Motivational Monday

After being sick all last week, I definitely need a pick me up this morning. I lost a lot of motivation last week in regards to the blog and working out. I’m really trying to get it back though. I lost a little ground on my no sugar pledge because when you’re sick, all you want is comfort food, right? Well, after a couple hits of yummy yummy sugary goodness, I’m back on track. The end of the month is tomorrow, so Wednesday I will tell yall how I did on all my goals and make some new ones. Until then, here is some motivation:

 

 

Really need to remember this one.

 

Stay sweaty, my friends!

 

7/19/2012 Workout…abs and jump rope

I found a fantastic ab routine that throws in your cardio for you. I absolutely love it, and its great for a light workout if you really pushed yourself the day before. A great active recovery work out. You can tweak the time, but it calls for 60 seconds of each exercise. I did not rest for the 30 seconds in between because I wanted a little more cardio feel to the workout. The less time you rest between exercises, the higher your heart rate stays. The other great thing about this workout is that its quick!

Stay sweaty, my friends!

Training Tuesday

One of the most asked questions in the fitness world is, “Should I do cardio before or after weight training?” There are all sorts of opinions and ideas out there, and after some research and my own findings and studies, here is what I’ve come up with:

If your goal is weight loss: People usually find that they lose weight faster at the beginning if they start with cardio. Its a little easier on their bodies, and people who are beginners usually get tired more quickly when they are lifting weights. Since you can walk on a treadmill, bike, or be on an elliptical longer than you can lift a barbell, the majority of the calories lost comes from the cardio part of your workout.

If your goal is to build strength and/or muscle size: Cardio after your resistance training would be a good option here, and cardio on a different day or a different part of the day would be even better. You need your energy for the heavy things you’ll be lifting up and putting down, so a hard cardio session before wouldn’t make much sense. And then you can get all science-y and say your glycogen levels would be depleted, but let’s just stick to laymen’s terms.

If your goal is to increase cardiovascular endurance: I think this one might be a little obvious…do cardio to increase cardiovascular endurance. Weight train on a different day.

If your goal is to improve overall health or maintain what you’ve got: Your best option here would be to do whatever works best in your schedule. You can’t really go wrong with either option if you’re just looking to improve or maintain health. I like doing my hard cardio on a completely separate day from weight training because both are pretty intense, and I’m always too tired to do one after the other.

In my opinion, if you’re actually doing both cardio and resistance training, you’re golden.  Some people don’t realize that resistance training increases your metabolism, and on some occasions, can burn more calories than cardio.

If you want to read more in depth articles, here are some of the ones I looked at :

http://www.outlawfitnesshq.com/cardio-before-or-after-weights

http://sportsmedicine.about.com/od/training/a/ExerciseOrder.htm

http://weighttraining.about.com/od/techniquesandstrategies/a/cardio_weights.htm

Stay sweaty, my friends!

7/16/ 2012 Workout…still workin’ the legs

Today begins the fourth week of this 4 week challenge I gave myself (and Tracy since she has no choice in what we do during workouts muahahaha).  I am now able to get through every exercise on the list, my jumps are longer (long jumps), and I’m about to increase my weight on the Smith Machine squats. My legs look awesome and my butt is freakin’ fantastic. My only regret is that I didn’t take a before picture. I want to show you the results instead of just telling you. (And no, I don’t just want to show you my butt, that would be totally inappropriate.) There are still things I’m not able to do yet, like jump rope for 5 minutes (that’s just ridiculous), or speed skate for 2 minutes, 3 times, but I can tell I’m improving. So, after this week is done, I will tweak the work out and go another four weeks. I will increase weights, and tweak times and maybe get rid of somethings that I don’t really see as necessary. This time, I will take pictures just to see if I make any more progress.

