New Year-New Goals

Well I don't think I have even logged on to this site in the past four months, but I am ready to jump back on the band wagon for the new year. These past 6 months have taken me back to full time at The Little Gym as I still focus on a few clients. I am looking forward to 2011 and the new adventures that will come along.

This year with my site I plan to focus on my personal fitness and the tricks I am using and how everything goes. I am planning on attempting to keep up with a basic food journal, daily workout updates, pictures, and of course the goals I set for myself.

This in turn I hope will help you as my reader to get inspired and strive to be a healthier person as well.

Check back soon and I hope to have my site changed over to have all tools needed to keep you posted on my challenges and accomplishments.

Dream Big-Live Healthy,
Laura Steely

Get to Walking.....

It has felt amazing outside these past few days in Houston, which means it is the perfect time to set your goals and get outside.

I enjoy getting to wake up to sun and a breeze, most mornings I try to head out by 8 or 9 for a morning walk before work. The outdoors puts me in such a good mood and ready to start my day.

Over the next few weeks as we all hope our cool weather hangs around try to set a new goal for yourself. It could be walk 3 times a week or walk 10 miles a week. Don't make it to challenging so that you can make a better commitment.

My goal is to walk 3 miles four times a week. I am good right now getting out twice a week so now my goals is to keep up my walking and add some days in.

Get to walking.......

The sweet smell of stress

We can all admit that some time during our lives we feel stressed and need to find some way to cope with it. Many people fall into the category of emotional eaters, this is where I fall. I am a worry-wart and when things go astray I reach for the goods. I like to take good walks to think things through, but I do have to say once in a while if I want to make a batch of cookie, I'm going to make a batch of cookies! All in moderation, right?

Though if you don't want to indulge in the sweets quite yet I did find this funny, but I think true website that gives you 52 tips on how to reduce stress. www.hawaiihealthguide.com/healthtalk/display.htm (maybe its time to move to Hawaii).

Here are a few of my favorites.....

1. If you enjoy waking up, get up 15 minutes early to stretch and breath. Don't turn on the TV, computer, or open the newspaper.

4. Don't do anything that you will have to lie about later.

5. Make copies of all keys. Bury a house key in a secret place in the garden. Carry a copy of your car key in your wallet, apart from your key ring.

8. Procrastination is stressful. What ever you plan to do tomorrow, do today. What ever you plan to do today, do it now.

12. Eliminate (reduce) the amount of caffeine, artificial sweeteners and sugars in your diet.

14. Relax your standards. The world will not end if the grass does not get mowed this weekend.

17. Say No! Saying no to extra projects, social activities and invitations you know you will not have the time or energy for takes practice, self-respect and a belief that everyone, everyday , needs quite time to relax and be alone.

21. Make friends with non-worriers. Chronic worry-warts are contagious. (uh-oh, I need to work on this one)(I'm the worry-wart)

Those are just a few, many more good ones in the 52 they suggest.

I'm off to enjoy my cookies.

Today is a perfect day for a perfect day!

How Hungry are you?

Many people crave eating to deal with emotions, boredom, or stress. I am definitely a person who is willing to eat whenever and sometimes whatever. I read in a magazine, I believe it was an issue of SHAPE, it was talking about how you should put a number to how hungry you truly are. So I did!

The article said to range your hunger from 1-7. 1 for if you are completely full to 7 if you feel like you are starving. When I put this into my own practice I noticed that most times that I would typically reach for a healthy or unhealthy snack I was really only about 2 on my hunger scale. Meaning I was eating to pass the time not to nourish my body.

Give it a try and let me know how you rank on the scale.

Into the forest I go....

So today was actually my second ride on my bike but the first time I brought a camera along. I do have to admit even though I enjoy the outdoors, I still hate bugs and running into spider webs.
It is always a good idea to ride with a friend, but I do have to say these past two days I have been happy to be by myself.

I laughed at myself as a whimpered passed all the newly hatched dragonflies, shaking from left to right as a ride through spider webs, and jumping off my bike as a nearly miss trees. I definitely have to get back into the swing of things when it comes to riding a bike on a trail.

