Do You Do It Indoors or Outdoors?

Get your mind out of the gutter!  I’m talking about exercise!

Here in the suburbs of Phoenix today it is supposed to reach 100 degrees.  That is way too hot to workout in so, needless to say, if I don’t get out of bed in the morning by 7am I won’t end up working out.  By the time the kids go to bed at the end of the day I am exhausted.  The last thing I want to do is workout at 8:30-9pm.

So, after this whirlwind of a weekend where we were going to bed late and sleeping late, I decided last night at midnight that I would wake up at 7am this morning.  I set my alarm for 7 and I woke up this morning at 6:30 … because of our cat!  He just comes up sometimes and lays right by my head and purrs so loud that it wakes me up!  He’ll do this just to get me to wake up and refresh his bowl.  I say “refresh” because there is food in it but I have to toss it around to make it sound new to him I guess.

Anyways, so thanks to Cosmo I woke up before I wanted to today.  And now it is only 3:30 in the afternoon and I am drinking yet another cup of coffee.  But, I did get right on the treadmill this morning after getting out of bed.  That is not an exageration at all.  I take a sip of water and then go right to running.  I ran straight this morning for 28 minutes without stopping.

A year ago I couldn’t run for longer than 3 minutes without stopping.  I always heard about these strange people that could run for miles at a time and I never thought I could do it.  But now I’m facing a different dilemma:  I’m not sweating as much anymore after I run for 30 minutes.  So last week I started running for 40 minutes but this morning I didn’t want to.  I do want to run a marathon someday but right now I’m just trying to lose 10-15 more pounds.   Usually after I run I will do 3 sets each of reverse lunges, pushups and crunches.  I will change it up daily to either different crunches or instead of push-ups I will do dips using a bench or vanity stool.

After I ran this morning I started to make a pot of coffee (even though I didn’t really need it anymore) and I was wanting to work out some more.  So I put in the Wii Active that Frank bought (for himself) a couple weeks ago.   Wow!  It actually made me sweat!    I did the high intensity 30 minute workout.  It has you do kick ups, lunges, inline skating, tennis, dancing, rows, barbell lifts, and all kinds of other things.   We almost bought the Wii Fit but I think we’re happy with this one for now.  I couldn’t believe it.  When he bought it I thought it would be another thing that would just sit and collect dust but I see now why he likes it.

 The summers in Arizona really don’t permit any outdoor workouts at all.   I am the type of person who would rather be outside exercising than inside.   Normally, during the fall, winter and spring you will find me on any one of the 10 or so hiking trails within the city limits.   But during the summer I stay inside!  Because of this, I am the opposite of most people:  I tend to gain weight in the summers! 

So all this made me wonder:  which do you prefer (weather permitting)?  Are you an indoor or outdoor exerciser and what are your favorite workouts?  I need some ideas flowing my way to give me some alternating workouts.

Visit http://amothersmemoir.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/my-secret-for-weight-loss/  for low carb recipes and tips and tricks for getting over weight loss plateaus.

Artificial Sweeteners are Making Us Unhealthy!

Today, after waiting 2 months, I finally weighed myself again.  I lost 10 pounds.  In March, I hit a plateau and couldn’t figure out what was causing it.  I’ve finally narrowed it down.  I cut out ALL artificial sweeteners.  Which is not easy to do on a low carb diet.  All controlled carb products use artificial sweeteners.  In fact, Dr. Atkins in his many books even suggests using sucralose (Splenda) instead of other leading brands.  While I am an avid believer in the Atkin’s diet I have also tweaked it a bit for my family and I.  I’ll get into that at another time.

Prior to 2 months ago I tried everything.  I cut out alcohol completely, worked out more, worked out longer, combined different exercise by doing cardio and then strength training, started taking CoQ10, L-carnitine, more vitamin C, omega 3’s , and even going back on the induction phase of Atkins.  All that worked but I only saw a little difference.  I wanted more. 

So the only thing left to do was to cut out artificial sweeteners.  This was really the only thing left to do that I hadn’t tried.  So this morning, to my dismay I might add, I realized it worked.    I, myself, was a big fan of Splenda.  I would put at least 4 TBL of it in each cup of coffee I drank.  I knew this wasn’t healthy but I wanted my sweet, yummy, delicious coffee!  Frank would constantly give me a hard time telling me I’m a disgrace to coffee drinkers everywhere!  But hey – at least I was getting my morning jolt!  I didn’t use Splenda for anything else. 

