Happy New YOU challenge

It's the time of year where we're starting to think about our New Year's resolutions. (Helped by feeling overstuffed from Christmas dinner and needing to exchange some presents for a larger size-- when did they start making sizes smaller anyway?) And surely all of us know what it is to make a resolution that this will finally be the year when we get healthy.  Again.  But before we know it, a piece of cake here and a too-cold-to-leave-the-house-to-workout day there and our resolutions have gone the way of the dodo.

Of course, we're smart people.  We read the studies.  We know it matters. But it's hard.  Really, really hard.  And harder if we feel like we're going it alone. Maybe that's why weight watchers has aquired such fame: we all want to feel like we're a part of a group of people all working towards the same goal.  Few of us are determined and motivated enough to be able to do this on our own.

If you're new to this page, let me tell you about me.  When I was 28 or so, I weighed 238 pounds. It may have been a lot more, but I quit weighing myself for a long time.  I lost 40 lbs on my own, partly with Atkins and partly because stress was literally making me too sick to eat.  In two years I had gained half of it back, and felt more uncomfortable in my skin than ever before. I took a new job in a new town and had the good fortune of meeting a personal trainer who became my friend. He nagged me til I agreed to let him be my trainer. In two years of working with him, I've gone from a size 22 to a size 8.  But I will tell you that I could not have done it on my own.  He not only taught me how to do the exercises and eat well, he did something that made all the difference in my success. He held me accountable when I was failing (and if you want to read all about the failures, check out my other blog.)

Most of us need someone to be accountable with and to.  We need someone with whom to celebrate our successes  and minimize our setbacks.

Beginning on January 1, several clients and friends are joining with me as we start the new year off right with 8 weeks of being all in.  What does all in mean to us? Here's what we're committing to do (or not do!)
1) No cheating!  Whatever eating program we're doing (for my clients and me, that means following a meal plan that is appropriate to our body's caloric needs), we're not going to cheat on it.  We're going to stick with it completely.
2) No whining! Success is so much about attitude-- and trust me, I've had to learn it the hard way! Whining does nothing but slow your progress and sour your mood (and everyone else's mood too!) So whatever it is...whether the toughness of following a meal plan or pushing past your comfort zone in the gym, do it with a positive attitude.
3) No alcohol! Yeah, this might be a booger for some people, but what you don't know is that alcohol is killing your progress.  Bet you didn't know that for the entire time alcohol is in your body, the body stores everything you eat as fat. (And hey, menfolk, it suppresses testosterone levels-- doh!) Drinking also plays nasty games with your metabolism, and metabolism is a big deal when it comes to weight loss. Besides, um...there is no need to point out that alchohol often leads to poor decisions, especially when it comes to food.
4) No whimping! Whatever it is we do, we're going all in.  We're committed to busting it in the gym, to give it everything we've got.  Every rep.  Every exercise.
 Every. single. time.

Why 8 weeks? Well, it's a measureable time for one thing.  Yes, there's an end in sight.  But the thing is, that's just a mental trick, because this is kickstarting a lifestyle for us.  In 8 weeks, we'll see some results of our hard work-- and that will provide motivation for our determination. 8 weeks is long enough to create some healthy habits that will stick for a lifetime.

We're up to the challenge and we know you are too!  Join us in taking steps to a Happy New YOU.  We're all in, and we're all there for each other. Here's how you can participate:
1) Sign up via email or shoot me a facebook message to let me know you are interested. I'll be sending out tips and motivation.
2) Download this pic and post it to your facebook page to let everyone know that you're serious.  This part is completely optional, but it's kind of a badge of honor-- and great for accountability.  A book I read about marathoning said something like "Tell everyone you know that you're doing it-- that way when you want to quit, you'll think about all those people that you'd have to tell that you're a failure." Hey, sometimes a little peer pressure is a good thing.  Besides, it might trigger some conversation and some of your friends might join our challenge, and then your social support network grows!
3) Print off a few copies of the pic and put it in lots of places-- your mirrors, your refrigerator, underneath your rearview mirror.  Trust me, having a visual reminder nagging at you does wonders.
4) Post things to the facebook page.  I haven't decided for sure. I may make a group just for people doing the challenge, but I'll let you know.  The more people we can get involved the better!

You've got this! And we've got your back! Sign up today!

