Over the last 6 months, I have started to try to be healthier, reduce my weight, and be a better example for my kids. I had lost around 35 lbs back in 2004 by following the South Beach Diet but once I returned from University, I fell back into old eating habits, and slowly but surely I gained back 50 lbs. I tipped the scales at 228 lbs at my heaviest, which is ridiculous, especially after the effort of getting down to 178 lbs when I graduated University.
This time around with inspiration from
+Andrew Trevors , my wife and I jumped into Paleo. At first glance it seems like it is a very restrictive diet, but once you get into it, it really just makes sense. We read the book "It Starts with Food" which I would recommend to anyone. We then picked up a copy of the cook book 'Practical Paleo". Between those two books, its hard to not get excited about this way of eating.
As part of this, we joined a CSA and got all of our vegetables fresh every week from Nature's Valley Farms. This was one of the best things we have ever spent money on. Having fresh, local, vegetables every week made eating healthy easy. The kids, even though reluctant at first (my 6 year old daughter informed us she was not on a diet so she didn't understand why she had to eat carrots!) became better eaters, and started to like vegetables. Of course during these winter months, we are really missing the CSA and are anxiously waiting for its return in June.
So we jumped in and I quickly dropped weight. We are probably at around 75% paleo. we do still have some ice cream from time to time, but we have tried to cut back and do the best we can. As of this morning, I have dropped down to 197. I feel better, and feel healthier.
The thing that has been missing is exercise. And this part will be my most difficult journey. I am not a fan of gyms, I do like playing sports, but with two kids and a wife that works shifts, its a little difficult by times to get out and join a team or a gym. I do get on the ice twice a week to coach ringette, and a lot of practices I come off sweating more than the kids.
So I started to read about creating a home gym, something that I could start a decent exercise routine at home that I could do while the kids were around. I wasn't terribly excited about spending money on anything unless I was going to use it, and as I don't have a history of exercising, I really didn't want to spends hundreds of dollars on something to hang clothes on!!
I then discovered body weight training. Basically it is exercises that use the weight of your body as the resistance. Since I am as weak as a little girl, I thought, Hey this is a good idea, plus it wasn't going to cost me anything to start, and if I can get into a routine, then it would be easier to justify spending money on some dumbbells or something.
I came across this
31 Day Body Weight Workout which I thought looked very doable. It may not be the most manly routine, but for someone as out of shape as me, its a good start.
This is the routine I started tonight, and with any luck, over the next 30 days I will follow the routine. I started tonight with workout A. It wasn't to bad, but it just proved how weak I have become.
I was able to do 4 sets of squats, hopscotch, girl push-ups, and hopscotch. I've always had stronger legs, so the squats weren't to bad, I did 25-25-25-15 reps, and push-ups, I only did 15-15-10-10 reps. I really hope that by the end of the 31 days, I am able to do 25 reps of each and that I can do real push-ups on top of that, also I hope that I can do more than the 4 set minimum. In all it took me about 30 minutes to complete, I was sweating like crazy, and totally out of breath. It did feel good to push myself somewhat.
