Amber "After" with more zest for life and confidence!

I am going to begin to feature more of my clients who really go at the eating and exercise 100% and get quite quick results.  I don’t want to make it sound like this is going to happen to everyone, but looking at what those who are successful can be a big help to see what might work for yourself.  So in the upcoming weeks, I will ask some of my clients to share their exact food journal as well as workout plan.  I hope that you will be able to take small tips and tricks and apply them into your eating and exercise life.

I would like to introduce you to Amber, she has been coming to Fit Fun Bootcamps for 1 month now and has lost 13 lbs.  It is very impressive to see the toning that is occurring all throughout her body and the many many inches she is losing.  She had less than 20 lbs to lose total, so for her to lose this much the first month really shows how hard she has worked and how nearly perfect she has been with her eating.  When I first met her and asked what her goals were, I could tell the spark wasn’t there in her life, she wasn’t happy and not in a good place.  A little more than 1 month later she is a completely different person, her spark is back and she exudes confidence now, which as a trainer, is SO great and exciting to see!  She has made a 180 degree change.

Amber is going to let you in on what she did exactly!  So check it out.

Food Journal

I stick to the the same meals/snacks for the most part, and add new snack ideas every week.

Day 1

Meal 1 (after I workout, around 7:45am):
2 Eggs (I now buy the cage free organic; they taste MUCH better, too) with spinach and tomatoe
1 Slice of oatmeal toast (the first three ingredients are filtered water, whole wheat flour, and enriched wheat flour)
Should I buy a different kind?  Yes I would recommend Ezekial Bread
1 cup coffee (No sugar added and I STOPPED putting half and half in
Meal 2 (around 11am)
Apple slices with 10 almonds
Meal 3 (around 2pm)
2 Wasa crackers with hummus and turkey slices
Meal 4 (around 5pm)
3 oz of chicken
Spaghetti squash
Green beans and cauliflower

Day 2

Meal 1
1/2 cup oatmeal with dried sweetened cranberries and a little brown sugar
2 Eggs with salsa
1 cup of cofee
Meal 2
Banana with peanut butter
Meal 3
2 Wasa crackers with turkey slices, grape slices and tomato slices
Meal 4
3 oz of chicken
1/2 cup brown rice
Broccoli
Meal 5
Soynuts with raisins and m&m’s

Day 3

Meal 1
2 Eggs with albacore tuna and tomato
1 cup coffee
Meal 2
Strawberry banana shake made with peanut butter
Meal 3
Apple slices with peanut butter
Meal 4
3 oz chicken
1/2 sweet potato

Day 4

Meal 1
2 Eggs with spinach, tomatoes, and salsa
1 Cinnamon raisin english muffin
1 cup coffee
Meal 2
Banana with peanut butter
Meal 3
Soynuts with raisins
Meal 4
3 oz chicken
1/2 cup brown rice
Broccoli
Meal 5
Green tea
1 Spring roll with peanut sauce (I waitress at a Thai/Lao restaurant right now….green tea has been my savior on work nights) More on How Amber Lost 13 lbs in 4 Weeks!

I am very excited to share with you my first national TV feature.  I flew out to NYC and filmed this piece for Parents TV.  I don’t have Comcast Cable, but for those of you who do (which is 15 million houses nation wide), you can find my segment running for the next couple weeks under the parents segment on demand.

This segment is also fun for me to look back at the past couple years and see how I have grown as a person, and on camera.  I believe that this is the first of many opportunities I will have to share my love and passion for fitness with a very large audience!

Thanks to Parents TV for making me feel welcome and treating me so well during the video shoot!

I am sure by now you are aware of the Fit Moms For Life program, but if you are looking for a home workout program that doesn’t have the cheesyness you see in many workout dvds, then be sure to click here to learn more.  We give the first DVD and CD away for free in order to let you sample the monthly program.

I am super excited to share a story with you of one of my many success stories so far from the Fit Moms For Life DVDs.  Her name is Karen, and she has been so transformed (not only outwardly), that she has quit her corporate America job and has begun an internship program with me and is taking a personal training certification to help transform the lives of so many, similarly to how she has been transformed.

Karen turned her flabby size 6-8 body, into a very toned size 2-4.  She had always been a long distance runner and suffered what many of the distance runners who run a lot, but don’t do weights; which is a healthy weight, but above average body fat with very little muscle tone.  Karen is now pretty jacked up and toned.  She will be writing a couple more articles with specific training programs to combine the weights with a running program to help improve your 5K or 10K.  With those articles, she will share with everyone her before and after pic!

