With Peepster, I mean Reester… uh Easter behind us, here are My Top 6 Tips to rebound from the holiday without adding inches to your waistline. 

1. Water. Aim for 3-4L per day. Not only does water keep us hydrated, but it also helps keep our system running efficiently, with fluid balance and to ward off hunger between meals. If you drink 1L upon waking (yes, even before coffee *sigh*) and 1L right before bed, that means only 2L to work in over the course of your day. Carry a reusable bottle with you everywhere and refill often. 

2. Fiber (vegetables). Fibrous vegetables are loaded with vitamins and minerals and carry an equally impressive water content. Invest in an OXO salad chopper and sneak multiple servings into a giant chopped salad. Seriously, it’s the best $25 I’ve ever spent! If salads aren’t your thing, blend greens into a shake, protein pancake batter, burgers or meatloaf or scramble with egg-whites. 

3. Protein. The most filling of the macronutrients, protein has little impact on fat-storing hormones and can help speed the metabolism. Its slow digestion helps to control cravings and balance blood sugar, preventing insulin spikes that can lead to fat storage. Comprised of amino acids, protein spares lean muscle so that the body burns fat for energy. It, too, can be used by the body for energy. Muscle is a major determinant of basal metabolic rate, which accounts for over two-thirds of calories burned at rest, and so maintaining it results in less rebound weight gain. Aim for protein at every meal.

4. Efficient exercise. Work smarter not longer. Remember it’s intensity NOT duration that drives results in the gym. Think short duration, high-intensity exercise and/or longer duration activities that are more restorative in nature e.g. leisure walking, yoga, foam rolling. Lift heavy. Or as my friend Mel says, “just pick up some weights that aren’t pink and plastic.” It’s not that there’s anything inherently wrong with longer duration steady-state cardio (I LOVE it!) but when it comes to fat loss, it’s not the most effective approach. 

5. Clean out the candy and restock with clean eats. Just because there’s Easter candy still lying around, doesn’t mean you have to eat it! Buuuut… if there’s nothing else to eat, you’re more likely to eat it. Set yourself up for success. Get rid of the junk and replace it with real, whole foods. Best detox that’s out there, IMHO. And no, tossing it isn’t a waste. Though our taste buds may suggest otherwise, the sugar-laden, melt-in-your-mouth good treats are really just toxins in disguise. *gag* Thirty minutes in the kitchen is all it takes to prep some basic eats that will have you on your way to feeling like your rock star self in no time. #beprepared

6. Do nothing drastic. Bear in mind that consistently tight nutrition over time is what gets results. Easier said than realized, but rest assured that a single meal, day or even week of “bad” eats will NOT result in you blowing up like a whale. Might you hold some water and take on the puffy look for a few days? Sure, but it’s nothing that a few days of tighter nutrition, adequate hydration and quality workouts can’t remedy. The worst thing you can do? Stress. Though void of calories, it will give you the exact opposite of the results you’re looking for. Oh, and no dieting. 😉 We’ll end up right back where we started: in the throws of the deprive-binge cycle; that negative self-defeating loop that gets us… nowhere. Leave yourself some wiggle room: 90% tight nutrition 100% of the time. #moderationFTW

*Bottom line: Exercise because you can NOT because you have to, and eat to fuel your body. 

Head on over to my Facebook page and tell me: what is your biggest struggle as it relates to social eating (e.g. holidays, work events, family/friend gatherings)?

Tell a runner to rest mid-workout and chances are, unless you’re talking to a sprinter, they’ll look at you like you have ten heads. I know I did. [flashbacks to the days of my trainer saying, “I like it when you rest.” WTF?!] Back when I considered myself a runner and first got into lifting weights, the thought of rest during exercise baffled me. We have ingrained in us this “do-or-die” mentality. Or, in my case, do until you have stress fractures in your feet then keep doing. *sigh* I’ve always been athletic, and am decently coordinated, but to say that my transition to weights, using Metabolic Effect’s (ME) rest-based training (RBT) principles, was seamless would be an understatement.

So what is RBT anyway? In two words: efficient exercise. The primary goal of the short-duration, high-intensity workouts is rest, not work. Cra, right? I know you’re probably thinking “how on Earth does this work?” But contrary to popular belief, it’s intensity not time that drives results in the gym; exercising smarter, not longer. RBT maximizes calorie burn both during and after the workout. The ME philosophy teaches to “push until you can’t, rest until you can.” Push hard then rest, until you can push hard again. With me?

