Most women are hard-pressed for time. You could be the mother of a newly born child who needs your full attention. Or you might be a career woman with demanding deadlines and you still need to juggle your duties as a wife.
We live in a fast paced world. Everybody is running the rat race to be the best rat. Time is a precious commodity that never seems to be enough. So what do you do?
You improvise. That’s what you do.
To put things in perspective, you must realize that there are 24
hours in a day. A one hour workout is 4 percent of your day. A 15
minute workout is one percent of your day. An eight minute workout is “half a percent” of your day!
But what can I achieve in 8 minutes? A lot!
Anybody no matter how busy, can squeeze in 8 minutes. 8
minutes is too much? How about 4 minutes? What?! 4 Minutes?
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Yes. 4 minutes of Tabata protocol. You can Google it to find out more. The point here is that you can cause a metabolic boost to your body and put it in fat burning mode within 4 minutes and you will be in a fat burning state for hours. Will it be easy? No.
But it will be effective.
If you do not have time for one hour long workouts, do quick bursts of 15 minutes or even less. The difference is that the shorter workouts will have to be more intense. However, it will be for a short while only.
There are also other methods to ensure that you burn more calories. Get yourself a pair of ankle weights and wear them throughout the day.
You will burn more calories when you walk and move. If you’re a stay at home mom, get a haversack and add some weight in it.
Throw in a telephone directory or 2 and wear the haversack.
The added weight will make everything more difficult and you will be burning more calories because of the added resistance.
Get yourself a Fitbit which will track the number of steps you take daily. Aim to increase the number of steps by 100 everyday.
Climb the stairs instead of using the elevator. Walk to the supermarket if you can.
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If you’re the mother of a newborn, get an infant sling and place your baby in it. Then proceed for a 30 minute walk. Excellent exercise for you and the baby gets a breath of fresh air too.
You may not have enough time. Yet, with a bit of imagination, you can incorporate many little practices and changes in your life to burn more calories. Once you have that done, get a journal and record your hourly activities.
See where your time goes. “Oh look! I’m watching Sex and the City reruns daily!”… ah hah! A time waster right there. Cut it out and spend that 30 minutes exercising. It will do you more good than watching, Samantha, trying to get it on with all the guys in New York.
Do whatever you can with whatever time you have. Even if it’s only 4 minutes.
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Chapter 10 - Structuring Your Workouts The importance of following a good training regimen that not only boosts your stamina, but also strengthens and tones your body cannot be over emphasized.
Cardio is a great way to burn calories and lose weight.
Millions of women around the world focus ONLY on cardio workouts. This is a mistake because strength training is crucial for weight loss too.
The more lean muscle mass your body has, the more calories it burns while at rest.
That essentially means you’ll be a fat burning machine throughout the day.
The best way to structure your workout will be to have 3 cardio sessions a week and two resistance training sessions.
The Power of Fasted Cardio
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Cardio is extremely effective when done on an empty stomach.
You may have heard that exercising on an empty stomach is great for weight loss. However, the idea of a strenuous workout so soon after waking doesn’t appeal to most people.
The good news is that it does NOT have to be strenuous.
In fact, it’s best to keep things relatively light.
One of the best ways of losing weight is to go for a brisk walk first thing in the morning. A short 20 to 30 minute walk is ideal.
You should be able to hold a conversation while walking. You shouldn’t be exerting yourself to a point where you’re panting and gasping.
We’re not aiming for high intensity here.
When you wake up in the morning, your body is in a fasted state.
Your glycogen levels are low and the food in your body would have been digested.
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This means that your body will be forced to burn fat for fuel while you walk. So, during the 20 to 30 minutes that you’re walking, your body is burning its fat stores for fuel.
This is a very powerful method and since it’s not strenuous, you can do it daily.
The morning walk will also boost your metabolic rate and you’ll burn more calories throughout the day.
If you don’t wish to walk, you may swim or use a stationary bike.
As long as it’s a cardio activity that’s at a moderate pace, your body will burn fat and your efforts will pay off.
You may wish to engage in strength training or a short high intensity interval training later in the day. That’s perfectly fine because the morning workout is just meant to speed up the fat burning process.
It’s an additional technique to help you reach your weight goals faster. This is such an easy method that anyone can do it.
If all you can manage is a 10-minute walk, then just do 10
minutes. With time, you can slowly progress to 20 or 30 minutes.
