March 2014 – Page 3 – Beth Burns Fitness

Helpful Tips from One Sugar Addict to Another

March 15, 2014/5,327 Comments/in Food /by Beth Burns

When I asked my clients the other day what their biggest struggle is when it came to their health, I grimaced at the resounding reply of SUGAR. How am I supposed to talk about this when I have my own sweet tooth that often feels out of control?!?! Then it hit me: maybe this makes me MORE qualified to talk about it because I understand it. Oh boy, do I understand it. If most of you are thinking, ‘Oh sure she “struggles with sugar,”’ this past holiday season I took down almost an entire double batch (I think Joel may have had a few) of pumpkin chocolate chip cookies in about 2 weeks’ time.

Seriously, this is how I feel about food that doesn’t contain sugar…..

So I’d say I’m qualified to talk on this subject, no?

Now that I’ve established that, the question is: how do we break the hold that sugar has over so many of us? I’ve tried a lot of things, but here’s what works for me….

Start small

One of the best ways to make a change is to pick 1 habit you want to change and focus all of your energy on that one habit for 2-4 weeks. Write it down. I write my goal in my calendar and track it there. (I can’t be the only one who gets a high from checking stuff off, right?!) Make it realistic and make it easy…. so easy, in fact, that you have no doubt you can do it!

For example, I knew I needed to start dealing with my sugar habit. So I started small. My goal was to have only 4 sweet treats a week. I figured that’s still the majority of days per week that I get to have my precious… ack! Sorry, a sweet treat. That first week I stuck to the number, but I went all out when I could have it. I’m talking Dairy Queen Blizzards, multiple graham crackers dipped in copious amounts of peanut butter and dark chocolate, and I honestly can’t remember the others but you get the idea. Did I beat myself up about it? Nope. Cuz I had stuck to my goal. However, I also knew that this kind of behavior wasn’t ultimately going to get me where I wanted to be, so I made slight changes each week that inched me more toward that ultimate objective. The next week I was still allowed 4, but one of those sweets could only be 2 squares of dark chocolate. Of course, if you really struggle to make your goal on the first week then there’s no need to up the ante the next week.

Some of you might be thinking this sounds too hard while others might find it too easy – the point is to choose something that feels attainable for you while still moving you in the right direction. If you’re like me and you can literally hear the chocolate calling to you over the sound of the TV, I’ve found this to be one of the easiest ways to start. If you’re the all-or-nothing type, I give you this little factoid: according to Leo Babauta, author of The Power of Less, when only one habit is adopted per month, success rates can be as high as 80%. However, when we get too ambitious and attempt to adopt even just 2 habits simultaneously, the success rates drop to below 20% for either habit! Wow….yowza….

Most of us have taken years to build our bad habits, so don’t expect to change them overnight. Don’t be afraid to relax into it and set yourself up for success!

Mind over matter

In my experience, the process of habit change is made drastically more difficult if you don’t figure out the Why. Why am I so attached to sugar?? One of the things I started to realize (as my head cleared and the sugar shakes subsided) is how much I associated sugar with happiness. I was so emotionally attached to sugar that I would often think that this or that party would not be fun if I couldn’t eat dessert. No matter that these parties were often filled with some of my most favorite people in the world, good conversation, fun games, and laughter. That realization hit me like a bomb. What a ridiculous way to think!! Sugar has no power to actually give us the satisfaction that we crave…ever. While I knew that in my head, my heart (and stomach) had decided otherwise.

Now don’t get me wrong. I love food. I believe we were made to enjoy food or else God wouldn’t have given food its flavor or us our taste buds! “There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.” But the two had become so connected in my head that I could no longer separate them.

To combat this, I would decide ahead of time that at the next party I would not splurge even though I still had some cheats left. And you know what I found? At the end of the night, I was still alive. Not only that, but I was mentally freed up to engage with and really enjoy all of the many other blessings I was surrounded by. How liberating to be at a party and not spend half of the time mentally waging war over ‘to eat or not to eat’! I still thoroughly enjoyed myself. Plus, my stomach felt a lot better the next morning!

I’m not saying you need to do this every time, but try it every once in a while. You might be surprised by how easy it is when you know going in that indulging is just not an option.

