Genetics--That's not why you're overweight

As a personal trainer, I hear more often than not, "I just have bad genetics." Whenever I hear that, I'd like to respond with, "No, you just have a bad attitude." Let's set something straight here: Genetics don't make you fat. PERIOD.

Genetics give you the body type you have, your shape, and yes, even a predisposition to WHERE your fat will lie on your body. For instance, when i gain weight, the first place it goes is my butt/hips. That's genetics (and scientifically, it's part of being female). Some women gain it in their belly first; some women, in their boobs. HOWEVER, one more time: GENETICS DON'T MAKE YOU FAT.

So, what does make you fat? Here's a list:

• Your lifestyle
• The food you put in your mouth
• Excuses

By 'lifestyle,' I mean what you do on a daily basis. Are you sedentary? Are you active? I sit at a computer ALL. DARN. DAY. (As does most of the working population.) But I make it a point to get up and move at least every 30 minutes. I have a nifty little device called a 'Jawbone' which has an alarm on it. If i'm sedentary for more than 30 minutes, it buzzes on my wrist--reminding me to get up and move. I'll usually get up and do squats. (Always gotta work those glutes!) If you need a reminder, then set your Outlook to ding a few times a day! Heck, get up and walk to the water machine and get a cup of water--do SOMETHING to get moving.

The food you put in your mouth: The easiest thing to change, yet people have the hardest time with this. Eat clean. Eat clean. Eat clean. And one more time: EAT CLEAN. That means no: white flour, enriched flour, white sugar. Remove those few things from your diet, and you're pretty much golden. AND i promise you--you'll see a difference in your body within a week. No, not some kind of crazy, magical, weight-loss promise--A REAL PROMISE. Take care of your body by feeding it right, and your body will thank you by reducing bloat and functioning on a higher level. You'll feel better, sleep better, and look better!

Excuses: I have heard them all. They range from the usual, "I just don't have the time" to the lamest of all, "I'm just too tired to exercise or eat right." WHAT??? You're kidding me, right? With 2 kids, a full-time job, homeschooling (thank God we're out for summer), competitive gymnastics, theatre, piano, Girl Scouts, etc., I have an entire reel of excuses I could use. But I don't. You know why? BECAUSE THEY'RE EXCUSES. Quit making them. You shouldn't have a flippin' excuse for not treating yourself right. It's just as easy to walk around the block than it is to sit your butt on the couch and watch tv. And guess what? If you're tired before you walk around the block, you're going to be tired when you sit down to watch tv, too. Choose the better option. Don't sit there and tell yourself you're too tired to eat something healthy because 'McDonald's is faster,' or 'a frozen pizza is easier.' You're kidding, right? Believe me, I have days when I can't cook; honestly, most days. But we always have healthy options! Our favorite: Amy's Organic Burritos. Clean and tasty. Kashi Organic pizzas--yum. Oatmeal--i'm surprised we're not pooping straight oats. Snacks: mini carrots, fruit, greek yogurt...the list goes on. It's NOT HARD. Don't be a lazy eater.

Do you want it? Do you WANT to be healthier?? Than you've got to make changes. YOU'VE got to commit to change. Don't fall into unhealthy habits, and break the unhealthy habits you DO have. You can do it.

I did it. :)

Steph 

Fitness depression

A very dear friend of mine admitted to feeling depressed today. And, of course, I got to thinking....which is quite scary.

To be honest, most days, I am a pretty positive person. I annoy the crap out of my husband, because I'm so positive. But, my positivity comes from a time when I wasn't so positive. It's a "learned" positive, if you will. And, when I say 'I'm positive,' I don't mean that I'm always happy-go-lucky, because i'm certainly not. Just like most parents, I get frustrated with my kids, I often feel overwhelmed, and sometimes i feel like i'm just not doing a good enough job. Don't we all? And, sometimes, I feel like i'm not doing a good enough job with my health and fitness.

