Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Denise Austin Program Week 8: Blog Post 6!

I can't even begin to describe how busy we've been this holiday season. It's really too busy for my taste. Not enough time to really focus on the things that I want to focus on, such as togetherness with my children, joy in the small things, and just time spent relaxing. I can whole-heartedly say though that I have been focusing on my physical health. I'm now in Week 8 of my second round of the Denise Austin Program. This is really Week 18 for me since each round consists of 10 weeks.

That means that it's Week 18 of clean and healthy eating and working out. That is a big deal. I've come out of a very difficult spring and summer that threatened to stampede me, and I've not only gotten myself back on track with my health, but I feel that I'm physically healthier than I've been in years and years. Perhaps in my adulthood? I'm 40 years-old, so that's a pretty big deal. My sweet daughter isn't eating enough (she was weaned from her feeding tube at 5 years-old last year) and that has caused me significant worry but I'm plowing on, knowing that this will not last forever. We will find a way for her to physically grow and be healthy and in order to do that, I've got to be at my physical and mental best. It has been seven years (since she was in my belly) of a combination of worry and faith and I've had periods of health and periods of not-so-much-health, but one thing remains constant, and that is the fact that if I am healthy all-around, I am so much better able to serve her and my entire family!

My stats so far: I lost 65 pounds but then I gained 19 back this spring beginning in May. I got myself together and joined Denise's program (you can read my backstory here) and in the last 17 weeks, I've lost around 15 pounds. I say "around" because about 3 days ago it was more than that, but then Christmas happened! I am not worried about this though because that will come right off in a few days. That brings my total weight loss to about 65 pounds.

More importantly though, I am a fitness queen! I have challenged myself to do every single workout this round, and I've only missed 3 workouts and that happened in the last few days when I had a kidney stone (OUCH). I have once again grown to love working out.

  

Her workouts this round included yoga. I'm not much of a yoga girl but I welcomed practicing something which is new to me.



On this particular day, I had missed the workout from the prior day, so I combined the day's workout plus half of the yoga workout from the day prior. That racked up some nice calorie burn for me.



At the end of every workout, Denise tells me how wonderful I am and she has this infectious smile that makes me smile. She often tells me to smile during workouts and I truly believe this has an emotional effect!



Her recent "Denisiology" was on putting myself first. And that's exactly what I've strived to do these past 18 weeks. (Not in a selfish-not caring about anyone else, but in a- I'm going to put my oxygen mask on first so that I can take care of everyone around me too-way).



I can't believe that I'm almost done with Round 2 of the program. I am amazed at the change in me.



Denise just announced that she's got a "new membership in the works starting in 2017." She says that it's more than about looks, but how to love yourself at any age. She says that many things in our lives affect our health, and boy I can attest to that. Raising a daughter with special needs has brought me such highs and lows and it has taken a toll on my physical health. But I've chosen to take the challenge and allow it to propel me forward in my fitness. I can't wait to see what this new membership is all about. Sign me up!




I have been compensated by writing about Denise's program, but I promise that I am 100 percent honest regarding my opinions. I love it.

You can look back on my previous Denise Austin posts here:
Post 1
Post 2
Post 3
Post 4
Post 5

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