Implement Self Care Today

Self care has taken the wellness scene by storm. It’s all about taking time to ensure your needs are met. Women tend to put everyone and everything above their own needs and wants. Embracing this movement can feel selfish, but it’s necessary to me in order to be the best Sarah that I can be for those around me and for my freaking self! I’m not avocating throwing your responsibilities to the wayside, in fact incorporating self care into your regular routine is easier than you think. Here are some quick ways to pay attention to your own wellness and take care of yourself.

take care of yourself emotionally: 

be present with your morning coffee.

Or tea. Or smoothie. Or whatever you drink in the morning. This is your time to just be present. No distractions. This is your time to get your mind ready for the day. It can be as little as 5 minutes. Set your alarm a little earlier and take time to sit with yourself while you drink your morning drink. This should be before kids get up, or after they leave, to just BE. This isn’t an extra 5 minutes of instagram scrolling or catching up on The Skimm. You’ll be surprised how ready to take on the day you are when you’re not rushing to get everyone and everything ready for the day.  Take 5 minutes to devote to getting your mind right for the day ahead.

take care of yourself socially:

engage with people who bring out your best self.

It’s important to spend time feeding our social nature. Moms, yall need to spend time with adults talking about adult things! Schedule, IN INK so you don’t cancel, time with your girlfriends.  We all have people in our lives who are bright, positive, and genuinely happy the majority of the time. You probably already crave being around this type of person, and you should. It’s important to surround yourself with those who will encourage positivity. Those who encourage negative thoughts and engage in negative talk constantly bring us down. Our thoughts become our words and our words become our actions. I want to be a person that is approachable, friendly, and has an inner light. By surrounding myself with people who have those characteristics, I’m more likely to inhibit those behaviors myself. That doesn’t mean that we distance ourselves from friends in need, we all have down days. But be aware of those in your friend circle who are negative the majority of the time and decide if that’s who you want to spend your time with.

take care of yourself physically:

dedicate time to fitness.

If you’ve been following me long, you know I love fitness. I love working out and celebrating all that my body can do! Check out our blog for my favorite tabata workout! Just like positivity, our bodies crave movement. You already know the health benefits: better lab results, improved sleep (hallelujah), better cardiovascular health. The list literally doesn’t end. Just like coffee time, it’s important to take the time to make sure your body can perform at its very best. If you’re low on time, consider tabata style cardio or functional training. When we do functional training, think no machines just your body doing the movements with limited equipment, you train your body for all the standing, sitting, bending over, picking up, vacuuming, and lifestyle movements. Make your health just as much a priority as your favorite tv shows!

take care of yourself by saying NO.

This is a big one. It’s crucial that you practice saying no. We get caught up in constantly trying to please everyone, but you can’t. Did you read that? You cannot please everyone. If attending this dinner, happy hour, event, or whatever will take a toll on you or doesn’t fit your self-care needs, don’t be afraid to say no. And guess what? You don’t owe anyone an excuse either. I’ve really been working on the following reply, “I’m sorry, but not going to be able to attend ___.” That’s it. Simple right? Of course my friends get a real explanation, although real friends often don't need one. 

Have any self-care ideas? Drop them in the comments below and let us know how you dedicate time to being your best self!

Fitness Instructor Secrets

Group fitness is my favorite. There's a sense of community. You're highly motivated by experiencing the workout with  other participants, motivating music, and an even more motivating and energetic instructor. I chatted with several instructors in the Little Rock area and here are a few things we want our participants to know while working out!

the order matters.

We all know that the warm up is important to prevent injury and get your body prepared for what’s to come. But it’s also a great time to preview movements. Body Pump classes typically use the same timing combos in the warm up that you’ll see later in the workout.

We also work larger muscle groups first and compound movements. Squats and chest press are prime examples. We want to do them first before accessory work. You’ll be burning more calories doing a full back squat vs. a hip bridge. Think about Body Pump: squats, chest, and back come before biceps, triceps, lunges, and shoulders. Those first three hit every major muscle group and actually work biceps, triceps, and shoulders secondarily.

body awareness is key.

