Hi Hayley,
I am an impatient person; I need to see results fast. When I workout I like to get maximum results for minimum time input.
I was fit a few years ago, but I experienced a devastating life event that literally stopped all self care. I haven't run or used weights or done my yoga in 2 years. I just stopped cold. I also had a baby. My weight has gone from 120 to 170lbs. Now I am taking care of the diet, I have stopped the 5 nightly chocolate bars and have regained my balance there. But on the workout front I buy DVDs but don't have the stamina or strength to do them. I want to go from zero fitness to being fit again and I want to do this as fast as possible. Here's another problem - I can only fit in 30 minutes a day to do it. I have the gamut of gear at home - free weights, fitness bands, treadmill, but I feel like a slug that can barely lift anything. Help me please! Do I do interval running? Is there such a thing as 30 minutes yoga DVD? Is there an awesome combined move to build my muscles fast? How do I get maximum results in minimum time? Once I am fit again I will be able to sustain it but right now it’s just a daunting world of hurt! - Weak ass, LA
___
I'm going to be honest with you because I do not make empty promises to people. You will NOT go from zero to hero, and if you try you will most likely fail so your first step is throwing that idea out the window.
I'm not saying you will never be that hero but as you have already experienced you will not be able to jump back into your fitness routine where you left off.
I'm going to share a story with you. When I started training for the Boston Marathon I was coming off a bad injury that had kept me from running for 4 months. Earlier that year I had placed in the top 20 of all the females in the Vancouver Marathon (thousands) and with one of my biggest challenges looming, I was now finding it difficult to run even 10 minutes. Had I gone out expecting to run how I was earlier in the year and forcing myself to do so, I would have failed and never made it to the start line. So what I did was everyday I just ran, zero expectations on how fast or how far. Then as it became more comfortable I started to try and run a little farther every day. It did not take long before I was running 10km and that's when I started to push.
I had another setback in December, a bad concussion, and had to do it all over again but I did make it to that start line in the best running shape of my life.
So why continue trying to be perfect and setting these unrealistic expectations of yourself? It’s not working and you are no further ahead of where you were a month ago.
There is no magic exercise sequence or DVD that is going to transform you back to the 120lbs you once were. The only thing that will get you back is you accepting who you are now, forgetting who you once were and figuring out who you want to be now, realistically. It seems to me you want to be fit and healthy and if that's the case let's start you on the path to that immediately.
For the next 3 weeks I want you to move 30 minutes a day. That's it. I do not care how you move: yoga, hiking, workout DVDs or walking, you just need to move and remember how good it feels.
After 3 weeks you will pick it up and start challenging yourself more in your 30 minute sessions. You will wear a heart rate monitor/GPS watch and keep track of how hard you are working and how far you are moving. You will start strength training every other day in combination with the cardio.
3 weeks after that you have to make more time for yourself as 30 minutes will not be enough for you. Maybe it's getting up 15 minutes earlier or going to bed 15 minutes later but you must start doing 45 minutes of cardio in between your strength sessions.
Keep increasing your weights, start decreasing your recovery time between sets and intervals and continue finding new ways to challenge yourself.
You have to start small and make daily and weekly changes. I know that is not what you want to hear but it's the only way. Time will go slow while you are in the process and the results will not happen as quickly as you would like but in 6 months time I would not be surprised if you are the fit and healthy woman you want to be.
If you try and conquer the world in one day and spend every day continuing to try, in 6 months you will still be the same woman who is out of shape, unhappy and looking for the easy way.
Create the path and follow the steps to get to your destination, trusting that with each step you are that much closer.
Attached -- Colin Farrell goes to yoga.
