Increasing Weights

Yesterday, I finally moved up from lifting the five pound dumbbells to lifting the seven pound weights! I'm quite excited that I can lift seven pounds during my workout now considering that when I started a bit over six weeks ago I was fatiguing after working out with just the three pound weights. Anyway, that's a major milestone for me.

And if being able to work out with heavier weights wasn't enough to get me all giddy, I can happily report my waist area is slimming down. My jeans actually don't fit snug there anymore! Just two months ago I couldn't get my rings off unless I got my fingers all soapy. Even wet and soapy removing the rings was a painful struggle and today my rings are twirling on my fingers (all by themselves). My fat fingers are slimming down with the rest of me :)

I'm becoming a true believer in strength training as the optimum form of exercise for those transitioning from a very sedentary lifestyle to a more active lifestyle. The "8 minute Workouts" are easy to manage and I am actually sticking to the program. In the past I started off with long, hard aerobics and found myself quickly getting injured, feeling exhausted and eventually quitting the program and regaining the weight. Now I am taking it easy. Slowly building up my exercise program one day at a time. I plan on adding some type of aerobic exercise to the mix by the end of April. I like swimming, so I might do that. I also have several Denise Austin and Gunter Core Training DVDs I can workout at home with, so I might go that route if I'm still too bashful to be seen in a bathing suit come end of April.