the amazing adventures of fitness friday girl

Fitness Friday Girl is Moving Back to God Speaks Today

2011-08-11T06:00:00.003-04:00

This blog is on hiatus.
If you care to know why, scroll down and read this post.
Even though I am not writing here, I (Fitness Friday Girl) am still alive and well, doing my weekly fitness thing on Fitness Friday. If you'd like to see what else I write, check out my other blog.

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After a year of writing on two blogs, I’ve resolved that perhaps I’ve bitten off more than I can chew. Actually, I CAN chew it all…but I feel like I have to prepare it haphazardly and chew it up quickly. Or like I’m shoving something in my mouth because I know I need to eat, but not considering the nutritional value of the food. It’s going down in lumps and giving me a stomach ache.

Is this still an analogy about over-commitment or have I segued into a nutritional post about mindless snacking?

I wanted it to work. I really did. Moving Fitness Friday Girl to her very own blog made perfect sense last year. Her Fitness Friday gig on God Speaks Today was all the rage. Why not let her have her own space? I mean, who wants to read about sugar substitutes or the benefits of weight training on a blog about hearing God’s voice?

A great idea in theory. Not so much in reality.

The reality, pretty much, is me writing mediocre posts on two blogs. That is a terrible idea. So is me neglecting to respond to your thoughtful comments. And me trying to keep this blog up and running, simply because I don’t want to admit that I cannot do it all. Oh, how I hate admitting I cannot do it all.

If you are going to take your precious time to read my blogs, you all deserve better than this. Really, you do.

So, Fitness Friday Girl is moving back to God Speaks Today as a weekly feature. On Fridays, of course.

I am leaving this blog up, though. If you care to browse, I’ve posted nearly 150 articles on a variety of topics concerning fitness and nutrition. Feel free to look around and leave a comment whenever you wish. I promise to read each and every one. Probably even respond, what with all my extra time, and all.

Next year, when all my kids are in school and I have hours of uninterrupted writing time, I will take a look at reviving this blog.

In the interim, you can see what I’m writing currently at God Speaks Today. If you only care to read the fitness stuff, you can go directly to Fitness Friday.

Thank you, to each and every one of you who took the time to read, comment and support Fitness Friday Girl on her Amazing Adventures.

You, my friend, are amazing.

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 31!!!!!

2011-05-31T10:00:00.014-04:00

Parting Thoughts

On the one hand, May seemed to last about 120 days. I recently realized that May feels a lot like December, to me—I am supposed to be enjoying it, but it’s packed with enough stuff to make my head spin off my neck.

On the other hand, I’m sitting here typing my last post of my 31 Day-series and I can hardly believe it’s over. I have about 10 more days worth of tips for you! Which I’m sure has everything to do with the fact that I skipped a few days. Oh well.

Don’t worry, I won’t mention all of them here…But I do want to leave you with two parting suggestions:

1.Gather a Team of Cheerleaders.

We all have those friends who think it’s perfectly fine to be plump. They are the ones who equate “really living” with “eating crap.” They are the ones who will tease you for ordering the salad and broiled fish, or for bringing the fruit salad to the picnic, or for refusing the seven-layer-chocolate cake.

They are also the ones who have digestive problems, insomnia, chronic fatigue and high cholesterol, by the way. Don’t listen to them.

Instead, gather around you a support team of like-minded individuals. The ones who get what you are trying to accomplish and support you through the rough days. Even if it’s just one person—cheerleaders will make your journey to health all the more sweeter.

A few years ago, a group of my friends decided to be that for one another. Every day for a few months, we e-mailed our food log to each other. Every day we included at the end of our logs a section called, “What I DIDN’T eat.” It helped us tremendously, to be able to say, “I turned down the muffin and had an apple instead. I made chocolate chip cookies for the bake sale, but didn’t eat any of the dough.” And it was so refreshing to get six e-mails back that said, “Wow! Way to go! You rock!”

Who can you ask to support you? Call her today. Tell her what you are doing. Ask her to cheer you on.

2.Don’t Chase Perfect.

I found an old picture of myself the other day. In it, I was 20 years old and wearing a bathing suit. Amazing (and deflating) to me, that as hard as I work out and as well as I eat, I do NOT look like that any longer. I considered taping the picture to my mirror as a motivator to keep pressing toward my goal to lose the weight I gained on Lexapro.

But then I looked at it again, long and hard. Sure, I had like 2% body fat, chiseled abs and crazy muscle tone in my thighs and arms. But that was 22 years ago. I’ve lived like a thousand lifetimes since then. Is it even realistic to chase after a pre-baby, 20-year-old college body? Or Jennifer Aniston’s body? Or Glamour Magazine’s computer-generated version of the Perfect Body?

I decided, NO…it is NOT.

Rather than chasing what I would perceive as a “perfect” version of my body, I am chasing health. I want to be healthy, fit and energetic. That’s all I’m chasingm nothing more. And I would challenge you to do the same. Put away the proverbial 20-year-old skinny pictures, the magazine covers or whatever the mental image of perfection is to YOU.

Instead...

Eat whole foods.

Drink lots of water.

Move often.

Sleep at night.

And live a life of thankfulness to the God who is allowing you to breathe.

That is the real recipe for health and wellness.

By doing this, your body will be exactly what it’s supposed to be.

Nothing less.

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Thank you so much for joining me this month, and thank you to all of my blog friends who participated in the series. Wasn’t this fun?

If you missed any part of it, here are the links. I will also have them posted behind the button at the top of the blog (if you receive this by e-mail, you will need to click on the title of this post to go to the blog.)

When you are finished here, go to my friend Lisa Smith. She is giving away a $25 gift certificate for total cuteness to celebrate the final day of her 31 Day series!

Happy Summer!

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31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season

Day 1, Intro to series

Day 2, Decide

Day 3, Ditch All-or-Nothing Mentality

Day 10, Write it Down

Day 11, Eat Whole Foods

Day 12, Pray

Day 13 and 14, Educate Yourself

Day 15, Honor the Sabbath

Day 16, Find an Exercise You Enjoy

Day 17, Pick a Cardio Exercise and Do It

Day 18, Add Some Resistance Training

Day 19, Know the Signs of a "Good Workout"

Day 20, Make Your Hard Hard and Your Easy Easy

Day 21, Create a Simple Workout Schedule

Day 22, Walk

Day 23 and 24, Show Up

Day 25, Stick With It

Day 26 and 27, Cut it Out

Day 28, Know Your Nutrional Type

Day 29 and 30, Eliminate or Greatly Reduce

Day 31!!!! Parting Thoughts

And here are the other ladies who participated in the 31 Days Closer to Serieseseseseses....

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 29 and 30

2011-05-30T13:00:00.001-04:00

Eliminate or Greatly Reduce

I just realized I promised to give you a list of foods you should greatly reduce or eliminate from your diet. And instead, I sent you over to take a Nutritional Typing Test.

And then I didn’t post at all yesterday (again). So sorry.

But I have much to say about this, so I'm lumping 2 days together again. Which totally reflects real life for me.

Days just running into each other.

To review, if you want to always want to be sure that you are eating the best foods for your body, stick to whole foods, preferably organic, and drink clean, pure water.

Beyond that, it gets very cloudy as to what is good and what is bad. I gave you a list of foods you should absolutely eliminate on Day 26/27. There is no controversy surrounding those foods. Unless, of course, you are the people who actually make those foods. Or you are personally addicted to those foods.

The following list is a little more iffy. Depending on which nutrition expert you are currently reading, some will tell you to eliminate these from your diet, some will tell you they are fine in moderation. Some will tell you they are healthy. I will offer my quick little opinion after each one. Do with it what you will.

Dairy: Most natural health advocates agree: Conventional dairy products are of little value to our bodies. The pasteurizing process heats the milk up to high enough temperatures to destroy not only all the harmful bacteria, but also all the beneficial organisms and enzymes in milk. It alters vital amino acids, reducing our bodies’ ability to access the protein, fats, vitamins and minerals. Then, milk producers add powdered milk and synthetic vitamin D to “low fat” milk to make it thicker. Finally, they “homogenize” the mixture so fat particles remain in suspension—making them indigestible in the intestine. In case you wondered, conventional milk is very highly processed.

