Monday Night Workout Session

So even though I had classes, house work, and the big game to watch last night, I still managed to fit in some gym time. That's the thing about fitness, it takes commitment. One of the reasons, I love Les Mills classes, and more specifically Body Pump, is because I can get a full body workout and get a good sweat going in just an hour.

According to my FitBit Charge HR, I burn close to 406 calories for one Body Pump class! Which is great beings how I went home and had a big bowl of chili while watching the game!

Losing weight is difficult. Without getting into metabolisms, body types and what not; lets try to remember, that one rule of thumb to losing weight, is Calories IN < Calories OUT. Burning more calories than we take in is a key rule! A great way to burn those calories is fitness classes!

People always ask me, what did you do to lose your weight. Really, I didn't do anything special. I started exercising regularly, at least 2-3 times a week, and I started counting my calories.

July 2012 ~ 210lbs

March 2015 ~ 180lbs

December 2015 ~ 160lbs

For the exercise, I would either do Body Pump or RPM (they alternate days at my gym). When I began training for my half-marathon, I dropped RPM and would go running on those days. Run5k and Couch25k are great apps for getting started.

For counting calories, I used and still use My Fitness Pal. Install that joker on your phone and you are good to go. It can even read bar codes! So using it is as easy as pie!

For those who might be intimidated by going to the gym, you can always try fitness DVDs and tutorials at home. My problem with exercising at home, is that I found too many distractions, or better yet, excuses, for not working out. For that sole purpose I go to the gym.

Gym classes, ought not to be intimidating. I have never met anybody at the gym like, the people depicted in Planet Fitness commercials (the Lunks). Everybody is courteous, helpful, or minding their own business. If you are new to a class, don't worry. We were all new to it at some point. If people are watching you, just give them something to look at! Show those people that you are serious, that you're going to show them what hard-work and dedication can produce!

So with all that said, here are some videos of me doing my workout last night. During Body Pump we workout the entire body, however my camera only had enough memory for part of the class. So enjoy!

This is the Warm-Up track

This is the Squat track 

This is the Bicep track

 So yeah, and that is not even half the class! It might look tough, but just know that I've been doing Body Pump for about 2 years. It took me a while to get up to the weights that I'm using. You can also see from the videos, the repetition effect. Believe me, that repetition effect, ain't no joke! You always see those squat challenges on Pinterest, well just take a Body Pump class, and you've beat the challenge!

Anyways, I hope the pictures and videos, give you some type of insight into what I do and what I've accomplished. If you happen to be a fitness guru and/or enthusiast like myself, please give me some feed back; whether it be on my blog, my tips, or even my exercise form.

Until next time,

-Lesli