2. Workout Smart
* Strength Training should be a priority (3 days a week)
* Strength Training sessions should use full body moves (squats, lunges, dead lifts, push ups, pull ups, rows)
* Stop doing all inefficient/insignificant small muscle exercises (crunches, bicep curls) in order to have more time for full body moves
* Turn your “Strength” sessions into cardio by minimizing rest between exercises and adding some power exercises like jump squats and burpees (as seen in photo)
* Do 2 HIIT sessions a week to elevate your metabolism and keep it fired up for 24-48 hours post workout
* Stop all steady state cardio workouts
* Use SuperMoms Workouts (on sale for Mother’s Day all this week!) for your Strength Training and HIIT sessions

3. Keep Yourself Accountable
* Tell others your plan so they can support you
* Post your meal plans on your fridge and only shop off your menu
* Post your workout schedule and cross off workouts as you complete them
* Get support from family, friends, FHMs on Facebook, and ME
* Make your goal very specific and attainable (I will workout 5 days a week and eat clean 90% of the time, allowing myself 1 cheat meal a week until July 4th).
* Stop putting off your goals – start today by cleaning out your cupboards and getting in your first workout
* Build momentum in order to get results – ACTION STEPS!
* Sign up here for our FHM Transformation Contest (win $250 to get in amazing shape!)

These are the kind of workouts moms want to be doing a few times a week for fat loss. In fact, this workout would be great to add to your workout library if you are doing our upcoming Transformation Contest.

There are two options for this workout. In option 1, you are alternating between upper and lower body moves. In option 2, you are keeping all the lower body moves together and all the upper body moves together. This will give you a little more burn for sure.

Be sure to warm up for 3-5 minutes before starting this warm up. A warm up can be jogging in place, jumping jacks, stairs, jump rope, etc.

“Perfect 10″ Workout

Option 1:
10 Jump Squats
10 Push Ups
10 Skaters
10 Renegade Rows
10 Jump Lunges
10 Sit ups
10 Slalom Jumps
10 Plank Ts
10 Leap Frogs
10 V Sit Twists

Option 2:
10 Jump Squats
10 Skaters
10 Jump Lunges
10 Slalom Jumps
10 Leap Frogs
10 Push Ups
10 Renegade Rows
10 Plank Ts
10 Sit Ups
10 V Sit Twists

Time each round. Try to better your time each round. Rest 1 minute between rounds. Perform 5 rounds.

Post your time for your fastest round below! Oh, and again, bookmark this workout so you can do it again during our Transformation Contest. I bet you can beat your own best time when once you’ve gotten a little leaner and meaner.

If your answer is no, don’t worry, you’re not alone. Most moms will still feel out of shape and out of confidence once the Summer season hits us. But a lot is possible in 6 weeks. Here are some examples:

Now, the simple fact that you’re a loyal reader of Fit Healthy Moms, makes you an action-taker. And I have an invitation to all ACTION TAKERS.

I’m very excited to give you a little extra incentive to help you reach your full potential and achieve the SuperMom body you’ve been dreaming about – all in time for Summer.

For the next 6 weeks, you can get paid to workout!

Starting May 21st thru July 1st, you have the opportunity to compete in the 1st SuperMom Fast Fat Loss 6-Week Transformation Competition.

Cash prizes will be awarded to the winners for:

1st – $250

2nd -$100

3rd – $50

You don’t have to pay to enter the contest. Just use any of our Fit Healthy Moms approved programs or the free workouts provided on my Fit Healthy Moms blog.

To learn more about the contest and to register before the start date of Monday May 21st, go to:

http://supermomworkouts.com/transformation-contest/

You have nothing to lose but the stubborn fat. You have a ton to gain – confidence, lean muscle mass, a new bathing suit, smaller shorts, lean arms, a flat belly, more energy than you ever imagined. . .

http://supermomworkouts.com/transformation-contest/

Raise your hand if you’re going to win my money!

Here is an email I got from FHM Kris about how she has changed everything in her life – and getting strong was just the beginning!

“I loved today’s piece on your blog, especially the part about pushing in all aspects of your life. It really spoke to my situation right now, I’m eyeball deep in nursing school with 3 kids ages 6,4,and 3, the middle one being autistic and in endless therapies (I have an awesome husband who helps make it all happen though).

