Gym vs. Home Workout

This past week I had the opportunity to try a 7 day trial membership to a very prestigious athletic club in the Lansing area. I have to admit I was very impressed with the establishment and all that it offers it members. I took advantage of the trial membership and tried many of the options that they have to offer. But, it only took me a couple of days to realize that the membership to a gym is not for me. A 40 minute workout quickly turned into a hour an a half commitment. How could I resist taking advantage of the hot tub and sauna's before taking a shower? I would get done with work at 5:00 but not get home until after 7:00 or 7:30 PM after working out. That is craziness! I have been using Beachbody home workout programs for the past two years. It is so easy to pop in a 40 minute workout DVD, complete the workout, jump in the shower and be done in less than an hour. When you are working 40 hours a week, it is hard enough to find an hour each day to fit a good workout in. So finding time to workout at a gym and take advantage of the amenities that they offer to justify the monthly price of membership is out of the question for me. I have paid $15 - $120 for the varies Beachbody programs that I have purchased. But, it is a one time purchase price and I own them. I can use and reuse the programs over and over for the rest of my life. Most of the DVD workout programs are a 30, 60 or 90 day programs. Once I complete one I try another. What I like about them is not every day is the same workout. Most of the programs come with several DVD's because there are so many workouts. I use my free WOWY membership to log the programs. Each day before I get ready to workout I go into WOWY and find out what workout I am scheduled to do today. And all from the convenience of my own home. I know some people say they can't do home workout programs because they are not motivated enough to keep doing it every day. My suggestion for that is to find a workout buddy. That buddy doesn't have to be committed to the same program as you, they just need to commit to working out like you. Then keep each other accountable. My workout buddy lives half way around the world. We continue to keep each other accountable simply by asking each other each day about our workouts. If you need a workout buddy I would be glad to help you. Find me on Facebook or leave a comment here.

Cheeseburger in Caseville

This past weekend my husband and I took a scenic drive to the thumb of Michigan, where every city is at least 20 miles from the next. We drove to Caseville in Huron County. Every year Caseville hosts a week long event called Cheeseburger in Caseville. The festival is a tribute to tropical paradise, cheeseburgers, and Jimmy Buffet with over 100,000 visitors during the 10 day long festival that takes place in August. Activities at the festival include sandcastle making contests, nightly concerts at the county park, beach volleyball, cheeseburger eating contests, Cheeseburger Walk/Run 5K and much, much more.


This year I decided to participate in the Cheeseburger 5K race. It was the first time that a race course has taken me through a scenic county park that borders Lake Huron and out on to the Caseville break wall. The wind was so strong on the break wall that I could hardly breath, but at the same time it was an awesome experience. I didn't run my fastest race, but it one of the more memorable, because of the scenic beauty that surrounded me as I ran.

One of the down sides to the Cheeseburger festival if you are trying to watch your waistline is all of the cheeseburgers. We ate cheeseburgers for lunch and dinner for three days! Restaurants around town compete each year for having the best cheeseburger. You can't eat a cheeseburger at the same establishment more than once, you need to try cheeseburgers at different restaurants and stands and decide for yourself who has the best cheeseburgers. We decided that the best cheeseburgers came from the places that had the best condiments. My favorite was the stand that had green olives on their condiment table....yum.

Last week I blogged about setting goals and my commitment to regular workouts and eating healthier. Well guess what? I'm human and I fell off the weight loss bandwagon for the weekend. Unfortunately, real life often intrudes into the best intentions. I could do one of two things at this point. I could use this past weekend as an excuse, and before you know it, one skipped workout turns into two, and three...and I decide that it just isn't worth it and give up. OR I can admit that there are going to be times and situations that prevent me from staying on the path that I have set for reaching my goals. This past weekend I ran into a rock in the road. I have to find my way around the rock and get back on the path to reaching my goal. It is so easy to abandon our goals. You decide, are you going to make excuses and abandon the path or work hard to find your way around the rocks in the road as you journey toward a healthier life style? I found my way around the rock, come join me!

