Jessica Smith Workouts: A Review

Tonight when I did my workout (six miles for an hour and a half) I decided to try a completely new "workout leader/coach" than my usual that I do which, if you are friends with and/or follow me on Facebook, you would know I do majority of Leslie Sansone walking workouts. Tonight I used Jessica Smith instead of Leslie for all six of my workout miles.

Before beginning the review, a link to her YouTube channel; jessicasmithtv (all lowercase letters and no spaces in the username): https://www.youtube.com/user/jessicasmithtv

Jessica Smith Overall:

I made a table rating areas that I found to be key and important components to have during workout videos as the coach or leader. Overall, I gave Jessica Smith what would equal a 75% if grading based on a 100 percentile scale. Below I will describe what each rating means, and a brief description on why I gave the "star amount/rating" I did for each of these categories.

• Accessibility of Workouts: This just means how easily can a person view her workouts, do you have to pay to view/use them, is the video quality crisp and clear, is she easy to hear; basically the essentials and mechanics of the video is what this category is based on. I gave her a perfect score because the videos are crisp and excellent quality, all her workouts on YouTube are not only free but FULL workouts (a rare combination), and they are very easy to find and view. Only possible downside is not having an internet connection, or a connection that is choppy or slow (which would mean your workout would stream in and out, which isn't good).

• Talking About Proper Form & Alignment: I gave her middle of the road because she doesn't mention it in each video. But when she does mention it, she does give good instruction on how to stand tall, protect the spine and knees, etc. There just needs to be that excellent instruction she does give in every video so people don't get injured due to poor form or body alignment.    

• Ease of Movements for Beginners: I gave her three stars here as well. Some moves are super easy (i.e. side steps, walking in place, etcetera), but some movements do become rather challenging, and while some moves she shows how to modify the movement, she does not show how to modify all the more complex movements. Also some of her movements do get confusing. I consider myself rather advanced with cardio and cardio mixed with strength training workouts, and she even had me stumbling on a few moves because the movements got rather confusing. 

• Weight Workouts, Safety Talk Prior to Weight Use: I gave her a three here as well. She does mention a lot (which is important) that while doing cardio movements with weights to not "swing" or "jerk" the weights around due to stress that puts on low back and shoulders; which is absolutely right. And she gives a quick overview on how to properly use the weights in some movements. However, she could give much more instruction on safe and correct form with each new movement she does with the weights. For instance, I thought her explanation on proper back, shoulder, and ab alignment while doing tricep kickbacks wasn't really there and that she could have talked about that more. For many of the arm (elbow to shoulder) into the upper portion of the back movements there wasn't any instruction on proper alignment, how to move the weights while doing the cardio movements with the legs, and so on.

• Ease of Workout For Beginners: Average rating. The basic movements any beginner could do. It's the combination of when movements become more challenging/confusing with the direction on how to do the movements not always being clear that these workouts could become rather difficult for the beginner in exercising.

• Proper warm up/cool down prior to and after workout: I gave this a two because it almost isn't there. With most of her videos you have to warm up and cool down on your own. If you are at an intermediate or advanced level with your exercise and working out, this is completely fine. However, because the warm ups and cool downs aren't right there in the video, I do have some worry there when it comes to someone who has never exercised or is at a beginning level with their exercise.

• Variation of Workout Videos: Perfect score here. Variation is what keeps the body loosing weight if weight loss is needed, or for someone maintaining, variation is also important for keeping the mind engaged and intrigued in the workout. And she definitely has this down pact. She has I think around the 300-ballpark in terms of workout videos: from yoga and pilates, walking videos, strength training, flexibility, and so on: there is no way her workouts will have you bored.

• Personable: Basically does she have a good personality? Will she keep the exercisers motivated? Does she keep you engaged? Is she positive? She gets a "yes" to all of these and a perfect five. She is fun, and she makes interesting side comments. Also, her personality definitely makes you want to take the workout to the very end!

• Sweaty Workouts: Sweat is important in exercising, sweat is one key factor to knowing that your workout is at a good intensity for you. Sweat is a healthy function of the body that we all need to have regularly occur; and exercise is the best way for this to happen. She gets a perfect score here! I was very sweaty after her workouts!!

• Positive Message: I like working out with trainers who talking about motivation, wanting to push people doing their workouts to the end. Spreading the message that any movement, any exercise of any length is always better than nothing. She does all this (and more) perfectly, see this workout video she did as a reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW_gcxZ9J2Y

• Energizing Workouts: Perfect score here! I felt awake, ready to tackle what I needed to in the day, and full of spirit!!

• Ability to hear music (this is for the sake of proper step count and proper speed, since walking videos base the mileage on the beats per minute with the background music): Unfortunately she gets a one here. I could occasionally JUST make out some background music with the television volume up to about 80 (extremely loud), while others, no matter how loud I turned the television up, could not hear her background music. Not being able to hear that music does occasionally make keeping up with the pace hard because you do not know what music she is basing her steps on.

• Ease of Learning New Movements AND (combining the two) Proper Direction Ability: Three stars for both of these. Basically the key here is she just needs to be more consistent. Some movements she gives incredible and excellent direction on how to properly do them. Other movements she gives either none, or very little direction in properly doing new movements (which again, tripped me up a couple times while working out).