The Recipe for Success

I was whining at (whining to implies getting a morsel of sympathy in response-- which I definitely wasn't) my trainer the other day about my stalled weight loss.  He's been my trainer for the last two years and I've had some major plateaus, so this is not a new conversation.  But clearly it is a tired one.   My whine was pure pity party-ness, only without so much party. I told him that it felt like nothing I did made a difference, and that it's really, really brutal and silly and hard to keep putting in so much effort without seeing any results.  See I told you it was a whine-fest.  And you can imagine the response I got from a former body builder, now trainer who has been doing this for forty years.  It wasn't even going to help to play the "but I'm a woman with wacky hormones" card, so I wisely didn't.

He asked me what seemed to be a completely irrelevant question: "How much yeast does a batch of dough require?"

I stammered and guessed that it was maybe half a teaspoon, but homemade bread (soft, delicious, smell good, lovely, homemade bread) isn't really a part of my lifestyle anymore.

He made a beautiful, simple point with one more question: "What would happen if you only put in an 1/8 of a teaspoon?"  Hmmmph.  Master Trainer: 1.  Whiny novice trainer: 0.

It was a fair point well made, and it's stuck with me.  He rightfully pointed out that there is one thing I haven't tried, which is making sure I cook all my meals.  While I've learned how to eat healthfully anywhere, and can pretty well guestimate calories of most foods that I would eat, I don't know exactly what goes in or exactly how much I'm eating.

I'd already decided I was dropping alchohol all together after I learned the really detrimental effects it has on weight loss efforts.  I'd already decided I was going to shoot for an 80% clean diet.

But what if this one thing was the yeast shortage? Even if everything else about the recipe is right, this one thing would change the bread from fantastic to flop.  I go hard in the gym. I stay within appropriate calorie ranges for my body's needs. I eat nutrient dense foods.  So-- I committed to doing this beginning January 1, only allowing for two meals eaten out per week.   He told me my goal was one month, and no whining about it.  I told him my goal was 8 weeks.  By then, hopefully I will have seen enough results that it sees me through the tough work.

As I think about it, I really like his recipe analogy.  I guess that's why I keep him on as my trainer, even though I'm certified myself (and even though in true master trainer form, he makes me crazy pushes me to be excellent).  I wouldn't have ever thought about it that way.

Maybe you're having a frustrating time too.  If so, go back to your recipe.  Are you really (no... really, really... if you're brutally honest with yourself) doing everything the recipe requires?  If not, where are you cheating the yeast? Are you staying in your comfort zone at the gym, instead of pushing yourself? (You are a gym goer, right? Right?) Are you letting a craving that you have for a few minutes distract you from a goal you've had for years? Are you letting your excuses be bigger than your desire to succeed?

Yeah, losing weight and being fit is hard.  Don't make it harder by not following the recipe!

Hey: Public Service Annoucement! If you're in Franklin, NC and looking for some help getting fit, please check out my website.  I've lost 80 lbs through proper nutrition and fitness.  I've lived it.  I'm passionate about helping you reach your goals too.  Call me to schedule a complementary session. 

Top 10 Reasons to Hire a Personal Trainer

One of my clients was dripping with sweat at the end of her workout, and as she always does (because that's how she is) she said "Thank you...I appreciate it." But then she said something else that made my day. "You know, you've made coming back to the gym fun.  I actually look forward to coming in now."

Every trainer loves that kind of feedback, but it really meant a lot to me because if you had told me two years ago that I, of all people, would be a personal trainer, I would have laughed at you.  Laughed heartily.  Not only because I was 218 pounds (not my heaviest, I might add), but also because I apparently had no idea what a trainer did. In my head, they must've been glorified rep counters.  When a friend of mine came to me and said he wanted to train me, I said no. After all, I subscribed to every fitness magazine there was, which clearly made me an expert.  Uhem. 218 pounds of asthma and knee and back problems, notwithstanding. I couldn't imagine what he could possibly have to offer me.  He's still my trainer and now also my mentor, and he occasionally reminds me of my attitude going into this. I'm clearly biased about the usefulness of a trainer, but I am in no way exaggerating when I say that having one changed (and saved!) my life.