Diversion

Often times – when I find myself craving something sweet – I’ve learned that if I take the time to listen to my body I tend to realize that I am not actually hungry at all. The hubs and I have coined the term “mouth hungry”, meaning that my stomach feels satisfied but my mouth is still craving. This most often happens to me at night, when I have mentally relaxed and am watching TV or hanging out with friends. Most trainers would tell you to turn off the TV and go to bed or go for a walk. Well, here it is: I like my stories! And I live in Colorado, so it’s too fargin’ cold to go for a walk right now! What I can do is see it for what it is: a mental craving. I make the decision right then and there to stop letting these thoughts take over and focus instead on the show. If I’m at a party, I focus fully on the people and the conversation. Usually, once I let go and focus my attention elsewhere, I start enjoying the show or company more and the craving passes.

If, however, the craving is really strong, I will also find ways to distract my mouth. First, I make sure that I am drinking enough water. It’s amazing how easily a craving can be dealt with by a glass of water. After that, gum is one of my go-to’s while Joel likes tea. We also love oranges and berries, but I try to save those for the times when I’m actually still hungry.

(One caveat: I do actually love going for late night walks in the summer time. And there are plenty of times where I would say that if you’re not watching something that’s good on the ol’ tele, turn it off and pick up a good book or hit the sack. These are just what things that work for me, but again, you have to find what diversions work for you.)

Create Accountability

Find someone who will hold you accountable. My husband does this for me. Spouses are great for this because they are usually around you the most, but I will caution you that this can backfire. You have to find that person that will be persistent and know the right thing to say at the right time – whoever it may be. Otherwise, the next thing you know, you’re both headed to Dairy Queen because someone feels bad telling the other person ‘No’ OR you’re in a fight because you’re sure he just called you a cow. Those examples were just off the top of my head…. never actually happened to me before. 😉

Another option would be to get a friend that you check in with every night, even if it’s just over text. The power of accountability can be awesome when you find the right accountability partner. It just takes a little trial and error sometimes.

Plan Ahead

Here’s that whole moderation thing again. If I know I’m going to have a dessert, I try to eat a meal higher in protein and lower in carbs and I stop eating before I normally would. Because nothing is very enjoyable when you’re eating it on an already full stomach. Believe me, I know. During the holidays, I try to eat really clean at home so I can splurge and enjoy a few extra treats at parties and get-togethers. As with so many things in health and fitness and LIFE, it’s all about balance.

ENJOY IT

Last but not least, when you do finally partake in whatever deliciousness you choose, don’t waste the calories on something you could do without. Make it something you really really love. Then savor every dang bite. You’ll be amazed at how much less you will want when you take the time to really taste your food. Then be done with it. You won’t gain 5 pounds from one dessert. You won’t have thrown away all that you’ve worked for. (You just might even benefit every once in a while from giving in to that sugar craving.) So enjoy it and then move on. End of story.

I hope these tips are helpful to you. My ultimate goal is not to never eat sugar again, but to be free of the unrealistic expectations I have placed on this particular food group. I’m not there yet, but it is getting easier. Even though the physical cravings have subsided for the most part, I have easier weeks and harder ones. But I refuse to be controlled by it.

Unfortunately the all-or-nothing mindset seems to almost always leave people frustrated and back at nothing. Sure moderation isn’t sexy and it takes commitment and discipline, but with it comes freedom. I love this quote from A.J. Heschel: “Self respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.” Nothing in this world worth having is easy to attain – and that applies to our nutrition as much as to our fitness, our jobs, our relationships, or anything truly important in life.

I love this little guy!

Have some tricks or tips of your own? I’d love to hear them, so please share below!

The one resolution every woman should make

March 15, 2014/1,969 Comments/in Fitness /by Beth Burns

While this post really applies to both genders, women in particular seem to have a really hard time with this one. It’s called strength training… or resistance training, weight training, lifting… they all pretty much mean the same thing. Now for those of you who just cringe at the mere thought of adding strength training to your workout, I get it. I really do. Most of us couldn’t care less about how much we can squat or bench press and the last thing we want is to not fit into our clothes because we’ve gained muscle! We want to be fit, but still feminine. So how about we make a deal: I promise to not post any pictures of super ripped women with sayings like “Strong Is the New Skinny” written under them, and you’ll promise to keep reading… all the way… to the end. 😉

As I said in my last post, for a long time we thought longer, low-intensity cardio was the answer. Step classes, aerobics, hours on the treadmill in the “fat-burning zone” were all supposed to, well, BURN FAT. Come to find out the human body is a little too smart for that. When you are exclusively focused on simply burning a bunch of fat each day, fat will become a primary energy source that your body will try to store. Your body does this so that it will have all the fat it thinks it needs ready for tomorrow when you hop on the treadmill for another hour. I’m not saying cardio is all bad, but I am saying that if your primary goal is the lean and toned look, then you will not find a better option than strength training.

