Strong Inside Out Is Now Live!
Hello Four Leaf Fitness readers!
I’ve been talking about a URL switch for a while, and now it’s finally happened! My new site, StrongInsideOut.com, is geared toward helping people overcome life’s obstacles by finding their own fit. You’ll find the same unique fitness advice and the lessons I’ve learned from my experiences, but it’s MUCH prettier to look at!
If you’re a subscriber here, you have been sent an email to subscribe to the Strong Inside Out email list as well. If you want to keep getting posts in your email, you MUST confirm to be added to that list! You’ll get a bonus for doing so! In the final confirmation email is a link to download a free guide: 10 Steps You Can Take NOW To Stop Hating Your Workouts. This will be the last post on Four Leaf Fitness!
Make sure to check out the Facebook page and follow me on twitter to get the full experience!
Hope to see you all over there!
To finding your fit,
Amy
How My Race Training Taught Me That I’m Enough
When I first signed up for the Disneyland Half Marathon 2009, it was because of two reasons:
I wish they had fireworks during the race!
1. I wanted to challenge myself.
2. It was an excuse to go to Disneyland and wear my Winnie The Pooh ears (Disney dork alert!).
I knew the training would be hard, especially since I hadn’t run more than 4.5 miles since my pathetic stint on the cross country team in high school (my captain constantly told me to stop complaining). I was excited to try something new! I was excited to have a different program to follow that would test me in ways I’d never been tested before. I had no idea that, in addition to the physical demands, I would be tested emotionally as well.
At the beginning of my program, my boyfriend and I started having “talks.” Oh, the dreaded talks. ”Are we in this for the right reasons?” ”Are we just comfortable?” Talks that would make me want to shrink into nothing. ”If I lose him, I’ll have nothing,” I thought. I’d have to be (*gasp*) alone, then heal from the breakup, then date (which is one of the nasty four-letter words in my book), then find someone else. How would I ever find someone else in LA? This boyfriend understood me so well. We had the same interests, the same sense of humor. Even though he treated me like he didn’t want me around sometimes… a lot of the time. Even though I felt like I was hiding when I was with him. Even though I felt like I was apologizing to him just because I wanted to spend time with him. My whole life revolved around him. I LOVED him. I NEEDED him.
One month later, he told me he was moving across the country. And I wasn’t invited.
Ouch.
My running program was my saving grace. Running was the one part of my day that I could count on to be there. Though it was grueling- especially since I was living in North Hollywood that summer, where the temperature was typically 10-15 degrees hotter than the rest of LA (read: 80 degrees out at 7 am for my long runs)- I knew that I had a program to stick to. If I didn’t , I would suffer in the race. I wouldn’t make my goal time of 2:10. I would be letting myself down.
I could control when I ran and when I didn’t. I could control this one part of my life when it seemed like everything else was failing. This was something that I could do for me, that made me feel strong.
Cue Kanye West's "Stronger"
After 2 months of strict training and diligence to my plan, I arrived at a hotel near Disneyland with my family. My Mom, Dad, Brother, and Brother’s girlfriend (now sister-in-law 
) all came down from the Bay Area to see me run my first half. My boyfriend stayed at home.
I arrived at the race half an hour early to do some dynamic stretches and warm up a bit. Although the sun wasn’t awake yet, the energy at the starting line was invigorating. People were dressed up in costume, smiling and laughing, talking to people they’d never met before. Me? I stayed focused. Nervous and fearful, thinking about my life outside the race. When I crossed the finish line, what would I have? I’d be done with my program and I’d have to return to real life and actually (*gasp again*) FACE it. I didn’t know if I was strong enough to handle it. In fact, I had more doubts than I did confidence in the fact that I could make it through the looming date of my boyfriend’s departure. Fortunately, I didn’t have enough time to go into panic mode before I heard Mickey fire the shot that began the race.
Along the route there were bands playing all sorts of music from around the world, characters giving high-fives, and serene views of the park, deserted except for us crazy people that decided to run a race at 6 am on a Sunday. It was crowded, but not annoyingly so. It was fun to pass people and even to get passed by others, because everyone was having fun! Moms in Tinkerbell outfits, girls in matching princess skirts and crowns, guys in Tinkerbell outfits. This race was not about competition; it was about letting go and having fun. For the first time in what seemed like months, I felt like I could actually do just that. I let go. My legs knew what to do, thanks to my training. I let them do their thing, and I just enjoyed the people and entertainment around me. My God! I was having fun! I hadn’t had fun the whole summer! I almost forgot what it felt like!
