LIFT HEAVY: GET HOT

PROBLEM: Women come up to me and they tell me that they don't lift weights...or, lift heavy weights, because after awhile they'll start to bulk up and look like a bodybuilder with the veins and too much muscle. They tell me that they want a lean, muscular and feminine physique. They want muscle definition, and lifting weights will build too much. Absolutely. 100%. False.

SOLUTION: Get over it, and lift heavy weights. Understand that lifting weights gives you defined arms, a sexy butt and developed thighs. It gives you that goal physique. So do it.

The only simple way for me to explain it is like this:

Lifting weights will not make you huge. Eating cupcakes and pizza will. If you lift weights and are burning fat with a good cardio plan, you will lean down, build curves and suffer from the absolute unexpected...you'll become a victim of having a toned body and a great physique! But who wants that....

One thing I encourage is for you to challenge yourself. If you go to the gym and you're lifting weights that weigh as much as your purse, not a lot is going to be happening on that road to progress. Girls do this and don't start building the muscle they want, and don't understand why. In order to build muscle, you have to lift...and it needs to be a challenge. Right now during my lifting routine, I make sure to lift a weight that allows me to get my sets and reps done with effort, yet is heavy enough that I have to work hard on my last 2 reps. Lifting is not supposed to be easy. I can wake up in the morning and go into my kitchen and lift an egg carton out of my refrigerator, which is the same as holding a 2 lb. free weight in a gym. Push yourself, challenge yourself, feel a burn, put in effort, and start creating the shapes that you want. Don't be scared. Don't be intimidated. There are people in the weight area of the gym who are ripped and have been lifting for awhile...there are people who just started. Everyone has their own goals, routine and agenda. But the key point to remember, is that everyone started in the same place. So now it's your turn to do it. It is your turn to get inspired, to turn up your music, to lift a weight that is not easy for you, to take action, to get over the idea that lifting will make you too big, and to 

understand that in order to have a good body, you need to put in the good work.

                                                       

                                                                          What women think will happen
                                                                        if they lift weights

The woman in this picture is a female bodybuilder. She has lots of muscle, with incredibly low body fat. The way that she eats, and the way that she works out and trains, is not the way that you eat and train. (Unless of course, you're reading this and you too are a female bodybuilder). So if you walk into your gym tomorrow and start doing squats and bicep curls with a moderate, heavy weight, you are not going to look like this. Not tomorrow, not in a month. Sometimes people resort to taking anabolic steroids, testosterone or growth hormones to build enormous amounts of muscle...one point made.

What can actually happen, when you ladies lift weights

The woman in this picture, is also a female bodybuilder (a figure competitor/bikini competitor). She lifts heavy weights as well. I'm currently prepping for a bikini competition and I am working out twice a day, and lifting 5 times a week...pretty heavy. I'm not looking quiet like the first picture...pretty far from it, actually. Nathalia Melo, as an example of a lady who lifts, is toned, muscular and has that goal physique that many women want. This is what lifting weights does to you, and will do to your body when on the appropriate plan.

So ladies, lifting heavy and lifting, in general, will not MAKE YOU BULKY. It is actually what you need to be doing, to get the physique you want. Keep in mind that the more muscle you have on your body, the more fat you can burn. A lot of things can contribute to the body you have and how you develop muscle...genetics, your body structure, etc. but all women are capable of building some muscle and shaping their bodies.

Be proud of yourself and what you have accomplished, or decided to accomplish. Do not be intimidated. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged to lift in the gym. Weights are simply weights...giant pieces of iron attached to bars. What is intimidating, is the potential you have to do something amazing with them. 

So do it. Let's go.

-Lil Miss Strong

The BEAST in BEAUTY....MY XTREME MOTIVATION....for YOU.

"This is a motivational and inspirational video for women and girls everywhere. It doesn't matter to me where you come from. It doesn't matter to me what you weigh or what number you see on the scale. It doesn't matter to me what your excuse is, or what's been stopping you for months, or years. It doesn't matter to me who tries to hold you back, or who doesn't believe in you. What matters to me, is what you do NOW. Today. Tomorrow. What matters to me, is the moment when you succeed, and you know that you have. The moment in the gym, when you look up into the mirror with a bar and 45 pound plates across your back, and realize that you just did something that you labeled as impossible. That, is what inspires me. Now what inspires you?"

-Leala Luna McGinnis

YOLO Meal...Let's cheat ;)

People say to me, "wow, you stay in shape so you must follow a really strict diet and NEVER eat cheat meals or desserts. Ever." Ha. False.

