Category: Fitness (Page 10 of 10)

Interview with Personal Trainer Maria Stadelman – Becoming Elli Podcast Episode 01

January 7, 2018 / Chris Brown / 6 Comments

In this first episode of the Becoming Elli podcast, we talk with personal trainer Maria Stadelman. Maria has worked with many women over 50. She says that more women of this age are becoming interested in learning how to “lift heavy weights.”

We talk about exercises, healthy eating, and staying motivated. Furthermore, we discuss:

Why weightlifting after the age 50 is so important for women over 50.
Practical reasons why this makes sense
“Must have exercises” to help you get the most out of your limited time
How to multi-task while exercising. (Yes, you can learn something new while improving your fitness at the same time!)
How to change your mindset about exercise
What is “HIIT”?
What is the minimum amount of time needed to get any benefit from exercise?
How many exercises are needed as a minimum to begin to see a difference?
What common mistakes to avoid when exercising? (And as a result, stay healthy!)
Ways to address different muscle groups and stay motivated
Why she feels eating pasta and carbs – “eating Italian” in moderation consequently keeps you satisfied

Maria’s credentials:

Bachelor Degree in Exercise Physiology from Ohio University
Certified by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM)
Personal trainer
Athlete – soccer player, marathon runner, triathlete

Please listen to the inaugural Becoming Elli podcast. We’d love to hear from you. You can leave a comment for us here on the Becoming Elli website or on our Becoming Elli Facebook Page.

Three Goals for the New Year

January 2, 2018 / Jill McCauslin / 1 Comment

I asked my mother on New Year’s Day if she was making any resolutions for the new year. She said, “No, I’m past all that.” She’s now 88 years old so I guess that makes sense. I sort of want to be past all that too so no resolutions for me. No, instead I’m setting goals. Is that different than making resolutions? I hope so. Instead of saying, this year I’m gong to lose weight and be fit and healthy, which is what I want to be all year long and not just in this year, I’m trying to set clear definable goals.

So, here are my top three goals for this year:

Goal 1: Run three half-marathons this year

Running

Last year I ran one half-marathon and it felt like a big deal. This year I want to repeat the Akron marathon and hopefully run it faster than before. I also want to do two more. Why two? I don’t know. It just seems like a good number. I’ve already registered for the half marathon that’s part of the Cleveland Marathon in May and I signed up for the half marathon that’s part of the Akron Marathon in September. I need to find one that’s in between those times or do an extra one later in the fall. I feel confident about this one since I’ve already committed money to two races.

Two races are on the calendar with the first one being in May. That means I’ll need to start training soon. It will be a good idea to figure out my training plan and begin to implement it.

Goal 2: Reduce my body fat percentage

Berries

I’d like to get it beneath 30 percent. There’s at least two ways to do this: increase muscle or lose fat. Ideally, I’ll do a bit of both. This seems like a healthier way to set a goal than to make a resolution to lose weight. Is this goal any different than a lose weight resolution? Maybe not but I feel better about it and it’s measurable. If I said I want to lose 20 pounds, I could do that but I might lose muscle as well as fat. One thing I’ve learned is that we want to keep as much muscle as we can.

One of the hardest things about being over 50 is that losing weight becomes more and more difficult. I definitely have to watch calories and figure out the best way to eat to build muscle and lose fat. I’ll share my successes and failures with this as the year progresses. In some ways, this feels like the most difficult challenge.

Goal 3: Do a pull up

Kettlebells

I want to get back to doing a pull up. I reached this landmark a couple of years ago and then my trainer left, and I’ve lost the strength to do it. It took a lot of work to get there and I’d like to get there again. It takes a lot of upper body strength to do a pull up. I don’t think many women past 50 can do one and I like the idea of it. Plus, my arms looked fantastic when I was working on this before.

How will I accomplish this? Lots of upper body strength training. Doing a pull up requires a strong core, strong shoulders, back, and arms. I work with a trainer so we’re going to have to discuss these goals and how I’m going to reach them.

My three goals fall into running (endurance), body fat (weight or health), and pull ups (strength). That’s basically what I’m working on so I feel confident I can reach all three goals in 2018. It will be a challenge but that’s what goals are about, right?

Grabbing a Quick Walk

December 20, 2017 / Chris Brown / 0 Comments

This time of year I often feel the stress of not enough time. With only 5 days until Christmas, it feels like a count down for all the things I have to get done. Taking time exercise seems harder to squeeze in when there is so much to do — parties, gifts, decorating and reconnecting with family and friends.

Even when there is “NO TIME”, I am trying squeeze in some fresh air and a walk. I’m trying to get a little exercise at every opportunity. By getting a few more steps in and keeping my metabolism burning, I’m trying not to end up gaining weight during the month of December!

After I mailed a package to my sister at the local post office tonight after work, I took the opportunity for a quick walk around the pond at the park across the street.

It didn’t take long, but definitely left me feeling energized. Maybe it was the cold air? I don’t know, but I find that getting out and taking a quick walk makes a good difference in how I feel.

