Thanksgiving Kettlebell Workout

We all over eat a little around the holidays, don't we? I know I like to at least taste a couple of goodies that I normally don't consume throughout the year. That's why it's that much more important to stick to your workouts or bring up the intensity around this time. I did this quick workout yesterday and boy am I feeling it. My good friends/students Laura and Lindsey left for Afghanistan with their kettlebells, of course, and requested a few workouts. Well this is for you guys!!

I thought I'd share it with all of you. Give it a try 3-5 times through and let me know what you think. This is NOT a beginner workout and does not provide any instruction. If you need to learn how to do some of these exercises, I suggest you get a lesson from your local Certified Russian Kettlebell instructor or purchase a Kettlebell DVD with a tutorial/demonstration section. Please use your judgement!

To view a larger version click here

For those who want to download a copy on their ipod, so they have NO excuses, shoot me an email at Lauren@socaltariner.com, and I'll send you the ipod version.

Beginning Kettlebell Workshop

If you missed the last kettlebell workshop there is another one coming with some slight changes. Reserve your spot right here because the last one sold out quickly and space is limited!

Come spend 4 great hours with Lauren Brooks, learning the best exercises, with a non-intimidating approach, that will help you turn your body into a powerful, fat burning machine.

This workshop is designed for:

- Busy people who struggle to find the time for working out; such as moms, dads, and all working professionals

- Anyone who wants to learn a fun and efficient way to strengthen their entire body while burning fat at the same time.

- Athletes who want to take their training to a new level. Such as snowboarders, wakeboarders, surfers, runners, yogi's, and martial artists.

- Personal Trainers or Group Fitness coaches that want to safely add kettlebells to their clients regimen.

- People who are tired of spending hours in the gym and only seeing mediocre results (IF ANY)

- The at home exerciser who wants to make sure they are using kettlebells correctly and needs new ideas

This workshop will take place in Encinitas, just north of beautiful San Diego. The group size will be VERY limited so that my assistant and I can provide lots of hands on attention.

What will you learn at this beginning kettlebell workshop?

- The foundation kettlebell exercises; including Swings, Cleans, Dead Lifts, Hand 2 Hand Swings, Turkish Get Ups, Front Squats, Military Presses, Snatches and more.

- Body weight exercises; including Squat Thrusts, Burpees, Proper Push-ups, Squat Jumps, Mountain Climbers, and Core strengthening exercises.

- How to design efficient workouts that you can do in under 20 minutes.

- How to properly warm-up or recharge your body with simple Joint Mobility exercises

- Thanks to the limited group size we will have time to cover questions. We will make sure that you leave with a solid understanding and foundation.

- You will take home a manual that includes an 8 week training program full of efficient workouts that will improve your entire body while finally saying goodbye to those fat cells!

Some feedback from the workshop:

"Outstanding workshop. I learned so many new things and I felt challenged throughout. The instructor was very thorough, with great examples. Great pace, I never felt burnt out, but it was never too easy. Excellent motivation as well. The class far exceeded my expectations."

Eric Gray - Carlsbad, Ca

" I really enjoyed your laid back style. You are thorough yet you let us get our own feel for it. I will continue to learn from you."

Carrie Mericle - San Diego, Ca

" I really liked this workshop. You are clear and easy to take direction from. I would recommend this to anyone. I thought this workshop would be good, but it was great. Thanks for sharing!

Tracey Berlin - Encinitas, Ca

" Being a beginner to kettlebells, I though this workshop was awesome!! Lauren did an excellent job of explaining the different kettlebell moves and also kept me safe from hurting myself. (Which could easily happen being so new to kettlebells) I would love to, and look forward to, taking more classes/workshops in the future. Great job, Lauren!!"

Sarah Randolph - Newport Beach, Ca

"Loved the workshop. It was great to see if I was actually using Kettlebells correctly. The towel kettlebell swing was my light bulb moment. I love the manual and can't wait to go home and start a new workout!

Karyn Randolph - Marysville, Ca

You don’t have to worry about there being any fluff or filler. This workshop will be straight to the point and mostly hands on. Quick demonstrations, quick explanations, with not too much lecturing since I really do not like to hear my own voice. I will only show you exercises that I use personally and will go hand in hand with your fitness goals! If you are looking to sit down and listen to someone lecture at you, then this workshop is NOT for you. This workshop is designed for people who don't have time to waste and want to learn quality information in a short period of time with clear explanations. I know first hand how valuable time is, especially with having 2 young kids, one older boy (my husband) and running a successful fitness/nutrition business. Short workouts are my only option and they work!

Date: 1/10/10

Time: 9:30a.m. - 1:30p.m

(Address and info will be provided after spot is reserved)

Sign up now to reserve a spot in this unique fast track Kettlebell Workshop. The price is $199. Sign up before 12/5 for only $149

or you can click here

Cancellation Policy: You will be eligible for a full refund with a 30 day notice.

Intermediate Kettlebell Workshop will be held in February. Contact me if you want to reserve your spot or to find out more info.

To find out more about what others are saying about my teaching read my testimonial page. Or you can see reviews of my last 2 workout DVD's righthere. To see last workshop that was held downtown San Diego click here.

Quick Fat Burning Kettlebell Workout Video

Try this fat burning kettlebell workout. It's a circuit with 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest. You can do this anywhere from 1-5 rounds depending on your fitness level. All you need is 1 Kettlebell and a chair or box. It will take anywhere from 5 to 25 minutes depending on how many sets you do. Enjoy!

To view a larger version on youtube click here

Flourless Oatmeal Pumpkin Pancakes (Gluten Free)

I make these pancakes almost every Sunday for my family. They are healthy and delicious. You can get creative with these. I have been adding Organic Pumpkin Puree this month making them Oatmeal Pumpkin Pancakes. You can add a banana or any fruit of choice to change them up. This makes a perfect amount for myself, husband, and toddler.

Ingredients:

1 cup of Oatmeal ( use Certified Gluten Free, if you have Gluten intolerance)

½ tsp of baking powder

3 Eggs

1 Egg White

½ cup of Low Fat Plain Yogurt or Organic Non Fat Greek Style Yogurt

½ tsp of Vanilla Extract

1 tsp of Cinnamon and can add a pinch of nutmeg

* Optional (1/3 cup of Pumpkin Puree or 1 small banana smashed or add any fruit at the end)

For extra protein or fat you can add a few Tablespoons of Flaxmeal.

Directions : Grind Oatmeal to a fine powder in a blender or food processor. Then blend the rest of the ingredients to a smooth mixture. Lightly spray a griddle or pan and cook at medium heat. Can make many little small pancakes or several large one.

The Ultimate Kettlebell Training Workshop

SOLD OUT!!

Contact me at Lauren@socaltrainer.com about reserving your spot for the next one

Are you too busy to make time for your workouts? If so, you haven't tried kettlebells or learned the right combination to have the most effective workouts. And yes, these workouts can be done in under 30 minutes!!

Come spend just 3 hours in a very small group setting learning, from Lauren Brooks, the best exercises that can turn your body into a powerful, fat burning machine.

This condensed workshop is designed for:

- Busy people who struggle to find the time for working out; such as moms, dads, and all working professionals

- Anyone who wants to learn a fun and efficient way to strengthen their entire body while burning fat at the same time

- Athletes who want to take their training to a new level. Such as snowboarders, wakeboarders, surfers, runners, yogi's, and martial artists.

- People who are tired of spending hours in the gym and only seeing mediocre results (IF ANY)

- The at home exerciser who wants to make sure they are using kettlebells correctly and needs new ideas

This workshop will take place in an outdoor setting at a private residence in Encinitas, just north of beautiful San Diego. The group size will be VERY limited so that my assistant and I can provide lots of hands on attention.

What will you learn at this quick 3 hour kettlebell workshop?

- The foundation kettlebell exercises; including Swings, Cleans, Dead Lifts, Hand 2 Hand Swings, Turkish Get Ups, Front Squats, Military Presses, Snatches and more.

- Body weight exercises; including Squat Thrusts, Burpees, Proper Push-ups, Squat Jumps, Mountain Climbers, and Core strengthening exercises.

- How to implement all of the above mentioned exercises into a balanced, effective workout

- How to design efficient workouts that you can do in under 20 minutes.

- How to properly warm-up or recharge your body with simple Joint Mobility exercises

- Thanks to the limited group size we will have time to cover questions. We will make sure that you leave with a solid understanding and foundation.

- You will take home a plan of attack full of kettlebell and bodyweight workouts that will improve your entire body while finally saying goodbye to those fat cells!

You don’t have to worry about there being any fluff or filler with the amount we will be covering in 3 hours. This workshop will be straight to the point and mostly hands on. Quick demonstrations, quick explanations, with not too much lecturing since I really do not like to hear my own voice. I will only show you exercises that I use personally and will go hand in hand with your fitness goals! If you are looking to sit down and listen to someone lecture at you, then this workshop is NOT for you. This workshop is designed for people who don't have time to waste and want to learn quality information in a short period of time. I know first hand how valuable time is, especially with having 2 young kids, one older boy (my husband) and running a successful fitness/nutrition business. Short workouts are my only option and they work!

Date: 11/15

Time: 9:30a.m. - 12:30p.m

(Address will be provided after spot is reserved)

Sign up now to reserve a spot in this unique fast track Kettlebell Workshop. The price is only $169. SOLD OUT!

or you can click here

Cancellation Policy: You will be eligible for a full refund with a 30 day notice.

A few Testimonials:

Hi Lauren, I have been doing your video and LOVE it!! I have lost 13 pounds so far. I tell everyone I can about your video. I think it is the greatest. I have 3 kids and your video is exactly what I need. Quick and straight to the point. I even had someone at work ask me how I got my biceps to look like that the other day :o)
Karyn. Marysville, Ca

As an at-home exerciser over the past 10 years, I own and use over 30 advanced exercise DVD’s in addition to a full arsenal of equipment to accompany these workouts – dumbbells ranging from 3 lbs to 20 lbs, Power Blocks up to 65 lbs, 3 barbells, 150 lbs of weight plates, a bench, dyna bands, stability ball, Bosu ball, and pull up bar. Recently I discovered Kettlebells and Lauren Brooks' Ultimate Body Sculpt and Conditioning with Kettlebells DVD. This phenomenal DVD and my 2 kettlebells have now become the most powerful, effective and efficient tools that I own. The production of your first DVD was done so well and very professionally. As many Cathe DVDs that I have, I don't believe I have one as flawless as your DVD. That being said, and after meeting you and experiencing your class, I am already sold on any DVD (or anything) that has your name on it!

Karen Gallo, Carmel Valley

Sincerely it is the best! The presentation is direct and personal.The explanations and demonstrations are clear and understandable,especially for old folks who are 80 years old.. Thanks for your help and God bless you and your precious family.
Nick & Mayda, Mexico City

Lauren is hands down one of the most cutting edge trainers in Southern California! She consistently continues to educate herself from the World's elite strength professionals. What does that make her? A World class strength professional herself. Lauren is not only extremely gifted as a teacher, she is naturally encouraging and optimistic. Frankly stated, I recommend Lauren to anyone who wants a genuine person who can offer you cutting edge training methods to get you to your goals!!!!!
Franz Snideman RKC Team Leader, CHEK - La Jolla, CA

As kettlebells are becoming more popular in the United States, so are the KB instructors that promote their use for fitness goals. After purchasing most of the kettlebells videos on the market by the professed "big boys" of Kettlebell mania, I can only say that Lauren's new video stands alone and stands strong. What struck me immediately is that she has the ability to break down a kettlebell exercise and make it extremely user friendly. Her video presence is genuine and straight forward...no bravado or marketing gimmicks. It is perfect for the beginner who may be intimidated by the newness of training with kettlebells or the seasoned kettle bell user. The video is extremely user friendly which is easily followed, especially her narrative as she progresses through each exercise and work out.

I would recommend this video to anyone wanting a foundation in the proper use of kettlebells and training work outs. She is a powerhouse trainer who keeps it simple and keeps it real.
Jessica Fair Stevens
Oregon

To find out more about what others are saying about my teaching read my testimonial page. Or you can see reviews of my last 2 workout DVD's right here. To see last workshop that was held downtown San Diego click here.

Chloe's 7 Month birthday and postpartum update

Chloe is now 7 months and getting close to crawling. She is giggling all the time, singing, laughing, and having fun with her big sister. I am still exclusively breast feeding Chloe, which as you can see by her pictures, she is well fed! Lyla is surprising me everyday with her new words. It's unbelievable watching these 2 girls grow up. Nothing is more fascinating to me then to see my own children grow and become little people.

Chloe is finally sleeping through the night, although I'm afraid to say this because as soon as I tell someone that, the next night she wakes up! But it might be safe to say it. With getting a little more sleep things are starting to look clearer to me. It's amazing how just a couple nights of sleep can actually give you a whole new outlook on life. My energy is so much better all around. Which is perfect timing since I have a very important project I am working on.

As far as my postpartum recovery goes, I would say I'm feeling awesome most of the time. The only issues I have been dealing with are some digestive problems. Ever since this last pregnancy it doesn't matter what I eat, I have been suffering from abdominal distention. I could look great one minute and the next thing I know I'm looking 5 months pregnant. I eliminated dairy, wheat, soy, certain fruits, and veggies and it still has not gone away completely. I've been doing a bit of research on how pregnancy and multiple surgeries can actually cause IBS. After doing everything I can, I finally went to a GI doctor. So it looks like I now have "IBS". I can keep it under control with VERY small portion sizes, lots of fennel, ginger, and peppermint tea, along with keeping my stress down. The probiotics I've been taking have also seemed to help. (On a side note, I had to be on a very strong course of antibiotics and it left me with a gut full of no good bacteria and Candida symptoms. Since then the bloating only got to be much worse. So these probiotics not only helped my stomach feel better, my eyes stopped itching, the cramping went away, and I had more energy ). Stress so far seems to be one of the biggest culprits that trigger a flare up. So I just need to remind myself to breathe and take a moment. Then things seem to settle. I often need to read my post "Just Stop and Smell the Flowers" to relax.

At the moment all my workouts are with my kettlebell class. We have been having so much fun adding some TRX exercises with some intense kettlebell work. It's been nice working out with the class so I can feel the pain they are going through. 8-)

Well I wanted to keep my next project a surprise. BUT I am too excited! I'm currently getting ready to film my next kettlebell DVD. I hope for this one to be even better than the first one!! More details to come...

Can't believe I just turned 30! (check out video clip)

I'm sure many of you, this probably seems very young, and some of you very old. In fact for the last several years I have been thinking about this day. I had many goals set in my mind that I wanted accomplished before the age of 30. I don't know why it feels like such a big number to me. Anyway the way I pictured celebrating my birthday turned out completely different than I had ever expected. I figured I'd go to Vegas with a bunch of girlfriends and party it up, but in fact I ended up doing the exact opposite.

During my college years I had ample time and opportunities to surf, snowboard, skateboard, and wakeboard. It has been over 7 years since graduating college. Once I established my career all my leisure activities took a back seat. But the good news is I found kettlebells. Since graduating college I have only gone snowboarding a handful of times and had the opportunity to wakeboard once or twice. I pretty much just gave up since it wasn't accessible to me during this time of my life.

Well I decided on my 30th birthday it was time to start making time and doing these things again more often. I forked up some cash to rent a boat for 30 minutes to see if I could still hang how I used to. My training for the past several years had been focused all on kettlebells and body weight type exercises.

Here is a video clip of how it all went down.

If you are having a hard time viewing the video up above you can click here

to watch it.

All I can say is kettlebells rule!! There is no way my legs would have the power and stamina it did after all those years if I did not do kettlebells. So it just goes to show you, that proper and smart kettlebell training really does have an amazing crossover effect!!

Chloe's 6 month birthday and a little update on me

Little Miss Chloe exactly 6 months here

Lyla wanting to be close to her sister

Now this here it true love.  Lyla LOVES being a big sister. (tears) 

Okay 6 months!!!!  It sounds like such a long time but it feels like yesterday. There is no wasting time these days. I'm constantly on the move now juggling 2 kids, my business, and of course my hubby.  There is never a dull moment in my house.  I'm still adjusting to two little ones.  

As far as my fitness and health goes I would say I'm on a slightly slower road than last time. Finding the time with two kids is much more of a challenge. But I have dropped a couple pounds this month since introducing foods to Chloe. Even though I'm making tons of milk now, it's crazy! I'm at a weight and body fat that I am enjoying. My clients and I all took our body fat percentage with hydrostatic weighing (the gold standard, getting dunked in a tank).  At 2 months postpartum I was 117lb with a 19.7% body fat.  Two weeks ago I retested and I am 113lb with a 17.9% body fat. So not a dramatic difference but like I said, I am still making so much milk, I don't know how I'm doing it.  The workouts have not been as consistent as they should be. The food is what I have had to focus on the most. Either way I can't complain. All I wanted for the last several years was to have 2 kids by my 30th birthday and feel good enough to celebrate. Well my 30th birthday is in TWO days and I feel great.  This birthday is a bit scary to me.  I'm no longer a kid now!  8-(    I guess it's all in the mind. I feel like a kid and will probably celebrate like one too. I hope to go wakeboarding, but we'll see what the day brings. 