I don’t want this post to be so much about how great my Fit Moms For Life DVDs or my Fit Fun Bootcamps are, but rather show YOU the power of creating a well rounded body.  You are fooling yourself if you think just running for exercise is a great total body workout, or just swimming, or just biking, or just doing xy or z.  You need to work ALL muscles from ALL different directions to ensure a body that not ony functions well but looks good too!

So here is Karen’s post!

Stronger, faster, thinner and healthier are the best words to describe the results I have experienced participating in Fit Moms For Life. I have been an avid runner for most of my life running 5K, 10K, half-marathon and marathon races. Running kept me “in shape” through college and three pregnancies yet small injuries, stagnant race times and the dreaded muffin top were frustrating me.

As a coach of middle school and high school runners, I knew if I was going to tackle these issues, I needed to work on core strength and strength training. Yet, as a busy Mom of three young girls, 7, 5 and 18 months fitting in a class or a joining a health club wasn’t an option for me. As luck would have it, Dustin was holding a Mama Tone class in a shared gym while my daughter took gymnastics. I watched with curiosity at first and then signed up to start receiving his email messages. As I learned more about his training and philosophies, I wanted to find a way to participate in his program.

Sitting on the sidelines, wasn’t going to improve my fitness. The first step for me was taking time for me. So, for Mother’s Day, I took the time away from my family to attend a free bootcamp at Elver Park. The weather was cold and rainy but I brought along my sister and sister in-law to give it a try. I loved it, especially the hill sprints, I was hooked and really sore for the next few days!

Taking a class still wasn’t working with our family schedule so I was doing interval/burst training on my treadmill and using short videos from Dustin’s blog to enhance my workouts. The interval and burst training was not only burning fat, it was helping me to increase my running speed. My 5-K training run times were steadily dropping. But most importantly, it was fitting into my schedule so I could stay committed to the training plan I developed. The burst/interval training is so effective at burning fat that I didn’t need to run for 45 or 60 minutes. I could workout for 20 - 30 minutes and get great results.

Another thing I do after every workout is keep a journal of what I did, how I felt and my accomplishments. This log serves a few purposes. First, I enjoy looking back and seeing the progress I have made. Second, it serves as motivation when a workout is feeling hard to see what I did last week or last month and push to run faster or lift heavier weights. Third, it is my trainer, keeping track that I am working out and improving. If there are too many blank days, it encourages me to get back on track.

When Dustin introduced Fit Moms For Life, I signed up immediately. I needed assistance with weight training and this was a great option for my at home plan. When I received the 1st DVD I couldn’t wait to start. I am not going to tell you it was easy or pain free. I had to stay very motivated to get up and workout 5-6 mornings a week at 5:30 AM. I had to convince myself to use heavier weights and I had to push through a lot of muscle soreness. For my workouts, I alternate Fit Moms For Life DVD’s with interval/burst treadmill training.

The results, more than I could have expected. After six weeks, I started to see changes in my body. I should have taken before pictures and measurements but I didn’t and I regret it. I encourage everyone starting the program to take measurements. It may be painful at the time but you will be happy you did to see your results.

Approximately eight weeks into my training, I ran a 5K race and was the 10th woman to finish. I took an amazing five minutes off of my 5K time from last year. More important than that, I am running injury free. I always had a sore hamstring or knee or tight muscle that was slowing me down. Thanks to stronger muscles, especially my hamstrings and core, I no longer have the minor aches and injuries. The core and muscle strength also help make daily activities easier.

Another benefit to staying committed to the program is the 15 pounds of weight I have lost. My arms, back, waist and legs are so much more toned and I feel great about it. I can wear a tank top and know that I no longer have the “flying squirrel” under my arms.

If you want to run faster, lose weight and be healthier, I encourage you to take the first step and give yourself the gift of time to improve yourself. It only takes me 20 - 30 minutes five to six days a week. Not only will you improve yourself you will set an example for your kids. My three girls know my workout time is important to me and they now are more interested even at their young ages in staying fit and getting stronger. As they grow up, I look forward to working out with them. If I can find the time get in shape, you can to. What are you waiting for?

Do you have questions for Karen?  She would be happy to answer them!  Write them in the box below.

