Roller Derby Bad @**

I joined the Texas RollerGirls Recreational Roller Derby League! I don’t know what the heck I was thinking. Actually, I know exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking that summer is approaching in Austin, and since I’ve been running, I enter summer a really strong runner (running 10 – 13 miles on my long runs) & by mid-June, I can barely run for 40 minutes without taking a walk break. So, summer is the time when I start thinking about cross training. I am highly influenced by the power of suggestion, so when someone suggested that I sign up for Roller Derby, I did it. Aaack! After not being on roller skates since I was in high-school (maybe) I googled "how to roller skate", and came up with some good sites. After watching a bunch of videos, I put on my pads, laced up my skates & promptly fell Read More . . .

Which Burns More Calories?

I was talking to one of my clients yesterday about what great exercise walking is, when I realized that everyone else might want to know too! Years ago, when I started my quest for fitness, I would walk my neighborhood. Eventually, I got an elliptical machine and a treadmill – I had always wanted to be a runner, and was finally able to make that happen through the help of the treadmill. I spent hours on each of those until I started running outside & the rest is history. I was a gym rat for a really long time, spending countless hours on the cardio machines – even on perfectly beautiful days because I thought that I was burning tons of calories that way. One of the most fun aspects of the bodybugg, is discovering how many calories each of my activities burns. For example: cleaning the house can burn Read More . . .

3 Tips for Increasing Activity

Part 3 in the Runtex University Bucky & Bob Speaking Series In the ongoing debate of whether someone can be overweight and be healthy, one thing is clear: Being active and incorporating intentional exercise into your lifestyle is going to positively contribute to your quality of life as you age. It may or may not help you live longer, but then who wants to live until the age of 150 if you’re strapped to a wheelchair and feeding tube? The body and mind are so tightly inter-connected that regular, intentional exercise improves mood, quality of sleep, decreases stress and the risk of disease. What I have also found intriguing is that as individuals become more active, their bodies start to crave healthier options. Don’t be surprised if you start craving broccoli or salmon once you incorporate activity into your day. Your body was meant to move; treat your body well Read More . . .

3 Tips for Maintaining Motivation

Part 2 in the Runtex University Bucky & Bob Speaking Series We’ve all done it; whether it’s a New Year’s Resolution, or disliking the way you look in pictures, or even wanting to fit into a cute pair of pants again that have gotten a little too snug. We start off with a vengeance; vowing to change our life this time for good. Then, about 6 weeks later (maybe sooner, maybe later) our stick-to-it-iveness begins to wane. What strategies can you use so that you maintain your motivation & make those behavior changes that you desire? 1) Set Goals Goals are SO important in life in general. Goals allow you to be proactive in your life instead of re-active. When I think about life without goals, I think about the song Once In a Lifetime by the Talking Heads. The tips I’m outlining here can be applied to health, personal, Read More . . .

The Little Thing in Your Head That’s Keeping You Fat

Guest Blog By Tom Venuto www.BurnTheFat.com I have no doubt that a scientist somewhere just read the title of this article and said out loud, “YES! Venuto is right! That little thing in your head – the hypothalamus – it IS the thing that is keeping you fat! By George, that Venuto guy isn’t a dumb bodybuilder after all – he’s been doing his research!” At which moment, I will be shaking my head and thinking, “you need to get out of the laboratory and into the real world, with real people, buddy.” Okay, okay, to be fair, Neuro-endocrine control of appetite and body fat really is quite fascinating. But today, I’m talking about PSYCH-ology, not PHYSI-ology. The little thing in your head that’s keeping you fat is actually just a…. Limiting belief! Self-limiting beliefs are among the biggest problems that people deal with in their struggles to achieve a Read More . . .

The Gift of Elizabeth

NOTE: pronouns (he/she) were intentionally interchanged in this post A few years ago I had a client approach me for a Valentine’s Day gift-certificate of Nutritional Counseling for her husband. "He really needs to start working out and eating better. He’s getting fat & I think he could really use your help." He never called me to schedule his appointments. I knew that he wouldn’t. One would probably think that I would be a huge advocate of giving the gift of Elizabeth; after all, it’s a win for everyone. Right? Well, not necessarily. Purchasing health related gifts for your loved ones is a delicate gift to give. This applies to purchasing personal training, nutritional counseling, gym memberships or even workout equipment and fitness gadgets like the bodybugg. If you’re reading this blog, you are probably somewhat interested in your health. You know how good you feel by eating foods that Read More . . .

