Drop it like it's hot

I lost a workout buddy this week due to an injury. This stinks! Workout buddies are the best; they give you that little extra motivation to get to the gym or work harder. She tore a ligament in her knee and was told to rest. I really feel bad for her, I have other workout buddies, but an injury like this can set you back and cause a relapse in weight gain and a backward slope that is difficult to reverse. I felt that today's post should focus on best practices on how to avoid injuring yourself during your workouts.

Bad advice: "No Pain, No Gain" or "Pain is just weakness leaving your body"
Good advice: "If it hurts, drop it like it's hot."

Following this advice first requires you to know the difference between regular muscle strain and pain. I find that a good muscle to try this out on is your hamstrings. It's usually a pretty tight muscle so when you stretch it, it can feel a little painful, that is usually a good test of what a stretch is supposed to feel like. Anything that feels like it's affecting your joints is a bad sign, and you either need to check your form or bag out of the exercise all together.

Next: Stretch. Stretch your muscles before and after your workout, and if you have the opportunity to do so, stretch during your workout. When you muscles are tight, they will not function properly and they will not be kind in return. Loose muscles on the other hand make your less prone to injury, you'll get a more efficient workout, and it will help with the amount of muscle soreness you feel the day after a workout.

Second, buy good sneakers and keep them for the gym, unless you're exercising outside, but that's another story. Also, if you're using them regularly, replace them every 6 months. When I replace my gym shoes, the old, seemingly perfect sneakers become my casual sneaks. That way I'm getting a year out of the $70-$100 pair of shoes that I invested in.

Lastly, don't try to compete with anyone else but yourself. No one knows your body better than yourself. Some workout days are going to feel harder than others, and you have to adjust your exertion accordingly.

Always challenge yourself but know your limits, because there is nothing like an injury to put the kibosh on your weight loss goals.

Don't drink your calories

Sucrose, Glucose, Dextrose, Corn Syrup, Fructose. These are all fancy words for Sugar. We all know that cookies, cake, ice cream all have added sugar, and that we should avoid those kinds of foods if we are trying to lose weight. During the weight management program we were showed this video from the New York City Health Department:


What the heck?! 16 packets of sugar in a 20oz bottle of soda? Yikes! It's almost a conspiracy among beverage companies. When you are out and you purchase an individual bottle of soda, juice, tea, whatever, the serving size is almost always 2, so when you drink the whole bottle in one sitting and who doesn't (except this one girl I work with, who actually caps it and puts it in the fridge for later) you need to double the nutritional information on the bottle – so 32 grams of sugar becomes 64! It's just plain sneaky and mean. Hidden sugar in soft drinks can bulk up your daily calorie intake by 600 calories, and that's just 1 bottle with each meal.

Take a look at this website and see where your favorite soft drink stacks up in sugar cubes: http://www.sugarstacks.com/beverages.html

When you're drinking your calories, it's easy to lose track of how many calories you are taking in because it's not a meal, and you don't often think about soft drinks as food. People are often dumbfounded when they learn how much sugar and calories are in their drink consumption and the first thought is, "What am I going to drink now? My only choices are water, un-sweetened tea, diet drinks and milk!" And they would be correct. America as a country has a really bad soft drink habit, and if you think about the advertising of these drinks, they aren't selling you a product; they are selling you a culture. The Cola wars, Mountain Dew extreme, Snapple hippies they all want you to buy in to the culture of the product, and we do. Water is boring; we don't want to be boring caring around a bottle of water (which often is more expensive than other soft drinks) and be THAT guy, you know the guy who is wearing pretentious work-out cloths and carrying a yoga mat.

Let's put our judgmental differences aside for health’s sake. The truth of the matter is, if you're not getting enough water, you're going to be dehydrated. The human body is over 61% water, we need it to survive. We don't need to be ingesting liquid that can eat the enamel off of our teeth or be used to clean a car battery!

Let's kick our soft drink habit, put a stop to this evil hidden sugar guy in the video below, and get a head start on weight loss! http://adland.tv/commercials/nickelodeon-hidden-sugar-2005-60-usa

Step it Up!

