Status update my bum hurts but I like it. I'm telling you squats are the truth :-)
Also worth noting is I baked this deliciously moist chocolate and caramel cake, worth every calorie.
Now that thats out of the way how are you doing with your squats challenge. Mine is going great I have worked out every day this week and I feel pumped, my bum is not victoria secret runway worthy and probably never will be but I'm enjoying the process.
I am pushing myself to try new challenging positions tihihihi....
in yoga( head out of the gutter please) Although if you think about it yoga would be good for gutter positions as well. A few days a week I practice yoga with the help of free you tube videos.
As I've gotten older I find myself losing my happy go lucky attitude with every curve ball life throws, I need to get my spunk back, one way of doing that is the decision to finally apply for my medical residency and another way is to live a more confident fit and healthy life. I am loving it this far.
Early this week I had an interesting workout session where my Pilates instructor was a 64 year old lady. Lets call her D. D is a friend of mine and has a heart of gold and at 64 a banging body to match and I got to find out why.
For 30 minutes she led another friend and I through some hard core Pilates moves that had me clutching my abs and bum in agony yet she didn't even break a sweat. Pilates is a type of exercise that has been around since the early 20th century. It focuses very much on technique and correct form rather than quantity and it is great for the core muscles in your spine abdominals and obliques.
Looking at D you would become a pilates fan because 4 kids and several decades later and she didn't even break a sweat after what she referred to as a "light work out" because we are new to pilates. The rest of us were sore for 2 days after that!
If you're one of those people who slouch(I am) then this will help a lot with your posture.
"Hi my name is Rue and I'm a sloucher" sometimes when I look at my pictures I consider employing a hobbit to walk behind me and poke me with a stick every time my shoulders droop. After a lot of research though I realized the average height of a hobbit is 3 feet 6inches but some are as short as 2 feet; so I fear the poke might land on my bum rather than my back- ouch! I have to constantly remind myself to stand up straight and I'm hopping it soon becomes second nature, because everyone looks much taller and leaner with the chin up and shoulders back.
Just don't over do it; you don't want to walk around looking like you've swallowed a broom.
So chin up shoulders straight bum out and rock on!
Thursday 3 March 2016
Monday 22 February 2016
BREAK IT DOWN!!!!
The gravity defying butt challenge has began.
Human beings are strongly driven by their carnal desires, what is more sexual than the female derriere. Even in the animal Kingdom the female backside is a fascination for the males.... they sniff it while some change shape and colour based on ovulation cycles.
Unfortunately for us as we grow older our bodies metabolism slows down, our skin elasticity fails us, our fat stores multiply and somehow body parts that were once standing proud at attention start to go south literally. All of a sudden you find yourself single handedly keeping spanx in business because all your hanging bits and pieces need to be tucked in.
This is why I squat!
Today I had a killer workout session. I started out by doing 20 minutes of yoga to get my muscles nice and warmed up. I simply google yoga stretches for beginners and follow the video instructions on YouTube, all I need is my mat and internet connection. There's also yoga apps that you can download. I recently started yoga because I want to be more flexible for carnal reasons ;-)) but also because flexible joints and muscles are less prone to injury during exercise. I would love to be able to headstand and a handstand but I digress.
After that came the squats. Squats is a compound exercise that works several muscle groups in your legs, thighs and butt or gluteals at the same time and therefore torches calories. I do weighted squats meaning I carry a 5kg dumbell on each side while i squat. If you have never done a squat before start simple without the weights.
The key to strengthening muscles is breaking them down. When you challenge your muscles during a work out you cause micro tears in the muscle fibers which your body then repairs in the next 48 hours. The constant breakdown and repair of your muscles builds them up, burns calories long after your workout is done and gives you muscle definition. For this reason schedule major burn workouts of muscle groups on alternate days to give your muscles a chance to repair. So if you do a proper lower body work out today then plan for abs and upper body tomorrow.
It is important that you continue your 30 minutes of daily aerobic activity on top of the circuit workouts.
Tomorrow I am playing an hour of tennis and working on my abs and upper body. Don't forget to let me know how you're fairing with the squat challenge. Break it down!!!!!
Human beings are strongly driven by their carnal desires, what is more sexual than the female derriere. Even in the animal Kingdom the female backside is a fascination for the males.... they sniff it while some change shape and colour based on ovulation cycles.
Unfortunately for us as we grow older our bodies metabolism slows down, our skin elasticity fails us, our fat stores multiply and somehow body parts that were once standing proud at attention start to go south literally. All of a sudden you find yourself single handedly keeping spanx in business because all your hanging bits and pieces need to be tucked in.
This is why I squat!
