Fitness at Home

I've been busy and it's not very nice out, so the routine below is what I've been trying to do every working day. In addition, I have been getting up early a couple of times a week to go for a 45 - 60 minute walk/jog outside, but only when it's not raining. Because being in the rain at 7 am is not cool, you guys. Getting your heart rate going in the am helps kickstart your metabolism for the day. And when I come home, I reward myself with a hot water and lemon for detoxification purposes. 

If you do each set vigorously, and don't allow for more than a minute's rest between each set, you will get the most from this. 

Fitness At Home:

30 jumping jacks
5 pushups
25 high knees
7 burpees
10 crunches
7 squats
5 pushups
10 crunches
5 pushups
7 squats
30 jumping jacks
1 minute wall sit
5 pushups
25 high knees

Repeat 3 to 5 times daily for max results. Sometimes I spread this out and do one set every hour for 5 hours. Most of the time I do it 5 times straight through, which takes about 25 minutes or so, and it's a great cardio fat burner that also tones. I have NO idea how many calories it burns. I haven't been able to find a straight answer - some say 100 per set, so that could mean 500 calories if you do the full set. It certainly works up a sweat.

Confession: I do wall pushups because I am super weak in the upper body region, but I hope to work up to REAL push ups sooner or later, and lady pushups hurt my knees (time to invest in some knee pads?). On days when my energy sucks, I replace the burpees with squats. So, there you have it. No excuses really. It can be challenging to motivate yourself when you're in a home office, so sometimes I have to prove to myself that my ass is not in fact becoming fused to the chair. This is a fun little routine to do when you're watching tv. It's, dare I say it, FUN!

As a personal add on, I finish with 3 sets of scarecrows, 3 sets of tricep curls, and 3 sets of chest flies (8 in a set, 3 lb weights) for a bit more toning in the arm region. It's only been about 10 days, but I am already feeling stronger, and more energetic. James says he can already see the difference in my body, but I'm not sure if he's just trying to be encouraging, which either way, is nice. 

My body is hurting from the weekend as I hit the gym pretty hard, AND had to run up 20 flights of stairs after the elevator in my brother's building went out of commission after a fire alarm. I personally love when my body feels a little stiff - it means I worked it and earned it. And then probably didn't stretch enough. Which brings me to yoga...I really need to start doing yoga at least once a week again. I feel a lot better for it. Monday mornings are going to look a lot more relaxing when I start hitting up Hemma again for my weekly class (mental note: next week).

I am also going to start incorporating other programs into my week - for best results, variety is key. You don't want to get bored, and you want to give your body an opportunity for overall toning. I get bored VERY easily, so this is why these in front of the TV work outs are good for me. The show distracts me from the fact that my thighs are burning.

I have a goal to lose 20 more pounds. I have lost 10 over the last 6 months. That's pretty slow going, but it's sustainable. Small changes, long term results. Part of this is calorie counting, so I'm tracking my foods and trying to follow a 1600 calorie diet. It's a lot of spinach, I'll tell you that much.  Ideally I'd like to get back on the strict diet of no sugar, no grains, no booze, no caffeine etc...but I find that really hard to sustain. My plan is to follow the above routine Monday to Friday, and eat ideally as I mentioned during those times. Not saying that the weekend is a time to laze around and pig out, but maybe that would be the time to indulge in treats and carbs.

James has really inspired me. He has been hitting the gym really hard at lunch, and I can see the results. He feels good about himself, and he should. We are going to Mexico in mid January, so it would be nice to feel confident in my bikini :)

I'm also thinking about entering into the world of juicing - mainly for vegetable intake, and less so fruit. Fruit is important, but it's high in sugar, so the key would be to find juices that optimize the benefits of fresh, local, and in season fruits and veggies. Anyone have any recommendations?

xh