And we’re back with part 2 of Tips for Female Fat Loss! If you haven’t read part one yet, check it out down below or you can watch these videos too if you aren’t much of a reader! 

Part 1:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjMsXxIbHBY 

Part 2:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSwy9o3_6PI 

But for those of you who LIKE to read or have some time to kill- check it outttt


Tip 6. HIIT is the fastest way to lost fat!

High Intensity Interval Training is what the athletes use to get in tip top shape, so why shouldn’t you do the same!? The secret is the “after-burn” affect that will cause you to burn calories at a high rate ever after your workout is over. Pretty sweet, right? It also improves endurance and aerobic capacity (meaning your long cardio workouts will feel easier!) You should aim to include this type of training a few times per week but try not to do them on back to back days. Your muscles need time to repair! Turbo Fire and Insanity both use this method and there are also tons of short workouts on BodyRock.tv that use this method too!

**To learn more about TurboFire or Insanity, check out 
http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/kimkay514 




Tip 7.  Keep your Heart Rate High!
 

I had my boyfriend buy me a HR monitor for Christmas and I am so so happy he did. It’s been awesome. I really love the fact that it tells you how many calories you burned but it also makes me push harder during my Insanity workouts because when I hear that little beeping sound telling me I’m out of the “Zone” I know I can be pushing harder. You don’t have a lot of time to work out everyday so why take it slow and steady and burn less calories in a longer amount of time?? what’s the point in that? Unless you are trying to become a body builder, working out multiple muscle groups at the same time is the way to go!

 (this is the one I have. available at Target for $70 and worth every penny! think about it this way, I wear it everyday when I’m working out, and it’s already been about 3 months since I’ve had it, so it’s now costing less than a dollar a day to own! and I plan to keep wearing it so it will only become MORE worth it the longer I use it :) I use this method for shoes and clothes too. it’s very effective when the need to persuade a certain individual arises!)



Tip 8. Have a Plan of Attack

Planning your workouts BEFORE you get to the gym will eliminate the ohh.. 20-30 min you spend wandering around wondering where the hell you should start first. Which then leads to you feeling like everyone is looking at you because you don’t know what you’re doing and therefore don’t belong. I avoid all of this mess by working out at home, but it’s a personal preference so you have to find what works for you! Even still, I spend a few minutes when I am making my new calender for each month and plan out my entire month’s worth of workouts. It makes it so much easier when I come home from work just to quick look at the calendar on my wall and right away know what workout I’m about to do. 




Tip 9. Eat Protein and Fats for Breakfast

Here’s a fun fact- eating protein and fat for breakfast actually helps regulate your hormones for the rest of the day! It also keeps you fuller longer so that when lunch time rolls around, you aren’t feeling like you have to grab the King Size Snickers because you are so famished that you’re about to pass out. The fats you can get away with at this time of day also because the last time you ate was over 8 hours ago, so your body is ready to recharge and refuel!
(Greek yogurt is awesome as breakfast or snack and offers WAY more protein AND less sugar than regular yogurt)
 


Shakeology is also a fantastic option for ANY meal or snack during the day. The nutritional and health benefits from just one shake are enough to replace ever needing to take a multi vitamin again. It also has probiotics and is made from 70+ ingredients from all over the world, so it really is impossible to get this kind of nutrition from anywhere else. 

**for more information, watch this video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5IzovB53LE  and check out  http://myshakeology.com/esuite/home/kimkay514 


Tip 10. Eat Carbs AFTER Your Workout!

Carbs have the same molecular structure as sugar, so your body doesn’t recognize it as anything different. Sugars are used by the body to give us short bursts of energy, often followed by a “crash” where you feel tired and generally down. Once the body has used up whatever amount of sugar it needs to perform a certain activity, the rest is saved for later and it gets turned into FAT! BUT when you break down the muscle tissue during a workout, it becomes like a sponge at absorbing carbs because it helps them repair. so eating carbs after a workout will help you to recover faster and build muscle faster too! just remember to be careful and not go over board. One of the best pieces of advice I can give is to really THINK about what you’re eating before you eat it. If you had a huge bowl of carb filled oatmeal for breakfast, maybe a giant bowl of pasta for lunch isnt the best option! All foods can be categorized as fats, sugars, proteins, or carbs. so THINK and PLAN what and how much of each you are going to be eating! there is no magic formula or ratio either. each person is different so you have to discover what works for YOU! this is why tracking as I mentioned before is so important. it’s going to take some trial and error but once you get it, all the work will be worth it!
  

