Getting Paid to Workout

For all of you out there who frequent classes at the gym or who workout at all I have some info to pass on. I have been asked before about what it takes to become a group fitness instructor so let me tell you what I know. First I want all of you to know that I am not, I repeat, am NOT an expert on this by any means. I am just giving you what I know and what are the most common ways to become certified.

A few years ago the gym at my university was holding AFAA certifications for primary group exercise. Since I was a student I received a discounted rate which was somewhere around 200 dollars for the initial training. It was about 6-8 hours long on a Saturday. We reviewed technique and safety and then were given a 100 question written exam and a physical exam. During the physical exam we had to present our own choreographed segment of a standard aerobics routine.

Last weekend I attended my initial certification for Body Step which is a program by Les Mills. It was Saturday and Sunday and lasted for 8 hours each day. It was hard core but I made it through with a pass, or an "A". Now I have three months to perfect my technique and learn the routine perfectly so that I can video tape myself teaching a class. After I record myself I will submit the tape to Les Mills corporate and will be assessed and graded with a pass or fail. This training cost 200 dollars and I will be forever certified in Body Step.

Both programs do require additional yearly follow up training. With AFAA you are required to acquire CEU's or continuing education units. They cost about 50-75 dollars for three and I believe you need 20 each year. Make sure to check out the website.

With Les Mills all of the choreography is created for you so every three months you pay 35 dollars to receive a DVD, CD and booklet with all the choreography info.

With AFAA you will be a "freestyle" instructor. You will provide your own music and your own choreographed routines. Also if you want to teach say...kickboxing or cycling or pilates, there are extra certifications you can get.

It is the same with Les Mills. If I wanted to teach Body Combat which is basically kickboxing, I would have to pay for another certification and attend another training.

Now I know this is a ton of information but there are even more choices out there. My sister in law is certified through ACE. She has really liked being certified through this company and I don't know all of the details but it may be a little less rigorous than AFAA if you are interested in freestyle.

As far as pay goes, the going rate seems to be something between 30-40 dollars an hour. I know some gyms even go off commission these days like, the more people in your class the more money you make. (I think that is just bananas but hey, I am new at this...)

I know this is a lot of bla bla bla and there are probably going to be one to two readers max for this post but I think going through all the certification is worth it. That is because I enjoy exercise and I enjoy the group fitness atmosphere. Don't ever let yourself think that you could never do this, I honestly think that 95% of people out there could do it if they really wanted to. It's not about whether you look like a barbie doll up there, it's about you being a motivating, enthusiastic instructor whose joy for fitness shows in her attitude. Good luck to all those interested! I hope some of this rambling has helped. If you have any questions just email me katillac765@gmail.com

Great News

I am sure that most of you who read this blog read my family blog too. So you probably already know that I am going to be working at the Gold's Gym here in Tucson. I am so stinkin' excited to be doing something that I love and that is so good for me. I feel so hopeful that this will be the thing I need to make me feel at home in Tucson.

Now that I have this great new job (which won't exactly start right away) I think it will be easier for me to come up with some great new posts for this little bloggy blog. I guess I was feeling like I was getting a bit monotonous with the same old, same old "eat right, exercise" bit over and over.

Another great thing is the method of instruction at this gym. It is called Les Mills and basically it was described to me like this. Think of McDonald's and the hamburger, you always know what you're going to get. With Les Mills group fitness you always know what you are going to get in terms of choreography, intensity and training. I think it will be great for me because I am a new instructor. It will keep me from having to spend hours upon hours coming up with new choreography and purchasing new and exciting music and bla bla bla. If you are interested in finding out more about Les Mills or even getting certified yourself then check it out here.

I'm Back!!!

Woohoo! Here I am! Here I am! I am officially back in the blogging world and I have three things to say. After gaining who knows how many pounds I have successfully returned to my diet for three whole days!!! And I mean consecutive days too!

Other news, apparently Bisquick has trans fat! I make corn bread (Michael's favorite food in the whole wide world) using Bisquick and if you get the regular kind it has trans fat. Who knew?! Not me. So I switched to the green and white "healthier" box and it works the same, tastes the same and has no trans fat.

And my last note worthy note is that I can kick box, in my living room, by myself, while the baby is asleep and still get a great workout. How fun! At least I think so...

