Don’t force it

If you really don’t want to get on the treadmill or hit the weights, then don’t. Trying to force it will only make your lack of energy and motivation worse. Instead try something new! Why not challenge yourself with a Cross Fit class? Or take your bike outside if the weather is nice? Try some hot yoga, play tennis, go for a swim, just do something that you actually want to do.

Focusing on how you will feel afterwards

Don’t think about the way you’ll feel during the workout (how much it will hurt, etc.), think about how awesome you will feel once you’ve completed your workout and how great you’re going to feel the rest of the day. This will motivate you a lot more than dreading the feeling of working out.

Put the alarm clock in another room

Can’t seem to get out of bed for your gym date in the morning? Don’t make it so easy for yourself to push the snooze button. Take your alarm clock and put it in another room, that way you have to get out of bed to turn it off, and hopefully by getting out of bed you wont get back in!

New workout clothes

Another great way I motivate myself to workout is to get a new, cute workout top. Amazing as it is, this does wonders for my motivation. It’s not like I can wear my new gym clothes to work, so in order to show them off I have to take my butt to the gym.

How do you push yourself to get your butt to the gym?

My mom is a great cook and she makes absolutely delicious food…most of her food is very healthy (and mostly Mediterranean style) but staying on my diet is still no fun, because on top of all the healthy stuff she also makes the best desserts, definitely not on my diet, and the best bread, definitely not on my diet.

To stay on track I have set the following goals:

• Lose 5 pounds during the two weeks I am home
• Send my trainer progress pictures every 3 days

Just these simple goals will at least keep me on better track than I would without them! See below for the progress pictures from week 13, 14, and 15.

Working out is not as much of a challenge since my family is very active, but they still don’t workout twice a day like I do. And I have to do all my workouts without my trainer pushing me, I try to get the same burn, but you can only push yourself so hard.

I will get some more progress pictures up soon to show you guys how my prep is going while on the road. Until then, please give me your tips on how you stay motivated while your mom’s homemade cooking is only a reach away…

Does this sound familiar to you? I used to be like that too, making anything a habit is challenging, especially when it involves discomfort. So, how do you make fitness a habit? I have now gotten to the point where it feels weird to have breakfast in the morning if I haven’t worked out yet, this is what you’re aiming for, you want working out to become such an integral part of your every day life that it feels weird without it.

The most common mistake when starting a fitness routine is that people jump in heads over heels and end up either injuring themselves or giving themselves such bad soreness they have to take days off. Instead, pull out your calendar and mark two to three days next week that you’re going to workout, don’t just mark the day; mark the exact time and what you are going to workout. For example, Monday 6am: cardio and upper body circuit, Wednesday 7pm: yoga, Friday 7am: cardio and lower body circuit. Then create a reward system for your workouts, for every workout completed you earn $5, and for every extra workout you fit in outside of this schedule you earn an extra $10. At the end of the month, count your reward dollars and spoil yourself, get a pedicure, manicure, go shopping, do something that makes you feel good! The next month increase your weekly workouts by one and continue doing so until you are at the number you were aiming for. Remember, it takes 30 days to create a habit, it will not happen overnight, which is why it is a great idea to have a reward system.

Another tip for sticking to your workout is to train with your friends. Instead of going out to eat once a week, go for a walk or a run and then cook a healthy meal together. It will make you look forward to your workout instead of dreading it.

Here is one of my favorite super easy recipes:

1lb ground turkey (99/1)

4 yams

Cinnamon to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees and bake yams for 45-60 minutes, until soft. Sautee the turkey in a pan (I usually do not season my turkey, but that’s up to you). Mash yams and turkey together in a bowl and season with cinnamon. Makes about 4-6 servings.

Try it and let me know what you think! Later this week I’m going to start to share my progress pictures with you!

1. Scope out the location

Where are you going? If you’re going to a hotel, check if they have a gym and a fridge in your room. Also, check out the nearby restaurants to see where you can go for some healthy options. Remember, you can always modify any meal! Most restaurants have chicken or fish, order this grilled with steamed or grilled veggies on the side, hold the butter, oil, and sauce. If your hotel doesn’t have a gym research some locations near your hotel, where you can get a discounted pass for a couple of days.

2. Pack your food

Sure you might not be able to pack all your meals, but try to pack as many as you can! Pack dry oatmeal, cream of wheat, or cream of rice for your breakfast, you can easily cook this in a microwave (or have the hotel prepare it for you in their kitchen). Bring protein powder to put in your morning java, and voila you have your breakfast taken care off! Make sure to bring a ton of snacks for emergencies when you’re not able to take a break for a real meal. Pack Turkey Perky Jerky, almonds, fruit, and raw veggies for easy portable snacks that’ll keep you full. If your hotel has a fridge bring some grilled chicken and fish, baked sweet potatoes, rice, and steamed veggies to have for lunch and/or dinner.