There’s really no need to go above 30 minutes.
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Give this method a try and within a couple of weeks, you will see the difference.
Weight training
Many women worry about getting bulky and muscular like men if they were to train with weights. This assumption is false.
Even men struggle with gaining muscle. Women who train with weights will look leaner and more defined but they will not become manly.
You can cast aside all worries about looking like a female bodybuilder.
Bodyweight training such as squats, push-ups, lunges, dips and pull ups are great ways to work your muscles and joints.
It’s crucial to work your muscles or they will atrophy with age.
Look for exercises that tone your thighs, butt and arms.
These are common problem areas for many women. While cardio will help you shed the fat, strength training will give you the 59
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curves and definition that will make you look fit, healthy and radiant.
A short 10 to 15 minute full body workout done early in the day will work miracles. This type of workout is known as HIIT… High Intensity Interval Training.
Here’s the kicker. You can even do a HIIT workout in one spot and still sweat like crazy.
For example, let’s look at this workout circuit.
Sit Ups – 45 seconds
Burpees – 45 seconds
Jump Squats – 45 seconds
Push Ups – 45 seconds
High Knees – 45 seconds
Jumping Jacks – 45 seconds
Burpees – 45 seconds
Alternating Lung Jumps – 45 seconds
Sit ups – 45 seconds
Push Ups – 45 seconds
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Each exercise will have 15 seconds of rest before you move on to the next. You could do this workout in a cubicle. It takes up that little space… BUT… most people will not be able to even make it to the 9th exercise.
Why?
Because of the intensity. You need to go as hard as you can go.
There is no taking it easy. If all you have is 10 minutes, then it MUST be a hard 10 minutes.
The good news is that this is just 10 minutes. You’ll be in the
‘hurt box’ during this time but you need to keep telling yourself…
“It’s only 10 minutes! I can do this.”
You could complete a workout within a commercial break. It’s that fast. If you do this workout early in the day, your body will be in fat burning mode throughout the day because of the intensity.
It creates a situation in your body known as post-exercise oxygen consumption. That means your body will be burning calories at an accelerated rate for 10 to even 14 hours after your workout is over.
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It’s amazing what just 10 minutes can do.
The reason you do it early in the day is because your metabolism drops the moment you go to bed. By completing your training early in the day, you’ll reap maximum rewards.
It’s also worth noting that it’s best that you make these short workouts full body workouts. Do compound movements such as squats, jumps push ups, etc.
By recruiting as many muscles in your body as you can, you’ll be ensuring that your workout is engaging the whole body.
Don’t just try to wing it with simple exercises such as dumbbell curls and call it a day. All you have is 10 minutes. You have to make it count.
Even 3 of these short workouts a week will transform your body within a month. Go ahead and give them a try. You will be amazed.
Do remember to have 2 rest days a week. You can split them up or you can have both days back to back. It’s really up to you.
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What matters is that you take a break every week so that your muscles and central nervous system have time to recover. By going too hard without rest, your body will get tired and stressed out.
You may end up hitting a weight loss plateau and once that happens, you won’t lose weight no matter what you do.
You will then need to take a 4 to 5 day break just to recover. This will slow down your progress and you may even gain weight.
Take a 2 day break every week.
Do your research online and find the best resistance training and cardio workouts.
Vary your workouts and challenge your body. You’ll get stronger and leaner in no time at all.
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Chapter 11 - Putting the Fun In It
Make your exercise sessions fun. Find a workout buddy if you need one.
Don’t do the same workouts daily. Monotony can discourage even the most enthusiastic woman.
Try something new. Maybe yoga at the gym… or kickboxing.
You could try rock-climbing too!
Feel like dancing? Check out Shaun T’s workouts and follow along.
The key here is to keep moving. Your caloric deficit will cause weight loss no matter what you do.
The exercise is just to speed up the process.
Do whatever you like. Cycling, running, swimming.
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What matters is that you MOVE daily. A sedentary lifestyle is what causes obesity.
Keep moving and keep it fun.
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Chapter 12 - Dealing with Slip Ups
It’s going to happen. Sooner or later it definitely is going to happen. “What’s going to happen?” you ask.
You’re going to slip-up on your diet and eat something you know you shouldn’t or you may not do a workout that you know you should.
It happens to almost all of us. How you proceed from a slip-up makes all the difference to whether you succeed in your weight loss journey or fail miserably.