I hope all of you are on the bandwagon. I don't know what that means but lets say the band part = your workouts and the wagon part = your eating habits. May all the calories you consume just slide right off you!!!

Update

I am officially in Texas at my parents house.
I haven't worked out in almost two weeks because of all the mumbo jumbo moving stuff.
I haven't been watching what I eat although I haven't intentionally eaten crap.
I am still just three pounds down and holding.
I am ok with all of it and will start over again today.

Thanks Carmen for calling me out. I was beginning to think that if no one else was holding me responsible than I wouldn't have to either. More good stuff to come in the next couple days. I just have to finish some research! :)

A little tangent

I was in my pantry closet and noticed that I have approximately 2 1/2 bottles of corn syrup one if which was facing me with it's nutrition label. Now you probably have two questions here. 1. Why the heck do I have so much corn syrup? 2. How bad is corn syrup? First answer, people keep moving and handing me, along with other food, bottles of corn syrup. Second answer, oh it's bad!!! It's so so bad!!! Calorie wise there are 120 in two TBS of corn syrup. But what is so bad is the ingredient list. Did you know there is high fructose corn syrup in corn syrup? Along with salt and water, these are the main ingredients. I was confused as to why they need to add high fructose corn syrup to corn syrup and so I googled. What is high fructose corn syrup? I stumbled across this article and learned a couple things.
1. High fructose corn syrup was developed in the 70's around the time they developed partially hydrogenated oils as a cheaper alternative to butter and regular sugar.
2. It starts as corn starch but then goes through 3 different chemical alteration processes before becoming HFCS.
3. Most foods are sweetened with this product rather than sugar cane or beet sugar.
4. High consumption of fructose in lab rats showed serious medical disadvantages such as infertility, and heart failure.

There are things I learned about HFCS previous that were also a little grim. If you have read the book, "You; On a Diet" by doctors Oz and Roizin then you know the harmful chemical effects of HFCS in the body. Basically, if I remember right, HFCS isn't registered in your brain as a sugar or sweet and therefore you can gorge on it with out a sugar overload warning coming from your brain. Since it is chemically altered so heavily your brain is like, "I don't see anything" while your butt is screaming, "help us we are going to burst with HFCS-ness!"

Bottom line (no pun intended), HFCS is bad, really, really bad! Which really sucks because it is everywhere! I mean everywhere, ketchup, salad dressings, crackers and apparently it is even hiding in stuff that is already evil like regular corn syrup. Basically just read your labels and watch out for it as best you can. Sometimes you can't avoid it but for butt's sake try!

Done and Done

I did it ya'll. Three pounds down, seven to go!!!

I chickened out!

So I kind of chickened out yesterday from weighing myself. What happened was this, I didn't get to go to the gym in the morning and seeing as how I use the scale at the gym (I actually don't have one at home) I didn't end up weighing myself. I don't know if you know this but technically you weigh a little less in the morning so that is why I always wait for my morning poo and then I go and step on the scale! :) Ha! It may sound silly but it is true. Anyway, I know it's a lame excuse and I don't know what I am so scared of because honestly I did so well last week! I was even at the gym this morning at 7 a.m. but still skipped the weigh in. Tomorrow I will have to get brave and get my booty on that darned thing. I promise to let you know how it goes (because I know you are all just biting your nails) whether it's good or bad.

In the meantime, I wanted to let you all in on a little something I found out. Apparently salads aren't the only things you can order from fast food restaurants these days. Yesterday we went to a different side of the island and after our beach trip we landed our starving belly's in a Burger King. I was nervous about ordering and appalled by the ridiculous price for a chicken salad. I was about to give in and order a Whopper Jr. rather than a Whopper Sr., when I spotted the veggie burger! I ordered it sans mayo and took off a bun slice. When I came home I checked online to see how I had done, the result was a pleasant surprise. Only 340 calories, when eaten without mayo, and since I took off a bun flap it was even less! It was actually really tasty and filling and I didn't feel hungry for quite a while after. However, I wouldn't recommend this as an everyday food choice because the sodium content was a little high and the burger left me very thirsty. Well, the beach and the burger left me very thirsty but needless to say, I felt victorious in conquering my potential burger blunder.

