Fit by 14 | Week 5 | Cardio

Welcome to the FITH week of my Fit by '14 Series!  I've enjoy this experience and have learned a lot through writing it!

We have about 7 weeks left until the new year comes raging in like a roaring lion!  How are you doing on finishing up your 2013 goals?

So far I have talked about the importance of ....

Water
Eating Right
Strength Training

And today....

CARDIO

So, we already understand that Strength Training is SO important, and that it is necessary to incorporate it into your workout routine.  You don't need a gym to do strength training either!  A lot of the strength exercises that I do, I could easily do a home!

But just because strength training is important, doesn't mean that you get to write off cardio!

Cardio is short for cardiovascular exercise...So basically, it's exercise for your heart and blood vessels.  It gets your heart pumping which pushes more blood and oxygen throughout your body and to your muscles!  The more efficient your body gets at cardio, the stronger and more efficient your heart gets so it doesn't have to work as hard, and you build up your endurance!

Cardio is SO good for your heart and lunges!  And it helps prevent heart disease!  It lowers blood pressure, maintains weight loss, helps lower bad cholesterol while raise your good cholesterol!  It also helps improve your mood, and helps you sleep better!

SO...now that we have established that cardio is still a necessary evil...

There are so many differing opinions out there about which cardio is the best.  Honestly, and this is my own personal opinion, just do whatever you want to do that get you up and moving, and your heart pumping for 30 minutes, 4-5 times a week.  If that means walking at a brisk pace, running, using the elliptical, boxing, body pump, spin classes, whatever it takes.  Just do it! 

For me?  I generally choose to run.  I don't particularly enjoy running, but I desperately want to love to run.  So I run.  I'm currently using the C25K App on my phone, and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!  I was in no way, shape or form ready to run 30 minutes straight.  Goodness, I could barely make it for 3 minutes straight what I first started out.  Not that I'm much better now, but I know that I can run in 5 minutes increments with short spurts of walking between sets.  So, for you non-runners out there that want to start running, my advice is to use the C25k program!  Tomorrow I'm supposed to be running 8 minutes, and the workout after that has me running for 20.  I don't know how they figure I can jump from 8 minutes to 20, but by golly, I'm going to try! 

I will admit, on days that I feel kind of puny, or am at home, I do workout on the elliptical.  For some reason I feel like the elliptical is easier, probably because I know that how fast I go it up to me, and not just a speed that I set and have to keep up with!  But, that's not saying that the elliptical isn't work, because it most definitely is!

Weekly Stats:

Current Workouts: Still plugging away at the C25K app 3 days a week, but I've also incorporated 3 days of circuit/strength training into my routine!  I'm loving The Garage Workout, the Military workout (blog coming later), and I've recently found an app that has TONS of circuit workouts!
# of work outs: 7/7...kinda.  Not gonna lie, I may have counted grocery shopping on Friday night as a workout.  Sure I didn't get my heart rate up and break a sweat, but I did walk around various grocery stores for like an hour. 
Total Weight Loss: 18 lbs from start of #FB14 (27 lbs total)
Inches lost: 10! (down another 2 1/2 inches from last week!)
Best Workout: Hands down it was my Garage Workout!  I LOVE it!  It makes the time go by SO fast, and I'm always spent by the time I go home!  The MR. did it with my on Saturday afternoon, and that was a lot of fun!
Thoughts towards running/working out: I'm actually really beginning to actually enjoy it!  My run yesterday finally wasn't struggle, and when my day is stressful I actually look forward to going to the gym because I know that I can unload all the stress there!  I just wish there were a few more hours in the day!  I literally feel like all I do is Go to work, Go to the gym, Go home cook dinner, prepare for the next day, clean up the kitchen and go to bed!  Yup...that really is about all that I do!  Eating healthy and exercising is totally worth it, don't get me wrong, but it sure does take up a lot more time!  There are nights when I miss the quick processed meals and the subway/Wendy's lunches just because it' so much easier!  It's not that I even crave the food that we don't eat anymore, I just crave the time that it saved me!