8 Reasons Why You Keep Falling Off The Diet Wagon

Guest Blog Post By Tom Venuto www.BurnTheFat.com Clearly, we have an obesity problem in America and many other countries across our planet. Yet, I propose that we do not have a weight loss problem today. In case you’re confused at this apparent contradiction, consider these statistics: According to a study from Oxford University published in the International Journal of Obesity, within 3 to 5 years, about 80 percent of all ‘weight losers’ have regained the lost weight, and often gained back a little extra. According to research by the National Weight Control Registry, that relapse rate may be as high as 95 percent. For comparison, relapse rates for drug, alcohol and tobacco dependency have been reported in the range of 50-90%. This means that lots and lots of people have “successfully” lost weight. But not many have kept it off. Therefore, we don’t have a weight loss problem, we have Read More . . .

What are your expectations for yourself?

Yesterday I was reading this blog about photo retouching. It started me thinking about how much magazines and how they influence our expectations of our own bodies. I am a magazine junkie. I love reading short articles about whatever. When I travel, People Magazine is my guilty pleasure of choice. I wonder though, how the images that I see in the magazine influence the way that I see my own body, and how I feel about it. Are the expectations that I have about the way my body looks realistic? It’s easy to see how one could get caught up in "perfection". Take a look at some examples of photo retouching to see the areas that are modified. Dove Commercial Magazine Cover Retouch Another Example What do you think when you look at those pictures? Do you think, "she is so gorgeous, I’ll never be successful because I don’t look Read More . . .

You Can’t Fool Mother Nature

Last night I saw this commercial for the Jenny Craig weight loss system. It's Valerie Bertinelli stating that for the first year in 20 years that she will not be making a new year's resolution for weight loss, because she has hit her goal & maintained it. The commercial kind of hit a chord with me because I feel very similarly. For the first time since I've been on my nutrition journey, I feel like I'm not 'white knuckling' it. People who know me probably want to smack me right now. They'd probably say, "What the h*ll are you talking about? You're not fat." I was over-fat 10 years ago & came to my smaller resting size about 6-7 years ago. To the unobserving eye, although my weight has shifted in small increments (maybe not even enough to notice), I haven't had huge fluctuations; I am at a good size Read More . . .

In the interest of Self-Disclosure

To so many folks battling with their weight, next month’s O Magazine cover shows an unre-touched Oprah at her current weight, next to a photo taken 4 years ago, is like reading a page from their own diary. It’s an all too familiar story of weight lost, feeling confidence & power over food, and then regaining the weight. Oprah: "I’m mad at myself. I’m embarrassed. I can’t believe that after all these years, all the things I know how to do, I’m still talking about my weight. I look at my thinner self and think, ‘How did I let this happen again?’" I empathize with Oprah’s struggle, and anyone else who has struggled with their eating and health habits. And HABIT is the key word there. We are the size and shape we are because of our habits. As a Wellness Coach I help people change their behaviors, or rather, Read More . . .

Why Vicky won’t sustain her weight loss

In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I’m a HUGE fan of NBC’s reality weight loss show, The Biggest Loser. I think Jillian totally Rocks! Last night was the last pre-taped show before the season finale being held live next week. Although I am fascinated by the dramatic weight loss & transformations that the contestants go through, we assume that once the cameras & lights go off, that the contestants live happily ever after, maintaining their weight loss. The truth is that although some have maintained their weight loss, many have regained some of the weight, and some have regained most of their weight. Why? Well, I suppose that there are a few contributing factors, and therefore ways to learn from their mistakes if weight loss is on your list of to do’s in 2009. Neither Vicky nor her husband Brady like vegetables. Last night she said that her kids Read More . . .

Eat your Veggies!

I overheard a quote in my circuit class the other day: "You build a strong body in the gym; you build a lean body in the kitchen." And it’s absolutely true. It’s much easier to stop yourself from eating 2 oz of tortilla chips than it is to run for 30 minutes (300 calories in both instances). Whenever I find that my waistband is getting a little more snug than I’d like, I turn my attention to my diet. I often realize that in addition to not paying as close attention to my portion sizes, one of the mistakes that I’ve been making is not eating enough non-starchy vegetables. A loose definition of Non-Starchy Vegetables are those veggies that grow above the ground. Examples are tomatoes, lettuce, cucumber, broccoli, green beans, summer squash, and peppers. In addition to vegetables having lots of essential vitamins & minerals, they also have a Read More . . .

What do you say to yourself?

