So I definitely have learned a lot on my journey to health.  In some of my earlier posts I had posted different protein bars and things that I liked.  I have recently realized in the last couple months that companies are sneaky.  There are so many things that they put in our food that makes me sick to even think about.  Did you know that in Oreo's they add I think it's around 13 different stimulants to make you crave them!!!!  Now don't quote me on that number.  My hubby told me he thinks it's more like 20.  Either way you get the picture.  Outrageous if you ask me!

Have you ever even looked at the nutrition facts on Oreo's? I want to help you to understand what to look for when reading a label.  Companies try to trick you and make you think that what your eating is healthy.

 A few things to look for when looking at a food label are:

* Unbleached Enriched Flour
*Any kind of High oil or partially hydrogenated oils
*High fructose corn syrup
*Trans fat

Looking at an oreo, here is what you would see on the box.  I've made it big so that you can see everything on the box.

"The temptations are everywhere -- soft drinks, fast food, chips. Even when you're on a mass gain diet, you need to limit these sugary and fatty foes. Most of these foods provide a lot of calories, but are low in quality nutrients. In fact, some of the nutrients can wreak havoc on your progress in gaining lean muscle.

One culprit is trans fat. This man-made fat is problematic because your body doesn't really know how to use it due to its chemical structure. Research shows it not only increases the risk of obesity and heart disease, but it can increase muscle breakdown and limit muscle growth.

Another culprit is fructose. Many junk foods use table sugar, which is half fructose -- or worse, they use high-fructose corn syrup, which is more than half fructose. Your body can not use fructose efficiently. Most of the fructose you consume must be converted to glucose in the liver. Sounds simple enough, until the liver decides otherwise. If the liver decides that you have ample glucose, it converts the fructose instead into fat! And even the fructose that does make it all the way to your muscles is problematic. Fructose inside muscle cells literally gunks them up, potentially causing them to function less efficiently."(http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/shortcut-to-size-phase-3-week-9-day-63.html)

Basically in short steer clear of anything trans fat, high fructose corn syrup, and partially hydrogenated oils.  If you pick something up and see any of these words immediately put it back on the shelf.  They are going to do more harm then good.

When looking for foods you want to make sure to look at the ingredients list.  You want the sugars, and salts to be last on the list.  For me I always just look at the first ingredient on the list.  If it's "Enriched"  I put it back on the shelf.  I also decided that the longer the list of the ingredients the worse it is for you. The shorter the ingredient list the better!

When looking at crackers, breads, or any kind of grainy food it should contain the words "whole" or "stone ground" first on the ingredients list.  But don't be fooled if they try to trick you and say whole wheat enriched/bleached flour.  These are just processed grains with some whole grain added for color.  When stuff is enriched it acts just like sugar in the body.  Actual "whole grains" take longer to digest.  Whereas Enriched flour is digested by our bodies too well.  It goes through the blood stream and it triggers an insulin response, and the insulin then makes your fat cells soak it all up.   Basically resulting in weight gain.

This is a picture of what most supposedly "Whole Wheat" breads, nutrition labels will look like.  The first words are Whole wheat flour, but looking a little further you see high fructose corn syrup!!! Seriously, in bread??? They really are trying to kill us, and we don't even know it.  

Here is the is the bread we like to buy.  You can get it at costco for a good price.  Notice the ingredients do not include Corn syrup.  It may not be the best, but it is much better than most things you can get if you live in Hobbs, where the selections are slim.

Now another thing you want to watch out for is the sugar content.  Some things that you think may be good for you like yogurt for example may have just as much sugar in them as a twinkie.  So if your eating the wrong yogurt you might as well have a twinkie ;-)

 This is the Chobani greek yourt.  It has 19g carbs and 15g of sugar!  Its one yogurt that is supposed to be greek, it sure has a lot of sugar and carbs.

This is the kind of yogurt we like to buy.  They always have lots of different flavor choices and they all taste very good.  The Dannon Light & Fit Greek Yogurt only has 9g of carbs and 7g of sugar.  Much lower than the Chobani.  Now I know it's not the best option.  But it is better.  If you really want something good, go for just the plain greek yogurt! I just can't handle eating that plain, so I like to go for this option.

