Showing posts with label cardio. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cardio. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Year-round Bikini Body? Yes, Please!

I know what you're thinking, did I just blog on Monday?  Why yes, yes I did.  I'm going to do my best to stay on a routine/schedule of blogging throughout the week about several different topics.  Lucky YOU, get excited!!  Since I couldn't really narrow down my blog to just one main interest, I'm going to throw several different things at you each week.  Again, get excited.  Feel free to comment with things you want to read about or questions that you may have that I can tackle!

Today I was inspired by a friend who's in the middle of his comp prep.  He's a warrior.  For real.  It's ridiculous how well his body responds to his meals and training.  Notice I didn't say "diet"?  That's because it's a lifestyle!  The sooner you let yourself think that way, the better.  There's always a flood of selfies on Wednesday of "Workout Wednesday" or "Waisted Wednesday".  This friend included both, but saved us on the #hashtags.  I'm a little hashtag obsessed, so I put my own in for him.  #hashtaghumorisawesome  *have you seen the YouTube of Justin and Jimmy hashtag talking? hilarious...and true.*


Summer is quickly approaching despite Dallas' fickle spring weather.  I'm bundled up in a blanket and sweatshirt right now as I sip on my hot coffee.  Three days ago, I was in flip flops and drinking an iced coffee.  Gotta love Texas.  Now is the time to start shedding your winter coat.  Ladies, that could mean a variety of things, I know.  (leg shaving season, exfoliating all the dry skin off your body, etc).  What I'm referring to right now, is that nice little layer of body fat.  Love chub.  Winter coat.  Whatever you want to call it.  Abs are definitely made in the kitchen, sorry.  You can do a million crunches, but all that hard work isn't going to show if you go home and eat oreos.  My body is a prime example of that.  I had amazing results with my body transformation because I was lifting like a crazy person, but I was eating perfectly.  Not every person wants to do that, I know.  There are a few easy tweaks you can make, though!

Five Fab Abs Tips:

1.  Cut out alcohol!  There's a reason it's called a beer gut.  Alcohol turns right to sugar, causes insulin spikes, and in return our bodies store those cals as fat.  Womp womp.  Still want that glass of wine?  Make it a spritzer by adding La Croix or Pelligrino to your regular glass.  Half wine, half bubbles.  It's yummy!!  If you don't like the bubbles, just limit yourself to one 4oz glass and then switch to water.  Your tummy (and head) will thank you.

2.  Limit the amount of processed foods.  Seriously limit.  Anything from a box or can relies heavily on salt and sugar to flavor it.  Especially if it's low-fat.  They have to do something to make it "taste good" if they take all the fat out!  Fat isn't bad.  Processed food is the devil in food form bad.  Period.

3.  Watch your gluten.  Breads, pastas, cereals; they all have it!  While you may not be gluten intolerant, I almost guarantee you'll notice a flatter tummy when you take that nasty stuff out.  I know bread is delicious, trust me.  I could down a whole loaf of hot french bread, by myself.  However, that is here nor there.  We're talking about how to shrink your waist!  Bread will not help in that goal.

4.  Fasted cardio.  This means cardio on an empty stomach.  I believe it to really help burn fat.  Some say it doesn't matter.  Play around with it and decide for yourself.  If you're eating clean and lifting weights, I advise 20-25 min of cardio 5x/week for best results.  I see tons of cardio queens at the gym.  They're not skinny.  You can't out train a bad diet.  Fact.

5.  HIIT.  High Intensity Interval Training.  Heard of it?  Doesn't it sound scary?  I thought it did.  However, once I got over the scariness of it, I've learned to love it.  I can kick butt for 5-10 minutes and be done.  Think sprint intervals, tabatas, and small circuits.  Not only do they blast fat, but they can also help you build muscle...this in turn helps you burn more calories while you're at rest.  It may be all in my head, but I feel like I wake up looking amazing slimmer after my HIIT days.

Wanna try out some HIIT?  Here's what I did today:

Step Mill Sprints:
Easy walking pace (mine was level 8) - 1 min warm-up
*once you complete the 1 min warm-up, alternate running and resting for 30 sec for 5 rounds total*
Running pace (I did level 17) - 30 sec
Hop off step mill (I keep it going with one foot pushing a step every now and then) - 30 sec
You can control your speed.  I know that I'm only running for 30 sec, mind over matter!  I'm also wanting to die huffing and puffing after!

Jump squats: Drop down into a deep squat then hop up as high as you can.
5 rounds of 20 jump squats - rest 1 min between sets
Beginner's aim for 3 rounds of 10.  Work yourself up to 20, then to 5 sets!

I did the above combo, then an easy 15 min of elliptical at a 120ish heart rate.

