Get fit for RT, for national… for life : Motivation

Well everyone,

It’s been about 7 weeks since my first post on fitness and I did it. I lost some weight. I have not lost my ideal 7 pounds but I am close and lost 5 pounds.

No I was not perfect.  I never made it to the gym to lift weight and my cooler was pretty scarce, but I did skip junk food and walked on most weekdays for an hour. All this during the American Title networking madness (vote here if you want to help me!)

So I am pretty happy.  I was told most contestants gain weight during the contest, but good fitness habits help me lose my little extra. Which gets me to my last topic in my series… motivation.

How to stay motivated…

It’s almost bikini season (although I prefer a cute swim dress when I run after the kids LOL) and RT is coming and of course Nationals. There is not much time left, to time to give up!!!!

How do you stay motivated to keep going:

Just do it. Just like the ad says. For me this is what work. I don’t think about it. I just put my clothes, get the kids on the bus and go. I don’t look at the rain or the cold or the wind. I don’t question how tired I am. I just do it.

Make it convenient. If your exercise is complicated, a long drive, fancy equipment, partners that cancel on you, it will be harder to be motivated. Same with food, it’s hard to plan fancy cooking every night. A quick healthy dinner may be more motivating.

Track your progress. A food and exercise journal does wonders for motivation. Most fitness competitors do that and I kept faithful journals while losing the baby weight after both my pregnancies (35 and 40 pounds). Do you really want to record that piece of chocolate cake or that you didn’t do your exercise class that day?  It’s so nice to look at your week and see that you kept your commitment.

Make it fun. It’s a lot more fun to think about going to a Zumba class than do 30 min. on an exercise bike in the musty basement. If you look forward to the activity, you will not miss it. My fun when I walk is to listen to music. It clears my head and helps me survive the stress American Title. Fun may be different for everyone, just finds what works for you.

Make a date. Ask a friend to join you. Walk and chat with your buddy. Lift weights together, plan to go for coffee after that (nonfat milk, no sugar!). I love to teach seniors class and get together afterwards to chat with them. They are so motivated to come to class and their exercise is a big part of their social life. Better than staying home alone and watch day time TV.

Include variety. In your work-out and in your diet, make sure you don’t stick with the same old same old. Spring is coming, maybe it’s time to step outside for your exercise. Or eat more salads instead of soup (I was suddenly craving greens yesterday).  Try something new when you feel less motivated. Change your routine a little bit. Try a new class or that new cardio machine at the gym. It’s good for your mind and essential in your fitness program. Our bodies adapt very quickly. If you do the same thing over and over, you reach a plateau and don’t improve. I usually change my whole weight lifting routine every 3 months. All body builders do this. You need to “surprise” your muscles for them to be challenged again.

Invest in your health. Being healthy shouldn’t be expensive, but if you invest a little in it, then it tells you that you matter. Get proper exercise shoes, maybe a gym membership, some exercise videos or music to listen to when you work out, a nice gym bag. Buy exotic fruits and vegetables. All within your means of course, I dream of a treadmill but can’t afford it. But I can skip the take-out food and buy healthy groceries instead. It’s all a matter of priority and if you invest in your health, you will be more motivated.

Celebrate your body. Don’t hide under tent-like clothes, at whatever weight you are. Be proud of all the small steps you take towards a healthier you. Get some nice exercise wear. When I feel a slump in my exercise routine, I go shopping for new gym clothes! And it’s not just at the gym and when you exercise, but also during the day, take a little extra time to care for yourself and your appearance. Do your hair, your nails, put some nice lotion on, wear your nice clothes and jewelry, celebrate every day.  It’s not vanity, it’s saying that you matter. And especially women, we tend to put everyone’s need before our own. Yet, if you don’t take care of yourself, you cannot take care of others.

So go out there, feel proud that you are healthier than you were 2 months ago. Think of how you will feel in a year from now, 5 years from now. You do matter!

Just do it!

I have one more fitness tracker to give away. As I said, it’s a great way to stay motivated. Leave me a comment and the tracker may be yours!

Sneaking Fitness. Guest Blogger Rebecca J. Clark

I am thrilled to have a guest today on my Get Fit series. Rebecca J. Clark, personal trainer and fitness instructor and author of the upcoming steamy romantic comedy Borrowed Stilettoes, is here with us today.

Sneaky Fitness

By Rebecca J. Clark

 

Marie-Claude has shared some awesome fitness information with you these past few weeks. I second everything she’s said. J But I know what you’re thinking-you can barely find time to write. How the heck will you find time to exercise?

When I’m not busy writing or promoting my upcoming book, I work as a personal fitness trainer and group exercise instructor. I’m also a wife, mom, friend, daughter, sister, etc.–just like you, I wear many hats. I’m fortunate to work for a gym, so I really have no excuse to skip a workout. I also teach several cardio classes a week, so I get paid to exercise.

Some days, though, I just don’t have time to do a full workout. I don’t always have time to do the 30-60 minutes of daily exercise most experts recommend. I’m sure you don’t, either.

Here’s the good news: you don’t have to do that exercise in one big chunk of time. You can break it up throughout your day. Ten minutes in the morning before work or school, 10 minutes at lunch, 20 minutes in the evening. Whatever works for your schedule.

Here are some easy ways to work fitness into your life.  I’m tailoring this article to writers, but the tips can work for anyone.

