Working out at home is not for the faint of heart!
So I have been working out at home since mid-December. I first stared on the Treadclimber, then moved to Zumba on the Wii. I have my good days and bad days. I have several days or weeks in a row where I exercise everyday and days where I skip or a few days where I skip but overall I feel I am doing pretty well. If I remember right it takes 21 days to create a habit, so I have surpassed that mark, but it does take consistency. For myself it is hard to get my butt in the car, at night, as all the exercise classes around here that I can take are in the evening, to a class after working so I do my exercise at home. I can get it in anywhere from 5:30 PM onward as supper is usually at 5 PM in this household. I have an 8-year-old son and a 35-year-old husband to keep me company while I exercise. Sometimes said 8-year-old joins in, sometimes he just cheers me on. Said husband will sometimes comment "good job honey" or other nice comments. He walks on the Treadclimber almost every night for his exercise. It has been nice to be each others encouragement in a loving way, we don't harp if the other does not exercise but rather try to compliment on another on our efforts.
So a few of the interesting things about exercising at home, at least in my home.
1) Jane Fonda, aka Princess Shortstuff the 11-year-old Australian Shepherd, she often sits right around where I am exercising. One may think she is standing guard, watching her mama. I happen to think differently. You see poor Shorty blew out her right knee about 3 years ago and so she has a hard time getting around sometimes so she has gained some weight. I think she is exercising vicariously through me. Hey its a theory anyway :)
2) Hagrid, the big 7-year-old mutt, likes to occasionally bark at how much noise I make. One night I decided to put on both belly scarves to make more noise and encourage myself to loosen up some. It sort of worked, but not enough to make me do it all the time. Well the first time I did this, the dog barked and barked at me. I shooshed him and he settled down. So be forewarned that the furry critters may look at you oddly when exercising at home.
3) Maxwell, the loveable 1 1/2-year-old stray that adopted us when he was about 12 weeks old on the 4th of July during a thunderstorm and Katie Sue, the 17-year-old cat. These two usually do not get too riled up about anything. The most that I get from them is a glare when doing a jump or really making noise, otherwise they just lounge around and nap. I think they do like some of the music though as they perk up during certain songs.
4) Said husband and son. These two really are my world. They are my encouragement. They are my reason for living. They are my biggest cheerleaders. But they drive me crazy sometimes! Three weeks ago my son and husband started taking guitar lessons. My son has moved from an acoustic guitar to an electric guitar. My husband is working on both an acoustic/electric guitar and a bass guitar. For some reason, no matter how early or late I decide to work out, my boys like to practice their guitar cords while I Zumba. I have learned to turn up the music a bit, which helps get my energy level up as it is and I am a music feeler so I like this, and I have learned to really watch the screen movements. I am pretty sure I have now done all the dances at least once if not more often which helps too. To clarify what I mean by a music feeler, when I was younger I danced in ballet, jazz, tap, and tumbling. I slowly gave up each one and by 4th grade was no longer dancing but still had rhythm in my blood. During this time I began playing the violin. Anyone who has played an instrument knows the importance of counting to stay on the beat, same thing in dancing. Well I am one of those people that does better with feeling the music and playing by ear, so I tend to not count. The good news is that I am now learning to count my music beats to keep up with the dancers on screen. And luckily I can work under some pretty noisy conditions, such as husband and son playing guitar while I exercise.
5) You may not lose weight right away, but you will lose inches. When I critically look at my body, I mean really critically look at my body I do see where I am losing some weight in inches rather then pounds and ounces. The scale is not moving, but my muscles are tightening and toning up. My calves are like steel, my tummy is getting a little less jiggly. My quadriceps are getting definition they did not have. My gluts are developing so I don't just have a shelf between my spine and upper thighs. My thighs are not quite as big as they once were, although they still brush together when I walk. My pecs are getting some workout and my boobs are losing some ground but I still fill out a D cup nicely. I have new stretch marks on them so I know I am losing some, but I am also losing the back fat which once filled said bra and it is getting a little less snug. My pants still fit snuggly but not as tight as they once did. My biceps have more strength in them and the triceps are gaining some firmness so I have less of a chicken wing on each arm then I did before. My forearms are losing the little bit of chunk they had as I can easily touch my thumb to my middle finger and have about 1/2" or less before pointer and thumb will meet when wrapped around my wrists. So, even though I have no firm measurements other then not changing number on the scale I am noticing a tad bit of refinement. I may get brave soon and put up some pics of the new me, but that is for another day. Back to getting healthy!
