What is the first step in making a healthy lifestyle change? MOVE! Just start moving. One of my biggest pet peeves is the person who will willingly wait 10 minutes for the parking space located up front when in the meantime they could have done some good for their heart simply by walking a whole 3 parking spaces further! For crying out loud people-No wonder we're so fat! Obesity in the WORLD (not just U.S. any more) is becoming an epidemic. Today about 63% of men and women (equally represented) are considered to be obese. From 1962 to 2000 that stat went from 13% to 31%-yikes-and now look where we "sit" (no pun intended)...63%! Shocking! Here's one for you~And compared to the last two decades childhood obesity has tripled! I simply sum this all up with one word. CHOICE!Note: Please know that I do get the whole genetics thing and thyroid thing. (For the sake of some credibility I was a health and biology major in college and taught high school.) And yes, in some cases I do extend my bleeding heart to those of you out there who are challenged with these types of health scenarios. However, don't tell me you have a flippin' thyroid problem while sipping on Diet Coke! Please...Just MOVE!
FYI: BMI or "Body Mass Index" is a general way to calculate body fatness. If you are not familiar with this term I encourage you to read THIS. To calculate your BMI click HERE.
LOVE THIS!
Here is my philosophy when it comes to exercise. First of all, like I've been saying through out this post, JUST MOVE! From there if you really want to see changes in your body, and I can't emphasize this enough, YOU MUST ADD WEIGHT RESISTANCE EXERCISES TO YOUR ROUTINE! In my area Zumba has been flooding the fitness world in a big way. Which if you haven't taken a Zumba class I highly recommend doing so! I think many people have been able to connect with this "new" type of exercise class and have probably seen some great success in their weight loss. Cool, awesome, fabulous BUT...classes like Zumba, step, spin, etc. are cardio based. Which is of course good but what comes next? You either get bored, you have a schedule change (welcome to life) or you hit "the plateau".
There is a name for those cardio addicted people and they are called Cardo Junkies. They must breath hard and sweat in order to get a good workout. I know cuz I used to be a bit of one until after my first baby. I have several friends who can run 5 miles, no prob, but when asked to do 25 push ups or a Pilate's roll up...there's no way. Please don't get me wrong. Any physical activity is great, but if you're looking for the full meal deal you must add weight and core exercises. Note to my friends who attend my Tues & Fri. classes-you are getting the full meal deal SUPERSIZED! I love you! You are all rockstars for working so hard!:)
How I feel about exercise....
1) Don't get married to your routine~VARIETY!
2) When strength training don't perform your reps too quickly. If you do reps too quickly you will use momentum instead of muscle power.
3) Don't exercise too hard too often. Your body needs time for repair. Mix your routine with shorter harder workouts (20 min) with longer easier workouts (40-60min)
4) Train in intervals (run 2 min at a "6" then walk 3 min. or up the incline) Also, be careful not to use the handrails to hold/support you. That's cheating!
5) "Weight" your lifting~make sure you are lifting the appropriate amount of weight. I see this in my classes ALL the time. People will use 5lbs weight for 3mo. before they will let themselves move up to 8lbs. Don't sell yourself short. Try it! You can always go back. I personally like to do less reps of heavier weights.
6) My favorite~ATTITUDE! Like I said before, exercise sucks but trust me, you look much prettier sweating with a smile on your face!
Fitness routine fit for a Princess:
(I love variety and I don't mind working out by myself.)
Mon.~Intense independent workout-interval jog, 20 min., stair climber 10min, rowing 5 min., strength train arms
Tues~step class with 15 min. additional independent core training
Wed.~20-30 min. walk and Pilate's class
Thurs.~Zumba class, strength train arms
Fri.~Intense independent workout (30 min), and 15-30min. of leg strength training
Sat.~Yoga
My advice: If you belong to a gym, please USE IT! Don't be scared to ask questions and close your eyes to the macho muscle shirt wearing men and sport bra tiny butt babes. They don't know what they're doing either.:)
Snack Attack: String cheese and Triscuits-I like the thin crisp ones. The regular ones make me feel like I'm eating a bale of hay!
What I eat a lot~
Breakfast: whole wheat toast with peanut butter & 8oz. glass of skim milk
Lunch: broth based soups generally with a whole grain (bagel, muffin) and a fruit. Loving the "cutie" oranges right now! OR... dino chicken nuggets and fries with my 2 yr old!