Here are my Top 9 tips to master rest-based training:

1. Hire a trainer. I am so grateful to have had a trainer for the first six months of my lifting weights. It gave me confidence to know that I was performing the exercises correctly, but also kept me accountable- especially in the beginning when I was still a cardio-obsessed crazy unsure of this new, more moderate approach to exercise. Rest-based training is taught so if that’s what you want to do, hire someone familiar with those principles. Online or in-person, be sure they know their shit. Whether you intend to work with a trainer on the reg or not, hiring one is a great way to jump-start your [weightlifting] workouts. It also helps keep you focused if you suffer from gym anxiety.
2. If you’re contemplating rest, you probably don’t need rest. When you don’t think you can, go for one more rep. If it requires that much consideration, you probably don’t need rest. When you go down for a push-up and face plant, to perform a curl and the weights don’t move or a squat jump and your feet don’t leave the floor… that’s how you know you need rest.
3. Go for one more rep. In the beginning, it’s not uncommon to want to pace; to use our rest in between exercises. In my practice, I’ve observed this to be common among endurance athletes, especially runners. This is the “must go until finished” mindset. Instead, try to perform at least one repetition of the next exercise in the circuit before taking your rest. If you can, keep going. If not, rest.
4. Limit your rest to no more than 7 seconds, to start. One of the most common questions I’m asked is, “how long should I rest?” There’s no rule as to how long you rest in RBT. Some people take short, frequent rest; others longer, more infrequent. So you’re thinking, “Ok Emily, what the hell… so then why’d you just tell me to limit rest?” The point is not to get entirely comfortable; we’re not trying to bring your heart rate all the way back down. After all, we ARE exercising. Lol it’s not going to be a walk in the park, but remember: short and intense. The end is in sight. 😉 So to answer your question, seven is an arbitrary number that worked for me… kept me moving. Once I learned RBT, my rest time became irrelevant but I used this tip to get me started. But, do NOT cut your rest short. Rest is the single biggest determinant of exercise intensity. The more you rest, the harder you’ll push. And the harder you push, the more you’ll rest.
5. Swap long duration cardio for HIIT or sprints. This was more of a mindset thing for me, but the less steady-state, moderate intensity long duration cardio I did, the less I paced during my rest-based workouts. I really do enjoy straight cardio though so instead of nixing it all together, I began to work track (or treadmill) sprints into my weekly routine. Along the same lines with quick bursts of energy followed by rest, I still got my endorphin rush but in a fraction of the time. (As an aside, I haven’t been on a long run in as long as I can remember, yet am faster and stronger than ever. And if I had to run a half-marathon tomorrow, probably could. *Bottom line: More is not always better. Better is better.)
6. If possible, take a ME class. Second to hiring a trainer, this is your next best option for learning the technique. And before you tell me that group exercise isn’t your thing (it wasn’t mine), try it. Just once. I promise you will be hooked! I was. What’s there to love? You are your ONLY competition. The instructor keeps things rolling at the front of the room, but some people are working while others are resting; some are taking the advanced movement, others the regression. Everyone’s using different sized dumbbells. No one to compete with, even if you try. Of course, I tried. Ha. In addition to being “coached” by the instructor at the front of the room, it’s helpful to have veteran ME-ers show you how it’s done. *NOTE: Not all participants will be experienced. As a certified instructor, I can assure you you’ll see lots of interesting things. And a lot of people doing the workout incorrectly (i.e. using light weights and thus making what is supposed to be a rest-based workout, continuous).
7. YouTube: Metabolic Effect Rest-Based workout for examples. ‘Nuff said.
8. Aim for the Bs and Hs. Breathless, burning (in the muscles), heat (generation i.e. sweat) and heavy (weights). To accomplish the benefits of metabolic training, aim to meet these four criteria in each and every workout.
9. Practice. RBT is counter-intuitive. It goes against everything we’ve been taught up until this point. I get it. I really do. But I promise that with practices comes progress. Just keep DOing and tell yourself you can. Even if you don’t believe it. #fakeittilyoumakeit Positive self-talk, FTW! 🙂

I hope this helps! Questions? Head on over to my Facebook page and let me know!

Interested in working together? Connect with me here.

