Way to fake a weight loss photo, bitch

Hi! If you don’t know me already, I’m Lily. I have some Pages here that may or may not explain who I am better but as a quick intro for this post: I used to be a graphic artist who literally drew on the “drawing board” and then graduated up (times, the were a’changing) to working on computers and after 20 years of various shite there, changed careers.

I have a few things to say about this photo, which I find detrimental to people who are trying to make better health choices.

Firstly: I believe this is the same person.

Now, let’s bitch:

• lighting is different, as it often is in the HONEST versions of this type of ‘share’  — let me say that this is going to HORRIFICALLY change the way things appear so, if you’re taking your own photos for comparison, really do try to a) take them in the same place/ same time/ same pose and b) attempt to use the same lighting
• posture is MEANT to deceive and this is why said bitch chose to alter her orientation to help disguise reality — in her fat pic, she’s leaning towards the camera, which creates fat rolls; in her skinny pic, she’s leaning away and flexing her abs. Look very closely at her baby basket (lower abdomen). It’s virtually the same ‘pooch’ because it’s the same pooch.
• upper arms are virtually the same — Yes, the fat pic looks larger because she’s closer to the camera. Look at the shape and definition. For that matter, the skinny pic is totally in shadow, which has a diminishing effect. Bitch knows what she’s doing but 20 years of making sure my clients got RECREATED images that were spot-on means don’t fuck with me.
• tits are virtually the same — you don’t know this but she claimed to have lost 40lb. Oh, no you di-in’t. Maybe she lost 40lb by the time of the 1st pic and hadn’t taken true before pics so, she’s trying to manipulate to get some internet love. I dunno. Tits CHANGE. I now have small C cups on my 5’2″ frame because I’m fat. I would normally have A cups. I’m not saying what happens to me will be the same for all but YOUR TITS GONNA CHANGE. Everybody in the world knows this and it’s why body competitors have fake tits or no tits.

In fairness, let’s point out that all bodies do NOT evolve evenly. Tits and arms and hips and bellies don’t shrink universally but more of ones body will show something if you lost 40 pounds (or at least something in addition to your fucking belly will).

I posted this because this was shared in a group where people ran over and wanted to be just like her.

What, fake?

I think that we all know comparison is the key to unhappiness but when the comparison is against a lie? Oh, that’s not fair, meh bitches.

I also want to add that I feel oddly about the lines on her skinny pic’s belly. Even though she’s twisting, it’s odd. It looks like she has used a ‘blending’ or ‘bandage’ tool on an app. I say this not only from experience with graphics but also because I’ve spent the majority of my life thinner than this woman. I am a pear shape, that means my belly was often exposed because I never needed to hide it. Again, all people are different but I never had those vertical lines when I twisted. I had and still do have the center vertical line but that’s one.

I call bullshit and harmful bullshit at that.

 

warning: I revoke previous support of FitStar app

My app no longer saves sessions and since it won’t save a session, several things DON’T happen:

• the next session never starts, you’re in first-session-infinity-hell
• the point of a programme is the sessions build and progress, $30 for one session is dear for an APP
• you don’t get credit for doing the session
• linked accounts read nil – MyFitnessPal, Fitbit or many others will not show any workouts  because FitStar says you’re on session #1 and by the way, never finish it
• Feedback? We don’t need no stinking feedback.

I emailed FitStar support to report a bug because this was not a previous issue. Their response: ‘Contact Apple.’

When you contact customer service or a dev about trouble (I thought was just a bug and wasn’t overly excited, new ios, new issues, blahblahblah) and they have zero interest in owning the issue, let alone helping you? In fact, they blamed me for not being on wifi.

Bullshit, you lying sacks of sons of bitches.

I have never had wifi at home and I have only used the app at home yet MAGICALLY it has other sessions recorded? How could that be??? It used to work just dandy and now doesn’t, no matter what they say. I guess whoever I reported a bug to was the guy responsible for screwing up the compatibility? Is he trying to cover his arse by telling people to just go away?

I replied but they said that their app worked fine and they had no way to doing technical support, if it didn’t work for me, contact iTunes. I got pissy in my reply and requested a refund. They replied that’s done through Apple, too. I wouldn’t know from having hundreds of apps since 2007 and never needing to request a refund, least of all because a developer refuses to acknowledge an issue.

