Fasting: How Religion Influences Exercise

We've been one Gym Buddy short in the gym this past month and it's not because she got sick of us randomly drinking out of her water bottle. (Dear Target, when you decide to sell BPA-free water bottles at a ridiculously low price please have more than two colors available as we are easily confused, especially after running Tabata sprints. Sincerely, The Gym Buddies.) Ramadan, the month-long fast observed by most Muslims, is the reason Gym Buddy Krista has temporarily gone M.I.A.. For some reason she doesn't feel like working out when abstaining from food and drink during daylight hours which, since Ramadan falls in August this year, means she fasts from about 4:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. - gotta love living on the 45th parallel!

Hmm... which one is Krista? I'll give you a hint: she's wearing black.

I can relate. In a previous post I mentioned how, as a Mormon, I fast at least once a month for a full 24 hour period. Sagan of Living Healthy in the Real World, asked me to write a post about my experience with voluntary starvation.

Spiritual Benefits
First, I would like to say that for me, fasting is primarily a religious endeavor, a matter of faith. Fasting isn't just about not eating and drinking but is primarily about building a closer relationship with God. The 24 hours is supposed to be a time of prayer, meditation and study. In addition, we donate the money we would have spent on food to the poor and needy in our area so as to keep our focus on serving others. I'm not going to lie: going that long without food or water isn't easy and sometimes it makes me seriously grouchy but I'm not perfect and if anyone knows that, it's God. I figure He's pretty forgiving when I make the kids eat PB&J's because I don't want to cook them something I'm going to have to smell and drool over.

Physical Benefits
That said, there are a lot of benefits to fasting (or intermittent fasting, "IF", as if is often referred to) that extend quite firmly into the physical sphere. Long considered the purview of the incense-and-nutritional-yeast crowd or filed under The Weird Things Hollywood Types Do, fasting isn't generally on most people's radar. But recent research shows that this primitive survival technique may actually have some impressive health benefits.

New research from the American Heart Association found that people who fasted were 39% less likely to have coronary artery disease. This study looked at a sample of 4500 men and women, 90% of whom were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, popularly known as the Mormons. Previously researchers had thought that the Mormons' lower risk of heart disease was due to their religious prohibition against smoking but researchers were surprised to find it most correlated to the monthly 24-hour fasts that adherents practice.

In addition to the heart benefits, Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple and guru of all things IF cites a study that showed, ""health benefits... in insulin resistance, asthma, seasonal allergies, infectious diseases of viral, bacterial and fungal origin (viral URI, recurrent bacterial tonsillitis, chronic sinusitis, periodontal disease), autoimmune disorder (rheumatoid arthritis), osteoarthritis, symptoms due to CNS inflammatory lesions (Tourette's, Meniere's) cardiac arrhythmias (PVCs, atrial fibrillation), menopause related hot flashes." Mark is so convinced of the benefits that he has made fasting one of the primary points of his Primal Blueprint and encourages everyone to try it. Many other studies support the health benefits of fasting including increased insulin sensitivity, faster healing from injury, cellular rejuvenation, decreased blood pressure, reduction in oxidative damage, less type 2 diabetes, less cancer, less cardiovascular disease, protection against heart disease and - the holy grail of health nuts - decreased fat mass. Who wouldn't want all that awesomeness??

Psychological Benefits
Another benefit of fasting, according to Dr. Judith Beck, author of the popular Beck Diet Solution is that it helps you to see that "hunger is not an emergency." So many dieters derail from their carefully planned meals when the hunger pains strike because they think they are starving. They think that if they don't eat immediately then they will be overwhelmed by their hunger when the truth is that hunger waxes and wanes and you will not die if you don't eat for a few hours. Dr. Beck points out that once her patients fast for at least one meal, they see for themselves that they can survive and thrive despite hunger that their cravings have less power over them and it becomes easier to stick with that diet.

But...
Many people, especially hard-core fitness types (ahem, my name is Charlotte and I'm an addict...), fear if they don't get some nutrition every 3-5 hours then they will lose muscle and kill their metabolisms. Actually the opposite is true, according to Mark Sisson (the man with all the answers). "It all makes sense from an evolutionary perspective, because our predecessors almost certainly went through regular cycles where food was either abundant or very scarce. The body may have established protective mechanisms to adapt to these conditions by sensitizing insulin receptors when it was critical that every bit of food be efficiently used or stored (as in famine), or by desensitizing them when there was a surplus, so the body wouldn’t be overly-burdened by grossly excessive calorie intake."

Food is great. It's delicious (usually) and fun to eat and everyone, everywhere needs to eat it. Going against this primal urge is difficult, especially at first. While there are, of course, reasons why some should not attempt fasting (if you are struggling with an eating disorder, for instance, or diabetic or hypoglycemic) for most of us it can be an awesome experience on many levels.

To try it, pick a day when you don't have a lot going on (the day of your big presentation or your final exam is probably not the best time to start this) - I usually choose my rest day so I don't have to worry about dying of thirst after a run - and just plan to skip a meal*. Then try skipping two. The type of fast you do - juice, water only, full abstinence - is up to you. There are as many types as there are people. Just take careful note of how it makes you feel and what, if any, differences you notice. Fasting may be the cheapest and simplest health "products" out there! (Note I did not say "easiest".)

Caveat: When people discover that I fast, they generally say "Oh, you must lose so much weight!" This would not be true. Both Krista and I have noticed that fasting does not cause either of us to lose weight. While the research shows that fasting, over a long period of time, can help you maintain a healthy weight, it doesn't work like a crash diet dropping 10 pounds in 10 days.

Have I convinced you to try it? Have any of you fasted before? What kind did you do and how did it make you feel? Do any of you have religious practices that affect your workout? Ever drank out of a stranger's water bottle by mistake?

*Be smart. Check with your doctor first if you have any health concerns. I am not a doctor, a nurse, a guru of anything or even all that smart sometimes (as evidenced by my massive collection of ridiculous footwear). If you start to feel sick, stop immediately.

