The Fitness Plan for Anyone - Step 3

"Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. "

--Napoleon Hill

STEP 3: EXERCISE
I think too many of us let this be a negative word in our vocabulary. It's so easy to say, "I'm too tired to workout today", or "my day is too busy today", or simply "I don't feel like it today". Believe me, it's super easy to think of excuses as to why we CAN'T exercise. If you want to be successful, you HAVE to push those thoughts out before they even have time to sink in! Remember WHY you are exercising. Remember how good you feel AFTER you exercise. Visualize that body you are striving to get. Like I said earlier, most days I do a simple 30 minute workout video. Well I say simple, but it's grueling for me. But you can do anything for that amount of time right? You know your body won't collapse and die in 30 short minutes? And how easy is it to fit that amount of time into your day? No matter how busy & hectic your life, I guarantee you can find at least 30 minutes somewhere even if you have to wake up earlier or stay up later. Believe me, I'm the master of coming up with cop out excuses. I did it for years. Blaming it on having small kids, or no time for myself, and how I couldn't fit in the time. But it's amazing how you can find the time quite easily when you become determined & committed! When you sincerely want something, you WILL find the time to get it!
Now I will share what workout videos and exercises I've been doing the past 6-7 months. Everyone has their own types of exercises they like. I am by no means saying what I did is the best. These are simply the ones that I really took a liking to and brought me the results I wanted.

**Jillian Michaels (from January to the present)

Love, love, love all of her workout videos. I bought her "30 Day Shred" a couple years ago and did it off and on, but never regularly. Starting in January of this year, I did her 5-6 days a week. She guarantees results and her promises have been paying off for me. I still don't have the ripped abs she sports, but I will persist and carry on until I do!! The 30 Day Shred is seriously the one constant I have been doing this whole time, so I have to give it a lot of credit for my success. I'm not easily bored with videos, but to keep things fresh (because that's key to any exercise routine) I've done all sorts of things like do each level for 30 days straight, do a different level each week, do a different one each day, etc. Maybe I'm just out of shape, but her videos ALWAYS kick my butt. I never feel like they are too easy even though I've been doing them for a long time. It's very empowering to watch yourself progress into being able to do every single exercise the 'tough' way and no longer have to do the modifiers or do less, etc. {Plus to pat myself on the back, I only have 5 pound weights & she uses 3's}  She fits my style of exercising quite well, so I've stuck with her. Along with the 30 Day Shred, I also own No More Trouble Spots and Ripped in 30. I highly recommend any of them. Many of her DVDs also come with a diet plan - (or rather an 'eating plan' to me) so that may be helpful as well.

**Boot Camp Las Vegas (mid May - almost mid June)

I had heard of these things and they had always intrigued me. It seemed like something I would really like, but it also seemed kind of scary and tough. I bought a Groupon for this one sometime last year and waited until the week it expired (of course) to finally sign up for it and use it. My Groupon was for 20 classes for like $25 or $30. It's normally $150 a month so that was quite the deal. I had to figure out a way to make it work around my kids' school schedules and also get optimum use out of all 20 of my classes (I didn't want to miss a single one and only had one month to do so). So guess what? I signed up for the 5 am class! Now I am NOT a morning person, but I LOVED every minute of it and it was nice to be done before my kids were even awake! It was amazing and I have been dying to go back ever since. It is ONE HOUR of intense working out, running, cardio, arms, legs, crunches, carrying logs, etc. It is geared towards everyone and there is a wide variety of people who show up to it. You do things you never thought you could do. The only rule is no walking, so you can modify things however you need to. I had already lost almost 10 pounds by the time I started this, so it's hard to say how much more this helped, but I loved it and can't wait to go back again (I actually developed a knee injury at the end and couldn't finish my last 4 days - talk about being bummed). I'm pretty sure it helped shave off a few of those last few pounds. And it wiped me out enough that most days, I couldn't still do Jillian videos when I got home. It's a different workout every single day so it's awesome for your body. You are always sore and it's a great feeling! Local Las Vegans, check it out. My class was with Julie Johnston, the lady who founded the whole thing, but they have classes all over the valley at all different times. They do Groupons quite often. I just saw one this past week as a matter of fact. Check it out and hopefully you'll see me out there again soon.