New Years Eve

There's only a few days left of 2012! Are you satisfied with how this past year has been? Do you have big dreams, goals and resolutions for the next 12 months?

One of my goals is to run one challenge a month here on my blog! Yay!! 30 days is all it takes to instill new habits and replace the old bad ones. 

January's challenge will be nutrition based because you can't out run a bad diet!!! You could spend hours in the gym a day but if you go home and refuel with sugary drinks and chemical filled bags of goodies then you will be highly disappointed in your results! 

Yes, you will still see results. However, they wont last long. You'll hit a plateau after a few weeks and will be working your butt off in the gym for nothing. Trust me. This is one of those lessons that I learned the hard way! I knew that having a healthy diet was 80% of the battle but I figured if I was doing programs like P90X and Insanity plus running everyday I could eat what I want and it would matter. 

Wrong! Sure I saw results. I lost about 50 pounds before I hit the bad diet wall. But once I got there it was discouraging to workout everyday and not lose even a pound. I even started seeing weight gain as I continued to build muscle but kept the fat as well. After a month or so of this routine I stopped working out and gained back some of what I had lost. All that hard work, wasted because I didn't want to give up the junk food. I continued snacking on chips and dip, eating sugary over processed carbs daily and bread....I would have multiple slices of toast daily. A typical breakfast for me back then was usually sugary cereal and a piece of toast with jelly.  

 Why? Most grains come in highly processed forms. Most people can't digest grains very well. Our bodies just weren't designed for it. Eating grains is a modern phenomenon. For around 2.5 million years our ancestors ate meat, veggies, nuts and berries. About 10,000 years ago we started cultivating our food and that's when we started eating grains (including corn!).

 I wont go into all of the details in this blog, this one is just meant as an introduction into what January's challenge will be. Going 100% Paleo is also one of my personal goals for the month because when I go a week or two without grains I feel amazing, but when I'm fueling myself on processed junk I feel like processed junk.

So what do you think, are you in?! 31 days of eating healthy, clean foods. Take pictures tomorrow morning, take measurements, weigh yourself and then hide the scale. Do the same on January 31st and compare. You'll see results, I promise you!

I will also be doing a bonus fitness challenge on my Facebook page. Make sure you 'like' it so you can join us on that as well!

I resolve....

to not resolve! 

The clock is ticking my friends! We are down to the final days of 2012. This time of year people go into a frenzy of resolutions. We resolve to lose weight, to stop smoking, to pay off credit cards and to not drink alcohol. After the customary night of  spending way too much boozing, social smoking and finishing it up by indulging in food, of course. 

Well this year I say no! 

Why?
I say no because I am sick of making resolutions I know I can't keep. I make vague generalizations like " I will lose weight." or "I will eat better".

Okay, so I eat carrots for a few days and lose one pound, resolution achieved! Bring on the cake!!

Come on, you all know that's how it goes for you as well! Something like a whole whopping 8% of people who make resolutions actually succeed at them! For the other 92% of us, we tend to keep our promises for about 3 weeks. And then the initial motivation wears off and the excuses kick in. 

A viscous never ending cycle!

Unfortunately I love the New Year spirit and I love using it as an excuse to reinvent myself, to evaluate where I am and where I want to be a year from now. So I'm trying something new this year.

My Plan

                                                                                  Sounds like as good as plan as any!

Instead of making one or two large, vague, doomed to fail resolutions I am going to be making 13 smaller goals, trying to focus on one per month, with the exception of January having two. I plan on keeping track on here (because yes, one of the two January goals is to keep up with my blog!) and also on my Facebook page. All of my goals are going to be designed to fit the smart goals way of doing things and hopefully by this time next year I will be a self-improved guru!!

What would you like to change in the next year of your life? What are your resolutions for the next year? Are you one of the 8% that manage to keep their resolutions beyond the first month? 

Brazil Butt Lift Initial Review

I wanted to get this blog up last week after my first BBL workout. I also wanted it to be in video form, or at least part of it. Unfortunately, due to my lack of video editing skills, that didn't happen. I could have posted a video for you but it would have been roughly 30 minutes of my son talking to himself . So I opted not to post anything.

I figured a week would give me plenty of time to fully decide how I feel about this program and it did. I have tried out all of the workouts now and I have to say, my favorite is a tie between 'Bum Bum' and 'Cardio Axe'. Both are fun ad make you feel sexy in only the way that dancing the samba can be.

The program is all very dance related. Even the resistance training videos have elements of dance and incorporate dance moves to help you tone your tush. The main cardio is Cardio Axe and it is 30 minutes learning and dancing a routine. As expected there's a lot of booty shaking and hip shimmies involved.