5 Products I Swear By....

1. BOOMI BARS (Almond Protein Plus or Cashew Protein Plus)- it's no secret that the majority of protein bars out there are garbage- pure candy in hiding. And in fact, even if the macro counts are on par and the sugars low, 9 chances out of 10 they're loaded with sucralose or other Frankenfood sugars including partially hydrogenated oil, corn syrup, etc etc. BOOMI BARS are gluten free, hand rolled, and include three ingredients- honey, almonds, whey protein isolate. PERIOD. They are the purest bar I've found with whole natural low glycemic ingredients your body can recognize and metabolize.

2. CELCIUS ENERGY DRINKS- We all need a little energy boost- ALL of us. Celcius Energy Drinks provide the best boost out there- and because their proprietary blend includes EGCG, Ginger, Calcium, Chromium, AND vitamins, it's a huge fat burning boost as well. The drink optimizes metabolic activity, tastes delicious and is actually backed by solid scientific studies! They're sugar free, sodium free, sucralose free, aspartame free, and high fructose corn syrup free! I drink one a day, pre workout for an extra push, especially when I'm dieting!

3.JAY ROBB WHEY PROTEIN- This is the BEST (emphasize BEST) tasting protein powder I've ever tried, not to mention it's not loaded with hidden junk or chemicals. It is derived from grass fed cows NOT fed bovine growth hormone, has no fat, no cholesterol, no sugar, no aspartame, no sucralose or other artificial sweeteners, is made with stevia, and is msg and gluten free! Not to mention it tastes PHENOMENAL and blends well!!!

4.Steaz Zero Calorie Sparkling Green Tea- I love carbonated beverages and in the past have been quite the diet soda junkie (not a very good habit to get into). I discovered Steaz Zero Calorie Sparkling Green Tea in the organic food section of my local Giant and fell in love. Although a bit on the pricy end, this stuff is well worth it. Not only does it satisfy my need for a carbonated beverage, but it's made with stevia so there's no aspartame or sucralose. With flavors like Black Cherry, Blueberry Pomegranate, Orange, and Raspberry- it's DELICIOUS! And it won't kill your waistline!

5.Fit n Fresh Containers- Food prep is KEY to success on a nutritional plan. Period. I can never emphasize this enough to my clients. Yet standard containers can be messy and a pain, and it can become a hassle when you're constantly toting large coolers everywhere. FIT N FRESH makes fun containers with pre- measured compartments and custom ice packs that come included with each container! Breakfast, snack, dinner, sandwich, and salad containers are all manufactured BPA free by Fit n Fresh! They also make a wonderful filtered water bottle, chilled shakers, portable drink mixers for protein shakes, and a hoard of healthy food prep products including a food scale and smart portion prep center! I LOVE their products!

Derrick's Dairy, H.I.G.T six week challenge! Week one.

Ok Abfitt readers…
Here is a short review how my first week went on the H.I.G.T training. I thought I was in pretty good shape to say the least as far as lifting weights cause that’s what I enjoy doing when I have time besides playing basketball. The first week doing H.I.G.T I was very sore and tired after the work out. Normally, when I lift weights I try to wait about 1 min to 1min and 30 secs after doing a set but my muscles weren’t used to the 30 seconds to 45 secs after 3 sets. I was out of breath for a min at the end of the workout on one day like I was doing cardio. I had to take a little bit more time to rest between sets but not too long. I really enjoy doing this workout because it’s something new and my body needs something different. I know how I want my body to look after these 6 weeks of what I call “SWEET TORTURE” because that’s what it is to me. I have tried just about every workout in the muscle magazines and from people on Body Space so I thought why not give this a try and see what this workout can do for my body. This is a challenge I must say but I m going to stay with it.
I find it very hard to eat six meals a day if you aren’t really used to it. I surprised myself on the first week because this is the first time I have eaten clean the whole week. My diet basically consisted of skinless chicken breast, eggs, protein shake, brown rice, broccoli, fish, steak, fruits and mix vegetables. I will keep you updated on how week 2 went for me. If you have any questions feel free to email me at dncwhite717@hotmail.com.

The Art of Saying No

"No." Jelly Bean, 9 months old, said her very first word a few days ago! It was very clear (and very much a product of having three older brothers who like to scream that word incessantly) - said in the context of me taking away the graham cracker she was powdering the floor with. You do not get between that girl and her food. She was still her pleasant adorable self but a steely look came into her eye as she said it again, this time with more force. "NO." And then she spitup blueberries down the front of her clean dress.

I could learn a few things from Little Sister. And not just how to barf with class. I'm terrible at saying no. It's the curse of the people pleaser - if someone deigns to ask you to do something for them, you say yes and thank them for the privilege. If I were perfect at this, I would be sainted by now and Mother Theresa and I would be swapping tips over whatever it is people drink in heaven. As you should know by now though, I am a case study of Imperfect.

My problem is that I often say "yes" when I know I should say "no" and then passive-aggressively take it out on the asker. Consider my ex-boyfriend Julian. He wanted to get married. I wanted to be 19 and unencumbered. So when the time came to move him into the "ex" category, did I just (wo)man up and tell him no, I would not marry him? Of course not! I made up an elaborate lie about how my dad (I'm sorry dad!) had gotten cancer (I'm sorry cancer sufferers!) and I had to drop out of school to go home to Chicago (I'm sorry Windy City!) to care for him. I even managed to eke out a few tears as I explained why our love could never be.

The lie worked brilliantly for about a week. Until he called to ask my roommate for a forwarding address to which he could send a card and she said, "Charlotte's right here. Why don't you ask her yourself?" and handed me the phone. Um, awkward. Talk about the worst way ever to break up with someone. A simple no would have been better all around.

Fortunately I'm thirteen years past that atrocity and can laugh about it now. (Hopefully he's somewhere laughing about it too and not throwing darts at my face.) But I still have a ridiculously hard time saying no. So you will be very proud of me when I tell you that I got an e-mail to try out a super duper cool new fitness gadget that tracks your calories and energy expended and sleep patterns and everything... and I turned it down. While it made me sad to turn my back on a cutting edge fitness gadget, I knew in my heart of hearts that using it would undo all the hard work I've done these past few months. I've finally broken that cycle of tracking every bit of food in and every drop of sweat out. And I can't go back to that again and keep my sanity.

