Chair Yoga -- If you can breathe, you can do it!

It's been quite a while since my last post!  A lot has happened!  First and foremost, I'm a new grandma!  It is truly one of most amazing things that can happen to a person.  Of course, being a mother is my most valued gift, but when you become a grandparent, all of the pressure of having total responsibility over this little life is gone and you can focus on being a support for the new parents and having fun!!!

Since my son and daughter in law live about 3 hours away, I decided to give up teaching my step class on Saturday morning so that Rick and I could be free to go visit on Friday night or early on Saturday and spend the most time with them that we could.  We are also empty-nesters again (at least for the school year) since Greg moved to the city in September, so if we want to go somewhere for the weekend, we are now free to do that.

Is my life any less busy?  Heck no!  Yes, I do sleep in on Saturdays now whenever I can, but I still teach 9 classes per week one of which I'm going to talk about today.

I began teaching Chair Yoga at my church, Our Saviour's Evangelical Lutheran Church, Arlington Heights, IL in January of 2015.  I took over the class when the current instructor could no longer do it.   I had no idea what a blessing this class would be!  Not only does it help me to slow down and focus on my mind and body connection, it introduced me to a wonderful group of people that I probably would not have otherwise met.

My two main mantras for this class are, "If you can breathe, you can do Chair Yoga," and "Focus on what you can do, not what you can't."  When I took over this class, there were about 15 people who came, we are over 30 strong now--it's AWESOME!!!

I'm sharing a video here for those of you who aren't quite sure what Chair Yoga really is.  Let's get clear what it isn't--it isn't just for seniors, it isn't just for the disabled, it isn't just for those with injury, it even isn't just for those that have a hard time doing traditional standing yoga--IT'S FOR EVERYONE!!!

If you want to increase your flexibility, enhance your posture, balance, and mind/body/spirit connection, then this class is for you!  If you are in the Arlington Heights area, feel free to drop in and give it a try!  We meet every Wednesday morning from 11:30 - 12:30.  A free will offering of $3.00 per class is encouraged.  Hope to see you there!

Namaste,

Happy 4th!!!

With the 4th of July just a couple of days away, I thought I'd share some lighter, healthier recipes to make and share at your picnic or barbeque.  All of these recipes are via Cooking Light Magazine and MyRecipes.com.

For starters how about a refreshing Watermelon Margarita?  It's only 105 calories and has very little sugar.

Next, doesn't this  Fire-Seared Antipasto Platter look amazing?  291 calories--you can make it veggies only and save quite a few calories.

Grilled chicken is a staple at any picnic, how about changing it up with this Grilled Chicken with White Sauce recipe?  Only 252 calories--less if you remove the skin before eating--leave it on to grill to maintain moistness in the chicken.

And a barbeque just isn't complete without Grilled Corn (there are 9 ways shown).

  

Lastly, we've got to have dessert!  How about a Blueberry Crisp -- only 217 calories!

or a Bourbon Glazed Grilled Peach with yogurt?  only 201 calories!

ENJOY!!!

Fitness 101 -- Aerobic vs Anaerobic Exercise

First of all, we have to answer the question, what is aerobic and anaerobic exercise?

I'm going to give you the simple answer.  Aerobic exercise means in the presence of oxygen, and anaerobic means without oxygen.  How that translates to exercise is simply this, when you are exercising aerobically, you can breathe and you can talk in at least a sentence at a time--you are exercising "with oxygen".  When you are exercising anaerobically, you can't breathe and you can only utter a word or two without having to take another breath--you are exercising "without oxygen".

There are all kinds of things that happen to your body physiologically, but this is really all you need to know.

I think the picture below describes it perfectly.  The runner on the right is working aerobically and at a steady pace.  The shadow on the right is what the runner would look like if they just sprinted all out to the finish line, gasping for air.

So, which is better?  My personal answer to that is neither.  They are both important and they both serve different roles when it comes to health and fitness.

Aerobic exercise is usually done for a longer period of time at a steadier pace.  Examples of this would be long distance running/jogging, walking, an aerobic exercise class such as step or zumba, swimming and biking.  The reason that this type of exercise is good is the fact that it can be done for a longer period of time, therefore increasing endurance.  Also, oxygen is needed in order to burn fat, so when working out aerobically, you are also burning fat--but more about this in a future post.

