What's your Why?

I'd first heard the concept of having a "Why" from David Greenwalt, a fitness expert who has helped many with his program "The Leanness Lifestyle". He emphatically stresses that until you have good, solid, concrete reasons for taking superb care of yourself (he calls these reasons your "Why") it just can't be done. I've come to find that he's right.

Until I just recently found my true motivation I went through the motions, and that was good. Without going through the motions I'd weigh easily 75 pounds more than I do now, have cholesterol through the roof, and more than likely I'd be a diabetic headed strait for heart disease. But if I was going to be successful at this over a lifetime, I knew I was going to have to find my true Why.

In the course of mulling this all over (which, by the way, has taken about 5 years since first hearing the concept of a Why) I did some counseling about weight-related issues and the counselor observed something that was revealing to me: I am more motivated by running FROM something than TOWARDS something.

I just had to find something that scared me bad enough to run from it for the rest of my life.

Then, something shifted: I started to acknowledge my family history of heart disease and diabetes. The reality that these things were more than likely eventually going to kill me sunk in. And when it sank in, it scared the devil out of me! I started doing whatever was necessary to keep these things at bay and maybe even avoid them all together:

-I upped my game and got more organized and methodical about how I lifted weight
-I started incorporating more aerobic activity into my workout regime
-I cut back drastically on white flour, sugar, and diet sodas (I'm not convinced enough research has been done on diet sodas to have a steady stream of them pouring through my body.)
-I stopped drinking alcohol
-I started eating less processed foods
-Probably most importantly, I joined Weight Watchers and began the process of losing weight.

I had finally found something truly worth running from.

I'd heard the term "Lifestyle", and phrases like "It's not a diet, it's a lifestyle", countless times. But it wasn't until my trainer, Ross, said that he wanted to work with me because he can tell I have a passion for this lifestyle that it finally clicked for me. I really HAD made it a lifestyle- he saw it, and now I see it. I have found my core reasons for taking care of myself. Not something I do just because I should, but something I do because I want to. Now, it's a part of me.

And last night I was able to write out my true Why. I'll share it with you if you'd like to see it, but I'm not going to bore you if you don't. :-)

I realize that me sharing this is not going to help anyone to immediately figure out their Why, but it may be the seed that starts the process growing within you. I'm relieved I've found my WHY. I'm grateful for the process it took to get me here.

This lifestyle is who I am. It will be until the day I die. I'm sure of it now. I want you to be sure of it, too.

Palms up, thumbs back!

Sometimes I get compliments on my posture. I do try to keep my spine in proper alignment, not only because it takes pressure off of my skeleton, but also because it makes me look thinner and more confident. Who doesn't want that?

So what is proper skeletal alignment? Glad you asked!

I have a little exercise for you- one that has come in handy and keeps me in check. And you can do it while you are sitting here reading my seldom-read blog. Ready? (This is so simple, it'll make you laugh!):

First of all, skooch forward a little, so that your back isn't in contact with the back of your chair anymore. Bend your elbows in front of your body, holding your arms at a 90-degree angle- like you are sitting in an arm chair. Now, turn your palms face up. Lastly, pull your thumbs back towards your body.

What did you do? Surprised? Yep! You sat right up strait, didn't you? THAT's proper spinal alignment, and the position you should be trying to achieve all the time.

It works equally well standing, also.

If you can do this little posture-check several times a day, sooner or later you will start to hold yourself in proper alignment naturally. Slouching will feel unnatural, and your body will thank you.

This, combined with conscientiously holding your stomach muscles in will help strengthen your core better than any ab exercise I can recommend.

This is also, coincidentally, the "proper alignment" and "neutral spine" people are talking about when they refer to exercising.

Let me know what you think!

Abdominal workout tips

Here are a few tips to get the most out of your ab exercises. All of these help to ensure that your abdominal muscles do the work and not other body parts:

1. When doing any kind of crunch, strait up or to the side for obliques, keep your elbows so far back that you can only see them in your peripheral vision.

2. Also for any kind of crunch, keep your chin well back from your chest wall. You at least want a fists-length distance between your chin and the base of your neck- more is better.

3. When doing standard crunches, focus on a spot on the ceiling slightly behind your head. You want to be looking up and back, not up and forward.