Just as a reminder, this is what the workout looks like: (I’ll tell you what I do to the side)

• 4 x 12 Smith Machine Squats/30 box jumps/rest 60 seconds (35 lbs on each side/20 box jumps)
• 3 x 20 Long Jumps (I didn’t do these today, but normally do)
• 4 x 12 Bulgarian Squat (30 lbs barbell on my shoulders)
• 4 x 20 Four Point Hops (I always do these, I just think they are fun)
• 3 x 20 Reverse Dumbbell Lunges/20 forward lunges/rest 30 seconds (alternate legs) (10 lb dumbbells today, normally don’t use them.)
• 3 x 2 minutes Plated Speed Skaters (2 x 60 reps, not seconds, no plate)
• 3 x 1 minute Line Jumps (I will be taking these out of the workout)
• 4 x 100 Speed Squats/10 X Jumps (50 squats/10 x jumps, once)

Next week, I will be adding 10 lbs to each side on the squats, keeping the long jumps, adding 10 lbs to the barbell on Bulgarian squats, adding a 5 lb plate to the hops, keeping the lunges the same because LUNGES SUCK, adding a plate to the speed skaters, taking out the line jumps and doing the squats and x-jumps 2-3 times through.

Stay sweaty, my friends!

Weekend update on challenges

The weekend is ALWAYS the hardest part of the week to keep up your determination and strong will to accomplish your goals. Especially if your goals are fitness based. At least, that’s true for me…

This weekend was really no different. I did not work out either day, but that’s what I had planned to do. Workout the five weekdays and rest on the weekends. Maybe I need to change it to workout four weekdays and one weekend day because I needed some stress relief this weekend. Saturday, Little Man decided he was going to act very 2. If you have kids, you know this means temper tantrums, asserting independence, and all around mischievousness.  After our day of nothing but time-outs and favorite toys going in Mommy’s closet, both of us needed a little break from home. We went to Kincaid’s burgers, and friends, I had a strawberry shake. After 5 days, I broke my no sugar goal. 😦 I felt bad at first, but then realized that I’m only human. At first, I saw it as a failure, but then realized that I had gone 5 whole days without sugar and that was something to be celebrated (not with the shake, but by letting myself off the whole guilt train). It is ok to stumble off your path every now and then, as long as you don’t stray too far. Get back on track as soon as you trip and you’ll be fine. My shake was a wonderful treat, and yesterday I didn’t have any sugar and today at the grocery store, it only went in the basket if it had no sugar or the sugar content was natural.  (And P.S. Those things that say “no sugar added” or “no sugar” are pumped full of artificial sweeteners that are worse for you than sugar is. Read the labels. If you see anything ending in “ose” such as fructose, glucose, dextrose, sucrose, and maltose, know these are all sugar. And do not get anything that has “sugar alcohol.” So bad for you.)

I want to post my “mess-ups” just as much as I want to post my successes to show you guys that “to err is human.” Beating yourself up over mistakes is going to make you feel horrible and odds are, that feeling will lead to more of the same mistake. Forgive yourself and make changes to where its harder to mess up next time.

Stay sweaty, my friends!

Motivational Monday

Happy Monday y’all!! I hope your Friday the 13th was easy and not doomed. If it was, I bet you’re needing a little motivation this morning. Here you go! And remember, these posters don’t always have to deal with working out. You can usually apply them to anything going on in your life.

Keep dancing my friends!

Stay sweaty, my friends!

Day 4 of July goals challenge…

Today was bad in the craving sugar department, y’all. It was literally all I could think about all afternoon. I picked my son up from his preschool and we went to the mall to get Mommy some new awesome running shoes, and I got him a yummy snack and I just stared at it while he enjoyed every morsel. I had water. Yum. I did not cave, but oh my gosh, I wanted to. We came home and I had a handful of grapes before I started dinner. That seemed to soothe the savage beast. I’m starting to think about those Fruit Loops in there, just calling my name and I’m getting a headache, so I’d better grab some more water. You know what they say:

On a positive note, I have worked out four days in a row (my body feels sore, but awesome), and this is my 5th blog this week. I’m right on track to get these goal knocked out. Haven’t touched the frames that need finishing, but I’ve got a little while to do that.  Besides craving something sweet (and processed) to eat, I feel great!

How are y’all doing on your goals?

Stay sweaty, my friends!

