ChaLean day 10... and 40 days til 40!

Day 10 already! Now THIS is a sign that I'm into this workout: I got to bed on the late side last night, and thought I'd maybe allow myself to sleep a little later today, and exercise after work (not really an easy feat -- I generally work til about 7 pm).

Well -- I shocked myself by waking up with the alarm this morning, and found that I wanted to work out! Crazy -- but I'll take it!

In the past, I've found that I get excited by the novelty of a program (be it Weight Watchers, or a new trainer)... but once the newness wears off, I start tapering off, until I suddenly wake up one day and find that I've stopped following the program. I'm really, really hoping that doesn't happen here. I'm feeling stronger already, and I just want to keep that ball rolling. It definitely helps that I've come across so many success stories -- I want to be one too!

Also: this is turning out to be quite an investment -- not only was the Deluxe ChaLean Extreme program rather pricey -- but buying new weights can add up as well. Saying that: I caught a sale at Sports Authority this weekend: a pair of 8 lb and a pair of 10 lb weights was just $32.

I was also in dire need of new sneakers... got this snazzy pair. They'll make their debut tomorrow morning, with the Burn Intervals workout.

Updates since the last time I posted:

Monday -- day 7 -- my one rest day this week, and boy did I need it! My glutes were still burning from the previous day's workout -- definitely a good burn.

Tuesday -- day 8 -- Burn Circuit 1. My first day with my new weights (last week, I just used the workout bands) -- I liked the weights SO much better than the bands! Though I must admit, I think I went a bit lighter than I could have -- I was being overly cautious. I used 5 and 8 lbs, where on some exercises I probably could have gone up to 10.

Wednesday -- day 9 -- it was supposed to be my other rest day this week, but I wanted to add more cardio, so I did the Fat Burn Challenge that came on the bonus disc, along with "I've Got Abs". Very, very challenging! My abs muscles probably need the most work out of anything on my body (arms are a close second)... and boy, was I feeling it.

Thursday (today) -- day 10 -- Burn Circuit 2. Did slightly heavier weights today -- those 10-pounders even got some play.

I've been telling lots of friends about this program, and it's very motivating when, for example, my friend Debra emailed me, saying she didn't feel like going to the gym today, but she thought about me and this program, and it motivated her to go. Nice! In return -- that pushes ME to keep going!

Would love to hear from you... what motivates YOU?

ChaLean day 6... and 44 days til 40!

Day 6 of ChaLean Extreme -- I've found that each day, I actually look forward to these workouts! This is really unusual for me -- I generally work out, but begrudgingly. I know I need to do it, but I'm not really happy about it. Even in the past, when I worked out with a trainer, my heart just wasn't that into it.

I promise, I'm not a salesperson for ChaLean! I paid full price for my workout, and have no affiliation with them whatsoever. I'm just pleasantly surprised how great this workout is, and how revved up I am!

So: today's scheduled workout was Burn It Off (30 minutes of intense, kick-ass cardio) and Recharge (some stretching, some yoga). I started with Burn it Off, and oh my -- did it kick my butt. Some seriously challeging cardio moves that had me gasping for air -- and I previously thought I was in decent cardio shape! Just goes to show that there's plenty of room for improvement.

I wanted to add even more cardio, so I did one of the bonus workouts that came with the packet: Turbo Jam Fat Blaster. I've never done any of her Turbo Jam workouts before -- this is fun, with a good amount of punching, jumping, etc. I was on a lower impact than she was... I think I'm also due for new sneakers!

I then did the Ab Burner workout -- 10 minutes of solid, challenging abs exercises. My middle is my problem area -- I look a bit like a TeleTubby -- so I'm going to start adding additional abs workouts every other day.

I started to do the Recharge workout, and got about halfway through -- but then the moves became more yoga-like. I already did Dynamic Flow Yoga yesterday, and decided that I didn't need that two days in a row (and the 80 minutes of hard exercise I'd already done was sufficient for today).

