**Disclaimer: This post is not going to be like some of my other posts. This post is going to be mostly me rambling about my progress and where I want to be. If you don’t like posts like this, carry on about your life. I won’t even be mad.**
So when I started this whole fitness thing, I really didn’t know where I wanted to end up. I really was just kind of shooting in the dark. I decided to set a goal for myself – to be under 200 pounds. I set that goal strictly so I could say “I’ve got a goal I’m working towards”. It never occurred to me that I wanted to be under 200 pounds. Not so much I didn’t want to be under 200, I just never thought I would be. I didn’t think I could. I just wanted to have a goal, so I made one. That goal didn’t mean anything to me. Somewhere around 230, I realized I could actually hit my goal. That was sort of a revolutionary thing. Looking back, that was also the time I started kind of coming into my confidence. So maybe those two things go hand and hand. I’m not sure. Around that time I really started asking myself – Who do I want to look like? My answer to myself was immediately Khloe Kardashian. You don’t have to like her or tolerate her, but her body is on a level of magical fleekness I can’t even comprehend. So naturally I wanted to look like her. I looked up her weight and the only estimation I could find (never confirmed) was that she weighed 170 pounds. I thought, I can do that. If I can get to 200, I can certainly get to 170. From that point on, I was in beast mode. I was actually visualizing my goal every single day. Even though 200 was my “goal”, I felt more passion and dedication once I decided on 170. So here I am. I’ve just gone under 200, and now I’m on my way to 170. Let me pause here and say it’s still really surreal to me that I’ve actually lost 67 pounds. That’s ¼ of my body weight and that kinda f*cking crazy to me. If you’ve ever done something really drastic to your hair- you know what I mean. Say you have long blonde hair and you decide to dye it back. In the morning you wake up and you feel like nothing has changed, and you look in the mirror and it legitimately scares you. Like who is this person and why does she look just like me? When I think “I need a new outfit”, my mind automatically thinks “I’ll swing by Lane Bryant”. I don’t yet realize that Hey, I can shop at other places with cute clothes. I can shop where my best friend shops. I don’t have to go to Lane Bryant. I guess some people may call that body dysmorphia; I’m not qualified to say I have that particular condition. But most days I don’t feel like a 200 pound woman. I still feel like myself. Almost 270 walking around in my Lane Bryant jeans. Anyway. Going forward obviously the goal is 170. Actually 166.6, because just for the hell of it I want to be able to say “I’ve lost 100 pounds” and be completely serious. I guess this goal is about proving to myself that I can. I came up with this handy dandy little chart using all of my magical mathematical skills and determined that if I lose 2.5 pounds a week (entirely realistic for me by the way) I’ll be at my goal of 166.6 by the first of the year. My whole journey has been preparing me for this. I know how to moderate my cheat meals. I’m used to drinking enough water to hydrate a small African village. I am made for this shit. I’ve got wonderful friends and family that are supporting me, and have from the beginning. Looking back, my decision to lose weight was something that literally no one in my life tried to fight me on. And that’s the end of that paragraph because that last sentence speaks volumes about the dynamic of my life. I’m really bad at compliments. Like if I were to make a list of the things I’m really bad at, taking compliments would be right up there next to peeing standing up. Actually I think I’ll make that list right now.
Anyway. Really bad at compliments. Losing this much weight I get compliments on a daily basis. Online, it's not a problem because I can just say “Thank you!” and adding a cute emoji. But compliment me in person and literally my entire nervous system shuts down. I can’t even form thoughts, much less an appropriate response. So if you’re one of the people that have complimented me in person, I’m truely sorry for my response at the time, and thank you for your kindness. Sorry if this Blog was all over the place. I, myself, am kind of all over the place. But I don’t feel like sharing that with you guys right now. Mainly because I’m on the verge of a legitimate psychotic break. If you’ve read this far, thank you. Have a great rest of your day, and God bless.
