Quit Slacking Off!

Quit Slacking Off!

What are you waiting for? You keep saying that you are going to “step it up” and that this time, is going to be “the time” that you finally crack down and stick to your diet. Ask yourself this…why do you have to say that over and over again? Just DO IT ALREADY!!!! Quit talking about what you are going to do and DO IT! Aren’t you tired and frustrated of always wanting to make change but never being able to actually create change? Who is to blame? It’s not your kids, it’s not your job, it’s not your finances, it’s not lack of time, and it’s not anything but a bunch of excuses and lack of personal initiative. It’s your choice; it’s where you priorities things that is important to you. That’s the truth and you know it. If was really important to you and if it was really a priority, you would find a way to get your workouts done and your meals prepped. I know that it is important to you or you wouldn’t care enough to reach out for help or read this, but you still find a way to justify excuses for yourself. Excuses are easy, commitments are not.

If enjoying that extra slice of pizza or homemade dessert is more satisfying to you than being able to look good and feel great about yourself in a bathing suit then fine… keep doing what your doing. Are you bettering yourself? No! Looking good is not simple. If it was, everyone would look amazing. It takes self sacrifice, commitment, patience and hard work. I am not the first to say that changing your body is a lot hard work! But don’t be afraid of hard work and don’t be afraid of failure. Be afraid of giving up.

Oh and a bit of advice… get over being hungry! Being hungry is part of the “game”. Go find me a “good looking” person with an attractive physique and ask them if they eat till they’re stuffed? It doesn’t happen. Someone who has a good physique makes a very conscious effort to look good and maintain their body weight.

Ask yourself, are those extra few bites going to make you feel better about yourself? Absolutely not! You might “feel” good for a few minutes while you enjoy the flavors of the food, but how are you going to feel afterwards? Full, uncomfortable, guilty. Is that “temporary feeling of enjoying flavors of your food going to make you feel better about yourself? A co worker asked me, “How do you do it? How do you have such discipline?” My response to her was this, “I can be chubby and dream about being g skinny or I can be skinny and dream about food”.

Carbless Flax Muffin

Carbless Flax Muffin

Ingredients:
4 TBSP of Flax meal
4 TBSP water
Dash of cinnamon

Directions:
In a small circle shaped Tupperware, mix flax meal, water and cinnamon together and put in microwave for 2 minutes. After it’s cooked, tip Tupperware upside down and muffin should fall out perfectly! *Optional- drizzle a little peanut butter on top.

Macro’s:
Calories: 120
Carbs: 8
Protein: 4
Fat: 12
Fiber: 8
**Its carb-less because the carbs in flax are all from Fiber (remember they are "net" carbs)

Apple Flax Cake Recipe

Apple Flax Cake Recipe

This recipe is from my friend, Alanna Blanco Foudy

Ingredients:
-one egg
-2-3 tbsp of shredded apple
-3 tbsp of milled/ground flax seeds
-1 tsp of Stevia (I use one packet)
-2 tbsp of filtered water - if you use closer to 3 tbsp of shredded apple, you may just need one 1 tbsp of water
-olive oil spray
- 1/8 to 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

Directions:
1. whisk the egg, apple, flaxseeds, cinnamon and stevia together with the water in a small bowl.
2. lightly coat an omelet pan with olive oil spran and heat over medium heat. (I actually use a griddle)
3. pour the egg mixture into the pan and cook until the bottom of the flaxcake is solid enough to flip, 3 to 4 minutes
4. carefully flip the flaxcake, cookinguntil done, about 1 minute
5. sprinkle with cinnamon and serve

Stairmaster Success

There are numerous reasons why to incorporate cardio into your training program.
Without getting too complicated, a few of the benefits associated with cardiovascular exercise is that it burns immediate calories, revs up our metabolism for about 45 minutes afterwards, conditions our leg muscles and keeps us “heart healthy”. Our heart is forced to pump rich, oxygenated blood to our cells, flushing out toxins within our body. Our body improves its ability to function properly to metabolize fat and improve our cardiovascular performance. Not to mention the fact that when performed intensely, it is mentally therapeutic because of the release of hormones that occurs, making us feel better when it’s finished.

When done properly, I believe that the Stairmaster is the best man made piece of cardio equipment; it’s my personal favorite and it is almost always my first choice. I always make sure I’m challenged and that I’m training my body and giving it exactly what it needs in regards to intensity.

