Safety Tips For Runners

Running often gets a bad rap. A lot of physicians are undecided whether the risks outweigh the benefits. New studies have suggested that distance running can shorten your life span. I believe that everyone has to decide for themselves whether to take the risks, but I prefer to take the risks. I know what I feel like when I run, vs. when I don't. I know that if I'm not running, I get lazy. I know that I love how a crappy, stressful day can look completely different after a good run.  I love the sense of accomplishment that I feel when I have set a new PR, completed a race, or tackled a new goal. I love the running community and all that it offers. I understand that someday my knees may be shot, or I could suffer an injury that I don't bounce back from, but there is risk in anything we do. Running is one of those risky things you can participate in that actually has amazing health benefits with the added bonus of the thrill or "high" that you get from it. When you step onto a roller coaster, you have risks, but you do it for the thrill! You still get on the coaster, knowing that the safety strap could malfunction, or the car could derail, but you love the high you get from it so you are willing to take the risk for the love of the high. Running is the same for those of us that share the love for it. It is worth the risk to us. Some might call us "crazy", but we love to be called "crazy"!

Lately, I have had running safety on my mind and thought I would share some of my tips with you. If you are already an experienced runner, you have your own safety routines. I still find it helpful whether you are a beginner or a pro to share each others safety tips. One thing about runners is that we may be "crazy", but we also like to protect ourselves and each other. I hope whether you are new or old to the sport, that you get something from my own personal tips (listed in no particular order).

1. I know you are proud of your hard work, but DO NOT post your maps on social network unless you are just trying to get yourself abducted and/or killed. You can still post your accomplishments without giving every detail. A lot of you probably even start your run from your home. Posting a map with regular running routines and times is letting the whole world see where you live, where you've gone, and approximately how long you will be gone. Don't give too much info. All we need to know is how far you went and how fast you did it. Stop over sharing for you own safety.
2. Switch things up. It is hard not to go out for your run at the same time each day. You have your routine and know what time of day works best for you, but you should change things up. This includes running the same route every single time you go out. Don't be predictable. Be smart. 
3. If you do choose to run with ear buds, don't blare your music at such a high volume that you drown out all other noise. You need to be alert and aware of your surroundings. 
4. I always run with pepper spray. If you have ever had an encounter with an angry dog while out on a run, you probably carry some kind of protection with you. Whatever your protection of choice may be, make sure you never leave home without it. Getting too comfortable can be a big mistake. Always make sure you are prepared to protect yourself. 
5. Run against traffic. Elementary, I know, but it is surprising how many runners I see running with the flow of traffic. There may be sharp curves or running lanes that force you to break this rule, but as a rule, run against traffic!

On a fun note, I am sharing the Ten Commandments For The Runner. Hope you enjoyed it and found my tips useful. Stay safe out there!

"Diet" is a four letter word

When people tell me about their latest diet, I cringe! I want to be supportive, and you do have to start somewhere, but when will we all learn that diets do not work?! And I don't know about you, but when I tell myself "ok I am officially on a diet", I am suddenly wanting to binge eat on anything that would not be classified as "diet" food! Fad diets will get your attention. Advertising companies are PAID to sell you products that sound like miracles. Their job is to convince you that you can't do this without their help. They get paid to convince you that their way is the best, most affordable, most effective, easiest way to shed pounds. And because all of fitness fanatics are preaching harder and harder about how fitness isn't about the number on the scale, and diets don't work, they are trying to spin off of our truth and play with key words to trick you into thinking that you are doing something good for yourself. Words like "low fat", or "fat free", or "all natural".

People are trying to make money in the fitness industry, and there is nothing wrong with that. I want to do the same.....You just have to watch out for the unhealthy and unrealistic promises. Some people just really don't seem to be able to wrap their brains around how to live healthy without the help of some coaching. I get that. There is nothing wrong with that. Just always be cautious of the gimmicks! Don't waste your energy or money on these programs. They over promise and under deliver every single time. Sure, you may shed some pounds. You may feel better about yourself initially. But the real truth comes after the honeymoon phase. The real truth comes when you get to day 60 of the 60 day program and don't know how to maintain, which results in you going back to your previous lifestyle until eventually you are back to where you started.

