You guys are doing an awesome job!

I just wanted to take my time to congratulate you on your success today. You all are making some sort of effort to improve your health. Even if it's just reading my blog and educating yourself- those seeds are now in you and believe it or not, you're applying them to your lives.

On that note of praise I want to remind you to reward yourselves for your victories. Say you work out once this week- you know what? That is great! You're getting some physical activity into your hectic crazy week and that is awesome! So reward yourself... I will say that rewarding yourself with food probably isn't the best route to take. Not that having an ice cream cone will kill you! But it's the patterns we create that hurt us in the end. This really applies to children. If they do a good job and we reward them with a candy bar, when they grow up they'll eat a lot of candy bars to get that same satisfaction they felt as a child when they did a good job. So obviously you guys aren't kids but how about some alternative rewards: For you moms out there I say give yourself 30 minutes of alone time!!!!! DO IT! I know you feel guilty but seriously you deserve some time to yourself!

How about your favorite cup of tea or coffee and a good book? That is always appealing to me. For a special occasion, plan a day out! I love going to Longwood Gardens in the Spring. It is a gorgeous garden that goes on for miles and when it's tulip season there are literally millions of them everywhere!!!

So reward yourselves this week- you're doing a good job, trying to stay active and aware of your health and I am so proud. Also for you CCC ladies Zumba starts next Tuesday I believe at 5:30 and it's only $5 per class. It's a really fun way to exercise because it combines dance with cardio that will get you moving but you'll have a fun time too!!!!

Walks are a beautiful thing...

Aren't walks on a sunny, warm, Spring day a glorious gift from God! Oh my, today I took a walk and can I just describe the beautiful sensation of all of my muscles working, my heart pumping, the Spring feeling pulsing through my body! Oh I just adore Spring.

I definitely encourage you to take a walk this week- it is supposed to be a glorious week! Psych yourself up for it. The lovely thing about walks is that there is NO PRESSURE! You can walk as fast or slow as you want, pump your arms like a march or not. I mean it is totally up to you how intense you want your walk to be. Some days you just need a light happy walk. Other days a strong arm pumping walk is amazing. I am pretty sure whatever walk you choose you will be able to experience those endorphins pulsing through your body.

If you recall: endorphins are those chemicals that our body releases that make us "feel good!" They are actually a mechanism we adapted to encourage our "fight or flight" responses. Our bodies were granted with adrenaline to make sure we could escape from predators and so forth. Consider endorphins as a reward for your hard work! They are a God given motivational prize :)

So this week the goal: Get outside and take a lovely walk- feel your body getting stronger and healthier. Another little factoid is that walking involves every muscle in your body when done correctly. If you pump your arms, stand up straight, and swing those legs with power you are working your arm muscles, abs, butt, and leg muscles! So go get em girls! :)

Don't let that number determine your mood!

Today I want to address the myth that your weight determines your health. FALSE! Did you know that muscle weighs more than fat? Ok so yes, we can still be overweight and have excess fat on us which we need to try and work on, BUT please don't let this number determine your mood!

I used to weigh myself everyday, sometimes twice a day. If I gained even half of a pound I would FREAK OUT! (Did you know that you can loose up to 3 pounds after a bowl movement?!? Crazy stuff huh?) Also I want to clarify what the B.M.I calculations mean to me. Most doctors use the Body Mass Index calculations to determine whether you are overweight or not. They plug in your height and weight and come up with a number... usually it ranges from 18-40 but what it fails to consider is body type. Let's face it, we are all sooo different. Some of us literally have bigger bone structures, others are born having more muscle on them. All of these factors contribute to your overall weight. So here's my take on the BMI: If your number says that you are overweight, consider it but don't let that discourage you! Make sure that you do your best to take care of yourself- FOR YOU! Not to make the numbers on the chart say you're in the healthy range.

One of my professors (who is a Nutritionist) told me that one of her sons came home from the doctor one day and was told he was "obese". Now this kid was husky- I'm talking all muscle and had a large bone structure. My prof thought this was such an absurd thing but all that the doctor did was a BMI test- he did nothing to determine how much muscle compared to fat the kid had! So stinking annoying! So if you're curious about your BMI you can go to www.Kraft.com and under the Healthy Eating section they have a BMI calculator. Enter your height and weight but REMEMBER don't let the numbers (whether they're on the scale or on your computer) rule your life!

Another point I would like to make is this: When you begin to loose weight, hopefully you're loosing fat pounds and not muscle pounds. When this happens at first you will notice the scale going down. After a while however, if you are exercising, even somewhat regularly compared to normal, you will begin to build muscle. As i mentioned earlier, muscle weighs more than fat so if the scale starts to go up again or if you notice no change but your measurements keep shrinking this is why. Now you know what to expect. It's called the plateau stage of weight loss and all that this means is that your "weight number" eventually reaches a holding place once you start to build those muscles! So this is a GOOD thing! Be happy, the more muscle we have, the more calories we burn at rest. Which means after a while, you don't have to work sooo hard to maintain your "happy weight". So good luck girls and keep your chin up- Don't let those numbers rule your day, Remember the good choices you made today. The BABY STEPS you took to becoming a healthier you!

