Week 1 Wrap Up!

The good news is that I'm finished Week 1 of Chalean Extreme!!!!

I have really enjoyed this workout so far. It's tough enough that I know that I'm going to start seeing serious results very soon but not too tough that I'm feeling discouraged. This is why I started with Chalean vs. P90X. I needed to do a program that I could DO successfully.

I also want to report that I'm choosing better food options. I went to a party yesterday and didn't have any cheese and crackers, loaded up my plate with salad and had a small portion of eggplant parm (my favorite!!!)

Also, my pants are feeling better! I haven't quite dropped a size yet, but there is extra wiggle room, which ALWAYS feels good :-)

Burn Phase- weeks 1-4
I've decided to change my schedule a little big. Below is my new schedule:
Mon - Burn Phase 1
Tue - Rest
Wed - Burn 2
Thur - Rest
Fri- Burn Intervals and Ab Burner (or one of the ab routines)
Sat - Burn 3
Sun - Burn It Off and Recharge

Tuesdays and Thursdays are my long days at work, so I'm going to make them rest days. I'l do some cardio if I can fit it in though.

Days 3 and 4!

Day 3: Burn 2
Burn 2 was hard. I tried to challenge myself with adding more weights. For the day, my "heavy" weights were 8 lbs and my "light" weights were 5 lbs. I am still looking for weights on the Internet. I'm thinking about getting a set of 15lbs weights. Chalean is BUFF and the most I've seen her lift so far is 25 lbs so I don't feel bad (since this is my first week) but also don't think that I need to have any more than 25 lbs eventually since she's a fitness professional and I'm a speech pathologist :-)


Day 4: Burn Intervals/Ab Burner
Okay... I skipped Burn Intervals, which is a cardio workout in favor of running. I have been working hard on my Couch to 5K program for an upcoming 5K and don't want to lose steam. I figured that any cardio would do.

I did however do the Ab Burner --> I LOVED IT! It was very difficult, but luckily only lasted for 10 minutes. I felt that the workout was good and tough but not too terrible that I couldn't participate. I'm also fairly uncoordinated and so sometimes doing these completed exercises is helpful.

I'll keep in touch!

Day 2: Day of Rest... No! I'm going to do some CARDIO!

Well, I am a little sore this morning but not terribly so. I pointed this out to my fiance (who is a physical therapist) and she said, "You won't be sore until 24 hours later." Well, then I might as well go for a run.

I've been following the Podcast "Couch to 5K". I'm on week 7 of 9 which means I am currently able to run for 25 minutes. This program has been great for my general fitness, building up stamina and given that I'm about 30 lbs overweight, its amazing that I can run for that long and still feel good afterwards.

I encourage to you check out this running program!

http://www.ullreys.com/robert/Podcasts/

See you tomorrow for Burn 2!

Jena

ChaLEAN Extreme Day 1!!!

I have finished my 1st Burn workout!

I have to say that it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Chalene seems very supportive and clearly knows what she's doing.

Here's what I liked:

• The "rep count" that tells you how many more reps you have done/have left
• The "time count" that tells you how much time remains until you're DONE
• There are several participants in the DVD; Chalean and a guy use the cool expensive weights, one woman is using resistance bands and two women are using free weights
• There are certain exercises that you are supposed to use "heavy" weights and some that you're supposed to use "lighter" weights. YOU pick what is heavier or lighter for you.
  

Here's what I didn't like:

• Surprisingly, nothing!
  

I have to say that I'm very proud of myself for completing the entire 35 minute session. I was able to do every rep. Now, I did very light weights because that's all I have right now. I used 3 lbs weights and 5 lbs weights. I'm planning to explore some of the weight sets where you unscrew weights to get heavier.

I am planning to go for a run in the morning, so I'll let you know if I'm too sore to do that!

FIT Test

The first step for ChaLEAN Extreme is to complete the Fit Test. You are supposed to re-do the test on Day 90 as a measure of your progress.

Here are the results of my Fit Test:

Fit Test

• Warm Up (I had just completed a 25 minute run, so I figured that that was good enough)
• Push-ups (4 "girl" push-ups and 1 "real" push-up
  
• Crunches (37 without a break)
• Squats (25)
• Forearm plank (13 painful seconds)
• Overhead shoulder press (12 reps, 8 lbs)
• Bicep curl (12 reps, 8 lbs)
• Sit and reach (35 inches - but I think I did it wrong!)

I took my pictures but don't have time to upload them right now.

I'll start ChaLEAN EXTREME tomorrow!

Google Analytics

I'm going to start tracking my website on Google Analytics! Very cool :-)

My Goals for the next 90 Days

My 10 Goals for the next 90 Days

1. Weigh less than 185 lbs.
2. Have a BMI in the overweight category
3. Have less than 30% body fat.
4. Wear a size 14 pants
5. Wear a size large shirt.
6. Look nice in a dress at sister-in-laws wedding (October 2009)
7. Complete 90% of all workouts
8. Be able to do most exercises with 15+ lbs weights
9. Feel comfortable wearing shorts.
10. Feel better overall!

As I achieve my goals I'll have to post results!