That's it for now!!!!!

Check out my NEW LOGO

I am so excited, it's taken me so long to like a logo.  It's only taken 5 years!   I welcome your honest opinion.

Now I can represent the kettlebell community in style and so can YOU. Many clothing items and accessories to choose from here at Cafe Press On The Edge Fitness store. Right now both colors are available. Email me with questions.



You better believe Chloe will be sporting one of these! 8-)

5 Months Postpartum update and Sample day of Food

Well here I am again!  It's now been 5 wonderful months with my new baby.  I will admit that getting back in shape this time around is MUCH harder than it was with the first one.  In addition finding the time and energy to do everything with 2 kids has been more of a challenge.  I keep looking ahead and know that I will get to my goals, but have to accept that it's just taking a little longer this time.  Having the second C-section in 2 years does not help either! 

Since I am constantly hungry, due to the nursing, it's important to have healthy snacks on hand at all times to keep me from gaining weight.  If I don't eat often I get very low blood sugar and even shaky.  I will not be sad this time when its time to stop nursing Chloe, since I'm ready to have a normal appetite again.  I have been asked by many to post what I am eating. Here is a sample of what I eat. It changes daily. There are several extra snacks than normal for me in addition to more carbs. This is intended for those who are burning lots of extra calories due to intense training and/or nursing moms. 

Breakfast -  1/4 cup Brown Rice Hot Cereal

      2 Egg whites with 1 yolk

     1/2 Grapefruit (with the white part on)

Snack  -   Handful of Trail Mix - Almonds, Walnuts, Dried Cranberries, Pepitas and Pecans

Snack  -  Mary's Gone Crackers, Carrots, and Hummus

Lunch -  4-5oz of Lean Turkey Breast, no sodium (not the processed deli crap)

              Large Green  Salad with Spinach, Kale, sliced peach, walnuts.

             Dressing is a mixture of Flax Oil (pesticide free), EFA oil blend, balsamic vinegar, squeeze of lemon and a bit of pepper. 

       1/2 cup Black Beans or Brown Rice Tortilla

(if craving something sweet I sneak a square or two of 85% Dark Chocolate)

Pre- workout meal  -   Sun Warrior Brown Rice Protein - 1 scoop of Vanilla in 8oz cold water

1/2 Banana

1 TBS of Raw Almond Butter

1 Tsp of Quantum Greens Mix Powder (Premier Research Labs)

 

Post-workout meal -  Coconut Water (prefer fresh, but not always available)

                                       Sometime another Brown Rice Protein shake or Fit 365 depending on how much time I have. I also carry Larabars with me. 

Dinner -   3-4 small Organic Chicken tenders

 Quinoa

Grilled Red, yellow, and green peppers w/ onions

Grilled Asparagus

Snack (Dessert)  -  cut up Strawberries, Raspberries, and Blueberries with a dab of Whip cream.  8-)  or unsweetened applesauce.  Every now and again hot oatmeal before bed.  

There you have it!  I have had to put the Hot yoga on hold since I was losing way to much water, which again causes me to lose milk. Instead I am taking more power type yoga.  Still enjoying my intense, but short kettlebell and bodyweight workouts. 

Just STOP and SMELL the FLOWERS

Do you ever just stop and think?  We, as a society, are constantly in a rush, stressed out, and have no time for anything. Everyone is chasing their dreams and going full force. I need to make more money, I need to lose weight, I need to do this and that..... It really never ends. 

One of the main problems our society is dealing with is over doing it, which causes adrenal burn out.  More and more people are suffering from insomnia and chronic health problems just from the burden they put on themselves. You have to ask yourself, why are you doing all of this?  Why do you need to work 60 hours a week?  Why do you need to kill yourself and exercise 2-3 hours a day? All of that puts too much stress on your body in conjunction with all the other demands life has to offer.  Isn't the point of life to take a minute and enjoy the people you love and things you love to do?  If I die extremely rich, but didn't make time for my family, and do the things I love most, what was the point of working so hard??  

Today I put Chloe, my 4 month old, in the stroller.  She faces towards me so I can see her.  I went outside to enjoy the gorgeous weather and gaze at my beautiful baby girl.  Yes I was getting a little exercise in, but most importantly I was talking and singing to her. Watching her smile and coo at me was worth more to me than any money in the world.  It really hit home that I too am so guilty of living the "rat race".  So busy I forget why I'm doing it all. And today as I was walking, I was admiring the beauty that surrounded me.  Smelling the fresh air and thinking of how much love I have for my family and friends. How lucky I am to have a career that changes peoples lives for the better. I am already living the dream. 

It's always important to have goals and dreams. That's what keeps us driven and motivated. But there needs to be a balance between focus and obsession.  When you are passionate about something it can easily become an obsession.  The outcome can turn in to not giving time or energy to the people who matter most to you. Not stopping and telling someone how much you appreciate, respect, or love them.  I am guilty of all of this! I am so busy answering my emails, giving advice to people, many I don't even know, and yet fail to tell the closest people in my life how much they mean to me.  The best gift you can possibly give someone is time.  No matter how much money you have, you can never buy back time that has passed.  

Speaking of things I appreciate, today represents 6 months of my husband being out of the hospital.  For those who have been following me for several years, know that my husband has been to the Emergency Room over 50 times.  Suffering from pain so unbearable that at times he could not walk and I needed to call an ambulance. Not having to visit the emergency room for 6 months has been so wonderful.  There have been lots of changes in his eating habits and lifestyle which play a huge part of what has kept him at home. 

Back to the point of this whole blog post. With everyone constantly overloading themselves and stressing over everything possible, that alone can cause MAJOR hormone imbalances and kill you. Even if you are eating very healthy and exercising, you may not lose weight just because of stress. I highly recommend finding some way to meditate or slow down. Trying a yoga class, Tai Chi, watching the sunset, Qi Gong, slow walk with a friend or spouse, sitting down for tea etc... Something that allows you to just BE.  That alone can lower stress levels.  If you really want to learn more about hormone optimization Mike Mahler has dedicated the past several years of his life to this. You can check out more info about balancing sex hormones right here.

We never know when our time is up.  So instead of putting in those extra hours at work, stressing about weight loss, or playing with your Iphone, think about what is most important.  I'm not saying just quit your job and not make money a priority. We all have bills to pay!  Let's remember why we work or why we want to lose weight. It's time to WAKE UP, take a deep breath, and cherish what's truly important. 

Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins - Gluten Free, Wheat Free, and easy to make

With kids around it's essential to have some healthy goodies available. I also like to reward myself from time to time with a good muffin. The beauty of this muffin is it's made of almond flour and uses a little honey for the sweetener.  I don't feel so guilty after having one of these low carb muffins. With no refined flours, low sugar, and being Paleo friendly, it's hard to resist. Lyla and I made these together yesterday. I did one of my best workouts in a long time after having one of these dense muffins. No bloating or tiredness afterwards!

I took this recipe from the Specific Carbohydrate Diet website. I made some slight changes below. View the recipe here  Pumpkin Muffins - made with Almond Flour

You can substitute honey with agave syrup to lower the GI even more.  I left out the raisins and walnuts as well to lower the sugar a bit and caloric content. I also used organic pumpkin and organic butter with no salt.  I plan on trying this recipe with bananas and even just an apple muffin too.  Of course I will only have one batch in my house per month! Neighbors if you are reading this in time, feel free to come over and try one. 

If you are vegan I am sure you can replace the egg with some coconut oil, but I'm not positive! Let me know if you try it. 

Chloe is 4 months today! My postpartum update.

Here is Chloe at 4 months old. Things are going great! Nursing is going well, although I find when my weight falls under 115, my milk supply drops dramatically! It's strange that as long as I am between 115-117 I am able to keep up a healthy supply. I would love to be able to drop about 5 more pounds, but I will have to hold off until it's time to introduce solid foods to Chloe. Which will be 2 more months.

 

In the meantime I am really enjoying getting my strength back.  Yesterday I picked up a bell to do some snatches thinking it was the 16kg (35lb) and realized that I had by accidently snatched the 20kg (44 lb)! Successfully achieved it but definitely felt HEAVY!  Oh well, glad I can do it, but my joints are not ready for it for at least several more weeks.  8-)

My friend and client, Robin Duncan (in my first DVD), has really inspired me to try some hot yoga.  I have been meaning to give it a try after I was done with the pregnancy, but like everything I was too busy.  So I had to shift my schedule around. It's tough to get there but I have managed to do 2 weeks so far.  I have tried yoga in the past, but never hot yoga.  I have to say, it is the best compliment to kettlebell training I have ever found. I am already getting more flexible and my body feels fresh for every kettlebell workout I do. Each hot yoga class makes me feel like I am detoxing and washing out all the negative impurities in my mind and body.  Just thought I'd share my new addition to fitness. 

Core muscles are still not fully functioning from C-section but working on it with rehab exercises right now.

Here is a pic of me Four months postpartum.

 I'm off to my hot yoga class and really looking forward to it!!!

Too old for kettlebells? Oh my back!

I don't think so!  I have seen and heard great success with people training with kettlebells anywhere between the ages of 11-90 years old.  I have had several emails in the last couple months from people in their 60's, 70's, and 80's enjoying the benefits of kettlebell training.  As we all know, when learned properly, the benefits are endless.  Many people past the age of 50, that I have spoken to, tend to be intimidated with kettlebell swings.  The first thing I hear from them is, "I don't think my back can handle that" or "My back is not strong enough to do that type of movement."  It's very sad when I hear these statements only because I try to explain to them that when eased in to a kettlebell program their weak back will get stronger, which will help avoid injury in the long run. 

My own mother has had back problems for years!!  She hurt her back 35 years ago from lifting people out of wheelchairs.  Since then she has always been extremely cautious when it comes to her back which has left it very weak and fragile.  Naturally, she was very intimidated to give the kettlebell swing a try.  I only want the best for my mother so I would never have her do something that would hurt her.  She decided to trust me (it's always hard to get your own family to do something).  To start, I went through a simple swing progression session with her.  First starting with a proper deadlift, then slowly teaching her a proper hip snap with no kettlebell, and finally adding the kettlebell.  This all took place in a matter of 20 minutes.  By the 25 minute mark she was comfortable swinging a 26lb kettlebell.  My mom is only 105 pounds, she's a very small lady, so that was very impressive.  She was so happy that she didn't want to stop.  I had to tell her to put the bell down so we could see how her body responded the next day.  The next day came and she told me her back never felt better!  To hear these words just proved to me again that kettlebells are not the enemy for a weak back.  You will only strengthen and protect your back muscles.  Of course when done incorrectly it can be detrimental to your body.  Like anything done wrong.  That is why it's so important when starting out to really make sure you have proper form and ease yourself in to a program. 

Here is an email that I received from a man who is 80 years old:

There it was Sphere,horns and Handle, I had heard of it, read of it and now I was the owner of this particular one 8Kg Kettlebell.  OK,what do I do with it?  Began the search on the computer and found out there where books, DVD´s etc...
But how do I get them and how long would it take in western Mexico? Up popped your article, ¨THE NEED TO TRAIN LIKE A MAN,ESPECIALLY IF YOU ARE A WOMAN¨  Basic,clear and to the point!

My wife and I are öld fölks, she in the 70´s, and this year I will be 80. Have exercised most of my life, begining in the service and up till now focused on Pushups and Pullups. The Reps got longer and the time too.  With your help, I can do pretty much what I need in 30 minutes, three times a week.  Just wanted to thank you and if sometime you have a workshop, Please let us know.
Nick and Mayda 

This here proves that kettlebells can be done at any age. I could not be happier with the career path I have taken. I love what I do and I love hearing and seeing the positive influences and changes in peoples lives.  Here is a link to my DVD "The Ultimate Body Sculpt and Conditioning with Kettlebells" if you want to learn how to use kettlebells properly or improve your form. Not everyone lives nearby a qualified kettlebell instructor, therefore this DVD is the next best thing. 

6 Weeks Postpartum! Round 2

Baby Chloe is 6 Weeks

Six weeks means I get the clearance to start exercising again!!! Wooooo hoooooo!!!! This seems all too familiar. It was just 2 years ago that I was recovering from my last pregnancy and C-section with Lyla. I have to admit it feels a little more challenging this time around trying to figure out how I'm going to prioritize my life to make sure I actually have the time and energy to workout. I guess now that I look back I had it pretty easy with 1 kid. 

While waiting to get the green light to use my kettlebells I used walking as my outlet. I was given permission to start walking (for exercise) 2 weeks after surgery. Walking and the right nutrition has helped me over the past several weeks shrink down to a comfortable size. However, I am hungry around the clock from nursing, so I'm probably eating between 2500-3000 calories a day!! My weight since coming home from the hospital has not really changed, but my size has changed, which is more important. The trick is small healthy meals very frequently.  Otherwise I can get in trouble!!  

6 Weeks Postpartum with Chloe

Yes they are real!!! (It's amazing what breastfeeding does)

Due to breast feeding and little sleep I will have to keep my goals realistic and be patient. My body is going to want to hold on to some extra fat for the first 3-4 months of nursing. I will also have to eat the extra calories to be able to provide enough milk for my very hungry baby that is growing very fast. Here is a post I wrote about 2 years ago regarding Breastfeeding versus low body fat. It's amazing how between 3 to 6 months postpartum most women start losing tons of hair. I think the same goes with body fat. The hormones finally start to regulate which allows the body to start going back to normal.

Short Term Goals: My focus for the next 8-12 weeks is gaining my strength back. The more strength and lean muscle I have the easier it will be to start shedding fat. I also enjoy being strong!! My other short term goal is to increase my stamina again. I will also be seeing a Muscle Activation Technique therapist to make sure my muscles are working properly. After major abdominal surgery, with a very stretched tummy from a large baby, muscles lose connection with the brain. It's important to make sure they are all functioning correctly for optimal recovery, that way my body will not overcompensate. The bodies ability to overcompensate is the cause of lots of pain and injuries down the line. 

Long Term Goals: 6 months out I will focus on several different components. Naturally I would like to be back between 110-112, with a body fat between 14-16%. I want my strength to be where it was pre pregnancy along with being extremely conditioned.

I am so happy to have both of my girls!! Lyla is now 26 months and she is such a good big sister!!

Lindsey Bellomy an amazing RKC

I am so proud to introduce Lindsey Bellomy  

Here is a little bit about Lindsey 

Lindsey Bellomy has the desire to offer FUNCTIONAL STRENGTH, ENDURANCE, & FLEXIBILITY.  As an Officer in the United States Marine Corps she has had a close affinity to physical training emplacing and ensuring the highest physical fitness standards upon her Marines and Sailors.  Lindsey has been training with Lauren Brooks since July 2008. As Lauren neared the end of her pregnancy, Lindsey has enjoyed  instructing her classes. This February, Lindsey became an RKC certified instructor. Her passion is to help both men and women transform their bodies into lean, powerhouse machines as nature always intended. 

My students and I have been so lucky to watch her amazing athletic abilities blow us all away. Anyone who trains with Lindsey will see what a strong powerful girl she is. Not to mention her fun and captivating personality. She makes training very enjoyable, yet intense. I was so lucky to have Lindsey teach my classes while I was on maternity leave.  I look forward to having her apart of the On The Edge Fitness team for a long time. 

My 2nd little girl Chloe Rebekah born on 2/17/09

Chloe Rebekah Miller 

born safe and sound on Feb 17th.

Chloe was a healthy bouncing baby at 8lb 6oz and 21 inches long!!!!

I couldn't have been happier to finally have my baby on me! Went through a 35 hour labor and did everything in my power for a VBAC. Doctors said they have never seen such a thing. Finally had to stop laboring to get her out and unfortunately ended up with another C-section. The good thing and most important thing of course is she is very healthy and it was over. She was so big for my small frame that they had to vacuum her out of my stomach. (Will blame her size on my husbands side!!) Either way, there is a nice story behind the whole thing which I will touch upon later while my disappointment and anger towards this Doctor settles down. So more details in the near future. 

Chloe's big sister, Lyla, welcoming her in to this world

This photo was taken 6 days before Chloe arrived. As you can tell she was a big girl and I was VERY READY!!!!!

New Review of Baby Bells DVD

This review was written by Erin Weiss-Trainor, mother of 3 boys, Director of Precision Nutrition Community Activity. Erin holds a Degree in Kinesiology and has a Masters Degree in Biomechanics.

