The Weekday Dieter…

“Diet starts Monday.”

Who has either said or heard someone say this at least once? I’m going to go ahead and guess it’s more than just a few of you. This blog post may be about you, or someone you know, but you can probably see someone either in the mirror or in your life who we would refer to as a “weekday dieter”.

Normally, the “weekday dieter” starts the week off right. Super motivated and pumped up to be compliant to their meal plan or nutrition guidelines to keep them focused and moving forward toward their goals. Tuesday passes, Wednesday and Thursday stay strong and it usually goes until Friday at about dinner time.

“Wow, what a great week! I was nearly perfect… time to reward myself with a pizza!”

If that treat meal ended there… I’d be alright with it. But unfortunately it often is followed up by a few drinks that night, pancakes for brunch saturday morning followed by a high carb dinner that night, Sunday maybe you sleep until noon and skip breakfast and then spend the day nursing your relationship with nachos and netflix. But don’t sweat it right? Monday is merely hours away and you’re ready to get back on track.

Most of these weekday dieters take a break from their plan friday night, saturday and sunday… so basically two and a half days a week. How bad can that be?  You’re being great for alllmost 5 days a week… we round up from four and a half.  😉 Five out of seven? Sounds like a win to me. That can’t really make that much of a difference… right…?

Two and a half days a week = Ten days a month.

Ten days a month = One hundred and twenty days a year.

One hundred and twenty days a year = Four months.

So you’re literally taking a break from your diet for a third of the year.

I’m just going let that sink in for a second. Feel that? That’s the feeling of your ridiculous justifications shattering. 😉 I’m not saying you’re alone, I’ll admit I’ve had times in my journey where I was a “weekday dieter” and it was super fun and a great way to not lose weight……

I don’t know about you… but I don’t usually put less than my best into what I do. The reason I was so successful when I got started toward my fitness journey was because I gave it my all. If you’re the kind of person who is cool with putting in work two thirds of the time, you better be the kind of person who is cool with getting two thirds of the results. Somehow I doubt that’s the case.

If you want results, and I mean head-turning, jaw-dropping, before-and-after-picture-taking results, you have to give more than 66% towards that goal. Being great during the week and losing all willpower every weekend isn’t going to get you to where you want to be if your goal is anything other than maintenance. If you’re reading this blog you probably have a goal you’re searching for motivation to move towards. Well, ladies and gentlemen, here it is. I’m not asking for 100%… but I need more than 66. Shoot for 80. Be great 80% of the time and enjoy some treats for the other 20. Baby steps will get you there, but if those steps are shallow enough for a teacup pig to race you up… you need to set your sights higher. Set realistic goals, control your treat meals and don’t waste a third of your year making choices that take you further from your goals… not closer to them.

Make good choices kids ;)…. oh and you should probably go lift something. 😉

Friday Fit Tip #1 : Forget Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

Ok, that title is not telling you not to eat. Just so no one is confused. I want to talk about the traditional model of breakfast, lunch, and dinner… and why it doesn`t always help.

What do we usually think of when I say the word breakfast?

• cereal
• toast
• fruit
• pancakes
• french toast
• breakfast sandwiches
• waffles

Also known as… carbs on carbs on carbs. Sure bacon and eggs will pop in there too, but the majority of classic breakfast foods are starchy carbs. When you try to eat something nontraditional first thing in the morning people get all bent out of shape.

`You had WHAT for breakfast?? Steak and salad?! What is WRONG with you, ya maniac?!

Ok… maybe that was an overreaction. But honestly, when I try to talk to clients about incorporating more protein and vegetables into their early morning routine they often have a very hard time with it. What does lunch usually consist of? A sandwich, wrap, soup, etc. And then dinner rolls around and it has to be the biggest meal of the day, often including massive portions to slip you into a pre-bed carb-coma. So how do we fix this…?

You first need to ask yourself why you`re eating. Are you eating because you love food and it`s a delicious treat? Or are you eating because you need to fuel your body? What if we broke out of the social norms of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and just started calling them meal one, meal two, etc.? I joke with my clients that I don`t have meals, I have feedings, (Yes… I`m aware that makes me sound like a farm animal) but isn`t that what eating is for? Fuel, energy, the calories that drive you through the day.

