BBG week 8 Q&A

1. One thing that surprised me about myself this week:

I have been thinking about taking an online certification to become a health coach for a few years now. I wanted to wait till my son turns one or is sleeping through the night (2 months till he's one- who knows when the later will happen!) Well I called to get additional information the Monday my BBG week 8 started and that just so happened to be a day that they were starting a new class. So I signed up thinking to myself "why put off until tomorrow what can be done today?". I panicked a little at first how am I going to be able to do it all and still get my BBG workouts in which are so important to me?! But I took a deep breath and told myself one day at a time - and what an amazing thing for my son to grow up with a health coach as a mom! 

2. The #1 thing that made me happy this week was:

I upped my weights for my weighted step ups by 5 more pounds on Monday then another 5 pounds on Friday!! 2 personal records in one week!! It would have been so easy for me to stay with my Monday weight on Friday but I pushed myself and was so proud on Friday when I upped my weight again. 

3. Something that didn't go as planned this week was:

I had my husband working out with me for a minute there so I switched my workouts from AM to PM. Well he's off the workout wagon so I'm working out alone again. I really struggled with trying to get up and workout in the AM - I wasn't able to drag myself out of bed for an AM workout any day last week. I caught myself getting down on myself about it then I reminded myself an articale I read a while back about the best times to workout. After stating a few facts giving benefits of morning and night workouts the closing paragraph basically just said you know what- the best time to workout is whenever you can make time. So I reminded myself of that and patted myself on the back for making time.

4. My toughest hurdle this week was:

I was dragging through the workouts- I did manage to up my weights but my energy level all week was pretty low. When you're tired pysichally it really affects you mentally with how hard you push yourself. I did my best to not compare my performances with past weeks but to pat myself on the back for showing up and working out instead of making excuses.

5. What I want to remember this week is: 

Life really is all about perspective. Before this week I was a stay at home mom who made time to workout everyday. Now I'm a stay at home mom who's back in school and making time to work out everyday. Before I had the school component mixed in I didn't think I had any time to add anything to my plate. When I step back and think bout it even though right now I don't feel like I have a sec me a day to spare there are people out there doing what I'm doing and working full time too! Now that I'm back in school it would be so easy to cut out my workouts or make excuses- but I owe it to myself and my son to be the healthiest I can be. 

Why I workout with my son

Everyday I incorporate my son In some form of my exercise. Even if it's as little as stretching, I make it a point to be active in front of him everyday. Yes, it takes at least double the amount of time keeping him occupied and trying to hold a plank. Yes it is more distracting and I probably am not getting as good of focus on my muscles as I would without him. BUT as a parent I can't ignore the fact that one in three of out children today will develop type 2 diabetes! I can tell him to eat healthy and move his body until I'm blue in the face but I know unless I'm living my life as an example of it my words won't mean anything. 

I've heard from countless new moms excuses they can't workout - too tired, my baby won't let me put them down, afraid of injury etc. it's hard to find a nice way to say to them that every mom who has made fitness after baby a priority could have used each one of those excuses! There's ways to get around every excuse you can think of - it's your choice how you want to raise your child and the example you will be. One of my favorite quotes that parallels beautiful with this is "instead of saying I don't have time try it's not a priority and see how that feels". Now I wait until my son goes to bed or have my husband watch him while I do my resistance training 3 times a week so I can balance mom life and my personal goals of muscle building. BUT for cardio and stretching I make sure to prioritize having my son can't be right by my side.

 

As a parent there's so much you can't control which is just an unfortunate reality of life. There are so many more "controllables" we can choose to focus on and take advantage of. Fitness and pyshical activity is a huge one that will benefit your child for life and cause an amazing ripple effect throughout your community to the other children he or she comes in contact with. 

BBG week 7 Q&A

1. One thing that surprised me about myself this week was:

It surprised me this week that I had an easier time doing the workouts in week 5! (For anyone reading this that isn't familiar with the way BBG works you respect the same workout week 1 & 3, 2 & 4, etc. So this workout was the same as week 5 which I remember flying through it with a little more ease. I was talking to my neighbor who got me started on BBG this week and I mentioned when I do BBG 1.0 for the second round I want to track how many times I do each round each week so I can monitor my progressions. Immediately after I said that I backtracked and sad I wasn't sure though- because you need to give yourself some leeway in fitness for a bad nights sleep- an off day- etc. Some people can go super intense about their training and that's awesome! But I think I'm comfortable staying where I am for right now where some days are better than others and just making sure I'm bringing my all to every workout and giving my best day to day which will differ for sure.

