Yesterday I wrote about how I am reaching a plateau in my fitness journey. I've read up on plateaus lately, and found out the signs of them and why they happen ( see yesterday's blog ). I've discovered that fitness or weight loss plateaus are a real thing that happens to everyone.  In yesterday's blog, I wrote about how I am currently feeling frustrated and stuck. A friend commented on my Facebook page that I shouldn't be viewing this as a bad thing, that it should be viewed as "being on the brink of another exciting improvement!" I really like the way he looks at it.  So I need to change my mindset.  Instead of being flustered about it, I just need to see this as a great challenge.  And I like challenges, I get to use my stubbornness for something good!   So I did some more reading and researching yesterday on how to break through this plateau.  From most of the information I've read, the trick to them would be trying to recognize them...

This is a bit of a confession and a rant! I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I feel like I am coming up on a plateau.  I think I was right!  For the last week or two I have not been as motivated or excited about my workouts.  Looking at myself, I am not really seeing any progress over the last couple weeks.  Could it be my hormones playing mind games with me? Possibly, but I feel like there is just an overall slowdown.  It seems that it's not just my fitness that is affected, I feel like I'm hitting a wall when fighting. When fighting, I'm not quite moving as fast as I feel like I should be.  Last night I was grappling Ernie and he went to pass my guard, I tried to move out of the way but I got my leg caught and my knee twisted a bit which hurt a lot.  I know that if I had just been that split second faster, I wouldn't have a bum knee today which is a disappointment.  Its not a big deal, just a little sore and I feel frustrated. I've mentio...

Deciding to begin changing your lifestyle to reach your health and fitness goals is a challenging decision, and keeping it is even harder.   You've probably said to yourself, "I wish I had the time and motivation to workout healthily healthy". I wish I "had" the time and motivation too ; instead, I have to "make" time and dedicate myself to be motivated to go to the gym and eat healthily. Many people will find a reason to sit on the couch and not eat properly. Not many people try to find a reason to workout healthily healthy.  We all know that obesity is a rampant problem here in North America but we all seem to not be willing to do anything about it.  Here are the most common excuses and some "fixes" for them.  1. "I don't have the time"      This is the most common excuse and it is true, people are busy!  However, it's all about making your health a priority.  You have to look at your schedule and see where you ...

I know speaking for myself and A LOT of women out there, the tummy area is a troublesome one.  For a lot of women it is the area where excess weight and fat seem to want to congregate.  I've found from my personal experience that the lower abdomen area is also the hardest to change. I used to believe that if I did copious amounts of sit ups, I would develop the abs I dreamed of.  However that couldn't be farther from reality.  I've had to learn the hard way that the only way to get the fat layer off my stomach is to lose body fat all over.  You see, your body can't pick and choose where the fat loss comes from; all it knows is how to lose it all over.  I know a lot of women are concerned about losing fat all over because that means "the girls" usually get a little lost in the mix. However, it is a necessary evil that we need to lose body fat all over to accomplish what we want in certain areas. I've heard the phrase a lot "abs are made in the kitche...

Getting fit requires a lot.  It takes a lot of food, time and energy along with blood, sweat and tears.  With all the different information out there on weight loss and health, it can be a confusing and frustrating feat.  However, there are certain things that you REALLY need.  This has nothing to do with workout clothes, running shoes, weights, or trainers. First of all, you need to make up your mind that this is what you really want.  You need to decide to do it for YOU.  To make yourself happy and healthy.  Make your decision that this time is different then all the times before where you tried and didn't succeed; or maybe you did succeed for a while then fell off track.   Make time for yourself and put yourself as a priority.  I know this is especially hard for parents with kids.  It's difficult to not think of your children as number one priority, however I think that kids can appreciate that mom or dad are doing some...

Before I started this fitness journey, I was the master of yo-yo working out.  What I mean by that is I would workout semi-consistently 2-3 times a week for about a month, then find some sort of an excuse and stop for a month or so and then start back up again.  I never dedicated myself or pushed myself beyond that. During my yo-yo times, I would watch what I eat more carefully and then not so much. I've been wondering lately why I could never seem to stick with eating right and working out consistently, and I think I've figured out a few reasons for my past failures.   One of the reasons that I never thought to start and stick with working out continually is that I always had a good metabolism.  I was that kid who was always pretty lean and could eat whatever I wanted.  I was decently active for most of my life so I figured that my metabolism would always carry me over.  It wasn't until I moved out on my own and didn't change my eating habits, that I...

This past weekend Ernie and I were able to hit the gym and workout together. I've talked about before how we are always each others partners for Ju Jitsu ( see Blog ), but it's become very rare now that we actually go to the gym to run and lift weights together. We used to go together all the time, but since our schedules have been so hectic, we only workout at Ju Jitsu. However, this weekend we were able to hit the gym together twice. We did our cardio together on Saturday, then split up to conquer our own weight training. On Sunday, we did cardio again then did abs together. I had forgotten how much I enjoy working out together. I've found that working out with your spouse or even a friend has its advantages. For example, when it comes to running, with Ernie I go a lot harder than I normally do. Ernie is a very good runner, he is fast and can go for forever.  I admit I am jealous because I am not a fast or long distance runner.  Because of my competitive nature, I push ...

