Trying Zumba

June 2

A while ago, I bought Wii Zumba. That was 30lbs ago, and I hated it. The game moved too fast for me to keep up, even in the tutorial mode for beginners. Sad, right?

I brought the game back out today and tried it again. I skipped the tutorial and went right in for a workout. It was okay at first, and then it got crazy and my shins were killing me. Plus, I can't seem to coordinate my feet, arms and hips all at the same time.  I lasted 20 minutes.

Sigh. I know a few friends who have tried Zumba and love it. It seems like so much fun and a great exercise, but I just can't get into it (at least not yet. I'm not giving up). Perhaps I need more rhythm?

Next time I try it, I'm going to warm up on my own and then start the game. That should help with the pain in my legs at least.

What is your experience with Zumba? Love it or hate it?

Getting Back on Track

May 31st
303 Days Left


Wow. Nothing like a few weddings, the in-laws, and a holiday to get me off track! It's been about two weeks since I did an actual workout, which bums me a bit. I've been doing other things to stay active, but I'd like to get back into my routine.

Until I do (I have a few things to complete around the house first), I've decided to do a few things every day:

1. Any time I'm 'bored', I'm going to get up, stretch, and jog in place to get my heart going. 
2. I'm going to do three 30 second planks.
3. I'm going to do my arm exercises any chance I get with my stretch band. 
4. I'm going to complete lunges and squats when I am cleaning up after the kids. 

It's a minimal effort, but it's still effort.

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Update in Goals:

1. As of today, I have lost 11 lbs! Not too shabby considering all the food I've been eating. 
2. The weather has been great so I've been outside with the kids a lot. I've started a garden and I've taken over the lawn care duties from my husband. 
3. Still no baby #3. Sigh...
4. I've been writing on HubPages like crazy. I have written 9 articles in the past month, and I'll be writing 8-10 this month. (Find my articles here.)

Well, time to put the kids for a nap and get to work. Have a great day! 

~Marissa

ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com

MommyKnowsWhatsBest.blogspot.com

Working Out While Cleaning Up

May 18

Phew. Have you ever made yourself sweat while cleaning? I do it quite often while cleaning every day.
Counts as exercise, doesn't it? Sure does, at least in my book!

Anytime I clean my house, it's with at least moderate effort, from laundry to mopping. According to MyFitnessPal, even twenty minutes of such cleaning burns nearly 70 calories. I'll take it.

When I clean up toys or anything on the floor, I like to do some lunges or squats. If I'm doing laundry, I'll take a few piles of close at a time up and down my steps for an aerobic workout.

A few days ago, I decided to cut my lawn, which is usually my husband's job, but he's been super busy. It took me 2.5 hours to clean up the yard. Those 2.5 hours helped me burn 1300 calories! I think I'll cut the lawn every other day now...

More on this later. Toddler is calling.

Thanks for reading! Hope you have a great weekend!
~Marissa

Best Workout Routine Yet!

May 10, 2012

324 Days left

Best Workout Routine Yet! 

Today's workout routine was my best one yet! I think I may have hit the jackpot for me, at least until I get tired of it. I made a new customized workout routine on EA Sports Active 2 that was a mix of everything--arm exercises, aerobics, core exercises, and full-body exercises. I started with a 5 minute warm-up, mixed quite a few of the different exercises in the middle so it was continuously different, and ended with a 5 minute cool-down. It was set for 50 minutes, but it went by so fast because I was really enjoying myself. It was really hard, but it was a blast!

Today's Workout Routine
Source:MMcK

This one really made me sweat, and I definitely felt a burn in my arms and thighs. I think this will be the routine I stick with for a while.

I did make it a bit more interesting when I had to do the running exercises. Instead of running in place, I ran around my living room. My neighbors must think I'm crazy!

I Lost Weight! 333 Days Left

May 1, 2012

Yaahhhhoooooo!!! I lost some weight! I'm down six pounds since my last weigh in, for a total of seven pounds lost. I'm so thrilled!

I'm down to 214lbs!
Source: MMcK

And yet...I feel like I cheated. If you've been following along, I was sick last week with a nasty stomach bug. Nasty. My whole family succumbed to this terrible illness for an entire week. Yuck.

Here I am though, two days after my last round with the bug. Yesterday, I ate more than my allotted calories because, hey, I was hungry. Only today did I start exercising again. So to what should I attribute this weight loss?

Eh, the heck with it. I've been working hard. I'll claim the victory! 

