The Buddy System…plus pics

January 30, 2013 MPiccolo2 Comments

This made me laugh because I know there are people out there that could CARE LESS about what I did today for my workout. And guess what? That’s exactly why I rarely post what workouts I do.

However, there are other women (mainly) that DO want to know what I’m doing in the gym and vice versa for me…which is why I joined a couple forums (yes, they still exist in internet-land) specifically for potential figure competitors and current competitors as well. What a great way to get information and share and VENT about this whole process!

For those who are interested the two forums are SiouxCountry and Precision Nutrition. The latter is more of a nutrition message board but you have to purchase the program in order to enjoy the forum. You can still look at the blog and the articles I believe as a non-paying member.

What I’ve been doing lately is taking my meal plan from my coach and just making the tiniest modifications to it. My main modification? Adding more veggies. That’s the only thing I feel is truly lacking.

I also got a text from one of my friends who would like to workout with me. This is a first! I don’t think I’ve worked out WITH or alongside someone in….ummm…ever? Unfortunately my schedule is kinda goofy so looks like Sundays are our only options. It’ll be nice to workout with someone for once instead of alone. Most days I enjoy being in my own zone doing my own thing but once in a while I get a yearning for some sort of contact from someone. Social media and electronic forms of communication get old after awhile.

As for pics, I was an idiot and took updated pics but neglected to take the FRONT of myself. Just side and back. I blame the fact that it was literally first thing in the morning.

So I thought I would just post the side as a BEFORE from October and an AFTER from yesterday. You can definitely see some baby abs forming. 🙂 And this is also for those peeps who thought “I can’t believe you had 16lbs and 20inches to lose!” Well, yeah you can see where most of it was storing itself. Pics really do help to see the difference!

I’ll be sure to post better, full body shots next week.

Until next time!

-Michelle

Random Tweet: “Stop the presses! Faster Pussycat House of Pain is playing on WMMS. I’m rockin out in my car…#notashamed“

Unchartered Territory

January 24, 2013 MPiccolo1 Comment

“Those who think they have not time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” By: Edward Stanley

This quote popped up on an app I have just moments after speaking to someone who insisted that he did not have any time to devote to exercise. This person works very long hours and claims he does not have any time left in the day do get on his treadmill at home for even a quick 20 minute walk.

After hearing his complaints and then seeing this quote I thought, “There HAS to be a way to help this person.” Because it’s so true isn’t it? If we don’t take care of our bodies and MOVE a little more everyday during our sedentary life, (I’m standing as I type this because I refuse to sit during my desk job all day) we WILL be plagued with illness.

I’ve heard it so many times from many people that they wish they would have started getting on the path to health ages ago or “right after I had kids” or “before I turned 40” and now it’s so much harder for them to create that habit. And maybe now they do have diabetes or an injury or something that prevents them from really working out to their full potential.

It’s one of the most frustrating parts of being a Personal Trainer; I want to help as many people as I can and even if financially, there is no problem, it’s still the BEHAVIOR that has to be implemented. And THAT is probably the hardest part.

Dr. John Berardi from Precision Nutrition posted his blog today about this subject with regards to coaches/personal trainers. I found one of his quotes very interesting:

“Yet “dieting” or embarking on a new fitness plan in the 21st century means purposely enduring discomfort, restricting activities and foods that soothe us (or give us a “high”), and/or adding more demands or stimulation to an already busy schedule.

If you think about it, why would any client ever eat less and go to a gym with bright lights, loud music, and unfamiliar equipment, in order to expend excess energy?”

Wow. I mean, he’s right! As a coach/trainer I’m telling the average person with a 9-5 job: “I want you to get up in the morning and come to a place you aren’t too familiar with yet and wear clothes that you can sweat in so I can watch you exercise and instruct you on what to do and then I want you to go home and make yourself a meal that’s healthy, oh and if you go to work and there are donuts at the office avoid those at all costs,…etc”

It shouldn’t be a surprise that many folks are afraid of exercising and dieting. They have that fear of the unknown. They’ve never done this before and asking them to completely change their daily routine is extremely unnerving.