There are definitely days when I have to “force” myself to get through a cardio session. I don’t really like to use the word “force” because really, I want to be there, I want to do it, and I know it’s good for me and I know I’ll feel so much better once I get started. None the less, I’m human and there are days that I would rather not, but I do it anyways because it needs to get done and integrating a healthy cardiovascular training program into your training is important.

When I’m training for a show, sometimes I have to do an hour of cardio at a time. An hour is not always recommended for everyone. But for me and my training goals for my competitions, it is important because in order to enhance the abundance of fat metabolism at a given time, cardiovascular exercise programs need to incorporate long duration and light intensity.

I can generally tolerate 30 minutes of cardio with no problem. Anything longer than that, and I have to start bribing myself. An hour long session of straight cardio is a long time and believe me… I get board! I don’t like splitting up cardio machines, because as I mentioned, I believe that the Stairmaster is the best and often times it is inconvenient for me to get off of on machine, rest and then get started on another; I’d rather just keep going without stopping.

What’s my bribe and what do I do get through it? Aside from a powerful mind and a commitment to myself that I am going to get it done, I am a serious gum chewer! I tell me self that I will give myself a fresh piece of gum every 15 minutes. That’s my trick and it works for me! When I think I can’t do any more or that I don’t want to do anymore, I just tell myself that I’ll get a fresh burst of flavor in a few short minutes! It’s like a treat and it mentally breaks up my cardio sessions every quarter. Seeing my cardio sessions in bouts of 15 minutes is whole lot more “mentally” attainable. It’s like setting 4 mini goals to achieve the bigger goal of finishing an entire hour.

Other tricks that motivate me are having my iPod loaded with good tunes, a good magazine and a buddy/friend to sweat with. 

Recipe: Carb-less Flax Wrap

Carb-less Flax Wrap

Ingredients:
2 TBS flax meal
2 TBS water
1 egg white

Instructions:
Mix all three ingredients together, and pour into a skillet. The batter may come out a little thick; if this happens just spread it out in the pan end to end. Flip and cook both sides thoroughly.
I am really enjoying these! You can use them anyway you would use a tortilla! I like to use them to make tuna or chicken wraps. I also really like them for breakfast to wrap my eggs in! It’s like a healthy burrito omelet! They are even great with a little almond or peanut butter spread on them.

Macro's:
Calories: 77 grams
Carbohydrates: 4 grams
Protein: 5.5 grams
Fat: 6 grams


What’s so great about Flax? Flax is great for our digestive health since it has lots of fiber and healthy fats which is important for our digestive health and the overall function of our cells. Only 2 TBS of flax has only has 4 grams of carbs, but since Flax is very fibrous all 4 grams of carbs in Flax are “fiber” carbs. Therefore, they count as “net” carbs. In other words, the carbs get passed through your digestive track and are not necessarily metabolized as energy.

Your Stairmaster Workout is Not working... Here's Why!

Get your hands off of the stair master! Just barely touching the Stairmaster with your finger tips will save you from lifting 30% of your own body weight! How much work do you think you are really doing when you’re hanging all over it?


Do you want to work out or just look like you are working out? One of my biggest pet peeve’s in the gym is when I see people on the stair master hunched over, slouching, leaning on the rails or holding on for dear life. It seriously drives me crazy!!! Great you’re sweating and huffing and puffing. Great you’re on a really high intensity level. Here’s what I have to say… Get real and move over so someone else can properly use it! What are you trying to do here…impress yourself? You’re looking like a mess and like you don’t know what you’re doing.


Here’s what you’re not doing. You’re not giving yourself a good workout, you’re not being honest with yourself and you’re NOT getting results! Your totally cheating and devaluing (in my opinion) the best man made piece of cardio equipment for fat burning!


You are totally ruining its purpose and function when you don’t practice good form. If you think you’re training hard when your slouching and sweating all over the machine, imagine how much better of a workout you’ll do if you actually do it right. Imagine how much faster you will drop body fat and improve your cardio respiratory function if you train your body to lift itself instead of hanging on the rails.


