Muscle Building Muffins

1/2 cup old fashioned oats
2/3 scoop vanilla whey
1/2 cup fat free cottage cheese
1/2 cup egg whites
Chopped spinach (experiment with other veggies!)
Makes 6 muffins.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Nutritional profile: (per muffin)
Calories: 65.6
Protein: 8.2
Carbs: 6.6
Fat: 0.6

Are you the trailblazer or are you happy trailing?

We all have our roles in life and they may vary from time to time. For the most part though we tend be leaders or followers. It is becoming more and more clear that I am the trailblazer in the small circle in which I currently travel. Flattering that others find my trail worthy of following, yes, but I have to admit that somedays even I would  enjoy someone taking over with reading the trail map so I can enjoy the scenery.

I blaze my own trail as I have so much passion for some of the things I have I in the works right now, I continue to train hard at the gym, reading tons and continually seeking new knowledge to enable me to strengthen my results in continuing to transform my physique. This physical transformation has definately transformed my life as well as this is what has lead me to becoming a trailblazer again. The journey of physical transformation is so much more than that....as you tranform your body you realize how strong you really are, and it has nothingto do with how much weight you can push, pull or lift. Completely transforming yourrself is empowering, giving you a boost to start blazing new trails.
These new trails are sometimes scary and intimidating yet exhilarating at the same time. Some areas of the trail can provide a challenge I, momentarily, feel I am not ready for...but I continue on. When I need a boost I look next to me and behind me and find inspiration in those that follow in my path, working to better themselves and blaze their own trails in their own worlds.
So, are you a trailblazer or are you content following the lead of others? As a trailblazer be sure to stay close to those that are following your lead. Both the trailblazers and the "followers" only benefit. I encourage the "followers" to grab the compass sometime and blaze a trail of their own, draw your own map! I assure you it will be an adventure! So, are you going to blaze your own trail? What is your next adventure and who are you sharing it with?

98 Day Summer Transformation Challenge complete!

Wrapped up the Summer Challenge and the judges are hard at work! Some impressive and very inspiring entries! 98 days/the summer went by far too quickly! But I am proud to say I am stronger, leaner and more focused on my goals than I was 98 days ago! Again, learned a tremendous amount about life and myself during this challenge. I made steady progress towards the goals I set at the start of the Challenge but did not quite reach those goals. I allowed life to get in the way rather than compliment the compliance level I needed for reaching the goals in the 98 days. The good news, I have realized that slow and steady progress is maintainable..."challenge mode" is fleeting.  I love the motivation, inspiration, accountability and support during the Challenges but ultimately I am making lifestyle changes to support long term improvements in me. THIS is my goal, steady improvements, not the roller coaster!

My Results/The Numbers: Scale weight only dropped 2 pounds but we all know the scale doesn't tell the whole tale. After photos revealed a leaner physique, the BF% dropped almost 3%  and LBM was up more than 2 pounds. End of this challenge, yes, but I continue to challenge myself to sculpt a leaner physique.

Lessons Learned:
Quite a few! I entered with Challenge with a partner in crime, (along with all the online "Burners" ) while support is incredibly important, my experience during the Challenge reinforced my belief that true motivation and dedication must come from deep within yourself, you have to want it bad enough to hold yourself accountable, outside support is your source for reinforcement, it does not hold a candle to the power of your own desires.
Next lesson: As BF% decreases so does the room for error in nutrition if you expect to make steady improvements. The calorie deficit for continued fat loss gets steadily smaller...smaller deficit is much easier to close in on and limit progress. Everything is more "fine tuned", what used to be subtle changes in the nutrition plan suddenly result in noticeable changes in physique.
Life lesson regarding balance: Honestly, I could have been more strict with my nutrition plan during the Challenge, I had the spreadsheets, the macros and calories all planned out...and for the most part I stuck with the plan but sometimes you just need to sit on the front steps and eat an ice cream sandwich with the kids. And you can... but with body transformation challenges you know the one who will win probably didn't have that ice cream sandwich. But, in my opinion, I win, I have enjoyed and created memories with my kids this summer. I have realized that while the Challenges I enter are great for motivation, inspiration and surrounding myself with 'like-minded' people, what I really want is to continue to sculpt a health lifestyle that I can and desire to live long term. Balance! Difficult to live in Challenge mode!
The Plan: I continue to train hard and consistent. Looking to mixing up the program again to shock the system for more gains as well as stimulate the brain and renew inspiration. I am moving forward outside the gym as well. I have submitted an article for consideration for publication in a fitness magazine and just yesterday sent a submission to another magazine for a section highlighting fit moms!
The journey continues.....gotta keep challenging myself and pushing outside the comfort zone...
How are you challenging yourself to be a better you?