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my bodybugg? I also have the display device which, when I originally got it, didn't think it was that useful. After all, I uploaded my information on a pretty consistent basis – twice or three times a day. Since it doesn't take that long to upload the data from the armband, it was really easy for me to keep track of the number of calories I was burning. Well, once I got the digital display, I realized that I didn't need to update as often as I had been doing, because the digital display allows me to see almost real time how many calories I'm burning. Yes, Exactly! It allows me to be even more anal retentive than I had been before! So anyway, I recently set a goal to burn 100 calories per hour, or 2400 calories per day. I burn Read More . . .

3 pounds

One of my guilty pleasures is that I watch Oprah. No, I'm usually not home at that time of the day, but thank goodness for DVRs so that I can record it; saves a lot of time skipping over commercials, but also, if I'm not interested in the topic being aired that day, I'll just delete it. Yesterday she had Gwyneth Paltrow & Mario Batali on her show to promote a new series that is coming out where Gwyneth & Mario travel around Spain eating their hearts out. The first segment of the show was an interview with Gwyneth about her workout routine (see the video). I can only imagine that they did that so that America wouldn't curse Gwyneth after seeing her eating her way through Spain; giving rise to the fact that no one gets a free ride as far as the calorie formula goes – Calories In Read More . . .

Wii Fit

The Wii Fit (different from WWEE or Absolutely Fit) is a new video game launched from Nintendo to get people to move more. For years now there have been reports of folks who have dropped dramatic weight by using video games such as Dance Dance Revolution or some of the other Wii games. As a wellness professional, my first thought is, "That's great! It's getting people up & moving around — off the couch & that's just fantastic!" But then thinking about it for a bit, I start to get sad because it's a video game. I laugh when I think about my massage therapist, Annie. One of the newest hit video games is Guitar Hero. She says that "By the time one gets good at Guitar Hero, they could actually have learned the guitar!" Which is true. But I think that the Wii Fit is a little different. People Read More . . .

The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.

It’s not that people lie on purpose; when it comes to weight loss, the most recent statistics show overweight people underreporting daily food intake by 30-40% while normal weight individuals underreport by 16%. Virtually no one over-reports their food intake. Additionally, they’ll overestimate how much they move. The combination of those two little white lies that folks tell themselves is partially to blame the expanding waistline of the American public. I’m not immune to these lies. I feel like I’ve struggled with my weight for years. Well, wait… let me back up there. For most of my life I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. It wasn’t until I was in my first marriage that I used food to emotionally cope with my problems. Although I wasn’t fit when I got married, I was thin, and when I got divorced,I was definitely fat. Here’s my transformation in case you’ve Read More . . .

It’s always something

A few weeks back, my husband, Gary & I were walking into Sports Authority when we saw the dreaded folding table set up in front of the entrance surrounded by little girls holding boxes of cookies! Girlscout cookie season has started. What really struck me about it was that this occurred just 3 weeks after the New Year. I thought about all of those people who had made resolutions to "eat healthy" this year, or "give up junk food". I thought about them because after three weeks of eating differently; depriving yourself of everything that you think is good (because that's what healthy eating is. Isn't it?), all that is needed is one innocent little girl selling something that only comes around once a year to derail you from your commitment to your health. Two weeks later was the SuperBowl. It is now said that the SuperBowl is the 2nd Read More . . .

Certifiably Certified

Because the summer is a slower period for folks in my business (people taking vacations and although new clients want to look good in a bathing suit, they really don't want to spend any time in the gym), I decided that this would be a good time to complete a few certifications that I have been wanting to do: ACE Lifestyle & Weight Management Consultant, and wellcoach Wellness Coach. I'm really excited about the Wellness Coach certification. I think it's what a lot of people are looking for when they are looking for a personal trainer. Granted, some people are looking for someone to help them through their workouts, but for the folks out there who know what they're doing in the gym (for the most part) and know the basics of good nutrition (but just aren't doing it), this is the person they are looking for.  Excerpt from the Read More . . .

A Better Life

I’m always striving to be better. Sometimes I meet the mark, sometimes I fall short. I guess that’s what’s called being human. Why do I bring this up? well, to reiterate my 2007 New Year’s goals; I wanted to: 1) Run a Half-Marathon 2) Take better care of my nails 3) Walk Lucy most days of the week 4) Blog once a week Okay – So where do I stand on these Resolutions? 50% isn’t so bad – is it? BUt the year isn’t over yet. I can still redeem myself. Right? I ran the 3M Half Marathon in January. My Goals for the Half were 1) to run continuously (i.e.: not walk) 2) finish in 2 hours. My time was 2:02. WooHoo! I met both of my goals. I’m happy about that. Since then, my running has really taken a front seat to the rest of my fitness goals. Read More . . .