I began on this figure journey in a similar way; I’ve never done anything like this before and it was uncomfortable and I was fearful. I continue to be fearful of what is to come! But it’s more of an exciting, anxiousness than actual fear. Because I gave myself such a long-term goal, there really isn’t any pressure on me. And there shouldn’t be pressure on anyone with a desire for change. You put that pressure on yourself but you have the ability to make it easy or hard on yourself everyday. I think once people realize THEY are in control and the coach or personal trainer you hire is just a GUIDE, you can get much better results. You have the guidance, you have the tools, now it’s up to you to use them.

So my challenge of the day/week/month/year for anyone out there is to not let fear stand in your way of your fitness goals – This is more than just saying “If you want something bad enough, just do it.” That’s all well and good but I think it’s much deeper than that. If you have always wanted to do something that challenges your body and your mind, you should do research first and figure out the best approach. And if you’re looking for the quick fix, then unfortunately you will fail because it doesn’t exist. And you will be back to where you started. So make up your mind today if you’re doing to lose weight and get fit the RIGHT way or the STUPID way.

Here’s a hint: If you’re finding things to be ~~difficult~~ challenging and ~~frustrating~~ slow-going and telling yourself ~~“I thought this would be easy!”~~ “This is hard, I don’t know if I can do this!” then you probably chose the RIGHT way. 🙂

-Michelle

Hurry up and Wait

January 17, 2013 MPiccoloLeave a comment

There’s a little saying in the production world where I used to work that if you were on the crew you would say to one another as a joke: “Hurry up and wait.” I have no idea where this saying came from, perhaps it’s applicable to your job.

The reason behind it is the rush of trying to get things done, only to have to wait for certain things to happen first. When I worked as a production coordinator, you would hurry up and get everyone in place ready to shoot a scene, only to have to wait for someone else to make things happen. Maybe the actor that was hired is still in wardrobe or makeup, maybe the lighting still isn’t quite right, maybe the teleprompter won’t start up (that last one is from personal experience). Talk about a panic attack as everyone sits there and just waits and stares at you to solve the problem so they can get through the day. Glad those days are behind me!

I thought of this saying today as I was frantically emailing and messaging various people online asking all kinds of questions about my figure competition goal. I recently opened up and sent some pictures of myself to a very well known trainer who told me I was way too thin to even think about competing this year. Granted she made it clear it was her own opinion and she is just looking at pictures of me but it threw me off a little bit.

I did ask for her advice so I brought that on myself. And I knew she would be honest. After thinking about it for awhile I realized she’s only saying I need to train 3 months longer than I had originally planned. No big deal right?

See the problem with being surrounded by other trainers and being a trainer myself as well as having a fair amount of knowledge about nutrition, I am constantly researching what the best method is for training for this competition. At the same time I’m getting all kinds of advice. So with this advice and research, the self-doubt kicks in.

All of a sudden I thought to myself “Maybe I’m doing too much cardio. Maybe I should do what that woman is doing…maybe I should eat like that guy is telling people. Shouldn’t I be seeing muscle gains by now? How come I’m not losing the fat quicker? How long is this going to take?!”

I worked my brain into a frenzy. But worst of all, I didn’t trust my coach. I hired this man for a reason and I realized I need to stick with the plan. There is no rushing this process. It’s going to take time. A year? Well, maybe. But after I got some great advice from two competitors that I contacted, I understand that I can still do my show as intended in October this year as a “warm-up.” Then, if I choose to, do another show as the “real deal” in the Spring of 2014.

I also took a step back this week to remind myself why I started this whole thing: For myself; to change my body; to see how far I could take this body and my fitness level and to essentially show off all my hard work. I’m not doing this for a trophy, for a prize, for anything more than to say “I did this.” So back to the drawing board, although I never really left the board. I just took a temporary leave to get my mind straight.

Now that it’s on straight, I can say this:

“It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you do not stop.”

I’m not stopping. I will keep going. I can do this.

-Michelle

Have an Attitude with Gratitude

January 11, 2013January 11, 2013 MPiccolo2 Comments

A few times today I either read a text or another blog post or a status update that had some distressing or discouraging health issues. I took a step back and realized I am so very lucky to be healthy.