I plan on keeping up bike riding at least 2 times per week. My next adventure will be something I found out of a SHAPE magazine. It is a hula hoop workout. What can get better than that?
All that is needed is a hula hoop and yourself. I will try to post some pictures and I will definitely let you know how it goes.

Enjoy my bike picture, so far all body parts are still intact.

Back on the bike

I enjoy many different types of cardio activities, and I am excited to say I am going to start riding my bike again. It had been stored in my sisters garage since I moved to the Houston area two years ago. FINALLY, two years later I made some room in my car and picked it up after training down in Kemah today.

I was excited to see that once the tires were pumped up, they held the air and I was ready for a bike ride.
A few tasks I thought I should complete before my first bike ride.
Task one: Get my bike helmet from the closet.....Did I find it?..NO
Ok, I can go one day without a helmet.
Task two: Connect breaks. Front one...Check...Back one, oooppsss it does not work.
Ok, one break for now, I can deal with that.
Task three: Grease up chain....check
I grabbed my water and bag with keys and phone and head out the door. I rode around my apt complex quickly just to make sure everything would hold together. IT DID!!

So I headed down the sidewalk and around the corner to a local fountain, which I thought had a small trail around it. Nope, it did not. So I rode up and down the side walks for about 15 minutes and then headed back to the apt. It was a little disappointing not getting to get a great workout in with it today but I will try tomorrow.

The bad part about where I live is that it is in between 3 busy roads and the 4th, that is not so busy, does not have a sidewalk and is two lane. So tomorrow I will put down the seats in the bug, disconnect my one working break, take the front wheel off, put it in my car , and head off to the local park/bike trails after work.

Today made me miss good old East Texas Nacogdoches and being able to ride to a trail in about 2 minutes no mater where I was living in the town.
-Time to move out of the city!
-Off to find my helmet!

The infamous bike and myself!! It does not get the luxury of staying inside but it does get to be on our patio.

Hey, look what I finally found. I looked all over the closets and where did I finally find it? In the laundry room...lol

MMmmmm...Granola

I have been testing some new recipes in the kitchen and finally made my first batch of homemade (less expensive) granola. It was a treat to get to eat it in my yogurt today and taste the creation put to use. Now, I am not positive of the calorie out but it sure did taste great for the few ingredients I used.

Basic Granola-
4 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 TBS oil (next time I am going to try apple sauce instead)
I also added many dashes of cinnamon and about a cup of cranberries

It took 2 1/2 hours on low in my crock pot. Don't forget to stir every 30 minutes to reduce the risk of burning.

Give it a try, it tastes great and is a great way to save some bucks at the grocery store!

Oh so much advertising..don't you see me!

Well if you have not already checked out my new web site strictly for my training business here is the site.

laurasteely.webs.com

I scratch my head each day thinking about what else I can do to advertise. Even though I have so much advertising out, getting clients is still all about word of mouth and finding people who are truly interested in changing their lives. Thank goodness I live in a time of facebook and the classified ads online.

I keep my fingers crossed each night that my business will grow and I can change the lives of many people out there.

Always keep in mind, you must love the person you are and embrace the person who you are becoming.

Who says you cant change?

Here is a picture I tracked down from me in high school. This picture was taken 7 years ago and I definitely have found a new love for fitness and have changed my life from back then. Enjoy the pic, don't laugh to hard.



I like the change. A lot of hard work and dedication but an easy keep up once achieved!

Also check out my new training web site at laurasteely.webs.com

Lets get in shape!

Here are a few great moves you should try to burn some extra calories during a workout. Enjoy!

This is a squat with a frontal shoulder raise. Try to do movement 20 times and at least 2 sets, push yourself and try to do 3 sets!

This is a back lunge with a bicep curl. Try to do 10 reps on each legs and push through 2 sets. Try to go a little further and make it 3 sets. Make sure your knee NEVER goes over your toe.

Try a wide squat with triceps. Make sure toes are slightly facing out to help with balance. Do 20 times and 3 sets!

Ending with some abs try a pike crunch. Start with legs slightly off the ground and arms out long. Bring legs up and arms to meet legs. With this movement you are preforming a chest fly with a crunch. Repeat 20 times and at least 2 sets, push though this one and go for three!

