Staying Motivated

 

When it comes to working out, the first three months are the hardest to keep motivated and get going to the gym. However, the time when you least want to go to the gym is the time when you most need to!

I say that the first three months are the hardest because once you are over the hump of being completely out of shape your body and brain began to crave the endorphins from the workout and you just keep going back. In a sense, if you push through the first few months at the gym you simply become addicted to exercising and keep going.

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I’m one of those people that tends to commit to a cause for a while, and once my goal is accomplish I let it dwindle. I did this with my fitness this past month and feel awful to admit it. When I started the 25 Days of Fitness I was motivated to work, and I did. I lost about 6 pounds in those 25 days worked out every day and felt fantastic about it. Once I was done, I used my finals as an excuse to slack off, and continued to pay my fat tax for about a month.

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These last few days I’ve been good about it, and last week I was at the gym two days, which is more then I was the week before but really not enough. So here are some things I am doing to keep motivated and going to the gym.

Pencil It In

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Schedule a time to go to the gym and write it down in your planner. Really, when I pre-plan my weekly schedule I put in times to work out and consider it an appointment. My health is important enough to me to set aside an hour to two hours a day for exercise. I use to pencil in my gym time and I stopped over the last month. Now I’m back to it.

Get your spouse involved

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Two years ago when I started the P90X program, I would have never made it if it wasn’t for my husband supporting me and doing the program with me. The Mister has been super duper supportive of me, and has even gotten me off the couch to go running with him even though I would have done anything not to. In short, get your spouse or significant other or best friend involved in your workouts, they’ll not only motivate you but push you to do better.

Meet a friend

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Plan a time to meet a friend at the gym. Especially if you are working out in the mornings. If you ask a friend to meet you at the gym at a given time, you will more likely show up. This is my biggest and greatest motivator. My friend got me to sign up for a gym membership and introduced me to Body Pump, and when we make plans to meet at the gym we always end up going, even if both of us don’t want to.

Write it Down

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I have been slacking in this one. BUT, I always kept a workout log, with how much weight I lifted, what exercise I did, how many sets, how many reps and so on. It is a great motivator to look at where you started and where you are at a given time. While on a daily basis you might not see results you’ll see them when it’s written down. I also take pictures and measurements as I go along, usually about once a month.

Set a Goal

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Set a goal of how many days in a row you’ll go to the gym, and see if you can make it. Once you’ve made it, set a new one that is a day or two longer then the last. Speaking of this, my goal is to go 4 times this week.

So these are my motivators. What are yours?!

Anyone up for another 25 Days of Fitness Challenge? Or maybe a 30 Day Fitness Challenge? Let me know!

I have someone I’d like y’all to meet

 

I’d like to introduce you all to the knee that hates me.

  Knee meet everyone, everyone meet my jerk of a knee.

Yesterday, I forgot to take my knee brace with me to the gym. And when I left the gym it was feeling fantastic. However, after the short drive home getting out of my car was a bit of a problem. Now, walking and getting up the stairs is a problem. I hate my knee… and have officially given in to going to see my doctor about it. I’m trying to get an appointment after my final, and hopefully get this stupid thing fixed. I feel so useless hobbling around everywhere. I pretty much look pathetic and to prove my point, I got a good chuckle out of my brother. 

Aside from the knee, I had an awesome breakfast.

Greek yogurt, with half a banana, three strawberries and some granola. It really hit the spot, and since I hadn’t really had a real breakfast in a while it was fantastic… my tummy agreed.

I also pulled out my DSLR for this shots and wonder why I don’t use it more often. I know it’s easier to carry around the point and shoot, but the picture quality is no where near what it should be. Once my graduation is affirmed and I have a C in my class I will be getting the 50mm 1.4f lens which will make things even better.

I’m also thinking of investing in a new camera bag, I want one that wraps around the shoulder or some other more convenient way to carry around my Rebel and lenses.

I was thinking something like this… does anyone have one of these or any other choices of camera bags that will work better then a standard shoulder bag?

Absolutely Amazing Abs

 

Ha! I’m so cleaver.

