Still need some convincing to get up and get started? Read this article I found at WebMD.com.  This article gives you 10 good reasons to start your fitness routine (other than just working out to get healthy and see the physical benefits).

Here are some quick tips to remember once you have jump started your routine:

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!

This is the most important meal of the day! It is suggested that you eat breakfast within 2 hours of waking up.  Your body has depleted all of its food and other nutrients from the day before so it is good to get something to eat in that time frame. It helps to jump-start your day and to give your body the energy needed to get started.  There are tons of HEALTHY options (other than the drive through at your favorite fast food place or coffee place).  Try having 2 eggs (or egg whites) with one piece of toast and a cup of fruit.  You can also have a smoothie, or 1/2 a bagel with low-fat jam or cream cheese (make sure to look at the nutritional packages! Most of the time 1 serving size is a lot smaller than you think!) My personal favorite breakfast is a bowl of oatmeal with pecans with a cup of fruit.  The key is to find something that you can eat that will keep you full for the next few hours until you have your mid morning snack or to make you last until lunch time.

For those of you who are weighing yourself regularly, in the morning before you eat breakfast is the best time to do so.  Usually at the end of the day you are full with the nutritional food and water you should have been consuming throughout the day.

Start and Finish your work out routine

Make sure you have a plan before you start your work out.  It is always good to know ahead of time what you want to do before you start.  It is also important to not forget to stretch! It is suggested that you do a quick warm up (before stretching) and a cool down after the work out.   A quick brisk walk (or any other activity) is suggested for about 90 seconds.  Then after that 90 seconds gradually build up your speed (you can keep it at a slight jog) for about 5 minutes.  After that time is over you stop and do your stretching and then go into your fitness routine.  After your workout you should also do your cool down.  This can be done by doing a slight jog for approximately 90 seconds, and then again doing a quick stretch of all of your major muscles.   This should help to keep you lose and stretched out.  Doing these can also help prevent injury and also help reduce muscle pain after your workout.

Don’t forget to eat right (by not consuming too many “empty” calories)

When I speak of “empty” calories I am talking about foods/drinks with little nutritional value.  These can be found in carbonated beverages, unhealthy snack choices, and unhealthy meal options.  Try to plan a balance meal that will suite your nutritional needs and taste buds.  Also, try to increase your activity by doing your fitness activities.  The key to losing weight is to burn more calories than you are consuming.

Can I afford to workout?

YES you can!

In order to workout you do not have to buy a membership to a fitness facility.  You can work out at home, in the park, or anywhere! You just have to find the space and things needed to help you complete your desired workout.  But if you do go to a facility do not feel self-conscious about the people who are there.  I have had plenty of my friends tell me that they were afraid to go to the gym because of the “guys with muscles walking around” or the “Barbie sized girls that will be skipping around”.  Yes they may be there but I promise they will not be focusing on you.  Like you, everyone is there to get a workout! So do not even worry about them! They will be focused on their fitness goals and what they want to get done in the gym just like you.

STOP making excuses.

Why not start today!?

Still have junk food in the house?  Donate it to the local food pantry!

There are SO many reasons why you SHOULD start living a healthier lifestyle.

For more energy, to feel better, and to look the way YOU want too.

START TODAY!
Wake up and start with a nice quick morning walk.

Then have a nice and simple healthy breakfast

Followed by a healthy lunch and dinner.

If you have time in the evening go out for another brisk walk!

YES IT IS THAT SIMPLE!

Want to get back on track but you just don’t know how to start?

Starting is the HARDEST part!
First you have to pick a day.  Pick a day that you want to start living and eating healthier.

On this day start first thing in the morning when you wake up.

The best thing to do is to start fresh at the beginning of the week (like Sunday or Monday).

Here are some day-by-day things you can do to help you get on track:

Day One:

Today try to drink at least 1.5 liters or water.  Try to substitute your favorite afternoon sugar drink with a glass of water.  Or have your favorite drink BUT also have the extra glass of water.  The key is to start incorporating more water into your diet

Day Two:

Make a healthy snack choice.  Instead of having chips with your sandwich at lunch try some veggies or a piece of fruit.  You want to start making healthier food choices for your meals and snacks

Day Three:

Go for a brisk walk.  You want to walk at a pace that is faster than a casual walk and you want to keep up that faster pace for about 30 minutes.  You want to get your heart rate up but you also do not want to push yourself too hard starting out.

Day Four:

Regulate your meal choices.  You want to try to eat several small meals throughout the day.  You want your first meal to be within two hours of you first waking up.  Once you have breakfast try to have more small meals (around 400 calories each) every 2-3 hours.  This will help kick-start your metabolism and allow you to fuel your body as you are going through the day.

Day Five:

Create your own stretching routine.  This routine should be done before AND after you workout.  It does not have to be a long drawn out routine, just something that will stretch your major muscle groups and allow you to stretch your muscles.

Day Six:

Try to drink 2 liters of water!  If it helps try to get a large water bottle or container that you can monitor how much you are consuming to help you keep track.

Day Seven:

Go through your cabinet and collect all of your unhealthy foods.  If you still have some food that is unopened donate it to a local food pantry or other type of food service.  You will not be as tempted to eat bad foods if you do not buy them or have them at home.

Day Eight:

Go for another brisk walk.  This time make sure to stretch BEFORE and AFTER your walk.  Do not forget to keep up the fast brisk pace for at least 30 minutes.  You want to keep your heart rate up to help you start to burn those extra calories.

Day Nine:

Go one full day without eating anything “unhealthy”.  This means cutting out carbonated beverages, candy bars, greasy foods, chips, or anything else that you know is unhealthy.  If you even have a doubt if it is unhealthy or not, do not eat it! Stick to simple things like chicken, fish, beef, turkey, veggies, fruit, whole wheat pasta or bread, etc.  This will allow you to dedicate one full day to fueling your body with healthy low processed foods.

