Over-Exercising, the devil in the wings

   Let me describe a scenario. You've made the decision, your resolve is set in stone. Everyday you start going to the gym. Maybe you went two or three times a week before this, or maybe you never went at all. But you're a beast now! You are going to two group classes in a row 5 days a week, or slamming that elliptical for an hour every day then doing enough abs to make Spanx a thing of the past. Who knows what your goal is. Lose 20 lbs in a month, finally get rid of that jiggly spot, regardless of the dream, with the amount of cardio and HIIT you've been putting in, you should be a stick in no time. Then you get on the scale and it hasn't moved. So you start eating only cabbage, or cut out all sugar and gluten. Problem solved. A week later, you step on the scale expecting big things, and it still hasn't freaking budged! One last balls to the wall attempt has you hitting those HIIT classes like never before, drinking those meal replacement shakes twice a day, and making that elliptical scream! Six days in a row! On the seventh day, you crawl out of bed, nursing a swollen joint, starving yet cringing at the thought of your two egg whites and protein shake breakfast because you could kill a bakers dozen of doughnuts in one breath right now. You slowly crawl to the bathroom, place one toe on the scale to zero it out, then with a deep breath, step on. One. Pound. Up. You swear at life, decide you have a thyroid issue, and that you may as well demolish the bagels and cream cheese in the back of the fridge because you've been dreaming about it for three weeks and what does it matter now anyways.
   What really happened? Odds are you don't have a thyroid issue, but most of us have hypothesized that at one point or another.
   1) The scale didn't move because you are retaining water. When you exercise your muscles, you create micro-tears that heal to build stronger, larger muscles. These tears also create swelling and water retention during the healing process in the same way an injury swells on the outside.
  2) The scale only relays your relationship with gravity, it doesn't describe your physical make-up. Some scales do state your BMI, but that's a useless number. What you may be missing is your body fat percentage. Your body fat percentage is taken using measurements of specific areas of your body and tells you how much of your body is made up of fat as opposed to muscle. You can be the same weight as you were when you started, but have lost inches in body fat and replaced it with lean muscle mass.
   3) Poor nutrition. The human body is a machine. It will do what it has to do to keep itself working. If you don't provide the fuel, either through cutting too many calories or withholding macro-nutrients, it will begin storing what it can and shutting down what it needs to to survive. In fact, if you cut out more than 500 calories a day from food and burn more than 500 calories in exercise at the same time, your body will enter starvation mode and begin storing fat and burning muscle.


   Combine all those with over-exercising and you have a snowball effect. Over-exercising is what happens when you don't give your body a chance to heal. It is a sneaky fiend and happens to the best of us. The most common indicators of over-exercising are fatigue during the day, decline in performance, getting sick more often (unless you have small children, which are mobile germ machines), and a general feeling of yuckiness (malaise).
   It seems frustrating, because you read/see/hear about people in the gym constantly, twice a day, and damn do they look amazing! So why can't you? Hell, you even see meme's spouting how  the dedicated and those truly determined to achieve put forth the effort to get in that damn gym every day. So why not you? The truth is, those people didn't start off in the gym every day, or if they did, they were supervised, advised, and had a plan of attack. They balanced cardio, resistance training, and flexibility training with proper nutrition and they listened when their body spoke. I've had days when I stopped five minutes into a workout because my body was just "done". When that happens, rest. Take a few days and recover. If you need guidance, contact a personal trainer, often times we can schedule one or two sessions just to help you work a plan of attack (we do more than yell at people, I swear!).
    Work smarter, not harder, my friends, and thrive!

