07
May 2013

My Muscle-Building Support Plan

May 7, 2013 By Leave a Comment

ID-10088126

Support is one of the most important, yet also the most overlooked, elements of any change.

When we decide to make a change, whether it be to get healthier, quit smoking, change a habit or whatever, most of us tend to want to go it alone. Usually it’s because we’re a bit embarrassed; changing means there’s something we’re doing that we don’t like about ourselves so asking for support means admitting that there’s an issue and that’s a pretty vulnerable position to be in, don’t you think?

The problem is that habit changes aren’t easy! In fact, they’re downright difficult and for the first month can really suck. The reason for this is simple: changing anything involves a LOT of mental effort. You’re used to doing something (or thinking in a certain way) for so long that you stopped having to think about it but now you’re having to focus on each step. It’s kind of like having to learn to ride a bike all over again. If you’re used to not thinking about what you’re eating 3 times a day for, perhaps, you’re entire life, having to switch and start really paying attention to what you eat, when you eat and perhaps even HOW you eat is going to be hard! This is why you normally stop before you get started; you’ve underestimated what it’s going to take to reach your goal and overestimated your ability to deal with the change. To reach your goal successfully you’ve gotta have a realistic understanding of what you need to do and set yourself up for success and to do that you have to create situations that hold you accountable on a daily or weekly basis and surrounding yourself with the support needed to lift you up when you fall (’cause trust me, you WILL fall – you’re human!) and cheer you on when you’re on the right track. When you try and do it all on your own, you have no one but you to report to and we all know how easy it is to lie to ourselves!

Even as a coach, perhaps even especially as a coach, I also need as much support and accountability as I can because others just assume that I have it all together in the fitness & nutrition department. The truth is, however, I’m not perfect! I know my issues, I struggle still a bit with overeating and I still need someone to make sure that I’m pushing hard in my workouts since I do them on my own. Having someone ask me how hard I lift during my workouts ensures that I’m not letting myself off easily!

So to help me make sure that I’m sticking to my plan I’ve had to build a support team and I’ve done it in three different ways: 1) I told EVERYONE of my goals ’cause the last thing I want to do is have to admit (especially to YOU) that I made a goal and then just didn’t bother with it, 2) I contacted my own coach (yes, I also have a coach!) and asked her to help me stay accountable, and 3) I’m reporting in to my Challenge Group on a daily basis and am honest in my reporting of how my workout that day went and how my eating went. This is, like, über support. Support cubed, if you will. I have given myself three systems of support and accountability so that even if I mess up with one, I still have two more to fall back on.

Now, the sweet spot when it comes to building your support crew is to find people who aren’t just going to go “Yeah, that’s cool… Good luck!” and then turn back to doing what they were doing before you told ‘em. You want to find a person or group of people that care, people you know are going to be your biggest cheerleaders but who you know are also going to hold you accountable! You WANT them to challenge you! You want them to kick your butt when you’ve giving them an excuse because then you know you can’t just half-ass it and you’ll reach your goal that much quicker rather than doing it on your own with no one to give a damn whether you do the work or not.

The right support is CRUCIAL to your success. Don’t think for a MINUTE you can do it alone ’cause you probably won’t and besides, it’s more fun when you know there are people who want  you to succeed! Don’t have those people in your life? That’s what coaches are for and why I decided to do this for a living, we’ve dedicated our LIVES to supporting you and keeping you accountable to your goals!

Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: ChaLEAN Extreme, Fat Loss, Latest Post, Tips, TurboFire, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , ,
02
May 2013

Attack Of The Munchies!

May 2, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Cupcakes

So I like to think that I’m a pretty normal chick. I wake up with crazy hair, get overly excited when I hear mail hitting the bottom of my mailbox (wait… is that normal?), I let laundry pile up until it turns sentient and I get food cravings. Sometimes it’s for something salty, sometimes it’s for something sweet and sometimes I can’t damn well decide between the two and I’m pretty sure that’s why things like “salted caramels” came into existence.

Last week I had a MASSIVE sugar craving that came on every day for three days. I mean, this craving was over the frickin’ TOP! I wanted to eat ALL THE SUGAR IN THE WORLD! I have no idea what sparked it, my pretend smart theory is that it’s because I had just started my new nutrition plan which called for me to cut back a tiny bit on my carbs (and the right carbs give us the right sugar to our body) but I honestly have no clue. Regardless, I did a pretty good job of keeping it at bay until Wednesday when I caved and bought some chocolate and it hasn’t come back since!

