Alright let’s talk CHEAT NIGHT!!!!

I have been dying to talk about cheat night!!  This is something I am a true believer in because I’ve seen it make a difference in my life.  Many experts including those on bodybuilding.com  go into great detail over why it’s good for you to have a cheat night. 

There are a few things that come out of a cheat night

1.       It’s a lot easier to stick to a clean healthy, balanced diet during the week if you have something to look forward to.

2.       The foods we crave taste a lot better when you eat them on cheat night instead of indulging on them everyday throughout the week.

3.       Having a cheat meal will help reset your metabolism so you don’t plunder down a black hole.

What is a cheat meal??

A cheat meal is a night where you can eat whatever dinner you want within reason (not to the point where your going to throw up said meal).  Whatever you have been craving EAT IT!!!  Whether it be pizza, Buffalo Wild Wings, Pasta you name it.  Then you can also have whatever dessert you want too.  That is my favorite part J You don’t have to feel guilty doing it!  You have to remember you worked your butt off! You earned it!!  It’s not going to hurt you as long as you make sure you’re sticking to your well balanced diet throughout the week.

A cheat meal is something you would have on your rest day for the week (YOU NEED A REST DAY IT’S VERY IMPORTANT FOR YOUR BODY TO RECOVER).  This is usually the day where it’s ok to have a high carb day.  When I first started Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Shred I would usually take my rest day on Sunday.  But since we like to eat out as a family on Saturday’s that was the day we would cheat.  Then Sunday I would go back to my regular weekly diet.  After a while I found that on Sunday’s I would DRAG!!  By 9:00 I literally could fall asleep standing up.  Then the last few weeks I have started taking Saturday as my rest day then eating higher carbs throughout the day.  I would still make sure that all the carbs I was eating were good carbs like oatmeal, 100% whole wheat bread, Honey, Protein bars, fruit, ect.  Things that being on a .5 carb per lb of weight diet wouldn’t normally include.   Then that night I would have whatever my heart desired for dinner and dessert.

Now to address #1

It’s a lot easier to stick to a clean healthy, balanced diet during the week if you have something to look forward to at the end of the week.  For the last two weeks of my program Shortcut to Sred I was on a 61g carb diet.  It was really hard!!! I had never before in my life actually counted carbs.  I was basically living off of protein shakes, string cheese, the occasional almond, grilled chicken salads, turkey burgers with one half a whole grain thin bun, broccoli, cottage cheese, eggs, turkey swiss wraps, and no bean homemade chili.  It seems like a lot but eating those things only for 2 weeks in a row gets mind-numbing. 

For me to stick to a strict healthy well balanced diet I had to have something to look forward too.  If I didn’t have a cheat night I really don’t think I could have done it!

#2

 It’s so true that when you don’t have something for a while, something that you love, when you do have it, it tastes soooooooooooooooo good!!!  We love to go to Buffalo Wild Wings a lot for our cheat meal, and it doesn’t really matter whether the food is ACTUALLY good or not, we probably wouldn’t notice.  It still tastes that good to us. 

#3

This is the most important one!!  I have noticed this one myself.  Your metabolism will actually get a boost from having a cheat meal.  When you go day to day with a routine and a well-balanced strict diet your body can start to plateau.  So the cheat meal will actually reset your metabolism and make sure it’s working at its peak.  I find that even eating 1500 calories the night before I will weigh less the next morning than I did the day before.  Plus now I’m hungry all the time my metabolism works so well.  So it makes it even harder to stick to my diets.  But I love love love the results I’m getting, so I am determined to keep it up. 

So there is something to look forward to through all your hard work.  Because weight lifting is not a walk in the park.  It hurts!  You get really sore! But the results and the good that comes from weight lifting outweigh all the hard things about it.  

How to lift weights

I just wanted to clarify that I’m not writing these blogs to brag.  I really just want to help inform others and help those that want to be healthy and fit.  I really just want to show that if I can do it too.

Please keep in mind that Form is so important!  If you have poor form your going to end up hurting yourself.  If you find that after you have major pains in some areas it may be that your form isn’t how it should be.

 

Don’t be afraid to lift heavy weights!!!  You are not going to look like a man (unless you are a man).  But to get the results you want and are looking for you have to lift heavier.  You can’t just go into the gym and grab a dumbbell and do a couple curls, then go over and use the leg press machine and do a few and call it good.  After you finish lifting weights your body goes into gear at repairing your muscles, thereby increasing your metabolism throughout the day.  So this is why it’s important to lift heavy

When lifting weights typically you pick a couple muscles and you beat the crap out of them.  Then you would rest those muscles for a few days and work other ones.  Usually these are the muscles your likely to work when doing a program. 

