30 Minutes

This is going to be short and sweet tonight. This is just some, hopefully, helpful advice. 

If you are trying to lose weight or change your body, you won't get there by doing a 30 minute moderate intensity workout 3-6 days per week. At best, you will burn 300-400 calories doing moderate exercise for 30 minutes (depending on your size, age, gender, etc). Having said that, 30 minutes of intense exercise, particularly "High Intensity Interval Training" otherwise known as "HIIT", is a different story. You don't necessarily burn a ton more calories during a HIIT workout, or intense workout. What's happening is that you are putting your metabolism to work for you for hours post workout. Here's why... Muscle burns fat, even at rest. The more you strength train, the more muscle you delvelop, resulting in more fat loss. This can be discouraging when you're watching the scales, but pay attention to how your clothes fit and you won't be disappointed. 

The benefits of HIIT are that when doing intervals, your heart rate stays up for hours post workout. When your heart rate is up, you're burning calories. This type of exercise is becoming popular for those of us that have busy lives (myself included). Also, it's just plain FUN! It's hard to get bored when your workout is constantly changing. 

I have blogged about HIIT before. I'm a believer. It's what I teach my clients. Let's face it....we are all busy. And knowing that you can get a valuable and effective workout in, in 30 minutes or less.....well....I mean seriously....it sells itself! And like I said, it is anything but dull! 

That's all I have for today. I encourage you to study up on the benefits of HIIT and give it a try. You won't be sorry!

Training

I'm alive! Hello everyone! It has been awhile since my last post, and I have missed blogging. Here's the story... I have been throwing my resume out here and there over past several months, not putting much effort into an actual job search.  I figured that whatever happens is up to God. Long story short, I was hired as the office manager for a home health care agency. I have had a lot to learn and my brain has been so DONE when I get home at night. Things are starting to get into a rhythm for me, I think, and I am finally starting to adjust. I hope I haven't lost any of you, but for those of you that continue to read, I appreciate the faith you put in my words more than you know.

When I have clients that I am training, my biggest goal is to train their brain. I encourage them to stop being so dependent on others, including me. I only get paid when we are having sessions, but my goal as a trainer isn't to get rich. It is to help you get to the point that you no longer need me anymore. Don't tell me you didn't go for a run yesterday because you couldn't get anyone to go with you. Don't tell me that you need me to make a step by step diet plan for you. If you aren't making decisions on your own and learning to say no, you aren't training your brain. If you can't go to the gym or out on a run without another person with you, you aren't training your brain. It is critical for you to become your biggest accountability partner if you are going permanently change yourself. My job is to show you that you ARE strong enough to do this on your own one day. To show you that the reason you are in the situation that you are in, isn't because you need me to tell you what you are doing wrong. The reason you are in the situation you are in is because you continue to do what you KNOW is wrong.

Yes, a huge part of my job is to coach you through workout sessions and help you see what needs to change in your life, but the biggest thing you need to accomplish is the ability to stand on your own two feet and hold yourself accountable. I can do that for you for awhile, but  by not showing you how to do it on your own, what has that done for you?  Isn't it better to have someone coach and train you about healthy living and clean foods so that you can learn to make responsible choices when I'm not there? It does my heart good when I read a blog post or get a text from a client that reflects the things I am trying to instill in them, and that has happened twice to me in the last few days. It is why I do what I do. I love to see people realize they don't have to ever go back there. I love to see them realize they never needed me to begin with!

So this is what's on my mind tonight. I believe that each of you can train your brain, with or without the help of me. I believe that each of you can learn to make your own decisions, workout on your own, stop relying on everyone else to tell  you calorie for calorie what to put in your mouth, and start holding yourself accountable. You are smart enough to know the difference between good and bad and right from wrong. This isn't your issue. Your issue lies in giving yourself the option to do what's wrong or eat what's bad.Give yourself some credit and start working on training that brain. Eventually the choices you make related to health and fitness become a part of who you are, because you took responsibility for yourself and quit allowing yourself to go on like this. I truly believe that anyone can get to their desired fitness goal. It just takes action. It takes YOUR action. Start training your brain tonight! Start being responsible for your own choices. Stop relying on everyone else to tell you what you are doing wrong. You already know, so fix it. If I can help you in any way, you know I am always here. Having said all that I did about being responsible for your own self, everyone needs a little motivation, inspiration, counsel, prayer, shoulder to cry on, someone to pick them up when they are down, etc. Everyone gets overwhelmed. Expect that. But whatever you do, keep moving forward and never stop chasing after the goals you have set for yourself. Don't let goals become dreams. Make them real! Because you can!

Have a great night everyone! I've missed you:)