My Happiness

I shouldn’t say this but I’m happy. Chopra said it will disappear as soon as I acknowledge it. But it’s not gone yet. I’m just really happy. What does it feel like? Well it’s going to be different for me than it will be for you. If what I feel could be made into a scene in my life movie it would be described like this:

The sky is a mix between royal blue and the blue that glaciers sometimes get. The sun is huge and orange. The grass is emerald green and soft. Everything is in its most vivid color. It’s the perfect temperature where I’m perfectly warm but there’s a breeze that just helps me breathe in the air deeper. Like it’s pushing all of nature into me with every breath. I’m lying on that grass and I can hear the crashing waves of the ocean. My land is on top of a cliff. Of course the edge has a fence – it makes me feel safe. While I lay there, eyes closed, sun warming my face I can hear my dogs running around playing. They’re full of joy and freedom. I’m enveloped in everything that inspires me. Sometimes I picture the house behind me. I can’t see it too good yet but so far what I know is that it’s cream colored stucco. Spanish style. It has flowering vines covering part of the wall and the vines are slowly creeping to the upstairs balcony with the big French doors. For some reason I’m in jeans …not sure what that means. But life is beautiful and I’m perfectly happy. That is what my happiness looks like.

What would yours look like?

Sad Is an Understatement

We're all family here so I'll tell you all a little secret that I hide away most of the time.

Depression. (Queue scary music).

Yes Jenny Fitmagnet has gone through times of depression. I'm not ashamed of it. I don't go around shouting it from the rooftops because the truth is that I learned how to control it. I'm not going to go into the positive thinking rant (although I may later on) but I am going to go on an education rant.

I remember as a small child being sad for no reason. I don't know maybe I would act that way to get attention. I mean what does a 5 year old have to feel sad about right? Anyhoo, the sadness was ignored. Then in elementary school I moved from one school to another and lets just say the sadness and anxiety intensified. OMG I just remember crying every single day in 5th grade! Now let me tell you this - (I believe in God by the way) - God was very good to me. Instead of allowing myself to isolate myself in a corner to cry HE/SHE brought me new friends. I was never alone, I was never an outcast, I had friends that were kind enough to just let me cry. Isn't that sweet?

Then puberty hit and holy mother of all goodness PMS hit me. PMS for me at twelve was insane. It was the first time that I realized that I had a bad problem. Depression. While I would feel a little sad every day normally, 2 weeks out of the month I was terribly depressed. I'm talking wearing black, closing the blinds, locking my bedroom door, sleeping or writing horribly depressing poetry.

Now here's where the lines get blurry. Was I depressed because of a hormonal imbalance? Or was I depressed because I was overweight and insecure? Probably both. At 16 I began to see a psychologist. The first guy was this quack that changed his accent every time he spoke to my parents. He would talk normally to me then when he spoke to my Colombian parents (they had a spanish accent) suddenly he was speaking like he just got off a plane from his native country. And i'm supposed to ask this guy for help? Anyhoo, the second doctor was racist. So he lasted a couple of weeks and that was it. Then the third doctor was a charm. She was a beautiful, smart, compassionate woman that helped me sort out the mess in my brain.

The shrink sessions helped but come PMS time I was still a mess. Finally I'm 18 and I think hmmmm time to get me some birth control pills. I'm a liberated woman why the hell not?! Well to tell you the truth I was brought up Catholic by my mother who is nearly a saint and my father who almost became a priest (no lie). So my liberation was a secret for a long long time LOL.

Wouldn't you know it that my depression lessened (it wasn't the sex believe me - Catholic guilt still kept that under wraps lol). Then my oldest sister told me that to avoid cramps she would take the birth control pill without the 1 week break you're supposed to take. I tried that and low and behold depression was out of here!

Fast forward to November of this year 2010. Life was a little hectic. I took a vacation to Florida and missed a couple of pills. My parents and sister visited from Florida and I missed a couple of pills. Thanksgiving came and went and I missed a couple of pills. See where I'm going here? Let's just say I hit a depression wall at 90 miles per hour. One day my boyfriend comes into the office and I'm sobbing. He asks "What's the matter?" and I say "I don't know I'm just sad" and he says "About what", Me "I don't know I'm just depressed", Him "Did I do anything? Can I do anything for you?", Me "No I just have to ride it out". It was such a pathetic scene. At least I had the mindset to start taking the damn pill right away and to work out. That was one thing that I was grateful for that my workout addiction was still in the forefront.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that depression is real. It happens to the happiest of us. It's ok. Just get help. If you can't do it on your own then its OK to get a little pill help. Don't be embarrassed because after all at the end of the day who are you left with? Yourself! Do you want to be stuck with a Debby Downer? No!!! So if you feel depressed start researching it. Find ways to elevate your mood. For me it was as simple as going on birth control. You may need Zoloft who knows! Just don't feel hopeless and let yourself suffer.

Here's a great website that can get you started:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/depression/index.shtml

3rd Step to Weight Loss

Let's review shall we:

Step 1 - Be honest with yourself

Step 2 - Set yourself up for success

Step 3 - Know your obstacles

I'm going to sound like a broken record but please do not lose focus on your goal. Please know that every tiny step you take will amount to a great destination in the end. It may take a while to get there but it's all worth it when you arrive. Just stick with me here.

So have you ever gotten ready to leave for vacation and when you're on the plane you suddenly remember you forgot to pack your underwear? Or your toothbrush? Or some other essential toiletry? You made a checklist before you left that you read fifty times while packing just to realize as the jet engines fire up that you forgot to put something important on it (like undies and a toothbrush). There's your first obstacle for that vacation trip. So you freak out a little then you realize undies and toothbrushes are pretty common and you can probably get some at the airport your arriving in right? Obstacle conquered! This is the same idea with losing weight.

