What fitness means to me

It's amazing just how much of my day is lived selfishly. I have good intentions and I don't want to conform to this broken world, yet I fall into selfish behavior pretty much over and over again throughout each day. I can wake up, pray, read my devotion, and set my mind on living for Christ, then before I've finished my first cup of coffee I've already failed more times than I can count on one hand. My overwhelming desire to do and be good, coupled with my sinful nature, is a battle I can't seem to win. 

When I got certified in personal training, it was because of my passion for fitness and my passion for helping people see that they can live a healthy lifestyle without feeling deprived. God gave us all of these amazing foods to fuel our bodies, yet our busy lives and the way we view food as a nation sets us up to fail if we don't learn how to deal. I don't claim to have it all figured out. But, I do feel like God spends a lot of time showing me that fitness is not just about vanity, but rather about taking care of the house He created for our souls. 

Now, I can tell you that I have struggled with this and I continue to struggle with this, because my outward appearance IS important to me. I won't lie about that. In fact, I will tell you that it is probably more important to me than it should be. Having said that, the most important thing I learned through my journey in getting my certification was that being healthy and being thin have absolutely NOTHING to do with each other. And, health and fitness has a whole lot more to do with God than it does with us. 

Here's where I'm going with this....

As I said at the beginning of this, I wake up every day with an overwhelming desire to live for Christ. I'm lucky to get it right for even half of my morning. We do this same thing as humans with everything that is right in this world. Everything that does not come naturally to us takes a constant conscious effort. It is impossible for us to get it right 100% of the time. The thing is, I wake up every day hungry for Christ. I trip, stumble, and even fall all day long. But at the end of the day, despite all of my failures, I am still a Christian. In the same way, I wake up each day hungry for health. I trip, stumble, and even fall all day long. But despite all my failures, I still have my health. 

When we put unrealistic expectations on ourselves, we leave ourselves little room for success. I know that I was not born without sin. But I want to spend my days trying to be the best Christian I can be. I wish I didn't fall so short. But I always have a clean slate. I'm always forgiven. It's always forgotten. And what a relief that is. It's not a ticket to stop trying to do good. It's not a free pass to sin. It's another chance to change and to do better next time. It's relieves the pressure that we are expected to be perfect. 

I believe that if we can learn to look at our daily health and fitness with the same attitude we look at Christianity, it would  relieve a lot of the pressure to be perfect. After all, the goal is to take care of this house God gave your soul. Seems like Christianity and healthy living should go together when you look at your body for what it truly is. We all get upset with ourselves when we mess up, but that's not a reason to stop trying to change.

Knowing that we aren't expected to be perfect, applies to everything about us, including our physical appearance. God made you the way He wants you, so stop trying to be something other than that. We aren't meant to be super models. We weren't made perfect on the inside, why would we think we need to look perfect on the outside? You're beautiful the way you are, you just need to be responsible and take care of the body that houses your soul. In my opinion, THAT is what health and fitness is about!

30 Minutes

This is going to be short and sweet tonight. This is just some, hopefully, helpful advice. 

If you are trying to lose weight or change your body, you won't get there by doing a 30 minute moderate intensity workout 3-6 days per week. At best, you will burn 300-400 calories doing moderate exercise for 30 minutes (depending on your size, age, gender, etc). Having said that, 30 minutes of intense exercise, particularly "High Intensity Interval Training" otherwise known as "HIIT", is a different story. You don't necessarily burn a ton more calories during a HIIT workout, or intense workout. What's happening is that you are putting your metabolism to work for you for hours post workout. Here's why... Muscle burns fat, even at rest. The more you strength train, the more muscle you delvelop, resulting in more fat loss. This can be discouraging when you're watching the scales, but pay attention to how your clothes fit and you won't be disappointed. 

The benefits of HIIT are that when doing intervals, your heart rate stays up for hours post workout. When your heart rate is up, you're burning calories. This type of exercise is becoming popular for those of us that have busy lives (myself included). Also, it's just plain FUN! It's hard to get bored when your workout is constantly changing. 

I have blogged about HIIT before. I'm a believer. It's what I teach my clients. Let's face it....we are all busy. And knowing that you can get a valuable and effective workout in, in 30 minutes or less.....well....I mean seriously....it sells itself! And like I said, it is anything but dull! 

That's all I have for today. I encourage you to study up on the benefits of HIIT and give it a try. You won't be sorry!

Training

I'm alive! Hello everyone! It has been awhile since my last post, and I have missed blogging. Here's the story... I have been throwing my resume out here and there over past several months, not putting much effort into an actual job search.  I figured that whatever happens is up to God. Long story short, I was hired as the office manager for a home health care agency. I have had a lot to learn and my brain has been so DONE when I get home at night. Things are starting to get into a rhythm for me, I think, and I am finally starting to adjust. I hope I haven't lost any of you, but for those of you that continue to read, I appreciate the faith you put in my words more than you know.

