Eating habits of society

Happy Weekend All!
So we had snow yesterday....eek, and supposed to get more tomorrow, oh our poor crocuses here in Vancouver! 
I found myself finishing my chest work and heading home after my only client for the day, Friday is a light day, and ended up  in my dungeon doing back to back am and pm cardio!  I felt great!  I am not one of those people whom I watch who can go out in any weather, cold, rain, snow and still be half naked running or biking or whatever........I wish, I so envy them.
At Stanley Park we often see this elder man swimming IN THE OCEAN, early mornings, daily ALL YEAR round.
Then we have this other elder man who bikes around the park and Vancouver for 4-8 hours per day all year round, he is in his late 80s!  Talk about motivation and also talk about not having excuses.......makes you realize you really do not have any excuse not to get it in, its all about the mental focus.
If you want it bad enough you will do what you need in a healthful way and the excuses dissolve.

When you are focused on weight loss or fitness you have to realize that your pampered tongue needs to be less pampered.  You can have stuff you like on a once per week basis for example, ONCE you have been consistent for a while and have the exercise and clean eating down to a habit, then you can have your indulgences afterward on occasion.  Staying fit once you are there does not mean you can never enjoy culinary faves again, but earn it and be real.

If you look at food it is whole true form, that is your key to getting fit and getting off excess fat.  Eating this way should be the norm, not eating for taste only on a daily basis.  Tastebuds were not put there for enjoyment purposes mainly.....but to recognize foods and for practical purposes but we have become a society which indulges way too much becoming a mainstream way of thinking.

Too many people eat a higher percentage of processed foods as a norm.........the norm should be produce and lean proteins, processed foods are to be luxury for a treat not your main eating foods and for some this can be overwhelming.  Too many of you have grown up on chicken fingers and tator tots..........time to examine this and change your eating habits even if you are not looking toward fitness goals.  Many tell me they cannot afford fresh fruits n veggies but its cheaper than boxes of cereal and pizza pops.

An easy way to put it, 90% of your shopping should be from a produce department or grocery store......LIVE foods.  Then there is the dried and processed, boxed and such foods which humans have messed with.  Dried like rice, beans, grains are not so bad in the right serving sizes.  Even with grains, they should be a quarter of the plate, while the other quarter be protein and the other half left be veggies!  When I say veggies I mean non starchy ones........the starchy ones are your carbs!
Peas, tubers (yams, potatoes), carrots, squashes are all starchy and can give you the carbs you need for energy allowing you to skip breads and such while you are eating cleaner.

The lettuce leaf and tomato slice don't cut it as a veggie serving on your burger.........and while we are at it, make your own burger so you know whats in there and can keep it leaner.
I guess this rant is more about having witness people eat boxed cereals for breaky, packaged bars for snacks, microwave or canned or boxed foods for lunch and dinner with pasta or bread or potatos as your biggest serving...........wheres the green?  Lets examine this and slowly make changes, before you know it you will drop a few of those extra fat pounds or just feel better internally if you are not overweight.

Build a thinner waist.....by working lats!

After 4 people, grabbing at my waist within 10 minutes, decided to hold a forced meeting with me while I tried to work out, to squeeze me of any advice toward a smaller mid section I figured I should post it!  I used to be a 24inch waist until I worked my abs to the thicker squares I now have and now I usually sit 26-27 inches.  Even at 27 people always ask if I am like 20 inches......its the illusion of my lats and well rounded tukus with full hips which really accent the waist making it look smaller.

Work the lats!  Yeah, diet, eat clean, do cardio.....but what then, so you strip down fat but if you have not worked on the frame of your build, once the fat melts off you are left with whatever shape is under there.

Pullups, assisted, spotted or horizontal area great stimulator for this, wide grip overhand.
Lat pulls are great but not as heavy as working with body weight.

Use some wide grips on your various row exercise options and don't forget that the rotator cuff under those shoulder blades need work too to help condition the area to take a higher load and volume.
Rhomboids also work with those rotators so some reverse pec dec work, reverse flies also work well to help hand it hand with the lat building.
Shoulders take a lot of strain with wide grip back work so conditioning those postural muscles of the rotator cuff and rhomboids are crucial.

Making do

So what do you do when you are taken out of your norm and have to make do with food and exercise in odd situations?
Spent last weekend in ER with family and all week dealing with sick family.....so I eeked in one good training session and had to balance crap food available to me..............and then you get right back on and hit the norm!  At least at the Hosp caf they had yogurt or fruit or some choices although none on my normal diet of course since pre contest diet for me is more about fish, egg whites and tons of greens.

Meanwhile this week I stuck in squats, calve raises, pushsup wherever I could, seriously!  I would be helping make food so I would do some in between tending food,  hitting stairs and just doing whatever I could like high knees to help intensify on spot stepping, stuff like that.  Prone nose crushers are great to do anywhere against a wall, horizontal chins in the kitchen under a chair between food stirring......you just have to make do!  to boot, my chest and legs actually feel it cuz I did timed reps and prob did more sets than I would in a norm session!

