Why you need a heart monitor.

I've been meaning to write this for a while.  I've been pretty busy but seeing as how the new year has begun & a drove of people are invading gyms everywhere, I thought I'd write about heart monitors.

Stay with me.  I know you're thinking you just want to lose a little weight, and you just don't need such gadgetry.  Or maybe you're taking baby steps & a heart monitor seems like an unnecessary leap into something that might not aid you in reaching your goal.

There are many benefits to using a heart rate monitor during exercise.  It allows you to see whether you are not working intensely enough or if you're working TOO intensely to where it's counter productive.  It also allows you to determine what "zone" you want to stay in.  More about that in a bit.

But let's move on for now....

The amount of calories you put into your body and the amount of energy you use up on your activities will determine your body weight. Therefore, balancing your calorie input with your energy output helps maintain your weight; adjusting your energy output with your calorie input will help you achieve your desired weight. Simply remember that when you take more calories than you need to perform your day's activities, your body stores the extra calories and you gain weight. On the other hand, you lose weight if your body uses your stored calories when you take less calories than you use. This concept is no secret!

 
So now we know that if you are gaining/storing fat, you are eating more calories than your body is able to burn, right?

& we know weight is lost when caloric intake (calories in ingest) is less than caloric output(burn via exercise).

A good weight loss strategy is to reduce daily caloric intake by 500 calories. Though you can lose weight by simply reducing calories, a combination of increased physical activity and calorie reduction will bring quicker results.

But how do you GET that information?

Well, you need to know, at least roughly, how many calories you're taking in.  Now don't go running off on me just yet.  The truth is that it's not time consuming to do this.  My favorite site to use is www.livestrong.com & there's even an app if you have an iPhone, iPad or iTouch.  Just punch in what you ate and walah! 

But now you need to know how many calories you've burned!  In comes the heart monitor.  Once you've established your Target Heart Rate, it's as simple as putting on a watch and that's it.  Punch that in into Livestrong.Com (free!!)  & it'll show you what you need to change, how you're doing, your progress and you can even input your own meals in there so you know how many calories a serving has.


There are a few key words I want you to understand before we begin:

Resting Heart Rate -  (RH) is how many beats per minute your heart beats while at complete rest, like in the morning while you're awake in bed, before getting up.

Maximum Heart Rate - is the level, or heart beats per minute, that must never be exceeded.  This is determined by your age with the following equation, 220 - Age = Maximum Heart Rate. 

I am 27 years old so 220-27=193.  When I do cardio, I am between 165-175, so knowing your heart rate when you're exercising is important for your health. You do NOT want to go over your MHR.

Target Heart Rate - is the heart rate range that you should try to maintain during exercise.


And before you ask, "but how do I know what my Target Heart Rate is?", I'm going to link you to a great step-by-step guide that will show you how here --->  http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Your-Target-Heart-Rate

Recovery Heart Rate - is also important to know because you want to know your heart is recovering at a steady pace. Your heart rate should be below 120 after 2-5 minutes after exercise has stopped. If your heart rate is still high, you didn't cool down well enough or a low fitness level may be the cause.


Zones
ASSUMING you now know your THR, let's talk about those "zones" again.  Using the information you've calculated, you now want to pick a zone to work in and try to maintain your heart rate at that level.

Healthy Heart Zone (Warm up) --- 50 - 60% of maximum heart rate: The easiest zone and probably the best zone for people just starting a fitness program. It can also be used as a warm up for more serious walkers. This zone has been shown to help decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also decreases the risk of degenerative diseases and has a low risk of injury. 85% of calories burned in this zone are fats!

Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) --- 60 - 70% of maximum heart rate: This zone provides the same benefits as the healthy heart zone, but is more intense and burns more total calories. The percent of fat calories is still 85%.

Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) --- 70 - 80% of maximum heart rate: The aerobic zone will improve your cardiovascular and respiratory system AND increase the size and strength of your heart. This is the preferred zone if you are training for an endurance event. More calories are burned with 50% from fat.

Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) --- 80 - 90% of maximum heart rate: Benefits of this zone include an improved VO2 maximum (the highest amount of oxygen one can consume during exercise) and thus an improved cardiorespiratory system, and a higher lactate tolerance ability, which means your endurance will improve and you'll be able to fight fatigue better. This is a high intensity zone burning more calories, 15 % from fat.

