What is your biggest challenge with your fitness?

I love to exercise!!! Sometimes I let life get in the way and I miss a few days... which can turn into a few weeks and I wonder why I feel so lazy and lethargic... then I usually kick myself in the butt and get back on track!  I am lucky as I enjoy to work out and I KNOW how much better I will feel after than initial shock to the system of exercising regularly again.  The crazy thing is... you TOO will feel better after that initial shock!  It is just getting through those first few days of sore muscles and keeping at it!  Energy will increase, body will respond... you will feel great, I promise!!!  What do you enjoy doing?  Find a way to turn it into a workout.  Let me help you find a program that will work for YOU!  Take a look at this link and let me know what looks FUN to you. 

My area of weakness though is eating!  I LOVE cupcakes!  A few years ago when I lost 30 pounds I used amazing will power and through healthy eating, portion control and restricting calories - along with exercise- I dropped the weight pretty quickly!  Now I am trying to lose a little body fat, find my six pack and feel comfortable in all of my clothes, but I am not approaching it with the same passion I did when I "needed" to drop the weight!  Now it isn't so much for health but for vanity... and my passion for food is pretty strong too!  So is the calling of the glass of wine at the end of a long day :)

I have been planning, on and off for 6 months, to search for that hidden six pack again.  I have taken on the challenge of a new program, ChaLEAN Extreme, and am feeling my muscles getting stronger, but I need to take a few more steps with my nutrition.  I eat healthy food, I limit my treats, I only have a few glasses of wine a week, but I eat often.  Eating often is good... they recommend 2-3 hours between snacks/ small meals but I tend to grab a piece of fruit, a handful of almonds, a hunk of protein bar... pretty much whenever I walk through the kitchen! So guess what... Tomorrow has arrived!!!

My Challenge to myself: To actually reach that 2 hour mark between eating!  To resist snacking after dinner and instead make myself a cup of tea!  To make a small meal rather than standing at the counter eating out of the bag and consuming an unknown amount of calories!  To only have 2 cups of coffee a day!  To chew on a piece of gum instead of another handful of almonds!  To appreciate the phenomenal nutrition in my daily Shakeology and enjoy every last drop!  To enjoy my workouts and help as many people learn to love theirs too :)

What is your biggest challenge and how can I help you find a way to conquer it?  I would love to help, just sign up for the FREE membership at www.GetFitWithNicola.com OR select the club membership with some great features including nutrition tools and meal planning.  Learn more about it here.

What to eat, when to eat and how much to eat?

These are some of the questions that we ask as we try to lose weight, try to maintain weight and just try to stay healthy.  There are so many "rules" thrown at us that it really gets quite confusing!  I have been working on this for years!!!  Trying to determine what "rules" make the most sense, work the best for me and seem to help the most people!  I do have a degree in science, so I have some brains to go along with this experience, just in case you were questioning my background ;)
What to eat?  The best advice for this is to eat clean!  Fruits, Vegetables, Whole grains, unprocessed and natural!  If it comes in a bag, look for ingredients that you can pronounce!!!  If there are a bunch of preservatives it probably isn't what you need!  Avoid white---white sugar, white flour, white rice...these are very processed, quick to digest and have calories but insignificant nutrition that your body needs to excel! 
When to eat?  Every 2-3 hours to achieve 5 smaller meals a day!  Determine your caloric needs based on your height, weight and activity level, and either divide these needs by 5 if you plan for 5 meals a day, or take off two 100 calorie snacks and divide the difference by 3 larger meals.  I tend to eat a little bit more at dinner as that is our "family" meal, so I save a bit more for dinner time.  There are so many place you can go to online to look for calorie counters, recommendations, etc.  The Beachbody site is great for determining what you need, they have meal plans if you sign up as a Team member.  Livestrong.com has a great resource called the Daily Plate that has some basic information.  All of the Beachbody programs come with nutrition plans and recommendations about what to eat when and of course how much.  Always look at the nutrition information on the food you buy!  Especially at portion size, as often a packet you may think is one portion is in fact 2.5! 
Are you getting enough vegetables in your diet?  I found a perfect solution to make sure I get all of my protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals, phytochemicals and antioxidants, super-green foods, prebiotics, digestive enzymes, and just about everything else your body could ever need!  It is called Shakeology!
Nutrition is up to 75% of the equation when you are trying to lose weight!  If you exercise for 2 hours and then dive into a big mac at McDonalds you might as well have skipped the workout and eaten crackers and cheese! It is time to focus on what you want to do for your body, how you want your body to look next year, even next month, and how healthy you want your body to be!
Good exercise and nutrition can be a natural immune enhancer and can lead to a longer and healthier life...isn't that what you want for yourself.  Make the decision to help yourself!  Contact me if you would like some support!

