Sticking with Tony Horton's 11 Laws of Health & Fitness, I'm focusing on number two today...consistency! The more you do it, the better you get! This applies to pretty much everything in life. If you're not good at playing the piano...practice and you'll get better. If you study more for assessments, chances are you'll ace your courses. Even Michael Jordan got cut from his high school basketball team...not good enough...HAH!! Ultimately, he had two choices. He could have thrown in the towel, or he could have remained consistent...practicing daily...persevering!! "I think that not making the Varsity team drove me to really work at my game, and also taught me that if you set goals, and work hard to achieve them — the hard work can pay off." He had a desire to win and refused to quit, and as we all know, the rest is history!
So, how does this affect YOU?!? Let's apply it to one Beachbody program in particular...P90X!! For those of you who have done this workout, you know that Tony Horton cracks corny jokes throughout all of the workouts. He's no different in real life. In fact, I recently read that he had the intention of becoming an actor and for a little while, he earned a living as a stand-up comedian! At the presentation I attended, he said, "You're not gonna hear, "You are under X arrest!" The X Police aren't coming if you don't do the program perfectly and as planned."
Change the program around if you need to. Do yoga twice a week instead of one of the cardio workouts (just don't skip yoga...it's the Fountain of Youth)! You've heard it over and over...this is the law that asks you to DO YOUR BEST AND FORGET THE REST!! SHOW UP every day at least 5-6 times per week. BE PATIENT and PERSISTENT because this will create the discipline you need in order to be successful! STICK TO IT...yeah, that's right, I'm actually suggesting that you FINISH the program you purchased. Tony said to do it poorly for 90 days!! You're going to see results. If yoga is a weakness, you should still push play and do what you can! "Do something part time!"
Starting...stopping...starting...stopping...it's NOT the pattern you want to create. It's important to keep the momentum going! You've got to stay motivated. Join others like you who are using WOWY, Beachbody's virtual online gym. Not only will you be working out (in the comfort of your own home) with hundreds of others, you've got an incentive to win some prizes (cash and other items). I personally won $300...yep, it definitely PAID to workout that day! Join for free: http://teambeachbody.com/signup?referringRepId=17347 and let me help you along the way (my screen name is eaglesgirl if it asks for a coach name).
Don't complain...don't whine...don't quit!! Keep going strong by pushing yourself to reach your goal!! Eat properly! Surround yourself with people who will support your efforts and hold you accountable...you're going to cross your own personal finish line holding your head up high...it's a GREAT feeling!
Be consistent, and don't worry, the P90X police are not gonna come for you!
You're probably saying, "What on earth is she talking about?!? 80/20...math?!? I hate math and besides, I THOUGHT this post was going to be about nutrition!!"
It IS, and I'll be digging DEEP into nutrition. You want results?!? TRY what I'm suggesting!! What have you got to lose...other than pounds?!? Remember my other post talking about curiosity?!? You just might be pleasantly surprised. JUST DO IT!!
No, I'm not a nutritionist...nor am I a personal trainer, so why should you listen to me? Over the past few years, I've learned a thing or two about eating. In the past, I've tried Weight Watchers, The Atkins Diet, The South Beach Diet, eating less, and dare I say, Hydroxycut! Bottom line is, I was looking for a QUICK FIX to a problem I created over many years. To me, DIET was the D word, and it meant eat less and you'll lose weight. Makes sense...fewer calories...less weight to gain. Right?!? WRONG!!!
Why didn't any of the above methods work for me? I was stuck in yo-yo dieting land, but I think *I* was the yo-yo!! Why aren't they working for you? Because the truth is, you're probably not eating ENOUGH food. Stick with me on this. When you cut back on calories, your metabolism slows down. Basically, your body thinks it's in a "starvation" mode. What does it do? It starts searching for places to get the nutrients it needs...where would you go...fat or muscle? If you said muscle, you win 50,000 bonus points!! Since muscle is denser than fat, you'll see a drop in the number staring up at you from the scale. This leads you to believe that you're losing weight and are doing it the right way. Here's the kicker...your body is storing fat! Now, I don't know about you, but learning this blew me away. Additionally, because your metabolism slows down, your body doesn't know how to properly react to new foods. When you lose the weight you wanted and start eating "right" again, you begin to GAIN the weight back...and then it's HARDER to get off. Are you following me?!? So...how do you FIX this...how do you CHANGE it?!? It starts with you and your mindset. You NEED to realize that old habits may not be healthy and that NEW methods need to be tried. You need to FUEL your body and quit starving it!!!