But I get it.  Having a personal trainer seems like a luxury when the cost of just surviving seems so high.  After losing nearly 80 pounds and getting my life back, I will tell you that there is a whole lot I would give up in order to keep my trainer.  I make sure I have food and shelter and that my car won't be repossessed, and then I make sure he is paid.  Everything else is secondary.

Here is what I've gained from having a trainer.  Maybe it's my top ten of why I think they're really important.  (And not JUST because I hope you'll hire me, but you know... )

1.  Nixed the intimidation factor.  Truth: gyms are intimidating. I sure didn't want to walk in one and be "that girl".  But having someone there walking me through things made it not so bad. And he was pretty great about helping me get to know people so it quickly became a community of friends.
2. Learned how to do the exercises properly.  Not to knock books and magazines, but there is no comparison between learning from them and learning from a real live person. My shoulders used to ache every time I would make myself do pushups.  A magazine couldn't tell me that I had my elbows in the wrong position, but my trainer caught it immediately.  Anyone can learn to do bicep curls from a magazine, but a trainer can tell you that you are assisting with your torso and thereby limiting the effectiveness of the exercise.
3. Received planned programs: This analogy may not work for you, but before I had a trainer, a gym always felt like walking into a yarn store: completely overwhelming because of all the possibilities. Machines everywhere, so many exercises from which to choose. But when I worked with a trainer, I had a plan that was designed specifically for me and my needs and my body's capabilities.
4. Felt free to fly: One of the first times my trainer had my heart rate up to my appropriate working range, I remember thinking I might actually die.  I wasn't used to it. But he was watching me like a hawk, and no detail went unnoticed. I learned that I could trust him to take care of me. Here's what I wrote in a blog post that night: One of the things I think I love about working with a trainer is the fact that I will let him push me harder than I would push myself.  And not just in a "Go! Faster! Harder! Higher!" sort of way. But in a way that I will trust myself into his hands.  I have full confidence in him and his knowledge, and I know he is paying more attention to what my body is saying than I know how to do yet.  It kind of sets me free to go really hard without worrying that I'm going to injure myself or go harder than I can go.  I guess it's like how trapeze artists feel knowing that they are working with a safety net under them-- like they are free to fly and flip and soar without having to worry.
5. Learned I had a lot more in me than I realized. One of the early concepts that my trainer taught me was the concept of intensity. He taught me what it was to dig deep inside of me and be able to put all of me into my workout. Every time I whined that I was giving it all I had, he taught me that I really had more. He showed me how I was cheating myself. And as he taught me how to pull that out of myself, a strang thing happened.  I began to see myself as strong and determined, and that changed everything else I did in my life.
6. Rehabbed injuries. When I was in high school, I messed up my knees.  Like to the point where I could barely walk without a lot of pain. I went to a knee specialist who was pretty much no help. But within a few months of working with a trainer, my knees were a lot better.  I've gotten to the point where I can run and deadlift and leg press and do ATG (butt to ground) squats.  He's worked with me to correct muscle imbalances, and now there is not much I can't do. But without him, I would've had to baby my knees for the rest of my life.
7. Learned how to eat. Eating is where a lot of us get tripped up.  Even if we get the exercise part worked out, we don't know how to eat, at least not really.  There is a lot of information out there and it's hard to sort out what's accurate and helpful. From my trainer, I learned how many calories my body needed and an appropriate ratio of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. I learned how to weigh foods so that I could stay within my guidelines anywhere I ate.
8.  Had a motivator.  As much as we'd all like to believe that we are self starters, that's sometimes a bit (um... er... quite a bit) of an exaggeration. On crappy days in the beginning when I just wasn't feeling it and didn't yet have a passion of my own, he seemed to lend me some of his energy. I'll be truthful-- without him, I would've either done a lot of "phone it in" workouts, or skipped them all together.
9. Had fun. Don't get me wrong.  My trainer (as are most of them) is serious.  But he took the time to make my time in the gym fun, even while I was working hard.  He made a point of cutting up with me between sets and while he always placed a high priority on making sure I was doing the workout my body needed, he also designed workouts based on what he knew I liked. Before I had friends in the gym, he was the person who made the time something I would look forward to all day.  Without him, it would've been total drudgery.  I probably would've quit.
10. Had one person who believed in me. The world is busy telling us why we can't.  Let's be honest.  That voice gets stuck in our head.  But when I walked into the gym, no matter what else I had heard that day, the loudest voice was the one who, in essence, said "Suck it up, buttercup. You can do this." It's kind of like having your own private cheerleader. Well, minus the spirit fingers.