Many natural health advocates (except for vegans) will recommend raw or fermented dairy products (like kefir and whole-milk yogurt), preferably from local farms, where the cows are grass-fed and not injected with hormones and antibiotics. Goats’ milk is also considered to be very healthy. (See The Maker’s Diet for more info)

What I do: I’m personally torn on dairy. I mostly purchase and consume organic dairy, including cheese, Greek yogurt and half and half. The more I read, the more I eliminate. I think raw dairy is a great option, but I have a mental issue with the whole “raw” thing. And goats’ milk? Same thing. Can’t quite get myself to try it. Is that just me?

Soy: I did a big ‘ole post on soy here . I won’t rehash, but I will say, I avoid soy as much as possible.

Sugar: 200 years ago, the average American consumed about 10 pounds of sugar per year. Today, the average American consumes about 170 pounds of sugar per year! That’s the equivalent of ¼ of our total calorie intake or one full bowl of sugar, every fourth meal. There is so much to say about sugar overload and how it’s hidden in everything…it really deserves its very own post. Suffice it to say, it’s a zero-nutrient food and we eat way too much of it.

What I do: I have drastically reduced the amount of sugar in my diet, but I have not completely eliminated it. I do enjoy having a dessert now and again (maybe once a week). I also use raw honey and pure maple syrup—both natural sugars. I eat fresh fruit every day, without regard to sugar grams. I feel much better physically when I do not eat refined, white sugar.

Wheat: The gluten-free diets are very popular right now. Some people have a genuine adverse reaction to wheat gluten and should eliminate it, but other people just think wheat is bad for you and choose to avoid it.

What I do: Like sugar, Americans eat way too much wheat, usually in the form of refined, enriched wheat flour (see below). However, when in doubt, I do tend to go back to what God told people to eat in the Bible. I really do. And people ate wheat in the Bible. It was usually in the form of sprouted grains, which I talked about here. So, mostly, if I do eat wheat bread, it’s sprouted grain bread. I use mostly whole wheat pasta and whole wheat flour for cooking. My kids’ diets are about 80% pasta/wheat based—which is terrible, I know. I’m working to change that.

Enriched flour: You know all of this already, but enriched flour is highly processed, stripped of all its nutrients and fiber, and then “enriched” with synthetic vitamins. It’s pretty much a zero-nutrient food.

What I do: Sometimes in a restaurant (like Subway), I will order a sandwich made with enriched flour. I may use it for baking, if whole grain flour ruins the texture (like a birthday cake). Otherwise, I don’t eat this.

White rice and white pasta: Like enriched flour, white rice and white pasta is stripped of all nutrients and fiber. You already know all of this, too.

What I do: My kids still love these foods, so I usually mix half-white/ half- brown rice for dinner. I will do the same with pasta. I only eat brown rice at home, unless I order sushi…sticky rice on veggies sushi is da bomb.

White potatoes: Many people lump white potatoes (pun intended) in with other “white” foods, like breads, rice and pastas. This started mainly with the “low carb” diets, because of their high carbohydrate/low protein content. However, potatoes are not bad for you. A large potato with skin has about 278 calories, 7 grams of fiber and 7 grams of protein. It’s low in cholesterol and sodium and is also a good source of vitamin C, vitamin B6, potassium and manganese. Plus, God made it…it’s a whole food.

What I do: I’m a fan of the potato, baked, mashed, boiled and roasted. I do not eat French fries. I usually do not eat chips.

Pork: Low Carb/high protein people will tell you to eat pork like you would chicken or beef—it’s “the other white meat.” On the opposite end of the spectrum, you will hear that pork is “unclean.” Pigs tend to eat anything, including their own young. They also have a limited excretory system, which means they retain a lot of toxins in their fat and meat.

What I do: Maybe 4 times a year, I will eat bacon. Other than that, I avoid pork.

Shellfish: Scientists gauge the contaminant levels of our oceans, bays, rivers and lakes by measuring the mercury and biological toxin levels in the flesh of crabs, clams, oysters and lobsters. Why? Because shellfish are the scavengers of the sea. They eat the excrement and waste of all other living creatures.

What I do: I do not eat shellfish.

Canola Oil, Soybean Oil, Corn Oil and Vegetable Oils: one of the biggest problems with highly processed and refined vegetable oils is that the polyunsaturated component of the oil is highly unstable under heat, light, and pressure, and this heavily oxidizes the polyunsaturates which increases free radicals in your body.

The end result of all of this refining and processing are oils that are highly inflammatory in your body when you ingest them, potentially contributing to heart disease, weight gain, and other degenerative diseases.(see this article for more info)

What I do: For cooking I use only olive oil, organic butter or coconut oil.

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Tell me what you think of this list? What foods do you avoid? Were you surprised to see anything listed here?

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We're down to the final two days of this series!

Time flies when you're blogging daily, that's for sure.

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 28

2011-05-28T12:00:00.002-04:00

Know Your Nutritional Type

Last summer, in an attempt to lose some (any!) of the 18 pounds I gained on Lexapro, I went on a completely plant-based diet (vegan) for a month. I completely cut out all animal products, which included eggs, dairy and meat. I had read numerous success stories about veganism (increased health, energy and decreased body fat). My brother and his wife were trying raw-veganism and the weight was falling off their bodies. There is a lot of science behind the success stories, so I gave it a try.

The result was that I lost maybe one (1!) pound. I felt strong, but not any better than I did before veganism. In fact, I truly missed eating some animal-based foods like eggs, dairy and chicken. I was anxious to work those foods back into my diet—who knew I’d be excited about chicken?

Veganism: Fail

About 2 months ago in an attempt to lose that same 18 pounds (stubborn, those pounds), I went on more of a Paleo-diet. I had read numerous success stories of people losing 10 pounds in a month on this diet. I have a good friend who went Paleo years ago, and she not only experienced fat loss, but also marked improvement in her overall health. I completely cut out sugar, dairy and grains, but increased organic meat and eggs. I ate more meat than I had ever eaten in my life (at least 2 servings a day, sometimes more), along with nuts, fruits and vegetables. After a few days, I noticed I was significantly weaker. Even though I had recently completed P90X, I could barely lift the weights I was lifting before I started the Paleo diet. I decided to add a serving of plain oatmeal immediately after my workouts, and felt much better. But by the end of my month-long Paleo trial, I was ready to decrease my meat significantly.

I.just.could’t.deal.with.all.the.meat.

I was gagging at the thought of meat.

Though, I did lose three more pounds!

Paleo-ism: Fail, sort of

I’ve never been more convinced than I am today that no diet is a one-size-fits-all. And, why should it be? God created our bodies so differently—both genetically and environmentally—how can we all eat the exact same things for maximum health? I truly believe that some people will thrive on veganism—there are elite athletes, breaking world records who are vegans. And for every vegan-athlete, there is also a Paleo-athlete. I have no doubt about that.

That is the whole idea behind Nutritional Typing—designing a diet based solely on how YOUR body reacts to it. I took this test over a year ago and I found it to be very helpful in determining what is best for my body (newsflash: it’s neither veganism nor Paleo-ism, but a combo of the two.) I could have just saved myself two months of diet torture had I just adapted my diet to the results of my Nutritional Typing test. Live and learn, Fitness Friday Girl. Live and learn.

If you really want to know what is best for your body, take this test. Then come back and tell me what you learned. It is free, but it requires you to register. It will take you about 15 minutes to register and answer all the questions. Have fun!!!

Nutrional Typing Test, click here

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For more 31-Day reading pleasure, read these ladies....

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 26 and Day 27

2011-05-27T10:00:00.001-04:00

Cut it Out

For most of my life, I had been under the impression that I could pretty much eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted and still be fit and healthy. I was all, “I can eat four pieces of deep-dish pizza and breadsticks with a pint of ice cream for dessert and wash it all down with a giant Gatorade. I’ll just do an extra 30 minutes on the elliptical tomorrow.” You know, calories in/calories out.

Because I’ve always enjoyed working out, I reasoned I would simply exercise extra super-duper hard the next day. And I did.

And for a while, that worked for me. Right up until the day it stopped working.

There is a magical little metabolism switch—probably nestled behind the uterus somewhere—that flips automatically when a woman blows out the candles on her Crisco-frosted 40th birthday cake. There isn’t anything she can do to stop it, except have wonderful skinny genes

(not to be confused with skinny jeans, but they are closely related).