I said no.

It didn't feel good. I'm one of those chronic second-guessers. When I'm bored waiting in lines, for fun I'll go over all my past mistakes and try out different scenarios until I find one that would have been better or until my number at the pharmacy comes up. And so the second after I sent the e-mail I panicked. What if it turns out to be the next IT thing and I missed the boat? What if all the other cool bloggers try it out and rave about it and I look lame and out of touch? What if it would have given me the body of my dreams??

But then today I felt good about it. Because saying no to this one thing is actually saying yes to taking care of myself. Yes to listening to and trusting my body. Yes to eating ice cream, sometimes. Yes to skipping a workout, sometimes.

Possibly related to the Yes: This morning I stepped on the scale and it was up two pounds. Instead of my usual closet-crying and day of mourning routine, I looked in the mirror and thought, "It's wrong. I feel awesome. I look great!"

Do you have a hard time saying no too? What do you say no to in order to say yes to your health? Anyone else ever broke up with an ex in a really cruel way?

When Old People Attack: Swimming Experiment Results!

Things would have gone better for me had I had one of these caps, I know it!

Either you're a swimmer or you're not. False dichotomy though it may be, there is an easy test to see which camp you fall in. When someone tells you, "Let's swim half a mile." do you answer, "Sure! It only takes me 4 or 5 minutes to run a half mile so this should be a piece of cake!"? If so, you are not a swimmer. If you answer, "How far is a half mile? Like... 10 laps?" you are not a swimmer. If you even think, "Are goggles and a swim cap really mandatory? 'Cause the former make my eyes bulge like Marty Feldman and the latter is just ugly." then you are not a swimmer. (Although you are wicked good with your '80's movie trivia!)

If you just snap your goggles into place, jump into the pool with nary a whimper about the cold and start stroking, then you are a swimmer.

Our first pool workout for August's Great Fitness Experiment went swimmingly - you knew that was coming! - all the way up to the point where we actually got in the water. Our Y being, well, our Y, naturally there were no lanes open for actual swimming as they prefer to keep 99% of the pool available for elderly aquatics classes that oddly resemble square dancing in slow motion. So we were banished to the "leisure pool" where we did a pool workout that I got from Fitness magazine. It was ridiculously easy. We tried everything we could to get our hearts pumping but instead we ended up comparing our pedicures while sculling in random circles around the pool. (Gym Buddy Megan's toenails were a classic red, mine were a zombie-esque blue and Allison's were naked, poor thing. Knowledge you needed; you're welcome.)

If you will recall, the entire purpose of August's Swimming Experiment was to get Gym Buddy Allison ready for her very first triathlon, a sprint tri that included a half-mile open water swim. Clearly, pedi-sculling and otter-rolling over a beach ball (which is awesome fun, by the way) were not going to get us to that point. So we did what we had to do and started swimming some laps. In the 3-foot leisure pool. It only took three laps before the old folks attacked.

"You're not allowed to swim in the swimming pool!" yelled a white-haired gent without a trace of irony.

"Yeah," chimed in a woman who was obviously very invested in keeping her bouffant dry, "this is a LEISURE pool."

"Well I happen to find this very leisurely," Allison explained sweetly as we backstroked around them like some sort of rogue synchronized swimming team taking hostages.

The next day we were back in the pool again but for real this time. There was one lane open for lap swimming and we intended to use the heck out of it. No matter that it was already occupied by three other women which would make six of us in one lane. We optimistically snapped on our goggles (I borrowed mine from my eight-year-old - I'm Batman!) and plunged in.

"So... half a mile," I said. "How far is that exactly?"

"I dunno," Allison replied. "Let's ask the lifeguard."

"Do you mean a swimmer's mile or a land mile?" he asked in return.

Allison started to answer but I interrupted her with, "Whichever one is shorter."

After giving me a long considering look as if to decide whether to address me as an adult or the child I was acting like, he answered, "A swimmer's mile is 35 laps." (Another way to tell you are not a swimmer is to be unaware of the controversy surrounding how far a swimmer's mile actually is. There is calculus involved.)

We sighed with relief. "We can swim down this thing 35 times, no problem!" Allison chirped.

"You do know that a 'lap' means down and back, right?" he added.

No, sir. No we did not know that. (I must point out here that Megan did, in fact, know this but she was not there at this juncture and so it was just Allison and I, as clueless as one can be in Batman goggles.)

"Okay, we got this. We just have to swim down there 70 times!"

"No, wait," I pointed out, "we have to halve that!"

"So.... that's..." Crickets.

"Half of 70 is 35. And half of 30 is 15 plus 4 which is... 19!" I announced erroneously.

"I thought it was 18," Allison said, also wrong. (Why oh why did they have to pick an odd number?)

"Why didn't we just ask the lifeguard for a half a mile in the first place?"

"Well we can't ask him now. He already thinks we're idiots."

"We are idiots."

"Let's just start swimming and see how far we can get, ok?" Did I mention Allison only had two weeks to train for her triathlon? There's a reason the girl was getting antsy.

We made it four laps before we were clutching the side of the pool and gasping for breath. I will tell you this: In three years of trying every conceivable workout I have never been so close to vomiting as I was in that moment. There are workouts and then there is swimming. It was a gut-wrenchingly, head-to-toe achingly, can't-breathe-for-at-least-3-life-threatening-reasons brutal workout. For the first time I understood why people watch the Summer Olympics for events other than gymnastics.

I was ready to be done. But Megan was already off like a fish, ahead of us by 10 laps or so, and Allison was on a mission. We pressed on for the full half mile. (-ish, my counting got a little garbled. Turns out I can't even do basic math when my Batman goggles turn out to be complete duds and yet I have to drive home so I can't lose a contact thereby forcing me to swim with my head out of the water the entire time making me almost as ridiculous as the Bouffant Lady.)

The next day I was sore everywhere, just like several of you warned me I would be. The strangest part was that I was most sore right under each butt cheek, where my leg joins my derriere. Who knew I even had a muscle there?! The worst effect though was - heaven help me - the Gym Buddies freaking loved it. LOVED IT.