• Sit on a big exercise ball while at the computer. This will strengthen your back and abs.
• Every time you’re stuck staring at a blinking cursor, bounce on the ball. This will strengthen your core and your legs.
• Every time you finish writing a scene, do 10 pushups, 20 crunches, 30 jumping jacks. Do the same after each chapter.
• Take a 20 minute walk (preferably outside) before your writing session. You can use this time to think about your upcoming session, and work through some issues you might encounter.
• At least once an hour, get up from your chair and move around. Run up and down the stairs a few times. Walk in and out of every room of your house. Go outside and walk around the house or yard or parking lot. Do anything to move your body.
• Buy a pedal exerciser (it looks like a bike with no wheels or seat). Put it in front of your chair as you sit at the computer. If you can figure out how to pedal and type at the same time (without your knees banging up against the keyboard), you let me know. In the meantime, whenever you’re stuck, pedal away. When you reach the end of a scene, pedal. At the end of a chapter, pedal. You get the picture. You can also put this device at your feet while you watch TV. Pedal while you watch. No, this isn’t going to make you sweat or anything, but it’s more calories than you would burn just sitting on the couch.
• If you like to listen to music while you exercise, why not listen to a book on tape instead? You’ll get your daily reading done while you strengthen your body. My favorite type of book to listen to is thrillers or suspense novels. They really make the time fly by. Right now, I’m listening to RWA conference CDs. The only time I’ll allow myself to listen to them is in the car or while working out. An hour workshop = an hour on the treadmill, bike, etc.
• If you’re not into listening to your books and would rather read, try borrowing large print books from the library. The larger type makes it much easier to focus while you’re moving on the cardio machine of your choice.
• Keep a set of dumbbells by your computer. Every once in a while, do some overhead presses, biceps curls, or hold them by your side as you stand up and sit back down in your chair several times.
• After you put dinner on, while it’s cooking, take a walk around the block or do a short exercise video.
• When you brush your top teeth, balance on one leg. When you brush the bottom, balance on the other. When you’re flossing, do calf raises (rise up and down on your toes)
• During the commercials of your favorite TV show, do pushups, jumping jacks, crunches, squats, or just dance around the room.
• Be creative and have fun-if you’re a CSI Miami fan, how about doing 5 pushups every time Horatio tilts his head or removes/puts on his sunglasses? If you watch O’Reilly, do 5 jumping jacks every time he interrupts someone. If you like American Idol, do 10 crunches every time Simon says something mean.
• Whenever you’re at a stop sign, stop light or standing in line somewhere, pull in your abs like your belly button is an actual button and you’re trying to attach it to your spine.
• When you’re stirring something on the stove, squeeze your bum as hard as you can.

 

There are many, many ways to fit exercise into your life. These are just a few of the ones I and my clients use. Have these suggestions given you any other ideas? If so, I’d love to hear them.

You can find out more about Rebecca’s writing at Rebeccajclark.com and about her fitness carreer at: http://www.thrivecf.com/page475.asp?pid=475&tid=469

Her steamy romantic comedy Borrowed Stilettos will be available soon at Thewildrosepress.com

I’d like to annouce some winners from last week:

Fitness tracking log:

• Susan Macatee
• Margaret

Fitness consultation:

• Donna Caubarreaux
• KL Grady

Congratulations Ladies

Please leave us a comment again for a chance to win a fitness tracking log or a one-on-one consultation.

Keep Fit !

Get Fit for RT, National…for Life! Get moving: planning

By Marie-Claude Bourque

I have to admit that sticking to an exercise regimen is not easy. We start all gung-ho and then, “life” happens. Case in point, I’ve been power walking every day, but then last night, it hit me: the stress of the looming American Title contest which starts again on Monday. (BTW, if you want to see if I made it and perhaps help me out with your vote, here is the link: http://www.romantictimes.com/news_amtitle3.php )

So for some, it is a deadline, or a sick child, a visiting relative, and suddenly there are not enough hours in the day to do it all.

So what do we discard first? Our exercise time. I almost did that this morning. I thought: I have so much to do, maybe I could skip a day. And on top of it, I got up an hour and a half too late, giving me 30 minutes only to edit a scene. I nearly skipped my editing as well to hang out on Facebook instead.

But I managed to edit my short scene in that 30 minutes and did make my hour-long power walk. What is the trick? Convenience. For me, I have to plan my exercise time for when I am sure to be away from the computer. If I try mid-day, forget it. Once the laptop is turned on, I cannot shut it off.

So I did found a time when I am forced to be away from the computer. It’s when I have to be outside to wait for the bus with my children. So I dress up for exercise, carry my mp3 player with me, and as soon as they are gone, I hit the road! It works for me.

When I use to drive my kids to school, I would dress up in my workout gear and swing by the gym after I dropped them off. Then I’d go home and write.

When I worked in science, I didn’t write then, but it was easy to just go home and relax after work. So I packed my clothes and very morning, I drove to the gym before work. Sometimes, I’d try after work but that was just too hard!

In college, I’d have all my stuff ready in my gym locker. I did a lot of different things then: swimming, indoor rock climbing, squash, weight lifting and aerobics class. I just had all my gear in a rented locker and used the towel service.  I just got myself to the gym in the morning and chose what I wanted to do on the spot.

When I was home with an infant, I purchased a step and rented exercise videos. I squeezed in a quick work-out when my baby napped. And I’d go for a power walk daily with the stroller. On week-ends, I’d leave baby with dad and went for a quick run outside.

Later, with my toddlers, I joined the YMCA and used their child-minding facility. That saved my sanity. I could not only work-out and meet other moms, I could also shower with no kids screaming behind the door!!!! Most clubs and community center have child-care and will take care of your child for 1-2 hours.

Now, I’ve been working out at home. I have a quick routine of outdoor run/walk, some crunches/push-ups and resistance training using tubing. I also have an exercise ball which I love for crunches and back extensions. No need for a mat.  I’m planning to add a kettle bell and medicine ball to that. Sometimes in the summer, I jump rope in the back yard.

Exercise classes are wonderful (having taught them for 15 years I can say so!). They are often found easily, in gyms, community center, at your work or church basements. Even in small town, you’ll have your local Jazzercise class. They are usually complete, with a good warm-up, cardio, cool down, stretch and most with some resistance training.