If you are looking at a program that has an end, then you need to keep looking. No healthy lifestyle change has an end! Diets have an end. You have a goal to lose X pounds, you get there, then what? You stop the diet and gain it all back.... Now you're on a roller coaster. You know you CAN lose the weight. You know HOW to lose the weight. But what you haven't learned is how to maintain the desired weight. That is a diet.

I do want to say that I don't think a diet is bad way to BEGIN your new lifestyle, as long as you are looking at it just as that. If you can think "lifestyle change" with a certain "diet" to kick start your new lifestyle, then I say go for it. A kick start diet should be short lived. I would commit to no more that 2-4 weeks before you change what you are doing to a more permanent way of living. I say this because some people truly need to shed some weight before starting a good exercise program. Some people just need to wrap their brains around a new lifestyle and ease into it. And some people just need a place to start. I would like to call this Phase 1 of your new lifestyle though, as apposed to calling it a "diet".

The thing you need to know about your body when it comes to changing it, is that it WILL adapt to what you are doing. When it adapts, you have to change what you are doing or you will see no further results. This is the biggest reason I say that "Phase 1" is especially useful. It takes your body 3-4 weeks to adapt to change. Your body's job is to protect and repair itself. It HAS to adapt in order to function. It is during the times that it is still in shock that you will see change. This is one BIG reason that diets do not work! You will hear people say they lost XX pounds in the first 2 weeks, then after that it really slowed down. By week 4, they are calling it a "plateau". The plateau is your signal to change things up! It is not your excuse to quit. I don't care WHAT you are doing to shed pounds, or get healthy, you WILL plateau. And unless you are happy with where you are, that is the time to increase intensity and adjust your eating.

There are other reasons that you will drop weight faster in the beginning of a lifestyle change, such as your metabolism changes with your weight loss. The more you weigh, the less effort it will take to shed those initial pounds. It is not common for me to talk about weight loss. I do not believe in monitoring your success on the scales. I believe that everyone would benefit from staying away from the scales when it comes to living healthy, as it leads to going to unhealthy measures to hit a desired number and that number may have been good for you when you in high school, but not so much now. When you are working out right, and building muscle, the scales are going to disappoint! My advice to you is stay off the scales.

You have probably heard it said that healthy living is 80% diet, 20% exercise. I surprisingly have an opinion about that! It is up to you to decide what you want for yourself. It is up to you to stop comparing your body to others. It is up to you to realize that you were uniquely made, and that what works for one, may not work for you. It is up to you to learn your body. Learn what makes it respond. Learn what makes you feel good. Learn what foods you need to eat to feel good before, during, and after a workout. It is up to you to decide what lifestyle you want to live. How obsessed you want to be. For me? I want to be healthy and fit. I don't need to be skinny, and I sure don't want to be fat. I want to live a lifestyle that allows me to eat healthy and workout the majority of the time, and leaves me with room to let loose and enjoy the things I love without feeling guilty. 

For me, I make my healthiest choices when I am eating alone. And let's face it, most of us eat the majority of our meals alone. We come together at the dinner table, and most of the time on the weekends, but the majority of my meals are either not shared, or eaten in rather a hurry. I also have learned that I can't make a huge deal out of each meal. Nobody should manage their days around their meals.... It is important to plan ahead and do any meal prepping that helps you make healthy choices, but when your whole day revolves around food, something's gotta change. I also find it easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle when I am not depriving myself. If I want a cupcake, I eat a cupcake! If I deprive myself of the cupcake, I will end up binge eating on 4 cupcakes in one sitting. You have to learn what your own weaknesses are. They may be different from mine, and probably are, but my point is, don't deprive yourself in such a way that you will fall flat on your face. Learn how to balance the good with bad.

So lastly, I just want to remind you that water is key! Key to fitness, key to health, and key to healthy weight! If you are dehydrated, you can feel sluggish, lack energy, experience headaches, anxiety, increased body temperature, experience hunger pangs, and so on. If you need that coffee in the morning, drink the coffee, You know I do! If you have to have that 3pm diet coke to keep you from having a meltdown that leads to binge eating, drink the diet coke (although I'd rather you learn to live without it, but who am I kidding? I indulge too.), but whatever you do....DRINK ALL THE WATER!

