Phit-N-Phat...Making Fitness and Weightloss a Lifestyle

The Best Diet Ever!

When people hear I have lost 110 lbs. the first thing they say is, "How did you do it?" My answer is always the same. I got fed up one day and started eating better and exercising. No surgeries, tricks, or pills. Old school hard work is the only thing that works.

This is where I lose them. In this day and age people feel entitled to everything being easy. We watch TV rather than read a newspaper, we use a remote rather than getting up and flipping the channel, we microwave versus cook and the list goes on and own. Heck, we text each other versus talking. I know people who will text someone in their house so they don't have to get up!

I'm not saying this is bad stuff; I'm just saying each and every one of us lives in the age of easy. It's spoiling us to think that having to cook clean food, workout an hour a day, and avoiding fast food is a burden versus WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING.

This brings me to another lesson learned from my PNP girls. What is the best diet? It really is the one you WILL do that isn't going off the crazy liquid diet type edge. I have girls who...

• Follow Weight Watchers and do very well on it. I lost a lot of my weight with Weight Watchers and their newest program seems to be one of the best they've ever done. It's simple and easy to learn.
• Eat clean. I love Eating Clean. I never feel better than when my food is clean and timely. It's easy to feel full when your body gets plenty of nutrients. It's also the healthiest diet I know.
• Carb cycle and taper. Some of my clients eat mostly clean but stick to keeping carbs in check and time them. Their bodies respond quite well to this approach.
• Eat within a calorie range. These girls simply blend convenience and clean keeping their calories in check.

In the end, no diet is any better than another. It's all about consuming slightly less calories than you expend. The key, though, is making sure you understand that the only way to consume less calories is finding a program that works well for YOU, YOUR LIFESTYLE, and YOUR ATTITUDE. If you can't stick to it, don't do it. Keep looking until you find one you know you can do. Once you do, get off the couch and move. :)

Excellent Article On the Scales

One of moderators, Kathleen, sent me this article from Figure Athlete and it is too good to not share with everyone.

I have been in the midst of highs and lows lately. Most of the time I love how I look and then jump on the scale and think, ugh. Honestly, THERE IS NOTHING WRONG with ME outside of being fixated on numbers. It's a shame when we work so hard and yet only feel like the payoff comes from a square piece of digital crap looking up at us.

Let me tell you a funny story from this weekend. I was cleaning out some old papers and found my measurements and weight from TWO YEARS AGO. Guess what. I weigh the same to the pound but my shoulders are almost two inches broader, my waist is tinier, (I had to toss the boob measurements due to the new girls), and my hips are smaller. My thighs are the same and my calves are bigger. Basically, in two years I've been able to redefine my shape. Broader shoulders, smaller middle...sounds good to me!

My moral for this story is that if I only defined success by what the scale said I would be a failure because this isn't a "number" I like. I like 135 but 145 is what I average. The scale will never tell me...

• I can run 10 half marathons and a marathon.
• I can compete in a figure competition.
• I can out lift 90% of the women in the gym.
• How great my arms and shoulders look.
• That my legs ARE NOT fat underneath loose skin.
• My body fat is between 19 and 20% and I can eat carbs to do it!
• A lot of people will never eat in a week the amount of fruits and veggies I do in a day.
• I drink more water than some people drink sodas.

 

The scale can't define me. When I was losing a lot of weight it certainly was a tool to use to make me accountable to what I put in my mouth and how often I moved my feet, but it can never be what dictates my success. My food and workout journals can do that...they are a reflection of the person I am trying to be.

Lifestyle Change for Mammy Part II: First Menu

As you know, last week I told you my mom is embarking the clean eating lifestyle. We chatted about strategies and ways to start a healthy lifestyle. The bottom line for someone who has been significantly overweight (like myself) and primarily sedentary is to start basic, small, and with things you know you can do. Don't go to for perfect. Making ANY changes for the better is going to yield so many great things for you.

