Guest Blogger!

I'm honored to be a guest blogger for Fresh Connect! They are a local organic and natural foods delivery service and I've loved having their produce and meats delivered to my door for a couple years now. My first post is up, I hope you enjoy it! Be sure to check their blog for other great info from lots of other super guest bloggers. I'm hoping to create enough time to write a new post monthly for them.

Fresh Connect Blog- Got Raw?

"What you cook, Daddy?" Cheeseball recipe

Ally loves to cook with Daddy! She is constantly going into the kitchen to ask, "What you cook, Daddy?" This time, she helped Ryan make cheesball for Auntie Kat's birthday. She then insisted on licking the bowl, so they shared it with a fork and a spatula.

Here's Ryan's famous Cheeseball recipe too:

3, 8oz pkgs cream cheese, room temp (not reduced fat!)
2 small pkgs dried beef (about 5oz)
2 green onions, finely chopped
2 T worcestershire sauce
2 T Accent

Chop dried beef with food processor and set aside enough to roll the cheese ball in when done. Put the rest in a bowl with the cream cheese. Add onions to cream cheese and dried beef mixture. Add worcestershire sauce and Accent seasoning. Mix well and roll into 2 balls, roll in rest of chopped dried beef. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 12-24 hours. Serve cold with Ritz crackers, enjoy!

Goodnight Big Girl Ally!

A couple weeks ago we finished all the major work on Ally's new big girl room. There are still a few small decorating pieces that need to go up so I'll save pictures of the room for when those are completed. But, I wanted to share a couple cute ones of Ally Rae all ready to go to bed in her new room. She was pretty proud, as you can see.

Fitness Exposed

I spoke at the Holistic Mom's Network meeting tonight and thought I'd share the information here as well. It's pretty basic but it's important and could really make a difference in your training if you're stuck or just getting started.

Also, I'm accepting a few clients as a way to help a friend who is working towards funding an adoption. I'm offering 3 sessions at $99. The sessions will be held at my home, in my fitness setup. The sessions can be used any time and any way you like. We can discuss nutrition, take body fat measurements, put together a customized training routine for you to do on your own, or anything else you feel would benefit you and help you reach your goals. All $99 goes to my friend's adoption fund. Reserve your spot soon. I have 4 spots remaining. I'm not accepting long term/regular clients as I'm keeping super busy with my career as a mommy but wanted to offer my services for a good cause.

Here are my notes from the meeting. My goal is for you to take away one piece of valuable information. Let me know if you want to know something I didn't include. I'm happy to answer questions! Comment on this post or feel free to email me EliteFitTraining@gmail.com
Happy Fitness!

The Myths and The Facts:

MYTH #1: You must exercise to lose weight.

I.                    What you put in your body is 60-70% of your success (or failure!)

a.      50% of your body weight in oz of water consumption daily

b.      Alcohol increases calories significantly!

c.       Calories in, calories out is only a piece of the equation.

                                                              i.      Your body’s fuel needs to be good quality AND portions need to be reasonable.

                                                            ii.      My personal belief is real food is best, no matter the calories in a serving size. Eat real butter. Eat grass fed bacon. Eat whole grains.

MYTH #2: Muscle weighs less than fat.

II.                  Muscle does not weigh less than fat, it simply takes up less space. 1 lb of muscle weighs the same as 1 lb of fat BUT it takes up 1/3 of the space.

MYTH #3: Lifting heavy weights will make you look bulky.

III.                Lifting heavy weights will not cause you (women) to “bulk up”.

a.      Women are not made to bulk. We do not have the hormones necessary to do this.

b.      If you feel you’re bulking up, you are more than likely holding excess fat on top of the muscle which makes you appear larger.

c.       Another reason for “bulking” could be a hormonal imbalance. See your chosen care provider for help with this.

d.      Muscle burns fat.

                                                              i.      This means, the % of your body that is muscle is burning fat when you are at rest…yep, sitting on the couch watching TV!