But there are a LOT of ways you can combat a craving without eating the world’s production of Doritos or Clodhoppers and feeling a salty/sugary hangover the next day.

Create Healthy Alternatives

Be realistic and understand that cravings are natural and that they happen to every single one of us. You can be better prepared for this by having go-to healthy snack alternatives at the ready. Try making kale chips for your salty cravings and something like these awesome macaroons and stick them in the freezer. Make sure you pre-portion all of these into little baggies so you don’t overindulge (yes, you can overindulge on healthy things). Or you could go to the basics like fruit and almonds but let’s be real here, that ain’t gonna happen! Pay attention to trigger foods though, if you binge on ANYTHING sweet or salty this may not be your best bet!

Distract Yourself

Did you know that most cravings will go away in about twenty minutes? When you get a craving, do something that needs doing like the dishes, change the lightbulbs you’ve been putting off or go for a walk instead. By the time you’re done the craving will probably be gone. Sometimes we get cravings when we’re actually just bored so this is a great way to step away from the kitchen!

Take A Tea Break

The first day last week when I had my sugar craving I decided to brew up a sweet tea instead. The sweet flavour hitting my tongue worked like a charm without the added calories! Create a little supply of yummy go-to teas!

Drink Water

Our bodies actually don’t know the difference between thirst and hunger so what you think is a craving just may be your body’s way of saying it’s thirsty. Have a glass or two of water and wait twenty minutes to see if it’s still there.

Give In!

Yep, I said it! Sometimes ya just gotta give in to the craving! It doesn’t mean you’re weak or you’ve failed in the least, it just means you’re human! The trick to doing this smartly is to allow yourself a SMALL treat – don’t buy a large bag of chips or a full chocolate bar. Keep it to a small bag and a mini-bar. If you can’t, see if you can share with someone else so you don’t go overboard, then, get back to your life! Don’t beat yourself up, keep it small, track it and get back on track! This is what I ultimately did last week, I indulged a bit and then got right back on track without having to suffer any consequences!

A healthy lifestyle includes cravings but if you’re not prepared for them you can quickly spiral downwards into binge eating so be smart, be prepared, don’t beat yourself up over it and stay the course!

Image courtesy of Victor Habbick / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Filed Under: Latest Post, Meal Planning, Nutrition, Tips, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , , ,
30
Apr 2013

My Muscle-Building Workout Plan

April 30, 2013 By Leave a Comment

CLX/TF

So we’ve talked about my new goals and we discussed how I’ll get there from a nutrition and fuel standpoint but there are four important principles of any change:

  1. A specific, measurable and attainable goal (I want to decrease my fat by 10% between now and June 19)
  2. A nutrition plan that will help you reach your goal (Mine is one that’ll help me to melt the fat off, increase my metabolism and repair my newly built muscles)
  3. A well thought out and solid workout plan that’ll help you to reach your goals (I’m talkin’ about today)
  4. A support system that will, duh, support you, encourage you, motivate, keep you accountable and challenge you to make sure you’re doing what you said were you were going to do so that you’ll achieve your goals (we’ll chat about this next week!)

So let’s talk about my “well thought out and solid workout plan that’ll help me to reach my goal” shall we?

Remember when I said in this post that the absolute BEST way to burn fat (and NOT muscle) is to choose a workout that will help your body to create mitochondria (the fat-burning cells in you body)? Well I also mentioned that the best workouts to do that are anything involving strength training and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) so that’s the short answer of what my muscle-building workout plan consists of: strength training combined with HIIT.

But I’m a program person. I need to have a beginning, middle and end to my workouts to give me a basis of measurement and to keep me (and my body) from getting bored so I decided that the best workout for me to do to achieve my fat loss goal is take another shot at my beloved ChaLEAN Extreme/Turbo Fire hybrid program!

