“Someday is not a day of the week.” ~Unknown

We all say, “Someday.”

Someday we will lose weight. Someday we will take control of our lives. Someday we will get healthier, stop smoking, exercise, eat more veggies, play with our kids, go to the beach, ride our bikes.

“Someday” will never come unless you make it.

Will you make today your “someday?” Or will you wait?

~Onward

“Decide what you want, decide what you are willing to exchange for it. Establish your priorities and go to work.” ~H. L. Hunt

What are you willing to give up to lose weight? Think about it for a second.

Are you willing to give up that second serving of food, the chocolate chip cookie, the extra glass of wine, the 15 minutes of sleep, or the 1 hour of television?

What is being fit and healthy worth to you?

There is no magic in weight loss. You can’t have your cake and be thin, too. You have to pick and choose – what you want and what you are willing to give up to get it. You don’t have to give up everything “fun,” but you’ll need to set priorities and decide what’s important. Otherwise, we go nowhere.

Onward.

~Helen

The #1 New Year’s resolution? Probably to lose weight. January 1 always seems like a good time to start “fresh” and people, feeling bloated from ovedoing the Holidays, are desperately seeking a way to get those Holiday pounds off.

I, too, feel the bloat, so here are some of my previous blog posts on weight loss resolutions and staying with it. Time to read my own work, he he. Enjoy…and have a great, brand-spankin’ new year!

Sticking to Weight Loss Resolutions

Keeping Weight Loss Resolutions – The Beginning

Keeping Weight Loss Resolutions – Sticking With It

New Year’s Weight Loss Resolutions

Photo: ©Flickr Krissy Mayhew

“You’ve got to say, ‘I think that if I keep working at this and want it badly enough I can have it.’ It’s called perseverance.” ~Lee Iacocca

The secret to weight loss is summed up by this one quote above: You’ve got to want it badly enough. Period.

This Holiday season is the perfect time to see how badly you really want it. Instead of eating with abandoned at every Holiday function, ask yourself one simple little question before you reach for that extra serving: “How badly do I want it?” If you take more cookies than you should, then you’ve learned a valuable truth: You don’t want it badly enough. And there’s nothing wrong with that. When you are ready, when you really want it more than anything else, you will succeed. That’s what happened to me – and how I lost 80 pounds. I wanted to be healthy and fit…more than anything else.

Do you?

Onward.

~Helen

“So maybe tomorrow. I’ll find my way home…” ~Stereophonics

Four years ago I was a superfit 119 pounds (down from my original 200 pounds). At one point during the summer of 2005, I was down to 114 pounds – too thin by my standards (I am only 5 feet tall). Today – well, today I have no idea how much I weigh. I am going to guess about 128, judging from the fact that I can’t button most of my pants, or when I do, I have a terrible muffin top. (As an aside – I no longer weigh myself because I refuse to focus on a number.)

I way fell off the superfit weight loss wagon about three years ago when the stress of being a single mom with limited income drove me to eat too much chocolate and too many Ritz Crackers.

I still exercised and taught Spinning classes, but the calories I was snacking on were overtaking the calories I was expending.

Then – earlier this year – I buckled down, cut out most of the “white” carbs, started eating healthier overall and lost 11 of the approximately 20 pounds I had gained. Everyone noticed, and people everywhere commented. I felt good and happy about myself…good enough to get rid of the pants that had some “growing room” around the waist.

I don’t know what happened between then and now, but when I went to put on my jeans two weeks ago I couldn’t button them. Not only could I not button my jeans, but I couldn’t button any pants at all! And since I’d given away my “heavier” jeans during my last move, I had nothing left to wear but sweatpants (I refuse to go out and buy larger pants). I was very frustrated, disgusted, mad and sad. I wanted to just give up and eat everything in sight…and feel sorry for myself. Then, a week ago, I decided to once again take the bull by the horns. I lost 82 pounds before – I can lose about 10…I think.

The biggest change I noticed that had caused the weight gain is that I had gone back to my old “fat” thinking of “I’ll start tomorrow.” This is the exact thinking that got me to 200 pounds in the first place. Over the last few years, with stresses mounting, lots of late nights working, issues with kids in school – I fell right back into the old trap of “feel good now, start fresh tomorrow.”

The funny thing is – my motto for fitness has been “tomorrow never comes.” And do you know what? It doesn’t. That is how I gained those 20 pounds back – waiting for a tomorrow where everything will be easier.

So in the course of one short week my pants fit a bit better and I feel more confident. Why? Because, once more, I cut out (or way back on) the “white” carbs (which are really just sugary foods, crackers, white breads, pastas), added more protein and really paid attention to my diet. But the biggest secret was nipping myself in the bud when I was tired and not allowing myself to overeat for energy and then “start tomorrow.” Last week, I started “today.” And kept going.

