Outdoor Boot Camp

Welcome to the latest edition of workout Wednesday! This week I thought I'd give you a taste of our outdoor boot camp workouts in case you you don't live in Fort Worth and are unable to join us. 

In Texas there is a very short period of time that I like to call "free weather." We don't need our heaters and we don't yet need our air conditioners. It is the perfect weather to get outside to workout in the fresh air. 

This is a full body strength and cardio workout that can be done in about 20 minutes. 

CIRCUIT ONE

Set a timer for 5 minutes

8 plank rows (each side)
8 plank jacks
8 squats
repeat until time expires

Perform 8 walking lunges (each leg) to the next station.
30 second to one minute rest before beginning the next circuit

CIRCUIT TWO

Set a timer for 5 minutes

8 sumo squats
8 high knees
8 curtsy squats (each side)
repeat until time expires

Perform 8 walking lunges (each leg) to the next station
30 second to one minute rest before beginning the next circuit

CIRCUIT THREE

Set a timer for 5 minutes

8 pushups
8 mountain climbers
8 supermans
repeat until time expires

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Coach Lea

52 Healthy Habits: 10K Steps a Day

Welcome to the latest edition of 52 Healthy Habits, where each week we tackle a new healthy habit. No matter where we are in our fitness journey, small incremental improvements in our lifestyle inch us forward closer to our goals. 

The idea behind 10K steps a day is to simply move more. We don't always have to get in a run or a sweat session at the gym. While intense exercise contributes to a healthy body, heart and mind, just focusing on intentional movement goes a long way towards our weight loss or weight maintenance goals. 

Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) is our metabolic rate. This includes our resting metabolic rate (minimum energy we need to maintain vital functions of the body) + physical activity + thermic effect of feeding (energy used digesting and processing the food we eat). 

The only thing we can control is physical activity. You can increase your metabolic rate by increasing your activity. This doesn't mean you have to spend four hours in the gym every day (in fact, that may backfire). You can increase your physical activity by moving more intentionally throughout the day. It doesn't replace your weekly sweat sessions, it is in addition to them. This extra energy expenditure gives you a big advantage when working towards weight loss (and maintenance) goals. All the little stuff adds up to big results. 

This post may contain affiliate links. That means if you click on a link within this post and make a purchase, I make a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. No one is getting rich here, it just helps with the running (pun intended) of this blog. Thank you for your support.

Why 10 steps?

The American Heart Association recommends 10K steps a day for heart health, but it shouldn't be 10K or nothing. If you have a tracker (I have a FitBit) then measure your daily steps for three days, take the average of the three days, then add 3000 steps to that as your beginning goal. 

For example, if you walk 3000 steps on Monday, 4500 on Tuesday and 5000 on Wednesday, your daily average steps are 4166. Your starting step goal would be 7166. Once you are consistently hitting that goal, you can up it again by 3000 steps. 

If you don't have a fancy tracker, don't let that stop you. You can get an inexpensive pedometer or just add intentional movement into your day (without tracking). It can make a big difference, even if you don't know exactly how many steps you took. 

Strategies to Increase Daily Steps

1. Park farthest away from the entrance at work, school, grocery store and the gym. it drives me crazy to see people fighting for close parking spots at the health food stores or at the gym. 

2. Return your shopping cart all the way back to the store rather than leaving it in the parking lot port. 

3. Take the stairs whenever possible.

4. Use the restroom at work or school on another floor.

5. Always walk the the long way around.

6. Visit your co-workers at their desk instead of calling or emailing.

7. Pace when on the phone.

8. Walk during breaks at work or school.

9. Set reminders on your phone or computer to take short hourly walk breaks.

10. Take a walk after dinner (or in the morning, or at lunch).

11. Walk your dog (or borrow one).

12. Commit to only look at social media when walking (man, you'd be walking ALL THE TIME). I learned this one from Carla Birnberg. 

13. Walk in circles around your house or walk in place like a crazy person until you hit your goal. (Not that I do that...as far as you know.)