• Her Certifications/Credentials: Perfect score. According to her website (which can be found here: http://jessicasmithtv.com/jessica-smith/) in the "about" section, her website states, "...as a certified wellcoach, fitness instructor and personal trainer, she has spent the last 15 years helping students and clients...Jessica has held certifications from the American College of Sports Medicine, the National Academy of Sports Medicine, the Aerobics and Fitness Association of America, the International Sports and Conditioning Association, Powerhouse Pilates (in both mat & reformer method), Martial Fusion and Johnny G’s SPINNING™ Program." She definitely has the credentials, which I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

That is all for the review. For reference or anyone who is curious, these are the 6 workout videos I did of hers tonight from her YouTube channel:

 

Overall, I do like Jessica Smith workouts because I am at an advanced level, so I can keep up with her for 95% of the workout. I just don't think I would recommend her for beginners. Leslie Sansone is much better for beginners (and she gives such good guidance and direction that even the most advanced exerciser can benefit and get very sweaty from her workouts because Leslie makes it very clear how to modify at all levels). However, though Leslie is more versatile in that sense, I still intend to continue to do Jessica's workout because since I do want to loose more weight, the variation in workouts is key to keep the body guessing, thusly working hard, and burning more calories, which then causes a greater weight loss.

That's all for tonight. Keep strong. Keep Healthy. Keep Motivated. Health and Fitness=A Forever Fight Worth Fighting For!!!!!!

Top 10 Tips for Successful Weight Loss and Maintenance

Recently, a friend on Facebook asked me for some tips and advice on weight loss and keeping it off. I have been writing to re-write a new blog post with my top 10 tips for some time now; however, her comment on wanting advice on this particularly motivated me to write my top 10 tips for weight loss and maintenance success. I have had lots of experience on this subject (personal, profssional, and educational).

Lets start this off with one of the most important tips:

#10: The "Weight Loss Formula"

People popularly believe that to loose weight, it is only made up of 2 components: food and exercise. While both are in that equation, there is a VERY important component I believe popular belief and society has been missing within that equation. This important component is a combination of both our psychological (or mental) state and our spiritual side. Firstly, our spiritual self is infact different from religion; you do not need religion in order to be spiritual (honestly, you do not even need to believe in God or a higher being to be spiritual). Here are the definitions of "spiritual," curtosy of dictionary.com:

In sum, yes religion can be intertwined and mixed with spirituality, but again, to be spiritual you do not have to be religious or believe in religion. Our spirituality is our soul; our core. Our spirituality determines our beliefs, morals, life outlook, life purpose, and what is as one of the definitions states, what is "sacred" or important to us. Our spirit is really what determines how well we know our inner self, how we think, and analyze/determine things that occur throughout our life. Many people get to know themselves spiritually in many different ways. Some take the religious route by attending church and following their religious text, while others find their spirituality through meditation, psychics/meditation/numerology/astrology/etc., and others still take drives, or go to relaxing places to "clear the mind" or to think (and then) "find" themselves. And then our psychological state comes into play because when we truly know ourselves on the inside, know what our outlook on life and outlook on our beliefs are, we tend to be in a much more happy or positive state of mind/psychological being. We think clearer, we think highly of ourselves, and have things such as motivation and confidence. Without a balanced and positive spiritual and psychological being, weight loss and fitness simply cannot successfully happen, due to negative thoughts, feeling "lost" (not knowing our self), and negative self-talk (lack of confidence). Then, the second common misbelief in the weight loss equation (the common misbelief) is that exercise and physical activity is more important than the food we consume, which is quite far from truth. In sum, what we eat is more important than exercise and physical activity. The "why" to this statement can be simply summed up as: you CANNOT out-exercise unhealthy eating/eating habits. Someone can look thin and fit on the outside, but if they only consume pizza, burgers, and candy bars as their fuel, you can bet they will gradually have adverse health effects that cannot physically be seen (i.e: high blood pressure and cholesterol, clogged arteries, heart palpitations (if they have clogged arteries, even if thin or fit, their heart will naturally have to work harder due to sections of the arteries being blocked by plaque), and so forth). Therefore, I believe that the proper equation for BOTH weight loss and maintenance is as follows (for a total make-up of 100%): 40% is our psychological and spiritual states, 40% is what we choose to fuel our bodies with/the food we consume, and the remainder 20% is the activity and exercise portion. Remember this formula, follow it, and depending on your goal you are bound to have success.

#9: Eat Small Portions More Frequently

I do not believe in the 3 meals/day way of eating. I absolutely believe to stay satisfied throughout the day we need to eat smaller meals/portions, but more frequently throughout the day. The body on average tends to get hungry within a range of every 3 to 5 hours. I believe it is much more effective to eat 5-7 times/day (range is depending on what a person decides to eat and the size of the portion/food(s) they are eating) than 3 times a day. For myself on my weight loss journey, this is exactly what I have been doing, eating 5-7 times/day. Depending on my state of hunger and what I'm in the mood for (because when I eat my portions do vary in size) my "meals" will range between 100-450 calories (the 100-200 calorie "meals" are more-so a snack to curb smaller hunger pangs). This way of eating I have found personally works much better and keeps me much more satisfied throughout the day. This way of eating I have found also seems to keep unhealthy food cravings or desires away from my mind even thinking about them (I honestly have basically given up most sweets/junk food and alcohol, and very surprisingly, due to my eating patterns/habits/eating smaller amounts more frequently, I haven't thought about or craved alcohol once, and I full heartedly think it is due to eating in this manner/style).

#8: Have Your Craving, Within Reason

Studies have shown that it is better to allow yourself a small daily indulgence than to try to resist it all together. For example, the sweet I was most obsessed with was dark chocolate (which, in small portions can be healthy), so instead of trying to cut it out all together, I would have 1-2 squares daily of dark chocolate. Have a salty snack craving? Allow yourself daily 1/2 of one serving of whatever your favorite salty snack. Having your craving in this manner satisfies that psychological craving, but keeps those who want to weight an outlet to have a little of their craving without "blowing" their eating/food consumption for the day.

