10 Reason You Should JUST FREAKING EXERCISE

I guess you can say I've always been an exerciser.

Sports? Absolutely not so much. Sticks, balls, shin guards, scores...oh my word, I have the cold sweats just typing those horrifying words. But regular old exercise? I've always been able to do.

I'm lucky, I like to work up a sweat and feel all burny. My husband on the other hand? He'd rather grow a boob on his back than skip to the corner and jog back home.

My point is this: Some people like to exercise and some people hate to exercise, but either way, you should really freaking exercise! Allow me to convince you...

1) Exercise makes your brain release endorphins and makes you feel all happy. Aside from that, exercise is now recognized as an anti-depressant. For real. Check out this article by this really smart professor from Boston University. He's cute and I believe him.

2) Sweating is good for you. Why? Well, a lot of reasons. But think about this...sweating is one of the major mechanisms for your body to get rid of muck, and gunk, and biproducts, and toxins. Really, if you're a regular heavy sweater, you don't have to worry about shopping around so much for colon cleanses and whatnot--you're already doing a pretty good job of sweating your excess crud right out through your pores.

This is also why you should never lick your treadmill.

3) If you're an exerciser, you can justify all kinds of adorable purchases from the active section of TJ Maxx. For real, have you been there lately? If you don't have an interest in wearing the world's cutest NorthFace half-zip for only $17.99, then let's just face it, you're a wreck of a person.

4) Once your find what you're into, exercise is honestly fun. Is it fun every single minute? No. But in general, bike rides, interval walks, dodge ball, ultimate frisbee...fun.

5) Movement and endurance are basic life skills. A few weeks ago, I saw a little boy dart into the parking lot at Sam's Club, and his mom wasn't able to chase after him. She had a really hard time changing directions, hopping a curb, and generally keeping up. My heart totally sunk for her. Motherhood is so stinkin' exhausting all on it's own--a basic level of fitness makes it more manageable.

Maybe you don't have a toddler who makes you feel like your hair's about to burst into flames, but you probably do have big bags of flour to lift at the grocery store, a lawn to mow, a fun run to benefit a friend....see where I'm going?

6) At our core, human beings like to move--and that's why I have a hard time believing it when people say things like, "I have no interest in exercise," or "I really hate moving and sweating." Don't get me wrong, on the surface, people hate these things, but deep down, we all want to be active. Think about it--out all these activities, in your wildest dreams, which ones seem most appealing to you?

Hiking around Acadia Park with some friends.

Playing soccer with your kids.

Doing tricks on a trampoline.

Playing video games.

Taking a Dance class.

Facebooking for a few hours.

Water skiing.

Watching TV.

Now don't get me wrong here. I looooove TV as much as the next guy, but my wildest dreams only have me watching TV while I sit on Dr. Drew's lap in Southern California.

6) Any idea what gives people heart problems? Family history, diet, lack of conditioning, and stress. Stress. Stupid, stupid stress makes people sick in so many ways. Now I'm stressed that I'll get sick from stress. But guess what? Exercise is an awesome stress reliever, and does a good job of helping people move on from disappointing and difficult parts of their days. It's almost like a magical reset button.

7) Exercise has a good chance of giving you a longer life, and making that life a lot more healthy and enjoyable.

8) Every time you finish a workout, whether it was your best ever or your worst ever, you just accomplished something hard. That feels good. Tackling hard things helps people a good sense of self. When people start exercising, they often worry that they'll feel inferior, or fat, or silly, or embarrassed. Honestly, 99% of the time I see the opposite effect. Exercise builds self esteem.

9) Exercise can be a hobby, and it's cool to have hobbies. Trust me, there's nothing worse than going on a date and when the hot guy's all, "So...what are you into?" You're like, "Ummmm....errrr.....well....Twitter? Shopping? I love to sleep!" Way more awesome to be able to say something like, "Tennis."

