Why do I workout?

Ok everyone, I'm gonna get serious here for a minute. 

I am getting tired of the the reaction most people give me when I tell them I need to workout, or how much I missed my workouts after my surgery. They look at me, confused, and ask why I need to worry about that, or tell me I don't need to do that, I'm already thin enough. 

Well, let me tell you people, I have been overweight. I have also had people laugh at me when I show them my "fat" pictures and tell me that I wasn't overweight and I was fine. For me, at 4'10", having 20-25 lbs of excess weight after I gave birth to my first son was very hard and frustrating. Being so young when I had him, I was able to lose it all when I started exercising regularly and taking care of myself. Now, 12 years later, 2 more babies, and in my 30's, I'm struggling to keep the weight from coming back.

So here's the reason I workout:

 I DON'T DO IT TO LOOK PERFECT, THERE IS NO SUCH THING. I WORKOUT BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD, IT KEEPS ME FROM GAINING WEIGHT, IT MAKES LIFE EASIER, IT'S AN AMAZING STRESS RELIEVER AND MOOD ENHANCER, AND IT MAKES ME A BETTER MOM TO MY KIDS AND WIFE TO MY HUSBAND!

Before I started as a Coach for Beachbody and seriously working on my health (both nutrition and exercise), I was suffering with depression, lack of energy, I couldn't control my anger, and my body was getting older and starting to ache and get stiff. I was also gaining weight and I took many a diet pills to get that weight off. But guess what??? It ALWAYS came right back! You may not see me struggle, just like I may not see you struggle, but it's there. I don't ALWAYS want to workout, but 5 minutes after I push play on my Beachbody program DVD, I'm ALWAYS soooo glad I did. 

I also, don't follow some weird or fad diet. I don't believe in diets since my experience and education has proved them to be very ineffective. THEY DON'T WORK LONG TERM, PEOPLE!! I do my best to have an overall good diet, while trying to teach my kids to have one too. It's extremely hard in our culture to have eat healthy 100% of the time, heck even 50% of the time is tough. It's just hard to find food that isn't processed or genetically modified in some way. But I try my best, and honestly, that's all anyone can ask.

Being healthy is a life-long journey. It's not about being skinny, it's about being healthy! My passion in life is to help other people realize this and help them begin their own journey. I want to struggle with them and celebrate successes with them and see them reach their goals! Come on this journey with me, and together we'll get healthier and stronger!

PUSH!

For those of you who know who Chalene Johnson is, you will understand when I say that for me she is one of the most motivating people I have ever met, and she is truly someone I look up to in many different ways. If you haven't read her book PUSH, I suggest you order it. Now. In 30 days she will change your life!

Me with my copy of PUSH.

As I was reading this book yesterday I came across something that made me have an aha moment. Since my surgery (July 19) I have eaten more ice cream sundaes than I care to admit. My husband and I were using the act of going to get ice cream as something to do as a family, or just the two of us, since I couldn't really do much else. So now, as we work to eliminate this and other less healthy foods from our diets and break these bad habits (again), I found something that just made sense about the whole thing. On pg 127, Chalene says this:

"There's a difference between "depriving yourself" of a certain food and not wanting to put it in your body in the first place. Deprivation and restrictions occur when a diet dictates for you what you can and cannot eat. Deprivation and restrictions occur when you stop eating a food but you still want it. People trying to find control in an out-of-control life, or who punish themselves by restricting calories, often use deprivation as a form of coping with stress or as an expression of self-hate. The switch happens when you consciously and independently make the decision that one food makes you look and feel better than another. That's when you stop wanting junk. One food helps you to live the life you want; another undermines the quality of your life. It becomes as simple as that."

Now try to tell me that she isn't one of the smartest people ever!

I have a new goal for myself. It may take longer to achieve it than I want, because of a coming surgery (Yep, surgery AGAIN.), but I am excited to have a new goal and something to work towards! 

Can you guess? 

It's not really to do a back bend, but it's along the same lines.

 I just want to be able to touch my toes with straight legs.

I've NEVER been able to do this my whole life, so I've got to work hard.

I'm giving myself until the end of the year to touch my toes. 

That's my deadline, so feel free to check in on me and make sure I'm working on it!

Hopefully I can still stretch out after my surgery even before I can get back to my workouts.

The reason I want this is because the more flexible a muscle is, the greater strength potential it has and I would love to have super awesomely strong hamstrings and calves! 

There's my new goal, what's yours?

Herniated belly buttons...

Since I had my umbilical hernia repaired back in March, I've been super, super careful to take care of that part of my body and not stress my ab muscles. A month after my surgery I actually thought that it had herniated again, and I was in a lot of pain. Fortunately that pain has gone away and I have felt great the past week or so.
Last night was the first time since March that I did an Ab workout and it was awesome! I did P90X Ab Ripper and as long as I was careful with it, it didn't hurt at all. I only did 1/4 of the workouts, and boy am I weak, but it really felt great to be able to use those muscles again. I still have the same muscle issues I've been dealing with since my last C-section, but I can deal with that since the hernia seems to be gone. Yea for bodies healing themselves!!

New Workout Regime!

My husband and I have started the P90X/Insanity Hybrid. OK, so I fully admit that I didn't like P90X the first couple times we started and didn't finish it. I hated it. I found Tony Horton obnoxious and the workouts lacked umph, or something like that.

