CrAzY Working Mom: EA Sports Active

Showing posts with label EA Sports Active. Show all posts

Friday, January 21, 2011

My Work Out: Jiggling Butt Cheeks And Burning Calves

"Mommy, I see your butt jiggling!" she said to me with a giggle as she placed her hand over her mouth to hide a smile. My two year old reminded me yesterday afternoon EXACTLY why I was doing those darned foot fires in the first place. EA Sports Active is most definitely "jiggling my butt"!! Foot fires, Sumo squats with pivots, and push ups...I loathe them but every time I do them, even when my legs or arms are so on fire they bring tears to my eyes I keep pushing! I am doing this for ME and no one else. I want to be successful in my endeavor to lose weight and I WILL!!! There are some exercises that I do enjoy such as the step-aerobics, boxing, and running. But, they can't all be fun and easy or we wouldn't lose weight, right!? No pain, no gain!

My total weight loss isn't as much as I would like for it to be, but I can see changes in my body and the way my clothes fit so I can "see" results. My preacher actually said to me on Sunday, "Have you lost weight?" With a big smile, I said, "Yes, a little" and he said he could tell in my face. He is a good man! ;)

My kids are a great motivation to me. My 5 year old son asked me the other day as I worked out with my EA Sports Personal Trainer 2 if exercising makes you die. I was a bit perplexed by the question, so I asked him to elaborate. He said, "Well, last time you worked out you said that it was going to kill you!" Hah! Yes, I guess I will actually have to choose my words wisely next time I am faced with foot fires, side planks, and push ups.

My 8 year old and I had a conversation as to why I worked out and went on diets. I explained to her that I not only wanted to lose weight, but also to be healthy. When I said that, she asked me why I wanted to be healthy. Of course my family is the number one reason why I want to be healthy!!! I want to not only set a good example for them, but also teach them to choose healthy when eating, stay active, and be healthy! They like to do their own "work outs" by playing the sports activities on the EAS game. You can customize your work outs, so I will usually just let them choose which activities they want to do.

You would think that a busy mom of three would just shed the pounds because she never sits down, right? In fact, I am writing this blog post with a cup of coffee in hand knowing that I need to get the family out of bed and start yet another busy day! When life hands you lemons, add it to some water and get on that treadmill!!

Sunday, January 09, 2011

Week One Wrapped Up

The first full week of Twenty-Eleven has been great for me. I managed to work out 4 days with EA Sports Active 2. I really do love it, but it is surely a work out. I have found that with this program's warm up and cool downs I am much less sore than I was when I worked out with the first EA Sports Active. I enjoy being able to keep up with my heart rate with the heart rate monitor, although with my very last work out it stopped registering. Hopefully it was just a minor glitch and will work fine next time.

Dieting with Weight Watchers new Points Plus has been a bit easier than I thought it would be. Since fruits and (most) veggies are points free now it's harder for me to get all of my points in during the day, especially with my activity points added in. I tried some new recipes and some old favorites. Next week will be even more of a fun challenge!

Since Friday is my official weigh-in day, I thought I would go ahead and step on the scales to record any progress I might have had since Monday. Boy was I ever glad I did! They say that the scales don't lie, but I stepped back on and off for a couple more times just to be sure. Low and behold I had shed 5 pounds in (less than) my first week! What an awesome feeling that was to accomplish!!!

Needless to say the first week of my New Year, New Me program has been fabulous.

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

New Year, New Me Day 1

Yesterday I explained how I am working on a new me this year. I am incorporating a lifestyle change including eating healthier and working out. I have really let myself go over the last few months and it is something I really have to work on! I can and WILL lose weight, get healthier, and feel better! I've done it before and I will do it again.

Yesterday was Day One of my new lifestyle. It was a great day in spite of a killer headache. I'm not sure if it was diet related or if it was the PMS fairy visiting. Either way, I managed to keep it under control most of the day. I had to go grocery shopping and I got all of the ingredients I needed for some new dishes as well as some old family favorites that we ate before when we were doing Weight Watchers. The house is fully stocked with LOTS of fresh fruits and veggies. I did find today that I had way too many points left over at the end of the day. As it turns out, fruits and veggies (for the most part) are all points free now so I was trying to find enough things for dinner to make up all of the points I needed. Tomorrow and going forward, I will adjust my menus to compensate for this.

