I wrote up another blog post not long long ago about the concept of ambivalence. The idea that you can hold contradictory desires in your head at the same time. If you are overweight, I'm guessing this is the conversation in your head. It would be nice to lose some weight and fit into some old clothes but... I just don't have the time or energy to tackle something new right now. My job is busy, the kids are crazy with activities and life, and I just love french fries way too much. Plus I'm not that out shape.
You've maybe tried a diet or exercise program or gym membership but as soon as you start going with that, you look in the rearview mirror and you think how comfortable you were before, and how hard this is now. The change doesn't seem as sexy anymore and you revert back. Then things get bad enough again where changing some things seems like a good idea... and.... Am I close???
That was my thinking at the time of my before picture. I had those voices inside my head. I didn't think I was that out of shape, and to be honest, compared to some I wasn't. I thought I was doing a decent job of working out eating. I didn't wake up one morning and all of a sudden I weighed 25 lbs more than I should. NO... those pounds crept on slowly through all of those little decisions I was making or not making. I had already set the cruise control on the way to Diabetesville in the land of Obesedom.
Does any of that sound like where you are at with your health journey? Do you struggle with those same doubts and hesitations? It's ok, those are natural. Here's the awesome thing, you can change! For me I finally said enough was enough I surrendered myself to a process to get healthier and fit. It was hard! I didn't like it! That process pushed me to get uncomfortable. It taught me to relearn a lot of things when it came to diet and exercise.
It's been a 3 year journey since that before photo! I'm proud to say I haven't put the weight back on like so many statistics say should have happened. The only thing I can give credit to for that is being held accountable for my decisions. Yeah I not only coach people how to make changes, I'm doing the work too. I'm constantly learning and growing in this journey. That's what makes it fun for me.
3 Tips to Get Control of the Voices in Your Head
With that I would love to extend a couple invitations to you if you want to start moving through these steps. First off, if you are ready to surrender your current lifestyle and habits and start rebuilding some new ones, Laura and I have an online accountability group that starts on Monday, November 30th. Being a part of one of these groups was the process that started my transformation. This will be a 5 week group on Facebook where you will get nutritional advice, daily motivation, a community that will support you, and a chance to win some prizes. Serious what do you have to lose? Why not hit the New Year running? Secondly, if you know that you won't stay committed by just wading into this fitness and health thing. Or maybe you've done a couple groups with us but just haven't quite felt that real motivation to change. If you know it will take the pressure of people looking up to you to truly commit. Why not jump in the deep end and give this coaching thing a try? Oh and don't worry the deep end isn't that deep. We make sure to help you get started right so that you can be successful with your weight loss and your business. That's the best of both worlds right, get healthy and make some money! If you would like to know more about coaching, shoot us an email, we would love to chat.
We all know Thanksgiving and Christmas are coming up...and we think it's just assumed that we have to eat all the food and give up any results we may have gained. WHY oh WHY do we do this to ourselves? Why do we just throw our hands up in the air and simply surrender to ALL THE FOOD that's going to be around? Thinking that we have to eat it simply because it's there....like it's not going to be around ever again.
You don't have to. You CAN enjoy the holidays without gaining 10 lbs...seriously. I know the temptations are there but do you really want to get to January 2nd feeling sluggish, crappy, your clothes not fitting and with a huge mountain to climb?? I know I don't. That's why I'm committing to the following things and I wanted to share them with you so you could incorporate them into your holiday plans as well! Ready??
Lastly...the holidays are meant to be enjoyed! It's a time to bring people together for community, love, joy....and food has a way of doing that! We don't want you constantly worrying about what temptations are going to be around so we would never advocate for avoiding events altogether. Isolating yourself is never the answer. LIFE IS MEANT TO BE LIVED and ENJOYED....but we truly believe you can do that without gorging yourself either!! It's about BALANCE!
If I could eat pizza for every meal I'm pretty sure I would. It's just straight delicious. Now that I can no longer indulge in your standard gluten containing pizza crust I need to get creative in order to get my pizza consumption. I've tried cauliflower crust. I used to make my own dough with standard whole wheat flour and have since found a GF flour that works with that same recipe. I even just bought the domain, www.healthierpizza.com knowing that someday I will dedicate an entire site to pizza. So yeah I love it.
The problem with pizza and a being healthy is they don't exactly go hand in hand. It's usually pretty fatty and pretty carb heavy which is a bad combo if your goal is stay or get trim. This "version" of pizza was a random throw together that I did the other night and it turned out pretty good. I will say with the protein and fiber from the lentils this dish fares on the healthier side too. In the dish I used a homemade pizza sauce. I have to apologize in that I have no idea what I added to it. I think I just googled "homemade pizza sauce" and semi followed a recipe. It's super simple especially if you start with a tomato sauce and not whole tomatoes. If you want to get really ambitious go for the whole tomatoes it will be worth it. Also the longer you can let it simmer the better but in a pinch 10 minutes will do. Just try to avoid adding sugar, there's no need! I should also mention that I did this in our new Fagor pressure cooker. We love this addition to our kitchen and use it all the time for all sorts of dishes and foods. This could easily be done in a saucepan or deep skillet. I was able to saute in this then just add the lid and set the timer and walk away. Pretty slick!
One of the beauties of pizza is that you can pretty much make it however you want. My favorite combo is pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms so I got as close to that as I could with the ingredients I had on hand, minus the mushrooms. Feel free to add whatever you like on your pizza to make this your own. Hope you enjoy!!!
Hey there friends and followers. I just wanted share this video message with you to let you know a little bit more about myself, my journey, and what I get to do everyday as a coach.
I sincerely appreciate you following our page and our blog. I would love to hear from you and get to know you a little bit better. What are your dreams? What is your passion? What is your purpose? I love helping people answer those questions and really dig deep down to find the answers.
Here's the thing friends. Health doesn't necessarily come easy in the society we live in today. We are constantly bombarded with temptations of food that will make you sick and fat. You likely go to a job that encourages you to sit in a chair for 8+ hours a day on top of sitting in a car both ways. You come home exhausted from poor food choices and lack of movement and that leads to more poor food choices, then it's taking care of the kids, then you are really wiped out, so you settle in front of the TV for the night. Then you get to do all that again the next day.
When it comes to health, YOU HAVE TO PAY!!! You have to do some tough things at some point. If you are under 50, those things might be:
So ask yourself how much sacrifice are you willing to make today so you don't have to deal with those things later in life? If you've already made some of these sacrifices, we would love to hear what they were and how you created healthy habits around them. Your ideas will help others out, so we encourage you to share. Thanks friends!
Did your parents ever tease you with presents when you were younger? This wasn't the norm in our house but it did happen a few times. Or vacation??? Your parents tell you that in 6 months you will be heading to Disney World. That next 6 months is now torture. As a kid you get so excited and just can't wait.
Well... Beachbody dropped a similar bomb on us this past week. We found out about a few new programs and products that are coming out. I guess one of them is available right away but the other two we have to wait until next year. So if we have to wait in anticipation, we want you to suffer too!! Here are the three new programs and products that are or will be available. Active Maternity
This series of workouts is available exclusively to Beachbody Club Members. As a club member one of the benefits is Beachbody On Demand which is the online streaming platform that Beachbdy recently released.
There are 4 total workouts:
All of these workouts do require dumbbells. If you would like more info on these workouts or to try them for free for 30 days, reach out via EMAIL, or comment below. 22 Minute Hard Corps
If you're willing to step up and commit to spending 8 weeks with Tony Horton and 22 Minute Hard Corps™, you'll walk away Boot Camp Fit—even in the best shape of your life. It won't just give you a mission-ready physique—you're going to have to earn it—but Tony supplies you with all the tools and motivation you need to blow past the limits of what you thought you could do.
