{baby} weight loss wednesday - exercise edition

Alrighty! We've talked about rules/goals and food.. now it's time to get that exercise plan out there!  

Sunday night dad stopped by the house and dropped off this:

My mom's medical records. 

He has been trying to get a copy of them so that my brother, sister and I can know the history of her health.

What could most likely be OUR future health.

She had non-Hodgkin's lymphoma of the bone.

A really bad hyper-thyroid.

And after reading those documents lots of visits to the doctor with sicknesses before those two major health problems in her 40's!

My mom lost her battle to cancer almost 9 years ago. 

She was 51... I was 22.

Before I lost mom I exercised to get skinny... as skinny as I could get. Workouts were filled with thoughts of getting smaller, being "cuter" and trying to keep my at-the-time boyfriend happy because he once made the comment he likes super skinny girls. 

And it's not just mom's cancer...  I've been handed some bad genes. My dad's mom died of MS when she was 42. My grandpa died of cancer 2 days after his 50th birthday. My dad didn't have either parent at the age of 25. My mom's parents died at 79 and 84 but both were overweight, had diabetes and heart disease.

So far this is doom and gloom but the good news is that God gave me a body that I can move and exercise and beat some of these diseases!

Chapter 3 in Made to Crave talks about our topic today.. getting a plan.  I LOVE the analogy she uses about a garden. Every summer I drive by and covet amish people's gardens. By golly they can't have electricity or color on their houses but their gardens are THE most colorful, gorgeous pieces of land!  Lysa says that sure, we'd all love a pristine, perfect garden lacing our property but they take WORK.  And lots of it!  Every time I drive by one of those amish houses 9 out of 10 times there is a little amish lady with her hind-end in the air pulling weeds. We want to reap the benefits of gorgeous flowers and nutritious veggies but we don't want to give water, pull weeds and spend hours to harvest all the veggies when they are ready to pick.  

We want the results but have no desire to put the work in required to reap those results. (pg 35)

The same is true of exercising. I'd loooooove to not work out another day but still reap the benefits of a strong, energetic, healthy body that exercise produces. 

I've come to the conclusion that I HAVE to be active to be a better mom, pull those pants up with ease and be attractive to my husband. 

And to do everything I can possible to avoid a medical record folder the size of my mom's. 

So with that said, yes.. exercise is hard and a pain in the butt. (sometimes literally)  BUT lets look at it differently and be thankful that God gave us able bodies to move and sweat and workout.  It can't be a 1, 3 or even 12 month plan.. exercise HAS to incorporate into your every day life. 

Ok.. with those thoughts out of the way I'll tell you what I've been doing for the last 4 weeks!

I am a exercise DVD lover. I know some people hate it but I enjoy the variety that they give. Over the years I've acquired 6 or so that I rotate along with some ellipticalling. (Is that a word? I run on the elliptical for those who don't understand my made up language.)  In the nice weather I enjoy run/walking a few miles.

Like I said in my first {baby}weight loss post.. my goal is to exercise at least 30 minutes 5 times a week. So far I've exceeded that goal!  Now. It's winter and I'm still on my maternity leave with my business so I have more time on my hands than normal BUT I do have 3 children and a very busy schedule. You have to deliberately make time to exercise.. it's THAT important!  So if I can do this you can too!

Here are my favorite DVD's along with my reviews:

Lindsay Brin's Shed 5 Fast - This is my fave!  She's also a mom of 3 so she's CONSTANTLY reminding you to hollow out your belly to help with the mama pooch and tuck in your hips to help with bladder control. She's also inspiring to look at because she's had 3 babies of her own and she's super tone!  Her website is moms into fitness and the first time I found it I spent an hour on it! Believe me you'll be dripping with sweat after you do this 30 minute DVD!

Lindsay Brin's Boot Camp 2 - another amazing DVD. This dvd has six 10 minute workouts so you can pick and choose what you want to do for the day.  Some are for toning, some concentrate on your belly more.. and there's 2 amazing cardio 10 minute exercises too. 

Jillian's Shred it with weights - also a great one!  She uses a kettleball in this one and I love it. =)  It's more toning than cardio so I usually do 10 minutes of the elliptical after this DVD. And watch out if your kiddos are around when doing this one.. you swing the kettlebell all the time and I'm always afraid I'm gunna knock out one of my girls. Ouch!

Jillian's Burn Fat Boost Metabolism - You will be dripping with sweat after this one. The cover says it's 40 minutes, she says in the workout that it's 45 minutes.. both are lies. It's 50 minutes of constant moving and you will be sucking air!  I love it about once a week if I can find time for a 50 minute workout. 

Jillian's Ripped in 30 - This one has 4 levels and she does her 3 minutes of toning, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs pattern like she does in 30 day shred. I like it because I feel like I've done a little of everything with the way she does the "3 minute, 2 minute, 1 minute" thing. I've only done up to level 2 because my Lindsay Brin DVD's came in the mail so I'm sure Jillian's level 3 and 4 will kick my butt. Looking forward to it. =)

I try to rotate them often so that I never get bored. And so I "confuse my muscles" like the P90X infomercial says. HA!  Too cheap to buy P90X but by golly I'll steal their exercising methods from an infomercial! 

Ok.. I've talked enough. And you've read enough!  Now go get your plan whether that is DVD's or running outside and start moving!  Once you've done it for a few weeks you won't be as sore and you'll hopefully learn to enjoy it. =) I'm at that point.. I love the results and am not sucking as much wind so by-golly I'm going to keep moving!

And by the way.. I lost 3 pounds in the last 2 weeks. 

Praise Jesus!