What a crazy week. Crazy good though. I've got so much work to do. We've got in most of our new studio equipment and some great stuff coming up.
What should you do in the mean time? Weights!
Why, you ask?
It makes you stronger
Gives your body shape (the right kind;)
Creates more muscle and thus a higher resting metabolism
Reduces injury
Fights osteoporosis (yea for healthy bones)
Releases endorphins (extra yea for happy people)
Keeps your body and skin tight after weight loss
Empowering, you gain lots of confidence
Helps you sleep better (who doesn't want that?)
It's the difference between loosing pounds vs. inches!
Get you some weights, nothing lower than 2.5 lbs., it's just not worth the investment. And get lifting, toning, and shaping.
If your like me you've put on some winter weight.
How to get it off? We all know the answer. Eat right and exercise.
If we know then why is it hard? That's easy too. There are hundreds of different eating lifestyles. Paleo, vegan, veggitarian, whole foodist, low-carb.
Which works, which is safe? Your ready for these answers if you already eat "good." Meaning whole grains, little to no processed foods and you eat up your vegetables on a regular basis.
Most people are not there though. And that's OK. We are not seeking perfection just progress so to get you progressing and on your way to eating "good," I give you...
Great news! All our demo fitness ropes are on sale. And I mean Sale!!! These ropes are practically mint. Perfect condition, some just have a little dirt on them.
Usual package is $140: 50' rope, with comfort grip handles, coated anchor point, and 8 audio workout routines, with exercise guide book. Then there is shipping too.
But not for you! You get the whole package for $70 with shipping included. Use that tax return to get healthy.
We also offer the same package with a 40' rope for $60.
Check out this video of just a few moves...
Can you feel that energy? This such an amazing way to get and stay fit. Personal Trainers use these on their clients all the time to get them in excellent condition. For the price of about one or two training session you can have the equipment and the workouts to use over again.
All our demo products go fast (because of the ridiculously low prices) so it is a private sale. I'm only advertising here. All packages will be sold using PayPal.
If you'd like one e-mail me: lynchj07@gmail.com and let me know what size of rope you want.
How are you doing on your training program? Are you sticking to your calendar??!
Hope so.
Ready for a new workout video? Do you want this one to have a little more, well... shall we say "you" in it? This workout video will be comprised of exercises that you pick.
That's right you get input on this one. All you have to do is pin the exercise move Here. To be allowed access to the board all I need is your Pintrest name or e-mail. (I do honor privacy on e-mail) You can leave your info in the comments or e-mail me. jamie@efficientbody.com
You can pin as many moves as you want. This is my valentine to you. Your workout, your way. So get pinning:)
I'm in the kitchen today making healthy calzones, and other fun stuff. I'll share my creations with you oh so soon.
p.s. I've got videos back up on the routine gallery for your convenience.
The moment you've all been waiting for! Your second video, "The 30 Second Circuit," as a part of your two month train with me program.
As usual repeat this 3x through for a complete kick your butt, get your sweat on workout.
Also don't forget to plan your goals for the week!
Last time I missed my "call a friend" goal. I did call a friend, but not the one I intended too.
So I'm re-doing that one. But my fitness goal is a Check! I did add 15 minutes on to my routine that day.
Make your own or use mine.
Goals:
Personal- Call a friend
Health- Dink more than I eat (and no we're not talking actually "drinking." This is a health blog, nice try though. We're talking water;)
Guys, I'm so rude!
Here you come to visit me all the time on my blog (what a good friend) and I don't even give you a Christmas present. What a Jerk.
So let me make it up to you.
Here is your copy to print, pin, or a really good idea is to set it as your backdrop on your computer so you'll see it all the time and be reminded of your goals and to do your workout.
I want you to pick a time every day that you can spend to exercising. Also note on the calendar that there is "you time " on the days were there is no routine scheduled, option A: is to do your own workout if you are advanced or really ambitious. Option B: do something for you i.e read a book, craft, shop whatever. But do all these at the same time. So if you work out at 1:00 then on "you time" Read your book at 1:00. Get it? This is important to creating a habit. Which is what we want. Your exercise is to be scheduled and regular.
The name above the "work out with me" icon is the name of the video. Can be found on this blog and on YouTube. (the second video will be posted on Monday-sorry. So you'll have to sub in the New Year's Countdown for today if you've not worked out already)
Take on this challenge to follow your calendar. It's gradual, so don't freak out. You can do this.
Remember: If it's important you'll find a way. If it's not, you'll find an excuse.
My goals this week I did accomplish! My bread tasted great, almost too great. (I eat it all the time) And My hubby laughs when I rush to the door to be the first one to him.
