Don't Let The Scale Weigh You Down

I read some different fitness blogs and follow fitness on Facebook as well as Twitter. The information often times is redundant, but sometimes new and always interesting. Today before a body pump class at the Y I read Jillian Michaels' post about how you might get discouraged if you've been eating right and exercising and yet you step on the scale and it hasn't budged or even fluctuates a pound or two in both directions. Interestingly enough, today happened to be my day to come home after class and re-read the information as I had been loosing a pound here and there, but not this week. I worked out hard all week, ate healthy and nada. Remember that as stated in the JM blog, the weight didn't appear suddenly and it will take time to disappear. Also remember that as you exercise and eat right you will be building muscle and that does weigh more than fat, and that your body may have it's days (bloating...) that it may just hold in more water. I don't own a scale as I don't want to be obsessed by what it says. Basically your scale lies and as long as you are fitting better in your clothes, eating well, exercising (and enjoying it) you are doing the right things and eventually you will see the results of your hard work.

Another blog from fit Bottomed girls might be helpful if you've gained weight and not sure why. Or you know why and want to understand the reasons in depth. I know that for myself being out of work last summer, even though I was working out practically every day, contributed to my not loosing weight. Your home, stressed and the food or beverages are in the kitchen calling your name. It's very easy to be sucked in. You have to take control. I'm still learning this, it's a daily issue, but if I can do it so can you.

Labor Day has Passed, but Summer isn't Over!

So Labor Day has come and gone, the outdoor community pool is closed, the kids are back to school and the stores are full of fall fashion. According to the world summer is over. Don't fret, you can still enjoy summer for a little bit more. The weather hasn't gone frigid yet, you can still wear the summer clothes and workout outside. In fact weather that is a tad cooler (not in the 90's) is better for being outside. Might not be pool temps, but the pool is closed now, anyhow. Time to hit the hiking and cycling trails and do some running or kayaking. Take the gym workout outdoors. I tried an outdoor boot camp class from Custom Fitness Concepts here in DC. It was a really great class and worked all the muscle groups. You don't need a class to achieve the same results, but if you find one, it's always great to workout within a group for motivation. All you need is a yoga mat/towel, jump rope and exercise band. You can get in your cardio with running, jump rope, jumping jacks, running in place, mountain climber and high knees. The mat is good for crunches and push ups and the band is great for resistance training in place of hand weights. Believe me if you work hard for an hour it will feel like an hour in the gym.

Speaking of classes, I've started trying some different ones recently, including the one mentioned above. The YMCA here has some great offers and I'm sure most Y's across the country do as well. The Les Mills body pump one is very popular. It's a barbell class and works most muscle groups. When asked by the instructor if I was new to the Y I said no, just checking out some of the classes. I had found that although I can and do regularly work out on my own it had become routine and thought it might be time to mix it up a bit. Taking classes will help motivate and wakes up the body. Your body can get used to the usual and won't perform as well unless you change things a little and make it work harder again. It gets bored. I also have tried a kickboxing class at LA Boxing and hope to do the YMCA equivalent and also a class called CSI (Cardio Strength Intervals), this is what it says, cardio and weights. Very tough.

Don't be afraid to try new things and mix it up. You never know what you might find you enjoy.

With that it's off to dance class tonight. Been a break for a couple of weeks. Will be nice to see what is new for this semester.

So although the "so called" end to summer has come and gone, rest assured it's not quite over yet and you can still enjoy summer fun.