Final Results

All results are finally in and we have our top Body Fat losers!

Congrats to our top 3:

1. Connie
2. Jamie
3. Alison

The top 3 losers (in a good way) were separated by less than .5% body fat, our top 5 were only also separated by less than a percent!

Everyone made some great changes, some were small, some were large, but either way we are all working toward living just a little healthier and happier.

Make sure to still take the time to prepare some meals for the week, grocery shop, and schedule workouts.  It is hard to be successful when there is not a plan in place!

Spring will be here in just a couple of weeks, hopefully!  To get ready for spring and that warm trip check out http://osrptfitness.blogspot.com/2014/02/ready-for-spring-break.html

I will be taking some time away for the birth of a little one in Mid-March, so will not be holding another challenge to get ready for summer.  Take some of the recommendations from this challenge to continue your progress and continue to see results. http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2014/01/january-reset-details.html

If you run into other questions in the mean time do not hesitate to reach out!

  

Recent Readings

Since the weather has been cold and football season is over I thought I would share with you all some recent articles I have read!

Here is some info on all the additives in our foods.
http://holistichealthnaturally.com/8-foods-even-the-experts-wont-eat/


Here is what helped Bode Miller return to the Olympics and win a Bronze medal.
http://www.examiner.com/article/after-losing-20-pounds-on-low-carb-diet-skiier-bode-miller-soars-at-olympics


Tips for working out, and not too hard!
http://www.esquire.com/_mobile/the-side/stop-working-out-like-an-olympian?src=soc_fcbks


Do you drink cows milk?  Check this out
http://iwastesomuchtime.com/on/?i=69893


Want to learn how the biggest loser contestants lose so much weight?
http://mobile.news.com.au/entertainment/former-biggest-loser-contestant-andrew-cosi-costello-reveals-the-truth-about-the-weight-loss-show/story-e6frfmq9-1226820498768


Enjoy!

Last week

It is hard to believe but we are starting our last week of the challenge!

I have times set to meet with most of you this week, if we do not have a time set to meet please let me know what day works for you!  

Our goals this week are:

1.) TOTAL BODY -  Your exercises can also be found here (http://java.pumpone.com/ipump-web/print?print=1&printjobid=1b5kegg0000k863ggir0000000&print=1)

2.) FINAL MEASUREMENTS - We should meet this week

3.) PLAN GOING FORWARD - Are you where you want to be?  Do you still have work to do?  What are you going to do to get there?

I hope you are able to stay warm this week, keep the workouts up, keep planning your food and think about how you will keep your success up going forward!

Results will be revealed next week!

Sleep Tips

Since one of our goals this week is sleep I wanted to share some tips and tricks regarding sleep!

How important is our precious sleep at night?  I have a feeling that some think its right up there with gold, while others could care less how much they get. 

Sleep can be very underestimated until it is something you find yourself struggling to get.  There can be many reasons someone is not sleeping:
-New baby, or kids in general
-New job, or work in general
-Stress
-Caffeine intake
-New puppy
-Neighbors making noise
-Spouse making noise
-And the list can go on and on

So, you miss a night or 2 or 3 or week of a good night sleep. 

What can really happen?

• Increased risk of car accidents
• The National Sleep Foundation claims that sleep related accidents kill more than 1,500 people each year.
• Weight gain


