We've moved! We've moved. I've gone all fancy-pants....you can find my new & improved website at www.petrinahammfitness.com. Go on, check it out!

Food = Fuel: Changing Your Mindset Can Change Your Life

Too many people fall into the trap of viewing food as either their best friend or their worst enemy.  When I was severely obese, food was often my best friend- a source of comfort, an anesthetic, always readily available when I needed it thanks to the drive-thru lane at many nearby fast-food restaurants and the aisles & aisles of processed junk at the local grocery stores. 

To others, food is viewed as the worst enemy.  At times in my weight loss journey, I would look at food as my enemy - the obstacle to me getting thinner.  It is this kind of attitude that can hamper your efforts to lose or maintain your weight (and, at the very worst, can lead to severe eating disorders).  Believe it or not, if you're not fueling your body sufficiently because you're viewing food as an enemy, you can wind up stalling your weight loss or even GAINING weight. 

This fuels you better than McDonald's food!

It wasn't until I was at the point of maintaining a significant weight loss that I began viewing food not as a friend or an enemy, but as fuel for my body.  Interestingly enough, this did not occur until after I had begun engaging in physical activity on a regular basis.  I began to recognize that there were certain foods with nutrients that fueled my body, that improved my metabolism, that caused it to run well and actually made me FEEL worlds better than I did when I was feeding my body with calorie-dense, nutritionally poor crap. 


On days where I made bad food choices due to convenience or temptation sake, I could feel the difference in how my body felt as I went through a workout.  Conversely, when I wasn't feeding my body enough,  I could feel as if I did not have the energy to push through a workout as well as I could when I was properly fueled.  This is when it "clicked" for me and I truly began to view food as FUEL.  This has been KEY to my maintaining my weight loss, and for helping me make smart food choices the majority of the time. 


I have been truly shocked to learn just how few calories some folks have daily when they are dieting in the hopes of dropping pounds fast.  Your body needs fuel to function.  Curious as to how many calories you should be having daily?  Click here, enter in your age, gender, weight, height and activity level and find out your rough daily caloric needs.  It may not be 100% accurate for everyone but it is a sound starting point for most.  Take a look to see how you're doing!

A tip I frequently share with friends is to think about what you're about to eat. Take a moment to consider whether the food you're about to enjoy is good for you. Make an effort to insure that at least 90% of the food choices you're making are truly good for your body.  You don't have to consider any food off limits for eternity, but you should limit your intake of bad foods. 

Have a nutrition tip you'd like to share? Comment below!

Top 10 Reasons I Love Working Out at Home

It's been awhile since I've ditched my gym membership in favor of exclusively working out at home.  Although I miss the hot yoga class offered at my gym, working out at home has turned out to be an all-around wonderful thing.  And I am thoroughly loving my results as I am now in the final phase of the Les Mills PUMP program.  Nearly each day, my husband and I set aside the coffee table, set up our equipment and get our sweat on together.   Our kids have joined in and will do TurboFire or Insanity workouts regularly.  We have transformed our living room into our own personal family gym. 

Working out at home with Beachbody programs ROCKS.  Here's why:

10.  The Savings.  We save time and money- no longer do we have to drive 15-20 minutes each way to get a good workout.  And we don't have to spend any money on an expensive gym membership each month!  Sweet!

9.   The Comfort.  No, it's not comfortable to grinding your way through an exceptionally tough workout.  But it is nice to be doing a workout in the comfort of your own home- without having to worry about what anyone thinks of your dingiest sweatpants.  Bonus too that you don't have to deal with any offensive smells or sounds of others- well, unless your little one is still in diapers.

8.  The Best Spot in Class Belongs to You!  You don't have to rush out the door to get to your gym in time to land a spot in a popular class, nor do you have to fret about being way in the back and unable to see the instructor or fighting for space to move after the class starts.

7.  The Flexibility.  You are the master of  your workout schedule.  You can fit your workout in the time that best works for you! And if the flow of your day changes, you can adapt and re-schedule for later in the day. You can't say the same for your favorite gym group class.

6.  The Trainers.  You get a workout alongside some of the best trainers in the industry- Tony Horton, Debbie Siebers, Shaun T, Chalene Johnson and the most amazing group of certified Les Mills trainers for the PUMP program- just to name a few!  These people will inspire and motivate you through a great workout.  Have I mentioned that I've actually gotten to chat with some of these folks thanks to Beachbody message boards and Facebook groups?  How cool is that?

