Slow and Steady Wins the Race

Our society is very results oriented, but tends to love them more when those results can be produced in nano-seconds.  I know how that feels.  When I work out, I want results today; I want the scale to read five pounds less and a smaller dress size to fit.  That’s just not realistic.  It takes time and hard work to achieve goals.

We all want to hurry up and go as fast and hard as possible to get the fastest results.  There is a time and place for fast, hard interval work.  Your body needs time to repair from that work.  In the meantime, or in between those workouts, spending time on muscle development can be worthwhile.  Muscle development, however, doesn’t happen overnight.

Make strength training a core part of your work out routine.
You can use equipment like bands, free weights, kettlebells
or medicine balls.  Make sure an expert shows you proper
form so you can get the most out of your work outs!

Proper form is the tortoise in the race with the hare.  With proper form and the appropriate amount of resistance from bands or weight from free-weights, people can build great muscle tone.  With lean muscle, you can burn fat and get closer to achieving certain goals.  I personally love sculpted muscle.  Not that I’m anywhere close to achieving sculpted muscles yet but it sure does look great to me.  What I love even more is what’s going on inside – lean muscle revs up metabolism which in turn eats away at fat.  In order to achieve lean, toned muscle, proper form is crucial.

Again, we definitely live in an “instant” society.  When we can find out the answer to a burning question on the web in just a few minutes or less, we expect that one or two rounds of exercise to change our body shape.  At the same time, we can be first to jump in line for fast food because we need to eat right now.  We sacrifice quality, healthy food for speed.  Many also try “fast diets” and supplements that are supposed to help you “drop weight in minutes.”  So how do we expect to achieve long term results with our body shape when we try to alter it in days or a few short weeks?

It's not just exercise that's important to good health.  Forgo
fast food for a homemade meal.  You can keep it simple,
quick and healthy.  I don't buy jarred pasta sauce; I prefer
to make my own!  Saute onion and garlic in olive oil and
add pepper, salt, crushed red pepper, italian seasoning,
bell peppers, a can of diced tomatoes and wine.  Boil,
then let simmer for 10-15 minutes until it thickens up.
Serve with whole grain pasta and enjoy!

Studies show that steady, progressive weight loss and muscle building are expected to last longer than immediate, drastic weight loss.  The bigger point to this conversation is that you shouldn’t get frustrated and give up if you don’t see results as fast as you like.  Understand that the body controls how changes are made and that it’s your job to eat healthful foods and exercise in order to achieve the results you’d like.  In exercise, it’s critical to learn the proper form of the moves you’re completing so that you get maximum benefit and minimize risk of injury (and that’s true for muscle strengthening AND cardio).  You have to take the time to learn proper form and execute it, instead of flying through a routine and getting minimal benefit.  Take the time to get the MOST benefit!

It’s also important to set goals and realistic time frames to achieve goals.  Like I said, I know the feeling of wanting to be five pounds lighter yesterday and in a smaller size now just because I did one really great workout.  The reality of the situation is that if I continue to eat well and exercise, continue to tweak my program where needed, and stay positive and dedicated, I will achieve my goals.  And so will you – so don’t give up or give in!  

Miss FitGab