PS.  Don't forget about the giveaway that I'm doing with Simply Clark!  You don't want to miss out on a free $350, do you???

The Garage Workout

One of my close girlfriends text me this INSANE workout a few weeks back.  I saved it to my phone and promptly forgot about it.

When I started adding strength training (I was using the weight machines that the gym had to offer) to my workout routine I felt disappointed that I was never "sore" in the days following my workout.  Don't get me wrong, being sore is not a feeling that I necessarily enjoy, however, if I am going to spend 30-45 minutes lifting some weights I had better be feeling something.  I wasn't being a pansy when I was lifting weights either, I would work my muscles to fatigue.  But at the end of my workout I was always left feeling like I could do more. 

So, I decided to try the work out that she sent me.  Let me tell you...I left the gym that evening feeling completely, 100% Spent.  I don't think I could have done curls with a pencil by the end of it!  When I woke up the next morning I was slightly disappointed that I didn't feel the least bit sore.  Then Midmorning hit....THEN I started feeling it! 

Then yesterday I tried out another circuit training routine that was called "the Military Circuit".  It was something that I had randomly found one day. 

I tend to be a person that gets sore 2 days after I do a workout, so I don't know if it was the garage workout, or the Military workout, but my arms are SO sore today that it is ridiculous! 

If you need to feel the least bit challenged in your gym workout, then THIS is the workout you need to do!  There were a couple of exercises that I didn't know what they were, but it only took a quick second of googling to figure it out! 

I also changed some of the running speeds to fit where I was at with my running.  I kept it fast enough that I would be challenged, but not so fast that I thought I was going to fall off the treadmill!

The Garage Workout

5 minute warm up jog

50 squats

10 burpees

10 pushups

2 minute run @ 6.0

50 walking lunges

40 standing waist line crunches

20 triceps dips

30 second sprint at 8.0-9.0

30 second rest

Repeat 3 times

2 minute continuous bicep curls

(choose a weight light enough that you'll be able to continue for 2 minutes!)

30 sec lateral squat walk

(each way, keeping your squat low)

1 minute plank

2 minute run @ 7.0-8.0

30 alternating split squat jumps

25 shoulder presses

30 Tone it Up Tummy Tucks

5 minutes cool down jog

**Bonus Moves 20 mountain climbers, 50 Toe Touch Abs

The MR. & I are going to go to the gym tomorrow after work and do this workout together!  I'm excited to actually workout together instead of both of us just going our own way when we get to the gym!  Instead of doing the "walking lunges" he is going to show me how to do isolated lunges that his PT has him doing! 

If you try this work out--good luck, and believe me, you're going to feel it afterwards!
Sometime in the next little while I'll be sharing the Military Circuit Workout, it's no joke!

I've added the image below that I have saved to my phone that guides me through the workout!  

 
Enjoy!

Fit by 14 {Week 4} | Strength Training

I am entering week 4 of my Fit by 14 Series!  It started off as a link up, but I'm still new to this blogging thing, and couldn't quite figure it out, and it somehow messed up my entire blog design, so now it's just a plain old series! 

We have only SEVEN weeks left until 2014 comes barreling in!  How is that even possible??? 

So far I've shared some health tips dealing with drinking water, and to Stop Eating Crap. 

Drinking water is SO important.  It helps flush toxins out of our bodies.  Being dehydrated affects every aspect of our health!  I KNOW that it's getting to be winter and it dreadfully cold outside, which makes it harder to drink enough water, but do what ya gotta do to get the water in! 

My Mr's personal trainer told him that 80% of being fit has to do with what he eats, and basically called bull on the people who say, "I work out so I can eat whatever I want....".  Of course I don't take anybody's word, so I had to look it up myself.  One article that I read said something that stuck with me...."Unless you are running marathons every day, you can't out run your fork, and you can't out train a bad diet."  And my own personal favorite is a quote from "It starts with food", The food you eat either makes you more healthy or less healthy, those are your options.  I'm also calling bull on the people that say "everything is okay in moderation," but that's another post for another day.