Let me know how you like these moves. I do suggest that you wear shoes while working out to help support the ankles during movements.

Walking to the Beat

I like to get out at least 2-3 times week for a good walk. Walking allows me to think all by myself and enjoy the outdoors.

I have always listened to music when I walked but now I have found myself walking to the beat and have turned it into a great workout. usually I get out to walk later in the day so a lot of up beat songs are on the radio. No ipod need, I just use a basic head set radio. I step to the beat in each song and get a great workout in the end. Some times its a killer when there are 3 or 4 fast songs in a row, and then sometimes it is radio commercial time and it is hard to find a good beat. Though I do have to say with walking by myself it is a great tool to use to keep my speed and motivation up.

Give it a try and let me know how you like it!

Advertising with a side of Tuna

This summer I have been bumping up my advertising flow to reach out to more people and to turn my fun side business into my own personal business. I am excited to see all my advertising coming together. Recently I put an add in my church bulletin and added a phone number to my car signs. So if you happen to see these around time you will know you have found me!

Sorry for it being a little blurry, but you get the gist of it. I am excited to see my purple and white ad every week!
These are my car signs, I love them too. They now have a new business phone number on them for Embrace.

This was our dinner last night. I am enjoying having my meal planned out and all the ingredients in the fridge ready to go, so I will definitely be keep up with the planning for meals but I need to find better recipes for tuna. I rotate between chicken, fish, turkey, and a little beef. Now yesterday was fish day and I thought it would be a great idea to make a tuna casserole in the crock-pot so it would be ready for us when we both got home from work. Though as you can see from this picture it looked like a pile of barf. Back to true fish on fish night.

Planning Meals

I am still on my mission to make healthy dinners and low cost. It has been going quite well so far. It is nice knowing what I am making and just coming home after work and getting started.

I never knew how I was going to be bale to have kids work and feed everyone as well. Now with the plan I have come up with of planning two weeks at a time I think it organizes the meals and makes life a little less stressful.

The past week we had BBQ chicken with pineapple and bell peppers all make in a easy throw away foil pouch. Pasta with shrimp, chicken enchiladas and tuna cakes. I do have to say I don't think I will be making the tuna cakes again. They tasted ok but cooking was a pain. The paddies would not stay together and it was just big mess.

So as for meals, work on planning them and and stick with it. My husband and I will have chicken tonight so I put it in the fridge this morning and by the time it is time to make dinner it will be thawed and ready to go.

The keys to planning

Just like workout out it is helpful to have a meal plan as well. This will not only help you make easy decisions when it comes dinners and helps save money when you are buying groceries.

I took the time this past week to plan out two weeks of meals and made a shopping list for it. This enables me to not buy things I don't truly need and makes meal time a little less stressful when in a rush.

I am still keeping up with the healthy desserts. I made a pudding dessert last night and it was delicious. It had chocolate and vanilla pudding with strawberries and just a spoonful of whipped cream. It definitely hit my sweet spot for the night.

Behold the healthy carrot cake

So I am successfully back on my kick of finding delicous healthy desserts. I found a recipe for a carrot cake in Fitness Magazine and made it this past week. Each serving is 121 calories, and for a sweet treat it does not taste to bad. I do have to say it tastes better chilled then warm. The frosting you make has light cream cheese in it and with it warm did not taste all that good but as soon as it all chilled it had a much better flavor to it.
The nice part about these recipes are that they are made from scratch. The picture in the magazines always looks better than in person but oh well.

Nutty Carrot Cake Bars

Go to www. diabeticlivingonline.com/recipe/cakes/nutty-carrot-cake for complete recipe.

Stretch to a new healthy you

Stretching is a key component of starting a new healthy lifestyle. Stretching not only reduces injuries it also helps reduce soreness after a workout or a cardio workout.
Are you a person who suffers form chronic lower back pain? Do you realize that it could all be just because your hamstrings are tight?

Here a some simple stretches I challenge you to add into your daily tasks and let me know how they make you feel after a few weeks.