The next time you climb the stairs, let me challenge you to challenge yourself. Turn down the intensity, stand tall with your chest up and shoulders down and back. Plant your feet so that they are flat on each step and keep your hands off the rail! Don’t even touch the stair master with your finger tips…not once! If you feel awkward about what to do with your hands, place them on your hips or practice good posture by keeping them at your sides. If you’re a real rock star and you want to challenge yourself, slow down the speed, grab a pair of dumbbells or a barbell and very carefully and with perfect posture, do overhead shoulder presses as you step. Tell me you don’t sweat and feel like you had a hard workout after this.


Do you have a pet peeve at the gym? Are you the “sloppy Stairmaster” person that I’m describing or do you do it right? Do you disagree with my opinion? Let me know.


What motivates you?

Chocolate Protein Pancake Recipe

One of my favorite things to eat and enjoy is a protein pancake! So good! I promise that you will love them too! I actually learned this from a friend of mine when were competing together. Now there are LOTS of different recipes to follow for making protein pancakes. I prefer this one because it’s quick, simple and requires just a few ingredients.

Ingredients:
1 scoop of flavored protein powder
2 egg whites
¼ cup of pumpkin
1 tbsp Coco powder

Directions:
Mix ingredients together in a bowl and then pour into a pan. You may have to add a little bit of water to the batter or “pat” the mixture down in the pan, as it will come out pretty think. Cook in the pan over medium heat (about the same as if you were cooking eggs) about 2 minutes each side. The taste great warm, cold and are even great to save and keep in the fridge for a few days to enjoy later.

** Make it like a sandwich and add a table spoon of peanut butter or almond butter…YUM!

Tip: Use a “casein” protein rather than a whey protein… it cooks/bakes much better because the protein molecules don’t break down as fast as in whey and it binds well with the egg whites to make a thick cooking batter.

Flavors I enjoy are chocolate, vanilla, and pumpkin. Just add a little coco powder, cinnamon spice or pumpkin spice to your batter to enhance the favors.

Maco’s for 1 protein pancake:
Calories: 190 calories
Carbs: 9g
Protein: 31g
Fat: 3 g

Stay Committed: Pace yourself to Pay Yourself

Stay Committed: Pace yourself to Pay Yourself

What’s harder than adapting to the physical strain of exercise? Finding and maintaining the mental strength to continue your work outs and do them day after day, week after week and month after month!

It’s about not making excuses to miss your workouts or letting other things in life take time away from your fitness commitments. You are in control of you. It’s not because your kids are busy and you need to take them places. It’s not because you “had” to get an errand done today that you new about 2 weeks ago. It’s not because you overslept or under slept or are feeling “tired” and it’s not because you had to stay and work late!

The only reason why you miss workouts is because you don’t want to go! You are not too busy! Truthfully, you’d rather be doing something else. Too BAD!!!! You’d rather look and feel different than you do right? Then you should WANT to go to the gym and you should make yourself go, no matter what! Don’t complain or make excuses later when you have completely fallen off the band wagon as to why you couldn’t’ stay committed.

My point here is to prepare you to prepare yourself for the days when you won’t “feel” like working out. The beginning of your journey is always exciting and you generally start off really excited and anticipate your next workout because you are thrilled with the concept of changing and improving your life. But as time goes on… momentum wears off and motivation may slow down as life gets busy. What’s going to be that driving force that keeps you going?

That’s when commitment needs to step in. I guarantee you that there will be days when you don’t “feel” like working out, but you do it anyway because you know have to and you know you’ll feel better afterwards. It’s just like going to work every day and making a living… you have to! You generally don’t get the luxury of saying that you are not going to work because you don’t feel like it! Can you honestly expect to excel in your career if you don’t show up to work every day and do your job? The same goes for your workouts. You cannot expect to change your body and maximize results to their full potential if you don’t show up to do your workouts! You’re workouts are a form of payment for yourself. You workout (intensely) and you get paid with results. No workouts equal no payments/results. Pay yourself first and get your workouts done! No excuses!

Getting Started

Congratulations!

You have finally convinced and talked yourself in to committing to a workout program. You have reached that breaking point where you are just so dead sick of how you look and feel and realize that doing nothing is not working and that whatever you have been doing in the past is not working ether. You’ve decided to quit complaining to yourself (and others) and to do something about it.

When you are just starting to work out, you might be all “gung-ho” on the idea that you are going to do this right “this time” and that nothing is going to get in your way; and that’s a great attitude to have. But what happens in 3 weeks from that stating point? What happens 3 months from that starting point? How are you going to keep up your momentum, motivation and the commitments that you made to yourself?

