Wednesday, May 16, 2012

What NEVER works for Fit Mama....EXTREMES

What Never works for Fit Mama?  EXTREMES.
Before I share exactly what that means, please remember my philosophy.  You need to do what feels good to you and follow that feeling, always.  Trust and listen to your body.
There are a few things I need to rant about today.
1. CLEANSING
I am not a fan of any cleanse that does not include food for a certain number of days.  In fact when I have done a "cleanse" in the past, it only made me HUNGRY, ANGRY, CRANKY, MEAN, UNHAPPY, HUNGRY and HUNGRY.  For me, it has the opposite effect and makes me want to eat anything and everything.  I used to be a cleanse fanatic and would get so excited to drop 12 lbs. in 2 weeks by just drinking shakes and eating nuts "when you really needed to."  UM....mama no likey.  I would lose weight, yes, but in my opinion it was not because my body was releasing toxins.  It was because I was starving myself.  I do understand the health benefits of taking a break from certain things like caffeine, dairy, sugar, processed foods like breads for a limited amount of time.  Sometimes you need to get your groove back, to break addictive habits like eating chocolate after every meal (I am working on this....no, actually, no I am not.  Not today anyway)  I am talking about the shake cleanses, the juice cleanses, the artificial cleanses sold in pretty little packages.  I just worry that powerful marketing for the latest and greatest cleanse is giving people the wrong tools.  I don't think extremes work for the long term and if someone wants to get healthy and change their life, I want them to know they can be just as effective without starving themselves.  You can eat healthy and clean and feel good first.  I really truly believe that if you start inside the body will follow.  It's science.  It's the law's of the Universe.  Start by treating your body kind and loving.  Feed it good foods that make you feel better inside yourself.  Your body will be so happy and will start to show that by trimming down.
2. EXCESSIVE WORKING OUT
I have heard it one too many times.  "I was bad last week so I am going to do two spin classes a day for the next two weeks."  Okay, maybe that is an extreme example but sometimes I think people make exercise a punishment rather than a tool.  I understand falling out of routines for a few days, maybe talking yourself back into the gym.  The thing that can sometimes have the opposite effect on success is going to extreme, then realizing the work is too much, quitting and repeat.  In my own personal experience when I would be hard on myself or cruel, it would affect how I felt in my body.  It would lead me to the wrong place and I would feel guilty so the cycle would continue again.  My advice for creating a fitness routine is finding something you love to do.  Find something you enjoy or something you atleast want to see if you can learn to enjoy.  Do the amount that feels right.  Work as hard as you can in one class so that one class is enough.  I completely understand sometimes a double dip (two classes in a row) is in order, just to see what you are made of or possibly you are feeling super strong that particular night.  That is alot different than...."I was bad so I am going to make myself take two classes in a row."  The punishment always leads to rebellion which means stopping the workouts.  What if you worked out to FEEL GOOD.  Period.  I say it all the time, your body will follow your thoughts every time.  This example is no exception.
3. THE SCALE
I know this one is controversial because for some people, they have no issue with the scale.  It motivates them.  They can weigh themselves and not obsess.  Not Fit Mama.  (for some reason it makes me lol when I do third person Fit Mama)  I don't do the scale.  Once again, I used to.  I used to go NUTSO over it.  I had to learn it didn't work for me.  Simple way to realize what works and what doesn't is to ask yourself some questions......does this make me feel good?  does this help me reach my goals?  does this motivate me or make me feel discouraged?  I have the perfect example to share.  I have an absolutely gorgeous, lean, healthy client who comes to my toughest class.  This woman is a knock out.  She is extremely hard on herself and this week she was upset because she had "gained 3 lbs."  First of all, I don't think she gained the three pounds-I didn't see them anywhere on her and second of all, if she did-they looked great on her.  Did you hear that?  THEY LOOKED GREAT.  She is a scale person like me and has some crazy number in her head, probably from when she was like 21, of what she should weigh.  Why?  Who is the judge?  The judge is how you feel.  This beautiful woman had been working so hard.  She was about to go on vacation and wanted to enjoy how she felt in her bikini.  Because of the 3 lbs. she was not going to allow herself to feel good in a swimsuit.  It killed me but I can understand because I used to do the same thing.  Back in my weight watcher days I would eat as much pudding as I could handle, feel totally gross and awful in my body.  (what IS pudding???) As long as I lost weight that week I would celebrate by eating more pudding, feeling gross.  NO MAKEY SENSEY.

deep breath.  Today I encourage you to find YOUR guidelines.  Not rules- but find what makes you feel successful.  Take inventory on your patterns and evaluate which one's are working.  It all boils down to how you feel.  Every time.  Take a step and start to be aware of how you feel in your body.  Create that connection.  Free yourself from anything that has been holding you hostage to AWESOMENESS. 


5 comments:

  1. I guess I better grow up and appreciate how I feel and the awesomeness that I can take instruction and move my body in ways I never thought possible.. because of you and everyone at FLY. Great post. I'm a fan and will check you out often. My role model.

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  2. I am not a fan of the scale either. I use it once a week or so, but I do not use the # to mean anything to me. It changes depending on the day of the week, the position of the sun and whether or not I peed yet that day. What's the point.

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  3. Good good stuff... makes me smile.

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  4. I love this, Casey. I've actually been having a similar revelation lately. I was in a place of constant guilt because of "giving in" or "falling off the wagon" and that just made my situation worse. I've cut myself down to weighing myself once a week as opposed to everyday and trying to not feel guilty all the time. I've gained a couple pounds, but that's not the point. The point is that I'm learning to like myself. The rest will come with TIME.

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  5. Katie, to be honest, when I was doing Weight Watchers is when I was punishing myself the most. I was not eating enough and ONLY allowing myself to feel good if I lost weight that week. It was not healthy. I don't think it was WW fault but that sort of plan and diet did not work for me. I had to learn to listen to my body, to eat when I was hungry and enjoy eating healthy because it makes me feel good. The rest will come with time, you are totally right.

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