Example: Today (yes, TODAY), I didn't want to work out. I wasn't feeling motivated to do it, and honestly, I would have rather sat here and tweeted about cloud computing or integrated lights-out (fun stuff). But I KNEW that if i didn't work out, i'd 1) be in a crappy mood 2) be extra cranky with my kids 3) feel depressed about it 4) feel squishy. So, i MADE myself workout. And did Insanity Max Interval Training, for crying out loud. The entire warmup, i was bitching to myself in my head. "I don't want to do this," "UGH, this is awful!" etc. etc. But I DID it. No, it wasn't my best workout ever, and after I finished, I felt like I was going to die, but I feel proud of myself that i did it. But see numbers 1-4 above? Those things won't happen now. I guess the whole point of my story is, that sometimes, the 'depression' that we allow to creep up on us can be wiped out by MAKING ourselves take action.

90% of the depression that people face can most likely be fixed. Maybe not immediately, but it CAN be fixed. Example no. 2: We're on the Dave Ramsey plan to wipe out our debt. Anyone else? It's not overnight. But last April, I got sick and freakin' tired of working so hard and not having any money, so we got on the plan. Are we debt-free? No. Are we on our way? YEP. Is that "money depression" gone? Absolutely. Because i know we're on our way to beating that monster down!

Back to fitness: If you feel depressed about how you look or how you feel, then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!! If you're saying, "Well, i'm too out of shape to do P90X/Insanity/fill in the blank," you're making excuses. Can you walk? Get out there and do it. Did you know that one of Beachbody's BEST coaches was (and often still is) confined to a wheelchair? She was depressed and feeling bad about her multiple sclerosis. She did P90X! FROM A WHEELCHAIR. There's another guy in the P90X dvds that has a prostethic leg. He did the program with one leg, people. All the excuses I ever had for my fitness depression seem so paltry now.

But, here's the key to it all: the way you look doesn't define you. Heck, your general health doesn't define you. BUT..the way you feel about yourself shows. If you feel depressed, people will notice it. You can only put on a happy face for so long. Give yourself the gift of health. Just get mad at yourself, and let yourself know that YOU ARE NOT GOING TO DEAL WITH FITNESS DEPRESSION any longer. YOU are an amazing person. YOU are worth it. YOUR body deserves to be treated right.

<3

Asylum...it's almost here!

Read Steve Edwards' review. I think it's supposed to scare me; instead, i'm flipping excited.

New workout & what's up

February already. I'm just hoping THIS year doesn't go by as quickly as last year. Time really is flying by.

Here's the health update on me:
2 weeks ago, I started a new program: Insanity/Brazil Butt Lift hybrid. I was doing the P90X/Insanity hybrid, but I didn't feel like i was getting enough from it, so i switched it up a bit. Plus, bathing suit season is around the corner, and my butt needs a lift. I'm pretty sure I can vouch for 90% of the mom population when I say my butt's a bit lower than it used to be. Yikes. I'm hoping BBL can give me a nice little bit of oomph to my booty. I checked out tons of success stories before I ordered it, and i'm feeling confident. If pain is any indication of it working, then by all means, IT.IS.WORKING. Holy cow...is it EVER working!!

I am still loving the heck out of Insanity. Best and toughest cardio i've ever done! If you're looking for something to blast off the fat, this my friends, is it. It will beat the crap out of you!! I can't wait for Asylum, the next installation of Insanity, coming out in summer 2011!! Yee hee!! I'm a glutton for punishment, but i am SO happy with how my body looks, that there is NO WAY i'm going back to what it was in October of 2009. This is my new lifestyle, and i'm going to continue to rock it.

Eating-wise, I'm practically vegetarian at this point. Because of Clairey's (my youngest daughters) gymnastics schedule, plus my oldest daughter's (Jenna) piano and Brownie schedule, we're rarely home for dinner. Both myself and my girls are heavily fortified through Shakeology, GrapeNuts cereal, and oatmeal. I generally cook on Sundays, and THAT usually involves meat. Since i've stopped eating so much meat though, when I do eat it (particularly red meat), i end up with a tummy ache. I'm still doing a rendition of Tony's Rant Diet, which now is just a part of my daily life. Cutting white/enriched flour from my diet is one of the best things i've ever done. After the first week of no white flour, I felt such a huge difference (and SAW a huge difference in my belly). I don't think i could go back to it--like red meat, when I eat it, my tummy hurts.

