Day 19

It took me too long to get moving this afternoon. I didn't have the 40 minutes to get through the sweat 3/4 workout. So, I rode my stationary bike for 30 minutes while flipping between Oprah & Ellen.

At least I got my HR up, and got all sweaty!!

Day 18

This was my reason for wanting to make sure I got my workout in on Tuesday and Wednesday. I had to get up at 2:30 to get to my hair appointment before work.

No workout today ...

Day 17

I got my workout in. Almost ran out of time ... took the time out of my pre-work naptime, instead. I need to change my Wednesday habits, I think. If I did my grocery shopping and cooking on Tuesday, instead, I would free-up more time on Wednesday for my nap (I like to get at least 2 hours, it makes staying up from 6am Wednesday morning until 8:30am Thursday morning so much easier.) and workout. It would definitely make for a more leisurely day for me.

I did sweat 3/4 today. I blew past my ab goal ... 116!! Woohoo!! Those Superman crunches were tough, but I made it!

Tomorrow I have to get up early for a hair appointment, so won't be able to workout.

Day 16

I didn't want to workout today. I didn't want to do anything but curl under a blanket on my recliner.

I managed to talk myself into going to my Weight Watcher's meeting ... took me 20 minutes to convince myself that I should just go ahead and go to it. I didn't have to stay, but, I should go, weigh-in, and be consistent with it. On the way there, realizing how stupid and wasteful it was to drive 25 minutes to a meeting to spend 5 minutes getting weighed-in, and then drive the 25 minutes back home to crawl into my bed, I decided I'd stay for the meeting.

I'm so glad I did. It was a really good meeting ... not that the material was something I needed to hear, but it was just so uplifting and positive, that I left the meeting feeling better when I left than when I got there. And, actually during the meeting, I made the decision to workout when I got home. It didn't matter if I wanted to or not, I needed to do it.

The WW meeting topic today was about using things other than the scale to measure our successes. Over the last month or so, I have come to realize that it doesn't matter what I weigh, if I can comfortably fit into a size 6 pair of jeans, I don't care if I weigh 150 pounds or 200 pounds. It's not the number on the scale so much as my actual size that really matters to me. (OK, yes, I know the numbers I'm using are a bit extreme and unlikely, but, you get the idea.)

I do regularly have to remind myself that it's not about the number on the scale, but, the number in the seam of the khakis or jeans. I am doing better, though, as long as I am successfully doing what I need to do (drinking at least 6 glasses of water a day, eating healthy, wholesome foods, taking my multivitamin, and exercising 4-6 days a week), I'm not getting so worked up about how my weight is actually fluctuating each week.

We were given a piece of paper to fill in: What "non number" goal can I achieve to feel successful this week ... work-out 4 times this week, specifically, to workout today when I don't really want to. How will I achieve this ... working out today, Wednesday and Friday ... and Saturday will actually give me 5 days this week. The paper is taped to the back of my front door ... I see it everytime I leave my house.

I took the first step to feel successful. I worked out today. I did sculpt 3/4 and totally upped things ... 4 1/2 hours later, I'm still feeling the workout. I'm tired, but yet, feel energized, and proud of myself for doing it.

Today's workout:
Decline push-ups: 4
Regular "Guy" push-ups: 4
Heavy Pants: 10# 15 reps (I should increase my weight to 15#)
Military Press: 10# 12 reps
Bicep curls: 10# 12 reps
Back Scratch: 10# 5 reps each side (required me to assist a little on the left with my right hand, 10# may be too big of a jump)
Lunges: 5 sets (2 one way, 2 back)
Fly Push-ups (girlie ones): 14
Back Flys: 10# 10 reps
Swimmer's Press: 10# 10 reps
Open Curls: 10# 10 reps
2 arm Kick-Backs: 10# 7 reps
Lunge/Squat 5: 4 sets
Wide-Tri-Die 7-7-7: 7-7-4
Max: 0
Lawn Mower: 10# 15 reps (I should increase my weight to 15#)
Shoulder Flys: 5# 10 reps
Bicep 21s: 10# 7-7-3 (couldn't quite complete this one)
Dips (straight leg): 7
3-part squats (reg., wide, really wide): 12-12-12
Upright rows: 5# 12 reps
Calf Raise: 10# 15 reps
Wrist curls: 5# 15 reps
Wrist extensions: 5# 15 reps
Lower Back Extensions: all 5 reps
Max push-ups: 18
Max squats: 18

Overall, I would say that this was an excellent workout!!

