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Wellness > Health

Lose the Freshman 15: Yoga Toning for Summer

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Hi collegiettes™!jm1

My cleaning frenzy that I talked about yesterday was for the sole purpose of clearing your space to clear your mind so that you have an easier time focusing on your goals; however, I managed to lose focus and didn’t mention anything about my weekly weigh in. Oy vey!

First, let’s do a quick recap: So far in my journey to lose the the freshman 15 with the Jump Start Diet, I’ve lost 11 pounds. Last week, I was disappointed that my weight loss  stopped there when I found out at my weigh in that I lost a total of zero pounds. Awesome. Today, it’s 1 lb, and althought I’m not jumping for joy, but I’m certainly not upset either. jm2

SELF has designed this program so that you lose about 2 lbs. a week, so I’m not disapponinted in the least! It’s better than nothing and I’ve learned to celebrate my small victories along my journey!

This small victory brings my weight loss to date to a total of 12 lbs. lost and my level of motivation and persistance at an all time high as well.

A few weeks ago I set short and long term goals for maintaining my healthy diet and exercise, and along with the 45 minutes of cardio and 15 minutes of jump roping I put in Monday to Friday, I predicted my future body forecast— a hot bod forecast actually.

With the Maryland weather teases of spring, I can only think of an equation of the light and more revealing spring and summer wardrobe with my not-so-toned arms and shoulders ahead:

Sleeveless shirts + flabby arms = not cute


To tackle this equation, I’m turning to creator of the Jump Start Diet, Jillian Michaels–America’s toughest trainer–for some yoga inspired stretches to incorporate into my daily routine. With these six moves that require no equiptment, your own body weight is used to tone your body. I’ve picked two stretches in particular to target my arms and shoulders because looking into my closet, I see I have plenty of sleeveless tops!

What do you do to tone up? Let me know! Leave a comment below, e-mail me at allylopez@hercampus.com or  Tweet  me (@allylopez).

If you’d like to join me in my healthy, happy weight loss (and please do), go register for the Jump Start Diet on SELF.com and be sure to use the SELF logs to keep track of your daily workout and meals, which is an awesome way to keep track of your calorie intake and how much you’re burning off!

Love,
Ally

To follow Ally’s journey on the Jump Start Diet, check out her out on Twitter (@allylopez), and while you’re at it, follow the latest news from SELF (@SELFmagazine) and Her Campus (@HerCampus)!

Ally is a senior print journalism major at the University of Maryland, College Park with a concentration in magazine journalism. In addition to blogging for the Her Campus and SELF magazine “Lose the Freshman 15” program, she writes for the sex & dating section of College Magazine. Her previous internships include being a UMD “style guru” for the Web site CollegeFashionista, an editorial intern for ARCHITECT and eco-structure magazines, as well as a copy editing intern for The Working Press, a daily tabloid that covered the Society of Professional Journalists’ 2010 national convention. Additionally, she has contributed to the USA TODAY College blog. When she isn’t in her bubble of journalism, Ally enjoys spending time with her family and friends, spending insane amounts of money at the mall, and watching every flavor of the Real Housewives.