This week's Tip:

Add in Strength/Weight Training

 

I've never been much of a strength and weight training kind of girl.  I'd much rather just do some cardio because it makes me feel like I'm actually doing something....  And lifting weights makes me feel like a pansy. 

 

Unfortunately for me, while I still think that cardio IS important, Strength & Weight Training is Just as, or even more important.  One of the trainers at the gym we go to told me that lifting weights will get you where you want to go 2-3 times faster than cardio alone.  THAT got my attention! 

 

This is something that I've just started learning about!  The past 2 weeks I've been using the weight machines at the gym, but I feel like they just aren't cutting it....What REALLY got me wondering about it is that my MR's physical trainer doesn't have him using any of them.  They do squats, and dead lifts, and weighted step-ups, etc... So I'm researching into it and asking questions, but I have a feeling that the gym weight machines are going to be a thing of my past, and I'll have to keep you posted on my progress as I learn!

 

What about you?  Do you incorporate Strength & Weight training into your workout regiment?  What do you do for your strength training?  

 

Weekly Stats:

 

Current Workout: C25k, finally finishing up week 4 tonight (run 3 minutes, walk 1.5 minutes, run 5 minutes, walk 3 minutes, Repeat once.) and will be moving on to week 5, which I'm pretty sure is going to be the death of me:

Day 1: Jog 5, walk 3, Jog 5, Walk 3, Jog 5.

Day 2: Jog 8, Walk 5, Jog 8

Day 3: Jog 20.

I don't know HOW they go from jogging 8 to jogging 20...but I'm pretty sure it's going to kill me.

# of workouts: 5/7.  I ended my 12 day workout streak on Saturday, and then decided to skip Sunday as well!

Weight Loss: -12.6 lbs from start of #fitby14, (but a total of 21.6)

Inches Lost: I Finally remember to redo my measurements on Sunday.  I've lost a total of 7.5 inches! 

Best Workout: It would have to be Monday's.  I did my C25k (week 4), Monday Morning, but repeated the set twice instead of just once.  And I didn't hate it.

Thoughts towards running/working out: While I don't exactly hate it anymore, I don't love it either.  I still prefer my morning workouts, but the days that I workout in the evenings are nice because I have more time and don't feel rushed, but that means that we get home later in the evening!

 

 

 

Fit by 14 {week 3} Stop Eating Crap!

 It's TUESDAY!  That means it's my weekly Fit by 14 post.  This is the start of the 4th week in!  That leaves 8 FULL weeks left until 2014 comes rushing in!  8 more weeks to kick some bad habits and start the new year fresh!

Last week I talked about the benefits of drinking water, and why it is a must!!!!  I'll be honest, before last month I was not drinking enough water.  I might get in a glass or 2 a day.  I feel SOOOOO much better now that I'm getting enough water.  Sure I have to use the bathroom a LOT more & that gets kind of annoying, but the benefits outweigh that one negative!  I didn't drink enough water yesterday when we were out running errands and by the end of it I had no energy, I had a headache, and my stomach hurt.  After I got some water I started feeling a lot better! 

Weekly Tip:

In my opinion, one of the most important, most crucial things that I think we can do for our health is eat REAL food.  I don't believe in the concept that says, "I can eat whatever I want because I work out".  When I read the book It Starts with Food, one of the things that the author said really stuck with me, "The food you eat either makes you more healthy or less healthy.  Those are your options."  It's fairly simple.  Before you get all up in arms and say "everything in moderation is ok", just think about what they are saying.  Anything that you put in your mouth is going to make you MORE healthy or LESS healthy, period.  While that snickers bar isn't going to make you fall over dead, it is in fact making you less healthy.  I'm not taking that you should never indulge, or that you should feel guilty about enjoying a snickers bar every now and again, but I DO think that it needs to be a rare exception and not the norm! 

