Monthly Archives: December 2011
Get Paid to Workout?
Need motivation? Do you wonder if you’ll EVER get fit and lose that weight? Do you struggle to make good decisions? Do you feel like all you do is sabotage your life? (Love this Glasbergern cartoon!) Well, this blog is for you!
We ALL struggle with food and laziness in some way. We ALL make dumb decisions. We ALL want one thing and often do another. We want to get skinny, yet we keep making ourselves fat. We want to be strong but we continue to sit on the couch. What will it take for us to get off our fat lazy butts?
Duane Hoffman / msnbc.com
Show Me The Money
What if you got paid for exercising? Let’s say I gave you $3,000 every time you ran 3 miles? You wouldn’t miss one day – and before a year was up, you would have made a million dollars!
Haven’t you heard Read the rest of this entry
CUT & PASTE: 20 Tips to a New Body
If only we could hit the Control X and Control V to reshape your physique! Here are some cut and pastes that actually work!
CUT: Sever, Separate, Detach, Remove, Delete.
If you want to rearrange your body, you will need to rearrange your life – and some things will need to be removed altogether. You can’t keep the same things in your life and expect a different result. You also can’t lose weight unless you are taking in fewer calories than you are burning. That’s just science. If you’ve maintained your weight the way you have been eating over the last year, you can cut calories easily by cutting stuff back (or out) of your diet.
1.) Cut portions in half (use salad plates instead of dinner plates to manage portions)
2.) Cut bite sizes (use small forks and spoons instead of shovels)
3.) Cut out high calorie drinks
4.) Cut down on sauces and condiments Read the rest of this entry
Change Your Body, Exercise Your Ears
This blog is dedicated to the lost, confused, discouraged, overwhelmed, helpless and hopeless. If you are wanting to get fit but don’t know where to start, you will when you’re done reading this blog.
Year after year I see past failures turn into today’s successes. I see people who have failed every diet plan and workout program eventually succeed. Why? What exactly happens inside our brain remains somewhat a mystery, but here’s where I think it all begins.
It all starts with your ears. You can go to church Sunday after Sunday for YEARS and, suddenly on one particular Sunday – BAM! you change. It’s not like “the message” changed – YOU changed for the message. The difference is you were listening (really listening), you were seeking the truth, you were ready to hear it and you were ready to apply it. However, if you never showed up to hear the message, the message would have never had the chance to impact you. Read the rest of this entry
Train Hurt or Go Home! (or should you?)
This was a great blog for all of you who have gotten hurt and have wondered if you should workout or not….
No matter how careful you are in the gym, sooner or later you will be faced with some sort of achy extremity or throbbing appendage. What you learn next could redefine how you train during injuries.
I got caught in an arm bar last Monday night at the Forge, where I am learning mma. Yes, apparently I suck; however, after being caught in this rather precarious maneuver, I thought my elbow had been broke. Not so much from my arm going numb, or the excruciating pain in my elbow and shoulder, but mostly because of the huge tearing sound that made my opponent let go and say “did I break it”. Not exactly what you want to hear. Now the critical point… Am I just “hurt”, or am I “injured”. If I’m hurt but not injured, should I continue fighting or should I rest? How do I know?
READ STEVE’S BLOG to get the answers.
via Train Hurt or Go Home! (or should you?).
Fat & Trapped? Maybe YOU Are Holding the Key.
As we approach the New Year, it’s not only important to look at what you WANT, but it’s crucial you look at what you DON’T want. Maybe failure is not about what you are doing, but what you are not doing.
Moving on, in many ways, means saying goodbye. The problem is, goodbyes are often hard, even when the place we are headed may be a good place to be. I don’t know why it is so hard to let go of the past, but it is. We prefer the known over the unknown I guess. Ironically, we often prefer the known even if the known is in prisoning us.
It may sound crazy, but I believe many of us don’t get to experience a lot of great things in life because we have such a strong grip on the past. This issue can also affect us when attempting to make New Year’s resolutions – especially when it comes to weight loss. Read the rest of this entry
Feel Thin in Just 3 Days – Seriously!
If you’re like me, you’ve stuffed your face since Thanksgiving! Ok, I didn’t really do that bad, but I sure as heck ate like a PIG the last few days! Besides my ‘Restaurant Tour’ on my recent trip to the Big Apple, my food choices had not been that bad – it was my PORTIONS that were out of control.
I found myself rubbing my belly like it was my new pet Pot Bellied Pig. My once flat tummy (and when I mean once, I mean just 7 days ago), turned into a budda belly quick. It’s not like I gained 10lbs of stored fat over the week, but I was constantly carrying around a full stomach and packed bowels. I know, it’s a gross topic, but someone’s gotta talk about it.
