The Two Choices For Attaining A Fit Life

The number of choices we make throughout a single day is pretty amazing, I mean think about. Did you hit the snooze button or wake up for your morning workout? Did you pack your lunch or plan on eating out? Did you watch your TV after work or read a good book? So many choices! Between juggling day-to-day commitments and decisions, it can seem daunting to choose when get in a workout, and how to prepare healthy meals.

1. First things first, we have to have the right mindset. We can all choose to spend our time working out, but is this what we want to do? Take for example a dear friend of mine. She works a 9-6 job and has a daily hour and a half commute. She has been trying to lose a few pounds and get more active. Typically when she gets off work she is tired and does not feel like going to the gym.  If it is not too late, she enjoys walking, but sometimes it is not always feasible. In my mind I am like duh, just wake up 45 minutes earlier. But I realize that’s not fair, not everyone is a crazy morning person like me :).

Her and I sat down and started talking about how to work around this. I started probing a bit and found out she enjoyed taking group fitness classes offered at work. So why not start there? She decided on packing her clothes the night before so that way immediately after work she could go to the class.

Switching up her mindset to not make working out seem like a drag helped her get in workouts without dreading it!  Case in point: choose what is best for you! 

2. Choosing how you spend your time. You have the power to choose how you spend your time. And when it comes to exercise, it all adds up. Whether it is 20-40 or 60 minutes, it all counts. We all have 1440 minutes in a day, surely we can spend at least 20 on exercise. For some people 60 minutes of exercise a day seems overwhelming and impossible. I have been through some of the most brutal workouts and they have been done in 20 minutes! Think about it, the time you spend fumbling around in the morning, you could have crushed a 20-minute workout. 

I constantly remind myself that it all counts.  Being a gym rat over the years, I am used to having a minimum 90 minutes (45 for my lift and 45 for my cardio) in the gym. These days, juggling graduate school full time, working, and traveling with my boyfriend, I can spend more time in classrooms and airports than in a gym. There are days where I cannot get to the gym for a solid hour. However, knowing that I can train efficiently in 20 minutes makes fitness on the road and in school doable.

Health comes down to two choices: mind-set and time. What are you going to choose?

Let’s give everyone the tools to a great exercise mindset; tweet me your mindset mantra today @kelleyvargo #kvmindset

Until tomorrow,

Kel

Welcome to 30 Days of Fit Life!

First and foremost I would like to thank you for stopping by my blog! There are tons of blogs out there to read and I appreciate you taking a moment to check this out! This month is going to be super exciting as we cover subjects that fall under the area of exercise, eating, encouragement and interviews by fitness experts! I hope you enjoy what you read and I look forward to hearing from you!

As we start the month of September I want to give you a little introduction as to why I chose the topics for this month. I feel that the following four areas are important aspects to creating our best self and life.

Exercise: Ok so most of us are aware that there are health benefits from exercising and being physically active. We all receive an A+ for knowledge! But the key area, behavior, is where things get tricky. Whether it is not knowing how many repetitions to do, how to start the treadmill or how to find the time, these barriers can prevent us from adopting these behaviors. In these articles I will provide insight on effective and efficient exercise programs as well as ideas to work physical activity into your life.

Eating: Whether you say the “e” word (epidemic) or not, it is pretty clear that obesity is becoming more pronounced in our society. With the changes to the food industry and the built environment, there are many obstacles that make eating real food difficult. Most of us do not have the luxury of having a garden in our backyard but rather are surrounded by fast-food options and convenience foods. I will share with you my tricks and tips for making the food environment work; it is doable!

Encouragement: From life to the classroom, we can learn from it all. In these posts we will discuss mindset, philosophy, and priorities. I am a firm believer that you can do anything you set your mind to, and we often are our own worst enemy. It is my wish that these posts inspire and empower you on your life journey and help you continue to become your best self.

Experts: I have been fortunate to work, train and learn from some of the best professionals in the industry. Their knowledge is incredible and their passion is contagious. I hope to impart some of what I have learned from them through interviews for you to read. This is going to be one amazing set of articles!

Enjoy the rest of your Labor Day Weekend! Talk to you tomorrow!

Xo,

Kel

Ladies: 4 reasons why lifting heavy won't make you look like The Rock!

As a fitness professional, I have heard some crazy things over the years.  There is so much misinformation in the training world, and most people don’t have to research the facts.

Dwayne “The Rock”Johnson lifts heavy!

