Aging and weight gain

As we get older, a common myth people still believe is that they gain weight because of age. Your age doesn’t cause you to gain weight.

As you age, your body’s production of hormones that help maintain muscle mass decreases. As you lose muscle, more of your weight can be attributed to fat. In addition, as we age we often become less active. Many people still continue to eat the same portions and foods they are back when they were more active and able to burn it off quicker. Additionally, as we age we think we need less sleep or busy ourselves so much that stress causes a lack of sleep. These are factors that cause you to gain weight as you get older. But there are things you can do to work with your body and fight off the excess weight gain!

Exercise: Exercise with weights at least twice a week at a minimum. Lifting weight builds muscle strength. You don’t have to lift heavy weights! Start light/moderate and build your way up in weight and intensity. No gym membership? There’s plenty of at home workouts you can do. If you have a desk job, make sure to get up and move every so often. Do a lap around the office every hour and take the stairs when you can.

Diet: Watch your food intake and be cautious of portion sizes. Figure out how many calories you should consume in a day for your age and size. Eat lots of veggies and lean protein!

Sleep: Get plenty of sleep. Lack of sleep causes a lack of endurance. So you’re less likely to want to workout or get up and move as much. Ultimately encouraging a sedentary lifestyle which brings on weight gain.

Don’t let aging be your excuse for weight gain! Stay active, eat a healthy diet and get a good amount of sleep each night!

At home leg workout

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No gym or not able to make it to the gym? Here’s a few easy leg exercises you can do at home. They require no equipment, just yourself!

🔹Leg Raises

🔹Donkey Kicks

🔹Side Leg Raises

🔹Laying Down Leg Raises

🔹Inner Thigh Raise

I do each of these 4x 15-18!

Bosu Exercises

I love to use the bosu ball during workouts. It’s so versatile and it’s an inexpensive piece of workout equipment you can get for home!

These are two exercises I added into my workout routine for the next 6 weeks.

✴️ Pushups

✴️ Hop-outs

These are great for core or upper body workout days!

Leg day ideas

Leg day! My favorite day! I’ve changed up my leg workouts again. I’ve said it before, I always change my workouts every 6 weeks. This keeps my body from getting “used” to a workout and it keeps me from feeling like I’m on repeat. These exercises aren’t too difficult and you can do them at home or in the gym. The first two actually workout your upper body and lower body together!

✴️ Side squats with medicine ball

✴️ Sumo squats with kettle bell raise

✴️ Squat turns

I try to do each one 10-12 times. Depending on the medicine ball I use for side squats, sometimes I can only manage 8-10 with the extra weight.

Happy squatting! 💪🏻

Walking for exercise

I’ve heard people complain about never having time for the gym. Or they don’t have the funds for a gym membership. I completely understand! I have been in the same position!

Transitioning from marketing to teaching I quit my job to take classes full time to get my teaching license. I canceled my gym membership to save money till I started working again. But I’m not one to sit around and not workout. I needed to do something. Every day I would take my dog out for a long walk. I hate running but walking I can do! My pup and I would walk for an hour a day. Some people laugh and say walking does nothing for you. But that’s actually incorrect.

In addition to a healthy diet, walking can do so much for you. Here are a few benefits:

✴️ Improves your mood

✴️ Improves circulation

✴️ Helps with weight loss (burns calories)

✴️ Can reduce arthritis pain

✴️ Manages high blood pressure

✴️ Improves balance and coordination

✴️ Reduces stress

✴️ Boosts your immune system

In addition to these, walking gives you time to think! If you’re someone who likes time to themselves every so often, walking is a great break away.

Have a young child? Put them in the stroller. Have older kids? Make them walk down to the park with you. Have them kick a ball or play a game while you walk around the park!

Even just 30 minutes a day can do you more good than nothing at all. Get your body moving! 🏃‍♀️

Double pulley workout

I love a double pulley machine! They are so versatile for so many workouts! Today I did a quick upper body workout. These are two exercises from my workout.

✴️ Alternating close grip pull down

✴️ Wide grip pull down

Both are great for arm, shoulder and back days!

Social Media Break

Everyone has their “me time.” And I believe everyone needs me time! Mine are my workouts. I don’t answer calls, texts, look at social media, etc. I literally go dark. Unless my husband calls or texts. Then he’s just checking in on Ryder so I of course respond. But besides that I am non responsive.

I know it may sound ridiculous but I believe everyone needs at least an hour away from their phone, computer, tv, etc. Step away from technology and just take a break! Put your phone down or put it on silent. Distract yourself for one hour. Go on a walk, clean, take a nap, workout, read a book, etc. Do something that doesn’t involve your phone! See how different you feel each day. You may be surprised. I always feel a little more relaxed after some “quiet time.”

Challenge yourself! One hour a day with no phone, social media, tv, etc. Can you do it?

Ball Raises

This is one of my favorite exercises to do on arm days. It not only works your arms but also your core, butt and legs. Not to mention it builds stability. It’s a little difficult and does take a bit balance so be careful if it’s your first time trying.

Get in a pushup position and put one foot on the ball at a time. Find your balance then raise your hips and pull your knees in to your chest. I typically do 4 x 15. That alone gets my arms and abs burning. 💪🏻

Defining your value by your size

“A clothing size should never define your worth or value.”

I remember when I went from a size 0 to a 2. I FREAKED out. Literally didn’t leave the house for a week because I was ashamed of myself. Again, another moment where I wish I could slap my former self. Why did I think it was so bad being a size 2? Or 4? Or 6? Or….so on. It’s all about how you FEEL. Clearly I wasn’t happy with myself but when you’re constantly negative and tearing yourself down, you’ll never really be happy with yourself. When you learn to accept your body and be appreciative of your body, that’s when you start to forget about the numbers.

A lot of my “size fears” had to do with who I was hanging out with. The girls I had become “friends” with at the time were very size focused. The tinier the better. Somehow I let their negative body image thinking clog my brain. It took me taking a big step back and reassessing the friends in my life to make me realize, this isn’t healthy, normal or fun. Not to mention I remember asking myself, if I really needed these girls in an important moment in my life, would they really be there for me? The answer was no. So instead of a body detox, I did a friend detox.

When I stopped focusing on the size of my clothes and started looking at what I was comfortable in and what made me look good, everything changed. When you look good, you feel good. Attempting to squeeze into size 0 jeans when I was a size 2 did NOT make me look good. It made me look ridiculous and in denial. You know when you see someone in too tight of clothes and wonder if they bought their clothes purposely too small or outgrew them? Yup I was one of those people you saw and questioned. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Finding clothes that are flattering to my body is key. If a size 6 dress fits me, who cares! As long as it makes me look fantastic! I don’t care what the number says anymore, as long as I’m comfortable and I feel good in it!

I’ve said it before, you’re only given one body in this life. Love it and be appreciative of it. It’s the only one you get!

Core Exercises

I love core workouts that aren’t just crunches! Push-up/plank exercises hit your arms/shoulders, core, stability, etc. These are two of my favorite plank exercise variations that I have worked into my shoulder and core days. They aren’t too difficult but they will definitely get your muscles burning! These two are perfect for the gym or at home if you’re lacking in equipment!

1️⃣ Shoulder taps

2️⃣ Plank up downs

I do 20 on each side (ex: 20 taps on left arm, 20 on right) x 4.