ledom.....On that high of an incline, do you hold on to the handles? On the Biggest Loser couples edition.....Jillian was working with Susan (red team) and was telling her NOT to hang on....boy she sure trains them hard. I was just curious. It is very hard not to hold SOMETHING!!! Thats a great workout on the treadmill GF!! My gym is closed today, but I just bought Jillians dvd (frontside/backside) and am just going to pop that in and maybe later get a good walk in.

angel eyes - no I don't hold on. I can't remember when I started walking on the treadmill but I am sure I worked up. I actually do most of the cardio in the workouts on the tread. Not always, and when I start over w/ week one I am planning to try mountain climbers, etc. again. I did do step plyo jumps today. I am getting so much stronger! I can really tell in my hiking. This a.m. I just had to preen in front of the mirror for a while. My arms and back and shoulders are really looking muscular. Even my legs, which are a huge problem area and have a huge way to go are looking so much better as is my mid section. I am loving it. I can tell already that I am going to really have to restrain myself from buying clothes. I am already sitting on my hands. I did buy a pair of jeans this weekend. The decision between the ones that fit perfectly and the skin tight ones. I went with the skin tight - wore them out last night and felt totally confident that I was a big girl that looked pretty good in her tight jeans.

edited to add: I am so curious about those videos. I guess I'll pass though, gotta save money for clothes :-). I am particularly interested in the kickboxing ones. I do have an old tae bo tape around here somewhere, I should probably dig that out.

Hello Everyone!!
Its great to be back - I had computer troubles and could not log on - I always love to come here and get so pumped to live my days to the best of my ability.
As for yesterday, I did Jillians Kickbox DVD, and really SURPRISED myself because I backtracked the last 10 mins TWICE!!! I cannot believe how fast our bodies adapt to all this work.
To all you ladies out there, keep up all your awesome work, and always tell yourself that YOU CAN!!!

Ledom - yeay to you and your new jeans!!!! I am sure you look great

ledom.....Just to let you know......The 2 pk dvd set normally sells for $24.99 and I had a coupon at Borders for 20% off. So basically, I got them for $10.00 each (which sold singlely are $14.99 each) Anyways...I opened the dvd's and there's a coupon for a FREE kickboxing dvd of Jillians, all you need is to pay the $3.98 shipping/handling fee. NOW THATS A GREAT DEAL!!!

I hear ya on the preening!!! ....the other day I was towelling off from a shower and I yelled..."look there! do you see it?" to dh and he went 'huh?' I had a very visible muscle ripple on my shoulder bone!!! he kept saying ...where where?? but I knew (secretly) that he did see it!!! LOL

tynee....good job on the workouts!! She gets under your skin, doesn't she? I love these dvd's!!!

I think people get confused about what their body is burning during a high-intensity workout. Here are a few quotes from Jillian (and personally I'll believe her over any small-time trainer, since she would appear to have access to more knowledge & people)...

"Do you walk on the treadmill but never break a stroll? Forget about it! That is totally useless. To burn maximum calories, you have to get your heart rate up to the 85 percent mark mentioned earlier."

"Remember the whole theory of a target fat-burning zone and low-intensity exxercies being a more effective method of burning fat than high-intensity exercise? This is untrue for the same reason: a calorie is a calorie no matter what. It doesn't matter if the calories are from fat or from carbs - as long as you are burning more of them than you are taking in, you will lose weight."

"So it sounds like low-intensity training would be more effective when it comes to losing fat, right? Wrong. These physiological facts have indeed led to the mistaken belief that low-intensity activity is better than high-intensity activity when it comes to burning fat and losing weight. Furthermore, this misconception has spawned the notion that people should only train within their fat-burning zones. The thing is, even though a greater percentage of fat calories is used during low-intensity exercise, the total number of fat calories used is GREATER during high-intensity exercise because more overall calories are burned."

Therefore, I do jogging and running intervals rather than just walking. The same effect could probably be achieved with the inclines like ledom mentions, but I don't have that option on my treadmill at home, so jogging it is.

Plus, I'd like to finish the 5k in less than an hour! hehe

Hey Smartbutt, i totally agree with that quote by Jillian. I HAVE tried a program that emphasized a 40carb-40pros-20fat ratio, and only working out for 30 minutes at 65-75% MHR. It didn't work for me, hence, my reason for being here.

While doing this program I, A) I felt fatigued - not enough carbs, and B) my weight went NOWHERE. I do know that weight isn't the SOLE method of measuring progress, but to be honest at 5' - yes I am SHORT- I do not BELIEVE that I should be 178lbs!! I honestly feel that I was consuming what I needed to MAINTAIN my weight, and not burning enough calories with those light workouts.