The Final Week - SuperMom and Her Amazing Attitude

Day 18:

WEIGH IN DAY.   I lost 2.6 pounds, earning me my 10 pound star.  When I started weight watchers 15 weeks ago I thought it would be easy, it would just melt away.  After my week of revelations and knowing that I would be achieving another star, I thought about what I would say to the meeting about how I have been this successful.  Every time I tried to think of how to get out what is inside I cry.  As I have discussed this week, it has been a huge week of revelations for me.  I have realized many things about myself I was either too in denial to admit or didn’t realize.  My fitness is amazing, I can’t wait to continue.  My legs and butt are starting to have form, which would probably be my favorite part of my body, if I had to choose.  Eating right isn’t hard, but it isn’t easy.  It takes dedication.  Making sure I am eating items that go towards my goals for the day (main focus on protein right now), but continuing to follow my weight watchers diet.  It isn’t hard, but I do find myself eating or burning out on a particular food.  Chicken breast is my go to, I usually grill up 10 a week and then freeze them, I grab this if I want to snack or an early lunch or a quick add on to a salad at dinner if my family is making other choices.  I do allow myself for some less healthy choices from time to time, but really try to stay on an 80/20 or 90/10 balance. 

Day 19:

Today my shout out goes to Hallie, this wonderful program that she offers to people is amazing!  It really has changed my life, showing me that I can push myself and succeed.  I don’t think there is enough praise in the world she can receive to let her know how truly awesome she is!  She definitely kicks butt at her workouts.  I love the positive support he gives with also guiding.  I love hearing that my form is awesome!  It does make me aware of how I may have doing things wrong in the past and what I need to do to change them.  Adding in the extra exercise today is going to be tough, however knowing that I have the weekend off or at least light duty I am ok with it. 

Day20-21: Rest  

While I was told to rest this weekend, my body felt like it wanted to move.  I did end up going to the fair with my sister- to see Kid Rock.  I did almost 20,000 steps this day (Day 20).

Day 22:

This week I am working on my own for exercise.  I am going to repeat last week’s exercises, as I know something big is coming for the future.  Today, I again ran my 3.1 miles in about 38 minutes.  This seems to be a good time for me to run.  It seems to be getting a little easier; however I am starting to feel some discomfort in my knee.  It isn’t bad at this point, however does act up after and during running, hopefully nothing too bad.  I hit 110 g of protein today! I think I can tell when I don’t eat enough other days, because I crave it more and more.

Day 23:

I found it very hard, almost not able to complete a Tabata this morning, because I was by myself.  All I know is I was sweating.  Not much else to say about today, getting busy with starting the new job and anticipating new kids.

Day 24:

Another run day, the pain in my knee is progressing when I am running; I have a race on Saturday that I hope to not miss, as I have been doing a great job with training.  This week feels a little off as I am working on my own.  I am happy that I am still working out, but I do miss having that accountability though, I probably could push harder?!?!  This is my last week of freedom before the craziness of a new school year kicks off.  I really think that I am going out with a bang this weekend.  To keep motivation this week has been tough cause I know there will be no rest for me.  But I need to be active.  Food hasn’t been too hard as I am preparing for this weekend of probably not eating how I should, but doing the best I can with what I have.

Day 25:

Today I worked on some squats and push ups. I did several different types of squats, 3 reps a piece, also threw in some arms in there.  A little bit of everything.  I can’t wait to have Hallie back tomorrow for a butt kicking.  Today is my last day of work for the week, which I am thankful for.  I have had the last 6 months off of work, so jumping back in has proven to be difficult.  I know that I am going to be away from my family much of the next few days, which doesn’t thrill me either.  I walked for 20 minutes on my treadmill tonight before bed, because I just felt I needed a little bit more.

Day 26:

Here’s to the start of my busiest weekend in the world.  I have a wedding that I am in, as well as my Women Rock 5k run (bumming a little as I was supposed to run the 10K- my longest distance)  I started the day out well, working out with Hallie, which was kick butt as usual.  Then the running began.  Unfortunately I didn’t pack enough snacks and didn’t know that my time would be limited.  My nutrition for today was not good.  I didn’t stop to get fast food, but then I definitely didn’t eat enough.  My body was screaming when it came time for dinner.  I wanted to eat everything in sight, they had chips and cheese sauce out for an appetizer.  I refrained, and then ordered my pulled pork with no bun and no chips with a side salad.  I love the look I get when I order at a restaurant.  I feel a little high maintenance, however I am paying for the food and would like to be able to enjoy versus staring at the food I shouldn’t be eating. Let’s get real, I wouldn’t stare I would’ve eaten the food.

