Phit-N-Phat...Making Fitness and Weightloss a Lifestyle

Write a New Story For Yourself

2008-07-24T05:14:21-07:00

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -- Maria Robinson

I saw this quote today and thought about some of the stinking thinking that goes on in our heads when we start a "diet" or new "exercise" plan. Here are some of my favorites...

"It's time I finally make this change."
You are right! It is time to make the change but are you realling going to START TODAY to CHANGE the things in your life that aren't working? Have you...

Told your cicle of influence (family, friends, co-workers) what you are doing, how you are doing it, and with true conviction? Or, are you secretly "dieting" and when push comes to shove caving into their temptations? Often we don't truly tell those closest to us the importance of a new lifestyle. We either hide it for fear we will fail in front of them or we tell them with utter disgust because we are choosing a "diet" that deprives us versus nourishes us.

"I'm going to work hard and exercise as much as it takes to get this weight off."
That's a great place to start! We all need to workout with intensity, strength train, and push ourselves out of our comfort zones. Have you...

Looked at your calendar and put your exercise schedule in place to fit your daily needs? Or, are you going to just "make it fit" knowing that has never worked before. Are you just going to dust off some videos that didn't work last time, that bored you to death, or simply start moving knowing it takes a little more than that to get out of your comfort zone. Knowing strength training is important, are you going to be a cardio queen because you know you'll lose that scale weight fast even if it means you will lose your fat burning muscle in the process?

"I'm going to eat CLEAN and cut my calories."
Wonderful! We all know that eating clean or even cleaner is healthy and that you have to eat less than you need to lose. Have you...

Taken the time to read up on what clean eating is? Have you looked into what an APPROPRIATE amount of daily calories is for you and your activity level. Are you going to just completely deprive yourself of the foods you love because they are "bad" for you and probably fall off the wagon way before you get on the road to good health? Are you going to cut your calories to a point you feel hungry and tired all the time never enjoying snacks and then destroying your metabolism in the process?

I would say these are the things I hear most from women around the world looking for my help. They have the right motivation to lose but their intentions and process to getting their end destination is all wrong.

It takes...

- Defining what you want into a clear picture.

- Being willing to take a whole new approach: meal planning, prepping, new foods, a cooler.

- Eating the right foods, at the right times, in appropriate amounts (often more than you think).

- Exercising like you mean it with strength and cardio combined.

- Finding support from the people who know and love you.

- Asking for help from an expert like me who's been there, done that, and helped others do it too.

PNP Non-Scale Victories

2008-07-22T12:17:00-07:00

I love it when the girls are having victories and successes greater than the scale. When is the last time you appreciated the ways your life has changed since you started leading a healthier lifestyle? It's important and today I want to share some of their wins and my own.

"I will do chip pennance."

This person had a small run-in with some Baked Lays. Rather than falling off the wagon and breaking a leg, she decided to put in 20-stinky minutes of extra cardio to make up for it. This person also is very close to finally getting into her size 14 pants. Coincidence? I think not. It's called ATTITUDE and a WINNING ATTITUDE at that!

"I haven't been able to check-in much lately on the boards but I'm still going strong and getting in my workouts."

This girl has been super busy with life. It would be easy to quit checking-in and just not do her thang, but she's marching along, doing her workouts, eating healthy, and talking to us when she can. The best thing about this girl is that she is using the tools given, being accountable to HERSELF, and just plugging along. Great!

"I'm taking a day of rest. It's been eight days and my legs are feeling pretty sore."

Often people can push for awhile mixing cardio and strength but it's so important to listen to what your body is saying. Taking days off is a great way to give your body the time it needs to do muscle repair and BURN THAT FAT. I'm glad she's heeding the legs and doing what's right.