For some of you this type of stress may make you eat more, this is when you down water every time you feel hungry, fill it the gaps with tons of water which is easy to get anywhere.  My appetite actually disappears so with me its remembering to eat when I am under stress, I can go on 2-3 bites all day long if I am under stress or worry so I have to remind myself to have something!

Know your self and be honest and you can work around anything!

Moving on into 2012, sticking with fitness

Don't you love the feeling after a good week of training and eating clean?  Muscles feel firmer, you feel stronger and have more energy plus great digestion and appetite.
Its amazing how fast it can become habitual as long as you can stick it out for the first bit.  We are all different on how long it takes to get into a groove and keep it but if you can be real about yourself  you can avoid self sabotage by setting up a goal you know you won't keep.

How goes the New Year at this point?  Have you been able to start Jan off right and stick with some type of fit eating and lifestyle?  If not, why?  Time to look at those goals and refit them to be real, to ensure it gets done.  Re fit the plan and get back on it asap.  See how things are by end of Feb and maybe you will have a better pattern in play.
Of course if not, you refit again.  For some of us life can change drastically on a weekly basis so if you can at least have a plan in place you can keep that consistent even if the rest of things around you are not.

Thanks to Garry Cotter of First Photo for the great shot!

Personal Training NO GYMS

Well it was quite a year end.  Unfortunately the wonderful gym I had been using to train my clients was sold to an owner who has decided to change policy to the gym, no more outside trainers!  If that same gym had done that to him when he started, he wouldn't even be in this position so I find that a bit like kicking karma in the face.....lets see what karma deals back!

After 15 years of using a convenient and friendly neighborhood gym I have had to relocate my clients to 2 other gyms instead, and its costing me a lot of money in hourly fees to the gym and in travel plus I am not around as easily to check in at home for disasters - caregiving for a geriatric prescrptive drug addicted alcholic hoarder can be stressful with the drama which ensues such as house fires and bloody falls, it means I work less and make less......family does not get paid to care give nor are there many helpful services that do not cost and I am it for family, she has no one else around to help, nor do I, no other family wants to deal with it so they are non existent, literally.

Community centers in Vancouver no longer allow outside trainers, as is the policy with most gyms.
This paints a horrible picture for trainers who do not have the means to secure their own location or studio.  Becoming a trainer now a days may not be so appealing to the up comers as they are not getting much of a chance.  There are bad trainers yes but if better policies and rules were in place and enforced, it would help weed out the trainers which have caused this result of 'no outside trainers'.
Vancouver city does not allow studios in your home so even if I had the space, its not an option.

I ended up pretty stressed out about the effects of this to my life, work, finances and wound up with an ulcer - funny after years of dealing with some crazy 'intervention show' type situations in my home which could give anyone ulcers or even heart attacks, this situation really stressed me out.

I am so fiercely independent and also tend to value my long time clients, I hate to raise my rates on loyal clients so this was a huge catch 22 for me.  
Luckily things are working themselves out, I still feel a bit lost but did not loose any clients due to the move or adjustments that had to be made.

With stress I tend to lose appetitite, so my weight stayed low through Xmas and am ready to go for contest prep toward this years Nationals here in Vancouver but of course I have to get by the BC judges first who tend to score me pretty hard.

In order to NOT have to do them ever again I need not only first place but overall for the BCs which can be 20 girls one year and 2 the next and I have yet to enter the BCs and be the only fitness girl......it has happened in the past and those girls automatically move on and don't end up having to do the BCs ever again.....they can enter Nationals any year at will............this is the ticket I am seeking.  This would give me some flex and wiggle room so I can enter Nationals when I want with the ability to take a year off here and there, at this point because I got 3rd last year I have to do it again this year and had I not placed third I may have had to do the level under BCs to re qualify for BCs...........AAAAARGH!

One judge did confirm I need to get bigger and leaner.  I don't want to get bigger.  Leaner I don't mind but then I could enter Bodybuilding too cuz the girl who got first last year told me herself she was at 5.5 percent bodyfat a few weeks out from contest, probably around 4% contest day.  Put her beside me and the other girl who were lean for fitness but not 4%, well of course she looked leaner and they went with that, which makes a person also look more muscular.

Considering I have to please the judges, I guess I just have to do my best to balance what they want and what I want.....what a mind f*&k.  Amazing I love competing so much, but I do, its my competitive side which gets all huffy about placings but otherwise its the process, the performance which I love the most.

As for the blog and website and my lack of postings.....I have had to hold off on any web changes, I had planned on some but with the new fees I have with training in new gyms its been shelved.
I am going to try to get on the blog more regularly as best I can, so many of you have been emailing about that so even if I cannot do much else to the site for now, I can post here more often!

I hope you are all having a great 2012 so far and sorry for not posting through the holidays, usually I do with holiday pics but this year I was a bit distracted!

Now go workout!

Steel hugs!
Linda

Juicing for health and other updates!

Dreams of Summer Photo by Gus Mctavish

October has been great, not warm but not as cold as it could be out here in Vancouver but we have had lots of sun and warm sum at that!
It's been easier to get into the swing of 5-6 days per week training, staying focused on next year.  I have not completed all my cardio required but am keeping lean and holding a great weight.