Your instructor is probably repeating a lot of instructions. How many times have you heard “tighten your core” or “feet hip width apart”. That’s because we want you to pay attention to it. You may feel like your feet are wide enough, but look up into the mirror or down and do a quick double check. I promise even though we love hearing ourselves on the mic (it’s awful) it’s being said for a reason! This will also help with the elusive MMC, mind muscle connection!

get your head in the game.

Stay focused on your workout. You came to class to improve yourself. No instructor wants to teach a class that doesn’t want to be there. If you want to constantly check your phone or be distracted by what’s going on in your life, workout at home, on the main floor, or just anywhere outside of the classroom. Energy is contagious and your distractions can distract others. 

recommendations for weight selection. it's a science.

My trainer says this to me when her sequencing kills me. There’s a scientific reason your squat weight in Body Pump should be double your warm up weight. 1. It’s how we gauge the rest of your weight selections and 2. If you were able to lift the bar overhead (we can see you doing the clean and press and shoulder presses in warm up) with your small arm muscles your larger muscles making up your glutes, hamstrings, and quads WILL be able to double that weight. If not, lower your warm up weight. Every instructor I spoke with mentioned weight selection as their #1 pet peeve. They see participants ignore their recommendations and then suffer in range and timing. They also see participants not able to finish the recommended reps or watch members finish without fatiguing their muscles, which is the whole point of working out.

celebrate successes

One of my bootcampers struggled with lateral, side to side, movements. Her weak knee mobility was really limiting. After a lot of work she’s now doing skater jumps! Seeing members up their weight and successfully finish a track...it’s why we love teaching! Every success is worth celebrating and it doesn’t matter if you’re at your goal weight or if you’re lifting the heaviest in the class or jumping the highest. Show up, work hard, and the changes will come. And your instructors will be there cheering you on.

Gym Intimidation

I’ve always loved being physically active. I’ve always worked at a gym in some form or fashion for over 10 years: managing, teaching group fitness, or floor staff. I’ve seen countless, endless people not feel comfortable in a gym. They don’t think they’re in good enough shape or they feel judged. For a lot of folks, the hardest part of starting a health and fitness program is walking in the door. Keep reading for my suggestions on how to make the transition into the gym or a new fitness class easier for you!

rock your trip to the gym

1. Wear something that makes you feel good! This is difficult when you’re not feeling confident in your body, but I promise it helps. It's like going out with a fresh haircut. Whether it’s something that you feel hides your “trouble areas” or something new and colorful, pick something that makes you feel good. Got a new VS sport tank? Rock it!

2. Let them know you’re new! Going to class for the first time? Let the instructor know you’re new so they can keep an eye on you. I know you want to blend in, but deep down it’s that you don’t want to do something wrong. They’ll make sure you’re set up right, instead of walking around confused.  As an instructor I loved knowing when I had new folks in class; it made me be more conscious of my cues. I also always made a point to speak to first timers after class to make sure they were successful and gave them tips for their next visit.

3. Scope it out! I hate that feeling of not knowing where to go. Go in during slow hours and look around. Find what equipment you want to use. Figure out where the bathrooms are. That’s also a great time to ask the staff how to use the leg press or to show you some moves with the kettlebells. Chances are if it’s a slow time of day, the staff will be thankful for the break!

4. Stop comparing! Here’s the thing yall, no one is immune to gym-timidation. Guys in great shape compare themselves to stronger guys and feel weak. Women in great shape still feel self-conscious. It all stems from comparison. Ever heard “comparison is the thief of joy”? It’s so true. You cannot compare where you are to anyone else’s journey, plain and simple.  

