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Weight Loss Exercise

How hard to push when starting exercise



I always worry about how people get started or restarted doing exercise. The trouble is that we are all excited to get started and run or workout and feel tired but the next day for a week wake up in excrutiating pain and do not want to ever go through that again.

I know this because I have done that too.

I find that for the first week or two that you start or restart serious exercise it is best to ramp yourself up. We all want to be instantly fit but you have to  work up to it or you will never get there without giving up because of muscle soreness (Biggest Loser never shows this). I was thinking about this yesterday in the gym and how it is nice to push as hard as I can to make gains knowing that I will be in fantastic shape in a month but also knowing that day to day for the first week I will be making gains mostly in building mental toughness and improving my agility, balance, and joint strength.

Don’t get me wrong, I am working hard but my weight workouts are to failure with fewer sets so I am still a bit sore but not enough to slow me down at all. Excitement is great but overexertion will really hurt and if you pull something or get joint or back pain it can really set you back.

So if you are starting out, or are sore today remember that the pain goes away and you should not be sore day to day after the initial bit of pain. Get through it or just work your way up.

If you do get sore there are a few things you can do to get rid of that muscle soreness.

A warm bath is always nice. You can use a  heating pad alternating with ice on your muscles. Also I have taken aspirin in the past to just dull the pain, and finally stretching, stretch those muscles lots whether sore or not to get rid of the lactic acid buildup and to help your flexability.

Constistency is key. make sure you are getting some kind of exercise everyday even light walking or biking and if you are doing weight workouts make sure you are giving a day in between. I try to get at least two to three hard cardio workouts a week and two to four weight workouts a week as well.

Here is an article I wrote on starting Weightlifting http://www.fitnesstipsforlife.com/getting-started-weight-training.html

And here is another on starting exercise itself http://www.fitnesstipsforlife.com/building-up-in-cardio.html

I want to dive into more detail but sometimes that more you know the more confusing these things can be. Just get out and get some exercise, ok?

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General Weight Loss Tips

Mini Meals

noosa Mini Meals

I ended up eating a lot of mini-meals yesterday instead of my usual three meals. The day started with fresh orange juice mixed with pomegranate juice and theraflu because I feel a cold (second cold since December!) coming on. I’m determined to beat it.

I made a big batch of Ashley’s Garlic and Greens soup and went and deleted the photo on accident. This soup was so nice in the morning, I ended up eating it for breakfast and again a couple of hours later. I had a friend over who thought the soup was amazing too. I also liked that it was so filling, yet so low in calories.  We got about five large bowls out of the recipe. Thanks Ashley, I’m making another batch today!

Here’s her recipe with my small changes:

Garlic and Greens Soup

-1 head of garlic, minced (I used about eight cloves)
-1 yellow onion, finely diced
-1 tbs evoo
-1 bunch kale, bok choy, or chard, chopped into bite sized pieces (I used a bag of frozen spinach)
-3 yellow potatoes, diced, not peeled (I used three carrots)
-8 cups vegetable stock (I used chicken stock)
-1 tbs seasoned rice vinegar
-sp to taste

* I added 1/2 C whole wheat couscous to the soup towards the end.

in a large soup pot, saute the garlic and onions in oil until transluscent. add greens, potatoes, and veg stock and bring to a boil. simmer everything about 25 minutes until the potatoes can be pierced with a fork.

Just before turning off the heat, add the rice vinegar, and sp to taste.

croissantplate Mini Meals

A couple hours after the soup I had a serving of Noosa yoghurt with blueberries and honey. And a couple hours after that I had a croissant with strawberry jam, fresh strawberries, chicken+apple sausage, and a peanut-date ball.

A couple hours after that I had a 1 cup serving of raisin bran with whole milk. And another chicken sausage later in the evening. Lots of food!

I also did a session of the Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga. It did wonders for my knee and my mood.

BLyoga Mini Meals

 

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Categories
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Sunburst Squash

croissantbreakfast Sunburst Squash

Yesterday morning I had a toasted croissant, 1 serving of Noosa blueberry yoghurt (very very good!), with strawberries and blueberries. Me and Josh  picked up this same yogurt while shopping over the weekend and didn’t realize until we got home and  unpacked three containers. It’s incredible and tastes more like cream (in a good way) than that sort of fakey-sour gross taste that most yogurts have.

bigsalad Sunburst Squash

For lunch I had a big salad with dark leafy greens, cucumber, Dr. Praeger’s sweet potato patty, and an organic chicken and apple sausage.

BLbootcamp Sunburst Squash

I did the 30 minute Biggest Loser Bootcamp with Bob. I can’t tell you when I bought this, but it’s been awhile. I’ve been looking for a DVD that I can replace Insanity while my knee continues to heal. It’s still twingy. But, I noticed that the more I consistently keep up with movement and exercise the better it feels.

raisinbran Sunburst Squash

For second lunch, I had a small bowl of fresh market brand raisin bran. Josh made this bowl for me like he eats it, with blueberries and a little honey. I never knew blueberries could be so good in cereal!

bigsaladwithmushrooms Sunburst Squash

Dinner was another big salad with cucumbers, sauteed mushrooms + baby squash, creamy dressing and a wedge of panini bread. I really like the squash in sauces more than alone, they were just too bitter like this. I ended up eating around them in favor of the mushrooms.

greekyogurtpops Sunburst Squash

I had these Yasso frozen Greek yogurt pops later on in the evening. They are so good and big for 70 calories!

vegfriedrice Sunburst Squash

To finish the day ( I was still hungry) I had about 3/4 cup of the vegetable fried rice that I made for Josh for dinner.

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