Today is Day 18… Yup… we are only 7 days away from being done with 25 Days of Fitness.

Abs seem to be a major concern for both men and women. I know they are the second most concerning area on my body, the first is thighs, which we talked about a week or so ago. I want super toned legs, thighs, butt and abs. I’d think I’m happy with everything else. Hence, today I want to spend talking about what the anatomy of the abdominal area are, how to exercise each one so that you can get Absolutely Amazing Abs.

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1. Rectus Abdominis.

   The rectus abdominis is situated at the front of the pelvis, between the ribs and the pubic bone. This is the main set of muscles one often refers to when they discuss "the six pack", due to its several bumpy ridges, which jut out directly in front of the body.

   The rectus abdominis serves to move the body between the ribcage and the pelvis.

2. Transversis Abdominis.

   This muscle is situated deep within the abdominal complex. Its main role is to maintain internal abdominal pressure, and stabilize the trunk.

3. Internal Obliques.

   These muscles are located just inside the hip bones, flanking either side of the rectus abdominis. Their role is to twist the body, via their contraction.

4. External Obliques.

   These also flank the rectus abdominus and function to allow trunk rotation.

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You should not be spending hours on your abs, but you should make your workouts count. The usual recommendation that I have seen and have used is 15 to 20 minutes every other day, even when it’s a rest day. Since your abs have several different muscle groups, and you work them every other day, they have the days in between to rest and heal up.

Here are some of the exercises that have been proven to be effective according to the San Diego State University and the American Council on Exercise Abdominal Study. Click on the title of the exercise to see the video provided by bodybuilding.com. 

Bicycle Maneuver:

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Lie flat on the floor with your lower back pressed to the ground. Put your hands beside your head. Bring knees up to about 45-degree angle and slowly go through a bicycle pedal motion. Touch your left elbow to your right knee, then your right elbow to your left knee. Keep even relaxed breathing throughout. (Source)

Captain’s Chair:

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Stabilize your upper body by gripping the handholds and lightly pressing your lower back against the back pad. The starting position begins with you holding your body up and legs dangling below. Now slowly lift your knees in toward your chest. The motion should be controlled and deliberate as you bring the knees up and return them back to the starting position. (Source)

Crunches on Exercise Ball:

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Sit on the ball with your feet flat on the floor. Let the ball roll back slowly. Now lie back on the ball until your thighs and torso are parallel with the floor. Place hands behind your head (or cross your arms over your chest) and slightly tuck your chin in toward your chest. Contract your abdominals raising your torso to no more than 45 degrees. For better balance, spread your feet wider apart.(Source)

Traditional Crunch:

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Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat on the floor in front of you. Lie on an exercise mat rather than hard floor to prevent back strain. Position your feet hip distance apart. Place your hands behind your head so that your thumbs are tucked behind your ears. Hold elbows slightly out to the sides and keep chin pointing upward. Curl up and forward lifting your head neck and shoulder blades off the floor. Make sure you're not pulling your head forward with your hands. (Source)

 

I hope y’all enjoyed this post. Let me know what are some other exercises you do that are effective for the abs. I have quite a few that I do, but I thought I’d share the ones out of my routine that are thought to be the best out there. SO if nothing else, do these four!!

The New Fit or Fat?!

 

Today is Day 17 of the 25 Days of Fitness… and wanna know what I learned? Do ya?!

My body HURTS… I’m insanely out of shape, and have become obsessed with getting back into shape. The obsession and my nasty habit of perfectionism have kicked in … hence why the blogs have been lacking. I’m trying to put together the perfect guides, and plans and lists to help my self set up a system. I always need a system, some kind of an outline to guide me, otherwise I fall apart and give up.

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When I get obsessed over a topic, whether school, politics, clothing, cars, exercise… you get the idea… I start venting to my grandfather. My grandpa is one of those awesome ones who knows a little about everything, and while he can be grumpy and set in his ways there is always something I can learn from him. So in my insane hunt for a healthier lifestyle and my grandfather’s recent encounter and beating of cancer we’ve talked a great deal about exercising, losing excess fat, staying fit and eating healthy…

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To make a long story short, I was bestowed with two new books about exercising. My grandfather stated that they were his “health Bibles” and knowing the kind of health that man is in at 78… I’m going to say these babies are diamonds! 

