Choose Mustard Not Mayonnaise

I have encountered several people in recent weeks that are intrigued by what we eat, how we exercise and our commitment to fitness. (Check out Living with a 59 Year Old Mesomorph and you'll see why!). Some people share their own stories and often they include the desire to lose fat. Hopefully the progress we're making is inspiring or encouraging in some way. I'm finding that many people just don't know where to start, so the bigger picture seems overwhelming. I've been in that situation. If you don't know where to start you can end up paralyzed, not taking any action at all.

For fat loss, balanced nutrition and smart exercise go hand in hand, but I want to break this up into parts and talk about nutrition first (probably because it's one of my own demons). This is geared to those who are just beginning, but most of us can benefit from thinking through this again.

In my opinion, diets don't work. I have yet to see a diet translate into permanent fat loss. Either the diets are unsustainable from the beginning or they leave people with the thought that they can go back to eating the way they previously ate. I believe in informed, deliberate every day choices related to sound nutrition. Once you start, you have to commit if you want real change. There is no going back. The good part of this is that you're in control, not slave to some unreasonable diet system. The bad part is that if you're in control you have to take responsibility. That means celebrating your progress with gusto but also owning up to your bad choices.

Great, so where do you start?

Your next meal. This means you have a few hours at most to decide what to eat next. If you read my blog you know I believe in short and long term goals, but they will remain unmet if the next choice you make isn't one that takes you a step closer to them. I can vouch for this personally! It doesn't matter if you're a newbie or seasoned, this is true for all of us.

When we first started making changes in our eating habits, they were simple ones, like eating mustard, not mayonnaise. Sounds kind of silly, but the point is you have to start somewhere, as soon as possible. It may take a while to learn what substitutions to make. I'll give you a few suggestions here and you can decide which ones you'd like to do first. It's important to not try everything you hear at once. When my husband started making changes, he did it very slowly and consequently has had a very good success rate. Changing everything overnight is a dieting mentality that sets you up for failure. Choose one or two positive changes a week in your eating habits, do them without fail and never turn back. When you're feeling good about those, tackle the next two. A few suggestions for you!

Choose:

• To eat a real breakfast every day
• To replace one soft drink a day with a tall glass of water
• Grilled meat, not fried
• Mustard, not mayonnaise
• Less fat in your next carton of milk
• A potato instead of french fries
• To eat at least one meal a day sitting down at a table, not in the car or on the run
• Something green, every day
• To skip the bread basket if it's not your very favorite kind
• Salsa, not cheese dip

I'm sure you get the picture! There are many other choices that may be more meaningful to you. I love to hear comments about simple adjustments that can end up having tremendous impact. The point is to move off of point A in order to make progress toward point B. Next thing you know you'll eat something you loved in the past and it won't even taste good to you anymore. The healthier you eat, the more your body responds and the tempting things lose their enticement.

As someone still working on my own nutritional compliance, I can say that you just have to jump in and make that first change. Once you tackle it, the small victory will push you forward. I think especially if you have dieted before you may find yourself having spurts of momentum (willpower!) and moments of discouragement (complacency or defeat). Stay in the moment, keep steady and take it a meal at a time when necessary. Even after all the changes I have made I still have to employ this strategy so I can keep making better decisions. Educate yourself on healthier eating options, talk with people you see that truly eat healthy, build your list of choices and don't wait another meal to get started!

Turbulence Training AAA Abs

I just started Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training AAA Abs, his April 2009 workout of the month. Whoa. This is a fun and challenging workout. It's a 3 day resistance training program which works well for me because I like the pattern of Mon-Wed-Fri for my strength training days. On the off days, he suggests about 30 minutes of light exercise that won't interfere with your recovery. This would be a perfect time to incorporate some extra metabolic work such as bodyweight circuits or interval work with kettlebells.

I like this program because it incorporates some unique total body combination moves that shake things up a little and fit within my current goals. For instance, I cannot yet do unassisted pull-ups and that is one of my goals for this year that I'm working on currently. So right now, I'm having to break up the pull-up/knee-up combination move into two separate exercises, because I only have access to an assisted machine. You could, however, do this move band-assisted. Now, why would I choose this workout program if I can't do these? It's a strange mental thing with me. It gives me some extra drive to reach that goal because I don't like not being able to do a program exactly the way it's written, I get extra practice, and it gives me a very specific test move so I can gauge my progress even beyond this next 4 weeks. So if you have a program where you can't quite do all the moves perfectly, improvise (always in a safe way) and let that be one of your goals, to master a new move.

