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My Weight Loss Journey, One Year Later

I started my fitness journey around New Year's last year and I am proud to say I met and exceeded my goals and have kept the weight off the entire year. It took me about 6 months to get where I wanted to be. The last 6 months has been just maintenance and focusing on building more muscle and increasing my endurance.

I only lost about 9-10 lbs. BUT it felt like a lot more. I think because I built a lot more muscle. I was at about 27% body fat when I started. I am down to 19% now. I was a size 8. Now I am a size 2.

So I quit caring about the scale not moving after 6 months and started caring more about body fat %, inches lost, and overall how I looked and fit in my clothes!

I know many of us are making resolutions to lose weight this year. There are tons and tons of blog posts and fitness pages offering very helpful advice for kicking off the New Year right. I won't rehash all of these tips, but I can share what worked for me over the course of the year.

What helped me personally:

Holding myself accountable for my weight loss by telling people about it. Facebook. Blog. Instagram. Communities online like Tone It Up and Blogilates. The more you post about trying to lose weight, the more accountable you will become for actually doing it.
Tracking what I ate in MyFitness Pal. It really gave me a better idea of how well I was doing at actually sticking to my calorie goal/fat vs carbs, etc.
Completely re-vamping my diet/cooking/recipes/etc. I try my best to cook ONLY healthy meals at home and only have healthy snacks in the house. I try to save the naughty cheat meals and treats for eating out or going to other people's houses/events.
Live by the 80/20 rule. 80% of the time you are eating right and exercising. 20% of the time you can indulge. I didn't skip Thanksgiving. I ate some Halloween Candy. I had dessert at parties.
Trying to help others lose weight. I tried to inspire and motivate my friends to join me in my classes or fun runs and eventually got certified to teach bootcamp and barre so I can impact others lives even more.

That's what worked for me. I am in the best shape of my life since high school. AND after two kids. If I can do it, YOU can do it too! By no means do I have a Victoria's Secret model body (and I'm ok with that!). But I do feel strong, fit and healthy. I feel like my clothes fit. That's all that matters to me! I don't need washboard abs or a thigh gap to feel like I accomplished my goals.

So with that said...This is YOUR year! Time to lace up the sneakers and get ready for a lifestyle CHANGE. Who's in?

We have exciting stuff going on over here with my business ;-) I have teamed up with The Dance Center and we are offering two sessions of Barre Fitness and two sessions of Bootcamp this January/February. I am so excited about the environment - women only, kids are welcome to come too. We are actually in the process of setting up a play area for the little people and if I'm lucky, an on-site babysitter. Fingers crossed!

If you live in the area, NOW is the time to sign up!

Overcoming comparison, competition, and jealousy

I wanted to touch base on a topic that isn't talked about much - how do women deal with issues of competing or comparing bodies, physique, successes, etc?

I was thinking about this topic as I watched the Victorias Secret fashion show. I was jealous of their flat tummies, long lean legs and perky chests. And then I had a reality check: that is their job. Many of them were genetically born with those body types or work several hours a day with professionals to keep it that way. They aren't perfect- many in fact would say they are too skinny. But they get paid the big bucks to look like that and if we all could look that way we'd all be VS models. But we aren't.

We are all guilty of this at some point. You see a perfectly trim celeb in a magazine, the fit gym rat with perfect muscle tone, the skinny mom in her skinny jeans at the mall....and the thoughts creep in. "I wish I was 10 lbs lighter," or "I wish I had her thighs" "Why can't my tummy be flat..."

It happens. We all get envious of other women in our lives at some point. Some of these women we will never meet, and some might be our sisters, best friends, co-workers, or trainers. The important thing is to recognize when this is happening and combat it with positive thoughts.

We are each on our own journey and we each have our own struggles. That woman with the perfect thighs might be so unhappy with her chest size. Or the woman who looks so "skinny" might have a hard time gaining weight and is very self conscious about it. The perfect fit looking gym goer might struggle with food issues. So we really can't assume someone has a perfect life based on their looks or lifestyle.

Every now and then this happens to me and I start to get down on myself. I just simply remind myself that my life is good, I have many great features and things to be thankful for. Everyone is fighting their own battles.

Say it out loud: I am beautiful in my own skin. I work hard to take care of myself. I have no reason to be jealous or compare myself to other women. I am just doing the best I can do!

