Your body was uniquely designed to employ a series of four processes to make use of the food you eat for its maintenance. Junk foods will not serve this purpose. Overeating is further abuse of the body which renders food indigestible and unusable to the body’s needs. Combining foods improperly can create an overload of work for the body also. The latter three items are unnecessary stress we place on the body which deplete our energy. (http://www.all-natural.com/make.html)

I’ve made a January calendar for you and I’m calling it “inspire me”  Its more than just exercise, but rather taking time for yourself and being grateful for life.  I believe this is the first and most important step before any positive change can happen in your life.

feel free to share this calendar with anyone.

here ya go:

January “Inspire ME” Challenge

Looking forward to motivating and inspiring you to a new level this year!

This book is going to be a health and fitness journal.  Included are; sample workout routines, nutrition tips, grocery list, motivation, goal setting, recipes, and sample meal plans.

If you’ve been following me you know I’m a purist when it comes to food.  I don’t  promote the gimmicky or fad diets.  When it comes to health, I believe in EATING food.  Whole foods and less processed foods. 

Eat for health.  Too many people have the purpose to eat better just to look better or be a certain size.  What about eating better so you have a better quality of life, lower blood pressure and cholesterol and help prevent certain diseases?!

I’m not a big fan of couting calories.  Eat when your hungry and make good food choices and you will find you don’t have to do all that cumbersome calorie counting.

anyway, I want to know your questions when it comes to diet and exercise?  What are you confused about?  what don’t you know about food?  what would you want to see included in a health and fitness journal? 

Please let me know.  I’ve got most of my book written, but know there is probably more that I’m missing.  Leave your comments for me here. Thank you.

“It’s my metabolism!”

Does this sound familiar? If you’re carrying some extra pounds, it’s tempting to put the blame on a sluggish metabolism especially when you feel like you are trying hard to lose those pounds.

A super-charged metabolism is the holy grail of weight loss. It pretty much guarentees that your efforts to hit your target weight will pay off. Yet, it has a way of constantly slipping out of your reach.

Your age, gender, genetics, lean body mass and gender all influence your metabolism.  Sorry ladies, but it is true we have a slower metabolic rate than men and metabolism slows as we age!

But, don’t lose hope!  You can combat those factors and kick your metabolism into high-gear by incorporating a handful of lifestyle changes. 

Strength Train to Pump up Your Metabolism.
Strength training to build muscle tone is the most effective method of ramping up a sluggish metabolism. The more muscle you’ve got on your frame, the higher your metabolism goes.

Since muscle burns more calories than fat — even while at rest — the more muscles you have, the higher your resting metabolic rate, which means the more calories your body will be burning just to sustain you.
.

Never Go Hungry
Starvation is the ultimate catalyst for slowing your metabolism. To keep that from happening, spread out your caloric intake with several smaller meals and healthy snacks. The goal is to eat every 3-4 hours so that your metabolism never gets the chance to idle.

Water. Water. Water.
Like every other system in your body, your metabolism requires the proper energy to run at full capacity and efficiency. When you’re sufficiently hydrated, your blood is better able to carry nutrients and oxygen to your cells, making them capable of their highest metabolic function.

drink at least 80 ounces of water daily and more on days you exercise. In addition, try munching on fresh fruits and vegetables, which are full of fluid, rather than pretzels or chips

Intensify your Workout

Aerobic exercise may not build big muscles, but it can rev up your metabolism in the hours after a workout. The key is to push yourself. High-intensity exercise delivers a bigger, longer increase in resting metabolic rate than low- or moderate-intensity workouts. To get the benefits, try an intense circuit training class or include short bursts of sprinting during your regular jog or walk. 

Your best bet for keeping metabolism revved: Build muscles, snack on low-calorie, high-protein foods, and keep moving!

I’ve put together a 30-day “maintain your weight” holiday calendar to help all of us keep our weight in check this season.  I’m even doing a challenge with my clients where each of them puts $20 in the pot, must weigh-in by Thanksgiving Day and weigh-in again Jan.3rd.  If you are within 2lbs of your original weight, you get to split the pot.  If not, you lost your money.   Anyhow, try a similar challenge with yourself.  A little reward can make a big difference.

