Wednesday --- Wonderous NEW CHALLENGE

Hello Power Fitness PDX'ers!

I hope the last day of June is fantastic! Tomorrow starts a new month, which is a perfect time for revisiting your goals and your health and "fitspirations".  Many of you have talked about wanting to make big changes, making Summer be very active, yet are struggling in one way another. What are those struggles? And are they habits that can be changed easily or ones that will take time? A big part of the struggles that have been shared with me and in class are the food choices and food quantities.  You are with me from 2-3 hours each week to work HARD and be PUSHED, and with yourself the other 165 hours. In those 3 hours, let yourself be PUSHED and don't give up. Your body can do incredible things, and you have the ability to push yourself FAR. But in addition to being pushed, let's everyone work on training to go even longer on your own workouts and push yourself to do more challenging exercises.  YOU CAN DO IT.

Thus the struggles. In class last month one PFPDX'r shared she felt stronger and was complimented by her family on her defined biceps...but she was bummed about her core and not having the stomach she'd hoped for. This is the stuggle you are aware of...much of the extra "love" is from adipose tissue that likes to deposit on the stomach, hips, back and inner thighs.  You can exercise tons, but to see significant shifts in the adipose areas, your diet needs to be changed.  AND not just diet, but balance and juggling the daily diet.  For some people, they don't want to make food changes but will workout more to regulate their caloric consumption. While that counters increased caloric intake, it doesn't counter the lack of healthy nutrients your body needs.  In order to really feel different on the inside and outside with one's body, think of food as fuel.  You wouldn't have your child skip breakfast and only drink coffee with sweetner, grab a muffin for lunch at Starbucks, and then enjoy 2 glasses of wine while cooking dinner....so why do you?  To eat natural foods 90% of the time and special foods (ie: Goldfish Crackers, cookies, brownies, richer pasta dish, extra glass of wine) 10% of the time is realistic.  But if you can challenge yourself to ONE week of eating clean and not drinking, by week's end YOU WILL feel different. By clean eating I mean fruits, vegetables, lean meat slices, nuts, grilled tofu, spices instead of milk/cream based sauces, non-processed foods, cooking every meal, not using frozen dinners or store bought and increase your water to 100 oz/day.  Go to the Market Place and Farmer's Market and pick 3 new vegetables to incorporate into your meals, 3 new fruits to try, and extra virgin olive oil.  The little changes from one week to the next gradually become habits which is what you want. 

With the one week CLEAN challenge, email me YOU ARE IN.  In addition to eating clean, add 30 minutes of exercise daily.  The days are longer, 30 minutes is attainable. It is a walk to the market instead of drive, using the stairs at BART instead of escalator, taking a lunch break for 3 mile run...you can add it in. By weeks end, you've exercised an additional 3.5 hours!  

CLEAN Challenge: July 5-July12.
Write down what you eat daily and water intake.
Write down daily exercise and bonus workouts throughout the week.
Summer is the time to have fun and train more!
The Challenge is a motivator.  At the end, those who participated the entire week are entered to win $50 to Scott's Shoes!! 
 
In addition, I CHALLENGE EVERYONE to add an adventure date with your best friend/partner/sister this week. Hit the Redwood trails and do jumps, push ups, lunges along the route. Run to the Ferry, go to SF and do the stairs to COIT Tower followed by hill repeats and Lombard Stair repeats.  Bikeride to the Oakland Farmer's Market via a ride around Lake Merritt.

Summer is the time to PLAY!  Post your adventure dates on the Facebook Page and how much fun you had!

A new Class Schedule will be sent to you this week. Stair workouts will now be added to the schedule, in addition to a different meeting spot. Add some more cardio jazz and quad magic to your workouts!

I look forward to hearing from you and making magic happen in July!

Cheers-
--
Erin Kreitz Shirey- Owner, Lead Trainer and Coach
BS Kinesiology
ACE, NASM, Fit to Deliver and Stott Pilates
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