#250 - Tips from my Brother: Losing Body Fat %

Proverbs 31:17 - She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.

^{1 Corinthians 6:19-20} - Do you not know that your body is the temple (the very sanctuary) of the Holy Spirit Who lives within you, Whom you have received [as a Gift] from God? You are not your own, You were bought with a price [purchased with a preciousness and paid for, made His own]. So then, honor God and bring glory to Him in your body. 

Physical fitness. Some of us like it, some of us don't! Nonetheless, to honor God in all aspects, means also honoring Him with our body. Working towards getting or staying physically fit as well as eating healthy foods that make us strong.

Today, I'd like to share some tips with you! Tips from my brother, WBFF Champion Body Building Pro, Fitness Model, Hollywood actor... James Ellis. I have some weight loss and fitness goals with a timeline on them and was talking to my brother yesterday for quite awhile. I'm into details. I like to know what works and how to maximize the minimum amount of time that I plan to work out during the week. The 4321 (or 4321 x 2) program that I have been doing has worked very good for me (10 minutes) in helping me get from 160 down to my current weight of 133 and MAINTAIN. If you are anything like me, I don't want to spend an hour working out. I put my time in as a collegiate cross-country and track runner, so I have ran my fair share of long miles, 5, 6, 10, 15 mile-runs. Now with kids, goals, a successful yet growing business, a home, etc, etc.... fitness is something that I want to do and get it done, then be able to go about my day. 4321 is a great option for that. I also know that it's important to "Muscle-Confuse, Muscle Confuse!"Or as my brother says "SHOCK" your body. Once you've been doing something for a long time, it's important to chance things up to confuse your body, shock it and allow other muscles to work. If your body/muscles get used to the same things done daily, over and over and over, the results will not be as good as they could be.

Today I implemented one of the changes I got from my brother. I figured if it can help me, I might as well share so it can help you too! We're on the pursuit of being STRONG Proverbs 31 women (as well as strong, and fit men!). As it reads in the amplified version of Proverbs 31, that means strong spiritually, mentally AND in physical fitness. Here we go....

Tips I picked up from my brother: 

1. If you want to have the greatest amount calories lost that are FAT BURNING calories, do your cardio work out first thing in the morning. 
2. Do your cardio workout on an empty stomach. What happens when you do your cardio workout on an empty stomach is that it grabs existing EXISTING fat that is on your body. When you have eaten first and work out, it grabs the fat from the food you ate. The carb you ate, the banana, the egg, etc. (Granted, if you plan on doing a weight workout after your cardio, you are going to need to have some protein. A protein shake or protein bar.)
3. "When I was trying to lose body percent fat, I speed walked on the treadmill for 30-35 at 4-4.5 miles per hour (mph) at a 2% incline." - The Fat Burning Zone is done at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. In this zone, 85% of calories burned are from fats!
4. When speed walking make sure to move/pump/swing your arms. This helps to also burn body fat in your arms. 
5. Ultimately, keep things switched up! SHOCK your body. If you do the same sort of work-out all the time, make sure to switch things up sometimes to get maximum effects.  

So... I learned some good things from my brother! He knows his body inside and out and is REALLY good about knowing what to do in order to get a specific desired result.

If you want more info on the subject, he wrote a helpful blog that breaks down some more details. Check it out: Cardio With a Purpose. 

SO.... as we pursue our relationship with the Lord, work towards becoming that Proverbs 31 woman, let's not forget the importance of fitness and taking care of our body! :)

Thanks JW for all the great tips! :) Love you!!

FB: James Ellis
FB: Scientific Body Sculpting
follow on twitter: @jamesellis3
website: James Ellis Fit

#193 - WORK IT!

Good morning! It seems like quite the active morning here on my porch! Birds have been playfully and loudly playing and dancing in our backyard and I have shooed 2 lizards off of the screened in porch where I am sitting. I'm not "scared" of lizards or anything, but one of them sat on the screen just a few feet from where I am sitting, and that was just weird. He didn't make for a good "working companion" so I helped him out. :)

On another note.... it's a BEAUTIFUL morning! There's a nice breeze coming through the screen, and Tyler Junior is officially 19 months old today! Wow! He's just months away from being a big brother and turning 2 years old! How fun!

Well... let's get rolling into some Word this morning! :)

Proverbs 14:30 - A calm and undisturbed mind and heart are the life and health of the body, but envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones.

Proverbs 31:17 - She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.