How I compare a runners body to a car....

It's no secret that I love to run. Running is my exercise of choice. I will admit that I am not an expert or a professional. I'm merely a girl with a passion for the sport. Shoot! I'm not even very good at it! But that doesn't stop me from loving it. My point is, what I'm about to tell you in this blog is purely my personal oberservation, not some profound professional opinion Having said that, I believe you will find that I make some pretty valid points. 

Chances are, if you're 16 or older, you own a car. If you're like most car owners, you try to take pretty good care of your car. You know how expensive it is to repair it, so you make sure you keep it maintained and road ready so that you can depend on it daily. Proper car care isn't hard. Oil changes, fuel, water, brakes, tires, etc. And when you don't do these things like you should, you run the risk of damaging the car or having it quit on you when you need it most.

Much like a car, a runner has to have proper shoes (tires), proper food (fuel), plenty of water (water, duh), etc. What happens if you drive your car for extended periods on bad tires? It gets all out of alignment, isn't as safe to drive, doesn't perform as well, and causes other problems. If you are running in shoes that are old and worn, eventually you will experience pain and discomfort. Left unchanged, this will lead to injury. Much like a car, if you break something on it, or injure something on your body, you're out of commission for an undetermined amount of time (depending on the injury). Keep good shoes. Trade them out when they're worn, about every 6 months. Don't risk the complications that running in worn out shoes can and will cause. 

The same goes for fuel. You can't put crappy fuel in your car and expect it run well for you, and you can't put crappy food in your body and expect it to run well for you. You will feel sluggish, drained, and slow if you're eating crap and training. This is true no matter what you do. If you eat like crap, you'll feel like crap. 

One of the biggest mistakes runners make is not hydrating properly. And when I say "properly" you can't wait until the morning of a long run to start getting your water in and expect to be properly hydrated. And you for sure don't want to hydrate AFTER the fact. Proper hydration is something that you should always be working on. And again, this is true no matter what you do. So many people are trying to function on little to no water and lean to sodas and other sugary drinks for thirst. This is a mistake. You can definitely expect an injury if you are not getting your water intake. Like a car, you will over heat and cause serious illness/injury to yourself without proper hydration. Water is critical. Drink it! Drink LOTS of it!

These are just some simple things to think about as the running season is getting started for many of us. I want to encourage you to get out there and get some miles in, and to take care of your body so that is will be there for you. We need to be able to depend on our cars, and we need to be able to depend on our bodies. 

Have a great day everyone!

Winter 2013/2014 Sucks

I know I am not alone when I say that this winter has been one of my least favorites ever. I committed myself to fitness and a healthy lifestyle around 5 years ago when I woke up one day, fed up with how I felt at such a young age. I wasn't what you would call "fat", but I was certainly not "fit" either. In my commitment, I learned of my own capabilities and stopped putting limits on myself. I found that I love running and I love exercise. I also found that my love for it was contagious to others, which led me become certified in personal training. But, this winter.....ugh!

Now for my confession that I would prefer not to talk about, but I am going to show some serious vulnerability and share with you just how real I am. I believe that when you are just starting a new health and fitness journey, it is overwhelming. I believe that you can look at someone like me, that has this love for running and for eating healthy foods, and get a little annoyed. I believe that it would be easy for you to feel like I don't understand what it's like to be you. To struggle with will power, crazy schedules, or lack of interest. So, that is why I am choosing to open up today about my winter struggle.

Whenever we get off track and get lazy in our healthy lifestyle, or just let ourselves go, we ALWAYS have a reason. I like to refer to these as "excuses", because that's what they are. Usually they are just plain crap, but we tell ourselves otherwise so that we don't feel like such a failure. Let me say this before I go on, no matter what has gone on in your life to contribute to the current lifestyle choices you are making, you are not a failure. If you are reading this and relating to it, all the while wrestling with guilt over letting yourself go, you are not a failure. If you are breathing air right at this moment, you are not a failure. I may not know who you are, but I can say with 100% confidence that you are not a failure. I know this because healthy living has no finish line. Your body will change as you age, have babies, grow old, get sick, get well, etc. You will never truly arrive when it comes to your fitness goals, and as long as you still have breath you will never truly fail. It is never too late to make yourself better.

