Healthy Living in Connecticut Blog

I met with my personal trainer today and although my body fat percentage didn't go down much in two weeks, my weight did come down a few pounds. It's going to take some time to build muscle and lose the excess skin, but it's slowly getting there.

One thing he suggested last week is to continue doing the vegan challenge for a week each month. As you might recall, I did my first vegan challenge a few weeks ago. He felt that since I did so well with it that I should keep it going. This way, I can keep away from animal and dairy products for a week and can resume the Greek Yogurt and turkey during the other weeks. I'll try it for a while to see how I like it. The next time I plan to go vegan will be sometime in April. You really need to plan your meals as a vegan. The reason is you need to make sure you're getting enough protein and nutrients in your diet.

I've been using a pedometer for about a little under two years now. I've used it everyday consistently with the exception of one day, March 8 of last year, when I was sick with a bad cold. Every day since then, I've gotten at least 10,000 steps.

Now that I'm in my next phase of my workouts, I'm thinking of giving up the pedometer. I know I do a lot everyday and I do get the required steps in. I'm thinking maybe I should wear it on days that it's tough for me to get all the steps in, just for accountability on those days.

My personal trainer likes to mix up the work out every few weeks. This week, he has me using the free weights, which is more challenging than using the Cybex Smith Machine.

All the exercises are done on a weight bench. I'm doing exercises for all the muscle groups. The most challenging one for me was where I had to step up to the bench while holding onto weights. You have to make sure you have the proper balance for this exercise. I did this exercise before and it always had me confused. He taught me how to do it properly and I think I'll do better on this one than I did in the past.

Allow me to introduce myself to all of you fabulous fitness friends on here! My name is Jackie & I am a busy mom of 2 AMAZING girls. I am passionate about health, fitness & overall well being. My fanatical routine that I currently possess has not been that way for long, though. It will be 2 years, next month, from when my journey began. Allow me to share.

My youngest daughter was turning 5 & for her birthday, she wanted to go to Build a Bear! My in laws made the drive over to our place & we all headed out. Before heading into the store, someone was nice enough to take a family picture of all of us. The day was GREAT! As soon as we got home, I rushed to the computer to upload the pictures from the day. THERE IT WAS. The picture that changed my life. It is my now famous "before" picture.

Today, I learned some new strength exercises using the Cybex Smith machine. I've seen this equipment before but never knew the name of it.

Wow, what a workout! I am sore so I know it's working! This machine is a good way to get the technique down before moving on to free weights.