Don't you need a lot of stuff to workout at home?

When I signed up for Beachbody, I started with the Free Trial of Beachbody On Demand. I've been with this since the beginning. In fact, most of the programs were not available unless you purchased them! Now, all you need is that yearly subscription and you get it all! It's come a long way and over time, it has only gotten better. The best part about it is that I don't have to leave my house. I have everything I need. The thing is, I didn't start out that way. I started with a set of 3lb weights and a set of 5lb weights. Those were my light and heavy weights the first time I did 21 Day Fix. I didn't even have a yoga mat, though that was my next purchase!

Over the past two years, I have committed to this lifestyle. I want to workout every day. I want to be around for my family. This way, I get to do both. I don't have to pack up my stuff and make sure that I'm not forgetting anything to run to the gym, rush through a workout, and then come home so that I can make sure I'm there for my family. If I forget my water, I press pause and go fill it up. When allergy season hits, I have my box of Kleenex next to me and and don't have to worry about grossing people out with my used tissues.

So, how did I get to the point that I am at with a mini-home gym in my living room? I bought higher weights as I needed them. It takes time to build up the muscle and strength so I did not need heavier weights every other week. My family also figured out that I was completely committed to this and started getting me gear for birthdays, Mother's Day, and Christmas. In fact most of my weights and the rack that holds them are from my kids! My mom and dad have gotten me weights! I watch for clearance in stores that sell fitness gear. I also shop secondhand stores.

You don't have to have everything at once! Start slow. Most Beachbody programs will take into account that people are in different places in their fitness journey and show multiple ways to do the workouts. 21 Day Fix can be done completely with bands instead of weights! Hammer and Chisel shows how to do the workouts with or without a bench. You don't have to have everything all at once.

Today's Hammer and Chisel Setup

My husband had 20lb weights lying around so when I needed one heavy dumbbell for a leg exercise, I took them!

Here's what I do to make things work. Under the bench is just a non-slip thing that goes under a large rug. I use it under the bench and also under the floor mat when I use it. That way, I can jump or move and it stays put!

I have a yoga mat from Target. I don't get the most expensive mat. It's not necessary, though I do like the Gaiam brand. Many of my weights have also come from Target and Walmart. Friends of mine have ordered weights on Amazon. I got a pull-up bar that hangs in the door frame on Amazon and a door attachment for my bands as well.

There are also many programs that don't require any equipment. With the All-Access pass, you can click on a program and see what you need before you decide to do the program.

So, yes, I have built up my collection of fitness gear over time. But, what I hope you gain from reading this is the understanding that you don't need a lot of stuff to workout at home. I would suggest starting small. Beachbody still offers a 14 day free trial of Beachbody On Demand. Send me an email: gkup25fit@gmail.com. Find me on Instagram: GKup25! I'll help you get started!

Shaun Week

Can one week, 7 days, really make that big of a difference? Yes. Yes it can. That was one of the hardest weeks I've done in a really long time. And you know what? Shaun T did it on purpose. He started out with the basics. You get started on Day 1 and you think, "this isn't so bad. This is totally doable!" And then he proceeds to KICK YOUR BUTT!!

Day1: Insane Basics

"If you focus, your body will get the results" --Shaun T

Reading that quote, I wondered what he wanted me to focus on. Then as we worked through the warm up and the moves in the workout, I started to understand that we just need to focus on the positive, the correct form while doing the moves, and letting go of the negative. This is true of the whole week and any program that you decide to do.

The workout itself was fun, active, and easier than I thought it would be. Don't let that fool you. This was not an easy week, but it was worth it.

Day2: Pure Cardio 2

"The results start in the mind and they filter into your body" --Shaun T

I felt pretty good after this workout. Part of that was just the quote at the beginning of the workout. Shaun talks about changing your mindset and believing that you can do this. It was huge for me. I don't like this kind of cardio, usually. I liked this one. It had a good combination of moves and the breaks came at good times. Shaun was easy to follow (even though he distracts himself quite a bit!) and the people in the video are REAL. You see them sweat, struggle, take breaks, and just all around work hard just like you do at home. It is inspirational and definitely helps you believe that you can do it!

