Join us tomorrow, March 19th at 6:15pm!
Spring cleaning starts from within. We live in a toxic environment and are exposed to hundreds of toxins everyday. For this reason detoxing is a necessary part of keeping your body healthy and feeling it’s best. Did you know cravings, fatigue, cellulite, and digestive issues are all symptoms of a toxic body? Lets get rid of those winter blues and burst into spring cleansed and healthy.
Use our online form to sign up or call the studio at 303.993.7361!
Always wanted to try rock climbing? Now you can! QUICKfit members can enjoy a free day at the Spot Bouldering Gym! March 12, 7am-11pm
The Spot Bouldering Gym
3240 Prairie Ave.
Boulder, CO 80301
303.379.8806
This is a great way to check out a new sport and a fun way to crosstraining!
Questions? call us 303-993-7361
Is fat good or bad for you? This is a crucial question in our society where people think fat is the ENEMY! Your body actually needs lots of fat in order to thrive. Did you know that EVERY metabolic process in your body actually needs to tap into your fat stores in order to take place? It’s very important that you eat plenty of healthy fats. So what are the healthy fats? Avocado, vegetable oils, nuts, olives, coconut milk, fish…
You want to avoid unhealthy saturated fats like animal fats found in bacon, however eating plenty of healthy fat is a good way to lubricate your joints, keep your skin and hair healthy and youthful, and create a healthy store for your body to tap into for repair.
When your energy is low, do you go for carbohydrates? Did you know that one gram of fat actually contains twice the caloric energy for your body to use as a gram of carbohydrates, or even a gram of protein?!! Do you have a big ride, hike, or run coming up? Try eating a high (healthy) fat breakfast, and notice the sustained energy that this awesome fuel provides your body!
Another interesting fact is about leptin secretion. Leptin is the hormone that makes you feel satiated, or full. This hormone is only triggered when you have consumed enough healthy FAT. You will feel full sooner, energized longer, and supply your body with what it needs to repair itself and thrive.
Fat is NOT the enemy! In fact, it’s an important ally – however, you have to be aware what kinds of fat are healthy and what kinds of fat are UNHEALTHY. Remember: Avocado, vegetable oils, nuts, olives, coconut milk, fish…and many more!
Summer is a rough time of year for me and I’m guessing for dieters everywhere. It’s wedding season (which for someone in the wedding industry, like me, that means cake every Saturday) and there’s countless barbeques (aka any reason to get together with friends and drink beer). Frankly, it’s rude. The season simultaneously demands we wear our skimpiest clothes and eat grilled meat and potato chips on the regular. It’s tough to handle to be sure. The social engagements and their accompanying menus mean that for some, as the summer draws to an end our shorts have perhaps grown a bit snug.
Yes, I said cake every Saturday. This is compounded by the fact that the event planners ALWAYS bring in left-overs from the weekend’s event for us to “enjoy” in the office on Mondays while I guilt-trip myself with each bite of whatever delicious treat is calling my name from the kitchen. Here’s the kicker: I lost 4 pounds last week.
I also had three different people comment yesterday on how fit I’m looking, even in the last couple of weeks when the bulk of my weight loss occurred months ago. Every week, I manage to scrape off some fat and I continue to feel lighter, faster and stronger in spite of the seemingly endless supply of pastries made available to me. My boss, my super fit step-mom and my buddy at QuickFit all noted on the progress I’ve made over the summer in spite of all the “Sunday Fundays,” beer-laden pool parties and rich wedding fare.
This is in fact not due to some super-natural self-control. In fact, I actually think I possess less self-control than the average bear when it comes to food & drink. The weight loss is because of the way in which I’ve dedicated myself to my workouts.
I get a lot of strange looks and often a few questions when I’m at QuickFit because my workouts have started to look different from the typical QuickFit workout. In order to maintain my progress and continue seeing results, I’ve really kicked it up a notch. I’m adding 5 minutes of cardio in between the prescribed 3 sets of moves on my QuickFit card and I’m always asking for new ways to challenge myself from the incredibly helpful staff. This means that my workouts last a lot longer than the typical 20 minutes on the Power Plates, but that’s what you need to do if you’re regularly consuming wedding cake, even in small quantities.