I can say with 100% confidence that this is the HEALTHIEST i've ever been. I know that I'm a Beachbody coach, but I couldn't have gotten this far without the encouragement and motivation from all my buddies and friends i've met on beachbody.com. I hope the people I coach feel the same way about me! :)

"Shakeology is so expensive!"

People often ask me how I stay fit. I tell them that it's by using Beachbody workouts and by drinking Shakeology. They'll ask what Shakeology is, and I tell them. Everyone wants to try it, but always halts when they find out how much it is: around $130 a month--that includes tax/shipping/handling. And then they balk--"WHAT?!!!" "That's so expensive!!" "I can't afford that!" And here's where i tell you, "Of COURSE you can," and here's why...

Shakeology is a meal replacement. In one shake, it offers you an ENTIRE day's worth of fruits and vegetables, plus a multitude of other good things for your body. Unlike other meal replacement drinks, Shakeology is 100% natural--no made-up chemical crap in it--just 100% good nutrition. Think about it--when is the last time YOU nourished your body with a full day's serving of fruits and vegetables?? Before I started Shakeology, I can't think of one.

Here's an exercise for you (a checkbook exercise): Since Shakeology is a meal replacement, let's say you're going to have a shake instead of lunch each day for a month. Look through your bank statement/checkbook/receipts..whatever...add up how much you've spent at LUNCH for the past 30 days. If you brown-bagged it, or are a stay-at-home-mom, for those days you didn't eat out, add $1 (because you used what you had at home). How much did that add up to? I KNOW you went out to eat at least a couple of times. If you work at an office and went out with your coworkers, your lunch was probably around $10--and that's if it was CHEAP. $15 bucks a pop is closer to what you spend, right? If you're a SAHM, you can easily drop $6 on fast food for YOURSELF. ICK. It adds up.

And, in those meals--in all that money that you 'pooped' out--how much nutrition did you provide to your body?? Did any of those meals give your body amazing nutrition? Provide a day's worth of fruits and vegetables? Help prevent colon cancer? Reverse the symptoms of colitis? What about reversing symptoms of diabetes? No? Weird. Shakeology does all that, and more. One daily scoop of Shakeology has amazing affects on your body.

So, here's the scoop: I felt the SAME way about purchasing Shakeology. In fact, I had been using Beachbody programs for nearly a year, and still wasn't doing it--because i felt like it was too expensive. But, the more I read, the more i learned about Shakeology, the more i wanted to do it. I was working SO HARD to get my body in shape--the OUTSIDE of my body--but what was i doing to the inside? I was working hard to eat right, but i STILL wasn't fortifying my working body with the proper nutrition. I was taking some protein shake that i got at VitaminShoppe, and I thought that was good enough. So, in order to "prevent" myself from spending that $130 a month on Shakeology, I walked to my pantry, armed with an ingredient list from Shakeology to PROVE to myself that my $50 a month protein drink was just as good as Shakeology....

To say I was surprised would be an understatement. 90% of the stuff in my protein drink was unpronounceable (did i just make that word up??). "All-Natural"??? Not quite. That "healthy" protein drink I had been taking to "save money" on, was created in a lab. It was/is practically a container full of toxins. Why would i, after busting my ass to get in this shape, want to drink stuff that i can't even pronounce? I wanted to be fit and healthy on the outside AND the inside. At that point, I made the decision to take the Beachbody challenge: try Shakeology for 30 days. If you don't like it, and it doesn't deliver all that Beachbody promises, then you get your money back. 100%, no questions asked.

