So you want to start working out...?!



And..here's your funny for today!

 

Recently, I have been approached by two different females with very different fitness goals, lifestyles, age ranges, body compositions, and access to equipment seeking advice on wanting to start on a path to getting in shape. As a frequent reader of many social media and fitness sites, I have found a common theme that women don't want to get bulky and just want to look toned. Unfortunately, some advertising and marketing schemes have made women assume that these are any valid outcomes of working out. First off, while the rate of muscle growth is greatest for newbies, it takes a tailored diet and lifting regimen to truly see large muscles on a female. (I will highlight PCOS and muscle growth in a moment.*) Secondly, that toned appearance can come only from using muscles, not from just doing cardio. (Trust me: I was a cardio bunny at the beginning of my journey and mind you, my weight was lower but my booty was not lifted and I wasn't necessarily 'tight'.) You will get lifted in all the right places just by slowly implementing a resistance aspect to your fitness routine. With that said, I have come up with a few circuits that you can complete if you are new to working out and have no equipment at home. I will do circuits like this at times I do not have access to my home equipment or a gym. I hope the links have not expired on these, but it should send you to videos demonstrating proper form.

 

For the following circuits, do each workout in order, take a minute or two break and then repeat the sequence again as many times as possible. (I'd say first go for at least 2, no more than 5 times through each circuit.) For each exercise in the circuit, do as many as possible, until your muscles become fatigued. I've made the name of each exercise a link to exercise demonstrations that help show you proper form. Example: Circuit One, do 15 pushups, 12 bench dips, 45 seconds wall sit, 30 Russian twists. I take a water break, then repeat that circuit 2 more times before moving on to Circuit Two. I'd recommend doing this workout 3 times this week, with a rest day in-between (i.e. Monday, Wednesday, Friday).

Circuit One

Pushups

Bench Dips

Wall Sit
Russian Twist

Circuit Two

Plank
Flutter Kicks
Diamond Pushups
Bodyweight Squat

Circuit Three

Mountain Climbers
Calf Raise
Jumping Jacks
Bodyweight Lunges



If you are already doing cardio, go ahead just remember that there is no need to over-do it! I'm a fan of High Intensity Intervals or Tabata training but I cannot recommend that for unseasoned individuals, as it is easy to lose coordination and injure oneself during these. For those with PCOS, if you incorporate these circuits, and yoga and leisure walks several times a week you should be good; no need to overstress your adrenal system. REMEMBER that the #1 first goal of working out should be a focus on health, hence my little graphic above! Focusing on health first will also decrease the liability that you will stop the program because it does take time to see physical changes. Invest now in your health and save money and enjoy life down the road!
 

*If you are an aerobics junky, stop. Do low intensity relaxing exercise (leisure walking, tai chi, restorative yoga) and weight training instead to control cortisol which can be one of the major issues in disrupting brain ovary signaling. (Teta, Jade. Metabolic Effect, Inc. "How To Lose Weight with PCOS". www.metaboliceffect.com)

 

 

 

 

Where do I begin...?

It would be near impossible (without boring the hell out of you) to explain the past month of my life to you, so I will attempt to sum it up and circle back around to something PCOS-related. Mkay?

After my husband being deployed for a week, we finally got a call that a potential tenant wanted to schedule a showing of the house and awesome enough, the day became a gold mine of potentials, leaving the puppies and I on the road, eating egg whites out of the truck and not getting a post-workout shower until late at night. The day was a success, though, and the new tenant was eager to get in asap: a.k.a. Aura, you have to be out of the house in a few days. Say whaaaaat?! Somehow I managed to get everything packed, moved into storage or my vehicle, and cleaned with ample time (thanks to Mike & Amanda for being awesome friends!) and got to the gym most of those few days because I knew it would reduce my anxiety.

