“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 . . .
Giant Ladders
When you do your strength training, do you find yourself going to the gym, or AT the gym, wandering aimlessly? You bounce around between exercises based on what equipment is currently being used? Do you look at what other folks are doing & decide to copy them based on their ideas? There are lots of ways to do strength training. Some folks split their body parts into groups & train one body part per day, working that body part no more than one time per week. Others will combine body parts into muscles that push and muscles that pull, and may hit a muscle group more than once per week. Still others will perform total body training, working all muscle groups within the same workout. There are advantages and disadvantages to each method, with the one true statement being that if you do the same type of workout every single Read More . . .
Tips for not breaking your diet on Halloween Candy
Halloween is over a month away & if you’ve stepped foot in your local grocery store, you’ve already seen the aisles filled with brightly colored Halloween candy. It seems hard to resist. I’ve written before about non-candy treats that you can give out for Halloween, but what if you still want to give candy? What are some techniques that you can use so that you don’t eat it all before your trick-or-treaters arrive? Buy your candy as close to Halloween as possible – Don’t buy candy now thinking that it will stay until Halloween untouched. It won’t. If it’s not in the house, you won’t be tempted to eat it. So don’t buy it, and don’t tempt yourself. Buy candy that you don’t like – I know! Is that even possible? probably. If you love chocolate, buy treats that are not chocolate based (candy corn, gum, jelly beans, Nerds, Sweet tarts, etc.). 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 . . .
General Training Guidelines For Beginners
Always start with big the muscle groups first. For example, always do chest before triceps and shoulders, always do back before biceps. Work each body part once per week with the exception of abs and calves, you can work them 2- 3 times per week if you’d like. Allow at least 48 hours before you work the same muscle group again. Never train a sore muscle. For big muscle groups (like chest, back, legs), I recommend 3-4 exercises per muscle group and 3-4 sets per exercise. But use your best judgement, if it’s too much then cut back until your training level increases. For smaller muscle groups, I recommend 2-3 exercises per part, 2-3 sets per exercise as these groups are also worked when you exercise the big muscle groups. Just remember, more is not always better. Pick a weight in which the last rep or two are very hard, on Read More . . .
Nutrition Tips for Reducing Bodyfat
Eat every 2-3 hours, balanced meals of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. Exception: you don’t necessarily have to eat carbohydrates with your last meal or two of the day, you CAN just eat protein and fat. Unless it’s post workout (post strength training), then you NEED to eat some carbs. Try to keep the protein intake in each of your meals consistent. If you are resistance/strength training, eat a minimum of your bodyweight in grams of protein, divided up equally into each of your meals. Don’t be afraid of fat, you NEED fat in order to BURN fat. You need to turn your body into a fat burning machine. In order to do this, you keep your carbs fairly low (30-40 grams per meal is a good rule of thumb, but it does depend on your activity level) and your fat intake moderate. As in, the lower your carbs, the more Read More . . .
Foods & Their Macronutrient Categories
Wow! That is such a fantastic title for this article. I’m glad you’re still with me… I often have clients ask questions about “what is a protein?” or hearing that carbs are bad, not realizing the vast difference between the carbohydrates found in cookies versus the carbohydrates found in a tomato. This is a list of different types of foods, broken down into their MAIN category. I say “main” category because inevitably I’ll get the question about beans and or cheese: “But Elizabeth, beans & cheese have protein in them, don’t they?” Yes, they do. Beans have protein in them, but they are an incomplete protein [more on that in another blog post]. And although cheese has protein in it, it really has more fat than protien, so I put cheese and nuts in the fats category. And no. By all means, this is not a complete list. but it Read More . . .
Feel Better About Yourself: Stop Reading Magazines
Last month, Gary & I went on a short road-trip vacation. Because there wasn’t a lot to do in the town (and I wasn’t currently reading a book), I decided to buy a magazine – I think it was Redbook. It was a guilty pleasure because I used to read a LOT of magazines, but over the years have slowly weaned myself off of them. Yes, I used to read a lot of magazines! It all started with Seventeen, and then I moved on to Glamour & Cosmopolitan. Then, when I started taking better care of myself, losing weight, and started bodybuilding, I couldn’t get enough: Fitness, Health, Self, Oxygen, Women’s Health, Fitness Rx. OMG! I think the list goes on & on. I was always looking for that little nugget of information that was going to flip the switch; make my life different, make me lose the weight I Read More . . .
How to Rock a Strapless Dress
Hey there, I just had a few questions that aren’t derby related. I am getting married in April and have been working out 4-5 times a week on top of derby now. I am concerned about toning my arms (among other things) because my dress is strapless. I have some okay biceps going due to my job but my triceps are pretty squishy. Do you have any tips on focusing on lengthening and toning arm muscles? I have a few small weights and treadmill, as well as doing push ups and working with a resistance band. Any advice to add to my routine would be much appreciated. Thanks! Chelsea Handle Her This is such a great question that I decided to answer it in a blog post because I think it’s a topic that many folks want the answer to: whether getting married, or preparing for a school reunion, getting 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 . . .