·         Chest

·         Triceps

·         Shoulders

·         legs

·         Back

·         Traps

·         Abs

·         Biceps

·         Calves

·         Forearms

In some programs you will find them combining different muscle groups.  You typically will find these muscles together

·         *Chest, Triceps, Abs

·         *Shoulders, Legs, Calves

·        * Back, Traps, Biceps, forearms

·         You can always throw abs in wherever you feel.  Then you would repeat this pattern.

Usually with a program you will be given a certain number of reps to do.  Then they will also give you a number of sets.  So say you have 3 sets of 10-12 reps.  You would do 10-12 reps, rest, then 10-12 reps, rest, and the last 10-12 reps, rest.  Some programs will have you do something instead of resting.  But if your doing it without a program you can rest usually 30 seconds to a minute is a good number.

When doing your reps you want to pick a weight that is challenging. It shouldn’t be easy.  If it’s too easy you are not going to see the results you want.  If you want to literally melt the fat off of you get enough weight that by the last 3 reps you struggle to get them in.  It should HURT!  If it doesn’t your not doing it right.  But hurt is good!!  That pain (to me) is the fat being burned and melting away!  Thinking like this is what helps me push myself so hard J 

In most programs they will change your reps around.  With reps usually 3-7 is for strength, 8-12 is for muscle growth the 13+ is for endurance.  You really do want to mix it up that way your body doesn’t start to plateau to the point where your body gets used to it.  In the one I’m doing the first 3 weeks are the same then the 4^th week you would repeat that sequence.  Week 1 the first 3 days is 9-11 reps.  Then the next 3 days is 12-15.  Then the 2^nd week it’s 6-8 the first three days and then 16-20 the next 3 days. Then for week 3 the first 3 days would be 2-5 reps and the next 3 days would be 21-30.  When I went through this program at first you kinda have to play around with the weight to see what you can do.  Then when you move on to different reps I would always try to match that weight or do a little more to give myself a little bit of a push. So say

                When my reps are being increased I will always try to beat my weight of the lower reps week. So the 1^st week at 12-15 reps say I did 50lbs for my chest press so in week 2 when I did chest press again at  16-20 reps I would see that I did 50lbs so I would try to do 55lbs to push myself.  So then with the 2^nd week at 55lbs for chest press the 3^rd week at 21-30 reps I would try to get in 60lbs. Then I would do that each week looking at the previous weeks weight. 

Then of course when the reps are being lowered from 9-11 to 6-8 to 2-5 you really want to try and increase your weight as much as you can handle to where the last 3 reps are difficult.

I always surprise myself that I am actually that much stronger than the previous week.  It may be hard, but I push myself knowing I’m going to see those results.  Knowing it’s the fat I’m kicking to the curb!  This is what pushes me through the pain I feel.  Because I know it’s worth it!

For those of you who are looking to get started I have a sample program right here you can try.  It’s a great one off of bodybuilding.com that will get you started in the right direction. Here is the link that will give you all the details of the program.  It will tell you all the ins and outs of her program and why it will help you

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer.html

This is a 12 week program.   You can also find other programs that are shorter, but this is definitely a good one to start with.  It is broken down into 3 different phases.  This one is meant to target some of those problem areas we have as ladies.  I know I have them right in my thighs and my butt!

Here is the link to the program you can also get the app in your phone for body space that will make it so you don’t have to write anything down.  It will just keep track of it all in your phone!  I love it. 

Here is phase 1

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-1.html

Phase 2

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-2.html

Phase 3

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-3.html

You can also find on there different recipes, a list of foods you should be eating, and supplements you can take to help make this program more effective.  This program can be what you make of it.  If you want to be a little more intermediate then do more weight.  Or if you wanted you could do one of the workouts you really like for the week again on one of the rest days.  Just make sure you aren’t doing 2 of the same workouts right in a row.  You need to give a muscle group  48 hours before working them again.

If you don’t like this workout you can always go to bodybuilding.com, click “FIND A PLAN”.  Then choose your gender,  then choose your main goal, then pick whether your beginner/intermediate/advanced.  Then it will customize the programs for you and show you which ones would best suite you.

Only you are standing in the way of how you want your body to look.  If I can do it so can you, whether you like to do it at home or at the gym.  Just get up and do it because I promise you will be so amazed at the results, and you will begin to love your body again! And as always make sure to eat a balanced diet so your workout isn’t all for nothing!!  If you think you can eat whatever you want because you went to the gym, then you will be chasing your tail for years.  Go to the gym to feel good about yourself, and eat right so you can see the results.

Why Weight lift??

