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.