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Incase you haven’t heard the great news, I officially hit my first goal this morning! I weighed in at 199.6. My overall goal starting out was to be under 200, but I set small goals every 10 pounds. So every 10 pounds I would reward myself with something I wouldn’t ordinarily do, and as the weight loss grew, so did my rewards.
Never in a million years did I think I would hit my goal today. Last week was such a crazy week for me! I was off for the holiday on Monday, worked three days, and was off again on Friday. I allowed myself a cheat meal last Thursday at Olive Garden, I had Sonic on Friday, and I had Ramen Noodles on Saturday (don’t laugh – my stomach was upset!). Three cheat meals in three days, with only one short gym session thrown into the middle somewhere. I expected to GAIN weight this weekend – not lose. Yet here I am. As far as my exercise routine up to this point, I can tell you it was a lot of cardio. I get easily bored and I found out pretty quick that I like to switch it up. Each exercise gives a different high based on the muscles you use during that workout. Some days I want to do the treadmill, other days the arc trainer, other days the stairs. I love doing cardio because it’s my time to relax. Catch up on Netflix (or if I’m running) catch up on the music I’ve downloaded recently. Up until now, I’ve been doing 3 days of cardio and 2 days of weights. Sometimes I’d do 4 days of cardio and 1 day of weights if I felt particularly guilty about what I ate over the weekend. Since I don’t allow myself to do weighted exercises often, I find myself feeling a sense of reward when I actually do weights. Like “I’ve earned this gym session”, I don’t know. I’m very satisfied with the size I am right now, so going forward I will be changing up my workout routine. I’ll be doing a 1-mile warmup run, abs, arms, and legs (all with weights). Maybe I’ll do stairs if I’m feeling frisky. My goal from here on out is to tone my body. I would love to feel as strong as I did when I played volleyball. My next goal weight is to weight 166.0 pounds. More than 100 pounds down from where I started. That’s the smallest I ever plan on allowing myself to be. I’d like to hang out in the 170s for the rest of my life, eat good food, and workout often to maintain my strength. I’m on a pretty specific plan to get me to 166 before the end of the year. I’m considering upping my calorie intake since my workouts are going to be more intense now, but first I need to make sure I’m 100% committed to gym sessions every day. I thoroughly appreciate all the support I’ve gotten today, and every day since the beginning of my journey. It’s overwhelming sometimes. I don’t know where I would be without you guys. Thank you. While the response to my decision to join Advocare has been overwhelmingly positive, I’m sure there are some people out there thinking, “Why did she sign up to work for Advocare? Doesn’t she make enough money? Why is she compromising her platform to talk about these products that no one has even heard of?” I’m here to *hopefully* answer these questions.
“Why did she sign up to work for Advocare?” I signed up to work with Advocare because their products have never let me down. I’ll be the first to admit, I haven’t tried every Advocare product there is. However – I have tried the majority of them. Advocare products have never made me want my money back. They’ve never made me sick or groggy. I’ve had nothing but positive results. In addition to my confidence in the company and their products, as a distributor, I receive a discount on all products including the ones I was already using. So, by becoming a distributor, I’m actually saving myself money. “Doesn’t she make enough money?” I’m fortunate that I had the opportunity to attend and graduate from a trade school. Not many people have that opportunity. After I graduated, I was offered a job in the field and of course I accepted. Being that I went to school for this, yes, I do get paid more than minimum wage. Do I make 6 figures? No. Hell no. So I guess I could see how someone might think I make “enough money”. I didn’t join Advocare to make money. I joined Advocare to promote products I believe in with everyone I meet. If I make some money on the side, that will be great. But even if I don’t make a single dime, I’m going to keep promoting Advocare. “Why is she compromising her platform to talk about these products that no one has even heard of?” My “platform”, and any ‘following’ I might have, is only because of my success with weight loss and fitness. I wouldn’t even have a “platform” if it weren’t for these products. I truly believe that without Advocare, I might have plateaued after losing about 25 pounds. I might have never recovered. Advocare products provided me with the energy to keep going. I’ve lost so much weight, because of these amazing products. The fact that no one has heard of them is irrelevant to me. In closing, I hope I’ve been able to shine some light on my decision to become a Distributor. You’ll be seeing more product-related posts on social media now that I’m in a position to share my secret weapon. What do you think of my decision to join Advocare? Have you ever heard of Advocare or any of our products? Drop a comment below! Or drop your email to learn more! I’ll be answering 1-on-1. Click here to read Part 1: The Confession
