The Fitness Plan for Anyone - Steps 4 & 5 (the end)

"It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop."

~ Confucius

STEP 4: PERSISTENCE, PERSISTENCE, PERSISTENCE
This is the most important step of all bar none! It doesn't matter how hard you work out, or how well you eat, if you only do it sporadically. If you really want to see changes in how you look & feel, then you have to stick with it at least 5 days a week. When I first started off, I was even doing six days a week. I was gung-ho and was anxiously trying to see results as fast as possible. However, always take one day a week off. I always take Sundays off. Not only is it the Sabbath for me, but it's also proven that a day off is essential and helpful for your body to achieve the results you want.

This is where the power of positive thinking really comes in handy. Remember I said this is a mental game. You will constantly be bombarded with thoughts of giving up. It's simple though . . . DON'T! Just focus on how strong you are becoming, not just physically but mentally. Refuse to entertain any "cop out excuses". If you do, you're only selling yourself short! You are only hurting yourself if you give up. All your hard work will be for nothing. You are worth this. You do deserve this! You CAN DO THIS!!

"When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place."

-- Author Unknown

STEP 5: PATIENCE, PROGRESS & SUPPORT
Let me reiterate. This is a long, slow process. I'm not claiming you will look like a swimsuit model in 4 weeks. I have been going for almost 7 months and am still chugging away at my goals. Be prepared for this. If you're not, it is very easy to become discouraged. I like to tell myself that the slower it comes off, the more permanent it will stay off (or at least the slower it will come back on right?) Remind yourself constantly that even if the pounds aren't flying off, you are doing your body good. Just because you can't always see the results, doesn't mean they aren't happening. Discouragement will just lead to despair and you'll give up & quit.  Stick with it. It's like the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. It will seem slow & arduous and that it's not worth it sometimes, but just keep your goals in mind. Remember why you started in the first place! Think of how nice it will be when you reach your goals. Visualize yourself with that dream body. Most importantly, when you see small changes or results, celebrate them! Not with food of course, but allow yourself to feel good about your accomplishments. When you are feeling discouraged, remember how good it felt when you did see that scale drop down or feel a new muscle emerging under your stomach and remind yourself that it will keep happening - just not always in the time frame you may want.

Just a small tip that I do: I don't weigh myself every day. I do it every couple days AT THE SAME TIME OF DAY and keep a little log of all my weights. When I don't see changes for awhile, it's at least comforting to look back and see where I started at so I can visually see that I have made progress. I also take measurements of different areas of my body every other month. Sometimes you don't even realize that your waist has shrunk an inch or two until you write down the numbers. Another thing some do (and it takes bravery & guts) is to take a "before" picture in your underwear. You don't have to share it with anyone, but keep it for yourself. Look at it periodically to remind yourself why you started. Every couple months take a new one & see how you've changed ever so slightly.

And lastly, don't be afraid to involve those close to you in the process. Spouses, family & friends are a vital support in the process. They will be the ones that will encourage you to not give up when you are disheartened. They will be the ones that will listen to you. And most importantly, they will be the ones that notice the changes and make you feel so good about all of your efforts. Compliments from your closest circle are the best kind. You know they are genuine and they mean so much more. I can't tell you how good it felt to hear my sisters praise my legs the other day when we went swimming. I have to admit, it made my whole day. I still think my legs need a lot of work and that my dark, Jamaican tan made all the difference, but to hear them go on and on about how great they look really made the last 7 months worth it! My sisters have been such a big support and inspiration to me through all of this. They are the ones who got me to finally start, they are the ones who motivated me, and they are still encouraging me to this day. I love them with all of my heart (which is hopefully a way healthier heart now)!

And that's it folks. Yes I am long winded and wordy so it took several posts, but in reality, what I'm doing is simple. Anyone can do it too. If you do decide to start on your own fitness journey, feel free to keep me updated on your journey. I will be your cheerleader and remind you all along the way that you are amazing and that you will achieve your goal! If I can do it, you definitely can!

