New Year´s Resolution 2014

With the new year just around the corner, now’s the time to start thinking about your 2014 resolutions.

We all know the drill: we start the year with good intentions, motivated and completely focused on what we want to achieve. Yet, how many of us actually keep our new year’s resolutions past January? A study found that 52% of resolution-makers were confident that they’d achieve their goals, yet only 12% succeeded.

The secret to keeping your new year’s resolutions

So, what’s the secret? The success is to plan ahead, identified a single resolution, set step-by-step goals, tracked their progress and made their commitment known publicly.

Plan ahead

Don’t wait until the new year to think about your resolution. Last minute decisions tend to be based on what is on your mind at that time. Instead, take some time now and reflect upon what you really want to achieve.

Identify one resolution only

Once you’ve really thought about what it is you want to accomplish in 2014, it is important you narrow it down to only one resolution. Many people often make the mistake of trying to achieve too much. The chances of success are greater when people channel their energy into changing just one aspect of their behavior.

Start small

There’s is literally nothing more daunting and demotivating than being faced with a huge task. Let’s take improving your fitness as an example, just thinking about it down makes it feel somewhat impossible. So, start by breaking it down into smaller and more tangible to-dos, like go for a jog twice a week, develop a healthy weekly menu plan, walk to work, instead of catching the bus, etc. Then set one main to-do for each week that is related to your fitness goal. All the steps are then visible from the beginning, so it’s clear the path you need to take.

Keep track of your progress

It’s very important to know where you’re heading and to make a note of your progress on the way. Tracking your goals (complete with Due Dates and Reminders) helps to maintain momentum and can help to ward off disillusionment. Plus there is nothing more satisfying than checking off your to-dos along the way.

Ask for support

Once you’ve set out all the steps you need to take to smash your new year’s resolution, try sharing your list with a trusted friend or loved one. Not only will you be ten times more likely to stick to your resolutions, they’ll also be able to help keep you honest, provide moral support and be there to celebrate with you, when you accomplish your goals.

Write down a Checklist 

• Measure yourself (not only by scale, but also with your tapeline)
• Although esp. at the beginning its difficult, but essential: make some ‘before’-selfies (just for you!! – you´ll be very proud of yourself how far you come!!)
• Set your goals
• Write down your goals
• Identify and choose only one resolution and focus
• Break down your goals into small steps
• Include some motivational rewards – you deserve it! What are the requirements to earn that reward? New athletic apparel? A new haircut ? Keep it in budget, but it should be something you can get excited about.
• Start tracking (if you need a good template, I would choose one of the following: [MOLESKINE WELLNESS JOURNAL] or [FITBOOK by FITLOSOPHY]. You canalso keep tracking on your personalized app [FITAPP] for android or IOS.
• Focus on your goal by illustration your look after reaching your goal and by imagination of your new body feeling - in case of a athletic resolution. You´ll find a lot of motivational pics on [Pinterest]
• Review your progress
• Sign up for participation in a sporting event
• Don´t forget to be too strict, if you get off course. Review what happened and jump back on track!!

MY RESOLUTION OF 2014 WILL BE TO CONTINUE MY WAY OF GETTING BACK IN SHAPE BY LOSING THE LAST POUNDS UNTIL REACHING MY (HEALTHY) BODY WEIGHT.

PASSING IN REVIEW, [2013] I STUMBLED TOO OFTEN IN TERMS OF MY CLEAN EATING-NUTRITION AND MY CONTINUOUSLY TRAINING: I'LL TRACK MY PROGRESS BY SHARING WITH YOU ALL GUYS. THAT MEANS, I'LL PROMISE TO POST MORE DETAILS ON MY BLOG.

Beachbody Challenge 2013 - Week 10

My own Beachbody Challenge has started on Feb 1, 2013.
In the following 20 weeks - until beginning of summer in Germany - I want to move up a gear and keep my eyes on low-carb clean eating in combination with 4-5 times training a week.

 

Here´s my summary of the half-time of my beachbody challenge - Week 10:

Friday, April 5

As every friday, I do the bootcamp class. We did some training with our own body weight and with elastic. At our final exercise we did a HIIT-training. After coming home I moved directly into my bathtub!!