#7: Set Small Goals For Yourself, and FORGET About The "Large Picture"

This is one of my favorite ones of all, most likely because you can apply this to most things in life. I am on my own weight loss journey, and I feel I have in part gotten this success because I too strictly follow this piece of advice. Say you want to loose a total of 60 pounds, applying this principle simply means to take that larger goal and to break it down into small and manageable chunks. I think if a person has the desire to loose 40 or more pounds, they should break down that goal into 10 pound increment chunks. Ten pounds is a much more attainable and foreseeable goal than trying to stick with the larger picture of 40 or more pounds; in part this is because thinking of only loosing 10 pounds is much closer to what we currently weigh than trying to imagine loosing 40 or more pounds. This keeps us motivated to continue on our journey and to get their in a slow and steady manor.

#6: Slow and Steady Wins The Race

What this means is simply that to loose weight successfully (and to keep it off) we have to loose weight gradually. Besides for the first week or two, when we are still loosing a lot of water weight (when it is okay or normal to sometimes loose 5+ pounds, especially if a person has a lot to loose), we should be aiming at maximum to loose about 2 pounds per week. This is because any amount consistently greater than that we will be much more likely to put all the weight we lost back on. The body if loosing more than two pounds a week will typically begin to feel like it is being put into a fasting or starvation mode where once the "goal weight" has been reached and you are trying to maintain that weight, the body will be fighting to increase in weight because the body does not like consistently feeling like it is in starvation mode. Plus, if you are restricting caloric intake so much that you are consistently loosing beyond 2 pounds a week, you as well will feel the urge much more strongly to binge on food than someone loosing weight at a slow and steady rate because they are not restricting themselves at such an intense level. Intense restriction is just as unhealthy as binging on junk/processed food.

#5: Do Not Beat Yourself Up

There will be occasional days or weeks where we slip up. Maybe eating more than planned, or skipping one extra day on the workout routine. It is bound to happen to all of us at some point. This goes back to number 10 when I was talking about the importance of having a positive and good psychological and spiritual balance within our lives. Talking down to yourself or insulting yourself is not going to help to keep yourself on track or to do better the next day. In fact, tearing oneself down makes the chances much greater that one will continue down a negative path, continue to put off exercise or binge eat; this is because with negative self-talk subconsciously the mind will take that into consideration to the point where we may really start to believe we are not worth it and that we do not deserve good health or a happy life. Instead of beating yourself up for making a mistake or slip up, either enjoy that extra cookie and savor it or enjoy the one extra day of exercise off with the reminder that you know that good overall health is a LIFE JOURNEY. It is not some trend or fad that you are going to forget in a week. So just tell yourself you will enjoy this moment and simply will get back at a healthy diet or your workout routine the next day. Being positive and realistic with yourself also reaps many benefits not just for weight loss, but also in having a fulfilling and happy life.

#4: The "Do Not Eat After 6pm-7pm" Myth

This is a very popular myth that is floating out in the health and wellness world, and it simply is not true. The correct information is really that you should not eat 2 hours prior to going to bed. So really, if you go to bed at 11pm, it is okay to have a healthy snack at 8:50, just stop eating at 9pm.

#3: Start Off With Diet First

I believe that if a person trying to loose weight starts right off the bat diving into changing their eating AND exercise habits together, their is much higher risk for the feeling of burnout or frustration to occur, and typically at a more rapid rate. Going back to the "weight loss equation" it is best for people to begin with changing their diet and eating habits first (since diet weighs in more than the activity) and then add in the exercise. When should one add in exercise? Typically it takes the body about two weeks to get used to a new routine of eating, therefore, it is safe to begin to incorporate exercise after you are two weeks into the change of your eating habits.

#2: Who Are You Doing It For?

This is a very important key point in the healthy journey. So many times people loose weight for "outside factors," this means for people or circumstances other than themselves. If you are NOT at a point mentally yet where you want to change your lifestyle and loose weight SOLELY for yourself and NOBODY else, then I would not recommend beginning your journey yet. Studies out there have shown  that people loosing weight to make others happy, or who are doing it for some "reward" at the end do NOT end up keeping their weight off; and why is this? Because they are not loosing weight for themselves or because they want to; they are letting outside factors motivate them, but tend to not have the drive or motivation to make the change for just themselves.

#1: Incorporate Strength Training With Your Exercise

Again, another important myth that needs to be busted. It is false popular belief that cardio alone is enough for weight loss, which cannot be further from the truth. Successful weight loss needs to have strength training incorporated into the exercise and activity routine. If you think about it, it also makes sense. Cardio works on endurance and the strength of our heart. Strength Training is what works on all of our other skeletal muscles. We need strong muscles to live and lead long and healthy lives. Atrophied muscles (weakened muscles due to not being used enough) are what causes (as example) falls within the elderly; it occurs because throughout that person's life they did not work on keeping their muscles toned and allowed them to atrophy. Weak muscles will even cause problems with our cardio workouts. If we have atrophied muscles in the lower portion of the body you most certainly cannot run and walking will become a difficult task. Strength training (with flexibility work or stretching) helps us to maintain good functional fitness (functional fitness is being able to do daily activities, such as walking with ease). If I were to recommend a workout routine for a beginner just starting out I would recommend a six day fitness routine, with one rest day (or gentle yoga day since flexibility is so important). Three of those days I would split as cardio days (5 minute warm up, 20 minutes in a brisk-paced zone, 5 minutes cool down, and a 5 minute stretching session after). Then having the three remanding days as total body strength training, starting off with light weights (5 pound maximum to start, and a 5 minute warm up by doing brisk walking or a light jog to get muscles and joints warm, flexible, and ready to move, 20 minutes in the zone of strength training, and 5 minutes of stretching afterwards). Then finally, the seventh day can be used as a total rest day OR it can be used to do gentle yoga, as keeping up with flexibility in the fitness routine is always a good idea.

