BeachBody Coach

So, I decided to take the plunge... I've signed up to become a BeachBody coach! I'm gonna give this a try and see how it goes. They had a free coaches sign up for the month, and have a 25% discount off of all their products for coaches. I've been wanting to try the Shakeology, and Results and Recovery Formula, and thought this would be the best way to do it. It's a money back guarantee, so if you don't like the product, or aren't happy with your results, you can send it back. SO, if anyone is interested in becoming a coach, or interested in Insanity, P90X, Shakeology, R&R or any other BeachBody products, just shoot me an email. I will have my site up and running soon! Happy Losing, and a Happy New Year!!!

I don't know about you all, but I survived Christmas - kind of... I had mentioned previously about trying the VLCD with out hCG, to see if I notice any differences. I ended up loading over Christmas and started the VLCD on Sunday. I loaded to 165.3 (I can eat ;), and am back down to 159.0... there isn't a questions of weight loss - of course if you cut calories that low, you will lose. It's a matter of how you feel, how long you can maintain, and whether or not your body goes into ketosis(starvation mode). So far, I'm ok... definitely have a constant headache, and am starving! I don't know how long I will last this way, but I will plan on continuing for a week or two, depending on how I feel. Once I get to the finish point, I plan on taking a home test that can detect ketosis. Depending on how the VLCD w/o hCG goes, I may possibly try our new pellet form of hCG for just a 23 day round, and see how that compares to drops, and plan on checking for ketosis as well. I don't feel that I need to do another round, but curiosity has gotten to me. Call me crazy, but I want to be able to provide sound information for my clients, and want to know as much about my product as possible. (www.localhcg.com)

Once this is all over with, it will either be P90X, or another program I have been looking into called "Final Phase Fat Loss." http://www.finalphasefatloss.com/ It was recommened to me by another trainer friend and is a 6 week program from a PT in New York that is supposed to target that last 10-15 trouble lbs. This is an area of weakness for me, so I am intrigued, but still looking into it. And I'm thinking when I get into track season, I want to give Body For Life another go... Outside of doing an actual body building/power lifting program, this has been one of the better programs I have found for building muscle mass and strength. I've got a busy next couple of months planned ahead! What about you? What are some of your goals? I hope you are all doing well, and I know the New Year is when a lot of people try to make chages to their lives. Start simple, but if there is anything I can do to help, please don't hesitate to contact me (Iluvtnf@aol.com). Happy New Year all!!!

New Game Plan!

I posted on my facebook page, but I haven't on here yet... I was enjoying Insanity, and made it to week 6, but the between the holiday, my EMS conference, and getting sick, I got off track. I started back up again into the second phase, but it was crazy! I can definitely see now where it got its name! It got to the point where the workouts weren't just 40 minutes - they were getting to be an hour +, And they were tough! I found my self just sitting there thinking, I can't do that?! So I was still doing the work outs, but having to modify everything, and just wasn't getting the quality workout that I wanted. It kinda sucks because I don't want to think of myself as a "quitter", but at the same time, I know myself better, and if I would have just kept going, I would have burned out and quite everything all together. I liked Insanity, because it was different, and you get a pretty big bang for your buck, but it was purely cardio based, and I miss lifting weights. Sooooo... I'm putting Insanity on the back burner for now.

On FB I stated that I was going to start P90X Monday, but sitting here thinking about it, I'm probably going to wait till after the holidays so I can give it the full attention it deserves. Including the nutrition, which I am struggling a little with. Not that I am doing horrible, it's just the holidays, and there are a lot of temptations around, and I want to be able to enjoy some of it and not torture myself. Thankfully I am maintaining my weight right around 157-159 (this went up from hCG as I started Insanity, but has since maintained - my BF has actually gone down. That shows an increase in muscle mass and decrease in body fat, hence why I am not freaking out about the scale:) My goal is to keep it under 160. I'm still working out. I've been trying to run more; doing interval work and some distance.

So I finally finished painting my weight room, and got some vinyl lettering quotes up :) My motto that I've liked to use over this last year is "PLAN, PREPARE, COMMIT, EXECUTE" as pictured below, so here is my plan for the next couple of weeks:
From now until January (exact date not yet determined) I will run 3-4 times a week, and get 2 full body lifts in. As far as nutrition goes, I'll behave during the days/week, and if there is a party or something that day, I'll eat super clean/light during the day, hard work out that day, and then enjoy the meal. :) After the holidays, I'm thinking I want to try a round of the hCG protocol, but with out actually taking the hCG - I want to see how it compares with and with out actually taking the drops. A little crazy, but it would be good to be able to compare the differences. I will only do that for a week or two, and then from there start P90X.