There are days when you planned everything perfectly. You ate perfectly, you worked out perfectly, you weighed yourself and 2 perfect lbs were lost and the night ends perfectly. Then there are days like... (queue scary music) ...BIRTHDAY PARTIES and THANKSGIVING DINNER where your perfect meal wasn't even a thought in your brain. Then you're gonna come home and do the most God awful thing we all do...You're gonna weight yourself to see how much damage you've done. Then you're gonna hate yourself 'cause you feel like a failure. Whoa-is-me. (OOOO so scary how I can read your mind)

Snap out of it! You didn't hate yourself when you left out undies and a toothbrush on your vacation checklist. All you did was make a quick plan to overcome that obstacle. That's exactly what you need to do when you have a "bad" day. You regroup, you pull out your notepad and you start planning your weight loss recovery. You don't sit there and wallow in it. You plan. (This is also good when dealing with every crisis).

So how do you recover from a bad day?

1) You plan out your meals for the upcoming week.

Take the time out and just do it. The quicker you can snap out of the food fest mentality the quicker you can recover. If you linger in the "bad" zone you'll do more damage.

2) You write down ideas on how to avoid overdoing it at the next party or planned "bad" day.

For example I promised myself that I will make an effort to focus on people more than the food. I also eat something filling and healthy before I go to the party so that I'm not sticking my face in the chip dip.

3) Don't weigh yourself for 4 days after the "bad" day.

Why is this important? Because our bodies are tricky. You can have the best meal ever but if there was too much salt your body is going to retain water and the scale is going to make you think you just ate at the Chinese buffet. Just don't torture yourself like this especially after knowing that you ate horribly.

When you hit an obstacle like a "bad" food day promise yourself you'll plan on how to recover.

Family is another obstacle but we'll get to that in due time. I really just want you to get over that hurdle of "Crap! I messed up, I gained 3 lbs in one night, I suck at this, and I'm just gonna have pizza for the rest of my life 'cause I'm meant to be overweight". Get over that please!!!

We're human, we weren't meant to be perfect, just keep moving on and you'll get to where you want to go :)

What the hell is Beachbody?

It's no secret by now that I am a loyal Beachbody customer.

Whose Beachbody? They are the company that produces those nifty workouts that you see on late night infomercials:

P90x, Brazil Butt Lift, TurboJam, Slim in 6, Insanity...

My loyalty began when I purchased TurboJam for some extra cardio. Then it I got Chalean Extreme for strength training. Now I'm feeling the burn with TurboFire. After I'm done with TurboFire I will move on to P90x, Insanity, Brazil Butt Lift, and RevAbs (can't wait!). Yes that's almost a year and half of preplanned workouts.

Now I'm hooked on Shakeology (awesome stuff)!

So here I am hooked to their workouts and now this wonderful milk shake but dang this addiction is a little expensive. So a friend introduced me to the coaching opportunity. All she had to say was 25% off discount and I signed right up.

So I became a Beachbody coach customer. That means I was in it for the discount and not the business. Slowly but surely people started noticing my weight loss and my muscles peeking through. They asked "What are you doing?", "Why do you look thinner every time I see you?" , "Wow look at your biceps!" (ok that last one is just me admiring myself in the mirror) . I was talking about the products because I was a product of the product. It was so easy! "This is what I'm doing and here's my website" that was my answer. No selling just telling.

What became "just a discount" became a passion. I love helping people. I love telling you what worked for me and what didn't. I love hearing about your successes and setbacks.

Not only was I able to channel my desire to help others but I was given guidance to help myself. I became motivated to read more books like the "Slight Edge", "The Power", "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People". I also got turned on to books on audio like "Eat that Frog!". All of these have helped me become more organized, more accountable, more aware of my actions and more motivated to become a better me.

The business and discount are secondary. The $15 per month for my own website is a bonus but the person that I've grown into is priceless!

This is why I do what I do.

Shop for products @ www.teambeachbody.com/benjiville
Sign up to be a coach (free to join until 12/31/10) @ https://teambeachbody.com/signup/-/signup/coach?referringRepId=45591

2nd Step to Weight Loss

The 2nd step to weight loss is much easier than the first step:

Set yourself up for Success!

You're probably thinking "Well duh" but don't you dare "duh" me!

The truth is that often we go into a diet and workout plan spontaneously. We have a bad weekend of self loathing and depression and suddenly decide that Monday is the day our life will change. We're motivated, we're pumped, we're ready to lose our first five pounds and then we open the fridge and find nothing good. Then we feel let down. We start to think how we really wanted to start but life slapped us in the face once again.

Well guess what. It wasn't life that slapped us in the face it was our own unpreparedness. Often times the biggest battle in losing weight is breaking bad eating habits. The only way to break a bad habit and to deal with the withdrawal of it is to arm ourselves with the proper tools.

First thing first:
I'm not going to tell you what to eat but I will give you some clues.

1) If you look on the package and it has 100 ingredients in it - don't eat it. For example:

Hostess Cupcake - (I had one a couple of weeks ago so I know this and I was grossed out). Has a million and 3 ingredients (I didn't really count) and one of those ingredients was "vegetable and or ANIMAL shortening". Come on people!!! If I wanted bacon with my cupcake I would have made some.

2) If you look at the food and can identify every ingredient in it just by looking at it - eat it. For example:

Apples, Oranges, Pears, Rice, Celery, peanuts...catch my drift?

3) Try to go Organic as much as possible. I could go on and on and on about how our food is grown but you're better off watching a movie such as "Food Inc". I'd guarantee you it'll open up your eyes and you'll demand better quality food for your body.

4) If you're unsure how to make these great foods pick up some recipe books. Or just Google some low calorie recipes. Here's my favorite website www.calorie-count.com. It will tell you the calorie content of a bunch of foods, it has recipes, you can sign up for the community so you can talk to people and get advice, you can read about transformation stories. Awesome Awesome and Awesome!

Now that you know what food to buy and how you're going to make it go out and get a food scale. It has been so invaluable in my weight loss journey and it's cheap! I think I got "The Biggest Loser" scale for $20...maybe even less at Bed Bath and Beyond (they send coupons - I bet you can print one online!).

Now plan out some meals for a couple of days so you know what to expect. Figure out how many calories you should be eating (www.calorie-count.com, click on Tools, click on calorie target). Try to make 5 small meals - Breakfast, snack, Lunch, snack, Dinner.