So without further ado, I give you the top 5 reasons why you should be strength training:

1) Lifting will not make you big and bulky, but it will make you firmer, leaner, and more fit. Afraid you’re going to look like a man? Compared to men, women have 10 to 30 times less of the hormones that cause muscle growth. Now go ask a couple of your guy friends how easy it is for them to gain muscle. Most men have a hard time adding muscle without supplements. And the women that look like men are most definitely using something to enhance their hormonal makeup. What strength training will do for you, though, is increase your metabolism, burn fat, and hopefully replace it with a little muscle!! Trust me friends, muscle is your friend. That “toned” look you’re always talking about, the jiggle-free arms and thighs, the lifted booty, the definition in the shoulders or abs…. that’s all muscle.

2) It will make you stronger. Like I said above, I get that you might not care about how much you can squat. But if you think about the amount of energy and strength that is required of you on a typical day…hoisting kids, carrying loads of laundry up and down a couple flights of stairs, getting groceries in and out of the car, chasing after the dog, unloading the dishwasher (those stacks of plates get heavy), cleaning floors and windows, stairs at work, stairs at home,…..wouldn’t it be nice to know your body can handle it? To not feel winded running up the stairs? To not have to wait for your husband to get home to move that heavy box back upstairs? To not have to worry about constant low back pain? While running keeps you in one plane of motion the whole time, strength training will strengthen your body in all planes of motion. It will not just help with daily activities, but will also improve your athletic endeavors, your energy, your mood, AND decrease your risk of injuries. Looking great is nice and all, but feeling great is life changing.

3) It never gets boring. Here are just a few possibilities that you can use while strength training: your own body weight, barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells, resistance bands, medicine balls, sand bags, suspension trainers, sliders… the list goes on and on, but you get the point. All of these techniques are each a little different, too, so when you do happen to get bored or find yourself no longer enjoying one, try another! Better yet, combine a couple of your favorites. Also, there are all kinds of ways to group exercises together in super sets, circuits, ladders, pyramids, and timed sets… just to name a few. The possibilities are endless and it’s a great way to keep both your body guessing and your mind stimulated.

4) Lifting will decrease your risk of disease. Strength training has been shown to increase bone density therefore decrease the risk of osteoporosis. I don’t know about you guys, but when I need to roundhouse kick a burglar out of my front door, I’d prefer all my bones to stay intact and inside my skin… just sayin’. Weight training can also improve cardiovascular health by lowering cholesterol and blood pressure – which lowers the risk of heart disease. Cardiovascular, you say?! YES. Lifting has also been shown to improve the way the body processes sugar, which can decrease the risk of adult-onset diabetes. I have no clever remark for that one. Diabetes just sucks.

5) It will give you the highest payoff for your time and energy. Last but not least, one of the most important things with exercise and nutrition is finding something that is sustainable. Most of us don’t have 2-3 hours a day to spend working out (which, might I add, is how much most actors & actresses invest when prepping for a movie or bathing suit scene.) The great thing about strength training is that it doesn’t take a lot. If you’re lifting heavy enough (5 pound dumbbells do not count), a maximum of 20 to 45 minutes, 2 to 3 times a week is all it should take to see and feel the changes.

Seriously, this little one likes to copy her mama during workouts. She weighs a whopping 33 pounds and even she uses a 4 pound kettlebell!

So there you have it. Now I will add one caveat. If you are over the age of say, 25, you can do all the strength training (or cardio) in the world, but chances are you won’t see the results you want if you are not watching what you eat. Good nutrition is essential to any good fitness program. But that’s another post for another time. My hope for you readers is that you will understand more clearly why strength training is so beneficial & important for your body and why you don’t need to be afraid of it. The way I see it, with so many good reasons to strength train, why wouldn’t you???

Is Your Cardio Making You Fat?

March 15, 2014/5,154 Comments/in Fitness /by Beth Burns

Hi friends! Thanks for checking out my first ever blog post! My hope for this blog is simply to provide you all with some answers, encouragement, and inspiration to help you on your journey to becoming the sexy beast you’ve always dreamed of being. I’ve been a little nervous about starting this up, so I decided to start with one of the most common questions that I get.

