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Archive for the ‘Inspiration’ Category

Have you ever known someone that you admired and/or looked up to, only to find something out about them that doubted what you knew about them? Today at the gym, I was talking to one of my friends who happens to be a trainer. She and I have had many conversations about anything and everything. One of our favorite topics happens to be fitness of course :-)

Anywhoooooo, we both have talked about and agreed on the ramifications that diet pills can have on a person and both of us have maintained that we do not use, nor do we promote the use of any diet pills to accelerate weight loss. Well, as she was getting ready to leave, her bag fell over from the bench and guess what rolled out of it? You got it…diet pills!! I couldn’t believe it! I called her out on it and she apologized to me over and over. Truth be told, I think she needs to come clean and apologize to her clients, not me! Clients pay good money to look up to someone they BELIEVE is living their life in a healthy and safe way. They seek accountability, motivation, support, knowledge and even friendship. To find out that your trainer is cheating to “stay fit” is a slap in the face in my opinion. Now don’t get me wrong, I drink protein shakes after a good strength training workout, so I’m not talking about that protein drinks. According to the FDA, an analysis of the ingredients in 72 over the counter products showed that they contained undeclared active pharmaceutical ingredients, including the controlled substance sibutramine, an appetite suppressant legally sold as the prescription drug Meridia; rimonabant, a drug not approved in the United States; phenytoin, an antiseizure medication; phenolphthalein, a suspected cancer-causing agent; and the diuretic bumetanide. No prescription drug—even a diet aid like  an appetite suppressant—should be taken without medical supervision. And because some of the products contained doses higher than the levels approved for prescription drugs, the risks are higher as well. Potential side effects are scary: seizures, heart attacks and strokes. So much for safe and natural.

I can’t stress enough about the importance of a healthy diet and plenty of exercise being the TWO key ingredients to living a healthy lifestyle. Getting “help” in a way that puts your body in danger is not smart. Let me put it to you this way….it’s down right STUPID! First of all, if you are not heavy to start with and are just looking to lose 5-10 pounds, I wouldn’t suggest to lose more than 1 pound per week. On top of that, the National Institute of Health recommends that you only lose up to 10% of your body weight for the first 6 months. If you can keep it off, THEN you can lose a few more pounds.

So if you read a label, or magazine ad, or internet ad, or whatever and the thing promises you to lose 30 pounds in 8 weeks, RUN!!!! Run far….you’ll be better off burning up those pounds that way anyhow :-)

THERE IS NO MAGIC PILL!!!!!

How many different commercials, magazine ads, computer pop-up ads and books can you think of that offer you the opportunity  to lose inches or even 50 pounds in two days??? I’m exaggerating of course, but you get the point. The truth is, there is no magic pill….but…you did know that already right? Please say you already knew that.

It’s amazing to me how many people, especially women, still fall for this gimmick. You know, I used to like Jillian Michaels from the Biggest Loser, but she’s really chapped my hide with the recent push for supplements that promise to make you lose weight. I’ve never been a trainer that pushed pills or any specific diet like Atkins or South Beach to name a couple. I like to keep in good fitness health the old fashioned way, through a healthy diet and physical activity at least 80% of the time. Many times, there are long term affects with these “promised” solutions. For example, the American Heart Association states: “Individuals who follow this diet (Atkins) are at risk for compromised vitamin and mineral intake, as well as potential cardiac, kidney, bone, and liver abnormalities overall.” Low carb diets like the Atkins diet may also hasten the onset of type II diabetes. Yikes!! That’s some scary crap people!!

Every New Year’s, millions of people claim that THIS will be the year of shedding those unwanted pounds. “And I’m going to do with hard work….I’m marching myself to the nearest GNC and buying my weight loss!” Yeah. Right. Just doesn’t work that way. Let me rephrase that, it just doesn’t work in a HEALTHY way. These may be temporary fixes, but only contribute to health problems or frustrations at  the end as you may see the weight come back when you get off the diet or supplement.

