I don’t remember my jeans being THIS tight…

the trainer’s toolbox

- Beth Beauchemin (Read About Beth)

Wow!  Who can believe that the leaves have changed, the jack o lanterns are out with the compost, and November is upon us.  It feels like only yesterday that Max and I were still bouncing out the door in shorts and tee-shirts.  Now it’s coats, sweaters and jeans!  I love fall (it’s my favourite season!), but the cooler (grey!) days often leave me wanting more fatty foods and less runs around the neighbourhood.  The 2 of those combined (plus a few yummy Thanksgiving and birthday meals, along with Halloween goodies!) usually have my jeans feeling a “little” tighter than I like them to!

So, what’s a girl to do? Well, if these were my pre-baby days it would be MUCH easier – cut down on carbs after lunch, slightly increase my protein intake, increase my water consumption, eliminate “white (sugar, flour, etc), and throw in a few more workouts.  Humph, sometimes I miss the ease of my pre-baby life!  Max is a very healthy eater, but I think I would have a revolt if supper turned into chicken (or fish!) and steamed veggies every night of the week.  Exercise is another story:  I now dream of getting 3 workouts in a week, let along the 5-6 that I easily pumped out in my former life.   And cut out sugar?  Are you crazy? How are you supposed to drink coffee (which is a new life necessity!) without any sugar in it?  You must agree… this is quite a dilemma!  It’s also one that I can’t afford to get too lazy on.  Christmas is around the corner and the last thing I want to do is to go into Christmas already worrying about how tight my jeans are. That means they definitely won’t fit come Jan 2!

It’s clear my old tricks won’t work.  Let’s have a serious look now at what I can do within the boundaries of my current life as a mom.

1. Start looking at what I’m eating. I don’t know about you, but at each meal I was eating my portion, plus often half of Max’s.   If I was to add that all up over the course of the past few months…. (especially including the dessert part) – yikes!  That would explain the tighter pants!  If you are like me, a phrase similar to “we can’t waste food while people are starving” runs through your head when you look at an unfinished plate.  IT’S OK!  People are not going to be any less hungry because you forced yourself to finish not 1, but 2 plates.  In fact, they may even be a little upset with you.  Whatever your child doesn’t eat, either: a) wrap up and save for another meal; or b) toss it into the compost.  Perhaps your servings are too big and you can make them a bit smaller, or perhaps the little one wasn’t hungry.  Either way, keep your fork on your own plate.  It’s much better this way – trust me!
2. Cut out white things. Unfortunately there is no shortcut on this one.  White sugar and white flour (the cornerstone of all things “bad”) are just not good for you, and if you cut them out not only will your midline smooth, but so will your moods.  Need another reason to cut out the white, white sugar has a significant effect on your immune system, and decreases your body’s immune response up to 6hrs after ingesting it.  YIKES!  With the flu scare this season, I need my immune system running at full capacity.  No white for me!  (No, I still haven’t given up on caffeine completely, but I’m taking it in a form that doesn’t need sugar – hello green mint tea!)
3. Increase my water intake. Did you know that the body misreads the “I’m thirsty” trigger, and sends you an “I’m hungry” thought?  When you are hungry, first have a big glass (or two) of water.  If you are still hungry in 20 minutes, then you are really hungry.  If you aren’t, then you were just thirsty!  I’ve just bought a new, really cool stainless steel water bottle – no leaving home without it!
4. Schedule in my workouts. This is an absolute must!  Like anything else, if workouts are not written down they will not happen.  I have found a terrific pilates studio that is on the way from home from where I teach Belly Bootcamp classes (you could just come to our wicked Belly Bootcamp classes – awesome workout AND get to hang with other cool moms!).  It’s a great way for me to sneak my workout and “me time” in!  I also have started to use Max again as a weight… now that he’s a toddler, “games” for him are workouts for me.  Singing “zoom zoom” and lifting him up in the air is a fabulous full body exercise; I combine that with a few (thousand!) laps chasing him around the living room, then finish with him crawling all over me as I try to hold a plank – voila, a very kid and mommy friendly, doable, workout that will make a difference!

So, there is my game plan for the next 6 weeks or so….. stop finishing Max’s food, get rid of white (which also includes that big barrel of Halloween candy that I won’t let my kid eat, but I’m somehow allowed to. What a bummer!), drink even more water (ideally 2-3L/day), and make a promise to myself, via my daytimer, to get my exercise in.  I’ll report back in a few weeks and let you know how it’s going!

Have a great November!

tasty turkey chili

“What did I sign on for?”

weight loss blog

In the first installment of the Fit Family Weight Loss Blog, our intrepid blogger, A, wavers between excitement and self-doubt as she kicks off her new exercise program.

Weight: 149 lbs          Height: 5′ 3″

Today is day two of my 20-week, 20-pound commitment. Yesterday’s 20 minute treadmill jog felt really good — I didn’t think I’d make it past about ten minutes, but I found a comfortable pace and just kept going. Now that I know I can run at least that long, I have no excuse to do any less. Next gym day I’ll add two more minutes. The strength-training portion of my workout was a little more frustrating — I felt weak doing my push ups, unstable doing my lunges, and just plain fat doing crunches. I left the gym feeling a mix of endorphin-driven energy and “oh my god, do I really have to do this five times a week from now on, what did I sign on for and what the heck was I thinking” terror.

This morning when I woke up I instantly starting thinking about how much I did not want to do my at-home workout. Feeling sore from yesterday’s workout, I started bargaining with myself, trying to think of some other activity I could substitute; yoga dvd? an extra half hour walk? housecleaning? Right about then I got a motivational text-message from my Fit Family personal trainer.  I grumbled out of bed, put my sneakers on, and after only a few minutes of stalling, put a great CD on and started my routine. The warm up just about killed me.

I admit, I did only two of the four sets I was supposed to of push ups, tricep dips, crunches and stair lunges. And I felt guilty for it, so I added an extra 8 blocks onto my jog/walk. Today I did ‘jog two, walk two’ block intervals for the first half, and jog-one, walk-one for the second half of my almost-hour long route. By the time I got to my finish line (Starbucks), I was hot, sweaty, out of breath, and felt amazing.

Great work, A.  Not every workout will be perfect.  To lose weight, you must be active for at least an hour on most days of the week and, so far, you’re two for two!  Keep that as your focus and the days will fly by until your exercise routine becomes a part of your new life.

…next week on the weight loss blog: eating for weight loss.