marathon running « Diane Raymond's Blue Sky Blog

I'm sure you've heard the saying, "a calorie is a calorie," and that when weight loss is the goal, you can probably loose weight on a 1,200 calorie/day diet whether it is 1,200 Twinkie calories or apple calories. At this point, you might be thinking, "Cool! I'll go on the Twinkie diet!"Â Â Our bodies are smarter than that though, and I say, thank goodness. I know - I'm no fun at all :-). Last week at the grocery one of my kiddos held up a box of Twinkies and had the audacity to ask me to purchase them. I nearly burst a vessel in my forehead trying to restrain myself from smashing the box with......

My "go to" workout when too busy to work out

Being that it is summer, and there are vacations, kids home from school, camps, a lot of running around in circles...sometimes a workout is hard to knock out, even when intentions are high. When that happens, I have a 30-minute, total body workout that requires very little equipment, yet will leave you dripping in sweat. Wanna hear it? Here it is... You'll need:Â a set of 10 or 12lb wts (lighter if you like), a resistance tube 5-10 minute warm up @ 40-50% max heart rate Set 1: 10-14 Burpees (also called pop squats) 3-way lunges w/ dumbbells: Start with weaker leg leading. Take one lunge forwa......

Deals and Discounts - July 12: day planners, cookbooks, free coffee

Stumbled upon a few deals I'd like to pass along: 20% off planners! For all of you planners out there (you know who you are, planning each workout weeks in advance), get a head start on school year planning at MomAgenda. MomAgenda is offering 20% off small School Year books (use code: schoolyearsmom) Visit MomAgenda.com, offer expires 7.31.2011 *P.S. I LOVE MomAgenda planners. Seriously, love them - totally created by moms, for moms. Enough said. EatingWell magazine has a new book out: EatingWell 500-calorie Dinners for $22.45 (10% off the regular price). While you are planning workouts in you......

Review: Trigger Point Performance Therapy

Check out this video if you are unfamiliar with trigger point therapy... TPR Therapy, Ironman competitor Have you ever wished you could afford a personal masseuse? One who could come to your home, preferably daily, to help relieve you of the knots and muscle tightness that inevitably occur from daily workouts and, well, being a mom? In search of a solution to my IT band issues, I tried a chiropractor (not money well spent), stretching, massage therapy (therapist too gentle to release deep tissue), and my O.D. The O.D. provided the most valuable information: without proper biomechanics, the bod......

How to burn more fat

The mysterious " fat burning zone " continues to confuse many gym-goers. The theory goes something like this: working out in a "zone" of intensity that is less intense for at least 20 minutes will burn more fat calories than calories from carbohydrate. Is this true? Yes and no, but mostly no. You actually burn more calories from fat right now, sitting still, reading this post, than you do on the treadmill. That is because in the resting state, the body burns a higher percentage of fat calories. As you crank up the exercise intensity, you burn a little less fat per calorie. However, it really c......

Oct

4 steps to staying focused and motivated to exercise

Posted by Admin on uncategorized

Are you stuck in a fitness routine that leaves you drained, rather than invigorated? Has your weight plateaud after months of good results? Are you finding excuses to skip the gym?

Believe it or not, this is quite normal. Novice exercisers and gurus alike have experienced a “rut” more than once during any given fitness program.

So, how do you stay motivated under such circumstances and create a habit that will last a lifetime, rather just a few more weeks?

The key lies in these 4 steps:

Write down everything you like and dislike about your current routine. For example: Do you like how you feel after a workout? Do you like the tranquility and stress-free rhythm of running outdoors? Or, do you dislike giving up something else, such as a favorite television show, or an afternoon by the pool, in order to fit your exercise session in?

Next, add weight to the items on your list. That is, give each of your responses a numeric value equating it with how important it is. For instance, one of the things I like about exercise is the high I experience after a long run. I rank this an 8 or 9. I occasionally don’t like the time commitment, especially if it means I have to get up early in the morning to get the run in. I rank this a 6. My 8 outweighs the 6, so for now, I choose to focus on what I like about the workout (feeling good), as opposed to what I don’t like (getting up earlier to fit it in). By focusing on the positive outcome, my motivation for doing it remains high.

Consider a lifestyle approach to exercise and healthy eating. Rather than view your routine as an 8-12 week plan of attack, look at the bigger picture – aim to get 30 minutes of moderate physical activity each day. This could be a daily, family walk after dinner, or a 15-minute walk in the morning and a 15-minute walk in the evening.

Make sure your goals are realistic. Nothing zaps motivation faster than goals that are out of reach. First, assess where you are now. If you are just beginning a regular exercise program, having a goal of running a marathon in 3 months is probably unrealistic. An 8-month marathon training plan would be a safer, more realistic timeline to have.