Kittens. Hello my name is Kelly and I have been absent for a week. NAUGHTY IN AN EPIC WAY. Suffice it to say that EACH DAY OF THE PAST week I have heaved a big sigh and said, "OH Lord. I just cannot sit down and take 30 minutes to post my blog. DANG."
We were in NYC from Thursday-Monday. I got home late Monday night. I've spent all day Tuesday and Wednesday on STUFF. Biznass stuff. Contracts and hoo-ha. Yum Yum. Ho Ho Ho.
Here are some highlights from NYC:
This is Miss Bonnie Foo Foo, I mean Bonnie Pfiesterheading into the NYC GNC, where we stocked up on all kinds of goodness like the Street King we are digging. Um, zero calories, the energy/caffeine of one cup of coffee and every purchase feeds a child in need. Hello.
My boyfriend. Not Deepok. ;-)
This is us gals working hard on the benefits of resvatrol by drinking wine. ;-) That's me, Jill Hanner, Cassandra and Carla. All fabulous.
Me and Bonnie. Who has more knowledge about fitness and health in her pinky finger than I do all year in my mind. Seriously.
Alfonso, Bonnie and hubby Steve, who you have seen on my blog in the past. (Click Here.)
Incredibly talented and knowledgeable peeps that I am blessed to have in my FitFluential Family as Ambassadors.
Indeed Carla and I had a lot of Diet Coke. NOM NOM
Carla striking gold in GNC with Ostrim Jerky and Street King. Y'all, I was living on the Ostrim Turkey Jerky while on this trip. It was Carla that got me started on it, and I tell you this. It is addicting, great for travel/office and protein! HELLO!!
Also. I Love Carla. #thatisall
Here is my ramble-on-a-thon from Tuesday. Sorry. I'm behind. Clearly. But I was SO inspired by my fitness peeps and those that you see in these pictures are keeping me accountable for kicking consistent a** in my diet and workouts- STARTING NOW. ;-) I also do a demo review of the GNC Blender. You guys- kick butt blender. So awesome. Seriously. And I might add- on sale now at GNC for 1/2 off. Every office worker should have one to eat well!! Just sayin.
Don't you want one? Seriously I was more excited about that blender than I was about the latest new episode of Fringe. Well maybe not. But close. ;-)
Now- I'm off to do my "morning" workout. And by "morning" I mean, it was supposed to be 3 hours ago but I blogged!! hahah!!
QUESTION OF THE DAY: If you work in an office do you eat out regularly or pack your lunch?
**Disclosure: GNC is a client of my company, FitFluential. We produce campaigns for them that are paid by GNC but all the opinions on this blog are expressly my own. **
After reading this blog post by Bonnie Pfiester, (one of our FitFluential Ambassadors in FL) "The Nooner, Quickie Workouts for Peeps On the Go", it not only gave me that push today that I needed to get my workout on, but it inspired this post. The other night I was participating in a Twitter chat with Centrum and a TON of people were on there whining about having NO TIME to workout.
I have heard this EXCUSE and yes, I've used this EXCUSE in the past myself. It's lame. LAME.
Time to change your thinking. Time to change your attitude. Time to change what you BELIEVE is possible. Why do I laugh out loud at anyone that says, "I have NO TIME to workout!" I say BALONEY (well ok usually I might say a PG-13 word but you know...)
Something is better than nothing. For all those people that say, "I have no time to workout" I ask you this:
Do you watch TV? You have time.
Do you play video games? You have time.
Do you spend at least 30 minutes on Facebook? You have time.
Do you sit around at the office after lunch chatting? You have time.
You get the drift. A SERIOUS SWEATFEST CAN BE HAD IN 30 MINUTES OR LESS PEOPLE!! Stop doing what I used to do and assume that the ONLY WAY YOU CAN WORKOUT and really make a difference is to do a full-on 90-Minute+ intensity session. Now- this is NOT to say that these aren't great and won't get you more fit and probably more fit FASTER. But, do not think you can't make a serious dent in your weight loss goals by QUITTIN YOUR BITCHIN AND START LIFTIN! ;-) (that's a tee-shirt of mine that I love)
If you want to RUN, don't think that just because you are starting out and you have to walk 5 minutes and run 1 minute and then repeat, THAT IT DOESN'T COUNT. Keep going. It counts. You are burning calories. You are getting stronger.
