Tuesday, October 15, 2013

When To Work Out

There are many people out there who will ask you "What's the best time to work out?"

The real answer here is : When you have time.

Think about it. Working out in the AM may not be an option for you.

Working out in the PM might not be an option for you.

The best time to work out is when you can fit it into your schedule.

Usually the next question is: Well for how long?

The answer is as much time as you can commit to, but a good minimum to go for is about 25 minutes. You need that amount of time to rev up your body and put in some good hard work.

If you're doing a shorter workout, for cripes sakes make it effective! If all you've got is 20 minutes, then do a good 20 minute HIIT workout on the Elliptical, the treadmill or the Arc trainer (especially if you're looking for an excellent Glutes scorcher!) or the step machine. For an excellent article on HIIT training click this link:

http://www.cutandjacked.com/HIIT-8-Week-Cardio-Interval-Training-Progression

The answer for me as far as when to work out, it's now in the AM.

When I started working out, however, it was in the PM. I always felt ridiculously tired after a workout so logic dictated to me that working out right as soon as I got home from work was the prime time for me to get 'er done.  However, I eventually began to notice that while I was initially fatigued after a workout, I'd start getting a big endorphin and energy rush just as I had finished showering and lay my head down to sleep.

So I switched my workouts to the morning. It required a bit more pre planning as far as food and just laying out my work clothes for the next day was concerned.

Then....I joined the gym. THAT move has been very beneficial to me and I love blasting out a good workout at the gym before work. But this meant way more prep and planning. I pack my backpack before going to bed the night before and make sure I have a snack for the morning because I bike to my gym (Personal Best time achieved this week: 23 minutes flat to the gym, a distance of 7 km!) as well as my post workout Protein Bagel (P28 Bagels they're amazing! and make my post workout meal so much easier!) with All natural PB & raw honey.

The main thing to take away from this post is: LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. And of course your schedule!

Together, they will tell you when the best time is for YOU to work out. Remember: if you can commit to 30 minutes a day of an effective work out, its better than doing nothing. 30 minutes is just 2% of your day.

Get to it!

Be Fit. Be Happy. Be Healthy.

TurboBeFit

Monday, October 7, 2013

Inside Voices...

We all have them.

Those voices inside our heads that whisper truths and untruths to us.

It's amazing how much power they have over us.

For the longest longest time, my internal monologues were very self defeating. Very damaging and negative. It's only been recently, while doing these circuit bodyweight based workouts the past two weeks that I've noticed a definite change.

My inner voice no longer dreads the workout as a default.

My main thought during my workout is "Sh*t! Only twenty more minutes to finish a circuit and a half!" (for reference, each circuit consists of 4 moves, and I do each circuit 3x before moving on).

I am concerned more about boosting up my heart rate than about looking "cute".  Cute never changed a girls legs into Gams of Glory.

I've started being able to trick myself during workouts. Promising myself that I'll knock two reps off my burpees if I just get to 10....then doing the extra 2 I wanted to throw in this week for a challenge anyways!

Now the voice I need to start working on more is the one that tells me "one cookie won't hurt". Because once I have one cookie, the voice then goes:

"Oh, another two or three won't hurt either, you've had some MAD calorie burn today, girl!"

Finding ways to satisfy the sweet tooth without going nuts is challenging.

I've been having success during the weeks with allowing myself a small portion of whatever dessert is at our office catered lunches.

Weekends, as always, are another thing entirely. And this month, I'm in a DietBet, so I need to get this stupid inner voice working properly so I don't sabotage my efforts during the week with crap eating on the weekend.

As always, onward and upward!

Be Fit, Be Happy, Be Healthy.


-TurboBeFit.

Friday, October 4, 2013

One week down....3 more to go!

So as I previously mentioned, I've been up 8lbs since August.

Was expecting more, glad its not!

I discovered something recently though, that I'm hoping will help keep me accountable and motivated.

It's called....."DietBet"!

I get some people thinking a diet bet is kind of a stupid, more harmful than good motivator and I can appreciate that. For me however, I'm finding it a great way to say "No. I don't think I'll eat these crackers even though I just biked home from the subway and my stomach is growling. I'll scramble some egg whites instead."

The results so far? I weighed in at 201.4 on the 28th, and as of this morning I'm a flat 198.

This bet has caused me to be much more hard on myself in regards to food. It's the one area I'm always so very very flexible with myself unless I have a reason to say NO!

