My body as a trainer. Perfection is not happiness...do not be fooled.

Happiness > perfection

Here it is.

Me, no make up, no flex, no filter, no visible abs, after eating chips and drinking proseco....just me and my family. And yes, I'm a trainer. I study a lot, I read a lot, I love the science behind body and health, I love what I do, helping people be healthy. ⠀

     

I've been lean, I've placed 1st on stage (I own a sword!! see it below.), I've had abs, I've had delts that pop and glutes, I've also missed my husband and kids because I trained early and late, and missed mass quantities of food, wine, and pancakes just because my kid wanted a mommy-and-me date (and not trying to make them "fit my macros").⠀

⠀

But I've been on vacation a month now, I didn't have to workout to get to my "vacation body". This is me before vacation, on vacation and maybe even after vacation if I so choose. It's my lifestyle, I don't want

or need to be in pictures or on stage or have visible abs to be me anymore (and I did, don't get me wrong..been there, done that).⠀

Everyone should reach their "potential" at some point if they want. But my potential is being around for my kids, being happy, being there for my clients and understanding that having that wine, that cheese or that veggie...is because it fits my lifestyle of happy, healthy and balanced.⠀

 StressLess FatLossis what gets me through the busy days. I love lifting but sometimes I just need to focus on health.

BALANCE IS PERFECTION

Macronutrients, IIFYM?? Fat loss

Is Flexible Dieting for YOU?

What is a "Macro" and why should I eat them?

 *scroll to the bottom for a cheat sheet!

A "macro" is a short term for Macro-nutrient.  Macro-nutrients are protein, fat and carbohydrates.  These three macro-nutrients make up the calorie content of all foods.  Any type of food will have a combo of protein, fat and/or carbs or it can be just one of these macros; oil, for example, is just fat. Peanut butter is fat, protein and carbs.  All three of these macros have a caloric value assigned to them and however many grams of each macro a food has determines the total calories in the food.  By reaching for macros during your day rather than just overall calories you will be eating for optimal fat-loss and body composition. All three are very important for overall health.  Note, ALL three, we do not cut out a nutrient (i.e. carbs- because vegetables and fruit are carbs, we need those!) for weight loss.

This way of eating and constructing your meals is not a new concept but one that is well proven by science.  It is a way to construct your daily intake of calories and nutrients that, as long as you stick to it, will give you the best results and body composition (muscle to fat ratio).  It is not "calorie counting" but rather "macro tracking."      

It is a way to eat the foods you like while still hitting the weight-loss or health goals you are shooting for.  As long as you get foods to fit into the numbers calculated for your specific body, activity and goals then you can eat it...if it fits into your calculated macros for the day, it's fine!  This is a wonderfully flexible way of eating that will make your life easier and make reaching your goals a sustainable lifestyle, because you get to eat what is enjoyable.  It is also important to reach for healthy foods but this lifestyle makes it so you get your treats every now and then and are less likely to "fall off the wagon" or binge.

How do I track them?

First you need to know what they are for you, this is done by getting them calculated for you at your current fitness state (I can do that for you!).  The best way to track is to measure what you eat, by cups, tablespoons or, ideally, grams on a kitchen food sale.  Make sure you get the right amount that you are eating then plug them into an app and start logging your food. You will eventually learn what are great choices that help you hit your daily goals.

There are many great apps out there:

MyFitnessPal.com (free- but the paid version will let you track specific macros)

Macros by calorie count (android- free)

Macros+ (Iphone)

fatSecret.com

sparkpeople.com

 **If this sounds scary or confusing and leaves you wondering how to even begin, I can help you with that.  Nutrition counseling is fast and easy and you'll get step by step help, by phone or email assistance along the way....my priority is simply to guide you to a healthier lifestyle.  You won't weigh and track forever, it's a learning tool!

So, macros are the building blocks of food, which is the building block of your body.  You eat them every single day without even thinking about it. You can choose which foods of each macro you want to eat and how to arrange them or which way of eating you prefer, I.e. vegetarian, vegan, paleo or simply "normal", it all contains macros!  If you eat them in the right proportions, right amounts of each for your fat-loss or body-reshaping journey then you will see much greater success.

Macro cheat sheet, what goes into what category?!

 

I Rock(Taped) it!

       This was done a while ago but I thought I'd put it on the blog for easier reference for those of you that keep looking for it.

         I did not have a very large DR (diastasis Recti) after C was born, but I did have one, I had it fairly big after G was born also so I expected it. I wanted to correct it quickly because I already had residual back pain and I wanted to make sure that I did what I could to keep the DR from getting worse, because it very easily can...and it can take years to heal if you don't correct it right away.  

     So along with some non-crunching core exercises for strength and healing, I had a RockTape certified massage therapist do the taping technique on me as seen here in the first picture...(with the 4 year old rocking out like a rock-star)... This is roughly 7 weeks postpartum:  

During the week that I wore the tape I felt a lot more stable and really feel that it helped my core strength and my performance during lifting workouts.As I added in some core workouts I felt that I was more in tune with what I had to do to keep my core strong and activating the Transverse Abdominis (deep ab muscles). Through all 5 days of lifting and core workouts the tape stuck...very well! The only thing was that I had some itchiness under the tape and even got a tiny spec of a rash, but I think that was my sensitive skin. 

This picture is from 5 days later, the tape is still sticking and my posture was much better. 

I do think it really helped, my back pain was not as bad during this time because I was reminded to keep my abs tight and sit up straight. Because of the itchiness I only reapplied the tape one more time for 4 days and I really liked the results and feeling of strength.  But, I did not put it on again because I then began to tape my lower back (for some continuing pain/inflammation) and didn't want to be a tape-monster.

Conclusion: Do it! Because no matter what, you don't want DR to stick around, you want better posture and you want to regain core strength as soon as you can. Your body will thank you! (if you're looking for ab workouts keep an eye on my Facebook page, I will post what I do randomly there)

**Update: Still have DR but it had gotten better and my core was SO MUCH stronger over the last month....Here's the thing, my back is still out of whack and in a lot of pain....because my back had many more problems than just the DR so now I know that the reason I still had pain was a disc issue...but with all that going on I still felt better, my core as tighter and I felt more "solid" through my core.