January 2018 is coming to a close.
(I published a lengthy post earlier, but due to some glitch in wordpress, the content got deleted, so here’s a quick version of what I posted earlier.)
I started 2018 with big goals for exercise and I did pretty good! I went from zero days a month exercising to this! Every Barre3 workout video I complete, I get a sticker. The white circles are the days I didn’t work out. As you can see, week 3 has a lot of white circles. This was the week I got sick with an RSV infection and needed to take a break. Been averaging 5 workouts a week which seems to be the sweet spot for me. When I work out 6 days a week, my motivation is in the dumps for one of those days. I just noticed too that I tend to take a break on Fridays (naturally). Around RSV-week-3, I started gaining back the weight I lost, which was discouraging. Can’t decide if daily weights make sense as a motivator. I’ve stopped weighing myself since then and will try to focus more on health, balance, and strength. Been really diggin’ the ball-ab work outs and using 1 lb weights for repetitive strength training. The Barre3 customer service has been great too. On January 8th, I didn’t get a sticker for a workout I completed. I called them and it turns out if your computer reloads the video, it doesn’t count that as complete. It sounds silly, but I was really persistent about getting this issue fixed. Rather than give me a hard time they told me they would have to contact the programmers to make code to fix my problems. Several days later, I had a sticker on January 8th!
Have you seen this New Yorker cover? It pretty much sums up my January in NYC.
And lastly, I had to retire my American Apparel winter leggings this week. Under the glaring fluorescent lights on the subway, I noticed a bunch of nasty white specks on my thighs. At first I thought it was lint or skin flakes or something but when I tried to brush it off, it didn’t budge. I realized that it was all the little spandex fibers coming loose from the cotton. I’ve had these for 4-5 years and feel good they were put to good use.
[outfit: apc armelle boots, american apparel winter leggings, preowned eileen fisher dress (ugly one that I don’t really want to wear), old everlane winter puffer]
Dr. it girl 
Big accomplishment starting a new workout plan and sticking to it!
My two cents, with the caveat that this is what works for me…I would definitely keep with the weights, weight lifting is great exercise, and very efficient, time-wise. After many years as a cardio monkey (during which I ran marathons yet still struggled with my weight), I have leaned out and toned up a lot since starting to weight lift more. I work out fewer hours overall, yet have achieved much better results.
I would avoid weighing yourself too much if you can. It can be very discouraging. Because muscle weighs more than fat, you can lose inches in your waist, hips, etc, look remarkably thinner, and toned, and actually weigh the same (or only slightly less) on the scale. I don’t really weigh myself for months at a time, and just go by fit of clothes, how I look in the mirror, etc. If numbers really motivate you, maybe try taking circumference measurements instead?
Or, if this is annoying, ignore me completely 🙂 What works for me, is just that, what works for me.
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Yes I’m so glad you told me the thing about weights several weeks ago because I think I would have assumed that cardio was more important.. There’s a lot of cardio in Barre3 but it’s probably at least 50% strength training. I like your idea of not weighing so much.. I haven’t seen any reduction in my measurements yet, but it’s still early. Not annoying at all. I trust your opinion! =)
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I agree that weight is not really a great way to motivate yourself and if you must weigh yourself do it at monthly intervals. Habit building is also more significant than immediate results. Stick with the weights and your 5 days a week and you should get where you want to be and be able to stay there.
RIP leggings. When the spandex comes out, yep it’s time to go.
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Thanks. I think you’re right. It is starting to feel more like a habit which was very surprising to me.
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My comment = what Joy said above.
I only weigh myself maybe once a month now if I remember, but ultimately using the scale isn’t the best measurement to go by.
Congratulations on keeping up with the workout routine! It’s always so hard to get back into it after you’ve been sick.
Although I don’t live in NY nor take the bus, that calendar is very spot on for me too. I’m hoping I’m not jinxing myself though because I’ve not been sick yet!
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That seems to be the consensus. I almost never tracked until this year.. learning as I go.
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You are inspiring with the workouts! I wonder if a visual calendar like yours would help me stick with a routine. I’ve been slacking… 😦
So great that you’ve had the epiphany about weight training. Honestly I kind of love weights and would do only that if I didn’t know cardio is important too, haha. I haaate cardio. There’s something really satisfying about the immediate fatigue that comes with pushing yourself with weights.
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Hate cardio too. I get easily winded and hate hate feeling. Plus the boredom of it. You could probably make a real calendar w real stickers. It helps me stay motivated a lot. In fact I think it motivates me more than anything else haha
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Just here to reiterate not to focus on your weight…when I was doing more weight training my weight wasn’t budging much, but my pants definitely all got looser…and weight training is so important, especially for women as we get older.
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True true. Especially for our fracture risk. Which is a big killer amongst older women. Hats encouraging to hear about ur progress. I think my tight pants are a tiny bit less tight but barely.
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I have enjoyed adding streaming Barre3 workouts to my regular routine this month, maybe twice/week. Even though everything I read tells me otherwise, I just cannot quit daily cardio. I’m terrified if I sacrifice the calorie burn (even though I know realistically it’s only a couple hundred calories if that), I will eventually gain weight. I know an ideal plan would be cardio 3x/week, plus 3 “full” strength workouts/week. But because I spend so much time on cardio, I feel like there is little time left for strength. Rarely more than 30 minutes.
I’ve stuck to 30 minute barre routines a couple of times/week in place of my pre-cardio yoga. It’s good! I really feel the muscles working with barre, and doing all of those squats has helped improve my form when lifting/moving bankers boxes full of 20-30 lbs of one thing or another. (I’ve done a ton of this while setting up for conferences at work this month!). Happy to report: lifting with my legs, not my back, and have not pulled anything.
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soo many sumo squats! have you tried the ten minute work outs? if you’re short on time, you can pick shorter videos that focus on strength too. When ever I’m doing those squats, I do imagine I’m moving boxes up to a shelf..funny you’ve been actually doing that.
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Oh no about the leggings! I’ve had that problem with some tights after a long period of time, though not quite with my one set of the leggings. With mine, it looks like the elastic is getting damaged and weakened right where the hole developed at the seams in mine, so while I can sew up the hole for now, I don’t think it’s a long term fix.
Good job sticking with the workout routine. I tried a few sessions of in-person Barre classes around a year ago and… It was so, so hard! I found it agonizingly difficult, and the instructor that was generally available at the most convenient time slot for me favored these very… small(?) movements that simultaneously felt (a) both extremely difficult/painful and yet (b) made me feel like I hadn’t gotten a good enough workout because I found them so hard that I couldn’t keep up with the class. I’d get sore the next day, so obviously it was doing something, but I just couldn’t get used to it.
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Thank you. Yea the real classes are way too hard for me too. I don’t think I could keep up with that. The online barre3 courses are much easier but still challenging. I pause or rewind when I need to catch my breath. Its a really good value and I feel like I’m more likely to work out if its easily accessible.
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That Roz Chast cover felt very accurate. When my old roommate moved here from CA, within a few months she lamented that having to deal with winter and wearing a coat every day was like “wearing the same outfit every single day” and that’s kind of true. It’s probably also why I have 4 coats.
I’ve just started exercising again after a bit and I find I need stuff to do at home because I can’t motivate myself to get to the gym! I used to run but I’m realizing I don’t love it enough for it to motivate me but it was nice to know I can do 5ks and 10ks. I do need to get back to the personal trainer – I think that really is the boost I need.
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getting to the gym is near impossible for me.. motivation is just not there. at home is where its at for me. good luck with finding the workout sweet spot for you!
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