3. Pack your workout gear

Don’t forget to pack your workout clothes and sneakers so you can hit the gym! Why not bring a jump rope and some resistance bands if you have some, to get a good workout in your hotel room.

4. No excuses!

Just because you are traveling does not give you a reason to fall off the wagon with your fitness and training goals! If you feel pushed towards temptation remember why you are doing this; writing down your goals will help you stay on track on the road and back home. Most of all remember that all the food everyone else is having is not good fuel for your body. It will not give you energy to power through your day or your workouts, it will not keep your body fit and healthy, and it will not help you reach your goals.

How do you stay in shape while on the road? Share your tried and true tips!

1. Plan, plan, plan, and then plan some more!

If you don’t have a plan in place you can only fail. It might sound like overkill, but every Sunday (or Saturday if that works better for you) sit down and plan exactly what you are going to have for every meal for the next week, when you are going to work out and what you are going to train during those workouts. Then, do your grocery shopping, cook all your meals and package by day of the week. Pencil in all your workouts on your schedule and make them appointments with yourself, meaning these are not voluntary attendance! Also, plan for the unplanned, you might be caught without your packed meals, or you might be driving/in a meeting when you’re supposed to have your next meal. Don’t fear! Always have a back up snack such as Turkey Perky Jerky and almonds stashed in your car, purse and desk drawer.

This is what my kitchen looks like on a given Sunday!

2. Can’t seem to stick to your workouts?

If you can’t seem to drag yourself out of bed, or stop at them gym on your way home it’s probably because you’re not enjoying your workout! Switch it up and try something else! Maybe the treadmill isn’t for you; try a step or spinning class instead. Or better yet, hit the weights! There are so many options out there; yoga, crossfit, tennis, cycling, running, Pilates, circuit classes, spinning, the list is SO long there has to be something on there that will make you stick to it. If you’re still dreading working out, make it a date! They say that 3 months makes a habit, so hire a trainer twice a week for the next 3 months. There is no way I would get up at 4am to get to the gym unless I knew my trainer was there waiting for me.

3. I don’t want to give up food!

You don’t have to! It is a very common misconception that if you are on a “diet” you can’t eat the foods you love. First of, unfortunately most of the foods you “love” that come from restaurants have close to your or exceed the amounts of fat, carbs, and sodium you should be consuming in a day. Second, don’t treat your healthy eating as a temporary diet; treat it as a new lifestyle. And trust me, your options are not that limited once you decide to start eating healthy. Just go into the produce section at your local grocery store and look at all that goodness! One of my favorite authors is Tosca Reno, if you’re having a hard time figuring out how to cook with these new ingredients check out her Eat Clean Diet cookbooks, and the Eating Clean magazine for tips and tricks!

4. Where did my motivation go?

Having a hard time motivating yourself to continue with your new lifestyle? This is where Facebook and Twitter come in handy! Search for competitors, fitness experts, trainers, anyone and anything that has to do with fitness and follow/”like” the ones that inspire and motivate you. Then when you feel your motivation lacking, log on and find it again!

Stay tuned for more tips coming soon!

Saturday I went to the store to stock-up on all the food I’ll be eating this week. I prefer to shop and cook in bulk on the weekends. On the menu we have chicken, bison steak, salmon, sweet potato, quinoa, veggies, and of course oatmeal, Turkey Perky Jerky and lots of protein shakes. I wont start my carb and fat cycling for at least another week or two, below is a sample of what a regular day will look like on my current diet:

Meal 1: 100% whey protein shake with fat burner (pre-workout)

Meal 2: Whey and casein protein shake with recovery blend (post-workout)

Meal 3: ½ cup dry oatmeal with 1 scoop protein powder, 8oz coffee and ½ banana

Meal 4: 4oz salmon and ½ cup spinach

Meal 5: 3-4oz bison steak, ½ stuffed pepper (yellow peppers stuffed with quinoa, spinach, yellow onion, celery, tomato and baked in glass Pyrex dish with crushed tomatoes, olive oil, and lemon juice).