If you are a skinny-gene/jean girl, you are dismissed from reading the rest of this post. At the age of 65, you, my genetically-thin friend, will still cluelessly, yet blissfully be polishing off all the edges from the brownie pan; all the while, successfully rocking your mini-skirt and your 2-piece bathing suit. Enjoy those brownies, Girlfriend, because you will have no friends—we will all hate you, mark my words.

I am not bitter.

Though I jest about the weight thing, please don’t misunderstand me: It’s not just about being thin! It is also about having a strong heart, strong muscles and strong bones. It’s about having energy and stamina to work hard and carry out your God-given calling. It’s about glowing skin, shiny hair and bright eyes. It’s about reducing your risk of developing just about every disease known to man.

Therefore, for the remainder of this 31-Day series, we’re going to be talking all about food--what to cut out of and what to add into your diet for maximum health.

Paying close attention to what we put in our mouths is probably the single-most important aspect of staying healthy. If we want to remain fit and healthy into mid-life and beyond, we have to cut some things out of our diets. Probably for-like-EVER. But you can do a little at a time. It's a process. Just keep moving forward, that's the important thing.

I feel like a broken record with this next list, but just in case any of you haven't heard, here is a list of things you should eliminate from your diet, completely:

Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils --Mostly in processed baked-goods and fried foods, but also hidden in many other processed foods. Also in Crisco-frosting, by the way. Read your labels, people. I just saw it on the package of barbeque- flavored sunflower seeds my daughter was eating! It’s poison. Don’t eat it.

Artificial sweeteners—Aspartame (Equal), Sucralose (Splenda), Saccharine (Sweet n Low). If a “sweet” product says “sugar-free” on the package, it has one of these. This is especially present in “diet foods.” Just saw it last night in a jar of protein powder from the “organic” section of our supermarket. It’s in sugar-free gum. It’s in Crystal-Light. It’s in diet soda. It’s poison. Don’t eat it.

High-Fructose Corn Syrup—A man-made sweetener with zero nutritional value. It is in most processed foods, even ones that are only mildly sweet or not sweet at all. Weird. You know the drill. It’s poison. Don’t eat it.

All sodas, diet or otherwise—Speaking of zero-nutritional value… there is nothing redeemable in soda. Absolutely nuthin. It doesn’t even effectively hydrate you. I know a whole lotta you drink soda (I’m looking at my husband right now), and I know it’s addictive. But for the love of humanity, please stop. It’s yuk. “Yuk” is scientific for “gross.”

Notice, if you eat a diet of whole foods, none of the preceding foods are an issue. Not-a-one.

Tomorrow, I’ll give you a list of foods you should greatly reduce and eventually eliminate all-together. There’s lots of differing opinions about the next list. I will give you mine. Because it’s my blog, that’s why.

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We're in the last few days of our 31-Day Fantastical Amazement.

Have you been over to visit these ladies yet?

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 25

2011-05-25T09:27:00.000-04:00

Stick With It

I’m a sucker for a good fitness success story. And that’s one of the reasons I love the P90X infomercial. Are you so sick of me talking about P90X? I know I am. Truly, I must get out more. Broaden my horizons a bit.

Anyway.

On the rare day that I’m flipping through the channels, I will sometimes stop when I see “Get Ripped in 90 Days.” Those “before” and “after” photos get me every time! It’s just one success story after another. And it inspires me.

Recently, while watching the infomercial, I was drawn to one man’s “before” pic. I don’t remember his weight, but he was very overweight. His “after” pic, though, was totally buff. Like, WOW-buff!

Now, I know P90X is an excellent program, but I found it unrealistic that he’d change his body that drastically in only 12 weeks.

And I was right.

After listening to his entire story, I learned he actually went through the complete program, including the diet, 5 times. That’s 15 months. One year and 3 month’s worth of muscle confusion and clean eating. Amazing and impressive, all rolled into one. No wonder his body changed so much.

What if he would have stopped after the initial 12 weeks and thought, “I didn’t reach my goals. I quit.”??

Recently, I saw a similarly drastic “before” and “after” pic in Health magazine, only this time it was a woman. She lost a ton of weight (not literally a ton, but you know), and it didn’t happen overnight. Her transformation took over 4 YEARS. Not months…YEARS!

What if she would have stopped after the first month and said, “I only lost 4 pounds. This isn’t happening fast enough for me. I’m done.”??

We’ve all been enticed-- and ultimately disappointed --by programs that promise rapid results. I just received one via e-mail yesterday. “Lose 25 pounds of fat in 25 days!” I seriously almost bought it. I thought, “Maybe there’s something in here I don’t know yet. Maybe there’s some new science only this author knows about. Something that will finally help me shed my excess thigh-matter.”

Thigh-matter. I just made that up.

We’re all hoping that something out there will help us reach our fitness goals in a month or less. No matter how many times we read the fine print “Results not typical,” we secretly hope that they will be “typical” for us.

This is where I tell you what you probably don’t want to hear. This is where I say, that long after our 31-day series is over, if you really want to reach your goals, you will need to keep eating whole foods and showing up.

This is where I remind you that 31 days is a great start, but it’s just that…a start.

This is where I tell you that real transformation happens over the long-term.

This is where I tell you, you can totally get ripped, but for most of you, it won’t be in 90 days.

So, if you woke up this morning thinking, “This isn’t happening fast enough for me,” please take a deep breath, and commit to being healthy for the long term.

Don’t give up.

Whatever you do, just stick with it.

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My Friends...go visit them, please.

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 23 and 24

2011-05-24T10:00:00.005-04:00

Show Up

An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force.

~Newton’s First Law~

One of the biggest challenges of any workout is getting started. And I don’t mean starting a workout program after a prolonged period of no exercise. I mean getting started every day, for every workout.

When my kids were babies, I got up at 5 am so I could drive to the gym and back before my husband had to leave for work at 7:30. I would drive there in the dark. have the entire gym to myself, and drive home while the sun was rising. It was nutty, but it worked well for me at the time. I remember a good friend asking me, “Is it ever hard for you to get out of bed and drive to the gym in the dark?” I think she was expecting to hear that it was easy for me most days and only hard some days. But this is what I responded.

“It’s ALWAYS hard. Every single day, it’s hard. When the alarm goes off, I ALWAYS want to choose sleep over getting up. But I force myself to just get out of bed and into my workout clothes (which I laid out the night before). Then I force myself to brush my teeth and make a pot of coffee. It isn’t until I’m in my car with coffee in hand that I’m ever okay with getting up so early, just to sweat.”

Just keep showing up.

Just keep pushing "play."

~Tony Horton, Creator of P90X~

You’d think after 25 years of regular exercise, I would have moved past that. That I’d be all “this is easy for me.” But I’ll be honest…most days I still have to force myself to start. On really hard days, I will often tell myself, “Just do 10 minutes (or 20 minutes or 30 minutes).” I know if I can just get moving, I find that my body will respond quickly to the motion and I’ll want to finish my workout.

So, my little tip for you today is to simply show up. Put on your workout clothes, grab your bottle of water and start. Every day, just make it your goal to be present and accounted for at your workout. By simply showing up, you’ve already won half the battle.

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31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 22

2011-05-22T06:00:00.002-04:00

Walk

"A good walk cures most problems. Want to lose weight and get fit? Walk. Want to enjoy life but spend less? Walk. Want to cure stress and clear your head? Walk. Want to meditate and live in the moment? Walk. Having trouble with a life or work problem? Walk, and your head gets clear."

~ Leo at Zen Habits ~

38 Life Lessons I've Learned in 38 Years

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Have you seen these ladies yet?

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 21

2011-05-21T06:00:00.001-04:00

Create a Simple Workout Schedule

Your body is amazing. I am sure of that, and I don’t even know most of you. There are a million reasons for it’s amazing-ness, not the least of which is its ability to tell you when it’s had enough stress.

Stress can come in the form of crises or life-pressures, but it can also come in the form of hard exercise. Put too much stress of any kind on your amazing body and it will begin to break down. That’s why it’s so important to strive for balance in all things, even your workouts.

Yesterday, we defined “Hard,” “Easy” and “Moderate” workouts, and established that you need to work in Easy days between your Hard and Moderate days. Today, we’re putting it all together so we can make it all balance-like.

I’m using my own idea of Hard/Moderate/Easy workouts in these samples, but you need to plug in what is Hard/Moderate/Easy for you.