Goal for tomorrow: Do the sweat 3/4 workout. Do 105 crunches in the AB200.

Day 15

Today I decided to spend time in the backyard ... this winter I've been a little neglectful. Actually, it's been more a matter of it seeming to rain mostly on my days off, and be clear and sunny on my work days, or days when I had other things I had to do instead.

At any rate, I spent about an hour today weeding, and pruning, and deadheading the plants. It was perhaps not as aggressive a workout as the sweat 3/4 would have been, but I was being active!

Ironically, I was going through my stuff, trying to go through the piles, purge items that I no longer need, and I found this lovely DVD series, still wrapped in plastic, along with a booklet, and a packing slip to me, dated 2003. I apparently ordered the Power90 workouts 1/2 & 3/4 3 years ago, but never used them. It took me 3 years to be in a place where I was ready to workout, I guess!

I've given the unopened set to a friend of mine. Hopefully she will find them as useful as I have.

Day 14

I woke up feeling a little stiff today. My back. Probably too much time in bed.

So, I started with a 10 min. a.m. Yoga routine with Mariel Hemingway, that helped loosen me up a bit.

Next, I did the sculpt 3/4 workout, and I tried to increase things a bit with this one.

Today's workout:
Decline push-ups: 3
Regular "Guy" push-ups: 3
Heavy Pants: 10# 15 reps
Military Press: 5# 15 reps
Bicep curls: 10# 15 reps
Back Scratch: 5# 15 reps each side
Lunges: 5 sets (2 one way, 2 back)
Fly Push-ups (girlie ones): 12
Back Flys: 10# 8 reps
Swimmer's Press: 5# 12 reps
Open Curls: 5# 5 reps, 10# 7 reps
2 arm Kick-Backs: 5# 12 reps
Lunge/Squat 5: 3 sets
Wide-Tri-Die 7-7-7: 7-7-0
Max: 0
Lawn Mower: 10# 12 reps
Shoulder Flys: 5# 8 reps
Bicep 21s: 5#
Dips (straight leg): 6
3-part squats (reg., wide, really wide): 12-12-12
Upright rows: 5# 10 reps
Calf Raise: 10# 12 reps
Wrist curls: 5# 15 reps
Wrist extensions: 5# 15 reps
Lower Back Extensions: all 5 reps
Max push-ups: 15
Max squats: 15

I'm just trying to make those small incremental changes. It certainly helps to motivate once the definition starts to show.

Day 13

See Day 12 for my continued excuse for not working out.

Day 12

No workout today ... today was my (other) Day1, and I was cramping too bad.

Day 11

I did sweat 3/4 today. I even managed to squeak out 93 crunches!! Woohoo, I surpassed my goal of 90! I guess my next goal for the abs will have to be upped a little.

Next ab goal: 105. Now that I'm supposed to be doing the AB200 routine, maybe I'll get my 100 in!! Haha!

Day 10

Well, I did it ... I stepped it up a bit. Went for the sculpt 3/4 routine. I got my butt whooped!! Actually, probably more like my quads, hammies, chest and shoulders whooped!

I'm noticing that even in the non-flexed state, my biceps are beginning to peek through the layer of fat. I think I need to push my triceps a little more ... in the past, I've noticed that they tend to be one of the first areas to show definition.

