Monthly Archives: November 2011

Thank you for inspiring me

Posted on November 29, 2011 | 15 Comments

I love what I do–I get to interact with so many different people, different stories, different experiences, different opinions.

What amazes me is the fact that I have met so many smart people who give up! They just out-and-out give up.

I am impressed by those of you who show up each and every day and really give it your all.

Those of you that work hard during the day, take care of your families, have other obligations BUT still show up, work your hardest and TRY.  Once a week, twice a week or everyday…you keep me going with your commitment, energy and dedication.

We have had a lot of people who have come to boot camp over the years and I can spot a quitter a mile away.  Quitter, I know, it’s a harsh word, but you know I don’t pull punches with this and sometimes the truth hurts.

Quitters make excuses.  Winners show up.  Winners make the effort.
I’m a black/white kind of girl……I really don’t see or understand grey areas.
We all have a story. We all have some kind of history, some life experience that may have changed you or impacted you.

I am sure that you don’t let your kids quit. You encourage them, you show them the benefits of toughing things out, you hold them accountable.

So why is it ok for you to quit. Why is it ok for you to flake out on your fitness? Why is it ok for you to give up on healthy eating??

Many of you know my story.  Chubby girl, lost my dad when I was 6.  Got chubbier then got fat in high school.  I lost my mom on my 20th birthday.
I could have easily slipped into depression or a food coma. I pulled myself together and I didn’t give up. What good would it have done for me to give up on life?

Yes, I had to grow up fast and my world changed first at 6 then at 20 yrs old. I didn’t give up on me.

You have choices.  You are where you are because of the choices you have made. No one did this to you.  You did this.  You have chosen where you are and decided it.  But don’t ever give up on you!

Is boot camp tough?  Oh hell yeah it is! I am beyond proud of those of you who tough it out. When I see you doing push ups on your toes or running faster, pushing harder, reaching further; it makes me so proud!

Some people give up and they will always find an excuse or something to blame other than themselves.  For those of you that are doing it and not giving up I say “you are awesome and unstoppable”.

You don’t always get what you wish for…you get what you work for!

Your choice is to keep sucking it in or…suck it up and just do it!

Don’t stop until you’re proud of your accomplishment and effort.

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Your mistakes should be your motivation, never your excuses.

Posted on November 22, 2011 | 2 Comments

You can’t hope away the extra pounds.  Simple enough sentence but really think about it this:

“If you want to see change, you have to make the change happen.”

We all get off track from time to time and the reality is life happens. You don’t give up, you don’t throw in the towel and you don’t make excuses.

As one wise boot camper said to me, “Those times when you don’t feel like showing up; when you are busy, stressed, over scheduled, that’s when you do show up”

Know the difference between a set back and failure.

Set Back: You slipped up, lost focus, got busy, caved in, got lazy

Failure: You decided your health wasn’t worth the effort.

You can recover from set backs pretty easy.  As long as you don’t suffer set backs too often and your commitment on your goal is always your prime focus.

When you feel like quitting or not showing up you need to remember the reason why you started.  Your goal, whatever it is, has to be from your heart.  Your, “I want it so bad!” motivator.

I am here to motivate you, but you have to actually want to see change.

The excuses get old and tired.  There has to come a point where you just stop making excuses.  I guarantee you that there is someone out there that is busier than you, stressed more than you, over-scheduled more that you and they still manage to eat healthy and exercise.

So what’s stopping you???? That’s right, your answer should be NOTHING!!

I read a great quote and I think this needs to stay with everyone

“Dead last is greater than did not finish which trumps did not start”

Recognizing the things that you do wrong is a great step to fixing your mindset.  You have to be honest with yourself. Your mistakes should be part of your motivation to succeed, not your excuses when you measure your failure.

Hockey practices, swimming lessons, tough day at work, shopping, tired, hungry.  Guess what.  So many people think those reasons for not eating healthy and not exercising are justifiable because you got to “take part” or be there.  Good, you should be there, but what about the television, talk on the phone, surf Facebook time.  Pass on that stuff, because it’s not what the people who are hitting their goals are doing.  And when those people look back, they won’t be saying, “I wish I would have spent more time updating my status, or watching TV.” Nope, they’re looking in the mirror and saying, “It was so worth it!!”

Your mistakes should be your motivation, never your excuses.

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8 Reasons Why You Should Just Do It!

Posted on November 17, 2011 | 2 Comments

You hear it alot….find your “why”   Find your passion, your reason for doing things.

I see so many people who start strong on the road to their improved health and fitness journey and then fizzle out.

Why bother exercising?? 