Baby Bells Review

Having experienced the joys of being pregnant three times over for a total of 839 days (who’s counting), it’s clear just from watching Lauren Brooks’ latest DVD, Baby Bells: Fit Pregnancy Workout With (Optional) Kettlebells that it would have been a great addition to my training regimen as I aimed to stay fit and strong as each of my babies grew. Similar in training structure and instruction to Brooks’ first DVD, Baby Bells offers a variety of lower intensity and equipment options, along with modified positions to accommodate a wide range of abilities and the changes in a woman’s body as pregnancy progresses. For those who have used kettlebells in the past, and are looking to continue training during their pregnancy, this DVD is a great follow-up to Brooks’ first DVD, The Ultimate Body Sculpt and Conditioning with Kettlebells.

With a more mellow and calming feel than her first DVD, Lauren, 6 ½ months pregnant with her second child, introduces viewers to the benefits of exercise during pregnancy and the precautions that need to be taken when exercising during pregnancy, as outlined by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Encouraging participants to listen to their bodies and always err on the side of caution, the DVD takes viewers through a three-part workout where three to five exercises are completed circuit-style and then repeated.

Along with bodyweight exercises such as push-ups, many of the standard kettlebell exercises, such as two-handed swings, sumo squats, one-arm rows, step back lunges, and tricep presses are included. Lauren shows how kettlebell size should change with each exercise and gives options to perform these with dumbbells or bodyweight alone. As Lauren demonstrates the higher intensity versions, an inset video provides alternatives for modifying the position and range of motion of the movements. Participants are encouraged to take as much rest as they need between exercises, and between sets within each part. Paired with a joint mobility warm-up and a cool-down with stabilizing and stretching geared specifically to target muscles and joints that are under more stress during pregnancy, the entire workout takes just over 35 min and can easily be performed anywhere with little to no equipment.

For experienced kettlebell users who want to experience increased energy and strength during their pregnancy, and prepare their bodies for an easier delivery and recovery from childbirth, this DVD provides a complete and enjoyable way to do so. With less specific instruction on kettlebell form than the first DVD, those who are both pregnant and new to this type of training can get the same benefit, but would be best to stick with bodyweight or dumbbell options. Learning the basic kettlebell movements is best mastered when a woman’s body is not going through the many changes of pregnancy, or having to worry about a cumbersome belly.

Something about watching Brooks swing the kettlebell around her gorgeous belly makes you appreciate the strength and power of a pregnant woman. Once again, Lauren inspires. While many women may use the excuse of pregnancy to literally “eat for two” and stay away from the gym, the energy that Lauren radiates proves that making fitness and healthy eating a priority even during pregnancy is good for mom and for a healthy baby.

To read more about my view on Nutrition, Pregnancy, and Exercise read the rest of my Athletic Profile right here at http://www.precisionnutrition.com/athlete-profile-lauren-brooks 

"Baby Bells" The Fit Pregnancy Workout DVD with or without a KETTLEBELL

Now on Sale for pre-order. Be the first to order your copy of the only pregnancy DVD that gives you the option to use a kettlebell. Check out the trailer below.



VIEW IN HIGHER QUALITY HERE


The first workout DVD designed specifically for pregnant women that incorporates kettlebells!
This DVD will help you to stay fit and healthy throughout your pregnancy. All exercises on this DVD provide you with the option to utilize kettlebells, dumbbells, or your body weight depending upon your level of comfort.

DVD Features
- 3 Section Follow Along workout including modifications for all levels and stages of pregnancy
-Warm Up with Joint Mobility exercises
- Cool Down section with safe stabilizing and stretching exercises
- Easy navigation features throughout the DVD

Running time 42 minutes

You can order your copy right here

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! little update on pregnancy

Just want to wish everyone a very happy New Year!  I know it's been quite awhile since I've posted anything on this blog.

I am currently almost 35 weeks pregnant and overall feeling good. Still teaching kettlebell classes but not demonstrating ALL the exercises anymore!  My belly is quite large so mentally I am done with this pregnancy. I am very anxious to meet this baby and of course have my body back to myself.  8-)  Not that I don't enjoy being up all night feeling her play football with my stomach, I feel as if I have been pregnant long enough.  

Ben has been in the emergency room twice this month with his unbearable stomach cramps and pain, so life is still challenging with him. He knows it's time to get on an extremely strict diet, since all the specialists we have seen haven't been able to prevent this. We are currently in phase 1 of his "detox type diet"  More info to come on that.  This will be a challenge for him and me, but in the long run, will hopefully keep him out of the hospital. We've been battling with this for almost 4 years and his body has had enough and so have I!!!!!

On a happy note my little girl Lyla is turning 2 years old this month!! It's crazy how she is almost Two. I remember a couple posts back writing how emotional I was that she was just turning 1.  She is more fun than ever. I think Lyla is starting to understand that there will be a baby coming in to this house soon. It will be quite a shock once she actually sees this change. I have to admit I am quite nervous.

Worth Checking Out

I want to make an announcement about our friend John Brookfield who will be setting a World Record. Those who don't know who he is, he is an extraordinarily strong guy, who is the founder of the battlingropes system. Check out his website for more info at Powerropes.com If you aren't training with ropes you should start! It's awesome.

On Saturday November 1st in Fairmont North Carolina at 2:00 in the afternoon John Brookfield and Jon Bruney are going to set a World Record by pulling a semi-truck a distance of one mile plus using only their physical strength and mental discipline. John Brookfield and Jon Bruney have done this record on several occasions, however, this time they will be upping the weight load to over thirty thousand pounds and pushing themselves to the limit to pull the mile distance as fast as possible. Many are saying that this feat of strength and endurance may be the greatest physical accomplishment ever. Come out and witness this event and walk along with them as they push themselves to keep the truck moving through the streets of Fairmont. For more specific information about the location and the record please contact John Brookfield by email at john@powerropes.com.

Next I want to share Lisa Shaffer's segment on the news. She appeared on the news talking about kettlebells. Awesome exposure LIsa. Great instructor and friend! Here is the link to her segment.

Lisa's kettlebell tv segment

And lastly I was interviewed by Super-Trainer website. I guess I am considered a Super Trainer. 8-)
Here it is Personal Trainer Lauren Brooks Miller talks about balancing training and life...

Some Pics from The Kettlebell Workshop and feedback

Hi Lauren,
I wanted to let you know that I really enjoyed the KB workshop led by you & Lisa. It was an awesome, motivating experience because it was really informative and fun. I really felt that you & Lisa were very professional and encouraging (I was amazed at both of your physical strength/power in your super lean bodies) by taking the time to address questions and concerns regarding correct form, KB info., etc. I left the workshop feeling great; I could now do KB exercises at home w/ proper form and know the modifications or alternative moves to bump up the intensity. I liked that you both generously shared your knowledge w/out criticizing other methods of exercising, and you didn't mind demonstrating moves/explaining technique repeatedly. Thank you for a truly awesome experience, it was worth every penny, and I have been telling everyone I know about it. :) I have been using your video, alternating the short and longer segments throughout the week, I love it!

Rachel, San Diego

Click on the photo to see full size

Kettlebell Workshop was a Success!

Lisa and I had a wonderful time working with this group of lovely ladies. Everyone did so well and actually seemed to have fun at the same time. I look forward to doing more workshops in the future. Lots more photos to come.

Workshop was 5 hours! The fact that I was 5 months pregnant didn't slow me down a bit. The energy from all the attendants and excitement kept me going. I could have kept going!

I want to thank Calvin Sun, an amazing Crossfit trainer and athlete for being their to help and take awesome pictures.
Thanks everyone and Lisa for a great weekend!

We had the BIG ultrasound. The sex of our baby is...

First let me start off saying my last pregnancy we did not find out the sex of the baby. It was a huge surprise when our baby girl was born, because everyone thought I was having a boy. The reason we decided to find out this time is for practical purposes. Such as, do we keep Lyla's clothes or give them away? What kind of room should we get ready for this baby? The free time I use to have just doesn't exist, more time is essential to get ready for this next one.

Yesterday was Ben's birthday (my husband) and we went in for a morning ultrasound appointment. I am measuring exactly at 20 weeks and the baby is 11 ounces. I kindly asked the ultrasound technician not tell us the sex of the baby and please write it down for us. She said she wrote it down on back of the photo in the envelope. She told us, it's never 100% accurate. I wanted to find out later that evening for his birthday dinner. Just to make it that much more special.

So to finally get to the point. We went to his favorite restaurant, Nobu sushi in Solana Beach. We sat at the sushi bar and waited to open up the envelope until we ordered our first round of food. We then open up the envelope and look on the back for the writing and there was no writing! We both looked at each other so shocked. Then we turned it around and in little tiny typing we see the word GIRL!!!!!!!!!

Lyla is going to have a baby sister. We are very happy!

Top Breakfast Choices and Why you shouldn't eat Cereal

People commonly ask me what I eat. How do you stay so lean? Well it all starts with a good breakfast in my opinion. Unfortunately our society has made us think that cereals found in a box are healthy for you. Then someone will say "But I eat shredded wheat and it's fortified with all of these vitamins and minerals." The truth about dry breakfast cereals is they are ALL overly processed. No matter if you get them in a health food store or at your local market, I would never recommend anyone dry breakfast cereal. Read the article below to see exactly why. There was also an interesting experiment done with rats that should be read as well.

Here is a link to the article by Sally Fallon called "Dirty Secrets of the Food Processing Industry." Everyone should give this a read.

Now what do I recommend for breakfast?

Here are my top favorite suggestions for breakfast. My first one is my Power Smoothie that is filled with high quality protein (very minimally processed), the most natural vitamins, minerals, and good healthy fats. This is a staple for me for most days of the week.

POWER SMOOTHIE

1 Scoop Fit 365 (Grass Fed Whey)
1 Tbs Quantum Whey (pesticide free)
1 tsp Quantum Greens Powder (all my vitamins from the most natural sources including wheat grass, noni, oat grass, etc..)
1 Tbs Barlean's Organic Highest Lignan Flaxseed Oil
1 cup Frozen Berries
1/2 banana (When Pregnant or have a hard workout ahead of me)
6-8oz Cold Filtered Water

Blend Together with a hand blender or regular blender. It's such an awesome breakfast that has everything you need. In addition i always add and recommend to everyone 1/2 teaspoon of Max Stress B Vitamins separately in a 1/4 cup of water. This should also be taken one time at lunch.

ORGANIC ROLLED OATS with ground nuts (if you have more time)

1/3 cup of Rolled Oats cooked over the stove on medium with 2/3 cup of water (try and get certified Gluten Free Oats if gluten intolerant)
10 Walnuts ground in a food processor sprinkled in the cooked Oats
Splash of Almond Milk
Dash of Stevia

My other favorite breakfast is a Veggie Omelette, which is more for the weekends.

3 Organic Free Range Eggs
Grilled Mushrooms, Onions, Tomatoes, and Asparagus.

Sometimes I add 1 or 2 corn tortillas and a small side of black beans if I'm really hungry. Other times I'll have 1 slice of Low Sodium Ezekiel Bread with a light spread of Earth Balance butter.

For the 2 breakfasts mentioned above I'll take 1 tsp of Cod Liver Oil and Max Stress B Vitamins that give you the natural energy your body needs. No need for coffee when taking this form of B. Since i need my Greens at some point I'll take them in capsule form since I don't have a shake to blend it in. I'll usually take about 3 or 4 Quantum Greens Mix capsules for breakfast.

I used to be the typical American that lived off cereals. I thought I was really healthy because I would eat grape nuts or shredded wheat. Which are the healthier ones out of the bunch. In any case, as soon as I took the processed cereals out of my diet I noticed changes in my health immediately. My allergies were gone! I wasn't bloated anymore after breakfast and my body started to get leaner. I had some of my clients take cereals out of the diet and in just weeks they were getting leaner and had more energy.

Short Pregnancy Workout with Kettlebells and Body Weight

Under 20 minutes and felt perfect! 4 months pregnant and feeling good after this workout.

Joint Mobility Warm Up

Body Weight Back Lunges to a Kick. 15 reps per leg

2 Handed Kettlebell Swings 12kg's 20 reps

One Arm Rows 12kg 10 reps per arm

Kettlebell Push Ups 10 reps

Light Ab work on Bosu 20 reps

Repeated 3 times (took rests as needed)

FInished up

20 Snatches 12kg's 2 sets

Felt like just the right amount. Now I will have the added energy to get through my busy day. And even try and squeeze in a great walk later. Short workouts are ideal for pregnant women. Not too taxing but you can really push yourself enough for this short amount of time. Multiple workouts throughout the day are showing more increased energy rather than 1 long workout a day.

16 1/2 Weeks Pregnant and Growing

The lovely pregnancy side effects of constant peeing has hit me. Unfortunately this time I was not able to go back to sleep. It is now 3 a.m. I decided to get out of bed rather than laying there hoping to fall back asleep.

Life is on fast forward at this time. So I am actually enjoying sitting here peacefully with everyone asleep. The days just seem to fly by. With a full load of work, being a mom, a wife, staying active, and keeping up with friends socially, doesn't leave much down time. I can't complain because I am having a rather easy pregnancy right now. With staying as busy as I am, I hardly notice it except for my belly. I'm just so amazed how fast my belly popped out this time. My body knew exactly what to do as soon as it realized I was pregnant. Last pregnancy my stomach was not this big. Jeans are definitely getting tighter, but I guess that's what happens when you have a baby in your tummy!

Here is a bit of a recap from the last several weeks.

Went to a really good friends wedding in Reno the last weekend of July. It was a beautiful wedding. Lyla looked so cute in her little dress.






Bachelorette girl's weekend in Big Bear. I'm excited to be a bridesmaid in my good friend Rebecca's wedding. She chose to do a nice quiet relaxing weekend in Big Bear, California. We rented a cabin by the lake and it was an awesome time. Of course I couldn't go up to the cabin without a couple kettlebells. Some of us had a fun kettlebell morning workout. I had 2 Kettlebells for 3 of us so we did some circuits. You can see my belly!





Getting ready for a night in the town of Big Bear. Everyone drinking except me of course. 8-)




My Birthday Dinner. 29 years old. Once again, everyone drinking except for me. 8-(



How the overly proud parent in me comes gushing out. I just can't help myself but include all of these pictures of Lyla here. She is impressing me every day. She will now kiss me if I ask her for a kiss. It's the cutest thing in the world and I just melt. No words can explain this feeling. She is 19 months now!

Do You Have the Right Combination for Fat Burning?

To check out this short article click on Kettlebell Inc Magazine. There are some great articles in this online magazine. Such as one from Mike Mahler discussing Kettlebells for MMA fighters and Coach Paule Steel talking about Kettlebells and Tennis. Just goes to show you that kettlebell training carries over in almost EVERY activity. No reason not to do it!

Review from Liftkettlebells.com

Here is a brand new Review from Liftkettlebells.com about " The Ultimate Body Sculpt and Conditioning with Kettlebells DVD."

Jeff really breaks down this review nicely in to several sections. The review discusses the details of the DVD, what was liked about the DVD, and what could have been better. A very honest review from a person who has seen and produced many Kettlebell DVD's.

Check out the review right here at liftkettlebells.com . For those who have seen the DVD leaving comments at the end of the review page right at this site would be most appreciated. Thank you everyone!

I am excited to make more in the future!

Kettlebells Live on NBC this morning

Hi everyone.

I know most of you were unable to see this since you are not in San Diego. Here is the link if you would like to see my 2 minutes of fame on TV. 8-)


Lauren Brooks demonstrating kettlebells on NBC television 3 months pregnant.

Vegan Nutrition Program and 12 week pregnancy workout

As many of you know I design nutrition programs for people all over the country. I rarely get the privilege to design Vegan programs. My client Sandra, who lives in Wisconsin, is a dedicated vegan and very motivated to have a clean vegan program planned out for her. I did quite a bit of research and even had several vegan meals myself this week to see how it feels. I have to give people who are vegan tons of credit. It's hard enough to eat extremely healthy when you can eat animal products. But to take out eggs, chicken, fish, and dairy is much more of a challenge. Eggs, chicken and organic grass fed whey protein are huge staples of mine. But I will be thinking twice after testing the waters on the vegan side this week.

Unfortunately many vegan eaters live off of soy and wheat products such as processed fake meats made of tofu, soy, wheat, gluten, and lots of sodium. So to have a healthy program as a vegan you can be quite limited to your food choices.
My view of a healthy diet is Soy Free, Gluten Free, and very little dairy, since dairy is so processed and highly heated.

My Vegan Breakfast
1/3 cup of Quinoa Flakes made with water
Splash of Vanilla Almond Milk
Handful of ground Organic Walnuts (put in cereal)
1/2 Tbs of flaxseed oil in cereal

Max Stress B Vitamin in 1/4 cup water

(With the Quinoa and Walnuts combined you are getting a complete protein)

I had a great Vegan lunch today as well that was very satisfying and tasty, even for the pregnant woman who is having tons of cravings.
-Medium Salad with Romaine Lettuce, Organic Tomatoes, Handful of Walnuts, sliced cucumbers, topped with delicious Balsamic Vinegarette dressing
- 2 Veggie Home Made Tacos - Inside the Corn Tortilla was Black Beans, Mashed Avocado, Chopped tomatoes, Jalapenos, and a touch of hot sauce.
It was a complete meal with Protein, Fat, and Carbs.

