HASfit Stretching

(By reading this blog, you agree to my Disclaimer)

Found this video yesterday after my workout and LOVED it!  This guy has really great energy!  Thought I’d share it with my fellow Superwomen…

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I wish the stretches were longer than 15 seconds – buy hey, I’m not sore today so it must have worked fine.  I know it is kind of a beginner routine but it’s always good to refresh our knowledge of stretching.  You might learn new stretches or you might learn how to do the ones you do know better.

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Taking A Break

Today is all about taking it easy!  I just wanted to remind all my beautiful Superwomen out there that your body needs that rest day!  I used to get antsy on my rest days and just wanted to be doing something.  I felt like if I took a day off, everything I had worked for would disappear (ridiculous, I know).  Of course that’s not true – we actually need rest to get better results!  I don’t have to force myself to take a day off anymore, I welcome them with open arms!

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*But only for 15minutes unless I am LOADED with SPF!!! Gotta protect that skin, ladies!

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But for those of you who have  a hard time getting your brains and bodies to ‘chill out’, here’s my advice:  find a distraction!  Go shopping, go to the pool (which is a sneaky way to stay active on your rest day), just go somewhere!  Reading a magazine or surfing the web on my chill day DID NOT help me.  Just sitting still made me want to move more so I found that staying slightly active helped tremendously.

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Sometimes just a walk around the mall or a lap in the pool is enough movement to get that ‘antsy’ feeling out of your system 🙂  Low cardio on your day off is fine, you just don’t want to do ANOTHER HIIT, or overwork your arms, legs or back at the gym.  So whatever you spend your rest day doing, just keep in mind that you are doing your body a huge favor, and it will repay you!

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Have a fabulous Thursday!

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Motivational Monday

Motivational Monday’s are back!  What’s more motivating than before and after photos??  Time to share 🙂

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The picture to the left is a few months before I GOT pregnant, although I look like I am a few months along there!  I was leading a super unhealthy lifestyle and was miserable with myself, the way I looked AND the way I felt.  My stomach hurt all the time!  I was eating ‘junk’ all through the day.  My meals were basically junk – cereal for breakfast, instant noodles for lunch, chips, sodas, pre-packaged cakes for snack.  Our dinners were often just as bad, we ate pizza, hot dogs, fries, way too much pasta and those were always followed by late night desserts.  I started getting heartburn every day.  I was in and out of the Doc’s office for stomach pain and other issues.  What a miserable place to be.

I knew a change needed to be made, but I didn’t want to give anything up.  My body had been doing everything it could to communicate with me that it wasn’t ok, but I wasn’t listening.  Finally, I got fed up with how I looked and felt and decided to do something about it.  The photo to the left is right before I started making better choices.  My mom played a major role in the lifestyle change and I owe her so much for her guidance, inspiration and especially the good ‘this is what you need to hear’ talks that straightened me out.  Changing my habits still took a little time, but it was so worth it.

Reach out to family or friends for support.  Making changes can be frustrating and overwhelming so having a strong support system is crucial to being successful.  But I know you can do it!  It feels incredible to not run out of breath climbing the stairs and it feels absolutely amazing to have the energy to play chase with my son.  I could go on and on about all the awesome things that diet and exercise changes have done for me to make me a happier person, but I’m keeping todays post short.  If you ever need more motivation or want to know more about how my life has changed for the better, just shoot me an e-mail.  I have no problem sharing!

Happy Monday!!!!

 

Personal share: I DO NOT feel comfortable taking ‘selfies’!  But I know that people like to see before/after photos and updated photos, well at least that’s the first thing I look at when I’m on someone else’s blog or website.  It’s inspiring!  If they are super embarrassing, just keep in mind, I am new to the selfie thing

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Getting Motivated

Happy June, everyone!  Boy, am I glad to see this beautiful month and amazing weather!!  How about you?

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Have you ever had a summer come (and go) that you didn’t want to go swimming because you just couldn’t feel confident out there in your bathing suit?  Cue the horror music – eek – it’s here again and you’re not prepared.  Don’t worry, here’s the good news:  you’re reading this blog so you are already one step closer to getting a ‘beach body’.  (I use that term for effect – I’d prefer to call it, ‘Your New YEAR ROUND Body’, because we don’t want just a beach body if we can have it the whole year, right?)

There are TONS of suggestions on my site and millions of other sites out there for just how to get ‘lean’, or ‘toned’ or to ‘lose weight’.  But what good are all of those workout plans if you never actually do them?  What good does the new diet do if you only follow it for a week?  So today, we’re going to talk about the hardest part of getting fit – GETTING MOTIVATED.