I haven’t tried the Wii yet. It sounds great, although out of my price range for now But if you have tried it, please comment!

And of course, there is the “gym”. I LOVE the gym!!! Where can you find so much study material for your latest hunky hero!!!!  Ask the fitness staff to teach you how to use weights, and hang out in the weight room!!!! Yum!!!!  I recommend college and university gyms if you need visual motivation BTW!!!!

In the end, the trick is to find what works for you. What you like to do. Brainstorm to find where during your day you can fit something. Find that natural break in your day. Make sure it is not a time that requires you to stop a writing session. Because if you plan an hour work-out just after 2 hours of writing, you are more likely to skip the workout. Find a time, when you can be outside, in your car, or just before you sit down for your writing.

Enlist a friend. Make a date with someone that will wait for you at the gym, or pick you up at home for a walk.

Use your workout time to plot and think about your book. Personally, I do this best walking outdoor to music, or doing cardio machines while watching music videos. I got tons of inspiration watching images from various music videos. And of course, lifting free weights surrounded by fit guys helps my heroes’ descriptions a lot!!!

Find what works for you.

Let me leave you with some links of sources for simple equipment, exercise video and work-out music that can help you in you do this on your own.

Perform Better which supplies most gym is a great place to find steps, balls, tubing, dumbbells, bars, kettle bells and all sorts of cool stuff.

Collage Video has the best source of exercise videos out there. Lots of really fun stuff, you’ll never get bored.

Creative Instructors Aerobics Inc  offers videos taught by certified aerobics instructors. This is what I used in the past. Usually geared to instructors, they are extremely safe and sound, using the latest fitness research, they can sometimes be a little challenging.

Power Music and  Dynamix Music are company who offer music to both instructors and for personal workout. They do not use original artists but have tracks with a set tempo that will help pace your workout. Try Step music (128 beats per minutes (BPM) ) for walking, rowing and the Stairmasters, Kickbox music  (135-140 BPM) for the elliptical and slow running, Aerobics music (145 and up) for running.  Both company offers a huge range of music style from Country to 80’s and even oldies.

John Sines is a DJ who remixing original artist to offer great music to instructor. He is my favorite source of workout music. This is what I buy for my own workout following to BPM guideline above.

 

And so good luck finding what works. I’ll finish this series next week by talking about how to stay motivated. But first, I’ll have a guest. Rebecca J. Clark, author and fitness instructor, will gives us her tricks on how she stay fit and healthy.

Until then, please leave your comments for another chance at a fitness tracking log or a one-on-one fitness consultation!

Keep Fit!!!

Get fit for RT, National…for Life! Get Moving

by Marie-Claude Bourque

Hi everyone!

How is the fitness routine going? Mine is not too bad. I did manage to lose one pound so far, so hanging in there.

And the six winners from last week are:

Fitness tracking logs:

• Shelli Stevens
• Marley Delarose
• Linda Wisdom

One-on-one consultations:

• Marion Spicher
• Vicky B.
• Margery

Congratulations everyone. I will contact all of you shortly about receiving your prizes.

Today let’s talk about exercise. Some love it, some hate it. But let me tell you a secret, it’s when you force yourself through those first 3 weeks that you finally start craving it. You will, trust me.

Exercise: what type and how long?

There are many types of exercises out there and some may swear that you need your cardiovascular exercise every day, topped with weight training and that you have to have some stretching and relaxation or that if you don’t do Yoga, you are doomed, you might as well quit everything now!

So what do you really need? Simple, you need to get your heart pumping (cardio) and your muscles to work against some sort of resistance. You need both!!!!

Your cardiovascular exercise makes sure you heart stays healthy, that you have more energy during the day and many nice side effects like burning fat while you exercise and releasing endorphins that makes you feel happy all day.

Your resistance training makes you stronger, builds up your bones and prevents osteoporosis, help limit back and neck pain, tightens your rear end and increases your metabolism by increasing your muscle density, which means you can eat more and stay at the same weight.

Cardiovascular training: you have to huff and puff!!!

Examples:

Power walking (shopping at the mall doesn’t count), running, swimming, cross-country skiing, any cardio machines at the gym, like the elliptical, treadmills, Stairmaster, bikes (my favorite is the recumbent bike with a good book!) and even the often neglected rowing machine which I love- gives you a great back! Classes like aerobics, steps, spinning, boot-camp and all the derivatives such as cardio-kickboxing, cardio-salsa, cardio-strip (yes, tried that too, good fun LOL). The key here is that you have to be out of breath. If you are not, either the activity is not cardiovascular in nature or it is too easy for you.

Don’t die in there, but you shouldn’t be able to discuss world politics either.

Resistance training: Your muscles will be a little sore after

Examples:

Weight training with either free weight or machines, tubing and body weight exercises such as push-ups, squats, some Yoga and Pilates exercise when you have to hold up your weight, such as planks and abdominal exercises.

The thing with resistance training though is that just working your abdominals is not enough. You have to target all your important muscle groups. Here is the list of the main ones:

Deltoids (Shoulders)
Pectorals (Chest)
Trapezius (upper Back)
Erector Spinae (Lower Back)
Biceps (arms)
Triceps (back of the arms)
Abdominals and obliques (stomach or core)
Glutes ( butt backside)
Quadriceps (front of your thighs)
Hamstrings (back of your thighs)
Calves (optional)

There is no real short-cut. You have to think of all the muscles. You could be doing gazillion squats for your legs, and your bones will be strong and dense, but your arms will still be weak and prone to osteoporosis.

Now the good news is that many exercises will trigger more than one muscle. So if you are in a time crush, you want to do those. For example good ones are squats and lunges (Glutes, Quadriceps and Hamstrings), Push-ups (Chest, triceps, abs and back), Chin-up (Biceps, Upper Back). 