                                                            ii.      SO, more muscle = less fat AND that muscle takes up less space so you’re smaller and more firm. Win Win!

e.      Muscle can prevent bone loss and rebuild damage already done.

f.        Increasing muscle mass also increases your metabolism.

g.      Healthy body fat for women is approximately 15-28%, 10-20% for men.

MYTH #4: You need to cut out a particular food to lose weight/fat.

IV.                Cutting out a food group (aka Atkins, South Beach, Vegan, etc) only depletes your body of necessary calories, vitamins, minerals, fat, cholesterol, etc. All these things help your body function fully and at it’s best.

a.      Side note: this of course has nothing to do with personal beliefs on food like animal rights, faith/religion/Gods, etc.

b.      Our country’s obesity problem increased in the 80’s with the boost of low fat diets despite our increase in exercise with introduction of group exercise/aerobics. Fat is good for you.

c.       Foods that boast sugar-free, fat free, low sodium usually compensate by adding another unhealthy option.

d.      Eat foods in their most natural state. If it has a label, it almost always has something unnatural/unhealthy in it. Stick to farm fresh foods as much as possible.

MYTH #5: You must count calories to lose weight/fat.

V.                  Calories are a piece of the equation. Eat Less, Move More isn’t exactly correct. EAT SMARTER, MOVE MORE.

a.      It’s more about eating the RIGHT number of calories than less calories.

b.      Nursing women especially need to be aware of calorie consumption. Nursing burns an obscene number of calories and you need to eat to keep up!

c.       Find your Basal Metabolic Rate (Google it to find a calculator). This will tell you how many calories you’re burning in a day at rest. This does not take into account any movement at all.

d.      Check out Total Daily Energy Expenditure for your maintenance caloric intake. This is an estimate based on your activity level.

e.      If you’re eating too few calories, your body will hold everything you give it as a way to protect you from starvation. This is called starvation mode. It causes you to hold excess fat as a defense mechanism.

f.        I use a heart rate monitor with chest transmitter belt to give me approximate calorie burns for my workouts as well as living daily life.

                                                              i.      Mine was $39 and is made by Acumen.

The Basics:

*Resistance training should be the focus of your fitness routine to maximize fat loss.

*Cardio, in any form, should serve only to burn EXCESS calories. It will not help you lose fat when done alone.

            Ever seen a hardcore fitness/group exercise instructor who was “chunky” and wondered why?

*Form is crucial!!! Exercising with questionable/incorrect form is a waste of time and energy. It is unsafe and often times will work a muscle other than the one you intended to target.

*You can do crunches until you’re blue in the face and never have the tummy you want! You must start deep in the core with the stabilizing, girdle muscles to really pull everything in. This is especially true for workouts following childbirth.

*Kegels will not help your pelvic floor muscles and may actually do more harm than good. Squats and core training are key!

*Mix up your workouts! Boredom and status quo only fuel plateaus! If you’ve memorized your routine, it’s time to change it. There’s so much to experience…try it all and shock the fat right off your body!

*Sorry to burst your bubble but, you CANNOT spot reduce. Your body will lose inches/weight/fat wherever and in the order it chooses. Doing extra of a particular exercise to change one area of your body will not work. You must take control of what you put in your body as fuel and keep your workout balanced with 3-5 days of weight training and 2-3 days of cardiovascular work with core exercises (not necessarily crunches, just anything that forces the core to stabilize and contract) included in all workouts.

*The most accessible/accurate way to measure body fat is a skin fold measurement using calipers. This can be done by a qualified personal trainer or you can purchase them inexpensively at www.power-systems.com and learn how to do it yourself. The only better way is hydrostatic weighing but it’s very expensive and difficult to find. I believe KU Med offers it locally.

Hot Mama: Mesocycle #2 Results

I completed the second Mesocycle in Cathe Friedrich's STS series! While I didn't see the same phenomenal results as with the first Mesocycle, I still had progress and am pleased with the direction I'm going.

I lost another 4.5" total body (1" of that being in my waist), 2 lbs, and 1% body fat. I'm down to 22% body fat with a goal of 19%. Honestly, I'm a little concerned that I won't make that goal by the end of the third Mesocycle but I'm sure going to try.