got kids?

Kids keep us busy, kids keep us moving, kids keep us awake, but do kids get us fit?  Not so much!
It is often our children that get us overweight due to pregnancy.  It is often our kid's snacks that help keep us overweight as we snack on them when we are too overtired to make healthier food from them keeping us awake at night...anything hitting with you here?  It isn't actually our kid's that got us here, it is us! 
A big part is because when we had kids our priorities changed.  All of a sudden our needs got put on the back burner so we could focus on that parenting thing!  It's all good.  Being an attentive and loving parent is a very important part of raising wonderful children.  Do you know another important part?  Being a good role model!  They watch everything we do!  If we cuss and yell and hit, they tend to do those things too....likewise if we are kind and loving and helpful, they tend to pick us these great traits.  Do you know what else they notice?  What we do in our spare time and what we eat!  They notice if we are active and exercise, they notice if we are overweight, they notice if we eat our vegetables, they notice if we finish the cookies!  How do you think it is going to effect them?  They will probably mimic what we do, or whatever we were doing in their early years!  Does this help you decide if you are going to sit on the couch and eat potato chips on Sunday afternoon or try to go for a family bike ride?  Hopefully!
It isn't just what you do with them, it is what you do for yourself all the time as well.  You need to make yourself a priority!  Parenting is hard work and sometimes you need to take a break and look after you!  In that schedule crammed full of kid's activities and house cleaning and grocery shopping and laundry and work...you need to fit in some EXERCISE!  This may mean a trip to the gym while the kids are at school, this may mean an early morning run before work (or your spouse goes to work), this may mean carving an hour for an at home fitness program either when the kids are home or while they are at school!  You just need to find the time!
Putting it in your schedule helps it become nonnegotiable!  So make yourself a priority, focus on your health and fitness and be a great role model for your children. 
I can recommend some great fitness programs with minimal equipment that are great to do at home and will get you great results when combined with healthy nutrition! (all come with nutrition plans and suggestions).
Slim in 6
Yoga Booty Ballet
Turbo Jam
Brazil Butt Lift
All of these programs are easy to start from a beginner level, but also incorporate more advanced moves as you progress in your fitness.  I would love to tell you more about them.
If you are ready to help your nutrition, check out Shakeology.  A great supplement with superior ingredients to any supplements you will find on a store shelf.  Tastes like a dessert but acts like a salad!  Check out some of the info.  I love it!

Work it hard!