4. When doing side crunches, pull your shoulder towards your knee, not your elbow. Keep your elbow far back as in rule #1, above. Envision there is a rope or cable attaching your shoulder and opposite knee that is being pulled on to pull you up into the crunch position. And come up as far as possible on side-crunches.

5. When doing strait-leg lifts (also called ceiling stamps) for lower abs, point your toes towards the ceiling at the top of the move.

6. ALWAYS think of the part of the abs you are using (middle, upper, lower, or obliques) as the originator of the movement. The more mental focus you can put on the muscle worked, the more muscle fibers you will engage and therefore the better the workout of the muscle will be.

And remember: The best ab exercise you can do is to push the plate away from you at the table. The less fat cells you have at your mid-section, the better your abs will look.

The incredible Hulk Woman

Let me try to clear up a little muscle confusion, if I may: Women's fear that they will build a lot of muscle:

I have heard on several occasions women express that if they lift weights, or increase weight load, that they will get big, bulging, manly muscles. This is a fear that I understand, but it's completely unfounded.

You can NOT, I mean, no way, no how, it's not happening, can NOT get "big bulky muscles" like a man. Yes, I know you've seen those magazines with women who have freakishly large muscles and they look..... well.... masculine. Let me assure you of something: They are taking steroids. That's the only way it happens for women. Why? We simply don't make enough testosterone naturally to get huge muscles. Well defined muscles? Yes? Great, big ones? Can't happen. It's just physiologically impossible.

Want proof? Look at me. I've been lifting weights fairly consistently for the past 23 years, and very consistently for the past 2, increasing my weight load and maxing out as much as possible. I lift a lot of weight for a woman. Most people reading this have seen me in the fairly recent past. Let me ask you a question- Do I look anything remotely close to masculine, big, or bulky? I think I can safely say you would be hard-pressed to find a more feminine figure than mine.

Now, there are a few women out there who are the very rare exception, and I do mean EXTREMELY rare, who will build muscle larger than most women, but they are so few and far between that it's barely even worth a mention. Trust me, you aren't one of them.

Muscle tone adds sleek, sexy tightness and definition to a woman and enhances her feminine shape.

So if you are just starting out or getting back into lifting after a long sabatical, get a good book or hire a trainer to make sure you have proper form, and start lifting!


I'm sorry it took me so long to get another blog out. Between being injured in a wreck that totaled my car, finding a new vehicle, and my husband visiting, I didn't have proper time until now.

Keep your mind on the muscle you are working!

Maximum effectiveness of an exercise. Isn't that what we all want? Of course! Otherwise we wouldn't be exercising, right?

I have a saying when I exercise: "As long as I'm taking the time to do this, I may as well get maximum benefit from it."

Here is my best tip for getting the most of any exercise: Concentrate on the muscle you are working.

Sounds simple doesn't it? But it is so easy to let our minds wander when we are lifting weights or doing toning exercise.

First of all, when you get to the gym leave your problems at the door. This is not the time to be thinking through the strategy for a problem at work or about the fight you had with your significant other the night before. This is one time you need to be really selfish and concentrate on just you and your muscles.

Now that you are fully focused on your workout, really think about the specific muscle you are working for that exercise.

Let's use the Lat Pull Down as an example: This exercise works the latissimus dorsi muscle (lats) in the upper back (the muscles that flares out to the sides when well developed). So, from the start of the movement with my arms in the air, I am thinking upper, outer back. I'm thinking of starting the movement by contracting that muscle in order to pull the bar down. All the way through the movement, from the initial lowering of the bar, to the peak of contraction when the bar is near my chest, and then all the way back up the the starting position with my arms over my head, I am thinking about my lats doing the work of lowering and raising the bar up. I don't stop focusing on my lats until the last repetition of that set.

With any exercise you do, apply this principle of concentrating on the muscle or area being worked. Trust me- your mind won't have room for anything else if you do it properly and you'll get a much more intense and effective workout for your efforts.

My apologies for taking so long to post a new blog entry. Life has thrown some major curve balls at me lately. And I don't know why this is saying it's August 10th- It's really October 28th.

Best time of day to exercise.

Here's a question a lot of people wonder about: What is the best time of day to exercise?

There is some scientific evidence that an early AM workout is the most beneficial. So if you are a person who has the option to work out first thing in the morning and it's compatible with your personality, I say go for it! Why not?

