Holy moly weighted cardio is hard work! In this workout, we do fast weighted movements followed by 10 second hold then repeat 3 times.
These moves includes weighted burpees with plank holds, squat and sumo jumps with holds and more. Yike! Got a real good sweat going today and certainly feel my energy coming back today! Yesterday I was so pooped so it feels much better to have some Zip back!
If you want to do something to burn calories (and lose weight) fast, then weighted cardio is definitely a good option?? Excited to be done day #13 out of my current 91 day Challenge! If you would like to see the amazing results you can get from doing a fitness challenge, be sure to contact me!
What you focus on is what you get. I have slowly learned to focus on what I want to achieve instead of focusing on why it is not possible or why it can’t be done. No more of that crap for me!! I now focus on the positive outcome I want and it just happens…by doing this, my vision naturally pulls me along!
The way it used to be was that I would always be telling myself what I “should” be doing and groaning at how difficult it was. This is NO way to get motivated at all because the focus is all wrong!
I started focusing on feeling positive, energized, toned, chiseled and happy with some muscles, having a passion for life and what I am doing and this kind of vision just pulls me along with a huge smile and energy!!
Having a positive vision with strong associated passion works for no matter what you want to achieve!! A healthy body, incredible work life, great friends, a happy family, a great living environment etc…it is worth it to learn to make this mental shift and seriously working on personal development is the only way to get there!
Get fired up and happy with your life! If you would like some suggestions on where to start, don’t hesitate to message me. It is totally life changing and I am proof of that! I have now overcome a very rough childhood past and all of the emotional baggage that comes with that and divorce, and much other crap I have been through! None of that gets me down anymore…I am now thankful I had those experiences to build on the strengths that I now have today…totally a better feeling to have than being dragged down with anger and self-pity!!
Have a fabulous and thankful day today! Day #11 of my 91 day fitness challenge complete!?
All set for a healthy day today!!! Dynamic strength workout done which now has all of my muscles fired up and roasting a tonne of calories that will increase my metabolism all day! The calorie burn all day is a real bonus! Once we are over-40, our metabolism really needs a kick!
My healthy food is all ready for the day to carry in my trusty cooler that includes mixed greens salad, 0% plain Greek yogurt, raw unsalted mixed nuts and seeds, apple, orange, and a spare scoop of superfood shake in a ziplock baggie just in case I notice any cravings later in the day. I will also have some eggs with pepper for breakfast for extra protein before I head to work!
All set for a healthy day! It helps to get started right every morning and to have some preparation done the night before!
Literally jumpstarting your morning with a workout really boosts energy and positivity for the whole day
There are so many good things about having a morning routine! It is a great jumpstart to your day! Plyometrics, 1.5 L of water, superfood and a day planning session this morning definitely gave me a jump start today?
From what I have read… When it comes to looking at what things make people successful in life, it is apparent that if you snooze, you lose…literally! Hitting the snooze button too many times leaving yourself with limited time in the morning or with then-rushed routine, is just not a good way to start the day. Ignoring the snooze button and kicking off your day right seems to make a big difference.
What are some key things we can do to start our day right?
Hydration
After going all night without water, we typically need to boost our hydration in the morning. Having 500 mL to 1 L with lemon can really get you going, and give a good kickstart to the day.
Exercise
By sweating it out before breakfast, it gets your blood pumping (endorphins!) and helps you to feel on top of your game all day (better focus) plus it makes your body burn more calories all day. Its a great outlet to burn off stress. Making good use of this time by adding some good stretching and thinking about strategies to make it a good day (inspire yourself!) while sitting in those stretch poses can really get you feeling more organized. The bonus is, an early morning workout typically doesn’t get interrupted since everyone is still sleeping!
Read or Listen
Take 15 min to read or listen to books that get your fired up for your day. Good personal development books, tips for success and ideas for strategizing your business or workday can really get you feeling excited and positive for your day. During this time, think about things you are thankful for and happy about to really get the positive juices flowing.