“10 years ago I was just out of college, newlywed and looking to go from biology into nursing, but I agreed to take a brief break from my career aspirations while the army moved us around for a bit. A whirlwind of kids, deployments and a million moves later I was sitting in my doctors office about 3 months after giving birth to my youngest just crying my eyes out and telling her how I couldn’t picture myself running everything for everyone anymore. She helped me with the post partum depression but during a check up visit she asked me what the last time I did for me was. It kind of stumped me. I had no identity of my own anymore.

“Earlier in my life I decided to distract myself from yet another year long deployment for my husband by getting my EMT licence and I loved every second of it, I loved discussing all things medical and medical research with my doctor, but now that she asked why I wasn’t doing it professionally it scared and confused me. I tried the usual “well it’s just not a good time right now” excuse with her, she pretty much told me it was bullsh*t and that I should just go for it. I went home annoyed at her to be honest but then I started to think about it, I have 3 daughters, what kind of example was I setting for them?

“My own mother died at 40, I technically could only have a decade left to show them everything I needed to show them (I plan to live well into my nineties but the thought is always there), I was not going to have them remember me like this! Gut Check time, I took and a deep breath and I went and signed up for just a a few pre-req classes (of course all of my classes didn’t transfer anymore because I’d let so much time go by).

“I started running, a lot, unfortunately it did nothing for how I looked, but at least I was cardiovascularly fit I guess… then I found your program and it’s made all of the difference strengthwise. I’m still not perfect with it, I went all out with the school schedule, I’m in an accelerated program, so I’m still learning how to preplan and get all of the nutrition in line, but every little step counts, right?

“I’ve gained so much, not just muscular strength from your program. We had a round of evaluations last week that I usually am a nervous wreck about, but walking in I just focused on how strong my steps felt and that somehow manifested itself as crazy confidence, which felt awesome.

“I feel like we mom’s get so wrapped up in being everything to everyone that we forget about ourselves constantly, and like you said in your blog posting, it’s about all over health. I just was not ready for my girls to think that all of their aspirations would be anihilated when they had kids, because that’s just not the case. Plus, just beating my husband at Trivial Pursuit wasn’t enough anymore, I had to prove to the WHOLE world that I was still smart despite all of the time spent with pregnancy brain and sleep deprivation.

“It’s not all perfect and wonderful, our house is a constant mess, I’m terminally behind on laundry, but at the end of the day I just feel so much happier with myself and I guess if I had to choose which one I’d rather my kids see it’d be mommy going for her goals (I’m launching straight into Nurse Practitioner studies when I get my RN) and happy, than a spotless house but mommy with no real happy outlook for the future. And, I really do have the world’s most supportive husband for all of this.

“So thank you for so many things, the great workouts, the FB support and the great articles you write.”

Getting stronger physically can change everything about your life.

Being strong makes you feel good.

Being strong makes your feel proud.

Being strong makes you look good.

Being strong makes you smile more.

Being strong makes you more confident.

Being strong makes you more thoughtful about your body, your health and your life.

Being strong makes you an action taker.

Being strong makes you bold.

Being strong makes you brave.

Being strong makes you stand taller.

Being strong makes you laugh more.

Being strong makes you cry less.

Being strong makes you see the opportunity in each day.

Being strong makes you live longer.

Being strong makes you live better.

Thank you Kris for sharing your awesome story! I want a follow up in a year. I can see such great things happening for you from every end!

So my FHMs, how has getting becoming stronger changed your life?

I have to thank my husband who has bravely let me share parts of our journey. It’s not easy for a man to talk about trips to the fertility clinic. He has been a total rock star as I’ve blabbed all over the internet about this. I can’t say how much it means to me that he is open to sharing our journey with other families. I can be a bit of a loud mouth and he has handled it all like a champ. Thanks for being amazing Vinnie D!

Here are a few stories from our fertility journey.

This is the workout I did on Saturday. Most Saturdays I workout at home and, if the weather is decent, I love to be in my backyard. This Saturday I was in luck. No rain! So here’s what I hammered out in 15 minutes.

What makes this workout awesome:

1. Every move incorporates your core – strongly. So I don’t have to do any crunches or sit ups (total waste of time!!) Plus, my abs are starting to separate from my pregnancy already, so I’m can no longer do any crunching type exercises, as that would exacerbate the tearing/separation.

