Success! I did my Yo-Yo Workout at the Gym today. I ran my top speed for the entire 3 minutes! I have been trying to do this for a few weeks, and would only last about a minute, and need to reduce my speed to finish out the 3 minute running block. Now my goal is to do this for a few more weeks until it becomes comfortable, and then I’ll up my starting speed, thus increasing my top speed. The machine I used did not let me enter my weight and age, so I don’t know how accurate this count is, but it said I burned 400 calories in 30 minutes! I think that’s pretty good, considering magazines like Shape give you half hour workouts to burn about 250 calories.

I was reading my Wellness magazine today, and came across an article titled Melt the Last 10 Pounds. I love getting little tips like this, but I particularly liked #6:

6. GO FOR THE CALORIE BURN
Have you been heeding the advice that longer, lower-intensity exercise bouts maximize fat burning? That may be why the scale isn’t moving for you. While it’s true that the percentage of calories from fat that you burn does decrease as you up your exercise intensity, when you’re trying to lose weight, you want to burn as many calories as you can, whether from fat or carbohydrates. If you double your exercise intensity, you double the rate at which you burn calories – both fat and carbs. Add an incline to your treadmill workouts or notch up the intensity on your workout machine of choice.

 This goes along with what I said in my Diet Tips and Strategies Page (the 3rd one):

When you work out, try to work out hard! The harder you work out, the better it is for your body. Hey, you’re there anyway, you might as well get the most out of your time.  Don’t let that overwhelm you though, just walking and breaking a sweat is better than nothing at all, so get moving!

food log Read more »

Tag Cloud
Comments: Comment (0)
Filed under: Daily Journal, My Favorite Workouts, Strategy |
Article tags: Burning Calories, Diet Tips, Motivation, Rule of Three Diet, Shape, Wellness

Posted: October 10th, 2007 under Daily Journal, My Favorite Workouts, Strategy.
Comments: none

Yesterday’s post got me to thinking just how much we can learn by watching small children eat. Granted, they end up liking all the crap we give to them, but that’s just it: they are influenced by us. If we never gave a kid a sip of soda, they’d never want it or crave it, and would be that much more healthy.  Did you know that one soda can have as much as 13 tsp. of sugar in it? Anyway, if you watch a small child, they will eat slowly and stop eating when they are full, whether they love the food or not. For me, if I’ve paid for it or if it’s delicious, I want to finish it, even if I am full. I’m having to retrain my mind to think it’s OK to have leftovers. And with portion control so out of control in this country, I should box up half my meals.  My grandma used to say, “Better it go to waste than your waist!” I try to keep that in mind or I’ll box half of it up for another meal.

food journal Read more »

Tag Cloud
Comments: Comment (1)
Filed under: Daily Journal, Strategy |
Article tags: Better Homes and Gardens Magazine, fajitas, Rule of Three Diet, Spinach Toss, waist, waste

Posted: September 27th, 2007 under Daily Journal, Strategy.
Comments: 1

“Let’s turn on the candles, Mommy,” says my 3 yr. old son at lunch today.  I say, “Good idea!”, but think, ‘You could write for my magazine (if you could write)!’ I recently read a magazine article which suggested lighting a candle at each meal to remind you to slow down, savor your food and feel your body filling up.  When we rush through our meals and/or multitask while we eat, we tend to overeat because our mind does not yet know we are full. If we can be mindful, chew slowly and drink or converse between bites, we may eat less.  That, or send your three year old to the bathroom mid-meal. Ha!I did my Yo Yo workout today. It was really good.  I was dripping sweat again after 15 min. (I wonder what my cool Yoga companions thought of my sweatiness in class today?) I ran about 30 seconds longer than last time at my top speed. Again, I wasn’t bored, and it was easy to follow.  I found that at the beginning of the workout I look forward to the “easy” jogging, but by the end, I look forward to the “easy” hill walk.  I like how the workout keeps changing.  Thanks to ‘Jess’ for posting your review of the workout; I’m glad you liked it!

food journal Read more »

Tag Cloud
Comments: Comment (1)
Filed under: Daily Journal, Strategy |
Article tags: 3 minute walk/run interval workout, candles, lazy, natural peanut butter, Rule of Three Diet

Posted: September 26th, 2007 under Daily Journal, Strategy.
Comments: 1