This Fitness Friday I have asked my friend Lori Rypka to do a guest post.  Lori has lost an amazing amount of weight (70 pounds and counting…)on her fitness journey and inspires me every day to make the right choices.  She is living proof that determination will get you the results you want every time!

Dieting sucks, so why do it?

Now that you’ve gasped and spit out your morning danish, hear me out.
It’s true, dieting sucks. Coming from a serial dieter, I can’t say I have looked back on a single program and thought, “Wow, this is the
life. I’ve got it made on this program. Next stop: The cover of Oxygen magazine.”

Deprivation, starvation, contemplation of confection. Shun them all. I have seen the light and am giving you a glimpse of my world.

The Girl Scout Cookie Diet.

OK, I’m obviously kidding. So let’s drill down to what we hear the most. Forget Aktins. Forget South Beath. Forget The Cookie Diet. Doctors have
been saying it for time and eternity. Eat a well balanced diet with fruits, veggies, lean proteins, whole grains and healthy fats. I mean,
they built a whole Food Pyramid on these principles.

Yeah, yeah, heard that before. Guess what … it actually works. Whoa!

Call the media! This is HUGE news!

A friend told me about the Eat Clean Diet by Tosca Rosa. I thought about it, researched it, bought the book … and a light went on in an already
lit room. She’s got some great information there, the actual food she recommends is on the Food Pyramid. No food groups are eliminated.
Certain food groups are limited. She recommends food as close to how God made them as possible, and in the healthiest varieties (read: no white
flour/sugar/rice). I’ve heard it all before, but this time it clicked. I was also weighed down with the whole “Do I really want to set my kids up
for health issues in the future?” guilt.

Was it easy? Yes and no. Yes, because I made up my mind that this is a lifestyle change and not a diet, and that it ultimately is the best
thing I could do for my family. No, because I have too cook and shop a lot more (sort of wish I could find all the ingredients in one store).

I’m about three weeks into it, and I do feel better, have dropped some weight and feel good for what I’m doing for my kids. It’s also been fun
to be approached for advice from friends who have also been thinking about this. It’s worth the extra mileage hunting down ingredients as
well as the extra time in the kitchen. After all, a diet is temporary. A lifestyle is for life.

Lastly, it was also about deciding that I’m worth it. And I am.

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Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, it’s time to get back on track. If you went a little (or a lot) overboard with your eating yesterday own it and move forward. There’s no sense in beating yourself up over it—what’s done is done.

Make better choices starting right now. Don’t wait until Monday or even New Years. Set one small attainable objective for today and reach it. Do it again tomorrow, and again the following day and each successive day thereafter.These daily achievements will help reinforce your commitment to reaching your fitness goals.

Remember, don’t give up on yourself—NO EXCUSES!

My goal for today is to drink at least 80 ounces of pure water. What’s yours?

ABOUT RACHEL: Rachel Swartz-Hartje is an NASM certified personal trainer and is currently completing her degree in community health promotion. She enjoys running, bodybuilding and torturing her clients (and friends) into submission. She is definitely a bad-ass. Don’t let her nice profile picture fool you. Her mantra? “Discipline is the Bridge Between Goals and Accomplishments.” Oh yeah, she also used to be in the Navy. Don’t. Mess. With. Her.

POST #6 IN THE FITNESS FRIDAY SERIES

Another fabulous recipe for Fitness Friday.  This is yummy clean eating, folks!

“CHERRY BOMBS”

1lb Lean Ground Sirloin
12 Cherry Tomatoes
2 Egg whites
3/4 Cup soft bread crumbs
1/2 sup skim milk
1 1/4 cups chopped onion
Salt and pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tbsp parsley

In a bowl, combine all ingredients, except meat and tomatoes.  Add mixture to ground sirloin and minx well.  Shape 1/4 cup of the mixture evenly around each tomato so that the tomato is hidden inside the meatball.  Spray a baking dish with Pam.  Place meatballs in baking dish and bake at 375 deg F. for 25 to 30 minutes.

Calories:104
Fat:9g
Carbs:4g
Protein:10g

Serve with Brown Rice

ABOUT RACHEL: Rachel Swartz-Hartje is an NASM certified personal trainer and is currently completing her degree in community health promotion. She enjoRachel ys running, bodybuilding and torturing her clients (and friends) into submission. She is definitely a bad-ass. Don’t let her nice profile picture fool you. Her mantra? “Discipline is the Bridge Between Goals and Accomplishments.” Oh yeah, she also used to be in the Navy. Don’t. Mess. With. Her.

POST #5 IN THE FITNESS FRIDAYS SERIES
Part one of a two part article – check back tomorrow.

Okay, it is time for Fitness Friday again with my Personal Trainer friend Rachel.  So, I am, ugh, not sure exactly about this but I think I might have inspired this rather brutally honest post by my pal.  Primarily because I am always deluding myself into thinking that I eat healthy and that my extra couple of pounds are a cruel trick of nature rather than my own fault. So… sorry if she is kinda forceful about it.  Entirely my bad.

Stop BS’ing Yourself!

I’ll start off by admitting that I have extremely high standards when it comes to what I consider “eating well.” To me, eating well means eating very few, if any, pre-packaged processed or refined foods. It means eating a diet consisting of nutritious whole foods—plenty of fruits and vegetables, complex carbohydrates, lean protein, healthy fats, and of course, plenty of water. It means eating at regular intervals, not skipping meals, and not overindulging. In the fitness world, this is known as “clean eating”.

