Tag: turbo jam

VideoPlay

A Moment in Time: Exercise Update

Karen

I’m still doing Turbo Jam. In fact, I’ve gotten into the habit of doing the 20 minute Turbo Jam session first and then walking for 90 minutes – so I’ve been working out nearly two hours at a time. I’m literally soaking wet when I finish and my arms and legs are jelly but WOW, I feel so …. ALIVE afterward. It’s quite a high, actually.

I’ve been alternating this routine with doing Punch, Kick and Jam one day and then the sculpting another day. My body is really starting to tone up and judging by the looks the husband is giving me – all of this sweat and work is REALLY paying off. I can’t tell you how good I feel, both physically and mentally – I feel strong and attractive. It’s been worth the time and effort and because I’m seeing such good results, I’ve been even more motivated to keep it up. I’ve been buying some new clothes too, which has been adding to my overall sense of accomplishment.

I try to workout every day, but I do skip days sometimes because I’m just so tired. Oh, don’t forget to eat a lot of protein – salmon, eggs, tuna, etc. I can’t tell you how MUCH that helps when you’re on a work out schedule. First, it gives you the energy to work out and then it helps replenish that energy after you finish.

I taped the part of Punch, Kick and Jam that nearly kills me every time. Luckily, it’s at the beginning of the session when I have the most energy so once I get past that part it’s downhill from there, but WOW, it’s really effective – hard, but effective.

Maybe I’ll tape myself doing Turbo Jam sometime … that’s a big maybe.

If you’ve been thinking about starting an exercise routine, I can’t stress to you enough that it’s really, really, really worth it. If you want to shape up you can’t be lazy – just get in there and do it – no bitching, no excuses – it’s not going to happen if you don’t get off your butt. Find something that is fun and you don’t mind doing. Whether that’s walking, jogging, riding bikes, swimming, aerobics … whatever. If you don’t like doing it, then you won’t continue doing it. I like Turbo Jam because it’s a combination of aerobics and dance and the music is really awesome.

I’ve also been wearing my weighted hand gloves. Not only during Turbo Jam but when I’m walking as well as holding my normal three pound hand weights. That’s a total of about five pounds per arm during my walks. I’m seeing definition in my arms for the first time since my 20’s. I think once I master the Cardio Mix session I’m going to order these next.

I won’t say I’m in the best shape of my life, but honestly? I’m getting close.

I watched three movies this week during my walks:

1. Reservation Road – slow, but pretty good.
2. My Mom’s New Boyfriend – silly, but cute.
3. Nim’s Island – Jodi Foster was absolutely adorable in this film. Her anixety was over-the-top silly and yet, it worked.

Did I mention I LOVE my treadmill set up? Here’s a picture of it if you haven’t seen it.

Treadmill Area

How is your work out routine coming along? Are you seeing results?

Life

The (Incredible?) Shrinking Woman

Karen

I’m shrinking.

My body is shrinking and I couldn’t be HAPPIER!!

Well, except for the boobage shrinkage – I’m not particularly happy about that part.

A few nights ago, I woke up at 2:50 in the morning, my skin on fire and just feeling uncomfortable. I had cashed in some of my credits at the tanning salon eight hours earlier and “upgraded” to a level 2 bed. I hated that bed. It closed COMPLETELY, which left me gasping for air, and the fans, well, they sucked, so I sweated, a lot. (Which is nothing new, I sweat all the time. But somehow, sweating in a tanning booth just FEELS gross, you know?) Even though the experience was claustrophobic, I have to admit, that sucker tanned the crap out of my skin and I won’t be using it very often because I have no desire to look like a walking leather bag when I get older. (And just so you know, I rarely tan. This is like the first summer I’ve tanned in years and will likely be the last time I tan in years. I just go through spurts when I WANT to. Thankfully, they are few and far between, so please, no lectures).

But I digress.