This week I talked with my mom about looking at the list of foods in the Clean Eating book and making a basic, easy to follow menu that repeats each day choosing the foods she already likes. Keep up walking her little dog, Bubba, for daily activity and don't worry too much with calories...just eat five times a day and stick to clean foods.

That was Mammy's task and pretty much how I slowly start most girls at PNP. I get you to change your food slowly but I do give you workouts. My mom has special health concerns that we need to address before getting into more exercise. Walking is so good for you, anyway, so we are starting with what she enjoys the most. Isn't that the best way to build a lifestyle?

Here's the menu she came up with all by herself. I'm so proud! It looks great and doable.

 

Breakfast	banana, Kashi Cereal (like shredded wheat), skim milk, serving of walnuts, coffee
Snack 1	Watermelon or carrots, chicken breast
Lunch	Egg White Omelet, cream of rice, tomatoes, peppers and onions
Snack 2	Yogurt, pineapple chunks
Dinner	Salad with1 tbsp of Ranch (filled with veggies), baked potato stuffed with cottage cheese, chicken
Optional Snacks:	Apple with peanut butter
	Pineapple with chicken
Optional Dinner:	Whole Wheat pasta with marinara and chicken breast

I am proud of her for prepping her food yesterday. One of her pitfalls is not eating all day because she's too tired to fix anything then eating 2000 calories of garbage that's easy. Everything is ready to go, measured, and the only thing that requires cooking is some lunch that she can make in the microwave. She works from home as a telephonic nurse so she has no choice but to eat at the house.

This is a menu filled with clean foods she already likes so it will be easy to stick to. Maybe next week we can venture into some turkey burger patties because she loves a good hamburger. A turkey burger and small baked potato with ketchup sounds pretty good to me, Mammy!

If you notice this menu is not fancy NOR is it expensive. Don't tell me eating clean is costly! Anyone can do this menu cheaper than going out to eat and/or eating out of machines.

Let's all keep praying and wishing Mammy well on her health journey!

I Need Motivation

Some days exercise is easy and other days it takes digging way deep to get started. This morning is like that. I'm sitting here, it's dark, it's Sunday, it's a balmy 20 degrees outside, and I'm very tired. I ran 12 miles yesterday and have to do it again this morning.

This is one of those days that it would be so easy to just put things off until I am "ready" to workout. Unfortunately, I don't have a life like that. I have an adorable six year old that will hit the floor at 9am and wonder where's Momma? I have church to go to, a grocery store to hit, food to be prepped, clothes to wash, and a kitchen to clean.

Yesterday after the first 12 miles, Chris and I cleaned out our bedroom and I made a visual motivation area right next to my  bed. I find it is so much easier to get my mind right when the first thing in my head upon waking is something positive. Often the first thing I see is email and when you coach women to lose weight you will read more about struggle than you do success. I'd love it if everyone was always on target but typically I wake up to several help me emails and it takes a lot to keep my own focus through it all.

On my dresser I displayed my race medals in a nice shadow box. I put a couple of pictures of me playing poker at a WPT final table circuit event, my trophy from my first figure competition, and a picture of me competing. These mementos remind me how accomplished I feel and that brings a smile to my face each time I look at them.  

It's important to be surrounded by positivity. People, things, pictures, words, and books all help you to stay in the game. Always have in your life stuff that reminds you of who and what you are striving to be; not things that take you away from your dreams. I can't tell you how important it is to wrap your life with positivity. If you want motivation there is no better way than always looking forward instead of drowning in your struggles.

Why Walk Backwards on the Treadmill?

One of my hardest working girls has a "guy trainer" at the gym giving her the business for two days now all over walking backwards on the treadmill.

Day One he says she can't do it because of gym liability. She can't walk backwards but if she wants to have a seat and try to bench twice her weight, drop the barbell, crush her lungs...they would not be liable. Give me a break. After she confronted them about this (go Sherri), he figured out real quick she had signed a waiver and was free to take up the "dangerous sport" of walking backwards.

Day Two he tells her he has researched the topic and found there is no benefit. Where the hell did whiz boy look?