How did you do?
New ones:
Personal: Call a friend
Health: workout 15 extra minutes
So I decided on the Nutrimill, because I'd take bulky over something that I could easily damage. I'm not a very delicate person. Quite clumsy in all aspects. This one seemed more durable and me-proof.
Another reason I chose it is because it produces a finer flour that the Wonder Mill and that is very important in making a good all-purpose flour.
I'll test it out when it comes and let you know how it rides.
And here is your workout I promised. It's a New Year's theme. We do 10 different exercises back to back in a countdown fashion. Repeat this 3 times through. This is the first routine that will be part of your 2 month plan. More details to come. For now gives this a go. Be fit, and have fun!
p.s. To make things easier for you Pin the top picture to your health and fitness board so you can quickly find this routine whenever you want to do it.
I have a friend who has nice slender yet firm arms...until you get to the top head of the triceps. She asked me what she could do to fix that. I told her with a little deltoid and triceps toning she is going to have stunning arms. Here are the exercises that I gave her to work on.
But do remember this will only tone up the muscles. No matter how much toning she or anyone does the firm muscle you build won't be seen under all the fat. So it needs to be combined with fat burning exercises and eating right.
So this weekend was a bust for filming:( The Flue, pink eye, and colds struck my team. I do hope they recover quickly.
I went to our filming location just to do a test to make sure when we do film everything will be perfect. We filmed a Kettlebell routine while there, and I though you guys might enjoy some of it. So below is the practice run through I did of some of the routine.
If you don't have Kettles you can substitute for dumbbells. A Kettle is more versatile and more fun I think. I absolutely love Kettles! They are at the top of my "favorites" for work outs.
And on Wed. we will have another link up. I had requests for those who did not get a chance to participate to do it again. So If you follow by e-mail you'll want to check the actually web page periodically during the day to see what has been posted.
Repeat video twice, you can skip the warm up on the second go.
Our goal is to go beyond inspiration, we want to go for empowered. Giving you the knowledge you need for action. Everything you need for a healthier lifestyle: make a change, try something new, or keeping it fresh. So every Wednesday link up here at the EfficientBody Diary to share what you do to be healthy.
In linking up:
1. Make sure you link to a specific post
2. Grab my button or link up somewhere on your blog (party page, sidebar,
text link, in the body of the post, whatever works for you).
3. Visit the link ahead of you in the line up as well as one of choice. -don't forget to leave a comment.
4. Keep it "G" rated
(And If your feeling extra healthy follow The EfficientBody Diary;)
Evey Wednesday I will feature one of you from the previous week's link party.
Today's feature is one of my quick workout routines. This one is super easy, a "recovery" from Thanksgiving.
Let's have fun and be healthy.
This link up party was inspired by Emily from Dirt and Pearls, check out this fabulous woman.
Thanksgiving is upon us, yea! BUT we've been working so hard to get our bodies in shape, be better about our eating and reap the benefits of health. So what are we to do when the averaged turkey dinner is over 1,000 calories? That is a normal turkey dinner not a Thanksgiving dinner. T-day dinner has well let's just leave it at "more."
We all want health but who wants to nibble on salad on the day of feasting? I'm with you, not me. With 3 easy steps we can enjoy the meal with less guilt.
Here is the plan:
1. Exercise. As soon as you get up. This will get the metabolism going. Ideally your doing some High Intensity Interval Training, also known as HIIT. HIIT, is the most efficient way of exercising and will burn tons of calories well after you've completed the routine.
2. Eat. After exercise keep that metabolism going with food. Eat a small meal that includes a complete source of protein. Eggs are ideal. My choice would be one egg cooked with whole wheat toast and a slice of cheese.
3. Snack. Every two hours eat a small snack. Or snitch on what your preparing. Eat apples with skins on, some turkey, veggies, wheat roll. Try and keep it healthy but keep the snacks coming. This again aims at the metabolism to stay fired up. Keep snacking, rather than eating meals (every two-three hours) until the feast is to begin.
At feast time get a modest plate full and enjoy. Talk, laugh, relax. Then go for more! You have trained your body to handle food every couple of hours. So feel free to eat seconds and thirds in those intervals. Just be mindful of what your eating. Pick a well balanced plateful, so it doesn't back fire on you.
Then to pies. If your health conscious choose one with less sugar and junk like Pumpkin rather than Lemon Meringue. Stick to one slice though. If there are leftovers you can have another slice the next day. More than one is a quick way to pack on the pounds.
But that's it. Easy 3 steps: Exercise, Eat, Snack. Hope you enjoy the day!