Results and Recovery Formula is specially made for this exact purpose. Shakeology can also be used as a post-workout refuel shake.

**for more info go to:
http://beachbodycoach.com/esuite/home/kimkay514 
http://myshakeology.com/esuite/home/kimkay514

 
I did it! 3 days of reduced calories and LOTS of delicious Shakeology! I did it this past weekend (March 2-4) and journaled the whole time in hopes that it would give some inside perspective into what doing a cleanse is really like. Not that it’s hard, anyone can do it. (I mean it!) but it DOES take some careful planning and dedication. The cleanse “schedule” looks like this:

Bfast: 
1 cup of plain green tea
Shakeology made w/ ice & water
60-90 calories of fruit (think small apple, pear, 1/2 banana, 1/2 grapefruit) either on the side or blended into the shake
Lunch: same as above
Snack: (can be before or after dinner) same as above minus the green tea, unless you want it of course
Dinner: 
4-6oz chicken or fish
3cups veggies (think broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peas, leafy greens, squash, zucchini)
2cups salad w/ NO MORE THAN 2 TBSP low-fat dressing

Repeat this for 3 days! That’s it! super easy. not a lot of prep work. the most annoying part of it all was rinsing out the blender 3x a day, but in all seriousness not doing it for that reason is just plain lazy. 

Personally, I think the Shakeology cleanse is the best way to go because you are still getting TONS of vitamins, minerals, probiotics, and antioxidants that your body needs. Other cleanses make you sacrifice good nutrition and that’s just plain not good for you. Not to mention the fact that you can’t EAT (ahem, lemon juice & cayenne pepper anyone?? yuck!) That’s just crazy to me. 

So anyway..here’s what you REALLY want to know.. did I lose weight??

YES! I lost a total of 3.3lbs (which is 1.1lbs a day) not too shabby! :) 
I lost 1.9lbs of fat bringing my total percentage of fat down by .9% and my BMI reduced by .6! No, these are not ground breaking numbers, but when think about the fact that this is was only 3 days, AND the fact that only 1.9 of it was fat (meaning the other 1.4 lbs was toxins and nasty stuff globbed on to my fat cells from years of not washing my fruit before I eat it…) So all in all, it was a good experience and now I can say that I’ve done it! 

Keep reading if you want an actual account of what doing the cleanse was like. I haven’t edited my journaling at all, so please don’t be offended by spelling or grammatical errors :) I’m posting these in reverse order so hopefully this one will be at the top!

For more information on how YOU can do the cleanse too, contact me at kimberlypistell@gmail.com 
 

Day 3;
9:42am Day 2 ended up just fine. switched it up a little and had my third “snack” shake after dinner instead of before since I got such a late start to the morning. I have noticed that I’ve been falling asleep much faster these past few days. don’t know if that’s because my body is just tired or if it’s something else. I am usually one of those people who will lay there for about 45min to an hour before actually falling asleep. Another thing (which is not so good..) is that both nights I have been woken up in the middle of the night with calf cramps. the first night was so bad I actually had to get out of bed and stand on it for a while. last night I was able to stop it before it actually got bad and stretch it out while I was still in bed. Charlie Horse cramps are more common in people who exercise frequently (esp. at high intensity) but I really don’t remember having one in a while.. I guess we’ll see if they continue after the cleanse is over. **UPDATE: After upping my water intake, I have not have one since**

12:30am Just finished my first shake of the day. I didn’t want to use the blender earlier b/c Hunter was still sleeping and I didn’t want to wake him, so I started the day with my green tea and a banana. I’m feeling really good, though I am feeling a little hungry still. Usually by this time on a week day I’ve already finished one 32oz bottle of water. as of right now i think i’ve drank all of 8oz out of it so that is probably why. Did stretch 40 this morning and it felt wonderful. Previously, I had been using Sundays as rest days but I think from now on I will do some light yoga instead. I feel like I used to be much more flexible than I am now. Lots to do today! I love making a to do list first thing when I wake up. Mine go beyond just what needs to be done and I actually plan how much time each activity will take and what order i’m going to do them in. Cleaning the fish tank is next followed by folding laundry. No one was it was going to be fun all the time but it needs to be done! and it makes me feel really good and accomplished when I can get through my list.