I picked up the pace for the last 2 miles, when everything started to hurt. My quads were burning and my hip flexors were getting tight. When I rounded the corner of the last 1/4 mile, I saw my Mom and Dad, cheering at the top of their lungs with sheer joy on their faces. I was more or less sprinting at this point, and my Mom was yelling, “You’re going so fast!” while trying to operate her new flip video cam. I felt so much love in that moment. Not just from my family, but for myself. I had finished what I started. I had showed myself that I was strong enough to do it. All in the midst of a horribly painful event in my life. If I could do this, I could make it on my own after my boyfriend left. I would be able to handle this. I can handle anything.
I finished the race in 2:01 with a heart that felt like it was going to beat out of my chest and a new-found confidence in myself. I had made it through that arduous program, stronger than when I started. I had done better than I expected. NINE minutes better! I was so much stronger than I ever realized. That’s when I knew: nothing could defeat me more than me. Even when hard times come-because they do- it’s all about how you choose to face it. Will you be the victim? Or will you stand up and fight and grow from the experience? That was the end of my woe-is-me days, and the beginning of the rest of my life as I wanted it to be.
Be OK with yourself... as dorky as that may be...
Since then, I’ve continuously set new goals for myself. After experiencing the growth that I did over my half marathon training, I’m now addicted to it! I constantly want to grow as a person as I think most of us do, and I truly believe that fitness goals can help us do that. Some goals I’ve achieved, and others I’ve failed at, but each goal has contributed a new lesson to my life. The journey to each goal can teach you more about yourself and change you for the better.
So what’s your next goal? Post your goal in the comments and, if you’re well into the training, what you’ve learned from it so far. Has it taught you anything about yourself? Have you picked up more healthy habits? Is it harder/easier than you thought it would be? It’s always motivating to read about other people achieving their goals because it proves that it is possible. Many people don’t believe they can achieve what they set out to do simply because they’ve never done it before. Show off what you’ve done- you might even inspire someone else! And if you’re having a hard time, post it here! I’d be happy to help with any fitness/wellness advice, and other readers may have been through the same thing.
I found my fit through running. What’s your fit?
Amy
castle photo courtesy of timlovesbrian
What It Means To Be Given Freedom At Birth
When I was growing up in San Rafael, CA, the 4th of July used to be one of my favorite holidays. You know why? Because the county fair took place at that time every year with its barf-worthy rides, snow cones, and the chance to hold a boy’s hand during the fireworks (it’s kinda sad that I mention this because I never did get that chance… don’t worry, I’ve made up for it since 
). When you’re a child, you take so many privileges for granted. You don’t realize what a gift it is to be given freedom and rights at birth, just because you’re in this country. You also don’t recognize that only 200-some years ago, this wasn’t the case. Now, you don’t need a lecture on how we should all go wave American flags and sing the anthem at the top of our lungs, but I want you to take the opportunity today to be as corny as possible while we all appreciate our liberty to live life as we wish. Soooooo, I have an exercise for all of us today that will help with the corniness factor by incorporating fitness and health into the mix. 
Hell yeah, I bought the tackily patriotic roses!
Recognize FOUR things (yes, because it is the fourth today) that make you grateful for the freedom to do what we want and be who we want
We all know I’m a big fan of specificity, so hone in on exactly why you are grateful for what you are today. For instance, I am so grateful that I have the right to go to the co-ed gym on Independence Day as I please, and lift weights with more intensity than any of the other guys there (just sayin’). I was sweating up a storm in my tank top and shorts, blasting my Jimmy Eat World for motivation, swinging a heavier kettlebell than most of the men in there had ever touched. I was reading an article in this month’s Women’s Health titled, “Kicking and Dreaming,” about women playing professional soccer in Afghanistan. The team is allowed only 90 minutes a week to practice because the soccer field is usually reserved for men. The players constantly receive threatening phone calls from men they don’t know because society considers women that play sports “loose.” It is literally dangerous to play the sport that they love! One woman said, “‘When a woman wants to become a football player, she has to decide between her future as a woman who will get married and football.’” I don’t know what I’d do if I was suddenly thrust into a society in which I couldn’t run outside or even go to the gym!
So what are you grateful for today? Share your four things in the comments!
