THE Thing

So here's the thing... They say if you have a group of supply you are much more likely to reach your goals... People checking in on you, encouraging you, reminding you of what you've forgotten you want to accomplish. And you push harder when you have people watching... Literally and figuratively (just realized that could be a pun... Figuratively.... Hahahaha). This doesn't just apply to fitness. It's for anything! Health, fitness, sports, financial goals, spiritual goals... You name it.

So here is the question.... Do you have a group of people doing this for you? It can be family, friends, coworkers or an actual group!

I love the gym! I love building a community of people that want to be there, have a good time and push towards their goals.... Everyone feeds off of the people they are with. That's why they say "surround yourself with the people you want to become." That said, to take it that much further, a friend and I started a FB page for the women at my gym! We encourage each other, ramp up the energy and excitement about our next class or event that our instructors are holding (like we just did an 80's night in hip hop and a pitbull night in zumba). We connect with and start building relationships with the women in our classes (quite the feat when we had 115 women in our zumba class last night!). While we may not build authentic friendships... Some of us will... And we will push and fuel each other in our workouts.... We look forward to going, saying hi, being seen as a dedicated person, someone that pushes to New heights.... Even if you've never felt like you ever would be that person!

You get that extra umph to reach your goals. Just in the week that we've had this group going I've connected with 8 new women on a conversation level... Considering there are 30 women in the group, 115 in the class... In one week making those connections seems pretty great when you think about my being there for 4 months and only really connecting with 5-8 women in my time there on my own... It's fabulous!!!!

I'm finding myself pushing harder in class! And when I'm tired I think about how the way I finish is going to be watched and I'll hear about it from the girls.... So I push to keep the fire burning. I also push to build the energy in class. I have also found that our group members, because they're getting better acquainted, are high fiving, encouraging and "girl, you are tearing it up over there"-ing. It's so awesome! They're getting more comfortable and letting lose!

Now, I don't say that to say "check out what I'm doing", I say all that as a reminder. Sometimes there are things you want that you have to create. You want community at the gym, go create it! There isn't something that your church doesn't offer? Don't complain, talk to the people in charge and create it! If there is something you want out of life, guess what, its up to you to find out where it is or to make it happen. There is also an extra push when you're the one in charge. All I do is post, talk to the instructors to see if they are doing anything that they want posted, accept friend requests for the group, like peoples posts and show up to class.... But I'll tell you what! People feed off of the leaders energy.... Whether a group, a pastor... Being one of two group administrators means I take my energy up just an extra 5% ontop of my bubbly and intense fitness zone (I joke that I'm a Gemini... Which I am... You have Carol, and then you have fitness Carol... When I walk out my door to go to the gym... I enter the zone, and it isn't Auto Zone!). Its not something that requires a lot of work or even means that I get recognition, its low key but everyone recognises me and pays attention to what I and the other group members do in class... That extra accountability has been awesome!

So what's your goal? Is there a group that you can join? Do you need to start one? Find out what you're pushing for and get connected with people that are doing the same thing! People in different stages! People with positive mindsets! People that want other people to succeed too! "Team players".

You'll reach your goal faster, you'll build community, and you'll find that you become a more positive person for several reasons.... Some people just need a place to belong, you're around positive people and that positive outlook rubs off, you're encouraging and being encouraged, you meet mini-goals on your road to meeting your bigger goal and that builds confidence, enthusiasm and motivation... Especially when people in the group notice..... Let's face it... Sometimes we get discouraged when the men in our lives, the people we care about, our friends and coworkers don't notice the 5 or 10 pounds we lose... It feels disappointing... Like its not worth the effort.

First of all, we do it for us! Not acceptance, not a high five and not to achieve beauty.... We are valuable, have great worth and already are beautiful! We do it to live better, healthier, stronger and more positive lives! And sometimes the people we hope notice just aren't aware that you're hoping they say something (sometimes they notice in their head, make a mental note that you look good and never say anything... Sometimes because they've put on the 5 pounds you lost and don't want to think about it or because they don't want to draw attention to weight fluctuations because you went down and they haven't). Sometimes they just aren't observant people. Whatever the reason... If you're a person that needs affirmation, a cheerleading squad... Or are a person that is so driven that they don't need that at all since they push themselves.... Get plugged into a community!

You can encourage others, be encouraged! You also get the benefit that they are all watching you as you are watching them! If you're paying attention to their successes and energy levels and say something, they'll do the same for you! You compliment their losing 5 pounds, you better believe they'll be watching so they can say the same to you because you made them feel great!