When I first started my journey to a new lifestyle I mainly did zumba and other various workout videos.  I've always liked working out at home, plus with 3 kids and a hubby who leaves really early for work I don't have many other options.  I also absolutely LOVE to dance.  I did these types of workouts for about 6 months and was able to lose quite a bit of weight doing it, but it just wasn't getting my body where I wanted it.  The progress I saw was very slow and I eventually hit a point where I was frustrated because I had hit a rut and I wasn't losing much weight anymore.  

My hubby had been big into going to the gym and lifting weights for several years already, and he had been trying very hard for the last year to get me to try.  I was always so scared to though.  Lets face it.... I had no clue what I was doing and I didn't want to look like a man!!  I thought that when lifting weights I would get huge and it would look ugly.  But I finally after much coaxing and convincing, from my hubby, decided to give it a try.  I told him if he wrote me out a plan of exactly what to do I'd give it a try.  Within the first coupe of weeks of lifting weight I was already starting to see improvements.  I was finally getting out of my rut and losing weight again.  Plus I got to do it in my room from my bow-flex and watch my tv shows! Who doesn't like to watch their shows?

So I decided to keep at it and see what happened.  I've been lifting weights now for about 3 months.  I have lost weight and put on lean muscle at the same time.  After having 3 kids I never thought I could have muscles again, but boy was I wrong.  I have never done any other workout that has given me results as fast as lifting weights has.  No matter what muscle your main focus is on you feel it in your whole body.

3 kids 5 years old and younger and 3 c-sections later.  You can still have muscles.  I know I'm just getting started and still have a ways to go.  But I am making progress. It's so fun to see it happen too!

Now there are a few things I have to clear up.  You can't just go into the gym and pick up the smallest weights and do a few curls.  You cannot be afraid to go and lift so much that you feel like your gonna die.  That feeling is what will get you the results you want.  That AND eating a balanced diet at the same time!

If you have no clue what to do bodybuilding.com is a great resource.  They have all kinds of articles and programs.  You can even look at videos and print out logs to keep track of your workouts.  They have programs for beginners all the way up to the most advanced.

Another myth women worry about is that weight lifting will turn your body fat directly into muscle leaving you looking silly.  Actually it is quite the opposite.  Since I started my new program "Jim Stoppani's shortcut to shred" 5 weeks ago I have dropped about 4% body fat.  I went from about 22% to 16.5% in just 5 weeks!  So you can lose the fat and gain muscle at the same time.

Some other benefits I've seen with weight lifting:

* Increased energy:  This is something that will come gradually.  At first your body will fight with you because it's something different, and it's not used to it.  But after a couple weeks I noticed a huge difference.  I wasn't dragging anymore and I only became tired when it was bed time and things were winding down.

* Increased Metabolism:  It's amazing how fast my metabolism has gotten.  I can just feel it now.  Every week we have 1 cheat meal ( Something I will talk about in another blog).  Having that cheat meal will reset my metabolism so I don't get sucked into the black hole of my body getting used to something.  The next day I will weigh less even though I ate whatever I wanted for dinner the night before.  The harder you work at lifting bigger weights, the harder your body has to work to rebuild those muscles.  Hence the increase in metabolism.  Building those muscles helps you to tone and be fit and not just skinny!  There is a difference.

* Better sleep:  I sleep so amazing at night now, barely waking up for anything.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm so excited to wake up and lift or because lifting does it.  Probably both ;-) lol But I sleep so much more sound and get more out of my sleep.

*  Mood:  I used to snap at every little thing.  Little things bugged me that shouldn't have.  Now I can just tell all of my hormones are balanced and in check and I'm a much happier person.  Plus my period is SOOO lite now ( sorry guys) but it has made a huge difference when they used to be so heavy especially at night.  That in itself can make a woman happy... am I right??

These are just a few things I've noticed since I started lifting.  I know there's more I can't see, but I'm HOOKED now.  I woke up today (Sunday my rest day) and by about 9 am I was falling asleep sitting up.  I'm a completely different person when I don't get my workout in.  I could go on and on all day, but I LOVE it!!  I love how my body looks now! I love how I feel!  I love myself more!  And I love my hubby for getting me to this point!  If it weren't for him and his support and pushing me to do it I wouldn't be where I'm at.  He's helped me keep up with it all along the way.

You can do it too.  But all this can only happen if you work hard to make it happen.  You also have to eat right!!  I can't stress that enough.  You will not get the same results if you don't eat a healthy balanced diet along with the lifting (like in my last blog).  I also take a few different pills to help along the way that have made a huge difference along with all of this, which I will talk about next time :-)

Thanks for taking time to read this!  Let me know if you have any question.  I really just want to help all women out there to have the results they want and deserve.  If I can do it anyone can do it :-)