Sensing lap workouts long after August ends, I broke down and bought a decent pair of goggles. I still hate swimming. But I hate it a little less than I used to. Plus, I have to admire a workout that brutal. It never did get much easier for me - every swimming workout felt like choreographed drowning - but I did love how it made me feel when we finished.

As for Allison, despite having never swam in open water, girlfriend finished her tri under two hours and suffered nothing more serious than chocolate-covered cleavage thanks to a protein bar she was inexplicably storing down her top.

Which necessitated a little post-race clean up:

(Not pictured: my four-year-old son eating the protein bar off the ground while the rest of us were distracted congratulating her.)

She rocked the running and biking portions and, more importantly, got bit by the tri bug and is already planning her next one! Way to go, Al!!

Gym Buddy Megan and I (a.k.a. The Dry Ones) flanking our victorious girl!

So, any of you change your mind about swimming this month? Anyone else in the "I don't hate it but I'll never love it" club? What's your favorite Summer Olympics event to watch??

CONGRATULATIONS BETHANN!

Alli-Fitness client Bethann Hyndshaw won her PRO CARD this past weekend at her OCB show in New Jersey!!!!!!! Bethann gained her pro card at the 2010 OCB Mid Atlantic Battle of the Belt, an IFPA Pro Qualifier!!!!!

ENJOY your post contest steak and vacation with your hubby! YOU EARNED IT!

CONGRATULATIONS BETHANN!!!!

How Do You Feel About Blog Giveaways/Product Reviews?

Anyone who has been in the blogosphere for more than 10 minutes (which is pretty much everyone including my 9-month-old daughter) knows about the mostly symbiotic - occasionally parasitic - relationship between sponsors and bloggers. At first look, it's pretty simple: companies want their product to get good Internet buzz, bloggers love try free stuff and blog-readers (who are quite often bloggers themselves) love to get free stuff. Everybody wins!

Until it gets complicated.

Behind the scenes:

1. Sponsors often have a lot of rules governing giveaways and product reviews such as how many posts must be run, what key words must be used, what sites need to be linked, what commenters need to do to win, product pictures and so forth. This varies from company to company with some being super duper control freaks to others that are totally hands off and chill. And sometimes you don't know which way it's going to be until you're committed.

2. Individual bloggers often add more rules on top those like giving extra entries for tweeting/facebooking/linking the giveaway on their own pages.

3. Ad networks, like BlogHer and FoodBuzz, have their own rules on top of all the other rules for giveaways. For instance, a giveaway must be hosted on an ad-free page or must be under a certain dollar amount. To further confuse things, the ad companies sometimes sponsor promotions and giveaways themselves which change the rules yet again. And if you break any of the rules there is a penalty.

In Front of the Scenes: (um, wha? What word am I looking for here??)

1. While I've never had a company tell me the opinion I must have about their product, I have had some companies lean pretty hard on me to give a positive review. And while I try to stay objective - my first obligation is to you guys, not to them - it can get tricky, especially if they are paying for the review and/or are giving away a valuable product. I'm going to be totally honest: it's really really hard to give a negative review of something when you've gotten it for free. There's a reason you hardly ever see a blogger write anything bad about a company or product - if I can't find any positives about a product, I'll usually kill the review rather than put up a negative one. Bloggers typically don't make much money (if they make any money at all) from our blogs, so a little free swag goes a long way.

2. Some companies will give me free stuff to try. Others will give me free stuff and offer freebies for my readers. Still others will offer stuff only for my readers. And still others will give away free product and pay money for the review. Thanks to the FTC ruling last year (which I do think is a good thing), bloggers now have to be a lot more transparent about how exactly we're being compensated but there is still a lot of confusion. Companies that are giving away stuff and paying for the review will often have very specific ways in which they want their product blogged about - which is totally fine as long as everyone is up front about it - but this agreement takes the blogger out of the "impartial reviewer" camp and into the "paid employee" camp. Every blogger handles this conundrum a little differently. Some don't use ad networks so there will never be a conflict of interest. Others refuse to do giveaways. Some refuse to do a product review unless they buy the item themselves or have sought out the company (rather than the other way around). Most of us accept the products and just try to be really open in our blogs about the fact that we got it for free and hope that you guys will understand that.

3. Readers have different reactions to reviews/giveaways. Some people live for giveaways and will never comment unless it is a giveaway post (which doesn't bother me in the least, by the way). Other people feel abused by the blogger and/or the company when a paid review is put up, saying that a blog-vertisement is a lot different than, say, a column ad down the side of the page. I've had impassioned readers e-mail me ecstatic about the giveaways and others that are furious that I'm "selling out." In addition, there has been concern in the blogosphere about how winners are chosen. Sometimes the company chooses the winning comment. Sometimes they'll let me choose but specify a random number generator must be used. Others give me no direction. Most times I am involved in the process.

For myself, even though it creates a lot of extra work for me (communicating with companies, running the contest, contacting winners, writing targeted posts/tweets/etc., setting up extra sites/pages for the ad company rules and so on), I've felt like the giveaways are worthwhile because I love being able to hook you guys up with cool, free stuff! I've even taken on giveaways before for things that I'm not all that interested in because I figure that it will be perfect for one of you. But a few e-mails from readers lately have got me rethinking that stance. I would really appreciate your feedback on this! (Sorry for the interruption to our regularly scheduled health, fitness and craziness programming. It will resume as usual on Monday.)

So now I'm asking you guys: How do you feel about product reviews and giveaways? I've created a handy poll below (click through to my site if you get this via a reader or e-mail) so you can stay anonymous if you like. Feel free to add any additional thoughts or tell me about how you run giveaways/reviews on your own blog in the comments. I'll take all the advice I can get!

UPDATE: MizFit is covering this same thing today! Great minds think alike, eh?

poll by twiigs.com

To transform the body- transform your mind!

""Until one is committed there is hesitancy, a chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness concerning all acts of initiative and creation there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in ones favor all manner of unforseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could ever have dreamed would come his way."