I’ll talk more next week on how to make this work. But it is important to know what you need to be fit. Cardiovascular and resistance exercises. You also want to learn how to stretch your muscles so you can do it for a few minutes after each workout to reduce soreness and increase your flexibility, which another component of fitness that shouldn’t be neglected.

How often and when?

How often is still a debate. It used to be that 20 minutes of cardio 3 times a week was enough, now studies are saying everyday for 30 minutes, but they include gardening in there. Yes, gardening is great. But there is gardening and gardening….make sure yours is the “huff and puff” kind, shoveling massive quantity of dirt, not light weeding.

So a sensible approach is to start with 20 minutes of cardiovascular exercises twice a week and increase those sessions to more as you get fitter. For resistance, make sure you hit each muscle group at least once a week. That could be one conditioning type class a week, or a 4 session split weight training program with 1-2 different muscle groups each time. It depends on your fitness level, your time and what you want out of it.

If you want to compete in a figure competition, you’ll want the 4 session split routine, if your goal is overall health and fitness, one class a week is perfect.

There is no magic time to exercise, morning, afternoon, middle of the night. The magic time is when it is more convenient for you.

I will talk more about this more in the next post, how to fit in it, at home, the gym, what equipment, and tricks but here are some links to get you started on a safe and effective exercise program.

ACE (American Council on Exercise)

ACSM (American College of Sports Medicine)

ACSM fitness guidelines with the American Heart Association

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans

Canada Fitness Activity Guide

My Exercise Plan:

I no longer work in a gym, so finding the time for fitness is very hard and I am not as fit as I was 9 months ago. So here is my plan for the New Year:

Power walk/run (1 hr, 3 times a week)
Abdominals, Pilates Exercises and push-ups at home (5-10 min., 3 times a week)
Power walk to the community center and back (20 min. each ways, 2 times a week)
Weight lifting at the community center’s gym (20 minutes 2 times a week)
 

Don’t make it too complicated!!!

So that’s it folks. Keep it simple. I like to walk now because I put some music and brainstorm for my writing and I just love lifting weight. Find something you really like and that is convenient. A little cardio and a little resistance. You can do it, twice a week, three times, five? Start slow and build up as you feel stronger!!!

Get moving and enjoy being fit.

In my cooler yesterday:

For three meals:

2 cups of baby carrots and celery
1 cup of cantaloupe pieces topped with 1 tablespoon of sliced almonds
1 cup of sliced green apple
2 clementines
1 low-fat cheese string
1 ½ cup of leftover vegetable stir-fry topped with 1 tablespoon of sunflower seeds
water

 

Don’t give-up,  everyone. This is the hardest time. The first week everyone is full of energy and good will, but slowly life gets busy and we return to our old familiar habits. Don’t do this to yourself! I’m doing it with you and together we can succeed!!

Don’t forget to comment for a chance to win. I still have fitness tracking logs and one-on-one fitness consultations to give away this week!!!!

Get Fit for RT, National…for Life!! Eating Clean-Planning

 Get Fit for RT, National…for Life!! Series:

• Get Started
• Eating Clean
• Eating Clean-Planning
• Get Moving
• Get Moving – Planning
• Guest Blogger: Fitness Instructor and Author Rebecca J. Clark
• Motivation
• Bonus Post: Q&A recaps

by Marie-Claude Bourque

So let’s talk practicality today.  Now you all know what clean eating is and you have been eating nothing but nutritious food and balanced meals for the last 3 days, right?

Or is it still a little hard? We all know what to eat for health, but when we are in a time crunch, all that knowledge goes out the window and we grab a donut and double caramel latte on the way to work, eat nothing all day, then stuff in our kids mac’n'cheese as we prepare it then order pizza later on.

Before I get started with food planning, let me thank everyone for dropping by and leaving comments. I want to answer everyone, and I will. Please be patient, I didn’t expect such a overhwelming response to my articles. Thank you so much for your visits here, I feel quite humbled by it. I also plan to collect most of your questions and my answers for a bonus post later, when we need a little extra motivation.

So here is the trick:

So how do you easily follow a Clean Eating way of life? The key is to be prepared and have healthy food right there with us. So this planning is not in the “classical diet” sense, where we have ½ a grapefruit for breakfast and starve until lunch so we can eat our 3 baby carrots and cup of cottage cheese.

No…I’m talking about keeping a cooler filled with healthy foods all ready to be eaten. This cooler should be with us all day.

Here is what I do. When I get up, I prepare my kids lunch and prepare my cooler. Then I retreat to my bedroom to write (my office is my laptop LOL) and bring my cooler with me. When I worked at the gym, I had my cooler with me all the time. I had it in my car while I ran errands. I have it with me on family days when we go on car trips.

My cooler usually contains the food I need between breakfast and dinner. I often prepare my breakfast (oatmeal mixed with yogurt, apples, wheat germs, ect). I always know what I will have for dinner first thing in the morning, so I know what to cook. When we are really busy, I will cook a variety of dinner on Saturday and freeze them in individual portions. I love little containers. In fact I should buy stocks at Ziploc.

Always be prepared, that is the key!!! That is what the fitness pros around me always did. Yes, even the guys, those getting ready for bodybuilding completion were the fussier.

And….don’t forget your water bottles. I pack those as well.  I’m not a big fan of pure water, so I sometimes fill 3-4 bottles with water and a fruity herbal tea bag, instant California sun tea!