GET "BOOT CAMP FIT" FROM HEAD TO TOE WITH THE QUICK, MILITARY-INSPIRED, NO-NONSENSE WORKOUT.
Fitness doesn't get much simpler than this. 22 Minute Hard Corpsis a quick, no-nonsense, boot camp workout program. You just show up…keep up…and you will get in great shape. The training is basic, but the results are absolutely epic.
We would love to keep you up to date on the launch of this program. If it looks like you would want to try you can simply click on the link below. Also the first 15 people to respond will have first access to our Test Group that will start when the program comes out.
Cafè Latte Shakeology
Café Latte flavor Shakeology is the newest flavor in the Shakeology family. It has an exclusive ingredient, Whole Coffee Fruit, which is the cherry-like fruit surrounding the coffee bean. Coffee fruit is used in Café Latte Shakeology because it not only adds great taste, it's a superfood. Café Latte Shakeology has the same protein blend and superfood profile as Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, and Greenberry and the same superfood ingredients as all the other formulas as well.
Carrot cake is straight up my jam! Hands down, best cake! I love the sweet and spice! I would eat it all the time if it was available.
Given my new gluten free life, I have had to make some sacrifices and cake is one of them. Just this past weekend at my nephews birthday party I was forced to pass on the delicious Mickey Mouse cake. As hard as that was I was just glad I didn't have to say no to carrot cake. That would have just been tough. Avoidance has been my main course of action. Recently though I just had a craving for carrot cake. Maybe it was the fall weather but something made me think of it and that led to a google search... "Gluten free carrot cake recipe" Low and behold I found a really good one and we had all the ingredients so I decided to do some baking. I usually don't bake, that is more Laura's area of expertise! Measuring is tough! I did it though and this muffins turned out awesome! The recipe that I found and tweaked was on a website, Primarily Inspired. Hats off to Kelly for the inspiration for this recipe! We just did the muffin/cupcake recipe but she has an icing that goes along with these too if you want it to be even more desserty, that's a word right??? The following morning Laura was scrolling her IG feed and stumbled across a pic from a local coffee shop and how they do a Orange, Maple Latte. She tried hard to convince me to drive 30 minutes to go get a coffee. I fought hard and told her I would just make her one instead. Since we don't really do dairy either we opted for a "keto coffee." Although given the maple syrup in it, we probably can't call it a "keto" coffee but oh well you get the idea, it has butter in it and other delicious things. This was super simple and super tasty. I have no idea how it compares the the coffee shop latte but we will do this again. It paired perfectly with the carrot muffins too. Pure breakfast bliss!
Middle child. Shy. Insecure. Acne. Bean pole.
Sure...we're all awkward in our teen years but some of us have it worse than others. I think back to my middle school/high school years and I don't really have a fondness for them. There is a lot of cruelty that happens at such a sensitive age...when all we want is to be accepted, loved and feel like we belong. Don't get me wrong, my family was incredible and I had the most amazing, loving and supportive parents...not to mention a few great friends who lifted me up and made me feel like all of those things. BUT, I can still feel the sting of rejection...the pain of hurt feelings and also cruel words. These experiences have formed who I am today and how I relate to people and empathize. I realize you may not believe me...but having acne is a lot like being overweight in the sense you feel uncomfortable going out in public, you don't want anyone to look at you, nothing can cover it up, it can leave you scarred mentally and physically and you just do NOT feel comfortable in your own skin. Looking in mirrors is just miserable and don't even get me started on pictures. It was hard enough just looking through these old pictures and these weren't even when it was the worst! My point to all of this...I could still be dwelling on the things that happened. The way I was treated. The things people said...and YES, it's been 18 years since I was in the middle of it (whoa..has it been that long??!)...but honestly what good would that do?? It would make ME miserable and it would have kept me stuck exactly where I was. I want to encourage you to learn from your past and then GIVE IT UP. Give it to God. You can't do it alone. Also stop allowing yourself to believe that your worth is wrapped up in any of it. It's not. Your worth comes from the ONE who created you. There is only one person that can free you from the hurt, the disappointments and the pain that human relationships can often cause...and His name is Jesus. He wants to do EXTRAORDINARY things in you...and through you! And the hope that he gives...oh yes...the HOPE he gives is one of the most amazing things. Remember this: "God is working in you something bigger than you, and He will carry, help, comfort, encourage, lead, lift, soothe, prod, refine, break, and build you back up to help you walk on His narrow path...if you follow Him." - Lara Casey
I usually try to avoid telling people what not to do and what not to eat. I've learned that we all still have an inner teenager inside of us, so when you say don't do "X" that is exactly what they tend to do. With that in mind... how about I say "I strongly encourage you to avoid a few things to live at an optimal level of health and vitality." Sounds a little less painful, right? So what are these things?
Sugar, Wheat, and Dairy. Or as someone smarter than me coined the term, The 3 White Devils. If I were to tell you that tomorrow you can't eat any of those things, what's your initial response? Would you have cravings, bouts of moodiness, bad temper, poor focus, a feeling of being depressed and empty, frustration, anger, bitterness and resentment? Did you answer yes to any of those? If so, thanks for being honest! But now the bad news...you might have a food addiction, because that list of symptoms were copied and pasted from a website (1) on chemical dependency and the symptoms that someone faces when going through that. Rather than checking into rehab tomorrow we hope to have a better solution for you, but first I want to break down how these things could be harming you. Sugar
Out of the three foods mentioned this is the no brainer to most people. If you don't know yet that sugar is bad for you, I'm glad we could be the ones to let you know this groundbreaking news. Every once in awhile I do come across some blog post that claims sugar is a good thing and we need it to function. I would agree with that to some degree although there is some growing science to suggest organs like our brain can actually be fueled by ketones from fat rather than glucose from carbohydrates. I'll let the experts figure that one out.
The major issue with sugar is it's ABUNDANT use in nearly all processed foods. Food manufacturers have tried to sneak this little devil past us by calling it a whole host of things besides simply sugar. In fact, if I ever do buy something that is processed and contains sugar, I actually prefer the label to just say "sugar." Here is a simple list of other names of sugar that you will find on food labels. I am really excited for the new nutrition label to come out where they actually have to tell us how many grams of added sugar are in the items we are purchasing. I'm sure they will figure out a way around it but it's a step in the right direction. Basically that was the long way for me to tell you it is everywhere. Now why is it bad that it is everywhere? There are numerous things and some of them are well above my knowledge level. I'll stick to a few basics. The first one: blood sugar disregulation. When we consume lots of sugar, especially in the absence of protein and fiber, our blood sugar will spike. This leads to a spike in insulin, a hormone secreted by our pancreas. Insulin basically acts as an usher. Glucose, the form of sugar in our blood, is like the drunk fan stumbling up and down the stairs looking for his seat at a sporting event. If he stays in the blood (stairs) he will certainly cause harm. Insulin kindly tells glucose to have a seat. Glucose has a few different options on where it can sit, thankfully. The majority of glucose will be stored in either the liver, muscles, or fat tissue. You may have heard of fatty liver before? That is basically when your liver becomes engulfed in too much sugar and packs on some pounds. Some sugar storage in the liver is necessary but we've taken it way too far. Next up, muscles...this actually is one good spot for sugar to hang out. When stored in muscle tissue it gets converted to glycogen which is fuel for our muscles. These seats don't open up all that often though, unless you are doing a lot of high intensity exercise or heavy lifting. Lastly, fat tissue is the place where sugar tends to get shipped off to. These are the cheap seats, there's always more room here. You can maybe make the connection, if we don't exercise and deplete our muscle glycogen, yet consume high amounts of sugar and carbohydrate bad things happen. We damage our livers. We increase the size of our fat cells. We slowly build up a tolerance to insulin which leads to Type 2 diabetes and obesity...Bad news!!! On top of all of that sugar, it has also been shown to be highly addictive, pro-inflammatory, and the source of the worst kind of cholesterol, VLDL. I'm glad we are all on the same page now... Sugar is BAD!!! Wheat
When we talk about wheat we really mean flour since nobody eats just straight wheat, it gets processed into different flours, maybe enriched, then turned into so many food times at the grocery store. Once flour gets into the body it actually acts very similar to sugar. We are talking about both white and whole wheat too. Yes, whole wheat is a better option because of the higher fiber content but both have similar side effects on your blood sugar and gut issues. Here is a crazy stat for you: the glycemic index of a piece of white or whole wheat bread is actually higher than 2 teaspoons of straight table sugar. Glycemic index is the measure of how fast a certain food will raise your blood sugar. That just blows my mind that bread will actually be soaked up into our blood faster than actual sugar. NOT good!
