Time to get ready for spring...Spring Bootie Buster Challenge

It's sign up time for the Spring Bootie Buster Challenge (SBBC). Amanda @ RunToTheFinish is hosting the second Spring Bootie Buster Challenge. This is my, I think, 5th Bootie Buster Challenge. I love them and I think you should give it a try.

So, what is it? It's a 7 week "Challenge" of motivation, workout ideas, clean eating recommendations and motivational support of a great group of like-minded ladies! (although, Matt did participate the first year and he always asks if any other guys are participating. ;) )

When does it all go down? Sign up is now, but the challenge runs from 17 Mar to 4 May. Currently, registration is only $12.50, but will shortly go up to $17, and then to $25 on the 17th.

Who is it? Amanda @ RunToTheFinish is a great friend who I met several years ago while running in the Nike Run Club on South Beach! She is awesome and pulls together a great event with AMAZING PRIZES! oh, had I not mentioned the prizes yet? They are always SUPER SWEET! One year I won Oakley and McDavid compression tights, and another year a sweet skin care kit. And every year, I have FUN and see RESULTS.

What results, you might ask? Well, whatever you're looking for and are ready to dedicate to reaching! During 2012's H(oliday)BBC, my goal was to just stay active and eat my freggies to maintain my healthy pregnancy! In last year's SBBC, which either started a few weeks before my beautiful CAT was born, my goal was just to eat healthy and walk enough to help spur on labor so I could have the water birth that I'd planned! I met my goals during both of those challenges!

Our Family Countdown Challenge
Workout during HBBC '13

During this year's HBBC 2013, my goal was to help me eat my freggies and enjoy exercising so I could shed off the last few pounds I was holding onto! Success! Just after the HBBC, I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight! And I'm feeling pretty good!

Are you ready to join us and get some motivation to get ready for spring and summer? If so, find more information here and register. Please add either my name (Samara Elledge) or my blog name as the referral when you do sign up!

And, I'll see you on the SBBC Facebook page for motivation!

Two ways to put up the fight against cancer in your body this week

If you joined us yesterday, you know we're talking about ways to put up a good fight against cancer. Now, that might not be on the forefront of your mind, especially if there hasn't been a history of cancer in your family - And That's Great! But we can all take these small steps to living a more healthy lifestyle and, hey, if we fend off cancer in the meantime, then why the heck are we not doing them???!

Note: I'm not going to get all sciency on you, so if you want the research and background click here.

We talk a lot about BALANCE here (and even when we're not on here - we try to live and, yes talk about, BALANCE). In everything we do, we try to find a good BALANCE between what is good for us and what we can maintain in our lifestyle. So, here are two things that you should be able to incorporate in your (busy?) life to promote both a healthy and cancer-free lifestyle:

Eat your Veggies and Herbs!

1. Eat more veggies! Yep! You knew that was coming right? Haha! There's no mystery here; veggies can stimulate the immune system and rid our bodies of carcinogens. What are some effective anticancer veggies? Cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, GARLIC (yes, GI JOE**, you read that right!), onions, and leeks! And if you pair these veggies with delicious herbs like thyme, rosemary, oregano, mint, or basil, you simply compound the goodness!


2. Here comes another shocker: EXERCISE! (did you see that one coming too?) Regular exercise helps to eliminate carcinogens from our bodies and strengthens our immune system at the same time! Does anyone NOT want those two side effects?

Exercise Regularly

Okay, so we're probably not telling you anything you didn't already know. But it's good to be reminded why we do the things we do (ie. get up at 5am to run 3 miles before work and take the time to steam up a nice pot of broccoli to go with our...hamburger...I mean salmon! 


But that brings me back to my point on BALANCE! I would never tell you to cut that greasy hamburger completely out of your life (well, because I will honestly never cut it out of mine). But, I would recommend that you think about how often you have that hamburger and fries (oh, did I not mention the fries before?) and offset it with some veggies to fight off the ill-effects that burger and fries caused (Take a gander at Too Much of a good thing for notes on why you want to offset that burger and fries).

