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

The Best FATBURNER On the Market Is Here!

2009-12-15T09:32:42-08:00

Well, I was at the gym this morning and had a conversion with someone drinking an energy drink. I asked why and she said she was just looking for something to amp her up a bit. No problem with that. I've been known to toss back a Speed Stack, coffee, whatever when I'm tired.

In the midst of the conversation I mentioned that I have been working towards getting off so much caffeine because I felt "juiced up" all the time and when I didn't have my "fix" I was snappy. For example...

Logan drops a piece of paper - I snap why are you making all that noise????

OK...it's not that bad but you get my drift. Lately, I've been drinking some green tea with mint in the mornings and then switching to water and caffeine free green tea in the afternoons. I think I'm feeling better.

Back to the gym though; I made the off-handed remark, "You know, green tea is a natural fat burner, too." I said this, looked at my workout for the day, and said, "Well, cardio and weights are the best natural fat burners so I best put up or shut up." I put on my headphones and got busy.

While working out I couldn't help but think of that comment. One key piece of advice from me when it comes to a fat burner that really works: Expect the fat to come off your body to match the effort you give in the gym AND the effort you give in the kitchen preparing foods and menus for your week.

It's not fancy but it works. I will tell you when you are doing EVERYTHING RIGHT with diet and exercise you can try things like green tea, CLA, fasted cardio, etc., to give you an edge. But, tricks and gimmicks don't work until you get to about 18% body fat. Even then, nothing helps more than your food selection and level of intensity you bring to the gym.

Now, go out there and burn up some fat ladies! I posted a workout for the stairmaster on the PNP Fan Page on Facebook this morning. I did it myself and it was nice. Check it out!

More Holiday Survival Tips from PNP

2009-12-14T12:15:28-08:00

Are we there yet? Jan. 1? Every where you turn someone got a tray of cheese, popcorn ball, or glass of wine square in your face. If that ain't happening, then you got parties, family gatherings, and shopping getting in the way of your workouts. Man, if we can just get to January and to our free 12 Week Workshop...right?

Today I want to give you a blitz of survival tips and hope you will share some of your own.

Got a Gift of Fat?
Someone obviously doesn't understand your clean lifestyle because a tin of cheddar popcorn just showed up at the door. What do you do?

Take is to a Kids Community Center.
Take it to a Nursing Home.
Take it to Hospice Center.
Take it a Hospital ICU Waiting room.
See if your kids class would like a special treat for the day and bag it up for their snack.

Potluck-Smotluck
Yep...it's time for the four basic food groups: Mac and Cheese, Potato Casserole, Cookies, and Sausage Balls. What do you do?

Find the most healthy thing you can and fill your plate 3/4 full. (You probably had to bring this salad, BTW.)
Figure out what the best meat option is and have a serving even if it means peeling off skin, sugar crust, or sopping off sauce.
Have a small serving of something you like.
Drink a lot of water.

If you are die hard just eat your own lunch in front of everyone. When/if someone says something to you say you just had a night of not-so-fun holiday aftermath and you don't want to test your Imodium just yet.

Your Exercise Window is Closed
This month you find yourself constantly skipping workouts running from party to kid's play to last minute gift grab. What do you do?

Make a weekly plan. Find when you can squeeze in your workouts.
Cut your training to four days and combine your cardio and strength workouts. My Work Your Butt Off cardio book has loads of upper body, core, and lower body routines.
GET YOUR BUTT UP EARLY! No excuses ladies. I got girls who seriously get up at 3:50 am these days to get in a workout. I personally do 4-5 am daily.

Getting up buys you time. Even if you don't workout, you can be like me and knock out the dishes, laundry, pack bags, and start the work day ( thank goodness for a stay-at-home business) all before your family hits the snooze button the first time.

Let's hear it everyone. I want to know your challenges! I can help you, the girls can help you or you can leave your best tip like a little Christmas present to the next girl panicking about what she's doing this week.

