Day Eighty Seven: Spring

I love spring. The weather starts warming up, hikes and trail runs are more feasible, and outdoor playtime for the kids comes easy. I hope that you're able to engage in some family fun runs to get the whole group into the action of exercising together. Make sure that you have some good sunscreen that doesn't burn your eyes when you sweat.

I hope that the 90 days has come easier for you than you'd originally imagined. By now, you should be somewhere in the range of total weight loss between 9-15 pounds since January 1, depending on your initial BMI, your exercise routine, and your nutrition intake over the last eighty seven days.

What follows Spring? Swimsuit season. If you haven't toned up those arms or intensified your cardio routine, now's the time. Here are some of my favorites...

1. In the middle of the weight workout, move to the treadmill and do one fast mile. I usually do this around 8 to 7.5 minutes, which is fast for me but not for others. You be the judge...your muscles should burn, and your heart rate should soar.

2. Take your normal strength routine, and add one mile to the beginning for warm up, one mile to the middle (see #1 above), and one mile to the end to burn off additional reserves. I'll usually do the warm up mile at a 10 or 9.5 min pace, and the end mile around 8.5 or so. This combines aerobic with anaerobic exercise, and takes a normal routine and kicks it up a notch.

3. If you have a "long" run once weekly or so, take it up/down to 5 mi. Stair step it so that that you run the first mile at a warmup pace, the second at a medium pace, the third at a more challenging pace, then repeat #2, then repeat #1. For example, Mile 1: 10 min pace, Mile 2: 9 min pace, Mile 3: 8 min pace, Mile 4: 9 min pace, Mile 5: 10 min pace. Adjust pace as necessary.

4. Take one mile during your normal run and interval train. I like to do this on a 3 or 4 mile run. I'll take one of the middle miles of the run and do .20 at 7 min pace, then .20 at 9 min pace, then repeat both, and the last .20 is at a 7 min pace to finish off the mile. I usually follow it with a slower pace to bring my heartrate back down, around 9.5 min pace.

You also have some other options to kick up your nutrition program. You can take your cheat meals from twice weekly to once weekly. If you choose to do this, I would make it for a pre-determined amount of time so that you don't feel too deprived. I'll be doing this from now until my last final, which is on May 14. Drink at least 3 liters of water daily and decrease your alcohol consumption. Make sure you're taking in 1200-1500 calories of real food each day, and take that multivitamin to fill in the cracks. See you in your bikini!