Everybody has one exercise that the love, for me it's Step Aerobics.  Step Aerobics became popular in the late 80's, early 90's when everyone at the gym looked like Olivia Newton John in the "Get Physical" video. Here is that video for your view pleasure, sorry about the ad.  Does anyone else remember when the Internet was free? But that's another soapbox for another day



Step Aerobics is great because you can set your own level starting with no step at all and you can burn anywhere from 300-600 calories depending on your step level and impact approach, low impact (meaning no bouncing around) to high impact (jumping around the step like a rabbit on hot coals.)

Having a fun Step class depends on three things: A good instructor, fun music and a good handle on knowing your right from your left.  I am, how would you say, "directionally challenged."  My first Step class was embarrassing. I was all over the place, partially because I didn't know the moves, but mostly because I have a mental disability to be able to know my left from my "other left."  When the class was over, everyone in the class gave me encouraging words, shared the stories from their first time, and urged me to keep coming back, which I did. 

After a few weeks I could follow the routines, and after about 3 months I was able to complete the routines without stopping!  Most of the Step Aerobics classes that were available at my gym have been replaced with Spinning or Zumba or some other "en vogue" workout, but Step is a great way to burn calories and build endurance.  There are plenty of DVDs out there but it's really hard to follow a Step instructor on DVD because they are facing you, and if you're like me the whole "right/left" thing is blown totally out of the water making it impossible to follow.

If you are able to find a Step class here's how to prepare:

1. Drill yourself on how to walk up and down a single step.
2. Develop a taste for dance/party music, the kind where dude is hanging his head out the window because it's too loud in his car.
3. Get good sneakers. Be it low or high impact, it's still Impact so wearing good sneakers will protect your knees and feet from getting injured, Plantar Fasciitis anyone?
4. Know that it will take a few classes to get acclimated and learn the moves.
5. Bring a water bottle and a towel, because there will be a lot of sweat involved with this workout.

That is pretty much it! Hopefully you get a chance to try a Step Aerobics class before it goes away with the leg warmers it came in with.

Next post: "Don't drink your meals."

What's your motto?

Dieting and exercise clichés are a dime a dozen.  Let’s see if I can give you your 10 cents worth.

1. 1. “Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels.”
2. 2. “You are what you eat.”
3. 3. “A moment on the lips a lifetime on the hips.”
4. 4. “No Pain, No gain.”
5. 5. “Eat to live, don’t live to eat.”
6. 6. “Everything in moderation.”
7. 7. “Eat wise, drop a size.”
8. 8. “Slow and steady wins the race.”
9. 9. “Quitting is not an option.”
10. 10. “Pain is just weakness leaving your body.”
11. 11. “If hunger is not the problem, food is not the solution.”
12. 12. “Commit to be fit.”

These are all clever; some of them are inspirational, yet others make me want to barf!  It’s often helpful to have words of inspiration to help you with any goal, especially diet and exercise goals.

Your motto should be as unique to you as your goals.  This will take some soul searching.  Write down on paper what your weaknesses are in regards to your goals, and think about where it is that you need inspiration.  You may find that you need to eat better or exercise longer.

I found that my motivation was lacking.  Trying to lose weight for summer, or for a wedding, or to fit in my old cloths wasn’t working so I searched deeper for a reason that was more long term, and also incorporated my exercise goals.

My motto has changed as needed.   For example when I first started exercising I need a goal that would help me finish my work out.  Hence the motto, “I can do anything for 5 minutes” was born.  This motto would go through my head during the hardest point on my work out, and it helped me get over the hump straight through to completion.

Today the motto still stands during more difficult workouts, but a new one has begun to emerge that is more geared towards my eating habits.  The new motto I have is “Do I really want it, and it is worth it?”  If the answer is yes to both than I have it, in moderation.

Everyone is different, so don’t try to cater your individuality into my or anyone else’s program, you’ll need to find what inspires you and go for it!

I’d like to hear your mottos, so comment and let me know!

Good Luck!

Next post: “Step it up!”

To Lift or Not to Lift...

Pumping iron? Pressing pounds? Lifting Big Wheels? Working the Boulders? Showing off the Guns?  Working out with weights or dumbbells can sometimes make you feel like a meathead, but resistance training and weight lifting is essential to increase muscle mass, keep healthy bones and fire up your metabolism which aids in weight loss.  The US Department of Health & Human Services recommends that adults incorporate 60 minutes of strength training exercises on 2 or more days per week.