So this weekend I told Ernie he was taking me out on a date. We've been so busy lately with basement renos, Ju Jitsu, etc that we haven't had a lot of time spent together. So I said to him last week I wanted to go on a date just the two of us. Now I knew with this date would include a cheat, or rather a treat, meal.  Treat meals as we all know are my weakness. I tend to get carried away and before I know it, my "meal" has turned into "weekend".  See my post on my 24 Hours of Gluttony as an example. So I figured that I better work on that.  Over the weekend I researched through multiple sources the best way to handle a cheat meal.  I found some good information that I applied to myself this weekend to see what the difference would be. First of all, I found some good, beneficial information on cheat meals.  I read that they are good for you for multiple reasons.  One reason is that it satisfies your cravings so you're less likely to go on an all out bi...

Unlike a lot of people, I really enjoy a good stretch.  I find it relaxing and enjoyable.  Every workout I like to do a good stretch before and especially after.  I've found that since I started this fitness journey I have become a lot more flexible.  I stretch sometimes 3-4 times a day; before I workout in the morning and before each Ju Jitsu class and sometimes after class.   We all know that stretching cold before a workout can lead to injury.  So I like to warm up a bit first on the elliptical or a quick jog then stretch.   There have been suggestions that stretching reduces the risk of injury, however most studies and articles I've read are mixed on the subject.  It would make sense that stretching helps reduce the chance of injury.  It can be included as part of a warm up or a cool down post workout, which can reduce inflammation and as a result reduce injury risk.  Stretching helps to increase blood flow to muscles, as well as ...

Over the past year, I feel like I've transformed my life.  On Thanksgiving, I was thinking about how far Ernie and I have come since one year ago.  I've talked before about how 2014 was a life changing year for us.  Around this time last year, we would just have gone to a funeral for an important family member for the third time in three months.  It was after last Christmas I decided that I needed a change and that's where this journey began. I've learned a lot over the last ten months.  I've learned how to lift weights, tweak and change my diet, and I've changed my overall look on fitness and well being.  I hope to continue to learn and grow in my journey and keep improving upon myself. Here are some of the lessons I've learned thus far into my fitness journey. 1.  It is a slow and lifelong progress          I've come to realize that fitness isn't just something that you can do for a while then quit when y...

I'm starting to look forward to my 5:30 am workouts on Tuesdays.  Don't get me wrong, I do not enjoy getting up at 5 am to go to the gym, but I like it because its my leg day.   Unlike a lot of people, I actually enjoy leg day!  I like to lift heavy so when I train legs, I lift heavy.  I used to be one of those people who thought that doing cardio like running was a sufficient workout for my legs and would build muscle.  I mean, after I ran my legs would be sore; wasn't that enough?  Little did I know it was all the more reason to start training legs and lifting!   It wasn't until I started lifting heavy weights and doing movements like squats and deadlifts that I really noticed my legs start to change.  They got leaner and muscles started to show bit by bit.  My legs are a work in progress and have been slower to change compared to my upper body, but they are coming!  Legs are large muscles and to grow large muscles, big movement...

This weekend was Thanksgiving and it was a great weekend full of family and good food.  I kept most of my eating pretty under control considering it was a holiday weekend. Saturday I spent the day with my mom and little sister.  Most of my family was busy or gone for the weekend so it was just the three of us.  We made little Cornish game hens for dinner rather than a turkey and had a great meal together.   Sunday, Ernie and I went to his family gathering where we had a great turkey dinner and some awesome pumpkin pie cheesecake made by his mom.  To prepare for Sunday's feast, Ernie and I ate healthy all day long and squeezed in a run and mini workout.  We did our usual loop for the run and then ran some stairs where we stopped at the top for fifty squats and then ran back down and did lunges at the bottom.  We ran that five times and then carried on our loop home.  It wasn't quite the workout I wanted to do but we were short on time...

I used to be the girl who didn't like to lift weights.  I was scared of it to be honest.  I was worried that I would become too muscular.  Boy was I wrong! When I started my fitness journey, I spent a lot of time researching on how to get the "lean and toned" look.  My goal was not to lose a bunch of weight and look skinny or thin.  I wanted to look and train like an athlete.  After a while it finally sunk in that if I wanted to achieve an athletic and strong body, I needed to start lifting weights.  I consulted with Ernie on where to get started and looked up as many articles and how-to videos as I could find.  I found the benefits and results of weight lifting to be outstanding.  I combined weight lifting sessions with cardio so I could increase my endurance for Ju Jitsu.  I know that a lot of weight lifters and body builders don't do a lot of cardio because it doesn't help with gaining, but for Ju Jitsu, I need cardio and endur...

Ernie and I have been teaching Ju Jitsu for almost 5 years now. I enjoy teaching kids, it's fun to watch them learn and enjoy what they are doing.  There are moments when you see the techniques just "click", it's like a light switch goes on and they just get it. Those are my favorite moments. Another great moment is watching my students compete and do well in their fights. Even if they don't win, it's a great moment when they achieve something and the work we've put into them pays off. There are so many things about martial arts that are great for kids. It's too bad that a lot of parents don't like to put their kids in it because they believe it promotes violence. That is very unfortunate because that's not what martial arts is about.  There are so many great life lessons that can be taught on the mats other than how to "beat people up".   I know for myself and all the instructors that I know, we do not promote violence and bull...