Tuesday, January 17, 2012

AM workouts....

Hey guys. I know it's been awhile since I last posted, life just gets crazy sometimes...
So today's topic is AM workouts. For some people it works and for others it doesn't. I am NOTa morning person at all, but AM workouts are my saving grace. Today was a great morning workout, had my trainer at 7am and then CKO (I'll tell you more in a minute) at 830. This works for me because it sets the whole day up. I find that I make much better choices throughout the day knowing I just busted my booty all morning burning them calories. I personally can give a much better workout in the morning on an empty stomach, I know a lot of people say that's not good but for me it works and that is something I'm not changing haha. My tip for getting up early and working out is go to a class or schedule your trainer early. You tell yourself you have to get up because you committed yourself to go and then you get into a routine. Experiment with your body and see when it performs the best. Someone once told me it takes 14 days to develop a habit or an addiction and I think they were spot on because once you get into a routine like that your body craves more and in this case it's a good addiction. I've gone to my trainer every Tuesday and Thursday at 7am since about August, I think, and every once in awhile we have to reschedule and my body misses that workout in the morning. It's like "Are you serious right now? It's 7am why aren't you working me out!?" haha. So just get out there and start your routine

Ok so now onto what CKO is...it is the most amazing kickboxing class you will ever go to. They claim to burn as much as 1200 calories in one class and I believe I most likely do! What I like about CKO is that you get your own punching bag. I've been to many kickboxing classes where you partner up and hit a pad or everyone takes turns kicking one bag, I'm not saying you won't get a good workout at that type of kickboxing class but I want to beat the hell out of my own bag haha. I don't want to take turns and share. I'm greedy and want it all to myself!! There's a great instructor where I go to that makes you feel pumped up and guilty for not hitting that bag as hard as you both know you could. The workout can go for any fitness level because you go at your own pace. It's a great workout and great stress reliever. There are a bunch of locations in ny & nj so if you live there go find one and if you don't then open one! Haha I'm sure there might be similar kickboxing classes like this in other states. So do your research and try out a bunch, a lot of people offer a free first class so that's a perfect way to see if this kind of workout is for you.

Ok people so stop reading my blog and go do a killer workout, your body will thank you later!


Useful link:
www.ckokickboxing.com

*ps any type of exercise can cause injury, especially for first timers. So don't act like you know everything, because in the beginning you don't. There are still things I'm learning. Never be afraid to ask a question on proper form or technique. Because I'd much rather be annoying asking a million questions that injuring myself and not being able to do anything at all...

Saturday, January 7, 2012

A New Years Goal

Hey all, hope everyones weekend is going well! Just popping in for a quick entry, because I'll prbly refer to this one a lot over the next month.  On New Years Eve, I saw a great status by Tara Costa (Biggest Loser) and wanted to do it myself. Here is a screen shot of it...

So, 37 miles it is! Havent been able to start it yet becasue I have been sick since the beginning of the year, but this weekend everything is coming together and I have my game plan just about done! Well back to the weekend, enjoy it. If you fall off and cheat, dont stress. The most important thing to do is pick yourself back up and restart tomorrow!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

A long awaited blog...

I guess I should start with a quick introduction. My name is Nicole, I'm 25, & I'm from NY. In April 2011 I decided that I needed to change my life. I was unhappy with how i looked, the people in my life, and any other depressing thing you could think of. I'm Italian so of course our lives are revolved around food. I was always taught to finish everything on your plate and never to waste food. When ever I was happy or sad I knew I could rely on food to be there. It was the one thing I could control...but i didn't realize I was not in control, food was. Food is there for one reason: survival. We don't realize that food can be an addiction. People with addictions such as drugs or alcohol can simply remove themselves from situations that would influences them to keep up their addiction. But where can you go when you are addicted to food? No where. You need food to survive. You can not live without it and that is what makes this addiction serious.
Ok let's get back on track here, there is no magic get start plan. I have told myself numerous times in the past "ok tomorrow is the day I start" and then I don't. You have to be mentally ready to make a change and for everyone that reason to change is different. For me it was a broken heart and $300 (I'll get to that later). When you find that reason hold on for dear life because that's the fire that will spark a new you! Everyone asked how I did it, and as much as I don't want to admit it was a crazy insane diet (supervised by doctors). Enter in $300 dollars, but that money made me do it because I wasn't going to waste that money and not get results. The place was called Medi weight loss (google it) they pretty much restart your whole outlook on food and help you stay on track with weekly visits. After the 1st month I lost weight but still haven't stepped into a gym, I needed to start exercising. I found an amazing outdoor bootcamp that I instantly became obsessed with. I started to see even better results. At the beginning of the summer I heard about Spartan Race and that it was coming to my hometown. I wanted to, no needed to, do this. I stayed up til 3am one night watching videos of races and thought how I would feel if I did this. A few weeks later my aunt told me about a training classes for the spartan race that she was doing because she already signed up for the race. I then signed up for the race and did that class. It was hard and intense but I felt confident because of my prior bootcamps. I was obsessed with it. I continued to do the bootcamps to prepare for the race and in september I completed my first Spartan Race(an 8mile obstacle course) I cried when I crossed that finished line. I felt so accomplished. How many people can actually say they have done that? I've never been so proud of myself.
So fast forward to now. I have a trainer and continue to do bootcamps and other classes. Unfortunetly my local Medi has closed down so, I've been recalculating my diet, I luckily remained the same during the holidays thanks to my workouts but now I need to make a new game plan. I intended to use this blog to share my wins and fails (hopefully more wins) I have a lot of goals for 2012, such as numerous obstacle course races including The Spartan Beast (a 12 mile obstacle course on a ski mountain in Vermont). These goals will keep my going and hopefully inspire you to make a change. Get off the couch and join me in a race. Thank you for listening to my story and I hope you'll come back and check out what else I have to say.

Stuff I Mentioned in this Blog:
Spartan Race
Medi Weight Loss
Breaking Free Outdoor Bootcamp
Spartan Training NY