The Fitness Plan for Anyone - Step 3

"Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success. "

--Napoleon Hill

STEP 3: EXERCISE
I think too many of us let this be a negative word in our vocabulary. It's so easy to say, "I'm too tired to workout today", or "my day is too busy today", or simply "I don't feel like it today". Believe me, it's super easy to think of excuses as to why we CAN'T exercise. If you want to be successful, you HAVE to push those thoughts out before they even have time to sink in! Remember WHY you are exercising. Remember how good you feel AFTER you exercise. Visualize that body you are striving to get. Like I said earlier, most days I do a simple 30 minute workout video. Well I say simple, but it's grueling for me. But you can do anything for that amount of time right? You know your body won't collapse and die in 30 short minutes? And how easy is it to fit that amount of time into your day? No matter how busy & hectic your life, I guarantee you can find at least 30 minutes somewhere even if you have to wake up earlier or stay up later. Believe me, I'm the master of coming up with cop out excuses. I did it for years. Blaming it on having small kids, or no time for myself, and how I couldn't fit in the time. But it's amazing how you can find the time quite easily when you become determined & committed! When you sincerely want something, you WILL find the time to get it!
Now I will share what workout videos and exercises I've been doing the past 6-7 months. Everyone has their own types of exercises they like. I am by no means saying what I did is the best. These are simply the ones that I really took a liking to and brought me the results I wanted.

**Jillian Michaels (from January to the present)

Love, love, love all of her workout videos. I bought her "30 Day Shred" a couple years ago and did it off and on, but never regularly. Starting in January of this year, I did her 5-6 days a week. She guarantees results and her promises have been paying off for me. I still don't have the ripped abs she sports, but I will persist and carry on until I do!! The 30 Day Shred is seriously the one constant I have been doing this whole time, so I have to give it a lot of credit for my success. I'm not easily bored with videos, but to keep things fresh (because that's key to any exercise routine) I've done all sorts of things like do each level for 30 days straight, do a different level each week, do a different one each day, etc. Maybe I'm just out of shape, but her videos ALWAYS kick my butt. I never feel like they are too easy even though I've been doing them for a long time. It's very empowering to watch yourself progress into being able to do every single exercise the 'tough' way and no longer have to do the modifiers or do less, etc. {Plus to pat myself on the back, I only have 5 pound weights & she uses 3's}  She fits my style of exercising quite well, so I've stuck with her. Along with the 30 Day Shred, I also own No More Trouble Spots and Ripped in 30. I highly recommend any of them. Many of her DVDs also come with a diet plan - (or rather an 'eating plan' to me) so that may be helpful as well.

**Boot Camp Las Vegas (mid May - almost mid June)

I had heard of these things and they had always intrigued me. It seemed like something I would really like, but it also seemed kind of scary and tough. I bought a Groupon for this one sometime last year and waited until the week it expired (of course) to finally sign up for it and use it. My Groupon was for 20 classes for like $25 or $30. It's normally $150 a month so that was quite the deal. I had to figure out a way to make it work around my kids' school schedules and also get optimum use out of all 20 of my classes (I didn't want to miss a single one and only had one month to do so). So guess what? I signed up for the 5 am class! Now I am NOT a morning person, but I LOVED every minute of it and it was nice to be done before my kids were even awake! It was amazing and I have been dying to go back ever since. It is ONE HOUR of intense working out, running, cardio, arms, legs, crunches, carrying logs, etc. It is geared towards everyone and there is a wide variety of people who show up to it. You do things you never thought you could do. The only rule is no walking, so you can modify things however you need to. I had already lost almost 10 pounds by the time I started this, so it's hard to say how much more this helped, but I loved it and can't wait to go back again (I actually developed a knee injury at the end and couldn't finish my last 4 days - talk about being bummed). I'm pretty sure it helped shave off a few of those last few pounds. And it wiped me out enough that most days, I couldn't still do Jillian videos when I got home. It's a different workout every single day so it's awesome for your body. You are always sore and it's a great feeling! Local Las Vegans, check it out. My class was with Julie Johnston, the lady who founded the whole thing, but they have classes all over the valley at all different times. They do Groupons quite often. I just saw one this past week as a matter of fact. Check it out and hopefully you'll see me out there again soon.

The Fitness Plan for Anyone - Steps 1 & 2

"We can do anything we want as long as we stick to it long enough."

-- Helen Keller

STEP 1: DESIRE (STARTING THE MENTAL GAME)
Sounds easy (because who doesn't have a desire to be more in shape), but this is a critical step. If you don't want this with all of your heart, then guess what? You won't get it. You have to be ready, willing & determined to get your body back into shape. You have to be willing to make time for yourself every single day to work on this goal. Time to focus on your goals, your eating and your exercise. Most days, I spend 30 minutes working out. Seriously guys? Who can't fit 30 minutes into their day. Wake up earlier, wait till the kids go off to school, wait till the baby goes down for a nap, do it before bed . . . whatever it takes! Make that time EVERY DAY! We usually find the time to fit in food in our day right? So it should be just as easy to focus on the other things our bodies need just as bad.

