I completed LIIFT4!

 Hi everyone! I completed LIIFT4 a week and a half ago and immediately started a new round. Starting L4 was so intimidating, but I'm so glad I gave it a chance. I'm on Week 2 since restarting and feeling super strong. 

If you're looking for a strength based workout but don't know where to start, I highly recommend LIIFT4! 

Soon I will talk about each workout one by one. Keep an eye out! For now, stay safe out there! <3 

Two weeks into LIIFT4!

Two weeks down, six more to go! 

I'm really enjoying LIIFT4 so far. I love the change from Jillian to Joel. LIIFT4 is challenging, too, and when I finish a workout, I am SPENT. I'm working muscles that I didn't know existed, which blows me away, to be honest. I've been doing these types of workouts for several years and I thought I was hitting everything. Nope!

One thing that I really like about LIIFT4 is that you never do the same workout twice. At first, when I was reading through and looking at the calendar, I saw the same title a few times and figured that you got about 5-6 workouts, and you repeated them once a week. Nope. You never do the same workout twice. Cool! So that gives me a wide variety to go back to and play around with in the future. That's cool, and I REALLY like that. So that gives me, what, around 30+ different workouts? Four different workouts for eight weeks? I'm pleased with that!

I also really like the schedule. You're working out four days a week with LIIFT4 - workout 1, workout 2, rest day, W03, WO4, and two rest days. So for me it's Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday I do Country Heat (or have been) and then Thursday and Friday. Saturday is my scheduled rest day, and on Sunday I ride my spin bike. Lately I've also been spending Sunday mornings at the lake on my paddle board. 

I gained around 5lbs at the beach, and I've been working on taking that off. I feel like I have, but the scale fluctuates and I've never been good about using the measuring tape. Ha. But clothes are starting to fit me better and I feel good. I feel like I'm getting myself back to where I was before the fire and that makes me happy. Last year, I really wasn't feeling my new paddleboard, but this year, I've made sure to work on core strength and I've dropped 20lbs from last summer, and I really like the new paddleboard. That is awesome, too! Crazy what dropping even 20lbs and working your core and adding in yoga can do for you. :) 

LIIFT4 by Beach Body

I did workout one today! I definitely wasn't sure what to do. I figured that I would do Jillian Michaels' Body Shred, but I had a weird feeling about it. I didn't see fantastic results from Body Shred. Granted, the first time I did it was in the hotel, but when I did it when I got home, I wasn't pleased. I loved doing Lift & Shred though, and I wanted to continue the lifting.

So I took the plunge and started LIIFT4 today! I've give a more detailed post about it down the road, but here is my initial reactions.

1. I LOVE IT. It's a little longer than the Jillian workouts I've been doing. Some of this is because Joel Freeman (the LIIFT4 creator) implements 30 second breaks, and 60 second breaks here and there. To be honest, that's one thing I don't like about Beach Body (that, and the trainers can seem really chatty) but I really liked the little breaks.
2. I love the preview of the moves. I don't have to watch this workout before doing it. If there is a move and I'm not sure what it is, I can demonstate it rather than stare at my TV screen for a few seconds and then jump in.
3. Wow, these 35 minutes WENT SO FAST.
4. I stink at tricep pushups.
5. I love the core implement. That's one thing I really felt like I was missing in Lift and Shred, and that's why I implemented the 10 Minute Meltdown workouts.

I'm glad I took the plunge so far!

An update on Operation: Floral

So in my last general blog post, I talked about being back on the fitness bandwagon and how I was so excited about upcoming events that were keeping me motivated. Such as my trip to the beach, the Alanis Morissette concert, my uncle and his long time girlfriend getting married. That was at the end of February and at that time, I had no idea that the coronavirus, or COVID19, was going to derail almost ALL OF THAT.

Noooo! The first corona casualty was my aunt and uncle postponing their wedding. I was so bummed. By mid-April, I was really starting to get concerned about my trip to Virginia Beach and thinking it wasn't going to happen. In Mid-May I learned that the Alanis concert was postponed. Oh man. What a crappy Spring and Summer this was turning out to be!