Strategic Planning
Spending even 10 minutes setting up a plan for your day can really make things flow more smoothly. What are the “musts” for today? Who are the key contacts or duties? Anything critical that needs to be done for the household to run smoothly? Anything that needs to be done or dropped off before or after work? What can I do on my lunch break at work that will be productive? Anticipating issues and having plan B already on your mind can really help you to control your day instead of having the day control you.
Can this Work Even if you are not a morning person?
Yes! I was never a morning person, but being determined to establish a new routine of “my time”, I kept using tricks to make myself get up. One trick was having my alarm clock out of reach so that I had to get up to turn it off. It was annoying, but it definitely worked! LOL.. Some days it is still not easy, but I see so many benefits in my life as a result of a morning routine that it is motivating to keep doing it each day
If I think back to how my life was before I implemented a morning routine… hitting snooze button, barely having enough time to get ready for work, missing breakfast, starting off without a plan, in a rush and in a grouchy mood…it just was not a good scenario and I never EVER want to go back to that again!
Many of the most successful people in the world, have at least some kind of early morning routine that allows them to be the most happy, productive and effective people. It will be worth it to implement some kind of morning routine into your life. I know it has made a big difference in my life.
There is something about working those muscles hard and having that feeling of being totally pumped up afterwards!! I just love that feeling!
The muscles feel swollen and full as the blood surges through them after the heavy burn wears off.. if you have never felt it, you may not know what I mean.. but if you have done a good lifting routine…you will know exactly what I am talking about here…???
This morning, I feel compelled to talk about what goes on inside the muscle to make it feel this way and how that gives us benefit, conditioning and a sense of well-being. Its totally changed my life to do resistance training and I am certain it would change yours as well.
It may sound weird, but the action of lifting weights actually depletes muscle building nutrients in the body and causes microscopic tears in our muscle fibres. Its only after the workout is over that our bodies work to repair the damage we inflicted on it and then the muscle growth starts to happen. Immediately after a workout, the body gets to work by increasing blood flow to those muscles causing them to feel bigger and more full. This increase blood flow and high rate of repair happens for up to several hours after a workout.
How to make sure our muscles repair and stay with us…
Its important to regularly have small meals with carbs and proteins after the workout to help keep the growth and repair process moving forward. During our sleep time at night, our body runs out of repair nutrients while we are sleeping (fasting) and this is why having a bit of extra protein at bedtime can be helpful to keep this repair process working well while sleeping. If we have prolonged periods of fasting, our body goes into what is called a catabolic state where muscle breakdown occurs. We definitely do not want to get into this state as it will reduce our muscle mass…so be sure that muscle is well fed and don’t allow your body to go into prolonged fasting periods.
WHY build muscle anyways?
Lifting weights (resistance training) is important to build muscle strength, but it also strengthens the surrounding connective tissue as well (tendon, ligament). The stronger the structures are, the less likely it will be that you will experience a strain, dislocation or tear around a joint or a muscle injury while in motion!!
The health benefits to having conditioned muscles are so amazing, that it is an important activity to incorporate into your life ASAP! Having muscles improves our physical appearance (more toned, nice shape, less fat), gives us more energy, increases bone density, increases power and strength, reduced injury, makes recovery from injuries faster, slows down aging and improves hormone balance, increases HDL (good cholesterol), improves our balance, lowers blood pressure and resting heart rate. The list goes on and on… so many benefits!
Oh and one more thing! Conditioned muscles typically do not cause us chronic pain! Yes, we will have some sore muscles from lifting at times especially when increasing weight or intensity, but in general, conditioned muscles at rest do not cause us pain! HUGE BENEFIT that improves quality of life! I suffered from chronic body, muscle, neck and knee pains for years and getting into shape completely transformed my quality of life and I am not in pain any longer! Its so worth the work!
If you would like to find a professionally designed resistance training program to get started with, please contact me and I will help you out.