5. Bring a friend! Remember gym class when you had to pair up or choose teams? You naturally reach out to your friends because they make you feel more comfortable! Besides that, they’ll help your performance. You’re more likely to show up and less likely to quit early when you have a workout buddy. Make your girls go to that new spin class together. If your friend already goes to that gym, find out about the guest policy so you can go with them first! Strength in numbers yall.

Why Tabata?

You’ve probably been hearing a lot about Tabata or HIIT training. Lemme break it down for ya. Tabata, like HIIT, is a high intensity style of interval training. Meaning, it’s a format, not necessarily a workout.  It is my favorite style of cardio training and how I met Chef Pete! Ask him about April Johnson’s #TabataTuesday!  Besides being super effective, we’ll get to that later, it keeps my training from ever getting boring! We all know 30 minutes on the treadmill is equivalent to being stranded in the bathroom without your cell phone. Pure torture.

The tabata protocol is 20 seconds of your most intense work followed by 10 seconds of rest, repeated 8x for a total of 4 minutes. The moves are totally up to you!  When teaching tabata style HIIT classes I tell my participants, if I wasn’t watching the clock and made you work to 21 seconds, you might not survive. That’s the level of exertion you want to perform at. Now that sounds scary, but my hardest 20 seconds is different than yours. It’s about working YOUR hardest.  

Why is tabata popular? It’s about the intensity. In performing movements at a higher intensity with a shorter rest period, your heart and metabolism will be pumping, which is ideal for fat burning. Plus, you’ll continue burning after you’re finished working out, which traditional steady-state cardio can’t boast.  It’s all about dat afterburn.  Dr. Tabata invented this style of interval training specifically to improve performance in Olympic athletes.  Now, I like to think I’m an Olympic quality athlete. The truth is this format pushes your body, takes less time, and is a recommended alternative to steady state cardio if your goal is fat loss.

Build your own Tabata: you can make it simple and choose 1 exercise to perform 8x, or mix it up with 2 movements to alternate between like battle ropes and jump squats. You can also go bodyweight only if you’re working out at home. Try to do 4 Tabata rounds with a 1 minute rest in between for a killer workout in under 30 minutes!

Tracking Progress

What is it about measurements that scare people so much? I used to be one of those girls; I never wanted to know how much I weighed, cut the size tags out of my jeans, and refused to even let the doctor read the scale out loud. The thing is, a lot of us have a warped relationship with measurements, specifically the scale. Raise your hand if you’ve heard someone, or said yourself, “I want to lose 30lbs” or “I’ll be happy at 160”. A lot of times that goal number is just some arbitrary thing that has been assigned too much worth. *Unless a doctor or registered dietician gave you those numbers* The scale is likely not an indicator of your overall health or fitness levels.

There is less than a 10lb difference between these photos. The scale doesn't tell the whole picture!

So why measure at all? Well measurements are extremely important indicators of your hard work,because you’re working hard on your health and fitness goals, right? Measurements are tools to monitor and adjust as you progress on your health and fitness goals.

Let me repeat, measurements are a tool. You are not a tool, that # doesn’t define who you are as a person.

We use these measurements as indicators to see what may need changing. It opens up a dialogue with your coach, or maybe gives you a chance to be honest with yourself, about what is or isn’t working.

soooo what should I be measuring?

INCHES are a great place to track results. Often when the scale doesn’t move while you’re dieting and strength training, that can be attributed to muscle gain and that will be reflected in inches. I cringe when I see/hear people say “muscle weighs more than fat”... well kinda. 5lbs of muscle weighs EXACTLY the same as 5lbs of fat. Duh, 5lbs. But muscle is more dense, which means it takes up less space. So where the scale doesn't move, but your jeans are fitting better, girl you have lost inches. I’d take a loss of 2 inches in my waist over 2lbs down on the scale. The scale doesn’t tell us where we’re shrinking or if we’re progressing in losing fat and creating lean muscle. Also, I really encourage using a tape measure vs. jeans or dress sizing. Unfortunately ladies all know too well that sizes vary store to store. Luckily with a tape measure you get accuracy. 8 inches is 8 inches.

