Getting fit and healthy in Stouffville.

New Year, New You, Not going to happen?  Lets make it happen at Stouffville's One-Stop Fitness source.  Our goal and passion is to make Stouffville health and fit.

Calm before the storm at Repetitions Fitness

 After the food coma has subsided and the hangover headache is fading away, we realize that it is a new year and a new month and it's time to make our resolutions.  Most of us have "lose 10 pounds" or "get healthy" as one of our top 3 resolutions, and we should.  Living a healthy lifestyle will allow you to play with your kids longer, run up the stairs without catching your breath, and shovel the driveway without the worry of a heart attack.  There is no need to fall for a get fit quick scam, it took time to put on the weight and it should take time to properly take it off which means it will stay off.  Here are my top 3 tips from someone who has made many new years resolutions and has actually stuck with them past February.

1. Set mini goals
We all work better when we have a goal to work towards.  Whether it is a wedding you are going to, finally wearing that skimpy bikini you bought 3 years ago, or just being able to comfortably slip into your jeans without anything hanging over.  Goals give us a deadline and we all work better with a deadline.  Set mini New Years resolution goals, 1 to be completed at the end of each month.  Treat each month as if it is January 1st all over again.  Sit down at the beginning of the month and pick 1 or 2 things you want to have accomplished before the next month starts.  Make them fun!

Here are some ideas:
- 10 full pushups
- 25 squat jumps
- 10 burpees
- Run 1 block

Start with 1 then add on a few each week.  By the end of the year you will be able to do 100 no problem!

2. Make exercise fun
Not many people get excited to workout out. I am the complete opposite. I honestly can't wait to exercise, it is my time to zone out for 30 minutes and get a good sweat on at my home gym in Stouffville.  Tabata, HIIT, Bootcamp, a Hill Climb on my treadmill or any kind of interval really, gets me so pumped!  It relieves stress, it makes me happy and my children are watching me fall in love with my body instead of shaming it.

Here are some ways I make it fun:
- listen to your favorite music, I have the most random playlists but they are all of my favorite songs - Jennifer Lopez, Justin Timberlake, Marc Anthony, Biggie, and of course all the way back euro anyone can handle!  Music pumps you up and keeps you going to a beat.  Its frustrating to me if I move slower than the beat, so it keeps pushing you to work harder
- watch your favorite TV Show.  I am not the biggest advocate of watching something while you are working out, but if you dedicate half hour of your life to watch your favorite series on Netflix, then do it in front of the treadmill or eliptical.  Start making dates with a workout regime and your favorite show.  Whatever gets you to exercise!

3. Join a group fitness club
It is always more fun (and sometimes a little competitive!) to workout with your friends.  You push each other to go when you feel like crap and would rather stay in your pjs.  You are proud of each pound you lose and when you are together you have someone who knocks the pretzels out of your hand before you eat them.  (True story, this actually happened to me. Love you Laura!)  You become accountable to someone other than yourself and we all need that.  Stouffville Bootcamp has taken residence at Repetitions Fitness Boutique Studio in Stouffville that only offers group based classes.  We have personal training as well if you'd like something more one to one, but the classes are amazing.  There are over 45 classes a week that vary from MMA to Yoga to PiYo and Core Ab training.  Everyone is extremely supportive and we all push ourselves and each other to keep going.  The group fitness classes are only 30 minutes each so if your short on time, they are great, or you can always do a few back to back.  Stouffville Bootcamp also offer fun challenges and healthy living education each month that push you faster towards your goals.  There is a vegan cafe on site so you can have a protein shake or a shot of espresso to give you an extra kick before your next class.  If you would like more information about it check it out by clicking here: Stouffville Fitness Weight-loss.

