We all had a nice summer but maybe we indulged a little too much and we’ve got a little muffin top going. Well, we all want to look amazing for the Holiday outfits this year, so we’re starting a Skinny Jeans Challenge on September 15!

Get into those skinny jeans!

Why Skinny Jeans instead of the scale? Because how our clothes fit and feel is WAY more important than our scale weight.  A great example is my experience–in May, 2009, I weighed 137 and wore a size 6.  In May, 2011, I weighed 137 and wore a size 2! (And it wasn’t just a difference brand of jeans, ha ha.)

The difference was muscle, and consistent training. My bodyfat percentage during that time went from about 27% to about 21%.  That means I lost over 8 pounds of fat and gained over 8 pounds of lean mass! My body looked totally different–and so much better. I went from frumpy to hot and the scale did not change one bit.

Our Skinny Jeans Challenge will cost $25 for Group Training Clients and it’s free for our One-on-One clients.  You get an Accountability Journal, Full Meal Plan, Tricks and Tips for Fat Loss, EMail support from Lisa, and the support that comes from working alongside others with a BIG GOAL!

We’ll be doing bodyfat and baseline testing  in the next couple of weeks, but the main job you have is to grab a pair of jeans one or two sizes down and make a commitment to getting rid of that muffin top for once and for all!

Give me a call today or let your instructor know that you WANT TO GET INTO THOSE SKINNY JEANS!

I have had the pleasure of working with an extraordinary woman for over two years now. During that period of time, she has lost 140 pounds (disclaimer: she had a lap-band procedure) and has undergone a mind-boggling transformation.  She simply does not look like the same person. When she arrived at her 40th Birthday Celebration the other night, heads turned as she walked into the room–she is radiant and beautiful.

I had expected a large party, but there were only six women there–I felt honored that she had included me in the group with her closest friends. At the end of the dinner, he gave a short speech in which she thanked the women around the table for their roles in her life. As her trainer, I expected her to say something about her fat loss or her body transformation. But instead–she said, “Thank you to Lisa–she taught me to be strong.”

Tears immediately came to my eyes. Because, you see, that is exactly what I learned in my own body transformation. In the end, it wasn’t about losing weight or looking better, although that was certainly a welcome side-effect.

Training has made me strong.  Working every day toward a goal over three years, coming into my body and working over time and effecting a huge change changed everything about my life. I learned that good things, important things, take time, and the strength to persevere.

One of the most important parts of that work has been using weights.  I love free weights–I took to them immediately when I started lifting seriously nearly six years ago, at 43 years of age.  I love how they change the shape and texture of my body. I love how they transform me from the inside out. I love how they take the bodies of women who lose massive amounts of weight back to normal, without the stigma of hanging skin.  I love how they improve my health in myriad ways.

But most of all I love the way they make me feel. Powerful.  Beautiful.  Alive.  In charge of my destiny….Strong.

That’s why I introduce weights to the girls in my Young Women’s Group right away. Because if I had felt that way as a teenager and a young adult, I could have felt this strength and power early, who knows what I would have done. That’s why I use them with morbidly obese women, older frail women, with every one of my clients–because that feeling of power and control over oneself will change your life.

Thank you my dear client, for reminding me of why  I do what I do

Many of my clients are driven career women or moms who are equally driven.  The most committed, impassioned, and interesting of them often have the same problem—a seeming inability to lose weight.  Recently a friend of mine posted on Facebook that she guilt she feels from a pedicure is not worth it to her.

The fact is that stress relief is not a luxury.  “Pampering”, taking time for oneself is absolutely essential to get yourself out of the “gogogo” style of living. We become disconnected from ourselves by constantly rushing around. Women are biologically driven to take care of others and not ourselves…but the fact is that if we don’t take care of ourselves we can’t take care of others.