Saturday, April 6

As some of my facebook readers know, I bought new shoes for my outdoor activities.

Sunday, April 7

Training session with my boyfried at the gym - weight training for my upper body!

Monday, April 8

Another sweaty training for my lower body!

Tuesday, April 9

- Rest - 

Wednesday, April 10

I did Cardio at the bicycle in the gym.

Thursday, April 11

- Rest - 

Maybe you wonder, why you see the American Flag in the collage at the beginning of this page.... stay tuned for my next post!! I have a little announcement! :o)

Stay healthy and tuned!

Beachbody Challenge 2013 - Week 6

My own Beachbody Challenge has started on Feb 1, 2013.
In the following 20 weeks - until beginning of summer in Germany - I want to move up a gear and keep my eyes on low-carb clean eating in combination with 4-5 times training a week.

Here´s my diary of Week 6:

Friday, March 8:
I only say two words: BOOTCAMP BABY!!!!

Saturday, March 9:
- Relaxing and stretching the legs -

Sunday, March 10:
YOU WON´T BELIEVE IT! I woke up at 9 am and looked out of my window. There was such a lovely weather: blue sky and the sun gave me the first springlike feeling. So I decided to run.... It prickled in my feets! Without a time-referenced goal I started to run.... The temperature and my condition was in perfect condition! Normally I run a distance of 3 - 5 km (1.8 - 3.1 miles) but I wasn´t able to stop myself.... so I run 9,7 km (6 miles)!!!
This was the longest distance I ever run! And I felt great!
(But unfortunately I got two big blisters on my feets :o( 

Monday, March 11:
I had a dentist´s appointment - Bleaching... for my very first time! Gosh....... But you know: BEAUTY KNOWS NO PAIN! Besides my body transformation I want to look good - with every space of my body!
Therefore I didn´t have the Zumba class - but I went to the gym for doing some weight training. 

Tuesday, March 12:
- Rest - 

Wednesday, March 13:
Doing some sports at the gym with my bf .... cardio and weigh training!!! I like it!

Thursday, March 14:
- Rest -

Stay healthy and go running!

My BEACHBODY CHALLENGE 2013

As announced and promised in my last blog, I´m happy to present you my new baby....... my 20-weeks Beachbody Challenge 2013 - from Feb 1 to Jun 20.

I was incited to this project from some other beachbody challenges on the web, which started recently or will start soon. In exactly 20 weeks there is the official beginning of summer (calendrical) in Germany. As I feel very comfortable with my current program, I´ll want to focus on my training - my nutrition and hydration is almost perfect.

In January 2013 I lost 2,3 kg (5 lbs)... that´s really incredible. Well, to be perfectly honest, I have one cheat meal due to an invitation to a pasta party! But the day after I came back on track and continued my own clean eating low-carb plan.

But I´m a little bit annoyed about my slackness of training. I did only 2 times a week my training. And with this Beachbody Challenge I want to discipline myself and raise the frequency to 4-5 times.

In the following 20 weeks I want to make some little, but essential changes in my training plan to get the most amazing beachbody I ever have. Every 4 weeks I´ll change the exercises intensity of Cardio and Weight training. As you read in one of my last posts, I joined a trial class of bootcamp - which I want to include in my upcoming training plan.

My training plan is as follows:

• Monday: 60 min Zumba
• Tuesday: Cardio (to train for the first of my cornerstones this year: 10K on May 5th) and Weight training (2-split Upper body)
• Wednesday: - Rest -
• Thursday: Cardio (to train for the first of my cornerstones this year: 10K on May 5th) and Weight training (2-split Lower body)
• Friday: 60 min Bootcamp
• Saturday: - Rest -
• Sunday: - Rest - or 1 times a month: 120 min Zumba Masterclass

via tumblr

In the next 20 weeks I´ll post regulary the results of my training and the progress of my weight loss.
So I hope I can share my motivation with you and it will push me additional to train harder.
Tomorrow will be the first day of this Beachbody Challenge... :o)

What are your plans for getting the ultimate beach body 2013?

