Have you ever thought, I won't eat that, I know it's not good for me and I am really "watching my diet" or maybe it's "I will only have a bite."Whatever food you are trying to "stay away" from, can and will eventually break you down and decrease your willpower!

So I say, have strategies set in place to help you when your willpower leaves you. No one has unlimited willpower, at some point, yours will be shaken! Have a strategy in place to help you get past when willpower isn't enough. It's okay to have those splurges but if they are continuous, that is not going to be good for your long-term fitness goals.

Having strategies set in place to not tempt you will be a great way to help that willpower!

Some good strategies:

1. Don't have foods that you typically overeat in the house if you aren't able to control yourself.

2. Don't let yourself get too hungry, this will definitely lead to overeating, keep healthy snacks on hand.

3. Let yourself have a splurge every once in awhile, remember that 90% rule!

4. Go for a walk to clear your head, most of the time these lapses of willpower have more to do with what's going on mentally than your physical need.

5. Ask yourself, "Is this stomach hunger or mouth hunger?" Am I really hungry for food or am I eating because of something else?

*So this week, set up some strategies to help you succeed! Good luck and go get fit!

To be or not to be...Sore that is?!?

I continually have clients asking me if they should be sore, if they shouldn't be sore and if they should be sore in this place or that place. What seems like it should be an easy answer isn't. Just because you have soreness after a workout doesn't mean you worked harder than the workouts you aren't sore in.

A couple of things are happening to make you sore or not sore: Your muscles are broken-down after a workout, sometimes leading you to feel DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness.) You may feel DOMS if: You are working out a new muscle, you are new to working out, you changed the reps to a ton higher or added alot more weight.

You may not feel DOMS if: You are doing new exercises and that muscle group is strong, you are doing a similar workout that your body has learned to adapt to, you are in shape, you took the appropriate measures with nutrition and post-workout rehab for your body or the not desirable one, you aren't working out enough!

So the answer to be or not to be sore, depends on your muscles, your workout, your time working out, how hard you workout, how fit you are and how you treat your body after the workout.

Don't get me wrong, I like to hear I made a client sore, but the good kind of soreness! The best way to measure if you workouts are working for you are: are you getting closer to your goal, are your measurements changing, and how are you feeling physically and mentally? If you are getting closer to your goal, if your measurements are changing and if you are feeling better physically and mentally, then I'ld say your workouts are working for you!

Have a great week and check out my blog for some snack updates and additional nutritional tidbits! http://reachyourfitnessgoals.blogspot.com

Snowed In...

I sat in the house yesterday knowing I probably wasn't heading to the gym because of the snow and ice. As the hours went by, I knew I was feeling lazy and didn't want to workout, but knew I would feel better if I did. So, I promised myself if I did at least 20 minutes that would be enough and sure enough, I completed a 40 minute at home workout and broke a nice sweat!

I think it's so easy to have the excuse of I'm at home, I can't make it to my workout class, I have nothing to workout with...I am going to take all that away and give you an in-home workout almost anyone can do in any space. Try it out for 20 minutes and you just might make it to 30 or 40 and feel pretty good after :-)

*Because not everyone has equipment in their house, this is going to be a bodyweight workout. But, if you have weights, feel free to add them!

Circuit One (Repeat Circuit 2-3X's)

1a. Alternating arm and leg (on hands and knees, extend opp arm and leg out) 15 Reps

1b. Body Bridge Pulses (On back, knees bent, lift one foot straight up in air, push foot on ground up to lift butt off ground) Do 12 Reps each leg, then switch

1c. Pushups (modified or regular-Can also do on couch or chair-Just make sure elbows are going toward back and not flaring out to side) 10-12 Reps

1d. Core Rolls (Legs Bent, feet off ground, Roll to one side of body then other, don't let knees touch ground)

1e. Stairs walks/Runs (For 1 minute walk or run up and down any of your staircases to increase heart rate)

