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.