6:30pm haven’t been feeling all that great today. Hunter says I’m showing the same symptoms he did before he got sick this past week, so if anything i am just getting sick and it’s not the cleanse that’s making me feel this way. I’m trying to be like Mrs. Phelan from The Help and just make the decision to not get sick. I was undecided earlier but today is going to be my last day of the cleanse. I want to see if going back to normal eating will make me feel better. honestly the only things that are drastically different is that I’m not eating dairy or carbs. Other than that, it’s pretty much the same as I normally eat. Lots of fruits and veggies with lean meats like chicken, fish, and LEAN red meat. usually only ground beef and only if it’s 93%lean. My body is pretty sore today. mostly in a good way, like i worked out hard, but i think a good night sleep is going to do wonders. **UPDATE: Ill feelings came from the onset of a cold. I am 100% positive that I would be a lot MORE sick had I not been pumping my body full of awesome nutrients all weekend!
Here are a couple recipes that I used to fulfill the 3 cups of veg requirement:


 http://www.weightwatchers.com/food/rcp/RecipePage.aspx?recipeId=99541 (oven roasted cauliflower..super yummy!)



 
 http://www.skinnytaste.com/2008/03/ratatouille-0-pts.html (Ratatouille- basically just vegetable stew. could be altered with added chicken, mushrooms, or white beans (aka northern beans or cannellini beans)

#1. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals!

Goals should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

An example of this would be: I have lost 5lbs(measurable) in 5 weeks(attainable and timely) by working out for at least 30 min a day(realistic) and eating within my calorie range. (the whole thing is pretty specific, wouldn’t you say?)

*notice this is in PAST tense. Always write your goals as if you’ve already done them! 
Marking a date on your calender or setting a daily reminder on your phone can be a powerful reminder of the goal you’ve set for yourself. (I do both of these!)






#2. What Gets Measured, Gets managed.

You can’t know what direction you’re going unless you’re measuring and keeping track. Different things work for different people. By measuring and tracking your progress, you will begin to notice trends about YOURSELF that might not necessarily be true for other people. Some examples of what I’m talking about are eating or not eating before a workout, what time of day you have the most energy, what foods give you the most energy (or make you feel like you’ve got a brick in your stomach), if cutting carbs makes you gain or loose weight (I stopped eating carbs for a while and my weight loss STALLED. I began incorporating whole grain bread and pasta back in and saw a significant difference! but remember, that’s me. The same might not be true for you.)


#3. Replace One Habit at a Time

It’s the old adage, Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day. The same is true for rock hard bodies and abs that can cut glass. While it’s nearly impossible to “break” a habit, it is possible to replace them with a healthier or more productive option. Experts claim that it takes 4 weeks for something to become habit. Choosing one per month will lead to 12 newly replaced habits per year!

#4. Tell Someone Your Goals!

Having an accountability partner will increase success in ALL areas of your life. Lying to yourself is the easiest thing in the world, but adding a friend to the mix will cause you to feel as though you are letting someone down besides yourself if you don’t follow through. I recently posted on facebook about my goal to stop drinking alcohol for a period of 3 months and had 6 people “Like” my post at 8 people wanting to join me. Now when I think about drinking, I think about those people and it takes the desire away.


#5. Eating TOO little Will Make You FAT!