• Lack of sleep increases your appetite.  Ghrelin stimulates hunger and leptin signals satiety to the brain and suppresses appetite.  Shortened sleep time is associated with decreases in leptin and elevations in ghrelin.
• Decreased attention span
• The extra cortisol in our bodies make it hard to concentrate.
• Decreased learning capacity
• It is hard to pay attention when you are struggling to stay awake.
• Low sex drive
• As our hormones get thrown off with the lack of sleep it lowers our endorphins which tend to make us feel good and confident.
• Depression
• Insomnia is typically the first sign of depression.
• Aged skin
• The less we sleep to more or bodies release cortisol which can break down skin collagen.
• Forgetfulness
• Not only will it be hard to stay awake but hard to concentrate on our daily life.
• Poor judgment
• Its harder to make wise decisions when we cant concentrate because of low sleep.
• Increased risk of sickness
• When our bodies are not going through the full sleep cycle and repairing ourselves we are more apt to get sick.
• Anxiety
• Since we cannot concentrate properly we tend to be over anxious.
• Mood swings
• Since our endorphins (feel good hormones) are lower we are not as happy.
• Sleep apnea
• Since our body is not recovering at night it starts to shut down and the typical increase in weight lack of sleep causes.
• Narcolepsy 
• Since your chronically fatigued your body will want to sleep when it needs it.
• Higher risk of many chronic diseases
• diabetes
• heart disease
• heart attack
• stroke
• heart failure
• irregular heart beat
• high blood pressure
• and possibly death

Do I have your attention?

Here are some other resources to check out!

My previous post on the sleep cycle
Sleep and weight gain
Sleep and your memory
Sleep disorders

Week 5!

Welcome to week 5!

Our goals this week are SLEEP and to work your BACK muscles.

Hopefully your cardio and protein went well this last week and you have healthy snacks planned for the big game tomorrow!

Your goal with sleep is to go to bed early enough to get 8 hours of sleep per night!  Turn on the TV and your devices, turn the lights off and rest.  Avoid caffeine later in the day as well.

Your goal with your back muscles is to work on posture and strengthen your back muscles.  When you find yourself slouching while you are driving, eating, working or standing take some time to sit up!  Your back will thank you.  I even have a reminder on my computer at home to sit up straight while I am working. 

Here are some images of posture to think about!

Here are some exercises to focus on this week as well.

Aim for 50 Bridges per day.  They can be broken up or done all at once.

 Aim for 25 reaches per side per day.  They can be broken up or done all at once.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.  Also, think about when you will be able to make it in the week of the 10th for your final measurements.

Healthy Foods for the big game!

Since this will be a weekend of sitting around and enjoying the Denver Broncos win I wanted to share some healthy snacks and things I plan to prepare for the big game on Sunday!

Meals:

• Chili Bar - make a large crock pot of chili and then have toppings to add to the Chili.  Some great toppings include: plain greek yogurt, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and rice
• Taco Bar - This is so simple, just brown some ground beef or ground turkey in some seasonings and add some fixings!  Great toppings include: Corn tortilla, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, hot sauce, plain greek yogurt, avocado, lime, pico, peppers, jalapeños and corn
• Chicken Wings - Just bake or Grill some un-breaded chicken wings and drumies.  You can then make a great ranch dip by adding ranch seasoning to plain greek yogurt.
• Cauliflower crust pizza - (blend cauliflower, butter and cheese if you want to create the crust), bake the crust and then add toppings, we like bbq sauce, chicken, pizza sauce and a little cheese, we then put it back into the oven to heat up!

Snacks:

• Homemade kale chips - they are so easy, just put some kale on a baking sheet, add coconut oil and sea salt, bake until crispy and enjoy
• Homemade sweet potato fries - similar to the kale chips, just cut up to your liking and add seasonings, coconut oil and sea salt.  Cook until crispy and enjoy
• Homemade buffalo chips - I will cut either regular or sweet potatoes, season and cook.  I then make a dip of greek yogurt and seasoning salt to dip them in.
• Potato skins - cut either regular or sweet potatoes in half, bake them with bacon and add chives
• Broccoli Salad - the dressing is vinegar, truvia, and olive oil mayo.  Then mix the dressing up and pour over broccoli, bacon and sunflower seeds.
• Potato salad - cut and boil potatoes, after they cool mix with plain greek yogurt, onions, celery, dill, mustard and sea salt

Treats:

• Black Bean Brownies - make the brownies like normal but instead of the oil and eggs use pureed black beans, I will also season with cinnamon
• Banana Ice Cream - mush up frozen bananas and peanut butter, you can even add a couple of chocolate chips for taste
• Baked Pears - cut pairs in half and bake with cinnamon

Check out this video of Addison excited for Peyton Manning to say "Omaha"

Here is Adam and I at the AFC Championship Game in Denver a couple of weeks ago!

