Posted on

I’m Rubber,You’re Glue

A few days ago our son approached us about a friend who had called him “fat”, and said that it hurt his feelings and he wondered what he should have said or done. Now, this is almost as ridiculous as it is mean. This particular son of mine just happens to be in about the 25th percentile in weight for his age. So…you can see why maybe this particular insult was misinformed. But, it hurt his feelings just the same. So we chatted about kids and how sometimes they can say and do things that make us feel bad. We taught him some good old-fashioned comebacks…just for fun: sticks and stones, rubber and glue, pants on fire, etc…they all still apply. The sad thing is…adults are just as guilty of this bad behavior as kids.

In one of my challenge groups we were talking about the nay-sayers we face in our own families and circles of friends. You know, the ones who would mock, make fun of and belittle someone’s health and nutrition efforts. Why would anyone do that? Well, my explanation to my son about his friend was that sometimes a person doesn’t feel very good about themselves. Rather than changing what they don’t like, they attempt to build themselves up by tearing other people down. I think the same holds true for us grown-ups. Shame on us!

When we see someone pouring themselves into something we don’t quite understand, we should ask questions, express interest, or keep quiet.  We should not insult or belittle. What could be better than someone trying to be their best self, inside and out (to borrow a phrase from my friend Carrie)? But I get the eye-rolls, and the comments, too: “I would only run if someone was chasing me”. If I had a nickel for every time I heard that one! “Do you enjoy that bird food you eat?” Actually I do! Because it makes me feel good! You would never hear me mocking someone’s lack of exercise or greasy cheeseburger “value” meal! But what if I did? I could say something like, “Wow, looks like you haven’t worked out in a while!” or “Hey, I see you don’t give a crap about what you eat. Think there’s enough grease in your meal to clog ALL your arteries? ”. Nope, I wouldn’t do that. So why would anyone feel that it is ok to mock healthy lifestyle choices? I don’t get it.

Here’s my public service announcement: Choose your words wisely. Don’t insult what you don’t understand…yet! Ask questions. Express interest. Learn more about people! The more we learn about each other, the more we understand, experience and GROW! If you cannot act your age and refrain from negativity, than bite your tongue and listen. You might learn something without even trying. We’re all on our own journeys in life. We’re finding our ways, learning about the kinds of people we want to be. We tell our kids to be nice to each other:  “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all”, right? Let’s practice what we preach. Teach by example. Be excellent to each other. 😀

Posted on

Friday Fun…Be a Good Tree!

Here’s a little Friday Fun.

My mom actually owned this album back in the day. She would put the record on and attempt to do the exercises that Jane was describing, without actually being able to see her. My good friend Jenelle and I stumbled upon one of these “workouts” one night and decided to join the fun. For giggles, we took everything Jane said literally. She would say something like,”Lift your right leg, raise both arms, now twist, twist…” It ended up being much like a game of workout Twister which eventually ended when we collapsed in FITS of laughter! I guess if nothing else, we all got a pretty decent ab workout. 🙂

After that, my mom was an avid Jazzercizer! She would don her most fabulous Jane Fonda-inspired workout attire, and head to class with her towel and her water bottle, and sometimes, me. Jenelle’s mom even started up a Junior Jazzercize program and we would meet at her house and workout together with our friends to all the latest and greatest hits of the 80’s! The Pointer Sisters come to mind. I remember ‘jumping for my love’…in leg warmers. What a blast!

Times and workouts have changed a bit since then. For one, I can actually SEE what Chalene Johnson would like me to do when I’m working out, which is awesome! I don’t own a pair of tights OR a leotard…which is a good thing for EVERYONE! I still think leg warmers were kind of sweet, though totally useless; I have fond memories of my exceedingly warm ankles. 😉

So here I am…in this new and exciting fitness business. How did I get here? It’s becoming plainer and easier for me to see every day. This has ALWAYS been a part of my life. I didn’t realize it then, but my mom-who we’ve already established was a health nut before it was cool-was a fitness junkie, too! She still is, in fact. In her 60’s now, she is still an active runner, competing in a few 5 K’s every year. She also just finished “Slim in 6”, and loved it! But she is always looking for MORE! She is definitely my inspiration.

The lesson to learn here I guess is that apples don’t fall far from trees. Be a good and healthy tree, and your apples will take seed, and grow up to be just like you!

I love you Apple Tree!

