How has your week been? I've been thinking of you guys and hoping that you are continuing to be inspired to take a healthier path and create a healthier you. You deserve it!
So far, it has been an absolute joy writing the Friday posts. There's so many exercise videos out there, more than I could have imagined. What I appreciate most are the variety of videos available. There's a little something for everyone and it's free. It doesn't get much better than that. :-)
Have you ever heard of or experienced a weight loss plateau? I've heard of it, but sad to say I've never exercised long enough to experience it. At least, I don't think I have. According to some fitness gurus changing up fitness routines in small increments weekly helps the body to continue losing weight. I've also read that changing of diet over time will help also. Okay, I can see the possibility of having long-term progress when making periodic changes in diet and exercise.
What does this mean to someone who's just starting out with daily exercise and doesn't diet?
Well, I certainly enjoy doing different kinds of exercises. Keeping the same routine gets real old, real fast and for someone like me it's an easy out when I get bored. That's why I make my exercise efforts about the whole body, mind and spirit as opposed to just weight loss. Does that make since? I mean...shouldn't weight loss be part of the prize? You know...like buying a $1 scratch off and winning 10 bucks. Frankly speaking, I don't get that excited when thinking about weight loss. As a matter of fact, it can be a trigger for binging and/or starving. When I think of weight loss only it becomes overwhelming, larger than life, and impossible to imagine, especially when I have so much weight to lose. Every part of my being contributes to the weight loss madness. And then I quit. I quit because I've exhausted myself and have fallen into deep depression. I'm not taking that route this time. No. This time It's going to be different and this time I will succeed.
Success is already at hand because I am focusing on the things that matter most to me which are the things that make me exited about this process. I get exited when I think of my clarity of mind, body feeling stronger, posture's getting better, eating healthier, having more energy, clothes fitting better, happier calmer moods, less hot flashes, lower blood pressure, clearer skin even and oh yeah...there is an added bonus, I'm losing weight too. Booya!
My daily workout routines are awesome. I'm not locked into doing the same routine every week. Which is part of the reason I look forward to exercising. I do different kinds of workouts while focusing on different areas of my body. For example... Last week I concentrated more on my lower body. This week I'm all about my upper body. That doesn't mean I'm no longer working on my lower body. I've just changed my lower body routine and returned to lower reps. In the meantime, I've increased reps for my upper body. Next week will be vice versa. I will return my focus to the lower body, increasing the reps for my most recent lower body routine. I'll change the routine for my upper body and starting that routine at lower reps and so on... Get it?
Food intake...
That's easy. I don't diet. There's no bigger deal breaker than a diet. I chalk that up to having been on so many diets in the past, starting in my preteen years. Having to cut back on all the food that I love and watching my parents eat sweets in front of me. Too much. I'm not going to live a life of restriction. As you know, my son and I are gluten free. This is due to his seizures. By the way, he's doing very well, only having one seizure in the last 10 months. Going gluten free freed me from eating rice, breads, pastas, and potatoes almost daily. That change alone has breathed life into my healthy transition. Not only that, but I've rekindled my love with veggies. I was once a vegetarian. I'd gotten away from my veggie ways when I married a meat and potatoes man. I don't want to go back to being a complete vegetarian, but I do appreciate having a larger variety of veggies in our diet.
Another aspect of not dieting...I don't want to take my diet all the way down to salads everyday, not this early in the game. If that is something I naturally want to do later on, so be it. I want to eat regular foods so I can learn how to develop a healthy relationship with food. I like the way I'm eating now because I'm eating healthy portions without feeling restricted which means I have less desire to binge. As I continue on this journey, I believe my diet will continue to change for the better. One day I will eat more salads and will still be able to have a piece of fried chicken without blowing up like a puffer fish.
Okay, enough about that. Let's move on to the video. This week we're going to be doing a little dancing. One of the things I love most about this video is the obvious fun they had while making it. Be sure to check out the protein bar recipe at the end of the video. I haven't tried it yet, but it looks delicious. The video lasts about 20 minutes. Enjoy!
Keaira LaShae - Dance Workout for Beginners
Onward and Upward!
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