The ideal equipment for this workout is a pull-up bar, a bench or box, dumbbells, kettlebells, stability ball, jump rope, ab wheel, and a treadmill or stretch of space outside for sprints. However, you can use some substitutes (such as a dumbbell in place of a kettlebell) and he offers some alternative suggestions as well, so use what you can get your hands on.

Here's a good YouTube video with Craig demonstrating a challenging bodyweight interval included in Turbulence Training AAA Abs: Craig's programs always start with a good warm-up (never skip it), clear instructions with pictures, suggestions for post-workout stretching and a chart to log your progress.

Turbulence Training offers a full package or the option of choosing a specific program. Stay tuned for more information about the programs as I work through them myself!

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure statement.

K is for Kettlebell!

You may be seeing and hearing more and more about kettlebells and yet your commercial gym may not have them. This is the case for me, so I tried dumbbell swings, which I really don't care for as I find them awkward. Then I started doing swings with a weight plate (the kind with a hole close to the edge). After one of my friends accidentally shattered a wall mirror by loosely placing a dumbbell on a rack (which then caused an avalanche that crashed into the mirror) I decided I would swing my weight plate toward a wall instead. Plus my husband is a builder so maybe he could bail me out cheaper with drywall repair if I lost control, right? I'm pretty sure I was scaring the gym management as well as the few that were brave enough to walk in front of me. It was time to buy a kettlebell. I wish I hadn't waited so long! If you're ready to add something new, I would recommend at least one kettlebell to start, learning the basic moves and obtaining one solid workout. For all of this check out Art of Strength.

Even if you are in good shape I suggest women start with a 8kg (18lb) and that men start with a 12kg (26lb) or 16kg (35lb). You will be surprised how heavy they feel due to the weight being offset and how strenuous even the double-handed swing can be. Some of those that you see in the stores, especially in the lighter weights, will have handles that are too small. You will want to get a kettlebell with a wide handle that you can comfortably use with two hands, or pass from hand to hand with a somewhat fluid motion. Another odd-ball thing to suggest is wrist bands. Kind of dorky looking but until you get your form down or when you begin using really heavy kettlebells it's easy to bruise your wrists and the bands just help.

Now, what to do with it? The possibilities are endless, so it's hard to know where to start. Check out this feature called Minute of Strength E-news. You will find over 100 short videos demonstrating common and not-so-common kettlebell drills by Anthony Dilugio and team. These are very well done and easy to follow. You can also sign up for the newsletter there. It's a great way to learn and practice the moves. I would start with the swing first and get the form down. The swing can be combined with just about anything for a good hard workout.

Once you get the basic moves down, you're ready for a more structured workout. The one I am using right now is Providence.

I'm really not a DVD kind of gal but this is the best I've ever seen. I love it! Anthony Dilugio takes you through an interval-style workout with 2 minutes work followed by 1 minute of rest, for 14 rounds. He doesn't mess around or talk too much. Upper body and lower body focus is altered so you get rest for specific body parts without breaking your momentum. It ends up being a full-body workout that benefits strength, endurance, balance and flexibility. Some of the moves include swings, clean and press, squats, tactical lunges, figure 8 with a hold, etc. One cool feature is that there is a visible time bar on the screen (which is encouraging because 2 minutes is longer than you think!). It's filmed outside and the music tracks to choose from are great and fit the workout well. Also, you're told exactly when to break, you get a preview of what's coming up next. It's just enough time to chug some water and catch your breath. At the end of the tape there is a snatch test. Whew, good luck!

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure statement.

4th Turbulence Training Transformation Contest Results!

I hope you got to vote for your favorite male and female finalists! The contest this time around was nothing short of exceptional. Check out the 4th Turbulence Training Transformation Contest winners!

The 5th Turbulence Training contest starts on Monday May 4, 2009. Last day to enter is Tuesday May 26, with final entries due Tuesday August 18th. Entry is free and top prizes include $1,000 and a 3 year Turbulence Training Platinum Membership.

