Bring Sexy Back with Cardio?

     Good Afternoon, Healthy Fam...  How did the Ab Challenge go?  I ALREADY know, you think you failed.  Don't call it fail, let's just say you may not have completed it the way you would have liked.  But, are you willing to try again and put some MORE effort into it?  I am, but not right now.  Let's work on a "CARDIO CHALLENGE"!!!  Yes, WE are GOING to do at least 4 DAYS a week of cardio for NO LESS THAN 60 minutes.  I can hear some of you right now.  "That's too much, I don't have time for that, where am I going to do that?"  You can break the 60 minutes into 30 minute sessions, 20 minute sessions, whatever works for you, but what it all boils down to is 240 minutes per week of cardio activity. 

     Cardio exercise is activity that increases your heart rate and keeps it elevated for a period of time.  As I have mentioned before, there are various types of cardio exercise.  It can be running, jumping, swimming, aerobics/zumba, elliptical, bicycling, walking, rowing, cross-county skiing, whatever works for you.   STOP!  THINK ABOUT IT!  Most of us work 5 days per week, 8 hrs per day.  That equates to 40 hrs per week or 2400 minutes per week.  Now tell me, we can't work out 240 minutes for some cardio?   What I need you to do, is get yourself a small notepad you can keep in your purse.  Place the number "240" in the book on Monday morning, with the date.  EVERYTIME you do your cardio thing, subtract the number of minutes exercised.  On Sunday evening (7 days later),  take a look and see where you are.  The number should say "0".  If not, you need to find a way to work a little harder to get to your goal.  So let's go and get our sweat on...

      Remember, the benefits of getting up and moving and leaving the couch behind are numerous.  Cardio activity can increase our heart strength, our lung capacity (yep, help keep you from feeling winded all the time), increase metabolism, increase our energy levels, reduce some stress, and burn calories, just to name a few things.   According to the Mayo Clinic, it will help enhance arousal for women... Oh my!!!  Cardio can help "bring sexy back"...Holla!!!

     FYI...  I am on this healthy journey with you.  So, you are not alone.  I get my exercise in, but I mentioned to a friend that I was having a problem with "dieting".  As I did some research on diets, I was floored by the number of diets that were listed.  Everything you could think of from A-Z.  There are Diets based on religion, food-intolerences, weight control diets, medical diets, detox diets, crash diets, you name it.  But my friend reminded me, it's not about dieting, it's about "lifestyle change".   Thanks Lovye for keeping me focused.  If you are like me, you have considered some type of diet at some point in your life.  So which one did you try, South Beach, Sonoma, 21-Day Detox, Fat Smash, Dukan, Mayo Clinic, Master Cleanse, Abs diet, Atkins, Ultrametabolism diet, Cabbage soup diet???  Smooches