Any Goddesses in the house??? Can we chat about YOU & Why You are NOT using weights in the gym, and what you are missing out on???
Mind if I put a little damper on your current routine?
I love BRAGGING about how I can change MY body, your body anyone’s body and add a shot of some self esteem, and empowerment...and BAM you have one HOT fiesty, FIT and gorgeous goddess!
Next time you walk into your gym....take it all in. Look around, watch what all the wome are doing. How many are on the cardio machines and how many are using kettlebells, heavy weights and big medicine balls? How many women were texting on their phones while doing the Aductor Abductor machine in slow- motion? Remember my article in the NY times? NOTHING drives me MORE crazy than women yapping on their phones in the gym! I bet they go and brag to their friends about how much they sweat or how hard they worked out! NOT! Those are the SAME women who go to the gym with NO food in their bellies and after they did the same monontenous workout as the day before, they eat the same BORING food that does absolutely nothing for their bodies. They take in JUST enough calories to bat a fake eyelash! Sheesh!
What is so sad FOR ME to watch year after year, is that the SAME women are on the same machines, eat the same foods and expect DIFFERENT things to happen. They can’t understand why after doing the Arc Trainer for 2 hours- 5 days a week, they can’t lose body fat, and they have saggy tushes.... so what do they do? They eat EVEN LESS, they get LIPO, or they start taking fat burners.... Meanwhile.......
I get approached in the women’s lockeroom at LEAST 2 times a week from all sorts of women asking me how I look like I do, and what is my SECRET. I have to pause and take a deep breath in before I speak, because I never know how the person will take what I am about to say.
My answer: “It’s my nutrition.”
Woman: “Oh, I have seen you workout, you are intense.”
My answer: “Yes I am intense in the gym, but MORE intense in my kitchen.”
Woman: “So, you eat what, about 2 meals a day”?
…..This is where I start to BOIL!
My Answer: ‘Um, More like 6-7 times a day”. I live a very healthy lifestyle.
Woman: “ Oh, I guess I’ll never have your abs, I love wine and bread and cheese.
… I just smile and thank her for the compliments and move on!
UGH!
For all of you CARDIO queens out there... Ever hear of the word Plateau? Adaptation? You keep on rockin’ the Elliptical or Arc trainer, stationary bike or treadmill and you will see what happens.. You will lose any ounce of lean muscle you have (which makes your skin tight and gives you a beautiful shape) and you will start to feel loose, saggy and gravity will take over!
I want you to imagine your body as a car. When you are cranking out a ton of cardio, you are making your body very fuel efficient. Sounds great, right? Sure.Until you realize that “fuel” is actually body fat. This means that you can do a ton of cardio while using very little fuel (body fat) because your body adapts to it so quickly.
Pretty soon you can do hour upon hour of cardio and still not get the results you want.
I am NOW training for a FULL marathon. This does NOT mean that I focus ONLY on running! I would look like a starving crack head! No joke! My goal is NOT to look like those full 26.2 marathon runners who look like skeletons running. I LOVE a SPRINTERS body! Fit, muscular strong and FAST as lightening! I can’t get this way just from running!
If your goal is to change your body, then STEP AWAY form the cardio machine! Lift up a dumb bell, eat some ground buffalo, and have a protein shake after your workout! Watch what happens! 12- 16 weeks on consistency and you will start to see definition, strength, looser skinny jeans, and a glowing smile!
I love when a woman says to me: “Tina, I don’t want to get bulky, I gain muscle very fast!” I want to laugh, but at the same time, I want to shake the woman because she hasn’t a clue. It’s almost impossible for you to get big and bulky unless you plan on using steriods and last I checked.... You aren’t “ARNOLD”.You are a woman, your body does not make enough testosterone for you to grow like that. You would have to consume thousands of calories in addition to supplementation, and lift weights your husband couldn’t lift.
Think about how hard it is for some GUYS to gain muscle and lose body fat to change their physiques! Why would you think it would be easier for you? NEWSFLASH: Guys lose body fat WAY faster than women! We have LOTS of ESTROGEN, and MEN have HIGHER levels of TESTOSTERONE- END OF STORY!.
Maybe you are in a bit of denial? You may have muscle and your skinny jeans may be tight, but did you ever think about the little layer (DON’T GET MAD AT ME) of FAT on top of your muscle??? Let me help you shed some weight, and you watch how quick those skinny jeans need to be tossed for a smaller size!
