FitBit One: Experiment Results

(photo credit: Me)

Ok, so I'm done with my FitBit One experiment. I did have varying results, especially with the Leslie Sansone DVD. What I did with the DVD portion of the experiment is I used the 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk DVD. I did mile 1 three times. I wanted to be sure I did the same movements and steps, so I just replayed the same mile.

The first time I ran through it I wore the FitBit One on my shoe. Next time through, I wore it on the waistband of my workout shorts. The third time through, I wore it on my bra. Here are the results.

On Shoe

Mile 1 - Steps: 1,001

Mile 1 - Mileage .44

On Waist

Mile 1 - Steps - 1449

Mile 1 - Mileage - .69

On Bra

Mile 1 -  Steps 1534

Mile 1 - .73

So, as you can see, no matter where I wore it, her "mile" wasn't exactly a mile. Which I've known for a while because I did the test with my FitBit Force. I found it surprising that I got the least amount of steps with it on my shoe. Which leads me to the question: What counts as a "step"? Is it one step per foot (left foot one, right foot two) or is it one step per revolution of both feet (one step every time the right foot hits the ground)? Does that make sense?

I was pleasantly surprised with the waistband number. Considering my initial test, when it didn't register any steps, it was a nice surprise. The bra result isn't too surprising. 

Now, what about the elliptical? I switched the FitBit's position every .25 mile. I do 400 revolutions every quarter mile. Here are those results.

On Shoe

Steps - 602

Mileage- .27

On Waist

Steps - 844

Mileage - .37

On Bra

Steps - 835

Mileage - .36

Interesting results again. The shoe isn't surprising. Remember, when I take a break, I'm still taking steps to walk to my seat. Although with the shoe results, I don't see how I got an extra 200 steps. 

I think from now on, I'll be wearing my FitBit One on my bra. That way I know it won't get squished or fall out when I'm playing ball with the dog on the floor. I will have to be careful if I lay down on my stomach. That's rare though.

This was a very fun experiment, and I'm pleased with the results. The FitBit One is definitely very motivating and helps me get up and move more.

How about you? How do you define a "step"?

Keep moving everyone!

Mileage Monday And My Experiment Results

Last week, I mentioned I was a bit bummed to discover I was only gong 1.8 miles instead of 3.1 with Leslie Sansone's 5K With A Twist DVD. I said I would do an experiment with the 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk DVD and my elliptical. I didn't do the DVD, but I did do the elliptical.

I am happy to say it's much closer to being accurate than the DVD. I checked my mileage on my FitBit Force before I got on the elliptical, and checked it again when I was done with my mile. My FitBit said I went 1.1 miles. That's acceptable to me. Even if was one a tenth of a mile less, I would have been pleased. And this result is consistent because I did a mile on the elliptical two days in a row.

I'll see if my body is up for the 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk this week. It most likely will be since I saw the chiropractor on Saturday. It had been way too long. He and I both agreed 7 weeks was longer than I can take. Three to four week is my limit.

Only have two pictures this week. I got kind of bummed out by my mileage findings and learning about the Force recall. Here are the pictures from the virtual walk site!

Mile 741.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Mile 742.6 (elliptical for 1 mile)

Onward to a productive week. Going to get on that elliptical this week. And I made my decision about my dilemma as to follow the mileage on my FitBit or the DVD. I plan to follow my FitBit. I'll still do the DVDs, but I'll go with the mileage that my FitBit is telling me. I'll try and get the 5 Mile Walk DVD done this week and see how accurate that is. I'm guessing I'll only go 2.5 miles at most with that one seeing as the workout is about 75 minutes long. We'll see.

Keep moving!

Late Mileage Monday

Better late than never though, right? Today I've been getting side-tracked by one thing after another. But in the end, everything is still getting done...for the most part. I have some more pictures from the virtual walk, so there's your proof than I AM still moving!

Oh! One thing I did want to mention here on this blog. I did a little experiment last week. I have always been suspicious of how many miles I actually do during a Leslie Sansone DVD. So I marked the mileage point on my FitBit from when I started the DVD, and then marked the mileage point when I was done. Turns out the 5K With A Twist isn't a 5k. It's more like 1.8 miles. Ugh. Far from 3.1 miles. I could have handled it only being 2.75 miles, maybe even 2.5, but 1.8? Really? Ah well. I had a feeling I wasn't really going that far, but this just proved it. I need to do the same with the 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk and also with my elliptical mile. I'll have those results next week, well at least the elliptical.