Basically I'm saying....

I am not here to try and convince you to  become gluten free, or paleo, I think that those are personal choices that each and every person needs to decide for themselves what is best for them and their families.  I'm not here to get into Organic, Free-range, grass fed, and GMO free...I do however think that you need to eat REAL food.

What do I mean by real food?

I mean the food that is on the outside parameter of the store.  Fresh fruits and veggies, or even frozen!  Fresh is best, then frozen, then canned.  Let's be real.  Frozen Vegetables are a lot cheaper most times than fresh vegetables, and they don't go bad in a week.  I typically shy away from canned vegetables (other than tomatoes) because I don't like how they taste. 

Another rule of thumb for REAL food...read through the ingredient label.  If you can't make some of the ingredients in your own kitchen, then you don't need to be eating it.  If you can't pronounce and have no idea what an ingredient is, then you don't need to be eating it.  If it has more than 5 ingredients, it's probably not REAL food.  If it has high fructose corn syrup in it - avoid it like the plague.  If it is loaded down with sugar you probably need to ask yourself what is in this that they need to cover up with sugar!   If it's labeled low-fat, you can guarantee that they are making up for the flavor with some form of sugar or artificial flavoring.  If it is made with artificial sweetener, don't even think about eating it.  You'd be better of drinking a real Coke rather than a Diet Coke!

So basically I'm saying, cut out the processed foods!  Homemade food does take a little longer to make.  Homemade Mac & Cheese is more expensive than a box of Kraft, but at least you know what you are eating, and it sure does taste a whole lot better!

Do you always seem to run out of time in the morning and end up stopping by McDonald's?  Try making your own homemade Egg McMuffins & freezing them.  It takes a little work on your part, but they will make you want to never go back to McDonald's again!  AND it's all REAL food, that you made in your OWN kitchen!  Omelet muffins are just as delish!  I'll have a post coming for them in the near future!  And they are SO easy to make & then freeze!

What about Bread & Lunch meat.  Here is a GREAT Article on how to navigate the bread aisle.  There are some healthy alternatives for Bread!  And there are some lunch meats out there that are "less bad" that some of the other ones!  Hormel Natural Choice is one of my top choices.

Here is a good article on how to navigate the lunch meats.  To be honest, we don't even buy sandwich meats anymore.  If the MR. is feeling like a sandwich, I usually roast a chicken on Sunday for Chicken Sandwiches, or make chicken Salad or Egg Salad.  Most of the time we just eat left overs for lunches!  My MR. actually just had food poisoning (Listeria) from eating store bought pimento & cheese while we was camping at the races last week.  With premade foods like that, that you can make at home in your own kitchen, you are SOOOO much better of just making it from scratch.  The possible consequences just aren't worth the convenience of buying it! 

Why continually buy expensive Spaghetti Sauce when you can so easily make your own that is DELICIOUS!

I understand that people are on budgets, and I understand the money is tight.   But a bag of baby carrots is less expensive than a bag of chips.  And you can make homemade ranch dressing for less than you can buy a bottle of ranch dressing for! 

Have you ever tried substituting out Mayo & Sour Cream for Greek Yogurt?  Try it!  It won't disappoint!  How about lettuce wraps instead of white flour tortillas?  There are of course healthy tortillas out there, and I can attest that homemade ones are the bomb.com!   

With all of the social media outlets out there today there is a plethora of information to pull from about eating REAL, CLEAN, food!  Pinterest is full of healthy, real, clean recipes, and there are tons of blogs out there dedicated to this very topic!  I highly recommend 100 days of real food, the green plate rule, Eating Rules, & Simply Clean Living to name a few.  I follow several other blogs, so if you are interested in some more reading, just let me know!  And of course my blog is full of yummy Recipes!