Weights. Think you need an hour in the gym? BALONEY. (fat free of course) Ask my BFF Carla, otherwise known as @mizfitonline and clearly one of the most chiseled buff babes I know. Carla does her weight workout every day in under 20 minutes. And let me tell you she is BUFF BEYOND MEASURE.
You don't need a boatload of time. You don't need a gym or a trainer. The amount of resources at your disposal are mind-boggling. Tumblr has 15,000 printed out customized workouts on there that will keep you going, sweating and crushing it with no equipment. YouTube? Hello, it's not just for MY Ramble-On-A-Thon vlogs- and here is my sweatfest vlog from this weekend:
Just off the top of my head I know 2 KILLER workout resources that weekly offer customized -- short and sweet sweatfest circuits.
The first one is Bonnie's hubby Steve Pfiester, and watch out, he will hurt you:
Hello? That was 10 minutes. Why not warm up for 5 minutes, do that workout, then some jumping jacks and running in place? Cool down, and you've got your workout. A TOUGH ONE. One that will challenge you and burn fat and get you ready for more.
HELLLLOOOO what about the Supreme Buff Babe, Zuzana? HELLO- her workouts are AMAZING and free and clearly they work:
Sure, she's using some equipment but many of her workouts use NOTHING. Yes, killer long workouts are great. But any trainer will tell you that higher intensity is the key and if you start with 20 minutes a day, watch the difference. Watch the difference in your attitude when you suddenly feel healthier and better about yourself.
Create your own motivation. Tell yourself that DAGGONEIT I'm not gonna make lame excuses about time. I'm making PROGRESS NOT EXCUSES!
That's what I did today. It was 6pm and I squeezed in Jackie Warner's Timesaver Workout:
Awesome, tough mini-workout and I burned 365 calories. How good do I feel that I conquered that inner voice that said, "I don't feel like working out right now, it's latee.......waaahhh" and I started my week off RIGHT! BOOYA!
QUESTION OF THE DAY: What's your plan? Are you using no-time as an excuse?
I am so loving kettlebells right now-- and the potential of what I'm going to be able to do in the future with them....! Wow. I'm kinda just bummed out that I can't pack them with me on a business trip! ;-0 But come on Kelly- you got your TRX, your Bodylastics Bands, your Valslides and a ton of great workout DVDs to use. Unlimited choices. Unlimited possibilities. Unlimited Potential.
How do you "feed your fire"? (and by fire, in this case, I'm talking about your momentum, your feeling of motivation, the desire to press on and keep kicking butt in this fitness journey)
You may have seen me slowly becoming obsessed with referencing Pinterest and Tumblr lately. They are both platforms with amazing content on the subject of getting fit. This is where I've been snagging such great and motivational visual pics like the one above. You have to give yourself an ongoing visual reminder of your goals. And it certainly helps to include POSITIVE MESSAGES like the above. This is particularly useful for some folks that tend to be a little negative with ourselves LIKE ME. Combine positive self-talk with positive and inspiring visual reminders of what you want to achieve-- DAILY.
What you think about, you bring about. Focus on the goal.
Buddy Up. Working out with a buddy or a trainer will usually make you push harder. But you can Buddy Up online too-- that's what us bloggers are!! HELLO!! If you aren't blogging your journey yet, I encourage you to get started. That's what I did!
Take advantage of some amazing-- and quite often FREE--- tools out there to help you. DO NOT ALLOW YOURSELF TO WHINE ABOUT NO GYM, NOT A LOT OF $$ OR NO BOOKS/DVDS TO FOLLOW. There are so many FREE options for you. YouTube has a boatload of videos out there and hello some of my BFFs have videos on there (many that I've shared) that will really help you get your sweat on!! I've shared some kick butt videos from Steve Pfiester (who is also one of our FitFluential Ambassadors!)like this:
Yea. I do this one REGULARLY and I curse at Steve more each time. And--- because Steve and Bonnie are also members of the Sears FitStudio team-- you'll find some of their KICK BUTT "BCX BOOTCAMP" workouts- designed for you by day- FUUUHHRREEE that's FREE on FitStudio.com. What's the catch? Oh yea, there isn't one. Wanna see a sample of the BCX style you'll experience, this ain't no joke people:
See what I mean? You have sooooo many resources and great people out there to FEED YOUR FIRE and keep it going. This is what I do and it helps me! It helps me to know I'm part of a big family out there that's in this journey with me.
