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How I Lost Weight After a Half Marathon

April 8, 2013 in Abs, Intervals and Circuit Training, Jillian Michaels, upper and lower body, Workout DVD, workout in the winter, workouts with 2 Comments

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As most of you know, I ran my first half marathon February 24th. The training was so intense at times that I would run for 2 hours straight! You think to yourself: she must have been the skinniest she’s ever been. Think again!

Since finishing my half-marathon training, I have gotten back in touch with my favorite fitness guru: Jillian Michaels. I’ve actually LOST WEIGHT since running a half marathon.
The beautiful part? I don’t have to do any 2 hour workouts during the week!

HOW DID I LOSE WEIGHT?

1. Jillian Michaels DVDS

Jillian is a fat blasting master. I love her workouts.
You want to see results? Cardio alone won’t do it. You HAVE to build muscle through weight training and circuit training, and Jillian is your girl!

Here are my FAVORITE Jillian DVD’s right now. I cycle them throughout the week.

YOGA MELTDOWN
2 levels of fat blasting yoga, all while relaxing your mind and body after a long day. Each level is about 30 minutes long.

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6 WEEK 6 PACK
2 levels of intense core and ab work. This may just be my favorite DVD of hers. Each level is 35 minutes long. Occasionally I’ll do half of a level and then go for a run.

6 week 6 pack

KILLER BUNS AND THIGHS
This was a Christmas present from my wonderful husband. Three crazy levels, each one about 40 minutes long. This workout has serious muscle consequences, but it hurts so good.

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2. I got really strict with my eating again.
During my half marathon training, I still ate extremely healthy, but I allowed one or two extra splurge meals.

Now that life is back to normal, my week is much stricter now with the food I eat. I have cut out as much unnecessary bread as possible, I eat many veggie based dinners, and have fallen in love with kettle corn as my “dessert” rather than splurging on ice cream. To lose weight, I have to consume less than 2000 calories a day, with intense workouts included.

 

All this to say, I’m confident you can lose the weight you want and feel great. Eat strictly and go buy Jillian Michaels DVDs. I promise you will be so sore. I also promise you will look so good!

 

1 Thing The Olympics Has Taught Me About “Healthy”

August 6, 2012 in Intervals and Circuit Training, Running, upper and lower body, Weight, workouts with 1 Comment

We have probably all spent way too many hours in front of the TV since last Friday- watching the Olympics and critiquing sports we really know nothing about. Since I started watching, one thing has really stuck with me about all these athletes.

“Healthy” looks different on everyone.

I love that each Olympic sport contains incredibly skilled athletes. I also love that all of these athletes are built differently than competitors in other sports. And I love even more that none of these athletes look like the stick thin, no-muscle movie stars society calls beautiful.

- Gymnasts are built like a V with broad muscular shoulders and a tiny, tight core.
- Runners are extremely lean but also incredibly ripped.
- Volleyball players are long and lean, not so much muscle bulk.
- Swimmers are lean and muscular but not overly bulky.
- Water polo players seems to vary in size from tiny to plus size.
- And then Serena Williams is no small woman but has so much muscle while maintaining curve.

All this to say:
You getting healthy may not look like your friend getting healthy. We are all built differently- some curvier, some leaner, some naturally muscular, some tall, some short.

Just because you don’t look like a friend, athlete, or movie star, doesn’t determine how healthy you are. Embrace your natural body shape while also being willing to put in the extra work it takes to develop your body into the shape you want it to be.

Why You Can’t See Your Abs Yet

July 26, 2012 in Abs, Intervals and Circuit Training, Running, Uncategorized, upper and lower body, workouts with 0 Comments

So often when I would work out in years past, I would think to myself, why can I not see the muscles I’m toning!?

Here’s a secret: you can’t zone in on your fat burning.

In simple terms, only doing crunches will not burn the fat on your stomach. And only doing pushups does not guarantee your arm flab will vanish into thin air.

How Do You Reveal the Muscle You Want to See Most?

YOU HAVE TO COMBINE CARDIO WITH STRENGTH TRAINING!
You can’t only do ab exercises to get a six pack. You must do intense cardio in between strength exercises to burn the fat off of the muscles you so desperately want to see.

You cannot zone the fat burning to one specific muscle group. Every person’s body burns fat differently. You may notice that you lose fat in your waist quickly, but your butt and hips are the last place it disappears. Honestly, the only way to beat this problem is to keep pushing through and switching up your workouts until your body starts to burn fat in that area.

On the plus side–if you keep doing strength and toning exercises, as the fat burns, the muscles you have been toning will shine right through.

When I was losing weight, I lost about 20 pounds before my pants size changed. I could not get out of my jeans even though my arms, face, legs, and waist were trimming quickly. After 20 pounds, my pants size dropped quickly- I just had to reach the stage of fat burning that targeted my butt and hips.

 

Keep on, keepin’ on, my friends. The fat will come off eventually. Stay constant.

 

Which Comes First: Upper Body or Lower Body?

May 17, 2012 in upper and lower body, workouts with 1 Comment

A great question- should you work out your upper body or your lower body first?

According to Women’s Health Magazine you should start with your upper body first.

Why Upper Body First?

1. Our lower bodies are usually stronger.
We need to tone the upper body first so start there so you do the exercises and then work to the lower body, as those tend to be our favorite. I look forward to specific exercises- so I save those for last.

2. Lower body usually involves cardio- which makes you tired.
Cardio will wear you out if you do it first, making you lazier and more prone to injury during your upper body session. I do my circuit training and intense upper body workout first so I really give it a 100% effort. Then I use my remaining energy for cardio since that’s what I like best.

This is all negotiable.- I recommend doing your intense weight workouts involving multiple muscle groups first. When you do cardio first, it makes you tired so when you go to the weights, you are more prone to injury because being tired makes you lazy.
Your Homework:
Try toning a muscle group you usually leave alone.
Maybe you hate doing ab workouts- get in a plank! Maybe you hate lower body- do squats and lunges! Whatever you do, just do it!