Making time for exercise

As most of you have probably experienced before to acheive a workout goal you must create and plan and stick to a routine. Even for myself as a personal trainer I struggle to make sure I squezz in some worjout or cardio time each day.

I have been working on picking up running though I have made it out three times in the past two weeks. One downside of living in Texas is when your break in the day is at noon it is just a little to hot to be running outside. I need to start schduleing my runs at the end of the day, and stick to it.

Tomorrow I will pick up some ingredients to make another fabulous and healthy dessert. I will keep you posted on how it tastes and how eary or hard it is to make.

New Goals...

So I get on many kick each month and try to stick to it and then end up having so other great idea I want to try. Well I am still doing the "healthy desserts", though i do have to say I eat one quick mocha treat each night and that is enough, so no new desserts yet since I still have a few left but I am sure by the end of this week I will be testing out a new recipe.

I have been out running in the local park these past couple of days and have decided to make it my short term goal to run at least 2-3 times a week this summer in prep for starting 5K's in the Fall. Right now with work I can get off all Saturdays but my goal for my business is to get it to where I train Monday-Friday and have the weekends off. So come septemberish time I will be looking into local and near by 5K's and enjoying running again.

It is a great way for myself to lose the few extra pounds I want to drop and get my legs and abs into runner shape before kids come along.

I must add in this picture, I need to stop taking photo shoots in my bathroom, but I have come to a time in life when I am proud of my body, and for myself and many women that is a big struggle.

Quick mocha Pots de Creme

SO I attemped my first "healthy" dessert yesterday. I found the recipe in Fitness Magazine. I do have to say the recipe was easy to follow and in total I think it took me about 15 minutes. Now after eating one I was satisfied. There was enough chocolate to please my craving and I got to save some for later. Now this recipe I don't think I would make again just for myself but definitely if I was going to a dinner party I would make and bring.

Quick Mocha Pots de Creme
Makes: 15 tarts
Prep: 20 Mins

1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate pieces
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 TBS instant espresso coffee powder
1 2.1 ounce package of baked miniature phyllo dough shells

Melt chocolate, cream, and espresso coffee powder over low heat.
Remove form heat,Let stand 10 minutes to thicken
Spoon into phyllo shells
Let stand 15 minutes
Top with whipped cream just before serving.Mine did not turn out as good as the picture but I was satisfied. I would give this a 3 out of 5.

Sweet Tooth

One of the hardest parts of "eating healthy" for me is my sweet tooth. I am one who has to have some type of sweetness at the end of dinner.
This is a challenge for many as well, so my next task for myself becoming a healthier individual is to test out "healthy" dessert recipes and pick my favorites.

It made it hard this past week when my husband and I unfroze our wedding cake for our one year anniversary and surprizingly it tasted just like it did on our wedding day. Now since my husband does not like sweets, after his bite he left the cake for me. I limit myself to a piece a night but that is what sparked my idea to find healthy, low cal, tasty desserts.

The Deep Blue.....Pool

Summer is officially here, and even if you are not comfortable with laying out by the pool there are some great workouts that can be done in the pool.

I have always enjoyed working out in the pool myself and training clients in the pool. These workouts are not as much muscle building but more for cardio and ease on joints. I trained one of my clients in the pool yesterday and it brought back the good memories from summers of training in the pool.
All you need for this workout is a noodle and a set of weights. Extras include a kick board and water weights. The exercises range from swimming to squats.

If you are interested in learning more about pool workouts or would like me to train you in the pool, let me know.

Finally my husband and I gave in and got reliable Internet, so the posts should come daily now.

Time never stops to wait

One thing that is always true when it comes to motivation and drive is, when life puts a bump in the road you have to hop back on before you get to far off the path.

Once again I caught a stomach bug last weekend and was out from workout for about three days. I did get a great abs workout when the food did not want to stay down, but that is never a type of workout I want.

I have been excited about the shake weight but I let it go for those three days and now it is hard to keep it up. I do think the shake weight has done some good toning to my arms and some muscle building, but it is probably not something I will keep up on a daily basis past this month. It is a fun thing to add into a workout, but now it has gotten pretty boring, even with my modifications to the workout.

Short entry today, I am trying to get back into the swing of things.