So there I was, somewhere around the beginning of April, about 7 pounds down and swearing off all magical pills and powders…. Realizing that the body I wanted wouldn’t come from a product was extremely hard for me to grasp. I don’t really know how to explain it. It was like preparing for a long road trip – You pack, you wash your car, you get gas, your get the oil changed, you check your tire pressure, and then finally you’re on the road… And then your car breaks down. At the end of February, I got mentally ready for that trip. I came to terms with my weight, I accepted that I needed to change, I started reading articles and following fitness accounts and asking for tips… And then the vehicle I expected to aid in my weight loss completely fell apart. I was devastated. I was upset. I considered giving up. But then I thought about those first two weeks. I remember specifically thinking, “If putting poison in my body could give me that much energy, how much energy am I capable of creating on my own?” And from that point on, it was a challenge. I never wanted anyone to say, “You wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for that insert name of magical product here.” Because in my mind, that roughly translates to “You couldn’t have done this by yourself.” That’s why I kept my experience with Plexus a secret for so long. I have at least 2 friends who have used plexus and seen great results. Hell, my aunt has recently become a Plexus distributor. I’m not saying that my results from Plexus are typical, or that it won’t work for you. My only complaint with this company is that they refused to see that there could be bigger medical issues happening that their products can’t fix. They refused to expand their horizon to include the outside chance that maaaaaybe their product isn’t meant for everyone. With that being said, I truly believe that my issues with Plexus were due to my intestinal issues that I’ve been dealing with for 2 years. (Backstory: 2 years ago I was experiencing pain so severe that my family doctor sent me to the ER, convinced I had appendicitis. That’s how bad it got. I was told there after $7,000 worth of testing that it was in fact an intestinal infection caused by stress and that I could never participate in a cleanse no matter how mild.) About a month later, I got the idea in my head that I needed to add protein shakes after my workout. Unfortunately, the same intestinal issues reared their ugly head and I ended up throwing up my shakes most days. At first I thought I had just gone too hard at the gym, but I later realized that milk on my hot tummy wasn’t a good idea. I stopped using the protein post-workout and everything went back to normal. About another month later during a particularly busy time at work, I needed extra energy to power through my workouts. I tried a preworkout powder and I’m pretty sure mine had some cocaine in it because that stuff made me go and go and go like the energizer bunny. Like legitimately I would just jump up and down in the same spot because I couldn’t stand still. I could go on and on about the pros and cons of every product I’ve tried along this fitness journey. From protein post-workout to preworkout powder to meal replacement shakes to meal replacement bars to electrolyte replacement pills. I’ve tried pretty much everything. So far everything I’ve tried has just left me disappointed or with a hole in my wallet. Only one company has consistently provided me with quality products that work. That company is AdovCare. Over the past few months, I have been fortunate to purchase many of the AdvoCare products and seamlessly work them into my everyday routine. Each time I tried something new, I was overwhelmed with the performance of the product. I have never been disappointed with an AdvoCare product. I’m incredibly happy to announce that as of today, I am an AdvoCare distributor. I will never try to sell you any products you don’t want; instead, I will be sharing my success with certain AdvoCare products over Facebook and Instagram (as I have done consistently throughout my weight loss journey). If you are interested in one of the products I feature or are looking to change your body, I am always open to discuss any questions and recommend which products I think will work for you. I will ultimately make a small percentage of what is sold through my website, but I will never make enough to lie to my friends and family. I will never promote something that hasn’t worked for me. Athletes, whether they are looking to slim down or bulk up, use products to reach their goals. I use products every day, and as you know, I’ve always been passionate about helping my followers reach their goals. It’s a natural next step for me to share my secret weapon with you guys. AdvoCare products have truly shaped my weight loss journey. I don’t know that I would have had as much success with my weight loss if I hadn’t began using their products. If you’re interested in how AdvoCare has helped shape my body and my life, send me an email or leave a comment below. I’ll be looking forward to it. As I’ve mentioned before, when I first started my weight loss journey I had no idea what to do. I had never set foot in a gym. I had no idea how to meal prep. These are all things I taught myself later on, but not until after I made the mistake of trying Plexus products.