My Bucket List includes participating in a Triathlon

A year ago I said I wanted to participate in the Playmakers Classic Triathlon this year. Well guess what, I didn't train for it. I have participated in other types of races like the Filthy 5K and Warrior Dash but still have a triathlon on my bucket list.

Two weekends ago my friend Rachel and I participated in our first Warrior Dash at Mt. Morris, MI. We had so much fun that we are already registered for next year. We are encouraging others to sign up as well. I've posted pictures to my Facebook account. I had read on another blog to buy a disposable camera and put it inside a Ziploc bag so that it didn't get wet. I carried it in a fanny pack throughout the race so we could get pictures. I'm so glad that I did because now we have the pictures to remind us of the fun we experienced that day.

Rachel and I participated in the Grand Rapids Urban Adventure Race last fall. It's a Run, Bike and Search race hosted in downtown Grand Rapids. It involved figuring out clues so that you could go to your next check-in station. Each check-in station was different. One of my favorites was near a lake and we had to work as a team to fill a tube with water from the lake, but the tube had small holes in it. We took turns plugging the holes while the other retrieved water from the lake. Challenging but fun!

I'm always looking for something new to try, so if you hear of any races in the Mid Michigan area please let me know. I'm always up for a challenge and always looking for people to join me.

Setting New Fitness Goals

I've been doing a lot of thinking the past few days and I finally decided to get serious and set some new fitness goals. Several years ago I taught a first term class to students, and one of the topics we covered was goal setting. We talked about S.M.A.R.T goals.

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time-Targeted

Those that know me, know that I have been working out using various Beachbody workout programs for over two years now. I lost 30 pounds and have been successful at keeping it off. However, I am not where I ultimately would like to be. I have decided that it is time to get serious and commit to taking my fitness to a new level. To do this I am committing to working out 5 days a week. I plan to start the Chalene Extreme workout program to help with strength training in addition to running for an additional cardio workout. I will track my weight, measurements and activity in my free WOWY online account. I will know that I am achieving my goal as the weight continues to drop and inches fall off, especially in my waist area. My ultimate goal is to have a flat stomach. I would love to be able to wear a cute sports bra and workout shorts. I will set the timeline for the cute outfit for next spring. One of my first short term goals will be to lose an additional 10 pounds by Christmas 2013. That gives me 4 1/2 months to reach my first goal. In addition to working out I plan to post regular blogs, to share my ups and downs. I hope that others will join me on my journey for better overall health and fitness.

Free Books for your Kindle

Do you enjoy reading? This past year I have read more books than I have read in years. I received a Kindle Fire for Christmas this past year and have found several web sites that offer free books each day.

http://www.pixelofink.com/

http://www.facebook.com/InspiredReads

http://www.facebook.com/EreaderNewsToday

http://www.facebook.com/PowerReads
http://www.facebook.com/DiningDownloads

http://www.facebook.com/kindlefireapps

A couple of these web sites have a daily email that you can subscribe to, and they will send you a list of the books that are available for free. If you see a book that you think you might like to read, you need to download it that day because often the books are only free for a day or a few hours. I have made the mistake of going back the next day to find the book has returned to the original selling price.These web sites offer books in all different genres. I personally like to read fictional books about the Amish or romance novels.

Did you know that you do not have to have to own a Kindle to read these free books? Amazon offers several free options for reading the Kindle edition of books.

Kindle for Android Phones
Kindle for PC

Kindle Cloud Reader

Some of the books that I have read lately for free and enjoyed include, 

A Time to Love by Barbara Cameron
The Keeper by Suzanne Wood
The Quiet Daughter Speaks by Evelyn Rich
Seasons: A Real Story about a Amish Girl by Elizabeth Yount
Finding Emma by Steena Holmes
Always the Baker Never the Bride by Sandara Bricker
Wild for You by Sophia Knightly
The Rent-A-Groom by Jennifer Blake
Something About Joe by Kandy Shepherd

If you have read a good book, I would love to hear your recommendation. I'm always looking for a new good read.