The Top Five Lessons Learned Being a Personal Trainer

2009-12-12T18:31:43-08:00

Let me share a ridiculous story I witnessed at the gym today.

I am doing my workout while a guy, who is trying to get into shape, is working out with the "gym trainer." This trainer is trying to show him how to do a Bosu Ball push up - hop the Bosu Ball, side pup, hop again, side pup, and then back to a regular push up.

This sounds like a fabulous, creative and hard exercise that would get you into shape. I agree you need to be pretty fit to be doing it and if you can, my hat is off to you.

BUT, this guy was NOT FIT, struggling to curl the same weight as ME (he's at least 6 foot tall), and the dumb TRAINER had a hard time doing one stinking rep!!!!!

I was a hot second from going over there and kicking in their face. For real, here's my beef.

People who are not in great shape don't need some idiot gym trainer basically making a spectacle of them in the gym for all to see. Being a former obese girl, it takes some balls to workout in front of people with the basic moves. Hell, the basics kicked my ass up and down for a long time. I didn't need a BOSU HOP PUSH UP to do that.

These are the types of trainers that blow my mind and make me pissy. They have no idea what it feels like to be uncomfortable in your skin, to think more about what others think of you than the form you are doing, and to go home feeling like a failure not knowing the exercises you couldn't do were way beyond what you SHOULD be doing.

Ya'll, today validated to me why I know what the hell I'm talking about. Now I know why so many of you like hearing me spew because I get it. I really get it. The last few years helping my girls has taught me so much and now you get to read my top five lessons:

People need more help than just a routine. Most people need to understand what they are doing, why they are doing it, how to do it, and when to do it. You can't teach your clients too much.
It ain't just showing up at the gym. Now a days I've started building into my custom programs "lifestyle" exercises so we can dump BLACK AND WHITE THINKING. For example, I have a client who feels like if she misses her morning workout her day is shot even though there is no reason she can't go at night. I put into her schedule that one day a week she must plan to workout at night. This shows her that it is doable to workout at night, what to expect in the evening, and helps her learn how to plan the day around evening exercise.
Most of us don't go from Big Mac to broccoli overnight so it's OK to do better and better until you are ready for broccoli.
It's OK to eat. It's OK to eat. It's OK to eat. Losing weight has nothing to do with starving. You get used to eating a lot more healthy stuff you'll be shocked at how you lose weight. It is about better choices and filling up on fruits and veggies.
Plan, plan, and then have a back up plan if you are a busy person. The more you plan and prep the more good days you will have.

The most important lesson, though, is this. You gotta love yourself, KNOW you are worth the effort, and know that healthy foods and exercise aren't a punishment for being out of shape. It's a blessing to live where you can make the choice to take care of yourself.

Do the Complete Opposite

2009-12-09T08:31:31-08:00

Many people have heard this before...

"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again achieving the same results."

Are you stalled in your weightloss but FEARFUL if you change something you'll gain or it won't work? Paralyzed by that fear you continue to do the same elliptical routine, eat the same frozen dinners for lunch, then have weekends where you can't control your eating.

Are you waking up and skimping or skipping breakfast, making a plan to workout at night? The problem is you are tired, stressed, and ready to gnaw off your arm when you get home so you eat until the kids go to bed where you collapse in the bed to watch TV.

Are you always giving into temptations...lunches with co-workers, cake at the office, Burger King on the way home, and a hot latte when Susie Q. needs a caffeine fix? Each week you think about packing some snacks, having prepared meals at home, and then just don't do it thinking you'll "wing it" this week.

Girls, girls, girls...are you INSANE? No...but I think you are in desperate need of help.

Starting Jan 4, 2010, I will start a 12-week email workshop of one to two messages a week. In those messages you will get motivation, sample workouts, instruction on healthful eating, and lifestyle techniques to be a phitter you in 2010. It is open to all my PNP readers: clients and blog followers.

