Who's tried it? That sexy, sweaty, aerobic dance/exercise class... my mom and I tried it for the first time yesterday... whew! Talk about hard! It's very fast paced, but not impossible. And it's a great workout! The hour seemed to go by so fast! We had a lot of fun :) I think I'll go again!
That class being ony the second workout I've done since Baby was born, I'm not sure how this week's weigh in will go. I'm doing fairly well food-wise, still not counting every calorie though.
What are your favorite workout classes?
Showing posts with label Workouts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Workouts. Show all posts
Zumba Zumba!
Friday, March 11, 2011
Baby weight & Breastfeeding
Monday, February 21, 2011
Okay, let's just get right to it. When I found out I was pregnant, I weighed 174. Thanks to morning sickness (more like all day sickness), I was 170 at one point. But that didn't last long! At my last doctor appt before King Bent arrived I weighed in at 211. So I gained right around 40 lbs - half of what I'd lost! Boy was it rough seeing that "2" on the scale again....
Fast forward 5 wks, and I'm sitting right around 180. You can't imagine my relief when I saw that number. I was really scared that it was going to take me another 5 months to lose that weight again. I haven't been counting calories or dieting really.... baby has honestly been my number one focus. Funny how your priorites can change in an instant!
I have been attempting to make a conscious effort to make healthy choices, though they often have to be very quick to both cook and eat. Im sure lots of you moms understand. Doctor released me to work out starting Feb 28th... I'm really excited! It's gonna take effort to fit school, baby, work, home, and the gym in, but I have to be determined to make the time for it.
One thing that has helped me drop the "baby weight" so quickly is definitely breast feeding. I've read that you can burn anywhere from 300-500 calories per day producing milk - now THAT'S what I call a workout! ;) It's one of the hardest things I've ever done, but I love breastfeeding for many reasons:
•Gives me a really unique bonding time w/baby. Being able to provide for your child so fully & naturally is one of the most beautiful things a woman's body was designed to do.
•Health benefits for baby. I've read and heard that one of the many health benefits your baby receives from bf'ing is in his brain development. CLICK HERE for a complete list of all that breast feeding goodness!
•Health benefits for mommy, including but not limited to that awesome calorie burn!
I know this post is all over the place... bear with me. Im running on minimal amounts of sleep here! Ha ha
Hope you're having a great start to your week!
-Caaaarissa
Fast forward 5 wks, and I'm sitting right around 180. You can't imagine my relief when I saw that number. I was really scared that it was going to take me another 5 months to lose that weight again. I haven't been counting calories or dieting really.... baby has honestly been my number one focus. Funny how your priorites can change in an instant!
I have been attempting to make a conscious effort to make healthy choices, though they often have to be very quick to both cook and eat. Im sure lots of you moms understand. Doctor released me to work out starting Feb 28th... I'm really excited! It's gonna take effort to fit school, baby, work, home, and the gym in, but I have to be determined to make the time for it.
One thing that has helped me drop the "baby weight" so quickly is definitely breast feeding. I've read that you can burn anywhere from 300-500 calories per day producing milk - now THAT'S what I call a workout! ;) It's one of the hardest things I've ever done, but I love breastfeeding for many reasons:
•Gives me a really unique bonding time w/baby. Being able to provide for your child so fully & naturally is one of the most beautiful things a woman's body was designed to do.
•Health benefits for baby. I've read and heard that one of the many health benefits your baby receives from bf'ing is in his brain development. CLICK HERE for a complete list of all that breast feeding goodness!
•Health benefits for mommy, including but not limited to that awesome calorie burn!
I know this post is all over the place... bear with me. Im running on minimal amounts of sleep here! Ha ha
Hope you're having a great start to your week!
-Caaaarissa
A Possible Plateau and Other Ramblings
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Today is the seventh day in a row that I've weighed 179 lbs. Buuut, I'm not too worried about it, seeing as how I didn't work out much over those past 7 days. I did get a good workout in today, though, so I guess tomorrow morning we'll see what Mr. Scale has to say about that! ;)
Yesterday for dinner I tried the Smart Ones Ham and Cheese Scramble. It's made with egg whites, ham, potatoes and reduced fat cheese - which totals 220 calories & 9 g of fat.