If these assholes wanted to change the app so that it wouldn’t support LTE or 4G, then fine. If so, how about saying, ‘Yeah, you got us. We’re no longer supporting cellular data .’ Don’t say it was always that way! Matter of fact, why is there a setting within the app to turn on ‘use cellular data’ if that’s impossible and always has been? HRM!

Don’t express ZERO interest in improving your app. They didn’t ask what build I was on. Apple did. It’s the latest. The one FitStar screwed up: 2.5.2, build number 556.

I have contacted devs before and they’re always KEENLY interested in what caused the issue. They want to know what your version is, build number, etc. FitStar? ‘Call Big Daddy at Apple, we don’t handle tech issues.’

Big Daddy Apple said they do not handle 3rd-party tech issues. There are literally thousands of apps and they could not possible do that. That’s the devs’ jobs to deal with their own apps. Big Daddy Apple is going to refund my money, though. Thanks, Big Daddy Apple.

Summary: DO NOT SUBSCRIBE TO FITSTAR!

 

 

SP Spring Bootcamp Challenge, W1D3

Spring into Shape Bootcamp Challenge, Week One.

I’ll continue the assigned videos (5-10mins/day) and 10 minutes of cardio 5 days a week but I’m going for 30 minutes everyday cos I do that anyway. I’m aiming to not SKIP any days, which is my personal tweak on the challenge.

Join me! It’s free, it’s fun, it’s easy. Really. 5-10 minutes of video a day and 10 minutes cardio, 5 days a week. You’ve got this.

Dr: ‘Have you lost weight?’ Me: HAHAHAHAHA

Had my Well Woman (pelvic & pap) exam yesterday. -need to get a mammogram soon

The doctor was doing her interview — which has NEVER included ‘Have you lost weight?’ It wasn’t being read, it was whilst she was palpitating my glands and girlie bits.

Laugh? I thought I’d die! She looked at me like I was mental, which I am, so you know. I thought it was funny because I’m the biggest she has ever seen me but she also only ever sees me once a year and…

I’m telling you, p90x3 is making me look better. I still have padding that I’m not fond of, which isn’t normally there (I cycle sizes or as I put it: I’ma repeat offender) but I just look healthier. That’s cool.

And in case anybody was wondering because I keep referring to that programme, no. I don’t work for them, I  never received gifts and I’m not suggesting anybody buys it, even though I own the original and 3 (I own a LOT of fitness DVDs). Regular readers will recall that I often recommend FREE workouts or LifeFitRevolution.org, which is all the workouts you’d ever need and online coaching and nutrition for FREE. I’m just saying this p90x3 is my current amour.

Snow fun! And week 3 p90x3

We got more snow, which had been predicted but they called for flurries (non-accumulating) but it accumulated some. Big fun for Bobby and me!

Luckily, they dragged themselves out and bladed and cindered the county road, too. YEEHAW! I only saw one vehicle stuck in a median and they were probably driving on bald tires or like an ahole. If you drove sanely, it was grand.

Without realising it, I began week 3 of p90x3 yesterday. I thought about that this morning. I’ve recently posted about my progress, so I’ve got more of that to look forward to and when I get better on eating like a normal human, not a family of 4, it’ll show, too. I’m telling you, I adore the 30 minute format of this programme!!!

Speaking of prgrammes, I watched the first 4 epis of this season’s Shameless. Some people make a big deal out of it and it’s well-made but it’s very like our childhood (FS, Brother and me) in many ways. Not as bad most of the time, which makes it odd when people go on about how…shameless the characters are. Kinda like, ‘Glad you grew up on Disneyland. Don’t think you’d have survived the real world’ from us.

p90x3 progressing! And now my bad knee hurts

Isn’t that something? When your bad knee hurting feels like a good thing. My good knee, which has recently giving me actual worry, is still tweaked but far improved, thank you. After last night’s CVX (p90x3), my bad knee is talking.

It could be the weather, too. It was -9F this morning (-23C) and waves of winter storms keep coming. Laugh. If you live long enough, your joints will talk to you about the weather, too.

