Progress Not Perfection
Post by Pamela | May 3rd, 2012
I was recently honored to be chosen to do a guest post for my Eat Clean Hero, Tosca Reno. This post appeared on her blog on April 27, 2012. I wanted to share it here, just in case you missed it. Go to Tosca's blog to read all the other outstanding vegetarian and vegan guest posts.
image by W Brian DuncanI am a vegetarian.
I eat clean.
I am a personal trainer.
I am not perfect.
My whole fitness journey, now in its 14th year, has been a work in progress. First, learning how to manage portions and find balance in my early meat free but carb heavy diet. Then learning being fit doesn’t mean spending hours in the gym; it’s quality not quantity that matters in workouts. More recently I discovered clean eating and how to do it without chicken or salmon and fewer frozen veggie burgers.
It’s this concept of progress, not perfection, and slow transformation that I teach to my clients. They want to change every aspect of their diet and fitness overnight. They want to know what I eat or what I do when I work out. I am never afraid to share my workouts or food log, but I always tell them it took me years to get where I am today. In fact, my goal is to help prevent them from making many of the mistakes that I did by giving them the tools that I didn’t have when I started, like Clean Eating Magazine
I reassure them, telling them it may seem slow but in 6 months or a year they will look back and be amazed at how far they have come, one small change at a time. I also counsel them that it will never be perfect but each choice is an opportunity to be a better.
That’s why I live and teach a clean eating, plant based and fit lifestyle. I’m not perfect, but each day I want to be better. I believe I can be better. I believe you can be better too.
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3 Moves for a Better Backside
Post by Pamela | April 30th, 2012
photo by EasyMakesMeHappyI think I have a new nickname.
I am … the Booty Lifter.
I have several clients who have commented on the lift they’ve been given in their backsides since they started working with me. I can see it in their progress pictures too. Where there was flatness there are now curves. Where there was sagging there is now shape. I feel I have found my calling – helping women lift their derrieres.
If your backside isn’t as shapely as you would like it to be try adding one (or all) of these 3 moves to your workout routine. These are all on regular rotation in my client programs and the results speak for themselves.
- Single Leg Romanian Deadlift: The glutes are your primary stabilizer muscle in the legs. This move doesn’t even require a weight to be effective. It’s top of my list for a bikini ready body.
- Single Leg Bridge: Bridge is a common yoga pose. This version focuses on the glutes by shifting the lifting of the body to one leg. I always tell my clients to keep the sole of their shoe parallel to the ceiling. Then squeeze the glutes to lift, as though they are trying to push up the ceiling.
- Reverse Lunges: Lunges hit the front and back of the leg. The secret to putting the focus on the glutes is to take a bit wider than normal step back.
These moves will help you rock the short shorts this summer. But don’t forget, to really show off your new found shape you need to eat clean too! Try my Post Workout Pina Colada as part of your summer shape up plan.
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Is Cows Milk Healthy Ep 56
Post by IPBrian | April 27th, 2012
Personal Trainer Pamela Hernandez answers a viewer question about drinking cows milk.
In this video is advice for:
- Is cows milk ok?
- Reasons people might have for not drinking cows milk.
- Alternatives to Cows Milk.
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Battling Weight Stigma
Post by Pamela | April 26th, 2012
photo by Ludovic BertronI came across an interesting study recently about the stress of being judged for being overweight. Brenda Major, from the University of California-Santa Barbara, conducted a study of 99 women of varying sizes. Based on BMI, each group had approximately 1/3rd normal weight, 1/3rd overweight and 1/3rd obese females.
The women were asked to give a speech about themselves as potential dating partners, which they thought would be evaluated for potential dating ability by researchers. Half thought they were being video taped while the other half thought there were being recorded for audio only (not visible).
Women with a higher BMI saw marked increases in blood pressure and stress, with poorer performance on executive control tests than their normal weight counterparts when they thought they were being video taped.
The cause: the anxiety from a fear of being judged for their size.