The other issue with flour is that buzzword...Gluten. This is a huge topic right now in the health world. The science is still really new on this topic so it is hard to trust all of it. Here's what I've learned and what I believe most would accept as fact: wheat that is harvested today is a lot different than wheat that was harvested 50-60 years ago. This mainly has happened because of hybridization of wheat and has thus increased the size of the gluten protein in wheat. More fertilizers are also used on wheat today than in the past. More products containing wheat are on our grocery store shelves. Here is where the science gets a little murky. Gluten, according to some research, has been shown to cause issues in ALL individuals. Basically what this research has shown is that the gluten protein essentially punches a hole through your intestinal wall and gets into your bloodstream. Your body's immune system then has to neutralize these proteins that shouldn't be in our body and that is what leads to inflammation throughout our bodies and autoimmune diseases. Some people's guts heal quickly and they can continue to consume wheat products while more and more people are having adverse reactions. If you want to read about how I suddenly become gluten intolerant, I recently wrote about that and you can read that article, Gluten, I Used to Love It! Now I'm Allergic! Here's my take on wheat! It provides very little nutritional value yet substantial carbohydrates and calories. Let's be honest, wheat isn't going to make you healthier and based on the trending science it will likely make you more sick. In case you are wondering about the fiber in whole wheat products, that can be easily taken care of by eating more vegetables. Calorie for calorie veggies win in the fiber contest! People today have wheat-centric diets. Everything needs to be on a bun, bread, or noodle...and I think we need to reassess why that is! To me even if you don't have any sensitivities to gluten, I believe any wheat based products should be consumed very sparingly due to their poor nutritional value. Dairy
Oh man, I know I'm going to rub some people the wrong way with this section. Let me try to guess what you are thinking... "I can't give up my cheese!" Was I close? Did you know that cheese actually has similar addictive effects on the body as opiate drugs like Vicodin and Oxycotin. (2) That's just crazy, but I get it! I'm still addicted to it. I know my body doesn't do well with dairy yet the only thing I indulge in from time to time is cheese. It is just so good! Can you relate?
So other than the drug like effect on ourselves, why else is dairy potentially harmful? The main thing is a majority of people can't digest one of the main proteins in dairy, lactose. The % of people varies quite a bit depending on your ethnicity but when you average them all out, 60%+ are intolerant to lactose. (3) Nearly 2/3 of the world population can't process dairy, yet many still do. Talk about digestive distress! Let's dumb down the human species to that of an animal for a second, for some it's not that far of a stretch. All baby mammals consume the milk from their mother. Fact! All mammals other than humans stop drinking milk after a weaning phase. Fact! Why do humans think we have some super mammal properties that we can do something that the entire animal kingdom has learned doesn't work for their species? So not only do humans continue to drink milk past infancy, they drink milk from a completely different mammal!!! Sounds kind of weird when you lay it out that way, doesn't it? Outside of the intolerance issue, another aspect of dairy that is troublesome is the quality of the dairy most people consume. You've probably all heard the line, "You are what you eat!" When it comes to animal products like dairy you have to take that a step further, "You are what you eat ate!" In the case of cow's milk dairy, whatever that cow consumed, you are consuming. That can be things like genetically modified corn and soy. These things are given to fatten cows up faster and increase milk supply, essentially making them metabollically sick. Another thing dairy cows are often given is a substance called rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone) or sometimes called rBST (recombinant bovine somatotropin). This is a synthetic hormone that increases the milk supply of cows. Once again you are what you eat ate! These hormones have been linked to a host of health issues in both cows and humans. (4) My challenge for you would be to test your tolerance for dairy by doing an elimination diet. Take it out for 1 week, maybe 2 then reintroduce it. Do you feel any digestive distress? Gas? Bloating? I believe there is a huge population out there going through life eating foods that cause issues, but they have no idea what they should feel like so they just accept their current health as the status quo. Don't be that person! What Can I Eat Then???
Our goal here isn't to scare you into becoming orthorexic and fear all food. We know that for a majority or people out there life can't go on without pizza, cookies and cheese and that's ok. We hope that if you read this post, you'll take a look at the percentage of your food that is coming from these 3 food items and scale them back. Most people would benefit from limiting these foods and be healthier, happier and probably skinnier.
If you still need more convincing on why these things are problematic we are hosting an online support/educational group on this topic. If you are interested in learning about finding alternatives to these items we will also be touching on that in our free free 5 Day Group. The group starts on Monday, September 28th. It will be setup on Facebook, so you will need an account. In this group we will provide information about healthy swaps, recipes, see if you are sensitive to any of these things and share a little more science on why you should limit these foods. If you are interested in joining us just follow this link and fill out the form.
1) http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/addiction/signs-of-addiction.php
2) http://greatist.com/health/cheese-addictive 3) http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/2009-08-30-lactose-intolerance_N.htm 4) https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/factsheet/what-research-shows/
We have always known that KNOWING where our food comes from is really important...but it was still cheaper to get 2 dozen organic eggs from Costco. Just being honest here!! Sue me.
BUT, when a friend of ours (Sara) said she raises chickens and sells their eggs I knew we had to get on her list. We eat SO. MANY. EGGS. Seriously. It's ridiculous. We go through about 6-8 eggs per day. Yes. SO. MANY. Haha!! We love them though and so does Eli, so we have them for breakfast pretty much every morning. As soon as Sara's chickens started laying eggs she messaged us (this last weekend) and said she'd bring 2 dozen to church the next morning and I kinda jumped for joy. My older sister, Sara (as well....weird)....raised chickens for a short time in Colorado so we had tried pasture raised chicken eggs before and they were SO good. Here's a picture of me holding one of her chickens a few years ago:
However...do you know WHY it's important to know where your eggs came from and what those chickens ate? To quote one of our favorite podcasts, The Model Health Show
"You are what you eat ate."
By that we mean any animal product you're putting into you body, you're also ingesting whatever THEY ATE as well. So choose your animal sources wisely!
Sara's chickens are pastured...meaning they have full access to outdoor area that is fenced for their safety. This is much different from "free range" which simply means according to the USDA the chickens have "access" to the outdoors for at least 50% of their lives. ALSO, don't mistake "Cage free" for being all that great...if they came from a big factory farm those chickens were probably just cooped up in a barn with a thousand other chickens...not technically in a cage per se...but not roaming free and able to eat whatever they want. "Cage free" and "Free range" aren't necessarily better...even though we all get misled by the terms sometimes. I know I did!! That's why knowing where your eggs come from (if you have that ability) is really important. Click here for a great article explaining more about this. Sara's chickens are fed non GMO feed with no soy and it's basically organic...just not certified organic yet because she gets it from farmers that are in the process of organic certification. Her chickens also get fresh fruit and veggies all the time and they add kefir, whey etc...when available! They also forage and eat bugs and weeds in their pasture and they sometimes reserve feed until the end of the day to force them to forage more which means they get more variety in their diet! Genius! That's why the yolks are so yellow (see picture below). Here are a few pictures of her beautiful chickens and her toddler terrorizing a few of them...or maybe they're terrorizing her, I can't tell!
