Hey Ladies, before I launch my fitness club in January 2010 (in Salt Lake Valley Utah) I would like to find out what real women think…if you could assist me by answering these questions then together we can create an awesome fitness club! Thank you! Click the link below to take the survey. Only 10 questions. Thanks.
Click here to take the Workout party survey!
And don’t worry, it’s anonymous.
I just lost 8 pounds!!! If you have read MY STORY page you’ll know that I GAINED between 50-55 lbs when I got pregnant over 3 years ago. I went from 125 to 175 in nine months and I had quite the journey these past 3 years learning about fitness and nutrition and what so far does and doesn’t work for me. Here’s my journey in detail…
After giving birth I remember my first task and workout was to relearn how to stand up from the floor with just my legs (no arm support) and holding a 9 lbs baby in my arms. It was quite the task!!! And I kept at it until I got it down…I mean up! haha! Then 6 weeks after the birth I began the crunches, leg lifts, eating right, etc. In one year and a few months time I lost around 30 pounds! Then, I hit the plateau and hired a personal trainer. Still no results. Then I was introduced to Luann. She was a personal trainer who also sold health foods (weight loss shakes, vitamins, etc.) and she had a deal that if I bought her products I would get free personal training…it sounded good to me and I jumped on board! I followed her program and I lost another 18 pounds!!! Then I became obsessive and extreme…I started (on my own…not my trainers counsel) counting calories and whenever I went out with my husband and friends I would feel sorry for myself. I couldn’t eat what they were eating (or so I told myself) and I didn’t like that it was being rubbed in my face! I was mean and negative and overly strict. I was not fun to be around. I didn’t even like to be around me when food was around. After about 1 year and a half I just gave it up…it was so hard and not worth it! That’s when I went to the opposite extreme. I began eating whatever, whenever and as much as I wanted, even if I DIDN’T REALLY WANT IT!!! Just to prove that I didn’t have to live the way I was previously. I only worked out a few times a month instead of 6 days a week. In just over a year I gained 15 lbs back! So, now we are at the present. I joined my relatives on a biggest loser type contest for 12 weeks and that’s how I lost the 8 pounds!!! 5.9% of my body weight! And guess how I did it? Of course I worked out AND I used Dr. Paul McKenna’s technique (see tags or fitness on right hand side) well, I didn’t do everything he teaches, just the basics. So, I ate what I wanted!!! I ate consciously most of the time and stopped when I was full most of the time. I didn’t even follow the program to the T and I still lost weight. Granted I didn’t lose as much in the same amount of time as last time. But, I got to enjoy myself. I wasn’t stressed and I didn’t feel guilt. Now that is how I want to live!!! Peaceful!
I just began another biggest loser type contest with my relatives and I plan to get a little more serious about using Paul McKenna’s techniques and I believe I will lose a lot more and faster this time. I plan to lose around 12 more pounds. I’m going for the gold!
Click on MY STORY page on the top or right hand column to read more about me and to see some before and after pictures of me.
If you want to share your success stories about:
*How and what you did to loss weight and your reason for losing the weight (Such as: want to be skinny, out of love, want energy, long life, etc)
*Your journey on self and body love and acceptance
*How you’ve found your voice of self expression and what that looks like for you
email your stories to nn.image@gmail.com titled MY SUCCESS STORY and you may be featured on my blog.
This week my daughter has been really sick and I’ve caught some thing too. Every time I get sick I ask myself if it’s ok to workout when I’m sick…I’ve even asked a personal trainer and I forget what the rule is everytime. So, I decided to google it.
I found this great article from body builder Marc David he also is an author. Here are his websites http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com/ and http://www.justaskmarc.com/
Any way here are some things he’s said about the topic of working out while sick…
“Common sense tells me that the body should fully recover before engaging in an intense workout, but is a light day or a less intense cardio day okay?On one hand you don’t want to break progress by waiting too long between workouts, yet on the other hand, you don’t want to remain sick because the body will have to allocate nutrition in building muscle tissue as opposed to building an immune response.”
You can workout when you have a cold BUT only under certain conditions. Let me elaborate before I ramble on.
Do Not Workout If:
* You have a fever * You feel nauseous * You are highly contagious and in a public gym
Workout If:
* You just have a mild cold * It’s been a couple of days and you are over the worst of it
Many people that I know of, including myself at one time, did some pretty intense workouts while sick. And not just everyday common cold sick but flu-like sick. Not only was it irresponsible of me to bring my funk into the gym but Karma was paid back when my body couldn’t recover and I ended up prolonging my illness an extra week or so.
You see, working out when you have a mild cold is not a big deal. In fact, if you engage in light cardio, you’ll feel better. It will help to open up your nasal passages and let you breathe easier. Recovery will not be hampered because it’s a mild cold and you are doing a light workout. Just to keep moving really. Nothing intense at all.
