I Work Out

Over the last year I've been an elliptical junkie but I don't want to burn myself out.  I have started to add in the treadmill and I seriously need to venture over to those machines to work on muscle building.  I want to work out at home more too so I ordered some new exercise videos to add to my collection and mix things up a little.  I love ballet and my goals are to increase my flexibility and tone so I got a bunch of ballet inspired and yoga workouts.  I actually already had Time Saver Cardio and Balletone in VHS which was almost like not having them at all.  Who has the patience for VHS tapes?  Or a VCR for that matter!  Time Saver Cardio is so old school that it was only .50 cents and the shipping cost was more then the actual DVD!  Over this month I've got a package of classes I need to use up so I might not get to these right away but I'm looking forward to trying them out.  A good source for exercise videos is Collage Video.  They have tons to choose from.  There are lots reviews, sample clips and a detailed breakdown of every workout.  I ended up buying these on Amazon.com though because some were cheaper there.  

Kathy Smith Time Saver Cardio

Balletone:  The Dancers Work Out for Everybody
Xtend Barre: Lean & Chiseled with Andrea Rogers
Tracey Mallett-The Booty Barre-Total New Body

Element: Ballet Conditioning with Elise Gulan  

Jillian Michaels: Yoga Meltdown

Power Yoga - Total Body Workout with Rodney Yee
Elle Make Better Series:  Elle Workout Yoga with Brooklyn Decker (not pictured)

I've been watching TV during my elliptical work outs for a while now.  It's been a lifesaver keeping me entertained especially during the hour long sessions which sometimes feel like forever.  I'm usually lucky enough to get a machine with a TV attached but last night I didn't so thank goodness I updated my i Tunes.  My music was so stale.  It wasn't motivating me and I didn't even want to listen to it anymore.  I created one play list using the new ones and mixed in some songs that I already had.  Now my workout mix has 93 songs and they are all in one place so I can frantically navigate to that one song I need to get me through those last 5 minutes when I feel like I'm gonna die.  If anyone needs any ideas here they are.  Some of them might not be the newest....but again it's been a long time since I bought anything.

Give Me Everything (Tonight), Pitbull Ft. Ne-Yo, Afrojack & Nayer

Stereo Hearts (feat. Adam Levine), Gym Class Heroes

Without You (feat. Usher), David Guetta & Usher

We Found Love (feat. Calvin Harris) [Calvin Harris Extended Mix], Rihanna

The Edge of Glory, Lady GaGa

Firework, Katy Perry
California Gurls (feat. Snoop Dogg), Katy Perry
Dynamite, Taio Cruz

Raise Your Glass, P!nk

Stereo Love, Edward Maya & Vika Jigulina

Fly, Nicki Minaj & Rihanna 

Here is my exercise summary for the last two weeks.  No, I don't count my house cleaning as a workout but if I'm going to spend 2 hours slaving away you can bet I'm giving myself credit for calories burned.  Last year I started out slow committing to just 2 days a week for a minimum of 30 minutes after not working out for over a year.  I figured doing something is better then doing nothing at all.  I didn't want to push it and it worked.  I've stuck with it and now exercise actually feels like part of my life again like it used to.  Having the time and energy to exercise during Christmas Break reminded me of how much I actually enjoy it.  It's hard fitting it in but once I just accepted the fact that going to the gym on a weekday often means barely having time to come home and eat and fall exhausted into bed it was all good.  Last year working out was a NYE resolution and this year it's a lifestyle.

Mj lost 3.5 pounds after the first week of his Beach Body Challenge.  He's following his meal plan and work out plan and is off to a great start.

Do you have any new workout plans or fitness goals for the new year? 

Monday Dec 26- Sunday Jan 1:  
Worked out every day except Tuesday and Friday

Exercise Summary		Calories
Yoga	45 Min	110
Elliptical 280	30 Min	280
Yoga	1 Hour	220
Situps	5 Min	11
Elliptical	1 Hour	520
Stretching	10 Min	40
House Cleaning	2 Hours	214
Elliptical	30 Min	290
P90X2 Stretch & Recovery	55 Min	195
Elliptical	1 Hour	550
Total	2431

Monday Jan 2- Sunday Jan 8:
Worked out every day except Monday and Sunday

Exercise Summary		Calories
Pilates	50 Min	130
Situps	10 Min	44
Mix Technique Class: Yoga, Pilates, Ballet, Cardio	1 Hour	330
Walking	30 Min	175
Elliptical	30 Min	250
Elliptical	30 Min	260
P90X2 Yoga	1 Hour 5 Min	190
Yoga	1 Hour	220
Total	1599