I think the weak spot of this program is the core workout. It's not a bad workout, there's just a lot more crunch like movements involved then what I prefer. It's not terrible but it's not my favorite either (that would be Core20 from TurboFire!!). I also have to make the minor complaint that the music isn't my favorite. Again, not bad, it's just your typical workout video music and after doing TurboFire I think I'm now spoiled and want awesome and loud music in all my workouts!!

As far as results go, I'm a week in and I've lost one pound and am down .5% bodyfat. Which is pretty huge considering lately I have been struggling to lose anyweight, or body fat or inches...anything! I'm hoping I keep seeing results with it, I would like to have a nice booty to show off after working my muscles so hard!

In conclusion, Brazil Butt Lift seems to be a pretty sturdy program. It's a lot of fun, the instructor is cute and energetic and I've already gotten some results and am hoping to get some more before the month is through. Even if the number on the scale doesn't move, I can feel this program working all angles of my lower body which is exactly what I was looking for. It's by far the best lower body workout I have found so far and I think if I stick with it I will see some improvement in my Bum Bum!

If you're interested in learning more click here.
If you're interested in purchasing click here.

Brazil Butt Lift Challenge Pack-What You Are Getting

I have a love/hate relationship with ordering stuff online. 

On one hand I love the waiting game, tracking my package on the various websites and then, when the day finally rolls around, knowing by the end of the day I'll have a package of goodies waiting on my porch. Plus I get to open boxes, and pull out all the shipping materials...makes it feel like Christmas in July to me. 

On the other hand that day when my order is supposed to arrive via postal service, which comes for me between 11 and noon usually, and than I check at 1:30 and it's NOT THERE! Saddest feeling ever. It's like Santa skipped my house! 

I feel your pain, random sad Christmas kid. I feel your pain.

However, when the mail lady finally drove by and stopped in front of my house, that awesome Christmas in July feeling came back and all was right in the world again. I had enough sense to wait until she pulled away (didn't want to be seen as the creepy stalker person I was actually being at that point) and ran out onto the porch to find not one, but two boxes with Beachbody printed all over the sides! 

Just imagine the packing labels are wrapping paper. See? Christmas in july!

So I immediately drop everything and open my boxes. 

Behind door number 1!!

Didn't expect this but cool! I got a recipe book. And just like the random socks on Christmas day, this was tossed aside for the big box! 

Door number 2, we have a winner!

So I got the Shakeology and Brazil Butt Lift program out of the box and started tearing into everything! 

The program itself has 3 disks with 2 workouts on each, plus the Basics on the first disk. Plus I got the bonus workout, Leandro's Secret Weapon workout. With the program came three guides and a pile of cards that have different moves printed on them for on the go workouts. 

The on-the-go workout cards

The 3 guides are:

1. The 6-day supermodel slim down plan, a way to boost your progress and according to the guide it's the same one Leandro gives to his supermodel clients when they have a major photo shoot coming up. 

2. Fat-burning foods, a pretty easy to follow nutrition guide with plenty of recipes to get you through your month long program.

3. The Booty Makeover Guide. This guide explains the method behind the booty lifting madness and also helps you decide which of the 4 programs to follow. You also are introduced to the pencil test to find out if your butt is lifted or not! The second half of the guide details each of the programs and breaks them down into what you'll do each day. I will be following the slim and shape plan for anyone that was wondering ;-)

Brazil Butt Lift challenge pack also comes with a measuring tape and measurement tracker to keep track of your results in a more reliable way than the scale and also a resistance band which I am assuming will be used to increase the leg toning soreness that I am about to endure! 

Since I have had many people want to know how it is, I will be starting my Butt Lifting fun today, so stay tuned for a review of my first impressions with the program!

If you want more info, or want to order this (which is one of 3 special offer, 30 day free trial packs this month) check out my website  or my facebook page! 

Introduction to Food Journals

If you've read my other blogs, and followed my advice, you now have a brand spanking new, nearly blank notebook and you're probably wondering what the heck this thing is all about. This notebook is going to become your best friend during the early stages of weight loss.

According to the National Weight Control Registry people successful in losing at least 30 pounds and maintaining it for at least one year had multiple common health habits that when practiced may help you lose weight and keep it off, your food journal is going to help with 3 of these; portion control, mindful eating and monitoring intake. Click here for the full list!


