Hello My Friends;
I'm pleased to share with you this guest post from someone many of you may already know, Carrie Hedstrom. For those of you who don't know Carrie, she is a wife, mother of five (she gave birth to all of them), ironwoman competitor, triathlete, Zumba groover, Sacred Sweater, and an inspiration to me.
Carrie has every reason to say that she is just too busy to exercise but she refuses to make excuses. Instead, she has decided to work on her six-pack abs goal and is doing an amazing job.
This post is a little longer than usual but worth the read. Prepare to be inspired! Thanks for taking the time to share some of your secrets with us Carrie.
In 7 weeks I lost 5 lbs of fat and gained 5 lbs of muscle (130lbs to 125lbs) and dropped from 18% bodyfat to 15%. Not just any 7 weeks of the year: the 7 weeks starting with Thanksgiving and ending right after the New Year! I consider these weeks be the toughest “eating” weeks of the year! Here are some of my secrets.
· Setting goals and Priorities is the first step. Your goals must be specific, have a timeframe and must be positive in nature. For example, “It is April 18th 2011 and I weight 122 lbs and have 14% bodyfat.” Second, your priorities must be in line with your goals. I am in a place in my life right now when I can make fat loss my priority. In a few months, however, I will start to ramp up my Ironman Triathlon training. When that happens, it will not be realistic, safe, or even possible to maintain a significant calorie deficit for fat loss while putting in long hours and crazy mileage of tri training.
· 4 key factors to success
1. Set you goals. Write them down. Pick out some trusted and supportive friends to share them with. Surround yourself with positive and supportive people with similar goals or at least similar attitudes about success and fitness.
2. Nutrition. My eating plan consists of 5 meals a day that include a protein, carb and healthy fat. I eat them about every 3 hours. (no less than 2, no more than 4 hours apart). I cycle my days so that I eat 3 days at 15-20% below my baseline caloric intake and then I have 1 day of baseline caloric intake. This technique accomplishes a few things:
1. It keeps my metabolism at a steady rate of burn and revs it up again after 3 days of deficit so that I do not go into “starvation mode” and adapt to the low calories.
2. It keeps my energy levels, blood sugar, and hormones balanced
3. Provides a psychological relief from the “dieting” of the low days.
4. I can plan my high days when I know I have something I want to enjoy that involves food like going out to eat or a party.
* I also plan in one “Free Meal” a week. This is not a feeding frenzy. But a scheduled meal in which I simply do not think at all about the nutritional value of the meal. This is a huge help especially if you plan it. That way if you are tempted during the week, you can ask yourself, “Is this better than my treat I know is coming up?” If the answer is yes, then go ahead and make that your treat and adjust your plan accordingly and if the answer is no, then it will be easier to resist knowing you have something better planned.
Within my 5 meal a day plan I also organize the meals so that is I am training in the morning, I eat more calories and carbs in the morning. If I train in the evening I eat less in the morning and have more carbs and cals around my work out. So I never cut out carbs, I just taper off the starchy carbs throughout the day so I am eating mostly protein and fibrous carbs in the evening.
For Example: Meal 1: Oatmeal, skim milk, whey protein shake
(pre workout)
Meal 2: 3 egg whites, 1 whole egg, milk, oatmeal, whey protein (post workout)
Meal 3: tuna, rice or baked potato, salad with olive oil dress
Meal 4: greek yogurt, fruit
Meal 5: grilled chicken and broccoli
(note: on the baseline days my extra calories come from more carbs. So basically I add a starchy carb to the last 2 meals on those days) For those who attend HIT on Tues&Thurs, your day would be in reverse of this—bracketing your HIT class with meals 1&2.
3. Training: For the most fat loss I make sure I have a good balance of weightlifting AND cardiovascular training.
Weightlifting: I lift weights 6 days a week. My routine is a 3 day split: Push/Abs, Pull, Legs/Abs with one day off. For beginners, I would recommend 3-4 days a week with 1-2 days of rest in between Total Body Workout or Upper/Lower Split.
