It’s Okay to Not Work Out, right?

Hey guys!

I just woke up and am laying in bed with my netbook. It’s so gorgeous having the sunlight filter through my windows as I write this.

As most of you guys know, I workout consistently 5-6x a week, leaning more on the 6, 95% of the time. I do this because I enjoy it, it makes me feel energized afterwards, it makes me make healthier food choices, and of course burning fat and building muscle too aint so bad either. It is not necessary to workout this much though to stay healthy. I think 2-3x a week is pretty good as long as you’re going all out.

After reading Tosca Reno’s EAT CLEAN DIET book (Recharged version), I have been amazed at how she has tweaked the way I look at losing weight and building physique. Did you know that the way you look is based on:

80% DIET, 10% EXERCISE, and 10% GENETICS

What!? When I first read that I was like, no way, I thought it was all about the exercise! It all goes back to what you put into your body and how many calories you are consuming and burning at the end of the day. You need to fuel it correctly to have great energy. Now what you do with that great energy depends on you…if you want to workout and you’ve consumed a ton of protein then muscle building and lean physique is what you’ll get. You can use the energy to study or work late into the night (like I have been doing the past few nights).

But at the end of the day if you consumed your daily energy requirement and didn’t workout then you won’t gain weight. If you ate less than your daily energy requirement then you’ll lose weight. (Just don’t eat under 1200 cals or else your body will think it’s starving and store fat for fear of dying.)

The past few days have been crazy for me. I did not workout for 2 of them and much to my disappointment too. It’s been a LOT of work getting the development and production of my yoga bags and gym bags JUST RIGHT. There are 11 styles of bags and each with their own personality, colors, fabrics, trims, zippers, and pockets. Yes it is fun being a designer but it’s tough doing it all alone! I have friends helping with other aspects of the business but the design has to be done by me and I am a PERFECTIONIST so it takes a while. I’ve been staying up til 5am AVERAGE. I wake up around 8:30 or 9am the next day with a headache.

Last night at around 10:30pm, I asked myself to workout. But my body said no. I was tired. So I went to bed. Sleep is also something Tosca Reno said we should get enough of or else it will counter our journey to weight loss. Sleep is essential to having energy. And energy is essential to making the right food choices to fuel a good workout.

I felt pretty horrible about not working out for 2 days in a row. Now don’t get me wrong here, NO ONE should feel GUILTY about not working out. If you made the choice to not do it, then so be it, and work out harder the next day. I just DID NOT HAVE TIME. I felt horrible because I know that if I lose my rhythm, my run today will be slower. I’ve yet to get my butt outta bed and go for that run. I’m thinking 4 or 5 miles today. Got the Disneyland Half Marathon on Sunday! Anyone gonna be in Anaheim?

There’s a difference between not working out because you physically cannot get to it and not working out because you are not motivated and instead are choosing to self destruct and eat a bag of fried oreos while watching Jersey Shore.

If you miss a workout or 2 or 3 or more due to certain complications that week, IT IS OKAY. I had to keep telling myself that. I made sure to focus on an EXTRA CLEAN diet. That way you’re not going to ruin months of hard work. And you know what? I did not gain weight or lose muscle…in fact for some reason I seemed to have leaned out a tiny bit. Maybe my body needed to break anyway.

Thanks Tosca for reminding me that being lean is not JUST ABOUT working out, it’s 80% diet.

But take that with caution though! You still do need to get moving for heart health, to prevent muscle loss, and to build bone strength. I know most of us reading this probably are thinking about bikinis not bone strength, but at the BARE MINIMUM please workout at least 2-3x a week (even if it is 30 min) to keep your body in check. Think of a car. You gotta use it once in a while or else the engine won’t even start!

But for those of us looking to earn tighter abs, toned legs, and slimmer arms, then I’d say working out is essential. Especially if you want FASTER RESULTS. Tosca is right about the 80/10/10 rule but don’t go crazy over it. Even if you eat clean and you eat “too many good foods”, you’ll still gain weight. So workout to burn some calories and feel good about it.

I bought The EAT CLEAN DIET Recharged, it’s about $20 at Target. You can find it here. It is honestly one of the easiest books to read on nutrition PLUS it has meal plans for all types of diets including gluten free, vegan, and an intense quick results one.

That’s all I have to say! Workout hard when you do but when you can’t, eat extra clean!!!

Time for that run! New route today! Woohooooo!!! Oh yeah and I think I am dressing up a Pocahontas for the Disneyland Half Marathon. I need to make my costume still. Any ideas or other princesses I should be besides Pocahontas?

Source (I don’t know who that is but she looks pretty and my hair looks the same)

Source (Some more pics to get you inspired)

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