The freedom to find your own fit is a gift, so go enjoy it!
Amy
Death By Comparison: Why You Should Stop Trying To Be Someone Else
I have beautiful friends. I don’t just say this because they’re my friends, I say this because they are literally BEAUTIFUL. Two of my best friends are some of the fittest people I know. Andrea is a pilates instructor. She grew up a dancer and has maintained her petite, slim frame ever since thanks to healthy eating habits and a rigorous training program (I know this because I train her and because she kicks her own butt in pilates as much as she kicks mine ). Kirsten is an actress and yoga instructor. She’s about 5’10″ and is going into fitness modeling because everybody keeps yelling at her to do so. She’s long and lean and looks like she could take on Lara Croft any day of the week (I train her too ). Both are gorgeous inside and out and I am so grateful to have them in my life. That said, I find myself often looking at them with jealousy and frustration. I work just as hard as these girls do and my body still looks different than theirs! I find myself comparing myself to them- they’re waists are tinier, their thighs are thinner, their arms are leaner. They tell me all the time how good I look and as I thank them, I secretly think, but I still don’t look like you.
This behavior of always comparing oneself to others plagues just about everyone I’ve ever met. I always thought it was just part of the journey of getting fit- you compare yourself to others so that you can keep refining your goals. ”I want her arms!” ”If I could just lose a couple more pounds, my abs would show as much as his!”
It's ALWAYS apples to oranges
At The World Domination Summit that I attended a month ago, Karen Walrond- writer of The Beauty of Different and the blog at chookoloonks.com- spoke. Her speech was my favorite of the whole weekend because of what it preached: that everyone’s uniqueness is what makes them beautiful. It’s not that you look like a model that makes you interesting, it’s what you had to overcome in your life to achieve that. It’s not your smile that attracts people to you, it’s the joy that fuels it. Walrond made me aware of a principle that I hope will stick with me forever:
“When you compare yourself to someone else, you’re comparing your insides to their outsides.”
This quote speaks for itself. How do you know what that person with the washboard abs has gone through in his life to lead him to that body? When you aim to be another person, you will always lose, even if you actually achieve your physical goals. Your achievement of those will leave you lacking because you will still be YOU. So how can you be the best you possible?
This is where getting fit for the fun of it comes in. Yay!
Stop torturing yourself with things you hate doing and find what makes you happy while getting fit! What activities are fun to you? Focus on getting better at those and making them your primary workouts. Can’t think of any forms of exercise that you really enjoy? Think of the ones that are the least torturous and find ways to make those even more bearable. For instance, I used to hate running… until I bought an ipod. Hallelujah! After experiencing music during exercise, it’s hard to ever go back to the droning silence or awful, awful music that plays in the gym. I make specific playlists for workouts and runs that fire me up to go faster and work harder. If you’re brand new to an activity, music can help distract you from the painful, slower parts of it. Other ideas for making workouts more fun: drag a friend, hire a trainer to shed light on the things you don’t know how to do well, or find a different way to do what you’re doing (go faster/slower, inject intervals in between sets, or change up your rep/set scheme).
The next step is equally if not more important than having fun while getting fit. You must accept who you are. If you’re not built like a Victoria’s Secret Model or Taylor Lautner (hehehe), you won’t die. And you know what? I bet there is something about you that Miranda Kerr or Jacob would envy, inside or out. This is always a welcome wake up call when I start placing too much weight on how my body is lacking in comparison to someone else- there is always someone else out there that wants what YOU have. Always. Let that marinate for a few, then recognize some qualities in yourself that you are grateful for, and that might make someone else jealous. This will help you see the jealousy predicament from outside yourself, and hopefully cause you to take a step back and realize that you don’t have it so bad.
I asked my friends if I could use their names, but they have no idea of the subject matter I am posting, nor would they ever guess that I have had these feelings about them. I come across as pretty confident, but even the most confident people have their insecurities. EVERYONE has their own issues. Just because someone is in obnoxiously good shape doesn’t mean that his/her life is perfect or even close. Looks are just one facet of the person. In situations in which you don’t feel up to par, take a second to remember those qualities about yourself that I had you recognize above. Revel in those and be proud of them.
Now go out there and be the best YOU you can be!