Total Body: start with your largest muscles and alternate between push and pull motions. Ex. Back/Chest
Quads/Hams
Shoulder/Abs
Biceps/Triceps
Upper/Lower split: Do upper on one day and lower/abs the next with a day off in between. Ex. Day 1: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps
Day 2: Quads, Hamstrings, lower back, abs
Day 3: Rest
Cardio: HIIT (High intensity Interval Training) is the optimal form of cardio for fat burning. This means raising your heart rate within its aerobic zone for 2-5 minute intervals over the course of 45-60 minutes. You can get a heart rate monitor to make sure you are actually working within your target zones. Ally’s HIT class is a fun and dynamic way to achieve this. Some other good forms of HIIT are Group Kick, Zumba, Sacred Sweat at High Mountain Hall, swimming in sprint intervals, running hills or speedwork on the track, spinning class, or intervals on the elliptical machine. I prefer classes because I can set my own intensity and allow the instructor to motivate me out of my comfort zones. I do cardio 6-7 days a week. (sometimes I do a double session cardio day and take one day off)
My routine is advanced. For those of you attending HIT, adding 3-4 days of weightlifting and one more cardio session would boost your fat loss. Group Power at the Y is a good class for beginners to get a total body workout with rest days in between. Because of its timing it would be a good compliment to HIT.
4. Tracking and Accountability. Keep records of your stats and track them weekly. Record your weight and measurements. Don’t rely just on scale weight. It is quite possible to gain muscle and burn fat at the same time and the results of that may not show up on the scale which can be frustrating. Find some way of tracking your body fat that works for you (it doesn’t have to be accurate—just the same method every time so you can have a baseline to compare). Take before and after photos. It is unnerving to take these pictures, but you really can see changes over time that you may not notice by looking in the mirror every day. Having a friend or group that you must check in with and be accountable may deter you from making a poor choice.
I have 5 children (2 are at home with me during the day). My priorities in life are:
1. Taking care of my home and family
2. My personal fitness goals (to include triathlon training and off-season training)
3. My quilting.
Here are some key personal decisions that help me achieve my goals
· Setting goals and Priorities is the first step. Your goals must be specific, have a timeframe and must be positive in nature. For example, “It is April 18th 2011 and I weight 122 lbs and have 14% bodyfat.” Second, your priorities must be in line with your goals. I am in a place in my life right now when I can make fat loss my priority. In a few months, however, I will start to ramp up my Ironman Triathlon training. When that happens, it will not be realistic, safe, or even possible to maintain a significant calorie deficit for fat loss while putting in long hours and crazy mileage of tri training.
· 4 key factors to success
1. Set you goals. Write them down. Pick out some trusted and supportive friends to share them with. Surround yourself with positive and supportive people with similar goals or at least similar attitudes about success and fitness.
2. Nutrition. My eating plan consists of 5 meals a day that include a protein, carb and healthy fat. I eat them about every 3 hours. (no less than 2, no more than 4 hours apart). I cycle my days so that I eat 3 days at 15-20% below my baseline caloric intake and then I have 1 day of baseline caloric intake. This technique accomplishes a few things:
1. It keeps my metabolism at a steady rate of burn and revs it up again after 3 days of deficit so that I do not go into “starvation mode” and adapt to the low calories.
2. It keeps my energy levels, blood sugar, and hormones balanced
3. Provides a psychological relief from the “dieting” of the low days.
4. I can plan my high days when I know I have something I want to enjoy that involves food like going out to eat or a party.
* I also plan in one “Free Meal” a week. This is not a feeding frenzy. But a scheduled meal in which I simply do not think at all about the nutritional value of the meal. This is a huge help especially if you plan it. That way if you are tempted during the week, you can ask yourself, “Is this better than my treat I know is coming up?” If the answer is yes, then go ahead and make that your treat and adjust your plan accordingly and if the answer is no, then it will be easier to resist knowing you have something better planned.
Within my 5 meal a day plan I also organize the meals so that is I am training in the morning, I eat more calories and carbs in the morning. If I train in the evening I eat less in the morning and have more carbs and cals around my work out. So I never cut out carbs, I just taper off the starchy carbs throughout the day so I am eating mostly protein and fibrous carbs in the evening.
For Example: Meal 1: Oatmeal, skim milk, whey protein shake
(pre workout)
Meal 2: 3 egg whites, 1 whole egg, milk, oatmeal, whey protein (post workout)
Meal 3: tuna, rice or baked potato, salad with olive oil dress
Meal 4: greek yogurt, fruit
Meal 5: grilled chicken and broccoli
(note: on the baseline days my extra calories come from more carbs. So basically I add a starchy carb to the last 2 meals on those days) For those who attend HIT on Tues&Thurs, your day would be in reverse of this—bracketing your HIT class with meals 1&2.
3. Training: For the most fat loss I make sure I have a good balance of weightlifting AND cardiovascular training.
Weightlifting: I lift weights 6 days a week. My routine is a 3 day split: Push/Abs, Pull, Legs/Abs with one day off. For beginners, I would recommend 3-4 days a week with 1-2 days of rest in between Total Body Workout or Upper/Lower Split.