10) And finally, exercise is a great way to make new friends. Join a bowling league, or a spin class, or a soccer team, or a running club. Sweating your balls off, it builds bonds. Commiseration is a foolproof way to make a new friend.

So. Did I convince you? In the next post, I'll help you learn how to get started!

Running While Pregnant: The Last Four Tips

Here are your last 4 pregnant running pointers, for a grand total of 10. Your first 6 tips can be found here and here.

7) Snacks. I'm not even kidding, if whether it's half a mile or 5 miles, when you're running pregnant, you have to bring a snack along for the ride. We're not talking a turkey dinner here, just enough to save your soul, heart, and sanity, if you get one of those all-of-the-sudden blood sugar drops. A teeny thing of fruit snacks, some hard candies, a $5 footlong. Anything's fine, as long as it's something.

8) Support. I know it's goofy, but definitely consider wearing a belly support like this one:

Ridiculous? Absolutely.

I found that one, and the picture, here. If you wear some support, your lower back will love you for it.

9) Learn. Running during a pregnancy is a great time to learn the ins and outs of childbirth and parenthood. I downloaded all kinds of podcasts to listen to during my runs. Distracting and informational--win, win, win.

Before I list a few, remember, if you plan to listen to music while you're running pregnant, turn the volume down low enough that you can hear oncoming traffic, and only wear one earbud.

Okay, here we go:

Manic Mommies

Birth Stories on Demand

Babies and Moms: Birth and Beyond

For Crying Out Loud

10) Enjoy. If you're running while you're pregnant, just enjoy it. You're doing something awesome for your own health, and for the health of your baby. Slow down, sniff flowers, and pet puppies. This is a time for basking in your own awesomeness--because most pregnant moms are sitting in their closets eating candy. But you? You're running and sitting in your closet eating candy.

Go get 'em!

Running While Pregnant: Three More Tips

4. Calling it Quits. When it comes to pregnant runners, some women, like my OB, pretty much jog into the hospital, time their contractions with a Garmin, and pop out a baby with some Adidas on their feet. Other women, like me, call it quits way before they deliver the baby. I made it to 30 weeks during my pregnancy with Maggie.

Moms-to-be hang up their shoes for all kinds of reasons (pants peeing, straight up tiredness, aches and pains, can no longer wiggle into spandex, etc), and any of those reasons are fine. If you feel like stopping, stop. Pregnancy is unpredictable, so telling yourself, "I'll run until I'm 37 weeks!" when you're 6 along weeks is totally unfair to you. Play it by ear. You're not running against anyone else.

I stopped for 2 reasons. First, I was getting ginormously huge and my shorts were turning into something like a strange scene out of a niche-porn movie. And second, I had a wicked case of public symphisis diastisis that honestly left me feeling like I was stabbed after every run. Not worth it in my book.

5. Avoid Injuries. When you're running pregnant, you're a lot more susceptible to sprain and strain injuries. The extra relaxin pumping through your body loosens up the ligaments and leaves you a lot more likely to mess up a joint. Be sure you really watch your footing, run on even surfaces (like well maintained roads, or the treadmill), and avoid gnarly trails all together.

6. Be Safe. As a pregnant runner, always always always carry a cell phone. I don't care if you're running half a mile out and half a mile back, carry your cell phone. If you're running, have a cell phone on you. Oh, and make sure you carry your cell phone. You never know when you might tweak a joint, or feel a little light headed, or just want to go to McDonalds for one of those hot fudge sundaes immediately. You'll  definitely need a cell phone to address any of those situations. So carry your cell phone.

Running While Pregnant: Three Tips

I have another blog. It's an old, trusty blog that I barely ever write on any more. I love that thing and I seriously hope to get back to it soon...or someday. But probably someday soon. It's like an old friend I really need to call.

Believe it or not, that good old friend still gets me a $25ish check every month from BlogHer. Not because I'm updating anything, but mostly because of this post:

Running While Pregnant: The Truth Revealed

People seem to google into that post a lot--probably while they're looking for legitimate info on running while pregnant. Clearly, there's a shortage of good information on this topic they're trying to squeeze any amount of info out of that post.

