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

DOMS - Are You Sore Yet?

Wow...I am! I did P90X2 Plyocide yesterday and my legs are SORE. Many of my new challengers for the Beachbody and PNP programs are going to experience Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) for the next couple of weeks.

For people new to their program or just starting out I want to let you know it is NORMAL! This is what fit people when they challenge their muscles. You WILL be a more sore in the beginning but after a couple of weeks of training you will find the soreness is mild compared to wanting to rip a toilet paper holder off the wall when you get off the potty. That's about how I feel today, anyway!

I pulled an article from WebMD for you girls who want to understand more about it, why, and how to help it.

My best advice is this:

1. Drink water. Get in that gallon a day because muscles need water to repair. The more hydrated you are the faster the soreness will go away.

2. MOVE! Don't wuss out on your next workout. Keep working through your plan. I design mine to not work the same areas so moving will shuttle some blood to the sore muscles and make you stronger and less sore FASTER.

3. A nice epsom salt bath is relaxing and will help a lot!

4. Ibuprofen can lessen the soreness so feel free to take some if it's something you can take.

So, keep smiling, keep hugging, enjoy your soreness because you EARNED it, AND KEEP MOVING!

Mind Games You Need To Stop Playing

This was a great article from Sparkpeople about five mind games you need to stop playing with youself when you want to lose weight.

#1 Going for the Gold - having a perfect pant size or weight you are shooting for and then life gets in the way. You slowly come off the wagon and your dreams fade.

#2 Starting out super strong - you make the most hardcore plan you can to make up for a weekend or weeks of crazy eating. When you get hurt or too sore to continue you are back to your old ways pretty quick. Most peter out in WEEK THREE and we've talked about that a lot around here.

#3 Taking the road less traveled - you order every fad diet, book, and video you can get your hands on. Before you know it you haven't broken the seal or so confused over what works because you tried everything just a little bit.

#4 Flying under the radar - you decide to tell no one of your diet so you try to live the lifestyle with people who are living the old life. You cave and feel like everyone is out to "get you."

#5 Staring down the scale - you weigh daily, hourly, after you pee and get caught up in the those numbers versus the calories you journaled, your sports improvements, and your heart rate numbers improving.

If any of these sound like you, and you might even identify with all of them, read the full article here and then feel free to make a comment here about who you are and what you need to do to fix that!

Food Relationships

I am on vacation and found this article. It really spoke to me because it feels like for a majority of my food decisions I do feel good about them: the treats and the simple fuel.

Over the years I have learned to love lots of healthy foods and what used to be all out stuff yourself foods have lost their allure and control over me.

It does feel good to have my food plans, know that I do enjoy the simple raw veggies, and really choose to eat a lot of food because of how I feel and what it does for me.

It also feels awesome to know when I go to Vegas with the best husband in the world, I can drink what I want, enjoy foods I don't get at home, and know when I go hone I will be excited to get back on a healthy and tasty food plan of my choosing.

PNP girls and others, tell me what you think about this article.

http://fortheloveofcookies.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/normal-eating/

Other People's Perspective

GOOD NEWS!! The new PNP site is open and ready for members. Many of you have waited patiently for months to start up with us. Well, visit this link and you will find what we have to offer.

To kick off the new site I want to talk today about an issue we all face: how other's treat us while we make a new lifestyle. Specifically, we're talking about dining out situations since that is where many of us fall off the ole wagon.

PNP is where we TEACH you how to live a lifestyle, we don't judge which one you choose, and we support each other to be healthy, HAPPY, and strong women. It's a family and I hope you take the time to see what we are all about.

An article by Dave Tate on T-Nation.com struck me hard today as he talks "plainly" about bulking and cutting for men. There was a whole section of the article that reminded me of PNP ladies because he addresses how others question him so hard on how he eats and lives as a bodybuilder.

How many of us do soooo good with our lifestyle until we hit peer pressure dining out or eating at a family function? Gosh, to this day, I still "defend" my choices or "explain" how I am eating way too much. If I have to do this SOME, I know many of you who are newer to the lifestyle face it a lot.

The key is learning you just have to stand your ground on your goals. YOUR GOALS. What you want to do for your health and lifestyle is no one else's business. It just ain't. You have the right to pursue happiness just like the next person. So, I took his article and cleaned it up (language and dude talk) to fit us. Enjoy.

You ever go out with a bunch of people for dinner when you're dieting? Isn't that a messed up situation?