Seriously, you can’t expect to eat these huge portions and not feel huge yourself. Where do you think that copious amount of food goes? Yes, it goes right to your gut – literally. It spends roughly 30 minutes to 2 hours in your actual stomach, but that’s not what makes us feel fat. Look at where the stomach is. When is the last time you grabbed just below your boob and thought, “boy I feel full!”? No, we grab our low stomach, where all our intestines are (which are probably already full from our last huge meal. And we unbutton our pants to make more room for the intestines to do their job. Isn’t that an attractive thought!?
So the million dollar question, “How can I feel thinner in just 3 days”? Easy! It takes up to 80 hours to rid yourself of the last huge meal you ate – that’s just a little over 3 days until you are truly through with that meal. This would also explain why I woke up feeling thinner today. Today is the three days after I ate my last big meal (on Christmas Eve).
The key to feeling thin in just 3 days, is to immediately begin eating smaller portions so that you literally have less food in your gut. The first few meals may be the most difficult to adjust to, as your body has become used to the larger portions. Although your stomach is the size of your fist, it can be stretched out when you eat larger portions. However, it’s not the size of your stomach that really is an issue, it’s the type of meals you eat.
Each meal sets you up for the next. Another words, if you just ate a large unhealthy meal, your body will get your digestive system prepared for another large unhealthy meal. Once you stop that particular eating pattern, your body will begin to expect (and be content with) smaller, healthier portions.
However, if you are a yo-yo dieter who eats small meals one minute and huge meals the next, expect your body to be just as confused as your scale. You will likely find small portions unsatisfying unless you maintain consistent eating patterns. As soon as you begin to maintain smaller portions, you will begin to feel thinner in just 3 days!
PFIT TIP: Today I am addressing portion control – but what about all those extra calories you ate over the Holidays? Don’t forget to start burning some calories so you can burn off the stored fat from excess calories. Your new eating habits coupled with a consistent exercise program can get you faster (and much happier) results.
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I Got Fat For Christmas
It’s the day after Christmas and today I share my own blunders – and what I feel is the key to success after you blow your diet. Whether “fat” for you is 5lbs or 50lbs – weighing more than you should is an awful feeling. We all know where we should be, how our pants should fit, and how we can (and should) look. At this point a clothing size means nothing. Honestly, even weight means nothing. At this point the only thing that matters is how we feel – and right now I feel like the crap I ate – HEAVY!
You also can’t argue with someone when they feel fat and try to convince them they should feel skinny because you think they look skinny. Believe me, I’ve tried. I’ve tried to convince Steve that he still looks amazing when he is feeling his worse. Even though I can’t see the extra pounds he knows is there, HE can FEEL it – and how we feel is the only thing that really matters. He also tries to encourage my fat butt, but there’s no encouraging me after I’ve stuffed my face. So, what’s next? Enjoy my vlog!
Twas the Day After Christmas, & Not a Creature Was Thin
‘Twas the day after Christmas and all through the house,
Every creature was stirring, yes, even the mouse.
The stockings, once hung by the chimney with care,
Were being packed up and are no longer there.
If only the children were nestled all snug in their beds,
All the adults in the house wouldn’t be losing their heads.
I finished some cleaning and took off my thinking cap;
And thought for a second I might take a nap,
When out of nowhere, there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the couch to see what was the matter.
Across the house I flew like a flash,
Tripping over empty boxes, wrapping paper and trash.
My neighbors’ Christmas lights lit up the neighborhood
So I could see my neighbor clearly exactly where she stood.
When what to my wondering eyes should appear,
She was standing on her scale crying in fear.
More rapid than eagles, all her weight came,
She cried and shouted and called her scale a bad name.
“Now Dangit! Now Darnit! Dagnabbit and Flippin!
My True Religion jeans are no longer fittin!
To the top of the porch, to the top of the wall;
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”
As dry leaves before Hurricane Frances did fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount in the sky.
Out of her garage her husband flew,
With the car full of toys and all the kids too.
And in a twinkling, I heard my doorbell sound,
Followed by crying and sobbing from everyone around.
As I drew in my head wondering how I could help,
All my friends and neighbors were at my door with a yelp.
They were dressed in fitness gear from their head to their feet
Their clothes were all tarnished with cookie crumbs and sweets.
They seemed to have an extra bundle around their fronts and their backs,
And they all looked like peddlers, each one with a gym sack.
