PiYo Week 8 and Final Thoughts

Yesterday I finished the 8 weeks of PiYo workouts.  I have lost 8 lbs (yay!)  and I tried taking measurements but none of them have gone down. However, I’m wearing my smaller pants today so I’m not too worried about that (and for all I know I could totally have missed the spot I measured last time since it’s not something I can pinpoint exactly).  I can definitely feel the difference in my clothes.  The goal was to be able to wear my hiking pants and one of the pairs is going to fit.  I’ll take it!

Final thoughts:

Overall, I liked PiYo although I still think it moves a little fast for beginners to get the correct form. My knees didn’t like it so much. Toward the end I had knee pain and my right knee is still creaking when it bends.  I have seen my flexibility improve, which I love.  I also ended up with a little definition in my arms. That hasn’t happened in a long time. I like Chalene as an instructor.  I’d do more of her workouts, ha ha, except the clips I’ve seen online look hard. Don’t think I’m quite ready for that level of intensity. Besides my knees hurting the other real issue I had was that I got bored because you are essentially doing the same moves in almost every workout. By this last week, I kind of hated doing it.

I’m pretty happy with what I accomplished in the 2 months. I’m sure I could have had better results had I been putting that much effort into my eating but it got me to the point where I’m ready to keep going with getting regular exercise. Right now I’m tired of PiYo workouts (and my knees need a break) so I’m going to go back to walking and other things for a while.  Then I’d like to try it with more variety so I’ve put together my own PiYo hybrid schedule based on some I saw online and using DVDs and the treadmill I already own.  I will go 2 weeks without repeating a workout so hopefully that will help with the repetitiveness and the knees will feel ok.

I’ve decided to do a little hike tonight after work and I’m kind of excited to get some exercise that isn’t PiYo. I feel good and life is good.

PiYo - Week 7 Recap

This week started out as probably the hardest so far. I had to talk myself into not quitting. Honestly, I think I’m just tired of PiYo. I love how I’m feeling but would like to mix it up a bit. I want some variety. However, these two months have flown by. I have a saying on my bathroom wall that says something to the effect that the time is going to go by anyway so I can either be healthier in that time or not. On Friday I put on a pair of jeans straight from being washed and they are definitely loose. Like, pull them up loose. And on Monday I wore an old pair of jeans that I couldn’t wear earlier this year. It seems like it happened overnight but it’s a great feeling and what I’m concentrating on to finish up strong.

I’ve learned that I definitely have time to exercise and I can do it at random times if I have to. To complete these workouts I’ve gotten up in the morning, used my lunch break, right after getting home from work, and even right before bed or other random times in the evening. It’s really about telling myself there are no excuses. I still really want to be more of a morning exerciser but there are very few days when I literally don’t have time somewhere in the day.

PiYo - Week 6 Recap

I’ve started to get a weird little creaking/popping sound in my right knee. It doesn’t hurt and I don’t have any knee pain but it still bothered me that it was even happening so I’ve been really careful on the lunges. It doesn’t seem to be getting worse. I can’t believe I have stayed with it for 6 weeks. It feels good. Two more to go!

Yesterday was Labor Day and I took a nice little walk in addition to the PiYo. I did a loop from Birdsong up to the 22^nd street trailhead where I hooked back up with Rainbow trail. The hill to the 22^nd street trailhead about killed me…and I think I definitely will do it again. It took me just over an hour from where I parked so it was a nice little walk.

PiYo - Week 5 Recap

I’m still going and got all the workouts in plus some extra walking. Some days I was really motivated and others it was really hard to even get started.  I read something that said that it takes 4 weeks for me to notice a difference, 8 weeks for friends and family, and 12 weeks for everybody else. Well I think I’ve been noticing a difference. I mean, I feel better for sure. Ha ha… when I’m not stiff and sore. But I swear there have been just a few slight changes in my body. Sometimes I think it’s probably wishful thinking and then sometimes I think it’s really happening.  At this point I’m not sure I will be able to fit into my hiking pants by the end but I’m not giving up hope. They were loose in Peru so it’s not like I have to get exactly back to where I was. Plus, I still have time after the 8 weeks of PiYo is over before I go on my trip.

PiYo - Week 4 recap

So this week started out with an upheaval in my planned schedule and I managed to get the Wednesday workout in at a weird time but by the time I got home Thursday night exercise wasn’t going to happen. Normally, I’d skip the one day and be fine with it but I made it up the next day and did Thursday and Friday workouts back to back on Friday. It actually wasn’t too bad and I can say I did it.  I was kind of dreading the Drench workout (probably because it’s the longest) but it turned out to be not bad. I did sweat a lot and I was stiff that night and when I got up the next morning.

I’m done with the first month. I didn’t measure myself again; I’m going to wait until the end for that. My clothes don’t feel all that loose although I have been able to wear my jean skirt again. It’s still a bit tight but not terribly so. I did weigh myself and I’ve lost 2.5 lbs since starting PiYo (I’ll take it because I really had a few bad eating days) and I’ve lost 5.5 lbs since I started exercising again in July. Thinking about it, that’s not too bad.