So, the house was rented and the pups and I ended up at my Ma's house. It was perfect timing because I was able to spend my brother's birthday week with him and some quality time with my nephew and sister-in-law. Now, I was freaking out quite a bit because honestly, Ken and I did not want to transition from the military back to Ohio. While we love our families and adore the time we have with them, we both agreed that we wanted to move forward with something new in our life, especially with such a huge life change coming. With that said, I (sadly) left my pups with my Ma and drove out to Chicago in search of temp work until I can begin working with Teach For America in the spring. For the past 2 weeks, I have gone to a variety of interviews and finally landed a teaching position that I will begin on Friday! (I still find it ironic that I could not get a professional interview success for the past year in NC but I get here and have multiple opportunities immediately awaiting.) I feel blessed to have my sister here to stay with and she has been awesome but I definitely have not felt like myself.
.....
I have done healthy food prep several times but am thrown off because I'm too afraid to run the blender in the middle of the day when my brother-in-law is sleeping before work, I'm trying to save money so am too cheap to go buy protein because I'm still in sticker shock from coming from a NC budget and military access, I have gone to the gym every single day (and that is a blessing), I am not on an eating schedule because her kitchen is just not what I'm accustom and I feel awkward, etc. etc. etc. I'm really trying hard to stick with a clean diet as much as possible but admittedly, I've had one too many 'off' days in the past 2 weeks. I am not beating myself up about it, but I am worried because they have come about from either a.) staying out too late to be a designated driver or the fact that I went out twice and I never go out or drink so my sleep is lacking, which is a big No-no for me (&PCOS) or b.) I'm depressed.
Phew, that felt like a relief. I don't know if anyone reads this far down but it feels good to have that off my chest. I don't want to share an additional stress with my husband and my sister, while she's an awesome listener, she has recognized it and I fear she will feel guilt for it regardless the fact that it has anything to do with her or not. I have cried more times in the past 2 weeks than I have in the past 2 years...or more. I'm not a crier, typically not emotional, and well, I asked for this right? I'm honestly starting to think that I was too naïve in realizing what life would be life until I have my family back together here. I miss my quiet, boring, country life right now and while I know it will subside soon enough, I can't help but think I've made a mistake uprooting our entire life for the dream of 'making a difference' or 'greater impact'. I feel like I've already matured even more in the sense that I should have listened to my wise husband when he told me that it doesn't matter if I'm in the city because I have already touched so many lives in my young age, even living in a suburban military community. I'm praying everyday for the pieces to fall where they will and that I can keep picking myself back up with an optimistic attitude and healthy lifestyle.

With that said, if you have PCOS, please-I beg of you-try to get those 8 recommended hours of sleep each and every night; you will know when your body is rested and properly performing and you have that positive mindset and little stress that you have gotten a restful night sleep. The stress that many of us PCOSers' have is only magnified when we are lacking sleep and proper nutrition; trust me on this one.

More to come soon enough, as I will be back on the blogging grind with more focused on PCOS recipes and fitness updates-I forgot to mention I'm OFFICIALLY an ACE Certified Personal Trainer, as I passed my exam last week. I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have clientele with PCOS, as I can understand the frustration with managing weight with this syndrome. If interested, please let me know!
Until next time....
Take time each day to reflect on your personal and professional goals and recognize what truly matters in life.

Confessions of an Under-eater and Overachiever

A back porch, sunshine on my face, Blender Bottle full of BCAAs sweating from the heat, but a cool breeze of the wind blowing my hair out of my face; what more could a lady ask for? This is me in this moment. Instead of being grateful for the little things in life, I found myself throwing yet another pity party for how stuffed and fluffy I feel. Regardless of my intense leg workout this morning, I still find myself feeling guilty over consuming appropriate amounts of nutrition to gain muscle (hence the title of this entry). After losing an initial mass weightloss over the span of several years, I truly began focusing on only consuming unprocessed foods about 1.5 years ago and it has all been trial and error. This was about the time I discovered what Bodybuilding.com had to offer and researching every bit I could into PCOS and how I should be eating to truly lean out. Mind you, I had thought that I put on a good portion of muscle mass, simply by picking up a weight. My problem: inconsistency with one regimen. Yes, I believe that the body needs to have variety or it will no longer see results, but I’m talking trying absolutely every training program and ‘diet’ out in BroScience land and Endocrinology research websites, trying to strike a balance between being a bodybuilder and living with a hormonal imbalance-atypical of most bodybuilding regimes.