One person blogged about how she has all these symptoms that no doctor/endocrinologist/internist/GI can seem to diagnose. Another status update came from a person suffering from Crohn’s who has chronic joint pain from her medication (she’s supposedly in her 20’s and feels ancient). Ironically she’s on the same medication I’m on. Then there was the picture of a fitness competitor who had a stroke last year (while on the stage by the way) and is 40 years old and still trying to live a healthy life. She posted a pic of her wearing a heart monitor for the next 30 days so her docs can monitor her heart beat. Lastly, got a text from Mom that her chemo is working and her doctor is hopeful and encouraged.

This last one of course made me feel great, but more importantly I’m feeling grateful. Grateful that I don’t have these illnesses, these symptoms, these downright scary diseases that some people have.

However, everyone that takes their health seriously like these people, are fighters. They aren’t giving up. They aren’t asking Why Me. They are fighting everyday. So today, everyday, I will try to think of these people, even though they are strangers and faceless or I just see them on a social network somewhere. I will think of THEIR fight and how they are choosing to move on and live their life despite their health concerns.

Here’s to happy and healthy weekend!

-Michelle

“My food is my fuel…my food is my fuel…”

January 4, 2013 MPiccolo3 Comments

This mantra has been on repeat in my head all day today. Why? Because today started meal plan #2 from Coach Davies.

Before I go into what Coach has in store for me this month let me just boast that today, FINALLY, I was able to break through my plateau. I weighed myself this morning after not getting on the scale for a week, to find that I’m down to 125lbs. What a relief!

I was somewhat concerned I would never see it budge ever again. And although I am well aware that it’s not really about the scale at all, I do like to at least know what kind of a range I’m in right now. Plus, today was the weigh out for my little bet I had going with my friend Craig. I proudly exclaimed on Facebook that he owes me $20…

Yes Virginia, it IS possible to lose weight over the holidays: 9lbs down from Thanksgiving until today. The only rule we set out from this bet was that I would not do any diet pills (as if) weight loss shakes or anything like that. I promise I stood by these rules.

I can also add that a FB friend of mine from high school, ALSO took on the challenge of losing weight during the holidays and she lost 5lbs too! So yes, it can happen.

I tallied up the amount of cookies I had from Thanksgiving until Christmas Day and it totaled 20. I can even remember exactly what I ate (is this normal?)

Thanksgiving: 2 Chocolate chip cookies

The Dessert Party on December 9th: Already posted about this but just to repeat: 1 triple layer cookie, a piece of angel food cake, a small bite of pumpkin pie (really don’t need to count this do I?) 1 of those sugary icing deliciousness cookies.

Christmas Day (for us was Sunday the 23rd): 6 chocolate balls, 3 buckeyes (This is Ohio ya know) 1 homemade cut out cookie.

Christmas Eve: 4 cookies at work of various types, 1 sugar cookie at dinner.

So for anyone who thinks I just avoided all sugar, you are sorely mistaken. I definitely enjoyed my fill.

I would say this may have been part of the reason I plateaued almost the whole month of December. Maybe not, but I think it’s interesting that all of a sudden I lose 2lbs the second I stop eating the junk? Hmmmm…

As for my meal plans and getting back on track (although I didn’t really get off track, did I?) last month my Coach had me eating alot of egg whites, chicken, and flank steak. This month, even MORE egg whites, asparagus, tilapia

or cod (yum!) and green beans,

among other things. Besides the meal plan becoming more of a challenge, the workouts are much more intense as well. Sprints, plyometrics, walking backwards on the treadmill and stairmaster (I have yet to master this. I am convinced I will fall and make myself look like an idiot.)

The mantra “My food is my fuel” came into my brain after reading a woman’s FB post recently. Her name is Amy Jo Horvath and she’s a National Physique Committee competitor. Here’s her FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/AmyJoHorvathNpcFigureCompetitor

She’s also a mom and wife and is in full contest prep mode. This means she basically has to find time to train and eat clean still be a full time mommy and wife. I must say, at least on the surface of her FB page, she is on top of it!

A few weeks ago she posted how she had to eat her prepared food in her car. She ended the post with “Food is fuel!” It stuck with me as I downed cold Cream of Rice and egg whites this morning, literally fork in right hand, driving with the left. This wasn’t as difficult as it sounds (although I do not suggest doing it).

