Working it out

This whole getting healthier, getting better, going for my goals thing is a LOT more difficult in action than it is when I think about it. It’s HARD to get up each morning and force yourself to exercise, eat right, focus on your goals, etc. when there are so many OTHER fun shiny things (like shopping, chatting on the phone with my friends, and laying on the beach), and while I’ve not yet perfected the art of “get up and go” when it comes to working out, I have been adding it into my schedule 3 times a week (confession – some week’s it’s only twice and others…).

One of the things that I’ve learned is that I CAN’T do certain exercises. THIS IS NOT AN EXCUSE! I LOVE  my Total Gym, especially the convenience of it. It has helped keep me mobile, and I’m trying so hard to really firm my upper arms. As a matter of fact, my favorite exercise is to just sit on it and do the upright row. Those batwing arms are SO AGING, and living in the South, I’m always in either short sleeves or sleeveless. So, THEY’VE GOT TO GO. I’m also finding myself doing the seated biceps curl, as well as much of the upper body sculpt much more regularly than the lower body.

My issue is with any of the exercise that have me laying on the Total Gym with my legs higher than my head. I get so nauseous and dizzy. I thought it was my blood pressure, so I headed to the doctor. He couldn’t figure out WHY, but we think it’s my sinuses. So for now, I’m strictly doing workouts that allow me to be upright (either seated or standing) which mean a lot more upper body than lower. Once I get past this allergy/sinus thing I’ll start adding in a lot more lower and abdominals.

If you read my Nutrisystem post you’ll see that I lost 5 lbs. this past week. This is a HUGE accomplishment as I have a very slow metabolism since going through  menopause. I’m attributing the success to a combination of watching what I eat and adding in my Total Gym workouts.

While all that is GREAT, I’ve decided that I wanted to reset my goals this week. I have some travel coming up that will have me kayaking, hiking and doing quite a few adventure treks. I need to be in-shape enough to handle doing these. SO…I’m stepping up the upper-body and focusing on STRENGTH and adding in walks outside so I can handle hiking a bit (I have an ambulatory issue and if I don’t build up, I’ll just end up sitting and watching as everyone else has all of the fun). I also understand that I have some serious physical limitations so I’m really just adding in some of my physical therapy exercises that I did on the Total Gym that I use for rehab.

If you’re starting to focus on getting healthier and would like to see if the Total Gym would fit into YOUR lifestyle, go to TotalGym.com (you get a 15% off discount using my link)

I received a Total Gym as a member of the Total Moms Total Gym campaign to facilitate a series of reviews & posts. All opinions, sweat and groans are my own.