How To Feel Comfortable With Your Body And Enjoy Your Life

Jennifer Ledford - Hawaii Vacation - Be Comfortable With Your Body Enjoy Your Life - Broken FootLast week my husband and I joined some of our close family for an amazing beach vacation in Kauai.  I have never been to Hawaii and it was such a special treat!

Some of you know that I broke my foot back in September.  It’s not completely healed and I’m still wearing a boot, which means I haven’t been able to exercise the way I normally do for several weeks.  I’m also pasty white right now because I didn’t hang out in the sun as much as I normally do this time of year.   I decided a spray tan was out due to the fact that I can’t stand very long on my broken foot without the boot.  The tan is  not worth interrupting the healing process.

Did the fact that I was a bit less toned and neon white mean I was going to hide under a cover up?  Heck no!  It’s Hawaii and I like to wear bikinis.  I also stopped caring what other people think about my body a long time ago.  If someone is shallow and doesn’t like my cellulite then they don’t have to look at it.  I’m not wearing my bathing suit for them.  I’m wearing it so I can play on the beach, get some sun on my body, and create fun memories.  Plain and simple.

One of the reasons a person will hire a personal trainer is to help them get ready for a special event or trip.  Beach vacations tend to be some of the most common trips that motivate people to want to lose weight.  For many people getting into a bathing suit and heading out to the beach can stir up all kinds of comparison and body shaming.  If they don’t look like a fitness or swimsuit model the client feels they shouldn’t get in a suit.   Or, if they do decide to put on a suit they believe they should  cover it up with other clothing.

The reality is most of us DON’T look like traditional swimsuit models, myself included.  I’m not willing to deprive and torture myself to get anywhere close to looking like most swimsuit models.  That’s just not my natural body type.  I have to do things that are physically and mentally unhealthy for me to get even close and I’m not willing to treat myself that way.

Losing weight for a trip can be a slippery slope that can lead to unhealthy restrictive dieting that is unsustainable and will only harm you in the long run.  Dieting robs you of your joy and keeps you from living in the present.  When we restrict ourselves in hopes of obtaining the “perfect” body that we think is accepted by society, we are setting ourselves up for potential failure.  Your body does not like to be deprived and restricted.  It will rebel against suffering and that is when binging can occur.

Treating Your Body Right

When you focus on eating plenty of food that you know is good for you and exercising for all of the right reasons, you will settle into your natural body weight and it will no longer be a struggle to maintain it.  However, I can honestly and personally share with you that if you continue to try to force something unnatural on your body, it becomes a prison.  Will the scale go up and down from time to time?  Sure it will.  That’s NORMAL.  It’s called life.

One of my favorite plus size models, Ashley Graham, shares this awesome insight on body image and self acceptance, “I felt free once I realized I was never going to fit the narrow mold that society wanted me to fit in.”  I totally agree with her because I felt the same freedom when I gave up on being a size too small and decided to focus on being the healthiest me I can be.

You don’t have to lose weight to put on a bathing suit or any other item of clothing.  Don’t ever allow the pressures of the diet culture  to cause you to miss out on having fun.  Be a rebel.  Love yourself no matter what size your bathing suit is.

And most importantly,  go out and LIVE!

Shared with love,
Jennifer

 

Lifting Light Weights Gains Big Results

ledford0716-7665 - Lifting Light Weights - Jennifer Ledford

Ever wonder if it’s worth your time to train with light weights?

From time to time I’ll get a raised eyebrow from a client when I hand them a one or two pound weight.  The look on their face says “What on earth are those tiny weights going to do for me?  Why bother?”   And then I get to explain the good news about weight training.

One of the key components to building muscle in the body is to work that particular group of muscles to fatigue.  For years trainers have helped clients build muscle by starting them off with light weight and higher reps with a goal in mind of moving the client up in weight as they progress.  Once a client is ready to move on to a heavier weight, the reps drop down and the load goes up. To this day, it’s still a formula that works.

But what about the clients that exercise regularly yet can’t comfortably lift that twenty five pound dumbbell?  I’ve had whiplash multiple times throughout my life and, as a result of the injuries,  lifting heavy weight repetitively can wreak havoc on my neck.  To prevent myself from being in pain after a workout, I use light weights when I’m strength training with dumbbells.  Fortunately, a recent study proves that I can still build muscle using the lighter weight.  All I have to do is a few extra reps.

Recent Study Finds Lifting Light Weights Gains Big Results

The twelve-week study showed that people who lifted lighter weights for more reps were able to obtain the same gains in muscle that the group who lifted the more traditional way of heavier weights and fewer reps did.  The fitness industry has known for a long time now that when you lift heavy weight, you recruit lots of big and small muscle fibers.  This new study shows us that when you lift light weight, you won’t recruit as many fibers in the beginning of the set but as you do more repetitions you recruit more and more muscle fibers.  With lighter weight, you’ll first recruit the small muscle fibers and then, as you begin to fatigue, you will compensate with the bigger ones.  This is fantastic news and when I think about the science behind weight training, it makes perfect sense.

