Mom becomes runner

This is Monya, a special lady of whom I’m very proud to know.  Monya is a mother of 2 small children, a wife & a night shift nurse.  

Now she can add a healthy, committed runner who just completed her first 5k, to the list.  She ran the entire distance and even did better than she expected.  But Monya didn’t start out as a runner…   

Monya made the commitment to get healthy first, the right way.  

Initial focus: proper nutrition & making exercise a habit.  She found recording her intake (www.myfitnesspal.com) was a huge help toward better eating habits, saying ‘workouts without proper nutrition is just work.’  The two must go together.  In order to gain the full benefits of exercise, the body must be fueled properly.    

Then she committed herself to training to complete this 5k.  She wasn't a runner when she started out & had doubts if she could do it, but she tried it anyway & kept going no matter what.  GOAL ACHIEVED!

This is just the beginning of Monya’s wonderful journey.  Being a lifestyle now, there’s no stopping her.  As for me, I’m utterly thrilled to see her success & even more excited to see all of her future goals worked for and achieved.  

Bravo, Monya.  You have now changed your family tree!

If Monya can set out to be a healthy role model for her family, you can too.  Never give up, set goals & ask us for help if you need it.  That’s what we’re here for!  - Emily Collins, OnTrack Fitness owner & trainer

Fitness update on Ronna

Remember Ronna, my long distance client we've been keeping updates on for the last several months?  It's been over a month since I gave an update, but I'm pleased to say it's not because she isn't leading a healthier lifestyle.

Taken at Christmastime with her son.
I used this on our last post but it's so cute...

Quite the opposite, Ronna has been doing better than ever.  It's been 25 weeks since we started working together - wow, time flies!  She's made so many wonderful, healthy changes and has truly made this a commitment for life.

Here's an example  
Ronna's sleep schedule got turned upside down leaving her with about 2 hours of sleep per night (2 kids, husband who works nights, going to college - all of that will occasionally throw you out of whack!).  

We talked about how sometimes other things take priority over a workout.  There's no way she could sleep 2 hours, make her commitments AND workout.  That's not healthy.  So we purposely planned to take time off from exercise until she got into a healthy sleep pattern.  

She didn't leave this to chance.  Ronna worked on it and within two weeks her sleeping was back to normal.  Guess what - she got right back into exercising because she knows it makes her feel better and she's committed to health.

Ronna continues to see weight loss.  She's down in all of her clothes, and recently had to go shopping for new workout clothes and even a new jacket because the old one was just too big!

It's exciting, because I see she's doing everything the right way.  She's still working with me, but she's taking ownership (see last post, this was her homework) of her health instead of being dependent on our training sessions.  Recently Ronna joined the YMCA.  Now she's got so many options, plus childcare.  It's a great choice for her.  

I asked her what she would tell people who are struggling to make healthy living a lifestyle.  "Keep pushing forward, even when you feel like oh my gosh I can’t do this."  She also wanted to remind people "Be happy without worrying about the scales because they're not telling the full story." -- Written by Emily Collins Owner & trainer Honolulu HI

Meal prep for the beginner

Meal prepping for the week ahead isn't for everyone, but it's a great option for some.  Having food all ready can make a busy day go from scurrying around & making a drive through run to being relaxed & healthy.  Here are a few tips for the beginner meal prepper.

FRUIT:
*wash and portion all fruit into small Tupperware containers. For example you can do a berry mix of strawberries, blueberries, and black berries. When they're in containers, it makes for an easy grab and go snack. You can also do an apple and orange mix.

VEGGIES:
*wash and chop all veggies and portion them out into Tupperware containers. For example if you have bell peppers, wash, cut the top off, and take out the seeds. Then chop them how you like and put them in a container in the fridge. When it comes to cooking dinner, having veggies pre washed and cut saves a lot of time in the kitchen.


MEAT:
*portion all meat into storage freezer bags. For example if you bought chicken breasts, open the package and put one-two breasts in each bag then place back in the freezer. This helps so you don't have to thaw the whole package and it's already portioned for you ahead of time. Same with any beef ground or not. If you have steak, you can also throw any marinade in the bag and seasonings too.

SNACKS:
*Follow the serving size on the back of the nutrition label and portion any snacks out into baggies. This helps you not to over eat or fill up on just a snack. For example if you have low fat whole wheat pretzels and the serving size is 20 pretzels, count out 20 pretzels and place in a Baggie and throw it in the cupboard. 