Today, try to think about balance in everything that you do and see if it changes your perspective. Let us know!

~ Samara

**Note 2: I've decided to refer to ME (my better half) as GI JOE from now on. He likes that name for Words with Friends (and it gets him a LOT of lady opponents) and I figured it's all in all a better nickname. :)

Les Mills Lonestar Event

This is BodyPump!

This weekend, Kel and I attended the Les Mills Lonestar Quarterly in Arlington, TX. It happens a few times a year in different parts of the country, but I have a feeling everything is BIGGER in Texas! The event was a great opportunity for Les Mills instructors, such as Kel and myself, to experience Master Classes in all of the Les Mills formats. If you are unfamiliar with Les Mills, they are the parent company for various amazing group fitness classes, such as BodyAttack and BodyPump, that Kel and I teach. Four times a year they provide us with incredible new choreography and music for our classes! This conference offered us a chance to experience the new choreography live and in the midst of hundreds of others of instructors; it was incredible!

Can you imagine yourself in a room with a few hundred people doing squats at the same time, all to the same beat? It was intense and so very motivating. Almost motivating enough to make me forget how sore my muscles are and that my skin is slightly sore to the touch after two straight days of exercise! haha!

Ready for Pump

Not only am I excited to get started in learning the new BodyPump choreography, but I cannot stop talking about one of the newest Les Mills formats: Sh’Bam! It is a cardio dance class for EVERYONE! Trust me. If I can do it...so can you! Sh’Bam is 45 minutes of a wide mix of dance to both current and old school music favorites. I wish I had video of my leaps because I’m still dreaming about how ‘freeing’ they were. It’s hard to explain, but I walked away from that full of happiness AND knowing that I burned a ton of calories!

After our great intro the Sh’Bam, Kel and I are hoping to learn a lot more about it in the near future! We’ll keep you posted.

Have you been re-energized by something new at the gym? Or anywhere else for that matter? 

~ Samara

Always Be Prepared

“BE PREPARED!” Is that the motto of the Boy Scouts or Swiss Army Knife? Either way, it’s a good motto. It worked out well for me last night as I was in the right place at the right time... and just so happened that I was prepared.

If any of you are near a local lululemon athletica store, you may know that they are extremely involved in the community. They have a philosophy to share their passion for fitness with the local community through providing free events on a regular basis. My local store has been providing great yoga and boot camp sessions through the month of August. This past Sunday, I enjoyed sweating through the great yoga class provided by D.E.F.I.N.E. body & mind. It was a wonderful mix of movement in yoga to tone your body! Painful, but awesome! :)

So, last night, I planned to enjoy sweating (as I drooled over the apparel) through the boot camp they offered in-store. I arrived at 6 to see the group circled up and I was welcomed with a smile by Nick, lululemon Highland Village’s community outreach chief. He looked at me and said, “well, our bootcamp instructors are no shows.” Nick knows that I teach at the gym across the street, so I offered to put an impromptu class together for the 20+ guests who’d come for the sweat session! Thankfully, I was prepared! I had a boot camp class saved on my iPhone and so asked Nick to take the group on a warm up run, while I modified the class list to work without any equipment! When the group came back ~ nice and sweaty from the short run in the Texas heat ~ we got straight to work and kept the sweat on for 45 minutes!

It felt awesome to be at the right place at the right time, with the right tools! The best part was all of the thank you’s from the grateful guests once we finished the workout! It’s such a great feeling to help energize others to get their sweat on!

So, while I went for one thing, I ended up having the great opportunity to share my passion with others! What a blessing! Have you ever happened to be at the right place at the right time....with the right tools? It’s a great feeling! 

As per lululemon’s motto, go out and do one thing today that scares you!