Meal 6: 2oz of Turkey Perky Jerky (pre-workout)

Meal 7: 4oz oven baked chicken, 4oz oven baked sweet potato, ½ cup sautéed spinach

Meal 8: Protein shake (right before bed)

My workout schedule consists of two 45-minute cardio sessions, one in the morning when I also hit the weights for an hour and one in the evening after work. This might sound like an exhausting workout schedule, but when I get to eat all the great clean foods that are in my diet right now they fuel me straight through them! My least favorite workout of all of them is my afternoon/evening cardio. After a day of working (and getting up at 4:30am to get my cardio and weights done before work) the last thing I want to do is hit the gym again, that’s why I save my Turkey Perky Jerky for my afternoon snack. Without it I would never have enough energy to get back in the gym lol! Lucky for me this snack is contest diet approved up until two weeks out from the show!

Whenever I start hitting the weights and cardio this hard I also make sure I mix a serving of glutamine in my water at least 4 times a day to help my muscles recover. But one of the most important things to remember is to get adequate sleep for your body to reap the benefits from all those workouts!

I’ll be back again on Thursday with an update on how this first week of contest prep has treated me, if all goes well I can hopefully still walk by then…

Do any of you readers compete or have you ever thought about it?

I ended up being ready for the show a couple of weeks out so therefore my trainer and I decided to enter me in another show on October 25^th to get me some stage practice.

Prepping for the show was so much fun and I got to be on stage with two of my best friends that I had made while training for the show! I placed second in my novice class and 4^th in my open class and was super excited since it was only supposed to be for practice.  I have to admit I was a little shaky on stage though; the stage practice was definitely needed.

Me at my first show!

For my second show on November 12^th (the real deal) I was more than ready and really excited to be back on stage. I placed 2^nd in the open class this time and while I was a little disappointed I was still happy with the improvements I had made from the last show.

Enough about the past! Since I placed in the top 5 in my shows last year I qualified for nationals and that is the journey I will be telling you about this year! Right now I am a 17 weeks out from my first national show, which will take place in Charleston, SC on May 19^th.

It will be a little bit of a bumpy road getting back into show shape since I haven’t been able to work out since November 26^th due to a leg injury (think box jumps and shins…). Today was my first day back in the gym, and I might be just a little out of shape…

I have asthma which makes getting back into cardio a lot harder than getting my muscles back into shape. Today I did elliptical intervals and body weight lunges and man did it take my breath away, and not in the good kind of way! But it still felt great to be back in the gym and my legs didn’t bother me at all. Tomorrow the comeback continues, but I am adding some dumbbells to those lunges!

Now, I just need to get my game face back on to tackle the two-a-days again… but as long as I have my Turkey Perky Jerky before I hit the gym that shouldn’t be an issue!

What do you fuel your body with before working out? Do you choose different food/shakes in the morning versus the afternoon/night?

Hey folks I know we are only into the new year a week or so but things in NASCAR never really stop accept Christmas Day. Then again I bet there were guys heading out to the Garage with some Lenox Industrial Tool just wanting to play with it. But what I mean is Teams only had about a 100 day window to take what they had in 2011 and make it better or change it for 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup Season. Give me a few minutes to go over a couple moves that are catching my eye this off season.

Kyle Busch has been asked by Joe Gibbs Racing and his Primary Sponsor M&M’s to ONLY Race their brand in the Sprint Cup Series. That would mean Kyle would be out of his own Kyle Busch Motorsports Truck and his new Nationwide Car. Wow! Can they do that? They sure can and they didn’t make him they asked him but I’m sure his Cup Ride at JGR might have been at stake too. M&M’s is a big sponsor in NASCAR for JGR and Kyles actions in his Truck and in the #18 Nationwide car have gotten him into big trouble. But who will drive the NNS KBM Car in 2012? The rumor going around is it might be his bad boy brother Kurt Busch. I predicted before KuBu would drive for a Cup Team but would race his brother NNS car for the Driver Championship. I still see that as a very large possibility.

But what about the rest of JGR Team? Will Kyle drive any of the season in the #18? Will Denny Hamlin Drive it? I say put JRG Driver Brian Scott in the #18 and put Denny Hamlin in the #11 sharing to seat with long time JGR Driver Stand in Michael McDowell. Denny has a new Cup Crew Chief with 2011 Champion Crew Chief Darian Grubb coming over from Stewart Haas Racing and I’m sure they still want Denny focused on a Sprint Cup Championship so look for him very limited in the NNS.

Let’s see who went where since the end of the season. Clien Bowyer went to Michael Waltrip Racing to drive the #15 and Mark Martin signed on for the #00 which changed it’s number to the #55 Arrons Dream Machine. Khasey Khane moved over in to Mark Martin’s old #5 at HMS leaving Red Bull which has since closed it’s doors. Kurk came out of the #22 to go to Pheonix and the #51 so AJ Almindinger leaves the #43 to fill the seat of the Miller Lite #22. I’m starting to get dizzy here but I’ll go on. Now with the #43 having an open Musical Drivers Seat RPM reached in to Dale Jr’s stable and grabbed up Aric Almirola for the legendary RPM #43. Anyone else notice Aric Almirola looks a little bit like a very young KING? I did!