Let's say you're at a table with seven people and everyone's ordering their food. You're at the end so you're ordering last. They're getting ribs, chicken strips, spaghetti, and whatever. No one in the group cares what they're ordering. The conversation stays the same. Then it comes to you and your first question is, "How do you prepare your chicken breasts?"

People start looking at you.

Then you order plain chicken breasts with a side of broccoli with no butter or seasoning. The waiter writes it down and off he goes to the kitchen. Now everyone's looking at you like you're a freak.

They didn't care that your other friend was eating ribs. They didn't say crap when your BFF ordered her chicken strips. So how is your meal selection any different? It blows my mind.

If you ordered something that was complete junk, no one would say anything. But because you ordered something to help you achieve a goal, it's a problem.  And now for the next ten minutes you're having that stupid freaking conversation.

"It's so easy for you to lose weight," they say. "I can't do it."

And you're thinking, really? Here I am at Outback Steakhouse ordering plain chicken breasts and broccoli – which is gonna cost me 20 bucks by the way – and it's easy? This is something I want to do? You think I want to sit here and watch you jerks eat wings and ribs? I'm here for your company, not to give you dieting tips you're not gonna listen to.

And the same crap happens when you're having a cheat/splurge/free meal, too. Just one time a week you PLAN to go off your regular healthy foods and ENJOY yourself, everyone says, "I thought you were dieting? You won't lose weight eating that stuff!"

And you want to say, do you seriously think I get to eat like this all week? Hell no! It's back to clean foods the rest of the week for me pal, not to mention I am up at 4:30 every day working out while the world sleeps because it's the only time in the day a working mother can get anything done for herself.

That's why there's so few people who get LIVING A LIFESTYLE AND JUST GOING ON A DIET. And, why it helps to be around people with similar goals like the girls at PNP. They understand. It's a rare place to find women who truly get what you after in life: a final and lasting change in how you think, act, and feel about food and exercise.

Yeah, you can keep eating like everyone else, start the latest diet here and there, take time off for because LIFE is CRAZY right now, buy the newest gadgets and videos yet stay absolutely the same as you are now wondering when the light will come on.

But that's crap and no way to LIVE.

Talk To Me: Why Aren't You Losing Weight?

I got an article in email and thought it would be great to post the link, everyone read it, and YOU tell me which ones apply to you.

After that, I can make some personal comments or maybe even do a blog based on YOUR feedback.

http://www.everydayhealth.com/weight-pictures/12-reasons-youre-not-losing-weight.aspx

Typically when I stall it's one of two things: not enough sleep or stress. I KNOW my habits are good now but after all this time these two things are battles I still struggle with.

Sleep is tough for me. Always has been. I'm an early riser no matter what time I go to bed or how often I wake up. My mind doesn't like shutting off at night and when I have a tough night the scale is almost always up the next day. Why? Your body works HARD at night to do the fat burning from the day. If you aren't giving your body the rest it needs then you are short changing yourself a lot of work.

AND, if you don't get enough sleep you are MORE LIKELY to overeat when you are simply tired. They have studies that show people with weight problems get less sleep than those without a weight problem. So, get in bed and get away from TV, iPhones, and computers!

Stress will make you hold water, jack up your appetite and do all kinds of weird things. Lately I've been examining my life and reducing stress I just didn't need around me. From re-tooling my business to purging the house of junk I've worked hard on finding ways to feel at ease throughout life. It's THAT important.

OK...enough about me. What about you?

Pre-Diabetes Soapbox

I have run across clients and readers who sort of misunderstand pre-diabetes and making a lifestyle to deal with it. There are plenty of articles out there that explain it in medical terms with a nice, neat package of how to be a different person tomorrow. Well, with the exception of ONE client I have rarely seen a person ever be successful at just flipping on a dime.

Come on! If you had it in you to eat right and exercise you would have done it. It's not like we are amazed that candy bars, sugar, and white bread are hard on our sugar levels. Trust me, as many of you who are carb-phobs when it is time to diet and carb-junkies when you aren't on plan I KNOW you KNOW what the deal is.

What I want to do is post some quotes from sites and give my own FGT-two-cents thoughts on it. Take it or leave it; love it or hate it...this is just my thoughts you need to think about that aren't always in the articles.

In pre-diabetes, blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. However, many people with pre-diabetes develop type 2 diabetes within 10 years. Experts disagree about the specific blood glucose level they should use to diagnose diabetes, and through the years, that number has changed. Individuals with pre-diabetes have an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. With modest weight loss and moderate physical activity, people with pre-diabetes can delay or prevent type 2 diabetes.

