Running! Good for weight loss and body image

If  your ultimate goal of running throughout this 2013 year is to lose weight then you have come to the right activity!! Running has been proven to shed the pounds if you make this a regular habit. I recently read in an article that you must perform an activity for 2 weeks in order for it to become a habit, however it only takes 2 days to reverse that same habit. Seems pretty unfair huh?? However, if you can last the first 2 weeks you are golden.

Why is running good for weight loss??

Simply walking for a half hour at 3mph will compute to a total of 120 calories per mile for a woman weighing in at 150lbs. Furthermore, if you jog at 6 mph for 30 minutes you will burn roughly 350 calories per mile. Now that is a lot more than other activites for the same amount of time.
Now you may be wondering why you burn so many more calories when you run than when you walk.   Recent studies have shown that you will burn the same amount of calories whether you walk or run a certain distance. The difference in the amount of calories burned is determined by what some call "after-burn." The more you challenge your body, the longer the effects of the after burn are seen.  Therefore, by running you are challenging your body and causing the afterburn to last for longer, therefore burning more calories.

How do I eat as a runner?
Many people think that as a runner you can simply eat whatever you want. Not true. Although running may help to speed up your metabolism, if you fill your body with junk you will not only feel fatigued during those long runs, but you won't see the results that you want. It is necessary to carb load if you are racing or have a long run planned, however it is not necessary to do so every single meal. It is important to maintain a healthy diet.

It is also important not to starve yourself.

"I'm on this new diet where I don't eat anything and when I feel like I'm about to faint I eat a cube of cheese. I'm just one stomach flu away from my goal weight." - The Devil Wears Prada

Appetite may be curved in the aftermath of a hard workout, however it is detrimental to your metabolism to simply skip meals. It has been tested repeatedly and shown that people who skip breakfast tend to be overwieght and that by restricting calories throughout the day usually leads to overcompensation at night. Translation = you starve yourself all day and then binge eat at night... Major NO NO.  Also, if you restrict your calories as you are increasing the intensity of exercise, this may lead to exhaustion and increased risk of injury.

LOVE YOUR BODY!!

Picture taken from here

Body image in today's world has been seriously screwed with the use of media images and photoshop. No one is that perfect!! Otherwise photoshop wouldn't exist. It is important to be fit and healthy. Not necessarily skinny. Trust me, healthy is waaayy more beautiful! Running can help you to become more fit and healthy, increase strength and tone those muscles. It has also been proven running can help to alleviate depression and anxiety by decreasing stress. ALL GOOD in my book :)
It is important to understand your body's shape, and its capabilities with exercise. Each person must look at thier body shape and find someone who is toned and fit with that same shape to compare to. If you are genetically short and stocky, it is an unrealistice expectation to think you will have a ballerina body from exercise. Will you have a ballerina body? No.  will you be fit and beautiful? ABSOLUTELY. Women come in all shapes and sizes, so embrace what you have because chances are, someone else would love to have it!!!

Until next time lovelies....

Southern Girl Therapy

Bring It On 2013!!! My Fitness Plan

Happy New Year everyone!! I hope you all have been well in the past several weeks! Sorry its been so long but school and life seem to have gotten in the way of this new blog! However, it is now 2013 and it is time for a new start!! Anyone have any fantastic resolutions?? Any fitness resolutions?? If you are looking for extra motivation "Biggest Loser" is starting up again Sunday night and who can watch it and not get motivated to work out with all that weight loss happening. So did anyone else fall into the deadly holiday eating trap? I DID!!! We had a winter weather storm here in Arkansas and for about a week we were covered in snow and I had no power. So what did we do? We ate christmas left overs and boy am I paying for it now.

So as of the new year I am taking my fitness and diet extremely serious! Who's with me?? I am running with the runkeeper app which now has the capability to set a schedule for you and even tell you what days to run. I am also supplementing that with www.bodyrock.tv for those handy 12-20 minute workouts. My personal favorite is Lisa, so try one of her workouts first. Now for the diet aspect. Who has heard of clean eating? Well if you've never heard of it I strongly encourage you to google it stat!!! It is basically eating  foods that have not been processed... ie no fast foods. It also encourages 8 cups of water per day and several fruits and veggies, just like every other diet ever. However it doesn't cut back on certain food groups such as carbs like other diets do. I have never actually done a diet, so this one will be difficult for me however it isn't a strict one because you basically can eat the same as long as you find foods that haven't been processed.

