Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Part 3: Working It (er...Working Out)



I've always loved being active and playing sports. I've a had a gym membership for years and would actively go at least 3x a week most of the time. However, like I said in my last post, I didnt have the entire formula, the eating part down so I never really went anywhere with my weight loss. I'd go down a few pounds but would then go back up the next month when I'd eat out a little more or whatever. So while I was patting myself on the back for working out, really I was just sorta staying stable.

Now thats not to say that it's only eating well that caused me to lose weight. When I started this journey, back in September 2011 I got SERIOUS about the entire process. Here's a little more on the working out part of it.


My gym membership had expired several months before (I didnt want to renew the contract because we planned on moving soon) so I'd been working out at home on and off. So all of this below, was done on my own, at home, with no membership or trainer.

While I have always loved sports and being active I have exercise induced asthma and have used that excuse not to run. But when I started this back in Sept I wanted to at least give it a go. So the very first day I ran. And boy howdy it wasn't far AT ALL. Literally. I mapped it out. And I was SO stinkin proud of myself. I remember coming home totally out of breath and telling my husband, I totally did it. I ran the whole way. Then I logged it in to mapmyrun.com and found out just how incredibly awesome my run was. All .62 miles of it. Yep. I did a bit over half a mile and I was DARN PROUD folks.

So I made a goal. To do more than that the next time I went out. And I did. .82 miles! And another goal the next day. Do better. And I did. And so my intense love of goal making was born! A few thoughts on that.


In order to make new goals I had to know where I was at. So every time I did a run I'd log it in. I had a lot of variables I could work with for my goals. Time (overall, per mile, etc), distance, amount of days, weekly totals, monthly totals, etc. And I used them all. The first few days t it was just, 'do better than I did last time', then it was, 'go running 3x this week'. The next two weeks it was do a better total mileage than I did the week before. I dont remember them all specifically but I also did a month of 10 miles a week, a month of 50 miles total, a week of 5k's, hitting my first 100 miles and doing 100 push ups and sit ups that day.

Here's a look at my calendars. I was loading most of my workouts into mapmyrun.com (since I was primarily running) until January. I LOVED getting to see my accomplishments so even when it was too cold to run outside, and I was bored on my treadmill I started using some at home videos like Xbox360 Your Shape Fitness Evolution,  Slim in 6, and The Bertinator youtube videos. Anyway then I printed off some calendars and I write on those daily.


(you can click to enlarge)












My favorite things about a few workout forms I used:

Running: Most calories burned in least amount of time. (This is HUGE for me.)
Equipment needed: A good pair of shoes and some great tunes! And maybe pepper spray if you're running alone and early in the morning. I also found it helpful to use things like mapmyrun (you can map your route after you run it on a home computer or w/ a smart phone while you run) or a GPS app on your phone like endomondo.

Slim in 6: A great at home workout that really makes ya sweat. Time ranges from 42-60 minutes. It consists of three workouts increasing in difficulty.
Equipment needed: Slim in 6 DVD's, resistance bands and light hand weights.

Your Shape Fitness Evolved Xbox360: Lots of variety; kickboxing, yoga, mini games, etc.  On board calorie counter.
Equipment needed: Xbox 360, kinect, fitness evolved game, other items depends on option, most you need nothing but some involve light hand weights.

The Bertinator: She's a hoot. She does the workouts along with you. It's always a good time. These are online on youtube. They range from 5-30+ minutes.
Equipment needed: light hand weights.

Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred: Similar to Slim in 6. It's a video with 3 different episodes all 20 minutes each with warm up and cool down.
Equipment needed:30 Day Shred DVD and light hand weights.

I said it before and I'll say it again,
"I can jog for 30 minutes (which I had to work up to) and burn around 300 calories. Which is fantastic, dont get me wrong. But my point is, if you aren't conscience of what you're eating, you could mindlessly eat that many calories in a few minutes."

This is the reason I work out 6 days a week. To remind myself that EVERYTHING I put into my mouth counts. And a lot of times it helps to think, "Do I want to eat this ____ for ___calories if it means I just canceled out my run from this morning?" Like 22 gummy bears for 150 calories, man thats like 15 minutes of running! (Obviously it's not that every food needs to be bargained for like this, but if I'm using my 1200 calories for meal time I have to be pretty careful with my snacks.) If it's worth it, great. But I have to make the choice and be accountable.

