LINDSAYGEE.CA

Fitness programs, workouts and so much more to help you keep active, motivated and on track.

In a Fitness Rut? Here are 5 Simple Guidelines to Help Get You Out

By

I hear it all the time: “I know I should workout, but I’m too far gone and the thought of getting started is terrifying”, or “I have no idea what to do” or, my favorite – “I just don’t have time”.

I get it. I truly do. But, I’m always of the mindset that nothing can be too terrifying, overwhelming or time-consuming if we break it down into bite-size pieces.

Getting active and taking care of the body that carries you around is critical to your health. Cri-ti-cal. Your heart, lungs, blood, muscles, joints , brain- basically, your entire body – need you to get active and at least on the path towards being fit.

It know it’s scary. I know it’s terrifying. And, I absolutely know that it is confusing out there. So, I’m going to make it simple for you and give you five guidelines to working out that you can tackle, one-by-one.

My 5 Workout Guidelines:

#1 – Sweat, on purpose, at least 3 times per week.
This means I want you to dedicate three, 15-minute sessions to cardio – minimally. Ideally, you’d complete over 20 minutes of cardio, but if you’re just starting again or getting out of a rut, start with 15 minutes and build on that.

What you do for cardio is up to you. But, at the end of the session, you should be breathless, sweaty and feeling accomplished (or exhausted…LOL…depends where you’re at!).

Yup…tip #1 – get sweaty…and don’t be scared to show it!

#2 – For weight loss, weight-bearing exercises are best.
Cardio sessions are always best if you complete a weight-bearing exercise. Treadmills, steppers, going for a walk – those are all weight-bearing exercises. This means that you are responsible for holding your own weight and moving your own body, unassisted through space.

Things like biking or swimming are not weight-bearing. Here’s a caveat: if you have a lot of weight to lose, you can start with non-weight-bearing exercises for ease on your joints. But, once the weight starts coming off, get off your buns and move your own body.

#3 – Lift weights at least 2 times per week.
Weight training is one of the most overlooked, and wicked (IMO) tools in a fitness plan for newbies or re-starters. Everyone always focuses on cardio, cardio, cardio, but holy smokes – weight training is the bomb.

Not only does weight training help you get stronger so you can get through your days easier and with less fatigue, it also build muscle that protects your body AND helps it burn more calories than fat does. Strength training also helps prevent the loss of lean body mass that occurs with age and/or dieting.

If you’re unsure of what to do for a strength training program, get help. And that leads me to #4 on my my workout guidelines.

#4 – Get educated help.
Listen, there’s a lot, and I mean A LOT of shitty information out there on fitness. People can literally take a weekend course and be “trained” to help you with your fitness goals. This boggles my mind. BOGGLES IT.

If you’re unsure what to do and you need more help than the 3 sessions of weight-bearing cardio and 2 days of strength training recommended above, find someone you trust and you know is educated to help you.

I’m not saying they need a Ph.D. in exercise physiology at all. I mean, I know that’s what I have, BUT…there are many good trainers out there without the Ph.D. but with loads of smart courses under their belt and loads of experience. Choose those people!

Please, please, please research someone before you decide to go for them for advice OR go to them for a program and/or personal training.

If you’d like to chat with me, I do one-on-one consults where we review your goals, your current program (if you have one) and get you started on a plan that will work for you. It’s fun, I promise. CLICK HERE to set up a time to chat!

CK HERE to set up a time to chat!

Muwahahahahahaha. Just kidding. Kind of.

#5 – Remember that health is more than just fitness. You need to take care of your body, mind and soul.
People always equate health to working out. Sometimes they’ll throw in a carrot or a salad because they remember that nutrition is also important, but please remember you need to take care of yourself in more ways than just getting sweaty.

Think nutrition to nourish that body of yours. Think hydration to keep joints and blood moving easily. Think self-care to take care of your brain. Think kindness towards others to take care of your soul. There are so many aspects to your health and fitness, it’s important to address them all.

If you need a starting point, check out my Choose Your Own Fitventure membership. You get five new challenges every week that cover fitness, nutrition, kindness, self-care. Every week is different. You choose what day to get each challenge done and you have a week to get them all done. Five new challenges are released every Sunday.

Choose Your Own Fitventure. A health and fitness challenge membership like you've never seen before!

It’s super fun and it’s a GREAT way to get started or re-started on your health and fitness journey.

Just a thought.

Quick summary: Cardio 3 times per week with weight-bearing movements, weights twice a week, get help to ensure you’re doing things correctly and take care of your body, mind AND soul.