2. The #1 thing that made me happy this week was:

I got my husband to do the BBG resistance workouts with me!! THRILLED! We've never really worked out together other than here or there causally before so this is awesome for us. We both get our own personal live in accountability partner- ha! We went for a run together last Saturday and he noticed a huge difference in my stamina since starting BBG. Normally he smokes me in runs and I have the hardest time keeping up with him. For the first time ever I was actually having to slow down for him! That was his "ah-ha" moment in seeing how amazing the BBG guides are so he agreed to give them a try with me and he's hooked! I have him do the second circuit and I do the first circuit so we're not competing with each other so much and lapping each other-  more just going through it together.

3.  Something that didn't go as planned this week was:

Ever since starting BBG I evaluate my workout at the end of each day to have an honest inner dialogue with myself on my performance. I find that this helps me push myself farther than I've been able to in the past. One could defiently say that I'm a very routine oriented OCD person. I look at each workout and get a gameplan for it before I start (how heavy weights I'm going to use- where I'll perform each exercise in my home gym, etc). For Monday's resistance session I started doing the weighted step ups with a 24lb weighted bar as I have been for a few weeks now. About halfway through the step ups I thought to myself- up it to 15lb Dumbbells in each hand- and I did! I struggled through the rest of the reps in proper form. This was so unplanned for me and such a huge step because it's so important to be able to step outside of your confront zone and push yourself. This has been something I've been working on since I've started BBG and hope to continue to make more strides in throughout my workouts not just as a reflection when they're over for my next workout. 

4. My toughest hurdle this week was:

Since my husband joined me for the workouts most of my workouts were done with him after our son went to bed. We tried one in the am but it was just too hard keeping track of our son and workin out so its just easier if one of us isn't free to monitor our 9 month old for us both to do the workouts at night. I dragged through the night workouts compared to the am ones for sure. One night I spent 4 hours trying to get my son down and finished the workout after 10 pm (which is super late for me lol I'm normally in bed by 9)! Although I much prefer working out in the am it's a small price to pay for getting to share this experience with my husband. Knowing we're both putting our fitness and health first by taking time each day to workout together makes me so happy.

5. What I want to remember this week was:

This week was the week of the March Philly BBG meet up. I went to the meet up last month and had an awesome time! Came home so pumped to be a part of such an awesome community and told myself I would take time each month to participate In each meetup to keep my fire lit and keep my motivation high. This month it just seems like every second of our weekends are jam packed - as much as I wanted to go to the meetup I found myself making tons of excuses and telling myself I should really just sit this one out (it's about a 45 minute commute into the city each way so it's like 3 hours of my day away from my son). The night before the meeting at 9pm I started thinking about how the meetup was the next day- as easy as it would be to sit this one out I told myself what I tell moms all the time"you're a better mom and wife if you take time out for yourself every once in a while". So that's exactly what I did! I took the "me" time to go to the meetup and felt the same amazing energy and rejuvenation I felt from last month's. I'm so happy I pushed myself and attended the meetup- I truly feel the past two meet ups and the amazing BBG community I'm a part of on Instagram have been every bit of difference in my success with this program as opposed to things I've tried in the past.

Adult coloring books - a new style of meditation

I was surprised when I read that 6 of the current 20 top selling books on Amazon are adult coloring books! Makes sense though - coloring is a great way to relief stress and tap into memories of simpler times from your childhood where the biggest decision you had to make was to slide down the slide or swing on the swing after you were done climbing the monkey bars. The idea of adult coloring books actually came from Carl Jung -who was always ahead of his time- would prescribe patients to color in coloring books to bring relaxation and mindfulness. Also Jung felt it helped patients access their sub consciousness and tap into greater self knowledge. Coloring is an amazing way you can stay active pyshically while giving your brain much needed rest and relaxation. 

I find myself forever in search of ways to be more mindful and present in my day to day life. Mediation and yoga are two things I love but find myself having a hard time slowing down and doing in my hectic day to day life. Like most moms of young children from the moment I wake up to the moment I go to bed I'm going and going and going. From my number one priority of taking care of my son to preparing nutritious meals for my family, to maintaining our house, maintaining my fitness, etc., etc., there are never enough hours in the day! Whenever I slow myself down enough at the end of a long day to mediate or practice yoga I always feel such relief and relaxation. However I find it hard to slow myself down enough to make them regular habits of mine. Most days it's not until 8 or 9 pm that I'm able to take my first breather of the day and my mind has been on overdrive for 15 plus hours. I find it such a challenge to shift my mind into a calm enough mode to jump into mediation or do yoga. Too often I find myself unwinding my scrolling through my Instagram feed or flipping through mindless tv shows. I am super excited to try my hand at a new mediation technique of adult coloring books! For someone like me who needs something more active to help them slow down and transition at the end of a long day this seems like the perfect tool to bring me down to a more mindful state. 