It is amazing that a mere 20 minutes of hard exercise 6 days a week can help you reach your physical peak in 60 days!  No added weights, no equipment...just plain hard work! This is what I am learning while doing Insanity.
I think this shows that people typically don't work to their potential when they exercise!  A walk on the treadmill, a short run, a few weights...sure that is OK on a rest day!  Or if you are just trying to add a touch of fitness to your world!  A great way to judge how hard you are working is not the number on the treadmill, not the number on the weight, not the number on the scale, but the number, on a scale of one to ten, that you feel you are exerting energy- your Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE).  One being sitting on the couch, 10 being very high heart rate, can't catch your breath...over the top exertion.  In the same activity one person's RPE may be 5 while another's is 8.  It is very dependent on your fitness level, your endurance, your health!  So don't look at how hard the person next to you is working and think that will work for you...think about what you are doing and how you feel and if you can push yourself that little bit harder.  If you get exhausted you can stop and take a little break...you will recover and carry on...if you don't push yourself to a point you need a break, maybe you didn't push yourself far enough!
Slow and easy can definitely get you results, there is no doubt about that, but for most people time is an issue!  I don't have time to spend an hour and a half exercising 5 days a week! So my choice is to work as hard as I can for the time I have allotted in my calendar for that day!  Planning ahead to meet your goals!  
Sometimes it is at different times each day as I have a specific class I would like to attend or a friend I would like to work out with!  That goes in the calendar!  Right now I have dedicated myself to a program which is approximately 45 minutes a day, 6 days a week.  I will also have Turbo Kick and my Bakersfield Loser class on Wednesday night!  For me, that is a lot!!! But you just need to find what works for you "right now" to reach whatever goals you have set for yourselves!  Then you adjust again when you need to. 
If you would like any personalized encouragement, please contact me through my beachbody site or would like to ask questions on my message board, I would be more than happy to help you figure out what will work best for you!

Why are you need seeing changes on that scale?

There are so many factors that come into play with that number on the scale! But it is such an important number to us when you are trying to lose weight....ESPECIALLY when you are in a weight loss competition like the Bakersfield Loser!  In the grand scheme of things, your measurements are more important!  How your clothes are fitting, how you are feeling...but those things aren't going to win you money ;) 
They key things are exercise---are you working hard enough, are you working long enough, are you burning enough calories?  AND nutrition---are you eating within your target calorie range, are your calories comprised of the right foods.  Lets break those down a little bit!
Exercise-fat burns calories while you do nothing.  Soooo, build muscle to lose fat!  The same weight of muscle takes up less room than the same weight of fat---so this will make your clothes fit better while your weight stays the same!  So you got here by lifting more and heavier weight...perfect, but if you still have a lot of weight to lose, you are going to have to start burning some of that fat OFF, not just trading it in for muscle.  The extra muscle will help with increased calorie burn, but to speed up the process add CARDIO!  Get that heart rate up for longer periods of time!  Walk fast on an incline on the treadmill, cruise on the elliptical (if they are all full, try one of the express gyms or come off peak hours), try the Jacob's ladder!!!  An hour of cardio a day may be what you need to get that fat burning off....but real cardio, a brisk pace not a Sunday stroll...there is money at stake here people :)  You need to push yourselves to progress!
Nutrition- some say that nutrition can have much more influence on weight loss than exercise!  So you can work yourself into the ground but if you leave the gym and hit McDonalds on the way home what have you really accomplished?  Every item that enters your body makes a difference!  Pay attention to every bite you take, every crumb that passes your lips!  Make those calories count, work to find healthy foods that you enjoy, find recipes to make them palatable, as these are the foods you are going to want to eat for the rest of your lives.  You may be in high restriction mode while you are trying to lose weight at a high rate, but you need to be careful it doesn't lead to bingeing!  and then you need to adjust your diet so it makes you happy.  Life isn't fun if you can never eat what you want.  A slice or two of pizza on occasion shouldn't be a sin, a piece of chocolate cake shouldn't be eaten hidden under the table...moderation is the key, portion control, and a healthy balance.  I recently wrote a blog about some healthy food choices, there will be more to come!  There are so many resources on the internet for nutrition, diet, food choices.  Take the time for you, look, learn and find out how you can help yourself be healthier today, tomorrow and for the rest of your lives!

How are those goals?

