A Little (Workout) Update

Because I am not very good at math and (apparently) not very good at paying attention, I was surprised this morning when the Bikini Body Mommy announced that I was officially half way through the 90 day challenge.  That’s right, I’ve completed 45 days of workouts!

I know a lot more about the program now than when I started and it’s been even more doable than I first thought.  The weekly routine includes three cardio days and three workout days and a rest day.  Since Kimberly and I walk every Sunday that the weather and our schedules cooperate, and because Thursday for some reason is my most tired morning of the week, most weeks I’ve rested on Thursday.  When I started, I did the cardio video almost every time.  She suggests a 20-25 minute high intensity interval training (HIIT) workout on cardio days and has a nice little video of five exercises to repeat twice, resting in between each set. I even got crazy one day and, while pushing Layla in the stroller, alternated running and walking for 25 minutes.  Recently, I’ve gotten a little lax on cardio days and just done a fast walk pushing the stroller for 45 minutes.  I could tell this morning during the “fit test” that my cardio needs to be dialed up a notch.  But, my times and reps were much improved on each exercise from the first day, so that’s something. 

The longest workout day video has been just over 25 minutes, so I really have no excuse for not getting up and getting it over with. The only perk I’ve found to this horrendous bell new schedule that puts me home to Layla at 4:30PM every day is that I can sleep until 6AM and still get a workout in, nurse the baby, shower, and get to school on time.  After the sleepless weekend I’d had with Amoura, I slept right through the workout on Monday morning for the first time since I started the challenge.  That evening when I put Layla to bed, I grabbed my tennis shoes and completed Day 43.  I was glad to stay on pace, but was reminded that prefer getting it out of the way in the morning. 

I guess the big question is, am I seeing any changes, and I think I am.  Drastic changes, no, but you can’t expect that much from 15-25 minutes a day.  I lost about six pounds the first month I was back in school.  I was doing the online Dietbet and really watching what I ate (and inadvertently tanking my milk supply in the process).  Now that the bet is over and I am in full on damage control mode with my milk production, I am trying to maintain my weight.  The BBM challenge is helping with that.  I eat a really sensible breakfast and lunch and eat normal person size portion of whatever I want for dinner.  I usually cook, so it’s usually healthy.  But like to night when Sonic blasts were ½ price, I devoured one in record time and I don’t even feel guilty for it.  I have always been great at gaining weight, pretty good at losing it, and terrible at maintaining it.  I do best in starvation diet mode or “get out of my way or I’m going to eat you with a side of ice cream” mode.  Balancing eating to fuel my body and treating myself because you only live once is hard for me.  Exercising regularly helps because I don’t want to ruin my hard work (at least not every day) with a 700 calorie dessert an hour before bed. 

So, that’s how my workouts are going.  If I keep it up, I’ll complete this first challenge on November 14^th.  Now that I’m half way there, I think I might just finish the whole darn thing!