Amy
photo by japi14
The Benefits of Leaving Your Heart Rate Monitor at Home for a Week
Some people call me obsessive. I keep a workout log, I wear a heart rate monitor, I wear a separate watch so I can time my mile pace, and I keep a food journal online that tracks calories and macronutrients. Ok, so I have the tendency to get a little crazy with goals and such. When I’m aiming to drop body fat or run faster, I’ll always wear a heart rate monitor to see just how hard I can push myself. The problem with that is when you’re working too hard/often or are exhausted, your heart rate may simply refuse to go up. So even when I was overly tired or had worked out too many days in a row, I would still aim for that magic number. Come on, Amy! Just get to 172 bpm and then you can rest! Quick note: if your heart rate’s not going above 150 and you’re sprinting at 12.5 mph for 30 seconds on an incline and you’re not a world-class sprinter (which I am most definitely not), you probably shouldn’t be working out that day. Your heart is telling you to slow down! By pushing myself past the point that my body was ready to go because it wasn’t fully recovered, I’ve gotten injured and kept myself from achieving what I was working so hard for in the first place. If you’re not taking at least one full day off from working out a week, injury and burnout are imminent. Your body heals and gets stronger when you rest, not on your work days. I’ve seen this happen to many people. The same thing applies to keeping a food journal: if you start obsessing about every single thing you put in your mouth, you’ll start obsessing about every single thing you SHOULDN’T be putting in your mouth, which can lead to cravings and binges. Both can set you back weeks in your program. The best thing I can do for myself when I start obsessing too much about heart rate, calories burned, food eaten, or how much weight I’m lifting, is to leave my monitoring tools at home and just go ENJOY working out for a week without recording ANYTHING. If you’ve read my past blog posts, this may sound counterintuitive, but don’t write me off just yet.
Many people I’ve come across have a tendency to obsess like I do, which causes tons of extra stress. When aiming for any sort of fitness goal, stress should be avoided at all costs! If you’ve read Push Hard, Now Let Go, you’ll already know that stress can keep you from achieving muscle mass gain and weight loss, as well as make you more prone to injury. When the body is under stress, it has a harder time recovering from workouts, and your body needs to recover in order to get the results your after… unless your goals are to feel constantly lethargic, be debilitated by soreness, and to get stuck in a plateau. If you’re putting too much pressure on yourself to reach your goals, you could be doing yourself a disservice by actually making the accomplishment of them more difficult.
Bottom Line: Injury= bad. Not achieving the goals you’re working so hard for= bad. De-stressing your workout routine to insure better results= awesome.
Do you keep a workout log with calories burned, weight lifted, or running pace? How about a food journal? Do yourself a favor and every 2 months or so, put it down for a week. Take a break from it! Now I don’t mean stop working out and go eat as much fast food as you can because now you don’t have to write it down. I mean stop monitoring yourself and everything you do. Trust that you will achieve your goals if you do everything you’re supposed to! Taking a break from recording can really help to take the have-tos out of your workout routine and help you find the fun in it again. Remember why you chose the activities you do in the first place. If you run, take off your watch and try a new route. If you lift weights, choose another KIND of weight to lift; try kettlebells if you regularly do dumbbells and barbells. Ooh! Or you know what’s really fun? Try an aqua bag. Those things are killer! If you need more ideas, read Re-Fun Your Workout!
Note to Novices: If you’re just beginning to track your progress using logs, don’t take a break quite yet. Be consistent with it for at least a couple months to get over the pains of making your healthy lifestyle second-nature. By the time 2 months hits, you should be aware of what it takes to stay on track without having to write it down. This will protect you from backtracking when you put the recording tools away for a week.
Don’t be scared! You don’t need to rely on a log to achieve your goals. Take a breath and let loose for a week! Trust me, it feels good. I did this a couple weeks ago and returned to my routine reinvigorated and looking forward to workouts again.
To de-stressing your life!
Next time on Four Leaf Fitness, Death By Comparison.
Much health and happiness,
Amy
heart rate monitor photo by acroamatic
Make The Choice To Be Here Now
I just got back from a 4.6 mile run in my beautiful neighborhood of Brentwood, Los Angeles. The sun was out, it’s about 72 degrees, I saw a species of bird I’ve never seen before that flew down and landed right in front of me, and I ran a faster mile time than I have in quite a while. Deciding to go on that run- the same run that made me feel like I might not really be turning into a wordpress hermit- was not so light and sunny. I was tired. I am so sore from yesterday’s workout. My *ahem* “Aunt” is in town. All I wanted to do was sit here and try to decipher more of this blogging thing. Running seemed like one more burden to take on. That’s when I had to stop myself. Just make the choice, Amy.
