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Stacie Angel

Just a Little Bit Better…1% at a Time

June 5, 2014 by Stacie Angel 5 Comments

DSC_6974-EditI recently learned about Dave Brailsford and his concept of “aggregation marginal gains.”  Please don’t stop reading.  It is actually a simple concept.  Dave Brailsford is the General Manager and Performance Director for Team Sky (Great Britian’s professional cycling team) and he used this idea to create a Tour de France winner within three years.  No cyclist from Great Britian had ever won before.

This is how he did it.

Brailsford broke down everything related to cycling and set about improving each part just 1%.  He included the obvious things like conditioning and diet.  But he also included the less obvious things like pillows for sleeping and proper hand washing.  He believed the sum of these small improvements would make a big impact.  He was right.

I was struck by this concept because on the occasions that I do go about trying to improve myself, I believe I employ a similar strategy.  Not because I possess the foresight and intentionality of Brailsford, no, it’s really because I’m a little lazy.  I prefer small projects to large.  I do better making tiny changes than sweeping resolutions.

But too often these days, I seem to be paralyzed because the “Need to Do” list in my life is filled with projects seemingly too big to take on.  My closet is a disorganized mess of shoes, purses, jewelry and clothes, most of which I don’t wear.  My make-up drawer is bursting with unused cosmetics.  I have to run a 5k in a month and currently can only run a mile.  I don’t have enough time to make dinner so I serve hot dogs.  And too many nights I give in to my wish for “just one glass” of wine.

So this concept got me thinking.  Could I one percent my life?

What if I spent 1% longer on cardio?  What if I increased the intensity or incline on the treadmill by 1%?  Or lifted 1% heavier weights?  Imagine if I ate 1% fewer calories?  Saved 1% more of my paycheck?  Spent 1% less?  What would happen if I was 1% sweeter to my husband, 1% more patient with my kids?  Spent 1% less time watching Real Housewives and 1% more time writing?

How would these changes change me?

Could I do it…just a little bit at a time?

I aim to find out.

Due to a perfect storm of inspiration and a two month summer break on the horizon, I have finally made the leap I’ve long considered.  I’m starting my own blog:  Just a Little Bit.  I plan to write about fitness, diet, parenting, organizing, beauty products and more.  All of the things I spend my time thinking about and trying to improve.

I hope you’ll visit me often and share how you are improving your world…just a little bit each day.

 

Filed Under: Stacie's Blog Tagged With: get skinnier, how to get better, improve, Stacie's Blog

A Reason to Turn Off the Alarm

May 9, 2014 by Stacie Angel Leave a Comment

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Mother’s Day is one of my favorite holidays.  My kids are in that wonderful age of school projects that feature hand prints with poems and flowers made of tissue paper.  I treasure every sweet craft they make for me.

But some of my most precious gifts are not the ones they make for the occasion.  No, the gifts I love these days are the ones they deliver without a reason, and often, without realization.  I’m the mom of two boys and I am their favorite girl.

I love the Lego minifigs who’ve taken up residence on my nightstand.  All of them were created with me in mind, often featuring a girl’s head on a mismatched body.  I love the pictures of kittens and princesses colored pink in honor of me.  I hang them in my office because I’ve run out of space on the refrigerator and walls.  I even love the paper-folded monsters that I find waiting on my jewelry box or pillow.  I have special containers where I place these treasures.  I plan to revisit them when the day comes that their love notes no longer involve me.

A few nights ago Will crawled into my lap and said, “I just miss you when you’re at work.”

Today after a mom’s lunch at Max’s school, my brave third grade boy gave me a kiss outside his classroom before I left.

And last night, both boys woke me up with bad dreams and sniffles.  Then ten minutes before my 5 am work-out alarm, Will came in.  “I just can’t sleep,” he whisper whined.

There was a time when I would have been furious.  I would have sent him back to bed immediately.  This is my only chance to work-out, I would fume.  Now I’m going to be tired all day.  He’s manipulating.  He’s lying.  He’s ruining my day.

But nine years into my parenting journey, I’ve learned a little something about the precious, unexpected moments that I don’t want to miss.

So I turned off my alarm and I let him climb in.  He snuggled up to me, soft and warm from sleep.  He grabbed my hand and pulled it around him.

“I love you, Mama,” he said.  Then promptly fell asleep still holding my hand.

I couldn’t extricate myself to go work-out.  My date with Shaun T and Insanity would have to wait.

The best Mother’s Day gift in the world was sleeping beside me and no work-out could ever drag me away.