For those of you who don’t know what Plexus is, it’s a company that produces pills and powders (as well as a line of cleanses and probiotics) aimed at helping people lose weight and become healthy. When I first heard of Plexus, the results people had from using the products were overwhelming. Among them, I remember these: No more migraines, no more blood sugar medicine, no more insulin resistance, etc. If you had a problem, Plexus had a solution. I’ve suffered from severe migraines since I was a child, so the promise that Plexus could cure me once and for all was enough to get me to try the products. Unfortunately, as I later found out, Plexus’s whole idea of health was that if something was wrong with your overall health, your gut was out of wack. True, possibly. But instead of suggesting a trip to the doctor and a few rounds of prescription strength probiotics, these independent distributors instead suggested that a few of their pills, coupled with a cleanse or probiotic, and of course their signature pink drink would clear you right on up. But we’ll talk more about this later. I found a distributor online and immediately contacted her to see which products would be best for me and my long-term health goals. I disclosed to her my history of intestinal issues, and I ended up choosing the following Plexus items:
For the first two weeks or so, I was doing great. I had lots of energy, I was happier, I had less brain fog. The Plexus actually seemed to be working! Unfortunately, I can’t say that my results lasted. After the initial two weeks, I started experiencing brain fog worse than ever before. I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I would forget what I was saying right in the middle of a sentence! I had headaches almost every single day. I was moody – and NO, it wasn’t “that time”. In addition, I started having stomach pains and that’s when I knew something was up. At first my stomach pains were almost like cramps, but in my upper stomach. I had no idea what was going on. After a few days, my cramping escalated to sharp, stabbing pains. I could be just sitting at my desk typing as I am right now, and I’d get a pain that would double me over with tears in my eyes. I couldn’t workout. I could barely work! That’s when I messaged my Plexus distributor to let her know something wasn’t right. She immediately hit me with “This is totally normal, this is just your body adjusting to the products, this will go away in about a week.” For some reason, I believed her. (Reason: I desperately wanted there to be a way to get skinny fast and without working for it) After that conversation, I gave her products a deadline – I swore “If my body isn’t back to normal in one week, I’m throwing this shit away.” I continued taking the products for another week, and unfortunately my condition never improved. The brain fog was getting worse, the headaches escalated to every single day, but the stomach pains stayed the same. (Thankfully they didn’t increase because my boss was already on the verge of sending me to the hospital) After that week I had been on Plexus for a little over one month, and all it had done for me was make my life worse and keep my from achieving ACTUAL results. I sent that Plexus lady an email telling her that I felt I was poisoning my body and I asked if I could get out of the rest of my three-month trial. She said it wasn’t possible. No remorse or explanation for what was happening to me. So there I was, more than a month into my fitness journey, having lost around 7 pounds (largely due to those first two weeks of high-energy workouts) and without a quick fix. At that point I realized there’s not a quick fix. A body worth having doesn’t come from a bottle. Click here to read Part 2: The Comeback I had about three weeks of working 13 hour days, during which I was going to the gym a maximum of 3 times a week including weekends. Unfortunately, I couldn’t control my crazy schedule. I had no choice but to ride it out and wait for the rush of work to be over with, which it is!