• The Japanese have been doing if for CENTURIES to improve mental alertness, balance, and coordination. It's called "retro walking."
• NFL, Sprinters, Soccer, and NBA athletes, I believe, practice running backwards FAST or don't get a paycheck.
• Many people with knee issues, ankle problems, or weak hips greatly benefit from backwards walking as it helps strengthen these areas by activating the smaller muscles surrounding them and taking some load off the joints.
• It is a tremendous cardio workout. You are going to get your heart rate up faster.
• Two time Olmypia Champion Jen Hendershott along with many figure competitors I know ALL DO IT. If it's good enough for them I guarantee my butt is going to do it.

So, let's just say I don't know what I'm talking about gym boy. Here's some reference material for you to read since you can't Google.

• Backwards Walking for Lower Extremities
• The Japanese Influence
• Here's a Bunch of Science for Ya

I'm sure this guy means well. He's steamed up that an online trainer is more creative and keeping him from having another girl doing 3x20 Overhead Presses followed by a walking lunge with a biceps curl. I'm sure 5lb weights the whole time is really kicking her into a new physique. He's got the guts to tell her I don't know what I'm doing and she'd do better with him since today happens to be her steady state day.

But, he didn't once ask her what is her typical week. He just assumed I have my people doing endless treadmill and elliptical I suppose. Well, I'm not going to defend anything other than to say you need to work all ranges of the cardio system.

My goal isn't to just strip off some weight. I want my girls living a long time. Are you going to talk to them about the half-eaten cookies they toss back when the kids are screaming, too? I doubt it but I'm sure you'll have them doing more than enough bosu ball lateral raises to fix those incidents.

My only questions to him are...

• Do you ever advise people to go backwards on the elliptical?
• What about reverse lunges...any benefit to those bad boys?
• What about karaokies? I suppose if backwards is stupid why go sideways.

Ehhh...in the end ladies you just need to watch out for these guys. I'm not saying I'm perfect but be wary of trainers who love a good cookie cutter. We're trying to get in great shape and cookies in the kitchen or gym have no place in our lives.

PNP Is About Diet, Exercise, and Knowing You Aren't Alone

What do I love about www.Phit-N-Phat.com?  I feel like it has to be the relationships that have formed on our site. My members respect each other, they support each other with the struggles and celebrate the victories along the way.

We talk about everything that goes into living a healthy lifestyle. That definition is different for everyone. Some people want...

• To be their ideal weight and physique.
• To avoid devastating health diseases that took their parents.
• To set an example of healthy eating and exercise for their young children.
• To get around better.
• To have their husband drool when they walk into a room.
• To wear a size 8 pants that they never thought they would wear again.

It really is a great place filled with respect. I research other forums looking for links, information, and anything that might help my girls do better. It is SHOCKING to me how people are often treated on the message boards for asking simple questions.

Really, who does that help? It just sets people up to feel small for simply not knowing something.

When I began my "diet" and "exercise" program nearly four years ago, I didn't know jack about what to do. All I knew is that I had lived a life of poor eating, no exercise, and had to learn all by myself if I wanted to lose my 110lbs. Often I would seek out forums and ask questions. Sometimes I got loving help and other times I got made fun of for asking a "stupid" question. I mean, really, it was like people didn't want me to know how to eat better or become a runner. Had I not just been stubborn enough to keep pushing along I would never have had such a good time with Jess in several half marathons like the above picture shows! :)

I guess today I'm just reflective on how I decided to run my website. Women need support and they need a safe place. Losing weight isn't just about cutting out some food and moving more. If it was wouldn't we all be thin?

I think the following quote from our forums sums up my philosophy on what PNP offers women. This was in response to a thread we have going that discusses what I call "FGT" or Fat Girl Thinking. We've been talking about how FGT enters the bedroom and how to kick her out.

...Going on a "diet" and starting up some exercise with a whack-a-do online trainer takes guts. You trust that I'm not going to sign you up and then dump you on the curb. I like the fact that we all get to explore all sorts of topics as it relates to the journey...not just what we do in the gym and how we eat. I have learned through all of you that those two things are the EASY part: handing out advice. What I feel you get your money's worth is in the process of becoming a different woman, learning where you have been, where you are, and where you want to go.