NOW-- QUESTION OF THE DAY: I'm looking at a late late late workout tonight. What is the latest workout time you have ever scored? Tonight might be my latest workout but I'm determined to get one in before I hit the pillow. Does dreaming count as a workout? ;-)
What's up Kittens? How is your day so far? Good Lord, another crazy day. I might as well resign myself to the fact that I am a disorganized frazzled fool who will never be caught up have a lot on my plate and that this will not change, so GET OVER IT KELLY.
Isn't her tattoo adorable? I'm serious y'all. I'm gonna face my fear of ("How Much Will It Hurt?") and get my tattoo this summer. I'm doing it. NO FEAR.
Ok, now I have to just plain old PIMP OUT SOME COOL STUFF FOR Y'ALL. I'm all about sharing amazing stuff that I think you'll dig....why? Um, how did I find out about mostly everything I love, fitness-wise? Other bloggers. So- check this out.
Not sure WHY I haven't shared this before, but if you want to get your butt handed to you Boot Camp Style, you gotta read on (oh and it's FREE! HELLO!)
Remember a previous Wednesday Woot! Factor with Bonnie Pfiester?Well, she and her equally gorgeous hubby (They look like there should be a Barbie and Ken doll set made after them, don't you think?) Steve, run a health club in FL and now they are part of our growing Sears FitStudio team.
You can see their BIOS on their BCX page by CLICKING HERE.
That's Steveykins. And here's Bonnie the Babe:
I started seeing some posts on our FitStudio Facebook page about the BCX Boot Camp that Steve and Bonnie are doing but DUH on my part- I didn't realize that it was all ONLINE AND ALL SPELLED OUT and FREE for anyone to use and kick their own butt!
Isn't that killer? I love how they've made it easy for you to print out the workouts too. LMK if you are gonna try it for a month. I'm certainly going to work these into my rotation! My BFF @sarahkayhoffman is doing the rotation to get in buff shape for a wedding coming up.....Cool.
For a little peek of how flipping intense Steve is as a trainer, check this:
Do you hear me now? Kids, if you aren't checking out the FitStudio Facebook page, you will be missing out. We have TONS of fitness peeps from trainers to nutritionists to - well, just plain awesome chicks like me- and then dieticians, etc. etc. all sharing workouts, recipes, articles, events, promotions (i.e. coupons! Deals! Giveaways!). I suggest y'all LIKE us if you see fit- and then, sign up FREE at FitStudio.com for workouts and MORE FITNESS STUFF that rocks.
Um. The weather is getting nice and I feel the urge to RUN again - outside. I do like running on the treadmill, but I'm just saying, I think I'd like to work some runs back into my activity. No overkill but definitely some running. Do any of you find yourself only running when it's nice weather out- because you don't dig the treadmill as much (for running)?
Also- TODAY IS TUESDAY- which is weigh day- I stepped on my new digital EatSmart scale and I LOST ONE MORE POUND. I was a bit bummed, I have to admit it. But that's 4lbs in two weeks. That's SMART. I love that the scale shows weight to the decimal point- I talk about it in the vlog I shot today(which you'll see tomorrow, sorry, I have to share a vlog today that I shot last night, post-workout). So--- good stuff!!
Another pimp to the Kettlebell Bombshell DVD. Kids, I love it. Here is my review I did last night after the experience:
And- you'll see in my vlog tomorrow- I AM totally bruising and I love it. But I do plan to get some wraps and more gloves for the Kettlebell workouts. For sure.
HAVE YOU TRIED KETTLEBELLS YET?
Now, after all that pimping out, I guess I should talk about the title of this blog post eh? Tomorrow's vlog will talk a lot about how I'm tracking my progress. And this is just to serve as an example, we all have to do what works for us. But I'm sharing also--- because it is a HUJAZZ lesson I've learned personally that when I'm NOT tracking my body and my activities and my "diet", I found- the last two years that I'm MORE OFF TRACK THAN I THINK.
This is just a random fitness calendar I pulled online, but I've shown you guys what I use- a calendar pinned up in my office, and each day I record my workout, how I 'rate' it 3-5 stars, and what caloric burn. Then I can look at a month and see it either FULL of activity or lacking. I can see as I look at each week, how my week is "adding up". It's in my head all the time. Then I used FitDay.comto record my daily "diet" (= eats) and my weight each week. It also charts what calories I should be consuming each day to lose weight as I plan to do.....safely at 1-2lbs per week. I also have this little dorky Excel spreadsheet to record my measurements and my weight- weekly.....because I think it will be interesting to see how they compare.
