My One Word

So I was watching some college football on Saturday afternoon – UCS vs Arizona State. Don’t hang up on me yet, all you football haters. This is not actually a blog about football at all. I’m just setting the stage. Stick with me, here.

At some point during the broadcast, the commentators made mention of how Pete Carroll, USC’s coach, had recently been called upon to speak at the military’s Conference on Small Unit Excellence. They talked about one thing Pete Carroll said at this conference and it’s been stuck in my head ever since.

He asked all those in this the large gathering who had a personal philosophy to raise their hands.  About half the group did. Then he asked how many of those could state their personal philosophy in 25 words or less. Only a small handful of people kept their hands up.

Honestly, I would not have been one of the handful. I know my coaching philosophy, from my years spent coaching soccer. I know my workout philosophy. But my life philosophy . . .? Hmmm. I know I have plenty of thoughts on the subject. I could, no doubt, ramble of for hours about it. But I can’t give it to you in 25 words or less.

I’ll tell you one thing I do know though. I know my word! I know the one word that I want most to summarize me, who I am, how I live, my personality and character. I could fire off 20 words that I want to describe me, but there is one that rises above them all.

STRONG!

That is the one that matters the most to me, for my life. I want to be strong in body, mind, and spirit, in my decisions, in my direction. It’s my biggest motivation – to be strong. It’s the one word I would hope comes to mind when people speak of or think of me. “Rachel? Yeah she’s one strong woman!”

That one word, that idea, is what motivates in my workouts and makes me push myself way past my comfort level. I want to be physically strong and able. I want a strong body, all the way around – heart, lungs, bones and so on. I want to be emotionally strong. I want to have strong ideals and character. I want to be strong in my convictions. I want strong relationships. You get the idea.

I never want to be a weak person – one who quits, gives up, does only what comes easily, takes the easy path, goes along with the flow because it’s easy, or doesn’t know who they are because they are too afraid. I will not be one who can’t handle obstacles, opposition or challenges, who can’t stand up and be different. I don’t ever want to be a whiner, a complainer, a . . .  wuss. Not me! I want to be strong, strong, strong. Often that’s my one-word mantra. I say it when I workout, when I run, when I don’t feel like doing something.

What’s your word? The one you want to summarize you and the way you live your life? Is that the word most who know you would pick as your word? Is it what you see in yourself each day?

I do things every day that make me feel strong. Things that make me feel powerful, able, competent, and ready to take on anything.

What are you doing? Pick your one word. Then do things everyday that make you feel that way, that embody that word. In the meantime, I’ll be working on my personal philosophy and getting it down to 25 words.

D-I-E-T: That Nasty Four Letter Word

Up until . . . well, today, I have hated the word “diet.” I couldn’t stand to hear about this diet and that diet. It just got me all heated  up inside. I got to the point where I couldn’t even stand to hear the word itself and pretty much refused to use the word.

What was my problem you ask??

“Diet” always meant some temporary, short-term change in one’s eating for the purpose of losing weight. I despise that idea! First of all, temporary changes are stupid. Temporary changes may work but only temporarily. Most people who try out some diet, lose weight (YIPPPEEE) and then gain it all back (BOOOO) . . . and usually a few extra pounds as well. Then they head on to a new a different diet only to fail again. Their goal: lose the weight then return to eating as before.

Then there’s the whole thing about the types of diets. Many are so lop-sided, so unbalanced. Cut out all carbs! Eat only protein! Liquid only.  Deprivation to the left, unrealistic limitations to the right.  There are so many crazy, ridiculous, extreme diets out there. And the next newest, greatest, most effective miracle diet is just one commercial away, one People Magazine article away, or soon to be released in print any day now.