When I have clients that I am training, my biggest goal is to train their brain. I encourage them to stop being so dependent on others, including me. I only get paid when we are having sessions, but my goal as a trainer isn't to get rich. It is to help you get to the point that you no longer need me anymore. Don't tell me you didn't go for a run yesterday because you couldn't get anyone to go with you. Don't tell me that you need me to make a step by step diet plan for you. If you aren't making decisions on your own and learning to say no, you aren't training your brain. If you can't go to the gym or out on a run without another person with you, you aren't training your brain. It is critical for you to become your biggest accountability partner if you are going permanently change yourself. My job is to show you that you ARE strong enough to do this on your own one day. To show you that the reason you are in the situation that you are in, isn't because you need me to tell you what you are doing wrong. The reason you are in the situation you are in is because you continue to do what you KNOW is wrong.

Yes, a huge part of my job is to coach you through workout sessions and help you see what needs to change in your life, but the biggest thing you need to accomplish is the ability to stand on your own two feet and hold yourself accountable. I can do that for you for awhile, but  by not showing you how to do it on your own, what has that done for you?  Isn't it better to have someone coach and train you about healthy living and clean foods so that you can learn to make responsible choices when I'm not there? It does my heart good when I read a blog post or get a text from a client that reflects the things I am trying to instill in them, and that has happened twice to me in the last few days. It is why I do what I do. I love to see people realize they don't have to ever go back there. I love to see them realize they never needed me to begin with!

So this is what's on my mind tonight. I believe that each of you can train your brain, with or without the help of me. I believe that each of you can learn to make your own decisions, workout on your own, stop relying on everyone else to tell  you calorie for calorie what to put in your mouth, and start holding yourself accountable. You are smart enough to know the difference between good and bad and right from wrong. This isn't your issue. Your issue lies in giving yourself the option to do what's wrong or eat what's bad.Give yourself some credit and start working on training that brain. Eventually the choices you make related to health and fitness become a part of who you are, because you took responsibility for yourself and quit allowing yourself to go on like this. I truly believe that anyone can get to their desired fitness goal. It just takes action. It takes YOUR action. Start training your brain tonight! Start being responsible for your own choices. Stop relying on everyone else to tell you what you are doing wrong. You already know, so fix it. If I can help you in any way, you know I am always here. Having said all that I did about being responsible for your own self, everyone needs a little motivation, inspiration, counsel, prayer, shoulder to cry on, someone to pick them up when they are down, etc. Everyone gets overwhelmed. Expect that. But whatever you do, keep moving forward and never stop chasing after the goals you have set for yourself. Don't let goals become dreams. Make them real! Because you can!

Have a great night everyone! I've missed you:)

It Goes Both Ways

The more sugar you eat, the more sugar you crave. The more TV you watch, the more TV you crave. The more you sleep, the more sleep you crave. The more soda you drink, the more soda you crave. I will stop there. You get it.

It is so easy to give into cravings when they are the things we shouldn't give into. There is something about restrictions, or the thought of being deprived, that we naturally rebel against. The problem is, the more we partake, the more we crave. Here's the funny thing about cravings........you can crave what's NOT bad for you, just as you can crave what IS bad for you. You can train yourself to crave the good things!

It all starts with a choice. You make a choice to trade your normal drive through breakfast for a bowl of oatmeal and an apple. You make a choice to drink water instead of soda. You make a choice to give up desert tonight. You make a choice to get in a run after work, instead of coming straight home and planting your booty on the couch for hours.  And I will stop there. You get it.

Cravings are a result of the choices we make. We are faced with choices all day long. We struggle with making good choices because of subliminal messages and busy lives. It starts with a bad nights sleep, a long day at work, the craziness of playing taxi for the kids, the missed trip to the grocery store, a pizza commercial on the car radio, and so on. The next thing you know, the day is nearly over and the whole family is famished. You grab a pizza and binge on it because you haven't eaten for hours and the healthy, low calorie lunch you had is nothing but a distant memory. One bad day, and the cravings begin.

How do we overcome.....? You have your bad day. You eat your pizza then pass out minutes later. You wake up and CHOOSE to have a determined attitude that one crazy day isn't going to define your future choices. You face the cravings that last nights chaos left behind with that determined attitude, and you get through it. If you don't......the cravings have only just begun. The battle only gets harder to fight.