I alternated between hot and cold all night. I had the fan on me (which is the only way I can sleep in the summer time because otherwise the air feels so HEAVY and I can’t stand feeling like there’s a Mack truck on my chest) so I would cover up from the fan, but then would kick off the covers because I got too hot. Off, on, off, on until I finally gave up and got up.

I went into the bathroom and being awake and aware of my skin, I lifted my shirt to see how dark my belly was.

Dark. But what caught my attention was my boobs. I blinked. Then I blinked some more. Had they shrunk? They looked smaller … somehow. I turned this way and that way and examined them from all angles.

They were most definitely smaller. I was somewhat alarmed. For you see, I never really HAD boobs until I had children. Before children (BC), I was pretty flat chested. In fact, I was pretty much a walking stick – no chest and no hips. Then I had kids and WHAM, I suddenly had boobs! Happy! But I also suddenly had hips, Not so happy!

But it was a trade-off, see. I could live with that trade-off because the boobs I’d always wanted, and always dreamed of having in high school, were finally MINE! All mine (well, I had to share them with the husband, but you know what I mean).

So when I noticed they had shrunk, I was quite bummed out.

And then I noticed my arms. What the … was that … could that be …? DEFINITION I was seeing in my flabby grandma arms?! Holy cow! Where did those shoulders come from? And I was definitely seeing some muscle where there was no muscle before.

And where did my second belly roll go? Now, when I bent over, I had one roll where I used to have two.

I’m telling you, I stood in front of that mirror a full fifteen minutes admiring this strange, defined, SHRINKING body. I guess I thought that if I didn’t get an eye full at that moment, I would likely wake up from the dream I was obviously having and I would be back to normal – large (and when I say large, I mean a healthy size C) boobs, obese arms and the Michelin man waist.

I gave my shrinking body one last, lingering look and went back to bed.

Ah well, a girl can dream, right?

Only, when I woke up the next morning, I was greeted with the same small-ish body.

*blinkblink* Had all of my working out FINALLY paid off?

For those new to this blog (welcome!), I’ve sort of been on a working out spree. I’m a big walker, in fact, I LOVE to walk on my treadmill and watch DVD’s – kill two birds with one stone, right? I’m all about multi-tasking. In addition, the husband and I stumbled onto an infomercial a few months back for Turbo Jam. Usually, we roll our eyes at each other and change the channel, but something about this program caught my attention …

It looked fun. I have always loved dance-y, athletic-types of workouts and all of the punching and kicking caught my attention. So, we ordered it … and have TOTALLY gotten our money’s worth.

Now before ya’ll think I’m some sort of health freak, let me set the record straight. I like to eat. Specifically sugary, fattening donuts and chocolate. In fact, it’s pretty safe to say I’m addicted to this stuff. I’d be the size of a house if I wasn’t constantly making deals with myself: All right, Karen. You had a glass of A&W Root Beer this afternoon, which is like 20 teaspoons of sugar. Since you chose to have this glass of soda, you may not have any chocolate for the rest of the day. Or … I’ll eat something pretty healthy, like salmon for lunch, and then reward myself later (because I’m really not a big fish eater but WOW, the protein is an awesome pick-me-upper), with a 3-Musketeer bar (because if I’m going to eat chocolate, why not pick the kind that has less fat, right?)

In addition, if I binge myself on junk food (which happens), then I MAKE myself work out extra hard to work off the calories – it’s a constant give and take with me.

As a result of these deal breakers, it appears that I’m constantly working out. Well, okay, I am constantly working out. But now I’ve become addicted to it – more on that later.

But what REALLY motivated me to start working out again was this one photo.

Normal Family Before Pie
(I’m the fat chick in black on the left-hand side).

One photo where I look like a beached whale with chipmunk cheeks – attractive, no? It was a picture we had taken last Thanksgiving at our house with my husband’s family. I like my husband’s family, really. But they drive me crazy to be around because they are all beautiful, THIN people. And then, there’s me. Whale woman.

