Why Your Workout Isn’t Working Out

I see this all the time. Many people workout but don’t see any results. This can be so frustrating. It may make you want to give up and throw in the towel because you feel like you are wasting your time. However, all you have to do is change a few simple things to make that workout start working out! So why isn’t your workout working out… read below.

1. Not enough variety. When working out you can’t repeat the same workouts everyday and expect to see your body continue to change. You have to add variety. Things get easier the more we do them so the more you keep doing those exercises the easier they will get. You will burn fewer calories and they will stop helping you move forward. I don’t know what exercises you are doing but if you are using weights start to increase them. You will burn more calories. If you are on a cardio machine, add more resistance, go harder, faster or longer. Change up your workouts. Make different muscles work. Make your body keep guessing and that will cause you to keep seeing results.

2. Too long of breaks. It’s okay to take breaks in between sets. Depending on what you are doing will determine how long to take. If you are lifting heavy weights you may need a little longer then if you are lifting light weights. Other factors may include your age, nutrition, the intensity of the set, how tired you were prior to working out, or if you may have any injuries. Taking a shorter rest(45-60 seconds) works better for building overall muscle mass. This will keep stress on your muscles without giving them time to recover so when you work them the next set they are still pumped. Longer rest periods(3-5 minutes) are used for people who are training for strength and power. So usually heavier weights and smaller reps. Remember it’s up to your personal goals to decide what exactly you want to do. Also, remember to change up days for working out each muscle group. Allow each muscle group time to recover.

3. Being tricked. I always think to myself while on the treadmill or elliptical, “Am I really burning this many calories?” Don’t go by the calorie readings on your machines. Most machines are known to say you burn 30% more calories then you actually have. Most machines don’t know your weight, height, fitness level, age, etc. so it’s hard for it to give an accurate reading of exactly how many calories you have burned. I’m sorry to say this but from now on, always make your calories burned less then what you see. If you want to know how many calories you burn, try going by this model: to burn 300 calories you can jog for 3 miles, walk for 4 miles or bike for 10 miles. This isn’t right on but it may be close. If you want to make sure its 3oo calories just do a little extra and you will probably hit that mark.

Watermelon… no matter what shape it is, still contains vitamin A, C, and B6. So eat on!

4. Your workout makes you too hungry. It’s good that you are getting hungry but burning calories mean that we can fill our body up with more nutrients not overeat to the point that working out is reversing what we want! Sometimes working out makes people overeat because they are so hungry from working so hard. But eat normally and if you are still hungry fill up on vegetables or fruits. Give your body more of what it wants. Stay in the healthy calorie range of losing weight.

5. You kill yourself in your workout. This is not good. You want to be able to keep up a good workout schedule but if you over work yourself… working out regularly won’t last very long. Don’t workout to the point were all you want to do is lay on the couch because your muscles are too sore to walk. Over training can do more harm then good. It can result in insomnia, sugar cravings and cause injury or illness. You want your workout to be challenging but not to the point of killing your body.

I hope these tips help. If you have more, feel free to share!

Kite Boarding in the Florida Keys

If you haven’t been to the Florida Keys yet, I suggest you go. It is so pretty, so nice, and so perfect for… Kite Boarding. For all of you who don’t know what kite boarding is… let me explain. It is a water sport were you have your feet strapped into a board… sort of like a wakeboard, if that helps… and then you have a harness around your waist that connects you to a kite. The size of the kites I used this past weekend were 10 and 12 meters big. Now that’s a big kite. It took me awhile to get past the stage of thinking I was going to die if I strapped that to myself. But it is very rare for someone to die. As long as you know all the safety features and don’t go out in a hurricane you should be fine.

The Keys are a perfect Vacation Destination!