Those are my top 10 tips for weight loss and maintenance. I hope everyone who reads these finds some comfort and good advice with these tips.

Stay Forever Fit & Healthy, xoxo
-Sarah

Reply To Article on Pokemon Go, Why This Game is NOT Good For One's Physical Health

So, I publically announced on my facebook that I was going to write a response to this article:
http://www.attn.com/stories/9779/pokemon-go-affecting-players-mental-health 

Firstly, I will admit I am not a fan of this game at all (putting that out there right off the bat), in part because I was never into Pokémon as a kid (or many television shows for that matter), I was always more of a play outside, get down and dirty in the dirt, play outdoors kind of kid. I mean geez, not to put myself out there on a hated/shocked limb but, just as an example how not into television and movies I was as a kid; The Breakfast Club is going on what? Thirty or so years since its debut? Yeah, so I have watched bits and pieces of it before, however, I literally just watched the entire movie, beginning to end today...only about eight to nine hours ago (fantastic movie by the way).

But, back on topic to my issue with this article this woman typed up: I was all for her article at first because even though I do not like or appreciate the game, I do appreciate and can see how it could help those struggling with mental health issues such as depression and/or anxiety. Then, she wrote this:

My issue with this generalization firstly comes from the fact that I am working on entering the preventative healthcare industry by being a personal trainer, health coach, and perhaps at one point a nutritionist as well (my bachelors is in Health Sciences with a minor in Biology, and yes my courses all focused on Human Biology). This means my qualm with this statement comes all from a professional point of view.

I do not like people trying to "put out there," or perhaps "advertise" that this game has physical benefits. Unfortunately, my fiancé likes the game; granted not as much as some, but I have seen first hand what he is doing to "catch" these things (I know so little about Pokémon I don't even know for intellectual's sake what to call the creatures. Are the creatures all considered "Pokémon"? Is only the yellow guy Pikkachu a Pokémon because he is the main character, and I'm assuming has some special trait about him?). The "walking" that occurs, just from watching what he was doing from our apartment window (Had to stay there because my dog has incredibly high anxiety when he or myself leaves, especially when we leave and she can still see us through the window. She wouldn't get away from the window until he came back in from getting the creatures, so I had to pet her, hug her, and reassure her that her daddy was in fact returning.) was not enough to cause any real physical benefit for a few reasons:

(1) The walking was very stop and go, and when do physical activity, stopping and going will not reap any physical benefits, not to mention when doing any kind of physical activity, even walking, you NEVER want to just stop (especially if one is obese and has a lot to loose, just abruptly stopping even light activity is not good for the heart especially).

(2) The walking was low, to maybe light intensity at best. This is the definition of light intensity physical activity:

I am studying about this now for my personal trainer exam, I hope I don't quote this wrong, but I believe METS go up to 10-12 (apologies if off, do not have my book directly near me at the moment). Light intensity activity for those under the age of about 60 doesn't reap many physical benefits at all. However, there are some benefits to light intensity physical activity, however, they are all mental benefits (i.e.: clarity of the mind, feeling more positive/upbeat, having more energy, decrease in feelings of anxiety and depression, etc.). Again, mental benefits are excellent, and we do need to make sure our mental health is in good balance for most other things within ourselves to fall into place and become positive/beneficial. However, this means there is no reaping of physical benefits from Pokémon Go, as was said within the article.

Secondly, this game has only been out for about what? One to two weeks at maximum? There is no way that in that short of time there will be any credible or educational studies done and/or out on if Pokémon Go really does have  any physical benefits. Doing proper, credible, and citing-worthy research at best (for really motivated researchers) may take six months to a year, with that number for some studies taking a few decades to properly complete.

Thirdly, when people are playing this game they are COMPLETELY engrossed in their phones. They are not paying attention to their movements, steps, if they are doing the activity of walking properly (yes, believe it or not, there are proper and improper ways to walk), where they are going, and to their surroundings. All of these things that players of this game are NOT paying attention to is EXACTLY why it is not smart or safe to try to say or promote this game of having physical benefits. First, lets look at the definition for physical activity:

As we can all see, the words movement, skeletal muscles, and energy expenditure are all within this definition. If one is doing any kind of activity that involves moving, and the use of skeletal muscles AND energy you simply HAVE to be present in that moment in what you are doing and how you are moving; not doing so is INCREDIBLY unsafe and dangerous for one's own body. Not paying attention to how the muscles are moving is how very easily preventable injuries occur. I'm sorry, but NO cell phone game is with a possible permanent injury that could have been easily avoided had that person just paid attention to their movements and what they were doing. Plus when people think of, or have the desire to do physical activity, they are thinking of doing something that will reap physical benefits for them in some form or another. This again (cannot re-iterate this enough) should not and really cannot happen if one is NOT paying attention to their movements or what they are doing. If people do not pay attention, their movements at best will be sloppy, without purpose, not in correct form, and thusly (again) most likely quite dangerous which again, can lead to injuries that could have been easily prevented.

The final piece I have for everyone is what is it then that makes physical activity beneficial? Typically to have physical benefits from physical activity or exercise, the intensity has to be either at moderate or vigorous intensity. It is recommended by the AHA (American Heart Association) for physical benefits of exercise/activity for one to get in at least/at minimum 30 minutes/day or 150 minutes/week (this is for adults: if you break that down at least 30 minutes, 5 times/week) of at least moderate intensity exercise or activity. To get to moderate intensity level of exercise or activity, a person has to do an activity that is getting their HR (heart rate) at 65% of their maximum HR capacity, while vigorous exercise is getting ones HR at 80% of their maximum HR. Heart rate capacity is found with the simple formula of 220 - your age. Below is an example of this using my age: 

So, that is all I have to write on this issue at hand. In sum, though I do not like or ever intend to play Pokémon Go, I can still appreciate and see how this game can benefit one's mental health (especially for those with bad anxiety and depression, using those examples because I have chronic moderate anxiety and mild depression. Since I have both, if I liked Pokémon, I could see how this game would possibly be able to help my mental health since it forces one to get out of the house.). However, as a PSA: please people of the general public, do NOT be advertising this game as having physical benefits, it will give people the wrong idea, and is simply just NOT a safe way for people to try to get physical activity into their day since people are typically NOT paying attention to their movements or how they are moving; which is simply dangerous and is a recipe for injury and potential disaster.

