shrink that waistline!

How is everyone doing on their abs challenge?  I’m loving going into the gym and seeing everyone doing planks and sit ups!!!  Thanks to everyone for participating and don’t you worry!  There is another challenge coming right around the corner!

6 pack abs.  The most coveted section of body known to man/woman.  Why are these stupid little muscles so stubborn?!?  Even after 2000 sit ups.  How do you get rid of the belly flab?

The secret to having a hot body is this…STOP LOOKING AT THE SCALE!!!!  This is where most people get it wrong!  There is no magical number that you need to weigh.  There is no size that you have to achieve to look good.

This is what you NEED to do…

1. take your measurements.  waist, hips, chest, arms and legs.  Write it all down

2.  Get your body fat tested!  Healthy for a girl is around 20-25%  for a guy 15-20%.  But!!!  if you want to see definition in your muscles and have that 6 pack, girls you need to be around 12-15% and guys 10%.  And remember skinny fat??  Just because you weigh 115 doesn’t mean you’re not fat.  Or just because you weigh 150 doesn’t mean you are fat.

Now, get all of these numbers accumulated and dated.  Put them in a safe place and after 30 days of serious diet/exercise commitment, check them all again!

Keys to lose belly fat: exercise!!  Lifting heavy weights!! So many people underestimate how important it is to bring back the basics!  Back squat, dead lift, clean and jerk.  All of these are intense core workouts.  Of course the sit ups work well too.  And not those sissy crunches either!  Full range of motion sit ups.

Diet!!  Cut down those carbohydrates.  Weigh and measure your food.  Try to stay around 75 to 100 grams of carbs per day. Give up bread and grains and sugar!!  make sure that you are getting all of your carbs from mainly veggies.  If you give up these things I promise!!!!!  you will be looking smoking hot in no time!!!

AVOID!!!!  diet pills and other fad diets.  Every time I see an advertisement for some instant weight loss cure that lets you eat what ever you want and not exercise, I wanna punch someone in the mouth!  People really believe this crap!!!  Don’t buy into that stuff.  Its sooooo bad for your health!

Now go and do people!!!  and let me know how its working out!

Abs Challenge! Are you game?!

Bathing suit season is here!  Don’t worry if you don’t have the body you planned to have!  You can still make it!  I am throwing down a challenge.  2000 sit ups in 2 weeks.  Yes, that would be 142 sit ups a day.  If you want to throw down even more, make it toes to bar, knees to elbows and GHD’s.

If you want to add in planks then we can sub a 1 minute plank hold for 25 sit ups!  Who’s in?!?!  Report and let me know how you’re doing!

quick snack ideas!

The most important thing to keeping your diet in check is to not let yourself get too hungry!!!  I find when I forget to eat or, better yet, when I don’t really have a lot of options I don’t eat, I tend to get ravenous and go for the first thing in my pantry. (like red vines!  shhhhh!)    The best thing to do is have snacks prepared before the fact so that you don’t slip up and pig out on bread and sugar.

My favorite snacks!!

1.  1/2 cup of greek yogurt with 1/2 tablespoon of honey!  I am obsessed!

2.  beef jerky and almonds

3. celery with almond butter

4. turkey roll ups!  for these I take some really good quality deli turkey or chicken.  I put 1/2 slice of pepper jack cheese (again, good quality)  I put 1/2 teaspoon of full fat cream cheese and spread it around.  Then i slice up some green onion and smush them into the cream cheese and roll it all up!  SOOOO good! (remember that I am not on a low fat diet!!)

5.  There are these new almonds that I found!!!!

Be still my heart!!!  Like candy.  I heard you can get them at Sam’s club, but I have recently come across a way to make these at home!!!!  Here’s the recipe!  So simple and clean. I can’t wait to make these!

So there you have it.  Don’t let yourself get so hungry that you will fall off the wagon!!! But if it does happen (it happens to the best of us)  just jump right back on!!!!  Happy Snacking!

Why you and I should fast

Let me first start off by saying that fasting is NOT the same as starving yourself.  There are several reasons why people choose to fast, weight loss being at the top of that list.  So, why fast????

