As I’m nearing 50 lbs lost to date, more and more people have been inquiring about my workout routines and meal plan, so first I’d like to share my current workout calendar. It’s the plan that’s helped me lose the past 10 lbs.
Working Out and Dieting vs. Just Dieting
As I mentioned in my previous post about Losing 40 Lbs, I spend a good bit of time each weekend planning out the next week’s workouts. Weight Watchers is the overall method I use to control my eating (I’ll get more into the specifics of what I actually eat on a daily basis in another post), but exercise is the way that I get my fat burning fires roaring to push my weight loss to the next level.
Weight Watchers claims you will lose .5 – 1.5 lbs of weight on average each week by following their plan. I’ve found that to be true. I can lose approximately 1 lb of weight without working out and sticking 100% to their plan. However, to get more than that, I have to layer exercise on top of the eating plans. More importantly, to get the muscle tone I desire, exercise is a must.
I’ve been skinny-fat before (you know, the kind where the number on the scale is great, but you don’t feel fit and kinda flabby), and I don’t want to go there again.
What Kind of Exercise?
Everyone has their own opinion on this. Some people love yoga and only do low impact, stretching type workouts. Others love cardio and get on the treadmill for long stretches of time. I don’t really have a preference – I like everything from swimming to weight lifting, Zumba and tennis.
When I decided to take responsibility for my health, I found a few individuals through fitness magazines that inspired me by their physiques. Personally, I like the way Jamie Eason and Amanda Latona look fit and muscular yet sexy at the same time. So I read up on the kind of training they do and have modeled my workouts after theirs.
This means that I primarily focus on weight lifting to build muscle and do medium to intense cardio sessions to burn fat. Lately I’ve been incorporating lots of stretching, too, since that’s an area I really need to work on.
The best part about finding inspiration from fitness models is that there are plenty of printable workouts written by them available through BodyBuilding.com. I can’t say enough about that website! Whatever your goal physique is, they’ve got what you need.
Sample Weekly Workout Calendar for Weight Loss
Here’s an example of what a typical workout week looks like for me. Keep in mind that I didn’t start out working out quite this hard. On Day 1 (January 17th, I believe), I thought I was gonna die when I did 30 minutes of cardio followed by 15 minutes of pilates. :=)
As proof this workout schedule combined with Weight Watchers works, here’s a comparison pic of me one week into my transformation compared to 40 lbs down:
And, no, I was NOT pregnant when the before picture was taken! In fact, I’m pretty sure I was sucking it in! LOL That picture was taken 7 months after my 3rd baby was born. 🙁
Ever since I reached the 15lb mark, I think I’ve basically worked out this hard every week except the three weeks when my husband was traveling and/or the kids were sick.
- Monday Morning: Kickboxing (50 min class) + Stretching (10-15 mins), then Live Fit* Arms (45 mins)
- Tuesday Morning: Elliptical Warm-Up (10 mins), then Live Fit Legs workout (1.5 hrs) + Stretching (10-15 mins)
- Wednesday Morning: Elliptical Warm-Up (10 mins), then Live Fit Shoulders (1 hr) + Stretching (10-15 mins)
- Wednesday Evening: Zumba (1 hr class)
- Thursday: Day Off**
- Friday Morning: Kickboxing (50 min class) + Stretching (10-15 mins, then Live Fit Back (1 hr 15 mins)
- Saturday Anytime: Day Off or Make Up Session for missed weight training this week
- Sunday Afternoon: Swimming (45 mins)
*LiveFit refers to Jamie Eason’s 12-week training program available through BodyBuilding.com.
**Thursday has become my standard day off each week because I find that giving 100% at the gym for four days in a row is unrealistic. I can give 100% for 2.5 or 3 days in a row, but when that fourth day hits, I’m pretty zapped and usually have lackluster performance. I like to take this day off to re-energize so I can give 100% on Friday mornings.
Hours Spent Exercising Each Week
The workout schedule above gets me approximately 8 hours of workout time in per week, give or take. Sometimes life gets in the way and I don’t get in my scheduled workouts, but in general I try to plan my week in a way that not many things can derail my plans.
I find that when I make fitness a priority, I never replace workout time with something that can wait, like a quick trip to Target or a TV show. My blog has also suffered because of this re-prioritization, but it’s totally worth it.
Best Time to Workout Each Day
As you can see from the example schedule above, I like to workout in the mornings. I find that my energy and motivation is highest in the mornings; however, I achieved my first 25 lbs of weight loss by working out primarily in the afternoon just after lunch or later in the evening (starting around 7 or 8 p.m.). I don’t think the time you work out is as important as simply being consistent about just getting to the gym.
The good thing about working out later in the day – you’re motivated to eat clean and in a way that fuels your workouts beforehand and less tempted to cheat afterward because working out suppresses your appetite.
The best thing about working out in the morning – the stresses of the day haven’t brought you down, so you’re A) less likely to skip a morning session due to being tired and B) you will be able to give A+ effort.