Workout Week Sample One: Hard/Easy/Rest

Monday: Hard Workout (P90X Plyometrics)

Tuesday: Easy (30-45 minute brisk walk)

Wednesday: Easy (30 minute level 3 elliptical)

Thursday: Easy (30 minutes light yoga)

Friday: Hard (Level 3 of 30 Day Shred)

Saturday: Easy (30-45 minute brisk walk)

Sunday: Rest (no exercise)

Workout Week Sample Two: Moderate/Easy/Rest

Monday: Moderate (P90X Legs and Back)

Tuesday: Easy (30 walk) or rest (no exercise)

Wednesday: Easy (30 minute level 3 elliptical)

Thursday: Moderate (P90X Core Synergistics)

Friday: Easy (30-45 minute walk)

Saturday: Rest (no exercise)

Sunday: Moderate (P90X Chest, Shoulders, Triceps)

If you are just starting out, it may seem like a pain to schedule this all out and pay this much attention to your activity level. But I promise you, over time, it will become second nature. You will naturally know when it’s time to cut back and when it’s time to push harder. Your weeks will fall into a natural rhythm of hard and easy… exercise and rest. And before you know it, you will look in the mirror and think,

“Sandy was right…I AM amazing!”

And, just so you know, the amazing info from this post was mostly extracted and adapted from here.

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More amazing-ness below

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 20

2011-05-20T11:39:00.000-04:00

Make Your Hard Hard and Your Easy Easy

You do not have to work out hard every single day to be fit and healthy. In fact, working out too hard too often is a recipe for injury, fatigue, illness, burnout, global warming and world hunger. That’s the exact opposite of what you want to achieve when you are busting your butt, right?

Alternating Hard days with Easy days will help you achieve your fitness goals without overly straining your body. This is good news, people.

What’s Hard?

What’s hard for one person is not necessarily hard for the next person. Determining what is what is all about perceived exertion, or how hard it feels to you.

The key to a Hard workout is that it is impossible to talk. Or on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being sedentary and 10 being “I am being chased by a man-eating lion and literally cannot go any faster or harder than I am” a Hard workout should be about a 9-10.

This type of workout should only be done once or twice a week, with three days of easy workouts (and a day of complete rest) in between.

For me, a Hard workout is sprinting, most of Level 3 of the 30 Day Shred and the Plyometrics workout of P90X. (One day I did one hour of Plyometrics followed by 45 minutes or running with my daughter. I thought I was going to need hospitalization. It was a dumb, dumb thing, never to be repeated again.)

What’s Easy?

Again, thinking “perceived exertion,” an easy workout is one where you can comfortably carry on a conversation with someone during the entire workout. On a scale of 1 to 10, Easy is maybe 3-5.

For me, that’s brisk walking or maybe up to Level 3 on my elliptical.

You should do 3 Easy workouts between each Hard workout. Or 2 Easy workouts between each Moderate workout.

Say what?

I'll explain that tomorrow.

What’s Moderate?

A Moderate workout is one where you can speak in words, but not sentences. You can talk, but don’t want to talk. On a scale of 1-10, Moderate is 5-8.

For me, that’s most weight-training, advanced yoga and alternating jogging with walking.

You should do 2 or 3 moderate workouts a week, separated by 2 easy workouts.

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One of the biggest mistakes people make in exercise is that they make their Hard days too easy and their Easy days too hard (because they feel guilty for doing anything easy), resulting in a whole string of back-to-back Moderate workouts. This type of schedule will put too much strain on your body over the course of time, resulting in all the bad stuff we mentioned at the beginning of this post.

I personally, find this information incredibly freeing. The fact that I don’t have to kill myself every single day makes me want to do a happy dance. Which would be an Easy workout for me.

Tomorrow, I will put all of this together for you, and show you some simple ways to structure your workouts so you achieve maximum fitness with minimum bad stuff.

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31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 19

2011-05-19T09:07:00.000-04:00

Know the Signs of a "Good Workout"

Last week I read one of the best articles on exercise I think I have ever read. It addressed a critical, but often ignored, area of exercise:
Knowing how much exercise is "too much."

With all the emphasis on hard-core training, it's easy to get the impression that you have to kill yourself to be fit. I am sorry if I have ever given you that impression. I have most definitely trained too hard for long periods of time, resulting in chronic muscle soreness and fatigue.

I need a workout schedule that leaves me feeling strong and refreshed, not sore and exhausted.
I'm thinking you'd like a piece of that action, too, no?

Over the next few days, we'll talk about how often, how long and how hard you should train to gain optimal fitness. I promise, it's not as bad as you think. Well, at least it wasn't as bad as I thought.

But first, here's an excerpt from this article that I found very helpful. It is written by Dr. Jeff Spencer, Olympian, ICA "Sports Chiropractor of the Year", author and one of America's top trainers of elite athletes.

I'm thinking with those credentials, he knows his stuff. Take it away, Dr.Spencer!

Classic Signs of a Workout with Ideal Intensity and Length

At the end of the day when you're workout intensities and training loads are within ideal range you'll find that your fitness will increase and maintain itself with less time and effort.

The following are the signs that tell you your workout program has the correct balance of hard and easy workouts and your Total Training Load is within normal range.

Should have quick and full recovery after each workout - After a workout you should rebound quickly from the effort and feel almost back to normal within 30-minutes. A prolonged rebound is a sign the workout was too difficult and you need to go easy for a couple of days.

Ideal to feel better at end of workout than the beginning – Successful workouts will leave you feeling better at the end of your workout than the beginning. This is a sign of well-trained body.

Slight soreness on occasion is OK, but regular soreness isn't - Slight muscle soreness is normal after starting to exercise, when new exercises are implemented into your workouts or when an increase in exercise intensity is done. If you feel sore then put two or more easy days into your program to let your body catch up with itself.

Should be able to raise heart rate – A cardinal sign of having the right training balance of effort to recovery is when your heart rate moves up and down nicely during a workout. If your heart rate fails to elevate during a workout you're over-trained from training too hard too often, and you need time off.

Heart rate should drop immediately when workout completed – Fitness buffs having ideal intensity variety in their workouts have heart rates that drop down to slightly above normal within 5-minutes of finishing a workout then drop back to normal levels shortly thereafter.

Perspiration should stop shortly after training complete – As a rule sweating associated with workouts should stop within a few minutes after exercise is stopped when workout intensity and overall fitness is within ideal range. If sweating continues 20-30 minutes after exercise it is the sign the workout was too hard, and requires a few easy days to recover from.

It's Fitness Friday Girl again. Just curious, how do your current workouts compare with this checklist?

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31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 18

2011-05-18T06:00:00.003-04:00

Add Some Resistance Training

I think cardio is great. I’m pro-cardio. But cardio will only take you so far.

Try as you might, you cannot get fit and stay fit on cardiovascular exercises alone. You must also build your muscle. Especially if you are over 35 (because our bodies stop producing their own muscle right about this time).

I realize if you are a lady, you don’t want to look like a body builder. And neither do I. But have no fear. If you’re a chick, you have almost no chance of that happening. If it does happen, one of two things are true:

a. You are not really a chick, but a dude

b. You’ve been also taking steroids and/or training for a body building competition.

In other words, you need not fear that you will “bulk up” accidentally, because you don’t have enough testosterone in your sweet feminine body to make it happen. These things don’t just happen by chance, my dear. I promise.

I talk more about this and all the benefits of resistance training in my post “14 Reasons to Lift Weights, (aka The Myth of Bulking Up).” It’s worth the read if you’ve got about 2 more minutes. Go ahead. I’ll wait.

Once you’re convinced you need to do resistance training, it’s important to find some resistance training you enjoy. Otherwise you will be all “I hate exercise” again. And you know how crazy that makes me.

Our options for resistance training dwindle a bit, compared to cardiovascular options. But we still have some choices.

All resistance training falls into one of two categories:

Using actual weights

Free weights, at a gym
Free weights, at home (least expensive option)
Group classes, like Body Pump and Body Sculpting
Weight machines at the gym
Weight machine at home (expensive option!)

