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

Happily Maintaining...

Talking with Chris this weekend I've decided to blog a little more on my daily life. My blog has always been a source of working out what goes on in my head WHILE helping other people see what it feels like to be a girl who had to lose 100+ pounds and keep it off.

After six years, maintenance is still so hard for me. My life is spent reading through weightloss journals, diets, workouts, etc., to help my clients lose weight. I also use my own life experience to help them so it's easy to get caught up in feeling like MY LIFE must be one giant diet. It never really occurred to me the influence my job has until the last few months.

Another tough aspect is a tangled body image for myself. I've privately on PNP struggled with what do I want to look like. The short of it is I have admired figure competitors and competed for four years now that I couldn't let go of a look I'm just not willing to maintain these days.

It's not that I am ready to gain a bunch of weight. Not at all. I just train and eat different now. My life is filled (happily) with half-marathons, Tough Mudders, and eating to compete rather than dieting for a specific look for a show. I can still look great but I'm just not going to have the specific look I admire.

Truth be told I miss the shows...I miss working hard for the stage because I enjoy that sport, but I don't miss dieting and sacrificing Vegas trips, date nights, Subway, and pancakes with my son just because we feel like it that night. 

On our date night this week, Chris and I talked about all of this. The last few weekends I have not tracked my food and just ate more intune with my brain. I also ate things I don't eat Monday through Friday and had wine with my man. In my BRAIN I know it's fine. It's my emotional side that feels guilty or like if my girls see me enjoying my weekends then the whole site is going to be in a downward spiral. 

I know from losing my weight that it takes TIGHT weekends to get the weight off. But I also know I did my time already and I deserve to enjoy myself on the weekends. Often, though, the girls do as they see without remembering they haven't earned their golden ticket just yet. I know I cannot keep living my life as a diet "model" but just coach them on how they should eat now and SHOW them how it works in life when you are done.

My Weekend...

On Friday, I took a day off from exercise because I had a huge active week and another 8 mile run Saturday morning (already did a 10-miler two days prior). The family stayed in and we ate our normal healthy stuff.

Saturday I fueled up for my 8 miles and was STARVING all day. I ATE on cue and kept it healthy. Knowing we were going out for a date night I didn't want to bust in like Kool-Aid Man to the restaurant and eat whatever was in front of me.

Before we went out at 7:00 pm I had some brussel sprouts and pork from my weekly meal plan. Well, I was full so we decided to go to our local bar and hang out. At 11:00 pm I had drank a good bit of wine, danced with my man, snapped our usual silly pictures for Facebook, and we were starved. We decided on Ruby Tuesday to-go since we had to beat the babysitter.

I ordered a Turkey Burger on dry whole wheat toast, a dry baked potato, and was going to have a salad. When we got there the salad bar had all of Logan's favorites and not many of my own so I decided I really would rather split a dessert than choke down salad at midnight. I made Logan a salad for lunch on Sunday and we got the Blondie! I'm just saying it is my all time favorite dessert in the world and when the Queen has dessert this is what she gets!

I ate every bit of my dinner and a few nibbles of fries off Chris' plate. Yep, I BLT, too! But, I gave Chris the ice cream from our dessert since it's not my favorite and I ate only 1/2 of the blondie. Let me say, that's a big win in my book. I am a clean plate club member and I can put down VOLUMES of food, y'all. I did eat past full but I can eat until miserable and I didn't. Baby, stinking-steps. 

Sunday rolled in and I was TIRED (hungover). I made myself workout but just a lighter workout of some sculpting and 25 minute HIIT from Turbo Fire. I ate healthy but at lunch I really wanted the leftover blondie so I had it. Now, the win here is that normally I gulp food in front of the computer. I made myself sit at the table and ENJOY the dessert. If I'm going to eat 400 calories in dessert then I better ENJOY IT!