5.  The Nutrition Plans.   Not only do you get a set of workout DVDs when you purchase a Beachbody program, you also get a sound nutritional plan.  Whether your goal is weight loss, maintenance or building muscle, you'll get a nutrition plan that will help you achieve your goals safely and sensibly. You don't get that with a typical gym membership.

4.  The Prizes.  By entering your workout in the Supergym, you're entered to win a daily prize of $500.  And you don't even have to enter a Beachbody workout to do so! All you have to do is sign up for a free Team Beachbody membership.   Not a member?  Click here to sign up. 

3.  The Pause Button.  In the event nature calls during your workout, you can hit pause and resume where you left off.  In my case, I often have to use it to give Stella a hug or my husband a kiss while we're changing out weights on our barbells (talk about a great energy boost!). 

2.  The Hybrids!  So I've already completed P90X, TurboFire and Insanity (all Beachbody programs).  Have I given them away or tried to sell them? Heck no. I keep them on hand to use for hybrid programs to stave off workout boredom.  You can get a lot of bang for your buck when  you have 2 or more Beachbody programs by crafting a hybrid program involving workouts from each.  A quick google search of the programs you have, along with the word "hybrid" should find you a new schedule to work from and keep those workout doldrums at bay. 

1.  The Sheer Simplicity.  All we have to do is cue up the DVD, hit play and we're off to a great workout.  When we had our gym membership, we had to get all the kids ready, change our clothes, pack a bag so we could shower and change after our workout, pack everything and everyone in the car, drive 20 minutes (more depending on traffic and stoplights), stop for gas if needed, check the kids into the gym childcare and hope we got there in time to find a spot in a group class or worry over whether the equipment we wanted was free to use.   What a production number!  Now, it's just a matter of changing, setting stuff up and pressing play. 

As you can tell, I am crazy in love with my Beachbody workouts.  Another big advantage to working out at home: our kids get to see us in action. It feels great to know we are providing a positive example to our children when it comes to health and fitness.  So much so that they often want to jump in and workout with us or they borrow one of our workouts and do it on their own.   I love that we get to share these workouts with our kids!

If you're getting tired of the production of getting to your gym or would like to start experiencing the joys of working out at home, email me at coachpetrina@yahoo.com.  I'd love to help you find your soulmate at-home workout!

Coach P's Top 10 Outdoor Running Pet Peeves

Coach P, 20 pounds heavier & preggers with Stella!

Had you told me several years ago that I would one day come to love running, I would have thought you were on some serious drugs- or had lost your grip of reality.  Me, run?  Unless there was a vicious bear involved, no thank you. And now here we are and yes, Coach P does love to run. I actually look forward to my scheduled runs as I train for my next half-marathon.  It took a great cause to get me to strap on some Asics and go.  After my amazing uncle (my father's twin brother, Paul) was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, I learned of the Team in Training event training program, Inspired, I signed up to train for and run in a full marathon in honor of Uncle Paul, all the while raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. 

Marathon training was grueling but the process helped to light the spark for my love affair with running.  And I got the added bonus of endorphins as well as quality bonding time with my husband who trained with me.  We wound up conceiving Stella and discovered we were pregnant just two weeks prior to the Kiawah Marathon.  Our run turned into a walk/jog after the seventh mile of the marathon thanks to a cramping calf, but we finished!  I continued to jog up until the third trimester of my pregnancy. I very much looked forward to getting back into the swing of things running after I fully recovered in post-partum.  Now, I'm very happy that my current Beachbody program, Les Mills PUMP, allows me to get great strength-training sessions in that compliment my running and allow me to get several good runs in a week without worrying about over-training.   And I'm faster now being twenty pounds slimmer than when I first started running!

Running is my "me" time- a chance to meditate, reflect on the day so far, compose a to-do list for the remainder of the day, enjoy my favorite music and just revel in the pure simple joy of my heart, breath and legs working in unison to propel me through our familiar neighborhood route.  But, yes, there are some things that take the swing out of my step, the proverbial wind out of my sails as I run outdoors.  I don't normally like to get all negative, but these things make me need to vent and vent loudly!

My TOP 10 PET PEEVES WHILE OUTDOOR RUNNING:

10.  Irresponsible pet owners.  Nobody likes to step in dog doo.  Please, people, pick up after your pets when you take them for a walk.  That crap is gross.  Also, have the good sense to keep your dog on a leash.  I seriously don't want to pepper spray your beloved Fido, but I will if he starts running at me.