For any of you who know me or have been following my page for a while, you know that I am a huge advocate of intervals. What many don’t know is I also used to be a huge runner. (Like 6 days a week, thought I would die if I missed a day, type runner.) So I love getting the question, why should I do intervals?

For those who are unfamiliar with the term, interval training is simply alternating bursts of intense activity with intervals of lighter activity. At a glance, a person might not know which category to put this activity in, but try some out for yourself and you’ll figure out pretty quickly (if you’re doing them right) that intervals should be filed under the “Cardio” category. This is in contrast to what we call steady-state cardio where you move at the same pace for one longer chunk of time, like running.

You see, most people still think of running as the ultimate cardiovascular exercise. So when they want to get back in shape, it’s the first thing they go to. However, there are 2 big problems with this. First, running is an advanced exercise. I came across this quote a while back and it’s stuck with me ever since:

“You can’t run to get fit, you need to be fit to run.”

Here are a few fun facts for you: running is a plyometric exercise. Running one mile takes approximately 1500 steps. Running can produce forces 2-5 times your body weight per foot contact. Imagine, if you will, a new client comes to me wanting to get in shape, so I say, “Great! Why don’t we start with 1500 single-leg box jumps?” That client is gonna say, “Fool! You cray cray!” and is probably never coming back. (…if they’re smart anyways.) -which is what most people do when they use running as a way to get back in shape. January 1, yeah baby, I’m gonna go run 5 miles! By January 14, everything hurts…so glad I didn’t join that running club! Here’s my point: most bodies cannot take the kind of repetitive stress and damage that running often creates.

The other big problem comes in only if your #1 goal is fat loss. The research is in, folks. The “fat-burning zone” is not as magical as we were led to believe. You see, your body is crazy smart. The more you hang out in this “magical” zone, the better your body gets at storing fat because it has become your body’s primary source of fuel. Your body is also super B.A. and will adapt pretty quickly to steady-state cardio, which in turn means you will burn less and less calories the more often you do it. (Depressing, and yet, kinda awesome all at the same time….)

When you perform short bouts of exercise at a very high intensity followed by lower-intensity exercise, your body is able to process lactic acid build-up, therefore reducing fatigue. This method allows your body to burn calories at a faster rate. Not only that, intervals also stimulate production of your human growth hormone (HGH) by up to 450 percent during the 24 hours after you finish your workout. This means that intervals will kick your metabolism into hyper-drive thus causing your body to continue burning fat for the next 24 hours – unlike running (or any other steady-state cardio) in which your body will stop burning extra calories within 30 minutes of stopping.

So to review, intervals will increase your metabolism and help you burn more overall calories. All of this and I haven’t even gotten to my favorite reasons to do intervals. Sweet sassy! BUT before all you runners out there start staging a coup, let me say this: I am not trying to make running out to be the enemy. Here’s what I tell my clients. If you love to run, then by all means, run. I still enjoy going for a run from time to time as well. Just know why you’re doing it. If fat loss is your goal, strength training and intervals should be priority. And be kind to your body. Work up to it by starting with a solid base of strength first and, for heaven’s sake, stop when things start hurting and figure out what’s causing you pain.

Now without further ado, here are my top 2 reasons for why I do them, have my clients do them, and why you should add intervals to your workout routine:

1) They keep boredom at bay. Intervals are fun because there are endless possibilities when it comes to creating an interval workout. First off, you can use just about anything you want…kettlebell, medicine ball, battling rope, jump rope, a bike or just your body weight. Anything that is going to get your heart rate up quickly will do. Second, you can use a set amount of time or a distance to determine how long you want to go. Sprint up the hill, walk back down. Go hard for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds or 30 seconds on and 30 seconds off OR 60 seconds of work and 40 seconds of rest. The interval world is your oyster. Have a little fun, would ya!

2) They are efficient. Ooo boy, do I LOVE when stuff is efficient! (Seriously, ask anybody who has ever ridden in a car with me!) These babies will not only burn more fat, but they’ll do it in less time! Most people don’t have time to add 30 minutes on the hamster wheel..ehem, I mean treadmill to their workout routines. Try 4-15 minutes TOTAL. If you’re working it like you’re supposed to that should be plenty of time.