"Approach" goals vs "avoid" goals

Goals are no doubt a crucial part of anyone's fitness journey. The self talk we use when we goal set is so important and crucial to our success. It's natural to have goals be listing things you want to avoid- the #oneperfectweek I referenced a few blogs back for example had a lot of avoid goals. 

-no processed food

-no cheat meals

-no going over calories for the day, etc.

It's so important to step back and look at the verbiage we're using when goal setting. On initial thought for some people goal setting and setting restricting guidelines for themselves makes total sense on the best way to reach those goals. Using "avoiding" terminology like the above list is setting yourself up for failure. It's negative self talk and telling yourself to stop doing something backfires into continuing to do it- the forbidden fruit scenario. When you step back and think about it this makes total sense no one likes being told what to do- even by themselves! 

Replacing "avoiding" goals with "approach" goals makes all the difference in helping to reach those goals through positive self talk. In reference to the above transformation picture of my BBG progress through the first 6 weeks my goals when I started could have been:

-loose my stomach "pooch"

-have my things not touch 

-look better naked

But those goals are negative self talk and serve a whole lot better if you replace the negatives with actions you can do to make the changes you want to see. For example:

-loose my pooch >> -work on engaging my core more through my workouts

-have my thighs not touch >> - concentrate on going as deep as I can in my squats and really firing up 

-look better naked >> -give 100% effort for every workout I do 

These "approach" goals help by not just point out the negatives I want to change but give me practical steps I can take to empower myself to make the changes. Also, they serve as a much more self respecting dialogue. 

Intuitive Eating

Intuitive eating is a very interesting lifestyle concept I've recently come across. For someone like me who has spent years counting calories and now tracks macros it's a very foreign but intriguing concept to wrap my head around. The whole premise of intuitive eating is to build a healthier relationship with food. A lot of people are regimented with their diets the whole work week and schedule cheat meals on the weekends. For the intuitive eating principle if you feel like having that cheeseburger you'd have Saturday night for a cheat meal on Tuesday night instead go for it! Intuitive eating teaches you to listen to your body cravings and not restrain yourself based on predetermined days you can cheat. 

Intuitive eating is meant to retrain your mind to trust its instincts when it comes to eating and what your body needs. After years of dieting and restrictive eating that most people who turn to intuitive eating have put themselves through the principles of intuitive eating help turn off all of your restrictive voices in your head when it comes to what and when you should and an eat. It seems simple enough "eat when you're hungry and eat till you're full" but years of ignoring our needs and trying to maintain the latest diet have caused a huge disconnect in so many peoples ability to tune into what their bodies need and are asking for. 

One of the principles of intuitive eating calls for you to "make peace with food". Telling yourself donuts are "bad" like so many diets will have you do creates feelings of deprivation and can lead to uncontrollable cravings and binges for the "naughty" foods. When we live with such preconceived notions in our head of what is "good" food and "bad" food we have such remorse and guilt when we cave in and eat the bad food which is bound to happen at some point or another. That's no way to live life!

Intuitive eating calls for a great sense of mindfulness when it comes to eating. Instead of day after day eating the same portions and not connecting with your food and your stomach - intuitive eating asks you to savor every bite. Intuitive eating calls for you to connect with your stomach throughout your meal and listen to its ques for when it is full. A sandwich you ate yesterday that didn't fill you might fill you after 3 bites today. But if you're not que'd into your stomach and listening to the messages your body is giving you- it's far too easy to get wrapped up in habit and eat your normal sized portions rather than the portions you really need. 

Personally intuitive eating seems a little scary but very intriguing. For me right now nursing my son is my number one priority and making sure I get enough calories and that my macros are on point is key to my success with maintaining my supply. When the time comes that I stop nursing, however I plan on trying this approach of reconnecting with my body and attempting to erase all of the expectation years of restrictive eating and diets have engrained into my head. 