I also wanted to give props to all you real-life runners out there... on Sunday, I went to the park to walk around with my hand weights. Now - at the gym I've worked my way up to being able to run anywhere from 5-10 minutes @ 5.5 pace. But when I ran at the park, I could hardly go for a minute or two (granted I wasn't timing myself, but yeah)!! I was really surprised! I thought at the time that maybe since I hadn't run in a few days my stamina had gone down (ha), but today at the gym I ran for 7 mins! The treadmill moving does a lot more work than I initially thought, lol! And different muscles in my legs were sore than usual - it's so crazy. Sooo yeah, all you athletic people who walk/run outside, I admire you!!
Today for breakfast I had cereal + cinnamon sugar toast (yum!), and for lunch I had the Smart Ones 3 cheese ziti marinara + corn. For supper I was planning on having a Velveeta Shells & Cheese bowl (another yum) + beans, but I actually FEEL LIKE EATING SALAD AND VEGGIES. UH, WHO IS THIS CRAZY PERSON AND WHAT HAS SHE DONE WITH MY CRAVINGS??!! HAHA! Seems like while I was trying to go gluten free my body got used to eating more whole foods and less frozen meals, which I'm totally okay with :). I will say, though, that there's nothing better than a Smart Ones lasagna/pizza/dessert when I get a hankering for one! What changes have you noticed in your appetite/cravings since you started your WL journey??
Hmmm... guess that's it for this update :). Love you all!
-Carissa
Thanks for the workout everyone!
Friday, February 12, 2010
Thanks to your comments, I had 30 minutes of exercise to do today. I did 20 mins on the treadmill & 15 on the elliptical. I'm fixing to do the 30 DS just to top it off! :) I forgot to take a picture of the machines showing the mins.. sorry! I'll try to remember next Friday!
Minutes start over right now!!
Exercise
Sunday, February 7, 2010
I've challenged myself to complete 300 minutes per week of exercise. That's 1 hour per day, Sunday - Thursday. I feel like it's a realistic goal; it's what I was doing before my surgery and I'll still have Saturday off to relax! And what about Friday, you ask? Well, on another blog I follow the author does 1 minute of exercise for every comment left. So, from now on, for every comment I get I'll do 1 minute of exercise on Friday. So it's kinda up to you to get me in shape, too ;) ha ha. I'll put up a counter somewhere on my blog so everyone can see how many minutes have been added so far and I'll restart it every Friday. I'll also start reporting what exercise I did for the day on my nutrition reports.. so look out for that.
10 Most Ineffective Exercises
Monday, December 28, 2009
This was really shocking to me - I used to do some of these exercises at the gym! Well, not anymore!! I decided to post the entire article as it's all good information:
~~~~~
10 Most Ineffective Exercises
By Raphael Calzadilla, B.A., CPT, ACE
Glee Contributor
Updated: Sunday, April 9, 2006
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." -Albert Einstein
What if you suddenly found out that every workout you’ve been doing for months and months was unsafe, inefficient and graphically illustrated in the imaginary encyclopedia of bone head exercises?
We tend to look at certain areas on our body with disgust and anxiety. We look for quick fixes and the magical exercise that will solve all of our problems. That’s why infomercials sell “5 minute exercise solutions,” and love to prey on our weak emotional states and lack of knowledge related to physiology. Let’s get to the point: There are exercises that just plain stink. They’re inefficient, have a high injury risk and provide practically zero benefit.
The following list of exercises may surprise you. Consider your surprised reaction a step in the right direction. Here’s my top 10 most ineffective exercises list: This is by no means an exhaustive list - there are a lot more.
1. Adductor Machine -- The adductor machine is the exercise unit that you sit in while placing the inner part of your legs against a pad. You then push the legs toward each other, with the goal of reducing your inner thighs. Maybe you perform 20, 30 or even more reps to affect the area. This exercise will not reduce your inner thighs. You’d need enough resistance to create an impact on the muscle, so more than 15 reps aren’t going to accomplish anything. More importantly, it’s not the best range or plane of motion (direction) to affect the inner thigh.
2. Abductor Machine -- The abductor machine is the opposite of the adductor. In this case, you sit in the machine and place the outer part of your legs against a pad. You then push your legs away from each other, in the hopes of reducing your outer thigh area. Pushing the legs outward accomplishes very little for the outer thigh. Again, the plane of motion is ineffective. You say you can feel this machine? I can also feel my chest muscles if I perform a dumbbell press very slowly with a pair of five pound dumbbells, but that doesn’t mean it’s accomplishing my goal. There’s more to the puzzle than just feeling it.
3. Standing or Bent Over Twist -- Ever see someone in the gym with a broomstick behind their head twisting endlessly from left to right? The person mistakenly assumes that twisting for hundreds of reps will shrink the waist and decrease the size of the oblique muscles (love handles). This movement inefficiently affects the spinal erectors and places stress on ligaments. It provides no slimming effect on the “love handles”.
