Happy Oaks and Derby!

Happy Oaks day!

I've never really gotten into Oaks or Derby that much, but it is a fun time to live in Louisville with all the events that go on around this time of year. It's a beautiful day for the Oaks! Going to be about 85 and sunny! :) Too bad tomorrow we're supposed to be getting a LOT of rain for the Derby.

Well, I am not sure how my progress is going with my 6 pack goal-don't feel like anything has changed yet....I'm going to cut back on fruits and dairy as it gets closer to Florida and also increase my cardio. Right now I'm still only doing 2 days of intervals for about 15 minutes, and 3 or 4 days of heavy weight training. Guess if I don't see any results soon I'll just be eating a lot of chicken, eggs and broccoli!

Tomorrow is my cheat meal, and I can't wait! I've been thinking Cinnabon........

Just venting!

Just a few things I wanted to rant and rave about! ;)

First off, I always think it's funny when I ask a client after a set how the weight felt, and they say,"Well, it's kind of heavy." I say, "Okay. Good. It's supposed to be!" As long as your form is good, lifting weights isn't supposed to be easy!! I mean, I have to grunt and strain and make funny faces to get those weights up! Stop lifting those 5lb weights, women! It does nothing for you, unless you're 80 years old or something.

Then today I had a woman tell me that she didn't care about toning up-she just wants to be skinny. So she was doing 20 to 30 reps per set for her exercises because that's what some trainer told her to do. So I'm thinking in my head, 'so you don't care if you're still flabby and saggy, as long as you're skinny??' If you don't build muscle and your focus is only on losing weight, you will just be a skinnier version of your flabby self. I mean, maybe some women don't want to be tight and firm, I dunno........?? But I had to explain to her that lifting weights to BUILD muscle will HELP you to lose fat by increasing your metabolism, which means your body will burn more calories even at rest. Who wouldn't want that?

And then the other day, one of my clients said to me, "I'm gonna get fat from all this food you're making me eat!" I'm like thinking, HOW many times do I have to repeat myself to get through to people's heads???? When you are wanting to lose weight, you have to eat small, healthy meals every 3 hours or so-NOT just 2 or 3 meals a day. You won't get fat from eating more often; in fact, doing so will speed up your metabolism and help you to LOSE fat. Yes, eating MORE will help you lose weight!!!!! As long as you control your portions and you eat the right things. Not eating enough or often enough will cause your body to go into starvation mode and store what you eat as FAT!

And today I met with a women who had been training with another trainer at my gym for the past few weeks. She met with me today and showed me her food log, which that other trainer had looked at and told her she didn't really need to change anything. Well, I knew that she wasn't eating right because if you are eating the way you are supposed to 90% of the time, you will NOT be overweight. So, for breakfast she was eating 2 packs of instant oatmeal. I guess he failed to tell her how FULL of sugar those instant oatmeal packets are. Then for lunch she'd maybe have a sandwich, and for dinner, cereal. And that's all she'd have for the day. So she said that the other trainer told her that cereal was good snack, BUT.... he didn't even ask her what type of cereal she was eating! And guess what? She was eating Frosted Flakes!!! Full of sugar! What a great snack-NOT. She also told me that she replaced sodas with Gatorade. Again, full of sugar!!!! So she's basically eating sugar sugar sugar, no fruits, no veggies, no healthy fat, and hardly any protein. I could not believe that her trainer had told her that she was eating good!

So here are some of the things I told her she needed to work on: getting 2 servings of fruit a day, adding in vegetables and lean protein, getting a serving of nuts in per day, and drinking water instead of Gatorade. Also, she needed to be eating more often. She was having only 3 small meals, and I'm sure not even taking in 1200 calories, which is the minimum amount of calories your body needs.

There are sooo many misconceptions out there...and my hope is that I can help educate people about the right ways to lose weight and be healthy. It does get frustrating sometimes telling people the same thing over and over again, especially when it's the same people I'm telling it to...but if they at least learn something from me, if only one thing gets through to them that they apply to their lives that will make them healthier, then that's all I can ask for...

Cheat Meal?

MMMM...this is what I've been craving!!!!!!!!! This may have to be my next "treat" meal! :)

I'm thinking that I'm going to have a cheat meal every other week instead of every week....Some people say it's good to have a cheat meal, some say it's not....I dunno....

But it helps me stay on track and eat really good throughout the week! I just need something "bad" every now and then to keep me sane....I think on my non cheat weeks I'll have some organic mac and cheese or something to get me through the next week! Something that I don't normally eat, but that's not SO so bad.....???