It’s all about losing a chunk of pounds fast. Changing the way your body looks (usually striving after some unrealistic, unattainable standard). People are desperate, I get it. I think most people are just waiting for that one pill that will magically take the weight off. Who cares about heath, taking care of our bodies, or being fit?  What they really want is to look good and be able to eat whatever the hell they want. Oh, sorry, did I just describe you??  Do you wish you could look good, and eat crap and never have to workout? If so, it’s you that these “miracle” pills, diets, and machines are geared toward.

I hate everything that the word “diet” has come to mean over the years. The short-term, quick fix mentality that is all about weight and appearances! YUCK!

Here’s the great news, for me at least. The word “diet” literally means to lead one’s life, manner of living, or a day’s journey. Aren’t those just fabulous? Our modern use of the word totally sucks. It’s completely opposite of what the actual word means.

It’s time for a whole new look and feeling about the word diet. When we talk about diet, it shouldn’t be with such negative feelings. Let’s make it have nothing to do with the fad diets that are just plain weird and wrong. Let’s make it about long-term changes. Changing ourselves for the better, permanently.

Diet should be all about eating real foods, healthy foods, foods that make us strong, fit, and fueled for the day and life ahead of us . . . just not too much of them.  Processed foods, refined crap foods, chemicals and things that poison us, clog us up, and do us no good should not be a part of our diet, our day’s journey. Being at a healthy weight and looking good will be the by-product of a healthy diet (think life-long) and exercise (again this should be done to have a strong fit body, not just for looks).

Let your day’s journey be one toward a healthy, strong, independent, happy life.

A Little Help from Our Friends

My Workout Buddies who help me every day!

 “Studies consistently show that getting someone to support your increases your chance of success,” says Judith Beck in The Beck Diet Solution. Guess what? This is just plain true. I have seen it myself over the years and not just in relation to dieting. It goes for any lifestyle change we are trying to make. I tell people this all the time. We need friends, supporters, coaches, and others who will hold us accountable, hold our hand, and . . .  nag the crap out of us.

Get yourself a workout buddy or two or ten and you will see your consistency, your performance, your enjoyment, and your success skyrocket. If you just can’t find a workout buddy to join you in your workouts, at least get someone to be accountable to. Someone to share your successes and small steps forward, someone to poke and prod you when you want to flake out or give up, someone to say the hard stuff to you, someone you report to all the time. Well, that is, if you really want to succeed.

My friend Dawn gets this idea, BIG TIME! She’s got her group of workout buddies who get together at the crack of dawn to do my Weekly Online Workouts. But that’s not all. She is always finding ways to support and get support from others along this fitness journey. Today she sent an email out with this idea:

Hi Guys, Melissa and I thought it would really help us stay on track with health and fitness through the upcoming holidays if we set up the Monday morning e-mail stating your goals for the week and progress from the week before. You are welcome to join us, just reply back and we’ll include you in our e-mails!

My Goals for this week:

Monday – Friday – morning Rachel workout
M, W, F – lunch walk/jog
Sat – morning swim at the gym
Sun – family hike

Diet – no alcohol until the weekend. No Halloween candy. Make air-popped popcorn for snack and take to work.

I bet you can tell what I thought of this idea. FANTASTIC. I just love this. I joined right in and sent out my Workout Goals for the Week.

Mon- Fri – Do the WOWs every morning. Do a second lower intensity, shorter duration workout in the evenings (StairMaster, go for a jog, or do one of my workout DVDs).
Sat – play soccer
Sunday – go for a longer run and do some strength training in the evening.
Daily – Do pull-ups using my hallway bar at least twice a day. Take a walk or do something active after every meal. This is a new habit I’m trying to incorporate into my life.

My 5 goals across the top and days of the week across the side. Check marks say I did it.

Then I made a really simple little chart for myself to track my progress all week. This helps me – I love to check things off and SEE my progress. It gives me a huge sense of accomplishment and thus STRENGTH. And it will help me when I report back at the end of the week. I won’t be guessing. It will be right there in black and white.

Having someone, or a group of folks, that you will report to each week (or day) with your progress will really help you stick to your plan. So get find yourself a workout friend – either one you will workout with or one you’ll just report to.