Always,

Your Apple

Posted on

30 Day Results Are In!

There are some excellent results coming from my October Challenge Group!  With 5 challengers reporting so far…check this out…

In 30 days they have lost:

5.1 pounds and 6.25 inches

9 pounds and 6 inches

3.4 pounds and 6.5 inches

8 pounds and “I lost my before inches number, but it must be less now”

5.6 pounds and 9.5 inches

Five of the participants so far have reported losing a total of 31.1 pounds  and 28.25 + unknown 🙂 inches !!!  And more importantly…they’re still in it, pressing forward and committed! We are all using programs such as ChaLEAN Extreme, Turbo Fire, Yoga Booty Ballet and Tony Horton’s 10 minute Trainer. You don’t need a gym to get results like these! The participants were all able to accomplish this while working out in their own homes, and eating well. Most importantly, we keep ourselves accountable and provide support to each other along the way! I cannot wait to see how we all do over the next 30 days.  I love my job!

Also…want to see how I make my Shakeology every day? It’s quite possibly my favorite meal of the day. I actually start looking forward to it the night before. Is that weird?

Posted on

Have Box, Must Climb

What are you doing RIGHT now? Where are you right now? Because NOW is what matters the most. You’ve heard this before right? It’s not a new concept, but I’ve been thinking about it a lot lately. I am all for learning from the past, and having goals for your future, but I think we all need to focus a lot more on being present, in the present tense and living for the moment of now.

What is ‘now’? Now is happening every second, in every opportunity and in every choice you make. Every step you take, every move you make…no wait, that’s a Police song, and I won’t be watching you, cause that’s creepy. But consider this, there are 86,400 seconds in a 24 hour day. So let’s say a third of those are spent sleeping, which leaves 57,600 seconds every day that you spend awake, and engaged in the activities of the day. That means you have 57,600 opportunities in your day. How will you spend them?

Will you reflect on the past? Or will you just be in the moment of now? I think that when you spend your time thinking too much about the past, you might become complacent and assume that not much you do will change your course. Let’s talk about this in terms of health. Maybe you’ve dieted in the past, and fallen back to old habits. Maybe you tried a new exercise, and slowly fell away from that, too.  Well, now you have a story, and that story becomes an excuse, and you don’t seize the opportunity to make a change NOW. You have 57,600 opportunities a day that can make a difference now. You can’t change your past, but you can start with now. Take a walk, choose the fruit-not the doughnut, park farther away from the store instead of wasting time circling the parking lot, take the stairs, try to a new exercise program, look for a healthy recipe on the internet to make for dinner…etc. These choices take seconds to make. Just think how many good choices you could make in one day, rather than let time tick by…grab a second by the neck, and show it who’s boss!

Will you dwell on the future? Do you live in the land of ‘someday’? Make someday happen today. Sure, write down your goals, visualize the future, and then do something about it. Someday never happens if you don’t start now. Did you miss an opportunity a second ago? That’s ok, because you have 57,599 other seconds to get it right. Why start your diet on Monday, when you can do it now? Why wait until after the holidays to undo all of the mistakes that seem inevitable? You give yourself permission to fail when you ignore the opportunities that you have right now. Plan less, act more. 🙂

Now exists in the middle of “I did” and “I will”. What will you DO today. Do something that flies in the face of the past, and brightens your future. Just Do It…Now! (Nike should have added “now” to their slogan, don’t ya think?)

Here are the last 2 days of my Clean Eating Challenge:

And finally, if you haven’t seen my results already, here they are. I cannot believe what I was able to accomplish in 25 days! I made a lot of really deliberate choices everyday during this challenge. And they were choices! You can make them, too….guess when…NOW!

Posted on

Oh Happy Day!

Happy Halloween!

So good news first! If you’ve been following along, you know that I decided to start Beachbody coaching about 2 months ago. Since then, I have lost 12 pounds and almost 10 inches! This alone is so fantastic and thrilling, but on top of that I’ve been working with friends and family members who are all on their fitness journeys, too. It’s been so fun to connect with friends and family and new people as well!  Thanks for being supportive, and please feel free to contact me if you’d like any information about the programs I use, the food I eat, or the coaching opportunity!

So here are my updates for days 20-23 of the cleaner eating challenge.