Here are a few more examples of different ones I've noticed looking at labels

With peanut butter always buy the natural stuff.  Make sure to still look at the label just in case it's not actually "natural" like they say it is.  Notice the list of ingredients is much smaller on the Jiffy all natural peanut butter on the left. Most other peanut butters will look like the one on the right.  Nasty!!

Even chocolate chips have corn syrup so watch out!!  Love Ghiradelli!!  The ingredient list is so much smaller

So since I've realized basically most foods are bad for you at the store, I have started making a lot of my own stuff.  I'm still just starting out, but I've starting with protein bars.  Most protein bars that are affordable have corn syrup   ;-l So dumb.  Most recipes I've found the protein bars only have around 9g of protein.  If your like me your definitely looking for more than that and that's why you usually buy store bought ones.  So I've started experimenting with them and I'm still coming up with the best recipes to give me 30g a bar.  I'm trying to perfect them before I post a blog, but I'll leave you with one you can try.  Here is the link to the recipe I used, except I tweaked it just a bit.

http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2013/10/08/fudge-brownie-chocolate-protein-bars/

I made it into 12 bars so I added 12 scoops of protein.  Our absolute favorite is the cookies n cream Combat!! Or Dymatize has some amazing flavors and is also a very good choice.

I then mixed it all together and added a little big of almond milk.  Just enough so that it mixed together and made a very thick consistency.  With these you really want to make sure to not over cook them.  When the edges have hardened and turned a different color they're done even if the middle isn't.  Let them sit for a while.  They are much better being a little gooey!  Then keep them in the fridge til your ready to eat one!.

I've tried a few others and found one that I really liked, but I'm still trying to duplicate the way they turned out.  I'm really hoping to figure it out soon so I can share it. I also really want to venture into make my own snacks for my kids.  Even gold fish are not the best for them!!  I really want my kids to also eat the way I do.  Hopefully I can have more yummy recipes to share soon in my other blogs.

Making time to workout

As I've said in some of my other blog posts I am a mommy of 3.  My oldest just started Kindergarten then I also have a 3 year old and an 18 month old.  So life gets a little crazy around my house most of the time.   I also have my own cake making business, and run a gymnastics business for little ones.  So I definitely stay very busy the majority of the time.  I rarely stay at home all day.  I'm always up and moving constantly.  For me, I cannot function at all unless I get my workout in for the day.  Without it I'm a grouchy, nasty mom and wife.  I also get so tired that my brain just doesn't think right if I skip a workout.  It doesn't matter that I get more sleep the night before, I will drag all day long.  A workout for me is now a way of life.  It is what gets me going in the morning.  It's what keeps me pushing forward through the craziness of my days.  It helps me to be the best mommy I can be to my beautiful children, and the best wife for my husband.  

Lets face it, who really has the time to be a mom, wife, friend, sister, aunt, AND workout on top of it all.  Well I'm here to tell you today, it IS possible.  No matter how hard it seems, you can do it!  You can make time to workout!  You can be the best possible you.  When I first started my journey to a healthier me I was not at all a morning person.  I was the kind of person who would wake up last minute and throw some makeup on and get dressed in as little as 15 minutes.  That's how badly I hated waking up early.  I never ever would have seen myself as the person I am today waking up at 5:00 am to get my workout in before I get my kids to school.   Waking up early takes time and dedication.  You have to want it!  You have to push yourself no matter how hard it is, and no matter how badly you just want to chuck your phone and go back to sleep.  You have to tell yourself you can do it, and that you will feel so much better about yourself if you get your workout in, than if you didn't.  The more you do it, the more it becomes a way of life, and the easier it gets.  

I've found the best way to insure that I get my workout in is to have a schedule.  If I just wing things nothing ever gets done.  But if I make sure to think ahead and plan, it makes it so much easier.  Then I don't find myself making excuses to not workout.  I try as hard as possible to get everything done for the next day the day before.  I make sure my kids get to bed at a good time so that insures that I can also have a little time with my hubby and still go to bed early at the same time.  Sleep is just as important as getting in your workout.  You want to shoot for at least 7-8 hours of sleep a night so that your body can be ready for your workout.  So before I go to sleep I make sure to clean as much of the house as I can manage and I pack lunches and lay out clothes for the next day.