Despite all that, I'm proud to say that I managed to say motivated enough to continue with my workouts. That was a great feeling, honestly. I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I continued to work out and eat healthily, just like I did before the fire. It was like I found a bit of myself that I had lost along the way. And not only that, but I was noticing positive changed both with the scale AND in my body. Finally! So even if I wasn't going to the beach, or wearing one of my favorite dresses, or attending a bucket list concert, I still had a reason for doing it. It wasn't for nothing and it added to the motivation.

Luckily, we did manage to go to the beach. I've been back home for a couple days now and I though I'd give a visual update not only on Operation: Floral, but on whether or not I wore a two piece swim suit on the beach.

I'm not at my lowest weight, and I still would like to lose around 25-30lbs to lose before I feel like I can be "done" or maintaining, but I'm happy with what I've managed so far.

Not sure what my workouts will be. I'm totally sick of Lift and Shred and the 10 Minute Meltdown Pilates, Hard Core and kickboxing workouts. I'm tossing up LIIFT4, Body Shred, or Body Revolution in my mind. We'll see where we go. Hopefully the results continue to happen. While on my trip to the beach, I ate like crap (manicotti, a cheese burger, a TON of fries, lots of ice cream, haha) and I put on about 5lbs. I thought that I'd get a ton of steps in, but honestly, I found myself marching in place most of the time to get to 10k steps. But we're starting anew, and this time I know I can do it. I had a great week of rest and fun. I'm ready to kill this, bring it back to life, and kill it again. :D

How's everyone faring during the pandemic?

Lift and Shred: Level 2

Lift and Shred: Level 2

It's time for a review of Level 2! It's definitely more advanced than Level 1, but not toooo much of a stretch. I do it on Wednesdays only one day a week and I do Level 1 on Monday and Friday. I've contemplated switching Level 2 to Monday and Friday, and Level 1 to Wednesday's, but we'll see. Anyway, it's time to break it out!

This workout has two people - Kenta and Maddie. (Kenta and Rocky were in Level 1) I think I forgot to mention that in Level 1, Kenta didn't get the right amount of weights, and that becomes a running joke throughout the two levels, which I love. You get a few laughs during the workout which is great to try and distract you from the fact that you're dying! haha. 

You start with a warmup, that consists of butt kicks, lunges with a psoas stretch, arm circles, wrist circles, and twisting side to side jumps. Circuit one starts on the floor with one hand on a dumbbells, rolling it in and rolling it out to do a pushup, and then a tricep pushup. Then you lay on your back and do a closed grip chest press. Next is side plank rows, and the finally a Turkish sit up, holding one dumbbell. You repeat on the other side, and then it's on to Circuit 2. Beware - I think it's my least fav!

In circuit two, you do Russian twists, burpee rows, a sumo squat and a high and wide pull, and then a deadlift into a lunge. You repeat on the other side. Yep - pretty sure this is my least favorite. 

In Circuit 3, you do bent leg deadlift jumps. Next she has you do good mornings. She tells you to cross the dumbbells over your chest, but I put them over my shoulders like I'm used to doing. Rear delt flys come next, and finally, my favorite move is lateral skater with a dumbbell pass. And then repeat on the other side! 

Finally, we're at Circuit 4! It starts with a side lungs into an overhead press, which I like. And then you're doing snatches. It's like a bent knee deadlift where you snatch the weights over your head. Then you do a split jerk, where you jump into a lunge position while sending the dumbbells over your head. Then finally is a goblet duck walk, which you're holding the dumbbell in goblet position, and you squat walk/duck walk for four steps. You walk back holding the dumbbell in one hand. You repeat on the other side and you're done! 

You've earned your cool down! 

Lift and Shred: Level 1

Lift and Shred: Level 1

I’ve been doing Lift and Shred since the beginning of the year, and it’s about time that I let everyone know how I feel about it! Here is a rundown of Level 1. 

