Coach Erica's Two Minute Tip: Episode 2

Two Minute tip: Eat well and eat enough!

For more health tips follow me on Twitter! http://www.twitter.com/EricaSnyder

The doctors don't lie....

If you want to learn how to get a 25% on this phenomenal product visit my site at http://www.myshakeology.com/esnyder81

Four Weeks Crushed!

Well I am back to chat about the last four weeks I have been getting my butt kicked with my new workout Insanity! Honestly it's crazy that I got through it and I can't tell you how many times I thought " I can't do this I'm quitting. It's way too hard!" But with anything that is a real challenge if you don't give up you'll be so glad you stuck it out!  That's how I feel with getting through the first month of this crazy workout. Like I am halfway up Mount Everest and the climb still continues! The amazing part is all the changes you go through everyday! Those small fast twitch muscles that you don't really think about get so strong which helps with speed an agility, you can really notice how much improvement you're making after each workout. Believe me the workouts don't get easier because the stronger you get the more you can do which means you are ALWAYS challenged and NEVER bored! I know I have said this before but I really can't see where you would plateau on this program. The moves are so dynamic and different that your body will always continue changing and getting stronger every day, every month, every year! Plus you are always working your core in every workout so your abs will get SHREDDED! That has to be my favorite part! I have never seen my abs this much but with the combo of the super intense cardio, strength moves and ab building core video your abs will pop like crazy! These last four weeks have really made me aware of my form when doing certain workouts. What I can emphasize is to keep your knees behind your ankles when doing power jumps or anything that requires you to be in a squat position. If not you may be able to get away with it for a while but believe me you'll start feeling it in your knees and other areas and you don't want to risk any kind of serious injury. Listen to Shaun when he tells you how to be safe! This has only been the first month and so much will happen to your body! You will see how much stronger and faster you become and you will love how your legs and abs will look! The genius part of this workout is you don't need dumbells because you use your own body weight to build up those arms and believe me you will gain in your arms and still look lean and mean! You may be wondering "How do I eat for such an intense workout?" That is taken care of for you! It comes with an elite nutrition book to teach you how to eat the first month and how to eat more for the second month. The second month is a beast! The workouts are longer and the moves are challenging. You will definitely need to eat more calories to get through these longer and much more challenging workouts. No you won't gain weight unless you want to, keep in mind the calories in the good food you will be eating provides you with the FUEL that you need so don't let the word calories scare you away :-) I have learned that and really I can tell if I haven't eaten enough before a workout because my body is screaming at me! I get super tired, can barely get through the workout and honestly don't feel that great when I am done. So listen to your body when starting these workouts especially in month two. It may be hard at first but you can do it! If I can anybody can believe me! This week has been the recovery week and man my body has been loving it! The workout that you do is the Core Cardio and Balance. You do some of the moves from the previous workouts but at a slower easier pace so you do build up a sweat but you don't feel super burnt out like you would normally during the regular weeks. This is great if you have been feeling fatigued or like you have really been pounding your body. I am loving this week because it has really gotten me to be more gentle with my body after four weeks of pure hitting it hard and getting myself ready to REALLY hit it hard with the max workouts! I gotta tell you right now I am so nervous but so ready!

These four weeks have definitely been a challenge but definitely worth the challenge. If you know about a challenging workout you want to try DO IT!! Don't be scared and don't think you can't do something because you can! Shut out those negative voices and just go for it! I'll definitely be keeping you up to date on how the second month is going it will be a bigger challenge but I am so ready! Find something to do that you find scary and do it 100%!! You might surprise yourself... :-)

The Skinny on Eating

For a couple of years people have asked me what has helped me stay fit and lose the weight that I had to lose. Well at first I did NOT have this figured out. I was under the spell of the less calories I ate the more I worked out the more weight I would lose right? Right?? Well when I was on this crazy eating and working out regimen I could not figure out why I was so crazy tired and then over time I was putting some of the weight back ON! yeah that's right, with starving my body too much and trying to make it burn more calories I GAINED weight. Why? Because my body could tell it was under attack, I was starving it, so how did it protect itself? It stored fat! That's how the weight gain took place! When you are doing too much in the calorie restricting department then on top of that you are working out trying to make your body burn more than it has to give it does really try to protect itself so it can sustain life and some kind of energy. I mean think about it when you are starving it it is under attack, you are not feeding it enough and asking a lot out of it by working it hard for an hour or so of course it will want to protect itself! For a long time it didn't make sense, well if you eat a lot of calories you'll gain weight right? What had to be hammered in my head as food is fuel not your enemy! Calories mean more than weight gain.  Yes if you eat  a lot of the wrong calories or eat late at night you can gain weight from that behavior but if you are feeding your body calories it needs to get through the day or help you get through that workout then it will make it easier for you to see that you eat for energy and to keep that fire in your body going otherwise known as your metabolism. Another disturbing trend I have noticed is the fascination with being too thin and what lengths people will go to to get that way. You have heard of all these Hollywood diets (Master Cleanse, Macrobiotic diet, Baby food diet, etc) Many of these are CRAZY crash diets that are used because of pressure to be thin, to get ready for a movie role or any other reason they are STARVING themselves with these diets! I have read reviews from doctors on these various diets and they have all agreed that these may work temporarily but once you introduce regular food the weight will be gained back and another reason why the weight will come back on you can't starve and workout at the same time! I am always amazed at how fast some of the actresses or other people that have tried these diets shrink down to nothing but they lose the weight so fast. I think that's what people get caught up in "Lose weight now!" This can be dangerous and you really don't get the chance to learn how to eat, when to eat and how much to eat. This is the key to keeping your metabolism on fire and to continue to see the results from your fitness efforts. The best way to think of this is thinking of your body as a fireplace and how to feed the fire. When you see the fire going but it's starting to fade you feed it more wood right? Well the same thing goes with your body. When you are working on eating better or eating more often think of your body as that fireplace and when it starts to fade a couple of hours after eating it's time to feed it again! That way you have sustained energy, you are constantly burning calories throughout the day and this in turn will have you seeing results from working out or just eating better. Also when you are eating enough calories at the right time you never feel hungry! Some people don't actually get hunger pangs but they can feel their blood sugar drop causing them to feel tired or cranky and this is a big clue from your body to feed it again so it can keep going and meet the demands of the day.

In short: EAT! Food is fuel not your foe. The key is what to eat, when to eat, how much and how often. The rule of thumb I have learned is eat every 2.5 to 3 hours everyday to avoid the slump and to keep up that sustained energy throughout the day. This is very true if you are doing a rigorous fitness routine, you are really going to need that energy to get you through the day and through that workout! A good meal is a great way to recover also. This helps you replace the vitamins and nutrients you may have lost during your workout and this helps in aiding with sore muscles and the after workout fatigue you may experience. Remember: One meal at a time, one day at a time, one workout at a time. You CAN  do it! :-)