Summer is Not for Slacking!

Stop the slack!

Warm weather, bbq’s, trips to the beach, vacations at the lake; summer is really filled with all things good. And all that hard work you’ve been devoting to making sure your physique is in tip-top shape has finally paid off as you’re not cringing when you put on your bathing suit. In fact, you’re quite impressed!

Good for you! Now don’t screw it up.

Like I said, summer is not for slacking! Just because you fit into your suit now doesn’t mean that come Labor Day weekend it’ll still be a hunky-dory relationship you have with that suit. There are plenty of weekends from now until then and right smack in the middle is a big day of big fireworks, big burgers and big slices of key lime pies. Shutting up that little voice in your head that says it’s ok to finally indulge, that all that hard work finally deserves a big payday, is an evil little voice that can get you into a world of trouble (and out of that bathing suit faster than you can say “I’ll have another!”)

I fall victim to that same little voice so I understand where you’re going to be (or where you already have been since the summer officially kicked off last weekend). Dipping a Toastito into something described to me as spicy cream cheese with a crunchy top is a no brainer, it’s going to happen and it will probably happen more than once in a matter of five minutes. Offer me a glass of fruity white sangria on a super hot day and I’ll trump that by having three. My little voice has no filter and it has no limits apparently; it gets me into a world of trouble. So what’s my first though so as to counteract that little evil voice? I boldly declare, in my head, that I’m not eating anything processed for the next two weeks, no more chocolate and no more refreshing alcoholic beverages. I’m going cold turkey and I know that in two weeks time I’ll be feeling super again and that little muffin top will have disappeared, yet again.

Then I come to my senses. I remind myself that I’m not an all or nothing person. Depriving myself only serves to make me really moody and whiny. And it never lasts. In my world of make believe, two weeks is doable. In my world of reality however, one day is all I can manage. Inevitably there is that iced mocha that makes its way into my system. Or I’ll stop in the french bakery for a macaroon. Or I’ll slab a little mayo on that turkey sandwich, and sure add some cheese to that too. It’s like I deliberately, without my knowledge, make sure that I don’t deprive myself but instead treat myself over and over.

So, if you’re like me and you’re thinking about slacking off, which then slingshots you right into derivation mode, it’s time to stop the insanity. And don’t worry, this isn’t the part where I say, “Moderation is key”. It isn’t. Your body is different from mine and what works for me isn’t necessarily going to work for you and vice versa. What I am going to say however is, and I’ve worked with enough women to know that this is pretty universal, that no matter how bad it gets, no matter how badly you’ve cheated, or how badly you’ve slacked and over-indulged, getting back on that wagon and “treating” yourself to an awesome sweat session (aka, intense workout) WILL make you feel better. It WILL motivate you and it WILL turn the tide. Good behavior begets good behavior (just like bad behavior begets more bad behavior.)

Stay the course and you will not fall victim to that evil little voice. If you start your day off right (eating unsweetened oatmeal with berries for example), I guarantee your lunch will be healthy as well as your dinner. BUT… start off with a bacon, egg and cheese on a fatty bagel and I guarantee your lunch might be a chicken cutlet with mayo and cheese followed up by pepperoni pizza and a beer for dinner.

Set yourself up for success and your summer will be full of more good choices than bad choices. And quit with the slacking. You know when you’re doing it, so stop it in its tracks and remind yourself that if you stick with it, you’ll be taking that fine physique of your’s right into the holiday season! (I KNOW!!! How can I be mentioning the holidays when summer only just arrived?! BTW, only 208 days until Christmas )

How Squats Can Save Apartment Dwellers (And Just About Everyone Else)

You can always tell who lives in an apartment..