It doesn't matter if you are cleaning house, mowing the lawn, running a marathon, cooking dinner, reading a book, telling a story, making a grocery list, sleeping, shopping, walking to get the mail, or whatever else you do in your 24 hour day. If you lose momentum, you have to focus to get it back. It's nothing more than a speed bump. It happens in everything we do, even in our sleep. It is impossible to go through life and never lose momentum. Some speed bumps are harder to recover from than others, but we make the choice to focus or to not. Eventually, you fly past the speed bumps without skipping a beat. Eventually, an interruption to your day of healthy choices is no big deal because your good outweighs your bad so you no longer crave the bad things. You would rather nibble on carrots and broccoli than eat a fried meal. Your workouts have a scheduled time, and you have a mini panic attack when you think you may run out of daylight before you get the time to get out and run. You have changed because "it goes both ways".

Can it really be that simple? Yes! All I have to do is train my cravings? yep! And by making the right choices about food and exercise throughout each day, my cravings will change on their own? You got it!

I hope you start altering your choices today. I hope you chose to train your craving and gain control of them. And I hope you inspire others to do the same. Healthy living is inspiring. People see you doing what they think they can't, and they want it too. Be a testimony and an example to someone today. Show them that they can do what you are doing. Don't let your efforts be selfish. Share your story and help others. We all need inspiration.

Water

I can not say this enough..... DRINK WATER!

Our bodies are made up of 70-80% water. We lose water through tears, sweat, urine, waste, etc. When that water isn't replenished properly, dehydration begins. You have a better chance of flirting with dehydration than you realize. Dehydration can cause the body to panic, signaling to you that it is depleted in random ways that sometimes don't even make sense. One of the first signs of dehydration is thirst. How many times do you reach for a sugary or caffeinated beverage to "quench" your thirst? Soda should never replace water. It is one thing to treat yourself to something other than water, in moderation. But, we should never reach for it to fend off dehydration. Hunger pangs are another sign of dehydration. I recommend drinking water when hunger pangs or cravings arise, before reaching for a snack. Foods do contain water and they do help replenish what is lost throughout the day, but food alone is not enough to keep you properly hydrated. Other symptoms can include elevated heart rate, headaches, sleeplessness, fatigue, increased body temperature, constipation, and the list goes on and on.

One of my least favorite "rewards" for not getting enough water, is water retention. Just as your body defends itself by storing fat on extreme calorie restricted diets, it will store water when it realizes it is being deprived. As a woman, we all know water retention sucks. Logic tells us to think "if I drink more water, I will retain more water". Not even a little bit true! The only healthiest way to lose the water weight is to DRINK WATER!

There are quite a few issues you could be dealing with daily, that could very possibly be the result of water depletion. I encourage you to evaluate your daily consumption. A good goal is to drink half your body weight in ounces. Especially if you exercise, or spend much time outside in the heat.

Obviously I am not a Dr, but I do understand the effects lack of water has on the body. I have experienced my fair share of issues, and learned the hard way what my body is telling me. I encourage you to take time to research this, and learn for yourself. If you aren't paying attention to this, DO. It would not surprise me at all if some of your unexplained ailments disappear with proper water intake. Keep a journal. Pay attention. And DRINK WATER!!!

Have a great week everyone!!!

It's not your job...

I know I've posted about body image before, and about how the media sends us unrealistic standards to live up to. I talk about this often, because it's something that I struggle with, and I know I'm not alone. Anytime I have a conversation with another woman about this topic, they open up to me about their own insecurities and struggles with this. 

I was having a well-care visit today and my nurse wanted to know how my personal training was going. We talked about how people don't often believe in themselves until someone shows them what they're capable of. She told me this was very true for her as well, and that the media makes her feel as if she has to look a certain way. She shared with me that she becomes so intimidated that she just does nothing about her size and shape at all, because she knows she could never become what the media portrays a woman should look like. I know she is not alone in this line of thinking. I completely see how she feels defeated before she even starts. 

Here's the thing we have to remember. This is something, as women especially, that we need to constantly keep in mind. These women get paid to look like they do. They go to extreme, unhealthy measures to look like they do. That's their job. 

When you make your eating/exercise habits about trying to live up to those standards, it's not going to last. You may even arrive at what you feel is your ideal size, but later find its impossible to maintain it. I can't tell you how freeing it is to finally live your life to obtain and maintain good health. To throw the diets, drinks, pills, books, videos, shots, and all other unhealthy and unrealistic approaches out the window, and truly focus on your health. 

It's not your job to look like you just walked out of a sports illustrated swim suit edition. If its not your job to be a surgeon, you're not going to feel bad about yourself for not being qualified to preform a surgery. If it's not your job to be a school teacher, your not going to feel bad about yourself for not being qualified to teach. So stop trying to become a professional model if you're not going to get paid for it.  