What I’ve really done is adjusted my workouts to fit my new fitness level, which is something that QuickFit does automatically. Each week, the workouts progress in intensity and difficulty, so each week, you can avoid the dreaded plateau that often plagues those on a continuing journey for fitness. The extra intensity also means that the occasional summertime indulgence isn’t going to stop me from achieving my goals.
So if you’re feeling a little tightness around the waist-band of your skinny jeans, there’s no better cure than jumping in head-first and full-blast with the Power Plates. The pounds could melt away just like frosting on wedding cake in the summer heat!
I get scared of the scale. Even with all the progress I’ve made over
the last year, I still get nervous that I’ve been “bad” or I haven’t
been working hard enough to make those numbers slide down from week to
week. That’s why I put off having a BIA for months; I was terrified
that I’d have to face facts and own up to the fact that maybe I’m not
doing all that I can, even though I’m continually being praised for
how hard I’m working out at QuickFit. Eventually, you just have to
see where you stand.
Even though I’ve been stepping on the scale to make sure my weight is
heading in the right direction (it has) the BIA is so much more
accurate and so much more telling. While I’ve been losing weight
according to the scale, I know enough now to know that I could in fact
be losing muscle or I’m dehydrated rather than actually losing fat
mass. And there’s something so different about being accountable to
another person.
On Friday, I bit the bullet and was pleasantly
surprised. I’ve lost 10 pounds of fat, improved my hydration
levels and leveled my muscle mass (which is good because I
don’t really want to bulk up too much). I was so happy to see that all
my hard work is paying off, and I realized that I don’t have to be so
hard on myself.
I get so wrapped up in the black and white of success vs failure, and
I don’t know if that’s really the right way to look at weight loss.
It’s a continuum, not a destination, and if I plan on stay fit
throughout the rest of my existence, which I do, I can’t afraid
of failure. If I’m scared of the occasional slip up, perhaps I’ll
be more likely to give up on my weight loss goals altogether.
I’m lucky, though, to have had as much success as I have. I think I
have a natural intensity that allows me to continue to push in my
workouts, and in spite of my tendency to overdo it on the carbs &
sweets from time to time, I generally prefer eating whole, healthy
foods.
There are still so many areas of my body I want to continue to refine
and sculpt, and while I’m not striving for some impossible ideal, I do
know there’s always room for improvement, so I’ll continue to keep
doing what I’m doing… so far, it’s working pretty well.
In the past, when life would start to spiral and I could feel myself losing control, I’d turn to food for comfort. I’d burry my anxiety or anger or sadness -whatever I was feeling- at the bottom of a hole and fill that hole with mac & cheese. Or pizza. Or ice cream — anything to avoid confronting the issue or admitting defeat, really. Last week, as another relationship crumbled and I began to feel dissatisfied with my work and frustrated with my family, I thought about going face first into a barrel of cheese. But I didn’t.
Instead of losing control in yet another area of my life, I decided to take control and take action. After a long day and work, I pushed through a hard workout at QuickFit, but I still wasn’t feeling like myself. On a whim, I drove to the Sanitas trail head, determined to make it to the top in spite of already fatigued muscles and the rapidly setting sun.
It wasn’t easy. I’ve climbed Sanitas before and I’ve dominated those stairs on the ascent. But that day, every step seemed to hurt more as my legs began to feel heavier. My out-of-whack attitude was reflected throughout my body, and it made the trail twice as challenging as normal (mind you, even in spite of being in pretty decent shape, that trail still gives me a workout). I came to the trailhead with one goal —to take control— and I wasn’t about to give up, turn around and feel unable to succeed for one more moment of that day. I was going to kick that mountain’s butt. At one point, looking up the seemingly endless stairs to the summit in a brief moment of doubt, I said as much out loud as to myself, “I am going to take you down, Sanitas.”
And then I did. I didn’t really want to, and my legs didn’t want to, but I needed to. I needed to prove to myself that I am in control of my life and that my actions and decisions still hold weight. So I did. Jogging back on the flat dirt path at the end of the hike, sticky with sweat and dying for water, I felt more in control than I had in days, and happier too.
I know that no amount of mac & cheese would have made me feel that powerful, but a year ago I would have tried my hardest to make it so. Turning to exercise in times of stress is a new habit, and I know it’s one that I’ll utilize for the rest of my life because the rewards are so incredible. And I have QuickFit to thank for that knowledge.