Losing Weight

December 15, 2017 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

The most I weighed in my life was around 215 pounds. I remember that I had to go buy clothes and I couldn’t find clothes that fit in the Misses Department and had to go to the Women’s Department and start into the larger sizes. It was super depressing.

2008 Photo of Jill

Around this time, a picture of me in profile was posted on the website for the company where I was working. It was a Christmas party and we were eating at a restaurant. I was horrified when I saw that picture. I looked bloated.

Those two things motivated me to begin to lose weight.

I’ve done a variety of things over the years to lose weight and to maintain weight. I thought I’d share some of the different things I’ve done.

I used to belong to a local YMCA and they had a program that I joined. I met with a nutritionist regularly and then a personal trainer gave me different exercises to do. That worked well and I lost some weight.

We moved and so I let my membership at the Y lapse. I gained a good amount of that weight back.

Then I joined a gym and read You: On a Diet by Drs. Oz and Roizen. I participated in a forum on the RealAge website. That was enough that I lost probably about 30 pounds.

My husband got sick and spent a lot of time in the hospital. I finally gave up on trying to eat healthy because it was easier to run through a drive through on my way to the hospital. I gained that weight back.

In 2011 I joined a new gym. I started working out regularly. At some point, I decided to buy personal training sessions for both me and my son. I used mine and when I realized that my son was’t going to use his, I took them. I worked out with a young, very strong woman who just assumed that I’d be able to get stronger.

I also joined Weight Watchers where I worked. It was good for a while. I lost some weight. It was a great way to get started with healthy eating and to watch what I ate. I found the weigh-ins to be motivational and I liked most of the people who attended the sessions. I lost some weight.

The company-sponsored sessions ended eventually and I was on my own for figuring out what to do to lose weight. I was still working out and getting more fit.

A friend of mine told me about a program called Trim Life at the Wellness Center at the Cleveland Clinic. I signed up for that. It’s a program that focuses on the reasons why we overeat. It’s a shared medical appointment with both a physician and a hypnotherapist facilitating the sessions. It was fantastic. I learned a lot and the hypnosis was fantastic. I lost more weight from that. I also modified my diet considerably after participating in this.

I got to a great weight for me, around 150 pounds. Then I started dating and going out to eat and drinking beer. I’ve gained about 15 pounds back and am now in the process of trying to lose it again. I’m trying to use macros to lose weight. I’ve upped my protein and fat and lowered my carbs and that seems to be working. I have to watch because I’m running long distances (well, relatively speaking) and that requires food. In particular, it requires some carbs. I use an app to track my food.

No matter what I do, if I’m losing weight, I lose it very slowly. I’m lucky if I can lose a half pound a week. That works out to about two pounds a month. As you can probably guess, I can gain weight at a faster rate than I can lose it.

So, why am I sharing all of this? It’s because I want to make the point that whatever you do to lose weight or to maintain weight loss may not be the thing that you do forever. You might change what you eat or don’t eat. You might find an organization like Weight Watchers to be helpful. What works at first may not work later so just try something new.

2017 Ultimate Fitness Challenge

Becoming an Athlete

December 10, 2017 / Jill McCauslin / 0 Comments

I never did much athletically in my life. I hated gym class in school and was happy to spend my leisure time reading a book. My favorite activity was dodge ball (yes, we played dodge ball back then) because I could run up towards the line, get hit with the ball and be out. I got to go sit on the bench and watch.

I still enjoy reading but I now have to consider myself an athlete. It took me a long time to get here, that’s for sure.

When I was in my late 40’s, I realized that I was overweight and out of shape. I’ll look for a photo from that time to share but until I dig one up, trust me. I was out of shape and at least 60 pounds overweight.

I began to look around for things to do. I signed up for a water aerobics class through the local rec department and went twice a week to an evening class. I was probably a good decade younger than everyone else in the class but I was in no better shape. It was a great way to get started with exercise.

The good thing about water exercise is that it’s easy on your joints. I got in a pretty good workout. I think it was a bit of a cardio challenge and some strength work. The negative side of the class was that I had to put on a bathing suit. I enjoyed the class but didn’t continue with it for very long.

Next, I decided to try a different class that was available through the rec department. I signed up for a class that met twice a week and did a full body workout and included cardio. We brought our own five-pound dumbbells to class. I bought small hand weights at Target. That class was killer. I know I actually got stronger doing that class.

So, because I liked the strength training, my husband and I decided to join a gym. I used the weight machines and treadmill but I didn’t run then. I just did fast walking. I also didn’t use personal training but I got the trainers on staff to give me workout routines to do. The gym also offered classes so I took a yoga class every Sunday. I really liked that.

Eventually, I moved to using free weights and working out. I also at some point decided to take up running and followed a Couch to 5K program. I had to modify it because I couldn’t progress as quickly as it went but I did eventually run for 20 minutes straight.

Given time, I became stronger and developed much greater aerobic capacity. So now I can run. I’ve been training with Chris to run a half marathon. We’ll update you on that since we’re running it in less than a week. I also am much stronger than I used to be. I still have to remember that I’m strong enough to open jars but it’s a thrill when I do.

I’ll share more about my life as an athlete in future posts.

