The basics

Goals:
I am a firm believer that goals should be written down and posted where you can see them daily. This is me writing it down, I am also going to make an area in the house where it can be seen and I even found a thermometer from Dotties Weight Loss Zone that will help too. That site has a lot of good info as far as sticking with the weight watchers plan with out paying for it. She has a list of restaurants with the points for each item, recipes, and just about anything else you could possibly think of and even somethings you didn't think of!! I plan on printing this out and each time I get closer and closer to my goal weight I can visually see how my progress is going. Just an example. I was 230 now I 218 which is about a 5% loss so far. Which has been documented on this thermometer>>>

Heart rate:
While working out its extremely important to be sure you're in the correct ranges. It is called a training zone. It is vital to increasing you aerobic ability/capacity. Your MHR = 200bpm (beats per minute) – your age

I'm 23 years old so my maximum heart rate is 200-23=177

177x.55=97bmp; 177x.85=151bmp

Keeping your heart rate between these levels will ensure you are getting the most burn for the work out. The reason these are so important is because during strength training your heart rate isn't going to be as high as if you were doing cardio but, you will be burning more calories for a longer amount of time then just with cardio alone. This I will get into more later in this post.

You can buy a heart rate monitor, it can be worn just like a wrist watch. For those of you who do not want to buy one you can also take your pulse randomly through out your work out by using your right index and middle finger over the right side of your neck, where a guys adam apple would be, by counting the beats, at least 15 to 20 seconds, and multiplying that number to get the number of beats per minute.

Metabolism: The only way to get your metabolism up is by eating every 4hours. When I say eat every 4hours please don't think I mean large meals. You should be eating small portions. Some protein, some fruit, some veggies. There is actually a diet I'm considering trying. Its called "The 3hour diet." Essentially, you in take about 1450 calories a day. 400 Calorie breakfast, 3hours later a 100 calorie snack, 3hours later 400 calorie lunch, 3hours later another 100 calorie snack, then 3hours later a 400 calorie dinner and then you can have another 100 calorie snack 3hours before bed!

Strength Training: Even for woman it is great to do strength training. Its like a push up bra. Every woman should wear one because it puts the "girls" where they are SUPPOSED TO BE, even if you have large breast. (Helpful hint from working at Victoria Secret) Strength training is amazing for the body. It helps with posture, tones your muscles and just makes your body look better. Increases the body's metabolism in turn makes the body burn more calories through out the day. Surprisingly, it does not bulk up a woman's muscles, only tones as long as heavy weights aren't used. Improves balance, flexibility and coordination. Improves the overall condition of the heart. Assists in restoring and increasing bone density. Prevents injury. Also, if you're going to do strength training, try to focus on one part of the body per day. What I do is I'll do cardio daily, abs daily but then I'll do back and legs, and then the next day I'll do arms.