July Race: Sticking with the Goal

Most of you know that my 2008 goal was to participate in a race every month. July has proven to be very difficult to keep up with that commitment. I signed up for the "Run to the Sun" race a couple Sunday mornings ago. However, I was sick with "stomach issues" for 2 weeks during July. Boy did it slow me down-I hate having to slow down! Instead of going to another race, my husband and son decided to create a make-shift race for me to participate in. We called it the Froehlich Fun Run. Basically we just strolled around the neighborhood, took a picture and called it a race! No matter how much I plan, improvising and accepting change is a very big part of the plan despite my scheduling efforts.

Intensity Changes Everything

It's easy to wonder into weight gain, but impossible to wonder out of losing it. Intensity can increase or decrease weight loss rates. It's all about decisions and how you look at them, here's a perspective:

1. Do I want to add another helping to my plate or forgo the extra calories in order to lose weight quicker?

2. Do I want to drink the extra calories in the form of pop, wine, Starbucks, or sweet tea? Or would I rather drink water instead and save the calories for food.

3. Do I want to eat food for comfort and pleasure? Or nourishment which is ultimately what our bodies need in order to function at it's best capacity.

4. Am I "all in" with this weight loss and living healthy concept? Or would I rather just kinda work at it when it's most convenient and easy for me?

5. Do I really see myself at my ideal weight and doing the things I want to do or do I just think it's a neat idea if it, by chance, happens?


I know these could be a little harsh but they are questions that we should constantly ask ourselves as we push through the obstacles of losing weight and living healthy. After all, since 67% of Americans are overweight being healthy would be the minority.

I Disagree

Many of my clients use weight watchers as the nutritional aspect of helping them lose weight-this is not what I disagree with. Many of my gals have told me that they've heard to fluctuate caloric intake on a day-to-day basis. I guess the idea is to keep your body guessing as to how many calories it will get and because it's different each day your body has to adjust. Unfortunately I don't agree with this statement one bit. I actually think it could be just an excuse to eat what you want on certain days. It reminds me a little tiny bit of yo-yo dieting. Starve yourself one week and the next week eat everything in sight because of deprivation. Starvation typically leads to weight GAIN. This happens because starvation slows down your metabolism!

On a side note, I'm eating a Luna Carmel Nut Brownie right now for my afternoon snack. It's mostly organic with no gluten or high fructose corn syrup but more importantly, yummy!

Be Intentional

I firmly believe that if you really want to do something you have to plan for it. Otherwise it never happens. Here's two things I do to stay on track:

1. Make regular workout appointments. Typically I schedule 4 times/week to exercise. This is something that's the same time each week.

2. Make a monthly meal plan. This is something I've just implemented due to going out to eat for dinner too much thus going over budget (both monetary and caloric). I have a word document that has the whole month of August planned out for dinners. I printed it out and now it's hanging on the side of my fridge. Typically I follow the advice of Dr. Oz and eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch. This makes eating a no-brainer and something my body always expects. So my calendar only has dinner plans. Literally this took about 5 minutes to do. Try it!

A couple of "Little Things"

The other weekend my husband and I went to see the movie, Wanted. We're nuts for fast-paced, action thrillers so, naturally we really enjoyed the flick. The best part of the movie is this song. In my opinion, it's a great one for the ipod during workouts.

The Little Things


On another note, the other day I took the REAL AGE TEST from Dr. Oz. I am 8 years younger than my actual age. Even with my sweet tooth!! He has a couple of really good "eye openers" that I would encourage you to check out.

The RealAge Test

RealAge Nutrition Health Assessment

Client of the Month: Mary

The July "Client of the Month," is Mary. I truly love Mary. I've been working with her for some time now and think she's just an all-around great gal.
And here's why I think this:

1. She's really made her lifestyle one of the picture of health. She incorporates this aspect into daily living.
2. Mary's always on the go (she's retired and does lots of fun traveling around the world) however, she doesn't ever make that an excuse not to exercise. She'll find a 5K race or take some workouts with her to exercise on her own.
3. I say very often that I learn just as much from my clients as they might learn from me, well this is really true with Mary. She's always on the lookout for different books or articles on various health topics and always shares with me and the group what she's learned. For that I will always be grateful.
4. She's so welcoming and encouraging to everyone in the group. It's so refreshing to have her smiling face at class as she's so kind to everyone she meets.
5. This is so cheesy of me to say but I love that Mary has favorite exercises. She loves the pike-to-plank exercise we do on the ball and always gets excited when I tell the group that's what we're going to do next.
6. Mary is always so happy to do any new funky exercise I ask of her. Actually she's normally very excited to try.
7. One of my favorite moments: when Mary attempted and conquered a somersault.
8. Another favorite moment: the broomstick trick. Mary, you might have to bring this back to the group and show off your skills. It's very impressive.
9. I love Mary's desire to be healthy and learn all she can about implementing health and fitness into her daily routine.
10. Yes, Mary is a real person who's positive outlook on life and cheery personality attracts many to follow in her footsteps.

WAY TO GO MARY!

Temptation: The big "D"

I am tempted all the time. Chocolate, need I say more? The other night I was seriously craving a long john doughnut from a bad bad store I call QT. It was 10:30pm and I was dying. I LOVE doughnuts. Note: the only reason I mention this is because even though I am a personal trainer, I am also human.

QT is just minutes away from my house, I could just hop in my car and in less than 5 minutes be tasting a delicioso treat. NO, NO, NO. This is bad. For many reasons:
1. It's way too late to have something like that right before bed. I will wake up with a stomach ache that's not worth the 5 seconds of joy I get from gobbling it down.
2. Healthy people that do unhealthy things become unhealthy.
3. I needs sleep, go to sleep and dream about the silly doughnut.
4. I don't need the high fructose corn syrup, gluten, sugar, and all those carbs. No one does for that matter!

The dramatic conclusion? I stopped obsessing about it and went to sleep. Of course, a good ending to this story-that's why I'm sharing. A victory and guess what, the next morning it didn't even sound good to eat...I wanted my protein shake. Done!

I think the hardest part is getting over the mind-set that I have to have it and have it now. Once I get that out of my head then I can celebrate that I just conquered a small hill. I know I will have a lifetime of doughnut battles but my goal is one-by-one, small victories that will lead to winning the war.