Quick breakfasts: some ideas

Before I talk about into what could go into your cooler, here are some ideas for starting the day. I know many are into egg white omelet and oatmeal pancakes and all that. Those are great but too much work for me. I tend to do oatmeal. Here are my favorites:

1. 1/2 cup of dry musli that I prepare ahead of time in a big tub (oatmeal, bran, wheat germs, almonds, and other non-sugary whole grain cereals mixed in with a few cranberries or dates) with some non-fat milk, topped with ½ banana.
2. Swiss musli that I make ahead of time by pouring boiling water over oatmeal, than add yogurt and an apple. I top this with a ½ sliced banana and wheat germ in the morning and keep the rest in a small plastic container for a snack in my cooler.
3. Peanut/oatmeal/banana shake (recipe at the end of the post!). If I run out of oatmeal and I am in a hurry, I may have a whole wheat toast with a light coat of peanut butter and some banana.

The key here is to think of the food groups. At least 3 of some grains, some fruit, some dairy and a little protein.

The Cooler

You can pack a lot of interesting thing in there for your next three meals. I like to by 1-cup-size Ziploc containers and always fill 2 of those with cut fruit (apple, melon, grapes, pear, berries, orange quarters or fresh pineapples). Then I fill 2 more with cut fresh vegetables (baby carrots, celery, mushrooms, cukes, zucchinis, broccoli, cauliflower, ect). I usually eat the last cup of veggies when I prepare dinner. For the rest, it is time to be inventive. Nuts, deli roast beef or turkey, cold grilled chicken breast, hard-boiled egg or canned tuna are good choice for proteins (some also like cold leftover omelet). Any cooked grain, or whole wheat bread, bagels and crackers for grains. Yogurt, cheese strings for dairy. You can always have other things for fruit and veggies like salads, the whole fruit itself (banana, apples and clementines) ,fruit sauces (I always make my own apple sauce and strawberry sauce by pureeing frozen strawberries in the blender.) You can see here that a sandwich is perfectly acceptable. Stretch your imagination here and come up with what you like to eat that is clean and portable!

Here is what I can have in my cooler for 3 meals.

• a cut-out apple in a plastic container
• a cup of grapes in a plastic container
• 2 individual plastic cups filled with baby carrots, sliced cukes and sliced mushrooms.
• a low-fat mozzarella cheese string.
• a plastic container filled with plain yogurt with some strawberry sauce, and topped with a little honey and a few sliced almonds,
• ½ 100% bagel with low-fat salmon cream cheese.
• about 10 pistachio nuts in the shell.
• 3-water bottles with tea bags in them.
• A seltzer

And now for the last meals: Dinner and evening snack

I used to cook fancy meals but not anymore. I am all for convenience. But I like to cook my own food. Frozen dinners are not really Clean Eating. So that is why I love to take a day and cook a bunch of meals that I put in Ziploc containers in my freezer. Here you are only limited by your imagination. Stir-fry are big in my house. With lean meats or even fish like small scallops, or purely vegetarian, I found that they are the easiest to shop for and prepare. Throw a bunch of veggies and your protein of choice and stir-fry away in a little olive oil. Top with a homemade sauce of your choice and turn this into Asian, Thai or Indian food in no time. Pair with whole grain rice, couscous or bulgur and you have dinner! Make lots and freeze.

Pasta sauces are good too, tomato based with veggies and some proteins. Freeze the pasta and sauce separately in Ziploc bags. Lay them flat and then stack them sideways in the freezer, staple the pasta bag with its sauce. Rice dishes are good too. Make your own by sautéing onions, then lean meat. Add cut vegetables, frozen peas and leftover rice. A little curry paste to that, or an Asian sauce. Voila! Freeze flat in a Ziploc. I like soups too in cold weather, lentils, beans, peas. They freeze really well!

You can also make your own complete frozen dinner by lying out in your freezing container, your grilled chicken breast or lean meat loaf, some rice and a portion cooked puréed squash.  Again, your imagination will take you far. I like to cook enough on Saturday so that we can eat one of those meals fresh for dinner.

And if you must have everything fresh, at least prepare your ingredients ahead of time by slicing all your vegetables on one day for use during the week. They usually keep fine in a plastic container. Or buy already sliced!

And if you buy prepared food all the time, buy it all at once. Plan, plan, plan. Practice portion control, choose roast meat, and leave the gravy at the grocery store. Stay away from salads dripping with mayo and buy nice soups instead. Get bagged salad and put your own low fat dressing.

And for your last meal of the day (I usually skip that one), think of saving your dessert for later, yogurt or fruit with a few nuts,  a pear and low-fat cheese, baked apples with a little honey, pears steamed in red wine. If you are really hungry, a small protein shake can tie you over (homemade with milk, protein powder and frozen fruit, not the store bought ones full of chemicals!)

And if you don’t do a real dinner, or are on the road at that time, just extend the cooler method to two more meals. Again, think various food groups, maybe an extra cup of veggies and another fruit. Some deli roast beef and whole wheat crackers. A tablespoon of nut butter in a tiny cup…. You can eat from your cooler for the whole day!

A word on cheat day/meal

Some people have them, some don’t. Planned cheating means to plan a day or a meal once a week where you have what you crave the most. It doesn’t mean binging all day or eating a meal until you are under the table. It means having pizza for dinner, or birthday cake, or wine with dinner. Moderation is the key on cheat day.

So you have to decide if planned cheating is for you or not. I’m an all or nothing gal. So planned cheating on me doesn’t work. If I planned a cheat meal once, the next thing I know is that I planned a cheat meal every other day! So I don’t have planned cheating days, I have plenty of unplanned ones, so it kinds of even out LOL.

Ready, Set, Go

So there you have it, a day full of healthy food all conveniently planned. Because, this is the key. If you have your baby carrots handy while you make the mac’n'cheese for the kids, you will probably reach for the carrot and it may stop you from eating the kids leftovers. When you are working hard on a deadline, if your food is right there next to you, you will eat it as you work and  your blood sugar level won’t go up and down from starving then stuffing yourself with junk.

