The joy of yoga

Anyone who knows me knows that I love yoga.  Even though I'm a Pilates instructor, I think I like yoga just a tiny bit better.  I used to practice yoga almost 7 days per week, but once I started doing P90X my yoga practice dwindled to once a week.  I didn't mind though it was a nice change and challenge.  I did two rounds of P90X, and 4 weeks of Insanity in between. 

Fellow Team Beachbody Coach, Mike French posted a 30-day/3 times per week Yoga Challenge on Facebook. This sparked my interest because I know he and his wife Tami, train really hard. Way harder than me.  Since I was done with P90X for the time being, I wanted to take it down a notch and refresh my body.  This seemed like the perfect answer. 

Let me tell you that yoga is by no means a walk in the park.  I've been doing power yoga with P90X's Yoga X as well as other power yoga programs designed to burn calories, torch fat, sculpt you abs, arms and legs.

My body responded right away to the change.  The next day after my first time back with yoga, I was sore all over.  My abs hadn't felt this sore in a very long time.  This soreness then carried over into the next day too.  When it was time for my second day, I worked through the soreness but had to do a lot of grunting and deep breathing to get through the positions.

When I was finished, I was sweating, breathing heavy and feeling like I had an awesome workout completed and under my belt.

I know most people cringe when they hear the words yoga, stretching or flexibility exercises. Trust me, if you stick with it, you will really look forward to these workouts and gain a brand new body.  You may also gain a whole new perspective on life too.  Yoga teaches patience, practice, not taking things too seriously, and being able to laugh at ourselves when you tumble out of a pose.  It teaches you to relax into a pose instead of fighting to get there.  You learn to breathe deeply, feeding your muscles the oxygen they need.  And you get an awesome sense of accomplishment when you can finally get into a pose near perfectly.

I'd love to hear from you. Please feel free to leave a comment here or send me an email to fitwithjessica@live.com

Two More Shakeology Success Stories

I promised this news last week, but things got so busy. Better late than never though!

I got some great news last week.  Two people that I'm coaching decided to jump start that nutrition and fitness goals by doing the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse.  First Jon from VA started on Monday, October 18th.  His fiancee decided to do it with him for moral support.  Jon lost 9 pounds and his fiancee lost 4.5 pounds.  Jon is feeling great now and excited to get started with his fitness and nutrition goals.

Next my friend Lisa decided she needed a boost to help her get motivated.  She had all the tools, but just needed a push.  Lisa started the Shakeology 3-Day Cleanse on Tuesday, October 19th.  She lost an amazing 12 pounds! Lisa was so psyched and she's ready to start Insanity and get back into shape.

There you have it.  Two more success stories with Shakeology.  The chocolate is so awesome.  I feel like I'm having a dessert.  I look forward to my daily shake everyday. 

If you want more information on Shakeology and its benefits, send me an email to fitwithjessica@live.com.  Or you can click here for more infomration on the 3-Day Cleanse . I love hearing comments, feel free to leave one here.

Could Those Extra Pounds Be Water Weight? Lose 'Em Fast!

In this article Debra Pivko of Beachbody explains how to get rid of water weight.  Some people actually believe not drinking water will help. This is the farthest thing from the truth.  I even had one person ask me if swimming in a pool contributes to water weight. Again, not true.  Exercise is the best way to sweat out the excess water and that can include swimming in a heated pool during the cold months.

By Debra Pivko

Ever wonder how you gained 5 pounds overnight—even when you're cutting calories? The usual culprit is water weight.

If your stomach feels bloated, your face looks puffy, or your hands and feet swell, it's likely that your body is retaining water. And this may show up on the scale as a few extra pounds. Not fun.

Here's why it happens. Your body is constantly trying to rid itself of the salt you consume. When it can't purge all the extra salt, your tissues react by holding on to water, so the ratio of salt to water is always at a safe level.

But if you want to determine your real weight, see how close you are to your fitness goals, and button up those old jeans with ease, follow these quick tips to lose the extra water weight—fast.

Drink more water.

It may seem counterintuitive, but not drinking enough water every day can actually make you retain more water! Dehydration causes your body to go into panic mode, and it'll hold on to water the next time you take a drink. Diuretics like alcohol, tea, and caffeinated soda can actually have a dehydrating effect on your body since they flush water out of your system.