At the time I wrote this there are 52 Daze until the Daytona 500 but Drivers are already starting to dust off the racing gloves and trying to lose those extra Christmas goodie pounds. Pudgy Firesuits look terrible just ask ____ _______. I’m sure you are like me and already getting tickets bought, campers cleaned up and grills being made ready for a great season of our favorite boys knocking into each other making those lovely Left Hand Turns.

Bring it!
peace

To break up the two Drivers glued together and talking with each other and using one Spotter NASCAR is looking at a few things that I really think should help. One is they might ban Driver to Driver Communications and allow only communication between Driver and His Crew Chief. Can’t ride with a guy you can’t talk to very long that’s for sure but they are going to do even more. They will take out their 5 Gallon Radiator with 1 Gallon Catch Can and replace it with a tiny 2 Gallon Radiator and 1/2 Gallon Catch Can. Oh and those Air Intake Ducts on the outsides will be moved to the very center of the nose. This means they will Over Heat fast if they ride nose to tail. They also are going to give them another 1/64th inch opening in the Restrictor Plate or about 12 more Horsepower so hopefully we will get back to more interesting Restrictor Plate Races.

NASCAR will also be adding High Definition Instant Replay for the Race Controllers to use. No they won’t use them like Football to call a Race back a few laps but they will help them see where Penalties and Fines might be needed. They can use them to see why Cars got together and maybe cause a crash or who threw the water bottle out the window to cause a Caution and much more. They will bring each week 18 HD 720dpi Cameras from Telestream that like Willie Wonka can scan Frontways, Backways, Sideways and at any Angle. Call me a Redneck but we’ll get to see the Crashes a lot better too!

Let’s see the Grinch Kurt Busch maybe stealing AJ Almandinger Christmas cheer and maybe his #43 Richard Petty Motorsports Car and lets hope the Dinger ain’t left out in the cold. I knew good Teams would want Kurt as a Driver but I still think the sponsorship part will be a problem. Did hearing this news make current RPM Sponsor Best Buy to already be looking to change Teams and go with Kennseth? Yeah I’m riding the Kurt Busch Short Bus Tour just to see how this Circus ends.

The comings and going at Joe Gibbs Racing is Mike Ford the Crew Chief for the #11 is out and 2011 Champion Crew Chief Darian Grubb is in. Grubb had been told even before the Chase he would not have a job at Stewart Hass Racing and went on to win 5 of the 10 Chase Races and bring Tony Stewart from the back to win the Homestead Race and Championship. I think this will be just what Denny Hamlin and that #11 Team need to be back at the top and a real contender for a Championship. The #20 Home Depot Crew Chief Greg Zipadelli just left as well to be the Competition Director for SHR which reunites him and long time partner Tony Stewart. No word yet who will replace him as Joey Logano’s Crew Chief but I’d be looking for an inhouse move.

Like I said folks there is lots going on and I’m here to bring to to you straight.
peace

Ole Cousin Carl was about as close to winning [and when I say close I mean not even 1 Point behind the Winner] but alas no Back Flip. Will he have what it take to grab that Championship Brass Ring next year is the biggest question and I’m gonna say he does but this year was his best chance. Ask Denny Hamlin about getting a 2nd Chance and he’ll tell you he should have grabbed it when he was close. Carl has a good team in place and if he has a good year next year I say he could possibly be the NASCAR Sprint Cup Champion in 2012.

Now the Burning Busch with Kurt Busch getting FIRED from Penske for well being a Jerk but not a Tasty Jerk like a Beef Jerk. The kind of Jerk that bites and bites the hands that feed him. Being a part of NASCAR is a rare and privileged honor and it comes with some responsibilities. One of those is give the Media and we Fans Interviews and some of their time because, that is what the Sport is about THE FANS. When I watched the home video of Kurt Busch Mother F’ing Dr. Jerry an ESPN Pit Reporter to the point Jerry said “Forget it” and walked away I was embarrassed. I was embarrassed for Jerry, for Kurt, Penske, NASCAR and myself because outside people already think NASCAR is a bunch of Jerk Rednecks and Busch just proved them right. Kurt I know yer reading this and well…possibly getting MAD but you need to tighten up son. Sure you can Drive but where now? Who wants you on their Team? Well some Team that wants that “Past Champion” status so you and their crappy car and get in the race without being fast enough to qualify in. Good luck with that. Learn from this and yes you will be a much better Driver and I hope you do Sir.

That’s my Blog and I’m sticking with it folks!
peace