If your wanting to start lifting weights there are several options.  You don't always have to go to the gym.  For me my hubby works out in the mornings too, so we can't both go to the gym.  So I have my own home gym called a bow-flex.  You can always look at your classifieds or amazon and find some kind of total home gym.  The one I have I bought off KSL for $300.  Which if you use it everyday it will pay for itself.  You can also get good deals on weight benches and weights on amazon too.  Plus I'm not a huge fan of going to the gym.  I would much rather do it on my own while I watch tv!   

Something else that really helps me to get up and going is to take something before I workout.  In the beginning I used to take a fat burning supplement.  The one I really liked was called XAT-7.  I would set an alarm for about 20-30 minutes before I would initially get up and I would take it then go back to sleep.  That way it would kick in in time for my workout.  This would give me enough energy to be able to wake up when my alarm woke me without really having to second guess myself.  After I had been lifting weights pretty heavily for a few months my husband talked me into taking a pre-workout.  This is something that helps you to basically not feel much of the pain of your workout that would normally hold you back.  It helps you to push your muscles a little harder and get more from your workout.  The one that we take is called Assault from Muscle Pharm.  One of the best out there if you ask us!!  This also gives you a little kick so that when my alarm goes off to get up, it's kicked in and I have no problem waking up to do my workout. Plus it gives me energy throughout the day too.  

So there are no excuses when it comes to getting your workout in!  No matter how busy you are, if you want to look and feel good you have to put all those excuses aside and just do it :-)  If you have time to sit and read or watch tv you have time to workout!  You could even get your books on audio and listen while you lift weights!  Life is always going to be busy even if you tell yourself that things will slow down.  There is always an excuse to be found.  If I can do it so can you!  You just have to make up your mind and your body will thank you for it!  The results you are going to see in your body and your mind will make you never want to stop again.  Not only do I look and feel great, but I've noticed my brains thinking power has become so much better.  I've been able to think better and become smarter even after 3 kids.  So there really is nothing holding you back!  You are going to love the person you become.  If you need help starting please refer back to some of my older posts, or message me.  I've got several programs and things that can get you starting on your road to a healthier you!

Please also keep in mind that if you want the results your looking for.  To not only look but "feel" great you NEED to eat a healthy balanced diet.  Rearguards what you've read and heard you need a variety of foods. Lots of turkey, chicken, vegie's, low carb fruits, nuts, packed with protein is whats going to fuel your workouts!  Your body needs more protein than you think.  Bodybuilding.com is an awesome tool if your wanting to research this.  You just have to make sure you are reading labels and you are aware of what is in the foods you are eating.  Processed foods are what's killing everyone!!  I've never felt better than I do now making sure that my diet is balanced and free of any additives or anything with corn syrup or anything you get from a box.  I've only been sick once in the last year and it only lasted 2 days.  When normally it would last weeks.  Try different things and see what works for you. Health talks!  

June marked 1 year for me since I began my lifestyle change.  Looking back I can see just how far I have come.  In 1 year I have:

* Lost 45 lbs.

* Increased my metabolism so much that I can't go an 1.5  hrs without eating anymore because it's that fast.

* Lost a total of  38.5 inches across my body

Calves: -2 in.

Hips: -5 in.

Belly Button: -7.5 in.

Biceps: -1.75 in. each

Neck: -1 in.

Butt: -7 in.

Thighs: -3.75 in. each

Chest: -5.5 in.

Now keep in mind.... The last 4 months I have been weight lifting and gaining muscle.  But I am still down that much.

Seeing these numbers just astounds me!!!!  It's so cool to actually see it written down in front of me.  To see that I have made that much progress :-)

I definitely lost a lot of weight before I started weight lifting, but the progress was much much slower.  Plus I began to plateau and nothing was happening anymore.  You don't see muscles like that on someone who only runs or only does zumba.  You see those muscles when you lift, and it feels amazing!  I really just want to help others to see the progress I have made and hopefully to encourage you to try weight lifting.  To try to eat right.  Because you can look like this too if you put your mind to it.  I love the way I look and feel! I really could never go back, because my body wouldn't let me.  I welcome any questions anyone has.  If you want to know more or know how to get your body back ask! Now enough about me ;-)

I wanted to talk a little about the different pills I take to help enhance my lifting and to help my body through the process.

