How To Safely Labor Your Way to Fitness

I thought this photo was appropriate for my Labor Day today. I just went to visit a friend in the hospital yesterday that was having a hard time breathing due to too much fat on his body. His heart can’t handle his fat levels. His diagnosis so far is a fatty liver, fatty gall bladder and fatty blood!

I didn’t even know fatty blood was possible. When his blood was drawn, it hardened which means he can have a huge blood clot at any time and die. The real interesting thing is that he is only 20 years old! He is a son of one of my very good friends. He was a football player in high school but now that he is not playing, he isn’t very physically active anymore.

His doctor said If he doesn’t change his diet immediately, he will not live very long. Talk about a serious wake up call! I read over the nutrition plan that he was given and was very excited to learn that our family has been eating much of what was on the nutrition plan. It feels good to know that although we never know when our time will come, that at least we are doing our best to take care of our health.

The hospital visit also motivated me to get back on my exercise plan and get started with my last fitness challenge of the year. It’s been so exciting to lose so many inches this past year and watch my body transform back into the fit athlete body that I’ve had before my kids were born.

Be sure to safely labor your way to fitness by reviewing your fitness plan over the past year. What do you need to change? What do you want to do differently into the new year? Take this labor day to reflect on what you can do for the next 3 months and into the new year. Happy Labor Day!

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama
Club FYM
Quick Mom Workouts
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My 2nd Fitness Challenge Results

I had several challenges with my 2nd Fitness Challenge of the year. I had an injury about mid way through the challenge called costochondritis. My injury set me back about 2 weeks but I believe in the 80-20 rule where those 2 weeks would not ruin my end results if 80% of the time I’m doing well with my fitness plan.

Summer time was another challenge for me as we were taking more trips and making sure that I kept to my nutrition plan. I did well with my eating at Disneyland. The security guards didn’t take out my almonds and dry roasted edadame! It worked out great to munch on these as we stood in line for rides.

I have noticed that I need to push myself more during my workouts. I’m getting stronger and my body is getting used to working out 6 days a week. I’m still continuously working on my nutrition. I plan to start the Elimination Diet but I’m not there mentally yet but it’s a goal of mine.

Here is an awesome quote that describes how to push through despite obstacles that I turned to often during this challenge:

“Life’s up and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals – Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want” Marsha Sinetar

My goals for my fitness challenges have been to lose my belly fat, trim my thighs and get more muscle tone back to my arms. My main goal hasn’t been to lose weight but if it happens that’s ok. I am very happy with my body image. I just need a tune up in the above mentioned areas.

I’m very happy to say that although my stats don’t really show much change, I am now able to fit into my favorite pair of capri’s that I couldn’t even pull up 2 months ago. So with that, here are my Summer Transformation Challenge Results…

27-Mar-09			24-Jul-09
AGE:	35		AGE:	36
HEIGHT:	5′10″		HEIGHT:	5′10″
WEIGHT:	186 lbs		WEIGHT:	187 lbs	+1
SIZE:	10		SIZE:	10	-0
Belly:	32 in		Belly:	31	-1
HIPS:	39 in		HIPS:	39	-0
BUST:	36 in		BUST:	36	-0
ARMS:	11 in each		ARMS:	11 in each	-0
THIGHS:	22 in each		THIGHS:	21 in each	-2

Gain of 1 pound muscle and loss of 3 inches!

I will be taking a 2 to 3 week break and will start another fitness challenge to close out the year.

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama
Club FYM
Quick Mom Workouts
Subscribe to My Blog via Email

My Summer Fitness Challenge Week 6 of 12

Wow! It is hard to believe that I am half way through my 2nd fitness challenge of the year. I hate to report that I have encountered my 1st injury in my life. I have been an athlete since 5 years old and I haven’t had any injuries until now. I didn’t even sustain this injury while working out or playing a sport. However, I blame it on OLD AGE!

I had a sharp pain in my chest after I reached in a diagonal direction for a pen. Is that ridiculous or what? The injury occurred 1 day before my 30-*something* birthday and I blame it on early preparation for my 40’s. Sure, I wish I could blame it on my super buff workouts, but honestly if a weight is too heavy for me, I quickly put it down and use what is just right to feel a burn without over-exerting myself.

Here is my official diagnosis:
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Costochondritis is an inflammation of the cartilage that connects a rib to the breastbone (sternum). It causes sharp pain in the costosternal joint – where your ribs and breastbone are joined by rubbery cartilage. Pain caused by costochondritis may mimic that of a heart attack or other heart conditions.

