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!

fish sticks for grownups (and kids too!)

trainer-approved recipes

Fish in its natural state can be a bit of an acquired taste.  Fish processed and deep fried (of the “filet-o” variety), on the other hand, is of questionable value.  Here’s a great compromise: a recipe from my own kitchen for the whole family that’s high-fibre, low-cal and makes perfect fodder for those dip-loving youngsters (and husbands).  And it’s fast!

The Personal Trainer Show: Dec. 1/08

Your friendly personal trainer.

personal trainer diary

As a personal trainer, I get countless questions about my own habits.  “How long do you spend in the gym?”  or “How many days per week do you work out?” are two popular questions.  Even more common are the exclamations phrased as questions: “You really eat that?”  or “You really do that?” are variations on the theme.  People are very interested to know whether their mentor really follows her own advice.

Well, I do, most of the time.  Here is your inside look at the life of a personal trainer.

I got to sleep in this morning until 6:00 a.m.  Blissful, blissful sleep…  Many mornings start between 5:00 and 5:30, so this morning felt like a Saturday to me.  My daughter awoke around 6:30 and we had a quick cuddle.  I plunked her into her high chair and gave her some raisin bran with milk.  She loves bran cereal.  Very strange.  But, then again, she’s never met a fruit loop.

I pack my peanut butter sandwich (on delicious omega-3 walnut bread; I heartily endorse Stonemill Breads) and my coffee – which I take with milk and a dash of cinnamon for some extra antioxidants – and head out in the rain to the car.  Clients await.  I relish this commute.  As a new mom, rarely do I get a half-hour uninterrupted to listen to the radio and drink a fresh cup of coffee.  And – don’t tell anyone – I love my coffee.  Caf, decaf, I don’t care – if it tastes like coffee, I’ll drink it.

After clients, it’s my turn to hit the gym.  My personal rule: Never miss a Monday workout.  It’s just a bad idea.  Monday sets the tone for the rest of your week.  I try never to miss a workout Monday through Wednesday.  I sit in the parking garage for a few moments to pull out my notebook and plan out this week’s workouts.  The truth is, I’m so busy planning clients’ programs that I sometimes have to wing it with my own workouts.  Some days I’ll be in the change room, planning my workout in my head.

That’s the essence of Fit Family: accept that life and exercise must co-exist.  Adapt accordingly but sacrifice neither.

Today I manage to find a couple of minutes to plan the week, so I head in for cardio and a combination of legs and shoulders.  I warm up for five minutes on the treadmill, then break into a 6-mph jog for 20 minutes, followed by 5 minutes brisk walking to bring my heart rate down a bit before I hit the weights.  Legs, shoulders, stretch… no shower.  That’s right. No shower.  I don’t have time.  Well, not until the afternoon when the baby is napping, at least.  Rest assured, dear friends, family and clients, I do squeeze in the odd shower here and there.

Shower.  Check.  I get paperwork done and feed myself a spinach salad with chick peas, some milk and a banana.  When the baby gets up, it’s time to play and cuddle.  Then I start on dinner.  I’m making homemade curried chicken with brown rice.  I am not a great cook, but I do have a great memory.  If I read a recipe once or twice, I remember it and adapt it over time.  My husband thinks he really lucked out.  I think it’s funny that he can’t tell there’s no beef in his chili.

That curry probably needs to be checked on…  I can’t remember how long it’s supposed to cook…

Stop Exercising & Get Fit

family fitness

Did that get your attention?

If you’re like me, taking time away from exercise is an exercise in guilt management.  Of course, there are sick days and family emergencies, even work snafoos that might necessarily keep one from the gym here and there.

Then there are those days.  You know those days.  They are the days when you wake up with a headache or you get caught up emailing an old friend and you just don’t make it to your usual workout appointment with yourself.  Those days are the guilty days.  Like that last glass of red wine, those days seem so appealing and often, in retrospect, are not worth all the regret…  If you’ve planned to work out, my advice is to stick to the plan.  This isn’t to say a day off is regrettable.  Days off should be built into your exercise program and adhered to as diligently as days on.

Days off can be great days to go for a walk, go ice skating with the kids or just get some housework done with that extra couple of hours.  During this blissful respite from your ordinary workout routine, your body is doing some miraculous things.  It is repairing its muscle fibers to build them bigger and stronger and to prepare you for your next strength training workout.  It is stocking up on carbohydrates to fuel you for your next walk or jog.  It is resting and relaxing all those tight muscles and tendons.  It is rehydrating.  It is, in essence, getting fitter.  As you play with the kids or just catch up on your favourite TV dramas, your ordinarily active body is luxuriating in some much-deserved time out to process all the work you’ve done over the last few days. Studies have even shown that competitive athletes such as gymnasts, who often train seven days a week for several weeks or months on end, actually gain strength and muscle mass when forced to rest during times of injury.  You don’t have to be that extreme.  You may take one or two days off every week and enjoy those gains on a regular basis rather than pushing yourself to the point of injury.  At least, that would be my recommendation.

When the rest is over you will head back to the gym, the yoga studio, or the track with a clear head and a ready body.  You might even get a bit of housework done in the process…

“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.