Try it out and let me know what you think!!

Sunday, August 7, 2011

It's tiiiiime!!


Well, here I am, 5 days out from my FIRST EVER NPC bikini competition!!!

I had been waiting on pins and needles all day today for my email from Jef
f detailing what this week would look like. Every time my phone would go off, I'd excitedly check to see if it was him.Finally, when the email did come, I quickly opened it to read, read, and reread it. I couldn't be more excited about the next 5 days.
I'll make my last official run to the grocery store to grab a few things that are on my menu for the week...PEANUT BUTTER!!! My workouts are going to be fun for me, I'll be hitting up upper body, lower body, then total body. Cardio
every morning when I wake up and then *BAM!* it will be Friday!!!

I can still recall what I felt when I first mentally committed to this show...then how it felt to vocalize it. Now, I'm days away. It's crazy how fast time goes. I know it will be such a good feeling to step on that stage for the very first time. My stomach will be doing flips, just like it did when I practiced my walk on Saturday for Jeff and Greg. I'm really good at picturing things in my mind. This time is a little different because I'm doing something entirely new. I try to picture it bigger than I think it will be, scarier than I expect it to be, and of course me kicking butt.

The email from Jeff included a list of "tips" for the show. It listed a few things I needed to make sure to pack like sheets, a pillowcase, and pedialyte. Three things I would not have thought to bring. I'm guessing the hotel I'll be staying at won't appreciate a body-size spray tan stain and the pedialyte will quickly rehydrate me once I step off that stage.

Time to eat my egg whites and hit the sheets. I have cardio to do when I wake up! Let's do this!!

Monday, August 1, 2011

Cardio Bloggin'!

As August 12th quickly approaches...11 days and counting...I find myself figuring out new ways to multitask! Today I'm blogging while biking. Don't worry, I'm on a recumbent bike. All I have to do is periodically check the screen to make sure my heart rate is where it needs to be.

So, here I sit at the gym being one of "those" people I shake my head at. The ones that sit/walk there on their phone/ipad/crackberry typing away. Hey, if it weren't for my heart rate monitor, I couldn't do it.

I have a lot to look forward to over the next 11 days. Not only will I continue to add muscle and drop fat but all the girly stuff starts. Hair cut and color (staying dark, just covering the blonde that keeps poking back through), trial spray tan, nails, and of course more post contest food shopping! LOL! This whole process has been fun for me, but I do love all the girly primping stuff that motherhood has put a hold on.

I've continued my daily/hourly visualization stuff that has kept me focused. I'm feeling more and more ready each day to show off all my hard work on that stage. I'm also excited to watch the other competitors do their thing. Victory loves serious preparation!

I have a feeling I'll be rolling up to the Dallas convention center with a big 'ol suitcase. Inside will be all the things that have been recommended to me to have on hand by fellow competitors. Track suit to stay warm backstage, hair dryer to stay warm backstage, every kind of snack I could imagine because I don't know what Jeff will want me to eat depending on how my body looks, bikini bite to keep my suit in place, lip gloss, flip flops, post-show outfit, and of course my suit and shoes!

Being the list maker/prep queen that I am, I already have most of this stuff together minus the food. While I'm hoping that my last week will be stress free, I'm not stupid. Time to finish up my cardio, drink some protein, and take my baby girl to the splash pad!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

I need a 26 hour day...

I got home from the gym at 10:15pm. Yup, that's right. I'm at an hour of cardio 6 days/week plus my 4 lift days. Tonight all I had time to squeeze in was cardio. That means upper body tomorrow, yay! :)

Before I hit up the elliptical, I headed to the yoga room to practice my posing. My 5" lucite heels have a new home in my gym bag so I can practice anytime, anywhere! I'm feeling more and more confident strutting my stuff as I see my body transform. It's all in the hips! I keep Jeff's words in my head..."you gotta make it look like you have booty from all directions, it's all about the booty". It's funny to me that so many women work to make their butt smaller and here I am busting mine to make it grow! I have J-Lo envy at the moment. Brook tanned me up earlier today, so my legs looked awesome! Thanks Brook!!!

I had planned on walking Arbor Hills with Zoe earlier today, but when I saw that the temperature was 101, I changed my mind. So, ipod in hand, I trekked it up to the gym. Thankfully, the elliptical has not only a TV on it, but sits in front of 4 big screens. I tend to get bored on the elliptical to I did half there then hopped over to the spin bike. The slightly insane Brian Wilson managed to keep me distracted with his ESPY penguin get-up...that man is an odd duck.

So, now, it's egg-white time washed down with some glutamine and then off to dreamland! Sleep well my friends, tomorrow is another day to achieve your dreams!