I started the 9 week challenge on EA Sports Active 2. I am excited about this new program as well. I am really digging the new work out format. I love that there is no nun-chuck cord to get tangled up in. The heart monitor totally rocks! I am looking forward to getting back into a work out regimen but not looking forward to the way I will feel the rest of this week. I remember last time I started the EA Sports Active work out, I was so sore from all of the squats, rows, etc that it hurt every time I moved...even squatting on the toilet! Oy!

I did my measurements this afternoon and took some "before" pictures. I have decided not to post them here today because quite frankly I am just not ready. Maybe in the future when I lose some weight I will be able to post them proudly. But, as of now this is the way I look and I'm just not proud so I am not posting them here.

In the mean time, through hard work and lots of dedication I will be working on those "after" pictures!

Happy New Year!!!

Friday, February 26, 2010

Fitness Friday - THAT Pair of Jeans

Do you have THAT pair of jeans? You know the ones I'm talking about. Those jeans that hang in your closet staring you in the face every time you open the door. They almost seem to mock you in your weight loss quest. Every once in a while you'll take them down and put a leg in them only to be disgusted that you still can't pull them up. It's probably that favorite pair that you wore before the birth of your last child. This is the case for me. I have a pair of jeans that I absolutely love. Since the birth of my third child I have not been even close to fitting into them. Most of my favorite jeans are so worn that they really need to be replaced. But, since I am steadily losing weight I hate to invest too much money into new jeans until I drop at least one pant size. This morning I woke up and realized that I forgot to put the load of jeans I had in the washer into the dryer last night. I had no clean jeans. Normally that wouldn't be a problem...just dig through the pile and get the cleanest pair and slap those bad boys on. Well, that was a problem because they were all wet! There was no time for drying, so I frantically searched the closet. Staring me right in the face was that pair of jeans. Those jeans that hugged me so brilliantly before the birth of my third child, that pair of jeans that refused to expand to fit my expanded figure. I boldly took them down out of the closet and began as I had so many times before to try them on. This time, I put my feet in and started to tug them up. Normally I wouldn't make it very far before realizing that I was getting nowhere fast and I would kick them off and hang them back in place so that they could mock me upon my next entry into the closet. On this day, something was different. The jeans didn't stall at my calves. In fact, they didn't stall at my thighs either, and met my hips with ease! I could feel the adrenaline flowing through my veins. I had actually pulled up this pair of "judging" pants. I did not have to lay on the bed, hold my breath and pray that they would button. They buttoned with ease! Mock me no more, denim foe for I have conquered you!!! I managed to not only get these jeans on, but they were buttoned and zipped with ease! On this day, I can proudly say that I have dropped one pant size! Now, I suppose that my next move is to dig further in the closet and find another pair of judging pants!

As of today I have lost 15.5 pounds. I am currently doing the EA Sports Active - More Workouts 6 Week Challenge for my fitness regimen. If you're looking for an intense Wii Workout, I can promise you, this is it!!! It is a great all around workout. On Tuesday, when I was working out, I was doing reverse crunches. I really do think that my virtual trainer was trying to kill me. I was on the verge of tears. Okay, I was actually crying. I was digging deep, trying to do those last few reps. I was NOT going to give up now. Usually my kids will cheer me on, but this time they hovered over me asking if I wanted them to turn it off. My 4 year old said, "Mommy, are you dead?". I told him that I didn't think I was, although I sure felt like it at the time. The first thing that they said to my husband when he got home was, Daddy, the Wii almost killed Mommy today!!!

If you're also using the Wii Fit to get thin in twenty - ten, hop over to The Wii Mommies where you are sure to find lots of tips to help you reach your goal. Thanks to everyone who has supported me along my weight loss journey. I've had ups and downs, but with hard work and dedication I have realized that I can do it! You can too!!!

Friday, February 19, 2010

Feeling Fit on Friday

I finally gave in and bought the new EA Sports Active - More Workouts for Wii. I have been debating for a couple of weeks now on whether or not I wanted to give it a try. I am SO glad I did. It has been an awesome addition to my diet and exercise plan. I am doing the six week challengeWii Fit Balance Board and so far I'm loving it. I totally dig the warm up and cool down sessions. You do not need to use the wii remote or nun-chuck to do these exercises so you can be more relaxed and at ease while you are cooling down. The only problem I seemed to discover while doing the floor exercises is that my 17 month old daughter wants to come sit on me while I am doing them so it makes accomplishing them a bit more difficult. You can also weight yourself using the so this will help you keep track of your weight in the game in addition to the extra activities you can add and the journal survey. The work outs are more intense and I feel like I am getting much more of a work out than before. I am really hoping that I can step up my weight loss with this new program. Instead of reading relacore reviews or looking for the next best diet pill, I am working out and dieting. Hopefully these lifestyle changes I am making will not only have good results for me, but in teaching my children the new healthy eating habits, it will help them make the right food choices in life as well! I have decided to change my weigh-in day to Friday. I think it will make things easier and less stressful for me to do it this way because I tend to stay on the wagon more during the week than on the weekends. My rest days for the six week challenge are Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday so I think things will just be easier for me to weigh in on Friday. My Friday results were good. I have lost 3.5 pounds this week. This brings my total weight loss to 13.5 pounds. I'm so stoked to be losing weight and feeling great!

