A short update

Just to let everyone know, I've been losing a pound a week with Hip-Hop Abs. No dieting, just cutting back portion sizes, eating a healthy breakfast (Fiber One cereal w/ protein right now), and no late night snacking! I'm impressed so far!

Just for kicks and giggles!

My friend posted this the other day and I about died laughing.  It's so true!

Hip-Hop Abs: Week 2

So I just finished week 2 of Shaun T's Hip-Hop Abs.  I don't remember if I mentioned before that Ab Sculpt is either done with weighted gloves for parts 1 & 2, weights for part 2, or no weights for complete beginners. I used 1.5 pound weighted gloves for the whole workout for the first 2 weeks; for weeks 3 and 4 I will be adding a 3 pound weight.
(I bought the gloves for $10 at Walmart.) 

As promised, here are this weeks calorie burning results! (Remember, these are based on me being 5'4" and 132 lbs.)

Day 8: Fat Burning Cardio= 338 calories and only 1.5 minutes of fat burn
Day 9: Fat Burning Cardio + Ab Sculpt= 618 calories with 3 minutes of fat burn
Day 10: Fat Burning Cardio + Ab Sculpt= 589 calories with 5.5 minutes of fat burn
Day 11: Ab Sculpt= 224 calories with 7.5 minutes of fat burn(!!!!)
Day 12: Fat Burning Cardio + Ab Sculpt= 671 calories (!!) ...only 2 minutes of fat burn
Day 13: supposed to be Fat Burning Cardio + Ab Sculpt, but let's just say it was a very long, not-so-good day and thus, I did not get in my workout; so, I used this as my rest day and picked up with week 3 yesterday.  Now my weeks start on Mondays instead of Tuesdays.

No more missing days!  I'm doing my best to keep that promise to you and to myself!    

(Next week's post will start with Day 15.) 

Denise Austin Yoga Buns

So, I know I'm doing Hip-Hop Abs right now, but for relaxation or on my rest days, I've decided to add in Denise Austin's Yoga Buns, which she suggests doing at least 3 times a week.  And I really enjoy it.  I'm not worried so much about my upper-body, and the one thing I sometimes don't like about Yoga is when it has too much upper-body strengthening moves.

This particular Yoga DVD burns about 350 calories for a 30 minute routine, and it does involve some upper-body and of course shoulder strengthening, (if you've done Yoga then you understand the shoulder strength you need for all the Warrior poses), but it focuses much more on the lower body and particularly the booty.  I want to look sexy from behind in my bathing suit next summer.  I've done a lot of different work outs and this one is relaxing, challenging, and will give you the soreness the next day that makes you feel like you really accomplished something.

You can check it out for free on YouTube here, but I suggest buying it if you really like it!

Randomness: Hip-Hop Abs, Insomnia, All-natural Supplements, and Needing Advice

Let's start off with a copy of this month's calendar of fun:

As you can see, week 2 of Hip-Hop Abs is when it's time to start combining exercises.  Since this is my second time around with the first 3 weeks, I'm a little bored but I'm giving it my all anyways. I do feel like I have the tilt, tuck, tighten method down much better this go-around, and my breathing is more focused which is the upside to my boredom--you can always find something to improve on!

The last time I did Hip-Hop Abs I gave up because I gained 5 lbs my first few weeks.  Well, I'm only down 1 lb. that I know of right now and I'm not checking my inches until the end of the month, but I've added all-natural green coffee bean and raspberry ketones to my daily supplements and I believe they have been a big help in making me not want to eat an elephant after an hour-long workout.
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On a different note, sleep is not coming easy for me right now (as you can tell by the time of this post).  Insomnia has officially taken over (and sleeping pills make me pass out for like 12 hours, which I don't have time for).

I've tried a number of things:

1. Having my husband open the blinds when he leaves at work at 6 a.m. so the sun shines in my eyes (I just throw the covers over my head)
2. Setting my alarm for 15 minutes earlier than my normal waking time--supposedly this helps if you progress slowly over several weeks (but I sleep very well through it)
3. Drinking a bottle of water before bed so I have to relieve myself in the morning (unfortunately, I'm not stranger of waking up in the middle of the night to go to the restroom...especially after having a baby sit on my bladder for 8 months)
4. Adjusting the temperature in the house so that it's a little too warm for me in the mornings (I love my house freezing so I can snuggle up in my covers)  Now, this actually worked today/yesterday, but I still fought it for about 15 minutes before I finally decided to literally force my booty out of bed and STAY out of bed

So my problem isn't getting out of bed, it's staying out of bed!  This time....I NEED ADVICE! So please leave comments below...I'm open to any suggestions.

I also wanted to share this with everyone today: 

Popular Foods You Should Never Eat

I found this article from Health Magazine titled "25 Fattening Foods You Should Never Eat". None of these were a real shocker to me, but I was saddened by a few of them since I now know exactly why I shouldn't be eating them (instead of trying to convince myself there is something healthy about it).  I'll be avoiding these items from now on!

Check out the article here.

Hip-Hop Abs (again...)

I know, I know, it's been awhile!  But I took a couple months of a hiatus with very little working out, however, I plunged head first back into it this past week with the decision to give Beachbody's Hip-Hop Abs a legitimate try this time.

And this time, I'm a little more motivated.  My heart rate monitor lets me know how many calories I've burned, so the goal is to burn a little more each time!  (I've also decided to go back to wearing my FreezeAwayFat shorts...I did lose almost 7 total inches the last time I combined wearing them with a workout program.)

So today's entry is about 2 things: helping you find the motivation you need to get back into exercising if you've recently lost the willpower, and promote ShaunT and his Hip-Hop abs program as a really good ab workout.

With Hip-Hop abs, it is very important to watch and practice with the Secret to Flat Abs dvd, because that's where you'll learn how to do all the moves while doing the total engagement: tilt, tuck, tighten!  It's a lot to think about at first so practice will make perfect, and if you don't keep those abs engaged throughout the workout, it won't work!  (You can also get a added leg workout if you jump and slide and do the higher impact moves instead of sticking with the beginner stuff.)

This is the amount of calories burned and the length of time I spent in a fat burning zone during the first week.

Day 1: Fat Burning Cardio = 336 calories burnt w/ 1.5 minutes of fat burn
Day 2: Fat Burning Cardio = 339 calories burnt w/ 2 minutes of fat burn
Day 3: Ab Sculpt = 201 calories burnt w/ 7 minutes of fat burn!
Day 4: Fat Burning Cardio = 327 calories burnt w/ 4 minutes of fat burn
Day 5: Fat Burning Cardio = 384 calories burnt w/ no fat burning :(
Day 6: Ab Sculpt = 247 calories burnt w/ 4 minutes of fat burn
Day 7: Rest Day...consisted of me doing a low impact, lower body-focused yoga routine (I will post my review of that workout tomorrow.)