BODY FAT is another great indicator of your progress. The term “skinny fat” is most often what I picture when I think of not monitoring my body fat percentage. Someone at 130lbs with 18% body fat would look a lot different than that same woman weighing 130lbs with 30% body fat. Your body fat percentage tells us more about your body composition, how much of your body is composed of lean muscle vs. fat. If your goal is fat loss then you should absolutely be measuring body fat. Most gyms have skin calipers or a hand-held device. The most important thing there is consistency. Use the same device, not switching from calipers to a hand-held, and measuring a consistent time of day to track the difference. The device may not be 100% accurate but it will be able to tell you your progress, like if you’ve lost 4%.

PHOTOS are great indicators as well.  In January I started a weight loss challenge, yes I let myself go over a stressful time in my life last year and gained a lot of weight. I took pictures every Monday. At first it was really difficult to see those photos. But it was awesome to compare them back and see these big changes. Sometimes the scale moved less than 3lbs and I would be so discouraged. Then I’d compare photos and see how my hips and legs were shrinking. Once a week was probably (definitely) overkill, but I am so happy I had those beginning photos to see how far I’d progressed. Numbers are great but there’s something extra special about visual confirmation of your progress.

"That which gets measured, gets improved" is true, but measure consistently and with a purpose. 

Fuel Like a Fitness Professional

I’ve known Jessica Cornett for around 5 years. I first met her teaching group fitness classes at Hendrix College and 10 Fitness in Conway. Jessica is a full time mom to two boys (8 and 4 months),  runs her own business, and teaches 6 group fitness classes per week all while keeping her health and fitness a priority. I wanted to sit down with her and chat with her about how she fuels her body and get some take-aways you can add into your own daily routines!

10 Fitness Conway Body Pump

 

workout schedule

Jessica keeps a very consistent schedule but allows for flexibility. She’s currently teaching 6 classes per week at 10 Fitness in Conway: spin, BodyPump, and yoga.  But she tries to workout OUTSIDE of her classes 6 days a week! Roughly 12 workouts per week is a lot!  “They’re all 30 minutes or less,” she told me about her home workouts, “The baby only sits still for so long.” I asked how she was able to workout with a 4 month old while her husband is at work. “He loves the outside,” she explained. By doing her workouts via Beachbody On Demand she’s able to workout in her backyard while her son is in his bumbo or pack’n’play.

nutrition

I asked how much of a role nutrition plays in keeping her fueled for 6 classes a week, plus 6 home workouts, and taking care of two boys.  

“I mean huge! If I’m not fueled, i won’t be able to push through my workouts. I get weak too fast trying to power through a strength section in class or at home. It’s not going to be a pretty workout.”  If you’re going to make time in your busy, busy day to workout, make sure it’s the best it can be by taking care of your body.

Besides not being able to push herself, she’s not able to recover. “I need to eat after workouts! Just to get your energy back up. Food is energy for me!”

Jessica will sometimes do fasted workouts in the mornings and need to feed right after.  That’s when she grabs pre-made meals from Healthy Chew, it just works out perfectly. She will be STARVING after a fasted workout and having something prepared doesn’t let you give into the junk. The same applies to everyday meals.

 

take aways

Meal prepping takes up a lot of time. Especially when you’re busy. Jessica said she asked herself, “Should I outsource my meals?” She could make them herself, and used to, but that means losing hours working her business. “If someone else can do it, outsource it.” This has allowed her to be more productive in life and business.  Plus it takes away temptation! If you have a meal already portioned and made, you’re less likely to roll through Wendy’s (they don’t even serve spicy nuggets anymore so forget them anyway!)

q & a

• Biggest tips for new moms who are wanting to achieve health and fitness goals?

Have patience. You won’t have the perfect day. You’ll set a time and then the obstacles start coming in. “Be ready to be flexible” As long as you get it in, you get it in. It won’t be perfect timing.