Lifestyle changes are the best way to lose weight and keep it off. Creating a habit of eating well and being active each day will become a lifestyle change. Did you know that it takes 21 days for something become a habit? Now, I truly do understand that some people have a hard time to lose weight through diet and exercise; I’m not denying that. When that happens, there may be an impending visit to the doc or maybe a registered dietician to see if there is something you may be missing. Perhaps a thyroid problem or very slow metabolism. But for those of you who really haven’t tried as best as you can, are you really struggling? Be honest with yourself please. Denial will get you nowhere.

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states that we should be getting at least 150 minutes of vigorous exercise each week. That breaks down to 30 min each day for only 5 days! That’s the minimum to keep your heart healthy. Now to lose weight, you should really be expending energy for approximately 60-90 minutes each day with one or two days rest. You don’t have to spend the 90 minutes all at once either. Don’t forget you strength training too.

Keeping a journal of your daily physical activity can help too. If you don’t have a personal trainer, this is a great tool to have and it acts as accountability as well (it just won’t yell at you :) In this journal, you can also keep a log of what your feeding yourself. Now THAT can be an eye opener. We usually don’t think of all the “little” snacks we grab on the go, or those 3 peanut M&M’s you just ate….oh….that was me. Anyway, my point is that you have to be completely honest with yourself, and when you decide to do that, you will start to see the change.

You may encounter a plateau. Damn those last 5 pounds!!!!! Curse you!!!!! Ok, ok, settle down now. If you ONLY had the option of losing weight either through exercise or your diet, do you know which one would win? The diet. Ultimately, if you want to achieve the lean physique and toned muscles, eating a clean diet is what will push you over the edge. So be patient. It takes roughly 6 weeks to really start seeing results if you’ve got maybe 15-20 pounds to lose. Remember that the more weight you have to lose (the heavier you are), the faster you will see results. Don’t get discouraged if you hit a wall. We all do. I’ve hit walls, but punched through them.  Stay focused and put your heart into it because at the end, it will thank you!!

If you’re brave, you can take a “before” picture. Place it somewhere that you can see, albeit a private place. Remind yourself that it DOES NOT have to be Jan 1 to start your weight loss goals. It can be Cinco de Mayo or October 25 for pete’s sake! Who cares!! Just don’t use the “New Year’s resolution” as an excuse to wait for your makeover.

Make it happen. YOU, can make it happen!

This is about 10 minutes long, but so worth it if you’re looking for a good laugh for the day! I’ll repost this in the Funny Bone tab as well. Ciao!

Sorry, sorry sorry!! I have been lurking behind school books, indoor soccer window panes, behind desks, in and out of Sacramento and I’m still going! Obviously I haven’t been able to keep up my end of the bargain when I said I wouldn’t let more than 2 days go in between posts. What I meant to say was that I would let 22 days go in between posts….of course I’m joking. So basically I’ve been so busy up to my armpits that I neglected one of my favorite things…my website. *sigh*

So I thought I would just slap some info together for you in lieu of leaving you wondering what the heck I’ve been up to, and then we can just move on. Sound good? Good.