Anaerobic exercise is done in bursts.  For example, many sports are anaerobic because the running and/or jumping is done in spurts--soccer, football, basketball, tennis--the pace changes from slower to faster--it would be impossible to keep up the super fast pace the entire game.  This type of exercise challenges the muscles--especially the heart; the increase and decrease of heart rate is a workout in itself.  This type of exercise also burns more calories because more energy is needed and expended to do it.  But, because it's so hard to maintain this type of intensity, an anaerobic only workout would have to be relatively short in duration.

My solution?  Do both.  Mix up your workouts to include both aerobic and anaerobic exercises and here are a few ways to do that.

1.  Do Intervals.  During an interval workout, the pace/intensity changes at set "intervals" throughout the workout.  For example, during a walk, you would walk at a very fast pace for 1 minute followed by a slower pace for 2 minutes.  This is usually a strictly cardiovascular type of workout.  Your goal is to progess to the faster pace for longer and longer periods while decreasing your slower pace to make the interval look more like 2 minutes at the faster pace and 1 minute at the slower pace.  This can be done with any type of aerobic workout that I mentioned above.

2.  Cross train.  This is really important.  If you do the same workout over and over again negative things can happen.  1.  You can injure yourself due to overtraining (doing the same thing over and over again will take it's toll on you and your muscles)--trust me, I know about this one.  2. You can stop progressing--meaning that if you do the same thing over and over again, your body and your brain know what to expect--you will plateau in both weight loss and endurance.  So pick a completely different workout to do and alternate it with what you are doing now--take up a sport, take a different type of class, do some strength training.

3.  Circuit train.  This is the type of workout that I prefer to do.  It mixes aerobic exercises and strength training exercises to get a total body workout.  This type of workout can be done by setting a timer and doing an exercise for that specific amount of time and then moving onto another exercise for the same amount of time, or it can be done by counting repetitions--10 pushups followed by 20 jumping jacks, etc.  Because these exercises are done for short periods of time--usually not more than a minute, you can work out at a higher intensity and that is going to burn more calories.

Even though this is my preferred way to train,  I still cross train by going on hikes or bike rides, or doing yoga to keep my body as healthy as possible.

Next--Strength Training 101

Fitness 101 -- Cardiovascular Training

Since I'm home recuperating from my knee surgery (and really have no excuse), I thought I'd add a new post to continue my topic from earlier in the year....Fitness 101

Let's begin with Cardiovascular training.  We are told that we need to be doing some form of cardiovascular exercise every day, but what does that mean exactly?

From the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) website: "Any sport or activity that works large groups of muscles, is continually maintained and performed rhythmically is defined as aerobic, or cardiovascular, exercise. For long-term cardiovascular health, the ACSM points out that it's important to choose a variety of exercises that stimulate and challenge your muscles, heart and lungs. ACSM classifies cardiovascular exercises into three groups based on the skill level, caloric burn and intensity."

Group I

"Cardiovascular exercises that don't require you to develop a skill, but that are consistent in intensity level and energy expenditure -- the number of calories you burn -- are classified by ACSM as Group I activities. These types of activities include walking, jogging, cycling, and stair climbing. If your workout at the gym includes using cardiovascular machines such as a treadmill, stationary bike or elliptical machine, you are doing Group I cardiovascular exercises."

Group II

"Cardiovascular exercises that vary in the amount of calories you burn based on how hard you work are classified as Group II activities. Group II exercises include swimming, water aerobics, dance aerobics and hiking. As you work harder during these activities and increase your intensity level, you burn more calories. Group II cardiovascular exercises are not dependent on your skill level -- even as a beginner, you can increase your intensity and burn more calories."

Group III

"Sports and activities such as volleyball, basketball and tennis are classified as Group II exercises. When doing Group III activities, your cardiovascular benefit will depend on how hard you work and how well you perform in these sports. For example, if you play tennis, when you practice more and improve your skills, you'll swing more at the ball with greater intensity. As you become better at the sport and put more energy into it, you'll burn more calories."

The ACSM 2010 Guidelines for Cardiovascular Stimulus recommend that a person do cardio exercise (any activity that uses large muscle groups, can be maintained continuously and is aerobic in nature) 3-5 days a week.