A major research study, the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), confirmed that people with IGT—pre-diabetes—were able to sharply reduce their risk of developing diabetes during the study by losing 5 to 7 percent of their body weight through dietary changes and increased physical activity. Study participants followed a low-fat, low-calorie diet and engaged in regular physical activity, such as walking briskly for 30 minutes, five times a week. These strategies worked well for both men and women and were especially effective for participants aged 60 and older.

Yes, losing weight will help you and so will exercising but if you just cut back your afternoon snack from a king size Snickers to a regular, you ARE NOT fixing anything! The key to remember is that you have to CHANGE YOUR DIET TOO! Sugar is sugar is sugar is sugar. Your body has a hard time with SUGAR. You put too much in and now your body says it just shouldn't have it anymore!

For some people with pre-diabetes, intervening early can actually turn back the clock and return elevated blood glucose levels to the normal range.

You know who these people are? The ones who change their LIFESTYLE. They aren't the ones that just pop the pills with a regular soda - although a 16 oz versus the 20 oz they were drinking. Honey! That's not a lifestyle change. That's like saying I'm a drunk - but I used to drink whiskey and now I just drink light beer. Eventually the pills won't work either.

Here's a sample pre-diabetes menu I pulled. This is a great general diet, around 1700 calories, filled with good foods, and if you needed more calories you could pair the snacks with protein and nuts. If it's "too clean" for you at this moment, just look at the patterns of the menu and replicate them with easier foods or WEAN down foods.

Doing something is better than nothing but just remember, when your lifestyle starts SCREAMING at you it's time to change you need to LISTEN. Your body is trying to tell you that you HAVE BEEN slowly killing it and now the train is busting ass to get to the death station.

Breakfast

(360 calories, 52.5 grams carbohydrate)

1 slice toasted whole wheat bread with 1 teaspoon margarine
1/4 cup egg substitute or cottage cheese
1/2 cup oatmeal
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 small banana

Lunch

(535 calories, 75 grams carbohydrate)

1 cup vegetable soup with 4-6 crackers
1 turkey sandwich (2 slices whole wheat bread, 1 ounce turkey and 1 ounce low-fat cheese, 1 teaspoon mayonnaise)
1 small apple

Dinner

(635 calories, 65 grams carbohydrate)

4 ounces broiled chicken breast with basil and oregano sprinkled on top
2/3 cup cooked brown rice
1/2 cup cooked carrots
1 small whole grain dinner roll with 1 teaspoon margarine
Tossed salad with 2 tablespoons low-fat salad dressing
4 unsweetened canned apricot halves or 1 small slice of angel food cake

Snacks

(Each has 60 calories or 15 grams carbohydrate. Pick two per day.)

16 fat-free tortilla chips with salsa
1/2 cup artificially sweetened chocolate pudding
1 ounce string cheese plus one small piece of fruit
3 cups "lite" popcorn

Drinking Water: Options

I got this in email from Everyday Health and thought I would share with all of you. Enjoy!

7 Ways to Make Water Taste Better

Not everybody has a taste for water, but we all need it to ensure that our bodies continue functioning properly. If you want to drink more water, but aren't crazy about the taste (or lack thereof), here are some tips that can make it more enjoyable:

1. Add fresh fruit. Citrus fruits, such as lemons, limes, and oranges, are classic water enhancers, but other fruit flavors might also tempt your taste buds. Try crushing fresh raspberries or watermelon into your water, or adding strawberry slices. Cucumber and fresh mint are refreshing flavors as well — especially in summer.

2. Use juice. Any fruit juice can be a good base flavor for water, but tart juices, like cranberry, pomegranate, grape, and apple, are especially delicious. Go for juices that are all natural, with no added sugars. And remember: Fruits and their juices don't just taste good — they contain vitamins and antioxidants that can benefit your health too.

3. Make it bubbly. Many people prefer sparkling to still water. If plain old water isn't inspiring to you, try a naturally effervescent mineral water — which will give you the added benefit of minerals. Or try bubbly seltzer, a carbonated water. You can add fresh fruit or natural juice flavors to your seltzer, as suggested above, or look for naturally flavored seltzers at your local market. If you become a seltzer devotee, you might want to consider getting a seltzer maker for your home.

4. Get creative with ice. Some say that ice water tastes better than water served at room temperature. If that's so, flavored ice cubes may make an even better drink. Use some of the flavoring suggestions above and start experimenting with fresh fruit, mint, or cucumber ice cubes. Simply chop your additive of choice, add it to your ice cube tray along with water, then freeze. You may also consider juice, tea, or coffee cubes. If you want to be more creative, use ice cube trays that come in fun shapes, like stars, circles, or even fish.