So at this point, maybe you’ve ventured over to my ‘About Me’ page, maybe you haven’t. Either way, I know I often find myself wondering more about the person behind the screen. You know, coffee talk. Hence, today’s post. A little more about me:

I am a 20-something Southern transplant from the suburbs of Boston, currently residing in North Carolina. It’ll always be home, but I’ll never go back.

I am a recovering cardio queen turned weightlifting junkie with a passion for all things fitness and nutrition. In the last six months, I’ve realized my passion for blogging (well writing, really… still getting used to the whole publishing thing) and connecting with others through my experiences.

I’m a completely different person now than I was two years ago. It’s crazy how much can change in such a short time. Sometimes I want to pinch myself and be like, “Who are you?” lol.

My favorite drink is coffee. Actually, it’s my non-negotiable so don’t ask me to give it up.

I am an extroverted introvert. I love people, but need my alone time.

I love mornings. And have a grandma bedtime. My ideal morning would start with a huge mug of [preworkout] coffee, writing and then my workout. *Note to self: reevaluate priorities and make it happen.

My favorite workouts are track sprints, HIIT and Metabolic Effect-inspired circuits that use rest based training. Oh, and I love plyometrics (says the one who used to refuse to do burpees, and thought that squat jumps in the gym were awkward)! Ha.

My favorite food is a #BAS. It’s the highlight of my eating day and leaves me satisfied every time. Basically, put anything with vegetables and I’ll eat it. Every bite is as good as the first and that’s exactly how it should be. 🙂

I love chicken, and don’t know what I did for 12 years without bacon. *Side note: I grew up on the coast and we ate a ton of fish. Now, I think seafood is pretty much the grossest thing ever. Happens only occasionally.

I love being clean. And shower at least 2x/day.

I am honest, empathetic and open-minded. You never know where someone is coming from and I strive to withhold any/all judgments until I’ve gotten to know someone for myself. You can learn something from everyone.

Worst traits Areas for growth: I definitely still struggle with perfectionist tendencies, at times. That said, I’ve come a long way: less Type A and not quite Type B, but more like a Type A/B hybrid. Oh, and I’ve definitely become more spontaneous. #sayyes

I love to cook, in 10 steps or less, and entertain. But, I will never be as good as my mom.

My sweet tooth is pretty much non-existent, but you can never go wrong with the chocolate & peanut butter combo. Reese’s, sugar-free froyo with Reese’s, chocolate peanut butter shake, protein bar. Usually, it’s salt for this girl all the way.

My favorite indulgence is nachos. But I hate labeling foods as good or bad, and make my own, so really they’re just a clean(er) treat that I enjoy, in moderation.

I’m definitely of the ‘it takes more energy to be negative than it does to be positive’ camp.

I drive a Toyota Corolla (aka go-cart), but miss my Jeep.

I love to read! Topping my 2013 list are: The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, Being Happy by Tal Ben-Shahar, The Willpower Instinct by Kelly McGonigal and The Defining Decade: Why Your Twenties Matter-And How to Make the Most of Them Now by Meg Jay.

The little things that make me happy: making someone smile, giving generously, coffee (and more coffee!), sending/receiving cards, rainy days on the couch, writing, candles, workouts that leave you sore for days, my family/friends, relaxing, wine, positive people, pedicures, being outside, the beach/boat, football (or really just sports, in general) and engaging people, to name a few.

Major dislikes: quinoa, dill, mayonnaise, cheese, dessert, squash, green beans, excuses, negative people, talking on the phone and running errands. There are probably more, but let’s not focus on the negative. K? Thx. 🙂

I grocery shop at Trader Joes and Whole Foods, primarily. Yes, the latter is doable even on a budget. For more on eating clean on a budget, go here.

My ideal “real” clothes closet would include everything from J.Crew. I love my spandex and getting really dressed up, but hate the in between. Finding jeans that fit is a nightmare.

I am very independent, and like figuring things out on my own.

My ideal house would be born from Pottery Barn with a kitchen by Williams-Sonoma and accessorized by Anthropologie. That said, I like supporting small businesses and having accent pieces that not everyone else has- “cookie cutter” items as my sister would call them. Simple, but elegant. I hate clutter. My needs are minimal and I’m pretty very low-maintenance.