As far as I’m concerned, holidays are the enemy of healthy, and with Memorial Day, we’ve officially kicked off a full season of holidays. Summer is filled with everyday celebrations, from birthdays to barbeques, it seems like every weekend there’s yet another occasion to gather with friends, drink beer or fun, frozen cocktails and eat all of those classic summer foods. I love it, but I hate it. It’s always been a struggle of mine to maintain balance when those around me are so keen to indulge.
Oh man, did I indulge. And thanks to the three day weekend and a friend’s birthday, it wasn’t just one day of over-the-top consumption, it was three. From the beer to the burgers, I woke up on Tuesday feeling much less slender than I did on Friday. Even with hours of volleyball played in the park, I felt lumpy. It’s probably just my own perception, but it’s I let every weekend turn out like this one did, then I will probably start seeing a serious downslide.
So here I am again, trying to figure out how to balance the fact that I don’t want to miss out of glorious summertime experiences with my friends and family with the fact that I have a hard time reining it in when there’s so much temptation. I know I preach moderation to anyone who will listen, but it’s always easier said than done. Sometimes it’s much, much easier.
I need to develop some tactics for coping with the endless stream of summer festivities and all the calories that seem to come attached. I think one of my biggest mistakes over last weekend was counting out a whole day based on one heavy meal. The justification is that the day has already gone awry thanks to one meal, so I might as well go all out and grub on everything in sight. In the moment, this truly seems logical, but to discount a whole day as categorically unhealthy, rather than just that one treat, just adds insult to injury.
Another mistake I made was to rely on others to make food-related decisions for me. If I want to be in control of my health, then I really need to do just that. I need to come prepared to parties with the veggie tray, not the potato salad, and maybe I’ll even rub off on those around me with my good habits.
Bringing healthy snacks with me and choosing smarter choices when I can (who really needs a full bun, anyway) will be key to maintaining my pattern of success even in this challenging season of parties, concerts and weddings. Just because I’m trying to lose weight and stay healthy shouldn’t mean I have to miss out on the fun parts of life. What would be the point of all this hard work if I couldn’t enjoy a rowdy game of volleyball with friends or enjoy the weather in a breezy sundress?
Yesterday during my workout, Amanda —trainer extraordinaire— mentioned that someone had asked about me since they hadn’t seen me in a while. The woman inquired about “that girl who does crazy cardio” and apparently told Amanda that she presumed I was training for a marathon or something. I cannot possibly be more flattered! I’m not sure they were really asking about me, though Amanda insists that they were.
That might be a strange compliment, but in this town of serious athletes and actual marathon runners, the fact that someone thought that I might be among that elite group is really cool. I certainly don’t consider myself to be that particular level of fit at this point, and running has certainly never been my thing, but I’m getting there. I actually went on a jog last week; that’s something I never would have dreamed of doing a year ago. Maybe a marathon is in my future!
I’d love to think that I train as hard as a serious athlete, but even I feel myself getting complacent from time to time. After a year of working out at QuickFit, it can be easy to land in a rut, start resorting to my favorite moves and using weights that I’m comfortable with. Luckily for me, there are so many external forces involved with my workouts at QuickFit that make it hard to do that. I’ve got the team cheering me on as I push my cardio intervals from 3 minutes to 5. I’ve got Amanda adding new moves to my repertoire to keep an element of challenge in my workouts. I’ve got the check-ins with the team to make sure I’m making progress instead of being stagnant.
That is the QuickFit experience I’ve made for myself though, it’s not necessarily how everyone chooses to take advantage of their services. I know clients who truly embrace the “quick” part of the moniker. It really is great to fit in a hard, make-you-sweat workout in 20 minutes or less, that’s what the program is based on. That’s why the Power Plate technology is so amazing, because it allows for people to fit in a superior workout in such a small time frame. Just because I’m doing 5 minutes of cardio in between each circuit doesn’t mean that’s the only way to achieve results, but I’ve found that in order to keep me coming through the door week after week, I need to feel challenged.
Whether you’re adding in a couple of extra sets of strength or cardio, you’re working out outside of QuickFit, or you’re simply using the three 20 minute workouts as your week’s worth of workouts and following your individual nutrition plan to a tee (something I’ve always struggled with), I don’t think it matters so much. For me, the hardest part is making sure I get there three times a week. Once I’m there, I have the tools I need to succeed. And getting there three times a week isn’t really so hard.
