Fitness Facts Friday

Hello all!

Welcome to what will become known as Fitness Facts Friday!  As part of my journey into the world of fitness and fitness coaching, I am studying to become certified as a personal trainer.  There are several reasons why I want to be certified as a personal trainer including but not limited to:

1. Increasing my knowledge of how the body works and how to maximize its capabilities
2. Have an official certification for my business 
3. Be able to apply the knowledge I learn to help others!

What will Fitness Facts Friday be?

An opportunity for me to share some of what I am learning through my studies with you!

I'm hoping to answer some questions people have about fitness and exercise along with giving some base knowledge.  Topics covered will include but won't be limited to:

• What exactly is a muscle?
• Why am I sore?  What is this lactic acid thing everyone always talks about?
• Will this exercise make my butt look big?
• How much protein do I really need?
• Using physics to maximize results
• Why do I have to eat well to see results?  Can't I just exercise?
• What benefits come from lifting weights?
• What benefits come from aerobic exercise?
• AND SO MUCH MORE!

I'm super excited to get this up and going next week :)  Make sure you check back next Friday to see what fun fitness fact I talk about first!  If you have any questions or want to know more about a specific topic, comment and I will look into it!  And remember:

☆ Stephanie Ann

Depression, Emotional Eating and Meal Plans

Seven Layer Bars

It took a seven layer bar to get me out of bed today.  At noon.  Part of my struggle with depression is wanting to stay in bed when life feels too overwhelming.  I tried to convince myself a number of times to get up and going with my day:

• "You get to have your chocolate shakeo!" 
• "The dogs would love a walk outside" 
• "You can do this"
• "Staying in bed won't make this go away"
• "It's sunny out" 

None of these were enough though.  I wasn't excited about a freezing cold shake, I definitely didn't want to leave the warmth of my bed to walk the dogs, you can do this turned into no I can't, staying in bed won't make it any worse, it's sunny out but it is still cold.  The powers of negative self-talk when fighting depression can be incredible.  It wasn't until I gave myself permission to stray from my meal plan and go have a seven layer bar that I was able to drag my butt out of bed.

So what was it about that sweet treat that got me going?  I'm an emotional eater.  Sweets give me a sugar rush and make me feel better.  They make me feel better quickly.  That sugar rush is enough to get me a burst of energy to actually start my day.  Enough energy to make the healthy breakfast (today it was a pear, almonds, a rice cake with almond butter, and a coffee).  Once I've got that healthy breakfast in me I'm *usually* able to have a somewhat productive day and not crawl back under the covers where I can wander off into dream land.

I'm an emotional eater, I struggle with depression, and I'm doing the 21 Day Fix Extreme Program which includes a relatively restrictive meal plan.  How am I going to balance this?  When I'm doing well, like the first week of the program, eating healthy comes a lot easier and doesn't feel overwhelming.  I still have my cravings for sweets but I can push through them.  When I'm doing less well, like today, eating healthy feels like climbing Mount Everest and all I really want to do is hang out at base camp and drink hot cocoa.

"And then me will conquer that moment!"

I've spent the last hour or so trying to figure out how I can eat as healthy as possible while allowing myself treats when I need them to get going.  I think the first thing I have to do is accept that yes, I'm not going to be perfect with this meal plan the first time I do it and that is okay.  Change takes time.  Change of one aspect of my life is also not done in isolation from the rest of my life.  Physical, mental, and spiritual health are all linked together and influence one another.  Long term, increasing my physical health will ideally help my mental health and give me more energy to tackle the world and battle my depression.  Short term, if a seven layer bar will get me out of bed at noon when nothing else will, I will be enjoying that seven layer bar thank you very much.  Right now, the give and take, the compromise I am making with my healthy eating (my physical health) in those moments is worth the small boost I get in my emotional health (my mental health).  What I am hoping for is that, as my body gets used to eating much healthier and as these new healthy lifestyle habits really start to form I will have more good days where eating healthy comes easy than not so good days where eating healthy becomes a scary monster.

