Week Four - "On the Road" Fitness Program

Okay, since my personal training session with Felix last week, I've been on the road again...and that's why this program was created - right!  Felix checks up on my eating and exercise progress, and texts me three times a week.  He is my second mother - my health mama!

Felix has decided to step up my exercise routine and I am sharing it with you.  Personally, I will start this new routine next week, because I hate burpees!  I hate burpees!

But realize I still meet with Felix, to check on my progress, my form, and to reinstate my commitment levels!

We are currently working on Felix's website and Facebook page.  If you are interested in speaking him, please email me at naczon@gmail.com.

This email is from Felix to me, with the new exercises:

Nat 2.0

Now that we have gone over technique, form and do's and don't's, we going to step it up a little bit. 

Remember, focus on the cues we talked about. Always focus on form over volume. Make sure you warm-up, get your heart rate going and do some dynamic stretches.

Day 1:

3 rounds of:

• 3 burpees
• 6 push ups
• 9 RDLs (each leg) – with or without kettle bell (KB)
• 12 squats
• 15 sit ups

Day 2:

5 rounds of:

• 10 squats
• 10 kettle bell swings
• 10 kettle bell sumo dead lift high pull

Day 3:

Rest Day – Your Favorite!

Day 4:

3 rounds of 21-15-9:

• lunges
• KB swings
• mountain climbers

Day 5:

Perform:

• 50 RDLs (this can be 25 or 50 each leg... your choice)
• 50 squats
• 50 jumping jacks

This might seem like a lot but you can break up the reps as you like: 5 rounds of 10 reps (just like Day 2), 10 rounds of 5 reps... however you like, just total 50 reps each.

Day 6:

Rest Day – Your Favorite!

Day 7:

3 rounds of:

• 10 push ups
• 15 squats
• 20 lunges (this can be 10 or 20 each leg... your choice)
• 25 KB swings

Day 8:

Perform:

• 3 burpees
• 10 squats
• 3 burpees
• 10 sit ups
• 3 burpees
• 10 lunges
• 3 burpees
• 10 KB sumo dead lift high pull

Day 9:

Rest Day – Your Favorite!

Day 10:

Repeat from Day 1

But remember to have fun!

Enjoy!

Week Three - On the Road Fitness Plan

Note to self - meet with your personal trainer, in person, before starting any fitness plan!!!   

It was not his fault, because I insisted that he give me a schedule before we personally met.  

(Oh and do not have 2 bottles of sake with girlfriends the night before your personal workout session!)  I surely PAID for it!

Well, even with videos to show me "how to" correctly do these exercises, I was doing them wrong.  During my 1 hour workout session with Felix on Friday, he was able to show me warm-up routines, proper form for all of the exercises in the plan, offer new exercises, and test my mobility and stamina.  Note: The 2 bottles of sake really came back to visit and affected my stamina!  Damn!

Having a personal trainer shows you the "how to" and "how much to".  For me it is really important to get feedback and it is so beneficial for my results.  Felix pushed me during the exercises, to show me how to push myself, when he is not around.  Yes, there were times, during the workout, that I stood there and looked at him with the "stick eye", but with his encouragement and support, I pushed along.  (Swearing at him under my breath - nah!  Yes.)

Felix truly understands that I cannot totally change my lifestyle of eating, socializing and exercising. He is supportive and always there to suggest solutions.  Accountability!  Felix calls me periodically to check up on me and to see how I am feeling and how my eating is going...accountability!  And honesty is key!

I love his style of personal training....it is really individualized and realistic to someone's life.  Thank you Felix and I love you for your flexibility and patience with me and my craziness.

See you next week!

Week 2 - On the Road Fitness Plan

Here is my update on last week's experience:

I started Felix's "On the Road" fitness program last week Tuesday, on the road to Maui...  True test!  Because my flight was at 5am, I had to do my exercise at the end of my day, which is really hard because I just want to eat and sleep after a 12 hour day.  Because the exercises are fun and short, it was doable - thanks Felix!  The exercises got my heart rate up and I did start sweating.  And most important, I can do this!  The rest days are my favorite.

Finding a daily routine and doing the fitness part in the morning is desirable, but with this program, just doing it is better than nothing.

The nutrition part of this program is a huge challenge when you are on the road.  If there are natural food stores close by, it makes it so much more easier.  When you have a business lunch or dinner, pick a restaurant that offers more of a vegetarian fare, but don't be that person that substitutes everything....I refuse to be that person.  Sticking to the side veggie dishes and ordering a couple of sides is a good meal.  Maui was a good destination for eating out, but the Big Island was a little more challenging.  The distance between the towns made it much more harder to find stores or restaurants with the vegetarian and lean proteins I was looking for.  So purchasing cut veggies and nuts (but not too many nuts), for the road trip is best.

I don't have to travel this week, so I am meeting with Felix to go over last week and to go over my exercises with him.  He will be checking on my form and movement with each exercise.  His feedback is crucial and keeping me accountable is key!

Week Two!  Here are the exercises....