After finding a new option for calorie control at Burger King I got online and looked at Wendy's, Taco Bell, and McDonald's options too. So here is the rundown on my fast food investigation. Taco Bell has recently come out with the "Fresco Menu" which offers 9 items under 9 grams of fat and nothing is over 350 calories! What a great way to get some veggies in too! I like the fresco ranchero chicken soft taco or the or if I'm really hungry the fresco bean burrito. Next, Wendy's, I love their chili and one small cup has 190 calories and 5 grams of fiber. It is filling and great, just don't burn your mouth or add too many saltines (one pack of two saltines has 25 calories, that could add up quickly if your not careful). Last, my least favorite but apparently America's favorite, McDonald's. The grilled chicken snack wrap in honey mustard or chipotle bbq have 260 calories and the ranch has 270. The fruit and walnut salad only has 210 calories but I always skip the nuts because they are roasted and sugared and basically have no nutritional value anyway, and this probably saves around 100 calories. Besides, I don't like walnuts that much anyhow.

So there you go, healthy (ok at least semi-healthy) options from major fast food chains that are low calorie, not the same old salad, and won't leave your stomach feeling like a bottomless pit. Need I say more?!

Heavy Monday

Tomorrow is the official weigh in of my own butt. I have been re-committed to my 10 pound weight loss for a week and I am attempting the scale tomorrow to see the progress. I have to admit that I feel lighter. I don't know if this is just wishful thinking but I really am hopeful that there will be a difference. I have done really well the whole week even with Jack's Birthday on Tuesday and his Birthday party on Saturday. I am still motivated and I love when I have the weight loss mindset. It comes and goes but right now it has definitely come and I am milking it for all it's worth. I have been visualizing the number that I want to weigh all week. I see it in my mind and I think of it all the time. It is a great way to stay focused when faced with everyday temptation. I am also trying to keep an open mind for the possibility of no change. Seeing as how this week "Aunt Flo" has been staying with us. Sometimes she makes me retain water pretty bad. :( But I will cross that bridge when I get there. So here is to tomorrow. I will post again and let you know how it goes. Everyone cross your fingers and wish me luck!!! :)

I want to leave you with a tool, one that I have used all week. If I am faced with a temptation I ask myself how important it is for me to eat it. I think to myself, "when is the next time I will get to eat this?" If the answer is the whenever I want, because the temptation happens to be a Snickers bar, then I walk away. If it is a chocolate mousse filled creme puff from a fancy bakery in Hawaii then the answer is probably not anytime soon, so I eat it. This method of separation between the important and the un-important might seem elementary but it is so helpful. You can use it at work, at restaurants and at home. I hope this all makes sense and that it helps you the next time there is a pan of brownies in the break room or a bag of chocolate chips in the cupboard. Wait for the fantastic, once in a lifetime sweets or junk food will become an everyday occurrence.

Confession

I am going to make a shocking confession right here and right now, and I know my husband won't like it. But here goes...I currently weigh 10 pounds more than I did when I got married! ACK! I know, it sucks, but it's true. Now before all of you go and give me sympathy and tell me it's OK, stop and really think about that! I have only been married for a little over 4 years. That is more than 2 pounds a year! There are a lot of things I could say to justify this IE: the baby, growing older, the fact that you are always super skinny when you get married, etc. But that still doesn't change the truth, which is, I AM 10 POUNDS HEAVIER NOW THAN WHEN I GOT MARRIED!!!

I really don't like this fact, and the fact that there is no fiction to it. It is what it is, 10 pounds of the truth. So...I am getting serious. I was reading my own post about the healthy snacks I like to eat and I came to a moment of clarity. I really do like to eat healthy and the reason I don't eat healthy sometimes is because I am lazy. Seriously, it is so much easier to pop open a bag of Cheetos and a can of coke than it is to chop up veggies and fresh squeeze some orange juice! How lame is it that I am willing to sacrifice my health, my body, and my overall satisfaction with life, for junk food and T.V.?!?!?!

So I am going to do it. I am going to knuckle down and do it! I made it through yesterday so healthy that my bowels didn't know what to do with them selves! My butt was like the exhaust pipe on an 87 Chevy! Poor Michael must have slept with a gas mask on because I really don't know how he would have survived otherwise! But I know that if I keep this up I will get what I want. How simple is that? Work for something and you will get it. It's not like, work for something and if your boss really likes you he will consider you for the promotion but you will be up against three other candidates! It is what it is. Work hard, eat right, lose weight! That. Is. It. Cut and dry! I love it!