What to do? Drink at least eight to ten glasses of water each day so your body will maintain its fluid balance, and you won't gain those extra pounds. Water is the best diuretic you can give your body and it's all natural, and usually free! If looking thinner and feeling less bloated isn't enough motivation, here's some more. Drinking water before each meal has been shown to help promote weight loss and even to help keep your skin healthy, which is particularly useful if you don't want your skin to sag once you lose weight.

So keep a water bottle at your desk, send yourself "drink water" reminders if you have to, track your water intake for motivation, or do whatever it takes to remember to drink enough water. The extra hydration will prevent those false pounds from showing up on the scale.

Sweat it out with exercise.

When you sit in one place for a long period of time, your circulation slows down and your body can begin to swell. Exercise promotes blood flow and circulation (not to mention sweating). So when you get in some serious cardio, you'll literally sweat out excess fluids and pounds. Make sure to get your daily exercise to help rid your body of water weight.

The exercise program that leaves my workout clothes most drenched in sweat would have to be Chalene Johnson's TurboFire®. When I eat too much salt or just too much food and feel extra bloated, Chalene's latest program is my savior that helps me get my stomach looking flat, fast. I just pop one of the high-intensity interval training or cardio kickboxing discs in the DVD player to work up a serious sweat and burn major calories. I think it's the awesome music remixes that keep me going through the intense cardio conditioning. After big holiday meals, like the annual Thanksgiving feast for example, I can expect to find my coworkers ready for some TurboFire to fire up our weight loss and sweat it all out.

Limit the sodium in your diet.

To give your body a break from retaining water and working hard to eliminate sodium in the first place, try to keep your sodium intake to less than 2,300 milligrams per day and avoid adding salt to foods.

Watch out for sneaky salt in boxed or packaged foods by reading nutrition labels carefully. Some of the foods where sodium is often hidden are canned soups, fast foods, pickled foods, processed/deli meats, cheeses, frozen meals, and soy sauce. Make sure to look for labels that say "reduced sodium" or "sodium free." You may also want to choose fresh vegetables over canned. While canned veggies can be a handy substitute for fresh, they're typically laden with preservatives or sauces and seasonings that add extra sodium. A cup of canned cream-style corn, for example, contains 730 milligrams of sodium.

Also, food at restaurants and fast food establishments often contains high amounts of sodium. Eliminate all table salt and try using pepper or other spices on your food instead. Or, maybe try nothing and remind yourself what the food actually tastes like.

Another great way to keep track of your sodium intake is by getting your own customized nutrition plan with Team Beachbody's My Meal Planner. It's an awesome new benefit of the Team Beachbody® Club membership. You'll get a week's worth of recipes that include low-sodium options, or you can modify and make substitutions to the recipes for even lower sodium options. I use it to track my progress throughout the week so I know all my nutrition stats. You can even use the food analyzer to search any food and get the nutrition information for it. I'm obsessed.

Eat more protein.

Deficiencies in protein, along with vitamins B1, B5, and B6, can lead to water retention as these nutrients assist with fluid balance functioning. Some good sources of these nutrients include lean beef, legumes, and low-fat dairy products. You should try to eat two to three appropriate portions of lean protein per day.

Don't starve yourself.

Undereating can also cause you to gain water weight. Eating fewer than 1,200 calories a day may cause your body to retain water and, ironically enough, cause you to gain more weight.

Limit your sugar intake.

Having too much sugar in your body can cause your insulin levels to rise. High levels of insulin may make it harder for your body to get rid of sodium, which in turn causes water weight gain.

Eat more fresh fruits and vegetables.

Fresh fruits and vegetables—especially those naturally rich in water, such as watermelon, onions, celery, and cucumbers—can make you urinate more frequently, reducing water retention. Fruits and vegetables also provide ample sources of potassium, which assists with fluid balance within body cells. I love going to the farmers' market on Sundays and picking up fresh fruits and veggies, but let's face it—making constant trips to buy fresh produce doesn't always fit into my lifestyle. Thank goodness for Shakeology®. It's an easy way to get my fruits and veggies without having to set up shop in the produce section of the market. And that way, my veggies come in the form of a delicious chocolate-flavored treat. I sometimes toss a mini banana into my shake for some extra potassium, which also helps discourage water retention and keeps my muscles from cramping up during workouts

I'd love to hear from you. If you need help losing those last few pound or have more than 5 to lose, let me help you.  You can leave a comment here or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com.