I work to walk 10K steps a day every day. It's one of my bare minimum goals for the day. Even if I don't get anything else accomplished, I usually get in my steps. The only exception is when I am sick or injured. Like anything else, you don't want to take it to the extreme. Our goal should always be healthy body and mind. 

While I love my FitBit Check out my post on the potential downfalls of activity trackers. 

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Coach Lea

The Problem with Cheat Meals and What to Do Instead

I know I've been writing a lot about nutrition lately. It's because I recently finished my Precision Nutrition Sports and Exercise certification. I am discovering that I have this passion to help people with their nutrition. 

THE PROBLEM WITH CHEAT MEALS AND WHAT YOU SHOULD DO INSTEAD

I don't have a problem with adding calorie surplus days, or even indulgence days, I just don't like to call them cheat days. 

Cheat implies it isn't part of the plan. You cheat on your diet. Diets are flawed. You can't cheat on your lifestyle. You may say it's just semantics whether we call it a cheat day or an indulgence day but getting into the right mindset is paramount to success. Psychology is a big part of what is holding people back from reaching their goals. 

When you make a commitment to long term permanent lifestyle changes then there is no more cheating. I prefer indulgence meals or calorie surplus days. 

The reason that calorie surplus days are recommended is if you spend a lot of time in a calorie deficit (consuming less calories than your body needs for maintenance in order to lose weight) your body may down-regulate your metabolism in order to compensate. Your body is smart. When it realizes that that you are consistently taking in less food, it assumes that there is less food available and it adjusts so it doesn't need as much food to live. 

Adding an occasional higher calorie day that meets or exceeds your daily calorie requirements sends the signal to your body that you are not starving and it's ok to keep that metabolism revving. There's no rule that that these higher calorie days have to be junk food days, it's totally possible to get a calorie surplus on healthy food...but what's the fun in that? Hah. 

Indulgence meals are great for the mental aspect too. If you are usually very calculated about what you eat then it can be a mental and emotional break. I am all about balance, if you decide that you will never eat an unhealthy food again, you are setting yourself up to fail. There is always room for indulgences in your otherwise healthy lifestyle. 

5 TIPS FOR HAVING an indulgent meal while maintaining a healthy balance. 

1. No Guilt. 

Savor it. Enjoy it. No guilt.

2. Plan ahead.

When trying your best to live a healthy lifestyle there will always be occasions when sticking to a healthy meal is not reasonable or sustainable. Do you want to tell your Italian Grandma that you can't have her garlic bread, spaghetti and homemade cannoli? Do you want to bring tupperware of chicken and broccoli to your best friend's wedding reception? I didn't think so.

Food is just as much about connection and joy as it is about nutrition. There will always be holidays, special occasions, celebrations and parties. If we miss out on the social and cultural connections over food, then we are missing out on a big part of health and happiness. Plan your indulgence meals around those celebrations and special occasions so you can have the best of both worlds.  

3. Portion control. 

An indulgence meal should not be a license to binge. Think about proper portions and eat slowly until you are 80% full. You will find that you are satisfied on less food, while still enjoying your indulgence. 

I try to make choices on a continuum. Even if I am at a burger restaurant, I think to myself, how can I make this a little bit healthier? Maybe I'll enjoy that burger with a whole wheat bun instead of white. Maybe I'll skip the fries and order a salad on the side or maybe I'll order the fries, but get a veggie burger or salad. I find that I enjoy it just as much and a little indulgence is all I need. 

If you have red flag foods that you know cause you to overindulge, then choose those foods sparingly or not at all. If you can't open a family size bag of chips without polishing it off, then the right choice for you may be to not open that bag. It's up to you. If you struggle with binging, I recommend working with a Registered Dietitian. 

4. The 80/20 Rule.

I'm not good at math, but I try to make healthy choices 80% of the time and indulgent choices 20%. It's not a hard and fast calculation, but generally speaking it is 1-2 indulgence meals a week with maybe a treat thrown in..