I know being pregnant is not the best time to test out Veganism. But I really think I could give it a try for a bit. In order to survive and continue to stay lean it's almost required to drink Vegan Rice Protein Powders. I have researched that many vegans do not get enough fats, so it's important that they include lots of organic raw nuts, avocados, flaxseed oil, and even Coconut Milk from time to time. I would love to do an experiment to see how my body responds on 2 months of being a gluten free, soy free, Vegan. But I will have to wait until after this baby and probably after breast feeding to give it a fair shot.

Here is my 12 week pregnancy workout I did today! There was 30 second rests in between and I repeated it 3 times.

Single Leg Deadlifts (trying to keep my butt from shrinking) so this does the trick 12kg's (60second per leg)
Overhead Swings 12 kg 30 seconds
Snatches 12kg 30 seconds per arm
Pull ups 2-3x
Clean and Squat 30 seconds per side
Push up to Double Suitcase Deadlifts 16kg's 30 seconds

Hopefully I will have a picture of my new belly tomorrow. I am already showing!! My belly did not look like this my last pregnancy until I was 18 weeks. It's amazing how your body just knows the second time around. I'm not thrilled about showing so soon but there is really nothing I can do about it. So it's time to start writing about embracing the changes that are happening to my body. You can actually see a video clip of me 3 months pregnant right here

My Little Lyla is 18 months today! Pregnancy update.

Lyla has developed so many amazing milestones in the last 3-5 months. She went from crawling to walking, she is now saying so many words and repeating us, and is just the cutest most affectionate little girl. It's so weird when I actually sit down and think about her how emotional I get. She means the absolute world to me and it's so hard for me to imagine that I can ever love any child as much as her. I almost feel bad for the baby inside me because I am so in love with Lyla. I have talked to several moms and I guess this is a common feeling. But once the next baby comes you fall in love all over again. Which is so hard to imagine for me because my heart is filled with my Lyla.

11 Weeks Pregnant and my Kettlebell Workout (will provide a picture soon)

So all the morning sickness talk was not even morning sickness. It turns out I had Salmonella poisoning. The baby and I are fine but it was not a fun week. I lost over 8 pounds that week and was so depleted. I have now gained it all back but it hasn't been easy. I am just now starting to be able to work out again. That little set back put me behind and it really did a number on my emotions. When you are pregnant you NEED to do some type of workout for your mental well being and I was unable to do that. Therefore my body and mind were depressed and tired. I had to change my eating habits because I couldn't even stomach anything "healthy". I ended up eating pizza twice for the first time in over a year along with other not so healthy foods. Wow it tasted good but my stomach sure didn't like it. So I have managed to get myself back on track now that I am feeling better. WOO HOOO!

Here is a workout I did with my class today. It felt really good and balanced.

Double Suitcase Deadlifts 16kg's 12 reps x 3
Kettlebell Push Ups 5 reps x 3
Swings 16kg 20 reps x 3

Pullovers 12kg 12 reps x 3
Clean& Press 12kg 6 rep per side x 3
High Pull, Squats 12kg 10 reps x 3

Renegade Rows 12kg's 5 per side x 3
Snatches 16kg 8 per side x 3
Janda Sit Ups 6 x 3

Inspiring Moms to workout with Kettlebells

Workoutmommy.com did an interview with me regarding kettlebells, fitness, nutrition, while being a mom. This is a wonderful site dedicated to inspiring moms to be fit and healthy. Just up my alley. If you are a mom or a husband, son, or daughter trying to encourage the woman you love to get moving check out this site.

Click on this link to see it. One fit mommy and her kettlebell: Lauren Brooks

It's Finally Ready!

I'm excited to announce that my kettlebell/ exercise DVD is finally available.  This is the project I have been working on for so long.  Above is a video clip of the highlights.  

This DVD Features

• 15 basic Kettlebell and Body Weight exercises deomonstrated step by step even for the complete beginner.
  
• Follow along Fat Blast Workout - Low to Medium Intensity. 12-14 minutes long and can be repeated twice if you are ready. 
• Follow along Sculpt and Conditioning Workout - Medium to High Intensity. 40 minutes of intensity
• Joint Mobility section for warm up and cool down.
• Designed to get you in tip top shape no matter what your fitness background is.
• Especially great for moms trying to shed that baby weight and get in better shape than before their pregnancy.
• DVD is over 80 minutes long of step by step instruction.
• Motivating music in the Follow Along workout sections and Joint Mobility section

For more information you can go to my website at www.ontheedgefitness.com.

I want to thank my clients for being so patient and waiting for this to come out. It's finally here so enjoy this kettlebell DVD. 

Kettlebell Workshop! Go home with Lauren and Lisa's DVD.

You wont want to miss this workshop. Lisa and Lauren have teamed up to design a special total body sculpting workshop just for women. Space is limited and this workshop may never be done again. 

Spend just 5 hours with us and we will give you the tools and techniques you need to sculpt and tone your body in record time. This is a very unique workshop designed just for women by women. This workshop has never been done before and it may never be done again. To find out more details and what we will cover follow this link here. Reserve your spot right now at http://www.ontheedgefitness.com/ 

In addition you will receive Lisa and Lauren's DVD at the workshop. For more info about Lisa's DVD you can check it out here More info about Lauren's DVD click here.

Some Big News and A Very Scary Day

(This was written last Thursday)

I have not been able to get yesterday’s occurrence out of my mind. Writing my thoughts and feelings down is such therapy for me. Whether I will post this or not at least I will get it on paper. At this moment in time I am sitting on a plane, on my way to the Level 2 RKC in Minnesota, without my daughter for the first time ever.

Yesterday started off as a normal wonderful day. Ben and I have been waiting anxiously for our doctor's appointment that will allow us to see the first glimpse of the baby inside me. That’s right everybody I am pregnant again. Almost 7 weeks. I am normally one to wait and share the news until after the first trimester, but this story would not be the same if I left that part out.

Anyone who has had kids will know that the first appointment is the most extensive. They do a full physical, then you have an ultrasound that can be a bit uncomfortable, and then you get lots of blood drawn for various tests. I had been through all of this with the last pregnancy so I knew what to expect.

After the exciting ultrasound and seeing the little flutter of the heartbeat we were thrilled. I had been feeling so wonderful and energetic I even doubted that I was pregnant. How can someone that is pregnant feel this strong and have little to no fatigue? So seeing the heartbeat assured me that there is life inside me. The second time around doesn’t make it any less exciting. I was then told by the nurse practitioner to get my blood work done. Lyla had already been pretty fussy from being cooped up in a doctor's office for an hour, so Ben decided to take her to the car and wait for me.

Does anyone really enjoy getting their blood drawn? I know I’ve never been a big fan of it, but have always managed to do just fine. As I was sitting in the chair having this woman take several vials of blood from me, the room started to get crowded. When she was done I had mentioned to her that I was feeling a little lightheaded. I don’t think she heard me, because she asked the next person to have a seat, forcing me to get up right away. I took a deep breath and left the room. As I was walking down the hall towards the lobby I started feeling extremely nauseous and my whole body was starting to sweat. The one time I needed my cell phone I did not have it. I wanted to call Ben so badly to tell him to come up and give me a hand. Instead I sat down in a nice chair in the lobby trying to take very deep breaths to get myself together.

I decided to get up and get to the elevator because I no longer wanted to keep them waiting in the car. I caught the elevator with a man and woman. As soon as the doors shut I started feeling so dizzy and faint I knew I was going to lose it. My instinct allowed me to look at the lady and say, “ I think I’m going to pass out” . The next thing I know I’m floating and dreaming of life. I wish I could recall the actual dreams but I know there were some fear involved with the dreams. I felt like I was in the deepest sleep. Then I heard, “Are you okay?” I woke up completely shocked that I am lying on an elevator floor and was extremely disoriented. I felt like I had been gone for hours. The man in the elevator told me he had already called the paramedics. The nice woman, who caught my fall, borrowed someone’s watch to get my pulse. It was under 50bpm and she was still holding my wrist looking at a watch that she borrowed from the man. A couple questions came to mind when I started to understand what was happening. How am I going to get a hold of my husband, am I still pregnant, and who is going to cancel my clients this afternoon?

All I wanted to do was get up and walk outside to be with Ben and Lyla and go home. The people who were helping me advised me to stay where I was. They were able to call Ben and let him know what was happening. The ambulance rushed in and immediately took my blood pressure and pulse. My systolic blood pressure was at 70, which is dangerously low, and heart rate had not risen past 50 yet. My normal resting heart rate is actually high for my activity level and is around 70. As soon as I felt that I was ready to go home again I felt myself going out again. They put oxygen up my nose and jammed an IV into my arm, letting me know I needed fluids right away. Shortly after that I passed out in the chair. Ben and Lyla rushed in to the lobby and witnessed me fainting. I then regained consciousness and started to worry. At this time I didn’t understand why my body wouldn’t allow me to just get up and go. I’m usually such a resilient person. What was happening to me? Horrible thoughts were going through my head. Am I going to die? Is my blood pressure going to keep dropping? I see worry in every ones eyes. Something must be really wrong. I can’t die. I have tears in my eyes writing about this. Its amazing how your thoughts can be when in a state of panic. When I looked over at Ben holding Lyla, with fear in his eyes, I kept my cool. Trying to be as calm as possible I asked him to get a hold of my clients and let them know I wouldn't be able to train them today. I hate canceling on people so I was upset that I had to do this.

The paramedics then put me in the ambulance. As they were wheeling me in my IV and oxygen tubes got caught on the wheel almost choking me. They had to take me out 2 different times to get the tubes out from under the gurney. They wanted to take me to the nearest emergency room but the closest one was full. So they had to take me up to Encinitas, which was at least closer to my house. During the ride I think I passed out once. It was such a bumpy ride I don’t know how anyone doesn’t yak all over the place. I made it in one piece and was luckily seen immediately by a doctor.

I am not one for long stories so I will try and wrap it up right now and leave out minor details. I spent several hours in the ER having an EKG done, getting more intravenous fluids and blood pressure checks. I was so weak I didn’t know when my energy was going to come back. Eventually they discharged me and until now we are still not 100% sure what caused this episode. My thinking is it could be a combination of going through a complete physical, then getting a little too much blood taken, and I may have been on the dehydrated side by that time. Normally I am guzzling water, but I was so excited about the ultrasound I didn’t remind myself to drink very much. I have also been preoccupied about my trip. I signed up to go to the Level 2 RKC over 6 months ago and was awaiting the day. Been very nervous because the thought of leaving my daughter for the first time was going to be difficult. Another challenge I am facing is now being pregnant for the course. Our plan was to get pregnant shortly after the certification, for obvious reasons, Those of you who have attended the RKC know that it is a very vigorous and physical 3 day weekend. People who do not know me and my capabilities will probably judge me negatively for going and I’m willing to risk that. Those who do know me, know that I have been training moderately for months and am well prepared for the required tests, Pull ups, Pistols, Windmills, Bent Press, Clean and Jerks, and let’s not forget the Snatch Test. Before I knew I was pregnant I did 7 pull ups, with probably a couple reps left in me . The requirement is 1 pull up. That is scaling down to about 14% of my maximum if 7 are my real maximum. A good scale to go by when you are pregnant is to do 40-50% of your maximum, but most of all listen to your body. I have corresponded with Pavel, and he assured me that I would be allowed to take extra precautions if needed. I spoke to my doctor and she is very confident that I am the best judge of my own body. Unfortunately and fortunately, I am hypersensitive to my body so I know what I can or cannot tolerate. I would NEVER do anything to jeapardize the health of my baby or myself. I know my capabilities and I will not be going for any personal records this weekend. As much as we like to lift heavy with our peers I will be on the safe side and scale down where it is necessary. So no showing off. ;-(

I have allowed this entry to go on long enough. I am just thankful that I am sitting on this airplane in good health. Yesterday has passed but I will never forget. St. Paul is supposed to be in the high 80’s this weekend. Water, Coconut water, and trail mix will be my saviors this trip. I just cross my fingers that my mind and body gives me the strength to allow me to enjoy this weekend of physical and mental challenges. I look forward to being submerged with my passions of kettlebell training. learning new techniques, and meeting some wonderful people from all over the world. I am so grateful to have a body healthy enough to be able to be apart of this experience. I will try and take lots of pictures and keep everyone updated on the weekend. Wish me luck!

I’m reminding myself of one of those people who say goodbye and hang around for another hour. But I wanted to finish off by saying a couple things. “Enjoy each precious moment you have in life. Have no regrets and listen to your heart. Tell the people you love that you love them, even if you are upset with them. Don’t let anyone stop you from achieving your dreams even if they may seem hard to reach. Life is too precious so don’t sweat the small stuff.”

RKC Level 2 Weekend

First I want to thank everyone for such a great weekend. I had an awesome time meeting so many wonderful people. It's just so nice to get together with a group of people that love kettlebells as much as you do. I wish I took more pictures but unfortunately I was pretty sick for the most of the workshop. I some how managed to pull through and pass, but my face was a little green.

More details of why I was vomiting and sick to my stomach for most of the trip to follow.





Fawn was so nice to have a bbq at her house on Friday night. I got a chance to hang out with Tracy and RIf (such a great couple), Fawn and Aaron, Kettlebell Kate, Christine (my new friend from New Jersey), Taikei who came all the way from Japan, and some of Fawn's friends. Thanks again everyone for a great evening.




Seeing Lyla after not seeing her for 4 days was the best feeling in the world. It's definitely nice to be back. But unfortunately I am still pretty sick and have been in bed most of the time. I managed to teach a couple clients yesterday and a class, but tonight I had Robert Bud Level 2 RKC come in and teach for me. It worked out great. I normally try and do everything myself but I haven't been able to hold much food down so my body is telling me to rest.

On a happier note there is hopefully good to come out of all of this.

Why Kettlebells are Perfect for Mommies (Especially the New Ones)

I would like to share this with all the new and old mom's out there. Here is an article I wrote for www.liftkettlebells.com.

Click this link to read it. Kettlebells for women with children

Hope you all enjoy it!

Our Snowboarding trip to Mammoth

Last week we went to Mammoth. Since it was late in the season we were able to get a fantastic deal on an amazing ski in ski out condo on the mountain side. This is the nicest accomodations I have ever had in Mammoth. We shared a 2 bed/2 bath condo with good friends of ours and their little 11 month old. This worked out so nicely because we took turns snowboarding and watching each other's kids.



When we arrived I could not believe the beauty of this place. I have been to Mammoth about 10 times in my life and I never get tired of the surroundings. Anyone who has kids knows how stressful packing is. You have 5 times more stuff than you ever did in your life. Extra toys, bottles, portable crib, stroller, humidifier, diapers, etc.... Our 3 day trip looked like we were going away for a month. We packed the car up to it's maximum capacity. Good thing we drove because there was no way we could bring all of this stuff and fly somewhere. Anyway, I left in a frantic, because I had been stressing all week about different projects I have underway. I was anxious all week with the amount of work I had on my shoulders. But when I arrived in Mammoth all that stress, tension, and anxiety just drifted away. I can not describe what serenity and peace this place brought to me. Just breathing the fresh air, looking at the gorgeous mountain views, being with my little family and great friends was all I needed to relax. Oh and I can't forget the snowboarding that was right at my finger tips. 8-) My favorite activity!


I have decided that it's imperative that I do a trip like this at least once a year. Lyla seemed to have a great time in her cute little snow outfit checking out the snow for the first time. I can't wait to get her started on a mini snowboard. Her and Gianna were sooo adorable playing together. Just watching them together really makes me think I should give her a sister or brother in the near future. 8-)





Now to discuss kettlebells. I had about 2 hour windows of snowboarding both days. And each day I boarded as much as I could for those several hours. I am proud to say not once did my legs get tired or sore. I hardly even snowboard anymore because it just does not fit in my lifestyle at this time. My form and speed remained about the same. I have to give the credit to my body weight exercises and kettlebell training. Before I started training with bells, no questions asked, I would be very sore and shaky the next day after not boarding for awhile. I'm telling you that training the right way ABSOLUTELY helps your snowboarding skills. You can go down longer runs without feeling the burn and really do nice carves in the snow with lots of power. It was amazing!! I was worried that my snowboarding skills would go down the toilet since I have not been consistent for the past 4 years. I am happy to say they have maintained nicely. I have gotten a little more timid over the years because I have more at stake now. If I launch off a jump and severely injure myself I won't be able to work or be their for my family. I decided to throw in the towel and bust out my helmet this year. I never wanted to do it, but if some crazy person knocks me out while I'm speeding down a mountain I might as well protect the noggin.



New priorities! Make at least 2-3 days for yourself to do something that takes your stress away and gives you absolute joy! Keep your kettlebell training up so that you can enjoy your other activities with a powerful start!

