Day 11

Today I completed 2 workouts. This morning I did Turbo Jam Booty Sculpt. This workout is tough & focuses on lifting w/ lots of sqauts & butt exercises. Like most TJ workouts - I really like this one. I also did seated meditation. I did not enjoy this workout -- I wanted to fall asleep. In fact I may have dozed off. I am not sure that meditation is for me.
I am also concerned b/c we are approaching the season of eating. It is already starting. the next 6 weeks are like a gorge fest. Considering I treat my everyday life as a gorge fest I dont really need this added encouragement..........
On another note - I am really looking forward to going to my parents for Thanksgiving!!
13/78 (16%)

Day 10

Today I completed Tae Bo Basic. It is a VHS workout. Yes I still have VHS workout tapes! I actually really enjoyed this workout & am wondering why I stopped doing it! I am going to start to grade all of my workouts so when I am done, I will know which workouts I liked. I would give this workout a B+
This workout is 30 minutes.
11/78

Day 9

Today I completed 2 short workouts from Slim In Six. I did Slim & 6 pack & Slim & Limber.
The first was 12 minutes & the 2nd was 15. I liked both of them. I also walked ~ 4 miles today w/ friends. I feel pretty good, but this week will be a true test. My mom will support me when I am home & probably do all of the workouts with me. It will just be motivating myself enough to workout when I am in a food coma!
hopefully I can do it!

Day 8

Today I completed my first Turbo Jam workout. Out of all of the workout DVDs that I own, these have definitely been my favorite & most commonly used. Today I completed the basic Learn & Burn which was about 30 minutes. The Learn just reiterated the basic moves & the Burn practiced w/ simple moves. It was a short but effective workout. Turbo Jam (as others) the workout is exactly what you put into it. If you slack off, you don't burn very many calories.

I also walked ~ 3 miles today. I am in a walkers program at work that has a few more weeks left. I had 12 weeks to walk 100 miles. I will be glad when the DVD challenge is the only thing I have to focus on!

Later I went on an all day winery tour of Herman, MO. It was very fun, our tickets allowed us to go to 6 wineries where they gave us food sampling & many wine samples. I bought 3 bottles of local wine! Then this evening I watched 'Bottle Shock' well worth the watch. It was a very fitting movie after my wine tasting day. Today I also learned that it is someone's job to create foods or snacks that pair well with wines. This sounds like a fun potential career change if I only knew the first thing about wine or cooking or pairings!
8 / 75 (10%!)

Day 7

I almost had a nervous breakdown yesterday. I cried at work yesterday & i NEVER do that. I was really stressed out & I am not sure why. I was upset, so I didnt work out yesterday, and I ate everything in sight. I need to work on using alternatives to feel better when I am stressed aside from eating everything. I had this overwhelming feeling about everything I needed to accomplish and thought I could not do any of it.

I did not want to work out today, but I really felt like if I took 2 days off this early in the challenge I would quit altogether. So today I did Slim-In-Six Start it up. It is 25 minutes. For only 25 minutes - it really worked me hard.
So after one week, I have completed 7 workouts, which is great! I am planning which workouts I will take home for Thanksgiving too.
I will have to start to get some tougher workouts in.
Overall, considering what a meltdown I had yesterday, I consider the week a success b/c I am still on the program.

Day 5

I almost got off track already! This is really going to test my discipline.
This morning I attended the interval gym class offered at work at 6AM. I like this class, but it does not count for my DVD challenge.
Then after work I had a 3 hr conference call. Prior to the call I had talked myself into skipping the workout (mostly b/c I was ready to quit b/c in a moment of weakness I ate almost a whole sleeve of Thin Mints).
After the call, my senses had returned and I completed Meditation for Beginners: Yoga (20 minutes). It is a simple one, but I wanted something less-intensive b/c the interval class was tough this morning.
Starting this challenge as we are heading into the holiday season will really test my creativity & time management. I am up for it though!!
6/75

Day 4

Today I completed Tae Bo Amped -Jump Start Cardio. It was challenging, but not as hard as I feared. A few times I had to put down the Amp bar b/c my arms were shaky and needed a break. I do not believe I have ever done this workout before, which is a shame. I think with a few repetitions I could get more out of it b/c I'd be more familiar with the moves & my arms would strengthen to hold the bar during the whole workout. Overall it was a good workout & I really got my sweat on!

