Tag Archives: Fitness

Project Get it Together: Body Project

Body Project

I am not a gym rat. Never have been, never will be. Some people are motivated by being at the gym. By being around other people who are exercising.

But not me. I do NOT want others to see me like that. It’s not motivating, and it’s not pretty. No thank you. I prefer the comforts of home. Working out in my living room.

Now, I do appreciate the value of motivation. Having someone to train alongside you can push you, and I get that. But I have my training partner. Zack totally motivates me. We work out together.

About 5 times a week. we do some sort of video-based workout. We use several…

As I wrote last year, we’ve gone through the 30 Day Shred program. And from time to time, we use these workouts again. Not as the 30 day program, but just to mix up our routine.

30 Day Shred

We have the Insanity workouts. There are quite a few we can do in our living room, but some simply require more space than we have here. And some are simply too long for my taste.

Insanity

We have also tried some of the Insanity Max 30 workouts. I like these. Thirty minutes is a perfect length for me. I also like that with all the Insanity workouts, I can easily modify them to a level that challenges me but is also attainable.

Insanity Max 30

Our latest workout program is a program out of England called Body Project. A variety of workouts at various levels of intensity, some with weights, some focused on boxing, but all offering a great workout. Many of these workouts can be found on YouTube

Alexandra from Body Project

If you are a total newbie to exercise, there are some great starter-level exercises. If you are a bit more advanced, you’ll be able to find something as well. And the beauty of even the beginner level workouts is that you can always take them up a notch by adding speed, weight, or more motion to the exercises.

Daniel from Body Project

What is your preferred workout? Do you like going to the gym? Working out at home? Taking group classes?

Project ‘Get it Together’: My friend, Pinterest

My eating habits are really not bad. But in the summer they tend to slip. And of course around Thanksgiving and Christmas as well – I mean, seriously. Too many temptations!So after a summer filled with a lot of travel – and a lot of restaurants – and a lot of bakeries – and a good bit of unhealthy eating – we had to do something to jumpstart ourselves back to a healthier diet.

Now when I say diet, I don’t mean the dreaded D word where you deprive yourself and are absolutely miserable. No, I am talking about diet as an overall, everyday way of eating.

Southern veggie plate – this is comfort food!

And another thing. Jumpstart is a key word here. For us, it’s all or nothing at the beginning. If I want something to stick, I have to be on the verge of overboard, or it will not last.

So here we are. Five+ weeks into the vegetarian diet. And I am feeling really good. REALLY good.

Avocado Toast. One of my new favorites for breakfast. Or lunch.
Okay, anytime.

I’m sure it’s a combination of diet and exercise, but it’s so nice to have more energy and just feel well overall.

And like I’ve said before, I am not a vegetarian. This is not an all-in, never eat meat again, total change of lifestyle. No, if the right meal with meat comes along, I will cave. I will eat it. And I will enjoy it.

But for now, it’s working. And I think I’ll at least attempt continue to stick with meatless meals when possible… as long as I don’t get bored.

Yeah, boredom is a dangerous thing for me. If I get bored with something, it won’t stick. This has been our experience in the past.

So in order to try and fend that off, I turned to Pinterest.

I really like Pinterest. Now don’t get me wrong. I am not crafty. I can’t turn mason jars into chandeliers. And I don’t collect empty toilet paper rolls and create intricate wall art (and to my sweet friends C&L, I am NOT making fun!).

But when it comes to recipes, I’ve found some great ones.

I also wrote out a list of more than 60 different vegetarian meal ideas and put it on the refrigerator. It helps to be able to see some options right in front of me. And I think it helps Zack, too.

We haven’t repeated meals too often. Well, no more than we did in the past. We still have pizza most Friday nights. My new favorite is Greek pizza, topped with sundried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, feta cheese, peppers, onions, and olives.

We like to make some type of curry or stir-fry about once a week. It changes based on what vegetables are in the fridge, as well as which spices I choose to use.

And at the boys’ requests, we also do Taco Tuesday. But while they typically eat regular taco meat each week, I try to make something a bit different for Zack and me each week. Sometimes it’s homemade refried beans. Last week was black beans. Tonight we tried a sweet potato dish that was really good. Some weeks we make a taco meat substitute that includes a mix of diced cauliflower, peppers, garlic, and onions, along with some beans or corn.

