Girls, please lift weights

April 9, 2014

I feel as if most girls are allergic just to the idea of lifting weights.

“No, I just stick to cardio.” “Are you kidding, the weight room is full of guys!” “Mmm, but my legs will get bulky, right?”

I am sure many of you have heard this before (or have said this), and honestly the only one I kind of get is the second comment. Because yeah, most weight rooms are full of guys, but don’t let this put you off. Sure they may stare at you, but that’s just because it is a rarity to see a girl lifting weights. If anything, take a friend with you so it won’t be as intimidating or ask one of the personal trainers at your gym to teach you a few exercises.

Lifting weights will not make you bulky, UNLESS you are eating a diet which will not aid in fat loss. I used to think I was getting bulky from lifting weights but in reality, it was because I still had some extra fat. So because I was not losing any fat, I looked bigger because there was muscle AND fat. Although I still have some excess fat I currently want to lose (it is a long process ..) when I first starting lifting weights and following an eating plan that aided in fat loss, I saw a big change in my body. Cardio will only take you so far. Cardio can help you lose fat but lifting weights (or just resistance exercises in general such as using resistance bands or TRX) will help shape and firm your ‘problem area’s.’

There are also certain area’s of the body that you just will not be able to tone up unless you use weights. Case in point: the back. My body has this lovely (sarcasm people) tendency to store fat in my back (it’s disgusting) and I only started to see improvement in this area when I started using weights to strengthen and tone my back. It’s pretty exhilarating actually to see my progress, and how I am able to use heavier and heavier weights .. and a more defined back!

So please ladies, rethink your approach to weight and fat loss. Cardio is an important factor but not the ONLY factor. What you eat also plays a role, and using weights will help shape your body. Plus food for thought – a lot of yogi’s will train using weights to help them do advanced balancing exercises which require a great deal of upper body, core and lower body strength. And I do not know about you, but I have never seen a ‘bulky’ yogi.

What are some of your favorite exercises? Mine are currently cable back rows and doing sit ups on a bench with a 10 pound weight 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice xxx

P.S. The gorgeous lady in the features image is Juennifer, and she lifts weights 😉

Sunday Summary, Uncategorized

Sunday Summary: Kayla Itsines Week 5

March 30, 2014

Hey everyone!

What a whirlwind spring break week this has been! I had work from Tuesday-Thursday so it really was not much of a break lol. My lovely friend Shivvy who I have known since high school has come to visit me for just under two weeks, so we have been doing lots of fun and tourist-y things. This is her first visit to America so of course we have been sampling all the food. Surprisingly we actually ate quite well save for tonight when we ordered loads at a Japanese restaurant in Lodi, CA called Haru Sushi.

San Francisco (and California in general, but particularly the bay area) is such a fun place to visit! It is great having a friend visit because it forces me to do tourist-y things that I normally wouldn’t do. On Friday, we went to Haight-Ashbury and spent hours shopping and had some lunch at the Citrus Club. They specialize in Asian food and noodles, and attempt to us less oil by substituting it with citrus. You MUST go to Haight-Ashbury if you want a good shopping experience – they have a lot of unique boutique shops and thrift shops. I found the black shirt I am wearing in a few photo’s below for only $8!!

We then went to explore Buena Vista park and took some photo’s.

After that we ventured to Chinatown. I think Chinatown is awesome but OMG the traffic is horrendous, and I swear that the steepest hills in SF are on the way to Chinatown!!! I wish we had just walked from the BART (bay area rapid transit – train basically) but eh, it was worth it in the end. We got some really delicious boba (this is milk tea with tapioca pearls) from Cool Tea Bar. Naaaht healthy haha, but I asked for 50% less sugar so at least you can customize them a little.

Saturday was gross and rainy so let’s just skip that recap haha. This morning we went to the beach; we oohed and aahed at all the sweet dogs and puppies that were also at the beach, and just had fun walking around in general. Naturally I had to show off my yoga skills hehe. Ick, I really need a tan …

Kayla Itsines Week 5

I finished week 5 of Kayla Itsine’s bikini body guide, woo hoo! This week set of workouts are definitely more advanced in nature, particularly the arm workouts. I absolutely loved it, although I am not loving the amount of cardio. We have to quite a bit more cardio but oh well .. it is so worth it. I am seeing improvement in my legs and my abs look more toned 🙂 The only thing I wish it would focus more on is the back. I have some really gross fat on my back and although I KNOW YOU CAN’T SPOT REDUCE, it would be nice to have workouts that focused on the back.

I hope you have all had a great week everyone! Please let me know what type of posts you would like to see, or if you have any questions; I would love to hear what they are 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice

Blogs I love, Fitness, Health, Sunday Summary

Sunday Summary: Kayla Itsines Week 2

March 9, 2014

Hello lovely readers!

I am feeling much more positive after my last week of being low and negative. I have now completed week 2 of Kayla Itsine’s bikini body guide AND I am so happy to say that I have completed the 6 week intermediate to advanced yoga program from Do Yoga With Me!

So what can I say about this? Well first off, I am not a master advanced yogi at all, but I noticed a significant amount of progress during the past 6 weeks. And for those of you who do yoga regularly (or even those who don’t) you will know that 6 weeks is not a long time at all. Most master yogis have been practicing for years … yeeeeears!! I have been on and off practicing yoga for about 8 years but this is the only time I have ever been regular and consistent with it. And it shows! For those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that very occasionally I will post photo’s of me in certain yoga poses, and the most recent photo I posted has shown how I have become much more flexible in comparison to the one I took a few weeks ago.

Kayla Itsines Week 2

In terms of the bikini body guide I am embarassed to say that I have already screwed up a little .. I did the workout you were supposed to do for weeks 1 and 3, but for week 1 & 2 … oops! Oh well, hehe, I suppose I will just have to do the workouts for weeks 2 & 4, on weeks 3 & 4. It is still too early on to notice anything, although I feel as if my abs have become stronger because I am not flailing about quite as much as I was last week when I would do the sit ups!!

Apart from that, not much else is new to be quite honest! I have been swamped with work, but I have still been doing some cooking and baking to come up with new things I can feature on Friday Fare. I recently made a delicious and slightly tweaked version of Kitchen Treaty’s Vanilla Lime Green Smoothie, and it was absolutely delicious. I subbed the vanilla yogurt for vanilla protein powder and added in some of my homemade toffee sauce instead of honey. I recommend you have a look at Kitchen Treaty, as I am sure it will give you some inspiration for meals, desserts, and more.