So today, now that I'm all certified as a coach and a trainer*, I've decided to try to put something a little more useful out there. Over the next few days, I'm giving you Ten Tips for Running While Pregnant. Today, we'll start with the first three:

1. Heart Rate. If you've looked into this topic at all, then you know the magic number. It's 140. The rule is, don't let your heart rate go above 140 beats per minute when you're doing any kind of knocked-up exercising. I don't disagree with this, but I don't know a whole lot of pregnant women are a) wearing heart rate monitors, or b) stopping to count their heart rate.

I mean seriously, not stopping to pee or eat a donut or cry at the beauty of a baby bird while you're running pregnant is quite enough to handle. How are you supposed to count your heart rate, too?

While we all know that counting your heart rate is best, there's a second-best option for monitoring your exertion--and it's pretty good. If you're running while pregnant, you should run at a conversational pace. In other words, you should be able to hold a conversation without much huffing and puffing for the course of your entire run.

If you run with a friend, great! Chat her ear off to keep tabs on how hard you're pushing it. If you're running solo, sing the alphabet every half-mile or so. You should be able to sing it without gasping for air. If you can't sing or hold a conversation, slow down and rest until you can. Pregnancy is not the time for speed work or tempo runs--pregnancy is the time to keep your body fit and try not to gain 900 pounds. Got it?

2. Maintenance. Speaking of that, pregnancy isn't the time to try a new fitness regime. If you're not a runner, don't start now. If you're not a cyclist, don't start now. And if you're not already an Olympic level gymnast, now's not the time to follow that dream. Now's the time to grow a baby.

If you're already a runner, great! But remember, this applies to you, too. This isn't the time to reduce body fat, or run a faster mile, or try for your first half marathon. All you're trying to do is enjoy some exercise, keep your body fit, and not go crazy. Tone your running down by a notch, and keep toning it down every month.

3. A Plan. And since we're on the topic of toning it down, women usually want to know exactly what I mean by toning it down. Toning it down is different for everyone, but one thing I like to suggest for moms who can already run a 5k, is to take the Couch to 5k plan and run it in reverse order.

Start with week 9, and as your pregnancy progresses, work backwards week by week. You don't have to follow the schedule exactly, but drop back a week when you feel like your current workout is getting to be too much.

With Maggie, I ran week 9 for the first 15ish weeks. Then I started dropping it back until I hung up the shoes at week 30. And speaking of hanging up the shoes....

(to be continued)

*Remember, I'm just a coach and trainer--NOT a doctor. Any exercise you do while you're pregnant, and anything you read on this blog about running pregnant, should be discussed with your doctor or midwife.

Stop the Madness

When it comes to coaching, I'm all about moderation. When it come to my own running, I'm not so good.

Tonight I popped a caffeine pill, walked away from the Super Bowl, and got on my treadmill with a Coke in my hand. No, seriously, a Coca Cola Classic. On the treadmill. And I flipped on that Sarah Jessica Parker movie about haggard working mothers.

Come on now, who does that?

You know who does that? Me. An overextended mom, wife, employee, and business owner who's training for a marathon.

If I was outside my life looking in, I'd be all, "Ummm, cool it? Because that's too much? And you might have a nervous breakdown?"

So guess what? I'm cooling it. Before tonight, I had 2 running goals for 2012: set a PR in the marathon (my PR is from 2007), and place in the top 3 in the Mountain Epic (I won last year). Running-wise, both make total and complete sense. But you know what? I'm not in the mood for marathon number 6.

I think I could do it, and I actually think I could do it well (I've been doing every-other-week 11-13 mile training runs at my target marathon pace), but I think my head could potentially explode from so many big things happening at the same time.