Every one of us has struggled to get out the door to work out. If you say you haven’t, you’re lying. Yes, you are. We all get tired. We all get bored with our workouts. We all get lazy. I’ll admit that I’ve been struggling with this. Recently, I’ve been working so much on getting my new site going, while still training full time and TRYING to keep some sort of semblance of a social life. Though I’m a trainer and I’m supposed to live to sweat, work outs have kind of fallen by the wayside. I simply don’t have time right now to do the long runs that I love or get together with my best friend to do pilates like we try to do 2x/week. I feel exhausted, and I just don’t want to! I could be researching CMS! I could be writing a new post! I could be chatting with a wordpress developer! There’s always something else that our minds come up with that we should/could/would rather be doing than working out. It even catches people within the workout. I bet this has happened to you too- you go into a strength training session/run/swim/jaunt on your pogo stick and you just don’t want to be there. The whole workout seems like torture and you feel so relieved when your soulless attempt to sweat is finally over. Let me suggest one thing to you when this happens:
Make The Choice To Be Here Now
It’s as simple as that. Let me tell you all about it, stud.
What he said...
A few weeks ago, I attended The World Domination Summit (WDS) in Portland. Before you report me to the authorities, let me tell you what it was all about. Hundreds of people living unconventional lifestyles- bloggers, artists, photographers, entrepreneurs, etc- came to town to attend this meetup hosted by Chris Guillebeau of TravelHacking.org. It was amazing! Everyone was aiming to do the same thing: live life on THEIR terms. Because all the people in attendance were like-minded and excited about the same things, it ended up being one big love-fest! …in a completely clean and G-rated way! I got to meet and rack the brain of one of my favorite bloggers, Steve Kamb of Nerd Fitness, and became friends with people doing exactly what I wanted to do. The reason I mention this is because of one of the speakers that really resonated with me.
I’ll be honest, I had never heard of Danielle LaPorte (White Hot Truth) before WDS, but after hearing her speak, I was alarmed that I hadn’t. She exudes a firey passion that is hard to understand unless you hear her, and she emanates love and strength. Her speech was about “being on your edge,” meaning being “impeccably you.” I love this message because it’s what MY message is all about! Anyways, while talking about what it takes to be truly, unrelentingly you, she mentioned that “everything you bring into your life is a choice.” This thought really resonated with me. Every decision we make, every person we choose to hang out with, every time we decide to get out that door to feel good and fill the world with positive energy that comes from a good workout are all our choices to make. It’s the realization that we CHOOSE to be here with whatever this is. Her recommendation was to own whatever situation you’re in by saying to yourself, “I choose to be here.” It sounds simple, but it’s enlightening when you say it to yourself in the middle of a hard workout that you didn’t want to go to in the first place.
As with all my recommendations to you guys, I tried this on myself for a while before I published it here. IT WORKS! It is simple, but I think the most effective methods always are. Make the choice to be here now, and reap the benefits. This thought alone can turn a negative day into a positive one, an exhausting task into a shorter one, or just a burdening thought process into an empowering one. Try this sometime this week when you find yourself doing something that you don’t want to do. Workouts, waking up early, doing menial tasks, and eating healthy when you really want a donut are all great opportunities to adopt this attitude. Please comment and tell me how it’s going!
Next time, The Benefits of Leaving Your Heart Rate Monitor At Home.
CHOOSE health and happiness- it’s yours if you do,
Amy
ATTN READERS OF FOURLEAFFITNESS.WORDPRESS.COM!
First of all, I love you! Now that that’s out of the way, I want to echo what I wrote in my last post- my blog will be switching over to wordpress.org (the real wordpress) within the next few weeks. I hope you’ll all come with me and subscribe at the new site, too! I’m keeping the title secret for now, mainly because it’s a mess at the moment and needs to be cleaned up by someone that knows what they’re doing. You’ll be able to find all the posts at the new site and more, and it’ll be a LOT prettier! I’ll keep you all in the know for when it launches!
photo by grbenching
Re-Fun Your Workout!
