Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Not wanting to workout!

I know, it's been awhile since I have written. Today, I want to share with you about how to get around in not wanting to workout. A lot of people go through this, I know cause I go through it about once a week. There are times when you don't want to workout but if you don't work out then you feel guilty, you get depress, you don't eat healthy, you regret in not working out. A lot of emotions will come up. Here is how to get through the "I don't want to workout" moods.

Go and workout. I know a lot of people would ask the question in "why?" The best time to workout is when you are feeling that you don't want too. This makes sense because then you will not feel guilty, you actually feel better, you will eat better, and there is no regret. It sounds easy then it looks but its the truth.

Today, I went to the gym, I was about done with my workout, all I had to do was the arc (which is like a stair step and treadmill in one.) I told myself that I was only going to do fifteen minutes but I got on the arc and I did twenty minutes. I am happy that I did a total of sixty minutes of cardio. I did the elliptical, treadmill and the arc. I have no regrets, I feel better and awake, I don't feel guilty in what I had for lunch. I would take that over the negative effect in working out. I have karate tonight and now I am writing to you. Thats what I love about working out because I can feel happy that my workout is complete for the day and I can get on with my day.

If you have any questions, please ask me. I am here for help.

Nerds unite!

I had this idea for a while. Nerdy people are probably the most inactive people. Some of that is not true. There are nerds out there who do like to workout, one of them, who built an empire is Chris Hardwick! I am also a nerd cause I would so much rather watch Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars and anything else science fiction versus sports. My family has a good range, my Mom is a sports fan, my Dad is very nerdy; in the fact, that he doesn't watch sports. He watches science fiction. He was the one who got me and my brother hooked on science fiction.

I love a good Doctor Who episode but if you watch the actors, they run, a lot. Running is great cause one its free! Besides the fact, that you need a good pair of shoes, some earphones, and water. Other than that there is no excuse why we (nerdy people) can't workout. In becoming a personal trainer, I notice that there is a lot of science between working out. Most of the science is physics, math, human anatomy, psychology, kinesiology, physiology and of course nutrition. Lets break down why the science is important for a personal trainer to know.

Physics/Kinesiologist:
 Personal Trainers have to know the three laws of Newton's theory. Law of Inertia (1st Law of motion), Law of acceleration (2nd law of motion) and the Law of reaction (3rd Law of motion. We all know what each of these laws mean. A weight could be at rest, then its in motion cause we (the human) puts in motion. Then we put that same weight into motion cause we (the human) are the force putting the weight into motion. We also give that weight into a direction whether it be up or down. The 3rd law is applied force. The weight is an opposite force cause we can either push or pull down, or push or pull up. This might not make any sense. The trainer has to know the Newton's law.

Math:
Personal Trainers have to know how many reps a person did, how much weight a person can weight lift. How much weight a person needs to lose, how to calculate the BMI, how to calculate nutrition values on a food. What percentage a person is weight lifting versus the body weight. There is a lot of math involved. Plus, the heart rates and where the heart rate zone for that client is.

Human Anatomy/Physiology:
 Why would a personal trainer need to know the anatomy? Here is the reason. Personal Trainers need to know what muscles do what. What muscles are the pulling muscles, What muscles are the pushing muscles. How the skeleton is affected by weight lifting. How is the muscles affected by weight lifting. I could go on and on.

Psychology:
 In order to be successful in weight loss. YOU HAVE TO BE WILLING TO CHANGE! I know that is huge. It takes all of your will, to get through a workout. It takes a lot of emotion to make it through a workout that is tough. If you are starting out at about 270 pounds and the first workout you did was Insanity. That takes a lot on your psyche, it takes a lot of your emotion. You could have breakdowns (break throughs). In order to be successful, you have to have the break throughs. If you don't then you probably will not understand the hard work that goes into your workout. Thats why a personal trainer has to know psychology because it does take a lot out of you emotionally and physically.

Nutrition:
 Before, and after exercise; nutrition becomes the most important. We need energy to help us in our workouts and in everyday life. We either eat too much or we eat too less. I am in the same boat as every one else. I love food and thats the one reason why I ended up being heavy. I wasn't exercising the food off. This is the part that everyone needs help in.