So here's how it's going down instead:

• Between momming, wifeing, working, training, and running Kennebec Valley Coaching, something's on it's way out. And I can assure you that I'm not leaving my kids at the supermarket a la Punky Brewster's mother.
• I'm running the Airport Challenge in Brunswick in April--a 1 mile race (my FAVORITE!), and a half marathon in the same morning. Blam, blam, so awesome.
• Instead of the Sugarloaf Marathon, I'm running the Sugarloaf 15k. I haven't set a time goal yet. 
• Run a really good time at the 4th of July 5k.
• And then I'll run every 5k I feel like running, and train my pants off for the Mountain Epic because holy nuts, I love that race.

To me, that's a fun racing schedule. I can train hard, I can cross-train hard (because I love plyo as much as I love running), and I can do it all with a whole lot less mileage every week.

I came up with this plan at mile 3 of my long run tonight. James wandered downstairs in his football pajamas and said, "Hey Mom, I can't sleep. Wanna watch the Super Bowl game with me?"

You bet I did.

Treadmill off. Decision made. Shorter races. Sanity restored. Major phew.

Go Patriots!

Strength Training for Runners

Strength training is straight up crazy.

When it comes to strength training, most people either don't do it at all, or when they do, they go totally and completely overboard and can't stay with it. Now don't get me wrong, extremo regimens like P90X are super effective--if you stick to them.

The truth is, strength training is super important to your health and fitness--it fights off osteoporosis, it plays a key role in everyday movements (lifting groceries, anyone?), and more muscle mass keeps the metabolism a whole lot higher. So guess what? It's gotta happen.

Fitness can be broken down into 3 parts: strength, flexibility, and endurance. In order to be truly fit, you need to be capable in all 3 area. As runners, we've got the endurance thing cornered, but the other 2? Not so much. Runners are infamous for not being able to do a push-up and not being able to touch their toes.

Just look at me as an example, I've been running regularly since 1994 and I've logged about 1,000 running miles every year for the last 5 years. My resting heart rate is less than 50 beats per minute. But my body fat? It doesn't fall into the fitness range. Why? Too many snacks and NOT ENOUGH STRENGTH TRAINING.

And just like all aspects of fitness, regular small doses of strength training is way better than going crazy with weight lifting for 4 days every 2 years.

In my opinion, there are a few strength exercises that are absolutely essential to everyone, runner or not. They're basic moves that can be done at home with no fancy equipment. In no particular order, they're:

The Push-Up

This program helped me get from 0 push-ups to 20 standard push-ups in a month. 

I did a lot of push-ups in my office!

The Squat

The Lunge

The Chair Dip

Seriously, did you know that the tricep is the biggest muscles in your upper arm?

The Sit-Up/Roll-Up

Start with those. Run through the whole routine 3 times every week. Aim for 3 sets of each exercise, with 10-20 reps. And then, when you get the hang of that, you can go flip some tires with these these guys. That gym is right down the street from Kennebec Valley Coaching, and we share a couple clients. If you'd like to be able to pick up your house and move it around on its lot every month or so, call them.

Body Fat Check In

I'm 1 week into my body fat experiment, and so far I'm down from 25.9% to 25.4%. I've still got 5 weeks to go to hit my goal of 24%. I think that's pretty good!

There's been no magic trick to make it happen, just more strength training, more protein, more fruits and vegetables, less sugar, and almost no flour. My sweet treats have shifted from baked stuff like cookies and brownies to a few squares of dark chocolate, or a 1/2 cup of ice cream. Also, I've upped my running pace a few notches.

I'm especially happy since I went to a weekend-long family Christmas party this past Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I tried to load my plate with protein and veggies, and only make it to the dessert table once a day. I had to have a slice of my aunt's famous red velvet cake, but I only had a little piece--major victory in Amyland.

My goal this week, given the fact that I'm making a huge batch of Pioneer Woman cinnamon buns tonight and Christmas falls on Sunday, is to make it down to 25.2%. I'll keep you posted.