How do you make a fitness resolution and stick to it?
1. Make small achievable goals and reward yourself when you achieve them
2. Pick a buddy, either to perform the workouts with you or just to tell about your workouts so you are held accountable.
3. Work out early, by the end of the day you are tired from work or school and its much harder to find the motivation to get going to the gym or take a run after a long day. P.S. morning workouts have been proven to give you more energy throughout the day, so its a win/win.
4. Listen to your body. Many times we try to push our selves too far on the first couple of days which ultimately leads to early burn out. Start slowly and progress as your body allows. Rome wasn't built in a day and your body will not magically be fit in one day either.

Now these are my plans, which makes you all my buddies for my goals. One of which is getting back in shape to fit into those itty bitty yellow polka dot binkinis!! I am starting a new PT clinical on Monday so my time will be limited but I am determined to fit in my workouts to reach my goals. I will have an hour and 20 minute commute each way while also trying to study for the practice NPTE (Physical therapy national board exam) in March. So basically I have a full plate as of now (encouragement needed). If I can do it, SO CAN YOU!!! Lets get fit and motivated in 2013 people. & notice you dont have to spend tons of money on a gym membership because all of this can be done from home!!

Til next time my pretties!
XOXO Southern Girl Therapy

Miles Of Hope

The first step is the hardest... Well I definitely agree with that! Back when I was in college it was nothing to go out and run early in the morning or in between classes. However, now that I'm a graduate student and spend my life sitting in a lecture hall from 8am-5pm its an understatement to say that I've slacked off!! So here I am again starting from square 1!! Who's with me?? I've compiled a 5K running program that I think is doable and achievable with the time frame I need. Considering I spend so much time in class and approximately 3-4 hours studying after that, I need something that will easily fit into my schedule. Now I'm not complaining, the average job is 8-5 and all of you in that situation can relate to this.

So basically I've decided to combine a few programs that allows me to run/walk (especially in the beginning)  for about 30 minutes. Hopefully I will build up to an hour eventually, however that is just not plausible during the week at the present moment.

Week 1: Run 2 min; walk 3 min   repeat this 6 times
Week 2: Run 2:30 min; walk 2:30 repeat 6 times
Week 3: Run 3 min; walk 2 minutes  repeat 6 time
Week 4: run 4 min; walk 1 min repeat 6 times
Week 5: Run 5 min; walk 2 min; repeat 4 times
Week 6; Run 6 min; walk 2 min; repeat 4 times
Week 7: Run 7 min; walk 3 min; repeat 3 times
Week 8: Run 8 min; walk 2 min; repeat 3 times
Week 9: Run 9 min; walk 1 min; repeat 3 times

At this point you are walking 3 minutes out of 30 in only 9 weeks.... GO YOU!!! Feel free to tweak the program however you like. The main goal is to run at a pace that you gain benefits from the workout, however you could still carry out a conversation if you needed to.

SOMETHING TO PASS THE TIME:

I don't know about you but since I am usually busy all the time, it's hard for me to not be doing something while I run!!  I know , pathetic!! However, I have found a brilliant solution. Well, it's brilliant if you like to read books. I have found that you can download audio books onto your ipod/phone and listen to them while you run. It makes the time go by way faster and you are able to get some reading/listening done for a new book.


STILL NEED MORE MOTIVATION??

There is a new App available that actually donates to a charity for every mile you run. Now that will definitely give you a feel good effect. Charity Miles is available in the App Store currently and donate 10 cents for every mile you bike and 25 cents for every mile you run/walk. The only catch is that you have to post your miles logged to your facebook, which I use to feel funny about, however if it donates to a charity I guess I can suck it up.
You can pick from one of 11 charities to donote your miles:
1. Every Mother Counts
2. Autism Speaks
3. Feeding America
4. ASPCA - animal welfar
5. The Nature Conservatory
6. Pencils of Promise - supports educational opportunities of all
7. World Food Programme
8. Micheal J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
9. Habitat for Humanity
10. Achilles International - foundation for disabled children and amputees
11. The Global Fund - Aids, Tuberculosis, and Malaria

My first run/walk was for the Achilles International. Are we shocked?? My physical therapist bias is coming to the surface!! It was only a mile but every cent counts!!! This was hard for me to only do a mile, why you ask? Because I'm not sore yet!! Of course you fare tempted to go out and run your hardest and as long as you possibly can to feel like you did something. However, I strongly suggest taking it light the first day. You don't know how your body will react after taking a running hiatus. So start up slow and with the program above build up gradually. This will not only help your body to adapt as you progress but it will also help to decrease your risk of injury.

Happy running/walking!! Go make a difference :)