Balance is everything.  Not judging my own struggles and choices, accepting them for what they are and also accepting I can change them over time, will only help me be successful.  If I constantly deny having a meal plan is hard for me, I won't be able to face which parts of it are hard, or why those parts are hard.  I won't be able to work through those challenges and won't be able to successfully change my habits.  Along with this is taking credit for all of my meal plan victories both big and small.  On days when my depression is less intense and following the meal plan feels easy it is a huge victory!  On days when my depression is intense and I manage to get in all of my protein, veggies, and fruits plus some sweet extras, that is a huge victory as well!

I may have had some sweets and strayed from the meal plan but I DID eat my veggies, fruits and proteins.  I DID give my body good nutrients through these healthy foods.  I DID have my shakeology with all of its amazing health benefits.  And that is awesome, because I could have stayed in bed all day.  I could have not had that healthy breakfast after the seven layer bar.  I could have never taken on the 21 Day Fix Extreme challenge.  But I did.  And that my friends is something worth celebrating.

"Every person has three aspects:  the physical self, the mental self and the spiritual self.

The physical self is the easiest one for others to perceive.

It is about the health and fitness of your body.

When you are at your optimum in this area of life, you find that you can easily maintain your idea weight,  you rarely get sick, and you possess abundant energy.

The second aspect is your mental self.

It is about your mind and your work.

When you are at your optimum in this area of life, you find your work is challenging and satisfying, you are able to make use of your creativity and skills, and you are steadily advancing in your career.

The third aspect is your spiritual self. 

It is about your inner-most being and your concern with other souls.

When you are at your optimum in this area of life, you find that you are blessed with great friends in your life, and you are deeply immersed in a loving relationship with your soul mate."

taken from The Tao of Joy Every Day by Derek Lin

artwork - Transformation by Diane Fergurson

☆ Stephanie Ann

Day One - 21 Day Fix Extreme

Tracking my meals and workouts with my journal.

The Food (80%)

The mantra from the fitness world is that your body is 80% what you eat and 20% how you workout.  I think this statement is also true for the amount of prep that I put into what I am eating versus when I am going to exercise.  Yesterday was food prep day, including a trip to the grocery store and what seemed like endless chopping.  Needless to say, the Super Bowl, interrupted the prep session and I will be finishing it while I make dinner for myself tonight.  For my first week on a meal plan, I am mainly following the female meal plan found here.  I am making some substitutions based on what I like to eat and budget.

Look at all the veggies and fruit I get to eat this week!

My "Hot Cocoa" Alternative

After most of a day following the meal plan, I have found the hardest part has been my crazy SUGAR cravings.  They have been super intense and are trying to trick my brain into thinking that my body is hungry when it isn't.  Sugar is so so so unhealthy for you in the large amounts the average American consumes.  

I started my day off with a Vegan Chocolate Shakeology mixed with water and ice.  Having the shake with all of its nutrients is a vast improvement on my regular breakfast routine.  I could still hear the baked goods calling my name though.  To attempt to deal with the lack of sugar and sweets I will be drinking my chocolate shakes and the tea shown below along with eating delicious fruit!

Mmm, this tea is super tasty and has a hint of creaminess due to the coconut making it an awesome substitute for hot cocoa on a snow day or cold winter night.  So far, so good with the meal plan!

Loving the lime green!

The Workout

Hello jello legs!  Today's workout was the Plyo Fix Extreme which focuses primarily on the legs via explosive muscle movements, aka jumping.  For my light weight I either used my 3 pound dumbbells or nothing at all.  My heavier weights are 10 pound kettle bells.  While the total workout is only half an hour long it is no joke and what you put into it you get out of it.  I was definitely sweating by the end of it (WARMTH - Combating Excuse #3).  I think the weights I chose were good for my starting point and I'm excited to see how this workout feels a week from now.

The Mission

I'm posting a "Way Before" photo and my current "Before" photo even though it is outside of my comfort zone.  I'm trying to be open and honest about my journey and my current 'Before' photo is a large part of that.  I miss being super fit and not having to worry about my fitness.  Worrying and missing that hasn't helped me be the best me that I can be.  I'm trying to ACCEPT where I am now and focus on forward progress rather than the past.  My goal for the end of the 21 Day Fix Extreme Challenge is to have a figure somewhere between these two photos but more importantly to FEEL HEALTHIER and have MORE ENERGY!  It is super easy to get caught up in the outward expectations when completing a fitness journey but the inward expectations are just as, if not more, important!