Week 4

Its hard to believe, but we are getting ready to start week 4!

I hope your workouts are going well, that you are taking some time to meal plan and enjoying that you are feeling good with your new choices.

Our week 4 goals are:

PROTEIN and CARDIO

I challenge you to eat some protein every time you eat throughout the day.  You might need to keep some nuts, jerky or protein powder with you to support this but I know it can happen.

I also challenge you to do cardio every day!  Even if it is for 10-15 minutes.  Walk up/down stairs at work and home, sneak in some jumping jacks during commercials on TV, park far away when your going to the store, mall walk, or if your daring go outside!

It will be tough to do cardio every day with the cold weather we are supposed to have but everyone has an extra 10-15 minutes somewhere in their day to do something.

Enjoy your week, stay on track and I will send some healthy Super Bowl tips out later this week!

Meal Planning

As we look to finish week 3 I wanted to share with you all some more help with meal planning.

I am working with an intern right now at OSR Melissa Sanchez and here are some tips and links she has to share.

Meal Planning

A great habit to have that improves your eating and overall health is meal planning. If you make a list and stick to it, you will eat healthier. Not only will you just eat healthier, you will reduce the stress of worrying about what to make, save time without extra trips to the grocery store and save money by not purchasing an impulse buy. 

There are endless healthy recipes on the web, so all it takes a little time one day out the week to plan, shop and prep. Rinse and cut fresh veggies and fruits as soon as you get home, so they will be an accessible ready to eat snack. It will also make weeknight meals faster when everything is ready to go. Make a few meals ahead of time that can be heated or put together when dinner time approaches. You will be less tempted to order out or eat packaged meals when you have everything at home. 

Here are a few articles with tips for meal planning.

http://simple-nourished-living.com/2011/05/healthy-meal-planning-benefits/

http://www.mayoclinic.org/menu-planning/art-20048199

Need more vegetables?

http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/2011/09/chicken-vegetable-lettuce-cups/ 

Looking for a new recipe to try this week?  I received this from another challenge participant and it sounds fantastic!

Give it a try, I know I will be trying it this week!

Week 3

Happy Snowy Day!

Week 3 is already set to start Monday!  I will be out of town Monday so wanted to send your weekly challenges before the week started.

Our week 3 goals are:
Jan 20th - Abs and meal prep

Here is a link to your abdominal workout for the week:
http://java.pumpone.com/ipump-web/print?print=1&printjobid=1b5kegg0000k79f3v6eg000000&print=1

Here is also an image:

With our other goal being meal prep, I suggest you take time Sunday and Wednesday to make food for the weeks.  Even if its just shopping, cutting veggies or cooking chicken you will be happy you did!

Here are some great examples of meal prepping:
http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2013/01/sample-food-days.html
http://healthylivinghowto.com/recipes
http://www.lifestylebypoliquin.com/Lifestyle/LifestylebyPoliquin/TabId/203/PostId/66/seven-awesome-meal-preparation-tips-for-a-busy-life.aspx

Have a great week and hope you stay on track!

Week 2!

Are you ready for week 2?  I am and hope you are too!

This week our focus is arms and NO eating out.  Not only will the no eating out save you some calories, it will also save you some money!  I took some time to make chili, chicken and steamed broccoli today so I have options when its tempting to eat out this week.

For our upper body challenge I encourage you to do 50 push ups a day.  The push ups do not need to be done all at once and they do not have to be on the floor.  Here are some push up variations to try:

If you are feeling like some extra credit, do your squats with the push ups this week.

Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.

Broncos win!