 While teaching group fitness classes and working with individual clients, I have had to debunk many of these misconceptions. One that paints a vivid picture in my mind, is a few of my female clients being afraid of lifting heavy weights for fear of getting “too big” or “too heavy”. There is a plethora of science to debunk this myth, but for the sake of this post I will keep it simple. These four areas will explain why a woman will not get “big“ from lifting heavy.

1. Hormones: these chemical messengers in our body send signals responding to various stimuli. Two key hormones differentiating the male and female physiques are testosterone and estrogen. Testosterone is an anabolic hormone, meaning it aides in the process of muscle building.  The resting level of testosterone in females 10 to 20 times less than that in males and therefore does not invoke the same degree of muscle growth when performing resistance training (1).

2. Nutrition: There are many amazing physiques out there on the cover of fitness magazines of ripped, lean woman. The reality of it is, to achieve this look, one has to follow a strict diet and exercise regimen, often consisting of weighing out food, monitoring macronutrient consumption, and spending at least a couple hours in the gym per day. Prior to competition or a photo shoot, some cut calories and dehydrate in order to achieve a leaner, vascular appearance. However, if you were to see these amazing woman a few days after, they would appear to look “normal”. The point I am driving home is even those these woman look like they have “HUGE” muscles, the reality of it is they aren’t that big. One of my all time inspirations, Adela Garcia, has an amazing physique and from looking at her photos its hard to believe she is a mere 5’1” 120 lbs! A true testament to sound nutrition and training- and she is far from “HUGE.”

            AdelaGarcia competing on stage and signing autographs! Hardly "huge"!

3. Physiology: Resistance training is a process that taxes the body’s muscle fibers. By choosing a heavy resistance, the muscle fibers tear apart and build back up. Through repetitive taxing of the muscles, they will grow in size, but only to a certain extent.  This is especially important to keep in mind when training upper body. There is a huge physiological difference between the upper body strength and size of a man compared to a woman. Not only do woman have fewer muscle fibers then a man, but they are also smaller in diameter (1). It is important for females to train heavy in order to develop upper body strength. If a strong enough resistance is not selected, there won’t be an opportunity for the muscle fibers to adapt.

4. Body Composition: Lifting heavy weights will actually improve overall body composition by increasing lean muscle mass and decreasing fat mass. In turn this adaptation will increase one’s metabolic rate. Giving you a leaner, sexier physique J. Not too mention, it will help boost your confidence!

Dwayne Johnson lifts heavy weights, you can too, and trust me, you won’t look like him. So next time, skip over the 10 lb dumbbells and go for the 30’s!

Myself training my supervisor, a mother, wife, student, professional, and heavy lifter! Get those 30’s girl!

Sources:

1. Zatsiorsky, Vladimir M. & Kraemer, William J. Science and Practice of Strength Training: Second Edition. Chapter 9: Strength Training for Woman. Human Kinetics. 2006. Champaign

Sleep Deprived? SPARK It Up!

One of the first things I do every morning is press brew on the coffee pot.  My morning cup of Joe gets me through my morning workout and usually lasts until about 2 pm when I am seeking out my next source of caffeine be it a sugar-free energy drink or coffee round two.

As Americans, we have a long history of being stimulated by beverages, dating back to the late 1800’s when cocaine and caffeine were the two active ingredients in Coca-Cola. The cocaine didn’t last long as the Supreme Court demanded it’s removal, but the caffeine stayed. The demands for increasing “liquid energy” grew over the years, and in the 1960’s the introduction of herbal extracts and vitamins into beverages was introduced. 1n 1997, Red Bull was brought to America and the consumption and evolution of energy drinks began!

Interested in nutrition and fitness, as well conducting a thesis for my masters at The George Washington University, I wanted to find out if there was a difference between energy drinks and caffeine. All these liquids were keeping me awake in my late hours of studying and early morning workouts, but were they making a difference in the classroom or in my performance? Was it just the caffeine or did the unique combination of the vitamins and amino acids make a difference?

I set out this past summer to conduct my thesis research on just that: The Effects of energy drink consumption on concentration and performance of a visual spatial task following sleep deprivation. After begging, pleading, and compromising with fellow college students ages 18-35, I was able to round up 16 caffeine drinkers. The 16 volunteers (that's right no money & no funding from the company) had to refrain from caffeine, report to the lab at 6:30 in the evening and remain awake all night until 7:00 a.m. the next morning. A concentration grid was used to evaluate concentration and tetris was used to evaluate Tetris.  Three trials were done, one at arrival, one at 5:30 a.m. and one 45 minutes after consumption of the control (120 mg caffeine) or Advocare SPARK(a no-added sugar energy drink with 120 mg of caffeine, vitamins, and amino acids), which took place at 6:45 a.m.

