Day 9 - Pull Up Pyramid Workout

So Zuzana is busy moving to Prague (what a life, ha!) and therefore, Ive decided to do one of my own upper body workouts today. Pull ups are a great way to tone your entire arm and back. Its also good to have another challenge for yourself other than just weight loss. Sometimes trying to lose weight alone can get too boring. Ive made it my challenge to also be able to do a pull up by the time summer rolls around. Seriously!, pull ups are hard!! I use the assisted pull up machine that can be found at just about every gym nowadays. If you want to do this from home and have no way to do pull ups, you can at least work your shoulders by doing an overhead press with dumbbells (go ahead and youtube " dumbbell over head press " if your unsure what it is). So basically you will be performing reps that increase like a pyramid and then decrease after you hit the peak. Pull ups go up in increments of 1, pushups in increments of 2 and crunches in increments of 5 (perfrom these crunches on a stability ball if you can). For example: round 1 will be 1 pull up, then 2 pushups, then 5 crunches. Round 2 will be 2 pull ups, 4 pushups, and 10 crunches..

Here is the routine:
Pull ups: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 6, 5, 4.....
Pushups: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 12........
Crunches: 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 30, 25...

Good luck and let me know how it goes. I am so sore already!

Day 8 - Active Rest Day

So today I have decided to take it a little easy to let my body recover from the last few days of hard workouts. I like to consider this a day of "active rest". Sometimes I feel too sore to do anything body changing but then I feel guilty if I don't DO something. Almost like I will back track. That's where the active rest comes in. So if you read my previous post, I went ahead and jogged for 20 minutes and within that 20 minutes, I performed some walking lunges (just enough to get a good burn in my quads). When I got home, I was surprised at how much more energy I had just from that short workout that I did some crunches on a stability ball. All in all, the workout was only 30 minutes but I feel great and not guilty at all for having some delishes food today.

And in honor of active rest day, I will be getting a light massage from Billy as my reward for all the hard work. If you like massages and can get them from your partner, I have found an AMAZING massage oil called Sea Source that feels just like the oil that they use at the spa. I always ask the people at the spa if I could buy the oil they use but its never for sale! And the stuff that you can usually find at a store never seems to come close the oil at the spa. But this stuff is really great and it smells good too! And if you dim the lights in your room, light some candles and play some spa music (I like SPA Hotel - downloadable from itunes), you will honestly feel like your on a vacation. I even like to turn on a space heater in our room so it gets warm and cozy.

Give it a try! Its been instrumental in helping me to continue my journey.

Workout How You Eat

Good morning everyone! Im going to keep this brief because I do not have much time. I am about to head out into the snow for a quick 20 minute jog mixed in with walking lunges. When you don't have a lot of time, its best to at least do something like this. I have one of my best friend's bridal shower to go to in a couple of hours and it will be held at one of NYC's best restaurants. When I have the opportunity to go to a very nice place, I WILL eat what I want because life is too short to miss out on culinary masterpieces. Therefore, I will be jogging before hand and later this evening. As my friend Kerry always says, "Workout how you Eat". And on that note, I will just be leaving you with an inspiring photo of Zuzana to get you off your butt and working out with me this morning.

Talk soon,
Faryn

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Our lovely landlord may be secretly trying to sabotage my weight loss goal. No no, I kid I kid! But today I stepped out of my apartment to discover a box of Cheryl and Co. cookies sitting up against our door which said "Enjoy!" I opened the box and there they were, not just a few cookies...but we are talking about 35 thick cookies where the icing is as thick as the cookie itself! I had to be strong in this moment. I unwrapped one called "butter cream" and smelt the sugary goodness....and then I ate it.

I want people to know that its ok to indulge a little and that you dont have to say no all the time. You just have to say no to a large portion. So I split the cookie in half and shared it with Billy. The next step I have to take now is to give the cookies away. This is a challenge in itself but I must remain strong. I must go with the motto, "Out of sight. Out of mind" because honestly, if its not around, I cant be tempted.

I'm glad I wrote this out, because now everyone at work will be expecting cookies and therefore, I have no choice but to hand them over. Right?

Day 7 - Results

Starting Weight: 169
Current Weight: 167
Weight Lost: 2lbs
Days Left: 23
Goal weight: 155 (for now!)

I am so excited to report that I have lost 2 pounds in the first week of my challenge. I am feeling quite motivated to continue. Last night, I attempted the "Slap Your Ass Workout" by Bodyrock.tv. I must say that I found this workout to be more of a cardio challenge then a leg challenge. Don't get me wrong, my legs were burning but I think my cardio ability is alot weaker than my legs. I could barely breathe by the time I got to the middle of it! Good thing I had a friend keeping track of time, (that way I couldn't cheat). Here are my results compared to Zuzana's.

1) Squat Down - Pistol Up
*Zuzana - 13, 8
*Me - 14, 12 (I used her modification which explains the higher number)

2) Side Lunge Jump
*Zuzana - 35 , 30
*Me - 30, 30

3) High Knee Jump with Jump Rope- (MODIFIED)
Instead of using a jump rope, I did high knee jumps, making sure
my knees hits my hands which were held right out in front of me.