Day 27:

Today was my Women Rock 5K.  I ran it in 40 minutes.  The first mile was quick, but then my dreaded runners knee started acting up.  Mile 2 was tough, I pushed through mile 3 until I felt a pop and extreme pain.  However, I was not tapping out of the race.  I walked a lot more than wanted; I did run across the finish line which was my goal.  I must have been running funny because my hip started acting up as well. I iced on my way home and used panaway, because I knew rest wasn’t going to be on my agenda for the rest of the day.  I did stretch really well, too.  It didn’t bother me too much the rest of the day, standing in the church got to be a bit much.  But then dancing the night away was fun! I did 23,000 steps today!

Day 28:

Rest day, thankfully.  Although we did go to the state fair all day, so really no rest for me.

Day 29: 

Today I was so sore and tired; I think my crazy weekend caught up with me.  I took my bodies lead and used a rest day. I was in and out of sleep most of the day, which isn’t normal for me.  I honored it though.

Day 30:

Today I am back to the running, it is more of a walk as I don’t know how far to push my knee without injury, I really don’t want to set myself back.  However, I really don’t want to get into the habit of not doing it.  I want to be able to increase my mileage for my half marathon next year.  So anyhow, I can do three miles walk run in around 45 minutes, which I still think is pretty good, since I am focused on time.  After my crazy weekend I am getting back on my nutrition, I definitely can tell that it has been a little off.  I just don’t feel as well and sluggish.  This makes me happy, because I wasn’t feeling like I was missing out on too much, I thought I would be satisfied with eating some not so good foods at the fair or the wedding.  However it was opposite, I really haven’t missed unhealthy eating.  I feel better when I eat better, surprised, shouldn’t be but I was.  I also am happy to be back working out, again with this when I go too long without I don’t feel right.  This is weird for me because I have gone through phases of working out a ton, in the past, to being pretty sedentary.  This time my body craves the workout.

Day 31:

Today was a stormy afternoon, and I couldn’t pull my butt out of bed early to get my work out on, so I hung out with Jillian for 35 minutes. Ahhh how I missed her, NOT.  I definitely love my time with Hallie, because I have learned so much about form, which you miss out with when doing a video.  Anyhow, now that I am back at work, I am finding it hard to get my 10,000 steps in, unless I am running.  However those of you that have followed me, you know I am competitive and will march in place until I hit my 10,000 steps, especially since my husband has a fitbit. (can’t let him win- yes I am Monica from friends J)  As I am nearing the end of this program, I really hope you learned something as I did or it motivated you to make some changes.  I hope that you see that this is truly a journey and not a quick fix.  I make mistakes, I definitely am not perfect- pretty perfect though.  I love looking at it as one day at a time.  These changes didn’t happen overnight, so the correction won’t happen overnight either.  But know that you are worth it!  You deserve the best! You are a VIP!