Where was I? I took measurements a week early and unsurprisingly, I’ve not gotten physically smaller, what-with the eating being what it is. The upside is that my previous ‘progress’ was getting incrementally fatter. I like being tight/ dense not fluffy and puffy. I also really like fritos and chocolate and almonds and pecans…

My body might not be getting smaller but at least it’s getting stronger and more flexible. I’m feeling good about that. It’s hard to have multiple goals and show results. I think being more FUNCTIONAL is best right now and thinning out will come as I feel better and better cos I’m happier about myself when I’m a size 4. At this point a size 6 would make me giddy.

I’m noticeably (to me) more flexible, which is fantastic. I’ve practised yoga since I was a toddler (my first teacher was of some notoriety and I didn’t realise that was a thing til I got a guru who studied with her in India and was super-impressed that she had been my early teacher). This doesn’t mean that ‘I’m good.’ It means that yoga is normal. It also means that I’ve been more advanced and understand that I’m not so good at other things. You keep practising because that’s all it is. Practise.

When I do no yoga for months on end, I lose flexibility and strength. When I’m in my element, daily practise for years at a clip, I’m a fairly bendy broadlette. When I started p90x3, I couldn’t touch my toes with a straight back and ‘straight’ knees (never lock your joints).

With virtually no effort (only doing p90x3, which is THIRTY MINUTES per workout — this is not that hard, people), I’m looking less like a wooden mannequin and more like a human who needs to work on her flexibility! This is huge.

I’m stronger. I keep increasing resistance. It’s not like I can say I’m swinging a 50lb kettlebell but I did swing a 50lb bag of salt the other day and I could NOT have picked it up in December. I was too out of shape–couldn’t pick up a 40lb feed sack for Bobby. Almost but not quite. Now, I can.

For CVX, I had previously done a ‘pretend’ basketball and that was enough, for realz. Last night, I used a 3lb weight for that cardio-vascular workout. The burliest men use 12lb. Three is light but it’s heavier than AIR. Hello?!?!

I’m really proud of myself. Also, shovelling snow is easier and doesn’t put out my back. ::touch wood::

Getting REGULAR strength conditioning (and working on that flexibility) is so important. I mean, I work at a desk job, with 2-3 miles of walking around the office a day. I need something extra and I’m so happy that I can do it in 30 minutes a day. Heck, I even take off 1-2 days now and then. Come back refreshed and see better results. I’m pleased as punch!

I’ve got a Bad Knee and a Good Knee (which sometimes gives me the gyp)

The Good Knee* is killing me. DAMN! Remember when I oh, so very shortly ago mentioned the I modified some moves and didn’t others? -shut up!

I was talking to a gym rat and she asked if I didn’t feel it when it happened. Ask somebody with chronic pain if they hurt.

Yes?

I realised that I was feeling ‘it’ in my joints but I do if I BREATHE. –whatevs

I don’t know which move but I have a sneaking suspicion it was the dribble left, jump shot, dribble right, jump shot (not what it’s called, I don’t think — TH has cutesy names for things and that’s cool but I just follow along and don’t care very much about what it’s called). That’s because I recall thinking, ‘Wot?’ whilst doing. Of course, I thought, ‘Wot?’ during a few things, including the back twist stretch. My back has been so spasmed that almost anything is near wrenching it. Scary, eh?

I’m also breaking down and emailing my nutrition tracking (oh, the embarrassment) to a couple of homies, Laurie and Sheila. We’ll see if that calms me down a bit. While I eat a lot, yesterday was far less than I normally would’ve snacked because I knew that I was going to send that!

Today is Dynamix, which is a combination of dynamic stretching and calisthenics. I previewed it and there’s a lot of knee-usage. Joint pain, children, is never okay. Never. I don’t want to just take off a day, I’d rather modify because there’s other good stuff in there.

 

* So-called because my Bad Knee was the first one injured, when I was 13 doing sporty BS. My good knee came along a couple years later when I fell down HARD on it on the ice. I’ve tweaked them several times, sometimes needing physio. I haven’t done operations because I’ll hold off forever, if I can. Having auto-immune disease means we not only recover slower but we get infections easier. It’s almost always better to not slice and dice an AIer. We won’t heal right anyway and it’ll take longer and we’ll die of MSRA blahblahblah.