First off I wanted to share with you that I FINALLY did a yoga class! Remember how it was one of my New Year’s resolutions? In case you didn’t know, Yoga has actually stressed me out in the past when I’ve tried it. I’m more of a kickboxing, boot camp, Krav Maga girl, so the s..l…o……..w static positions drive me batty. But I wanted to give it one more try. Perhaps it was the instructor that really made it a great experience for me. Or maybe it was the fact that I didn’t give a flip about how stupid I looked in class, so I was able to relax more this time. At any rate, I was so sore the next two days!! It was awesome! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to go back because I had to work during that time slot, but at least I want to, right? But for now, even though I don’t have the “best” yoga form, I can still hold my balance pretty well, AND with one foot in the sand!Now I have to tell you this story because it’s funny…and it’s about me. Sometimes we need to laugh at ourselves, especially when we have stressful things going on in our lives. So I’m at the gym the other day and I get on the elliptical trainer for about 20 minutes. Truth be told, I got bored, but I wasn’t done working out, so I decided to shoot some hoops. Yes…basketball. Those of you that know me pretty well know how much I REALLY like watching basketball. I enjoy watching most sports and get very vocal too, but I like basketball the most. Anyway, I’m in the gym and I figure that I’ll shoot hoops and do some drills for cardio for about another 20-30 minutes. For every basket I make, I will do 10 jumping jacks and ten pushups. It was official. The basketball gods has placed a forcefield AROUND the entire darn basket!!! I am not kidding people! It got so ridiculous that I was laughing hard, to myself, and the 4 yr olds that were in there for the childcare were even laughing every time the ball hit the board or I air balled it. I think they thought I was doing it on purpose and playing around with them. I had a good laugh, let me tell ya :-D

But I stayed. And the moral of the story is that I didn’t quit, no matter how bad I was. Then there’s my allergies. *another sigh* Are any of you familiar with this? Oh my gosh, if there is one thing I really miss about being in Hawaii is the fact that I never had allergies. They’ve hit me like a ton of bricks, or mold for that matter. I’m always itching my throat, scratching my eyes, wiggling my nose and sneezing. Blah! So that has slowed me down a little bit, but not too bad.

Regarding my cholesterol: THANK YOU for all of you who have inquired and sent me good wishes on this. It was all very sweet :-) All the good joojoos that came my way paid off too! I recently had it checked again and I’m now at 191! Yay!! I admit I was eating a lot more shrimp before, so I cut that out a lot….amost completely for a while to see if that could have been the culprit and I think it may have been. So I’m happy to report that according to my results and doc, I’m not going to be keeling over anytime soon due to clogged arteries and cholesterol. My HDL’s (good cholesterol) were still at 79, so that was great news. Many of the comments have been, “how can you have high cholesterol with how much you work out?” Well guys and gals, it just goes to show that sometimes we can have genetic dispositions (like in my case) and then adding shrimp to the mix isn’t a good idea! No seriously, I do have a genetic disposition in which my body produces more cholesterol than what is being removed. So, I have to take extra precautions to keep that in check. Check out the video on  How cholesterol clogs your arteries. It’s an eye opener!

School is kicking my booty this term. Thank goodness I only have 5 classes left. Or is it 4, or I think 3 actually. * double sigh* I can’t think sTrAiGhT. Either way, I’m almost done thank God. Classes are really busy right now, but I must toot my own horn for a second and say that I’m very proud to have a 3.78 GPA right now! My son asked me the other day, “mom, are you going to get your P.h.D. after your done with your Master’s?” to that I replied, “I’m not sure, but if I do, it won’t be for a while, why?” And he said, “Oh good, because I miss spending time with you”. [guilt trip] At this point I have a blank stare and I hear violins playing in the background. I was bummed, but at least he knows that I work hard in whatever it is I set my mind to, so hopefully he and his sister will catch that fever.

Well, except for all the other little boring details, this is really the big stuff that stuck out in my clouded mind at the moment. Little stuff include: My son wants to start triathlon training now with me in May, I want to start taking photography more seriously, I’ll be renewing and testing again for my personal training certs in June,  work is really picking up as I’ll be traveling outside of CA, I’m now a newly certified level I phlebotomist, my daughter is playing basketball and indoor soccer, my sister is graduating with her Masters in May so I’ll be flying out to DC for that, my car is dirty and I have to fold some laundry now.

Have a great day, afternoon or evening…whatever time it is wherever you are at :-) See you again soon!

I feel motivated, pushed, supported, free and I’m in deep like. Spreading my wings, seeing more gray instead of black and white, and able to give of myself more and more. I’m loving life.