Hear me on this! We don't say or do this because we want something back! It tends to happen automatically... But you say something because its genuine! You say something because its true and you care about that person and their efforts! Not because you want a compliment in return! That's being kind for selfish gain, and ladies, that isn't cute! It's ugly!

We all need encouragement. We all need community. Living with a negative mindset only makes you and those around you miserable! So make up your mind to have positive thoughts and say positive things... And surround yourself with positive people. Not only do you reach your goals faster, but you're a happier person along the whole course of the journey.... Cause reaching your goal won't bring you happiness.... The growth of your character on your way there is what makes it worth it!

So get plugged in or create the group! You only have tons and tons of things you'll gain! And remember, you are just as valuable now as you will be when you reach your goals... Those accomplishments don't make you valuable, Jesus made you valuable! There is always room to improve in any and everything, but its not to make us more valuable as a person, its to enrich our lives and the lives of the people around us.

The down right truth!

So many times, myself included, we get hung up on the scale... We get hung up on the things we ate at work, at church, at our friend's house.... Yes, it all adds up.... And it doesn't at the same time.

Have you ever heard about muscle weighing more than fat? Well, people get all huffed and puffed about how a pound equals a pound, so that can't be correct... Well, its true, a pound equals a pound... Imagine that!... But the amount of space taken up by that pound is what people are failing to ponder. A feather pillow weighs, what? A pound and a halfish? That's a great deal of space! A one pound hand weight is close to the size of a cell phone....

So its ok to ignore your scale for three months at a time... Especially in the beginning of a workout regimen. Your going to be building muscle... The more muscle you have, the more you burn every single day... Even while you sleep.

"I don't want to bulk up!" "I don't want to look too manly!" NEWS FLASH!! Ladies, the wonderful news is this... IT'S IMPOSSIBLE, WITHOUT THE USE OF STEROIDS, FOR A WOMAN TO BUILD MANLY MUSCLE! YAY!!!! So get lifting! We don't have enough testosterone in our bodies to bulk up the way men do! This is fabulous news! Muscle doesn't bulk you up! ...But fat does!

So don't fret about gaining a few pounds... When you're eating healthy and gaining muscle. Pay attention to your body SHAPE! Take measurements, take pictures... Building muscle is what is going to get you stronger, healthier, leaner.

Weight lifting burns more calories than cardio throughout the rest of the day... And when you have more muscle, you burn more calories while doing cardio. Now that's a thought!

So there you have it... Some things just don't add up. But what does add up is your calories! 100 extra calories a day for a year equals a 10 pound weight gain for that year! Figure out your BMR ( the average amount of calories your body burns every day by doing bodily functions like pumping blood, etc).... The link below will do it for you... (Guys, its available for you too)

http://health.discovery.com/centers/heart/basal/basal.html

Then figure out how many calories you burn doing exercises. Add these two together and it'll tell you how many calories you need to consume to maintain your weight.

Ex.
My BMR (Calories burned each day just by living) is 1,519 (10,633 calories in a week).

I burn an average of 4,500 calories a week by exercising.

So to maintain my current body weight, I would need to consume 15,133 calories a week. Divide that into 7 days, and that's 2,161 calories each day.

BUT TO LOSE WEIGHT, you have to create a calorie deficit.... 3,500 calories to lose, or gain, a pound.

So to lose 1 pound in a week, my 15,133 minus 3,500 comes to 11,633 per week, 1,661 calories per day.

To lose 2 pounds in a week, it'd be 15,133 minus 7,000. Which is 8,133 for the week, or 1,161 per day.

Rule of thumb- Don't eat less than 1,200 calories each day! As you become more active, your BMR will increase... But you won't need drastic increases in your calories. Only 20-45 per day.

Be healthy! Make sure you're taking care of your body by making sure you get enough! Otherwise your body will force itself to burn fewer calories to prevent you from starving to death! Less than 1,200 and your are likely going to run into a wall... Not being able to lose weight.... It works to start with, then slows, and finally halts. Be kind! Be loving! And eat your vegetables!

If you ate something indulgent, well, factor it in a keep moving forward! If you beat yourself up, you're going to get stuck! And where you are is not where you want to stay, right? So keep your eyes on the road! Just like driving a car! If you're doing what you should be doing; working out hard, eating healthy and paying attention to your calories, you will get to where you want to be! It's unavoidable! Inevitable!

I recommend myfitnesspal to help track your calories in and calories out.... HOWEVER! I recommend using the website above (it'll take 5 seconds... Literally!) To figure out your BMR and caloric needs based on it and your calories burned from exercise. The number you get from the formula above, is the number you want to follow.