Last but maybe THE MOST IMPORTANT thing is a food journal. Make it pretty, make it special, or manly ( I don't know gentlemen ...I just know I'm a girl and I love pretty notebooks), make it your best friend. This is going to be the mirror that you hold up to yourself everyday that keeps you focused on your goals. You're going to tell your food journal your deepest darkest secrets, desires, complaints, frustrations - OK maybe not all that but at least tell it what your eating, how much, and the # of calories. This will keep you true to Step #1 (I'll wait till you page through my blog so you can find it...waiting....waiting...really people??? you can't jump to step 2 without looking at step 1 - fine I'll tell you) HONESTY!

This doesn't have to be difficult. It just takes some planning. You don't need a food scale right away, you don't have to buy hundreds of dollars of food to pack your house with. All you have to do is plan. Plan for the first week and by Friday plan for the next week. Remember my blog "Small Steps Bring Huge Change"? (You really should have read it) - It's the small steps that we can do everyday that will lead to huge changes in our future. If you just plan a meal a day in advance and keep doing that every day, in 2 weeks you will see the weight come off!

Step 1 for Weight Loss

The first step to losing weight is not a magic pill, it's not a crazy workout, or a special diet. It's simple in theory but most of us don't do it:

Honesty.

Be honest with yourself. It can be difficult. It can make you sad. So just be prepared. Here's what happened to me (you knew I was just going to talk about myself didn't you?):

I was about 23 and started Weight Watchers. I decided this was going to be my ticket to success. I wrote down my points each day and spent a lot of time in my room away from the kitchen to hold back the temptation. The first couple of days I did awesome! I was excited, I was motivated, I couldn't wait to weigh myself. Then the 3rd day rolls in and the anxiety starts tugging at my stomach. This was the first time that I actually sat through it and thought about why I was feeling this way. I thought about why I wanted to eat when I was clearly not hungry. It brought up sad thoughts about past events but the most prevalent reason was boredom. I was bored. Then something this guy said (I don't remember who it was) punched me in the brain, "bored people are boring people" and I decided I didn't want to be boring. So I started reading. I read and read and read. I became so addicted to books that I would read until I was starving and I STILL didn't want to get up. But of course I did because starving doesn't work.

Whatever reason you eat or hold yourself back from working out - you have to push that reason to the front of your brain and deal with it. Do you eat crap because you don't know that it's crap? Well if you wrote it down and looked it up at www.calorie-count.com then you will see that it's crap and you can make a decision not to eat it so often. Did you're dad tell you that you were worthless? Well if he did that means that someone told him that HE was worthless...you can't believe everything you hear AND it's not going to serve you anyway. So let the past judgments go, they serve no purpose. Were you abused as a kid and feeding yourself to get over the fear, depression, and anger? Ask yourself, is this behavior making me happy? Do you want to relive the past with every cookie you eat and every pound you gain? Or do you want to work towards a healthier happier future?

Honesty will get you there. When you're honest with yourself you're better able to make a choice. Make a choice to stay exactly the same or to make a tiny change to feel better. You have the choice to be sad or to make yourself happy. I always choose to make myself happy because no one else has the ability to.

It's up to you!

Small Steps bring HUGE CHANGE

I was inspired to write this due to a comment that was posted about my HIIT 15 YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07Qqfcmb-8Y andhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eyi9b7rdZNI

A young lady said "Wow I could never workout like that!" and I said "Hell yeah you can!" Ok well I didn't actually say those words. What I said was that I didn't start on my fitness path jumping crazy high, or doing jump lunges and sumo burpees. I started with baby steps. Those baby steps got me to where I am today.

I'm reading a book by Joel Osten called "The Slight Edge". It's an awesome book that shows you that you're big huge success stories didn't happen out of "luck" or in one day they actually happened out of mundane things done every single day. He talks about that those every day "simple" steps to success are so easy to do but they are also easy NOT to do. What separates those that succeed and those that fail is the choice TO DO or NOT TO DO those things that will lead to success.

So lets say with fitness. It's very easy to do 2o minutes of walking on a treadmill, around your neighborhood or up and down your hallway. The first day you attempt it you may not notice anything different about your shape. You may not see a change in your body for a couple of weeks. Then BAM the third week comes along and your suddenly 3 inches thinner and 2 lbs lighter. It wasn't some big miracle that happened to you on that day you measured yourself. It was actually the accumulation of three weeks of walking 20 minutes per day that made that change in your body.

So as easy as it is to just get up and walk around for 20 minutes it's also easy NOT to do it. Unfortunately for those who don't do the easy things everyday they won't see the change that they most desire. What will happen is that instead of seeing your shape change for the better you'll see it change for the worst. You'll gain ten more pounds each year. You're doctor will put you on cholesterol medication, your blood pressure will continue to rise, and your arteries will begin to harden. The "Slight Edge" works both ways. You can do the small healthy steps to improve your life or you can continue the unhealthy steps to worsen your life. It's up to you :) Either one is easy to do and easy NOT to do.

I started off with a promise to myself that I will do something physical each day. At first it was walking on the treadmill for 20 minutes. Then I started to challenge myself a little more and started jogging for 2 minutes and walking for 5 minutes. Then I wanted more and started doing light strength training. Then I felt stronger and wanted even more and did Chalean Extreme. THEN I FELT LIKE SUPERWOMAN and moved onto TurboFire. Now I'm unstoppable!!!

So yes you can get to this point but you just have to take baby steps towards it. It's the little tiny simple actions that we do each day that will determine our breakthrough success in the future. Be one of the success stories and start taking those baby steps!

Cya!

TurboFire

TurboFire

FEEL THE BURN!!!!

Just wanted to do a quick review of my favoritist (not a real word) workout in the whole wide world. You've probably read this before but this workout is off the hook! Here are the top five things I love about it:

1) The music is hot!!!! I've never worked out to a video that gets the songs stuck in my head afterwards...like right now "I'm a bad girl break me like the law..." LOVE IT!!!