*sigh*

My sister-in-law posted this picture on Facebook and the family has really had a great time making fun of themselves – especially me. Because really, if you can’t laugh at yourself, what’s left? Tears? I don’t DO the feel sorry for myself bit. I just don’t. I’m a proactive sort of person.

But seeing this picture again disgusted me, not just because of how I looked but because at the time, before I saw how this picture turned out, I thought I had looked fine. In fact, I had felt pretty good about myself. But then I saw this picture and my self-confidence flew out the window like someone’s still-smoking cigarette. WHOOSH. Perception was burned to a crisp.

(My husband, trying to make me feel better, said, “But honey, that photo was taken with a wide-angle lens.” It doesn’t matter, I’m still whale woman – hear my whale cries of anguish).

I think I have the reverse of anorexia nervosa – where I think I look great but then I see a picture of myself and it’s like, WHAT THE HELL?! It’s so depressing.

So, I’ve been working out extra hard, that photo always in the back of my mind to motivate me to continue even when I feel like my arms are going to fall off or my lungs are about to explode.

And apparently, all of this sweating it starting to pay off. The husband commented the other night that I was indeed building definition in my arms. And that I was definitely skinnier overall. And yes, he admitted, after much coercing from me, that my boobs were indeed smaller.

*sigh* A “small” price to pay to look better, I guess. (Get it? Small? HAHA).

I had the presence of mind to measure myself when I started using Turbo Jam – I did not, however, have the presence of mind to put the DATE on these measurements (idiot) so I’m guesstimating here, but it’s been at least two, possibly three months, since we bought the program. Here are the results:

Chest: Lost 2.5 inches (see! told you!)
Arms: Lost 1 inch
Waist: Lost 3.25 inches (!)
Hips: Lost 2 inches
Thighs: Lost 1 inch (which is disappointing)

Weight: I don’t weigh myself. I keep track of inches because to me, that’s what is more important.

Now, because of these results, I’m working out harder. I’m motivated to continue because dog-gone it, it’s making a difference!

Now hopefully, when we take the next Thanksgiving picture, I won’t dread it but will be proud of how I look in it.

Of course, that’s what I thought LAST THANKSGIVING …

________________________


Want a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to one of several popular retailers? Post your picture and leave a comment on this post! HURRY! Voting starts soon!

Life

Bang for Our Buck, Bad Sunscreen, Take Time for Yourself

Karen

Random thoughts that aren’t quite good long enough to devote an entire post to:

  • We bought fireworks. And we spent $50.00, which isn’t as bad as last year when we spent $80.00. We spent nearly half of that on this fancy-schmancy “Dirty Dozen” package which are these cool balls you drop into a tube and then fire off and watch explode into the kind of explosion you see at the bigger fireworks show. We’ve bought the Dirty Dozen for the past three years now and have never been disappointed. Other than that, we stuck to fountains and roman candles. We tend to stay away from the spinning, shrieking crackers that are unpredictable and inevitably zero in on one of us so that we’re running and screaming down the street in an attempt to get away from it. We’ve had too many close calls these past years and we’ve learned our lesson.

    Also, word to the wise, even though it clearly says on the package, DO NOT HOLD ROMAN CANDLES IN YOUR HAND. Seriously, don’t be tempted to hold it in your hand. We have ignored that advice for years and last year, GD was holding a candle and nearly had his fingers blown off when it exploded in his hand. Heed the warnings folks, use a tube or some sort of bottle.

    When I was uploading a couple of videos to my YouTube account, I stumbled across this video, it’s GD holding a roman candle:

    Vodpod videos no longer available.
    AGAIN, DO NOT DO THIS! VERY DANGEROUS! VERY STUPID!!

    Not one of my more stellar parenting decisions, let me assure you.

  • The boys and I tried to go swimming yesterday. Only when we got to the pool, it was closed – on a beautiful, sunny, not-a-cloud-in-the-sky, hot summer day. To say I was peeved would be putting it mildly. We walked up to the entrance to see what the heck was going on. Apparently, this particular pool wasn’t busy enough to warrant being open every day, so now, it’s only open Thursday through Sunday.