Remember that one of my New Year’s resolutions was to take 4 road trips this year? Well, aside from the fact that I have a pretty good feeling that it will be more than four, I got to enjoy a snippet of beautiful San Francisco this past weekend. It’s true, aside from sitting at the airport, I’ve never been to San Fran…(I know, I know ;-)…I mean “the city”.  I was like a kid in a candy store just coming up to the Golden Gate bridge! Good picture huh?I wanted to sponge up everything I could because I’d never been there before, but obviously there is only so much you can fit in one day. I was such a hungry student wanting to learn ;o) More like a giddy student at best! It was funny coming in because out of sheer luck, we landed on the exact streets that we wanted and needed to be on…or it could have been due to the fantastic driver! Have you heard of the famous Lombard Street? It’s one of the crookedest streets you’ll ever see! Needless to say, traffic was slow but the views were awesome from the top. Moving along, we also got to see the Transamerica Pyramid. It’s the tallest building in San Francisco and to come right up to it was pretty darn cool. Pay no attention to the cable in the pic though ;o)

After parking and heading out on foot, we walked…and walked…and walked. Lucky we like to walk so much! Pier 39, the Bay bridge, and Alcatraz were just a few of the sites new to my world. LOVE learning new things!

Weary at first but so thankful afterwards, we trekked through the Art Institute and went to the top to take in the views there as well. I was taught that we just needed to act as though we belonged there…and everything was fine ;o) Cherry blossoms are quickly becoming a favorite tree of mine!

With as much fun as we were having enjoying the city, we couldn’t pass up the fact that all the hills were giving us a good workout for our legs! Looking down from Union and Jones streets, it’s easy to see how one could get a rock hard butt with or without carrying any groceries.

I can’t in good conscience divulge all the details of our trip, but I can say that I’m definitely looking forward to my next one. Not sure if the kids will be in tow or not, but we’re looking at the Redwood Coast sometime in the summer. Perhaps Yosemite or even New York!! Hmmm, that wouldn’t be so much a “road” trip per se, but who cares! I’ve never been and would love to go.

On a side note that has nothing to do with this post topic…I love having three dogs!

It’s the year of the Tiger according to the Chinese calendar. My year. It’s already been a wonderful 2010 so far!

You know how when you’re working out, you usually take a break in between sets, or maybe a break from running and just walk a little bit? Oooo, oooo, better yet, what about when you take a “few” minutes to chat with your friend as a little break? Ask a Crossfitter to take that opportunity and you’ll hear “NAHHHHHH!! Breaks are for wimps!”

Have you heard of it, Crossfit? The first time you ever participate in a Crossfit session, you’ll never forget it. My girlfriend and I used to joke around about how we would pass or fail the toilet test. Basically, if we had a hard time “squatting” for the next couple of days, then we did a good job on our workout! ;o)

There are MANY benefits to doing Crossfit. Here are a few reasons to add some spice into your workout life:

• Cardiovascular
• Stamina
• Speed
• Agility
• Flexibility
• Strength
• Power
• Coordination
• Balance

For those that really enjoy exercise or want to vamp up their routine, Crossfit is like a chocolate delicacy from Bavaria. You don’t need cardio machines or free weights. You don’t need a pool or a fancy gym. As a matter of fact, Crossfit is a pretty plain Jane basic workout regime that will ultimately just kick your ass into the next day. Crossfit is a highly adaptable and constantly changing strength and conditioning program. In all honesty, it’s a workout that anybody can participate in, but truly will be appreciated more by those who are at a higher level of  fitness. Running, jumping, gymnastic type movements, climbing, and weight-lift training  and any other type of challenging and functional exercises are all game. Crossfit can benefit all different ages and abilities because the goal of a Crossfit athlete is  to be as fit as possible.