This month marks my one-year anniversary at QuickFit. I don’t know that I’ve ever stuck with a workout program for so long, but I must admit the rewards of my persistence and dedication have been astounding. I’ve lost 35lbs and have a whole new sense of what a healthy lifestyle really entails, and writing these weekly blog posts have help ensure I’m staying on track and continuing to examine my own behavior.
There are so many ways to measure success when it comes to weight loss. Obviously, the scale is one, but for me, it’s been an unreliable way to see progress. The BIA measurements that QuickFit offers as part of their program are much more precise and it’s wonderful to know how much muscle I’m gaining and how much fat I’m losing as my body composition continues to change. But the photographs of me from this time last year are another big way to track how much I’ve changed, as are the ways in which my clothing fits. Of course, I never got rid of all my “skinny clothes” after I gained weight in college, and periodically I reach into the recesses of my closet to see if anything is starting to fit. Until recently, this was basically just a cruel game I played with myself, but this week, things are fitting.
When I slipped on the silky silver dress I bought sophomore year, one of my best gauges for how my body is changing, I actually laughed out loud because I was so excited. I remember trying to squeeze into this poor frock last year and it being so tight around my belly that it was more of a shirt than a dress. This week, it slid on easily, without and tell-tale signs of being much too small, and I think that’s reason to celebrate!
Another way I know I’m succeeding is through friends’ reactions when they see me for the first time in a while. I had cocktails with an old friend this week who has faced a struggle similar to mine and has slowly been trying to shed the weight she gained in school, but to little avail. She often tells me stories of the intense doctor-supervised diets she’s tried or the crazy fitness classes she’s put herself through and how little everything has worked. She was so excited to see how much I’ve changed since she last saw me. I’m also much less hesitant to meet up with old friends; it used to be the case that I was too embarrassed because I thought people I knew in High School, when I was my fittest, wouldn’t recognize me.
I’m not going to lie, though, I still feel like I have a long way to go before I’m at my goal weight, but now healthy choices are part of my everyday routine rather than an anomaly. It’s amazing how good habits, like coming to QuickFit like clockwork three times a week and starting my day with a nutrient-rich shake, have replaced old bad habits. I’m never going back to the days of ordering in junk food and lazing about on my couch
I found that my success in both my workouts and in my diet is tied to how much attention I’m paying to these endeavors. I know that seems like common sense, but being mindful about my food choices and being mentally present during my workouts can be tougher than it sounds.
I am a huge culprit of mindless eating. If there’s a bowl of chip, pretzels, nuts, fruit, whatever, I will eat and eat regardless of whether or not I’m hungry. I am also liable to go to the back of the office to the fridge and grab a snack, not because I’m at all hungry, but because I’m bored and the action of eating pulls me through whatever task I’m working on. Grabbing a snack helps break up my day and my work, but ultimately I’m consuming food that I don’t need to properly fuel my body. As part of my job at a catering company, I’m in kitchens a lot, with food readily available for grazing. It can become problematic when I don’t keep track of what I’m putting in my body when I’m working at an event; I end up eating much more throughout the course of an event than I would if I simply made myself a plate and sat down to enjoy it.
Lately I’ve been trying to actively listen to my body’s needs to be sure I’m not eating something out of sheer convenience or out of boredom. When I feel like getting up and walking to the kitchen during my workday, I made myself a cup of green tea instead. Last week I got so far as microwaving mashed potatoes when I realized I wasn’t really hungry and I promptly composted them. I avoided a surplus of calories and the inevitable guilt trip I would have sent myself on by examining my physical and mental state with honesty.
I’ve noticed that for me, the idea that success is tied to mental presence is true during a workout at Quickfit too. I go three days a week, like clockwork, but there are certainly days when I’d rather be somewhere else; for example, at happy hour enjoying a big glass of wine. These days, when my mind is elsewhere and I’m not giving the workout my focus and intensity, I sweat less and am less sore the next day. When I put my intention into my workout, I always work harder and it feels much more worthwhile. Even at a smaller scale, when I put my focus into the muscle I’m working in any particular exercise, that muscle seems to respond better and I feel like I’m getting better results.
It seems simple, and it also seems to me like something a hippy would say (having been to more than a few yoga classes, I know how much instructors preach mindful practice), but it works for me. Next time you’re in for a workout, make sure you’re really in your workout. If you put 100% of your focus into your body, it will likely respond in kind.