On to the mileage pictures!

Mile 730.4 (watp for 5 miles)                                        Mile 735.4 (watp for 5 miles)

Mile 737.4 (Marched in place for 2 miles)                     Mile 740.6 (watp for 3.1 miles)

So, I'm now I need to figure out if I want to really be strict about my mileage. Should I go by the mileage I get from my FitBit Force or stick with the assumed mileage from the DVDs? I'll still do the DVDs, but I feel like I'm cheating on the virtual walk now by saying I'm going 3.1 miles and only going 1.8. Thoughts?

Either way, keep moving!

Mileage Monday (and a goal to shoot for)

So, February 1 was the start of Leslie Sansone's February challenge. It kicked off with a 5 mile walk. I did just that. I did Leslie Sansone's Five Mile Fat Burning Walk. For some reason, I thought that DVD was 50 minutes long. It was actually 65 long. Whew! Kicked my butt. Glad I got it done in the morning though. Then, later that day, my husband and I went to Costco looking for a specific brand of salmon. Didn't find it, ended up buying some mahi mahi instead (very good by the way). However, we ended up wandering around Costco for about an hour. Partway through our trek, my right wrist started to vibrate. Got my 10,000 step goal by 2 PM. Not too bad.

Now, I want to eventually make it to 15,000 in one day. I think it's do-able, but I need to work up to it. The DVD kicked my butt, my inner thighs and hips were really starting to feel it by the end. And I was fine at Costco, but again, my legs were shot as we were walking back to the car. I remember my legs feeling that tired when I first started doing the 5K With A Twist DVD as well, and now I can do that with no problem at all. That just tells me, I need to work up to it. But it was nice to see this on my FitBit app!

(photo credit - FitBit app on my iPhone)

By the time I got in bed that night, I was a little over 13,000 steps. So I didn't move much when I got back from the store. Legs were tired, as well as my feet! Not sure how I got 5 flights of stairs. The FitBit Force has an altimeter and I'm not exactly sure how that works. Changes in air pressure or something. I didn't go up and down any stairs that day.

So hopefully I'll see 15,000 steps on the app sometime soon. That will be something for me to work on. On to the virtual walk pictures. I only have two this time again. But next week I'm sure to have more as I'm doing my best to follow the workout plan for February. I am changing some days around. Today I was supposed to do an ab routine and two miles. I found out this morning we might have some people over today, so I decided to do today's workout Wednesday (scheduled day off). Turns out we'll have people over tomorrow instead of today. So, I intend on getting my three miles and arms routine done super early tomorrow, as I don't know what time people will be here. We shall see.

Anyway, I'm getting side tracked again. Back to the virtual walk pictures. Here they are!

Mile 720.4 (watp for 3.1 miles)                                      Mile 725.4 (watp for 5 miles)

(photo credit - http://exercise.lbl.gov/index.html;jsessionid=1F4E2B8269D80C6DF557FB31D1D6D77B)

Keep moving, and make some goals to aim for!

Leslie Sansone's Workout Schedule For February

(photo credit - http://www.walkathome.com)

Here we go again! Maybe this will be the kick in the pants that I need. Leslie Sansone has a workout plan set up for the month of February. I'm going to do my best to follow along. Thankfully she's incorporating days off this time, that's good. Here's the run-down on her blog. I've already got my workout set up on wunderlist.