A combination of moderate and vigorous intensity is recommended for most adults. Moderate-intensity  only exercise (40-<60% maximum heart rate) should be at least 30 min. long for 5 or more days for a total of 150 min. per week. Vigorous-intensity only exercise (>60-85% max. heart rate) should be 20-25 min on 3 or more days for a total of 75 min. per week.  Lower intensity exercise (30-40% max. heart rate) can be used for extremely deconditioned adults.

To promote or maintain weight loss, 50-60 min. per day to a total of 300 min. per week of moderate exercise is recommended. This doesn't have to be done all at once--intermittent exercise of at least 10 min. in duration to accumulate the times listed above is an alternative strategy.

Step count can be used as well--a minimum of 3,000-4,000 steps of moderate-vigorous-intensity of walking is recommended with 10,000 steps being a goal for weight loss.

To improve the cardiorespiratory system, overload must occur.  This means that the body must be given an appropriate challenge--it needs to be working harder than it's used to.  This can be done by changing the frequency, intensity, duration or mode of exercise, being careful not to cause injury by increasing any of the above too much, too soon.  It needs to be progressive. 

Next, what is the difference between aerobic and anaerobic exercise?

The Power of Less

I've been reading the book, The Power of Less by Leo Babauta and the above quote is in the Introduction.  This quote really struck me.  It kind of goes with the "don't sweat the small stuff" way of thinking, but I like the use of the word "essential."  

This is a great way to look at any goals you have for your life.  What is essential for you?  What is necessary?  What do you truly want to achieve?

Since this is what I do, I'm going to focus on health and fitness.  Take a moment and write down what's truly important for you in your life as far as your health and fitness goes right now.  This is the best place to start. Then focus on one thing at a time to make it happen.

I know that I've been spending a lot of time writing about goals--how to make them and how to keep them.  But, really, isn't that the most important thing we need to know how to do in order to change our habits and ultimately our life?

Leo Babauta also has a blog entitled Zen Habits.  In it he shares insights and his personal journey in the power of less.  I found two early entries pertaining to getting healthy.  Part 1 is about setting goals for healthy eating, and Part 2 is the exercise edition.  Both of these entries echo what I have been trying to get across in my last few posts.

Another book I've been reading is from "transformation specialist" Chris Powell, from Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition, entitled  Choose More, Lose More for Life.  In it he talks about making "power promises" similar to those mentioned in the above blog posts, but he adds mind to the equation as well.  I really liked this approach and it is what my New Year's Day post was based on.  Some of you might be having trouble coming up with some promises, so I've adapted my own list similar to the one in Chris' book.

Read over the list, there will be some that you already do--put a check-mark by those.  More importantly, there will be some that jump right off the page for you.  These are the ones to pay attention to.  In my earlier post I wanted you to choose three from each category, but I'm going to change that to just one--one really important one, the one you need to focus on the most.   When you see it, you will know what it is.  If you put all your focus and energy on these three (one from each category) goals, you are more likely to be successful than trying to focus on too many things at once.

Of course as I stated before, if you look at the list and see some really easy ones that you don't consider to be a challenge, go ahead and do those as well.  The point is not to get overwhelmed.

Food Promises--I will:

 1.  Eat one or more servings of vegetables every day (preferably more, but at least one).

 2.  Avoid drinks with refined sugar

 3.  Cut down on alcohol.

 4.  Drink water before each meal.

 5.  Use a smaller coffee cup or drink ½ caff or decaf.

 6.  Eat only when I am truly hungry, but not starving (exception if you have blood sugar issues and need to eat more often).

