Time to Rest

(Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

My body is screaming loudly for a respite as I have seriously put it through it's paces over the last couple days. That said, I always allot at least one stretch day in my regimen—one that's typically Yoga-infused—just to be sure that I keep my flexibility where I want and need it to be.

It's important to always listen to your body's cues when you come across the point where everything hurts and you literally don't have the energy to lift a pot much less a weight.

Rest is one of the most important aspects of training and if you neglect to get it as needed, you can potentially do unnecessary harm to the progress you've already made.

Remember to always take a day or two—sometimes a week is necessary—to reset and rejuvenate. Your body will thank you for it and the gains you'll experience the next time you workout will be felt two-fold.

Jumpstart Your Strength Training Routine With This

Pulldown exercise to the front (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It's tough to get a strength-training regimen going when you're not sure where to start, but when I saw this print-out this morning, I thought it was a great way to at least introduce a few exercises to those who have yet to take the plunge—particularly if you have a gym membership at your disposal.

While I don't believe in remaining stagnant in your strength-training plan, I do believe in incorporating as many muscle groups as possible in order to give your body the balanced, toned, and strong look so many of us crave.

My suggestion is to use the above routine as a template—a nice starting point—and then, as you gain strength and confidence, vary it to make it more amenable to what you need and want for your body.

For those who might be wondering if it can be incorporated into a home workout, trust me it can.

If you don't currently subscribe to a gym, your best bet is not to concentrate on the exercises, but rather on the muscle groups they are meant to train. For instance, the wide-grip pulldown (shown in the picture above) focuses on the upper back and the shoulders. Exercises like tricep push-ups, wide grip pull-ups (using a chin-up bar), incline/decline push-ups, and dumbbell flys all offer a great alternative to those same muscles.

It might take a little extra research on your part to find the home alternatives that work for you, but it certainly can be done.

It's Monday...Again!

Okay, true confession time: I hate Mondays!

My weekends are typically very relaxing, enjoyable. and laid back. Unlike some of my more hard core fitness fanatics, I trust in my weekend activities for my "exercise" as opposed to actually conjuring up a routine. That said, by the time Monday gets back to town, I am not motivated or ready to put on the sports bra and get back yo business.

The cure for me is to go to my on-line vision board or my Facebook page—where I subscribe to tons of health and fitness pages—to find something to get me going. I usually succeed and manage to get Monday conquered in short order.

So, straight from my timeline, I share with you this gem for the gym:

A Quick Workout is Better Than No Workout at All

This is a semi-easy day for me on the training front. Every couple weeks I opt for a short-training day; one that's about 30-45 minutes. The reason for that is both simple and practical. For one, it's grocery day/errand day and two, I spend a majority of this particular day running around like a wild woman and often by the time I get home I'm ready to hit a pillow and either press play on the DVD or crack open whatever book is on the side of my bed. So, I need to get my routine in quickly so I can get started on my long list of things "to do" for the day.

So, my plan is to do a quick high-intensity interval routine (HIIT) and then get going. That way I feel good about me before I walk out the door and can feel confident that I didn't neglect the most important part of my day when I finally do get home.

Happy Friday everyone!!

Source: google.com via Kimberley on Pinterest

But I'm So Hungry!

My biggest issue post-workout is to not grab the most readily available food in my path because while I try extremely hard to keep fresh fruits and veggies in the house at all times; I'm a mommy on a tight budget. And as grocery day nears you are less and less likely to find the good stuff—or much of anything that doesn't have to be cooked—in my golden pantry. 

That said, I've tried to make sure I always have a low-calorie protein shake available so I don't launch myself towards that granola bar, or worse, that box of Cheez-Its because I know that would be like a giant eraser to my theretofore productive exercise day. 

Most of us who have hit the dreaded plateau are always looking for ways to continue progressing in the healthiest way possible, but I've often found that it's the simplest of solutions that can sometimes offer you the best way out of a doldrum. 