Dinner: Tonight it's home-made whole wheat pizza. Click HERE for recipe-YUM!
Toppings: cheese and marinara for the kids and barbecue chicken for adults. (your favorite barbecue sauce, cooked chicken breast, little cheddar cheese, jalapenos, red onion, cilantro)
There is a name for those cardio addicted people and they are called Cardo Junkies. They must breath hard and sweat in order to get a good workout. I know cuz I used to be a bit of one until after my first baby. I have several friends who can run 5 miles, no prob, but when asked to do 25 push ups or a Pilate's roll up...there's no way. Please don't get me wrong. Any physical activity is great, but if you're looking for the full meal deal you must add weight and core exercises. Note to my friends who attend my Tues & Fri. classes-you are getting the full meal deal SUPERSIZED! I love you! You are all rockstars for working so hard!:)
How I feel about exercise....
1) Don't get married to your routine~VARIETY!
2) When strength training don't perform your reps too quickly. If you do reps too quickly you will use momentum instead of muscle power.
3) Don't exercise too hard too often. Your body needs time for repair. Mix your routine with shorter harder workouts (20 min) with longer easier workouts (40-60min)
4) Train in intervals (run 2 min at a "6" then walk 3 min. or up the incline) Also, be careful not to use the handrails to hold/support you. That's cheating!
5) "Weight" your lifting~make sure you are lifting the appropriate amount of weight. I see this in my classes ALL the time. People will use 5lbs weight for 3mo. before they will let themselves move up to 8lbs. Don't sell yourself short. Try it! You can always go back. I personally like to do less reps of heavier weights.
6) My favorite~ATTITUDE! Like I said before, exercise sucks but trust me, you look much prettier sweating with a smile on your face!
Fitness routine fit for a Princess:
(I love variety and I don't mind working out by myself.)
Mon.~Intense independent workout-interval jog, 20 min., stair climber 10min, rowing 5 min., strength train arms
Tues~step class with 15 min. additional independent core training
Wed.~20-30 min. walk and Pilate's class
Thurs.~Zumba class, strength train arms
Fri.~Intense independent workout (30 min), and 15-30min. of leg strength training
Sat.~Yoga
My advice: If you belong to a gym, please USE IT! Don't be scared to ask questions and close your eyes to the macho muscle shirt wearing men and sport bra tiny butt babes. They don't know what they're doing either.:)
Snack Attack: String cheese and Triscuits-I like the thin crisp ones. The regular ones make me feel like I'm eating a bale of hay!
What I eat a lot~
Breakfast: whole wheat toast with peanut butter & 8oz. glass of skim milk
Lunch: broth based soups generally with a whole grain (bagel, muffin) and a fruit. Loving the "cutie" oranges right now! OR... dino chicken nuggets and fries with my 2 yr old!
Dinner: Tonight it's home-made whole wheat pizza. Click HERE for recipe-YUM!
Toppings: cheese and marinara for the kids and barbecue chicken for adults. (your favorite barbecue sauce, cooked chicken breast, little cheddar cheese, jalapenos, red onion, cilantro)
There ya have it. Commit to be fit!
See you tomorrow for an athletic clothing fashion show and healthy treats.
HERE'S a sneak peak of the fashion show! -just kidding:)
P.S. A little funny for you...."I really don't think I need buns of steel. I'd be happy with buns of cinnamon." ~Ellen DeGeneres
2 comments:
Exercise is a gift you give yourself, and it benefits your whole family. During a low point after Caleb was born (combo post partem dep. and post traumatic stress...) I was seeing a counselor and the first thing she did was ask me to commit to three things:
1. Get a good night's rest, a full 8 hours. Give myself a bedtime - before midnight. (LOL) Caleb was sleeping thru the night at this point, so I could do it. She made me schedule 10 hours of sleep for a while because I was deprived and needed to catch up.
2. Get 20 minutes of morning sunshine, before 10 am. Apparently, there is a reaction that occurs on the retina when you are getting morning sunshine that makes you all happy... 'n stuff. :)
3. Exercise. I had to break a sweat for 20 minutes.
This combination got me thru that rough time and many since. My kids benefit by having an emotionally healthy mom. And physical health naturally follows.
OK that cartoon at the top cracks me up! My husband will spend 10 minutes looking for the darn remote rather than "manually" turning on the TV!!
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