I have been doing a 5 part series with Kim Sveum of ABC news.  She wanted to do a series on healthy moms and decided that she needed to practice what she preached.  So she enlisted my help at creating an eating and exercise plan that would help her lose fat, lose inches, and increase her energy levels.

Click here to see part 1 Getting Started

Click here to see part 2 Motivation

Click here to see part 3  Nutrition

Click here to see part 4 Thanksgiving

Click here to see part 5 Exercise

Before I agreed to this, I wanted to make sure she was committed, because the last thing I wanted was for me to take before and after measurements on TV to 10,000’s of people and not have someone who was committed.  After meeting with Kim, I could tell she was going to give it 100% and make me look good! :)  And boy did she ever!

Here were her actual stats:

Thigh 20.5                 18.5

I want to make a couple points about these #s.

1.  You can’t spot reduce: notice she lost pretty consistently in ALL parts of her body, not just in one area.

2.  She gained 3 lbs of lean weight (muscle) through this process.

3.  Although she lost 7lbs, she actually lost 10 lbs of fat.

4.  She lost 3.25 inches in her abdomen.

5.  She lost an astounding 7 % bodyfat total.

For exercise Kim didn’t do any traditional cardio instead focused on heavy weight training and interval cardio training.  She worked out about 4 times/week for 45 minutes each time.  She did a combination of my Fit Fun Bootcamps, MamaTone Fitness, and Fit Moms For Life DVDs.

She followed a higher protein and fat diet and lower carb and no sugar eating plan and no carbs after 3 pm.  She drank 1 gallon of water each day and eliminated all processed foods and fake sugars.  She ate about 1400 calories per day.

If you want to read Kim’s blog and journey and more about how she did what she did in much more detail, I highly recommend you to click here and check out her stories!

The reason I do what I do, is to give moms back their self confidence (if they lost it), reshape their bodies, and increase their energy, to help them make it through the daily grind of life and kids.  The amount of responsibility that moms have on a daily basis can seem overwhelming, and combine that with a poor diet, lack of exercise, and lack of sleep, you can see why so many moms are stressed/worn out, and feel like they are in a gerbil wheel, spinning their legs, but not getting anywhere.

Kim Sveum of ABC news did a great story on Anne Anderson, those of you who are to Fit Moms For Life DVD #6 will recognize her from the workout.  Anne is almost ready to turn 40 and has done a great job eating right, and has been part of MamaTone (Bootcamp for stay at home moms) for well over a year and has really toned up nicely!

Notice the weights Anne and Kim are using are 25 lb dumbbells for many of the exercises!  Don’t be afraid to use heavy weights, it will burn more calories.

Here are the take aways from the video:

1.  If you don’t put yourself first, it will be very tough to keep up with everything.

2.  Know how long you can dedicate to exercise.

3.  Focus on high intensity exercise.

4.  Do strength training.

5.  Feel free to break up a 30 minute workout into 3-4 10 minutes sections.

6. Do some bodyweight exercises at home such as burpees, tricep dips, and squat pulses.

One of the most common questions I get asked is “What are some good exercises to do at work?”  It makes sense that since you spend close to 9 or more hours at work, you should find some ways to stay active.  I have a couple clients who have successfully started to do one minute of intense exercise every hour.  They set a timer and when it goes off they do a minute of some type of bodyweight exercise.

Then at the end Angie shows a great example of a 1 arm pushup, I challenge you to give it a try as well and let me know if you can do it!

So check out this video for some great exercises you can do at work or at home.

Click here if you want more info on order the bands seen in this video

A couple days ago I showed you the video of Abby and I on CBS news demonstrating our new fat burning tool, the resistance bands.  Today I would like to take that a step further and show you inside a workout that the resistance band expert, Dave Schmitz took my MamaTone and small group personal training clients through.  Not only was it very intense, but also something fun and different!

These bands are quite a bit different than standard bands that you would get with handles, these bands are circular and have a much larger stretch range which allows us to use them in many different ways than the standard bands!

Although, I am no longer accepting small group or one on one clients due to a long waiting list, I do have some room remaining in MamaTone and Fit Fun Bootcamps, and of course the Fit Moms For Life DVDs are always available!

Click here if you would like to get more info about these custom resistance bands and instructional DVDs that go along with it.  Kids love them and they can do anywhere which is perfect for someone who is traveling and doesn’t want to bring dumbbells with them!