 7.  Eat protein at every meal.

 8.  Quit grazing on junk food in the afternoon.

 9.  Keep healthy snacks on hand at home, work and anywhere else I eat.

10.  Stop eating my kids’ food.

11.  Brush my teeth after meals to signal that the eating is over.

12.  Pack or plan out each day’s snacks and lunch in the morning when I’m fresh and motivated.

13.  Plan out each week’s meal on Sunday or Monday.

14.  Stop eating in the car.

15.  Say no to bad fast food.

16.  Put half of every restaurant meal in a take out container before I start eating (if portions are large).

17.  Eat my entree from a salad plate (if portion control is an issue).

18.  Fill half of my plate with vegetables.

19.  Eat a healthy salad or cup of soup before the rest of my meal.

20.  Skip seconds of higher calorie food--if still hungry, have seconds of veggies

21.  Get rid of all processed foods.

22.  Get rid of all foods containing hydrogenated oils and high fructose corn syrup.

23.  Make my food from scratch using the healthiest and purest ingredients.

24.  Avoid shopping in the middle aisles of the grocery store.

25.  Grill, steam or bake instead of frying my food.

26.  Use healthy oils--olive, coconut

27.  Eat less salt.

28.  Pay attention to how my body feels after eating.

29.  Keep a food journal.

30.  Find healthy substitutions and upgrades for the unhealthy processed foods that I am eating.

31.  Occasionally enjoy my favorite foods in moderation so that I don’t feel deprived (following 80/20 rule).

32.  Stop using food as a reward.

33.  Eat a whole lot more vegetables of different colors.

34.  Eat a piece of fruit every day.

35.  Eat more wild caught fish.

36.  Try new recipes that are free of gluten, refined sugar and dairy.  

37.  Eat less pasta -- no more than once a week.

38.  Eat less bread -- ½ of what I’m currently eating.

Body Promises--I will:

39.  Stay away from the couch, which is a magnet for my butt.

40.  Walk instead of drive wherever I can.

41.  Park farther from the entrance to wherever I am going.

42.  Take the stairs instead of the elevator.

43.  Take a brisk walk in the morning for energy.

44.  Walk the kids to school.

45.  Get up from my desk and walk around for five minutes every hour.

46.  Take a walk during my breaks and lunch hour.

47.  Go for a walk with the family after dinner instead of watching TV.

48.  Walk the dog.

49.  Do my own housework.

50.  Find ways to exercise while doing housework--dance, do squats and lunges.

51.  Mow my lawn with a push mower.

52.  Wash the car by hand.

53.  Exercise for five minutes 2-3 times a day.

54.  Put my workouts on the calendar and keep those appointments.

55.  Exercise during commercials.

56.  Choose cardio exercises that take me outdoors into the fresh air.

57.  Join an exercise class or gym.

58.  Take a new class or try a new exercise.

59.  Sign up for a community or charity walk/race.

60.  Ride a bike more.

61.  Sit up straight.

62.  Keep track of my workouts.

63.  Stand instead of sitting whenever I can.

64.  Smoke one less cigarette a day.

65.  Go to bed fifteen minutes earlier than usual.

66.  Remember to stretch the muscles used after each workout.

67.  Stand on one foot while I brush my teeth--change legs halfway through.

68.  Do flexibility exercises 2-3 times a week.

69.  Floss my teeth everyday.

Mind Promises--I will:

70.  Look myself in the mirror every day and say, “I am worth it.”

71.  Breathe deeply.

72.  Put on workout clothes the minute I get up in the morning.

73.  Keep a checklist of non-negotiable things I must do every day.

74.  Practice a 5 minute meditation every day.

75.  Keep my changes basic and reasonable.

76.  Set small weekly goals instead of big, long-term goals.

77.  Say “I will” instead of “I want” and “I can” instead of “I can’t.”

78.  Act, instead of thinking about acting.

79.  Count my day’s accomplishments each night.

80.  Reward myself for my accomplishments (but not with food).

81.  Forgive myself for one failure a day.

82.  Find something good about myself every day, instead of something that is wrong with me.

83.  Stop eating automatically while watching TV or using the computer.

84.  Practice mindful eating--pay attention to what, when, where, how and why while eating.

85.  Allow myself to say “No thank you, I don’t eat this.”

86.  Use food to nourish my body, not mask my emotions.

87.  Stop eating my sadness.

88.  Stop eating out of boredom.

89.  Make a point of sitting down to meals with the family.

90.  Pay attention to the way I feel before, during and after eating.

91.  Share my feelings with others.

92.  Give myself permission to cry.

93.  List my emotional and food triggers and stay away from them.

94.  Avoid negative and unhealthy people who bring me down.

95.  Surround myself with like-minded people.

96.  Get support.

97.  Ask someone I can trust to hold me accountable for my promises.

98.  Take control of one decision each day and don’t let anyone else make it for me.

99.  Remind myself each day that “nobody will do it for me.”

Next, we will begin with Fitness 101.

Are you really ready to make a change?

I've been posting about goals and promises and resolutions, but I didn't touch on one key component.  Are you really ready to make a change?

Here are a few things you need to consider and do to make your transformation possible.

1.  Do you believe in yourself?  In order to be successful, you have to believe in yourself, the process and your ability to succeed.  You need to believe in yourself not just physically, but more importantly mentally.  You need to get your mind out of your body's way.

