More than a month, really?! weeks 17-? (I've nearly lost count - wish I could say the same of lbs gone!)

Based on the data (see table below), I'm pretty much exactly where I was 7 weeks ago... How depressing. I was making gains, could feel the difference in my clothes and energy levels, and then I stumbled and fell off the workout wagon for a bit.

I joined the local Women's Center and signed up for two weekly fitness classes that are BUSTING my chops! They are amazingly hard workouts and I love them. What's even better, they provide child care services while you work out, for free!! The Monday class is about 20 min straight cardio (HARD) and 20 min step aerobics (also HARD) followed by 15 min of strength training with resistance bands and free weights (do I need to say it again? HARD!). I have yet to complete the entire routine without taking a break. At one point during the step routine the instructor said "8 more" and at that point I looked at my friend and our faces said it all-> "You're KIDDING?!" My goal is to be able to keep up with the instructor by the end of this session. She is truly FIT, practically zero body fat, you can see the muscles in her legs and arms - what an inspiration!

Friday's class is equally intense. A different instructor who is also inspiring to look at. This class is all about strength training using bands and free weights as well. A full hour of upper, lower and core exercises that leave my muscles screaming and sweat pouring. EA Sports Active 2 doesn't hold a candle to either of these workouts! The thing I like most is these are full 1hr classes, no breaks or pauses unless your wiping your brow or getting your step/floor mat from the corner of the gym. They are a SOLID 60 min of activity. My biggest complaint about Wii Fit Plus and EA Sports Active are the long pauses between exercises. I wish there was a way to get around the long load times... The Biggest Loser is much faster. (BTW - my hubby found the BL game a couple weeks ago! My boys had put it 'in jail' as I suspected, in our wooden magazine rack...)

This is my first time going to an aerobics class since I don't remember when - and my first experience with step aerobics. I was wise the first week to use just the step, without risers. Then in the Friday toning class, we used them for tricep dips, etc. and I discovered that no risers didn't work well for that class. So I made the mistake on the following Monday's class of thinking I had "graduated" to the next level with the step and added one level of risers... Who knew that 1.5 inches would make such a difference?? UGH! I could barely walk the next day! The following Monday I smartened up, used no risers, but didn't make sure my step had rubber 'feet' and fell flat on my ass the first step up as my step went sliding out from under me... Oh what a sight to behold - Corinna and the step!!

I'm still doing the EA Sports Active 9 week program, but as mentioned, I stumbled around the 3 week mark - the program requires a minimum of 4 routines per week and at around the 3 week mark the Women's Center classes started, followed the next week by the start of my winter soccer league. Needless to say, I was starting to feel a bit of burnout, trying to fit all 4 routines in addition to the other 3 activities. The game allows you to enter when you do activities outside of it, but unfortunately they don't count towards your 4 routines... The game now thinks I should be nearing the end of 9 weeks, while I just completed the first routine from phase 2 (weeks 4-6) on Sunday. At least it lets me pick up the routine where I left off. I'll keep it up, but at my pace, where I'm doing 2 per week. A girl's gotta have a night off here and there, right?

Oh, and I almost forgot! I ran a 5km race in September! I'll write about that in my next post. It's a "Good news" story. :-)

Yikes, I'm so far behind, this week's entry requires a table!

Week #	17	18	19	20	21	23*
BMI	28.37	28.17	28.13	28.06	27.96	28.41
Weight	82.0kg	81.4kg	81.3kg	81.1kg	80.8kg	82.1kg

*(forgot to weigh in week 22)

Here we go again... weeks 15 & 16 updates

So, yesterday I started, yet again, a new Wii workout regime. Broke down and purchased the EA Sports Active2. Still have yet to find the Biggest Loser game disk & case ("yeah, right - you just wanted an excuse to buy a new game" my husband teases...)