And now the big reveal...we wanted to do a side by side comparison of the organic Costco eggs and Sara's pasture eggs...check it out. Can you tell which is which?? We won't leave you hanging...the one on the left is the pasture raised egg and the one on the right is the organic, cage free egg from Costco.
SO...if you don't have the option to pay a little more for quality eggs...that's fine!! I just challenge you to think about the foods that you eat ALOT of on a daily basis and think about slowly starting to swap IN a higher quality version!! Your health will thank you in the long run!!
We wanted to respond to the video that got massive attention last week. We don't even want to link to it but if you are so inclined to watch it you can find it by typing "Dear Fat People" into a Google search. The person that created the video is a comedian so you should take everything she says with a grain of salt. That said her basic premise was if we shame "fat people" enough that they will feel so bad that they decide to change. Makes perfect sense, right??? If someone is in enough pain, they will clearly choose to do something different. The problem with her argument lies in the physiological component to being overweight. She clearly has no training in anything and she just thinks that if people eat less and exercise more, presto change-o they become skinny.
Just to be clear, we should probably just blatantly say it out front, shaming people is an absolutely horrible way of treating people and it does NOT get results. This video also brings up the the topic that goes viral every other month or so of #loveyourself and "body positive" blogs that are out there. This is always a tricky subject to us especially since we are in the business of helping people get healthy and lose weight. This is where we want to dive in a little deeper...along with giving you a strategy to navigate your own health and weight loss. Within the "body positive" movement there is a theme of loving yourself for who you are whether you are fat or skinny. No matter your shape or size you should be ok with that and embrace who you are, #loveyourself. We totally agree with this...but what if we asked ourselves this: "Can you love yourself for who you are, and still try to improve yourself?"
The question itself is contradictory in nature. Why do you need to change if you love who you are? This is where some people in the "body positive" movement lose us. They take that thought and solely stick to the love yourself side of it. Thinking "I'm good enough the way I am and I don't need to improve". (For a little more reading on change and being "good enough" you can check out another post of ours where we talk about that exact topic, The "Good Enough" Principle - Ambivalence!) There are some in that movement that are certainly trying to improve their body composition and health. There are also people tucked away in a shack in Mississippi that are oblivious to all of this, they are "fat" and just don't care. I safely say that because those people probably don't have the internet and will never read this!
The graphic below is really helpful in helping distinguish where you might fall in your own personal health. We know that these categories aren't perfect and you may find some overlap in your current situation. We believe that everyone should be on an active journey to improve themselves AND that you can and should love where you are at currently. In fact we think in order to move forward in your health and fitness it has to be done out of love for yourself and wanting the best for yourself. In order to do that you need to take a good assessment of where you currently are though. Ask anyone that has navigated using a map and compass, the most important thing to know is to know your current location. That means getting honest with yourself and asking some tough questions...
This graphic and our descriptions might also help you understand that not all "skinny" and "fat" people will be in the same categories. Often times skinny healthy people just assume all overweight people are lazy and uneducated. Also skinny people are often thought to be healthy solely based on their body size, which we know isn't true. We breakdown these categories a little more below to bring clarity to these stereotypes.
So before we dive into each of these descriptions you should know why we chose Aware and Willing as the category headings and what they mean. By saying aware, we mean that people that fall into this category are knowledgeable with what it takes to be healthy. The science of what it takes to be healthy is constantly changing and there is new information coming out all the time. People in this category follow that information and know what it takes to improve their health and/or lose weight. By saying willing, we refer to the people that make an effort to do what they think or know is right.
Aware & Willing
They are "aware" of what it actually takes to be healthy and are "willing" to prioritize the things it takes to improve their health. It is because of this that this section of people are generally in good physical shape and generally healthy. This group doesn't have to be physically fit, but more importantly actively working towards improving their current situation. They actively seek out the latest in health trends and science to see what works best for them. They have made a commitment to their health and may even work in the industry.
Aware & Unwilling
This group is "aware" of what they need to do to improve their current health situation but have yet to make it a priority in their daily habits. There is a sense of ambivalence. They know why they should change and the benefits. They even know what they need to do in order to create a change. However they have a pull to keep things as they are. Change is hard. They may not have the support system in place that will support them if they start making changes. They may have a stubborn husband that enjoys his pizza and pasta, or coworkers that frequently go out for happy hour. They may feel they will be outcast by these people if they start making different decisions.
This group will likely not make a change until their health begins to affect something that they currently find a bigger priority. An example would be a mother with a toddler or young children that values time with her family above all else. Her kids are constantly wearing her out with all of their activities to the point where she can't keep up anymore. That may be the breaking point for her where she decides she needs to get in better shape. Unaware & Willing
This group makes up the biggest group of people from my experience. They all want to be healthy and even go to the effort of eating what they think is healthy food and working out in a way they think will improve their health but may or may not be seeing results. This group reminds us of the saying, "Work smarter, not harder!" This group hasn't quite figured that out yet.
Common things we hear from people that would fall into this category are;
This group of people, as stated in the chart, will likely cook a lot of homemade meals..but those meals will likely be comprised of packaged goods and will be heavy on the starches and unhealthy fats and low in protein. If we could sum this group up in one thought it would be... We eat "healthy" cereal for breakfast group. How do people move out of this group? It mainly comes through education from credible and current sources to formulate a plan that's going to work for them. The key there is individualized plan because what works for one doesn't work for all. One of the most common things we see here is with running. Often times runners are inherently skinny. We can say that because we both were former runners and both were skinny prior to starting our running careers. People from this group see skinny runners and think that running must have made them skinny, therefore they should run to get skinny. This would be like saying playing basketball makes you tall. Yes, running will work for some but it isn't the best way to lose weight in a healthy way for a majority of people. If you fall into this group and are curious about some resources that we have used to learn more about nutrition and exercise, we would love to share some of those with you. Just comment below or send us an email. Unaware & Unwilling
This group unfortunately makes up a decent percentage of our population. People in this group tend to have never done any research into health or nutrition other than what a doctor or the media may have told them. They may know that certain things like sugar and fast food are bad for them but fail to connect what they are eating to how they FEEL and their overall health. They may know exercise is important but their knowledge of what to do might be rooted in what they did in junior high gym class 30 years ago. The fate of people in this group usually tends to be more grim than positive. These people will likely battle chronic disease throughout their lifetime and will likely struggle with being overweight.
Thankfully people in this group can reverse the course they are on. It usually takes a friend or family member to intervene. Unfortunately it might take a health issue to force people to change. If you know someone in this group, reach out to them let them know you care and love them for who they are right now as they are! Where Are You Right Now?
The reason we wanted to write this post was because we want to share a BETTER strategy for losing weight than shaming someone. With that, we also want to put the focus on HEALTH because skinny doesn't mean healthy and carrying a little extra weight doesn't mean unhealthy. We do believe that we should all love, yet acknowledge where we are with our health, and actively be trying to improve upon it.
This world is going to bombard us with toxic things that harm our body and deteriorate our health. We will also face toxic things mentally that will try to break our will, lessen our belief in ourselves, and crush our dreams. That is why we need to constantly be working to improve our current situation because we just don't know what might try to trip us up next. If this post inspired you to make a change we would love to hear from you. If you need someone to just talk with about your current situation we are here for you!!