Keep Healthy and Fit Everyone!

<3 Sarah

New Recipe, I Dub it: Garlicky Avocado Eggs, MMM!!

Garlicky Avocado Eggs

 

Makes 1 Serving, 1 meal

 

Ingredients:

 

1/2 of a medium sized haas avocado

1/4 of a sweet valadia onion

1 pinch of salt

1 tsp of pepper

2 tbsp of new EVOO garlic wishbone dressing

3 eggs

 

Finished product has: 420 calories, 282.5 calories from fat. 6.75g saturated fat, 1.25g polyunsaturated fat, 13.5g monounsaturated fat, 14.5g carbs, and 18.25g protein

 

I put everything into a frying pan first before adding heat so I can have everything cooked evenly; not having one ingredient more cooked than another. I cut up the onion and avocado first into roughly 1/2 inch cubes. After the onion and avocado are in the pan I add the 3 eggs, then the Wishbone EVOO Garlic Basil dressing, and finally the salt and pepper. Once all the ingredients are in the pan, I set the heat on high. Takes between 5 to 10 minutes for it to cook thorough.

 

And that is all, your meal is served!

 

 

I love this for many reasons. First off being it is tasty. Second off, I swear I have always felt like out of my four ancestry heritages that I know of, that I have always felt the most relation and closeness to the Italian in my blood (also am German, Lithuanian, and Polish..I suspect there may be another, I intend to look into a DNA test maybe from ancestry.com (random note)), having said that I love, love, and did I mention LOVE my herbs, seasonings, and spices. And the mix of all the seasonings in the EVOO dressing with the salt, onion, pepper, and avocado gives this dish a delicious taste and texture that makes me fantasize that I am living within the Mediterranean, or perhaps Southern Italy. Plus the combination of fats and proteins keeps me full for a good five hours at the least. Which is good to keep my energized to "plow" through my day. Hope you all like the Garlicky Avocado Eggs.

 

 

Stay Forever Healthy. Forever Fit. Forever Loving Yourself.

Eating: It's ALL a Mentality

So, many of you know that I want to be taken seriously within the field of both fitness and nutrition. Thusly, many of you know I am not just studying to become a personal trainer (certification test August 9th), but while I am studying I am changing my lifestyle. See, I believe that part of the reason why we as a society are not successful when we "diet" is simply because we call it "diet." (Granted, most people do not realize the true definition of diet really means simply, what a person chooses to eat. It does not necessarily have anything to do with food restriction.) However over the years, the word "diet" has become a very negative one indeed. All these negative connotations. Furthermore, people associate a diet with a temporary, part time gig. Most of us think "oh, well, I am just dieting until I hit "X" pounds. Then I can go back to eating as I like." WRONG, WRONG, and did I mention WRONG? This kind of mentality is EXACTLY why so many people get trapped on the "yo-yo diet" bandwagon. I am here to say (or write) that loosing weight is not only an ENTIRE LIFESTYLE change, but a PSYCHOLOGICAL and MENTAL mindset change as well. If one only does the physical work, WITHOUT looking into one's mind and soul, kiss your hard work goodbye because I can guarantee if someone is trying to become healthy just by doing a "temporary fix,"  or only "going hard" at the gym until they hit their goal weight, as soon as they stop the "temporary" all the weight WILL creep back on (and then some).

Take eating sweets for instance. Everyone likes them. No one sees the hard or the issue with them. We all think we deserve "cheat days" on Friday and Saturdays. NO and NO. Most of us have to change our psychology and mentality when it comes to food. As part of my path to weight loss, I have cut out to very big things: alcohol and sweets (except for the sweets picture below, and IF I choose to have any of the sweets pictured, I restrict it to one per day). These are the following sweets 

I allow myself: Dole Dippers (only the strawberry or banana varieties (banana without the peanuts sprinkled on top) 60 and 100 calories per package, Luigi's Italian Ice (for budget conscious people, in yesterday's red plum insert, there was a $1 off 1 coupon for Luigis Italian Ice, or go to Red Plum's website to print off a .50 off 1 coupon. You can pick up the lemon or cherry flavors at Dollar Tree for only 50 cents or FREE depending on which coupon you have) which is 80 calories per 4oz cup, there is a new product out called Whole Fruit (organic, also, a month ago there were $1 off 1 for these as well, pick them up at WalMart with this coupon if you have it for a good price) where it is frozen juice and 60 calories per one pop, and finally bomb pops popsicles for 40 calories per popsicle. Honestly, I do not even always have one once a day. This is because I took time, real time, to take a hard look at myself psychologically and mentally. And I realized a couple things. Here's what I took time to think about:

 WE ARE CONDITIONED TO SEE SWEETS AS REWARDS

Think about it. When we were kids, what was the number one thing our parents would take away from us first if we misbehaved or would not eat our dinner? SWEETS. If as kids we behaved, how would our parents reward us? SWEETS. In our society, sweets are seen as the modern-day forbidden fruit. What if as a society we changed our perception on sweets completely? Before we put that chocolate or cake in our mouth, we should all think "why am I eating this? Am I hungry? Am I stressed? Am I just eating this because everyone else around me is?" If eating due to hunger, first and foremost to know, no sweet of any kind is going to satisfy TRUE hunger, it will satisfy "appetite" (which is the psychological of eating and food, not the true biological need to eat to survive, which is true hunger). Also, instead of rewarding and punishing children with sweets, what if we do other things? Reward with maybe doing a family outing to a park, or if it financially allows, an amusement park. Or maybe if wanting to reward with food, allow the child to "choose" between 2 or 3 healthy meal options of your choosing? As punishment, perhaps a time out, or not seeing the movie they wanted to see for that day? If we stop making sweets seen as a reward or a forbidden fruit our whole perception on sweets will change, perhaps as far as to not feeling such an immense need for sweets because it is known that if the "forbidden" factor is taken away from anything in life (food or otherwise), that particular item or thing will instantly lose its appeal to many people.