Myfitnesspal, if you log your exercise on it, will give you more calories to consume after you log that you exercised.... You automatically think "sweet!" NO! Not sweet! You've already done the math for your entire week and what it will take to lose that pound or two.

You can set your calorie goal in your settings on myfitnesspal to be the one resulting from above, but make sure you don't consume the extra calories they give you after working out. Food is not a reward for exercising. Food is fuel for your body. Don't live to eat, eat to live.

This just looks down right fun :)

Watch "Jillian Michaels: The Great 1-Month slim-down" on YouTube

This is why you eat clean... Eesh

Seriously!!!

Success in making changes

Too many changes at once is too much. If you change one thing and adjust to it before you change something else, you're almost guaranteed to succeed. You change too much, and you're likely to give up.

Like changing the time you get up, start working out, eating better, start a to-do list, start (insert here). If you were to do all that at once, by the end of two weeks (being super optimistic here) you'd be burnt out and give up. But if you were to start with committing to going to bed a little earlier and getting up a little earlier for a month before adding any other changes, you'd succeed at that because it takes 21 days to form a habit, 30 to really make it stick. Then add in a workout regime. The next month some changes to your diet like cutting out fast food and adding veggies. Then the next month some more changes, like cutting soda. Start setting a time to get organized for the day, with your to-do list (evening tends to work for me because I sleep better not thinking of things I need to do and I wake up with a purpose).

Then you'll be set for the rest of your life! Habits is the difference! Successful people differ from average people all because of habits! Stop with trying to change everything at once! Make a strong foundation for your house! Build good habits, one brick at a time, and your house will be solid rather than just a fresh coat of paint... Paint won't keep a house standing, the foundation will. So build your house well. No corner cutting.

Reminds me of a story I heard. A father was retiring and asked his son to build him a house. The father told his son he wasn't sure what he wanted so to build the house the way the son would want one. Any money left over the father would give to the son. So he went to work building the house the way he would want.

The son was no idiot. Save money by getting materials that were cheaper, not the real thing, linoleum rather than marble, fake wood rather than bamboo, etc... Then he would get more.money from his dad.

When he finished building it, he gave his dad a tour. His father asked him about the linoleum and such as he noticed things and the son had explanations ready. When the tour was over the father said "well son, you see the thing is that I won't be giving you money for building the house... Surprise, the house is for you!"

All those cut corners and he could have done it right, really well, and had the house he always wanted. You're your own house! Don't cut corners. Take the time to do it right! It's ok if it takes longer! It will actually take less time because the changes will actually stick and you won't give up because of being overwhelmed! Focus on your mini goal, you're small change for this month. By the end of 2012, your 12 changes will have completely transformed your life, and everyone will see the difference! Physically, emotionally, financially, personality... You will be different, stronger, happier. But you have to do it right!

For me, I'm committed to working out 6 days a week. I made that change, but now I'm changing to 6 days a week at home and only 3 classes at the gym... That's a big change. I have been adjusting to eating clean (as you have seen in my food journal, I'm not perfect at it) and don't want to stretch myself too thin. I've been trying to adjust my bed and wake up times... But I think I'm doing too many hours at once. Changing it from 9am to 8am would be easier to commit to than 5am... Although I don't have an option some of the days.

With all these changes, its very easy to get overwhelmed. I want to build my house right. I want to have a healthy life out of habit, not constantly working at it. So, my plan is to focus on these things, and later in the year go vegan. I don't think I'll be a fanatical about things the way some people are... But its a change for me where as I think people like that are about forcing their views onto other people and about belonging in the group of "ethically correct" people.

For me, its about health. It's about having energy, being healthy and strong. I love animals, so that doesn't hurt either. :) but I won't just jump into it, I want to build that right too. I want to build each change and have them stick... So going vegan will just have to wait for its turn on my list of lifestyle habits.

Forks over knives

Well, I just watched the documentary Forks Over Knives.... I had no idea animal protein causes cancer where as eating a plant based diet (vegan) it prevents and reverses cancers, heart disease, diabetes and a ton of other things.

I always thought that, especially being active, I needed chicken and eggs and such for protein to be healthy... Well, a group of firefighters and an MMA athlete changed my thoughts on that.... Funny how I can see all the science but want to be assured I won't be left scrawny and unhealthy... Those guys were BUFF... And yes, I drooled a bit. Lol.

Seeing as I am making changes to my lifestyle, instilling new habits and breaking old ones, I think I will continue to eat mostly veggies, grains, fruit and some meat and cheese, but I won't fully cut it out of my diet til later in the year. Too many changes at once is too much. If you change one thing and adjust to it before you change something else, you're almost guaranteed to succeed. You change too much, and you're likely to give up.

