A little bit more background

I thought it would be beneficial to share a little bit more about my philosophy on diet and also some background on my current physical condition. As far as what I put into my body, I try to keep animal byproducts to an absolute minimum. I will eat chicken or seafood if there is no vegetable options at say a restaurant, but if I have a choice it is whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole wheat flour, etc.)and no dairy, eggs or meat. I use honey instead of sugar (vegans prefer agave nectar or maple syrup) and I make my own rice milk to go along with my Kashi (or other all natural cereal). I haven't been keeping track of my caloric intake since I started eating this way b/c I started losing the last few pounds of baby weight on it and so I thought why bother :) I am also a little paranoid about all of the preservatives and chemicals that are in processed foods.
So, how did I get to where I am? Well, before I had my daughter I was working at 24 hour fitness at the front desk and that gave me a free membership. I lost 15 lbs and was in great shape. I then got pregnant and quit working out cold turkey :/ Not recommended. However, I was fortunate that I had been in great shape before I got pregnant and the 36 lbs I gained seamed to fall off overnight. I slowly started working out again and was able to get some muscle tone back. Almost exactly 3 months before I got pregnant with my son, me and a girlfriend started a fitness program called P90X and it was very intense. I got into great shape just in time to go to Hawaii and get pregnant again ;) And yes, that means I quit working out cold turkey AGAIN! It was much more difficult for me to get the 36lbs off the second time around, but I was fortunate that by the time 7 months rolled around it was pretty much off. (I credit much of it to the fact that I was able to breastfeed both of my kids.) So, what I am left with is the realization that finding time to workout with two small children is MUCH more difficult than with just 1. However, it can be done if you want it bad enough. I REALLY want it.

10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp

Ok, so this morning I tried out the 10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp and it kicked my butt! The instructor was great and you could tell she really had a clue about what she was doing. There are five different 10 minute workouts that work EVERYTHING :) It starts out with a basic workout just to get you used to the kicks and punches then it moves onto butt and thighs, shoulders and arms, fat burning blast and an ab routine. I was definitely sweating by the end so I felt like it was really worth my time. I am just starting to really workout so almost anything will get my heart rate up, but the good thing about cardio kickboxing is that you get out of it what you put into it. I will definitely keep this one on my list!

So Pumped!

I have to blog this b/c I am so motivated right now! I can't wait to workout in the morning! I have to give a shout out to my girl Rachel (Halla!) for pushing me to do this in the first place. Also, I have to say, to anyone who is struggling to find a workout regiment that works for them ~ don't give up! For me, I need something new to look forward to so that I don't get board. The solution: Netflix. Yep, that's right. Netflix. There are so many dvds and view instantly selections. I have 5 or 6 on my queue list and I can't wait until I can do each one! So here is the hot tip for those of you who can't afford, don't have the time or just don't want a gym membership: try netflix out for free for a month and if you like what they have, its only 9 bucks a month to keep it. Who, realistically, can't afford that? I hope this will help someone else too!

10 Minute Solution: Fat Blasting Dance Mix

This morning I got up and tried out a new workout that I found on Netflix (an excellent resource for various dvds and instantly streaming workouts) called 10 Minute Solutions: Fat Blasting Dance Mix. It has 5 different 10 minute workouts that you can do all together, mix and match to fit your workout needs, or just do one or two if you are short on time. If you have any trouble with choreography than you may not want to try this one. The instructor is good, but moves a little bit fast. (Then again, how could you not when you only have 10 minutes?) I think it is one of those workouts that gets better with time. I did the second routine twice and I felt much better about it after that. I didn't hear the alarm clock this morning so my hour workout time got chopped down to 30 minutes. However it was enough time to give me an idea of how the workouts go. I didn't really feel the burn, but I think it was because I was learning the choreography and not pushing myself too hard. I will give it another shot in the future, but I am going look for something else that really pushes me for tomorrow.

Introduction

Well, I have never blogged before so anyone reading this will have to bare with me until I figure out exactly what I am trying to say (smile). I am a 25 year old mom of 2 great kids. My daughter is 3 and my son is 14 months. I am not overweight and the purpose of this blog is not for me to see how much weight I can drop, but to see how many inches I can lose. I started my workout and diet regiment (faithfully) on Tuesday, the 23rd. At that point in time my weight was 120.2 lbs and my measurements were as follows: Thickest park of my tummy - 32 1/2", Left Thigh - 21 3/8", Right Thigh - 21 3/4", Hips - 38". Now, some of you may be thinking to yourselves, "what is she complaining about? She barely weighs anything!" Please don't jump to conclusions and judge me for my opinion of myself. If I was being completely honest, I would tell you that, yes, I can look pretty great if I dress for my body type and don't try to fit into something that is too small. BUT, I have had two kids and anyone out there that has experienced pregnancy knows that your tummy muscles get pretty sloppy after #2. Also, I am only 5'3" and before I had my second baby, my thighs were about two inches smaller and so was my belly. So, as I stated before, this is not a journey for me to lose weight, but to tone up my problem areas (as listed above) so that I can feel great about the way I look. I am currently on a whole foods/mostly vegetarian diet, but I don't really keep track of how much I eat during the day. As long as its whole and not pure fat, its legal :) I also am going to be experimenting with various workouts and blogging how I think they were. I hope you enjoy this experience and comment as you try some things too!