The original goal of this 30 day fitness challenge was to build the daily healthy habit of physical exercise. However, as we come to the close of this challenge one can start to feel bored with that goal. It is because we are designed to grow! Once we get the hang of something we want to step it up! We want to see what we can accomplish. We thrive on growth! I find the best way to stay engaged in my workouts so that I am not bored is to create mini goals. I need something to work for! Here is a simple way to become engaged mentally in your workout plan.
1. Start by imagining the END RESULT. What do you want?
Wouldn’t it be nice if…. (fill in the blank)
My body had full range of motion
My body was supple and strong
My body was lean and firm
My measurements were 34-25-35
I could surf well
I could snowboard and hit the jumps with ease
I could dance with beauty and grace, rhythm and style
2. Have an Intention- Why do you want the above end result?
Because….
confidence
health
beauty
energy
longevity
plus…. it feels good!
it feels good to be free in my body
it feels good to be active with ease
it feels good to be pain free
it feels good to look good naked
it feels good to defy gravity
it feels good to play
it feels good to have immaculate control of my body
3. Break it down into bite sized 30 day milestones/goals
At the end of 30 days I would like to be able to accomplish the following:
Suppleness & range of motion: do the splits,bind my hands behind my back,and perform front and back walkovers with ease
Strength: perform 50 man push ups, hold a 5 min plank with ease, improve my pole tricks, perform power yoga class with ease
Lean & Firm: go lighter on the meals & keep up the daily workouts
Surf & Snowboard: work on balance
Dance: learn or choreograph one dance routine: perhaps burlesque, cabaret, strip tease, hip hop, ballroom, or zumba
4. Create a daily/ weekly action plan
Daily/Weekly
Spend 15 min AM/PM stretching doing the splits, binds, and back bends
Spend 15 min doing strength training
Keep a food log to bring more awareness to my diet
Play on a wobble board
Dance to one song a day
Weekly:
Attend yoga, pilates, and dance classes
Perform my body balance workout
Tips:
Make sure your goals turn you on! If you don’t get turned on by your goals then performing the daily workouts are going to seem boring.
Get creative and playful! Brainstorm one new way you can workout this week and have fun.
Train for an event! For example, training for a marathon can keep you focused on fitness because you are looking forward to running in the race and you have a date that keeps you on point!
If you are feeling like you are doing the lame old workout without any end result in mind and you are not fully engaged give these exercises a shot and see what you come up with! I know that this is going up on my bathroom mirror to keep me reminded of what I want, why I want it and how I plan on getting there! 🙂
Cheers to our able bodies!!!
BTW, did you workout today? I did…. 😉
Today’s Workout
60 min yoga
60 min Zumba
20 min easy walk
60 min pole fitness class
Do you struggle with maintaining your ideal body weight?
If you feel like you are fighting a losing battle with the scale you may want to start building some lean muscle!
Why more lean muscle?
Because it boosts your metabolic rate!
How to build lean muscle?
Resistance Training
Resistance training builds long lean sexy muscles which helps you to maintain your perfect weight effortlessly. If you feel like you are constantly struggling to get down to your ideal weight, but fighting the scale feels like a losing battle, then you may want to consider building some lean muscle with resistance training.
Did you know that the more lean muscle you have the higher your metabolic rate?
For every 1 lb. of muscle your body burns 35-75 calories a day. Therefore, if I gained 8 lbs. of muscle, I would be burning 280-600 more calories a day.
How does lean body mass do that?
Your metabolic rate increased and therefore burning more calories a day and while you sleep making it easier to maintain your healthy shape! It also allows us to obtain more nutrient into my body since we can eat more calories without the weight gain. More nutrient means more health, more beauty, more energy!
How long does it take to gain a pound of muscle?
On average, it takes men 2 weeks to gain a pound of muscle and for women it takes about 4 weeks. This is because women have higher estrogen and lower testosterone levels than men. So, yes ladies, this means it takes women longer to gain a pound of muscle than it does for men. Perhaps this is another reason why men can drop weight so much faster than us! I personally want to increase my lean muscle by 8 lbs. which means that will take me about 8 months! Ahh…. patience is a virtue! 😉
How to build lean muscle
I personally enjoy the long lean muscles I receive from pilates, power yoga, pole fitness, and body balancing. I do have some light free weights, but personally I prefer the following resistance training equipment:
My own body weight
Resistance bands
Swiss Ball
Medicine Ball
Pole
Won’t I get bulky and masculine muscles?
A common concern with resistance training and women is the fear of bulking up. I have noticed that plyometrics and heavy resistance has affected the appearance of my physique. I did years of bike riding and did have some dense leg muscles, then as a gymnast I was one dense firecracker. I find that when I really make sure I am balancing my workouts with cardio and flexibility training that bulking up is not a concern!
Side note:
It can be easy to get caught up in aesthetics and how our bodies look. However, I want to encourage you to put more emphasis on how it FEELS rather than looks. I’d far rather have full range of motion of my joints and body, muscular control, balance, energy, endurance, and a daily flow of endorphins pumping through my veins than a body that just looks good, but doesn’t feel free and fantastic or has aches and pains. True health radiates from the inside out and your body will look as gorgeous as it feels in no time!