WE MAKE EXCUSES UP WHEN IT COMES TO FOOD

"Oh, I can eat a 1500 calorie meal once or twice a week, as long as I eat healthy the rest of the time, it won't have any long term effect on me."

"I deserve this."

"A weekly cheat day isn't bad."

There are many more examples I could put down here on mental thoughts we tell ourselves when it comes to eating something we maybe know we shouldn't. Firstly: why do we come up with these kinds of excuses? Simple, to psychologically protect ourselves. We look for ways to protect ourselves all the time, whether be from our own mental to struggle, or to protect us from public's perception. Psychologically protecting oneself at times is a very good thing to do (i.e.: going through traumatic experiences). However, when it comes to food and eating, this is one example of how psychologically protecting our image or ourselves does more harm than good. And honestly, having a weekly cheat day or two, or having an occasional fatty 1500 calorie meal DOES in fact do harm. Granted, it is chronic, not instant harm, but the harm is still there. Arteries, as example, will begin to clog if these are habits people do once to twice a week. We are mentally protecting ourselves when saying things like "a weekly cheat day isn't bad" because it is something we desire; if we were to tell ourselves differently, that "having this once or twice a week cheat day is bad for my health, and it will cause me to gain weight gradually over time," none of us would ever do cheat days. Our mentality as a society when it comes to food has certainly changed a lot over the course of human history. Eating now has become almost purely something done for pleasure, whereas years and years ago, eating occurred for survival. This change in perception? Absolutely another reason why obesity is becoming such a prevailing issue. And yes, while exercise is absolutely important to do with weight loss, it is only 20% of the equation. The other 80% is what we choose to put in our mouths and digest. I love the saying (because it is absolute fact) "you can't out-run a bad diet." It is true; yeah, you may work out at the gym for three hours, but if you are then going home and inhaling half a box of oreos and half a sheet pizza, you just negated all the hard work you put in, so you got to ask yourself: why in the world would you want to do that to yourself? If we were to think of eating for survival versus pleasure and socialable, there would be dramatic drops in societies weight collectively.

These two points are the points I thought about the most when reassessing how I eat and what to eat. Honestly, I can say since changing my mindset almost three weeks ago, I can tell you I do not really miss alcohol or sweets. I have just been keeping my eye on the prize which equates to a few things: being taken as a serious professional in the world of nutrition and fitness, becoming the best personal trainer I possibly can be, and to have an overall healthy LIFESTYLE. Changing psychologically how one looks at food and fitness, is how one can achieve a lifelong change. Without that psychological component, one's change will never be that of something permanent.

A final example: this is what I ate for lunch or dinner the past couple days (image below). I basically

call it my own version of guacamole. It is obviously mashed avocado (1/2 of one), 1/4 of a sweet vadalia onion, 1/2 a tomato, and a serving of blueberries. Whole thing? About 210 calories. Before I actively made a decision to change myself psychologically, this never would have been enough in my mind to keep me satisfied. But, because I decided to take the mental step to change my whole lifestyle and view of diet and exercise, this was plenty and all I needed to be full. Full of healthy fats and complex carbs. I would recommend this to anyone for a meal. Avocados naturally have a very meaty and almost nutty taste to them, so my desire to have that meaty taste was satisfied.

All in all I leave you all with this final thought; if you want to make real lifelong changes for a healthy lifestyle that will last you all your days alive, remember this one key point: PSYCHOLOGICAL AND MENTAL CHANGE truly is majority of the battle.

Love yourself. Love Health. Love Fitness.

xoxo - Sarah

Lets Get Honest

Tonight is going to be an interesting topic. It is a mix between personal and Weight Watchers. Why a mix? Because of the fact the two go hand in hand. Today, at 12:15, I attended my first weight watchers meeting. Thoughts? Mixed. I have a 3 month membership so no matter what, I am not one to give up or quit, so I will be sticking with it these next few months. However, the entire dynamic felt incredibly odd to me.

First off, I was thinking ten minutes into the meeting, why am I here? Because truthfully, I felt I could do a better job running a weight watchers meeting than the woman whom was running it. She was a nice lady, which was not the downfall. To me, even thought I read her nametag that said "30lbs lost in 1991," which do not get me wrong, that is great and awesome for her, but it made me wonder: a lot. This is because at the end of the meeting, another woman and myself stayed after to talk with her because this had been our first meeting. She stated being a personal trainer, but her story sounded like what one hears a lot of the time. She needed to loose weight after having her child. But, other than that, she did not tell a whole lot else about her journey or issue with weight. Perhaps this is why I felt no real connection with her; granted, I will give her meeting a second and third try. If no connection (just like dating) occurs by meeting number 3, I will give a different day a go. Besides doing weight watchers 25 years ago, and being a personal trainer (though even with this, she didn't say anything about actively being a personal trainer at the moment, so not sure if she keeps up with her certification) I felt like she had no other real credentials or background. I like taking advice and knowledge from professionals, not just random people who decide to run a meeting.