So my confession here is that this winter has single handedly tried to suck the life right out of me. It has done a great job of trying to rob me of my fitness, but it has not succeeded at squelching my spirit. When I committed to a new lifestyle 5 years ago, I fell in love with it. It became part of me as I found my strengths and weaknesses and learned about what I like and dislike. I truly dislike winter. I dislike the cold, the short days, the wind, the snow, and all else that come with it. Anything below 70 degrees makes me cranky! It robs me of my joy, because I allow it to. I don't enjoy being cooped up inside a gym. It's not me. I don't enjoy attending classes of sorts, i.e. yoga, zumba, spinning, etc. I don't mind a running buddy, but I don't need one either. I am happy to go it alone. I don't even need music to entertain me on a run. It was trial and error for me to find what I love. When we had to endure a winter like we have, my attitude turned sour and I just quit. Yes, that's right.....I said quit. I say that in a temporary way, of course, but the fact that I have let mother nature rob me of something I love says a lot about the fact that I am human just like you. You can learn from this that EVERYONE goes through a rough patch.

What I am happy to say to you though, is that I am back in control of my attitude. Mother nature did not win..... In fact, the first episode of warm weather we had, I was out there running 6 miles a day until I found myself with an injury. Don't do that.... I know better, but my enthusiasm got the best of me. If you are uneducated about anything fitness, rule #1 is pace yourself! Overuse injuries can happen in any workout regimen so be sure to listen to your body and slowly increase your intensity. Be smart!

The moral to my post today is that even marathon running personal trainers that are obsessed with fitness have times of struggles. These episodes aren't going to be the end of you. They will make you stronger. They will only last as long as you let them. You have the power to take back control of the situation, and you can't blame winter, or busy schedules, or the flu, or anything else, because the truth is, there are no real excuses. There are only situations and challenges. What you choose to do in those situations and challenges is what makes the difference. Sometimes you will get it wrong. You are human. Don't beat yourself up. Get a handle on it and move on. I promise you will be stronger.

p.s....winter 2013/2014 truly sucks..... The end!

How do you stay motivated?

This is a question that I was asked recently by a friend/client. After honestly answering with a bit of a pep talk, the question still stuck with me. I have spent some time thinking this one through. What seems like a simple question with a simple answer, has actually made me dig deeper.

Motivation is defined as "the psychological feature that arouses an organism to action toward a desired goal". Summer is usually a motivator. Maybe a big event like a class reunion or a wedding is coming up. Or maybe you just realize that your biggest jeans are too tight and you are not having that. There are tons of motivators in life. The thing about motivation is that it is fickle! When you rely on something fickle, you are headed for failure. One day you will wake up and that good friend "motivation" is going to decide it has better things to do than to get you fired up about your goals and keep your warm fuzzy's about going to the gym at their peak day after day, indefinitely.

The truth is that you aren't going to stay motivated. I believe that when we accept the fact that motivation is not going to be there for us, faithfully, we can really achieve great things. So my deeper answer to the question "how do you stay motivated?", is I don't. When I am determined to do something, I don't need motivation. Discipline and determination drive me to stay focused. I don't know if discipline is a learned behavior, but I like to believe it can be. I like to believe that it is a muscle, like will power, that begins with our attitude. The more you use it, the stronger it gets. I will be honest in saying that there are times that I fall short. I can be a slacker. Winter is my enemy. It attacks my attitude, then it all just starts to spiral down from there. However, because I AM disciplined, I never quit! I fight back. I may slack off and become lazy, but I do not quit! Unless I am on vacation, or resting my body, a week will not go by that doesn't involve me getting at least 2 workouts in and my awareness of what kind of calories I am consuming is always there. I didn't say they are always hard core workouts, or that my diet is always in check. I just said some kind of workout will be happening and I am completely aware of what I am eating and how it affect my goals.