Here is a list of what I take:

*Fish Oil: It turns off the genes that make your body store fat, and it also makes your blood slicker so your heart doesn't have to work as hard, and it helps with overall heart health.  You need between 3-6 grams a day.  I take 2 twice daily. (http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/fish-oil-benefits-tip-the-scales-in-your-favor.html)

*CLA: This takes a while to kick in, but it helps your body to produce lean muscle mass, and it prevents your body from storing fat.  It has many other benefits as well, my husbands allergies don't bother him when he is on it. You need 2,000-5,000 grams a day.  I take 1 three times daily.

* Fiber:  I take fiber because I don't get enough a day and it helps me to not feel so bloated all the time. I just buy the chewables and I take 2, twice daily

*Opti Women Multi-Vitamin:  I wanted a vitamin that got me all the essential things I needed.  I looked and looked and this one seemed to be the best out there!  I love it!  It gives me all I need and I only have to take 1 pill twice daily.  Look it up!! 

*Tart Cherry:  I have arthritis in my knee from a surgery that I had a couple years back.  It really seems to help with inflammation, and helps keep it in check. 1 pill daily with a meal

I take all of these daily and I don't know what I would do without them!  They help my mood, and keep me healthy.  I haven't been sick in quite a long time since I started weight lifting and taking all my pills :-)  But research these, see the benefits for yourself.  Just make sure that if your buying fish oil or CLA that they don't add anything extra into them.  A good Fish Oil is Kirkland Brand from Costco.  You really have to read the labels!!!!  Read the labels for everything I can't stress that enough.  They will lie through their teeth on the front of a bottle.

Between this, a healthy balanced diet, and weight lifting I would say I am the healthiest I have ever been!

Alright let’s talk CHEAT NIGHT!!!!

I have been dying to talk about cheat night!!  This is something I am a true believer in because I’ve seen it make a difference in my life.  Many experts including those on bodybuilding.com  go into great detail over why it’s good for you to have a cheat night. 

There are a few things that come out of a cheat night

1.       It’s a lot easier to stick to a clean healthy, balanced diet during the week if you have something to look forward to.

2.       The foods we crave taste a lot better when you eat them on cheat night instead of indulging on them everyday throughout the week.

3.       Having a cheat meal will help reset your metabolism so you don’t plunder down a black hole.

What is a cheat meal??

A cheat meal is a night where you can eat whatever dinner you want within reason (not to the point where your going to throw up said meal).  Whatever you have been craving EAT IT!!!  Whether it be pizza, Buffalo Wild Wings, Pasta you name it.  Then you can also have whatever dessert you want too.  That is my favorite part J You don’t have to feel guilty doing it!  You have to remember you worked your butt off! You earned it!!  It’s not going to hurt you as long as you make sure you’re sticking to your well balanced diet throughout the week.

A cheat meal is something you would have on your rest day for the week (YOU NEED A REST DAY IT’S VERY IMPORTANT FOR YOUR BODY TO RECOVER).  This is usually the day where it’s ok to have a high carb day.  When I first started Jim Stoppani’s Shortcut to Shred I would usually take my rest day on Sunday.  But since we like to eat out as a family on Saturday’s that was the day we would cheat.  Then Sunday I would go back to my regular weekly diet.  After a while I found that on Sunday’s I would DRAG!!  By 9:00 I literally could fall asleep standing up.  Then the last few weeks I have started taking Saturday as my rest day then eating higher carbs throughout the day.  I would still make sure that all the carbs I was eating were good carbs like oatmeal, 100% whole wheat bread, Honey, Protein bars, fruit, ect.  Things that being on a .5 carb per lb of weight diet wouldn’t normally include.   Then that night I would have whatever my heart desired for dinner and dessert.

Now to address #1

It’s a lot easier to stick to a clean healthy, balanced diet during the week if you have something to look forward to at the end of the week.  For the last two weeks of my program Shortcut to Sred I was on a 61g carb diet.  It was really hard!!! I had never before in my life actually counted carbs.  I was basically living off of protein shakes, string cheese, the occasional almond, grilled chicken salads, turkey burgers with one half a whole grain thin bun, broccoli, cottage cheese, eggs, turkey swiss wraps, and no bean homemade chili.  It seems like a lot but eating those things only for 2 weeks in a row gets mind-numbing. 