Questions?  We're here to help.  Feel free to leave them in the comments section, post on our Facebook wall or email us.  -- Written by Doni Bullock, OnTrack trainer San Diego

Fitness is worth the commitment

TRX is great!

Would you be surprised if I told you that fitness trainers are regular people just like everyone else?  They have days they don't feel like working out or where they feel like eating the world twice over.

The difference is that, while most people know that a fleeting feeling isn't worth straying from the commitment, we've practiced this over & over until it's a habit.  We've experienced the value of the commitment, and that makes it easier to keep moving.

Yesterday I was really not happy about the thought of exercise.  I was a little grumpy, tired & nothing sounded good.  I can't run yet (see why here), there was a jellyfish warning at the beach (I don't like chancing that) & it made me feel grouchy.

But I knew I'd feel better if I got moving.  So I adjusted my plan a bit & did a circuit style TRX workout.  The grumps disappeared & I had more energy.

No, exercise won't solve your problems.  But neither will sitting around feeling rotten!  So the next time you have a workout scheduled & you don't feel like doing it, do it anyway.  You'll be glad you did, I promise! -- Written by Emily Collins, Owner & trainer Honolulu HI 

Fitness & aging: It's never too late to get healthy

This is my sweet mom, who I'm very proud of for many reasons. I'd like to

Me & my mom

share her experience about getting active again, and the importance of taking care of yourself as you age.  

Here's what she told me: 

"When I tried to exercise a few months ago I was amazed at how much physical abilities I had lost.  I was concerned about not being able to do things I was always able to do before!! I hoped I hadn't lost these abilities with AGE!  Everyone blames everything on age, but I just didn't want to accept this.  I am not that old YET I told myself! 

One thing I had always prided myself on is being able to do is stand on one leg and hold the other leg with my hand at the ankle.  I couldn't do it at all.  I couldn't even balance on one foot and just hold the other leg up!! I was scared and very concerned!  

My question was have I lost that ability forever due to age or never doing it anymore. I can be pretty stubborn when I set my mind on it.  So I started just trying to balance on one foot without hold the opposite foot.  

I practiced back and forth with both feet for a while until I was doing good at balancing again.  I felt like I was on my way. Then I tried to hold the opposite ankle.  It started out slow just being able to hold it a FEW seconds--very few!  Now I'm able to do it for a while!  I am so pleased! 

I exercise probably five days a week.  My workouts are never over 20 minutes. It's not high impact, but it's good enough to help me do things I was losing the ability to do on an everyday basis.  I have lost eight pounds and I've maintained that even though I am trying to lose more.  I eat better and feel good!" 

It makes my heart smile that she's being serious about her health. It's never too late to get healthy and see results!  We can help you get started, contact me at emily@ontrackfitness.net  -- Written by Emily Collins, OnTrack Fitness owner & trainer in Honolulu HI

Fitness & injury recovery

Two weeks ago I broke my middle toe on my left foot.  This came one week before my much anticipated biathlon (run-swim) I had been training for months.

I was hoping I could magically heal in one week to do the event. Of course that didn't happen & I missed the race.  

My husband in the middle of the biathlon

My husband & I talked about it & decided to host an individual race, just for me, after the toe heals.  We're calling it the 'Broken toe biathlon.'  I'm satisfied with that, although it's not the same.

Until then I'm stuck with the issue of how do I maintain an exercise program while healing a broken toe.  I mean, I really don't want to sit on my rear all day for several weeks.  But I also want to allow for full recovery.  

After feeling sorry for myself for a while I finally snapped out of it & came up with a plan.  I am a trainer for goodness sake, I can figure this out!

• I can't walk or run but I can use this time for swim training.
• I can't hop & jump for cardio but I can work on my Kettle bell skills & that's plenty of high intensity work.
• I can't do pushups on my toes (ouch) but I have the chance for some creativity with pushups - or I can work on my chest flies that I generally avoid for no good reason.
• It's hard to do yoga with a broken toe but I can do mat Pilates & fine tune the basics of yoga.

The best part is I get to practice what I preach.  I talk about allowing for full recover.  Now I get to be a role model, and I feel really ready for that. -- Written by Emily Collins, Owner of OnTrack Fitness