Couch to 5K

I need to work on being more consistent with my blogging. Last night when I was out running I had time to think and blogging is one of the thoughts that went through my head. I was thinking that I need to share with others the experience that I am having with the Couch to 5K running program. Four weeks ago my daughter, Alicia asked me if I wanted to try the Couch to 5K running program. I had heard of it before but really had no idea what it involved. She shared the Cool Running web site with me and I thought, why not. I remember saying to her in the past, while watching a 5K race, that I needed to start running because there were no fat runners.

So four weeks ago I put on my Nike cross trainers, downloaded a C25K app on my Android phone and started the program. The first week wasn't bad at all. Heck, anyone can jog for 60 seconds followed by 90 seconds of walking. Together, Alicia and I completed the first week of the program. We started to involve others and created a private group on Facebook for friends that expressed an interest in the Couch to 5K program. We have been using the group to encourage and motivate each other. Most of us agree that the first two weeks were not bad, but when we reached week three it got a little more difficult. Some people opted to repeat week two because they didn't feel they were ready to tackle week three. I however was determined to keep going. Week three involves three minutes straight of jogging. At first I wasn't sure if I would be able to go three minutes straight without walking but I was determined and made it happen. I felt so proud of myself, after all I am 52 years old and have never been a runner. I am proud to say that I survived week three and I'm almost done with week four which involves three minutes AND five minutes of straight jogging.

Each time I complete a workout I feel stronger. I am determined to complete the 9 week program. My friend Rachel and I have signed up for the Grand Rapids Urban Adventure Race on October 6th. I am training for this race by running and riding my bike. I haven't decided what 5K Race I will run in the fall, but plan to complete the Couch to 5K program and run in at least one 5K Race.

INSANITY: THE ASYLUM™

This week I started a new 30 day workout program called INSANITY: THE ASYLUM. This program is recommended for people that have completed THE INSANITY program. I completed INSANITY several months ago and have since been doing ChaLEAN Extreme. So when my daughter, Alicia purchased INSANITY: THE ASYLUM and asked if I wanted to start it with her after we returned for the Beachbody Summit I said sure. We both started on Sunday by doing the Fit Test. The Fit Test is about 25 minutes of Agility Heisman's, In and Outs, Pull ups/Push ups, Mountain Climbers, Agility should taps, X jumps, moving pushups, agility lateral shuffle and agility bear crawl. The program comes with a plastic/strapped ladder that you lay on the floor and use to jump and crawl between the rungs of the ladder. We completed the fit test and I thought if this is a preview of what's to come, I'm in trouble.

DAY 1 - Speed and Agility. I thought I was going to die! I have not worked up a sweat like that in a very long time. I have this love/hate relationship with Shaun T. He pushes you to dig deeper and not give up. I gave the workout 100% although I was not able to keep up. But being 52 years old, I felt very proud of myself when the workout was over.

DAY 2 - Strength. I liked this workout because it involved weights and strength training. I was able to keep up with most of the workout until the end where the pushups started to get the best of me. I ended up doing pushups on my knees but again stuck with it and did my very best.

DAY 3 - Back to Core. I was so sore in the morning that I could hardly move. I put the workout off until later in the day when my body had time to loosen up some. My shoulders were so sore from all of the pushups in Day 2. This workout works your back and would not be bad if my shoulders weren't already so sore.

DAY 4 - Vertical Plyo. OMG! Another hard workout. I'm going to be honest, I could not keep up with this workout. There is a lot of jumping moves and my heart was beating hard. I again worked up a sweat like never before.

So far I would have to say this is the hardest workout I have ever done.The program is advertised as, "With INSANITY you focused on improving your cardiovascular endurance and on total body conditioning. So, what's left? How about improving your balance, agility, power, strength, and coordination? Jump higher. Run faster. If you want to become an elite athlete or just improve your game, THE ASYLUM is your winning strategy." It definitely stands up to its advertisements. I haven't given up yet, it's only a 30 day program so I will stick with it and give it my best.