He looks sad and frustrated doesn't he? Poor thing, bless his heart. He probably forgot to put his pants on before he came to the gym and he wonders why everyone is staring at him. Anyway, why am I TRACKING so much and talking about it, sharing it with you? Because I truly believe that this is a HUJAZZ part of why the last 2 years have been sucky in my fitness journey. I want to help YOU learn the lessons I've had to learn and maybe save you some time. Because for me, it feels DANG GREAT to have finally "figured it out FOR REAL" and be able to move forward the right way. And make PROGRESS.
For those of you that are new to my blog- about 2 years ago this chick's body changed and not in the pretty way. It was like BAM weight gain and hormonal issues, I knew something was jacked but it took 3 doctors and 2 years for them to figure out it was early perimenopause. Basically, Hormones.com. But I spent the better part of that time PANICKING, FREAKING OUT and then trying to change OVERNIGHT what had happened. I kept thinking MORE was better and verged on either serious OVER-TRAINING or serious LOAFING and being depressed, wondering "Why am I not losing weight? I don't get it...." and then just plain STRESSING ABOUT IT.
Over-Training + Stressing + Inconsistency in Diet and Training = MAJOR STALL.
I wasn't tracking, even though I thought I was. I kept thinking- I'm blogging! I'm accountable. I wasn't. It wasn't until the very end of last year and early this year that I had some eye-opening moments, read some great books and started seeing what needed to change. The STRESS had to go, and I had to get back to doing FITNESS the way I enjoyed it. Eating in a way that I know I like and that works for me. NOT comparing myself or my workouts or my progress or my diet to anyone else. And tracking! Because--- when I don't have a visual in several places of what I'm doing....it sure is easy to OOPS not realize that I haven't worked out in FOUR days (when in my head I think it was 2)...but on the calendar, you don't miss that.
Also- when you are working out CONSISTENTLY, you are wearing workout clothes, right? Maybe not like the above, but most workout clothes are TIGHT and they, let's be honest they are designed to show off your body. If you are regularly putting your body in workout clothes, it is easy to see your physique. When you aren't working out regularly and spending more time in sweats or clothes the camoflouge your "tough areas", it's easy to ignore the trouble that is growing.
These are all things that were missing for me in these now bracketed two years:
Consistency --- which I would have noticed more if I was....
Tracking ---- Daily Food, Daily Workouts, and Weight/Measurement
Peace of Mind -- the stress level in my life was THROUGH THE ROOF for myriad reasons but that much stress is DAMAGING.
Some of you might think- "That's too much work! I don't want to have to write down my workout or track what I eat! Life is too short...." I can see that, but here is my reply~~ first of all, once you get in a groove on tracking in a way that works for you- it doesn't take much time. I record in FitDay after each meal ~ that takes about 2 minutes max. Writing on my calendar - another 1 minute. Once a week I weigh myself. Big deal. Furthermore, life is short- exactly. For me, life is short and I don't want to spend any more nights before going out PISSED OFF that I can't just slip on my favorite pair of jeans and go out. Life is too short to not feel your best. That's MY VIEW.
Good Lord. Holy Long Blog Post.
The other little Pimping-Out-Check-This-Out-Freebie I forgot is ---as I was wrapping up today's workout (Cathe Butts N Guts- KILLER! Burned 575 Calories! WOOT!) and doing the abs part, I remembered that one of my all time oldie-but-goodie workouts from CHER, yes CHER is on YouTube for free. Her trainer, Keli Roberts, now has a ton of workout DVDs but this one was one of my first VCR tapes yes VCR tapes I bought in the 90's. It had 3 parts- a Step workout then a 10 minute AB routine (featured below FREE on YouTube hello!) and then a like 30 minute standing leg routine that will make your legs shake, I swear- check it out and put in your favorites to use when you travel or at home! FREE!
I remember watching this video and going out and buying the big slouchy socks to match my Reebok high tops. I owned that look bitches. You know I did.
Here is a peek at the lower body part:
If you want the whole video, just check out the others linked to that one and you can have the experience I have had. Enjoy. And seriously, I have ALWAYS ALWAYS WANTED CHER HAIR from these days:
Don't say you wouldn't rock that hujazz hair if you could. I would in a HEARTBEAT. So I have a little drag queen in me, apparently so. #ItWorks
QUESTION OF THE DAY: What is your favorite cereal-- doesn't have to be healthy? I was doing the Twitter Party tonight with Multi-Grain Cheerios and they truly have always been a healthy staple. I can't lie. I also like Capn Crunch. I cannot lie.
Thursday, December 22, 2011 at 12:58PM
