Where have I been?!?!

Lots been going on the past few months, working out, being on a workout hiatus, coming back from a workout hiatus, and signing up for RocRace (a fun 5K obstacle course). It's easy to loose focus at times but the important thing is regaining it and moving forward. I was working out and getting extremely tired and worn out during my workout sessions. The feeling had discouraged me since I was working out, loosing weight, gaining muscle but couldn't understand why I was feeling the way that I was. Well as I mentioned before, I struggle with eating and getting enough calories during the day. My breakfast, snacks and lunch are fine, it is when I get home from work (usually late) I don't want to cook and tend to not eat or just snack. Plus there is too much time in between of me not eating. (small frequent meals is key) I'm still working on that and it's a constant struggle for me. Meal prepping helps me alot but the meals aren't always prepped. So one of my goals besides building strength is to get my diet on track. If anyone has any suggestions what helps you with meals, please share.

Week 4 and did you say abs?

So how is everyone doing with the Challenge? Have you been able to complete all 3 challenges each day? From the 3 that we've been assigned with, I've been doing the best with the Move 30. Exercising is finally part of my daily routine, whether it's in the gym, riding my bike or exercising at home, I'm getting it in! Hope you are too. I actually changed my workout time to the mornings instead of lunchtime. It's working out better for me and has been less stressful. If I have time at lunch, I will put in two workouts but that hasn't been happening lately with my 9-5 workload. A friend of mine has been able to stay consistent with working out at night. So whatever is most convenient for you, keep at it and make it work! Eventually it will become your habit.

Last week we added Take 10, where we took 10 minutes for ourselves. This week it is more about time for you. We will be focusing on Get 7, which is getting 7 hours of sleep a night. Sleep is just important as eating right and working out. Your body needs time to recharge and sleep also reduces stress.

Quick reminder for the week:

• Eat 5 (eat 5 servings of fruit and veggies)
• Move 30 (be active for 30 minutes)
• Take 10 (take 10 minutes for yourself)
• Get 7 (sleept 7 hours a night)

Next week will be the last week of the challenge. The most challenging part is staying consistent with it and allowing it to become a part of your life. That is what lifestyle change is about.

AB EXERCISE:

Since you can never get too much ab workouts in, I wanted to share with you one of my favorites. One reason this is a fav is because it realigns my back when twisting. After the 2nd twist to one side, I'm feeling better.

Needed: Mat or towel, weights or something heavy (fill a bag of cans up) .. we definately improvise when needed

1. Lay flat on your mat
2. Curl your upper body to an almost seated position and raise your legs about 6 inches off of the ground
3. Grab the weight and twist only at your core from side to side
4. Do 3 sets of 15

RESULT: Strong core and awesome obliques (eating clean also plays a HUGE role... I'll touch on that at another time)

Fit With It Week 3 and sheesh am I sore!

Ok so far we are Eating 5 and Moving 30. How are you holding up? I find it most difficult on the weekends when I'm not on my normal routine, it throws me off. I often eat less, I realize that this will be a continuous challenge for me until start planning better for the weekends and disciplining myself. A good app is My Fitness Pal, where you can log your food and exercise. This has helped me especially while trying to increase my protein intake.

Starting today we add Take 10 to our routine. Take 10 minutes for yourself each day, yes YOU time! How often do you take time for yourself? How often does someone tell you to take time for yourself? IMajority will say never, but we need that time even if it's for 10 minutes a day. Here are a few ideas: read, meditate, pray, take a walk, listen to music.

　

How are your workouts going? Yesterday at my personal training session, I did a circuit starting out with 50 reps and going down to 10. By the time that I was done, it equaled to 150 reps of each exercise. Wow I'm sore, glutes, legs and abs took a beating. All of the post workout pain, proves to me that I'm doing something right and that it's working. I even wake up feeling lighter, I guess it's a mental thing but it keeps me moving forward. Share with me what workouts you are including in your routine.

Fit With It Week 2 plus a FREE Spring Fitenss Challenge

Who is trying to get Fit With It but doesn't have $ for a personal trainer? Sign up for the FREE Spring Fitness Challenge at Mr. Shutup and Train. Lets get Fit With It together!