The second meal of the day proved more challenging to stomach: Tuna, egg white and diced asparagus. Perhaps it was the lack of flavor…perhaps just the sloppiness of trying to get tuna and asparagus on the fork…but it was by far the hardest part of my day. (I know how silly that sounds considering the hardest part of the day for most people is probably way worse)

But THAT’s when the mantra kicked in. And in the end I ate it all. I didn’t puke, I didn’t feel sick…lo and behold I actually felt full and energetic.

Wow, who would have thought? Good food = good things. What a concept!

The only downside to this new meal plan? It’s true what they say about asparagus. I will let the reader figure that one out.

Time to get sleep…because as awesome as food is, it’s equally important to rest and recover for the day that comes tomorrow.

-Michelle

Random tweet: I burned 97,611 calories in 2012. But sadly, I didn’t log all my workouts. So it’s probably more. #random #exercise #workoutfreak

The Anti-New Years Resolution

December 29, 2012December 29, 2012 MPiccoloLeave a comment

I’m officially sick and tired of the “New Year New You!” mantra plastered over Fitness and Health Magazines every January. Gyms and health clubs are guilty of these slogans and promotions too. You walk into any gym for that matter in the month of December and January and there are specials and deals going on usually meant to entice that vulnerable gym newbie who wants to accomplish the usual for the new year: lose weight.

This time I’m going to do it. This time I won’t give up and I won’t give in and I’ll diet and I’ll workout everyday and I won’t stop.

But every year, usually in mid February, they do stop. They slack off . They don’t have support at home. They get caught up at work. They stop coming to the gym. They fall off the wagon. They give up and they feel like they failed.

This vicious cycle creates a sort of animosity I have noticed among the frequent gym ~~freaks~~ patrons. Comments are made, looks are exchanged and gestures are made. Granted of course, not everyone does this. I am generalizing here. But speaking from the standpoint of a trainer, I can assure you there are people out there who really look down on those people coming to the gym for the first time and treat them like the plague. I have witnessed this juvenile behavior from adults more times than I care to remember.

This time around, how about we make a resolution to leave the NYE’ers (New Years Resolutioners, yeah I just made up that word) alone and let them be. No approach. No pouncing. Just letting people do their own thing with no judgement.

For those looking to lose weight, you can start January 1st but why set yourself up for failure? I had repeatedly told my consultations “I highly recommend you start out really slow with this long term goal” in the beginning of January. They wanted no part of that. They wanted results and they wanted them quickly. I’ve heard from many people “Oh no, I’m going to come here everyday for this entire month. Otherwise I won’t come at all!”

Pretty sure you can guess what happened. They came in for about a week straight and then POOF! they were gone. What a waste of time, money and effort.

If you have tried to lose weight every January unsuccessfully, then perhaps a new approach is needed. My best advice is baby steps. Break it out into phases. And don’t call it a resolution. That word itself carries with it such a stigma of “Ugh, not THIS time of year again!” Just call it what it is: a goal.

Ask yourself: Have you ever MET anyone who actually stuck to their Resolution? I mean really stuck with it? Maybe I’m in the minority but I have found people stick with their goals when they start them when the TIME is right, and usually, it’s not January 1st. Start when the time is right for you. Don’t let any of these magazines, tv shows, (ahem Biggest Loser), co-workers, family, friends, social media..tell you that “The Time to start is January 1st!! ”

No, the time to do it is when YOU decide. When YOU are in a good place mentally and financially (yes its going to be an investment) to do it YOUR way.

Oh and in case you were wondering, the best month to make your new years resolution? August. According BusinessWeek.com here http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-12-25/how-to-keep-new-years-resolutions-make-them-in-august

Mini Update on Me, because, lets just admit this is all about me: Currently awaiting my new meal plan since it’s been almost a month since hiring my Coach.

The “Lose 5bls between Thanksgiving and January 3rd” bet I have going with my friend Craig is in the bag. That’s $20 is as good as mine since I’ve actually lost 7lbs.

Aiming to lose 1 more by the 3rd since I hate odd numbers.

Probably one more post coming before the end of 2012.