Today I had a killer workout session. I started out by doing 20 minutes of yoga to get my muscles nice and warmed up. I simply google yoga stretches for beginners and follow the video instructions on YouTube, all I need is my mat and internet connection. There's also yoga apps that you can download. I recently started yoga because I want to be more flexible for carnal reasons ;-)) but also because flexible joints and muscles are less prone to injury during exercise. I would love to be able to headstand and a handstand but I digress.
After that came the squats. Squats is a compound exercise that works several muscle groups in your legs, thighs and butt or gluteals at the same time and therefore torches calories. I do weighted squats meaning I carry a 5kg dumbell on each side while i squat. If you have never done a squat before start simple without the weights.
- Stand with your feet hip width apart, back straight and your chin slightly tucked in without bending your neck
- Keep you shoulders straight
- Stretch your arms forward parallel to the floor
- While looking straight ahead,lower yourself towards the ground into a high seated position then stand up straight thats one rep.( As you advance your balance will improve and you can go lower into deeper squats)
- As you lower yourself to a sitting position ensure that your knees don't go past your toes so as not to burden your knees.
- You could do this with a chair behind you as a guide, lower yourself as though you're about to sit on it but don't let your butt touch the chair, just hover above the chair then clench your gluteal(butt) muscles and tighten your abs to stand up straight
- Aim for 10 repetitions(reps) that is one set
- Rest for 30 seconds then do 10 more reps. that is two sets. After 30 seconds do the third set
- CONGRATULATIONS day one of the challenge completed
The key to strengthening muscles is breaking them down. When you challenge your muscles during a work out you cause micro tears in the muscle fibers which your body then repairs in the next 48 hours. The constant breakdown and repair of your muscles builds them up, burns calories long after your workout is done and gives you muscle definition. For this reason schedule major burn workouts of muscle groups on alternate days to give your muscles a chance to repair. So if you do a proper lower body work out today then plan for abs and upper body tomorrow.
It is important that you continue your 30 minutes of daily aerobic activity on top of the circuit workouts.
Tomorrow I am playing an hour of tennis and working on my abs and upper body. Don't forget to let me know how you're fairing with the squat challenge. Break it down!!!!!
Saturday 20 February 2016
IT'S A NUMBERS GAME
What are your goals for working out? Seriously take a minute and think about why you lace up and race out of the door in the direction of the gym, why do you roll out your yoga mat and punish your poor muscles? Have you thought about it? Now write it down or type it depending on which year you were born.
My goals for working out are:
BMI is a scientific calculation of ideal weight based on weight in kilograms. The formula is weight in kgs divided by height in square meters. KG/m2. Based on this one can be stratified as being underweight, healthy, overweight or obese.
BMI Categories: Underweight:..................................<18.5
Normal weight:.............................. 18.5–24.9
Overweight:....................................25–29.9
Obesity:...........................................BMI of 30 or greater
What is your BMI?
As you can see I am over weight for my height, I need to lose some kilos in order to be considered a healthy weight and less at risk of heart disease. In the last 3 months I have lost 10kgs(22 pounds) based on simple math, it is not remarkable but it is the most progress I made in a year of trying to lose weight . Working out for weight loss is arithmetic; how many calories do you take in versus how many calories do you burn? The average female requires 1600- 2200 calories while the male requires 1800-3000 calories.
To put this in perspective, a slice of white toast has 100 calories, a slice of whole wheat toast 78 calories, two table spoons of peanut butter 190 calories, 1 fried egg 92 calories, a tablespoon of margarine depending on the brand 45- 100 calories, 1 tablespoon of butter 50 calories. So lets say your breakfast consists of 2 slices of white toast with two tablespoons of peanut butter and margarine and a fried egg you will have consumed 530 calories. You can make use of a calorie tracker like my fitness pal (its an app on Google play) to workout what calories are in the meals you consume.
Anything you consume on a daily basis is either burned up to produce energy for your daily activities or stored as fat fondly referred to as love handles, bat wings or thunder thighs. I am by no means trying to turn you into a calorie counting stick figure, however it helps to be aware of how much food you consume versus how active you are. One hour of aerobics activity like brisk walking or dancing or light jogging burns 300-500 calories. If you have no medical condition hindering weight loss aim to create a caloric deficit of 500 calories a day in order to lose 0.5kgs-1kg a week. This of course is easier said than done, relatives and friends visit and disrupt your routine, after work drinks materialize out of thin air, buy one get one free pizzas scream your name from the rooftops. It's a conspiracy I tell you! But that is the difference between the quitters and those who see results. Consistency is key, you falter and cheat once in a while but altering your lifestyle is the only way to achieve whatever fitness goals you may have. It certainly doesn't happen overnight- unless you're a Hollywood starlet but if you keep at it, it does happen. Here's some tips to help you if you are on a mission to loose weight and gain some muscle definition in your body:
My goals for working out are:
- I want to lose weight
- I want to tone up
- I want to be healthy
BMI is a scientific calculation of ideal weight based on weight in kilograms. The formula is weight in kgs divided by height in square meters. KG/m2. Based on this one can be stratified as being underweight, healthy, overweight or obese.