Your health matters.  And my guess is that hiring a trainer would do more for you than you ever imagined. But don't take my word for it... many trainers offer a free session.  Get to know one. Try out several if you have to.  Think you can't afford it? It's a lot more affordable than being hurt and sick and living in a body you don't love.

I just wanna celebrate!

When we think about losing weight or taking steps to become healthier, we tend to think in terms of big goals.  Like me: just once I want to compete as a bodybuilder.  I not only want to be that fit, but also want to go through all the complete and total dedication it takes to get ready for a competition.  To appear on that stage after being a size 20 and weighing nearly 240 lbs, that would feel like my "booyah!' to the world.

But when we focus on only our gigantic goals, our progress diminishes in our minds because we can only see how far we have yet to go. That's especially true when we begin to fixate on what a seemingly fickle scale says.

Over the last two years, I've learned to celebrate the small things.  Here are the things that have mattered most to me about not only losing weight, but about getting healthy.

• Boots! No seriously, every fall I'd traipse through the shoe sections (all the shoe sections!) in hopes that I could finally find a pair that would fit over my calves.  This year, every pair I have tried on has fit! The only problem is that now I want to be able to buy all. the. boots.
• Being able to take swimming lessons: I learned to swim as a kid, but that was mostly just enough not to drown. I felt like (and probably looked like) a flailing walrus-- and was completely inefficient. For years, I've wanted to be able to swim for exercise and knew I needed to take swim lessons to do it. But it was the bathing suit thing.  I sure didn't want to not only make a fool of myself, but to do it in a bathing suit.  But today, I smiled when I was on the deck, finally learning to dive without holding my nose-- and my thoughts weren't on how my body looked.
• Shopping: For years, I could only shop in the plus size section or in Lane Bryant.  And even then, the thought was always "I don't think that would look good on me" or the (completely awful) "Fat people shouldn't wear patterns that attract attention." Yeah, the mind isn't always terribly helpful either. But it's pretty awesome to be able to walk into any store and try on whatever I like. 
• Being able to run: One of the consequences of being so heavy was that I had messed up a lot of body parts, most specifically my knees.  But I've always wanted to run.  When I started working with a trainer two years ago, he made me promise I wouldn't run until he said I could so that I could heal from the injuries and balance my body.  I still don't run a lot because I lift weights instead (a point in which I am a firm believer-- but I'll write on that another time!) but the fact is I can.  I ran four--admittedly slow-- miles the other day, but I felt spectacular. It was one of those glorious days when things just clicked and I felt right in my body and nothing hurt. I felt like all the blissful people I see in magazine.  

I haven't achieved this yet, but when I do it will be a celebration for me.  I've always wanted to be able to do a chin up, and have never ever been able to do even one.  But I'm working on it at every opportunity!

Those are the things I've loved that have kept me focused on my progress when the scale says things I don't want to hear.  I could tell you other things like I sleep better and my allergies and asthma are better.  I could tell you that my back and knees hurt a lot less and that I have fewer headaches than I did.  I know some people who have gone to the doctor and learned that their cholestorol has gone down 9 points, or that they didn't have to special order their clothes.

Whatever it is for you, celebrate the small things!

Winner, winner, CHILI Dinner

Now that the weather is getting cooler (55 degrees here today-- was beautiful!), we want cozy comfort food.  Bodybuilders are starting to enter their post summer bulking phase-- which is I think a nice way of saying they want to eat all the wonderful stuff they kept out of their diets to show of their six pack during the summer.  But cozy doesn't have to mean full of fat!

A friend sent me a message asking about the healthiness of chili.   Good question!  We're all thinking about it!

So here's the lowdown.  Chili has lots of nutrient dense ingredients like beans (unless you're like me--who is a little weirded out by the texture) and lean beef and tomatoes. For the record, tomatoes are a rockstar food that is high in lycopene, which is a powerful antioxidant compound that boasts many benefits, including promoting eye health and lowering the incidences of heart disease and cancer.  Chili is a great source of protein, and since spicy foods are thought to raise metabolism so Chili is a winner there too.

As you settle in to a fall feast, just beware that you don't you don't undo all your healthy hard work by piling on the cheese and sour cream (or Fritos!).  Also, Chili tends to be high in salt, so moderate your intake the rest of the day.