2) The moves are hot!!! (do you see a theme here?) No for real the moves are awesome. So you're not dancing around like a ballerina. You're throwing punches, your doing round house kicks, you're jabbing, you're doing cross punches. You can channel Mike Tyson's energy and kick some ass! (Or at least pretend to be kicking ass like I do everyday)

3) Chalene is hot!!! She has the personality and attitude that makes her entertaining and motivating. As a heterosexual woman even I think she's smokin'. The woman has 2 kids and abs to die for.

4) It burns the time away! (I love my puns) Any 55 minute workout that feels like it took 10 minutes to do is a life savor for me. I've always gotten bored with other workouts too quickly but this one is so entertaining and there are so many DVDs included in this set that there's no possible way you can get bored.

5) Last but not least...IT GAVE ME ABS!!!! (Yes it's all about me again) In 30 years I've never had abs ...Chalene revealed them for me :)

Give it a try!!!!

http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/benjiville?bctid=82703972001

Are you eating enough?

Are you not eating as much as you should be eating? Weird question right? Especially when you're trying to lose weight.

The popular weight lose mantra is "calories in vs. calories out", you have to expend more calories than you consume. According to this rule this will guarantee weight loss. Well let me send your world spinning because this my friends is not always true!!! Wha-wha-what!!!!! Yep I said it.

Let me tell you what happened to me (it's always about me...just get used to it!). I started Chalean Extreme in April. I incorporated TurboJam and jogging as my daily cardio in addition to the cardio workouts in the C.E. program. I was also eating 1200 calories per day. I expected to lose a ton of weight right away! The scale wouldn't budge. The first week I lost 1/4 of a pound. Of course my mentality was "Ok I'm building muscle and muscle weighs more than fat". That statement of course is true. Then the 2nd week it was the same .25 pound weight loss. I had read from one of Chalene's blogs that when you start a new workout and are sore your body retains water while the muscles are repairing so weight loss may not be seen during those first couple of weeks. Ok so I gave my 2nd week the soreness excuse. Then the 3rd week rolls around and still .25 pounds. I was a little frustrated at this point.

I asked a friend (my fitness guru Diana) what's the haps? Why aren't I losing weight. She first suggested that I start a food journal and make sure that my numbers are accurate. Little did she know that my food journals are as precise as my check book (pretty gosh darn perfect)! But heeding that advise I went out and got myself a food scale just in case my measurements were off (I can't be too careful). Then she said that if my food journals were perfect then maybe I'm not eating enough. Say what?! She informed me that when cutting calories you shouldn't have more than a 500 calorie deficit.

So I got myself a bodybugg (a little gadget you strap on and it tells you how many calories you burn throughout the day). I found that I was burning 2200 calories per day and with a 1200 calorie diet I had 1000 calorie deficit!!!! So I had to add 500 calories to my diet. Wooooo hoooooo! I was ecstatic ( I love food - what do you expect?)! I was also skeptical but I happily did it.

The 4th week I consumed 1700 calories per day and BAM 2 pounds lost! The moral of this story is that if you have a really great workout program and you're burning a lot of calories - you gotta eat!!!! Stop starving yourself and start moving and eating great quality food!

I love good news! Now go eat something!

Visualize Your New Body

Starting a weight loss adventure can be daunting sometimes. We tend to look in the mirror and point out the parts we desperately want to get rid of. We begin to criticize ourselves for overeating, wasting time, and being lazy (even though we're not). We start to play back all of those hurtful comments that we've heard someone else say about our weight. Are you depressed yet?

Well snap out of it! It's time for a new approach. A more positive approach. Visualize your new body. At first this is a difficult thing to do, so I fixed that by actually making a visual aid. I used to watch Regis and Kelly everyday and I marveled at her ripped arms so that was the first body part I looked for. I Googled pictures of Kelly Ripa and I cut out the arms (wow that sounds a little psychotic...stick with me it gets better). I was flipping through a magazine and saw this girl with fantastic legs so I cut those out too. Angelina Jolie's shoulders made the cut. Jennifer Lopez's abs were included. You get the picture. Then I went into kindergarten mode - I got out my glue stick and construction paper and made a collage of my future body. I stuck my beautiful piece of stalker art in a place where I would see it every single day.

Everyday I would look at that picture of mixed up parts and just tell myself that I will have those_(fill in blank)__. Looking at Kelly's arms made me want to lift heavier weights, run longer, and sweat harder.

To date I still don't have that exact body that I have hanging in my office but it doesn't matter. That project stood as a daily reminder of what I wanted to aspire to. I still have it up there and every once in a while I'll imagine my head with those body parts (jeez I sound like something out of Showtime's Dexter). It still serves as motivation to keep pushing even though when I look in the mirror I like what I see.

If you don't like you're body then visualize your head on someone else's body until that body finally becomes yours. It doesn't take a long time. You'll see! Once you start getting into the groove of working out and eating right suddenly you'll look in the mirror and love what you see even if it's not perfection. Love and visualize the future you...don't criticize, don't blame, don't get sad...just keep it positive and happy!

"The Power"

I finally posted my first youtube video about the secret to life. Pretty hefty subject. Easier than we're all made to believe. So let me sum it up for you - happiness. Yep that's it. Happiness. Easy right? I know it's not always so easy but watch the video and you can start today with three easy steps - http://www.youtube.com/user/Fitmagnet

The bigger subject greater than happiness is "The Secret". The movie/book that changed my life. I used to let life happen to me instead of making it what I wanted it to be. "The Secret" talks about the law of attraction. It teaches you that the feelings, thoughts and actions that you put into the world will be returned to you. It's more than just karma it's power! You have the power to change your life. You have the power to get everything you've always wanted and more. It's amazing. You're the magnet by which everything that has happened to you good or bad was attracted to. You put it out there and you got it back.

After "The Secret" a wonderful person introduced me to the follow up book "The Power". This book gives you another round of lessons about the law of attraction and using Love as the vehicle to get what you want in life. To sum it up - if you're feeling good about something it's because you have love for it. If you're feeling bad about something it's because Love was lacking on your part. The lesson is to feel as much Love as you can for everything you want in life.