I once convinced myself that I could survive on as little at 800 calories a day, NEVER going over 1200. WHY did I do this and WHERE the hell did this idea come from?? The Media. I was watching E! news and they said that all the thin celebs were only eating 1200 calories a day, so obviously I believed them and thought this was the “magic number” to being skinny. Not so. I couldn’t figure out why even though I was working out 6x a week I was still holding on to all this weight. It wasn’t until I actually did my research did I learn that I actually needed to be eating 1500-1800 calories a day! WHAT?? how does this make sense?? It’s called “starvation mode” and it is a REAL thing. Your body, being the amazing machine that it is, will SLOW your metabolism to make up for the lack of energy intake. This causes the body to STORE your fat and burn up you lean tissue and muscle instead! EEK! scary stuff. so my recommendation for anyone reading this is to hop on over to freedieting.com and check out the daily caloric needs calculator on the left hand side. This will give you the number of calories you need based on your age, weight, and activity level. The NEXT step is to start tracking them! I use MyFitnessPal but there are TONS of options for calorie trackers. And yes, those 3 M&Ms or bite of your friend’s Mac & Cheese counts! Even just an extra 100 calories per day over your needs can result in a 10 pound weight gain in a year!!

 



Part 2 coming soon :) 

So for this weeks video (you can check it out here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHqB8XBTKNU&context=C3cdb6feADOEgsToPDskJLOqpVs-UGT5KSHhFoYuGM) I basically just went over some simple recipes that I make fairly frequently that are both healthy AND easy. 

The other thing I really focused on was the importance of HAVING a diet and not BEING ON a diet. It sounds like a strange concept but it really is the key to maintaining a healthy, fit lifestyle.

 

More often than not, people confuse “being on a diet” with restricting themselves from certain “bad” foods. meaning, no more ice cream, cookies, chips, nachos, etc. While these are good habits to form, telling yourself you can’t have something will only make you want it more! I have found that tracking calories has been the best and easiest way for me to keep myself on track. I use MyFitnessPal as an app on my phone and everything I eat goes in. (yes even that smear of butter on my toast or the extra 3 carrots-IT ALL COUNTS!!) and while this may be seen as crazy  and insane, the more you do it the easier it gets. I don’t spend more that 5 min a day logging my food. It really is that easy once you get the hang of it. This also allows me to save 100-200 extra calories at the end of the day so that I can enjoy some of my favorite foods like a cookie, brownie, or a piece of chocolate (Can you tell I’m a sweet tooth??) 
 

Organization is also super important. Taking the time to re-package foods into portion size baggies has been a major life saver for me in terms of stopping the dreaded “random snacking”. It never hits me until around 8 or 9 pm but when it does, I want anything and everything as long as it’s food and I can eat it without minimal preparation (which usually means Tostitos… I try to keep those out of the house as much as possible). By putting healthy foods where you can see them and by having them portioned out, you are much more likely to eat them!

 

Obviously all of these habits I have adopted have developed over time but YOU CAN DO IT TOO!! It is really NOT hard once you understand the basics. And I’d love to help you along the way :) Please don’t hesitate to contact me on FB www.facebook.com/kimberlypistell (also where u can find the recipes from the video) or message me on twitter (kimkay514) or even just send me an email! KimberlyPistell@gmail.com

So I have noticed that a lot of people WANT to eat healthy, but they don’t because they don’t know what to buy at the store or they think healthy food is just too expensive. Let me tell ya, I just graduated college 6 months ago and I’m not exactly rollin’ in the dough over here so obviously it’s doable if you know HOW to do it. And that’s what I’m here for J to teach you.  If you aren’t much into reading, I made a video with this same info that can be found here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bqD-2dzSD8 

So there are a few things that I consider must haves that I always buy no matter what. The first is chicken. You can get HUGE packs of boneless skinless chicken breasts and freeze them for later. The same goes for ground beef. Buy in bulk. It will save you in the long run. Like even with toilet paper. We were at the store and my boyfriend is like “are you sure we need that much?” and I’m like “um..are we ever NOT going to need it??”. Anyway ground beef can also be frozen. You can even cook it first if you want, then you only have to worry about heating it up later on. But you can always just freeze it straight from raw. The trick with ground beef is to go as lean as you can stand. Personally I get the 93% lean. Some of you may think that it’s an abomination but it’s kind of like the same thing as skim milk. At first you’re thinking “well, this is different” but after a while you’re used to it, and the regular stuff seems weird. Fish of some sort is always good too. I have tilapia right now but I get salmon when it’s available, and yes, you can freeze that too.  I also keep everything in Ziplocs. Ziplocs are your friend. Go buy some. Lots of them. When you get home from the store, take a few extra minutes to pre portion out your foods and you will be AMAZED at how quickly mindless snacking (thus overeating!) becomes a thing of the past

