Yoga-Free Awesome Online videos

YOGA. I have such a love and respect for it. Seriously. It is amazing! It gets into every muscle, every strength you have, every stretch, and even better is it gets into your soul and your mind and your heart and your breathing and your life. THAT is what makes yoga stand out among all other forms of exercise. Because yeah, the other workouts use your body and your mind. But in a totally different way. They don't connect them and they definitely don't create or breed the same thoughts and positivity that yoga does. And more than anything else, yoga teaches self-acceptance and love for where you are at every moment of life. Nothing beats that.

My love-love relationship with yoga started to develope while I was still in school and pregnant with my first girl. I was taking both yoga and pilates. I think I was doing yoga 3 days a week and pilates the other two days. That was the best thing about being pregnant and in school at the same time. I could take these awesome fitness classes and actually make it a part of my day. Fit pregnancy?SINCH. Not so much anymore. THATS WHY THESE VIDEOS ARE AWESOME!

I would HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend yoga to any pregnant woman no matter how far along or how early along and even to those who are having a few complications (except bed rest) because generally fitness helps improve everything healthwise. It helps so much! My back was killing when I first started the class and so I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to do some of the poses, but everything can be modififed and simplified or you can always just go back into downward dog or child's pose. I still had back pain, but it helped immensely and I was in AWESOMEEEE shape with that first lovely babe! The flexibility and strengthening it encourages is perfect for a maternity body or a recovering body. Pretty much, yoga is just perfect, and you should seriously try it out. These videos have all different levels of difficulty. And just incase you have been misinformed, yoga can be hard! Not "can" be. Yoga is hard.  You are working the entire time, and if you are doing the poses correctly and mindfully you are going to feel it. So, don't give up if you realize it wasn't just a relaxing sit through and feel way better after kind of thing. Because that's not what yoga is about. Keep working at it, push yourself to just barely uncomfortable points, and you will begin to see a difference in so many aspects of your life. I don't only do yoga videos from this site, so you can definitely look elsewhere if you're not finding what you like. But, I'm guessing there is SOMETHING you'll like. Because there is a ton of stuff. Check it out and go do some yoga!!!
https://www.doyogawithme.com
It kind of looks like you need to create a log-in with them but you don't. Just scroll down to access the videos and hit play. They are also available for purchase if you love them that darn much.;)

My Top At-Home Video Workouts (and which ones I'd avoid)

I do not make it to the gym. ever. The last time I did was with girly number one. The biggest reason why is because I don't have a membeship. $$$ and TIME people. Both things that I don't have much of. If I had a membership, I'm sure I'd make it at least once a week, but honestly once my husband gets home and its around 5 or 6, I don't want to leave and go work out. I want to hang out with him and the girlies. With that being said, I still try really hard to keep fitness in my life. A lot of the time I do my own thing and make up my own workouts. But, when I'm pregnant is when that gets hardest. When I'm postpartum I am able to start running again or biking again(though not very soon after) and the amount I can do with weights and with movement of my body improves greatly!!! I love postpartum!!!! So, since I am currently a little more than halfway through my pregnancy sometimes all I can muster is the energy to youtube a workout and follow it as much as I can. The workouts I've listed below range in difficulty, but are all ones that will definitely give you a workout! I try to target each different part of my body when doing them by doing things like pairing a 15 minute back workout with a 15 minute core or a leg workout with arms, etc etc. My main goal during pregnancy is to stay fit, so that I can really do the work after the baby comes. It's not too look in the mirror and be like "Wow, i look freakin' good! my arms look amazing and ohhhhh my back is rippling." Yeah-------------NO. That's not even my goal between pregnancies. I think that will come when I'm completely done and I know the work I do will be kept and that I'll have the energy to keep it up, instead of a year later having a cute little baby blow my belly and abs out of the water yet again. So, if you are looking to stay insanely awesomely fit throughout all of your pregnancies this blog probably isn't for you! Back on track. Here are my "Yes" workouts.
Upper Body with Jackie
This lady can work it! Seriously, her workouts aren't easy but it makes you feel the oh so good type of sore.
CafeMom
Some of the things done in these workouts I don't really like, but overall I love all of her videos (there aren't many) because of the emphasis they all put on a strong lower body.ie. thighs, pelvis, core...all of the good stuff moms really do need to keep up with it all. I would also say that they are pretty good for even if you are later into your pregnancy. It's so important to keep your whole pelvic area in shape so that you have a easier and a safe delivery, and a faster recoup.
PopSugar Toughest Arms in Town with Anna
I LOVE all of the popsugar workout videos with anna! They are generally very fast and very effective and always give me new good ideas for isolating certain areas.
Full Body Bootcamp- Melissa Bender
This is the only one I have actually done of hers, and the video is a bit unprofessional but boy does she make you kick it. This is one I wouldn't recommend if you are very far along in your pregnancy. It's too hard with a huge belly!