Saturday, February 1 - 5 miles (starting off big she is!)
Sunday, February 2 - "Restorative Walk". It is Superbowl Sunday after all. I may watch the game as always for the commercials. Why not walk in place during the game?
Monday, February 3 - 2 miles plus core exercise
Tuesday, February 4 - 3 miles plus arms, chest, and back exercises
Wednesday, February 5 - Day off!
Thursday, February 6 - 3 miles plus arms, chest, and back exercises
Friday, February 7 - 2 miles plus core exercise
Saturday, February 8 - 5 mile (good luck!)
Sunday, February 9 - "Slow walking" Whatever you want?
Monday, February 10 - 2 miles plus core exercise
Tuesday, February 11 - 2 miles
Wednesday, February 12 - Day off!
Thursday, February 13 - 3 miles plus arm exercises
Friday, February 14 - 2 miles plus core exercises (Happy Valentine's Day!)
Saturday, February 15 - 5 miles (split them up throughout the day if it's easier)
Sunday, February 16 - Day off!
Monday, February 17 - 3 miles plus arms, chest, and back exercises
Tuesday, February 18 - 2 miles plus core exercises
Wednesday, February 19 - Day off!
Thursday, February 20 - 3 miles plus arms, chest, and back exercises
Friday, February 21 - 2 miles
Saturday, February 22 - 5 miles
Sunday, February 23 - Day off!
Monday, February 24 - 2 miles plus core exercise
Tuesday, February 25 - 2 miles plus arms, back, and chest exercises
Wednesday, February 26 - Day off!
Thursday, February 27 - 2 miles
Friday, February 28 - 2 miles

There you have it! Looks challenging, especially Saturdays with those 5 milers. Good thing we can choose to split up the miles throughout the day though. That will help.

I will do my best to complete this challenge. Join me if you want! It will be fun!

The two Leslie Sansone DVDs I'll be doing will be:

and

I highly recommend both of these DVDs, they're great!

Leslie Sansone Videos On YouTube

You already know I own two of Leslie Sansone’s DVDs. I have her 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk and her 5K With A Twist. And you all know that the 5K With A Twist is my favorite. I much prefer her when she’s by herself, and not talking to her friends in the background. I do the 5K With A Twist DVD several times a week, and I love the “boosts” (jogging in place) at the end of every mile. I wanted to find more boosts.

YouTube to the rescue. In the last week or so, I’ve found four videos, two of which I know I’ll be keeping, the other two I might get rid of. Here are the two that I like.

Start Walking 2 Mile

-

I like this one because it’s only 30 minutes, and she’s by herself. I’ve only done it once, and I enjoyed it. She has some moves in this video that I haven’t done before, so I like the variety. I still moderate some of the moves so I don’t end up on my butt. I remember talking before about the “double side steps” in her DVDs. I have a hard time with those, so I normally do singles. When I did this video, I tried the doubles, and it was easier than I remember. So, I’ll be doing doubles from now on.

Walk away the pounds with Leslie Sansone - Walk Slim: 4 Fast Miles

This one is a longer one, and again, I’ve only done it once. She does have people behind her that she talks to and laughs with, but it has several “boosts”. This is a four mile walk and takes about 45 minutes. It may get annoying as I do it more, but we’ll see. It’s a bit faster i n pace than the 5K With A Twist DVD. The DVD is 3.1 miles and takes about 43 minutes. So you’re getting in an extra mile (well, .9 mile) in this video.

Walk Indoors – Interval

This one I don’t think I’ll be keeping. She has people behind her, and she laughs. I enjoy Leslie, but her laugh drives me bananas. This is only a one mile workout, and I only plan to do just one mile on my sluggish days. I’ll give it one more shot, but it might go bye-bye.

1 Mile Brisk/Fast Walk

I’m guessing this was taped off of someone’s TV, and it’s only a one mile walk. I like this one because it’s a little faster than the 5K With A Twist. Even though it’s not good quality, I think I’ll keep it.

If I find any others that I like, I’ll be sure to do another post on them. Keep moving. You can do a mile in just 15 minutes if you feel like you don’t want to exercise. This is a good way to stay in motion.

Review: Leslie Sansone’s 5K With A Twist DVD

It's been about a week now since I received Leslie Sansone's 5K With A Twist DVD. I've done it several times, and I feel as though I give it a review. I have just two of Leslie Sansone's Walk At Home DVDs, and I enjoy them both. The first one I got was her 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk. I enjoy that DVD, however it got to be a little redundant and old quick. Not the exercise part, her commentary and conversations. The problem with that DVD is during miles 2, 3, and 4 she has a group of people doing the workout with her. She chats back and forth with them, which is fine, but it did get old. On that same DVD, she is by herself for miles 1 and 5. I prefer those miles since she devotes all her attention towards you, the viewer. It's still a great DVD, and I recommend it to anyone.

Now for the 5K With A Twist DVD. I love this DVD, and I'll be using it pretty much every day I workout. It's about 45 minutes long including the cool down. You can break it up, and do just one mile at a time. You don't have to do the whole thing all at once. She's by herself the entire time with no breaks in between the miles. So you can see that she's actually working up a sweat herself. Which I love in exercise videos. You actually see that the instructors sweat too. Normally in exercise videos they take breaks and let everyone cool down before they start filming again.

