CrossFit BABY!

There's nothing like the excitement of starting something new.  Last night I went to my first CrossFit class and I was literally giddy with excitement to finally try it out.  And my goodness, did I get smoked!  Oh I've done pullups, situps, and pushups before.  But not like that! :)  My arms were locking up on me and I literally had to will myself to do each rep.  It was amazing!

So here I go...I'm embarking on my CrossFit journey.  This DOES involve me getting rid of two of my gym memberships to fund this escapade....LOL...but I'm excited to see where I can go from here.  I might have to ease myself into the Paleo diet (peanuts aren't allowed????....but peanut butter is my staple food!), but I intend to give this 100% of my attention.

I sure do love the fact that a 30 minute workout 5 days a week is what CrossFit is all about.  No more one hour sessions of cardio and another 45 minutes of free weights.  It'll be all short, explosive workouts for me from here on out.  And by the end of 2012 I WILL do a muscle up! :)  Haha!

Train hard everyone, no matter what you're doing...just give it your all!

Functional Training

So my latest motivation has been that I want to train to be STRONG.  I'm past wanting to work out to look a certain way.  Obviously, I don't want to be fat.  But I don't want to train for a specific look, such as what the judges are looking for in an NPC bikini competition.  I'm pretty happy with my shape, and I know that I don't have a small waist and I have large quads.  But that's me.  I love my strong quads.  Sure, I'd like more rounded glutes, but that's something I can definitely work on.  But it's hard to do so when you are 'fighting against nature' as I was doing by trying to keep my quads down.

So now I train functionally.  I still eat clean and work out hard as ever.  However, my focus is to get stronger and attain and break personal records.  I've been trying more CrossFit exercises (I WILL get a muscle up before the end of 2012!) and have started running again.

Here's a great inspirational video of the Girls Gone Strong movement.  I started following Alli McKee when I began my fitness journey and fell in love with the workouts she posted. :) Enjoy and train hard!

Keep it FRESH :)

No matter what your end goal is: lose weight/build muscle/compete in a show/fit in a dress/suit, it's important to remember to keep your workouts fun and fresh.  If you stick to a plan for too long, your versatile body will get used to the routine and you will plateau.  Just as important as rest days are to helping your muscles recover and grow, keeping your body guessing is key to improvement.

Now I'm not saying to totally switch up your entire approach.  If you're lifting 4 days a week and doing cardio 5 days, try cutting down one of the cardio days and going for a run outside.  Or add in a yoga class.  Try something new and let your body keep guessing.  Working out isn't always going to be fun and sometimes it's a bit of a drag.  But throwing in a couple fun elements or a new technique or two keeps the fun in the game.

Yesterday I went to a boot camp class a friend of mine teaches.  The class was formatted similar to a CrossFit class and I essentially ended up doing 100 push ups, 100 pull ups, 200 surf squats, 100 burpees, 100 kettle bell swings, 100 pull ups and more that I can't remember because I have blocked it out (LOL) and running about a mile in between most sets.  I thoroughly enjoyed the class and really had to push myself to finish each set.  It really doesn't matter how athletic or fit you are: no one is the master of everything.  Trying new things that challenge you make you a better athlete.

So sign up for a hot yoga class or a jujitsu class.  Try something you've always wanted to and have FUN! Don't be afraid to try new things...trying, succeeding, and sometime failing make us better individuals! :)

Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer

So I've decided that I want to take a break from fitness competitions for at least a year.  The dieting and intense workouts really take a toll on your body.  I have not, however, given up on my goals to be healthy, fit, and strong! :)

In order to easily transition myself into a 'maintenance' fitness regime after being on structured plans for the past year, I am going to be doing the Jamie Eason 12 Week Live Fit Trainer on bodybuilding.com.  She includes a 12 week plan with nutrition (all clean meals) and workout plans.

I will be starting on a Monday (Dec. 5) so that I have the weekend to get my food together, with the 12 weeks ending the week of Mar. 5.  What better way to gain lean muscle and stay in check during the holiday season?

Not only is it absolutely free, but there are portions for men and women in the nutrition plan!  I'm excited to see the changes I can create! :)

Gym Closed????

With the holidays upon us, we will run into a lot of days when gyms are closed early or closed for the entire day.  So what do you do if you can't get to the gym?  Obviously, you can just go for a run for cardio.  Make it an interval cardio by sprinting for a minute, jogging for 2, then lunging for another 2 (5 minutes total) and repeat until you have done the amount of cardio desired.