Some people eat a strict healthy diet all week and then let loose on the weekends. I'd just ask you to consider if you are having an indulgence meal, an indulgence day or a whole indulgence weekend, every single weekend. If you decide to have indulgence weekends, that's 2.5 days, 35% of your week. I don't think there should be strict rules about when you and can not have indulgences, but if it is all weekend every weekend from Friday night through Sunday night of junk food, then you might consider how that could affect your goals. 

5. Move on.  

Don't allow an indulgence meal to be a trigger for more poor choices.  Do it, love every second of it, and move on to your next healthy meal. This also means that you shouldn't attempt to exercise twice as long or hard the next day to compensate. 

I always say what you do daily matters more than what you do occasionally. It goes both ways, if you eat healthy foods all week, one indulgent meal will not have a big impact on your results and if you eat junk food all the time, then one salad is not going to make a difference either. 

When you find the balance of healthy foods and indulgent foods that you enjoy you really can have the best of both worlds. Eat foods that make you feel good, that taste good and you enjoy. 

DO YOU EAT CLEAN OR DIRTY?

Do you eat clean? It's impossible to say. It means different things to different people. What I do know is that things go south when we moralize our food choices. You're not bad or dirty if you eat a less-than-healthy food and you're not a perfect angel because you made a healthy choice. In fact, orthorexia is a disorder associated with having an obsession with healthy eating. 

We should aim to eat healthy foods from nature most of the time, but we are not bad people for choosing to eat things occasionally simply because they taste good. 

I believe that there are no inherently good or bad foods. Some foods are good for your health, some foods are good for your soul (like Grandma's cannoli), and that's ok in moderation. 

I've personally struggled with balance and yo-yo weight in my 30s. It wasn't until I let go of labels, rules, diets and guilt that I learned the art of balance. Once I went off diets and adopted health as a long term goal, the weight loss (and more importantly, maintenance) was a natural side effect. 

What's your favorite indulgence meal? Mine is sushi and pizza (not together, silly)

What's your favorite healthy meal? I love spaghetti squash and eggs (Again, not together. Although that may be #strangebutgood)

Need help with your nutrition strategy? Tired of dieting? Want help developing healthy habits while staying sane and balanced? Join my nutrition and lifestyle coaching program today.

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Coach Lea

 

The 30-20-10 Interval Running Workout

Welcome to the latest edition of workout Wednesday! This week I have a great interval running workout for you to try. This workout was developed by Dr. Jens Bangsbo at the University of Copenhagen in Denmark to increase speed in recreational runners. If you are looking for an easy way to incorporate interval or speed training into your running workouts this is a great place to start. You could do it on the street or the track with a timer (affiliate --> I use a gymboss interval timer) or on the treadmill.

This is a by-feel paced workout. That means you don't need a GPS watch to make sure you hit certain paces. All you need is a timer and a pair of running shoes (OK, clothes would probably be a good idea too). 

Warm up by walking or jogging 10 minutes or one mile.

30 seconds

Start at a slow pace for 30 seconds. This should feel very easy, breathing is easy. For a beginner this may even be a brisk walk. It's called conversation pace. You could hold a conversation while maintaining this pace. 

20 seconds

Accelerate to a moderate pace for 20 seconds. This should be your race pace. A little faster than your easy pace but not an all-out-sprint. It should feel comfortably hard. You could probably get out a sentence or a few words between breaths, but you are working too hard to hold a conversation.

10 seconds

Then sprint as hard as you can for 10 seconds. Go for it. Give it all you have for 10 seconds. You can't talk at all while holding this pace. 

Repeat four more times in a row without rest for a total of 5 minutes of these intervals.

2 Minutes

Rest until your breath is fully recovered (about 2 minutes).

Repeat

Repeat these 30-20-10 sessions and rest periods until fatigued (no more than 30 minutes) for a quick and effective speed workout for runners of all levels

Cool down by jogging or walking 10 minutes or one mile.