The exercise routine is the same as in the 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk, and she uses some of the same music. I think all of her DVDs are like this, so I don't know how many more I'll get. She uses the same moves. Side steps, front kicks, knee lifts, kick backs, and tap outs, and of course walking in place between each movement. There's also a two minute “boost” at the end of each mile where she goes into a “power walk” or a “gentle jog”. Gives the heart rate a boost for a better calorie burn. She does suggest that you stay low impact if there's a reason you can't or shouldn't jog in place.

One of the main things I like about any of her DVDs is the fact you “can't do it wrong”. If she's kicking with her left foot, and you're kicking with your right, it doesn't matter. If she springs a move on you (which she does often, like the tap outs during the second mile), just start when you're ready. The main thing is to keep moving. Don't stop moving the feet. If you have to go slower than the beat of the music, that's OK.

It's a very casual workout, but it does make you sweat. So, it's casual but powerful. I've read from a few advanced exercisers that her DVDs aren't hard enough. Then again, these exercisers are runners and not walkers. They run half marathons and that sort of thing. I can imagine for anyone at the level that the DVDs wouldn't be a challenge for them. But, if you're just beginning to exercise, or you have any type of injury or you just want to move your body, they're great.

I intend to keep doing both of the DVDs, but I think for the next foreseeable future I'll strictly be using the 5K With A Twist. And jump on my elliptical after that for another mile.

I give a thumbs up for Leslie Sansone and her Walk At Home program.

Monday Monday

Monday’s are always a pain. Coming off the weekend there’s a lot to catch up on. But it’s all done now.

Today’s workout was strength training which takes about 45 minutes now that I’m doing two sets of my arm exercises. I also did 3 of the 5 miles on the 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk DVD, and 1 mile on the elliptical. So, combined strength training and cardio took me a little under 2 hours. That’s not including breaks for water, breakfast (quick bowl of Kashi GoLEAN Crisp and blueberry yogurt cup) or anything like that. I need to see if I can get started earlier than I do, especially on strength training days. We’ll see what happens.

I got in a total of 4 miles today, which is great. Tomorrow is a rest day, and I intend to clean off my desk. It’s not too messy, it just needs a good dusting. So everything will come off and hopefully I’ll find my scissors in the process. They’ve been missing for about a week.

Site Stats:

3/19/12
4 miles today
WATP for 3
Elliptical for 1
407.6 miles since 4/28/08
6.49 miles to Max Meadows, VA, Pulaski County

Picture Of The Day:

Mile 407.6 (watp for 3, elliptical for 1)



 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Keep moving! And a very big congratulations to my brother in-law. He ran a full marathon sometime over the weekend!

400 Miles Down!

Well, 400.6 to be exact. Since I started the Virtual Walk across the country on April 28, 2008, I’ve travelled 400.6 miles. And I’m still in Virginia. I just passed through Draper, VA and am now on my way to Max Meadows in Pulaski county. I’ve got about 13 miles until I get there, so it shouldn’t take me too long.

As far as the 5k With A Twist DVD I mentioned the other day, I’ve decided I’m going to buy it. I watched the whole thing (45 minutes) on FaceBook, and loved it. It’s similar to the DVD I already have, but in the 5k one, Leslie Sansone is all by herself for the whole 3.1 miles. There’s no back and forth conversations or high pitch squeals or giggles (not that I mind that, it just gets old), and she seems focused on the walk (she’s always focused, just more so). I plan to buy that in a few weeks.

I want to get it now, but I’m going out of town in about a week and a half, and it will drive me nuts knowing it’s sitting here not being used. So, it will be a good treat to get when I get back, and I plan to use the heck out of it, just like I do with my current DVD.

Major progress is being made on the elliptical too. I’ve been increasing my time on the machine between breaks, and I’m now doing 400 revolutions before I take a break. So, for one mile I take three breaks. Not bad at all. I could probably go 500 now, but I’ll take it slow. I did go 600 one day before my first break. I’ll get there. Still doing a mile in about 31 to 32 minutes.

Here’s the last of the pictures that I have been saving from the site.

