Monday, January 5, 2009

Today Is That Day



Does the site of Target unveiling their 2009 bathing suit collection make you break out into a cold sweat?

Have your comfy jeans become your favorites?

It's time, girls. It's time to get movin'.

I am not sure I have revealed one of my biggest weaknesses besides Salt Grass Steakhouse's Two Fork Cheesecake... Fitness Equipment Informercials

I know! How ridiculous, right? And this isn't a new thing, people! I fell prey to The Firm back in the day when they bragged of the Fanny Lifter...which was a 14" particle board step. That was back in '95 and I couldn't walk down the stairs for a week. But that same company is still around today minus the leotards, leg warmers and Janet Jones-Gretsky. Side ponytails, rule! And I STILL get sucked in anytime their infomericals are on TV. They are marketing this wacky thing called The Wave. Luckily, I have my eye on another one at this time and am hip to their schemes.

My lastest infomercial obsession features one of my favorite instructors, Charlene Johnson. You best know her for her leading actress role in Turbo Jam, but her latest is Chalene Extreme. Now, let's just ignore the fact the program is $120 plus shipping AND let's also put aside the fact that if you order anything from Beach Body.com, they'll keep sending you stuff and charging you for it even after you don't want it or need it (luckily, I know this not from experience, but reading reviews). There is just a part of me that believes I can have arms and abs like those actors in those informercials.

And I CAN...if I do the work.

You see, last February I teamed up with the bestest workout partner and lost 25 lbs. Was it easy? HECK NO! Did I sweat a lot! YOU BETCHA! I never knew I could sweat so much, but mountain climbers and squat thrusts demand everything you have and then some. No gimmicks, no pills, no pre-packaged food. Just cardio, resistance training, and eating more real food and less out of a box. And the kicker....it is an every day kinda committment or it doesn't last.

A saying often spoken in our house around snacktime is "Choose something that grows on a tree or out of the ground". Works for them, works for me. And by the way....all those companies that say their program will produce rock hard abs. Bogus. All the ab work in the world won't deliver those abs. You have to change your diet and remove that layer of fat. You should have seen the Body Worlds exhibit. All the displays looked like amazing athletes when in fact, many were obese when alive.

What program did we follow? A combination of 3: Body for Life, Jillian Michael's Winning By Losing and Gunner Peterson's The Workout. All three have set workouts in their books and all three can be checked out from your local library. Jillian Michaels is my FAVE because she does interval training: upper body, lower body and then cardio. And her program gave me results. Proof. I dig that about her program.

If the idea of working out seems boring or overwhelming, I totally understand. But hear me... you need to move in some way each day. Walking is great! Start there, but please consider resistance training. As women, we are losing bone mass daily and the way to combat that is resistance training. You can use weights, resistance bands or your natural body weight. Pushups and triceps dips are some of the BEST exercises because they work so many muscles. Pilates and Yoga count too! There are hundreds of videos on YouTube that you can watch for FREE. There are also DVDs at the library you can check out. Netflix has an amazing selection as well. 30 Day Shred is my FAVE from Netflix. I checked it out, wrote down the exercises and still do it today. This one is a time-saver as she combines lower body exercises with upper body (shoulder presses with lunges). And finally, Women's Health Magazine offers an amazing email newsletter than includes most of the workouts they feature in their magazine. They are killer!

Today is the day. It's a Monday. Get movin'.


4 comments:

Unknown said...

The elliptical trainer is the best home Fitness Equipment because it can be used by all different types of people which make it especially suitable to use in the home where each member of your family will be able to make full use of it.

Anonymous said...

And I was loving the Crunchless Abs informercial...! This time of year is so inspiring...everyone wants to be healthier, organized and a better person :)

Laurie M said...

I totally saw the Crunchless Abs commercial the other day. I think that's a pretty great deal for $10! And of course, P90X is on right now and it is SO tempting!

Laurie M said...

Was curious and read reviews of Crunchless Abs. Distorted videos and not worth the $10 as they enroll you in a monthly shipping program. I'll stick with my books and Netflix.