Mystery Bruises...Again

Left elbow and both knees have mysterious bruises.  I don't know how I got them exactly, but I'm happy they are there.  It means that I've been working out hard lately, and I haven't been paying attention to the pain.  I love when I get more bruises than I can account for -- I wear them proudly!

My Success is Your Success

Yesterday, after finishing off a 15-week program with a client of mine, we hugged and blessed each other and bounced away in opposite directions, feeling proud of ourselves for many reasons:  She more than hit her goal (original goal: 4% body fat loss, reached: 7% loss), developed a stronger sense of self-worth and power, and learned how to stop hindering herself from feeling the strength that God gave her.  I was proud that I could be a positive part of her process.

Before we parted ways (we will see each other again soon, an I hope to train and counsel her on nutrition for years to come), she said something that all at once made me pleased and curious, "My success is your success."  I was pleased because I believe that with my influence she now has the strength to take herself farther and become more successful in this phase of her life.  Because I love her, I am pleased that she is richer from the experience.

I was also curious. Is her success my success?  Now that I think about it, I am reminded that my success is my success, and her success just blesses me.  Her success doesn't increase my success.  It only makes me happier.  My success is earned by my hard work and education, etc.  I also earned it by working hard on myself and staying strong in my faith, so that I can have a cup that overflows to others.

The reason I'm even mentioning this important interaction is because I want to remind my readers (and myself), that your success is your success -- earned by you, assisted by others, blessed by God.  Others' successes add to your happiness but don't define you or add to your sense of self.  Don't allow yourself to attach yourself to anyone else's success.  Create it for yourself, accept assistance and blessings, and pour it out onto others.

Want to Lift and Tone Your Booty?

If you want to lift and tone your booty, then follow these simple (but hard) rules:

#1: Get a personal trainer to push you harder than you thought you could push on your own.  I have my own trainer, even though I am a trainer to others.  My trainer reinforces how strong I am, while still keeping me safe by checking my positioning.

#2: Work your glutes, hamstrings and lower back with moderate to heavy weight, not only body weight exercises.  Sometimes, you need to just do treadmill at a steep incline or stairs for about 25 - 35 minutes to get your cardio and your legs strengthened.  However, you also often need to tear your muscles apart with heavy weights, so you can rebuild dense, strong, lean muscle fibers.

3#:  Be proud of your progress.  Nothing helps motivate better than being proud of yourself and being aware of your progress.  Ask your trainer to take regular measurements of your abdomen, hips and thighs to accurately measure your progress.  The scale doesn't tell the whole story.  Also, take progress pictures and other pictures in your "skinny jeans" to remind yourself of where you are and/or where you want to be.

Here's an uplifting exercise I did today with Ricardo: long bar + 45 pound plates on each side, stiff-leg deads on the bosu with him pulling me back to add resistance on the back side.  This picture only has 10-pound plates, but I did a set of 15, so Ricardo upped the ante to 25 plates, then 45s.

 

Why we Fail

I client of mine said this video reminded her of me.  I'm proud to say that I agree: "He who says he CAN and he who says he CAN'T are both usually right."

Monkey see, Monkeys do!

My two-year-old came crying to me today, "Mommy, I got a scratch."  I replied with a kind little retort and a kiss on her boo boo.

Then, I asked, "Baby, how did you get that scratch? Weren't you just playing in the playroom?"  That playroom has no sharp edges of any kind, and the only scratch she would have gotten in there would have been self-inflicted or from her sister.  I suspected the latter.

She replied, "I was exercising, like you do, and I got a boo boo."

"Oh, I see," I said in a nice, calm voice, trying not to get upset that she went into my exercise studio (a place forbidden to children in our home).  "Well, Mommy gets boo boos all the time when I exercise," was my way of trying to discourage her from going in that room.  Upon hearing that, my bigger girl came running in announcing that she, too had scratches from exercising.  She showed me the one on her elbow that she got from doing one exercise, and the one on her knee from doing something else.  Then, excitedly, she began doing push-ups.

Somehow, my frustration about the exercise room having been breached had waned in light of the fact that my girls were excited about exercising like their mommy.  We were soon all doing push-ups in the middle of the kitchen, trying not to get boo boos and laughing at how funny it was when we all grunted and snorted after a couple of reps.

I hope we never stop exercising together.  Maybe tomorrow we can recruit Daddy to the kitchen for some exercising, too.

Are you in Marathon training? When do you eat which foods?

Most of my clients ask me if it's important to eat certain things at certain times, or is it okay just to stick with calorie counting?  Well, that's a loaded question.  If we're going for general weight loss, then calorie counting is a great place to start.  It gives a strict guideline for those who have not given themselves "rules" to follow regarding food (or have given themselves too much latitude in breaking the rules).  However, if we're training for a specific sport, we have to consider what time of day we train and how we fuel ourselves for the workout and the rest of the day.

For example, if you're training for a marathon, there are certain requirements for proteins and carbohydrates, so that you don't run out of energy and don't waste away to skin and bones while you run like the wind. I spoke on this in my recent webisode on UniversalSports.com: http://universalsports.com/video/the-last-26-episode-4-kinga-straightens-out-her-diet/, presented by Asics.

If you're a morning runner, i.e. you train at 6:30 to 7:30 a.m., you should have juice or an orange and water before you run.  After you run, you should have a hearty breakfast, roughly 30% of your daily calorie needs, including protein and low glycemic-index carbs.  Lunch, should be at a normal time and should be well-rounded, but not heavy, followed a few hours later by a snack around 4 p.m.  Dinner should include one high glycemic index carb portion for energy while you sleep, so that you are not depleted by morning.

If you're a lunchtime runner, you need a carb-rich breakfast, consisting of low glycemic index carbs like fruit and oatmeal.  You will need a protein/high glycemic index carb snack around 10 a.m., such as a 200 calorie yogurt or energy bar.  After your run, you should have a protein-rich lunch, followed several hours later by a small snack.  Then, you should have a late dinner with a good balance of protein and low glycemic index carbs.

If you're an evening runner, i.e. you train at 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., you should have a balanced breakfast, an early lunch rich in low-glycemic index carbs, a balanced late lunch, a 5 p.m. snack, then a late protein-rich dinner after your run.