Mile 394.6 (WATP for 5)                                       397.6 (WATP for 2, Elliptical for 1)

               

And today’s picture at 400.6 miles (WATP for 2, Elliptical for 1)!!!

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Heh. The speed limit is 25 miles an hour apparently. Still looks nice and sunny along the route, I wonder if there will be any rainy weather along the way. We’ll see. For now, keep moving!

21 Day Challenge Wrap Up

I forgot to post the last week’s mileage assignments for the challenge. Oops. She was late posting them on her blog, and never said what the delay was. But, that’s OK. Things happen. Sunday and Monday I did my own thing. When the mileage assignments were finally up, I was a few miles behind schedule. I got caught up though…getting in an extra mile for 3 of the days.

Here’s the three weeks of miles we did.

Day 1 - 2/18 - 3 mile walk - Missed It
Day 2 - 2/19 - 2 mile walk - 5 miles (5 with DVD)
Day 3 - 2/20 - 4 mile walk - 4 miles (3 with DVD, 1 on elliptical)
Day 4 - 2/21 - 2 mile walk - 2 miles (2 with DVD)
Day 5 - 2/22 - 3 mile walk - 3 miles (2 with DVD, 1 on elliptical)
Day 6 - 2/23 - 3 mile walk - 3 miles (3 with DVD)
Day 7 - 2/24 - 2 mile walk - 2 miles (1 with DVD, 1 on elliptical)
Day 8 - 2/25 - 5 mile walk - 5 miles (5 with DVD)
Day 9 - 2/26 - 2 mile walk - 2 miles (1 with DVD, 1 on elliptical)
Day 10 - 2/27 - 4 mile walk - 3.5 miles (3 with DVD, 1/2 on elliptical)
Day 11 - 2/28 - 3 mile walk - 3.5 miles (3 with DVD, 1/2 on elliptical)
Day 12 - 2/29 - 2 mile walk - 2 miles (2 with DVD)
Day 13 - 3/1 - 2 mile walk - 2 miles (2 with DVD)
Day 14 - 3/2 - 3 mile walk - 3 miles (3 with DVD)

Day 15 - 3/3 - Wild Card Day - 2 miles (2 with DVD) Assignment was 4 miles

Day 16 - 3/4 - Wild Card Day - 1 mile (1 on elliptical) Assignment was 2 miles

Day 17 - 3/5 - 4 mile walk (5 with DVD)
Day 18 – 3/6 – 2 mile walk (2 with DVD, 1 on elliptical)
Day 19 - 3/7 - 3 mile walk(4 with DVD)
Day 20 - 3/8 - 3 mile walk (2 with DVD, 1 on elliptical)
Day 21 - 3/9 - 5 mile walk (5 with DVD)

Total: 63 miles (think I added that correctly)

So, that’s that. I’m going to keep posting my miles on her Walk Social page on FaceBook. Just looking at all the miles that get posted will keep me moving.

Today was a much needed rest day. Got in a small amount of walking still. Went to the movies today (haven’t been to a movie since November), and my walking wasn’t too bad. Not as bad as it was a few months ago.

Tomorrow I plan on doing 3 miles. I want to see if I can stream one of her videos she has streaming on FaceBook right now. It’s her 5k With A Twist video. I looked for it on Amazon, but you can only buy someone’s used version. Which is fine. I f I like it that much, I’ll see where else I can get it from. I love the 2 minute boost she does on the 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk, and she does the same with the 5k With A Twist. I don’t know how long the video will be available on FaceBook, so I want to get to that as soon as I can.

My calves are thanking me for the day off.

Leslie Sansone’s 21 Day Challenge

I’m still on track with Leslie Sansone’s 21 day challenge. The third day I was sore and tired. My feet hurt. My toes hurt. I wondered if she was going to have a day off. I thought “It wouldn’t be a 21 day challenge if there was a day off.” duh. I think I’ve gotten over that tired and sore hump though. I’m rolling with the daily miles.

Here's the run-down of the first week so far:

Day 1 - Feb. 18 - 3 miles - Missed the start day.
Day 2 - Feb. 19 - 2 miles - 5 miles done. DVD
Day 3 - Feb. 20 - 4 miles - 4 miles done. 3 miles from DVD and 1 on the elliptical.
Day 4 - Feb. 21 - 2 miles - 2 miles done. 2 miles from DVD.
Day 5 - Feb. 22 - 3 miles - 3 miles done. 2 miles from DVD and 1 on elliptical.
Day 6 - Feb. 23 - 3 miles - 3 miles done. 3 miles from DVD.
Day 7 - Feb. 24 - 2 miles - 2 miles done. 1 mile from DVD and 1 on the elliptical.

