How do I lose weight?

This is the most asked question I get. And really the answer is quite simple eat less and move more.

Eat more nutritionally dense foods and less garbage... and move more... A lot more!!! 

It's pretty much that simple.

Here's a few things I've learned over my lifetime of health and fitness.

1. I don't drink my calories. Whether it's a fancy coffee, alcohol, juice, or a smoothie... I simply just don't do it. There are so many empty calories that I just don't need. If you must have one of these..use it as a cheat treat once you have gotten to a weight you like and or a fitness level you are happy with. If not just skip it. 

2. I stopped eating like a teen when I was in my 20s. This means fast food, fried foods, Mexican queso dip and chips, pizza, desserts etc etc.... You simply can't eat like that as you age. (Actually children don't need to eat junk food either). But as we age we gain weight when we eat like this so we have to stop. Again once you are happy with where you are then you can use them as a once a week cheat TREAT only. But don't do this until you are where you need to be or want to be. Because if you start back then it may be a very slippery slope. 

3. I lift weights. This one is so huge! And I don't mean 2/3 pound tiny weights!! I mean you should be lifting weights on a regular 4 day a week schedule. Ok 3! But no less than that!!! (Bc I know most of you are saying 4 days that's too much...) Lift like a body builder (don't worry you won't look like one). What I mean by  this is stop the full body workouts. I'm sorry it just isn't cutting it. And please ladies get over the fact that you think you are going to get "bulky"!!! It's not going to happen!!

Schedule Im doing this week...

Monday legs 

Tuesday back and bis

Wednesday shoulders and tris

Thursday abs chest 

Friday legs again!

4. Do cardio! Now depending on how much "weight" you want to lose depends on how much cardio you will be doing. But a basic guide is 30 -60 minutes 6 days a week. Yep 6. And no walking your dog doesn't count. Sorry. And here's something you should try... Varying the workouts. Try something new. A new park to run in. A new piece of cardio equipment. Hills. Sprints. Treadmill. Just don't do the same thing day after day. It's boring plus your body gets so used to it. Change it up!!! Variety my friends!

5. Group classes... Ok ladies I know y'all love a group class but if you are chatting and not working out ...again is not cutting it. Buy a heart rate monitor and use it. It will tell you how many calories you are actually burning. Buy a hear rate monitor......I love this one....Polar H7 HR Sensor

6.  Food and Calories. You should know how much you are consuming. So for 7 days take a small notebook with you and write down every single bite that goes into your mouth oh and don't forgot those juices smoothies fancy coffees and alcohol!!! Anything that you eat needs to be logged. End of the week add up each day. I bet you will be surprised. 

7. Time. "I don't have time...". I get it your busy. You work. Have kids. But honestly how many minutes a day are you Facebooking, instagraming, watching tv. Get up earlier. Workout with your kids. Find a way. You can do it!!! 

8. Hire a trainer. It will be the best money you've ever spent. Hire someone you like. Hire someone that's experienced. You won't be sorry!! 

9. Hydration! Start guzzling water. Plain ole tap water is totally fine. Start with 80 ounces per day. Make it your goal to drink at least 100 ounces. Your body will thank you!! Stop all colas sodas sports drinks...stick with plain h20!!

Let talk about Bikini Shows part one

Now that I have two bikini shows under my belt...I am an expert. 

Ha! Not hardly!! 

But here is what I have learned thus far.

1. Just because I worked out 6 days a week...doesn't mean I am going place. Everyone there worked just as hard and everyone looks amazing! EVERYONE! So mentally it can be difficult to deal with...I trained for the first show for a full year...I went in to that show with very low expectations...just happy to be there. The second show...I truly wanted to place in the Open and I did not. That messed with me for a few days. 

2. You are in a room with a ton of beautiful and super fit women and men...but that being said we all have flaws...no one is perfect... My upper body is genetically very narrow...I also have cellulite...yep I sure do...so I have flaws. I am not perfect. And when I lean out the last few weeks my upper body becomes even smaller. 

3. People may be mean. Fortunately I have only had one person make a rude comment to me...she told me that my arms were so tiny that she could fit her fingers around them. Yep she said that to me at a show where I am being judged on having a proportionate body that is well conditioned. Oh well...moving on...people can be mean...we all know this. 