Red Line (Maximum Effort) --- 90 - 100% of maximum heart rate: Although this zone burns the highest number of calories, it is very intense. Most people can only stay in this zone for short periods. You should only train in this zone if you are in very good shape and have been cleared by a physician to do so.

(The link I provided above will help with this.  Don't let is overwhelm you.  Take it one step at a time and you can't get lost.  If you do, feel free to message/comment on Alegria Fitness and I will try to help as much as I can.)



Look, I remember what it was like to read about all this when I first started.  I put it off for a long time, thinking it just wasn't necessary.  Then I spent time researching and really taking the time to just understand it.  I assure you, it's worth it.

HIIT

Are you wondering what this "HIIT" I rave about is?

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training & it's THE way, THE WAY, to lose fat.  I absolutely love it.

Basically, what you do, (after you warm up, of course) that you work ANAEROBICALLY for a short burst and then have an active recovery period. Generally speaking, you may sprint for 30 seconds and then jog or walk for 1 minute. You would repeat this workout routine numerous times for the best effect.

Anaerobic literally means "without oxygen" so when I say you work anaerobically, I mean you're are GOING AS FAST AS YOU CAN GO.  I want you sucking wind by the end of the 30 seconds, kid!!

If you're NOT sucking wind, you just worked aerobically. Still good, NOT the purpose of HIIT, however.  Still, if you're new to HIIT, it's understandable that you start slower.  I actually don't run as much as I used to but I did go a few weeks ago after having gone without running for, uh, a good while.  I was worried.  But the wonderful bonus about HIIT is that it builds your endurance and your cardiovascular strenght so I actually ran faster and longer than I had before. 

So WHY anaerobically??  Ben Greenfield of "Quick and Dirty Tips" explains it like this:

“When you exercise, your body uses oxygen to create energy. But when you reach a high intensity during exercise, your body’s demand for oxygen exceeds your ability to breathe in that much oxygen and deliver it to the muscles. When this happens, your body goes into an “oxygen debt.” Once you go into oxygen debt, not only do your muscles begin to burn and you begin to breathe hard, but you also put your body into a state where it needs to “repay” that oxygen debt after exercise….when you breathe more and breathe deeper, your body burns more calories. Depending on how hard you’ve worked, this oxygen repaying can help you burn anywhere from a few dozen to over a hundred extra calories each hour after you exercise, for up to 24 hours after you’ve finished!”


Imagine having that afterburn effect where your metabolism is working fast and your burning mega amounts of fat for 24 hours after a HIIT!  Wow.  Amazing because your average HIIT workout is between 15-30 minutes long.

I do want to mention, however, that you DO NOT do HIIT every single day.  You'll over train and you'll be more prone to injury.  Please stretch afterwards for 5-10 minutes and keep your stretching to a minimum BEFORE you begin.  Warm-up, though.

Some people like to do 30 seconds of HIIT workout then actively rest.

Others, like me, like to do several HIIT's in 45 seconds then rest for 60 seconds.

Research and play around with it.  Do what you prefer but keep it challenging.

A sample HIIT of what I do is this:

SPRINT - 8 counts/seconds
JUMPING JACKS - 4 counts/sec.
BURPEES - 4 cnt/sec.
SPRINT - 8 cnt/sec.
KNEE TUCK JUMPS - 6 cnt/sec.
SPRINT - 8 cnt/sec
MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS - 8 cnt/sec.

ACTIVELY REST - 60 seconds

REPEAT.

Now you can repeat the above HIIT workout one more time, twice, as many times as you want.  I'd say 3 times.  Then do a different HIIT workout, repeat 3 times.  You can either finish there or do yet another HIIT workout, repeat 3 times. 

I put 8 counts OR seconds because while you need to go as fast as you possibly can, it's not going to take the exact amount of seconds to do several counts.  Challenge yourself but be aware of what your body (NOT MIND!) is telling you.  So if I say "Sprint, 8 counts", I literally mean, "Count 1-2-3-4-5-6--7-8", & NEXT.

Always remember to keep good form/technique.  You don't want to hurt yourself.

Again, finish up by stretching.  I can't stress that enough.  I also want to recommend you buy, wear and utilize a heart monitor so you know how many calories you've burned.

I hope this blog helps y'all out if you've been wondering about HIIT.  If you've got any questions, please post here or on my facebook, Alegria Fitness. 



