Additional menu

Transformation Fitness & Wellness

Funny Post

I had a friend of mine, who owns a gym in Texas, post on his Facebook page the follow:

—

VERY hard to get fat on a diet of..

Steak

Chicken breasts

Blueberries

Apples

Oatmeal

Green beans

Tuna fish

Eggs

Broccoli

You can try and you’ll just get leaner

—

It made me smile and do a head nod.

I looked at this list and it all sounds like wonderful food, food most of us would enjoy and can easily access.

So why don’t we?

We tend to over complicate things with the how. How am I going to cook it, how am I going to get it in the house, how am I going to have time?

When I want to challenge you to think of the why.

Why should I eat from this list? Think for a minute or two why you would want to eat this food. Your answers might come back because I know I should. Or because they are healthy. I want to challenge you to think deeper on the why.

Your answers might be because I want to see a desired number on the scale, I want clothes to fit better, I want to have more energy.

Then let’s take this one step further. If I had more energy, why is that important to me? I can do the things I want, play with the kids, go on fun vacations.

When the why becomes strong enough the how becomes easier.

Not saying this is magic and overnight success, but we have to really decide if you want to see change. If the pain of staying in your current situation is bad enough you will make changes.

If you are comfortable you won’t.

Nutrition is hands down the hardest part, but we help our clients unfold habits, emotions, etc. and make true change.

When it clicks, it’s a great feeling.

Fuel your body well and you can expect great things!

Arin

You Get to Write the Meaning

We all get our fair share of, lets just call it, “Fun” in our life.

That “fun” does not depict who you are.

Let me explain…

We are all going through different things. Some things we can reasonably navigate and with others the plot only thickens.

One of the most empowering stances is to understand that no matter what life throws at you, you get set to decide the meaning or how you react.

When we have health and wellness goals, we will constantly be thrown challenges. Some are easier than others to navigate, but you get to choose how you react and overcome.

As we have all the fun summer parties and yummy dishes, cakes, drinks, etc. You can throw hands up in the air and say, well there goes my diet today.

Or you can be empowered and say, I know we are going to XYZ today therefore here is how I will navigate the situation.

I am no different than anyone else and I have been fighting the scale.

I decided I am going to win this battle and it is taking a little more focus than I would like. “Fun” right?

Throw on top of that a few other unnecessary stress and boom, the plot thickens.

Not for long…

When you decide the meaning of things and how you are going to react, its amazing how empowering it can be. You own your thoughts, just like you own what goes in your mouth.

We had two fun parties this weekend and I knew there would be yummy cake. I love cake! Who doesn’t? But I know what it is taking for me to see the results I want. I got up that morning and came to our Saturday Cardio class and then decided at party #1 I would split a cupcake with Leo. It was perfect, just enough. Did I want the whole one, yes, but I knew that would be some 400+ calories.

Then party two came. I wasn’t going to have cake. I told myself, nope you had it at party 1. But it got the best of me. I went and cut a super small piece and it was just enough and I didn’t feel bad.

Guess what, I woke up Monday morning and did not have the 3-4 lb increase from over indulging on the weekend.

Take the empowered stance to control what you can and give the proper meaning.

If we always tell our self the same story, consider rewriting that story.

The pen is in your hand.

Arin

Spicy Orange-Glazed Salmon & a side of Arugula-Jicama Salad with Cumin Vinaigrette

Prep: 15m Cook: 15m Total: 30m

Ingredients

  • ½ cup fresh orange juice 
  • 1 Tbsp coconut aminos
  •  ⅛ tsp crushed red pepper
  •  2 wild-caught salmon fillets 
  • 2 green onions, thinly sliced 
  • ½ (5-oz) pkg baby arugula 
  • 1 small jicama, peeled and diced 
  • 1½ Tbsp fresh lime juice 
  • 1½ Tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
  • ½ tsp salt 
  • ½ tsp pepper 
  • ½ tsp ground cumin

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°F. Bring orange juice, coconut aminos, and red pepper to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat; boil 2 to 4 minutes or until syrupy. Place fish, skin sides down, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Brush orange juice glaze over fillets. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork. Sprinkle with onions before serving.

Combine arugula and jicama in a bowl. Combine lime juice, oil, salt, pepper, and cumin; drizzle over jicama salad. Toss and serve immediately. 

Not All Workouts are Created Equal

What is the difference in all these workout programs?