You might be super motivated to get started and to chug through your workout with 110% effort, because you want to see those results and you want your body to change immediately, but what happens when “life happens”? You get busy, life gets in the way, you miss a workout one week, then two the next week, then a whole week goes by and you feel like you are behind the eight ball again.

Let me be honest. Whether you're bran new to exercise or coming back after taking a long time off, you can expect that things will be challenging. Working out when you are not used to working out is damn hard. You feel breathless, out of shape, physically weak, tired, or sick. You will sweat and you will be uncomfortable and you may not want to do it. Your body may feel painfully sore for a few days afterwards. But I promise you this… it will get easier! Each intense workout better prepares you for the next one. You will gain strength, you will gain endurance and your body will change. You just have to prepare yourself for the fact that it takes time! Be patient and stay consistent!

Love Your Pasta and Eat it too!

My new favorite meal: “Karra Approved” Pasta!

Shirataki Noodles low-carb noodles can satisfy your spaghetti cravings, and are a gluten free replacement for pasta. Shirataki Noodles are made from yams, and are naturally low in calories and carbs, plus they are an excellent source of fiber, depending on the brand you prefer. These low fat noodles are tender and absorb the flavors you cook them with, so be creative and try them with every meal.

Ingredients:
1 package of shirataki noodles
½ cup of pasta sauce (all natural or organic)
3 oz of extra lean (99%) ground turkey

Directions:
1. Cook the ground turkey in a skillet and add Italian seasoning to taste,
2. In a pot, simmer ½ cup of pasta sauce under low heat.
3. When the ground turkey is finished cooking, measure out 3 oz and place in the pot of pasta sauce
4. Boil the noodles for about 3 minutes
5. Strain the noodles then pour pasta and ground turkey mixture over noodles.


Macros:

Calories: 180
Carbs: 16

Protien: 21

Fat: 4

Complement this meal with 5 ounces of steamed broccoli or 1 slice of Ezekiel bread.

GPS for Your Kitchen

I hear this all the time, “I’m depressed, I want to get into shape and lose weight but I can’t stick to a diet, can you help me?”

When it comes to dieting and nutrition, everyone wants a “quick fix” and to be told exactly what to do. Well, guess what? There is no one diet that works for everyone. What works for me may be different for you. There is no “magic pill” or “easy button” when it comes to dieting. You are never going to be successful at maintaining a “goal” weight if you do not learn for yourself to give your body what it needs.

Don’t believe me? Look at people who have done the “Jenny Craig” diet or “weight watchers”. People on that diet are looking for a “quick fix” and that’s exactly what they get, which is why they blow right back up after they have or attained or gotten close to their goal weight. Do they lose weight? Yes. Do they keep it off? ….rarely! Meals are hand delivered to your door; pre portioned and weighed out for you. Food has a “point system” rather than a “calorie or nutrition count”. As soon as you stop doing that “diet” you blow up again and it’s because you don’t ever learn how to do it for yourself!

This begins that “roller coaster” of dieting and emotional beatings that you can’t stop or find balance with. Here’s what happens, you diet and lose weight. You start feeling great about yourself and the way your body is looking, but then you slip up, or reach your goal and start to want to do things on your own. Now that meals are not being delivered to you all day, every day, you are not “tallying” up points on your note pad, you fold right back into your old habits; gain the weight back that you lost in addition to some “self-pity pounds”. Now you start emotionally beating yourself up telling yourself that you “can’t do anything”, “can’t stick to a diet” and “I’m a failure at dieting” or how about, “I guess I’m just meant to be fat”.

I know these feelings of negative self talk because I’ve been there and have experienced them before myself. Here’s the thing, no one is ever going to take care of you as best as you can take care of you. To be bluntly real, get off the “pity wagon” and stop making excuses and stop expecting people to spoon feed you results! Dieting is a slow and steady process that requires self honesty, patience and persistence. Make it happen! You can do it!

My first suggestion is for you to go out and buy a food journal and food scale. A food scale should cost about $20 and a notebook maybe $3. Do it today; not tomorrow, or Monday or after this weekend. Quit “buying” yourself more time to be overweight and unhappy with excuses that you know don’t help you in the long run.