2. The use of full body moves. I’m not isolating any one muscle group in any of these exercises. Each exercise workouts at least 3 big muscle groups. This allows me to workout for a very short amount of time and target my WHOLE BODY, even though I emphasized my legs and core.

3. CARDIO FACTOR! Because I used full body moves and gave myself no rest between exercises, this workout was super cardiovascular. If you do workouts like this you DO NOT need to ever get on this stinkin’ elliptical. This is a much better use of your cardio time, as you are building muscle WHILE you burn fat – WORKOUT SMART!!

Before starting this workout, be sure to get in a proper warm up. This will allow you to really work strongly and deeply in the actual workout. With such a short workout, you can’t afford to spend have the designated “work” time warming up.

Warm up ideas: Jump rope, light jogging, jumping jacks, high knee jogging, body weight squatting and/or lunging, knee push ups, pike planks (or sun salutations). Do any combo of these for 3-5 minutes before starting the 15 minute workout.

WORKOUT:

Burpee/Squat Press
Walking Lunge & Twist
1 Arm Overhead Reverse Lunges (:30 per side)
T Push Ups
Hop Squat x 8/High Knees x 16
Side Plank T with Rotation (:30 per side)
Jump Squat x 4/Alternating Jump Lunge x 16

Perform each exercise for 1 minute unless otherwise noted. Do not rest between exercises. Rest for 1 minute after complete round. Perform a second set.

DONE.

Comment below when you’ve completed this workout. What was your favorite minute?

That said there are a few modifications you should make in prenatal workouts. You can read them here. My doc says my abs are already splitting a bit, which is pretty early. So I’m being really careful to stay away from exercises that would further tear them (crunches, sit up and their variations.)

I’m going to be releasing a full prenatal program shortly – in the next few weeks – woohoo!! Oh, and SHOUT OUT to FHM Erin, who named the program, via a Facebook reply when I asked for name suggestions!

In the meantime, here’s a peek at my workouts so far this week:

Monday: LOWER BODY STRENGTH
Squats x 12 reps
Alternating Single Leg Dead Lifts x 16 reps
KettleBell Swings x 15 reps
1 Leg Bench Lunges x 12 per leg
Box Jumps x 10 reps
***3 Rounds, Rest x 1:00 btwn rounds***

Tuesday: UPPER BODY STRENGTH
BOSU Burpees (with push up) x 10 reps
Band Assisted Pull Ups x 8-12 reps
Dumbbell Chest Press on Stability Ball x 10-12 reps
Wide Grip Lat Pull Downs x 12 reps
Plank T’s x 10 reps
Spider Planks x 10 reps
Reverse Flys x 12 reps
***3 Rounds, Rest x 1:00 btwn rounds***

Wednesday: CARDIO – HILL INTERVALS
5:00 jogging warm up
6 Hill repeats (run up as fast as possible, walk down)
3:00 Walk Cool Down
***Workout should take about 20-30 minutes. If you use a short hill, do more repeats***

It should be noted that running hills with a 5 ounce fetus sitting on your bladder feels more like running with a 10 lb bowling ball on your bladder. I was kegelling like CRAZY the whole run. Good practice, I suppose. And good distraction as my legs were burning like crazy, haha!

Here’s some new belly pics for ya!

What have YOUR workouts been this week?

One of my heroes is another trainer, named Alwyn Cosgrove. He is just an awesome all around guy. He is from Scotland, but lives in California. When you hear his accent, you wish you just go sit in a bar and have a beer with him. I could listen to him talk for hours. He and his wife, Rachel (also super awesome) run one of the Top 10 Most Successful gyms, in the country, Results Fitness. It’s not successful because it’s big or beautiful. It is actually not huge and fairly sparsely equipped. It is one of the most successful gyms in the country because Alywn, Rachel and their trainers deliver services in a way that gets their clients incredible results. They work mostly with women between the ages of 40-65. Their client’s transformation stories are incredible.

I think what I look up to most in Alwyn is his attitude. He is successful in everything he does because of his attitude. In fact, to hear his life story, it is easy to see that without his attitude he would not be here. I mean that literally, he would not be alive. Alwyn has survived stage 4 cancer. Twice. So, clearly, in this game called life, he does not mess around.

