How do you workout?

I've been (mentally) beating myself up thinking I NEED TO DO MORE WEIGHTS.  I do my circuit training program once a week.  Before and after that day you can find me in yoga, Pilates and XTend Ballet Barre classes.  Why?  Because my mind and body are in their happy places!

Truth be told...I really don't enjoy weight lifting.  It's not something that makes me happy.  I do love the feeling after completing my circuit training day, but I immediately feel ashamed because it only makes up ONE day in my week.

So then I started to think...hmmmmm...my newly defined biceps and deltoids (which I'm super proud of) still get attacked when I'm at the Barre or gettin' my yoga on. My inner thighs and unsightly 'saddle bags' are rapidly thinning out and disappearing.  While I know that incorporating weights is mandatory at this stage in the game, there may be a method to my madness after all.

Maybe you can identify with me.  Does it intimidate you to walk into a gym filled with people who look like they really know what they're doing?  Do you not really know what to do when standing in front of a complicated looking machine?  Where do you go from there?

If intimidation is keeping you from exercising, let this be a motivating post for 'ya.  Get a plan of attack together and figure out what makes your body feel good.  My best savvy friend is more into stair climbers and weights.  I run from stair climbers and well, you already know how I feel about weights. My savvy husband is ALL about lifting weights and cardio is a pain in his butt.  Not all exercises are created equally and people will respond differently to them.

I recently purchased 'Lean and Chiseled' via amazon for a whopping $8.99.  Click the pic for the link.  This is where it all begins.  Get this DVD and try it in the privacy of your own home.  If you're not feeling the burn within the first 10 minutes, then you're not doing it right.  This is a ridiculous workout!!  Here's a link to their website http://xtendbarreworkout.com/new/

I have tried to get both my friend and hubby into yoga and now I'm on a mission to bring the Barre into their workouts.  My husband will not join me at the Barre because he would be the only guy in the room.  Ok - I can respect.  Here is a sampling of the exercises you'll find at the Barre.

Disclaimer: Please use caution when attempting these exercises.  Be mindful if your knees, hips or back cause you any pain then you need to modify.

        

                 Balancing on the ball of your standing foot, you lift and lower your extended leg ever so slightly.

XTend borrows many of the exercises from Pilates.  Here your core is in total control - as you lift and lower your torso you alternate your arm positions.  It's a fancy sit up

More Pilates.  While engaging your core, you move your legs in and out. 

This one makes me cry and shake.  While in a squat, you are to lift and lower your body down and inch and up and inch. This is not for the faint of quad.

Super easy move that challenges your balance (which is code for core) and works your inner thighs. Simply hold in second position, or for a more intese exercise lift and lower your body.

If you don't have the barre, grab a chair and lift and lower yourself.

SAY WHAT!?!?

I've been dutifully going to my gym now for 18 months.  I do a weigh in every six months, just to make sure I'm decreasing the space I take up in this world.  The folks at Lifetime have informed me they have done away with the skin-fold method of calculating percentage of body fat.  I was not disappointed at all, as I never thought this was a very reliable method, but whatevs!

Ok...so this test required me to fast for three hours prior to the test.  Arriving for my weekly circuit training workout I am, at this point, hungry and quite thirsty - I hop on the fancy looking scale and hold my breath.  WOWZER!!!  My body fat percentage is nothing I can post here.

Crushed, defeated, confused and trying to make sense of the world (DRAMA!) I just don't know what to think.  Based on my weight and % I'm 45 pounds of fat??????  How, what, where, why and WTF?

After consuming protein and mass amounts of water I begin to get a grip.  I know I still have a pesky 10 pounds until goal weight...but 45 nearly sent me over the *freaking edge.  I quickly contacted my trusty support system and asked if I truly put stock into this new machine.  My conclusion is - NO.  If I lost 45 pounds I'd be too thin (is there such a thing?).  My family would most likely diagnosis me with a severe eating disorder and off to the hospital I'd go for some serious nutrient replenishment.

I'm not beating myself up.  I'm not changing my "diet" (I hate using this word).  My trainer suggested re-examining my food intake and she encouraged me to keep a food journal so we could take a look at it.  She said, "You're probably not eating enough".  Initially I was offended...I'm a savvy foodie!!  But then I realized there are steps I can still take in order to reach my ideal weight.  Don't get me wrong, being a size 6 is fab...but there are still parts of my body I'm working on minimizing and toning.

Steps:
1.  Keep food diary - this will keep me honest
2.  Up cardio level to new zone levels - this will require me to run into levels best left to sprinters
3.  Increase protein consumption - this does not mean more chicken, there are numerous opportunities to up the protein without eating more dead animals
4.  Continue with Pilates and Yoga - but now I'm going to increase weight training days
5.  Stop looking at workouts as 'it's done' - I tend to do my class and then I'm done...I'm going to expand my workouts

These are just a few additional steps I can take in order to continue losing and toning.  I feel rather Bridget Jones here.  But seeing my thoughts on the page really helps me from