The concept of your food journal is simple, and again you may make it as detailed or as sparse as you wish. Different things work for different people but from my experience the absolute best way to be successful at losing weight is to monitor your food intake. All you need to do is sometime near the time you are eating (either before, during or after is fine)  write down 3 things. What you ate, how much you ate and complete the sentence ' I feel'.

The most important thing you can do is write down what you ate and how much. For a lot of people it's easy to binge and then forget about it and wonder why they gained weight at the end of a week of tough workouts , instead of losing. This leads to a viscous cycle of getting discouraged and giving up because who wants to spend an hour a day working out and then gain weight at the end of the week? Having a journal keeps you accountable for what you eat so when you have a bad week, with less than satisfactory results you have a record of the why and can work to change the habits that are holding you back.

An added benefit to journaling is the effect it can have on what you eat. When you know you will have to write down the bag of M&M's you devoured after lunch, it helps you think twice about eating it in the first place.

The last part of journaling is your "I feel" statement. After every meal and snack write down how you felt before and after eating. At the end of the week flip back and read about the why you ate, it may surprise you to find trends like you eat when you are tired or you stop by the candy bowl on the way back to your desk after each time you went to your boss's office. Recognizing when you are eating for something other than hunger is the first step to learning to cope with those emotions with something other than food. Not everyone is an emotional eater but most people don't always eat just because they are hungry. Make notes about the last time you had water, how much sleep you had the night before and how difficult your workout for the day was. All are clues to help you understand your eating habits and learn to take care of the real reasons you binge throughout the day.

Your journal, for now, should be simple. When you first start it don't worry about calories, or exact portions as more often than not all the numbers and math end up feeling overwhelming and time consuming and can give you another reason to get discouraged and quit. After a month or so, or whenever you get more comfortable you can start writing down the calories and macro nutrients in your food. Or you could start using one of the many calorie counting internet programs out there instead. Or you could do it how I do it and keep your journal during the day and then at night enter everything into a program and take note of your calories and nutrients that way. Just make sure you get comfortable with food tracking before you start counting calories, if you ever need to. For some, just writing down what they eat is enough.

Your food journal can be used to keep track of other things too, again be as detailed as you want. My own journal has my food intake, my 'I feel' statements and I also write down what vitamins and supplements I take and make a mark every time I refill my water bottle. Make sure you're writing down anything that you drink that isn't water as if it were food. Pop, even diet pop, contains sodium and if you ever get detailed in your tracking you will want to figure your daily drink allotment into it as well. Make sure you write down when you workout and what you do in your book too. It's nice to look back and say "I did workout everyday this week, I rock!"

And there you have it, your all inclusive introduction into food journaling! No need to buy an expensive fancy already made out food journal, all you need is a cheapo notebook, a pen and a desire to change!

Where to Start, Part 3: Weight loss Contract

In part 1 of this series I discussed setting goals. In part 2 I went into detail on how to set up an effective rewards system. In this final installment I want to talk about the final step into setting up your success, making a weight loss contract.

Step 4: The Contract

As with rewarding yourself, setting up a contract with yourself might seem a bit cheesy but as with everything else you are putting in your notebook it has a purpose. Having something 'formal' written out that clearly states you only get your rewards once you hit your goals will help you stop yourself from buying that new outfit even though you only ate your veggies 5 days out of 7. Your contract will serve as a reminder that you are doing this for yourself, that you do want this and you are willing to put in the work. As with everything else writing this down and having it in the front of your notebook (or posting a copy on the fridge door) will help you whenever you are feeling discouraged after a binge or a skipped workout.

The contents of your contract can be as simple or as detailed as you feel the need for. However it should include a few basic things.

1. Your contract should state your overall product goal whether it be a certain amount of weight you want to lose or a race you are looking to run so you always know what you are working towards.
2. Your contract should answer the question WHY? WHY are you doing this? Be completely honest with yourself and put some emotion into it. If you are feeling discouraged and are reading this what is going to help push you past the bump in the road and keep you on track? If you want to lose weight because you were walking through the store and overheard someone laugh at your weight and you never want to feel that shame again, write that down. Write down every negative thought you never want to think again that will remind you of the WHY you are doing what you are doing. You are the only one who ever has to read this contract. don't hide from yourself.
3. Include something about your reward system. You can be as brief or as detailed as you feel necessary but mention it so you know that you are bound by a contract get that reward when you reach your goal. It will help ease any guilty feelings of spending money on something that otherwise would seem frivolous. And if a spouse says something about wasting money, you can throw it in his face "it's in the contract damnit!!"
4. Promise to love yourself and remind yourself that you are worthy of losing weight. Yea, it might not seem that important but if you don't start to love yourself now, losing 50 pounds, fitting into a size 2, running your marathon, whatever your goal may be....it wont change the fact that you don't love yourself. No one ever tells you that weight loss isn't a magic pill for self-esteem. Self-esteem is something that you have to work at everyday by changing the negative thoughts into positive ones.