I’m Baaaaaaack!!!

I’m baaaaack! I was taken captive to Halloweenland for the last few weeks and couldn’t seem to get near my computer to blog. After weeks of dressing up in costume every day, helping folks find their ultimate costumes, and driving all over Santa Barbara, Ventura, and LA counties I’m finally back to my “normal” routine – which is not-so-normal and anything but “routine.”

We all have crazy times in our lives, whether it’s harvest season, travelling, crunch time at work, or Halloween (for Shauna and I). Whatever it is we all have things happen that turn our lives upside down and make working out extra challenging.

Even I found it hard to keep my regular workouts going without a hitch. It didn’t happen easily, but I did workout every single day of the month except for Halloween day itself. For most of the month I was even able to continue my two-workouts-a-day routine. Sometimes that meant running home at the end of the day – in the dark wearing reflective suspenders. Sometimes it meant climbing aboard my StairMaster after 9:00 at night.

I did my WOWs each morning, sometimes with some tweaking, sometimes getting an earlier start. A couple of times I just did a run instead. It was nothing but pure bull-headed stubbornness and determination that got me there, though. It did not just happen. It did not come easily. It took planning ahead. It took support from Shauna and friends.

As we got near the end of the month and the craziness escalated, I could only do one workout a day. Here’s the funny thing. I actually lost weight during those last two weeks – doing fewer workouts.

Our eating had to get adjusted. We ate our more elaborate meal (meaning fresh-cooked and requiring a fork) at lunch time. Then we just took almond butter and jelly sandwiches to work to eat for dinner. Basically we flipped our dinners and our lunches. It often took an hour or more to eat one small sandwich. No time to sit, no time to eat peacefully, it was all about taking one bite here and one there. Not the healthiest way to eat. I don’t recommend it.

This type of eating combined with spending hours and hours on my feet each day was the reason for the weight loss, I’m sure. Now I’m back to my two workouts a day and my regular meal routine and it feels great.

If I can do it, so can you! You can continue your workouts, regularly, daily, no matter what your schedule is like. Holidays? Time change? Travel? Visitors? Crunch time at work? None of these are a good enough reason to skip out on your workouts! There’s always a way, even if you have to do shorter workouts, or split them up. There’s always a way to make it work . . . IF you really want to.

And I’m telling you, working out will make whatever is going on more manageable. Life is better with sweat. Sometimes it’s the one thing that is going to keep you sane in the middle of the mayhem!

One Hill of a Workout

Last week I lost my balance while doing some dumbbell work on my Bosu Ball and pulled my pectoralis major. Basically that means I pulled a muscle in my chest. Because of this, I’ve been tweaking or completely replacing my scheduled WOW workouts.

Pulling this muscle means everything from coughing, sneezing, and yelling hurts.

My workout buddies and I did a trail run on Thursday morning. We went up and over the Cold Springs Loop in 43 minutes. If you can get through the 20 minute steep climb at the beginning, it’s just an amazing way to start your day.

Friday Shauna and I went out and played soccer for an hour. Saturday was soccer with my team and Sunday was running and my stair climber. I still get a bit of pain from the heavy breathing, but I’m not skipping out on that. Gotta get in my workouts and heavy breathing is a part of that.

This morning my workout buddies and I headed for the hills. Well it was one hill really, but who says “We headed for the hill”? We ran the Shoreline Park hill over and over for 10 minutes. We got up and down that thing 5 times in 10 minutes. Then we worked our core and legs with these activities.

• Squat Jacks 20x. Squat down, jump your feet even wider apart, then back to regular squat.
• Horizontal Scissors 20x. Lie on your back, fists under tailbone, lower back on the ground. Lift your legs a few inches, then slowly open and close them.
• Rebounders 30x. Stand tall with feet toghether. On your toes, jump upward repeatedly at a high tempo, arms reaching high as if rebounding basketballs off a backboard.
• 3 Point Plank Holds.  30 seconds with the left arm off the ground and 30 with the right arm raised.