It takes 15 min. in the morning, and maybe 2-3 hours once a week. That’s it!!!  Yes, you have to put in a little effort, but think how much better you will feel, and yes….let’s face it, how good you will look into that ball gown this summer at National!!!

Homework Assignment:

Assignment 1

Go shopping. Buy a cooler, some water bottles that you can refill and lots of Ziploc bags and containers.

Assignment 2:

Take an hour aside and brainstorm ideas for what to put in your cooler. Then, ideas of meals that are close to what you eat but clean and that you can prepare ahead, either for cooking all at once and freeze or that you can partly prepare ahead, so that your cooking time is minimal at night. If you buy your prepared food, make a list of what are your healthier options.

Assignment 3:

Take the time. Make your meal plan for the week. Set aside a few hours a week to shop and prepare. Take that 15 minutes every morning to prepare your cooler. Prepare your breakfast the night before!!!

Do it once every day, once every week! And happily meet your writing deadlines knowing that your heath is also taking care of!

Peanut Butter and Banana Breakfast Shake:

• ¾ cup of milk
• 1 scoop of protein powder any flavor
• I banana
• I tablespoon of good peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon of flaxseed oil
• 1/3 cup of oatmeal
• 2 tablespoon of wheat germ
• 2 tablespoon of unsweetened apple sauce

Blend until smooth in a blender. Add ice and blend once more if desired.

 

Please share your progress and ask questions and you can win a fitness tracking log or a one-on-one consultation with me! I will announce this week 6 winners on Tuesday.

Good luck and welcome the healthier and leaner you

 

Fit for RT, National…for life!! Eating Clean

By Marie-Claude Bourque

Hi everyone!

I’m just recovering from picturing our John in his bikini at RT and his ball gown at National, but I’m ready for you.

Before I start, I just want to mention that the forum RWC (Charlotte Dillon’s Romance Writer Community) is up for best Writers’ Discussion Forum at the Editors and Preditors reader poll. RWC is very dear to Candi, Jenn, John and I, because this is where we met. So if you like RWC as much as we do here is the voting link.
http://www.critters .org/predpoll/ writerforum. shtml

How are you doing with your exercise endeavor?  Starting to be motivated? Have you cleaned your kitchen yet? So you should have nothing but healthy and nutritious food, right? I’ll ignore the chocolate that is now in your freezer for emergency and I’ll talk about clean eating.

Just an aside first, in case you need a little motivation to get started. There are writers getting together everywhere to start being healthier and if you haven’t found a group yet, you can join writer Marley Delarose she blogs about her newly founded group the Exerwriters  at marleydelaroseauthor.blogspot.com. So check her out, it is really great, with exercise widgets and all that. It is always easier to do this with a group.

Eat Clean: The Basics

So what is Clean Eating? I haven’t invented it. The expression has been around for a long time in fitness circle. It’s very well explained in Eat Clean, the excellent book by the 40+ mom, fitness model and competitor Tosca Reno. She just basically gathered all the tips known by fitness professionals and presented them in a series of no-nonsense books. I don’t usually endorse diets book but this one is right on the dot!  But what she says is not that different from the USDA food pyramid or the rainbow if the Canadian Food Guide. So save yourself some money and wander over to the governments’ sites!

Clean Eating: What to eat?

Clean eating is very simple. Eat food that is not too processed and that is rich in nutrient. Avoid the rest. Eat food that remembers where it came from (an orange instead of an orange drink, steamed whole grain rice instead of a rice mix package full of salt and preservatives). Shop in the outer aisles at the groceries store for fresh produce and lean meat and dairy, stay away from the inner aisles full of processed cookies, crackers, mixes of all kind, chips, candies and Twinkies.

What is good for you? Think of the food groups:

• Fruit and vegetables, either fresh or prepared with very little extras.
• Whole grains, breads and pasta, seeds.
• Lean cuts of meat, poultry, fish, eggs (egg whites if you want to go further), and tofu.
• Lean dairy such as non-fat/low-fat milk, yogurt and lower fat cheeses.
• Small amounts of healthy fats such as nuts and nut butter, healthy oils, such olive and linen seed.
• And of course to drink….water!

That’s it everybody. That is all you need. Add some herbs and spices to make your food interesting.  No junk food and food so processed you need a dictionary to read the ingredient. No added sugar. And notice that there is also no diet frozen dinners, diet cookies, diet ice cream, diet sports bar and diet milkshake. Not even diet sodas or drinks.

Do I think all pre-packed diet food is bad? No. I’ll slip an occasional Lean Cuisine when I am busy. But I don’t look at the ingredients, they scare me. I gave up my cherished Diet Coke and Crystal Light when my kids were old enough to ask for some. It’s not good for them, it’s not good for me. I drink Seltzer instead (I like the bubbles!).

Clean Eating: when and how much?

So now that you know what to eat, when and how much do you eat? I could sit with every one of you and calculate your metabolic rate and see how much calories you should consume depending on your level of activity and how much you weight now and how much you want to lose. I could break it all down in calories, fat/proteins and carbohydrate grams. But it would be beyond the scope of this blog. If you want to go that far (and trust me, I have done that for myself many times), then you need to talk to a personal trainer or nutritionist.

But you don’t need all that for weight loss. Here is the basis. You need to eat small meals through the day, 5-6 meals. Yes, calories are all the same and there is not magic formula really that says that you burn more by eating more often. Maybe for extremely competitive body builder, but not for us writers. Really.

Let’s not make this more complicated than it is. We still only need to eat less and better food, that is all. So eat often, small meals, because then your blood sugar levels won’t go up and down like crazy, you won’t starve and crave all kinds of unhealthy things, and you will get use to eat small meals. Then, the next time you go to the restaurant and they serve you a triple portion, you’ll ask for a doggie bag.