Why Barre Workouts ROCK

Barre workouts are basically ballet-inspired toning routines (but don't be fooled, you won't be prancing in a tutu- these workouts are HARD).

These workouts are designed to give you a long, lean dancer-like physique (without having dance experience), and are becoming quite popular these days. While all barre workouts differ slightly in structure, most methods incorporate exercises done at a ballet barre (you can use the back of a chair at home) combined with elements of ballet, Pilates, and yoga. Barre exercises rely mainly upon one's bodyweight for resistance, and the moves challenge your core stability and balance. The nice thing about these exercises is that it's a low-impact option to get a little cardio and sculpting all in the same hour.

I am excited to start teaching Barre classes with Brenda Curtright, owner of The Dance Center, here in Grants. Brenda teaches Monday and Wednesday nights from 6:30 - 7:30 pm and I will be teaching Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 9:30 - 10:30 am, beginning on Oct. 29. We also offer a Saturday morning class at 8-9 am.

For a Barre class, all you need is yourself in comfortable clothes, a pair of LIGHT handweights (think 2 - 5 lbs) and a yoga mat. Workouts are done without shoes. You may buy special barre socks, but they aren't required.

If you are interested in trying it out, let me know! Our first evening class has a wait list, but get your name on there soon to get in!

Goal Setting and Reflection

I am currently in week 3 of my Fall 8 Week Tabata Bootcamp for women. My participants are doing really, really well - majority are making it to classes and doing their at home workouts. So I thought what better time than now to make sure we all have specific goals in mind and that we are staying on track to meet those goals.

So for my Bootcamp Girls or anyone else who may be on the path towards a healthier fit self, I challenge you to complete the homework below:

HOMEWORK EXERCISE
(Visit Maria Kang's website for her "No Excuse Program" and more info on goal setting)

Find a journal, notebook or something to write down some goals.
Write 3 very specific goals. Nothing vague, like "I want to get fit." Goals should be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Reasonable, and include a Time frame. Examples: I want to fit into old jeans, I want to run a 5k, I want to lose 20 lbs or 10 inches.
Tape these goals to your mirror on your vanity or bathroom or tape somewhere in your closet where you will see it everyday.
Set a date that you want to reach these goals. A birthday, a trip, upcoming event, etc. If you don't already have a special date in mind, you can create one. For example reward yourself with a boudoir photo shoot or a pamper day if you meet your goals. This date should be around 8-12 weeks from now.
Write positive affirmations, quotes, photos, or create a moodboard (See my example below). Place these random places - screensaver on your phone/computer, your mirror, the fridge, your car, etc. Stay positive!
Weigh yourself/measure every week or every other week. You won't know if you are on track to meet your goals unless you measure periodically.
Make a habit of posting your thoughts/progress/inspiration on your favorite social networks - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. The more open you are about your fitness goals, and the more people who know about it, the more likely you are to hold yourself accountable. If you are the type of person who really prefers privacy, join my private Tabata Bootcamp Facebook group where the posts are only visible to other women in the program with similar goals.

Why are we sitting around so much?

Here's how many of our typical days as a working woman or even stay at home mom goes:

Morning - Wake up, shower, eat, drive to work or drive kids to school
8 - 10 am - Sit at a desk at work (or sit on the couch at home)
10-10:15 am - Walk to the bathroom and back to desk
10:15 - 12:00 pm - Sit at desk some more
12:00 - 1:00 pm - Walk to the breakroom, or drive home and sit for lunch
1:00 - 3:00 pm - Sit at desk some more
3:00 - 3:15 pm - Walk to bathroom
3:15 - 5:00 pm - Sit some more at work or sitting in the car driving to pick up kids, sitting at their after-school activities
5:00 - 6:00 pm - Make and eat dinner
6:00 - 10 PM - Sit around at home and watch TV

This is just an example, but it does highlight how many of us do a whole lot of sitting around. Unless we have a certain career that involves a lot of movement, many of us sit at a desk or on our couch for a large portion of our day.

Too much sitting can be linked to cardiovascular disease, Type 2 Diabetes, obesity and even cancers. The good news is that there is also a mountain of evidence that shows injecting short activities in your day can have a big impact on improving your health.

As a Tabata Bootcamp trainer, we are taught about doing "Metabolic Makeovers" with our clients.