BMI Categories: Underweight:..................................<18.5
Normal weight:.............................. 18.5–24.9
Overweight:....................................25–29.9
Obesity:...........................................BMI of 30 or greater
What is your BMI?
As you can see I am over weight for my height, I need to lose some kilos in order to be considered a healthy weight and less at risk of heart disease. In the last 3 months I have lost 10kgs(22 pounds) based on simple math, it is not remarkable but it is the most progress I made in a year of trying to lose weight . Working out for weight loss is arithmetic; how many calories do you take in versus how many calories do you burn? The average female requires 1600- 2200 calories while the male requires 1800-3000 calories.
To put this in perspective, a slice of white toast has 100 calories, a slice of whole wheat toast 78 calories, two table spoons of peanut butter 190 calories, 1 fried egg 92 calories, a tablespoon of margarine depending on the brand 45- 100 calories, 1 tablespoon of butter 50 calories. So lets say your breakfast consists of 2 slices of white toast with two tablespoons of peanut butter and margarine and a fried egg you will have consumed 530 calories. You can make use of a calorie tracker like my fitness pal (its an app on Google play) to workout what calories are in the meals you consume.
Anything you consume on a daily basis is either burned up to produce energy for your daily activities or stored as fat fondly referred to as love handles, bat wings or thunder thighs. I am by no means trying to turn you into a calorie counting stick figure, however it helps to be aware of how much food you consume versus how active you are. One hour of aerobics activity like brisk walking or dancing or light jogging burns 300-500 calories. If you have no medical condition hindering weight loss aim to create a caloric deficit of 500 calories a day in order to lose 0.5kgs-1kg a week. This of course is easier said than done, relatives and friends visit and disrupt your routine, after work drinks materialize out of thin air, buy one get one free pizzas scream your name from the rooftops. It's a conspiracy I tell you! But that is the difference between the quitters and those who see results. Consistency is key, you falter and cheat once in a while but altering your lifestyle is the only way to achieve whatever fitness goals you may have. It certainly doesn't happen overnight- unless you're a Hollywood starlet but if you keep at it, it does happen. Here's some tips to help you if you are on a mission to loose weight and gain some muscle definition in your body:
- Love yourself as you are now. Regardless of societies definitions of beauty stand in front of a mirror and take in that beautiful creation that is you. This way you will want to give your body the best that you can.
- Don't drink your calories, sodas and fizzy drinks are loaded with unnecessary calories because they still leave you hungry and thirsty when you're finished with them; it's just like being in a relationship with someone you don't really like- a bloody waste of time.
- Drink water; refreshing, healthy, zero calories. Drink a glass of water a few minutes before a meal, it tricks your body into early satiety.
- Eat your water; fruits and fresh vegetable are laden with water and healthy vitamins. Eat as much as you can.
- Aim for at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day no excuses, take your bus a little further from your house than you normally would, crank up the volume and dance to your favorite tunes, take a brisk walk around your neighborhood, join a gym, play a sport. Anything really, in the words of Nike; just do it!
- Don't stop, you can fall off your routine but when you can get back on it and keep going, fitness is not an end point, it's a lifelong lifestyle change.
- Track your progress but don't only rely on the scale. Consider how many inches you're losing not just pounds or kilos. As you replace fat for muscle your body weight might not change much but your waist thigh and arm circumference certainly will. You must also take note of how much better your clothes fit.
Wednesday 17 February 2016
GET HIGH
Not everyone can be a long limbed lean goddess or have the muscle definition of a dancer: but everyone does have a goddess or an Adonis inside just dying to come out.
I am no expert on body image issues but this much I do know; the key to looking good is feeling good, and I am certainly not referring to the good feelings post substance abuse. I'm talking about good old exercise induced endorphins.
Exercise makes me feel good. When I'm running on the treadmill in the gym I feel like a rock star when I look up into the mirror on the wall(pun intended ) in my head at that moment my body is a combination of Michelle Obama's arms , Jessica Albas abs, JLos butt and Gabriel Unions long legs. At that moment when sweat is pouring out of me faster than my deodorant can contain, I am the best thing since sliced bread, I am the ish.