First of all, this is Jillian’s ONLY DVD or workout program (that I know of, unless there is one on her app) that is purely strength training and no cardio. I love that, because I run five days a week. I don’t mind the cardio intervals that are in a lot of Jillian DVDs, but only when there is a few minutes total. I love Jillian’s longer programs like Body Rev or Body Shred, but don’t like a dedicated cardio day. Then it is a double cardio day and gah - just doesn’t seem to always work for me. 

You start with a warmup that includes jump rope, knee thrusts into crescent kicks, plank into downward dog, and behind the back jumping jacks. Then you jump right into lifting heavy for Circuit 1. I started L&S using 10, 12, and 15lb dumbbells, but now I’ve migrated to using only the 12s and the 15s. The first move you do is a basic squat, followed by alternating reverse lunges, high and wide rows, and then finishing out with a shoulder press. You do it again to finish out that circuit. 

Circuit 2 has you doing alternating side lunges, stiff leg deadlifts, bicep curls, and goblet squats, which you repeat for a second time. Out of all of them, this is probably my favorite circuit. I use 15lb dumbbells the whole time. 

Circuit 3 has you doing a kettlebell swing with a dumbbells, low rows, a hammer curl with a bent arm fly, and then tricep extensions. So on the hammer curl, Jillian tells you to go heavier with your weights, but since your shoulders are a smaller muscle group, do you fly with a bent arm instead of your arms fully extended. For me, the bent arm felt funky. I always felt like I was going to pull something or do it incorrectly. So I just did hammer curls and then flies like normal. I’ve bumped up to 12lbs for this. I’m finding the flies really challenging with the heavier weight, but it just felt much more natural to me.

Okay, I may be wrong about Circuit 2. Circuit 4 may be my favorite. That’s because you finish out on the floor. Phew. Jilllian has you get into bridge and do a lat pull in bridge pose. With your back down on the mat, you’re doing chest press into chest flies. Then you’re doing a weighted crunch. And finally, there is a pure evil move called around the world. You get back into bridge, and raise the dumbbells over your head, and you circle your arms down to your hips, almost as if you’re making a snow angel. Holding onto heavy weights, of course. But best of all with circuit four, you repeat it once and you’re ready for your cooldown! Yes!

There is a running joke in this DVD that Kenta didn’t get the right weights which is amusing. And Jillian’s ribbing of him grabbing the wrong weights gives you a much needed break on occasion! Haha. 

All in all, L&S Level 1 is probably up in my top favorite workouts! I love it! 

We're back on the bandwagon!

We're back on the bandwagon!

