The 7 Minute Workout

This morning I found myself in a bit of a time crunch and didn't have my normal time to spend on a good workout, so I opted for something that I have been wanting to try. It's called the "7 Minute Workout." It is also supposed to be scientifically tested. Well, I was up for a scientific workout. :) 

It's a website where the domain title is about as short as the workout! www.7-min.com. That's it!  I used my IPad to view it.  It's a handy way of doing a quick workout, and was actually a heart pounding, muscle building workout for a short amount of time.  You do a certain exercise for 30 seconds and then take a 10 second break. You start out with jumping jacks, rest, then a 30 second wall sit, rest, and so on for 7 minutes.  I love the fact that the video posts pictures of the exercise and also has a countdown.  

Use it on the road when you don't have time to hit the gym, just bring your iPad and do it in your hotel room or anywhere for that matter. You don't use weights, it's just your body weight. It's a great way to keep in shape for barrel racers and competitors that are on the road a lot. 

It will be a short workout that I will use often and it can also be a pre warm up to weights. I love the fact that it's only 7 minutes long! Everyone has time for a 7 minute workout, right?

The link is below. Try it out and let us know what you think.


The 7 Minute Workout

Can Peppermint help you lose weight?

So, we have been posting about Peppermint and how it can actually help you lose weight.  But is this really true? 

There was a study done by the Smell & Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago with 3,000 people who tried inhaling 3 different scents, peppermint, banana and apple.  The more often they sniffed those aromas, the more weight they lost, with an average drop of nearly 30 pounds during the 6-month study among those who inhaled the scents the most frequently. Some participants shed up to 18 pounds in a month. Apparently, by frequent smelling we trick the brain into thinking we actually ate the food.

I carry a small bottle of peppermint in my handbag.  When I get the urge to splurge or snack, I open the bottle and take a few deep breaths.  It actually has helped me to curb my appetite.  Of course I the peppermint from a company called, doTerra.  They have so many wonderful products, one is also the Slim and Sassy products that help curb your appetite and speed up your metabolism and I will go into those in another post. 

If you are looking for something to curb your appetite, you might want to give peppermint a try.  What have you got to lose?  More information on how you can get the peppermint is here  Peppermint Oil.

 

 

 

Until next time, see you on the trail!

~Susi

Happy New Year! Who Loves Chocolate?

The tree is down, the decorations are put away and the New Year's Eve celebration is now an event from last year.  It's 2014! What are your fitness goals?

For me, my goal is to get into the best shape of my life, which may be an uphill battle, but I'm ready for the challenge.  I have lived in this world 40+ years and I have just found out that I am never going to be able to give up chocolate.  No matter how many years I've tried, it's just something I haven't been able to do and I think I have finally figured out the reason...  I don't want to!  It's a highlight of my life, it makes me happy and I know I will not enjoy life unless I can have chocolate. 

Yes, we have all heard how important it is to eat clean.  I've decided to try a new approach this year.  I am going to eat clean for 5 days of the week, but I am going to also have a small portion of chocolate each day.  I have decided on the weekends, I am going to have anything I want as long as I do not go over 1,200 calories.   I actually started the 1,200 calorie intake last June and lost 30 pounds in 3 months.  I have kept it off and now I want to get down to my ideal weight and the ideal of what I think is my best shape.

I didn't do too well during the holidays with my eating, but I managed to stay at the same weight, so I will call that an accomplishment. Now that the New Year is here, I have been to the gym and have also walked/jogged 3 miles a day.  That's one thing I make sure I do is walk everyday, even if I don't get another workout in, I walk.  It wakes me up, gets my blood flowing, metabolism burning and my mind in a positive place. 

But, back to chocolate!  How can I have my chocolate without gaining weight you might ask?  I am a huge fan of 'See's Candies' and they just so happen to have a 'See's Candies' in my town.  That could be a disadvantage to a diet, but I have found that the 'See's Candies Little Pops' are one of the best treats I have found!  With a daily serving size of 4 and total fat grams of 3 and 60 calories for 4 pieces, that's only 15 calories each with less than 1 gram of fat for each piece.  These little chocolate candies take a long time to dissolve and when you are done, you've had your chocolate fix for a while.  But you can have 4 of these a day and only digest 60 calories!  That's awesome! 

If you don't have a 'See's Candies' in your town, you can go to www.seescandies.com and order them there.  They have other flavors as well.  I don't mean to be promoting sugar to get fit, but let's get real... do you really want to go without chocolate the rest of your life?  I know I don't.

In the next blog, I will be posting the importance of Peppermint.  You don't want to miss it!  Until then, I'll see you on the trail!

Susi

Six More Days until our First Cowgirl Fit Challenge Begins!

Get Ready!!  Only 6 more days until our first Cowgirls Fit Challenge begins!  Our goal is to lose 10 lbs by Thanksgiving and many of you might lose more, some might not lose as much.

We are starting our first Cowgirl Fit Challenge on November 1st.  Why November 1st you might ask?  Well, you hear all of the time how you shouldn't let holidays, or vacations etc... detour you from your goals and that is correct.  But, we know we are also human and if we can all start on a day that has any type of temptations out of the way, we will have a better chance at attaining our goal. 

Some of the 'To Do's' you should be accomplishing this week before we start are...

