So REFRESH and so clean, clean
Your JAMuary Playlist
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Thursday, January 3, 2019
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beauty fail + other Thursday things
Hi friends! How are you? What day is it? What year is it? What’s going on?? As much as I’m loving this festive blur and non-stop partying with the girls, I’m looking forward to some kind of structure in my life again. My 2019 planner has been entirely neglected so far, but for now, I’m trying to just enjoy the moments and know that routine is around the corner.
It’s snowed in Tucson the past couple of days! By the time we woke up on New Years it had all melted (oops) but we had the opportunity to play in a straight-up winter wonderland yesterday. When we woke up, snowflakes were falling in the backyard! We put tights on under our pants, did the tank top, shirt, sweater and jacket combo, mittens, beanies, and took a drive to Agua Caliente park where it was blanketed (ok, a lil patchy) with snow. We had the best time throwing snowballs at each other, making a mini snowman, and attempting snow angels.
It pretty much never snows in Tucson, so it was pretty amazing that we got to see it! We also got a surprise snow in Valdosta last year. This is a pic from our backyard almost exactly one year ago. (Someone please hold me while I cry because the girls are so big now.)
The fam came over the other night and we ate potluck style (my mom brought quiche and broccoli cheese soup, while I made Ina’s roasted vegetable soup and a giant cheese board).
All of the usual staples were there: different types of cheese, smoked salmon, charcuterie, dried fruit, nuts, Harry & David pear, Skinny Dipped almonds, Whisps, olives, an olive tapenade, Dijon, and jam. It was one of my messier boards – I put it together super fast while the girls were playing with their doll house – but it did the trick.
Fitness-wise, it’s been a little interesting to get in workouts this week. Our two main babysitters were both out of town, and barre3 Play Lounge was booked up. I’ve done a couple of Peloton classes, and also got in a BODYPUMP workout while the girls played. (Sometimes while they’re home, I’ll stream a Physique 57 class or get in my own strength workout.) I don’t have any barbells or plates right now – they’re all still in Georgia – but did the release using a couple of pairs of dumbbells. I really like the 108 release so far and think the biceps track is my fave.
Now that we talked about food and fitness… I have to tell you about facial hair. There’s no way to seamlessly transition to this topic. I’m sorry.
So I feel like over the past year, I’ve heard beauty bloggers rave nonstop about Tinkle razors for shaving peach fuzz and lady mustache. I was definitely intrigued, but weirded out. Like shave your face? Won’t that give you a 5-o’clock shadow? Will it make you prickly? It was something I thought was cool, but just stored the information in my brain in case I needed it later. My facial hair has never bothered me and I’m fortunate that it’s blond for some bizarre reason (my arm hair is, too! Thanks, dad. <— he’s blond).
Then, one afternoon, I caught a glimpse of myself in the rearview mirror and my peach fuzz glimmered in the sun. I was like WTF and made an Amazon impulse purchase when we got home. A couple of days later, the Tinkle razors arrived and I was oddly excited to give them a try. I washed my face, dried it, and went to town on the peach fuzz. It was gone instantly and my face felt super smooth! Feeling overconfident, I decided to go for the lady mustache which is where I MADE A MISTAKE. Yes, I got the little bit of peach fuzz off. I put moisturizer on my newly smooth face and went to bed feeling like I was in on an awesome secret!
Then, a couple of days later, I licked my lips and felt a strong poke on my tongue. The lady mustache was back and it was angry. It was sharp, spiky and painful. When you shave hair, you hack it off at the thickest part, which makes it more pokey. Fail to meeeeeee. I just had to share this information so it doesn’t happen to anyone else. Peach fuzz: sure. Lady mustache: HARD NO.
So there ya go.
Any beauty fails lately? Any wins? Did you have a hard time getting in workouts this week or did you rock it?
See ya in the morning with some faves!
xo
Gina
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Wednesday, January 2, 2019
January Phone Wallpapers
Tis the season...to SLEIGH!
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How to create New Year’s Resolutions that actually stick
All this resolution talk over here!
Happy 2019, friends. I always look forward to a bright, shiny new year and a chance to start over with a clean slate. There’s something magical about cracking open a new planner and filling it with ideas, events and goals for the upcoming year. I know many of us are making resolutions and action plans for 2019, so I thought I’d chat a little bit about some tips for making these goals as effective and attainable as possible.
In our NASM training, we learned a lot about client motivation and goal-setting techniques. The main takeaway is to make sure your goals are SMART (<— happens to be a handy acronym).
S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Realistic
T = Timely
The first bullet is that you want your goals be as specific as possible. Instead of saying, “I’ll get a promotion at work” you’ll say something like, “I’l be promoted to Executive Director by spring 2019.” (Just using Beautycounter lingo as an example.) By making these goals as specific as possible, it’s easy to keep them in mind and create action steps each day to accomplish your goals.
You’ll also want your goals to be measurable. Pick a goal that you can actually measure or assess. Instead of telling yourself you’ll run faster, set a pace for your ideal mile time. Instead of saying you’ll have more date nights with your husband, plan for x amount per month. This way, you’ll know if you’re hitting your goals! Avoid vague words when you’re setting goals.
