Hello lovelies! I hope you all had a productive weekend. I spent my weekend doing the usual wedding planning, and I’m more than happy to take a break at this point. It’s been a long few days of writing out guests lists, researching centerpiece ideas, and worst of all, budgeting. It may sound like fun to some, but it’s been a bit overwhelming lately. It’s hard to imagine our big day coming together when it’s still in pieces. So all the stress has made my fitness routine even more important to me.
At this point, I’m about 12 weeks into this process. But for now, I’ll be recapping weeks 2-4 of this lifestyle change. If you missed my week 1 recap, you can find it here. At this point, I was adjusting well to my routine, and I found myself loving the process again. I’ve been active my entire life, so I’ve gone through a lot of phases where I was just sick of it all. I was sick of having no time for anything fun because I was dedicating all my free time to working out. I didn’t know how to balance it all, and it usually resulted in a hiatus of some sort. Luckily, I’ve learn when I need to cut back and reevaluate things, and it has really helped me stay on track. Here’s how things have been going:
WEEKS 2-4
Goal: Lose 20lbs in 16 weeks
Weight In:
Week 2: -2 lbs
Week 3: -1 lbs
Week 4: -1 lbs
Total so far: -3
The Workout:
At this point, I was still very focused on the importance of cardio. I know that there needs to be a balance of weight training and cardio, but since the primary goal right now is still cutting weight, I wanted to have a good base to start building from. One adjustment that I made was that I stopped using the ankle weights. Naturally, I have very strong legs. I’ve been a runner and hockey player my entire life, so I’ll never rid myself of the muscle. But the last thing I need to do is overwork my legs, and cause damage. The benefit of using the ankle weights for the first week was that they got my body warmed up, and since I was used to the extra weight holding me back, I could go faster on each machine.
Cardio:
Arc Trainer: 60-70 Minutes, Monday-Thursday
Walking/Light Jog Intervals: 20 Minutes, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
Stair Master: 10 Minutes – Optional
Arms, Chest, and Shoulders:
Lateral Pull Downs: 3 sets of 12 at 30-35 lbs – Tuesday and Thursday
Free Weight Curls: 3 sets of 10 at 15 lbs – Tuesday and Thursday
Free Weight Chest Press: 3 sets of 10 at 20 lbs. – Tuesday and Thursday
Cable Fly: 3 sets of 12 at 25 lbs. – Tuesday and Thursday
Bench Dips: 3 sets of 20 – Optional
Legs and Glutes:
Lunges: 1 set of 10 with 15-pound kettle bells for warmup, 2 sets of 10 without weight – Monday and Friday
Standard Squat: 3 sets of 20 with no weight – Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Sumo Squat: 2 sets of 20 with 15-pound medicine ball – Monday and Friday
Seated Leg Curl: 3 sets of 12 at 40 lbs. – Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Calf Press: 3 sets of 12 at 50 lbs. – Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Stretching
25 Minutes – 7 days a week
Weeks 2-4 were intense, but I wasn’t seeing huge changes yet. I felt better, and my stomach was flatter, but I wasn’t at a point where I truly saw the difference. As I’ve stated in previous posts regarding fitness, a huge part of the change comes from changing the routine. Our bodies are amazing; they can adjust to almost anything. But because of that, they get used to these routines, and we can plateau. So I had to constantly assess what I was doing, and figure out if it was really the “right” thing for me.
The Diet:
We continued to follow the guidelines of my last post, with just some limitations. Working out frequently definitely influenced my appetite, so it was hard not to overeat at times. We didn’t follow the rule of having “cheat days/meals” because I don’t think that’s a healthy way to live. When we wanted something sweet or “unhealthy”, we let ourselves have a reasonable portion. If we lived our lives for “cheat meals”, I would go crazy!
Are you thinking about beginning your own fitness journey, or already in the process? How do you balance diet and exercise while staying sane?
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