Thirsty Thursday

Let’s talk about alcohol and weight loss. If you are trying to lose weight, drinking alcohol may not be the best idea.  Alcohol contains about 7 calories per gram, which is considerably more than the 4 cal/g carbohydrate and protein. Now  that may not seem like a lot you, but it is when you consider that alcohol has nothing else to contribute nutrition-wise.

Here are some facts about alcohol and weight loss:

• Alcohol is not a carbohydrate.
• Your body processes alcohol first, before fat, protein, or carbs. Thus drinking slows down the burning of fat. This could account for the weight gain seen in some studies.
• Hard liquor is distilled and thus contains no carbohydrates. The current “Zero Carb” campaign for vodka and whiskey is crap and may encourage mindless consumption. It’s like bragging that a candy bar is “cholesterol-free.”
• When grapes are made into wine, most of the fruit sugars (carbs) convert to alcohol, but a few carbs remain. A 5-ounce glass of wine typically contains 110 calories, 5 grams of carbohydrates, and about 13 grams of alcohol (which accounts for 91 of the calories). A 5-ounce glass of wine supplies roughly the same amount of alcohol and number of calories as a 12-ounce light beer or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof spirits.
• Beer, too, contains carbohydrates. The new low-carb beers are not new at all, though this type of beer does indeed have fewer carbs. Low-carb beers are simply the old light beers with a new label and ad campaign. The old Miller Lite has 96 calories and 3.2 grams of carbs in 12 ounces. The “low-carb” Michelob Ultra has 96 calories and 2.6 grams of carbs. Coors Lite has 102 calories and 5 grams of carbs. The differences are tiny—hardly worth mentioning. In contrast, a regular beer has 13 grams of carbs and 150 calories.  (bullet points provided by shapefit.com)

The point is that when you are trying to lose weight, you do not need these empty calories. Empty because they do absolutely nothing for you, and actually hurt the fat burning process.

If you do feel the need to drink here are some low calorie cocktails and a chart for the carb content of some alcoholic beverages. Remember though, just because it it low in carbs, DOES NOT MEAN IT IS HEALTHY. DO NOT GET THOSE FACTS CONFUSED. The amount of calories in alcoholic beverages comes from the alcohol not the carbs. These drinks are still fairly high in calories, and we all know that you don’t drink just one. (And not to mention whatever it is that you mix them with….and the fact that you eat more when you drink. Bar food is a horrible weight loss deterrent.)

Top 5 Low Calorie Cocktails To Drink

#1. LIGHT BEER (12 ounce bottle):

• Calories: 110
• Carbs: 4.5 grams
• Fat: 0 grams
• Protein: 0 grams

#2. CHAMPAGNE (4.2 ounce glass):

• Calories: 95
• Carbs: 1.6 grams
• Fat: 0 grams
• Protein: 0.3 grams

#3. RED or WHITE WINE (4.2 ounce glass):

• Calories: 80
• Carbs: 1.5 gram
• Fat: 0 grams
• Protein: 0 grams

#4. JACK DANIELS (single shot):

• Calories: 55
• Carbs: 0 grams
• Fat: 0 grams
• Protein: 0 grams

#5. VODKA (single shot):

• Calories: 55
• Carbs: 0 grams
• Fat: 0 grams
• Protein: 0 grams

Alcohol Item (serving size)	Carbs (g)
Beer, regular (12 fl oz)	13g
Beer, light (12 fl oz)	4.5g
Wine, red (3.5 fl oz)	1.75g
Wine, rose (3.5 fl oz)	1.5
Wine, white (3.5 fl oz)	1g
Cider, dry (1 pint)	15g
Gin, Rum, Vodka, Whisky (1 fl oz)	0g
Sherry (2 fl oz)	3g
Port (2 fl oz)	6g
Guinness (1/2 pint)	4g

Day 1 1/2 of goals challenge…

I want to keep y’all up to day on how I’m doing with this no sugar and working out 5 days a week thing. Once I start the cleanse, I will keep you updated on that, too.