For me to stick to a strict healthy well balanced diet I had to have something to look forward too.  If I didn’t have a cheat night I really don’t think I could have done it!

#2

 It’s so true that when you don’t have something for a while, something that you love, when you do have it, it tastes soooooooooooooooo good!!!  We love to go to Buffalo Wild Wings a lot for our cheat meal, and it doesn’t really matter whether the food is ACTUALLY good or not, we probably wouldn’t notice.  It still tastes that good to us. 

#3

This is the most important one!!  I have noticed this one myself.  Your metabolism will actually get a boost from having a cheat meal.  When you go day to day with a routine and a well-balanced strict diet your body can start to plateau.  So the cheat meal will actually reset your metabolism and make sure it’s working at its peak.  I find that even eating 1500 calories the night before I will weigh less the next morning than I did the day before.  Plus now I’m hungry all the time my metabolism works so well.  So it makes it even harder to stick to my diets.  But I love love love the results I’m getting, so I am determined to keep it up. 

So there is something to look forward to through all your hard work.  Because weight lifting is not a walk in the park.  It hurts!  You get really sore! But the results and the good that comes from weight lifting outweigh all the hard things about it.  

How to lift weights

I just wanted to clarify that I’m not writing these blogs to brag.  I really just want to help inform others and help those that want to be healthy and fit.  I really just want to show that if I can do it too.

Please keep in mind that Form is so important!  If you have poor form your going to end up hurting yourself.  If you find that after you have major pains in some areas it may be that your form isn’t how it should be.

 

Don’t be afraid to lift heavy weights!!!  You are not going to look like a man (unless you are a man).  But to get the results you want and are looking for you have to lift heavier.  You can’t just go into the gym and grab a dumbbell and do a couple curls, then go over and use the leg press machine and do a few and call it good.  After you finish lifting weights your body goes into gear at repairing your muscles, thereby increasing your metabolism throughout the day.  So this is why it’s important to lift heavy

When lifting weights typically you pick a couple muscles and you beat the crap out of them.  Then you would rest those muscles for a few days and work other ones.  Usually these are the muscles your likely to work when doing a program. 

·         Chest

·         Triceps

·         Shoulders

·         legs

·         Back

·         Traps

·         Abs

·         Biceps

·         Calves

·         Forearms

In some programs you will find them combining different muscle groups.  You typically will find these muscles together

·         *Chest, Triceps, Abs

·         *Shoulders, Legs, Calves

·        * Back, Traps, Biceps, forearms

·         You can always throw abs in wherever you feel.  Then you would repeat this pattern.

Usually with a program you will be given a certain number of reps to do.  Then they will also give you a number of sets.  So say you have 3 sets of 10-12 reps.  You would do 10-12 reps, rest, then 10-12 reps, rest, and the last 10-12 reps, rest.  Some programs will have you do something instead of resting.  But if your doing it without a program you can rest usually 30 seconds to a minute is a good number.

When doing your reps you want to pick a weight that is challenging. It shouldn’t be easy.  If it’s too easy you are not going to see the results you want.  If you want to literally melt the fat off of you get enough weight that by the last 3 reps you struggle to get them in.  It should HURT!  If it doesn’t your not doing it right.  But hurt is good!!  That pain (to me) is the fat being burned and melting away!  Thinking like this is what helps me push myself so hard J 

In most programs they will change your reps around.  With reps usually 3-7 is for strength, 8-12 is for muscle growth the 13+ is for endurance.  You really do want to mix it up that way your body doesn’t start to plateau to the point where your body gets used to it.  In the one I’m doing the first 3 weeks are the same then the 4^th week you would repeat that sequence.  Week 1 the first 3 days is 9-11 reps.  Then the next 3 days is 12-15.  Then the 2^nd week it’s 6-8 the first three days and then 16-20 the next 3 days. Then for week 3 the first 3 days would be 2-5 reps and the next 3 days would be 21-30.  When I went through this program at first you kinda have to play around with the weight to see what you can do.  Then when you move on to different reps I would always try to match that weight or do a little more to give myself a little bit of a push. So say

                When my reps are being increased I will always try to beat my weight of the lower reps week. So the 1^st week at 12-15 reps say I did 50lbs for my chest press so in week 2 when I did chest press again at  16-20 reps I would see that I did 50lbs so I would try to do 55lbs to push myself.  So then with the 2^nd week at 55lbs for chest press the 3^rd week at 21-30 reps I would try to get in 60lbs. Then I would do that each week looking at the previous weeks weight. 