Now, I don't want any pity or "you are crazy" comments. I don't want people to tell me that I am skinny and that I don't need to lose weight! I want people to lash out and tell me that I should get rid of that gallon of milk+extra that is jiggling on my butt! I want people to say, "YOU CAN DO IT!" and, "YOU GO GIRLFRIEND! HOLLA!" I want you to support me like a high school football coach. Maybe a little yelling and butt slapping and just tough love!

So! This is my confession. I have put it out there for all to see and read and hear. I am 10 pounds fatter than I used to be and I am going to lose it. The good old fashioned losing it way. Just watch me! ;)

Favorite Snacks

So here are a few of the things I like to eat that I feel like are healthy "live-it" options.

I love old-fashioned oatmeal for breakfast. Not only is it full of fiber, it is filling and tasty. I like to mix in any of these things: (not all together) pumpkin and cinnamon, apples and cinnamon, skim milk and a little bit of peanut butter, or a little honey and skim milk. I always use one splenda packet to sweeten it so I don't have to add any extra calories. The other good thing is that, for me at least, oatmeal keeps me regular! ;) Nothing like the morning constitutional!! (Side note, if you aren't pooping at least once a day you should probably re-calculate your fiber intake.)

Pineapple and low fat or fat free cottage cheese. I use fresh pineapple right now because it is so darn cheap and accessible over here but canned is great too. In fact, I love the sweet/salty combo with most canned fruits. One thing to watch for with the canned fruit is whether it is in its' own juice or in syrup. If you want pears, peaches, mandarin oranges, or pineapple, most of these come in their own juice which is nice. A small serving of this is a great snack because the protein in the cottage cheese keeps you full for a while.

Whole wheat pretzels and peanut butter. If you buy the all natural, salt, sugar free peanut butter it is way better for you. Just look on the jar of Skippy or Jif and you will see hydrogenated oils and added sugar. I take a small spoonful of real natural peanut butter and dash it with salt and sprinkle it with a tiny bit of splenda. Honestly, I think it tastes so much better than the unhealthy stuff anyway. The good thing about the pretzels is the fiber from the whole grain and the crunch. When I diet I really miss the crunch of crackers and chips so this is a great substitute.

Low fat chocolate soy milk. So, so good. I would never drink a cup of the vanilla by itself but the chocolate is so tasty. I like to mix my protein shake with this too. Throw it in the blender with a banana and some ice and it is like dessert!

Whole wheat tortilla and hummus. Me and the Chunky love hummus and putting it on a tortilla is so simple and quick. I have a specific brand of tortillas that I am a fan of. They are La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat Low Carb/Low-Fat Tortillas. They only have 5 net carbs, 80 calories, and 3 grams of fat. Plus they have 14 grams of fiber and they taste soooo good. I know! I know! They are like the best things I have ever found! I was so excited when I made this discovery. Again, the protein in the hummus prolongs fullness. Just be careful with the hummus, they add high fructose corn syrup to that too. :(

This one is simple. Gogurt. There are only 70 calories in one and if you put them in the freezer they take longer to eat and are more like a treat.

There are honestly about a hundred more things that I could list but these are just a few. If you have any good ideas please post them! It's good to share!

How much do you burn?

This link will take you to a site that calculates how much you burn during a ton of different activities. Even things like arts and crafts and bailing hay! Crazy but neat to see what your body is burning during any given time of day.

p.s. The salad post kind of bombed and it doesn't really seem like many people are reading the blog anymore so I will try and recruit a few more participants before I post the salad recipes. Thanks to those who sent some in and to those who even check this blog out! :)

Calling all salads!!!

Hey ladies, I need your help this time for sure. I don't know about you guys but I hate salads from my own kitchen. I don't know what it is but when I make a salad at home it never tastes as good as if it were made anywhere else. I could use the exact same ingredients and it still wouldn't be the same. I have to force myself to eat the salad ingredients that I buy so my money won't go to waste. I get so sick of the same old fat free and low calorie dressings and I can't seem to spice things up. Take me out to eat and I would order a healty salad off the menu in a heart beat. But hand me every salad ingredient under the sun and I wouldn't be able to make anything a rabbit would want to eat! Argh! So here is where you come in, I need good salad recipes. Email me whatever you have, whether it's tips to make things tastier, salad dressings, or the whole salad recipe! I will post the good ones and we can all share! katillac765@gmail.com Can't wait! Can't wait!

