There is no Magic Pill

Let me start off by saying I wish there was some magical pill, shake, supplement, diet that makes things easy.  I wish I could just wish away fat and have the body that everyone dreams off.  I wish, I wish, I wish.  But here's the thing if someone tells you that they have found the perfect formula and all you have to do is drink their shake, or take their supplement then they are LYING to you.  And deep down you know it. 

As someone who takes their health and fitness very seriously I can get angry at seeing others promoting fads that will fade or that may even be unhealthy for those trying it.  I get angry because I know what I want to do is actually help people change their lives.  Help people learn about proper nutrition.  Help people start an exercise regimen to not only lose weight but rev up their metabolism and build up their bone density.   Help people be the best they can be physically and hopefully in doing so build up their self-esteem and give them a community of women who are doing the same thing.

It is not easy for some of us to lose weight and keep it off.  It takes diligence.  It takes building strong healthy habits.  It takes exercising and moving our bodies.  It takes making smart choices in the kitchen.  This is what I want everyone to know.  It isn't always easy but it is possible and it does get easier the longer you practice your healthy habits.  It does get easier knowing you have a support group around you building the same habits you are.  

I choose to become a Coach and help others because I have a passion for fitness.  I have a passion for food.  And I have a desire to see others succeed.  I run challenge groups every month.  I have free groups for both clean eating and exercise.  I want everyone to benefit from the things that I know work.  I have the tools and I want to share them.  

Yes I want to share them with You!

Core De Force Week 2 complete

I'm excited to share that my challenge group and I just complete our second week of the MMA inspired program Core De Force created by beachbody super trainers Joel and Jericho.  

So let me tell you how it has been going for me personally.  I normally make it through the first week of a workout program no problem because I'm excited and on fire to start but then I tend to fade in week two and by week three I am probably not even doing the program anymore.  (I have finished 3 programs total in the last year and a half).  That has certainly not been the case with this program.  I actually look forward to working out.  I mean I get to punch and kick my way to an awesomely shredded body.  

Now week one I was a little uncoordinated and moved a bit slower without any really snap to my punches and kicks.  But I feel like in week 2 I really started to see improvement in my movements.  In week one I had a tough time with the workout Dynamic Strength, it has a lot of push ups in it.  But in week 2 I was blown away with how much better I was able to do it and how I could even try some of the more difficult movements without having to modify the entire time.

 

Here is Dynamic Strength week 2

I started the program weighing in at 151. (this is a 2 pounds heavier then what I normally am, I indulged a little before starting them program).  Today I was super surprised and weighed in at 145.  Say what??  Wowza!  I cannot wait to see what the results are at the end of the 30 days.

If you are interested in starting this program and want the support and camaraderie of a group I have my next group starting on December 5th.  We will be bringing the New Year in lean and mean and fighting machines!!  

To purchase Core De Force just click on the shop link to the right and go to fitness programs!

Sugar Sugar Sugar

Question for you.  Do you know how much the daily recommend sugar per grams is?  I actually had no clue till a few weeks ago.  My husband is an avid listener to Joe Rogan's podcast.  And he frequently has guest on that are involved in health and fitness.  So Dane mentioned it to me a while back but it just didn't stick in my head.  Then the other day I started thinking..hmmm... What did Dane say the sugar allowed per day?  So I asked again and then decided that I would try to follow that guideline.

So for woman it is about 25 grams or 6 teaspoons of added sugar per day.  That may sound like a lot at first.  Six whole teaspoons of extra sugar.  I'm not talking about sugar in the fruits that you eat.  I'm talking about sugar in the processed foods.  Here is a good example of hidden sugar. A can of soda may contain up to 10 teaspoons or 40 grams of sugar. A tablespoon of ketchup has 1 teaspoon of sugar.  Say what?  I mean you probably aren't drinking soda if you are trying to have a healthy lifestyle but still 40 whole grams of sugar in one can.  That is just craziness.

Well, I decided I would try to follow the guidelines without going crazy. It was a little harder then I thought.  Here's what I found out this past week as I tried to watch my sugar intake.  The creamer I use if I drink coffee has 5 grams per serving and this creamer is suppose to be "natural".  My whole fat greek vanilla yogurt had 27 grams per cup.  Ummm WTF?  I will now be switching to the plain whole fat greek yogurt which has 6 grams per cup.  Salad dressings have added sugar, peanut butter has added sugar..... it seems life has added sugar. AHHHH!  Needless to say I haven't had a day where I stayed below 25 grams. (I was using up my yogurt that I had bought.)  But I definitely was having less sugar then normal because I was paying attention and the great thing is I felt better and started to see a little difference in my body.  Little less bloat.. hmm interesting. 

Everything was still going great this week.  Monday was good, Tuesday even better but then today. Uh oh.  A very sweet friend who is also gluten free (she has celiac disease) brought me some goodies.  And I mean a bag full of goodies.  And if you know me then you know my downfall is having things in the house.  Well, in this case in the car.  I proceeded to munch my way through a few bags of cookies on my drive home from the gym. Yes I said gym and the drive from the gym is under 5 minutes.  Oops!  So when I got home I added up the extra sugar I had just consumed and we were will over 35 grams.  Uhhhh no good.  But there is no going back so from this point forward no more sugar today and tomorrow we shoot for 25 grams again.  There is no point in beating myself up over a binge.  It happened and now I move forward with the intent to not let it happen again.

But I challenge you, reader, to try this.  Try to see where you hidden sugar lies. If your trying to eat clean there shouldn't be that much of it.  But it will be amazing how it stills creeps into our diets.  Americans are obese because of this.  Don't be a statistic. Fight the trend of obesity with me.

Fixate to the Rescue

As many of you know my good friend and dressage instructor Judy had a recent medical emergency in the family.  Her husband, Angus had bleeding in his brain and was rushed to the hospital where he stayed in ICU for over a week.  He is home now and recover at a very good rate.  But going through something so traumatic has made Judy want to change some things in their lifestyle.  She wants Angus to be all around more healthy and have a much better diet.  In comes the Fixate cookbook.

Today after I had a fantastic ride on Bella in this lovely 80 degree weather, I went up to the house and we went through my fixate cookbook and picked out recipes that were easy to make and that she thought Angus might enjoy.  We picked out enough to get her started and hopefully to get him eating super clean and healthy.

So in honor of the Whyte Family getting healthier with their diets I'm going to share one of my favorite recipes from this cookbook.

Pumpkin Muffins With Maple Cream Cheese

2oz. cream cheese
1 Tbsp. Pure maple syrup
1 Large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup -canned pumpkin puree
1 1/2 cups almond flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 dash sea salt
2 Tbsp raw pumpkin seeds

preheat the over to 350 F.  Prepare 9 cups by lining with muffin tin liners  Combine cream cheese and maple syrup in a small bowl mixing well (set aside) Combine egg and pumpkin in a medium bowl, mix well.  Add almond meal mixture to egg mixture and mix till blended.  Spoon batter into each prepared muffin cup,filling a little less then 1/2 full.  Spoon about 1 heaping tsp. cream cheese mixture into the center of each muffin, then full the rest with remaining batter.  Sprinkle pumpkin seeds evenly.
Bake for 16-18 minutes or until golden brown and toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Transfer muffins to rack and let them cool.

Eat and enjoy!  That's it.  And I know if I can do them you can do them too because I'm horrible in the kitchen.