See? Not too overwhelming. Not so terrifying. And, lots of ways to help get you started. You CAN do this, you know. Please let me know if I can help you in any way, shape or form. You can always email me at lindsay@lindsaygee.ca with any and all of your questions.

Now go on…GET YOUR BUTT MOVING!

#PushingForAwareness UPDATE – And a Favor from Local Businesses, First Responders, Sports Teams and Families…

By

Our #PushingForAwareness challenge is going full-swing and currently, on Day 3 of the challenge, we have 48 people participating. We’ve raised over $2000 for organizations that help raise awareness and/or support childhood mental illness. With every pushup we do, my son seems to be just a little more proud of the work he’s doing.

We are far from our goal of $5000, but I am totally confident that we will get there. CLICK HERE to donate.

Owen and I after DAY ONE of 50 pushups for #PushingForAwareness

What do pushups have to do with childhood mental illness?

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. But, it’s the conversations that we have while we post about the pushups or the daily facts I discuss live on my Lindsay Gee FB Page that help raise awareness.

It’s my son doing pushups at his baseball game and being supported by not only his coach, but by multiple teammates and having them ask why they’re doing pushups.

It’s people reaching out to me telling me that it’s because of something they heard during the campaign that a lightbulb went off and they realized that maybe, just maybe, their child is experiencing anxiety and it isn’t just “bad behaviour”.

We’re making a difference. And, the conversations are starting.

So, there’s the update. 48 people participating and fundraising for #PushingForAwareness. $2090 raised. $5000 is the goal.

How can you help?

Well, if you’re a local business and you’d like to sponsor a day’s worth of pushups, THAT WOULD BE AWESOME! We will tag your business on FB and if you’d like, we’ll come to your business and do the pushups WITH YOU on a day that works for you.

So? Fire departments, RCMP, grocery stores, clothing stores, local spas and ANY local business who would like to sponsor a day for #PushingForAwarness…we’re game. We challenge you to 50 pushups. We’ll go live and support your business for helping us support kids and families battling childhood mental illness.

Please share this with any local (Victoria, BC and area) business, first responders, sports organizations or even families that you think could sponsor us and that you think would fun “pushing” with us. We’d love to learn more about you so people can learn more about childhood mental illness.

Please email me at lindsay@lindsaygee.ca more more info!

To all who have donated…thank you. Thank you so very, very much. We are humbled by your generosity. So far, the money raised will be allocated to Buddy Check for Jesse, Head & Heart SK, Stigma Free and Family Smart. The more money we raise, the more help we can give.

If you’ve yet to donate, there’s plenty of time! CLICK HERE to donate to our campaign…and thank you in advance!

xoxo

Linds

Pop-Up Challenge!

By

I love health and fitness challenges! In fact, I’m making the creation of challenges a major part of what I do to inspire and motivate you to get your buns moving. There are SO MANY challenges out there for you to try, how do you know which ones are actually safe? How do you know which ones are effective?

Erm. You follow me.

Cuz baby, I have a PhD in Exercise Physiology and over 22 years in the industry. I know what I’m doing and I absolutely want you to be successful AND have fun doing it!

So, today I created this fun little one-day challenge. You’ll need to plan for it, because yes…there is planning and dedication involved.

10,000 steps. Yup….you can do it. Meal planning? Yup, that’s in there, too. And what the what?? Hugs and physical contact?! YUP! Why? Because hugging is GOOD FOR YOU!

Here’s the challenge:

Now, before y’all go freaking out and laughing hysterically about the whole “8 hours of sleep” – remember, it’s a goal. This is so you are aware of the fact that maybe, just maybe, you shouldn’t watch Netflix until midnight that night. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll put yourself to bed and give yourself a fighting chance to meet that 8 hours.

*Moms with littles – good luck! I’m honestly wishing the best for you!*

This may seem a little daunting to some, but honestly, it’s doable. In fact, a lot of the members of my Fueled Life Facebook Group (click to join if you haven’t already!) tackled this challenge last week and mentioned how great they felt throughout the day! So…yay!

Save the image to your phone and cross them off as you get them done. You’re going to have to pre-plan some of this (e.g. Pro tip: Seriously, no Netflix for the night…GO TO BED!).

Et voila. Bicketty bam. You’re a rockstar!

You in? You’re in, right? OF COURSE you are. Now, get to work! Off you go!

New Challenge! Choose Your Own Fitventure: Week TWO!

By

We had a BLAST with Week One of Choose Your Own Fitventure and this week will be even better! This week we’re focused a little more on self-care and kindness. But, don’t you worry, I’ve included some physical challenges in there for you, too.

If you didn’t participate in Week One, that’s A-OK! You can jump into this challenge for the week and join the fun! Just make sure that you’re part of the Fueled Life with Lindsay Gee Facebook Group for the accountability posts and support, fun and shenanigans.

