Treadmill, not just for running

We've been a little under the weather in my household this week. I think that nasty flu may be trying to attack us. I don't mind resting up to get over it, but I also think that a little bit of a workout will let you know exactly how sick you are.

Start off slow and steady. Set small goals. I usually jump on my treadmill when I'm under the weather. I can easily adjust the intensity and monitor the amount of time I'm on it. If I'm not feeling great, I tell myself, "Walk on the treadmill for 5 minutes. If you're feeling ok, keep going, if you feel great, speed up to a jog. If you feel crappy, you can slow down." This really works. Honestly, it does.

I do a lot of research about health and fitness. I remember reading somewhere that people often forget to train all of their muscle groups. The focus on forward locomotion. I do the same thing. Today, I wasn't feeling so great. I hopped on the treadmill and remembered this article, so I set the treadmill to 2.5 mph and started walking backwards, then side hopped both directions. This is a lot harder than it seems!!! Then I adjusted the incline and did it again, then adjusted the incline again. This seriously busted my butt!!! At a speed of 2.5 mph!!!

I feel a little better. I think I may have actually sweated some of the virus out of my system. Stay healthy my friends.

A New Year and a New You!!!

Merry Christmas!

I know it's been a while since I've posted. Sorry, the holidays got me. I had family fly in from out of state. I hosted a Christmas dinner. We spent the day in Chicago. Work, work, and more work happened. Then, the actual holiday got here. It's been a bit crazy.

With the new year approaching, I am sure that a lot of you are making amazing resolutions. You're going to lose a bunch of weight. You're going to give up all sweets, eat only healthy foods. I'm sure that you made all of these same resolutions last year. And by the middle of January, you had given up on all of them. Only about 8% of people actually follow through with their resolutions each year. Don't beat yourself up.

This is probably how it usually goes for you:

1) Set the ultimate end goal. Example: I will lose 20 pounds this year.
     -Awesome!!! I've got this. It's going to be so awesome! I am going to look and feel great!!!

2) The first week, you eat only healthy food and exercise, a lot, every day!!!
     -Oh, I feel so great!!! This isn't so bad. I can do this.

3) Week 2: Well, I've been working out everyday, I guess if I miss today, it won't matter.
     -Large amounts of guilt start to seep in.
     -Ugh, I can't believe that I didn't work out today! I'm such a fatty! What's wrong with me?
     -You feel bad about yourself. But keep eating right.

4) Week 3: You managed to work out 3 or 4 times during week 2. You feel bad when you miss a workout. You're still avoiding eating any "bad" food. But, your friends are going to dinner.
    -I guess it won't hurt if I eat these appetizers. I'll just work out harder tomorrow.
    -Tomorrow comes and you way overdid it and you feel bloated and gross. So, you miss your workout.
    -Then you miss the next workout.

5) By week 5 or six, you've missed a lot of workouts and are pretty much eating like you did before. You realize this and give up completely. After all, there's always next week/month/year.

You're setting yourself up for failure. You are setting up such lofty goals, but you are forgetting to set up the stepping stones that will help you achieve these goals. They're not impossible goals, their just difficult. It is important that after you set these goals, you figure out how you're going to get there.

1) Set the ultimate end goal. Example: I will lose 20 pounds this year.
     -Awesome!!! I've got this!!!

2) How do I go about losing 20 lbs?
     -I need to exercise and eat right.

3) Set a small workout/diet goal.
     -I'm going to work out for 30 minutes a day, 4 or 5 days a week.
     -I am going to start eating right.

4) Track your diet and workouts.
     -You can do this either with an app on your phone, or with pen and paper.
        -I track my diet and workouts both on paper and in my phone. Double accountability.

5) Don't beat yourself up if you slip up. It happens. Make up for it.

6) Don't make a list of foods that are "forbidden".
     -Making a list of foods that you can never eat again will make you focus on those foods and want them more!
     -Try and eat only whole, natural foods. Cook real food. Not boxed processed foods. If you spend the time and money on your foods, you'll take more pleasure in them. Another benefit? If you make foods from all natural fresh fruits and vegetables, well balanced homemade meals you will feel more satisfied when you eat them. These foods are full of vitamins and minerals that your body needs. This will satisfy you. You're body needs a balance of carbohydrates, fats, and protein. Don't cut any of these items. Just make good choices. For some extra help, check out the Choose My Plate website!

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a message.

I'm a runner? I'm a runner!!!

The other day, I was talking to someone about exercise. We were talking about my weekly routine, and she said, "Oh, you're a runner."

That made me pause. My instinctual response was to say, "No, I hate running." But, I thought about, and realized that yeah, I am a runner.