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Weight Watchers - Read the Fine Print!

Yesterday I learned a very important lesson: Always read the fine print. Yes, I am 32 years old. You think I would have learned this the hard way long before now. Here's my story:

Last night I was geared up for my very first local Weight Watchers meeting. The kiddos were spending the evening with hubby and I was going to meet my sister there who is also doing WW. I was excited to be there with her and for her. I joined Weight Watchers online last week due to the fact that the local meeting was canceled due to inclement weather. When I arrived at the meeting my sister informed me that I had to pay the joining fee. I was a bit perplexed by this fact, but thought maybe she had misunderstood them. As it turns out, this ordeal would teach me a very valuable lesson. In the state of Arkansas, and a hand full of other places, the online program and the local meetings are not affiliated. In other words, I have to pay two separate fees to be able to do both. To stay at the meeting I would have to pay another joining fee (which was waived when I joined online, for a limited time) as well as the weekly fee for each meeting. In essence, I'm paying twice. It's a rip off, right?! Sure, it was in the fine print. But, who reads fine print, right? Well, from now on you can bet this CrAzY Working Mom will!!

So, in the mean time I will keep on doing the WW online and get support from my sister who has promised me she would share the info she gets at the meetings. I will also keep on doing the EAS Active 30 day challenge for Wii. It's worked just as well as any treadmills you'll find at those gyms where you've got perfectly sculpted bodies all around ya! ;)

Friday, May 22, 2009

EA Sports Active 30 Day Challenge (Day 2)

I would like to start this post with a huge THANK YOU from the folks over at EA Sports Active for the opportunity to receive this game. I was a lucky winner in a contest they held via their Facebook page. If you're not a friend, click the link above to get over to their page and add them.

I received the game on Thursday and could not get it opened fast enough to get started on it. To say I was excited about this game would be a huge understatement. I have been looking forward to trying this game out since I first started reading about Julie's 30 day challenge. When I first got the Wii Fit I was pumped about getting fit and active so that I could lose this "baby fat" that is still lingering around. Since my "baby" is almost 9 months, I can no longer blame this extra weight on the pregnancy. I have been very happy with the results I've achieved by using the Wii Fit but I was feeling like I wanted a little more. I needed something that was more work than play. The EA Sports Active was most definitely the answer!

I am on day two of my very own 30 day challenge. Thank goodness tomorrow is labeled a "rest" day because my muscles are screaming in agony at me. They are not used to the seemingly endless lunges that I put them through today. The whole time I was pushing through telling myself that I CAN DO IT. I want to lose this weight and I want to prove that I can follow through with this. This was a work out, my friends. There was no clicking through to figure out which exercise I would perform next. There was no starting and stopping. This was an intense half hour of hard core cardio and strength building exercises. When I finished, I felt good. I felt refreshed and revived. Now I am sore! This is a good thing, right?!

I love that the game shows you how to do each specific exercise with a real person in a real video so you're not guessing if you are performing the tasks correctly. I also like the fact that you can see how many calories you've burned during each task and how much you've burned in the work out. There is also a timer that shows you how long you've been working out. The only down side I see to the EA Sports is that it does not track your weight loss progression. I guess that getting fit is not all about losing weight, but I do like to keep track of the number, so I will probably continue to do my daily weigh ins with the Wii Fit to keep track of my progress.

My kids played this game and loved it as well. There are many different sports activities such as volleyball, tennis, basketball, and boxing. There is also dancing which I really enjoyed, but the kids didn't like it as much. I don't think that this game will replace Mario Kart and Bowling for them, but they did enjoy it.

I will be tracking my progress here for the next 30 days (and beyond I'm sure). If you've purchased this game, I'd love for you to join me on my journey. If you've not purchased this game, maybe this post will convince you to do so. For busy working mom's like myself who have no time for the gym, this is the perfect solution. I am certain that I will be seeing positive results from this game in the near future. I just can't wait!

CrAzY Working Mom

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