These are just a few. My own non-scale victories this week? Realizing it's going to take me having a GOOD ATTITUDE even when I don't feel like having a good attitude to complete the competition journey. Life is too short and I'm back to filling my head with positivity. I've got some motivational pictures posted, quotes around the house, and just calling myself on the carpet when I start complaining. I only have four weeks of this journey left and I intend on soaking up every bit of the ride. :)

Fight for What You Believe In

2008-07-22T10:36:14-07:00

Today I want to take a moment and ask for a favor from all of my PNP readers and supporters. I normally do not talk about things outside of our weightloss journey, but today I am in need of some HELP!

Recently a shock-jock named Michael Savage aired some comments on his radio show regarding autism that absolutely disgust me. It's bad enough that autism is misunderstood, often not caught in our children, and there is limited help for our kids, but you get some IDIOT out there with a national audience spewing dribble and it certainly doesn't help the epidemic.

My husband, Chris, is a very involved father. He works, studies, and does everything he can to make sure that we are on top of Logan's autism. It's sickens me to think that this stupid radio personality would lump MY HUSBAND into a category of men who have abandoned their kids. Just because you are autistic doesn't mean you have a crappy dad! Hell, I had a crappy dad and I'm as stinking normal as it can possibly get.

The other thing I found infuriating is his assumption that autism is underdiagnosed. What? Underfunded, yes. MisUNDERstood, absolutely. Why not focus our attention on helping kids rather than this bull crap Michael Savage is saying?

OK...I'm copying the links to the clip of what he said and a link to my local radio station. PLEASE, spread this email around. Forward it to your friends, your blogs, and anywhere else you can think that might make an impact. Ladies, if you have ever read my blog, learned something, and thought how can I repay her...NOW IS YOUR CHANCE!

Thank you so much girls and I love ya'll. Michael Savage won't know what hit him when he finds out he messed with the PNP Nation...we're hungry, our muscles are sore, and we don't screw with our own!

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/07/22/cho.autism.uproar.cnn

If you want to contact 997wtn, here is the form.

http://www.997wtn.com/custpage.cfm/frm/9379/sec_id/9379

Why Can't I Lose That Little Bit of Fat?

2008-07-21T19:27:00-07:00

I was sent the most interesting video link and wanted to share it with everyone.

Fat Loss Video - MUST SEE

Many times we have talked about BLT's (bites, licks, and tastes) being detrimental to your success. Well, this video really puts it into perspective. The video shows how just measuring isn't always enough. I literally was shocked and will do things differently after watching it. Luckily, I have a great digital scale already.

Man, let's all think about our goals and then think about what we are willing to do to get there. It might take truly breaking our bad habits and starting a few new ones.

What are you changing on your next food prep day? Me? As soon as coach Tony gets back I'm finding out how many grams he wants me eating versus cups! LOL.

Oh, and I will start measuring the protein powder grams instead of the scoop.

What Does Emotional Eating Solve?

2008-07-18T16:48:00-07:00

The question we would all love to have answered. A lot of my Phit-N-Phat girls have been discussing why they emotionally eat. They, we, you, me will eat when we are stressed, confronted with family issues, dealing with death, sad, depressed, etc.

I hear it so much that the last few days I rolled the thought in my head trying to figure out a response. Why have I quit emotionally eating? How did I break myself of it? I must have done it or I wouldn't have been 110lbs overweight.

My mind kept coming back to the thought

What do you get out of eating things you know you shouldn't, you know will get you further from your goals, and you know you will beat yourself up over for eating.

And, that is when I had the A-HA moment.

Most of the time we binge (and I say that loosely because most people don't have eating disorders but have moments of weakness), overeat, make poor choices, and go off plan because we are unhappy. It's rare that we feel guilty for having a romantic dinner, celebration dinner, etc. It's the quick trip to Burger King after a fight with our husband that resulted in 1800 calories of junk that pushes us to the fridge at home for a 1/2 gallon of ice cream.

My A-HA moment is that we don't eat for the food, the pleasure, sensation, and such. We eat for the after effect. We WANT to feel bad, we WANT to beat ourselves up, and we WANT to focus on our weakness with "diet" rather than why we are fighting with our husband, the death of our mother, the loss of a child, or the bills that aren't going to get paid.