As a personal trainer and weight management intern at a hospital-based weight loss program, I talk to people all day about their diet and exercise choices. Most often I hear people say, “I don’t exercise at all but I eat really well” or “I exercise regularly and I eat well but I just can’t get this weight off.” How come then, if all these people are eating well, they are still so overweight?

I’m not trying to be crass, but I’ve got to call the BS flag.

Take a good look at the foods you consume on a daily basis—How many ingredients does it contain? Can you pronounce all of them? What is the origin of the food/ingredients? If a food has more than a few ingredients, you can’t pronounce most of them, or you don’t know where something in the food came from, you should probably think twice before putting it in your mouth. And just because a food item has a good quality about it doesn’t mean it’s good for you.

Take, for example, a Healthy Choice turkey breast and cranberries meal.

Sounds healthy, right?

One serving size is one 10.8 oz box and contains 320 calories, 3.5g fat, 1.5g saturated fat, 35mg cholesterol, 53g total carbohydrates, 7 grams fiber, 32g sugar, 16g protein, 530mg sodium. Most of these numbers aren’t so bad, however, 32 grams of sugar is considered the maximum amount of sugar an individual on a 2,000 calorie/day diet should consume. That’s equivalent to 8 teaspoons! And that’s just from one meal! There is also nearly one-quarter of your recommended daily value of sodium. Food manufacturers spend tons of money each year on marketing, while Mother Nature spends zero. Who do you trust more?

Eating clean doesn’t always have to be about weight loss—it’s also about improved quality of life: looking better, feeling better, and having more energy. These are just a few of the benefits.

Tomorrow I’ll give you a few tips to get your started on your clean-eating journey!

ABOUT RACHEL: Rachel Swartz-Hartje is an NASM certified personal trainer and is currently completing her degree in community health promotion.  She enjoys running, bodybuilding and torturing her clients (and friends) into submission.  She is definitely a bad-ass.  Don’t let her nice profile picture fool you. Her mantra? “Discipline is the Bridge Between Goals and Accomplishments.” Oh yeah, she also used to be in the Navy.  Don’t. Mess. With. Her.

POST #3 IN THE FITNESS FRIDAYS SERIES

As you may have noticed, last week I took a one week break from the Fitness Friday schedule to post my interview with Uma Thurman.  Seemed like an okay substitution, although some have asked if I was planning on bringing little Ms. Rachel back…. Well, of course I am!

And because I am a selfish-type blogger I kept this week’s post to something that I could benefit from – exercises you can do at work, specifically for the lower body!  Hope you enjoy and pass it along…..

Here are a few easy lower-body exercises for squeezing fitness into your day at work.Whenever you have a few minutes choose one exercise and complete the recommended number of reps and sets.  Remember to always warm-up prior to beginning any physical activity. You can do this by taking a quick 3-5 minute walk through your office.

Note: Maintaining good posture throughout the entire range of motion is critical to prevent injury and get the most out of the exercise. This means abs drawn in, chest up, shoulders drawn back and down, chin parallel to the floor, and hips tucked.  Breathing is also very important.Typically you should inhale on the first phase of the exercise and exhale as you exert force.For example, this means inhaling as you sit into a squat and exhaling as you stand up. Be sure to remove your shoes if you work in heels before performing these exercises!

Squats: Stand in front of a chair with feet hip-width apart, abs in and back straight. Keeping your chest up, slowly bend your knees and lower your butt until it just touches the chair. Pause for 2-3 seconds and, pressing through the heels, return to standing position. Repeat for 12-15 reps, 2-3 sets.

Lunges: Stand with your feet together, hands on hips. Take a step forward with your right leg, bending both knees and lower into a lunge, keeping the front knee behind the toe.  Do not allow the knee to touch the ground. Press through the heel to push back up to standing. Repeat for 10-15 reps, 2-3 sets each leg,

Hip abduction: Stand sideways to a chair or wall for support and lift one leg out to the side, foot flexed and hips, knees, and feet in alignment. Repeat for 12-15 reps, 2-3 sets each leg.

Hip extension: Stand facing the back of a stable chair or wall for support and extend right leg straight out behind you, squeezing your butt to lift leg. Pause while continuing to squeeze glutes, then lower.Be sure to keep your hips level throughout the entire range of motion.Repeat for 12-15 reps, 2-3 sets each leg.

Calf raises: Standing with your feet close together and lightly holding onto a chair or wall for support, rise up onto your tiptoes.Pause and lower. Maintain erect body posture.Repeat for 12-15 reps, 2-3 sets.This can also be done on stairs with the heels hanging off the step. *If you wear heels all day I would skip this one since the calf muscles are in a constantly contracted state. Instead, be sure to stretch your calves.

Wall sit: Stand in front of a wall and lean against it.  Slide down until the thighs are parallel to the floor (or higher for an easier version) and hold for 20-60 seconds. Your head, shoulders, and back should maintain contact with the wall.Do not hold your breath!

Throw in a few 5-10 minute walks (walking stairs is a good option too), some stretches, and you’re on your way!

ABOUT RACHEL: Rachel Swartz-Hartje is an NASM certified personal trainer and is currently completing her degree in community health promotion.  She enjoys running, bodybuilding and torturing her clients (and friends) into submission.  She is definitely a bad-ass.  Don’t let her nice profile picture fool you. Her mantra? “Discipline is the Bridge Between Goals and Accomplishments.” Oh yeah, she also used to be in the Navy.  Don’t. Mess. With. Her.