You’ve seen the memes on the Internet, or heard the phrases: “What’s your excuse?” Or heard the phrase, “if it’s important to you, you’ll find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.” I actually like this second quote – and not because of the judgement that’s implied with it, but rather the truth that it conveys. We all have priorities. A list from 1-100. And we can’t do everything. On our list of priorities, we all have the same things: family, partner relationship, travel, money, career, health, and self-care, to name a few. They’re just in different orders. My list is in a different order than your list. Only one thing can occupy that top spot. Only one thing can occupy the second, and so on. As a health coach, I would love for everyone’s list to have ‘health’ as their #1 priority. But the truth is that it Read More . . .
Why the rules are bullsh*t
Do you have rules around your eating habits? They might be something like, “I can only eat sugar on the weekend.” Or “Bananas are loaded with calories and starch. So, I can’t eat bananas.” Whatever they are, do they help you? Or do they hinder you? I think most people create these rules because the grey area of our food can become so… GREY. H*ll! I don’t even know if there IS any black or white when it comes to food anymore! With all the media hype, and misinterpreted studies, something that you would think should be intuitive is now confusing. There’s so much fear and uncertainty when it comes to our food. What’s good for us? What’s not? And once we’re in that grey zone of ‘Eat these foods in moderation’, how do we know where we are in that moderation scale? How do we know when we’re slipping? If Read More . . .
What’s in Your Perfect Day?
One of the exercises that I have my Health Coaching clients do in their first habit is to describe their perfect day. I love hearing what folks love to do: spend time with their families (or not ;), pampering, what their favorite meal is, activities, what makes them feel good, and what their priorities are. And it got me thinking about what elements I would need to have a perfect day everyday. Sure! There are always things that we don’t want to do: chores, conflict, maybe errands, and things like that. But what key elements would be present in order for the day to be pretty close to perfect? How can you construct your life so that it’s pretty darn close to perfect? I came up with four elements that I can add in to any day to have a pretty awesome experience. I’ve tagged it #TAGY Treats – Everyday needs to have a treat in it. Read More . . .
What do elephants and cancer have to do with my fat-loss journey?
In thinking about how the cancer had destroyed my mom’s body, it occurred to me that in order to avoid this disease, I needed to prepare my body so that it would be able to fight off any disease that it might encounter. Not only did I need to get down to a healthy weight, but I also needed to eat better quality of foods, become active, and well, become a responsible adult. Read More . . .
How to dump crappy habits
Anyone who says that the issue of obesity, weight management and fitness is all about knowing what is/is not good for you, or about willpower is over-simplifying the problem, and hasn’t fully grasped the gravity of the issue. It is a hugely complex issue because it all starts in the brain, and the brain is a hugely complex organism. We all do things that we know don’t serve us in our goals, and yet, we often find ourselves powerless to change. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking about eating habits, spending money, smoking, or some other habit that we want to change. In Kelly McGonigal’s audio program, The Neuroscience of Change, she talks about our destructive habits. Destructive habits are things that we do that either don’t serve us any longer, or are getting in the way of things we do want in our lives. It could be smoking, eating Read More . . .
Why diet plans give me anxiety
Me: “So, are you making any changes with your diet?” Her: “Well, I don’t know. I was thinking about that last night. I’ve been walking, but I don’t know if I should do Paleo, or cut out carbs, or what. What do you think?” Whenever I hear someone mention a certain ‘plan’, whether it’s The Paleo Diet, The Zone Diet, or even The Eat Clean Diet, or even make drastic, sudden changes, I always cringe. Yes, I know it’s easier when you have a list of ‘rules’. This is what you can and cannot eat. There’s no grey area; that grey area where you’re unsure, “Am I on plan? or off?” It’s definitely easier to say yes or no to food if you know where the line of on and off are. We understand the rules. I basically have rules for my diet. But I’ve created those rules myself. And they’re not rules. They’re barely guidelines. And Read More . . .
Can I do that?
I’ve been through a lot of fitness phases in my journey. There’s one phase that I’ve been thinking a lot lately: that time that I was doing Bikram Yoga. Bikram Yoga is a yoga practice done in an ungodly hot and humid room. The class is a series of 26 poses, done in the same order, held for the same amount of time. You could go to a Birkam Yoga class in California, Brazil, Germany, or Japan, and each instructor is taught to cue the poses the same way. Some will look at this form of a class and think that it sounds boring: Doing the same exercises in the same order every single time? Ugh! I need some variety! Yes, you could look at it that way, but here’s the thing. Doing yoga this way taught me something about my body. Well, to be truthful, about bodies in general. Read More . . .