I firmly believe that most things are 90% mental. Getting into shape is definitely in this category! If you are strong mentally, you will succeed. This is seriously one HUGE mental game. YOU get to tell yourself what you can do and how your body can change, not your body! Your body is always going to tell you it's tired and can't go on. You have to tell that weak body, that nobody you know has croaked during a workout video and so the chances are pretty high you won't either! You also have to recondition your mind because it will be quite effective at trying to throw all kinds of excuses to you that are cleverly disguised to seem rational. You all know what I'm talking about because our minds throw them at us constantly --- the "I don't have any time for that", "I can't do those kinds of exercises because {insert excuse here}" or my favorite which I'm still constantly fighting in my own head, "my body can't ever look like those bodies. It's not in my gene pool." All irrational crap people that you MUST conquer and throw out of your mind if you want to have any success.

STEP 2: MORE WATER & ACCOUNTABLE EATING
*WATER*
Before I jumped whole heartedly into my exercise routine, I spent a month or two focusing on drinking more water. I really tried to postpone the inevitable and tell myself I had to take all these baby steps first. I realized I hardly drank at all each day and knew it was a good thing to do. 64 ounces doesn't sound like that much really, but boy did I really have to focus to ever achieve it. Drinking enough water is still something I struggle with all these months later. It's not that I don't love water. It's just that I don't think about it enough. So when I do, I sit there and force way more down than I really want at the time. And don't even get me started on how much I hate running to the bathroom every few minutes! My sister claims your body eventually gets used to all the water and you don't have to go as much. I obviously never get to that point, but again it's because I don't sip it all day long - I do it in big giant gulps at a time. I'm working on it though. I heard it said that you should aim to drink at least half your body weight in water ounces each day. So if you weigh 120 pounds, then you should try and drink at least 60 ounces each day. Just a rule of thumb that might be helpful.

*ACCOUNTABLE EATING*
Let me preface this, by pointing out that I DO NOT DIET!!! To me, dieting has a negative connotation to it. It makes people think they are missing out on something or that they "can't" eat certain things and if you think you're missing out on something, then you either cheat or when your time is up, you will go overboard trying to make up lost time with whatever you missed. Also, dieting implies it has a start and an end date. I don't like this idea at all. Eating healthier (or in my case, just eating more consciously) is something you want to do and CAN DO for the rest of your life. Not just for one month or until you reach a certain weight, etc. So with that being said, I am not a fan of diets at all. I've never done one, I will never do one. Thus, why I decided to call this step "accountable eating". That's all we really have to do right? Be aware of what we are eating, how many calories we are bringing in, what nutritional value we are giving ourselves, etc.

My sister Tenille (who was my big motivator & inspiration to start my journey) started hounding us all to eat healthier late last year. She would show us easy lunches to make that were healthy or easy substitutions to make in our every day cooking. Now I have to confess I am not a health nut and I don't know as much about nutrition as I should. This is something I'm really trying to learn more about now, but for someone like me, I just simply started paying attention to what I was eating. It's amazing how much 'ghost eating' you do sometimes that you aren't even aware of. Keeping track of your eating each day and learning how many calories are in things helps you be accountable. And switching out whole wheat pastas or breads, and trying to incorporate more fruits and veggies is something we can all do. I amazingly have to confess that I still have a few boxes of Girl Scout cookies in my cupboard from the beginning of February. I love Girl Scout cookies, but once I had to write down each one I ate, they somehow lost their appeal and I kind of forgot about them. I should probably hurry & open them up before they go bad. See though . . . if I had dieted and couldn't eat them, then I probably would have eaten a whole box at a time once I was done with my diet.

And now to close, I want to share my favorite app that has helped me so much with my 'accountable eating'. I never had a clue as to how many calories were in things. This app has been amazing in setting up how many calories it thinks I should eat each day & helping me see how many calories everything I eat has in it. You can also enter in your exercise and it gives you positive calories for that that work against your negative ones! It's an eye opener to see how many calories your workout burnt and how easily you can totally negate all that work with snacks or treats! Definitely makes you think twice before doing so.