Their eyes, how they twinkled – but wait, they weren’t merry,
They’d all been crying, their noses red as a cherry.
Their droll little mouths were drawn up like bows;
And their faces looked shocked, like they had all seen a ghost.
They had gotten on a scale and didn’t like what they saw.
And now they were ready and determined to erase it all.
They had broad faces and a little round belly,
That shook when they cried like a bowlful of jelly.
They were chubby and plump, each like an unhappy old elf,
And I laughed when I saw them because I was there myself.
A wink of my eye and a twist of my head,
Soon they all knew they had nothing to dread.
I spoke not a word, but went straight to work;
Getting the gym ready, and then turned with a jerk.
And laying my fingers on the computer keys,
I started writing out my fitness tips with ease.
I sprang to my car and gave my team a call,
And told them “get ready! Get ready for them all!”
And away they all flew to the health clubs that night
saying, Happy New Year to all, let’s give fat a good fight!
story by Bonnie Pfiester
Dear Readers: If you need help losing weight and getting fit this year, subscribe to my blog and join our online boot camp program (FREE!) at FitStudio, powered by Sears. We have lots of people here to support you (including me!). Follow me on twitter, facebook, at FitStudio, YouTube on Pinterest and here!
The Grunch Who Stole Fitness
Every Peep Down in Peep-ville liked Fitness a lot…
But the Grunch, Who lived just North of Peep-ville, Did NOT!
The Grunch hated Fitness! The whole Fitness life!
Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows why.
It could be that his head wasn’t screwed on quite right.
It could be, perhaps, that his pants were too tight.
But I think that the most likely reason of all
May have been that his clothes were two sizes too small.
But, Whatever the reason, His tight shirts or his jeans,
He stood there with cookies and pie, taunting the Peeps,
Staring down from his cave with a sour, Grunchy frown
At the warm lighted gym windows, below in their town.
For he knew every Peep down in Peep-ville below
Was busy now, working out and losing weight, you know.
“And they’re getting results!” he snarled with a sneer.
“Their Fitness goal is so close! It’s practically here!”
Then he growled, with his Grunch fingers nervously drumming,
“I MUST find a way to keep Fitness from spreading!”
“Why for fifty-three years I’ve put up with it now!
I MUST stop Fitness from growing! …But HOW?”
Then he got an idea! An awful idea!
THE GRUNCH GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!
“I know just what to do!” The Grunch laughed, in his wit.
And he made a quick plan and workout outfit.
And he chuckled, and clucked, “What a great Grunchy trick!
“Everyone will think I can get them fit quick”
“All I need is a gimmick…” So the Grunch made a plan.
He would launch informercials, and start his new scam
BUT all the Peeps already heard of this Grunchy new trap
’cause Fitness Bloggers were blogging to their Peeps in a snap
Before the Grunch could even make his very first sell
The Peeps warned Peepville of all his new tricks very well
They all knew what to look for, they were wise to his plan
So the Grunch couldn’t sell his Quick Fix to one Peep the land.
And what happened then…? Well…in Peep-ville they say
That the Grunch’s fat waist, grew THREE SIZES that day!
And in that minute, his size didn’t feel quite so right,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light
He turned in his thingumabobs and joined the Peeps for a sweat
And, in time, dropped 5 sizes – a year he’d never forget.
Original Dr. Suess story rewritten (and photos altered) by Bonnie Pfiester. 2011
Dedicated to my FitFluential & FitStudio Peeps!!
100 Calorie Snacks REAL People Eat!
Fitness magazines are always featuring healthy foods for under “whatever” calories – but how often are you disappointed in what they are saying? Although there are definitely times the suggestions are OK, there are many times I’m thinking “Oh yeah, I’ll just whip that 25-ingredient snack right up. NOT!” Or maybe the snack is more like a tasteless piece of cardboard with some light Ranch dressing on it – or it’s a vegetable I’ve never even heard of!
What better way to get REAL ideas than from REAL people who are living to get fit each and every day? So I called on my friends at FitFluential, fit peeps varying from fitness professionals to people on their own personal fitness journey. I asked them to share their favorite 100 calorie food/drink. PS: I didn’t say it had to be healthy – it just had to be worth it!
My Findings? Well, let’s just say the answers are a LOT more simple than you’d think. A snack doesn’t have to be complicated. A snack serves one primary purpose – to keep fuel in your tank so you keep burning calories and have energy. Most people freeze up when they are trying to figure out how to snack at work or how to eat 5-6 times a day. “I’m too busy to eat”, they say. Many of the snacks listed in this blog are great on the go. Read on and learn from the best! Read the rest of this entry