So, tomorrow is day 7 and it's an easy day with only 2 miles. She hasn't posted the mileage yet for week two, but I hope she does that tomorrow. My plan for tomorrow is to do 1 mile from the DVD and then 1 on the elliptical. The DVD miles are about 13 minutes each. I do a mile on the elliptical in about 33 minutes. I was planning to do the last mile today on the elliptical, but I couldn't "see" myself on there for 30 minutes, so I just the third mile on DVD.

I notice a pattern. I do the elliptical every other day. That’s fine for now. I’ll get to the point where I’ll do the elliptical every day. Before the challenge started, I was doing both every day, although I would take a rest day here and there.

Once the challenge is done, I plan on doing one mile on the DVD (at least) and one mile on the elliptical six days a week. I hope she does another challenge after this one. It helps me stay active and on track if I have a schedule to follow. Otherwise, I take more days off than I should.

Once she posts the mileage goals for week 2, I’ll put them up here. I’m looking forward to the “easy” day tomorrow. Plus I have strength training tomorrow too. As Leslie would say, “Come on feet!”

Keep moving!

Mileage Monday!

I’ll be getting caught up with the virtual walk mileage pictures on Mondays for a few weeks. I’ve been saving the pictures since my last post. I also plan on counting the miles from the Leslie Sansone DVD from now on too. So, my mileage is going to rack up a but faster.

So, let’s get to it. These are all from my elliptical.

Mile 314.6                                                                       Mile 315

           

Mile 315.6                                                                       Mile 316

           

Mile 316.6                                                                        Mile 317

            

 

(photo credit - Copyright 2006 Lawrence Berkeley Lab)

Got lots more to come!

Blast From The Past (after the fact)

Here’s an interesting little fact. Taking a video of yourself while dealing with anxiety helps to get rid of anxiety. So, yes, I have anxiety issues. You’re all well aware of that fact now. It pops up at random times, and I was getting frustrated that it was popping up as I get on the elliptical. I’m fine when I get on and once I get going, but it hits me as I’m getting situated. Ok, I get on the elliptical by holding onto the side rails. Then I move my hand to the pulse bar thingamajig. Then I push the button for the fan with my left thumb and put my left hand on the arm pole. No problem.

Problem starts happening when I move my right hand from the pulse bar to the arm pole. Why? No idea. I kind of do this funky “hesitate and jerk move” as I put my right hand on the bar. Once my hand is on the bar, I’m good to go. All sorts of anxiety shows up and it’s frustrating. So, I decided to take video of myself one day with my iPod (I’ll spare you the video) to show myself what happens.

Nothing happens. It feels like I’m going to fall, but there’s nothing there that’s pulling me, pushing me, or making me off balance. Nothing at all. So, by watching the video, it’s helped me gain more confidence. I still hesitate and do the “jerk move”, but the anxiety is going away. It’s not nearly as bad as it was. And, I do not, absolutely do not let the anxiety stop me from exercising. I want to stop when I have those moments of panic, sure, but I still do it.

Now, where does the “blast from the past” from the blog title fit it. I remembered that a long long long time ago, when I was in physical therapy as a little kid, my therapist had my mom take pictures of me as I did my exercises. I’m not sure why he had her do it. I think it was to demonstrate how certain exercises were done, so my parents could replicate them at home. But that thought popped into my head the other day. I remember the photo album those pictures were in also. Embarrassing, but they were taken for a purpose. Just like the video I took. Embarrassing, but it was taken for a reason.

And than reason proved to work. I’ll have to remind myself to take another video if I have more issues. I don’t like watching myself in a full body video (my avoidance of my cerebral palsy), but it must happen for things to get straightened out.

So if you’re having any sort of problem, physical, mental, or whatever, record yourself as it’s happening, so you can tell what exactly is going on, and how you can correct whatever it is that needs to be corrected.