I don't know if it's psychological, but I feel like I'm seeing a difference in my body already! My shoulders seem to have a bit more definition, and I feel a little smaller around the middle. Overall, my muscles feel great -- I feel like I'm starting to wake them up. It's a great feeling, but I also think I need to work harder this week.

Tomorrow is a rest day -- I was really tempted to do more cardio (I'm on a roll!) but after researching a bit on line, I found that you really should give your body a day of rest after this kind of intense exercise.

One last thing! Whoo hoo, my weight was down slightly this morning! For the past few weeks, I've been fluctuating between about 141- 143 lbs -- today I weighed in at 139.8, my first time below 140 in quite a while. Yee-hah!

Time to go out and buy new sneakers, as well as additional dumbbells. If you're doing ChaLean (or any of the other workouts: Insanity, P90X) -- be sure to comment below!

I've started! 46 days til the big 4-0!

I'm very happy to announce that I finally started the fabulous CHALEAN EXTREME workout program -- today is already day four! (I was dying to blog earlier in the week, just didn't have time).

When I first decided to do this workout program, my first thought was, how will I find the time for this? My work hours can be crazy at times (I work in TV production), and I go out after work a few days a week. I'm absolutely NOT a morning person, but -- surprise, surprise! -- I discovered that if I put my mind to it, I can indeed wake up an hour earlier each day to do this. AND it's getting easier -- one day I even shocked myself by waking up before my alarm.

Days 1 and 3 were with weights -- or in my case, the workout bands that came with the program. (I bought the "deluxe" version) I've never worked out with bands before -- I'm going to try to give it more time, but I'm not loving them so far. It feels like there's just too much room for error (eg, it's too easy to have too much slack on the bands, which means you're getting a too-easy workout). My wonderful friend Debra gave me a pair of 5 lbs weights, and I'm going to look into buying others -- maybe make an investment into some cool adjustable weights. Any suggestions are most welcome!

Day 2 was supposed to be a rest day (already??) -- but I was raring to go, so I did a hip-hop cardio workout that I had DVRd from Fit TV -- the TV show All Star Workouts. Holy cow! I've taken dance classes in the past, but this was some seriously intricate choreography! You'd have to be a former Fly Girl to keep up with the steps -- but it was fun, and I still broke a sweat.

Today -- day 4 -- hard-core cardio with some light weights in the Burn Intervals workout (followed by 10 minutes of abs in Ab Burner). WOW! This was some challenging cardio! Towards the end, I had to stay on the lower impact side -- but I stuck to it.

This was an interesting eye-opener: the program comes with a fitness test to help you estimate your level of aerobic fitness, strength, flexibility and endurance -- it's a good way to track your improvement over time. I did it with my friend Debra last night -- she's very slim, and is very much into weights and boxing classes. It was interesting to see that we had very different strengths and weaknesses: I was able to do more pushups, but she was able to do the seated wall squat for quite a bit longer than I could. I'm more flexible, but she could do more arm curls.

This was most humbling -- Debra took some "before" pictures from me. Looking at these pics, I realize I have almost NO muscle tone. I'm pretty active in biking and rollerblading, but I haven't been consistent lately -- and it doesn't help that I'm carrying about 10 - 15 extra pounds.

Can't wait to see how these pics will change in the coming months!



STATS:
Age: 39 (not for much longer!)
Height: 5'4"
Weight: this week -- fluctuating between 140 - 142
Waist: 33"
Hips: 38"
Abductors (just below the butt -- saddlebags): 37.25
Chest: 35.5
Right arm: 11"
Left arm: 10.75
Right thigh: 20.5
Left thigh: 20
Body fat percentage: 22.2*
* using the calipers for the first time -- no idea if I was doing this correctly.

If you're doing ChaLean Extreme (or have done it in the past), would love to hear your stories, tips, etc!