You see endorphins are your body's way of getting high without you needing to buy anything from a shifty looking guy in a dark alley. Endorphins are opioids much like heroin, cocaine and morphine. The body releases similar hormones during sex; however this is not that kind of blog so I'll move it along and go back to fitness. if you're not sold yet on why exercise is a necessity, these hormones also lower stress levels and significantly lower your blood pressure.
With all this science in my head I exercised at home today, I chose to follow this high intensity interval training video from fitness blender, I was out of breath halfway through the 30 minute video and I only made it to 24 minutes before my muscles couldn't take anymore but I did it and I definitely felt the burn! Who knows maybe tomorrow I will make it to the full 30minutes.
High intensity interval workouts like the name suggests alternate moments of high intensity training with some seconds of rest or low level activity between the sets. This type of workout challenges muscles and keeps burning calories several hours after the end of the workout, if done right one would burn more calories in a shorter time compared to steady endurance training. Best of all it keeps changing so I was certainly not bored.
Why don't you try the workout in the video and get high with me. Don't forget to let me know how you do.
Ps. while I write this I am sipping cold lemon water, oh how far I have come.
You see endorphins are your body's way of getting high without you needing to buy anything from a shifty looking guy in a dark alley. Endorphins are opioids much like heroin, cocaine and morphine. The body releases similar hormones during sex; however this is not that kind of blog so I'll move it along and go back to fitness. if you're not sold yet on why exercise is a necessity, these hormones also lower stress levels and significantly lower your blood pressure.
With all this science in my head I exercised at home today, I chose to follow this high intensity interval training video from fitness blender, I was out of breath halfway through the 30 minute video and I only made it to 24 minutes before my muscles couldn't take anymore but I did it and I definitely felt the burn! Who knows maybe tomorrow I will make it to the full 30minutes.
High intensity interval workouts like the name suggests alternate moments of high intensity training with some seconds of rest or low level activity between the sets. This type of workout challenges muscles and keeps burning calories several hours after the end of the workout, if done right one would burn more calories in a shorter time compared to steady endurance training. Best of all it keeps changing so I was certainly not bored.
Why don't you try the workout in the video and get high with me. Don't forget to let me know how you do.
Ps. while I write this I am sipping cold lemon water, oh how far I have come.
Tuesday 16 February 2016
LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED!!!!!!!
I am no fitness freak I would love to be though. I wish I had it in me to be one of those avid joggers who get ill when they don't go out for a run; but I do not. Instead I agonize over the thought of having to put on my gym clothes and get my hefty derriere out the door. On a good day I enjoy the sweat fest but more often than not I cannot wait for the end of the workout.
Like 2 weeks ago I called up a workout buddy of mine (yes I have more than one if that's not dedication I don't know what is) and decided to do hill runs, having not worked out since my wedding a month ago(more on that later) I had put on a few kilos in some unflattering spots, first thing my workout buddy who had not seen me in three months said was "wow looks like we'll need to exercise everyday of the week". Way to punch a girl in the gut, anyhu, needless to say my pride was hurt and my legs paid the price, I made the rookie mistake of pushing too hard too soon. The next couple of days were spent walking with a hobble with muscles so painful I could barely get down to sit on the toilet, I apologize for the graphic images that statement might provoke.
My husband and daughter also suffered the repercussions of my stupidity; my daughter because I couldn't dance to ring a ring a roses and my husband because...... well lets just leave it at I couldn't dance to ring a ring a roses.
That was my last proper workout. so this is me wanting to stay accountable to my fitness and healthy lifestyle goals. Tomorrow I will workout and tell you about it, when we know each other better I just might do the un lady like thing and tell you what I weigh.
If anyone wants to join me on this journey welcome aboard! lets do this
Like 2 weeks ago I called up a workout buddy of mine (yes I have more than one if that's not dedication I don't know what is) and decided to do hill runs, having not worked out since my wedding a month ago(more on that later) I had put on a few kilos in some unflattering spots, first thing my workout buddy who had not seen me in three months said was "wow looks like we'll need to exercise everyday of the week". Way to punch a girl in the gut, anyhu, needless to say my pride was hurt and my legs paid the price, I made the rookie mistake of pushing too hard too soon. The next couple of days were spent walking with a hobble with muscles so painful I could barely get down to sit on the toilet, I apologize for the graphic images that statement might provoke.
My husband and daughter also suffered the repercussions of my stupidity; my daughter because I couldn't dance to ring a ring a roses and my husband because...... well lets just leave it at I couldn't dance to ring a ring a roses.
That was my last proper workout. so this is me wanting to stay accountable to my fitness and healthy lifestyle goals. Tomorrow I will workout and tell you about it, when we know each other better I just might do the un lady like thing and tell you what I weigh.
If anyone wants to join me on this journey welcome aboard! lets do this
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