So here's the weird part. I love "The Secret" . Like I said it completely changed my life. Then I speak to this great woman about the book she is currently reading "The Power". Low and behold the mailman comes with a package containing "The Power". Six days after we talked about this book it came to my door. I came to find out that my extremely loving and thoughtful boyfriend bought it for me as a surprise. I didn't even know he heard us talking. THAT my friends is the power of the THE SECRET at work!!!! It's incredible. This stuff happens to me all the time. I'm living in a magical world (too bad unicorns don't exist). You can do this too!

So "The Secret" and "The Power" two must reads to change your life!

Overwhelmed

Work is overwhelming. Luckily I have the luxury of working from home. The downside of that is when stress strikes I run to the kitchen to make some pasta. That's my fight or flight response...I run and make pasta. Today I discovered something new.

I'm currently doing a 3 day Shakeology cleanse and today is my second day. Last Friday - Monday I was away on a camping trip where I ate bacon cheeseburgers and cookies. The cheeseburgers were made from grass fed, antibiotic and steroid free cows. So I really tried to get good quality meat for my burgers. The bad part was that I bought cookies so of course I kept snacking on them every time I past the picnic table (Bad Jenny!!!). Add to that the fact that bathrooms weren't conveniently near us and that I get performance anxiety when I'm not in my own home (TMI?). So a 3 day cleanse is what I needed!

Today however I'm back to work. Stress starts jabbing at me. Hunger starts gripping me. Pasta starts calling my name. But a weird thing happened. I shut it out and just went straight to make my Shakeology. Normally Pasta would scream at me but it didn't this time. Shakeology won out. You know why? Because I know that no matter what I'm craving this magical chocolate milk shake knocks the craving out cold (ha! get it? It's a cold drink...forget it). So I was able to block out the pasta screams (how scary would it be if your food actually screamed at you?) and get to the good stuff.

Then I thought about it. I knew that if I would have stood around the kitchen contemplating making pasta that it would have brought me to my knees. I realized the worse thing you can do is stand around and rationalize an unhealthy meal. It will bring you down! Just go straight for the good stuff, don't think about it, don't even consider the bad stuff even though it's screaming at you. Make it a reflex- like action. It was so weird when I did this today...but so powerful! Take back your power and shut up that damn pasta!

Also make a list of those really healthy foods that you absolutely love so when stress and hunger hits you can go directly to that food like an instict. Luckily for me it's Shakeology!

The Power of a Home Cooked Meal

Let me preface this blog by saying that under normal circumstances I eat 1600 calories per day Monday - Friday and on the weekends I try to eat in moderation but I don't keep track of my calories (wha-wha-what??!!!).

Let's go back in time to Wednesday, September 8th. It was a gloomy rainy day. Anxiety kicked in for no reason, I'm crying at commercials with kittens in them, and overall I'm just feeling "off". Then hunger strikes! (Insert thunder and lightning sound effects here) Normally I would just prepare a 400-700 calorie meal (depending on how many calories I had left for the day) but not this day. I wanted Chinese food. My hormones wanted Chinese food which in turn dictated to every fiber of my body that I WANTED CHINESE FOOD!!!!! No one was going to get in my way and gosh darn it I got my food! I ordered vegetable lo mien, fried dumplings, and an eggroll. I ate the entire thing (my Bottomless Pit Syndrome flared up) and moderation was not happening.

Then KABOOOOOOM!!!!

Three pounds of instant weight gain hit me like a ton of bricks. Thursday I get on the scale and it wasn't surprising but the days too follow sure were. First of all it was like my digestion just halted. Like my body was holding on to the stupid food and every ounce of water I drank for dear life. I was bloated, I was uncomfortable, and I swore off Chinese food!

Sunday at home was the key! I needed to detox so for breakfast and lunch I had Shakeology. That jump started my digestion. Then my boyfriend calls and he's at work and starving. He didn't want a dumb turkey burger, he didn't want a salad, he wanted....CHINESE FOOD (insert horror movie scream here)!!!!! So I begged him not to bring it home and promised him to make him an awesome dinner.

I made him taco eggrolls. They're not healthy. They're fried. BUT they were made at home! I browned up some ground turkey, heated up some canned black beans, and cooked some frozen corn. I got these egg roll wrappers from the supermarket filled it with a little turkey, beans, corn, cheese and guacamole. I wrapped that sucker up and dunked it into a hot vat of olive oil. I fried up 8 of those suckers. I also made some string beans with garlic (just to keep my dignity).

It was gooooooood. So now you're asking..."You begged him to not get Chinese food but yet you made fried crap anyway? " ...and I'm saying YES!!!! I don't know what it is but when you make food at home with good quality ingredients and fry all the nutrients out of it ...it still reacts better than ordering it out! Today Monday morning my weight is almost back to normal.

*************** WARNING****************

I am not advocating that you eat this way every single day of your life and expect to lose weight. Like I said in the beginning, I eat 1600 calories of healthy food Monday through Friday. My point is that if you ever get a horrible gut wrenching craving like I got last Wednesday maybe instead of ordering out make something super unhealthy at home...it may turn out better on the scale lol.

Cya!

Cardio or Strength Training?

I've seen many questions recently about lifting weights versus cardio. Which one is better for toning up? Losing pounds? Losing inches? Here's the answer:

You gotta do both!

Now you're groaning. You can't imagine lifting a dumbbell after sweating your butt off on the treadmill for an hour. Where are you going to fit more working out into your day? Relax it's easier than you think!

First of all doing endless hours of cardio isn't going to be a total solution for your weight loss. You have to be careful that you're body doesn't get used to the exercise and it's just "going through the motions". One indication that your cardio isn't working is when you plateau. Some experts say to eat more or to eat less but what you really need to do is move differently. A great way to do this is to incorporate strength training.

The new philosophy in strength training is lift heavy for 1 set where you almost can't finish that 12th rep. This works wonders!!!! I first discovered this method when I read "The Cardio Free Diet". This was also the philosophy behind Chalean Extreme (see before and after pics at www.chaleanextreme90dayjourney.blogspot.com) which I also completed. Not only are these workouts short but since you're doing different exercises one after the other you're also getting a cardio effect as well.

