Friday's Facts - Barbells for Boobs!

Its October, which as we all know is Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Breast cancer, I’m sure, has touched each and every one of us in some way – whether it's a family member or close friend that has battled the disease; maybe a co-worker, church member or friend of a friend. We all know someone who has been affected by breast cancer, and I’m no exception.

In 1987, my paternal grandmother passed away from breast cancer, three days before my 8th birthday; she died peacefully in our home. Since then I have known far too many close and distant family members, on both sides of my family, who have been diagnosed with this disease.

Recently, I found out that one of my best friends, someone I've known for almost twenty years, has been diagnosed. She is only 36 years old and has a son who is less than a year old. Because of her early detection, she will undergo treatment (still TBD) but is not expected to have any complications.

Today’s message is not about fitness tips or what to eat this week. It's about urging each and every one of you to make sure to get your mammograms and do your breast self-exams. I had my first mammogram this past year, and I have to say it wasn't really bad at all! It takes less than 10 minutes to do something that can not only save your boobs, but save your life.

BUT, as a fitness and nutrition coach, I also urge you to be sure to life a healthy lifestyle. Lifestyle choices – diet and exercise – can help with prevention of various diseases, but if someone is diagnosed with breast cancer, maintaining a healthier diet and exercise program can help with recovery. (Please remember I am not a doctor and these statements are gathered from various leading online breast cancer research web sites such as http://ww5.komen.org/)

Barbells for Boobs
In honor of my best friend, who I won’t name, but she knows it’s for her, I am participating in a fundraising event called “Barbells for Boobs”.

Next Saturday, November 1st, a friend and I will be at Crossfit Milford doing a specific workout called “Grace”. It's not going to be easy, especially with a bum shoulder, but I do this in honor of my friend and in memory of my grandmother.

For more information on the fundraiser, and if you would like to donate, please visit my pledge page at: https://fundraise.barbellsforboobs.org/fundraise?fcid=363599

For more information on screening and mammograms, please call your doctor. If you have not yet had one and are over the age of 35, please talk to your doctor and insurance company about having one done right away!

Enjoy your weekend!
Devon

Thursdays Thoughts - The Can't (aka Won't) Syndrome

We all do it - and I've written about it: make excuses. Why you can't make it to the gym, why you can't lose weight, why you can't eat breakfast in the morning…

Nick Sarnicola, co-founder and global ambassador of ViSalus and The Challenge, says "An excuse is the lie you tell yourself" and it's true.

But we've talked about the excuses before and that we all have them. Let's talk about the "I just can't do it....I NEVER could" and the "It’s just NOT ME" because that's been brought up a few times recently and it needs to be addressed.

As many of you know, I actively challenge people to lose 10 lbs. of fat or gain 10 lbs. of muscle with The Challenge. When adults do that, we are able to help donate healthy meals to kids in need and/or who are overweight or obese themselves. The Challenge is a healthy fast food option and meal plan, centralized around a meal-replacement protein shake and high-protein cereal. There are also snacks, supplements and an energy line to help with any weight loss or active goals. (For more information, click here)

After I mention The Challenge and the protein shakes to someone, and explain that I personally lost 20 lbs. and 10% body fat with The Challenge, I often hear "I just can't do shakes".

Hmmmmmmm...Can’t or Won't?  Big difference!
 
You've heard before that success is right outside your comfort zone. If you are looking for weight loss tips, or workout advice in order to achieve a certain desired result, you can't keep doing what you are currently doing; if you could, you'd already be at your goal!

So you can’t "do shakes" or you won't because you think you won't like them? Or is it something you're not used to?  If your way of eating isn't working, it’s time to step outside the comfort zone and try something new.

Get rid of the "I can't" mentality in order to make a change and turn your mindset into "I can"... or at least "I'll try'!  It takes 21 days to make something a habit, so can you "do the shakes" or cereal for 21 days and start on a journey to lose 10 lbs.?

I wasn't a "shake person" when I started with The Challenge either but what I was doing wasn't working - and believe me when I say I have tried EVERY damn fad-diet out there! So I gave it a try. Three years later, 20 lbs. down and STAYING OFF, a BMW in the driveway and now a full time income Challenging others to lose 10 lbs., I'm glad I got over my "I can't do shakes" thing.  It really was more that I didn't want to go outside of my comfort zone. My comfort zone consisted of "comfort food": pizza, nachos, beer and candy; boy am I glad I took that step outside!

Are you willing to do the same?

Friday Fitness Facts - The Holidays Are Upon Us!

Here are the facts:

1) It’s October; it’s getting colder and the first of the growing holiday season is almost upon us. 