Day3: Insane Weights

"Strength is not in the dumbbells, it's in your body. How far can you go, how hard can you push, and how bad do you want it?" --Shaun T

This was by far my favorite day. I love doing combination moves with weights that work your entire body. There were times that I got lost and did not do each rep perfectly but they were long and complicated, so I gave myself a break! I also went with lighter weights just to make sure that I could get through the whole workout. I used my 8lbs. weights. I could have used my 10s. and they still would have been pretty light, but I don't think using my 12s or 15s would have been safe for me. Even Shaun T used 15 lb weights and kept it pretty light. This goes back to the quote. The size of the dumbbells is not what indicates strength. It's believing in yourself and trusting the process. After the first round, Shaun comes up to the screen and tells you to "own your tired." It's all part of that trust and believe mantra. He wants you to feel that your tired and know that you are succeeding because of it. When you believe, amazing things happen. It changed that "tired" from a negative to a positive and allowed me to keep going.

Day4: 25 ABS

"Everything comes from the core of who you are" --Shaun T

I have a love/hate relationship with ab workouts. This one was pretty awesome. The modifier uses the chair but most of the moves are done on the floor. If you don't have a soft, grippy surface to do the workout on, you will need to have a mat. I have a puzzle mat workout surface in my living room so I did not need the mat. Having had lower back issues the past few months, I was careful with this one. Any time that we had to lie on our backs and lift our legs, I put my hands under my tailbone. I just wanted to make sure that I was supporting my back. This meant not fully doing some of the moves. I felt pretty good after this workout. It was not the hardest Shaun T ab workout I have ever done but it was still challenging!

Day5: Ripsanity

"I'm about to burn your muscles and bring fire to your life" --Shaun T

He's not kidding. Your muscles will burn after this. It is the first workout that made me worry that I would be too sore the next day to do another workout. I did not enjoy the entire thing. I pushed through the entire thing. It was probably the best I felt after a workout the whole week so far. I even posted on Facebook that it was HARD! I never really consider workouts hard. Challenging, yes, but the word hard doesn't usually enter into my mind when I'm working out. That was hard. Again, it was hard, but it was worth it.

Day6: Speed 4.0

"We are going to hit it today and move through this" --Shaun T

Okay. I'll be 100% honest. I hated this workout. I don't like agility workouts. Do I think they are important? Definitely. Doesn't mean I have to enjoy them. I get cramps in my feet. I struggle with shoes. I can't get training shoes in a size 7 because they are too small and my toes get scrunched. I get 7.5s and my feet move around in them just enough to make my arches and the balls of my feet cramp up. Thicker socks don't help. Agility is important but I think the moves in Shaun's agility and speed workouts just don't agree with me. I was able to do the CoreDeForce agility workout without any foot cramping. It may just be the combination of moves and the way that Shaun is ALWAYS jumping. I used the bench (as a chair) to modify if the cramps in my feet got bad. I got through this workout and knew that with just one day left, I could get through the week.

Day7: Dig Deep

"Dig deep is something that should be in your soul so that you can create greatness" --Shaunt T

I was worried that my feet would cramp up again when I started this workout. Shaun breaks the rounds up well in this workout so that my feet did not feel as bad. They did cramp a couple of times but not as much as the day before. Just if we were doing similar moves as the Speed workout. This one is short. It makes you want to work hard because you know that it won't last that long. I felt great when I was done. I felt like I had accomplished a goal that I was nervous about. I have tried Insanity. I have done a month of T25. They are not my favorite programs. I LOVE Shaun T. His dance based workouts are some of my favorites. The way he talks through the workouts and motivates is amazing. You want someone to make you feel good at the same time that he is kicking your butt, Shuan T is your man. This week was worth it.

Overall, this is a great week of workouts. You can repeat the weeks and make your own longer program with it. I would definitely find a way to put a rest day in there, though the ab day works like an active recovery a little bit if you add some stretching in afterwards.