For the challenge I have been working out as soon as I get up. This has been effective for me in the past, so I will continue to use this strategy. That way I am sure to get the workout in & I there will be no change for an excuse to be created. When I have early morning work obligations, I will have to be flexible & disciplined.

5 / 75

Day 3

YBB - Yoga Booty Ballet Cardio Cabaret Burlesque Style was my workout this morning. I wanted to choose something a little less intense b/c I am still recovering from my marathon exercise day yesterday. Don't be fooled, this DVD is not all that easy. Plus I felt extra awkward b/c a lot of the moves require some dance skills and they were risque. I also dont have the balance for some of the yoga moves. I tried my best, but I imagine if you were a fly on the wall you would have laughed your ass off at my attempts at cabaret yoga!!

dvd was 32 minutes long.

4/75

Day 2 of the Challenge

Today I completed the Power 90 Sweat 1/2. It was 36 minutes. It was a little challenging - especially the section with all the jumping jacks and the jumping. My cardio level needs some work. The past 2 days of Power 90 I have enjoyed it more than I remember. I think the workout is good, but for me I get bored with Power 90 if that is the only workout I am doing.

Then I met with a colleague to go for a walk. We inadvertently walked for 2 hours b/c and literally had to cut through the zoo b/c we got a little off track.
Needless to say I am exhausted today form the workout + 2 hours of walking!
I am also so sad b/c of the Steelers loss :(

Status 3/75

Day 1 of the Challenge

I completed 2 DVD workouts today.
I also realized that I have 75 workout DVDs not 73 - - yikes!!
Also - I decided that I need to be able to do the whole workout -- If I cannot for any reason (like its too hard or I'm too sore), I have to do it again.
Power 90 Sculpt circuit 1/2 - - 29 min & Ab ripper 100 (power 90) 6 minutes.
I was really sweating for a sculpting workout - - I liked it! I was struggling with the 3rd round of push-ups & the dips though. Otherwise I was able to complete the workout.
Off to a nice start.
I realized I will have to strategize my workouts. I cannot leave all of the advanced ones until the end b/c I will need some easier workouts to mix it up. But at the same time, I am sure some of the advanced ones I cannot do yet. What a delimna.

2 / 75 complete

DVD Work Out Challenge!!

I just finished reading Julie & Julia & since then I have been looking for my own challenge. Today it hit me out of the blue! I am a total DVD workout junkie. I have far more workout dvds than movies. In fact if you saw my collection, you'd assume I was in much better shape :)

This evening I listed out all of my workouts. I have 73 - - unbelievable! It is roughly 40 hours of exercise! I have a few DVD favorites, but I also have a few that are not opened (like the clothes in your closet with the tags still on them).

So my goal is to complete all 73 workouts by Jan 16th. That is slightly more than 1 a day. I chose the Jan 17th at random. I was going for the Jan 13th which is 2 months from tomorrow (& Erin's bday), but that was the beginning of the week - I gave myself through the weekend. The holiday will make this even tougher to complete!

I plan to update the blog with all of my workouts.
Here we go!!

Candy Land

Sugar is its own kind of evil. I will eat candy until my stomach and teeth ache. It is really a mystery. I know this will happen, but I continue to eat until I am sick. Why can I not learn this lesson?? Salt does not usually have this affect on me, but sugar - -ugh.
Tomorrow I will try to resist the Halloween candy at work.......wish me luck!!
sour patch kids are usually the worst!!

Shopping

I really don't like shopping. I often say I must be missing the 'girl gene' b/c I don't like this favorite American past-time. However, here is the deep dark secret. I hate shopping b/c I am embarrassed that I can not find things that fit me. Usually the top size in the stores are way too tight, assuming I can get them on in the first place. Now some places like Old Navy have made life a little easier by carrying bigger sizes, but that doesnt make my size any better. If I felt good about myself I honestly think I would not care about the number on the clothes. But..... I don't feel good about myself. So I need to work harder and eat better. Because I want to be able to shop like a normal person. But more importantly because I want to feel better about myself, I want to feel better emotionally & physically and I want to be healthy. For today I am excited about the mountain in front of me. I hope I can keep my motivation going...... For The Rest Of My Life.....