P90x3 The Warrior, day 479

I was going to say what day but I’ve lost count, what-with the 2 days off. I just come back wherever I left off.

The Warrior is upper, abs, cardio/plyo and lower (I think, I’m still woozy).

It was good! I modified more than they did at times but I didn’t need to modify others. That made me feel like a Normal!

And my workout was fuelled by chili cheese Fritos. -shut up

I’ve got issues.

feeling really good but nobody else is (and p90x3 CVX)

Yikes! Okay, well I have caught ‘something’ about every 10 days for like 2 months but not counting those things, I feel pretty good!

Stomach flu is going around and so are colds and flu. Ugh! People! I’m the one with auto-immune diseases. Stop the madness!

I’m still rocking the programme I created* called Points N Paleo (paleo=whole foods minus dairy and legumes and points=a nutrition tracking system that’s PROPORTION based). I’m also not doing very well on choices considering I had dairy yesterday and faux grains (on top of everything that is healthy and good, it’s just I ate DOUBLE the points a human my size should). However, I’m doing great on P90X3! Well, again, I’m modifying and I had 2 days rest after 3 days on. This is probably the BEST plan for me, btw.

Last night was CVX (cardiovascular) and it’s nothing like any cardio you’ve done. It’s calisthenics but you can use a small weight (anything from a beach ball, which weighs very, very little to 12lb for the Big Boys), if you’re feeling sassy. I used a pretend basketball. -are the new readers gone yet?

At first, I thought it was boring but after about 7 or 8 minutes, I was so winded, my brain didn’t have time to think of anything but survival. Noice! I should add, the first set it’s calisthenics, the second, it’s plyos. I forget how many circuits there are.

I’ve forgotten what my point was, if I ever had one. Hrm. Well, I feel pretty good and I’m down a few pounds, though you know that I think the scale’s BS. I need to take measurements but I’d rather wait til I’ve done the first month of p90x3.

Effort (not outcome or accomplishment):

nutrition 5:10

fitness 9:10

* I created neither but I put them together and people wouldn’t normally do that! I’m not normal 🙂

Day 4, p90x3 The Challenge

I’m modifying like crazy (all press ups from knees, all pull ups using over-the- door band adapter, 30lb resistance) but still proud as punch!

I’m not the healthiest bird you’ve met and after 3 days ‘on,’ I had to take not 1 but 2 rest days. I’m still sore but I had fever and what-nought. Nobody ever got weaker for taking 2 days of rest, especially if they have auto-immune. Two weeks, yes, not 2 days!

My goals were 12 pulls and 8 presses as I believed that I could do a few sets. I did all 8 sets bit it took me a bit longer. Also, I took part I’m the burnout (I’d say drop set) of 1:3 and stayed in for 5 sets.

I feel really good about it!

P90X3, 3 days in and more whiskey

It might be a bad thing that when I post about P90X3, I also mention whiskey…I mean, any time. Now that it’s a pattern, I’ll have to remember to keep going 🙂 It’s about consistency, people. Both.

Talked about day one. Day two was Agility X and it’s targeted plyos (literally, targets on the floor–I laid down a yoga mat and eyeballed it because that’s good enough for me). Fun! Lots of heart-thumping. Day three was X3 Yoga, which I feared far more than the other workouts because I was so sore! I expected that I wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near position. What I ended up doing was spending the entire 30 minutes falling and stumbling all over the place. Room for improvement! –And ganking a muscle in my mid-back, which was super-tight. I’m not ganked out of working out but that’s a warning sign. Today is The Challenge, which is push-pull. I was looking SO forward to pulls because I need to work on my posture, so badly. Oh, my gosh. Help, please? Now that I’m aware that my back (as well as previously torn rotator cuff shoulders) is over-taxed, I should do a rest. ::sigh::  What’s funny is my idea of a rest is like, ‘Oh, I could do that short FitnessBlender Kettlebell routine! I want some HIGH PULLS, YO!’ Again, this isn’t actually rest?