Wading through the Bull Shit - The Plight of the Average Gym-Goer

  This morning I read a blog that I found inspiring. Was it the blog of the fitness model who eats only what she pulls from her own garden? No. I'd starve, my garden sucks. I can't even grow corn. Maybe the lady who lost 125 pounds and now swears by her $600 cleanses? Nope. It was the blog by the fitness model/trainer who stood up against CrossFit. It inspired me because he stood against it for the same reasons I do. I'm not the only one! It's nice, when you're standing in the least popular corner in the fitness world, to have company.
   So why do I stand against CrossFit? The same reason I stand against Isagenix, Advocare, fad diets, extreme diets, Insanity, Beach Body, Shakeology, etc., etc. Bring on the deluge of hate comments. It's cool, because here it is: They're Bull Shit. I think what most people fail to realize is that these "life-changing" companies do what corporations do best; target a specific market, convince that specific market that the company produces a need that cannot be met anywhere else, create a demand, and charge premium for that demand. If you think that any of these corporations are doing any of this for any other reason than profit than you are delusional.
   Lets start with CrossFit. I have the least beef with them, because they're not so much a breach of ethics to me as just a bit misled. I have good friends in CF (at least until they read this, then it will be "had good friends" I'm sure) and I will say they are some ripped people! It's the way they got there, though. Do you want your body to work 20 years from now? Yes?  Do you want titanium knees? No? Then don't do CF. The majority of their exercises are ones that should be done with caution and care to form. Never for speed. Never for a ridiculous number of reps. Kipping pull-ups, if you don't know what you're doing proficiently, can mess up your back like you wouldn't believe. Same with deadlifts, squats, muscle ups, etc. CF is supposed to train their clients correctly, they should be experts at form, but they're not. Like I said, most boxes are misled, rushing their clients into things they aren't ready for. If you want your body to last its full life span, treat it right. You wouldn't expect a car to last very long if you did 20 burnouts on it every day.
   Now to the "Cleansers". Ughhhhhhhhh, I HATE that word! That is the most bull shit buzzword in the fitness industry right now. Your body has been cleansing itself since the day you were born. It does not need a few hundred dollars worth of herbs and enzymes to do the trick. There is no "cellular cleanse", that is not scientifically possible. What happens, in fact, is that as the human body burns the fat contained in fat cells (the cells only shrink, they aren't destroyed. Only true starvation destroys fat cells), the "toxins" that are stored in the cells recycle through the liver and are flushed out by the liver. If your body truly "flushed" out all the "toxins" stored in it over a, oh, say 9-day period (Isagenix 9 Day Deep Cleanse) you would probably die.
      "What is clear, however, is that detox schemes — such as fasting or extreme juicing or herbal cleaning solutions — do not seem to make any difference in removing toxins. This might be a good thing, because a sudden, true release of toxins from where they were stored could send the body into shock." (Wanjek, 2013).
   The massive weight loss that occurs in participants in these programs is caused by the healthy eating spectrum of the program. What makes me laugh is the people who complain that they can't lose weight and then go home and down a couple of beers every night. (Nothing wrong with beer, I love it!) Finally, out of desperation, they pay big money for these cleansing programs, which instructs them to cut out beer every night. So they do, and magically the pounds fall off. All in all, they are paying big money for accountability. If you pay me that big money, I'll accountability the crap out of you! Just saying.
    Last but not least, as I stand up here on my soapbox, the sandwiches and the pyramids. Don't ask me if I want to sell Isagenix, because I guarantee I will go ape-shit on you. I cringe whenever I see "Beach Body Certified". Multilevel Marketing. Why not? That is, after all, the cash cow of  marketing. Ohhhh the money they make and the hearts they break! I will reiterate this one more time. The corporation does not care about you. They care about one more person selling their product and recruiting for them. In fact, the more people you recruit, the wider their reach, and they didn't have to do a damn thing. There's a reason "pyramid schemes" (illegal) and multilevel marketing techniques (legal) have a very thin line between them. Sandwiches, that's what I like to call the Exercise-Coaching-Fad Diet Combos. My favorite is Insanity + Coach + Shakeology. The trifecta of instant results, long term failure. All of these businesses pray on the person who couldn't make it work on their own, has become desperate, and can be motivated by the instant results. They also count on the failure that will occur once the user stops using their products. If they didn't, they wouldn't have a leg to stand on financially.
   So, now that I got all of this out of my system (I didn't cleanse!), what works? Hard work. I stand here confidently saying that I am a working mom who eats 80/20 (80 % healthy, 20% not-so-healthy), follows the basic guidelines of eating right, exercises on a daily basis using the correct guidelines (I'm not doing HIIT 6 days a week, I'm following a cardio/resistance training/flexibility program that any personal trainer will put you right in) and I train towards a goal. I love my body. It's not perfect, it's not 110 lbs., but those aren't my qualifications. My qualifications are on paper, because I studies and researched and tested to become a Certified Personal Trainer. I use science. Not emotion. I know what will hurt you, and what won't. That's the right way. Not the desperate way.