Start documenting everything you eat all day long and see what you’re eating and exactly how much you are eating. Get your “baseline” so you know where you have to start from. Documenting your food is like your GPS system; it is showing you where you are going with what behaviors and actions you are currently doing. It is a continuous road map of your journey.

Your food scale is your best dieting tool! It is your compass. Using a food scale is not obsessive, it’s responsible. If you told yourself you were going to run a mile how do you know it’s a mile? You either mapped it, GPS’d it, or the treadmill told you so. The same goes for the food scale. How will you know that you ate 4 ounces of chicken? How do you know you had 28 grams of almonds? Let me guess… you’re going to guess, right? Rule number one…never, never guesstimate! The difference between 4 ounces of chicken and 6 ounces can be 100 calories. When dieting, a 100 calorie difference a couple times a day, adds up quickly.

I always weigh and measure my food… always. Weighing your food is safe. You wouldn’t eat your vegetables without being sure that they are clean, you wouldn’t ride your bike without a helmet or drive your car without a seatbelt, so do not eat without measuring your food. It maintains consistency, accuracy and accountably.

You have to learn a serving size is. How many calories are there in a serving? How many carbohydrates, fats and proteins are in each serving? How many servings did you have? Write down everything, and add it up at the end of each day. Most important, be honest with yourself. If it crossed your lips, write it down. You cannot change what you do not acknowledge. No one is going to see what you wrote except for you, so be honest with yourself and journal it.

Make it happen! You can do it! Change happens when you make it happen!

The Importance of Your Post Workout Meal

One of the most crucial meals you need to make sure you are getting is your post workout meal. After a tough workout, you have just depleted your body of its nutrition, fatigued it, torn muscle and now it needs to be properly fueled with nutrients immediately to start building repairs.

There are 3 issues that need to be addressed:

1) How much food?
2) How often?
3) What kinds of food?

Post workout, your body needs a meal with both carbohydrates and proteins. Why both? A carbohydrate breaks down to glucose, which is essentially sugar and “fast digesting” fuel. Proteins repair your muscle cells, but the carbohydrate molecule (glucose) binds with the protein which helps to deliver the protein to your bloodstream fast, thus being able to replenish lost nutrients due to intense exercise and repair fatigued muscles.

There are several arguments about food suggestions and what to have post workout meal. If you are trying to build and maintain muscle mass, a good rule of thumb is to double your carbohydrates to protein ratio. So if you have 20 grams of protein, you should pair it with 40 grams of carbohydrates, that’s a 2:1 ration. If you are just seeking to recover, stick to a 4:1 ratio, 4 parts carbs to 1 part protein.

Everyone is different and I cannot give you a definite caloric break down of exactly “how much” food you should have, I will tell you that it should be at least a couple hundred calories for a woman and at least double for a man.

You need to eat your post workout meal no later than 45 minutes after your workout; preferably sooner. If you can, 20- 30 minutes is better. Do not wait till you go home, do not try to wait to eat till later. Your body needs this fuel. Pack it with you and bring it to the gym. If your training is dialed and your metabolism is revved up, you will hungry again after your post workout meal and ready for your “actual meal” shortly after.

A whey protein powder is going to be best for a protein drink because it is already broken down simply and is fast digesting. A protein powder with casein in it is a slow digestive protein and will slow the absorption down, which is what you do not want to happen with your post workout meal. When choosing a carbohydrate, you want something that is fast digesting, like fruit, usually an apple or banana, even milk since it has lactose (which is a form of sugar).

Checkout my Glute and Shoulder workout followed by 4 of Jack Napoli’s amazing recepie's that make for a great post workout meal!

Pair this killer workout with one of the 4 recepies below and you are well on your way to improving you health and your physique!


Glute and Shoulder Workout

• 
  Warm up with standing kick backs 2 sets of 15 on each leg


• 
  Power squats on and off bench 10x 2 sets (bench should be between 6-8 risers high) rest 30-60seconds before 2nd set.


• 
  Power squats straddling bench 10x 2 sets bench should be between 6-8 risers high) rest 30-60seconds before 2nd set.


• 
  Single leg dead with cable 3x10 (lighten your load and go slow!) ss with upright rows with cable or smith 4x 10


• 
  Single leg squat with cable 10x10x15 ss with “Y” raises w/ EZ bar 15x3


• 
  Seated Arnold presses 20x16x12 ss with dumbbell lateral raises 20x16x12 (No rests here!)