If you would like to try Turbulence Training but you're not sure it's right for you, consider taking advantage of the trial offer from Craig Ballantyne. He always offers a money-back guarantee, but this gives you a chance to do a trial run for $4.95 and then if you like it and keep it you're billed the rest ($35) at the end of the trial period. This is the way I did it. Turbulence Training trial offer

Congratulations to everyone who entered this most recent contest and worked so hard to achieve their goals, and thanks especially for taking the opportunity to share your journeys with the rest of us! Way to go!

This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure statement.

4th Turbulence Training Transformation Contest Finalists

I've been following Craig Ballantyne's Turbulence Training Transformation Contests and the results are nothing short of fantastic. But for this most recent contest they seem to be even better. The men did great as usual, and in my opinion there are a couple of really exceptional female finalists this time around. What an encouragement to all of us along the fat loss journey!

This time around Craig split up the finalists into male and female categories, so there will be an overall winner for both. The stories are inspirational and will motivate you to get a move-on with your own fat loss efforts!

Everyone can vote, so check it out and vote for who you think should be the winner in each category!

Vote for the male finalist here!

Vote for the female finalist here!

Way to go to all the contestants and those who made the final round. Happy fat loss everyone!!!

Celebration of Life

Every day that I wake up breathing I am thankful, but today I am reminded of how grateful I am for my very life; a life made possible by a risen Savior. Unconditional love, a sacrifical gift, forgiveness and salvation for us all. New beginnings and another chance. You can't beat that. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Fitness for Families

I'm thinking about families today. In particular, sedentary families that need to lose fat and get in shape. This was triggered by my visit to the gym Monday night and I've been thinking about it ever since.

For the first time ever I saw a child in the commercial gym where I do most of my workouts. My initial reaction was like a safety alert as our gym offers child care and so it really got my attention seeing a little person so close to the free weight area. I'm immediately thinking "child on the loose!" Probably a combination of my nursing background, being a mother and now a grandmother. I'm basically the safety officer of my family, along with my son-in-law the fearless firefighter.

But turns out she was with a woman I assume was her mother, and both were working with a trainer I've not seen too many times until recently. I'm guessing she's about 8 years old. She was a cute girl with pretty brown hair wearing an Under Armour heat tech shirt that was way too small, only emphasizing her weight problem. The trainer had her mother on the back extension machine (hope he didn't put the child on it!) as I was just finishing up some hanging leg raises for some final ab work. My husband confirmed he saw the trainer working with both of them but we left a few minutes later and I did not get to observe anything further.

I cannot get this little girl out of my mind. Or her mother. Or the trainer for that matter. What is he teaching them? What kind of program will he put them on? What was the trigger point that prompted the mother to seek some help? (The mother was out of shape and overweight, but not obese). On one hand it's exciting to see a mother and very young daughter working together to try to dig out of this problem, and on the other hand it really saddens me that it comes to this. There is so much they need to know and I hope that trainer is equipped and motivated to help them.

I never had a weight problem as a kid. I went through glasses and had braces on my teeth for a period of time. I was not a cute kid and was somewhat nerdy, but I never had to add the literal physical and mental burden of fat to the list. I was a skinny tomboy. I spent my time riding my bike, walking the dog, climbing trees, digging the dirt, doing cartwheels, playing kickball and running just because I liked the wind in my face. I did not grow up with athletic parents and never played an organized sport. I was of the generation that gained weight after a few years of marriage. My husband and kids are very athletic and have not had to battle the weight issue.

What is it like for kids now? Can we imagine how cruel it might feel as a child to be teased for being fat ? It's not a new problem, but somehow this quick event triggered some serious emotion for me about it.

Where do fitness and balanced nutrition fit in the priorities of families, especially those with small children? I'm afraid it's not only low on the list, it's not even on the radar for many. We've heard the issues of TV, video games, lack of recess, schools that suffer lack of adequate resources for appropriate programs, sedentary parents, etc. But what are we going to do about it? When are we going to realize that we're not just destroying our own bodies, but we're setting the example for and contributing to a life of physical destruction for our very own children?

Kudos to the woman for getting herself and the child to the gym and making the effort to seek some real help. I hope so bad I see them again!