My Week, Workout Routine, and Why I Lift!

This has been a pretty good week. I stayed home more than I have been lately. We had Aaron's family over not once but twice this week. It  was really nice!

One of my dreams in high school was to have a huge house so I could have a lot of people over. This was one of those dreams that you have that is just stashed into the back of your head, more like a fantasy than something that you can actually plan to make come true. God knows my dreams and He decided that this one could come true!

Saturday I sat at the end of our extended table completely surrounded by loved ones and conversations and laughter. I was caught up in the moment for a few seconds as I felt this huge smile come to my face and this feeling of love swell up inside of me. That was it. That was my dream fulfilled that night. God is so good to me for giving me blessings that I don't deserve.

I'm now able to do my 20 minutes with Jillian no problem. Including a full minute of bicycle crunches. I breeze through it. Unfortunately I damaged my wrist and can't go onto level 2 because they do a lot of plank positions. For the level 1 push-ups I do plyometric push-ups off if the wall. Until my wrist heals properly I increase and add more weight as possible. I gotta challenge myself somehow.

For anyone who wants a good well rounded workout I highly suggest the 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels.

 

 

 

 

 

The last time I lost weight I just cut back on bad foods and walked and ran on the treadmill. I wasn't toned all that much. My focus was to be skinny. This time I am focusing on overall health, increasing my endurance. My focus really isn't skinny. I want to be healthy. 

 

Something I am doing differently than the last time is lifting weights. Wow! It is so empowering! A few months ago I put on Facebook that I was lifting weights and a friend from high school commented about it raising your BMR, your basal metabolic rate the amount of energy expended while at rest. The higher your muscle mass the more calories you burn. Your body is burning calories while repairing the micro-tears you make in your muscle when you lift as well.

 

And something is also strange to me I am staying the same weight but getting leaner. I concluded that my fat vs. muscle ratio is changing because muscle does weigh more than fat. Hopefully it will all sort itself out but in the mean time I just gotta keep on keeping.

 

I found a channel on YouTube called FitnessBlender. This husband and wife team provide several different routines and information. I posted a video that I often use below. I like them because if I can type in the search whatever kind of routine or method I want and chances are they have something that matches what I want. 



 

 

 

 

I used to think that ladies who lifted weight became those overly tanned models in ugly bikinis sporting their odd physique obviously the result of supplementing with artificial quackery. But I was wrong. When I did some research I found a website that gave me some very satisfying information.

From: Why Women Should Lift Weights  
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/why-women-should-lift-weights.html

Metabolism and muscles: First, and perhaps most cogent, is the effect that lifting weights has on fat loss. The more muscle a woman has, the more calories she will burn at rest. So, basically, muscles speed up your metabolism, resulting in more effective fat loss.
Bone health: Many studies have shown that lifting weights regularly can increase bone density. Those of us in our 20s and 30s don't think about this often, but someday you will. And won't you be so proud of yourself that you lifted weights and cared for your bone density before you even knew you needed to?
Hormones: Most women simply do not possess the level of testosterone necessary to support a bulky physique. Furthermore, any woman who does have a massively muscular physique is probably supplementing with hormones. While we all have different genetics, and some of us are prone to having more muscle density than others, as a general rule you have to train for bulk to get bulk.
Ask any bodybuilder and they will tell you that gaining muscle isn't easy. You won't turn into a she-hulk just because you perform squats with your body weight, but you will end up with a righteous backside.
Training model: Along those same lines as genetics, the way you train will play a significant role in determining how your body develops. Hypertrophy (increased bulk) is not as easy as you might think, and most bodybuilders work incredibly hard to make sure their training program supports maximum muscle growth in as short a time span as possible.

So, those are some of the reasons why I do what I do. Hope you have a good week y'all!