Even tonight when I went out for Mexican food, I did have lots of chips, salsa, and even sour cream. I had eaten pretty healthily most of this week and ate a light breakfast this morning in anticipation of this “linner.” The “slipping back” me would have taken this a step further and continued to eat junkie foods tonight because I’d “already blown it.” The me that lost the original 82 pounds took control, though, and said, “You’re done. You didn’t blow it. You planned this, you had fun, and now you go back to eating lightly.”

So yes – my pants fit a bit better. And by Christmas I hope to report that the muffin top is no longer “muffining.”

Onward.

~Helen

Photo: ©Flickr: nhanusek

“I hate myself for loving you…”~Joan Jett

If you’re like me, sometimes you eat things you don’t even like.

Take Cheetos, for instance. I don’t like them. They taste like styrofoam and they make me puffy. And yet…when I am tired or stressed, I sometimes discover that my fingers are orange from eating my daughter’s Cheetos (Puffs).

The bummer with eating foods we don’t really like is that we waste calories on things that have nothing to do with pleasure or fun. If I am going to eat something fattening and pretty much useless, wouldn’t it be better to eat some expensive, delicious melt-in-my-mouth Belgian chocolate rather than Hershey’s (wax) chocolate?

In all reality, when I am “stress eating,” I am eating not for flavor or fun but to relieve some pressure in an overbooked and fatigued day.

I want salt, sugar, salt, sugar…and it doesn’t matter what form those ingredients come in. Just bring it.

I think the trick is for us to find other ways to relieve our stress and fatigue. In the past I have used exercise as a stress release and it works most excellently. Sleep is oftentimes out of the question, but what about yoga? Or reading a book, or watching a movie? Maybe snuggling with your child or significant other? Do these things really work, or are they poor substitutes for some good, old-fashioned carbs?

What do you think?

Onward….

~Helen

Photo Flickr ©vkareh

{This post was written my fitness column on LA’s the Place – “The Fit Life.” It gives you some quick and easy real life tips on getting in shape for the summer. . ~Helen}

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You’re standing in the fitting room filled with dread. The harsh overhead lights don’t do anything to ease your fear of the garment clutched in your hand. You slowly strip down, peel on the suit. And scream. Yup, it’s bathing suit season once more.

It may seem a daunting task to fit into that suit (or swim shorts), especially if you have more than a few pounds to lose. There is no quick hacks to safely losing weight, however, but there are some simple steps you can take to get you there faster.

1.     The magic weight loss combo
You need to both firm up your muscles and burn the layer of fat over them to put your best body forward. Doing just cardiovascular activities (ones which raise your heart rate) will help with fat loss but won’t change your basic underlying shape. Strength training will help firm and sculpt your muscles, and burn some fat, but may not be enough to trim that pesky layer. Cardio and weight training together is the magic combination for a new and improved physique.

2.     Be a better body time-saver
Performing both aerobic exercise and strength training seems like it would take a lot of time, but it really doesn’t have to. The secret is working harder, smarter and being more efficient. Walking on a treadmill for hours on end is great for your overall health, but it’s not going to do that much to stoke your fat burning furnace. You need to work focused and targeted. Pick a challenging activity such as Spinning®, running, swimming or step aerobics (yes, that’s still around and better than ever). Or perform plyometric intervals like jump squats, knee tucks or side jumps. When you strength train, do exercises> that use multiple muscles at once – push ups, squats, lunges, walking lunges, planks and pull ups. These burn more calories and work more of your body faster. The best of both worlds? Kettlebell training. Kettlebells are incredibly challenging cardiovascularly, and also strengthens your muscles. Kettlebell training burns a ton of calories and turns you into a fat burning machine (read my column on kettlebell training to learn more).

3.     Supercharge your diet
Start your morning with a protein-rich meal to keep you fueled throughout the day. Low fat cottage cheese (without any sugary additives) is an excellent choice. Sprinkle some almonds and fresh berries on top to give you staying power and better heart health. Another benefit to eating a high-protein breakfast is you avoid the “afternoon slump” that plagues so many of us. This bout of fatigue often causes you to rush for a sugary, fattening snack to help keep you awake. Sugar in the afternoon does not help you fit into that bikini.

4.     Carbs: To eat or not to eat…that is the question
Carbohydrates (breads, pastas, rice, sweets, cakes, tortillas, chips, candy, even some vegetables and fruit) are often villainized. In truth, we need carbs in our diet. What we don’t need are processed foods high in simple carbohydrates with little nutritional value. Whole grains, fruits and vegetables are an important part of most diets. However, it’s easy to overdo “carbs” overall and if your goal is to lose weight quickly, backing off on the carbs might be a help.