• If you could suggest 1 thing that everyone with health and fitness goals needs to take from your routine, what would it be?

Be consistent. Pick a program you will do and you will love. Not everyone likes to HIIT train. If you don’t love it you won’t do it long term. If you love it your body will adjust to needing and wanting it.

• Go-to snack that you always carry with you?

I always have a cooler on me. Shakeology, trail mix with nuts and berries, and usually has greek yogurt with frozen fruit. Buy frozen fruit! It won’t go bad!

• Favorite Healthy Chew meal?

I do gluten and dairy free. The Chicken Marsala was amazing and I really like the salad. Oh, the cashew chicken! Makes you feel like you’re cheating.

you can follow Jessica on Facebook and Instagram to find out more on her class schedule + her health & fitness tips

Baby Fat Off!! with Alden

By: Pete Nguyen

(DISCLAIMER: Results are different and vary for each individual. This story is to inspire and shed a little light in the world of losing weight. This story is in no way professional medical advice. Please consult with your doctor for more information.)

We decided here at HC to give the spot light to Alden M., a professional bodybuilding competitor and a new mother to a beautiful 7 month old daughter. Like most women who struggle losing "the baby fat," Alden successfully did it through the power of confidence, knowledge and consistency! 

Weighing at 182lbs, she began our meal prep program this past January in hopes to get back to her regular weight which was at 162. It is upfront knowledge that women expect to gain weight during pregnancy. Some fortunate to easily drop back the their regular weight in weeks; and others not so fortunate. NCBI reported that 3 out of 4 women will keep at least 20lbs post partum. However, the shocking news is on average women gain 40% of their regular weight.

Fortunately for Alden, she created a master plan to get around this! With her professional knowledge in bodybuilding, she prepared herself with workouts she could manage during her pregnancy. Workouts consisting of a combination of light strength training, cardio, and HIIT (high intense interval training).

Alden managed to only gain as much as 20lbs postpartum. Though 30 percent of the solution of losing the weight is being physically active, the other 70 percent is clean eating. Alden knew full well that being a new mother can be unpredictable. She also knew she needed a solution to clean eating with only little time for her as she was juggling with her demanding work schedule, being a mother and a wife. She finally found Healthy Chew!

It was a breeze for Alden as she knew how much to eat and figuring out her own macros. With our standard lean fix program, she received the correct portion of food from our variety weekly menu. She was able to receive her delicious meals with no hassle and not the worry of finding recipes, grocery shopping, cooking, portioning, and cleaning dishes. All she had to do was crack the lid to her container, microwave, and ready to eat!

Within months, she was losing the weight and the inches! Her fears of staying in the “plateau phase” did not come true. To summarize her progress, she was weighing in the beginning at 183lbs. As of March going into April 2017, she now weighs 167lbs. She hopes to reach her goal this May. She is also confident she will compete in women’s bodybuilding next year. Keep on keeping on Alden!!

Losing over 100lbs and KEEPING IT OFF with LaQuita

By: Peter Nguyen

One of the most inspiring things people look forward to when trying to lose weight are real results, real stories and from real people. This story was probably my first and best heart felt story I can ever share to our Healthy Chew readers and fitness community.

LaQuita and I have been bestfriends since we were kids. Growing up from the same home town, attending and graduating from the same college, and still today remain close, we were and still are inseparable. After she gave birth to my beautiful first god daughter in 2015, like most women, LaQuita struggled with her postpartum image. She gained over 70lbs after the pregnancy and was weighing a total of 240lbs at 5'3". During that time, managing a full time profession, building up her private practice, and being a new mother and wife took a toll on her. 

The LaQuita I know is a strong intelligent woman who has worked hard her entire life. From high school honor student, valedictorian and graduating both with her bachelors and masters degree within four years, recognized nationally as one of the "top young black successful graduates," and earning her LCSW (highest license in social work/therapy) one year after her graduation, LaQuita is a force to be reckoned with. With so much determination and making a decision to take care of herself, she finally had the courage to reach out to me as I was just building Healthy Chew and actually sharing my own success story and struggle with losing weight. 