Stay healthy and train consistently.

REVIEW: Funeral of a Carb Junkie - and Rebirth as a Protein Vamp

In my parental home and childhood I only had very healthy food. We bought a lot of foods and milk directly from a regional farmer, baked our own bread, had our own small vegetable garden and there was no sweets in our house.

Additional I did a lot of sports: 6 years of ballett, apparatus gymastics, aero wheel, badminton and advanced swimming. In my other spare time I was a very agile girl with playing twister or tag in my next neighbourhood.  

I was a really fit, healthy and lean girl. The word "overweight" was unknown.

When I got older and spreaded my own wings, I moved in my own flat. I ate everything what my taste liked. This paradise of sweets, chips, other unhealthy stuff (smoking) and unlucky relation ship in combination with no ambition of continuing the training weren´t without serious consequences: My sport level decreased to a less minimum.

via lifestyle.t-online.de

I gained weight (slowly but consistently), my skin looks unhealthy and sallow and I felt myself flabby....very flabby! I arrived in the doom loop... without any energy of doing some sports.

I recollect to a spontaneous rollerblade event a few years ago: The first half of these 20 km I got help by colleagues with pushing/pulling of my body .... the other 10 km I gritted my teeths and labor to the finish line. I gasped for breath while entering the finish, a restaurant. The other finished their meal at this time. My lung hurts as a 50-years-old chain smoker although I was just 22!!

This was a real remarkable point in my life. I was really sad, how far I ruined my own health and condition. And I figure out, that I have to change extremely something in my life.

I tried to change my entreched habits but when you do the same wrong things over a long period of time, you can´t change everything from one day to another. 

I bought a lot of fitness books and fitness magazines with their "ultimative plans for weight loss"... I tried a lot... really a lot! But no of them was right to involve it in daily business for a full-working lady like me.

I changed my nutrition from fast-food to "normal" food. But unfortunately I didn´t realize, that I ate too much carbs a day. At the highest point I ate 2-3 big rolls only for breakfast, some candys before lunch, a normal to big size lunch at the canteen, coffee with sugar, in the afternoon also cookies and also a warm dinner and -finally- some snacks in front of the TV in the evening.... that was round about over 3000 kcal a day!!!!

I was fixed at the sugar maelstrom: every time, when I ate a few days low-carb I got edgy and nervous and was really looking to satisfy my hunger for sweets and carbs.

Two or three times I get away from this addiction and feel astonishing changes: my energy came back and my gastrointernal system works also better. But the cut to low-carb was too quick, so I felt back into my old habits.

In October 2012 I reached a inacceptable limit on my scale, which I promised myself, never to pass.
I HAVE TO CUT THE RELEASE CORD!!!

via pinterest

Additional to my many existing fitness books I dig the whole internet after right nutrition and training plan for me. But that was less easy than I had thought. The author A says: "Do this!" and the author B says: "No, try that!". After reading so many books and magazines I got really confused, what´s right or wrong.

Shortly before I gave up my research I found the amazing transformation of Kelsey Byers, the plan of Jamie Eason and a detailed customer review of Tosca Reno´s book: The Eat-Clean Diet. All three girls gave me the right portion of motivation and information for a complete restart. 

To keep trying and not to fail anymore I decided to create this blog for my own motivation.

I changed completely my nutrition (start to involve peux-a-peux clean eating and low-carb into my daily life), did a food diary (since 1st January 2013) for monitoring the calories and went regularly to the gym. Although my weight fluctuate, I feel today myself more healthier: I feel myself more lean, have more energy - also in the afternoon, and my skin looks even better. It´s getting better and better.... and I never want to come back to the point as a Carb Junkie!!

My goal is to loose 20-25 kg (40-50 lbs) and to shape and strengthen my body with low-carb clean eating and doing sport with consistence. I´m in the right way to my purpose.