Enjoy your body!
Lori
P.S. Still working out with me? Here’s what I did today
Do your workouts properly train imbalanced muscles to keep your body fit and free? Are your workouts putting you at risk for an injury? Are you aware that due to our lifestyle that we have chronically tight and weak muscles? Do you know how to self correct those imbalances? If not, read on…..
Not many people really think about balancing every muscle of the body UNTIL something goes wrong and they injure themselves or they start to experience pain and discomfort in their bodies. Even still many people feel the pain but really doen’t know what to do about it! This article is designed to educate you on the typical muscular imbalances so that you can incorporate exercises and stretches that help you to…..
Reduce the risk of injury
Perform daily functional tasks with ease
Improve athletic performance
Improve your posture
Reduce or eliminate pain or discomfort
Improve body awareness
Look and feel more confident
Look and feel younger
Look and feel more fit, long, and lean
Feel free in your own body
FEEL strong, supple, free, able and ALIVE!
Here’s the scoop. Take time to stretch the following chronically tight muscles to restore elasticity, prevent injury and improve range of motion.
Tight
Pectorals
Upper Trapezius
Levator Scapulae
Sternocleidomastoid
Anterior Scalenes
Suboccipitals
Subscapularis
Latissimus
Dorsi
Iliopsoas
Rectus Femoris
Hamstrings
Lumbar Erectors
Tensor Fascia Latae
Thigh Adductors
Piriformis
Quadratus Lumborum
Take time to strengthen the following weak muscles to bring integrity and balance into your body!
Weak
Capitis & Colli
Hyoids
Serratus Anterior
Rhomboids
Lower & Middle Trapezius
Posterior Rotator Cuff
Rectus Abdominis
Gluteals
Vastus Medialis
Vastus Lateralis
Transversus Abdominis
Incorporate this body awareness into your weekly workout routines and within a short time of consistent effort you are really going to FEEL fantastic!
Are not sure how to really put together a workout that addresses these issues?
Just shoot me an email titled “Body Balancing” and I will put you on an Interest List for a Body Balancing Workout on video.
Every now and then I have a cooked ethnic meal and last night my kids and I went out and had Japanese food. For those who are curious as to what I ate, I ordered the following items:
Miso Soup
Cucumber Salad
Seaweed Salad
Veggie Roll w/ Low Sodium Soy Sauce and Wasabi
Now to some people the items I ordered above might look like a pretty healthy meal, but I woke up looking and feeling OFF. I realize it was because of all the sodium in one meal. When you are eating relatively a clean, simple, high raw, high green, low salt diet, a meal like that can really throw you off your game….well, it did for me anyway. This was WAY TOO MUCH SODIUM for me! The cleaner the diet, the more responsive the body becomes. Here is what I experienced:
I felt salt around the rims of my eyes upon waking up this morning. I normally wake up with nothing around my eyes.
My face and body looked and felt puffy. I was retaining so much water! I normally wake up with a flat tummy!
Slight aching in my fingers/ joints (as though they were at the pre-signs of arthritis), they were retaining water!
A lack of drive to workout. Probably due to the dehydrating effect of sodium.
My face didn’t look nearly as attractive.
I have talked with a couple other friends who have experienced the same symptoms. It’s as if I aged 10 years overnight! My friend and I joked that salt was an instant ugly pill. We agreed that to hydrate and to stay away from the mirror for the day until the water retention is calmed down.
I knew after reading 80/10/10 that salt was not as healthy to our bodies as we are told it was, but I wanted to refresh my memory a bit more since I was feeling so much discomfort and I wanted to share the information with you!
Did you know that salt is a stress food?
Salt is a stimulant! It stimulates Sympathetic Nervous System and adrenal glands and creates stress arousal. That’s why it comes under the category of stress food. We all know what stress does to the body (first thing that comes to my mind is pre-mature aging).
This was news to me that salt affected the adrenal glands! Being a person who has been diagnosed with a sub-optimally functioning thyroid this caused a red flag for me. Most people who have hypo-thyroidism know that the adrenals are also related to thyroid function.
I know that sodium is important to the proper functioning of the body and many foods naturally contain salt. Actually, there is some salt present in every natural food we eat which is enough to meet the needs of the body under normal circumstances. So there isn’t really a need to shake the salt onto our foods. However, since it is an excito-toxin it can be hard to break the habit.
According to Dr. Douglas Graham it can take about 2 weeks without salt to really lose the craving for salt and to really heighten our ability to taste flavors fully and with a refined palate.
I am inspired to lay off the sodium especially after what I experienced.
TIP: Salt is dehydrating and can really zap your energy!
If you are noticing more lethargy and are not as inspired to workout you may want to see if it is due to your salt intake.
Today’s Workout
60 min walk at Santa Rosa Plateau w/ Alex
60 min walk in my neighborhood
If you are running through life feeling overwhelmed and not really making the impact you know you want, or wishing you felt alive and filled with passion then you are going to LOVE me!
