Intermittent Fasting and Staying Fit

Even though I have not talked about it on here in quite some time, I am continuing to work out and eat as healthy as I can - most of the time.  I have been pretty good with the eating part until this past month. Sitting around the house and not having a set schedule every day really messes with my appetite and food cravings. I'm an intermittent faster and I recently switched to the Alternate Day Fast, where I eat a small meal (25% of my calories) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and then three larger meals (125% of my calories) on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, and I keep Sunday a normal eating day.  It's also called the Up Down Diet, and you can read more about it here. So far I have seen some good results with this lifestyle, however it's definitely a lot easier to do when I am busy at work and not sitting around the house! I have been playing around with fasting for about a year now.  I started with the 16/8 – fast for 16 hours, eat during 8 hours, then moved to a 20/4 method, which I really like and will probably go back to once school starts, but I decided on the ADF type of fasting after reading this article from BuiltLean.com, and after Dr. Sara Solomon tried it and raved about her results.  The article basically summarizes different fasting methods and looks at which one is better for losing fat while maintaining muscle mass, and it seems the ADF method is the better method. So far I like this method because it is kinda nice not having to worry about what to cook three days out of the week, it’s very flexible and I am really seeing results.  

March 2014:

These are from August of 2013:

 Last year in January I weighed 118 pounds, and today I weigh109.  I went from somewhere in the neighborhood of 24% body fat, down to just under 18% and I can now fit into my "skinny" jeans that I haven't been able to fit in for three years.  This isn’t a typical fad diet where you lose 10 pounds in two weeks, keep it off for a month or at least long enough to look good in that little black dress, then go back to your regular eating pattern to only gain back 15 pounds.  It is a slow and steady, flexible lifestyle change.  I try to eat as healthy as I can, but there are definitely times where I have a few pieces of pizza, or a burger or a candy bar.  The things is, I don’t eat these things all the time and I when I do, I just get back into my fasting schedule.        

On my "fasting" days, I like to eat a small pre-workout meal a couple of hours before my workout  Research has shown that working out after eating a small meal helps burn more calories up to 24 hours AFTER the workout, versus working out on an empty stomach.  Keep in mind, however, that working out fasted will help you burn more calories DURING the workout.  I want to burn more calories afterwards, so I usually eat my small meal before. 

My workouts are a combination of full body HIIT with and upper and lower body split for weight training.  I rotate between Hot Body Method, Bender Fitness  and ZWOW routines depending on the day.  On Monday and Thursday I do the Hot Body Method workouts.  These are pretty intense HIIT style full body workouts that vary between using bodyweight and weighted routines. They are pretty similar to the ZWOW’s, but I feel they are slightly more challenging. Wednesday I reserve for stretching or Yoga. Tuesday’s and Friday’s I do the Bender Fitness strength training workouts . She has a variety of workouts including HIIT and yoga, which I've done in the past, but right now I am using her weight training workouts for strength and endurance - Tuesday’s are leg days, and Friday’s are arm days. Saturday’s I do a ZWOW for more full body HIIT training, and Sunday is my rest day.

After the workouts I either do a finisher – a short intense combo for extra burn, or a mile run depending on my mood.  I'll do a finisher if I don’t feel like running as they are a little more fun, challenging and sometimes shorter!

Here is a weekly breakdown:

 

SUNDAY	MONDAY	TUESDAY	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY	SATURDAY
Rest	Hot Body Method w/Finisher or run	Bender Fitness Legs w/run	Yoga Or Stretching	Hot Body Method w/Finisher or run	Bender Fitness Arms w/run	ZWOW w/Finisher or run

This was pretty much my schedule for the past month.  I really like the combination of full body HIIT with the weight training.  I feel like I am getting in the fat blasting resistance cardio I need, as well as the muscle building I want at the same time.  It also makes for a bigger variety of workouts and I definitely won't get bored. My goal is to lose the rest of the unwanted fat around my midsection and gain a little more muscle in my legs and arms by June.  Then, once I’m in school I can cut back my workouts to maybe three times a week and stay in maintain mode. The workouts I do are pretty short, so I feel that three times a week is doable… it’s just a matter of not feeling guilty that I’m working out and not study for that 20 min!

New Workouts

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything about my workouts, partly because I have been trying a new program and wanted to see how I liked it. The other reason is because I have been a little lazy and wasn’t sure if anyone really cared.  ;o) 

Anywhoo, the workouts that I have been doing are from an amazing lady named Tatianna at LovingFit.com. 

 She is from Russia, but currently lives in Florida and was a professional figure skater when she was younger.  Her workouts remind me a lot of the BodyRock workouts, but I think the workouts and her fitness advice are more beneficial.  BR used to post some fitness and nutrition advice, but they have moved away from that lately and focus only on the workouts. I have done their workouts for quite a few months, but never really saw a lot of benefits or results.  I think part of it was because I was over training and not taking enough rest days.  I would workout out consistently four times a day for two or three weeks, then I would hit a wall and feel so tired and worn out.  After reading through Tatianna’s posts, I realized that I may have been over training.  I have been doing a few of her workouts here and there, but because of my crazy C.N.A class schedule I have only been consistently doing her workouts for one week.  I am following her beginner workout routine, which is basically three days of full body workouts in a circuit, three days of rest and one active rest/light cardio day for six weeks, then rest for one week.  I think after the first six weeks I will move on to her intermediate workouts, which are split between upper body and lower body routines four times a week, with two days being interval training versus circuit, a light cardio day and two rest days, or one rest day and a light stretching day.  

