Habit Stacking

It’s February and the initial excitement of the new year has worn off. Are you still on track for your goals? Have they changed?

Regardless of your goal to lose weight, read more, go to bed earlier — instead of setting a goal, set a plan!

How can you make sure you floss every night? Make sure you floss when you brush your teeth.

Read before bed? Put your book on your pillow and read 2 pages right when you get into bed.

Drink more water? Drink a glass while you make coffee or microwave your oatmeal.

Staking habits with a current habit makes it easier to ADD an additional habits. Soon they will just be incorporated into your daily routine.

Do you have a daily routine?

If you want to know more about habit stacking and a great book about habits – I highly recommend the ATOMIC HABITS by James Clear.

Comparison is the stealer of joy

I’ve heard this quote before after my second pregnancy and birth and it really resonated with me.

Comparison is the stealer of joy

There is zero benefit to compare your life, journey, status, looks, career, circumstances… Whatever to someone else. It really serves no purpose. Everyone is dealt a different hand and everyone has their own insecurities and worries.

With social media is it easy to go down that rabbit hole, thinking someone has it better than you, or if I could just do this like them my life would be better. No joy comes from comparing your life to someone else’s.

Here are some tips to keep the focus on where it should be .. YOU

  • Wake up and tell yourself 3 things you are grateful for
    • When you focus on the skills, knowledge and things you have it helps provide perspective
  • Celebrate big and little wins
    • You got a hot cup of coffee for the first time this week — celebrate it!
    • You got through a to do list — celebrate it!
    • You got an award at work — celebrate it!
    • Don’t be so quick to move to the next thing and celebrate all wins!
  • Be your own biggest hype person
    • If you don’t cheer for yourself root or believe in yourself you can’t expect someone else too!
  • There will never be another you, you are you for a reason.
    • You have skills, knowledge and life experiences unlike anyone; even your siblings.
    • You are meant to be you — embrace what makes you you!

Live your journey, on your timeline because the only thing you should compare yourself to, is where you started to where you are now!

Go make it a great day!

5 Stretches to do every day

Stretching is CRUCIAL to keep your body moving and active. Let’s be honest you don’t to move or exercise if you are achy and stiff. Here are my top 5 stretches to do EVERY DAY. While it important to incorporate different stretches, if I had to narrow it down – these 5 would be the winners!

  1. Towel Stretch – Focus: Hamstrings 
    • Using a towel make a U shape and place your foot in the middle of towel. Lay on your back bring leg up and pull on either side of towel pulling toes towards your face.
      • Hold this for about 10 seconds, release for 10, then 20, release for 10, then 30 and release for 10. Repeat on other leg.
      • Bonus stretch – You can also you go to a glute figure 4 stretch here too!
  2. Frog stretch – Focus: Hips
    • Start on all fours then widen your legs so the floor is pressing them open. Sink back into your hips and fold head toward arms.
      • Hold this for 30 seconds, release for 10, then 45 seconds, release for 10, then 60 seconds and release for 10.
  3. Glute Bridges
    • Lay on your back and keep feet close to glutes. Drive hips up high squeezing your glutes the whole way especially at the top to of the move. 
      • Do 8-10 reps and then hold for 5 seconds – repeat 3x 
  4. Super[Wo]mans
    • Lay on you stomach extend arms over head, with thumbs up lift legs and upper body off floor. Squeeze back, glute and hamstrings to lift limbs as high as you can. Hold for a second then back down. 
      • To get a little add a lat pulldown at the top of the stretch
  5. Hip Flexor Stretch
    • Keeping a 90 degree ankle push the leg on the ground forward by tucking the hips forward. Don’t lean forward creating a larger than 90 degree angle that can put pressure on low back. What you may do during yoga a yoga flow is different this stretch. Take 3 full breaths in through nose and out your mouth trying to empty lungs completely! 

Why stretch?? Stretching helps with so many things and mainly flexibility. Stretching allows you maintain full range of motion. You to keep your muscles long and loose and ready to react for any load you put on your body. Stretching can also improve posture, pain, soreness and improve performance. 

Want more? Shoot me an email and I’ll be happy to get you started!

It’s summertime, remember to stretch!

With summer time around the corner, many people will begin a new workout regime or take their current one up a notch.

With the increased work load on your body it is important to stretch. Your body is only going to perform if you take care of it. And let’s face it, if running, lifting, moving hurts you aren’t going to do it.

Fitness isn’t a once in a while thing it’s a continue processed full of ebbs and flows. Take your victories in stride and your struggles with grace. Just stick with it.

Here are some hip stretches that will help keep your body healthy and ready to go, no matter what you throw at it!

HIP STRETCHES

 

You don’t know who’s watching

Updated: August 2nd 2020

Working out is apart of my daily routine. I’ll go train clients at my boot camp (click here for info on that) and pre-covid I’d slide into the office at least Tuesday and Thursdays  and work at my other job at Fox Sports Southwest. I’d always get up and workout in my garage those days. My life was set up where my workout is a part of the day. It’s built in. It does help I have equipment in my garage but honestly you don’t need much to get a good workout! Through two pregnancies my schedule and workouts didn’t change much. Of course the intensity changed but I was consistent.