Both programs on their own are amazing and can help you to achieve incredible results. ChaLEAN Extreme on it’s own is a fantastic muscle-building program and focuses on heavy weights and few repetitions of each move to concentrate on muscle failure (muscle failure is when you can’t squeeze out any more reps with good form) and also throws in a few HIIT workouts to rev up your metabolism. The downside is that there aren’t a lot of HIIT workouts in the program and you can get super bored with them. TurboFire, on the other hand, is pretty much the complete opposite of CLX, it concentrates specifically on HIIT workouts with cardio programs that have burned more calories than any other program I’ve EVER done and although it does contain its own set of strength training workouts, there are only two of ‘em and they don’t really concentrate on muscle-building as well as CLX. So it stands to reason that by combining the two; taking all the hardcore muscle-building workouts from CLX and combining them with the intense HIIT workouts from TF – you’ve got yourself a damn near perfect recipe for fat loss and muscle building!

In fact, it’s this hybrid that Chalene Johnson herself (the trainer for both CLX and TF) does on a daily basis. Now, I did this hybrid last spring with great results but I admit that I didn’t give it all I could in the weight area. I used the weights I had which worked but I knew I could do more. This time I’m investing in a set of SelectTech weights in May so I can make sure I reach muscle failure on a regular basis to encourage new cell growth and make sure that I’m giving it my all each and every time! Besides, I just bought a bridesmaid dress over the weekend that leaves absolutely NO room for extra body fat! YIKES!

Filed Under: ChaLEAN Extreme, Fat Loss, Fitness, Latest Post, Motivation, Reviews, TurboFire Tagged With: , , , ,
25
Apr 2013

My Muscle-Building Nutrition Plan

April 25, 2013 By Leave a Comment

sexy beast

One of the biggest differences between weight loss and fat loss is that, in fat loss mode you actually wind up eating more than in weight loss mode. When you’re merely losing weight, huge calorie reductions are the name of the game because you’re wanting to lose whatever weight you can but when you’re losing fat, you need to focus on, obviously, the reduction of fat and that requires a different eating strategy. Some of the following I’ve already been doing (like eating often throughout the day) and some require some more effort (cutting back on sugary fruit).

First thing’s first, fat does not make you fat, overeating and sugar makes you fat! Sugar isn’t all that bad, good sugars (found in fruits, veggies and whole grains) are absorbed into our bloodstream as glucose and feeds our brains and gives us energy. The downside is that if we get too much sugar all at once, or if we take in the wrong kinds of sugar (think the processed white sugar that comes from white breads and pastas and candy), our body’s have no clue what to do with it and instead of dealing with it like an adult, it pretends it can’t see it and stores it away as body fat. This means I’m going to be doing my best to steer clear of ALL refined sugars and getting my carbs from fruits, veggies, whole grains, beans, legumes and some dairy.

Now, let’s move on to protein. Protein is a major player in my new nutrition plan because it provides energy to help our body repair muscles, bones, and tissues as well as maintaining lean muscle mass (which is what I’m aiming for). Because I don’t eat meat (but I do eat dairy and fish), I’ll be upping my intake of plant-based proteins, fish and eggs (and some dairy but not by much). In fact, I’m aiming for about 30% of my daily calories to come from protein consumption.

I’ll also be upping my fat content a bit as well. Fat helps to slow the entry rate of sugar into our bloodstream which gives us more energy throughout the day and it also releases a (SMART STUFF ALERT!) hormone called cholecystokinin (CCK) which tells the body it’s full. But not all fat is created equal and I’ll be sticking to “heart healthy” fats found in things like fish, avocado, olive oil, nuts and seeds!

Finally, I’m going to continue drinking a heck of a lot of water every day to help my body absorb vitamins and minerals, help flush toxins out of the body, give me more energy after my workouts and curb my appetite. I’m aiming for about 9 or 10 glasses per day!

So that’s what I’m eating but I’m also changing how I eat. I’ll have to make sure that I eat regularly so that I can keep my blood sugar from the roller-coaster ride of peaking and crashing and it’ll also speed up my metabolism all day long. This means eating within an hour waking up and then eating every 2 – 3 hours until bedtime. I sort of do this already but I am known to wait a little too long for an afternoon snack so alarms on my phone will be used to remind me to eat until it becomes habit!

What all of this is going to do is make sure the right fat starts to melt off, my muscles are well-fed and are repairing nicely so I’m not sore all the time, keeps my energy up and ensures that my metabolism is sky-high so that I’m burning fat ALL DAY LONG!

Now, I’ve already been eating a similar plan for several months now but this is my first time making a solid effort with it. I’m documenting my daily eats and workouts on Instagram and Facebook so if you want to see how I’m doing, friend me over there and let’s do this!