So far I really like the workouts and the way they are structured.  She puts a lot of thought into the routines and how they will best benefit the body, plus she is a total form Nazi! She is more concerned with proper form versus time or number of reps. I need to start working out in front of a mirror to make sure I am using proper form because I know I have to catch myself toward the end of the workouts and slow myself down. I have a terrible tendency to want to rush through the reps when I am getting close to being finished with the workout. I also feel like I am already seeing some results, especially with my arms and stomach.  I have been adding two 30-second planks at the beginning and end of each workout and man! are they killer!  

I  just really enjoy reading through her blog and her fitness/nutrition tips and felt like I should share with everyone.  I really hope that if you are interested in fitness you will give her a try, she is amazing!  :o)

BRWOD

Today's workout is going to be killer.  I have missed the last two, so will be "catching up" tonight.  I will be doing Wednesday's and Thursday's workouts tonight, and since today's  workout looks pretty intense, I may wait and do it at the gym on Saturday with the P90 X chest, shoulders and triceps routine I usually do when I go (below).

BodyRock.tv workout of the day:




P90 X Chest, Shoulders and Triceps routine:



I love, love, love this workout!  When I was doing the P90X program I could really see a difference in my arms and was amazed to see how much my strength increased.  I need to get back in the habit of doing this workout.  I like this video because if I forget how to do an exercise and don't understand what the book is saying, I can pull it up real quick and see what to do. I take the booklet that came with the discs to the gym so I know what to do.  There is a little description of each exercise underneath, but can be confusing at times - especially when I haven't done them in awhile. I also use free weights instead of the bands, but you can still get a great workout in if you use the right band. 

:o)  Enjoy!

BodyRock WOD

I was able to do my workout last night - yay!   It took me 28 min from warm up to cool down and I burned 346 calories - not bad for a 16 min workout.  Here are my workouts for tonight, provided by BodyRock.Tv:







I did the first workout last Wednesday, but was too spent to do the second one (it was a day I did three workouts at one time), so I am interested in seeing if my scores increase.  I am guessing/hoping (they better) they will since this was the third workout I did that night. I'm about half way done with my 30 day challenge - It's all down hill from here... right?

:o)

Workout of the Day

Here is the Bodyrock Workout of the Day I will be completing when I get home from class (hopefully). I have been following the 30 day challenge pretty closely, but there are days I have to do more than one to make up for missing a workout due to class or a hectic schedule. For example, I won't be home until 8:00 tonight, and depending on how I feel, I may or may not workout. I love that even if I have to do more than one at a time, I am still done in around 30-35 min and have burned off 300+ calories depending on the workout. 



Along with working out almost every day, I am also trying to eat a bit healthier.  I have been doing this for 3-4 months now, but it is a struggle sometimes.  This week I am stealing Jennifer's Mason Jar Salad idea over at Simply Living. I don't have mason jars, so I just put everything in containers and mix it when I get to work. I really need to get me some mason jars - I'm sure it would make this whole process so much easier!

Don't they look delicious?

Fitness Challenge

I have been always been a little bit of a fitness buff, but I am pretty sporadic when it comes to working out.  I stuck to the P90X workout for 12 weeks, which I have to admit was really awesome and I could definitely tell I was getting stronger.  Then I came across BODYROCK.tv. I have been doing these routines for about 3-4 months now, but I haven't been very consistent due to holidays and getting ready for school - excuses I know.  :o)  When the new year started, they began a 30 day workout challenge that I am determined to get through! So far I have been pretty faithful to the workouts.  I did the first four last week, I skipped the fifth one with intentions of going to the gym - which didn't happen (are you surprised?).  I also missed Monday's and Tuesday's workouts, but did them plus Wednesday's workout last night - so I am caught up again. I have to say I was so wiped out afterwards!  I did all three in about an hour, which included a little break in between each exercise.  I have class until 9 tonight so I won't be able to get a workout in unless I get out early, but I AM GOING TO THE GYM this weekend! 

I may have already talked about them, but I really love these workouts because they are short, intense and they are always different (no same old boring routines here!). They definitely get your heart rate up and are killer, but if you don't think you worked hard enough you can either do it over, or do another one.  They use equipment in some of the exercises, but you really don't need anything but your body, and they offer modifications for beginners.  Half the time I can only do a few reps with the equipment before I have to put it down and use lighter free weights or just body weight.  I was sick the first part of January and didn't do anything for two weeks and I can definitely tell how weak I am. I also love the new host - Lisa Marie.  Zuzana was the original host and co-founder, along with Freddy the camera guy, but they are getting a divorce so Lisa is now hosting.  I love Z, but Lisa's energy gets me more pumped up for the workout, plus she is a little crazy.  :o) 

I took before pictures and will take some after pictures as well.  My goal is to stick with it and be able to see some difference in the 30 days.  I have already noticed my mid section is smaller than it used to be 3-4 months ago, so I hope I can really trim down these last 30 days.  I know diet is a big factor in this as well, and I have been trying to be really conscious of what I eat and drink and that has helped as well.  Speaking of which, I need to start my grocery list for this weekend!

Soooo - anyone else interested in taking the challenge?  :o)