I think women don’t lift weights because they are not confident with walking on the floor and start using machines they know nothing about. I know that gyms can be intimidating- They always have been, especially to women who never used weights and especially to older women.
It’s not that hard to figure out a beginning program, especially with all of the fitness mags out there and all of the websites revolving around fitness. If you walk into any gym, you will see trainers on the floor... You should be able to ask them questions, do a few sessions and get proper instruction of the machines and cardio.
Now that you are confident on the floor, and have your routine, let’s say you want MORE! You want to change your physique, and you want to see your abs, your biceps and your triceps.
This tells me that maybe you have a layer of bodyfat on top of your muscles so they can’t be seen right now...
In all of my years working with women, one thing if for sure- YOU EAT TOO MANY CARBS, You don’t know the difference between a simple carb and a complex carb, and you have no idea what CYCLING your carbs means. You probably don’t eat enough protein or maybe TOO much of that too, or MAYBE you are NOT eating enough of ANYTHING because you are afraid to gain FAT. So when you see the “SKINNY” girl on the treadmill who looks like a match stick, she is what you would call “SKINNY FAT”. She has nothing but bones, fat and skin holding her together and no muscle.
If you are looking for the NEXT BEST diet or the easy way out, then stop reading my blog- THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS AN EASY WAY OUT.... One thing I can tell you is that what works for me may not work for you. You MUST learn one thing and that is YOUR BODY.
I may not be a REGISTERED dietitian, but with 20 years experience and overcoming an eating disorder, doing 2 figure competitions, running two half marathons, getting clients off of prescription drugs for heart disease, etc....I think I have an idea about nutrition, and living a clean healthy lifestyle.
There are some different ways to determine how many calories you need each day. Always go above 1200 calories. Anything LESS and you WILL lose lean muscle, water and you will end up gaining MORE body fat which will leave you looking “SKINNY”, saggy and loose- or like some would call it: SKINNY FAT
Just recently, I developed a challenge that was geared towards women who wanted to lose anywhere from 8-25lbs. When these women saw how many calories they were having each day (1250-1675) they panicked and thought it was TOO MANY calories. I laughed, because if they had counted the calories THEY were taken in BEFORE the challenge and added in all the glasses of wine or little niblets of cheese, they would then see what HIGH calories looked like. If I went any lower on the plan, their metabolisms would bottom out, and once they go off the plan, their waist size would INCREASE, and I would be to blame. No thanks! Besides, I don’t design DIET PLANS, I design lifestyle changes.... BIG DIFFERENCE.
I bet you wonder how many calories you actually NEED each day. Well, we all require different caloric intakes, because we are ALL different shapes and sizes. You & I may be the same height and weight, but if you don’t workout and I do...GUESS WHO NEEDS MORE CALORIES? My point is that my daily nutritional intake would be SO different than yours.
The one thing we ALL need EACH DAY AT EACH MEAL is Protein. I have about 4 meals a day and at each meal THERE IS PROTEIN. I don’t OVERDO it either. For what I do each day, and for my muscles to NOT shrink and for my metabolism to stay high even at rest, I take in about 60-100 grams of protein per day broken downand divided into my meals.
Carbohydrates can be a little tricky! We NEED them, but we need the RIGHT carbs at the RIGHT TIMES! I tell my clients that if you want a high carb meal, Your best bet is to have it about 1-2 hours BEFORE your workout or run, and or 10-20 minutes AFTER your workout. That is when your muscles will suck them right up and help you recover and repair. Any carbs your body doesn’t use....Gets stored as fat- SO NOT COOL!
SO you may want to try a ZIG ZAG approach. On training and cardio days, have a higher carb day. On NON training days, have LOWER carb days.
Poor FAT gets a bad rap, when in fact, I would rather have MORE FAT than carbs in my body! How’s that!?!? These days my diet is pretty much a 20/ 40/ 40 split. 20% from protein, 40% from carbs and 40% from fats. I also run 4-5 days a week as well as do some super dooper weight training workouts. NOT your average workouts!
Maybe try this: On days where you are increasing your carbs, LOWER your fats. On your off training and cardio days, lower your carbs and increase your fats.
Oh and PS, by “FATS” I mean Avocado, coconut oil, nut butters- Catch my drift?
In my next blog post, I will set you up with a meal plan you can’t screw up! FOLLOW MY LEAD ladies, and you will be WELL on your way to looking lean and fit!