Organic Carrot, Orange and Ginger Juice

So that last 2 days I have been making the most delicious fresh juice I have ever had. You would never believe that there is no added sugar. I was feeling really sluggish this past week, due to hormones, and all that fun women stuff. I wanted to start the day off with something a little different. My body doesn't always do well on caffeine, especially when I feel it needs it the most. I crash hard and I am left feeling worse.

Here is the Carrot and Ginger Juice Recipe

6-7 Organic Carrots
2 Oranges (right from my back yard)
1 inch of Ginger ( I love ginger so I put in a little more)

I peeled the oranges so the white part was still on. I also peeled the ginger as well.

I also tried it without the oranges if you are worried about sugar content. It still tasted awesome!!

And Voila! A beautiful looking juice that taste extraordinary. You can tell I'm excited. I don't get excited by too many things, but I felt great after drinking this first thing in the morning.

I've stayed away from fruit juices because of the sugar. But I feel strongly that one glass of FRESH fruit and/or vegetable juice can only have wonderful health benefits.

Does anyone else enjoy making fresh juices? If so, I'd love to hear about other healthy and tasty combinations.

The past 2 months

I know I haven't been blogging lately. Time just has not been on my side. With my projects I have underway, training clients, spending precious moments with my growing daughter, and keeping my husband out of the hospital I would say I have my hands full. So sitting down here at the computer is a luxury.



I will try and recap as much as possible in the most condensed way.

February started out very rocky. Ben had to be rushed to the hospital for his attack on his stomach. This was one of the worst episodes. He had to be wheeled in because he couldn't walk and was almost passing out from pain. The ER was very slow about everything as always and told him they would see him as soon as they could. 2 and half hours later, you would think he was almost dead, they finally got him the medication to give him relief. Then they sent him home several hours later because there is nothing more they can do. I also had to take care of Lyla in the ER while watching this nightmare happen. I think she might be starting to understand because she freaked out when they put the IV in his arm.

To make a long story short, the next day I had to call the paramedics. I had just finished teaching one of my classes when I thought I would check on him to make sure he is drinking enough water. He was barely conscious. That's when I calmly called the ambulance. It turned out the doctors gave him too many drugs in the ER that somehow interacted with his other daily medicaiton. If I didn't check on him he would have died! So rushing him in saved his life! That put a scare on all of us.
I need to take deep breaths when I talk about this.

Moving on, things have been better since then. Lyla is still being very cautious walking on her own. She will push her toys around while walking and walk while holding someone's hand. But at the moment she has no desire to let go. She is growing right before my eyes. She's not a baby anymore. It's just so hard to believe. 8-(





My training has been very simple. I have just been training to maintain so it hasn't been very exciting. Now that the RKC 2 is starting to get closer I will have to work more on my Clean and Jerks the RKC way. Something I have never had real instruction on. I have seen and tried other ways, so hopefully I'll get that part down before the Cert. By the way, if anyone in San Diego is going to Level 2 in June please email me. Maybe we can exchange some ideas as well as coordinate traveling, since Minnesota is not around the corner.

Once I have finished my project I will be excited to let everyone know about it. Until it's done I have no right to be discussing details. Life is definitely excited and I'm grateful for everything I have!

Saturday's Practice and Food

Here is yesterdays workout which I think of more of a practice.

Warmed up with Joint Mobility 5 minutes and 2 minutes of Swings 12kg

Did the following exercises 3 times.

Pull Ups 3 , 4 , 3
Pistols 2 , 3, 1 per side
Bent Press 12kg 3, 3 , 3 per side
C & J 12kg 8, 8 , 6 per side

Then I finished off with

Snatches for 3 minutes with the 12kg total of 73 snatches.

I don't usually train high reps so I was surprised how nice those 3 minutes felt. I paced myself at around 24 snatches a minute. I'm not training for any thing but I wanted to see how I would feel with that length of time. Maybe I'll try 4 minutes today.

Morning weight is 108. Been eating 5-6 times a day. Here is what I ate yesterday. Not typical since it's a Saturday and I had time to have some lunch by the beach. Couple of people ask me from time to time if I am eating. I think I eat a good amount of food. I have just been more cautious of what I put in my body because most of the food out there isn't really food. And I don't have time to cook extravagant meals. These days with my limited time fast healthy fresh is what I can do.

Breakfast Quinoa Flakes 1/3 cup
2 Organic Omega Eggs
Max Stress B (most natural source of B on the planet)

Snack 1/3 of a Fresh Pineapple
2 handfuls of Raw Almonds

Snack 2 Lean Body Whey Protein Shake (pesticide free whey)
1 tsp of Cod Liver Oil

Lunch (went out to lunch with friends so this is not typical
One Carne Asada Taco, Refried Beans, and Cabbage Salad
And I had Chips, Salsa, and Gaucamole. yummy!

Snack Hummus
Cucumber Slices
Seed/ Flax Crackers (gluten free) Mary's Gone Crackers is the brand

Dinner Organic Free Range Chicken 6 oz
Small Yam
2 cups of Mixed Greens with Balsamic Dressing

Dessert 3 big Squares of 71% Dark Chocolate from Trader Joes. Less than 2 grams of sugar per square.

Does the FDA give a crap about our health??

The answer is no! Money is really what drives the decisions of the FDA. It's such a shame because who do we trust if we can't trust the FDA? If you have not heard, the FDA feels that meat and milk are safe from CLONED animals. I am not a vegetarian by any means, but if this is hidden from the population, I will be forced to be a vegan. This problem could hurt our kids more than anything. Since this is the cheaper way, restaurants probably wont need to put this on the menu either. Another reason why you need to be even more careful with going out to eat. America is making it harder and harder for the population to eat clean, pure and healthy foods.

If you click below you can sign a very fast petition to allow the consumers to know if the meat is cloned or not. This will effect everyone. Thank you in advanced for supporting the health of ourselves and children.

http://cu.convio.net/labelclonedfood

Does anyone else feel as strongly about this as I do?  Or could I be over reacting?

Please vote for Exercise TV's top trainer

I don't really know much about Exercise TV but some how I was nominated to be in the running for Top Trainer.  Believe it or not I am in 2nd place as of now.  It would be great to see a kettlebell trainer to be in first place.  I have never competed in anything before so just thought I would put it out there and ask you all who have benefited from my services or advice to take a minute and vote.  I thank you in advance for supporting your fellow kettlebell instructor.  Just click the picture above to vote!

Thanks to all who have already voted!!!

Happy First Birthday Lyla

I can't believe my baby is 1. This year flew by and I survived. For some reason I'm very emotional right now, which doesn't happen to me very often. As a nursing mom I have never spent one day away from her. I didn't think I would be this attached. I have watched her grow from this little infant to a baby that interacts with me and says things like "wow" and "hi". Watching her every move just amazes me. From seeing her feed herself the little pieces of food I put on her tray, to pulling herself up on anything she can find, and talking to her stuffed animals in the morning. It all melts my heart. I fell in love the second I met her.

These pictures are really for me to look back on. Starting from the first day she was born.

He's absolutely head over heels in love! Just born. I am in awe here. She's not even 2 hours old.

1 month old






More pictures to come when I have more time. Of course Lyla is eating a Gluten free sugar free banana muffin I made her.

One more important thing to add to post below

This article came out this past June.  Not to scare any of you parents but it is good to be aware how much narcotics can influence breast milk.  This is a rare case, but a full term healthy baby actually died from the high concentrations of narcotics in the mothers breast milk.  She was just taking the prescribed dose of what the doctors gave her.  She ended up taking half of the dose 2 days later due to constipation.  Here is the article you can read for yourself.

CODEINE LINKED TO BREASTFEEDING DANGER from National Review of Medicine


Just wanted everyone to be aware!

On a happier note my baby is turning 1 tomorrow! This year has been incredible.

My workout yesterday

Push Ups 30 seconds
Body Weight Squats 30 seconds
Swings 12kg 30 seconds

Pull Ups 4
Pistol 1 / 1

Repeat 3 times

Snatches 12 kg 2 min

What Doctor's don't tell you after a C-section

I have had several emails from husbands and wives wanting to know more about recovery after C-sections.  I am no expert since I have only been through one C-section, hopefully that will be the last. I do know that I have had to do lots of outside research to help my muscles around my incision as well as my Transverse Abdominis (TVA)  

These are some of the things that the doctors DO tell you after a Cesarean:

1. Do not go up and down the stairs for 2 weeks (which I did as soon as I got home)

2. Do not lift anything heavier than the baby for 6 weeks 

3. Take your painkillers (ex. Percocet)

4. After 6-8 weeks you can start exercising again

Good luck!

Here is what they don't tell you after a Cesarean. and I have added my opinions to this:

If you take your painkillers that are encouraged, it WILL slow your bowels down. Not to mention they are already very slow after this major surgery. It can give you a false sense of feeling better and you might REALLY over do it.  If you're breast feeding there are many pediatricians that think it can be harmful to the baby when taking strong painkillers such as Percocet. I feel it can really cause your baby to be sedated and constantly fall asleep during feedings. Let's not forget the highly addictive qualities these narcotics have.  The last thing a new mother needs to be dealing with is withdrawal symptoms from this drug.  

You may have pulling pains near the incision even 30 years later.  I have several clients who are in their 50's and had C-sections. To this day they still have mild cramping and pains near the incision every once in awhile.  Now why does this happen?

 Down to the important stuff.  After your abdominal wall is cut open and your muscles are separated to get a large baby out of your stomach, you are sewn up with several layers of stitches.  What they don't tell you is after this surgery your brain loses proper connection with these muscles.  Many women experience numbness and/or a pooch belly because they are never properly taught how to re-establish the communication between the brain and these stomach muscles.  Therefore it's important to do specific exercises to activate these muscles again.  

When you are starting to feel better from the surgery or /and you have been given the clearance to exercise, start with these TVA exercises. Since everyone heals at different speeds you may feel ready to do this as early as 3 weeks. Doing the typical crunches and sit ups will only target your Rectus Abdominis, which will not help at this time.  Some simple exercises to start are:

PLANK on your knees for 30 seconds.  Getting on your elbows and knees. Really tucking your pelvis under.  Even if you can go on your toes for the plank it's better to start small, so that the right muscles are being used and nothing else is taking over. Here is a video clip for this exercise in 3 parts. Plank Exercise video clip

PELVIC TILTS - lying on your back (you can even do this in bed) tilt your pelvis under while pressing your lower back flat against the ground. Do a little squeeze and hold.  Also take your fingers and press in to your pelvis area where you should be feeling it. This will also help tell the brain to start turning these muscles on.  Do 15-20 reps of these and repeat 2-3 times when your body feels ready.

4 POINT TUMMY VACCUM (read this in Paul Cheks' book, How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy)  Getting on your hands and knees inhale and let your stomach hang to the floor. Then exhale and bring your belly button in to your spine. Hold and repeat 15-20 times.  

KETTLEBELL SWING - this is an excellent exercise to get the TVA.  

I could go on and on with diet and more exercises. But to keep this relatively short these are some rehab exercises that doctors do not tell you to focus on after a Cesarean.  Why they don't tell you, I don't know.  We just get sewn up and are expected to deal with muscles that don't properly work and a "pooch" belly.  For those who want their stomach to feel and look the same or even better, these are some ways to regain this.  Hope this has answered some of your questions.  There could be a book written about this!

But let's not forget the real reason why we go through this.  It's worth every bit of this and more! Here is me all sedated since they pumped me with Morphine, without my knowledge, holding my baby.  Couldn't have been happier in this picture.

Nothing too exciting. Several short workouts posted

I enjoy sometimes when life has settled down and there is no big news to discuss. The big family holidays are over and things are mellow.   I have been in a super laid back mood since I got back from Marin County. Going with the laid back theme I have kept my workouts as such. Very short ones as usual.  Here are a couple ones I have done in the last several days. One I got from Ross's training book Never Gymless.

Workout 1 (feeling lethargic so eased back in to this first workout on the cardio part)

Swings    8kg      50 reps   

Suitcase Deadlift  2 24kg's  6 reps

Swings 12kg    50 reps

Suitcase Deadlift  2  24kg's  6 reps

Swings 16kg   40 reps

Suitcase DL   2 24kg's 6 reps

Snatches 12kg   10 per side

Presses  12kg   6 per side and repeated 2 times

Rehab for my TVA .  Still feeling C-section pains and that the muscles are not working correctly. ( I will write a post later on what they don't tell women and should after this major surgery)  Need to start all over with teaching my brain how to slowly use and tighten my TVA.  

4 sets of planks on my knees.  Need to start with 25-30% intensity to get the right muscles activated. 

Workout 2   10 min  Got this little fun one from Ross's book and used a slight variation

Burpees  

Ring Rows 

Body Weight Squats

Kettlebell Push Ups

Went through each exercise for 60 sec, then 45 sec, 30 sec, and 15 sec. Took as few breaks as possible. Took me 12 minutes to complete. Suppose to be 10 minutes with no rest. 

More knee planks and 4 point tummy exercise from Paul Chek's book.

Workout 3  Today

Bent Press 8kg   3 per arm x 3

Pull Ups   3/2/2

One arm Push up with other arm on a bell (feeling a bit weaker today) 4 per side x 3

Rested 45-60 seconds between exercises

Clean and Jerk 12kg, 16kg   8 reps, 5 reps per side

Pistols      2 per side x 3      

TVA rehab   

That's all for now. Looks like another beautiful day here in San Diego.   

Another little quickie

I'm all all fired up this morning because I am headed to the mountains this evening. That's right, it's snowboard season.  This is what I use to LIVE for. If I didn't have a baby right now I would have hit the slopes the second the mountain opened. Ben and I will be going up there with Lyla. So we will have to take turns taking runs. So with all my excited energy I wanted to get in a quickie workout before getting in the car heading to slopes.

Here it goes!

2 Handed Swings 12kg 40x

Alternating Swings 12kg 42x

Double Cleans 12kg's  10x

Dead Double Cleans 12kg's 10x (tough)

High Pull Catch and Squat with a Burpee  12kg 10x 

High Pull Catch and Squat with a Burpee 12kg  10x

Double Snatches  8kg's  15x

Double Snatches 8kg's   18x

1 Arm Push ups  2 per side

Ab wheel roll out  10x

1 Arm Push ups 2 per side

Ab wheel roll out  10x

Stretches with baby and done!  

Last season I had just had Lyla and there was barely any snow left. Remember I'm in southern cali.  Here is a pic of me hitting the slopes as soon as doctors gave me clearance since I had a C-section. I got 2 hours total in for the whole season.  8-(    Yay for today!!! 

Just messing around

After my 3 mile walk/jog one of my girlfriends came over to check out my new little garage gym. My friend and I were playing around with the pull up bar like we were kids. I was also pushing Lyla around in the little radio flyer wagon in between messing around with pistols and swinging on the bar. I then wanted to try a one arm push up. I decided, what the heck, let me give it a whirl and fall flat on my face. Well surprisingly I did it! Then I did it again and then on the other side!  Woo hooo.  Hmmmm how did this happen since I haven't really trained for one arm push ups??  My guess is tension or lots and lots of stress built up.

I have been practicing pistols and pull ups for the past 2 weeks, which both require tons of tension.  I just used the same breathing and tension technique to the push up and I actually did it. There was definitely some snap, crackle, and pops going on.  

Strength works in mysterious ways sometimes.  I strongly feel that the mind can take over and provide you with the extra strength in time of need. Especially when you have lots of built up energy inside that is ready to explode! The story of my life.  

Under 12 minute workout

I have been feeling pretty good these past couple days. During the holiday season I am not as busy so I have some more down time.  Even though my baby tends to tire me out, I am feeling rejuvenated! Today I squeezed in two mini workouts.  

Morning workout

2 Handed Swings  12kg  1 min

Snatches                 12kg  2 min

Jump Rope                      1 min

Alternating Swings 12kg 1 min

Alternating Snatches 12kg 1 min

Jump Rope                            1 min

Pull ups           3x

Took 1 minute break in between each exercise

Evening workout (my client was running late so I squeezed another one in)

Turkish Get Ups  16kg   2/2

Pull ups                            4x

Pistols            10lb          3/3

Windmills             12kg  4/4

Went through each exercise with minimal rest and repeated 2 times

It's amazing how wonderful the mood and energy picks up even with just these short practice sessions!  I love it!!!

My Transformation

This post is not about anyone's body being transformed. It's about my ugly garage being transformed in to a kettlebell / training studio. I have been extremely busy the past several weeks trying to make this happen. It was a lot of work but the outcome is worth all the headache. For the past 8 months I have been training everyone in my backyard, which has worked out great. But when it rains or it's dark it isn't the best place to be. So looking at my horrible garage I thought it would be a good investment to use it wisely.

The most challenging part was forcing us to get rid of lots and lots of crap! Which is probably one of the best parts about this. The next best part is I now have a home kettlebell gym that is fully insulated. I wasn't able to convince Ben to get a shed for some of our storage so we settled on getting nice cabinets. We still have room for storage AND a nice little desk for the online training and nutrition consultations I do. Here are the before pictures. I couldn't even walk in the garage. We had an old garage door, holes all over the wall, and old shelves that were built in the wall.