What I don’t recommend is that you workout with weights unless it’s following the same principles. Light. Keep that in mind. You are not there to get stronger, more fit or build muscle. You are there to feel better, to keep moving and get the added benefits that working out will help you do….”
He also talked about “Taking a Trainer Break” which I had never heard of before. He explains that it will help you heal and get stronger and help you avoid the sick bug. He explains he takes “a break for 7 days, no weight and no cardio, I come back to the gym stronger and more recovered then before.”
To see the whole article click on the link- http://ezinearticles.com/?Should-You-Workout-If-You-Are-Sick?&id=118935
I LOVE the idea of taking a week off of working out and I tend to believe it myself…it seems I always work harder after a good break. I will have to try it. As for the working out while sick I felt this was a very specific and detailed article about it which of course makes me feel better about NOT working out yesterday or today because I’ve felt nauseous. I just hope it goes away soon. I’m still in “the biggest loser” contest and need to be on track!
I want to (and know I should) exercise more. I actually like to run—but I often go long stretches (weeks!) without running. I find all kinds of excuses to skip exercise: the baby didn’t sleep well, I’m too busy at work to break at lunch, I’m too hungry at dinner to run first. You know what I mean, life stuff.
When I get into these ruts, I try to remind myself that even President Obama makes time to exercise. But that sort of reasoning doesn’t really get me out the door on a run.
What does work for me? These are my 4 tricks to get myself to exercise more:
Exercise may never come naturally to me, but history tells me that I’ll never stop using little tricks and bribes to stay as active as possible.
By Nicci Micco Eating Well Magazine Jan. 22 2009
Nicci Micco is deputy editor of features and nutrition at EatingWell. She has a master’s degree in nutrition and food sciences, with a focus in weight management. She’s addicted to ice cream and pizza. But she also can’t imagine going a week without eating sweet potatoes, salad greens or kidney beans. Kale and beets also rank at the top of her favorite-foods list.
Hi, I’m Natalie,
I’m 22 years old and married to the best man ever, have a beautiful 2 year old daughter and live in Utah. I’m not one of those girls who have always known how to dress myself and let alone others and I certainly never knew what the trends where and I really didn’t care. I knew I wanted to look good and feel good and I had pretty good taste. In high school I had a great self-esteem. I loved my body and felt attractive most of the time, it was a good feeling. I got married at age 19 and we got pregnant 2 months later, which was not in our plan! I started doubting my choice to get married, I feared for what my future may hold and I hated my present. I had horrible morning sickness and I hated being pregnant. I cried myself to sleep most nights. When my daughter came things had starting looking better, except I was 40 lbs heavier, caring for a baby, lost to the outside world and had to deal with body image issues. I didn’t feel attractive and the love for my body/self as I once had.
My daughter ended up being my inspiration and my husband gave me the freedom to explore my possibilities. Fitness entered my world as never before…I was adamant on exercise and nutrition and I begun to lose weight. I even took a fitness trainer certification course. At this time I also was on a journey to discover my purpose…what inspires me and how can I bring value to the world. I learned of a fashion certification process and I was inspired to complete it! I was introduced to some coaching programs and my life changed…I was a girl who was arguing with reality; that my body shouldn’t be triangular shaped, my hips and thighs shouldn’t be so wide, my butt shouldn’t be flat, blah, blah, blah. And I was threatened by any girl I considered more attractive than me. It wasn’t until I was able to allow other women to be beautiful and sexy before I could allow it of myself. It was like looking at me for the first time and loving, appreciating and respecting what I saw.
Now, I’m inspired to assist women in the process of self-fulfillment. My focus is to use fashion, fitness and self-esteem/purpose coaching to direct women in the direction they want to go, where ever that may be. Women of all shapes, sizes, colors, feelings, goals, lifestyles etc. can have feelings of wanting more or less of something’s, whether that be more money, more of the right clothes, more time for family or themselves, more sexy, less weight, less self loathing or less house cleaning. My goal is to find out what they want, what inspires them and assist them in getting whatever that is. Sure, clothes are just clothes in the end, to protect our bodies and provide warmth…and no matter how much we hate to admit it they send a message to the world about who we are; is it the message you want to send? If you value your image and have a message to give then let’s focus on fashion. I believe bodies are perfect the way they are and we need to love and respect them how they are and how they aren’t, but if you want more energy, more sexy, and more physical fun then let’s focus on fitness. You can stay the way you are in your thinking about your body and your life, you can even stay in exactly the same circumstances in your life whether powerful or not…nothing is wrong with that!!! But, if you do want more power, more than you are or aren’t blessed with, then let’s do some coaching. If you want it all, then let’s do it all! Now you know about me, what about you?
Contact Information
Please email me and let me know what you think of this site! What would you would like to see regarding fashion and fitness.
Thanks Natalie