Day 8: Perform five rounds of:

• 5 push ups
• 10 sit ups
• 20 mountain climbers (To begin with, each step can be counted as one. If you are up to it, count two steps (step left + step right) as one rep. These will get your heart rate going.)

Rest 60-90 sec in between rounds.

Day 9: Rest

Day 10: Repeat from Day 1

(see last week's post for these exercises)

When I am not traveling, along with these exercises, I will be doing my usual walks and swimming sessions.

Don't forget to take those moments of magic during your day.....

See you next week at my next update!  Stay consistent and focused!

On the Road - Day One Fitness Program

Here we go, Week ONE, Day One on our "on the road" fitness plan.  This is what Felix emailed me last week:

Workouts

Okay, here we go. Writing you a workout program is not an easy task without having first assessed your level of fitness/strength, being able to explain or correct technique and form or knowing what “props” you have available.

Nevertheless, here are some workout/exercises for you on the road. More than working out, diet will be key.  But more to that after the workout. To begin you will go with a two days on, one day off split. Workouts will be rather short but therefore higher in intensity. You are looking at 10-20 min, with a short warm-up/cool down and stretching before and/or after... so a total of no more than 30 min. Later on, this can/will change. But on the road, your main concern should be staying disciplined. All exercises below are strictly bodyweight exercises and do not require any props or weights.

Day 1: 5 rounds of:

• 5 pushups
• 10 squats
• 30 sec plank

Day 2: Perform 21-15-9-3 reps of:

• Jumping Jacks
• Sit ups
• Squats

Day 3: Rest

Day 4: Complete:

• 1 push up
• 10 squats
• 2 push ups
• 8 squats
• 3 push ups
• 6 squats
• 4 push ups
• 4 squats
• 5 push ups
• 2 squats
• 4 push ups
• 4 squats
• 3 push ups
• 6 squats
• 2 push ups
• 8 squats
• 1 push up
• 10 squats

Day 5: Perform 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 reps of:

• squats
• sit ups

Day 6: Rest

Day 7: Complete the cycle as many times as possible in 5 min:

• 5 push ups
• 10 alternating lunges (5 each leg)
• 15 sit ups

Complete three rounds total.

Nutrition

Since you are on the road, I will mostly focus on the eating out part (since you love to do that anyways ) and less on the cooking/preparing your own meals.

You know that I personally do not eat any animals or animal products. This does however not mean that I will ask you to do the same. Here are a few guidelines that I think are easy to remember:

1. First and foremost: Eat for nutrients. No empty calories! This is KEY!
2. Eat vegetables, fruits, legumes and beans... and some nuts and seeds.
3. If you chose to eat meat or eggs, opt for grass-fed/free-range/organic and make those the “side” and not the main part of the meal.
4. Minimize (or eliminate if possible) dairy! No other animal in the world consumes the milk of another animal, especially not after the infant stage. Neither should we.
5. Minimize refined oil! If you use them, do so sparingly and opt for coconut oil. Fried is pretty much oil with a little bit of food.
6. No sugars! No sucrose, no glucose, no Sucralose... you name it. Eating sugar in whole-food fruit (i.e. apples, strawberries etc) is okay.
7. Minimize (or eliminate if possible) processed food! Bread, pasta, donuts, chips... be strong and opt for something else. Notice: I did not put potatoes or rice on the Avoid List. These are okay. Just don't eat them every day and opt for wild rice, sweet potatoes or even quinoa or amaranth.
8. Use GOOD salt. No table salt, please. Try Himalayan “Pink” Salt.

Tips:

Salad dressing: You can make nice dressings using (balsamic) vinegar. Sometimes I simply mix oil-free hummus with some vinegar for a delicious dressing. Or try a tahini and soy sauce based dressing and add some lemon juice.

Taste: You can retrain your taste buds within three weeks. Be patient and stick with it. Most people don't like beer or wine the first time the they try it. 

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I will be sharing my meals in my "end of the week" updates.  Good luck to you and to me!

Natalie

Using a personal trainer (fitness and eating coach) for the first time!

I figured since I just turned 55 years old and moving closer towards the BIG "60", I should try something new in my health routine.  So I got a personal trainer!

With the challenges of my travel schedule, I can never really keep a consistent monthly, weekly or daily scheduled routine.  The only time I am on a scheduled fitness routine, is when I am on vacation. I bet there are a lot of us out there - right?

So I posed that challenge to my physical trainer, Felix Gardner.  Felix is launching a new personal trainer business and I told him that I might be part of a large niche of the community, that he might be able to focus on - business people on the run...   Developing a workout and eating program for people like us!

I will be taking you along mine and Felix's "On the road again...I can't wait to be on the road again" workout and eating program, on my blog.  I will be making a "beginning of the week", and "ending of the week" post of what the workout will be and also on an update of how I am doing.  If you like, you can join me!

We are starting this tomorrow, Tuesday, September 23, 2014 and will be doing this for 30 days.  After the 30 days, Felix will assess my progress and start me on something new, to elevate the progress I have already made.

Are you with me?  I will post my 1st week plan tomorrow and guess what?  I will be traveling to Maui, so it will be the perfect 1st day/1st week test.