What is this awesome app? It's called My Fitness Pal (click on it and it will take you to their website). I have it downloaded on my iPad, but it's also a website that you can use on your computer or any device.  It is 100% free!   I love it. It charts your goals and progress along the way. You can link up with friends and stay updated on their progress as well. My sister and I have been using it for awhile and it will definitely let us know if one of us has been slacking and not logging in for too long. It will say something like, "Heidi hasn't logged in for 5 days. She might need some encouragement!" I love it. It has TONS of restaurants and fast food and brand names in it. It's so easy to enter ANYTHING you eat. Even better, you can enter in your own recipes when you eat something that's not in there. So bookmark the address on your own computer now or download it on your favorite device. It's seriously a great, FREE tool that will help you on your journey.

*Stay tuned for Step 3 in the next installment!

A Fitness Plan for Anyone!

First of all before I start, I have to point out that the PRODIGAL SISTER has finally appeared! I'm sure my sisters were beginning to seriously doubt if I would ever follow through with my promises to contribute to this blog. I am embarrassed that all 5 of my sisters have been posting so faithfully and I have been the big dud. I actually have been keeping a list of all the posts I want to do . . . . someday. Story of my life. So hopefully you will see a lot more of me from now on. Now let's just hope I don't disappoint everyone.

My background fitness story:
I've always considered myself a somewhat physically active, somewhat in shape person. There's times I have looked better than other times. There's times I have done super good at an exercise routine, and there's times when I have gone long periods without doing anything. The bad thing for me was that no matter what I was or wasn't doing, I seemed to stay within a 5 pound range. Why is this a bad thing? Because it tricked me into becoming a bit complacent. It tricked me into thinking I could do whatever I wanted because it didn't really matter - if I was exercising good, I stayed at the lower end and if I was being a lazy bum, I stayed at the higher end. Well guess what folks? That worked for only so long. Along comes my 35th birthday and very sneakily and slowly, the extra pounds started showing up. I denied it for awhile, convincing myself it was just a fluke weigh in, or I'd just had a bad eating day. Sure my clothes were becoming a little snugger and I was becoming quite self conscious about my gut, but I continued to tell myself that I wasn't that bad. By last fall (a few months after my 35th birthday), I was almost 7 pounds OUT of my 'high end of the comfort range'! That's when I realized I had a problem. I wasn't working out at all more than an occasional run every few weeks (so lazy) and wasn't doing anything to change what was happening. But at least the seed had been planted in my mind that I needed to make changes. It would take another few months (and some serious motivation & great examples by my sisters) before that seed really took root and I took the first step - getting off my butt and doing something about it.

It's been almost SEVEN months since I took my first step. The journey has been slow & steady, but guess what? I have lost 15 pounds and feel better than ever. Lots of people have been asking me what I am doing, so I thought I'd share it with all of you this week on Junk in Their Trunk because a) I'm not doing anything spectacular or hard, b) everyone can do at least what I'm doing if not more and c) everyone deserves to be happy with their bodies! To be honest, feeling healthy and happy in this area of your life transcends to all the other areas. Here is the breakdown of the steps/tools I used/use for my fitness journey. Over the next week, I will take each a couple of steps and go into more detail. So keep checking back all week long! (I know you are all just on the edge of your seats with anticipation.)

STEP 1: DESIRE/THE MENTAL GAME

STEP 2: MORE WATER & ACCOUNTABLE EATING (no diets here people!)

STEP 3: DAILY EXERCISE

STEP 4: PERSISTENCE, PERSISTENCE, PERSISTENCE!

STEP 5: PATIENCE, PROGRESS & SUPPORT

I can't stress enough how ANYONE can do what I'm doing. I'm not spending hours at the gym. I'm not on a new fad diet where I can't eat anything delicious. I'm not depriving myself of anything. Anyone and everyone can do this (and probably way more) and I am living proof that results will follow! I'm usually the one behind the camera, so there's not a lot of pictures of me to show the changes - especially in a bathing suit, but here's a picture of me from July of 2010. It doesn't show me too well, but you can definitely tell I'm a little frumpy in the belly & my arms were getting big and flabby.

And here's me from the past few weeks. Again. Not sure you can tell much, but my arms are more toned, my belly is flatter and I fit in a pants size I never thought possible. It works people!

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