Most people have no idea what they're eating. Well, I mean, you know that you're eating a turkey sandwich, an oreo, or a glass of milk, but have you ever analyzed your food? My suggestion is to use a free program like http://www.myfitnesspal.com where you can input your food items for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. The data is immediately calculated for you, and you can easily see the amount of calories, protein, carbohydrates, and fat you're taking in. If you do it throughout the day, you'll also be aware of how many calories/grams you have left in the different categories. My customers can provide me with their age, weight, height, and workout they're doing, and I can find out how many calories they should be consuming. From there, we determine what kind of "diet" we want to use. Right now, I'm eating 40% carbohydrates, 40% protein, and 20% fat. There were other times when my protein and carbohydrate percentages were changed slightly based on whether I needed more/less carbohydrates. These percentages can be changed in the program to reflect your needs. So, what does it look like? Here's a sample of my food diary:
You can see there are green areas (I still had some remaining)and others that are red (I went over my target number). By monitoring this daily, you'll begin to see patterns or trends. For me, it was a wakeup call! What I *thought* was eating well turned out to be a carbfest! There was barely any protein in my diet. So, I've learned to tweak things and for the most part can hit pretty close to my target numbers now.
Ideally, you want to eat 5 to 6 times per day. Your meals should be eaten every 2-3 hours. NOW, you're probably thinking I'm crazy! Let me ask you this...why have I lost weight and kept it off? THIS is why!!! I'm constantly eating throughout the day. My metabolism has picked up (it used to be VERY slow) because it's always working to burn the fuel I'm feeding my body. I'm eating 1800 calories daily. I took that number and divided it by 4. That works out to around 450 calories for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The remaining 450 are divided among the snacks. Now, I personally didn't eat nearly enough during breakfast and was a little low at dinner, but I made them up with my snacks. If you need reminders to eat, set alerts on your cell phone! Here's my eating schedule:
7:30 - breakfast - Shakeology / banana
9:30 - snack - turkey slices/cottage cheese cup
12:00 - lunch - beef stroganoff with broccoli
3:00 - snack - almonds
5:30/6:00 - dinner - shrimp / spinach pasta / spinach
8:00 - snack - rice cakes with peanut butter
Something that I'm constantly asked is, "What can you recommend for snacks?" The truth is, that what *I* eat might NOT be something you personally would care to eat. So, instead, I share something that I've used often. It's called Michi's Ladder (http://teambeachbody.com/eat-smart/michis-ladder) and it's a life saver when out shopping. A "clean" diet would include foods from the tops two tiers, so if you want to know WHAT you should eat...stick with those levels. Print a copy and keep it with you. Then, while out at the grocery store or a restaurant, you can pull it out and make a healthier choice. Set yourself up to succeed! Put a plan into place!
I'll work on another post about simplifying nutrition, but for now, you've got plenty of information to work with. Please join my team at: http://www.malwo.com by clicking on the link "to become a club member or a free member" and I'll be assigned as your coach (if you don't already have one). Getting back to that 80/20 information. If you want to see results, it's 80% what you eat and 20% what you do...nutrition is key!!