True story: Today I’m walking into the front door of my apartment building and like all apartment dwellers, I’m carrying a sh*t load of stuff. It’s nothing new to us to have to carry the contents of our entire car to our apartment all in one trip because we have had to park the car three blocks and one massive hill away. (Who the hell wants to make that trip twice?) So if you have groceries, your laptop, laundry, (us apartment dwellers hate the fact that the laundry is on the bottom floor and how, if you’ve managed to get caught up in the latest Bachelor scandal on TV therefore delaying your ‘laundry response time’, other apartment dwellers will callously toss your wet clothes on the nearest table so as to free up the machine. Heaven have mercy should you be 30 seconds late in transferring your laundry! Therefore we outsource and are forced to carry it in with all other contents of our car), your coffee cup and purse, you’re loaded down to say the least. Plus, let’s not forget the mail we have to forcibly remove from our tiny, rail-thin mailbox that the mailman shoved in there knowing full well that we’re going to rip apart every piece of junk mail as we try to get it out (it’s like some weird postal service joke), while juggling all these items. Inevitably, you know that along the way we’re going to drop our keys. And I did. Although, added to the contents listed above, I also had 15 pounds of weights in my backpack, plus an additional 10 pounds (two 5 lbs dumbbells) that I was holding in my hands. 25 extra pounds math whizzes. I just stood for a few moments, staring at those keys, muttering every bad word I could think of. The trek alone from the car to the building weighed down on my shoulders like a freight train parked on my back. And now I had to squat down and GET BACK UP!

(You see where I’m going with this now? I know it took awhile but there was a lot to set up there.)

If I was an unconditioned, untrained, couch potato I’m pretty sure I’d be icing my back and downing Advil’s for the rest of the day, not to mention tending to bum knee, sore back and pulled muscle. But since I’m a squat performing fool, after my mutterings I slowly lowered my weighted-down body into a squat position (feet shoulder width apart, thighs parallel to the floor, weight in my heels and knees above my ankles—not reaching over my toes) and I successfully grabbed my keys and then pushed through my legs, slow and controlled, and made it back up to standing. Alleluia, Lord have mercy I got back up! I wish Richard Simmons was there to see it. The squat is one of the best exercises to master and if you’re not performing them, well then, you’re not getting back up without tossing everything you’re carrying onto the floor. (Imagine then how many times are you getting back up and down?)

Just there I have given proof to how taking care of your body, understanding proper form and using slow and controlled movements are useful in everyday life. How many times a day are you bending over, picking up items, moving around heavy objects? Most likely, quite a bit. If your body isn’t properly conditioned, serious injuries can occur doing even the smallest of chores, so this is why it’s important to exercise your body. (Of course you can pull a muscle or injure yourself even if your body is the most conditioned body in the world, but I’m pretty sure your recovery time is much better with a conditioned body than with a couch potato body.)

So even though the squat may seem like an arduous, annoying and unnecessary exercise, clearly you can see that it is not. (It’s like when you were in high school and you said to your math teacher, when am I EVER going to use this?!?!) Except with the squat you really will be using it, and most likely when you’re carrying a lot of sh*t. So practice, perform and perfect the squat, it will save your legs (and back, and hips, and knees) when you need it most!

What Is It About Weight Loss That Scares You?

Ok… I’d like to add an addendum to last weeks post on visualization, if I may. What I’m going to offer up is a little deeper probe into the whole visualization technique so that you’re not sitting there spinning your wheels, wondering why that sweet reward always seems so damn elusive!  I just read a very interesting blog post titled “Are You Still Visualizing”, (maybe I should have read this before writing my last post but hey, sometimes I’m late to the dinner table), written by Cathy Wilke, a Business Alchemist and Holistic Business Coach—and new student of Warrior Rising I might add. (What’s that? You don’t know what Warrior Rising is? Do you live under a rock? Before anyone realizes you’re not as savvy on current trends as you admit, take a quick lookie-see over here and get acquainted!)

Now that I’m done with my shameless plug… let’s move on. Cathy’s post (which you can see on her site freedomandfulfillment.com), dives a little deeper into the visualization practice by informing us that it’s not JUST about being able to see yourself as you want to be (down to the size dress you want to be, feelings you want to possess, praise you want to receive, etc.), but what you must get out of your own mental pathway to get there. (You know all that chatter in your brain? The good, the bad and the ugly? We need to clear out some of that negative stuff to get you on your way it would seem.)

A happy brain equals…

We can all sit back and paint a pretty picture for ourselves and then wait for that thinner, slimmer, fashion diva that we all want to be to magically appear. That’s the easy part apparently. What Cathy lets us know is that there is indeed much more work to be done here. Visualizing is only the starting point. (Clearly the practice of visualization is not so easy as I had intimated in my last blog post. However, as with everything in life, the things that are the most challenging to accomplish are actually the most rewarding—hello parenthood.)