This weekend was crazy. I went with my boyfriend, Drew, who has been doing the sport for a few years. He is a kite boarding instructor so he also brought along one of his students, Ian, who is around my level. The first day we got there, I was excited and not at all scared of what may happen. We started riding and were going to do a downwind 8 mile trek from one beach to another. Everything was going good. I’m riding, going left and right, and having no trouble. It was great! However, I see myself getting too far ahead of Ian so I stop so I can wait. He catches up and we continue. But as I was standing there I took a few steps and felt like I was walking through fire! My legs were burning! I look down to find a jellyfish wrapped around both of my legs right below my wetsuit. Figures that would happen. It was so painful. Then I rode over to where Drew and Ian were. Ian had just crashed his kite into a patch of bushes on a island. So once again I stood up to wait, while in agonizing pain next thing I know, my kite falls right out of the sky, tangling itself in its lines on the way down… Great. Just great. I hop on the island to help Ian out with untangling his lines while Drew fixes mine. Fun times.  

As we were untangling, a man came up to us on a boat, yelling that we were on private property and he was going to call the cops… what a jerk. We had nowhere to go, our kites were a mess, and we were on an island! It’s people like that that I can’t stand. Thankfully, we got the kites back up in the sky and were up and riding before anything happened. As we continued on, the wind slowly started to die… NOT GOOD! Makes riding very difficult, especially for beginners, like myself and Ian. As I was riding, I was looking for Ian’s kite and didn’t see it in the sky, which worried me. I forgot what I was doing and crashed. I crashed in the one spot that I couldn’t stand! I was being dragged and when I fell I lost my board. I was panicking. Thankfully, Drew helped me get the kite up and he also found my board. Thank goodness. He also told me Ian broke a line so he was stuck further up on land. I get up to try and ride again to get to the beach we were so close to reaching, however, I repeated the last scenario… being dragged and lost my board. But this time Drew couldn’t find it. I finally make my way to shore in a panic. Drew then has to go to the end point where our cars were parked. Ian, Drew and I were spread out all over. And it was getting dark. As I was on shore, I look out and see my board floating its way to shore right by me! Thankfully someone gave Ian a ride to the beach and Drew came to get me. We all were back together at last!

This trip was quite the experience. So much action and that was only one day! The next day was action packed too but nothing like what happened the day before. It was pretty crazy. Check out the video I made from the trip. And if you are interested in kite boarding check out: Drew’s Blog.

How to get your Body HOT… and Sweaty

Feel the heat and feel the burn! I sure did! HOT YOGA kicked my butt today. It was my first time experiencing all that hot yoga had to offer and it only cost me 5 dollars, which is a phenomenal price. By the end of the 90 minute session in up to 100 degree Fahrenheit heat, my towel, clothes, and headband could be wrung out. I sweat a lot usually, but no complaining… I love it! It makes me feel like I’m making my body really work, which is what I want. 

At the Pure Yoga & Fitness class, I was the only newbie out of roughly 20 people. It was a little intimidating at first but once I got passed the warm-up, the moves got a lot more complicated so no one was focusing on me. The focus was on themselves. The class had everything you could ask for in a workout session: sweat, increased heart rate, shaking, relaxing, stretching, challenges, rest, and a great after feeling!

10 minutes into class I already had my heart rate up, the sweat was starting to rapidly roll down my body, and I was facing challenging poses. I have done some yoga before but nothing like this. My body was not used to bending or staying in some positions for very long. But if I happen to not me able to perform a move… there was always a modification I could do. Some poses we had to hold for what seemed like an eternity because my body was shaking so much. But that’s good! That means my body was working hard so all my muscles were getting worked out, which is how the body tones itself. I want those tone arms! Also, I hear you can burn roughly 600 calories a class. That would take over an hour and fifteen minutes running at around a 6.0 pace! Hot yoga gets it all done! It’s a cardio workout, a stretch workout, a challenging workout and a breathing workout. All at the same time.

