Have You Tried to Cut Your Own Wood??

Cut Your Own Wood And It Will Warm You Twice!! Henry Ford

That is one of my favourite quotes by Henry Ford. What he meant was that the person who chops their own firewood, not only enjoys the heat from the logs burning in the fireplace, but also gets physically warmed from the exercise involved in their labor.

If you really want to enjoy your workout/exercises and benefits thereof, you should “cut your own wood” by doing things for yourself. For years I looked for the quick fix, the miracle drug, the easy solution. If I could just take a pill and have all the weight just fall off!! Let the "science" of that wonder drug do the work for me and I reap the rewards. Well, I know better. I've realized that I will be "chopping wood" for a long time but the "warmth" I will receive will do me wonders!! It already has.

Two weigh-ins back, when I had my first gain, it really got me thinking. I really need to give this my all and continue "cutting that wood". I can't miss workouts and "hope" that the weight will continue to fall off. I can't sneak in unhealthy foods and drinks here and there, and expect those same results!! I must remember to drink enough water throughout this process. I need to consistently and continuously put in the work to see results. I need to chop my own wood!!

Anyway, I'm just trying to regain focus and keep myself on that right path!! I've been really battling it out in my head lately. I mentioned briefly before of my past history of "self-sabbotaging" when it comes to getting fit, "enjoying" the comforts of being fat. I've lost 50 pounds and somewhere in my head, a little voice is saying, "You've lost 50 lbs!! That's awesome!! One BIG MAC won't hurt!!" But I know that 1 big mac will turn into a meal with supersized fries and a large coke (plus 2 apple pies and possibly 6-pc chicken mcnuggets)!! I can't let myself fall back in that cycle. So right now, it truly is a mental battle for me. A head game, you know?

I think back to what my FB friend, Mark once told me, "If your head is right, your ass will follow!". It is so true. Your head really has to be in the right place. I'm starting to think that the mental journey will be more difficult than the physical one.

My trainer, RobLagana once wrote, "the weakest link to the body is the mind!" I can totally see where he's coming from with that statement, and I believe it's true, HOWEVER, I also believe (and I think he does as well) that the mind CAN BE the strongest link. One just has to train the mind to be strong and efficient and that's what I am currently working on, where this journey is concerned. Right now, I do feel like my mind is not as strong as it needs to be, but I'm doing some "mental strength training" right now to get it where it needs to be for me to succeed and achieve my goals AND I WILL!! I AM WOMAN, afterall and everybody knows we can do anything!! ;)

I am not at all bored with my exercise program, it is extremely challenging even at this point and it frequently and progressively changes. I still can't get through all my reps of certain exercises. So, I can't possibly see myself ever getting bored with my training program. Eating is posing a bit of a challenge and I just can't figure out why. I make different meals all the time, and they're tasty!! Always trying new recipes. So I really just think it's my mind right now!!

To be completely honest, I just sometimes feel like I should take a break. Maybe a week or two of eating whatever I want - BUT I KNOW that's not a good idea. That would just set me so far back (maybe not physically), but mentally!! I've worked so hard the past months to adopt this new lifestyle, I really DO NOT want to throw that away, not even temporarily! I'd feel like I was going backwards - and who wants that feeling?? NOT ME!!

So as it stands, I'm still on track but the view is just a little blurry right now. I just need to regain that focus!! I've been really thinking of training for a 5K this fall (Sep/Oct). It would be to benefit Cancer research - so that would be a different type of reward for me. I would have to start training next month, if I decide to go that way. I think just having a different goal (apart from just losing a certain amount of weight - not that anything is wrong with that) may help me to re-focus!

What do you guys think?? Gosh this journey is hard. It is filled with SO MANY ups and downs and bumps and hurdles. I am determined though!! I will keep chopping that wood!!:)

Anyway, that's it for now...

Until next time...

Joania(2KMINE!!!)

Slimming Thighs

The following article was written by my trainer, Rob Lagana!! It's awesome and helpful information!! This is just a sample of the information you receive when you sign up for his monthly newsletter. Check out his website and sign up!!! Thanks for this, Rob - YOU ROCK!!!

Slimming the thighs, takes a combination of healthy eating and training.
There are different ways to slim the thighs. There are different conceptions of healthy eating and training. This article is not geared toward the elite in search of building the perfect physique. This article is geared toward women that want a healthier body and smaller thighs. Here we go!

When trying to be fit and healthy, Fat generally comes off at a similar rate and ratio throughout the entire body. The first place fat comes off is actually from your internal organs. There's small amounts fat inside muscle, and if your obese, there can be fat surrounding your organs, and there is visceral fat as well that can be found around your muscle.

Slimming the thighs is something that you cannot directly achieve without the body going through it's own cleanup of fat in other areas.

To speed this process, the best way of accelerating fat loss is to start eating clean and training the metabolism and muscles. By clean eating, you are essentially doing a natural healthy detox. By training the metabolism and muscles, your increasing the demand of calories that your body needs, creating a burning furnace that consumes these calories on a consistent level and your increasing your good hormone production that assists with fat loss and recovery.

As you know certain muscles are larger than others. The legs muscles are large and by training them with resistance, you place a huge demand on your body. Training legs combined with upper body and you got something that will boost your fat loss into the next level.

The foods you want to eat are Chicken, turkey, fish, eggs, red meats, fish oil, olive oil, grapeseed oil, flax oils and lots of vegetables and 1 form of low glycemic complex carb. I won't get into talking about calories, ratios or how to combine these foods. Each person is different and some people may even have sensitives to certain foods.

I will show you a non-traditional weight training workout that will involve your lower body every workout. These are simple workouts, which target total body training.

If you are NOT familiar with these exercises, do not attempt to perform them without first learning proper mechanics of the movement. Hire a personal trainer to show you or find someone with experience. Once you have the form down, increase your tempo but always use good form. Don't compensate tempo with poor form.

These movements are performed in a circuit style fashion.
No rest between sets. 1 minute rest between circuits.

Day 1:

3-5 circuits of the following:

Single Leg Quarter Squats against the wall using a Stability Ball 12-15 reps
Dumbell Squats 12-15 reps
Staggered Stance Dumbell Overhead Presses 12-15 reps
Sumo Squats to Overhead Throw using Medicine Ball 12-15 reps

Day 2:

3-5 circuits of the following:

Deadlifts 12-15 reps
Dumbell Squats to Bicep Curls 12-15 reps
Pushups 12-15 reps
Recline Pull-Ups 12-15 reps

Day 3

3-5 circuits

Frontal Step-Ups using a minimum of 4 planks 5-6 is better (work up to it) 45 sec.
Sagital Step-Ups using a minimum of 4 planks 5-6 is better (work up to it) 45 sec.
Leg Raises using machine or on ground 45 sec.
Machine or ground crunches 45 sec.
Dumbell Lunges (medium stride) 12-16 reps or 60 sec.

Day 4 - OFF

Day 5 - Your choice of Cardio or Yoga

Day 6 - Your Choice of Cardio or Yoga

Day 7 - OFF

REPEAT !