Natalie Yco's Full Body Workout with Dumbbells via GymRa.

Hi guys! I’m going to talk about another workout I’ve been doing lately since ditching Jillian. ;) But if it weren’t for Jillian, I wouldn’t know about this woman - it’s Natalie Yco! (Natalie has been in Killer Buns and Thighs, 30 Day Shred, Killer Abs, and I think a few other Jillian DVD’s that I haven’t actually bought). I’m a huge fan of hers, and a big fan of this workout! I’ve linked the video below. This one is also on GymRa’s youtube page, like the last workout I posted about. 

This one is about 30 minutes long. There are five circuits in this workout, each circuit with two strength moves and two cardio moves. I use my eight pound dumbbells for this workout and man, do I ever feel the burn! Each move lasts 45 seconds and she gives you 15 seconds to transition from one move to the next, and she demonstrates each move, which I love! After a quick warmup, you start doing two strength moves, a squat into a lunge alternating sides, deadlifts, and then rotating jumping jacks and then a kickboxing kind of move where you are doing jump kicks. Next circuit had walkout pushups, chest flies in bridge, and then burpees with a ski hop which made me consider throwing my laptop across the room and then crab kicks which made me SERIOUSLY consider throwing my laptop. I hate that cardio bit. ;) Third circuit has rows, chest flies in plank, four way hops and then jumping lunges in plank, which is have to modify (I could probably do them, but I think I’d do them incorrectly). Fourth circuit may be my favorite but I’m not sure; it has pikes with lateral raises, upright rows, and then skaters, which is my favorite cardio (!) but then she’s got you back in plank again for jumping side to side in plank. Last circuit has you doing triceps dip and a bicep curl (which I can’t curl without twisting my wrist, so I actually kick my leg instead of curling. I think that my dumbbells might be too tall and that’s why my wrists feel unsteady) and a half get up with the weight. Cardio is surfer get-ups and side mountain climbers. And then you’re finished with all the hard stuff! She has you finish off with a nice cool down with lots of good stretching and then you’re finished with that workout!

Natalie’s workout reminds me of a lot of Jillian’s and I’m familiar with all the moves. But just like in the other GymRa workout with Christie, it’s something different, and I think that’s what I welcome the most. A different voice, a different change of scenery. I like that these are filmed outside. Sometimes when I’m finished with the workout, I just want to hop into the TV and jump in that pool behind her! What I liked about it is that she did the workout with you, the change in scenery, the fact that it’s Natalie (haha), and that she demonstrated the workout and gives you a few seconds to transition in if you need. 

I burn anywhere from 200-250 calories as according to my Fitbit Charge HR. I’ve been doing this one consistently for a couple months now and I really like it! When I started out, I had to modify so much but now I can do the majority of the advanced moves! 

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

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

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

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

Breakups

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

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

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

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