Monkey see, monkey do...

My 2 year old daughter loves watching me while I wash my face, brush and floss my teeth. She asks me to put moisturizer on her face, then she flosses her teeth with me.  In the mornings, she likes to apply lip balm, while I get my make-up on.  She brushes her hair with her head turned upside down while I do the same with the blow dryer.

When I exercise she dances around me, she jumps on the mini-trampoline, and picks up the 2 lb hand weights and tries to lift them overhead.

I'm hoping that by watching me and imitating me she'll pick up some healthy habits.

I do know that she watches the things I'm not so proud of too.  And she imitates these things.  Like when I yell at her older brothers, she yells at them too.

Recently I read a post that girls will have a better body image of themselves if their moms have a good attitude about their body.  Hmmm, how many times have I looked in the mirror and criticized something I wasn't happy about?  How many times was my daughter around when I've done this?

I want my daughter to see exercise and good nutrition as a way of staying healthy, not to achieve the perfect body. I don't want her to look in the mirror and pick herself apart.

So how about you? What types of things are your kids picking up on? I know we can't censor what we do all the time, but if you want your kids to be happy with themselves, we have to be happy with ourselves.

I'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

Real Housewives of Atlanta - What not to do for a workout...

I have a guilty pleasure of watching Real Housewives. I usually DVR it, but last night I decided to watch the first 30 minutes of it.  Right now Bravo's hit show is featuring the southern belles of Atlanta, or Hot-lanta as I like to call it.  I know, you thought I'd be watching shows like Biggest Loser or Extreme Makeover, but those shows kind of bore me.  The only one I've been catching up on is Thintervention.

Well last night as I tuned in I watch as Kim, one of the main women featured on the show, decided to go for a jog with her assistant, Sweetie.  I laughed because they both wore matching silver and black outfits.  I also chuckled because Kim wears wigs, and she wore her wig for the jog.  I would have just thrown on a baseball hat,but she had her golden locks flowing behind her and you can hear her cussing that her wig is falling off.  What did you expect, Kim??

I did commend her for making the effort to get out and exercise.  In the past she has shunned it opting for machines to work her muscles for her and to massage the cellulite.  Kim is also a cigarette smoking, wine drinking, trash-mouthed fire cracker, who fancies herself a singer.  So the exercise was inspired by the fact that she has a hit single out and all pop stars need to look good, as she says.

Kim and Sweetie took on the challenge of jogging up a big hill, while mostly male motorists honked their horns to say hi.  Once they reached the pinnacle, they spied a beer truck delivering beer to a liquor store.  Kim and Sweetie start yelling to the delivery man, "hey, give us a beer!" He's probably like "yeah, right."  They make it over to him and he tells him he can't give them a beer, its against company policy.  Kim parks herself on a bench and tells Sweetie to run inside the liquor store and ask the lady for some beer. What???  Okay, I thought maybe you were kidding around with the delivery guy, but for real they are going to sit on the bench and have a beer.  Click here for pictures.

I am sure there will be someone out there that will say beer is an excellent post workout drink. But in my opinion, I think there are better options.  Although I got to thinking and thought, I know so many women who pride themselves for going to the gym every weekday morning and immediately afterward will stop at Dunkin Dounuts for a donut and some high fat/high sugar coffee treat.  Is that really much better than the beer?  Especially if Kim and Sweetie were enjoying a lite beer?  Probably not any better.

Hey we all deserve a little indulgence, but don't ruin all of your efforts by fueling your post workout body with junk.  Would you do that to your car?  So why do it to your body?  Feed your body well and it will treat you well.  And if you do indulge in that donut, coffee or beer after your daytime workout, don't make that your only meal until supper time.  That's another one that makes me cringe - people who will have the donut and latte, but not eat anything else all day.  I guess they feel if they don't eat anything else that will take care of the donut debacle.