Filed Under: Stacie's Blog Tagged With: Stacie's Blog

Birthday Selfie Challenge

April 24, 2014 by Stacie Angel Leave a Comment

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I recommend that you try this on your next birthday.  Grab your cell phone and stand in front of a mirror.  Now, turn your hips away from the mirror, your shoulders towards it, suck in your belly, arch your back.  Lift the cell phone above you and angle down.  Now click and delete until you take the most flattering picture possible.   There you have it:  your Birthday Selfie.

This idea came to me after following too many self-titled “fitness experts” on Twitter.  These twenty-somethings delight in taking pictures of their fit bodies in dimly lit spaces at flattering angles.  The men slick their abs in oil then flex and twist.  The women don sports bras, tiny shorts and arch into uncomfortable looking thinness.  I was finding my Twitter feed filled with images that I guess were supposed to be motivating.  I found them annoying.

So the first thing I did on the morning of my birthday was unfollow anyone who had tweeted a picture of herself in booty shorts.  The next thing I did was try to create my own fit looking selfie.  And you know what, it wasn’t that hard.  The right camera angle, a flattering twist and flex and I, too, could look pretty darn good.

A wise woman once told me, “This is probably the best you’ll ever look so you might as well enjoy it.”  I was sixteen and I didn’t believe her.  Surely some day my skin would clear up, my legs would get slimmer, my hair would de-frizz and turn silky and blonde.  Someday I’d look like the models that taunted me from on the pages of Seventeen Magazine.  But that someday never happened and I spent a whole lot of time feeling bad about it.

One advantage I found in turning 41 is I am no longer so gullible.  I am not fooled by pictures of young and fabulous beauties.  I’ve seen one too many editions of Stars Without Make-Up to think that celebrities are looking glamorous every day.  And after my selfie-experiment, I do not believe that everyone who shows their abs on Twitter would look the same if I past them on the street.  Its smoke and mirrors…or more accurately these days…filters and angles.

So I urge you to do as I suggest and take a flattering selfie.  You don’t have to save it.  You don’t have to show a soul.  But I suspect that when you find the right angle, you will impress yourself with your own hotness.  And at that point, you might not want to lose that image.

I’m happy I have my 41st Birthday Selfie and I’m not going to delete it.  It just might be the best I ever look and, you know something, I’m fine with that.

 

Filed Under: Stacie's Blog Tagged With: birthday, birthday selfie, lighting, selfie, selfie challenge, Stacie's Blog, twist

Hate Cardio? Love Bikinis? Then HIIT Is It!

April 14, 2014 by Stacie Angel 2 Comments

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Yes, I’m 40 and once again this summer, I intend to wear a bikini.

Some may disagree.  Some may think that after 39, you should retire any piece of clothing that shows your mid-section.  I, however, can’t help feeling that by hanging up the two-piece, I would be giving in to age and laziness and gravity.  I refuse to surrender to these opponents of fitness.  So I stubbornly cling to my bikini…one of the last vestiges of my youth.

Hence the dilemma each year when faced with the prospect of actually putting on said bikini and walking around in public.  If I worked harder during the winter, took advantage of those long, dark evenings to log hours on my treadmill, I know it would not be such a problem.  But summer always sneaks up and finds me ill-prepared.  Six weeks until Memorial Day, more than five extra pounds to lose and only 30 minutes to work out.  What’s a girl to do?

Shedding pounds quickly requires a commitment to eating right, training with weights and plenty of cardio.  Its that simple.

But I hate cardio.  There, I said it.  Give me anything else.  I will do hundreds of crunches, lunges up and down my street, lift ridiculously heavy weights.  I’ll do anything not to have to complete long, boring sessions of treadmill walking.  But, sadly, building muscle alone is not enough to get bikini ready.

Enter HIIT.

High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) is a cardio-haters best friend. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t easy.  In almost every way, it is harder than spending an hour walking.  But for me one of the most challenging parts of  long cardio sessions is boredom.  With HIIT, I am not bored because it is challenging and changing.  I work as hard as I can for a short amount of time and then get a break.  It increases metabolism so I burn more calories throughout the day.  Plus I don’t need to do an hour of cardio because 20-30 minutes of HIIT is enough.

You can turn almost any workout into a HIIT workout and get more bang for your cardio buck.  The goal is to work really hard for a short amount of time, get your heart rate up to the highest end of your target heart rate zone then move to an easier exercise that allows your heart rate to come down for a bit.  This cycle is repeated several times.  So it doesn’t matter if you are on a treadmill, outside on a walk or doing plyometrics, you can turn any work-out up a notch with HIIT.  And after a few weeks of this kind of training, you may find yourself looking forward to putting on whatever swimsuit you choose.