But what about weights?  If you don't have free weights at your house, this body weight workout is a great option:

http://www.fitnessrxmag.com/fitness/cardio/970-bodyweight-blast.html

Enjoy! :)

Sniffle Season

With the holidays always comes flu season. So what do you do if you get a cold or the flu and aren't at 100%? Do you push through and work out anyways?

Working out sick doesn't work for me. Some people can push through but I end up prolonging recovery. Most times my body just needs rest. However, everyone is different. The rule of thumb seems to be that light cardio is okay if you have a cold. Moderate weight lifting seems to be acceptable as well. Lifting or exercising with a fever is never recommended.

Everyone's body is unique and responds to illness differently so it's important to be in tune with your own body and know when you need rest. Don't jump back in 100% after recovery either. Make sure you ease into your workout regimen to avoid a relapse.

Stay healthy and train hard!!! :)

Workout Playlist

Based on a wonderful reader's suggestion, here's my current workout playlist from my iPod. Some of the songs are pretty random. :). They're just songs I've shuffled through on my iPod that work for me. :). Enjoy and train hard!

Usher & David Guetta- Without You
LMFAO - Sexy and I Know It
Salt n Pepa - Push It
Three Six Mafia - Lolli Lolli
Dev - In The Dark
Bring Me The Horizon - Chelsea Smile
Britney Spears - 3
Nikki Minaj - Super Bass
Enrique Iglesias - Dirty Dancer
Pitbull and Neyo - Give Me Everything
Black Eyed Peas - Don't Stop the Party
LMFAO - Party Rock
Dev - Bass Down Low
New Boys - Backseat
Lady Gaga - Judas
Notch - Que Te Pica
Britney Spears - Till The World Ends

Cardi-o-o-O!!!! :)

It is important to incorporate both weight training AND cardio into your exercise routine to effective create lean muscle.

I'll go into the large world of weight training in other posts, but I thought I'd post a sample cardio routine that will really help with fat loss.

Before cardio, make sure you warm up by walking for 5 minutes on the treadmill or using the elliptical at a moderate pace.

Monday:
Treadmill, 45 minutes, speed 3.0, incline 13 (steady climb)

Tuesday:
Treadmill Intervals:
Jog 6.0mph-5min
Incline 15% at 3.5mph no hands- 5min
Run 7.0mph-5min
Incline 15% at 3.5mph no hands- 5min
Run 7.5mph-5min
Incline 15% at 3.5mph no hands- 5min
Run 8.0mph-5min
Incline 15% at 3.5mph no hands- 5min

Wednesday:
Active REST (go for a walk or something)

Thursday:
Elliptical, 45 minutes, choose the 'fat burn' or similar preset on your elliptical : the key is to keep your heart rate at 60-75% of your maximal heart rate (http://www.brianmac.co.uk/maxhr.htm)

Friday:
Treadmill, 45 minutes, speed 3.0, incline 13 (steady climb)

Saturday:
Treadmill Intervals:
Jog 6.0mph-5min
Incline 15% at 3.5mph no hands- 5min
Run 7.0mph-5min
Incline 15% at 3.5mph no hands- 5min
Run 7.5mph-5min
Incline 15% at 3.5mph no hands- 5min
Run 8.0mph-5min
Incline 15% at 3.5mph no hands- 5min

Sunday:
Active REST (go for a walk or something)

Your cardio should be challenging (ESPECIALLY the interval days).  If you can carry on a conversation, text, or attentively read during your cardio, you aren't working hard enough.

Always stretch after you work out.  Stretching before can be beneficial, but it is more important to stretch your muscles when they're warm and have just worked, because that's when they're the most pliable.

Have fun, burn fat, and let me know how this works out! :)

Tick, tock...

Plenty of people say, 'I don't have time to workout'. The fact of the matter is that it isn't that you don't have time, you're not willing to MAKE time.  A one hour workout is only 4% of your day. We all have the same amount of hours in the day.  'You don't have kids, you don't understand'.  Yes, that is true - I DON'T have children.  But I DO have a full time job, a husband, a dog, a house, and many responsibilities.  I also know plenty of IFBB pros with children, a spouse, job, house, etc. and they make it work.  No excuses.  If you really want to change your body, stop spending time complaining about your lack of time and make it a priority.  How long do you spend watching TV a day?  Why not DVR all your shows during the week, forgo those shows, and watch them on your rest day during the weekend?

I wake up at 4 in the morning so that I can get my hour of morning cardio in, walk my dog, and then get to work.  After work I lift and do PM cardio if it's required.  I make it a priority to get all of my workouts in, even if that means waking up at an undesirable hour.  I know plenty of nurses and doctors with night schedules that still make time to workout.