Let's say you normally do one hour of cardio six days a week. You can easily change that to 1/2 an hour of strength and 1/2 an hour of cardio 3 days a week and the other 3 days you leave as cardio. The time you spend working out will stay the same and you will see the inches fly off.

Here's a warning. When starting a new workout you may get sore. With soreness comes water retention due to your muscles going through the repairing process. So 2 - 5 pounds of weight gain is absolutely normal when starting a strength program. Within a couple of weeks you should see those pounds come off. The other thing I have to warn you is that you may end up replacing your scale with a tape measure. You will lose a lot of inches when you start lifting so you're better off getting a tape measure to track your progress instead of relying on your scale.

Lifting weights is amazing. It is very gratifying to see that one week you were doing bicep curls with 5 lb weights and now you're doing them with 10 lb weights. It gives you yet another motivating factor to keep track of during your fitness journey.

I hope this helped.

Cya!

The Attitude of Gratitude

Today I woke up at 6am and it was dark and a little gloomy outside. Later on I heard some thunder and got a little excited because I love a good rainy day. I threatened Mother Nature by telling her tomorrow better be sunny because one good rainy day is all I really want. I guess she heard me and didn't appreciate the threat so she let out another loud thunder clap and made my dogs start barking ( I have 4 so it wasn't fun). I don't even know when it started raining or when it stopped but now it's beautiful and sunny out. So why do I still feel dark and gloomy inside?

It's strange when this feeling comes over me. It's a mix of anxiety and depression and a little fear to keep pushing. Maybe it's the fear of failure or maybe it's the fear of success. Maybe it's the fear of momentum slowing down. Not sure what it is but the big F is staring me in the face. I'm not one to dwell on these negative feelings too long so I went to my go-to self pep talk. BE GRATEFUL!!!!

Gratitude...one of the most powerful tools you can arm yourself with. When this weird fear-based anxiety strikes I stop thinking about it and start the mental checklist of everything I am grateful for. Ok so boo hoo I feel tired and scared for no reason...well besides that I'm hear writing this blog with my working fingers typing away. I have the eyes to read this and the brain to dictate the words. I live in a house that is comfortable for my partner, my four dogs and myself. I pay my bills in time and I don't have any debt. I have a harmonious family that shows me support and love and would help me in a drop of a dime. Just reminding myself of all of that is good in my life instantly is enough to get me on my way.

Gratitude will open up a whole new world for you. Everyone has something to be grateful for even if it's just the simple acknowledgment that you're able to see and read this.

Cya!

I'm Cured

For many years now I've accepted the fact that my stomach is a bottomless pit. I call it the "Bottomless Pit Syndrome" BPS for short. I've always felt like I could eat and eat and eat without getting full or satisfied. I never understood how these skinny chicks could eat eat three pieces of lettuce and claim they were "full". Full of BS more like it!

I went to a diner with my boyfriend once for breakfast. He's a good looking guy weighing about 100 lbs more than me so it would be safe to assume that he would eat more than me. So wrong! I ordered a Spanish omelet, a stack of pancakes, home fries with cheddar cheese on top and it came with 4 pieces of buttered toast. My BF ordered a Gyro with fries and it came w/ a
Greek salad. Needless to say he was stuffed but I kept right on eating. I finished my plate off and helped him with half of his salad. I was about to polish off the last piece of toast when I noticed the look of disgust on his face. He politely asked if I was full and I put my last morsel of toast down and told him I was. I lied of course. I felt fine! I really wanted another pancake, that last bite of toast and more cheesy potatoes.

A couple of weeks ago I started my "no cheat weekends" where I focus on the weekend fun rather than the weekend eating extravaganza. I really think it's been working! This past 3 day weekend I was gearing up for a weight gain fiasco. Three days of BBQ, no work, and not writing down what I eat. The only thing I did was focus on the fun ahead. Guess what! I gained 1 lb. That's it! Also when I ate my delicious burgers, guacamole, salsa and chips on Labor Day I actually stopped because I was full.

So I think my "no cheat weekends" cured my BPS! If you need support for your BPS please feel free to message me lol! We can start a BPS support group :)

Cya!

Happy Labor Day!!!

It's Labor Day! We work hard so this is our day! It's the last day of our summer vacations and the first day of back-to-school power shopping (for those of us who like to procrastinate with that stuff). The best of all are the legendary BBQ foods!

You got burgers, hot dogs, steaks, cole slaw, potato salad, macaroni salad, and apple pie. If you're Colombian like me you may have some chorizo, sancocho, platanos, carne asada, and aguardiente (that's the best part). All beautiful foods that can make you gain 5 lbs just by smelling it.

So here's what I did...this may not work for everyone...but it's an idea. I created my own menu. Instead of relying on my host's food I brought my own. I went to Whole Foods and got a couple of their fantastic cheddar bacon burgers and whole wheat buns. I packed up some leftover fat free cheese, a 100 calorie packet of guacamole and my favorite bottle of BBQ sauce. I know that I'll be completely happy w/ this meal and that I won't be tempted to totally binge. Does it look a little weird to bring your own food? Yeah sure...but one thing I've learned is not to care what others think because after all whose going to have deal with the weight after I gain it? ME not them!!!!

So think about what's best for you not what it may look like to others...after all you'll have to deal w/ consequences!

Have a great day!

Cya!

The Chalene Johnson Cult

It's a cult and Chalene is our leader! Ok it's not as ominous as it sounds. This is going to be short and sweet I promise.

I first met Chalene when I ordered Turbo Jam. So here she is on my TV, super bubbly and working out in a skirt. I felt a little under dressed. Maybe I should be wearing a plaid skirt as well. Then the music starts and I think "Ok I've heard this song before that's nifty." The 30 minute work out ends, I'm dripping sweat, and I felt like the time flew by. That was my first indication that this woman was going to be part of my life for a very long time.

After Turbo Jam I started Chalean Extreme (see my results on www.chaleanextreme90dayjourney.blogspot.com). She didn't get dressed up this time. We were both in our sweats just working out. She was still bubbly. What struck me the most was that she gave me the motivation to keep going and to push forward. I looked forward to each workout no matter how tired I felt.