I honestly think that if I had been given a Coach (someone doing what I do now) from the beginning and I had kept in touch with that Coach through the whole thing, I may have actually finished it. They would have held me accountable and told me to write down my progress which would have been motivating for me.
This weekend was my Beachbody Summit in Las Vegas (which I will blog about shortly), and it was an amazing weekend for my personal development and business development. I also got to know Tony Horton better from his speech to all of us 5000 coaches that were there. So, I actually find him a little bit funnier during the P90X workouts and I have more respect for the guy.
Also, he names some of the moves after people he has met in his life and Beachbody executives, I didn't know this before I became a Coach and now that I know who these people are it actually makes the move seem more personal and more familiar to me. Weird, maybe, but I love knowing who the people are that have moves named after them.
Tony also named a new move while at Summit: Neimand-Nothings. Named after Michael Neimand (a Beachbody Exec) who doesn't ever seem to push those last few reps into his workout. It was hilarious at the time, since it was kind of a joke on Michael, but my husband and I have both been inspired to push through and finish the workout so we can say we didn't do any Neimand-Nothings! :)

Anyway, my calves are so sore from Insanity on Tuesday that I can't walk normal, and my arms are incredibly sore from P90X yesterday. I'm seriously loving the soreness! And I love the hybrid too because it's not the same kind of workout everyday, it gets switched up. This is good for me because I get bored with my workouts super quick.

Are You Getting Enough Fiber Everyday??

More and more studies are linking a high-fiber diet to a decreased risk of heart disease and diabetes. For optimal health, nutritionists recommend 30 to 38 grams of fiber every day for men and 21 to 25 grams of fiber every day for women.

You can find the fiber content of labeled food as a subcategory under carbohydrates. If you're counting carbs, you can always subtract the amount of fiber from the total number of carbs, because the fiber will only be visiting your body for a little while, unlike the sugars, which, if not burned for fuel, will likely end up stored as fat.

Most studies indicate that Americans don't get nearly enough fiber, especially with the proliferation of processed foods filled with white flour, which is made only from the fiber-less endosperm of the grain and none of the bran and germ parts that provide the fiber. In fact, if you read labels, it's pretty rare to find any prepared food that has more than a gram or two of fiber.

So how can you get your daily dose of fiber without eating yourself into a coma? There are some fiber-rich superfoods that can help get you to your daily recommended allowance.

1. Legumes

The humble bean (and also chickpea, lentil, and pea) is chock-full of nutritious fiber. A cup of black beans or lentils contains a whopping 15 grams of fiber. Chickpeas, or garbanzo beans, have 13 grams of fiber. A cup of peas has 9 grams of fiber. The big winner is the cranberry bean with 18 grams of fiber and 17 grams of protein.

2. Bran

A cup of bran flakes has about 7 grams of fiber, and a cup of oatmeal has 4 grams of fiber. Substituting whole-wheat products for their traditional white-flour counterparts is an easy way to work some fiber into your diet without much hassle. A cup of whole-wheat spaghetti has over 6 grams of fiber, and whole-wheat bread has about 2 grams of fiber per slice.

3. Prunes

A cup of prunes contains 8 grams of fiber, and the prune's hydrated counterpart, the plum, is also an excellent source of fiber—prunes/plums contain insoluble fiber in the skin and soluble fiber in the pulp. That's a two-for-one special!

4. Artichokes

One medium artichoke contains 6.5 grams of fiber. One cup of artichoke hearts contains 14 grams of fiber and only 90 calories. Try getting one of those little jars of marinated artichokes (in vinegar, not oil) and treat yourself to eating the whole jar as an afternoon snack or hors d'oeuvre before dinner. Tasty and filling, you'll eat less at dinner and put a serious dent in your daily fiber tally.

5. Brussels sprouts

Yes, they look like the alien heads from Mars Attacks!, but these little powerhouses pack almost 7 grams of fiber into a 1-cup serving and only about 60 calories. They do have a slightly chalky taste, so you can try a generous spritz of lemon juice and maybe a dash of soy sauce or Tabasco to enhance the flavor. A sprinkle of Parmesan cheese is delicious too.

6. Asian pear

One Asian pear, about 3 inches in diameter, contains a whopping 10 grams of fiber, the most of any similarly sized fruit. And because it has a higher water content than its European brethren, it only contains around 100 calories. So you can crunch your way to a cleaner colon.

7. Quinoa

In a 1-cup serving, the edible seeds of the quinoa plant have 10 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein—in fact, quinoa seeds contain many essential amino acids that are missing from rice, proving to be a good substitute for rice. If you check your local health food store, and even some supermarkets, you can find quinoa plain and as a main ingredient in many cereals, breads, and salads.

8. Nuts

Not just filling, heart-healthy snacks, nuts are great sources of fiber (but highly caloric, so nosh carefully). A quarter-cup of almonds has 4 grams of fiber and about 200 calories. It's another great snack for between meals. Watch out for the salt content in the hickory-smoked varieties. Also, it's a good idea to portion out a serving size beforehand, so you don't absentmindedly munch a thousand or so calories from a big bag.

Dirty Dash

We are the Mud Queens! 

The Dirty Dash was awesome! I have no idea how the mud ended up on me right there in the weirdest spot, but it is what it is. 

I have so many bruises and cuts, and I am so sore. I remember the soreness well, but I don't remember getting bruised and cut up. It was still tons of fun and really makes me want to do some tougher obstacle races. Maybe a Tough Mudder is in my future? Anyone want to join me?