Like changing the time you get up, start working out, eating better, start a to-do list, start (insert here). If you were to do all that at once, by the end of two weeks (being super optimistic here) you'd be burnt out and give up. But if you were to start with committing to going to bed a little earlier and getting up a little earlier for a month before adding any other changes, you'd succeed at that because it takes 21 days to form a habit, 30 to really make it stick. Then add in a workout regime. The next month some changes to your diet like cutting out fast food and adding veggies. Then the next month some more changes, like cutting soda. Start setting a time to get organized for the day, with your to-do list (evening tends to work for me because I sleep better not thinking of things I need to do and I wake up with a purpose).

Then you'll be set for the rest of your life! Habits is the difference! Successful people differ from average people all because of habits! Stop with trying to change everything at once! Make a strong foundation for your house! Build good habits, one brick at a time, and your house will be solid rather than just a fresh coat of paint... Paint won't keep a house standing, the foundation will. So build your house well. No corner cutting.

Reminds me of a story I heard. A father was retiring and asked his son to build him a house. The father told his son he wasn't sure what he wanted so to build the house the way the son would want one. Any money left over the father would give to the son. So he went to work building the house the way he would want.

The son was no idiot. Save money by getting materials that were cheaper, not the real thing, linoleum rather than marble, fake wood rather than bamboo, etc... Then he would get more.money from his dad.

When he finished building it, he gave his dad a tour. His father asked him about the linoleum and such as he noticed things and the son had explanations ready. When the tour was over the father said "well son, you see the thing is that I won't be giving you money for building the house... Surprise, the house is for you!"

All those cut corners and he could have done it right, really well, and had the house he always wanted. You're your own house! Don't cut corners. Take the time to do it right! It's ok if it takes longer! It will actually take less time because the changes will actually stick and you won't give up because of being overwhelmed! Focus on your mini goal, you're small change for this month. By the end of 2012, your 12 changes will have completely transformed your life, and everyone will see the difference! Physically, emotionally, financially, personality... You will be different, stronger, happier. But you have to do it right!

My thoughts on the journey

*1/9/12* Well. I accidentally deleted my first weeks worth of posts.... At least it wasn't 6months worth. :)

I have to say that I'm pretty excited about what's happening! I have now had two 12 year old girls comment that they can see a difference in my body! WOOT! We all know teenagers are too wrapped up in their phones to notice anything, so I'm feeling pretty good.

On this journey I have opted to forego the scale. It's not about the number for me, its about the body shape and body fat percentage... When I get closer I will bring it back out though... But I have a ways to go and don't want to get discouraged. If I keep my head up, eat well, do my exercise videos assigned for each day, drink 1/2-1 gallon of water an day and get 7-10 hours of sleep each night the body that I want is inevitable. :D and that's encouraging!

This last weekend I definitely ate some things that are counter productive to my goal.... I won't say that I "shouldn't have eaten them" because then I A) feel bad. B) suddenly feel like I'm not allowed to eat something and then its suddenly the only thing that I do want. And then C) beat myself up about it. The truth is, we cannot let yesterday take up too much of today. If we hang on to what we did that was counter productive we never move forward. Be accountable, yes. But healthy.choices and a healthy body aren't achieved by beating up our minds and hearts.