9.  Smokers.  The smell of smoke makes me gag.  There is nothing I dread more than seeing someone puffing away on a cancer stick...especially knowing that I will have to run through your smoky haze.  My endorphin-laced Zen evaporates in your smelly mist. 

8.   Litter. Or rather the horrible folks who think it's okay to just throw their trash out cars onto the street- or those who drop their cancer sticks on the ground when done puffing away (see #9).

7.  Inconsiderate drivers.  You know who you are. Chances are, you've even made eye contact with me just before you speed up to beat me at the crosswalk. Bonus hatred points to you if you do so while it's raining.  You suck and I hate you.

6.  My glasses.  Speaking of rain, there is nothing worse than a run while your glasses are speckled with rain or clouded with mist.  Yes, you serve a most useful function, my specs.  You allow me to see despite my horribly imperfect vision.  But when it's raining, you are an epic failure.  I may as well be blind.

5.  Our jogging stroller.  I can't even begin to go into this because I will bring myself to a near apoplectic rage.

4.  Low cut socks.  After enduring a few too many blisters after sporting low cut socks, they are now completely banned from my life.  You are evil evil cotton devils.

3.  Unkempt trees and shrubbery.  If you have trees or bushes on your land, please try to trim them periodically. There is nothing worse than having to dodge tree branches or prickly shrubbery that are in my right of way on the sidewalk- well, except for being hit square in the face or knee or what have you by said tree branches or prickly shrubbery.  Invest in pruning shears for the love of God.

2.  People who park their cars across the sidewalk.  People, if you can't fit all your vehicles within your garage and/or driveway space, do everyone who chooses to walk and run a HUGE favor and park on the street.   The sidewalk is called a sidewalk because people are supposed to be able to walk on it. They don't call it a"sideparkyourcarheresoeveryonehastowalkaroundyourdumbasscarandbravestreettraffic." And for good reason!

1.  People who don't return a smile or wave.  Again, you know who you are.  Chances are I've already ran at least 3 miles before we spot each other. I am sweating buckets and high on endorphins but I KNOW we made eye contact as I smiled or waved at you. Would it kill you to turn your lips into a smile or raise your hand to wave?   Is your life that bad?  If so, I guess I should feel sorry for you but it's hard when you seem like such a meanie pants.

Ah, that felt better!  Sometimes you just have to vent folks.

Leap Year Challenge- Turn "I Can't" into "I Did" in 2012!

Once upon a time, my life was ruled by the phrase "I can't."  I weighed 240 pounds and used every excuse in the book to avoid eating right and exercising - most of which began with those two awful words...

I can't live without my Pepsi.  I can't cook healthy meals.  I can't walk a flight of stairs.  I can't afford to buy healthy food/a gym membership/a workout program.  I can't track my foods. It's too hard. It's too much work. I just can't.

So how did I get from 240 pounds to 140 pounds? Did I suddenly kick "I can't" to the curb. Nope. I started out my weight loss journey simply to help out my sister- who herself was employing "I can't" in a big way- she wanted to go on the Atkins diet and claimed "I can't stay on it unless you do it too."  At the time, we were sharing a townhome and it would have been incredibly difficult for her to be on such a restrictive diet if I were there guzzling on my Pepsi or enjoying a cinnamon roll or whatever form of cheap, sugary, carb-laden crap that had helped make me severely obese in the first place.  So, in the spirit of helping a sister out, I shelved the "I can't" in place of "I'll try."  I didn't set a goal. I wasn't aiming to reach a certain weight or look like a certain celebrity.

And try I did, my spirits raised by the eight pounds I lost in the first week of ignoring the cries of "I can't" in my head and sticking to the plan.  The weeks went by, the pounds kept coming off and that big old "I can't" that had kept me from even trying before gathered a big old pile of dust on it.  Encouraged, I started to set mini-goals.  Weeks turned into months and when I saw the weight on our scale start with a 1 rather than a 2 for the first time, I laughed and cried and danced crazily around our tiny bathroom.  The mythical Onederland that folks on the low-carber message boards I frequented spoke of so often and with such reverence- I was THERE.

Even throughout the seven years of maintaining a ninety pound weight loss, I'd allow that "I can't" off the shelf far too often.  I can't run in a 5K.  I can't do a push-up on my toes.  I can't run a half-marathon. I can't run a full marathon.  I can't lift anything other than Barbie weights.  I can't get myself squarely in the healthy weight range.  I've proven myself wrong each time.  Yes, there are some things in life we cannot do- no matter how hard we try.  But far more often than not, I can't is just a bad cover- it's what we use to excuse ourselves from taking on certain challenges.