Total Body: start with your largest muscles and alternate between push and pull motions. Ex. Back/Chest
Quads/Hams
Shoulder/Abs
Biceps/Triceps
Upper/Lower split: Do upper on one day and lower/abs the next with a day off in between. Ex. Day 1: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Biceps, Triceps
Day 2: Quads, Hamstrings, lower back, abs
Day 3: Rest
Cardio: HIIT (High intensity Interval Training) is the optimal form of cardio for fat burning. This means raising your heart rate within its aerobic zone for 2-5 minute intervals over the course of 45-60 minutes. You can get a heart rate monitor to make sure you are actually working within your target zones. Ally’s HIT class is a fun and dynamic way to achieve this. Some other good forms of HIIT are Group Kick, Zumba, Sacred Sweat at High Mountain Hall, swimming in sprint intervals, running hills or speedwork on the track, spinning class, or intervals on the elliptical machine. I prefer classes because I can set my own intensity and allow the instructor to motivate me out of my comfort zones. I do cardio 6-7 days a week. (sometimes I do a double session cardio day and take one day off)
My routine is advanced. For those of you attending HIT, adding 3-4 days of weightlifting and one more cardio session would boost your fat loss. Group Power at the Y is a good class for beginners to get a total body workout with rest days in between. Because of its timing it would be a good compliment to HIT.
4. Tracking and Accountability. Keep records of your stats and track them weekly. Record your weight and measurements. Don’t rely just on scale weight. It is quite possible to gain muscle and burn fat at the same time and the results of that may not show up on the scale which can be frustrating. Find some way of tracking your body fat that works for you (it doesn’t have to be accurate—just the same method every time so you can have a baseline to compare). Take before and after photos. It is unnerving to take these pictures, but you really can see changes over time that you may not notice by looking in the mirror every day. Having a friend or group that you must check in with and be accountable may deter you from making a poor choice.
I have 5 children (2 are at home with me during the day). My priorities in life are:
1. Taking care of my home and family
2. My personal fitness goals (to include triathlon training and off-season training)
3. My quilting.
Here are some key personal decisions that help me achieve my goals
· I don’t drink alcohol. Alcohol has not been a part of my life for about 13 years. I know if I did drink, it would undermine even my best fat loss and fitness efforts.
· I get plenty of sleep.
· I try to drink a “ton” of water.
· I don’t have TV.
· I have lots of good sex (I don’t know if that helps—just throwing it out there!)
· I always carry around a jar of dry whey protein powder and piece of fruit so I am never caught without a protein and carb and therefore never miss a meal.
· I try to always give 100% effort at every workout. Otherwise, I don’t bother. Every week I try to make one little change to increase the effort or intensity of my workouts. For example, at HIT, you could this week, try to go lower on your pushups, squat deeper, wear wrist or ankle weights, do one more rep, increase your dumbbell weight, lift your knees higher, crunch harder than last week. Pick one thing and commit to it.
I have reset my goals for the next 12 weeks. Starting January 24th and ending April 18th. I will practice what I am preaching here. My goal is to achieve 122 lbs with 14% bodyfat with the idea of getting closer to my ultimate goal: I want to see my abs. I am always willing to answer questions or clarify anything, and I am always open to advice. What works for you? I’d love to be able to add some “secrets” to my repertoire. I appreciate your time and will keep you posted on my progress over the next 12 weeks. Thanks! -~Carrie~
· I get plenty of sleep.
· I try to drink a “ton” of water.
· I don’t have TV.
· I have lots of good sex (I don’t know if that helps—just throwing it out there!)
· I always carry around a jar of dry whey protein powder and piece of fruit so I am never caught without a protein and carb and therefore never miss a meal.
· I try to always give 100% effort at every workout. Otherwise, I don’t bother. Every week I try to make one little change to increase the effort or intensity of my workouts. For example, at HIT, you could this week, try to go lower on your pushups, squat deeper, wear wrist or ankle weights, do one more rep, increase your dumbbell weight, lift your knees higher, crunch harder than last week. Pick one thing and commit to it.
I have reset my goals for the next 12 weeks. Starting January 24th and ending April 18th. I will practice what I am preaching here. My goal is to achieve 122 lbs with 14% bodyfat with the idea of getting closer to my ultimate goal: I want to see my abs. I am always willing to answer questions or clarify anything, and I am always open to advice. What works for you? I’d love to be able to add some “secrets” to my repertoire. I appreciate your time and will keep you posted on my progress over the next 12 weeks. Thanks! -~Carrie~