But to ask me to give up my coffee, UGH, that was the last thing I wanted to try.  The headache that sets in 24 hours to your exact last cup of coffee, the lethargic feeling you have for the next 2 days along with that wonderful headache,  oh and the evident lack of energy to even muster the strength to get ready and go about your day.  BLAH!

But it was worth it for me.  Believe me, I am not knocking coffee, nor caffeine in any way.  I love it.  But unfortunately for me, I cannot drink coffee black.  The thought alone makes me cringe.  Might as well just go outside and lick the asphalt street instead!  That sounds just as appealing.

What are these “artificial sweeteners”?  What are they made of?  We don’t know.  The manufacturing companies don’t want us to know either.  They are foreign.  And even our own bodies know it.  That’s why it was holding me back – our bodies store this ’substance’ because it doesn’t know what to do with it!  Where does it get stored?  In our bellies.

While researching this particular sweetener, I found that Splenda is actually a chemically modified substance where chlorine is added to the already chemical structure, making it more similar to a pesticide than something we should be ingesting.  Their commercials conveniently forget to mention that part.

Artificial sweeteners are not healthy at all.  In fact, they can be worse than sugar and corn syrup.   It actually made me crave sweet things.  Whereas, if I were eating right I wouldn’t be craving sweets at all.  The battle between artificial sweeteners and regular sugar is a battle of two wrongs.  And we all know that two wrongs don’t make a right.

Also, while researching, I stumbled on a website by a guy who is pretty knowledgeable and gives a lot of free information.  Check out his website for some other tips and tricks.  He’s actually against the strict low carb diet but has some valuable information about working out and the foods we should be eating to get the best results.

Let’s get back to basics people!  Eat fresh veggies, fruit and meat (all organic whenever you can), don’t eat ANY processed food, and take your vitamins!  Avoid the inner aisles of the grocery stores and adjust your favorite meals to be more healthy.  For all you people that say you can’t do low carb because you can’t do a diet where you can’t eat bread and pasta I have news for you:  I eat bread and pasta!  The low carb kind and I don’t eat it all the time, just once a week.  All the favorite appetizers and yummy casseroles that I thought were a thing of the past are now being enjoyed again by the whole family.

After doing low carb for a very long time, I have noticed that if all my spoons are clean and still in the drawer then I am eating healthy.  (I used to only need a spoon to stir my Splenda into my coffee!)   

If we feed ourselves and our children natural and fresh food we might actually see these modern day dilemmas such as autism, child obesity and minor problems such as food allergies disappear and become a thing of the past.  We all need to re-evaluate our diets, no matter what diet we choose.

A Secret for Weight Loss that Men Don’t Possess

BOOBS!  That’s right.  You always hear that men have an advantage to losing weight.  Well not if we’re nursing.  Nursing burns 500 calories just by itself.  Then add good nutrition and a little exercise and you’re well on your way to a leaner you!

Here’s a picture of my secret right here.

  Frankie turned 1 in December and about a week later we stopped nursing.   But 2 months before he stopped I started eating low carb again.  In those 2 months I lost almost 10 pounds.  I think the combination of eating low carb and nursing really did the trick (not to mention chasing after a 1 year old).

But before I got pregnant I would combine low carb with running and that gave me some pretty fast results too.  But nothing like this.  I am amazed.  I wish I would’ve connected the two together before so I could’ve kept pumping!

I know a lot of people question the low carb lifestyle and say its not healthy.  But for me, it’s the only thing that works well.  I was afraid to start low carb when the baby was still young because everything I read said it would diminish the milk supply and could also taste differently to the baby so I did the Body for Life  diet which made me lose about 5 pounds.  But the last couple months that I did low carb he still nursed and we didn’t have any problems.

That brings us to now.  I try to run every day and do a little circuit training every other day.  Plus, sometimes after I run I rollerblade for another 15-20 minutes just to change it up.  I get bored really easy.  Sometimes I’ll even take a spin class at the gym because I get bored of the treadmill.

 The circuit training is more effective when I do it right after cardio.  The thought on this seems to be split 50/50 in terms of people saying weight training should be done before or after cardio.  But cardio gets my heart and strength ready and then I’m burning more calories and being more effective with every rep. 

Others say to do your strength training before cardio so you have the energy to complete each set efficiently.

I’ve heard both opinions but mine makes more sense to me.  Just do what works for you.  I’m a firm believer that just one way doesn’t work for everyone.