*Always consult your physician before starting a new workout program.

My Eating, Present

Evening! Well, I have been a tad late in writing this, part deux, about my present eating habits. But I'm sure everyone, all 2 of you, totally understand. (Granted, I haven't made an honest effort of promoting my blog. But I enjoy just writing it so I'm guessing that's why.)

I'll try to keep it short and simple. I am NOT a nutritionist, by the way. There is a lot I have yet to learn.

I eat real food. & one of my biggest pet peeves is for someone to tell me that I do not eat enough.  I always get those friendly comments about how I "hardly ate anything" or those tips like, "You should add ___/more/etc."  I don't mind the tips from people who know what they're talking about (nutrition/health), and I'm sorry if that offends anyone.  Really, I eat just fine.  I have 3 square meals a day with snacks in between.  I consume PLENTY.  I just don't do it in one sitting.  Or unhealthily.

This might turn into a Pro-Organic blog posts because that is what I am. There is just WAY too much information out there for me to even want to go into WHY but I will recommend to you this awesome, awesome book: "Master Your Metabolism". I did a lot of researching and reading (besides this book) and finally made the personal choice that I'm just not willing to throw my hands in the air, say "We'll see what happens!" about what the food I put into my body contains. I eat meat, mostly chicken, turkey but also red meat, though not too much in one sitting.

I eat a lot of veggies, fruits and nuts which we've all heard before! You're probably tired of hearing it but here it is again. & why do you think that is? Guess what, folks, exercise alone will not get you healthy and fit. It has a lot to do with what you fuel your body with.

My mornings usually consists of oats so I might eat a bowl of oatmeal with fruits mixed in. I'll have 8oz of organic apple juice and a slice of whole grain, whole wheat bread with peanut butter instead of butter.

I don't deprive myself of anything REAL & GOOD. I'm not anti-fat, anti-carbs or anti-whatever else is new. I simply do not eat too much of anything.

Mid-Morning snack might be a piece of grilled chicken I packed the night before and shredded into pieces. I usually take this to school because I get hungry in class #2 so I can pop it out and it doesn't make the crunching sound nuts might make. I'll have water on hand too. At all times. Haha. Honestly, you won't find me without water. But it could also be a nut mix, a piece of fruit or a KIND bar.

Lunch might consists of veggie mix/salad, a tuna patty cooked with a bit of olive oil, avocado and a few of my Late July Organic crackers. & water.

OR

 

After my workout, I have my Isopure Dutch Chocolate protein drink with 8oz of water.

I'm usually ravenous within the hour of finishing my workout so I have another snack:

Apple/Banana/Orange/You get the idea.

Dinner might be home made beans, grilled fajita on a whole grain tortilla, Mexican homemade salsa (never store bought), and some rice. With homemade lemonade.

As for the question, "Is eating at night bad for me?". Answer, maybe.

When you sleep, your body is in fasting mode. It hasn't stopped working just because you're dreaming. & if you don't have SOMETHING in there, it could have a catabolic effect on your muscles. NOT good. All that hard work you've put in at the gym is going to waste because all there is for your body to "eat" is your muscle. ::sad face::

Which is why I don't really eat before bedtime. But I do take my Isopure protein shake WITH 8OZ OF MILK this time. Casein protein is ESSENTIAL as a pre-bedtime snack. & while my Isopure is not a casein protein powder, MILK is 80% casein so, yea - you guessed it, I take it only with non/low fat ORGANIC milk.

I don't really eat a lot of dairy. I don't think it's essential in our diets as adults but I do take it with my protein at night and I sometimes eat yogurt. I digest it just fine, I buy dairy only if it's organic and I'm okay with eating/drinking it in moderation.

I know I only touched on a few things here and some might have questions so feel free to ask. I'd be happy to answer questions as to why I do or don't do something in specific. This was just a sample and not what I eat every day. Variety is the spice of life!

(PS., please keep in mind that your meals should reflect your goal.  If I had a clone and one wanted to lose weight, the other wanted to build muscle, they would both have different meal plans.)

Are Minimalist Shoes For You?

I am a minimalist when it comes to shoes.  I must admit that before I started exercising, I, like most others, bought shoes based solely (no pun intended) based on LOOKS.  Does it look cute/cool?  Do I like the colors? Sad, I know.  But I had no idea what type of shoe I should be buying based on my foot type!  Hell, I didn't know what my foot type was.