I got to hear Alwyn speak on Saturday and I had tears in my eyes through most of it. He’s not a hugely emotional speaker. He’s actually hilarious in almost everything he says. But when you really listen to him, it is easy to learn so much, in very few words. That inspiration made me tear up over and over. His words change the way you think, the way you act, the way you live. What he taught me on Saturday was supposed to apply to business, but it really, TRULY applies to life.

1. Be positive – ALWAYS. It is so easy to get sucked into negativity. It’s all over the web and Facebook. It’s every where we look. Why waste your time with it? Why share FB posts and pictures that perpetuate negative attitudes? Why post your own cranky pants attitude? No one else wants your bad energy. And if that’s what you’re choosing to put out there, it’s likely what you’re going to get back.

Alwyn’s personal motto: “There are only good days and great days.”

Life is what you make it. Yes, some days will be better than others. But even your worst days are filled with lessons and opportunities. If you’ve survived stage 4 cancer twice, you don’t have time to mess around with bad days. But, even if you haven’t survived cancer, why in the world would you waste your limited time on Earth moping and whining?

2. Taking one step can change your life. Never minimize the importance and significance of small steps. So often we put off things in life, thinking it would be better to wait. Perhaps we’re not quite ready. Today is not the right day – maybe tomorrow will be more ideal. If you take one small step today, it could impact everything about tomorrow and everything about the rest of your life.

The first time I went running, I think I made it about two blocks. I was scared to death someone I knew would see me. I was scared to death I wouldn’t make it one block. I was scared my fat would jiggle and cars passing would wonder why such an unathletic person was even bothering to try running. But if I didn’t run that two blocks I would have never run a 5K, a half marathon, a marathon. I would not have done a bunch of triathlons, where I earned medals and trophies for my performance. I would never have gone to school to be a trainer. I would not be sitting writing this right now. Running 2 blocks changed my life.

Along the same lines, I almost didn’t call my husband back when he called to ask me out after our first meeting. We met at a wedding, under the influence of much alcohol (totally not my fault by the way – I blame my cousin!!!) I didn’t want to call him back because I thought it would be stupid to go out with someone I could barely recall. My roommate pushed me to call him back, pointing out that I really had nothing to lose. If I hadn’t called him back, I would not be married to him. I would not be pregnant with our child. I would probably not even live in Seattle. One phone call changed the course of my life.

These small steps felt huge at the time, like I-might-crap-my-pants huge. But now I just see them as stepping stones to exponential growth and a level of success I never imaged.

3. “Your success [in life, as well as business, motherhood, marriage, etc] will not exceed your level of personal development.” Always be working on yourself. Here on FHM we talk a lot about working out and eating better to lose weight and lose fat. But it’s about so much more than that. When you are strong on the outside, you are strong on the inside. That impacts how you interact with the world. It’s all about understanding yourself, your strengths and limitations, and learning how you relate to the world – making the world better as the world makes you better. You can’t understand the gravity of this if you are not constantly working on improving yourself. Read self help books – books that inspire you to be a more positive and optimistic person. Reflect on your life, your actions, your behavior everyday (I do this while I exercise.) There are always things I feel proud of and there are always things I wish I could have done a little better. It’s important to acknowledge both. Challenge yourself to be a better person everyday.

These were powerful lessons Alwyn shared with us on Saturday – lessons I really took to heart. Sometimes I struggle with stepping out of my comfort zone. Sometimes I complain (especially to my husband) about things not being exactly how I want them. I’ve been working on improving these behaviors over the past couple years and I have noticed a really big difference. In fact, I have noticed that “THERE ARE ONLY GOOD DAYS AND GREAT DAYS.”

Make today great.

If you are reducing grains, the best meal to cut them from is dinner. Using grains for fuel for the day at breakfast and lunch is ok, provided the grain is not processed (sprouted breads, quinoa – which is actually a seed, organic brown rice, millet, amaranth, steel cut oats.) It is important to note that you CAN get plenty of carbs at breakfast and lunch with veggies and fruit. Grains are not necessary at all. At dinner, though, you do not need the same kind of carb “fuel”. So dinner can and should be low carb so you can rest easy without a belly full of sugar (grains turn to sugar as the are digested, you don’t need this at night.)