As you can see my no videos are lacking, but I think that is a good thing. I have many memories of terrible videos I've actually done and thought I felt bigger and lazier afterwards, but I can't seem to find them, nor would Iwant to. I just want you to see these videos and let you know, whether you have kids or not, whether you are expecting or postpartum, WE CAN DO BETTER PEOPLE!!! Let's try to sweat a little, yeah? Breathe a little. Work a little. Burn a little and build a little :)

Denise Austin: Prenatal
No
Just NO. Okay? Tap it out and side step should not be spoken of anymore. We're pregnant, not sick or crippled. It really does bother me the amount of "prenatal workouts" I have seen that do NOTHING for our bodies. They make it seem like we can't move too much or really sweat or build too much or we will miscarry...in some people's cases that is true, but generally they know their situation and aren't trying to find workouts. I think during the actual pregnancy it is so important to keep up your muscle strength because your body is already stretching and loosening in so many ways, by the time the baby comes you're loosy goosey and you pull muscles easily and it's DEFINITELY harder to get back to where you were before---especially if it's not your first baby! It doesn't mean that we need to be losng weight and trying to lift heavier or anything---it means recognizing what we CAN do and doing it, even if its hard.

Prance it baby!
...

What THEEEE
Keep that face in shape!

FitnessBlender-Tabata
I really don't like the FitnessBlender workouts just because of how they produce them. It is just wayyyyy too slow and boring for me. I'm sure the workouts are great, but I wouldn't know because I can't get past the first minute of any of them. I posted the tabata one just because I wanted to comment on tabata. There are sooooo many people and companies that do tabata workout videos and I have done some awesome ones and some horrid ones. This is one more on the horrid side SOLELY because of how it is produced. If you are looking into tabata I would really pick something with a bit more energy throughout the workout, because there are quite a few just like this one---energyless.


These are all just my thoughts and opinions! Hopefully they help you find something that you like to help you get where you want to be!

Health Challenge

Doughnut.Chocolate chip cookie.snickers.brownie.banana bread.ice cream.

The list goes on. It's basically endless. I am wanting IT ALLLLL! Worse than with my last two pregnancies. About a year ago my sister-in-law introduced me to a health challenge and, though I didn't do too hot at it (people are crazy good at this kind of stuff!Remembering to wake up is hard enough for me and my girl yells it right in my ear), I loved how it helped me each day to do just a little bit better, and I always ended up doing at least a thing or two that I would have otherwise forgotten or just thrown to the back burner. Since then me and my mom and sisters did a holiday challenge that I altered a little bit to fit me better, and I just started a new challenge on Monday that I call my "Prego Challenge". There are a few things still left from the original challenge with my sister-in-law, and also quite a bit that I changed. Normally you do these with a group and you keep points, so at the given end date of the challenge you have winners. But, I am just going to do mine until the end of my pregnancy and having a brand new healthy baby and healthy me is prize enough for me to feel the desire to keep going with it. Let me just say, I waited until the end of my first trimester to start! There's no way I'd be able to even remotely think about this when I'm feeling sick. I will upload the pdf printable that I made up, and then realized I couldn't print multiples of because we are out of ink. So, I ended up just handwriting mine for the next couple of months, and you can see how I did that, because it's pretty :) Feel free to join me! Whether you are pregnant or not, it doesn't matter. Look at the tasks for each day, and change the ones you don't like to something you do like that you might be having a hard time doing. I'll explain each thing that I have on mine.

Yes, I know uncontent is not a word. But I make up words that make sense all of the time if I can't think of the real one at the time. Just thought I'd add this since that's where my challenge is. It's our front door. I'm that kind of person that needs things written and in front of me to stay optimistic and remember my goals. Corny????Probably, but I don't care because I love it ha ha.