We'll have some mini-challenges and exercises we will do in the blog but you NEED TO SIGN UP with me in email (corinne@phit-n-phat.com) if you wish to be a part of the workshop. It's FREE and I'm doing it in hopes of inspiring you to start 2010 unlike any other year. Maybe you will become a PNP Member or buy a book, but I really just want to teach more people how to start living the live they DESERVE. This workshop CAN be all you need to make the first twelve weeks of January unlike any other year.

Check out this video. It's a good laugh but it also shows how changing one little thing can lead to BETTER results for you!

Is Your Office Making You Fat?

2009-12-08T09:51:13-08:00

One of my hot button issues is office etiquette on bringing in dang food to all the people in the name of "being nice." What is so funny to me is that you rarely hear anyone say "let's respect all the people who are trying to eat better, change their habits, or struggle with weightloss. How about a fruit or veggie tray today?" No way man, it's the GIFT OF FAT and it's running wild!

I know some of you will roll your eyes or think I'm a total hard butt when it comes to this topic. Well, I've been doing a super secret project this month that NO ONE outside of my mole knows about.

My project: The mole tracked how many times and what was left in the breakroom for everyone to ENJOY over the course of one month! (rolling my eyes)

IN ONE MONTH here is the breakdown. I was VERY GENEROUS with making the average calories based on a small sample of the gift of fat. The reason? Most of you will always say, "I had a little bit, was fine with it, and now moving on."

Nov. 6	B-day! Peach Cobbler	240 calories (1/2 serving)
Nov. 10	B-day! Honey Buns	252 calories (small bun; not commercial size)
Nov. 12	Banana Nut Bread gift	270 calories (avg. 3 oz slice)
Nov. 12	Cake (just for more Nov. 12 fun)	180 for a sliver of cake (1/2 to quarter typical slice with icing)
Nov. 20	Pound Cake for Nov B-days??? We've had two but who's counting.	100 calories for 1in. slice
Nov. 23	Fruit Cobbler	240 calories
Dec. 1	Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies (homemade)	246 for a homemade cookie and half that for store bought
Dec. 2	More Banana Nut Bread	270 calories
Dec. 3	More Cobbler	240 calories
Dec. 4	More Pound Cake	100 calories
Dec. 8	Applesauce Cake	269 calories (don't be fooled with the word applesauce)

Holy crap - that's a lot of little bit every few days...or daily in some cases! This is an office who loves to bring in stuff, obviously.

Keep in mind, my list DOES NOT INCLUDE:

Any potlucks
Any vendor lunches
Any lunches with the co-workers
Any candy dishes (3 Hershey Kisses is 75 calories)
Any runs to the Starbucks for a Skinny Latte (90 calories)

You see where I am going?

2400 calories for just popping into the breakroom for a "sample" of what people are gifting you.

We can safely tack on one lunch a week with a little piece of the bread, tossing back a piece of candy or two every few days, and BLT's you might do at home for a good amount of people who want to lose weight. Ummm...hate to tell you but now know why the scale is MOVING UP OR STALLING.

As I've said before, you can't outrun a bad diet. For my girls who workout HARD but can't say not to booze and food you are probably sitting there saying, "I think she's talking to me."

My goal with this blog is to show ALL people the diet pitfalls AROUND THEM and maybe, just maybe one of these food pushers will think twice about dropping off stuff by the coffee pot.

What are your thoughts about this? It pisses me off...sorry to be blunt, but it does. People like my mom, my friends, my clients, my HUSBAND have to face this crap all the time. I work hard to build you up, teach you how to eat, and then you go to get a cup of coffee and got warm, bubbly cake staring you in the face. If that ain't bad enough you got some smart ass telling you one LITTLE piece won't hurt.