BBG week 6 Q&A

1. One thing that surprised me about myself this week:

I was surprised I couldn't hold plank for a minute straight in the circuit! Normally holding plank for a minute straight is hard for me but doable. But for the plank portion in the workouts when my muscles were already fatigued from the exercises I couldn't hold plank for a minute straight! This was a huge call to action for me as holding plank for a minute is as basic as it gets for someone of my fitness level. So I've started holding plank every night for my max time and my goal is to hold for longer every night. I'm on day 3 and so far so good!

2. The #1 thing that made me happy this week:

I can feel myself progressing with the weighted exercises and feel I'm not quiet ready but almost ready to move up with my weights again. Seriously the progressions I've been making with this program are just amazing to me and by far blow all of my other training out of the water with how far I've come in such a short period of time.

3. Something that didn't go as planned this week was:

I walked for one of my LISS sessions. When I started BBG i would have never thought walking would count as a workout and vowed to have all of my LISS sessions be at least on the elliptical or running with a proper sweat and heart rate at least 130bpm. This week I walked for my 3rd LISS session and broke out in a decent sweat! It was an "ah-ha" moment for me that I needed to switch up my cardio more and not let my body anticipate my LISS sessions so much. I woke up the next day feeling just as lean as the day before not feeling extra bulky cause I didn't burn an extra 200 calories or anything. So from now on I all be incorporating more walking and bike rides for my LISS sessions along with running and elliptical work.

4. My toughest hurdle this week was:

On Monday I got a little over halfway through my workout and by son started fussing to be held so I had to repeat the workout after he went to bed at 9pm. That was the latest I'd ever done a BBG workout. Especially hard after running around after a very active 9 month old from 6:30am on. But I did it pushed my hardest through it and went to bed on Monday with a huge sense of accomplishment. 

5. What I want to remember this week is:

Before I started BBG I couldn't run for more than a minute straight. I'd never been a runner and would "sprint". My dad would ride his bike along side while I "ran" and he would barely be able to peddle at times just coast next to me. We went for a run together this past week with me pushing my son in his stroller and holding my 20lb beagle's leash next to my dad on the bike. I didn't have to stop the entire time of my LISS session for the day! Even my Dad noticed the difference in my endurance since starting BBG!

Fresh vs frozen produce

There are so many benefits to buying frozen vs fresh produce - frozen produce generally saves a few dollars per package and an even bigger benefit it has a much longer shelf life than fresh produce. For people like me that absolutely hate wasting food this makes a huge difference! When I buy fresh fruits and veggies and realize I'm not going to be using them before they go bad I find myself chopping them up and freezing them for later use anyway so I've started buying more and more frozen veggies and fruits. Although frozen produce clearly won't work for every dish you're preparing they're a great alternative for many meals. 

Frozen vegetables and fruits are actually more nutrient dense than most of the fresh produce you buy at the store! If you think about it by the time you're buying and taking home fresh produce its gone through nearly a weeks worth of life from being picked, packaged to traveling to the grocery store then being sorted on the shelf behind the produce they have that hasnt sold so grocers can sell the older produce first before it goes bad. Frozen produce is picked at its peak of freshness and frozen so it's generally more nutrient dense than fresh produce which looses nutrients the longer it sits after it's been picked and packaged.

The convenience of frozen vs fresh food is unarguable! And considering the average person eats a third of the suggested daily intake of produce (3 daily servings instead of the suggested 9) I'd say the more convenient produce can be the better!! I find myself always buying frozen spinach and berries to make my daily morning smoothie- as well as frozen broccoli to heat up, drain and throw on a salad or use as a side dish for an easy dinner. 

Holding plank for 2 minutes

Planking is a great exercise that engages the muscles deep within your core as well as pretty much every muscle in the front of your body. I've always been embarrassingly bad a planks my whole life. I always admired people who can hold plank for 4 or 5 minutes strauight but just never really saw it as an option for me. Recently I did a fitness assessment where you do 3 exercises AMRAP style (as many reps as possible) for a minute than hold plank for as long as you can. The assessment should be repeated once a month to track progress through your training. All of my results were pretty solid except for my plank which was straight embarrassing compared to the rest of my results (maxing out at 1 minute and 24 seconds!) I took a step back at my results and started looking into what it means if you can't hold plank well and how I can improve my fitness weak link. 

Planks are a huge reflection of your core strength. Core strength helps shed belly fat making you look thinner, and more importantly to some people it helping support your spine and reducing back issues. The stronger your core is the better your posture is (which I have to admit my posture is terrible - makes sense when you look at my plank results). Core strength is so much more important than looking good in a bathing suit or getting defined abs. As we get older the stronger our core is the better our balance is - therefore the less likely we are to fall and break bones in our senior years. 

