So I admit…
My daily work outs turned into every other day… and then I lost my contacts and they turned into three times a week work outs, lol. I mean, for the past two weeks. Its okay though.
I got off my ass today and sucked it up. Went outside for a run, finished with a P90X abs video.
I KNOW WHAT IT’S LIKE
You’re working your ass off. You’re running every morning. You’re eating well. You’re eating enough but not too much. You’re busting your ass in every single workout, pushing to your threshold, pouring sweat, but you’re not seeing any results.
Maybe it hasn’t been long enough. Or maybe, just maybe, you’re staring at your abs and not paying attention to your perfectly defined thighs, your beastly biceps, or your seriously sexy back.
One day you’re going to be putting your hair up and notice your biceps bulge in the mirror. You’ll turn around to check out your gnarly sunburn and watch the flex of your triceps and traps. You’ll see a picture of yourself reaching for something and be blown away by the definition in your legs and the cut of your thighs.
You’re working for it and it’s working. Sometimes your body is changing more rapidly than you can shed fat. It’s going to come up and smack you out of nowhere. You’re going to laugh at yourself when you attempt decline pushups with your feet on a bench, then bang out 40 of them without breaking a sweat.
It’s happening even if you can’t see it. Your body is evolving and changing. Give it the respect it deserves. Give it a chance to become visible. You worked for it. Don’t throw that away. You DESERVE to see it.
I’m getting there!!
Sunday run day! :) Wasn’t bad outside, 37 and sunny ^_^
Skipped today’s Insanity/P90X for a nice day out!
How To Get An Effective Workout
1. Catch the running bug. You’ll continue to burn fat after your jog: People who run for at least four hours a week melt more calories than non-runners, even when they’re not running, a Yale University School of Medicine study reports.
2. Crank it up early. Working out harder during the first half of your workout and taking it easier during the second burns up to 23 percent more fat than doing the opposite, according to a study from The College of New Jersey.
3 & 4. Go hard — and make it quick. Staying at 80 percent of your max heart rate for 40 minutes can amp your metabolism for 19 hours afterward, research published in Obesity notes. And doing a shorter workout at 75 percent of your max aerobic capacity will give you a greater metabolic boost than sweating longer at 50 percent, a Colorado State University reveals.
5 to 7. Lift dumbbells … slowly. More muscle equals mega metabolism boost. Strength training can help you trim major fat, research reveals — and doing super-slow (versus normal speed) reps increases strength by 50 percent.
Plus, using dumbbells activates more muscle fibers than using machines, explains Gregory Haff, Ph.D., an associate professor in the exercise physiology department at West Virginia University.
8. Speed up, slow down. Alternating bouts of high-intensity and low-intensity cardio has been shown to torch pounds.
9. Put on weight (literally). Wearing a weighted vest (about 10 percent of your body weight) while walking can boost your calorie burn by 8 percent.
10. Download Rihanna, not Brahms. Listening to up-tempo songs actually makes you run faster and harder than listening to slower-paced music, British scientists say.
11. Let kettlebells ring. Not only does working out with kettlebells build muscle, but doing it for 20 minutes burns as many calories as running at a 6-minute-mile pace for the same amount of time.
12. Keep it up. As few as 80 minutes a week of aerobic or weight training helps keep you from regaining belly fat after losing weight, according to researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
13. Add poles. Use Nordic poles while you walk, and you’ll burn 20 percent more calories, says research from The Cooper Institute in Dallas.
14 & 15. Lift first, nix the rest. Doing strength training before cardio can torch more fat than cardio alone. And if you do one move after another without pausing, “you’ll see more gains in strength and muscle mass,” says Dr. Pierre Manfroy, M.D., consultant for the book “100 Ways to Supercharge Your Metabolism.”
16. Add pounds. Lift heavier weights for fewer reps to make your workout more intense — and burn more fat — Manfroy says.
17. Try aromatherapy. Exercisers who inhaled strawberry and buttered-popcorn scents torched more calories than those who sniffed neutral odors, according to research from the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago.
18. Box yourself in. Wii boxing knocks out nearly twice as many calories as some other games, like Wii golf.
19. Kick it. Playing soccer not only torches more fat and builds more muscle than jogging, but it feels less tiring, Danish research reveals.
20. Stay in shape. Fit people have more fat-burning metabolites in their blood than couch potatoes do, scientists say.
IN THE KITCHEN
22. Get more protein. Eating a protein-packed breakfast and lunch helps you burn more post-meal fat than if you eat lower-protein meals, according to Australian research.
23 & 24. Guzzle green tea — or coffee. Downing five 5-ounce cups of green tea a day boosts metabolism, says Lyssie Lakatos, R.D., author of “Fire Up Your Metabolism.” Two cups of coffee will also do the trick, one study shows.