(Monday is Columbus Day here in the US, and its Canada’s Thanksgiving)

2) Over the next 81 days or so, there are actually only eight nationally observed holidays (excluding Jewish or other religious holidays):

• Columbus Day
• Halloween
• Veteran’s Day
• Thanksgiving
• Christmas Eve
• Christmas
• New Years Eve
• New Years Day

3) Of my current clients and close friends, only eight of them are of the Jewish faith or observe other religious holidays, so the above mentioned seven holidays are observed by the rest of my clients and friends.

 

In the past week, I have already heard four times: “I’m going to wait until after the holidays to start my diet/workout program” and here’s what I want to (but don’t) scream at them: ARE YOU FRIGGIN’ KIDDING ME??

 

Here’s why:

You’re willing to give up the next 80+ days (less seven holidays so 73 days) of working towards a goal, whatever that may be, because “the holidays are upon us?!”

Let’s be real here: we tend to look for an excuse to wait and get started. We all do it, myself included. If I don’t pay for a 5K run or Spartan Race, I have no motivation to actually go out there and run or work out. So yeah, we all do it. But are you really going to allow seven actual holidays to stop what could be an epic three month transformation?

 

You’re allowed to have your cheat day/meal here and there so allow those seven holidays to be built into that plan, but don’t give up on the next three months because the rest of the world wants to “wait until 2015.” Start a plan NOW! Using the holidays as an excuse to gain weight and give up working out is nonsense. You CAN lose weight over these months. You CAN hit your goals. You CAN survive the holiday parties, drinking, and incredible food we all love to consume during this time of year.

  

So if you've wanted to start a new nutrition or workout program – start TODAY. Not tomorrow. Not after Thanksgiving. Not January 2. TODAY!

Wednesday's Wisdom - A Low Calorie Diet is NOT the Way to Go!

In order for me to keep up to date with what’s going on in the fitness and nutrition industries I subscribe to newsletters, just like you did, to hear from the experts and learn. I can then provide you with the most up to date information as well.

This week I received this great article from an industry expert, Allison Moyer, and I could not have said it any better myself! I thought I would simply pass along Alli’s newsletter to you all regarding a low calorie diet.

I talk with my clients about the importance of being aware of the calories you are taking in –some people are too high, while others are too low. Both can be detrimental to a successful weight loss and fitness program. While counting calories can be cumbersome and a PITA (pain in the A$$), Alli talks about why a low-calorie diet is NOT the way to go, and if you are not counting calories, how do you know if you don’t track it?

Happy reading and have a great week!

The following is taken from the Alli-Fitness email newsletter dated 9/29/14: enjoy!

“Drastic Dieting Might Not Be The Way To Go For Fat Loss”

“Contrary to popular belief, to lose body fat you DON'T always have to drastically cut back on your calories.

Sure- you can and you'll lose weight, I'm sure of it, but the damage it will do to your body will hardly be worth it. Operating long term in extreme caloric deficits winds up doing several things that are counterproductive to long term metabolic efficiency in your body such as:

1) Putting your body at risk for catabolism (muscle wasting)

2) Creating an environment in which your body thinks it's starving- and when your body think it's starving it tends to want to STORE rather than burn what scant calories you're giving it

3) Unfavorable metabolic adaptations. Your body is smart- so smart in fact that it will SLOW its metabolism down in order to MATCH caloric intake. This is why people who have been dieting "forever" wind up having to eat less and less and less to continue to see results. Their metabolism continues to slow. And inevitably, you CANNOT maintain a severe deficit for the rest of your life- it's unrealistic. And when you finally can no longer handle the low caloric intake and begin to consume more food, guess what- you no longer possess an efficient metabolism. The increase in calories is only going to cause you to pile back on the pounds you lost.

This is why people wind up yo-yoing with weight all the time. They diet too hard, too long, cannot sustain it and voila weight comes back on. And then they freak out and get right back on whatever extreme diet they were on before, and round and round we go. Constant weight loss and weight gain also creates an increased risk for heart disease, further metabolic inefficiency, instable blood glucose levels and cellulite... yay!

If you're going to be eating in a caloric deficit make sure you don't stay there longer then 3-4 weeks without adding in free meals, a re-feed or other forms of caloric increase to help keep metabolism humming. DO NOT just "starve" yourself for week after week on end.

And ultimately instead of looking to drastically cut calories- I suggest you think about making SMALL changes that you can SUSTAIN. Exercise some PATIENCE when it comes to weight loss and body fat reduction and make incremental tweaks to your diet and lifestyle to help COAX rather than FORCE your body to respond in your favor.

Cleaning up the food sources you consume, eating more whole foods, timing your carbs appropriately around exercise, drinking more water and getting more sleep are some EXCELLENT small changes just off the top of my head.

