When and How to Change Your Workout Routine

Hey everyone! Happy Tuesday! I just did one of my favorite FASTer Way to Fat Loss® workouts and it got me thinking about people who are not happy with their fitness or nutrition routines but don’t know what to do.

Navigating the world of nutrition and fitness is a lot like looking for your soul mate. If it’s long term success that you are after, you need to be compatible, feel stimulated and get something in return. 

Raise your hand if you have been stuck in a nutrition or fitness relationship and you weren’t happy because you lined up for the one that made you turn your lifestyle upside down and become something you’re not. Or maybe you got caught up in the one that made promises it couldn’t keep if you gave up a major food group. Maybe you ghosted your family and friends and started spending way too much time in the gym. 

You are not alone.

There are a few tell-tale signs that you need to break up with your nutrition and fitness routine.

1. You’re bored – whether you’ve pulled a 180 and overhauled your lifestyle into something you are not OR you have been following the same food and exercise plan for months, it is hard to stay committed to anything that you are not excited about. When you’re bored, you lose motivation. And if the plan doesn’t fit YOUR lifestyle, you will probably fall off the bandwagon.

2. You’re tired and/or getting injured – if you are depriving yourself of certain foods, it could cause other major problems…cut carbs and you have no energy, get irritable and may blow you thyroid out of service, cut fat and you increase cravings and develop skin issues. On the other hand, if you’re spending more time in the gym than with family and friends, you could be overtraining which leads to exhaustion, continuous soreness and even injuries. Food and exercise should make you feel good.

3. You’re not getting the results that you want – if your body isn’t changing or your progress has stalled it could be because you are not fueling your body properly or because you are training the same way day in and day out. A nutrition and fitness routine is important for your body, but not if it is keeping you from getting the results that you want. 

So, if you are bored, tired or not seeing the results that you want, it is time to change your routine. Do something different that will shake things up -> Try a new program like the FASTer Way to Fat Loss® - if you haven’t tried the premier online nutrition and fitness program, it is time to sign up! My next round of FASTer Way to Fat Loss® starts December 31 with prep week where I will get you all set up with the tools and strategies to THRIVE through the 6-week program and reach your goals. 

I hope you will join me in the FASTer Way to Fat Loss® program. You won’t be bored, you will be energized and you will see amazing results. To register, click here.

Thank you for reading! Let me know that you did by leaving me a comment or a question!

3 Things You Will Get When You Join FASTer Way to Fat Loss® with Me!

Hello everyone!

I am so excited to hop on here quickly to tell you that I have officially opened registration for my next round of FASTer Way to Fat Loss® starting DEC 31!

If you are tired of not seeing progress, if you want to change your body composition and become a pro-fat burner and if you want the solution laid out for you with support and accountability from a coach (LIKE ME!) and community that is a sustainable lifestyle, not a temporary fix…

Then you need to sign up for my next round of FASTer Way to Fat Loss®. 

There are 3 things you will learn while doing the #FWTFL with me.

First, you will learn to eat more of the right foods, the foods that you already love. You will learn to eat enough of the right foods and STOP under-eating, so that your body learns to burn fat naturally. 

Second, you will learn to time when you eat your food through carb cycling and intermittent fasting so that you become a PRO fat burner.

Third, you will learn to strategically use exercise to work out less while you increase your metabolism and burn more fat, faster!

On DEC 31, you will get all the details about the program and we will spend the week getting familiar with the tools and the strategies, so that when we start week 1 of your 6-week journey, you will be ready to THRIVE!

You will leave FASTer Way to Fat Loss® feeling leaner, stronger, healthier and more energetic than you’ve ever felt before!

Sign-up today. Go ahead a give yourself the gift of health and wellness. Grab your spot in my DEC 31 round now and hold yourself accountable to starting 2019 with a plan to become the best version of YOU!

Benefits of Joining an Online Fitness Challenge

There are many times throughout the year where fitness challenges are super popular and the December is one of them. You’ve probably seen them offered on social media or at your local gym. Maybe you have even done one or two! I personally love joining challenges and have done A LOT of them over the years (see evidence here, here and here) because there are soooo many benefits.