So I know I've alluded to it in a few posts and told some close friends but I wanted share with you all something that I've had to deal with this past year. I share it because I'm sure there is someone out there that is going through the same thing and I hope this message gets to you to help you relieve your suffering.
The thing that I've been dealing with is I am now gluten intolerant and most likely have celiac disease. I really don't want to start eating gluten again to get the formal diagnosis. I explain later how I came to this conclusion. I share this picture because just last September I wrote up a the post on our Facebook page talking about the hype behind giving up gluten. You can see that post here. At this point my knowledge of gluten was decent. However I knew very little about gluten sensitivities and celiac disease just straight manifesting out of thin air. That's basically what happened to me!!! The fully story... In late December I started noticing a rash on my underarms and down my upper arms. Given the location I thought it was maybe an interaction with my deodorant, so switched that up, nothing changed. I then thought maybe it was a soap or detergent, so switched those up, nothing happened. I then took out some foods, gluten, dairy, and soy. I did that for about a week and nothing happened at the end of a week. So I went back to eating the way I had. I should say that I wasn't eating a lot of gluten at this point, a little bread maybe once or twice a week, and I would have a beer maybe 4-5 times a week. After I did all of that trial and error I basically went back to "normal" stuff. That is when things got really bad. The rash spread to my face, back, chest and even into my legs. At that point I was extremely uncomfortable so I went to the dermatologist. They took a biopsy of the rash and prescribed some steroid cream to help calm down the rash. The biopsy didn't show anything, which was both good and bad. Good that I didn't have cancer or some other serious disease but bad in that I still didn't know what was causing the rash. I then did an environmental allergy test with the dermatologist. When I went in to get the patches removed, there was only one thing that I was allergic to and that didn't make any sense that that would be the cause. This was roughly mid February and I was still eating my normal diet. At this appointment the dermatologist wanted to prescribe me an oral steroid to help with the rash but I told her that I didn't want to take it. I didn't want to kill the rash, I wanted to figure out what was causing it. She was a little shocked that I would turn down drugs that would help with my symptoms. At this point she told me that only 10% of people ever figure what causes rashes like this! Wow!!! I could tell I pushed a button of hers, oh well! I left the office that day and was pretty upset! I was mad at the dermatologist that her main intent was to treat my symptoms. I was upset that 90% of people that have rashes like me go through life not knowing what causes it and likely take prescription medicine to manage symptoms. It made me all the more determined to figure it out. At this point I started having conversations with Laura's sister who was also struggling with similar issues as me. She was a little further along in the process of figuring out what was causing her symptoms and she was pretty certain that she had what is called dermatitis herpetaformis or DH. Simply put, celiac disease but a version that shows up through the skin and not the gut. It was right around April 1st that bit the bullet and cut out all gluten, including beer. I remained free and clear of gluten until the end of May. During that time my rash completely disappeared. That is when I reintroduced it! Of course I chose to use beer as my gluten source! Essentially what I had done was an elimination provocation diet. The results were a little confusing to me. I got together with some of my beer drinking buddies on a Saturday night. Sunday came and went and nothing happened. Same with Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I thought I was in clear! Then Thursday evening I broke out. I thought it was a little strange from a timing standpoint so I chose to test it again. This time I waited 3 weeks to "clear out" my system then did it again. Unfortunately I had the same outbreak with the same timing. I had my answer! I went from someone that had no symptoms of any gluten sensitivity to being allergic basically overnight. Strange, right? Now that I've started learning more about gluten and how it interacts with our bodies, it isn't so strange. Gluten is a harmful substance to everybody. Yeah you read that right, everybody. Some people can process it and not be "harmed" while others hit a breaking point and there body just says enough is enough. You might think that is pretty extreme to say that gluten is harmful to everyone. You might think it doesn't affect me. We consume toxins everyday in our foods and through things in our environment like our cleaning supplies and the air we breath. Our bodies do an incredibly good job of processing these toxins and eliminating them from our bodies. Eliminating these toxins creates stress in our body. If you start piling on too much stress at some point your body will be overwhelmed and break down. Doing my research about what causes DH, they often say it comes in 30+ year olds usually after a stressful situation in their lives. I'm blaming Eli our son, love you buddy but you've definitely increased the stress level in the house. As I stated earlier, my goal is for a light bulb to go off in someone's head and make the connection between the food you eat and chronic symptoms that you might be fighting. For some that may be rashes, headaches, achy joints, digestion issues, brain fog, fatigue and the list could go on. I would encourage you to think about the foods that you are eating. Pay attention to when symptoms get bad and what foods you ate recently. Don't discount the power of the things you put into your body! People don't think twice about medicine that they ingest affecting how they feel. I would argue food is just as powerful to both heal and hurt you. If you want to chat more about how to structure an elimination diet I would love to talk with you. You can email me here. Or if you just want to take it upon yourself I highly recommend the book, The Elimination Diet by Tom Maltere.
Who else loves Thai food??? Yeah I could pretty much eat it everyday. I love the flavor profiles of sweet, salty, sour, and spicy...it's just so good! The noodle dishes are probably my favorite when we go out to Thai restaurants. My go to's are Pad Thai, Pad See Ew, or Pad Kee Mao (Drunken Noodles). Given my new intolerance of gluten, I am a lot more cautious when it comes to ordering food at restaurants. I know most asian noodles are made from rice flour, but I guess I just have trust issues, especially when you add the sauce in on top of that. For example I had no idea soy sauce had wheat flour in it, prior to becoming allergic to it...and most Asian kitchens use soy in everything...so it just makes me a little nervous!
With all of that, I decided to try to recreate a Drunken Noodle dish to ensure that it is 100% gluten free. It's not a perfect representation of the authentic dish but it was pretty tasty.
Download Recipe Card for Drunken Zoodles
Each day we get a chance to start over...new beginnings. Here are a few ways we like to live on PURPOSE:
Live EVERY day. Don't just go through the motions!!
Breakfast has typically been thought of as the most important meal. I'm pretty sure the cereal industry started that saying anyways. If you are looking to read more on why breakfast may not be as important as once thought, here is a great article. With articles like this one and more science out there that says breakfast isn't a must for everyone, we would like to propose another option, WATER!!! It's hard to argue that water isn't important and we will share just how important it is to stay hydrated.
Water is what gives us life. Without it we would LITERALLY shrivel up and die. Did you know that about 80% of the population doesn't drink an adequate amount of water. So why aren't more people dying of dehydration??? I would argue they are...just not directly! When you don't drink enough water your body will pull it out of other cells and tissue in your body in order to hydrate your brain, that's first priority. Since your brain is the thing that controls your entire body, it gets to dictate who gets what and when within your body. And just like the bully on the playground at school, your brain is going to make sure it gets taken care of first. Your brain is like, sorry liver we need it more than you, thanks; sorry skin we need it more than you, sorry intestines you figure out a way to get that waste out I need more water. If those other organs and body systems aren't functioning at their highest level that leaves us prone to disease and sickness. Another key area where dehydration comes into play is in your blood and cardiovascular system. When you are dehydrated your blood volume decreases, which limits the amount of oxygen that reaches the various parts of your body. Without oxygen your body struggles to produce energy at the cellular level. If your cells don't have energy, they can't do all the things that they need to do to function at a high level. That is where fatigue and disease become an issue. Not to mention dehydration raises your BP which increases your chance of a heart attack.