So we need to dive a little deeper into the psyche in order to ‘manifest’ what we visualize. We need to do a little housecleaning, open up the mental shutters and peer into those dark little places where our fears hide so we can come face to face with them, try to understand them, and then recognize them for what they are: little energy suckers that do nothing but keep us from achieving our true potential. This is true in any area of your life. For example, for me I visualize myself as a very successful, compassionate, and knowledgeable trainer… but there is that little fear in me that what if I become too overloaded with clients and I can’t service them properly because there are too many? (Yea! for successfully building a roster of clients, but then comes the eek! how can I be the best for all of them?) Things start to shut down here and that little tiny fear turns me into that shy, meek, unconfident little girl I used to be and BOOM, I’ve just manifested my fear into real world trouble (and an empty bank account!) Clearly this is my mental blockage, and as Cathy points out, ‘I’m in my own way.’ I’m the reason I’m not moving forward and attaining what I’m visualizing because I’m sabotaging myself with my inner speak.

Since there are so many women out there who are looking to lose weight and go to extreme measures to obtain that (have you heard about the feeding tube in the nose to lose weight? You see, Houston we have a serious weight problem here!) There is a great populace of yo-yo dieters who are looking at the situation in the wrong light. The problem is not that you eat too much and therefore need to insert said feeding tube into your nose so you can lose weight; no, no, no my dear, the problem stems from a source buried deep in your psyche and you need to smoke it out like bees on a hive. To be really happy with who you see in the mirror everyday, you need to roll your sleeves up and dive in, as Cathy states. It’s a physical world she explains and no action = no results.

… rainbows and stars and happy things!

So I ask, what is it that you fear most about your weight loss potential? Is it that you think your friends will be jealous? You husband won’t be supportive? (Or once you’re at your perfect weight, you’ll be too good-looking for your husband? )

Take a good moment or two and stick with this question. Think about all the things you’ve done to lose weight (and keep trying to do) that have ended in failure. Are you in fact sabotaging yourself and if so, why?  Whatever it may be, really sit and think about it. As Cathy says, you may be surprised with what comes up. Once you do this mental housecleaning, I wouldn’t be surprised if you a whole new you starts to come to life! Exciting, don’t you think?

Visualizing the Sweet, Sweet Reward

Cake as a reward? Not for mommy!

You ever get to that point where you’re really pretty close to getting those last few pounds off your midsection and you’re so pumped that you’re only 5, 10 or 20 pounds away from total success… and then the stresses of daily life start to creep in? Maybe you have to monitor pizza Friday at your kids school and you end up eating a sliver of a slice. Later in the day there’s a birthday party for your kid’s best friend and you sneak in a nibble of a brownie coated in frosting. When you get home the kids are so jacked up on sugar that you end up pulling out that kitchy wine glass that boldly declares “Mommy’s Time Out” and proceed to fill it to the rim with red wine (I’m only having one you proclaim, so it needs to do the trick!) After that monster goblet empties itself out, you then go in frantic search mode for that old piece of easter candy that you hid from the kids and are certain that you never actually threw out and that you WILL find it!

You get the picture right? Life happens and all good efforts get thrown by the wayside.

Well not this time!! Don’t let life slip back in! (Well you know what I mean. We can’t actually avoid our kids so as to keep the headaches and stresses that come with being a mom at bay, but instead we can learn to control them… I think. I’m still new to this mommy thing. Anyone care to enlighten me if I’m wrong?!)

Don’t let the halfway point of achieving your goal be your tipping point. Keep going strong, keep pushing yourself and keep the motivation going. One way you can make this happen is to visualize your reward. Visualization is such a powerful tool and one that can help you in many areas of your life. Picture yourself feeling sexy and strong, buy that gorgeous dress and know that when you wear it you’re going to feel like a million bucks! Imagine the confidence that will exude when you walk into a room. Feel the compliments your husband will shower you with when you show him that you can in fact do more push ups than him (and with better form )

You need to visualize and feel how it will be to make it to the end without giving in to any, even the tiniest of stressors that may enter into your life. Don’t let a bad day ruin you for squats and breathing techniques. It’s those things are easy to let go of that actually do more for you than three slices of pizza!