Secondly, what put me off in a big bad way was the two of them were playing the "age" card due to the fact that the leader looked to be about fifty, and the other woman new to weight watchers declared she was seventy. Now granted, I will say, I get that my persona and being an "old soul" at 27 is very much not the norm; and the a decent amount of people within my age group still have much growing to do in the "mature" department; however, people should be sensitive (especially when making verbal judgments in front of those they do not know) when making verbal judgements about "young people." First the leader made an off-hand comment about how "losing weight is easier for people who are like twelve," looking right at me as she said this. Now, I know I may look slightly younger than I am, but comparing me to a twelve year old? That is unprofessional, and somewhat rude to state. Just because I am 27 and not 70 you assume it is easy for me to lose weight? (<-which is exactly what I was thinking in my mind) And secondly, aren't you NOT supposed to judge someone as a leader for weight watchers? I could be going crazy here, so anyone correct me if I am mistaken, but I thought that was supposed to be weight watchers golden rule? I wanted to tell her that firstly, it is NOT easy for me to lose weight due to my metabolism, and secondly: I have what is known in lamer terms as "the fat gene" meaning it is programmed in my genetics to unfortunately gain weight very easily, meaning I have to watch what I eat twice as closely as someone without this issue. Then, the ageist comments continued between the two because the member was saying she found the wrong personal trainer for her because he was 23/too young/basically because of his age, could not create the proper kind of exercise for her. Now, I also fully believe that it certainly takes time, just like when trying to find a good psychologist who meshes with you, it ends up becoming a trial and error process: absolutely. However, was age really needed to be brought up into why "he was not good for you?" And the conversation just continued because the leader was agreeing with this woman that this trainer's age could be the issue. No, no, and no. Age has nothing to do with whether or not a 23 year old can properly train a 70 year old; what REALLY determines that is one's experience, what that trainer decided to specialize in, and so on. I have YEARS experience with the aging population, most of my jobs have been strictly with the aging. Therefore, I know I would know EXACTLY how to properly prescribe exercise to a 70 year old woman just starting out. So, in sum people any form of "ISM" is not okay, and ageism on either side of the spectrum (judging someone in terms of being too "young" or "old") is never okay. And it especially should not be coming from the leader of the weight watchers group.

Third issue is where my personal background comes into play. I have in fact, been thinking exactly why I put on weight? Where does my issue specifically lie? Because here's the thing: the points system, learning how to exercise, making goals for yourself is again all very important things, none of which I am discrediting, however, between a mix of personal experience, academic courses, and professional experiences; I in total have about 15 years of experience in this field (of losing weight, getting fit, etcetera). So I am sitting here, politely listening to the leader, thinking: I know how to eyeball portions, I know how to track my calories (doing it now for past two weeks and have done so in the past), and I know what combination of diet and exercise I exactly got to do for myself to make the weight come off. Then the next question to myself: why am I here? Well, I knew I wanted to give something different a try because my health, which results in a well-rounded healthy life is everything and means everything to me; this time loosing weight is the last time for me. I want to be a respected professional in the fitness field, so I know I got to take some weight off. So, besides just wanting to try something new, I thought there is not too much else in terms of why I am there. Which then made me think to myself: So what is it in my life, perhaps on a psychological level that made me gain weight? Because certainly, a lack of knowledge, and not knowing "how" is not the issue here. Which is how I made a personal revelation. This weight? Goes much deeper, way deep into the depths of the unknown. THE SUBCONCIOUS. Without going into any in depth detailing, this is events in my life:

Raped: age 18

Abused (emotional and possibly physical): age 19

Assaulted (due to a guy I didn't even have any emotional feelings towards): age 20

Abused (again, emotional): age 21

Does this sound personal? Perhaps. Why am I sharing this for anyone to see? Two reasons, firstly, I am SICK AND TIRED of feeling as if I have to keep it to myself; like I am the one to blame for what happened to me. I am sick as a woman having to feel ashamed and scared because of what I went through. I am tired of my intense disgust towards men that is affecting my HEALTH (mental and physical). We are taught in society that when domestic violence occurs we have to keep quiet, it is not something we should openly share with others, that it is something to feel shame about, and that we "may have asked for it." No, domestic violence is NEVER something you ask for. And I am opening up that yes, I have been abused, assaulted, and raped for the purpose of (1) helping to change the outlook and occurrence of domestic violence. I truly believe that as long as we as a society make women stay quiet about their experiences, that they are not to be shared, that domestic violence is GOING to unfortunately get worse. We need all women whom have experienced these atrocities to feel okay and comfortable coming forward about it and speaking about it. Because if we as a people continue to act like rape and abuse is "make believe" and "doesn't exist as long as you don't talk about it," we can never begin to make domestic violence decrease in numbers. And I want to be a voice publicly stating yes, I am one of those women whom have gone through and experienced domestic violence, because I WANT to see positive changes in society. I want domestic violence to not be hush-hush so that the instances will lessen in society. And (2) I mention my experience because in order to not only get to a healthy weight and stay there, I think this is something I publicly have to put out in the open. I have mainly stayed quiet about going through this for almost a decade. And due to the fact I do not want men idolizing me, or looking at me with lust, I truly believe I put on some weight to become LESS desirable looking to men. And you know what? That is not okay. I should and WILL live healthy, and lose weight because I deserve that. I deserve to NOT feel scared by any random guy I see. Just swallowing the "pill" that this happened, but always being put to shame to not speak of it I believe has done much more harm to me than any good. Just simply sitting in Barnes and Noble, at a small table in their café feels so liberating, a feeling that truly has no words to properly describe.  I also share this in hopes to give anyone, man or woman the courage to come forward and talk about their own domestic violence issues they have dealt with. I want everyone whom has been a victim to know it never was and NEVER WILL BE your fault. Anyone whom has gone through this, you are all beautiful, capable, and incredibly strong human beings with amazing souls. So yes, I truly believe my weight gain has happened as a protective method to protect myself from the world. But no more. I deserve HEALTH. I deserve HAPPINESS. I deserve to NOT FEEL TRAPPED. And so does anyone else whom has gone through this.