Actually…there really isn’t anything too exciting to report in terms of food, come to think of it. I think the most exciting thing I did was to make a warm-up for Thanksgiving meal last night that was all squeaky clean! I cooked a turkey breast in my crock pot all day, with some carrots and celery, and made some green beans (which happen to be one of my favorite veggies!). The hubs and kids wanted Stove Top stuffing of all things with it…though I did not partake. Enjoy the turkey recipe, maybe it’ll come in handy for your Thanksgiving! 🙂 I need to start thinking about how I’m going to clean up that holiday menu…it’s going to be a real challenge, but I’m up for it.

Posted on

Hold On to Your Bootstraps!

I wanted to find a fun way to show people who are curious, what it is that a Beachbody coach does all day. 🙂 It’s really not all that different than being a stay at home mom. And anyone can do this, not just a stay at home parent, but anyone who has an interest in making time for health, fitness and helping others. I am fortunate to have found something that lets me be here with my kids, focus on my heath, work with other people who want to do the same thing, and… make money doing it…BONUS! As silly as this video is, it’s not much of an exaggeration to tell you the truth. I may not ACTUALLY move this fast, but sometimes it feels like it! I’m a mom on a mission.

Posted on

Just a Quick Post Today + BONUS Sushi Recipe!

We started having a little too much fun with my clean-eating challenge pictures.  If you look hard enough you’ll find the Green Lantern in one of the food pictures each day.  We crack ourselves up over here.  Day 14 started with coffee, and my homemade vanilla coffee cream (the recipe is a few days down in the blog), and an “omelette” that sort of fell apart :(. I had an apple with chocolate PB2, mixed with a little yogurt for dipping, as a snack. Lunch was another tasty, colorful salad. I did my workout and then ENJOYED a Tropical Strawberry Vegan Shakeology…so tasty! And for dinner, I had part of a spicy tuna sushi roll made with brown rice.  I was low in the calorie department, but felt fine…so there ya go.

Day 15 was organic oatmeal for breakfast (with coffee…duh!) and a hard-boiled egg. I grabbed a honey crisp apple and some almonds for snack.  Of course I had my Shakeology after my Chalean Extreme workout. I made an extra lean turkey burger and sweet potatoes from our CSA for dinner.  I LOVE PICKLES (sorry, I just had to get that off my chest!) And when I’m low on calories…it’s popcorn, for a little chill time on the couch with the family. 🙂

Day 16…more than half-way done with my challenge.  Can you find the Green Lantern.  He may never recover from this challenge.  He might be scarred for life. I had an omelette and some cinnamon raisin Ezekiel toast for breakfast. I enjoyed my Shakeology after a super sweaty TurboFire workout. Look at my pretty salad that I made for lunch. Eating a rainbow just isn’t a sacrifice! I made a snack with plain greek yogurt, blueberries and almonds. And then I rocked a tasty dinner of HOMEMADE quinoa and brown rice California roll sushi for dinner! Anyone can make this! You can use the tried and true old-school method of rolling with a bamboo mat, or you can use one of these nifty contraptions:

 It kind of looks like some sort of Star Wars laser shooter thingie. You can order it on Amazon and it really makes the whole process easy and fun.  The kids enjoyed helping me make our sushi!

And here is the recipe to make your own HEALTHY brown rice & quinoa sushi rolls:

Enjoy!

Posted on

I Swore I’d Never Do This!

Check out these statistics: 69 percent of children aged 2-5 can use a computer mouse, but only 11 percent  can tie their own shoelaces. More young children know how to play computer games (58 percent) than swim (20 percent) or ride a bike (52 percent).  There is no gender divide either. Boys and girls under the age of 5 are equally capable  of using technology.

So, I’m about to do something I said I’d never do.  I’m going to say something that used to make my skin crawl when my parents would say it to me.  At the risk of sounding like an old lady, I’m just going to say it:  When I was a kid….

When I was a kid, I played from morning til night, outside usually.  I’d ride my bike, play kickball or kick the can (my personal favorite).  I’d climb trees, play football with the boys in the neighborhood and jump rope with the girls.  I was a bit of a tom-boy, the son my dad never had. 😉 It wasn’t just me either, it was all of us.  We played…a lot! I was thinking recently about the trend of childhood obesity and wondering how much the changing times plays a role.

