Tuesday Motivation

Hi, everybody! How did day 1 go???

Meghan, I have a great 15 minute post-run yoga series that is restorative- opens your hamstrings, hips, and low back.  I'll post that on Thursday.

Everybody, don't allow yourself to feel discouragement at the enormity of your lifestyle change!  It's tiny step by tiny step.  Relish in every minute success!!!  Everybody share a tiny success from yesterday or today!!!

I like mental chatter makeovers.  We all have minds that chatter at us a mile a minute whether for good or for ill.  So how can you change that mental troll into a mental supportive coach?  Does anyone have any ideas to share?  Check out this article Reboot Your Exercise Motivation from Fitness Magazine:

You Think: "The scale is stuck. Why bother?"

Rethink: "This pudge will budge."

• Stick with the scale: Love it and you'll probably lose pounds. In a study at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, of 3,026 adults who were watching their waistlines, those who weighed themselves more frequently lost more weight over two years or regained fewer pounds. This research backs up the benefits of daily weigh-ins, but weekly may do the trick: Three-quarters of the successful long-term slimmers listed in the National Weight Control Registry step on the scale at least once a week. "Plateaus are part of the process," says Kim H. Miller, PhD, associate professor of health promotion at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. Stay motivated in the meantime by giving yourself credit for how much better your clothes fit and for improving your overall health.

Redo: Rev up your routine

• "As your metabolism changes to accommodate your smaller size, you are going to have to change what you're doing to coax your body to keep responding and shedding fat," Miller says. If you're eating light already (around 1,500 calories a day), don't cut back more; turn up the intensity and/or increase the length of your workout session a smidge.  This will not only burn more calories but also increase your cardio capacity, meaning that everything feels easier to do, so you can keep exercising. Crank the resistance on your stationary bike, push the pace of your walk or run for one-minute intervals, or add step-ups or jumping jacks between sets of toning moves: The cardio-strength mix of circuit training burns 512 calories per hour, more than double that of lifting alone.

You Think: "I can't do another rep."
Rethink: "My biceps rock!"

• Need a lift? Just psyching yourself up while you're strength training can increase your muscle power by 8 percent, according to a study from the School of Sport and Exercise Science at Wintec, Waikato Institute of Technology in New Zealand; you'll reap about 12 percent more power imagining those perfect lifts versus when you're distracted. Depending on how pooped your arms are, "mental imagery could help to activate additional motor units," says Brad Hatfield, PhD, professor of kinesiology at the University of Maryland in College Park, stimulating muscle fibers enough to help eke out more curls.

Redo: Dumb(bell) it down

• If you can't muster more reps at the same weight, go lighter. Decrease the amount that you're lifting in 10 percent increments until you can finish the set with good form, suggests Juan Carlos Santana, director of the Institute of Human Performance gym in Boca Raton, Florida. "The bigger the effort, the bigger your body's response will be," he says. That means netting some 46 percent greater strength gains by doing two or three sets compared with only one, says a study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. And don't beat yourself up: Pushing your limits just a little further gets you firming results you'll feel, Santana says.

You Think: "Run a mile? Me? Not!"
Rethink: "Hey, doesn't that jogger look like Brad Pitt?"

• When you're trying to slog through that first -- or extra -- mile, shift your attention to the things around you, says Alan St. Clair Gibson, PhD, MD, chair of sport sciences at Northumbria University in England: "You might slow down, but it will help you keep going." Also add a can-do mental mantra, like "I'm a running machine!" to put more mettle in your pedals.

Redo: Divide and conquer

• Split your run into walking and running parts at first, says Joe Puleo, head cross country and track-and-field coach at Rutgers University in Camden, New Jersey, and coauthor of Running Anatomy. Jog a quarter of a mile, walk for half a mile, and finish by jogging another quarter. As you improve, stretch out the jogging and shrink the walking segment before jogging that final quarter mile. Do this three or four times a week and "you'll be able to run the whole distance in about six weeks," Puleo says.

You Think: "I hurt my knee. There goes exercise for a month."
Rethink: "Pilates, here I come!"

• Your body starts to lose conditioning within three days of your becoming a couch potato. If that ain't enough to light a fire under you, tell yourself that there's more than one way to reach your exercise goal, says Trent Petrie, PhD, director of the Center for Sport Psychology at the University of North Texas in Denton. "Write down all the negative things you're thinking, and next to those, reframe them into more positive statements," he says. For example, "What a downer; I can't kickbox" becomes "Oh, well, now I'll finally pop in that Abs of Steel workout DVD."

Redo: Pull a switcheroo

• Dance class is out, but there are plenty of low- or no-impact exercise options that melt fat. Depending on your injury, moderate elliptical training (416 calories an hour), cycling (512 calories), or jogging in water (512 calories) can be an appropriate alternative, says Robert S. Gotlin, DO, director of orthopedic and sports rehabilitation at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and editor of Sports Injuries Guidebook. But if just bending your knee causes pain, Dr. Gotlin suggests shifting your cardio to your top half by using an upper body ergometer (a hand crank that you'll find in some gyms) or hitting a boxing bag. See your doc to be sure which route is best for you.

Meghan & Mini Me, you're such great inspirations for cross training and finding other workouts when an injury threatens to get you down and also in prevention of future injuries.  Go, you!
Michele, Amy C., Maggie, Nicki, & Meghan, you ladies are such great inspirations for starting a new challenge like becoming runners!  Such bravery and determination to do those first run/walk combos that you have undertaken!  And oh my gosh, look at how awesome you're doing!  Amy, Maggie, & Meghan doing Halfies?!?!?!  It all starts somewhere! Be brave.  Go, you!
Marianne, that "my biceps rock" rethink up above made me think of you instantly.  What a positive patsy you are!  Everbody can learn to just shake off what you can't fix and just rock at changing your mind to be positive!  Go, you!
And all the other ladies on this blog, GO, YOUUUU!!!!!! for being here! For kicking the royal trash out of your excuses and taking no pity! Go gettum!!!!  You rock!