This whole experience is filled with emotions and things most of us never have anyone to share it with. I'm so glad we have a group of people who do want to talk about anything they find they need to talk about.

My motivation with PNP is helping women find the lifestyle I have after years of misery, hating the way I look, and then feeling like I was going to pass on this lifestyle to my child and husband. I want all my girls to have those moments where they look in the mirror and smile rather than find a fault. 

Women need a place to speak and discuss thoughts they know where no one else is going to understand AND feel like they will be supported. I guess today I feel very proud of what I have created and happy that my energy is spent making women feel good. Thanks to all my girls for allowing me to help you carve out a new life. 

Lifestyle Change Part 1 for Mammy

Yesterday my mom tells me she is going to start eating clean. I think she must be ready to do some real housecleaning because she's reading The Eat Clean Diet and The Total Money Makeover. Those are two programs I L-O-V-E. To me they are sound, have you do the basics, and offer no quick fixes to your life. What they DO offer is a LIFESTYLE so I strongly suggest both.

Since I happen to be a semi-clean queen, she asked if I could come over and pick my brain. It got me thinking about my mom and how she is representative of many of you.

• My mom is NOT an emotional eater.
• She is NOT a binge eater.
• She has bad eating habits.
• She tends to get tired and if the food isn't ready to eat she just goes for convenience.
• She is out of shape so shopping and food prep often gets skipped just because she's tired.
• She has as much weight to lose as I did when I started.

If you relate to this I hope to help you out. My goal is to work with my mom as much as she reaches out to me. I'm not one to chase anyone down. I feel like you have to want it bad enough before I can spend my time giving you anything and everything I know. It may sound selfish but I honestly just don't have a whole lot of Corinne to go around. Logan and Chris take up a lot of time, I am strong believer in taking care of myself next so I can take care of them, and then everyone else can have what I gots left. :)

As I work with "Mammy" (this is what her grandkids call her) I will blog about things that come up. What I told her to do last night was:

1. Don't cut the calories ridiculously low in the beginning. You are changing what you eat to healthy foods so you need to keep up the feelings of satisfaction. Often if you eat a lot of junk, fast, or crap food you also eat to feel full. So, my mom is starting with 2400 calories a day of healthier foods.

2. Eat more meals. Mammy loves to eat breakfast and then wait all day to eat some dinner. She might have a snack later but usually she just eats one or two really poor meals. This kills the metabolism but eating 5-7 times a day is too much for her. She's not going to do it in the beginning. My advice was start with four meals a day. Eat three large meals and one hearty snack. This gets the metabolism jolted a few times a day without making her feel like she's cooking and such all the time.

3. Stick with basic foods in the beginning. Look over the list and eat the things you really like. Don't start trying new stuff right away. You need time to cleanse the taste buds so if you like baked potatoes then eat them. The key the first month for someone with a long road ahead isn't to start off doing it all. Do what you know you can do NOW. Eventually when you get momentum and such you will NATURALLY start incorporating more principles, foods, and methods.

4. Prep, prep, prep. For people who fall into the easy trap I can't stress enough how important it is to fix some stuff you can eat fast when you are hungry. If you have veggies and fruits ready to go you will eat them. If you tire out easy, come home from a stressful day, find yourself hungry from stress, you are going to dial up Pizza Hut before you make a meal. Keep it SIMPLE. Fix the food and eat things you know you like.

That is my main advice for the first few weeks. Mammy just needs some momentum and then we can go to another phase of lifestyle changes.

Baked Potato EZ Dinner for Mammy

1 medium potato baked in the microwave

1/2 cup of lowfat cottage cheese

3 oz of Crockpot BBQ chicken

salt and pepper to taste

On Sunday, preportion a large container of cottage cheese into 4-6 1/2 cup servings of CC. You can buy those Ziploc containers. Cook up 2-4 chicken breasts (boneless and skinless or just skinless if you want to save money and take meat off the bone). Just toss your chicken breasts into a crockpot with some BBQ sauce, salsa, or low sodium soy sauce and cook for 4-6 hours on low. Shred the chicken with two forks. Preportion into 3-5oz servings (depending on your nutritional needs).

