Lifting weight can make you fat!

I read post like "lifting weight doesn't bulk you up, cupcake does" although this is true, I think it is a very unhelpful caption. The truth of the matter is that when you lift heavy weight as part of your exercise routine you get extremely hungry and if you have not planned your meals in advance you would be eating those cupcakes from Starbucks!

The reason why you crave so much sugar when you lift weight or do strength training exercise is because muscles have an affinity for glucose (sugar). That means the more muscles you have the more efficient your body gets at using up glucose, and the more efficient your body gets at using up glucose the leaner you will become. This is why studies have shown that weight lifting and subsequently building muscles can help prevent and/or control diabetes. Because muscles increases the demand for glucose; it pulls glucose from the bloodstream so that blood sugar don't raise dangerously. However, for non-diabetics this can result in hypoglycemia ( you know the shakes you get when you are starving).

Now, if you have not planned your post workout snack in advance  you will be reaching out for those cupcakes. Which subsequently over time causes you to bulk up rather than lean out. The simple solution to this problem is to have some simple fast glucose releasing snacks handle after your strength training workout. I always have an apple or a banana in my bag...

If this short simplified explanation help shared some light on why you want some cupcakes after your strength training session let me know; share with your friends it might help them too.

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Comfortable with being uncomfortable

Many people are comfortable with being uncomfortable. They look at themselves in the mirror and say things like "I don't look too bad considering I have children" "I can just wear a girdle to hold my tummy in" "I have only gained a dress size" "I was born fat!" "it is my genes" "I have large bones that's why I weigh so much" the list of excuses are endless. 

It's funny how we think we are just fine the way we are until we decide to see if we can improve ever so slightly. Then we realise that we were very far from fine when we thought we were fine. I look back on my journey and I am amazed. 

Now,  all I want to do is help ours who like me think they are just fine, uncover the real beauty that is lying under layers of unhealthy fat cells. 

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Excuses are for those who need them. I don't negotiate my training

I had every reason not to exercise today, first my alarm didn't go off at 4:30am but my body clock woke me up at 5:30! I had 2hours to complete a 12miles run (I am training for a marathon and Saturdays are my long runs). I was tired, thanks to my staying up later than usual cleaning the whole goat meat I bought from the butchers..... I love goat meat! Do you know that goat meat is 50% lower in fat than beef and is about 40% lower in saturated fat than chicken, even chicken cooked with the skin off!!.....Well I digress. So I rushed into the bath to get ready for my run and staring at me from my open windows was the most ugly creature ever! A Raccoon! Sweet baby Jesus I screamed and shut my window. Could this be a sign that I should skip my run?

 

As I was about to leave home my nearly 3year old child woke up and insisted that I took him with me on my run! Now that would be tricky...lol but then I thought maybe this really is a sign that I shouldn't go running, it might be a Raccoon festival out there for all I knew! I eventually made it out of the house but forgot to take my armband phone pouch which meant holding my phone for the duration of my run; how inconvenient is that!

 

5miles into my run, I saw a rat on my path that refused to move away! What's up with that! Rats usually just run away at the sounds of human feet. 9miles into my run I saw a cat running with a hand glove in its mouth and a bird swooping low to get the glove from the cat! Seriously!!!?

The bird swooped so low that it almost touched my shoulders. My heart rate leaped up to 170bpm and I sprinted off up a hill I usually walk up!

 

Still not sure if everything that occurred today was a sign or a sigh but I am glad that I did train against all odds......Excuses? not for me!

 

Have you ever had such a day where it seems everything is stopping you from exercising? Tell me about your odds, I would love to read them.....