Friday, January 30, 2015

Fitness February: Goals and Action Steps for Losing Fat and Gaining Muscle + Robots

It's so easy to take the most important thing in our lives for granted; our body. I sure as hell did. I have the balance of an "air dancer" flapping aimlessly in the wind of a used car lot and the strength of a frail, shivering teacup Chihuahua. This is the universe's punishment when the only "lifting" you did for years was a succession of french fries, one by one, into your gaping maw. I kid on the last two. Mostly.  The truth is, I've never been athletic. I've always been weak and clumsy. I've been working to change that the past six months. I'm getting toned, stronger, and healthier. It was my missing for better health. Yet I'm facing some set-backs getting the results I want. I know it's going to be slow, but six months in without the right results, I know it's time to evaluate and get serious. It's Fitness February Time!


The Problems: 

(1) My lower body is way more toned than my upper body from lots of running, biking, and possibly more leg days. My roommate Marianne and I joke that she's the upper body of a mecca and I'm the lower body. In case you're not unrepentant Geek, the body parts of the "megazord" or "master form" of a Japanese Giant Robot, if you will, are formed by individual smaller bots piloted by whiney teenagers our young heroes. That's why Voltron above has metal wildcats for feet and legs. Marianne and I bust out laughing discussing how this works at the gym. And emulate it. Giving the Big Brother camera-watchers something to laugh and/or roll their eyes at.

In short, my upper body is flabby and my lower body is firm and I need to make it even before I resemble a potato on stilts.

(2) I've gained 10 lbs since I started working out. Like most I tend to yo-yo 5-10 lbs anyway, but damn, not what I want 6 months into working my ass off at the gym. I think it's the fact that I have to eat more now that I'm burning more calories but I'm not working all my areas out evenly.

The Solutions / Join for Fitness February if You Dare!

1) Balance Carbs and Proteins: Consume about one gram per pound of body weight of each
2) Balance Calories: Get in what's needed that day. Never deprive.
3) Balance Days: I'm making a schedule to work different body groups evenly.
4) Sticking to a Menu: Planning and cooking ahead saves money & helps you hit goals!
5) Write down everything I eat: So I know the real picture. Try it. It's scary how it adds up.
6) Move Daily: The shortest month of the year is the perfect month to make myself move daily! In February there's a silly $150.00-in-products gym contest to enter to keep me hitting the gym and going to the associated classes daily. I won't go as hard with each session, but it will be interesting to see the results. I also want to incorporate more "active rest" like long walks and hardcore deep cleaning.

Me in real-lifes leaving the gym a couple hours ago. I am, shamefully, not a robot. :(

Beginner Tips: If you need easier goals, I'd challenge you to make sure to move more, whether it's as simple as a daily walk during lunch break, and have a big, healthy salad for lunch or dinner. (I have salad recipes here, and staples here.)

The little changes do add up to big differences. In my experience you have to tailor your fitness routine to you. Do what makes you happy, never restrict, and have fun. Even when it's torture! Voltron has spoken!

Related: My Sedentary artist-person 3 month fitness journey + interviews for personal trainers for beginners

Anyone have further tips? Would love to hear 'em. I have an exact menu and routine I'm following, let me know if you'd like to see it in the comments. Let me know if you have any questions, I'm studying nutrition now and I've interviewed/worked with several professionals on the subject of fitness and nutrition. Answers are not all universal, but it's fun to help each other the best we can. I'll post updates on the blog and on Instagram
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9 comments:

  1. It seems I've taken the winter off from physical activity! I need to get back into hiking and stuff. I def gained some pounds over the holidays.

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    1. Easy to do. I need to fit some hiking in, I LOVE exploring nature and rarely get outside even though I mostly make my own schedule. It's awful.

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  2. I love the idea of fitness February! It's just as important to set goals for our health as it is to set goals for our businesses, right?!

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    1. Yep! And to me they're hand-in-hand, we have to be healthy/energetic to properly run our businesses.

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  3. Oh I forgot to add, I'm going to write down every single thing I eat. I doesn't mean I -won't- eat a vegan cupcake at one point, but at least I'll know the damage and act accordingly :D

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  4. My 7 year old daughter eats more food then the rest of the family put together. Massive amounts! For instance, this morning she ate a pop tart (weekend treat) 2 bowls of cereal, a whole bag of frozen blueberries and a yogurt...before the rest of us even woke up. She ate 4 veggie hotdogs with cheese for lunch and ate a whole bag of frozen peaches, dinner she ate a bowl of cauliflower soup and 5 slices of pizza. This doesn't include the massive amount of snaking in between meals. She ate raw potato peels in a scrap bag! Shes a fucking goat! And she is lean and muscular. The only thing I can thing of is that she is blessed with incredible metabolism OR the fact that she has been going to Yoga once a week since she was 3 years old. Its crazy how much food she consumes!

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    1. It's gotta be the yoga, she has hungry young muscles :D That's so cool, good for her that she got that early, healthy start! My boyfriend lifts weights and is in a football league, I help him eat like 3K to 4K worth of calories daily, it's crazy. Meanwhile I can't get rid of this gut burning 1K calories a day. Ain't got it like that ;D

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  5. Oh yeh, I do have a little bar of patchouli soap if you're interested. Let me know!

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  6. Tu corre mucho y como ensaladas y veras cambios!!

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I love reading your comments. Thank you for adding to the discussion! I always reply to any and all questions.

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