Healthy Recipes by Jack Napoli

Post Work Out Breakfast in "True Karra Fashion"

4 Carbohydrates and 1 Protein:

Oatmeal Breakfast:

1/4 c. Oatmeal – Microwavable is Fine,

1/4 c. Water – add more water if you need

1/2 Apple Cubed

1/4 c. Blueberries

1/4 c. Strawberries

1 tsp Peanut Butter or your favorite Nut Butter like Almond.

1/8 tsp. cinnamon or to taste – I use two Tablespoons because I like the taste – use cinnamon not cinnamon sugar

*Alternatives*

Carbohydrate Substitute:

Any combination of your favorite Fruit like:

Banana’s, Blackberries, Peaches etc.

Protein Substitutes:

Add a scoop of Protein Powder after you Cook the Oatmeal

or

1/8 c Pecans, almonds, or walnuts.

Flax Seed

I’m watching my Cholesterol so I add 2 Tablespoons of Ground Flax Seed. Make sure you use Ground the Flax Seed not whole. Our bodies have a hard time digesting Whole Flax seeds. To maximize their Cholesterol Fighting properties you should Grind the seeds or buy it already Ground.

1. Put the Oatmeal in a Bowl,

2. Add the Cinnamon and Mix,

3. Cube the Apple add to the Oatmeal with your other Fruit

4. Microwave for 1 and ½ minutes or until Cooked to your liking.

5. Remove from the Microwave,

6. Add the Peanut Butter and Stir until well mixed,

7. If it is too sticky add a little more water,

8. You can also add a Tablespoon of Yogurt or a Dash of Nonfat Milk.

Energy Bar Recipe (Lara Bar Like):

Here are a few different recipes:

Very Cherry:

1/4 c. dates,

1/4 c. dried cherries or cranberries,

1/3 c. whole pecans,

almonds, or walnuts,

1/8 tsp. cinnamon

Cashew Cookie Dough:

1/3 c. dates,

1/2 c. raw cashews Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough:

1/3 c. dates,

1/2 c. raw cashews,

1/2 tsp.vanilla extract,

pinch of cinnamon,

1/2 oz. finely chopped semisweet chocolate

Blueberry Bliss:

1/4 c. dried blueberries,

1/4 c. dates,

1/3 c. almonds,

1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest,

1 drop almond extract

*Note: Make sure to use roughly chopped whole dates, not pre-chopped for these recipes.

1. Lay two pieces of plastic wrap on counter.

2. Place fruit in food processor and pulse until it has a paste-like texture.

3. Transfer to a medium bowl.4. Add nuts to food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

5. Add nuts to bowl with the fruit.

6. Add all other ingredients.

7. Use fingers to knead into a paste.8. Divide mixture in half.

9. Place each half on plastic wrap.

10. Wrap plastic around mixture and form into a bar shape.

11. Wrap tightly in plastic and store in the refrigerator.

12. Makes 2 bars.

I Quadruple the Energy Bar Recipe when I’m making it. That way I have enough for a about two weeks. I break off about a 2 OZ. Chunk for each post work out snack.

Enjoy!

My Journey: an Article in FitnessX.com Magazine

My Passion is Positively Influencing People

Check out this article about me in FitnessX.com Magazine!

http://www.fitnessx.com/fitnessX_june_2010/karracrawford1.html

There is an aricle about me called, Positively Influencing People this is my Passion, by Karra Crawford.

This is an overview of my journey to discovering physical fitness!

I've been there, I know what that journy is like! You can do it too!

Eliminate the opportunity for excuses! Pack the night before!

If you didn’t have your gym bag ready and packed the night before, you really had no “real” intentions of going to the gym. Be honest, that’s the truth and you know it. As bad or as much as you wanted to be able to go to the gym, there was no plan of action to get there. Wanting something badly doesn’t create change… you have to actually “do” what it takes to get there!!!

Think of it like this, your job and your financial security is important to you, right? If you had a job interview and you really wanted that position, you would already have your clothes picked out, resume in hand, ideas of possible answers to certain questions and you’d make sure that you have plenty of time to get there. The same thing applies with your workouts. If it’s really a priority, you will make sure it happens. Your clothes need to be packed the night before and you need to know what you are doing for a workout way before you just “show up”. What good are your clothes being packed with intentions of going to the gym, but not having any clue what you are going to do for a workout?