Spiritual fitness. Mental fitness. Physical fitness. All areas of fitness that we should aspire to attain. One thing that I feel tremendously helps in the areas of spiritual & mental fitness is having a regular quiet time. Taking specific, set apart time to read the Word, meditate on the Word, and quiet ourselves long enough to listen to the leading and prompting of the Holy Spirit. Praise the Lord that Jesus knew what He was doing when He said that He was leaving us to be with the Father, BUT that He would leave something better for us, He would leave the Holy Spirit. What a blessing and honor that we are NEVER alone as believers, but are always just a question away from receiving direction from the Holy Spirit. What a blessing that the Holy Spirit lives inside of us, always available, always there, always willing to direct us if we are willing to listen. How exciting that the "hidden secrets" are not indefinitely hidden, just hidden for those who are willing to seek after them and find and receive them. They are there for US to have! Amen!

Spiritual and mental fitness. Available if we are willing to consistently pursue it.

Physical fitness. Eich.... Yikes. Well, I like maybe some of you have a bag of excuses I sometimes carry for my lack of consistency in this area. My most recent excuse in my bag has been "pregnancy." OK... it may be a good excuse, but really, at any time, any excuse will do. Right? Maybe you've been pretty consistent in this area. Well, at 24 weeks pregnant (around 6 months for those of you who don't speak the 'pregnancy' language), I officially stopped running about 2 weeks ago. It had gotten sporadic at best, and my last run left me kind of sore. I ambitiously thought I would go buy a running belt, but never got around to it. Then on Friday morning, I decided to swim laps for 20 minutes. I also did some push-ups and dips. I was quite proud of myself. (I also woke up and did that this morning! Whoop! Go me! haha!) Over the last 2-3 years, having knowledge about a 10 minute fitness program called "4321" has really changed my life in the area of my weight and fitness. It also extremely reduced some of the risk factors that I had for Type 2 Diabetes, results in blood work proved I had made some awesome improvements just by changing a few things in my life. One of those things was 10 minutes of working out just four days per week.

Recently, I have noticed that the firmness of my arms that I had developed over the last 2 years had been getting a bit "weak." My once small, but bulging bicep wasn't quite so perky. I knew that I hadn't really done a done to give myself toned muscles, but what I had done was consistently applied effort to have strong and firm arms. What is consistent effort? Where my arms were concerned, it was only 3 minutes, 4 days per week! That was it! 3 MINUTES! The key was, it was consistent. Over a period of time, the flab that hung onto my arms began to turn into muscle. It was quite exciting to see. In the mirror, I noticed that my shoulders were looking nice in a tank top. That was enough to continue the small but daily steps I had began.

So today... can you implement something small for your fitness? You may not care to look like the cover model on today's "Health & Fitness" magazine, and that is OK! But.... maybe take a few minutes to reflect on this question.... What is your responsibility in the area of fitness? Like me, you may have some excuses in your bag as well, but at the end of the day that is all they are, excuses. It may not mean getting a gym membership, but can you do three minutes a day just to tone your arms? Can you do squats or sit-ups to tone your legs and abs? Simple things that will allow you to live a much longer & energetic life.

The "Fitness" tab will give you some ideas on 10 minutes that WILL really work for you, if you consistently work it! The Proverbs 31 woman is working it, will you?

#131 - Google or God? - Part 2

Good morning! It's been one of those mornings.... you know, those morning where you sit down and then you have to get up like 20 times to do something or get something. Argh! All is good though... because finally upon sitting down for GOOD.... the Holy Spirit was and is continuing to reveal some good stuff! It's UH-MAZING that He is able to turn a "not great" morning into an AWESOME one! Just by one word from Him. Just even by instruction or direction! I'm excited because he told me to take a nap. I pretty much don't ever take naps (with the exception of Sunday after church).... so... a nap, wow! That will be a treat!


So... today, we are going to get part 2 from the first devotion, Google or God? I wanted to give you an update on the devotion... I wanted to tell you how specifically things turned out by following God versus following what I could have found on Google. Let's first look at the Word: 

Psalm 25:3a-5 - Yes, let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed .... Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Guide me in Your truth and faithfulness and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You [You only and altogether] do I wait [expectantly] all the day long.

Psalm 25 talks about those who SEEK the Lord being fulfilled... not being disappointed by the answers that HE will bring. That is exactly what happened earlier in the month for me. If you remember.... the devotion Google or God?, I was tempted when I had a question to just pull up my laptop and Google it! That's almost like a "verb" now. Need an answer? Just Google it! Well... in the past, it has been all to easy for me to do that. I would say that Google has a lot of value, but if I have a specific situation that I really want CONCRETE answers on, GOD definitely has a better answer than google. 