This is what I did to re do everything. Had the old shelves demolished, put new cabinets and a desk in. Updated the garage door so I can have a roll up one with windows. Had nice lights put in on the ceiling. Rubber flooring and mirrors. Lots of drywall repair with energizing colors of paint. This painter was amazing and very reasonable. If you are looking for a good painter this guy is your man. He did more than he needed to with his part. http://www.myspace.com/wcpaint
Well here is the almost final pictures. There is a couple more little touches that will be added. Areas to place my exercise and medicine balls. Places to hang my ropes. And I will be adding a pull up bar to the beam. That way I can also hang my gymnastic rings from the pull up bar.





Yay for being done with the transformation!

My trip to London with lots of walking

Where do I start? It was an unforgettable trip. I went to visit my grandparents to introduce Lyla to them. They are 84 years old and I didn't expect them to make the trip all the way over here. So we decided to go there. I will say I was half asleep for most of it. Lyla decided to be up from 2-5 a.m. every morning and sleep several hours during the day. We still made the best of it even though we were dragging.


For 2 days of the trip Ben and I rented a car and we drove outside of London. One of the places we went to was Leeds Castle. It was absolutely gorgeous.






I didn't really get a chance to do too much exercise since I was so tired to begin with. I did manage to get some Turkish Get Ups in with my carry on bag. My family thought I was crazy. Then I went outside to use my jump rope one time. My intentions were good. 8-) Just did not turn out as planned.

During the trip I had no choice but to get off my healthy diet. Several days in to the trip I was starving from trying to work around my diet. There is only so many nuts, seeds, and bars I can live with. The English are huge on their biscuits and tea time so of course I had to go with the traditions. It was so cold there that I also had some hot chocolate. Which I never do when I am at home. The hotel served a buffet breakfast every morning filled with cereals, breads, yogurts, and eggs. It had been almost 6 months since I have eaten toast, by the 3rd day I was going for it. Not to mention had dessert almost every evening. Suprisingly enough I didn't have too many stomach pains. I actually felt really good after eating it. I did get a little bloated towards the end of the trip. When I got home the bloating went down after one night's sleep.

I didn't want to step on the scale. I was convinced I had gained at least 5 pounds. I was 109 before I left. Which is ridiculously low for me. So I wouldn't have minded too much if I put on a bit of weight. Sure enough I get on the scale and I'm 108 pounds. Now how the hell did that happen? This is the only thing I can think of. I had to walk almost everywhere I went. Which probably averages about 3 miles a day. I was holding Lyla much of the time since she would start crying when I put her in the stroller. (She is at the stage that she wants to see everything going on around her. And wants her mommy to hold her constantly). I ate tons of food, didn't really work out, sat on a plane for many many hours, and actually lost a pound. I was so surprised by this I had Ben step on the scale. He indulged just as much as I did, if not more. He lost 4 pounds! Can walking everywhere be that effective? It must be. 8-)

London

Hello Everyone! Sorry for not posting in so long. I am in London right now. I packed my jump rope with me and some bands. I haven't had a chance to visit any kettlebell instructors while I'm out here. Travelling with a baby is quite a challenge. I will update everyone in the next several days when I have more time to chat.

Halloween

I would have put a picture of peanut butter cups or chocolate bars but I wouldn't want to entice anyone to have some. I would be lying if I said that I resisted the halloween candy temptations. When food is brought in to my house I will end up eating it. Every day this week I have managed to eat some candy. I feel guilty but then again I feel it's ok. I have been so strict with what I have been eating that I allow myself to indulge every now and again.

Speaking of my normal eating habits, Tracy had encouraged me to take a picture of what I eat. Last night I made Spagetti Squash and put organic marinara sauce on top with some turkey meatballs. I also steamed some cauliflower and brocolli to get some extra veggies. Then for dessert I had a fruit salad that I made. Everything was pretty simple to make. If I can make it anyone can. Here is what it looks like. I found it bit humerous taking a picture of my dinner plate. The picture of the Reeses peanut butter cup is not in there. That should go next to my fruit salad. 8-) Yes I am human too, which many people joke around with me about.





LIfe is definitely getting better! Ben also had his first workout yesterday. He is very sore today but I am proud of him!

Yay!!!

Dealing with the Fires

First I want to start off with a positive note. I feel extremely lucky to have a home to come back to. My heart goes out to all those who lost their homes and valuables in the fire. It is hard to feel sorry for myself when people have it so much worse. This has been an eye opener this week. It really puts things in to perspective.

On Monday Oct 22nd, I woke up smelling smoke at 6:00a.m. I looked outside and there was ashes falling and a red haze in the sky. I immediately turned on the TV and on every station there was BREAKING NEWS wild fires. I phoned my friend Laura that lives 10 minutes from me. She had been evacuated at 5 a.m. from her home. It then occured to me that I better start thinking about what is important to me. I knew as long as I have my family including my 2 cats, that is all I would need. I got a knock on my door as I was sitting there in shock. It was my neighbor from across the street inviting me over to their home so we can breathe cleaner air. They have a special air filtration system so their air was much better than the air in my home. I decided to take them up on their offer since I was already starting to get a sore throat. I grabbed my baby and put a blanket over her head. Then I ran across the street as quickly as possible. It smelled so bad it was like swimming in an ash tray.

Several hours later, some neighbors came to the door saying they were getting evacuation calls. So I ran back across the street and got my husband out of bed. He at this time, was dealing with an extremely painful migraine. I let him know what was going on and he got up, but said he needed to take a bath!! I wasn't in the happiest moods hearing this. Then we packed up our important documents, baby gear, waters, and our cats. We filled up our car and drove to Laguna. To make a very LONG story short I am now back at my house in Encinitas. The air quality is extremely poor and we have been told to stay in doors. All schools in San Diego have been cancelled for the whole week. I am definitely going stir crazy since I haven't been able to be outside since Sunday. My days have been spent watching the news and waiting until the conditions are somewhat healthy for me to return. Talking to loved ones to make sure everyone is okay. Rescheduling all clients and who knows when it will be safe to workout outside again.

Life can be crazy some times! It's wonderful to see this city really work together and become a close community. Sometimes it takes disasters to bring people together. In the end none of the material stuff matters. Having my friends and family are the most important thing to me! Thank you everyone for all the phone calls and emails!

Thought we were in the clear

We were getting really excited to start Ben's program last week. Then I had to rush him to the emergency room at 6 a.m. Now that he is off the Prednisone he is much more vulnerable for painful flair ups. I personally think we have gotten a little too comfortable with our eating and need to go back to a strict Ulcerative Colitis friendly diet. We don't know what the exact cause of the flair ups are. If we knew we wouldn't keep having this problem. The pain is so unbearable that he required pain medicine 4 times stronger than Morphine, which is called Dilauded.

Once things settle down I will continue to post. My daughter hasn't been sleeping well either for the past several weeks. At 3 a.m. she decides that she needs me! With no sleep and high stress, it's very hard to stay above water. My body has finally said ENOUGH! My lowered immune system from everything going on, finally gave in to a virus. With that being said, I do not workout when I am sick. Once I build my immune system back up I will be ready to go again. In the meantime I am forced to rest as much as my time allows. Which is very difficult for me. Ben is feeling much better now but still a little bit sore. Whenever his stomach is feeling fully recovered we will start his journey to health! I will keep everyone posted.

For those who are able to get a good night sleep, cherish it! I envy you. I never realized how much I liked sleep until I am this deprived. Anyone learn to live on very little sleep and still feel great? If so, please let me know who you are. I don't see myself getting good sleep for awhile!

A Challenge for my Husband

Those who have been with me from the start with my blogging will remember that my husband was suffering from severe stomach problems that landed him in the emergency room over 15 times and admitted in the hospital 3 times. I would like to announce that he finally got off the steroids that the doctors put him on. The prednione (steroid) may have saved him but also came with a whole list of horrible side effects we had to deal with. So I am now becoming a very happy women seeing my husbands health start to improve almost drug free.

Since working out for him has not been an option for longer than I can remember, I am now giving him a challenge. I told him last night that if he did just 20-30 minutes a day of kettlebell workouts, 5 times a week his health and physique would improve dramatically. I am talking about a transformation. Of course proper nutrition would be part of it as well. We would take pictures, measurements, log everything to keep him on track. You would think since his wife is a trainer and nutritionist he would jump at this opportunity. For those who don't know Ben he is quite a comedian and never takes anything to seriously. If you check out his post of me discussing this challenge with him you will see what I am talking about. I encourage you to read it and post a comment to tell him to take this challenge! I need all the help I can get.

The pictures he put on his post are not him but to make you laugh! Here is his link http://www.lylasdaddy.blogspot.com/
or just click on Film Buffs blog in my link section.

Explosive Training Day

Today I was determined to do a little kettlebells and some other bodyweight exercises. Just needed my baby to take her morning nap. I decided to warm up with an 8 minute walk around the neighborhood. Just enough time to get her to sleep. Once I got home I knew it was just a matter of time until she would wake up. I needed to hurry up and get my workout done.
Here it is.

Explosive Push Ups 10
Jump Pull Ups (just using my tippie toes) 4
One Leg Explosive Box Squat (18 inch box) 10/10 on each leg
Snatches with 12kg 20/20

Went through each exercise with little to no rest. After Snatches rested 1 minute and repeated 3 times. Felt great after this. The best thing is this took about 20 minutes to do.




I could have been done but since she was still asleep I decided to use the extra time.

Lying Hip Rotations 10x
Wheel Roll Outs 12x
Medicine Ball Twists 30x

Did 2 sets and then she woke up. I wanted to get one more in so I brought her outside and finished one last set with her laughing at me.



Another successful day of working out while watching my baby. Yay!

Interval Training Day

Today was my interval training day. I had planned to do kettlebell swings and snatches. My baby needed my full attention this morning and was resisting her nap. I knew my plan of swinging bells was not going to happen. Instead of just not doing anything, which many times happens, I had to be flexible and figure out another way. Those who have babies will know that putting them in a stroller will usually put them to sleep. So I decided to kill two birds in one stone. I put Lyla in the jogger, grabbed my stopwatch, and left the house. Lyla fell asleep within 5 minutes and I was then ready to expel some energy. I wanted to run fast but only for a minute at a time. I decided to do 1 minute intervals of running and fast walking for about 35 minutes.

Pushing a stroller and running up the hills were just as challenging on my heart as swings and snatches . I have never been one to love running long distances. I somehow completed a half marathon before, but don't have any intentions of doing so again. The 1 minute intervals of running and walking turned out to be a perfect workout! It was fun having the timer tell me when it was ok to stop and go. The interval times were short enough to keep me motivated.

This post is to remind me that there are no excuses! Sometimes things just don't go as planned. I have had to learn to go with the flow!

Strength Workout today

I am going to start implementing a system to keep me more well rounded with my exercises. As much as I believe you should only have a few goals at a time, I am not going to be competing in anything anytime soon. So for me to be well rounded it's important for me to work weekly on explosive strength, maximal strength, interval training, endurance training, isometrics, and more. Unless someone is training for a specific strength competition or a marathon, I am starting to change my views on training. We all know our bodies will adapt to the same type of training.

Today my workout was dedicated to strength. It took about 30 minutes to complete. Rested 45-60 seconds in between exercises to be fresh for each set. Always made sure there was 2 reps left in the bank. Practice needs to be perfect! Next time I will add weight to the double squats since 8 reps is high for a strength workout.

A1 Ring Pull ups 3 reps 4 sets
A2 Double Front Squats 12kg's 8 reps 4 sets


B1 Double Clean and Press 12kg's 5 reps 3 sets
B2 Snatch 16kg 8 reps 3 sets


C1 Ab wheel roll outs 10 reps 3 sets
C2 One Arm Push ups on 18 inch box 3 reps 3 sets

Pistol 8kg 1 rep each side (body felt tired) should have done this in the beginning!

Performance Menu Magazine

Just wanted to share this magazine with you guys. I enjoy the nutrition/recipes articles that come out of this magazine as well as the fun and unique exercises that are shared. I believe you can try a free sample issue. I am glad I was able to be apart of this.. The picture on the front is me doing a clean and jerk. There are some better looking pics of me inside the issue. 8-)

To get to the actual site you must go to http://www.cathletics.com/. It's on my links section as well if you click on Performance Menu. Enjoy!

Gluten and Dairy Free Banana Bread

For those who know me I don't spend a whole lot of time in the kitchen. This banana bread is THAT good that I wanted to share it with everyone. Yesterday was Ben's birthday and I wanted to make him a cake that we could both eat without feeling too guilty. Guilty meaning no stomach pains and bloating afterwards. This banana bread / cake is made with Almond Flour.

Here are the ingredients. I found this on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet website but used less honey, more bananas, and added spices to make it a little healthier and tastier. Here is the recipe.

3 cups of Almond Flour
1/3 cup of honey
3 eggs
2-3 very ripe bananas
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp of cinnamon and nutmeg

Smash Bananas or put in a food processor. Mix all ingredients together unti smooth. Pour in a loaf pan and bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes depending on your oven. If you pour in 3 mini loaf pans (which I did) then bake for only 40 minutes. It was moist and sweet. I loved it and have a hard time not eating so much of it. The calories are a bit higher due to the fat from the Almonds. But it's good fat and low carb! My stomach feels great. Besides, I don't count calories anyway.

Nice hands or a nice ass???

What do you choose??? Well if I have a choice I will choose the nice ass! As all you kettlebellers know, swinging those bells can really roughen up the hands with ugly calluses. I have several people including myself that every now and again get bothered by it. I have never been one to spend time making my hands look really pretty in the first place. With the work I do they would be ruined in one day, so I don't even bother too much. So this is a message for those ladies who let the calluses stop you from swinging kettlebells and doing pull-ups. One of the affects that kettlebell swings have on the body is a very strong nice butt! Tracy Reifkind, the swing master, is the woman to talk to if you have a question on swings and hand care! She is a perfect example of what the swings can do to your body. Suck it up because the rewards are worth it!!!!





On another note, today was an awesome class. It rained outside during the class but my husband and I managed to put a tarp over the overhang. Putting the tarp up was quite a challenge. Not to mention holding the baby in one hand and the wind blowing at 20-30 mph. We are lucky we are still married after that task. 8-) All joking aside, I added some rope training to the class. I was searching on the web and found battlingropes.com. There is a whole certification of just rope training. It was crazy how in to it these guys were. So I bought a 50 foot 1.5 inch manila rope from McMaster.com, referred to me by Ross Enamait. McMaster had great prices and recevied the rope at my house 3 hours later! The only time I have ever done Rope Waves were at Franz and Yoana's gym. These rope waves are no joke! They get your heart rate up big time and it's a full body workout. I definitely recommend it to those who are looking to add more to their training.

The sun is now coming out. Looks like it will be turning in to another beautiful day. Yay!

Loving my baby and a typical day of feeding her

I wanted to wait until her 8th month birthday but I am bursting with love so I felt like expressing it today. As I write this blog she is crawling all over me trying to press all the buttons. Life is sooo different right now. Everything I have she wants to put in her mouth. It is very funny!

It is amazing how life changes so much as a new parent. I am so lucky to have the career I have. I am able to be with her most of the day. I don't know how I would have continued to breastfeed if I had a different schedule. I will say that priorities change big time. I don't get the personal time to myself like I use to. Especially big windows to do long workouts. When you see the schedule below you will have an idea why. This does not include diaper changing, bath time, play time, etc...

This probably wont interest you unless you are a parent or an expecting parent!
A typical day of feeding Lyla. I have had to add some extra nursing times because I was starting to lose my milk.
Breastfeed 6:30 a.m. and then pump
Feed her breakfast 8 a.m.
Breastfeed 10:30 a.m.
Breastfeed 1 p.m.
Breastfeed 4 p.m.
Feed her Dinner 5:30 p.m.
Breastfeed or bottle with breastmilk 7 p.m.
Pump 9 p.m. for bottle

As you can see much of my day is spent feeding my baby. Believe it or not I still do work. My husband will take over many times in the evenings while I am working. I also have some clients come to my home in the morning between breastfeeding times, so my husband or our cousin will watch her at this time. it has worked out very nicely. During the day when she will take her nap I will work on nutrition or online programs. After she is in bed at night I will work on my articles. So I'm busy!

I never thought I would be this head over heels in love with my baby. She lights up my world. It's amazing how I have lived 27 years without her and now I can't imagine 1 day without her. Every new step and new sounds is so exciting. She is worth every bit of this. I truly enjoy my days with her. I will not lie, they can get exhausting. I have enclosed a mini video of her. This blogger thing is great. I can share this clip with family members who don't get a chance to see her often. Technology can be good at times!

Saturday's Circuit Class

Lately I have been having many more women show up to the classes. To be honest with you, I think that the girls overall are tougher than the boys! I'm sure you guys know that though.

