Working out, get it in where it fits in!

The biggest complaint most people have about working out is time... "When can I  fit it into my already busy schedule?"

Many of the creative ways I've come up with over the last nine years are:
- doing various quick exercise movements during TV commercial breaks
- working out with YouTube videos while dinner was cooking or while my children were doing homework 
- getting up 30 minutes early to do cardio around the house before the kids got up to get ready for school
- walking around the track or field while my children were at their various sports practices 
- walking, jogging and eventually running during my lunch hour

Only in the last two years have I joined a gym, beginning the spring of 2015. I was determined not to join a gym in the beginning, because I wanted to prove it wasn't necessary in order to lose and maintain weight loss. It only became necessary later on when I had started setting some pretty specific goals and had gotten as far as I could using the free-weights at home.

When one of my friends started training with me, we eventually started going to the gym almost everyday for lunch. We're fortunate to have jobs where we can eat while we work so that we can take our lunch hour to go work out...

(Never miss Mondays - cardio day)

Get it in where it fits in, and make it count! It doesn't take hours... 30-45 minutes a day 3-4 days a week is more than enough time to get that heart rate up, blood flowing, sweat pouring and calories burning!

NET less calories of the "right" foods and have more than enough!

"Can I NET fewer calories, get all the nutrients I need and still feel full and satisfied?" YES YOU CAN! 
"Can I eat less grains and still feel full?" YES YOU CAN!

Two issues I want to address:
1. reducing our consumption of grains; and
2. NET calories needed for overall health & wellness.

First, if you choose to continue eating grains, try to replace all refined grains with whole grains. Refined grains may have close to the same nutritional facts, but they have been stripped of their natural fiber that whole grains still have, which helps the body digest the food more slowly and burn the calories slower, so that you feel fuller longer, and therefore are less likely to over eat and store the unused food as fat.

However, grains are high in carbohydrates, and since most Americans eat more than enough grains everyday with almost every meal, grains are a main contributor to obesity and diabetes in this country.  Carbohydrates are very important to our overall health and nutritional needs, but we can get the daily recommended grams of carbs we need from other sources than grains.

The AMPS Lifestyle Change Plan separates the food groups into the following categories: Proteins, Starches, Fruits & Vegetables, Dairy (condiments and fats are additional items to be eaten in moderation). Starches is where we get most of our carbohydrates, which includes grains, but also grain alternatives - legumes, beans, root vegetables, higher calorie and sugar content fresh fruits, leafy green fresh vegetables. Our bodies burn these alternative sources more efficiently, without having a large amount unused and stored as fat.

Most of these grain alternatives are lower in calories, which will help you reduce your NET calorie intake more easily. Below is a typical of my grain-free daily eating...

(AMPS Plan Daily Typical)

 

 

This brings me to the second issue, NET calorie intake.  AMPS Lifestyle Change Plan recommends female NET calorie intake of 1200-1500 a day and male of 1500-1800 a day, depending on your level of activity.  That's why it's very important to track everything you eat in a program like MyFitnessPal. If  you're not tracking, you're guessing, and we all underestimate the amount of calories we're actually consuming.

 

Eating less food does not necessarily mean you're eating less calories, especially if you're eating the "wrong" foods. When you start eating the "right" foods, you find you can eat more than you expect. Also, eating less food is not the wisest way to lose or maintain weight loss. You have to eat enough of the "right" foods - the recommended daily servings from each food group, in the "right" combination to promote improved metabolism, spread out over several small meals a day!

 

If you are ready to get started on your own lifestyle change, and would like me to customize a daily eating plan for you based on your daily nutritional needs and schedule, get in touch! Also, the once a week treat is a great motivator...

ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER, MOTIVATION TO KEEP GOING!............

I started this AMPS Lifestyle Change journey February 2008. Other than consulting with others about what changes to make with my eating and exercise, I did it by myself because I was doing it for myself and no one else.  I didn't want to get into the habit as I had in the past that if someone couldn't or wouldn't continue following the Plan with me, that I would stop or become discouraged.

After achieving my initial weight loss goal and participating in four half marathons, I did find myself getting a little stagnate.  I had also talked myself out of doing a bodybuilding figure competition because of my fear of wearing a swimsuit, so I sure wasn't going to go on stage in an half-naked outfit... 

However, for fun I asked a friend of mine (who is 11 years younger than me) if she would train and compete with me. To my surprise, she said yes! She started training with me in March 2015, even though she had never picked up a weight before, and by October 2015, we were on that stage, half-naked and all!

 

 

 

I've come to realize that it is fun to workout with others, to be accountable to someone else, and when she or I couldn't make a training session, it didn't deter us from doing our own thing and just getting back together when we could.

Since the bodybuilding competition, she has continued to train with me, although she doesn't think she'll do any more of my "bucket list" challenges again - we'll see...lol

The weather didn't allow me to get my Rock Climbing challenge done in 2016, but... Duathlon in 2017 and Masters Track & Field event in 2018 (to celebrate AMPS 10yr anniversary and my 50th birthday), and I'm hoping she will continue to train with and motivate me, along with a few others joining us... 

Thank you Rosiland for being my Accountability Partner!