I’ve discovered I probably exercise 60% of the time in the evening and 40% in the morning, which goes to show that it’s not that I don’t have the time after work, I just don’t want to do it. I still would rather be a morning exerciser but at this point, I’ll take what I can get.

PiYo - Week 3 Recap & PHR

This week was a little more difficult and my motivation started to lag.  I did all my workouts including some extra walking and aerobics but my eating was mediocre at best, especially through the weekend.  I’m just trying to remind myself that I’m feeling better and sleeping better (except that some mornings I wake up so stiff and that part really sucks) and that this will all pay off if I keep up with it. Three weeks isn’t long enough to really see a lot of changes and I have to concentrate on how I feel.   I like the Buns and Strength Intervals workouts that got added this week.  The muscles in my legs are definitely stronger than my arms so I feel like I can push myself more there.

In other parts of my life, I finished my PHR recertification process and got the certificate in the mail yesterday. I’m now set through February of 2019. And as a plus my recertification cycle doesn’t actually begin until next March so I can take a break from the classes and seminars I’ve been attending. I don’t mind them, but sometimes I really hate the drive to Salt Lake in the morning. I started this blog when I was supposed to be studying for the PHR test and I’m kind of surprised I’m still going. It’s really just my online journal but sometimes it’s nice to look back and see some of the things I’ve been doing.

PiYo - Week 2 Recap

I actually went and bought a sweatband. It was a cheap one from Walmart but I was tired of all the sweat dripping from my face. I haven’t even got to the workout called Drench yet. It helps a little bit but it’s disgusting when I’m done.  At this rate I’m going to need more exercise clothes just because of all the sweating I’m doing.

I’m getting used to more of the moves and I got to add the Core workout. I’ve decided I really like the Define: Lower Body workout. It feels more like traditional yoga and I had forgotten how good pigeon pose feels.  My wrists are feeling stronger and I’m doing all of the pushups (on my knees, but I’m doing them).  I even did a few of the real burpees and not the modification. I’ve added some walking also and I walked/hiked 5 miles on Saturday in addition to the scheduled workout.

I might add that I didn’t buy Shakeology. I don’t eat/drink that kind of thing in general. I do like the clean eating plan that comes with the DVDs. It’s basically a list of foods that you should be eating and helps you figure out in what portions. Many of the foods on the list are things I will eat anyway so I don’t feel like I’m changing my diet. I’m not following it exactly, but in the 2 weeks I’ve been doing this, I’ve cut back on other foods (like chips, pop) that I was eating way too much of. I’ve been planning a menu and freezing and eating leftovers for lunch for a few years now so I’m always on the lookout for new recipes that are tasty but still made from real, healthy ingredients.  And my mom keeps giving me fresh vegetables from her garden so that always helps.

So after the second week, I’m feeling better about the workouts and I’m motivated to keep going.

PiYo - Week 1 Recap

I finished the first week of the PiYo workouts. Walking (and a bit of hiking) is the only exercise I've done for a while now so I have a lot of muscles that haven't been used in the ways that PiYo is using them. Or in other words: I'm sore. But it's a good sore.


So what do I think? I'm overweight so it's been a bit hard for me. I have to do almost every modification.


I'll start with the not so good:


I found very quickly that I need more of a warm up for my body, especially if I’m doing the workout in the morning after just getting out of bed. I’ve started warming myself up by getting on my treadmill or bike and just getting myself to the point where I am comfortable for PiYo. It’s not a problem because the pre-workout is good for me too.

It moves really fast. Maybe if I was an athlete or in great shape to start, I wouldn’t have a problem with the pace. Also, I’m very uncoordinated in general and learning even basic aerobic moves is usually a challenge for me. So I’m slow to do the moves which means I don’t get all the reps in, and there aren’t a lot of reps to start.

I have done yoga before, including live classes. I never kept up with it to get much above a beginner level but I think without some of that live instruction (or even DVD instruction), some of the yoga positions would be hard to do correctly. The Align DVD did show some stuff, but it was also at a much slower pace. If I were going into this cold, I would probably be doing it all wrong. As it is, I’m sure I’m doing some of it wrong just because of the pace.

The good:

I can feel my muscles working and that feels great.

My wrists are already getting stronger after one week. She says they will so I wasn’t too worried about it and have just been trying not to overdo it and injure myself. But I can already see improvement there.

With the extra walking and stuff I’ve been doing, I feel like I’m getting some good workouts in.

I’m not saying this is because of one week of PiYo, but my jeans do feel loose today. I’m sure it’s because I’ve already worn them once., but it’s a good enough feeling that I’m ready to get going with the second week.

I might add that I started on a different day than the calendar that came with it. I am following the workout schedule, I just planned it so that the rest day hits on Sunday, which is the day I'm taking off.

On to week 2...