So thinking that exercise is just for the "sports oriented people" think again. We all need to get out there and start moving. I love working out, its the best part of my day because I am doing something for myself and not for other people. I love running, I love being a martial artist. I have to be in shape in order to do those things. You might have the thought of "why am I doing this," "I can't do this," "It's not possible." Stop thinking in the negative and start thinking in the positive and saying "YES, I CAN," "I AM GOING TO DO THIS," "THIS IS POSSIBLE." If you want to change then you will change.

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Working out

Okay, so today I worked out. I have to admit that I was not feeling the workout. The workout that I did  was P90X, Kenpo X. As a martial artists, its pretty fun to watch other styles and to learn from other styles. I really did not want to do a whole lot of jumping today. I feel, better that I did workout but I still have another workout, later on today.

When feeling like you do not want to workout. Its actually the best thing to do. You are probably thinking, "well, why workout at all? When you are not feeling." The reason is this, if you don't workout then you regret in not working out. If you work out then you do not have that regret. I might not be in the mood to workout, but if you do low impact on the days that you are wanting to do a high impact that is a good way for your body to get some rest. You also then get some exercise in; then you don't have the regret. See, sometimes things work out in away that you don't expect them too.

It's okay to rest your body when you need too. You need to listen to your body, if you don't listen to your body, that's when injury occurs, burnouts can occur that way too. Switch up your workouts, if you feel like, yes, I can do a higher impact then do high impact but if you don't drop down to a lower impact. You might have to eat less on that day but it gives your body a chance to recover.

Recovery days versus rest days. What is the difference between Recovery and rest days? Recovery days are days where you do low to moderate impact. Best examples is doing Yoga, one day during the week. That can be Saturday, Wedensday, Thursday or Friday. You need recovery because you could have injury. Stretching one day out of the week can be very helpful to your body if you do a high impact workout. Rest days are days were you do nothing at all. No workouts, just rest your body. Take that day and don't worry about calories or working out. Have fun on that day. That day could be during the weekend. Mine is on Sunday. We eat out on Sundays and thats the best day for me. You have to think all in moderation.

Working out can be fun but you have to be wise about when to rest and when to recover. If you had a hard day that next day should be to recover. I always did love my recovery days with Insanity.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

My story

Hi! My name is Maria and I have lost 100 lbs and still on my journey. My journey started about a few years ago, I wasn't happy about myself, I didn't like the way that I looked. I was over weight, but at te same time, I was  in denial. I wanted to get in shape but I didn't know how.
I knew that I was unhealthily, I went back to the martial arts. I found myself again; I knew that being a martial artist would change my life. At the time, I really didn't realize how it would change me. It was all do to my instructor Sensei Wayne. Right before, my black belt test, I knew that I needed to get into shape because if I didn't then I would failed my black belt test. I had a gym membership but I wasn't focus cause of working so many hours and then I just stopped going to the gym after I completed the Arnold and that put my bank account in the whole. One of my friends got me started on coach to 5k and thats when I started to run.


I started running with an app called coach to 5k. It was difficult at first, my shins hurt cause my legs weren't used to running. I also didn't really stick with the coach to 5k program. My first 5k, I walked it and ran it. My time was horrible it was around 40 minutes. I had class and yes, we did do exercises but I still wasn't losing the weight because of all the junk, I was eating. I didn't realize what I was doing! Like anyone who has seen the Insanity commercial, I was hooked because of using your own body weight and no weights. I was felt that I could do the workout.

The more I watched the commercial, the more I wanted to do Insanity. I had a wii and the wii fit but of course I fell off track. It also wasn't going as good. It took me a year to buy Insanity, yes the program is expensive but its really worth it. When I got my tax return, thats when I bought Insanity. I was so excited when Insanity had come, I knew that this program would change my life and it did. During that same year, I got a job at Honda.

The hours were from 6:30am to 3:00pm Monday through Thursday and on Fridays 6am to 2:30pm. I started the program on a Saturday or Sunday. I did the fit test and it was horrible. I could barely make it through. When I started Honda, I started to workout. I start my workouts at 3am then get ready and go to work. On Friday, I would get up at 2:30am. When people use the excuse "I don't have time to workout." I say that is crap because we all have the time to workout. You have to find the time. I did that for a couple of months. I was still going to Karate but at the same time we had moved with another instructor. So I started going 4 days out of the week instead of two days. My schedule was crazy get up at 3am and then go to bed around 9:30pm or 10pm depending on how long I talked.

