Ginny Gets Skinny!: Exercise!!


Jumping into the Amazon river - woo hoooooo!!

So, exercise. Hmmmm...

You would expect to read a really helpful post about exercise from someone who has grown up around gyms and has a Bachelor of Exercise Science wouldn't you?

Yeah well, I have a dilemma! How on Earth can you write about something so broad, varied and individual as exercise to a group of people? Tough, but I shall try. I will keep it general, so don't shoot me down if you think its too simple! If you have questions ask away and I will try to answer as best I can.

So what's the best kind of exercise to lose weight?

The answer - whatever you enjoy (or at least whatever you hate the least, haha).

It obviously depends on what your goals are, what your starting point is, and what things need to be taken into consideration ie. medical conditions, age, risk factors and injuries.

So, to keep it simple - do more than what you are doing now!

What's best exercise to burn fat?

Well, lower intensity exercise uses a greater percntage of fat for fuel than higher intensity exercise, but it burns less calories. So, if you exercise vigorously you will burn more calories and, although that vigorous exercise burns less percentage of fat than something easier, because you burn more total calories, you could end up burning the same amount of fat as the easier exercise. But then again, lower intensity exercise burns a higher percentage of fat than carbohydrate, and you can keep it up longer. However, interval training is ever better - mild/moderate exercise with 1 minute or so of very high intensity spurts. But those high energy spurts can cause injury if you're not used to it or very heavy. Make sense? Probably not, but, hopefully it helps you come to the conclusion that -

It doesn't matter!!!!!!

Just get up and do something. If you hate it you are less likely to keep it up, so do something you enjoy! You don't have to hit the gym, you can go for a swim, body surfing - kite surfing even. How about take the dog for a walk, take the kids to the park and kick a footy around? Put on your favourite music and dance around the house like an idiot. Buy a Zumba DVD and do it every morning. By all means go to gym, gyms are great, but if you're not into it, there are plenty of options.

Or jump around like an idiot with your friends :-)

One thing I will tell you, is that if you begin a low carb/high protein diet you should wait 2-3 weeks before starting exercise, or if you are exercising already, take it down a notch. The first couple of weeks going low carb can leave you feeling tired while your body adjusts. Another thing to keep in mind is that exercising with high intensity is going to make you hungrier and make dieting difficult.

So, my own personal tactic at the moment, whilst working on losing fat, is to keep exercise at a mild-moderate level. I spend most of my day on the go-go-go and don't get much time sitting down. As well as work I do a bit of mild-moderate cardio at gym - bit of treadmill and cross-trainer is good for me with plenty of stretching and the dreaded foam roller. All of my injuries make exercising at this weight difficult, so I am taking it easy for now. As my weight decreases I should be able to increase my exercise. I can't wait to get back to hiking, might even climb some more mountains!


Hiking the Inca Trail

I also plan to add in some strength training as I believe everyone should do resistance training no matter what age! Lifting a weight puts strain on your muscle, your muscle is attached to your bone so this then puts strain on the bone/s it is attached to. Your body then thinks "Oh, we need strong bones if we're gona keep doing this, I better make this bone stronger!". And so, resistance training keeps your muscles strong - and your bones strong too. Also, firm muscles keep joints tight and make you less likely to have joint problems.

So grab a 2 or 3 litre milk bottle and fill it with sand, dirt or water and start lifting that thing - carefully, with slow, controlled movements. Stand next to a chair, stick your butt out and squat down slowly (and back up of course). Slowly slide down a wall with your feet at shoulder width and out front so your toes are further out than your knees, slide down as far as you can and hold it there for as long as you can - make sure your thighs don't go further than being horizontal with the floor (ie not past 90 degrees). Join a sport, a bushwalking club, a gym, start swimming, start boxing, hire a personal trainer!

Incidental exercise is a great way to sneak in more exercise and burn more calories. Take the stairs instead of the lift - if you can't walk up stair then walk down them, or do one flight and take the lift the rest of the way. Park at the end of the car park. Walk to work, walk your kids to school, walk to the corner shop. When you're standing in the grocery line, tense and release your leg and tummy muscles, when you get out of a chair, sit back down and do it again - or a few times before walking off. While holding the baby lift him/her up and down a few times - fun for the bub and more calories burnt for you!

Now THESE are stairs!

So whatever you do, do something you enjoy, try lots of different things, mix it up and try to do something every day. Throw in some incidental exercise and you're set! It doesn't have to be complicated, it just has to be regular and enjoyable - love how your body feels getting stronger and leaner! Woo hoo!!!!

Thanks for reading, I hope it helps you understand things a little better, and maybe even gives you a bit of motivation. Well, off you go - get out there!

Perhaps you want to set an amazing goal like climbing a mountain???

For some inspiration, below are a few pics of my 4 day hike along the Inca Trail

to Macchu Pichu.

Enjoy!

One of the incredible ruins of this ancient civilisation
we saw along the way.

Our ridiculously stunning view at our first camp

NOT HAPPY at how exhausted I felt, and how my legs were jelly
after the first day - with 3 more days to go!

Just one of MAAAAAANY giant stairs to Heaven
that we climbed up (and down).

Woo hoo! At Dead Woman's Pass 4200 m above sea level.

Our amazing team of porters.

On our way from our first camp (down the bottom) @2900m
to the top of the mountain @4200m above sea level on day 2.

One of the better paths!

Aaaand another hill...

One of the tricky downhill parts.

Ahhhhh, finally we made it to the Sun Gate after getting up on day 4
at 3:45am to hike in the dark, to get here for sunrise.
Macchu Pichu is behind all the cloud which cleared as we
were waiting to reveal the most stunning scene I have ever seen.