10 Tiny Changes for Big Weight Loss

By Chalene Johnson

Take baby steps toward eating more healthfully. If you "slip," get immediately back on track. Never let a vacation or a special holiday be an excuse to overdo it the entire time. Go ahead, enjoy the occasional indulgence, but keep it reasonable. Here are 10 tiny changes you can make for big weight loss. Wait 2 minutes. Cravings will disappear after two minutes if you walk away and turn your attention elsewhere. W.I.W.M. When you really crave something unhealthy, answer this question: "What do I Want More," that piece of chocolate cake, or a body I feel proud of? And on rare occasions, it's okay to pick the chocolate cake! No one's perfect. Don't allow one bad choice to result in bingeing the rest of the day, or falling back into old habits. Focus. Make eating purposeful, not something mindless to do while watching TV, driving, or sitting in front of the computer. Whenever you put food in your mouth, try to engage all of the senses in the pleasure of nourishing your body. Don't skip breakfast. Start eating a filling breakfast, but one that's lower in fat. It will help you eat fewer total calories throughout the day. Veggies. The majority of your plate should have veggies and/or fruit on it at both lunch and dinner. See what you eat. Eat your food from a plate instead of straight out of a jar, bag, or box. Don't buy it. Stop buying the food you snack on all day. Just eliminate the temptation. Eat more fruit. A person who gets enough fruit in their diet doesn't have a raging sweet tooth. Watch what you drink. Cut back on or cut out high-calorie drinks like soda, sweet tea, lemonade, and, especially, alcohol. People have lost weight by making just this one change. Want more Chalene Johnson? Visit Chalene's Corner Interested in finding out more about Beachbody?  You can check it out HERE!

Fit Club Push!

I had my Fit Club tonight!  I decided to push myself and see where my back was.  We did ChaLEAN Extreme Burn Intervals.  This is a 45 minute butt kicking workout!  I pushed and my back is happy!  No aches, no pain, no twinges.  I was afraid that it would be good during and then an hour or so later it would start to stiffen up.  NOPE!  I took care of myself, I stretched, I did some yoga and really focused on working out the kink and it seems that it worked!

I'm so happy! HAPPY DANCE TIME!!! WooHoo! ;)

My girls really pushed themselves hard too!  I am so proud of them.  Mary has been with me from the beginning and she is so awesome!  I have some regulars who have been out the last couple weeks and I miss them so much!  I can't wait to get my full crew back again!

Next week is KenpoX from the amazing program P90X!  I look forward to hitting this one hard too!  LOVE MY FIT CLUB!

Exercising and Back Pain...

I used to suffer from chronic back pain. After the birth of my second child, when I was in my early 20's I fell at work which caused me to start down a long road of back problems.  It's hard when you start so young and you are supposed to be so healthy.  I realized that having two children back to back did little to help the muscles in my stomach and my back.  Then to go and have a third child with an existing back injury was not the best thing in the world to do.  I suffered for years and went to physical therapy all to help my back heal.  Then I purchased Power 90 and asked my physical therapist to take a look.  She agreed I could do it with modifications.  From that point on I became the queen of modification!


Fast forward several years...I'm now in my 40's and for the most part I've had a healthy back.  Then yesterday I moved wrong.  It's been a long time since I've felt this pain and I don't like it.  Lower back into my left hip wrapping around into my left abdomen area.  Not a fun time in the least.  So yesterday I took the day off of my ChaLEAN Extreme workout, it was supposed to be Burn Circuit 3 which is focused on lots of lower back, thighs and arms.

So I went looking for information on exercising with back pain and I found a great site www.spine-health.com.  Here is a little bit:

A typical response to experiencing back pain is to take it easy - either staying in bed or at least stopping any activity that is at all strenuous. While this approach is understandable and may even be recommended in the short term, when done for more than a day or two it can actually undermine healing. Instead, active forms of back exercises are almost always necessary to rehabilitate the spine and help alleviate back pain.

Go HERE to read the entire article.

Just remember that you need to know what you are working with before you do any forms of exercise when you are experience back pain.  If you are like me and know what happened then it's important to ice and heat the first day or two along with taking anti-inflammatory's.  Stretching is also good for low back pain as it helps keep the joints lubricated and stretch the muscles that tense up around the area that is inflamed.


So while I will not be doing any heavy lifting tonight you can bet I am going to be doing some yoga.  I will not let my back get the better of me.  I am taking ibuprofen and drinking lots of water.  For the first time I feel like I have control of my body instead of the other way around.  For so many years I let my aches and pains control me.  I'm so glad I have Beachbody in my life and I know what it feels like to live a healthy lifestyle!

Burn Circuit 2, ChaLEAN Extreme Review

Wow, OK, so yes, I've done this workout before.  Yes I knew what to expect. But no, I have not pushed myself to the near "vomit zone". I upped my weights, I pushed harder and farther than I had before. I knew I could so I did. I was shaky by the time the 37 minutes was over and I was in love all over again.

The way this program forces you to slow down you lifting, keep it so controlled and focus on the muscle groups you are working makes this program a one two punch.  You are doing sumo squats and bicep curls at the same time.  Focusing on lowering your body slowly, squeezing your thighs and raising your body.  Then at the top you do the bicep curl. That is just ONE of the many moves.  The three part push ups at the end of your workout is the cherry on the top!  Shakey, sweaty and feeling like I was on top of the world.  I showered, grabbed my Greenberry Shakeology and took my two youngest children to the DMV.  One got her permit while the other got his license.  Good day in the Woodward household so far! ;)

I'm interested in hearing success stories for ChaLEAN Extreme.  Please, let me know what you experienced and what your results were.  Are you using Shakeology while doing the program?  Leave a comment and let me know what program you are doing if it isn't ChaLEAN Extreme! I want to hear from you. :)