It will be a little crazy in the spring because track season will be starting up, but at the end of April, I have some friends that are doing a short distance Iron Girl in Las Vegas, and I am considering doing this - I think it will mainly be determined by our tax return, and if we get back enough that I can afford getting a bike, and if I will have to time and resources to train. Spring is going to be a crazy time of year!!!

Well, I hope everyone is enjoying their Holiday Season so far. I know I still have some shopping to do, and a couple of parties! I recommend doing the same thing I am when it comes to parties - have a plan - get a good work out in, eat light and clean, drink TONS of water, and then enjoy to the point of contentment - not over indulgence. Then just be good the days you don't have something going on. Remember what your plan and goals are and stick to them, You can do it! Happy Holidays!

Everybody Poops... Right...?

Did you know that is the name of a child's book? Bowel Movements(BM) seem to be a ta bu subject (in my family, it's funny), but when it comes to our health, it's really important and can tell us a lot about what's going on. And believe it or not, sound, shape, color and consistency do matter! If your diet is lacking in water, healthy fruits, veggies and whole grains, and other foods high in fiber, you may end up with constipation which tends to be hard, pellet like, and can be painful. On the other hand, if is super soft or greasy on a consistent basis, you may be suffering from some malabsorbtion issues, which could be a sign of Celiac Disease, IBS, or other GI conditions.

Dr Oz has said -

"You want to hear what the stool, the poop, sounds like when it hits the water. If it sounds like a bombardier, you know, 'plop, plop, plop,' that's not right because it means you're constipated. It means the food is too hard by the time it comes out. It should hit the water like a diver from Acapulco hits the water [swoosh]."

The next thing Dr. Oz recommends is looking at your stool—c'mon, you've done it before! You should look twice—look at the shape and then, the color.

"It should be an S shape and you want to make sure the color's normal because the color of the poop tells you a lot about how you made it," Dr. Oz says. "You don't want [pieces]. Food is a medicine for you. It helps you. [If the stool is in pieces] by the time you finished digesting your food, you don't have enough of it left to poop out in the right way and probably it' s hurt the colon that has to process it. At the end of the day you can analyze your body really effectively by looking at what comes out of your body."

Any time we eat, it causes peristalsis (muscle contractions) of the intestine, which in turn can cause a BM. Ideally, you would want a BM after eating, but this isn't the case for most individuals. Most individuals average 1-2 BM's a day. If you are going less than this, maybe only 2-3 x a week, and they are hard or painful, then you may need to re-evaluate your diet and try to increase your water and fiber intake.

If you have a drastic change in color, such as black - tar like, that can be a sign of internal bleeding from an ulcer or other injury/disease to your GI. Grey, clay like, could also cause concern. This information isn't for diagnosis purposes, but overall general knowledge. If you have any concern about your BM, please consult your doctor.

Sinkers vs. Floaters... a common myth is that if you have floaters, then your are eating too much fat, or aren't absorbing it properly. This can be the case if there is something going on, especially if it's "greasy" looking. But most floaters can be contributed to a higher amount of gas, which is released from the bacteria in our intestine. Either one is perfectly normal, and change to one or the other is generally from dietary changes.

I personally can appreciate a good BM :) I try to maintain a high fiber diet shooting for 25-35g a day. While I don't have the means to do the research, I think that a lot of GI disease can be attributed to a poor diet of processed foods, and not enough whole grains, fruits, veggies, and water. Think about it - if you aren't cleaning yourself out, then that processed "crap" is just sitting in there wreaking havoc on your insides! With the Holidays here, we tend to over indulge in processed foods and treats... me included! I've been feeling pretty bleh lately, so, today I started a natural herbal cleanse from Advocare. It's 10 days and has a fiber shake, probiotics, and the herbal cleanse. No crazy diet either. Just low fat, lots of fruits and veggies, whole grains, and lean meats.

Here's to a healthy colon, and I hope this was informative with out too much info - it's just for sh*ts and giggles :)

UHGGG!

So these last 2 weeks have been rough... Between the EMS conference, 2 Thanskgivings, being sick, and our mini trip to Denver, I've fallen off the wagon! It's mainly been nutrition, but nutrition tends to be more important, and it's caught up to me and bit me in the butt... or more like attached it's self to my butt... :) I was doing great on the workouts until I got sick :( I even brought them with me with good intentions, but we had so much going on it didn't happen. But all is well - just because I fell off doesn't mean the game is over. And Im not going to start all over again, or just give up all together. I'm gonna try some running and lifting for the rest of this week, and start back on Insanity on Monday. Eating super clean tomorrow during the day, controlled for Bunco tomorrow night, steak day friday, and then doing a 10 day herbal cleanse starting next week. I think Im just going to completely avoid the scale for the next week! But time to get it back together - Christmas and Christmas parties are generally just ONE meal, not a whole day, or whole week... no reason to go crazy. I'm recommited, how about you? :)