Honing in on your inner Arnold can be tricky if you’ve never touched a dumb bell before.  You need to practice correct form in order for the moves to be effective as well as protect your joints from injury.

So how do you get started when lifting a gallon of milk is a chore?  Basic moves like bicep curls or shoulder/chest presses can be practiced without weights at first using your own body weight.  Start with 10 bicep curls (or whatever exercise you choose), 1 repetition of an exercise is called a “rep,” and 10 “reps” is referred to as a “set.”  It may not feel like you’re working anything at first, but you’ll feel it the next day.  I know a girl whose biceps were killing her the next day after playing Wii boxing!

Work your way up to 3 sets without weights then add 1 or 2 pound dumbbells to your reps, 1 set at a time until you feel like you can handle use them on all 3.  Then continue to increase your weight so that it’s challenging for you.

You can even do it at home, while watching American Idol!   5 Below is a great resource for on hand gym supplies.  They sell dumbbells, resistance bands, yoga balls and blocks, workout videos, jump ropes.  You can almost buy a private gym for like $20.

Most gyms offer group exercise classes that incorporate strength training in their schedules.  I highly recommend the Les Mils Body Pump class. (Do I sound like a total meat head?)  Check out the video, it’s a lot of fun for folks of all fitness levels!

After a BodyPump class I always feel that maybe I am a little closer to getting those “Michelle Obama” arms.

Next post: “The motto post you’ve all been waiting for”

Sorry seems to be the hardest word.

Today I need to veer off schedule to talk about my week.  Car troubles, work, school, kids, and money have all assisted in derailing my diet this week. 

So here it goes:
“Oh my diet, I am heartily sorry for having offended you, and I detest all my sins, because of your just punishments…”  Sound familiar? 

The act of contrition is what we tell a priest when we have committed a sin, it helps us get things off our chest and start anew.  Sometimes you feel like you committed a sin when you slip up with your diet.  Days or weeks go by, the weight creeps back on and you can feel like a failure, which is utterly discouraging.

This week has been like that for me; stress has a tendency of put eating right on the back burner. One night of ordering out turns into three, which is a huge roadblock to weight management goals, which in turn adds more stress and creates a vicious circle.

During the weight management program, we talked about how to not let a lapse turn into a relapse.  Essentially what we’re doing when we try to lose weight is to make a lifestyle change.  This is not too different from someone who is trying to quit smoking.  Lifestyle changes won’t happen over night, and lapsing is to be expected, it’s how we deal with the lapse that doesn’t allow it to become a relapse.

Here are some ways to deal with a lapse:

1. Don’t beat your self up about it.
2. Try to identify what triggered the lapse.  Figuring out what triggered the lapse will help you come up with a game plan on how you can avoid it in the future.
3. Realize that you can’t take it back, and that what’s done is done.
4. Say your act of contrition and clean the slate.  Don’t let weeks of hard work go down the drain because of a few days worth of bad meal choices.

So, I’m going to hop back on the horse by perusing some healthy recipes and getting a good night sleep. First thing in the morning, I’m going to the gym and rewarding myself with an afternoon of relaxation.

Next post: “To lift, or not to lift.”

Spinning out of Control!

“We’re coming up on a team from UPENN, check out their matching uniforms. Get ready Team Animal, we’re going to blow past them on the left, in 3-2-1 Go –Go! PUSH, PUSH, PUSH! Faster than that! Faster than that! Yes you can! You can do it! AND… Recover. Bye-bye UPENN”

Nope I’m not on a cycling team. In fact, I’m not actually on the road at all, although I AM going about 100 MPH. This is my Tuesday afternoon Spinning Class at the Drexel University Recreation Center, led by Deb. Deb is a little powerhouse who likes to play 80’s hair metal and tries to make us throw up before the end of class, and I keep going back!

I never took a Spin class before this term, and here is my list of excuses why:

1. “I would feel like I was exerting all of this energy and not getting anywhere.”
2. “I prefer to do my work outs standing up.”
3. “I don’t want to buy special shoes”
4. “My legs would get huge.”
5. “Sitting for an hour, I think my butt would hurt too much.”
6. “It’s not a good time.”

