Living Room Workout Club - Living Room Workout Club Blog

Simple Habits, Big Results: The Importance of Hydration

8/23/2018

When we think getting fit, toning up, losing weight we think about (and then get overwhelmed by) the big things…

The right workout - strength training, HIIT, cardio… what’s best?

Finding the time to work out… how often is best?

Eating healthier, meal planning…

To an already overtired, overworked, and overwhelmed mom this can be paralyzing!

I know because I’ve been there AND I’ve seen it time and time again with my clients.

Take a step back!

Sometimes it’s the littlest things that can make all the difference!

The #1 Ingredient For Efficient Fat Loss: Muscle

7/25/2018

You just want to lose the baby weight, feel strong, healthy and comfortable in your skin again, and get your energy back.

So you think you have to...

Spend hours doing cardio, cut your calories to the bare minimum only to feel MORE exhausted all the time….

Then you turn to teas, X, Y, Z diet, patches pills...

NOPE... Here come a jump through my screen and shake a little bit of sense into you moment.

Balance is BS: How To Choose Which Ball to Drop

6/26/2018

As busy moms we are always in the pursuit of this elusive “balance.” This idea that, if we do it right, we can juggle it all without dropping any of the balls…

That’s is all just BS! It’s impossible!

You will drop the balls…. All the balls if you aren’t careful.

Or you are so focused on not dropping the balls that you aren't really LIVING your life.

If (more like when) that first ball gets dropped, it's more than likely the one that reminds us to take care of ourselves.

Again, you will more than likely drop the balls… but if YOU choose which balls to drop, the most important ones can be protected.

Ok, enough with the juggling metaphor…

My point is, not every part of your life can be great at the same time and that’s ok. That’s more than ok, that’s life!

Something always has to give. You need focus on your priorities and sometimes say “F the rest.”

You need to truly decide what is important to you right now. Not anyone else, YOU!

…"ok, Alison… but HOW?"

“I’m living mostly in survival mode, there isn’t anything else I can let slide”

“I already feel like I’m not doing enough, there is nothing else I can let go of so that I can prioritize myself”

"Yes, that makes sense, but how to I identify my priorities and then how to I decided what can be let go?”

The first thing is to distinguish between priorities (health, family, relationships, personal goals, etc.) and to-dos (laundry, cleaning, appointments, etc.).

The priorities always have to be put before the to-dos! ...and no that doesn’t mean never do laundry (you wish). It simply means your priorities lead. Again, makes sense, buuuutttt the issues come in when actually decided how to devote and divide your time.

This is HARD.

I recently read an interesting article from SwimBikeMom, that I knew would help my YOU, my tribe.

She calls it the Suck Line Method and it works like this:

Each week, you start by writing down a list of all the things that matter to YOU (spouse, family, kids, health, friendships, self care…). Then you go through all of your to-dos (laundry, cleaning, cooking, shuttling kids, appointments, ...)
Once you have the list, shuffle it a bit to prioritize certain priorities/to-dos.
Finally count down 10-12 spaces and draw a “big, fat line.”

Everything above the line gets your attention and focus for the week. Everything below that line you completely forget about FOR THE WHOLE WEEK. Everything below the line just “sucks” for one week. Maybe next week some of the "suck" things get to go above the line, you rotate them around a bit, other things come up, but THIS week you focus on ONLY what’s above the line.

This whole concept was very intriguing to me. So, as promised to those of you in my Strong Mom Tribe, I tested it out over the past 2 weeks.

These were my lists for the past two weeks:

And here are my lessons learned:

If I want to let laundry slip below the suck like again, I need to buy Dustin more underwear and t-shirts. Also maybe a little transparency would be good too. I didn’t tell him about this little experiment until he was trying to pack for a business trip with no clean underwear...oops.
Some priorities are fixed to the top, some shuffle but never go below the suck line and some like my pedicure never seem to never come above the suck line (and that’s ok too).
This list is personal AND would have been very different in different stages of my life.
It’s not the end of the world of some of these things slip for a week or even two (not necessarily the laundry as noted above, lesson learned). Maintaining my friendships is important and something I neglected for far too long building my business, going on the road and raising a family. I can neglected it sometimes but not all the time; I just need to be intentional about it.
This past week healthy eating slipped for sure. We had 2 birthdays in the house this week (plus Father’s Day). We had cake, ice cream cake, and a cookie cake! We went out for hibachi, we ate all their favorite foods, we had very little in the way of balanced healthy meals, but IT’S OK. No guilt, not beating myself up. Balanced healthy eating just simply goes back above the suck line this week!
This week, I really need to clean my house (somethings can only be below the suck line for so long).
One thing I know is your health should NEVER fall below the suck line!

I know you’ve been nodding along with me over there on the other side of the screen. It all makes sense, it sounds simple enough but the question is will you do it? So often self care and putting yourself first is one of those things that moms just think about, and think about, but struggle pulling the trigger and really doing it. So let ME put you first! Click here to book a time to chat with me so we can start moving you from thinking to action asap.