One more moment of truth..... I will admit that I do have a high metabolism and somehow have the physical/genetic make up that carries weight decently. I have never really struggled with my weight, except for when I decided it was necessary to become extremely thin. Here is the deal.... I have curves. I am not sure why it seems like God made tall people "skinny" and shorter people "curvy", but it sure does seem that way to me! And the thing about curves, big bones, muscular builds, etc, is they can make you feel the need to go to unhealthy measures to acquire that "skinny" appearance. Um, if you have curves, no amount of weight loss is going to change that. Lesson learned. All of that said, my genetics don't mean that I have it easy. I think that if I just totally let myself go, I would blow up like a balloon. The fact that I refuse to let that happen is where my discipline might come from. That "attitude" I mentioned before.

So, I said all of that to say this; get to work on your attitude and discipline muscle. The opposite of discipline is laziness. Which one are you? I am pretty sure that if you are lazy, it is something that shows in pretty much anything that you do that isn't something you actually enjoy. Life is full of responsibilities. Some of them are less fun then others. Some of them require more effort then others. Ignoring those responsibilities never makes them go away, it only makes them pile up like dirty laundry. Nobody wants to get that far off track. It just happens. Allowing other things that are more enjoyable to take priority over the things that NEED to be done is a priority issue that gets down to how to disciplined you are. How do you live your life? Do you just go around doing whatever you want, whenever you want to? Or do you prioritize?  Do you take care of responsibilities and maintain an attitude of "no work, no play", or do you just ignore them and do what you feel like doing? I would go so far as to say that lack of motivation isn't the issue. We need motivation. It's what gets us fired up to set a goal. But we need discipline to reach that goal. So, "how do I stay motivated?" I don't, I stay disciplined. And so can you.

Please email me or comment below if you have anything to add. We CAN feed off of each others' attitude and discipline. Those things are contagious so let's help each other out! Have a great week!

Start Swapping and Get Moving

It's the new year. Many of you have declared that this year you will make changes to your lifestyle. You will workout more, eat better, take better care of yourself, give up junk food, etc.... It's a new beginning. It's almost like a Monday, only it comes with a full year of commitment ahead of you. That can be pretty overwhelming when you look at it like that, but it doesn't have to be.

The best way to change is to take it slow. When you teach a person anything new, you teach it in stages. We learn in stages. It is a process. We can only handle so much at a time. If we put too much on ourselves at one time, we will likely run away overwhelmed. It is hard to remember that sometimes when it comes to healthy living. Even if you once were fit and now are far from fit, it is best to start out slow.

I may be certified in personal training, but we all learn with experience. I will never stop learning and growing. My views and opinions may change with age and experience, but the fact that jumping head first into anything usually results in failure will never change.

If you are facing a lifestyle change, I recommend starting with swapping a few bad habits with a healthier option. If your bad habit is to eat drive through for most meals, start by swapping to a healthy homemade breakfast burrito or some wheat toast and fruit for breakfast. Bring along some healthy snacks (string cheese, yogurt, nuts, a piece of fruit, etc) to work if that won't keep you satisfied until lunch. Eat when you're hungry. Don't starve yourself. Start by making small changes in some of your regular choices. If you starve yourself, you will fall flat on your face. You will have a moment when the hunger takes charge and you will eat anything in front of you. You will seek out dense, fatty, junk food and you will beat yourself up immediately afterward. Do not starve yourself!

Get moving. Do this a little at a time. Don't go to the gym on day 1 for two hours and work yourself so hard that you can't move the next day and never want to set foot in the gym again. Go for a walk. 30-45 minutes is a great start. You can slowly work up to some intervals where you add hills or even some jogging/running to your routine. Go to a class with a friend if that is what you enjoy. Look up workouts on YouTube and follow along with them. It doesn't have to cost a lot, and it doesn't have to be a time suck. Do whatever you enjoy the most, just get moving. I prefer to be outside. It makes me happy. I struggle to get strength training in because all I want to do is run. My point is, do what makes you happy. If playing basketball with your son makes you happy, do it. If cleaning the house for hours makes you happy, do that. Just make sure you are enjoying whatever you choose to use for exercise. The biggest benefit to exercise is what it does for your mood. If you dread the experience every time, you are not doing the right thing. There has to be something you can enjoy doing that gets you moving. Be creative. Turn on some loud music and dance if that's what makes you happy. Just get moving!