Bullshit, all of it. The truth is I was a little scared. Spin class was an unfamiliar situation, I didn’t know anyone, I didn’t know how to set up my bike, I was afraid my butt was going to look ridiculous on that little seat, all of these things prevented me from stepping into that room of bikes.

What I learned during my fitness assessment is that I needed to add more cardiovascular activity into my workout schedule, so I took the leap. I went and talked to the instructor and she helped me set up my bike and I went at my own pace. At the end of the class, I had fun, I was covered in sweat, my legs were like Jello, and I’m totally hooked.

Moral of the story, be honest with yourself and don’t be afraid to try new things.

Next post: “What’s a motto? Nothing, what’s the motto with you?!”

Portion control: Seriously, that’s the entire meal?!

Did you know that the size of the average American plate has increased 36 % since the 1960s, which means you don’t have to back for 2nds anymore, you can just pile more on in one sitting!  If I went back in time and gave my great grandmother one of the plates I use for dinner, she might think it was a serving platter!

Gauging meal sizes can be tricky, and who looks at a piece of chicken and knows how many ounces it is, AND who want to think about that kind of stuff when you’re eating anyway!  Counting calories and measuring out portions is math, and math makes my head hurt, and I don’t enjoy eating with a headache!

You don’t have to eat off of a salad plate or dirty every measuring cup in your house to make dinner in order to make sure you’re not eating too much food.

Here are a few potion control methods that keep it simple:

1. The Divided Plate
1. Divide your plate in ½ and fill it with your veggies (salad, spinach, broccoli, escarole, etc.)
2. The other have of your plate gets divided in ½ again
3. Fill one ½ with your protein (chicken, fish, lean beef or pork)
4. And what’s left is for your grain (roll, rice, pasta, quinoa, etc.)
2. Hand - Palm - Fist
1. Spread your hand out, that your veggies portion
2. Turn your palm over, not including fingers- that’s your protein portion
3. Make a fist and that’s your grain.
3. Object related sizing
1.  Your protein should be about the size of your iPhone or a deck of cards
2. Grains should be about the size of a tennis ball.

Everything is good in moderation and if you (and me) can stick to balancing meals and snacks like this, it makes dieting easier. It also keeps us from trying to justify ketchup and pickles as vegetables! You know you’ve done it!

Eating “good for you” foods in the right proportions gives you more energy, wards off illness and disease, speeds up your metabolism, and will eventually melt off the pounds.  It’s pretty easy to know the kinds of foods that are good for us (refer to the new food pyramid from a previous post.)  We all learned the food groups in grade school, and I don’t remember there being a “cake” group, I WISH, but alas, nope, no “cake group.

Next Post: “Spinning” out of control!

Squats…why do you have to hurt so much?

I’m not, how would you say, the most graceful of ladies. In fact, I once acquired the nickname “Accident prone Andi.” Currently I am nursing a broken left middle phalanx, otherwise known as my left index finger. If there is a slick sidewalk, I WILL fall! If there is a low ceiling, I WILL hit my head! I’m more of a danger to myself than Bella Swann in the Twilight saga! I’ve been known to walk through screen doors, It looks a lot like this:

One time on my way to work at Taco Bell in Willow Grove, I was running to catch a bus that I thought was getting ready to leave, so I attempted to jump a small rail. I hyper extended my knee, and then proceeded to land on the same knee. It caused me so much pain that after I got to work, I blacked out and was rushed to the ER. Insurance you say? Not so much, I was 18 years old. This has become an injury that haunts me to this day.

After my last child was born, I developed crippling sciatica; back pain to the point where I was stuck on the floor, in the prone position for 2 days. When I was finally able to go see a doctor, she prescribed physical therapy. I’ve never been to physical therapy before, and I soon found out that it’s a sneaky term for exercise. 2 hours a day, 3 days a week for 3 months and I was feeling like a new person, I was hooked. Not only did this routine make my back feel better, it took away my winter blues, and I didn’t catch that cold I usually got around Christmas time. After graduating to a home program, I began to get bored exercising by myself, and that is when I discovered group exercise.

