And now, back to a regularly scheduled fitness program...

For the past couple of months I've been dabbling with exercise. I haven't given up my workouts, but I haven't been following a specific plan. I've been playing some tennis, doing a little kickboxing and managing a home workout a few times a week. The result? A four pound weight gain and the clear first signs of a resurgent muffin top. Clearly, action is in order.

Maybe it's the fact that it's January, it's wet, chilly and dark, but I've been in no mood for cardio. I know I have to do SOME jumping around, but what I really want to do is lift weights. So today I popped in an old favorite of mine - Chalean Extreme - and I knew I'd found a program to stick with over the next few months.

Yes, the workout gear they wear is a little dated (shiny silver belts anyone?). But the program is a classic - slow lifting combined with just enough cardio to keep the body lean and happy. I'm in.

Today was Day 1, Week 1. Tomorrow is Day 2, and I'll be up early to push play. It's nice to feel like I'm back in a workout groove.

Yoga, how I've missed you...

After my recent plunger-related "injury", I took a few days off from working out. Plus, overnight long-haul flights over the Atlantic don't provide much opportunity for exercise. But today, I fought off jet lag, got myself out of bed and popped in my P90X3 Yoga.

I haven't been doing much yoga lately, and my body was letting me know it. I was stiff, and my back was still tight. Legs were on fire. Standing splits were a joke. My hamstrings were tight and fought me every step of the way. But gradually, things started to loosen up, muscles got warm, and by the end of the 30 minutes I was almost feeling refreshed.

I think I have some sort of exercise-induced amnesia. I usually feel great after my workout, so you'd think that I'd be brimming with enthusiasm every day, eagerly anticipating the sweat dripping down my face. But no - it's like I have to convince myself every single day that workouts are a good thing. Luckily I've made these workouts a habit, so I don't (usually) skip out. But you'd think I would have the motivation bit down cold by now?

Being fit does not make you invincible.

No matter how many planks/sit ups/pull-ups you do, you can still get injured. Unexpectedly. Doing the most mundane task in the world.

Two days ago I had one of those back spasms hit - you know, the ones that make your knees collapse and leave you kneeling on the floor, trying to find some way to stand up without making everything feel even worse? Like that.

I wasn't playing tennis, wrestling around with the kids, running, exercising, moving furniture or doing anything remotely fun or interesting. I was plunging a toilet.

Several hours (and several Advils) later things were much better. I'm taking a couple of days off without working out, then I should be good to go. But it was a harsh reminder that even if you're in decent shape, when you're in your 40s you can really mess yourself in an instant.

So if you're starting a new workout in January (or just puttering around the house), be careful out there!

After the holidays, time to take stock...

I haven't exactly been living up to my blog's name. I've been focused on lots of things - my kids, my translation business, moving house, organizing the school craft fair... just the normal, every day stuff of life. I haven't stopped exercising - I started going to a kickboxing class, taking tennis lessons, and I'm doing my Beachbody videos several times a week. I've gained a few pounds, but not enough to make a difference in how my clothes fit.

I seem to have entered a new phase of my fitness journey without realizing it. When I first started (almost two years ago!) I was out of shape, 20+ pounds overweight, and exercise had taken a back seat to virtually everything else. At that point, I had to make fitness a central focus, so I could literally regain control over my body, achieve my weight loss goals and get in decent shape.

Once that was done, I had to make a choice - should I keep pursuing more challenging fitness goals, or work to maintain my fitness level and shift my focus to other things? Back in June, I found myself pulling back bit by bit, no longer chasing some "ideal" physique.

At the time, I didn't really think about why I was less focused on my fitness, but now I get it. Last summer, I was spending a lot of time working on math with the kids, traveling around, translating, visiting friends... so I had less time to think about my workouts. I did them, but I dabbled around, only doing the workouts that I felt like doing, not really following a schedule. For a Beachbody coach, this isn't exactly ideal. At a very real level, I felt I was letting people down.

On the other hand, I've realized that once I put good habits in place, fitness just became a part of what I "do". It doesn't have to be the center of my life - or yours - as long as you stay committed to the fundamentals. Working out still plays an important role in my weekly schedule (if I don't get my workouts in, I feel grumpy and bloated). But I feel like I have more mental energy - more focus - to take on other challenges.

At my age....