You want to eat fish and veggies for “breakfast“? Go for it. Want to have a veggie omelet for “dinner“? Who`s stopping you? Fuel your body with healthy varieties of protein, veggies, fats, and clean carbs to obtain optimal body composition, and forget the traditional. Remember… to get what you`ve never had you have to do what you`ve never done. You`re running the show, make the choices you know will bring you closer to, not further from, where you want to be.

Oh… and you should probably go lift something. 😉

Are You A Justifier?

Alright first off.. I know that isn’t a real word. But bear with me here.

“I worked out super hard today.. so I can totally afford to have pizza tonight.”

“I’m going for a run first thing in the morning, so sure I’ll have cake.”

“Let’s go to the gym first so we have all you can eat sushi without feeling guilty.”

Sound familiar? Too often I’ll hear members in the gym, friends, or even clients using this justifying attitude where they feel they’ve earned the right to eat junk because they’ve gotten their workout in. Sure… this may be a reasonable way to help maintain where you’re currently at… but if maintenance isn’t your goal it’s time to smarten up. Is exercising around a treat meal beneficial in helping your body partition that meal a little better? Definitely. But if you get yourself into a cycle of exercising and eating bad food, it’s going to be significantly harder to get to your goals.

Remember, you can’t out train a bad diet. Let yourself have treat meals but remember that being half compliant when it comes to following a healthy nutrition plan will only get you half the results. You cool with that? Didn’t think so. Stop being a justifier. If you rock a super awesome lift at the gym, why would you delete that hard work by filling yourself with garbage? Reward your body for that hard earned exercise with fuel that’s going to bring you closer to your goals not further from them. You want this? Go get it.

Oh… and go lift something.

The Hardest Post I’ve Ever Had To Write… Confessing a Step Backwards.

I’ve tried to start this blog entry at least a dozen times over the last month or so… have started a couple of paragraphs, gotten overly emotional, and abruptly closed my browser and walked away.

I’ve always prided myself that when I started losing weight I’d never gain any of it back. “I’m all about losing weight and never finding it again”, I’d joke to clients. Everything we do is about maintainable fat loss, no short cuts just healthy lifestyle changes to ensure none of the weight comes back.

Three and a half months ago I switched jobs and became a fitness manager, so on top of being a personal trainer I’m also now managing a team of trainers. Things got busy, life got a little crazy, and suddenly I was slacking on my workouts and slacking on my meal prep. What was the consequence?

I’ve put on about 10lbs.

Almost a pant size. I’ve been avoiding my jeans because I don’t know how comfortable they’ll be right now.

Today is actually my birthday, and usually that’s a time of reflecting over the past few years and how things have changed. Every year for the past 4 years it’s been a celebration of success… pride in all I’ve accomplished. I can honestly say I’m incredibly proud of my career success over the past year, and I’m significantly stronger than I’ve ever been… but this time last year I was 10lbs lighter than I am now… and that’s been extremely hard for me to come to terms with.

Is anyone to blame but me? Of course not, I take full responsibility. This is something I had to publically admit because it’s eating me up inside, and I know I can drop that 10lbs but I need to be honest with each of you that sometimes even people who feel the strongest can take steps back. I just spent a bunch of time going back through photos from my blog and I know I look heavier and that makes me unhappy. But there is no use complaining about something that’s within my capacity to change.

I’m not proud of where I’m at, and I can give a million excuses including a career change, a vacation, an ankle injury, minor surgery, pulling my back… but at the end of the day I made choices that took me further from my goals not closer, and it’s time for me to smarten up.

Two months from now I will be 10lbs lighter, a little over a lb a week to ensure safe and maintainable fat loss in the right way without crash dieting. Can I do it? Of course. Is it going to be a struggle? You bet. But it’s time to smarten up and get back on track. The time in now, no more excuses.

I’m sorry to any of you followers who may feel this post let you down a little, or lost a little bit of faith in the strength I seem to portray. Newsflash… I’m human and I make mistakes. Being strong isn’t about how long you can go before you break, it’s about how you put the pieces back together after you’ve been broken.

I’m going to go lift something, then prep some food and look towards tomorrow being one step closer to where I need to be.