 

Shine like a star

The first class was tough for me. But challenging your body and seeing what you can do and how much you can improve is one of the greatest feelings. I’m so excited to go again. After class, my body felt so relaxed. I definitely drank my fair share of water during and after. I recommend hot yoga for everyone, both men and women. The class also had a very large age group, ages ranged from teenagers to people in their 60′s. It was great motivation to see some of the older participants in class because they were really good at it! If you have done hot yoga before, share your experiences! I would love to know more about it and I highly recommend it for people who have never done it.

I need new RUNNING shoes! HELP!

I’m on a mission to get new running shoes. And I need your HELP! I recently went to a store called Fit2Run and there were just a ton of shoes. I didn’t even know where to begin. I want a shoe that is comfortable, durable, light, and looks good on. I tried a lot on. I’m just not sure what is the best. Shoes are expensive… at least to me they are. I just don’t want to waste my money on something that isn’t going to last or hurts my feet. I only run at most 6 miles a day. And I run on the balls of my feet not heels. So if anyone knows of a shoe that would work good for that then please let me know. These were my two favorites in the store. If anyone runs with these shoes or has a similar shoe or if you just run and love the shoes you have, PLEASE let me know.

Mizuno Wave Elixir 7

New Balance 1400

Keep Going… and DON’T LOOK BACK

I just signed up for a 5k! Woo! I’m excited. My goal is to just beat my last 5k time of 22:40. In order to do this I must start training. The race is on March 30, 2012. So I was surfing the web, hoping to find doable training schedules and I came across this awesome website!  It has different races you are training for(5k, half marathon, etc.), what level you are at(novice, Intermediate, advance, etc) and it tells you what to do every day. It’s perfect! If you plane on signing up for a race and are new to running I suggest looking at this website. Running is great. I feel like I am getting into the best shape of my life. I feel more energetic. And I feel just overall healthier.

Running has changed my life. It’s new to me, which I love. I feel like I needed a change up. I control everything while running and all I have to tell myself is KEEP GOING. Thats all the motivation I need. You need to keep moving in order to get anywhere in life. It’s simple to. And I like simple. There’s no need to make things complicated. Also, here’s the 5k I’m running if you want to check it out. It’s through trails on a nature preserve. And what I like most is its at dusk. For some reason I have a hard time running in the mornings. It takes my body awhile to wake up… so 8 am – 9 am start times really kill me before the race even begins.

How to get a Flat, Sexy Stomach

How to get a flat, sexy stomach. First, we have to look at the problem. Think about what you are doing now and how it obviously isn’t working since you’re still looking to get that stomach flatter. Also, remember that we all have abs. They are there. However, getting them to be noticed is the problem. We have to get rid of that layer of fat that covers them. It is a challenge and if you sick through it… you will see results you could never even imagine! Which is the best feeling in the world. Alright so now in order to do this there are two things that need to be focused on: Diet and Exercise.

The Diet:

Now since I don’t know everyone’s body type and how exactly your individual bodies work. You have to work on managing what you need to make it work for you.

1. Drink lots of water.Personally, I feel like this is the most important thing to do. Drinking water will keep you hydrated and you will keep flushing out all of the bad toxins in your body, which is great! It will also improve your skin. Drinking water also is good to do when you feel hungry at a time you shouldn’t be. Also, you can tell if you are drinking enough by
   

   Berry your way to a flat stomach!

   simply looking at the color of your pee. If it’s a dark yellow, you need to drink up. The clearer the more hydrated you are.

