I was at a friend’s house last night having tea and we were talking about how summer has come around again and it was about time we got more active and shifted some of those winter spare tires. Low and behold our other friend arrived out of breath at the door on her bicycle!! she said she’d been getting stick from her family for buying a bike last year and never using it. I’m sure a a lot of people can relate to this, whether it be a gym membership, rollerblades or the latest gimmicky ab machine. For me all of the above…I have been particularly prone to different exercise dvds that come out.
I’m sure I can speak for most brides when I say we all want to look our absolute best for walking down the aisle. With so many fad diets and latest exercise regimes out there it makes losing weight in time for our wedding day tough for any of us. I’m no expert on fitness but seeing as I want to lose my double chin and tone up for my wedding next year I thought I would share some of the regimes I’ve done in the past and just recently.

One of the first videos (yes VHS) was ‘Fighting Fit Fighting Fat‘ which was born from the hit show’ Celebrity Fit Club.’ I thought this was great! it was really easy to follow and I would be red in the face by the end of it, when I got used to the moves I was able to put it on mute and turn my music up loud which definitely makes it more enjoyable. I found at the end of a few months it did get easier so I was able to do a few free weights after. Combined with a healthy diet and the odd walk in between I think it was the only time in my life that I had visible abs.

Fighting Fit, Fighting Fat Club with Harvey Walden

Next was Tracy Anderson’s Mat Workout‘ and ‘Dance Cardio.’ Tracy’s approach to body sculpting is to tone without bulking, so she avoids working the large muscle groups as well as heavy weights. Something I was a bit unsure about as I don’t believe girls bulk up from weights anyway. A lot of her Mat workout was small repetitive movements with very light weights which I didn’t think would do much good, however my arms were aching the next day. I thought I would enjoy the ‘Dance Cardio‘ because it might be a fun alternative to the standard aerobic style videos. I found some of the routines hard to learn and you need alot of space to do this in your living room. I think for this reason I tired of it quickly but it might be something I will go back to to liven things up.

Tracy Anderson Method

My final DVD purchases with from Jillian Michaels, mostly from reading reviews on Amazon. For those of you who don’t remember personal trainer Jillian Michaels from the reality T.V. show Biggest Loser, she is popular because she is tough and MEAN. Has anyone been watching the biggest loser? I think it’s great! I feel a bit guilty watching people suffer and sweat it out while I sit on my couch..

Look what they’ve done to these people!

So these dvds are the hardest I’ve ever encountered, but it is like having a personal trainer in your living room.She kicks your butt so I highly recommend putting your ipod on on full blast and sweat it out with her chatting it up in the background. She seems to know just when your flagging and coaxes you to keep going that little bit longer. The ‘No More Trouble Zones‘ DVD is brilliant, very much weight training orientated and I couldn’t walk for two days after. ‘Banish Fat Boost Metabolism‘ is very intense cardio workout complete with explosive exercise moves (e.g squat – jump – land in a squat) which KILL you. It’s so tough that I find myself putting it off sometimes, although I think it will be more enjoyable once I get fitter.

Jillian Michaels

I don’t yet have the ‘Shred it with Weights‘ dvd but it’s one I have my eye on, I really want to try those kettlebell weights! I’ll let you know if I get them.

Jillian Michaels

Finally! something I’ve just tried taking up is jogging – something I’ve chickened out of doing FOREVER. I downloaded the Get Running app ‘couch to 5k‘ and I have to say it’s the perfect thing to ease you into running as a beginner. It works in conjunction with your ipod too so while she is talking your music will lower accordingly. Basically you start with a warm up and then short intervals of running and walking. I thought a minute and a half run would be easy – not so, a wake up call to how unfit I am. I’m glad that you can gradually build up your endurance each week until you can run 5k at the end of 9 weeks. I haven’t been very disciplined in doing this I have to admit BUT as of Monday I have been going to my fiancés house after work and doing laps around a big field at his house. I would definitely encourage running with a partner because it keeps things interesting and you committed to meeting at a certain time. To his delight yesterday he emerged with a big yellow whistle… not cool. This will be day 3 today of running the field, next week I will let you know if there has been any improvement in terms of inches lost!

Couch to 5k

For more tips to get you started try here