25. Have an omelet. Eating two eggs for breakfast while dieting will help you trim more weight and body fat than if you ate the same amount of calories noshing on a bagel, scientists say.
26. Stay above 1,200 calories… ”The average person’s body goes into starvation mode if she eats fewer than 1,200 calories a day,” says Eric Berg, author of “The 7 Principles of Fat Burning.” “That’s stress, and stress creates more belly fat.”
27. … and cut calories gradually. If you diet, don’t trim more than 250 calories a day. Cutting calories too quickly slows your metabolism down, Dr. Manfroy says.
28 to 33. Munch on these. Almonds, cherries, yogurt, grapefruit, whole grains, and spicy foods have all been shown to torch fat.
34. Fuel up right. Eating a low-glycemic-index breakfast (such as muesli and peaches) will help you burn more fat during a subsequent workout than eating a high-glycemic-index meal (like waffles), researchers from the University of Nottingham reveal.
35. Think before you drink. Sipping as few as 90 calories’ worth of vodka can slow your metabolism by 73 percent, one study shows.
36. Graze. Women who go without eating for long periods are more likely to have higher body-fat percentages than women who nosh more regularly, one study notes.
37. Dine like a Greek. Eating a diet rich in monounsaturated fat (think olive oil, avocados) can help trim both weight and fat, research published in the British Journal of Nutrition shows.
38. Stop gorging. Your body can only handle so much food at a time, so stick to 600 calories or less per meal to maximize fat-burning, says Leslie Cooper, co-author of “Flip the Switch: Proven Strategies to Fuel Your Metabolism and Burn Fat 24 Hours a Day.”
39. Skip juice. Reaching for an apple instead of apple juice is not only better calorie-wise, but it’ll also do a better job of boosting your metabolism, Dr. Manfroy explains.
IN YOUR LIFE
41 & 42. Get C and D. Vitamin C can help you burn more fat, and D may help you lose fat, research notes. Aim for 400 to 500 mg of C and 800 mg of D a day.
43 & 44. Walk more (in denim). Researchers found that fitness-friendly offices (think treadmill desks, mobile headsets) helped people trim pounds and fat, as did wearing jeans to work, since dressing casual encourages you to move more. Wear comfy clothes when you can, pace while on the phone, and stand while chatting with co-workers.
45. Add fish oil (And work out). Taking 6 grams of fish oil per day and hitting the gym three times a week can help nix body fat, an Australian study reveals.
46. Work the day shift. Keeping nontraditional hours lowers levels of hormones that trigger satiety, increases blood glucose and insulin levels, and raises levels of the stress hormone cortisol (which can drive you to eat more), scientists say.
47. Nix the boob tube. Cut your TV time in half, and you’ll burn more calories each day, research from the University of Vermont suggests.
48. Go mental. People who visualized themselves training a specific muscle boosted the strength in that muscle group, researchers found.
49. Eat a smaller dinner. Your body may not digest food — and burn fat — as efficiently if you down a huge meal right before bedtime, especially because your metabolism is slower while you sleep, Dr. Manfroy says.
50. Jump-start your morning. Wake up your metabolism — and get fat-burning started — by doing some sort of exercise within the first few hours of being awake, Cooper suggests.
51. Get your snooze on. Sleep for a solid 81D 2 hours instead of 51D 2, according to research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, and you’ll lose more fat. Sweet dreams!
(Source: iwillmakeyouskinny)
A couple people kept asking me why I was working the holiday today. I was confused until I realized they thought I was Chinese. That shirt is about as Chinese as I get, lol! Happy Chinese New Year!
Day 2 & 3: P90X/Insanity Hybrid
Day 2 was Insanity plyo. Yeah. Still the same, still hurts every time, haha. I find myself jumping higher and higher though, so I’ll take it.
Day 3 (today) was P90X shoulders and arms. Totally worth the pain. It works every muscle group in your arms and I know that tomorrow, I’ll feel like jello.
Note to self: Find a meal plan that works for me.
(Official) Day 1: P90X/Insanity Hybrid
Technically, this should be day 2, but I figured I’d just restart since the hybrid calendar starts off a Monday. Besides, what’s an extra day, right? Today was P90X’s chest/back and abs. Killer work out, and I really never did this work out since I just recently got my pull up bar and resistance bands. Definitely a whole new level of tired!
What’s super cool about this one is that the chest/back works the abs the abs and the abs works the chest/back. I mean, they’re all upper body anyway, so it’s pretty brilliant. It’s nearing midnight so I’ll cut this short, but I’ll see y’all tomorrow!
Hey…. I’m back!
P90x/Insanity Hybrid!