Stop Cancelling on Yourself.

A client of mine was trying to get into the habit of getting up an hour earlier to get her cardio intervals done before she went to work. We joke about how with exercise sometimes it’s good to work out first thing in the morning before your mind notices what you’re doing. 😉 So instead of setting her alarm for 7, it was set for 6. There is an exercise room in her condo so all she has to do is go downstairs and get it done. Simple enough right?

You know what’s easier than heading downstairs to a gym to do intervals?

Hitting the snooze button.

What better way to start the day then some early morning procrastination! 😉 How do you think the rest of your day is set up to go if the first decision you make is to go back to sleep? We need to shift this mindset.

I told my client to consider this, if we had an appointment scheduled first thing in the morning… would she hit the snooze button and go back to sleep? Of course not! The whole idea of that is just absurd. She’s paying for a session so obviously she will be there, and she respects my time and knows I’ll be up early to train her so she’ll show up ready to go.

So why doesn’t this theory hold true for appointments we set for ourselves? You’re completely not ok with cancelling on your trainer, but you’re fine with cancelling on yourself? Something doesn’t add up.

Your personal workouts are appointments scheduled with yourself. Put them in your agenda. Set a reminder on your phone. If you wouldn’t cancel an appointment last minute with your trainer, your boss, your doctor… then why would you cancel on you? Your time is valuable, respect that and don’t cancel on yourself. Even if you’re tired, groggy, unmotivated… get up and get working. Remember, the only bad workout is the one you didn’t do.

Let’s make this a killer week, smash some goals and really take hold of what we want! I challenge you to not hit the snooze button tomorrow!

Oh… and you should probably go lift something. 😉

“I Don’t Have Time to Eat Healthy.”

If I had a dollar for every time a client or potential client said these 7 words to me… I’d have enough money to hire someone to cook my meals for at least a year.

Darn… that would be awesome. For real.

Unfortunately, I’m not bathing in extra cash, and need to do this meal prep on my own. I often work 12-14 hour days throughout the week, even if I’m not working that entire time, I’m out of the house. Saturdays I usually spend the majority of the day either working at the gym, lifting, or running errands. With Sunday being my only day off… how do I manage to eat healthy all through the week? Here’s a few tips to help you stay on track amidst a busy schedule.

1) Stop making excuses. It’s isn’t about finding time, it’s about making time. 😉

I know no one likes to hear this. Part of the plus side of losing a boat load of weight personally through diet and exercise is that if someone tells me something is impossible or too hard to do, I can look them straight in the eye and say that I somehow managed to do it… so it must be possible. Think you don’t have time? Tough luck. If you have a goal, whether that’s to lose weight or gain muscle, you need to make time to prep food. Grab some paper and write out your entire week from the time you open your eyes to the time you close them. Bet if you try real hard you’ll be able to find a couple hours in there to hang out in the kitchen. And ladies… if this means PVRing the most recent episode of The Batchelor… it has to happen. Priorities. (P.s. is PVRing still a thing? Is the Batchelor still a thing? I haven’t had cable for 7 years… don’t judge me.)

2) Prep food in batches.

I usually spend a solid 2-3 hours on a Sunday evening while I’m doing laundry prepping food. I’ll have a tray of chicken thighs in the oven, big crock full of mixed vegetables in the slow cooker, a big pot of sweet potatoes on the stove, and usually some ground meat formed into patties and some fish waiting to hit the grill. All at the same time. I can cook meals for the entire week in one afternoon, throw some in the freezer, some in the fridge, and boom… no more excuses as the week gets busy. Right before I head to bed I’ll pull out my 5 containers, portion out my protein, veggies, fat, and starch for each meal, and it’s all ready to grab and go first thing in the morning on my way to the gym. No microwave or anything at work? No problem. I’ve been eating my meals cold for years. (The first couple of weeks are rough, then you get used to it I swear.)

3) Accept that healthy food isn’t necessarily convenient.