Once you write out your contract, date and sign it, you are ready to start on your successful journey! Remember that losing weight is a lifestyle change. This is not about a diet, or an exercise program, it's about eating healthy for life and being active for life. It's discouraging, hard and upsetting but in the end it's worth it!

Where to Start, Part 2: Rewards

In part 1 I discussed setting SMART goals and starting your notebook. Today I want to discuss the next important step in setting yourself up for success, planning your rewards.

Step 3: Rewards

Now that you have set clear, SMART, goals it's time to define and set your rewards.

Any parent understands the importance of Star Charts! 

Rewarding yourself for good behavior may seem silly, but positive reinforcement is important at the start of any behavior change. If  you know eating your veggies all month will end with you buying the dress you've been eyeing for weeks you'll be more apt to stick to the vegetable eating goal than if your only reward was losing 2 pounds. Knowing your hard work will pay off in a tangible way helps make the behavior stick, and while a better number on the scale is motivational in itself, it's not always reliable and after a while it may not be enough to make the behavior you're trying to change seem worth giving up the candy bars or potato chips for. 

Fun shoes are always on my reward list, they are something I know I'll work hard for! 

There are many ways to reward yourself. This is the way I go about it. I'll talk about other reward systems in later blogs but for now, I want to go into the details of setting up a reward system!

In order for rewards to be effective they must follow the SMART plan as well. 

1. They need to be specific, written out so you know what you're getting for your hard work. 

2.They need to be based on a measurable goal. If you just plan to buy yourself a new outfit when you lose weight, you'll either go out and buy a new outfit after 2 pounds or never buy that new outfit because you don't know when you hit your goal of 'lose weight'. 

3. It needs to be attainable, meaning you can't say that once you lose 20 pounds you'll go on a year long trip through Europe unless you have the time and money to devote to such vacation. If you plan a reward for yourself that is unattainable, you wont actually be rewarding yourself once you hit your goal.

4. Your reward should be relevant to you. If you set a small reward of if you finish an hour long workout you can play video games for an hour later in the day but you don't enjoy playing video games, then that reward isn't going to be something you work for. However if you really enjoy watching Desperate Housewives, setting a goal of getting to watch Desperate Housewives in the evening after going for a 5 mile run in the morning will be more fulfilling and motivate you to get up and run. 

5. Like being tied to a measurable goal, your rewards need to be set to a time-bound goal as well. Saying you'll buy a new pair of running shorts if you run 3 miles everyday and not specifying for how long will mean you eventually hit a point where you stop running everyday because the reward seems out of reach. Saying that if you run 3 miles 6 times a week for a month you'll reward yourself with a new set of shorts will keep it in mind that if you want those shorts you better work for it! 

Beyond needing to follow the SMART format goals also need to be flexible, revisited and updated often. For your reward system you will need to set product goals that are specific to your process goals. If one of your process goals is to eat vegetables everyday, now you need to pencil in a product goal of 'if I eat vegetables everyday for the next month I will buy a new pair of high heels.' Then at the end of the month you must evaluate how well you did with your vegetable eating and, if you meet your goal, reward yourself and make a new product goal. But instead of just eating vegetables this time make it more specific like "I will eat 4 servings of vegetables everyday and once at least once a week try a new vegetable.' You keep continuing this process until you feel you will be eating vegetables everyday for the rest of your life and not forcing yourself to eat all your broccoli. 

This process is valid for any behavior you are wanting to change. If you want to start running, set a goal of getting a new piece of athletic clothing if you run 1 mile everyday for a week. Then the next week make it 2, and so on until you are running everyday and loving it. 

Make sure you also set a reward for when you hit your overall product goal. If the whole reason you're running and eating broccoli is to lose 40 pounds, make sure you have a big reward in store for that 40 pound mark. For me it's to get my next tattoo!! 

I know I said I would talk about your weight loss contract in this blog as well but I'll leave it at just rewards for now and make the contract a separate blog. Leave a comment and let us know how you reward yourself for your progress!

Where to Start, Part 1: Goal setting

So you've made the decision to get healthier, be active and eat right and now you're trying to figure out where to start.

