Hey, This Exercise Stuff Really Works!

I'm not a fan of exercise. If exercise had a facebook fan page, I would give it a miss. It's not that I don't like doing things. I love walking. Ask me to play badminton, I'm up for it. Swimming? Yup. I'll even jump rope. But the thing is, I've committed myself to 20 minutes of exercise every day and I needed to find a whole body routine that was simple and...well, didn't require me to go downstairs.
   
I know that sounds downright lazy - and maybe it is. But right now, I just need to get into the routine, the habit of moving my arse, and the rest of me for that matter. I work from home and my office is upstairs so if I could take a break from work, do a simple routine in my office, then get right back to work, I know I could stick to my commitment.

   
I turned to the Google God* for my answer and found this site that has 5 free 20 minute exercise videos- one for each day of the work week. You can use them online, or you can download them to your computer. What I liked about these was each one targets different areas of your body to tone, plus a little cardio.

Now, these videos are a little offbeat. If you're looking for Miss-Skinny-Mini-Exercise-Queen-who-looks-awesome-in-a-leotard and is all "look what I can do," then these aren't for you.

If you're looking for a gal who makes free exercise videos out of her apartment and wears bumble bee socks and has a cat that sometimes walks in front of the camera, well then these are just your style. I like that she's a regular fit person, not an uber-muscular fitness weirdo.

I also like that her moves aren't complicated, because I'll tell you a little secret - I can't dance. I'm actually the worst kind of dancer because I like to dance, but I can't. Not can't as in - I've injured my legs - but can't as in - I do it badly.  I just have no rythym nor coordination.

I actually have to pause the video to figure out that it's left leg raised and right arm outstretched and then pause it again to do the same thing on the opposite side.  Bumble bee socks girl gets that about me and doesn't incorporate any perplexing aerobics moves into her simple routine.

A couple of the videos require some light hand weights which I haven't purchased yet. I substituted canned goods. An expired can of Libbey's pumpkin pie filling in one hand and cream of mushroom soup in the other work pretty well for now.

My brother (the resident cook at our house)  was quite put off when he saw I had a collection of canned goods on my desk. "And just what is the cook supposed to do when he needs said can for a recipe?" he asked as he looked at me accusingly. He can be a little over dramatic sometimes. I made a mental note to not eat anything he may make with pumpkin since that one had expired over a year ago.

   
The floor exercises are challenging. Not because they're difficult but because of my dogs.

The little ones walk right on my back and the big one thinks my exercise mat is the perfect spot for a nap despite the fact I'm on it, on all fours, trying to do my back leg lifts. She just wriggles on in under me and plops down.

I get my face and ears licked alot too, which can be off-putting when I'm trying to pay attention to Bumble bee socks girl. Still, I press on.

  
 I like to do my 20 minute routines in the morning after hubby leaves for work. I give him enough reasons to laugh at me without adding my uncoordinated exercise attempts to the mix.  It's been about a week and a half since I've been doing these routines and I have to say that I feel pretty good. I actually feel less hungry when I exercise then when I don't.

It's easier to say no to foods I shouldn't eat because I don't want my exercise efforts to have been wasted.

  
I must confess though, that this weekend I did cheat just a smidge. Last Friday, hubby and I went to a local bar and grill where my sister works and I ordered a cocktail (which I had saved up carb points to have) and hubby ordered fries. Bar fries. Crispy bar fries. With catsup. I may have had 9...teen...of them....and then two more double whiskey and diet cokes.

I know - I was very, very bad. I blame it on my sister who had a $10 off coupon we could use if we spent $25 and the second double whiskey got us there. I do love a bargain...and a good cocktail. I told hubby I would have to blog about my transgression and he said, "You cannot tell a fry."   Bada-bing.

So all in all, in the last two weeks, I've lost 5 pounds. I'm happy with that. I'm definitely making good efforts, while not killing myself. I have to say that just adding my easy little 20 minutes of exercise every day has made a big difference in my energy level, my mood, and the speed of my weight loss.

The first week, just doing my eating plan alone, I lost 2 pounds, but adding in the exercise, the next week, I lost 3 pounds. That's incentive enough for me to keep it up.
   
I know after a few weeks I'll need to step up the exercise routine to something a little more challenging. For now though, I'm working on consistency. like Weight Watchers says, "Motivation is what gets you started, habit is what keep you going."

So here's the stats:
Height:            5'7"
Starting weight: 170
Weight today:  165
Goal weight:     145

* The phrase Google God was flagrantly pilfered from Aussie Lori's post 

Fittingly Yours,
Lori