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There is no feeling like the sense of accomplishment! This morning I officially completed a 30-day challenge that I set up for myself with an awesome core/MMA fighting program! This is just the way I LOVE fitness. Short challenges that push me and keep it totally interesting…and in the comfort of my own home… plus they are professionally developed to give an amazing full body fitness like I never imagined!
This type of core/fighting workout is a great cross-trainer for other types of fitness activities as well… especially court sports, running, horseback riding, hockey, football and so many more… the agility, core strength, leg and upper body strength that you can build without any equipment is astounding!
The beauty of the workout lineup I have available to me through this annual digital access program is that I never get bored, I can keep picking new challenges for myself with different professional programs and trainers as I go! When it is fun and interesting like this…with short term rewards…a person is far more likely to keep it up! I also keep a paper copy of the workout calendar beside my workout area, so that I check off each workout as I complete them… as you see here….
TRACKING workout completion every day builds motivation as you see what you are accomplishing!
As I am sitting here having my superfood shake post-workout this morning, I am thinking that a trip to the spa as a reward for completing this program is totally in order! (Ten Spa in Winnipeg is an amazing place!!) A spa treatment and a day of relaxation! Doesn’t that sound awesome? It feels great to have earned a reward like this… Now just have to decide what program to challenge myself with next! .. Hmmm 🙂
So, if you’ve been stuck up on the fence, unable to make a decision, paralyzed and afraid to take the jump toward your happiness, I am zooming in today to help you. Today is the day that we will work on making plans and making the decision to get off the fence!
So, how does a person do that?
Here are the 5 Steps To Get Off The Fence. It’s time to make a plan to get happy and making progress in life!
Step 1 — Determine Where You’re Stuck
The first step to get off the fence and live a fulfilling existence, is self-awareness. You have to figure out where you’re blocked, stuck or not making progress. This takes time alone, and the ability to be still and quiet to think about where you are not happy. Exercises such as making two lists: One list called “CHANGES/IMPROVEMENTS I WANT TO MAKE”, and the other list is called the “OFF THE FENCE/HAPPINESS ACTION PLAN”. So, for example, if you want to start your own business, on the left hand side, you would write, “Start my own business,” and on the right hand side, it would read, “Moonlight my start-up on the side, working ninety minutes at night and four hours on the weekends until I am making some money and can quit my day-job to focus on my business full time.”
The trick is, the more detailed your two lists are, the better. Post your list in a visible spot. It holds you accountable, and keeps your eye on the prize.
Step 2 — Commit to Doing the Work
Know that nothing will work unless you do. One of my mentors says, “Nobody ever drowned in their own sweat.” It was something that really sunk in and always stuck with me. I believe and and taught my kids that “hard work is always rewarded”. Happiness doesn’t come without a commitment to happiness. Without work. Your happiness is a choice. You getting what you want out of life is YOUR DECISION. And the same holds true for your unhappiness. So, commit to doing the work. Whatever your goals are, commit to hustling to make them happen.
Know that sitting perched on the fence is paralysis. To live stuck is like residing in purgatory. Most people stay stuck because it’s a comfortable place to not have to commit and see something through. But you can’t manifest your highest self without making a decision, no matter how small. It’s about that first baby step. You MUST take it. If you are having a hard time moving forward, consider hiring a private coach to help you! For heaven sakes, take action!
Step 3 — Expand Your Skills
Yes. Expand your skills and commit to learning something new. Often we stay stuck and on the fence because we don’t have the skills and knowledge needed to move forward. So work at getting that knowledge and expand your skills. This could mean taking up a new hobby, enrolling in a course, volunteering, or simply giving away your expertise for free. What I mean here is, if you want to become a PAID speaker for example, speaking for free is a great way to get your name our there, and gain experience and expertise. If you want to start a consulting company, offer coaching or consulting for FREE at the beginning, both to get your feet wet, AND to build a customer base.