Challenges come in all shapes and sizes, which means you can always find one that is a perfect fit for you. 

If you are on the fence about whether or not to join a challenge, let me tell you some of the benefits of joining a challenge.

1. Motivation – because working out can be a struggle, especially in the winter when it’s colder and crazy with work and holidays. A challenge helps you stay focused and avoid the distractions that can get you off track from your fitness goals. Joining a challenge gives you a reason to get off the couch, put on your workout clothes and get moving.

2. Accountability – a challenge group will hold you accountable. There’s lots of evidence to show that when you are part of a group working to reach a common goal, you’re much more likely to succeed. You’ll be inspired by other people’s accomplishments and you will inspire them. You’re much more likely to stay on track and not let obstacles derail you when you are part of an accountability group, like an online challenge group.

3. Learn something new – if you’ve been doing the same old thing, doing a challenge can spice things up. Changing your routine is a great way to start seeing results again when you introduce new exercises. You’ll get tips on eating healthy, new ideas for workouts. You’ll get a variety of new tools for the fitness tool box, so that when the challenge is over, you can keep building, keep the momentum going, instead of stalling out when your routine starts to feels stale and uninspiring.

4. Flexibility – you can complete the challenge work at your convenience, there is no need to attend a class at a certain time or go to the gym during your lunch break (although you can if that is what works for you!), you don’t even have to belong to a gym to participate! Plus you can do the workouts in the morning or the afternoon, whenever it works for you!

I am hosting a FREE online fitness challenge that will give you motivation, accountability, and FAB ABs by Christmas. The 12 Days of Core starts on DEC 10. Each day I will give you an exercise to perform. The fun part is that you will add on each day, just like the song! You will also get fun holiday recipes, intermittent fasting tips and tricks to avoid holiday weight gain. Click here to learn more!

 Before you sign up for an online challenge, here are some things to consider to make sure you have the best experience:

1. Sign up for a challenge that is something you already enjoy or want to get better at. Don’t sign up for a challenge doing something you hate thinking that it will make you love it. I tried that once with a 30-burpees for 30 days…I still am not a fan of burpees and I didn't finish the challenge! Take my advice, you don’t want to spend 30, 12 or even 2 days doing something you dread. Challenges are supposed to be FUN!

2. Keep in mind that you will have good days and bad days. Most people are super excited at the start of a challenge. If you can hold on to that feeling for the entire challenge, that’s great. Realistically there will be days when you’re not feeling well or didn’t get enough sleep and whatever the reason, you will struggle to do your daily challenge work. The point is to not give up. Remember the days that you have already put in and let that keep you going through the bad day.

3. If you are going to sign up for a challenge, make it a priority. Even if it’s a fun challenge, plan when you are going to do it. Make sure to fit it into your schedule like you would an appointment or something work related and don’t skip! 

4. Engage with the other challenge members. This will make it more fun and you will probably come away with some new online fitness friends. Then you can continue to keep each other accountable and motivated after the challenge is over.

I hope this information has been helpful to you. Let me know in the comments if you are doing a challenge in December! If you are interested in joining my 12 Days of Core challenge that starts on DEC 10, don’t forget sign up here!

Are You A Sugar Burner or Fat Burner?

If someone asked you which you would rather be, a sugar burner or a fat burner, I think most of us would answer, fat burner. Especially if you are trying to lose fat.

Being a sugar burner means exactly that. Your primary source of fuel is glucose, which means your body has absolutely no reason to reach into your fat stores for energy. Your body is perfectly content to run on a steady supply of carbs that you are providing.

How do you know if you are a sugar burner? Ask yourself these questions:

1. Are you hungry shortly after eating?

2. Do you experience large swings in energy levels from high to low?

3. Do you have a craving for carbs and sugar in every meal?

4. Are you struggling to lose belly fat?

When you are a sugar burner consuming a high carb diet, your blood sugar increases forcing your body to produce more insulin. That insulin spike blocks the appetite control hormone leptin which prevents your brain from getting the signal that you are full. This creates an unhealthy cycle that leaves most people feeling continuously hungry, over-weight and in danger for developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other inflammatory problems.

