Beginners Exercise - Just Show Up & 35 Miles
Beginners! Listen Up! Gather 'Round! Huddle Up! - I just finished listening to a lecture series on nutrition and one of the take aways that I got that really puts how much work is required to lose weight into perspective. You burn about 100 calories for every mile you walk. It takes about 3500 calories burned to lose 1 lbs of fat. That means to lose 1 lbs a week you would have to walk 35 miles. Now fortunately we get the luxury at eating our way to a calorie deficit every day. But still it requires a lot of walking. If you walk every single day that means you need to walk about 5 miles a day. Now that does not necessarily mean your exercise routine needs to include a 5 mile walk 7 days a week because we do other walking but it means it needs to include walking or other forms of exercise every day. Even on rest days you should be doing some walking. Rest days do not mean no exercise it means a break from strenuous exercise.
So I did this backwards but half of the battle it just showing up. I promise if you get dressed and walk out side or get to the gym or into the room you are going to exercise, once you are there you will do it. The truly hard part of it all is getting to the place you are going to exercise. Very rarely will you bail once you are there.
So my challenge to you right now is to go get dressed in some comfortable clothes and go to where you exercise and at a bare minimum get some walking done! If you have time to read these posts you have time to exercise. So go and get it done.
I got up at 5am like I will every day this week to make my 6 am class. I wake up at 5am drink a protein shake (so I get some early fast digesting protein into my system so my muscles have what they need to get the job done. I take a pre-workout supplement, lay back down for 20 mins and meditate (and try not to fall back asleep), I get back up at 5:30 and get dressed and head out the door. If I can do it, so can you. You do what it takes to fit it into your day. And just so you don't think I just happen to have a lot of time on my hands. I work a full time job 40 miles from my house so I spend 8 to 10 hours on site and I spend 2 hours a day in the car driving to and from this one client. Then I have other clients that I need to work on as well. Its not easy but it is worth it and it will be worth it for you too.
A consistent schedule is certainly one way to get into the routine, but don't blow it all just because you can't be consistent. My schedule changed dramatically about a month ago. I went from being able to go to the gym whenever I wanted to having to carve out times when I can make it. It changes every week. So on Sunday I have to plan out my week. This week I am getting up at 5am Mon, Tue, Wed, Thur to get to a fitness class. On Tue and Thurs night I am lifting weights, on Wed night I have another fitness class. Thurs night I play softball, and Friday at noon I have a circuit training class, saturday afternoon another fitness class. I rest on Sunday. That is on top of working 65 hours per week and a 2 hour drive every day. So it is doable. Is it a pain in the ass, yes, but you can find a way to fit it all in. Now you obviously do not need to work out as much as I do, I am in a crazy phase right now, but find a way to fit in at least 2 or 3 days a week for you. It doesn't have to be an hour either. You can do a good Interval Run in 20 mins. If you have 30 mins in the morning and 30 mins in the evening and you can use both for some sort of exercise you will actually get more out of that than 1 hour in the gym. So when its hard to figure it all out, think unconventionally, it may be beneficial.
Another thing you can do is go a few laps around your office for each break and during lunch. This adds up! I have inspired other coworkers to do the same. During nice weather we take it outside, but most of the time it's just round and round the office for 20 minutes 3 times a day. :) Window shopping is also a good way to walk and get your steps in. A few laps around Walmart or Target go a long way.