On sculpt 3/4, I was too chicken to try the decline push-ups. So, instead I did regular guys ones, instead of the girlie ones. I managed to get 6 out. All the other push-up opportunities, I did the girlie ones ... maybe I'll start trying to switch those over to the guy ones, too. I maxed out on my push-ups and squats, both, at 12 each. So, there's definite room for improvement! Haha!

Today's workout:
Decline push-ups (I did regular guys ones instead): 6
Heavy Pants: 10# 15 reps
Military Press: 5# 15 reps
Bicep curls: 10# 15 reps (these were rough!)
Back Scratch: 5# 15 reps each side
Lunges: 5 sets (2 one way, 2 back)
Fly Push-ups (girlie ones): 10
Back Flys: 10# 10 reps
Swimmer's Press: 5# 12 reps
Open Curls: 5# 5 reps, 10# 7 reps
2 arm Kick-Backs: 5# 12 reps
Lunge/Squat 5: 3 sets
Wide-Tri-Die 7-7-7: 7-4-7
Max: 0
Lawn Mower: 10# 12 reps
Shoulder Flys: 5# 7 reps
Bicep 21s: 5#
Dips (straight leg): 5
3-part squats (reg., wide, really wide): 12-12-12 (3rd really wide set I couldn't go down low)
Upright rows: 5# 10 reps
Calf Raise: 10# 12 reps
Wrist curls: 5# 15 reps
Wrist extensions: 5# 15 reps
Lower Back Extensions: all 5 reps (didn't seem like I got far off the floor)
Max push-ups: 12
Max squats: 12

Tomorrow's goal: sweat 3/4, 90 crunches.

Day 9

To compensate (I think) for my poor performance yesterday, after such a great showing last week, I decided to (in the words of Tony Horton) "bring it" today. I went all out! I upped the routine ... went with the sweat 3/4 DVD today. And, yes, I got my HR wa-a-a-a-ay up there! Haha!! I think my HR monitor said my max HR was 174 (in the 90% range, anyway), with an average of 146. Mostly I noticed that I was in the 150-range throughout most of the workout, though.

I really wanted to take a nap this afternoon. But, I didn't have time for the nap, the workout, and fixing a good, healthy dinner for myself. I gave myself a moment to look longingly at the recliner, and then I got the workout gear on, popped in the sweat 1/2 DVD (on auto-pilot) and then thought, you know, I ought to just try the 3/4 DVD. If it's too hard, I can go at my own pace, and next time just do the 1/2 DVD instead.

I did actually manage to mostly keep up with Tony's pace. The last round of each exercise was a little slower for me, but, I made it! Of course, I was no where near the AB200!! :-) Ummm, well, try ab80 ... which actually is now my personal best.

Plans for tomorrow are: Attempt to work through the sculpt 3/4 DVD. Next sweat + AB200 day, my goal is going to be 90 crunches.

Day 8

Today I just didn't allow time in my schedule to get my workout done. I was busier than usual, though with proper planning, I probably could have gotten it in ... it's only 30 minutes!!

My trade-off was to do (girlie) push-ups and crunches before bedtime. I alternated push-ups and sit-ups, doing 10 each time. I managed to get 40 push-ups (my current best) and 50 crunches (I did better last week) in before going to bed.

Yes, I know it's not nearly as good as doing the workout, but, it sure beats not doing anything!!

Day 7

Today is my much-needed rest day. Yeah!!

Actually, today I pretty much slept the whole day away. Was going to get up and do stuff since it was such a beautiful day out (finally). But, no, I just didn't have it in me. I suppose if that's the trade-off for actually working out 6 days in a row this past week ... a totaly of 3 1/2 hours ... then, I'll just have to accept that I may be a little more exhausted on my rest day!

Day 6

I'm finding that even though I may be struggling to complete all the reps in the sweat 1/2 routine, my HR is definitely not up as high as I'd like for it to be. I don't want it at 50%, I want it to get up to 70-80%! So, to get that extra push, today I rode my stationary bike, 25 minutes. With the bike, I may not be working my whole body, but I am getting my HR up into the therapeutic range for me!