Sooo....what is the appropriate amount of water to drink? A general rule of thumb is a 1/2 ounce per lb of body weight. If you weigh 200 lbs that would mean you should drink 100 ounces per day. That equation is on the low end if you are doing any type of physical activity. We would recommend you up your water consumption to 3/4 - 1 ounce/pound if you are exercising hard or sweating a lot due to physical activity. There is also the quality of your water that comes into play. We are just learning more and more about structured or vorated water, which is super interesting to us. Something else to consider...is it packaged water, and if so is the material that it comes in BPA free? The deal with BPA is that it is an endocrine disruptor, which essentially means it is going to mess up your hormones. Most plastic containers out there contain BPA unless they are stamped otherwise. So that means bottled water is off limits. There is also some emerging evidence to suggest that straight tap water isn't the best option either due to all the toxins (PCBs, pharmaceutical drugs, heavy metals) that have leaked into our water system plus the flouride that is added. Yeah the thing that helps our teeth may not help our bodies. Sounds kind of doom and gloom doesn't it??? To some degree it is, the most important thing we put into our body is being tainted from all different directions. Now are we saying you shouldn't ever drink bottled water or tap water? Heck no...if it's your only option, go for it. We definitely do if it's our only option!
According to some experts, the best option is distilled water with a pinch of pure Himilayan pink salt. The other option would be to look into a more thorough filtration system that will eliminate some of those toxins plus flouride. We are just starting to do some research into some systems or a home distiller. If anyone has recommendations on what they use we would love to hear from you. For others, we will definitely keep you posted on what we choose! Anyone else just run to the water cooler? I know I just refilled my water glass after typing this!
Here's the quick version of my Body Beast review: I have fallen in love with heavy lifting because it's transformed my body. Plain and simple.
Ladies, do NOT be afraid to lift heavy weights. Those 2 and 5 lb weights won't really get you the body you want. Stop letting your fear of "bulking" stop you from trying out this amazing program or even just lifting in general!! There is something to be said about this program though: there's no guesswork. That was the problem for me at the gym. I didn't want to pay for a personal trainer because I was cheap and I kind of knew the basics of lifting but I really didn't know what to do and in what combination to get the best results. Before this program, I had no idea what a super set or a giant set was and I had actually never done some of the lifts before. Even though I knew this program would be good, I was still hesitant to start it. Fear of the unknown I guess! This program is heavy lifting 5 days a week, cardio 1 day a week and 1 rest day. I was hesitant to only do 1 day of cardio even though I KNEW in my head cardio is not the key to fat loss...I still knew I would miss being drenched in sweat and completely out of breath...but I followed the plan and I'm SO glad I did. There are two different approaches you can take, you can follow the Lean Beast calendar or the Huge Beast calendar. I followed the Lean Beast calendar because huge beast just doesn't sound ladylike. Haha! There are 3 phases that you go through with either calendar; Build, Bulk, and Beast Phases. You will start "building" a base of strength in the first phase and these workouts are the longest (38-50 min). Followed by the "bulking" phase where you change up your lifts a bit. I liked this phase because the workouts weren't as long (29-40 min). If you follow the meal plan that comes with the program you would eat more calories in this section to bulk up, but I decided to just stick with my 2000 -2400 calories a day and not follow their meal plan. I still focused on getting lots of protein, veggies, fruit, fats and healthy carbs though. The goal here is you will add muscle but you will also add some fat. Then in the final phase, you trim the fat and keep the muscle by doing one more day of cardio each week and mixing up the Build and Bulk workouts a little bit. One minor downside: it requires more equipment than some of our other programs. By the end of the program I was using all of our dumbbells (8 lbs up to 35 lbs), a barbell, and a stability ball (a bench works as well but we didn't have one). Although, you can actually stream this workout from a phone or tablet and do it at the gym and use all of their equipment if you're not interested in buying equipment. Becoming a Team Beachbody Club Member allows you to stream this workout and 33 other workouts as well...it's amazing! Ok so now for my results: I actually didn't lose any weight or inches. Yep. I was kinda disappointed at first BUT then I decided to actually look at my pictures and think more about how I FEEL now. Plus, I'm still breastfeeding Eli and I know that is causing my body to hang onto a little extra fat which I'm MORE THAN ok with because getting him nutrients (even though he did just turn 1) is still really important to me!! I feel so much stronger after 90 days of Body Beast. I'm able to do a lot of moves in other workouts that I struggled with before (crow in p90x3 yoga, elevator pushups in p90x3 The Warrior, all the pushups/plank walks in T25 Total Body Circuit). My legs, back and shoulders are definitely stronger and more defined and I love that!! I was afraid that because there wasn't much cardio, I would lose a lot of my endurance but I actually haven't. I'm still able to do as much as I could before. All in all, I hope you'll consider adding some heavy weight training to your routine. It definitely takes time to build up the strength, so don't start out curling 30 lb dumbbells or squatting a ton of weight :) There are SO many benefits though...and they last a lifetime!!
Definition of Ambivalence: The coexistence within an individual of positive and negative feelings towards the same action, person or object drawing him or her in opposite directions.
Or as I like to think of it... The "Good Enough" Principle! "I could change the way I eat...but I'm not as overweight as some people I see, and my health is OK for now." "I know I should exercise more but I'm in pretty good shape. I never really see any changes when I start doing it anyway, plus I just don't have the time." Ever have thoughts like that? Yep, I did too at one point and still do to some degree. Let's be honest, change is hard. It introduces unknowns into our world and we aren't sure how we will manage them or how exactly they will change our lives. We know that eating healthier and exercising regularly will improve our health and make us feel better, so why don't more people do it??? I definitely think it's because people are ambivalent or the idea that we are "good enough." In the fitness world or at least the blogofitnesssphere, yeah I just made that up, you hear people say all the time: don't compare yourself to the magazine cover models or the actresses you see on TV. Since I live in the blogofitnesssphere, I completely agree with that statement. You shouldn't compare your day 1 with someone else's day 365. What about comparing yourself though on day 1 to someone who is on day negative 365? What I mean by negative 365 is the person that is obese or maybe morbidly obese or the person that has type II diabetes. They've been going down the "negative" path a lot longer than you. That one doesn't get talked about enough but I think people subconsciously do it all the time. You are ok not having the cover model figure but AT LEAST you aren't as bad as the person you saw at the grocery store today or your overweight uncle Frank. Sorry to any uncle Franks out there. Are you in that place? Be honest! Do you catch yourself saying things like "I would never want to be that skinny" or "I never want to have muscles like him/her." What you are really saying is I'm good enough and what you are likely doing is comparing yourself to the person that is on day negative 365 not the skinny or muscular person. I'm not saying you shouldn't love who you are and where you are right now! You should however give yourself an honest assessment of where you are at this particular moment. The idea of "good enough" is aimed at the thoughts that you have that you shouldn't be trying to improve yourself. If you're not improving yourself and moving forward, you're most likely going backwards. There are just too many things in our society today that will slowly compound over time to wear down your health and cause you to pack on the pounds. I'm talking about things like stress, environmental toxins, processed foods, and constant sitting and inactivity. Those things over the course of a lifetime will cause you to become sick and overweight. It won't likely happen in a month or even year, but 20 or 30 years from now the choices you are making TODAY will have an impact. If you are ready to leave the world of ambivalence and start making decisions that will actively improve your health and mental well-being, we would love to help with that. Our online accountability groups have been able to help hundreds of people step out of ambivalence and help them take control of their life and health. For more information on these groups you can go to our Challenge Group Page or Email Us and we would be happy to share some info.
So this is a topic that comes up a ton for us in our Challenge Groups and some of our coach's challenge groups so I wanted to just put together a video on the subject of Calorie Deficit Diets.