The other thing I hit on at the top of this post was the fact that a lot of people don't think they're capable of this type of lifestyle. Oh...but you ARE!!! It is so important to seek out a form of exercise that you enjoy. If you're constantly attempting the couch to 5k and never finish the program, maybe running just isn't your thing. Don't feel bad. Stick with it long enough to be sure you truly don't like it, then move on. If its a goal to run a 5k and you have no health issues keeping you from it, you can run a 5k. Make sure that you're not chasing after your workout buddy's dream. Set your own goals and go after your own dreams. 

One thing I do know is that a little dedication goes a long way. What starts off small, grows into something big. All it takes is faith in yourself and not letting those negative voices inside your head, along with the craziness of life to stop you. If you can learn how to plow through all of those obstacles, you'll never go back to that lazy, unhealthy, full of excuses, poor body image, intimidated state of mind again. 

I love to see people crushing their goals. I hope that you would share your story and/or journey with the rest of us. We all could use a little inspiration. If you would like to share with us, shoot me an email and I will post it on my blog. If you wish to remain unnamed, that is not a problem. And if you need any advice, ever, I'm here for you always!

Day 8

We are 8 days into the August challenge. By now you have a pretty good idea of how you're going to do. I am certain that some days are easier than others, for you. I can say the same. I can officially admit that I didn't stick to it 100%, but I am doing really good and full of determination. I have excuses, just like you (assuming you have cheated as well). One thing I want us all to get from this challenge is that we can eat healthy the majority of the time, only indulge on occasion, and still get results.

So many people live their lives just grabbing quick foods on the go. We have busy lives. And, if I'm being honest, processed foods taste good. Hectic lifestyles are a great excuse for "having" to eat that way. But the truth is, and hopefully you have discovered this, healthy eating can be just as easy. All it takes is a little bit of preparation and planning. Purchasing your fresh fruits and veggies, bringing them straight home, washing, cutting, measuring, and prepackaging them for convenience, really doesn't take much time or energy. Having healthy snacks handy and ready to grab and go is key to eating clean. If we don't prepare in this way, we will cheat. You WILL get busy and skip a meal in an attempt to avoid processed foods. This will lead to excessive hunger and cravings. Add a temptation of any kind to the picture and the next thing you know your're scarfing down an order of cashew chicken like it's the last supper. Do your prep work. Don't set yourself up to fail.

If your diet is typically unhealthy and you have taken this challenge with me, I'm guessing that you are experiencing changes in how you feel by this point. You're still detoxing and may be feeling slightly ill. It can make it hard to keep going, but I assure you it won't last long and will be worth every effort. These are the consequences of filling our bodies with impurities on a regular basis. Your body is ridding itself of toxins and is in a bit of shock. You probably have dropped a few pounds. It may get a little more intense before it gets better, but just hang in there. My guess is that you are already through the worst of it, depending on how diligent you have been.

However you have done, know that I am proud of you for your progress, no matter how big or small. Just the fact that you WANT to change is progress. If it took a lifetime for you to develop bad eating habits, it's going to take some time to undo them. No matter what mistakes you make, it doesn't mean you have failed. It only means you are human. The trick is to find balance. We live in a country that shoves food in our faces everywhere we go. Getting together with friends, watching tv, holidays, shopping, movie theaters, convenience stores, office parties, pinterest, facebook..... You name it, there's food, or the message of food. It isn't easy to make the choice to go home and make a clean dinner when everything around us tells us NOT to. I heard someone say that a good rule of thumb to eating healthy is that if the food you are about to eat has a television commercial, don't eat it! That may be a little off, but I think it makes my point about how we face so many temptations to eat anything or everything that we shouldn't. It just adds to the challenge of training our will power. You go to a restaurant and eat some grilled chicken, side salad, baked sweet potato, then the server comes by with a desert tray to die for and it's all over. You make a healthy meal at home then sit down in front of the tv and see a commercial for Dairy Queen, next thing you know, you have loaded up the fam and are ordering a blizzard in the drive thru. You get up on Sunday morning and enjoy your clean breakfast of egg whites and wheat toast, then you get to church and have to avoid the common area because you know that if you even SMELL one of those donuts, you are going to eat 3. If it sounds like these are examples of personal experience, it's because they are!

What I want to get across in this post today, is that I want you to be proud of your efforts, stay strong, know that a mess up here or there isn't the end of it all, always be prepared, and try to find your balance. Believe in yourself and believe that the good choices you make do matter, no matter how often you make them. Eventually you will make more good choices than bad, and you will find your balance.

Keep it up everyone! Only three weeks to go!!