First of all, let me apologize for this blog being so late. I know you were all just dying in anticipation of my next post! ;p I got extremely sick, then better just in time to take my first trip to Kaua’i. It was so much fun (after my digestive system decided to go on strike)! I hiked, surfed, did a lot of walking, and a lot more. I got so excited planning all the activities we were going to do; I couldn’t wait to experience everything! This made me think: though I love working out, I wonder if everyone gets this excited for exercise when they’re not on vacation. In my experience talking to people about fitness, I have found this NOT to be the case. Most people have the Have-To’s when they think of doing their routine; “I don’t want to workout, but I have to.” Time to get out of that frame of mind and get amped about working out again! Take a vacation from your weekly routine and kick it up a notch! I know I sound like a Richard Simmons clone, but listen up for a sec.
The cure for fitness board-om!
Have you been doing the same mode of exercise for a couple months? Chances are you’re getting tired of it or you’re simply not looking forward to it everyday. Do yourself a favor and ask yourself, “What activity have I always wanted to do, but never have?” When you’re thinking of the answer, try- for the sake of this topic- to focus on endeavors that are based on physical activity. We want to get you inspired to work out again! Start researching classes or lessons to teach you the basics of the activity, then continue on to more advanced classes or take what you’ve learned and go try it by yourself! It’s intimidating to go out that first time without an instructor or guide, but you can do it! When I was learning how to surf, I was so scared to take my (er… ZJ Boarding House’s) board out by myself, but am so glad I did. I got a little nervous being out there with experts, but if you open up and talk to them, you’ll find that, most of the time, people are really nice! They all welcomed me and we had a blast taking turns on waves and empathizing when someone else would eat it. One guy even broke his board. Bummer, man.
So what are you going to do this week? Here are some ideas: swimming, hiking, inline skating, jump roping, playing a new sport, surfing, body boarding, try a new class (cardio barre, piloxing, and yoga for athletes are classes I want to try soon), and so many more. Post your ideas here!
An FYI for my subscribers: there are big changes to the site coming soon, including a url change, so please stay tuned! I’d love to take you with me!
Next time on fourleaffitness, Make the Choice to Be Here Now.
Wishing you health and happiness always,
Amy Clover
Four Leaf Fitness
www.fourleaffitness.com
Pat Yourself On The Back Already!
Be proud of what you've accomplished!
You’ve worked so hard! You’re eating right 90% of the time and sticking to your workout program. So why do you still have that little belly? Will it ever go away?
Does this sound familiar? Then you are guilty of one of the most common pitfalls of gaining momentum with fitness goals: falling slave to the negative nancies. It’s easy to see what you HAVEN’T accomplished yet, especially when you have lofty goals that may take time to reach. Here, we’ll talk about the importance of keeping your mind out of the negative, and instead focusing on what you HAVE accomplished so far.
No matter what your goal, if you’re doing everything right (eating right, making sure you’re getting all the right vitamins and minerals, drinking enough water, sleeping enough, sticking to a good workout regimen), you should be seeing results within six weeks of consistent adherence. No matter how small a change, make sure to consciously congratulate yourself on the positive outcomes, and stop beating yourself up if you think you’re not achieving your goals fast enough! Here’s a hint I’ve learned as a personal trainer over the last few years: MOST people think they’re not achieving their goals fast enough! See how quickly you can expect to achieve common fitness goals in my entry on building goals.
The act of keeping a positive mindset throughout your quest for fitness will help fuel you to accomplish more, whereas only noticing your flaws can lead to feelings of helplessness, stalling and giving up. When people adopt the glass-half-empty attitude, a pattern of catastrophic thinking regularly follows; what if I never achieve my goals? What if I’m working hard for nothing? I’m just waisting my time. Who do I think I am? If you find yourself falling into this pattern of thinking, simply tell your brain, “Stop.” Whether that means saying it out loud, slamming a hand on your desk (to the delight of your coworkers, I’m sure), or just yelling it in your head, DO IT! Then take some deep breaths and replace that negative thought with a positive one. Replace your inner Debbie Downer with a hippy life coach! What changes have you noticed so far? Are you eating right 90% of the time? That’s an accomplishment! Are your pants fitting a little looser in the waist? That’s awesome! Has your resting heart rate come down a few beats since you started? Good job, man! Feel free to be as corny as you want here! The only person judging you is you, but that’s why we’re having this conversation anyway, isn’t it? Really, though, relax and let yourself look at the smallest wins- you’ll see that they add up pretty quickly.
Next time on fourleaffitness, Re-Fun Your Workout!