Making a successful body transformation is about so much more then just working out and eating right. Its as much a mental transformation as a physical.

We have all gotten stuck in these ruts where we stop and start and stop and start, which means we pretty much just stay where we are, we may lose a little and then we gain it back and the cycle can repeat itself again and again until we lose all hope of getting there. Essentially we're yo-yoing, taking one step forward and two back and more often than not this pattern can last for years.

It is definitely possible to stick to a diet and workout plan for long periods of time, but a few things need to happen first- mainly, the transformation of your mindset about training and especially about nutrition. Your thinking needs to change!
Here are the things I know and have learned and what I feel to be necessary to an amazing transformation:

• What is your purpose? Why do you want to lose this weight, or gain this muscle, be a certain size etc.? Figure out what that is. Maybe you want to be a good example for you family and kids, maybe you want to compete, maybe you want to be a fitness model, maybe you just want to feel good again. Hell maybe you just want to shimmy into the skinny jeans that have been sitting on your shelf for the the last year! Make sure its what you feel PASSIONATE about.

• Then decide exactly what you want to accomplish, be very specific, write it down in detail. Set specific goals and write them down as if its already happened. Find a picture of your ideal physique and put that somewhere you can see it daily- I have photos ALL over my house, on the fridge, on the bathroom mirror, anywhere that I feel I need inspiration or a reminder of why I do this.

• Imagine what it will feel like to reach your goals, create a mental mind movie, imagine specific situations starring your new lean self, imagine looking down at your body and it looks exactly like you want, what does it FEEL like? If you find this hard at first don't stop, work on it everyday it will become clearer and clearer. As I'm hauling ass up the stepmill for the second time in a day, I keep thinking "pro card pro card pro card", over and over until I can SEE them calling my name out for my pro card. I can envision the whole process happening and I get overwhelmed with motivation!

• Review these goals everyday.

• Take before pics, you don't have to share these with the world, but its important YOU see where you are at. It wasn't until I took my before pics that I realized I must do something NOW waiting even one more day was not acceptable! Better yet- hire a trainer or coach to help hold you accountable and submit photos to them weekly! I can tell you one thing- knowing you have to step into a bikini to send photos will surely keep you on track!

• Tell yourself after your workouts, I am even leaner today then I was yesterday, I am getting leaner, stronger and tighter. Imagine the fat melting off to reveal tight shapely muscle.

• Focus on the positive, everyday write down 3 things you did well, also write down 3 things you will do even better tomorrow.

• Have a plan B, what if it rains, the car breaks down, the kids get sick, your stuck away from home without a meal, you can't get to the gym etc. whats your plan? I have a bodyweight circuit I keep on hand for when I can't get to a gym, know what you can do, create options for yourself. I have bands and balls at home and I'm close to a park I can run in as well.

• Plan ahead. Cook your meals ahead, some of us hear this, know this, tell others this, and still don't do it! lol ...DO IT! If you don't prepare to succeed you're planning to fail!

• Write down what you are grateful for everyday.

• When you feel like crap and like nothing is going your way, go encourage and help others, works wonders for your mental outlook.

• Before you go to bed, imagine how you want the day to go, imagine your workouts, the reps, sets and weights, when you wake up - do it again.

• Weigh, measure and do skin folds, take pics and try on clothes at regular intervals, this could be weekly, bi-weekly or once a month, I like weekly (at least for measurements and weight) because if things aren't going in the right direction you can make corrections before they go too far the wrong way but just pick one and stick to it. This ties in with what I said about before pics and taking photos weekly. I prefer photos the best because the scale is just a number, as is a skinfold, but VISUAL results are priceless- seeing yourself thinner, having your clothes fit better, those are tangible results you can show off to the world!

• Celebrate your victories, even the little things, don't wait until your at your goal to celebrate.

• Get some new gadgets or equipment, they can help with motivation. Download new music onto your IPod to drive you through your workouts!

• Try something new, try some yoga, boxing, pilates, go climb a hill, and see if you can beat your time next time. Have fun!

• Keep a workout journal, find a nice notebook, write motivational quotes in it, track all your measurements on a page and track your goals, write down your meals and workouts and water consumption, cut out pics of what you want to look like and past them in it, customize it, make it yours!

• Write down the time you will do your workout, what time you will eat, wake up go to bed etc, these times are important and if you know what time you are doing everything it just makes it easier- plan plan plan!

• Set goals for each workout, you should be trying to go faster in less time further in the same amount of time, lifting more weight, or doing more reps, in some way make each workout better then the last.

• Hold yourself accountable, join a board, forum or group of like-minded people. Hire a coach, get a training partner! Sometimes there is no one in the world who understands you, especially if friends and family are not supportive, they will listen, motivate and give you a kick in the ass when you need it.

• Commit to your goals completely and wholeheartedly, sometimes we say in our minds I will give this everything I have! (well, as long as this, and this, and this, happen or don't happen) Don't set limitation on yourself, if you argue for your limitations, you will get to keep them!

• When you REALLY don't want to workout and you find yourself trying to think of an excuse, STOP THINKING and go DO IT. Those times will be some of the best workouts ever, you don't want to miss that do you? :) Trust me on this- think less, do more. Just DO IT!

• Be ready when you hit a goal with a new goal, its too easy to think I've made it, I can rest, but what really happens is you start going backward. Keep challenging yourself!

• If you screw up and eat something off plan, DO NOT blow off the whole day, get right back on track with the next meal. Too often people blow off that day and then it snowballs, and suddenly the whole week is one big binge. Don't do this. You promised yourself this time would be different, that you would reach your goals THIS TIME remember?? Honor your self promises, thats where that inner strength comes from. The feeling that you will have when you sit down to eat with family and friends and can keep your hands out of the junk and on your pre-prepared food with a smug smile will be priceless. You'll feel in control and INVINCIBLE and that feeling just builds on itself.

• Have your off plan meals PLANNED, don't eat out of the bag or box, put it all on a plate, laid out so you can see it all , then eat slowly and enjoy :)

• Spend some time looking at transformations online, or bodybuilding.com, or youtube. Do this whenever you start to doubt you can do this. This will build belief. I have seen such amazing transformations, mind-blowing transformations, and I know that if they can do it, so can I.

