Just call me "Phoenix"

Yes, Phoenix as in rising from the ashes.Metaphorical ones of course. No need to call the Fire Department ;)

I will be the first to admit that I take on too much all at once. Hence why my last blog post was in October... In my defense, I moved, traveled out of state twice, and then the holidays came steam rolling through my life. Thank goodness I finally have a chance to sit and relax. And blog of course :D

So here I am freshly risen from the burdens of every day life and ready to share some of the fitness related things I've learned recently.

First off I have to say that I am slightly obsessed with Instagram and I find a lot of my fitness inspiration from people that I follow on there. Whilst social media stalking certain fit folks I noticed many of them have a heart rate monitor watch called a Polar FT40. It comes with a heart rate monitor that straps around your chest and the watch of course. You program your weight and age, etc and it calculates how many calories you burn during your exercise.

 I have been using it for the past week and I find that it is far more accurate than apps on your phone or the machines at your gym. It's also SO cool to see how many calories you're really burning from cardio and from lifting weights. I have always been a cardio-aholic and I have always believed (for some reason) that cardio was THE KEY to weight loss and calorie burn. Well, plainly said, it's not. I burn more calories from lifting weights - and lets be honest, I'm no Hulk so it's not like I'm lifting super heavy weight - than I do from simply running. In a shorter amount of time as well.

I am not trying to get you to buy this product (though you can from Amazon for about $80-$100). My point is do NOT be afraid to pick up weights. Seriously. It is INSANE that women think they will get "manish" from lifting weights. Have you ever thought about the time and practice it would take for a woman to even BEGIN to put on muscle? Especially enough to LOOK sculpted and muscular. Stop making excuses and pick up some weights - even light ones! You will look and FEEL better. And after all, isn't that what life is all about, feeling better? :-) Thought so.

Do something for yourself and find something heavy to lift and put it back down. I know some of you have children and I know they are the CUTEST chunky-chunks around. LIFT THEM UP and PUT them DOWN. ;-) And start now. Don't wait till the New Year, you know you want to look FAB for the big countdown. 

Good luck!