The best part of this week was the group of people in the online support group for the week. Challenge groups are the number 1 reason that doing Beachbody programs at home is so much better than going to the gym. There are lots of reasons that make it work better for me but the motivation and support from other people doing the same thing and even from the way the trainers talk during the workouts is so beneficial. If you haven't experienced this, please look for a challenge group. I run them with coaches on my team all the time. I will be running some smaller, shorter groups on facebook soon as well.

Send me a message, find me on facebook or instagram (gkup25), email me at gkup25fit@gmail.com, and commit to healthier you!

There is no finish line . . . so why bother?

Years ago, when I was getting ready to get married, and then again after I had my boys, I decided I was fed up with how I felt and needed to do something to change. My goal? To lose weight and get skinny. Isn't that where most of us start?

I knew I wasn't happy, and I thought that losing weight and looking a certain way would make me happy. I lost close to 50 pounds with that being my goal. In my mind, looking skinny would make me feel happy. Imagine my surprise when I lost all that weight and my flaws didn't go away. They just got smaller. I also gained a few more "flaws" along the way. (I say "flaws" because I don't really think about them that way now.) I'm proud of the work I put in to lose the weight. I had to make huge changes to my lifestyle with a family that, at the time, did not want to make those same changes. 

There were quite a few challenges that came up as I worked through these changes.

• randomly stopping for ice cream in the middle of the day, for no real reason
• junk food in the house
• wanting to focus our groceries on healthier options but being the only one ready to change, still buying boxed/processed meals
• doing a program that tried to teach healthier habits but really only focused on a calculation of macros rather than actual nutrients
• No working out--since I had to weigh in every week and working out makes me gain weight (the good kind) I refused to do anything besides cardio once a week. I knew that if I did more than that, I would get on the scale at the end of the week and the number would go up instead of down.

This list is just a few. I want to focus on the last bullet point. I had set a goal weight for myself. To this day, I have not reached that elusive number on the scale. I was paying to be part of a program that wasn't giving me enough information. It was great to get me started but if I really wanted to make good, healthy progress, I had to find another way to get to the finish line. BUT WAIT!! I said there is no finish line. Well, at the time, I still thought there was. I knew that I needed to workout more. That it would be the change that might eventually push me to my goal. I still thought the goal was a number on the scale. 

As I continued to make changes in my life, my family finally jumped on board and we became a much better team. I started tracking my progress differently. My mindset has changed so much over the last few years. I don't really have an end goal in mind anymore. I don't see a finish line that will take me into the magical place of happiness and loving myself. I had to learn to love myself now. 

If there is anything I've learned that I hope to share with others, it's that loving yourself as you are now is extremely important for reaching your goals. I say that there is no finish line. There really isn't. Once I accepted that and rethought my goals, I was able to start appreciating the little steps and changes that were taking place in my life. 

I know that I talk about Beachbody all the time. I truly love the company. There is nothing else that has helped me as much as being a part of this huge fitness movement. The best part is that it isn't a program that you have to do to get to a final number on a scale. Each time I start a new program, or one I've already done, I set a new goal for myself. That goal is NEVER a number on the scale. I don't even weigh myself anymore. I know how I'm doing based on how I feel, how my clothes fit, and the definition I see in the mirror.

So if you're still focused on an end number on the scale and feeling frustrated . . . let it go. Set a smaller goal. Focus on one small change that you can make that will enrich your life. If that's cutting out refined sugars, then focus on that for a week. If that's adding in a 30 minute workout to your day, make that your goal and track it. Maybe you just want to find small ways to be more active in your day. Plan for it and stick to it. Goals don't have to be a far away finish line that you feel like you'll never accomplish. Trust me, having an arbitrary number on the scale as a goal was setting myself up for failure. I've been doing this for almost 5 years, since my youngest was almost 2. I still haven't hit that original number on the scale that I had set as my goal. Look back at my posts. Have I failed? NO!! I'm succeeding . . . one small checkpoint at a time. The focus is no longer on a number at the end of a long road. My goals change with my needs. What do you need?