Why I Love HIIT

Good evening everyone!

I'm doing pretty well. It's really late now and I should get to bed but before that  I wanted to share with you all a shocking (at least for me) but nice thing that happened to me a couple of days ago.

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HIIT & Running

On Monday morning I decided to go running after a loooong time (I think the last time I went was back in August). Now, my running background is almost non existent.

[Extremely long intro ALLERT!]

I started running back in July and I followed the C25K (Couch to 5K) program (which I highly recomend for anyone who wants to start running). It basically is a running training plan that "gets you from your couch to being able to run 30min straight". You start really slow alternating jogging and walking (60sec jogging/90sec walking) and through the course of 9 weeks you build up to running 30min straight.

So as I was saying I started the program back in July. Within 2 months I was able to run for 30min straight. That was so incredible for me! Unfortunately around the end of August I sprained my ankle (of course I did) and I had to stop running. It wasn't anything major but I didn't want to make the injury any worse by running. That also ment I stopped exercising all together and became pretty much sedentary. I didn't ended up gaining a whole lot of weight because I was still eating fairly well, but I really didn't like how things were turning up.

It was around Christmas when it really hit me. I could not go on like that. I had to take care of myself like I was before. Exercising (when I happened to do it consistently) has always made me feel so good about myself, inside and out and I couldn't deny myself a chance of being truly happy only because I wanted to choose the easier way.

It was so cold out that I really didn't feel like running. The gym wasn't an option either as I didn't and still don't have a lot of money. So I decided to give home workouts a go. I tend to get really bored with workouts dvds, I should probably own way too many not to get bored. So that wasn't the way to go. What then? I had been following Bodyrock.tv for a long time (if you are not familiar with it, I talked about it in more details in this post... I even posted a really embarassing post workout face, I clearly didn't know what I was thinking lol) but I actully did try very few of their workouts as they were pretty much intimidating.

This time though I said to myself: "Elisa, you really have to give it your all, you can't say that you can't do the workouts if you don't give them a real chance!" And so I did. And guess what? I hated it the first time and felt like I was going to pass out; by the second time I still kind of hated it but I started to like they way it made me feel afterwards; by the third time I didn't want to admit it to myself but I actually enjoyed it; by the forth time I was basically hooked! And now I look forward to working out every single day or almost, you need to give your muscle proper rest when you feel like they need it. It was a little more complicated than this but you get the hang of it. Of course I had bad days but like a little soldier I kept getting back up and this last week I felt better than ever, worked out 5 day out of 7 and on Mondays I even decided to try to go running again.

I was pretty much ready for failure, I thought that after such a long break it would take me ages to go back to running like I was back in August. I had heard many times the great effects of bodyweight HIIT on cardiovascular endurance so I thought I might be even able to run 5min intervals vs the 60sec intervals I started with on my first run ever.

So, how did it go?

Not only did I not stopped after 5min but I kept going for 25min STRAIGHT! Can you freaking believe it?? I still can't! I am so happy and excited about it that I've been in my little happy bubble ever since, smiling to myself every now and again for no apparent reason. Never in my wildest dreams I thought something like this was possible. Of course my run was more of a jog than a run but still, I think this is amazing!

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Wow, that was some long story! I really need to work on my rambling.

I better go to bed now, I am just happy I shared this with you all and I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring.

Have a good night/day wherever you are.

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Have you ever tried HIIT? If so, what do you think of it? Have you experienced any unexpected results so far? If you haven't tried it, are you curious to try it out? Are you intimidated by it? What are your expectations?

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Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is.

- Anne Frank

Love,

Elisa

Feeling The Change

Happy Monday (going on Tuesday... almost!)!

How was everybody's weekend? Mine was actually very nice. I got to go to Milan to visit my dad and my brother and I had a really good time. I so needed the change of scenary even though it was only for a day and a half. Tomorrow morning I'll be going back home (yea, since I work Saturdays and Sunday mornings my weekends have shifted a bit, they start Sunday afternoon and last until Monday evening).

I'm totally pooped right now, I think I walked a total of 6 hours today... got to catch up with the city, you know ;P ? On top of that this morning I did yoga for almost an hour. Dear Lord! Whoever said that yoga is easy or that it doesn't make you sweat, has clearly never tried it! I was dripping within minutes. I took a few videos on youtube from one of my favourite yogi's ever, Sadie Nardini. I did her Weight Loss Yoga part 1, 2, 3 and 4 plus some stretchig. Let me tell you, my arms and legs were shaking by the end of it and it felt awesome!

I love incorporating yoga into my workout routine. Not only does it give me a good workout, it also give me a good stretch.

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28-Day Challenge Take II Update:

How did my first week go? Not too bad.

Was I perfect? Absolutely not. But you know what? That's ok, if it was ment to be easy, it wouldn't be a challenge.

I did a total of three workouts and I took them all from my girl Zuzana. I did one on Monday, one on Thursday and one on Sunday.