My husband has been asking me how I know minimalist shoes are for me and if, perhaps, they are for him too.  I, myself, will not really go into it too much since I am not a qualified to do so and I certainly don't want to be responsible for anyone decision making when it comes to types of shoe but I did want to share some information and links on the subject to further educate.  Once you are educated, you will have to make your own decision.


First link/resource is an article written by Daniel Kraushaar, PT, CSCS from Columbus, Georgia.  VERY well written, thorough, with GREAT illustrations.  Before moving on, I suggest you look at the illustrations (at the very least).  "Finding your running shoe: Matching foot type to shoe type"


The illustrations show you what a flatfoot, normal and high arch look like and whether your foot supinates or pronates.  Good stuff.


Here is another blog/article written on the subject.  Minimalist Shoes: Are They Right For You?  Again, this man is a Doctor.  I am not, which is why I am only sharing these resources/links, not delving into the subject so please educate yourself.   Dr. Evan Osar explains what a minimalist shoe is and how to tell if they'll work for your foot type.  He includes a video which more thoroughly covers what he's explaining so watching is optional.  Good information, though. 


I will borrow the disclaimer he used, though, since I agree with it 100%:


DISCLAIMER: Minimalist-type shoes have gotten a bad rap, in my opinion, because so many individuals go from supportive foot wear or orthotics to minimalist-type shoes without developing any tolerance.


Very true.  Some people, such as myself, have taken a liking to Vibrams, the five-finger shoes.  They are very cool indeed but people really need to take their time getting there.  There are my shoes and they work very well for me.  I absolutely love them and are a step towards Vibrams.

Adidas Rockets

Next, I am looking into some Merrells, which is working with, and using, Vibram "technology".  They look like this:

Again, the decision is yours.  I find that, for me, minimalist shoes are the best.  If you're still not sure, please consult your doctor/podiatrist.  Happy researching!! 

My Eating, Past

I was asked if I could go into what I eat on a daily basis so here is, first, some background on my eating habits growing up and, second, my eating habits now.

Up until around 4th grade, I really do not recall what our eating habits as a family were.  I don't think we really sat down to eat as a family at the dinner table, but I could be wrong.  I do know that I had a deep love for Texas "Ranch Style Beans" since before 4th grade because my mom would feed that to me, & it wasn't until 2 years ago that I began to dislike them.  We were never really limited on sweets but we were low income so I don't recall every having a bag of chips or cookies in the house either.  Once we moved to Washington & lived in a motel, ramen noodles was a daily staple in our...motel table.  But, again, low income so never really had other junk around & we were active kids; falling down with our Rollerblades (gift from church), rolling down big hills, chasing after each other in the motel parking lot and laundromat (good times, actually) & all that jazz.

We didn't have video games, never really watched television but we loved to go to the library & play board games.  In fact, one of our favorite games was, & is, Battleship.  Imagine our surprise when my brother & I realized there was an actual Battleship game.  Before then, we used to take a piece of wide-ruled writing paper, use a pen to make a deeply inked circle on one side of the paper, fold it, press on the circle & then see if it "landed" on the opposing players deeply inked circle (battleship).  We can't be the only ones that did that......

Anyway, once we got a home, dinner become a nice routine, complete with prayer.  But, the truth is, that food was never our focus.  Sometimes we had a lot, sometimes we had very little but our lifestyle was healthy in that we were active kids with active imaginations & no real junk food around the home.

Things changed when we moved back to Texas & my mom started working.  This was probably my freshmen year in high school &, from then on, our lives consisted of frozen, microwavable anything.  I'm talking burritos, taquitos, pizzas, hot pockets, chicken nuggets, fries, pop tarts....& I really don't want to go on because it's making me nauseous.  How disgusting!  But that was life for a long time.  On top of that, McDonalds, Burger King or Whataburger were on our DAILY menu.  DAILY. 

We were still low-income but the difference was that, in my younger years, low-income meant you bought what you needed (even if you were using government help) and that was it.  While now, it means being able to use your foot stamp EBT card on Hot Cheetos and 12-packs of Coke.  It's a sad thing. But anyway, I do recall that's when I began to get unhealthy (duh) & what is considered, "skinny fat".  I was not big, nor did I appear overweight, but had my BMI ever been taken around that time, it would have shown that I was all fat, almost no muscle and very unhealthy.

