Fall Planning for New Years Success

Right now no one is thinking about New Year’s resolutions, but you should be. Now is a great time to get started on them. As homeschoolers, the new school year is really when our new year starts. We have the next 3 months planned out already so why not throw in your fitness and nutrition plan? Read more

Post Workout Stretching

I’ve been falling WAY behind in my posts on here. Owning a studio is a lot more work than I could have ever expected. One awesome thing though is that my hours are so different that I miss all the solicitors because they come when I’m closed.

I have a fitness conference coming up next month that is in Orland at the Hilton resort. It’s a brand new resort with two pools, a fitness center and a lazy river. Since I want to enjoy the lazy river while I’m there, I need to be sure I look good enough to put my suit on. Gotta have a goal. Read more

Mastering the Kettlebell Swing Part Three

You are now ready to swing that kettlebell. You are driving with your hips, you can sumo deadlift with perfect form and all that awaits you now is fat loss. Remember the lock out at the top of the swing. Don’t skip that important step or you will feel it in your lower back. If you do, go back to part two and work on mastering it first. Read more

Bust That Plateau

Monday evening, I had the pleasure of speaking on the Ultimate Homeschool Expo show. If you missed it, you can still purchase tickets to the expo and hear over 100 speakers. Much more affordable than a regular conference and you can wear your pajamas! Woot!

During the call, I had an interesting question asked by Cindy Rushton. She asked, “What do you do when someone hits a plateau?” It’s an important question because plateaus are common and can be rather de-motivating for someone trying to lose weight.

Before I tell you what I do for clients that hit a plateau, let me explain what it is. Our bodies are so wonderfully made that it works hard at keeping the amount of energy consumed in balance with the amount of energy we use. So, our bodies do not like to lose weight. Read more

Dieting Spells Disaster – Part I

Most women believe that in order to lose weight the first thing they need to do is eat less and move more. In a way this is true, but there really is more science behind that. What typically happens is women eat maybe 1 or 2 meals a day, drastically reducing their caloric intake and then adding a walk in for exercise. They may see the scale move but what are they really losing? I bet you’ll be surprised. Read on…

Your body’s metabolism is the key to losing unwanted body fat. When working with women, I am not concerned about their weight as much as the level of body fat they are carrying around. A healthy bodyfat level to be at is between 19-25%. Most women who have dieted for years will find themselves at 30% or more. Those are dangerous levels that invite disease into their bodies. Although they may have lost 50 lbs. of body weight, they may still be at 30% body fat and at risk for heart disease, Type II diabetes and other ailments.

How can they be at risk when they wear a size 8 dress pant? Because they never lost bodyfat while dieting. They lost body water and precious lean muscle mass.

Lean muscle mass is the main manipulator of your metabolism. The more lean muscle mass you have the more calories you burn at rest. When your metabolism is humming along at a strong rate, it does not need to use bodyfat for energy. It’s alive and functioning at optimum levels. Fat that is stored on your body for energy is not needed and your body lets it go. You continue to build strong, lean muscles and your metabolism gets stronger and faster, you indeed get leaner, stronger, toned and full of energy. This is the picture of health and vitality.

Now take the woman who is dieting. She is eating 3 meals a day and not focused on the right type of exercises. She’ll go for a walk around the block. It works for about 1 month. She’s dropped 5 pounds. She’s excited!

Month 2 rolls around and the scale has stopped moving, she cuts her 3 meals into smaller portions and adds another block to her walk. The scale finally drops again. She’s excited!

Month 3 rolls around and the scale has not moved or has gone up. Yikes! She drops to 2 meals a day, adds another block to her walk and an exercise video.

Month 4 comes too quickly. She sees the scale move again so she cuts calories even more and increases her walk for a full 2 hours every day. She’s tired, frustrated and wondering why this is not working?

I could go on, but I think you get the picture. The only way for her to keep the scale moving is to continue to decrease calories and increase the amount of time spent on low, steady state exercise. Is she really losing fat? No, she is losing water and precious metabolic boosting muscle that is why she has to continue decreasing calories to see change. If she continues on this path, she will lower her metabolic rate to such a level that her body will go into panic mode and begin conserving every morsel of food that enters as bodyfat so it will have the energy just to function.

The result is a cranky, tired, moody, flabby, and frustrated woman. I know, I’ve been there.

Ladies, I want you to know the truth. The scale is not your friend. You have been lied to for years. There’s even a tv show dedicated to keeping these lies alive (Biggest Loser Challenge) where your worth is determined by a number on the scale! How have we as a society allowed this to happen? Satan has been at work!

God made you in His image. You are a beautiful, strong, and vibrant woman. Don’t allow Satan to get a foothold in your mind. Oh how I wish I could give you all hugs right now!

Here is the picture of a woman on the right path:

She determines why she wants to accomplish this goal of being healthy and full of energy.

She enlists the help of her husband and children.

She puts together a plan of action including how to deal with obstacles that will be thrown her way. Her plan does include strength and interval training as the core of the program.

She also determines her caloric intake and creates meal plans for the week.

She cleans out her cupboard of all manmade, adulterated foods and buys food in their original God created package.

She gets connected with other women who are doing the same steps (this site of course!) and stays accountable no matter what happens to try and bump her off course.

All her workouts are scheduled in for each week just like math and english class. She sticks to her workouts because she is full of determination.

Each week she discovers how much better she feels. Her clothes are getting loser, she is getting more flexible and full of energy. She finds herself hungry more often because her metabolism is on fire. She has more lean mass so she can eat more food, quite the opposite of the dieting woman. She does not suffer from mood swings, turbulent hormone levels or bloating due to eating whole foods.