4. You will see other girls completely naked when you get your competition tan. Be prepared. The end.

5. You do a lot of waiting. The pre judging is typically in the morning say around 8:30/9:00...I was finished by noon with this part of the show.  Then there is a long break and then the night show usually begins around 6:30. But my class didn't go back on stage until 10:30 or so...so bring reading material, make friends with other girls, chill, hang out....relax. 

6. They can be very costly. From the bikini...to the shoes...tan...makeup...hair...nails...entry fees..NPC card...hotel...it all adds up quick. I tried to save some money on my second show...I had a gift card that I hadnt used for nails...and I did my own hair...but it was out of town so I had to get a hotel. 

I don't know if I'll do another show this year...time will tell...actually money is more accurate. 

Disordered Eating and beyond...Part 1

When I was 15 when I saw my first "Fitness" competition. 

I was at my friends house when it came on tv. 

The super muscled up girls. 

The tan. 

The dance routines. 

The bikinis.

I wanted to be those girls! 

I was a naturally thin teenager...and I loved working out...I had found what I loved to do. 

I started doing step aerobics in my living room ...Jane Fonda videos....I know I know...it was the 80s. 

I did step for Sooo long...years actually 3-4 days a week. But I looked the same. Never really made any changes to my body. Less body fat yes but I added zero muscle.

Then I became super obsessed with working out...I completely overdid it...I was 21/22 and did so much cardio that I got down to under 100 pounds...at 5' 8". I would do 1-1.5 hours of cardio daily and  I was not eating enough..to sustain my crazy workouts.  My hair started to fall out. My friends were super worried about me. I looked awful. And felt even worse. I was dizzy everyday...all day. This went on for about 6 months. 

Healthy normal weight vs. obsessive cardio and too low calories. 

I started seeing a psychiatrist who immediately put me on antidepressants...Prozac and Paxil...and I gained 50 pounds....for a person with disordered eating and over exercising...50 pounds was too much. Very Unhealthy. And really messed with my head for many years. I went from a negative size 0 to a size 14 in a year and a half. 

I needed talk therapy...not a pill.

I needed someone to guide me to how to exercise the right way....how to not overdo it.

I needed a healthy role model. 

I needed someone well versed in food...to help me make healthy choices...a balance. 

I got none of these things. 

Just a pill and weight gain of 50 pounds. 

After the 50 pound gain!!

The crazy thing is when you take these pills you think you look great. So I never knew how horrible I looked. How bloated. Puffy. Unhealthy. 

Bloated and puffy! 

Until I was in Chicago..by the Sears Towers...I was 24ish walking down the street thinking I looked amazing. I had a purple tight silky shirt on with purple sunglasses...(yes I know horrible)... It was the mid 1990s...those huge mirrored towers showed a different version of what I thought I looked like. When I saw this ridiculous girl walking with a too tight shirt on and fat rolls...I realized it was me....I cried all the way back home. 6 hours. 

I immediately went on a "diet" meaning I cut out YooHoo chocolate milk drinks replacing them with water...and for lunch I had a lunchable. I thought this was super healthy. It was 1997. I lost about 15 pounds very quickly. But I was no where near fit. Not at all. 

Down about 15 pound but not healthy or fit...not by a long shot! 

Still very unhealthy. I thought diet cokes and bean burritos were healthy. 

To be continued.....

I should have written this book!

This is the BEST HEALTH BOOK EVER!!   

The New Health Rules: Simple Changes to Achieve Whole-Body Wellness

It is everything that I believe in! 

Clean living!

It is the new way to look at health....

Foods to eat...nuts...veggies..water...stop the packaged foods! 

Working out...lifting weights...moving your body...meditation...

Natural cleaning products...de cluttering...doing something you love everyday..

Supplements...

Organic...

When I say everything I mean everything that I believe in!!

I love it and I highly suggest every person on this planet to read it!! 

Buy it Here! 

Thanks for reading! 

Vitamins and supplements I take

For a very long time I never believed in taking any supplements or vitamins.

I believed that all they did was make expensive urine....meaning you take them and then pee them out.

Being that I am anti sun...and never expose myself to the suns harmful rays...

Read more about why I don't sun tan Here and read Here about how I deal with sun spots/sun damage.

Read Here about how I self tan.

