Full Body Rotation

I like to do quick workouts where I get the most possible out of them in the least possible time. I got faster, leaner, and more fit this last year by running less and adding in short strength training at home.  (I am at the point if I want to continue to get faster I will have to up my game.) You just have to make sure every workout counts.

You want to start working out start with something easy. I started by doing this once a week. It takes me 15 to 20 minutes or even faster if I don't dawdle.

    3 sets of push-ups
    3 sets of bicycle crunches
    3 sets of squats
  Rotating through the exercises.

So what's a set? Go to fatigue, meaning you cant do anymore. That's something that took me a little while to learn. (Still learning!)

Let's take push-ups. Don't start on your knees, it's not easy to build up from there. Start with your hands shoulder width apart and go down as far as you can and come back up. You should be able to maintain that for at least 4 push-ups.

If you only do 1 don't go down as far. Once it becomes easy and routine to do 12, not being able to continue after 12, you should go down further and faster. Try to keep where you fatigue at between 6 and 12 reps. With weights that easier to do because you can add weight but when my body is the resistance I sometimes get up to between 20 and 25 before I figure out how to go deeper and faster and fatigue out sooner. Learning the form of a new exercise can take awhile.

Increase difficulty by going down deeper and faster. If it becomes too easy put your feet up on a chair to increase difficulty.

You should be sore the next day! Every workout should leave you feeling it a little bit.

Fruit at Work

I love sweets and I could eat them any and all the time if I let me myself. So to try to curb my sweet snacking and increase my healthy eating one of the first places I started was by adding fruit. DON'T RESTRICT ADD! I found its easier to start by adding good food than cutting not so good foods. 

If I say "Self, you cant have a donut." What do I do? I think about donuts, day dream about donuts and binge eat other junk and still really just wanting a donut. So that is not how I like to create change in myself.

I instead added fruit to my day. This requires some planning ahead on my part but I try to go to the grocery store Saturday or Monday and buy the fruits I will eat each day at work. Then when I get hungry and in particular really want something sweet I think "Self, there is an apple in the drawer you need to eat that." Sometimes I am hesitant but it usually tastes good and I am pretty satisfied after.

If I'm not satisfied then I still have a banana and some raisins that need to be eaten as well. Then later if I still really want it I will get the donut but by then I've eating 2 cups of fruit so i'm in a better place than if I just ate the donut. Plus sometimes I lose the donut craving.

Extra awesome tip: Keep a apple slicer in your desk at work. It makes eating that apple so much easier and more enticing.