• Lunge Hop. Take a big step forward with your left leg and lower until your left thigh is parallel to the ground. Hop straight up w 10x with the left leg forward, the10x on the right forward.
• Banana Rock 20x

• Squat Kicks 20x

• Butt Pocket Obliques 15x each side

We did this cycle (hills for 10 minutes, followed by the whole set of lower and core exercises) three times. By round number three we were just dying. It was a fantastic workout. Give it a try.

One Fitness Fanatic’s Tale of Working Out and Running with a Broken Toe

Once upon a time, in the first week of June 2009 to be exact, a fitness fanatic named Rachel headed outside barefoot to do the most mundane of chores – take out the garbage. As she neared the trashcans, she noticed the neighbor’s soccer ball wedged between the cans. Being the excellent neighbor and caring citizen that she is, she resisted the urge to abscond with the ball and, instead, tossed it into the neighbor’s yard.

Horror of all horrors! The ball began rolling toward the street . . . just as a car was approaching. Rachel, also being of lightening quick intellect, deduced that the ball and the car would meet and the ball would suffer a terrible end. The attributes of soccer lover, good citizen, and able bodied neighbor all came together and, in a split second, Rachel was running down her driveway and along the sidewalk to intercept the ball and do her daily heroic deed.

Did I mention that our hero was barefoot? Did I mention that she had been sitting, working at her computer for the last hour?

These two components came tragically together as Rachel bounded down the sidewalk. Her left Achilles tightened up, from sitting so long. She stumbled. Her right big toe dragged on the cement and bent all the way under her right foot just as Rachel put her entire body weight on that foot. She was stopped dead in her tracks, with a burst of pain exploding in her right foot.

But what about the ball? Well, ironically enough, the stupid ball never even made it to the street. It lost its momentum and stopped as it hit a rock just before dropping into the street.

Our mighty hero crumbled to the ground in pain. At first, she thought the toe was just sprained. Then, after the pain continued to grow over the next 15 minute, she realized she had actually broken her big toe. It got nice and swollen, turned black, blue and purple, and hurt like a you-know-what!

What would this mean for this fitness fanatic’s workouts? How would she run? How would she jump? Would she take a break and let the bone heal like any normal person?

Since working out and staying fit and strong are non-negotiables for Rachel, the only other option was to find a way. She got on the internet to research how to run with a broken big toe and what activities would be okay to continue. Every site she found was too afraid to condone the notion of continuing to workout at all, let alone run, with a broken big toe. Rachel, being the stubborn, determined, slightly bull-headed girl that she is, was not giving up that easily.

She used pre-wrap and athletic tape religiously for the next 6 weeks. She buddy-taped her big toe to her second toe for every single workout. She modified her workouts and eliminated running and jumping for the first week. She still did tons of strength training, bodyweight training, bike riding, and other low impact activities.

She had plenty of well-meaning people, and every website she consulted, warn her to stop working out and just rest the foot and let the bone heal. She had others tell her the toe wasn’t broken just bruised or strained. Rachel knew better. She had broken bones in the past, toes included, and knew exactly what a broken bone felt like. She also knew that taking time off from working out was not an option, not necessary, and completely inconceivable.

She found that by buddy-taping the toe she could run a bit after the first week. She kept her distances shorter, pushed off the ball of her foot instead of her toe and took breaks when the pain got bad.

While Rachel is not a doctor, and can’t give medical advice, she can tell her story. Everything she read in medical books and on the internet warned against running for at least 4 weeks. They all said that she could and probably would cause more damage to the foot. Rachel thought that the risk was pretty over-estimated. She wasn’t naïve or stupid, but she was determined. She let her running grow gradually as the pain decreased, she avoided jumping rope because that really did hurt, and she even got into using a stair-climber at home. Not only was she still working out, but during that time she even went to doing two workouts a day.