Two Weeks in Counting

Alright it wont be two weeks with the Shake Weight till tomorrow but I do have to say if I don't keep thinking about typing about it I am not going to do it. For the past 13 days I have used my shake weight all but 3, so for the most part doing well, but I think for the next two weeks I am going to start using it in the morning and at night. I do like the results I am getting but there is no soreness to come with it so I think I am going to step it up a bit.

Tomorrow I will post a picture and measure my bicep for the two week tally.

As summer looms near think about trying some new workout of your own. It is never to late to start being a healthier you!

Keeping on track

Well, a week has now pasted with me using my new shake weight. I have to say I am not disappointed yet, I still want to see the results with three more weeks to go in my trial period but I do my 6 minute session before work each day and it puts me in a good mood.

I am still wearing the bionic band and I am trying to see the benefits, but I just can't. The one thing I would love to get more of is energy. If this bionic band could truly do what it promotes and at least give me some extra energy I would be satisfied but I still find my self having to go my bad habit of energy drinks mid way through the day.

If you are looking into a workout program or see a great infomercial on TV such as Zumba and you are wanting to know if it could work for you. Give it a try, if it works wonderful, if not well you learned new things about yourself out for it. Though it is all about sticking to the program. You cant just try something for a week or even a month, its a commitment just as your health is to your body.

So my challenge for you this week is to find something new ( a workout, a motivational speaker, new eating habits) and put them to the test for at least a month and let me know how it is going!

The Fitness Gimmicks

So I have started my kick with the Shake weight and actually am not disappointed with that so far. I am not sore afterward but I do definitely feel the burn during the workout. I think this will appease most of the population in the aspect of firming up without the hard workout. I do feel that you will miss out on the strength gain through a full range of motion but most people these days want that look and could care less about the strength.

Now my new thing is the Bionic Band. One of the Parents at my work had been talking about it for the past month and now he is having me put it to the test on myself since I don't believe in it. So far I have been wearing it for three days and whop di do nothing exciting to report.

The bionic band is supposed to give you increased energy, balance, and pain relief practically instantly. I have been reading over the website that promotes it and I still just can not see the point in buying this. Now I will say I am 24 and have not had to many hardships on my body yet. I think if I was 50 right now I would be loving this bionic band and maybe see some joint pain relief and balance. Though with my finding so far, no increased energy, maybe some balance but that is pretty good already, and no pain relief to take care of. Though the first day I put it on I did get a headache about 10 minutes after wearing it and Advil fixed that problem.

-If you would like to check out the website go to bionicband.com or for pricing 82jrm.mybionicband.com
* If this product was $9.99, alright well whatever but the one I have is $55! Redidulous for a piece of metal strapped to my wrist!

Any comments or if you already wear one and love it let me know.

The Shake Weight (day one)

So as I mentioned yesterday I received the Shake Weight as a birthday gift and I am now going to put it to the test. This morning after my cardio in the park I came back home and gave it a try.

There is a 6 minute DVD that comes along with it, so I popped it in my computer and went for it. It looks easy but I think I spend 3 of the 6 minutes just trying to figure out if I was shaking it right or not. I also noticed I was holding my breath a lot as a tried to shake it vigorously. Though in the end I was tired and my arms were begging me to put the shake weight down.

So day one....got the feel of how it works, felt great burn, we will see if the results follow in the weeks to come.

Starting off my biceps are 11inches when they are flexed, I will keep you posted with the changes!

Th Shake Weight

I know it has been a few days since I am been on. My husband and I need to just give in and buy Internet but we still just travel back and forth to the in-laws to check the email.

I had my birthday this past week and from my in-laws i got the shake weight. It has always been integrating to me but it rally do not believe it will work. I now have decided since I did not purchase it and got it as a gift I am going to put it to the test. I am going to use for 30 days and see the results. I will keep you guys posted on the progress and of course the end result. If it does well I will add it into my workouts and promote it to my clients.

I am keeping it simple tonight, I will add some more recipes and tips tomorrow after my walk and workout!!