 

What is motivation?

“The general desire or willingness of someone to do something” (from Google ;))

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Desire.  Motivation is the desire in ourselves to do or change something.  That’s it.  Whether it’s a burning desire to look like that picture in the magazine or to impress friends and family, it all started with a STRONG feeling found deep within ourselves.  What gets you to start exercising in the first place?  Because you desire to look and feel differently than you do now.  You’re not going to be very successful if you try to lose weight because your mom thinks you should.  If it isn’t YOUR desire, you’ll never have true motivation to keep going.

So, we know what causes us to get motivated, and then what?  Where does that ‘burning desire’ go?  For me, when I have a goal in mind it’s all I can think about.  But as weeks go by and my focus shifts from ‘why I’m doing it’ to ‘how I’m performing the movements’ or ‘when do I have time to do it’, I start to lose track of why I started.   We all have distractions that shift our focus or send us in a different direction.  If you are stressed because of work or family obligations, it’s only natural that after a few weeks or months, you’ll lose track of our goals.

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Here you are, with your goal plastered before you like a giant movie screen.  You see a thinner, more confident you in your bathing suit hanging out by the pool.  You see yourself jogging by early morning traffic while there is still a little fog in the air…that’s pretty easy to follow, right?  And now imagine someone abruptly rips the reel from the projector and replaces it with your credit card statement, lists of household chores and a large picture of your boss’s face…and not just any face, but that face she gets when she’s about to call you into her office.  Feeling sick yet?  Do you still feel as excited about working out?  Do you feel like dropping everything and finding a way to make those images disappear?  That’s totally normal!

Of course you want to handle the things that make you feel uncomfortable first!  But sometimes, that isn’t always possible.  There might be a day when you get a call from your boss telling you to arrive early the next morning so she can ‘talk’ to you.  Yikes!  You get that sick feeling and now you have to go all evening and night thinking about it.  Or if you find out that you spent a little more than you thought on your credit card and the minimum payment is more than your budget can handle.  These things suck.  But, you can’t let them win.

When you start to feel distracted, spend just five minutes bringing your goals back into focus.  Here are a few questions to jumpstart your motivation after a disturbance or even just the normal weekly distractions.  (I recommend going over these questions once a day if possible, or at least once a week).

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Why are you doing this?

What do you want to achieve?

What will you gain from achieving your goal?

What are you going to do today/this week to help you reach your goal?

Now, how confident are you?  If you’ve had diets or exercise plans fail in the past, you may be dealing with doubt that anything new will work.  Do you have confidence that you will stick with it and not give up?  Do you believe that you WILL get results?

*Printable version:  triggering motivation

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Feeling a little more motivated??

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Hang up a picture that inspires you.  Move the picture to a new place once a week to keep it fresh.  For example,  hang it by your nightstand one week, fridge the next, bathroom mirror, dashboard of your car, etc.)  If the picture doesn’t seem to motivate you anymore and you need a good motivation jump start, go on Google, or Pinterest and type in ‘fit women’ (or men).  You WILL be inspired.

Some days I just want to eat an entire box of ice cream loaded with brownies, nuts and whipped cream.  Obviously, that’s not healthy and would NOT help me reach my goals.  But just saying ‘You probably shouldn’t do that’, doesn’t always help me.  My trick that works 99% of the time is to quickly look up someone I admire on the internet like Jamie Eason and scrolling through her site and pictures…(can you say perfect body?!)   Seeing that re-inspires me and reminds me of my goals and why I don’t want to binge on the ice cream.  And that’s really what it comes down to.  Remembering WHY we’re doing this, being confident that all this hard work is going to pay off, and triggering that strong, deep down desire, so that we take action.

To re-cap:  In order to get motivated we need to trigger the desire to make a change – and to trigger it, just ask yourself a few questions and spend five minutes really visualizing what you desire.  Utilize those notebooks and write your heart out about your goals and why you want what you want.  Put motivational pictures EVERYWHERE!  It will help, trust me.  Heck, start a blog and tell people about it so you’re motivated to keep going!!

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Need additional motivation or inspiration??  Email me!!  I can help 🙂

 

 

Event Weight Loss – Losing Weight For Your Wedding

 (Please note:  By reading this blog, you agree to my Disclaimer)

 

Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of wedding photos on social media which can only mean one thing, wedding season has begun!  The weather is fabulous, everything is in bloom, what more could you want for your perfect day?  Oh I know, you want to look fabulous!!