Using body weight

Push-ups, pull-ups at home (least expensive option)
Yoga or Pilates DVD at home
Yoga or Pilates class at gym
Variety of plank exercises (includes body resistance and cardio--also cheap)
Boot Camp classes (incorporate body resistance and cardio)

I have tried every one of the above resistance options, except for boot camp classes. Because most of them are held at 0-dark-thirty, the exact time I’m up trying to pray and drink coffee before my kids arise for school. Trust me, no one wants me to skip my early morning coffee and prayer.

But I hear boot camp classes are a blast.

All good exercise programs incorporate both cardio and resistance training. For the ones I personally recommend, click here.

The most important thing you must know about doing weight resistance is how to perform the exercises properly. Doing any kind of weight resistance make us very prone to injury if the exercises are performed wrong. There is so much info available on proper form, there’s really no excuse for any of us to be hurting ourselves due to improper form.

A personal trainer is an excellent option, especially if you are a beginner. But trainers can be pricey. (See my post 5 Reasons You Need a Trainer for more on this.) The good news is, any good DVD will show you proper form. You can also find a ton of websites with tutorials and pictures.

Or you can all come over to my house and I’ll help you out. Wouldn’t that be fun? Though, you’re probably afraid I might slap you. I wouldn’t really slap you. Seriously, I wouldn’t.

Do you do resistance training?

What kind? If not, why not?

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31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 17

2011-05-17T06:00:00.003-04:00

Pick a Cardiovascular Exercise and Try It

As we established yesterday, if you think you are one of those people who is destined to be unfit and flabby because you just “hate exercise” then I have a treat for you. Here is a comprehensive list of every cardiovascular exercise I could possibly think of. Pick one and try it. If you don’t like it, pick another. If you don’t like it, try another.

If anything, once you get to the end of the list and you’ve tried every last one, you will be in GREAT SHAPE!

Note, I sometimes differentiate between the same activity done in different settings (inside vs. outside, alone vs. in a group, etc). That’s because I find these to be very different. Walking on a treadmill, I HATE! Walking outside, I LOVE! For me, the outside-factor makes all the difference.

Running, in general, my husband hates (me too!). Running as training for part of a triathlon, he loves (I still hate). For him, the whole competition thing really motivates him.

If I just wrote “Walk” you may not consider that you may hate the one and love the other. I’ll do that sort of thing with a lot of them, just to help you think outside the box and find something you truly enjoy in a WAY you enjoy it.

Cardiovascular Exercises to Try

Walk on a treadmill
Walk outside (my personal fave!)
Jog or run on a treadmill (ugggh!)
Jog or run outside
Jog or run as training for a race or to raise money
Elliptical, stair-climber or row machine at home (My go-to when I can’t go outside)
Elliptical, stair-climber or row machine at the gym
Stationary bike at home
Stationary bike at the gym (like)
Spinning class (I know many who love this)
Bicycling outside (like)
Bicycling to train for a race or to raise money
Swim in a pool, inside or outside
Swim in a lake or ocean
Jump rope
Play tennis
Play handball
Play racquetball
Play soccer
Play basketball
Dance with a fitness DVD at home (like!!)
Dance in a group class, like Zumba
Dance lessons, private
Aerobics or step aerobics at home (I like this one, too!)
Aerobics or step aerobics at the gym, in a class (Used to love, before kids)
Kickboxing DVD (hate!)
Kickboxing class
Martial arts
Plyometrics (jump training) (Love!)
Boot Camp-type workouts, in a group
Downhill ski
Cross-country ski
Rock climb
Hike (I know I would do this if I lived elsewhere, more hike-friendly)

Did I forget anything?

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Have you forgotten to visit these ladies?

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 16

2011-05-16T10:00:00.003-04:00

Find an Exercise You Enjoy

“I hate exercise.”

Every time I hear that, I want to slap someone. A little harsh on a Monday, I know. But, Dude, that statement frustrates me to no end. And here's why:

~Our bodies were created to move. They perform surprisingly well under pressure.

~When we push ourselves beyond what we think we can do, we get stronger—both physically and mentally. It's so good for us on every level!

~Everything worthwhile in life requires some effort, some self-discipline, some hard work.

If that’s you, if you are the one who hates exercise, this tells me one thing:

You have not found the exercise that’s right for YOU.

Most people who think they hate exercise REALLY mean that they hate running. Or they hate lifting weights at the gym. Or they hate putting in a DVD and working out alone in front of the television.

It really means that what they’ve tried, they hated. It means that their idea of exercise is very, very limited. They think if they don’t do it this one certain way—the only way they know and hate—then it’s not exercise, and it doesn’t count.

Exercise (what they define as exercise, that is) is the first thing to go when time runs short or days get stressful. Eventually, and inevitably, exercise becomes the thing in life they despise and ultimately dread. And before you know it, they've made an agreement with themselves:

“I hate exercise.”

Here’s great news for all of you out there who believe in the depths of your being that you, indeed, HATE exercise: Chances are really good that if you experiment with some different things—think outside the box a little—you will find something you LOVE. I truly believe exercise can go from the thing you “hate” to the thing you look forward to the most, each day. The thing you can’t live without. One of the highest priorities on your to-do list—simply because you enjoy it so much.

I believe that so passionately, I dare you to test me on it. If I had a money-back guarantee, I'd insert it here.

Over the next few days, we’ll discuss all-things exercise. I’ll offer you some ideas for exercises to try. I help you figure out how much exercise is too much or not enough for you. I'll help you figure out a way to work it into your busy week. I’ll do everything in my power to get you past the “I hate exercise” mentality.

Well, everything in my power, short of slapping someone. Because violence doesn’t solve anything.

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31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 15

2011-05-15T19:00:00.001-04:00

Honor the Sabbath

"But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns."

Exodus 20:10

I've been resisting coming to my computer all day long. Because, while writing is often fun for me, it's also work. It feels like work, most days. Work for which I do not get paid, I might add.

But today I've chosen to be a Sabbath day of rest. And I mean REST, in every sense of the word.

I went to church. We ate at one of my favorite restaurants. I read. I took a 2-hour nap. I served canned soup for dinner. I'm about to go read some more.

I forbid the children to turn on the Wii or watch television. I commanded them to play. And if I had male and female servants, I would have commanded them to play, too. My one and only animal--Oreo, the kitty--pretty much lives a Sabbath life, so nothing really changed for her.

Maybe it's just me, but it is a real spiritual discipline to forbid myself to work. I fear work will all pile up and I won't be able to deal with life the next day. But today, I just decided to take that risk and go crazy with the Sabbath anyway.

So, my healthy tip of the day is to work a Sabbath into your week. Whatever Sabbath means to you--the opposite of work. Lots of rest.

The natural rythym of work and rest is God-ordained. And it is one of the best ways to get healthy and live well.

Now...back to my Sabbath.

Q4U: do you work a regular Sabbath into your week?

What do you do or NOT do on your Sabbath?

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31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

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31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 13 and 14

2011-05-14T06:00:00.001-04:00

Educate Yourself

Should I eat a low-fat diet? Or is fat okay? What about saturated fat?

I just switched to whole grain pasta, and now I’m hearing that I should go gluten-free and cut out wheat completely. What’s up with that?

My friend says I should switch to soy milk, but Fitness Friday Girl doesn’t recommend soy. Plus, commercials say fat-free dairy will aid in my weight loss. Who do I believe?

Whole egg? Or Egg-whites only?

Multivitamins or not?

Long cardio sessions or short, intense workouts?

Did you know that every single day around the globe, people in nerdy lab coats are conducting studies concerning the health benefits and risks of certain foods and lifestyle habits?

Did you know that new findings and updated results are released almost every day?

This has absolutely nothing to do with the subject of this post, but I absolutely adore the ladies at the department store make-up counters who wear lab coats. It totally makes me trust them with my make up purchase—even though I’m generally a Target make-up kind of girl. I imagine the lab-coat-wearing-department-store-ladies on their days off, wearing goggles and working hard to produce the perfect shade of pink lipstick.

Anyway…

One of the best ways to get fit and STAY fit is to get educated and STAY educated on subjects related to food, exercise and wellness.

Reading this blog is a good start, but I’ll be the first to admit, I only scratch the service on current issues. And I honestly don’t scratch it nearly as often as I’d like. In addition to this blog, there are hundreds of great resources whereby you could receive a steady diet (pun intended) of health-related news.

Here are a few that I use and would recommend:

Health Magazine:

Magazines are old-school, but I love ‘em. I’ve read a lot of health-related women’s magazines in my day, and this one is currently my favorite. I subscribe to it, which is way cheaper than the newsstand price.