BEFORE: 121 lbs 27% body fat

AFTER MESO #1: 118 lbs, 23% body fat



CURRENT (AFTER MESO #2): 116 lbs, 22% body fat

I tried to get a close up of when I flex my abs to show the 6 pack but I couldn't get the definition didn't show up in the pictures. Bummer! I think I need a tan. ;-)

I started Mesocycle #3 on Monday. This group of exercises focuses on strength gains so I'm lifting 80-90% of my 1 rep max.

I'm keeping my cardio centered on kickboxing. I find this form of exercise to be extremely beneficial for me. My body responds well to it and I like the way I look and feel when I'm doing it. Plus, it's great stress relief to kick, punch, and jump! My faves are Cathe Friedrich's (of course!) Kick Max, Kick, Punch, and Crunch, MMA: Boxing, and 4-Day Split Kickbox.

I'm breaking my core workouts down by week. Week 1 will be Cathe Friedrich's Ab Hits. Week 2 is KorFlex (yes, I use and love an infomercial workout). I'll be doing only the 7 minute ab series of this workout. Week 3 is Cathe Friedrich's Core Max. And Week 4 is Cathe Friedrich's STS Core Circuits. I arranged these from easiest to hardest (based on my opinion).

4 weeks to my goal and hopefully One Hot Mama!

Avacado Adventures, aka Jace's First Foods

It's been a couple weeks since my last post. We've been super busy with lots of things in our life that will soon be blog-worthy! Putting together what will be Ally's new room (decorated in ladybugs), purging the house for our garage sale this May, my workouts, and Jace's first foods. I decided to start with Jace's first foods since the pictures just couldn't wait!

I realize all children are different but I really had no scope of how different. As a comparison, Ally Rae had her first foods at 11 months old. She had met all the basic signs of readiness except for an interest in eating, which is of course the most important! Jace on the other hand, turned 6 months a couple weeks ago and has had the interest in food for probably a couple months now but he met NO other signs and the gut of a 4 month old isn't ready for solid food, so we did the best we could to hold him off. Now that he has 2 teeth and is sitting a little bit on his own (but is army crawling everywhere!), I decided to give in. He's still missing some of the readiness signals but his interest is overshadowing all those! Ryan had to wipe BBQ sauce off his hands the other day (high fructose corn syrup is not an appropriate first food...) and I've definitely pulled Doritos, grapes, bread, and other foods out of his mouth that Ally has left on the floor. It's time.

Here is the info on readiness, taken from the Kelly Mom website :
Side note: I've left out the info on why delaying solids is important but be sure to check that out as it plays a huge role in deciding when to offer your little one their first bites.

"Signs that indicate baby is developmentally ready for solids include:

• Baby can sit up well without support.
• Baby has lost the tongue-thrust reflex and does not automatically push solids out of his mouth with his tongue.
• Baby is ready and willing to chew.
• Baby is developing a “pincer” grasp, where he picks up food or other objects between thumb and forefinger. Using the fingers and scraping the food into the palm of the hand (palmar grasp) does not substitute for pincer grasp development.
• Baby is eager to participate in mealtime and may try to grab food and put it in his mouth.

We often state that a sign of solids readiness is when baby exhibits a long-term increased demand to nurse (sometime around 6 months or later) that is unrelated to illness, teething pain, a change in routine or a growth spurt. However, it can be hard to judge whether baby’s increased nursing is related to readiness for solids. Many (if not most) 6-month-old babies are teething, growth spurting and experiencing many developmental changes that can lead to increased nursing – sometimes all at once! Make sure you look at all the signs of solids readiness as a whole, because increased nursing alone is not likely to be an accurate guide to baby’s readiness."

We practice Baby Led Weaning so you'll see Jace feeding himself real food. We do not spoon feed or offer processed baby foods/rice cereal but that's a whole other post! ;-)

On to the cuteness!

"What is this stuff Mom?"

"Not too bad!"

Proud of his mess.

And now just really hamming it up for the camera. Oh boy.

Done with avacado, bib is more fun.

More of the camera ham.

One last shovel of food before he decided he was done (notice he pulled the bib off).