Maybe you’d prefer your goal to be something more tangible, like a facial or massage, giving your body a well-deserved treat (both physically and mentally). Or maybe giving yourself more time by setting aside specific ‘Me Time’ works for you, so all your hard work isn’t tossed aside as the needs of your family start to take precedence. Realize you’re just as important as your children and you too require some rejuvenation time (and don’t feel guilty about that!) Allow yourself time to meditate, to breathe, or to try something new.

Whatever you want to see happen in your life you can make happen by believing in it and visualizing it. (I realize I’m starting to get all “The Secret” on you and while that book may be a little out there for many, I do believe that there is power in your thoughts!)

Now, there is the other side of rewards and I’m pretty sure you all know that I’m not talking about that kind of reward. (i.e. setting up shop at the Cheesecake Factory, sipping on Lemon Drop martinis, eating precious mouthful after mouthful of strawberry, chocolate swirl cheesecake with the caramel crust. I agree, it sounds awesome but things like that are best shared with about 20 of your friends—thus granting you about 1/2 spoonful of cheesecake.)

The rewards I’m talking about are ones that can actually help you in your daily life to feel more confident, powerful, balanced and totally less stressed!

So take five minutes today and think hard about what you want to see happen. Decide on a goal (and that goal can change as you change, nothing is set in stone), and work towards that goal. Keep it in front of you and go for it! It’ll definitely help to keep you on the right course and motivation will be all around you at all times.

Push Ups: What Good Are They Anyway?

See, push ups can be so cute!

Oh they be good… they be oh so good. (Granted, not while you’re performing them, but at some point thereafter you’re glad you did them.) Let me tell you why this somewhat medieval form of torture does a body good: you know those sleeveless dresses, those cutesy tank tops, the spaghetti straps and summer dresses? That exercise makes those items look good on you. Enough said?

I’ve trained enough women to know that there are two areas that need the most help: belly and arms. (Am I right? Are you nodding your head yes? I thought so ) And I try my best to get my clients to do the things that they hate, and one very big “I hate this exercise” exercise is push ups! (I don’t think to this day I have been able to mention the word “push up” without it being followed by a just audible groan!) You all hate them, and I get it, they’re no fun to do (zero fun) and they’re hard. Real hard. But, like I said earlier, they are oh so good for you!

Let me break down the push up for you and hopefully once you have a better understanding of what it works and the benefits you may reap, maybe you’ll be a little less inclined to sign heavily when you have to do them (maybe you’ll even be excited?) They work the pectoral muscles, (would you like perkier boobs? I thought so), triceps (bye-bye swaying, jiggly arm fat), and anterior deltoids (that’s the front of your shoulder.) It also benefits the rest of your deltoids (posterior and medial—that’s the top and back of your shoulders—all around shoulder goodness), the serratus anterior and your whole body basically, even the core (aka, belly!).

Now I understand that right about here you’re thinking, “Yes, that’s super great and those are all the things I want to work on. However, and this is a big one, I can’t perform even 5 decent reps and, oh by the way, I hate push ups so can’t we figure out another exercise for me to perform that will get me the same benefits?”

No.

Ok then. So there are many, many variations to the push up so if you’re reps are on the low side, there are ways you can start easy and work your way up to the more advanced push up. First (and the most basic) is the Wall Push Up. Basically you stand in front of a wall, place your palms on the wall and lean froward and then push yourself back to standing. Easy enough? Once you get that down, try stepping a little farther away from the wall and you’ll see it gets a bit more difficult.

Once you’ve mastered that, you can move on to the Elevated Push Up. Here you can use a bench, a step or an elevated surface as long as it’s structurally sound and won’t tip over when you’re using it. Go to your staircase and use the bottom step for example. Place both hands on the step and you can either be on your knees, or on your toes so that your body is fully extended, making sure you’re in a straight line from your shoulders, hips, knees and toes (knees and toes) (heh, it’s like the song…). Anyway, this elevated position helps to lighten your load when pushing up, thus making it easier than the full on version. Once you can perform that comfortably from your toes, feel free to move onward and upward!