If I had clung on that "I can't," I wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't be a healthier, fitter and happier woman.  I'd still be that 240 pound woman who struggled breathless to climb up even the shortest flight of stairs, who struggled to keep up with her son as he wanted to run and play with her, headed towards a lifetime of discrimination and ill  health. 

So my words of wisdom to you for the day is to take that "I can't" and put it on a shelf. If you're unable to replace it with "I will," then an "I'll try" will suffice.  Just forget about Can't.  Can't is the most vicious lie we can tell ourselves. 

An Open Letter to Paula Deen

Dear Paula Deen,

You seem like a nice, sweet lady.  Although I've never bought any of your cookbooks or fixed any of your meals or desserts in my home, I'm sure I may have enjoyed a taste or two of your culinary creations while celebrating a holiday with my family- several of whom are huge fans of yours. I'm sorry to hear of your diabetes diagnosis- I truly am.  As you're probably now well aware after taking three years to educate yourself on this disease, it is no laughing matter.  Some of the more sobering facts about diabetes:

• Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower-limb amputations, and new cases of blindness among adults in the United States.
• Diabetes is a major cause of heart disease and stroke.
• Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. 

Perhaps the most disturbing stat about diabetes is the fact that nearly 2 million people ages 20 years or older were newly diagnosed with diabetes in 2010 in the United States.  Almost two million people in one single year!

In your three year quest to educate yourself, I'm sure you also learned that diabetes can be entirely preventable with certain lifestyle changes.  You probably even learned that studies have shown that people with pre-diabetes who lose weight and increase their physical activity can prevent or delay type 2 diabetes and in some cases return their blood glucose levels to normal.

When asked about the length of time it took you to go public with your diagnosis on the Today Show, you explained that "I wanted to bring something to the table when I came forward."  What you brought to the table - the Novo Nordisk "Diabetes in a New Light" campaign- saddens me more than your diagnosis.  You are now the new face of Victoza- a drug that may improve blood sugar when used in conjunction with diet and exercise.  A drug that has caused thyroid tumors in animal studies.  A drug that costs $499.98 for a 3 pen supply that should last its users approximately 3 months.  And you do so all the while taking pains to note that despite your diagnosis, you're going to keep on cooking the same way you always have...you're just going to cut back on the sweet tea and continue preaching "all in moderation."

Oh, Paula.  When I think about all the fans out there of yours, the ones who frequently fix your infamous donut burger, your fat-laden fried butter balls, the ones who will sit and watch you cooking all your signature fried dishes on Food Network and think of you as their own personal idol, I then can't help but wonder how many of them out there received a pre-diabetes diagnosis from their doctor as the past three years ticked away.  I wonder how many could have possibly prevented a full-blown diabetes diagnosis if their beloved idol, you Ms. Paula Deen, had not only shared her diagnosis with them but also advised that if they made certain lifestyle changes (such as cutting out the afore-mentioned donut burgers and butter balls and beginning to incorporate physical exercise into their daily routine), they could avoid suffering the same fate...and having to shell out $175 a month for the diabetes medication you're now pimping out.   I'm sure they could use the extra money in their budget.  As you said to a reporter in the New York Post in response to an Anthony Bourdain criticism of your cooking, "[n]ot everybody can afford to pay $58 for prime rib or $650 for a bottle of wine. My friends and I cook for regular families who worry about feeding their kids and paying the bills."

I guess these regular folks shouldn't complain about having to drop a big wad of cash on their diabetes medications.  After all, their food budget stretches far seeing how it's being spent on cheap butter, sugar, flour and the least expensive fattiest cuts of meat in line with the recipes in your cookbooks so they should have enough extra money to spend on pharmaceuticals.  Who needs prime rib or fancy schmancy wine when you can treat yourself to a daily shot of Victoza?

Sincerely,
Coach P.

My Before and After Pic and 5 Weight Loss Tips in 5 minutes

Since I am now officially down 100 pounds and have figured out how to use picnik to do a side-by-side picture, here is my official before and after shot (drumroll please).....

Surreal!  I also went ahead and made a video of my 5 big weight loss tips to share on YouTube.   5 Tips in 5 minutes- it can be done even when you have diarrhea of the mouth!

Capped off a productive day by tackling a 3 miler with my speed demon stepdaughter.  Phew! Mama needs to kick back and relax...