Doesn't Ollie demonstrate the 10 second sprint pace picture perfectly? Good dog. 

Add this workout to your schedule 1-2 times per week with rest days and easy-paced run days in between hard workouts.

A general rule for intense training: A little is better than none and a lot is too much. Remember that our bodies adapt (grow stronger and faster) during rest, not during the workout. Allow your body adequate time to recover between hard workouts for the best results.

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Coach Lea

52 Healthy Habits: A Rant on Sugar, Cocaine and Artificial Sweeteners

One thing I love about writing a blog is it that it gives me a chance to air my grievances (even when it isn't Festivus!) to no one in particular and everyone on the internet all at the same time. 

When things bother me, I usually tell my husband, but when I start to notice his eyes glaze over I know it's time to get it out in writing. He even told me once, "You need to blog about that because I stopped listening 10 minutes ago." Hah. At least he's honest. 

I am not usually someone who rants. I usually keep things that bother me bottled up inside until it explodes...like a normal person. Just kidding. 

Last Friday we had a health fair at my corporate marketing job. It was a half day event when speakers came in to educate us with seminars and they served a delicious healthy lunch. It's a great benefit and I usually look forward to hearing speakers on various topics. It gets me out from my cubicle for a few hours and immersed in the world I love, heath and fitness. 

scenes from our healthy lunch - colorful mini peppers.

One of the speakers was a doctor. When you have some letters behind your name and a book under your belt you command a certain amount of respect and authority. Everything started out great. He showed us a sugar cube that equaled four grams of sugar. He taped plastic baggies of these sugar cubes to popular food products that are often marketed as healthy options. That box of organic bran cereal? Six cubes (24 grams of sugar) per serving...and watch out, that serving size is only 3/4 cup. So-called healthy yogurt? As many sugar cubes as a can of Coke. It can be eye-opening for someone who never really thought about hidden added sugars in their diet.

It was a great visual representation of the amount of sugar in processed foods and how, if we don't pay attention, the sugar adds up quickly and can hurt our health and body composition. It is a an important message that most people need to hear, but this is where things went south, in my opinion. 

He then recommended to replace the sugar in our diet with artificial sweeteners (he said he preferred to call them sugar substitutes) and not to eat any foods with more than 2 grams of sugar per serving, and this is where he really lost me....not even fruit.

He suggested that when you are in the produce section of the grocery store to think of bananas and grapes (and sometimes apples) as bad and berries as good. My takeaway from his message was that all sugar is bad and artificial sweeteners are the solution to the sugar problem because they do not spike blood sugar or raise insulin levels. 

He said sugar causes the same reaction in the brain as cocaine. Message received doc, Cocaine bad = Fruit bad. 

Look, I'm no doctor. This guy is clearly educated. He went to medical school and treated cancer patients. I respect that level of commitment and service. I went to a community college and have some personal training and nutrition certs. He obviously is far ahead on the education front. But I have something he has seemed to miss: Common sense, or at least context. 

It is irresponsible to tell the general population that fruit is bad and artificial sweeteners are the solution to the sugar problem. Yes, bananas are high in natural sugars but they are also nutrient-rich and have benefits. Are there better things you could eat? Maybe. But is it the worst choice? Absolutely not. Is natural sugar as bad as cocaine? Let's not be ridiculous. (To be fair, he didn't say that directly.) No matter what your health and fitness goals are, a banana, a cupped handful of grapes or an apple is generally a good, healthy choice for most people.

I like to look at all foods on a continuum. What food choice would be a little bit better? What food choice would be worse? If we are always inching towards making healthier, better choices, we are on the right track. We have to get away from all the all-or-nothing, it's either good or it's bad mentality. 

“NUTRITION INFO

One small-to-medium sized banana (100g) contains about 89 calories, 1.10g protein, 0.33g of fat, 22.84g of carbohydrates, 2.60g of fiber, and 12.23g of sugar.