Exercise Video (FINALLY!!!!!)

Hey everyone here is the promised video! The first part has the warm up and arm workout. The second part has the lower body workout and cool down. So just give it a try- if you can't get through the whole thing- no worries- We start where we start and we progress! It's ok to take breaks! And most importantly have fun!!!! :) It literally helps to smile, try it. When you're out of breath and feeling tired- SMILE! It helps alot! Good luck everyone!

Power Foods!!

Ok so update on the video: it issss coming it's just being a booger but my dad is going to help me soon!

Ok on to powerhouse foods! These are some special foods with amazing qualities: they're chocked full of fiber, vitamins and lots of other "make me feel full" qualities.

#1 Oatmeal: Oatmeal has soluble fiber which means that it helps your body absorb less cholesterol... There is good cholesterol and bad, the good stuff is the kind your body makes. Our bodies will make enough cholesterol as needed which means we really shouldn't have too much going into our bodies through the foods we eat. Therefore, soluble fiber, like oatmeal, is great because it blocks that cholesterol from entering our bodies!! Also any kind of fiber helps keep us full longer which is fabulous for beating the mid morning snack attack!

#2 Berries: Berries contain various different vitamins, the most common of which is vitamin C which most of us know as the Immune System vitamin. It really does help keep our bodies strong and healthy especially during cold season! But berries have also been proven to contain many cancer fighting agents. So why not?! They are low calorie and whether you buy them frozen or fresh they are lovely with a dust of sugar or splenda and some mint!!!

#3 Beans: Ok so beans have gotten a bad rap in the past because they tend to produce gasses in our bodies... haha. BUT beans are sooooo wonderful for your body too! They are full of protein, fiber, and if you need a way to stay full- go for the beans. Now baked beans are not the best choice, they have lots of added sugar and preservatives but black beans, kidney beans, lima beans, and garbanzo beans (chick peas) are amazing choices.

#4 Salmon: You'll hear me say it again and again but salmon is just one of those foods you've gotta try. Hopefully you'll love it as much as I do because it is definitely a power food! Besides being a lean protein (no fat), salmon packs in the Omega 3's, which are healthy fatty acids. I think before I mentioned the difference between good fats and bad- Omega 3's are the BEST fats you can put into your body. They help maintain healthy skin, a good digestive system, and keep things "flowing"! So this is a definite power food to keep in the house. You can buy frozen fillets that are packaged individually (already cleaned and ready to go!) so that they keep for a while.

#5 Leafy Greens: Now this includes dark salad greens, kale, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and spinach. These are power house foods for sure: they are full of Vitamin A, folic acid, and vitamin C. Broccoli is special in that it contains Calcium as well. They are also full of antioxidants which is awesome! Also have you ever noticed that after eating a lot of broccoli you feel full? This is again from the fiber- like carrots- these veggies really will fill you up. Also when choosing salad greens try to find the darkest green as possible. The lighter the lettuce, the less vitamins and minerals inside. That's why iceberg is like eating water- it's not bad for you it just doesn't do anything for you!

Well those are 5 starting points for power foods! Enjoy and remember to eat stuff you like- find healthy foods you enjoy eating and stick with it! Don't force yourself to down a bowl full of spinach if you hate it- you'll only end up reaching for the bag of chips later. Go for the baby step approach, remember small, reasonable goals that YOU CAN ACHIEVE!

Ok here is your exercise video...

So this video is not super long but it includes some of my favorites. I want you all to know how much I love you that I'd do a workout in front of a camera for all to see :) But i trust you won't make fun of me! So here you go- get ready to burn some fat, rev up your metabolism and GET MOVING!!! The first video is your intro, the second is the warm up, the third is ARMS and the fourth is legs/abs/ and cooldown!

Step #5

Ok so we all know that these fad diets don't work right? We're all on the same page with that? I mean really- eat only grapefruit and peanuts or cut out carbs entirely. Can I just clear something up? Cutting out carbs will actually make your body start eating away at itself. Instead of loosing pounds of fat, you'll start loosing your muscle and other important things which you NEED! So if we're agreed that the fad dieting doesn't work.... what does?

I and my mom are living proof that doing it the hard slow way is the ultimate key to success. The message is one you've heard a thousand times: eat right and exercise. But no one teaches you how to really go about those HUGE changes. I mean for my mom, that was something way foreign to her. She used to be overweight (most of you don't remember this), but she really was at one point. She chose to start counting calories and measuring everything while keeping a journal of all of her intake. That worked for her- for most of us though, that seems very overwhelming and so we just don't do anything. I lost 30 lbs by just monitoring what i put in my mouth and exercising. I wasn't quite as stringent as my mom but I did start looking at nutrition labels. Ok so really I should only be having a cup of pasta... didn't know that before! Haha. Then i would be soo hungry because it was way less food then I was used to, so here's the trick... fill in that void with the healthy stuff! So instead of garlic bread and pasta, try some steamed broccoli, or a big old salad with lots of veggies on top and a LITTLE dressing.