First of all, we need to clarify. I LOVE ME SOME FATTY FOOD. On occasion. Carbs are my weakness...chocolate is my weakness...pizza can be great...and there are days when I get a deep down craving for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Don't know why. And I do it. I eat it. No, girls, you should not be eating this everyday, and even eating like this a couple days a week will add up. It depends what you're training for...if you are a high school athlete who is in season, you can probably get away with eating some treats and cheat meals on the weekends compared to a figure competitor prepping for a figure competition...who cannot, at a certain point.

We all seriously WISH, right?

However, I encourage you to have a cheat meal. I'm actually giving you permission to have that one day when you eat something delicious that you really want to eat, like that home baked brownie or the ice cream sandwich in the freezer. I call this...a YOLO meal. Because 1. YOLO, right? And 2. Eating a cheat meal can actually help you continue to lose weight. WAIT WHAT? Am I saying that eating a slice of cake or a hamburger after sticking to your diet can be a good thing? Yes.....all you women whose eyes just got big...that I am.

You see, when you're on a diet and you cut out a lot of carbs of treats from your meal plan, and you're training, your body adjusts...you're burning calories and on a roll, but sometimes, every once in awhile, you can increase your metabolism by shocking your body. Some people call these "re-feed" days, when they re-feed their bodies after being pretty strict. Your body needs to keep guessing what's coming next! It's how your metabolism rolls. So when you eat some warm cookies once in awhile...you get to indulge...and your body gets re-energized.

The other part of having a YOLO meal once in awhile, is that it really truthfully keeps you mentally sane. If you're on a pretty limited diet or you've cut out junk food or treats and you're training, it can take a toll on you after a couple weeks. You start to mentally give in, and also physically begin craving carbs or something like a cheat meal. Say you eat a strict diet for a month...most people end up binging and cleaning out their pantry when they finally snap...and this is an unhealthy habit that can cause you to indulge for more than one night, and go back to square one. Say you allow yourself a slice of pizza once every weekend, and you stay sane, balanced and happy. No binging, no problem!

HOLD UP. I'm not giving you the green light to run out this friday night and buy the entire aisle of chips and cookies in the local grocery store and inhale them all night. Sometimes when you haven't had a cheat meal in awhile, you end up prowling around the kitchen like a lion on the hunt and start eating things like you're pouncing from the bush. Calories are calories, and they still matter. It's ok to indulge in a treat or a meal, and maybe even a cheat day. And if you overdo it...if you eat the entire cake instead of a slice, and the entire pint of ice cream instead of a scoop...YOLO. It happened. Learn to control yourself next time, but don't sweat it. Enjoy it. As the famous motto goes, "Don't worry, be happy."

This is a little too much for one day. Go read tip #3.

But here are my 5 tips to having a YOLO cheat meal to keep in mind:

1. Have no shame: If you're feeling guilty the entire time you're eating it, you have two options. Stop eating it, or stop feeling guilty.

2. Plan ahead: Plan to have your cheat meal every sunday, or on a specific day. When it's last minute, you'll eat more than you probably want to.

3. Limit them: YOLO is true....you only live once. So you should live every day considering this. You should NOT live every day eating YOLO meals. Ya?

4. Control: Your portions. You aren't going on a vacuum food spree that spirals out of control. You are not eating two of everything on the Diner menu.

5. Do it and Finish it: Once you eat it, it's done. Bye. Be friendly to clean eating again.

BUT REMEMBER LADIES: YOUR STOMACH SHOULD NOT BE A WASTEBASKET. To put it kindly. You are not tossing every bag of chips away into that thing like it's a Glad kitchen expandable bag.

And lastly....no. Ma'am. Limit, plan, and enjoy. Don't do it
in front of the TV. Enjoy every bite.

BECAUSE YOU CAN...YOU SHOULD...AND.....YOLO!!!!!!

- Lil Miss Strong

Can Chewing Gum Make Me Fat?

Photo courtesy of sweets.goodeats.com

I was asked this question today. "Can chewing gum all the time, or a lot...everyday, make me fat and be the reason I'm not losing weight?"

So while some of you might laugh and think no, I would say that this is an incredibly legitimate, and actually great, question. I chew gum nonstop, because it's a trick I use to help when I have a dessert or sugar craving and it helps me when I'm trying to be strict with my food intake, preventing me from eating out of boredom...and yes, those two things can and will cause you to gain weight if you're doing them everyday. So I buy gum that comes in different flavors...they even sell gum that tastes like apple pie now...I know right. When you look at the nutrition facts, next to calories, most gum packs say that 1 stick of gum has 5 calories. You never think about it...you just chew it. But if you actually do stop and think about it...say you chew gum all throughout the day. Maybe that's 10 or more pieces. So are you intaking an extra unnecessary 50 calories+ every single day!?

sweetfactory.com

No. And Yes. The actual calories, from chewing gum, will not cause you to slowly gain weight. It isn't
like when you eat five pieces of chocolate cake in a day, and those extra calories really kind of put a damper on your progress for the week. But here is what is true. When you chew gum, you produce saliva...especially if it tastes really good! The same action happens while you're consuming food. So chewing gum makes your body feel like it's eating, and yet nothing is going into your stomach! So sometimes, when people are hungry and start chewing gum, they end up overeating and binging on food when they do in fact eat a meal. That causes weight gain.

