Before I posted any workouts, I wanted to address some common problems, misconceptions, or obstacles that we might run into. Also, a brief rundown of what you have to look forward to:
1. Squats, squats, squats, and more squats! We're going to do a lot of body weight squats. The legs are the biggest muscle in your body and we're going to activate them. Activating your muscles burns fat and ramps up your metabolism so we might as well go after the biggest one.
2. I'm going to post a lot of body weight exercises. You can get a helluva workout without any gym equipment so I'm going to look for things you can do at home.
3. You will not look like She-Hulk after doing this. A lot of women only like to do cardio because they're afraid that lifting weights will make you huge. It won't, it will make you look fit. The girls that end up looking like dudes eat a tremendous amount of calories to look that way, you won't be eating to feed 4 people. Cardio definitely has a place in weight loss but it can't be your only tool in the toolbox.
4. Protein, protein, protein and more protein! Protein is the key ingredient to all of this. Imagine you were sitting around a dying fire and crumpling up pieces of paper and throwing them in to get the fire roaring again. That's the same effect that protein has on your body. It will help fuel you as well as help you recover, you should try to have some protein with every meal.
5. If you choose to go low-carb at the start, make sure you eat some fat so your body has an alternate fuel source. When you're working out, your body will need to find something to run the engine. It looks for carbs first, fat second, and muscle third. If you're a label reader, we're not going to be concerned about fat grams, strictly calories. So if something you like (like pepperoni or salami) is over 10g of fat per serving but right around 100-130, that's perfect. You can also get healthy fats from avocados, almonds, and whole eggs.
6. Also, if you're going low-carb, it's nice to have a "re-feed" day. Your body can't go without carbs forever, you'll have to replenish them eventually or else you'll feel tired and sluggish. You can aim to use a 3-1-2-1 system where you're low/no carb for 3 days, 1 day normal, 2 low/no carb days, and 1 normal. Also, not all carbs are bad. You can just make some swaps and anytime you would eat something white, eat something brown instead (brown rice, wheat bread, sweet potatoes are the best carb sources). The "white" carbs (or simple carbs) are broken down by the body and stored as glucose (sugar) and actually make you crave sweets. The "brown" carbs (or complex carbs) are strictly used as fuel for the body.
7. I don't expect you to give up everything you love. Why? Because that would blow. Just try to make a change from what you're doing now. If you have 10 Diet Cokes per day, try having 8. Also, alternate them with water. If you have 8 Diet Cokes it much better for you if you have 8 bottles of water to flush your body.
8. You will make mistakes. Big deal! Sometimes life gets in the way. For example, you may be trying to follow the 3-1-2-1 and during one of the three days of healthy eating you have a family party or a work party... or you drunk, degenerate, gamblers are at Four Winds. Indulge and then get back on track. Adjust the next day if you have to but move on and forgive yourself. One bad meal/day isn't going to keep you from your target weight just like one good meal doesn't get you there overnight. However, beating yourself up will derail the whole process.
Any questions you have? The comment section is open!
Just thought of a couple more!
ReplyDelete9. Don't weigh yourself in every day. Your body fluctuates and even though you're making progress you might not see it in the scale right away. Limit yourself to weighing in a couple time a week. Don't let the scale define you or derail your progress.
10. Even if you're going low-carb, eat a shitload of fruits and veggies. They have carbs but I've never seen anyone get fat from eating fruits and veggies!