My Broncos had me excited, scared, nervous, happy and thrilled all in the matter of a couple of hours.

Here is the Chicken, Asparagus and Sparkling Water I had for the game!

Your looking at:

Baked asparagus seasoned with sea salt

Baked Chicken stuffed with Ham

Sauce (water, vinegar, chicken stock, mustard, parsley, salt, lemon)

Hope you had a healthy Sunday and are ready for week 2!

How is week 1 going?

How is your week 1 going?  Are you finding time to get workouts in?  Is your nutrition better this week than it was last week?

I hope your squats and water intake are going well this week.

Make sure to take some time to prep again this weekend and continue to stay active!  I hope this warm up will motivate everyone to keep making good choices.

Are you struggling with making good choices because your family, friends, spouse or kids are not supportive? Here is some help!
http://simplemarriage.net/5-ways-to-encourage-healthy-habits-in-your-spouse/

Good luck with your squats, water and other choices this week and weekend!

Go Broncos!

Day 1

Happy Monday Everyone!

Today is day 1!  I hope you are all staying warm, enjoying lots of water and thinking how you will get some activity in today.

If we do not have a time set to meet this week please let me know what works to meet for your measurements.  They might not be pretty this week but in 6 weeks we should see some positive changes!

If you did not take the time to grocery shop and prep over the weekend you will have to do it today or tomorrow.  It will be impossible to succeed if you are not planning ahead.

As a reminder, week 1 is about your legs and water!  Your nutrition goal this week is to drink 80-100oz of water each day.  When its cold like this I leave my water out so its not so cold.  Legs are our other focus this week.  Try to get in 100 squats per day.  They do not have to be done all at once.  You can do 25 when you eat or take breaks to fit in 10 at a time.  If your hips or knees make it hard to do squats your alternative can be stairs, mini squats or bridges.  

As a reminder, check out http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2014/01/january-reset-details.html for more help, ideas and support.

Please let me know what questions or needs you have.  I am here to help you succeed!

January Reset Details

Here are all the details you need for our January Reset!

Grocery List - http://www.stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2013/04/grocery-list.html
Weekly meal list - http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2013/01/sample-food-days.html
Healthy snacks -  http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2013/02/last-week-and-snacks.html
What to prep this weekend - http://stephaniewinters.blogspot.com/2013/04/just-week-away_8.html

Challenge Recommendations:

1. Drink 80oz of water per day
2. Eat at least 7 servings of fruits and vegetables per day
3. Eat protein at each meal
4. Completely avoid processed and fried foods
5. Avoid gluten, alcohol, high fructose corn syrup and trans fats
6. Workout at least 3 times per week
7. Take a fish oil or similar supplement daily
8. Limit caffeine to one serving per day, or not at all 
9. Limit dairy to 1 serving per day, or not at all
10. Stick to these recommendations 100% of the time for best results.  It is only 36 days, that is a short price to start feeling better. 

KEY DATES:
This Weekend - Grocery shop, prepare food and put time to exercise in your schedule
MONDAY the 6th - We will start measurements, if we do not have a time set to meet next week please let me know what works for you!
Every week we will have a different challenge I will email out
Week of Feb. 10th - we will meet again for your final measurements

I sent an email this morning to all signed up participants with:
Cardio Ideas
Strength Ideas
Food list
10 Recommendations for the 36 days
(If you did not get it please let me know)

Here are your weekly goals and challenges:
Jan 6th - Initial measurements, legs and water
Jan 13th - Arms and no eating out
Jan 20th - Abs and meal prep
Jan 27th - Cardio and protein
Feb 3rd - Back and sleep
Feb 10th - Final measurements, total body and your plan forward
Your exercises and tips will be sent each week to go with your weekly goals

Good luck prepping this weekend.  Let me know what questions you might have and feel free to pass this information on to family and friends.  You will be successful with the more help and support you have!


stephanie.winters@osrpt.com
www.stephaniewinters.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/stephaniewinters30