Left: Way Before (6 years ago), Right: Before (Current)

The Pups

Last but not least, I LOVE snuggle time with my two favorite pups!

Snug time last night after the Super Bowl!

☆ Stephanie Ann

Take a deep breath and GO!

I'm officially starting my journey as a Fitness Coach by participating in my first challenge group!  Not going to lie, I am a little overwhelmed right now about the onslaught of information I have received about being a coach in the last few days but I am also SUPER excited! :)

I want to have a record of my triumphs and struggles as I complete this first challenge so when I am a coach I will be able to share this with people who are just beginning their own fitness journey.  They say that looking back you have 20-20 vision and I want to be able to give beginners the real thing, not watered down memories of what it was like when I was starting.

To make this post as easy to navigate as possible I'm going to break it into three sections.

1.  Who I am and where I am currently at in my fitness journey
2.  Why I want to be a Fitness Coach
3.  My vision for my coaching business, Stephanie Ann: Accept Yourself Fitness #StAAYFit

What makes me, me!

My name is Stephanie Ann and I like to consider myself a "Jill of all Trades," as in, I don't like to be put in a prelabeled box!  I'd really rather not be in any box at all!  I grew up in southern Rhode Island (Go Rhody) and was a bit of a tomboy, nerd, and athlete.  I guess you could say that I still embody those characteristics.  In college I studied chemical engineering and pole vaulted for the track and field team at my school.  During the summer, I spent most of my days life guarding on the beach and soaking in the rays.  Being physically fit and succeeding academically came easy.

Pole vaulting junior year of college.

Enter the real world, aka grad school.  No more set practice hours, no more set work hours, no more easily accessible dining hall, no more Rhody.  More gaining weight, more depression, more junk food, more stress, more sedentary activity.  I did my best during this transition including purchasing a road bike and mountain bike, growing a garden of my own etc but my overall wellness always managed to be the last of my priorities.  I felt lost in my own skin.

Two plus years after graduating with an MS in Engineering, my general fitness routine includes:

• Eating relatively healthy, except for breakfast.  Breakfast is definitely my least healthy meal of the day
• Instructing snowboarding two to three times a week
• Weekend hiking, skiing, or skating adventures with my dogs and partner
• Spending hours wishing I had more energy, or still fit into my old clothes, or was stronger
• Occasionally lifting at the gym

Ross and I when we got Altai this past September.

Needless to say, I found myself lacking structure and consistency in my lifestyle habits.  My current fitness journey status is: Ready for a POSITIVE change!

Why a Fitness Coach?

Consistency, accessibility, accountability, and helping others while helping myself!  I like the idea of using social media in a constructive way that helps others accept themselves and become the best them they can be.  I've always enjoyed coaching and tutoring and wanted to bring it to the next level.  I'm super excited to participate in my first challenge group and can't wait to start one of my own!  I'm also working on becoming certified as a personal trainer as I do this!

Stephanie Ann:  Accept Yourself Fitness #StAAYFit

A HUGE part of my own struggle with fitness and a healthy lifestyle post college has been accepting who I am as a person.  I struggle with depression which makes it hard to love myself all of the time and especially hard to find the motivation to change the parts of myself I want to improve upon.  It is one thing to say you are going to do something and another entirely to accomplish it while battling depression or any mental illness or exhausting/stressful situation.  Through my business I hope to inspire others who may be struggling mentally or physically to push past the voice in their heads telling them it is too much, too hard or not worth the effort.  I truly want to give people a chance to share their journey with a coach who understands where they are coming from with compassion and encouragement.

~~I believe that the first step to changing anything about yourself is accepting and embracing who you are today.  Without judgement.  Just acceptance.  If you have the ability to accept yourself, flaws and all, you will be unstoppable!~~

And so, I invite you to join me on my journey either by reading my blog and Facebook Page or joining a challenge group.

☆ Stephanie Ann