Really? Why does chili need to look so ugh?

Here's one of my favorite recipes that I adapted to make waist-line friendly.   Sorry not to be able to give credit where it's due, but this has been lurking in my recipe book for a while!

American Diets are often very high in sodium.  Dietary Guidelines recommend no more than 2300 milligrams of sodium per day. 1500 milligrams per day if you are over the age of 51, have kidney disease, diabetes, or high blood pressure. This recipe, unlike most, boasts a moderate 358 mg per serving, which is reasonable!

1 lbs. 93% lean ground beef, browned and drained
4 oz can green chilis
10.5 oz can french onion soup
1 T. chili powder
2 cups cooked kidney beans (yes, the kind you have to soak-- saves crazy amounts of sodium versus using canned beans)
2 t. ground cumin
6 oz. can tomato paste
3/4 c. water
1/2 t. pepper
1/8 t (or 1/4 if you're really rowdy) hot pepper sauce

Serving Size 1/8 recipe
Nutrition: Calories: 289, Carbs: 38g, Protein: 24 g, Fat: 5 g, Sodium: 358 mg

Pop those rockstar ingredients into the crockpot for 6-8 hours on low.  Serves 8.  Nutritional info as pictured. FYI: Myfitnesspal has a great tool that allows you to put your recipe in and it will figure everything out for you.  Also handy to be able to add it right to your food diary, which of course you are using consistently.  Right?  Thought so!

Happy Feasting

Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance

Ok, ok-- I sorta stole the heading from one of my trainer's favorite lectures.  Only I cleaned it up a little bit. (There was another "P" descriptor. Uhem.)

I had this under control, once upon a time.  Kinda like my life.  But all my proverbial ducks are anything but in a nice neat row.  It's been a crazy week, and I'm wiped out. My house was a mess until today when I gave it at least a cursory straightening.  There were mountains of spandex waiting to be washed from a week of training me and other people.  And I'll be really honest: I've been fudging meals a bit.  It's not that I'm eating badly, because after two years, it's sort of on auto-pilot. But I'm not nailing it either.  I'm too tired to come home and think about what I should be eating for dinner. I'm eating out at lunch more than I should.  And breakfast is something I'm grabbing as I run out the door.   Truth:  I feel pretty blah, and I'm at least partly responsible.  I may not be going over my calories, but I'm probably not getting all the nutrients I need either.

I'm having to dig back into my brain and remind myself what I once knew to be vitally important to weight-loss success: a meal plan.  Remember how when you were in school and every week the school let you know what would be served each day?  Yeah, that's a meal plan.  Only I'm not so much talking about a sheet full of greasy pizza and "Salisbury Steak" (aka "mystery meat", IMHO).  A meal plan is simply taking the time to think through each meal that you will eat in the course of a week.  If you're really serious about being healthy, it's figuring out the meals you will eat AND their nutrional content, to make sure you stay within your calorie goal and meet your ideal Carbohydrate, Fat, and Protein goals.  (If you'd like a basic idea of how many calories you need for your goal, this site is fairly helpful.) When I do my meal plans, I create an excel spreadsheet, and then get my nutritional information from either myfitnesspal.com or calorieking.com  This seems daunting at first, but after a few weeks, you'll discover that you're eating basically the same foods over and over with only a small rotation.  People are creatures of habit!

Something that has been really helpful to me is doing either a one-a-week or two-a-week cooking session.  I've typically done this on Sunday and I've shopped, chopped, and done the basic work like grilling chicken breasts or other meats.  Come Monday morning when I'm ready for my steak and mushrooms and onions, I'll just throw the steak in the microwave for a few and then quickly sauté some the already chopped veggies. Crazy easy on a day when anything else rarely is!

Refrigerator decor: meal plan and fitness inspirations

If you're just starting out and are overwhelmed, E-mealz.com might be a good starting place for you.  It's a paid service, but the cost is nominal. They have lots of plans to choose from, and even some that are store specific.  The idea is that they (whomever "they" is) find out what is going to be on sale that week and create recipes for those items.  They give you the recipes and even a shopping list. I think on some of the plans that are related to specific health goals they even list the nutrition info-- but it's been a while for me! Definitely worth checking out!

