How to get the Most out of your Body

Talking about working out can be a sore spot for most but since I am a fitness enthusiast I do not shy away from it. So here we go again!

I’ve been interested in fitness since I was a child and I was privileged to have had one of those running around in the neighborhood getting into all sorts of shenanigans childhoods that helped me develop into the active person that I try to be now. I’ve had my bouts of inactivity at different times in my life for different reasons, surgery, illness, injury, and mostly laziness. I’m one of those people that can not get away with not working out at all for a long period of time. I start to develop issues all over! The good thing is I do enjoy being physical. I love the challenge and I like to try new things. I love that feeling of being outside in nature early in the morning or late into the evening, I love the feeling of pushing my muscles to their limit and I enjoy the feeling after a workout knowing that I hit my goal another day. I love the mental focus, clarity, and positive feelings that flood me after a workout.

I do not enjoy sore joints or feeling like an old woman when I wake up or the thought of starting a workout on days when I already feel exhausted. So like everyone else I have those challenges. Here are some of the thoughts and physical things I do to get the most out of my body and workouts.

Pre-plan your nutrients

Let’s be real if you’re not preplanning what you are going to eat then most likely you’ll be eating things you shouldn’t be more often. Pre-make and freeze smoothies and prepare healthy meals in advance so that the majority of what you eat will be good food and you will fill up on nutrients first. If you do happen to want something that may be less healthy then you will have less room for it in your belly and won’t be making rash decisions while hungry.

Work out

Working out more often will also suppress your appetite during and around workouts and sometimes help minimize cravings during the day.

Build more muscle

A lot of people have this huge emphasis on doing cardio- going for long runs and spending hours on cardio machines. To be honest, if I had to do that all the time it would be less motivating to work out. I know a few people actually love going for long jogs so what I’m saying here isn’t for you. I like an occasional long run as well. You feel like you’re pushing yourself to the limit and you are rewarded with lots of endorphins. I used to do cross country so I get it. This is for those of you who feel you need to do this in order to lose weight or get to other fitness goals. Some long cardio workouts actually promote fat storage- especially those long jogs. To get results faster you need to target your larger muscle groups like your legs, glutes, and core and you need to build muscle in your whole body. More muscle means that you are burning more fat more often…even when you’re resting. You need to push yourself to lift challenging weights. Bodyweight training and weight lifting are very beneficial. Many women ignore these types of workouts either out of ignorance or fear of looking too muscular. Some body types are prone to getting more muscular faster but for the majority of women you will not look like a bodybuilder merely from lifting weights you will just become stronger and look like a healthier you. I know I’ve said this before but bodybuilders have special diets and lift much heavier than you can imagine to put on the amount of muscle mass that they have.

To be continued