The nitty gritty

A couple of days ago I posted about my weight and my resolution in shredding some extra pounds and I was very pleased with the response I got from my post. 

Among the encouragements and the pats on my shoulders, I also got some very good ideas and few questions. 

My friend Krystal intelligently pointed out to take measurements of my body rather than focus only on my weight and I think that is a very smart idea. 

Last time I took measurements was a year and a half ago, so I guess it was about time!

So here you go, brace yourself! 

Bust: 38" 

Waist: 33" 

Hips: 43" 

Thigh: 24" 

Arm: 12" 

I basically gained 2 full inches in my middle section from last time and it was enough to bump me a size up! 

Grrrrrr. 

Also, I got requests about what kind of exercise I do or plan to do, so I thought I'd share some here. 

What I do every day is walking 10,000 step. I usually takes me about 45-60 minutes to do about 3 miles but I'm hoping to work my way up to 5 miles. For now I had to put a pin on running as I need very good running shoes that I can't afford and my shin splints are very painful. So, walking, power walking, is the best next thing. Now, the weather her it's been crazy raining and I do have 2 children to take care of, so I really have to cut my time out for it when hubby is home and it's not raining buckets. For the last week, I wasn't able to do it every day. Those are the times I wish I had a tread mill or an elliptical machine, so I can still get my cardio in, but it is what it is. 

 I also realized that even when I was fit and thin, I always had very weak arms, so weak that I was never good at doing push ups. I think in my best form, I was able to do 5 push ups. Pretty pathetic. Since I've been so lazy for so long, now it's even more pathetic. But I started working my arms with weights (that's why I took my arm measurement too) and little bit at the time I introduced my self to this routine. 

My idea here is not to get bulky, so I use 4 lb dumb bells. I'm able know to follow all the exercises except for the final push ups and I must confess that the leaning triceps extension make me cry all the time. But I bet if I do this routine once a week I will get there! 

 Also, there is this move that I do EVERY.SINGLE.DAY as soon as I wake up! It only take 30 seconds, it stretch my entire body and takes care of the "belly pouch". I've been seeing a big difference in my posture!

 

I also tried to join an abs challenge that consisted in 300 abs in 30 days.....I wasn't able to do even half of it that I felt too much pain, not to my abs as I was expecting, but to my back. Definitely not for me!! 

I'm not trying to say that the exercises where some how faulty, I'm just trying to make a point that there are a lot of routine and work outs out there but there is no-size-fits-all. The right exercises for you depend a lot on your shape and what you body can stand and I realize that for my abs I need to start from the very basic before getting in some fancy routine. Baby steps..... 

Next time, I will have more exercises to other body parts, those above are so far the things that I do and I've tried successfully!