If you're feeling frazzled and haven't done any planning or preparation, you're likely to head straight for McDonalds.  And let's be real.  That burger and fries and soda is gonna head straight to your behind or belly.   Do your health a HUGE favor and take the time to do a little work! Your waist will thank you!

P.S. If you are crafty, I love this idea that I saw on Pinterest.  On each of your cards, I'd go ahead and write the recipe along with all the nutrition information. You can plug in your exact recipe to the myfitnesspal site and it will calculate all of it for you.  That way you'll have it ready each time.  A little work on the front end saves some bulge on your back end! Check out the idea here.

Fall in a Glass!

I've kept it at bay as long as I could, but now that the weather is (finally!) starting to cool down, I have a bad case of pumpkin-itis.  Normally by now I would've made pumpkin soup and pumpkin bread and maybe even pumpkin-sage ravioli.  You know.  Pumpkin: All. the. things  And it's a good thing that there is no St. Arbucks nearby or it would be a pumpkin spice latte way too often.

But as I've made changes to the way I eat, getting my fall fix has been a challenge. So I did what any pumpkin-craving, sorta techy person would do.  I turned to the wisdom of Pinterest. I was pretty delighed that one of the first recipes was for a pumpkin protein smoothie made with whey protein.  Whey protein is a great way to sneak in some extra protein without tons of calories, carbs, or sodium.  It also has a pretty complete amino acid profile, which is why bodybuilders swear by it.  (Amino acids are necessary for building muscle.)  But don't worry-- even if you aren't a body builder, whey protein can make a great addition to your diet.  Fact: most people eat too little protein for their body's requirements, but that's a post for another day. That being said, protein powder day in and day out is about as exciting as it sounds.

So this is perfect! Makes good use of whey, tastes like fall, and bonus: ice cream! Yes, ice cream!  Contrary to belief, ice cream is great when eaten at the right time of day-- either first thing in the morning or right before a workout. (Um... seriously on the 1/2 cup though--ALWAYS MEASURE!) That way your body can make good use of the carbs.  And because ice cream also has fat and protein, the absorbtion of the carbs is slowed, so it's a good source of longer lasting energy.  (Eat nothing but carbs at a meal and see how quickly you get hungry!)

But wait! As if all that wasn't enough-- there is so much more.  Pumpkin is a powerhouse of great nutrients, including magnesium and potassium (which can be a challenge to consume in correct amounts). Magnesium plays a role in carbohydrate and fat metabolism, supports protein synthesis, and aids in wound healing, as well as playing a vital role in muscle contractions.  Potassium in canned pumpkin maintains healthy heart function and plays an important role in nerve transmission.  But the benefits don't stop there, because canned pumpkin is also high in both vitamins A and K.  Vitamin A plays a major role in eye health (a deficiency can contribute to "night blindness"), immune function and wound healing, and the production of red blood cells.  Vitamin K assists in blood clotting and amino acid metabolism.

Here's my adapted version of Fall in a Glass (aka "Heaven").  Please note, right now I am drinking whole milk, but that may not be appropriate for you. This was made in a way that meets my pre-workout needs.  Definitely make this work for you, and calculate the calories based on your preferences.   Nutrition info is given based on this recipe:

1/2 c Eddy's Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
8 oz Vitamin D Milk
1/4 c canned pumpkin
1 Scoop Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard Whey, Vanilla
1/8 t ground cloves
1/8 t ground cinnamon
1/8 t pumpkin pie spice

Nutrition:
Calories: 409,  Carbs: 37g, Fat: 13g, Protein 34g, Sodium: 264 mg

Throw it in a blender, and throw it back! Happy Fall, y'all!

Ask the Trainer: Why won't the (bleep, bleep) scale move?

A friend of mine asked a great question.  Ok, ok, she called it a pity party-- but we've all been there, so it's completely legit.  She has been following a meal plan (and since her trainer is the guy who helped me lose all this weight, I know it is spot on-- he doesn't play!) and killing it in the gym. She's been pretty excited about all of her progress... until...

Until she stepped on the scale today and it showed her UP two pounds.  That's enough to make anyone say impolite things, especially when you are working so hard.

So what gives?

Well a couple of things, possibly.