I don't notice the HR dilemma as much in the sculpt 1/2 routine. Possibly because I'm lifting weights, maybe even because there are enough leg exercises to get my HR going, with all the lunges & squats.

Day 5

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Back to the Power90 DVD again today. I did sculpt 1/2 but ended up having to quit before the end, I could feel my blood sugar dropping quickly, and it's hard enough to workout without the energy required! I managed to do 2 sets of 11 (girlie) push-ups, had to stop before the 7-7-7s. And, only used 5 pound weights ... I was totally wimping out!

There's always another day, at least!

Day 4

I woke up stiff, and tired, and I really didn't want to work-out! I made myself get out of bed anyway, and ended up doing yoga for 20 minutes. It wasn't the Power90 DVD series, but, it was activity ... and, the stretching really helped to loosen my stiff muscles up. So, it wasn't all lost!

Day 3

I completed the Power90 sweat 1/2 + AB100 today. And, I was able to do 70 crunches! Woohoo! 5 more than I had planned yesterday! Won't complain about that!

Day 2

Day 2 done, successfully.

I did the Power90 Sculpt 1/2 work-out today. I pushed myself harder than I had previously. I bumped up most of the weights to 10 lbs., except for my weakest points (shoulders & triceps) which I left at 5 lbs. Even with the increased weight, I was able to make it to 12 reps. That last rep was pretty hard to complete on most of those! I'm doing wimpy girlie push-ups, but, I think I increased my number. On the first 2 sets of push-ups (regular and wide) I managed to do 10. On the 7-7-7s, I did 7-1-1s! Those narrow ones really kill me!

I wasn't able to push-up more than once on those narrow push-ups, so, instead, I just held the position for several counts (don't remember now how many!).

After that work-out I definitely felt like I'd worked my muscles, hard! My max HR was 174, but mostly I was in the 130-150 range.

According to my Weight Watcher's weigh-in today, I did manage to lose 1.2 lbs. (That's over the last 2 weeks, since I had to miss last week.)

Tomorrow, it's back to sweat 1/2 + abs. My goal for tomorrow, is to increase my sit-ups to 65. And, I'll also do the extra 30 minutes of yoga.

Here's to a successful tomorrow ...

Day 1

I completed my Day 1 exercise routine. When I was doing this DVD previously (a couple weeks ago) I didn't feel like I was burning as many calories as I'd like (I wear a HR monitor that tells me how many I've burned). So, I had planned on adding some pilates or yoga to my routine as well. Not that I'll have time to do an hour of exercise every day, but, I'd like to most days.

Today, I did a 30-min. beginner yoga DVD (I haven't done yoga in 3 or 4 years) and then the Power90 DVD. Today was sweat 1/2 + abs (I did 60 crunches). I actually felt pretty good with my work-out. I'll definitely be sore later. What I noticed though, is that it didn't seem like I had lost a lot of what I'd gained prior to my week and a half "vacation" from exercise. So, I'm encouraged by that!!

Now to plan for tomorrow's work-out!

Start Again

I had a very busy week and a half. I was either too tired, needing all the sleep I could, during my weekend to work, or just too busy with extra things that came up last week, to work-out. I haven't even been online as much as usual!

So, today, I am starting again.

Since it had been a week and a half since I worked out, I felt it was better to just start all over at DAY 1, then to blow off that last week. Particularly since I was only a week or so away from a new set of measurements and pictures!!

Here's to new beginnings ... again.

Missed my workout

Today when I got home from work, I was particularly exhausted. And, decided that more important than exercise was sleep, if I was to be able to safely care for my patients--and safely drive home in the morning. So, I missed my work-out today.

I've done the routine for six times since I started, February 20, 2006. Yes, I've missed a few of the days, but I've been more consistent with this than I had with anything exercise related in a while.