So.... here's the situation.... here's the follow up. What was I frustrated about? Well... over the holidays, not only did Tyler and I go on an anniversary ski trip, but also spent the holidays with both our families. Like most people, it's almost a constant time of grazing, eating stuff that you don't normally eat, and allowing a bit more freedom than you normally may. Well... I was no different. I got home from our travels and realized that my jeans were uncomfortably tight. I wasn't too excited about that. Following the Fitness 4321 (10 minutes of exercise), and using some Nutrilite products, after Tyler Junior was born, I got down to an all time weight low of 125. I was JACKED! I felt great! Was eating good. Exercising consistently, so I was excited! I mostly stayed around 127 though. Well.... after the holidays when I got home I weighed 134. I wasn't too thrilled, primarily because my jeans felt tight. PRAISE GOD that we can ask the HOLY SPIRIT ANYTHING AND get answers! So.... as a follow up to "Google or God?", so instead of "googling" for answers, I asked the Holy Spirit.... he laid out 6 steps for me to do... here's what He said: 

1. Bump your calorie intake down to 1000 calories until your body levels out and gets used to you not breastfeeding. (How would I have known that?!)
2. Increase your water intake dramatically. Get the big (34 oz) cup & fill it up twice per day!
3. Eat often. Have yogurt, fruit & snackable vegetables redily available. Fruit smoothies are a great choice too. 
4. Since you are not breast-feeding, begin taking your Nutrilite Slimmetry, Nutrilite CLA. That will help, & take Nutrilite Invisafiber. 
5. Continue doing what I instructed for Fitness. 4321 - 7 x's/week.
6. Follow this & don't weigh yourself for a week!

OK.... Ey Ey Captain! I went about the next 7 days following the plan that HE laid out. Not just any plan, but THE SPECIFIC PLAN for me. He knows my body, He knows my genetic make-up, He knows what I need! The following Tuesday, I jumped on the scale after a pretty easy week, none of the steps were real difficult... I went from 134-130 in 1 week! 4 pounds! If you ask me, that's pretty good! And, I've kept it off. The last week, I've continued to follow what HE laid out, and I've lost a little more. I'm going to continue until my jeans feel perfect again. :) 

Google could not have told me this. God could. Your jeans may not be fitting tight but maybe there is something else that you need answers to. Maybe it is a nagging pain. Maybe it is your finances. Maybe a relationship. Maybe you want to do something different for work. Whatever it is.... if you ask, God can tell you. Google will be great at providing a lot of opinions... some facts.... but if you don't want to have to sift through all that, I recommend letting the Holy Spirit lay out a STEP-BY-STEP plan for your situation too! He'll do it if you will take the time to ask. 

If you ask AND listen... I promise you won't be disappointed. 

Google or God? I choose God. 

#53 - Finding Fullfillment

Good morning. What a great morning it is! It WILL be a productive day... I am excited about it! I'm excited about this mornings devotion. I really think it will help some people. I really think it will help those people who are out their feeling un-fulfilled with life. At least, that is my prayer. 

Proverbs 17:22 - A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 31:17 - She girds herself with strength [spiritual, mental, and physical fitness for her God-given task] and makes her arms strong and firm.

I want to paint a picture. Pick a day, any day.... 1.... 2.... or 3 years ago. A Monday morning... or Tuesday... any weekday really. The alarm goes off. She pulls the covers back over her head. It is 7:30. She really should get up. Getting in to work at a decent time would be good. But no. She pulls the covers back over her head. 8:00. The annoying blare of the alarm clock rings, beep beep beep. Whoever designed the sound of the noise those things made was wrong! Just the name of the thing "ALARM CLOCK" - you are suppose to wake up "alarmed"!?!? 8:00, she rolls over, hits the clock, pulls the covers back over her head. 8:30. 9:00. 9:15. She thinks... I really am pushing it. I really need to get up. I really need to go to work. 9:30. The covers provide a way of escape. She is not even tired. The hour and a half of beeps and pulling the covers up, she really was awake the whole time. Just laying there. Hating life. Not wanting to get up. Unfulfilled. Unhappy. But... putting on the happy face. Going through life smiling. Positive. Speaking right. But all the while pulling the covers up over her head, trying to avoid life. Trying to avoid the day as long as she could. As long as possible. I'll take another pregnancy test. I haven't missed a period or missed a pill.... but maybe, just maybe I'll be pregnant. Maybe then I can escape this job. Maybe I can get out of it. Maybe I can finally quit. Please Pregnancy Test. Please let me be the .oo1% chance that I'll be the one who gets pregnant even though I'm on birth control. 