Your doctor might refer to costochondritis by other names, including chest wall pain, costosternal syndrome and costosternal chondrodynia. When the pain of costochondritis is accompanied by swelling, it’s referred to as Tietze syndrome.

Most cases of costochondritis have no apparent cause. In these cases, treatment focuses on easing your pain while you wait for costochondritis to resolve on its own.

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The crazy thing is that I’ve talked to about 5 different people that have been diagnosed with this and there are different recovery time frames. My doctor said 2-3 weeks but most of my friends said 6 months and/or 18 months! Most of them said the anti-inflammatory meds didn’t work for them.

I did home physical therapy that included taking deep breaths with my mouth closed and breathing through my nose. This helps to heal the area. Another exercise that helps to ease the pain is to clasp your hands together behind your back and lift your arms up and down. These exercises along with the anti-inflammatory meds helped me to get back on track after about 2 weeks.

Thankfully those meds are helping me and I don’t feel that much pain. I took 1 week off from my workouts which was hard to do since I have been making so much progress. I was bummed that my chest hurt a bit after doing a light workout. Doesn’t my rib area know that I’m in a fitness challenge? Ha!

Oh well. I will listen to my body and see where these next 6 weeks take me. At least I don’t feel myself filling out my jeans which is always my 1st indicator to weight gain. I haven’t stepped on a scale in 6 weeks! I will probably do a weigh in this Friday just to see where I stand. These are just the ups and downs of life and I have to learn to adjust to obstacles. I feel a quote is appropriate to end this post.

“Life’s up and downs provide windows of opportunity to determine your values and goals – Think of using all obstacles as stepping stones to build the life you want” Marsha Sinetar

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama
QuickMomWorkouts
Club FYM

Cookie Johnson New Designer Jeans Line CJ

I hope everyone enjoyed their Mother’s Day weekend. I had a great time being a model for Cookie Johnson’s new premium denim line, CJ. I was modeling the different styles of jeans for my husband . My husband wanted to meet Magic Johnson as he attends a lot of Cookie’s events, however he was at an ESPN event this particular weekend.

It was great meeting Cookie and MC Lyte who was the DJ at the event and spending time with one of my best friends from college, Dana, who is Cookie’s public relations executive.

I love her line of jeans! They fit every curve and made all of my fitness efforts all worth it. It was great to be able to fit into skinny jeans and see the drastic difference between now and 3 months ago. It made me that much more motivated for my current fitness challenge. It’s not hard to be motivated to get in 15 minutes of exercise since it brings me such incredible results. You can buy her CJ Jeans at Nordstroms, Nieman Marcus and Bloomingdales.

I was upset that I had charged batteries for my digital camera but when I got there, they didn’t work! I don’t know what was up with that. My friend Dana had a camera phone but the darn pictures turned out so blurry. That was disappointing but I’ll post this picture of us anyway. When I resized the pictures, the quality wasn’t too bad. Did I mention that I was a size 14 and now I am in size 10? Yahoo!

My kids made me great gifts and we enjoyed yummy BBQ the whole weekend. We all had a great time and I hope your time was just as enjoyable. We,as moms, do so much to take care of our families and you deserve the best!

Here are a few pictures of Cookie Johnson’s line of jeans. I noticed that the style of jeans that I really like (my 2nd picture above) is not on the Nordstrom website. I tried on each style and that pair is not listed.

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama
QuickMomWorkouts
Club FYM

Summer Fitness Challenge May 1st – Join Me!

Are you ready to lose your belly fat, your muffin top, tone your arms and slim down those jiggly thighs? I have been losing so many inches in only 15 minutes a day! I’m so excited about it that I’m shouting it out from the roof tops! JOIN ME in my next summer fitness challenge!! These targeted and specific exercises are bringing drastic results all over the world. As part of the challenge, here is what you get for a $4.95 trial:

20 week exercise plan with pictures & explanations – targeted to sculpt the main mommy trouble spots such as losing your belly fat, losing your muffin top, toning your arms and slimming those jiggly thighs. You will also receive 10 others bonues that include recipes, cellulite tips, new mom workouts, etc.

6 Live Training Coaching Calls from a certified personal trainer Holly Rigsby. This alone is incredible to have a personal trainer at this great $4.95 trial offer. The cost for a personal fitness trainer far exceeds this great price. I have priced out several fitness trainers at my local gym and I’m elated that I’m saving $300 / month.