Most people dive right into weight loss, head first. They buy all the newest equipment and programs, pick up all the fad diet books and waste money on pills and gimmicks that do little more than dehydrate you or give you the runs. As we all know, most people don't lose weight. Or they lose weight and then gain back even more. The reason behind this high failure rate is simple, you need to have a plan and most people go blindly down a path with the assumption that 'losing weight' is enough of a map to where they are going. 

It's not. 

When people ask me where they should start I generally direct them to caloriecount.about.com and tell them to start logging food and walking a little everyday to get active. Today I'm going to get more in depth about how to begin a weight loss program and setting yourself up to succeed. 

Step 1: Buy a Notebook

I understand that while I prefer the online method of tracking food, a lot of people don't want to take the time or get that in depth with it. So I suggest a notebook to start out with. It's simple, always available and less intimidating and discouraging than seeing all the numbers and math that goes into tracking.

Now this notebook can be as elaborate as you want it to be. A small notebook would work best for someone who is going to be eating outside of the house a lot as writing down your food as soon as you finish is important. We tend to 'forget' what and how much we eat if we don't write it down right away.

I personally have a $3 college ruled spiral notebook I got from Meijers. 

It's my handy-dandy NOTEBOOK!!! 

Step 2: Set goals

The first things that you should write in your new notebook are your goals. As simple as this sounds, this is where most people set themselves up for failure. If I asked you what your goals are right now, your answer is probably one of the following or some variation thereof:

1. I want to lose weight. 

2. I want to be healthy

3. I want to tone up

4. I want to look good.

As far as reasons to start being active go, these are good reasons. When combined with other goals they are even pretty decent, but alone they suck. 

Effective goals should be SMART. And by that I mean they should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. In other words a good goal should be something like 'I will lose 20 pounds by August 31st' 

This goal is specific in the amount of weight you want to lose, it's attainable (assuming you have actually have 20 pounds to lose!) it's measurable because you can track the number on the scale, it's relevant for you if your original goal was to look good, be healthy or to lose weight and it has an expiration date of August 31st. 

Now that you have set a SMART product goal you need to break it down into smaller, process goals.

Your process goals should be SMART as well, but instead of being one or two goals that you work towards overall these are smaller goals that you want to work at everyday, or weekly. 

Examples of process goals to work towards your product goal of losing 20 pounds by August 31st would be  

1. Keep a food journal everyday.

2. Walk for 30 minutes everyday

3. Eat 1800 calories a day.

4. Lift weights 3 times a week.

These process goals are specific. They are measurable in that you can track them and see your progress. They are attainable since most everyone can do any one of those goals if they put their mind to it. They are relevant to your product goal and they are time-bound both in the frequency (everyday, 3 times a week) and by the product goals time frame.

Once you decide on your goals write your product goals on the first page of your notebook, followed by your process goals. Whenever you start to feel yourself slipping off of the wagon having your goals clearly written out somewhere always accessible will help you remember what you're working towards, the same as a map will help you figure out where you're going when you're lost in an unfamiliar place.  

In part 2 I will discuss the importance of Contracts and Rewards

It's Official

It's official! I am a personal trainer at Gold's Gym Express in Blo-No!!!

Still here!

I would like to point out that I am still here, with plenty of blogs to come. I've been trying to be on the computer less these past two weeks while I attend a class that will hopefully end in a job as a personal trainer at our local Gold's Gym. Today's the last day so keep those fingers crossed for me and be ready for my return to the blogging world starting next week!!!

A note on self-esteem

Recently I read two articles that I felt the need to discuss in here. Both are from Glamour magazine.

The first one was released recently. It was an experiment Glamour magazine did where they asked women to judge strangers based solely on their weight. The women were quick to label overweight subjects as 'lazy' 'slow' and 'sloppy' and they were more likely to call a skinnier woman 'bitchy' 'mean' or 'controlling'. While the fact that we have to judge each other so harshly is terrible, what I got from this study is more of a 'damned if you do, damned if you don't' lesson. No matter what you do, or who you are, people are going to make hasty judgments. If you are out killing yourself everyday to fit a certain ideal, or so people will 'like' you, you'll quickly learn that you will always find someone who has negative thoughts and feelings towards you. If you are trying to lose weight you need to do it for you, you have to learn to love yourself and not be mean towards yourself before you can expect others to be kind to you as well. You should never, ever try and lose weight for someone else. It needs to be for you and you only. This survey is proof of why. People are mean either way, if you lose weight to impress others chances are high you will fail because it is impossible to please anyone but yourself!

Is this really what we think when we look at each other?