Today we are going to check in with Rachel and Nicole, my team four our up coming home fitness program. If you remember, they are not fitness gurus, they are everyday people who want to increase their health and fitness.
Can I tell you that they are doing fabulous? These girls started the workouts at a basic and beginner level, and now they are preforming advanced moves and are using heavier weights. How far they have come in only about 3 weeks! Each week I push them a little father, a little harder.
When I asked them if they felt like they had the routine down and a good handle on it. Nicole said: "I always think I do until the next week, when you make it harder."
So perfect! That's what we want. To always push, keep stretching ourselves, never settling. As they keep doing that and as you do as well, results will be seen.
Nicole has twin girls and can carry them both at the same time, something she could not do 3 weeks ago.
Rachel started out using 2.5 lbs weights and is now up to 7.5! Her back pain has lessened, and she is getting quite explosive in her movements.
I hope my Operation Cat Woman photos and stories, as well as Nicole's and Rachel's inspire you to make fitness a priority and know that results are possible with out doing crazy crash diets, starving yourself etc. All you need is to cut out the crud you eat, focus on whole grains and veggies and pair that with an efficient fitness program that will push you, work you, and not waist your time.
Hey guys here it is my Halloween pics. Three months of body work, and trying hard (but not always succeeding) to stay away from the junk.
What do you think, successful? I'm not perfect yet, but I am pleased with the direction I'm going. Here are some pics of the whole family.
Do you love Batman? Can I brag and tell you that I made that costume.
And here is my Resses pumpkin and Diego.
We had a blast on Halloween!!! And It was so fun to wear my costume that I had worked hard to wear. I was in heaven with rewards: my costume - I fit and I got lots of chocolate.
If you've been following me this whole time these things are not new to you but can be good reminders to keep on the healthy path.
And remember don't throw away your jack-o-lanterns!!! I'm putting a video together today (hopefully it will be up tomorrow) on how to turn it into a pumpkin pie, cookies, cake etc.
Thanks for working with me on your goals. If any of you have pictures I'd love to see them. Tweet them to me.
p.s. I'd love for you to follow me on twitter too. @efficentbjamie
It's almost here! The cider, the stew, freshly sewn costumes. Speaking of witch I need to make my utility belt to go with my leather jumpsuit. -yikes! I can't believe I'm going to be wearing that. But It did make for good motivation.
How are you doing on your goals, are you ready? In honor of my tight leather and your fitness goals as well I thought we'd do an ab check. So here is a Workout video dedicated to those abs of ours.
This whole routine is done from a plank position!!! Burn baby burn! Do the entire video 2-3 times or just supplement this to your normal routine for a good ab kick. Good luck. Keep your goals in mind your almost there.
Remember when I said to have fun with exercise? Well here is a cheesy, fun, yet easy to fallow squat routine. The song used is the world wide phenomenon "Gangnam Style."
If you haven't heard it yet you can check it out on YouTube. I wasn't sure if the lyrics were clean so I check out the translation (because the song is in Korean) and it's clean. The singer/songwriter is making fun of those day dreaming of the life as the rich and famous. Thinking that they will get all the girls and everyone will want him. It's kinda cute he describes his dream girl as one who doesn't have to wear skimpy clothes to be beautiful. That's at least what I got out of it from a couple sites that had it translated.
Repeat the whole routine 3-4 times and don't be shy. No one is watching. Or, get your friends, kids, whoever and do it together. Mine loved it, and asked to do it over and over.
p.s. Sorry its fuzzy the lighting kept changing so my camera was trying to focus. We'll work on that.
-Enjoy
Yesterday I did some kickboxing for my workout. My kids joined me on this, and I'm so glad they did because my four-year-old taught me some new moves! He asked me if I have ever done "this," and he'd either try and do it or he'd explain it to me.
It felt so good that I've been an example to him in health and fitness to the point where he is trying to develop his own stuff. It was adorable. He made up the sequence below. The elbow blow I've never done on a bag before and the jump n' punch I've never even seen before! He mixed it with some other moves I've done previously, but he hasn't seen those in about a year. So to his credit this sequence is all him. I filmed this after I was done working out so I was really exhausted! But take a look at today's training moves from a 4-year-old.
(Did you hear him coaching me in the background?)
If you don't have a bag you can do this in the air. Still effective. Give it a try, it really can work ya! I'm adding them to my kickboxing mix from now on.
And here is the controversy: I was made aware of Dove's "Campaign for Real Beauty." Upon hearing about it I got excited and wanted to join the movement. Which is about getting away from ads and things that are all Photoshopped and airbrushed. And moving toward using real women as they are.