Day Ten:

Today try to do more physical activities.  These following exercises do them for a minute and record how many you can do.  A month from now do them all again and see how many more you were able to do in that minute.  That should help show you how much you are progressing!  Try these exercises: jumping jacks, sit ups, push ups, lunges, air squats, and mountain climbers (if you do not know what these exercises are you can type them into Google or YouTube and see how to do them!)

Day Eleven:

Today try to combine several of the things listed above.  Try drinking the 2 liters or water and eating healthy for a full day.  Or try the brisk walk and drinking 2 liters of water.  Whatever you choose, try to do at least two of the items listed above.

Day Twelve:

Start a health and fitness journal!  Write down what you have been doing and how you feel.  You can write down how much you weigh now and also keep track of the exercises you have been doing.  There are some great online fitness journals (like myfitnesspal.com) or you can buy a regular journal to write in.  Writing down what you do will help you to keep track of what you are doing and will hopefully hold you accountable for the healthy choices that you should/want to make each day.

Day Thirteen:

Today you should drink 2 liters of water, walk briskly for thirty minutes (and do not forget to stretch!!), and lastly you should also have a regulated day of eating every few hours.

Day Fourteen:  

By this day you should have already started some healthy habits!  Today will be the toughest day!  Today you should make sure to drink 2 liters of water, eat healthy ALL day, have regulated eating (every 2-3 hours), go for a brisk walk (with your stretching), and keep track of all of this in your fitness journal.

This is just a sample of some things that you can do to get you stated on living healthier.  Most people ask me “where do I start” or “what are some good things to start doing”.  These are all some great things that allow you to make your own wise choices.  The key is to not completely jump into things head first.  You want to gradually start to make positive habits so the will become a good habit and you will stick with them.  Try this for fourteen days and then see how ready you are to start living healthier!

try this KILLER Abdominal workout!

remember to get those ABS you want you HAVE TO EAT RIGHT! AND BE PATIENT!

Results take DEDICATION and most importantly TIME!
Keep working hard guys!

YOU WILL REACH YOUR GOALS!

You can join a fitness class or fitness challenge at a local gym or with your job

You can attend or create your own boot camp

You can create or find a fitness routine that you can complete at the gym OR if you can not afford a gym membership you can complete it at home!

Today’s post will be talking to the followers who are a step above the beginners  but who are looking for something to add or supplement their fitness routines with.

Today I would like to introduce you to Erik.  Mr. Smith has his own website at:  www.workoutdesigns.com

He is here to discuss some higher intensity workout options for you:

The key to high intensity interval training is speed.  This enhanced form of training typically means you do more in a short amount of time and is popular among those who are trying to lose as well as for others with all kinds of fitness and exercise needs.  High intensity interval training workouts usually last less than 20 minutes and burns fat faster than similar cardio workouts.  There are many different kinds of high intensity interval training routines and each has their own kinds of benefits.

30 and 60 Second High Intensity Interval Training Workouts

When you are just beginning high intensity interval training, you can start with 30 second routines.  After you have stretched and warmed up properly, you can work on your 30-second routine.  You should feel every part of your body burning when you work out.  No matter your fitness level, you should try to push yourself to finish.

Beginners need to do 30-second sprints with 90-second rest phases in six to eight sets.  Those at an intermediate level can do 30-second sprints with 60-second rest phases in eight to ten sets.  However, those at the advanced level can do 30-second sprints with 30-second rest phases in ten to twelve sets.  No matter what level of your high intensity interval training routines, you also need to make sure you warm down properly after your sets.

Tabata Training

There are also other forms of high intensity interval training if you want a more structured or official workout.  In fact, Tabata is said to be the most effective form of training as well as the most intense.  This is a four-minute routine is supposed to produce better results than aerobic training.  The interval training is also supposed to help you build muscular endurance better than you would if you were undergoing normal cardio training.

The Tabata intervals are simple to follow.  You have to push yourself to do as many reps as possible for 20 seconds then rest for ten seconds.  This has to be repeated eight times.  With Tabata training, it is best to use a timer so that you do not have to think too much as you are working on your intervals.  Beginners at this level should choose lighter weights and gradually increase as they progress.

While this routine is quite intense, one of its appeals is that it is adaptable to various kinds of exercises.  Exercises such as front squats and push presses work very well with this routine.  You can also use kettlebells or other kinds of weights that will make you use your largest set of muscle groups.  You should remember that this is not an everyday routine and you may end up doing it only once or twice a month.

Body for Life Training

You can also try other high intensity interval training routines such as the Body for Life routine that has four sets of increasing intervals each one minute long.  Part of the secret to this routine is that it starts out at an already high intensity than challenges you to increase intensity with each minute.  Finally by the last-minute, you have to push yourself to reach maximum intensity.

You can use accessories such as timers as you work on high intensity interval training workouts if you need some help in keeping up your pace and checking on your progress.  You can also use workout music to help the time pass faster and keep your mind off the burn.  You may not perform these routines every day, but you can still get the kind of results you want if you perform them correctly.

We starting a new health and fitness routine you have to be mindful of you physical limits!  It is OK if you start something new or add new things to your workout and it is hard for you to finish them or you can not finish them at all! It will take you some time to build up your endurance and your strength to be able to accomplish tougher higher intensity workouts.  It is OK to try or add something new to your routines! It is actually suggested that you change-up your routine every 6 – 8 weeks.  This will allow your body to not get use to all the same exercises and it allows you to work out other muscles in your body to help you shed those unwanted calories and reach your fitness goals.