We are in the third full week of January 2010!  How is the new decade working for you?  You should have your feet and most of your body wet with your new routines (and the rain if you live in California ;)).  Now is about the time that people start to lose interest in these plans they have set in motion, these goals they would like to meet, these new lifestyle they have striven to live!  How about you?
I returned from my Christmas holidays of little exercise (which I blamed on the cold weather, lack of a gym and lack of time), lots of sugar and red wine (it was Christmas, why not indulge a little), and with a nasty cough and cold!  Hmmmm.  Bloated, scale up a little and sick...not so good.  I made some goals to get back to the exercising 4+ days a week, eat healthier (maybe cut out wine at least during the week)-less desserts, more veggies, and stay healthy!  I am training for a half marathon...which is in 5 short days (yikes it better stop raining down south), so that has ensured I keep moving.  I have plans to increase my weight lifting once I recover from my race and I am hoping to challenge my body to P90X...designed to transform my body from regular to ripped in 90 short days!!!  In attempt to improve digestion, health and workout recovery I am starting a supplement called Shakeology.  You drink it as a shake and it boasts to increase energy, regularity, weight loss, and to make you feel great!  Not cheap but if it does all that, I think it may be a keeper.  I will give the Shakeology a few weeks with regular exercise before I start P90X, just so I don't get the results confused and I will let you know how it goes.  These two products are both produced by Beachbody and you can ask me more about them or learn more on my website.
So enough about me, what are you doing to keep yourself focused on this crazy thing called exercise and getting/staying fit?  If you want to keep yourself accountable you can join the message board on the Beachbody site...for free...and I will get on there daily, post these blogs there too, and we can chat about how you are doing and where you want to progress to.  Right now my thread is called "Working out in Bakersfield", but you don't need to be from Bakersfield to join in!  www.bakofit.com
Let me know how you are doing and how I can help you!

Why aren't you seeing any results?

I know why I'm not seeing instant results...it would be my love affair with food!  I have a nice balance right now of hard exercise and healthy eating...but ice cream, red wine and chocolate are never too far away!!!  In one sense it is OK.  My weight is stable, my clothes fit and I feel good...BUT  I would still like to tone out my mid section and lose a little of my lower booty so my new pants aren't quite as snug.  It is time to cut out back on my treats until I reach some goals I think...then I can add them back in moderation!

Now why aren't YOU seeing results? 
How is your food intake?  Is there a time of day when your resistence is low?  Are you eating three solid meals a day or cutting back so much that you are STARVING by the end of the day and end up eating enough for 4 people?  Experts are recommending we eat 5-6 times a day to keep our metabolism active at all times.  3 meals and 2-3 snacks.  The hard part about that is cutting back on each meal a bit so our calorie intake stays the same when we add in the snacks.  and DON'T FORGET BREAKFAST!!! 
Are you drinking enough water?  Water gets everything moving in our body, it helps us feel fuller, and it is so much better for you than soda, diet soda, juice, coffee...carry a bottle with you all day long!
Are you really exercising?  Unless you have an injury, are just starting on your exercise journey or are cooling down, there is no reason to be walking on the treadmill and watching TV!  If you want to lose you need to MOVE!  Running, pushing hard on the elliptical, riding a bike with high resistance...there are lots of ways to do it.  In order to make it fun though you really need to mix it up.  Have you tried any classes at the gym?  TurboKick would be my favorite cardio-works the core, great music, fun moves...but spinning is another great one for cardio.  A PUMP class for weight lifting.  A cross training class with weights and cardio is awesome...keep the heart rate up to get even more fat burning going on and you don't usually lift as long for each set so you can go HEAVY!!!  When you work though you need to work HARD!  Work up a sweat, go so hard you are panting...if you start getting light headed slow down, but kick it up again when you can.  Your muscles are supposed to burn when you are lifting, just work through it and you will be rewarded with stronger muscles.--You will quickly learn the difference between a muscle burn and PAIN!  Pain is bad...stop what you are doing and make sure your form is correct and ask for help!
Ask yourself these questions when you feel the need to rest---Am I about to pass out?  Have I seen anyone else pass out who is doing the same exercise as me?  Can I keep going a little bit longer?  The answers are probably No, No and Yes!!!!!
The harder you work out in the time you have the more results you will see....I promise you!  As long as you don't have two bowls of ice cream for dessert to celebrate of course ;)

Exercise doesn't have to be in the gym!!!