“I was rushing after work and didn’t have time to eat so I grabbed something on the way.” Unfortunate news for you if you’ve said this before… there isn’t really many healthy food options that you can “grab on the way”. This is where planning becomes paramount. Watch out for protein bars and shakes that can end up being loaded full of sugar and chemicals that will wreak havoc on your system. Real food, ladies and gentlemen. Often if I’m on the go I’ll literally have a container of cut up pieces of chicken, and a full pepper to eat like an apple in my bag. Easy. Convenient. Prepped in advance.

4) Make it a habit.

I challenge you to give me one month. Four weeks of spending a couple hours each week prepping food in advance to get your diet on track. After the first month I promise it gets a little easier. Once it becomes a habit, you’ll become so good at meal prep it’ll be done in record time. Not only will you save money on more expensive convenient foods, but your progress will sky rocket. Trust me on this one.

I’m not here to tell you that this is an easy process. I’ve said it a million times. No one said it would be easy. But it does take a conscious effort to ensure everything is on your side when it comes to success. Preparation is the key, in so many aspects of life. Don’t miss out on achieving a goal simply because you were too lazy to make time to plan in advance. You’ve got this. Get it done.

Oh… and you should probably go lift something. 😉

Fresh New Look… Fresh New Domain… Fresh Start!

Dear friends and followers…

Are we still friends? I know I haven’t called.. or texted.. or dropped by.. or really been in contact as much lately… things got crazy when I switched jobs and moved cities. BUT I still really care about you and don’t want our relationship to fall apart because you and your goals really do mean a lot to me…

Ok cheesy part over. Time to own up. I’ve been horrible! So I apologize. I promise to get back into posting one or two posts every week to make sure I’m helping you guys get to where you want to be as efficiently as possible.

So with a fresh start comes a fresh new look. Changed up the look of the blog to make me feel springy when I’m deep in the winter blues. And we’ve had a change in domain so it’s no longer http://www.fromdoughnutstodumbbells.com it’s http://www.fromdoughnutstodumbbells.co I ditched the m. M’s are overrated. 😉

As my first order of business… I will post an update on my own fitness journey this afternoon. Get excited! Oh… and in the meantime why don’t you go lift something. 😉

Continuing to Lose Weight While Injured… Is it Possible?

You’ve started down a path pursuing a weight loss goal and suddenly… Something goes horribly wrong…

You injure your knee.
You pull a muscle.
You tear something in your shoulder.
You sprain your ankle.

Game over? Does that mean you have to completely put your goals on hold for the time being? What if you didn’t? Here are a few tips to continue to lose weight while injured.

Step One… Don’t be an idiot. 😉

Understand that your injury is real, and don’t merely try to “train past the pain”. If it’s an injury that requires that muscle to rest, you need to let it rest at risk of aggravating it further. Trying to rock out heavy squats with an injured knee isn’t proving how hard you work or how dedicated you are, it’s only proving your own irresponsibility and that your brain is taking a rest day. Be smart about it.

Step two… Figure out how to safely train around your injury.

If it’s a lower body injury, continue to train upper body. If it’s an upper body injury, lower body can still be trained. Obviously when it comes to fat loss, being able to continue to train lower body shouldn’t really put much of a halt into your progress. Only being able to train upper body might make your progress slow slightly, but it’s still doable. Incorporate some upper body cardio intervals into your program like battling ropes or a machine rope trainer to aid in the process. Often if it’s a minor lower body injury there are still lower body exercises you can do. Sprained ankle? Stick with open chain movements like leg extensions and leg curls. Knee injury? Try out stiff legged or Romanian deadlifts that don’t incorporate any knee flexion and see how they feel. Be safe, and listen to your body.

Step three… Use this time to really get your nutrition on track.

If you can’t train hard in the gym, train hard in the kitchen. Use this time off to really work on how compliant you’re being to your plan, and use that increased compliancy to kick start that weight loss. I’m not telling you to diet harder or completely drop your caloric intake… Just be smart and mindful about what’s going into your mouth and use this time to get better at eating healthy.

So is it possible to continue to lose weight throughout an injury? 100%. Will the process be slower? Very likely. Is it easy to get discouraged and want to quit? You bet. But once the injury heals, you don’t want to have to get started back at square one. Remember, starting is the hardest part, and if you are sick of getting started you need to stop quitting or taking breaks. Alter your program but actively continue to progress toward your goals and remember that slow progress is better than no progress at all.