Climbing mountains....

First day of my mini vacation and I'm up before the sun...getting in a workout and then headed up to the Adirondacks for a long weekend! Looking forward to getting away and enjoying the fresh mountain air, spend some time slowing down a bit, as we all know, living a fit and healthy lifestyle requires a lot of go, go, go! Hope to enjoy sleeping a bit later....'til 6 am?  :) As much as I miss my gym workouts, the body could probably use a break and honestly spending a long weekend in the mountains is the only way I will miss a workout...I've looked for a gym nearby, no real gym for miles. Certainly don't plan on getting lazy, sure I can find some heavy rock and logs to lift, mountains to climb and lakes to swim! We'll call it active rest. Lots of time with my boys, raiding the beloved 'game closet' full of the classic board games from my childhood, fishing, hiking, water skiing and splashing in the lake!
Some challenge presents with sticking tight to the clean eating meal plan, making good progress this week and certainly don't want to undo the hard work, blowing it by eating too many s'mores (luckily not my favorite but have been guilty of sneaking a few chocolate squares from the supplies, only dark chocolate of course) Packing up a lot of my regular menu items, extras to share, hoping to show others how good some of "my food" can be. Just have to be strong in resisting the 'vacation' snacks. Vacation is a required component of a healthy lifestyle (mental health!) but the nutrition and activity plan need not be treated as a vacation.  Re-entry to the real world mid week and then it's time to submit final pictures and stats for the completion of the Summer Transformation Challenge!

The Critical importance of Training the Weakest Link

Human nature leads us to travel the path of least resistance. This holds true in so many aspects of life. Consider how you tackle your day, your training, your job...always looking for the easy way, the short cut, avoiding those things less enjoyable. Face it, eventually things end up out of balance! Time to work on strengthening the weakest link.

Consider your training program... bragging rights as well as the intense desire to continue to break PRs encourages us to continue to add load to lifts. But we should not forget the importance of training the weakest link. Unless we pay attention to the detail in the mechanics of the movement the body will rely on the strongest muscles, and sometimes not the intended, if you continue to load the movement pattern. The result: further strengthening the stronger muscular structures and reinforcing compensated movement patterns only encouraging the weaker to become weaker and increasing risk for injury. Those mirrors on the gym wall? Not just for flexing and posing but for watching form and technique to assist you in assuring proper movement patterns!

Imbalances/weak links can occur/exist in any joint or movement pattern but several come to the front of my mind based on both personal experiences with training tendencies as well as experiences with treating patients...

Core stability plays a huge roll in all training programs or should.... while everyone attacks core training for the highly enviable six-pack (which, by the way, is revealed when you clean up the diet), they tend to go about training the core with weights before really grasping the concept of proper abdominal activation. Weakness in the core or simply lack of core activation can result in injury. All too many training to get big and strong forget about the the fact that the core is the central base that all the extremities work from, lose function and stability here all can suffer. Let's look as legs training... pushing heavier and heavier weights on machines such as the leg press certainly will strengthen your legs but be sure to balance this strength and protect your back but doing an equal amount to train the core and also consider/include training in a more functional position and do squats. Is it really greater functional strength you gain by pushing heavier weights on the leg press or just bragging rights? Consider if this is worth the potential for injury or consider changing/expanding your training program.

Scapular and back strengthening is also often forgotten or more often not performed correctly leading to imbalance in the upper back and shoulder girdle. So many benefits to training the weaker link here, scapular stability will protect you from shoulder injury as well as improved posture and improved aesthetics. Look around the gym ,those big guys flexing their pecs in the mirror most likely are lacking strength/size in the scapular musculature as they can't impress themselves by flexing those :)  Enter, poor posture, shoulder injury and general meatheadedness!

Training programs should not be about how much we can lift, push or pull but how well we do it.

There is also critical importance to strengthening the weak links in other areas of life as well. Consider how you tackle everyday life, your relationships, your nutrition, your to-do list. Take a look at your day...how about overall use of time, be efficient and tackle those things you have been avoiding that ultimately just continue to wear away at you. Have those uncomfortable conversations and get the air cleared, strengthen relationships. Be honest about why your body composition/physique goals aren't being met...put down the cookie! Take an honest look at what your day requires to get things done and get started!
Are you living life to the fullest? How can you better yourself, create a better balance? Stop ignoring or avoiding your weak links, face them head on and strengthen them!
So...what did you figure out? What are your weak links? How are you going to strengthen them?