Susie's Fitness Journal

I'll let you know how the Billy Blanks goes for me (once it gets here, ah the joys of living overseas).

I did the lower body workout today instead of last night, which was better because I think my knees needed a rest. Today I videotaped myself doing the lower body workout (no full-length mirror to work out in front of) to check my form. I saw that during some of the lunges I was wobbly and maybe not holding my knees in the best positions, etc.

BUT I also saw that I have really got some new muscle definition in my legs! I really only see myself when I'm standing still in front of a mirror, so seeing myself in motion with muscles flexing was an eye-opener. I've only been doing these exercises for about a month, 15-minutes every other day, and I totally have seen impressive (to me, anyway) results. (it's Tamilee Webb's I Want That Body that I'm talking about).

Today I finally graduated to doing both 15-minute lower-body workouts, for a total of 30 minutes. Yay! And I added weights to the squats (3- kilos, roughly 7 pounds) not much, but enough for now. The lunges are STILL challenging even without weights, but I'm thinking of buying some 1 kilo weights to gradually ease into it. I know it sounds wimpy but I want to take it fairly slow.

So far today:
Total calories: 1183
Fat: 34%
Carbs: 29%
Protein: 35%

I'm going to drink a whey protein shake to get the cals up for the day.
 
Today I finally graduated to doing both 15-minute lower-body workouts, for a total of 30 minutes. Yay! And I added weights to the squats (3- kilos, roughly 7 pounds) not much, but enough for now. The lunges are STILL challenging even without weights, but I'm thinking of buying some 1 kilo weights to gradually ease into it. I know it sounds wimpy but I want to take it fairly slow.
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Congrats on the improvement. You'll get there. Just give it time. It doesn't happen overnight.
 
Thanks, She. I'm pretty psyched because it used to be that I couldn't even get through the first set (out of 3) of one 15-minute workout.

This exercise thing works! Who would have thought? ;)
 
1493 calories yesterday, 44 grams of fat. I want to lower how much fat I take in each day a little.

Today I did abs and arms-- finally added in chest and back exercises. I'm going to go for a very brisk walk now. Ciao! :)
 
LiveFromNY--

I'm American but I currently live in Eastern Europe-- in a very poor country where they don't make fitness videos and since people here generally don't speak English they don't use the American ones. No fitness videos at the libary, no blockbuster, no Netflix, and no friends who have fitness videos!!!

But thanks for the suggestion all the same. :)
 
My saving grace is I can order videos from Amazon, but only brand new ones (for some reason they won't ship used ones internationally to this country). They charge a lot for shipping and it takes weeks to get here, but it's still something.

Next time I visit the USA I'm going to order a bunch of second-hand DVDs ahead of time, for sure.
 
This morning when I first opened my eyes I saw my arm and thought, "Wow, my arm looks different!" My biceps and shoulders have noticably changed and my forearms look somewhat less twig-like. Of course that didn't happen overnight, I just happened to see it with a fresh perspective this morning.

I also weighed myself this morning and while I weigh the same, I took some measurements and my waist is down from 28 inches to 27, my hips are down from 36 to just over 35, but it's happened so fast I think it's from a loss of water-weight due to my monthly cycle. ? My other measurements are the same. Hmm...
 
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Cynic I drink lots of water, at least 1.5 liters a day (that's the size of my spring water bottles). And I usually get close to 3 liters (coming up on a gallon). In retrospect I think my smaller measurements were simply due to having an empty stomach in the morning. :)
 
Well whatever you are doing..keep it up. That's great that you noticed some changes, even if it is water weight and in your arms. I'm so happy for you.
 
Nothing exciting to report.

I got off of my schedule and only did my lower routine twice this week instead of the planned 3x's, better than nothing though, right? This week was a bit chaotic because I'm back to work.

I added the heaviest weights I've used so far with my squats and added weights for the first time to my lunges. And my conclusion is-- my legs are a lot stronger than I thought they were, I thought it would be much more difficult. And while I still get my heart and breathing-rate up doing the lower body workout it's not so intense as it used to be where I'd have to stop and rest.

The other day I was very late meeting a friend, so to make up for lost time I ran to the bus stop-- that's usually a ten-minute walk, and I was surprised how easy it was, I guess because of my new leg-strength and aerobic capacity. It's awesome.

Also I'm finding that lifting weights for my arm is helping with holding onto the bar on the bus when it comes to an abrupt stop, hehe. :) It really feels good to be getting stronger.

My abs are my trouble part-- I hate doing ab exercises and am still weak in that area, but I know if I keep with it I should see them get stronger.

I'm still on track with my eating except I haven't really cut down on my fat intake which I really need to start focusing on, starting today.
 
Susie said:
My saving grace is I can order videos from Amazon, but only brand new ones (for some reason they won't ship used ones internationally to this country). They charge a lot for shipping and it takes weeks to get here, but it's still something.

Next time I visit the USA I'm going to order a bunch of second-hand DVDs ahead of time, for sure.
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oh wow ,lucky u amazon ships in your current country,it wont ship where i live:S
and ebay costs too much provided i win the bid,and sellers is willing to ship here
i am glad that u are seeing results,what is your workouts regimen?

keep up the good work:)
 
Hi Sadie,
I know I'm lucky to be able to get Amazon shipped here (not that I used it too often, but when I'm really desperate, I can).

They didn't ship here until somewhat recently. If you haven't tried to order from them for a while you should check again, maybe they've started to ship to your country now.

My workout regimen-- I do it all at home (for now) with some 3 kg (6.6 lb) weights. Not much, but as I've said before, I was/am pretty weak, and I am actually sore after doing squats holding both weights for the first time. For about two months I used no weights for lower body and it still really reshaped that area. Squats and lunges can be hard but they really work.

So I do the lower body stuff (squats, lunges etc) with my workout DVD for half an hour, 3 x's a week. Upper body I also do with the video 3x's a week, and I do abs on the upper body day, also with the video, but I've only recently started doing abs and can barely get through the first set on the video! Did you want to know the exact exercises I do, or is that description enough?

The videos don't do calves, so I've started doing calf raises etc twice a week.

And then I'm just trying to take in more calories and protein than I used to in hopes of building some muscle (I already have built some).

Another sticking point for me is I haven't really started doing consistent cardio. The lower body workout I do is pretty intense and gets my breathing and heartrate way up, so I consider that to be cardio, but I still would like to do something else, too. I walk, but...I think I need more. I'm still waiting for that Tae Bo Cardio to come in the mail!
 
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Hi susie
thanks for sharing your workouts
i was thinking more on thel ines of squats/lunges/backrows/etc etc,that how many sets u do?
but i figured that u are using your tapes for them so its all good:)
if u can invest in a treadmilll or elliptical or if u can buy jumping rope(the cheapest option available) it will eb a good cardio workouts, jumping rope is good for lower body but it makes me breathless

i will check amazon again,tell us when u get billy blanks and start working on it:)
and btw i use 2 kg that is 4.4 lbs so u are way ahead than me:p
i want to buy more weights like 5 kg ones,but will wait till i get some money
 
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