There is so much bad information out there about how to lose weight. Unfortunately the magazines and talking heads out there preach an unhealthy way of losing weight, cut calories, whether that be through appetite suppression pills or powders or just by telling people to be hungry all the time. So this is my effort to raise the volume on the other side and I would argue the healthy way to burn fat. I probably don't have to argue that point since there is science to back me up. If this message resonates with you please share it so that your friends might hear it and understand that there is a better and healthier way to lose weight. We can't change everyone's mindset on this but hopefully we can at least start building some curiosity in a few people's minds.
Written by Danielle Lochow with Take Charge Fitness
***IF THIS POST HELPS YOU, LIKE IT!! IF YOU THINK IT WOULD HELP A FRIEND, SHARE IT!!***
Now that I have all that shouting out of the way allow me to present to you these photos. I've been doing a LOT of thinking lately about calories and pounds and maintaining weight and how my own journey with fitness and food and weight has evolved over time. These are pics from every day this week. As you can see, I weighed in different each time I stepped on the scale. My weight fluctuated five entire pounds within a couple days. Why is this??? Did I gain? Did I then lose? And then gain again? If you struggle with trying to make the scale come up with that one special number, please know that your weight will change based on...
And any other number of things. It is physically impossible to gain five pounds in a day or two. It's also impossible to gain it in a WEEK. Why do I share this? Because I know that for some people this relationship with the scale is a negative thing. It has a negative impact on their life. When I decided I wanted to lose weight I strictly counted calories. I tracked my calories religiously in MFP (My Fitness Pal). I weighed every Friday morning and when I got to record a loss it was FABULOUS. It was working!! For the first time in my life this weight loss thing was working. I eventually met my weight loss goal when I saw that number I wanted to see. And then I knew that I could keep tracking calories and keep weighing that number. Understand that when I was religiously tracking, I didn't always necessarily care WHAT the calories came from. 400 calories from a salad was the same to me as 400 calories from a sandwich cookie. I learned very quickly that tracking to only net around 1500 calories (that's what mfp says a person of my height and weight should eat to maintain) was kind of unsustainable. And I hadn't figured out yet that fluctuation in weight is NORMAL. So it was making me crazy. If I went a couple hundred calories over one day, and weighed a half pound heavier the next day, I thought I knew exactly why. Too many calories. So dumb guys. So dumb. Eventually I got plugged in with a great fitness community online and started learning about how to clean up my diet. I leaned that the quality of food is important and that even if something is higher in calories it doesn't mean it's unhealthy, or that it will make me gain weight. And I learned that if I do see a "gain" it's probably any number of things my body is doing that has nothing to do with a couple hundred "extra" calories. I weigh myself randomly. Sometimes it's once a month, other times it's every day for a week but gaining confidence in my diet and my habits, growing in my physical strength and understanding more about how bodies work gives me SUCH FREEDOM AND PEACE. I am not married to my special number. I admit to being interested to seeing how it fluctuates and know why it does, but it cannot and will not ever bother me like it once did because I have confidence and faith in my daily habits! Bottom line is this: your number does not have to define you. No one sees a number when they look at you. When you follow a lifestyle that is rich in healthy, nourishing foods, regular exercise and movement, and you are surrounded by people who encourage you to live your best life every day...you will not need to stress about maintaining weight. People always say that maintaining weight is harder than losing it, and that may be true but ONLY if you are looking at it as though once you hit your number you all of a sudden want to go back to bad habits that got you heavier in the first place. When you are COMMITTED to living healthy, your healthy weight will find you. And you will be FREE of your number. If you like what you've read we encourage you to follow Danielle on Facebook at Take Charge Fitness or you can email her directly.
July 16th - 19th we packed our bags, left Eli with my parent's and headed to Nashville, TN to spend 4 whole days with our Beachbody family...to say we were excited was a bit of an understatement!
This event is something we look forward to every single year for quite a few different reasons:
I won't bore you with all the details of what we did since I have pictures of most of it...but to summarize: there were workouts with Shaun T and Autumn Calabrese, listening to Simon Sinek speak and also DeWitt Jones who is a photographer for National Geographic, delicious food, amazing trainings, knowledge, insight and inspiration shared and LOTS of walking! "Every One Matters" was the theme for this year...and that couldn't be more true. We're in this business to help people live HEALTHY and FULFILLING lives. Your health really is one of the cornerstones of your life and it impacts every area of your life. If your health is suffering, everything else seems to go downhill as well, right?? So our goal is to get people to focus on health...and how it's a lifestyle and not a diet or a short term fix. It can't be if you want to live life to it's fullest!!
We are already looking forward to next year...and can't wait to have so many more people from our team there!!
Our next online fitness and accountability group is forming and starts on August 10th!! If you're wanting to make healthy, lasting changes...this is the place for you. We know that changing habits is hard so these groups are a safe place for you to get tips, inspiration, nutrition advice, support and encouragement!! Let us know if you're intrigued and want to learn more! The best way to get a hold of us is to shoot us an EMAIL.
***It actually hasn't been scientifically proven, but I'd say it's the truth after reading this.
This is our good friend, Scott.
We've never actually met Scott...but I (Laura) met his wife Amber on Instagram about 2 years ago. She was looking for a way to lose some weight and was interested in trying one of the Beachbody workouts so we chatted and picked one that worked best for her and her goals at the time. She got hooked on this whole "healthy lifestyle" thing :) and the rest is history...she's now one of the top coaches on my team, ready to move mountains and help so many people change their own lives after changing hers! She shared her husband's story on her page last night and I knew I had to share it with you guys too. I LOOVE this stuff. I live for it. I get goosebumps. Getting to watch people change their life (even if from afar) is one of the best things ever. Here is Scott's journey...in his own words: **How did you feel about yourself & your body before starting the program?** I've always been a fairly confident person, but I suppose that is based more on what's inside my head. I think I had disconnected somewhat from an honest assessment of my physical self. My weight was distributed all over my body, so I initially didn't notice that I was getting so chubby. It wasn't until a professor referred to me as "husky" that I took note. Shortly after that, I stepped on a friend's scale in their bathroom and was 255 pounds! I was sluggish and wore out easily. Once I accepted that I was, indeed, overweight, I went through a period of personal disgust, tummy grabbing, and dealing with thigh-chafing hikes before finally deciding to tackle it. **What inspired you to change your life & begin exercising?** In truth, I was not inspired to change. My wife's commitment to her health and her dedication to her Beachbody business and general fitness and nutrition was admirable. SHE inspired me... but it didn't make me want to do the videos. I was drinking the Shakeology and feeling pretty good from that. I kept telling myself that I would get back to exercising once I finished my dissertation. But the truth is, there will always be a "dissertation". We all have a dissertation (kids, family, friends, work, chores, any combination thereof) which prevents us from doing things for which we know we should be making time. There is never enough time for everything. But one's health and fitness should be a priority in life or you're just shortening the time (and quality thereof) you have on the back end. So... I was not inspired. I was coerced. I was on vacation with my wife and we had a lot of space in our rental cabin and I had virtually no excuse not to do the videos with her. So... after a beautiful hike in the Smoky Mountains during which my thighs really got to know each other intimately, leaving me a chafed-up mess, I decided, "Oh, the hell with it!" **What did you like about the program you chose?