Then of course when the reps are being lowered from 9-11 to 6-8 to 2-5 you really want to try and increase your weight as much as you can handle to where the last 3 reps are difficult.

I always surprise myself that I am actually that much stronger than the previous week.  It may be hard, but I push myself knowing I’m going to see those results.  Knowing it’s the fat I’m kicking to the curb!  This is what pushes me through the pain I feel.  Because I know it’s worth it!

For those of you who are looking to get started I have a sample program right here you can try.  It’s a great one off of bodybuilding.com that will get you started in the right direction. Here is the link that will give you all the details of the program.  It will tell you all the ins and outs of her program and why it will help you

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-eason-livefit-trainer.html

This is a 12 week program.   You can also find other programs that are shorter, but this is definitely a good one to start with.  It is broken down into 3 different phases.  This one is meant to target some of those problem areas we have as ladies.  I know I have them right in my thighs and my butt!

Here is the link to the program you can also get the app in your phone for body space that will make it so you don’t have to write anything down.  It will just keep track of it all in your phone!  I love it. 

Here is phase 1

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-1.html

Phase 2

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-2.html

Phase 3

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/jamie-easons-livefit-phase-3.html

You can also find on there different recipes, a list of foods you should be eating, and supplements you can take to help make this program more effective.  This program can be what you make of it.  If you want to be a little more intermediate then do more weight.  Or if you wanted you could do one of the workouts you really like for the week again on one of the rest days.  Just make sure you aren’t doing 2 of the same workouts right in a row.  You need to give a muscle group  48 hours before working them again.

If you don’t like this workout you can always go to bodybuilding.com, click “FIND A PLAN”.  Then choose your gender,  then choose your main goal, then pick whether your beginner/intermediate/advanced.  Then it will customize the programs for you and show you which ones would best suite you.

Only you are standing in the way of how you want your body to look.  If I can do it so can you, whether you like to do it at home or at the gym.  Just get up and do it because I promise you will be so amazed at the results, and you will begin to love your body again! And as always make sure to eat a balanced diet so your workout isn’t all for nothing!!  If you think you can eat whatever you want because you went to the gym, then you will be chasing your tail for years.  Go to the gym to feel good about yourself, and eat right so you can see the results.

Why Weight lift??

When I first started my journey to a new lifestyle I mainly did zumba and other various workout videos.  I've always liked working out at home, plus with 3 kids and a hubby who leaves really early for work I don't have many other options.  I also absolutely LOVE to dance.  I did these types of workouts for about 6 months and was able to lose quite a bit of weight doing it, but it just wasn't getting my body where I wanted it.  The progress I saw was very slow and I eventually hit a point where I was frustrated because I had hit a rut and I wasn't losing much weight anymore.  

My hubby had been big into going to the gym and lifting weights for several years already, and he had been trying very hard for the last year to get me to try.  I was always so scared to though.  Lets face it.... I had no clue what I was doing and I didn't want to look like a man!!  I thought that when lifting weights I would get huge and it would look ugly.  But I finally after much coaxing and convincing, from my hubby, decided to give it a try.  I told him if he wrote me out a plan of exactly what to do I'd give it a try.  Within the first coupe of weeks of lifting weight I was already starting to see improvements.  I was finally getting out of my rut and losing weight again.  Plus I got to do it in my room from my bow-flex and watch my tv shows! Who doesn't like to watch their shows?

So I decided to keep at it and see what happened.  I've been lifting weights now for about 3 months.  I have lost weight and put on lean muscle at the same time.  After having 3 kids I never thought I could have muscles again, but boy was I wrong.  I have never done any other workout that has given me results as fast as lifting weights has.  No matter what muscle your main focus is on you feel it in your whole body.

3 kids 5 years old and younger and 3 c-sections later.  You can still have muscles.  I know I'm just getting started and still have a ways to go.  But I am making progress. It's so fun to see it happen too!