 

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The books are both by Covert Bailey who is the author of four national bestsellers. He also happens to be a nutritionist with a Biochemistry degree from MIT. At the age of 78 he is still running, backpacking, skiing and kayaking and lives his life with the philosophy that “staying in shape should be enjoyable.”

I will be sharing my findings from his books with you very soon. For now I wanted to leave you with the Are You Fit or Fat? List which is the table of contents for one of the books.

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Fit people sing. Fat people float.

Fit people are fat-burners. Fat people are sugar-burners.

When Fit people eat sugar, they make glycogen. When Fat people eat sugar, they make fat.

Fit people have lots of fat-burning enzymes. Fat people have few fat-burning enzymes.

Fit people use fat efficiently. Fat people store fat efficiently.

When Fit people exercise, it is usually aerobic exercise. When Fat people exercise, it is often anaerobic exercise.

Fit people “waste” energy in everyday activities. Fat people “conserve” energy throughout the day.

Fit people have long, lean, shapely muscles. Fat people have short, round, fatty muscles.

Fit people can be overweight without being overfat. Fat people can be overfat without being overweight.

Exercise decreases hunger in Fit people. Exercise triggers hunger in Fat people.

 

The perfect form of exercise

 

I bet you didn’t know that there was a perfect form of exercise… well I’m going to let ya in on a little secret. Come closer, and listen carefully.

The perfect form of exercise is swimming!!!

Today is officially day 15 of the 25 Days of Fitness! Yup! We are more then half way through it!!!! How are you all feeling? Are you getting use to exercising on a regular basis? Did you forget about this completely and stop altogether??? Let me know your thoughts and feelings.

Well today, I want to talk a little about swimming, since I’ll be adding it into my schedule at the gym. Personally, I need to swim more because I’m a diver, and as a diver living in a landlocked state trying to keep up with swimming is tough. I also need to improve my swimming, breathing and strength to be able to get into the next level of certification and work my way up to a rescue diver and dive master. Hence, the pool will be seeing a good deal of Zara with her fins, mask and snorkel... I can already see how ridiculous I’m going to look jumping into a lap pool with my fins! Hahaha! I’ll make sure to provide pictures for y’all to amuse yourself with!

This would be me, in a 14 mm wetsuit, in the freezing water (60 degrees) in Chatfield Res with a visibility of about 5 inches getting my dive certificate.

I was freezing in between dives. It looks nice and sunny but it was not at all. Ignore the hubster and brother in t-shirts.

So did you know that swimming is a total body workout?? Yup, it works your whole body, in addition it improves cardiovascular conditioning, endurance, muscle strength, flexibility and even posture (source).

Swimming also helps improve your body’s use of oxygen, which is one of the key aspects of being healthy and fit.

Additional health benefits of swimming include toning of the whole body. Freestyle, breaststroke and backstroke use almost all major muscle groups and help tone both your upper and lower body.

This is Dara Torres an Olympic swimmer and medalist. She may be older but look at how awesome she looks!

Swimming is a great stress reducer because it allows more oxygen to get to the muscles as well as forces the swimmer to regulate their breathing, which in itself is relaxing. To top it all off, it is a low-impact sport that burns a ton of calories. On average, a swimmer can burn as many calories in an hour as a runner who runs six miles in one hour (Source).

Diving in the Rocky Mountains… freezing, crappy visibility and 30 lbs of extra weight are annoying, but the idea is priceless. 

 

   So grab your swimsuits and head over to the pool. Burn off those calories, tone your body and lose weight!

Running out of breath … Day 13

 

Let’s start with this… I HATE RUNNING! But I always hear how great it is, how people love it and its such a good de-stressor.

 

Well, I’ve done the Couch to 5K, then never actually ran a 5K, stopped running because it was so unpleasant, started back up recently and loved running on the treadmill… but then I went for a run around the neighborhood and decided that I would never run again.

