My Road to Getting Fit: The Workout Calendar

Leah Short — Sat, 12 Jul 2014 15:13:35 +0000

Hi everyone! Hope you’re enjoying your Saturday. I’ve got another tool in My Road to Getting Fit to share with you. It’s The Workout Calendar! I use this calendar to keep track of my workouts and to make sure I’m getting a variety and not doing the same workout, which can lead to burnout. I’m a big fan of making lists and keeping calendars. I use Ziplist and good old-fashioned notebooks for my compulsive list-making. I use Google Calendar for work and events, a cute paper calendar for my house, and this awesome magnetic calendar for my workout calendar. Sure you could use an electronic version, but this was another way that I could make getting fit more fun. I’ll walk you through how to set up your own, including the Word document template I created!

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My Road to Getting Fit: My Food Logs

Leah Short — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 14:47:42 +0000

Almost a month ago, I shared My Road to Getting Fit. I talked about what’s been working for me to get moving, eat better, and measure my success. I’m happy to report that I’m still going strong. I’m down another three pounds and I can finally see a difference in my body. Three pounds isn’t a stellar amount of weight to lose in an entire month, but I’ll tell you why I’m happy with it.

First, losing weight slowly means that I’m more likely to keep it off.
Second, I started incorporating strength and weight training into my exercise routine (instead of just cardio!) and I’m building muscle. Muscle weighs more than fat. I take body measurements once a month, so that’s when I can really see how my journey is coming along. I’ve lost a total of six inches since I started in March!
Third, I feel awesome. I haven’t felt this good in years. I’m trying to make a lifestyle change, not a temporary fix. So the longer it takes me to accomplish my goal, the more these new, healthy habits are going to stick.
Last, there are foods I’m just not willing to cut out. I still have coffee with a little creamer every morning. I end my day with a few scoops of (lower calorie) ice cream almost every night. I’m not scared of butter or oil or anything with the word “cream” in it. I’m not going to deprive or starve myself just to lose weight faster.

I’ve received a few requests to see a sample of what I’m eating. I’m including a few screenshots of my day last Wednesday on LoseIt. I pretty much stick to the same few breakfasts and snacks, and vary my lunches and dinners. I cook some meals and use pre-packaged meals as well. It just depends on how much time I have!

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My Road to Getting Fit

Leah Short — Fri, 16 May 2014 12:49:10 +0000

I’ve been focusing on getting fit for almost two months, so I thought I’d share with you what’s been working for me. Back in March, it clicked that I needed to get myself in gear. For months I was going out to lunch at work almost every day and then going home to sit on the couch and watch TV. I was miserable, my clothes didn’t fit, I was tired all the time, and I felt awful. Time to make some changes!

Get Moving

I’m now almost 10 pounds down and feel amazing! Once I get focused, I’m a machine. I’m a cardio girl and have always loved aerobics classes. I recently joined a gym and their group fitness schedule changes daily, which is great for your body so you’re not doing the same workout over and over. I workout during my lunch or right after work, and it’s a nice break after sitting at a computer all day. Before I joined a gym, I would take a long walk during lunch. So if a gym isn’t for you, try getting outside and walking.

Which leads me to my next way to get moving….walking! I discovered Leslie Sansone’s walking DVDs years ago and swear by them. My body has started to crave movement and I’m enjoying it, so I’m keeping it up! I usually workout with one of Leslie’s DVDs in the evenings. It’s not just walking, it’s different moves like knees up, hamstring curls, kicking, side to side, etc. Here’s a breakdown of four of her DVDs that I’m absolutely loving lately:

Ultimate 5 Day Walk Plan

What I like about this one is that Monday through Friday, your workout is planned for you. One day you may do 1 mile, the next 3, and up to 5! At the end of your mile(s), there are daily strengthening workouts. You may do abs, arms, legs, etc. The best part is that you can customize your workout, too. You can pull up the DVD menu, click on different walks (they’re all one mile and designated by color), plus a warm up, plus a cool down, and add your strength session.

5 Day Slim Down

This DVD is similar in that there are 5 walking workouts, but they vary in level. All of the workouts are one mile so you can customize a workout, but there’s no fancy menu to do it for you like in the DVD above. One walk is a classic mile, then there’s one for arms, one for legs, one for tummy, and finally a speed walk. I like to group two together, plus the warmup and cool down.

Belly Blasting Walk

This DVD is a two-mile walk that targets your belly (which is my hardest area to trim down). The two miles are fast, so get ready to sweat! There’s also two floor workouts specific for the belly.

Walk It Off in 30 Days

This DVD is awesome because it gives you a six-day plan. You do the walk on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and do the firm routine on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. The walk on this one is a bit easier than some of the others, but you can add 1- or 2-pound weights while you walk.

With the four DVDs, you can see how I never get bored. I have so many walks and routines to choose from that I actually look forward to doing these workouts. Who am I? LOL Check your library to see if you can borrow a copy and try them out before you buy!

Eat Better

If you want to see results, you can’t do one thing (get moving) without the other (eat better). What works for me is counting calories. Don’t completely cut carbs, don’t just do a juice cleanse, and don’t deprive yourself. Having splurges every now and then is life. If you blow it out for one meal, get back on it for the next. You better believe I ate those Snickerdoodle Cupcakes and when my mom wanted BBQ for mother’s day lunch, I absolutely ordered a Redneck Taco AND pie! The key is not beating yourself up over it and getting back on track. By splurging every now and then, you won’t feel restricted. If you want some great low calorie recipes, check out my Low Calorie category. There are some amazing dishes that you won’t believe are low calorie. Counting calories really works for me, but the main goal is to eat better than you do now.

Measure Your Success

I mentioned counting calories is a method that really works for me when trying to lose weight. It’s pretty simple that you burn more calories than you consume to shed weight. I’m pretty much the queen of counting calories and there are several tools out there to make it easy and fun. Two of them that I use together are my Fitbit One and LoseIt.I started out with a Fitbit Ultra and upgraded to the Fitbit One with bluetooth syncing. It’s a gizmo you wear that tracks your movements and tells you the calories you’re burning, how many steps you’ve taken, floors you’ve climbed, and your distance. It can also track your sleeping patterns. I wear mine all the time. There’s a free mobile app that it syncs with so I can get my stats throughout the day. I can’t say enough about this company and their trackers. When you can see what you’re doing, it makes you want to reach that goal of 10,000 steps a day!

The Fitbit tracker will also sync to LoseIt. LoseIt is another app that you can use to track your food and activities. It can read my stats from my Fitbit so I don’t have to worry about entering exercises. I track my food throughout the day and it lets me know how many calories I’m consuming and how many I have left to make my goal. You can set your own daily calorie goal with how fast you want to lose weight. The interface is user-friendly and it has challenges you can join and create with other LoseIt users. I’m super competitive, so this was a huge motivator for me. I did have to pay for the premium version in order for my Fitbit to sync with it. There’s also MyFitnessPal that many of my friends recommend. It’s free and their food database is massive (better than LoseIt). The interface is crappy though, which turned me off.

I hope this post helps you start your journey or gives you some new motivation to continue moving and eating better. I’d love to hear your tips on staying motivated and what you’re doing to help shed a pound or two, or just get in shape. Feel free to ask me any questions as well. Now let’s get moving!

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor, nutritionist, trainer, or health professional. Please consult your own health professional before starting a new diet and/or exercise program. What works for me, may not work for you. I’m simply sharing the tools that have brought me success. I’m not associated with any of the products/services mentioned above, nor did I receive compensation for this post. All opinions are solely my own, as always. This post contains affiliate links.

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