Now there are a few things I have to clear up.  You can't just go into the gym and pick up the smallest weights and do a few curls.  You cannot be afraid to go and lift so much that you feel like your gonna die.  That feeling is what will get you the results you want.  That AND eating a balanced diet at the same time!

If you have no clue what to do bodybuilding.com is a great resource.  They have all kinds of articles and programs.  You can even look at videos and print out logs to keep track of your workouts.  They have programs for beginners all the way up to the most advanced.

Another myth women worry about is that weight lifting will turn your body fat directly into muscle leaving you looking silly.  Actually it is quite the opposite.  Since I started my new program "Jim Stoppani's shortcut to shred" 5 weeks ago I have dropped about 4% body fat.  I went from about 22% to 16.5% in just 5 weeks!  So you can lose the fat and gain muscle at the same time.

Some other benefits I've seen with weight lifting:

* Increased energy:  This is something that will come gradually.  At first your body will fight with you because it's something different, and it's not used to it.  But after a couple weeks I noticed a huge difference.  I wasn't dragging anymore and I only became tired when it was bed time and things were winding down.

* Increased Metabolism:  It's amazing how fast my metabolism has gotten.  I can just feel it now.  Every week we have 1 cheat meal ( Something I will talk about in another blog).  Having that cheat meal will reset my metabolism so I don't get sucked into the black hole of my body getting used to something.  The next day I will weigh less even though I ate whatever I wanted for dinner the night before.  The harder you work at lifting bigger weights, the harder your body has to work to rebuild those muscles.  Hence the increase in metabolism.  Building those muscles helps you to tone and be fit and not just skinny!  There is a difference.

* Better sleep:  I sleep so amazing at night now, barely waking up for anything.  I'm not sure if it's because I'm so excited to wake up and lift or because lifting does it.  Probably both ;-) lol But I sleep so much more sound and get more out of my sleep.

*  Mood:  I used to snap at every little thing.  Little things bugged me that shouldn't have.  Now I can just tell all of my hormones are balanced and in check and I'm a much happier person.  Plus my period is SOOO lite now ( sorry guys) but it has made a huge difference when they used to be so heavy especially at night.  That in itself can make a woman happy... am I right??

These are just a few things I've noticed since I started lifting.  I know there's more I can't see, but I'm HOOKED now.  I woke up today (Sunday my rest day) and by about 9 am I was falling asleep sitting up.  I'm a completely different person when I don't get my workout in.  I could go on and on all day, but I LOVE it!!  I love how my body looks now! I love how I feel!  I love myself more!  And I love my hubby for getting me to this point!  If it weren't for him and his support and pushing me to do it I wouldn't be where I'm at.  He's helped me keep up with it all along the way.

You can do it too.  But all this can only happen if you work hard to make it happen.  You also have to eat right!!  I can't stress that enough.  You will not get the same results if you don't eat a healthy balanced diet along with the lifting (like in my last blog).  I also take a few different pills to help along the way that have made a huge difference along with all of this, which I will talk about next time :-)

Thanks for taking time to read this!  Let me know if you have any question.  I really just want to help all women out there to have the results they want and deserve.  If I can do it anyone can do it :-)

 So I didn't really want to have to do this.  But just so I do have some kind of credibility I'm going to show a few before and after pictures.  So you can know that how I'm eating and what I'm doing really does work.


This one was me when Kambree was 4 months old and I first decided to go on my journey.  Right before I did Insanity

 This one was me after Insanity and zumba along with online workout videos, right before I started to weight lift at 23% body fat

This one was me 1 week ago when we decided to take the Bodybuilding.com Challenge.  I had been lifting weights for about 2-3 months at 20% body fat

Then this was me 5/25/2014 after 1 week of the challenge going on with my 1.5 hour workouts.  I can see a huge inprovement at 17.9% body fat!!!

I would consider myself on a scale of 1-10 of how well I do, 10 being highest I would say I'm about an 8.  There are definitely a lot of things I could still do better, but I'm learning and getting better as I go.  

After my dad passed away, and my mother and father in law both had close calls I new I needed to make a change.  Seeing all that happened it hit me that we NEEDED to make a lifestyle change.  We had to be better about what we ate if we wanted to be here on this earth for a LONG time with our children.