Technology has taken the place of Nerf balls, jump ropes and bicycles.  I’m not saying that kids NEVER do these things anymore, but you have to admit it’s probably far less than when we were kids (look, I said it again…pretty sure another gray hair just sprouted out of my head). My kids go in streaks where they’ll play outside for a good chunk of the day, and then suddenly a video game, or an app, or a tv show takes precedence. My personal favorite is when the neighbor kids come over and ‘virtually’ play with each other; everyone on their own personal device. It’s bizarre. But, I’m an old lady, what do I know?

I’m not going to make the argument that all of this technology is a bad thing. I think it’s awesome that the kids have all of this information at their fingertips. The things that they can do on the computer never cease to amaze me! I think the Wii is a pretty cool thing, too.  At least they’re moving right? And I’m just as guilty of enjoying my own technology. You will rarely find me without my smart phone in hand, or laptop on my…lap. (duh :P) But I’m a grown up, on the way to being an old lady, and I played my heart out as a kid!

I don’t actually have a real solution to this conundrum.  I’m not really an advocate of forcing my kids to play. That seems silly right? “Go outside and play, and have fun, or you’re grounded!” ??? I do want them to WANT to play outside and be active, however. For now, I think we have a pretty good balance. I don’t worry too much about my own kids. I’m just concerned with the trend, and how it started, and how we’re going to end it.

We are a fast-moving, information-seeking, technology-loving society. We eat more and more fast, convenient and processed food as a result. And that is a topic for another day…don’t get me started!!!

And that brings me to my 30 Day Clean Eating challenge, Days 12 and 13.

Day 12 was fairly unremarkable. I’m falling into a groove now! I made a 1 egg plus 2 egg white omelette with peppers, mushrooms and reduced fat feta for breakfast. I had another quinoa salad for lunch. Shakeology, almonds, and an apple for various snacks during the day. For dinner we went out for Mexican food with friends to celebrate a birthday. I did well with grilled lime swordfish tacos (white tortillas weren’t the greatest, but what can you do?) with a cabbage and carrot slaw and avocado. They were really tasty!

Day 13 was a long day. I was up a 5:00, so spacing my meals out was a bit of a challenge. Coffee and a 1 egg/2 white mushroom, spinach, reduced fat feta scramble for breakfast. Tropical Strawberry Vegan Shakeology is my new favorite!  It’s so yummy! It was leftover turkey chili for lunch. I enjoyed a beautiful, red honey crisp apple and almonds for a snack.  We had a chicken fajita dinner at my parents’ house. They really hit the spot! I put mine in a wheat tortilla with chopped tomato, avocado and onion.  They were so colorful and delicious. Finally, I chilled on the couch with my husband and a bowl of popcorn.  It was a really good day. 🙂

Now I’m going to put this laptop down, and go play. I’m doing TurboFire for my workout today and I’m pretty sure that counts! It’s too fun not to be considered playtime!

Now go play!

Posted on

Fall Off Horse, Get Back Up, Repeat?

If you’ve never ridden a horse before, it’ll take some time to learn how, right?  If it’s been awhile, you’re going to need some practice.  If it’s something you want to do…you’ll keep trying until you are securely in the saddle and riding into the sunset, or wherever you want to ride…it’s just that the sunset seems like a place that people on horses want to go.  Just saying.

You’ve heard all of the sayings…”Fall down 7 times, get up 8″, “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today”, “I get knocked down but I get up again…” (ok, maybe not a saying, but a catchy tune).  I guess you can hear these words and say these things until you’re blue in the face, but until you’ve lived it and embraced it might not seem real.  I can say these words to someone everyday, loudly even, and that person may hear what I’m saying, but not believe me.  What advice would you give to someone who thinks they’ve failed, and finds it easier to stay down rather than get up and try again?

We’re all going to fall down sometimes right?  But if you’ve clearly defined goals in your mind that you really want to achieve…you MUST get back up.  Don’t forget what’s important to you, and don’t let a misstep or a step backwards distract you from what you want.  Keep it in sight, remind yourself of it everyday.  Let every choice you make start with a question: “Is this going to help me reach my goals?”  I want to shout from the mountain top, or at least a really high hill, that YOU CAN DO IT!!!  Of course you can! It’ll take time, committment and a whole lot of hard work, but if it’s your goal, than do it.  Take the time, make the commitments and do the work. We may or may not be discussing horses at this point, but you get where I’m going here. I can believe in you, your friends can believe in you, but you’re the one who needs to get in the saddle and ride.  So…do you believe in you?  If so, than grab my hand, get up and try again.