There are different routines that you can pick from. They vary from competing against one other, yourself, time, weight, and it goes on and on. The possibilities are really endless if you think about it. One of the best perks….no gym membership is required! Use your garage, an open room in your house, the backyard, a beach, a park, your driveway, etc…etc. Of course if you belong to a gym, you can do your session there as well. To put it simply as possible, think UNconventional. Think ABnormal. Think Wicked. I could put you through the ringer with a jump rope and a tire if I wanted to. Just to whet your appetite, I’m posting a couple of workouts that were put together by myself and my workout partner back in Hawaii. She and I along with another co-worker put together a blog called 2 girls and 1 guy workout together. Now granted, the blog hasn’t been touched in a while, but that’s besides the point. We created these workouts to share with others and to kick our own butts too ;o)

Sample 1- Rose: 5 rounds (sets) for time (try to complete as fast as you can)
10 burpees
40 air squats
30 crunches
20 sumo high pulls (these can be done with a dumbbell, barbell plate, kettle bell, or barbell w/ weight)

Sample 2 – Stick in the Mud (20 minutes. As many rounds as you can do)

10 burpees (see above)

20 air squats (see above)

15 clean and press

20 ball toss (abs)

10 split jumps

This kind of workout is being used by individuals and groups all over. Fire fighters, police officers, military personnel, working moms, stay at home moms, kids (my own), dad’s from every corner and good looking men in politics get involved in Crossfit! (Ok that last one was for my own pleasure).

So what are you gonna do? I challenge YOU to challenge yourself.

It’s the last 5 minutes before each race starts that I always feel the most need to go pee!!! I get the butterflies, a little anxious, and a TON of adrenalin going through my body like   you wouldn’t believe, but it’s all good. It’s one of the best things I’ve ever gotten involved in…the triathlon.

For those of you that aren’t familiar with this kind of race, let me indulge you. It’s one that includes swimming, biking, then running all within the same race one event right after the other. I got involved with this activity because I wanted to add more challenging activities to my life. Something that could help me set a big goal and accomplish it. The biggest perk is that it helped whip me into shape in a different way like I’ve never known! It’s definitely hard work, especially if you plan on doing them on a competitive level.

So on with my point; you should think about setting a goal for yourself this year of participating in an event that ends with an “ON”. TriathlON, MarathON, DuathlON, get it? Before you start with the heart palpitations or cursing me under your breath, or saying “YEAH RIGHT!” to yourself, let’s think about this for a moment. It’s an opportunity to challenge your mind, body and spirit to something that maybe you’ve wanted to do for a long time, or something that you never thought you could possibly do, and yet you CAN!

Let’s go over my fave first…the triathlON: Like I mentioned earlier, this race is made up of a swim, bike and then a run. There are 4 different distances that you could try. First there is the Sprint distance race. It usually consists of a 500 yd swim, a 10 mile bike ride and a 3 mile run. Next is the Olympic distance. A little further, it goes for about .93 mile swim, a 25 mile bike ride and 6.2 mile run. Following that is the Half Ironman :) with a 1.2 mile swim, a 56 mile bike ride and a 13 mile run. It’s also nicknamed a 70.3 race if you’ve ever heard that term before. Finally, we have the Ironman, most famously known as the Kona Ironman race in Hawaii, but NOT the only ironman race out there. This monster is made up of a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike ride and a 26.2 mile run, or in other words, a marathon to complete the race. If you’ve never done any of these races, I suggest you start with the sprint distance. Don’t be fooled though. Although it’s the shortest distance, it’s supposed to be a SPRINT race. So you’re giving it your all the whole time, unlike the longer races which you can pace yourself. Again, this applies to the competitive level. So if you want to do one just to say you did it, start with this one. Training programs for all distances are available through me, or you can check out several at beginnertriathlete.com. This is a great site to get information for newbies. You can search for all different distances through the triathlon calendar which is the site I visit to find my own races. The MarathON…dun-dun-DUN!!! I find that the best way to train for a marathon is do join a team or recruit a partner or two. Team in Training for the leukemia and lymphoma society has a wonderful training program as well as organization that you can sign up with. I remember the first marathon I did in Chicago…I swore I would never do another to be honest, but it didn’t work out that way :) It’s definitely hard work because it’s the same thing for 26.2 miles, but under the right conditions (fundraising, cancer support, supporting a friend) it can be such a rewarding experience. You could also set your sights on a 1/2 marathon! Much easier to complete, but still a lot of sweat and hard work. Imagine the results you’ll be seeing as you train for any of these! Runners World is highly regarded among runners and the 1/2 ,marathon link above will take you there for some great info. Remember that you’re not limited to one of these two races for running. Start off with breast cancer walks/runs, local turkey runs, or even trail running for the beautiful views. I actually love trail running! The DuathlON: A neat race that has two events. These two events are usually a run and a bike ride. Occasionally there will be a swim and bike, or a swim and run, but for the most part it’s a run and bike. So there are two events, BUT, they can be divided up into three parts. So you can have a run, bike, run; or a run, swim run; or run and bike…you get the idea.