Meeting Celebrity Trainers at Beachbody Summit

This past week I had the opportunity to travel to Los Angeles, CA to attend a Beachbody Summit. My daughter, Alicia and I had been looking forward to this trip for months. Before going I had a set a goal and that was to have my picture taken with Shaun T. the creator of Hip Hop Abs, Insanity and his newest workout program, Insanity: The Asylum. I completed The Insanity program a few months ago and although it was a crazy, insane workout I absolutely loved it. I'm a 52 year old lady that hadn't worked out in years, if I can complete the program anyone can!

Last Friday we were just getting off an escalator on our way to the Beachbody Store when I turned and who walked by me, but Shaun T. I was all giddy and could not believe that he had been on the escalator behind me and I didn't even know it. I overheard him tell a guy that he was going to be in the room next to the store for a couple of hours. I assume he was eating lunch in there because when we arrived at Summit the crew had been eating in that room. So my daughter and I proceed to shop at the store and when we exited Alicia noticed that people were in a line to have their pictures taken with celebrity trainers. We jumped in the line and within minutes were in a room with Shaun T. (Insanity), Tony Horton (P90X), Chalene Johnson (Turbo Fire), Donna Richardson (Body Gospel), Leandro Carvalho (Brazil Butt Lift) and Brett Hoebel (Rev Abs). I was able to get my picture taken with three of the celebrities, including Shaun T! You can view all of my pictures by clicking HERE.

If you are over 40 and need to lose weight but don't know where to begin please contact me. I would love to be your accountability buddy and give you the encouragement to make the changes you desire in your life. You too could fall in love with one of the celebrity trainers and maybe even join me next June in Las Vegas for the next Beachbody Summit. I will be there, and once again in line waiting for a new picture with all of the trainers that I have grown to love! 

Accountability

Accountability

–noun

1.

the state of being accountable,  liable, or answerable.

I have found that one of the things that keeps me working toward my weight loss goal is accountability. I have an accountability partner, my daughter, Alicia. Together we have been working out and changing our eating habits for the past year. We often workout together and when we are not working out together, we are watching to make sure the other person is getting their daily workout in. Facebook is also another great source for accountability. I started posting over a year ago that I was working out and losing weight. If one day I stopped working out and started to gain back my weight, I would feel like I had failed in front of all of my family and friends.

Another thing that I do to stay accountable is to use my Bodybugg. I first heard of Bodybugg on The Biggest Loser show. All of the contestants wear them on  their upper left arm. Bodybugg is a calorie management system that uses specialized sensors to track calories burned. It also has a built in pedometer for tracking your steps. It keeps accurate daily records of calories consumed vs. burned. At least once a day I use an USB cord to upload the data to a web based program. It shows me how many calories I have burned minute by minute. I then have to input everything that I eat. The web based program already has information about many foods including restaurant foods. If you can't find it in the program you can input the information from food labels.  The trick is to be HONEST about food consumed. To lose weight you need to have a calorie deficit. The program allows you to set up weight loss goals. My first goal was to lose 20 pounds by my wedding. I told the program my target date, starting weight and goal weight. It then told me that I needed to have a 550 calorie deficit each day to reach my goal. This helped me to figure out how many calories I could eat in a day and how much physical activity I needed each day in order to create the deficit. It was funny when I first started to use the Bodybugg, I would upload the data and input my calorie intake, if I hadn't reached my 550 calorie deficit for the day, I would do another workout or go for a walk. With the help of my Bodybugg I was able to reach my goal weight for my wedding. Now I have set a new goal for bikini season!

If you do not have an accountability buddy, I would love to be one for you. Send me an email, sally@homefitness4u.com. Start your journey to better health and fitness today.

What is Beachbody?

You will often hear me talk about this great company that I work for, Beachbody. What is Beachbody and how did I get started with this company? Maybe you have seen the infomercials for P90X, Insanity, Turbo Jam, etc.? I know I see them all the time and love to watch them because I have tried the products and know they work. I started with Team Beachbody in January 2010. A friend of mine was a Coach and always talking about Shakeology and the workout programs that she was doing. I finally decided that I needed to get serious about losing weight and saw how well she was doing, so I asked her about Beachbody. I initially signed up to save 25% on products but after several months decided that I wanted to share the opportunity with others. My daughter observed what I was doing and decided that she too would become a Beachbody Coach. We have been doing it together for over a year now and loving it.