Godness of calf muscle 2

Adderall Makes You Crazy (The Lindsay Lohan Cautionary Tale)

Normal. It's not a word I'm used to using in regards to Lindsay Lohan. From the very beginning she has been many things - oh how I adored her as the red-haired imp on The Parent Trap, Culottes Edition - but she has never been normal. Currently, for those of you keeping tabs on the fallen princess, she just finished serving jail time for missing her alcohol classes and went directly to rehab (do not pass Hollywood & Vine, do not snort $200). She was supposed to spend 90 days in rehab but doctors at the UCLA center have decided that she might not be an addict after all, despite all the photographic and textual evidence of her looking inebriated and/or high as she gets DUIs and has raging public fights with her exes on Twitter. (Not that I'm judging - had Twitter been around during my break-up/make-up years I have no doubt I would have leveraged it to it's maximum cringe-inducing potential. I love me a good public scene.) No, it appears her problems with manic behavior, impulsivity, sleep disturbances and even alcoholism, are all symptoms of a psychosis brought on by addiction to the AD/HD drug Adderall. And in this, Lindsay may be more normal than we'd like her to be.

It is estimated that about 25% of college students take Adderall or Ritalin for non-medical purposes. No one really knows for sure because students are understandably reluctant to 'fess up to their amphetamine use although ask any college student you know and they'll likely tell you it's easier to get an Adderall than a beer. Prescriptions of the drug are up 3100% over the past several years which only increases the black-market viability. Even in my un-hip over-30 demographic, I run out of hands to count on before I run out of people I know who have used it.

A while ago, I wrote about an experience where a friend at the gym approached me about taking Adderall to lose weight. She called it "the perfect life in a pill" and was so persuasive in her efforts (and descriptive in her how-to's) that I was sorely tempted to give it a try myself. Although it's not mentioned in any of my pregnancy manuals, being that I'm a nursing mom and we're not even allowed to eat unpasteurized cheese I'm pretty sure that recreational prescription drug abuse is a no-no. I wrote the post in an effort to cleanse myself of thoughts of magically fitting skinny jeans and brilliant articles that write themselves. But it was all the comments you guys left me detailing your horrific experiences with it and the many detrimental (and potentially life threatening) side effects that really sealed it for me. I never tried it. Seriously, anyone contemplating non-medical Adderall use should go read through that comment thread.

For those people truly afflicted with AD/HD, the drug can be a lifesaver but for people wrongly diagnosed, the fallout can be severe. According to doctors, Lindsay is not AD/HD and should never have been prescribed the drug - small comfort, I'm sure, as she roasts on the spit of public condemnation. But in a world where achievement is everything and our public figures are only as good as their last interview, it doesn't take much imagination to figure out how she would end up with her very own golden ticket on a Rx pad.

What happens to Lindsay Lohan now that she's been taken off the meds is anyone's guess. Perhaps she'll metamorphose overnight back into the moppet we all loved and start being a reliable actress again. Or maybe she'll go on a coke bender and all our speculation about whether her symptoms were "cocaine-like" or just "cocaine" will be ended. For the record, I hope it's the former. As much as I love a good train wreck, I prefer the ones where everyone walks out alive.

Either way though we now have conclusive proof, walking around in padded-knee "Presidential" leggings, that Adderall can make you crazy. To this end, Lindsay may end up being a more powerful cautionary tale about the risks of abusing prescription stimulants than any D.A.R.E. campaign college boards could imagine. At the very least I suppose I owe her a thank-you card.

Have you ever used Adderall or another stimulant for an off-label purpose? Do you really think Lindsay's problems are all the result of a bad ADHD diagnosis?

Lean for life series...Rules of thumb.

Chiseled abs, shapely legs, toned arms - these can be yours when you increase your lean body mass and decrease your body fat percentage. Rev up your metabolism, improve your stamina and create the lean body you want by following these principles.


I preach these training principles when it comes to my H.I.G.T program. I believe these five basic principles when applied correctly and accompanied with proper nutrition, supplementation, & rest allow for drastic body composition change and huge gains in speed & strength. This training routine is meant to shock the body out of a training rut.

1. INTENSITY...without it you're spinning your wheels, achieve it with heavy weights and little to no rest between exercises.
2. GROUPING...pairing two or more muscle groups during training, remember functional fitness. Muscle contraction is a team effort. Single joint movements are limiting your results.
3. RECRUITMENT..this program was developed to recruit as many fast twitch muscle fibers as possible. These are the fibers responsible for a lean sculpted physique.
4. NO REST.. I should say limited amounts of rest. traditional weight training limits overall growth in trained individuals. Limited to no rest between exercises forces the body to recruit more muscle fibers to handle the increased demands put on the body.
5. UNCONVENTIONAL IS CONVENTIONAL.. try thinking outside the box, training in this matter puts a huge demand on your heart & lungs, forcing more blood flow and rapid use of oxygen in time resulting in better cardiovascular fitness without endless hours on the treadmill.

I began training and developing H.I.G.T in 2004 with the help of some of this country's fittest, USFS smoke jumpers.. http://www.smokejumpers.com ..in the deserts of Nevada. I have tweaked it to what it is today. You don't have to agree with these principles, I only ask you to ask yourself this, "If there is a better more efficient way of training, that will drastically sculpt your body with tons of lean muscle tissue and turn your body into a fat incinerating machine with a metabolism that churns full throttle...... can you afford to NOT give it a try?
Your body, your health, your choice.

Richard Seymour

captured from tv show "Hung" ( Rebecca Creskoff legs )

Eating Fat Does Not Make You Fat

Confession #1: Today I stopped and bought my boys t-shirts at a garage sale to wear because I haven't had time to do laundry for two weeks now and everything they own has been worn twice. (Once right side out and once inside out - for the latter, I just tell everyone they dressed themselves. I don't add that I told them to dress themselves that way.)

I hang my motherly head in shame. But that is nowhere near as shocking as my next confession. If Charlotte-from-10-years-ago knew what I was about to confess, she'd have had me committed then and spared me this horror. In fact, the only reason I will even admit to this in black and white is because the other day Gym Buddy Allison 'fessed up to doing it - and liking it - too. So here goes...