Next, we have the Modified or Knees Push Up. Here you place your hands directly on the floor, palms directly under the shoulders, arms fully extended with your knees on the ground. Your body from shoulders to knees are in a straight line. From there you lower down as close to the ground as you can, and then push up. Perform a comfy 20 to 25 of those and I’d say you’re ready to move on.

Next comes the Big Boy Push Up where your hands are on the floor, arms fully extended, knees are off the ground, toes are tucked under and your body is totally aligned. You lower as close to the ground and while keeping your body rigid and straight, you then push up. Work your way up from 5 to 100 if you want, you’re unstoppable from this point on! And don’t think this is the end of the line. From here you can do incline push ups, diamond push ups, tricep push ups, the sky is the limit!

(By the way, I am compassionate when it comes to wrist tenderness and weakness so if you can’t perform regular push ups because the pressure on your wrists is unbearable, you can try making a fist with your hands and placing them over a towel or soft pillow and then perform your push ups. This way your wrists stay straight and aren’t strained as much.)

Since push ups can be performed literally anywhere, it should be no problem for you to be able to perform at least 10, perfect form, push ups a day. Perfect practice is the only thing that is going to make you better at them and believe me that the benefits are quickly visible. I’m working on 20 a day, slowing getting it up to 25 and from there I’ll be unstoppable! Don’t hate if my arms are awesome by June

Summer is almost here ladies, let’s get serious about our arms!

Dispelling Myths and Adding Weights!

You don't have to be a pirate or a freaky man-lady!

To this day Seinfeld is still one of my favorite shows. I watch it whenever I can (TBS has it on twice a night… yea!) and despite knowing every single show and even what they’re going to say next, I still laugh. One of my favorites it the “Low-talker” episode where the ‘puffy-shirt’ makes its appearance. For those who don’t know this one, here Jerry unknowingly agrees to wear what is described to him as a Pirate shirt (aka, the ‘Puffy shirt’) on a morning talk show. It was Kramer’s girlfriend who asked him to do it, she’s the “low-talker”, and he didn’t realize what he had agreed to; so when pleaing with Kramer about not wanting to wear it, Kramer says to him that he’ll look like a pirate, and doesn’t he want to be a pirate? To which Jerry then whines “But I don’t want to be a pirate!” The tone and way he says this is what gets me every time; I know it’s coming and I still laugh! And for some reason, whenever I hear one of my clients say to me, “But I don’t want to bulk up”, all I hear is Jerry!

(So if you have said this to me before and I’ve snickered, it wasn’t because of you, it was because of Jerry )

Ok, so the reason I’m bringing all of this up is because during the next several weeks, I challenge all newcomers, all warriors and all women everywhere to start adding free weights to your workouts. Why? Because the lame excuse that you’re going to ‘bulk up’ just doesn’t cut it anymore! I mean, I get it… no sassy mom wants to look like the Incredible Hulk (we specifically save that look for when the kids are acting up above and beyond the usual tantrum!) But seriously, if you think that’s going to be you because you added 2lb weights to your workout, then you must seriously think you’re a superhero. Which you’re not. You may be a Supermom, but don’t let that confuse you. It’s scientifically impossible for you to bulk up because we’re missing massive amounts of a specific hormone that allows for that; testosterone.

We may have a little of it in our bodies, but not the amounts necessary to gain huge, bulging muscles. Sure you see women with the manly pecks, football player thighs and arm-wrestler biceps, but they’re pumped full of who knows what which allows them to get that big. They’re not in the gym three days a week for 45 minutes getting bodies like that. No way, the freaky man-lady is in the gym for 9 hours a day, eating bucketloads of whey protein, isolate protein and any other variation there is at each meal. It’s their life and their passion and winning fitness competitions is their livelihood. If you’re not that serious about fitness, then you have no reason to believe that by working out your biceps with weights you will soon be walking around like an orangutan with oversized arms.

What you may experience is a sensation that you’re muscles are getting bigger but what happens when you work a certain muscle is that oxygen and blood flow to that area and can create a tightening feeling. This could possibly be misconstrued as an Incredible Hulk moment, but it doesn’t last long and it’s totally natural, so don’t worry, you’re not turning green or busting at the seams! Suffice it to say, you’re much better off adding weights than leaving them out because of a silly fear.