So you can see my interest right? I'm all about REAL. I believe in keeping oneself strong and healthy yes, but not starved or unrealistic. In looking deeper into this movement came those that criticized Dove because they say love yourself as you are, but yet sell anti-aging moisturizers and creams to reduce cellulite. Soo love yourself after their products?
Under Armor did a similar thing. Saying they were to "take it back." Away from the Photoshopped models and back to real women. Yet all the women in their promo videos and pictures were the skinniest I've ever seen. Maybe that's why they choose them? So they can say their not Photoshopped?
What do you think? Hypocrites, looking to gain confidence in a potential buyer? Or crusaders with pure intent?
For me I'm thinking... there OK. I feel computerizing pictures to change a persons features is crossing the line. But I don't feel it's wrong to were makeup or anti-aging moisturizers, or even be super fit. But I think we too can take it too far. To where we have to wear make up at all times or have to be super thin to feel good about ourselves. While this is not always easy, we do need to be comfortable with ourselves. I think they are marketers trying to market a product but they also bring good points to everyone attention.
So as for me I say: if you want, buy these products, yes do exercise but all in balance.
Just make it, and yourself enough. Lose unhealthy fat, gain essential muscle. Be better feel better but don't be unreasonable because your not a size 0. And at the same time don't give up because a Dr tells you you will never loose your belly fat because of a c-section, or because of hypothyroidism, or anything. Be strong, be smart, be you!
This weekend I talked with a ton of people about exercise and their habits. The consensus I got is that most people don't push past the burn or the fatigue. If we don't push past that burn or when we feel tired then we won't make any changes in our body.
Here is my slogan: "Challenge = Change," You will hear me say this so so much because it's incredibly true. Some times when my son does exercise with me he'll say "mom, this is hard." And I will say "yes, that's an exercise." Exercise is more than using your body, it's strengthening it. If you stop at the burn or fatigue then you've done a good thing and have used your body. But I know you want a Great thing, and to improve your body. So don't be afraid of failing, don't be afraid of yourself, push past it. Challenge yourself and make a change.
Even if you can only do 5 more reps or 5 more minutes. You've still increased your strength by that much and if you keep that up you will start to see results.
Also don't forget to have FUN! Exercise can be so fun. The other day my boys and I exercised for almost an hour and a half. I was sweating! Do you know what we did? We turned on some music and danced. We did everything from the Limbo Rock to the Party Rock Anthem. Then we used 1 lb. dumbbells as swords and tried to poke each other and chase one another all other the house. They loved it so much they asked for it again a couple of days later.
There are so many fun things you can do. I'll try and get some video of some great fun exercises so you can follow along too.
Remember to get results you need to push it and have FUN with it too.
Hey guys,
We're casted!!! I've got my team for my next fitness DVD. Originally the plan was to hire out some fitness gurus/ models to preform the workout. But I was thinking about all the other home fitness DVDs and how it wasn't "real."
The industry norm is: hire fitness models, who already look great, make them follow your exercises, go on a crash diet so they "lose" weight.
If you take a close look most of the time when you see these photos and see these amazing results down at the bottom of your TV screen in tiny letters is says "results not typical."
Not typical?! Seriously. Yes I tell you. I'm not knocking fitness videos, I love them. I grew up on them. It's how I trained and stayed in shape until I got into it professionally. Now I do my own stuff, unless I'm really lazy then I pop in a DVD and let some one else boss me around. Which is really refreshing. So they are good and wonderful but I didn't like how they were "staged."
So I got to thinking. Dangerous I know, my husband starts praying every time I do. But, I thought how about training some every day people? Teach them the routine until they feel comfortable with it. Film it, and let you guys follow their journey as well.
So I got together some wonderful people who want to be in better shape.
Ready to meet them?
Here is Nicole. She is older than 30 (she'd kill me if I told you her exact age) she previously hasn't exercised on a regular basis. She has 3 girls, 6 months ago she had twins. Nicole would love to get rid of her Mommy Belly.
Say Hi to Rachel. Rachel is 30, and has two girls. She goes on hour long walks every day and does the occasional Wii Yoga. Rachel wants to tone up and slim down.
This week was our first week training. We only did two 30 minute sessions. The exact routine that will be on the DVD. How's that for REAL? I have no control over their diets. I only can encourage healthy eating and habits. So these results should be typical.
So that's my team for our next workout series. (Yes it's a series, I can't tell you more than that until were filmed) We will show you real people, in real busy lives, in real time. What do you think? Do you like my plan, let me know.
