"Unless You Puke, Faint or Die, Keep Going!"

Geez, Jillian. That's a little dose of tough love isn't it? I can't say I've ever puked, fainted OR died while working out, so I suppose I must keep going until one of those three things happen. Preferably puke, the other two seem pretty intense.

Working out is not my forte, to say the least. I pretty much loathe working out. When I was an athlete I was all about working out daily, but I had something to charge up for. Whether a basketball game, tennis or track meet, there was an ultimate goal, to be faster or stronger than my opponent. Now I find it is just me against myself. That makes it much more difficult for me to find the motivation to work out. 

Also, what is the "high" that people find after they work out. I hear so often how great people feel after a run or an intense strength training. Really? I honestly can say after I work out I feel like utter crap. I don't want to move. What I really want after a work out is a N.A.P.! 

However, I digress. 

I realize that I need to work out or get in some activity, daily, to keep losing weight and eventually maintain. It's much easier in the summer. I love rollerblading, but with 24 inches of snow on the ground currently and negative temperature, rollerblading is put on hold. So, for my work out, I have found that I really enjoy Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD. I prefer to workout at home over a gym. I like being able to just roll out of bed and turn on the TV and workout. If you haven't tried the 30 Day Shred, it's a 20 minute, high-intensity workout with Jillian. It has three different levels, each increasingly more difficult. It is broken down into three minutes of strength, two minutes of cardio and one minute of abs, three times. There is no time for a water break. It's just go go go. I feel like I get a better workout from this DVD than I did in an hour at the gym. 

Throughout the month of November I made a goal for myself to complete the 30 Day Shred, which I did. But up until yesterday, I hadn't worked out since November 30th. Yesterday I popped in the DVD and jumped right to level three and was glad to find that I could still do it. I don't know that I will do it every single day, maybe I'll set another month goal like I did in November but I feel if I workout every single day now to get to my goal weight and then I stop working out so intensely it will be more difficult to maintain. Just like if I change my eating habits after I hit my goal, I'll inevitably put weight back on. I definitely work out more than I use to, but I am just not a daily workout person. 

I do, however, get in activity other ways.  When I'm cooking dinner and I'm in the kitchen, if I'm waiting for something to finish up cooking I'll do some squats in the kitchen or jumping jacks. It sounds silly but it gets my heart rate up at least. I also will do push ups against the counter. I rarely sit during the day, I'm always up and walking around the classroom. That is also a big difference from when I was taking classes and sat in a classroom all day. I'm sure all these little changes help in a small way. 

Here are some workout tips I have learned:

- You can't just work the small muscles alone. They are too small to burn any amount of calories on their own. So when lifting dumbbells, do some lunges with them too. The large muscles in your legs will help the smaller muscles in your arms burn more calories. 

- Within 15 minutes after your workout, eat/drink protein. It will restore the damage to your muscles. I usually will drink an 8 oz. glass of fat free milk. 

- Cardio alone is not as effective as weight training with cardio. When you weight train you burn more calories throughout the day when you are idle, than if you only do cardio. On the same hand, sit-up will not result in defined abs, cardio will. 

- Use more of your own resistance rather than using machines. When you use a machine it "helps" you along. When you use only yourself, you are doing all of the work. Try using dumbbells for arm strength instead of the upper body machines. 

- Don't stick to the same routine for too long or your body will adapt to the stress level and you won't get as an effective workout. 

- Do something you enjoy. You will likely continue to workout if it's something you throughly enjoy doing. 

I am in no way an exercise expert. These are just things that I find help me through workouts. Finally, don't use the excuse that you don't have the TIME to workout. No one has TIME to workout. They make the TIME to do it.