Later that day I did a great food prep (starting at 3:30 pm) that was wicked fast and then the boys wanted Ruby Tuesday. Honestly, we love going as a family once a week for family night and it almost always happens on Sunday. After cooking all day to post on Facebook, Logan playing, and Chris and I doing laundry we just want to relax at our favorite spot. We went and I had a big salad and pasta with marinara and chicken/shrimp mix. I also had a couple of Skinny Mojitos since Chris was driving. 

We came home, messed around the house, put Logan in bed and watched Ice and Cocoa. It was fun and Chris has been teasing me all weekend because he thinks I'm his Cocoa. LOL. Can you tell which couple is which?

I guess I'm redefining the way I see Corinne. My desire to just be really lean and hard is waning a lot. My mind for months now has been focused on being sporty, having fun, and healthy. Sure I keep an eye on the scale and such, but I'm also starting to see that body image perfectionism does nothing but make me crazy.

I could never obtain the goals that my head has for me. It doesn't mean throw in the towel; just means my goals are WRONG. I'd love big, firm, muscular legs but my skin can't do that. I also love Tough Mudders and that DESPITE my skin on my legs, ARE strong and conditioned enough to leap and climb. That's a goal worth smiling about it and working hard for.

So, that's my weekend. Today I'm sure the scale is up a bit but I didn't weigh. It's not a reflection of my week. It will be back down by Wed or Thur when I do weigh. I'm back to my good foods, regular programming, and such. Every day can't be a weekend and to have a little more there I gotta have a little less now.

I'm honest in the fact that if I was to lose a few pounds I would smile but it's just got to be a byproduct of a good life. My goal is maintaining, having fun, being athletic, and happy accidents on the scale are always welcomed. 

And, if my husband's words aren't enough, I saw this post from Scott Abel today. Timely and true.

Sad to think a 'perfect or ideal' body or its pursuit makes you “happy” - it doesn’t. It only makes you tired and exhausted from the pursuit, which makes you more unhappy and unsatisfied with yourself. No diet in the world or the results from it, will leave you feeling "good about yourself" if your default position in life is that you feel you are never good enough - no diet will deliver that kind of salvation to you - stop being in a place where you are only comfortable with life, by feeling bad about yourself within your living of it!

 

You Raise Me Up

This is week three of the PNP Holiday Hustle and the girls got a special assignment from me. I want to share with everyone because it is such a lesson in perservering and redefining your success. 

Do not watch this video until you are ready for a good cry!

 

Watching this video reminds me of my husband. He always "lifts me up" when I am down on myself. Watching the guy fall to the ground reminds me of the times I work so hard, deserve pride in my abilities and how hard I work, yet have a bad scale day or have a moment when the mirror shows me my old FGT (fat girl thinking) body. There are days my mind is my pulled hamstring. I've worked for years to lose the weight, maintain it, and yet fall down before the finish.

Chris is always there to keep me focused on the person I am...more than a weightloss success story. I am a mother, wife, business owner, and fitness enthusiast. 

What I love about this video is the guy had it in his mind what victory was going to be. He was on the Olympic stage and I am sure he played through his mind several times what it would feel like. In the video you can see not only the pain of the injury but the pain of what he thought was to be...was gone. 

You watch him go from mourning the loss of making is PR or winning and see him decide that finishing was worth it. It wasn't how he dreamed it would be but it would be the most he could make it.

And that sums it up for me and my weightloss. I have visions of how I want to look and what my weightloss should have been. I'm in that race and won't get to the finish until I start redefining what the success is. It has to be more than loose skin on my thighs or having a rock hard physique. It's my moment to change my definition of succcess because what I dreamed of is not meant for me. Doesn't mean that other dreams can't come true. 

Hope this makes sense and you think about where you are in YOUR journey. And, if you aren't lucky enough to have a Chris at home like I am, post here and I'll introduce you to a world of women at PNP who will lift you up. :)

Keys To Weight Loss Success

Looking back on how I lost 110lbs and trying to come up with what I changed, I found that it really took me changing my whole lifestyle to make it happen. 