Bananas are rich in potassium, vitamin C, and manganese.”

We can get into a discussion about high level athletes or physique stage competitors with body composition goals and how eliminating certain foods (temporarily!) can help them meet these aesthetic goals. However, in the context of our health fair, we are talking to office workers who are sedentary for at least eight hours a day looking to improve their lifestyle and eating habits. For general health and weight loss, moderate amounts of fruit is A-ok.

Most people eat a poor diet and a piece of fruit would be an improvement on a daily snack. Herein lies the problem: If you label fruit as bad, and you already know that a Snickers bar is bad, maybe you would just choose the snickers bar because it tastes better. After all, they are both bad, right? Um. No. 

When people start to label food as good or bad it causes all kinds of problems. It can lead to nutrient deficiencies and maybe worse, disordered eating or thinking. Especially when things get labeled as bad that are, in fact, nutritionally beneficial. For health (body and mind) we should aim to eat a wide variety of whole, minimally processed foods that we enjoy, in proper portions.

We are not talking about the nuisances of food intolerances, diabetes or other outliers. My problem is telling a room full of office workers that fruit is a generally a bad choice for them.

Nutrition isn't as hard as the industry would have us believe. It's just that there are so many mixed messages, that people start to get confused. Most people don't need to worry about the possible downside of eating a piece of fruit because they are still drinking soda, eating processed foods or restaurant meals on a regular basis and sleeping five hours a night. Let's work on improving the basics before we start talking about advanced diet strategies. 

On the subject of artificial sweeteners, I don't mind artificial sweeteners...wait for it...in moderation. Like anything else, what you do every day is more important than what you do occasionally. I happen to like the taste of Diet Coke, probably because I drank it most of my adult life. These days, I don't drink it often, but when I am craving a Coke, I go for the diet option. If I preferred the taste of regular Coke I would go that route. It is an occasional indulgence, not an everyday activity. For me, it's no problem.

I don't, however, recommend artificial sweeteners as a solution to your sugar problem. They are probably fine for most people in moderation, but we should be aiming to move towards whole natural foods whenever possible. If the problem is too much sugar, let's fix the problem by reducing added sugar intake (mostly by reducing processed foods), not just band-aid it by replacing all of our sugar intake with artificial sweeteners. 

I am all about balance, finding that sweet spot of sanity and sustainability. What healthy foods do you enjoy eating? Eat more of those. What not-so healthy foods make you feel like crap later? Eat less of those. Learn to tune in to your body's natural signals. If a less-than-healthy (notice I didn't say 'bad') food brings you joy, then definitely enjoy it in moderation without guilt. It sounds overly simplistic, but when nutrition is so far off track, it's exactly what we need: simplicity. 

I'm no smarty pants doctor but if you like bananas, go ahead and eat them. 

For my 52 Healthy habits this week, I encourage you to eat a piece of healthy, natural fruit every day this week, limit added sugars and artificial sweeteners and oh yeah, don't use cocaine. How's that for health advice? Who wants to hire me to speak at their health fair? My presentation will be called 'A Rant on Sugar, Cocaine and Artificial Sweeteners' Hah. 

Seriously. Need help with your nutrition strategy? Tired of dieting? Want help making healthy choices part of your lifestyle while staying sane and balanced? My nutrition and lifestyle coaching program begins in June, get on the list for a big pre-sale discount. 

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Need to catch up on the 52 healthy habits series? 

52 HEALTHY HABITS SERIES

week 1: Early to Rise
week 2: Track calories
week 3: Macro cycling
week 4: Morning pages (journaling)
week 5: Stop the scrolling (reading instead of social media)
week 6: Be a good student (take time for learning) 
week 7: Strength Training 15 minutes per day   
week 8: Eat more protein
week 9: Take a coffee break (break from caffeine)
week 10: Mindful eating
week 11: Create and follow a sleep ritual
week 12: 10 Easy ways to eat more vegetables

Coach Lea