As I was leaving the gym the other day, I was thinkin’…..

I felt just a little bit leaner, stronger and healthier….and I was very happy about it.  I remembered when I left that same class the week before I felt a little sluggish and poofy.

Interesting……

Well, if you recall….last week I was living high on the hog!  I was chowin’ down on the sugar and livin’ it up!  It was very fun, but it really did have an affect on my body.  I felt bloated, more tired and I craved crappy food all the time!

On the flip side, I’ve been eating really really well this week and I can already tell!  The bloatedness (is that a word!??) is gone and I feel stronger and my cravings have stabilized.  Yay.

Sooooo, the moral of the story is that ALL of our food choices (no matter how big or small) have a significant effect on our bodies for better or worse.  Like the old adage says, “There is no such thing as a free lunch.”  We cannot expect to feel healthy, fit and thin without doing the work!

Sugary, fatty, fake food=tired, sluggish, frustrated people!  Real , wholesome, healthy food=energetic, healthy, vibrant people!  Woo hoo.  Believe me….I am your own, personal Guinea Pig!

You are what you eat.  Plain and simple.

Also, I keep hearing about ladies who are afraid of lifting weights.  Why?????!!  I don’t know.  Maybe they’re afraid they’ll end up looking like one of these “chicks”….

 

Yikes!  Sorry for the disturbing images.  Eeee.

The truth of the matter is that there is some serious funky stuff goin’ on with these, um, ur ladies (that term is used loosely.)  This is a result of harmful supplements, steroids, wacko diets, and who the heck knows what else.  Weight lifting does not magically make you look like this.

Weight lifting + eating a healthy, “real” diet, will make you look like this (or your own version of this!)….

These are some of the beautiful models from Athleta.  I love Athleta!  Beautiful, high quality (albeit, expensive) clothes and strong, healthy (and feminine!) looking models!  I would love to look like ANY of the girls in that catalog.

Anyway, weight lifting will build muscle, which helps to burn fat.  As you build more muscle, you burn more calories by just existing.  As you continue to eat well and use weights in your exercise routine…..you will continue to lean down and firm up.

Awesome.

Also….I see a lot of girls at the gym who use 3-5 pound dumbbells for most exercises!  That is crazy.  There are a few exercises that need really really light weight, but for most exercises……………USE HEAVY WEIGHTS!!  Seriously, if you continue to use really light weights, you will get frustrated because you will SEE NO RESULTS!  You should be lifting as heavy as you possibly can without compromising your form.  Really, trust me…..you will like the results.

Also, when you’re building muscle you might not see a lot of results on the scale.  That’s because muscle weighs more than fat…..but it takes up a lot less room!!!  So, you may only lose a few pounds, but your clothes will become looser and you’ll look thinner!!!

Sooooo, (if you’re not already doing it), add some (heavy) weights to your routine!  yay.