Sweating and Burning with EASA 2

Phew! My workout today rocked! I did my Summer Body workout again (see my post here) and it was awesome. I couldn't believe how quickly it went!

Here are the stats:

April 24th Workout
Source: MMMcK

I feel great! I also lost a pound, which is incredible considering the terrible food consumption I had this weekend. I'm back down to 220lbs after gaining that one miserable pound last week. It's a loss; I'll take it!

I recorded the workout on MyFitnessPal. It gave me some calories back to eat, but you know what? I'm going to try my darnedest not to eat them.  There's no reason to eat more when the goal is to eat less! Of course I'm going to make the right choices for the rest of the day and not starve myself.

Hope the rest of the day feels this good! I'm off to do some other writing while the kids are napping.

~Marissa
ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com
MommyKnowsWhatsBest.Blogspot.com

Day 2: 351 Days Left

April 13th


Wow. Yesterday's workout kicked my butt. I was so achy this morning that it was hard to get out of bed (oh, yeah...getting up with the 1yo several times last night didn't help either). 


So what did I do? Another workout! I'm determined, people!


Today's workout, while shorter by 10 minutes, was still great. I burned nearly 187 calories and worked up a sweat (ew!). 

My trainer was proud of me. Can you tell? Go me! 


Here are the exercises for today:

Pretty good workout, eh? My muscles say YES! 


I'll probably be taking the next two days off, simply because my body needs to rest. That and if my muscles are too sore, I won't be able to lift and carry my teething tyrannosaurus rex...

TIP: Remember to breathe when exercising! Sometimes you get so into the exercise that you forget! It's super important to breathe the right way. EASA 2 actually gives you advice about breathing, saying that you should exhale when you are doing something with force.

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Exercise, Day 1

April 12th

I'm losing 30lbs. Care to join me?

One of my goals before I turn thirty is to lose 30lbs (check out my first post for details!). I'm determined this time. I will be at the weight I was at my wedding six years ago, which was fine for me. Now if I could lose 40lbs, I'd be at my high school weight, but we'll see...

For my first day back to exercising, I used EA Sports Active 2 for Wii. It's what I used when I lost my first 30lbs after my second baby. (I know. 30lbs before, 30 more lbs? Heffer.) Right now, I'm at 220lbs. (I weighed myself with Wii Fit, which said I was 217, but that was before my workout and they're kind enough to deduct the weight of clothing...).

I'm going to try to exercise 30 minutes a day for at least 3 days a week. If I can do more, I definitely am going to do more. My routines will be my own workouts, ones I create using the exercises in EASA2.workout. I like that because I am able to modify the routine to avoid exercises that will irritate my arm/neck/shoulder/back injury sustained from a car accident (ever feel the impact of two wheels hitting your car? It hurts.).

My workouts will all be at the medium intensity until I feel I can kick it up a notch.  All routines will include warm-ups and cool downs. I will also be drinking at least 32oz. of water during the workout and 32oz. after the workout.

I have three problem areas I intend to focus on: arms, thighs and belly. I'd rather see muscle in those areas than what I see now.

Here's my workout from today (Time 36:31):

1. Alternating Shoulder Rotations (Warm-up)
2. Goodmornings  (Warm-up)
3. Hip Circles  (Warm-up)
4. Bent Over Reverse Flys
5. Bent Over Rows with Triceps Kickbacks
6. Hammer Curls with Narrow Shoulder Presses
7. Overhead Triceps Extensions
8. Seated Rows
9. Alternating Side Lunges
10. Sumo Squats with Pivots
11. Hip Bridges
12. Foot Fires
13. Fitness Trail--Follow the Leader (Med)
14. Reverse Crunches
15. Squats with Overhead Triceps Extension
16. Mountain Biking
17. Boxing--Combo Station 2
18. Boxing--Sparring 2
19. Mountainboarding
20. Step Aerobics--Dance 1
21. Step Aerobics--Mixed
22. Soccer--Goalkeeper
23. Basketball--Passing
24. Basketball--Shooting
25. Arm Across and Pulls (Cool down)
26. Pretzels  (Cool down)

I did more cool downs than what is listed here, but you get the idea. 

It was an awesome workout with nearly 280 calories burned. I felt the burn, definitely.

I even made sure to add the housework I do, since every little bit adds up (right, moms?). 180 calories for the physical work I do in the house isn't too bad. 

Hopefully this will be the kick start I need!  Thanks for reading!

Marissa

ThePracticalMommy.HubPages.com

MommyKnowsWhatsBest.blogspot.com