~ Samara


Things I'm Thankful for Today:
~ Encouragement to step outside my comfort zone
~ Making new friends
~ Rain
~ Karma (good, that is...haha)

More and more reasons to cook your own fresh food

I know I've been harping about this recently but 1. it's important 2. when I'm dieting for a competition I become quite the food elitist:)  3. an article I read this morning was so disturbing I can't wait to share it with you.   The article is called "Top 10 Scariest Food Additives" by David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding from Men's Health online. They cite "Eat this, Not that" in their article.  Anyways, I'm going to paste a few of the "scariest food additives" right here and add a few personal thoughts!

Ingredient #2: Caramel Coloring
An artificial pigment created by heating sugars. Frequently, this process includes ammonia.

Why it’s scary: Caramel coloring shows up in everything from soft drinks and sauces to breads and pastries. When made from straight sugar, it's relatively benign. But when produced with ammonia it puts off 2-methylimidazole and 4-methylimidazole, chemicals that have been linked to cancer in mice. The risk is strong enough that the California government, a bellwether for better food regulation, categorized 4-methylimidazole as “known to cause cancer” earlier this year. Unfortunately, companies aren't required to disclose whether their coloring is made with ammonia, so you'd be wise to avoid it as much as you can.

Where you'll find it: Colas and other soft drinks, La Choy soy sauce, Stove Top stuffing mix


What?? I always thought caramel coloring was harmless, I thought is was just sugar.  Man, I see this in everything!  Yet another reason to cut out the diet soda's! Here's another one:

Scary Ingredient #5: Butylated Hydroxyanisole (BHA) and Butylated Hydroxytoluene (BHT)
Petroleum-derived antioxidants and preservatives.

Why they're scary: The Department of Health and Human Services says BHA is “reasonably anticipated to be a human carcinogen," yet the FDA allows it to be used anyway. BHT is considered less dangerous, but in animal research, it too has resulted in cancer. Oddly, the chemicals aren’t even always necessary; in most cases they can be replaced with vitamin E.

Where you'll find it: Goya lard, Golden Grahams, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Orbit gum

I was chewing a piece of Orbit Gum as I read this article.  Needless to say, after I finished choking on it, I spit it out...This next one is for the bagel monster, yeah, you know who you are, wink wink:

Scary Ingredient #8: Azodicarbonamide
A synthetic yellow-orange dough conditioner

Why it's scary: This chemical is used most frequently in the production of industrial foam plastic, and although the FDA has approved its use for food in the States, the United Kingdom has labeled it a potential cause of asthma. In a review of 47 studies on azodicarbonamide, the World Health Organization concluded that it probably does trigger asthmatic symptoms. The WHO concluded, “exposure levels should be reduced as much as possible.” I’ll put it more concisely: Avoid it.

Where you'll find it: Dunkin’ Donuts bagels, McDonald’s burger buns

I'll save the rest for another post....you get the point though.  When you buys stuff at the store, you are getting way more then you're barginning for! I can't stress it enough, when you go shopping, look at the ingrediants and don't purchase it if you don't know what an item is.  Also, be VERY weary of eating processed foods from fast food places, who knows what's in there and you can't easily see the ingrediant list! Have a great weekend and do something Healthy!! -Kelly

The Workout High

As Kelly mentioned yesterday, it’s been a long two weeks for ME and I. We packed up all last week and trekked across half the country to come back to Texas for the next few years! Yay! We are so excited to return to Texas, however, what a stressful and tiring two weeks we’ve had...and we still have! We’re still unpacking and getting settled and reorganized. I also started back up with working part time as well as starting BodyPump classes at a new gym last night. Whew! Needless to say, ME and I have been getting increasingly stressed, especially trying to keep track of the millions of keys we have, losing track of things as we’re moving things to and fro through the condo and cars and storage unit. We’ve been so exhausted from all of the moving (heavy lifting!!!) and boat cleaning (sore shoulders from scrubbing) that our daily workouts have fallen by the wayside. We thought, “No need to workout, we’re getting our workouts from all of this non-stop activity.”