Lunchtime Tweaks

I usually don't eat out for lunch. Not because I don't love to eat out, but because it gets expensive. I work close enough to home that I usually blitz out and eat some leftovers while I catch an episode of The Duggars on Netflix Instant.

I love my life.

But today my schedule's all over the place, so I ended up grabbing lunch at a deli.

When I walked through the door of the deli, I wanted a Turkey Rachel. It's only the most amazing sandwich on the face of the planet....turkey with thousand island dressing, swiss cheese, and a heap of coleslaw, on buttered rye bread, grilled. Holy crap, it's hands down the best food item ever invented. But the butter alone makes it more of a treat sandwich and less of a normal-old-Thursday sandwich.

So I moved on and opted for this:

Yes, I'm a trainer who eats potato chips.

There are a few 'keys' to this lunch:

1) I ordered half of a sandwich. Yes, it has a little bit of mayo and swiss cheese, but only half as much as a regular sandwich.

2) I wanted the corn chowder--because HELLO????!!!! it's the soup of the gods--but again, it's heavy on the butter. And the cream. And all other manners of goodness. So I opted for the chicken and barley soup instead.

3) And the chips? It's a tiny bag that has 80 calories and 4.5 grams of fat. Much better choice than the potato salad and seriously, who doesn't love a chip?

Staying lean isn't about making extreme choices or eating strange foods. It's about making decent choices consistently. Sure I made a few little sacrifices, but that was a stinkin' good lunch. Plus, no blech feeling and zero regrets.

People, you can have your Turkey Rachel and eat it, too.......but save it for date night.

What Does a Personal Trainer Eat?

I get this question at least once a day, and every time it comes up, before I can honestly answer I ask, "Do you mean today or yesterday or in general? Because whatever you mean, I'll tell you the truth."

Sometimes the truth is embarrassingly perfect, and other times it's so far beyond humiliating that there are no appropriate words in the human language. Most of the time it's somewhere in between.

Just like most women in the world, I have my angelic super-food days where it's been nothing but 1,800 calories of lean protein, organic greens, nutty snacks and angel dust. This is about 10% of the time.

Another 10% of my days are the days where I eat Lucky Charms, Cherry Coke, Cake, the Wendy's $1 menu, and maybe an apple. For lunch. 3,000 calories of pure ugh.

But most days are somewhere in the middle--and those days are my favorites. I'm having one of those days today, so I'll share what that looks like. But before I do, I'll give you a few fun facts:

1) In my world there aren't any off-limit foods or food groups.
2) I'm prone to eating too much fat...like 100+ grams a day if I don't pay attention kind of prone.
3) I used to be a hardcore sugar addict, took me about two weeks to kick the habit, and now I'm able to eat sugar in moderation.
4) However, I cannot, under any circumstances eat brownies in moderation. Sometimes I make them any way. I always regret it.
5) I'm 5'8" 145-150ish pounds, and wear a size 6-10...mostly an 8.
6) I probably have more stomach flab than your average coach/trainer. But man I'm a happy person!

I'll share my menu with you a couple times a week. Here's today:

BREAKFAST: 2 slices of whole grain toast, 2 fried eggs, and a smoothie made with blueberries, strawberries, kale, pumpkin, water, and a little big of agave nectar.

LUNCH: A sweet potato, half of a cucumber, half a can of chick peas, with light poppy seed dressing. A scoop of sunflower seed butter, and a grapefruit.

DINNER: That'll be 2 slices of pizza and a salad with light dressing.

That just about takes me to 2,000 calories and 60 grams of fat, so any other snacks will be fruits and veggies. I'm planning to run tonight, 3-5 miles, so I'll definitely have a recovery smoothie or a Greek yogurt to follow that up.

I'll check back in tomorrow and let you know how it all turned out.

But before I sign off, can you see how I balanced the super healthy breakfast and lunch with the gas station pizza for dinner? There's NOTHING WRONG WITH PIZZA!!!!! You just have to plan around it a little bit!