Home Workout DVDs? Really?!

I know what some of you are thinking....Home Workout DVDs Kari? Seriously? Let me talk a little bit today about why the DVD route works for me.

I run a daycare program out of my home. I have two kids of my own. My husband works in the car business and has a ridiculous schedule.

My first solution to this was a YMCA membership. They have daycare at the Y. Zumba is at the Y. I LOVE Zumba. Problemo solved right? Well the daycare only runs during certain times of day. We had our Y membership back when I was working full time out of the house so getting from work, to daycare to get the kids, to the Y in time was NOT a schedule that worked for me. ESPECIALLY since I suffered from "wanting to spend my non working hours with my children" syndrome instead of wanting to take them from daycare to dropping them off at another daycare for an hour.

Second solution: Anytime Fitness Membership. We transferred our membership to Anytime. Because I can go....any time. Genius right? Steven could get home from work whenever...we could put the kids to bed...I could go to the gym. Great. However......1) I discovered going to the gym late at night sketches me out. 2) I was totally lost and overwhelmed by the gym 3) training session to get "un-lost and un-overwhelmed" are EXPENSIVO (Spanish for expensive). I have been active all my life, but never a gym rat. So the only thing I knew how to do was run on the treadmill. So I started Couch to 5k to get back into running (which is what I was doing back at 137lbs). But that just fizzled out as I battled bad shin splints (because I needed new running shoes badly and because I am a bit of a fatty now).

Third Solution: ditch the gym. Focus SOLELY on diet first. I hear that recommended frequently and heard it again when I joined weight watchers. I agree 110% that nutrition is the key. You can bust your ass in the gym ALL DAY LONG, but if you are going to go home and eat a whole pizza, the purpose is defeated. So I tried weight watchers, a juice fast, and a few other "clean eating programs" and didn't focus on working out at all. FAIL. I find that when I work out, it makes eating clean 150 times easier....for me...personally (that may not be the case for you, I get that).

I actually most recently considered going to my daughter's dance studio 3 nights a week for their Zumba class. But there again, it is only certain times a day it is offered and it would hinge completely on Steven being able to be home ON TIME.. which is a gamble. Then a good friend of mine posted a killer deal on Turbo Fire (which I have seen many infomercials about). 50% off...the cost of ONE session with a personal trainer at a gym. Turbo Fire is Zumba esque and I had actually been contemplating buying it for a LONG time. So it was like the skies had opened up, angels sang, and I ordered that baby.

Now I REFUSE to have ordered this and not use it. Steven and I ordered and were going to do P90X (made by the same company as TurboFire) right before I got pregnant with Liam. Needless to say that is still sitting on my DVD shelf. If you go to YouTube and search for 30 Day Shred, you can watch and work out to all 3 levels for free (shhhhhhhh.). So I decided, to get myself used to "pressing play every day", I would commit to doing that EVERY STINKING DAY until my TurboFire comes in the mail.

Bottom line...doing 30 Day Shred has given me a taste of how easy it is to find that 30-60 minutes within my day at home (as soon as the bambinos hit the pillow for nap) to bust out a hard workout at home. Anyone who thinks that because it is on a DVD, it is SUPER EASY...Ha. Ha ha ha. There are no excuses...none. What excuse do you have for me to not walk to my basement, push a button, and work. I haven't found one yet.

And what has been great about 30 Day Shred for me is that I have done it...every day...for 7 days, which is a big deal for me. While I am still in the beginning stages, I already feel stronger. There is a spot in the workout where you do push ups for 30 seconds. I couldn't make it through the first day. Today...I killed both 30 second sessions all the way through. If I can get that much stronger in 7 days...why the heck wouldn't I keep pressing play? I have found it more empowering than I can adequately express with words. The inner shin pain I had when I was running recently...I battled that again doing this workout with the cardio sections. BUT by today, I have officially battled through it. It works SO well into my schedule and gives me flexibility....we are headed to my Dad's this weekend for deer hunting and all I fully intend to get my workouts in. All I need is my little weights and a computer. And the super bonus of working out for me, which I mentioned above, is that when I work out (no matter what kind of work out), I eat well. So that has also equated to 7 days of great eating for me. When you are working hard, you don't want to screw it up by eating a Snickers bar.

Now I am just peeved I signed up for an 18 month membership at Anytime. Oh well, I will just go use their treadmills this winter to get back on the running path (because that is happening too :) )