2. Fiber. Eat lots of fiber. You can find fiber in fruit and veggies. I say the best thing to eat is broccoli. Making sure you get enough fiber will also help clean out your body by keeping your system regular. It can also help lower your cholesterol. Also, berries are great for trying to get that flat stomach and they are delicious.
3. Eat 5 meals a day. Try and eat something every 3-4 hours. This will keep your metabolism going. 2 of the 5 meals are snacks… keep those light and healthy to keep you on track. Good snacks are apples and peanut butter, fruit salad, granola, fat-free yogurt anything small and healthy will do. Pick what you like.
4. No more junk! Get rid of it. Don’t look at it, don’t think about it. Seriously if you want to lose weight in your stomach you have to stop eating chips, ice cream, chocolate, and refrain from fast food as much as you can. If you absolutely need some look to frozen yogurt or sorbet.
5. Eat. One huge mistake people often make is not eating. This won’t work and it’s not good for you. Also, eat breakfast. You should be hungry in the morning if you are eating light before bed and working out. You will become like me… I look forward to breakfast, it’s my favorite meal! I wake up so hungry. I have no idea how people skip it.

The Exercise:

1. Cardio. Cardio, cardio, cardio… learn to love it. You can do anything just get moving for 30 mins a day, do more if you can. More is better. If you are new to cardio start walking and eventually start jogging. But I love the elliptical, rollerblading, biking, running, stair master, dancing, jump roping, golfing(but carry your bag.. don’t get a cart)… find several cardio workouts that you like so you can change it up. Make it fun.
2. Ab workouts. After cardio is the best time to do abs. You are in the workout mood and your body is warmed up and ready to go. There are so many ab exercises out there. Tons of them. Some I like may not work for you. Do exercises that you do right and ones that you can feel it working. Its good to really push it. That’s how you get stronger. When you feel like stopping do just a little longer. I like doing planks, scissor kicks, toe-touches and I don’t know names for a lot of them and incorporate a medicine ball. If you go to a gym watch other people and see what exercises they do to give you more ideas. But it is easy to make up your own.
3. Rest and stretch. If you kill your abs one day, let them rest but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to do cardio. It’s ok to take a day off a week. But if you don’t need it, don’t take it. Also, yoga is great to help recover faster and it prevents injury.

Now that you know what to do. Let’s do it. And remember once you reach your goal, don’t change what you have been doing. You can’t stop. You have to keep working on it. But it takes 21 days to create a habit and I’m sure it will take longer then 21 days to get what you are looking for so that habit will be there when you are done! Good Luck!

Inspiration, Motivation and Vision to keep you moving

It is true. Sometimes I feel that if I had someone motivating me or if I surrounded myself with quotes and motivation, I would never want to give up. I believe in order to accomplish anything, we have to be motivated. Motivation keeps us moving. Keeps us wanting more. And keeps us believing in ourselves. When I’m running… I get tired just like everyone, however, when my body is telling me “no” and my legs are about to quit, I make myself think, “I’m lapping everyone on the couch” or I tell myself to “think of the benefits”(and I have a picture of what I want to look like in my head). This makes me keep going and going. Seriously. It works. It’s all in your head, you choose what is going to happen. Here are so quotes that will hopefully make you think and make you want to keep going!

“No matter who you are, no matter what you do, you absolutely, positively do have the power to change.” — Bill Phillips

“To feel ‘fit as a fiddle’, you must tone down your middle.” — Author Unknown

“Workouts are like brushing my teeth; I don’t think about them, I just do them. The decision has already been made.” — Patti Sue Plumer

“Don’t ask me why I run, ask yourself why you don’t.”- Unknown

“What fits your busy schedule better, exercising one hour a day or being dead 24 hours a day?” — Randy Glasbergen

“Commit to be fit.” — Author Unknown

“Health is like money, we never have a true intent of its value until we lose it.” — Josh Billings

“The only bad workout, is the one that never happened.” – Unknown

“It’s hard to beat a person that never gives up” – Babe Ruth

Be strong

“You don’t always get what you wish for, you get what you work for.” – Unknown

“The minute you think about giving up, think about what held you back for so long.” – Unknown

“I don’t stop when I’m tired, I stop when I’m done.” – Unknown

I hope that you write some of these quotes down or make them your screensaver. Put them places you will see. The bedroom or bathroom mirror is a great place because that’s when you see yourself and that’s what you want to get motivated to change. Inspire yourself to get fit and healthy.