Watching workout shows will motivate me to lose weight.

Hi all.  I just wanted to share an interesting factoid I stumbled across.  We have all seen those workout infomercials and how great you too can look in 90 days!  I am not downing the videos because I personal love the workout variety.  The problem is that if you are just watching a workout it will actually cause you to want to eat.  So if you are not going to do the workout turn it off.  The science behind it is that your body sees the "work" and thinks it is burning through the calories.  I found this to be a bit strange but now I turn the channel so I don't head to the fridge. 

The choices you make today will shape the life you want tomorrow!

Weight loss pills will help me lose weight.

There is truth to the fact that there are supplements that increase your metabolism and help you shed pounds. The only problem is that supplements are not tested by the FDA. An independent investigation on the true ingredients in these supplements turned out some pretty interesting results. Items such as illegal steroids, growth hormones and other ingredients were found. All of these can have a detrimental impact on your health and may cause you to pop positive on a UA. This is what happened with Mark McGuire.

What about products that are tested by the FDA? There is a drug (not a supplement) on the market that was approved by the FDA. Studies show that taking the drug significantly increases the incidence of aberrant crypt foci. What in the world is this you ask? It is a precursor to colon cancer. There is also a a significant increase in the number of people who get breast cancer while taking this product. The FDA is now considering taking the product of the market.

The truth is that we have not found a pill or supplement that really works without somehow harming our bodies in the process. If we are losing weight to be "healthy" then taking these items would be counter intuitive to our desired results. A worst case scenario is that taking these supplements or FDA approved medications could actually cause death.If you want to lose weight you are going to have to change your mindset. This is where and how true results occur.

Baby steps

So to update you about my weight loss journey. I did a mini workout yesterday and plan on doing another today. I kept it simple, adapted pushups (maxed out did them till I couldn't tollerate another. I used a desk to put my hands on. I like these better than the "girl" style push ups on your knees because it gives you a greater range of motion like you would have with the regular push ups. So back to my workout. It is so sad I hate to even call it that, but I have to start somewhere. Ok, then chair dips (maxed out), plie squats (feet very wide toes pointed slightly out) works inner thighs, normal squats. I maxed both of these with no weight but my own. Then I did 100 kegals. Ladies I can't tell you how important this is after having a baby. It helps with incontinence and helps with sexual performance. Hey, I am just gonna keep it real here. Then I did a series of booty exercises. The ones where you are on all fours and you lift your legs toward the ceiling. I repeated this two times. I tried jumping rope for a few minutes and realized that I should wear a sports bra for this endeaver. Needless to say this was the toughest. I only did it for five minutes. Mind you when I am fit I can jump rope for an hour. Crazy, I know but it is a big warm up and cool down exercise for boxing and I prefer it over jogging. I can't stand jogging by the way. So hooray for me for taking this baby step to my weight loss goal. Which by the way is to have 22% body fat. I hate the scale. It doesn't differentiate between fat and muscle. So, this is why I have a body fat percentage goal. On top of posting pics I will post all my measurements and my body fat. Believe it or not it is hard to share this info. Kuddos to all of those who have gone before me. It takes guts to show the world where you are at when you are at your worst. I am gonna continue with my baby steps so I can post those fun after pics! Can't wait.

What is the best time to workout?

There is a big fat lie that if you workout on an empty stomach in the morning you will lose the most weight. This is actually false because your body is already beginning to increase its metabolism for the day. Working out at this time doesn't significantly change your metabolism. The theory behind this is that you will use your fat stores since your glucose(sugar) or carbohydrate stores are usually low at this point due to the overnight fast. There is some truth to this because if your body is out of sugar stores your body then uses up fat. The only issue is that the key to weight loss is burning the MOST calories because eventually this will cause a deficit and cause weight loss (fat). You will lose the most weight if you work out before dinner. This is because at night your metabolism slows down and you begin to burn fewer calories. If you work out prior to eating you increase your Thermogenic effect (metabolism burning more calories) then you eat which also increases your metabolism. This increase in metabolism causes you to burn calories when normally your body is slowing down therefore you will lose more weight, BUT, and this is a big BUT (lol isn't that what we are trying to lose?) if you can only work out in the morning then workout in the morning. I am just trying to teach you the little details to make weight loss the easiest way possible. Who doesn't want easy?