Despite my rambling, I have a point regarding my headline:

After finally completing my first (all-the-way through…not half-assed) 12-week challenge through Bodybuilding.com/BodySpace, I felt AMAZING! I was seeing abs that I had worked so hard for but had never actually seen, but I couldn’t fight the fact that I had not really changed all that much in a 12-week span regardless of the max effort I put in. So, I took a few weeks to decrease my cardio slightly but still lifted in heavy circuits, because I was not about to lose those abs! Well, sure enough, even with clean eating and limited indulgences, my abs were *poof* gone in an instant. I’m still working on figuring out if it’s my sensitivity to carbs or just the fact that my body fat percentage was not low enough. Several weeks after the challenge ended, I was approached in the gym by an older gentleman that recognized my dedication in the gym and volunteered his time to coach me for an upcoming figure show debut. Awesome, right?! It seemed that way for the first few weeks. I was getting my butt kicked but I loved that he said I was eating the right foods and portion sizes and said I would never max out over 1 hour of cardio-ever. (Annoying buzzer sound, here!) Well, sure enough, even me explaining my PCOS to him, he realized I wasn’t dropping weight like ‘most people’ would for the hours of training and food restrictions; so instead of listening to my input of trying high-intensity sprint intervals, he increased my cardio and pretty soon my life was all consumed with this and I soon became miserable. To make a long story short, I got news that a medical surgery took precedence over the show and the coach turned out to be ummm-unprofessional, to say the least- so after intense calorie restriction and all day gym sessions I was left having to have surgery and told to stay out of the gym for several weeks. Oh goody. Despite my long, leisurely walks with my husband and still doing some light cardio when I wasn’t in pain and of course, eating at a calorie deficit; I managed to gain weight right back. During this time I watched one too many of Dr. Layne Norton’s Youtube videos and read up on other bodybuilders and fitness professionals-with scientific degrees- on how to properly treat your body without destroying your mind and body, as I was doing. You see, when I am told to follow a plan, I follow it to a ‘T’, I execute everything with the mindset that it needs to be perfect and if I do not achieve what I envisioned, my psychological state begins to suffer. (PCOS women, you know all too well the cycle of stress from additional cortisol and quick onset of depression. REMEMBER: Stress will only make the fat cling and do NOT let your mind control your happiness!) When I added up how much I was eating on that prep prior to my surgery, I was down to ~800 calories/day, all of chicken, asparagus, and egg whites. Prior to that major deficit, I always thought it was recommended that I stay below 1200 calories/day to lose. Well, if you’re always trying to LOSE, eventually you have no further place to go and your body fights with you to maintain homeostasis. Putting this in perspective: I have been eating under 1200 calories/day (with the exception of family gatherings, holidays, or the occasional treat meal) for the past ummm, I’d say 3 years. Yes, that worked to get initial weight off, but I don’t know how I thought I could ever gain muscle size or cut when I have no surplus to cut from!

Back to me, sitting here fluffy and stuff… Over the past week being back in the gym I have been focusing on lifting some heavy @$$ weight and slowly increased my calories. Even my carbs. I still cannot manage to look in the mirror without being sad about lost abs or the feeling that I cannot stomach the amount of food I should be consuming to put on muscle, but my intent is to be able to stand this amount of food without putting on an excess amount of fat, so that when I do incorporate cardio again (no 2 hour sessions, I’ll be doing sprint intervals, sport activities, and yoga) I have a number to cut down from and know how to properly balance my intake to cut slowly. Perhaps I will utilize BB.com’s Cellucor challenge to lean out a bit so I feel more comfortable at the beach but nothing crazy and I’m pretty sure we’re looking at some muscle gains when my husband deploys again in the fall. I will never subject myself to an unhealthy way of life that only permits rebounds, poor self-esteem, or eating disorders. As much as it pains me not to feel comfortable yet in my bikini on the beach, living in Coastal Carolina, I know it will pay off in the long run. And, hey, my doctor said I shouldn’t be exposing myself to the bacteria from the sand and ocean yet, anyway; backyard kiddie pool with the pups, here I go!

Never forgo your happiness for an extrinsic motivator. Dig deep and know that you truly cannot succeed for long-term until you have intrinsic motivation and a deeper purpose to lead a healthy, balanced life.