For instance, do you know how many calories you're actually burning? Sure, there are calorie-counters on bikes and ellipticals and the Fitness Pal app has plenty of guesstimates at what you burn doing everyday tasks as well as actual exercises, but the truth is neither you nor I are likely burning anything close to what we think we are:

..."People grossly overestimate how many calories they burn during exercise, especially when they think it's high intensity," says Eric Doucet, Ph.D., a human kinetics professor at the University of Ottawa. It doesn't help when your boot-camp instructor says each class blasts 1,000 calories (a total exaggeration) or you check the counters on cardio machines (ellipticals have been reported to overestimate expenditure by 42 percent).  

"Estimating calorie output can be an inexact science," says Georgie Fear, a registered dietitian for Precision Nutrition. That's because it involves factors like age, weight, body temperature, metabolic rate, and hormonal changes (to name a few) that are complicated, difficult to track, and ever fluctuating. Many cardio machines, for example, factor in just age and weight—and are calibrated for men. What's more, at higher intensities, or as the machines get older, the readouts may become less accurate. 

So basically what you're likely doing by eating big after going big is negating every calorie you've burned in the process—and possibly tacking on a few unkind ones in the process.

The safest bet is to keep it simple. Prepare your post-workout snack before you actually workout and try to increase your training efforts as much as possible; really challenge your limits and see where that takes you.

We are always capable of more than we think and if progress is what you're looking for, you're going to have to work hard to get it.

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The Wall of Inspiration

My current home-improvement project centers around devoting a portion of the wall in my designated home gym to becoming a vision board. For those who have no idea what that is, a vision board is a collage of pictures, quotes, spiritual affirmations, etc. placed on a board or wall in order to inspire you to keep working towards your goal—whatever that goal may be. I currently have a virtual vision board of sorts on Pinterest, but I've decided I need something I can actually look at whilst working out to get me through those tough moments.

Even the most dedicated of exercisers have moments where they aren't feeling they are progressing as well as they should. When you do something five or six days a week, it's easy to get burned out and want to take a break or give up altogether. However, as I've said many times before, being/getting/staying fit is a life-long commitment.

I mean, could you take a break from breathing?

That said, you have to find ways to remain inspired and keep yourself focused when the going gets tough and the routine starts to feel a little stale. And creating a board filled with not only inspirational items but—as mine will—new routines and techniques you have yet to try could be the best way to keep things fresh and exciting.

If you're not into dedicating a wall, a notebook or bulletin board could be more your speed. The method doesn't matter, this is all about personal inspiration—how you accomplish that is up to you.

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Hey Ladies, Don't Forget to Exercise Your Chest Muscles!

I try to train every part of my body and that includes the chest. Contrary to popular belief, doing so will not transform a woman's breast area into something "manly", but it can certainly lift the breasts as well as give you that toned physique you love to flaunt during tank-top season.

The video gives a couple of exercise options—I use the chest press option a good bit—but a lot can be said for simply incorporating more push-ups and dips into your routine as well.

You Are The Enemy

Excuses are the enemy of progress. If I had a nickel for every excuse I tried to make when I'm simply not feeling my workout on a particular day, I'd be driving a Bentley by now.

Your biggest obstacle is always going to be yourself. Don't listen to others, don't worry about what they think, and stop making the decision to always place yourself and your health second. If you can do that, success is going to be a lot easier to attain.

Fit: Once You're Committed, There's No Turning Back

Each morning as I prepare for the day ahead, I sit down with my notebook—filled with every single routine I've completed over the past 14-months—and I plan my routine.

Some days focus on getting the heart rate going via a tough cardiovascular workout, while others focus on building strength via weightlifting, but the main ingredient is always the same—F-O-C-U-S.

I've devoted myself to the idea of fitness for better than two-years now and what started out as a surface-level goal of netting a nice mid-section and killer arms has become a lifestyle that feels empty minus the presence of a healthy diet, an exercise routine, and an attitude that always feels I could be doing more to get better—I just know I haven't reached my best "me" yet.

That said, fitness is not a goal, it's a lifestyle. I don't know how much I can stress that point to those who are reading, but it's something that I strongly believe. You have to make the decision—sometimes every day—that the choices you'll make will be ones geared towards keeping you healthy in the long-term.

Am I perfect day in and day out? Absolutely not! If you read this blog with any regularity you know I have days where I fall off the wagon of health and want to throw it all away just to go back to the bliss of eating without precaution—to live in a world where being "skinny" is enough. But that ship sailed for me long ago, with knowledge came a bigger responsibility to myself. And that responsibility means that I am always fully aware of the choices I make regarding food and exercise.