So a few of the interesting things about exercising at home, at least in my home.
1) Jane Fonda, aka Princess Shortstuff the 11-year-old Australian Shepherd, she often sits right around where I am exercising. One may think she is standing guard, watching her mama. I happen to think differently. You see poor Shorty blew out her right knee about 3 years ago and so she has a hard time getting around sometimes so she has gained some weight. I think she is exercising vicariously through me. Hey its a theory anyway :)
2) Hagrid, the big 7-year-old mutt, likes to occasionally bark at how much noise I make. One night I decided to put on both belly scarves to make more noise and encourage myself to loosen up some. It sort of worked, but not enough to make me do it all the time. Well the first time I did this, the dog barked and barked at me. I shooshed him and he settled down. So be forewarned that the furry critters may look at you oddly when exercising at home.
3) Maxwell, the loveable 1 1/2-year-old stray that adopted us when he was about 12 weeks old on the 4th of July during a thunderstorm and Katie Sue, the 17-year-old cat. These two usually do not get too riled up about anything. The most that I get from them is a glare when doing a jump or really making noise, otherwise they just lounge around and nap. I think they do like some of the music though as they perk up during certain songs.
4) Said husband and son. These two really are my world. They are my encouragement. They are my reason for living. They are my biggest cheerleaders. But they drive me crazy sometimes! Three weeks ago my son and husband started taking guitar lessons. My son has moved from an acoustic guitar to an electric guitar. My husband is working on both an acoustic/electric guitar and a bass guitar. For some reason, no matter how early or late I decide to work out, my boys like to practice their guitar cords while I Zumba. I have learned to turn up the music a bit, which helps get my energy level up as it is and I am a music feeler so I like this, and I have learned to really watch the screen movements. I am pretty sure I have now done all the dances at least once if not more often which helps too. To clarify what I mean by a music feeler, when I was younger I danced in ballet, jazz, tap, and tumbling. I slowly gave up each one and by 4th grade was no longer dancing but still had rhythm in my blood. During this time I began playing the violin. Anyone who has played an instrument knows the importance of counting to stay on the beat, same thing in dancing. Well I am one of those people that does better with feeling the music and playing by ear, so I tend to not count. The good news is that I am now learning to count my music beats to keep up with the dancers on screen. And luckily I can work under some pretty noisy conditions, such as husband and son playing guitar while I exercise.
5) You may not lose weight right away, but you will lose inches. When I critically look at my body, I mean really critically look at my body I do see where I am losing some weight in inches rather then pounds and ounces. The scale is not moving, but my muscles are tightening and toning up. My calves are like steel, my tummy is getting a little less jiggly. My quadriceps are getting definition they did not have. My gluts are developing so I don't just have a shelf between my spine and upper thighs. My thighs are not quite as big as they once were, although they still brush together when I walk. My pecs are getting some workout and my boobs are losing some ground but I still fill out a D cup nicely. I have new stretch marks on them so I know I am losing some, but I am also losing the back fat which once filled said bra and it is getting a little less snug. My pants still fit snuggly but not as tight as they once did. My biceps have more strength in them and the triceps are gaining some firmness so I have less of a chicken wing on each arm then I did before. My forearms are losing the little bit of chunk they had as I can easily touch my thumb to my middle finger and have about 1/2" or less before pointer and thumb will meet when wrapped around my wrists. So, even though I have no firm measurements other then not changing number on the scale I am noticing a tad bit of refinement. I may get brave soon and put up some pics of the new me, but that is for another day. Back to getting healthy!
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