What is Making, or Keeping, You Fat?

My favorite answer to the question, "How did you lose all of that weight?", is...."I stopped doing what was making me fat!" I knew, without a doubt, what I was doing that was making and keeping me fat....and making me fatter every year. Do you know what is making and/or keeping you fat? I think you do.

I'm writing the outline for a workshop I hope to do starting in Jan., and part of my research is to help others answer, for themselves, questions about how to lose weight and....here's the best part....keep it off!

I would greatly appreciate, by way of comments, your answers to this question.

Also, is there something that you would like to know, in more detail, about my own weightloss? Maybe for yourself, a client, or someone you love.

If you want to share your thoughts, but keep them private, you can email me tracyrif@yahoo.com

Thank you so much for taking the time to, potentially, contribute to helping others with your experiences. I will keep everyone in the loop as this very important subject is developed into a workshop that will combine hope, inspiration, support, and motivation, using kettlebells, cooking/nutrition, bodyweight exercises, stretching, and pertinent scientific information relevant to the "real person"...like me!

Live to your Physical Potential. I hope I can help you want to do that.

Picture above is me teaching KB swings in the front window at Lululemon, Palo Alto! Could you ever imagine that the 2nd picture is of the same woman, weighing over 250lbs, 6 years earlier? Dreams and miracles happen....that I know, because that's my life, I live it.....it's never too late!

HKC San Francisco

I had a blast this past Sunday at the first ever San Francisco HKC! An exhausting blast, but a blast nonetheless! Before I get into the details of the work and training, let me mention that this past weekend was also the same weekend of the Folsom St Fair....if you need to know what it's about then "google" it....here's a hint....kinky, fetish, freaky public display of all the fun and games San Francisco has to offer...on steriods! An interesting backdrop.....

Patrick Jerrnigan (RKC 2, Brazillian Jiu Jitsu practioner), hosted the Certification at Gracie Jiu Jitsu Studio on Howard St (1 block from Folsom), and we had a nice little group of, mostly, fitness professionals. I think most came with what they thought was a knowledge of how to train with kettlebells, but left with a new, and most certainly, deeper understanding of what it requires to be HKC, and RKC Certified.

I got the chance to take the candidates through one of my newly designed workouts, based on the drills used to teach the KB Swing (soon to be featured in a beginners DVD!), and another swing workout that teaches the Roundabout. No Goblet Squat Torture Chamber workout, but maybe next time!

A few little measley swing workouts is nothing compared to the 8 hours of teaching and coaching Mark put in. Using his expert eye he also was responsible for judging the technique demonstrated by each candidate in all 3 of the HKC skills....AND....the hardest part of all......judging whether or not they are qualified to teach the progressions that were just taught to them?

Here's a huge hint to all future HKC and RKC candidates who want to earn their Certification.....TEACH THE PROGRESSIONS....IN THE ORDER THAT YOU LEARNED THEM! That's all.

All in all, I love what we do.....seriously! Tempe HKC in about 4 weeks time! I can't wait! Keats Snideman is hosting, and Mark and I have been there before so we are familiar with his gym (Reality-Based Fitness, Tempe AZ). Keats and his wife Tammy were generous enough to invite us to stay in their home....no freaky street fairs in AZ, but I'm expecting some good weather and, same as last time, good company!

PS the small picture at the top of the post was taken of a man, in a leather g-string, ass hanging out, across the street from the Studio....that was mild in comparision to all of the really cool crazinees of SF....next year? Be there, or be square! I can't wait to go back.....

The Hungarian Snatch

The first time I really did some "hardstyle snatching" was this past February at my RKC recertification. Since the 14kg was not yet available, I was left with only two bell size choices to do all of my training with. The 16kg is too heavy to use for 3 days of training, but the 12kg too light. So, I had to make training with the 12kg as "hard" as possible. This is when I became real familiar with Hardstyle swings and snatches.