sI do tend to focus on gym type exercise, but there are many many things you can do to work up a sweat outside of the gym...OTHER than running.
A bike ride through the park, down the bike trail, through the countryside. Road bike or mountain bike, they both do the trick. Speed isn't everything, just getting those legs moving is what matters!
A walk around the block with your dog...a little further is good, a little faster than you used to maybe, it is good for you AND your dog :)
A hike up that beautiful mountain...you may have to drive to that mountain if you live in Bakersfield but a lot of you have mountains not too far away. Get your children used to hiking and biking and walking and moving. I remember everything always seemed so far away...we need to get the kids to learn to love to move from early on so it just becomes part of life...and a fun part of life at that.
Rock climbing, skiing, snow shoeing, swimming, bouncing on the trampoline....they are all exercise! A little gym exercise to go along with these will make them even more fun...just think, your quads might not be burning quite so much when you get to the bottom of that ski hill if you add squats into your exercise regimen. You might be able to make it a little further up that rock wall if you add pull ups, pull downs and a few other upper body strengtheners in. And you won't be quite as quick to get double bounced off the trampoline if you add in some high energy cardio more often!
Exercise can be fun even if you don't like to hit the gym...you can also make that fun exercise MORE fun and less tiring if you do hit the gym and build up the appropriate muscles and your endurance!
It is almost time to look for sledding hills----but every time you slide down you need to climb back up to the top, so why not get prepared! squats, lunges, stair climbing, running....and why not throw in some TurboKick :)

Too many distractions, not enough time for exercise!

It is amazing how you can have plans to get to the gym and three days later (sometimes two weeks later), you still haven't made it.  Husband working, kids are sick, dogs need walking, no groceries in the house, house needs cleaning, it's Halloween...it is amazing the number of excuses I can come up with!  The biggest issue for a lot of people at this time of year is weather and health!
It is getting colder out and everyone seems to be getting sick!  The neighbors, the lady at the cash register at Target, the teacher, my kids....ME!!!  This is the season that can mess with your workout routine for many reasons, but a big one is ILLNESS!  If your kids aren't sick and you aren't sick, you are probably worried about getting sick!  The best way to stay healthy is not hiding out in your house, but keeping going while using a little caution and common sense. 
At the store take advantage of those sani wipes by the door and wipe off the cart handles, keep your hands off your face at ALL times and buy some of that alcohol hand wash to keep in your car to clean off your hands every time you sit back in the driver's seat (do your kid's hands too). 
Get enough sleep.  8 hours of sleep can be difficult to get some nights, but sleep can help keep you healthy AND it can also help you see more results from exercise!!!
Eat nutritiously!  Fruits and veggies may get more expensive at this time of year, but keep them front and center in your diet!  You can add in a multivitamin and a big dose of Vitamin C!  Vitamin D is also a big one for health and fitness-if you don't get much sun make sure you are getting some in your diet!  I will give you the low down on D in my next blog!  Take it easy on the sugar, the white flour and rice...stick with whole grains...if it is a brown carb it is probably better for you than the white one....especially the white one smothered in cheese or butter and brown sugar :)
If you do get sick make sure you let your body rest a bit!  If you want to keep moving take it easy, maybe some walking, some lighter than usual weights, but listen to your body...not the part that says chocolate will help me feel better, but the part that says it needs more time to get better!!! 
If you are fit, eating and sleeping well and enjoying your life you are less likely to get sick!  Positive attitude is an amazing thing!
Keep up the hard work...have you done your pushups yet today?

