Thursday, August 19, 2010

Getting in shape!

FINALLY!

Jessica and I signed up for a membership this week to Pure Fitness.


We jokingly have been saying that year 1 of our marriage was spent adjusting to living together, etc... and that year 2 is going to be focused on loosing weight and getting in shape. Both of us knew that we needed to commit to this, and I wrote about it here in another blog I help out on with my sister-in-law Kim.

Today was our 4th day at the gym, as we have been waking up at 5am each day so we can be there by 5:30. It is really helpful to have someone else to go through this with, otherwise I probably would have already slept in at least once, and not been as determined.

Now I have tried to be consistent in exercising before, but something seems different this time. I think this may be the case for a few reasons.
  1. Waking up early - this may seem odd, but getting up at 5am hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be at this point. Also, going to the gym before work allows both Jessica and myself to go together. It's also nice to know that you have accomplished something so early in the day, and the workout gives me more energy through the rest of the day.
  2. Finding a gym close to home - before I went to a gym that was at least 10 miles from my home, this did not make it enjoyable to go to knowing that it wasn't near by. Having the gym 5 minutes from our home means that we don't have to shower and get ready there before going to work. We can come back home to get ready without having to bring everything with us. The close location is also nice in case we miss a morning workout and can then go later in the day on the way home from work.
  3. Having a workout partner - this has been really helpful as Jessica and I both have to get up at the same time. Knowing that the other person is going through the same thing you are, really makes it easier. Plus it's also fun to talk to each other while we workout. It's nice when your partner is your wife, for then there is someone to massage those sore muscles, ha ha.
  4. Having a plan - Jessica and I sat down and talked about how we were going to be consistent in our exercise, as this was helpful to really think what it was going to take to get it done. It has also helped a lot to be specific with the goals we want to achieve individually from our workouts. By that I mean, how much weight do you want to loose? What areas do you want to target? What will it take to get to that point? This is where a personal trainer comes in handy, as a Pure Fitness membership includes an introduction meeting with a trainer to help you with all of these questions so that you can get the results you want.

In this morning's workout, I met with my trainer for the second time today and she really helped me to see that I need to strengthen some of my leg muscles to help with balance and posture. We also set up a workout routine for me to follow so that I can work on bringing my body fat percentage down before we work on building muscle. As of today I weigh 186 lbs, and my goal is to get down to 175 lbs, trim down my waist line 3 inches, and increase my chest, bicep, and thigh measurements.

The other area I need to work on is watching the food I eat and sticking to a meal plan. Now I don't really eat that unhealthy, but what I need to work on is cutting down on my portion size, eating more fruits and vegetables, and spreading my meals out from 3 bigger meals to 6 smaller meals. This will help keep my metabolism up through the day. I also need to start taking a multi-vitamin, but I'm not really sure where to start looking so if anyone has a recommendation please let me know.

I have just discovered the website LIVESTRONG.COM. It's got a ton of resources to use such as a "my plate" to track all of your meals, a fitness tracker, meal planner, exercise routines and SO much more. I've just scratched the surface with all this website offers, but I think it will be a big tool to take advantage of.

So, that is what Jessica and I have been working on this week. How about you, what are you doing to get in shape?

Wednesday, August 18, 2010



Welcome to the first blog post from John and Jessica! We both are new to the blogging world and don't really know what this blog will shape out to be, but for now we just want to use it as a way to let everyone know about the events that are apart of our lives. Check back soon to see what is going on in the life of the Lamb's.