Maybe I’ll just drink whiskey? I just learnt it’s only 70 calories per ounce. It’s practically good for you. Uisce beatha indeed!

iced-in Tuesday, started P90X3

No fun! I mean, a day off sounds good but not when you’re stranded and miss money. Wah! Nothing for it, MODOT focused on town/city and did us last. Nothing had been done — nothing — within 12 miles of the ranch by 10AM. I’m to be at work by 7:30AM.

Steve reminded me that I could be drinking. I’ve had a sinus thing (when you blow your nose, red comes out) -are the new readers gone yet?  for about a month.

Let’s digress for a tic: please don’t tell say go to the doctor. The owner bought us (with our money) a MONTH (January) of coverage but at several hundreds of dollars premium out of my pocket, it’ll cost $70 to see a doctor. Also, my GP retired (due to her continuing struggle with cancer), so I’m between GPs. It’s difficult, not as difficult as cancer but I’m saying now isn’t the time to fiddle faddle with doctors.

I got feeling worse a couple days ago, including fever. This could be autoimmune but it’s viral. Wah. I stayed home and drank whiskey in tea with honey. It didn’t make me feel better but as they say, I felt better about it.

I cut myself off around noon-thirty and by 17h, decided there’s nothing for my lack of having things to do than to…

Start P90X3! I did p90x (original) years ago. I love it and highly recommend it for those who want to get leaner and stronger in general. My problem with it was I went from one programme that did MAGIC to my body to losing muscle on P90X. I did the Classic method, btw. It’s not that I wasn’t working it, either. It’s just a different programme. It’s a GREAT programme. The one I’d come off of had done greater things for me. I got skinnier on P90X… That wasn’t what I wanted, though. I went back to the other programme but was in Idiot and got a couple of over-training injuries. I’ve never been in the same fighting form since!

The thing that sold me to try P90X3 even though I already own the original was THIRTY MINUTES?! Hrm…

I had to see it to believe it. It’s TRUE! Well, I only did the 1st day (Classic schedule) and previewed the 2nd (which was actually 30″+ but not much over).

Day 1 is Total Synergistics and it was so fun. Day 2 is Agility. It looks  Insanity-like with tons of plyos but they use targets on the floor for laser-precision in your bursts of energy. I will bounce around a yoga mat tonight and I guarantee it will all be highly modified. Unless my fever’s back. It’s only 30-ish minutes!

 

FREE workout program and support: LiveFitRevolution

I’m a big fan and supporter of Alysia and Jason. They’ve relaunched their site — while it’s shiny and streamlined, I’m still used to the old one. Change is hard on old dogs…

If you’ve never been there, LiveFitRevolution.org is fantastic! There’s motivation (videos, challenges, memes), workouts (video and text printouts for those who prefer to only hear themselves) and nutrition advice along with recipe videos. It’s all free, with no catch.

Here’s Alysia’s welcome to 2014.

Some of y’all’s doggin’ the Christmas workouts

…round h’ya

Pilates for Two, sort of

When he isn’t ‘helping,’ he’s outright trying to get and keepme off the Reformer. He nudged my arm off the carriage and then put me in a hold!

What’s it look like? Body Fat %

My favorite topic! Well, sort of. It’s my favorite measure of health. Obviously, there are others: *

• fasting blood sugar
• blood pressures
• cholesterol (triglycerides, HDL & LDL)
• clothing sizes (a bit arbitrary)
• total body mass (‘scale weight’ which is completely arbitrary)

This article is very, very nice because it offers graphics and explanations that we can easily understand. I stumbled upon it, looking up graphics. Also included are photos of models (not just the drawrings I’m skiving).

 

* I’ll be having 4 hours of testing on my heart (after working 1/2 day). Wish me luck on those measures of health!

Pilates Reformer Workout

For my own use, really. It’s hard to remember what to do when! This way I can call this post up on my phone and have a to-do list 🙂 Feel free to play along!

