Challenge Yourself: Day 1

I'm ready for a change, I'm ready for a challenge.  And I want everyone to be involved.  No, it will not be hard, but I will have to be 100% honest with myself and my audience, and you will too.  You can answer the questions in a journal to yourself, or you can slap them in a comment right under my post!  Or email me, I would love to help motivate each of you on your journey.  We are going to start simple... a question a week.  Or better yet, it can be a goal a week.  Every Thursday I will pop a question, give you a goal, or make you think.  Tweak and tailor anything to make it more related to your own journey. 

The goal of this challenge is to motivate you to look at your life and assess where you are.  Are you happy?  Do you need a change?  Are you spending enough time on yourself?

I'm excited to work with all of you and hopefully this will inspire us to think more about our individual lives and what we want out of them.  During this journey I will challenge you to take time to focus on certain aspects in each of your lives to make a better quality of life for each of you individually.  

Day 1:  All About the Stats

Let's focus on the numbers, where do we stand now and where do we want to go:

1.  Write your current stats: 

• height: 5'4"
• current weight: 125 pounds
• goal weight: 118 pounds 

2.  Are you at a healthy or unhealthy weight/BMI - click for BMI calculator

*Remember: BMI is your body mass index and is a general health number.  This is good for the average population, but not people who are built with extra muscle mass as muscle weighs more than fat.

I am within the normal healthy standard for BMI.  

3.  Describe your dream/goal body:

My dream body will be when I respect myself for the way I am.  I would like to reduce my overall body fat and increase my muscle mass.  I will work to lessen my cellulite on the back of my thighs (I must write a blog article about the cellulite problem all of us women have to deal with!) with increased strength training.  I will focus on a positive self-esteem and the happy aspects of my life in order to motivate me.

 

I hope you all join me in my journey to focus my life on me.  I know too many women out there who put others first, but please, if you want to meet goals and dreams in life, you must put some of your overall efforts into yourself.  Sure, bring your other half and kids on board with you, but encourage them to take one day out of each week to better themselves.  It will be worth it!

oxox, Em

Big & Bulky | Women Lifting Weights

I'm going to make a bold statement and say one of the biggest misconceptions in women's fitness is that we should NOT be lifting heavy weights.  It is not uncommon to walk into any gym and see females lifting tiny dumbbells and doing lots of cardio.

Why?  Well that's the simple part - Media has put it into their heads that lifting heavy weights is reserved for the boys and if they do as they do, they will look that way.

That's where we go wrong!  Just because we don't want to look like men, doesn't mean we should clearly do the opposite.

Although lifting heavy weights, combined with a hearty diet is the key to make males pack on size and muscle mass, it is NOT the same for females.  The main reason?  Hormones.  The hormonal profiles of men and women are very different.

In fact, a female produces only a fraction of the testosterone that a male does.  Testosterone is the main determinant of the ability to grow in size and strength, so it only makes sense that women will never achieve the same size and results as men.  Unless of course exogenous use of testosterone and anabolic compounds are used (known otherwise as steriods), you will NOT get BIG and BULKY.

This type of misinformation is all over the media and is in fact keeping ladies from their physique goals.  It is keeping women on the elliptical and lifting the little dumbbells on the end, with no results to show from it.

Check out these pictures that grab at a women's attention:

I mean, who doesn't want to walk away your weight with 4 lb weights, look and train like Jillian Michaels, or even better yet... "Get Flat Abs in 3 minutes".  Guess what? I bet Jillian lifts weights heavier than 8 pounds!

Strength training should be a must in any female's fitness routine who wishes to alter her body composition for the better.  Let me guess your goal is to maintain a lean, toned figure, then you are going to have to pick up a weight. 

My goal today is to tell you that marketing with play a huge role in your decisions.  Let me tell you though, most of the models and celebrities gracing the covers of magazines are doing A LOT more than the occasional 3 minute abs to tone their tummies.  I would go so far to say that they are most likely busting their tails a minimum of 4-5 days a week in the gym to achieve that awesome physique; It's the work of a progressive strength training routine.

My advice is to put down the magazine and find a personal trainer who is willing to help you work toward your goals.  Put in the hard work and find what works for you!