Sunday, June 7, 2015

Why Yes! I just said I felt sexy....

I have a question. Would food posts be something you would want to read?

I have learned over the last 4 months that food & nutrition are a huge part of losing weight. I have also come to the conclusion that I absolutely refuse to have a boring diet. I've tried the chicken & veg thing for every meal & it just isn't worth it. This is meant to be a life change & I want my life to be filled with delicious food. I would like to share my favorite recipes if there is interest. So what do you say? Are you interested? Let me know so I can get to working on it.

And now to today's post:

Today is Sunday & that usually means relaxing time with the family, but today we headed to the gym to enjoy the pool...except I couldn't since my newest tattoo is still healing. So while my guys were hanging out in the pool, I was out on the gym floor working up a sweat. And do you know what I realized? I LOVE Sunday workouts!


It's quite, the machines & weights that I want to use are immediately available, and when you have the gym to yourself it's like magic.

I also had a realization after the gym today. I realized that I feel like such a bad ass after my workout. It has taken awhile to get to this point, but I really do feel sassy, sexy, strong, and empowered after I've spent an hour at the gym. That feeling of awesomeness gets me going on my worst days where even the idea of putting on a bra seems like too much work. On days like that, it helps to know that if I just get going I will feel 1000% better.

For my workout today I started out on the treadmill. I hate the damn thing but it's helping me see results so I can't hate on it too bad. My trainer, Jen, introduced me to this thing called pyramids last week & I'm trying my best to complete the whole thing, but it's challenging. So what are pyramids? Well you basically start out on a nicely paced walk for 5 minutes. Jen says this is to warm up but I'm convinced that it to fool your body into thinking it's just an easy day at the gym.

Next you turn up the speed for 10 seconds. Now this increased speed depends on what you feel comfortable with. I bump it up to a 4.8 most times but it really depends. After that 10 seconds you go back to a walk for 50 seconds. Again this is a nice way to fool your body into thinking that you were just fooling around...that nothing serious is about to happen.

After that 50 seconds of lovely walking you again turn of the speed but for 20 seconds this time. And really what is 20 seconds? Nothing really! You can totally jog or run for 20 seconds.

Next is a 30 seconds of walking and 30 seconds of running. This is where I start not liking this drill so much but continue on because it's only 30 seconds. What's the worst that can happen?

I'll tell you what! The running time becomes longer than the walking. You now are doing 20 seconds of walking and 40 seconds of running, but really it's only 40 seconds & you will survive...I promise!

Next up is walking for 10 seconds and running for 50. At this point, this may seem like a horrible idea. The first few times I did this I was completely sure that I wasn't going to be able to make it the full 50 seconds & actually didn't a couple of times. The key is to not give up, keep going, & to try again.

Now here comes the moment of truth. A full 60 seconds of running or jogging. If you are like me & relatively new to the world of "I'm voluntarily choosing to run" this will suck the first few times....but it's only 1 minute of your life. You can do this for 60 seconds.

Now you've done the first side of the pyramid & might be asking what's next!? Well my friend, you went up one side & have to come down the other side of the pyramid. I'm still working on the descending side but it's getting there.


Just starting has helped in so many ways. My breathing capacity, my stamina, my confidence, my weight...it's all been helped by simply adding this 20 minute workout to my routine. So if you are just starting out or if you have been in the gym but avoiding the cardio, this is a great way to start!

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