So instead of attempting to starve yourself to death and do 3 hours of cardio a day, start by making one or two small tweaks. Give it a week or two, and if you're not seeing results, tweak again. Small changes can yield big results- if the RIGHT small changes are made.”

Allison Moyer
Alli-fitness

Thursday's Thoughts - Dedication, Do You Have It?

Can I be real with you all? Can I be honest and direct? If not, then you may not want to continue reading. 

But if you can handle a little boldness, and some things for you to think about and reflect on, then continue reading...

So every week, I too go through highs and lows; we all have them. We have our good days and our bad days. While I feel like I am in shape and the healthiest I've ever been, my fitness and nutrition is a daily conscience effort on my part to be consistent and maintain what I've worked on for the past three years. In addition to my own ups and downs, I also get to feel and experience the highs and lows of my clients. I swear it makes me feel bi-polar sometimes...and today is the PERFECT example of what I mean!

I conduct weekly weigh-ins with each client. It’s always on the same day of the week and typically the same time of the day for consistency purposes. The average female will lose 1-3 lbs. per week while working out with me; in addition most of them are also on The Challenge as well.

With each weigh-in, I hold my breath until the number comes up on the scale...at which point we will both be elated with the results or feel slightly deflated if the person didn't hit their goal or gain weight (yes, that happens).   If the scale shows a less than positive result, I have a decision to make as to whether to be the Jillian Michaels trainer and have a frank conversation with the client, or be the "you can do this - just a minor set-back" cheerleader type of trainer.

So back to today, the first person I weighed in lost another 2.5 lbs.; she consistently loses 1-2.5 lbs. a week and in her 10 weeks with me, she's lost just under 20 lbs.!  However the next person to weigh in, who has trained with me the same amount of time (approximately 10 weeks), has lost only 6 lbs.; she has yo-yoed on the scale each week.

The first person was so happy; this 46 year old mom of three jumped up and down, screaming with joy "I can't believe I lost again, I can't believe I lost again!"  Her joy and the smile on her face made me feel so proud and giddy myself, it literally brought a tear to my eye.  Her surprise at her own success and her happiness with the results is why I do what I do!

Then when the second person came in and she didn't lose any weight - again this week - my heart just broke for her; she seemed so defeated. (I've already written about failures and set-backs so I won't touch on that one here again).

What’s the difference?  It’s simple - pure dedication and hard work to achieve the goal. I'm not saying that client #2 isn't dedicated, because she is: she consistently shows up to our sessions, she works hard while she is there and I know she does put forth some effort when she's not with me. However, she could be doing more; I know it...but more importantly, I know she knows it. So why isn't she going all out and all in to get to her goal? Only she knows.

There are 168 hours in a week.

My clients are with me 2 hours of that week.

Dedication and commitment have to be self-imposed the other 166 hours!

Look, if you have a goal you have to have laser focus!  You can't deter from the plan, you cannot cheat, you cannot veer off course...IF you are committed and dedicated to your goal. If you are ok with the occasional set-backs and having to overcome the obstacles that are self-imposed, then that's fine, just know that they are self-imposed.

If you have a goal (ie: lose 20 lbs. by the end of the year), then you need a plan, a deadline and laser focus. You need to have the attitude that nothing will stop you and while we have all learned that failures are inevitable, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to avoid failures at all costs! 

Bottom line, and here's the question you need to ask yourself - are you committed to your goal? Are you willing to sacrifice blood, sweat and tears? Are you willing to do what it takes to hit a weight loss or activity goal? You may just have to count calories and watch your macros; you may have to hit the gym every day for a 1000 calorie burn. You might have to give up Sunday-Funday nachos and beer (my own personal favorites). Do you have to give them up forever?, of course not.

What's your goal and what’s your deadline? I'm dedicated to help you - are you dedicated yourself?

Wednesday's Wisdom - Fail Often, Get Back Up!

This past weekend I had an amazing trip to Houston, TX for Vitality – The Challenge’s annual party and recognition event with thousands of my fellow Challengers. We got to learn from the leaders, network and of course PARTY. This year’s party was themed as a country hoedown, so of course I was able to wear my boots and cowgirl hat!  This is me and my fellow Vi-Champion Sammye Carroll.

The best part of the entire event was being able to hear John C. Maxwell as our keynote speaker. I have read many of his books and learned quite a bit from him regarding leadership and entrepreneurship. Now you may ask: “Devon, what does this have to do with training and fitness?”  Well, his talk this past weekend was about the six Challenge Vi-Values, emphasizing on failure. Yes, failure – fail often and get back up. Here’s why:

John C. Maxwell wrote a book about 14 years ago called Failing Forward. In that book, he outlines many of his own personal failures, what he’s learned from them, and how he overcame them. Failing is inevitable. Yes, I know I’ve touched on this before, but it’s worth going over again.