Day after day. Same thoughts. Different day. The fake smile, plastered on her face as she steps into the elevator to go to the top floor of her "Corporate America" office. Dodging phone calls from her boss. Dreading the emails that will come streaming in as she pulls up her computer. How can she "make it sound like" she's been working with a troubled client all morning. Maybe this would be a morning that her boss wouldn't have emailed her? Maybe? She's hit her numbers. Exceeded them. Maybe her boss would just get off her back? Please! No micro-managing! Ahhhh!


A day in the life of me. 1 year, 2 years, 3 years ago. Pulling the covers up over my head. My job in Corporate America had gotten boring and unfulfilling. I had "mastered" it. I was "Rookie of the Year" my first year throughout our "Corporation" nationwide. My 2nd year I was a "Sterling Performer", which meant I was in the top 5 of ALL people in my position throughout the U.S. I was bored. It was a challenge year 1 & 2. Then, mastery. Then, boredom! Lack of passion. Lack of drive. Just a desire to move on! To get out!


Unlike Proverbs 17:22, I did not have a happy heart. My mind was not cheerful. I was everything BUT happy. I was unfulfilled. I lacked passion. I was not pursuing anything that I loved or enjoyed. I did not feel like I was "helping anyone" or "making a difference" in the lives of anyone. I felt like my "affect" on the world left as lasting of an impression as the ripples when you stick you finger in a glass of water and pull it out. Great. One little ripple that is gone within 5 seconds. What fulfillment!!! :-/ 


So... what happened? By an act of God, I was chosen to be 1 of 6 people to participate in a program nationwide called A New Way to a New You. This program was about "Optimal Health". Learning how to eat properly... actually the "food pyramid" way! Eating the proper amount of fruits & vegetables, grains, fats, proteins. Not eating card-board. Or starving myself until I lost an ounce but felt even worse. How to supplement properly. How to exercise with something manageable that could be maintained for a lifetime. (4321 - 10 Minutes of exercise/day! That's it!) I was a doubter at the beginning. How could all this work? How could I start to be happy with ME? I saw fat. I saw a double chin. I saw the pants that were too tight. Even the fat pants were getting too tight. What unhappiness! So blah! My unhappiness spread to every area of my life. It spread to unfulfillment in work. In our business. In my relationships. In my energy levels. In my walk with the Lord. I was doing poor in all areas because I did not like me. 


So... by an act of divine intervention. I've never been happier in my life! I feel fulfilled. I went from 159 (beginning of January 2009) and I am now at 129. I have not weighed this since probably high school or middle school! I am even below my wedding weight which was 9 1/2 years ago. I'm not dieting. I know how to eat properly, with the proper amounts of what foods. I supplement with multi-vitamins. And I exercise on a regular basis. And like the Proverbs 31 woman, I am even starting to get some pretty firm arms! :) JAM-UP! It's fun to pull my hair up in a pony-tail because I see definition! I now coach people through the experience I went through and they choose between 4 different programs. I am fulfilled physically. I am fulfilled now by finally following a passion of mine, writing. FIND YOUR PASSION. Begin to pursue it. And I am fulfilled in my business.... helping to show mommies & daddies how they can be free, if they want to, to make enough money in a business of their own and stay home with their kids instead of putting them in daycare. If their little boy is crying, MOM can pick him up and comfort him. DAD can pick him up and play with him or rough house. :) What a fulfilling life I am now living! Praise the Lord!

BEFORE PICTURE (late January 2009 -155 lbs)

AFTER PICTURE (July 2010 - 129 pounds, with 9 month old baby

My life today is very different than the life of the woman you read about. Pulling the covers over her head. Dreading the day. Not wanting to wake up. Just wanting to avoid life. What a different person I am today. 


Start today, like the Proverbs 31 woman, begin to get fit. Begin today to get those firm arms. Our Proverbs 31 woman was FIT! She worked out! Her arms were tone and firm. She made this a priority. Come to the realization I did: Working out is a way of life for the REST OF YOUR life! Find something you can stick with and begin today. If you want to live LONG and be STRONG, working out is not an option! BEGIN today! It may start you on the path to fulfillment, to not having a broken spirit. It will help you have strong bones. BEGIN TODAY!

___________________________________

Read about my journey: http://newwaynewyou2009.blogspot.com/

Looking to be coached? Looking for a way to NEVER DIET a day again the rest of your life? Eat more & exercise less? That is what I did! And I love every day! 

Email me to schedule an personal or phone appointment to find a Program that will work for you: amyjmccart@gmail.com

MUST HAVE READ: 

10 Minutes to a Total Body Workout by Sean Foy