So what happened?  What made me change?

There was never just ONE "ah-ha" moment were I realized my eating habits were bad.  There were a series of events that led me to change my life for the better. 

The first one was when I was 16/17 & I began to wake up 3-4 times during the night just to take a few sips of Coke.  I actually remember opening the fridge, popping one open, taking a few sips, putting it back for later & thinking, "this can't be good.".  I decided then to not drink coke so much.  Not quiet the "quit" step but a step nonetheless.

The second was when I was getting ready to join the military.  We were going to run 3 miles and I stopped at about 5 yards.  Not. Even. Shitting you.

The third was just knowledge.  After having 2 kids, being moderately active, kind-of, sort-of working out & not really losing any fat, I began to research on how to fuel the body, what is good, what is not great, how it affects your body, life and health, etc. 

Finally, making the decision to become a personal trainer made me step everything up a few notches.  I can't expect others to change their lifestyle if I hold on to old habits out of nostalgia.

Either way, it all worked out the way it did for a reason.  Tomorrow, I'll go into a few things I learned and how my daily eating habits reflect both my knowledge and my human-ness. :)

The Truth About Tendinitis

Now, as you are well aware, I am not a medical professional.  Rather, I am a physical trainer, knowledgeable on how to train your body for power, strength or fat loss.  I can tell you what good form is & how often to do what sets of exercise for your goal.

Physical Trainers are also humans with human bodies, as opposed to robotic ones.

Earlier this week, after a cardio session, I began to notice an uncomfortable feeling in my right knee.  It wasn't painful so, for the next few days, I simple iced it for a few hours before bedtime.  Then, after weight training session, I felt both my knees get warm from the inside, and then get hotter.  I immediately RICE'd my knees and decided that I needed to take a break. 

As someone who works out 6x's a week, 1-2 hours a day, the thought of not getting my daily burn on was really a huge bummer.  My first mistake, however, was not listening to my body when it gave me the first clue that something was not right.  Often times, CPT's do this because we get so into our workout routines, it's as natural as brushing our teeth, and it's very hard to pull away even for a few days.

I am neither the first, or the last CPT that gets tendinitis.  Remember, training is our job and, if we have clients, we feel obligated to be there for them no matter what injury we have.  There are group instructors that have instructed on sprained ankles, a broken toe, and many other injuries, because we love our client(s) and we will do our job to keep them happy.  I don't have, nor am I taking, clients at the moment because of my already very full schedule (mom, wife, full time student thing) but being a CPT is not an easy job, even if it's just to yourself. 

Both alone, with a client or a group, we all tend to get complacent because we know the routine or we know the drill and, in my case, when doing high-intensity cardio for an hour, it's not hard to see how the tendon might get inflamed due to over-use.

I know most of my friends/family are not CPT's and might not even be sure what tendinitis is so I thought I'd take the time to explain what it is a little bit.  Disclaimer:  Again, I am NOT a medical professional.  If you have further questions about tendinitis, please ask your physician.

Now, I know why I got tendinitis and the answer is in my routine because aside from doing my 3x's weekly weight training session, I was doing 5x's weekly 45-60 minute cardio session with no real stretching time at the end.  I know.  I know better but {insert excuse here} and now I have tendinitis due to over-use.

Tendinitis does not always occur because of bad form, but it can.  If you do a lot of plyometric moves or play a sport where you're using a specific muscle constantly (basketball, tennis, etc), it's easy to strain the muscle and tendons and develop this injury.

Is tendinitis something only amateur athletes get?  No.

Many seasoned, professional athletes have been benched, so to speak, due to this injury.  It's very common, unfortunately, because it can be prevented by making sure that you're stretching before and after your workout.  I wasn't stretching post-workout because I made an error in judgement.  Usually, the little one only gets a 2 hour nap so by the time she woke up, I'd finish up and didn't want to feel guilty about not spending that time with her because I had either been at school in the morning or I was now headed to an afternoon class.  In retrospect, I should have just gotten some 10 extra minutes and stretched.

Since my hot-knee incident, I've really just taken a step back and given my body time to recover.  It's still recovering and, the truth is, that while I miss my workout schedule, fitness is about ways to affect your health positively, not to do things that are a detriment to it.  If I continue because of stubbornness, it could lead to an injury that won't set me back a week or two, but months.  I just don't have that kind of time to waste.