It's suggested 2 minutes in plank position is a good assessment for long term health. Being able to hold plank for this long generally means you have lowered amounts of belly fat and are supporting your back muscles in your daily activities through your core which helps prevent injury. Proper form while planking is so important to not hurt your lower back muscles. While planking the goal is to always keep your body as straight and stiff as a board and imagine your belly button being drawn in as high as it can go into your spine. Engaging your belly button is how you get to your deeper core muscles through this exercise. For women it's also suggested to engage your kegal muscles throughout your plank hold as well to help ignite the lower abdominal muscles. 

In my journey to being able to hold plank for 2 minutes straight (hopefully beyond 2 minutes!) I am going to hold plank for my max time every evening and track my time to see my progressions. My goal is to be able to hold plank for 2 minutes straight (pretty much double the amount of time I can sustain now) in 2 months time. I also plan on continuing planking daily to maintain my growth with it and not loose the progress I make. It's amazing how fast your body can push itself and grow with daily exercise. It's equally amazing how fast your body can loose it's gains and backtrack when you don't exercise daily! 

BBG week 5 Q&A

1. One thing that surprised me about myself this week was?

I was surprised that I was still fighting my mind when it came to my ability to do commandoes in plank form as opposed to modifying them down on my knees. Although last week I did every set in proper form with no modifications this week I fought my mind a lot on the negative self talk of "I can't do it" I even dropped to my knees for the last 2 on Wednesday. I wasn't upset at myself though- I know sleep comes into play with a lot of this and right now (at 9 months old) my son is still working on not getting up every few hours through the night. I need to look at this as a journey not a race and know that some days will be stronger than others and that's ok. As long as I'm giving it my all.

2. The #1 thing that made me happy this week was?

I had a personal goal to engage my core more during my liss sessions. I've always been the worst at engaging my core during cardio which I know is so important. This week I reminded myself as much as I could and although I didn't spend every minute of my liss sessions with a fully engaged core - I made great progress which I hope to maintain and build on as the weeks come. 

3. Something that didn't go as planned this week was?

I didn't plan to forget to set the timer!!! Ha I was so tired on Monday when I woke up to do legs that on my fourth set it just seemed to be dragging on and on so I looked at the timer to see how much time I had left and realized I forgot to set the 7 minute timer! Lol that will not happen again!!

4. My toughest hurdle this week was?

I got sick on Thursday and woke up Friday with a nasty stomach bug! I wasn't fully myself again until Sunday so I had to skip Friday's workout - make it up on Sunday and double up a liss session. I was nervous I wouldn't get the recommended amount of liss and resistance sessions in for week 5 but in the end I got 4 liss and 3 resistance sessions in late on Sunday so I can fully move onto week 6!

5. What I wan to remember about this week is?

I want to remember the importance of listening to your body. If you're sick or feeling like your pushing yourself too hard taking a rest day is going to bring you closer to your goals than pushing yourself to exhaustion and injury. As hard as it is for us type a personalities to divert from our weekly plan it's so important to honor and listen to the messages your body is telling you. Taking a day off is a lot better than pushing yourself getting injured or sick and having to take a week off.

Benefits of water

Drinking water is one of the easiest steps we can take towards stating healthy. Most people don't drink nearly enough water though. Depending on who you talk to you'll get different equations to calculate the exact amount of water you should be drinking. A general rule of thumb I try and go by daily is the 8 x 8 rule. It couldn't be easier- drink 8 ounces of water 8 times a day. 

A lot of people wait until they're thirsty to drink water which is a major fail - when your body is thirsty it's already dehydrated! It's important to stay ahead of your thirst to keep your body properly hydrated. 

Drinking the suggested amount of water daily helps your body perform better in so many ways. Just a few of the many health benefits include  :

-clearer skin 

-flushing out your body of toxins

-fighting infection in your body 

-boost energy

-reduce the risk of cancer and heart problems 

A major added bonus is the tremendous weight loose benefits drinking enough water brings. A common rule of thumb is to drink an 8oz glass of water before every meal to keep your stomach fuller and your portion intake smaller. But did you know that drinking a gallon of water a day can help your body burn an additional 180 calories! Water has been shown to up your metabolism by as much as 1/3 higher than its normal rate within 40 minutes of drinking it!