Anyway, I did some cardio today. 20:10 tabata intervals on the stair stepper, which was really tough! I made sure to take looonnng strides and step fast. After that I did a few 30 seconds sprints on the treadmill at around 10.5 to 11 mph, with a 60 second recovery. I'm trying to start slow since I haven't done any cardio since fall, but it's so hard for me to not go all out!! My calves are STILL super super sore from the jump rope intervals I did on Tuesday! But it's fun. I love interval training!

My Quest for a 6 Pack

I have always wanted a 6 pack! I mean, who doesn't??? Back when I was in middle school, I would do 100s of crunches every single day, in hopes to maybe one day have a 6 pack! Too bad I had NO clue what I was doing and no idea how to get a 6 pack! 100s of crunches a day along with horrible eating was NOT the way to go!

Now I know that the only way to get ripped abs is to have extremely low body fat. A super clean diet is really the only way to get a 6 pack.

Soooo....I have made it my goal for the next couple months to see if I can get a little leaner and really get my abs to show! I just want to see if I can do it, since I've never really tried to lose body fat. Going to Florida in May will give me a little extra motivation!

I've never liked the way I look in a bikini, mainly because of my stomach! :( That is where I hold most of my fat. You could look at me and think I don't have any fat on me at all....but that's just because what fat I do have is all in my love handles! My legs are super lean, and my arms are also pretty lean, but I'm just not satisfied with my stomach.

I think that my body fat right now is somewhere between 14-17%. So my abs look pretty good in certain lighting, especially the upper abs, but my problem area is the love handles and right around my belly button. I really don't want to have super low body fat, because I know that I would just look really scrawny if I was much leaner. So I just want to lose a little body fat, not too much!

During the winter months, I don't do ANY cardio at all, and I train heavy with the weights, staying between 4 and 6 reps with long rests between sets. I still eat pretty clean, but I eat a LOT, and make sure to get lots of protein. So what I'm going to do now is start adding in 2 days of interval training in between my weight training workouts. One day will be sprints, and one day will be jump rope or stair running intervals, or body weight exercises like burpees and mountain climbers. I'm also going to shorten up my rest periods in the gym and add in some supersets to keep my heart rate up during my weight training workouts.

I'm also cleaning up my diet a little. Since I've never had a weight problem and have a pretty high metabolism, I've never worried about how many carbs I was eating. BUT if I want to get these abs to really show, I know I need to cut back on the carbs. Which actually I've already been doing the past couple months. I know that eating less grains :( and more vegetables is better for me anyway, but eating those veggies is the hardest thing for me! I really can't stand the taste of vegetables. But I'm going to try! I think I can handle at least getting in a salad and some broccoli or a sweet potato every day.

We'll see how it goes!

Bernheim Forest

Yesterday was beautiful-sunny and 75 degrees. Perfect!! We decided to go to Bernheim Forest with Asher to enjoy the nice weather!

Ahhhhh....Spring is here and I am loving every second of it!! The weather has been awesome the past few weeks-just what I've been waiting for! :) Finally.

Oh-I was just invited by a friend to go to Florida with her in May!! OOOHH!! I'm so happy--I get to go the beach!!!! CanNOT wait. And then NYC in the summer-can't wait for that, either!!

Dad

Today has been 4 years since my Dad passed away. :( I miss him so so so much! Things just aren't the same without him. Just thought I'd share some memories/things I miss about him!

I miss his smile and his laugh...He could always make me laugh!

I miss hearing him sing and play the guitar...the last time I heard him sing was Thanksgiving 2005, a few months before he died. He was always so insecure about singing, but he had a beautiful voice. He used to sing and play the guitar to my sister and me all the time when we were little; it's one of my favorite memories.

I miss his Saturday morning breakfasts! He'd always get up early and make a BIG breakfast for us-eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, biscuits and gravy...his biscuits and gravy were my absolute favorite! Man, I miss that!

I miss practicing my pitching with him. He was basically my pitching coach, and the one who made me as good as I was! He pushed me hard and made me practice even when I didn't feel like it. We spent so many hours practicing....I miss those days.

I miss picking out our Christmas tree with him and decorating it. He always had to have the perfect tree! We'd spend hours at Hubers tree farm to find the right one! He really got into decorating for Christmas-I guess that's where I get it from.

It really makes me sad that if I have kids one day, that they won't know their grandpa. He really would've made the best grandpa! He loved kids.

But I know I'll see him again one day....I know he's happy, and I'm really just sad for myself because I miss him! He's in a much better place!