2.  Stay positive.  You will have ups and downs.  Celebrate the ups, acknowledge the downs and move on.  Do not dwell on hiccups along the way--we all have them.  Instead learn from them; find ways to change your behavior so that they don't happen again.

Stay positive in the way you view yourself as well.  Instead of dwelling on the negative, turn things around.  Calling yourself names like "fat" and "ugly" aren't going to help you reach your goals.  Make the promise right here and now to change your negative attitude about yourself into a positive one.

Write down some positive things...answer these questions:  What is going on your life right now that is good? Why does it have that affect on you?  What makes you happy?  Why?  What are your hobbies?  What are you passionate about?  Look at your answers and see all the good in your life!

3.  Give yourself permission to mess up.  Yes, I want you to make promises that you will keep, but life gets messy sometimes.  If you mess up, look at the situation.  Why did you mess up?  Try making some adjustments to your goal/promise if the original one isn't as easy to keep as you thought.

4.  Surround yourself with positive and supportive people.  Finding someone to share the process with or better yet to go through the process with will increase your chances for success.  They will keep you honest, they will hold you accountable--especially if they are a workout buddy, plus it's just more fun to do this kind of thing with people who will rally around you.  Find people you trust, can confide in and feel totally comfortable with.

Stay away from those who do not have your best interests at heart.  Don't let anyone sabotage what you want to do for yourself.  Sometimes they don't even realize they are doing it.  If that happens, have a conversation with that person to try to rectify the situation.  If it continues, avoid them.  Sometimes people think they are helping by making statements like "You don't look that bad," or "Skipping one workout isn't going to hurt that much."   Explain to them how important this is to you.  Others might feel threatened by what you are doing.  They may wonder where they fit in your journey.  They may think that they will have to lose weight too.  They may feel that they are losing you as a friend because you'd rather work out than go out for pizza.  Try to include them, if they want to join you or find something else to do rather than eat great, if not, you will need to avoid them as well.

Bottom line, it's your life and your journey, you've got to believe in yourself and surround yourself with others that do too.  Do this, and you will be successful.  YOU are the change!

Keeping Your New Year's Fitness/Body Promises

How are you doing with the small promises you made 2 weeks ago?  Did you keep them?  Are you ready to move on to new ones?

Five years ago, Rick and I spent our 25th Wedding Anniversary in Hawaii.  This is Diamond Head Mountain in Honolulu.  We decided we wanted to climb it.

This was the view as we were climbing up to the top.  It was actually much further than this.  After getting to the top here, there were 282 stairs (I know because I have a t-shirt that states it!)  to climb, another narrow spiral staircase and then a metal  ladder that went up through a hole in the rock (only one person could go up or down at a time)--it was much more than I expected!  Some people would and did say, "No way, I can't do that!"

Well, we did, and here's what we saw once we made it to the top:

Totally worth it, wouldn't you say?

This is how we should look at the promises that we've made to ourselves to get healthier, to exercise more, eat cleaner and be more positive even when it seems impossible, because once you reach that goal--it's awesome!

So, today I'm going to share some tips to help you achieve your body/fitness promises and goals.

As I wrote in the last post, you need to make both long and short term goals or promises that are only for you and they need to be SMART--Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound.  I also mentioned that I prefer using size/measurement goals as opposed to weight goals.  I'm going to explain why.

How quickly you see weight loss on the scale will depend on several things:  how much weight you have to lose, the type of and how much exercise you are doing, and your eating plan.

First off, the more weight you have to lose, the quicker it will initially come off.  If this is the case, this can be a very encouraging tool.  However, a good deal of the time the initial weight loss is excess water, not fat.  Not a bad thing, excess water isn't healthy either.

If you don't have a lot of weight to lose (less than 20 pounds), it can seem like that scale just won't budge no matter how little you eat or how much exercising you do.  This can be very discouraging.  Plus, what you eat even the day before can affect what shows up on the scale as well as how much muscle you are adding to your body.

Today I'm going to talk strictly about exercise and how it can affect the scale.  Exercise burns calories.  When you create a deficit between calories taken in and calories burned, you lose weight.  A pound of weight equals 3500 calories.  So, here's the thing--most of us overestimate how many calories we are burning during a workout (as well as how many calories we take in--that will be discussed in another post).  There are several factors here that determine how many calories you are burning during and after a workout.

