About Me

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Hi! I am a fitness professional, a father of two gorgeous girls, a serious football fan and a LOVER of FOOD! I believe that to maintain balance in life we need to enjoy everything in moderation. But sometime during the past two and a half years, since my first daughter was born, I have lost my balancing ways. I'm addicted to food...my main addiction; chocolate. My workouts have taken a backseat to parent and tot gymnastics, crafting, and singing the ABC song. I NEED to find balance again. Please join me as I embark on this journey. I hope you too can find the balance in your own life.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The best weight loss plan there is!

What did I learn over the past 2 weeks? Well, as it turns out, paying somebody to tear out your wisdom teeth is a decision you should not take lightly.

In what cannot be a gentle procedure, your dentist removes your, previously pain-free, teeth leaving you with holes filled with pain and regret. Aside from the lack of ability to open your mouth, the dull ache in your face, the interesting meds and the anger-invoking inability to consume any real foods, you also get the relaxing feeling that several of your teeth are simultaneously experiencing ice cream headaches. The crazy thing is that the best part of the day is the time you spend with a frozen bag of peas stuck to your face. On the plus side, if there is one, it is virtually impossible not to drop a couple pounds after getting your teeth out. Guaranteed weight loss!!


I quickly learned that the window for weight loss was very brief. The first 2-3 days, you really have no  desire to eat and if you do it's apple sauce and pureed soups. As a result you will drop a little weight. Days 4-5 come along and you find yourself starting to get a little annoyed that the pain is still lingering and more than a little angered because all you really want to do is chew something. This frustration resulted in trading the apple sauce for pudding and the pureed soups for tubs of cottage cheese. No guaranteed weight loss anymore. As you close in on a week, you are ready to snap and realize that chocolate Easter treats melt wonderfully in your mouth and require little effort, while providing so much pleasure. Now we are in weight gain. Moral of the story is that all drastic weight loss plans ultimately result in leaving you right back where you started. All that pain for nothing.


As I wasn't really overly interested in doing much the past week, I did spend some time thinking about the blog and I am excited to say that we are changing things up. We are hoping that the new design will allow us to get more frequent blogs out, which will get workouts and information out to you guys more frequently, helping us all get and stay healthier.

One of the first things we are going to introduce is what we are calling...

 The Chalkboard Challenge

The Chalkboard Challenge will show up on a regular basis. Not every day, not even every other day, but regularly. They will generally be shorter in length and higher in intensity. The idea is to create some good old fashioned healthy competition. Not to mention provide some tough workouts. 

Chalkboard Challenge #1: If you don't have a skipping rope, do jumping jacks. The total time for this challenge is 16 min.


The goal is 1000 reps in 16 minutes. I was just short!

the sequence

2 minutes of skipping : get over the rope as many times as you can.
1 minute of rest
30 seconds of squats : as many as you can
30 seconds of mountain climbers : as many as you can
30 seconds of rest
45 seconds squats : as many as you can
45 seconds of mountain climbers : as many as you can
45 seconds of rest
60 seconds of squats : as many as you can
60 seconds of mountain climbers : as many as you can
60 seconds of rest
45 seconds squats : as many as you can
45 seconds of mountain climbers : as many as you can
45 seconds of rest
30 seconds of squats : as many as you can
30 seconds of mountain climbers : as many as you can
1 minute of rest
2 minutes of skipping : get over the rope as many times as you can.


Here is the sheet I use to track my results for this workout.





*** Be sure to track your numbers and see if you can beat mine. ***


In case you need a little reminder, here is the video for the mini pyramid.



The second new introduction is a little something we are calling...

Know Sweat 

Know Sweat is the section where we discuss the plethora of, mostly misunderstood, fitness and health related facts and fallacies. I don't think there is an industry that can match ours with its frequency of new fads and crazy ideas. Some have lasting power but most should never be given a second thought. We intend to help you know the difference.

Fact : The brain is unable to differentiate between hunger and thirst. Assuming that you are eating on a regular basis, a great way to help maintain a healthy body weight is to always assume that your body is thirsty and not hungry. Try drinking water the next time you think you are hungry. If the perceived desire for food is eliminated, you have just saved many an unnecessary calorie. Of course sometimes you are hungry. If so, then you eat!

The third new component to the blog is what we call...

You Are What You Eat

You Are What You Eat is the section dedicated to food. Helpful food facts and amazingly easy recipes that are both delicious and healthy. With little ones around, you simply don't have time to cook yet you still want to eat healthy foods. Our goal here is to provide you with helpful solutions. 


Food facts - The Banana:


There are over 500 types of bananas.
One medium-sized, 7-8 inch banana has just 105 calories.
Bananas contain significant amounts of vitamins C(3X more than apples) and B6(great for skin and hair). They are also rich in carotenoids and can increase vitamin A levels in those with deficiencies.
The average banana contains 3 grams of fibre.
A banana contains about 12% of the daily recommended dose of potassium for adults. Potassium helps maintain proper functioning cells, tissues and organs and helps to lower blood pressure.
As with all types of fruits and vegetables, bananas contain antioxidants.
Bananas are NOT fattening!
They are also the perfect pre-workout fuel source.


If you want to know more about this super food, check out the following link.




Last, but not least, I bet you didn't know that we open bananas up the wrong way! Check out this quick clip to see how the pros (monkeys) do it.



I hope you enjoy the new spin we are giving to the blog. 


Chad





Sunday, April 1, 2012

"Time Out" for Fitness

~Written by Kate


It's been a while since I've contributed anything to this blog, and for that I'm sorry.  Call it the time change, chasing after my two babes or something else. Whatever it is, I've been exhausted lately and as a result I have been missing my workouts.  Missing them in the sense that I have not been working out at all AND missing that alone time that I get granted while getting my sweat on.

I NEED to get back on the workout train!   

I realized that the above statement was extremely necessary when I was putting Olivia (my 7 month old) to bed the other night. She's teething, and it was taking her longer then usual to get to sleep.  I usually stay by her side and rub her belly or back until she falls asleep but on this particular night it was taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r!

Instead of becoming an overly frustrated (believe me...I was more then mildly frustrated!), angry, sobbing mess, I decided to take this opportunity to add in a little fitness.  I did deadlifts.  Lots of deadlifts.  I didn't count, or have my workout clothes on, or any 'pump me up' music.  I just did them. When Olivia would cry I would start and when she stopped crying I would take a break.  I have no idea how many I did that night, but I do know that the next morning and well into the following day my hamstrings were sore!

I have decided to adopt this new approach with my older child too. She's two and a half and sometimes, after several warnings, finds herself in the "TIME OUT" chair.  While she's in her time out she sits patiently and quietly crying or whining and waits until the time out is over.  What a great time to do a few push-ups, or squats, or posture pulls. Once I started this, I discovered that it was a BRILLIANT plan. I was able to get in some random, unplanned exercise which made me feel great and I was less focused or concerned with the wall my child just coloured or the entire box of cereal that was sprawled out all over the floor.  Win/Win!

She was so proud of her artwork!

I have been able to incorporate small extra bits of exercise into my daily life, so even if I miss my normal workout I'm still able to do SOMETHING.  I challenge you to do the same. Find two minutes here or there, while you're brushing your teeth or during a commerical break to do something...anything.  You'll be happier and healthier for it!

Cheers!