With that schedule, I was starting to feel tired. I wasn't getting enough sleep. I started to break down at work; people were worried about me. It a fight between me and my instructor to realize that I needed a break and I also hurt my groin area. So, I had to put Insanity on hold. Plus, it was getting warm and I could get outside and start running again. Running for me, is about getting outside and being outside. Getting to see the beauty of the world and plus I get out of the house. In the spring, I started the 5k plan again and I stuck with it.

All of that summer, I ran about two or three 5k's. The one 5k that I ran was called the Dayton Celtic Festival 5k. That was my first 5k and it holds a special meaning to me because that was the first 5k. My time went from around 40 minutes to about 30 minutes. I was excited my time was coming down and then I thought about marathon running. That little Insanity that I did, helped me with my running.

I as got more involved in running, I could see the more weight I was losing. I also had problems with my work pants. They were getting to big and I was stubborn about getting new pants. I had too cause it was getting annoyed. I noticed that my clothes were getting to big as well. Its a good feeling to know when that happens cause it makes you feel good.

That whole year was a good year for me. That December, I wanted to start back up with Insanity. I did during my shutdown. Right after, Christmas, I took the fit test again and did better then the last time. During the shutdown, I worked out. For me, it was a lot of fun because working is a get away from life. It's you and yourself working either against or with you. It depends on the day. On New Year's Eve, I stayed up to midnight and I signed up for a marathon. The Wright Patterson Air force Marathon. For me, that was scary but I knew if I signed up then  I would not back out. Also, the Air force marathon is the biggest around me, you kind of have to sign up in advance. Plus, its only $80! I started training with Insanity and then with a marathon app.

From Jan. to Feb., I was doing Insanity and running, plus Karate. After, I completed Insanity, I was wondering what to do next, so I bout P90X and I did it for a bit but I could not stick with it. I was burning out on working out. That happened a lot last year. You have to understand burnouts are horrible because you regret in not working out and you feel guilty about not working out. I was doing to much. I ran most of the time. I found 5k's and a 10k, my first 5k was in March in Columbus and I went from 30 minutes to 27 minutes. I was under 30 minutes and it felt great. I ran as many 5k's as possible. My times were around the 27 minute but they also felt shorter.

It was because I was running longer and the more you run the better your times get. I love running with people because they can help motivate you. My first 10k, I ran it under 60 minutes and I felt good because it was my first long distance run. I ran all throughout my summer. My favorite race from this past year was a 5k in my Grandmother's hometown. It was for a girl named Ellie Herdman who has a bone cancer and she is only 16 years old. That 5k started late because they ran out of bibe numbers. They only had 500 and over 500 runners had came. That was amazing race and plus it was on grass and it felt more like trail running then a road race. I had my ups and downs but that race was amazing to run and got me back to where, I needed to be.

That was in August. By the time, September had happened, I was getting nervous, more nervous then usual. I was running when I could. My training was very lacking. My training time was running out. When the marathon day came, I used the stretching dvd of P90x. I got up early, eat breakfast, stretched, took a shower, made my shake, packed my gels and everything else that I needed. My parents were going with me because they wanted to see me run and I would not have wanted it any other way. We left about 6am to 6:30am. The race started at 7am. I was nervous, we got there, I got on the bus to go to the start line. The weather was rainy and we all went under the tent. I didn't want to take off my sweatshirt or jacket but I had too. I went to the bathroom then I saw my Aunt and Uncle. My Uncle and his step son were running the half marathon. I said hi to them. Ate, a gel pack to get my energy up.

It was time for the race to start. It was long we ran up onto a on ramp, pass the Nutercenter, on base, off base, through downtown Fairborn back on base, back off base, onto a on ramp, onto the highway back to the air force museum. It was a long run but it was fun because most of the run, I was talking not focusing on the distance. It wasn't until the last 6 miles that I started to feel the pain. I was in pain in my shines, my quads, every where but at the same time, I kept going. I knew there would be a hill but the hill wasn't that bad. It really wasn't a hill. When I got to the last mile, I was having issues in breathing but I knew I was toward the last mile. That last mile was tough. Then I saw the finish line, I was almost done. It took me 5hrs. 01min and 37 secs. I found my parents and I started to cry because I was tired but also because of how far I have came with my weight loss. That day was a day of celebrating. I couldn't cause I was sore. I could not sleep that day. I could barely walk but in the end, it was worth that run.
Starting off, 2014 with running that same marathon but this time, I want to qualify for the Boston marathon. So I need, to get my run time under 3hrs. I know 2hrs off my time, its going to be hard but that is my goal.