Tag Archives: fabulous five steps for cleaner living

Confessions of an addict

Posted on February 17, 2011 | 18 Comments

There was a lot of great feedback from my last blog post.  Thank you for that.  Who knew that me talking about my stretch marks would interest anyone!

Fitness is my passion.  I love that a body can change.  I love that you can get noticeably stronger within a week of being diligent with exercise; that is a big deal people!!!  Re-read that!  You can get noticeably stronger within a week of being diligent with exercise.

I love being a part of everyone’s journey.  I love, I mean I LOVE seeing someone start boot camp who hasn’t worked out in a while and within weeks is churning out push-ups.  People that could only walk when they started are running in a short period of time.  I love that I get to be a part of that.  I get to be a part of that transformation.

ADDICTION: When one cookie is never enough

My journey in health is an ongoing one.  Here is something that I have never talked about….I am an addict.

I didn’t get to 225lbs as a teenager because of some medical condition….I ate my way there. When I got pregnant the first time,  I ate my way to a 60lb weight gain…and then repeated that (and then some) when I was pregnant with the twins.

My addiction?  Food.  I have a food addiction.  There I said it, in print.  I’ve tried to be cute about it.  I have called myself a “foodie” or “food expert”.  Oh yeah, expert.  If you do enough of anything, you can call yourself and expert and I ate enough of everything and anything!

Here is the thing with a food addiction; you can’t get away from it.  You need food to survive.  Drugs, alcohol, and other addictions, (even the creepy ones from that show Addiction on TLC-which by the way I am oddly fascinated by) can be taken out of your life and you live.  You can’t do that with food.  Take food away and the result is really dramatic, death.   So everyday, and I mean everyday, it’s a challenge for me to make good decisions.  I know what to do and I do it but boy some days I do struggle.  When I say, I know how you feel, I really do.  I battle my addiction hourly.

I don’t keep junky food in the house, because I will eat it.  Recovering crack addicts don’t leave crack on the counter, stretch analogy I know, but junk food is my crack.  Think of it this way, food is everywhere.  I have to go grocery shopping a few times a week.  I go a list in hand, focused on the goal;  To get in and get out with what is on the list.

Think about Costco…..oh lord….Costco, how I love you but once I walk in I have to go into a trance like state.  If it’s not the nice ladies offering food samples at every friggin’ isle, then it’s that bakery making their ginormous muffins. (*shaking my fists*, dang you Costco and those ginormous muffins).

If you are a crack addict, you have to go looking for crack.  It is not readily available, it is not in your office (hopefully). People don’t bring it to your house (again, I hope they don’t).

Food is everywhere and so many things are focused around it.  Weddings, birthdays, new job, new house, baby, newly pregnant and on and on.  And just when you think you’ve celebrated everything possible with food, people look for more ways to celebrate things with food.  Ever been invited to a pre-kindergarten graduation party??

“HELLO!”, food addict here, could we find a way to celebrate around something that doesn’t scream at me?  How about a nice buffet table of, I don’t know…floral arrangements?  All the self-talk I have to do to get thru some of these “celebrations” is tough.

The question I get a lot is “what do you eat?”  If not that question, it is the statement “I bet all you eat is vegetables”.

Listen, you put a red velvet cupcake within arms length of me, watch out….I can have that sucker inhaled in seconds when my willpower is at a zero.

Some foods are my kryptonite, scratch that…one thing is my kryptonite….sugar……sugar brings me to my knees….cold sweats, internal negotiating, justifications, the shakes…..it is quite exhausting.

One thing that helps me, is knowing (and remembering) how absolutely crappy it felt to be 225.  I hated everything, and how every time I squeezed into size 18/20 pants it destroyed a little piece of me.

All the candy or red velvet cake in the world will never be worth going back to being bigger, or the feelings that brought about.

If you take away anything from this, take this……I have more energy and I am happy because I am at a healthy weight.

I also think about my family.  I LOVE my husband and my kids more than anything…and I don’t want my health or my addiction to affect my life with them. I want to live a long life.

So if you are struggling with your weight and you justify having that cake, the extra glass of wine or the fries…your body will never change.   You will always be tired and have lower energy then you could otherwise have.  You will always be looking for that next diet, magic pill, potion or lotion.  It’s really that simple.

If I can do it, you can do it too, believe that!!

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Posted in Inspiration, Nutrition

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Why you should supplement with Omega 3′s

Posted on June 2, 2010 | 1 Comment

One of the most talked about nutritional components out there for the last few years is Omega 3 Fatty Acids.  They have really only been on the radar of science for about twenty five years although they have been known about much longer than that.