Working out hard, and eating clean is helping me SEE results. I can feel it in how my clothes fit, and I see it on the scale too.
At this point, as long as we continue to WEIGHT TRAIN, we will be sustaining our muscle despite how hard we workout.

By the way, I am sure you will make your 5k in under an hour. I did my first 5k last summer and finished in 40:24, and I AM slow. You will do it Smartbutt, I KNOW you will - esp. with all this training with Jillian!!!

Thank you tyneebutt

Sadly, it takes me 40 mins to just go 2 miles! Pathetic!

I keep trying to get my family to realize how out of shape I am. I carry my weight fairly well, and I guess they figure since I don't look "huge" that I should be in shape. But I haven't done any serious exercise or cardio or weight training for more than 3 weeks at a time in over 15 years. Every time I started a gym membership, I'd be all into it for 3-4 weeks and then just get bored and stop. I never gave my body a chance to actually benefit from anything I was doing.

That's why I chose a 5k. I know I can't run the whole thing or even half of it, but it is a "long" term goal that I can set and work toward. Maybe I won't finish this one under 40 minutes, but maybe the next one? That sort of thing. I'm very lucky to have a friend who's going through all of this with me and she's going to do the 5k as well.

I get a lot of the "that's not good for you" and "that's really hard on your knees" type of commentary from people who find out I'm trying to jog/run. But you know what? My mother is over 200 lbs and now has bad knees because of being overweight and her body trying to carry that load. So, I can either be in shape with bad knees or fat with bad knees, my decision. Hehehehe

Hey Jillian's Girlz!!

Greetings from a podunk town in Mexico...I can not for the life of me figure out this keyboard so I will not say much. I have not done a real work out since I left home, but lots of walking and today we went swimming. I wandered by a gym...maybe I will check it out later. I have tried to be good with food choices but one example is when I ordered oatmeal...I thought what can go wrong with oatmeal? Well...what I got was like oatmeal flavored milk soup with tons of sugar..... oh well...today was better - my new plan is more seafood is better...seafood and veggies. It is just really hard to not go overboard with the carbs. These people really like their starch...

Later I will attempt to log on with a keyboard I can make sense of...this one has extra letters and I can't find the at sign even...

I bought a Polar F6 heart rate monitor today and went to the gym. I done 50min+5min warm-up+5min cool down w/ stretching. Monday (in the morning), I began day 1/week 1.
Tracy

Congrats on getting started Tracy.

Week 11 complete!

Smartbutt - I love your attitude, small goals are the key, and you will do it - there is no doubt in my mind. Always remember, that you have come such a long way from where you started. Could you even run 2 miles before? Probably not, I remember I couldn't even run for 1 minute straight - never mind a 5k. Had someone told me that I would run a 5k 10yrs ago, I would have told them that they are crazy. Continue looking ahead, and you will reach your goals.
I used to get those comments too about how BAD running is for you. But the truth is, like you said, being sedentary causes WAY more complications than being active - and chances are they are afraid of the unknown - they've never tried it themselves. Attempting my first 5k, gave me this new found respect for runners out there. It's a science and discipline that you continually learn and improve - that is why so few do it. You go girl - you CAN do it!!!

Chick-in-the-hat - nice to hear from you. I hope you are enjoying your vacation. And yes, we latinos DO love our carbs. Stick with the seafood, fresh veggies and fruit and you will do just fine. Enjoy your time there and savour every minute - you DESERVE it!!!

Tracy - yeay!! this is an awesome journey - LOL mine only started 1 week ago, and so far I am loving it and amazing myself.

ledom - wow, your last week, I am so inspired. At the end of next week please fill us in on your successes like: your improvements in endurance, ways that you have made yourself proud, and your accomplishments. I really would love to hear from a pro.

I hope all you have a wonderful and butt-kicking day!!

Thanks eveyone for the motivation and support!!

Today I offically began...day1/week1. I done pretty well keeping in my heart rate zone. Those bench dips & Sumos are killer.
Tracy

This afternoon, I did Jillians Front DVD, and rewound 2 of the circuits. I made sure to finish of with some more circuit/cardio to make it to 1hr.
I find that I kinda dread it at first, but I push play and when its all over, I am so grateful and I feel so awesome with what I accomplished.

Have a wonderful day y'all!!

well, I kicked my butt again Day 2 of this week is done, and yoga tommorrow for me.

Have a wonderful day everyone!

I ran out of time to hit the gym, so instead I done Jillian's Shape-up Backside. I made it through must of it though. She lost me on the Superman's...lol
Tracy