I also decided, at that point, to become a BeachBody coach. So, when i purchased my first 30 days of Shakeology, I immediately got a 25% discount--making my total $89--for a 30-day supply of Shakeology! And really...that's all it took--30 days. I started with one shake a day. After 1 week (yes, ONE week), I could tell a difference. My energy level was UP, my tummy was flatter (Shakeology helps to flush out all those 'bloating' toxins), and overall, i just felt GREAT. That was back in July of 2010.

Most days, I have two shakes a day--one for breakfast, and one for a late-afternoon snack. I crave the nutrients; well, my BODY craves the nutrients. I feel absolutely amazing! My kids LOVE the chocolate Shakeology, and I can feel good about giving it to them. How many kids do YOU know that get a full day's serving of vegetables? Mine do! I often make one shake, and split it--putting 1/2 into a thermos for each of them at lunch, along with their regular sandwich and piece of fruit. With that, i know that my babies are getting the proper nourishment--with no fillers, with nothing I can't pronounce--just 100% clean and healthy! LOVE IT.

And YOU will love it too! Is it worth the price? I can tell you with great confidence, YES. It 100%, absolutely is. Out of all the thousands of meal replacement drinks out there, Shakeology is the most effective for the price--I PROMISE you that. Learn more by viewing the videos below:

100 Doctors Don't Lie

Shakeology and the Glycemic Index

The Breakthrough

Then visit my site at http://bit.ly/shakeItup

If you'd like a free sample, email me at fitwisdom@beachbodycoach.com

The results are in...

And...over the course of a year--Oct 09 to Oct 10--these are my new stats (before/after):

• Weight: 165/127
• Waist: 31/26
• Hips (at fullest part): 43/37
• Chest (at fullest part): 37/34
• Right arm: 12.5/11.25
• Left arm: 12.35/11
• Right thigh (at fullest part): 24.5/21.75
• Left thigh: 24.25/21.5
• Body fat: 26%/16% (caliper measurements)

WOO-FREAKING-HOO!!!!

It's that time of year

It's that time of year--the kids are back to school, the leaves are starting to change (well, not in Texas--YET), and the holidays are upon us. Have you seen Christmas stuff in the stores? Isn't that crazy! I'm already starting to think of Christmas shopping...ugh.

With the holidays comes food. A lot of good food. A lot of food that we don't have on a daily basis, so we think, "Oh, it's a holiday--it's a special treat; YUM!" and before you know it, it's January and you've gained 10 lbs.

It's also the time of year when a lot of people slack off on their workout programs. There are tons of excuses, one being the types of food we "allow" ourselves to have over the holidays, and the other is that we get to wear bulky clothes that hide the result of our crappy eating. Then we have the "it's so cold outside--i don't want to go walk/run," or "it's no longer bathing-suit season!" (i've been known to use that one.)

This year--NO MORE EXCUSES. Why use the season to dictate your health? It just makes no sense. Why undo all your hard work because of a few tasty treats? WHY?! It's not worth it. Don't lose your new lifestyle choices because of the holidays. "GIFT" yourself with a continuation of your healthy lifestyle! It's the best gift you can give yourself AND your loved ones!

If you need support, let me help you. You can contact me at beachbodycoach.com/FitWisdom or FitWisdom@beachbodycoach.com

Almost there!

This weekend, Chris and I began the task of turning our formal dining room into our workout room. SO...we sold the family room furniture, moved the FORMAL living room furniture into the family room, moved the dining room into the formal living room, and now have an empty formal dining. Catch all that? :)

This week also begins an eating challenge set by my home thread in the beachbody.com forums--no more caffeine for me for THIRTY days. This is a tough one, as i'm a Diet Coke junkie. But, if i'm going to be fit on the outside, i need to be fit on the inside, too.

Come on and join me in getting healthy! www.beachbodycoach.com/FitWisdom

Fit Wisdom is here!

Hello, and welcome to my page. You've most likely arrived here by searching for P90X or Insanity. If so, you're at the right place!