Filling up on these kinds of dinners after an active day will help you feed muscle (and thereby burn fat) while you’re sleeping. This is way better than letting sugar sit in your belly while you sleep! In fact, some of these recipes are right out of our SuperMoms program where moms use our Hormone Syncing Diet to burn fat round the clock and lose up to 20 pounds in 5 weeks.

Here are some delish, grain free dinner recipes we have regularly:

Maple Pecan Chicken/Beets & Sweets/Greens

Super Spinach Salad

Butternut Squash & Spinach Salad

Major Veggie Roast

Coconut Curry Stir Fry

Sides:
Green Bean Fries

Roasted Garbanzo Popcorn

They are wrong.

But that’s ok.

Here’s the truth. . .

I preach a lot. A. Lot. Because I’m up against McDonalds, Burger King and Taco Bell, all of whom can feed you for under $1.00 with something they swear is “healthy”. I’m up against Microsoft and Apple, who created these amazing little boxes called computers, where you sit all day long, barely burning any calories and get stuck in a posture that can ruin your body and quality of life by the time you’re 65 (no, that’s not an exaggeration.) I’m up against the USDA who says you should have 6-11 servings of grains a day and 2-3 servings of dairy daily – total BS, by the way. I’m up against The Real Housewives of (fill in the city), Mad Men and Modern Family who lure you to the couch the moment you put the kids to bed, so you can lie down after a day of sitting. I’m up against old school philosophies that say women should do more cardio to lose weight and lift light dumbbells for high reps to “tone”. For Heaven’s sake, I’m up against the Shake Weight, which looks more like a sex toy than workout equipment.

I have my work cut out for me. So I will preach. Everyday for the rest of my life I will tell you what you need to do to REALLY change your life. Some of you will do it. A lot of you will not. You know why?

Change is hard.

Change is uncomfortable.

It’s easier to stay where you’re at than try something new and risk failure.

But, you know what?

IF YOU KEEP DOING WHAT YOU’RE DOING, YOU’LL KEEP GETTING WHAT YOU’VE GOT.

Most of you want more. And you deserve more. I’m not in this game of life to be average. You shouldn’t be either. Don’t you want more for yourself?

Heck, what do you want for your kids? Do you encourage them to be average? Or do you tell them they can do anything? Do you encourage them to do the best they can everyday?

Do you do the best YOU can everyday?

Why would you ask less of yourself that you ask of your kids? Seems a little silly, huh? And perhaps not the best way to model for your kids?

The average woman is overweight. As a result, the average woman has a handful of health risk factors that will likely lead her to diabetes and/or cancer and/or cardiac disease – even if her doc tells her she currently has a clean bill of health. The average woman underestimates her daily caloric intake by up to 30%, which is why more likely than not, the average woman will keep gaining weight as she ages. The average woman is unhappy with her body and unhappy with herself for letting her body go. The average woman feels frustrated, depressed and often desperate to change her body, but she doesn’t know how.

I recently wrote an article for another publication and some of the mom readers were really offended by the solutions I offered for women’s weight loss. Here’s what I suggested a woman do if she wanted to lose weight:

1. Lift Heavier Weights
2. Stop doing traditional cardio (add HIIT)
3. Drink more water
4. Eat more greens (and veggies, in general)
5. Reduce or eliminate grains
6. Sleep more
7. Eat natural “diuretics” (veggies that help you shed bloat)
8. Eat less salt (esp in processed foods)
9. Eat more protein
10. Mentally commit to changing your lifestyle

Now, many readers found the list to be helpful, don’t get me wrong. But there was a decent (and somewhat loud) crowd who thought I was completely off my rocker. They thought this was way too much change to ask of anyone. And they were thought I was completely insane to suggest giving up grains.

Again, KEEP DOING WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND YOU’LL KEEP GETTING WHAT YOU’VE GOT.

Yes, it is a lot to change 10 things about your lifestyle. But if you focus on two or three a week, after a month you’ve got them all covered. Even if you just did a few of these things 50% of the time, you’d see change over time.

IT’S NOT ABOUT PERFECTION, IT’S ABOUT PRACTICE.