5. Drink tea. Herbal, fruit, green, white, and red teas are generally considered to be better for you than black teas (or coffee, for that matter) because they contain little to no caffeine. And there are countless flavors of these teas to choose from. Start with the selection at your local market or health food store. If you're interested in pursuing more exotic flavors and sophisticated teas, start researching the vast array of specialty teas that come from all parts of the globe.

6. Try bouillons, broths, and consommés. If your palate leans toward the savory, you may pass on tea and start sipping one of these hot and savory liquids instead. Choose low-fat and low-sodium versions for maximum health benefits. Because soup is water-based, a cup of hot soup will count toward your daily fluid consumption.

7. Add fast flavor. If you're looking for a quick-and-easy flavor booster, you might also consider sugar-free drink mixes, and flavor cartridges that can be used with your faucet filter system.

Learn more in the Everyday Health Healthy Living Center.

Do the Complete Opposite

Many people have heard this before...

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again achieving the same results."

Are you stalled in your weightloss but FEARFUL if you change something you'll gain or it won't work? Paralyzed by that fear you continue to do the same elliptical routine, eat the same frozen dinners for lunch, then have weekends where you can't control your eating.

Are you waking up and skimping or skipping breakfast, making a plan to workout at night? The problem is you are tired, stressed, and ready to gnaw off your arm when you get home so you eat until the kids go to bed where you collapse in the bed to watch TV.

Are you always giving into temptations...lunches with co-workers, cake at the office, Burger King on the way home, and a hot latte when Susie Q. needs a caffeine fix? Each week you think about packing some snacks, having prepared meals at home, and then just don't do it thinking you'll "wing it" this week.

Girls, girls, girls...are you INSANE? No...but I think you are in desperate need of help.

Starting Jan 4, 2010, I will start a 12-week email workshop of one to two messages a week. In those messages you will get motivation, sample workouts, instruction on healthful eating, and lifestyle techniques to be a phitter you in 2010. It is open to all my PNP readers: clients and blog followers.

We'll have some mini-challenges and exercises we will do in the blog but you NEED TO SIGN UP with me in email (corinne@phit-n-phat.com)  if you wish to be a part of the workshop. It's FREE and I'm doing it in hopes of inspiring you to start 2010 unlike any other year. Maybe you will become a PNP Member or buy a book, but I really just want to teach more people how to start living the live they DESERVE. This workshop CAN be all you need to make the first twelve weeks of January unlike any other year.

Check out this video. It's a good laugh but it also shows how changing one little thing can lead to BETTER results for you!

Are You Smarter Than Your Kid?

I received a blog today that was so great for discussing the idea of treats versus snacks with your kids. If you have a chance, take time to read it!

The author defines a snack as...

Healthy snacks are a good part of a healthy, balanced diet and include whole fruits, vegetables, whole grain breads, low fat cheese, low fat yogurt, nuts and many other delicious, real foods in reasonable portions that are good for us.  Healthy snacks don’t fill us up, but satisfy us enough to make it to the next meal.  Portions are small and controlled.

Then the author defines a treat as...

Treats on the other hand are usually high-sugar, high-fat, processed and/or fried foods that should be eaten very sparingly.  Treats are often served for dessert after lunch or dinner, but also come in the form of muffins (aka CAKE!), sugary breakfasts, donuts and soft drinks.  Treats should be eaten no more then once a day- and preferably much less!

After reading this I thought about all the people that apply to PNP and their applications. I ask them for a sample of their REAL diet...what are you eating routinely that brought you to me AND give the HONEST truth about your weekends.

I am not picking on one person because anyone who needs to lose weight has done this (raising hand WILDLY here), but our life is a big-ass treat! We toss in some healthy stuff and think we should lose weight instantly. Notice I said SOME healthy stuff and not a rare treat.

That's the problem today. We forget in this country just how much of life is made up of treats. We have been conditioned that life is a system of constant reward. We watch whatever we want on TV, surf the net, and have privileges others don't, You want to know why other countries are thinner? They don't have access to as much crap, TV, computers, games, and cars as we do.

People, the things you aren't willing to give up to lose weight aren't owed to you; you have forgotten something as simple as the difference between a snack and a treat. Or, walking versus exercise??? We got legs to move our bodies. Walking isn't exercise...it's what you are SUPPOSED to do or you lose your life.   

I'm not saying tomorrow you go whole hog black and white thinking. What I am saying is that each time you look at a cookie think about everything and anything else you are eating that day. Is your cookie really a treat or is it the treat for that one meal?

