updated exercise routine: more weight!

My routine changed a little this past week. Instead of using a 10 lb. kettle bell I now use a 20 pounder. And I have to do curls while doing the walking lunges.

The new routine consists of:

• Jogging in place, jumping jacks and mountain climbers, alternated three times for a total of 8 minutes
• Total of 50 walking lunges holding two 10 lb. free weights to do curls while lunging (yes, it took me a minute to get coordinated!)
• 2 sets of 20 body squats
• 2 sets of 20 kettle bell swings with a 20 lb. kettle bell
• 2 sets of 15 reverse lunges using a 20 lb. kettle bell
• 2 sets of 15 squat jumps (I HATE these!)
• 3 sprints, 25 yards each
• 4 sets of how ever many push-ups I can do: I still can't do a full push-up, but I'm getting there. I can do about 17 in the first set, 15 in the second set, and about 10 in the last two sets.
• Plank, as long as I can hold it

I did this new routine on Wednesday, and it was tough. I can't believe the difference 10 extra pounds made on the reverse lunges! I had to struggle to maintain my balance. It wasn't so bad on the swings, but for some reason I did 20 instead of 15 (I spontaneously forgot what I was supposed to do, I guess), so I was struggling by the end.

During my session on Monday Mark had me use the weight machine to do some arm work. Even after almost three months, my upper body is still pretty weak. For one exercise he put the weight at 15 pounds and it was a struggle by the end. I joked that I'm weak and it's probably only 15 pounds. He said, "No, it's more like 20." It was 15. I saw it before he changed it for the next exercise. For the next one it was set to only 5 pounds. 5 pounds!! And it was tough.

I'll get there. It's a marathon, not a sprint. I know I'm making progress, because I can actually feel my muscles. And that's a nice feeling. :) Plus, my clothes fit better and my weight is going down again. I'm 215.8, which is about a 14 pound loss.