In a recent article from Mark’s Daily Apple, mark goes over all the in’s and out’s of fasting.  It is fascinating.  Since starting the primal diet I choose to fast every Sunday.  Usually Saturday night is my cheat meal so I always feel better starting the week fresh with a 24 hour fast.  This means that I don’t consume anything for a full 24 hours…including water.  So Saturday night I do a good carb load and then I won’t eat again until Sunday at dinner.   Some might think that this is a little too extreme.  Its really not as crazy as it seems!  I have really grown to enjoy my fasts and I always begin the week re-motivated and not feeling like I blimped out!!  I will even fast during the week if I slipped up really bad on my diet.

So, some common questions with fasting…

Is it ok to exercise while you’re fasting??  Absolutely, so long as you don’t feel light headed.  I have started working out on an empty stomach in the mornings and I find that I have had way more energy!

Will I lose weight while fasting?  Obviously you will lose some weight because you are restricting your calories.  Fasting decreases insulin levels which also decreases body fat.

How long can I fast for?  You can fast as long as you want as long as you are hydrating if you chose to go over 24 hours.  You will also need to take some vitamin supplements and really educate yourself about fasting first.

I have found fasting to be very helpful and motivational.  If you are wanting to know more about it, check out mark’s link and frequently asked questions page.  There are a ton of health benefits to fasting.  Totally worth educating yourself about it.  Especially if you have hit a plateau.  Share your thoughts!!  :)

converting your favorite recipes!

Every family has their favorite recipes.  One of my favorite things to do is take our family favorites and convert them into meals that work for our diet!

Example:  My kids love to have hamburgers and french fries.  I want to make sure they are still eating the meals they love, but tweaking them so that we don’t join in on the high carb diet trend.

Dinner on Saturday:  100% ground chuck, or we use ground venison.  I add loads of spices and make them into patties and grill em’ up.  I make sure that I add quality toppings.  Bacon, avocado, onion, tomato, spinach,.  Sometimes i will splurge and let them use a bun but most of the time we have them low-carb style.  Then instead of regular fries we have sweet potato fries and the kids love those!!

Example 2:

tacos

We love mexican food at our house!  With some tweaking we can make it totally primal!  I use any type of of meat and season it with this taco seasoning:

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper

I throw in onions, bell peppers, jalapenos (I take the membrane out if I’m feeding kids) tomatoes.  I let them simmer and soften.  Then instead of eating it on taco shells, we eat it as a salad.  There are extremes you can go to if you really want tortillas.  I know there is a recipe for coconut flour tortillas somewhere.  delish!

My kids love orange chicken.  Here is a sample of a recipe that has not yet been converted…

• 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 teaspoon salt and pepper, or to taste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil coconut
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (14 ounce) can coconut milk
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed, diced tomatoes
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 3 tablespoons sugar  honey

Here is a SUPER handy website for converting ingredients.

Now most parents will complain that their kids won’t eat some of these things.  Well, with my experience, if you keep putting the veggies on their plate day after day they get used to it.  Just don’t give up!  Try to enforce good eating habits now!

Make sure you avoid cream of whatever soups and fake foods that have 8 million ingredients.

Happy cooking!!

How mobility fixed my knee pain!

So today I’m talking about mobility.  I am no master of it myself, but I can tell you what has helped me a ton!  Its not just stretching!   I used to walk into the gym every day and sit on a mat and touch my toes and what not.  I thought I was super flexible because I could touch my toes!  hahaha. It was not until my level 1 certification that I realized how bad my issue was.  I had a problem with my knees caving in on my squats.  Normally when you squat down your weight should be on your heels and your knees should drive outward.  My problem was my knees would drive inside of my ankles and my weight would be on my toes.  This was causing a ton of pain in my knees when lifting and running!  So, along with some fellow trainers and a Dr. we figured out what my problem really was.  see photo:

What we realized when I was trying to tackle this issue is that I had VERY little hip flexibility. I never thought that my knee problem could be derived from my hip….BUT it totally was!  My problem, and most people’s problem is their IT band.  Now, if you are anything like I was, you probably have never even heard of this tricky ligament.  It runs from the hip to the top of the knee.