                I hear this a lot from people I know (many of whom are in their early 40s and up). It’s usually followed by a statement of dissatisfaction with some part of their body, with a sense of resignation that some things are beyond repair. 

                I’m 43. I understand where they’re coming from. I’ve been there.

                I also understand that some people have medical issues that limit certain activities. As we age, our bodies start to lose resilience. We can’t put off aging forever.

                But I’m absolutely convinced that most people grossly underestimate their physical potential, regardless of age.

                Assume for a minute that you’re in your mid-40s, 25 pounds overweight, and you haven’t been exercising regularly for a long time. (Sounds like somebody I knew last year). You go for walks, occasionally go to the gym – you’re not sedentary, but you don’t have a system in place to keep fit. You feel like your body is starting to decline… 

And guess what?  You’re right – your peak physical potential is declining, and has been for about a decade. No matter how hard you train at this point, you aren’t going to qualify for the Olympic track and field team. That ship has sailed.

                Even though we can’t reverse the aging process, but we certainly can slow things down. And, if you’re unfit but generally healthy, you CAN make the decision to get back in shape, rebuild your muscle mass and look and feel years younger. You can feel energized when you wake up in the morning. You can tone up your arms, lose a bunch of cellulite – you might even wind up with a nice set of abs. You have no idea what’s possible unless you give it your best shot. I did it – and so can you.

All I did was find the right tools, adopt the right mindset, and get to work. There’s no magic to getting fit. There are no special pills or creams to dissolve your body fat.  It takes focus, determination and dedication to transform your body, but you CAN do it.  

                First, don’t go on a diet. That might seem counterintuitive, but depriving your body of the nutrition it needs to tone up and build muscle is the last thing you want to do. Instead, for the first few days, keep a food journal. Write down everything you eat, and don’t leave anything out. Seeing your food choices – good, bad and ugly – can help you focus on areas for improvement. In my case, seeing the volume of food I was eating made it much easier to cut back my portions to a reasonable size.

                You’ll need to find an exercise program that you can stick with, at least 5 days a week, 30 minutes a day. I don’t mean a walk around the block – you want to get sweaty and raise your heart rate. If you have bad joints, modify and avoid high impact work - but push as hard as you can and don’t give up. Programs that work the entire body, which incorporate both cardio, strength training and stretching, will give you the best results.

                Don’t do too much, too soon. You didn’t put on the excess weight in a month, so it’s not going to come off that fast either. If you haven’t been working your joints for a while, they aren’t going to be happy if you start off doing hard-core plyometrics. You’ll injure yourself, get frustrated and quit. Instead, give the muscles surrounding your joints and spine time to build up, and follow a sensible exercise program. Don’t worry, you’ll be shocked at how quickly you’ll improve. Then you can take on the harder stuff…

                Accept the fact that you can’t choose WHERE to lose weight. Blame Mom and Dad – where you carry your body fat is determined by genetics. Some people carry it around the middle, others on the hips and thighs. When I started losing weight, I went down a bra size (which was NOT my intent). Your goal must be to reduce your overall body fat percentage to a healthy level, not to be rail-thin. This isn’t about chasing after some idealized body image – it’s about reaching your own potential, so you can live a healthy, active life for decades to come.

                Constantly work to improve your nutrition. Slow, gradual change is your friend. I started with portion control, started reducing the amount of refined flours and sugars in our food, eliminated most processed foods, added a nutritional supplement (Shakeology) to replace my One-a-Day multi-vitamins (and to stop snacking on junk every afternoon). Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither are healthy habits. 

                Finally, find some like-minded people to support your efforts. I had a lot of great support when I started, from both local and “virtual” friends. Now that I’m a Beachbody coach, I try to offer the same support to MY friends, because I think that everyone deserves a strong, healthy body. 

So if you’re ready to get back in shape, let me know. I’ve been down this road, and it’s a lot more fun if you’ve got a good team to support you. Join me at www.lauratfitness.com - let's do this!

What's up with these wraps???

           All over the Internet, people are selling body wraps that you can use at home. How can you miss them? These products promise a miraculous reduction in body fat, with inches melting off thighs, belly and arms. There are a number of theories provided to explain how this process works, from simple water loss to somehow depleting excess fat in your adipose cells.