Confession #2: I eat beef fat.

Not only do I eat it but I love it. I crave it. You know all that white stuff all around the edges of a steak? The stuff that everyone from Dr. Oz to Dr. Phil (to Dr. Oprah-spawn) tells you to trim off? Well, I eat it.

My road to debauchery started out innocently enough with a simple cow (don't all roads to debauchery start with a cow? No??). Gym Buddy Krista was talking up her favorite local beef farmer and since I started Geneen Roth's guidelines, as I explained before, I've stopped being vegetarian in favor of eating what my body - not my mind - says it wants. So I signed up for one of those grass-fed-and-finished, antibiotic-free, hormone-free, organic, kissed-by-angels bovines.

Upon retrieving the dead carcass from the super friendly farmer (any local peeps who want his info, I'm happy to pass it along! Poor man hasn't discovered the Internet yet and has no website but he raises awesome livestock so we'll forgive him.) I learned two important things. First, cows are insanely huge animals. My Bessie was 920 pounds. The smallest portion he'd sell me was 1/4 - those of you good at math (update: this group will not include me as in the original version of this post my cow and cow quarters didn't even remotely add up. I blame the tireds.) will realize that left me with 230 pounds of animal - so thank heavens Gym Buddy Megan split it with me. Second, Mr. Farmer informed me that while fat from traditionally farmed cows (read: cows fed with grain) is terrible for you, fat from grass-pastured cows is fan-freakin'-tastic with a huge ratio of those Omega-3 fatty acids health nuts are always crowing about.

Me being me, I couldn't just take some farmer's word for it, even if he is the coolest farmer I have ever met (which is only because I've never officially met the Bag Lady) so I checked out the research. And you know what? He's right. Mark Sisson of Mark's Daily Apple gives a better breakdown of all the current research and arguments than I could so check out his article "The Definitive Guide to Saturated Fat" for all the nitty gritty. Say what you will about The Primal Blueprint (and heaven knows I've said plenty!) but that man does his homework. For too long we've been conditioned to believe that adage about Good Fats and Bad Fats. Turns out all naturally sourced fats are good fats. Even saturated ones like coconut oil, heavy cream and, yes, animal fat (as long as it isn't conventionally farmed). The only bad fats are those man-made monstrosities like trans-fats and interesterified fats.

While I've embraced the "good fats" a la avocado, nuts and olive oil for several years now, I'm brand new to the saturated fat love fest. Reader Deb asked me what this looks like in real life for me. For a couple of weeks I tried to eat 50% or more of my calories from fat but after jumping on the Geneen Roth train (and quit counting calories) I still eat a lot of fat but I think probably more like 40%, depending on the day. The upshot of this mini-experiment is that eating lots of fat keeps me satiated longer and helps reduce my cravings for sugar (because while it turns out saturated fats aren't correlated with coronary heart disease like we all thought, sugar sure is!) Consider me a convert! I love my real whipped cream.

I still don't like bacon though.

What are your feelings about saturated fats? Do you ever eat the fat on your steaks or chops? Anyone else just hate bacon? And if you want to tell me about the time you bought new clothes/dishes/underwear rather than clean the ones you have, that might make me feel better;)

Fit tips/ supplements..here's two to add to your list.

GoJi berries
Why do people use goji berries?
Goji berries have been used for 6,000 years by herbalists in China, Tibet and India to:

* protect the liver
* help eyesight
* improve sexual function and fertility
* strengthen the legs
* boost immune function
* improve circulation
* promote longevity

Goji berries are rich in antioxidants, particularly carotenoids such as beta-carotene and zeaxanthin. One of zeaxanthin's key roles is to protect the retina of the eye by absorbing blue light and acting as an antioxidant. In fact, increased intake of foods containing zeathanthin may decrease the risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of vision loss and blindness in people over the age of 65.

In recent years, goji juice has become popular as a health beverage. Companies marketing goji juice often mention the unsupported claim that a man named Li Qing Yuen consumed goji berries daily and lived to be 252 years old.

Salba seed-

Omega 3s, Fiber, Antioxidants, & Much More...

Salba is the richest whole food source of Omega 3 fatty acids and fiber found in nature. Gram for gram, Salba provides eight times more Omega 3s than salmon, four times more fiber than flax, six times more calcium than whole milk, 30 percent more antioxidants than blueberries, and much more. Salba is all-natural, has no trans-fats, very few carbohydrates, and is certified Non-GMO, Vegan, Kosher, and Gluten-Free for those who suffer from celiac disease.

Godness of calf muscle 1

Plateau Busting 101

Manscaping your nipple hair to attach to your nostril hair won't help you lose weight butI admire his willingness to change things up! Also, I think this dude shaved a swatch down the top of his head. That might be my fave part.

Sprained ankles. Broken bones. Gym Hottie rejection. Stolen spots. The occupied state of the "lucky" treadmill. Pistol whipped by a resistance band. A personal trainer with cold calipers and cold fingers. All the TVs locked onto The Hallmark Channel during a Nicholas Sparks cry-a-thon. Discovering the protein powder mixed in your water bottle is actually infant formula. There are many reasons for tears in the gym and I've seen my fair share of them. (Okay, that last one was me. (Fine, all of them were me. Shut up.)) But the number one reason I've seen people of both genders collapse in hysterics can be summed up by one word:

Plateau. duh-duh-duh!

Enter from stage left (gym studio left?) my gorgeous, leggy, thin, blond friend. While she recently had a great deal of success losing some poundage, she was not quite yet to her goal and yet her weight loss had stagnated. This, in spite of continuing with her healthy eating and exercise habits. Nothing, my friends, sucks worse than doing "everything right" and have it not work anymore. I wrote a detailed - and rather witty, if I do say so myself - post on plateaus and how to deal with them back in January. (Really go read that one first.) That one deals with all touchy-feely weepy aspects of the Dieter's Nightmare. (And you thought it was those awful Weight Watcher "cakes" that appear twice their real size on the outside of the box and taste just like the inside of the box. If the box was spread with chocolate-colored grout.) The basic gist is that we've all been there. Some of us are still there. It royally stinks.