It feels really good to be back in the swing of things. As I mentioned, I’ve been dealing with a stomach bug for a while now. I’m still not sure what caused it. I was really sick for about a week, and then nauseous and lethargic for another week and a half. Weird, right? Anyway I had to modify my meal plan for two full weeks. The first (really bad) week, I was eating soup from a can and ritz crackers and sprite and that’s all. I couldn’t stomach anything else. The second (moderate) week, I prepped homemade noodle soup in chicken broth for lunch, and breakfast was… Fruit I think. I guess the fruit brought my immune system back to par because I’m feeling great this week. I had an AWESOME weekend in San Antonio with my sister and father, and I’ve had no problem falling back into my regular meals and workouts. In other news, I’ve officially lost 60 pounds from my start weight. I’ll be hitting my first MAJOR goal within the next few weeks, so stay tuned for that ;) When I hit that goal I’ll be doing a Fitbit giveaway on Instagram, so if you’re following me, be on the lookout for that. If you’re not following me, WHY? You can find my account by searching @chaneycheyenne or by using the hashtag #chaneyshrinks. As you can probably tell I don’t have much time to write today. I just wanted to give you guys a little update. And Lisa… HI! So life happened, and I’ve decided to temporarily suspend my gym sessions in favor of sleep. Since last Monday, I’ve been working 12 hour days at my company in Houston, Texas. My daily 2 hour commute, in addition to12 hour work days, is already proving to be stressful on my mind and body. I feel like the continued daily hour-long gym sessions would be more harmful than helpful at this point.
I firmly believe that sleep is just as important as diet, exercise, and hydration when trying to lose weight. I won’t try to go into the scientific details because truthfully, I have no idea why that is so. But in my own weight loss journey, I’ve seen that the amount of weight I lose is directly relative to how much sleep I get. Yes, diet and exercise are important, along with staying hydrated. But unfortunately, when you start having to sacrifice your body’s natural recovery time (aka sleep) for these things, you’re not doing yourself any favors. Last week, I existed in a state of guilt all because I wasn’t going to the gym. I was still sticking to my diet and drinking water, but in my mind I felt like I was doing something wrong. This week, I’m much more at peace with my decision to skip the gym. I know that I’m doing the best thing for my mental and physical state. Gymtimidation is a very real thing. Luckily I belong to a gym where lunks are just not allowed. Planet Fitness is the only gym I’ve ever been a member of, and in my opinion it is the best place to start. When you sign up, you’re given a full tour of the gym. Even when you start working out, you are encouraged to ask questions if you have them - a staff member will personally assist you and show you the correct technique for the machine in question.
At one point, I went to a different gym with a friend of mine. I don’t remember the name of that gym, and even if I did, I wouldn’t post it here. Going to the gym with my friend turned out to be a very overwhelming experience. There were so many machines. Everyone was lifting at least 5X more than what I was lifting. The reps my friends were doing were 3X more than what I could do. I kept up with them the best I could, and I was sore for LITERALLY a week afterward. And all the people! There were people damn near screaming their way through their reps. There were photographers, taking pictures of certain athletes. It was seriously crazy. The good thing about that visit was that I realized how happy I was at Planet Fitness. At the other gym, I developed a certain social awkwardness I’ve never had before, especially inside a gym. I was nervous. I stayed right next to friend. I wouldn’t go to a machine without her. And the worst part was, when I voiced that I was uncomfortable and felt like I was pushing past my limit, she just said “Oh come on, don’t be such a wimp!” I understand that some people respond well to the “trainer” type workout partner, but I don’t. Trainers are excellent if your mind is your only obstacle. In my case, my physical body was what was holding me back. And she didn’t listen. I’ve declined several requests to workout with her since. Gymtimidation is very real, and unfortunately it keeps a lot of people from trying new things in their gym. Some people want to try a machine in the middle of the gym, but shy away because it’s surrounded by other people. Some people want to try a certain machine that they’re worried they won’t be able to do, and turn away because they don’t want to be laughed at for their inexperience. Heck, some people just don’t want to look stupid while trying something new! I’ve been all of these people. I’ve worried that I’d be judged, or laughed at, or look stupid. Most of all, I’ve been worried that someone would make a rude comment about my size. Luckily, I was able to overcome all of those worries. My method? Only try new machines at night. I do this for two reasons. Firstly – I don’t want to be laughed at for not knowing what I’m doing. Secondly – I don’t want to get rushed off of the machine without making my technique perfect. If you practice wrong, you will perform wrong. Going during non-peak gym hours allows me to have the machine to myself, where I can figure out exactly how my body should be working. Once I get my form absolutely perfect, I allow myself to walk away from the machine. This method has truly worked for me! I have kept myself free of injury by giving myself enough time to become familiar with my machines. In addition, I can walk into the middle of the crowded gym and ROCK my machine of choice! I encourage all of you to take the time to get to know your machines. Don’t rush it because you are intimidated. Give yourself the time you need to learn. Some people take longer than others – and that’s okay! It’s your body. You should be comfortable, at all times! Eat at the same time every day.