So this year, your first goal should be to stick with your goals.  Celebrate February first (not with chocolate cake though!) for sticking with your new years resolutions and do that each month.  Take progress pictures and find goal pictures to stick up on your fridge and keep you motivated when you feel like giving up.  You can change the way you look and feel about your body by taking small steps towards big goals.  Let me know what your goals are and I would be happy to give you some tips to sticking with them!  Just don't get mad at me when I check in on you :)

Plank and Ab Core Series - Stage 1

CORE STAGES

The following workout is divided into 4 stages. Only 1 round of the weeks stage should be completed every day regardless if you workout or not. If you are working out that day, end your workout with the Core Stage for that week. If the stage isn't challenging enough, stick to it, and complete the round twice. Stage 1 is to be completed every day for a week, then you can move on to stage 2, 3 and finally 4.  Ensure that when you completing any of the planks, your back is flat and in a straight line from your head to your heels.  Tilt your 'hoo-haa' towards your chest, suck your belly button into your spine and as per usual - KEEP YOUR BUM DOWN!

If you can, try to do it in front of the mirror and check your form.  Form is SUPER important to prevent injury and to have success in this core series.

STAGE 1

HOLD FOR 30 SECONDS 

1. Plank on your knees and forearms                         

2. Right Side Plank on your knees and forearms                           

3. Left Side Plank on your knees and forearms         

4. Starfish Plank up on your toes and forearms

FLIP ON TO YOUR BACK

1. Keeping your legs straight and together, hands under the small of your back, lift your feet 6 inches off the floor

2. Keep your legs 6 inches off the floor and open and close your legs

3. V-Sit - knees bent / feet flat on floor

Trying to see the good in things

As most of you know, every single night I spend a very special hour or two sometimes three, with my oldest daughter Liliana.  This time begins after watching Frozen or Tangled, once we have brushed our teeth, done a pee pee and read a story, no 2 stories.  The lights go off and the party begins.  She cries, she laughs, she asks me if she can tell me a story, a story about a chicken, a little baby chicken.  And with every ounce of me I try to stay quiet and not burst out laughing while simultaneously scream my face off.  Some variation of this has been happening every single night (except for a very amazing 2 weeks, when the sleep training actually worked!!) since she came home from the hospital April 2012.  2 and a half years.  It is bananas.
I have spoken to sleep doulas, emailed sleep experts, read a ridiculous amount of websites and books, talked to a behavior specialist - who gave me the tools to have those 2 amazing weeks,  It was so bad that one 'expert' even told me that preemies can't be sleep trained and to just accept this as my normal.  That was when it was really bad, that was when it was 3-4 hours (no exaggeration) of screaming, crying, hyperventilating, hair being ripped out of her head and eyelash pulling.  Every night, as if it was her job.  And - I WAS IN HER ROOM RIGHT BESIDE HER!!!!
So now, we are down to about an hour or so of somewhat calm tossing and turning, playing with her stuffed animal friend, checking to make sure I am there and begging me to hold her hand but not even wanting it anyways.  I have tried what worked in the past, but she is too smart for that now.  She asks waits for me to get back or she climbs out of her bed and rattles the gate until I come or until her baby sister next door wakes up.
So I stay.  I brush her teeth, do a pee pee, read a story, no 2 stories, hug her and tell her I love her and mentally prepare myself for spending hours in the dark on a super uncomfortable chair, listening to the white noise machine and loathing every minute of it.
Do you know what I could be doing with an uninterrupted hour at the end of the day while I still have energy?!?!  I know, I know because I think about every unfolded piece of laundry, the wet clothes that need to be put in the dryer, the toys on the floor that need to be put away, the dirty dishes that I left on the counter, the work I need to do on my website www.StouffvilleBootcamp.ca, check my facebook, twitter and instagram accounts - you know, the important things a SAHM needs to do!
C'est La Vie.  This will not happen until at least 10pm/ and who the hell wants to do all that at 10pm!!!
So I have decided to try to turn my focus to the positive.  I know try is a weak word according to my husband, but sometimes I am weak so I do mean try.  I am going to use this time to reflect about my day, the week that is coming and what is making me happy or sad.  Some people might call this meditation, and I guess it could be, but I am also going to incorporate a super low intensity workout as well!  what!!  It wouldn't be me unless I was planking as well.  I can't really be mad at my daughter for inheriting my 'i must be missing out on something' and 'need to constantly be social' genes.
This is a guaranteed part of my day - as guaranteed as wiping a bum or feeding someone.  I will absolutely spend a minimum of an hour in complete darkness - so instead of listening to her toss and turn and talk to herself, I am going to spend this hour on my self.  shock.  I'll let you know how that all works out for me.  Maybe my ying will reconnect with my yang and the terrible twos that I deal with during the day, won't' bother me as much.  Or maybe I'll just continue to be sleep deprived and learn to love the sound of an eye lid hitting an eye ball when she pulls at her eyelashes.

