Okay, I am humbly asking for forgiveness… I could use a million excuses.
1. I was overwhelmed with LIFE.
2. I love unhealthy foods way too much
3. I have no self control when it comes to sugar
But what it all boils down to is that I slacked so bad on my 12 Week Challenge. So bad that I in fact, have taken a 12 Week Hiatus from the 12 Week Challenge. I could have the body of a sculpted model right now if I had stuck to it, but no I didn’t. So here I go again.
You see I didn’t give up. I just took a break. I did continue to watch what I was eating but I stopped working out. I am jumping back on the train, where I left off and I plan on going full force for the next 5 Weeks to get back my body.
I cut out almost all carbs… I let myself have one free day but I ate a high protein diet, eating five times a day and watching calories VERY closely. I lost 8 pounds just by changing my diet. However, now it is time to start doing cardio, because I have reached the point where I have lost enough weight where I can see the muscles, it just looks like my body has “hail damage”. (The cellulite has been pushed to the surface by the muscle underneath and is being SHOWN OFF. It’s gross). I am not a fan of that word… cellulite. Blah. This in-between stage is the worst… at least for my body/skin type.
So this is where I have to step it up and begin (drum roll) my cardio workout EVERYDAY. To motivate myself I did a little background:
Cardiovascular fitness refers to the ability of your heart, lungs and organs to consume, transport and utilize oxygen. When you exercise regularly, you can increase your cardiovascular fitness as your heart becomes more efficient at pumping blood and oxygen to the body, and the body becomes more efficient at using the oxygen.
When we mention cardio fitness we are referring to the body’s ability to generate energy through the circulation of blood and oxygen, this is often referred to as the circulatory system. For a person to improve their cardiovascular health they would have to strengthen the heart and increase endurance. Just like any other muscle in the body the heart can be made stronger by exercise and conditioning.
The general formula implemented when trying to decipher one’s optimal heart rate while performing cardio exercise is to subtract your age from 220. If you are 28 then you would simply subtract 28 from 220 to get 192. Your optimal heart beat range would be 60% to 80% of 192 or 115 to 153 beats per minute.
While a cardio fitness regime strengthens one’s heart, its benefits affect the entire body physically as well as mentally due to the increased blood flow to the body’s brain. When you exercise regularly there is also an increase in the number of red blood cells which the body uses to transport oxygen throughout the body.
Now I have come to the conclusion that I hate Cardio. I’m sorry I don’t even like the word hate. It unnerves me, but seriously I do NOT understand people that look forward to this. If my parent’s only knew this when I was a teenager, they could have used this as punishment instead of grounding. I would much rather be grounded & told to stay in my room and read a book then get your booty up & go work out. I guess I can Thank God for small favors. :-)
All that pessimism aside, I am looking forward to reaching my goal and I only have 5 more pounds to go and one more pant size to lose. I’m almost there and I have faith that I will accomplish this goal in the next five weeks.
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3 comments:
I'm right there with ya on hating Cardio. I eat well and try to do as much for my body by not putting bad stuff into it as I can by exercising. However, I know that I need to exercise, and have come to some conclusions just as you have. I wanted to pass along to you that I think I've found a workout that I truly enjoy. Spinning! I had always heard how intense and harsh they are, but I gave it a shot last week and went again last night. The class literally flies by, and you can totally control what level of intensity you want to give it. I've been using my husband's heart monitor, and I'm telling you there is no better way to watch how you're doing than by watching your heartbeat. I stay in a zone that lets me burn more fat than carbs to get the most out of my workout. You might want to give a spinning class a shot. You just might like it, too.
Wishing you all the best at knocking out that goal! You're doing great!
You can do it Jessica!!!! Of course i already think you are beautiful!
Good luck, You! I haven't done so hot lately. I tend to eat my stress. I justify it by saying my kids would rather have a fat mom than an alcoholi one. HA! Aren't I witty?! Right. I know. I'll go for a walk, I promise.
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