I like to work out ASAP in the morning. I'm more energetic in the morning and it's out of the way. For me, it's worth it to wake up super-early to get my workout in, if necessary. That way, any excuse I can find for not doing it later on in the day is not given a chance to take hold. It's already done.

However, if your schedule won't allow you to work out in the early AM or you are one of these people who just simply can't put out your best effort right out of bed, you need to find a time that works better for you. I stated in one of my very first blog posts, any exercise is better than no exercise.

If you can't give 100% to your workout in the morning but you can at 6PM, you will gain more benefit from working out at 6PM.

If you simply can't find time to work out until 6PM, you will gain more benefit from working out at 6PM than you will from not working out at all.

One precaution about working out late in the day: Most people will have a hard time getting a good nights sleep due to increased heart rate if they exercise within 2 hours of bedtime. And sleep is vital in the fitness battle, so don't sacrifice your sleep for your workout.

Whenever you decide is the best time for you to exercise, schedule it into your calendar and treat it like a non-negotiable appointment. This is your health we are talking about. It is that important.

Weights vs. Aerobics

As time has gone on, I've come to understand that weight bearing exercise is more important than aerobic exercise.

Let me say it another way: If I have to make a choice between lifting weights and doing aerobic activity, I'll choose the weight lifting. Every time.


I didn't always feel this way. I used to think the opposite was true. I believed the heart was the most important muscle in the body (still do), and that the best way to condition it was through aerobic activity.This is the part that has.

Here are some reasons why:

- Weight lifting shapes your body like aerobics can't. Ever seen a body that is aerobically fit but not muscularly fit? It's missing shape and, in the case of women, usually curve. You can actually CHANGE the overall line of your body by adding muscle. All aerobics does to your body shape, at best, is make is a smaller, less-fat version of itself. I've never been able to add pleasing lines to my body with aerobic activity the way I have been able to with weight lifting. Through weight lifting I've been able to build my naturally-very-slight-shoulders up and tighten my abs, which has helped to give me a more hour-glassed shape and therefore make my hips look more balanced.

Because of this, muscle tone makes men look more masculine and women look more feminine.

- Muscle burns more calories at rest, so when you have more muscle on your body your resting metabolism (how many calories you burn just to keep your body alive) rises. Additionally, the calorie burn from the actual weight-lifting exercises themselves can continue for up to 24 hours. On the other hand, aerobic activity burns calories while you are doing it, but that calorie-burning effect stops very quickly after the activity stops. So it's a better calorie-burning-investment over all to build muscle.

In a nutshell, weight bearing activities are more effective at helping you shed fat than aerobic activity.

-Weight bearing activities are more practical because they make you stronger for doing daily activities. You can't gain strength to lift heavy grocery bags or help someone build a fence with aerobic activity. I'm willing to bet that no one is going to ask you to run away from something any time soon. But help them lift a TV? That just might happen!

- Weight lifting makes bones stronger, therefore enabling you to be less prone to injury as you age. This is especially important for women, who tend to lose bone density much more rapidly than men, but is still a significant benefit for both sexes. In case you are wondering how this happens, the muscles are attached to ligaments that are attached to the bones. When the ligaments tug on the bone, the body reacts by making the bone stronger to be able to withstand the pulling. The more and heavier you lift, the more dense the bone becomes, therefore the less prone you are to bone breakage.

Pretty cool, huh?

- If you are really working out hard doing weight-bearing activity, it can very well become aerobic. Ever seen someone who is weight lifting huffing and puffing? That's because they are using oxygen! And the word "aerobic" means "With oxygen". 'Nuff said.

I could go on, but the thing I want people to take home here is that if given a choice, lifting weights is more important to your healthy functioning over the long-haul than aerobic activity. Do I want you to stop aerobic activity? NO! It's still important, but weight lifting needs to be at the top of your priority list.

If you're not sure if you have time to do both weight lifting and aerobic activity on the same day, do your lifting first. Then with whatever time you have left, do aerobic activity.

Likewise, if you don't enjoy weight lifting as much, do it first, so that it's over and done with and you don't have time to talk yourself out of it.

Next blog I'll talk about why women shouldn't be afraid to lift heavy. But in the meantime just trust me: The more muscle, the better!