How are you all doing since my last post challenging you to get it together for October???

Training has been stronger and my back has been supporting this allowing me increases in my dead-lift weight from what I have been doing the past few years.  I am at half my best but still more than acceptable toward my goals and needs.
Eating has been 80% on.
I have a client who is so busy and in order to get her focused we devised a plan of 15-20 min workouts that she can do one of or 2-3 of if the time allows but if she can only get in one of the quick hits its okay too because its better than nothing!  You need to be real and find a plan that works with your life at the present even so your ideal may be a different idea, it just may not be the right time for now to work with that ideal.  Be flexible and focus on getting it done by way of realistic planning.
So although I missed a few cardio days and eat a few extra cheat meals I can forgive this because my results are still showing due to staying consistent otherwise, doing the best you can which sometimes maybe only be 80% of the ideal.  Unless you go backwards, you are doing well.  By putting a too ambitious plan together that you cannot attain even so you WANT to, will be a short form of self sabotage really.  You are setting yourself up to fail and no one wants that.  It can paralyze your training and meal planing where you just end up letting it go altogether.  Do not fall into this pattern.

A competitor friend of mine recently figured out a health issue which has forced her to revamp her diet even cleaner and this girl eats clean, her name is Mariam Power-Ritzland.  To keep her health in check she is now juicing a ton more than ever and feeling amazing.  She is closer to a veg diet now as well.  She says its a blessing though, because it forces her to keep on track.  This type of attitude is why I love having her as a pal and she helps me see the positive in my life's negatives.
Here is one of her Juice recipes, enjoy!! 


Wbff Pro Mariam Power-Ritzand 

I love my homemade Ice cold Green juice: Why? Cuts my cravings, alkalizes my ph, gives me energy that is completely different than any other food groups, keeps me on a natural high, loaded absolutely loaded with enzymes that are living and not destroyed by heat, and I love the color! Extremely refreshing anytime of day:  

Juice has: 1 cup green grapes; 2 bok choy leaves with stem; 1/2 lemon with rind; 1 cup strawberries; 2 c spinach; 1/2 green apple, chunk of ginger ( about 1 cm in length ) and a handful of green sprouts....some parsely and a bit of cilantro! To die for!
And most of all because of my hemochromotosis disease I juiced as a kid until now, but now, its strictly ALL about health completely!

Thanks Mariam!!!!  visit Mariamsbootcampbabes.com

Time to click 'Refresh'!

Today I feel lazy......first day of fall is here and rain is on the West Coast, I need some adjustment time.

It is time for us all to click the refresh button and set up some motivation.  The best thing to do at this point is be real, look ahead and set up a short term goal toward December.
There are 3 holidays coming up and lots of social stuff between now and then, having a plan set which can help keep you on track is a great asset.

I like to look at this like this:
I don't do a lot of social things so I am safe eating that way but there are a few days in and around the holidays where I know I will be lax, want to have an extra day off and some extra treats so in order to do this without gaining lots of weight and getting out of shape I think of it as earning this.

I plan my training for the next few months, called a mesocycle.  I look at small goals of what I would like to work on each month and  although I balance my training for the whole, I still look at specifics.  This helps you with exercise choices, sets, reps and training styles to apply.

The meal planning, to whatever degree you decide to go, be it extreme or a loose meal plan, have a plan.  Make it fit with each months goals and be real about your ability to make it work.  Consider work, kids, hours etc and be real.  Do put in effort but don't give yourself a plan which you will fail at.  Be real.  What you would like to do may NOT be something you can realistically pull off so find a balance that you know you can achieve and if you are able to do more then just add as you go.
Make notes of your training and eating even if just mild weekly notes, how you did and how you feel.


In the mean time, make sure to follow my blog and pass the word along, the more subscribers and followers I get the more info I am motivated to put out there!


This blog is going to be kicked up a few notches with more regular posting of actual workout and meal plans, series of them plus a few other items to help keep us all motivated, training, and conscious of our eating habits.
Free workouts and meal ideas is a great way to help many people who may otherwise not be able to afford a trainer and also those who rather be independent.

Let's see if we cannot hit a few cool goals by December where we can begin the planning again toward Spring!

Ab workouts are a big request so I will be putting a few of them together, 10-15 minute workouts you can quick hit with.  Some full plans which I will break down over posts and a few easy meal ideas.

Lets get this blog more traffic and interaction and see if we can't show off some great results.  I would love to post some success stories of those who follow my workouts.  Love to post some of your fave meals, recipes, exercises and fitness stuffs!  I am looking to post more requested exercises and workouts so feel free to comment away while this blog and my site change over the next few months working out goals of their own!!!  My blog has big asperations as does my personal site which will break free from my personal training site.

Okay so now what are those goals???
My goal is to drop 3-5 lbs in the next month as well as getting back into a regular schedule of eating and training, post competition and some of my duties around here can set me back a week here or there so I want to work on more consistency!!!

September 29/16 - this fall I am not looking to drop any weight, rather to gain 10 lbs toward 2017 while I strengthen the right knee which has had 2 surgeries the past 3 years.

Linda Cusmano