Fitness Progress

So, I blogged about my new plan for fitness starting in the end of February. My plan was to do advanced Bar Method DVD's 3 times per week, along with 2-3 sessions of other workouts (I do RIPPED workouts at the local Y). I really wanted to see if I could sculpt my body like Bar Method claims it can.

It hasn't been easy to commit to this workout plan for the past 3 months, due to changes in schedule, family visits, out of town weekends, etc, but I completed my number one goal: do the Bar Method workouts at least three times per week. I had some major bumps along the way. I got a new birth control method that gave me severe headaches for a week. So bad that I actually cried through my workouts because the pain at my temples was so terrible. Then, I was severely dizzy for the next 3 weeks. I tried to fight through it, mostly working out like I planned, but my intensity wasn't there. So, I stopped the birth control and I'm mostly back to normal, but I've lost some progress from not being able to work out as hard.

Also, my nutrition has kind of sucked. I've been addicted to sugar, requiring dessert almost every day. The dizziness made me lay on the couch and eat way too much. So, my waist line has hardly improved.. There was some initial improvement after 2 months, but not so much this last month. I did take before pictures, but I'll wait to post them after 6 months or something because I'm just not feeling it right now.

However, I have noticed a lot of positive improvements:
--My muscle tone and shape.. my thighs, hips, and arms have never felt so good. I'm kind of obsessed. My booty is totally lifted. My triceps are tight and muscular. My legs are actually shapely (not that they were a big problem before). Some of these improvements won't show so much on the camera, but I feel them for sure. One problem is that I definitely still have some meat on my bones, especially in the shoulder and rib cage area.. so muscle definition is not quite there.
--Fitness improvement. My push-up ability has vastly improved. Doing slow push-ups eliminates momentum, so it's all you and your muscles. I can actually do tricep push-ups now too!
--More focus on my posture. I shrug my shoulders really bad, and it causes some major knots in my shoulders, so this should help after a long time of practice.
--Feeling more feminine. I love the shape my muscles are taking. It's not manly to be lean and toned.. I like to look graceful!
--Confidence. Because of some of the changes in my body, I'm feeling more confident about myself.

Anyways, I am a believer in this workout method! I did try a couple of other barre-style workouts as well: Physique57 and Barre3. P57 was intense, but I didn't think it had enough stretching. Barre3 was kind of a sneaky one because I didn't think it was very intense while I was doing it (although it did make me sweat), but I was definitely sore afterwards. All 3 of these workouts have online videos, so check them out if you're interested! One negative I do find is that some of my pants are a little tighter in the legs and the booty than they used to be, so I'll have to find a cut that fits me better now. But, if I have to sacrifice some of my old jeans for a new, lifted butt, I'll do it..