Eating and Fitness Flubs

SSM ladies...this is a MUST READ. The following is an article written by Christa Doran, a very successful boot camp fitness trainer. She discusses the big eating and exercise mistakes that women are making all the time and how to fix them. I feel like a lot of us moms find it very difficult to lose the body fat gained during pregnancy. Christa offers lots of tips and explanations that will help you to lose that fat so that you look and feel like one fit mama!!! 

Fatal Flubs on the Journey to FIT

I love reading all the weight/diet/food/exercise posts on facebook. They are just a blog waiting to be written! The reason I only train women is because I feel so many women just simply have no clue when is comes to HOW to lose body fat and build the body of their dreams. It is no fault of their just don’t know what information to trust.

So why is what I am telling you right? Well, I guess results speak for themselves and I have about 300 women who finally “get it” and would be willing to tell you they did it wrong for so many years. Here are the big ones. The big NOOOOO’s!!! that I see women do all the time.

Gimmicks- Have you seen the new Kim Kardashian Sketchers commercial? Apparently she has ditched her trainer and now gets the body of her dreams by walking around in stupid looking shoes. Sounds amazing right? Wrong. She gets paid millions to tell you that Quicktrim and Shape-Ups work. They don’t. You know what works? REGULAR, HARD work and a clean portioned diet. That is it. The stomach flu is a great way to lose weight too, that doesn’t mean it will produce long-term sustainable results.

Eating diet food- Lean Cuisines, 100 calorie snack packs, Light and Fit,  and sugar free jello are all diet missteps that are making you fatter. Nutritionally empty, but filled with crap and artificial ingredients, these foods are a waste of your calories and your money.

Instead, eat small portions every 3-5 hours of real,whole, foods. And don’t get me started on the sugar! That Gatorade you are guzzling during your Zumba class? Loaded with sugar.

What is real food? Food that rots. Food that has one ingredient. Food that was grown, or harvested by farmers, not made in a lab with scientists. Whole eggs, whole grains, vegetables, whole fruit (not dried or juiced), lean meat, plain greek yogurt, almonds, beans, grains like couscous, Bulgar wheat, quinoa, and whole grain pasta are foods that fill you, fuel you, and make your body look, feel and perform better.

Good food has calories too so you need to watch your portions!

Going on a diet at all- If you want to change, then you  have to change. And a diet it a short term fix for a long term problem. Change the way you eat and change how much you eat, and your body will change. It will take time, but if you stick with it, 3 months from now you could be leaner, lighter, and feel amazing!

Using the calorie counter on the elliptical as a guide of how “good” your workout was- This is one of those that I just laugh out loud on. “Man do I feel great! Burned 500 calories walking on the treadmill!” Calories burned depends on how much you weigh, how much muscle you have, and how hard you are working. And the treadmill can only tell you one of those things. So you might THINK you burned 500 calories, but you probably burned about 20-40% less than that.

I actually hate when my clients asked me how many they burned. Who cares? Are you a sweaty beast? Can you barely lift your arms? Are you struggling to get up off the ground? Good! Then you earned the right to leave.

Using the elliptical at all- If you want to change your body, you have to challenge it.  And unless you are warming up on the elliptical (and even then I don’t like it) before you throw around some heavy metal, than you are making a HUGE mistake.

One of the reasons men lose weight quicker than women is because they have more muscle, and muscle is your furnace. It is what burns the calories. So a 140 pound woman with 15% body fat is burning a LOT more calories throughout her day than a 140 pound woman with 30% body fat. Build muscle, burn more.

The only way to build muscle is through strength and resistance training. So pick up some weights and get lifting. And those weights better weigh more than your handbag. In fact, if they are pink, and you can do 20 reps, they are too light. Take that Tracey Anderson.

It has to be HARD. You should be struggling. You should be breathing heavy. It should be very challenging. If not, trade up for something heavier.

Expecting overnight results-One week of hitting the gym hard and eating salads for lunch and you lost a pound. So you skip the gym and eat ice cream. Big mistake.

It takes a 3500 calorie deficit to lose one pound of body fat. And fat is what matters. Who cares about water weight. Yea, you are lighter after a night of boozing, but that doesn’t mean your jeans fit any better. Keep doing the right things, week after week, month after month, and if in a few months you are STILL not seeing changes, re-evaluate.

Quitting quickly- This goes hand in hand with seeing overnight results. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither will a chiseled, lean, strong physique.

Weighing yourself every day- Hormones, water retention, time of the month, a big meal, all play a part in our weight. Once a week weigh yourself- NO MORE. If you have fat to lose, and the scale is not budging, you are doing something wrong. Stop making excuses, and change something.

“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.”

-Albert Einstein

Focusing on a “goal weight”- Muscle weights more than fat. So if you are working out with weights for the first time you might actually gain weight. So what? Your body will look better, feel better, take up less space, and perform better. I would rather be a 130 pound size 4/6 with a shredded middle and cut arms than a 130 pounds flabby size 8/10 with no muscle. Wouldn’t you?

NOT lifting weights- Get off the elliptical, cut back on Zumba (gag) and start picking up things that make your muscles burn, your arms shake, and your sweat flow.

But be sure and work with a qualified trainer to teach you proper form or you could hurt yourself. What is qualified? NOT an accountant turned Crossfit trainer, or a substitute teacher turned globo gym training god after one weekend course.

Training with the wrong people- I recently had a very thin client show up to bootcamp with 2 pound weights telling me she wanted to lose ten pounds. I had to fight back my laughter as I told her we don’t use 2 pound weights here (her large handbag weighed more than her weights). I also fought back a disturbed look thinking she needs to GAIN ten pounds of muscle, not lose ten pounds of fat. She told me she works with a trainer at a globo gym that I cannot stand. After watching her struggle during class it was clear to me her trainer was, just as I expected, terrible, and obviously feeding her weight loss neurosis. My guess is this client had never lifted a weight over 5 pounds. Shame on that trainer.

You get what you pay for. Work with a qualified, experienced, reputable trainer who will NOT stick you on any machine.

So in summary. Work hard, really hard, really regularly. Eat real food, in small amounts, real often. Don’t eat crap, steer clear of sugar. Get off the treadmill and lift heavy things. Push and pull your body-weight. Stop stressing about each and every pound and try to ENJOY the journey to your best body. It will take time, dedication, discipline, and sweat. But if you really want it, it can be yours.

What a great article by Christa Doran. Be sure to take away the following important rules to diet and exercise:
1. Eat real food: fruits, veggies, nuts, whole grains, lean meat, etc. 
2. Eat small portions about 5 times a day...tip...eat on smaller plates and eat just until satisfied
3. Push yourself HARD and 'Sweat like a Mother' during every exercise session
4. Don't focus on weight loss but rather on how you feel and how your clothes fit


Hope that helps ladies!!! Stay tuned for healthy eating food list....