The first answer of course you will say, is for your health.  Newsflash; Sitting on a bike while surfing Facebook is not really exercise. Neither is walking at a snail’s pace on a treadmill.  It is ok but you know you can do better. So why do you do it? Why not give it your all and be effective?

We all have our own reasons for sweating it out.  I never want to be 225lbs again–NEVER.  Some people do it to lose weight, some do it to fit into their Christmas party dress, some do it because they have had a medical scare and decide to take control (diabetes, high blood pressure).  These are great whys.

Everyone can come up with reasons on why to be fit and just as many excuses on why they can’t.

Here is what I don’t get.  I see so many of you that work so hard at boot camp and then blow it with crappy food.  You sweat your guts out with me and then tell me you had wings, beer, cake, etc.  WHY??

  • Why are you sabotaging yourself?
  • Why don’t you want to see the results?
  • Why are you letting junk food win?
  • Why do you want to look bad?
  • Why do you want to feel lousy?

Many of you will be saying “I know, I have to pull it together”
If you want to see the results and changes in your body you have to do the work, all of the work.  Just showing up doesn’t do it.

You know you need to eat 5x a day.  You know that you must have healthy snacks.  You know that you NEED to drink water.  So why aren’t you?

Boring, lazy, busy, forgot, my back hurts, I don’t like to get sweaty.  The list of excuses can go on and on.

Be a finisher.  Not a ‘half-asser’ (Sorry, not a word but I’m trying to stress a point and maybe my creative word use might get you fired up!)

So why do this?  All of this proper eating and exercise. We all have our own “why’s” but here are a few you might not have thought about:
Do it for the stares.  Yes, we all like to be noticed (in a good way).

  1. Do it for the compliments.  It is nice to be acknowledged for hard, noticeable achievements.
  2. Do it for the shape and definition in your muscles (hello tank tops!)
  3. Do it for the ability to fit into the clothes you want
  4. Do it for the swimsuit.  We all want to be able to rock the swimsuit
  5. Do it so you can be off the gaining weight / losing weight roller coaster!!
  6. Do it so you can be proud of your effort and how you look.
  7. Do it for your health
  8. Do it for your family

Nike has made billions off of the saying “Just do it”.  It really is that simple; Just do it….already

Find you WHY.  Set your goal, focus on it and don’t do anything that isn’t in line with your goal.

Here are some healthy snacks to incorporate into your day:

- hard boiled egg with cubed cantaloupe
- snow peas or sugar snap peas with humus
- greek yogurt with blueberries
- turkey pepperettes with an apple
- lettuce leaf with avocado and chicken or turkey-roll it up

Bonus snack!!
- greek yogurt, pb or almond butter and boot camp chocolate protein

Have a great day…Why? Because you deserve it.

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Fast Food and Fat Loss

Posted on November 11, 2011 | 11 Comments

I bet a lot of you decided to open this because of the title.

Oh yeah, I can hear you now, “Finally, Carrie has come to her senses and is going to say that it is ok to eat fast food.” Hahaha no way!

I want to give you yet another wake up call about the “food” or should I say “faux food”.

As many boot campers know, I always ask, “What did you eat today?” There are always a few that give me the look of shame and say, “Oh, today was not a good day.”

The ‘reason’ *cough* excuse is usually one of the following:

  • I was soooo busy, I had to grab something fast
  • I forgot to pack my lunch
  • We had nothing in the house so I had to eat out

Let me give a reality check about your beloved fast food and I’ll pick on the ever popular, here for a limited time only, back by popular demand, “The McRib is back.”  I use this because I haven’t seen it as available in Canada, not that I’m looking, but this shouldn’t give anyone the urge to go out and get one at their nearest Rotten Ronnies.

Ever wonder what the McRib is actually made of?  It’s claim is that it’s made of 100% pork and there is no doubt in that! 100% of the pig including the parts that you won’t find on the butcher’s shelf, or floor, or garbage.  Quality places won’t ‘stomach’ what goes into processed food and I don’t have the ‘heart’ to tell you.

Does it not worry you that it does not actually resemble pork ribs. The bone like look is pressed and sculpted “meat”.  Oh yeah, are you still lovin’ it???

The bun contains 34 additional hard-to-pronounce ingredients and chemicals, including ammonium sulfate and polysorbate 80. And don’t forget azodicarbonamide, a bleaching agent that dyes the flour, and is also used in the production of  mats and shoe soles. Yummy! It’s a bun…not a science project. Ever made home-made buns…5 ingredients, all of which you can pronounce!