P.S.: Here is a summary of my important links of my internet research:

• LABRADA - Goal: Burn Fat and Tone Up
• Manual of the LABRADA Lean Body Challenge Program 2013 (pdf)
• Templates of Training and Nutrition Journal of the Lean Body Challenge 2013 
• Manual of the Challenge Program of Kelsey Byers (pdf)
• Jamie Eason´s LiveFit 12-week Plan
• Receipes of Jamie Eason´s LiveFit

 
P.P.S: Some of you may wait for pics of me. I´ll post the traditional before-after pics, when I see huge results. I give you my word.

Stay healthy and keep your fingers away from candy :o) !! 

Everyone should have a Role Model for pushing the goals

When we were younger, most of us looked up to someone. For the majority of us that would mean our parents, but on top of that it wasn't unusual to also find ourselves looking up to heroes on television and in films. 
These were figures who seemed to embody everything that we thought was good, all of the ideal traits that we would like to be able to possess for ourselves, and the kind of life that we would one day want to live.  

When role models fulfill their... role... the way they're supposed to, they can provide us with a range of benefits. For instance they can provide a model for living and for getting to the point we want to be at in our lives. For instance if you've always wanted to be a singer, then seeing someone who is successfully living that dream not only gives you a concrete example to aspire to and to show that it can be done, but it also gives you a template for how to go about achieving that. You can see how they approached their aim, and then you can see if taking a similar approach works for you. In this case that would probably mean finding an agent, getting singing lessons etc etc. This also gives you the motivation to keep going, and hopefully when you see that person perform you will be inspired anew, and you will be motivated to do your own training. 

At the same time a role model can be a comfort and almost a surrogate parent in our own minds. For someone who has a true idol, seeking out their words of advice and their shared secrets is a great way to get guidance and advice in your own life. 

Finally, having a role model can also make life more exciting in some ways. It's great to have a 'favorite' and watching a sports game is made very different if one of your heroes is on the pitch/court and this can help you to get more involved in what's going on in the game. 

My personal fitness role model is Kelsey Byers - She did a great body transformation: from 175 lbs to 135 lbs. With consistent training and clean eating!!
And now she´s a popular fitness-model. Look at this stunning picture!!!

via trimmedandtoned.com

You´ll find her transformation here.
She also wrote an helpful weight loss guide for Fitness Beginners. You´ll find it here. 
And here are some nutrition plans for download.

Eat clean & follow your dreams!!

Starting Training – What women need to know about training

There is no “one size fits all” plan and while following a generic plan can help you get started, it is often a frustrating path. The best investment you can make is to get yourself a trainer. A trainer who will design and individualize a training and nutrition plan specifically for you, your goals and needs. You will start out doing things the RIGHT way, instead of just randomly going in and doing whatever you feel like when you feel like. The benefits of having a trainer also includes accountability (which is very important), having someone there to show you the correct technique for each exercise (also very important – poor form leads to injury, ineffective and inefficient training, and is detrimental overall), and teach you about what you are doing and why, so that you can understand everything, with the eventual goal of being able to know what to do for yourself. If you don´t want to invest in a trainer you should have a good knowledge in the field of nutrition, biology and kinematics.

via pinterest

Training

Learn and understand the importance of resistance training, cardio should not be the focus (in all honesty, you do not even have to do cardio to get the figure you want, but as you get more experienced with training or want to improve your cardiovascular fitness, then it can be beneficial to include).

Weights

Anything from two to four days of training per week is ideal to start with, especially in the gym. Each body part should be trained once a week, giving it plenty of time to recover before the next training session for the same body part.
Resistance exercises you should be doing are multi-joint, compound exercises, as they use more than one muscle, and are the most effective for not only building muscle, but also in burning fat. Compound exercises require more body parts  to perform than isolation exercises. The best compound exercises that you can do are the squat and the deadlift, as they use pretty much every muscle in your body. Other compound exercises that are good to include are the power clean, bench press, shoulder press, pull-ups, dips, and calf raises (the only isolation exercise that’s really good).
Complete at least two exercises for each muscle group, with four sets of 6-10 (even up to 12) reps per exercise, with 1-2 minutes recovery in between. Always lift as heavy as you can for the number of reps you are set; the weight should challenge you... if it is too easy, you are not doing yourself any favours.
Be sure that you always use good form for EVERY exercise; otherwise you are putting yourself at risk for injury. All reps should be controlled and with good form. It is not about how much you can lift, but how well you lift. You WILL get stronger as you keep at it.
An ideal training time is 40 - 45 minutes; otherwise you become too catabolic and can end up losing muscle, which is not desirable.
So that your body does not get used to your training and stop adapting, every 4 - 12 weeks make small adjustments to your weight sessions. Adjustments do not have to be drastic and simply increasing the weight for the same session from one week to the next is a change that can make a difference. Other adjustments can include changing the order of exercises in a session or the number of sets and/or reps that you do for an exercise (and it only needs to be one exercise changed at a time, small adjustments over the weeks, not a complete overhaul of everything!).