It still comes down to this: you don't have to count calories, wear a heart rate monitor, or have elaborate equipment. You make sure what you put in your mouth is healthy, move your legs daily, and you are winning the battle.

Don't You Want to Lose FAT?

I am as guilty as all of you. That scale going down always just seems so rewarding but it can be MISLEADING if you aren't careful. Let's talk about what we all REALLY want to see happen; lose FAT not WEIGHT. These terms are NOT the same.

Weight Loss vs. Fat Loss: What's the Difference?

• Weight Loss. You want to lower your body-weight, the sum weight of your bones, muscles, organs, body fat, water, hair, fake-nails, everything.
• Fat Loss. You want to lower your body fat, the amount of fat your body carries. Healthy goals are 20-30% for women. This article is a good explanation of the different age groups and charts.

Problems with Weight Loss. If you want to lose weight, it’s most likely because you carry too much fat. There are people who must lose weight, like athletes before a competition, but most want fat loss. So, learn to track your success in other ways than the scale. It's only one flawed measure and not always a reflection of what you are doing RIGHT.

• Unreliable. Your body-weight can fluctuate daily since it’s influenced by your stomach/bowel/bladder content, water loss/retention, muscle loss/gain, fat loss/gain, … You’ll have no idea what’s going on.
• Irrelevant. Two people with similar height can weigh the same, but look completely different because one has lower body fat than the the other.

The pictures below are me a few years ago at 145 pounds and me today at 145 pounds. The difference? I've spent the last few years lifting weights and focused on a balanced diet to have FATLOSS. The first picture I ate decent but too FEW calories and only did tons of cardio to lose WEIGHT.

 

Here’s How The Weight Scale Can Mislead You. Clothes, pictures, and measurements don’t lie. But the weight scale can become your worst enemy by misleading you. You have a day with a false reading from too much sodium and you eat like crazy that day feeling like a failure.

Think of this: have you ever woke up feeling slimmer to only weigh more? I have done it so many times and let me tell you, right now I am not weighing and my eating is better than ever. Why? I feel good about myself each day and it makes the day easier to fuel up properly for my workouts. Otherwise, I want to drown my sorrows in a bucket of KFC.

• Carbs & Water. Carbs bind to water. Eating less carbs will make you lose weight: water loss. This is why you lose so much weight on a diet like Atkins the first 2 weeks: it’s mostly water. Of course, increasing your carb intake will make you gain weight again: water retention. This is why I'm doing a lot of work with the PNP girls on an Abs Menu.
• Muscle Gains & Fat Loss. You’ll gain muscle while losing fat when you start a strength program. But on the weight scale it will look like you’re not making progress: your body-weight doesn’t change. Track your body fat using a fat caliper and you’ll see your body fat is going down.

How to Make Sure You Lose Fat, Not Muscle? Check the picture above: 5lbs muscle takes less space than 5lbs fat. That means you’ll look slimmer at the same body-weight by building muscle. Keys to losing fat, not muscle:

• Get Stronger. Strength training builds muscle & prevents muscle loss.
• Eat Healthy. Follow my Basic Eating Strategies 101.

You can do cardio to speed up fat loss, but without strength training, cardio will cause muscle loss and you’ll end up skinny-fat. Here's some free routines from my site and my 30 Day Treadmill Bootcamp for those who MUST combine cardio and strength due to time constraints.

How to Track Progress Efficiently. You don’t need to track progress weekly, changes wouldn’t be drastic enough. Track progress every 2 or 4 weeks. You'll see more results and get more excited about your efforts!

• Stop Weighing Yourself Daily. The daily fluctuations will kill your drive unless you have a VERY HEALTHY mental state about why the scale goes up and down so much. Weigh yourself once every 2 weeks or once a month.
• Look in The Mirror. Self-image issues can skew perception. Start practicing choosing something you love about your body daily. Focus on it and TRULY appreciate it.
• Track Body Fat. Even though body fat scales can be "off" you can certainly track the trend to make sure it is going down.
• Take Measurements. Once a month measure yourself and make sure your problem areas are shrinking.
• Shoot Pictures. Full body pictures in the same outfit every two to four weeks show a good diary of progress.
• Training Stats. Keep a training log. Make sure you are lifting more weight, walking further, and doing harder levels in your cardio. You should be doing a little better each week or it's time to switch things up.

Last but not least, when someone says you look like you've lost weight just simply say, "Thank you. I've been working very hard." Most of you will dismiss the compliment and it's time to start appreciating what other people say to you!