So here are some ideas to inject some movement into your day:

Always do your 6 minute tabata workout or other quick workout to start your morning.
Park as far away from the door as possible at work, grocery store, etc. If you live close enough and the weather is nice, try walking to run your errands. I try to always walk to my Redbox to return movies. I walk my daughter to daycare if the weather is decent.
If you work at a desk, set your outlook alarm every 30 minutes to remind you to get up. Walk around. Stretch.
Every time you answer your phone stand up and pace by your desk. This forces you to get out of your chair.
Increase your water intake. This will ensure you have to get up to go to the bathroom every 20-30 minutes.
If you have an hour long lunch, try eating for 20 minutes, walking the remainder 30-40 minutes. Take your ipod with a book on tape or your favorite music, or take a coworker with you!
On the hour at work or at home, do 10 pushups or tricep dips.
If your kids have activities like soccer, band practice, dance class, etc., don't sit while they are doing their activity. If you can walk around the field, building, parking lot, etc. while you wait.
After you eat dinner, make everyone in the whole family go for a quick walk around the neighborhood. If it's getting dark too soon, do the walk before dinner.
Instead of watching TV just sitting, try doing a TV workout - during every commercial do jumping jacks, jog in place, etc.

Here's some additional ways to incorporate exercise:

Fitness TV Workout

Commercial Break Abs

Denise Austin's Office Workout

Tone it Up's TPS Report Workout:

Color Run Fun

Had a blast at the Color Run in Albuquerque this weekend. I took Jenna and jogged it with the jogging stroller.

There's no better feeling than passing cute 20 year old girls with my jogging stroller! A good time was had by all.

Pre-Race

Me and my sweetheart

At the starting line

Pre-race jitters!

Post race & colored!

"You want some pink on your face?"

Can you tell which color was her fav?

Nana & J

Post-Race (Me & My girl)

The Importance of Strength Training

As women, sometimes we think it's all about Cardio. We make sure to get in a walk, jog, bike, Zumba, or dance class, but we don't always make time for lifting weights or working with resistance bands.

I think there are several reasons that a lot of women don't get in enough strength training:

Gyms are intimidating. I think it can be scary to go to a gym, and try to figure out the equipment. Most of us are embarrassed to ask someone or don't want to pay an extra fee for a personal trainer to show us. We are worried that gyms are for hard bodied fitness addicts.
We think we need to focus on cardio to lose weight. Yes, cardio is extremely important in your fitness routine, but it's not the ONLY important type of training. Numerous studies show that cross-training (doing a variation of exercise activities) promotes better results in weight loss.
We are pressed for time, so we end up doing mostly cardio and very little weights. This can be especially true for moms or those with busy work schedules. If you know that you only have 45 minutes a day to get in a workout, you might opt for the cardio to burn calories.
We don't have the right equipment. Weights can be expensive, especially if you are going for the adjustable dumbbells or similar at-home-gym equipment.

Why we as women, REALLY need strength training:

Muscle burns fat. Again, let me repeat that. Muscle burns fat. It's a proven fact. Studies performed by Wayne Westcott, PhD, from the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts, found that the average woman who strength trains two to three times a week for two months will gain nearly two pounds of muscle and will lose 3.5 pounds of fat. That's what I call WINNING!
You will burn more calories if you have more muscle on you! Muscle increases your resting metabolism. So for every pound of muscle you gain, you will burn 30-50 more calories each day.
Strong bones. Coupled with calcium supplements, weight lifting is your best defense against osteoporosis.
A pound of muscle looks better than a pound of fat.

Ways to incorporate strength training:

Low on cash or afraid to join a gym? Do some YouTube Videos at home. (Of course at your own risk!). I recommend FitnessBlender.com for beginners.
Don't have weights? Use a resistance band! You can find these at Walmart or Amazon. There are lots of videos with ideas for exercises. You can also use your own body weight (think pushups/planks).
Do some type of strength training at least 3x per week. You don't want to work the same set of muscles back to back. For example, if Monday you work legs, Tuesday you can do Arms, or skip a day and work a different muscle group on Wednesday.
Join a group fitness class that focuses on strength (like my Tabata Bootcamp!). Also classes focusing on "body sculpting" or "toning" typically include weight or resistance exercises.

If you are interested in learning more about incorporating muscle building workouts into your routine, contact me and we can talk about some ideas that might work for you!