Today it was a mix of beginners, intermediate and advanced kbellers. So it gave the advanced people a chance to go heavier than they are use to safely. Here is the workout. I took a couple pictures to give you an idea of what it looked like.

Warmed up with Joint Mobility

Body Weight Squats 15 x 3
Windmills 3 x 3
Low Swings 15 sec
Medium Swings 15 sec
Alternating Swing 30 sec
Medium Swings 15 sec
Low Swings 15 sec

Rest for 1 minute and Repeat 2 times

Circuit 30 seconds on 30 seconds off with a partner

Kettlebell Tricep Pushups
Alternating Step Ups
Double Clean, Squat, and Press
Knee Tucks on skateboard
Alternating Snatches
Ring Rows

Repeat 3 times

Finished with a Plank Hold and Stretched! Another gorgeous day!

Breaking in the new Rings

Here are sompe photos of yesterdays class. We had lots of fun because it was a partner circuit class. Each station was either a kettlebell exercise, a ring exercise, bosu, or bodyweight. The rings were probably the most challenging part for some. Thanks to Greg Everett for suggesting me to get them, I am having the most fun with them. They are brutal though. I love it!

Some of the exercises we did in the partner circuit were Snatches, Swings, Double Clean and Press, Bosu Pushup Burpees, modified pull ups with rings, Turkish Get Ups, and more....
The weather was beautiful this week.

20kg was still calling my name

Still on very little sleep due to coughing. But I couldn't get it out of my head that I wanted to try to snatch the 20kg. Even at my strongest when I was weighing 117 pounds right before my pregnancy I have never tried this. This morning my weight was 110 so I thought for sure my strength would be compromised.

I pretty much did the same workout as yesterday, which is posted on the previous post. After I was fatigued from my workout, I was impatient and wanted to try it already. So I picked up the bell and my heart started racing. The last thing I want to do is hurt myself. But I went for it and then did it again. Now I am really fatigued, but wanted to do it one more time just to get it on video. I am very shakey at this point as you can tell in the clip. Next time I'll get a video at the beginning of the workout when feeling fresh.

Feeling a bit under the weather workout

The past several weeks I have been surrounded by 2 friends with Bronchitis and a client getting over Bronchitis. I have been lucky to have a great immune system and normally don't get sick. If I am not sleeping very well, I am bound to lower my immune system, no matter how healthy I am eating. So with that being said, I picked up a nasty cough and have been fighting it for over a week. This bronchial cough has taken even more sleep away from me. It has been hard to find the energy for a good workout. It has also been disgustingly hot here in San Diego, and I don't have air conditioning! Today I made myself do a 30 minute workout. I kept the reps low but the weight high.

Warm Up Set 1

Pistols holding 8lb medicine ball 1/1
One arm Push-ups on 18 inch box 3/3
Turkish Get Up 16kg 2/2
Snatches 12kg 15/15

Rested 90 seconds

Set 2
Pistols with 8lb medicine ball 2/2
1 arm Push-ups on 18inch box 3/3
Turkish Get Up 16kg 2/2
Snatches 16kg 6/6

Set 3
Pistols with 8lb medicine ball 3/3
1 arm Push-ups on 24 inch box 5/5
Turkish Get ups 16kg 2/2
Snatches 16kg 10/10

Last bit!
Swings 32kg 8 reps
Double Snatches 12kg's 5 reps
Cleans 24kg 2/2

One of my goals is to be able to snatch the 20kg safely. I have not tried it yet. I just want to make sure I am feeling very comfortable with double snatches before trying the 20kg.

Ever get bloated? It could be a food intolerance

I'm discovering that I probably have a wheat or gluten intolerance. I like to experiment with my body, so I will go through stages of eating only gluten free and wheat free products. When I am strict with it I will notice an increase in my energy and no pain or bloating in my belly. This past week I decided to try the corn tortilla crips from Trader Joes. Normally I look at the ingredients, but being in a hurry I didn't realized the first ingredient was whole wheat flour. I just assumed it was corn flour. Since it was already in my house I decided to eat them anyway. I only ate about a serving a day hoping that it would not have an effect on me. Within 3 days my stomach was bloated. There have been times where I can get so bloated I look 5 months pregnant. The bloating does not happen right away which lets me know that it is most likely not a food allergy, but a food intolerance. Two or three days can pass before seeing any problems, so it can be very hard to pinpoint what the actual cause is. It is almost a build up.

Some of the other things I have tried to think about are: Can I be dehydrated? Did I eat too much sodium? Do I need to start a rotational diet? As of now I am going to point the finger to gluten and wheat. Good thing there are many health food stores around here that carry many products that don't have wheat or gluten.

My humble outdoor gym and todays kettlebell class workout

I'm thanking San Diego everyday for the beautiful weather it has. This city has allowed me to have such a wonderful outside gym. It was a bit over cast this morning which was nice because it cooled things down to about 72 degrees. I know that is nice and cool compared to most of the country right now in August! Here are some pics of where most of my training and teaching happens. Todays workout is below. We had some high intensity music going to keep the energy up!

Warm Up

Joint Mobility exercises in Neck, Hips, Shoulders, and Knees
Light Swings 10x
Body Weight Squats 10x
Figure 8's 60 seconds

Workout

Sequence 1

Sumo Squats 12x
Fisted Push ups 10x
One Arm Swings 10x each side
Alternating Swings 10x
2 Handed Swings 10x

Rest 1 minute after last exercise and repeat 3 times

Sequence 2

Renegade Rows 5x alternating each side
Single Squat and Press 6x per side
High Pulls and Snatches 10x per side

Rest 2 minutes and repeat 3 times

Sequence 3- this one was a circuit 30 seconds on 30 seconds off

Jump Rope
Box Jumps
Swings, Squats
Over the top on Bosu
TGU Sit Ups

Phew! Total workout was 50 minutes. Then stretched!

It was a challenging Saturday workout class, but fun as always. I even took most of the class.

Lyla's 7 month birthday and SUPER fun day

Today has been such a perfect day. I woke up and actually went surfing!! It has been way over a year since I have paddled out. I thought today would be a great way to celebrate Lyla's 7 month. We took some cute photos of her. Ben was actually able to get a picture of me on a wave.

After I got home I was so pumped up that I did a fun kettlebell workout. If you have time try this one. Here is the workout.

Single Leg Deadlift with 2 12kg's 8x per side
Windmills 12kg 3x per side
Swing to Head 12kg 10x
Swings to Chest 12kg 10x
Swings to Belly 12kg 10x

Rest 1 minute Repeat 3 times

Push-ups on Kettlebells 10x
Clean, Squat, Press 12kg 6x per side
One Arm Rows 12kg 10x per side
Snatches 12kg 10x per side

Rest 1 minute repeat 3 times

Moving Plank 4 on each side
Medicine Ball Twists 20

No rest and repeat 3 times

Olympic Weightlifting

Yesterday I drove WAY out to MIke's Gym in Bonsall, California. This place is in the middle of acres and acres of land with a gorgeous view. MIke's Gym is based in his 2 car garage which is packed with kettlebells, olympics weightlifting equipment, crossfit stuff, and much more. This is all you would ever need for a hardcore workout.

Greg Everett (USA Weightlifting Club Coach, Crossfit Trainer, RKC, and CSCS) was nice enough to invite me to the gym and teach me a couple moves. I would have to say I have never tried Olympic lifts and I felt extremely humbled by them. They are far more challenging than any kettlebell moves I have ever tried. I had a good time trying to maneuver some of these lifts. My body definitely was trying to resist, since it was such an unnatural feeling.

Here is Greg's info. Greg will be doing an Olympic Weightlifting Clinic Oct 6 & 7th. You should definitely check it out!
http://www.cathletics.com/ Here is the event info http://www.performancemenu.com/resources/events/olyClinic.php

Here is a picture of a Muy Thai Fighter. The view is in the back of this incredible unique gym. Then there is me doing a clean and jerk with a kettlebell at the end of the olympic weightlifting session.

My 25 minute workout today and 10 minute WO from last night

Sqeezing in a quick workout. WIll try and do another one this evening before I train some clients.

Warm Up

30 seconds on 30 seconds off 3 times

Up and Over on Bosu Ball
Box Shuffles

Workout

Step Ups on 24 inch box holding 2 8kg's 10 L & R
Double Snatches 2 8kgs 10
Back Lunges 2 8kg's 10 L & R
Double Snatches 2 kg's 10
Repeated whole thing 4 times

My heart rate was up there. I tried to keep the rests under 30 seconds.
This morning weight is 110 pounds!

Last night one of my clients was 10 minutes late so this is what I decided to try and do. I need to do this more often because I was surprised I was able to do this at all!

Pull-ups 2 reps (woo hoo)
Pistols 2 reps on each leg (stoked)
Push-ups on KB's with one leg 6 reps on each leg

Repeated 3 times

Live on the Spanish Channel

My friend Yoana Snideman asked me to come on the Spanish Channel with her to show people how you can exercise with your baby. This was filmed about 2 months after I had Lyla. We had a great time doing this. I hope you enjoy!

Another challenge to face

Well last night I bumped in to my new plyometric box and broke my toe! I knew right away it was broken. I saw stars for a moment. I thought maybe 3 of them were crushed, but the X-ray confirmed only one.

With that being said, I will have to modify my workouts tremendously. Kind of bummed since I was just starting to enjoy my freedom again.

I believe the saying, "What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger". Maybe some how I will end up stronger with this little bump in the road.

Lyla's 6 month birthday today!

We made it to the 6 month mark. This post has nothing to do with training.

Just want to show off pictures of my little girl. I felt she looked cuter than ever today. Here are a couple pictures. I guess I am turning in to one of those extremely proud parents already!

Traditional Weight workout in a gym

I worked out with a female bodybuilder today that has won many competitions. She is super super lean and looks great. I love to train different ways. This is what she had me do.

Light Weight, HIgh Reps

Deadlifts 45lb 8
Roman Deadlift 45lb 8
One arm Roman Deadlift 10lb 16 left and 16 right (a bit too easy, but got my heart rate up)

Did all without any rest 3 sets through

Renegade Rows on barbells 15lb 8 on each side
Push Ups on barbells 5 reps
Hang Clean, Squat, and Press 30lb 6 reps (pretty light)

Did all without any rest 3 sets through

Step Ups on Bench 30lb 16 reps
Leg Raises for lower Abs 12 reps
Cross Crunches 12 on each side

2 sets

Bicep Curls 12 reps
Tricep Pull down 12 reps

3 sets

I still feel I get a much better workout using kettlebells. But it is definitely nice to switch it up.

I wanted to use the 16kg no matter what!

Today I decided it's time to go a little heavier with some of the exercises. I haven't been posting my workouts, since there has not been any consistency with my training, due to various reasons.

Trying to go heavier without training much is not always the smartest thing. But I felt if I can keep my form for 1 rep then that is good enough for me today! So I was prepared to not even be able to do one

Here is my short training

A. Turkish Get Up 16kg 1 rep on each arm 4 set ( little wobbly at first but did it with success!)
Snatches 16kg 6 reps on each arm 4 sets

Total 8 TGU's and 48 Snatches. Took longer breaks, 2-4 minutes, so I can have perfect form each time.

B. Push ups on Bosu upside down 10 reps 3 sets
Pistol Holds (held for 5 seconds at the bottom and came up with 2 legs) 8kg 2 reps 3 sets


Morning weight was 111.2lb and 19.1% body fat. Still breastfeeding, so not sure how accurate the body fat scale is if I am walking around with lots of milk. I think it's time for me to do a caliper body fat or hydrostatic weighing.

Tomorrow's workout will be more isolation of muscle groups, due to the fact that I WANT to put some size on my body, meaning muscle mass. Will post the body building type workout tomorrow.

5 Months Today!

It's crazy how the pregnancy went so so slow! It felt like an eternity. And now that Lyla is born I can't believe it has actually been 5 months. It feels like yesterday So just wanted to show a couple pictures to show you my progress and my journey. First picture is me 2 weeks before I gave birth, I know I was extremely huge! Pretty embarrasing picture. Pic 2 is 1 month later, still sore from C-section. Pic 3 Two and half months postpartum. Pic 4 Today at 5 months, I am at least 6 pounds lighter from pic 3 to pic 4. Pic 5 is today doing a pistol. Have to admit I did not train at all for the pistols. If I wanted to be able to do more than one I would need to start training. So I guess my body just remembers after not doing them for a year.

Feeling Revived!

i have to admit, these past 2 weeks I have felt extremely lethargic and low energy. With what life has thrown my way, I have not been able to stick to my goals. This is the first time in years that I haven't followed through with my word. I understand life can get in the way and get you off track. The longer you wait to jump back on, the harder it may get. So finally I forced myself to make some time for me. This morning I went in my back yard and had one of the BEST workouts I have had in a long time. Because it had been weeks since I've been consistent in my training I was surprised that I had the strength to do this fun workout.

My weight for the past week has been 111 pounds and I'm still exclusively breastfeeding. The only thing I can say I have really been doing right, is eating super super clean. I never let myself go hungry and I'm snacking all the time! I haven't been this light for 8 years. So I thought for sure I wouldn't have the strength to even work with a bell heavier than the 12kg. So here it goes!

TURKISH GET UP 12 kg 2-3 on each side
DOUBLE FRONT SQUATS 2 12KG'S 5 reps (very surprised I could do this)
CLEAN AND PRESS 12KG'S 5 on each side
SWINGS 20KG 15reps

Completed 3 sets

JUMP ROPE 1 min
SNATCHES 12kg 1 min
SWINGS 20KG 30 sec

Completed 3 sets with 1 minute rest in between each exercise

After this short, but intense, workout I feel like something has awoken inside of me. I feel REVIVED!!!! I'm ready to start working on those pistols now! I am able to get one on my right leg, but I want both legs to feel easy like they use to.

A good start to a beautiful weekend here in Sunny San Diego!!!

Getting back on Track and new goals

We may finally have some answers with Ben. The doctor is now pointing the finger to Ulcerative Colitis. The only thing is the pain does not match up to this type of Inflammatory Bowel Disease, so there could be something more to it. The doctor even agrees, but said it's possible in some rare cases. For now he is off the pain meds and taking special anti-inflammatory medications for Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's. So we will just wait and see how that does. I am just happy that we are starting to get some answers. Still don't feel 100% satisfied, so time will only tell.


Now that things are going to be somewhat more stable, I can get back on track with my own training.
Yesterday I had a 15 minute time frame to do some training. So this is what I did.

Windmills 26lb 4 on each side
Single Leg Dead Lifts 2 26lb 8 on each side

It felt really good to do these. Almost like my body was craving these two exercises. I feel so much more balanced today.

Weighed in at 113 this morning. My new goal is to be able to do pistols again. I will give myself 3 weeks to get to this goal of at least one on each side holding an 8kg. I'll keep you posted!

Update

First I want to thank everyone for all their positive thoughts, prayers, phone calls, emails, and so on. I never realized how many people I have around me that would help me out in need. So thank you!

The good news is Ben is out of the hospital and home. He is still in pain but slowly recovering back to his old self. He has been on a liquid diet and will be moving to soft foods shortly. After almost 3 weeks of waiting patiently to get the results of the camera test, we find that the video camera NEVER left his stomach during the test. When I found this out my jaw dropped and could not believe it. Supposedly this happens to 15% of the people. I was angry because it took them 3 weeks to tell us this. He now has to redo the test in a week. This time instead of swallowing the camera they are going to place it passed his stomach so this does not happen again. So hopefully they will find some kind of answer for these horrible episodes. Poor guy has been through way too much!

Tomorrow we leave on a family trip that has been planned for 5 months. So I already scoped out the area to make sure there is a hospital near by. I am looking forward to this trip so I can have some time to relax. I've been running around like a mad woman with way too much stress. So this trip is in dire need for me.

On a positive note I have somehow been able to stick to my clean diet very very well this past month. I am now weighing in around 112 with a body fat of 20% (still high for me because of breastfeeding). I don't want to lose any more weight. This is actually pretty low for me. It's been tough getting the energy for my strength training with all that has been going on. So I may be losing a little bit of fat and muscle right now. Once everything settles down I will get a chance to really focus on packing some muscle back on my body. It has now been 4 months since I have had Lyla. I am very happy with my progress. I think it's safe to say that I feel better about myself now than I did right before I got pregnant. I will get my 4 month picture up real soon. I don't know if I will have internet access where I'm going, since we are staying at a Ranch.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day!

Life can be a nightmare!

LIfe has been one heck of a rollercoaster this past week. Ben had to be carried away in an ambulance and is now staying in the hospital. Still no word about the camera test results. I am so angry with the ambulance. They took 15 minutes longer to get to the hospital than I did. But that is a whole other story that I can go on with. IDIOTS is all I can say. We are also only 5 minutes away from the hospital. The stupid driver got lost! AND on top of that when I got to the emergency room the people at the front had no idea that my husband was even coming in. They said, "Are you sure they are taking him to THIS hospital?" I was about to collapse from being so upset. And on top of that having to rush out of the house to kiss my baby g'bye in a panic. Thank god Ben's cousin lives right around the corner and was able to come over immediately.