Dressing is the killer man. Most people think if they have a few pieces of lettuce and drown it in Ranch it's now healthy WRONG. Sorry but true. Dressing is virtually alllll FAT so if you want some flavoring on your salad try those Wishbone Spritzers. You spray the dressing on and each spray is like 2 calories or something. As long as you don't do 50 sprays you're good! Also vinegar with a tiny bit of oil is acceptable. Remember that fat isn't the enemy it's just the type of fat we're trying to keep a handle on.

I actually think the best thing you can do is eliminate the fats you don't really need. Like using butter to sautee things- use pam! It's like 5 calories as opposed to 150! Also try extra virgin olive oil instead of other oils for cooking. It's got unsaturated fats- which pretty much means that your body can digest these. In chemistry you learn that saturated fats have all of these double bonds which get caught in your system allowing the fat to just chill there. If you consume unsaturated fats these have single bonds which your body can handle. So chem aside, UNSATURATED is the way to go. And PLEASE don't consume anything with TRANS fat. This is your enemy. It's rarely found in much except butter and a few processed snacks. But you might as well just stick that directly on yourself before you eat it because it will NOT be digested properly= fat buildup!

So i know this was a lot of random facts but to sum up, skip the fad dieting make lifestyle changes. These are what will last you. Also find what works for you, if it's calorie counting or just trying to choose healthy foods one day at a time go for it! And try to stick with the healthy fats as much as possible. Saturated and Trans= BAD, Unsaturated= GOOD!

Step #4

Today's step is going to be an attitude step. I need help in this area as well (I think most women do). I want to encourage you to try something this week that you probably never do. When you look in the mirror this week try to find something positive about your appearance. Usually when I look in the mirror it's as if I have a critique sheet listing off the things I want to change or modify about myself. But how about this week we try the opposite. Literally say it out loud- "I like my hair, I have great hair, and it rocks!"

It might sound stupid but like I said if you're like me at all, most of the time I walk away from the mirror depressed and even upset sometimes. I know that "inner beauty is what really counts" but let's get real, no girl can really accept that philosophy all of the time! Most of the time we do try to improve our looks but can I just say that whether it's your hair, eyes, skin, teeth, or any other part of your body- I KNOW that every one of us has something, make that MANY things we can be proud of and brag about. So do it this week- brag to yourself about, well, yourself!

Step #3

Today's step is all about Misinformation.

Ok this one just makes me tick... How dare some of these companies advertise these miracle cures and supplements and workouts that promise unrealistic results. GRRRRR... Honestly the only way to change anything is through some sweat and tears. Not to discourage you but nothing can be gained without pain. Many of you are more familiar with that life lesson than I am but it still holds true.

The key is to (1) Not get overwhelmed with the idea of a radical life change. It doesn't have to happen tomorrow. That's why this blog is titled Baby Steps. One small change at a time has been tested and proven to help you stick with it and actually get results without harming your body in the meantime.

(2) Please Please Please don't fall victim to these scammers out there. I know we all see the commercials and ads promising tremendous weight loss and a ripped body but what they fail to show you are these people 1 year later who gained all that weight back and then some. Baby steps toward the healthier lifestyle is the only way to do this.

So I am challenging you today to make ONE realistic goal for yourself. Just one. One small step that will lead to a healthier and stronger you. For example: How about trying to skip soda this week, see how you feel. I bet you will feel less bloated, cleaner, fresher, and have more energy from simply getting rid of this one drink. Even if it's diet soda, all of those artificial flavorings, sweeteners, and carbonation end up making you fell gross afterwards.

Another example might be going to the store and getting a light set of dumbbells. All a woman really needs are 3-5 lb weights at first. If you need to start at 2 lbs that's fine. We start where we start and when you're ready to progress you can! So go get some cheap dumbbels and do some basic bicep curls or do a few squats and mix in the bicep curls. I am not a believer in doing crunches to get thin. It simply doesn't work- if you plan on getting a regular exercise routine going then some ab exercies are fine but in order to get abs you have to burn calories and fat so the key is getting your heart pumping. When the heart is pumping your burning that fat! YEAH!

So to sum up: Remember to not get overwhelmed and chicken out of working toward your healthier goals, please relax and take a deep breath, we're in this together. Second, don't fall prey to those stupid weight loss supplements and pills. There is an industry making millions off of desperate people trying to get healthier and they're making a killing while people still don't loose weight. Lastly pick a goal for yourself this week. Pick one thing to start working on and try it out- no pressure remember! Just try it! Good luck :)