I have 25 days to lose another 5lbs which will put me in the winners group who will then share the pot. The buy in was $15. I may keep doing these in order to keep myself on track until I get down to a weight/body fat % where body recomposition will become my main goal.

I will say this: Jillian Michaels knows how to torch fat.  Yeesh.

Tomorrow is a workout day again, but Sunday is a rest day.

I'll either be doing my workout at home (love Jillian's at home compatible workouts!) OR I'll be biking to the gym at Yonge & Bloor (NOT Park Rd) for the 11am Body Shred class followed by the CX Workx core class. Might just do that to get out of the house and to counteract the Indian Food dinner I'll be having Saturday evening (its a benefit dinner, and I'm really looking forward to it!)

So in the end, I'm finding this DietBet a useful tool. Will I ever use it to win BIG? Nah. At least not in $$. The biggest win will be the grinning face I see in the mirror when I break the single digit pants sizes! (since I'm back in One-DerLand, single digit pants sizes are my new goal!)

What about you? What do you use to help you keep yourself honest and stick to your diet?




The stage? A wedding? A reunion? Revenge??? :D

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

It's Been Awhile...!

Yes indeed it has, FitFriends.

I've had one heck of a summer.

Lots of beer.

Lots of Food.

LOTS of BBQ.

I had fun, obviously!

However, I also gained 8lbs back. *sigh*

Then I started a new job, totally stoked, and started going back to the gym.  I started doing the Jamie Eason LiveFit trainer all over, however I went for a nerve conduction test at the hospital and until I get an MRI done to rule out a slipped disc, I'm on doctors orders to stop lifting heavy objects.

Normally, that would have discouraged me. Now....I'm working around it. Jillian Michaels is once again my go-to with her mainly bodyweight exercises, and compound movements using lighter weights. (Hey! YOU try doing a squat and corkscrew press with 25lbs!)

Burpees galore.
Planks a' many!
Cardio intervals interspersed with compound movements!

The result? It's been half a week and I'm down 2.5lbs.

What I realized is this:

I'm not done torching fat. I'm seeing performance results with these workouts in a way that I'm finding very satisfying. My body is responding well and burning calories during my workouts like its going out of style (but its SO not!)

I feel athletic.

Everytime I get to my 8th burpee and get to thinking "This is SO HARD. Who's going to care if I don't finish two more to complete the set?"

Instead of stopping, I've started answering back.

"I WILL."

and then I finish the set of 10. Next week I plan to add 2 more.

I feel exhilarated as I push myself, TRULY push myself. I'm getting hard on myself during my workouts because I KNOW. I. CAN. DO. BETTER.

I deserve this.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

From Fat to Fit


It’s so easy to recognize you’re Fat.

No, not PHAT, which is what the positive body image folks and their ilk would rather you say. Just Fat.

I’m a recovering Fat Chick. And I’ll forewarn you right now, I’m currently in a very  strange headspace. I’m no longer Dangerously Fat, and my bodyfat percentage is around 27% right now, which is still considered- well, fat- but I’m also not identifying with Plus Size, BBW and that ilk any more. So the posts I get on my Facebook newsfeed for Additionelle (unliked that one already) and some of the really awesome indie plus size clothing stores out there give me mixed feelings. They really do need to exist, and I love that they continue to grow every day.

Is there a place for them? Yes. Should plus size women be made to feel bad about themselves? No. And yet, sometimes I feel like every post I see on my feed about “Be proud of your curves” and “be happy with who you are” is like a personal attack telling me that I am not cool for abandoning my formerly plus sized physique, and joining the Fitness bandwagon. I know that’s silly, and that its not the intent whatsoever. Before I started getting fit, I knew I was Fat, and I had gotten to a place of acceptance for me as me, and looking at my positives (pretty, smart, funny, etc).

However, I reached a point of “Whoa. I am unfit, and its starting to impact my daily life”. Climbing stairs was a chore, my job was physical enough where I was feeling really drained at the end of the day. And then I tried snowboarding. That spectacular failure (I didn’t get down the bunny hill, never mind a proper hill. Though, to be fair, I also didn’t give up!) planted the seed of change in my psyche.
It took another few months, and a friend (Katie!) who said she was doing the 30 Day Shred, for me to finally take the reins of my own life and decide to commit to change. That whole adage “When you set your mind to something, you can accomplish ANYthing”?

It’s true.