So I'm pretty proud of myself! I ended 2019 and began the new year running running five days a week! This is something that I struggled with doing since leaving the hotel and coming back home. I think the next week (can’t remember for sure - I may have started the same week with JM but for some reason I don’t think so), I started doing Jillian’s Lift and Shred. I did Level 1 and Level 2 twice a week, taking the weekends and Wednesday off. I noticed that I really didn’t feel like I had a lot of core strength, so I switched it up again, and my current schedule is 5 days running, and five days Jillian. On Monday and Friday, I do Lift and Shred Level 1. On Wednesdays, I do Level 2 of L&S. And on Tuesday and Thursday, I do two different Jillian DVDs but make it one workout that’s about 35 minutes long. Jillian has two 10 Minute Workout DVD’s, a first and second edition. In the 10-minute workout DVDs, there are five 10 minute workouts, plus  a warm up and cool down. There's a wide variety of workouts on each of these DVDs, but plenty for a quick and effective workout. On the first edition, if I’m remembering correctly, there is a Pilates inspired workout, a kickboxing workout, a bodyweight/animal style, calisthenics, and booty workout, each around 10 minutes long. The DVD also includes a warm up and cool down. In the second edition, there is a super intense cardio session, a lifting workout, yoga, hard core, and another one that I'm completely forgetting, with warm up and cool down. So at the bare minumum, you’re working out for ten minutes, or you could do every workout on the DVD and get a good all around workout just under an hour of time. For me, I like to do each of the core inspired workouts. So if I start off with the first edition, I do Pilates, and then one round of the kickboxing in (for 5 minutes) to get my heart rate back up, and then I switch the DVD and finish up with the second edition’s Hard Core workout. Cool down, and it’s a nice little burner for my core. If I put the second edition in, I’m doing the super intense cardio workout that’s on that one. It’s random which one I put in the DVD player and start out with.
I feel like I’ve finally gotten a part of me back. I’m noticing positive changes in my body and that makes it really easy to get back on track. Operation Floral is still a thing and I’ve noticed that my shorts are starting to fit me better now! Still a little too tight, but it’s a work in progress.
I’ve got a lot to look forward to in 2020. In April my uncle is marrying his longtime girlfriend which I'm very excited about. It’s made me feel motivated to get healthy so I can maybe wear one of my favorite dresses (rainbow dress!) that lately I’ve NOT been confident enough to wear. And with the weight I gained, it just doesn’t look good. So that’s my goal to wear my rainbow dress (or my red polkadot dress!) to my aunt and uncle’s wedding. I’m not quite sure what to expect, but I can imagine that this wedding will be like a big, fun, family event! I feel a little strange that I feel this way for someone else’s wedding but hey. It’s motivating me!
Another big motivator is that we’ve made reservations for a beach vacation! Woo hoo! It’s been 13 years since I’ve been to the beach and it’ll only be my third time seeing the ocean as it is, so I’m I am really excited! And the big kicker: last summer I bought a bikini in May. It was before I completely fell off the bandwagon, and by the time warm weather came about and it was time to wear it, I just couldn’t put it on. I was totally not confident. This bathing suit top still has the tags on it!! But my goal is to make that change this year. The tags are coming off and that swim suit is going to be on my body while my body is at the beach this year. It’s my hope that I won’t have to buy new clothes and that I’ll be able to fit back in all my old ones.

And another big motivator: I’m going to the Alanis Morissette concert! But instead of buying two tickets - one for me and one for a family member who most likely won’t enjoy it like I do, I just bought ONE ticket. I’m going by myself (I have asked if any friends would want to meet up, but so far I haven’t had too much luck) so unless something changes, I’ll go by myself. I’m actually okay with this for the most part. I want to venture out and start doing things myself - but I want to feel confident. And that’s another big motivator.

I made a fun calendar and I truly enjoy ticking off all my workouts. I’ll share a pic soon! :) I bought dry erase board. I cut out a calendar template with my Cricut Cutter, added a cork board to hang pictures, and another empty spot where add in notes and quotes. It is really big and it will hang on my wall as soon as I get hangers. I'm going to have pictures of myself paddle boarding, encouraging notes, reminders of what I'm looking forward to, and so on. Basically it's going to have my “why” - why I'm working out and trying to stay healthy - and I'm going to see it everyday.

It's so wonderful to have this confidence again and to feel motivated again. I feel like I've found a part of me that I lost in the fire. But I feel like I'm getting a better part of me back. My first time losing this weight I never got below 162 pounds. I had my “realistic” goal weight at 150, and my “unrealistic” goal weight at 150. I never actually accepted that I never did hit my goal weight (either one). It’s like my body said, “Okay, this is it. This is the farthest I can go.” and I was sooo unhappy with that. I wanted to get to my goal so bad that I developed exercise habits, eating habits, and general self-hate habits that were definitely unhealthy and maybe verging on disordered. This time around I'm trying to be more accepting of myself and my body. I’m going to try my best and push it to the limits but not push it to the point of breaking down.

Upcoming blogs I hope to go in depth with both levels of Lift and Shred, and the two 10-minute workout DVDs. I have been doing Lift and Shred for almost two months now and I'm beginning to wonder where to go from there because I want to build on it. I am still quite intrigued by LIIFT4 from Beachbody… maybe it’s time for me to try jumping ship for a while? :)