Lifting Weights for Women

Lifting weights somewhere along the line got a really bad name for only being for men who want to be outrageously muscular, or for women who for some reason want to look a bit 'freakish.' Ever see these pictures, or similar ones to them below?  The truth is lifting weights alone does not yield these results.  And unless you are trying, and trying extremely hard, you will never look like the pictures below. These men and women did not just walk into the gym one day, pick up some weights, and wake up the next morning looking like this!


I am targeting this blog to all the ladies out there who are worried about lifting weights and or not even considering a program like Beachbody's Body Beast!  It's my intention to calm your nerves about lifting weights, and lifting heavy weights at that!

Getting results: The Calorie Rule!
Ok it all starts with this rule.  Simply put, your body uses a certain amount of calories per day (you can find calculators online that will help you estimate this number).  If you consume over this number you gain weight, if you consume under this number you lose weight.  Now this 'rule' goes a lot deeper than this but for the case of this blog that'll be good enough. Easy so far right?

I don't want to get big and bulky!?!
I get it, you don't want to lose your feminine physique.  Don't worry you won't.  Buuttttt I'm guessing I still haven't put your mind at ease?  Ok, think of it this way, changes don't occur over night.  You're not going to lift a bunch of weights on Monday and then be big, bulky and veiny on Tuesday!  It doesn't happen that fast, and if it did, every guy in the world would be HUGE!  This process takes time.

Remember when you wanted to lose 10 lbs and it was taking too long so you quit?  Adding size takes a long time and a lot of food.  But just to calm your nerves about a program like this think of it this way.  If at anytime you're not liking how your body is changing and you're not liking your results, you can always STOP.  It's just that simple.

Oh and don't forget our calorie rule.  Beast up and lift those weights ladies, as long as you're not taking in a huge excess of calories you can sleep soundly knowing you won't get any bigger!  Actually you'll be working out harder so you'll actually be able to eat more, WIN WIN!

Cardio burns more calories, you sure?
Maybe in a per minute amount of time but not overall.  Your body recovers from cardio session much more quickly then weight training.  So after your cardio workout, and a little time after that, your body is done burning calories.  Weight training however is different.

During weight training you tear you muscles apart.  After, your body has to to your muscles back together also making you stronger.  So with weight training you will burn calories during the workout (obviously) and also for days after the workout while your body rebuilds itself.  Win win!  Your body will be burning calories even when you're not working out! 

 Please note I'm not discouraging cardio in anyway.  There are a number of health benefits your body gets from it.  I'm simply making a case for weight training here. 

 Fat vs Muscle
Let's keep this one real simple.  Muscle naturally burns more fat in your body to operate then fat.  So if you want to burn EVEN MORE calories, add more muscle.  I've even read that, "for every 1 lb of muscle you have, you'll burn an extra 40 calories per day."

Conclusion
I hope I've changed your mind about lifting wights and lifting heavy weights.  Those actions alone are not going to make you bulky.  In fact in my opinion the 'form' of your body is for the most part made in the kitchen, so feel free to do what you want in the gym.  If you're looking for a program that is laid out and simple to use let me suggest Body Beast.  Plenty of women and men have been loving the results they have been getting from it.  It comes with the workouts, nutrition guide, supplements, support and everything else you will need to transform your body to meet your goals.  Oh and don't let the cover fool you :)









Deciding vs Doing

RIDDLE:  Five frogs are sitting on a log.  Four decide to jump off.  How many are left?
____________________________________
ANSWER:  Five.  Because there's a difference between deciding and doing!
I found this riddle in John C Maxwell's book "The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth."  The riddle itself isn't hard to figure out, but learning the life lesson it teaches us can be.  How often have you used the words tomorrow, soon, someday, eventually, when I'm ready, or the  hundreds of other words for not doing something.  Now don't get me wrong there are plenty of legitimate reasons for delaying action but I'm talking about the things YOU KNOW YOU NEED TO DO NOW.  

Why do we put these things off?  Why do we, in many cases, make the things we need to get done into bigger chores then they really are?  There is an entire book devoted to answering these questions titles "Eat That Frog" by Brian Tracy.  In his book he brings up a really good point that really stuck with me.  I'm paraphrasing here but it says that...

Everyday we have things we want to do and things we have to do.  Typically we do all the small little things first leaving the larger 'less fun' items on our agenda for later.  While we're doing these more fun and simple tasks we are constantly thinking in the back of our mind about the larger more daunting tasks.  Unfortunately by doing this we typically build these tasks up to be more overwhelming then they really are.  This makes us put them off even longer snowballing the effect further.  

Instead try this, get those tasks done first, right away.  Wow crazy idea!  By getting those tasks done first not only will the rest of your day seem easy (because you only have small fun tasks to complete) but you will also end your day on a more positive note.  Not to mention, if you're anything like me, you get more work done in the mornings then in the afternoon.  Spend your energy on the more difficult tasks so when the more exiting ones come up you'll feel like you have more energy and less likely to crash!  And... you'll go home happy instead of out of energy!!!  

I'm sure there is much more to discuss on this topic but think about it for a while.  How many times have you 'talked' about doing something but have never done it?  Then later wished you had.  It's not too late to change.  My challenge to you is to simply DO THINGS!  Right or wrong just do things!  You may be surprised at all you can accomplish, and it's a great habit to have!  :)





Communication, through my eyes...

This is a topic, or maybe a pet peeve of mine, that has been bothering me for a while so I wanted to take a few seconds to share my side of the story with you.  I think this topic would actually stir a decent amount of controversy but since my blog isn't that popular I think I'll be able to avoid most of that :)
I would like to share with you my thoughts on communication, and more specifically 'incorrect' communication.  What I mean by that is when someone spells something wrong, phrases something wrong, or even uses the wrong their, there, or they're.

I get called out on this all the time!  In most cases I hit enter before spell checking something or my phone auto corrects me and I don't even notice.  My question is this, does it matter?  I would say that 99% of the time that this happens, the people around me still know exactly what I'm trying to communicate to them.  But it almost always seems necessary for them to correct me and tell me I'm wrong.  Why?  

Fine, YOU'RE right, I am wrong.  But does telling me that I'm wrong actually help anything?  All YOU'RE doing is stroking YOUR ego for a few seconds and making me feel dumb and not want to be around you.  You still know what I'm trying to communicate to you, you get the point.  But instead of continuing on our conversation, which could potentially be enlightening for both of us, we have to stop in the middle of our thought process to deal with something, in my opinion, doesn't really matter.  My bad grammar isn't harming anyone, the world is still spinning and you still understand what I'm trying to say.  I guess I just don't get it.  In my opinion the people around me have thoughts and ideas I care about.  How they get that information to me is irrelevant.

Have you ever seen this example?
[I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too. ]

Look, us bad grammar-atics aren't trying to write books here, and in that rare case, we would make sure to hire someone to keep us in line.  It's my hope that any of you out there that like to correct people consider holding you tongue and allow them to communicate their thoughts to you.  In my case I always feel like my brain is spitting out ideas too fast and I don't have time to review and analyze each one of them, I just want to share!  My point is this, maybe by doing this we can more fully understand each other and our ideas rather then our seemingly inherent need to interrupt people and tell them our thoughts; of course learning to listen is a whole other topic.


Silence is golden, not this :)

Motivational Facebook Covers and Misc

I've been doing these Motivational and sometimes fun Facebook covers for a while now and I thought I'd start a small library on here of all of them I've done so far.  If there are any of them that you want for your own cover just let me know and I'll email the full size to you! [jimmie.brenton@gmail.com]



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