What I learned  from this first week:

* for as hard as you try, things don't always go as planned

* starting back working out after a two-month's break with the hardest workout I know might not be the best idea of all (Note to self: do not ever do that again)... I could barely move for two and a half days!!!

* you can surprise yourself. I did way better than I thought especially "mind wise". I found my motivation back and this is suh a huge thing for me! Two times out of three I fit the workout when I had little to no time because I wouldn't have missed it for nothing in the whole world! The past few months I found every possible excuse not to workout so it's nice to have my old self back!

So you live and learn, right? The best thing about week one is that now I have this great feeling that the weeks to come are going to go way better. I can feel the change :D

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A couple of days ago someone asked me a few questions about my diet, so I figured it would be a lot more helpful to address this in a post (maybe even more than one, we'll see how it goes). As some of you may know, I struggled with eating disorders for a good 12 years. Recovery was not an easy thing for me and it took a lot of time, help, effort and self growth. Talking about it is not easy either but if sharing my story with you all will help even only one person in the whole world, I will be the happiest person alive. So check back for that!

I better go now, my little Panda (my kitty cat) is sleeping on my laps right now and she is determined to rest her head on my hand which makes the whole writing process a lot more difficult, believe me!

How did the first week of the 28-Day Challenge go? What did you get out of it? Did you struggle with it? And if you weren't in the challenge, did this past week teach you something about yourself? Did it change you in some way?

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

- Barack Obama

Love,

Elisa

28-Day Challenge Take II

Hope everyone had a fantastic day!

The weather here in Italy has been so lovely these past few days... nothing compared to the last few weeks when it was miserable!

Yay for a day off yesterday! I haven't had a free day in so long (except for last Wednesday) I was beside myself with joy when I knew I was off!

As you might have figured out, the 28-Day Challenge did not go as planned. Lately things have not been going so great for me and probably I picked the worst moment to start a challenge as I couldn't commit to it at all.

Anyways, I'm not giving up and I'm ready to get back on track. I feel way better and I plan on succeeding this time around.

So, as of yesterday I'm giving the challenge another go! It will be slightly different this time around though:

* I will have only one goal aka exercising at least 4 days a week.

Exercising is my biggest issue when it comes to slacking. When I miss a couple of workouts, it's really hard for me to get back on track. On the other hand, I find that when I exercise consistently, everything else in my life automatically falls into place. I eat better, drink more water, I'm a lot happier...

My ultimate goal is to be able to exercise 5 to 6 times per week but I know too well this is not going to happen overnight and I do need an achievable goal.

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So to kick this challenge right in the booty yesterday I had an awesome workout!

I went back to three of my favourite ladies on the web: Zuzana from bodyrock.tv, Angela from ohsheglows and the lovely lady from YouTips4U on YouTube. I'm sure you already know them but in case you don't, go check them out because they are amazing!

If you are familiar with Zuzana's workouts, you know they are not for the faint hearted. They are mostly bodyweight HIIT (high intensity interval training).

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) or sprint interval training is an exercise strategy that is intended to improve performance with short training sessions. HIIT is a form of cardiovascular exercise which is beneficial to burning fat in a short and intense workout. [Source] 

Here are some of the benefits of HIIT:

* Maximum Cardio Benefit in Minimal Time

* Turns Your Body Into a Fat Burning Furnace

* Improve Your Endurance and Stamina

For the whole article click here.

Anyway this girl is truly amazing! She has you sweat like no other in very little time, so that even if you don't have time, you can fit in one of her workouts. She also has tips and modifications for beginners, which is great otherwise I would have never had the courage to even try her workouts!!! So even if you are just starting out, do not get discouraged, give your body a chance to surprise you. I sure was surprised and I still am every time I complete one of her workouts (modified of course :P )! Plus you can't get bored of them since every workout is different and fun in... a masochist kinda way. No, really they are fun ;)

So to start off the workout, I chose probably the most brutal of all her workouts (and man am I feeling it right now!), the Swimming In My Own Sweat Workout. Let me tell you, I almost drown but I felt awesome afterwards.

Note: if it's the first time trying her workouts, you might want to start with one of her shorter workouts. And anyways do not get discouraged, you will improve over time. I'm still a beginner myself but I'm waaay better than the first time I tried doing her workouts!

After that (I seriously don't know what got into me yesterday...) I did this video from YouTips4U.

And then I did attempted doing some core exercises that I took from OhSheGlows but after the first three exercises I had to admit defeat!

This workout really kicked my butt. I have to say though, I felt like a million dollars afterwards!

I didn't know if I wanted to show you all my sweaty face after the workout. But then I thought, I must not be the only one looking like a hot mess after a workout but that's what makes it real!

Warning: sweaty, make-up free and sleepy face!!! Keep reading at your own risk :P

That's what I'm talking about!

The good thing about this is that you know a shower will be in your immediate future.

Much better!

Sorry about the make-up free face, I really was in a hurry.

So here you have it, my first workout for the 28-Day Challenge, I do have a good feeling about this one!

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What are your favourite workouts? Do you look like a mess after it or do you keep your cool?

 

Love,

Elisa