4. Upright Rows -- In this exercise, one grasps a barbell with hands approximately four inches apart, with palms facing the body. Standing in an upright position, the bar is pulled all the way up to the neck. The objective is to strengthen the upper trapezius muscles (the muscles at the base of the neck).
Internationally known research scientist, Michael Colgan, refers to this as a “bone head exercise,” in his book, The New Power Program, and I totally agree. The exercise puts undue stress on the very sensitive rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder and can easily cause injury.
5. Side Bends -- Grasping dumbbells and bending side to side in the hopes that the oblique muscles (love handles) will shrink, may actually make the area larger if you use heavy enough dumbbells. Is that what you want? Toss this exercise out the window. The only thing that’s going to get those ‘love handles” smaller is reducing overall body fat through cardiovascular exercise, brisk weight training and last but not least, a calorie reduced diet.
6. Behind The Neck Lat Pulldowns for the Back -- Performing this cable pulldown movement puts unnecessary stress on the rotator cuff muscles of the shoulders. I can’t begin to count the number of people who’ve experienced injuries from this and any behind the neck movement.
7. Shoulder Press Behind Neck -- Not only is this an unstable position, but it can lead to inflammation, pain in the shoulder and major rotator cuff injuries. The shoulder joint is extremely complex and much like the knee joint, easily prone to injuries. Lifting an object over the head while it sits behind the neck isn’t even a functional (every day) movement.
8. Straight Legged Sit Ups -- Performing straight legged sit ups (knees locked and extended) puts a lot of stress on the lower spine, and the jerky type movement required to lift from the floor can result in injury. According to Wayne Westcott, PhD., Fitness Research Director at the South Shore YMCA in Boston, "in a routine where any abdominal exercise movement places stress on the back, the risks outweigh the potential benefits.”
9. Seated Rotation Machine --These machines are found in gyms and people use them in the hopes of shrinking the waist line. In fact, you’ll usually see people rotating left and right on these machines for hundreds of repetitions. It does not shrink the waist and can place a great deal of pressure upon the ligaments of the spine.
10. Cardiovascular Exercise: More than 60 Minutes -- I realize you want to lose the most amount of fat in the least amount of time. I can understand that, but if the body can only lose up to two pounds of fat per week before it begins destroying muscle, why are you working out as if you’re attempting to lose five pounds per week? I generally recommend working at a capacity of 70 to 80 percent of your target heart rate. If you’re performing cardio more than 60 minutes at this level of intensity, you’re on a collision course for muscle loss. If you think it’s not important, you may want to re-consider.
I’ve seen people lose well over 100 pounds and lose it very, very fast. They did everything possible to lose weight (fat and muscle), as opposed to losing only fat and sparing muscle. The result is a soft and flabby looking body. Yes, they lost the 100 pounds, but did it in the most inefficient manner possible. The key to your success is not searching for an exercise that will reduce a trouble spot. It’s finding the most efficient exercises that will strengthen the area. Then, the combination of reduced calories, cardiovascular exercise and consistency does the rest of the work.
Raphael Calzadilla has over 14 years of experience as a personal trainer and bodybuilder, earned his B.A. in Communications from Southern Connecticut State University; is certified with ACE, APEX and successfully completed the RTS1 program based on biomechanics.
By Raphael Calzadilla, B.A., CPT, ACE
Glee Contributor
Updated: Sunday, April 9, 2006
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." -Albert Einstein
What if you suddenly found out that every workout you’ve been doing for months and months was unsafe, inefficient and graphically illustrated in the imaginary encyclopedia of bone head exercises?
We tend to look at certain areas on our body with disgust and anxiety. We look for quick fixes and the magical exercise that will solve all of our problems. That’s why infomercials sell “5 minute exercise solutions,” and love to prey on our weak emotional states and lack of knowledge related to physiology. Let’s get to the point: There are exercises that just plain stink. They’re inefficient, have a high injury risk and provide practically zero benefit.
The following list of exercises may surprise you. Consider your surprised reaction a step in the right direction. Here’s my top 10 most ineffective exercises list: This is by no means an exhaustive list - there are a lot more.
1. Adductor Machine -- The adductor machine is the exercise unit that you sit in while placing the inner part of your legs against a pad. You then push the legs toward each other, with the goal of reducing your inner thighs. Maybe you perform 20, 30 or even more reps to affect the area. This exercise will not reduce your inner thighs. You’d need enough resistance to create an impact on the muscle, so more than 15 reps aren’t going to accomplish anything. More importantly, it’s not the best range or plane of motion (direction) to affect the inner thigh.