Do you REALLY want it?
Do you want to prolong your life?
Do you want to feel good in your own skin?
Do you want to be healthy and strong?

Then make it a priority to work out.  Even if it's just 20 minutes a day, or 30 minutes a couple days a week - it's better than sitting on your bum and complaining about how tired/fat/weak you are.

Make today the day YOU change your priorities...the clock is ticking. :)

I don't want to be bulky!

I hear it all the time when I tell female friends/family that they should incorporate weights into their exercise regimen: "I don't want to get bulky/look like a man/have huge muscles."    Many women think that if they start lifting weights they will instantly swell up, get a square jaw, and look like a female bodybuilder. 

The truth of the matter is that women don't naturally build muscles like men do.  Without testosterone supplementation or anabolic steroids, it simply isn't going to happen. The picture below really shows the reality of lifting weights for women:

But don't be deceived.  Looking the Jamie Eason on the far right doesn't come from lifting 5 lb. dumbbells 3 times a week.  It takes a consistently clean diet, cardio, and a combination of heavy lifting and high reps/low weight to get lean muscle like that.

So don't be afraid to lift!  Throw on some gloves, head into the weight room, and grow some lean muscle!  Show the boys how the ladies lift! :)

Forgiving Yourself

So you had a slip-up.  You ate too much, you ate unhealthy food, you didn't work out, etc.

DON'T beat yourself up.  You can't change what you did yesterday.  Sure, you could go do extra sessions of cardio and try to burn off extra calories.  But chances are you'll just exhaust yourself and end up right back in that slip-up zone.

Forgive yourself, learn from your mistake(s), and get back to it!  Everyone slips up and loses motivation.  What will set you apart is your ability to get out of that funk and get back to the grind!

Happy training! :)

Tacky Tuesday

Sometimes I wake up at 4 am for cardio feeling like super woman and head to the gym to kill it! Sometimes I really don't want to get up and go through every excuse possible in my head and have to convince myself to go, which I do. Once I DID get up, drive to the gym, get on the treadmill, and turn around and head back home for an extra 45 minutes of sleep. LOL! That has only happened once though. ;)

Most days, though, my body is on autopilot and I just GO. Today was one of those days. In fact, I was so very much on autopilot that it wasn't until 30 minutes into my cardio that I noticed my pant were on inside out. LOL!!

When you're embarking on your journey to be fit or changing up your workout you are going to have to motivate YOURSELF. You are doing this for YOU, to be there longer for the ones you love, to feel good, to look good, to be strong.

So just remember that there will be hard and easy days as well as days that you just go with inside out pants on. ;). It's going to be hard, but it gets easier the more fit you get. If it were easy EVERYONE would look like a fitness model... :)

Train hard! And check your pants!

Measuring Progress

So you've decided to get fit/lose weight/be healthy/gain muscle.  How do you measure your progress?  Most of us use that dreaded tool: the scale.  While weighing yourself is a great measurement of progress, you shouldn't rely entirely on the scale, and I'll explain why. 

First of all, if you DO decide to use weight as your sole indicator of your progress, make sure you are weighing yourself at the SAME TIME on the days you weigh yourself.  Our weight fluctuates  2 - 5 lbs. throughout the day, so you can't really measure your progress unless you are weighing yourself consistently at the same time of day. 

If you are trying to build muscle at the same time as you're losing weight, the scale may not budge at all.  In fact, you may GAIN weight.  Don't freak out!  If you are eating clean and following your workout plan, you will NOT get fat.  Most people will tell you 'muscle weighs more than fat'.  Well that isn't necessarily true.  5 lbs. is 5 lbs.  But muscle burns calories while at rest while fat, well fat doesn't do anything for you (anything good anyways).  Here is an image of 5 lbs. of fat vs. 5 lbs. of muscle:

So it's easy to see that you can be getting leaner and still weigh the same.  I plateaued for MONTHS when I first started losing weight.  It took me TWO YEARS to lose 40 lbs.  It does NOT happen overnight.  You have to be consistent and keep going.  You are changing your lifestyle, not making a change to quickly lose 10 lbs. and then gain it back after a party. 

A better way to measure your progress is by weighing yourself, taking progress pictures, and using body measurements.  You will notice inches dropping from your waist and changes in your physique when the number on the scale doesn't change.  Other times you will see the scale drop with smaller changes to measurements and pictures.  The important thing is to know that there is more to measuring your progress than a number off a scale. 