Here's my hand-written challenge! You could easily do this if you happen to be out of ink too ;) I just cross out the letter of the day if I did the goal that day.

So, there is mine! I have the one for the month of July right behind that one. I will be going through October until my delivery! So, let me kind of explain this. There are twelve tasks or goals or whatever you want to call them. Mine are,

1. Minimum 7 hours of sleep per night.

2. Drink 48 oz. of water daily.

3. 3o minutes of exercise daily.

4. 2 servings of veggies.

5. 2 servings of fruit.

6. No soda or unhealthy drinks.

7. No fast food or unhealthy drinks.

8. No sweets.

9. No gossiping.

10. 10 minutes of scripture reading.

11. 1 physical compliment to myself.

12. 1 character compliment to myself.

Number one is so vital for me because even with 7 hours of sleep straight through, I'm lacking! When breast feeding, I don't count when I wake up to feed. Water...liquid of life! Of course it's on there. What a blessing we can drink that much, and have more at our disposal whenever we want it. Exercise has always been a top priority of mine, but after having kids it doesn't happen every day. But, I try to make it. If you don't like exercise, you can start out with 3 days a week or whatever you want. Fresh fruits and veggies and enough of them are things I think people easily forget about, and you think you eat plenty of it until you actually keep track of it. No soda or unhealthy drinks was on here from the original challenge and is pretty much a given point for me to make me feel good about myself. I pretty much only drink water, ever. But, I know a lot of people struggle with it! No sweets is definitely not a given. I lose that pretty much like every day because I have to at least eat some chocolate chips. Don't judge me! No gossiping is also a given for me since it's just not something I do on a regular base or on purpose, and also, I really have no one to gossip to or about except my girlies ha ;) But, when OTHER people are gossiping around me, it is always good to remember. The scripture reading is important to me, and if you are not religious you can read anything that you consider spiritually uplifting. The compliments to myself are needed during this time of my life! I feel and look like a mom, which I really can honestly say I NEVER wanted hahaha. But, I need to learn to love it. And having a mom character is AWESOME in the reality of things. My mom character beats out my prior character by leaps and bounds, even if it's not the funnest. Feel free to change whatever you want to what you need or can handle! This isn't anything intense, it is just to help you be a little bit healthier and a little bit happier each day, for an extended amount of time. I hope someone starts it! Let me know if you do, and then I won't feel alone in my chugging of one more glass of water and forcing myself to go to bed earlier than later ;)Printable PDF Health Challenge

Short Circuit Workouts

Hey there current mamas, past mamas and future mamas. I've created three separate circuits to help you start or end your day. Each take me give or take around 13 minutes depending on how things are going with the kiddos. I love them because I know I can get in a semi-decent workout in under 15 minutes. If you want a longer workout, combine them! Do two circuits or all three. The sections are in different colors. You can switch up the sections you do. Normally I stick with one circuit and don't switch around because doing that and other random things that come up(my babe falling and hitting her head). BUT, today I switched up each individual thing between two sections and just did all the ones I felt like my body wanted and needed and I loved that. To get in a minimum of 30 minutes workout a day, I also do Classical Stretch the Esmonde Technique, because my mom is awesome and gave me the season 4 disc. It it more relaxed but will really push your muscle endurance and strength. It sort of (in my mind) is a blend of Pilates and ballet. If you don't want to buy that, you can easy peasy youtube a 15 minute Pilates, yoga, strength or cardio workout. Whatever you want! Right now (I'm 23 weeks prego) with my hips aching like crazy and my lower back doing okay depending on the day, the 15 minutes cardio and and approx. 20 minute muscle endurance and strengthening is super perfect for me. Also, you can obviously switch these up however you want. I.E. turn frog jumps into whatever burpee you want. Switch up your push-up positioning. Diamond push-ups anyone? Yeah, no thanks for me! But if you can you DO IT. Instead of doing 15 second high-knees at every interval, just do walking high-knees. You can mix it up all you want however you want and turn it into something you would love. Hopefully this can just give you a base to start off with!
****I'm not trained in any way. I make this all up on my own and just thought I'd share my process with other people who might want a place to start. If something hurts in a sharp way instead of just a dull burning ache way, then stop the exercise and alter it or don't do it.
Circuit Workouts
comment with any questions on what any of my abbreviations mean!