               

           I don’t want to talk about whether these things “work”.  I have no idea, because I’ve never tried a body wrap. I figure it’s like any other cosmetic type of treatment you can get at a spa – like having a facial. It’s relaxing, your skin feels nice afterwards, and it’s a generally pleasant experience. So a body wrap might be a nice thing to try right before a big event – maybe you’d temporarily lose an inch or two, so you could zip up that dress more easily? Why not…

But here’s my issue– too many people seem to be marketing body wraps as some magical weight loss solution.  I’ve seen these extraordinary before and after pictures – people who’ve lost 100+ pounds using wraps – but I have no doubt that diet and exercise played the biggest role in the results being attributed to the wraps.

It’s a huge mistake to focus to heavily on the cosmetic aspects of excess weight, without addressing the underlying health, fitness and nutrition issues. Let’s assume for a moment that these wraps can give you sleek, awesome thighs – those thighs won’t get you through a 5 mile run if you haven’t been training. Your belly may look flatter – but your core muscles won’t be any stronger. And even if your arms are less jiggly, you won’t be able to lift your kids above your head, and get that nice ripped look that comes from strength training.

             Don’t get me wrong – I love the fact that I’ve lost weight. I love shopping and trying on clothes I couldn’t have possibly worn last year.  But achieving some mythical perfect body (which isn’t happening at 43) is not what drives me to get up almost every day and work out. I do this because I want to have strong legs, strong arms and a strong back. I want to be flexible, so I can move around without pulling a muscle. I don’t want to go back to having the stiff back that I had when my core muscles were weak. I want to be able to jump high, run and do a headstand if I feel like it (yoga, anyone?). No wrap is going to give me that.

                Most important, in 30 years, I want to be able to travel, hike with my grandkids, ride a bicycle – to the best of my ability. I want to remain active for as long as possible, and I don’t want to leave anything on the table. There are no sure bets in life, but leading an active, healthy lifestyle NOW is the best bet for staying active and healthy over the long term.

                So if the idea of body wrapping appeals to you, give it a try. I’ll keep having my occasional facials, because they’re relaxing and fun. But don’t use them as a substitute for hard, sweaty workouts and healthy eating. Because there are no shortcuts to physical fitness and wellbeing. Push your limits, fuel your body – then enjoy that wrap or trip to the spa as a well-earned reward.

               

I got into shape.. So what's next??

For the past year, I’ve been determined to get myself into shape. Back in 2005, I was doing OK, because I was running a lot. I even managed to finish a couple of marathons. But in retrospect, even though I could run 26.2 miles, my overall fitness wasn’t that great. I ignored my core, didn’t do any strength training at all, and couldn’t be bothered to do a push-up. Even though my endurance was pretty good, I had loads of room for improvement.

                 

Then I got complaisant. I started running less and less, until I was hardly running at all. Gradually, any muscle I’d built up had reverted to flab. By the time I turned 42, I had a nice little muffin top. I figured that once you reach 40, these kinds of changes are inevitable. Right?

               

Last year, I decided to put that theory to the test…could a 42 year old woman actually lose the flab, rebuild all that lost muscle and uncover her abs?  I started doing home video workouts and – within months – I’d shed the extra weight. I wound up weighing 10 pounds less than I did when I finished high school. By adding strength training, I achieved definition in my arms, my shoulders… and yes, even my core. Today, I feel strong, fit and I know that, if I keep up my daily fitness routine, I'm likely to stay active for decades to come. Which is great...

                 

But now that I'm in shape, what do I want to DO? That’s the next question.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my home workouts. The 30-45 minutes I spend working out most days offers a tremendous payoff, in terms of conditioning and strength.



A few weeks ago, in my online group, another member realized that for a long time, he’d been eating right and exercising to lose weight. Now, he’s realized that the excess weight is gone – and he can embrace running… or hiking … or cycling… simply for the joy of doing it. Now, workouts are designed to sculpt the body, make little adjustments, maintain endurance – but that huge, long-term weight loss goal has been achieved. This involves a huge shift in mindset, and it’s one that I’m still coming to terms with myself. Now, I think I need another goal.

A few weeks ago, I had my first tennis lesson – ever. I’ve always wanted to learn to play, but have never taken the time. Believe me, I was awful. But I had fun, I know a lot of people who play, and it’s something I can learn. I've been toying with the idea of pulling my running shoes out of the closet again... maybe another 10K is in my future... or maybe a half-marathon?

I’ve always wanted to climb a mountain – not Everest or anything, but something challenging...

Will that be in my future? Who knows… but at least I know that it's possible. Stay tuned!