You only control today, right now... So what do you choose? *1/10/12* Today was Fire 55EZ and Brazil Butt Lift's Bum Bum (Pronounced 'boom boom' which means booty :D )... I did bum Bum on Saturday, had Sunday off and did high.and Tight yesterday.... Let me say this.... I can feel a difference in my booty! I cannot wait to see what a month of this does let alone the 6 months mark (I'm going to Hawaii in June). I was afraid that compared to Turbofire BBL wouldn't be able to pull its own weight... Well, I'm confident that when I complete my round of Turbofire at the beginning of April, I can do BBL's schedule and get fantastic results. At that point I will probably get with Chalean Extreme or P90x... Not sure yet... But I've got some time. :) I must say, I'm pretty excited about the thought of being in Hawaii and not being self concious about swim attire. :) beautiful place, with beautiful weather and no fear... Just having a good time... :) *1/16/12* So, uh, yeah... I'm seeing some serious changes in my body.... Come June.... Hawaii, look out :D Remember how I was talking about my not wanting to rush into eating a plant based diet and was gonna ease out of it and be solid around the end of July.... Well, I'm finding myself just not really wanting to eat meat. I haven't had it for days (a little chicken Thursday 4 days ago). Today I pretty much had to force feed the Greek yogurt... I have to say, even though it was kinda accidental the last week in not eating animal bi-products.... I felt a difference. I will finish the organic chicken in my freezer and the eggs in my fridge... But I may not buy any more like I had been expecting. But, as I said before as well, I fully plan and expect to not be perfect.... So if you want to look at it this way, vegetarian in the extreme, or slightly misbehaving vegan.... Your choice. Though I do think it will take til around the end of July for me to be a very well practiced vegan.... I haven't quite mastered the "planning ahead and sticking to it" skill set.... Hopefully by then though. *1/17/12* My goodness! It's ridiculous outside! I'm not going out until I have to! So, that being said, I'm going to miss my hip hop class.... But, in addition to that, I will be adding a nice booty kicking video to make up for it :) NO SLACKING REGARDLESS OF THE WEATHER!!!! *1/18/12* I'm reading the Complete Idiots Guide to Plant-based nutrition... Seems I cannot say I'm going vegan since it includes all the hippiness of not buying anything leather, etc etc... And non of the vegetarian sub groups fit either... It seems, that a whole foods, plant based diet is called.... A whole foods, plants based diet. So no cool name for my new eating habits :/ we can't all be cool I guess. ;) The cool name refers to everything it DOESN'T include, where as "whole foods, plant based diet" refers to everything that is DOES include.... like organic chips wouldn't be a "whole food," so it wouldn't be included... Though I fully admit, I'm not gonna be perfect. So there! *sticking my tongue out like a 3 year old* I will probably continue to say misbehaving vegan as I eat mostly like a vegan... Heaven forbid I eat honey.... And I'm sorry, I do love my leather boots. :) so, I eat like one (for the most part), but don't live like one. ***1/31/12 Well, I took 6 days off because of the medication that I'm on, for the next two weeks, causes fainting spells... Not so much fun. So last.night I was pumped that I was getting back into things hoping I'd adjusted a bit... Well, I was kicking serious booty in zumba... When I landed wrong and royally sprained my ankle.... Figures. So, I'm taking another 3 days off... However, I am using this time to complete a round of Shakeology's 3 day cleanse. Even in resting up, you can be productive! And seeing as you aren't supposed to workout when you do the cleanse, I was disappointed yesterday when the thought occured to me after I was getting back into things... I guess the cleanse was meant to be. Lol. My cat is loving me curled up at home reading... Trying to get lost in my books to help distract from the not eating off the schedule or menu... Come Friday, even if it is seriously modified, I'll be working out again. You may not be able to hit it as hard or as long... But SOMETHING is ALWAYS better than NOTHING! *****2/1/12 "The use of wisdom is always productive, the focus of productivity alone is never wise." -Me Oi. You know, this cleanse wasn't the brightest idea I've ever had. Had this been any other time it would have been fine.... But trying to do it while on medication with potentially serious side affects... Not so wise. I got through the whole first day before really thinking it through. The nausea kinda reminded me that now may not be the best time.

****2/8/12 Well, zumba was awesome! My ankle is still being a pain but I managed to take my intensity up tonight. Someone people complain that zumba isn't a good workout... Well, you get out of it what you put into it! You can add jumps, kicks, lunges, squats and abs in the appropriate places to really take it up! It's a workout! No instructor is going to complain! Quite the opposite tends to happen! They and the people around you notice and feel the need to push themselves harder. So be the example and push your limits!

*Just a quick giggle* My encounter with the dentist!!! HAHAHA!!!

A little local anesthetic and this is what you get! LOL!!!

Your long term and mini goals

*Something to think about- figure out what your long term goal is... For example mine is to get down to 12% body fat.... And reverse engineer it.... Take your goal and make it bite size chunks to keep you from getting discouraged. If you focus on each mini goal that you come to you'll reach your long term goal automatically and will get to celebrate all your efforts each step of the way!
You want to gain momentum, otherwise you'll slow down and feel defeated that its been 4 months and you're still a long ways off. Remember that you didn't gain 10 pounds in 10 days, so its going to take some time to come off. Just keep pushing to your next mini goal.... Whether its to get to your 4 classes at the gym this week... To lose two pounds this week or to to get 8 hours of sleep each night this week (if you're not getting enough sleep, you're body goes into stress mode which hinders your ability to move forward in your fitness and health endeavors).... Focus on your mini goals and your ultimate goal will happen on its own :)

Something so simple

You hear it all the time! People telling you to drink more water.... Asking you about your water intake for the day.... Well, I'm here to tell you its for good reasons. Today was my rest day, and because I didn't workout, I wasn't all that thirsty.... But here's the thing. If you're behind on your water, you feel hungry when in reality you are simply dehydrated.... And my "dinner" showed that! So, help yourself Help Yourself and drink up your water!