What you know about dieting is bullsh*t
Have you ever looked at a picture of yourself from another time, and think, “What the hell was I so hard on myself for? My body was adorable! And I remember hating my body when that picture was taken!” For years I was looking for the magic pill. You know the one. The one that you find in magazines, diet books, following health gurus online. The one that is going to make you instantly the size and shape that you desire to be. I read everything. I scoured every magazine: 10 Days to a Bikini Body? I’m in. 5 Secret Fat Loss Foods? I need it! How to eat until you’re stuffed and still lose weight! Hey – Right on. I would look at what foods women were buying in the grocery store. Nope! Same foods (or junkier) that I was buying. I would see women at the gym, and think to Read More . . .
Just Show Up
Happy New Year! As with every change in the calendar, folks start to look at the blank canvas of a new year, and get inspired with ideas of what this year can look like. What new opportunities will present itself? WIll I have more wealth at the end? Will my business grow? What steps can I take to make my life better? Is my personal health part of that equation? Will I be moving the needle (in a positive way) for my personal health? There are lots of ways to improve your personal health. Yes, you can go to the gym. Yes, you can eat less junk. You could try incorporating some better sleep habits into your routine, or maybe practice deep breathing when you feel stressed out.I know those last two ideas are not what typically come to mind when we think about healthy habits, but stress management and Read More . . .
#GSD – Inspirational Totem
“My mother always told me I wouldn’t amount to anything because I procrastinate. I said, ‘Just wait.” ― Judy Tenuta I’m really kind of over New Years resolutions. I find that if I dislike where my life is headed, I can change directions any time I want. I don’t need a new calendar year to start a new habit. And yet, I like the concept of having a focus, or something to drive towards. Last year I was introduced to the concept of an “inspirational totem“. The concept is a word or phrase that guides you through the year. Not unlike New Years resolutions, but without the ‘resolution’ part. It’s more of a mindset shift. Just a word or a phrase, that you connect with, that keeps you focused on where you want to go. I love it that we have the opportunity to change our mindset. We can change Read More . . .
New School Year – New You!
I have often thought of the beginning of the school year as my new year, versus the calendar year – January 1. I don’t know if it’s because I have a fall birthday, but since I was young, I always felt like the school year was a year to start fresh: I had a new teacher, and could really reinvent myself and start new. So, it’s typically around this time of year that I start to think about what goals I want to accomplish for the upcoming year, where I want to be in the next year and reflect on the past year’s events. Starting new habits when the school year starts is actually a really good strategy when you want to start a good habit, like exercising, or even drop a bad habit, like going out for your morning coffee. Its easier to start a new habit in the Read More . . .
This is why I do what I do
Last week, I had a really bad night's sleep, but had set my alarm to wake me early to go running. As I lay in the dark, I had contemplated blowing my run off, but really, I was already awake & decided to use that time productively. Before I headed out, I checked my email & overnight had received an email from my sister letting me know that she had been diagnosed with Lobular Carcinoma In Situ (LCIS). LCIS is defined as: "Lobular carcinoma in situ is a condition caused by unusual cells in the lobules of the breast.It is usually not considered cancer, but it can indicate an increased risk of future cancer. Unlike Ductal Carcinoma in Situ (DCIS), LCIS is not associated with calcification, and is typically an incidental finding in a biopsy performed for another reason." There were two lumps close together, which her surgeon removed. Her Read More . . .
Back on the Wagon
I just posted a new newsletter to my website! If you’re not on my newsletter list, please feel free to sign up here. I try to send out newsletters once a month. I’m not really sure what happened, but apparently I took a 9 month hiatus! Initially I think I can blame it on my bodybugg. I’ve been trying to add more activity in my life, and sitting, doing computer work does not accomplish that goal. Eventually, it became a daunting task, my self talk being something like: "Well, now it needs to be an AWESOME newsletter because you’ve been saving all of this information up. It needs to be rockin’!" That type of self talk reminds me of what we do to ourselves all the time when it comes to LOTS of areas in our life; whether it’s eating "I can’t start eating better until I’ve gotten all of Read More . . .
bodybugg vs fitbit: Round 4 – Activity & Accuracy
<< Previous Round bodybugg vs fitbit: Round 3 – Sleep Tracking So the reason I was initially drawn to the bodybugg was that it allowed me to see how many calories I was burning in a day. I knew how many calories I was eating. What I didn’t know, was how many I was burning; but why is that even important? Weight loss is a simple equation of consuming fewer calories than your body burns. There are TONS of food logging websites & tools, and as I mentioned, I knew what I was eating, because I was logging my food for years prior to knowing about the bodybugg. But eating is only half of the equation in weight loss and weight management. I can tell you that if you eat 500 fewer Calories per day than your body needs, you will lose 1 pound per week; I already knew that. Read More . . .