Roller Coaster Ride

Hi friends! Today was a wonderful day. We went to the beach as a family and I was able to boogie board, layout and watch the baby splash a ton. It was phenomenal. Now what does this have to do with anything?

I don't know about you but the first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is get naked and look at myself in the mirror from every possible angle. I do this because I generally look the skinniest in the morning. It tends to set my mood for the day and usually it is better than worse. This isn't because I actually think I am skinny, it's because I believe that I look the fattest right before I go to bed. So I wake up and have a "new", "slimmer" body and I feel pretty good. Today was no exception, except it was! I think all of my hard work and goal reaching may have paid off from last week because not only was I "morning skinny", I actually did look a bit better. So needless to say, I was excited about myself and felt proud of my body.

Because of this new found self esteem I had absolutely no reservations to spend the day at the beach in my bikini. No reservations until we arrived at the beach and there were many, many, skinny, skinny girls there. I mean the ones that must be models or something. They seriously must have had a model convention at the beach today! It was ridiculous. So I spent part of my day flat on my back sulking and feeling like a whale amongst the minnows but then something changed...I remembered how I had felt this morning. I thought of all the hard work I had done trying to meet my goals and I felt better. I wasn't about to go jogging down the beach or anything but I felt better and I got off of my towel and my big, lazy, sulky butt. I turned out to have a wonderful day and I am so glad that I remembered my early morning skinny body.

Point is, when you have days of emotional roller coaster riding you can end on a good note. I started my day at the very top of the roller coaster, right after you do the slow motion click click click and just before you begin your descent. I hit many bottoms and my stomach did some loop-d-loops but in the end I was comfortable with myself and I exited today's ride with a positive feeling. I know that I will probably never wear a size 2, and I know that I will never be a 5'9" blond super model, and I know that I will never be considered a walking barbie doll. But all of that is ok, because none of that is real life and I am a very real life. I am ok because what matters the most is being healthy and that includes having a healthy self image.

So assignment today (you do realize that these assignments are totally bogus and I am just happy that someone is reading my ramblings?) is to love your body because it is yours and because life is full of ups and downs but as long as you set goals you will have more ups than downs. Keep up the good hard work ladies and don't let anyskinnybody get you down!

Fun Fact Friday

So last week was a freaky fact but you know I decided that I don't want to do that every week. Instead this week lets be positive. Besides, I realize that most of you don't order fettuccine alfredo when you go to an italian restaurant. It was mostly to promote awareness but I realize I can do that with good info not fatty nasty info.

Lets talk about running and it's benefits to your body. We all know that there are cardiovascular benefits to this type of exercise but for those of us with sensitive joints we also know that there are risks too. I mentioned previously that I have bad knees which leaves me unable to run for times throughout the year. What should I do then? Is running the only way to get out and enjoy the fresh air? Of course not but it is definitely the most convenient because it requires the least amount of equipment. But did you know that you can burn the same amount of calories by walking the same distance? That may sound like duh! But when I was told that I was like aha!

See, a mile is a mile. That means that whether you decide to run, walk or trot the distance is what really matters. Think of it this way, if you eat a gallon of ice cream does it matter how fast or slow you eat it? No, the calorie consumption is the same whether you inhale it like hot air or you savor it lick by lick. When we run a mile our bodies burn roughly between 100-120 calories. When we walk that mile our bodies do the same amount of work just in a slower time. So it's ok to walk. If you are an experienced runner that needs a break than walk and don't feel guilty. If you are an experienced walker that needs a challenge then step it up and run for an interval. Either way your body is benefiting from the motion. So never get discouraged when someone laps you on the track or when your too achy to run that day. Just change it up and make the distance what matters. Keep it up ladies and don't forget your renewed vows from the beginning of the week. Good luck!

America's Junk Food Obsessed Cities

I found this article interesting. See what you think. BTW while I am talking about what you think, I just want to say I love all of your comments. Every night I go to bed with like 50 ideas swirling in my head for this blog. So expect more and keep up the comments! Thanks everyone! Junk Food Cities

Why Weight?