Life in the NICU with baby #2

 Samatha Rosie, holding my finger

Our life in the NICU - thank God for that iPad, its the only thing that distracts her from pulling wires and tubes

It has obviously been a while since I have poured my feelings out on "paper" but I feel that I have become overwhelmed with conflicting emotions and should let them out.  I am a very strong and positive person, but sometimes life gets you in this corner that you feel that all you can do is crouch down and let it hit you for a while, knowing that you'll gain your strength again to fight back soon.  Things are out of my control.
Make these decisions and tell me what is the right one:

Liliana had eye surgery on Monday - When do I see Samantha if I am at a different hospital all day and was up at 4am?
Liliana needs to recover all week and wants her mommy to cuddle with - When do I see Samantha if I can't get a babysitter?
Have you ever spent 3 days without seeing your child?  Have you ever spent 3 days not seeing your child while they were in the hospital?  Hold on, has your baby ever even been in the hospital?  Mine has been there for 95 days.
Samantha is internally bleeding because of an allergic reaction to something in my breastmilk - I am off of Wheat, Dairy, Fish, Soy, Nuts and Eggs - The formula they are giving to her is expensive ($30 - 50 a can, that lasts 2-3 days) My options are to stay on this diet in the hopes that she can take my milk and stop bleeding or say F**K it and give her the formula - do the math, its close to $10,000 for the year.

I am home with Liliana and I regularly call the hospital to check in.  I hear my other daughter grunting and crying in pain because her tummy hurts and she has so much gas and poo that her little body can't push out.  I can't be with her to ease her pain because I am easing the pain of my other daughter - an hour away.  Where do you go when you truly need to be in 2 places at once?
On another note, just wrapping my head around being with one child and calling to check in on another child who is being taken care of by a person you have never met is still so hard to do.

You would think being on this super clean diet would have made me lose some weight, funny enough it hasn't made me drop a pound.  I have learned that when I am stressed my body holds on to all the fat it can.  Great, so no benefit there.

Sometimes I fake being happy for the sake of Liliana.  I really just want to crawl in a hole for an hour or so, cry and shake off this nasty feeling.  I am not this person.  I am stronger than that.  People keep saying how well I am taking all this, how they couldn't handle it and if it had to happen, its good it happened to me because I already went through it and came out successful.  This is fricken hard.  The hardest thing that we have ever had to deal with and I dont know how I am holding it all in.  I really dont.  Liliana went in for her surgery and I went with her.  I held her (along with 5 other people) down while they put the mask on her to put her to sleep.  I saw my child fight with every ounce of her strength not to get this weird thing put on her face by some weird man and I had to let it happen.  I walked out of the OR and was overwhellmed with tears - but didnt cry.  The doctor said she has never seen such a strong mom, that clearly I was made for this and that going through everything we have gone through with the girls has made me so strong - and still I didn't cry.  Have I become too strong that I can't shed emotion when I should?  Will I melt once my life can start again with my family all under one roof? I have no clue.  but I know that I am not alone.  and I might be laughed at or felt sorry for by writing this and sharing it with the world, but I dont care.  Punch me all you want, I am already in the corner - give me a few weeks - I'll be right back up.