Several years ago I had routine bloodwork done...the findings showed I had low Vitamin D. 

My doc prescribed a "mega" dose script of vitamin D....to be taken for two weeks. 

Then to maintain my levels...I first tried to go at it in a very natural way...10- 15 minutes of sunlight on my arms a few times a week, I also tried to eat more tuna, and cheese...being that I don't drink cows milk. But after about a week of getting a bit of sun on my arms...I started to freak out thinking I may also be causing more sun damage so I stopped the sun time. 

I had my blood redrawn in about 6 months and the findings again showed low levels.

So I decided to try vitamin d drops...but they were sooooo gross!

But then I found Nature Made vitamin d they are awesome! It's tastes like a little gummy bear! 

And I was happy to find out at my last doctor checkup my levels are normal! 

I also take  L'il Critters Gummy Vites Complete Children's Multivitamin, 275 Count as a multi daily vitamin...Pipiri takes these also. Again yummy little gummies! 

I take aAlign Probiotic  and NOW Foods Super Enzymes at breakfast....I truly do believe in both of 
these....both helping to keep your stomach nice and balanced.

And last but not least....I take Branch Chain Amino Acids NOW Foods Branch Chain Amino Acids
I take them post every workout. They help to keep the muscle I have worked so hard to build intact. 

I am NOT a doctor! These are the supplements and vitamins that I take!
My blog is just like having a conversation with a friend....it is my opinion and not to be used as medical advice. 

Back shoulder circuit

Quick shoulder and back circuit.

Rows, shoulder press neutral grip, full lateral raises, and rear delts.

Do 3x sets of 20 each for beginners...5 sets of 20 for more advanced.

Watch full routine Here.

Gaining muscle over 40

It is super hard for women to gain muscle....

Women are so scared to lift heavy weights they are afraid they are going to "bulk up" or look like a professional body builder.

Im here to tell you it is impossible! 

I spoke about being skinny fat....Here. 

I have been lifting heavier weights for 11 years now.

I started out with only 97 pounds of lean body mass...my actually scale weight was around 118.

After 11 years I have only gained 6.5 pounds of muscle! 

And it took me 11 years to do so!! 

11 years!

Last summer my lean muscle mass was 102 pounds.

I just had my fat rechecked this week and it was 103.6! So as a 41 and a half year old woman I have gained 1.6 pounds of muscle in less than a year! That is huge! And I am so proud of it!

Since last May I have changed my workouts completely.  I wanted to see how much muscle I could gain at almost 41 years old. I was so tired of doing so much cardio. Tired of my hip hurting. Tired of feeling beat up. 

I used to do cardio 3-4x a week...50 minutes to an hour each session...and mainly I ran as my cardio...I since have almost completely stopped running. Maybe 1x a month. It took awhile to get over the runners high..mentally I just wasn't sure how I would feel after 16 years of being a runner. 

Now I do it 2-3 cardio session...at the very most. And it is never more than 50 minutes. 

I have been lifting 5-6x a week. Focusing on 3 body parts at a time...while I used to do a full body routine 2-3x a week.

For example..

Mondays legs

Tuesdays chest back abs

Wednesday cardio/plyo metrics

Thursday shoulders bis tris

Fridays legs/glutes

Saturday day off

Sunday long 6 m walk

I know to some these photos don't really show a huge change like some on the internet. But to me it is huge.

1.6 pounds of muscle gained is a ton for a woman! Especially a woman over the age of 40! 

I feel like I look better now...I'm not as skinny looking and I feel like I look more fit.

Cholesterol levels......adding fat to your diet...does it raise them?

So last year I made a huge change in my diet by giving up candy!

Ohhh candy my old friend! My friend in my pockets...my friend that was always there for me....my sugary deliciousness....yummy! 

Yep but I gave it up last year mid lent GONE! 

Read more about that Here and Here. 

So when I went to my doctor last year I had my cholesterol levels taken as I have for many years. 

They were the following...

Total cholesterol 188

Triglycerides 66

HDL 79

LDL 96

While yes all within in the normal range (read more about normal range levels Here) ....I thought they actually would be lower...hmmmmm me an over achiever even with cholesterol....ummm YES!