It wasn't done overnight - it took me a year and a half of steadily working at it. 

I didn't make a ton of changes at once - I tackled one thing at a time until I could STAND to add another change. I avoided changes that made me feel like it was unfair that I was "not living" like everyone else.

I made less and less mistakes. For the first time in my life I CHOSE to quit whining how life was unfair and examined what things I NEEDED TO CHANGE so that life would quit happening to me.

I think that was the biggest shift. For most of life I complained how things were constantly going to crap.

Why me? Why did MY schedule always change? Why do I have to work extra hours at work? Why is that when I start doing good a bunch of crap comes up?

My husband never had these traumatic events happening. He's always had it easy. Well, that's what I always thought of him and others who are "skinny" or have it together.

They actually have just as many flat tires, late nights, unexpected visitors, invitations to eat out, kids sick, vacations planned, flus, volunteer opportunites, and friends calling them up bawling their eyes out.

The key difference is they are prepared most of the time for these things, say no to a lot of stuff they would like to do but don't have to for, and don't make excuses.

• It's EASY to say you are too tired to workout. It's a victory on the scale when you workout and you didn't want to.
• It's NOBLE to start Monday saying you are going to make great choices all week. It's SIMPLE to eat out prepped food in your cooler you spent time fixing on Sunday. When those unexpected events or sick kids pop up you handle it with ease because YOU DON'T HAVE TO COOK!

At our Columbus Half Marathon PNP meet up event this past weekend, many of us discussed what it takes to lose weight. I thought I would share today. Our PNP group is smart so listen up!

1. Weigh-in once a week. We LOVE to say the scale isn't our friend. Well it can be if you use the numbers to reflect on how often you BLT'd, missed a workout, ate out, had a SMALL slice of birthday cake (I mean we all know that cake at the office means we barely had a little bit - rolling my eyes), or added creamer to your coffee, a little extra PB to your oats, and a smidge more rice with dinner.

That scale number isn't always 100% accurate, of course, but don't complain about it not showing love if you weren't 100%. That's like saying your kid can hit you a couple of times a week and you won't care. Stop bitch slapping your diet and you might get better results. And sister, you better show me detailed records of your effort in food and workouts before you whine about the scale not moving.

2. EXERCISE! You got to do it and most workouts should be hard. I'm all for walking in the beginning. Trust me. Walking was HARD for me at 250lbs. But if you are exercising and it seems "not so bad" then just know that minimal effort = minimal results. 

3. Support from friends and family. Don't keep it a secret or those food pushers will come after you. They have to know how important this is to you. Tell them your goals, your plans, and what you AREN'T doing anymore. But when you do that you have to strap on the big girl panties and DO IT. Just because you are losing weight doesn't mean the rest of the world has to diet with you. 

I also advise a fabulous community of like-minded people - shameless plug - join www.phit-
n-phat.com

4. If you crave foods you will binge on then get them out of your house. Don't be stupid and keep chips if you will eat chips! Find subs for the things you love. A lot of my girls who binge or can't resist
sweets use Shakeology to curb the sweet tooth. I love it because I love ice cream. Every night I make a big ole shake that has the consistency of a Frosty and it keeps me from wanting other junk in the health. My girls use it for their chocolate fix...especially when PMS strikes!

5. Cut out sodas and juices. If you got weight to lose you shouldn't drink your calories. You need to eat them or you will feel miserable.

If this wasn't enough...I also shot a video of me discussing how important the social influences are to your weight loss success!

 

 

Asylum Running Schedule

Chris and I went for a long run today of nine miles. We started with our Shakeology as pre-run fueling. Chris had a banana, Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla Coffee, and a packet of Stevia blended in his. I had Shakeology, ice, same coffee, and unsweetened almond milk along with two slices of toasted Ezekial Bread. We ate in the car on the way out to the Greenway. We also were packing Mocha Clif Gels to take at the 45 minute mark then every 30 minutes. Oh, and we had Xtend in our fuel belts because it was hot.