The Holiday Maintain Calendar  <—–(click and download)

Post this calendar somewhere you will be reminded everyday to complete the daily challenge.  Good Luck!

here are the final stats of the 16 people who started and finished my fat loss program

Total Weight Lost: 88lbs
Total Inches Lost: 44″

This all happened in 3 weeks.  The two biggest losers lost over 10lbs and 4″ of their body.

If you are curious about my program and want to try it for yourself, I have it for sale online here:

Run with Jill Fat Loss Program $20

Nothing restrictive here.  I encourage 3 meals and 2 snacks a day.  If you learn and follow my 7 Rules for Fat Loss you will lose weight and inches.

Many of you ran the Chicago or Portland Marathon yesterday….leave a comment or send me an email and let me know how you did !  I love hearing from you.

Happy Monday!

5k speed workouts

Get Faster with 400m intervals.

One of the primary goals among runners is to run faster.  My recommended workout for getting faster at the 5k, 10k, and half marathon distance are 400m (1 lap on the track) intervals.

Whether yearning to spend less time running around the block or striving to be the best age-group runner in the area, most of us runners wish to be a bit quicker.

therefore, you should consider and at least try some other types of workouts that involve speed intervals.

Why? Just a few reasons:

1. They make things interesting. Doing the same workout, day after day, isn’t a lot of fun. Sure, I enjoy running as much as the next person, but changing things up is good. Too much repetition is boring!

2. It can make you faster and stronger. Throwing a little speed into your workouts can make you a better runner. If you have the same 5K time every time, it may be that you need some faster workouts.

3. It can help you tone up and lose weight.  Running long and slow doesn’t do much for the metabolism.  Putting forth a couple speed session a week will challenge your body and force it to work harder, therefore burning more calories and toning your muscles.

4. Your body adapts. After a month or so of doing one type of workout, you body will adapt and you’ll no longer be getting the same kind of benefits from that workout. You need to change things up every 3-4 weeks … and if you do, you’ll most likely see continued improvements.

Warm-up Is Key

To prevent injuries and increase your performance, warm up and stretch thoroughly before you run any speed work. Run at least one to two miles easy as a warm-up.

The Speed Workout

At the track, start with 4 x 400. Increase the number of 400s every week by two more until, 10 days before the race, the final workout is: 10 x 400. Each 400 (one lap around a track) should be run eight seconds faster than you want to average per quarter mile in your 5K race.

For example, if you wanted to run eight minutes per mile, your quarter-mile race pace would need to be two minutes. The workout pace per lap should in this case be 1 minute, 52 seconds. Walk for half a lap between the 400s.

Here is another variations of a speed workout you can do that is highly efficient at building your 5K performance.

Lactate Builders

Alternate between running for 30 seconds at nearly full pace and 30 seconds at an easy pace. Keep running until you are unable to hold a strong pace. Your goal is to be able to perform this workout for 12-16 minutes.  This is an excellent lactate threshold builder. It also improves your VO2 max and running economy.

Try to include both of these workouts into your program each week and do not perform these workouts back to back.  In fact, three days in between would be ideal.   A sample week of 5k speed training might look like this (remember, I’m a big fan of 4 days per week of runinng).

Monday: Off (strength training)

Tuesday: Track 400m workout

Wednesday: 3-6 miles easy

Thursday: OFF (strength training upper body)

Friday: Lactate Threshold workout

Saturday: off (good day for strength training)

Sunday: long easy run 6-8 miles

This program also works for 10k training.  The only difference is to increase your long run by 2 miles.  I’ll be back next week with half marathon speed training.

leave any comments or questions here.  thanks.

I’m curious as to how often do you reward yourself for sticking to your running regimen?

There’s nothing wrong with a little self love and that’s exactly what you deserve when you stick with a plan.

After you’ve set a weekly or monthly goal, treat yourself for reaching it. Keep your feet looking pretty with a monthly pedicure, or have someone give you a pat on the back with a soothing sports massage. Pick out a running outfit for every race you complete, or grab an ice cream cone after your weekly 10-miler.

Rewards have benefits. They put a carrot stick in front of you, and, even more importantly, they tell you that you’re worth it. Self-worth leads to taking care of yourself and enjoying life. For some, the biggest reward may be a much needed break. If you stick to your running schedule all week long, make sure that you take a day off at the end of the week.

What kinds of things do use to reward yourself?

My favorites are shopping for new running attire, buying a new book, or just allowing myself a day or complete REST!

maybe this is how your reward yourself?  (nothing wrong with it, either)!