Cardio Is For The Birdies

Last week I posted a picture of my transformation, which brought up a lot of questions from others. Such as: What are your secrets? How are you doing it? What have you changed? How can you help ME?

Well guess what, I have answers for all of those!

What have you changed?
I have changed everything. From my eating habits, my sleeping habits, and my workout habits. I have changed it all. However, I didn't do it all in one day. I did it over time.
With my eating habits: I started one meal at a time. I started with breakfast and made it healthy every single day. Then when I was used to 1 I went to 2, then I went to 3 with a healthy snack. I made those meals each 4 hours apart. 8am(breakfast), 12 pm(lunch), 4pm (snack), 6pm (supper). I found that if I went longer than this without eating, I frequently over ate.
My sleeping habits: I started going to bed earlier instead of staying up all hours of the night and I started getting my butt out of bed in the mornings to workout.
My workout habits: I have tried to lose weight a thousand times plus and never get anywhere. Once I got used to eating at least 1 meal a day that was healthy I started working out as well. Something I had to understand was I have to work up to my max potential, not start there on week one. I was pushing myself too hard and I would give up because I didn't feel like i could do it. Start simple just like with the meals and work your way up. Even 30 minutes a day is amazing!

How are you doing it?
I have been trying to diet for years. Every time I thought that it was all about calorie restriction. However, it is SO much more than that. Calories need to be restricted BUT that doesn't mean cut them out period or eat less than your recommended daily value or to cut out the protein and the carbs that give you energy to keep going. You have to do some research and learn what each thing does for your body and how to control the numbers. What I tell everyone is that PROTEIN IS KEY! I truthfully believe that you have to get your max protein each day or you are only hurting yourself.
Also, I work out each and every day, with one rest day. You have to be dedicated to the change or it isn't going to happen. The excuses have to stop and become excuses for why you HAVE to go to the gym, not why you CANT go to the gym. It's all a mindset game. Weight loss comes with hard work in the kitchen and at the gym.

What is my secret?
Support. Support is my secret. I know that each week nobody depends on seeing my blog be posted but they are cheering me on when they read it. So many people are rooting for me and if I give up now I let down so many more people than myself. My secret is this blog and it holding me accountable. Each week I have nearly 200 readers. If I give up I give up on 200 people who are counting on me to prove the world wrong and to show everyone my strengths. Find your support, create your own blog, find a reason to keep going!

How can you help ME?
Ask me anything! Even if I don't know the answer, chances are I'm going to look it up. I can give you workouts even if they are workouts I have acquired from others when I asked. I can give you recipes, I can give you tips, I can give you tricks, I can drag your butt to the gym with me, I can hold you accountable by asking you weekly what you have done to make yourself better. I can do a lot for you, it just takes you asking me!

Outside of these questions I want to let you all know that weights are key! One time I worked out with my best friend before I began this journey and I was just going to bike. She looked at me with a serious face and said, "Oh no, Cardio is for the birdies. We are lifting weights today". She pushed me past my limits and made walking nearly impossible the next day. BUT I felt change in my body after just one time at the gym! The fact of the matter is that fat does not burn as many calories as muscle does. When you gain muscle you ramp up your metabolism, and you burn more calories. In other words, you're going to lose that weight quicker and that belly fat!

You can run or do your choice of cardio, I run 2 1/2 miles a day along with weight lifting, but don't forget to lift! With gaining more muscle you need more protein in your body. Did you know: the amount of protein you are supposed to consume per day is the muscle mass % that you have. For example I weight 186 lbs to date and my muscle mass % is 116.6. That means each day I have to consume approx 117 grams of protein to properly feed my muscles.

Lift weights and get your protein, see results.





I'll post again after the weekend with some awesome workouts that I have gotten from fitness guru, Tara Roach, that went through her own transformation and is now a muscle machine! Her workouts will kick your butt every time and make you feel like you truly did all that you could do.

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend and please be safe!

xoxo,
Audrey