You are rude or crazy if you don't eat this crap. Tell you what...be rude, be crazy, and be the person that says, "you know what, I don't want to hear it from my lifestyle coach when I'm eating things that aren't in my plan." If they question you on the lifestyle coach, give them my web address and just say you don't want those guns after you.

You might not be a client but, hey, if it saves you some grief and calories I don't care how much you use me as your scapegoat.

Ya'll be strong, keep eating out of your cooler, smile and say no when they offer, and if you take pictures of the gift of fat I will BLOG IT!

Recipe Rewind and A New Twist: Corinne's Protein Bowl

2009-12-06T18:06:42-08:00

Awhile ago I posted a recipe I love and thought I would kick off this week with something you can enjoy for lunch every day that is filling, loaded with good protein, and the types of carbs that won't leave you hungry and energy crashing all afternoon. I can eat this and go four to five hours so it's great if you have a job where an afternoon snack can't happen until the car ride apple on the way home.

Basic Recipe: Corinne's Protein Bowl

2 packs boneless skinless chicken tenderloins
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can black beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can chic peas (optional)
1 can corn
Cumin, salt, red pepper, and cinnamon to taste.

Put all ingredients in a crock pot and cook on low 6 - 8 hours. If your crockpot cooks high then I would cut the time to 4-6 hours.

You can also add brown rice, salsa, lowfat cheese, diced green onions, and/or lowfat sour cream.

***Not my picture but it looks a lot like it...just be sure to use brown rice unlike Gina and her white rice. LOL

Paula's Twist to the Protein Bowl

Ground turkey breast (cook on stove)
Beans
Corn
Salsa
Spices (you can even use a taco seasoning pack with the turkey)

Cook all on a stove, mix in some brown rice, reduced fat cheese, and serve over a big bed of fresh spinach leaves.

For a splurge night that is controlled, you could drop the rice and serve over Baked Tostitos. Logan and Chris really enjoy things like this and it makes feeding the whole family healthy EASY.

The other great thing about this meal is that you can make it up and it on it for a few days quite easy.

I Love Smuckers!

2009-12-03T14:50:05-08:00

Not only do they make peanut butter in individual servings, but they happen to represent what Angela I want to be when we grow old...spotlighted by Wiliard Scott for crossing the century mark.

In Dawn's journal she wrote how during her cardio this morning she had a revelation of sorts. See, Dawn and I along with a few other PNP girls are going to compete in Figure and Bikini this spring. And don't think for a hot second that we are a bunch of lifetime fitness chicks either!

I'm proud to say I will be on stage with a group of mommies who have lost well over 400lbs. We've been fat (me more than most), we have kids, we weren't athletes in school, and we are just women who want to do things we've never done before. We want to be hot, sexy, sport some bling, but most importantly, we want to do what other people talk about doing.

While she was putting in time on her treadmill she thought about a cousin she lost when he was only a child. She then thought of mom's who have died of cancer leaving behind children. The song "I can only imagine" came on and she thought to herself these people would love another shot at life to achieve one more thing in life.

We are all so lucky to be able to do what we want with our life. There are hardly ANY of you reading this blog today that have any legitimate excuses to not start changing your life. I've got girls at PNP right now shooting to LOSE weight during the holidays. I have some who want this to be the first holiday they don't gain...they want a maintenance month. What do you want? What if this is your last year? Do you want it filled with regrets you didn't do more to live longer, live happier, and accomplish more? Not me.

I love this time of year. It's when I start asking my PNP clients to set their 2010 goals. I help them get their food and exercise in order with my programs. We will start a three month give up a bad habit challenge thread in our private forums. From Splenda to pastries we have things we want to stop to get our results in 2010.

The key is that as a group we have learned that life is meant to be filled with happiness and satisfied with your lifestyle choices. Some of us have huge goals of competing, running marathons, becoming a certified trainer, and being a triathlete. Others simply want to stand up proudly at the age of 100 grinning wildly that they made it to Smuckers! I'm so proud to be the trainer of so many women who are going to get what THEY want out of 2010.