How many times have you told yourself you’ll pack your gym bag in the morning and then some how you just “run out of time?” All of the sudden your priorities shift and you are not concerned about packing your gym bag, you are just trying to get your usual routine together and leave soon enough to get to work on time. Once at work you either a) justify the fact that you can’t go to the gym today because you didn’t have time or you forgot to pack your stuff or b) you tell yourself that you will come home after work and grab your gym stuff. DON’T FOOL YOURELF !!!! As much as you would like to be able to, you know you’re not going to the gym once you come home from work. At home there are too many distractions and responsibilities; laundry, dishes, dinner, kids homework, email, family, etc. Let’s not forget the biggest time stealer of all… your TV! Once you sit down on that sofa to “relax” from your day, you know you’re not getting up. Another day of no exercise gone and lost all because you didn’t take 2 minutes the night before to plan ahead and pack. Yes that’s right… all it takes is 2 minutes.

Packing my gym bag before I go to bed is part of my nightly routine. It has become so routine that it is like brushing my teeth… I can’t go to bed until I know that it’s done. I toss in a pair of shoes, followed by some socks, a sports bra, a tank top and shorts. Done! My IPod is fully charged every night and gets plugged in next to my phone so that I have no chance of forgetting it. (I disconnect it in the morning when I disconnect my phone).

I wake up at 4am every morning and leave my house by 5:15. My work day is busy just like yours, but I still make the time to take time for my workouts. I take my lunch break at the gym for some morning cardio, and then after work I go back to the gym to hit the weights. Every single night, my gym bag is packed. I never leave in the mornings without it. It sits at my front door so that so that I can’t miss it on my way out. It has become so routine that if I ever left the house without my bag on my shoulder… something would just not feel right.

My gym bag always has its own set of toiletries that I never take out or shuffle between my bag and my bathroom. I’m never transitioning stuff from my bathroom to the gym bag because I never want to make it a possible opportunity to forget something. These are the items that I always keep in my gym bag; deodorant, lotion, face wash, face lotion, shampoo, conditioner, hair spray, body wash, body spray, a razor, hair ties, tooth brush, toothpaste, a hair brush, heart rate monitor, a shaker bottle and a few bags of protein powder. (I never want to be hungry or without food….but this is whole separate topic!) By keeping these items with me at all times, I have eliminated any and all excuses and inconveniences for not being able to work out.

You can do it too! You just have to make it a priority in your life! Take charge of your life and be proactive about your time! Everyone starts somewhere! I didn’t get this good about routinely packing my gym bag overnight! I found the one right way only after I tried 600 other ways that didn’t work! Being prepared and planning ahead is the only thing that works!

To get you started with a workout plan at the gym, scroll down and use my leg work out that I just did for myself last week. I promise you that if you are doing it properly and lifting to your full potential and resting appropriately, this should be all you need for your leg day!

If you are still having a tough time getting to the gym, get a workout partner. Making yourself accountable to someone else helps. It that still doesn’t work, hire me!

Karra’s Leg work out:
Leg press- 20x 15x, 12x 10x superset with 8 box jumps on a 3 foot step
Stiff leg dead lift 20x, 15x, 15x, 12x superset with 8 box jumps
Lunges with smith machine 15x,12x 10x
Seated ham string curl 15x, 15x, 12x superset with walking lunges with heavy dumbbells

The Chimichanga Justifies Procrastination

Its 8:30 am now and I have already had my 2nd meal of the day. I am getting ready to have to leave soon to drive down to Mesa Arts Center for our district meeting. I know that this meeting is going to take about 3-4 hours so I made sure to bring my lunch box with all of my meals and my gallon of water. Yes I drink out of a gallon of water a day and yes, I actually bring it with to work.

As I get to the meeting, I am sure that my co-workers are staring at my funny because I have my gallon of water in one hand and my lunch box in the other. I’m sure they are wondering what in the heck I’m doing with this stuff, but I don’t care; by now I’m used to the jokes.

