Wednesday, April 25, 2007

I've been featured!

Wow, I'm feeling special now, lol! After only a couple months blogging here, I was asked to be interviewed for the weight loss tips website! Check out the information about me at wltips.com. Read through some of the other interviews on there for a lot of advice and motivation!

Monday, April 23, 2007

Ready to get physical?

If you are like me and have spent most of your life sitting on your butt then when you decide that it's time to start an exercise regime you have to remember to start slow. You don't want to over exert yourself and end up causing more damage than good. Start with something simple.

If you decide that you want to go the professional route and workout at a gym you can talk to the professional trainers there and they can start you out with something slow and up to your speed.

If you have decide to workout from home, start out with simple things such as going for short walks or looking up a few exercises that you can do from home. Just go to your brower and type in, "Simple exercises" and see what sites come up and which ones sound the most interesting for you. The more you do these exercises, the better you will become at them and the more physical exertion your body will be able to take.

When you first start your workouts the exercises might seem difficult to do but the more you do them the easier they will become. You want to start off really slow, maybe only 10 minutes a day and then add another 5 minutes or more reps every week.

You can look up exercises on sparkpeople.com. They have a lot of wonderful information for those of you just starting out. Believe me, when I first started working out, I thought I was going to pass out after only a few minutes, but now however just last week I decided to try the "Turbo Jam" DVD workout and on my first try I was able to do the entire cardio workout! Boy, was I proud of myself! Adding exercise into your daily routine will show you such an amazing change in your body in a short period of time. You will be able to do things that you could never do before and you know that you are making your body stronger and healthier!

Thursday, April 12, 2007

The many benefits of water!

Something as natural and plentiful as water is often taken for granted. So many people these days are happy drinking pop (soda) instead of water. Some people use the excuse that it's boring tasting, while others just prefer the sugary taste of pop! Most people don't realize how much our bodies depend on water! Our bodies crave it and need it and here is why.

-When our body runs short on water we go into dehydration mode. Dehydration causes us to feel fatigued and our brain to become less active.

-Water purifies your body by removing toxins and waste from your body and basically can rid your body of all of the nasty stuff swimming around inside of us that other beverages can't! It also helps to nourish your skin making your skin feel softer and have a sort of glow!

-As far as weight loss goes, water can play a huge factor in that! For one thing, drinking lots of water fills up your tummy and makes you feel fuller so that you wont feel hungry and wont eat as much as you normally would on an empty stomach.

-Your kidneys don't function correctly if they are not fully hydrated. When your kidneys aren't working up to par then some of the work goes to your liver which can slow down your metabolism. It just makes sense that the more water you have in your body, the better your liver can work to help metabolize your body fat.

-When your body is running low on water it goes into survival mode and then starts to hold onto the water in your body making you retain water which isn't healthy. That's why you need plenty of water to help flush out your system every day.

-Drinking lots of water also helps to hydrate your muscles making them stronger and in better working order.

Studies have shown that the best calculation for water intake should be one ounce of water for every 2 pounds of body weight you have. That can equal out to a lot but if you spread it out across the day then it should be easy to reach that goal!

Ofcourse if you work out every day then your body loses water through the sweating process and you need to refuel your body by adding more water to it. You should always drink water before, during and after your work out and it will help keep your energy level high.

There are other ways to get all of your water in daily without only having to carry a water bottle around with you all day long. There is a lot of water in fruit so be sure to eat fruit every day to help with your water intake. Not only that, but ofcourse fruit is also very healthy for you!

There are so many benefits of drinking water daily but yet so many people still continue to take it for granted and believe that they are fine without it. I've heard a lot of people say that they don't like to drink a lot of water because it makes them have to urinate too often. Well, in a way, that's a good thing because that means the toxins are getting flushed out of your body like they should be. Eventually your body will adjust to the extra water and your bathroom habits will slow down. The benefits are worth it and having to run to the bathroom every hour just gives you more exercise in your daily routine, right?

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Update for week of April 9, 2007...Happy B-day to me!

Ok, I know, I've been slacking with my blogs today. I just never have enough hours in my day to get everything done! Just giving a little update tonight and then Im going to start working on my next post about the benefits of water!!

The last few weeks have been kind of depressing because I some how gained a pound each week, but this last week made up for. I lost 3 lbs, so I lost the two lbs I some how gained and lost another one with them..thankfully! I probably gained them all back though after this past easter weekend! Damn that rabbit and his candy! I only lost 3 lbs throughout the entire month of March so I really need to figure out what's going on and where I'm messing up again! It's the weekends that really get me. They are always the hardest for me to get through!

I'm trying a new workout routine this week and so far my body is feeling it!!

Oh yeah and yesterday was my birthday. I'm officially OLD. I left my twenties and leaped into my thirties! I am now officially 30 years old. I've been so depressed about it and I'm mad that I waited this long to do something about my weight! I wish I could re-live my twenties being 100 lbs lighter and see how differently my life would have been? But, I cant go back in time, just have to concentrate on the future...

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Updating Again

My updates haven't been too good lately. This week I apparently gained another pound! Where did it come from? The only thing I can think of is because it was T.O.M. (time of the month) and I probably retained some water. Atleast, that's what I'm hoping for. I ate pretty decently last week and still worked out. I'm trying to mix some things up this week just to see where it gets me. Maybe do some different exercise routines this week. I'm still not trying to stress out too much about it. Ofcourse, it is a bit discouraging to see the number on the scale going the wrong way, but my clothes are fitting better. I went out Saturday night to a good friends birthday bash. My birthday is a week from today, so I was celebrating my bday a little bit early this weekend. I wore a top that I bought about a year ago but only wore it once because it fit really snug and I didn't feel comfortable in it. I felt like it was showing my fat rolls too much and it was uncomfortable. I wore it to the show and it was actually comfortable now! I was sooo happy. I've been waiting to be able to wear that top comfortably!

Today I was kind of bad for lunch. Had some leftover mexican and too much of it and my body is revolting against me for it! That just means I have to be super good for the rest of the week!

I've also noticed a big difference in my knee pain. I've always had problems with my knees, starting from when I was a toddler and having braces on my legs. The doctor told my mom way back then that I would have problems with my knees as I got older and I sure did! My knees creek and crack with every movement and going down steps has been painful for me for a few years now. However, the past week or so I have noticed that going down steps is proving to be less painful than it used to be, so that's another plus for me!

More tips coming soon!