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For those looking to knock off the pounds and toned up and build some strength, this is for you! Now my performance followers be sure to read this too because I'm going to cram a lot of information in these next few paragraphs that could also be helpful to to your program even though most of you are (probably) seeking strength and size. First off: There are a few questions that you need to ask yourself before you start down my path for your body transformation. Do you have fitness goals? Is there someone you want to look like or is there a certain weight or size you want to be? Do you eat healthy or atleast try to? How often do you eat out? How much do you drink? How much rest do you get? What time/s are you the best for you to workout? After you sit back and think these over, will you be ready to sacrifice? How bad do you want it?!
Second, try to stay away from the scale. Sure the pounds are going to drop off but at the same time you're going to build muscle which weighs more than fat!! Too many times do people get discouraged because after one whole week of busting their butt they've gained 5lbs. Do not worry about this at all. In the beginning I want each and every one of you to measure yourself. Waist, hips, chest, arms, legs and anything else you want to measure. NOW THESE ARE THE NUMBERS THAT YOU WANT TO PAY ATTENTION TO!!! Once you start slimming down and toning up, you aren't going to care at all what that scale says. I probably jump on a scaled 5 times a year. Why? Because I'm happy with the way that I look. Also, I encourage you to take a monthly picture once a month just to keep tabs on your look and size. Stick with it and you'll be amazed.
Goals! It's always good to have goals. Short term and long. No matter if they're feasible or not. The main thing is that you're working towards something. So let's say that a good short term goal is to stick with it for a month and see how you feel, and a good long term goal is to fit in a pair of jeans from high school or an outfit that you wore before pregnancy. Now some are thinking maybe these are too far fetched but that's the whole point of a goal. As long as there is a goal worth trying for, the results will come. So... you might not make it into your high school jeans, or maybe you do. The thing is, without that goal you wouldn't have made it halfway there. If I set a mile time goal for 5:30 in two months and every day I run the mile focusing on the goal. In 2 months, I might not make that mile, or I might. But I bet I'm going to be way faster than I am now. When I first started working out, I took it pretty easy after doing the whole lifting for a couple months then getting burnt out and then six months later trying it again. I set up a schedule that allowed me to go Monday, Wednesday, Friday, or Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday. I tried just to go 3 days a week so I wouldn't get sick of doing it and it worked.
Now there are a few simple rules that go along with your workout schedule. Once you find something that is working for you stick with it. Don't let life get the best of you when people throw a curve ball. There are going to be days that you can't fit gym time into your schedule or when something came out of the blue and it's way more important. This is where your flexibility comes into play. You might end up working out on your rest days. This always happens. It's not a big deal. Plus sometimes you'll need to let your body take a break when it doesn't expect one and challenge it when it does. Muscle memory makes us weak and allows our body to cheat when it realizes that it's getting used to doing the same thing. However, I'm here to change that.
What is your diet/nutrition plan? How often do you eat out and how much do you drink? When you hit a certain point in your life, your metabolism slows down, way down. For most people it's in their 20's when they're in college or out and are way less active than they used to be. When this happens your body slows down the rate in which it's burning off what you consume. Extra storage cells are being created and fat build up is the ending result. So we're going to try to change this process and kick start your metabolism back up. They say that it's 75% nutrtion and 25% exercise, so with that said, you could eat healthy and not have to go to the gym or workout at all. True, but if you do workout, you'll achieve those results twice as fast.
So lets focus a lot more on what you're eating. What type of foods are you eating on a daily basis? In, out or on the go? Try to eat at home as much as you can. The amount of calories and fat that is served with fast food or dine-in style type restaurants is completely jaw-dropping. It's easy to spot weight gain when you consume your caloric intake from one meal going out to eat. The more you plan your meals the better decisions that you'll make when you're hungry. Do not go to the grocery store hungry either, you'll buy two carts full of the most ridiculous stuff. Come up with 4 or 5 meals that sound good and go with it. I could go on forever about what to eat and what not to eat so I'm going to throw in a couple helpful links that should get you on the right track. I'm no nutrtionist. I just make good decisions. I hardly ever eat fried foods. I try to stay away from processed foods and canned goods. I hardly ever eat sweets. Just not a big sweet person I guess. I calculate the amount of protein and carbohydrates that I consume a day. I go about 1 gram of protein and 2-3 grams of carbohydrates for every pound I weigh. So I'm looking at 180 grams of protein a day and 360-540 grams of carbs a day. Once you have that measured then you just need to spread it throughout your meals. Try to eat 3 good sized meals throughout the day and make a few little snacks to munch on just to keep your metabolism going. Snacks could be like fruits or vegetables on the go, or almonds, cashews. Here are a couple links.
http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/toning/eat-better-the-key-to-tone-up-fast.html
or
http://www.livestrong.com/article/426899-what-food-to-eat-when-toning-muscle/
Now this is the key along with any diet/exercise plan, there are going to be cheat days. My cheat days are my days I might choose an unhealthy meal or go drinking. I try to cut back as much as I can because I do like to drink here and there. How I approach my drinking is try not to get too drunk that I have one of those hangovers that last a day or two. When you're drunk and hungover, you make poor decisions on what to eat, how much to eat, and how often, and no one cares about working out. So be smart about it. I've learned my lesson a few times and try to drink as much water as possible and not staying up too late. So... with that being said, make sure that when you do these cheat days, or cheat meals you don't and I repeat you DONT MAKE A HABIT OF IT. Now I'm not giving you the go ahead to go out and get hamboned and eat 3 quarter pounders. Be smart about it. You need these days to throw in there every once in awhile just to feel normal. If you never cheat on on your nutrition, you won't last. Trust me. Give yourself a break.
One of the last things that I want to talk about is your rest and your actual workout days. Depending on how much volume you're lifting or how often you're lifting decides on the amount of rest that you should allow yourself. Now I'm not drawing up huge volume workouts so typical amounts of rest should be sufficient. I would try to maintain atleast 8 hours of rest of more surrounding workout days. Now, everyone works out at different times or has different schedules. So what time is right for me might not be the time that is right for someone else. Especially if a certain person only has a one-hour window before or after work. Try to find the best time for you and please don't workout if you're already tired, this isn't going to help you out at all. Also, be sure to drink a lot of water. If your sweating a lot out, then you need to be drinking it back in. I try to drink about half my weight in ounces a day. So again, 180 pounds. I need atleast 90 ounces in water. Hope this helps out.
Please leave a comment if you have any questions or would like to add any helpful hints.
Thanks,
Ryan
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