Turn The Page

Hello.  My name is Jen and I am addicted to fitness magazines.  Specifically, women's fitness magazines.  Shape, Fitness, Women's Health, Runner's World (I know, guys can read this one too, but at my house, it's pretty much my very own porn), Self, Oxygen...I love the newness of the workouts, the athletic models with smiling faces (as opposed to those morose and angry models I find languishing about in my fashion mags), and the fresh recipes to be tried.  It's glossy motivation delivered right to my mailbox.  But magazines aren't the only reading materials that get my legs twitchin' and my feet jumpin'.  I love books, too! 

That's right - books.  On those much-needed rest days, I like to curl up with a new novel, but I also like to snack on lifestyle books.  Not diet books (anything that pronounces I won't need to exercise is automatically banished from my bedside table, as is any title that guarantees FLAT ABS FAST!).  I like to dive into the beefed up versions of my magazines, chapters filled with menu plans and intense workouts.  Here's a list of my favorites...

1.  Push by Chalene Johnson...A 30-day plan to get your butt in gear on every level, it also offers fitness direction and Chalene's "throw-and-go meals" for those of us too busy (or too disinclined) to spend much time in the kitchen.  She's just as motivational on paper as she is on DVD.  I actually found it difficult to limit myself to one chapter each day because I was so pumped to set and accomplish goals.  There's a good reason she made it the NY Times Bestseller list.  Seriously...make it your next goal to get this book.

2.  Making The Cut by Jillian Michaels...Another 30-day plan to get your posterior goin', but this one soley focused on the physical side of doing so.  Hubby and I started our combined fitness journey with this book back before I found myself in a delicate state (read: ballooning into a blubbering ball of hormones that ransacked not only the kitchen but the kids' party bags in search of KitKats).  The one caveat: you need a gym, either fully stocked with equipment at home or fully stocked with lines for equipment in public.  I still refer to this book on a pretty regular basis because the recipes are insanely delicious.  Even the older beasts enjoy them.

3.  Body Confidence by Mark MacDonald...Here we find a lifelong plan of eating and exercising according to your individual metabolic type.  I, like many women my age, have a slight obsession with Chelsea Handler, and this book was recommended on her show because she has used MacDonald as her very own nutritionist.  Basically, you learn how to load your plate no matter where you are, be it your humble abode or your local watering hole.  Also, he too offers recipes!  I love recipe sections despite hating to cook.  I figure as long as I have directions, I can accomplish what I need to accomplish.  And it's true...most of the time...

4.  Marathon: You Can Do It! by Jeff Galloway...He is the omnipotent power runners turn to in times of doubt.  Galloway offers easy-to-follow advice on distance running, avoiding/treating injuries, and (of course!) nutrition leading up to and following the Big Race Day.  I am currently reading this book, but it is the second training plan I've used from the Great Galloway (as he shall henceforth be known within the confines of this blog) and I gotta say, I really dig the guy's style.  Straightforward and so simple even a Queen could do it.  If you are contemplating adding some serious mileage, get this book FIRST and then register for a race based upon the program.  My only regret is that I didn't find this book five months ago.  (My only regret concerning this book...There are a few fashion choices made in the late 90's I'm not so proud of.)

So the next time it's raining and you want to slow it down and enjoy a nice little cuppa green tea, might I suggest flexing your brain muscles with one of the founts of knowledge listed above?  More information makes you a stronger athlete.  (Hey, if you're training for anything, consider yourself an athlete.)  Those PSA's from my youth were spot on: Knowledge is power.  It is also the key to your fitness success.  I have learned from experience that jumping too far without checking the ground below only leads to a face in the dirt (or, more literally, intense soreness and near-injury that can risk all of that hard work not meaning anything).  So, see?  Jocks and nerds really can get along!

Excuses vs. Reality

I am willing to bet that you made a New Year's Resolution, and I am willing to bet that resolution had something to do with your health.  Maybe you had a specific number of pounds or inches to lose, a size you wanted to reach, a diet to change, or an exercise routine to begin.  My question to you is: HOW FAR HAVE YOU GOTTEN?