Past, current or future athlete beware!!! I can almost promise you that once you decide on an event, start training for it, begin to see results in your own physique and emotional well being, you may become addicted!!

There is nothing like the feeling of accomplishment when you’ve crossed the finish line. When you decide on one, let me know what you picked :)

Where do I begin…

My heart aches for these people. You have no idea the desire that I have to have my mom fly out to CA to watch my kids, just so I can go and help with relief efforts. For many years, I’ve had a huge desire to do missionary work in poor countries, but the better of me sides with reality. I do recognize that I have young children, so I can’t go, not right now at least. I have made a promise to myself that when my youngest turns 18, and she’s well on her way to independence, I will begin my travels abroad to give back what I have been blessed with.

The simplest act of combing the hair of a child, or an elderly person or even a seemingly healthy 35 year old like myself seems like such a petty chore to some, but it’s something that I relish in doing when I know they cannot do it for themselves.

The recent earthquake in Haiti has me gripped at my seat, with my eyes closed and an aching heart, because these people started off in a hole, and now need more than a shovel to dig themselves out (every pun intended). Their world has been rocked, but by the grace of God, they will come out of it. It’s times like these that many of us take a minute or two out of our day to reflect on what’s really important in our lives. It’s in the last sentence…OUR LIVES. What can we do with what we have? Not everyone is lucky enough to ever go through a lifetime without any tragedy, but if you think about it, without that, we find it difficult to appreciate the smallest things. So maybe, just maybe, tragedies can make us better people, or at least we strive to be.

I’ve implied this in an earlier post and I’m going to do it again. If you are able to read this post, consider yourself one of the wealthiest in the world. It’s not enough to be sad and hope that Haiti comes out of this situation. We must be proactive. In other words, YOU know what you can and cannot provide to people in need. Whether it’s Haiti, Africa, or your homeless guy or gal living in the streets of your nearest downtown. “I feel so bad for these people” as you drive or walk away doesn’t do anything for them, or yourself.

I want to share an easy way of helping Haiti that I truly believe is worth taking the time to do. It’s easy, fast, and logistically genius in my opinion. If you can afford lunch or dinner even just ONE time this week, put that money aside and instead text away! The American Red Cross is taking donations of  $10 to help the victims of the Haiti earthquake through the simplest of text messages. All the instructions you need are in the above link. You don’t even need to pull out a credit card!

I want to challenge every single one of you reading this to send one text, that’s all. If you so desire to send more, then more power to you! Close your eyes for a moment, and just try to picture yourself switching places with one of the earthquake victims…hard huh? Now just imagine living it, or losing a loved one, or maybe not even knowing where they are. More simply, take a second to assess your hunger pangs or if you feel dehydrated………………at all.

I just made my donation via Text. It took about 30 seconds, if that.

I dare you. I double dog dare you!

Many of you may have seen this video at one point or another. It’s always a good reminder of what we can truly accomplish when we set our minds to something.

I will leave you with it. It is one of my favorite videos ever. One that inspires me every single time I watch it. Give 4 minutes and 45 seconds of your time to absorb this incredible story and then reflect on all your blessings and realize that YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING you set your mind to! YOU can take on the world!