This is perfect timing, since we are going to be adding Move 30 starting on Monday for those that are participating in the six week get healthy Fit With It Challenge!

For this week, we will continue to Eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables and will now add in exercise for 30 minutes of movement each day. This includes yard work, walking the dog along with the traditional forms of exercise such as running, weight lifting, etc.

For those who are just starting to workout, start slowly and build a routine.  A routine can be getting up 30 minutes earlier to take a walk/jog, do crunches, squats, lounges, pushups & planks are all great for your total body. Create your own circuit. A gym is not needed to get in shape. Using your own body weight is a challenge and will get you feeling great.

A FREE app that I use is Workout Trainer, the workouts range from 2 - over 30 minutes. You can search for a focus area and it will populate workouts related to it.

Benefits of Physical Activity

• Keeps your weight under control
• Improves your blood cholesterol levels
• Prevents and manages high blood pressure
• Prevents bone loss
• Increases muscle tone
• Boosts energy levels
• Helps you manage stress and relieve tension

 

Getting Started

• Start slowly—don’t overdo it.
• Drink plenty of water before, during and after you exercise.
• Ask a friend to exercise with you to help keep you motivated.
• Try to make exercising a regular part of your daily routine.

#FitWithIt

Who's up for the "Fit With It" challenge?

The warm weather is hopefully right around the corner and will STAY here in the NJ area! I'm so tired of the temperature change! With warm weather, many find it easier to get motivated on their fitness goals and make that change. Really, what better time?

Well I joined this challenge that my job is offering and want to see who is up for the challenge with me! The challenge will have you eat healthier, get active, reduce stress, get rest and take personal YOU time. It's a 6-week plan to practice healthy behaviors, introducing 1 behavior weekly. By the end of the 6 weeks, it should be a lifestyle change. We are doing it in phases, which makes it easier. Here is a brief run down of the weeks:

Week 1 - Eat 5! Starts with one behavior, eating 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables each day.

Week 2 - Move 30! You continue with the 5 servings of fruits and vegetables and add an additional behavior, moving for 30 minutes each day.

Week 3 - Take 10! Add on 10 minutes each day for stress reduction and time for yourself

Week 4 - Sleep 7! Add on 7 hours of sleep each night.

Week 5 - Fiber 25! Add on eating 25 grams of fiber or more each day.

Week 6 - Repeat the previous week.

For those who want to join me, here is Week 1's Eat 5 challenge that begins on Monday:

Week 1: Eat 5

You have only 1 task, that is to eat 5 servings fruits and vegetables every day. You should mix it up by making sure some of the servings come from green vegetables. Avoid extra calories by substituting a fruit or vegetable for a less healthier food choice such as soda or dessert. One serving is equal to any of the amounts listed below.

• 1 medium piece of fruit
• 3/4 cup of 100% fruit juice
• 1/2 cup of chopped, cooked, raw or canned vegetables
• 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables

More great ways to get the fruits and veggies in:

• juicing (1 of my fav's: carrot, apple, beet, ginger)
• smoothies mixed w/greek yogurt, if you need to sweeten, use agave or honey
• veggie frittata (you KNOW I had to plug the frittata!)
• fruit mixed in with your veggie salad

Be sure to stop by next Friday, to get details on Week 2 - Move 30 challenge.

Planning to fail? Didn't think so!

You know the saying "failing to plan is planning to fail". Not over here with Team Fit With It!!

Before Toni and I started our personal training sessions, we had to provide our trainer with our short-term and long-term goals. I came up with mine and posted them at my desk (on pretty paper) as a daily reminder. It helps me to stay focused. To take it a bit further, every week he also asks us, what our goals are for the week. With that simple question, it has me focus on what I'm trying to achieve and how to get there.

Creating SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-based) goals for yourself, they are realistic and help keep you focused on achieving them. For example, 1 of my long-term goals is to run a 5k (3.1 miles) non-stop. In order to achieve that goal, I created a plan for it. This week is to consistently run 3 times no less 1/2 mile non-stop. My focus isn't on time, but on endurance. So if I need to lower my speed to achieve my 1/2 mile, I will do so. SMART goals are easier to achieve and by achieving those smaller goals it gives you more motivation to keep going towards the larger goal.