 Last night, I finally returned to the gym to team teach BodyPump with my boss, at my new gym, Quality Life Fitness. I was exhausted before even arriving at the gym and was  concerned that I’d be too tired to give my all as an instructor. But, once the music started, I got Pumped up (pun intended) and even lifted heavier weights than planned (even though my legs were already sore from that heavy lifting I mentioned earlier!)

When I left the gym, I felt awesome...my mind was clear, I felt energized and relaxed, and relaxed and happy! I got home to find ME had just returned from the gym as well. I told him that Pump was just what I needed to relieve some stress and he quickly agreed! So, why is this?

...Endorphins! We finally got those hormones streaming through our body to give us the little pick-me-up that we’d been missing over the last weeks! Awesome! We’re pretty happy people in general, but even happy people can get down in the dumps when you’re continually tired and stressed! That’s when it’s even more important to get out and exercise to kick start those endorphins and get us back on track!

How do you combat stress? What is your go-to workout to get your endorphins fired up to get your mind and energy back to a healthy place?

~Samara

Things I’m thankful for:

~A BFF who shares her home with us

~Rain

~Team Teaching

~Motivated class full of BodyPumpers

Procrastination - can you get away with it?

                          You may delay, but time will not. ~Benjamin Franklin
My friend Amanda over at http://www.runtothefinish.com/ honored me by asking me to do a guest blog about why I love competing in fitness shows......2 weeks ago!  I'm sure I'll put it off a few more days.  Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about writing a post for her awesome blog and I'm always excited to write about fitness......sigh.  So why have I been procrastinating?? My official excuse (which actually holds a lot of truth) is that it's tough to put all the reasons why I LOVE competing in Fitness, Figure, Bodybuilding type competitions in one short post, I could talk all day about the plethora of reasons I get up on that stage...but more on that later.  The fact is, I have plenty of idea's for the post, I can knock it out in about 45 minutes if I put my mind too it and use spell check:)  But the real reason is, I'm just a professional procrastinator! It's my MO!
       Procrastination works well for me.  I wait till the last minute and then I'm under the gun so I work quickly and efficiently.  However, there are some area's in my life where procrastination does NOT work, and believe me, I've tried my procrastination techniques everywhere!  I have found that saving money and getting in shape are the main two places I just can't procrastinate.  Here are a few examples:

When I was in the army, I knew 6 MONTHS ahead of time when a physical fitness test was coming up (2 min push up, 2 min sit up, 2 mile run)  did I start training ahead of time?  did I work on my 2 mile time with sprint workouts?? HA! No, I would wait until THE WEEK BEFORE and decide to try to do 500 sit ups a day to catch up on all the training I had skipped out on.....and go figure, it never worked. 

I have waited until the last minute to diet/train for fitness shows. Why? I don't know, I certainly knew I had a show coming up! They post the dates about a year out and you have to register far in advance. So why (on more then one occasion) have I found myself on the treadmill for 3 hours a day the week before a show trying to make up for all my procrastinating?  FYI, this is NOT the way to get the best results in ANY type of competition!

The bottom line is, getting in shape, losing weight, gaining muscle, flexibility, strength and overall strength all take time. A Long time!  So please don't put your health off one more day!  Don't wait till tomorrow to start that new diet plan, walking regime, weight plan, marathon prep, etc.  Procrastination and health don't work, take it from someone who tried a few times to mix the two!  I'd love to hear your stories about procrastination and how it worked out! Leave me some comments!  -Kelly

FRIENDS - They can make you or break you!