Doing well today. My workout for the day was the full 5 miles of my Leslie Sansone DVD. Legs are tired, but in a good way. She’s got a 21 day challenge going on, and I’m going to see how I do. It started yesterday, so I missed that start. Yesterday we were supposed to walk 3 miles. Today was a 2 mile walk. So, I figured I’d catch up by doing 5 miles today. Tomorrow is supposed to be a 4 mile walk. We’ll see how my legs are, but I plan on doing 3 miles of the DVD and then the last mile on the elliptical. You can record your mileage on her FaceBook page.

Keep movin’!

Change In My Workout Routine

I updated my workout page a little bit. My workout is still basically the same, I just changed my workout days around. Instead of doing strength training three days a week, I now do it twice a week. Tuesdays and Fridays are my strength training days now. I plan on doing more sets starting Friday. I do one set of 15 reps using my 10 pound weights. I've been saying for a long time now that I've wanted to do two sets of 15. Friday's the day. Enough of me saying I'll do it next week. By doing strength training twice a week now instead of three days, it might be a bit easier to do more than one set. More time in between so my muscles can relax and recover.

Cardio days are Tuesdays through Sundays. Mondays are my days off. I tend to get a lot of housework done on Mondays and tend to skip my workouts. It's not always easy to work out on Saturdays and Sundays, but I'm working on it.

I still get on my elliptical each day, but I've added something new to my cardio routine. Back in November, I bought myself a DVD. These DVDs were recommended by several of my SparkPeople friends, but I always hesitated to get them. Leslie Sansone is an awesome lady.

“Leslie Sansone is a nationally recognized fitness expert, and creator of the Walk at Home program. Her philosophy is simple. She believes that our bodies were made to move and we can walk our way to health and wellness.” Quoted from http://www.walkathome.com/

When I first heard about her from people at Spark, I hesitated because I wasn't sure if I could do all of the moves. I also thought, “Oh, it's just marching in place”. I had done that before while watching TV almost five years ago when I first started losing weight. But it's more than just marching in place. You march to the beat of music. She adds moves into the walks to make it interesting. Back in October or November, I found a few of her videos on the On Demand channel, and decided to check them out.

I tried three of them, and enjoyed them a lot. I tried the moves, and was able to do them. The only move I have problems with is the “tap out” move. It's sort of like a “side step” only you don't bring the other foot to meet the foot that stepped out (if that makes sense). I am able to do the knee lifts, and the kicks.

Then one day, I couldn't find the videos on the TV anymore. So I decided to buy one. I decided on the 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk. You can customize the workout by doing one mile at a time, or all five miles at once. I tend to use her DVD as a warm up before I get on the elliptical. Warms up my legs so they're not tight when I get on. I have done all five miles at once...once. It's tough to do them all at once. It's about 65 minutes of walking in place. I take a break after every mile.

I like the fact that at the end of every mile there's a “boost” for two minutes. During these two minutes you boost the walk into a gentle jog. She does kicks and knee lifts during the boost, but I just continue to jog in place. She hops during the kicks and lifts, and...I don't hop. If I get tired during the boost (usually around mile 3) I go back to walking.

I feel like her DVDs are good for anyone, no matter what their activity level is. It's helped my balance I think somewhat. It's helps me have better posture on the elliptical I think.

So, yes, I've become a big fan of Leslie Sansone. I don't know if I'll get any more of her DVDs. Maybe one more, but I hear they're basically all pretty much the same. The conversations and commentary during the video can get a bit old, but that's OK. She's a bit perky, but not in an obnoxious way. And if you think you won't sweat with the DVDs, think again. I sweat just as much doing her DVD as I do on the elliptical.

So that's what I'm doing as far as my workouts go. I plan on working on endurance on the elliptical. I try to get one mile in when I get on, that's my goal. But if I do more than one mile of Leslie Sansone, I get tired pretty quick and do ½ mile. I still take a break after every tenth of a mile. But I'm extending that to 200 revolutions. A tenth of a mile is 160 revolutions, so I'm upping that to 200. I'm doing pretty well. I can go about .6 mile and then go back to doing 160 revolutions.

Tomorrow is Thursday, and my plan is to do 2 miles of Leslie and then try for one mile on the elliptical. I did 2 miles of the DVD today and only made it a half mile on the elliptical. Here's a link to a little intro to the 5 Mile Fat Burning Walk

5 Mile Fat Burning Walk

Have a good one.