The Cup Cake Enemy

As you see this savory sweet cup cake and its tasty color I will advise you that this one cup cake alone ( frosting included) is 400 calories.
I am a sucker for sweets and cup cakes top the list of my favorite treats to splurge on.

Tomorrow is my Birthday so of course I had to make my celebratory cup cakes. Even though it shames me that I am a trainer and eating a 400 calorie cup cake( and trust me I wont just eat one), this is what I do and I am definitely going to enjoy it for my Birthday. I am a big avocate for moderation.
I have not had a cup cake since October I believe so even though you know I wont just eat one I have minimized my obstacles. I did make the entire batch but I am freezing 12 out of the 24 cup cakes. I will look forward to a great treat in a month or so.
I did also replace the three whole eggs with four egg whites, so that might have brought the calorie count down to 398.

You know though that I will enjoy my few 400 cal. cup cakes over the next few days and add on an addition mile here or there to my walks.

Fitness/Nutrition Tip of the day: Don't drag yourself down if you do splurge. Keep it in mind the next time you work out and push yourself a little longer, but enjoy life and the great treats that come along with it. (In moderation)

The Great Outdoors

It is always nice to be able to get away from the city life and into the great outdoors. It is also an awesome place to get some adventuresome exercise.

My husband and I went camping this weekend at Lake Sommerville. We got in a 5 mile hike the first day and a two hour canoe trip the second day. We even ended our trip ona girly note and walked around the outlet mall off of 290 on our way back into town, but only window shopping today.

To keep motivated about your goal, you must kepping things new and exciting. my walks in Meyer park had started getting boring so a hike in a state park will a great alternative. With the tirane and incline/decline I am feeling the walk today. Not to mention the canoe trip, we started down wind but then had to go up wind and fight the current on the way back. For my first time on a canoe that was some mighty hard work.

Easter Weekend

This weekend was a great time for family get together and good food. You do always have to be mindful of how much you eat during the holidays and what you are eating. My husband and I received a great Easter basket this year from my In-laws. We have grown our own spices in the past but as the cold weather came we let them go. this time we have a new start and many healthy, tasteful meals to come.



We woke up had had great omelets with some left over ham and worked on planting our new herbs and spices. Definitely a great way to start the day.

Keep on Track

I will admit this week I have fallen off the exercise band wagon. I got in a few workouts but not as many as I was striving for or had been doing in the previous weeks. It all started with the stomach virus 2 weeks ago. Like I said before, even for people with a routine in place it is hard to get back into the swing of things.

I walked 3.5 miles on Wednesday in the park and then got a workout in on Friday. Definitely no where close to where i need to be for my weekly quota for exercise. This is not a thing you should beat yourself down about, its all about taking the right steps to get back on track.

I am a schedule type of person, if my schedule gets messed u p my whole day is thrown off. April is a new month with new goals.
I hope to walk in a different park each day that I walk and advertise my company
some more.

Short entry today, my Internet is out again. Its always nice having in-laws close by to be able to stop in a check the emails. Enjoy the Easter Holiday weekend, and we will all get back into the swing of things when it comes to fitness on Monday.

Not to many chocolate Easter bunnies...at least make them dark chocolate!

A Healthy Family

It is important when you first decide to start a family and as you all grow together as a family to keep fitness and nutrition in mind everyday. It is going to be twice as hard to get into the swing of eating healthy and working out if you have been letting is pass for 30 years.

Nutritional tips I learned from my husband....

-reduce sugar at a young age. This means half the sugar content of everything. You will be surprised how good koolade tastes with only half a pack used.

-mix up the meals everyday.

Each day should be a different type of meal. For example Monday beef, Tuesday fish, Wednesday chicken, Thursday pasta, Friday turkey, Saturday and Sunday Chicken. It keeps the meals interesting and keep the body in the nutritional grove.

Remember with each dinner to always have a green (lettuce or veggie), a carb, and a protein.

If you go to Sparkpeople.com they have receipts for every dish imaginable and family tips on how to stay healthy.

I must add in this picture today. Being fit must run in the family, take a look at my Nephew Caleb, look at that awesome push-up form at 5 months old!!