-Michelle

Looking for the positives in a sea of negatives

December 16, 2012August 18, 2019 MPiccoloLeave a comment

Feeling a little strange writing a post after such a violent and morbid week in our country. But someone on Facebook mentioned “In times like this it’s really easy to just give up…with everything. Not just fitness but life goals in general. But now is the best time to exercise your mind and your body. A time to heal.”

My pastor put it well this morning too in his homily…”Find the joy, even in times of evil and tragedy.”

On a lesser scale, we do tend to give up in times of struggle don’t we? An injury will sideline us and leave us feeling like it’s just easier to give up rather than try to heal quickly or correctly. A bad weekend of food bingeing or drink might make us feel like throwing in the towel and just buying all that processed food that we so adamantly swore off not too long ago. A loss of life or a big life event might make us reconsider finishing up a project because we just don’t have the drive anymore.

But the time is more perfect than ever to get back up and try again. To not give up…and not be a quitter. Friday was a particularly difficult day in my own personal life after I got some discouraging news about a family member’s illness. Obviously not trying to compare two events but this past week seemed particularly depressing for numerous reasons.

So this post is about the positives I have found in my little life this past week:

1. I got to hang with my best friend and update her on all this figure stuff last night. She even volunteered to make “Piccolo Supporter” t-shirts when it’s competition time. Too cute. (Of course I’m considering her letting her do this because lets face it, who WOULDN’T want their own cheering section with t-shirts!?)

2. I posted my progress pics with no serious side effects. This was a hard thing for me to do, self reflection sucks. But necessary and I’m very happy that I did.

3. I’m enjoying this ~~global warming~~ 60 degree weather today. As I walked out of Yoga (yes Yoga) today I couldn’t help but smile and feel like after a tragedy like this, comes a re-birth. I’m such a yogi. 😉

4. My nephew celebrated his 10th birthday on Saturday and he is such a thankful child. I’m very much the proud auntie. Grateful I have not one but 2 adorable nephews to spoil.

5. I still FEEL good. I explained to my friend last night that although it was just 10lbs, I feel like I’ve lost more and never realized how much it was, literally, weighing me down. Feels good to fit in clothes like they were meant to fit.

Time to go prep my food for this week and keep on truckin along on this fitness journey.

If you have a goal (and you know you do) don’t give up.

Progress Pics

December 12, 2012December 12, 2012 MPiccolo8 Comments

I don’t even want to make a big deal out of this even though this is probably one of the more difficult things I have posted. It’s not like anyone is forcing me to do this of course but if you have a goal you better make sure you note a starting point. And with weight loss, pictures are pretty much the best route to go.

I didn’t manipulate these photos in any way EXCEPT brightness and contrast because some turned out so bright and some not so bright. It took me a second to understand how to add text to a picture as you can see from one of the December pics. I never figured out how to delete the text so….you are left with this. Photoshop smart I AM NOT.

Left: October Center: November Right: December

I’m at 137.5lbs in the October pics, 133lbs in the November pics and 127 in the December 10th pic.

Thanks to Danielle for stitching these all together for me!!

The Holiday Pledge – in color!

December 1, 2012 MPiccoloLeave a comment

So today being December 1st, it’s officially the “Holiday” season. With that, I give you my Holiday Pledge (originally posted a few weeks ago) but this time my friend Justin made it all pretty for me. 🙂

Ain’t it great?!

If you have a pledge, feel free to share it in the comments section or just use mine!

-Michelle

Go ahead, have that cake…and that pie…and that chocolate…

October 30, 2012 MPiccolo1 Comment

So as the title suggests these past two days were quite…”challenging” to say the least. My first celebration since getting serious about getting this body in shape was this Sunday, my Dad’s 70th Birthday.

The day started out great with a workout at a new gym! Well, not new….as a matter of fact it’s 15 years old. But it was new to me. I decided to try it out because I’m trying to get out of my contract with a gym that’s about 35 minutes away from me. I joined when I worked closer to it and paid for a year in full. In any case, I found a bare bones no-frills gym about 10 minutes from my house. Jackpot! I promptly signed up for a free 7 day pass.

