fitnesstrainingfun

Hi to all the great people I met this morning! I hope you learned a few things and remember to do the three things we talked about this morning:

well, four-
Set your six week activity goal

Take your pulse while doing your activity and try to increase it by 10-15 beats for 17 minutes. Twice this week.

Take your measurements early in the morning, and write them down. Take them again at the end of your six week challenge.

Take your best vacation memory and think about it while you go “around the world core” Front plank, side plank, bicycle, other side plank, swimmers. 20 sec each. More if you can – or go twice on vacation! 2 times this week.

17 minutes! More for the core! You can do it!

Also – I will be at at Speed cycling Memorial day from 3:30 – 4:00. Come check it out and see the equipment, ask questions and try a few moves.

Have a great week! Hope to see you tomorrow.

Coach Sue

I was reading the Sunday paper this morning, and it struck me how many things there are to do. One young lady was making goat cheese; the furniture ads, home section and ads from outdoor stores had all sorts of decorating and fix it up ideas, and the money section had many ideas of financial tools. This got me to thinking about all the bright ideas I have, the little notebooks I carry around to write many of those in, the ripped out pages of cool things I like. I have not allowed myself to get involved in pinterest, for fear of loosing more time to the computer. But most of all, all this got me thinking about all the opportunities we have, and how to focus on getting organized to take advantage of at least some of them.

So, what was the first thing I did? After I saw that there might be some really warm sunny days in this next week, I thought the first thing I should do was organize my closet. I switched out my winter clothes and brought front and center the spring and summer clothes. Hmmmm, how will your clothes fit this spring? How will you take advantage of opportunities that come your way to optimize your health, wellness, nutrition, critical thinking skills, and maybe pick up a new hobby or activity? Maybe it’s a good week to dust out some corners, take stock of what you have and start out the second quarter of 2012 with some fresh springtime action plans!

There are many reasons to love January. Winter is such a special time of year, so different than the rest of the year. Its special for many reasons. No one questions that when its dark out, you can put your lounging clothes on and stay home! There are days that when the weather is blustery, you can stay in the house all day if you want. Love that.

Then there are the simply gorgeous sunny cold days with lots of snow that is so much fun to be out in doing all sorts of activites that you really can only do for like six weeks, if you are lucky! Love that.

Then, the best of all, the time to clean out stuff. Lots of different stuff including closets, drawers, basement shelves, old books, and of course bad habits! Its such a refreshing time of year when its a community feeling to be healthy. Its about the only month I know of that is truly the month to think about your health! Love that.

I am very excited to be giving an action packed talk to lots of people this week on how to move from thinking into an action plan. We will actually drill down and make a take away plan and learn some fitness moves. And of course, two more OPEN GYMS at Speed Cycling Gym to get that action plan started!

Love that.

I thought it would be nice to open up the gym at Speed Cycling to allow anyone to drop in and work out, see how great the gym facility is, meet me, get some tips and get in your own holiday workout!

TIMES: 10am-11am  each day  Dec 27,28,29     COST – $5

Bring your own workout ideas – questions – and meet new people! Sign up for for the next sessions!

Hope to see you there – bring a friend!

Ho Ho Ho the holidays are almost here…so many parties and an onslaught of fun activites for the next few weeks! Perhaps a little knowledge about what actually happens in your body will help you to not only keep up your exercise –  but exercise your brain also! Here are a few tips about alcohol:

 
Alcohol – when alcohol enters the body, it acts like the boss of the liver, insisting the liver take care of it while all other work comes to a standstill. What other work does the liver usually do? It is instrumental in synthesizing and processing fat; detoxifying and metabolizing toxins and by products our body produces; and metabolizing carbohydrates. Busy organ for sure! Busy dong things we need to function – so when all the work gets stopped to metabolize alcohol first, well, you can see how metabolism slows! Exactly what we do not want to happen. Also, muscle cells do not use alcohol for energy, so you cannot burn off a rum and coke in the same way you can burn off a bagel. Instead, the drink is converted to fatty acids, ties up niacin, thiamine and B vitamins that are necessary for energy production.  Ok, small amouts of alcohol, up to two drinks, can be considered, but large amounts, can wreak havoc. If you are going to drink, make a wise choice, be responsible of course, but also be mindful of when you will be exercising, to get the most benefit from your very important exercise session, limit your alcohol consumption.

 
What else shows up around the holidays? Ok – not any fat we will gain!!! of course, but the fat ladden holiday food. Just remember – Fat! a little dab will do ya! We do store all our extra calories, regardless of the type of food it comes from. Any extra calories can become stored fat. But, the right amount of body fat is a good thing! It protects internal organs; helps maintain body temperature, and is a vital component of all body cells.  And we need food fat to supply those essential fatty acids required to make hormones and other components necessary for life; it helps you feel satisfied after eating because it slows down digestion; and contributes flavor! But, during the holidays, make your fat selections carefully – most holiday foods will be full of the saturated and trans fats, and what we are seeking are the unsaturated variety for health.

Oh, and because this is all about science, saturated means the fat has all the hydrogen ions it can handle attached to the carbons, and unsaturated – mono, one hydrogen is missing, poly – unsaturated – many hydrogen ions are missing. The fats you do eat should be about half mono unsaturated, and 1/4 from each poly and saturated. That means use small amounts of olive or canola oil in cooking and salad dressings, (mono) and you will have room for a little saturated (hello holidays!)
               Here’s to healthy, smart and wise - holiday eating and drinking!

The first thing I do is reset my thinking to holiday thinking. There will be parties, there will be temptations, there will be alot of fun things to enjoy. I plan to be there and enjoy them all! The first thing I did right after Thanksgiving, was brew up quite a few batches of soup. Lots of turkey, chicken, vegetables, etc. They are all frozen for easy lunch grabbing as well as extra packets of frozen lean cooked protein. My weekdays – Monday thru Wednesday I am a lean eating machine. I try for no alcoholic drinks, no splurges, lots of lemon water, soup, burst training, heavy weights, extra purposeful walking, and thinking lots of happy thoughts. But the parties and events are starting to stack up nicely, so I might have to switch some days around.

During the days of the parties or special events – I mind my food, make sure I don’t go super hungry, get some extra workouts in (this weekend a 90 minute spin class at Speed Cycling of course!), some super duper weight sessions, walk to the store, and adding more weight to my core routine.

During the parties, I am enjoying myself, within limits, but really enjoying the food if I want, the people, the decorations, the ambiance and really remembering the highlights to think about Mon thru wed. Relive the good stuff!