the joys of exercise…

There’s no way to get fit, healthy or lose weight without exercise. I have been working out on and off for the majority of my 20 years of existence. Sometimes I love it and sometimes it makes me want to die. In the case of my new “plan”, I’m starting on the wanting-to-die-side of things. One of the most inspiring people to me is fitness trainer Jillian Michaels. She has trained numerous contestants on The Biggest Loser and has been super successful. I began my new journey by reading her book “Winning by Losing”. The thing that hit me most was when she confessed that she was 50 lbs overweight when she was a teenager. She made over her life through martial arts and fitness and is now on a mission to help others struggling with the same things she did. That was when I knew she was going to be the one to kick my butt into shape. Most trainers have been skinny their whole life, they never had to go through the physical and emotional battle of being overweight. But knowing that she has first-hand experience, to me, makes her 1,000 times more credible. Her book is focused on the 3 s’: self, science and sweat. In “self” she talks about the psychological aspect of weight loss and how to prepare your mind for what you want. In “science” she talks about metabolism: how to increase it, what kind of foods work best for you, calorie counting, and other aspects of nutrition. In “sweat”, it’s all about exercise. Her program uses strength training circuits which make them aerobic/strength training workouts in one. In other words, you’re using weights and building muscle while keeping your heart rate elevated the whole time. You literally NEVER stop moving. The benefits of this are HUGE! It increases your metabolism and makes you burn twice as many calories and increases the after-burn effect (continuing to burn calories long after you’ve stopped working out). What I love is that I don’t have to spend 45 minutes doing cardio and 45 more minutes doing weight training. I get it all in one 45 minute time frame. But it’s no walk in the park. I bought the DVD’s that go with her book. I did the first one today which works the front of your body. Tomorrow is the back. It kicked my butt harder than anything I have ever ever ever done in my whole life. At one point I literally thought that my heart was going to stop and/or explode. But the feeling of accomplishment when I finished that workout was awesome. If I stick to this and fight through the pain, I am gonna be one hot mama!!

So that’s my super long blog for today. And p.s. my muscles hurt even from typing at this point. That’s a good sign.