And guess what? By late August, she was running pretty smoothly with minimal pain. She is now working out with no tape, no pain, and no restrictions. She is running with no tape and the foot feels great. She still feels the toe every once in awhile, but it’s a 1 on a 10-scale. She didn’t aggravate her injury and she not only kept working out, but also lost a nagging 7 pounds and is back to her ideal fitness place. That’s pretty damn close to “and she lived happily ever after.”

The moral of the story —- if your workouts, your fitness, and your health are non-negotiables (and they should be) there’s always a way to work through or around an injury or condition.  Make some modifications, change things up, tape things together, but find a way. Make a way. Don’t just sit back and give up altogether! There is always something you can do.

How to Stay in Shape While on Vacation – My South African Experience

I just got back from a 2 week trip to South Africa and I am beyond thrilled to report that I came home weighing my same ideal weight and feeling totally strong and fit. So how does that happen? Well, first of all it doesn’t “just happen.” It wasn’t by chance or luck, folks.

Events that take us out of our routine have the potential to really sabotage our fitness, eating, and health goals. It’s totally up to each of us if we LET that happen though. Here’s how you can go on vacation, attend a party, take a trip, or even go out for dinner without totally “falling off the wagon.”

1. Be realistic about your situation. Realize and acknowledge ahead of time that there will be temptations to vacation from your good fitness, eating and health habits. Name each obstacle, temptation, and possible trouble spot. I headed off to places where I knew my normal workouts weren’t going to be possible. In fact, while at Kruger National Park, the rule at our lodge was “absolutely no running or jogging on the lodge grounds. Apparently predators will take this as a sign that we were “prey” and to be hunted.  I wasn’t going to be making my own food for two weeks and “vegan” is not a term most South Africans are familiar with. It’s really a meat-based diet over there.
2. Make a plan to deal with the challenges. I used the internet and checked out each place we were going to be staying to see what possibilities were there for working out – a gym, a safe area, other options. I packed my workout clothes and shoes and brought along a mini-band. I researched the healthy, vegan food options available in Cape Town. We packed some healthy, yummy, backpacker foods just in case.
3. When eating out, don’t be afraid to ask questions about ingredients or ask for substitutions. Don’t eat too much just because food is there in abundance or because the portions are big.Don’t eat more than you should or something you know isn’t good for you just to make someone else happy. We do this last one all the time at picnics and parties.  Be mindful and aware of your eating. Eating right on the road takes a bit of effort, but it’s well worth it.
4. Be determined to get in your daily workouts. Things will come up, things will happen that will make working out hard to do. Be ready for it, get tough, and make it happen anyway.

For example, I was using my workout shoes as my hiking shoes in South Africa, and because of a slip, I soaked them thoroughly. No shoes means no workout, right? Oh, and a gym wasn’t available because it was being remodeled. All great reasons to skip on my workout, right? NO. Shauna used the hotel stairwell to workout while I did stationary cardio, bodyweight exercises, and mini-band activities in our hotel room. If you are determined, there’s always a way.

We got to New York City on Saturday after 18 hours on a plane, 3 hours on a train, 1 ½ hours on a subway, and 4 more hours of waiting one place or another. All I wanted to do was fall down and sleep once we hit our hotel room, but I was determined to get in a workout first. My health and fitness are non-negotiable. So I hit the hotel fitness center and did a 40 minute run on the treadmill first. The first 10 minutes were tough, but I pushed through it and I felt so glad I did. I still got plenty of sleep, and I think I slept better because of my run. I know that run helped me get through one last 5 hour flight to California the next morning.

Staying on top of my workouts during my vacation made my vacation that much better and I felt wonderful when I got home. I didn’t lose any ground. I didn’t eat crap or overeat. Do you know how great it feels to come home feeling fit, strong, and on target?? You can. It’s all up to you.