Alrighty, first and foremost, if you're not on my team...if you don't have a coach...JOIN NOW...it's FREE!!! Seriously, I hear people make comments all of the time like, "I love "The Biggest Loser", but I can't lose the weight by myself because I don't have a trainer like Jillian Michaels!" Or "I don't know what to eat! "...," (fill in those dots with any other excuse...I've heard them all). No, I'm NOT a certified personal trainer nor am I a nutritionist, but I HAVE learned a lot over the past couple of years, so please let me share with you what I've learned!! I'm reaching out to YOU...here's my hand...I've achieved my goal and I want to pay it forward. Ultimately, I want to get you to YOURS!!! If you're STILL not sure about it...maybe my transformation will convince you:
Join my team: http://teambeachbody.com/signup?referringRepId=17347
Now, let's get to the nitty-gritty! What's stopping you from achieving your results? If you answered TIME, well then, I have news for you...you're NOT alone! You've got 3 kids, you've got 3 jobs, you don't know how to plan your 3 meals, you need 3 hands (because as we all know, 2 just aren't enough sometimes), and you just wish you had 3 minutes to yourself!! Trust me, I've been there and done that (okay, I only have one child, but I'm a single mom...that has its own challenges). I get it, but maybe I can make this a little simpler for you.
3 is a magical number, so we're going to work with it. Recently, I attended an event in Dallas where I was given the opportunity to workout with Tony Horton...that's right...the one, the only, P90X master...Tony! The workout was a blast, but he did a presentation called the "11 Laws of Health and Fitness" and I took a TON of notes. My handwriting is very small, kind of unibomberish, but the point is, I listened and I LOVED what I heard, so I'm going to share it with you each week.
So what did he say that made such an impression on me? It was the FIRST law, but it included only 3 things (works magically for me). Be creative, stay curious, live committed...in one word...VARIETY. If you WANT change, you have to be willing to find a way. Like you, there are others who struggle with finding the time. Some have MORE than 3 jobs, others have MORE than 3 kids, a few may only have 1 hand, BUT they are finding a way to make it work. You make appointments for your kids to see the doctor/dentist, you make appointments to get your hair/nails done, you bring your car in to get the oil changed, so why don't you make time for your workouts?
Law # 1 - VARIETY - THE SPICE OF FITNESS - MIX IT UP, CHANGE IT UP, TURN IT UP
#1 - BE CREATIVE - Find a workout that you will enjoy and make it your own. If you LOVE cardio, then why force yourself to do strength training? If you want to tone up, then doing cardio isn't going to cut it for you! If you want to see CONTINUED results, then you need to create diversity in your workouts that YOU will enjoy doing and make you WANT to show up every day! Increase your resistance, vary your reps, mix it up with cardio, resistance/weight, flexibility/yoga, core, add sports...be inventive!
# 2 - STAY CURIOUS - Are you intimidated to try something new? Why? What's holding you back? What would you do if you weren't afraid? You'd test it out, so DO that! The worst that happens if you attempt something new and don't like it is, you don't do it again. But here's the kicker...what happens if you LOVE it? You're going to do it again and again...you're going to see results! You'll form healthy habits!
# 3 - COMMIT - If you want results, you're going to have to allocate time to REACH your goal. Rome wasn't built in a day, but it WAS constructed because people showed up to get the job done!! There is no room for negotiation. Like Nike's slogan says...JUST DO IT!
PLAN a time that you'll work out. You put appointments on your calendar, right? Make your workout an appointment. Don't be late for it either!! Or do what I do, and set an alert on your cell phone. When the alarm goes off, it's time to get fit!!
Now, if you're saying...I STILL don't have enough time...I'm wondering...do you have 10 minutes? Then do something 3 times per day for 10 minutes (Beachbody sells 10 Minute Trainer which are 10 minute workouts) or 3 times per day for 20 minutes!! If you have time for television shows or using the computer, then you most certainly have time to exercise. It's a mindset. If you're not willing to THINK a different way, then you won't SEE changes!! Change your thinking by being creative, staying curious and committing...the magic of 3!!
Sticking with Tony Horton's 11 Laws of Health & Fitness, I'm focusing on number two today...consistency! The more you do it, the better you get! This applies to pretty much everything in life. If you're not good at playing the piano...practice and you'll get better. If you study more for assessments, chances are you'll ace your courses. Even Michael Jordan got cut from his high school basketball team...not good enough...HAH!! Ultimately, he had two choices. He could have thrown in the towel, or he could have remained consistent...practicing daily...persevering!! "I think that not making the Varsity team drove me to really work at my game, and also taught me that if you set goals, and work hard to achieve them — the hard work can pay off." He had a desire to win and refused to quit, and as we all know, the rest is history!