So what should you have after a workout?  My favorites are snacks that will help refuel, hydrate and repair. Try something like a protein shake or a recovery drink of 8 oz of apple juice and 1 tbs of whey protein.  Have a large glass of water with an apple and 1/4 cup of almonds.  Maybe even a couple slices of deli meat with a slice of melon and a glass of water.  Something that you won't feel guilty about later.  And don't skimp on meals during the day.  5 small meals per day would be ideal (breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner).

Well, if you have questions on what to eat and not to eat before and after your workout, please feel free to email me at fitwithjessica@live.com.  I love hearing feedback, so feel free to leave a comment here as well.

Have a great day!

My favorite shake and the results I'm seeing

You've heard me talk about Shakeology and why I love it. I'm a very frugal and skeptical person by nature.  I didn't want to spend the money on it.  Plus I've been around long enough to see products come out filled with empty promises.  But because I get so many people asking me, "what should I do to lose weight?" or "what supplements do you recommend?" I had to give it a try to form an honest opinion about it. I figured if I didn't like it or it turned out to be bogus, I'd send it back for a full refund.  Nothing to lose at all.

Well that was back in March, and I have been using it daily since then.  Not only am I using it and loving it, but my husband who is even more skeptical than me is using it too.

I think most of you who know me, know that I am honest about what I believe works and what doesn't.  If I try something and don't like it, I tell you.  And for my husband to tell people at work about it speaks volumes.

I've gotten so many people who I coach emailing me telling me how much they love using it too.  Its really that good.

I have it everyday for lunch.  My schedule is busy with being a stay at home mom of 4 kids.  I also run my own online fitness business and have a house to take care of.  Besides doing all of this, I work out everyday and eat about 5 meals per day.  I need to eat every 2-3 hours or I get cranky, jittery and ready to pig out on anything. So its very important for me to fuel my body with good, healthy nutrition in order to keep going.

Here is a picture that compares the cost and nutrition of Shakeology vs. a fast food lunch (which would be just as easy):

Seeing a comparison like that really helped to justify the cost for me.  I could even buy frozen dinners to keep on hand and its still going to be around $4 per serving and really high in sodium and artificial ingredients. I get it for less than $3 per serving with my discount and free shipping (you can ask me how you can do that).

What made Shakeology even more attractive to me was the fact that I'm doing something healthy for my body beside stuffing food in my mouth.  Since using Shakeology, I've noticed:

• My nails seem stronger and look better (even on my toes LOL). 
• I don't crave sweets anymore (I used to indulge in a bowl of ice cream every night). 
• I don't feel as sore after hard workouts
• I manage to keep my weight right on target even if I miss a few days of working out
• I don't get monthly cramps anymore (sorry had to throw that in because this was something that really bothered me every month and left me unable to workout)
• I'm able to feel satisfied and not too full during my afternoon workouts

Below is a video to show you what doctors are also saying about Shakeology.




Listen, I'd love to hear from you and get your feedback.  Feel free to leave a comment here or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

If you have any questions or need help with working out and eating right, please feel free to contact me.

Obesity is the in thing, an eye opener at Disney

You know how you hear about something on the news or on the Internet, but it really doesn't hit home with you? Well, I always knew there was an obesity problem in the US, but I don't go out a lot so I really don't see too many people. I mean I do go to the playground with the kids, I go to the library with them and I will go food shopping, but most of the time I place an order online and pick it up without having to leave my car.  So my day consists of very little face to face action.

When I was doing more personal training, my clients weren't in bad shape. They might have had 15 or 20 pounds to lose, but nothing that I would say fell under the definition of obesity.  Even while teaching classes at the gym, most of the people who took my classes were in shape.  I guess a lot of people who are obese feel self conscious about the whole gym environment.  It can be intimidating with all of those mirrors and people walking around with just a workout bra and shorts.

During our very recent vacation, I was shocked to see the amount of obese people and families at the resort we stayed at.  I'd have to say that I counted only 6-10 adults that seemed to be within a healthy weight range at the pool.  These in shape people were some of the same people I would see at the fitness center every morning.  And let me tell you, the most people at the fitness center when I was there was 3 including me.