2. Abductor Machine -- The abductor machine is the opposite of the adductor. In this case, you sit in the machine and place the outer part of your legs against a pad. You then push your legs away from each other, in the hopes of reducing your outer thigh area. Pushing the legs outward accomplishes very little for the outer thigh. Again, the plane of motion is ineffective. You say you can feel this machine? I can also feel my chest muscles if I perform a dumbbell press very slowly with a pair of five pound dumbbells, but that doesn’t mean it’s accomplishing my goal. There’s more to the puzzle than just feeling it.
3. Standing or Bent Over Twist -- Ever see someone in the gym with a broomstick behind their head twisting endlessly from left to right? The person mistakenly assumes that twisting for hundreds of reps will shrink the waist and decrease the size of the oblique muscles (love handles). This movement inefficiently affects the spinal erectors and places stress on ligaments. It provides no slimming effect on the “love handles”.
4. Upright Rows -- In this exercise, one grasps a barbell with hands approximately four inches apart, with palms facing the body. Standing in an upright position, the bar is pulled all the way up to the neck. The objective is to strengthen the upper trapezius muscles (the muscles at the base of the neck).
Internationally known research scientist, Michael Colgan, refers to this as a “bone head exercise,” in his book, The New Power Program, and I totally agree. The exercise puts undue stress on the very sensitive rotator cuff muscles of the shoulder and can easily cause injury.
5. Side Bends -- Grasping dumbbells and bending side to side in the hopes that the oblique muscles (love handles) will shrink, may actually make the area larger if you use heavy enough dumbbells. Is that what you want? Toss this exercise out the window. The only thing that’s going to get those ‘love handles” smaller is reducing overall body fat through cardiovascular exercise, brisk weight training and last but not least, a calorie reduced diet.
6. Behind The Neck Lat Pulldowns for the Back -- Performing this cable pulldown movement puts unnecessary stress on the rotator cuff muscles of the shoulders. I can’t begin to count the number of people who’ve experienced injuries from this and any behind the neck movement.
7. Shoulder Press Behind Neck -- Not only is this an unstable position, but it can lead to inflammation, pain in the shoulder and major rotator cuff injuries. The shoulder joint is extremely complex and much like the knee joint, easily prone to injuries. Lifting an object over the head while it sits behind the neck isn’t even a functional (every day) movement.
8. Straight Legged Sit Ups -- Performing straight legged sit ups (knees locked and extended) puts a lot of stress on the lower spine, and the jerky type movement required to lift from the floor can result in injury. According to Wayne Westcott, PhD., Fitness Research Director at the South Shore YMCA in Boston, "in a routine where any abdominal exercise movement places stress on the back, the risks outweigh the potential benefits.”
9. Seated Rotation Machine --These machines are found in gyms and people use them in the hopes of shrinking the waist line. In fact, you’ll usually see people rotating left and right on these machines for hundreds of repetitions. It does not shrink the waist and can place a great deal of pressure upon the ligaments of the spine.
10. Cardiovascular Exercise: More than 60 Minutes -- I realize you want to lose the most amount of fat in the least amount of time. I can understand that, but if the body can only lose up to two pounds of fat per week before it begins destroying muscle, why are you working out as if you’re attempting to lose five pounds per week? I generally recommend working at a capacity of 70 to 80 percent of your target heart rate. If you’re performing cardio more than 60 minutes at this level of intensity, you’re on a collision course for muscle loss. If you think it’s not important, you may want to re-consider.
I’ve seen people lose well over 100 pounds and lose it very, very fast. They did everything possible to lose weight (fat and muscle), as opposed to losing only fat and sparing muscle. The result is a soft and flabby looking body. Yes, they lost the 100 pounds, but did it in the most inefficient manner possible. The key to your success is not searching for an exercise that will reduce a trouble spot. It’s finding the most efficient exercises that will strengthen the area. Then, the combination of reduced calories, cardiovascular exercise and consistency does the rest of the work.
Raphael Calzadilla has over 14 years of experience as a personal trainer and bodybuilder, earned his B.A. in Communications from Southern Connecticut State University; is certified with ACE, APEX and successfully completed the RTS1 program based on biomechanics.
~~~~~
Homemade Weights
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
I'll keep with the theme this week and show you guys how I get my strength training in on a budget! Rather than buying dumbells or weights or anything, I just put some of my school books in a bag (like my purse - it works because the handles are strong and long enough :]) and do sets of all sorts with them!