** T25 was only 25 minutes (to be honest, it's generally 27.5 to 28.5 minutes with warm-up, but T28.5 isn't a commercially appealing title). But hearkening back to the time issue... that's the number-one reason people don't exercise: not enough time. The truth is, we all have time to squeeze in some exercise. The truth is, most people don't like to sweat and pant. It hurts. It's hard. Especially at first. I was one of those people. I am NOT athletic in the slightest. Never have been. I don't even like watching sports. But that doesn't mean I don't enjoy physical activity. I'd just gotten out of the habit. When you get out of the habit, starting any exercise program just sounds so overwhelming. Just as energy creates more energy, lethargy spirals into more and more profound lethargy. I had learned this time and again throughout my life as I would start exercising in earnest, feel the energy spike, and then abandon it as I ALLOWED life to take over and I ALLOWED my focus to scatter. So what was different this time? I suppose I could attribute my success to these things: a.) The ease of fitting T25 into my day, whether early in the morning or late at night... It was always less than 30 minutes... even if I had to do it after midnight, which often I did, I made myself do it. It hurt at first, but like everything, it gets better. b.) The structure of the program. Rather than hitting the gym and trying to piece together my own thing, I was able to follow a calendar and check off boxes. c.) Shaun T is charming, encouraging and doesn't annoy me. d.) I had to catch up to my wife's level of fitness so people wouldn't assume she had a weakness for funny flabby guys. **Describe your results that you achieved:** I have lost 75 pounds since beginning T25 in August 2014. I went through Alpha, Beta, and Gamma twice. Now I am doing the 21-Day Fix and will move up to Extreme after a second round of that. After that, I will meet Tony Horton in his natural habitat (not that strange commercial where he flirts with the grocery-shopper). I have lost weight all over my body and it is certainly noticeable. I have muscle definition in places where I never had before. My thighs are no longer rubbing buddies. My legs are actually extremely strong. I have toned arms and visible abdominal muscles. I am not ashamed to go shirtless at the pool or lake. I have so much energy between the exercise regimen and the Shakeology that it's insane. I've always had enormous mental energy reserves which sometimes manifested in short bursts of physical energy, but now I am driven, focused, and can manage my frequently 18-hour days without problem. Plus... I look in the mirror and I think that I look good. I guess I never realized how important that it before, or perhaps I was in denial. It's good to feel handsome. It's nice to know that I am in great shape. The mental results are just as good as the physical ones. My confidence has spiked all over. **How has your life changed since completing the program?** Well... I've already said a lot... What else can I say? There are obvious improvements to life which come from physical fitness. Everything is better because I have more zest, more stamina, and more desire to DO. I have more confidence which improves my relationships with everybody. My marriage has always been a good one, but the spike in our mutual health and confidence has made it that much better. Something I can talk about is what it has done for me professionally. I am an actor, writer, and professor of theatre. For years, I held myself back as an actor because of a vanity in which I was in denial about. I made all sorts of excuses but I really just didn't want to be the fat actor. Now that I'm in great shape, I am getting all sorts of offers. People are noticing. I have the confidence now to pursue roles more aggressively. And one thing I've never done is audition for commercials. I have to get new head shots (because I look completely different than in my old ones) but I plan to start pursuing commercial work (where all the money is) because the mental impediments are gone. And just recently, I performed in an incredibly visceral, physically-demanding production of Eugene O'Neill's "HAIRY APE" at the KC Fringe Festival. I would have never made it through that show alive one year ago but now I'm not only making it through, I'm thriving and getting great reviews. The KC Star critic wrote: "a visceral, non-realistic production anchored by Scott Cox in an extraordinary performance as Yank. Cox’s intense, physical presence is riveting, and it never wavers during a show that moves with the momentum of an avalanche." Nobody would have said that a year ago. I couldn't have done that a year ago. Now I plan to keep doing it. I'm two years shy of 40, in the best shape of my life, and just now starting to achieve the things I've dreamed of professionally.
Success can be defined a lot of different ways. In sports it is winning a championship. In work, it is landing that big deal or getting your dream job. In fitness, it is reaching your "goal weight". No matter what area of life you want to look at, being successful takes a lot of work.
I know about this firsthand as a golfer, I was pretty good... I don't say that to brag, it was true and to a lesser degree, still is true. Let me take you back to my childhood. I grew up at a golf course, not literally but pretty dang close. As soon as the course opened each spring I was out there playing and practicing everyday, this probably started around age 9 or 10. I would ride my bike out to the course at 6:30 in the morning and spend the entire day out there. Golf was my life! Once I started playing competitively I set a goal of being a State Champion. I was in 7th grade when I set this goal, so that gave me 6 years to prepare before I would have my last chance to accomplish it. I did everything to accomplish that goal, played 100+ rounds of golf every summer, practiced for hours on end at the driving range. In the winter time I chipped and putted indoors in our basement and when I could, I would travel 2 hours to a golf dome to hit golf balls.
So here is where success became a problem for me. My focus was on one tournament, one achievement. Yeah I had dreamed about playing professionally, but my effort was focused on that one tournament. I never had a game plan if I won. That success was the end point for me. I transitioned to college golf where I had some success but nothing like I had previously. From there I was a local club professional and played against other local professionals and had some success there too. I think I felt like things would come easy to me, that if I accomplished that one thing it would be like dominoes falling over from that point. That winning a state title would naturally lead to success as a collegiate golfer and success there would lead to success as a professional golfer.
Here is the secret that I've learned 15 years later: success isn't like dominoes. One accomplishment doesn't mean you are guaranteed your next victory. This isn't just about sports, I look at this now in my fitness journey, my job, my relationships, my spirituality. I've had some success in these areas but I don't look at success as a destination anymore, it is a journey. Everyday I need to remind myself to keep pushing forward, to knock that next domino over. For me this means reassessing my goals on a regular basis, so that I always have something to work towards. It also means that I need to work on myself through personal development. The person that I am today can only accomplish the skills that I know today. If I want to accomplish new things than I have to grow and learn new things. If you want to be successful in some area of your life I would encourage you to think the same way. Set goals regularly, that way you have a game plan as to what is next. Don't get caught living for one moment or one accomplishment.
We're heading to Nashville tomorrow to spend 4 days with our Beachbody friends (EEEK!! Can't wait!!) so we are stocking up on some snacks for when we're traveling but also for when we're racing around town going to training sessions, live workouts and general sessions! It's going to be a packed schedule so we need to make sure we have the right fuel and enough of it, to get us through each day. We are staying at a condo we found via Airbnb, so we'll be using the kitchen a little bit to make eggs and such...but most of the time we'll be running around so we need things that are portable and can be kept in a small cooler or even just a backpack.
Here are the things we've picked up so far:
We will probably pick up some fruit and eggs and things for salads when we get there!! What do you guys pack when you travel? Or do you just wing it?
Your ACTIONS and your EXCUSES are completely within your power.
Which one are you going to use to change your life?? Working out and eating healthy foods honestly did not come easy at first. It was the last thing I wanted to do after getting home from work. We had cable at the time and it was so much easier to sit down in front of the TV and let 2 hours fly by...yes...it's crazy how reality TV on Bravo just sucks you in or random food shows on the Food Network. As soon as my butt would hit that comfy couch it was pretty tough to get back up and find the motivation to pop in my Insanity workouts. I eventually learned my lesson and as soon as I got home I would go and change into my workout clothes. OR if I was feeling really ambitious I would work out BEFORE work :) Once something becomes a habit you don't really even need to think about it...you just do it. I like to tell people to just treat working out exactly like you would treat taking a shower or brushing your teeth. Those are habits, right?? Working out is MORE important than those things in my opinion...so you should definitely make it a PRIORITY...not an option!! I'd like to say we're perfect and never struggle any more...but that would be a big fat lie. We still struggle some days, and that's OK. Some days we don't feel like working out or making a healthy choice for food and sometimes we won't!! You learn that it's not about being perfect and following the workout calendar to a T...it's about consistent effort...it's about a general movement forward. When you do miss a day or screw up, just pick yourself back up and get back at it. Continually focusing on what you want to be and not on what you once were is the key!! |
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