Even if you're eating complete and total shit - Be consistent about your shit eating. Do it at the same time every day, 7 days a week. Why? It has to do with training your metabolism - which is a fancy way of saying You train your body to use your food for energy instead of storing it as fat. If you eat at the same time every day, your body notices. Imagine your body saying "Oh yay! I don't have to store this food as fat, because I know I'm going to get fed again in three hours. Let me burn this off right quick." Diet or no diet, this is important. Drink water. Diet or no diet, this is important. Everything but water is either loaded with chemicals or sugar (but I'm not gonna fight that battle today). If you don't like the taste of plain water; add lemon, mint, or lime. Why? Fat leaves your body in two ways, pee and sweat. So the natural answer to How do I lose weight is pee more and sweat more. That translates to drink more water and make your body sweat. Invest in a Fitbit, and actually use it. If you don't know what a Fitbit is, let me be the first to enlighten you. A Fitbit is a fitness tracker. You wear it on you wrist like a watch. They range anywhere from $60 - $250, and they are worth every single penny. In addition to real-time step and calorie tracking, some of the more advanced models have features that track the flights of stairs you climb throughout the day, your heart rate, and answer calls with the touch of a button. In addition to the actual trackers (which are very well made), you get a whole world (literally speaking) of support via messageboards and communities. You can add friends who have Fitbits and see how your activity compares to theirs over the last 7 days. Fitbit is an excellent company - I recently LOST my tracker. I was no one's fault but my own. When I emailed the company to see if they could use GPS to locate my device, they offered to send me a new one completely free of change. They are incredibly loyal to their customers and NO, I am not being payed to write this article. That's just a huge perk. Why? If you're not someone who has the time and energy to spend at the gym, this will show you that some exercise is better than none. The trip to the restroom, the walk to and from your car, walking next door... It all matters. Fitbit technology takes these steps and adds them together and gives you a very accurate idea of how many miles you've walked. That's right, miles. Before long, you'll find yourself parking at the end of the parking lot just so you can hit your step goal for the day. You'll be walking laps around your house at 10:00pm just trying to get those last few steps in before bed. There's something comforting about knowing that what you're doing, matters. And that's why so many people (like myself) SWEAR by the use of Fitbits. Find healthy options of foods you already eat. I love pasta so much that I've actually considered the possibility that I'm Italian and nobody told me. In fact, if you looks in my Recipe section, you can see that even my very restrictive diet can't come between me and my Pasta. The difference? I use whole wheat pasta (aka the brown stuff) and do you know what? My taste buds can't tell the difference. Why? First things first, carbs are your primary source of energy. If you stop eating carbs all together, your car runs out of gas (so to speak). But most importantly - Diets don't work if you don't stick to them. If you cut all carbs out of your life, your body is just going to crave them until your break. It's better to have a healthy serving of carbs every day, than to starve yourself of energy until your break your diet and binge eat the entire McDonalds menu. Don't ever stop. This is so important, and I know how cliche it sounds. But don't ever stop. You have a cheat meal? Alright. Drink lots of water to flush the toxins out, and get back on the band wagon tomorrow. You missed a workout because school/work/life was too overwhelming? That's okay. Promise yourself that you'll push yourself to the max at your next workout. Your Uncle ate some of the meals you had prepped for yourself? Treat yourself to healthy meal out with friends instead. You're craving chocolate? Eat half of the bar, and drop the other half in