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So, you’re getting married in six weeks and you’ve got 10lbs (maybe more) to lose before then?  Don’t freak out!  I can help!  Just keep reading…

From experience, I know that one of the BIGGEST stressors dealing with upcoming nuptials is weight.  Yep, it’s even a bigger issue than the cost of the wedding for most people.  Not being able to fit into your wedding dress pretty much trumps how much money you spend on the actual event.  Is that crazy talk?  No!  You can have all the money in the world to throw at a beautiful wedding but it doesn’t lose the weight for you.  Sure, you can have liposuction or a tummy tuck or whatever the celebrities do, but that can take just as long or longer to see results.

We want to look and feel like a princess on our big day and what could be worse than looking like we are ‘spilling’ over our dress or having safety pins sticking out because we can’t zip it all the way?  For me, I waited too long to try to lose weight for my wedding day and finally lost weight the two weeks leading up to it.  Do you think I thought to try on my dress to see if it still fit?  Of course not!  So THE DAY OF MY WEDDING, 30 minutes before walking down the aisle, I put on my dress only to find that it no longer fit in the boobs.  It was a strapless dress.  Needless to say, I did not feel as amazing as I could have since I had to hold my breath the whole time to keep my dress up!

So, for all of you ladies out there planning to walk down the aisle this year, next year or anytime in the future – lets get you set up for success!

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^ My mom ‘taping’ my dress to my skin – how lovely (can you sense the sarcasm?)

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How to Lose Weight For Your Wedding:

 

Ideally, I’d like for you to change your eating habits for the long term so that you never have to worry about dieting again.  But, I understand if you’re short on time, or if you have been so stressed planning that you haven’t spent enough time preparing healthy meals or exercising (in fact, we tend to over eat when we are stressed and all the planning keeps us so busy we feel like we don’t have time for anything else).  So, I’ve put together my best tips and tricks to help you lose weight (quickly) so that you look like a million bucks on your big day.  Lets get started!

 

Commit to Exercise

Obviously, the QUICKEST way to lose those extra pounds is through exercise.  I don’t want to hear that you don’t have time.  Make time.  If looking and feeling great on your big day is one of your goals, then you have to follow through and do the work.  As soon as you finish dinner, go for a walk.  Get up 30 minutes early to hit the gym or do a home workout.  Figure out your two busiest and hardest days of the week and make them your ‘rest’ days (unless you are bold enough to fit in Yoga or walking on those days).  That way you can use your weekend to get in a two really good workouts and only have to pick three weekdays to fit in the rest of your weeks workouts.  Seriously folks, exercise might feel like the last thing you want to do but it is the fastest way to naturally shed that extra weight.  The benefits go beyond losing weight.

 

What do I recommend doing?

• Walking (briskly- no less than 20 minutes every day.  Get your heart pumping)
• Riding a Bike
• High Intensity Interval Training (Please note:  These are not for people who have not already been exercising.  This is intense and not a good idea for beginners.  Check with your Personal Health Care Provider before attempting any HIIT workout.  There are TONS of these on the web, my favorites come from FitnessBlender.com)
• Weight Lifting (break out those dumbbells!  No, not the 2lbs ones, really lift some weight!)
• Jumping Rope (Try 40 seconds jumping – 20 seconds rest for five minutes…you will FEEL it)
• Jogging/Running
• Swimming (not lollygagging around in the pool but doing laps for 30 minutes.  Really get that heart rate up!)

 

Cardio is going to be your best bet, but like I’ve said before, you can get AMAZING results from lifting.  Not only are you burning fat, you are getting beautiful arms, legs, etc.  Start first thing in the morning to get it over with or hit it hard after dinner, either way, just make sure you are moving!  Get up and get that heart pumping for AT LEAST 20 minutes!  If you’re not looking to lose a lot of weight and you just want to get ‘toned’, you can get away with doing a longer slower workout like Yoga.  Take the stairs, park further away and stand as much as possible.  You’ll be surprised at how fast you see results.

“I like to move it, move it”

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Skip The Junk

Your goal from now until wedding day (depending on how far away it its) is to only eat home prepared meals.  No stopping on your way to work for coffee, donuts or whatever.  No ordering lunch out, I don’t care all you get is a salad from Panera.  Don’t be tempted.  Your best bet is going to be taking all the snacks and meals you’ll need for the day and not stopping ANYWHERE.  This will not only help you lose weight and get healthier, it will save you a ton of money!  And if you’re planning a wedding, chances are you will want to save every little bit.