If you're like OldMe, not very far.  The shine dulled on those resolutions by mid-February, when the days are short and dark and cold.  There's always an excuse as to why fitness goals simply do not fit into your current lifestyle.  I know, because I used to cuddle those excuses like new puppies, and I made sure I showed them off the same way.  So people would know I wasn't weak and a quitter, just "unable."  (Picture me now, rolling my eyes and smirking at OldMe and her lazy ways.)

The number one excuse: "I don't have the time."  Do you have the time to be sick? Do you have extra years of life you just don't want to use? I didn't think so.  If you wait for the time to appear, it's never going to happen.  You MAKE the time, you don't find it.  I am a mother to four, one of whom is just over a year.  I do not work outside the home, but honey, you better believe I WORK in it.  My day does not stop until my head hits the pillow.  Working out has become my sanity saver, so I make time for it Every. Single. Day.  Whether it's before everyone wakes up or after they've gone to bed; whether I find a stolen hour during Sesame Street or during naptime; whether I am running alone or walking behind a stroller, I MAKE THE TIME.  My family is happier for it, because if Mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.  And I am happier for it, because I have more energy to devote to everyone else, more patience to give them, and more love to give myself.

Then there's the odd excuse of "I'm not fit enough to do a workout." Um...okay...How do you suppose you will get fit enough to exercise?  As far as I can tell, the only way to do so is to begin. Walk.  Lift.  Dance.  Stretch.  Build up.  Not everyone needs an "extreme" routine, but everyone needs a routine.  Fitness grows with you and your goals will too.  I started running last summer and found it a major accomplishment to complete two miles at a 3:2 interval.  Now, I'm a running goddess who considers two miles a warm up.  A year ago, a marathon seemed like too much and I wasn't remotely interested.  Now, I get butterflies in running shoes every time I contemplate May 20 (the date of my first marathon).  People change, fitness changes them.  Trust me on this one.

"Health food has no taste."  Then you're not doing it right.  Plain and simple.  I drink chocolate deliciousness every morning for breakfast - gluten free, made-from-whole foods, low-glycemic-index chocolate deliciousness!  Shakeology is the proof in the pudding - almost literally - that healthy does not equal tasteless.  And there are sooooo many recipes for tangy, spicey, tastey, tastebud-thrilling foods that I refuse to even speak of this excuse any further (see my photo of whole wheat cranberry scones above? There's your thousand words.)   Next topic!

"It's too expensive to buy healthy foods."  I actually agree, but that's life.  Plus, think of the cash saved on doctor's visits, OTC meds, and pounds of junk food that won't fill you up.  No lie, I drink one shake at breakfast, and my normally bottomless pit is sated for a good two to three hours.  I toss together a healthy snack, and I am satisfied again.  When I was noshing on candy bars, donuts, and Weis dessert bowls, I would garner one of two results.  I would either a) feel incredibly nauseous due to the overabundance of fats and sugars I had just inhaled or b) still be starving and thus inhale more fats and sugars until I felt so nauseous I had to stop.  A pleasant side effect to cutting out (mostly - I still stray from time to time, but find I don't enjoy it quite as much) the empty calories is that much of my daily irritation has been cut out as well.  My blood sugar no longer crests and plummets seemingly at will.  I don't need caffiene to stave off headaches.  Again, Mama is happier and that equals a happier M&M Clan.

Give me an excuse, and I will give you a reason it sucks.  Today's blog is about tough love, people.  I don't wanna hear why you can't; I wanna hear why you WILL.  Forget resolutions, forget life overhauls.  Make small changes every day.  You didn't turn into a lounging mass of sugar in a day.  I bet you've worked on it every day for years.  My own formation into starchy inactivity was a gradual but steady decline, just as my climb back to fitness has been.  Now, I'm firmly entrenched.  This gal ain't goin' back.  Been there, done that.  Hated it. 

What got me motivated? I was tired of being tired.  I was exhausted with negative self-image.  I was so over wasting energy envying every fit person passing by.  I could either continue down a path that was all wrong for me, or I could stop making pitiful excuses and choose a new direction.  I warned you: I am a born-again fitness enthusiast and I will be annoyingly chipper about it.  You can either be annoyed or become annoying.  (Psssst! It's a lot more fun on this side!)