This definitely wasn't an easy thing to accomplish.  You have to WANT it for yourself.  I started off slowly.  We started by changing a few things at a time.  We completely cut out any kind of boxed dinner.  We also started using ground turkey instead of beef, and we made sure we at 100% whole wheat.  Many companies will try and trick you saying it's "Whole Wheat"  when if you look at the nutrition facts it will say "Enriched."  Anything that you see that says "Enriched" isn't good for you.  They want you to think it is, but it isn't.  

Protein is one thing I really focus on now that I never used to.  Experts tell you that you need to eat 1 g of protein per pound of body weight daily.  Having a balanced diet full of protein is crucial for weight loss and muscle gain.  So now that I'm working on it, here is a list of a lot of the things that I like to eat now and some of the benefits.  6 months ago I wouldn't have been caught DEAD eating some of this stuff.  But the more you eat it, the more you like it!

Every morning I wake up and do my 1.5 hour workout.  Right after that I always drink my CHOCOLATE whey protein shake with 12 oz. of milk.  I always have to get my chocolate fix ;-) I never have anything else because I love it so much!  Plus it's so good to get it right after your workout to help you recover and get your strained muscles the nutrients they need.

Snack!  I usually have one around 10:30 everyday.  I usually try to get some more protein in here by eating protein bars.  Something to look for are ones with at least 20 grams of protein.  If they don't have that much it's not worth the calories in my opinion.  We really like:

- , Pure Protein Bars: they have 20g of protein and you can get them in bulk at Costco for really cheap which is a plus!  This is my favorite flavor :-)

-  Clif Builder Bars are an excellent choice. They have some really really good ones!  

-  I recently discovered this one that I really love.  Plus it has fiber in it so it's helpful for me since I tend to get low in fiber.  I love how it tastes and makes me feel :-)

You may try these now and think they're gross, but keep trying because some of this stuff you learn to love it's not easy at first.

Lunch: For lunch I love to have 

- Homemade turkey chili! Yum so good and packed with protein and fiber

- Cottage Cheese:  Now this is one I had always HATED!  But now I love it.  I use a little salt and pepper and it taste just like squeaky cheese.

- Brown rice/Quinoa and chicken:  Once a week we crock-pot a big thing of chicken to last us the week.  Then we make sure we always have brown rice or recently we discovered quinoa which is actually a really good substitute for rice and very good for you.  

- Fruit:  I love to have some kind of fruit with my lunch, whether it's a mango, pear, peach, apple, banana..... All yummy

Dinner: For dinner we really make all kinds of things but these are the ingredients we stick to.

- Vegi/100% whole grain noodles

- Ground Turkey

- Chicken

- Vegi's

- Fruits

For now we usually used most things canned we just make sure to rinse them really well.  I know as I keep getting better I want to start making my own things.  I really want to start making my own condiments like ketchup, bbq sauce, ranch and those things so I can make sure they don't have those nasty additives in them.  

Then before bed around 8:30 I will have some kind of snack.  I usually try to stay away from carbs as much as possible since they're not that good for you right before bed.  A few things I like

- Eggs with some kind of yummy thing to drizzle on them like salsa or hot sauce.

- Greek yogurt and homemade granola.  I used to also HATE greek yogurt, but if you buy the right kind it's actually very good, and good for you.  You have to be careful because a lot of the greek yogurt you can buy is loaded with sugar.  The one we really really love is the Dannon Light & Fit Greek yogurt.

If you compare it to the others it has only 7g of sugar compared to 16g.  WOW! What a big difference.  Plus they have some really yummy flavors.

Then I recently ventured into making my own granola.  I was tired of all the crap in the stores.  I used a recipe that included almonds, plain old sunflower seeds, coconut oil, honey, and a little bit of cinnamon.  I didn't do the best at baking it, but it is very good stuff!  Especially when you mix a 1/2 cup with your greek yogurt.

So that's most of the stuff I eat on a daily basis.  If you have any questions feel free to ask.  Next blog I will go into more depth on why I weight lift. Thanks for reading this!

Remember this stuff takes time!! It's ok if you can't do it 100% of the time.  At least try your best and even your best will make a difference.  Remember it's a lifestyle change, but it is SOOO worth it!  The way it makes you feel is the difference :-)