Well, my husband is NOT a believer in weight training like his wifey is. After our run was in the books, he was moaning about his back and other things when we stretched. I get a little sore after runs but I'm pretty much feeling good all day. I can clean house, run errands, work and such. I attribute this to how hard I work with weights to have a strong body.

Today I think I finally convinced him he has got to include some strength training to be a strong runner, not a cripple for a day or two, and avoid stinking INJURY. He is not going to let me work him out because he says I "make him so sore he can use his arms for days."

I love how my Phit-N-Phat  girls can handle my pain train but the King says he can't straighten his arms for four days. Whatever!

To mix in the running and the strength that would be interesting to him, I suggested he use the Asylum videos. Because we are focused on running I only want him using TWO of them during the bulk of our training: Strength and Back to Core.

I am posting his schedule in case anyone would like to use the format:

M - Asylum Strength
T - Off (his busy day at work)
W - Tempo or Sprint Run
T - Asylum Back to Core
F - Off
S - Long Run
S - Short easy recovery run of 3 miles a bit faster than long run pace

Asylum has three other videos: Speed and Agility, Vertical Training and Relief. I would like to see him add in Relief (great stretching) but he doesn't have 40 more minutes to give. He is going to do a series of stretches post running with me along with the cool downs provided in the videos.

The other two videos we will mix in during weeks we have a "taper" from the running. We'll sub them in for the strength and back to core to mix it up a little in his efforts.

This works for him because he needs something quick and easy to follow in the mornings before work.

If you are interested in someone like me helping you with your fitness goals through Beachbody Videos, sign up on my page for a free account and I'll be your coach. When you order vidoes, Shakeology and/or other products you'll get my experience and support to reach your goals. As a trainer and lifestyle coach, it allows me to also be a Beachbody Coach that can really optimize your training!

Husbands Dealing With Our Mental Fat Crap

Catchy title, huh?

If you missed my blog yesterday , I talked about an out of control feeling weekend. Then my husband jumps in with his side of the story. He also emailed me saying he wasn't venting but just trying to help you girls understand the unique position we put our husband's in and as usual he is very right. He's probably venting a bit, but that's OK.

I know it sucks for spouses and probably Chris the most because he lives with the person so many look to for advice and leadership. It’s such a tough balance to let go and have ice cream “like a normal person” every now and then, enjoy those moments, and then not beat yourself up.

I did tell Chris when we got the ice cream I would not blame him or feel bad because I had that feeling I wanted more than a responsible amount. I got 50% of the way there; I didn't blame him but I still sort of feel bad.

Now that Tuesday has rolled in and I am within a poop of where I was last Friday, I can see how out of balance I can be. Adjusting to being a balanced person is just hard. I’ve spent most of my life out of control with my eating, spent a few years reigning it in, and then the last few years very controlled.

The middle is where I am most of the time. Honestly I have been working hard on not overthinking my choices. My gut tells me that getting the hang of maintenance will be just like getting used to dieting. It's tough at first because you are used to over-indulging. Now I'm used to the restriction and any indulgence, big or small, feels HUGE. The only feelings I have to assoiciate it with are those of fear, shame, and being unable to "right the ship."

As I tell my girls all the time, it's about having new experiences to replace the old. Maybe what I am experiencing now is what my new normal will be soon. I still have to let go of the idea that I am obese, on the verge of being obese again, or not able to be a success. It's not who I am even if the memory of the person is still alive and well.

Speaking of reality, I'm getting my body fat tested at 3:30 today. Good ole dunking on a Tuesday afternoon. It's not that I am hung up on numbers, but when you fight a distorted view of what you look like and who you are, sometimes some numbers can lend perspective. That's why I am doing it. It would be great to trust the mirror. I often do, but having some numbers to show me in reality where I am with the image I see can help me not be so hard on myself.

That's probably my biggest goal these days; not to be so hard on myself and not to feel guilty for enjoying food and drink. So, here's to another phase of development!