Filed Under: Fat Loss, Inspiration, Latest Post, Meal Planning, Nutrition, Tips, Uncategorized, Weight Loss Tagged With: , , ,
23
Apr 2013

Toronto Yonge St 10k

April 23, 2013 By 1 Comment

Photo 2013-04-22 09.39.45 AM

As many of you may know, my love for fitness began with running. I started running as a no-excuses way to get my butt off the couch and in 2008 decided to sign up for a 5k as a goal to work towards and keep me motivated and consistent. In the 3 years proceeding I wound up running several races including 8k’s, 10k’s, 15k’s and even a half-marathon. I took 2012 off from running after a sprained toe and subsequent pulled calf muscle made me decide to cross-train for a bit. Although I’ve discovered that I love my at-home workouts more than running, I do love to race and wanted to race at least once this year and so, two days ago I did just that and ran the Toronto Yonge St 10k!

Pre-TYS10K

I woke up bright and early Sunday morning to get ready. In my racing days of yore I’d make sure to have everything I needed laid out on the couch for me but due to April being so bi-polar I had no idea what to wear until I woke up! It was super sunny but the wind was COLD so I opted for long pants, a long-sleeved top and my zip-up hoodie so I could control my body temperature (note to future runners: dress for 15 degrees warmer than the temperature you’re going out in). Thankfully this combo ended up being perfect for my race!

Photo 2013-04-22 09.39.34 AM

My goal for the race was just to have fun since I had been out of the running loop for so long and although I trained with a friend, our hearts weren’t in training and, admittedly, there were a few weeks with some missed runs and bad excuses! But I was also curious to see how, or if, my running would improve after a year worth of solid cross-training and strength training so I was a bit torn over just racing to have fun or to see how well I could do!

Apparently there was a moment of silence for those who suffered at the Boston Marathon before the start of the race but there were no speakers back in my corral and I missed the whole thing while waiting in line for the port-a-potty (I always have to pee before a race… ). Oh well, I was running for Boston anyway and attached a bib saying so on the back of my hoodie just as many others racing that day did!

At 9:15am our corral was ushered over the start line and it was on! I cranked up my tunage and off I went! This was the third time doing this course so I knew what to expect and I always just go with it for the first few km to warm up my body. There were a few people out on the sidelines cheering us on (and MANY well-wishers for Boston which was nice to see). This course is famous for it’s downhills and any seasoned runner knows to take advantage of them so I sped down each and every one and was feeling absolutely awesome!

Photo 2013-04-22 09.39.40 AM

At this point I was racing for fun but then at the 5k mark, my Nike+ Running app informed me of my time and I realized that this was my fastest 5k EVER. At that point I started to think that maybe, just maybe, I could KILL my previous best time and decided to see what I was made of!

My strategy was simple, give ‘er when the music playing was upbeat and fast and recover when the songs slowed down! Ha!

8k rolls around and I’m also killing my best 8k time so this is it, I know I’m going to see what I can do. Unfortunately, at this point I hadn’t really paced myself very well and was quickly starting to run out of steam but I knew I only had 2k left which would be less than 15 minutes left of running! I took 2 smaller 30 second breaks but by the time I got to 500m to the finish I was dying but I wouldn’t give up, not at seeing the finish line so I dug as deeply as I could, kept going even though my lungs were on fire and crossed the finish line four minutes faster than my best 10k!

Photo 2013-04-22 09.39.57 AM

I think this was probably my favourite race so far. I had fun running it, didn’t feel any pressure but still decided to see what I was made of and came out with a personal best two years having run my last race (coincidentally enough, it was the same route)!

I may not love training for races but I do love racing. I love that regardless of how fast you are or often you walked or if you walked the whole damn thing, you get rewarded for doing something most people don’t do. I love seeing thousands of other people running with me and am so grateful and thankful for all the volunteers and cheerleaders who cheer us on. Road races are one of the few things anyone can do that makes you feel like an athlete and continually builds my confidence and pride in what my body can do!

Also? I love medals! This one in particular. Why? Because if you zoom in closely on their shirts, they actually say: “Live Long”, “& Prosper”! Ha!

Photo 2013-04-22 09.40.04 AM

This may be the only race I do this year but if that’s the case, I’m a happy woman! Sunny skies, strong body, fast race, cheeky medal and post-race pint over brunch means I can’t complain!

Filed Under: Fitness, Latest Post, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , ,
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