You are on fire! Yes, Congratulations! You're here!!! I'm SO Proud of You!
Check in:
Have you had your tea?
Have you looked at your goals today?
Have you tried to construct a Bull's Eye Meal?
As you start to eat better, sleep better and get more energy flowing through you, you will naturally want to start exercising more. This is a GREAT sign!
If you are already exercising but feeling completely exhausted, missing sleep to fit your exercise in or having sugar cravings and energy crashes in the afternoon, my recommendation would be to stop doing excessive, long cardio sessions. They are probably hurting you more than helping you. I know its scary if you're afraid of gaining weight...
Evidence is showing that chronic long sessions of cardio can be detrimental to your overall health, does that mean they always are? No. The problems that scientists are identifying are that long, steady state cardio sessions can cause excessive cortisol, muscle catabolism, weakened immune system, stress and insomnia. If exercise does start to eat away your muscle tissue, then that causes you to be less efficient at calorie burning, as well.
Short burst cardio is beneficial for your cardiovascular system to adapt and become more efficient, in that respect "High Intensity Interval Training" sessions give more benefits per minute and don't exhaust you and drive your blood sugar so low.
High Intensity Interval Training is when you complete short 30-90 second rounds of high intensity exercises followed by short periods of rest, usually 30-60 seconds. The length of these periods can be adjusted to provide variety. You are combining aerobic and anaerobic exercise for your body to benefit from both.
You can string any exercises you want together, which makes HIIT perfect for working out outdoors, travelling or watching TV, you just need to make sure you are getting your heart rate up high enough to feel quite challenged. You can also do them with weights and on a cardio machine, like an elliptical.
Below is an example of an at-home HIIT workout, there will be more to come about these workouts and about lifting weights which is another important part of the fitness equation.
Remember DON'T get overwhelmed, take it one step at a time, you can do this!
Jennifer XOXO