Much health and happiness,
Amy Clover
Four Leaf Fitness
www.fourleaffitness.com
The 90% Principle: How NOT to Go Insane While “Dieting”
Diet. I hate that word. I hate it because of how many I have gone on in the past, trying to find what worked for me. I hate it because of how many fad diets have come and gone, leaving people confused and in worse shape than they began. I hate it because everybody has something different to say when you bring it up in a conversation (and most don’t know what they’re talking about or feel justified teaching you whatever they think they’ve learned over the course of all the diets they’ve tried). I hate it because of what it signifies to most people: a hellish period of eating only cardboard and lettuce in an attempt to drop weight. Now stop! If this sounds like your frame of mind, I want you to erase that from your memory. Today, you start anew, my born-again dieting friend. Along with the lifestyle changes that you will have to employ for (deep breath here) the rest of your life, you can continue to rock an awesome body while enjoying the foods that are supposedly off-limits. It does not have to be a torturous road to losing weight! You can eat what you want sometimes. Here’s what saved me from giving up and going overboard when the thought of never having a cookie again would be the death of me:
THE 90% PRINCIPLE
Are angels singing? Because that’s how I felt when I opened myself up to this credo: eat well 90% of the time. Thank you, Dr. John Berardi. You helped save me from going crazy and eating a whole box of Oreos in one sitting. Now let me explain a bit about what this all means and how easy it is to implement.
As a wise man once said, "They will be mine. Oh yes, they will be mine." -Wayne Campbell
Dr. John Berardi is a nutritionist and founder of Precision Nutrition, which touts a diet that my body responds to very well. Now keep in mind that every body is different; what works for me may not work for you. That’s why it is so important to do your research and discover what’s best for your body. I even tweaked the Precision Nutrition diet a bit so that it would work better for me. There are some great baseline rules to follow in my post, Food Journaling Unmasked. Start from there and tweak as you see fit, then move on.
Now that you’re eating well (clean, minimally-processed foods that are as close to the source as possible), you can employ the 90% rule. Specifically, if you’re eating 5 small meals a day, every 2-4 hours, that gives you about 35 meals. For 90% (31-32) of those meals, you will be eating well as we discussed before. For 10% of those meals (3 or 4 meals a week), you are allowed to go “off-plan.” Hold up. This does not mean full-on, “cheat” meals. You will not be having a whole meat lovers pizza with a side of fries, 3 beers and dessert at this meal. When I say off-plan, it means a beer added to your healthy meal. I mean that you’re allowed to order dessert. Feel free to have a serving of fries. Just not all at once. Don’t fall into binge-eating- it’s a slippery slope that makes sticking to your healthy lifestyle a lot harder as you get further down the road. It may be easier to plan these meals out so that, when those cravings come up, you know you’re allowed to have them… 10% of the time. Know that you have a night out coming up? Plan on making that part of your 10%. Going on a cruise? Factor in those umbrella-baring drinks and use that vision of the next day in a swimsuit to motivate you to not go “overboard” (ah, the puns! I can’t stop!). Preparation is the key to success with any fitness goal.
Now go enjoy your life and eat what you want SOME of the time. Part of enjoying life is enjoying food- you don’t always have to deny yourself one of life’s pleasures to get in great shape. In fact, I think it’s downright unhealthy if you do. Lately I’ve been pitching the importance of balance, and this is another great example of how it can benefit you. Find it, and the results will come.
Next week on fourleaffitness, Pat Yourself On The Back Already! A blog post on the importance of tracking your accomplishments rather than your setbacks in your quest for fitness.
Till next time, folks, I wish you all much health and happiness,
Amy Clover
Four Leaf Fitness
www.fourleaffitness.com
Push Hard. Now Let Go.
I’m a personal trainer. I am supposed to be motivating. Inspiring. One to be looked up to. But late last year, I was struggling. I was putting all the work in and more- 4 lifts per week, 4-5 cardio sessions (sprints, steady state, and 45 minutes at 70-85% max heart rate), and eating a strict diet (let’s put it this way- I felt guilty when I had a piece of whole grain toast with jam with Sunday brunch). I was putting so much work in, and I could not understand why I wasn’t getting the results I wanted. On paper, my routine would be considered textbook for gaining mass and leaning out. I was killing myself (a bit too literally, as I see it now) to gain some muscle mass and lean out at the same time. I was going to make it happen, no matter how hard my body fought back. What I didn’t realize at the time, was that this push-push-push mindset was exactly why I wasn’t achieving my goals. I was purely in “make it happen” mode, and completely blind to the idea of sitting back and trusting that the results would come if I allowed them to. I realize now that it is possible to keep yourself from reaching success by simply not letting yourself. From my personal experience and from what I have learned working with clients that have hit the same wall, I will share with all of you what I have come to find true: in order to achieve any goal, you MUST find a balance between making it happen and allowing it to happen.