Dr. Joseph Mercola :

This is the #1 Natural Health Website—or at least that’s what he claims on the website banner. I subscribe to Dr. Mercola’s newsletter via e-mail, and I really enjoy it. Just be forewarned: The titles of his articles are very alarmist-like. “Make this one exercise mistake, and you will never lose a single pound as long as you live.” But the crazy title is always followed by an article which is current, informative, interesting and backed up by tons of research. This is a free resource.

The Diet Solution

This is one of those things I found on the sidebar of Facebook. At first, I couldn’t tell if it was a scam or the real-deal. After forking out probably $70 to this program (I know, dumb) I can confidently say it is not a scam—it’s just very poorly marketed. Or perhaps brilliantly marketed…as it squeezed $70 out of frugal-me.

The author of this program is Isabel De Los Rios, a certified nutritionist with a personal history of dropping 30 pounds of excess body fat. She’s all about eating whole, natural foods, which I love about her. Her resources are not free (ahem), but I believe you can get everything you need for a one-time fee of about $40 (I paid more because I requested a hard copy of the book).

The info in the book is good, but honestly, you can get the same info (and then some!) on Dr. Mercola’s site or in Master Your Metabolism, by Jillian Michaels. I wouldn’t recommend this resource if it were the book only. What I’ve come to love about The Diet Solution is the on-going newsletters and e-mails I receive several times a week, containing innovative health information and delicious, healthy and all-natural recipes. In the fall, she gathered all natural soup recipes from all her subscribers and then sent out a wonderful soup cookbook to everyone.

The thing that impressed me the most was the immediate support and response I got when I posted a question on her Facebook page. She’s got a team of people who help her answer questions, and they seem to know their stuff.

Google Alerts:

If you have Microsoft Office, you can set up Google Alerts for any words that you choose and it will Google those words daily for you. For me, I have “Diet,” “Fitness,” and “Exercise” all on my Google alerts, so I can peruse daily the headlines on these topics. I have three folders set up and I direct my daily updates to those folders so they don’t clutter up my inbox. If you aren’t sure how to set all of this up, I can try to create some sort of tutorial…but that’s a little beyond my blog-writing ability, to be honest. I’m so NOT techie.

So, tell me…do you stay up on the latest fitness and nutrition news? What resources have you found valuable? I’m always on the hunt for something new!

P.S. Sorry for the interruption in posting. Blogger went wonky the last few days.

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31 Days Closer to Your Kids

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31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

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31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 12

2011-05-12T06:00:00.001-04:00

Pray

God cares very much about your health. Here's a scripture-based prayer that totally rocks.

(this was previously posted last week, but Blogger lost it. This is a re-post)

“Father, in the name of Jesus, I come before You asking You to heal me. It is written that the prayer of the faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if I have committed sins, I will be forgiven. I let go of all unforgiveness, resentment, anger and bad feelings toward anyone.

My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, and I desire to be in good health. I seek truth that will make me free—both spiritual and natural (good eating habits, medications if necessary, and appropriate rest and exercise). You bought me at a price, and I desire to glorify You in my spirit and my body—they both belong to You.

Thank You, Father, for sending Your word to heal me and deliver me from all my destructions. Jesus, You are the Word Who became flesh and dwelt among us. You bore my griefs (pains) and carried my sorrows (sickness). You were pierced through for my transgressions and crushed for my iniquities, the chastening for my wellbeing fell upon You, and by Your scourging I am healed.

Father, I give attention to Your words and incline my ear to Your sayings. I will not let them depart from my sight, but I will keep them in the midst of my heart, for they are life and health to my whole body.

Since the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in me, He Who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to my mortal body through His Spirit Who dwells in me.

Thank You, that I will prosper and be in good health, even as my soul prospers.

Amen”

Scripture references:

James 5:15

I Corinthians 6: 19-20

Psalm 107:20

John 1:14

Isaiah 53:4-5

Proverbs 4:21-22

Psalm 103:3-5

Romans 8:11

3John 2

Taken from Prayers that Avail Much, by Germaine Copeland

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31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

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31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 11

2011-05-11T06:00:00.004-04:00

Eat Whole Foods

I think the general public is very confused about what is “processed food” and what is “whole food.” Most likely, it’s because of slick marketing on the part of the processed food people, trying to convince us that their laboratory concoctions are actually healthy.

“Made from REAL fruit.”

“All natural.”

“No Trans Fat!”

What does all of that mean? No one knows, really, so don’t knock yourself out trying to figure it out. Today, rather than trying to define a “processed food,” let’s concentrate on “whole food.”

What’s a whole food?

* If the food came from the ground or has a mother, it’s a whole food.

*A whole food has had nothing added to it or taken from it. It is in its simplest form, the way God created it to be.

*In a grocery store, you find most whole foods on the perimeter of the store.

*When you look at the ingredients, there should be only one.

*When you look at the food, it should look like the food in question.

*The more ingredients you see, generally, the more processing has taken place.

*If the ingredients list contains any chemicals, preservatives, artificial coloring or flavoring, it is absolutely not a whole food.

*Many whole foods have limited or no packaging (think produce and meat).

*Most whole foods can be purchased from a farmer’s market.

From there, it starts to get a little complicated. For one, not all processing is unhealthy. For example, cheese, butter and plain Greek yogurt are minimally processed, but they are all foods that you could safely work into a healthy diet. Unless it’s Velveeta or spray cheese in a can. That’s not whole food, by a long shot.

Also, you can't always look at the number of ingredients. Salsa may contain several ingredients, but if it’s a fresh salsa, it should contain only a variety of chopped up vegetables and herbs. All healthy, whole foods…just chopped up and mixed together.

You can also find many whole foods (fruites, veggies, meat and fish) in the frozen food section--right next to the Eggo Waffles and Pizza Pockets.

Then there are degrees of processing. And this is where it gets muddy for most people, even me.

So, I’ve compiled a little list of foods at various stages of processing.

Fitness Friday Girl…bringin’ it to the people.

Examples of Whole Foods vs. Processed Foods

Apple=whole food

Apple Sauce=minimally processed food

Apple Pop Tart=processed food

Blueberry=whole food

Blueberry Jam=processed food

Blueberry Flavored Gummy Treats=highly processed food

Brown Rice: whole food

White Rice: processed food

Rice Crispy Treat: highly processed food

Corn: whole food

Organic Corn Tortilla: minimally processed food

Fritos: highly processed food

Oats: whole food

Nature Valley Granola Bars: processed food

Little Debbie Oatmeal Cream Pie: highly processed food

Throughout this series, we will discuss some particularly stellar (I love the word “stellar”) whole foods and ideas on how to work them into your diet. But today, know this:

No matter what your fitness goal, a diet rich in whole foods is an absolute necessity.

Unless your fitness goal is to be overweight and sick. Then, by all means, get crazy with the Little Debbie snacks.

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How bout these ladies right here?

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 10

2011-05-10T06:00:00.008-04:00

Write it Down

Your Food: If you have a fitness or weight-related goal in mind, the first thing any good personal trainer or nutritionist will tell you is to keep a food log. As in, write down every single thing that you eat and drink…right down to the very last nibble. I’ll be honest here: I do not always keep a food log. If I did, I would drive myself completely batty. But I do keep one every few months for a week or two, just to keep me on track.

I promise you, no matter how many times you’ve done this, you will be shocked either at the sheer quantity of food you are consuming OR at the cruddy food choices you are making. A food journal is very beneficial for pinpointing the times of day where you tend to be most tempted to eat too much or eat poorly, as well as giving you a ballpark figure of the number of calories you eat in a typical day. For me, every time I keep a food log, it also helps me stop popping little bites of this and that in my mouth, because I get sick of having to write it all down.

I’m all old-school with the legal pad and pencil, but I’m sure there are some cool apps for your smart phone or I-Pad. Yes, I have a smart phone. And no, I have no idea how to use it yet.

Your Exercise: Here’s me: I tend to underestimate what I’m eating and overestimate how much I exercise. Then I wonder why I'm not losing weight. I'm sure I'm the only one who does this.

