10 Ways To Stay Motivated

April 21, 2010 By

I often hear people say, I need to workout, but I just can’t get motivated. Even seasoned athletes experience highs and lows occasionally before getting started.

There are so many ways to motivate yourself to exercise, and I want to share some ideas that have helped me. Sure I’ve had days when I’ve struggled with exercise. Just like everyone else, there are days when I’m too tired, or have too many things scheduled to find time to exercise. With 2 full time jobs, I have a plate full of responsibilities and everything seems to require top priority. But my workout is my time for myself, so I have a secret stash of motivational jolts that keep me on the fitness trail.

1. The post-workout high. I always feel on top of the world after a good workout. I feel strong, confident and like I can accomplish anything!

2. “Me Time”. This is your special time for yourself. While many women make time to take care of others (kids, husband, other family, co-workers, boss), they often neglect taking time out for themselves. Make your “you” time a priority, and don’t break that exercise appointment.

3. The dread of feeling disappointment from not exercising. I hate the guilt, frustration and feeling like I have missed something very important when I skip my workout.

4. REWARDS!!! After every fitness milestone, I reward myself with something. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive: a book, cute shoes, a pretty new nail polish, a bouquet of flowers or my favorite – a new purse. If I am having trouble getting motivated, I remind myself that after I reach my goal I will be sporting a new purse.

5. Fitting into “new” old clothes. Remember that sexy pair of jeans that you are just dying to wear again? Remember how amazing you felt the last time you wore them? Enough said – get moving so you can wear them again!

6. Stress relief. Stressed from a long day at the office? Get out and work it off. It really helps to have this physical outlet to let go of all that tension.

7. Time for contemplation. Sometimes, I enjoy losing myself in my thoughts when I exercise. I’ve found it often helps me uncover solutions to daily problems.

8. A workout partner. Not only is it much more fun to exercise with a friend, you have a sense of responsibility to them to keep your workout appointment.

9. A coach or trainer. Worth the money, if even just for the motivation and the accountability of having to keep an appointment. Need the name of an AWESOME trainer? Let me know…I think I might know someone. LOL!

10. Keep an exercise journal. People who keep a journal of their workout routine have a far better chance of success than those who do not. The journal is your own personal checkpoint to remind you where you came from, where you are now and what your intended goal is to be.

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Fitness Myths BUSTED!!!!

April 20, 2010 By

MYTH: Muscle turns into fat when you stop working out.
REALITY: Muscle and fat are two completely different tissues that have different functions, so it’s physiologically impossible to turn one into the other. If you stop exercising, your muscles atrophy, so you lose the tone you worked so hard to create.  Because the muscle isn’t being worked & the tone is gone, it will look flabby. But by no means has it turned to fat.

MYTH: Lifting heavy weights make women bulk up.
REALITY: Women don’t have enough of the muscle-building hormone testosterone to get bulky, even using heavy weights. The truth is, some people will gain muscle faster than they lose fat, so they may look bigger until they shed some of the flab and reveal the slim, toned muscles underneath.

MYTH: I work out so I can eat whatever I want and not gain weight.
REALITY: Oh, if only this were true. During a moderate 60 minute workout, the average person will burn around 400-500 calories. By eating one piece of pie, you just voided out all of your hard work. Working out is only one part of being healthy and fit. You also have to keep your diet in check to keep off the pounds.

MYTH: Doing crunches will give me tight, toned abs.
REALITY: Yes – doing crunches will give you tight, toned ab muscles, but unless your body fat is low, those abs will be hidden by a layer of fat. In order to see that 6 pack, you have do your cardio to burn away that layer of fat covering up your abs and eat a very healthy, clean diet.

MYTH: Spot reduction (fat loss in only one area) is possible
REALITY: Contrary to what the infomercials suggest there is no such thing as spot reduction. Fat is lost throughout the body in a pattern dependent upon genetics, sex (hormones), and age. Overall body fat must be reduced to lose fat in any particular area. So if you’re looking to only lose weight in one area and keep it in others, it won’t happen unless you’re willing to undergo lipo.

MYTH: Skipping meals is a good way to lose weight.

REALITY: Skipping meals is actually the best way to NOT lose weight. People who skip meals tend to feel hungrier later on, and eat more than they normally would when they finally do eat. Skipping meals also makes your body think that it is starving and it will store every calorie you eat because it doesn’t know when the next meal will come.

MYTH: No Pain – No Gain!

REALITY: When working out, you should expect to have some degree of soreness a day or two afterwards, but you should never feel pain while working out. If you feel pain during exercise, you may have an injury. Feeling your muscles “work” may be uncomfortable during or after your session, but pain and extreme soreness is not normal. It’s your body’s way of telling you to ease up.

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7 Reasons To Strength Train

April 20, 2010 By

Helps You Lose Inches

We all tend to think of cardio as the calorie torcher and the necessary exercise for losing weight. Remember, though, it is better to lose inches and gain muscle than to simply lose pounds. Lifting twice a week can reduce your overall body fat by 3% in just 10 weeks. This is because muscle tissue requires more energy to simply exist than other tissues like fat, so muscle burns more calories.

Strengthens Your Bones Too

Lifting weights not only builds muscles, it makes for stronger bones. Regular weight lifting for six months has been shown to increase bone mineral density by 13 percent. So add strength training to your arsenal of weapons against osteoporosis.

Weight Lifting Improves Your Mood

Not only does strength training give you confidence, it can also reduce your risk of depression. A small Harvard study found that 10 weeks of regular strength training reduced clinical depression symptoms at a level on par with standard counseling. So pick up some dumbbells for a pick-me-up.

The Caloric After Burn

One of the benefits of weight training is the after burn — burning calories as your body recovers from your workout. After an hour-long session of lifting weights, the average woman burns an extra 100 calories over the next 24 hours. Those extra calories add up. Think about it: if you weight train three times a week that is an extra 300 calories per week and an extra 1,200 calories per month. Over the course of a year, that equals almost four and a half pounds lost — close to that magic number of five pounds most people I know say they would like to lose.

Muscle Mass Fights Diabetes

The rate of type 2 diabetes continues to climb in this country, and one way to combat the disease is to build muscle. Muscle mass not only burns more calories a day than most other tissues; it also dispels the blood sugar quickly. Muscles effectively contribute to preventing type 2 diabetes.

More Bang For Your Buck

There are many people out there who fear they will bulk up if they lift heavy weights and many trainers who perpetuate the myth. There is another reason, aside from saving time, for lifting closer to your maximum weight load instead of doing 100 reps with a super light weight: increase calorie burn for two hours after training. Lifting a greater weight fewer times means you can burn almost twice as many calories post workout. Think of it as more bang for your buck.

Makes You Stronger

I know this one is obvious, but strength training has daily practical applications in lifting heavy things. The stronger you are, the longer and more intensely you can work out. Increasing your strength also makes you less prone to injury, another important thing for an active gal.

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