Keep it moving but don't hurt yourselves ;)

So my official injury seems to be a pulled or torn quadratis femoris muscle.  It is a deep and small muscle that connects between the femur and the ischial tuberosity (pelvis).  The physical therapist has me building up the hip muscles around it as it is responsible for lateral rotation and helping adduct the thigh at the hip.  It was feeling better after my half marthon (maybe the other pains minimized this pain ;)), but after my last session my butt started aching again.  Could have something to do with all that kicking in TurboKick...you don't say!
Well, after my half marathon I was inspired to not slow on my exercise, so I taught my two TK classes, added a day of heavy weights...man have I missed that, then I went running on Saturday.  What did that Nike blog say to do post racing...take a week off...oh right!!!
But, I accepted a challenge to run 10K on Saturday...can't back down to a challenge can I?  My only free time was at 8am while my son played soccer, so I hit the bike trail and ran my 10K and was able to catch the end of the game.  But by later in the day I had new pain....my lower inner hamstring and upper calf...hobble hobble hobble.  Rolled it out on my foam roller...a great tool for sore muscles I might add and carried on.  I postponed my Monday therapist appointment so see if I would improve by Wednesday.  Taught TK on Tuesday without a problem, and went to therapy today...for my leg not my mental stability Elizabeth ;)  Different therapist massaged into my hip and butt and was able to loosen that quadratis femoris muscle, feels amazing right now...and the new injuries are easing up.  They haven't told me to slow my exercising so as long as I can move it's all good...I think :) 
Sooooo, work through pains and pulls but take it easy.  You will get sore as you add new exercises so add moderately, but don't be a wimp.  A little burning while you lift is good...shooting pain is not...this should always tell you to stop!!!!!  The day or two after new or hard exercise may lead to aching muscles...stretch, walk, work through it.  You need to help the lactic acid get out of your muscles so sitting still isn't going to speed up your recovery.  Have a hot shower or bath to loosen up and get moving again!
Keep working towards those goals you have set!

GOALS!

The best way to get yourself rolling on a new exercise plan is to set yourself some goals! 

I have set a few exercise goals over the past few years:  In November of 2006 my friend Shelley suggested we join the gym to work off the weight of two pregnancies, I jumped at the encouragement and we set the goal of "going to the gym" and seeing where it got us.  It wasn't long before we challenged all of our friends to a weight loss competition.  Who can lose the highest percentage of weight in 2 months.  I narrowly beat out my competition, but that was just the beginning.  I set a lofty goal of reaching 170 pounds, 10 pounds less than I have ever been in my adult life.  I dropped 25 pounds within 8 months of starting my journey at the gym and have maintained that weight for over 2 years now. ( Note-I am 6 feet tall )

Last spring I signed up to run a half marathon (13.1 miles) on October 18th.  That would be in a week and a half from now, yikes!!!  I have continued my regular exercise program which is TurboKick twice a week, plus a class with weights when I can fit it in.  I have added some running when I can and pulled out 8 miles last weekend.  Finishing that half marathon will be another goal attained.  I have already signed up for my next half marathon in January....anyone want to join me in Carlsbad?
I do have a new goal that I have started working towards.  I would like to get rid of that last roll, the muffin top, that protrudes when I do up my favorite pair of jeans.  So reducing my body fat.  This will take a combination of cardio, which I do a fait amount of, weight training, which I am working on increasing, and healthy eating.  I eat a healthy diet, but I tend to snack with my kids, I rarely say no to a cookie or a piece of chocolate cake, but maybe I can  resist for two months!  Anyone care to join me in a healthy eating, just say no plan for two months?  They say that if you can say no to sugar for a week the rest is easy!

Goals can be big and outrageous, but starting small is always a good idea.  Plan to walk for 30 minutes once a week, once you get that under your belt increase it to 2 days a week...once it becomes habit or something you make time for one your planner you can make it happen.  You make sure you get to work on time, you get your kids to school on time, you get to your doctors or dentist appointments on time, so just treat your exercise the same way.  Work at it for the next month then you can add to it! 
Those of you already active make sure your exercise plan is written down and don't be afraid to mix it up.  Add some extra weight when you weight train-the more muscle you have, the more fat you burn ALL THE TIME!  Running is great, but you need to add some hills, speed it up or run a bit longer if you want so see more positive results.  Your body adapts so you have to keep challenging it!
And if you want a good dose of cardio, come to my TurboKick class-Tuesday mornings at 8:30, Wednesday evenings at 6 at Body Xchange on Calloway and Rosedale.