The easy way out is to substitute the real problem with a fake one. Honestly, most of us know by now to have a plan, a packed cooler, and not keep foods around that are taking us away from our goals. If we don't do these things we are probably keeping our old stand-by issue of our "weight" in our life so we can avoid dealing with the REAL issues that plague us. Basically, fat and miserable is comfortable and easy.

I looked back on my life and figured it out. When I finally stopped using my weight as an excuse to be miserable I had to let go of my personal baggage that was really making me miserable. Being fat was the side effect.

I rarely discuss this, but let me share a little about me:

I suffered from severe depression through my teens and twenties. I tried to take my own life at 18 and ya'll know me, I'm pretty determined and was very close to success. Weeks of hospitilization and a lot of therapy got me moving forward in life.
I was divorced at a young age and later was engaged and broke off both because I was cheated on and stolen from.
My father had little to do with me all my life no matter how hard I tried to engage him. He has also had several suicide attempts.
My grandfather that took the place of my dad was an alcoholic.
I had a single-mom who worked a lot (and not by choice...I admire her for those sacrifices while it made for a lot of responsibility dumped on my shoulders).
I was made fun of, teased, and bullied all through my early years. There was not a day in my youth where someone at school or at home didn't call me fatso or drive me to tears.

You see, that's a lot of baggage and it's just scraping the surface. BUT, I finally realized life is worth living, accepted my dad's pathetic relationship by stopping with fruitless attempts, forgave my mom in my heart for not realizing how depressed I was when I tried to take my life, decided to get hot rather than stew over the names I was called, and decided that I need to live life and not be swallowed up by it.

So, the next time you are trying to figure out why you eat...forget it. My best tip for all of you is just simply put the tools in place I have taught you. There will be days when you will want to fall off the wagon but you won't because the cooler is sitting there. There will be times when you chuck the cooler but at least that's one extra step you have to take to mess up. If most of you cut your weekly ooops in half by just forcing an extra step to falling off the wagon you'll probably lose some weight. :) You get a few wins under your belt and you might just find yourself looking for ways to deal with your real issues.

Energy and Keeping Off the BLT's

2008-07-17T06:04:58-07:00

I thought I would share a quick list of things I do to stick with my competition plan. You know, my prep is strict but it is hard for ANYONE making a change to their lifestyle to find a balance. I wanted to share some products that are helping me get to the finish line.

1. Sugarfree gum and a lot of it. I like Stride in Sweet Berry Blast. I pop in a piece right after eating most of meals if I can't brush my teeth. This helps get the taste of food out of my mouth, keep me busy, and makes me feel like I'm having a "sweet treat" because Berry Blast is delicious. I have found this gum to last a long time, too.

I also chew gum during food prep, while making my son his delicious snacks and meals, and sometimes while doing a long cardio session just to keep my mouth busy. Guess I've gotten to where I just enjoy gum.

2. Water, water, water. It never ceases to amaze me that the days I drink over 4 liters of the stuff are the days I feel stuffed. Why? Duh! I'm hydrated. I was having Crystal Light each time for awhile but now I allow myself two packets a day. I use one packet to one liter. Most people will find that too weak, but I am used to it. Start by drinking the neck out of your liter (about five really good swallows), add your packet, and then shake. Evenutally you will get used to it being weaker and can just go from the first drop.

If you have Kroger, they make an awesome Fitness Water packet in grape. I love that stuff. It "says" zero calories per packet but what they mean is 4 calories per packet. Still, it's less than the 10 for Crystal Light and the boxes are half the price. I use either the grape or iced tea from Crystal Light. Those are my favorites.

3. Coffee. A lot of coffee. I have dropped down to one packet of Splenda per cup but I drink almost two pots a day (just like my mother!). I'm not saying this is a good habit, but it does help me stay full, it does give me a boost of energy (and I need it these days), and I will taper back once my competition is completed.