I remember a time when running didn’t seem so bad, it was just part of the sport and I did it willingly, without realizing that I was running. Now it’s just a chore. I can’t stand how stuffy I get, how my throat starts burning and my chest seems to tighten. It also doesn’t help that I go into a run with a negative attitude. So, I’ve spent the majority of the day looking up tricks and tips for new runners, because I really want to run a 5K and possibly a marathon.

One of the top suggestions I found was taking it easy when you start:

I know the Couch to 5K program uses the intervals, and I can get through it with little effort, however, it’s when I actually get out to run outside with hills, rough roads and stupid weather I start to regret my decision. I’ve read that trying a brisk walk outside for 20 minutes three times a week for three weeks can really get your endurance up.

I also like the idea of taking smaller steps then jumping into intervals, so I will be trying out a program created by Owen Barder who is an economist living in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The training schedule looks easy enough, and this time I am going to be doing all of it outside. I feel that the treadmill is much easier then being outside. Does anyone else feel this way?

Keeping a log:

I have never truly kept a log of the workouts or exercises I’ve done. About two weeks ago I started using myfitnesspal.com and have loved the fact that I can keep track of what I eat and know exactly what goes into my mouth. I also like the fact that I can make notes about if I felt full or I didn’t have enough, then try and fix these problems for the next meal or day.

So I feel keeping a workout journal will be very beneficial. I had a weight training one when I was in high school, and it defiantly kept me accountable for how much weight I used, and kept me from slacking and putting on lighter weights. Hence I’ll be putting together a fitness journal to go along with my weekly workout. Ideally it will record runs, times, distance as well as strength training, other cardio work and weights used.

Hopefully these two steps will be sufficient into getting me back on track with running, and help improve my feelings towards the sport. I would love to claim that I love running sometime soon, but we’ll see what happens.

Q: Are you a runner? How did you get into running? What are your tips and tricks for newbies and haters?

Workout Essentials

 

Forgive me for not posting a Day 11 for 25 Days of Fitness.

I was so burned out and sick yesterday that I couldn’t get myself to come up with the post that I wanted to. I wrote several, then deleted all of them because it just didn’t work right. However, I did get on the elliptical for a 30 minute workout, and ended up burning 360+ calories, which was better then nothing.

Today I really wanted to talk about workout essentials like a good pair of pants, a comfortable sports bra and so on. I have to confess that I only have one good pair of cropped yoga pants and a underarm tank that I wear for almost everything. I also have a pair of cropped yoga pants from Victoria’s Secret along with a few sports bras and such, but don’t like them nearly as much.

So I think it’s time to splurge on a few workout essentials.

1. A good pair of workout pants

  

I have to say I am really loving these pants from Bebe sport! My workout buddy has several pairs, when there was still a BebeSport store here in Denver, and I love them. They are high quality and really look great. She also claims that they are super comfortable. However, now that there isn’t a store, the selection is pretty much limited to what you see above and the price is $79.00 a piece for the full pants and $49.00 for the capris. However, I think they just might be worth it.

  

These are all Under Armour, and while some people think they are more pricy, I’d like to point out that ever single pair of pants show above is regularly priced under $55.00 and can be found on the Under Armour website. I love everything I have from them and might have to get a few of these instead of the Bebe ones. Even though they are not as attractive they are more affordable!

2. A few sports bras

The other day I had to go to the gym wearing a regular bra because ever single pair of sports bras and workout tops I had were in the dirty pile on the laundry floor. First, I need to start doing laundry more often, second I need a few good pairs of sports bras that are durable!

 

I really like these two from Under Armour. They are simple and practical, with nothing too fancy and come in a several different colors. Best part… they are $29.99 each! Beat that! Even the Victoria Secret Yoga bra-lets are $26.00 a piece and trust me they do NOT support very well.

  

I’m also loving these from Nike! The two on the ends are under $30.00 and the one in the middle is $34.00. Yup, defiantly affordable! Nike also has a bunch of them on sale!

Really the pants and bras are really what I need clothing wise, but I will be looking into some tank tops, jackets and possibly shorts.

Q: What do you wear when working out? What is your favorite style? Brand?