the toilet and throw it away (assume you don't have anyone around you that'd like a free half chocolate bar). Don't let a bad day, rotten mood, or bump in the road derail all of your success. There's a quote that says "You didn't gain all the weight by eating ONE bad meal. So don't think you'll gain it all back after one cheat." Why? Think of the reasons you want to be healthier. Think of the people that want to watch you fail. The people that want you to succeed. What kind of an example are you setting for those people? For your siblings, for your children? You CAN do it! Monday morning, I found myself reading the blog of Annamarie Rivera (known to most of us on Instagram as @weightlosswithannamarie). She posted a wonderful blog recently called “Early Morning Workouts! Tips and Benefits!” and it’s pretty safe to say that it changed my life. (Read it here).
I’m up every morning by 4:45, and at work every morning by 6:00. So it shouldn’t be surprising that I’ve never considered adding early workouts to my schedule. However, after reading her blog post, I was blown away. Most of the suggestions for actually getting up and going to workout, were things I found that I was already doing. (Example: Laying out my clothes the night before, prepping breakfast the night before, setting my alarm clock across the room). And then, she went into the benefits of morning workouts. My favorite was the potential to burn more fat! After I read her post, I was definitely interested. As if by fate, another friend I met through Instagram posted that she was doing cardio early that very same morning! I immediately sent her a text asking about it. The main thing I took from our conversation was her very first text, “You will drop weight like crazy because it’s fasted cardio so you will burn basically complete fat” followed by “If you think about it you didn’t just eat so you’re not burning off your food”. So that got me thinking. Fasted cardio? I’ve heard of people practicing religious fasting, but I never payed attention to the benefits of it. Fasted cardio is a term I’d never even heard before! I decided to google it. I searched “fasted cardio” and of the articles that came up, this one was my favorite (click here to read). Immediately, this article confirmed that fasted cardio does, in fact, burn more stored fat than a normal cardio workout. In Annamarie’s blog, she used the figure 20%, but I’m not sure how accurate that is or where it came from. The article goes on to explain the actual science of why you burn more fat during fasted cardio. Spoiler: 1) Low insulin levels. (This means there’s less insulin in your blood and more room for the fat your body naturally stores) 2) Low blood sugar. (Think of your body like a car, and blood sugar like gas. When you wake up, your blood sugar is low. Low gas. So what does your body, or car, do? It calls on it’s friend Fat Reserve!) 3) High Growth Hormone Levels. (Your insulin hates these. They never chill in your blood at the same time. If you’ve got low insulin, you’ve got high growth hormones. These two go up and down during the day, but in the morning when your insulin is low, your growth hormone levels are high. Why is that important? Because when this Growth Hormone is chillin' in your blood, like it does every morning, it invites it’s friend the Fat Reserve to come chill with it. That’s enough to make anyone break down fat stores. But pair it with #2, low blood sugar, and you’ve got a recipe for Fat Reserve loss.) Basically, during fasted cardio, your body is FORCED to use fat reserves. That’s super good news for anyone, like myself, whose primary goal is to burn fat! I’ve read more articles than this, but I felt like this article did the best job of explaining the science behind WHY it works the way that it does. After much consideration, I’d decided that I’ll be adding a fasted cardio sessions every day of the week, beginning next Monday morning. After a week, I’ll let you guys know how it went for me. Do you have any fasted cardio experience? Comment or email me and lets talk about it! Until then. |
I already know what happens when I give up. I want to see what will happen if I don't. Archives
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