My favorite brand of coffee is Eight O'Clock in the Morning Hazelnut or French Vanilla. Both are delicious and the coffee isn't expensive. It's better than Starbucks...hands down. But, I'm not a fan of Starbucks. I think their coffee is terrible and it's just a big calorie and money dump. There are two things I like at Starbucks: Americano and Iced Coffee. Since I've given up sugar-free syrup both taste like hooie now.

4. Speed Stack - You are going to think I have a problem! This is Redbull on crack and in fact Bill and I lovingly refer to this as our "crack juice." I drink one throughout the day to keep my energy levels high. It's strong stuff. If you decide to drink one, only drink a 1/4 of it the first time. Don't give me any guff that you drink lots of coffee or Redbulls and think this won't mess with you. WRONG! This ain't your convenience store baby drink ya'll. This is real deal energy and will get you moving through a workout for sure.

Now, remember, I am at the end of a long road of competition training. 99.8% of you who read this don't do an hour of fasted cardio a day, an hour of strength a day, plus 30-40 min. of interval cardio later in the day all on 10% carbs. Oh, and I've done that now for 17 weeks to some degree with about 5-6 days off. This is why you see Juan Valdez himself riding the donkey through my neighborhood. But, a lot of you asked how I am keeping my focus and these little things are helping me get to the finish line.

What about after competition? Well, I have a plan to get off this stuff while I'm raising my carb levels, fruits, calories and reducing how much cardio I do weekly. Normal diet and exercise will help me be able to cutback for sure. I won't go back to my too many Splenda and Crystal Light habit. That was just good for me to wean off that stuff. The coffee and speed stack will definitely get cut back to normal levels.

What to Eat On a Diet at a Mexican Restaurant

2008-07-16T10:16:32-07:00

I have an adorable client who is going out to Mexican tonight and wondered what to eat. Here are my tips!

DON'T! Just kidding. Mexican CAN be an easy place once you learn the tricks and how to order.

Either skip the chip basket, ask them not to bring it, or account for the chips as part of your meal.

Best TIP! Count out 10 chips on a napkin and then break them into quarters. You then have a mound of chips to heavily dip into some nutritious salsa. DO NOT go for the cheese dip or guacalmole. Both are high in calories. We'll discuss guac later.

Drink water! Margaritas are a major drinking pitfall. The average mexican restaurant serves a large margarita that is well over 500 calories and LOADED with sugar. If you must drink, have a light beer, red wine, or my favorite rum and diet coke. Flavored rums are even better.

Limit yourself and guzzle a glass of water between each drink. You'll potty more, be likely to drink at least one less drink (hey, you just bought your 10 chips), and you will help flush out some of the sodium from the food.

Fajitas my friend! I like to get chicken or shrimp fajitas. I ask them to leave off the tortillas, cheese, and sour cream. This is where I take advantage of some guac. Why? It's loaded with healthy fat, but I do ask them to bring only HALF of what they normally bring.

If the fajitas come with beans (delicious little buckets of lard at most local places) and rice I also ask for those to be subbed for a plate of salad. This is a filling meal and still mighty good.

There is also nothing wrong with asking for that to-go container early and boxing up a delicious little lunch for tomorrow or some food to eat with a couple of scrambled egg whites for breakfast. You might just pay for the gas it takes to drive there by having two meals out of one.

Taco salads are good, too, but tell them to drop the shell. It might look pretty on the plate but it looks TERRIBLE on your hips. Our hips just aren't as pretty when they are off-white and filled with what looks like fried little ridges. I bet you never look at a salad shell the same way again.
Check the seafood menu and the steak menu. Often they have grilled fish with green sauce or steak (the cheaper it is the leaner it is), too. I would have the rice and ask for some fajita veggies instead of the beans.

Hope this helps you navigate one of my favorite splurge places!

Don't Trust the Scale!

2008-07-15T11:57:49-07:00

For two weeks I was frustrated with the whole competition process because I have been at it for well over 15 weeks and weighed the same. The scale shot up and I looked like a blowfish. Literally, I workout 2.5 hours per day, do the fasted cardio, lift heavy as heck, and eat like a champ. I mean fish, greens, almonds, egg whites, flank. This is the life of a newbie competitor.

