Day One: Abs and Diet

Okay, so like I said earlier, I am on a low-calorie diet and a workout routine. Here is my progress today:

I bombed the calorie nonsense. Like completely. I ended up just sitting around all day thinking about the next time I got to eat which was making me starving, so I made the hubz go get me a chocolate chip frappe from McDonalds (my weakness!) which is like 700 and something calories. So after working out, I still ended up being 108 calories over my 1260 limit. Whoops! I hope day two will be a little easier!

I did stick to my exercise routine though! So that is good. I ran on the elliptical for a mile and a half and then on the treadmill for a mile, which was a total of 2.5 miles. That's .5 miles over what I usually run but .5 miles under my ideal day. So all in all I say that was a good day.

I also played around in the ab area for a while. (Sorry for the crappy iPhone photos!)

 Sets: 5 Reps per Set: 5

 The first one I played around on was this monster. You put your back against the main black pad, put the bottoms of your upper arms on the two side mats and grab the handles. At that point you pull your legs up to your chest using your lower abs.

I specifically had a hard time with this one because I haven't really used my lower abs since I pushed Emma into the world. But the burn felt good.

Sets: 3 Reps per Set: 10

This is just a machine that helps you do better more productive sit-ups. You put your knees over the first round pads, your feet under the second round pads, and you lean all the way back in your sit-ups. These were particularly hard because I just worked my lower abs on the machine before. I think I'm going to start here next time. I only did 30 when I planned on doing 50. :(

 Sets: 2 Reps per Set: 25

This machine allows you to add weight to work out your upper abs. I LOVED this machine. The burn felt really good instead of painful and I felt like I was really getting some results from my effort. You simply sit down in the chair, put your arms on the pads, grab the handles and pull them down until your abs are crunched.

 Sets: 2 (One per side) Reps per Set: 25 

This machine was certainly a strange one! You sit on it with your knees bent, put your shoulders against the top pads, and basically twist, go back and repeat on both sides. I wasn't too big of a fan of this machine because I didn't feel like I was targeting the area strongly enough. However, I plan on trying again later.

All in all it was a good day, I can't wait to see how Day Two: Legs goes!

I just want to say I am in no way trained in any physical therapy, using exercise machines or weight loss, this is my own experience with trying them out for the first time and following the instructions on the machines themselves.

Also, I plan on going into more detail on the machines and how to use them at a later date, this is just my first experiences with them.