Friday, September 10, 2010

Sabotouers !!

List of things in my life (including me) that sabotage my progress! :(

1) ME! -my laziness knows no bounds lately - is it depression?

2) Lack of support! - from A. He shows no enthusiasm for working out and does not push me- something that I sorely need to overcome #1 above. Maybe he too suffers from the malady listed above?

3) Food cravings! - This is the combination of 1 and 2 above. A suffers most from it. He loves to eat out! He loves variety.

4) Carb cravings! Take inositol?

5) Lack of food planning organization gene - I have no plan for food for a day- forget a week! That leads to eating truck load of easy to make/easily accessible CARBS.

GRRRRRRRR

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Bees Knees!

If you take up exercising again after a long break and weight gain like me, or if your response is "Exercise? What is that?", then please spare some consideration for your knees.

Note to self: Before you go crazy with jumping jacks, take a minute or two each day to strengthen the muscles supporting your knees! OUCH

I really went with a lot of gusto for Jillian's 30 day shred. Great program...but with a lot of rope jumps and jumping jacks .... and I have sore knees to show for it.

I know that I need to condition and train the muscles around y knees so that I do not end up injuring my knees. But all that knowledge apparently went out of the window! yuck

So here I am feeling each and every jumping jack as I struggle to sleep in my bed!

Some simple tricks to strengthen your knees...

a) Assisted lunges..as many as you can for each leg for a week. Unassisted thereafter.
b)Reverse leg curls ..again as many as you can.This will condition your hamstrings
c) Finally, stand with legs shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. Extend your left leg diagonally behind your right leg and hold the stretch. Repeat with other leg. Repeat as many times as you want. This should stretch the outside of the muscles around your knees.

Do this routine everyday. Your knees will thank you!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Its a Gift !

To be able to wake up everyday, get up on your two feet and dance or run and do mountain climbers ~ its a gift ~ unparalleled gift!

I was reading someone's blog yesterday and she wrote that its a gift to be able to wake up and run everyday. That really hit me with a whammy and stuck with me since.

We do take so many things for granted in our life! All the little inconsequential worries obfuscate the real gifts that we still have.

I am blessed with this gift ~ this privilege.

Excuse me while I go put on my dancing shoes~~~

Monday, August 9, 2010

Review of 30 Day Shred -Jillian Michaels

Okie Dokie...Here goes.

I bought the 30 day shred last year around December along with "No More Trouble Zones", also by Jillian. I tried it for a month, however did not stick to the program as prescribed. Why did I not stick to the program? Big reason why and let me elaborate.

I will start my saying that 30 day shred DVD is excellent. The format is very manageable. There are three levels of boot-camp like circuits. Each harder than the previous level. The idea is to do each level for about 10 days and move on to the next level. The level starts with warm-up of couple minutes, followed by two sets of two exercises each. These are then followed by a set of cardio exercises like plyometrics.

The warm-up is kinda goofy -not your usual kind. Jillian does some old school routines like knee rotations. I am not sure how doing knee rotations exactly aids in preparing our bodies for whats to come next. But that's not a biggie at all and only a minor quibble.

Once we are done with warm-up, the first resistance circuit consists or two exercises- one a quick set of 30 seconds with high resistance and then a 1 minute set of low weight and long reps. For example, in the first level, we do full body push-ups for 30 seconds and then over head rows for one minute.

I loved doing level one for 2 days- by third day I got BORED. I persevered, but by 5th day I could not take it and switched levels even though I was not doing the first level to the intended physical level.

I have since done it on and off...owing in part to my laziness and desire to switch up my workout all the time.

So, if you are in decent shape but doing just cardio or running type of exercised with no body conditioning included AND you do not mind somewhat repetitive exercises ~ then 30 day shred is great for you.

I would still take a break in between. Go three days, take a break and go another 3 days and so on.

All in all, a great program!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

I AM ALIVE!!!

Yes, I am alive and not dead! Been away for too long! Too much going on! Way stressful life!

Loving spring so far and summer will be here soon!

Excited about Sex and City Part Deux. Watching a chick flick with your girlfriends is the best! Cannot wait to get to the theater!

On exercise front - missed working out for almost a month. Nasty bronchitis cough injured my rib. Had to stay away from heavy exercise so as not to aggravate it further.
But I am back on track! Yeah!

Bought myself a copy of Jillian's 30 day shred. Review coming up soon!

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Holidays and New Years!

Nothing puts new years resolutions in focus like holiday noshing! Decadent food equals guilt run amok.
After all, that freshly baked cookie goes right to you know where......
Just the right nudge you need to get thinking about the coming year. I prefer to drill down to my resolutions by visualizing my goals. How do I want my life to look 6 months into the year, how do I want my life to look by the end of the year. This visualization includes my look, my health, my financial health, my family, my career etc in random order.

I visualized what my fitness level should look like a 4 months out, 6 months out and so on. Fitness also serves to achieve my goal look for the next year. This vision in my head is very exciting! I love the way I look. I love the clothes I will be wearing, the bags I will carry and generally how fabulous I will look!

Find me on Polyvore


I cannot wait to get to work! I have created polyvores of my looks and pinned them on my inspiration board.

My fitness goals are really simple.....workout six days a week; play a game and do whole lot more yoga. Simple and straightforward. Nothing really complicated.

And I am not waiting for 2010 to work on it! Life starts now!

Monday, December 7, 2009