    Swell. I bought swim coupons, people. It works out to be ten swims for me and the boys. I haven’t had a chance to use one of those coupons yet because the weather has been too wet and cold to go swimming. And then we went on vacation. And now we’re back and ready to enjoy summer but our pool is closed. AAARGH. Oh sure, we could go to another public pool, but quite honestly, I hate every other public pool because A. they’re busier than snot (is snot busy?) and B. the kids are mean and I’m spending most of my time trying to get our balls back (because I usually end up throwing the balls at the boys so they can dive for them).

    To add insult to injury, I lathered myself up with Banana Boat sunscreen, which I’ve had for the past two years, and it must be bad or something because I didn’t smell like delicious coconut, oh no, I smelled like burnt plastic.

    UGH. I nearly gagged. But I endured the smell thinking, “Oh well. I’ll just sweat it off.” No biggie, right? Wrong. Since we didn’t get to go swimming, I had to wash it off when I got home because I couldn’t stand the smell of myself. Afterwards, I made a special trip up to Wally World (translation: Wal-Mart) and bought some fresh sunscreen. I never realized sunscreen went bad?

  • I’m still working out to Turbo Jam. I think I’m going to insert the keywords Turbo Jam in nearly every one of my posts because that seems to be what’s bringing people to my blog. I love Turbo Jam. Turbo Jam is awesome! I wish I could do Turbo Jam everyday.

    I’m ESPECIALLY loving the “Punch, Kick and Jam” session. It’s 45 minutes long and a bit more athletic than the other workouts, but MAN. My arms feel like rubber after doing it. And I have to be honest, folks, you really CAN tell a difference in your body after a few sessions. If you can muster up the energy to do it (and remember, your energy comes from your MIND – as Chalene Johnson likes to remind us – love that woman), then by all means, do it.

    This reminds me of an analogy I was going to share with ya’ll: You know when you’re on the plane and getting ready to take off, the flight attendants do their spiel about if the cabin pressure drops, then an oxygen mask will drop from the compartment above and if you have a small child next to you, you should put your mask on first and then help the child? When I first heard this, I was horrified. What?! How selfish! I thought.

    But then I thought, wait. That’s smart. Because if you don’t take care of yourself first, then how can you expect to be CONSCIOUS enough to take care of the child? I mean, if you pass out, then who’s going to help the child, right?

    Well, the same can be said for taking care of YOU. Both physically and mentally. If you’re tired all the time, or feel blah, or ugly, or depressed, or stressed or yadda yadda yadda, then how can you expect to be in any condition to take care of your children to the best of your ability? You say you don’t have time to work out? Make time. Exercise. Not only are you clearing out the cobwebs, you’re giving your body an energy boost AND you’re setting a good example for your children. And just like anything else you don’t want to do, once you start exercising, I’m betting you start enjoying yourself and I can guarantee you’ll feel better about yourself when it’s over.

    And just don’t take care of your body, take care of your mental state, too. Take some time to slow down, relax, breathe, do something you enjoy doing without your kids around. Give yourself a mental break – we all need them. Stop beating yourself up and thinking, “but isn’t that selfish?” It’s selfish to ensure you’re functioning on all cylinders so you CAN take care of your children? Don’t you think they are benefiting from a rested, and more patient, parent?

    I don’t mean to be preaching at ya’ll, but I’m getting a bit tired of reading about how mothers all over the blog’o’sphere are feeling guilty for taking a little time to themselves. Just because you have children doesn’t mean your needs disappear. In fact, your needs magnify ten-fold. But we’re so conditioned to think we’re being selfish or bad parents if we take the time out to refresh and recharge …

    It just irritates me. Stop feeling guilty. Take some time for yourself. Your kids will survive (and in fact probably need time away from YOU, too) and the world will continue to revolve.

    Okay? Okay. Lecture over. 😉

______________________________

null