Another very important discovery was that testosterone (the participants were men) and human growth hormone  flowed the same in the light weight high reps group as in the heavy weight lower reps group.  It all had to do with fatigue.  The reason this is such a big deal is because human growth hormone, produced in the pituitary gland in both men and women, is involved in building muscle and telling the body to burn fat. Keep in mind that building, repairing, and replacing muscle helps to slow the aging process.

I’ve been in the fitness industry for over twenty seven years and I’ve had the opportunity to work with people that have a significant amount of strength and others that are just getting started, are overcoming an injury, or who, for safety reasons, need to limit the amount of weight they train with.  The results of this study show us that we can all benefit tremendously from strength training no matter what weight we are able to tolerate.

HOW YOU CAN APPLY STUDY TO YOUR EXERCISE ROUTINE

I’m not suggesting you give up your heavy weights or challenging body weight exercises if they are working for you.  It’s important to note that strength is relative to the amount of weight you are lifting.  For example if you are training with five pound weights, you may not be ready to lift that fifty pound box by yourself.  What I am saying is that if you are someone who struggles with lifting heavy weights or it’s risky for your joints, you can lift lighter weights and gain big results from it.  Choose a weight that feels tolerable and shoot for 25 repetitions.  The final rep should feel like it’s an eight on a scale of one to ten.  Always check with your doctor before starting a new exercise routine.

The fitness industry is constantly evolving.  The news from these recent studies is a huge win for everyone that wants to build muscle.

Here’s to a happy and healthy muscle-building week!

With Love,
Jennifer

How Being Grateful Leads To Weight Loss And Much More

How Being Grateful Leads To Weight Loss And More - Jennifer Ledford - Certified Personal Trainer - ledford0716-8084

It’s no secret that good nutrition and exercise can help you maintain a healthy weight.  However, diet and exercise are only part of the equation.  There’s more to health and weight loss than simply eating well and taking a power walk.  Having a positive attitude is just as important  to your health and weight management as shopping in the produce section is.

One of the simplest ways to stay positive is to maintain an attitude of gratitude.   When we give thanks it does more  than just make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.  It can actually help reduce depression, improve your sleep, and cause you to be less critical of yourself and your body.

Research shows us that proper sleep, a healthy self image, and a healthy mindset can all lead to realistic weight loss that you can maintain long term. If you are critical of yourself or your circumstances, you end up working from a place of opposition.  The brain fights to be right so it’s very difficult to complain about something and have success in the same area.  It’s like trying to ride a bike against the wind.  You will struggle!

How To Stay Positive By Being Grateful

So, what are some ways to give thanks? Here are seven simple tips.

  • Start with three things per day.  Choose three things you are grateful for each morning like your family, your friends, your great job, the fact that you graduated from school, your awesome dog, or simply being able to get out of bed that day.  Make sure to announce them out loud no matter how simple they are.  Do your best to mix it up and name something new each day to help keep yourself present and avoid going on autopilot.
  • Include your body when giving thanks.  This one can be a toughie for some people.  Your body listens to what you say so it’s critical that you point out the things you are grateful for and love about it.  I’m forty six years old and there are things on me that jiggle but I can still find plenty of things about my body to be grateful for like my strong legs that help me walk my dogs or my great hair (thank you John Ryan at Festoon salon).  🙂
  • Keep the gratefulness going.  Be someone that looks on the bright side and finds the silver lining in every situation.  Grateful people focus on blessings, being fortunate, and abundance no matter what the circumstances.  Less grateful people focus on burdens and complaints.
  • Thank others.  When we focus on others, it feeds our soul in a healthy way.  Paying someone a specific compliment or thanking them can lift your spirits way higher than any cup of coffee ever will.  Don’t worry, I’m not even suggesting that you give up coffee. 🙂
  • Give praise.  Personally, I like to thank God every morning for another day.  I realize that not everyone has the same spiritual beliefs that I do and I want you to know that you are safe with me and always welcome on this page whether we have the same beliefs or not.  However if you do believe in God, I recommend starting your day with a big thank you to our Lord and Savior!
  • Help others.  One of the best ways to learn to appreciate your own life and/or circumstances is to be of service to someone else.  Everyone has to deal with “stuff” in their lives and when we serve someone else that is experiencing a challenge, we can almost always find something about our own life that we are super grateful for.
  • Stay consistent.  Make daily gratitude a  lifetime habit.  One of the best ways to counter a negative thought is to replace it with a positive thought.  Naming something you are grateful for is one of the best weapons against negative thoughts and can instantly change your outlook which almost always impacts your outcome.  Consider gratefulness a weapon that you use for good.  🙂

The Bottomline of Being Grateful

What you think and, even more importantly, what you say about your life, your body, and your circumstances, has extreme power.  Being grateful helps you maintain your health which in turn helps you to succeed in every area of your life.  That, my friend, is called balance.

Here’s to an attitude of gratitude!

Shared with much love,
Jennifer Ledford