I will let you know how I do with my running progress. Let me know what you are focused on and what goals you will make in order to achieve that.

Pre Cooked Frittata

I made this last night and enjoying the cooked version for breakfast right now, simply delicious! With my son being on Spring break this week, I hope there is some left when i get home after work.

My Diet is Suffering!

This past week has been a challenge for me with my diet. This is very frustrating since working out and your diet go hand and hand. Also if you are working out and your diet isn’t on point, you will not see the  maximum results of your body.

I slacked this and didn’t go food shopping this weekend, well not so much slacked since it was a very busy weekend, nonetheless I never made it to the store. I shop on the weekend and on Sunday pre prep my meals for the week. My breakfast, lunch and dinner have definitely suffered because of this. Besides working out being my priority, I’m also trying to lower my body fat and an important way to do that is through a high-protein diet. So the protein is being increased and the carbs are being minimized (this includes good carbs being that carbs are carbs and they turn into sugar). The protein helps to fuel the muscles after a good workout. My trainer shared with me that it’s critical to eat one hour after working out as this helps with building and feeding your muscles.

To get back on track, before leaving for work this morning I put 2 cups of beans to soak. This included small red beans, chick peas, black beans and black eye peas. Bagged beans are very nutritious and extremely great on cost. With the beans I will add it to my frittata and also make a bean salad that will have EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil), balsamic, pinch of salt, pepper and turmeric. Turmeric has many benefits such lowering your blood sugar, high in iron and an anti-inflammatory.

My typical breakfast is a frittata, which I bake in the oven instead of on the stovetop. They are delicious, easy to make and quick grab and go meal. You can basically empty your fridge into the recipe. My latest was made with:

• 1 dozen eggs
• Fresh basil, chopped
• Fresh cilantro, chopped
• Cherry tomatoes
• Escarole, chopped
• 4 type of beans (see above that are soaking)

Mix all the ingredients together; I usually use my macaroni pot. Coat my Corningware dish with EVOO and pour the mixture in. Bake at 350 for 45 – 60 minutes, checking the consistency to make sure the egg is cooked through.

This is delicious for any meal. I keep in the fridge for the week, cutting a piece each morning and putting in a ziplock to heat at work. I’m looking forward to hear what you add to your frittatas.

Let the Games Begin

My friend Toni and I signed up for some personal training sessions locally this past Sunday was our first day in training! All week I was excited about the session until I woke up Sunday morning and saw our trainer's Instagram pictures (& hashtags! #ladder #50 #40 #30 etc). Not knowing what "ladder" was, got me a bit nervous. I tried nudging it off by making a delicious high-protein breakfast, 1 egg, 4-bean mix, basil & cilantro omelette.

Well 9:45 a.m. came around and Toni was outside picking me up to head over for our 10 a.m. session. First thing's first, the workout was awesome and no puking took place = successful. We warmed up on the foam roller, which is great for getting out any kinks or knots that you may have. It's not the easiest piece of equipment when first using it, but if your back, hip or legs are tight the foam roller works wonders. After our warm up and a quick run we got into the circuit training. Exercises that I hate were on the list (esp squats & lounges) but those are the ones I need to do the most of. We got through 4 rounds of the circuit plus another quick jog and ended with burpees. I am the person who will ice grill you the whole time while working out but feel great and love it afterwards. Oh and did I mention STARVING!

The training session really energized me and got me going Easter morning. I'm glad that we have Don as our trainer to help us reach our goals. Can't wait until our next session on Sunday!

Welcome and Let's Get Fit With It!

The Lifestyle: Fit With It blog was created to track our progress and journey while we embrace a healthier lifestyle change. We will blog on diet, fitness, what works best for us and how we can help you to get motivated in order to reach your lifestyle goals! Please share with us what you find useful and makes you see results. Once again welcome from the Lifestyle: Fit With It team and let's make this progress together!