The second article is something I am very, very guilty of doing. According to Glamour the average woman has 11 negative thoughts about their own bodies daily. Not many people would allow someone to follow them around during the day and say things like 'you're a fat, ugly cow.', 'you're a worthless pig' and all those other tid bits that will pop up in our minds, so why do we allow ourselves to do it? The answer is, of course, that we grow up learning that it's not okay to be comfortable in your own skin. From the time we are young we are learning of all the things/people we should be. What we should look like. How we should think about ourselves.  Think about it, even as a child how many female friends (or even male friends) did you ever hear say 'Ya know what? I love myself and everything about my body."?  I can honestly say I've never heard anyone say that. In fact I remember playing a game in jr. high where you tell each other what you don't like about each other and specific body parts. I'm pretty certain that at least some of my issues with my butt and thighs came from this game. There was no saying 'you look pretty the way you are' because that is unheard of. No one likes themselves, right? 

Don't let yourself be consumed by negative thoughts

Fortunately for us, change starts with a single person. I really don't have many body qualms anymore. I've lost a ton of weight and I KNOW I look good now and I'm tired of feeling like I have to find something wrong with myself. Starting today I am pledging that whenever anyone starts talking about what's 'wrong' with their bodies I will stand up and say "you know what? I LOVE my body. And you should too." No more of these hateful thoughts! And for further change I am pledging to not be judgmental. It's something I have been better about recently anyway but starting now I'm not going to judge people on their weight. If we all stop judging each other so harshly maybe we can stop striving for some perfect, ideal body shape and weight and aim for something much more achievable; our individual health.

Birthday Binge

My daughter turned 4 yesterday. The excitement she had over the whole day was so contagious it was hard to not get caught up in the little things. Like food.

Kailey blowing out candles on her strawberry shortcakes 

On a day-to-day basis I try to avoid feeding my children certain things. They don't get many sweets or anything that has little to no nutritional value. Juice, soda and candy are rarely, if ever, available to them. I also know from experience that totally restricting foods just leads to an unhealthy relationship with them later on in life. Birthdays are special days and being so I allowed a lot of special foods yesterday.

Peanut butter and chocolate chip pancakes, pepperoni pizza, cake, cookies and milk shakes were all foods that made their ways into our house yesterday. And me being me, I had to sample everything. By the time I curled up in bed last night I thought for sure I was going to explode little pieces of junky, empty calories everywhere.

It may look and taste like heaven but this baby will wreak havoc on your diet if you let it!

After a year or so of making sure I eat at least 3-5 servings of veggies and 2-3 servings of fruit a day along with lean proteins and whole, gluten free grains, without missing a day of at least balancing the good with the bad I spent yesterday eating nothing but 'bad' foods. And I enjoyed every second of it.
Today, with the junk food hangover leaving me sluggish and a little ill, I have wrote out my meals and snacks for the day and made sure that I am including all of the fresh fruits and veggies I picked up at the store this weekend.

My usual lunch, a big spinach salad with lots of goodies!! 

There was once a time I wouldn't easily bounce back from a binge like this. Not so long ago I would've spent days, sometimes even weeks, wallowing in negativity, eating junk food, thinking it didn't matter because I had already blown it. But I have come to realize some things since starting this journey.
While you shouldn't have a cheat day every week, allowing yourself to eat 'forbidden' foods every once in awhile. If you live your life always deny yourself of a slice of cake at birthday parties, or not allowing yourself to indulge in at least one holiday meal you're only setting yourself up for guilty feelings and more bingeing. Beyond that if you restrict food or list it as 'bad', especially if the bad food is a favorite of yours, it will just make it more enticing. However, if you don't put foods into good or bad categories and instead moderation (one small slice of cake at the baby shower in instead of eating half of it on your own) sticking with healthy eating will seem easier. It's all about finding balance.

Though remember, not everyone is the same. There is no one size fits all that works for everyone. But it's just about guaranteed that if you beat yourself up for every slip up you eat successfully eating healthily will be more difficult than if you just acknowledge the mistake an move on.

Rest Days

Today I want to talk about something I struggle with, rest days.

 Rest days, recovery days, lazy days no matter what you call them are important for improving fitness and performance and yet many people over look them and continue performing hard, intense exercise day after day without allowing the body to recuperate in between. I am one of those people.

When my rest days come around more often than not, I talk myself into working out anyway. I try my best to only target areas only once a week but I'm finding out that mixing strength training and Insanity means I need to rest more than I would like. This week I've been forced to sit out one day already thanks to sore muscles and it's looking like today will be another rest day as well. The guilt of not working out is almost unbearable. Overcoming that guilt is one of the most difficult things I am learning to overcome. So I'm writing this post today, not just to inform others of the need to take a break but also to remind myself of why it is so important.