Online Menu Planner from Nutrition For Results is normally $120 / year but with the summer challenge you will have FREE access that customizes your meal plans for you. You can choose from various built in meal plans or create your own plan that stays within your calorie range. I love that it shows me which foods that I need to add to my diet to make my nutrition more well balanced which enhances my weight loss efforts.

Club FYM Online Support Group one of the biggest complaint from people is staying motivated and encouraged. Holly has done a great job of keeping us motivated, energized and encouraged by having a great online support system with opportunities for real live events which just occurred over this past weekend. Club FYM is a great place to meet other women with similar fitness goals.

Steps to Join the Challenge:

1. Get Exercise Plan $4.95 trial offer, $35.00 21 days later (non-recurring, 1 time charge)

2. Sign up with Club FYM

3. Sign up for the Summer Challenge on Club FYM

4. Have fun with the Summer Fitness Challenge!

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama
QuickMomWorkouts
Club FYM

YOU can VOTE for the Fit Yummy Mummy Finalists!

Although I was not chosen as a finalist in my recent fitness challenge, I want to pump up all my friends that made the top 10! I think it is awesome that Holly is allowing anyone to vote in this contest. It allows so many others to see AMAZING results and pictures beat a thousand words! Her product speaks for itself.

Here is a quick summary:

Vote For Your Favorite Fit Yummy Mummy!

There were 350+ women that joined the New Year’s Transformation Challenge and after a very difficult decision process, the top 10 finalists have been chosen!

Now YOU get to have a say as you take place in voting for who will take home the Grand Prize for the Yummy-est Results!

Warning: This will not be easy…there are a total of 10 finalists. All with amazing before and after pictures and some powerful testimonials to go along with them.

Voting begins NOW and will run until Sunday, April 19th at midnight.

Winners will be announced on Monday, April 20th.

Leave a comment as to who you voted for! I voted for Annik!! You go girl! Your pictures are incredible!

VOTE HERE

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama

5 Fitness Tips For Fast Results

I must be addicted to challenges! I just finished a 12 week fitness challenge and will be joining another one on May 1st. I plan to be in a fitness challenge for the rest of this year. I also joined a 31 day blog challenge to improve my blogs with problogger.com. I’m on day 2 of 31 and I love what I’m learning.

This post is my assignment for today’s blog challenge. This is a list of the most successful factors that have attributed to my 15 lb weight loss and 12 inches in the past 5 months without lotions, potions or diet pills. These great stats have come as a result of working out only 15 minutes six days / week. This is the reason my blog’s focus is based on fat loss tips for busy moms and dads.

5 Fitness Tips For Fast Results

1. Changed my workout every 4 weeks
2. Online Nutrition Planner
3. Club FYM support forum
4. Resistance & Interval Training
5. Eating every 3-4 hours

If you are not real sure what resistance and interval training are about, you can learn more about it at my interval training post. Resistance training is basically the weight lifting aspect of the workout which I love to do both workouts in the comfort of my own home. Be sure to subscribe to my blog and keep up with me as I’m sure by the end of this year, I will have six pack abs!

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama

My 12 Week Fitness Challenge Final Results

I just completed my first 12 week fitness challenge. This is the first time that I used an online nutrition planner which was really awesome! It allowed me to see if I reached my daily goal for all of my nutrients. It also allowed me to see which foods that I normally eat are really good or bad for me. It is still amazing to me that due to my current height, weight, age and activity level that I need to consume between 2000 to 2200 calories / day just to lose weight! There are so many people that aren’t even eating enough calories let alone eating the right things.

I want to share the most important thing that I learned during this time. Our bodies are very similar to our relationships with our spouses and our children. We need to find their love language to communicate effectively with them. We also need to find our love language for our bodies. I’ve been tweaking my diet and fitness plans for years and still learning new things about MY body. It takes time to learn to work with our hubbies and kids and that changes over time just like our bodies change over time. What you did 3 years ago might not work for your body today.

I see fitness as a journey to learn my body even though I may not get the right answers for some time but each and every physical body is so different. I can’t base my success or my journey on everyone else’s flat belly results. What I can do is go that extra mile, like try the elimination diet to see which foods have the most negative effect on my body.  You have to figure out YOUR body’s love language to be most effective in your weight loss efforts.