Expanding your skills does not only mean just enrolling in courses and acquiring new knowledge, it also means putting the current knowledge you have to work…. (ACTION!)
Step 4 — Get Out There and Meet NEW People
Commit to taking up a new hobby, volunteering, getting more involved in your community, or joining a networking group — for the purpose of meeting NEW people. We often meet the people we need once we get out there and make an effort. When you reach out to people in your network, ask for help, discuss options, then you will acquire the knowledge to help you get off the fence and move towards your goals.
If you allow yourself to just be open, and to join places like your local Community Groups, book club, sports or activity club, a writing group, traveling to live events or finding a mentor….it will naturally happen that you will meet the people who will help you move toward your goals.
Step 5 — Make More Time for the Things You Love To Do
When you do the things you love to do, it helps boost your serotonin levels (the happiness hormone), which aids in fighting depression, and other mood disorders. Doing the things you love can put you in a state of euphoria, lowering your cortisol levels (the bad hormone), which clears your mind and allows you to make good, quality decisions. For me, I love spending time with my sisters — we laugh, have fun, and it does my mind and body good. I also love spending time alone in a bookstore, working on personal development, or just perusing the aisles in an art section of a store. It calms me and regroups me. What is it for you?
When you do what you love, you are being good to yourself. You are spoiling yourself. And spoiling yourself is your right. Feeling good allows you to make clear decisions. Do it, guilt-free.
In the same token, it cannot be stressed enough the importance of the following four factors in sharpening your mind for effective and strategic decision making:
Get a healthy amount of sleep
Maintain an active lifestyle and get daily exercise
Healthy nutrition and superfood to feed the body and mind
Meditation (Spend adequate time to relax without interruption when the mind is quiet)
So my wish for all of you, is to get off the fence as soon as possible!!! it will free up your mind and allow you to move forward in life and achieve great and passionate things!!
To join the Athletic Grandma community and to get your FREE download about how to improve your self-discipline, please click HERE..
(Acknowledgement: ‘The 5 Steps to get off the fence” Adapted from Erica Diamond, at www.womenonthefence.com)
Getting up early in the morning some days can be pretty rough (I was never a morning person)… today was one of those days. Hit the snooze button too many times, really had to push myself to get up as my whole body was feeling heavy and actually quite lazy.
Once I came downstairs and had a look at what workout was on the menu for today, I actually groaned. It was MMA power sculpt which is a really hard one and my least favorite of them all. Eugh!
I was close to saying “to heck with it, I will do it later”, when I realized that “later” likely won’t happen. Life gets busy in the day and time slips away! I took a deep breath and just made myself do it! It was grueling and difficult for me today. I got tired faster than usual and was sweating a LOT! Was very happy when it was over and felt a sense of real accomplishment that I was able to make myself do something I really didn’t want to do…because it was good for me.
I had to remind myself this morning, of the reasons that I started doing early morning workouts in the first place! The benefits of early morning workouts are incredible! Even if you are not a morning person, keep an open mind, because I felt it was impossible for me to become an early riser at one time, but once I felt the difference, I was hooked!!
The Benefits of Morning Exercise are so worth the drag…here is why…
ROAST THAT METABOLISM for the whole day!
By getting up and doing a workout first thing in the morning, the metabolism gets kicked up and makes you burn more calories and use the food you eat to replenish body and for energy instead of storing it as fat!
NO INTERRUPTIONS!
By getting up early in the morning before anyone else in the house is awake, it prevents the potential for interruptions and allows you to be more consistent with your workout schedule. When I used to do evening workouts, there was always something in “life” interfering with my schedule causing workouts to go way too late or being missed entirely!
IMPROVE NATURAL ENERGY
By getting up and doing an early morning workout, it jacks up our energy to start our day! Morning exercise improves focus and mental abilities the whole day! By working out in the morning, my mind is totally ready to take on whatever tasks are lined up for the day! Exercise has proven to give even more mental alertness and prolonged energy than caffeine!