And don't forget to use your physical endurance as a measurement.  When you first started working out, how long could you run before you were winded?  One month in, you're probably running far longer than when you started!  Are you lifting heavier or able to complete more reps than before?  Remember that every little improvement makes you better than you were yesterday.  Don't let that weight number discourage you! :)

Thick Skin

It's sad, but being healthy and fit seems to be the 'abnormal' thing, not the norm. If you are in shape and are meticulously watching what you put in your body and working out, people always ask, 'Why are you trying to lose weight, you're so thin already?'...or 'you should eat something, you're so skinny!'.

Now I am well aware of what I look like.  I am neither bulimic nor anorexic.  I am not 'too thin'.  I have lean muscle and am in good shape.  I follow a diet made by a trainer and nutritionist to ensure I am getting all the nutrients and vitamins I need to feed my body and do my workouts.

If you want to compete in fitness competitions, or even just be in great shape, you are going to have to get thick skin.  I've been on competition preparation diets and gone to many parties where I did not eat the party food.  I would take my clean meal that was part of my plan and eat that instead.  Everyone scrunched up their noses and gave me a hard time.  It got to the point where it annoyed my husband and he proclaimed, 'she DOES eat...she eats SIX meals a day, she just doesn't eat this stuff'.

I just let it roll off my back.  Because I know that I am not starving myself.  I know that if I have a brownie as a treat and everyone freaks out that I am finally eating what they consider 'normal' food, it'll be ok.  In the end, I am doing what I can to make myself the best me I can be, and with that comes the occasional indulgence.  And I have good days as well as bad days.  But if I worried about what others thought I would never be happy, because I would be eating the food at parties and everything people think is 'normal' and I wouldn't be the lean, mean, muscle machine that I am. :)

So don't let it get to you when your change of lifestyle is questioned by others.  Their comments usually come from either jealousy that they could NEVER have the discipline to do what you do or jealousy that they don't look like you do.

On that note, people took pictures of me eating a brownie tonight, because they thought it was AMAZING that  I was eating NORMAL food.  That food isn't normal, it's actually just pure sugar, but I wanted to indulge tonight.  I'll be back in the gym in the morning for some killer cardio and will be back to eating 100% clean starting with Meal # 1 after my cardio. :)  People can make comments and take all the pictures they want, but they are just sensationalizing something that simply makes me more like them - eating crap.  But don't get used to it, because I am in it for the long haul, and slip ups and indulgences are just that.  Being fit and healthy is MY LIFE, not a stage.

Credibility

It's actually pretty strange to me, but now when people meet me and we start inevitably discussing my competition prep or workouts, they will actually tell me, 'Well but you've always been thin.'  My first instinct is to say I'm not thin, I'm super jacked (LOL), but then I show them my 'before' pictures, and it seems that they start to listen more attentively to anything I have to say about losing weight and being fit.

So, to start my blogging journey out correctly, I will establish credibility by showing my before pictures.  Now I will say that I was never morbidly obese or even obese, but I was definitely chubby/chunky/fat.  At 5'2", I should probably weight somewhere between 115 - 125 lbs.  I was usually anywhere between 135-145 lbs. 

Throughout college, I was able to maintain about 140, size 8, and not gain any weight.  I would do cardio or aerobics classes and use weight machines at least 4 days a week.  I ocassionally ran.  I was probably 'fit but fat'. However, I was still uncomfortable in my own skin and I never really felt that I looked or felt the way I wanted.

In August of 2009, I went shopping for work clothes and had to try on a size 14 pair of pants.  I weighed myself and realized that it wasn't that Express was making their pants fit wrong, but that I was 164 lbs.  My BMI was over 31 - I was not only overweight, I was unhealthy. 

So I made the commitment.  I was at a Fort Bragg Aerobathon (4 hours of non stop aerobics class fun! haha) and signed up for a free personal training session.  And the rest, well, the rest I will go through in my blog posts.  :)

So without further ado, here are before and after pictures with dates. :)

June 2007

March 2009

October 2011

October 2011

Remember, if I can do it, so can you!  I always hid behind 'it's my body type - I can't change it'...well I sure proved myself wrong! :)

First Blog Post!

Throughout my journey to become a more fit, healthy ME, I have found that those around me have come to me with questions and seeking advice as to how to turn THEIR lives around and improve themselves and I thought: what better way to reach out than with a blog?  I love nothing more than to hear that I have inspired someone to get healthy and fit, and I hope to help anyone I can with my own story. :)

So look to my blog for information on nutrition, supplements, workouts, and just getting through the hard, but rewarding, journey that is being fit and healthy.

Feel free to leave comments and questions and I will answer to the best of my ability!

Until the next post,
Be EXTRAORDINARY! :)

- Mylene