1. Make a Weekly Menu...  We will also be including some meal plan examples on our Facebook page, so check it out often.  (If you haven't hovered your mouse over the "Liked" button on our Facebook page, please do and select "Get Notifications."  That way, each time we at Cowgirl Fit post something, you will receive a notice and not miss out on any important information.)
2. Make a Grocery List... Look at the menus you have created for the week and then make a list of groceries you will need.  Buy your groceries at least one day prior to the beginning of the challenge.  It is important to have your snack items also as you don't want to fall off the wagon once you begin. We will also be posting some snack ideas on our f.b. page.
3. Write an Exercise 'To Do List' for the week before you begin.  It is important to plan out your day.  Write down the exercises you plan on completing each day.  If you write down more than one time each day for exercise and make room for it in your day, you are more apt to complete it.
4. Don't forget to Weigh Yourself... We mentioned before to get rid of your scales for a while, but it is important to start with knowing how much you weigh when you begin so that you can see your progress.  Once you have weighed yourself and measured your waist, hips and arms, put the scales away!  Write down you weight or key into your phone app to track your progress.
5. Take a Picture...  Another tip is to take your picture at the beginning.  You will be surprised at the progress you make when you see your photo.  Please feel free to post them on our Facebook page if you would like.
6. Tell your Friends... Let your friends know about your goals.  Invite them to do it with you!  That's what our f.b. page is for, so that we as a community can support you in your weight loss and/or fitness goals.  Invite them to "LIKE" our page www.facebook.com/cowgirlfit
7. Good Luck To All!

Ten Tips for the Cowgirl Fit Challenge

We're beginning our first Cowgirl Fit Challenge Monday, October 21st!  A little more information...

Monday will be the first day of a new lifestyle.  Before we begin, you will need to get some groceries that will enable you to lose weight.  We will have a list of healthy meal ideas, snacks etc... posted regularly for you to consider.  You will want to select a total calorie intake that will be right for your body.  For example, depending upon your weight, you will want to considerably lower your calorie intake than what you have been used to.  Editor-in-Chief of CIS Magazine, Susan Gentry lost 30 pounds this past summer and here are tips of what she did.

1. Throw out the scales!  On the first day of the Challenge, weigh yourself.  Once you have weighed yourself. put the scales away.  I know, I know, you are told to weigh yourself regularly when you are trying to lose weight, but if you are like me, if you see that you did not lose any weight or maybe gained a pound, you will completely fall off the wagon.  I didn't weigh myself until I was about 3 months into it.  Yes, you heard right.  I just kept a positive mindset that I was losing weight and when I stepped on the scales for the first time, I had lost 30 pounds.  I know if I would have been weighing myself regularly, I would have quit.  But, this is only a tip.  If you feel that you need to weigh yourself regularly to lose weight then please do.

2. Take a picture of yourself at the beginning so that you can see the results.  If you would like to post your before photos on our f.b. page www.facebook.com/cowgirlfit, please feel free to do so.  You can post pictures monthly of your success.

3. Measure your waist, upper arms and thighs and write the numbers down.  You will be amazed at the shrinking of the measurements and inches lost as you progress.

4. Select your favorite exercise.  We will be posting exercise ideas and tips as we go along.  You will need to do at least 1 hour of exercise each day to reap the benefits of an "best shape of your life" body.  If you are more eager like I was, I walked 3 miles every morning and then did a 1 hour workout later in the day or evening when I got time.  The exercises I would do were different.  Sometimes I would swim and do water aerobics, sometimes I would do weights and different cardio moves, such as step ups, squats, sit ups etc...   The idea is to keep moving for an hour.  If you have a workout video, do that.  Do the exercises that you know you will stick with.

5. Drink lots of water!  Water is a huge key in losing weight.  You should be drinking half of your weight in ounces.  So, if you weigh 150 pounds, you should be drinking 75 ounces of water.  That's about 9 cups of water a day. But if you aren't a water drinker, make sure you are drinking at least 8 glasses of water a day.

6. It's great to plan your day the night before.  That is one of the great things about the phone app we were telling you to get.  You can plan out your day and it will remind you.  Or if you just want to plug your schedule into your phone calendar, it will remind you when you need to exercise, eat meals and snack on something healthy.  The night before I would key in that I was going to walk early in the morning.  Enter in what I was going to eat for breakfast, my morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and then dinner.  Once it was keyed in and I was reminded, I didn't usually stray from the schedule.

7. Have a goal in mind.  How much do you want to lose?  If it's 10 pounds, 30 pounds 50 pounds, write it down.  Hang it on your wall or frig.  Another tip that I did is I posted a picture right above my bed of me when I was in the shape that I want to once again get to.  It gives me great incentive and is a motivator!

8. Tell a friend.  Tell someone about your plan and goal and that will keep you motivated to complete it. 

9. Report onto www.facebook.com/cowgirlfit everyday! That's what our facebook page is for.  We will provide not only tips and information, but different posts that you can comment on the feeds.  At the end of the day report how you did.  Did you get your exercise in, did you eat what you had planned?  If something goes wrong and you didn't do everything you had planned, we as your workout friends will keep you motivated for your tomorrow.

10. Have fun!!  Losing weight and getting in shape can be an ordeal for some, but we are going to make it fun!  Once you start seeing the pounds diminishing and new muscle forming, you will get a new lease on life!  There is nothing better than seeing your jeans fitting lose and finally needing to buy a new pair. ;)   We can do this!!