Slim and Trim Workout

We are implementing some changes to the program this week and I am excited! If you've been with us from day one then you know we have done 2 Tabata style workouts (interval time stuff). After reviewing some things we came to the determination that this would be the most effective way for everyone to work at their own personal pace while still keeping things to 20 minutes or less. And if someone wants to do a longer workout they simply add another set (5 minutes). I think this will help all our followers get the most out of their workouts. Because of this new format the Real Time video is also put together a little differently and the beauty of it is, if you just play the real time it becomes your timer regardless if you can keep pace with me or not. It's worth a try and we would love to hear what all of you think about the new format.

With all that said, like always if you are only going to workout for 15 minutes then you must push to your maximum if you want results! You should be out of breath and dripping sweat at the end of these, if not, then you didn't push hard enough. That is what is so great about these workouts, they can be tailored to fit everyone's needs and skill levels so there are no excuses!

So let's get it done, here is your weekly workout!

Instruction and Modification Video:

Real Time Video:

posting 1/13/13

Basic yet Effective

We've been having some issues with the videos posting correctly , but we should be back to our usual this weekend until then do a previous workout found here or give this basic one a go, whatever you choose give it your best!

3 Tips for Successful Goal Setting

Whatever you have committed yourself to this year or are thinking of committing yourself to let me give you 3 tips to setting and achieving your fitness (or other) goals this year.

#1. Be specific! Being vague in your goals only leaves room for excuses and justification when it comes time to assess progress. How can success be measured when there are no specific markers by which to measure them against?

For example your goal for 2013  : Get in Shape and lose weight

Well that is great you want to get in shape and lose weight but be specific, what does "in shape" mean to you ??? How much weight do you need to lose? Instead of saying get in shape define what that means, say "I want to be able to exercise for 30 minutes without a break, or I want to be able to RUN 6 miles or do 200 squats or fit into a size 8." 

Maybe your goal is " Eat healthy"

Same thing, what does eat healthy mean to you. Instead try saying "I am going to eat 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day and set a carb and fat limit on my diet." like "I will not exceed x grams of fat in my daily diet." Or I will not consume refined sugars more than once a week. You know what your body needs and what it responds to, so you determine what is a good idea but BE SPECIFIC! 

While on this subject I  want to say I am not a fan of setting weight loss goals like  "I want to lose 10 pounds". Why? Well if you've read my previous article Foe or Friend, When to Ignore the Sclae, I talk about the fact that when we exercise and specifically doing activity like the workouts here at FAHM we are building muscle. Often what happens, especially at first when someone who is doing muscle building exercises, is fat is converted to muscle. Contrary to popular belief muscle does not weight more than fat!  5 pounds of muscle weighs the same as 5 pounds of fat! However 5 pounds of muscle will take up far less space than 5 pounds of fat, that is why I like to measure "weight loss" not by the numbers on the scale but rather by inches or how my clothes fit. Because lets be real here, strong firm curves not only look better but are better for your health than what I like to call "skinny flabby". Skinny flabby is what happens when you just diet and maybe run here and there but the weight comes off by just losing fat. What you are left with is less fat, which don't get me wrong is a good thing, but you still have fat and if you have not built muscle then keeping the pounds off can become difficult. How many of you out there have yo-yo'ed around with your weight? Most of us do to an extent but I will tell you the more muscle you have the less you will see your weight yo-yo because muscle is in charge of your metabolism and if you've got a lot then your metabolism can handle the occasional ice cream sundae fest, or cookie attack or full out week of binge eating (not that I recommend any of that but lets face it, it happens sometimes) You will see that the more muscle you have the less time your body needs to recover after a vacation from healthy eating.

#2. Be reasonable when setting goals and keep them simple.  The entire point of a goal is to achieve something new or desirable, which often means it is difficult or takes a good amount of effort, so it doesn't make much sense to set a goal that can easily be obtained and the other end of the spectrum can be counter productive as well. If you are currently over weight by 50 lbs and can't jog for more than 30 seconds than setting a goal to run a marathon and look like a rock star in 6 months is probably a bit steep and will often lead to disappointment which usually leads to complete abandonment of that goal. Can you lose 50 lbs and train to run a marathon in 6 months, sure it can be done but how realistic or reasonable is that in real life. Most of us have jobs and other obligations and we can not dedicate every hour to exercise and training. So when setting your goals make sure it is something that works with the limitations of your lifestyle. Most resolutions are abandoned and forgotten by March. Why? Because people hit a few speed bumps along the way or have not made enough progress to see results and they then loose their drive to achieve. No one likes feeling like a failure but the only time in life you will be a failure is when you GIVE UP so DO NOT GIVE UP!!!! 

#3. Make you goal fun or exciting in some way. A goal like getting every room in my house organized doesn't sound like much fun and even though everything doesn't have to be fun it sure helps get things accomplished. For those of you who have kids you will notice that putting some music on while doing chores or reinventing the dreaded chore of picking up the room into some sort of game typically brings better results or at least fewer complaints from your children. And aren't we all still kids at heart, don't we like to find the fun in things still? So if I am going to organize every room in my house maybe to make it fun I will say I am going to find a new and inventive way to accomplish that for each room via Pinterest! Cause we all know Pinterest has plenty of handy dandy niffty ideas and if your the crafty type being inventive with your organization makes it fun instead of mundane. So find out what equals fun or excitement in your life and try and find a way to implement that into how you accomplish your goals. You will not only find you actually achieve those New Year resolutions but you had a great time doing it and it was less difficult than you thought.