Bodybugg Calories Burned
Another Frequently asked question about the bodybugg application is: "Why do I have two different Calories Burned Numbers? I just got my Bodybugg last night. It seems to be working and when I uploaded data from the armband to computer, at the bottom it said I had burned 31 calories-had only been wearing it for a few minutes. The top display for the overall day is completely out of whack says 381 calories burned so far which can’t be done in wearing it a whole ten minutes?" The Red arrows in this screen shot point out the conflicting data. Clearly the numbers are different, but why? The top number shows the total number of calories burned during the entire day. The bottom number shows the number of calories burned during a specific time of day, typically your waking hours, which is illustrated by the darker gray area that the blue Read More . . .
Consciously Incompetent
When I imagined that I would be skating in rollerderby, I didn’t necessarily imagine that I would be blocking every body hit & skating with the fluid moves of a butterfly: zipping in & out of other girls around me. I guess I thought that it might be a little difficult at first, but with a little time & stick-to-it-ness, I’d be okay. After I invested in all of my equipment, I certainly felt the pressure to make it work. But after 8 weeks of skating 2-3 times per week, neither did I imagine that I would lose my balance & fall when I was just standing on my skates! I’m completely in awe of my coaches, Sparkle Plenty & Devil Grrl. They’re both so at ease on their skates. When Sparkle talks, she “paces” in her skates – backwards, forwards, sideways… it’s as if her skates are part of Read More . . .
Let Your Food Burn Calories For You
You’ve seen the titles of books & magazine headlines: “Fat Burning Foods”; “Eat More to Weigh Less” and it goes on & on. So what are these articles & books trying to teach us? THey’re trying to get us to use the Thermic Effect of Food (TEF) to burn more calories, and yes, it does work. Thermic Effect of Food Defined: “the increment in energy expenditure above resting metabolic rate due to the cost of processing food for storage and use” or, the number of calories our bodies use in eating. Yes, we burn calories by eating. NancySBrandt: I’m thinking this #bodybugg thing might be too good to be true. How can I have 747 calorie deficit after eating fast food for two meals? bodybugg: @NancySBrandt Ucould eat donuts all day &still hv a calorie deficit! it doesn’t mean tht it’s a good thing. Uburn fewr K digesting fast food Read More . . .
Exercising on an Empty Stomach
@dasschus ? for the week: do you burn more calories if you have something to eat first? Went on hike but past lunch & was hungry. on same hike after eating picnic bodybugg said I burned more calories. So does fueling up before exer. burn more calories? This question is a hotly debated topic among the fitness community: do you exercise on an empty stomach or not? The current theory is that when you perform cardiovascular exercise on an empty stomach, you’ll burn more calories from fat than you would if you ate prior to performing the same cardiovascular exercise. The rationalization is that while you’re sleeping, your body uses up all of the reserve energy in your muscles & when you wake, your body has no choice other than to use the body’s fat reserves to create energy. Let’s evaluate the pros & cons. Pros Exercising on an empty Read More . . .
Bodybugg or No Bodybugg that is the Question?
Yesterday, I posted an article about whether the Bodybugg is useful for fitness pros. It was spurred by a conversation on twitter with another personal trainer, out of Seattle, @Targettraining. He asked if he could post a response. Here it is: Guest Post by Shayne P. Norton In the small article I will discuss why the Bodybugg is not for everyone, and why would you want it. So there are many controversies about calories in versus calories out, fat loss and weight loss. Well I am here to tell you the difference and obsession with the people of today. I have learned in my field of personal training that personal trainers will lie to you at a corporate gym due to the pressure of sales from the management. Trust me I have been there and done that, also if there is a personal trainer that has said that they haven’t Read More . . .
How Quickly Will I See Results?
I received a question on Twitter today that I thought warranted a blog post. @dasschus asked “how long does it take for a surplus of calories to show up as a weight gain? How long until is shows as stored fat? Curious.” The answer to this question is pretty complex & like everything in health & the human body, what may be the answer for one person may not be the solution for all. Therefore, I’m going to answer this question from my own personal experience. The short answer is that it doesn’t happen instantly. That’s good and bad news because just as one day of eating poorly isn’t going to derail your weight loss goals, neither will one day of excessive activity make a noticeable difference either. The body ultimately takes an average of my calories in & calories out over a period of time. I notice a lag Read More . . .