When it's time to have your potato all you have to do is heat it all up and eat. It's very filling and if you are super ambitious you can have some red pepper strips with 2 tbsp. of guacamole on the side!

Coming Off Vacation

As always, I like to blog my coming off vacation ideas, tips, and feelings. We just returned from another trip to Vegas and it was fabulous. Chris and I drink and club it every night while playing poker during the day. I am so lucky to be married to this man. We joke all the time we are a "party of two." We really are. The two of us can go out and have a blast without hardly any effort or planning. Fun just finds us!

This is how I eat and plan while we travel. First is breakfast. I'm fine with oatmeal, some peanut butter, and an apple every morning. It's a great way to start the day and easy to bring.

For 350 calories and a big cup of coffee I am good to go until lunch or a snack. My other choice is to eat out and typically when you make "decent" choices you run up the tab to about 600+ calories.

I always bring snacks for the room and my backpack. I either bring protein powder or Slim Fast shakes, protein bars, small bagels and individual peanut butter cups, or tuna packets with preportioned crackers. My bag also has Crystal Light in it so that I'm not tempted to dump the water if I'm stuck drinking tap. Let me tell you, a bottle of water in Vegas is like $5 so we do a lot of tap water.

When we eat out I look at what we are doing for the "whole" day. If we are drinking and eating later I make sacrifices during the day. Salads without dressing, sandwiches without sauces and half the bun, split entrees, etc. This trip we did a lot of veggie soups, splitting a sandwich, and I didn't have one single dessert. I wanted it but decided that I was drinking enough to cover one good dessert and just said no.

Exercise is something I also do. I get in a workout daily unless it is a scheduled day off. I've run, visited workout facilities, done Turbo Jam in the room with my laptop, and made up my own in room bootcamp. You would be shocked at how many of your food choices will change if you simply get in some exercise each day. You don't feel like you are completely off the wagon.

Oh! I never take escalators. I always take the stairs while we are out walking around. I would take the stairs instead of elevators but that's hard to do in Vegas. I think they hide them and I'm not too sure how safe they are.

When I come home I always arrive in town with a grocery list and menu for the week. It is EASY to get back to a healthy lifestyle when you have your plan done. Don't come home and wing it for a few days. You will add about 2-3 pounds trying to wean off the junk without the proper tools.

I also rarely weigh when I get home. That is not going to give you an accurate picture of your body. Today I got up and felt thin. Things in the mirror looked good and I decided that was enough for me. It would be tempting to jump on the scale but I can ASSURE you that I will have gained water weight to the tune of 3-7 pounds. There is no way to drink and travel without doing so.

Rather than getting down the scale is up I plan to be happy with how I feel and get back to my lifestyle. So many of you get tangled up in numbers that you sabotage yourself. Do you really want to end a great vacation with hating yourself for being a up a few pounds? Trust me, vacation weight comes off with one to two weeks of just getting back to your lifestyles and drinking water. It's not a reason to have an emotional breakdown.

In the end the lesson is always the same. Vacations with your loved ones are EARNED and DESERVED. Don't make your vacation miserable by going buck wild with your eating or being so strict you make everyone miserable. Common sense girls and remember this is a lifestyle. Part of life is taking time off with family and knowing you spend your home time being clean and fit.

Dreaming Big and Telling Lies

A good piece of advice Chris gave me a long time ago and again just yesterday is this...

Baby, if you want to be an athlete you have to refer and think of yourself as one now.

He told me this back when I was well over 200lbs and thinking about doing my first 5K. I certainly didn't look or feel like an athlete, but what he said stuck with me. It planted the seed that my dreams weren't ridiculous and that I would never realize them until I just quit living in my past and waiting for the perfect moment.