But my friend wanted more detail about point #4, "Change it up." (Well, actually she just wanted to borrow my Jillian Michaels book Master Your Metabolism but I can't find it - I loaned that sucker to somebody, if you know who you are can I please have it back? K thx! - so I offered her my advice as a sorry second.) There are a ton of variables to try changing to see if you can kickstart your metabolism back into high octane burn. Here are a few suggestions to try and a few not to try:

Try It!
1. Interval training. The science really supports this one. Intervals done right are very painful (you're training at 90% or more of your maximum ability) but they are short. As with most exercise, more is not better (hgh, human growth hormone, works while you rest, remember?) but do try working in a couple of interval workouts a week. 20 minutes max is all you need. And don't tack them on to another workout. Seriously. Because then you won't be able to give those intervals your all. Bored of treadmill sprints (or they give you shin splints)? Try bike sprints. Or rowing sprints. Or, heaven help you because you will barf, swimming sprints.

2. Mess around with your macronutrient ratios. Recent research has shown that eating fat and protein for breakfast can give you a metabolic boost that will help you burn fat throughout the day and help you stay full longer. I'm not saying cut out healthy carbs all together, just don't fear the fat! And don't mess around with that Smart Balance stuff - go for the full fat butter, coconut oil, olive oil, heavy cream and whole eggs. For instance, my go-to breakfast these days are my (by way of Deb, Allie, Heather and half the fit-o-sphere) protein pancakes topped with a tablespoon of coconut oil or two tablespoons of heavy cream.

3. Try a new type of exercise. Always do step class? Try martial arts. Die-hard runner? Try boot camp. There are more ways to exercise than even I can blog about (not that I'm not trying, mind you) and change is good. It shocks your body and will make you sore in places you didn't know you could be sore!

4. Cut back on your cardio. For many of us, the instinct to just do more - more classes, more miles, more laps - is strong. If some is good, more is better right? Not so with exercise. And you know that I speak from experience here. Too much cardio actually teaches your body to store fat, can increase your hunger or just convince you that since you ran 10 miles you can eat whatever you want, goldanggit. Many of the leanest people I know (holla, MizFit!) do minimal cardio and focus mainly on the weights. I'm not telling you not to do cardio - you can have my endorphin rush when you pry it out of my cold dead fingers, er, neurons - just to resist the impulse to do more of it. If you want to run a marathon to prove to yourself you can do it or because you love to run or because racing gives you a thrill or even just because you think the finisher's tee is adorable then you should totally do it! But if you are running a marathon because you think it will make you lose 10 pounds, rethink that.

5. Lift heavy stuff. If you haven't started lifting weights, do it. Not just because adding muscle will increase your resting metabolism (not by a ton, but every little bit helps) or because muscle takes up less space than fat but because it is good for you in so many ways. Increased bone mass. Stronger heart. Fewer varicose veins (unless you squat too heavy and then you can get hemorrhoids but that's another post). Increased confidence. And if you already lift weights, change it up: try lifting heavy with few reps, or light with many reps. Try doing supersets. Lots and lots of different programs out there.

6. Eat more calories. This may sound counterintuitive but I think by now we've all heard about how our metabolisms will head off into the Siberia of starvation mode if it thinks it's not being sufficiently fed. Cutting back on your calories only helps you lose weight to a point. You may actually need to eat a bit more. How to tell? Do you feel tired, lethargic and/or more cold than usual? Have you lost your sex drive? Losing your hair? Brittle or strangely ridged nails?

7. Get your metabolism tested. If you have health insurance and this isn't too costly, this can be a good thing to do if nothing else is working. Get your thyroid tested (especially if you are pregnant, recently were pregnant, are lactating or are female and over 50). Get your vitamin and hormone levels checked. It can't hurt and who knows - it might turn up a health issue you need to know about!

Maybe
1. Calorie counting. For me this one is a loaded weapon but the truth is that it takes you an hour to burn 500 calories but it only takes you five minutes to eat a Cinnabon. It's much easier to watch what you eat than to change your exercise. If you are trying to break through a plateau it can be useful to track your calories for a while to help you be honest with yourself about what and how much you are really eating. It can also help you see patterns (like, say, if you hit a plateau at a certain time of the month every month.). But if you decide to do this one, do it with care and kindness. Too many of us have sacrificed our well being and mental health on the (un)holy altar of FitDay.

2. Cleanses. I've never done one of these. While I do fast for 24 hours once a month for religious reasons (I'm a Mormon), I've never tried a fasting or juice or any other "cleanse." I have friends that swear by them. I remain dubious. If you do one, drop me a line (or write a comment) and tell me about your experience with these!

Don't Do It
1. Pills. Just remember this: if they actually worked, every one would buy them and we'd all be thin. They don't work and they prey on your hope and your pocketbook.
2. Extreme diets. Sure you'll drop pounds but you'll drop so much more than that too. This is how eating disorders are born.
3. Over-exercise. Learn from me. Please. If there is any silver lining to having gone to treatment twice for exercise addiction, it is that perhaps I can spare some of you a similar fate.
4. Tapeworms. Um, ew.

I know I didn't hit everything - what suggestions do you have for busting through a weight loss plateau? What have you tried that has worked? What have you tried that hasn't?

Low Cal Peanut Butter Cookies!

Alli's Low Cal Peanut Butter Cookies 60 calories per cookie!

Makes 24 cookies 1/2 cup natural peanut butter 1/2 cup melted dark chocolate 4 egg whites 3/4 c. oat flour 1/4 tsp baking soda 1/4 cup Stevia 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 tsp vanilla 1 tsp cinnamon 1 TBSP almond or coconut milk Mix peanut butter, almond or coconut milk, and cinnamon together.Stir in the eggs and mix well. Add the melted dark chocolate, stevia,brown sugar, vanilla, and baking soda. Mix in the oat flour. Drop by teaspoons onto a baking sheet (sprayed with Pam) Bake 15-20 minutes or until done. Enjoy!