If you’d like to check out my Pinterest boards, you can find me as UkieMommy.

And here are a couple of boards that I’m using a lot right now:
Meatless Recipes – some of these we’ve tried, some we have not
Pinterest Success – this is a variety of recipes (not just vegetarian) and other things that we’ve tried and really liked

Project ‘Get it Together’

What motivates you? What gets you up and moving? What pushes you towards change?For me, it’s a number of things.

Sometimes it’s simply a change of seasons. That typically means swapping out clothes – which usually leads to a bit of cleaning as well.

Sometimes it’s the prompting of a friend. Or a book. Or a documentary. Or some other outside source.

Sometimes it’s a number. The bathroom scale. A statistic. A birthday. (40 is just around the corner… and I am not sure how that is even possible.)

When it comes to motivation for change, Zack and I generally have to start big if we want it to really stick.

Right now we find ourselves in a phase of change – or at least an attempt! I’ve decided to call it Project ‘Get It Together’. It is touching on a number of areas of life. The way we eat. Our level of physical activity. My focus on writing. Gearing up for a couple of months in the states late this year. And other things.

So I thought I’d share with you some of the things we are working on, some of the tools we are using, and some of the reasons we feel motivated to ‘get it together’…

… Okay, not that we are falling apart or anything like that. But sometimes when I reflect, I see that things have slipped in certain areas of my life, and I want to get back on track…

And that is where we are now.

So here we go – ‘Project Get It Together’!

So, are we shredded?

We finished our 30 34 Day Shred today. Yeah, it took a few days longer due to travel and some cross-country skiing. But we did it! (Our first post was HERE.)Level 1
When we started, I could not make it through Level 1 without pausing the DVD a couple of times. By Day 10, Level 1 was not a problem.

Level 2
This is where planks are thrown in. And where I decided that satan must have invented them. While we didn’t ever pause it, I did have to take several 5 second breaks at first. But by the 10th day, I was much better and made it through without stopping. Level 2 was tougher, no doubt about it.

Level 3
Another step up, and another slow start. But by the end, I could do most everything, and no breaks. Level 3 introduces Plyometrics: jump training. I modified some of these, as some of the jumping was too much impact on my knees.

Modification vs. Full Version
There are two ‘helpers’ performing two different levels of difficulty. Anita does modified versions that are generally easier (but not always, in my opinion). Natalie performs the full versions of all  exercises. I started out following Anita every time. By the end of each level I was able to keep up with Natalie pretty well. I did not use hand weights like they did (Zack used some weights). I will add those in the future. I did use a small towel for some resistance on some of the exercises.

Results
I’m not about to post before and after pictures on the blog. No one needs to see that! 
We were active for all 34 days. We also made modifications to our eating habits, cutting back on sugar, and focusing more on fruits, vegetables and whole grains. We both lost some weight, but nothing drastic. However, I can see visible results in both of us. Things are tighter, firmer, etc. We both lost a few inches from our mid-section. My clothes fit better (I might need some new jeans!), and I am happier about the way things look in the mirror.

Conclusion
I am glad that we stuck to it and I think it works. We will likely continue to use the 3 levels periodically, in a rotation with other videos and activities. I think it is really good when you need to work out at home due to weather, the expense of a gym membership, or whatever other reason.

30 Day Shred

We have been focusing a lot on eating better, and being more active. I now bake most of our bread, and we are eating a lot more fresh vegetables and fruits. We have cut out a lot of sugar and don’t eat as much meat. While the first few days were difficult, everyone seems to be liking it now.But getting active in the wintertime is tough here. So Zack and I decided to start a DVD program last week: The 30 Day Shred. While it’s primarily designed for women, I read about a lot of couples going through it together. My husband is a good sport and agreed to give it a try.

So here’s how it works: a 20 minute workout, once a day, for 30 days. It’s split into three levels, so you do each level for 10 days.

And I think it just might be working. When we started Level 1 I couldn’t make it through without pausing. By Day 10, it was really no problem. Then Level 2 began yesterday, and I thought I was going to die! But I am happy to report that we have yet to skip a day, and after 12 days we are feeling better already.

I’ll report back later, and let you all know how it turns out!