Fitness Friday: A Fitness Funk

So I think we have all been there...in a fitness funk. After a week of feeling sick plus a very full schedule, I missed a few workouts and got into a bit of a fitness funk. I went to the gym and weighed myself this morning and I was feeling pretty confident that I lost my weekly 1lb goal (I want to lose 6lbs by the May long weekend) but instead I gained 0.4 lbs. I know to many this may not seem like much of a difference but when you think you have been eating pretty healthy, it's definitely not what you want to see. I definitely attribute this small setback to missing almost an entire week of workouts. Diet is key but you really need BOTH diet and regular exercise!

At times like this, I get into a bit of a funk and loose motivation. I usually take a bit of time and make a couple of tweeks to my routine. Some of my tips for tweaking a fitness routine and getting out of a plateau:

• adding 5-10 lbs of weight to one of your exercises
• adding 5-10 minutes of cardio
• cut down your rest-time in between sets (it can get your heart rate up a bit more and burn extra calories)
• use a kettlebell for one of your exercises (uses more stabilizer muscles)
• change up the type of cardio you are doing (use the bike instead of running - it uses different muscle groups)

Ever since I had Cooper I had a little pouch in the lower tummy area. My stomach got a lot flatter once I cut meat out of my diet but a lot of people said the pouch was due to my c-section and was almost impossible to get rid of completely. However, it is just about gone! If you are looking to get rid of extra belly bloat my BEST trick is to add essential oils to your water. Certain oils prevent you from retaining extra water weight and flushes out extra toxins from your body. My personal favorite essential oils to add to my water are Doterra's Lemon and Grapefruit. Lately I have been adding grapefruit oil to my water everyday and I definitely notice a difference. I have less bloat and a lot more energy. If you are interested in trying it for yourself, you can email me at: valeriebonsall@hotmail.com