Recovery is important for two major reasons. The first, it gives your body time to adapt to the stress of a new routine which helps you avoid muscle fatigue and pain. Second, it gives your body a chance to repair the tissues that are torn when you work the muscles and gives your body time to replenish the energy stores that are depleted during exercise. If you're not allowing your body to recover between workouts your muscles will never grow and the physique you are working so hard to achieve wont ever come to fruition. In terms of muscle size, this is more important for body builders however it's still especially important to give the muscles time to repair, weather you're working for size and definition or just general weight loss.

Believe it or not, rest is required to get results like this! 

As with everything in the fitness and health world there is no 'one size fits all' approach to rest days. The number of rest days will depend on what your goals are and how intense you are training. The general rule of thumb is give each muscle group a week of rest between targeted workouts. For example, while I do the cardio intense Insanity 6 days a week, I have been focusing on strength training 3 times a week with one day set aside for each 'section': upper body, lower body and abs. This way I'm getting the muscle building benefits of strength training while still getting my 'fix' of Insanity.

 A good way to practice rest days is to do light to moderate cardio on the days you aren't actively strength training an area. That way you are still burning calories and keeping up with your program while allowing the muscles to recover. Playing sports with your kids or taking your best furry friend for a walk also count as great rest day 'workouts'. Also, be sure to schedule in a day to focus only on stretching. You can achieve this by having a yoga day or performing a workout such as StretchX from the P90X program.

Yoga is another great R&R activity.

Healthy Tech

If there's one thing I waste time doing, it's playing online or with my iPhone. Fortunately for me I spend most of my internet time reading and researching fitness and nutrition gadgets. I would like to spend a minute and share a few of my favorite websites and apps here.

1. Calorie Count

This one counts as both an app and a website since I use both frequently. The idea is simple, you log your food, beverages, weight and activities daily. Recently they've updated and added in Calorie Camp which is a neat feature. You have goals you try to met daily and achievements you work towards. For each goal you meet and achievement you obtain you get points which you can use towards coupons and discounts at different websites for healthy snacks and fitness gear. Beyond the basic calorie/fitness tracking you also get a daily analysis so you can easily see what nutrients you need more of (I struggle with iron and potassium) and what nutrients you need less of (I tend to toe the line with sodium everyday). Plus you get to participate in an amazing community of like-minded, encouraging people all working towards similar goals. Best of all, it's completely free. It's the most all encompassing program I've found yet for that price!

http://caloriecount.about.com

2. My plate

I haven't used this website as much as I should. In studying to become a personal trainer this has popped up again and again in my materials, and for good reason. This portioned out dinner plate is what the government has replaced the food pyramid with. It's simplified and easy to understand while showing you what you should be eating with each meal. It's also very kid friendly! 

The website itself is pretty neat. You can go to the super tracker  and set up a profile to get an accurate daily calorie allotment as well as a pretty easy to use food tracker. You can set up to 5 goals to try and reach and this tool shows you how much of what are you eating. I do think it needs some work, mainly needs to have more foods added in but from my limited experience with it I'd say it's definitely worth checking out if for nothing more than the nutrition and health advice found throughout the website. It's another freebie since it's government run.

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/

3. The Eatery

If you're like most people you really don't want to spend your days obsessing over every calorie and morsel that goes into your body. Unfortunately you've heard over and over again that the best way to lose weight is to watch what you eat, to track your food intake and make sure it's balanced with your energy output. That's where this app comes in play. You snap a quick picture of each meal with your iPhone's camera, enter a few bits of information like how much you ate (anywhere from 'like one grain of rice' to 'The human stomach can hold 2-3 liters of food...') and then you post it. Your meals get rated by other users from 1%-100% healthy and you get to rate other people's meals as well. I have really enjoyed playing with the app, it puts an interesting spin on watching what you eat. It's also free. 

https://eatery.massivehealth.com/

4. Fitocracy

This app is a fun way to track your fitness, especially if you are a video game nerd like me. This little gem has everything a good, addictive video game should have, except it's all done IRL  (that's in real life for all the non-nerds out there) and encourages you to be active. You have quests like 'Someone's chasing me!' which requires you to run a mile in under 10 minutes, or 'When I dip, you dip, we dip' which asks you to do 100 dips of any kind in your daily workout. Then you have your achievements like 'beast mode bench' which asks you to bench press at least 1.1x your body weight. And of course you get experience for each activity you log and you start leveling up in an attempt to make it onto the leaderboards. There's also a great community in the form of groups you can join. Again, it's free. Unless you want the ultimate nerd-goal, which is the ability to achieve titles. In which case you have to become a Hero and that will cost you $4.99/month or $44.99/year. 

