"No school! No school!" & my super 12 Week Workout Plan
First off, I love that feeling when you first get informed that you have no school. I remember getting up in the morning as a kid, running downstairs to ask my dad if the news said we had school, waiting impatiently for the verdict. Whenever I knew a big storm was coming, I was the kind of kid who would run out on the deck and do a snow dance (okay... maybe I still kind of do them) just to increase my luck. I just got an email saying that we don't have classes for the second day in a row, and though I'm the first person who'll say I actually do love to go them, I'm as a giddy as a five year old right now!
Yep, this is what we're getting hit by:
Winter wonderland aside, I did promise that today I would be unveiling my super new 12 week workout/food program.
So what am I doing exactly?
Workout: Nothing very different from the usual actually, I just scoured some of my favourite workout books, old routines of mine and websites for ideas yesterday, and I've tried to come up with a master plan that will keep me motivated, excited, and interested for the next 12 week.
You'll hear it over and over again, the biggest thing about planning a good workout routine for the long term is to keep it interesting and to switch it up. Frequently changing up your workout is not only beneficial for your mind (so you don't get bored), it's also beneficial for your body and to reach your goals (because your body gets bored too and when you get used to an exercise, its results will drop off).
What I've done is I've constructed different themed weeks based on my resources, that I'll write about every monday as the weeks go on. This week is simply a hardcore get back on track week. Each week will feature:
-cardio two times a week
-strength training three times a week (with some cardio)
-Bikram once a week
-rest and recovery once a week
Also, each day will feature some form of ab routine as I've been maintaining for the last little bit, and I'll try to always remember to stretch after my workouts, because stretching is definitely part of the toning and recovery of every session!
Food: Food, food, glorious food. I feel like I've been doing a little much of the raw dessert goodness indulging over the last little bit and I'm still recovering to trying to get myself back in check. Because it always helps me to come up with master plans encompassing health, workouts, nutrition, and everything all in one, I'm going back to keeping a more serious eye on myself.
One thing I'm doing for the short-term at least, is what I like to call "bringin' back the Sunday"... in other words, try to minimize all the higher fat/nut/seed/ chocolate/dried fruits/baked-good-like yummy raw goods I eat during the week and make them extra special for my 'free' day on Sunday. I hate the word 'cheat day (or meal)' which is what a lot of workout books refer to it as. I just feel that using the word 'cheat' has overly negative connotations. It seems to say that I am doing something wrong. I'm not. I know raw food is optimally healthy, but I still feel like I need some mechanism not to overindulge whenever I want (like the batch of Raw Girl Scout cookies I made from Rawdorable yesterday... they are amazing). This is just the current mechanism I'm going to use to keep that in check for now.
Instead, I'm choosing to focus on the other yummy raw foods I have access to and might not eat enough of because I'm compensating for too many cookies. More fruits & veggies of all kinds, with additional superfood powders, and some sprouted grains, seeds & dried fruits from optimal nutritional reasons!
To help: I'll be journaling my workouts and my food intake in a notebook each day (something I haven't done in a while), not just so I can take my workout routine on paper to the gym with me, but also so I can make sure I'm eating what I should be, that I'm eating enough, and that I'm making sure I'm getting all my nutrients and fruits & veggies every day (and limiting my nuts and seeds!). I'm curious to see the positive effects the nut limitation will have on my skin.
Beauty Regimen: Speaking of skin, I've been meaning to blog about how to keep ones skin ultimately healthy and young. Being on a raw diet is a good start (it's done wonders to a teenage-hood long battle with acne and its residual effects), and putting on lotion ever night is another good one (thank you mom for bringing me up that way!) But I also want to be more regular about enforcing bi-weekly dry brushing, my weekly face mask, and just following my daily skin routine (cleansing, toning, etc.), which I'll write to you more about it detail later this week.
Just to note now though, I only used organic beauty products (mostly Pangea Organics, but also MyChelle and Dr. Bronner's stuff) whose labels I know every ingredient to. The minute there is some chemical sounding compound with an 'xyte' or 'zkavoa' or other unnatural-sounding letter combination in it, it's out.
So that's my master plan! The Goal? Maintaining my health and happiness! I like to be organized and make all sorts of lists and plans and things, so this is just another vehicle for me to do that!
Today because of the snow, buses weren't running so I couldn't make it to the Bikram studio :( but, I did go home and do the following:
Workout of the Day:
(my Bird of Paradise Pose is starting to kick a$$! I always want to laugh out loud when I try it... I feel very Cirque du Soleil, but thank you Bikram for crazy drastically improving my balance and flexibility in just eight classes in one month!)
100 crunches
Great plan! I need to come up with a plan on my own soon, Good luck with yours!
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