Girls, be on the watch! You got your new training schedule and this month we're doing like last year and fixing to do our goal setting, reflection of 2009, and organizing to be ready for the New Year!

Quit Starving and Just EAT!

2009-11-23T09:45:11-08:00

When you diet do you feel like you are always trying to say no to food? I don't mean donuts, burgers, and fries. I mean do you catch yourself thinking "it's too early to eat," or "I just need to keep busy because I shouldn't be eating right now."

What the hell are you doing is my first question? Oh I know, you are doing the oldest diet in the book - The Starve and Binge Diet. It's famous here in the states. I hardly know a woman who hasn't done it and it's so fabulous that most women do it all their life or at least two to three times a year.

OK...so I'm being snarky and funny but there is something I have learned through my own weightloss. You see, I didn't really follow a "diet" other than joining Weight Watchers after losing 80+ lbs. by myself. I still stuck my basics but needed Weight Watchers to force me to finally JOURNAL and MEASURE. Yep, I didn't do that for 80lbs. LOL.

What I learned while losing weight was that I was the kind of girl that doesn't like being hungry. Ask the King how much fun the Queen is if she is missing a meal or needing one.

I'm an ass. I big ass.

It is RARE I don't eat when I'm hungry. Heck, I wake up hungry at 2am OFTEN and eat some protein powder or an apple. If I am hungry I am not functional and I certainly can't sleep.

This is why I preach to you the value of snacks between meals. EAT. Honestly, I don't care how much my clients eat. I do give them a calorie range but that's more for their comfort than mine. In their initial PNP welcome packet I do give them calories based on the program I give them and their history, BUT the very next line states they can start with NOT counting calories at all.

I would rather see every person who joins PNP start with writing down what they eat, planning what they are going to eat, making changes in the foods they eat, and then eating all the healthy stuff they want. I mean get full, load it up, rub the Buddah full of good foods and lose weight. One, it's healthy and you eat good stuff. Two, you get in the habit of listening to when you are hungry.

I also give an exercise routine and, honestly, the people who are attracted to my programs are ones that are not active at all or needing to do more than videos, etc. When they hit the PNP workouts and we put in regular exercise that challenges your muscles (regardless of fitness level), they are going to get hungry.

You know what? It's FINE.

This brings me to the Starve and Binge Diet. Most people will do this diet FIRST with my schedule regardless of what I say. It goes like this: they starve and either have a time of day they end up bingeing or they binge about every three days. At some point your body is going to win if you don't eat. If you find yourself bingeing in a pattern you don't eat enough to fuel YOUR body daily. Hey, YOU might require a few more calories than what you think.

This is the silly part. All those calories you save up in the starving part are erased in the binge phase. I haven't met a girl yet who loses weight because she usually eats crap (no bingeing on apples) and the crap has more calories than the starvation period. So, even if you "think" you are eating in your calorie range you never truly are.

Sigh. Eat your snacks. That's all I need to say.

Friday Motivation

2009-11-20T10:52:06-08:00

I am having a great day. My workout was fierce today, I weighed in for the first time since Sept 22, and my clients are humming along doing all kinds of wonderful things.

Not sure if I shared it, but Jane (a fellow moderator) and I made a pact we weren't weighing. We were done being controlled by that beast of a scale. She is like me, fit, athletic, and yet too consumed with a number and not enough with our gorgeous image in the mirror! Hee hee.

I am proud to say that during my muscle building phase that my weight is up RIGHT ON STINKING TARGET. Amazing how just paying attention to the exercise and what you are doing in the kitchen gets the results it should. AND, I did it without ever having to look at the numbers. In the eight week period I am up a little over 2.5lbs. and 7 total for the build process. For me, that is excellent and leaves me with a few more pounds to gain before I begin dieting next year for some shows.