My career life goals are to gain knowledge, have experiences and make connections. Coaching clients in the realms of fitness, nutrition and healthy lifestyles is something, I’ve discovered, that comes naturally to me. I enjoy the challenge of motivating others to want change for themselves which, I believe, starts with a shift in mindset. Teaching that exercise can be efficient, nutrition sustainable and that wellness extends far beyond the latter two realms empowers the individual, which is key in affecting behavior modification.

Best advice of 2013: Ready, fire… aim, aim, aim.

If there’s something I didn’t include, and you’re wondering, just ask. 🙂

Laying the groundwork

I’ve always been a happy person, but at times that happiness came at a great expense. I was raised in a two-parent home in the affluent suburbs of Boston, went to good schools, had an extensive friend network and was involved in an array of extracurriculars. Basically, I couldn’t have asked for anything more. Though it may have seemed like I had it all, I really just maintained my composure well. In reality, I was tearing myself apart inside.

It all started in middle school. We had just moved into a new home, in a new town when my dad experienced a stressful life event. It was beyond his control, but still one that would have lasting adverse affects on our family for some time. Somehow, actually, not somehow… I know exactly how lol Type-A control freak in me, I allowed his stress to become my stress and unfortunately, my mechanisms for coping were…not good. I say this now, in retrospect, but at the time I thought everything was completely normal. With so much beyond my control, my stress began to manifest itself in tight control over what I could control: diet and exercise. This would quickly spiral into an obsession with perfection in all areas of my life.

Ironically, my struggles with food and exercise were not rooted in weight, or body image issues. After all, I had positive female role models all around me including a tremendously supportive mom and sister that I now call my best friend. Rather, my disordered eating and over-exercise behaviors developed as a mere symptom of my internal battle with myself.

High school was tough. I excelled on the field and in the classroom at one of the top high schools in the state, but so didn’t everyone. With the competition at school and the stress at home, I was living my life in a pressure cooker. So how did I cope? Think two-hour long dates with the treadmill or elliptical, AFTER practice, running on only 800 strategically-planned calories each day. I dropped weight that I didn’t have to lose, and became obsessed with having a perfect body, ALL of the time. I’d developed an intense fear of food, which I’d labeled either “good” or “bad”; bad was off-limits. Eating disorder rumors were rampant, threats from coaches ever present and widespread worry among family and friends. I was in major denial. I wore baggy sweats to hide my shrinking but still clinically “healthy” frame, avoided any and all social activities where there might possibly be food, and even skipped both of my proms as my body insecurities were so real that even the thought of wearing a dress terrified me. I refused the help that I so desperately needed and was scared, but determined to figure it out on my own. Perfectionists don’t need help, right? SO wrong!

Somehow I survived high school, though full of regret, and looked forward to the fresh start that I imagined college would provide. Still, I was naïve as to the new challenges that would await me on campus. Terrified of the weight I knew I needed to gain, I spent that summer before freshman year putting a valiant effort toward restoring my health to a somewhat more acceptable degree. What I neglected to realize then was that this battle was as much mental as it was physical. Yet, all of my focus was external.

I entered college with a huge life plan for myself. One that included medical school, marriage and kids, all by age thirty (does that scare you? because it honestly kinda freaks me out!). I’ve since come to the realization that life doesn’t always go according to plan, that it’s okay to not have a plan and that sometimes, it’s all for the better. I’ve learned to trust that, in the end, everything will be okay.

College

My college years got off to a shaky start. I spent a semester at the University of Maryland- College Park before transferring to WakeForestUniversity the spring of my freshman year. There, I declared a major in Health and Exercise Science as soon as I was able. Despite my past, it was what I loved and I wanted to learn everything there was to learn about it. Even then, it was in the back of my head that perhaps one day I could use my knowledge and personal experience to help other girls through similar struggles. Though scoffed at by some as the “gym teacher’s major”, I didn’t give it second thought. It seemed relevant to my intended career path and I’d figure out what to do with it later.