How to Eat a Huge Meal and Not Overeat

Just about a month and half ago I changed my eating style. I trimmed all my meal sizes down by about 20%. I am now living quite happily at my goal weight and fitness level. Here’s one other thing I did during those 30 days of new-habit creation. I started eating more salads as meals. Know what I discovered? When I eat salads the size of my meal can be much bigger than when I eat other stuff – like Mexican food, Indian food, or pasta for example.

My Beautiful Monster Taco Salad

Usually I serve my meals on a salad plate and my food doesn’t even come close to filling the plate. In fact it looks pretty tiny. But when I have a salad as a meal I get a mental treat. I get to splurge and make this humongous looking meal that is really loaded with nutrients and low on calories. I love it! It gets me all excited – like I’m getting a special treat. I put my salad in a pasta bowl and I pile it on.

Here it is from the side. See how tall it is??? Mmmmmm.

Last night I had a taco salad. A big monster taco salad. I made it mostly with veggies from our own garden. I loaded up that sucker with two kinds of lettuce, carrots, zucchini, cucumber, cilantro, green onions, four colors of bell peppers, two kinds of tomatoes, avocado and corn. Then I sautéed up a few pieces of seasoned tempeh, crumbled some Veggie and Flaxseed Chips from Trader Joes, and heated up about a ¼ cup of black beans. I threw all that in with the mountain of veggies.  I topped it all off with some green salsa and about 2 tablespoons of vegan sour cream. My bowl was piled high. It was monstrous. And 95% of it was all fresh, wonderful, low cal veggies. The stuff we can all chow down without a smidgen of guilt. REAL FOOD!

I felt like I was eating a feast and yet . . . . I didn’t feel stuffed or full at the end. Wonderful.  I felt satisfied, and really good. My meal had protein, carbs, fiber, healthy fats, vitamins,  . . .  all the good stuff our bodies need. There’s just an amazing feeling you get when you eat really good, real food. It actually just give me a rush. I was ready to do my evening workout and weighed in perfectly at the end of the day. Right at my ideal weight even though I ate a huge meal.

Try doing salads as meals more often. If you aren’t in the salad-eating habit, start with having one a week as a meal.  And I mean  AS YOUR MEAL, not on the side. Then aim for twice a week. You are going to love the way it makes you feel.

Victory Over the Beast

The battle with the Beast began on Sunday night – hours before the actual meeting. It was intimidation time. The Beast was trying to psyche my out – messing with my thinking, trying to scare me off with thoughts. I remembered this workout from last year vividly. I remember the ache, the effort I had dig out from deep inside, the snot and sweat running off my face, the feeling of how seemingly impossible this battle was.

I kept waking up all night with these thoughts running through my head. I just talked right back in my biggest, bravest voice, determined to handle the Beast even better than I had last year.

In the morning, I met up with my four workout buddies, but I’d be battling my own personal Beast while they fought theirs.

Shauna and Dolores are dealing with some shoulder injuries so their job was to run the stadium stairs then do a lap around the track over and over and over until they had run every aisle up those steps.

Laura and I did the Countdown from 100s workout, nicknamed The Beast! That means 100 yards of Bear Crawling or Power Wheel Crawling then jump rope 100 times. Then we just repeated these two activities knocking 10yards off the crawls and 10 reps off the jumping rope each round. 100, 90, 80, 70 . . . 10, all the way to 0.

It’s 40-45 minutes of absolute torture – especially when you do the Power Wheel instead of Bear Crawling. I got down on the ground for my first crawl of 100 yards and went as far as I could without stopping. I was pretty impressed and thought I had probably gone about 70 yards. Yeah, try 55 yards. When I looked up to see how much further I had to go, I felt like the Beast walloped me in the gut. I don’t quit though. I put my head down and went again.

I took breathing breaks when I just couldn’t take another step, but never for more than just a few seconds. The idea of quitting never entered my mind even when this workout felt eternal. I was determined to go the whole thing on my Power Wheel – something I wasn’t able to do the year before.