This is going to take some prepping and might be a little hard, but you can do it!  Set aside one day of the week to prep all your meals and snacks.  This is so worth it!  It might be a little time consuming but you’ll be glad you did it.  What do I fight temptation with?  Why delicious, fresh strawberries of course!  Or Honeydew Melon, blueberries, peaches and plain greek yogurt, peanut butter and celery, hummus and ANY vegetable…I could go on.  Check out Superwomen Recipes for recipes, meal planning and other food related ideas to help get you started.

 

So, here are some suggestions for your next shopping trip (learn to love it fellow Superwomen!):

• Fruits – Apples, bananas, grapefruit, melons, grapes, strawberries, lemons, blueberries
• Vegetables – Celery, Kale, spinach, avocados, sweet potatoes, zucchini, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, cabbage…
• Meats/Main Course – Chicken, LEAN beef, Tofu, Black Beans, Salmon, Tilapia, Flounder, etc.
• Other – Quinoa (not rice!), whole wheat wraps, whole grain pasta, walnuts, tuna, canned chicken, frozen veggies, frozen fruit, cayenne or other hot spices, plain Greek yogurt, whey protein, eggs

 

Not only will you lose weight when you eat like this, your skin will look amazing!  So this tip really kills two birds with one stone.  I bet you wont need to go get that facial before the big day once you see how much your skin loves things like kale, blueberries and carrots!

 

Sleep!

Shut down your wedding planning at least half an hour before bed.  Turn off the TV, close the laptop and put your phone on the charger.  This is an absolute MUST for losing weight.  Trust me, this made a huge difference for me.  Turn out all the lights, grab a fan for white noise if you need it and get the best nights sleep you’ve had since you were a baby.  Exercising will help you sleep better and sleep will help exercising not suck since your muscles will be able to adequately repair overnight (with the right amount of rest that is)!  And again, you’ll have the added benefit of having glowing skin from the extra sleep.

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Drink Water!

Only have  a few weeks to lose weight?  Cut the caffeine and drink water…lots of it!  I mean like a ton.  So much that you have to pee all the time.  Don’t allow any other tempting drink in.  Seriously, you might really want that glass of wine to ease the stress but it’s not going to allow you to get the results you want.  Stay away from sodas, sweet teas, juices, all of it.  Your safest bet is to just stick to water.  C’mon, how badly do you want this?  Ps.  Water ALSO helps to liven up your skin and make you look beautiful.  It helps with acne, puffines, wrinkles and more.  Drink up!!

Avoid List:

Alcohol, Sodas, any sweetened teas, coffees, smoothies, etc.

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Keep A Healthy Distance from Sodium and Grease

Choose your food wisely!  Avoid anything that has a lot of salt.  As painful as it might be, try not to season your veggies with butter or salt for a few weeks and see what a difference it makes.  Steer clear of Fast Food joints, chips, pizza, anything with soy sauce (pretty much give up your favorite Asian restaurants – I’m sorry – just for now).  Reducing your salt intake will greatly reduce bloating.  For more information about sodium check out this great article from The American Heart Association:  Why Should I Limit Sodium?

 

How to lose weight for your wedding in a nutshell:

Eat clean

 Do at least 20 minutes of cardio a day

Give up fast food, sweets and other junk

Stay away from alcohol and sodas

Drink tons of water

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Get more sleep

It really is that simple.  You can do it.  Send me photos of your progress, let me know what exercises you’re doing, what you’re eating and anything you have found helpful that I’ve mentioned or even things that I haven’t talked about.  I want to hear from you!

 

 

 

^ Tied the knot!  And thankfully my dress stayed put for the entire ceremony 🙂

 

 

Motivational Monday!

(*Please note:  By reading this blog, you agree to my disclaimer)

It’s Monday!  You know what that means?!  New week, new you.  So who’s ready to kick off their week with a little inspiration?

This week I’m sharing Misty Shaffer’s story.  She lost more that 100lbs while her husband was in Afghanistan.  Her story is so inspiring that I just had to share it.  She changed her eating and lost MORE THAN 100lbs!  That is really awesome.  If you’ve already read this or seen it on TV, take another look if just for motivational purposes.  She did it, and you can too!  Way to go Misty!

 

http://www.examiner.com/article/misty-shaffer-100-pound-loss-weight-army-vet-s-wife-shares-dieting-secrets

Now, go and make your own change for a better and healthier you.  Remember:  new week, new you!