If this is a whole new concept for you, I know just how overwhelming it can be because I have been there!  Just take it one step at a time.  But most importantly, you have to research it out yourself.  Don't just take my word for it!  If you don't believe it and make it your own then you will never be able to follow through and you'll eventually give up slide back into your old ways.     

It's not easy.  Some days preparing homemade, real food just makes me want to pull my hair out and head to the frozen food aisle for dinner.  On the days when I am tired, or the weeks when I am in over my head, the last thing I want to do is prepare lunches and start dinner, but I know that it's worth it.  I know that I am responsible for what my little family of 2 eats.  Those weeks are the weeks when I'm thankful for freezer meals! 

My Weekly Stats:

Current Work out: C25K 3 days a week (Working on week 4 this week), Elliptical workout & 
Weights 3 days a week, Either Yoga or elliptical on Sundays. 
# of work outs: 7/7 (today will be 10 days in a row!)
Weight Loss: -10 lbs from start of Fit By 14, (but a total of -20.4 lbs) 
Inches Loss: I keep forgetting to measure on Monday Nights! 
Best workout this past week:  I ran 5 minutes straight this past week.  That was a pretty huge 
accomplishment for me.   
Thoughts towards running/working out:  Running is still a serious struggle for me.  My favorite part is still the end.  I'm getting to the point where I'd rather to 40-50 minutes on the elliptical over 30 minutes running!

My schedule is about to change pretty dramatically again.  The past 2 weeks we have been leaving the house around or before 6 so that I could get my work out in before work.  Well, the MR. decided that he wants to start working out, and we are getting him some sessions with a Personal Trainer to start him off, so we now are going to the gym after work 3 days a week!  I WAS going to go in the morning and do my strength training in the evenings, but that is just too much time away from home on those days!  So 3 mornings out of the week I'll do my workouts in the morning, and then 3 nights out of the week I'll do them in the evenings! 

So what do you think?  Are there any websites that you love to read and learn about real foods?  Is there any processed food that you think is just too hard to give up?  Do you think that making small steps to changing your eating habits over time is the way to go, or do you think that you should just jump in head first?  How are your workouts going? 

Fit by 14 {week 2}

Welcome to Fit By '14 week 2!  This was originally suppose to be a link up, but for some reason my blog just wasn't digging the whole linkup shenanigan & decided to go cra-cra on me.  So, until I have the patience to figure it out, please feel free to "link up" by adding your own blog post in the comment section! 

Weekly Tip

Disclaimer:  To state the obvious, and to prevent from getting sued.  I am not a DR, or any other form of health care provider.  Please do your OWN research and form your OWN opinions rather than just take my word for anything!  These are just my thoughts and my opinions from life experience and research I have done myself!

 

WATER, WATER, WATER

Drinking water is seriously one of the best things that you can do for your  body.  And I'm not talking about water that has crystal light or other processed flavoring in it either.  Your body craves water.  If you for some reason just can't stand the taste of water and NEED some kind of flavoring, do your body a favor and use fruit & herbs to infuse your water with flavor!  It's a much healthier alternative to crystal light which is filled with fake flavoring, imitation sugar, preservatives & food coloring!  If you need some ideas for combinations, or even to learn how to infuse your water with fruit hop on over to Pinterest and search for infused water!  It doesn't take that much work, and I've even cheated and used frozen berries! 

75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated!  Soda, Coffee, Tea, Milk, etc DO NOT count as water!  They need to be treated as a sometimes drink and water needs to be your go to drink!

Feeling Hungry?  Try drinking a glass of water first!  Most of the time you were just dehydrated and your body confuses it with hunger!  If you are still hungry 15 minutes later, then get something to eat!  This will also help you eat LESS because you already filled your stomach with water!

Feeling the 2:00 slums?  Resist that cup of coffee or 5 hour energy and  drink water!  Lack of water is the #1 trigger of day time fatigue!

Water makes skin smoother, and helps prolong the effects of aging.  It also makes your eyes brighter and helps prevent acne! 