A word of warning:  HIIT is serious exercise and not for everyone.  As with all exercise, check with a doctor or a trainer to make sure you are ready for the intensity of a HIIT workout.

 

 

Filed Under: Stacie's Blog Tagged With: bikinis, cardio, exercise routine, high intensity interval training, HIIT, interval training, Stacie Angel, Stacie's Blog, workouts

Weight Watchers Simple Start Review

March 28, 2014 by Stacie Angel Leave a Comment

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As a weight loss devotee, I’ve used Weight Watchers many times in the past to lose weight. I counted Points and then learned to recount using Points Plus. I had good results and learned some healthy habits that stayed with me long after I grew weary of counting and recording every bite of food.

And if you’ve tried Weight Watchers, you know that constant counting can become a real drag.

So I was excited by the prospect of the Weight Watchers Simple Start approach. This time, there would be no points to count. I only had to restrict myself to foods from the approved list for two weeks. And best of all, if it is on the list, there is no limit to the quantity.

I (mostly) followed the approach for two weeks and did lose three pounds.  Staying true to my usual pattern, I started strong.  The first five days were great.  The remaining days, I made some mistakes.  So, if you are considering following this program, I think I’d like to suggest some tips and also, some piitfalls to avoid, to increase your likelihood of weight loss success.

Week 1 The First 5 Days:  Tips for Success

1. Stock your kitchen.

The first thing I did was I download the grocery list and head to the grocery store to fill my kitchen with Power Foods.  Some of the food was normal for me; I always buy lots of fruits and vegetables.  Salad ingredients and lean meats like chicken or 4% fat beef are always in my grocery cart and are also central to Quick Start.  I have recently discovered quiunoa and that was already in my pantry.  However, my family balks at whole grain pasta or brown rice.  But Quick Start requires it so I was buying it.  I generally drink sparkling water and herbal tea so those were no problem.  Some of the foods, though, were not what I usually purchase.  Low calorie bread, sugar-free jello, light yogurt, and fat-free cheese have not been in my fridge for a while.  I have moved away from artificial sweeteners and highly processed food in recent months.  But the Quick Start program encourages these foods so I bought them.  I planned to follow this with fidelity or not at all.

2.  Plan your meals.

I began my first week with a plan for every meal.  I spent Sunday chopping vegetables for salads and marinating lean meat for quick dinners. I packed my lunches with only Power Foods.  I carefully mapped out the snacks I would eat.  When it came time to make dinner, I didn’t veer from the program because everything was ready to go.  My children were not too excited about broiled chicken breasts, they are partial to fried.  But, with enough ketchup they will eat just about anything so they didn’t starve and I stayed true to the program.

3.  Focus on hunger level.

I found I wasn’t hungry during this first week, just a little bored.  The reason I was tempted to cheat was not because I was starving.  It was because I missed mini Snickers as an afternoon snack.  I had to make myself focus on my hunger level and when I did, I knew I didn’t need to eat…only that I wanted to.  You don’t have to be hungry with Simple Start because you can eat as much as you want.

Well, not exactly.

Weight Watchers actually indicates that you should eat as much as you think you need.  This is a slippery slope and tricky advice to follow as I learned in Week Two.

When the weekend arrived, I double checked and confirmed that wine is not a Power Food.  Sadly, being made from grapes didn’t make up for the empty alcohol calories.  I found my resolve weakening.  I allowed myself a glass on Friday and two on Saturday.  I stuck to the Power Foods and didn’t feel I had derailed myself too badly.  The scale hadn’t moved much but I was hopeful another week would change that.

Week Two:  What Not To Do if You Hope to Succeed

1.  Skip the planning.

I didn’t plan or shop well for week two.  By Tuesday I was out of salad ingredients so I turned to whole wheat pasta with fat-free cheese and tuna in large portions.  I began to snack on whole wheat bagels dipped in fat-free yogurt .  I added Triscuits and Wheat Thins to the Power Foods list and didn’t get permission from Weight Watchers.  Without pre-chopped vegetables and ready to go dinners, I found myself cheating more and more.

2.  Over-do it with Power Foods.

Although I stuck to the(modified) Power Food list, I found myself steadily upping the portions.  I noticed how much my overall food intake was increasing.  Before Simple Start, I never ate pasta for lunch.  Now, that whole wheat had become a carbohydrate green light, I couldn’t stop myself.