I have also embraced that the scale doesn’t tell the whole story. I’ve lost so many inches and gone down 2 dress sizes but I tend to gain muscle really fast. This muscle gain really shows on the scale. I have seen great results but this is just the beginning. I can’t wait to see my flat belly results by the end of this year since I have found the best fitness plan for this target area.

I have had the busiest year of my life but yet have found the most amount of energy due to focusing on my fitness and health goals. It’s been fun to watch my kids exercise with me and ask me why I’m doing so many exercises.  This is instilling a great value in their lives just as we give them other moral values. Ok on to my initial and final stats!

3-Jan-09			27-Mar-09
AGE:	35		AGE:	35
HEIGHT:	5′10″		HEIGHT:	5′10″
WEIGHT:	188 lbs		WEIGHT:	186 lbs	-2
SIZE:	14		SIZE:	10	-2
Belly:	36 in		Belly:	32	-4
HIPS:	41 in		HIPS:	39	-2
BUST:	38 in		BUST:	36	-2
ARMS:	12 in each		ARMS:	11 in each	-2
THIGHS:	23 in each		THIGHS:	22 in each	-2

Total Loss -2 lbs -12 inches!

These were my goals back in January:

My Goals: To get rid of my belly fat (YUCK!). I used to have a perfect flat belly before kids and I want it back. My arms and thighs used to be very toned (even with kids) so I want my toned, chiseled arms and thighs back. It’s hard to say what that weight loss goal is but I will keep at it until I reach my flat belly and toned arms and thighs. I see the most progress (2 months on my own and 1 month with FYM) on my back and the back of my thighs. I used to have 3 rolls of fat on my back and a lot more cellulite on my thighs. I don’t know what I’m doing to get the most progress in those areas but I want some progress in my BELLY!!! LOL

I initially started my weight loss journey in March 2008 and I started out at 200 lbs. As you can see, I started to lose the most amount of weight in the beginning and the most amount of inches during my fitness challenge. The loss of 2 lbs in 12 weeks was actually a fluctuation throughout the entire time.

I had a hard time consistently intaking the high amount of calories that I needed on a daily basis. I am more encouraged that I actually met my goals which wasn’t based on the scale. I lost 4 inches in my belly! WOOHOO! This is an incredible start to an even greater journey. My arm definition is coming back, my thighs have slimmed down and are in now in a position to develop muscle definition again.  I plan to take a 2 week break (my body does better with weight loss after breaks) and jump right back into another 12 week challenge!

I also have to add that I have seen more results with my belly fat in 3 months with Quick Mom Workouts than my 3 years with Curves! These results also stem from working out less time with only 15 minutes a day for 6 days/week! Here are the key factors that I believe are the reasons:

1. Change of my workout every 4 weeks
2. Online Nutrition Planner with FYM
3. Club FYM support forum
4. Interval Training
5. Eating every 3-4 hours

Go for your weight loss goals and I’ll report back the awesome results from my next fitness challenge!

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama

My Fitness Challenge Update Week 8 of 12!

It’s hard to believe that I only have 4 weeks left of my fitness challenge! I am already looking forward to the next 12 week challenge. The progressive workouts are kicking my butt..but in a good way. I’m so pumped to see my muscle definition coming back in my arms.

I have had no problem losing inches, (YAY!) but I’ve noticed that I’m still not eating enough daily to continue losing the pounds. I’ve been slacking lately on my meal planning. I’ve got 4 weeks to get back on track with that.

Quick Mom Workouts has a great nutritional online planner that I have access to for 1 year which is a great benefit of the challenge. It tells you which nutritional elements that you are lacking and what foods that you can add to your diet to meet those needs. It’s been a great tool for me to stay on track.

Here are my latest stats for the past month:

I am 5′10″ tall and during the challenge I’ve fluctuated between 188 and 186 lbs but I was 198 pounds before the challenge. I’ve been losing inches like crazy though which is awesome!! I’ve lost 1 dress size from a size 14 to a size 12.

Lost 1 inch in both arms
Lost 1 inch in both thighs
Lost 1 inch in my hips
Lost 1 inch in my waist
Lost 1 inch from my belly

For an awesome total loss of 7 inches! My pants are falling off and I’m loving it! I don’t know if I’m brave enough to post my before and after pics here on my blog so send me some encouraging comments that will build up my courage for the next 4 weeks! I’m off to do a workout…

Naomi Trower AKA
FatLossMama