As I entered, I realized No Frills should be their slogan. No shower, one little bathroom in the locker room…a few lockers. But hey, I don’t need much. Just give me some weights and cables and pulleys and I’m happy. I was the only female there on Sunday morning but didn’t matter. Sometimes I get a little creeped out if I’m the only chick in a gym…like at some point some random dude is going to come up to me and tell me what I’m doing wrong or ask me why the hell I’m lifting weights and not on the elliptical. I got some looks that told me I’m one of the few women that actually ATTENDS this little gym. But no worries, I held my own.

I came back from the gym and went to the store to spend money I don’t have on food I really need. I went to a bigger grocery store with better selections…I actually researched how to find http://www.navitasnaturals.com/ snacks and saw that they sell them at this grocery store not far from my house. I even went so far as to ask someone where to find them but when I went to the aisle, they were not there! BOOOOO. No worries, I got plenty of stuff. $148 worth of food to be exact. Yikes. But I am determined to make it last as long as possible.

Enter Birthday Celebration: Okay I can handle this I thought. Here’s what was offered: Pizza, KFC chicken, biscuits, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie, birthday cake and ice cream.

Here’s what I ate: 1 piece of pizza (plain), 1 piece of chicken, 1 piece of cake, 1 slice of pumpkin pie.

I refuse to put in pictures of this food because I think you all know what these things look like right? Great…Read on.

Not terrible right? I survived! It wasn’t the best but one bad meal will not undo all the hard work I’ve done this month.

Enter Hurricane Sandy: So I’m not going to pretend this storm devastated us here in Cleveland compared to all the lives lost and damages done in NYC and NJ. But it did have a small contribution to my food failure today: Power outage.

So when you just purchased a ton of healthy food, and the power goes out, you tend to panic and want to EAT all the food you bought before it goes bad. No I didn’t eat everything in sight, but I definitely got off track a little bit.

The biggest downfall which seems silly to even mention? I couldn’t use my Vitamix. Anyone who knows me knows I’m in love with my Vitamix.

I use it at least 2 times a day. I almost considered bringing it to my work so I could make my smoothie there. I work at a small personal training and fitness studio so it actually wouldn’t have been TOO odd. But I made do with my new favorite drink http://www.sambazon.com/ and a banana and a little Fage yogurt with blueberry before my cardio workout at work. I mainly went to get warm but figured, I’m due for a workout anyways.

Lunch was fine, tuna sandwich with Olive Oil based Mayo and another Fage yogurt. (see what I mean about eating all this stuff before it goes bad?).

I snacked on some of my mini sweet peppers and came home to have baked chicken and sauteed veggies.

But guess what was sitting in the fridge just asking to be eaten??? One last piece of birthday cake and one last piece of pumpkin pie. UGH! Had to have it!! HAD TO!!! (I’m sure none of the other 3 people in my house was going to eat it…)

The Aftermath: Feeling a little crappy. A little upset I let myself fail not once but twice. But again, when you think about the bigger picture, it’s really not anything to lose sleep over. I’m almost glad it happened because this was almost like a little test-drive before the real holidays hit. I have no idea how that’s going to go with me and this whole plan because it’s impossible to assume I will skip all sweets altogether. We’ll have to wait and see.

The Plan: In addition to the bootcamp class I was going to take tomorrow morning, I will be hitting the weights as planned but also going to try to fit in a second boxing class at night. Just going for a big calorie burn without overdoing it. And I’ll probably take Thursday off or just do abs. Back to weights Friday.

Move on people, nothing more to see (or eat) here for the night.

On the press for Thursday/Fridays blog post: Fitness professionals promoting questionable products. Already got alot of ideas on what I want to write about for this…gonna be a good one.

-Michelle

Random iTunes song: Your Fractured Life by Air Traffic

Random Tweet of the day: My Dad’s car this morning (no it’s not destroyed although we haven’t taken the tree off of it yet..)

The Joyful Celibate

"Accepted with a joyful heart, celibacy radiantly proclaims the reign of god"

Category: Miscellaneous

Have an Attitude with Gratitude

“My food is my fuel…my food is my fuel…”

The Anti-New Years Resolution

The Holiday Pledge – in color!

Go ahead, have that cake…and that pie…and that chocolate…