In 2016, we agreed to a "life change" plan- a plan I still implement for many individuals till this day. During this time, I placed her on my successful lean fix program. The lean fix program is a guideline food portion meal plan that was made only to help people lose weight. The food portions and macros that were tested to other individuals before this had many success as each individual had the correct and precise amount of protein, carbs and fat.  She was not to have any sweets, bread, high fat and alcohol. I did however agreed for her to have one cheat moment (NOT CHEAT DAY) as a reward for her hard work. Following my coach April Johnson's footsteps, she was also assigned a workout program called "Insanity Max: 20," an intense and focus program by Beachbody, guaranteed to give you results with 20 minute workouts a day. She complained sometimes about not having energy and motivation before the workouts. I then assigned her to another Beachbody product called E and E pre workout drink (BB discontinued it) that gave her all the energy she needed to successfully pull through each round of the program. I had also assigned her the modification part of the program as she had one bad leg- that did not stop her. 

Over 2-3 months later, she lost 45lbs. Another 3 months later, she lost another 25lbs making it a total of 70lbs lost! However, like most people, she began to take for granted her results as she was breaking back into her bad eating habits like sweets and bread. Like the caring person I am, I did bring this up to her as this was the "Vacation Phase" where people get too relaxed and decide to take a vacation and jump immediately back to bad eating habits. Over 2 months later, she gained over 22lbs. Realizing this and remembering why she started this journey, she decided to return back on her meal and workout program full force. At that moment, she made commitment to herself to not go back and to keep off the weight. Within months she lost the 22lbs she gained and more.

The next step was getting pass the "Plateau Phase." This is probably the biggest problem most women I have worked with have. The plateau phase can be discouraging as individuals start noticing no results. The education behind this phase is that everyone's body is different. This phase can last between 4-6 weeks. At one point LaQuita wanted to give up as she was working so hard on eating healthier and working out. Then a miracle happened. 4 weeks in her plateau phase and as soon as she was going to quit, the weight started falling off dramatically. She was losing 2-3lbs a week. 

Starting in January 2016 and ending in January 2017, she reported that she lost over 100lbs. From 240lbs to 140lbs, she made it pass one of the hardest phases of her life. Till this day, she continues to practice her healthy eating and fitness lifestyle. She has gained more energy and more motivation. Most importantly, she gained her confidence back. She also gained a following and continues to be a positive role model for many women dealing with self-image and weight loss problems. She hopes to open her own fitness studio one day.

We all go through many different phases in life with many different scenarios. Some difficult than other, and some just out of our hands. If you are tired of feeling sorry for yourself, being depressed, experiencing lost of confidence and self-image, not loving your body, pains of being over weight, then I encourage just like LaQuita to make the change now. I hope one day, and one day soon that you build up the courage and make the decision to take care of yourself today! It is not going to be easy but "Rome was not built in one day." Take each small step necessary to becoming a better you.

Healthy Chew takes off!

As Spring is coming, Healthy Chew is preparing for it's grand opening. With it's Little Rock location opening soon, owners Chef Pete Nguyen and Tj Clark hope to be successful in the food, health and fitness industry. 

"We are excited and nervous at the same time. This is a huge stepping stone for me as I will be taking on many clients" Chef Pete states. The location will be at 9813 W. Markham, same vicinity as Andy's. "We are planning to have the location operated as a warehouse only. Hopefully with enough requests we will open it up to drop in's as we will already have food pre-made without any ahead ordering."

"I want to make sure we give the best quality in customer service in the city. I also want to make sure both our clients and team is happy" Tj states. "We have big plans and a super big marketing campaign we will launch soon when the shop is close to opening. We will bring something new to the city."

Everyone mark your calendar. This is an opening you do not want to forget! We hope to continue hearing news and success stories soon.