Background:
I am Stephanie Wisdom, 35 yrs old, married, mother of two young kids. I started P90X in October of '09 because I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I work full time, so once 5 o'clock hit, i felt like i was in the tedious and tiring schedule of making dinner, playing "mom taxi," doing laundry, etc., etc.... After I got the kids to bed and I showered, I would easily (and gladly) fall asleep on the couch by 930pm. Do you hear me? Been there?

I just kept telling myself that there should be more. I should feel better. I shouldn't be so tired. Plus, I was a good 30lbs overweight, and because of that, felt frumpy and unattractive. I can easily think of a handful of women that are in the same boat. I want to tell you that i just said, "Okay, i'm going to do it." Got off my couch, did P90X for 90 days, got fit and thin, and that was it. But it's not. There's a lot more to it.

If you're anything like me, you've tried a million things before--every workout and diet under the sun. What do they all have in common? YOU DON'T STICK TO 'EM. You just don't. You get bored/life gets in the way/you don't have time. Well, here's the kicker: You have to MAKE time.
I know you don't want to get up earlier: Suck it up and do it.
I know you don't want to have to workout after the kids are in bed: Quit your whining, and do it.
But you LIKE going out to lunch with your coworkers!! Forget it.
But you like to hang out with the guys and stuff your mouth full of trash and work on that gut: JUST STOP NOW.

Do something for yourself. Quit making excuses.You have one life; one body. You can be single, a parent, married, divorced, an empty nester--it doesn't matter. It's YOU time. I had a HUGE issue with this. I am one of those crazy, over-dedicated moms. I work fulltime, so i feel like i have to make it up to my kids somehow. I know--issues, right? However, me not being in the best shape I can be, and in optimum health is a total smack to my kids. How can I sit there and tell them not to sit in front of the tv/computer when i'm doing the same thing? How can i tell them they need to go outside and play, when I only run 20 yds and am out of breath? How can i tell them that junk food is bad for them, when i would sit there with a Diet Coke and a bag of chips? I made the decision: I CAN'T, I WON'T, AND I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN.

I basically got so fed up with myself, and so pissed off at myself, that i said, "Screw this," and bought P90X--off of an informercial. AN INFORMERCIAL. Do you know how sad it is to buy stuff off of an infomercial?! I was there, people. It was sad. But i had to do something about the way i felt and looked.

The first day of P90X, i thought i was going to die. DIE, i tell you. It was hard. Difficult. Horrible. And it irritated the crap out of me. I hated that the people on the video were doing everything so easily, and i couldn't. That motivated me. I kept going. I made it through the first week. I made it through the second week. I made it through the third, and you know what? I. LOVED. IT. You know what's better? I saw results. Yes, already! No special diet--just watching what i was eating. Doing P90X everyday. NOTICEABLE RESULTS IN 3 WEEKS. How's THAT for motivation?! By day 90, i was down 24lbs, and tons of inches. I decided to go an additional 30 days. :)

After P90X, I had people stopping me asking me what  I did to stay in shape. I got the ever-so-lovely, "What?! How do YOU have kids?!" a lot. For all you moms out there--that's awesome. At that point, I knew that i had done more than get my body fit--i had gotten my mind and my life fit, too. It's a total lifestyle change. Next up, i ordered Insanity. Holy freakin' goats, people. This workout is crazy. It's 60 days of hardcore kicking your a$$ all over the place. And I LOVE IT. I did that for 60 days and lost another 6 lbs--anyone counting? That's 30 POUNDS. WOO HOO!!

Now, and for the past 3 months, i've been doing my own hybrid of P90X and Insanity. I've lost more inches than ever imaginable. My waist is 26". I can't even remember the last time i saw that number in relation to my waist...

I am SO excited and so pleased with how my life has made a complete turn, that i decided to join Beachbody as a coach. Now, in my spare time, I get online and help people who were once just like me--looking for a way to make that life change. It's that easy. It really is.
YOU can do it! Take control of your life and make it happen!

I can help you. Email me at FitWisdom@beachbodycoach.com, or go to beachbodycoach.com/FitWisdom to learn more.