Hey ladies, today I would like to introduce you to one of my close friends, Grace Ruiz! I met Grace at Mars Hill and she and I quickly became good friends. She has an amazing story of her journey to health and we are very similar in our views on food/diet/exercise. Grace was there for me, helping me to get back on track after I had Simon and is a great source of encouragement to me to "stay the course" .
Today, Grace will be our guest blogger and give some insight into her world of weight training. There are a lot of myths out there about women and weight training; and we, both being weight trainers, wanted to set the record straight! The difference that we both have seen in our workouts and bodies from weight training ARE the reason we have had success in these areas and so we share this to encourage you women to branch out and not be afraid! Our focus today will simply be on the myths surrounding this form of exercise and answering those with truth. We will do a part 2 and 3 of this series to answer questions as well as give you actual weight training exercises that you can perform at home or at the gym.
Grace, tell us a little bit about your journey to health?
Before I had a baby, I never even considered working out because I thought you only needed to if you were wanting to lose weight and I was skinny. After I had Madison, I began to work out to lose the baby weight. I did the Jilian Michaels "30 Day Shred" video with 2 lb dumb bells. I began to lose weight and see other benefits as well: I had more overall energy and I looked healthier. I began to see that even though I was skinny before Madison, I had an unhealthy look to my face and overall health. I was "skinny fat". Working out was addicting. Instead of napping during the day, I would workout for an energy boost. At this point, even though I was hooked, I was a "binge work out person" (aka, workout consistently for a few days and then none at all for a while." My biggest inspiration for working out was my dessert. =) Even though I was on a healthier track than before, I still wasn't getting the results that I wanted and did not understand the big picture. Together, my husband and I began researching different diets and work outs. I began to experiment with a vegan diet but struggled to gain muscle, still lacked energy and didn't sleep as well. I was running longer distances at this time - around 7 miles 3 times a week - but still didn't like the way that I looked. Out of frustration, I joined a gym and began to lift weights with my husband. We would look up workouts online and try them in the gym. I began to see better results: my clothes became loose, I had more energy and my body was more toned. I was no longer vegan but was more conscientious of my grains and vegetables. We cut out processed foods and incorporated quinoa into our diet. This past fall I began homeschooling Madison and realized that the gym was taking up too much of my day so I started working out at home. At first this was a challenge to be consistent and creative. The key, I soon learned, was to be organized by writing down my workouts ahead of time, sticking to it and I would watch youtube videos for ideas.
Today, my focus has totally shifted from the scale and straight cardio, to a lifestyle of eating whole, God-made food as well as a balanced, whole-body workout (with an emphasis on weight training). My body has transformed into a toned, smaller-sized, fat-burning machine. I am more confident, happy and have way more energy than I ever did before. Now, it doesn't matter if I miss a workout because I can pick right back up where I left off as opposed to when I was running long distance. The reason for this is because my muscle helps me to burn calories all the time (not just when I'm working out). I have come to realize that it's a lifestyle for everyone, not just people who want to lose weight. Weight loss is a side effect of a healthy lifestyle, not the goal of my everyday life.
Tune in next for part 2 of our weight training blog: Debunking the Myths!
XOXO
Joy and Grace
Haha, love you re-posted this! I had forgotten we did this :)
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