Embrace America

The walking begins again. I headed out Monday morning to my local park and had a beautiful day to walk in. I made it 3.4 miles today. i was definitely more tired than usual with having a week off but I pushed myself to the end. A few weeks ago i had started to add in some running, so I am definitely back to walking but will get back there maybe by the end of the week.

Embrace America miles:
For each mile you walk it counts as 5 EA miles since we are crossing the US. Now if you walk with either ankle weights of hand weights you get to double your miles and if you walk with both you get to triple your miles.

Today I just walked, no weights so I walked 15.5 Embrace America Miles. I am well on my way to New York!

Fitness motivation tip: give yourself small goals to work towards. If all you are going for is that amazing end result it is going to be a lot more difficult to achieve.
My goal is to walk 5 miles at least four times a week and then I can get some new walking shoes!! I am up to 3.5 on most days but I can do it!

The Struggles

You will always go through some ups and downs when you are working on becoming or staying a healthy individual wither you are already in good shape or are starting from the beginning. I had been making good progress on my walking and had made it up to walking 5 days a week and was covering about 4 miles in an hour. I could feel and see some changes to my body and then I got sick with a stomach Virus. I was out from an though of exercise or eating for that matter Monday to Thursday. This past week was a complete failure to my progress, but things like this will always happen.

With being out for a week and not getting food in my system for four days, it now pains me to even walk up the stairs just to get into my apartment. I could not find the motivation to go out and walk on Sunday but am excited to be able to get back out to my park tomorrow and hit the trails. It might be a slow walk tomorrow but these are the things (setback) the demotivate people to workout. You have to push through them one day at a time and don't be afraid to start over.

With my clients I have now started a program called Embrace America. It is a walking program to walk from California to New York, it is over a 3000 mile journey but this will help them to get into a routine of walking. I have been walking all along but have not been keeping track of my own miles. Starting Monday I will keep track myself and let you know of my progress each day.

Check back tomorrow on hows my adventures went!

Meyer Park

This is a park I have been going to for the past six months. I started walking there with one of my clients and then most recently took on walking there four to five times a week. I am now thinking about putting together a book about the places I walk with descriptions and pictures to go with it. Here are a few from Meyer Park. i enjoy going to this park because even though it is right in Houston it allows you to get away form it all and just think as you walk.

Personal Training

I have had my own personal training business since I left LIFETIME Fitness a year ago. I am now pursuing new clients for the summer. I want people to enjoy working out and see the benefits of having a healthy life style. Its not about being a size 4 or fitting into your old high school clothes. It is about feeling good about who you are and knowing that you are living a healthy lifestyle in hopes to spend as much time with your children and grandchildren.

I myself am dedicating one hour 4-5 times a week for walking. My husband and I would love to start a family one day and I want to have a routine in place that I know will help me support my children as I grow older. My walks have been going good and I wake up every morning now thinking what time I can go walking. This is not a commitment that will happen over night. It took me a good two weeks to actually get out more than twice a week and another two week to get over the soreness of walking five days a week, but now I am enjoying it and seeing the results.

Just some things to think about as we come to our 2010 summer. It will be getting hotter in the months to come in Texas, and the sooner you can get started on a program in the nice weather, the earlier it will be to keep it up during the hot months.

Fitness tip of the day: If you feel that you can not dedicate time to go to a gym or a park think about adding exercises in your everyday life. It takes me about five minutes to blow dry and straighten my hair. I now do incline push-ups on My sink counter as my flat iron heats up. i do about 20 a day, but you will feel and see the results.

To the Park we go...

For the past two weeks I have been working on making myself get out to my local park and walk about three miles at least four times a week. For the past two weeks I have been able to get out five times a week and have been enjoying every bit of it.

The walks allow me to think by myself and relax from my days at work. I am now working on a program for my clients to have them "Embrace America" and see how long it takes them to walk form California to New York. I plan for it to be a 4-6 month event with some modifications to the miles needed.

You should also check out this web site that one of my clients told me about. it is sparkpeople.com. It is a free site to join and have wonderful activities, recipes, and fitness tips. Our internet kicked back on today so I am back in business and enjoyed searching through that web site today.

Thought of the day: As winter turns into spring, get outside and enjoy the day!