What's a hardstyle snatch? Well, I define it as the same as a hardstyle swing where a person puts as much speed on the backstroke as possible, in other words, throwing the bell behind you (using your lats and arms). A snatch is held over head of course, and that's where you get a bit of rest, whereas a swing has very little resting time at the top of the movement before you take it right into the next rep. A hardstyle snatch also has a powerful, crisp, lockout....technique is emphasized, not # of reps, or how fast you get those reps done. (Max)

Mark got an email from Peter Lakatos, Senior RKC Instructor, explaining and showing, him what Peter calls the "Hungarian Snatch". I believe this is similar to a hardstyle snatch, but Peters methods for training this tehnique is what makes it "Hungarian" (leave it to the Hungarians to take the snatch to another level!) Here's the link to Marks blog with more details, since I'm still learning the method myself, http://rifsblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/hungarian-snatch.html

I did a modified version of this type of training because, as I just mentioned, I don't have enough understanding of the method yet, so this was just a trail run prior to my Max based training yesterday.

16kg

10 minutes of 10 snatches per arm, rest inbetween sets

All 10 rep sets done hard, fast, crisp, and powerful, resting until heartrate comes back down to around 120ish. I didn't count them because I was too focused on gauging when it was time to pick the bell up again. I think I did 11 sets of 10 = 110. Next time I'll do the 200 reps required and time the length of the workout.

on to the rest of my workout.....here's a version of last weeks snatch workout.

14kg snatches

16kg swings

15:15

7/7 x 1

10 2 hd sw x 1

7/7 x 2
10 2 hd sw x 2

7/7 x 3
10 2 hd sw x 3

7/7 x 4
10 2 hd sw x 4

7/7 x 5
10 2 hd sw x 5

22.5 minutes

210 snatches

150 swings

30 snatch sets

15 swing sets

45 sets total

Picture above is from my RKC this past February with my Team Leader Peter Lakatos (now Senior Instructor), Gerard Rush and Marcus Martinez.

The Blender Diet...revisited

Here's a "blast from the past" blogpost I wrote almost 2 years ago (original post 10/16/08). I was reminded of it because I ended up having a smothie for dinner tonight! I haven't had a smoothie in a long time, but I wanted something cold, creamy, sweet, and filling....in other words, I wanted dessert!(although I made it a bit savory too...read recipe below)

I often pose this question, when talking to someone about what kinds of foods they currently eat in their daily diet...."Would you put all of your days food, from breakfast to dinner, in a blender, blend it all up without adding additional water, and pour it down a kitchen sink that had no garbage disposal?" Most times that question creates the image of the point I'm trying to make.

First off, if you don't eat alot of fresh foods,(vegetables) all of your days food might break a blender! The sludge you're eating, when whipped up, would clog a kitchen sink! What's it doing after you force it down your esophagus? Do you wonder why you're constipated?

And then what would it taste like? Personally, most days I could say that I wouldn't have a problem taking my whole days food, blending it all together and eating it. It would be a loose consistency and because most every one of my meals is veggie based, it would probably taste like a green veggie smoothie, lol! (not as sweet...unless I happened to have a cookie binge that day, LOL!)

Now a whole days food is an dramatic example, so what about just one meal? How many of each of the meals you eat in a day could you blend together and still eat? What about the meals you feed your kids? If you're not eating enough fresh vegetables, are your kids?

Just some thoughts.

tonights smoothie....

plain yogurt (fage 2%)

maple syrup

1 cup frozen mammey fruit

2 tbl psyllium fiber

1/2 t. cinnamon

good pinch of salt and a good squeeze of lemon (yep salt)

ice

I stirred in 1/2 c. cooked farro. (that's the savory bit!)

Sophi....come on...smile for Grandma!

Sophi was not having a good day......it's sucks getting older!

Sophi's big 1st birthday party and she was not having a good time!

Too many new faces, not enough freedom to run around.


She fell asleep between the maincourse, and cake! Sophi....Grandma needs cake!

Is Tomorrow Saturday? For Real?

OK, it's Friday night, and its probably way past my bedtime, but I'm having a bit of fun, as Friday nights tend to be, answering emails, fooling around on facebook, and almost forgetting that tomorrow morning is the hardest workout of my week (hard AND long....), lucky me!