Let’s look at slipping up with your diet first. When you go on a weight loss journey, it usually involves eating less than you’re accustomed to, in order to create a caloric deficit. You’ll also need to focus on eating foods that are healthy and wholesome while avoiding processed and junk food.
However, the body is already used to eating without much thought and you’re probably addicted to processed and junk food without even realizing it. Millions of people are, and when they try to ditch these unhealthy foods, they get cravings and mood swings.
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The key point is to make the changes gradual. Only aim for a 500
calorie deficit daily. This is a manageable amount and you will not be feeling pangs of hunger.
You may feel a little peckish but it will be manageable. If you cut your calories too drastically, you will be feeling hungry all the time and this is sheer mental and physical torture.
Changing your foods overnight causes the same problem. Your body is not used to it. Aim to gradually reduce consumption of the bad foods and replace them with good ones.
If you drink 3 cans of soda daily, cut it down to 2 for a week and then bring it down to 1 can… and finally, put an end to the soda habit. Don’t just give up sodas overnight.
Problems arise when people try to do too much too soon. They make things so challenging that compliance becomes a nightmare. People aim for perfection.
Sooner or later they lose the battle of wills within themselves and give in to temptation and eat a greasy cheeseburger and fries or they polish off an entire bag of cookies.
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When that happens, they feel guilty and think that they have failed. They then believe that they’re destined to be fat and they throw in the towel and give up on their goal. This happens to millions of people and is the reason why so many people quit.
The first point to note when you slip-up is that you made a single mistake. You have not failed yet. You only fail when you give up.
If you accidentally dropped your mobile phone, wouldn’t you quickly pick it up, dust it off and keep it safely?
Surely you wouldn’t keep dropping it and smashing it because of the first accident.
In the same way, acknowledge your slip-up and move on. Tell yourself that you will be more mindful of what you eat. Ease up on your stringent diet and allow flexibility while maintaining a caloric deficit. Do not deprive yourself of too much too soon.
As for your workouts, the same mindset should apply. If you miss a workout today, make sure you do one the next day. Never ever miss more than 3 workout sessions in a row or you’ll conveniently fall off track and it will be very tough to go back.
If you dread exercising, you’re either pushing yourself too hard or you’re engaged in an activity that you have no interest in.
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Exercise is meant to boost your metabolic rate and increase fat burning. Your diet and caloric deficit is what really matters when it comes to fat loss.
Missed workouts and diet mistakes are not the end of the world and should definitely not be the end of your weight loss journey.
It is a journey and it’s inevitable that you get lost along the way every now and then. If you stay on track and keep going despite your setbacks, you will reach your goal. That’s almost always how most people reach their goals. Keep your chin up and keep moving forward.
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Chapter 13 - Taking Time to Smell the
Roses
There will be times when you just feel like giving up. This is normal.
What you need to do is relax and enjoy the process. Be satisfied with even a pound of weight loss. You can lose more the following week.
What matters is that you know that you’ll get there and you must stay positive.
Don’t obsess over your weight. Maintain the caloric deficit, do your workouts, drink enough water, get enough sleep, make your workouts fun… and relax.
You will reach your goal. Watch a movie or a comedy to de-stress. Go on a vacation but don’t throw your diet away.
Always keep your chin up and keep going forward. Visualize where you want to be… and you’ll get there.
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Chapter 14 - Getting There and Staying There
Most women who lose weight often gain it back after a while.
Even people on TV shows such as The Biggest Loser gained all the fat they all once the show ended.
In order to stay slim, you need to change your lifestyle.
You’ll need to practice whatever you’re learned in this book for life.
Once you reach your ideal weight, you will need to consume your calories at maintenance level. This will ensure that you neither gain nor lose more weight.
Keep doing the workouts you’re doing to stay fit.
You’ll always have to be on the ball. A rolling stone gathers no moss… so you’ll need to keep at it.
It took you so much effort to get to your weight loss goals… don’t lose it all by going back to your old ways.
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Eat healthy, stay active… and be happy.
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Conclusion
Well… you’ve reached the end of the book.
If you follow what was stated in here without giving up, you will reach the body you desire.
Don’t quit. If you’re tired of starting over, stop giving up.
You can do it.
Millions of women have successfully lost weight and kept it off. If they can do it, so can you.
All the best in your weight loss journey.
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