Bonus) They are awesome for your heart. Have I mentioned that interval training will make you better, stronger, and faster! (Did anyone else just have Kanye’s Stronger start running through their head? No? Just me? Aight.) That’s right runners. Changing it up will give your body a much needed break and work some other important, and most likely under-used, muscles in the process. Plus, pushing past your usual comfort zone will make you faster because intervals are awesome at improving your overall aerobic capacity. It’s a win-win-win! Huzzah!

So here you are. You’ve read the article. You feel like you are seeing clearly for the first time in ages and are pumped to try it out! First off, you’re gonna need a clock where you can clearly see the second hand or an interval timer. My personal favorite is the Gymboss. You can check that out on Amazon. However there’s also this really cool app on the iPhone called Seconds Pro that will do the same thing for around $4.99, I believe.

Here are a few of my fave ways to do intervals…..

*Pick an exercise and rep range. Let’s say 15 swings or for those without a kettlebell, 8-10 burpees. For 10 minutes, at the top of each minute you will do your chosen exercise and then rest for the rest of the minute. 10 minutes and you’re done…in more ways than one.

*Tabata style: 20 seconds of work, 10 seconds of rest. 8 times through. Alternate between body weight squats and mountain climbers. Boom. 4 MINUTES TOTAL.

*And a more advanced one for my runner friends out there: hill sprints. No timer required. Find a hill. Sprint to the top. Walk back down. Repeat 10 times. Thank me later.

So try these out and let me know what you think! Remember be kind to your body and have some fun with it!

Easy & Delicious Veggie Quinoa

March 12, 2014/283 Comments/in Food /by Beth Burns

First of all, I’d just like to start by saying that I knew nothing about cooking until a few years ago when I got married. Before then I knew how to make pasta, eggs, and cookies. So you can trust me when I say if I can do it, you can do it!

I decided to put this on the blog because recently I’ve been getting a lot of compliments on my quinoa recipe. The funny thing is they always start with something about how they’ve tried cooking it before and it never turned out right or how they just couldn’t get into it. Then they go on to tell me how awesome and amazing my recipe is and that they need it immediately so they can rush home and make some more! (Ok, I might be embellishing a tad, but peeps really do love this recipe. 🙂)

Ok, so this is not my picture but my dish looks a lot like this one. 🙂

The fact is I only recently discovered my own love for quinoa. I always knew it was a good choice if you’re trying to stick to healthier carbohydrate options or if you’re trying to stay away from gluten. Buuut I’m not very adventurous when it comes to food, especially the kind that I can’t figure out how to pronounce based on how it is spelled! (I’m still uncomfortable when I have to talk about açaí berries.) However, thanks to my awesome little sis who showed me how to make this, I’m now a big fan of quinoa. The great thing about this recipe is that it’s really easy and flexible, so you can use whatever stuff you like. So without further ado, I give to you my recipe for veggie quinoa.

Ingredients:

1 Cup of quinoa
2 T Olive Oil
1 T Garlic (minced)
Veggies (I love zucchini squash, tomatoes, bell pepper, & onions, but you can really use whatever you’ve got or prefer)
garlic powder
Salt & pepper

Directions:

For the quinoa, I honestly just follow the directions on the back of the bag, but here are a couple tips

Normally I would totally skip something like this, but make sure to rinse the quinoa first. Otherwise I hear it can have a bitter taste. I use a mesh strainer and run cold water over it for about a minute or so.
Ya gotta wait until the quinoa has “popped” and most of the water is gone. Lacey likes to say it looks like little bugs….it sounds weird but once you see it, well, it kinda does. 😉

Like I said you can use any veggies you like. I like a lot of veggies. So I usually end up using about 2 zucchini or yellow squash, half an onion, half a large bell pepper, and a handful of cherry tomatoes. (Sometimes I’ll throw spinach in there too, if I’m trying to use it before it goes bad. 🙂
Chop veggies up into bite sized pieces.
Saute veggies in ~ 2T of olive oil, starting with 1 heaping T of garlic, onions, and squash. With a few minutes left, add in the bell peps and tomatoes.
Sprinkle quinoa with garlic powder, salt, and pepper, then combine with veggies
Salt and pepper to taste (quinoa is pretty bland so you might have to add a little more to your own serving)

Pair it up with some grilled chicken and there you have it! A healthy and delicious meal. Try it out and let me know how it goes.