Let’s now add to this concoction.  It has nearly 1000mg of sodium (about 3/4 of the daily recommended total), high fructose corn syrup, artificial colours and flavours. Why in the world does any food require artificial flavour?  Oh, never mind, I know…because if it wasn’t used you couldn’t stand the taste of it.

This mystery meat sandwich comes in at 500 calories, 26 grams of fat and 11 grams of sugar.

This is just to give you a glimpse what is in your fast food.  Think about your body or your children’s body trying to process all of these chemicals and crap.

Quick and easy is dangerous and reckless.  You have choices; choose wisely.  You would NEVER eat this stuff if you actually saw or realized how this “food” was made so stop it.

Its gross and you know it.  I don’t want to be a fear monger but you are filling your body and your kids with poison.  Re-read what’s in the bun.  Do you really want to eat what you can’t stomach, pronounce or make??  You wouldn’t feed that stuff to your dog, but you are willingly and blindly eating this stuff.

Ba-da-ba-ba ba–I’m not lovin’ it and neither should you!!!

Fast food and fat loss? FAT CHANCE

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Kim Kardashian’s marriage could have been saved with Boot Camp

Posted on November 8, 2011 | 17 Comments

Big news last week was that Kim Kardashian filed for divorce. I really can’t say I was surprised, but I was shocked.  Shocked that everyone was talking about it.  Honestly, who cares?!

It took her longer to plan her wedding than her 72 day marriage lasted….yikes!

Actually, it made me think about how this relates to weight loss and fitness.  Seriously, there is a connection, stay with me here.

Everyday people start a weight loss or fitness program, but don’t ever really give it a full commitment.  A bump in the road, a little challenge, a temptation and in goes the towel!  You might be one of those people…..hmmmmmm??!

We have had a lot of people come to boot camp and not give it a full commitment.  Is it tough?  YES, it can be.  Is it worth it?  Hellz yeah it’s worth it!!

Weight loss is like a relationship.  It takes, and requires, focus, patience, sacrifice, dedication, passion and love.  Yes, I said love.

You have to actually love yourself enough to make the commitment.

You also have to love your exercise program. Hang on before you scoff.  I know y’all might not love boot camp, but you love the feeling, you love the group support, you may even love (but probably only like) my lame jokes.  You love the energy you feel after you have completed a tough workout.  If you don’t love your program you are going to break up, dissolve the plan and file it under irreconcilable differences.

So how do you fall in love with your exercise and nutrition program?

YOU WORK ON IT.  

YOU COMMIT TO IT.

YOU NURTURE IT.

Make adjustments daily. Focus on being better, not perfect, just better. Better = stronger, fitter, happier, committed!

Kim should have taken our commitment lessons to help her marriage.

Boot Camp Chili

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ pounds ground white turkey meat or extra lean ground beef
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 2 stalks celery, diced
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 14 ½-ounce can kidney beans, drained/rinsed
  • 1 14 ½-ounce can black beans, drained/rinsed
  • 1 14 ½-ounce can pinto beans, drained/rinsed
  • 1 29-ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 29-ounce can tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons cumin
  • 2-4 tablespoons chili powder
  • Salt to taste
  • Black pepper, cayenne, or chili pepper flakes to taste
  • *if you prefer a five alarm chili add extra cayenne, chili pepper flakes or Tabasco (get creative with the flavours!!)

Directions:

  1. Cook and stir the onion, celery, and carrots in olive oil over medium-high heat until softened, about 6 minutes.
  2. Add the ground meat and garlic. Cook the turkey until it’s just done, taking care not to over cook.
  3. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for 20 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Let me know how you like it.

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Getting ready for Christmas!

Posted on November 2, 2011 | 2 Comments

It used to be that the real indication that Christmas was just around the corner was the day after Hallowe’en when you walked into your favourite store and all the candy was on sale to make room for the massive displays of Santa Clause and all the fixins’.

In the States, it was two days after Thanksgiving (2 because they needed one day to do massive post Turkey Day sales).

Now, it seems the day after Labour Day we start to see the signs of the season that is coming.

I love the holiday season.  I hate what it represents to so many people; Eating Season has begun!  Weight gain season is upon us.  For the next two months we will be bombarded with cakes, cookies, sauces and booze.  Candy, treats, loafs and all sorts of food that normally we would never eat, but for some reason, we celebrate the season with an over indulgence.

So lets prepare properly for what we about to be bombarded with.  We all work so hard to maintain our weight or in the best goal centred situation, lose weight all year long, that a little pre-planning can go a long way to remain in control.

Nutrition

Food is meant to be energy for the body.  The better the food we choose, the better the energy production is.  Garbage in, garbage out.  Eat sensibly and responsibly.  It’s just food! No matter how good it tastes, it doesn’t look good on your hips and thighs.