The goal is to be a fat burner: to train your body to burn fat for fuel by eating the right amount of carbs, protein and healthy fats. 

When you are a fat burner, your body still burns the food you consume for fuel, but then it turns to fat stores for the rest. Using fat stores for energy means that your body can go for 6-8 hours without feeling hungry, you will lose fat and feel an increase in energy.

Fat burners still consume carbs, but they do it at the right time and for the right reasons. Intermittent fasting helps the process of becoming a fat burner because you aren’t giving your body a steady stream of glucose and your insulin levels remain low. Fat burners who carb cycle don’t experience energy crashes and are able to listen to the body’s hunger signs.

Pro fat burners pair intermittent fasting and carb cycling with the right workouts to increase the body’s fat burning process and build lean muscle. The more muscle you have, they higher your metabolism and the more fat your body burns naturally. 

If you answered yes to any of the questions I asked earlier, you can turn your body into a fat burner by joining my next round of FASTer Way to Fat Loss®. I will show you how to burn fat and get fit fast through straightforward nutrition and strategic workouts. Details and sign-up information here.

You Overate, What Can You Do Now?

Well, hello everyone!

Thanksgiving has come and gone. I hope you had a wonderful time. Here in Hong Kong, mrC and I had a great strength workout and then had some yummy turkey meatballs for our Thanksgiving dinner.

I have so much to be thankful for this year including people like you reading this blog and many family and friends who have been so supportive of my journey to becoming a coach for  FASTer Way to Fat Loss® and turning my passion for fitness and love of teaching into the most amazing job ever! 

Last week I talked to you about how to enjoy the holiday and stay on track.

Some of you might have set a goal and told yourselves you wouldn’t over over-indulge, you promised you wouldn’t eat too much or drink too much, but despite having the best intentions, maybe you are feeling a little bloated and experiencing eater’s remorse. 

First of all, ditch the remorse. Never, ever feel bad about enjoying your celebration or holiday and the food and drink that goes with it!

Instead of looking at the day with a “what have I done” attitude, let’s think about “what you can do now” and move forward. 

If you celebrated with a little bit too much food and drink, don’t panic. Even if your pants are feeling tighter today, it’s easier than you think to get back on track. 

 So, if you overate, here’s what you can do now:

1. Show yourself grace. Don’t spend the day beating yourself up. This will only make you feel stressed which can lead to cravings and making poor choices. You can’t turn back the clock or erase what happened, but you can accept it and move on.

2. Get back to your normal routine. Definitely resume your regular eating schedule as soon as possible and plan ahead if you are going to be out Black Friday shopping! Make sure you have healthy snacks on hand. Start tracking your food again if you took the day off. Extend your intermittent fasting window by an hour or two to give your body a little more time at digestive rest. Then eat meals with a balance of carbs, fats and protein. You could do a regular macro day and get in a good strength training workout or go low carb and get in a 20-minute high intensity interval training workout. Whatever you do, don’t binge exercise to make up for binge eating. Over-exercising is a stressor on the body that leads to fat gain instead of fat loss.

3. Drink lots of water. Staying hydrated will help your metabolism and wash things down and out of your body. That heaviness you’re probably feeling is a combination of water retention, extra glycogen (stored from all the carbs you ate) and waste in the digestive track. All of this “weight” will eventually be balanced out by drinking plenty of water and resuming your normal meals.

Most people who head into a holiday already eating healthy and working out the right amount, will not over over-indulge, but if they do they will be able to bounce back easily because of the healthy habits they have formed. 

If you want to learn these healthy habits, you can sign up for my next round of FASTer Way to Fat Loss® that will start on DEC 31 with Prep week. Click here for more information.

I also have a FREE holiday challenge if you are looking for a fun way to stay motivated and have some accountability. The 12 Days of Core Challenge starts DeC 10. You can join here. 

I hope you found today’s information useful. If you did I’d love for you to share it for others to see. Let me know that you read by leaving a comment. I love comments ;)

Remember, don’t look back at what you could have, should have done. Focus on starting fresh today. You are always one choice/day away from getting back on track.