60 Days

Today will be my 60th consecutive day of exercise.  This has only been made possible by really changing my own approach to exercise in the past.  You see, I've tried exercising every day before, but usually was trying to do an hour of cardio or something like that daily.  I inevitably got injured around the 6 week mark or something happened in my life that made that level of commitment no longer feasible.  This time, the goal is only 3-4 days of cardio a week and the remaining 3-4 of strength, stretching, toning.  The inclusion of an almost equal strength component helps my body be stronger for the cardio and daily life.  It also allows me to use DVDs more than in-person classes, gym machines, or outdoor exercise.  Only asking 30 minutes is much more manageable too.  Here is how I've mixed it up in case you'd like to join my adventure:

3-4 days of cardio typically includes:

• 2 days of running (until last week when that went on injury hiatus) including stretching & usually a little ab work --- these days are about an hour total.
• 2 days of eliptical or exercise bike at Y (always with weights and stretching--these days I do an hour)
• 1-2 days of xtend barre exercise or equivalent (subbed in when running wasn't possible.  I bought this streaming video via amazon - Xtend Barre - Lean & Chiseled

3-4 days strength stretching toning

• Yoga Therapy for Back Pain & Stress Relief - free via amazon prime
• Gymbox Core Strength: free via amazon prime + PT exercises at the end as it is slightly under 30 minutes.
• Jillian Michaels Yoga Meltdown -  free via amazon prime -- I'm not doing this right now as my knee hurts for some of these sequences.
• Ballet Beautiful Body Blasts - free via amazon prime - so hard.  How can 15 minutes of "swan arms" still be so tough all these weeks later? The 15 minutes of overall blast is very tough as well.
• Pilates for Weight Loss - DVD I've had for years, but really like the incremental increase in difficulty and options available so it isn't the same every time. 
• Abs + Ankles day - one day a week I do a series of ab exercise, some from other videos and some for a blog post about ab strength for runners.  The exercises often include weights as well.  I spend 15-20 minutes on abs and then 15-20 minutes or so doing every single PT exercise I have from my ankles, feet, calves, and knee.  Yes, I should do all of them every day, but I just don't. 
• Yoga for Beginners - free via amazon prime 

I've persevered through my knee injury and the complications of travel with that injury.  That included doing yoga via streaming amazon in my hotel room using towels as a mat---note, they are a bit slippery!

In short, I'm proud of myself that I've come this far.  I do feel better, stronger, and have more energy.  I have, however, lost very little weight as I've not focused on food with anything like the same focus.  That starts today.  My goal is to continue the exercise and add food tracking.  We'll start with 30 days with Spark People and see how it goes.  I'm already doubting myself as I type this, but know I can do it.  I've done it before.  Join me? I love to have exercise buddies and accountability buddies of all types.