I recently ran across a job posting for Beachbody in which they had the following description of the company. "Beachbody was founded in 1998 by Carl Daikeler and Jon Congdon.   The company is based in Santa Monica, California, and is the creator of the nation’s most popular in-home fitness and weight loss solutions including P90X®, Insanity®, Brazil Butt Lift®, Slim in 6®, Turbo Jam®, Hip Hop Abs®, and Power 90® among many others. Beachbody programs combine challenging DVD-based workouts with easy-to-follow diet guidelines, nutritional supplements (including its breakthrough health shake called Shakeology®, AKA “The Healthiest Meal of the Day”), and an unparalleled customer service and peer-support system. In fact, Beachbody has expanded this support system through Team Beachbody.com, which includes a network of thousands of independent “Coach” distributors as well as a dynamic online support and fitness community. The company’s beauty business includes brands Timeless Secret™ and DermExclusive™. The corporate mission is to help people achieve their goals and enjoy healthy, fulfilling lives."

I have been with Team Beachbody for over a year now. I love my job as a "Coach" distributor because I have the pleasure of talking to people about achieving their goals of becoming healthy and physically fit. I work from my home, no time clock to punch. I am my own boss. I am looking for others that would like to join my team. If you are interested in hearing more, send me an email: sally@homefitness4u.com. Let's talk.

Western Caribbean Cruise

A week ago I returned from a 7 day Western Caribbean Cruise on the Carnival Legend. It was the most relaxing vacation I have taken in a very long time. My husband and I married on 1-1-11 and decided to take the cruise for our honeymoon. We flew to Tampa Florida and cruised to Cozumel Mexico, Belize, Roatan Honduras and Caymen Islands. We spent one day at each of the ports and had two days at sea. If you have never been on a cruise before you really should try it. This was my sixth cruise and most certainly not my last.

Before I went on the cruise one of the things I worried about was my diet. Having been on several cruises before I knew that you spent a lot of time eating things you would normally not eat at home. When we cruise, every night we go to the formal dining room and have the appetizer, main entree and dessert.  To the left are pictures of the Maine Lobster and Prime Rib, followed by the Chocolate Melting Cake, just an example of one nights dinner. I never eat that much when at home.

I had been working so hard to lose weight for my wedding in January and had been doing a good job of keeping the weight off. What was going to happen the week of the cruise? I tried really hard to limit the amount of food I ate but I did splurge and try new things like the Chocolate Melting Cake. Oh my, is that ever the best dessert and I don't even really care for chocolate.

I had ever intention of working out while on the cruise. I took my workout clothes with me and on the first day made a point of finding out where the gym was on the boat. Well guess what? I NEVER worked out in the gym all week long. I was so busy doing other activities, and spent a lot of time walking each day that we were at a port that I just never made it to the gym. When I got home I was afraid to step on the scale for two days. When I finally got up the courage to step on the scale I had put on ONE pound! I was happy with that one pound because I knew it wouldn't take much to get rid of it.

Now that I'm back home I'm back to my normal routine. While I was gone the new BowFlex SelectTech weights arrived so I started doing the ChaLEAN Extreme 90 day program. Chalene says that because I'm getting older, it's not my metabolism that is slowing down. It's that I've lost muscle and muscle burns fat. I've been busy building muscle this past week. I'll talk more about my progress in a future blog.

I want everyone to know that there will be times when you are tempted to eat the wrong things and will not be able to follow your strict diet. Enjoy those moments and then get back on track to eating healthy and regular exercise. You can do it!

Setting Goals

One thing that has always motivated me in life is setting personal goals. A year ago I decided that I was getting married on January 1, 2011 and I was not going to have wedding pictures of me being fat. I mentioned in my previous post that my daughter, Alicia made me feel guilty about not working out with her. I had a whole barrel of excuses, she wasn't buying any of them. I finally decided to get serious and set goals.