Now imagine that every day in the real world: job interviews, grocery shopping or shopping for clothes. People treating you as though you aren’t there, not wanting to look you in the eye. Perhaps making jokes about food or size at your expense. Or people branding you as lazy due to your size. It happens more often than we think and we may do it when we aren’t even aware of it.
The stress of it all doesn’t help. It perpetuates it. It takes glucose from the body, glucose the brain needs to make good decisions and say no to the awful junk that society is peddling as food. The stress and disrespect create a vicious cycle for those trying so hard to make positive changes in their health and fitness.
Most overweight people are actually trying quite hard every day to not be overweight. It takes a lot of effort to starve oneself with liquid diets, eat bland frozen meals or to self inject questionable hormones. Many fad diets are quite a challenge to maintain. That’s why they don’t work for long. Those that figure out the real way to get healthy and fit still face an uphill battle because of the way our society and lifestyles are set up. The bad choices are everywhere; to make good ones takes a lot of work.
To make progress in the health of those we love (or even those we don’t know) we need to leave the judgment behind. Everyone deserves respect and support, we are all human beings trying to do the best we can in an obesegenic society.
Take a moment today and think of one way you can make a positive change and create a more healthy and fit environment.
- Take the candy dish off your desk.
- Ask a co-worker to go for a walk.
- Give your employees time off each week for exercise.
- Donate the fitness DVDs you don’t use anymore to a local women’s shelter.
One small action may not solve the obesity epidemic but they could change one or two lives for the better.
“You must be the change you want to see in the world.”- Mahatma Gandhi
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My Favorite Dumbbell Exercises
Post by Pamela | April 23rd, 2012
image by ericmcgregorSometimes I forget how much I like basic free weight training.
My workouts recently have been full of kettlebells, jump squats and intervals that push my endurance. I’ve done a lot of body weight exercises, like push ups and planks. I love these exercises and what they do for my body. I love the challenge of pullups. I still dream of being able to do a one handed push up a la Demi Moore in G.I. Jane. Yet, recently, I felt something was missing.
It was the dumbbells.
Perhaps it’s been my schedule, being extremely time pressed and on the road, that has kept me focused on only the most efficient of exercises and workouts. Or maybe it’s my emphasis on getting the most bang for the workout buck for my clients who are working out only 2-3 times a week. But somehow I had forgotten the joy, and effectiveness, of focused dumbbell exercises in split workouts.
I also had to remember my own advice on the importance of taking time for oneself. My goal to continue to refine my shape, not lose weight, required me to change my training and give a little more to myself. 15 minute activity blasts and express workouts are useful tools but they should not be the only option. I was short changing myself.
So I started a new upper/lower 4-day workout split. I’m still efficient with my time, none of my workouts are longer than 45 minutes, and I keep my heart rate up by using supersets. The exercises that I’m loving right now are:
- Dumbbell front squats: These hit the quads slightly more by putting the weight at the front of the body. I’m doing them offload, with a dumbbell only on one side and slow. I count slowly to 3 on the descent. Anytime you slow down it makes an exercise more challenging.
- Arnold Press: Yes, they’re named for the Govenator and they are challenging shoulder shapers. I prefer to do them standing so I work my core stabilizers at the same time.
- Incline Dumbbell Bench Press: I was surprised how sore my chest was the next day. It just proves the body adapts to anything, even push ups. I also used a bench (instead of my usual stability ball) allowing me to push a little more weight than I might have otherwise.
My workouts feel new and fresh with these “old” exercises, and my muscles are responding well. It’s amazing how much fun it is to make the old new again. I also mentally feel better; giving myself much needed decompression time. Those slow counts on the squats aren’t just good for my muscles, my brain gets to slow down and focus too.
We all need a plan B, quick workouts and exercises we can do in a time crunch. I believe in the power of functional and bodyweight training. But I also believe in the power of iron to sculpt beautiful curves and refresh my spirit. Take a little time, slow it down and invest in a strong and beautiful body.
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