Lots…

First it is important to understand more is not always better. There is a happy balance to everything. When it comes to working out you can’t always go hard or go home.

Over-training is real, too much volume leaves you sore and susceptible to injury.

Some workouts need to be harder, some need to focus on strength, some focus on cardio.

A healthy variety is best.

When I see people posting that they burned a million calories, then the next day a million more, then more…there is a point that you are over training your body.

When you over train your body you become sore, lethargic, you lower your immune system and up goes your cortisol levels. This does not create a winning environment, let alone good fat loss.

Then it is important to have a balance of strength/resistance training and cardiovascular training.

Even the meat heads in the gym need to make sure they have a cardiovascular component to their workouts for overall health.

Just like the runner needs strength training to become more efficient/stronger in their stride.

This is a constant give and take.

How we program our workouts is in phases, each month for example, we will have a different focus. We recommend coming to 2-3 strength workouts per week then 1-2 cardio workouts per week.

That’s it.

Then follow up with good nutrition and you have a winning combination.

It is important to consistently strength train your body because you will maintain an appropriate amount of lean tissue. This keeps you strong and able to do activities of daily living. The lean tissue will keep your metabolism higher, thus burning more calories each day. Strength training also combats osteoporosis.

I could go on.

When it comes specifically to weight loss everyone thinks cardio is the winning secret. Yes, we need to burn calories, but you will not achieve the toned look most desire. You will create a skinnier version of you, it takes adding an appropriate amount of lean tissue to lose fat and see the tone/definition.

The moral of the story is not all workouts/programs are created equal. You do not have to kill yourself each workout, more is not always better. Balance Strength, Cardio and Good Nutrition and you will win!

Let me know if you have any questions or need some help,

Arin

What Can You Control?

I have several good conversations each week about nutrition.

We all reasonably know what to do.

We can talk macros or timing strategies on food, but when it all boils down we know what to do with our nutrition, we just need to do it!

So, why don’t we do what we know we need to do?

Lots of reasons:

-Stress/emotional eating

-Lack of planning/cooking/grocery shopping

-Dining out

I could go on and on but the reality is life happens, we get busy, we are stressed and this just sounded good!

BUT…if you want to reach your goal you reasonably have to make some changes with nutrition.

I go back to a very powerful statement that I tell everyone.

YOU ARE IN CONTROL.

Be empowered that you control what is going in your body. No one forces us to eat anything. It’s on us.

I know, I know…

We get to decide what we do in each situation and I challenge you to fight, and win for you!

Hands down nutrition is one of the hardest spots for most of our clients, but you can win.

Winning looks different for each of us.

Decide each day, each meal at a time how you will win.

Making a plan always helps and if you need more help, shoot me a message and I am happy to sit down with you!

Take care,

Arin

When the Struggle Is Real…

Hope you have had a great week getting back in the swing of things after a holiday.

I think it is important to share the struggle.

We all have been through things or are currently going through things. I know it always comes back to perspective and what feels like the end of the world to one person is a blip in time for another.

How do you continue to take care of you during hard times?

First, it is not easy.

I would be lying if I said eating well when you are frustrated, hurt, sad, etc. is easy. It is not. I talk with several clients on a daily bases that are going through things and they stress eat.

I have used the phrase, control what you can control.

We can’t always control the struggle in our life, but we can control what goes in our body.

Be empowered by this.

Second, commit to the movement of your body. Have you ever scheduled a workout and then moved it, moved it again, to end up canceling all together?

Sure, we all have.

I want to encourage you to keep that appointment with yourself.

You are your greatest asset and it is a slippery slope when you miss a workout, then another, then another…

It is important to know you are not alone. Life is happening all around us and we always need to remember that everything is an opportunity to learn and grow.

Some lessons sting more than others, but we get to choose how we react.

The donut may give a good feeling for a second, then it is gone…GONE, leaving you empty and wanting more.

Working out produces endorphins, good feelings. It will help you have more energy and sleep better.

Even in times of stress.

It may not be the prettiest workout, simply moving your body will help.

Then remember food is fuel, ask what your body needs…not wants. Those are two totally different things. 😉

Your body needs an appropriate number of calories relative to your body, your activity and your goals.

Moral of the story is unfortunately things happen in our life, but don’t let the situation control you.

You deserve more out of this life and everything is an opportunity to learn and grow!

Let me know if you need help,

Arin