Circuit Two: Repeat 1-2X's

2a. Squats (Feet shoulder-width apart, bend at hips and knees until butt parallel to ground, push-up through heels) 12-15 Reps

2b. Plank hold (On forearms, hold body in a straight-line from head to toes) 30-60 sec

2c. Heel touches (on back, bend knees to a 90 degree angel, feet up, slowly drop one leg until it almost touches floor and is straight, then bring it back to other leg. Repeat with opp leg)

12 Reps each side

2d. Mountain climbers (on hands, shoulders over wrists, bring knees to chest as quickly as possibly, alternating sides) 30-60 seconds

2e. Stairwalk/Runs (60 seconds)

Where are you at?!?

Well, it's been three full weeks of working on that New Year's resolution!

Where are you at?

Have you been getting in more healthy snacks, have you been taking time to get your workouts in?

If you are exactly where you want to be in regards to staying on track, good for you, if not, don't get down on yourself, just get back on track!

It's so easy to follow that slippery-slope of, "Well I slipped up yesterday and it is the weekend so..." that thinking gets you no-where, except to feeling guilty on Monday. And the guilt trip you give yourself does even worse things for you mentally.

So instead of feeling bad for yourself because you aren't where you want to be or you had a "bad" weekend, say today I'm going to do something good for myself. It doesn't matter if it's walking on your lunch break or eating a salad with chicken instead of Mac n Cheese, just make it a positive change!

Try not to let your past indiscretions get in the way of the positive effects you can have on your new healthy lifestyle.

So, wherever you are coming from, whether it be, right on track with your health and fitness goals, or feeling like you need to step-it-up, you can do it one small change at a time.

Be good to yourself, this healthy lifestyle thing, is just that, a lifestyle, a change you are making for the good!

*View my healthy snack and jacktoid of the week!

Should your cardio and weight program be kept separate? Is it better to have "weight" days and "cardio" days or is it beneficial to combine your programs. The most effective workout you can do is one that boosts your metabolism, works your large muscle groups, and gets your heartrate pumping.

One of the most effective ways to do this is through circuit training. Circuit training combines short-burst of high intensity cardio with strenth training for major muscle groups. It elevates the heartrate, helping you burn calories during the workout and for hours after while your muscles repair themselves. High intenisty cardio can be done in any mode, but the goal is to get yourself out of breath and to not be able to maintain it for more then 30 to 60 seconds. This type of cardio although it is "short" helps to burn more calories then steady-state cardio. It helps to boost your metabolism during and after your workout.

This is not to say that going on a 3-mile jog or going for a bike ride is not beneficial, they definitely are needed. Ulitmately, when your goal is fat-loss, high calorie burn, and you don't have hours on end to exercise, circuit training is going to be most efficient and fun!

So if you aren't already doing it, start including intervals into your workouts, and to really benefit add cardio ("sprints") to your weight workout.

It's that time of year again...

The time when we make resolutions that we promise to keep.

The time when we feel refreshed, rejeuvenated, like we can accomplish anything!

It also can be seen as the time when we over promise ourselves something.

A time when we become extremists to only push ourselves to what some people call "cheating."

I challenge you this new year to make yourself a promise to focus on a healthier you, a fitter you, a better you. Try to take the focus off of "losing this weight" or "not eating so much dessert" to "getting more exercise in" and "eating more vegetables and lean proteins"

I think sometimes we let our focus for our "resolutions" become negative and then we berate ourselves when we don't get 5 workouts in that week or we ate that ice cream last night.

Try to keep your focus positive and yourself honest. You may not have time or energy to get all those workouts in and you may want dessert a certain night, that's okay, that's what we call letting ourselves splurge. Just don't let the splurges get out of control and most importantly, bring it back to the resolution of "I want to be a healthier, more fit me!"

So, here's to a healthier and happier, both physcially and mentally you, all year-round-not only until March :-) Be good to yourself and know that you are working on a lifestyle change!!

In good health!

Jackie Byrne