SELF DISCIPLINE
I talked about self-discipline the other day and just like building on any other habit, success in achieving new habits totally build up your self-discipline “muscle” AHA!! Implementing a morning workout routine will help to increase self-discipline in many other areas of your life too then!
SLEEP BENEFITS
Morning workouts have been shown to improve sleep quality. By working out in the morning, our bodies will have the healthy tiredness that we are supposed to have at the right time (bedtime!). Evening exercise can potentially have the opposite effect because of adrenaline release during exercise and may interfere with sleep quality. Another AHA for me since my sleep used to be much worse with evening workouts!
BE SUCCESSFUL
By developing a healthy habit such as morning exercise that increases metabolism, allows you to be consistent with your workout plan, improves energy and focus through the day for other life activities, builds your self-discipline ‘muscle’ and improves your sleep….you can only IMAGINE how much easier it will be to reach your fitness and health goals!! By making yourself (yes, dragging your butt) get up in the mornings, and making the sacrifice to do so…makes it more likely that you will stick to a healthier eating plan through the day as well. ….Rather than eating too many calories and having the mindset of … “oh, i will just burn this food off later” (as in…with an evening workout…that may not happen)
HATE MORNINGS?
I used to hate mornings too! I had to really make a solid decision for change and use self-discipline and determination to keep it moving forward. I used a few rules for myself to help me to implement this new habit. 1. I put the alarm far away so that I would have to get up to turn it off; 2. I make myself get up right away before my mind can stop me 3. I would set my workout clothes the night before to be prepared to get moving; 4. I have 500 mL water as soon as I get up, then have a pre-workout energizer shot and GO 5. Found an exercise program that I enjoy so that it is not a ‘chore’ and is only 30-45 minutes. 6. Remind myself of all the benefits that I get from morning workouts on a regular basis
OK…so if you are not currently a morning exerciser, then I challenge you to consider it. Have a look at the benefits above and seriously ask yourself if you would like to have those benefits in your life? Is it worth dragging your BUTT out of bed each and every morning? Give it a try and pre-schedule some home workouts in for a full week, then decide if it is worth the drag. I believe you will be amazed and will do it again…and again…and again…
To learn about 7 ways to increase your self-discipline, be sure to enter your name and email for a free download. Having strong self-discipline can totally change your life in many ways!
Feed the body AND the mind what it needs every day.
Having my superfood shake after a good MMA Plyo workout this morning… I started thinking about how important nutrients are to our body. Superfood nutrition is essential for maximal energy, to aid weight loss and to boost sense of well-being. Nutrients we take in are only part of the story for the health of our mind though. Our mind needs healthy information fuel as well!
They say “the mind is what the mind is fed”.. mind food doesn’t come in packages though and you can’t buy it at the store. Mind food is your environment–all those countless things that influence our conscious and subconscious thought. The kind of mind food we take in determines our habits, attitudes and personality.
The mind reflects what its environment feeds it just as the body reflects the food you feed it.
Is this really true?
Habits and mannerisms that we have are typically picked up from other people. Just try to find one that isn’t! Even weird little things like the way we walk, words we use, hold a cup, the way we dress, preference for music are all influenced by what we experience and pick up from others.
The most important point here is that even the size of our thinking, our goals, attitudes and personality are formed by the environment. If we have associations with negative people, it makes us think more negative! If we have associations with petty people, it will also develop petty habits in us too! On the other hand…association with people who are big thinkers and ambitious people, can bring those things out in us too!
Certain types of people tend to discourage others and tell them that what they dream of cannot be done. These types of people usually are unsuccessful and are often only mediocre in terms of what they have ever accomplished. Don’t let these type of people discourage you from your dreams!!
The late Jim Rohn, a mentor of mine, states that we become the 5 people we spend the most time with… and if you think about environmental influences and how they affect our behavior and habits, its totally TRUE! “Birds of a feather flock together”…and since how we think is directly affected by the group we are in, be sure you are in the flock that things right!