Because I was not flexible in my hips, my IT band was really tight and causing problems all the way down to my knee.  So, here’s what I did.  I made sure every day before and after workouts that I rolled it out, either on a foam roller or a lacrosse ball (OUCH).

I did a different stretching regiment  that included stretches like these ones…

and I would also drop into a super low squat (think like how a baby squats) and hold it for a few minutes.  If you can hold a super low squat, find something sturdy to hold on to while you do it. I focused about 20 minutes a day on my hip flexibility and I can say that now I have absolutely no knee pain!  Its amazing!   If you’ve got some good tips about knee pain, comment and let us in on it!

Couch to in shape in 6 weeks

We’ve all seen the couch to 5k programs.  That’s nice in all, but as you know, from reading this blog there is way more to being in shape than running (especially running at a slow pace).

First off, check your diet plan.  I’ve been following the primal blueprint and i LOVE it. It breaks it down so simply.  Eat loads of lean protein and healthy fats and only 50-75 grams of carbs per day.  A few days ago I talked about the food diary I’ve been keeping.  I can’t even express what a difference having that tool has helped me!  Stick to the diet and you are on the fast track to fat loss and health!!

Next, get yourself some new shoes or a new workout outfit.  Something to motivate you to get dressed for your workout.  Getting there is always the hardest part!

Figure your plan.  Are you going to workout at home, at a large gym, or a crossfit gym.  If the first two, then your approach will take more planning.  If a crossfit gym, talk to your trainer and they can customize a plan for you and keep you accountable!

Now, start slowly!  Especially if its been a long time since you’ve worked out.  So many people are so excited at the beginning that they get dizzy, faint, throw up etc.  This can be a huge stumbling block.  If you go for your first workout and it makes you sick, you will be less likely to continue it.  So, do some slow rowing or inclined treadmill for about a week just to get your body used to moving and your heart and blood used to pumping. If you feel good this first week, you can up your intensity on the treadmill or row machine or other type of cardio.

After this week of light cardio you will start to incorporate body weight movements. This means squats, push ups, planks, sit ups.  Get comfortable with these movements!  Try doing circuits with these movements.  Example- 4 rounds of 25 squats, 20 sit ups (not crunches!)15 push ups and 30 second plank hold.  So in case this is hard to understand…all of the above exercises would be considered 1 round.  Find other body weight movements and mix and match them all like we did above.  Lunges, assisted pull ups, hand stands, jumping squats, burpees.  There are endless combinations. You want your whole circuit workout to be about 20 minutes long and try to keep it at a good intensity.

Week three you should start incorporating light weights with your body weight movements.  Try some weighted lunges with a dumbbell in each hand.  Try stepping up onto a box about 18″ high with your dumbbells.  Find a trainer or study proper technique and do some deadlifts, back squats, bench press, shoulder press with a light-ish weight.

example of a workout for week 2 rounds of 50 weighted lunges with 10 lb dumbbells (1 lunge equals 1 rep, so 25 each leg) 150 jump rope singles and 20 push ups.

Week four continue your light weight/body weight movements but now find a day to do some interval training outside or on the tread mill.  Interval training is a more intense and specific workout than just jogging on a treadmill.  Example of interval training.  Sprint your fastest 100M then rest for 90 seconds.  repeat until you’ve completed 8 rounds.

Week five, up your weights with your bigger lifts (deadlifts, bench and shoulder press, back squats) even if its only by 10 pounds.  Pick two days (not consecutive, though) that you will do stregth training.  Do 4 rounds of 10 back squats with each round getting a little bit heavier.

Weeks six it all comes together.  Workout week should look as follows

Day 1   Body weight workout (no longer than 20 minutes) followed by and interval workout

Day 2  Heavy weight training day

Day 3 body weight workout

Day 4 Rest!!!

Day 5 Body weight workout followed by interval training

Day 6 Heavy weights day

Day 7 Rest!

None of these workouts will exceed 45 minutes.  Interval workouts are only about 15 minutes long, but keep in mind they are always at a high intensity. And make sure that you are drinking enough water and getting enough protein!

There you have it!  Be ready for that swimsuit season!!