 

• Warmup: V position, 10 reps; 2 red cords or 2 black and 1 red cord
• Warmup: toes, 10 reps; 2 red cords or 2 black and 1 red cord
• Warmup: arches, 10 reps; 2 red cords or 2 black and 1 red cord
• Warmup: heels, 10 reps; 2 red cords or 2 black and 1 red cord

• Hundred part 1 (arms), 10 reps; 1 red or 2 black cords
• Hundred part 2 (arms and upper abs), 10 reps; 1 red or 2 black cords
• Hundred part 3 (arms, upper abs, legs extend 45 degrees), 10 reps; 1 red or 2 black cords

• Leg lowers (feet pointed), 10 reps; 2 black or 2 black and 1 yellow cord
• Leg circles, small (feet parallel or externally rotated), 5 reps each direction; 2 black or 2 black and 1 yellow cord
• Frogs (legs externally rotated), 10 reps; 2 black or 2 black and 1 yellow cord
• Choo Choo, 10 reps; 2 black or 2 black and 1 yellow cord
• Scissors, 10 reps; 2 black or 2 black and 1 yellow cord

• Lying arm beats, 10 reps; 1 red cord
• Lying arm beats (45 degree), 10 reps; 1 red cord
• Lying arm beats (90 degree), 10 reps; 1 red cord
• Lying half arm beats, 10 reps; 1 red cord
• Lying half arm beats (45 degree), 10 reps; 1 red cord
• Lying half arm beats (90 degree), 10 reps; 1 red cord
• Sitting arm circles (large), 5 reps each direction; 1 red cord
• Serve the Brownies, 10 reps; 1 red cord
• Hug a Tree, 10 reps; 1 red cord
• Bicep curl, 10 reps; 1 black and 1 red cord
• Chest expansion (2 second hold), 10 reps; 1 black cord
• Stomach massage (curved back), 10 reps ; 2 black and 1 yellow cord
• Stomach massage (straight back), 10 reps ; 2 black and 1 yellow cord
• Knee stretch (curved back), 10 reps; 2 black or 1 red cord
• Knee stretch (arched back), 10 reps; 2 black or 1 red cord
• Elephant, 10 reps; 1 red cord
• Mermaid, 5 reps each side; 1 red cord
• Sit up, 10 reps; 1 red cord (choke up handles)
• Obliques, 5 reps each side; 1 red cord (choke up handles)

• Cool down: Pelvic tilt toes, 10 reps; 2 red cords
• Cool down: Running, 20 reps; 2 red cords

• Standing work, Side split, 5 reps each side; 1 black cord
• Standing work, Dynamic plié, 5 reps each side; 1 black cord
• Standing work, Side split with rotation, 5 reps each side; 2 black or 1 black and 1 yellow cord
• Standing work, Skater, 5 reps each side; 2 black or 1 black and 1 yellow cord
• Standing work, Lunge, 5 reps each side; 1 red or 2 black cords

Referring back to my post on cord tension, recall:

• yellow: 10-16 lbs
• black: 16-24 lbs
• red: 22-34lbs.
• Minimum tension is measured at 15” of stretch, maximum tension is measured at 30” of stretch

fitness goal: avoid this

Goals? How about avoid THIS

You can see she’s not overweight. People always think it’s that people eat McDo all the time.

She doesn’t.

True, in addition to inheriting heart disease, mum had congenital lupus. The lupus caused her pancreas to implode about 12 years ago, rendering her type 1 diabetic.

Two years ago, the lupus attacked her GI tract and she acquired Crohn’s and Ulcerative Colitis.

She’s got a lot going on for a 66 year old.

I’d prefer to skip all of that.

I’ve got my own shite.

Get Reformed: Reformer exercise chart

My Reformer came with a MASSIVE wall chart. It’s large, true, but they’ve crammed so many exercises on it, I can’t really read it unless my nose is pressed against it anyway! I refolded it and stored it with the assembly ‘destructions.’ I thought it was funny how much they crammed on it, though 🙂

You Are Your Own Gym (yayog)

Android

iPhone

Firstly, I did not read the book by Mark Lauren. I’m reading Bryn Greenwood’s “Last Will,” a George R.R. Martin book and a few non-fics right now. It takes a long time for me to get through any book but reading several at a time means longer!

BUT: I’m doing the workouts!