Happy Monday everyone!  I love Monday's because it's a fresh start and everyone comes to the gym to make up for that extra burger and beer they had over the weekend:)  The topic of friends and how they can really make or break your fitness goals comes up quite often with my clients.  Often, when they start their journey towards a new healthy fit lifestyle, they find that their friends are not willing to go down that path with them.  Their friends don't understand why they dont want use food and alcohol for entertainment anymore, or why they want to go to the gym instead of Chili's on a Friday night.  They conjole you, "come on, ONE margarita won't hurt......a FEW cheesey Fries is not going to ruin your diet...."  It's tough, all of a sudden my clients sometimes feel like they've lost a shared interest with old friends.  My advice to them has always been to suggest healthier options to their friends. For example, instead of catching up with your girlfriend over a few beers, why not meet at the park and catch up while taking a brisk walk? If that doesn't work and you are feeling pressure from your old friends/family to mantain that old lifestyle that got you to the point you are at now......find new friends.  True friends should be supportive and help you to reach whatever goals you are aimming for.  I'm so blessed to be surrounded by people who care about me reaching my goals.  They support my healthy lifestyle and even putting up with me while dieting for competitions.  If you read Sam's last post, you already know she and ME are staying with me for a week and although all three of us are on extremely different (but clean) eating plans right now, we are all working to keep each other accountable, make sure the right foods and the right quantities are in the house and that we are getting out workouts in.  It's a huge weight off my shoulders to not have to worry that they won't approve of my lifestyle:)  Do you have supportive friends/family in your life or is it time to make some new friends ( always a good idea!!)  If you are struggling and need some new buddies to share your new found interests/priorities, why not meet some people by joining a gym, run club, 5K, blogs like this:) Fitness is a social activity, make the most of it!!! I'd love to hear from you! -Kelly

Things I'm grateful for today:
a big apple
Best Friends
Texas Sunshine

Total Body Kit Giveaway

It’s GIVEAWAY time! Are you ready?

With summertime upon us, many of us are probably planning to travel. What is going to be your workout plan while you’re on the road? Do you have one? Well, let us help you with that! We’re giving away a Jillian Michael’s ULTIMATE Total Body Kit.

The kit includes ALL of the following:

~ 1 Speed Jump Rope

~ 1 Level 1 Resistance Ring

~ 2 Level 1 Resistance Tubes

~ 2 Level 2 Resistance Tubes

~ Medium Resistance Stretch Band

~ 2 Removable Handles

~ Door Strap Attachment

~ Mesh Carry Bag

~ Instructional DVD with Jillian

~ Exercise Chart

This whole kit won’t take up much space in your suitcase and now you’ll be assured you can get your workout in while you’re galavanting around the world! How does that sound?

Here’s how to win!

Please leave one comment per entry. We will pick a winner at random on 17 June and we will notify you by email to get your contact info!

MANDATORY (one of the following is required to be entered)

+1 Follow our blog

+1 Post a link to the giveaway on your Facebook page

+1 Tweet the giveway: @HealthyFitEdge GiveAway: Total Body Kit. Enter to win at http://t.co/RUHVmuX

EXTRA ENTRIES

+1 Like HealthyFitnessEdge on Facebook

+1 Follow @HealthyFitEdge on Twitter

+1 Post a link to our giveaway on your blog

magazine crazy

I'll admit it, Sam and I are magazine crazy!  We love looking at magazines.  My favorite time to catch up on all the home organization and fitness magazines out there is either at the airport, at the pool or when doing long cardio sessions in the gym.  I always keep the latest one  with me so I can pull it out and flip through a few pages while waiting....anywhere:) 

So, I have a tip for you guys, instead of throwing away all your magazines as soon as your read them or letting them pile up for ages and ages because you swear you are going back to look at article or recipe.  Try what I'm doing.  I have a large binder divided in three sections (or I suppose you could get three binders)  whenever I see exercises I like or want to remember, I clip out that page and put it in the binder. Now I have volumes and volumes of workout idea's!  Use the other sections for recipe idea's and decorating ideas.  I'll be honest that I never get around to decorating, but I do try the recipe's and I consult the exercise portion all the time!  Let me know what you think, would something like this be useful to you?  Does anyone else out there even still read magazines?