Workout Calendar After Weight Loss
I realize there will come a day (22 lbs from now, to be exact!) when I no longer have to maintain such a rigorous training schedule because I won’t have major weight to lose or a muscle base to establish.
At that time, I’ll re-evaluate and change things up. I imagine I’ll scale back on the combo high intensity cardio/weight lifting sessions and mainly do weight lifting with a couple classes sprinkled in throughout the week.
I hope you’re able to use my weekly workout plan above as a starting point for your own fitness calendar. Feel free to ask me questions about the sample schedule above. I love comments!!
krantcents says
The key to successful weight loss and keeping it off is finding what works for you and stick with it. Congratulations!
Kyle | Rather-Be-Shopping.com says
Awesome! Congrats Lena on your progress. I have been working out consistently for the past 4-months and I feel great and my energy level is so much higher. I am using an elliptical machine, p90x, and TRX. All right in my home! Love it!
Susan says
Wow! You look amazing so far! I need to take this inspiration and run with it! I definitely fall into the “skinny fat” category. Do you have any joint pain (like tendinitis)? If so, what did you do to protect it when you first started and how has your workout schedule effected it? I find that first step to be the most difficult. What provoked you to take it?
Lena says
Thanks! Yes, I actually have always had knee pain. I used to have my knees wrapped before tennis matches in college because my tendonitis was so bad. So I was a little scared to start this program thinking I wouldn’t be able to do many of the exercises. I found out, though, that my tendons were likely flaring up because they were doing the work that my leg muscles should be doing. So I focused on building leg strength carefully, always making sure never to aggravate them too much with any exercise. I found that I only couldn’t do a couple moves at first. Now that I’m much stronger, nothing really aggravates my knees except direct floor contact. I never could do jump squats or high impact moves like that before, but now they’re no problem. Now I’m focusing on doing the same for my tennis elbows – my triceps are weak and my elbows always hurt after tricep routines, but it’s getting better with consistent work.
Funny you should ask about motivation – I think everyone needs some sort of deep motivation. Mine was two-fold. The primary reason I chose January to start is because my parents came to visit just before then and announced that they both had Type 2 diabetes. I was mortified and realized that I was on the same path and likely much sooner than the two of them because they were relatively more healthy than me at my age. Also, I had been telling myself for 5 years that I would get in shape once I was done having babies. So 6 months after Julian was born I told myself I either had to jump on the bandwagon or admit that I had been lying to myself all that time. 🙂
Lena says
Oh, and the knee thing – I also had my feet evaluated at Foot Solutions and found out that I was 1) wearing the wrong type of tennis shoes (not enough support in them) and 2) my arch is so high that my inserts weren’t supporting my arches, making me run on the outer portions of my feet (basically I was rolling around on the perimeter of my feet and wearing out my shoes on the outer heel and innner toes). I switched to only Brooks tennis shoes which have a lot of support and purchase a high arch support and that immediately alleviated most of my knee and foot pain.
Susan says
Lena – just wanted to let you know that you’ve inspired me! After I got these previous messages, I was excitedly telling my husband all the new information you gave me and then…I hurt my back making a bed! Talk about irony! I’m a bigger wimp than I thought! I think that’s an area I need to figure out how to strengthen so it doesn’t take me down again.
But, I’ve completed my first full week of walking and jogging every other day at 6:00 am. I can only jog for probably less than 1/4 mile at a time but I’ve got to start somewhere! I’m going to be checking into the shoe thing probably next week too.
Thanks for posting all these awesome things!!!! I’m learning so much from you!!
Lena says
Wonderful!!!!! I love to hear when my tips actually help someone…makes all the time I spend on my blog worth it. 🙂 I’ve noticed my back becoming weaker after just two weeks of missing my back routine. That’s actually what I’m planning to work on later this morning at the gym! Let me know how the shoe appointment turns out. Another friend just visited the foot store and loves her shoes so much she put a picture of them on Facebook! LOL
Kimberly says
Awesome job and so motivating! I love seeing “real people” succeed at this weight loss thing. 🙂 I’m on the journey as well, but have a long way to go still. I’ll be following the rest of your journey.
Kristin says
I love hearing about people’s workouts! Mostly, because I’m a little lost in that area. I lost the first 50lbs with mostly diet. I did get into running a bit in the summer, but we’ve had a crazy winter in MN and I haven’t kept up much. I’ve been adding some videos, but definitely need to step it up! Thanks so much for sharing at a tips and Tricks Tuesday! I hope you come back again tonight!
Rita says
I have loved looking through your blog and was inspired to check out Jamie’s workout–she seems to always combine a couple of body parts in a workout. When you say you do arms is that just triceps and biceps? Do you do abs? Thank you!! 🙂
Lena Gott says
Yes, when I say arms I mean triceps and biceps! Sometimes they are split into different workouts like Biceps/Back and Triceps/Chest depending on the workout you choose.