In the book, Maxwell outlines 7 things that failure is NOT:

“1. Failure is not avoidable – humans are bound to fail sooner or later.

2. Failure is not an event, but a process. Success is not a destination – it is the journey you take and what you do day to day – success is a process, and so is failure.

3. Failure is not objective. You are the only person who can label your actions a failure.

4. Failure is not the enemy – it takes adversity to achieve success. It is fertilizer.

5. Failure is not irreversible.

6. Failure is not a stigma – they are not permanent markers. Make each failure a step to success.

7. Failure is not final – failure is simply a price we pay to achieve success and if we learn to embrace that new definition of failure, then we can move ahead. It’s the price you pay for success.”

 (source: Maxwell, John C. 2000 . Failing Forward)

Why is this important for you? EVERYONE FAILS. You are going to have tough times. You are going to have set-backs. You will cheat on your nutrition plan. You will skip a few days, or a week at the gym. You want to talk about failures? Here are just a few of my doozeys:

·         In high-school, I quit the basketball team as a senior because after the 3^rd year of playing Junior Varsity (at 5’5” and 185 lbs), I figured I wasn’t good enough to make the varsity team. So I quit and became the team’s manager instead.

·         I practically failed out of college my freshman year. I had to quit my major (pre-physical therapy) because I had a 50-something average in introductory chemistry (which I was taking for a second time because I got a D the first semester). I dropped the class so I didn’t get an F and switched to a business major. I was never able to recover from my freshman year’s GPA.

·         I failed at EVERY DIET I ever tried. I would start, then stop. I had trainers all through my 20s, but would quit them because I wasn’t seeing results. I wasn’t seeing results because I would cheat on the diet (often) and so I would just quit – FAILED!

·         I started my first business in 2006 with my mom. We bought a franchise together and thought we would have multiple stores throughout the state of CT. We were out of business (and hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt) in less than 18 months.

There are more, but those are some of the big ones. And you know what? I wouldn’t change any one of them! Failures are what help us learn; they help us grow. After each failure, I had a success come out of it:

-          I learned more from my basketball coach as a manager than as a player, and ultimately knew I would want to be a coach someday.

-          I ended up graduating with 2 undergraduate degrees in four years (BBA in business management and BS in communications) and MBA three years later in marketing.

-          I finally took on The Challenge, lost 20 lbs, 10% body fat, went on to become a Challenge Champion, earn a BMW and start a new business with Visalus. I have kept the weight off and at the age of 36 am in the best shape of my life.

-          I took the entrepreneurial road AGAIN, quit corporate America, fired my boss (aka dad) and started My Transformation Training.

All of my failures have eventually lead to successes later on and that’s what it’s all about! I don’t really like to use the word failure because it has such a negative connotation, but in reality, you should fail often. Maxwell goes on to say you have two options when you fail:

1)      Quit

2)      Get back up again.

Only 5% of us actually do step 2. If you have a setback in your weight loss or fitness goals – what are you going to choose? I chose to get back up again…and again…and again. 

Wednesday Workout Advice: Is 20 Minutes Enough?

Well, it happened again…

The day has gotten away from you and you didn’t get your workout in first thing in the AM. So now you have 20 minutes to get in a quick workout and you ask yourself – why even bother; is that enough?

Well yes and even a 20 minute workout is better than nothing at all!

Here are some tips to maximize your 20 minutes:

·       Choose full body exercises: don’t isolate just one body part. Choose an exercise that incorporates lower and upper body, as well as core. You can also perform targeted body parts if you workout in a circuit format (see next step).

·       Perform multiple exercises in a circuit fashion: Choose three exercises to perform and then repeat those three in a circuit for three rounds. Once those three are complete, move on to three new exercises.

Example: 

Circuit  1                                                       Circuit 2

15 Air Squats                                              15 Burpees

15 Thrusters                                                15 Reverse Flys

15 Push-ups                                                15 Dips

Repeat 3 times                                            Repeat 3 times

·       Give 110% max effort: you have limited time, so make the most of it! Go all out – its only 20 minutes. You should be able to work up a great sweat (or “glisten” for the ladies) in this amount of time. Keep your rests short (30 seconds to 1 min max).

This is a great HIIT (high intensity interval training) workout session – and if you go all out, you can burn a few hundred calories in a short period of time. So is it worth it? Heck yeah! 

Not all is lost when you only have 20 minutes so don’t skip your workout. You will feel more energized and accomplished if you make sure to get in the workout even if you’re tired or drained. 

I've included a bonus 20 minute AMRAP (As Many Rounds as Possible) workout for you below, so no excuses; get it done!