Archive for November, 2009

The 30 day challenge

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

This time of year I usually send out an email to my clients, entitled “Maintain, Don’t Gain”, about maintaining your weight and fitness level during the busy holiday season. But this year I’ve decided to take a different approach.

2009 has been both an exciting and tough year for me. As a result of the stress, I’m not as strong and lean as I’d like to be (unfortunately, all my knowledge about stress eating comes from some personal experience). I want to end this less than stellar year on a high note.

Too many of us use the holidays as an excuse to slack off from our eating and exercise habits, all because of added commitments or in the name of “celebrating” the season. Or we figure the year is almost over, unsalvageable, so why bother making changes.

But what if your commitment was not to gain, not to maintain, but to get better? What could you accomplish? Lose 5 or 6 pounds (instead of the 5 or 6 some people gain), trim 2 inches off your waist or achieve a fitness goal (finally getting a pull up, adding 10 push-ups to your max or running a faster 5K).

So for the next 30 days, I’m challenging myself, and you if you’re brave enough, to take part in my 30 Day Holiday Challenge. Every day I’ll be posting my food log, workouts and difficulties I face eating clean and working out during this hectic time of year.

I’m starting 2010 fitter and stronger than ever.  

Who’s with me?




Sound off – The calm before the storm

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Why do my local nursery and Super Fresh have Christmas Tress? Really? It’s not even Thanksgiving yet. Could we wait one more week for goodness sake?!

We’re in the calm before the storm now. Next week begins the 4 week frenzy the will culminate with Christmas and New Years.  And for many people that means four weeks of slacking off their workouts – missed classes and workout sessions, all in the name of “getting ready for the holidays”. Seriously, what level of preparation prevents you from putting in 60, 30 0r even 15 minutes a few days a week to improve or maintain your health and fitness?

I get it that we all have more commitments this time of year – parties, shopping, decorating, but your workout simply can’t be a casualty of the season.

If you know me, you know that I’m a big fan of short high intensity circuits. This type of workout isn’t a permanent means to a fitness end but it is an effective solution when you find yourself time crunched. To get the benefits of this type of circuit you must “go hard”; in other words keep the speed and intensity high during the entire circuit.

Devote 20 minutes 3-4 days a for the next 5 weeks. Consider it training for the next big holiday sale – strong and fit, you’ll be able to outpace the other shoppers at the mall.

Holiday workout “sprint”:

Do each of the following exercises for 1 minute. Rest 1 minute after Exercise #5 and then repeat the circuit (including rest) two more times.

  1. Burpees
  2. Walking lunges
  3. Bear crawls
  4. Bicycles
  5. Chair dips



The crash…

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

10/24/29 (Black Thursday)

10/19/87 (Black Monday)

10/9/02

10/17/08

Listed above are some of the worst dates for financial markets. They mark either the start or apex of a recent economic disaster. A Crash.

Why do so many market crashes occur in the fall? Why October?

10/30/09

No, there was no worldwide economic event this day; just my own personal crash or should I say the crash of my personal computer.

If you’ve ever had the misfortune of getting The Blue Screen of Death you know how devastating a system crash can be. That afternoon and the 2 weeks of phone calls with technical support staff from (seemingly) all over the globe and the decreased productivity brought on by not having a fully functioning computer left me feeling lost, frustrated and powerless.

And what do many of us do when we feel these emotions? Workout? Well, frankly we often turn to food. Comfort food. This can lead to a disaster of a different sort if you’re trying to maintain your weight and a “clean” eating lifestyle.

Hopefully you’ll never experience The Blue Screen of Death, but if you do, and you find yourself turning to “comfort food”, be smart. Check out this recipe for a “cleaner” take on the classic baked macaroni and cheese. It’s by no means the cleanest of eating, but with 18% fewer calories and 54% less fat, it’s a decent substitute for the classic version.