EXERCISE A WONDERFUL JOURNEY

I can barely remember the process I went through for weight loss and fitness anymore because exercise and good nutrition have become so natural to me. I have had so many programs by this point, over the past 1 1/2 years mostly self designed because I made it a point of learning as much as I could to be self sufficient.


For success you have to change it up every 4-6 weeks. I learned you don't have to work out for hours a day as well as how important it is to practice progressive resistance training. I remembered from a prior experience how weight training was incredible for my mind body and spirit. Right from the first work out you get a sense of strength and accomplishment. Hard bodies are healthy bodies. It improves your self esteem with every work out. It is the best stress release around and is more durable than a vacation, a spa treatment or tv. The important thing is to savour the time, the feeling, and most importantly embrace the chance to be alone with YOU and make this a wonderful enjoyable journey not a chore. Feel your muscles working and pointing out to you that you are a strong and vibrant human being.


Whether following a nutrition plan or a work out plan your mind is the most potent part of the process. Dont be in a rush. It took you years to get this way - obese and unhealthy. You can get healthy faster than you took to get unhealthy but be patient. Make changes, a bit at a time, follow your PT advice and learn that there is not much that can sideline you from working out - if you have an injury or disability you will be told how to work around it - there is very little excuse to stop. You will also find that you can be creative in your exercises when away from home and the familiar workout environment. I am 61 and if I can do it you certainly can!


How many women - do everything for everyone and if there is time left over they do something for themselves? How often do we make sure the house and garden are all in order before we do something for us? Well your personal house, your body deserves as much if not more attention. You have to put this journey and you first within reason. Then work other things around it. It is your time. You will find you will give up unimportant things and make time for your work outs and incorporate it ingeniously into your every day activites. Soon along with your nutrition changes and weight/resistance training, you will feel better, look better and find that continuing your journey is non negotiable. Be selfish for a short period. Once you achieve your goals your nutrition and exercise will be so ingrained as part of your life, it will no longer need to be 'fit' in to your life.



WORKOUT PARTNERS - NOT! You heard me - NOT. You only should have a work out partner if you are a body builder and need a partner to spot you so you don't drop excessively heavy weights on your head, chest etc. and crush yourself. It is fine to have a partner to blog with, email, phone or have a coffee with to share fitness goals and info. Trust me it can't possibly work very well to need a partner to work out with for a number of reasons. Two people (or more) generally aren't at the same level, have the same program requirements, have the same motivation, the same motivators, the same knowlege, or the same barriers, like the same music or be motivated to work out at the exact right time. You will find that either the person(s) hold you back because you are more advanced and motivated or you will feel defeated because they are more advanced and you can't keep up. it is not a competition. If it is not the best time for you to work out, you won't give it your best. Not to mention, this time should be for YOU. How can you focus on the muscle you are working if you are chatting about your troubles at work or elsewhere. If you must go to a gym, say quick hellos, put on your IPOD and get focused and make it clear you are not there to chat. Get in, enjoy and savour the experience and get out. Make this about YOUR time. You see people all day long at home, at work, in the stores, on the street. Learn to enjoy yourself and alone time. Completely emerse yourself in the experience.

I don't like commerical gyms. You can work out at home or neighbourhood with a minimum of equipment. Use the savings from not joining a gym to purchase some equipment. Discuss your goals and experience with your PT and the PT will assist you in buying appropriate stuff to start with. This way - you can work out in the privacy of your own home, when you are motivated not just when the gym might be open. You won't have to wait for equipment, have other strangers sweat their body fluids all over it, get athletes foot from the shower room, go out in a cold car after sweating or showering at a gym, and you will cut down on wasted time commuting. You also don't have to expose yourself in public - right now your body composition is your own business, pretty soon it will be worth strutting around a coed gym but you probably won't want to because you will enjoy working out at home.


When I was visiting Toronto I attended a coed gym because the place where I was staying did not have the room to work out. It was 50,000 sq ft. It was beautiful but I hated it. I really did not need to see some male body parts poking out of shorts or see wedgies or watch the strutting around or strain myself because some ass left his 100 lb weight on top of the ones I needed to get at. I also did not enjoy the ogling. I am a little too old and too married to enjoy having strangers with too much testosterone undress me with their eyes or look at me with morbid curiosity. It is just plain creepy. Interestingly the women were considerate and more focused on being there to work out. If you are going to take my advice and work out at home, just ask the family to respect your time and let you get through it in peace - and have your dinner ready because you don't want to eat carbs too late in the day :)


MOTIVATION - the biggest motivator (and thus one more reason to work out alone) is MUSIC. Research indicates people are more motivated and work out harder with upbeat music. It helps you zone out and really enjoy and concentrate on what you are doing. I have a satellite radio to hear the top 20, I write down the ones I like then I download them on Itunes and into my IPOD. Although the top 20 can be considered mindless songs - the music itself is great to workout to. I put the songs in sets of 13-18 to get me through an entire workout with cardio and weights. By downloading from Itunes - I fill my moral obligation to pay for the song but don't have to buy an entire album of unwanted songs. If your music will bother someone - get a good set of runners' type headphones and put those on - just remember when you sing along you will sound weird and probably out of key ;) Watch the audience on Ellen De Generes show - music is ingrained in her show and it motivates the audience to dance in the aisles.


CARDIO OPTIONS - I walk the dogs but because they are Yorkies it is really not a cardio session. On occasion I do add Nordic poles to intensify the walk and have not skewered a dog yet. I walk/run (interval run) after the dogs are walked.


Most trainers promote interval training these days. For example, one minute of intense and two minutes medium intensity five times -total 17 minute work out WITH WARM UP AND COOL DOWN. Your trainer will shown you how to figure out your working heart rate. You should invest in a heart rate monitor and if you don't wear it every time you work out - wear it once in awhile to check your effort - you may find you have dropped off on your effort and rate - common for me - so I always check and pick up the pace. Many E programs include the calculation methods.


DANCE I have always loved dancing. Problem is JFK has two left feet. I gave up on him after he failed the 4th set of ballroom dancing lessons. Really - he flunked. I thought and thought - how can I dance and not have a partner. I thought at first I would find a gay guy - I know a little bit of sterotyping but I felt that way people would not accuse me of having an affair. I came up with pole dancing and belly dancing. I got PO'd at my one and only pole dancing lesson with probably a 19 year old. During the lesson she instructed that we were going to be doing a squat down the pole - watch her first - then she says 'you'd better be careful and not squat as deep as me' (like maybe I would rupture a knee or have a stroke or something)- those were fighting words - I had already been working out and had quads and hams of steel - I not only squatted lower than she did but did not have to use the pole to get back up - I was offended at the sterotyping - she should have noticed with what I was wearing I was fit. So after a lot of research I took up belly dancing. It is not simply jiggling and rolling your belly. It is an artistic athletic dance. It is absolutely fantastic for mind body connection and cardio and self esteem. I love it and was going to 3 classes (including one double class per week). I went a long way for the best instructor, with that and road construction I stopped for a bit. When I return I will keep it at one double class per week. I have to balance all I have to do.

With at least 4 months of a sound nutrition plan and weight training and some cardio - you will really notice the difference and so will others. You will have discarded a number of sizes of clothing. You will have gone from elastic waists to fitted clothing. BUT DON'T QUIT YET. DON'T QUIT EVER. This is a life style. You will really look forward to it! Once you start noticing the significant changes you will want to go further. Now get into more sculpting and watch your beautiful feminine muscles appear. Don't worry you don't have the body chemistry and male genetics to become a hulking muscle bound male type creature.