After collecting all the data and running the statistical analysis, I found that the SPARK energy drink improved concentration of college aged students in a sleep deprived state greater than caffeine alone, thus there is validity to the effectiveness of nutritional supplementation in energy drinks and further investigation may assess specific ingredients to a further extent.

As crazy as life gets, it is important to get enough sleep. However, being in school, that doesn’t always happen. I can’t say I have drank a full blown energy drink to keep me awake, as many of them have a surplus of sugar, which means a surplus of calories. However, I tend to go for sugar-free alternatives, and after this study, I gravitate towards SPARK. If you aren’t able to get enough sleep, it might not be a bad idea to consider the healthier alternative to an energy drink, and SPARK it up a bit! 

 For more information, references, or the manuscript feel free to email me at kmvfitness@gmail.com.

Top 5 Road Trip Treats

This past month I have been on the road quite a bit from Ohio to North Carolina, Pennsylvania and soon to be Tennessee. As much as I like to prepare and eat real food (as opposed to processed or packaged), I know realistically it won’t happen all of the time. It can be easy to let a road trip or plane ride sabotage success, but pitfalls (or in this case pitstops ) can be avoided with a little planning and the right mindset.

1.     Nuts: I prefer almonds. Nuts are a great source of healthy fats, which also provide a sense of satiety. To keep me from going over board I pre-portion them out in zipblock bags or buy the single serving size at the convenience store. Nuts provide that “munch and crunch” feeling – I am a picker so I love to be able to eat a little bit at a time.

2.     Fruit: My go-to travel fruits are apples – especially this time of year!  Apples are lower in sugar compared to some other fruits and again, are easy to eat.  Although apples might be hard to find in local convenient stores, there are often roadside stands or apple orchards on the way if you are traveling via car. Take an extra few minutes and stock up on these nutrient dense powerhouses’.

3.     Beef Jerky: Loaded with protein and not in calories, Jerky is a great portable option for increasing your daily protein intake while en route.  Just be sure to check the sodium content, as some of them are high. The other great thing about beef jerky is that there are a variety of flavors, sizes, and textures. My recent favorite is sweet n spicy.

4.     Protein Bars: For convenience, feasibility, and a good nutrient profile, I like Think Thin Bars. Taste like a dessert, but they don’t make me feel like I ate one!

5.     Coffee: Let’s face it, I am a caffeine addict and when on the road I gravitate towards it!  I prefer coffee over diet soda, coffee doesn’t get me bloated.  Nothing is worse than feeling that while sitting in the middle seat of a plane!

I hope this list helped you out some! I hope these few ideas provided an idea of how to incorporate some healthy options while on the go. Got some more ideas? Please email me or send me a tweet!

Safe Travels!

Until next week,

Kelley

Delicious Protein Pancakes

Happy October!  Start your fall mornings off right this month with these delicious protein pancakes!
A little background information: Last week I began JillColeman’s Ten Weeks to Tight. (I cannot say enough about Jill!)

 Even I need a source of accountability! Morning meals typically consist of egg whites and a starch. I decided to get a little crazy and make myself some protein pancakes.  Finally, after years of making these (since high school – yikes!), I took the time to write down the recipe, at least you get the refined version :)!

Ingredients:

1 scoop vanilla protein powder ( I like MetRx Protein Plus - blends well!)

3 egg whites

¼ cup oatbran

2 tablespoons almond milk
dash of vanilla extract

dash of cinnamon to taste

stevia to taste

Directions:

Mix to a pancake batter consistency. Turn oven burner on to a medium heat. Spray pan with Pam. Once pan has heated drop mixture onto ban with a spoon. Flip with a spatula to make sure pancakes are cooked on each side.

1 serving makes 3 slightly larger than silver dollar pancakes!

Top with sugar free syrup and/or cinnamon and stevia!  

A good cup of coffee goes great with these! If you are fortunate enough to be in Columbus, I recommend Mudslingers :).

Enjoy!

5 Beliefs to Build Your Best

I apologize I’ve been on an Internet hiatus the past 5 months but am thrilled to be back and beginning a new career. I hope you all had an amazing summer! I think it’s fair to say we are all living life striving to be our best. I’ll spare you the details of my summer but I wanted to share some things I learned over the past few months, and hopefully one or two will resonate with you, on how to captivate your best life.

