Exercise Suggestions

Here’s an example of my personal fitness lifestyle in a given week.

Aerobic/cardio exercise:

I do cardio at home, 20-30 minutes a day, 6 days a week. Walking, biking, riding, Nordic track, jogging, rowing, swimming…all are great options. Sometimes if I’m sitting for long periods during the day (I haven’t figured out how to do computer aerobics yet), I will do two 20-minute exercise sessions (morning and afternoon) to get my metabolism kicking in and relieve tension.

Weight lifting:

2-3 times per week for 30 minutes. This one is a “goal” for me because some weeks getting to the gym to lift even twice is difficult to achieve. I lift at my local club and use the Cybex circuit along with crunches, lunges, and a few other free weight exercises. Also, I only do one set of 12 reps on each machine, lifting to failure (in other words I lift the heaviest weight I can do for 12 reps). This keeps my work out short and sweet while giving me results.

Fuel:

I’ve made this very simple in the last year. Where every other plan I’ve tried has failed, this personally adapted version is really working for me. 5-6 small meals a day (approximately every 3 hours to maintain my blood sugar level but I do wait until I feel hungry). Meals consist of a fist size serving (my own fist size, not Hulk Hogan’s) of protein and the same of a complex carbohydrate. Additionally, I can have vegetables with any meal I want, and I try to have them with at least 2 meals. I don’t eat any processed sugar (read “my fitness journey ” to find out why).

Here’s a secret that really works for me and might (or might not) work for you. Because I got tired of trying to meal plan/shop/prepare a variety of foods while sticking to a healthy diet plan, and also because I realized most of the world eats a fairly bland diet just to survive every day of their lives (beans and rice), I greatly simplified my life and my time by implementing a very simple eating routine. I basically eat the same foods (a combination) every day except dinner. For dinner, I really live on the edge and go for variety.

Take a FREE day.

One day a week, don’t exercise. Eat what you want (within reason). Maintain small portion sizes but go ahead and eat out or splurge a little. My free day is usually Sunday.