Summer is almost here and chances are high that we are thinking one of two things when we consider the sight of our body sitting poolside in our bathing suit. A.) OH NO! B.) YA BABY BRING IT ON! Either way, we can always use a little added motivation and possibly learn something new to help us along on our Hardbody Journey. There are a million diet and exercise tips out there but this blog is all about sharing with you the things that I have found useful & interesting.
The 80% Rule:
I eat very healthy, exercise regularly (like I really mean it) and indulge every once in a while if I have the urge. This has worked for me. Part of the reason why it has worked for me is that I am fully able to indulge a little and move on without wolfing down an entire gallon of ice cream or large pizza. It has allowed me to have a healthy outlook on diet and not obsess over what I can and cannot eat. Having suffered from an eating disorder as a teen....and fully recovered, I definitely know the difference it makes when we aren't obsessing over food.
This attitude goes in line with the 80% rule. The essence being that you stay aligned with healthy eating, eating at the highest end of the spectrum, but not to stress about perfection. Of course we always want to strive to eat healthy 100% of the time, but when you establish a solid foundation of healthy habits your body can become quite resilient to the occasional late night indulgence. Let me be clear that in no way am I telling you to shoot for less than your absolute best..only that it is OK to accept an 80% success rate due to various outside factors and that when I finally did succumb to this rule it made a big difference to my fitness success. (and happiness!)
I will be getting into much deeper specifics concerning diet in future blogs, but know that it all starts here:
I strive for small meals spaced out every 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Every meal must contain some form of protein (preferably organic and without added hormones) and carbohydrates like Sweet Potato's or Quinoa along with Veggies. Focus on decreasing Carbohydrate intake toward the end of the day, particularly if you are trying to lose fat. Think of your body like a fire that you don't ever want to stop burning. As long as you keep feeding that fire it will give you heat...as long as you feed your body small meals frequently, your metabolism will be firing off and melting fat. One of the best things I have heard to prove this point is that when pig farmers are trying to "Fatten Up" their pigs they give them 1 big meal a day. This explains it all.
A Little Glute Training. (aka Boo-tay)
Why? Because nothing screams "Hardbody" like a firm behind. That's why.
A few great exercises I'm loving right now that can be done pretty much anywhere...no excuses!
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| Starting Position Position a band at your hips & fasten to a sturdy pole. Focus on only using your glute muscles to really isolate them. |
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| End Position Concentrate on keeping hips forward & tucked. Focus on doing 3 sets of 20. |
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| Starting Position. Band positioned at ankles. |
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| End Position. With Knees Slightly Bent, continuously step to the side in a slight squat and focus on only using your glute muscles to step. If you are advanced I recommend using a thicker band. 3 Sets of 20 on each leg. |
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| Stairs. This is great for the legs as well as the gluteus muscles. Concentrate on skipping 1 stair with each step you take & focus on digging in with your heels to target GLUTES. I like to do this exercise based on time vs counting steps, which turns it into a killer cardio workout as well! Start with doing just 5 or 10 minutes and build up to 30 or 40. A great place to do this exercise is at a local high school football stadium on the bleachers. |