I have always been active. I have always loved sports and physical activities. But I, much like the rest of the country, always groaned when the gym instructor told us we were running the mile. I hated running. It always seemed so pointless. Run around a track 4 times and call it a day. I could do that in less than 9 minutes. What was the big deal?

After I graduated, I continued my dislike of running. I would do boot camp classes, and hate the running days. I did cardio yoga, I worked out on the weight machines. I took group fitness classes. I still loved being active, but I hated running.

I still can't really pinpoint the moment that that all changed. I seriously hadn't considered that I had become a runner until earlier last week. I know sometime about 6 years ago, I started running on the treadmill at my gym before I used the weights, but it was still one of those required chores for me. Kind of like, "If you finish running for 20 minutes, you get to go lift weights."

Then, about 3 years ago, I bought a treadmill for my house. I remember the installation guy making a joke about how he loved installing all of these "really expensive clothing racks". I laughed and promised that mine would get used. And I used it, 2 times a week until I moved out of that house. Then, I moved into a 3rd flood apartment. No treadmill for me, that would have been really unfair to the downstairs neighbors. I did Insanity and Zumba, but occasionally, I would feel the need to lace up my shoes and go for a run through my apartment complex.

Now that I live in a townhouse, I run 3 days a week...and look forward to it. If I miss a run, I feel like I've missed my favorite tv show. I love the feeling of running. I love how strong I feel while doing it. I love the high I get after completing a run. YES, there is a runner's high. I know what you're thinking because I was always one of those people that thought runners must be on some sort of drug to say that they love running, but, it's true. The endorphin rush is amazing.

Like I said, I still can't pinpoint the exact moment I became a runner, but I can tell you how I got there.
1) I started small. I didn't want to have a "really expensive clothing rack", so I made myself run on the treadmill twice a week. I would do a walk/run program where I ran for 15 seconds and walked for 45 seconds. At first, I only did 10 minutes of that. Then I increased it to 15, then 20...

2)The intervals gave me something to focus on. I still interval train because I don't get as bored this way. If you are just running until the next interval ends, that is a tiny goal. It's super easy. And next thing you know, you just finished 30 intervals (30 minutes!). If I jump on think, "Ok, I am running for 30 minutes today, go." I automatically feel defeated. 30 minutes is a LONG time...break it up. If I'm running outside, challenge myself by focusing on each little goal as well...Make it to the railroad tracks, now to the tree, now to the next corner. Small goals. Easy!!!

3) I compete with myself. I track each and every work out I do on my phone using the RunKeeper app. It tells me how I am doing, as compared to myself.  This is awesome!!! I love kicking my own butt. I know that I'm not a fast runner, but I can beat myself in a race. And that's great.

Seriously, those 3 things make me WANT to run. It's crazy, I know. But it works. Of course, those are the 3 things I suggest to everyone when they are just starting any activity. Now, lace on some shoes and go...run, dance, lift, whatever moves you!!!

I'm too busy?

One of the most common reasons that people have for not working out is that they are too busy. And believe me, I understand that...I currently am working two jobs, outside of personal training. One is retail and the other is a restaurant job. Since last weekend was Black Friday weekend, I was busy. On Wednesday, I worked for 5 hours at the retail job, and had to close at the restaurant. I still was able to get my scheduled Pilates and Yoga sessions in.

I went for a run before we headed out to my husband's families house on Thanksgiving. I had to be up before the sun was up to head into my retail job all weekend, and I worked every night at the restaurant. I still fit in my scheduled workouts each day.

Was it hard? Yes.

Did part of me just want to skip them and lie around doing nothing instead? Of course.

But it's all about the motivation, the desire, the drive. I am passionate about being healthy. I WANT my body to be in the best shape it can possibly be in.

Of course I want to eat nothing but junk food and lay around the house watching TV sometimes. Actually, I want to sit in front of a computer and play video games all day while eating cheese fries with ranch dressing while drinking energy drinks...close enough.

However, I also want to be healthy. I want to feel good when I slip my jeans on. I want to feel strong when I am able to lift that 40 pound bag of cat litter. I want people to be surprised when they hug me and feel how much muscle I have. That is a good feeling. I love when people that knew me when I was in my 20's see me and ask how I lost all of the weight and look so good. It feels so much better than it would if they saw me and said I looked the same.

I want to inspire and motivate people to be amazing. Everyone has that opportunity.

To me, it's not about being skinny, it's about being healthy. I don't want to be that girl that gets winded walking up a flight of stairs ever again.

It is all of these things that I think about when I am tired and my mind is telling me that my body can't do it.

I know that my body can do it. I just have to convince my mind of it. I know that a lot of you aren't there yet. But with my help, we will all be there together in a healthier and happier tomorrow.