No resolutions.

This year I decided NOT to include any weight loss or exercise goals in my resolutions.  Before getting pregnant, exercising 3-5 times a week had become part of my routine.  Even from 13 weeks to about 33 weeks it was still a part of my routine (until the pain from sciatica and Braxton Hicks got so bad I couldn't walk a full lap around the indoor track from the pain).  So, I refuse to make it a resolution to work out a certain amount of times or to lose a certain amount of weight.  The first Sunday of the new year had both me and hubs itching to exercise.  We both just really wanted to do something active and workout.  So last week I exercised 4 days.  A couple of days I made it to the gym and did walking and running intervals. Once I did the same around my neighborhood and another day I did a Zumba workout on the Wii.  This week, I've worked out 2 times already.  I feel amazing.  My mood is lighter, I have had more patience with a very grumpy 3 year old, and my body is already starting to change.  I'm so glad that baby girl has gotten to a place with her nursing that I can fit in a workout much more easily.  I still don't feel comfortable taking her to the gym sitter service.  I think I will probably wait until she is 6 months old to start trying to get back into my morning routine of working out.  It's killing me, because it is my favorite time to workout, but if she got really sick I'd never forgive myself.  I might start trying to get up at 5:30am or so and go to the gym before hubs goes to work, or maybe alternate days with him so he can go as well.

As far as my weight, it's still around 172 (best I can tell).  I haven't weighed myself without clothes in a couple of weeks.  Hubs says I'm gaining muscle but I'm sure the Hickory Farms cheese balls I ate last week had something to do with it.  Oh well.  I've found myself craving healthier foods to snack on the last week, so I will be making a big effort to stock up on healthy options. 

Zumba for Wii Initial Thoughts: Not bad.

Today I received the Zumba Fitness for the Wii and couldn't wait to give it a go.  I wanted something that I could do at home that would challenge me, be fun and actually burn some calories.  I think that I have found that in the Zumba Wii based on my first impressions.

Mind you, I only spent about 30 minutes total (including the 20 minute workout) messing with it, as I had a hungry infant downstairs and a 3 year old nearing his bedtime, so I'll have to look at it more closely next time.  But...it comes with a belt that you slip the remote into.  You create your profile and then if you decide to play right away you pick "Easy", "Medium" or "Hard/Difficult"(I can't remember which one).  Then you pick a routine to do and there are different levels of that as well, Beginner, Intermediate, etc.  I picked the lowest level on both counts.  I also started to do the Tutorial to "learn" the dance steps and then heard baby girl and decided to screw it and just jump in and try to figure out what the heck I was doing.  For the most part, I got it.  I'm sure it wasn't pretty to watch, but I was huffing and puffing.

Here are the things I really liked: 1) The "instructor" looks similar to the dancers in Just Dance, it's mainly a silhouette that changes colors.  2) Unlike other workout videos there isn't a lot of needless chatter that usually just pisses me off.  The chick says "Now you've got it" and other random encouragements, but not that often, just enough for you to actually be encouraged not annoyed 3) At the end it scored me 4) There's a workout calendar that shows you when you worked out, what routine you did, etc.

I wore my Polar HR monitor that I use when I'm trying to run  running and according to it I burned 300 calories in a 20 minutes workout.  Not bad.

Let's do this.

I recently received a $10 Amazon e-certificate and used it to purchase Zumba Fitness for the Wii.  I think that 1) I should be better at this than I am at The Shred, which leads me to 2) I won't get as frustrated and quit 3) I can do it at home (get up before the kids, during naptime, after Little Man's bedtime) 4) I have to do something.

My last true weigh-in had me at 173.  I'm SO close to breaking into the 160's I can taste it. Literally, it's in all those cookies I just ate, and the mounds of cream cheese that seems to be in everything that I've been making lately. 

But I can do this.  I'm ready to start working out, and after Christmas, if the flu isn't spreading like crazy, I'm heading back to the gym.  It's time.  And that 5K in January is not going to run itself.