Staying Active

Staying active is an important part of my maintenance journey and part of my healthy lifestyle.  I wish I was the type of person that loved to jog, but sadly I do not.  I do enjoy physical activity and prefer to just get out for a walk.  Winter proves to be harder as I am not a fan of the cold weather.

I aim to earn 20 APs a week.  I wear my heart rate monitor to count my calorie burn when I exercise.  1 AP = 80 calories.  There are many ways to keep track of your activity and to calculate your APs.  I prefer my HRM.  I have not tried Active Link, although I hear good things about it.

I didn’t join a gym or do any formal type of exercise until I had lost about 100 pounds.  My main form of activity was walking and at home workout DVDs.  I always figured the Biggest Loser workout DVDs were the closest I would get to an actual trainer.  I also enjoyed Leslie Sansone’s Walk Away The Pounds workout DVDs.  I even own one Richard Simmonds’ Sweating ToThe Oldies VHS tape! 

I joined the YMCA after I had taken an exercise class offered through Boise Community Education that was held at the West Y.  I just really loved the fitness center and it had an indoor walking track, which was perfect for the winter months.

I have tried out many different group fitness classes since joining the Y.  Water Aerobics, Group Power, Zumba, Group Active, Spinning, Group Kick, Yoga, First Step Y, Total Athletic Conditioning, and Group Ride.  I have developed some favorite classes that prefer to attend.  The class times may change with my rotating work schedule but the classes I attend are the same.

Group Kick is a kickboxing class.  It is all you and moving your body to typical kickboxing moves.  The class is set to music and there are different types of moves for each music “track.”  It is pretty high intensity the whole class.  I really enjoy this class and the instructors.  Sometimes my knees don’t like it!

Group Active allows you to get your three basic fitness components; cardio, strength, and balance, all in one hour.  The first 20 minutes you are on the step following moves set to music.  These are just basic step moves and really easy to follow.  This is quite high intensity but the moves can always be modified.  The second 20 minutes is strength training.  We use hand weights to follow moves set to music and work all the major muscle groups.  The final 20 minutes is balance and strength.  This is not usually my favorite one.  You are usually hopping around looking like a silly person while you dance to music.  While balance is important, I don’t like this part much.

We bought a treadmill a year or so ago.  It was Kenyon that really wanted it and I figured it would end up being a coat rack.  It turns out that I love to get on the treadmill at home and it has come in very handy during winter months.  We have our treadmill in the computer room where I can watch the TiVo with my recorded shows.  Sometimes when I really want to watch my show but need to work out, I’ll get on the treadmill.  Or if I feel like in order to watch TV I should be doing something active, I get on the treadmill.  I have really enjoyed this purchase!

I also enjoy Leslie Sansone’s DVDs and have been enjoying her newest Walk Away The Pounds.  This is a customizable workout with up to 5 miles.  It also has new moves that I haven’t seen in some of the DVDs I have at home.  I am really enjoying this workout lately.

I do go through phases where I don’t have the motivation to workout.  I often feel that as long as I get something in that it is better than nothing.  Even those times are still tough.  Healthy and active really do go hand in hand so if I want to stay successful to WW, I need to stay active!