Three weeks ago I was weighing in at 135.5 and felt the best in my life. I thought I was looking great. For two weeks I went back to 142ish and just felt huge. All of the swelling settled right in my abs and a tad on my thighs (I only work them over like punching bags so they stay in the recovery process).

Monday the scale finally starts to show love. The swelling is going down and man, let me tell you, I have learned a huge lesson. That scale really doesn't mean anything.

Honey, my body looks better today at 138 than it did at 135.5 three weeks ago! I cannot wait to see the next round of pics because I can see changes just looking in the mirror. I think my body must have been going through some serious shifting because I look different and my pants are starting to just fall off!

I tell this story because I often have my own clients get so upset when they workout really hard one day and then the scale goes up. It's normal. It's supposed to happen. If you workout and train at all and the scale doesn't ever move up on you then you must be doing something wrong. Muscle doesn't build until it's had a chance to hold some water for repair. Fat doesn't burn unless it's got muscle working hard on it and neither is going to happen unless you eat the right amount of food...you don't starve and you don't overeat.

My lesson today is if you are a regular weigher like I am, PUHLEEZE think back to the past two three days. Did you follow your plan? Did you eat good foods? Did you workout hard? Did you drink your water? As long as you did these things you have nothing to worry about.

That's how I made it through two terrible weeks. I literally had to keep eating fish and veggies and working out for two plus hours a day while the scale moved up eight pounds just trusting in my famous quote...nobody gets fat eating right and exercising hard.

How I Build My Legs

2008-07-14T06:04:00-07:00

I added a great page to the Phit-N-Phat.com site talking about how I build my legs. It's a good article on sculpting sexy legs, good exercises for women to work the legs and butt, and what you need to do with your exercise routine to improve it.

I hope you enjoy it!

How I Build My Legs

Reflections on 34 Years of Corinne

2008-07-13T04:43:00-07:00

I'm officially 34. Sometimes I think on a birthday I'm going to wake up and feel older or different. I never do, but I always feel "reflective." This year in particular I wanted to make a list of what I'm feeling because it's been a great but tough time in my life.

1. I am proud of myself for sticking to the weightloss journey. This year I was truly tested for the first time on my commitment to myself. When I started down the road to figure competition Logan was diagnosed with autism. It didn't break me. The last thing autism will do to this family is break us. We are healthier, stronger, and facing all of our struggles with tenacity. I like that about us Crabtrees.

2. I am proud to say I struggle with my life. It's not roses, it's not easy, and it's filled with things most people don't choose to do. That's why I love it. Every hurdle I overcome shows me that I am stronger than most AND stronger than I often give myself credit for...which means a lot to me. Each opportunity to succeed (what others call a brickwall) is another chance to prove to the world just what I am made out of.

3. I am proud of my family. Wow...we get a lot done. Logan got into private school when we thought there was no hope. Chris is a success in all he does. I'm the "Queen". We love, keep our priorities straight, take time for ourselves, and we have lots of loving family around us to support us. We are so lucky to have the life we do.

4. I am proud to have so many friends. My goodness ya'll. You all know who you are without me listing you. You make every day a blessing. Do you know how great it feels to have people check-in with you, care about you, and support you unconditionally? I do and luckily for me I have a lot of them doing it. Without my 3-D and my "internet" friends (ya'll know what I'm talking about...LOL) I wouldn't be who I am today. Thanks for all that you do.

5. I am proud of PNP! Oh my. PNP. I can't say enough about our little community. We've built a nice home and you girls inspire me daily with the way you handle your lives.

I can honestly say 33 was a good year. I traveled, faced down challenges, took on new ones, improved myself, and enjoyed the whole ride. That's a good feeling.

Now, I shall celebrate and ring in 34 just like I did 33...a nice long walk/run on the greenway with my Ipod and my legs. Oh, and I'm proud my legs will look 100% better on my annual walk with self. Woot!