A Workout That Is Aptly Named

Welcome back to the blog!  M, K and I have somehow made it to day 8 of this 30 day adventure with the 10 Pound Slimdown program.  I would say that I can't believe a whole week has gone by already, except I can feel the remnants of every workout thus far every time I move.  It's a good problem to have!

Today M and I turned to the 20 Minute Sweat Workout with Holly Perkins on Exercisetv.tv, and while Monday's Less Is More workout's title was way off the mark, the 20 Minute Sweat delivered exactly what its title promised.  Holly took us through 20 minutes of exercises that weren't too difficult to maneuver, but were right on the money as far as getting the heart rate ramped and the sweat flowing.

By minute 16 the combinations had worn us out, but we were determined to finish since we haven't had to quit a workout yet.  Focusing on deep breathing and following the moves at a slower pace so as not to begin wildly flailing about the living room, we met the end with little fanfare but lots of appreciation for our own determination and grit.  Although Holly made the workout easy to follow along with, and provided gentle movements that weren't overly technical, she certainly wasn't easy on us.  After 20 minutes of jumping rope, doing combination squat/arm lifts, chest presses and modified crunches there was no questioning the need for a cold shower and change of clothes.

During the workout we both noticed some real changes in our abilities to do the movements.  I suddenly was able to work through the various jump-rope sets without having to stop due to pain in my ankles, shins and calves.  M and I both felt burn in our hard-to-reach lower abs and we both noticed that we were able to better control our breathing throughout the exercise.

I also noticed something about M today that has been slowly creeping up on her - the new pants she got just eight weeks ago are suddenly extremely baggy!  I teased her a little bit about walking around like a "G", and called her "Homey" a couple of times.  She has vowed to get the pants taken in so that they fit again, and I'm so excited that she's shrinking out of her wardrobe.  Nothing says success more like needing to get a new pair of pants... and needing to get them smaller than the ones you had before!

Way to go!