Best shape of your life

I asked my friend on campus a few questions about how she keeps healthy. It seems every Facebook update of hers is something about how she worked out or how many hours in the gym she spent.

Here is an inside look of what gets her going..

What motivates you to workout?

Working out has been an important part of my life since I was in about 7th grade. I originally started working out to lose weight. Eventually working out became a life style for me. I love to workout. It relieves stress, makes me feel good about myself and helps me eat healthy and stay on a good schedule. Overall working out is just a big part of who I am. It's became a lifestyle. I can't imagine my life without working out.  I also compete in races during the spring/summer/fall, it gives me motivation to push myself and set goals that are harder to attain. I'm training for a half-marathon and a sprint triathlon this summer! Having goals makes working out a lot of fun! It's fun to look back at where you started and see how far you've come.

What are some ways you workout?

I enjoy all types of working out! I do Insanity workout videos between 4-6 days/week. I also do sprints on the track, run long distance, swim and lift weights. I like to workout about 6 days a week. Saturday is usually my rest day. I start off Sunday with Insanity which I usually do in the AM just because it's hard and it's best to get it out of the way before I can make excuses to put it off. Monday-Friday I usually do Insanity in the AM and run, lift weights or swim in the PM. I usually lift about 3-4 days/week focusing on legs or upper body. I've set a goal to swim 2-3 days/week because I'm trying to improve my time and form. I run distance 1-2 days/week and sprint 1-2 days/week. All of those are afternoon activates because I like to perform them when my body temperature is at it's highest because my muscles are most limber. Sometimes I just keep it easy and play sports, toss the football, basketball. Just anything to stay active!

Living it Up

I Have a friend on campus who is all about working out and staying healthy. This is what she had to say about living a Healthy Lifestyle:

"I feel that I'm a generally healthy person and live a fairly healthy lifestyle. I make some common mistakes that most college students make, I eat unhealthy sometimes and drink occasionally. Other than that I try to be a well-rounded healthy individually. I eat three meals a day and a couple snacks. Eat a lot of fruits and veggies and have a well-rounded diet. I've found that living off campus makes it much easier to eat a healthy diet, however, I enjoy cooking and don't mind spending a little extra money for healthy food. On campus the healthy choices are very over priced and it's hard to find time to get down to the kitchenettes in the rest halls. One thing that I'm starting to realize about health/eating habits is that sometimes working out can not make up for bad eating habits. Eating bad makes you feel bad and even if you do workout you're not going to get as much out of your workout and may not be able to burn off all of those calories..."

Body Effects

Have you ever seen those body building competitions?
You know, the one's with the over the top muscles or the one's where you're sitting there going "Do they have a neck?" Body building definitly has it's ups and downs.
Here is an example I found online about a bodybuilders normal day:

Well today I begin my hardcore cutting routine. Here is the Projected Schedule. I will lower carb intake and up protein even more after 2 weeks. Probably will have a refeed carb day once a week. Currently about 2100-2300 cals a day.


9:30 - Wake, 30 G Whey Protein (25 mg Ephedra, 200 mg Caffein, and 1000 mg Green Tea Extract)

9:55 - 10g BCAA's

10:00 - 4.2 Mile Walk

11:15 - 1 Cup Oats, 1 Scoop Muscle Milk (500 mg Sesamin, 1 multi Vitamin, 3000 mg Fishoil)

2:00 - Steak and eggs or (equivelent Protein Meal), Veggies

5:00 - Can of Tuna or (equivelent Protein Meal), Veggies, (500 mg Sesamin, 1 multi Vitamin, 3000 mg Fishoil)

5:00-7:00 - 10 g BCAA's

7:00 - 30g of Whey, 1 piece of fruit

7:30 - (25 mg Ephedra, 200 mg Caffein, and 1000 mg Green Tea Extract)

8:00 - Workout, 25 g BCAA's and 25 g Simple Carb Drink

10:15 - Post Workout Shake (40g protein, 40g Carbs)

11:30 - Meat and Brown Rice and Barley or (equivelent Protein and Carb meal), Veggies, (500 mg Sesamin, 1 multi Vitamin, 3000 mg Fishoil)

2:00 AM - Bedtime

Intense.

Here is a video clip I found on YouTube about Insanity:

Complete Insanity

There is a new craze that is going along with the Zumba kick. It's called Insanity.
I have had so many of my friends say that they have tried this and how much it works.
I have a friend who can easily hit the gym 4 hours a day and then try Insanity and she says it even wears her out.
Another girl I talked to said she lost 4 pant sizes after she did 30mins a day for 4 weeks. I always see the infomercials but wondered if it actually worked.

By the sound of it all the push ups, jumping, high kicks, squats, etc. really works.
It's a fast pace of regular exercise broken down into small sections.

Adding it all up

• 95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25
• 1/200 American women suffer from anorexia
• Anorexia is the 3rd most common chronic illness among adolescents
• 50% of girls between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight

source:http://www.state.sc.us/dmh/anorexia/statistics.htm

The shocking truth

Hearing on campus that certain organizations you choose to join "require you" to work out (which I'm not saying is a bad thing) and watching a commercial for MTV's 16 and Pregnant with a twin girl who is not only pregnant, but also has suffered from anorexia, it made me wonder just exactly what kind of extremes people will go to to lose weight or in their eyes "be healthy."

ABC did a story on 2 ladies who wanted to try this "extreme dieting."

When Burke started the diet she weighed 129lbs she ate watercress soup all day everyday. She also would work out with a trainer 2 hours a day and swim in freezing cold water since she was told it speeds up your metabolism. Burke lost 14 pounds over five weeks. Her family and friends were shocked when she could fit into a 6-year-old girl's size zero jeans.

Spicer weighing 144lbs would follow a radical diet of lemonade with maple syrup and cayenne pepper. She stayed away from solid foods and ran for an hour a day. Spicer was asked to drop out of the experiment early since it was taking such a toll on her body. She had gone from a size 12 to a size 6 in 4 weeks.

Both women claimed that they experienced depression and saw a huge change in their life and mood during this time. They both claimed they would never result to an extreme diet again.