I’m certainly not perfect. I have stretch marks on my hips, thighs and boobs – from being an overweight teen and young adult, not from pregnancy. I still have days when I look in the mirror and I’m quicker to see what I don’t like rather than what I do like. I can’t keep baked goods in my house because I have no power to say no to them. If I weren’t pregnant, I would be sipping a glass of wine right now, and every evening. Many days I don’t feel like working out. If I weren’t so scared of cancer, I would drink Diet Coke everyday. Sometimes I’m really short with my husband and I talk to him like he’s 7. When I’m hungry I can’t have a rational conversation, and I frequently have feed-me-now meltdowns. I don’t sleep well because I can’t turn my mind off. I never drink enough water.

But everyday I practice being better. You can too.

Practice making better choices. Practice eating more greens and fewer grains. Practice working out 3 days a week. Practice going to bed 15 minutes earlier.

PRACTICE MAKES YOU BETTER.

And better is, well, better than where you are now, right?

Many of my moms DO practice making all 10 changes listed above and you know what happens? They dramatically change their bodies, their health and their life in a very short time. In just a few weeks, in some cases. In fact, I just got an email from a SuperMom graduate who lost a bunch of weight, was wearing an entirely different wardrobe than two months ago and was able to get her thyroid back in normal range by focusing on these 10 things for 5 weeks. Do you think it was easy for her? Not at all. But was it worth it? Ummm, yeah!!

I’M NOT SAYING IT WILL BE EASY. I’M SAYING IT WILL BE WORTH IT.

This SuperMom potentially got out of a lifetime of medication by changing her lifestyle. That’s HUGE. Thyroid disorders and the lifetime supply of medication that comes with them are no laughing matter. I’ve worked with many women who live this day in and day out. It’s rough. So it’s certainly worth making a few changes, even uncomfortable ones, like minimizing or reducing grains, to avoid these kinds of health conditions.

So, let’s talk about this ridiculous grain thing. I’m not trying to ruin your life. I’m telling you what will be crystal clear in the coming years. MOST GRAIN PRODUCTS SUCK. They are processed and full of sugar. A recent study showed that whole wheat bread is so processed that it now raises your blood sugar as much as just sucking down two tablespoons of straight sugar. The research coming out on processed grains and how they impact our health and well being is overwhelming. Maybe someday I will be considered a pioneer for saying this before the masses, haha. Maybe I will stand up and cheer, “TOLD YA SO!” Again, I’m not trying to ruin your life, I’m just telling you the TRUTH.

IF IT DOESN’T CHALLENGE YOU, IT WILL NOT CHANGE YOU.

I know it’s hard to imagine making a bunch of changes at once. It’s hard to imagine the success you’ll have when you do so. But it’s also hard to imagine staying in a place where you really don’t like yourself very much.

I got out of that place a long time ago and I’ll never go back. I hated my body. I hated that I couldn’t do anything athletic. I hated that my stomach hung over my waistband in every pair of pants I owned. I hated buying all clothes in the biggest size they came in, so I could hide beneath them. I hate wearing a bathing suit. I hated being in pictures and seeing how my body took up more of the shot that anyone else’s. So I made some serious changes.

It wasn’t easy. And it wasn’t fun. But it changed everything about my life.

Like I said, I’m still not perfect. In fact I don’t want to be perfect. Yuck. That’s way too much pressure. I want to be happy and healthy. For me that means I work hard to SWEAT and EAT CLEAN 80-90% of the time. The rest of the time I do whatever the heck I want. I eat cake, drink wine (when not prego) and watch my Real Housewives. Yup, go right ahead and judge me. I have a healthy relationship with my body (I don’t love it all, but parts of it ROCK) and with food (I love my kale just as much as my cake.)

You don’t have to like anything I say. But if you want to change your body, I would encourage you to listen to what I say and know that it comes from a place of education, experience, passion and genuine concern for YOU. Because I think you are better than average. I think you deserve to live a better life than the average woman. I want you to think that too. If you do believe that you deserve to be better than average, make some changes. Be bold and brave and take a step. Just one step. From there put one foot in front of the other following the truths I preach here everyday on Fit Healthy Moms. Sooner than later you will wake up to a better you – a you that has a little more spunk, a little more muscle, a little less fat and a much brighter future.

And if you still don’t like me I’m totally fine with that. I’m not here to make friends.

I’M HERE TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

And if you’re not ready, that’s ok. I’ll be here when you are.