Does she know how much she weighs? Does it really matter if she is feeling this strong and vibrant?

This is what I want for you. I will elaborate more on how to stop dieting for life in another post. This one ended up way longer than I intended.

Hugs~~

Weird Reason Breakfast is Boring

This morning I was sitting in front of my computer struggling to come up with a catchy title for this. I was thinking – yet again – about stressing the importance of breakfast to you.

So as I sat there trying to be clever I mumbled out loud, “Breakfast is boring.”

And there you have it. That’s exactly how I came up with this title. But do NOT take this message lightly.

You see, I know you’re heard it a million times before. “You have to eat breakfast.” And I know it’s not a super sexy message. But do you have any idea how many people I meet as a fitness professional that DO NOT eat breakfast? A lot. And do you have any idea how many of those people that don’t eat breakfast are overweight? Pretty much all of them.

Look, I’m not crazy. I know you don’t have much time in the morning. And I know many of you just aren’t all that hungry right after you wake up.

So let’s look at this another way. You get up each morning and go to work every day because you want a roof over your head and food on the table, right? Day after day after day you go to work because you want the RESULT of that effort.

Well, IF you want to burn fat, feel better and have more energy you WILL eat breakfast every morning. Period. End of discussion.

Some things are boring. Some things just have to be done to get the result you want. For those of you that want to burn fat all day long, breakfast is just one of those things.

Prograde Lean http://inspirationfitness.getprograde.com/lean is a DELICIOUS chocolate meal replacement shake that I recommend to all my clients. It’s the perfect solution to breakfast.

Eating While Traveling

I spent the weekend traveling with a Saturday stop at my grandmother’s house and the following day at a tumbling meet for my oldest daughter. 

It’s easy to allow these little excursions to derail your fat loss efforts but they don’t have to.  Read more

Holiday Weight Gain

With only 9 weeks left until Thanksgiving, many people become filled with dread as they think about those extra pounds they always put on during the holiday season. 

I actually believe holiday weight gain begins now before the holiday season officially starts. 

The weather is getting cooler. We are spending more time indoors.  Halloween candy is on sale.  We start using the oven more to create our fall comfort foods and we are less physically active.

Now is the time to take action.  Establish the daily habit of moving before the shorter, colder days set in. 

It doesn’t take much to get the whole family out in the evening for a quick walk around the block. 

It’s still cool enough to play a game of tag outside with the kids. 

Just do one thing together a day.

It’s not hard.  It won’t kill you.  In fact, you’ll have a lot of fun! 

Creating Healthy Habits

I am currently in Stamford, CT enjoying the Ryan Lee Boot Camp and learning sooooo much.  It has been wonderful meeting some of the top fitness professionals in our nation. 

I had quite an adventure trying to get to the hotel.  I just assumed I could find a taxi at the airport that would take me from New York to Connecticut with no problem.  Wrong!  Not one taxi driver was willing to take me unless I paid close to $200.  Yikes!  I did eventually find a shuttle service and got to my hotel safely.  Whew!

This conference has really opened some doors for me and I’ved learned so much.  I enjoy learning.  My goal in life is to try and learn something new every day.  I’ve learned so much information today that I am now in overload. 

There was one thing that I heard today has stuck in my head and created a stir in my heart.  One of the speakers mentioned a quote by Paul Taylor, author of Meeting of the Minds.  “Thoughts do not create things of tangibility.” 

You must converse your thoughts into habits.  Day by day, little by little and step by step you must create habits.  A healthy lifestyle is just like that.  You must first believe that you will lose that unwanted weight but then take action.  You take action by changing something day by day and little by little until that small thing becomes a habit. 

Many fitness gurus are big on using language such as “Drop 30 pounds in 30 days!”  I believe you can reach your goals and make them permanent if you work on them slowly by creating healthy habits.  Losing 30 pounds in a month would be nice, but trying to maintain the low caloric deficit you are in for a long period of time is tough.  That is why so many people are stuck on the yo yo diet rollercoaster. 

Learning how to nourish your body correctly and incorporate the right type of exercises for fat loss is much more valuable than starving yourself to lose 30 pounds.  The habits that you learn will transform not only your body but your life as well.  How many times have you read about the empowerment people experience from their transformations?  It’s amazing how much changing bad habits into good can have on your entire outlook on life.

Creating healthy habits is much more valuable in the long run. 

What is Your Why

I used to think that if I just weighed 120 lbs. I would be happy.  It’s more than that.  I was always trying to diet and get skinny for all the wrong reasons and for everyone but myself.  Once I had experienced my last pregnancy and was hurting with every step, I became determined to get rid of my fat so I could feel better again.  It was for me and me alone.  It definitely benefitted my immediate family members and my ability to serve God, but when I made it my own desire, my “why” for getting fit was much more important to me.

You must determine what being fit means to you and only you.  Not what your husband thinks, your mom thinks, your kids think or your best friend thinks. 

Being fit is more than being a specific dress size or weight on the scale.  It’s about feeling vibrant and energetic and feeling comfortable in your own skin.  It’s about no longer comparing yourself to another woman again.   

How much of life have you missed because you are unhappy with the way you look? 

Do you somehow forget to tell your husband about the party you were invited to this weekend? 

Do you avoid outdoor activities where you know “skinny” people will be?  Have you miserably sat on the sidelines while watching the kids have fun instead of jumping in? 

Honestly determine why being fit is so important to you.  Write it down and put it where you can read it daily.  Add to it as you discover more reasons.  Believe me, this simple step is incredibly powerful.  Don’t think about this too long, just do it. 

Go ahead – right now- what is your why?

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