First, the heavier you are, the more calories you will burn.  Why?  Because you are moving more weight through space--using more energy than someone who is lighter.  The type of exercise you are doing, the intensity you are working at and its duration are all factors as well, and lastly, it also depends on your body's muscle to fat ratio (this has more to do with the calories burned after the workout).

Most people believe that in order to lose weight, they must do tons of cardiovascular or aerobic exercise because this burns the most calories. While it's true that this type of exercise does burn calories, how many calories burned during and after depends on the type of exercise you are doing.  So cardio alone is not your best option.  Now, I'm not saying to stop your aerobic exercise, what I am saying is don't make it your only form of exercise, and here's why:

Aerobic exercise does burns calories, but where are those calories coming from?  You want the calories to come from your fat stores, not from your muscles.  So, if there is no strength or muscle training going on as well or all you are doing is a steady state type of aerobic exercise that doesn't get your heart rate up enough, those calories could potentially come from your muscle.  We want to maintain our muscles, we want the calories to come from stored fat.  Did you ever see someone who lost weight and their skin just kind of sagged on them or they still looked jiggly even though they lost weight?  That's because they didn't build the muscle while they were losing the weight and the body used it for fuel.  

So what does this mean?  It means for maximal calorie burn and muscle retention, it is best to do a combination of higher intensity aerobic conditioning (even if the short bursts of higher intensity work are only 30 seconds long) and strength training to get the most bang for your buck.  Muscle is active tissue, it needs calories to maintain itself, therefore, the more muscle you have on your body, the more calories you will burn--even while you sleep!  For every pound of muscle that you add to your body, you will burn 50 more calories a day.  That means an increase in your metabolism.  Plus there is an added bonus.  Muscle is also more compact than fat.  It's like comparing a pound of bricks to a pound of feathers.  They both still weight a pound, but the feathers take up a lot more space--it's the same way in your body!  Plus, in the long run, aerobic exercise that is done at a higher intensity for short bursts will actually help you burn more calories afterward because that is when you will be in the "fat burning" zone.  Here's a great video that explains it--some of which I've already stated.

This is the major problem I have with the weight loss competition shows.  They are very heavy into the cardio because it's all about the scale.  These people are working out 5-6 hours a day--it's not reality at all!  More importantly, you can see the people shrinking before your eyes--they are getting much smaller, but a lot of the time the muscle definition is not there--that's why they start wearing compression shirts during the weigh-ins. If they only lose a couple of pounds they get very upset.  They do mention that it's harder to lose weight the smaller they get, but they never mention the importance of strength training. Why?  Because it doesn't necessarily show up on the scale, and it's a weight loss competition--that is the only thing they gauge.  UGH!!!

That's why I find a size goal to be a better one.  You could drop a size or more and lose little to no weight because you are replacing the fluffy space hog that fat is with the compact, denser muscle.  Understand? 

You can either measure yourself, or just use your clothes to gauge your progress.  Remember, it is not going to happen overnight.  If you are measuring yourself, don't do it again for at least 3 weeks and don't do it if you are feeling bloated from yesterday's take-out food,  Do it on a day that you ate healthy the day before.  The other thing I want you to consider is how you feel physically.  Do you feel stronger, more energetic, more focused?  These are positive things that regular exercise does for you as well.

If you really can't let go of the scale, here's what I want you to do.  Either weigh yourself at the same time everyday taking into consideration what you ate the day and night before.  This will allow you to see the fluctuations that can occur from day to day, or weigh yourself only once a week, same day/time again taking into consideration what you ate in the last 24 hours.  Why?  because if you ate something high in sodium, you can carry an extra 3-4 pounds in water weight. Women also have to take their menstrual cycle into consideration.

So, keep doing that cardio, but add some weight training to your schedule as well or start doing interval training, and put it on the calendar!  If you don't have any weights, start with some bodyweight exercises like squats, push ups, tricep dips, lunges and planks. You can either do these on alternating days from your cardio or mix them in.  For example, do 5 minutes of cardio followed by one minute of squats, 5 min. cardio, one minute of push ups, etc.  I will give you more ideas as we go along.  

Finally, find a way to track your progress--a heart rate monitor, a tracking device like fitbit, a pedometer to track your steps, or simply keep track of what you are doing--is it getting easier? can you do more reps? lift more weight?  All of these things are accomplishments as well!

Remember, short term SMART goals/promises!  You CAN do this!