So how do you do it?

So eat small meals every 3-4 hours. For example, 6:00 am/9:00 am/12:00 pm/3:00 pm/6:00 pm/9:00 pm. That is 6 meals. You can make your breakfast, lunch and dinner slightly bigger but I usually keep my dessert at night (fruit and yogurt) for a 9:00 pm meal.

What should meals look like? Just pair 2-3 food groups. Oatmeal, fruit and yogurt at breakfast. A half lean turkey sandwich with baby carrots for lunch. Stir fry over whole grain rice for dinner. Snacks can be leftover oatmeal.  Fresh fruit and lean cheese. Or cheese and whole grain cracker. A homemade protein smoothie. You get the idea.

Pair each meal with a glass of water or herbal tea for an easy 6 cups a day. (Disclaimer, I drink lots of coffee, but half decaf, no sugar and with only non-fat milk). Add extra water if and when you work out. Maybe plan a post work-out snack (carbs are better if you work out really hard.)

Don’t stress the size too much. Don’t get the measuring scale out. Just start by eating reasonable portions (1 cup of pasta, ½ cup of rice. One fruit. A hand-size portion for meat). Don’t go for seconds. Just by staying away from junk food, you will start losing weight and feel better.

Does it sound hard? You need to adjust this to your style as well. Do you like quick and prepared food, or are you a gourmet cook? Somewhere in the middle?

If you like to cook, there are tons of healthy cooking books out there. Try them. Here is a link I really like that organizes all your meals for you with recipes and shopping list. It’s called SOS cuisine. Have a look.

I personally really like Tosca Reno Eat Clean cooking book. But it might not be for you. I also usually modify my own favorite recipe or just put a few things together, especially during the day.

On Thursday, I’ll talk more about meals and how to organize them. Because even though you know what and when to eat, it won’t help if you just spent 6 hours straight on an editing deadline and you need something NOW! Chocolate is much easier then, so is the telephone for the pizza delivery.

You need a plan, you need organization, you need the “cooler method”. That, folks, is coming on Thursday (trying my cliffhanger writing technique here!) And I’ll mention “Cheat Days” and “Cheat Meals” as well (are you hooked now!!!)

Homework Assignment:

Assignment  1:

Have you written a day or two of food intake? Analyze it. What do you see? All clean? (On Monday, I had bread and butter then some chocolate….not so clean!) You need to see what your habits are before you can start changing them….slowly…..

Assignment 2:

Think of your food preparation style. Do you eat out, cook elaborately every day? Have a family that needs meals? Pick something on the run. Order out? Really look at your life and see how you can fit clean eating into it. Brainstorm.

Let me know and perhaps I can give you some ideas.

So that’s it for today…off with the junk food and extras you don’t need.

Please share and ask questions. I’ll do my best to answer them as quickly as I can. If you comment, again, I will give away another free fitness log and a one-one-one consultation (and we can get into fat grams and all that then!)

 

You’re doing great everybody. Small steps to a new you!!!

Fit for RT, Nationals…for Life!! – Get Started

by Marie-Claude Bourque

It is amazing the see the number of writers who mentioned their need/desire to lose weight now that we have started the New Year. There is even a thread specific to weight lost at the Romance Divas Forum. So, since I’ve been hitting the blogosphere at 300 miles an hour in the last few months (because of the American Title final if you haven’t heard yet LOL), I’ve been thinking that finally, here is a topic I know back to front and that I can confidently blog about…lose weight and be fit!!!

Why listen to me

I’ve been a fitness professional from over 15 years. Until 6 months ago when I moved to Seattle, I was the group fitness director at the River Bend Athletic Club. I ran the aerobics/mind-body fitness program and taught on average 7 classes a week: aerobics, step, boot camp, kickbox, pilates. I also led consultion sessions with members who needed extra help to reach their goal. Prior to being a director, I personal trained and supervised weight rooms. I hold many nationally recognized fitness certifications in the US and Canada (AFAA, BCRPA, NSFA) and I worked in over 25 different fitness facilities, community centers, university gyms and in corporate fitness.

But I also know what it’s like to struggle with one’s weight, I am not naturally thin and I have always had to be extra diligent in my effort to stay at a healthy weight. In fact, it is by becoming a fitness expert and educating myself that I managed to keep the weight off. I gained 40 pounds with my first baby and shred that off too. Then gained 45 pounds with my second baby and shred it off. With a lot of work and dedication, I maintained my 113 pounds weight (I’m 5’2”) over 15 years. And having to stand in front of a group clad in mini spandex shorts kind of help staying away from the extra serving of lasagna!!

And what do I get out helping you.

So what do I get in writing this post? Well, I do miss my fitness job and I just love talking about diet, exercise and the million different ways to shape the gluteus maximus and… I’VE GAIN 7 POUNDS!!!!! In 9 months, since I’ve started writing!!!!  (7 pounds on my 5 feet 2 is a lot BTW and if I gain 7 pounds a year, where will I be in 5 years….35 pounds overweight!) I NEED HELP….and motivation.

So here I am helping myself and possibly helping you in the mean time.

What’s in for you?

I’m planning a series of 6 posts where I’ll be addressing the specific challenges and solutions for writers. I’ll spend this week touching on the diet part of a good weight loss program (results are 80% diet-all fitness models/pros know this). Then next week, I’ll focus on the exercise part of weight loss (you do need exercise to keep it off).  I’ll wrap up in the last week, answering questions if any, and giving tips on motivations.

I’ll also welcome a guest blogger, fitness instructor and romance author Rebecca J. Clark, whose novel Borrowed Stilettos will be out soon with The Rose Wild Press.  Rebecca will be sharing her tips on how she manage to do it all!