For TWO DOLLARS, I bought the app (after reading rave reviews). It’s on Android in Google Play and iPhone. Let me say (in case you haven’t clicked the Mark Lauren direct link), it’s about working out for strength USING YOUR OWN BODY and no equipment. Granted, I’ve used a towel, a chair and a table across two workouts but the idea is it’s no “equipment.”

Allow me to backtrack:

I was never athletic as a child or in school (almost never–at age 15, somebody handed me a shillelagh and told me to drive a heavy wooden ball past kids…my school didn’t have a TEAM but regionals tried to recruit me; turns out, if you needed a rough and tumble kid, one who grew up working on a ranch 4 hours a day for over 10 years was a good choice: push people out of the way? Try a COW or pitching 70lb bales of hay around!).

I began working out at uni. I worked and was a full-time student. Nowadays, that’s like 12 hours a week. I had 28 credit hours one semester.  I didn’t live at home. I’d spent my life working on a ranch, then suddenly SITTING ALL THE TIME felt WEIRD! I discovered that I love fitness. Sometimes I’m fatter and sometimes I’m thinner. Sometimes my health permits me to do what I want and sometimes it doesn’t. Right now, I’m not allowed to lift heavy weights. I’m going through a different kind of circuit: loads of medical tests and appointments. Just as I was getting ready to figure out some kind of theraband something (maybe fire up the old p90x discs), I stumbled across YAROG.

I’m super-impressed. For one thing, let’s say you weren’t interested in the guided workout programs:

1. Basic (this is where I am; I can do more of somethings and hardly do other exercises, so it’s right for me now)
2. First Class (intermediate)
3. Master (advanced)
4. Chief (only for elite)

As always, nobody as yet has given me a damned thing for free for doing my reviews 🙂 …I’d gladly accept it but nobody has. That’s the problem with running a non-business site, I suppose.

Where was I?

We were talking about how you’re not interested in 4 levels of guided (4 days a week for 10 weeks each) programs.

I’m doing Ladders. That means they show you (video) what to do, tell you to get ready, you do reps (the amount they told you to do), click “done.” Next, they give a rest countdown. I run in place during rests cos I’m ADHD. Repeat til the workout is done.

This is FANTASTIC because a) I forget where I am otherwise b) it’s easy to lose track of time between work/ rest sections. Ain’t gonna happen with YAYOG. It’s like having a coach doing any of the brain stuff, so you can focus on form.

But you weren’t interesting in that for $2.

Okay, they have custom workout timers. I’ve had a Tabata timer for ages (in iPhone years, that means 4 or 5). I guess I can delete that one…

1. Interval Sets (traditional)
2. Super Sets (power)
3. 4 Step Ladders (endurance — this is what my basic wos consist of)
4. Stappers (timed circuit training)
5. Tabatas (HIIT, high intensity interval training that lasts 8 minutes with specified work times and rest times)

And ya know, if you’re just looking for something to do, there are over 200 exercises detailed and shown as videos for form/ instruction.

For $2. Sold! I’m all over this.

I’ve done 2 workouts:

My screen shot on phone chops off part of the detail since upgraded to iOS6–apologies. I don’t want to buy a phone so I can see all of something. The top that’s cut-off is chair pushups. You can see it says 1. I did 24. Learning curve.

Figured it out for the others! Those let me ups KICKED MY ARSE. Good grief! You can see I did more than they asked on the middle two. Again, I’m stronger in some things and not as strong in others. I’ll get stronger!

To mix things up, I chopped off the bottom of this one ::rolls eyes:: It was swimmers, a core exercise where you’re lying on your belly and lift your right arm and left leg, hold, then opposite for one rep. I did 33/ 36. It’s not that I’d reached failure but that’s a really uncomfortable position for me (I was on a thick yoga mat on carpeting) and it said in details to hold at top to make it harder–so I held them longer.
After this workout, I went directly outside and ran 1 mile as fast as I could. It’s considered steep hills/ trail running. It took 12:59. The voice on my Nike+ said 12:58 but the activity section added a minute. I try to give myself the least credit. 🙂

That was this weekend’s LiveFit Revolution Cardio Challenge: how fast can you cover a mile. I’m not very fast but that’s okay. I’ll say this: starting right after working the lower body was, WOT?!