Fitness Goals

When I was younger, I was a warrior princess. Well I looked like one. I was 6ft, 185 pounds of muscle (with annoying little love-handles and big ol' boobies). That is my realistic goal. I don't wand to weigh 130 like I did when I was twelve or thirteen. I want a realistic, healthy adult weight. Once I hit 185, I'd like to get to 170, but that's not as important. A friend of mine is a body builder and obese by BMI chart standards, but he only has less than 5% body fat. I don't want to be that ripped, but 15% is good in my book.

I know what, when, and how much to eat, but I'm not good at confusing my body. Cardio is my tricky spot. I am perfectly capable of going a few miles on an elliptical machine, but walking outside in this 90+ degree weather is not working for me. I just melt. Luckily I love belly dancing. I practice in a 2.5 hour class on Saturdays, an on my own for an hour every other day. I used to do it every day, but started slacking. I will get back to that starting tonight.

Aside from dancing, I do strength training. More muscle means more calories will be burned while resting. This is a good thing. I don't want to just be thin. I want to have a fighting chance at surviving a zombie apocalypse. I need to be able to carry my son to safety. I need to be able to super-assist my husband and go all Xena on some undead asses. I'm not joking, either. I'm dead serious, but I won't go further on the coming apocalypse. Back to exercise.

I am a fan of doing push-ups. A site I love for having a great multi-level plan is One Hundred Push-ups . I recommend this site to everyone. Doing push-ups is good for everyone (unless you're so out of shape that it's dangerous). The wonders it works for your arms, shoulders and chest is amazing. Wanna keep your girls as elevated as possible? Do push-ups. Wanna rock a strapless sweetheart top? Do push-ups. Wanna have a sexier back in a halter top? You get the point.

I'm one of those chicas who has a creaky knee because I fell out of one too many trees as a young tomboy. Taking this into consideration, I try not to do too many squats. They are GREAT for thighs and butts, but having to nurse my knee back to health every other night is not my idea of fun. My work-around is simple:

• Whenever I do crunches, I add 25 reps of  leg open-close thingies between sets of crunches.This way I can stay on my back and keep my body moving. I do 5 sets of crunches, so my thighs are tired by the time I finish.
• After crunches, I get on all-fours and do my push-ups. The plan is to complete the 100 Push-ups plan on my knees ("girly" push-ups), then start all over again on hands and toes (real push-ups).
• After push-ups is a great time to do kick-backs since I'm already on my hands and knees. This is good for the booty. I've been trying to get a ghetto booty all my life. This practice of pushing one foot back and up is apparently good for that. At least that's what the personal trainer told me. This better work. 
• When this is done, I do a few yoga poses to stretch it all out (cat-cow-plank-cobra-plank-downward-facing dog, then standing)

 So this is what I do to get stronger. I've been at this regularly for a month. I must stress the regularly part. I was losing weight until I was put on bed rest while pregnant. Then I gained it back and then some. Post-delivery my hip was shot and it hurt to walk. I got fatter. Then I was depressed an ignored the problem. I couldn't see it then but I can now. I get discouraged like anyone else, but I search for thinspiration to keep me motivated. It's tough since most of the 6ft tall women I find are only like 120-135 pounds. That does absolutely nothing for me. There are a few healthy figures out there and I have my old photos to look at. For now, I'm just taking it 10 pounds at a time. Mini goals FTW.