Cardio

If you ARE going to do cardio, make it as efficient and effective as possible. If you do High Intensity Cardio or High Intensity Interval training, you can get the same, if not BETTER results with a brief 12 - 20 minute cardio session instead of spending two or more hours a day doing it! If you feel that you need to do more cardio, then you can add a couple of additional 20 - 30 minute moderate intensity sessions to your training week. Skipping, stair sprinting/running, or rowing, are the next highest calorie burners after sprinting.

Flexibility

Don’t forget about adding in some flexibility exercises, ideally 20 - 30 minutes a day on the days you train, preferably after you have done either cardio or weights, while your muscles are still warm, as this decreases the risk of injury. Stretching makes sure that you can move more freely and easily and helps elongate the muscles, ligaments, and tendons, for overall joint health and fitness.

Consistency

Understand that CONSISTENCY is essential; nothing is achieved without it. If you miss days, don’t stress over it; there is no need to “make up” for them either by doing more on another day - just forget about them and get back on track the next day. Remember the 70/30 Rule: As long as you do everything right 70% of the time, the other 30% allows for when things don’t go as planned because life gets in the way or some other reason.

Efficacy

Never forget that when it comes to exercise more is not always best! You want maximal results for minimal time. You also need to remember that some of this is experimental, and about finding what works best for YOU, since everyone is different and responds differently to different exercise programmes.

Let´s start!

Eat clean and work out

I know that I didn't mentioned the topic 'nutrition' yet. The reason is, that I had so many several nutrition and diet plan in the past but without consistency. The most of them weren't suitable for a very busy full time worker as me: after a few days of strictly following the plan I lost more and more the motivation and ate that food what I shouldn't. The ups and down results now as a huge number displayed on my scale.

As I'm very interesting in the nutrition (what will happen with my body if I'll eat the right/wrong food) I was looking for some of the fitness groups and discussion panels of the web.

One of them, which I really like is bodybuilding.com
(Don't get a panic attack when you read "bodybuilding".) :-)

I'm fascinated with working out to be the strongest that you can be while also maintaining a feminine and sexy form with curves in all the right places. I've never been a fan of skinny and flat, but I've always been a fan of being FIT and STRONG. So basically, this is me trying to say that I'm going to step up my game another notch. Now I´ll include weight training in my fitness plan.

On this site there's a really good 12-weeks female fitness plan of Jamie Eason (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-introduction.html) , motivational pics of female body transformations and nutrition plans....and all of them are free!! (The only fee is to get your ass off the couch).

Here are two examples of body transformations which awake my interest.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/body-transformation-clean-eating-made-her-a-model.html (she´s as tall as me)
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/body-transformation-fitness-formula.html

The intention of the several nutrition plans are: eat clean!!

That mean exactly: eat only that kind of food, which comes naturally from the nature and avoid all processed food (relying on fresh fruits, fish, lean meat, vegetables and whole grains rather than prepackaged or fast food).

Here are a program of Kelsey Byers Challenge Program and Mealplan.

via pinterest

That clean eating in addition with weight training (starting this week) and cardio should be my formula for a nice shaped and healthy body 2013 - besides reaching all of my planned cornerstones!

Finally, it's a pleasure for me to tell you all, that I lost 1,3 kg last week. Okay, that's only a finger in the dike, but a nice beginning!!!

via pinterest