Get Fit - Get Healthy: Week 7

Hey Hi Hello! What's Up! Howdy Dowdy Dooo Dah! Buenas! Hardy Har Har!

1. If you haven’t yet, join the challenge here: GET FIT and GET HEALTHY

2. Every Saturday come back to The Art of Making a Baby and {shutter}mama to read the tips on how to be fitter, healthier and more confident.

3. Weekly write a post about your progress, following the questionnaire below, take a self-portrait (optional) and link up with us.

4. Don’t forget to grab the GET FIT challenge button on the sidebar and display it proudly on your blog or GET FIT post.

5. Link your post with Selfie Saturdays if you took your week’s self-portrait.

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So I was browsing the internet and I found this neat article via StumbleUpon {woop woop} and so I'm going to share it for this weeks exercise talk. Now let's get to it.

Top 10 Fitness Facts! Yesh...yesh, this is actually fairly interesting!

1. Exercise Boosts Brainpower!!

Put on your thinking caps and *dink dink dink* tap into that brain of yours because exercise increases energy levels and increases serotonin in the brain, which leads to improved mental clarity! So next time you're feeling froggy and a bit blurred of the brain, whip out some exercise.

2. Movement Melts Away Stress!!

Get to your hippity hoppin and pop lock n' droppin {orrr not!} beacause exercise produces a relaxation response that serves as a positive distraction. So if you're pulling your hair out and smashing your head into that drywall, pull back, stand up and exercise *dun duh duhhhhh dahhhhhh!!!*

3. Exercise Gives You Energy!!

Oh really?! I thought it poooops you out. *ERRRRR {buzzer sound}* NOOOOOO. Apparently, endorphins are released into your bloodstream during exercise and you feel much more energized the rest of the day. The physical tiredness you feel after working out isn't the same as everyday fatigue. Besides, once your body adjusts to exercise, you'll have more energy than ever. Hoorahh folks, let's get jumpin ;)

4. It's Not Hard To Find Time For Fitness

What you say? Ahhh heckkk nah! AAAAAHHH heck yes-um! Let's stop making excuses because Dr. Atkinson has a response and I quote!!!

"The key, says Atkinson, is to use your time more wisely. Think about killing two birds with one stone.

Take your kids to the park or ride bikes together, and you're getting physical activity while enjoying family time, he says. Beyond that, go for a hike, take the kids swimming, or play hide-and-seek, tag, softball, or horseshoes in the backyard.

At work, he says, schedule a meeting on the jogging track or on the golf course.

Also, forget the idea that you have to trudge to the gym and spend an hour or more doing a formal workout. Instead, you can work short spurts of physical activity into your day.

'Everyone has 20 minutes,' Atkinson says. 'Everyone has 10 minutes to jump rope, and sometimes that's better than 20 minutes of walking or running.'

Indeed, squeezing in two or three bouts of 15 or 20 minutes of activity is just as effective as doing it all at once, says Astorino. Vacuuming the house in the morning, riding bikes in the park with the kids in the afternoon, then taking a brisk walk in the evening can add up to an active day.

Recent U.S. government guidelines say that to lose weight and keep it weight off, you should accumulate at least 60 minutes of exercise a day, says Astorino. But half an hour a day is all you need to reap the health and disease-fighting benefits of exercise." - Web MD {Dr. Atkinson}

5. Fitness Can Build Relationships!!

Need I say more?! Find a buddy and get to know them! BAM.

6. Exercise Helps Ward Off Disease!!

No more stuffing your nose with tissue and walking around looking like Dumpy! Research has shown that exercise can slow or help prevent heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis (bone loss), loss of muscle mass, and eases aspects of the aging process. There isn't a major health problem where exercise cannot have a positive effect. Are you motivated yet?

7. Fitness Pumps Up Your Heart!!

Put your hand on that beater of yours! Feel the life? MOST people only get ONE of those...take good care of it by exercising! With exercise, the heart will build up less plaque. It will become a more efficient pump. When the heart becomes stronger, it pumps more blood per beat, so at rest, the heart rate is lower. It's not going to have to beat as fast" to expend the same amount of effort. The body readily adapts to the stimulus it's getting and it becomes easier. You will feel less fatigue. It will not take as much effort when it comes to breathing. You shouldn't have as much pain or soreness...SOOOO let's go you guys!!!

8. Exercise Let's You Eat More!!

Hahahaha. Must I add anything else?

9. Exercise Boosts Performance!

No brainer, but perhaps some of you need to read it to believe it....Your muscles will work much more efficiently and you'll gain a greater sense of endurance! Your reaction time and balance will improve!!!

10. Weight Loss is Not the Most Important Goal!

Sayyyy whhhhaaa?? Weight loss is the reason many people exercise in the first place. But it's certainly not the sole benefit of an exercise program. Really, they should think about the level of functioning in the activities of daily living...that can serve as the motivation to keep them coming back for more! So whatever weight loss goal you have when starting a fitness program, don't make it your only goal. Strive to feel better, to have more energy, to be less stressed. Notice the small things that exercise does for you quickly, rather than getting hung up on the narrow goal of the number on a scale!! Okay, so don't stress about the numbers, just don't :]

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Week 7:

Your weight {if you don't feel comfortable sharing this, you don't have to}: Down another 3 which puts me at about 17 lbs total!

Your fitness challenge(s) for the week: Insanity and P90X - 6 days a week!

Your food challenge for the week: Same...no sweets, no soda, more water, less meat...more salad!

How well did it go: This week was A-MAZING. I really stuck to it like a man. Bahahaha. No not like a man but I did awesome. Sooo proud. Clapping like Maia! {she claps like a grandma}

Failures and slip-ups: I ate at Quizno's...bite me woops.

Weekly challenge wisdom: Give it all that you can when you feel like you can't.

Advice to fellow GET FIT members: Don't let today stop you. Tomorrow is new and if you screw up today you have a fresh slate tomorrow!

Your Model Eyes Selfie ( optional but strongly encouraged):

Heyyyy heyyy heyyy! Look who got this down? Baaahahahaha.



















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XOXO,

ME

PS- Maia knows how to fist pump - Jersey Shore style! I'm such a good mom hahaha!!!!!