I know what it is like to be at my computer for 5 hours straight and not notice. I know what it’s like to survive on coffee all day then ravage the fridge and stuff myself with bread and butter or chocolate bars. I know what it’s like to scoop up macaroni and cheese from my kids dinner because I am so hungry (and let’s face it…mac and cheese tastes pretty good!!!)

With a little planning, you can avoid these situations (and no, I won’t tell you to take mini breaks from the lap-top, because I know that for a writer, it is totally unrealistic to even try).

So I’ll be posting my tips every Tuesdays and Thursday, and I’ll hope you’ll ask me questions or comment and share. Because if you do, you can WIN!!!! For each post, I’ll offer a free fitness log to record your progress and a free one-on-one email consultation with me for up to 5 emails to help you reach your specific goals.

The truth and just the truth

So…let’s start!!!!

Do you want the truth? Losing weight is hard. I would love to look like Jennifer Aniston on the latest cover of GQ. But besides being totally airbrushed for that cover, she works hard at looking good. Many many hours a day, it’s her job. She works out, a lot, and watches everything she eats (if I can trust my OK magazine as a good source on JA lifestyle).

The gal kickboxing, featured on this post, is my girlfriend, a fitness model/actress and mother of two. I saw how hard she worked to look like that for the photo shoot. She ran, though boot camp classes and ate clean. (I’ll talk about eating clean later). Yes, she has good genes, but that is only 5% of the equation.

The truth is that most people are not naturally thin and shapely past 22. Even that hunk personal trainer at the gym watches what he eats and he works out like crazy. I spend a whole evening at a Christmas party once sitting next to a colleague of mine (yes quite the eye candy) while he sipped his Diet Coke and told me how he grills all his chicken on Sunday for the week ahead!

So it’s just like writing a book, you need to do the work. It is hard and none of the quick fix diets out there will help. Yes, you may lose a bit, mostly water, but then after days of eating nothing but eggs and bacon, you’ll start craving bread, stuff yourself with it and be back to the starting point.

The truth is that losing the extra weight and being healthy is very simple. Eat less and better, and start moving…that simple!

So how hard is it going to be?

Not as hard as you think.

Now that I scared everyone and half of you have stopped reading at this point to jump on the new Acai berry diet (whatever that is, but it keeps popping up on Facebook), let me give you the scoop.

Eating clean (that is eating real healthy food, with a moderate amount of healthy fat and grains) and some exercise will get you very very far.

You should aim to lose no more than 1-2 pounds a week. More than that and you are going at it too fast. You are shocking your body and very soon you’ll get right back where you were because you will crave what you are missing. Don’t cut all at once. Cut a little bit at a time, less butter, less alcohol, less fried food. Exercise twice a week at first.

Make intrinsic goals (like mine… I’ll stop eating bread and butter and eat more fresh fruit) as opposed to extrinsic goals (like…I want to look like Jennifer Aniston in 3 months!) Make goals by promising yourself things that you can actually do (I’ll walk for 30 min three times this week) as opposed to goals that you have no control over (I’ll lose 2 pounds this week).

Homework assignment until Tuesday.

So see not so hard. You can do this. I’m here to help. Ask me whatever you want, post your questions, anonymously if you want.

And I know that you are probably antsy to start. So here is what you first need to do before I talk about clean eating on Tuesday.

Homework  1:

Got to your kitchen and open all your cupboards and the fridge. Cookies, chips, junk food, chocolate? Anything in there left from the holidays? THROW IT OUT!!!! NOW!!!!!

I mean it, don’t save it for later…(okay keep a little chocolate in the freezer for when you get a rejection, but I’d rather burn it out in a Spin class.)

But you tell me, “what about my spouse, the kids!!! It’s their food, they need their treats”.

True, my kids are well known in the neighborhood for being deprived of cookies. I don’t keep cookies. They get it as a treat when we are out. Do your kids really need junk food? Your spouse? Wouldn’t everyone better off if your cupboards and fridge contained healthy snacks (whole wheat crackers and cereals, low fat cheeses, fresh fruit and vegetables, various kinds of nuts and dry fruit.)

If it is too hard to rally your family in your healthy endeavor, fine. It’s hard enough to do it yourself, you don’t need to reform them right away. But do try to enlist their support so that the junk food is kept on a high shelf, out of sight and in the back of the fridge. When they see you eating well, they might actually want of pieces of your juicy grapes or cut out pineapple. I know my family does.

Homework 2:

Take one day and write down all that you eat. Then look at eat…be honest…. Save that list for Tuesday, when I talk about eating clean.

Homework 3:

Make your dream list. What do you really want? (Me, it’s to lose 7 pounds and built up my muscles again. Be able to do 75 push-ups and run 30 minute, being able to breathe better – asthma has crept it since I stopped exercise)

Do you want to lose weight? Look stunning in a bikini for RT in Florida? Or fit in that beautiful gown for National? Do you want to be fit for life?

My role model is an 81 years-old woman who would come to my kickbox classes at the gym. She could do 50 real push-ups….at 81!!! I want to be her …and not at 81…now!!!!

Do you want to be just a little fitter than you are now? Just a few pounds less. Stop gaining weight and having trouble going up the stairs? Breathe better, with less aches and pains.

Make sure you really know what  your fitness goal is because your plan will be very different depending on what your fitness dreams are.

Please write it down and share it here if you’d like. My series of post will give you the tools to reach that goal (provided it is realistic) and tell you how long it will take you to get there.

What are you waiting for?

You can do it. And you don’t have to spend hours every day. You don’t need to cut in your writing time. You just need to be a bit sensible and be better prepared.

I’m right here folks, doing it with you and encouraging you along.

Fit for life…..you deserve it!!!

More on Tuesday!!!  Don’t forget to leave a comment or question for a chance of a one-on-one assesment of your fitness journey!