So in sum? Weight watchers, is absolutely good for those just starting out on their healthy journey. Will it be beneficial to me? Well, I will share as time goes on, and we will see. Every new experience in life is an adventure and a journey that will help in shaping one's life path. Thusly, it is possible I may pick up a thing or two. Though I may not have had a good first experience or impression I live my life in according to the motto, " there is always more than what meets the eye;" therefore, my first initial "judgment" is never my last, and should never be your last either. Take time to cultivate, and truly think about developing logical judgments or thoughts, that will not happen within your first experience. Always go back, always be open to new experiences, and to try and take time to make that new experience fit for you.

Love. Health. Love Fitness. Love Yourself.

<3Sarah

Women: Breaking The Stereotypes

Alas, I am alive and kicking. My apologies in advance, I am not the best with keeping up with blogs..or websites for that matter (STILL working on getting my website off the ground). Blogs and websites (whether you use a free blogging/website tool, or a paid source) are all a lot of hard work. This past week and a half; major writers block, which is odd considering I know I have a LOT to assay about fitness and nutrition, yet somehow my mind went black (until today that is). This entry I am going to touch base on a topic that hits home for me in many ways: breaking the stereotypes as women. Now, I am only writing about this in terms of exercise.


This, is the number one thing I am tired of falsely reading and MUST debunk: lifting will make you "huge", "bulky", "manly"..no, No it will not. Firstly, women have MUCH LESS testosterone than men do. It is not possible (unless a woman chooses to uses steroids, since that will up your testosterone levels) to get as "bulky" looking as men do when lifting heavy (granted, even from what I have learned, read, and seen myself...even men don't get as "stereotypically" bulky as society makes them out to be from lifting; which brings up another point:

Your "size" or "bulk" with lifting will largely vary from person to person

As we have all learned, since we were all young kids: there are lots of different and varied body types. Not many people will have that exact same body type even if their bodies look identical. Makes sense right? So WHY on God's green earth do people seem to not think this same basic principle applies when it comes to lifting weights? Yes, I may be lifting the same 25-30 pound free weight as "Sally" and "Max" next to me, but all three of us are NOT going to have the same long term end-results as one another. And this is due to some factors such as: bone density, base muscle mass, doing the exercise in its proper form (yes, doing it wrong is NOT only dangerous, but will give you at best different results), testosterone levels, metabolism differences, and so forth. This means: some people, weight lifting will make them look more cut and defined, while others can have a more "bulky" appearance (which again, if anything "bulky" is something that happens much more with men due to higher testosterone).

Women need to be "dainty" 

So...lets touch base on this for a moment. Even I have some friends and family whom try to steer me away from "heavy lifting" because I'll end up looking "too masculine". Now, the kicker is..I have been weight lifting heavy for about..two years now I would guess? And I'm still waiting for my apparent "bulk" that I was supposed to get two years ago to happen. Am I more cut and more defined? Absolutely! And I love that, but I am very far from "bulky". In fact, my google plus account has a before/after photo comparison. The one where I am wearing the red shirt is the most recent/after photo. I look more defined and cut, which is perfectly acceptable for myself. I personally love the idea, and am striving to be, not only a mentally strong, but a physically strong woman as well. Yes, I have a fiancé...love him dearly. But in the same respect I'm an INCREDIBLY independent woman. I do not want to have to rely on him for money, my own self respect/worth, and for protection. that last piece, I feel for all of us women is so key. I do try to stay positive in all aspects of life, HOWEVER, unfortunately, this world is becoming slowly and gradually, a more violent and scary place to live in (and again, there are a lot of positives in life, in nature, with our earth...but most forms of crime increasing, is an unfortunate fact at the moment (side note: if anyone wants me to pull up any figures on this, I most certainly know, because I know I have learned and read this from several sources, just cannot think of them of the top of my head). And since I am independent and work, I would estimate that at least 12 out of the 24 hours in the day, I am by myself (with work, working out, running errands, and so on). I want to be able to fend for myself if some creep tries to come up to me for God only knows what reason. I am proud to tell others that I know how to use something as simple as my keys as a weapon if I need to, that I know self defense, how to throw a punch/kick, and that I am an avid weight lifter. I am not afraid to defend myself if need be because I have enough self respect within myself to have given myself these tools and to know there's nothing wrong with having these tools. And finally, ladies, I have to point this fact out:

If he loves you, he will stay with you, no matter what your hobbies may be

Some women say they won't do heavy weight lifting because their "man won't like it" or "how it makes them look". Firstly, it may sound selfish but if you take time to think about it...it's really not, but: YOU GOT TO DO WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY FIRST. And here's why: if you are not doing what you love because of a man (or anyone else for that matter) you WILL not internally be a happy person. And if you are not a happy person, that negative energy WILL radiate onto others, even if you are not trying to...it will happen. So as odd as it sounds that is why you got to be selfish and do what you love no matter what anyone, and I mean ANYONE tells you, because if not then you will end up having a miserable and negative attitude towards others, because an important chunk of you WILL BE MISSING. And honestly ladies, if a man is going to leave you just because you want to heavy weight lift...he probably was not a good choice to begin with. Any man whom tries controlling anything about his girlfriend (which yes, most certainly includes hobbies) is NOT a man at all. If he is doing that, he is either insecure within himself, is power hungry, a potential abuser in any form (mental, emotional, physical), and/or all or a mix of the three.

STAY INSPIRED!!