Now here is your bonus tip. I'm sure everyone has heard this one but it is worth repeating because it is crucial to being successful with your goals, ready...... WRITE THEM DOWN. Yes that's correct, write your goals down and put them somewhere you will see them often. It also helps to write them down where others can see it as well so you are accountable to someone other than yourself.

So keeping to these above guidelines I will give an example and share one of my fitness goals for 2013. It is specific, simple, reasonable and I personally think it is fun to try and challenge my body to do things it doesn't naturally do.
By the 1st day of Summer 2013 I want to be able to accomplish 10 rapid fire one leg Pistol Squats. Don't know what those are? They look like this and they are insane.

  

A rapid fire Pistol Squat is when you lower yourself in this position all the way to the ground and then without touching the ground switch hop to the other foot and then come up in this same position on the opposite leg.  Talk about quad and glute strength as well as balance, this little move delivers! I want to do 10 of these and right now I can't do one, I am close but just don't have quite enough strength but I think it's fun to try and throughout the year I will be posting videos of my progression with this simple goal. In fact I will post my "starting point" video later tomorrow so you can all get a good laugh because laughter is good for our health. 

So now that you have the 3 golden tips to setting goals and ACHIEVING them, what are your goals?

New Year New You Workout

 Ah yes it's that time again, time to make some resolutions and commitments  I have always looked forward to New Years because it brings with it a sense of renewal and change and there have been years that is exactly what I need. Unfortunately many ( if not most) New Years resolutions are done away with and forgotten by March. Why is this? Is it because the newness of it wears off and no longer holds a thrill for us? Or is it just plain life that gets in the way and we tell ourselves our efforts were good enough while it lasted but we just don't have the time, or the money, or the will power or it's just not that important. The excuses can be endless. But what it comes down to is how bad do you really want it? And by it I mean whatever you have set your mind to, it doesn't even have to be fitness related. I love this picture below with the quote 

We can achieve whatever we set our minds to doing, the hard part is realizing that it is our will which makes it happen (or not). We have a rule in our family that you don't say "I can't" because that is a lie. You can do anything, but will you is the more important question to ponder.

So will you stick with us here at Fit at Home Mom and commit now to being fit in 2013? To working towards a healthier lifestyle and body?

If so than below is a workout for you, if your still unsure than below is a workout for you! (see there is just no escaping it!)

Welcome to any of our new followers joining us this New Year of 2013, and to all you who have stuck with me since June of 2012, keep rockin' it and don't give up,  2013 WILL bring a New You because you can do and you will do it!

Instruction Video:

  Real Time Video:

Posting soon

Weekly Workout - Holiday Shred

Alright, alright, I am back after an unexpected hiatus and gearing up for not only the Holiday season but for the big "get fit" season coming up in less than a month (you know a.k.a New Years) Lots of people make excuses during the holidays and say they will start with the New Year and while I agree that New Years is a great time to set goals, think about how far ahead you can be if you just start now! So instead of packing on the pounds during the holidays do something that will keep you energized, feeling good and helps keep those extra pounds off! The answer is doing the Holiday Shred!!!

* A side note to my faithful followers, I will be having surgery in early 2013 to remove the masses in my abdomen , but I will not leave you hanging as my recovery could be almost 10 weeks! With that said I am formulating and filming workouts now for my long leave of abscence. If you have any suggestions or things you would like to see during this time now is a great time to let me know! Also I am looking for someone who would like to take over posting recipes while I am recovering so email me! Thanks - briannamerrill@hotmail.com

Instruction and Modification Video:

Real Time Workout:

Feel like a 10- Workout 21

I hope you are ready for a super fun, quick, yet effective workout that is going to leave you feeling like a 10! I truly enjoyed this one and it has become my go-to workout when I feel like I just don't have time to fit one in. So grab a pair of hand weights and a chair and get ready to give yourself a full body workout in under 15 minutes! Make sure you are pushing to your max so you get results!

Feel Like a 10 - Workout 21

Take 1 minute to warm up

30 seconds of jumping jacks 

30 seconds of high knees

Instruction Video:

Real Time Video:

Evaluation Workout - Back to Basics

We are once again doing things a little different this week. I find that it is important to take a step back and assess your progress every so often, and not just in physical fitness but in all areas of life. When we take a moment to look at where we're at in terms of goals and expectations it helps us move forward and continue to push for the desires of our hearts. So this week I want you to first evaluate where you are at by doing some basic exercises, record these somewhere and then in a few weeks we will do them again and you will be able to see your progress and then figure out if you are on track to meet your goals or if you need to make adjustments. It will also help you see that even when your bodies physical transformation which is manifested on the outside may be going slower than you'd like, the inner physical transformation such as, your cardiovascular system as well as your muscle strength and endurance are improving at a quick pace. Healthy bodies start from the inside and work their way out! So with that said today (MONDAY) I want you to complete the following workout. All the moves are basic but that is to make it easier to measure in terms of improvement  Tomorrow a normal video- workout 21-  will post and we will move forward from there.  Push yourself to the max with this and give it your all!

Evaluation Workout

Get a timer or have a clock nearby

You have 40 seconds to complete each of these exercises with a 20 second rest in between each exercise.

 It is important to stick to the time to make the results effective.

Complete as many reps as you can of the following 

exercises within 40 seconds

Squat Jumps

20 sec rest

Push ups

20 sec rest

High Knees (count one knee)

20 sec rest

Sit ups or Crunches

20 sec rest

Low Jacks (jumping jacks in a slightly squatted position)

20 sec rest

Burpee

20 sec rest

Switch Lunges (alternating legs)

20 sec rest

To turn this into a full workout go through these 7 exercises again. Make sure to record your results so you can compare them in a few weeks and see where you have improved!!!