What works for many is to limit “obvious” carbs to once per day (this does not include fruits or vegetables). You might have old fashioned rolled oats with your cottage cheese for breakfast and that would be your carb for the day. Or you choose an “extra fiber” bagel with lunch. Perhaps save your carb for dinnertime. The best time to eat a carbohydrate, by the way, is immediately before or after a hard exercise session. So if you really want that muffin, time it to correspond with your workouts.

It’s all a matter of finding what works for you. Too few carbs can leave you exhausted. Too many and you don’t lose weight. Chart what you eat and how you feel. Base your carb intake on that. There is nothing wrong with cutting back for a short period of time. But for the longer term, we all need the fiber and other benefits whole grains provide. Just use common sense and try to eat a balanced diet.

5.     It’s all in the ‘tude
One of the easiest ways to look good in your bathing suit? Wear your smile and a happy attitude. It sounds hokey, I know, but if you think you look good, other people will think you look good, too. Stand confident. Stand tall. Be happy. Think of all the things your body has accomplished. Every scar, every stretch mark tells the story of your life. Remember – you are your own harshest critic. Others don’t see the faults you do. Cut yourself some slack.

Work hard. Eat smart. Wear a smile. It really is that simple.

Helen M. Ryan is an ACE-certified trainer, Spinning® director, author and speaker. Follow her on Twitter & Facebook.

“Waiting for the end to come. Wishing I had strength to stand. This is not what I had planned. It’s out of my control.” ~Linkin Park

When I was a young girl my mother was always dieting. I grew up watching her go through the latest fads in diets: The low carb (or, eat all the bacon and eggs you want) diet, the grapefruit diet, the pineapple diet, the “diet pill” (amphetamine) non-diet and everything in between. My mother was not very overweight at all. In fact, she was what I would call “normal” for her time. But no matter how “normal” in weight they are, women diet. That is what we do. Weight loss trumps all.

Being surrounded by dieting for so long (and being a serial dieter myself with my own body image issues), I learned all about what to eat – and what not to eat – to lose weight. To put it simply, in the world of dieting all the foods that taste fabulous are bad you, and all the foods that do not tickle your taste buds are good for you. Don’t eat bread, don’t eat fat, don’t eat sugar, don’t eat fruit, don’t snack, don’t eat solid foods..we are surrounded by “dont’s.” So, why, then are we still fat?

Because there are no “do”s.

For the most part, all diets work. They really do. Some are more healthy than others, but in reality, if you follow a diet to a T it will work. The problem with diets is that they are not realistic in the long run. Atkins advocates the low carb route, which has some merit in and of itself…unless you like regular bowel movements or you exercise a lot. The 4-hour-body diet has some very sound principles as well…if you can live with “slow carbs,” an expensive bevy of supplements and ridiculous tricks to “hack” your body’s metabolism (ice bath, anyone?).

The best diets out there are the ones based on real people’s lives and they share two very important commonalities: Balance and moderation. The Zone and Weight Watchers, for example, are both based on good basic everyday nutritional principles (with the possible exception of letting your carb habit get out of control – many Weight Watchers snacks are loaded with sugars though lower in calories and fat). More than anything, though, these diets work because they let you live while you diet.

We can all stay on extreme diets for the short-term, and sometimes we should try different eating styles to shock our bodies. But can you really live without ever again having a slice of pizza, a glass of wine, or a piece of fudge?

If you have to give up every pleasure food gives you just to live in a marginally smaller body, is it worth it? Or should you eat very healthily 80% of the time and give yourself a margin of error of 20%?

It’s time we take the power away from food. There are no “bad” foods. Only “bad” long-term choices. Eat a little bit stricter for awhile until you reach a body weight that’s healthy for you, but don’t tell yourself, “No way, not ever will I eat that again.” That’s setting yourself up for failure. We’ve had enough of that. When you see some weight loss progress, gradually add back in some of the things that you love (within moderation of course, ma chérie.)

Life is about living. So go live. Laugh. Enjoy.

Onward and forward.

~Helen

Photo ©Space Commander

This is a moving guest post by Deborah Nicosia. It will resonate with all of us who have struggled with our weight. Look for more from Debbie in the future if I can convince her.

So, yesterday I had a typical “diet fail.” My intentions were good as I started the day…they usually are. I got my coffee and had four scrambled egg whites with one yolk.

Off to a crazy Saturday at work. I work five hours with a 15 minute break, so there is no time to walk upstairs, stand in line and get lunch. There was nothing at home to bring for lunch, because I forgot to plan for myself. I had been taking care of sick kids all week…..and forgot about me, as usual.

No time to venture upstairs at work and only a dollar in my pocket. This meant getting two hot dogs quickly, and go back to work. Cheap, quick, and I’ll be full!

When I got home I was totally exhausted. My feet were throbbing, and I was starving. It had been four hours since I ate the two hot dogs. My husband arrived home 30 minutes later with three egg rolls in hand. I devoured all three of them. I was satisfied after two, but…they tasted so good I didn’t stop until they were gone.