So this year after major dietary changes...giving up candy and all sugary desserts, adding wayyyy more fat to my diet...eggs including the yolk, real butter, adding more healthy fish... tons and tons of spinach, water cress, collard greens, greens greens greens....adding Grapeseed oil and continuing with olive oil....sautéing veggies in both of these oils....

Today my cholesterol levels were the following...

Total 183

Triglycerides 38 (28 points lower)

HDL 90 (11 points higher) 

LDL 85 (11 points lower) 

Yay! Proof is in the numbers!! All much better than last year! 

I love reverse aging! I love lowering my cholesterol thru diet! Over achiever yes!! 

Anything is possible! 

I never ever want to have to take pills for something that I can control thru my diet and working out and living a health lifestyle! Never! 

If I can you can!! 

I said bye bye to many bad habits in 2014!!!!

Last year was a HUGE quit bad habits year!! HUGE!! 

CANDY/SUGAR

I wrote about my candy/sugar give up...read more about that....Here....Soo that one was huge for me. Now let me say that I do on occasion have a bite here and there of candy but I have not have one single jelly belly or York peppermint patty since giving it up mid way thru Lent last year!! Remember I lost 8 pounds doing so! 

PROPEL

I also gave up using Propel. I added propel to every single water I drank for over 12 years. I gave it up because of my wanting to stop all weird chemicals that I was consuming. And even though it was zero calories...it has some ingredients in it I can't pronounce so I quit it...cold turkey! I drink ALOT of water too....over 100 ounces daily! I said bye bye to propel around the same time as the candy...so very close to a year now.

Mexican food...chips and queso

I gave this up for several reasons. One is because I hate feeling awful the day after I eat it or actually a few hours after...the bloated groady horrible feeling. Two because I hate being up 4-5 pounds after one meal! I mean seriously this is ridiculous! The amount of salt that I must have been consuming made me blow up like crazy! Reason three food poisoning! My hubs and I both had gotten food poisoning  several times from Mexican food...so that's reason enough for me! Soo I completely quit all Mexican food after the last bout of food poisoning...around April. 

Coffee

Now let me start by saying that I have not given up coffe completely and I doubt I ever will. But I
have reduced the amount of coffee I have tremendously! Read more about that Here and Here...basically I used to fill the entire coffee filter up daily and would be jittery and feel terrible. So I quit this bad habit last year also. Now I add 3-4 teaspoons full of coffee only in the filter now and wow what a huge difference that has made. I am never jittery anymore! Bye bye heart palpitations! 

Know your health numbers!!

Skinny Fat

Yes I was skinny fat.

This was at a 1/2 marathon. Very thin with very little muscle..bad posture too! 

Skinny fat definition - Skinny when looking at with very little muscle tone!

So while yes I was thin - I had barely any muscle.

Twiggy skinny arms - cellulite - flabby - jelloish.

When I met Brad wayyy back in 2003 - I was a running fiend. I was running 4-6x a week and weight lifting consisted of very light weights - a ton of reps  - maybe 2x a week. So basically I was maintaining my skinny fat frame. Not adding any muscle.  I weighed around 115-118 pounds and had about 96-97 pounds of muscle only.

It took me about 2 years to add muscle. Thats right 2 YEARS!!  

2 years of lifting heavy weights - with great form - 3x a week for about an hour each session.

I gained about 3-4 pounds of muscle. Giving me about 101 pounds of muscle. So yes my scale weight went up a couple of pounds - but it took years for this to happen.

So when people (women) say they have gained 5 pounds of muscle in a month - it is one of three things..
1. they are shooting steroids
2. they have eaten wayyy too much and have put on some extra fat
3. they are a freak of nature (I mean this in a good way) - they put on muscle extremely easily - think girls with fantastic genes with ripped arms and they never lift weights - I have two friends like this :) JEALOUS!

So most likely if your scale is going up and you are lifting weights it is NOT muscle!!!!

It is very hard for women to gain muscle VERY VERY hard! Just like it is hard for us to drop pounds - muscle is just as hard - harder really.

When I lift now - I lift very differently than I did way back in 2003.

I lift heavy. More frequently. And way more reps. 

But remember it takes a lonnngggg time to build muscle. A very long time! 

Keep doing your cardio. Keep your food clean. And lift! Ladies lift as heavy as you can....you won't get bulky!