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General Weight Loss Tips

Week Five

I’m in week five of the Insanity Workout and have so much that I want to make note of. So much so that I’m thinking about doing a video post. Here are my random, jumbled thoughts (when I really should be in bed) about exercising everyday…

1) It’s okay to exercise everyday. This hurdle has been huge for me and one that took me awhile to get over. In my mind daily exercise was unnecessary. I even got a comment on twitter from someone saying “watch out or you’ll burn out”. I felt defensive over that, a feeling that I often battle with when unsolicited advice comes my way. I feel like I shouldn’t have to defend exercising everyday.

My perspective is changing. What used to seem like a lot of exercise, 45 minutes, now seems like nothing. In fact I’m thinking in a whole day 45 minutes isn’t much. And then to think that I was barely getting that a week, or even three times a week is sort of astounding to me. But that’s what changing your perspective will do. I can exercise every day and not burn out. I think the reason is that I’m not expecting perfection with every workout. Most days I push myself and give it my all, but there have been some days when I’m barely showing up. I’m just going through the motions to get it over with. But I’m showing up and that’s what matters. I think before, just showing up was never good enough for the perfectionist in me, so I wouldn’t show up at all. I was all or nothing,  now I just do my best.

2) I am not losing a ton of weight. Before I started exercising intensely everyday  I used to think that’s all I needed to do to lose weight. Just one hour or so of intense exercise and I could eat what I wanted. I’m not sure why I thought this or where this idea came into play, but it’s simply not true. It is helpful for not gaining weight and that’s it. I’ve lost a little weight and I can tell that my waist is more defined and I’m much stronger. But, that 10-20 lbs. of weight that I thought would fall off effortlessly? not so.

I’m very very slowly getting my eating habits in check. This will be my next hurdle that I need to deal with. Exercise has been the first one and next will be food. And when I have both, well, I’ll be set. I mentally count calories, but sometimes I just want to eat. I still want to eat for comfort. I am eating better in general, cooking more at home and not eating refined sugar. I know that my next step is getting serious about planning ahead and counting calories. I can do it for about four days before I just get so tired of it.

3) Exercise can be mentally uncomfortable. I used to think that I had a hard time exercising because it was physically uncomfortable, it was too hard, I didn’t have enough time, I was lazy, etc. But, the truth is, exercise makes me face the uncomfortable facts about my body. It brings out emotions that are dormant during inactivity. I notice my size more, I notice the space I take up, I notice the effects of excess weight on my body. Stuff that I’ve tried to ignore or hide- suddenly become clear when I move my body like it’s meant to. When I can’t do yoga poses because of fat getting in the way. When my arms and wrists give out when I try to do push-ups. When I can’t grab my ankle for a quad stretch. Basic, human movements that are hard to do when you’re obese. Exercise is like shining a spotlight on everything I can’t do, and it is uncomfortable for me.

I once heard that the body stores emotions. It holds on to whatever we are dealing with (or not dealing with) and when we exercise these emotions can be released. I’ve experienced this. It makes me want to cry, or hide away. It can be intense when what you aren’t dealing with is released even when you’re not ready. And I think this is one reason why I’ve had a hard time sticking to consistent movement- it can unleash pain. For me, not letting it out in the form of exercise has lead to depression. I still suffer from my one hormonal week a month, but I feel like things are becoming clearer mentally.  Like the things I’ve been holding inside are coming out through energy and movement. I’m okay with being uncomfortable.

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What I Couldn’t Do Two Weeks Ago

There is something to be said about trying something you know you can’t do.  Every time I go to the gym I stare down the hanging leg raise. Have you seen it?

Basically you have to hold your body up while pulling your legs up to your chest. For those that can do it, they make it look easy. For the rest of us, well, it’s kind of sad (and kind of funny) to watch. I decided I was okay with making a fool of myself January 20th and get on.

I couldn’t even hold myself up to hang. It was truly painful, so I got off and decided that this would be a progress point for me.

Two weeks later, back at the gym I decided to get on again. I knew in my mind that holding my weight up with my arms would be hard, but I wanted to try again. This time, not only could I support my weight, I was able to lift my knees up to my chest not once, not twice, not three times…but four times.

I was so shocked that I stopped. Am I really doing this? I couldn’t even hold myself up two weeks ago! And sure enough I think I could have done a couple more had I not been so freakin’ excited.

So that is real progress that I can see. It’s not a lower number on the scale, or looser fitting jeans- it was proof that I’m getting in better shape.

Today begins week four of the Insanity workout training and I have to say that working out every day has gotten easier mentally. I know what to expect and I’ve accepted that 45 minutes of my day will be spent exercising. I’ve never worked out this hard in my life on a consistent basis. Not even during couch to 5k training. It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve exercised all but three (I take sundays off) days in the past three weeks.

We’ve got more plans. As the weather gets warmer and our stamina increases, we’re going to add running back to our schedule three days a week.

Right now the exercise schedule looks like this:

Monday-Wednesday : Insanity workout

Thursday: yoga and strength training

Friday- Saturday: Insanity workout

Sunday: Off

In about a month it will look like this:

Monday, Wednesday, Friday: Insanity workout + running

Tuesday, Saturday: Insanity workout

Thursday: yoga and strength

Sunday: Off day

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General Weight Loss Tips

Buy Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle EBook – 4 Tips You Need to Know

If you want to buy Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle eBook – then you must realize these 4 tips on how to successfully handle Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle by Tom Venuto:

1. Unlike other weight loss eBooks or diet programs – Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle is created by a recognized health and fitness expert in his field.

2. When you do buy Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle – Start off by focusing on the nutrition information. When it comes to weight loss, good nutrition will account up to 80% of your fat loss.

3. If you’re not aware of it, Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle is information packed, some say it is information over-load. Fact is, because it is written by a recognized expert, Tom is sharing his wealth of knowledge. Because of this, most readers will get lost in the pile of information.

The best way to get a solid grasp of the eBook is to read it over two to three times. And as mentioned in point 2, focus your nutritional needs first to get started. In fact, even if you don’t grasp the whole truck load of nutrition information – just start off with the simple facts you’ve learnt, and gradually implement the rest over time.

It’s really about getting into a good habit, and staying consistent – in fact if you can master at least 50% of what Tom puts out to you – you’re well on your way to losing the inches off your waist. This is the key to grasping Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle eBook.

4. Lastly, once you have a good handle of the nutrition aspect – get into the training. Again, this is not a race to master the eBook, just take it one small step at a time, and clock up your workout schedule over time! Again, if you do buy Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle – read it a couple of times and jot down the steps you start with. It’s about building momentum!

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