When the meeting is over, my co-workers are all in agreement that they would like to go out for lunch and since I car pooled, I’m obligated to the unanimous vote. But that’s no problem because I already got my workout in at 4 am this morning, so I’m not worried about using up my lunch hour and I have my meals with me. I let them chose amongst themselves about where they would like to go. I don’t need to have an opinion about where they are eating since I already have my food with me I don’t have to worry about eating somewhere that doesn’t offer food that I won’t eat. Of course everyone wants Mexican food. Mmmmm! I love Mexican food! That’s okay. I have my chicken and squash and I can pour some salsa over it to make it a little more “Mexican”.

While my co-workers order and dive into their entree’s (chimichanga) I bust out my tuperware of food and enjoy my meal as well. No one thinks I’m weird for bringing my own food. Actually, they complement for having such impressive self discipline and tell me how they wish that they could do the same thing. While I can appreciate that they are impressed by my discipline, I am asking myself, “why can’t they?” I didn’t do anything except plan! We’ve all heard the phrase “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail” but then why do they never plan?

Those plates of chimichanga’s were licked clean! And you know something? The people who ask for my help and guidance the most are the ones who somehow talked themselves into ordering that kind of a dish over a salad and ate the whole thing! One chimichanga has over 1100 calories in it!!! That’s not including the side of rice and beans that come with it and the non diet soda you ordered. Add that to it and now you’re near a 2100 calorie meal for lunch! No wonder why employees have lunch and are then tired and unproductive afterwards. They’ve just killed their metabolism! And somehow this behavior was justified because, “it’s Friday” or “we never spend time together outside of work”. After the meals have been devoured, I hear things like, “Oh, I’m so tired”, “why did I eat all that”, “that was so good”, “diet starts back on Monday”.

Monday? …Monday? Are you serious? You hate what you just ate, you feel guilty about it, but you’re going to sabotage yourself for two more days and start again on Monday? You just ruined your diet for the day but apparently Monday is the magic day that is going to get you back on track….. Why wait till Monday? Fix it and make corrections now! Don’t procrastinate! This has got to be one of my biggest pet peeves.

The only thing that waiting till Monday is going to do is allow you to eat more of the crappy foods that you know you shouldn’t have any way. You know you are going to eat more than you want to and the quality of your choices is going to be worse. You will more than likely talk yourself out of doing any exercise over the weekend as well. What’s the point, right? If you plan on waiting to get back on a “healthy diet” for the next two days you may as well wait to get on an exercise schedule as well. All of this will be okay with you because you are able to “justify” and make excuses for it before hand because you are telling yourself that you are going to “get back on track on Monday”. Really? Does this sound like anything that you have ever said or thought to yourself? How many times have you said this to yourself? How many times have you done this to yourself? Final question… how has that been working for you?

Let me tell you something; it doesn’t work! I know because I’ve been there! I used to do the same thing! I’d over eat on bad foods, feel guilty about it and tell myself that it’s okay I’ll start my diet again on Monday. Then the weekend would come and of course I’d eat whatever I wanted, justify my eating behaviors on the fact that “it’s okay, this is the last time I’m going to eat this for a while so I may as well get it in now”. Then Monday rolls around and I told myself that today is the day! (for the umpteenth time). Monday starts out great, I’m motivated and on a sugar high from my weekend of eating everything that I think I’m not going to get to eat for a while, but then, somewhere throughout the day I slip up; I eat a little something I shouldn’t, I miss a workout, etc. Since I’ve become such a good “justifier of my behavior” I figure that today is not the fabulous Monday that I thought it would be so since I already goofed, I may as well start full power again next Monday. Hello????? Does anyone see what is happening here? I just lost 7 days, gained more weight, and am emotionally beating myself up about how I just can’t stick to anything, all because I didn’t nip in the butt and get right back on track immediately!

If we procrastinated on everything else in life the way that we do with diet and exercise, our lives would be a disaster. If you’re a student and you have a paper due on Friday, but “life gets busy” and you turn it in on Monday… what kind of a grade would you expect to get? ” Those low grades are harder to pull up had you just turned your assignment in on time. If you had to make a credit card payment and you paid it late, you’d expect a late charge, right? Same thing with your body, if you over eat, under exercise and procrastinate on proper diet and exercise, you are going to gain more weight! Consider that your “late fee” or “lose of points on your graded paper. If you keep putting it off you are making more work for yourself later.

Procrastination is a sabatager. Don’t do it! If you know you need to make change, do it now! Your body needs to you to take care of it. What are you waiting for? There’s never going to be good time, a better time, a convenient time or enough time to make change, but you have to just do it!