Starting to See Results from the Strength Building Season

December 9, 2017 / Chris Brown / 1 Comment

Now that we’re well into December, I’m thinking about what I’ve been able to accomplish this past year… and what I’d like to focus on for the new year!

I’m really thrilled that I was able to train for the 13.1 half marathon and finish it feeling good about myself.

As usual, my first thought for a new year resolution is to lose weight. But actually, it’s not the number on the scale I’m interested in as much as what it represents. Yes, I’d like to weigh less but I’m more interested in converting some of the fat or water weight into strong lean muscle.

I wrote a little bit about “strength building season” recently. For the past month I’ve focused on lifting weights two or three days a week. Not tons of weight. And not tons of time. But consistently lifting two or three days a week.

One nice difference, I’ve started to get more confidence. One way I know is that I’m doing fewer laps around the track every other weight, to psyche myself up.

This morning when I did my usual Saturday morning workout group exercise class at the gym, I really noticed the difference in my strength!

Using weights during the workout felt “easy”… even though I’d gone up 2 pounds,

from my usual 6 pounds to the 8 pound weights. Some of the moves where I really noticed it:

Reverse lunges with a hammer curl. Sweet. Trying NOT to swing the weights, but intentionally lift and slowly lower, to get the max muscle effect.
Side lunge reach down, then up, stand on one leg then push press the weight over head. Sweet. Balance on left foot seems so much easier to me than on the right.
Even the reverse crunch with feet out and then knees to chest seemed much easier because of the leg raise machine I’ve been working on.

Last spring and summer when I was doing those same moves, I was using 5 pound weights and they seemed heavy enough that I was getting a good work out.

It feels good to progress. I wonder what I’ll notice by mid-January? Any one else focusing on gaining muscle (instead of focusing on losing weight?)

Celebrating a Two Year FitBit Anniversary

December 1, 2017 / chrisbrown330 / 1 Comment

This means that each hour I managed to get 250 steps done each hour.

I have been using a FitBit to track for two years now. It definitely motivates me to move! I had no idea that I only did between 1500 and 3000 steps a day if I was on a “regular” work day. Probably the best thing is the hourly reminder to get up and take 250 steps. I can find that I’ll sit at my desk, only moving my eyes and clicking the mouse, for hours without realizing it. REALLY not healthy to do that. The watch has a little reminder buzz at the 50 minute mark. It makes a difference!!

After 2 years, I am pleased that my average is over 10,000 now for the past 2 years… and burning more than 2100 calories a day allows me to eat so I’m not feeling like I’m starving.

Results from 2 years of wearing a FitBit – average per day:

10,053 steps
2145 calories burned
4.69 miles
7.3 floors

I got a Charge 2 as a Christmas gift from my husband last year and definitely enjoy seeing the sleep app and the heartrate app that my little Zip didn’t provide.

This morning was a workout celebration at spinning class. My Dec goals is to burn 500 calories everyday doing something – spin, run, walk, whatever. Hopefully it keeps the holiday pounds away.

Thanksgiving was only a week ago, but I’m already feeling the result of the stuffing, gravy and turkey soup with rice left overs!

Getting exercise helps burn calories of course, but I find getting my blood pumping around inside my body makes me feel better all day!

Getting Steps Done – When There Is NO Time

November 19, 2017 / chrisbrown330 / 2 Comments

Some of the days it feels like just getting 10,000 steps is unbelievably hard. There is just no time. So I try to trick myself.

Make an effort every hour on the hour
Take a quick walk through every room in the house (putting away items or gathering clutter to throw away)
In nice weather, for a walk around the block
In crummy weather, walk thru the office (take the stairs and walk each hall)
Set my timer so I have to focus intently on a project and when it goes off, take one more minute to move.

There are many days I really can’t get steps in – like driving, in meetings or working on the computer – and it is strange, but those are the days that I have very little energy at night. It really feels like the more I do, the better I feel and the more I sit around, the less I feel like doing anything.

On Friday, I felt really didn’t have time to do exercise. My to do list was a mile long! Or at least it felt that way.

One of the items on my list was to prepare a new product launch for my company. It’s one of those projects that is too big to every really get done but if I don’t work on it every day, or at least every week, it NEVER happens.

So I flipped things on its head. I decided I would take one hour and think about NOTHING except how I can accomplish this project. The goals, the action steps, challenges to meet the steps, how much each would cost, who could help me get it done, what technology resources I need, the timetable to do everything, etc.

So I took an hour. Put on my running shoes and brought my dog Lady with me to get some steps done. There’s never enough time to take her for an hour walk. Especially on a Friday morning! But that’s exactly what we did.

By the end of the hour, I had my exercise and she did too. Best of all, the motion and movement unleashed my creativity and I actually was able to accomplish more than I know I would have if I was sitting at my desk, starring into the white void of my computer, trying to force myself to come up with the launch plan!

Supposedly multitasking is really bad, but I’m not sure that walking with the dog and thinking/planning/creating are mutually exclusive. How about you? Does your brain turn on when your feet start moving? To me this is the best of both worlds, getting work done while I’m getting the steps in when there is no time.