The reason that they are so talked about, is they are one of the few supplements that has not come under fire for all the bad they do to while offering just a few benefits.  The reality is just the opposite.  It is difficult to find any negative information about them, while the benefits are abundant.

Omega 3′s come from several sources but the most well-known are fatty fish like Salmon and Tuna, Eggs and grains like Flax and Hempseed.

There are several reasons that I include Omega 3′s in my nutritional plan.  The original reason was during my first pregnancy, I like any other ‘Mom to Be’, picked up books on how to best care for my growing baby.  Omega 3′s were touted as being excellent for the development of the brain and spine of Jr.  The human brain is about 60% fat (remember calling someone a fat head – not all that wrong were ‘ya) and around half of that is DHA Omega 3′s, so it stands to reason that the best way to feed the brain is with its most common element.

But the benefits don’t just stop there:

1. Pain Relief

2. Anti-Inflamatory

3. Higher Intelligence

4. Better Brain Function

5. Mood Elevator

6. Anti-depressant

7. Better Cardio Vascular Function

8. Cardio Vascular Disease Fighter

9.Immune System Strength

10. Fat Burner

11. Metabolism Booster

I think that right there is a pretty good list.

I recommend that you try to get as much of your nutrition from foods, so here is a list of things you should be eating, but sometimes for some people supplements are the way to go.  Always get the best quality that you can.

Tuna, Salmon, Cod, Grouper, Snapper, Flaxseed, Butternuts, Hempseed, Walnuts, Pecans, Hazel Nuts, Grass fed animals.



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Posted in Nutrition

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Are you Toxic?

Posted on April 20, 2010 | 5 Comments

It really isn’t fair that the last couple of posts have been about telling you what you should avoid or minimize in your diet. (Remember diet means the nutrition you intake in the form of food, supplements and water…not the removal of foods you eat.)

So to be fair, here is a post not about what you need to avoid, but instead how you can clean the junk out of your body….DETOXIFICATION!!

I know what you’re thinking “Woo hoo.  Carrie’s going to talk about bodily functions…I think I’ll leave now.”  If you know anything about me, you know that is a road I’m not going down.

A lot of people have a preconceived notion about detoxing.  But I’ve noticed that not too many really know what it’s all about.  You take some pills, some powders, some potions, go to the bathroom for a week and, “TA DA” 20 less pounds of rotting meat gone from your bowels.  What you just read is called marketing, sales copy or smoke and mirrors.  It doesn’t happen like that and have you ever noticed the disclaimer, “Results may vary.” That is about the most honest part of those infomercials.

Detoxing is so much more than that and here is the surprise…it can’t truly be done!!!

Breathing? You are creating toxins. Moving? You are creating toxins.  Alive? You are creating toxins.  You are a carbon based life form.  Everything you do creates a toxin within you one way or another.

Sure, you can be sold on expensive products that claim to detoxify you.  You can try all sorts of potions that make promises that just can’t be kept, OR, you can make some sensible choices, that are good, good for you, easy on your wallet and can be easily integrated into your life.

The Fabulous Five Steps to Cleaner Living

  1. Pump up the morning coffee by drinking a cup of green tea before or after it.  Make your tea and coffee with distilled water.  Repeat the tea 3 times per day.
  2. Make all your snacks in the raw…no not that kind of raw…without cooking them.  Veggies, fruits, nuts, lentils, etc – unprocessed, organic and colourful.
  3. One meal of your day should be a large leafy salad.  Spinach, broccoli, kale, with sprouts, berries, fruit, etc.
  4. Three high quality, lean meat proteins per day with a supplement of a protein shake. (Insert product placement here) Health and Fitness Systems Protein, formulated by and only available from ME!!
  5. Water, water, water.  One glass of water every time you eat.  Thats 3 snacks and 3 meals = 6 glasses, (normal size…not one liter jugs or gallon mugs)

That’s it! Pretty simple right?

Anyone can handle that. You will lose weight, clean tissues and feel better…ok and yes, you will spend quality time in your bathroom!

These last few reminders really go without saying, but I’ll say them.

Reduce: Sugar, processed carbs, unhealthy fat

Eliminate: Alcohol, Tobacco, Stress

When you do the Fabulous Five and compliment that with Boot Camp or sensible exercise, I will guarantee your results.  The more committed you are, the greater the results are that you will experience.

Have you ever tried a Detox Program.  Were the results all that you were told they will be?  Let me know, I’d love to hear about the experiences.

Clean and clear!

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