Water is essential for making your immune system work efficiently!  This is so important now that the cold and flu season is here!  Make sure to get enough water, and if you're getting the winter crud, then drink a little more water!

I could go on and on about why water is SO important for you to drink!  It's one of the most important and healthiest habits that you can make.  And yes, you will have to go to the bathroom more, and yes, it gets slightly annoying.  But think of the bright side, you are getting a few more steps in with all the trips to the bathroom!

So HOW much water do you need to drink?

There are many theories out there. 

8 glasses of water a day.  Well, how big is the glass?  And how can a 250 lb male require as much water as a 125 lb female? 

Drink when you are thirsty.  Studies have shown that by the time you are thirsty you are already dehydrated. 

Divide your weight in 1/2, and drink that in ounces.  This is the rule of thumb that I follow, as a minimum.  So, if you weigh 150 lbs, you would drink about 75 ounces of water a day.  And if you work out, or are drinking caffeinated beverages then you need to be drinking more to make up for the water you lost! 

I've gained quite the little collection of Smart water bottles.  When we go on trips, or I forget to bring water, Smart Water is one of the only waters that I can handle drinking.  All other bottled water is just down right disgusting to me!  Now, I know that this is highly frowned upon, and I may actually be leaking toxins into my body by doing this, but I can't afford all stainless steal water bottles, unless someone wants to send me some for an early birthday or Christmas gift.  I fill up my old water bottles at night and get them in my bag for the next day.  We live on a well, and where I work has some horrible city water, so I tote my water to work every day!   

You can in fact drink too much water and knock your electrolytes all out of whack.  But, I drink a TON of water a day, and it has never happened to me, so I'm guessing that you would have to drink gallons of water  before that happens!

Update:

 

I've been going to the gym for a week now, and I hate every minute of it.  I actually Despise Sweating.   I'm a wanna be runner that hates running, how twisted is that!  Honestly, I think that my problem is that I expect myself to do to much too fast.  A 5.0 Pace on the treadmill isn't "fast" enough in my mind, so I'm constantly pushing myself to bump up the speed.  For some reason I feel like 6.0, or 10 mph is the only acceptable pace.  It's a mental thing.  

I'm going through the Couch to 5K app on my phone.  I've used it before, and I'm convinced it's one of the best apps/programs out there to get people up and running.  Last week I decided to skip week 1 and move on to week 2.  After the first day of week 2, I bumped it up to week 3 (Run 1 1/2 minutes.  Walk 1 1/2 minutes.  Run 3 minutes.  Walk 3 minutes.  Repeat.)  I  run the shorter distance at a 6.0, and the longer distance between a 5.5-5.7.  I'm huffing and puffing trying to get through the 3 minute run, but bumping down the speed just makes my legs feel heavier!  THEN, I got the brilliant idea that I needed to repeat it twice to add a little length to my work out.  More is better right?  I'm not so convinced right now.  

But here's the deal.  I'm my own worst critic.  No one else is looking at me thinking "boy, I can't believe how slow she is going", or "wow, she needs to work out just a little longer."  I don't need to beat myself up because I'm not running a 10 minute mile, or because I just don't feel up to an extra set this morning.  Should I continue to push myself?  Of course!  But I need to learn how to use encouraging thoughts instead of negative thoughts to push myself on!

Stats:
Current Work out: C25K, just finished week 3.  I may repeat it for the rest of the week.
Number of work outs: 5 days out of 7
Weight Loss: -4lbs from last week, but a total of -14
Inches Loss: Haven't updated measurements
Best workout this past week: 2.65 miles, 37 minutes, Ave Pace 13:57 (for the sake of my ego....that includes a 5 min warm up and cool down)
Thoughts towards running:  I Still hate every minute of it.  My favorite part is the end.


What do you do to stay in / get in shape?  What are some things that you struggle with?  What are your thoughts on drinking water?