That whole living in the past is too easy in life. It’s easy to sit around and blame and dwell on life’s crap. What is easier…sitting on your butt thinking about garbage or getting off your butt and taking out the trash?

Changes are uncomfortable and require getting out of the comfort zone. That’s not easy. It’s like losing your dominant arm. Do you just never hug, write, eat, or drive again or do you work on your other arm until it all becomes second nature?

If you are a girl who likes to wait for the perfect moment then you’ll never see your dreams come true. We have a thread in the premium member forums at PNP going right now about waiting for the perfect moment. It reminds me of myself. I hate my thighs. They were big and now they have loose skin. If I sat around refusing to run a race until I could look good in a pair of shorts I’d STILL be sitting on butt Saturday morning trying to figure out what can I do to make legs look better. 

It wasn't always easy though to turn off the FGT, but I just sort of started thinking about my life like I was an athlete in training. Everything I did with eating and workouts seemed to have purpose because I had a goal. The times when I would cry because I was scared I would never finish, the times I would go out alone in strange places because I didn't want my neighbors to see the fat neighbor running, and the times I wore horribly hot clothes because I was embarrassed to show any skin I clutched to my thoughts of being an athlete. It was as if I kept lying to myself it would become true.

Well, it did. Somewhere in the middle of it all I accomplished more than I ever thought possible. I have done two figure competitions, ran 10 half marathons, completed four triathlons, and coach women on how to believe in themselves. Soon I will also be a marathoner. None of this would have happened if I didn’t just realize that the way I thought was truly the only thing holding me back. It wasn’t my genetics, my 200+ lb frame, my terrible eating habits, or inexperience with weights, running, or activity. It was simple. I refused to accept we all have to start somewhere most of my life.

So, if you don’t do anything today just say to yourself right now, I am in training because you are. You are in training to be the best YOU possible. Training means mistakes, learning, practice, and work. Like the famous quote says, "If it was easy we would all be doing it."

Great Weightloss Tips

Today we're keeping to short and sweet. I'm heading to Vegas tomorrow and I wanted to give you a little something to "chew" on.

What you do today doesn't show up tomorrow.

Keep this in mind when you weigh: the work you do this week will NOT pay off this week. The hardcore eating and exercising will show up the following week. Your body doesn't lose fast unless you are doing something you shouldn't be like starving, water depleting, your basic monkeying with numbers versus trying to lose fat.

The flip-side to this is what you do that is NOT good (binging, BLT's, skipping exercise) WILL SHOW UP this week. It's not fair, cry and stomp, whatever...just know this is the way the game is played for most of us.

You see, a woman's body is designed to store fat. One, it stores fat for the purpose of keeping us alive. Even though it's been centuries since famine days, our bodies genetically do what they are designed to do. Fat preserves our bodies so it wants to hold it.

Two, we are on the double whammy because we're supposed to bear some kids. That's another way Mother Nature tries to hold onto our fat.

What all this means is that when you screw up it can show up almost immediately. When you do it right it can take a couple of weeks to get some visual and scale payoff. The key to success is patience and consistency.

Eat what you love first.

I thought I had heard it all until the other day. Someone told me when you are going to have a cheat meal or splurge (like a holiday party), eat what you love the most FIRST. If you really like having dessert with a cheat meal, I don't care how full you are on fruits, veggies, and such beforehand, you are going to stuff down a dessert.

Why not go in reverse order? Just eat dessert. Drink a little coffee and water, then ask for a menu and have the main course. More than likely you are going to be fuller and more satisfied and make a better choice. You might even skip some bread and such without trying hard.

Also, how many of you will order something you love that also has some extra stuff on the plate? Start with the favorite. Eat up what you really like versus saving it for last. You might find that by the time you eat in reverse order on your plate some of the bonus foods they put on there for decoration you skip. Example, if I eat all the good stuff on the plate I will never leave some fries. That's my favorite. But, if I start with the fries I might leave behind some buttered brocolli or something on the plate. I'm not saying this is the healthiest but a splurge meal isn't about healthy. It's about enjoying yourself and if you can save 100-300 calories even better.