Losing the baby weight

Ok, most of you already know that I just had Baby Ben. He is now just over two months old and such a cute little chunk! He is my third little guy and now I have to begin the journey of losing the baby weight again. I have decided to share my journey with you. I am dreading it but I will post before pics because honestly, it really is motivating to see others change their bodies. Since, my goal is to help you meet your goals I am gonna put my humility aside and bite the bullet. The first time I was pregnant my start weight was 135 and my end weight was 216. I was able to lose all of it and look even better. My boxing pic is after I had my oldest. During my second pregnancy I didn't gain as much weight. I think it was around 38lbs. It was more difficult to fit in exercise this time around as I couldn't just go for a jog because I had my oldest son to watch and no double stroller. I pretty much lost the weight through making healthy choices and staying active such as doing yard work, walking and jogging and simple exercise like push ups and chair dips. We were so broke that a gym was not an option. I did manage to lose it all again. This time I got up to 201lbs. I had gestational diabetes and this really slowed me down. I just could barely move and the diabetes caused me to gain more weight. At this point I am down to 172lbs. I can fit into some of my prebaby clothes but not most. I am a size 10/12. The biggest thing is that I have lost a ton of muscle and put on a ton of fat. Fun times! My first goal is to start adding exercise back into my life even if it is just 15 minutes per day. Getting into the habit is the KEY to changing your body. You must form new habits. I am also going to start a food log. I hate this more than anything! It is just a pain in my butt, but I know it will help me get back on track. I will try to get those pictures posted this weekend so come back and check them out.

Questions & Answers

I would love to answer your health and wellness questions. Please just become a follower and leave me a question under comments. God has blessed me with this passion for health and I am obsessed with learning every day and for some reason it sticks. Please, don't ask me if I know anything about movie producers, actors or one line movie quotes. I will just look blankly into space a stare hoping you will soon forget that you asked me a question. If however you need to know something about diet, exercise, fitness routines etc I can quickly find it in my cognitive Rolodex ( I just made that term up). I can't wait to answer your questions!

What is the best diet?

I get this question all the time. We all want to know what the best diet is in order to lose the most weight in the least amount of time. The answer to this one is simple. There is no "best"diet for everyone. Studies have looked at low carb, high carb, low fat diets etc. and found that over the long term they ALL have the same results. How can this be you ask? Because the body is an amazingly efficient machine. You may have great results on a certain diet for awhile but then the bodies metabolism will slow down because it actually thinks it is starving. Also, the bottom line with all the diets is to decrease your caloric intake. Meaning you will need to eat less calories than you are now to lose weight. They all do this one way or another. The perfect diet isn't a diet at all. It is finding the right healthy lifestyle for you. I HATE the term diet anyway. It makes me think of all the yummy things I can't eat like gooey chocolate brownies and crispy french fries. Then this is all I want to eat. Think about it. We will play a game. Do not think about the color green. Do not for any reason think about green. Didn't I say not to think about the color green? Wasn't that the ONLY thing you could think about. The brain is funny that way. Instead of thinking about what you can't eat I like to think about what I can eat. Lots of refreshing cool water, fresh fruit, veggies and lean protein that will help make you strong and healthy (this is a favorite catch phrase of mine). Interestingly enough, you can find healthier choices for almost every guilty pleasure food that you enjoy. It takes time learn what these healthier choices are but aren't you worth it? Once you do learn which foods have the highest nutritional value for the least amount of calories shopping and choices are easy. You are no longer dieting (ever). Instead you are making healthy lifestyle choices for life. Finally, the perfect "diet" for you.

Your fat because you are a failure!

Have you ever felt like a failure when you gave in to that hot fudge sundae or supreme nachos that have absolutely no nutritional value but just make you feel good at the moment? Well, you're not. In actuality we were made to over eat as a part of survival. The reason you feel hungry when you smell something delicious even if you just ate is to keep you alive. Imagine going days or weeks without eating fat or protein. Wouldn't you be ravenous? When we were hunter gathers this was the case. So, when we come upon a large kill we eat and eat and eat some more. This way we can fill up our fat stores until the next big hunt pays off (which didn't always happen). We were meant to crave the fat and the sugar as a means of survival. So next time you want to overindulge don't think you are a failure. Know that your body is only doing what comes natural and trying to store fat until the next hot fudge sundae comes along. The old saying "knowing is half the battle" plays a big role in you being able to resist this temptation the next time around. Since you now know that you are not a failure you can work on being a survivor in our new environment where food is plentiful. Give yourself 20 minutes and see if the temptation passes. If not indulge but set a limit like half the sundae. The trick is to throw half out before eating or split it with someone then celebrate your success at self control!