My secret...

That's really not a secret. LOL. So I've had several people ask me what I am doing to 'lose weight'. And well, this post will be about it. Sorry if I covered this in an earlier blog...

This is what my workout routine is like:

Monday - 1 hour cardio Turbo kick, followed by an hour on weights - arms (bicep, tri-ceps, etc.) & abs
Tuesday - 1 hour cardio Zumba, followed by an hour on weights - leg (quads, inner & outer thighs, calves and hopefully one day, the gluts - not there yet LOL)
Wednesday - off (recently I started playing volleyball again at the church - couple of hours)
Thursday - 1 hour cardio Zumba, followed by an hour on weights - arms & abs
Friday - 1/2 hour cardio on crossramp machine or eliptical plus one hour of weights - legs
Saturday - 1 hour power yoga, 1 hour zumba and then 1/2 to 45 mins on weights - legs
Sunday - off

This is my current workout schedule, but will probably change again - want to try cycling and a few of the others classes...but we'll see.

Forever I was stuck at 50 lbs lost, then as of recently changed my diet and now I can say I've lost 67+ pounds. Here's what I am doing differently -

*no carbonation, I drink lots of water, juices and sugar-free drinks
*increased my fruits & veggie intake
*eat at the same time (or close to the same time) daily
*I don't eat dinner due to my late workouts. My breakfast and lunch compensate for it, besides I end up eating a fruit or something when I get home from the gym.
*on the weekends I am not so strict. I figure I stick to it during the week and on the weekends I give myself a break. I don't go overboard - still watch my portion sizes.

So you might ask, what do I eat?

For breakfast I try and eat something healthy like cereal with skim milk, breakfast sandwich or whatever I can find. One morning I had a slice of pizza for breakfast. I know, not so healthy -- but it's something to eat. Don't starve yourself. I usually will eat around 8 or 9 am. Then inbetween breakfast and lunch I have a snack or two (fruits, veggies, granola bars or whatever). Around 1 pm I eat my lunch. I always have fruits or veggies and then either a sandwich, chinese, or whatever I take for lunch. Then between lunch and my workout, I will snack on more fruits. And the same goes for after my workout. I know, sounds so boring, but you get use to it over time. And even though I try to stick to not eating something big after my workout, some days I just can't help it. But along the same lines, I still watch my portion sizes if I eat late.

I have learned that sometimes you are not hungry, you are thirsty -- so the next time you think you are hungry, get a drink. If you are still hungry after that, then you really are, but if you aren't, it was thirst not hunger. Hope that made sense.

The most important thing -- take small steps. Forever I worked on getting the eating part down. In fact, if you just change the way you eat and cut back, you will see the weight loss. The exercise just helps to tone and lose more weight if you burn more calories than you take in. Once I got that down, I started working out.

Another tip for working out -- a lot of times you hear it's good to have a workout buddy. I disagree. I say invest in an ipod or mp3 player or something. Load it up with your favorite music and just go. You need to be able to go on your own. If you rely on a workout buddy, what happens when they can't go? You end up not going yourself. It's not an easy thing to do (go and workout by yourself), but if you can, you will stick to going to the gym in the long run. When I go, I just turn up my ipod and tune everybody around me out. Most everybody is there for the same purpose -- so don't worry about 'looking dumb'.

So there you go...that's my secret...that's really not a secret! LOL. Good luck to those on the same weight loss journey! If you set your mind to it, you can do it! It's all up to you!!