How I Lost 8 Pounds In 4 Weeks With Total Gym

// I may earn money from the companies mentioned in this post. //

I have been in a battle with my weight since the day I was born. Literally – I was 10 pounds, 10 ounces!

My entire life has been an endless round of gain and lose over and over again.

I was incredibly proud when, about a year before my wedding, I finally got my bad eating habits under control and learned to exercise the right way.

I lost over 70 pounds and, more importantly, felt amazing and strong.

Then, I had a really, really difficult first pregnancy and gained 100 pounds.

After Melanie was born, she was so hard to parent that all self-care fell by the wayside as I just tried to cope and keep my head above water for those first two years.

After she mellowed out, I realized that I finally had the time and energy to focus on my health and fitness again… and promptly lost 50 pounds in about seven months!

How I Lost 8 Pounds In 4 Weeks With Total Gym

I was so excited!

Then, I got pregnant with Finn and, true to form, gained back those 50 pounds that I had lost. UGH.

Since his birth, I've managed to lose 20 pounds. Mostly notably, I lost 8 pounds in 4 weeks with Total Gym and I'm sharing with you how I did it.

First things first, I freaking LOVE my Total Gym.

I have the XLS model with the ab attachments and having been working out with it for a month.

I also have a collection of the accompanying Total Gym DVDs and a bag of the protein shake mix in vanilla.

I used a combination of the products to lose 8 pounds in 4 weeks.

And here's the kicker… I did it without changing the way that I ate over the holiday season at all.

In fact, I didn't even bother to track my food or count calories.

I lost the 8 pounds purely by adding Total Gym workouts to my daily routine.

Hit Or Miss

Up until that point, I had been really hit or miss on working out.

Some days, I did cardio and body weight strength training but most of the time… I'd talk myself out of it.

It was a lot of work to pull out all the equipment and keep myself motivated.

I was really struggling.

Enter Total Gym! I keep mine set up in the living room with my extra components in a basket next to it.

All I have to do is pop in a DVD and, in 6 to 30 minutes, I get a great strength training and cardio circuit work out.

Get Started

In the beginning, I carefully watched and followed the “Get Started” DVD to learn how to use my machine safely and to it's maximum capacity.

Then I branched out to using the full length beginner workout DVD + doing one to two workouts from the express 6-8 minute workout DVD.

I did that three times a week. On alternate days, I did the core workout and ab workout DVDs for a total of 5 days of exercising.

If I had time on the weekends, I'd try to sneak in a quick ab workout using the Total Gym training deck.

Take It Easy

In the beginning, I took it easy and kept my Total Gym on a low incline (1 or 2) and didn't push myself until I'd learned to safely use all the components of the machine.

That took about a week, after which, I upped the leg portions of the workouts to a 5 (out of 6 levels) and the core and arm portions to a 3.

Oh, man! I really felt those workouts!

I was really impressed that after a few days of working out – I could feel my muscles getting stronger.

I was able to do more reps of each of the workouts and had a lot more control on the ones that were difficult for me.

Here's a rundown of my workouts and incline routines:

Monday:

Beginner Workout with Legs at a 5 incline and arms/core at a 3

1 or 2 workouts from the 6-8 minute express workout DVD at a 5 incline

Tuesday:

AbCrunch DVD (do beginner level all the way through) on a 2 incline

Core Centric DVD (modifying workouts as needed) on a 2 incline

Wednesday:

Beginner Workout with Legs at a 5 incline and arms/core at a 3

1 or 2 workouts from the 6-8 minute express workout DVD at a 5 incline

Thursday:

AbCrunch DVD (do beginner level all the way through) on a 2 incline

Core Centric DVD (modifying workouts as needed) on a 2 incline

Friday:

Beginner Workout with Legs at a 5 incline and arms/core at a 3

1 or 2 workouts from the 6-8 minute express workout DVD at a 5 incline

Saturday/Sunday:

Extra ab or core workout at a 2 incline

OR

1 set of as many reps as possible for 30 seconds from the training deck

And sure, I'm still SUPER fat and have a long, long way to go.

But y'all – I'm proud of myself since two pounds a week is right on track with recommended healthy weight loss.

I found a great piece of equipment that allows me to fit in a full strength training + cardio workout while my son naps and my daughter watches a show on her tablet.

Here's my before and after stats:

Weight (before):

210.2

Weight (after):

202.2

Body Fat % (before):

45.1%

Body Fat % (after):

43.7%

*I forgot to measure my waist, chest, hips for a before and after.

My biggest success of all were a few Non-Scale Victories:

• My shirts and pants aren't as tight.
• I was able to move to a smaller sports bra that clasps in back instead of pulls over my head
• I was able to start pulling myself up from a sitting position using my core instead of pushing myself up with my hands.

Want to improve your health and fitness, too?

Get your Total Gym XLS for 10% off (there's a handy payment plan option!)

+ a FREE AbCrunch and DVD
+a FREE bag of FIT BLAST Vanilla Protein Shake
+FREE Total Gym Core Workout DVD.

Shop this link to get started!
Let's get fit, y'all!