You know, I love challenging my body.  I know plenty of people who go to the gym, kind-of, sort-of play around with the weights and machines, jump on one, sweat a little & call it a day.  I'm not one of those people.  I don't stop until I'm no longer in my comfort zone.  I don't stop until I'm drenched or my muscles are fatigued.  Am I the best athlete out there?  Absolutely not and, obviously, I make mistakes and errors in judgement but I'm not upset that I pushed my body.  I'd be more upset if I never did.

The key is, and this goes for me as well, to stretch and never get too comfortable to see what is good, or bad for you.  I'll keep y'all updated.

Judy

Sacrafices & What We're Made Of

So, first of all, my apologies for having been gone for...too long.  I don't really want to get on with excuses & whatnot but suffice it to say that, 3 out of 4 people in my little family (including me) are back in school.  It's been very hectic, especially because we decided to give our youngest another year at home (& home school until next year - as we did with our eldest) which is great but my husband and I had to get alternating schedules.  The only time we see each other during the day now is switch out the driver of the car so the one who was in school can go home and the one who was at home can go to school.  Ha ha. It all sounds very stressful but it really hasn't been bad at all.  We both really enjoy school & we realize that there are certain sacrifices a person must make in order to accomplish goals. 

We really take pride in that we have been able to focus our goals, time and again, without compromising family time and its priority.  We both get quality time with the youngest, I still do lessons with her and get my workout in while she naps and by the time the eldest is home, we're home too. 

One thing that did become an issue for me was lunch.  I surprised myself because I'm a very organized person but having never had this type of schedule before, I was caught off guard a bit.  I always pack a snack & take water in my 32oz shaker, as well as have three little cubes each filled with one serving of my supplements (just in case), especially my Isopure Dutch Chocolate protein.  But I must have underestimated how hungry I get at lunch time so I've been buying KIND bars, which I truly love.  (You might want to check the nutritional value information to see if it fits into your diet but, for me, it's always, always been more about the pureness of the ingredients rather than just calorie count.  That's just me though!  I'd rather have an organic/natural health bar that's 300 calories than one with a bunch of things I can't pronounce at 120 calories.)

Aside from the KIND bars, we have had to eat fast food.  & I crrrrrringe when I say "had to" because I really did have to BUT because I didn't plan ahead of time.  Big mistake on my part.  While I did make the healthiest choices possible each time, I always left feeling like crap -- because that's what I had fueled my body with! Crap.  You are what you eat, indeed.

I finally set aside some time to plan some cold meals I can take to school, pack in my backpack and eat when I get hungry. Which is often. :)

As far as my workouts, they've been getting GOT!  As usual.  That's just never been negotiable & I truly believe that when working out BECOMES non-negotiable & it's as natural as brushing you teeth,  that's when you can have real success.  It would have been real easy to just throw my hands up & say, "Nope, can't do it! Too busy!" (actually, no it wouldn't have. Not for me. Not anymore.) but when someone can do that, it really says a lot about them & their mind set.

I'm not saying there aren't certain circumstances where, yes, you just absolutely must make it up later or tomorrow but far too many people use that easy excuse way too often. 

Are you willing to make sacrifices?  or just excuses?

Are you important to YOU?

Can you take the time to schedule your time for the benefit of your physical, mental and emotional health?

You can rise above the excuses.  Believe that.  Because we all have them but you must be able to dig deep and be real with yourself because no one else is going to do it.  It has to be you.

YOU control your destiny.  YOU make your life what it is.  Others can affect it, sure, but YOU have the power to choose HOW they affect your life.

I have wonderful people in my life who always tell me how inspiring I am to them but, most, add they wouldn't be able to do it. BUT THEY CAN!  They just won't.  It's going to hurt!!  It's supposed to!  If if were easy, our nation wouldn't be where it is now with the obesity rates.  There are plenty of people out there who've lost over ONE HUNDRED pounds just with exercise and proper nutrition.  They cried, they were sore, it hurt but they WANTED it.  That's the difference. 

We take our bodies for granted, many of us.

The things they can do!  But instead we poison them to the ground. 

Be willing to sacrificed.  Show yourself what you're made of.

You have it in you.....let the fire ignite...get angry about it & GO.