Challenge Days 8 & 9

Nothing fancy going on here.  I did find some tasty organic pomegranate oatmeal at Costco that I like…so that’s good.  I had my leftover frittata for lunch. That tasty looking snack is some plain Greek yogurt, sweetened with a little Stevia and blueberries and crunched up almonds on top.  A big salad, some Shakeology and a ChaLEAN Extreme workout rounded out the day.  I was pretty low on calories, but I ran out of time in the day, and wasn’t particularly hungry…so what are you gonna do?

Man, I need to do some more cooking.  Yesterday I was a little desperate at dinner time and seriously just grabbed stuff out of the frig and threw it together and called it dinner.  I had a leftover chicken breast that I chopped up and put on 2 whole wheat tortillas that I spread with avocado.  I put a little reduced fat cheese and homemade salsa on top and that was that.  Not pretty, but filling and fast.  I made another bowl of yummy oatmeal for breakfast.  We went hiking so I grabbed a bag of almonds for the trail.  I enjoyed another big salad for lunch and worked out like a ninja in my black clothes. No mask though…too sweaty.

If you fell down while reading this blog…GET UP!

Posted on

The Glass is Almost Totally Full! and Challenge Catch Up

I am an optimist.  It has mostly served me well in my life.  I say ‘mostly’ because I can think of a few instances where it hasn’t…like believing that people are always good, nobody will ever hurt me, and nothing bad could possibly happen.  I’ve been wrong a few times about those things.  But overall I’d say I’m right most of the time.  I like to give people the benefit of the doubt.  Actually, I have no choice.  I’m a die-hard optimist.

I was thinking about this today in terms of health and nutrition.  Here’s how an optimist looks at these particular goals: I like to think of what I CAN eat, as opposed to what I CAN’T.  As you know I’m participating in this cleaner eating challenge, and when I look at the pictures I’m taking, I can’t help but think how pretty and delicious everything looks.  It doesn’t seem like a sacrifice at all to me when I GET to eat all of that yummy food.  I go to the store with a different mindset.  I’m looking for what I can have, and not begrudging what I can not have. I come home with bags of fruits and veggies and other healthy foods. I get excited to cook new recipes and try new foods.  Maybe I’m weird.  Ya, probably.  😉

For exercise, I like to think of what I CAN do, and not what I CAN’T.  Maybe not everyone can, or wants to try, to run.  So, what CAN you do?  Can you walk?  I bet you can.  Maybe not everyone has weights in their house.  Can you do push-ups, sit-ups, pull-ups (there are a lot of “ups” here that require only your body as weight) squats, lunges, etc? I bet you can.  Maybe you can’t go to the gym, but do you own a DVD player?  I’ve got some awesome workouts I could recommend to you.  And they’re FUN, too!  You see where I’m going here.  Start with what you CAN do.  Focus on what you CAN eat. Your mindset will change, and so will your habits. You’ll be on your way to eternal optimism. Well…maybe. 🙂

Who would think that they could start a new health and fitness business at 40?…Me! But this one was kind of a no-brainer for me.  I love to workout.  I enjoy eating healthy foods. And I LOVE to talk.  That just about sums up my new job.  These are things I most definitely CAN do.  🙂

So here are my weekend Clean Eating Challenge pictures and a couple of recipes:

 Nothing remarkable on Day 5, except I learned how to make my own “almost” fat free coffee cream.  Want the recipe? Click here:   Oh, and the pretty green drink is a spinach, kale, strawberry, pineapple smoothie that was delicious!  Seriously, don’t knock it til you try it.

Day 6 looked like this:

  This was my “cheat” day, well sort of.  I ate really clean during the day and then it was “Ladies Night Out”.  So for dinner I splurged on 2 small pieces of veggie pizza and a salad with a little drizzle of raspberry vinaigrette dressing…oh…and 2 vodka tonics :o. Ladies night out doesn’t happen very often, so I forgave me.

Day 7 looked like this:

 I had a big salad for lunch, with lots of veggies and 1/2 of a very lean turkey burger sliced on top. Raw almonds are an excellent snack to keep in the house. I had mine with half of a honey crisp apple and a tall glass of water and felt very full.  Dinner was so yummy, I’ll have to share the recipe.  I made a spinach, ricotta (low-fat), tomato frittata.  It was delicious!  Recipe here:  (I added tomatoes to mine, but it wasn’t part of the original recipe).

So there you go!  What CAN you do today?