Now TurboFire. My true soul-mate workout. With this workout Chalene is tougher but still uplifting. Sometimes we argue. She'll yell "YOU'RE NOT TIRED" and I'll yell "YES I AM DAMN IT" but she always ends up being right. I always end up finishing the workout and gosh darn it I'm not tired!

Since the first time we "met" I immediately knew that she was a positive influence for me. I you-tubed her and I saw the evidence. She's just a regular person, loving what she does and who got her success through positive thinking and work. And there lies the clincher that sucks you into her cult (it's not really cult - just in case your freaking out). She's approachable, easy to talk to (well I would imagine so), and she gets you moving!

Alright I got my sappy blog entry out there. I'm part of the Chalene movement and she's my fitness leader. ALL HAIL CHALENE!!!!!

Cya!

How'd They Do That?

So you start a new workout and you start to eat "right" and the results are slow. You're wondering how did this lady go from a size 18 to a size 2? How did this guy go from carrying around a person sized beer belly to having six pack abs in 90 days? You see the lbs coming off slowly and can't even picture yourself having the same success story. Well here's the truth about those infomercials.

1) Pay attention to the tiny words underneath the before and after pictures - "results not typical". They're right! The people you see there completely changed their eating habits. A lot of those folks started eating "clean". "Clean" means unprocessed natural foods. So instead of eating a low fat hotdog for 200 calories they ate a lean piece of organic chicken. Basically they knew what they were eating just by looking at it. I used to be addicted to the low fat food craze until I realized that 99% of the ingredients on the package were chemicals and I had no idea what they were doing to me. Jillian Michaels has a great book "Master Your Metabolism" which explains what all of those crazy chemicals can do to your body. Nutrition is complicated I admit but rest assure that if you're eating foods that only have one ingredient then you're on your way to eating a healthy "clean" diet.

2) These people were dedicated to the workout. They really did do the workout the way it was designed to be done. The people that are chosen to be in those infomercials truly made that workout their "soul mate workout" (I took that from Chalene Johnson) . A "soul mate workout" is the workout that you absolutely love to do, there's no hesitation, there's no lazy procrastination feeling that comes over you because this workout seemed to have been made for you. When you find that workout then dedication is easy. Also don't forget that sometimes these success stories come around because they do multiple workouts in one day. You may not have that much time so don't get discouraged because whatever you do will work!

So eating right and working out is how those people made it. I saw this one guy on the P90x infomercial that was over 300 lbs and he did the 3 month workout 5 times in a row. So in 15 months he went from 300 flabby lbs to 180 lbs of ripped muscle. But still it took him 15 months (on the infomercial they showed his results after each round so you could see his progression throughout the 15 months).

You may just be starting out and may not be ready to revamp your diet while starting a new workout plan. That's ok! You're taking a step and that's what matters. The more you work the more results you'll see and eventually you'll be so motivated that the healthy eating will come naturally.

Good luck!

Cya!

The First Workout Jitters

In talking with some folks (alright it was just my mom) I realized that I wasn't the only one who got nervous when I was about to do my very first workout. I think it was just the fear to push myself. To push past that comfort zone that got to me. In the past this fear kept me from getting to where I am now.

So let's see...the first time I felt this I was 9 and attempting to do Jane Fonda's workout vhs tape (what the hell are those again?). I got to huffing and puffing and my round little pudgy self (sans leotard and leg warmers) got scared and stopped. Ugh the first feeling of workout failure guilt set in. Then about 13 I attempted Cher's step aerobic vhs tape (wiki it people) and again I felt like I was going to die during the warm up - again scared - again I stopped. Then came 16 and Billy Blanks was all over my late night TV so I ordered him to come over and punch, kick, and jab my ass back into shape. I did pretty good until I had to graduate from the intro tape to the actual workout tape...guess what I did. Yeah DUH I stopped! O and don't forget about the Ab Roller ("work your abs AND get a great back massage" - yeah right!) ...Next day my abs hurt so bad that I went on a 2 year "recovery" period.

So zoom forward to 2010 where VHS players are considered antique and DVDs are all the rage (it's just a fad ...like the internet). Its February 16th my "rebirth-day" (read the prior blogs people keep up with me here) and I make the decision to just do my best. No expectations, no weird anxieties, just my best. Chalene Johnson told me "GO HEAVY OR GO HOME" - it scared me a little yes but I tried it. I picked up my first dumbbell not really knowing if this was heavy enough for me, I did the first 12 reps like Chalene told me to, and then she said the magic words "if you got to 12 and felt like you could do more then pick up heavier weights". Those words were magic because they kind of embody the philosophy I took to push out of the fear box. Instead of stopping a workout if I'm too huffy and puffy I'll walk in place. If I pick up a weight that's too heavy and only do 5 reps I'll quickly switch to a lower weight and do the rest of the set. The whole point is DON'T STOP. Even if you have to walk in place while watching the rest of the 25 minute workout until you can breathe again DON'T STOP MOVING. The next day just try to go a minute longer. Don't feel like you failed just keep pushing forward. Soon enough you'll finish that workout without stopping.

I used to look at the P90x infomercial with actual fear. I really felt like if I even attempted to watch the infomercial for a 2nd time I would have a heart attack just at the sheer imagined exhaustion of those people sweating and grunting. Now I love those commercials. They pump me up, get me motivated and feel like I can jump over mountains. I pushed past the fear now nothing seems impossible! It'll happen to you...JUST MOVE!!!!

Cya!

No Cheat Weekends

I've finally accepted that everything that "they" say about cheat days are correct. Whose "they" ? Well everyone and their mothers! Whose Everyone? The experts, the nutrition nuts, the expert dieters, and the fitness trainers. Cheat days don't work!

Here's how my wacked out logic worked:
Monday - Friday I would write everything down just like Chalene Johnson tells me to and I would join her for TurboFire workouts as well (FYI she rocks). I never felt deprived because I would eat a minimum of 1600 calories per day (well more now because I'm obsessed w/ peanuts - read first blog entry) and my workouts always made me feel good too.