There are a million varying ideas as to what women should be doing in regards to weight training. Advice ranges from the traditional low-weight + high rep combination, to skipping weights all together. I know that some of you have been told that if you lift heavy weights you will turn out looking like Popeye after he has his spinach. I want to clear up some of these conflicting ideas by telling you what I think. Now this is all based on my own personal information, gathered from a book here and a magazine there but most importantly from my own experience.

Have you ever heard the expression "use it or lose it"? Good because if you don't use your muscle you will lose it. Think of a person who has been in a comma for months. When they wake up they can hardly walk, sit up or even talk. This is due to extreme muscle atrophy. Meaning their muscles weaken to a point where simple everyday tasks are a chore. This can happen to you and your body, maybe not in such an extreme way, but along the same lines. Take me for example, I haven't really danced since I was eighteen and tried out for the UVSC dance team. Every once in a while I get the urge to leap and turn again so I go upstairs to the little gym room and I test out my skills. I have learned that even though I remember how to do the moves, I struggle to get my fat arse off the ground when leaping. This is because my dancing muscles have weakened. I didn't use them and so I lost them.

Let me give you a statistic. The average woman gains twenty four pounds between the ages of twenty five and sixty five. This weight gain, when stretched over the 40 year time period, comes out to 8 extra calories a day. That's right, 8! Want to lose 10 pounds in a year and three inches off of your waist? Then simply cut 100 calories from your diet each day. (That doesn't mean that you will end up weighing zero pounds after 13 years, be reasonable ladies.) Now listen to this little tidbit about muscle. Every pound of muscle burns between 40 and 120 calories a day just to sustain itself. If you increase your muscle you will increase your bodies natural calorie burning capacity. To parallel the massive calorie burn of the muscle, let's realize that one pound of fat burns 1 to 3 calories per day. Ew! The last little fact I want to mention is startling. If you are at a stable weight at the age of 35 and don't do any resistance training, you will need to consume 120-420 fewer calories per day just to maintain that weight.

Now that we know muscle is incredibly important, let's talk about the best ways to weight train. First let's learn something, to be considered fit in a muscular sense, a 30 year old woman should be able to do 45 push ups on her knees. This is where we should start. It may seem more exciting to head to the gym and train on all of the fancy equipment but really you can get a good workout without all of the mechanics. Seriously, how many push ups can you do? Can you do 50 walking lunges on each leg? Can you put your feet under the couch and do 30 sit-ups in a minute? Start with the basics and then move on up. When I say move on up I mean it too. Don't grab the 5 pound dumbbells and do 30 bicep curls. That is like using a rubber chicken to tone your arms, pretty un-realistic. Grab a dumbbell that feels heavy and curl it until the point of exhaustion. If this is a 20 pound weight, then do the 5,8 or 10 reps that it takes to fatigue that muscle. There is no point in pretending to build muscle. Do it, commit, lift weight not toys shaped like weights.

Obviously everyone is different. But I know that for me and for the other people I have trained with, this is the most effective way. When I really challenge my muscles I see results because I am building muscle. Before I was married I wanted to get in serious shape but I was having terrible knee pain. It was so bad that I almost couldn't make it to class from my car. I went to see an orthopedic surgeon and he told me that if I wanted to be able to "walk down the aisle" I should stop all cardiovascular exercise. I was stunned, how did he expect me to lose weight for my honeymoon without being able to run or even use the elliptical? Instead of giving up and getting soggy, I committed myself to a new and serious weight training program. I was intense in my workouts and I got in great shape. My muscle tone was incredible and I actually looked like I worked out. I am not recommending that you skip all cardio because it is sooo good for your body, but I am suggesting that you take weight training seriously. Don't forget your muscles, give them some tough love and make em' burn. Why "weight"? Get fit by increasing your muscle mass and getting off or your...tush! ;)

Renewing Our Vows

So of course tomorrow is Monday, the most popular "start my diet" day and instead of the typical Sunday night prayer, "and please help me achieve my goals and stick to my diet this week" I thought I would really contemplate the opportunity I have here. Now that I have a blog dedicated to healthy success and now that I have a strong desire to get pregnant in the next few months I really do need to renew my vows and get to where I want to be.

So here is a list of my vow renewal:

1. I vow to think of my body, I mean really envision my body before I eat. That way I won't just mindlessly grab the potato chips because I will see, in my minds eye, the squishy on my hips.