Fitness Question of the day: Why is walking so beneficial?
Good for your heart: Walking regularly can help reduce high blood pressure and high cholesterol, both of which contribute to heart disease.
Strengthens bones and joints: Walking is easier on your joints than higher-impact activities like running or aerobics, but it still helps reduce your risk for osteoporosis and reduces your risk of falls.
Weight control Walking may seem like a leisurely activity, but with the right intensity, it can elevate your heart rate and burn serious calories so you can reach and maintain a healthy weight.
Benefits for the Mind A long list of mental health benefits have been attributed to exercise, including reduced depression, better sleep, and more.

Keep the walking up!

This morning my client canceled due to being sick so i decided to get up and go walking a little earlier. I found a new path that I was not sure how long it was but what a great day to find out. i had found the path about a week ago but it goes under a bridge and walking by myself I was always to scared to go to the other side. Today i saw people walking in that direction, so i followed. They would be able to hear me scream if anyone came after me. I walked for a good hour and enjoyed the walk. This new path took me around a church and another little park. It had great inclines and declines, which was great for my legs. i plan to make my client there on Wednesday.

I promise to soon have some pictures up. it is always more exciting to read something that has pictures along.

Just imagine walking along a creek with all green trees and some clouds leanguring in the air. No screaming kids. Though I did almost get hit by a flying duck, the people behind me laughed but I would rather duck and run then be telling you about a black eye that i would have recieved form the duck.

Keep the exercise up, it might be hard to pull away form your busy life but once you make it a rutine it will kieep the stress levels down and give you time to think.

Without internet, there are no posts, but the exercise goes on

Well I have been out of interent for the past two week and my husband and I still have not made the leap into spending more money for an interent bill each month. We check our emails once a week at our inlaws house, so the posts will slow down until we get back on.

I have made it my goal to walk at least three times a week now. I go to the same park and walk different paths each time to keep it interesting. I have been good about going walking every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. So this week I made it four times and I hope next week to make it up to five. I spend about an hour walking and make it about 2 and 1/2 miles.

Today I took a walk around the pond at Meyer park and say about four turtles. The times you wished you had your camera. I plan to go back tomorrow and walk after I train my client in the morning and hope to see the turtles again.

I have the walking/exercise down, now its the motivation to work on my eating habits. My husband and I eat well but we also eat late. I have trying not to snack after nine and soon hope to make it eight, but with getting off after eight most nights it is hard to get a good dinner in.

I hope to post some pictures fomr my walks soon. Keep thinking about how you are bettering yourself and what it will do for your future!

Rain does not work for fitness

Well my work schedule has changed a little and I was excited I would be able to get a 3 mile walk in after I got off around two. Well thanks to the ground hog, Texas has decided to swing into full gear for winter and have rain and cold temps. Not the most ideal conditions for walking outside and staying well.
In my attempt to get some cardio in today I pulled out one of my aerobic DVDs and put my moves to the test. Today I officially learned that my coordination needs some work and that I can not do more that two things at once. If I have to move my legs and do things with my arms they can not expect me to change directions in movements as well can they? It did get my heart rate up a little, so it was definitely a great choice when I had to stay in from the rain. Next time I might hit up YouTube and see if I can find a good Walk Away the Pounds video.

Lets hope for sun tomorrow and I good day in the park!

A new look on life

I am starting this blog to share my findings and feeling about different fitness objectives. I will be putting up workouts I enjoy as well as new healthy recipes that I find.

Today I took a three mile walk at Meyer Park. I have walked there many times before but found a new section that goes around a pond. The great thing about that is that the trail has some elevation in different parts. Giving me legs a better workout than I had anticipated. Its hard when you live in Houston, Texas to find hills that do not come with a treadmill. Today was a great change for my other walks I had been going on.

We you take on walking a suggest that you have some good music to listen to. Comfortable shoes and socks and some water. The water will rehydrate you and act a a simple weight to add to your walk.

You would think after so many years of fitness I would be prepared but today I ended my walk with a blister on my heel and thirsty. Though the music I was listening to did help make the three miles pass quickly.

For today keep your goals achievable and your mind toward a long healthy life