On another note....in case you are wondering where I have been lately, here is the story. I went back to work, I hated my job and missed taking care of my family, I quit my job, and now here I am. I have to say that I have the best husband in the world. Sorry ladies. It's true. He really is the best. I am blessed beyond belief with such a supportive man to share my life with. I really don't know how I got so lucky. I know I don't deserve him. Anyway, I just want to tell him thank you for taking such good care of me and our kids. He works hard to make sure that we are all taken care of. We have really come to realize that we use to spend a lot of time working just to acquire a bunch of crap, then complain about not having time to spend together as a family and about always being over the top busy. We have come to realize that we (our kids included) will not remember all of the stuff we accumulated. Stuff doesn't make memories, time does. We are not homebodies, so this is a little bit of an adjustment for us. We like to spend freely and go often, but it is exhausting and it is not necessary. We all make sacrifices, you just have to choose which sacrifices you want to make, and follow what the Lord lays on your heart. The thing I keep hearing Him tell me is that you can't get back time. You can always get more stuff, but you can't get more time.

Enough about that.... It is good to be writing again! I encourage you to reach out to me via email if I can help you in any way with your fitness goals and/or journey. No matter what struggles you face, you can always find small ways to start swapping and get moving!

One Size Doesn't Fit All

You know that moment when you bump into someone you haven't seen for some time and they have lost a very noticeable amount of weight and all you want to know is, how? You want to be polite and ask how they are and what's new in their life, but all you really want to know is how they did it. You want to know in detail, in hopes that you can mimick the same plan and achieve the same results. You know that moment, right? 

Here's the trouble with it... Trying on someone else's diet/exercise expecting identical results, is no different than going into their closet and putting on their clothes and shoes and expecting to come out looking just like them as a result. I mean, you're wearing their pants. You've got on that shirt they always look so good in. You're wearing those awesome shoes that you fell in love with the first time they wore them. So why don't you look like just them?? Well, for the obvious reason.... You're not them.....

We all know the basics of fitness. Eat right, workout, take care of yourself, get plenty of rest, etc. The mystery lies in the details. You can put two people on the exact same program, but because of genetics, body type, metabolism, etc., the results between the two will not be the exact same. 

You're sitting at home watching an infomercial for Insanity and you want it. You want those results. So you order the DVD set and give it a try. You work hard. Follow the program verbatim. At the end of the program you expect to look just like the picture of whatever model you envied on the infomercial. You told yourself that when you complete this program, you will have that identical body. Surprise! It didn't happen. You got results. You worked hard! You look and feel great. But you don't look like you expected. You don't look just like the model from the infomercial. 

I always preach about how fitness is about fitness. It's about health. The focus shouldn't be vanity. I say that for two reasons. I want to always remind you that you're beautiful the way you are. Stop trying to look just like someone else, even of that someone else is a former "you", and never ever forget why we eat right and exercise. Your primary focus and goal should always be your health, not how you look in a bikini or what the scales say. The scales will lie to you, and as long as you're working out right and eating right, it will show in your appearance. Your skin will clear up, your flab will tighten, your belly will flatten, your energy will increase, and you will feel stronger. 

When you are on a program, the results you get in outward appearance and/or in your health level will be specific to you and you alone. Never forget that. If you join a group challenge or buddy up with a friend and stick to the same guidelines, you will not get identical results. If you expect that, one of you will be discouraged. I know how hard it is not to chase a certain number on the scale, or a specific pant size, but being healthy and fit isn't about that at all. So don't go to unhealthy measures to accomplish what you want to see on the outside. Stick to healthy choices and the rest will happen naturally. Yes, it will take longer than a starvation diet and avoiding strength training because you don't like what the scales say when you tone your body. But it will be a lifestyle that will keep you from being back in the same situation that you are in ever again. Nobody likes to start over.  

So, I ask you today to evaluate your goals and your plans. Ask yourself what you want out of the process. If the answer is to "look like I did when I was XX years old" or look good for summer", or "look good on your wedding day" or any other "look good for a special occasion or short term event", I beg you to consider thinking in terms of a lifetime of healthy living. My post today is focused on the fact that we are all made up differently. We need to have our own goals. We can work together with a friend  and encourage and support each other. That is great of you have that and need it. Just never lose sight of the fact that you are your own person and "one size doesn't fit all".