Much like the food log, an exercise log really keeps me honest. I probably get a little more detailed with my exercise log than the average person. I write down exactly what I did (how many repetitions, how much weight, how far, etc), what time of the day I did it and how I felt when I was finished. This helps in tremendously in future workouts, mainly in setting and surpassing future goals, and knowing what weights to grab when I get started. It shows me areas of weakness, so I can work harder on those. And when I compare it with my food log, it helps me pinpoint the best foods to eat before and after my workouts to perform and recover well.

Your Measurements: We talked about measurements on Day 6. But I just want to emphasize here the importance of keeping an on-going log of your weight and your measurements.

With these three logs on hand, you should be able to look over exactly what you are doing and how it’s working, so you can tweak where necessary. It’s also a very helpful tool to have should you go to a personal trainer, a nutritionist or a doctor. They will totally love you when you show up and say, “this is what I eat, this is what I do, and this is how it's been working...or not.”

When they tell you how awesome you are, you can take all the credit for looking so smart and thorough.

Do you keep a food or exercise log? What tips can you pass along?

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Don't forget to visit these other ladies

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Days 8 and 9

2011-05-09T09:41:00.001-04:00

Play

Sorry for merging two days into one post. As I look over our crazy schedule this month (which I spoke about Friday on my other blog), there may be more of this type of merging in my blogging future. Thanks in advance for understanding.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and the day before that was the Kentucky Derby—which is sort of like Christmas in Louisville--except with gambling and pretty hats.

It was a fun, but very full and busy weekend. And though I didn’t have time to sit down and actually WRITE about fitness, I did make time to be active.

How?

By integrating fitness right into my every day, busy weekend.

A big mistake many people make is to compartmentalize workouts into a little box of time. “I will go to work, go grocery shopping, do some laundry and then exercise.” I think there is a place for this kind of thing. I mean, a good, dedicated weight-routine is very effective. I try to do that sort of thing about five days a week. But living a healthy life is more than finding 45 minutes for a DVD routine in the basement. It’s much easier to stay fit if we integrate movement into what we are already doing throughout the week.

As the days get longer and warmer, I try to spend more time outside playing with my children. Friday evening the kids got out their bikes and scooters and we rode up and down the hill in front of our house. Laughing hysterically, I might add, because I was riding one of the children’s bikes. Yesterday, we spent an hour at the park playing catch.

And last night we played a killer game of Giant-Frisbee in our backyard.

In a few weeks, our neighborhood pool opens up. Not only will I swim with the kids, but I will be the mean mom who actually makes them WALK the half mile to the pool.

God created our bodies for this natural-type of movement. More than just a good way to get your heart pumping, playing outside with your kids allows you the added benefits of breathing the clean air, getting some sum exposure and building strong bonds with the ones whom you love the most.

Can you work some play time in today?

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31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 7

2011-05-07T06:00:00.002-04:00

Plan

I really wanted to make Day 7 “Rest.” You know, cuz the whole God-rested-on-the-7th –day thing. I thought that would be really clever of me, especially if Day 7 would have been on Sunday. Wouldn’t that have been so cool?

But, truly, I feel like we need to do a bit more “creating” (Get it? Like God created stuff before He rested?”) before we start “resting.” Specifically, we must create a plan.

“But Fitness Friday Girl, aren’t you going to tell us what to eat? What exercises will maximize our fat-burning potential? How to get rid of my love handles?”

All in good time, my friend. All in good time.

Remember when I told you fitness is 80% mental? That’s still true. If you spend a good chunk of time getting your brain on straight, the physical portion will be flow naturally from it. It won’t be a matter of convincing yourself each day to make healthy choices, because it will be a done-deal in your brain. It won’t be a matter of depriving yourself of the foods you love and forcing yourself to to do an exercise you hate, because you will have already laid a solid foundation for a healthy lifestyle deep in the recesses of your mind. And you will have planned for both meals and exercises that you love.

Planning is an absolutely critical aspect of your health. And by “plan,” I’m referring to an over-all plan to reach your goal. (We will talk about smaller plans like planning ahead for meals and exercise in later posts)

So, what plan should you chose?

Doesn’t matter, really. As long as it meets the following criteria:

It should be goal-specific. This is why it’s so important to set a goal. You can’t really choose a good plan if you don’t know what you want to accomplish. If your goal is to lose weight, then a fat burning diet and exercise program is in order. If your goal is to eat more fruits and veggies, then a plan to find interesting recipes and integrate those into your meals is what you want. If your goal is to run a marathon, then a running schedule is in order.

It should be something that is do-able (and likeable!) for you. If a gym membership isn’t in your budget, look for a good home-based workout program. If your schedule doesn’t allow for at least 8 hours of intense training a week and you can’t swim, don’t sign up for the triathlon in six months. If you hate running, choose a different cardiovascular exercise. If you need accountability, your plan should include other people.

It should last at least 30 days, give or take. Why? Because it takes about that long to get a good feel for whether the plan is effective. It also gives you ample time for it to become a habit. Or not. You might hate the plan and need to go to Plan B. Which is totally okay. No shame in that. But it’s a good idea to stick with one thing for a few weeks before going to Plan B.

And don’t worry, we will talk all about ditching a failed program on another day. I have lots of experience with ditching failed programs.

So tell me, do you have a plan? I want to hear what you’re going to do to reach your goal!

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31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 6

2011-05-06T06:00:00.002-04:00

Measure It

Before you begin any fitness plan, I think it’s a great idea to get a good baseline for your current state of unhealthy affairs. This will be something you will want to keep and add to, so put it in a journal or in a drawer or something. I’ve been keeping a log of various measurements for about 7 years. Mine is just a bunch of pieces of loose-leaf paper stapled together, with little comments scribbled on it like “Ugghh!” and “Yay!!!” and "What the...???" and “Finally!!!”.
Nothing fancy.

You will thank me for this one later:

When you are about 3 weeks into your new healthy eating and diet plan and you fail to see any “progress” with your naked eye.
Or you step on the scale around week 5 and you see that you’ve GAINED weight instead of lost it.
Or you are standing at the buffet table at the staring at the unlimited desserts and you wonder if cutting out sugar is really worth all the effort.

Trust me, you will be so glad you have criteria with which to compare yourself, including, but not limited to, a number on a scale during those difficult times.

It’s helpful in a seeing present progress, but also in setting future fitness goals. I often look back and see what I weighed and measured before and after various programs or significant events of my life.

For example, though weight charts say I could weight as little as 115 pounds for my height, it’s revealing to see in the last 20 years, I’ve only weighed that immediately after the death of my son. In fact, I've only been in the 120's after extended fasts (not eating!) or being very sick (vomiting!), despite the fact that I've eaten well and exercised regularly that entire time.

That tells me, setting a weight goal in the low end of my “safe” range is not “safe” for me, no matter what the weight charts say or how badly I would like to weigh that.
(I don’t want to weigh that, by the way. I look gross at that weight).

Here are some ways I recommend you measure as you begin your journey to health.

Weigh yourself: Do this on a regular scale, naked, first thing in the morning after you pee, before you drink anything. Do it this way all the time. Notice daily fluctuations. They are NORMAL, depending upon what you ate the day before and the time of the month (ladies). Incidentally, “Daily Fluctuations” was a title I considered for this blog.

Body Fat Percentage: There are many ways to measure body fat, but I won’t go into all of that here today. Usually, you need to have this done at a gym or in a doctor’s office. Some methods are more accurate than others. But it’s a really good number to know, especially if you have weight to lose.

Measurements: This should be done at the same time of day as your morning weigh-in. Use a tape measure and simply measure around your bust, your waist (right over your belly button), your hips, your butt, and around each thigh. If you have help, you can also measure biceps and shoulders, even your calf muscles! It doesn’t really matter, except that you measure the exact same areas at the same time of day, each time you measure.

BMI: This stands for Body Mass Index. I talk a lot about BMI, and how to measure it here.

“Before” Photo: Honestly, I have never taken a “before” photo, but I often wish I would have. Because it involves someone else photographing me looking “yuk” in a bathing suit or jog bra, I respectfully decline. However, I always LOVE looking at “before” and “after” photos. So, please take some, so I can look at yours.

Resting Heart Rate: This is a great measurement to take, because it measures your fitness level…something a scale will NEVER tell you. I talk about how to measure that, here.

Clothing: Similar to using a tape measure, selecting a pair of pants and a shirt as your base items will help you track your progress.