I stared that nasty Beast in its green and red eyes and told it out loud, I was going to win – no matter what. Melina was cheering me on. Dolores was yelling out and giving me strength and I was getting tougher as I went. When I finally got to the last 3 rounds (crawling for 30, 20, and 10 yards) I made sure I didn’t take any breaks. I was so fatigued. My arms, legs and core were quivering, but I was going to finish strong and show that Beast just who was boss.

I have learned to embrace that feeling of fatigue, of exhaustion, of pushing myself beyond my perceived limits. It’s exhilarating actually. I know that is in those moments, strength is born. Strength in mind, muscle, and character. To not quit when everything in your head is screaming at you to stop, to take an easier route, to roll over and play dead – this is where the good stuff is found. When you ignore that, get stubborn and push even more.

I finished my last few steps, dropped to my knees and literally yelled out loud, “Take that, Beast! You didn’t beat me!!!!”

Don’t avoid the hard stuff. Don’t hide from the Beast in your workouts. Seek it out. Conquer it and show yourself just how strong you really are!

I have some “scars” from yesterday’s battle with the Beast. I have sore shoulders, arms, and back. My abs hurt like never before, but they aren’t injuries, just post-battle aches. They are my trophies from my victory over the Beast.

So, What Happened After the 30 Days???

"Hmmm . . . what happened after the 30 days?

So, it’s been 12 days since I ended my 30 day journey, creating a new habit and lifestyle for myself. I wanted to give you an update, since I know the following thoughts have probably been keeping you up at night?

 

 

Is Rachel still doing two workouts a day?

What does Rachel weigh now?

Did those eating changes really stick or has she gone back to her old way of eating?

In consideration of all of you and your ability to get a good night’s sleep, I will answer all of those questions.

Yep, Rachel is still doing two workouts a day and is loving them. I am thrilled with the way they make me feel. Ending my day with a good workout has made my sleep more deep, my body feel great, and  . . . my book reading time really increase. Yes, I said working out has given me more time for reading. First off, getting my blood pumping and my adrenaline and endorphins up like that, makes me wide awake and ready to spend some time reading before bed. Second, I’ve taken up pounding out thousands of steps on my new stair climber (thanks, Dad) and I can actually read while I do it. (With my Kindle, I don’t even have to hassle with turning pages and I can make the text bigger.) Awesome way to go!!!! I spend at least 30 minutes of heart-pounding, sweating, reading time on that thing every night.

Rachel has lost a bit more weight, without making any other changes to her life . Right now she’s been weighing in at 99 or 100 at bedtime and around 98 each morning. I don’t know if you recall, but 98 pounds is my ultimate, ideal, dream weight!!! And I’m there!!! My favorite shorts are fitting me great. My body feels lean and strong and very energetic, happy that it’s not lugging around excess weight!

I am still eating the smaller portions I was eating during my 30 day change. They are working great. And here’s the best part. I don’t feel deprived in even the smallest way. I enjoy what I’m eating. It all tastes so amazingly goooooood. I still eat everything I love and want, just smaller amounts. Since I am a vegan and was already into choosing real foods (plant-based for me), healthier options, and real body-fuel, I didn’t have to cut crap foods out of my life. I still eat ice cream, cookies, pizza, and even chips. I just happen to eat very healthy versions of all of those and small portions.

I am happy, thrilled and utterly proud to report that my changes absolutely worked for me. I feel utterly fantastic!!!!! If you are looking to drop some excess weight and feel fantastic yourself,  you might want to try my approach. All I can tell you is that it soooo worked for me!

1. Eat real food, healthy food. Cut the crap, processed, and pseudo foods if that’s what you are eating.
2. Eat smaller amounts. I trimmed my serving sizes by about 20%.
3. Workout twice a day. Once really intense and a lighter one later in the day.