Happy New Year!!!

Yes, one of my New Year's resolutions is to start writing in this blog again.  I can't believe that my last post was back in July!!!  When I started writing this blog I jumped in with both feet and everything I had.  I was posting everyday!!!  It's hard to believe that I kept up that pace as long as I had.  It was really pretty stressful.

That's why I decided to make my comeback post on New Year's day.  The way I went into writing this blog is exactly the same way many of us go into our New Year's resolutions. We think BIG!!!

I'm going to lose _____ (usually a big number) by February!!!

I'm going to work out for an hour EVERY DAY!!!

I'm NEVER going to eat sugar again!!!

I'm going to post in this blog EVERY DAY!!!   

WRONG!!!

That is so not the way to go about it.  I'm going to give you some tips to make those resolutions become a reality.

First of all, instead of the word resolution--use the word promise.  Changes things a bit doesn't it?  You wouldn't want to break your promise would you?  The promises you make to yourself need to be SMART--Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timebound.

A non-specific promise or goal is one like this:  "I'm going to lose weight" or "I'm going to work out more."  These goals just aren't specific enough.  It does need to be more like "I'm going to lose ____ pounds", or "I'm going to work out ______ days per week".

The goals also need to be measurable--pounds, inches, minutes, hours, days....they need to be measurable.

I think the next three points are the most important to follow when making these promises or setting any type of goal.  First, it's okay to think big, but you need to make these promises attainable and realistic, and you need to give yourself the right amount of time to achieve them.  They need to be broken down.  For example, instead of setting the goal to lose all that weight by February (unattainable and unrealistic) give yourself a realistic time frame (timebound).  This will depend on how much weight you need/want to lose.  Break it down into smaller goals--I'm going to lose ___ pounds per month until I reach my goal of ____ total.  Even this may need to be tweaked as you lose weight.  As you get smaller, the weight won't come off as easily.

My real preference to a weight loss goal is a size goal.  I will explain why I prefer this in a future blog post.  "I want to be a size ____ (specific and measurable) by ___________ (a realistic time frame).  Again, here is where you add in your shorter term goals that are truly attainable and realistic.  For example, if you need to lose 5 inches off your waist to get into your ideal size, then you can break it down something like this:  "I will lose 1 inch off my waist by _____ (reasonable and realistic time)," and continue on from there.  If you have a good deal of inches to lose, the pounds will come off as well.

Now along with a goal like this, you need a game plan.  How are you going to achieve this goal?   What obstacles might get in your way?  Again, short term goals are the key here.  "I'm going to exercise ______ minutes per day, or days per week" (whatever is attainable and realistic for you), or "I'm going to eat ______ calories" (realistic/attainable), or "I will only eat one helping" (only if that is something that you can truly do).  Do not set yourself up for failure, set yourself up for success.  I'll say that again:

DO NOT SET YOURSELF UP FOR FAILURE, SET YOURSELF UP FOR SUCCESS!!!

Don't say that you are going to do something that you know you won't.  Make all your promises in a positive way.  Instead of I won't do.....state I will do....  Make sure none of your promises use the words  NEVER or ALWAYS.  Use words like instead, at least, mostly, less and more.

Start small.  Here's what I want you to do:

I want you to make 9 small promises this week and I want them to be promises that you can absolutely keep.  The first three promises need to pertain to your eating habits.  It has to be something that you are not already doing.  Here's a few examples:  " I will eat a healthy breakfast at least ____ times a week," or "I will drink water instead of pop _____ times a week," or "I will eat one or more servings of green vegetables (preferably more than one) per day.  Again, make sure these are SMART promises that you can keep.

The second three promises need to pertain to your body/exercise.  Again, something that you aren't already doing.  A few examples of these would be:  "I will park farther from the entrance wherever I go," or "I will put my workouts on the calendar and keep those appointments," or "I will exercise during the commercials."

The last three promises need to pertain to your mind/spirit.  Some examples of these are:  "I will look at myself in the mirror everyday and say that I'm worth it," or  promise to say "I will" instead of "I won't" or "I can" instead of "I can't," or "I will stop eating out of boredom."

Now I want you write down these promises 3 times and put them in places that you will see throughout your day.  Next, tell someone what you are doing and ask that person for their support-- you can even post them in the comments here or on my facebook page or email them to me--you will definitely have my support.  By writing them down and telling someone about them, you are more likely to keep them.  Then, identify the ways you can keep these promises, being aware of anything that might get in your way.  Find ways to measure your progress and finally, write down your daily progress.