Tips:

Self control: Eat how you normally would.  Don’t over-eat and don’t use the season as an excuse to sneak the extra treats or sample every offering that is available.

Buffets and pot lucks: Go for the good stuff first. Have a plate of veggies, greens, healthy salads, light dressings.  Clean your plate, wait 10 to 15 minutes before going for the second plate full.  You might find that you’re satisfied with that and not need to eat more than you should.  Even better…one plate that includes your greens, veggies, lean protein and other healthy choices.  Unless you are a power athlete, you don’t need more than that so stop! Don’t just eat it because it’s available.

Drinks: Water it up! The more the merrier.  Enjoy nature’s goodness.  The seasonal specialties are calorie and fat monsters! Green tea, clear liquids are good choices.  If egg nog was really that good, wouldn’t it be available all year long? –

Treats: They are everywhere and they look so good.  But most taste the same year to year.  So is there a need to try them all? NO!  How about commit to a one-treat budget. Try one treat that you’ve never had before or enjoy your absolute favourite and savour it.  Then you can say…been there, done that.

Exercise

Don’t use the season as an excuse to let go of your good exercise efforts.  Yes, it’s a busy time of the year.  But everyday still includes 24 hours. Its how you spend, budget and allocate your 24 hours.  Block off time on your calendar everyday to commit to your health.  It’s more important now than ever.  You want to keep your immune system at its peak, which is helped with regular exercise.

Make sure you continue to commit to your Boot Camp, personal training or personal exercise time.  We’re all busy; at least we can be together and maximize our time.

Walk: Make sure that you don’t take short cuts.  Use the stairs, or the elevators or escalators. Voluntarily look for the parking spots far from entrances to where you are going.  Its faster and better for your health.

Sleep: Make sure you are getting enough rest.  This is when your body repairs itself, rejuvenates and protects you, so include adequate sleep to maintain great health throughout the season.

The hoiday season does not have to be a time to gain weight or sabotage your efforts from the rest of the year.  Wouldn’t it be great on January 1st, 2012 to not include “Lose Wieght” as your resolution?

Some good planning and common sense can have you losing weight this season.  Do it!

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The Halloween Hangover

Posted on November 1, 2011 | 2 Comments

So…….how’d ya do???

Did you stay strong and resist the urge to tear into those bite size candies? Or did you buckle and eat your body weight in “fun” size candy??

Did you wake up this morning and while getting dressed start saying (or screaming) WHY…WHY DID I EAT ALL OF THAT CANDY??

If you are suffering a chocolate hangover you need to re-group; dump the candy and say no to your candy pushing co-workers who are trying to unload their candy.

Did you read my last email?  3 fun size pieces of candy will cost you 20 minutes of jogging!  Do the math: You had a couple before trick or treating + a couple during trick or treating + a few more during the sorting process x the number of kids you have equals…A LOT OF BOOT CAMP TO BURN THAT CHOCOLATE OFF

I know the internal conversation you had with yourself….”oooohhh that kind is my favourite” or “I will just have this one!” Bet you said this “Well, I have had so many what’s one more?!”

I see so many of you that work soooo hard at boot camp but then you tell me that you had wings, wine, candy, (or insert whatever bad food here) and you wonder why you are not losing weight.  The reason is simple!  You keep sabotaging yourself!!!! When you come to boot camp and bring your A game, give it your all, you are burning the crap that you ate that day.  You never get to that stored fat.  Think about that!  All your work is to just maintain.

So if you start your day with a latte, then have a muffin add a bagel and some pasta for dinner, you come to boot camp and you might burn through half of those calories.  You don’t burn the stuff you want to get rid of off of your thighs, tummy or backside, BUT you keep doing it.  Why?? You are choosing food, junk food, you are letting the food control you.

IT ALL STOPS TODAY………..

Make the commitment to change your eating habits, dump the junk, drink the water that you need and exercise!!!!

Halloween is over and it likely was a scary night with all of the reckless eating but onwards my friends……

Candy is not your friend.  I am…so start listening to me!!!

Halloween Hangover remedy:

LOTS of water–eat real food, (lean protein, veggies) and get moving (show up to boot camp).

We have 7 weeks until Christmas…..that means a lot of parties, dinners, get-together, cakes, cookies, drinks, it means you need to pull it together!!  No maintaining through that! That is the recipe for waistline disaster.

Starting NOW it’s game on.  No more fooling around.  No more making excuses why you can’t.  No more giving in to food weaknesses.  No more nonsense.

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