Stress hormones are funny things. When the body is under stress, we produce a number of hormones, the most damaging of which is cortisol.  Thinking of it from an evolutionary standpoint, this hormone (with adrenaline and others) is produced when there is a threat.  Thousands of years ago, these hormones are the ones that allow us to run away from predators, run after our dinner (game), or lift a big log off of our child.  The physical exertion dissipates the hormones, and our system is returned to normal.

In our modern world, stress hormones build up. We sit at our desks, meeting deadlines, fuming over our bosses, worrying about our families….and continue sitting. The hormones build up and do not dissipate—one of the markers of high cortisol is the “belly fat” that has become the stuff of infomercials in the last few years.  This fat is particularly dangerous and has been linked to diabetes and cardiovascular problems, and it’s also particularly unattractive!

From the Mayo Clinic:

Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream, enhances your brain’s use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues.

Cortisol also curbs functions that would be nonessential or detrimental in a fight-or-flight situation. It alters immune system responses and suppresses the digestive system, the reproductive system and growth processes. This complex natural alarm system also communicates with regions of your brain that control mood, motivation and fear.

Exercise is one way to dissipate hormones and regulate our systems, but it isn’t enough—regular “pampering” is absolutely necessary to allow our bodies to relax and to work properly.  That great feeling you have coming out of a massage is our bodies re-regulating.

Many cultures, particularly in the East, understand this idea and that’s why, in Chinese communities, massage is so prevalent. When I drive down some streets in San Gabriel, every other storefront offers $15 massages.  The Chinese understand that it’s therapy for the body, not some fluffy indulgence.

I advocate regular massages, enjoyable outdoor exercise, hot tubs, long baths, and stretching and foam rolling to all of my clients, but especially the very stressed.  I find these simple releases allow their bodies to become truly healthy.  Clients who fit these activities into their schedules progress twice as fast as those who don’t.

So take that bath, luxuriate in the hot tub, do your foam rolling and stretching. It is not pampering, it’s a necessity.

You know the look of middle age. Sloped shoulders, protruding belly, flat butt. Many examples of this can be seen on the irreverent People of Walmart site.

It’s funny, but also sad…that woman isn’t even particularly old. Probably, most people think it’s a genetic issue but it is in fact a collection of dysfunctions I like to call “cubicle syndrome”…an affliction of Western Civilization.

What’s happening? Most often, it’s simply being sedentary and sitting a lot. From an evolutionary standpoint, sitting is very unnatural. We used to squat, run, stand, sit cross-legged, climb… very seldom would early humans sit. It’s something that’s only occurred in the last few hundred years. But we sit all the time now.  In the car. At the desk. In front of the TV. Playing video games. Sitting, sitting, sitting… it’s not good for your body at all!

like father, like daughter

What happens is that the muscles in the front of the body, especially the shoulders and chest along with the hip flexors, become very short and tight.

The postural muscles in the back, including those between the shoulder blades, become very stretched out and lose tone.  As a result, the core becomes nonfunctional.  The abs become very weak, the glutes are no longer used, and then you get a cascade of dysfunction that results in not just extremely unattractive posture, but back pain, neck pain, and often headaches. There’s actually a technical name for that terrible flat butt look—“Gluteal Amnesia”.  My clients laugh when I say that but I swear it is a real term.

Me in 2006

That’s the bad news. The good news is that it is reversible. Five years ago, I had that very posture (in part because my mom always told me to stand up straight and I was being contrary).  After a lot of intensive work, not only did I get rid of the terrible posture, but a friend who hadn’t seen me since I was a teenager told me that my body looks better now than it did then!

Five years later

A program of stretching, soft tissue work such as foam rolling or massage, plus competent strength training absolutely can reverse this malady.  I have seen it in my clients over and over, and my program has worked wonders not only to improve appearance but to remedy the back pain that too many people believe is simply old age.

Over the next few months,  I’ll continue the discussion with work that you can do at home, but as always, call me for a consultation today or, if you’re out of area, consult a local Functional Movement Specialist.  It’s never too late…I’ve worked with people in their 70′s and have yet to find anyone who can’t significantly improve.

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