Its free..there's no obligation. Let’s just sit down and knock this thing out together.

Bad Advice Episode 1: "Just Eat When You Are Hungry"

6/5/2018

"Just eat when you are hungry.” I’m sure you’ve heard this advice before.

This might be the health and fitness related “advice” that draws the biggest eye roll from me.

It does not work with mom life!

Let me paint a picture for you...

You Don’t Need More Time To Workout, You Just Need To Be More Efficient. Here’s How!

5/30/2018

Let’s put to the idea that you need more time to get in a good workout to bed for good! It’s not about having more time. It’s about being more efficient with the time you have (and being honest about with yourself about the time you have).

The TWO Most Damaging Themes That Exist in Diet and Fitness Culture

5/24/2018

Exercise is a punishment for eating “bad foods”

You can earn food by exercising.

They are so deeply ingrained that I with nearly everyone I coach I need to untrain these behaviors…. heck even I catch myself having these thoughts and have to check myself.

These ideas are even subtly integrated into apps like MyFitnessPal where you earn more calories toward you daily calorie goal with added movement.

The ONLY way you can move forward toward creating a sustainable healthy lifestyle is to free yourself from this line of thinking.

Exercise as punishment and food as reward are the antithesis of healthy habits. Every day becomes a battle, even an obsession.

Break free!

Both exercise and nutrition are important!

Exercise is not a punishment for eating bad foods! Exercise it’s so valuable for the body and the mind, it builds muscles, increases your metabolism, your blood flow, improves your mood, decreases stress...I could go on an on. These benefit (especially the mental ones) increase dramatically when you let go of this “punishment idea.”

And food?

Food is not the enemy. Food is the fuel (the energy source for your body). It’s the fuel for your muscles, your brain, it helps keeps your hormones in balance. Yes, some food choices may be better than others, but you don’t need to earn it, or punish yourself for enjoying it. That my friends is a dangerous and very slippery slope.

Again! The ONLY way you can move forward toward creating a sustainable healthy lifestyle is to free yourself from this line of thinking.

Here’s the thing. I make it sound easy, but I know it’s not. These two rules are simple for sure, but untraing and even uncovering some of you underlying ideas and behaviors takes time. As I mentioned this idea is something I coach all my clients through.

I’d love to do that with you by inviting you to a have a little strategy session with me. Jump on over to my calendar to book a chat with me. Its free..there's no obligation. The best part of my job is connecting with you and seeing how I can help!

Carving out Me Time-LIVE with Jen

5/8/2018

One of the biggest obstacles that all the busy moms face is finding time for themselves. Whether that’s time to use the restroom alone or take a shower without somebody needing something, or the time to work out, read a book, have a real conversation with friends… anything that make you feel like you again. With the never ending to do list and the needs of everyone else, it’s HARD!

The Worst Kind Of Broken Promise is One You Break With Yourself

5/1/2018

I had this crazy “aha moment” the other day that I really need to share with you related to our conversation about getting stuck in the “I’ll start tomorrow” or “I’ll start next week” cycle. You stay stuck because you don’t value the promises you make to yourself.

Crush Willpower Challenges with Pre-Commitment

4/11/2018

We know as moms we are all pretty much exhausted all the time. There are certainly things we can do to gain a little bit of that energy back...but before we can even take the necessary steps to do that we need to address a major challenge as it relates to our exhaustion.

Exhausted moms cannot rely on willpower!

You are here because you have health and fitness goals, you want to get control over you body, you want to feel stronger and more confident in your skin, you want more energy, and you want to stop merely surviving mom life and live it!

You can have the best intentions, a perfect nutrition program, some kick ass workouts planned...but the bottom line is when you are tired your willpower is depleted.

When you are exhausted, your willpower cannot be relied on, it cannot be trusted.

Gain Some Quick Confidence with this Relatively Quick Fix

4/9/2018

Mom Posture: You know those rounded shoulders, that forward head position and an anterior pelvic tilt (belly hanging out and arch in your back). It results from the increased weight of the belly and breasts during pregnancy and then carrying the baby, nursing, changing, all in that hunched position, post-partum.

On top of the aesthetic downside of this posture (namely the pooch and hunchback), these distortions can cause neck pain, headaches, lower back pain, knee pain and the list goes on and on…

The thing is, it is more than just standing up straighter and fixing your posture in the moment, this posture is a result results from months to years or repeated motions. Over time, a the muscles around your shoulder and hips get all out of balance: the chest muscles and hip flexors tighten while the upper back and core muscles become weak.

Mom Posture

The good news is targeted stretching and strengthening routines can have you looking better and feeling better in no time. Improved posture goes a long way, you can see results relatively quickly and can give you the confidence you need to push forward with a more intense fitness plan.