I had promised the kids to take them to a movie later. The popcorn smelled so wonderful. I wasn’t even hungry, but was overcome by the smells and decided to “splurge.” I ordered a small popcorn, but then the girl behind the counter asked ” Do you want a medium for just a dollar more?” So, now I had a medium popcorn that I kept eating long after I was full. Then I helped myself to some of my daughter’s Skittles and M&M’s that she had brought with from home.

If I had made a lunch to take with to work, and eaten a healthy satisfying dinner when I came home, I probably would not have eaten all the fattening unhealthy foods yesterday. But it is a vicious cycle. With stress, exhaustion, and the feeling of being overwhelmed from having to remember everyone’s needs, except my own, I realized that I lost my core many years ago. I have not been important to “me,” and I put myself last – always.

I have now been overweight for nine yrs. My daughter has never known me “average weight.” But, I know that with the “Real World Weight Loss’” stories, and support, I can can change my life. Put me first. And I am not alone.

“Wind me up and watch me go, where she stops nobody knows. A good excuse to be a bad influence on you.” ~Pink

I used to be an avid weight lifter and hated anything cardiovascular. I would run, sure, but despised every minute of it. Sometimes I would ride my bike to school but only out of necessity because I didn’t want to take the bus. For the thrill of it, the power of it, the invincibility of it, I would always lift weights. Nothing beat the feel of cold, hard, heavy steel in my hands.

Now that I’ve gotten older I have switched teams and am a die-hard cardio fiend (in the form of Spinning® and cycling). How and when this traitorous change happened I am not sure. All I know is that I’ve played on both sides equally and aerobic exercise is now my drug, I mean exercise, of choice.

This is the question debated hotly back and forth in the fitness world: “Which type of exercise – cardio or strength training – is best for weight loss?” Trainers and group exercise instructors fight over this at length. Both camps claim that “mine is better than yours,” with trainers leading the weight lifting charge and class instructors flying the cardio flag.

All the while, Pilates and yoga gurus probably stand quietly and Zenly by, with their tight cores and neutral spines,  laughing at our inability to come to an agreement.

In many cases, the weights vs. cardio camps are so intensely divided that it is almost like our political system. No matter what common sense (or the U.S. population) says, Republicans and Democrats agree only to vehemently disagree, not seeing any shared ground. Exercising for weight loss, like politics, is full of gray areas and again like politics the best answer is the common sense one: a little bit from both sides.

There are many variables and subcultures even in the respective camps (high intensity training, super slow training, aerobic zone training, interval training) and I am not going to get into those now. Like everything relating to losing weight, becoming healthier and living a full life, the letter B is our friend. B is for balance. No one wants a one-sided relationship, and that includes your body.

To lose weight, and maintain what you’ve lost, you need both aerobic exercise and weight training. It’s that simple. Weight training gives you a longer calorie burn after exercising, while aerobic activity burns off large amounts of calories instantly. They really are the yin and yang to each other.

If you were to ask strength training and aerobic exercise to sell you on their benefits, their answers would be this:

Captain of Team W -Weight training:

I…

• Give you a longer “after burn”post- exercise
• Increase your muscles’ size and strength (or “tone you up” as some, ahem, like to say)
• Help you burn more calories throughout the day since muscles need more calories to just survive
• Increase your bone density
• Help you look thinner as muscles, while heavier, take up less room than fat

Captain of Team A – Aerobic exercise:

I…

• Burn a lot of calories right off the bat
• Help you become leaner overall
• Increase your lung and heart size and function
• Release endorphins (the pain-killing chemicals)
• Put you in a better mood
• Circulate fresh oxygen throughout your body (and help you feel more alert)

As you can see from this very partial debate list, both types of exercise are essential. The trick is finding something that works for you and that covers both bases. Often, we are either “weight lifters” or “cardio freaks,” and our health truly is the sum of both. This is where we have to learn to play nice with the “other side” and not be so partisan.

Find an activity you love to do that challenges you…and mix in what you need but don’t necessarily love. My choices: Spinning classes and outdoor cycling for aerobic exercise (and mental health adjustment); body weight exercises with the TRX system for strength; kettlebells for a mix of both. This combination has kept me fit and happy and rarely do a I pick up an actual weight anymore. I choose my “poisons” wisely and am happier for it.

The right exercise to help you lose weight? Marry Camp A with Camp W, and produce cute little super fit Camp AW bodies.

What about you? Which category do you fall into? And what is your “acceptable” cross-training method?

Onward and forward.

~Helen

P.S. Not sure how much exercise you really need? Read my exercise post on that subject.

Fitness Model: Alana Clarke

(Disclaimer: The TRX link is indeed an affiliate link. I figured – I love the product, might as well make a penny off of it. Someone has to pay the bills.)