At the end of a week, look back at your promises.  Did you keep them?  If you did, then reward yourself in some small way--with something other than food.  If you didn't fulfill a promise, don't be hard on yourself, just keep working on it until you achieve it.  Once you fulfill a promise, make another one in that category and just keep going!  All those little promises will add up to achieving your bigger, long term goals.

In the weeks ahead, I will post more strategies and ideas for new promises that will help to make your long-term goals and promises a reality.

My promise? To post in this blog at least every other week.  It may be more often than that at times, but I'm not going to put that demand on myself.  If I slip up, I expect you to call me out.

Follow me on facebook--there's a link at the top of this page.  I will share things there as well.

Sunday's Recipe Share -- French Macarons

I have a bad habit of trying new recipes for parties or when we have friends over.  So, for my son's college graduation party, I decided to have a go at making French Macarons.  I wanted to make these a little selfishly after discovering they were gluten free.  I almost chickened out though after reading about how hard they could be to make, but figured, if they didn't turn out, I had other things for back up.

Are these healthy?  Not exactly, but they are made from egg whites, almond flour and sugar--not horrible, and they are small--at least mine were.

Well, I got lucky and they came out pretty darn good. (much better than the picture shows)  Do they look like the those on Food Network?  No, but that's why they get paid the big bucks and I don't.

I followed the recipe from Food Network Magazine.  I did make two gutsy substitutions--I didn't have any superfine sugar, so I just ran what I had through a sieve (which really did nothing), and (after much research on the subject) I decided to use liquid egg whites--they whipped up beautifully.  Next time I want to experiment further and try making them with powdered coconut sugar--a choice I personally prefer over refined white sugar.

I also learned the difference between macaroons (which I also made) and macrarons in this article:  Macaroons vs Macarons

I used orange gel food coloring (mixed into the egg whites before whipping) and blackberry preserves for the filling (I was trying to go with the Illini theme). I was going to make a second batch in blue with apricot filling, but ran out of time.

I made them a couple days ahead (the entire filled cookie) and froze them.  They had that outside crunch and inside chew that a macaron should have--they were really delicious. I will definitely make these again.

One note that every source I looked at mentioned was this, "Do NOT skip the sifting--it is really important!"  So, I didn't.

Here's the recipe:  French Macarons (although they spell it Macaroons in the recipe).

Happy 4th of July!!!

Thursday's Total Body/Cardio -- Fat Burning Lower Impact Quiet Cardio

I've been having some issues with my right knee--mainly due to the step classes that I teach.  Since I'm off the next 2 days for the July 4th holiday, I thought I'd do a lower impact workout.  I found this 30 minute workout on Jessicasmithtv.

Tuesday's Trunk and Core -- I'm BAAAACK!!!

I can't believe my last post was more than a month ago.  Time flies.

I love to dance because it doesn't feel like a workout to me, so I thought I'd start back with a dance workout from the new Burn to the Beat series from BeFit.  It's a 10 minute core focused routine, that's a lot of fun.  If dancing intimidates you, just remember to "dance like no one is watching", because, well, no one is!

There is no warm up or cool down.  Please do those on your own.

Here's the introduction video to the Burn to the Beat fitness series:

Saturday's Stretch & Flexibility -- Yoga Hip Openers

After a day of gardening and planting flower pots, I need these hip openers!

From another new YouTube channel called Leslie Fightmaster.  Here is an intermediate class. Do what you can, only take poses as far as your body wants to go.

Friday's Funny

Happy Friday!!!

Thursday's Total Body/Cardio Workout -- New 31 Day Video Challenge

Keeping in theme of trying something different, today's workout comes from another new channel on YouTube called AXFIT.  I get a lot of ideas for my interval classes from here.  I just noticed a 31 Day Challenge that was posted by them.  It started on May 1, but you could start it today!  The first video is the introduction.

Since today is total body, I posted the Day 5 full body workout.  They are doing a deck of cards workout similar to those I've posted in the past (another deck of cards workout).  One exercise per suit doing as many reps as the number on the card.

These are short workouts that have no warm-ups or cool downs.  Please do those on your own.

This was day 1

and day 2

You can find the rest of the workouts here:  Challenge Workouts