It's also worth noting that this program can also be used through their website, so if you don't have a smart phone you can still take part in the fun.

http://www.fitocracy.com/

5. Zombies, Run! 

I will admit, I haven't used this one yet. But I think it deserves an honorable mention on here because the idea is so amazing that I can't pass it up. I plan on buying this one soon. Very, very soon. It's a running app, but unlike conventional running apps this one takes you through a zombie infested world in which you are a runner and must leave your safe base to collect things like batteries, medicine and ammo which you do by simply going for a run. You have to decide who the items go to, what buildings need to be fortified and all the fun stuff that you would see in your basic zombie video games. It sounds like it would be so much fun to play, I haven't been this excited over an app purchase in a very long time. I will update as soon as I test it out! In the meantime you can go read all about it for yourself. 

For now it's an Apple only app but the website says it is coming to Android sometime this spring.$7.99. 

https://www.zombiesrungame.com/

Embarrassing picture time!!

This blog is supposed to be tracking my weight loss journey from here on out, as well as my journey to becoming a CPT and beyond. In honor of that I'm going to put up a very private picture collage on a very public forum for everyone to view. This is my 'transformation' over the past year-ish. This is one and a half rounds of Insanity as well as lots of running, weights and eating cleaner and gluten free for medical reasons. Right now I'm gearing up to start month 2 of Insanity on Monday so I'm hoping that a month from now I'll be posting an even better before/after but for now... enjoy! 

Also you probably can tell that my stomach looks rather poofy in the now picture, I had gluten yesterday. That is what gluten does to me. Makes me poofy and sick!! 

Mini-cleanse Day 3 continued....

I felt the side effects of only having liquids all day while doing Insanity Cardio Core and Balance. Wow! I am tired! I think that protein shake is needed now!

Mini-Cleanse days 2 & 3

Today is day 3 of my mini cleanse and I have to say that I am loving it! I was skeptical at first but I feel great so far. I haven't had any issues with energy levels and I haven't been hungry at all. I've been having a shake for breakfast and one for lunch. Both days I had a handful of peanuts at some point during the day and for dinner I've just been making large salads. I'm supposed to have 3 shakes a day but I haven't found a good time to sneak in the third shake. Maybe today I will make a protein shake after I workout, I need to do that anyway. If I could find a way to eat this way everyday and get an adequate number of calories I probably would! But tomorrow I will go back to eating my lunch instead of drinking it. With a little luck (or willpower) I will continue to avoid snacking on terrible things and keep eating clean. I want to be at around 90/10 for eating clean to processed foods ideally.

I also went to the gym for the first time, pretty close to ever, yesterday. I'm looking forward to going a lot more. I love the energy and the commotion of being in a busy gym, and I love having that many activity options available to me. I think in honor of concentrating on the shoulder and arm muscles this week I'm going to test out some of the machines that help target those specific muscles tonight. I am enjoying studying for the certification test, I love biology and anatomy. Learning what makes the body tick is fascinating.

Mini-cleanse day 1

I've always been intrigued by the idea of a cleanse. The theory behind it makes sense to me. I at one point even tried the Clean Program, making it through the first week and a half was tough but I felt amazing, other than the starvation that is. In hindsight that may have been more because it was the first time in my life I wasn't consuming gluten and my body was repairing and functioning correctly for once than anything else the cleanse is supposed to be doing. Either way as my rest week of Insanity approached the idea of  doing a mini cleanse got more and more appealing. So today, my first day of recovery week, is also my first day of mini cleansing.


Today I am starting my shakeology cleanse, just without the shakeology. I didn't have the time or the money to get shakeology so I'm doing it with slim fast chocolate royal powder. The idea of the cleanse is to flush out the bad stuff while taking in as much nutrients as possible. You drink 3 shakes a salad with fish or chicken at dinner. You make the shakes with water instead of any kind of milk (I usually use unflavored almond milk so this is a change for me) and have 2 cups of green tea a day. Supposedly doing this will help 'reset' your system and re-energize you. 


Today I am also re-dedicating myself to logging food. I NEED to get my eating under control if I want to lose the last 10-20 pounds I would like to lose before I get my certification. I would like to not have such a flabby booty when I start trying to find a job as a CPT!