the next one was single leg hops, basically jumping on one foot. She has the advanced jump in special directions, but I didn’t because there is a good chance that I actually would break an ankle, which is what I mentioned above. I have decent balance and I usually continue strong throughout my workout, but I just jumped on one leg here without jumping side to side, which is what the modifier did. The last ab move was an ab hold (which I did with my hands on weights because of my short arms, and that helped!) and then pike crunches.

And then the cool down, hallelujah! Week three was tough. It was the most challenging workout out of the two Jillian DVD’s I have. I have started Week four (actually almost finished with it) and will share my opinions of it.

But in all, I’m still loving Ripped In 30! I’ve finally broken through the plateau that plagued me for about a year. I just don’t want to jinx myself, but I’m at my lowest weight in years; we’re talking elementary school here. I went to try on clothes at a few different stores, and I am finally seeing some very noticeable changes. I can totally see difference from the photos I took of myself on January 11, when I first started the 30 Day Shred, and the photos I took at the end of Week 2 of Ripped in 30. The pants I bought just last September are starting to get baggy. I took measurements this time (still trying to be brave enough to put my measurements online!) and last time I measured, I had lost inches! So I’m really pleased, and will continue to test out more Jillian Michaels’ DVD’s to do in the mornings. I still play DDR at night because I love it so much!

Thanks for reading! 

Ripped In 30, Week 2 review

Week two of Ripped In 30 is finished! I’m a couple days into Week 3 now, but here’s my thoughts on week two!

Phew. It was tough and definitely more challenging than Week 1. The first circuit had static lunges with rows, a pendulum lunge, and then on the floor with pelvic thrusts and chest presses. Those I enjoyed, especially the pendulum lunge. The cardio was a total killer! Ahhh! Plank Jacks, into mountain climbers, back to plank jacks and then finish out with mountain climbers. Two minutes in plank. Oh my gosh. The first day, I thought it’d never end! By the end though, it was still challenging, but I didn’t feel like I was totally going to die! I forget the abs moves for the first circuit though. 

In circuit two, you did side lunges with a leg raise, ahold into a table top, and then crow pushups for strength. I have really short arms, and they weren’t long enough to really do an ab hold at all. I ended up towards the end of day three realizing that I could raise myself on on weights that would give my arms a little bit more length, but I had to be careful not to twist my wrist when I would transition into table. That was challenging in itself trying to figure out how to actually do the move with my super short arms! Ack. (Random fact: in high school, I used to have classmates tell me they wished they had my arms, because they were short. You should wear shorts at fingertip length, and technically, I could get by wearing a pair of panties if I were to go by fingertip length!) And those crow pushups? Damn. Those things were tough. I could hike my knee to my shoulder if I was in the advanced position, BUT I couldn’t get my arms to move in a pushup, so I did it on my knees, but then I couldn’t get my leg high enough, I didn’t think at least. Other times if felt like I did. I am really thinking of getting a mirror to watch myself to make sure I have all my form down completely. I need to work on my flexibility and my shoulders in general though. I loved the jump rope kick outs! I know Jillian mentioned they were like a Pollyanna move - I love Pollyanna. It was my favorite growing up, and the second she mentioned them, I was like, “Heck yeah. I’m the new Hayley Mills!” but then it was short lived because plank thrusts were the next move (before doing jumprope quickest again) and my poor arms were still screaming from the two minutes of plank before. The ab moves circuit two made me so happy though! Reason being, in Week 1, there was this move called hollow man, and I felt like it would never end. There is a move that goes from hollow man to where you crush up into a sitting up position. Hollow man’s killed me before, but I was able to go from that to a crushing position using the advanced version and I was so happy, I wanted to cry tears of joy. It was that move that reminded me how far I’ve come. The next move was crawling up your leg, with it extended up in the air. 

Circuit 3 was not my favorite strength by any means, but I loved it because that meant it was almost over. Haha! You went with a sumo squat with tricep extension, stork stance with a low row, and then into plank for a renegade row. The first day I rotated my hips until I heard Jillian say not to on the DVD. So I worked my butt off to never rotate my hips again! In the 30 Day Shred, she had renegade rows with a leg extension, and I wasn’t able to do the advanced, but I was able to do the advanced in this one! So that made me excited. Another way for me to realize how far I’ve come, not only from the beginning, but since starting to do Jillian DVD’s in January. Cardio was jab cross high lows, and then high knees. I was pretty familiar with these. Jillian doesn’t switch legs for the jab cross, but after the third day I did, because I noticed my left knee was a bit sore. Maybe because I was using it a bit more with this move, so I actually did switch legs. That helped a lot with my knee (although this one I hurt a couple years ago and since then, it’ll hurt on and off). Abs were sit-ups with a leg extension and then a crunch with a leg raise. 

AND THEN IT WAS OVER! WOOO! Week two was much more challenging than week one. And besides the jump rope kickouts, there really weren’t any moves that I can say that I enjoyed. Like, I’ve always been a fan of skaters, I like running man, jump rope, single leg hops. Rockstar Jumps are fun (I’m a total cardio girl). Even some strength like squat and press. But I did it and enjoyed it. I know Jillian says to take a break and do this 5-6 times a week and always make sure to take a break, but I went six days and then I moved on to Week 3, which I’m two days into. No breaks yet. I’m just worried that I’ll fall out of the routine. I’ll review week three when I finish, which should be in a few days! 

After I finish the Ripped In 30 DVD, I’m going to reward myself with a deluxe pedicure! I’ve never had a pedicure before (or a manicure) so I’m really excited about it. I thought of the idea when I first started this with my new shoes and my feet killed me afterwards. I was soaking them every night, and that’s where I got the idea of a pedicure! 

So this week, I realized how far I’ve come thanks to two different ab moves. Have you ever had that epiphany? 

How do you reward yourself after a week well done? 

Thanks for reading!