Mark and I did a telephone interview today, http://www.superhumanwordradio.com/, one of three interviews about our DVD's in the last three weeks....it's amazing how adrenalized you get from public speaking.....whew! Back to real life....tomorrow....

Forget training....tomorrow is my grandaughter, Sophi's, first birthday party! Although she turned 1 year old 2 weeks ago, her "official" party is tomorrow. I have a full schedule at Girya in the morning, and then Mark and I are stopping by Doug Fioranelli's place, Rise Above Performance Training, in San Bruno, for their 1st year anniversary, before heading up to Fairfeild to celebrate with Sophi!

It's Sophi's Day! If I'm really lucky, she'll share her birthday cake with Grandma!

Same, but Different...and....it's all about me!

Couple of things....first, my second workout of the morning I did with my beginning class. It was a modified version of my Tues Max-based workout. Here it is...oh and Diana commented that I should file this one away somewhere....it's a keeper for sure!

15 set rotation 15:15 (work to rest ratio)

7 snatch R
7 snatcch L
10 swings (2 hand or dbls)
7 sn R, 7 sn L x 2 (4 sets total)
10 swings (2 hand or dbls)
7 sn R, 7 sn L x 3 (6 sets total)
10 swings

repeat each rotation as many times as you feel applicable! 7 1/2 minutes per rotation.

I did the same 15 set snatch/swing combination, rotations as Tuesday, but adapted it to the skill levels of all involved. Here's 3 different weight versions.....

Me.....double 8kg's for snatches, and a single 12kg for 2 hd swings (it was my second workout of the morning afterall. If it were my only workout, see my last post, or.....I would have chosen 12 kg's for double swings, or a 16kg for 2 hand swings....)

Scott.....male, no more than 160lbs, about 5'9" (36 years old...he told me!) 16kg for snatches, two 12kg's for swings.

Janet....tiny little Spinning teacher (and yoga), 5'2" and maybe a buck 10/15, and has been training high volume with me for about 5 months (age? I haven't asked, but she has a little grandchild like me...I think she's a bit younger?) 6kg for snatches, 10 kg for 2 hand swings.

The reason why I love this 15 set rotaton of 15:15 snatches and swings is that the 7 1/2 minute rotation lends itself, perfectly (OCD) to a 15/30/45 minute workout. It incorporatesfast snatches with the ultimate...swings! It ladders up, the difficulty, progressively, starting again at the bottom of the ladder with each rotation.

Swings are more difficult than snatches. If you don't believe me then do 80 sets of 10 rep swing sets with your snatch weight and let me know how it goes for you! I'll always chose to incorporate swings, (Swngs, the Center of the Kettlebell Universe), with snatches any day of the week.....http://rifsblog.blogspot.com/2010/09/swings-are-hard-579-ladders.html

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OK, so now, in the words of Master RKC Instructor Brett Jones, "It's all about 'thisguy'"("this guy" is all one word, lol), but in my case, it's all about "thisgirl".....

Jordan left our Studio to start his own business a couple of weeks ago, but he was generous enough to leave the DVD player he had mounted in the window behind (his own new Studio, Average to Elite, doesn't have walk by traffic the way Girya does. Girya being in the heart of downtown Palo Alto). So we popped in a copy of my new DVD, to play continuously, in the front window, along with a laminated copy of the article about my story, in Vitalics Magazine, about my amazing weightloss and physical transformation, using my methods of training the kettlebell swing.

I woke up this morning to an email from Pavel, with a glowing endorsement for my first DVD! Expect to see my DVD, along with Mark's DVD, "Lats, the Super Muscles", and Dave Whitley's DVD's, produced by Laree Draper, for sale on DragonDoor soon! But the best part is that I was asked to present some of my methods at furture RKC's and have some of them incorporated into the RKC curriculum! It's been a dream of mine to have a group of potential RKC's swinging in rythym to my instruction!

Dreams can come true!

Another dream? To live someplace else, like Hungary, for 3-6 months a year, training, teaching and coaching kettlebells! And cooking, of course.

Life is good. Transformations happen. Transforming body, lifestyle into miracles. If you can believe it, you can achieve it. I chose to believe.