Clinical Measurements: If your goal is to lower your blood pressure or improve some other diet-related condition (like Type 2 Diabetes), then documenting your numbers before you start is critical.

You will want to re-measure these areas periodically. Usually once a month is sufficient. I do weigh myself daily, but only write it down weekly or monthly. And when I’m doing a designated fitness program, I sometimes use a tape measure weekly. Just make sure you write everything down in one place where you can refer back to it often.

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31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 5

2011-05-05T06:00:00.001-04:00

Set a Goal

Goal-setting is one of the first items of business in any good business. It gives us something to shoot for, clarifies why we do what we do and helps us focus. So, if your business is your health, then set health-related goals, we MUST!

(Did that sound a bit like Yoda?)

Most people think “weight-loss goal” whenever we talk about setting goals for your health. But, Fitness Friday Girl is not a big fan of the weight-loss goal. Generally, I think most weight-loss goals set us up for failure. And here’s why:

1. Many people set their weight –loss goal too low. Forty-year-olds want to attain their high school weight, their college weight, their pre-baby weight…or Jillian Micheal’s weight or Jennifer Aniston’s weight. They have no clue what weight-range is healthy for their body at their current age.

2. Many people try to lose weight too quickly or in drastic ways. No matter how many infomercials and weight-loss ads claim you can lose 30 pounds in one month, that’s not normal…and usually not healthy. It’s a double disaster when we set weight-loss goals WITHIN a certain timeframe (I want to lose 10 pounds by the end of the month). We can’t always control how fast it comes off and may resort to severe calorie restriction to get it off by our deadline.

3. Weight doesn’t tell the whole story. Skinny people can be very unhealthy. Weight doesn’t take into account muscle mass and fluid retention. The number on the scale tells us very little about what is going on in our bodies. It’s one tool, but not the be-all-end-all of health, by any means.

There's nothing wrong with setting a weight-loss goal, as long as you are shooting for a healthy range and you realize that you may be working at it for a while--longer than you may think. Go to a good doctor who knows about nutrition and wellness (Most doctors are only trained in treating sick people. You must look for doctors who specialize in wellness!) Most personal trainers should know what weight range is healthy for you. And nutritionists should, too.

But you can set all kinds of good health goals that don't have anything to do with your weight. Here are some other, better goals I would recommend:

1. I will get my body fat percentage down by 10 percent.

2. I will not eat sugar for 30 days.

3. I will eat at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables every single day this month.

4. I will complete P90X (or Body for Life, or 30 Day Shred, or your fitness program of choice).

5. I will exercise at least 4 times a week until June 1.

6. I will train for and complete the 5K run (or the mini-marathon or the triathlon or the Ride to Conquer Cancer or your event of choice).

7. I will hire a trainer and workout with my trainer every week this month.

8. I will sign up for the spinning class and go to every class this month.

9. I will reduce my resting heart rate by 10 beats per minute.

10. I will get my high blood pressure or my type-2 diabetes under control and try to get off my meds. (under doctor supervision!)

11. I will drink enough water (1/2 your current weight in ounces, plus another 8 ounces for every hour of exercise you do and cup of caffeinated beverage you drink).

12. I will stop drinking soda.

13. I will stop eating fast food.

Do you have a goal? What is it? Because once we set our goals, it's time to start measuring. We'll talk about what and how tomorrow.

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Have you visited these awesome women yet?

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 4

2011-05-04T06:00:00.021-04:00

Make a List

Why do you want to be healthy? Or lose weight? Or be more toned? Have you ever really asked yourself that question? Have you ever honestly, truly, thoroughly answered it?

That’s what I want you to do today.

Grab your favorite beverage and your favorite writing utensils. Sit down where it is quiet, preferably near a mirror. Because I really want you to look at yourself in the mirror. Seriously. Look at your body. Look inside your own eyes and ask the question:

Why do I want this?

And then write down every single reason that comes to your mind. From the deeply profound to the ridiculously shallow. All of them. No editing.

My list looks something like this:

1. My mom had her first heart attack at age 53 and died from heart disease at age 70, never seeing 3 of my 4 children. She never saw my brother's 3 children. She never saw my sister's son. She never saw most of her great grand-children. I don’t want that to happen to me.

2. I am glorifying God by taking good care of the only body He has or ever will give me on this Earth. If I don’t take care of it, who will?

3. I want my kids to be healthy, too. They are watching and learning from everything I do—good and bad. If I don’t teach them to make healthy choices, who will?

4. I want to live to play and run with my kids and grandkids, for as long as possible.

5. I want to have energy during the day to do everything else I need to do.

6. I want to sleep well at night.

7. I want my size 4-6 clothes to fit me well.

8. I like looking at muscle tone on my arms, legs and abs.

9. I like when people notice that I’m fit and compliment me,

or when they ask me what I do for exercise and what I eat.

10. I love the endorphin rush after a hard workout.

11. Exercise helps relieve my stress.

12. Exercise is an excellent antidepressant.

13. Exercise helps clear my mind, where I often pray, plan,

create and sort through issues.

14. Exercise gives me a little break from the kiddos.

15. Healthy food tastes good to me.

16. I like the way I feel after I eat healthy food.

17. Healthy eating and exercise reduces the risk of every known disease,

including all cancers and heart disease.

18. Junk food may taste good, but I hate the way junk food makes me feel.

I almost always regret indulging.

So, there you go…I command you to make lists. All of you. I’ll even let you steal some of my reasons. Because long after this series is over, and I’m not there to whisper tips into your ear, you can look back at your list and gain a burst of new motivation.

Now, scoot.

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Congrats to mlhummy! The winner of the picture frame designed by The Chubby Dove!

I will e-mail you to get your mailing address.

The rest of you, go visit her...she does the cutest work EVER. I have lots of her stuff. And I was in her wedding. That's gotta count for something.

And thanks to all of you who helped spread the word about our

31 Days Closer to...series.

Here are the rest of the ladies doing there 31 Day thang:

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

31 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home

31 Days Closer to Health, Wellness and Bathing Suit Season, Day 3

2011-05-03T06:00:00.004-04:00

Ditch All-or-Nothing Mentality

Nothing will derail your fitness efforts faster than all-or-nothing thinking. It’s the voice that says,

“I don’t have a full hour to work out, so I’m not exercising today.”

“I already messed up breakfast, I might as well eat this cake…and French fries…with a giant Pepsi. And order deep-dish meat-lovers pizza for dinner. And sit on the couch and watch Judge Judy. While I eat this bowl of ice cream with crushed up Girl Scout cookies on top.”

“If I can’t do it perfectly, I won’t do it at all.”

You have literally hundreds of opportunities every single day to choose the healthy option.

You can choose fruit over the bagel and cream cheese.
You can choose to run up the stairs instead of walk.
You can choose to drink a few sips of water as you swing through the kitchen.
You can choose to grab an apple and a few nuts as you’re headed out to run errands.
You can choose to park at the back of the parking lot, and walk.
Or you can just choose to walk and not drive at all.
You can pull into Panera Bread instead of Burger King.
While at Panera Bread, you can order soup and salad instead of another bagel and cream cheese.
You can choose to do a 20-minute workout instead of read blogs (say what?)
You can choose to bypass dessert.
You can order green tea instead of a venti vanilla latte.
You can grill the chicken instead of fry it.
You can choose steamed veggies over a plate of pasta.
You can choose to bypass the bowl of cereal (or chips or ice cream) before bedtime.
You can choose to go to bed instead of read blogs (say what???)

What a tragedy it would be to miss all the little healthy opportunities in a day, simply because we couldn’t get past our choice to eat the bagel this morning. So what, if you ate the bagel?

So what, if it was a big ole’ giant white flour bagel with full-fat cream cheese…and you ate the entire thing and you loved every stinking second of it?

Seriously…So what???!!!

You can still choose to run up the stairs instead of walk. And drink a few sips of water as you swing through the kitchen. And grab an apple and nuts on your way out the door….

Like I said yesterday, fitness is 80% mental. Right thinking is half the battle.

No, wait…I mean 4/5 of the battle.

(It's been a while since I converted percentages to fractions and then reduced the fraction.)

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Now go visit my friends...all of them. Ha!

31 Days Closer to Your Kids

31 Days Closer to the Life You Always Wanted

31 Days Closer to Hearing God’s Voice

1 Days Closer to a Cuter You

31 Days Closer to a New Home