It’s A New Year! New Goals! Better Health! Better Body! 2016 was an amazing year for my brand, family and I. I’m so excited to see what 2017 has in store for me. If you’ve been following me on social media then you are aware that I have been hitting the gym hard for the last three months. Honestly when I first joined Planet Fitness I was one of those folks that joked and said “I ill be in here everyday”. Yeah Right? Well at least not at first. I went a few times and because I was that person who thought that working out at the gym wasn’t apart of my norm I only went a few times a month. Needless to say that the gym could care less because they were still getting paid regardless of rather I went or not. Keep in mind that I was still practicing yoga at home but I desired to take my practice to another level.
One day I was walking past the mirror and noticed that I had a little pudge in the front. No my cycle was not on so this was an everyday pudgy gut. It may sound crazy coming from me because many people would consider me small but the truth is that I will be turning 41 on tomorrow and if I don’t want to have an “round about” gut like my mom has earned over the past few year I had better get to working on my body. I made a commitment to workout at least an hour a day for five days. If you had asked me a few months ago if I would be addicted to the gym I would have said NO! Fast Forward and heading to the gym five days a week has become a regimen and a part of my daily life. Who would have known that working from home would result in utter laziness at time! I’m so glad that I have a system in place that keeps me focused on living and eating healthy as well as working diligently.
I’ve received a few questions about what my workout regimen consist of and basically its super simple for me. I changed the way that I eat. What does that mean? It means that I have cut out eating out. I may grab a broccoli and cheddar soup from Panera or a salad for lunch occasionally. I eliminated my snacking habits which includes candies, chips, beef jerky and M &M’s amongst other sweets. I replaced those with the following snacks: Cranberry Nut Mix, Fresh Fruit, Smoothies, Protein Shakes, Raw Nuts and Juicing.
Once the kids are all packed and off to school I head out to the gym. Trust me going early is A MUST! The early morning tends to only consist of fellow members who desire to get a workout in before heading to work or early birds like myself. I start my work out with Cardio. The treadmill has become my BFF. I’m a creature of habit so I prefer the very first one closet to the door so that I can get that clean breeze when fellow members enter. Don’t Judge Me!
Once I complete 2-3 miles on the treadmill I head to the STRETCH room where I do a complete round of yoga exercises to stretch myself out for the my daily yoga practice. This normally takes about 35-60 minutes. This sets the stage for my home practice.
The above image is “BAE”. He’s so hard on me! He never gives me any breaks. We work on my abs for about 4 counts of 10. I alternate working out with BAE every other day and the alternate days are spend adding a little weights into my workout.
Planet Fitness has a circular circuit that works perfectly for those that prefer to workout using time demands. The PF Express is a 30 minute workout. You start on one end and work your way around until your finish. Talk about a great workout. I seldom do this one since I have worked out my own routine that works wonders for me. However this was my first go to workout when I first joined the gym. What I love about it is you can get everything in at one time.
When I started working out my goals were to bring my weight back down to 138 pounds and shed a few inches off of me stomach/waist area. I started out weighing 147 and my stomach/waist was 33 and now I’m down to 140 pounds and 31 inches. I shed pounds by changing the way that I eat and cutting out fast food. I will admit that it’s been an amazing journey and I look forward to where my body will be in the upcoming months. Stay tuned for monthly Fitness Updates.