My spirit and mind feel so liberated today. As I shared in my journal on the PNP site, for the first time in my life I feel like I actually am in control of this lifestyle. I exercise because I love it. I eat healthy because it's good for me. When I have treats it's because I want them and not because of a bad day. For a former obese girl it's a HUGE deal to be able to gain weight with a purpose, not freak out about it, and feel confident cutting back won't feel bad. I already eat those foods and ENJOY them! What a concept.

We all can have this feeling. ALL OF YOU. Please never forget that I was just like many of you reading this entry. I was 210 when I was 13 years old, 220 when I was 20 years old, and 250 when I was 28 years old. I was as good at being overweight as I am at being fit now.

Small changes, consistency, and thinking about the good things to do more than the bad things you did will get you there. The daughter of one of my new clients got with her BFF last night and they set out their goals for the next few months. This morning the mom found it proudly printed and hung on the exercise room wall and signed by both of them. Enjoy, because it sums it all up.

WE PROMISE
That we will always write down what we eat [ no matter what!]
We will work out 5 days a week including cardio and switch off running, biking, hula hooping
Do Phit-N-Phat workouts and Ab Ripper X
We will work out after school no matter what
WE will be skinny bitches by FEBRUARY VACA
WE will always stay optimistic

Quick Tips to Help Keep Weight Gain Away at Thanksgiving

2009-11-19T03:45:51-08:00

I've been scouring newsletters, people, and my own history to give you ideas on what you can do to keep from gaining any TRUE fat the week of Thanksgiving. Remember, you are likely to bloat a little but come Monday you should have the same weight as last week.

Add 10 minutes a day to your exercise plan. By adding 10 min. of INTERVAL training to the end of every workout that week you will burn up 400-500 additional calories to help off set a small piece of pie and serving of dressing.

When you eat pie, take a true 1/8 of a slice and cut off the end piece where the crust is. There is a mother load of calories in that piece.

Skip the rolls. Most are store bought.

In fact, anything that isn't homemade and special skip it. Do you really want to gain weight off of Kroger brand white rolls?

NO GRAVY. Come on! Are you telling me the mashed potatoes and such aren't rich enough without the gravy on top?

Be the fun grown up. Rather than hanging in the kitchen to nibble or watching the TV, play with the kids. Even playing a game of checkers will avoid BLT'ing through the day. If you are really spunky go outside and play a game. You can throw the football and let them run around if you need to. You don't have to be in the best shape. Just get away from sitting and eating.

DO NOT take home leftovers. A lot of people will want to send home leftovers with you. They are smart. They don't want the temptation sitting around THEIR house.

The opposite holds true, too. Get the leftovers out. For those that want to take some home, let them. Otherwise, I wouldn't keep anything past Friday. Remember, food poisoning can make you just break out in a horrible case of fat.

Get up CRAZY early on Thanksgiving and Strength Train - not just cardio. You can also do some cardio afterward, but if you lift you are less likely to crave carbs all day. You can do it at home with DB's and if you don't have equipment, you can do squats, push ups, step ups on a chair, lunges, and other body weight exercises to failure.

Make it one meal. The rest of the day eat your regular diet. If you go in hungry trying to save calories you will eat double the calories you normally do. Plus, you will likely store it as fat if your body is in a desperate hunger state.

Take vegetables and fruit to the dinner. Have a lot of those and enjoy a little of the special stuff.

If you don't love it, just don't eat it.

Seconds ONLY after you have drank 16 oz of water when you finish the meal and you have waited 15 min. from finishing. You may still want more but you are likely to only dish out half of what you would have right after eating.

Bring your toothbrush and brush your teeth when you are done. Get the savory flavors out of your mouth.

Help clean the kitchen. You'll be moving or you can go back outside and play more with the kids.

If you do shopping on Friday, every hour, leave the mall, put your bags in the trunk, and then walk one lap around the outside of the mall. It will stretch your muscles, clear your mind, and burn off some calories.

Feel free to add your own tips to this list!