It was pretty sad to see people riding scooters to go down the corridors of the resort because they were suffering complications from obesity. Then when we went to Magic Kingdom, the numbers of obese people increased even more.  I'd have to say that obesity was the majority there.  Did you know they say the average size American woman is a size 14?

I find it sad that most Americans know what is good and bad for them, but they still continue to make bad choices because its easier than making good choices.  I'm not talking about making a bad food choice on occasion, we all like to indulge a little bit now and then.  But more and more Americans are eating foods that used to be an occasional treat every day, every meal.  More and more Americans are choosing not to exercise at all. They'd rather sit in front of the computer or TV.  Hey, its okay to relax. Relaxation is very good, but you need to burn more calories than you eat. So if your day consists of a lot of sitting and driving around, you need to adjust your calories accordingly. 

What's the point of me writing all of this? Well, it renewed my passion to reach out and help people stay in shape or get in shape.  I'm not suggesting that everyone get washboard abs, or super skinny, but just get to a healthy weight. Its not easy to change habits.  Its especially hard when you seem to have the whole nation pushing for you to become super-sized.  You need to have the desire to change.  You need a good support system and have a plan.

I know this might seem overwhelming, but there is hope.  You have me and a whole community at Team Beachbody to offer help for free.  If you or someone you know is having a hard time sticking to a plan, let me know.  I would love to help you.

I'd also love to hear from you.  Feel free to leave a comment here or email me at fitwithjessica@live.com

My vacation and staying fit

Vacations, we all love them,cherish them and eagerly await them. We even diet and exercise right before our vacation in order to look good, maybe even hot, and to perhaps feel great while on our retreat.  But most of the time we will throw all of that hard work out the window when we go away, only to feel bloated, guilty and maybe 5 pounds heavier when we return.

I don't know about you, but I can still have a great time on my vacation if I take the time out to squeeze in exercise and plan some healthy meals and snacks.  I know this isn't a very popular idea, but trust me, if you give it a try you won't be disappointed.

Recently, my family and I had the opportunity to take some time off and travel to Florida to visit with my mom and also my dad. We stayed at Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge, Kidani Village.  First off, we were blessed to stay at this amazing resort.  It made it very easy to keep up with eating right and sticking to my P90X routine (at the time of my vacation I was in week 11 now in week 12).  We stayed in a room with a fully equipped kitchen. I know there are a lot of people who don't find cooking on their vacation fun, but with 4 kids it really saves us from a lot of headaches and spending too much money on food.  Knowing we would have the kitchen, I packed my vanilla whey protein and Shakeology, along with things like plain oatmeal, whole grain bread, beans, brown rice and other healthy goodies.  Once we got down there I hit up Wal-Mart for the rest of our pantry. 

You can save a ton of money, time and calories by just eating breakfast in your room. With a dishwasher right there all we had to do was prepare, eat and stack dishes. Then we were ready to hit the pool.

We did indulge a few times and ordered private poolside dining, but we tried to stay healthy with that too.  The resort made it easy to pick healthy choices such as Tandoori chicken with chickpeas.  But for most of the days, I just ran up to the room to blend up (well my husband did that) a chocolate and peanut butter Shakeology.

Exercise wasn't a problem and I really looked forward to that part of the day. I woke up around 6:30 am (I know, I'm crazy), every morning to stretch and then take a walk to the fitness center.  I know this doesn't sound like something to look forward to, but the walk to the fitness center was so beautiful, relaxing and peaceful. The sun would just be coming up, there were flowers everywhere and cool little lamps to guide your way.  I really enjoyed this sacred time to myself every morning and felt this was truly one of the best parts of my vacation.

I stuck to my P90X schedule as closely as possible. Since I was on vacation, I didn't want to spend too much time in the gym, so I adjusted my routine to include 25 minutes on the treadmill or stepper and then 25 minutes of a strength routine.  Then on my scheduled cardio days I did 35-40 minutes on the treadmill or stepper and then 10 minutes of abs.  I feel like even though it was a quick routine, I worked really hard.

Again, I know most of you might find this not fun at all, or maybe even slightly crazy, but I didn't gain any weight while away and no feelings of "why did I eat that much?" type guilt.

I've got lots more to blog about, but will wait until later on.

I'd love to hear from you! Please feel free to comment or send me an email to fitwithjessica@live.com.