Read Part 1 here.
Read Part 2 here.

14 comments:

The Damsel In Dis Dress said...

YOU LOOK AMAZING!!!!

Margot
Inklings @ margothovley.com

JenaƩ said...

Wow girl, I'm serious you look absolutely incredible!! You can really see the difference! Way to smash it!

Karin said...

You look amazing! Thanks for sharing the inspiration. I have about 50 pounds that need to go too. You make it seem much more doable!

BurntApple said...

Congratulations on your achievement! i am working hard to loose about 20 pounds. I know how hard it is and I know how hard you have worked in order to loose it. Stay healthy!

Unknown said...

Sexy mama!! What an awesome achievement! Congrats!!

I love what you had to say about your experience. It's very inspiring. I played sports in high school, and have always loved moving around...but now I'm super lazy and have put on a bunch of weight. I blame my asthma for my lack of enthusiasm, but I really just need to get up and do something, like you did! Thanks for the push. :)

Amy said...

I am working on losing weight after a baby and while breast feeding. So nervous I won't be able to, but I have to try. Thanks for the motivation to go work out.

Shauna said...

Great job! I'm trying my hand at the whole exercise/weight loss thing. Its getting a little easier! Thanks for the tips, they have helped!

Camiba said...

I love 30 Day Shred and am working my way through 6 Week 6 Pack. That one kicks my butt!

Amber said...

You look great! You really have been an inspiration. My hubby and I have started working at losing weight and I keep telling myself....if Debbie can do it, so can I. There's something about seeing someone that you actually know lose weight that is more motivating than seeing random people in ads and magazines; which are usually celebrities. The only thing I really struggle with is hunger. So if you have any tips on staving off hunger, I would love to know. Maybe it's because I'm nursing, but I constantly feel hungry. Anyway, you've been a real motivation to me. Thanks and congratulations!

Melanie said...

Thanks for sharing all of this. I downloaded myfitnesspal today and started tracking. I'm finally cleared for exercise and I need to get rid of all this baby weight.

Cranberryfries said...

Thanks so much you guys!!! It's really helpful to me to do the comparisons because I forget sometimes what all I've actually done.
@Karin it's funny because I never wanted to admit to that number so I totally get you. In the back of my head I was thinking 50ish but I always just thought, I'll see about doing 20... But I did it. It's doable!! You can do it!!!
@BurntApple good luck with your goals! How exciting, it sounds like you're well on your way!

Cranberryfries said...

@Penelope it's crazy how much different life is after high school. When we get jobs or go to school or become moms or get busy doing anything else. It helped that carving out that time to work out was really nice 'me' time away from my kids. :) Good luck finding something that works for you!! Thanks for your sweet comment!
@Amy Good attitude! I was nervous I wouldn't be able to either. I mean I've had this weight on me since I was pregnant with my first so almost 9 years. But once I made the choice and really invested in myself it worked! You can totally do it!!

Cranberryfries said...

@Shauna it does get easier doesnt it? I love that part. The food choices, the commitment. Thanks for the comment!
@The Damsel & @Janae thanks you guys! You are so great!!
@Camiba I keep looking for that one when I go to the store. Online and in the store it's about $10. I was hoping to see it for less but I might break down and buy it this summer!

Cranberryfries said...

@Amber the one thing I can think of off the top of my head is this. Because I was/am working within such a small calorie intake I really have to chose my food wisely. (I'm sure there are a lot of smarter people out there who study this stuff, but from trial and error or just what I think works here it is.)
-I try to eat a lot of protein.
-I swear by my daily multivitamin (I just take a womens oneaday I found at walmart).
-When I eat I concentrate. (It's easy for me to eat something and look down at my plate and not realize I had finished it off.) I actually feel less hungry when I focus on my eating because I mentally process each bite. Not to say go crazy considering each chew but you know dont watch tv and dont engage in so much conversation that you lose track of whats going in.
-I try hard to stay away from frilly calories (things that dont fill me up) (or at least only spend them once and only a very little).
Anyway I hope that helps. Good Luck. Please dont hesitate to get in touch with me! :)
@Melanie yay! I love that app. I hope you like it. How are you and the family doing??