One thing I really love about the Beachbody workout programs is that they help you establish the goals. Slim in 6 is a 6 week program, Insanity is a 60 day program, P90X is a 90 day program and ChaLEAN Extreme is a 120 day program. You decide what your goal is and when you would like to accomplish it by and then select a program that fits your goals. You can automatically schedule your complete Beachbody® workout program in WOWY SuperGym. Each day when you log in to WOWY it will tell you which workout to complete within your selected program.It doesn't get much easier than that.

When I finally decided to get serious about losing weight, one of the first things I did was to take pictures and measurements. After months of dabbling with the many different workout programs I finally decided to do P90X with my daughter. We took our before pictures and committed to working out daily. After the first 30 days I have to admit I was ready to give up. I was not losing any weight, I was gaining. Everyone kept saying I was building muscle and muscle weighed more than fat. I wanted to believe that, but it wasn't until I took my next set of pictures and measurements that I believed it. My measurements were changing and I was seeing visible results. This encouraged me to stick with it and to keep "pushing play". Tony Horton became my next best friend. I found myself picking up on his catchy phrases like "do you best and forget the rest". When I say I completed the P90X program, I have to clarify that I did my best and forgot the rest. It is an extremely hard workout regiment, but I did the best I could each day and just kept pushing forward. I am so glad that I stuck with it and reached one of my goals.

I got married on January 1, 2011 and lost the 20 pounds that I had set out to lose. I had gone from a size 14 to a size 8. When I purchased my wedding dress and tried it on for the first time they told me it could be let out in size if necessary. There was no way that was happening, I was going to lose the 20 pounds so I could fit in the dress and I did it.

What goals have you set in your personal life? What motivates you to reach your goals?

Who is Sally Vrooman?

This is my first official Blog. Who would have ever guessed I would be blogging? I've always said I want to write a book, but I could never figure out what to write about. Maybe blogging will inspire me. I plan to use this blog as a personal journal to track my fitness journey. I should have started blogging over a year ago because that is when I started my fitness journey.

Let me start by telling you a little bit about who I am. I am a 52 year old woman that has had three children. With each child I gained 10 pounds that I never lost. I remember when I was 19 years old and in college, I weighed 99 pounds. This memory stays with me because I was on a college swim team and each morning we would weigh in. I was always under 100 pounds and so proud of it. Being on a swim team and working out four hours a day, it was easy to stay slender and physically fit. After college I got married and started to raise my family. I was a stay at home mom for many years, doing child care in my home. Being at home I wore sweat pants and t-shirts every day. I never really worried about my weight, just accepted that gaining weight was a fact of life. Over the years I gradually went from a size 3 to a size 14.

I tried to work on my weight but never put my heart in to it. I purchased all types of workout equipment; Gazelle, BlowFlex, AbCruncher, Wii Fit, and more. I guess I thought if I bought the equipment the weight would magically come off. It became a joke in the family, what had Mom bought now? In January 2010 I decided to sign up to be a Beachbody Coach so I could receive a 25% discount on workout DVD programs. As a Coach I had the opportunity to buy a starter kit that included several workout programs. A friend and coworker had been talking about Beachbody and Shakeology on her Facebook for months and she was losing weight and looking good. I finally asked her to tell me more about Shakeology and the next thing you know I'm signing up. I thought if she can look that good, so can I.

I have to be honest, at first my heart wasn't really in it. I had the workout DVDs and I would put a DVD in, try a couple of workouts but never stuck to any program. Do you see a pattern in my life? I was drinking the Shakeology and enjoying how it made me feel. My daughter had started the P90X program and was pushing play everyday. I kept making excuses and she finally made me feel guilty, so I decided to do it with her. Together we did P90X and both of us were losing weight. Imagine that! After P90X we both did the Insanity 60 Day program. We thought P90X was crazy hard, but Insanity is Insane! We were both officially addicted to working out and well on our way to reaching our fitness goals.

I will continue to blog and share about my fitness journey. Hopefully you will follow me and come back for more. I would love to hear from my readers. Have you struggled to lose weight? Have you fell victim to the exercise equipment gadgets over the years like me? Have you tried exercise DVD's? Gym memberships? What has worked for you?