Here’s how this challenge works:

Below you’ll see five challenges. Your goal is to complete all five challenges by the end of the week. They do not need to be done in order and you can tick them off your to-do list on days that work with your schedule.

One rule: One challenge per day. Why? Because one of the purposes of Fueled Life is to nudge you every day to remember to take care of yourself. If you pumped off all five challenges in a day, you’d have another 6 days to forget about fitness, nutrition, etc. So…one challenge per day, please. xo

Without further adieu:

For Challenge #4, you can make it into a full workout by repeating everything 3 times. That’s what I’m planning to do and I’m super cool (just ask my kids…*eye roll*), so you should, too.

Alright, my friends, it’s time to get cracking! Have a BLAST and again, be sure to join the group to help you stay accountable to this challenge (and many more to come!).

Comments, questions, concerns? No problem! Fire away! I’m here for you. Off you go!

Team Mean Mom: Rules & Boundaries Required. Wanna join?

By

I’m “so mean, Mom“.

I’m “the worst Mom EVER“.

I’m “so ridiculous, Mom“.

I’m “such a Mean Mom“!

I’m “omg…ugh…whatever, Mom *stomp, stomp, stomp, slam*”.

#TeamMeanMom

And ya know what? I’m proud to be part of Team Mean Mom. I stand tall and wave the Team Mean Mom banner. I wear the colors (really, ir’s just grey sweats with coffee and wine stains, but who are you to judge? I see that booger swiped on your shoulder and I salute you).

What does it mean to be a member of Team Mean Mom?

It means you set boundaries. It means you say “no” to your kids when your kids should be told “no”. It means you cancel plans that your kids were looking forward to because their behavior is/was atrocious and you need them to understand there are consequences to their shitty actions.

Team Mean Mom is a group of Moms (really, it’s just me, but I feel better thinking there’s a team of us out there) who refuse to raise little assholes who have zero respect for…well…respect.

To become a member of Team Mean Mom, you will be hazed. Not be me, I’m not mean to other women, mostly I’m just “mean” to my kids. No, I won’t haze you…but your kids will. 100%. Guaranteed hazing.

I’m part of Team Mean Mom because I enforce rules, and I demand respect. Not only respect for me, but for themselves, for others, for space, for time (mine and others’), for the multitude of things that bring them joy.

Don’t even get me started on all the other “things” that are similar to respect but show up in a list of “isn’t this just good behaviour and isn’t it a given that you should life your life like this”?! Such as:

  • Taking care of their shit.
  • Taking care of one another.
  • Not being little a-holes.
  • Being on time.
  • Being kind to themselves and their friends.
  • Doing their homework.
  • Cleaning their rooms (ties nicely into respecting the stuff we work hard to provide them with).
  • Showing gratitude.
  • Doing chores without complaint.
  • Being proactive and asking how they can help
  • …and many more things we are trying to teach our children.

And hey, listen, I KNOW they’re kids and that they’re learning and testing boundaries. I, 100%, know that. But how the heck are they going to learn those boundaries if we don’t hold them accountable for asshole-like behavioiurs, or even, just general poor decisions or poor time management?

I’m certainly held accountable by them, so why shouldn’t they be held accountable to me?

So, I’m a Mean Mom. I say “no”. I call them out when their behaviour is poor. I let them know if they’ve hurt my feelings. I let them know when they’re total shitheads…but I also tell them why.

I don’t just randomly take things away. I explain to them why they’re losing a privilege. I explain why their behaviour was not okay. I explain why I’m losing my ever-loving mind and that I love them, but they overstepped their awesomeness for the day and I need to reign them in.

It is not often well-received. I’m often eye-rolled and stomped away from. But then, after some time, I’m apologized to and my kids often acknolwedge with their own words what happened and why they will try not to do _______________ (insert shitty behaviour here) again.

And hey…I KNOW they’re going to do it again. That’s okay. They’re learning. I will continue to remind them. I will continue to work with them. I will continue to say “no”, take things away and help my kids grow to be kind, smart, compassionate, driven and amazing children. And I gotta say, it’s mostly because I’m a Mean Mom.

#TeamMeanMom

I’m a part of Team Mean Mom and I hope you’re beside me. Because when I see another “Mean Mom” on the street, in the aisle of the grocery store, at the park, at a sporting event, in a restaurant…you can bet your sweet ass I’m going up to her, giving her a hug and hip bump to let her know that we are stronger as a team.

We may be part of Team Mean Mom, but we’re certainly doing it for all the right reasons.

Stay strong, Mean Moms. I got your back.