- photo courtesy of Brandon Doran
When we set goals, most people immediately go into “make it happen” mode- steps are put in place to physically alter one’s routine to bring about change. For example, my goal was to build lean muscle mass while lowering body fat percentage. In order to do this, I took a look at what I was doing at the time, and what I could alter to bring about the changes that I wanted to see. I wasn’t lifting weights often enough to gain mass, so I altered that. I wasn’t eating enough of the right kinds of foods, and too much of the wrong ones, so I altered that. My cardio sessions weren’t focused enough, so I altered that. Then I went for it. When I go for something, I go for it gung ho- all-out. I thought that the harder I worked, the faster the results would come. I had one full rest day, but my body was used to 2-3. With the extra intensity I was placing upon myself, I started overtraining (feeling lethargic, getting injured, not fully recuperating muscle groups by the time I would return to working them a few days later) 2 weeks into my program. Where I went wrong here, besides giving my body way too much to adapt to way too fast, was the obliviousness I had to the other side of the equation- I was pushing so hard while refusing to trust the process and allowing it to work, which set me up for failure.
There comes a time in every person’s life where you just have to let go and allow the results of all your hard work to come to you. It is rare that pure will ends up being enough. Now there are scientific reasons for this as well as impalpable ones. If you’re stressing out too much about reaching a certain goal, your body can begin to react in a way that can prevent you from physically changing: cortisol (the stress hormone that is also related to increased body fat especially in the midsection) rises, making it very hard to reduce body fat; lack of sleep will keep you from goals because your muscles rebuild and heal after tough workouts while you sleep and on your rest days- if they are unable to do so, they will begin to atrophy leading to injury, lethargy, and decreased metabolic output; stress can either increase your appetite or cause appetite suppression- depending on how your body processes it- making it difficult to stick to diet plans; and the list goes on. The impalpable are more difficult to explain. Have you ever tried really hard to remember the name of a song, but just couldn’t do it until you let go and stopped thinking about it? The same phenomenon occurs with physical goals as well. There is a kind of metaphysical wall that we put up when we want something really badly. In order to allow the results in, we must let this wall down first.
I’ve seen these walls go up numerous times in many clients over the years as well as in myself. It usually happens when we put too much weight (no pun intended) on our goals; when desperation takes over and nothing else seems to matter except accomplishing this one feat. Who do I see this in most? Brides-to-be. The immovable date, the pressure of the beautiful dress, and the threat of a judgmental audience are enough to throw anyone into GO-mode. It’s all about “make it happen” when you have that much pressure on you. Also, type A personalities are especially prone to the “make it happen” ideology. Not until they allow themselves to relax and trust that the process works do the results really start revealing themselves.
Let go? Okay. Sounds easy right? Not necessarily! If you are quick to control situations, this step may be harder than the physical work you have to put in. I know it was for me! The physical work is a given. You know it works! You’ve seen it happen for plenty of other people. What you don’t see is when those people go home and STOP thinking about it. The key to stop stressing is to remember that your goal is only one part of your life- it is not your whole life. Relax! I find that yoga, meditation, meeting up with a friend, or running outside are a few of the many ways that have helped me and my clients get the mind out of the grind. Make sure you take full days off to let your body recover and to do something else- the focus and drive can take you over! Make sure you’re finding balance in the rest of your life, and know that the results only come when you give it a rest! Just breathe, people!
We always hear about balance and how it can benefit us, but I think that many of us just don’t believe that it’s necessary. We have been raised to believe that success is achieved through hard work and determination… which is true… to a point. Yes, you should work hard, but enjoy yourself while you do! Sometimes you just need to sit back and let the good things come to you. Let them in, and be grateful for them. Put in the work, then trust and LET GO.
I hope my experience can help all of you avoid the same pitfalls. As always, please feel free to post a comment or question. I’m happy to help however I can!
Come back next time to read about how The 90% Principle can keep you from going crazy while maintaining a healthy diet!
Much health and happiness,
Amy Clover
Four Leaf Fitness
www.fourleaffitness.com