I’d be lying if I said my time at Wake was easy as those years were, in fact, some of the most stressful years of my life thus far. I had just begun to get over my issues when I was thrown into an environment where many girls had just set foot down a path that I’d long ago discovered. I scheduled engagements around my workouts (if you could call them that; I only ran) like I would a class, maintained a strict vegetarian diet consisting of vegetables, fruit, protein bars, dry cereal and Whole Foods salad bar, almost exclusively (I became a vegetarian at the ripe old age of 12, really only as a legitimate excuse to cut out entire food groups). If I was going to be drinking at night, you can bet that there was some serious restriction going on during the day to account for those extra calories. And even when I drank, I never exceeded a calorie count that hadn’t been allocated for. I never once came home from a night of drinking and ate, and sadly never took part in late-night Papa John’s with my peers. Ironically, I wanted none of this but I’d been practicing these [destructive] behaviors for so long that they’d become habit.

From a weight standpoint, I guess you can say I spent those years in maintenance mode. I didn’t gain and I didn’t really lose, but only now do I realize just how unsustainable my maintenance mode really was. I subjected myself to twice daily weigh-ins, and allowed that number to define my day. A cardio queen at heart, I was running for HOURS each day on little to no sleep and insufficiently fueled. When I wasn’t in class, studying or playing dorm mom to my first-year residents, I was either running, planning the day’s eats, or with friends, assuming the latter two items had first been accomplished. I ran when I had nothing to do, even if I’d already been out for a run earlier in the day. It was my outlet… for everything. At the time, I convinced myself I loved it. So much so that one semester I ran 9 miles each morning before class in preparation for a half-marathon. It sucked.

Toward the end of my sophomore year, one of my classmates took part in a weekend-long certification seminar offered by Metabolic Effect. There, she was introduced to The ME Diet, which apparently she thought crazy runner-girl me needed to read. She couldn’t have been more right (go add to your library, now!!). Let me note here that this classmate was merely an acquaintance, and one to whom I will be forever grateful. Following that certification weekend, she approached me after class and told me about the book. I was intrigued, and couldn’t totally write off this stranger who cared enough to share in her experience. I won’t spoil it for you, but authors Jade and Keoni Teta introduce the idea of hormonal exercise within the context of a fat-loss lifestyle. Not a plan that you are on or off, rather something that anyone can do, anywhere…forever. And, it’s science-based… a huge draw for the school-nerd in me. Though I wasn’t ready for change then, the seed was planted: exercise could be efficient, and nutrition didn’t have to be a daily stress. Still, I continued to run.

Junior year was followed by a relatively uneventful senior year then graduation, the festivities of which I did not take part. Not having attained the GPA standard I’d set for myself, though strong, I elected (and later regretted) to not walk with my class. And, I had no plan- a Type-A’s worst nightmare. Somewhere along the way, I chose not to pursue medical school. Instead, I thought I’d take a gap year and enter PA school after that. I realize now that I never even really wanted PA school, but that it was a socially acceptable alternative to the highly respectable profession I once desired.

First year post-grad; the turning point

I found myself a week out from graduation employed as a Wellness Coach at a YMCA. I worked mostly with guys who gave me a hard time, half-jokingly, about my cardio habits… “Why would you run when you can lift weights?” They all offered to train me, but despite the knowledge that my body needed weights, stubborn me was determined now more than ever to not “lift weights” lol. Then, I crossed paths with Danny. Like the rest of the guys, he too offered the training but took a different and arguably more effective approach. Instead of attacking the running so-to-speak (yes, the old me interpreted their generous training offers as an attack on my running…funny how the mind works, no?!), he said something along the lines of “I know running’s your thing but if you ever want to train, just let me know,” and left it at that. I had no intention of taking him up on his offer, but I was a tired runner and little did I know, about to hit rock bottom.

I was out for a five-mile run onto which I’d added three miles as punishment (since the first five weren’t fast enough) and near tears. I’d gotten pretty good at running through pain, but my body was breaking down. I remember sitting at home post-run, on the couch, icing everything and overwhelmed by defeat. My body had failed me. It was at this point that I realized that this was no way to live and that I was ready for, or at least open to change. So, I texted Danny.

It’s definitely been a process, and an ongoing one at that, but my head is finally in the right place. It’s been almost a year since our first session and not only am I hooked on weights, but that obsession with long-duration cardio has become a thing of the past. That number on the scale? I have no clue and I honestly don’t care. I haven’t weighed myself since I started lifting weights, but I feel good strong and am probably the healthiest small I’ve ever been.

Realizing that I was and am not alone in having these crazy thoughts (yes, I still have them…I’m just better able to respond) has given me the confidence to share my story with all of you.

So, that’s me in a nutshell. Welcome to the blog!