I am always trying to be on the cutting edge when it comes to new types of workouts and new equipment.  I recently purchased enough bands for all my Fit Fun Bootcamps and MamaTone, and I must say they are loving them!  The best part about the bands is the ability for them to go anywhere with you.  Bands also force the body to accelerate and decelerate at a higher level which will help the body adapt and will greatly decrease the risk of injuring yourself when starting or stopping a movement.

If you are interested in buying some for yourself, my friend Dave Schmitz is the expert in band training (he came and taught my bootcamp staff) and has invented his own brand of band.  Click here for more info and to buy your own bands.

Don't worry we are indoors now!

If you are in the Madison area and are interested in seeing what a band workout is like, come for a FREE week of Fit Fun Bootcamp and see what all the hype is about!

I harp on this topic a lot and I apologize if it gets old!  But this is one of my BIG points regarding exercise that I want to ingrain into your head about cardio.  You DON’T and SHOULDN’T do long distance cardio if your goal is fat loss.  If you want to run a marathon for the challenge, the endorphins and the goal, by all means do it!  I am also not saying that everyone who runs long distance is overweight, there are many thin runners as well.  As a society that doesn’t exercise enough I have a hard time telling people not to do standard cardio, don’t get me wrong any movement is better than NO movement!

But there are millions of people out there, pounding the pavement in misery because they have been led to believe that this is THE BEST way to lose fat.  Unfortunately the research and evidence that I have seen by countless clients is that they are actually running into more fat!  Even if long distance runners aren’t overweight, many (who don’t do some weight training and core training) are very frail and weak because the body eats the muscle away to use for energy.

I have talked a few times about a far more effective type of training that burns fat up to 9 times faster than the steady state cardio.  I attribute this type of training as one of the biggest factors in getting the results and reputation I have gotten the past couple years.  Keep in mind, most people coming to my Fit Fun Bootcamps and MamaTone are people who already exercise and are frustrated with their results or lack there of.  I also get a lot of clients who are just looking for something different that is fun and new!  Just think how much more challenging it is to get someone results who is already extremely active compared to someone who has been sedentary, but these are the results that we get!

A guy that I follow and have lots of respect for is Dr. Pompa out of Philadelphia.  He specializes in helping those who are weight loss resistant.  I have found that about 80% of those who come to see me who are overweight or obese, I am able to help.  Another 5% don’t listen to what I say, and the other 15% seem to be doing everything right and still not getting results.  It is very frustrating for me as well as the client.  These types of challenges keep me up at night.  Dr. Pompa has some interesting things that he does and he believes many of the problems are due to poor hormonal communication or too many toxins, both biotoxins and metallic toxins.  I encourage you to check his research out.

Anyways back to the topic.  In this 10 minute video Dr. Pompa explains very well the point I was just making about why you should do interval training over standard cardio.

Enjoy!

Besides the great weight loss effects, this style of training will greatly improve your 5K run times.  I have never met a bootcamper who hasn’t shattered their records from months or years prior by adding this type of training.  It will blow you away!

Please leave a comment!  What are you feelings towards this?  Do you agree or disagree?  Do you have any questions?  Please comment below.

It is getting close to Halloween.  In honor of this time of the year, I went on CBS and had one of my MamaToners, Jennifer, demonstrate some great exercises that you can do with just a pumpkin!  Jennifer is a mom of two little kids, who I have been working with for the past 3.5 months.  I am extremely proud of Jen’s hard work and determination.  She came to MamaTone in pretty good shape already, but has taken her fitness level that very few women and more specifically moms ever get to!

One of her specialties is interval runs on the treadmill.  Only try this if you are in good shape already and are comfortable on the treadmill.  The treadmill should be set at 11 MPH and 11% incline.  The routine is simple, 10 seconds on the treadmill, 20 seconds off the treadmill (just jump to the sides to rest), do that for 8 minutes.  If you can do that you would be able to keep up with Jennifer

The point of this video is three fold:

1.  Working out should be fun and can be creative to take away from workout ruts and boredom.

2.  It doesn’t take a fancy gym or expensive machines to get a great workout.

3.  A strong women doesn’t look bulky, but rather has a lean, toned muscular look.

If you are in the Madison area and want to do the same workouts that Jennifer does, I invite you to check out Mamatone or Fit Fun Bootcamps for a great workout and support from your trainers and fellow participants.

If you aren’t in the Madison, WI area, you are still in luck, because I have p More on Pumpkin Workout