1.     Choices are for oneself; decisions are for others.

“Kelley, you are a decision maker. Decisions take into account what others think. Choices take into account what you think.” - Dr. Jade Teta. I have struggled my entire life with approval. Everyone who knows me, knows I love to talk to people, I absolutely love it! But those that know me well know that I consistently have to ask others for their opinion, advice, or guidance on important choices for my life. I’m 27 now, and I still struggle with it despite moving around the country, going to various schools, and changing careers. When Jade said this to me, I felt empowered, inspired, and relieved!  My challenge to myself and to you if you choose to accept, is to make a choice today! Start with one choice for yourself and keep going onto the next. Choose how your think, choose how you respond, choose what you do with your time! I will be a choicemaker for myself and will save my decision making for the policy world when I complete the Public Health Policy degree.

2.     Quitting is OKAY, in fact it's GREAT!

Think about it for a minute. I never thought I would find myself saying this! But out of everything I have learned over summer, quitting might be the most valuable lesson.  I was in a job about a month ago where I wasn’t happy. I would cry after work every night, dread getting up every morning, hardly worked out, lost my social life, and almost cost me some of my closest relationships. However, the job was paying for my degree. Money can make us do some crazy things! I kept using self talk to tell myself to “tough it out”, “suck it up”, “it’s only two years,” “ I love the people I work with.” I would tell myself anything to avoid the “scary” thing. And then it happened. A close friend saw me at work and could not recognize me for who I was. I lost myself. I was no longer smiling, talking, doing much of anything but getting by. I wasn’t going to get better as a person and I certainly wasn’t helping others, I couldn’t even help my self. But how could I quit? And just give up tuition, a stipend, and a lot of money that I don’t have. Scared to death and not sure of the future (that’s that whole uncertainty thing we tend to fear) I made the CHOICE to quit. It was not easy by any means but I knew that alternative was a million times worse, or as Jill told me:

"Nothing is ever irreversible. There's never going to be something you can't handle. NOT taking risks is scarier!" - Jill Coleman.

3.     Expectations kill joy.

Oh my little sister, Krissy and Dr. Jillian Sarno are genius! Growing up, Krissy has always had special quality about her that is able to see things from a different perspective, a much more deep and meaningful one. Anyways, she says this saying to me a lot. I normally don’t dwell on it. But lately I have. We set ourselves up with such high expectations: to loose 10 pounds, start a business, do laundry, dinner, raise the kids, exercise, eat perfect, blah blah blah – you know what I am talking about. But then when we fail to meet these expectations we spend just as much time and energy on self-loathing and self-deprecation. For what? And then we place expectations on other people. And what happens to us when those expectations aren’t met? Same negative thought process, but it only really affects our own happiness, not anyone else’s. So be easy on yourself. We are human, and we’re fortunate to be where we are. Next time you let you down or are let down by someone else: check yourself! Was it because you expected otherwise? Was it a fair expectation? Can you change your perspective?

4.     Pain is the catalyst for growth.

After attending a conference this weekend I saw an image that looked something like this - clearly I am not a graphic designer! (Reference: The Tools by Phil Stutz & Barry Michels)  Pain is good thing! If we didn’t feel pain we would be living in our comfort zone constantly.  Pain isn’t fun; in fact, it sucks. But, in reality when we push through the pain, we grow and get closer to becoming our best self. We become better in our workouts, better in our eating habits, better in our career, better in our relationships, better in our lives. If we avoid pain, we are never going to progress. I had the opportunity to sit down with a dear friend last night and she revealed to me her battle with breast cancer. Her story was astounding, “The cancer made me better” She endured pain and has entirely new outlook on life. This brought me back to my reality. No matter what our pain maybe: a workout, a relationship, a health complication, it can teach us to grow, to become our best selves, if we choose to let it.

5.     Happiness is not an option: it is a must.

I know this blog is usually focuses on workouts, food, and a busy schedule, but I felt like we all need a mind workout from time to time. And honestly, the best way to achieve optimal health, I believe, is through happiness. The mind is such an amazing and powerful gift we have, but unfortunately, most of us don’t even know this, and if we do know it, we don’t cultivate it. The secret here is that happiness comes from within you. You can’t find it from a partner, kids, a job, money, amazing body, food, etc. When we are happy we are much likely to succeed: in our work, in our relationships, in our exercise and diet programs, and in life. When were you happiest? What were you doing? How did you feel? How was your health? Make happiness your state of being instead of the place you want to be.

In closing,

·      CHOOSE what is best for you, don’t always decide

·      QUIT what you are doing if you aren’t happy

·      LET GO of expectations and believe in yourself

·      ENDURE pain and great things are waiting

·      BE HAPPY and live your best life!

Thanks for coming back! I look forward to staying in touch with you all!