Seeeeee?? It's perfect! ;] (And no that's not my take-out container in the background.) BTW, I noticed that I have a few new followers... hey yall! Thank you for reading!!!
I also just realized that I need to step my crunch game up. 9 days left! Anywho, what other ways do you all stay fit on a tight budget?
xo, Carissa
Turns out laughter really is the best medicine!
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Crunch Challenge
My plan is to complete 1500 crunches within the next 30 days. That's 100 crunches every other day. I have an ab ball that I'll use, and I'm also going to do other types that I've found on sparkpeople.com & other websites. I'll post before/after pictures & measurements after I've completed it, and I'll keep you guys updated with the number I've completed by adding a new "box" over to the right ->.
Now - just to be clear - I know that targeting one specific area will not necessarily make you lose weight in that area. I'll still do cardio and all my normal stuff.. I just want to get a good stomach workout in and see how my body can (hopefully!) change.
Hereeeeee we go!
PS. If you would like to do the challenge with me, I can put a link to your site in the sidebar along with my stats. Just let me know! ;)
There's Somebody I'd Like You to Meet :)
Monday, August 10, 2009
Reader, meet Wanda. Wanda, meet reader.
Today's Exercise: Standing Oblique Crunch
STEP 1 - Stand with your feet a little more than shoulder width apart, and your right arm raised above your head.
STEP 2 - Lift your left knee up and meet it with your right hand.
STEP 3 - Return to standing position. Repeat on both sides, touching opposite hand to opposite knee.
Difficulty level:
This exercise will help to get rid of those nasty love handles and will tone your sides. Remember, just doing exercises that target one area of your body doesn't mean you will lose fat off that area - you need cardio to burn calories & fat! :)
5 mile workout
Sunday, August 9, 2009
On Friday I got Leslie Sansone's 5 mile walk in the mail! :) My wonderful boo did one mile with me on Friday & another on Saturday, and I just finished doing 5 miles. It was really hard! I didn't really have much energy to work with, but I pushed myself to do all 5 and got a good sweat in.
The DVD is broken up into 5 mile segments and you can choose how many or which of the miles you want to do. Each mile is 12 minutes long (awesome for a quick workout!), for a total of one hour if you do all 5. There's an inspirational story at the end, but for some reason mine cuts off before its over? Idk.. maybe I accidentally pushed some button?!
All in all, I'm happy with it!
What are your favorite workout DVDs??
52 Card Workout
Friday, August 7, 2009
I got this workout from last season's Biggest Loser.. :) What you do is assign a workout for each suit and when you draw a card, the suit tells you what exercise to do and the number tells you how many reps to complete. For example:
♠ - pushups♣ - squats
♥ - crunches
♦ - minutes running in place
Shuffle the cards and draw one; let's say you draw the 5 of hearts. You'll do 5 crunches, then draw again, and so forth. Of course, you can assign whatever type of exercise you'd like to each suit. Try getting through a whole deck!!
Walk Away the Pounds!
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Today I did one of Leslie Sansone's "walk" workouts. I ♥LOVEEE♥ them because they're incredibly easy to do, and it really is a good, sweaty workout. I found a 45 minute segment on YouTube of her's and did it. Ha.
Aaaand I just found her 5 mile walk on Walmart's website for $6.00!! She actually has a lot of workouts and equipment.. more than I thought. Here's her website if you wanna take a look:
Workout DVDs
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
For the past week I've been focusing A LOT on staying active.. I try to do SOME kind of exercise every day. I wanted to share with you 2 workout DVDs that I've been doing.. I think you might enjoy trying them out!
-Biggest Loser Workout 2-
This DVD has different segments ranging in time from 5 to 15 minutes. You can add and remove segments from the workout that you want to do that day, and change it up everyday if you'd like. I REALLY love it. It gets me sweating and, of course, the BL trainers get me going!
-Tony Horton's Power Half Hour-
Basically, it's 30 minute segments that target different areas of your body - arms, thighs, butt, abs - and a stretch segment. I did the ab one today.. Talk about intense! I can't do everything that Tony does.. but at least I'm moving, right?! Ha.
Have any of you tried either of these? What did you think?
Always, BB.
Basically, it's 30 minute segments that target different areas of your body - arms, thighs, butt, abs - and a stretch segment. I did the ab one today.. Talk about intense! I can't do everything that Tony does.. but at least I'm moving, right?! Ha.Have any of you tried either of these? What did you think?
Always, BB.
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