I started the no sugar thing around noon yesterday and I did great until about 4:30. I was craving some serious something…and I had a bit of a headache. I drank some water and started dinner.  The dish I made for dinner had apples in it, so I figured the natural sugar would calm my craving. Nope…after my boot camp, I caved and ate the little bit of banana pudding that was left. (See, I’m human.) I looked at the bowl and told myself that I would most definitely start in the morning.

Today, I woke up and did not have the Fruit Loops I desperately wanted. Score 1 for me! I went and worked out so I’m on track for 5 days in a row. Lunch was no problem, but I don’t normally eat sugar at lunch. It is breakfast, snack time and after dinner that are my weak spots. So I had to take Little Man to get some blood drawn (nothing serious, his doc just requires some tests done) and since he was so brave, I took him to get an M&M McFlurry. I did not touch one bite!!! SCORE 2!! I always eat at least half, and as I sat there staring at the tiny chocolate treats swirling in the yummy vanilla ice cream, I told it that it wasn’t going to win. So I just drank my water and watched Little Man conquer the Play Place. For dinner, I made yummy turkey burgers, sweet potato fries and avocado. Here’s something that sucks…ketchup is like pure sugar. Its ok, the fries were good enough to be eaten without it. I made such a good dinner that I’m sitting here two hours later, still satisfied. I can feel the desire to snack sneaking up on me, but I will be going to bed undefeated by sugar tonight. The score will be 3-0.  I am having some issues with headaches, but I’m hoping after a week and some more water, they will go away.

Wish me luck…a month is a long time to turn down the Teddy Grahams your son is so selflessly trying to share.

Stay sweaty, my friends!

July Goals

I was reading one of my favorite blogs Sweatygirlconfessions.com and one of the recent blogs was setting goals for July. I think she called it her July challenge, but I really like the idea of setting monthly goals. They don’t all have to be fitness based (although some of them should be), and some of them can be just to make yourself step outside your comfort zone.  I came up with my own goals for July and since I’m posting them on the Internet, I have to keep up with them. Y’all will keep me accountable.  Since my hubby is coming home from Afghanistan in August, most of my goals will be fitness and diet based so I can knock his combat boots off when he sees me 😉

1. Be able to complete each workout on the three day leg workout.  I know I talk about this workout all the time, but I’m in love with it and its so freakin challenging! By the end of July, I WILL be doing all the reps, all the sets, all the weights.
2. Cut all extra sugar out of my diet. I tried this sugar detox thing already and kinda failed miserably. I’m challenging myself again and will stick to it. That means no fruit loops for breakfast, no bites of Little Man’s ice cream, no neighbor’s yummy banana pudding (she brought me some yesterday and it was FANTASTIC!) Natural sugar is acceptable.
3. Try a cleanse. I keep saying I want to try a 48 hour cleanse, and now I have to since its written down. Mostly, I want to try one so I can give my clients something to try to help them kick start their healthy eating habits. I won’t ever tell them to do something that I haven’t already tried myself.  I also just want to rid my body of some of the crap I know its carrying around. I’m thinking Dr. Oz’s weekend cleanse looks good since its actual food and not just juice. I cannot live on just juice.
4. Work out all 5 weekdays. Since we started the three day leg workout, I’ve neglected my upper body, abs (well, kinda since they get worked a little with all the jumping), and running. Its time to show some love to the other areas of my body. And since my body needs rest days, they will be on the weekend.
5. Finish all the projects I have around the house. I have pictures to be hung, pallets to be painted, frames to be antiqued, all taking up space on my counters. Pinterest has made me an ADD crafter lol. And I’m not even a crafter. 🙂
6. Find new, healthy recipes. I’m a pretty decent cook, but I’m in a rut right now and keep cooking the same things every week. Little Man doesn’t really mind since he only eats part of what I cook anyway, but my taste buds are screaming for something new.
7. Blog at least four days a week.  I’ve been neglecting the blog, but now that I have things to talk about…cleanses and sugar detoxes…I should have no problem writing about them.

Ok, so those are my 7 goals for July. They seem easy enough, but you know when the thrill of getting started has worn off, it gets hard to keep on track. Wish me luck, and let me know I’ve inspired you to jot down some goals.

Stay sweaty, my friends!