However, another good point...some gum has sugar in it. There is sugar free gum, and there is gum with sugar. Since I'm not a dentist and this website isn't about healthy teeth, I'm not going to address thatttt issue...but we all know what sugar can do to your pearly whites. Sugary gum (like the gum in children's colored gumballs) does contain unnecessary calories, so there is a difference in both calories and ingredients that you need to be aware of. Luckily, sugary gumballs tend to lose flavor quickly, so they're pretty unappealing to most people. If you're chewing on these all the time, you really might as well be shopping at a candy store and popping jelly beans throughout the day. It's a no go.

fanpop.com

On the other hand, chewing sugar-free gum can also do the opposite of making you hungry...it can help curb appetitite and therefore prevent you from eating at times of the day when you really don't need to be. If it comes down to reaching for a bag of pretzels in your kitchen to munch on while watching a movie or chewing a 5 calorie stick of orbit mint gum...I would pick the second option.

You may feel that chewing gum causes weight gain, because excess air is swallowed when you chew, leading to bloating. So, chewing gum can indeed make you a little more bloated than usual.

Don't be the girl who obsesses over every single calorie, every single day, and turn down a piece of gum because you're worried about any extra calories. If you use gum like I do as a trick during strict training times to help you along the way...I would suggest it. It's a great dessert replacement hands down. Don't worry about gaining weight from gum, don't worry about overdosing...

Don't sweat the small stuff. Live your life in moderation, and you will be ok.

-Lil Miss Strong

Kombucha-what?? For Weight-loss

Komba-whattaaaa? Kombucha. I know...it's a weird word in itself. And get this, it's also known as TEA FUNGUS. If you haven't heard, just like frozen yogurt became a phenomenon that replaced most ice cream stores, Kombucha is a product that is becoming a new health rage around the country. Secretly used for centuries, I first discovered it when I went to a yoga class one day. There was a tiny refrigerator with drinks, and as I walked over and picked one up, I stared into the bottle and noticed a brown looking drink with chunks floating in it. This ladies, is Kombucha, and it's currently one of the most popular and crazed weight loss trends circulating our stores and homes.

Credit from http://www.pvnutritionaltherapy.com

I'm going to break it down, because when you first look at the drink, you have absolutely NO idea what it is and why things are afloat inside of it. Kombucha tea is made by fermenting bacteria and adding it to black or green tea. Enough said there. Just like people debate whether or not things like "Acai berries" can help with weight loss, there is a lot of talk about the health and weight benefits of Kombucha, and how it contributes to staying fit. There is no major medical research to support this weight-loss theory, but many people who have become regular Kombucha drinkers have noticed overall health benefits. For weight loss, it is recommended that you drink 4-8 oz. 30 min. before meals. Now, athletes are starting to drink this fermented drink as a recovery drink after tough workouts, and people claim that it helps with digestion and boosts energy levels.

Taken from
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu
/chicago/news.aspx?id=201085

Basically, so it is claimed: When you drink Kombucha, you are bringing a bunch of good bacteria into your system. This helps to cleanse you, boost health conditions, and aids with recovery. This means that your body can digest your food better, and vitamins and enzymes will boost your energy, and reduce sugar cravings. More energy means more calorie burning while training.

To me, Kombucha tastes like an old mushroom and smells like vinegar...I really can't lie and tell you that it tastes like an incredibly delicious fruit tea and that I drink it everyday. I don't....really ever. If you aren't a texture person and don't mind drinking something with fermented unpasteurized bacteria floating around the bottom, go for ittt! But like I always remind you, you should never force yourself to eat something that you don't want to eat, because you think it will help you lose weight. Food is meant to be enjoyed. If you enjoy drinking a more earthy and tart flavored drink in a bottle, than Kombucha is a new holistic rage that you should try! It can't hurt, but do please understand that drinking it will not lead to significant weight loss overnight. It is considered a food, and not a supplement, and can be found in health food stores like Whole Foods.

I want to know what you think! Is Kombucha tea a success or a scam?! Is this new craze true, or do many find it to be tea with a label?

Food for thought...or in this case...bacteria for thought. Cheers to that ;)

-Lil Miss Strong