One minute of exercise is more than zero.

I want my kids to see how much I value my health, physical fitness and mental fitness. They will grow up seeing my work ethic and my lifestyle.  I want to live as long as I can to see them have kids and their kids have kids! So I take care of myself, eat well, sleep enough and have fun.

Here is a simple workout format you can use and incorporate ANY body weight exercise in.

Exercise 1 & 2 10 reps of both then-8 reps of both-6-4-2 (run, jump rope, high knees)2-4-6-8-10

Example exercises:

Squats & Pushups – run .25 miles

Lunges & Tricep Dips – 100 jump ropes

Superman pulls & Straight leg situps – 100 High knee

If you have dumbbells you can add different moves and modify as you wish! It doesn’t have to be complicated!

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Pumping Iron?

Did you know?

Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the United States, and women are among those at greatest risk. Iron is critical for producing hemoglobin, a protein that helps red blood cells deliver oxygen throughout your body. So without it, everything suffers

Here are few symptoms that may be related to an iron deficiency.

  1.  Exhaustion
    This is tough to tell since many women are busy and just dismiss the tired feeling as normal when in fact it’s the most common symptom of iron deficiency
  2. Quick to lose breath
    Normal activities like walking up the stairs or you typical exercise routine causes you to lose your breath easily, easier than usual, chances are your iron is to blame.
  3. Headaches
    Iron helps produce oxygen so when you are low in iron your body will portions out your iron supply and prioritize getting oxygen to your brain although you will likely experience headaches because it still isn’t enough
  4. Increased anxiety
    Can’t relax? It may be in part to low iron since the lack of oxygen revving up your body’s sympathetic nervous system.
  5. Crave ice chips
    Ever have the urge to chew on ice chips? Those who are iron deficient! If you notice yourself going to the freezer, that’s red flag for lacking iron!

I struggled myself with iron deficiency. My doctor prescribed iron supplements for me when I was in high school and I learned to eat more dark leafy green vegetables and red meat (loaded with iron).

Before you give blood they do a finger prick to test your hemoglobin levels which is produced by the iron in blood. Any time I tired to give blood I would try to increase my iron-enriched foods but didn’t work. I’d have enough iron (hemoglobin) but not enough to give. This was a little battle within myself over the next 10 years.

I pride myself on being healthy, why couldn’t I get my iron up?

I started ID Nutrition four months ago and I’ve noticed a few things improve but little did I know biggest changes are happening on the inside.

About a month after starting ID Nutrition, which based on my personalized assessment included an iron supplement, there was blood drive at my work. I signed up just hoping I’d been eating well enough. Not even thinking of my ID Nutrition supplements.

Sure enough, I was able to give at blood drive at work. My iron (hemoglobin) was just over what it needed to be to donate! WOOOO!

Now, about 3 months later and four months since I started ID Nutrition, another blood drive popped up near my house.

I went in to donate, all the while hoping in the back of my mind that my iron (hemoglobin) was high enough.  The technician told me that hemoglobin levels needs to be 12.5 in order to give blood, mine was  was 13.7.  The technician with the Red Cross was even impressed! I knew this had to be a direct correlation of my use of ID Nutrition and my iron supplements. My hemoglobin level has never been higher and I’m so happy that I can give blood without worry of getting there just to be turned away.

It’s sometimes hard to track positive results form vitamins but this is something tangible and something that I’m so proud of! Not only is ID Life helping me fill in my nutritional gaps but in turn I can help save someone’s life.

Go take your free assessment today and see how quickly you reap the benefits of these pharmaceutical grade vitamins!

Visit jarmstrong427.idlife.com for your free ID Nutrition assessment.

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Reference here

Fun Fitness Friday – Pyramid Run

I was very active in high school and college playing sports so running has been apart of my life for basically. I actually love love love running, but let’s be honest running on a treadmill can get kinda boring!

So I came up with this pyramid run to change it up a little bit. With this run you are constantly changing paces and the longest period of running at the same pace is 5 minutes! 5 minutes anyone can do 5 minutes! These little time goals during my run help me to keep me going!

The pyramid run alternates between running at a “race pace” (RP) and “recovery” (R).

If you don’t know your race pace I suggest setting at a mile time goal.  For example, if you want to run a 10 minute mile as your RP go 6 mph and on the R you can adjust to mph slower so 4-5 mph.
The best part is that you can always adjust as you go.

What I love about this type of run is that it fits with any type of runner from the novice to the marathon runner because you adjust the speed to whatever works for you!

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The key to remembering how many minutes that the RP minutes increase 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and the R is 2 minutes except on the 1 minute RP.

Having little 1-5 minute goals really pushes me to keep going since I know can recover!

Hope you guys enjoy this run as much as I do! And I promise it’s not as easy as it looks! ;););)

Start today! Email maketimeforfit@gmail.com for a free consultation for a personalized workout program!

Attitude is key

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I found this online somewhere and love the message. You can be the smartest or the hardest worker but the number one thing you need to be successful is your attitude! 🙌🙌
  If you believe in yourself and whatever you are trying to do – nothing can stop you! 👊👏
So no more negative or discouraging thoughts🙈🙉🙊change your attitude💃💃 and change your outcome!😎😎