I will write on this more later. I am going to go back in to the hospital now. Once things settle down I will continue to blog. But as of now this is the deal!

My husband swallowed a VIDEO CAMERA!

Yesterday my husband swallowed a pill with an extremely small wireless video camera inside it. He had to wear a pack around him with wires that made him look like a bomber for 8 hours. This pack held a special tape to record from the wireless video camera passing through his body. Technology is absolutely amazing these days. Why did he do this you ask? Well the past 2 years I have had to rush him to the emergency room at random times due to EXTREME and unbearable abdominal pain. He has had every test done to figure out what is causing this pain. From blood work, CT scans, Endoscopic Ultrasounds, Endoscopies, Colonoscopy, you name it. Still no diagnosis! I have even tried taking out certain foods and still nothing has been consistent of why this happens. How frustrating can this be?

It all started almost 2 years ago when we took a family trip to Hawaii. His entire family got sick towards the end of the trip one by one with vomiting and diarrhea. Fortunately I did not get it. Everyone got well within a day or two except for my husband. He ended up in the hospital for almost 3 weeks with a diagnosis of Pancreatitis from one blood test. After that, the blood tests remained normal throughout the 3 week stay, but the pain was still there. He had to be on extreme narcotics injected in him every 2 hours. Stronger than Morhpine! Getting out of the hospital is a whole other story that starts bringing tears to my eyes. Just want to touch on the subject on how angry I am at the doctors and pain management people for not even tapering off his narcotics and sending him home cold turkey. If anyone understands what I am trying to say here, I am sure you have an idea of what he had to deal with after that. Anyways, to make a long story short, life has been quite a rollercoaster since the trip to Hawaii. I have such a hard time seeing him in pain when this happens. He went almost 5 months with no pain and last week he was in the ER twice.

The point of me discussing this post is for two reasons. First reason, if anyone has any suggestions or knows someone who has been through this type of nightmare sudden pain, please share with me. If the specialists (which are supposedly the best) do not find anything with this amazing test, we will be going the holistic route. Second reason, This has taught me not to sweat the small stuff. I now find myself being much more laid back about things that normally would make me very upset. A good day for me is watching my husband having a pain free day. Seeing a smile on my daughters face while my husband holds her lights up his world. So of course my heart melts. Going through trauma has only made me stop and appreciate the beauty that life does have to offer.

Breastfeeding or low body fat?? hmmmmm

I have been flucuating on my body fat scale this past week. Getting a bit frustrated, I have been averaging about a 21.6% body fat. I consider this way to high for my own personal standards. My weight of 115 is great, but the body fat is telling me I need to start working a bit harder. BUT I have a big question running in my mind. Does breastfeeding hold on to that last bit of fat I am trying to shed? I am fitting in to all my pre pregnancy clothes but I want my super lean look back!

Most people say breastfeeding helps you lose weight. Which initially I agree with. I am definitely not trying to make excuses, but I think nursing causes you to hold on to a certain amount of fat. Back in the days in order for the baby to survive when the food was scarce, I believe the mother was designed to hold on to a certain amount of fat, to make sure milk could still be produced for the survival of the baby. I have spoken to many many women who breastfed and said they dropped about 5-7 pounds after they weaned their child. So what do I care about more? My lean physique or my baby getting the healthiest nutrition a mother can give?

The answer to that question is easy. I choose my babies healthy nutrition. The benefits of nursing are so incredibly wonderful it would be selfish for me to choose my body over the health of my baby. I am most certainly not bashing those women who have chosen to formula feed from the beginning. It is obviously not for everyone and some women have to go back to work full time. The milk would stop coming as soon as the mom is away from the baby for too long. I am actually a formula fed baby myself, and turned out just fine. I have become a purest over the years and feel overjoyed I can give my healthy milk to my little girl. Knowing every thing I eat and drink goes right to her through my milk makes me that much more cautious of what I put in my body. It's just so amazing how a little being can solely live off just MY milk. I am also very fortunate to have a work schedule that allows me to feed her when needed.

With that being said I have decided to change my goals. I plan on breastfeeding as long as I feel the need to do so. Could be 6 months, 1 year, or even 2. Being a mommy is such a learning experience and I will not know until I reach the day it's time to wean her. I will continue to work out hard and eat super clean. I may drop 1 or 2% body fat but will not restrict myself until the time is right. My new goal is pure strength. Getting stronger and building dense lean muscle will be my focus. I will have to tell myself not to stress over my body fat. Which I admit will be difficult for me to that. I just know I have to keep on doing what I am doing and look at my baby and know it's all worth it!

Should personal trainers have trainers??

Absolutely!

No matter how great of a trainer you are you can always learn from having a trainer yourself. If you are in the training business, you will know it is hard to find the time and motivation to train yourself after training people all day long. Even if you just get 2 or 3 sessions here and there from a respectable trainer it will drive your motivation back up and help you revamp your own training.

After I had my baby I luckily was able to lose all my weight by 6 weeks with plain old nutrition. After I got the clearance to start working out at 6 weeks I slowly started working out again. It was very humbling going in to a gym and lifting 50% of what I use to lift. My goal was to put some muscle back on and get my strength back. I managed to gain a little strength back but I wanted something more. It was hard to juggle my time with my daughter and working again. I needed an appointment with someone and did not want to think for once. So after some thought I decided to get a trainer for myself. I wish it could be permanent, but 10 sessions is all we can afford for the time being. I contacted my friends Franz and Yoana at Revolution. Luckily Yoana was able to take me in for some sessions. It is very hard to find good trainers that think outside the box and train with kettlebells. So the half hour drive each way is well worth it for me. I am really enjoying the several sessions we have had.

The point of this post is you can never learn enough. No matter how great of a trainer you are or kettlebell instructor, you can always learn a thing or two from somebody else. There are some trainers I know (I won't mention who) that have quite an ego and would NEVER consider hiring a trainer for themselves. One of them came up to me and asked me, You have a trainer?? Why?" I tried to answer him but he didn't quite understand. I find those individuals very close minded and have ego's a little too big for themselves. A good intructor to me, is someone who is always thinking outside the box and open to new types of training techniques. I think all trainers should have the opportunity to have a trainer!

Working Out with Friends

This morning I decided to invite a couple friends over to do a little workout in my backyard. Some of them have been asking me to show them how to do kettlebells so I though this would be fun. It was 6 of us total and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I had some good music going and the sun came out for a little while. Since I was lacking equipment I put together a circuit for 6 and everyone was winded by the end. Most of the group was new to kettlebells so I kept it as simple as possible

Warmed up with Good Mornings and Light Swings

1 minute on 1 minute off 3 sets in this order

Kettlebell Tricep Push-ups
Medicine Ball Twists
No handed TGU's
Clean and Squat
Skateboard Back Lunges (Yoana Snideman taught me these) They are AMAZING!!
Swings

Stretched

Sharing an activity with your spouse

It's been 2 and a 1/2 months now since I have had my baby. Now that I am feeling myself again I felt the need to share an activity with my husband other than watching tv, eating, and taking care of our baby. We took walks together with the stroller, but that got old pretty fast. Since my husband prefers sports I had to think of something we can do together. I don't think he would have much fun if we played basketball together, since he is really good. So I have convinced my husband to start playing tennis with me. Neither of us are very good, but it's something that the two of us can share together. And when we travel it's something you can do all over the world.

I don't know how many times I hear complaints from different people that they don't do any activities with their spouse or significant other, except eat and watch tv. I feel every relationship should try and share something together that they can do outside. Since my husband and I have such different interests when it comes to activities, we have finally found something we can do together.

I can't tell you how perfect is has been to start this. Our neighborhood has a tennis court walking distance from us. We are able to stroll Lyla over to the tennis court. She either sleeps in her stroller or stares at her little toys hanging from the top. When she starts getting fussy we know it's time to end the game. Tennis has now taken the place of my cardio. I have never been one to enjoy being on a machine at a gym, when you can be outside playing a game. I feel I get just as good of a workout and having fun too!

So for those who hate cardio, I recommend finding something you love to do that happens to be active. You wont even realize that you are working out!

3/5 Workout

My workouts have been pretty sporadic these past couple days. That is why I have not been posting. Here is my short workout I did today. Very simple but my shoulders were shaking at the end.

All done with 26 pounder kettlebells

Suitcase Deadlift 12 x 3
KB Push Ups 10 x 3 (barely made it to 10)
Snatches 10 on each side x 3 (feeling the forearms swell)

Rest and repeated 3 times. Pretty tired after that but I managed to get through this next sequence. Baby started crying towards the end so I did not get a chance to do more.

Squat and Press 5 on each side x 3
Swings 20 x 3

Now I can empathize with my clients about how the forearms get a bit tender. I guess I am just not use to having the kettlebell rest on my arm like that. I remember I built up a little tolerance several years ago. So I guess I have to do that again. Even though I felt my form was better than average. I do feel stronger. I can now use the 12kg with most of the exercises which feels good!

My weight has been bouncing between 116-118 depending on if I just breastfed or how much water I have in my body.

Today I did a workout with my friend Carolyn outside in front of her house. She has become so strong over this past year. She was doing snatches with the 20kg. I was very impressed. Of course I stuck with my 8kg throughout the workout, except for the Renegade Rows. But I did it with a smile. 8-)

Here is the workout

Warm Up
Sling shot both directions 1 minute
Two Handed Swings 1 minute

1.
Push Ups on Kettlebells 4 seconds down on the negative 4 times
Swing, Catch, Squats 10 times
3 SETS

2.
5 presses to 5 back lunges on each side
Renegade Rows 3 times
Burpees 1 minute ( only made it for 45 seconds)
3 SETS

3.
Alternating Snatches for 1 minute
Janda Sit-Ups

2 months postpartum. Kettlebells after pregnancy

Today is Lyla's 2 month birthday. I can't believe it has already been 2 months. She is getting so big.
I'm even starting to feel like a real person again. Here is my quick workout that I did today.

KB Push-ups 6 x 3
Lat Pull down 60lb 8 x 3
Single Front Squat 26lb 5 x 3 each side

1 minute rest at the end and repeated 3 times

Hanging Leg Raises 15 x 2
Windmill 26lb 2 x 2
Waiter Walk 26lb 30sec x 2

Repeated 2 times

Plank Hold 60 seconds (core was already tired from hanging leg raises, so barely made it for this one)

Stretched

Kettlebell workout and watching baby after pregnancy

Well I managed to get a workout in while my baby sat peacefully in her chair. It was amazing. I am so happy she is letting me put her down a bit more without crying. And i actually got 6 hours of sleep last night. What a record. She probably thinks her mom is crazy swinging this weird thing around. So lucky to have found kettlebells. I don't know what I would do without them.

Went through the sequence without stopping and rested after the last exercise for about a minute. I repeated 3 times for each sequence.

1. Turkish Get Up 18lb 2 reps each side
Clean & Press 18lb 6 reps each side
Alt Tactical Lunge 18lb 10 reps on each side

2. Renegade Rows 26lb Alternating 5 on each side
2 Handed Swings 26lb 20 reps
Snatches 18lb 10 reps each side (first time doing this since having baby)

I feel pretty good. This was pretty challenging for me. Turkish get ups are starting to feel better. Renegade Rows are still challenging because I can some times feel the inner stitching under my abs. (maybe it's all in my head) Just afraid to work that area too hard yet.

Eating Clean

I have been much more strict with my eating this week. I already notice a huge difference in how I feel. Some of my staple snacks are green apples and almond butter, grass fed whey protein shake w/ flaxseed oil, hardboiled eggs, and raw nuts. Trying to eliminate simple sugars all together. It can be very tough when you are always hungry and constantly snacking. While breastfeeding you also tend to feel that you never have enough food. I've really been able to track my eating very well with this great online nutrition tracker. It's free to use and very helpful. Thedailyplate.com is what I've been using. I know there are others out there but this one seems to track the foods the easiest with a good amount of detail.

My workout yesterday for 3/19 was raised up a couple notches. Already feeling like my strength is coming back.
Every thing below were Supersets. I am feeling a bit sore in my legs and upper back. Nothing too bad.

1.Leg Press 90lb 10 x 3
Calfs on leg Press 90lb 20 x 3

2. Leg Extensions 50lb 10 x 3
Laying down Leg Curls 25lb 10 x 3 (i have always hated this exercise)

3. Assisted Pull Ups -75lb 8 x 3 (used to be able to do 3-5 pull ups with no assistance right before the pregnancy)
Chest Flys 15lb 10 x 3

4. Bicep Curls 15lb 10 x 3
Tricep Pull down 30lb 10 x 3

5. Military Press 15lb 8 x 2
Crunches on Decline 10 x 2

6. Back Extensions 15 x 2
Plank Hold 60sec x 1 30 sec x 1

Pretty zapped after this workout so did not have the energy for any type of cardio. Only got about 4 hours of sleep because of baby. Since I skipped today all together with working out I am hoping to get a nice kettlebell workout in tomorrow.

Sunday's workout

Thought I would try to step it up and use the 25 pounder for some of the exercises. I was surprised that I actually was able to do it for some of them. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. As of now I feel good.

1.
Turkish Get UP's with an 18lber 3 x 2
Squat to Press with 25lber 5 L and 5 R x 2

2. All with 25lb

Kettlebell Push Ups 5 x 2
Renegade Rows 3 x 2 (felt the area of my C-section so kept the reps low)
Swings 30 x 2

3.
Brisk walk up and down hills with stroller for 30 minutes

Quick Workout yet effective

Today I did a nice little kettlebell workout in my backyard. It felt really good to get back in to it. I was very shakey because it has been so long. Keeping it short was best for me so I can work on keeping good form without getting too fatigued. Right now just trying to focus on getting my basic strength back. I repeated each sequence twice.

Windmill 18lb 3
TGU 18lb 2 (challenging, use to be able to do it with 35lb kettlebell)
Double Suitcase
Deadlift 2 26lb 10


Kettlebell Push-ups 5
Swings 18lb 20
Single Front Squat 18lb 5L and 5R

Walked 2 miles with the stroller up and down hills.

Workout 2

Since this is only my second weight lifting workout it is very similar to Saturday's workout. My abs were a little bit sore from my snowboard session, but otherwise I felt wonderful. I plan on doing kettlebells for tomorrow's workout.

1.
Leg Press 50lb 12x3
Assisted Pull Up -90 10x2
2.
Leg Extension 35lb 10x2
Leg Curls 40lb 10x2
3.
Tricep Pull Down 30lb 10 x 3
Bicep Curls 12.5 10 x 3
4.
Windmills 18lb 3x2
Flys 12.5lb 10x2
5.
Back Extension 5lb 15 x 2
Ball Crunches 15 x 2
Plank 60 second hold

I did not take any rest in between sets except to drink water. I finished the workout with a slow paced jog for 1 mile and stretching.

Snowboarding at last

I decided since it was okay by my doctor to exercise why not try and get a day of snowboarding in. Being in San Diego I am very lucky. I am only a 2.5 hour drive to the local mountains. It was sunny, hot, and absolutely beautiful in Big Bear. Not much snow, but I just wanted to test my body to see how I did. I have to say it felt absolutely amazing to be snowboarding again. I even tried hititng some jumps in the snowboard park. I only went for 2 hours because it's hard to be away from my little girl for more than a certain amount of time at this stage.

First Workout since giving birth

It's been about 6 weeks since giving birth to my little girl via C-section. I have just got clearance to start lifting weights. As excited as I am to get back in to the gym I know I have a long long LONG way ahead of me. Before I got pregnant I was relatively strong for my size. I was able to easily press and squat two 25 pound kettlebells at the same time. I was also able to do pistols (one legged squats), pull-ups, and swing heavy kettlebells. After 9 months of being pregnant, 6 weeks of recovering from a C-section, and little to no sleep I am very deconditioned. I tried pressing an 18 pound kettlebell and my shoulder was actually shakey. Before I got pregnant I could press that weight in my sleep and hold it over my head for many minutes. So that is just one example of where I am starting from. I decided because I have lost so much strength, muscle, and mobility to start back with a variety of traditional weights, machines,kettlebells, and snowboarding. This workout below is all based on machines and light weights. I did roughly 2 sets of everything below. First workout back mentally felt very good to know that I was finally doing something. I wanted to go crazy with it, but the last thing I want is to be so sore or hurt myself that I can't workout for another week. So here is my humble and light workout.


A
Leg Press 50lb x 12
Assisted Pull up -90lb x 10
Cable Flys 15lb x 10

B
Leg Ext 30lb x 10
Leg Curls 35lb x 10

C
Bicep Curls 10lb x 10
Tricep Pull down 25lb x 10
Military Press 12.5lb x 10

D
Back Ext 0lb x 12
Plank 60 sec