1) It's water weight.  This could be from several things including higher than normal salt or carbohydrate intake.  Yeah, we know that salt often makes our bodies hold water, but I bet you didn't know that for every gram of carbohydrate that your body stores, it also stores 3 grams of water! Have a carb heavy meal and poof! A grouchy scale.  But if you happen to be of the (o, so...so... lucky) female type, you know that hormones can be pretty horrendous. Yup.  You know what I'm talking about!   The good news is that no matter the cause of the water weight, it will usually come of pretty quickly. It's water, not fat, so don't go into freak out mode just yet!

2) You're gaining muscle.  Yup, you've heard that one too.  But if you're busting it in the gym, it's possible! (Depending on your caloric intake-- it's very rare to be able to build muscle in a calorie reduced state.) I'd been whining to my trainer about a five month plateau.  The scale didn't look like it was budging (ok, I lost seven pounds...but that didn't feel sufficient given all the seriously hard effort I was putting in.)  But when we did a skin-fold analysis, we discovered that I had actually put on 4 pounds of muscle.  Everybody and their dog has heard that muscle weighs more than fat!

3) The body is pretty excited by what I now call "horrible homeostasis". Basically the body gets comfortable at a certain place, and panics when things start to change.  It's kind of a control freak that way.  So in its panic, it does everything it can to maintain the balance it likes so much.  Two year olds have nothin on the body when it decides it wants to throw a temper tantrum.  This is what's happening when we hit those nasty plateaus. Sorry.  I don't have anything useful to say about plateaus.  They are terrible, horrible, no good, and very bad!  But they are a completely normal part of the process.

So what's an eating-right, busting-it person to do?

Best answer:  Don't watch the scale.  When I first started with my trainer, he made me swear that I wouldn't weigh more than once a month-- for exactly this reason.  Some days, I think I probably need to go back to that plan.  But the tendency is to focus on the number on the scale instead of on how much progress you are making, how much healthier you feel, how much better you look in your clothes.  (Or uhem.  Sans clothes.  Whatever floats your boat.)

Trust pictures and trust friends when they tell you how good you look.  Friends might lie, though not usually about things like this.  Pictures can't lie.  Take pictures when you start and once a month thereafter.  Be really gutsy, move Jr.'s artwork, and hang them on the fridge.  You won't believe your eyes!

But most of all, hang in there. And well, this:

A Calorie is a calorie?

Every person who has wanted to lose a few pounds has probably heard this advice from well meaning friends: "Calories in, calories out. It's that simple."  As if to say the only thing that ulimately matters is that you burn more calories than you eat.  And we've taken that advice to heart.  To that end, we've tried everything: Weight Watchers and Atkins and South Beach and maybe even things like the "Grapefruit Diet" or the "Eat only cabbage for a week diet." Maybe we've had success with some, dismal failures with others.  But still the question remains:  How much does the food I eat really matter as long as I watch my calories?  Hey, sign me up for the Oreo Diet!

But let's think about this for a second.  As good adults, we know about budgets. We know that we have a certain amount of money to last a certain period of time.  We could spend it all on clothes or entertainment or whatever, but then what happens when the mortage is due and the kids are sick and why did the washing maching decide to give out now, for crying out loud? We have to make decisions that help us live the life we want.  Most of us opt for making sure the family is fed and keeping a roof over our heads, even if it means we can't indulge every desire we have.

I think the same is true for our bodies.  We know that we can't eat more calories than we need, or we keep fighting the Battle of the Bulge.  But what we don't see as clearly is that like our budgets, our bodies have certain requirements. We might know that we need protein to build muscles, and carbohydrates to give us the energy to live our lives. But beyond that, we're not really sure what matters. We hear "experts" talk to us about watching our sodium or cholesterol.  We're vaguely aware that we should have some calcium, and vitamins sound important, and "antioxidant" seems to be slapped on every label.