Got my profile set up and since it was a 'rest day', I got to chose the workout I wanted to do (I hadn't worked out in many days, so I didn't want to rest!) Picked the soccer training workout - easy level.  So far, I haven't been overly impressed. This is supposedly rated the best fitness game for Wii, but there are a few things I would like to see improved. Compared to Wii Fit Plus, it's about the same. Main advantage being Active2 comes with body motion sensors for left arm and right leg, and built-in heart-rate monitor.  Those are very cool to have, alongside the Wii remote, means no more using the nunchuck - very nice!  Also includes a medium strength resistance band.  What bothers me is the time it takes to load each new exercise in the routine... Feels like forever as my heart rate is visibly dropping. Plus the calories burned during the intervals aren't counted (I wore my own HRM to see how it compared - beats were accurate, but calories were vastly different - but in keeping with the total time difference.  e.g. game logged my workout as 32 min, where my HRM watch recorded 52min, from start to finish. That means there was 20min of wasted time between exercises!  According to my watch, I burned an additional 130 calories in those 20min!! Granted all the exercises were new, so I had to sit through the 'how-to' for most, but still!

The other complaint - the game encourages you to log into their website and track stats, etc., but since yesterday, I have only been able to see part of the user journal section on the website before it crashes! They are supposed to be switching to a new service soon, so maybe that's why.  And, they encourage you to set up or join groups - but don't allow you to search existing groups, you have to already know the group name and have a password. Not very 'inviting'!

Another positive - this game incorporates resistance bands and/or free-weights. I am already feeling a difference in my legs and triceps today from that one workout!

So, I'm going to continue with this game because of the heart-rate monitor and it has pre-determined routines, scheduled for a 9 week program, and daily check-lists, etc. to keep me motivated, much like the BL game, but boy do I miss BL's nearly 'seamless' workout routines!

weeks 15 & 16 (unchanged between the two weeks)
BMI: 28.30
wieght: 81.8kg

Yikes - that's all I have to say... weeks 13 & 14 weigh in

OK, so today was my first attempt to do a "Biggest Loser" for Wii workout in weeks and wouldn't you know it, I can't find the disk or case anywhere!  Grrrr....  It was too late to wake my boys to ask which one hid it somewhere, as much as I was tempted...  So I compromised and played some Dance, Dance Revolution in 'workout mode' followed by some Wii Fit Plus routine.  Which reminded me why I prefer the Biggest Loser workouts! Has anyone out there used the EA Sports Active for Wii? It looks really good and might be my next Wii purchase.

A quick shout-out to my friend and new MyFitnessPal buddy, Rhonda! We can do this girl!  Anyone else want to be my friend on MyFitnessPal? The more the merrier! Look me up as CorinnaRake.

Here are last weeks' numbers - not looking good at all! Time to start tracking my food and exercising again!

Week 13:
BMI: 28.03
weight: 81.0kg

Week 14:
BMI: 28.51
weight: 82.4kg

Time, time, everything takes time! weeks 11 & 12 weigh in

One thing I'm realizing that all this food tracking and exercising takes T I M E!! And like the rest of you, I already had precious little extra of it...  when I have competing priorities, I have been focusing on this part of my journey (i.e. weight control) as much as possible. Something is gotta give though, and lately that 'something' has been my work - probably not a good thing since it's my only source of income! The advantage/disadvantage of working for myself - I can pick and choose where to spend my time, to a degree, until it becomes procrastinating...  Uh oh, there's that "P" word!

I love what I do, and that I have this flexibility to work as much or as little as I want - but lately it's all I can do to check my email in the evening after doing a workout and entering my daily food intake... Frankly, it's exhausting. I can't get much done during the day since my boys are home full-time, so by the time they're in bed, workout is complete and MyFitPal has been updated, I'm wiped!  Isn't all this exercise supposed to GIVE me energy? Maybe my food isn't fueling me properly... Hmmm, will have to take a closer look. Or perhaps it's the fact that it's already after midnight as I'm typing this?  Ya think?

Good night all!

Week 11 update:
BMI: 28.44
weight: 82.2kg (yikes! not good) 

Week 12 update:
BMI: 28.06
weight: 81.1kg (need to get back on track with workouts and eating better)