I could never go back to being the person who threw caution to the wind because I am no longer that person.

The point I'm trying to make here is being skinny is not the goal, being fit is—whatever your definition of that word happens to be is up to you. You choose your focus and you make the decision on how you'll get there, but once you enlighten yourself with all the knowledge that commitment to good health involves, please remember, there is no turning back.

I Hate to Get Off Track

This week has been hell! Too many nights that turned into early mornings and too many days overflowing with things to do.

That said, the more pressing matter is what those extended days—and the lack of sleep that accompanied them—has meant for my "living fit" lifestyle. Being exhausted, at least for me, is often a gateway to not eating as healthy or as focused as I should or would be if I were being aware of my body and listening to it's cues. As I mentioned in the previous post, my kids being home for summer vacation has meant some schedule restructuring on my part because where I once had school hours to do things like cook, clean, exercise, and shop, I now have to do it all with them in tow.

Granted, I have zero issues with being with my kids 24/7, but you'd be surprised how much more efficient your tasks have to be when you're on full mommy alert—i.e. making sure they aren't in harms way, aren't wandering off, aren't touching anything needlessly, aren't in need of a potty break or suddenly hungry— and, for me, who is an admitted Type A personality, I don't do well with mass chaos. I can take it as it comes...so long as I know about it in advance.

But I digress.

I recognized that the week was going in the wrong direction as early as Sunday, but continued down the path of least resistance and managed to blow off at least one workout while half-assing a second; pair that with a few days of bad eating and, voila, living fit mommy isn't living so fit.

My goal is to not let the week end the way it started but rather to get myself back on track. I've certainly been down this road enough to know that sometimes it's the falling that makes the getting up that much more rewarding.

Has It Been Forever?

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My kid's summer vacation began May 19th and since that time I have been far too busy keeping them busy to maintain two blogs with any level of dedication so, unfortunately, "Living Fit Mommy" was the one selected to fall dreadfully behind.

However, now that my little ones have settled into their summer routine and I have reconfigured my schedule to accommodate days filled with all things children, I will attempt to get myself back on the "Fit Mommy"track.

That said, this posting is less about the norm of eating right, living well, and maintaining balance than it is about getting my readers up to speed on what's been happening in my world.

The idea to do so was taken from my country cousin, Ally, over at Copacetic in Carolina—whose blog if you haven't visited by now, shame on you, so go now!—and it's called "Currently".

So, here I am...

What I'm reading: It's tough to find time to do more than peruse the holy plethora of magazines I have on my nightstand—Muscle & Fitness Hers, Oxygen, Essence, and Yoga Journal are among the few—but I do try to throw in a novel or two just for fun. Right now I am wading through a book on Abraham Lincoln, with whom I became intrigued after our trip to Washington this past April, but I also have The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks on my radar for the very near future.

What I'm watching: Lately, television does nothing for me, so I've been renting DVD's of shows that are now off the air. I have watched "Alias" and re-watched "Felicity" (a show I adored when it aired on the WB more than a decade ago), while also starting "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Entourage", and "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency".

What I'm doing now since my kids are home: I haven't abandoned my workout regimen but I do have to be infinitely more creative to fit it in between shuttling them to karate and gymnastics, respectively, as well as the myriad of activities I plan for them to enrich their minds whilst school is out. That means what is normally a 75-90 minute workout is now 45-60 minutes. It's working out well so far as I get plenty of exercise just running around behind them.

What I'm ready for: Seriously, I'm soooooooo looking forward to getting a new MacBook. I love mine but I am giddy for a shiny new one to type upon. Second to that, an iPhone 5 of course. My tiny, slow, out-of-date 3GS has done all it can do but I refuse to spring for an iPhone 4 with the 5 supposedly right around the collective corner.

What I'm loving: the fact that my other passion—college football—is less than three months from starting anew. As a rabid Georgia Bulldogs and SEC fan, Saturdays seem empty minus some pigskin. less than 90-days and counting before what's wrong is made right.

Well, that's about it. As I said, I will try to get back on track with the blog now that the kiddies and I have a well-established schedule to follow.

Hope y'all are enjoying your summer thus far.