Good Morning my friends and Happy Saturday. I had a week this week. Not necessarily good or bad, but just unusually odd.
First, the Yoplait giveaway winner (chosen by Sophia…she’s my 6 year old, LOL) and rest assured anyone chosen would totally be random! Is Grace from Grace’s Weight Loss Page and GraceGotHealthy.com. Grace, email me at Fitclean@gmail.com with your full name and address and I will get My Blog Spark to send out your prize pack!
We had an addition born last night. One of our hatchlings!
First thee were eggs (these will all turn into chickens)
Then one started to crack:
THEN, out came the chicken!
That was the cutest thing I ever watched. Ever. Remember, I wasn’t raised on a farm like J.!
The above is a picture of the chick doing her best “turtle impression”. They don’t walk very well when they’re first born, and she just kinda flopped over, LOL!
Anyway, moving on…
My unusually odd week had a lot to do with my clients. I try to do 3 things with them:
- EDUCATE
- MOTIVATE
- MAKE THEM ACCOUNTABLE
I’m amazed at some of the questions/statements I have been asked/told which include but are not limited to:
- If I work out with weights, (this is from a woman) I will bulk up and look like a man.
- I don’t want to gain muscle.
- New ______ (add in what you like) are/is not an option, even though I’m injuring myself because I don’t have ______.
- I can’t cut anything out of or change my diet because I cook for my wife/husband and they don’t/won’t eat that way.
- I ate out all week.
Do you know the saying you can’t get blood from a rock? There you go. I was so glad yesterday was Friday! I can’t even what the expression was on my face during some of these discussions. I’m Italian, I talk a lot with my hands, and whatever I’m thinking is usually very clear by looking at my face. ;0
My answers included (this is normally the education part, I’ll just give you the jist of it)
- If you work out with weights, you will not bulk up. Lean muscle burns fat and you will lean out while losing weight.
- You need lean muscle if you want to be toned and lose weight. BECAUSE if you don’t have lean muscle, then you will have fat.
- I understand, but they sell ______ at Walmart for _______ (very little money) which can hold you over until you buy______.
- Nutrition is 80% of being fit, getting in shape, losing weight, and becoming toned. If you don’t change your diet and cut out bad things, none of that will happen and you will be wasting your time.
- I didn’t have much of a response to the “I ate out all week” besides try to pick the healthiest options off of the menu and don’t eat things that are “fried”.
There were others, too, but these were some of the kickers that were repeated to me over and over. This is a big problem on a small basis. These questions are why the general public has such a high obesity rate!
Here are some things that are true and proven strategies (take from it what you will)…
- If you put in hard work in the gym, your effort will only pay off if you are eating properly. Remember these before and after pictures of myself?
Since the after picture was taken (maybe 3 months ago, now) I have put on plenty of lean muscle working out with my clients and taking CrossFit classes. And guess what? My weight has stayed the same. This totally debunks the myth of women bulking when they lift weights. And no, I am not sticking my stomach out in the before picture. Who can stick their stomach out that far?! That was an actual question from someone who saw the pictures. ***insert eye roll here*** LOL
Also….
I was very, very strict with my diet. Remember when I said diet is 80% of losing weight, and getting fit? I think the pictures speak for themselves.
2. You can’t properly work out without the proper gear. Put some money aside and get what you need! My running sneakers were shot when I ran that Guns & Hoses 5k 2 weeks ago and I ended up with blood blisters on my feet:
Disgusting, right? All my current sneakers are shot. Did you know if you work out on a regular basis they only last 3-6 months? I think that picture speaks for itself as well.
My race results were good, in my opinion, because I don’t consider myself to be a runner:
30:53 time and less then half of my age group. Not bad!
3. If you eat out, be nice as pie to the waitress and get grilled whatever instead of fried, and double steamed veggies plain instead of a loaded baked potato or french fries. 9 times out of 10 the restaurant will try to accommodate you! You would be surprised. Don’t be afraid to ask for what you want or need! And stay away from the soda. Unsweet tea or water with lemon. 
The other day I had my exercise bands out for a client and Sophia got a hold of them. I had to take a picture because I was so amazed:
On her own, she started doing tricep presses:
lateral shoulder raises:
Front shoulder raises:
All on her own. Like mother, like daughter! Amazing.
You all have a great weekend! Hopefully you were all safe with the tornado debacle last night.
Share on Facebook
and of course the Easter bunny stopped by our house, so there were 3 happy kids that morning as well.
I gained back a lot of lean muscle mass that I had lost with the initial weight loss about 3 months ago. And you can see the muscles! It’s a great gym because we’re serious about the success of our clients (on the trainers side as well as the Crossfit side). My first thought when I saw this picture was “Wow, my hair is getting long” and then my second thought was, “I wish I could see the rest of my back”. Looking in the mirror doesn’t cut it at all. No, I’m not narcissistic (I don’t think). I just wanted to see my accomplishments.
It’s hard to believe that it is Spring Break already as they were off for a week in February, and are off again next week for a week. I’m still trying to decide what to do with them as I can’t take them to work with me (there isn’t any child care at my gym) so I may put them in Spring Break Camp at the Outdoor YMCA where Sophia plays soccer. Or maybe I’ll start a new program at the gym where parents can bring their children ages 6-12 for a workout during breaks. I’ll bet that would be HUGE.
The kettlebell is a fantastic workout tool. Google some of the exercises if you aren’t a believer! It can give you an all over body workout…even make your abs sore!