I picked a class that I noticed was doing exercises similar to my physical therapy, made a few friends and learned now to do squats. The woman next to me was easily 70 years old and made me look bad. Did I mention how uncoordinated I was? After the warm up, we did squats; everyone in the class was holding 2 8-10lb weights! 8-10lbs?! That is a pair of large newborn twins! I went with a pair of 5lbs and then placed them down on the floor 3 squats in.

Important things to know about squats:
1. While your butt goes out, your chest stays up.
2. Weight goes in your heels, so you are able to lift your toes off the ground.
3. Knees stay over your toes.
4. Squeeze your glutes to push back up.
5. You WILL be sore the next day, like “No, no son, you can’t sit on Mommy’s lap today, or the rest of the week” sore, so don’t try to keep up with the 70 year old lady holding 10 lbs weights because she’s been doing this a lot longer than you!

Group exercise is a part of my routine now. I’ve done most of them: Step aerobics, Yoga, Les Mils Body Pump, Spinning, Abs, Boot Camp, Circuit challenge, etc. People who attend group exercise classes are supportive and encouraging.

This is Lauren Dalton from the Drexel Recreation Center on group fitness.

If you have the opportunity to try one jump on it, and be sure to tell the instructor that’s it’s your first class and address any concerns that you might have. If you bad knees, wrists, back, they will be able to give you a modification to an exercise so that you can still challenge yourself without it feeling like it’s impossible. Who knows, maybe someday I’ll eventually learn to be more graceful.

Next post: “Portion control: Seriously, that’s the entire meal?!”

Setting Goals: I can beat that

So losing weight is hard, right?! Why is it that you never see a program geared toward gaining weight?  Gaining weight is easy, thanks to evolution, our bodies like to store extra fat in case we run into some kind of famine, and it’s really hard to get rid of that extra weight with Darwin’s apes on our back!

I decided that 2012 is going to my year to finally lose that baby/winter weight that I’ve been meaning to get rid of for the last 7 years, so I’ve enlisted the help of the Drexel University Center for Integrated Nutrition & Performance (CINP) as well as the Drexel Recreation Center to help me achieve my goals.

Just before the holiday break, CINP announced that they were going to be holding an 8 week weight management program starting January 2012.  Taking that as a sign that I found my new year’s resolution, I registered immediately.  Prior to starting we needed to have a fitness assessment, if you’ve never had one of these, please know that they are almost as a personal as giving blood, there are no secrets left, and what happens during the assessment stays locked up unless you choose otherwise.  Definitely get one though, it’s a great starting point, and it will put you on the right track to fitness, but we’ll get more into that in a later post.

Week one of the program we talked about setting goals, diet goals in particular.  We were told that our goals need to be more than just a number on the scale.  They outlined for us S.M.A.R.T. goals: Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.  Now I’m thinking, I want to lose 30 pounds, but that goal is not smart enough for this program and I’ve got homework to do.

The next part of the class talked about Choose My Plate. A while back the government changed the food pyramid, you remember that from grade school right? No? Maybe this will help to jog your memory “You are what you eat”   They didn’t really change anything but make it vertical instead of horizontal, but the Choose My Plate initiative is designed around this update to the food pyramid, and it preaches portion control within a well rounded diet.

They take us to the ChooseMyPlate.gov website, and the first image I see is Michelle Obama. Michelle is the spokesperson for the program, and she’s always on the Disney channel, or making the talk show rounds promoting a healthier lifestyle. This woman is in ridiculous shape, her arms are so ripped, I bet she could break walnuts with her biceps! And she has to be, right?! She IS the first lady of the U.S.A., she has to be tough, and that got me thinking about my goals.  I’m a Philly girl, born and raised. Now, I don’t know where you’re from but around here we like to size each other up.  We eyeball each other’s physical traits and secretly wonder who would win in a fight. Hey it passes the time, don’t judge.  Now I realize that a part of my goal is that I’d like to know that if I met Mrs. Obama in person that I could look at her and think, “Yeah…I can beat that.”

Here is my smart goal for the next 8 weeks: To lose weight and gain fitness endurance through a well rounded diet and regular exercise.

Next post: “Squats…why do you have to hurt so much?”