I knew I was Fat for years. I didn’t see it as a problem and hindrance in my life until last year. Since then, I’ve learned exactly HOW much of a hindrance and health hazard that fat I was carrying was. How much the fat I still carry, IS. And how much healthier & happier I’m going to be when I reach my goals, which have turned less from a number on a scale, and more to a specific physique (Google Jamie Eason. That.)

So yeah, its easy as hell to recognize you’re Fat.

Its hard as hell to realize how much it keeps you from truly Living.

Keep up the hard work and stick with your dedication.

BeFit. BeHappy. BeHealthy.

TurboBeFit.
*Disclaimer: If you are plus size, and are happy with your quality of life, all the power to you! 

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Dear Me,


Dear Me in 2013,


Well, 2012 was one heckuva year! We accomplished so very much.  Lost 65 lbs. Gained 5 back over the holidays, but don't you worry, Me. We'll lose those 5 again, and honestly after all the snowboarding you did, I'm pretty sure at least half of that is muscle.  Or will be anyways. (*note to self: find out how long it takes for muscle mass to accumulate and affect weight*)

We made it down that damned bunny hill and THEN some.  Next time we'll work on technique, but I'm very proud of us for conquering the fear of going down a mountain on little more than a slip of wood and fibreglass. And don't forget that sweet toe side turn down that part of Mont Tremblant where you were touching the ground in anticipation of a wipeout, but instead totally trusted our stronger, more balanced body and recovered.  That was pretty freakin awesome.  Wish we had gotten a video of that. Good job on getting back up every time you fell down and for knowing your limits (hello fog and snow! Nice to walk right through you, don't much feel like colliding with someone down the hill because I can't see!) Don't worry, we'll just keep getting better.

Work is much better now, we have time again! Time to start doing some hobbies and getting out with friends again.  They miss us, and we miss them.  Let's start by going out on Fridays when Dave has his boys over for gaming.  We don't really need to be there and let's face it.  They get rather ridiculous and why should we be stuck in the bedroom or computer room when we could be out doing something fun!  I mean unless we really want to play Skyrim or Dragon Age or somethin.  Cuz, Y'know.  We do that sometimes.

Plan this year. Plan to get further in life, in career and in fitness.  Worry less about the scale and more about improving our body so we can continue to do crazy awesome things like snowboarding.  We're doing that challenge group with our friend Steph in January doing that Les Mills Combat program.  That's a lot of martial arts style training and should be fun! With those two days off of DVDs each week, why don't we work on our strength training?  Upper body needs to be a bit more strong and we can always work on our butt and thighs.  Clearly, snowboarding requires rock awesome thighs.  We want to be able to do REAL pushups this year. Let's throw in a 30 day Squat and Pushup challenge?  Sound good?  We'll start on the knees, but by the end of the month, we want military pushups baby!  We gots this!

We're gonna do that 30 Day Push thing with Chalene Johnson.  We have the book, might as well add some online accountability.  We can do anything for 30 days, and who knows? Might be a great thing for us!

Speaking of hobbies, I think a weekly date with Dave is a GRAND idea. But let's make it something active and fun.  Like going to that rock climbing gym near us.  It's open late, and since one of our weak points is upper body strength, I think that'll really help us achieve the goal of getting stronger!  It'll be good for both of us!

Above all though, Me, we really need to worry less about that dratted number on the scale.  I've thought about it, and what I'd like to propose is this:

Weigh in once a  month.  Replace weekly weigh ins with bi- weekly body measurements.  It'll keep us motivated, but worried less about what number it says on the scale.  Since we're still at a point where we need to be making that number go down on the scale though, we'll weigh in once a month and post our monthly progress online.  The aim is to be in maintenance mode for 2014, when we'll continue with monthly weigh ins but it will be more about maintaining our weight loss.  We might gain weight in muscle then, but we both know we want to find our body's natural, happy weight.

Alright then, I think that's enough for now.  I know we'll do fine this year because we've really laid some great ground work and developed some pretty bad ass habits.  Remember the triumphs over the tribulations, the tiny victories that help keep us going.  Don't expect, but be prepared for potential injuries related to pushing our body forward and redefining its boundaries, and know and be confident in our ability to work out around an injury.  Trust me, we'll be fine.  Set backs happen, but it's just a way for us to find new and interesting ways to keep moving ahead, sometimes a bit slower than we'd like.  Above all, progress is progress. We've come a long way baby....Life is just starting to get good!

Love,

Yourself
xoxo