2. I vow to do the stairs at least once everyday, except Sunday, because I know the positive impact this will have on my tush. Honestly the stairs and spin class are the two most powerful butt shapers I have ever experienced.

3. I vow to stretch at least once during the day. Whether it's morning Yoga or a nighttime bender with my Hubby. (Not that kind you dirty mind people. We really do stretch together!) This will decrease my chance for injury and will help align my mind and body.

4. I vow to eat vegetables everyday this week. I will honestly eat a vegetable in a healthy form not covered in butter or battered and fried. And avocados, corn, and white potatoes don't count.

5. Lastly I vow to prioritize my life around my son, my husband and myself not the T.V. or the computer.

Now here is your challenge. Remember a time where you felt you were in shape. Think of the things that you were doing. Think of what filled your days and how you felt physically and emotionally at that time. Remember the exercises you did and the foods you ate. Choose the positive highlights of this time of fitness and re-apply them this week. Walk a mile in your old shoes, better yet walk 3 miles in your old shoes and start over. After all, it's Monday! What better day than Monday and what better time then now. Good luck. I'll see you all next week happier and healthier.

This is a picture of me when I felt I looked the best. I was happy and fit and thrilled to be alive.

Freaky Fact Friday

So I know it is technically Saturday but I had all of the intentions of posting this yesterday. Since I wasn't able to accomplish it yesterday I thought I would finish it today. Much like we should all do when we miss a workout day, we should just do it the next day instead of scrapping it all together! Now here is your freaky fact.

A single lunch sized portion of Olive Garden's fettuccine alfredo can be broken down like this:

Nutrition Facts
Calories 850
Total Fat 48g 74%
Cholesterol 383 mg 128%
Sodium 723 mg 30%
Total Carbs. 70.5 g 24%
Dietary Fiber 2 g 8%
Protein 33 g
Calcium 450 mg

Not only is this one portion of artery clogging pasta making up about half of your daily caloric intake it is the calorie equivalent of roughly 7 bowls of Cornflakes and the fat equivalent of 4 glazed Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Notice the percentages next to the grams and milligrams? Pay particular attention to the cholesterol, that's right! One LUNCH SIZE portion contains 128% of your daily cholesterol! What does that even mean people?!
But let's give it some credit, there are 33 g of protein in it right? Wrong! One four ounce chicken breast contains roughly 30 grams of protein on it's own.
In one of my favorite episodes of the Nanny (yes I like Fran Drescher and yes I like the Nanny) Fran picks up two pieces of pizza and lays them on top of each other. She turns to Maggie next to her and says, "Don't worry sweetheart, when you stack them on top of each other like this the body doesn't know." Please ladies, don't ever think that your body won't know or that you can go to the gym and run the 8 miles that it would take to burn this off. Give your vascular system a break and choose a healthier option. In conclusion, if you are out to lunch at the Olive Garden, stick to the Soup, Salad and Breadstick (yes one "breadstick" not "breadsticks") for $5.95 that we all love.

What does success taste like to you?

If you had to describe your body what would you say?
Or better yet, what flavor do you think you would taste?
Are you tighty-frutti, or cottage cheesey?
Are you marshmallow squish or hard apple candy?
Do you like your flavor but need to be revitalized?
Maybe you're a banana waiting for the fat to be peeled from your thighs!
Or maybe you are an apple but wish you were a pear.
Whatever your desire, whatever your flavor,
Decide today to do yourself a favor!
Promise yourself that you are going to change/enhance/revitalize!
It may be a rocky road ahead but the reward will eventually be realized.

If you commit to change and commit to fight;
You can abolish the jello-jiggle and keep your abs tight!
You can become the grade-A, top choice piece of meat;
Instead of the squishy log of 70/30 ground beef.
You can change your image from couch potato to potato gun!
The best part of all is that sometimes it's fun!
Not everyday will be a Sundae with nuts;
But each day you work hard you will begin to get cut.
Your rolls will stop rolling and your skin will get tight;
You'll go from full fat fudge to fluffy and light!

So today is the day that you stop being Kentucky Fried Chicken!
Today is the day you back away from the kitchen.
No one will know if you cheat or mess up,
It's all up to you, to you and your gut!
Make a choice here and now to change your original flavor;
To something more healthy that you (and your hubby ;) will want to savor.
Choose for yourself to start living today;
Trade in your full fad "die-it" and pick the more permanent "live-it" way.