But then the evil weekend would come lurking. A weekend full of fun, excitement (sometimes), gallivanting and eating (O the horror!!!). Alright so it's not so evil but my logic was. I basically said to myself - I ate great and worked out hard during the week so why not screw it all up by eating everything under the sun? Well I didn't want to purposely screw it all up but I did want to enjoy everything that I don't get to have during the week. Everyone tells me - "You can have everything you want, anytime you want, but it has to be in moderation." Moderation Shmoderation. My brain doesn't recognize moderation so the weekend used to be a no holds barred eating contest where I was the only contestant, the only winner and the only loser. If I wanted ice cream I would eat a pint of Ben and Jerry's "Everything but ..." if that wasn't bad enough I would add in crumbled Entemann's soft baked chocolate chip cookies AND if that wasn't bad enough a little crumbled salted pretzel in there to finish off the job. Wonderful? Yes ...unless it was Monday morning and weighing myself in.

I decided to take the first step into weekend binging rehab. One simple thing - just change my mindset. I was always nervous that if I didn't eat absolutely everything I wouldn't eat during the week that come Monday I would be craving all those things and suffering through out the week. Then I realized...I never crave anything during the week (except peanuts) so lets get over this stupid craving fear. The only thing I did was instead of looking forward to eating during the weekend I told myself that I'm going to enjoy the weekend and not focus on the food. If there's cake at a party I'll try a slice but not make it a point to eat the rest of the cake. If there's cookies I'll have a couple not the whole plate. If there's a buffet I'll eat a little bit of everything on one plate instead of eating one of everything on separate plates (I seriously think I can beat Man vs. Food in an eating contest). Just that little twist in my thinking has made a huge difference.

I used to gain (no joke) six pounds each and every weekend. I thank my lucky stars that Shakeology found me because those six pounds would disappear by Wednesday morning but still my weekend behavior wasn't healthy. Now I maybe gain 2 lbs and they're gone by Monday night :) The first weekend this occurred I was dumbfounded. Something so simple as going into the weekend with the intention of having fun instead of the intention of eating has saved me 4 lbs a week. Who would of thunk it that all these experts were right after all! It's just a change in attitude that's it - and guess what I still only crave peanuts during the week none of that other stuff that I couldn't get to during the weekend.

I love diet epiphanies!

Cya!

Today is the first day of the rest of your life

I know the hardest part of starting a workout program or a diet is motivation. You start off with this time-to-get-my-butt-in-gear attitude but then it fizzles out in a week. Or you have an event on the weekend, food is involved, you overindulge, the guilt sets in, Monday you feel like a failure and quitting seems like the only option. It's a crappy feeling. It's one of the toughest hurdles in weight loss. This year was the first year that I finally passed that hurdle and now my motivation is on autopilot. So here's what I did:

1) I set a "birth" date. Weird I know. Sounds sort of new age and slightly cult like. It's more innocent than that. Actually it's a bit cheesy. It stems from the saying "today is the first day of the rest of your life". Basically set a date to start your new life. It's the date you will leave your guilt behind, old habits behind, your fears and preconceived notions behind. February 16th was the date I decided to start fresh. I decided to do the exact opposite of what I've done in the past. So instead of starving myself to lose weight I decided to set up an eating schedule. Instead of looking at a 3 month workout program w/ just the end in site I decided to just look forward to it day by day and enjoy the process. Why repeat the same old habits if that's what got me into this mess in the first place?

2) Live day by day. One of the philosophies in drug rehabilitation is to take each day one at a time. Don't think about 3 months from now just think about today. Live today, not tomorrow, not yesterday. This really helps. So everyday I had 2 goals: work out and write down what I ate. I made it a priority. I didn't think about what tomorrow's workout was going to be nor did I think about the weight I was going to lose 7 days from then. I just kept focused on the 2 little goals for the day. Before I knew it the days were flying by. I think this worked because the focus was not on a certain date for weight loss. It's easier to manage one day at a time then a whole month at a time. Follow your daily goals the way you would brushing your teeth and showering.

3) Accountability. I started off with a bang! I took before pictures. I started a blog (www.chaleanextreme90dayjourney.blogspot.com). I told EVERYONE about it. It kept me motivated because I didn't want to feel like a chooch for not pulling through. It was great to have a support system where people were excited to see my results. Now to keep the accountability going I use the Beachbody coaching program - I have to be a "product of the product" so it's important to keep in shape. Let people know what you're doing.

These 3 were the big ones for me. Hopefully they'll help you get started on your weight loss success story. After about 3 weeks of doing something it becomes a habit that's why my motivation and dedication is on autopilot ...It'll happen to you!

Cya!

Peanuts!

Well for those who have gotten to know me through my www.chaleanextreme90dayjourney.blogspot.com blog ...I'm starting over once again...

Why am I starting a new blog? Mainly because my first one has a long-winded title. I hate typing it in. If it weren't for my computer automatically filling it in I wouldn't even visit it. Furthermore it's too specific. I've moved on from Chalene Extreme with awesome results but I'm on to TurboFire!

So what will I talk about...probably eating, working out, my dogs, my boyfriend, random things that pop into this strange little head of mine. For example, peanuts! I'm dead serious...peanuts.

Peanuts...the most wonderful salty sweet snack in existence. They're nutritionally dense so they're high in calories but more importantly high in good stuff! The protein will keep you satisfied for hours but in my case will keep you up at night.

Well here's the issue, I'm obsessed with Trader Joe's honey roasted peanuts. I've graduated from eating 1/4 jar of peanut butter to 1/2 a bag of these nuts. To my pleasant surprise I don't gain much weight after downing 2000 calories of these magnificent things. The downfall is that when I eat to many of them I wake up at 3:30 AM each morning with what feels like a brick in my stomach. If you don't know this already, protein is not easily digestable. So for you health nuts (wink wink) out there you know that it doesn't make sense to eat too much protein at one time since the body can't efficiently digest it. Do I listen to my own advice? NO absolutely not that's why I'm up at 3 in the morning. So moral of the story is eat a serving or 2 not 10 like I do.

I do love them though...and when I love a food item I become obsessed with it. Maybe Monday I'll start a "no peanut after 8pm" vow. We'll see how that works out.

C ya!