4) One Leg Bridge
*Zuzanna - 27, 22
*Me - 30 , 27

5) Backward Lunge Kick (Right Leg)
*Zuzana - 16, 15
*Me - 15, 15

6) Backward Lunge Kick (Left Leg)
*Zuzana - 16, 15
* Me - 15, 15

7) Side Squat Jump
*Zuzana - 18, 14
*Me - Forgot to keep count! I was so dead.

8) Squat Thrust to Stand Up
* Zuzana - 11, 10
* Me - 10, 10

Day 7 - Hardcore Circuit - Legs, Back & Chest

So, we are snowed in today! I found a workout I can do indoors for the most part. The workout includes:

* Jumping Rope ( I will do jumping jacks instead because I lack the space)
- Jump Rope - 1 Minute or
- Jumping Jacks - 50
* Lunges with dumbbells - 15 reps for each leg
* Bent over dumbbell rows - 15 reps
* Pushups - 15 reps

Repeat for a total of 3 rounds.

To increase your fat burning rate, perform jumping rope or jumping jacks between each exercise. For a detailed version of this workout, visit:

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2008/08/31/episode-61-hardcore-workout-part-one-310808/

Perform Better - Vinyl Covered Dumbbells Get 15% off!

If anyone is looking into getting dumbbells for their home, I would suggest getting vinyl covered dumbbells. You can see my collection in the photo. I love them for a few reasons:

1) I hate the feeling of cold steel in my hands
2) They are wonderfully bright and colorful
3) The flat edges allow you to get creative with your exercises.

I recently purchased mine from my friend Jennie Rhode. If you are interested in ordering some, you can contact her here.

Jennie Rhode
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Fax: 1-800-682-6950 or 1-401-942-7645
jennr@performbetter.com
visit us at: www.performbetter.com and www.mfathletic.com

And if you mention Muscle Carr, you can receive a 15% discount!

Finally - A Yogurt That I Like!

Hi Everyone,

I must say that I am getting pretty anxious for tonight's workout. In the meantime, I wanted to go ahead and inform you of an amazing new yogurt. I always envied those skinny girls who would have their yogurt in the morning. Plus, I liked the idea of how easy it was to have for breakfast. I on the other hand hated yogurt and would go straight for the turkey sausage and potatoes. But I have been trying different types of yogurt for about a month now and I think Ive finally found "the one"! Its Breyers Low Fat Vanilla Bean yogurt. Its not too tart and not too sweet. Ive even been throwing some granola into it for some crunch too. I've even added blackberry's to it this morning! I never thought the day would come that I would be eating berries for breakfast! Go ahead and give it a try. I really think its going to help me get more nutrients into my diet and fuel me for my workouts better.

Here was the post for Day 6:

Sorry, I have to be honest. That title is a bit silly haha. But I have to correctly post what the creator of the workout calls it. Believe it or not, I am looking forward to Zuzana's workout tomorrow night. Just look at that image! I will attempt this move but its a good thing she includes a modification for those who cannot fully complete it. Anyways, I wanted to go ahead and post this tonight just incase you would like to join me in this challenge tomorrow. Just click on the link for the full work out and check back tomorrow night around midnight for my update on how it goes. And please, if you do this, leave your comments! I would love to know how it works out for you!
I wont be off work until 9:30pm so this is going to be extra tough to accomplish!

Good luck everyone!

http://www.bodyrock.tv/2010/02/18/slap-your-ass-workout/

Veggies - No my favorite!

I really dont like vegetables that much unless they have tons of butter on them. So I started trying to make salads. I would go to the grocery store, pick out the lettuce, carrots....and that was it! I really dont like vegetables. I also dont like a lot of the bottled salad dressings that you find at the grocery store. The only salad dressing I really seem to enjoy is balsamic dressing from restaurants. However, I can never seem to find one that comes close to it in the store. Thankfully my mother came to stay with me in my last week of pregnancy and made me some. And it was really good! Here is the recipe. I suggest making a whole batch of it to store in the fridge so that making a salad is alot easier of a choice than choosing to have a snack such as a bagel bite..(I love those things!)

By the way, I love this dressing with spinach, shaved almonds, feta or blue cheese and craisins (Yes! craisins! They are dried cranberry's that are like raisins).

# 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
# 2 teaspoons dark brown sugar, optional*
# 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
# 1/2 teaspoon salt
# 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
# 3/4 cup olive oil

Days 1 - 5

Starting weight: 169
Current weight: 171
Weight goal 155 - (for now!)

Since I deleted all my posts, Im going to attempt to re-do them a little bit. Here was the first post with the pictures. So in a nutshell, Im trying to lose the baby weight in 30 days. This is a picture of me and my son Jackson. The girl in the black and white photo is a Zuzana, a woman who has her own workout blog. I will be pulling workouts from her blog daily to assist myself in this challenge. Please feel free to follow along! So far I have gained two pounds but I am chalking it up to muscle weight. This challenge is not only hard because of the workouts, but I also work on top of being a mother. I have started this blog because I feel that if this challenge is made public, I can not give up! So please help me by leaving comments and please try the workouts for yourself!
Got to go and wish me luck!

xoxo
Faryn Carr

Files Deleted!

Oh my gosh! I just deleted everything I had posted!!! I have to start over now so please bare with me. Im just learning how this blog stuff works.