You got this. Chin up, buttercup, oh… And you should probably go lift something. 😉

Stop Stepping on The Scale Everyday.

A lot of people know this feeling all too well…

Wake up in the morning. Roll yourself out of bed. Head to the bathroom. Step on the scale.

Face drops… Heart sinks. No movement… weight hasn’t dropped… heaven forbid maybe it’s even gone up. Take a deep breath in… exhale slowly and drag your feet back to your bedroom to get dressed and start your day.

How motivating eh? Starting your day off with that sinking feeling that everything you’re doing is for nothing. All that hard work, all that deprivation, all that sweat… for what? For nothing? For weight gain? Are you kidding me?!?!

Sound familiar? It happens to a ridiculous amount of people and it’s not doing anything to bring you any closer to your goals.

Let me first stress that I do believe the scale is a very important part of the assessment process. But when it comes to reassessing how you’re doing as far as a weight loss goal is concerned there is more than one assessment tool to give you the bigger picture.

Scale.
Inches.
Body fat percentage.

The trifecta of reassessment tools. The scale has no idea what’s happening inside your body. It doesn’t know if you’re losing fat, if you’re putting on muscle, if you’re currently holding on to more water. Inches measurements or how my clothes were currently fitting was always my main reassessment tool when I got started. If the scale isn’t moving as quickly as you want it to but your pants are falling off why are you so discouraged? Your body is changing! Embrace it! Body fat is a great judge, especially if you can get your body fat measured with skinfold calipers. That’s a very accurate judge of what’s happening in your body, a biological impedance scale or tanita scale can give you a general idea but isn’t exactly accurate.

Don’t pull yourself into a tunnel of self sabotage by letting the scale discourage you. Countless times I’ve heard of people stepping on the scale, being unhappy with the results, and then making poor food choices because they aren’t seeing results anyway and don’t see the point. Remember… weight loss is a process and that process isn’t always linear. Trust the process, understand that the weight didn’t go on overnight and it isn’t going to come off overnight either. Try to limit yourself to stepping on the scale weekly, even biweekly.

Focus. Work hard. Be compliant to your nutrition. Reassess all aspects of your weight loss, and then enjoy the results in time. You’ve got this, don’t stall your own progress by demotivating yourself.

Oh… and you should probably go lift something! 😉

My Constant Struggle… Even Though I Make It Look Easy.

I’ve been meaning to write this blog for a long time, but it’s come up so many times over the past few weeks that I couldn’t put it off any longer. Time and time again I’ll hear from friends, family, clients, or even members of the gym that they’re envious of how easy it is for me now. Now that I’ve lost the majority of the weight, now that I’ve been on this journey for over 3 years, everything comes so easy for me. Eating healthy, exercising hard, getting my cardio in. I’m getting a little tired of it… you know why?

Because it isn’t easy. It’s actually really, really hard. Constantly.

First off I don’t want to come off as discouraging. It can be a little terrifying to hear if you’re just starting off on your fitness journey that 3 years in it isn’t getting easy easier to stay on track. That isn’t entirely true, it is way easier than it was when I started. Forming habits definitely helps with long term commitment, and I don’t want to discredit that. But part of being a trainer and someone who has lost a significant amount of weight is putting on a brave face that it does get easier with time. Unfortunately the truth is that it might not ever really be truly easy for you. When it comes to overcoming an addiction to bad food, like any addiction, there are always going to be temptations. Do you get better at resisting them? Of course. Do you get to a point where it’s easier to get your workouts in because it’s become a habit? 100% yes. But you need to understand that there are going to be days where you want chocolate bad enough to want to physically harm someone. There are going to be days where you’d rather stay on the couch and watch 12 episodes of Criminal Minds instead of going to the gym. Those distractions and temptations don’t go away, you just get a little bit better at overcoming them.

So does it get easier? Slightly. But more than that, you just get stronger and more capable of being bigger than your limitations.

It doesn’t get easier, you just get better. So the next time you think someone has it easy, think again. The struggle may be something they deal with on a daily basis. Admire that brave front, and understand what’s ya beneath it.

We’re in this together folks… We’ve got this. Now we’d better go lift something. 😉