Ok so moving out of the freezer and into the fridge. First up: salad and veggies. Tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, squash, zucchini, bell peppers. All of these are great and can be easily incorporated many different ways. Some people don’t like bell peppers b/c it’s kind of like a hotdog where when you burp later it tastes like them. My advice is to get over it. Chew some gum. Bell peppers can be added to almost anything to give it a little extra crunch. They can even be used to substitute as bread if you’re trying to watch your carbs. Yes you heard that right. Cut them in half and clean out the seeds then just add your sandwich stuff inside. I use them for tuna salad a lot and I love it. My mom actually came up with it first so shout outs to her.

That brings me to the next thing. Tuna. It’s cheap and it’s easy. If you don’t like it, you probably haven’t tried it enough different ways. My friend Emily puts lemon juice and pepper on hers, and my friend Seli cuts up hard boiled eggs in hers. Get a little creative and don’t be afraid to try new things until you find one that you like. I get grossed out by mayo so I use hummus instead. Usually I’ll add some celery and red onion to it and you’re good to go.

Dairy products are good to have because they are a nice way to get some protein other than meat but you really have to stick with the Low Fat/ Fat Free kind for these. Be cautious though because flavor comes from 1 of 3 places, sugar, fat, or salt. So if you cut out one, they are going to double or even triple up on the others! Read your labels. That’s all I can really say. It is SO SO important to know WHAT is going into your body.

Eggs are obviously great to have, lots of different things to do with them and they’re super quick and easy to make. Other quick snacks would be protein bars, almonds, whole wheat crackers, whole grain rice cakes, low fat granola..etc. 

 Now am I saying you HAVE to buy these things? Not at all. But some basic principles that you should take away from this is that the closer to natural a product is, the better it probably is for you.  Also that as you learn more about food and how it should be viewed as fuel NOT comfort, you will start to realize that healthy foods actually make you FEEL BETTER because your body is getting the nutrients it needs. So all of those foods that you look at and say “I know this is bad for me but…” will eventually become foods that you think are totally unappealing because the stomach gurgling and gross feeling for the next 24 hours are just not worth it! 

Ok, here we go again. I’m giving it another shot. I’m not a quitter, alright? 

Since my last post I have FINISHED Turbo Fire and have graduated to Insanity, and I only have 5 days left!! Can’t believe it. Sometimes I think it went by fast, but then I think about the pain and pools of sweat and I remember that it really was some intense work. But, it’s all worth it because the feeling of accomplishment after a work out is unlike anything else. So now that I’ve come this far (lost a total of 21 lbs!!) I have taken advantage of the amazing opportunity that Beachbody offers to become a coach. This means I now get to share my story EVERYDAY with others who may be feeling how I felt all those months ago, and help to inspire and motivate them and be there to support them through their own journey-and I get PAID to do it! How awesome is that?! It’s like a dream come true.

Check out my before and after pics for a quick look at what Beachbody has helped me accomplish, and watch my YouTube video (Link at bottom of page) for the FULL story of how it ultimately changed my life.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-F2kFl8v_c&feature=g-upl&context=G293f9b0AUAAAAAAAAAA

This is just an update for the sake of updating but wow, I’m really not very good at this blogging thing yet. It’s kind of funny because while I’m doing the work outs I’m thinking of all these great things to say in my next post and then I never really get around to actually posting it. I will say however that this should not be seen as an indicator of laziness because I am obviously not. I’m over half way through with my second week of the actual program (by that I mean not including the 5 day inferno) and it’s still going great. I still find myself excited to do the work outs and I think that can be attributed to the fact that you never have to do the same thing two days in a row. Even during the work out, its like as soon as you might start to get bored with a routine, Chalene is starting the next one! Its great actually because it keeps you engaged which prevents you from becoming like a work out robot. After my first weigh in after the first week I found that I actually gained back the 2 pounds I’d lost during the Inferno. I was a little disappointed by this but not totally discouraged because I could still feel my conditioning level improving and felt like I was getting stronger. 

I’m still not ready to post pics of myself but I promise it will be soon. 

In the meantime, I’m going to try to make a better effort to keep posting.