Back when I was pregnant and gaining weight rapidly, I encountered a rather unsympathetic doctor. I insisted that I was eating healthy and couldn’t understand why I was gaining.  He replied with this painful wisdom, “If you eat a bushel of apples every day, you’ll still gain weight.  It’s calories.”  I could hear his words ringing in my ear as I finished my third thin whole wheat bagel of the morning.

3.  Quit early.

By Friday night, I was ready for Quick Start to be over.  I stopped a couple of days early, poured myself a big glass of wine and ate a piece of cake.

After (almost) two weeks, I did lose about three pounds and felt a little better.  I had broken my sugar-sneaking cycle and realized how much food I had been frying or drenching in butter prior to Quick Start.  But I also realized that I had already been doing many things right when it comes to eating.  Some of the dietary changes required by Quick Start, using artificial sweeteners and fat-free products, as well as allowing myself unlimited whole grain carbs, were potentially detrimental to my health and weight loss.

Full disclaimer, I didn’t want to spend the money to actually join Weight Watchers, I just used the tools that you can access for free by registering with Weight Watchers online.  But by deciding to go the cheap route, I gave up the full range of recipe ideas and other support tools that are available.  I also wasn’t going to meetings or chatting online with a support group.  I think if I had joined I would have had better results.

Overall, I found the Weight Watchers Quick Start approach to be effective and easy to follow.  I do well with strict rules when focusing on weight loss so the limited list of Power Food worked for me.  I know I would have lost more weight if I had cut out all alcohol, limited my carb intake, and planned my shopping better for week two.  I see this approach as a helpful “start-over” if you’ve found yourself in a negative eating pattern.  It will give you a fresh start and help you evaluate the changes in your strict diet that you want to make permanent.

Filed Under: News Tagged With: review for simple start, simple start review, Stacit Angel, weight watcher review, weight watchers

5k Run…Done.

July 4, 2013 by Stacie Angel 4 Comments

It’s race day.  I’m in the crowd at the starting line and they are counting down to the blast of the horn.  I feel a lot like I did when I went into labor with my second child, knowing that I was facing something excruciating and there is no way out except to do it.  I’m worried about turning on my music, that I won’t hear the horn.  I waver between songs, which should I start with…This Girl is on Fire, a good song for pacing and channeling Katniss, or Lose Yourself, an old favorite?  I am deeply regretting making my goal public.  I’ve told too many people that I was going to be under 30 minutes and I don’t think it is possible for me today, or any day.  My sister is jogging in place, my mom is giving me a pep talk, my stomach is in knots and there goes the horn.  We’re off.

I quickly press play, Lose Yourself it is.  I’ve already lost sight of my sister who is aiming to be under  25.  I’m about a hundred yards from the start and I realize I never turned on my stopwatch.  Runners stream past me on both sides.  I cannot let myself be swept along.  I make a promise that I may pass some of them later if I keep my own pace.

I listen to Whistle, Wild One, and by the time I’m on Shake It Out the race is well underway and I’m approaching the halfway point.  I turn the corner at 13:30 and scare myself that my pace is too fast.  Negative talk takes over until I start my mantra, “I’m okay right now, I’m okay right now.”  And for the moment, I am.

The second half is tough, a few hills, a stretch along the lake, a brief section through the camp grounds.  Spectators sip coffee, hold plates of breakfast and clap for us.  I’m so jealous of their pajama pants and lounge chairs I could cry.  I check my time and know I won’t finish in less than 35 minutes.  There are no mile markers but I’m pretty sure the finish is just too far away.  I ponder the ethics of writing a dishonest blog.

GnR’s Sweet Child of Mine is too slow, I forward to You Could Be Mine and pick up the pace.  Finally, I turn the corner and see the finish line far ahead.  I glance at my watch:  26:40.  Trouble by Pink begins at just the right time.  I start to sprint…or my version of a sprint at this point.  And suddenly it is possible, I know I will make it.  I can see the timer as it turns to 28:00.  I run harder.  My sister is on the side yelling something I can’t make out.  I give my last bit of effort and cross the finish line.  I’m dizzy and afraid I’ll pass out.  I’m afraid I’m hyperventilating.  But I’m not afraid that I haven’t met my goal.

Official times are posted and I see it in black and white:  Stacie Angel 28:34.  My parents, brother and sister-in-law all earned first place medals in their walking divisions.  My sister achieved her personal best in the 5k run with a 24:09 and earned third place.  I came in twelfth.  They don’t give medals for that but I don’t need one.

Filed Under: Stacie's Blog Tagged With: Stacie's Blog

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