So how do we make decisions about what we should be eating? I have had to learn to ask myself a question as I make food choices: what gives me the most bang for my caloric buck?  Right now, I eat 1600 calories a day.  I could theoretically eat 1200 calories worth of oreos and 400 calories worth of milk.  But what does that get me?  A whole lot of carbs, a load of not so healthy fat, a little bit of protein, and some calcium and maybe some vitamin D.  (And probably a tummy ache!)  But if I did that, I would be missing out on a whole host of vitamins and minerals and things like amino acids (which are the building blocks of muscle as we learned in biology class.) But what if I took those same 1600 calories and spent them on lean proteins and healthy fats and a variety of fruits and vegetables? I would come a whole lot closer to giving my body the tools to do the work it is supposed to do.  When we choose foods that are basically "empty calories", we're doing the equivalent of spending a whole paycheck on a wardrobe.  Try that for a month and see how excited you are about those purchases at the end of the month when you can't afford to pay your mortgage.  That's how it works in the body too.  When we spend our calories on foods that don't have any nutritional value, we come up short. We ask our bodies to do the hard work of losing fat and building muscle and keeping us going throughout the day, but we don't give it the tools it needs to do that work.  And then we wonder why nothing seems to work for us!

Bottom Line:  Calories in, calories out matters... a lot.  But it isn't the whole story.  Spend your calories wisely by choosing mostly nutrient dense foods.

10 cans of fat free whipped cream will totally give you what you need to function.  Or not... 

Measuring Up

When I started working with a trainer a few years ago, he made the bold statement that I probably didn't know what I was actually eating.  I quickly informed him that he was wrong.

He said, "Do you measure it out? Everything that goes in your mouth-- do you weigh it or put it in a measuring cup or spoon?"  Then gave me that look that said 1) I was busted and 2) that there was no point in me actually answering that question. 

Uh.  Seriously?  Who does that? Who has time for that nonsense?

From ISSA's Specialist in Fitness Nutrition

It took me a long time to realize that he was right, and that taking the time to measure was really important to achieving my weight loss goals.  I was thinking about that conversation (ok, ok, conversations) when I came across this study that shows what people perceive they consume versus what they actually eat.  People underestimate the amount of  grains and fats they actually eat, and overestimate the amount of vegetables and protein they consume.  Basically, our human tendenacy is to take what we believe to be healthy, and give ourselves the benefit of the doubt. 

If you are struggling to lose weight, figure out how many calories you need.  (Ask me! Happy to help) and then take the time to look at what a serving size actually is.  Hint: unless it's measured, nobody eats the recommended serving size of 1/2 cup of ice cream. Or 3/4 cup of cereal. Or 2 T of Peanut Butter.   Invest in a food scale and some measuring spoons/cups.  Use them consistently and see what a difference in makes!

I'll be talking about meal plans later, but I've found that it is also really helpful to track your food.  As I learned at weight watchers a long, long time ago:  You bite it, you write it.  A paper journal is really helpful, but if you are "techy" apps can be a great tool.  I personally love myfitnesspal, and ask my clients to use it.  It's great to be able to keep a food diary that figures the calories as well as things like protein, fats, carbohydrates and even potassium and sodium.  Diaries can be made shareable, which adds for a level of accountability.  Recruit a friend to support you in this and invite them to see what you eat.  Of course, as my trainer reminded me, it's only as accurate as the information you add to it.

Take the time.  Don't lie to yourself.  (I had to learn that my hips always knew the truth, no matter what I recorded!) Measure, measure, measure! 

Limiting Factors

Since my love for helping clients achieve their fitness goals has grown, I've started working to become a certified Specialist in Fitness Nutrition.  I can't wait to see all the pieces of a healthy lifestyle really begin to come together!

The very first things the book mentions is limiting factors-- which is a fancy-schmancy way of saying "anything that stops you from being the rockstar you want to be."  I love what the book says about a trainer's role:  "To really achieve great results with a client you need to master one crucial skill: the ability to find your client's limiting factors and remove them." (ISSA, Specialist in Fitness Nutrition).

The text goes on to say that all our limiting factors are basically of three types: genetics, physical activity, and nutrition.  I think the nice book writers left out one that is really, really important: mental attitude.

As I think back on my own weight loss journey, I wonder how many times I sabotaged myself by telling myself that I couldn't.  Or that it wasn't possible for me to be strong, healthy and amazing.  I wonder how many times I let myself believe that the hard work wasn't worth it, or that getting up for a five a.m. run was stupid, or that that cookie really was necessary to my survival. When I look back, I am sad to realize that as often as not, I've been my own limiting factor.

What are yours?  Make a list.  What if you made that list and then figured out ways to systematically crush yours.  What if? My guess is that you'd be well on your way to taking all the steps all at the same time to become the person you want to be.

How can I help? (Really.  That's a serious question!  Drop me a line!)