Hopefully I’ve helped to dispel that myth, but if you need more convincing, here’s a small list of the benefits you’ll receive if you do start strength training with free weights:

• Strength training will increase your metabolic activity. That means that even after you workout, your body is still burning calories. Strength training builds lean muscle mass, and the more of it you have, the more calories you are going to burn afterwards.

• Increases bone density. If you have a family history of osteoporosis, strength training helps to fight against that.

• Improves balance. Very important as we age to build up our strength in our core and legs to avoid slips and falls that can render you useless for weeks or worse, months.

• Lowers your risk of coronary disease. Enough said.

• Helps to prevent future injury because you’re strengthening your whole body.

• Helps to reduces body fat (and who doesn’t want that?)

Like I said, there are a ton more reasons why it’s a good idea to start strength training, and an even better idea to add free weights (even if it’s only 2lbs) to your workouts.

And don’t worry, freaky man-lady you will not become!

So What’s A Little Sleep Deprivation Got to Do With It?

Look at him, so happily asleep... I hate him.

A lot apparently. That’s exactly what’s going on here and boy oh boy does THAT mess you up! I just read an article on sleep deprivation in the IDEA Fitness Journal and was surprised to see that indeed I do suffer from this ailment. (I mean, how could I not right? I have a baby who is getting in his 1 year molars and let me tell you, that looks painful! All swollen and puffy and blue… fun for nobody.) Anyway, this article is quite informative and it goes on to explain all of our sleep cycles (which is very interesting and even though we’ve all known about the REM sleep cycle since we learned about it in high school, it still freaks me out to think that my eyes are rapidly moving in a side to side fashion while I’m dreaming about running from an explosion in what feels like an invisible pool of molasses. Right?)

So there are definite signs of sleep deprivation and its been studied that it can also lead to cardiometabolic disease (and that fancy word means things such as hypertension, insulin resistance, atherosclerosis and abnormal cholesterol to name a few). There could also be an increase in the body’s cortisol secretion which has been shown to stimulate appetite and increase fat deposits… right onto your belly!  If you’re not getting at least 6 hours of sleep at night, it’s stated that YOU have a higher association with these types of maladies. (First off, if someone out there is getting less than 6 hours of sleep a night, my heavens, how are you functioning? I’m a mess if I get anything, even one minute less, than eight hours, no kidding! It’s a well-known fact. There have been multiple studies done on this and the results are always the same: I’m a wretched, agitated, ugly, snippy woman when sleep deprived. Old bosses, friends, my husband… they can all attest to this.)

Needless to say, it would appear that I am currently sleep deprived. How can I be certain you ask? (Besides being snippy, agitated, ugly and wretched?) Well, let me tell you. The first sign of sleep deprivation on the snazzy little chart they have accompanying this article is: reduced ability to cope with stress. Bingo!

Parenting a baby who can’t tell you what they want; stressFUL. Frustration is bountiful on both ends. Tears ultimately emerge from baby and mama and temper tantrums affect all ages. It’s not pretty.

Basically being sleep deprived turns you into a toddler, plain and simple.

Other signs are memory lapses (yup), lack of motivation (all I want to do is watch Bethenny Ever After and lament over the fact that I didn’t come up with a SkinnyGirl drink first. Aaaaaaaaaand that’s why I’m the one on the sofa watching Bethenny go through her day), difficulty concentrating (what am I talking about now?), relying too much on the snooze button (I try to hit it before it goes off again so I can get 18 minutes instead of the usual 9 minutes), irritability and moodiness (Really? That’s a freaking sign… who isn’t moody and irritable? Jacka**!)

Alright, I think you all get the point. I need sleep and if you too are feeling like a toddler, you’re deprived as well. Do your best to get in your 7.5 to 8 hours of sleep a night (fat chance if you got a baby!) and if you can’t do it, realize that this too shall pass and one day (too soon) that little baby will be all “growns up.”

(Anyone catch that. “All growns up”…. ‘Swingers’?)

Oh, and this sleep deprivation may also be another reason why your weight loss efforts are not doing the trick. Sleep is that important, for real!