Besides being around the influence of people, the kind of information we feed our minds every day is also important and influences our brain chemistry, positivity, and belief in ourselves and the world. Watching world news and reading the newspaper full of negativity can be draining on our emotional energy (and we do not realize just how much!). Spending time playing mindless video games, reading fiction and watching extended amounts of TV shows all waste mental energy and all have an impact on our thinking and our potential for success.
So, what would good mind food be?
Listen to motivating podcasts, read inspirational books (or listen to audio books) about how to think bigger and to improve yourself and read inspirational stories of success. Use these stories and books to inspire you, to throw all of that thought poison out of your environment…to help you stay positive and to be a good person. Learn positive ways of being and have your new attitude be your ally towards a happy and successful life and to encourage others! Making the switch to positive mind food for me has completely changed my life, my relationships, my attitude, my belief in the world and myself …and my zest for life!
Overall, clean eating and superfood nutrition are essential for our physical and mental health, to have a healthy weight, avoid chronic disease and to have healthy energy levels. We often forget that the food for our mind is just as important to feel happy, accomplished and positive. Take some time today to think about what you can do to rid yourself of negative influences and to implement some more positive habits to feed your mind in a good way and work at being a good example for others.
COMMENT on this post in the REPLY section of this page with your thoughts!
What is the definition of self-discipline? It’s making yourself do something that you need to do even though you really do NOT want to.
After going non-stop like a maniac 18 hours a day all week, I was definitely not feeling much ‘get up and go’ at all. I laid in bed for as long as possible, hitting the snooze button several times, then finally when I started to hear the 2-year old stirring, I realized that if I didn’t kick my butt out of bed now, that I would have zero chance to do my workout!! This was enough to get me moving!
This sweet little 2-year old grandson that I have with me full-time is very busy and determined to keep me busy with all his requests all day…LOL. Grandma taking an hour to work out would just not go over well! He is in that fun phase now. Lol?
I am happy to say that despite my fatigue and zero motivation, I got the whole 52 minutes of exercise in this morning… it was not perfect and I could not keep up with every push-up they did, but I can say with satisfaction that it is DONE!
Speaking of Self-discipline, it makes us stronger in more ways than just physically…
Self-discipline is an essential skill pretty much for every area of our life!! It is likely one of the most important and helpful skills everyone needs! My experience is, though most people agree that it is an important skill, very few people actually do something to strengthen it!
Remember something… self-discipline does not mean being rough towards yourself, or living in a limited way. What self discipline really means is to have self control, which is an indication of inner strength and control of yourself, your actions, and your reactions.
Self discipline gives you the power to stick to your decisions and follow them through, without changing your mind, and is therefore, one of the important requirements for achieving goals.
The possession of self-discipline enables you to persevere with your decisions and plans until you accomplish them. It shows as inner strength, helping you to overcome addictions, past emotional crisis such as abuse, procrastination and laziness, and to follow through with whatever you do.
Over the last couple of years I’ve come to see self-discipline as an invisible magic. You can’t see, taste, or smell it, but its effects are massive. Self-discipline can transform fat into fit, flabby into muscular, ignorance into expertise, poor into rich, and miserable into happy! It’s the hidden part of you that others just don’t see when they see your ‘genius’.
Self-discipline has made me happier; it give me the sense of real achievement that is earned through sustained focus and small successes along the way. I have learned that if you really want to succeed at anything, then achieving some degree of self-discipline is essential!!
So, what about you?
Right here, right now, as you’re reading this, you may be at a crossroads in your life. You can stick to your old habits and patterns, knowing deep down you’re not living nearly at the level you’re capable of… Or you can use this post as a catalyst towards greatness by realizing that this does apply to you and by implementing the strategies contained in the attached download for you..
Today could be the day you start developing incredible willpower and discipline. Anyone can do this. It all starts with a decision.
To learn 7 ways to achieve self-discipline, CLICK HERE.