I think the most important one from the list is to make sure your goals are actually attainable. Should they scare you a little and fill you with excitement? TOTALLY. But in your heart, you should know that you can actually make it happen. If you don’t set goals that are attainable, you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. This kind of goes with the next point that they should be realistic. When you accomplish your goals, it motivates you keep working hard. If you’re setting yourself up for failure with unattainable, unrealistic expectations, you’re going to feel badly when it doesn’t happen. Goals should make you feel happy and excited, not bad about yourself.
The next one is to make sure they’re timely. Does it make sense for you right now? For myself, it would make zero sense for me to decide to run a marathon. I wouldn’t be able to get in long runs on a regular basis and let’s be real, I hate the morning. Pick goals that make sense for where you are in life right now.
Some tips for resolutions and goals in general:
– Create a vision board. I’m a huge believer in the power of vision boards. Yes, Pinterest is awesome for creating boards, but I really prefer the old-school magazine cut-outs glued onto a piece of paper. Hang it somewhere you can see it (I like the closet because I see it every day but am not subjecting guests to my lack of crafting skills), and this way you’ll stay mindful of your goals. When you have visual reminders of what you’d like to accomplish, you’re much more likely to take steps each day to make it happen.
(with Bets!)
– Enlist a buddy. Find a buddy who’s going after the same goals and support each other! I’m so thankful that I have blog buddies, Beautycounter friends, and fitness coworkers I can talk to about my failures, successes, and action steps.
– Model others’ success. I’m not saying to go full-on copycat mode, but if someone did something you want to accomplish, find out how they did it. Follow the same steps. Usually an accomplishment isn’t a crazy rocket science equation. It’s following specific actions and showing up consistently.
– Treat yourself. Create a list of small rewards for yourself when you hit milestones along the way. Run a faster master? Get a new running tank or fitness tracker. Completed your barre challenge at your studio? Pick up some new Toesox or leggings. Worked out consistently all month? Book a facial or massage! Find out which treats will motivate you and plan out a schedule.
(A massage always does the trick for me.)
– Read! There are SO MANY inspirational and developmental books out there to support your goals. One of my current favorites is Crushing It! I’d love to hear if you have any favorite personal development books.
Happy 2019! I can’t wait to see what this year brings, and am so excited to hear about everything you accomplish.
xoxo
Gina
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Tuesday, January 1, 2019
7 WAYS TO SMASH THROUGH YOUR PLATEAU!
Happy New Year, my good reader! If you’re anything like me, you’re most likely not new to the whole fitness thing; you’ve possibly been training for years, and you might even be in groundhog mode with your regime – which would be totally normal, we all visit that place! Hitting a plateau can be super confusing because you probably don’t know what’s causing it. The sorts of questions swirling around your mind are likely; am I not training enough, am I training too much, am I training the wrong way, in the wrong place, with the wrong people, wearing the wrong clothes, listening to the wrong music (etc.)? Well fear not, dear 2019-ready reader, for this post contains my top 7 simple tips to help you to break through that training plateau! Click MORE for your download to start the year the way you mean to go on – in blitz mode!
- IMPLEMENT ‘PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD’ TECHNIQUE
With any form of training, this technique can be implemented. In its simplest terms, it means that you’re sequentially increasing the volume of your training – whether that’s increasing number of reps, sets &/or weight-load – in order to keep the exercise challenging. In theory if you are comfortably squatting 15 reps x 3 sets of 20kg, you could make it harder by either:
- Increasing reps to 20
- Increase sets to 4
- Or by increasing the weight by some challenging percentage.
Remember that the body is outrageously smart and adapts to any stresses placed upon it. When those stresses are balanced, the body itself will remain in balance. Soft tissues (muscles, tendons and ligaments) will adapt to gravity, momentum and ground reaction forces by sensing and reacting to body position. Soft tissues are placed under both static and dynamic stress in everyday activities and thrive under that stress by improving and adapting accordingly. However, if you’re looking to get stronger, faster, leaner – whatever it may be – you need to keep your body guessing. Once your muscle memory has become accustomed to 3 sets of 15 reps at 20kg, you simply have to change it up or you’re only to blame for indulging your plateau!
- STEP UP THE FREQUENCYThis could be for your overall training program – so for instance training 4 times a week instead of 3. Or the frequency in which you train a certain muscle/muscle group (remember recovery is key!). It may be that to observe real, demonstrable progress with a muscle group such as shoulders / upper back, you’ll need to train more frequently than once a week, provided there’s the requisite rest period in between. This ‘targetted’ frequency consideration will help you advance specific muscle group goals.
- MAKE IT MORE COMPLEX
In this instance, complexity refers to the degree of biomechanical difficulty provided by the exercise. The performance of more complex exercises in training can increase training intensity. Doing the same exercises week after week, month after month isn’t going to break a plateau, but rather reinforce it. Going back to my earlier point that the body adapts accordingly, and that after a time you need to ‘fire up’ the body by doing something different, this complexity point is critical. It’s also going to prevent boredom and who doesn’t love a challenge?
- PICK UP THE TEMPO
Tempo training – increasing the ‘time under tension’ to which you subject your muscles (i.e. for how long is the muscle contracting) is also a way to implement a form of progression without having to necessarily add more weight. The muscle is working harder for a longer period of time. This also touches on eccentric and concentric training which you can read more about HERE.
- THAT’S INTENSE, MAN
Increasing intensity really comes down to honesty with oneself. You’ve got to ask yourself ‘how much effort did I really put in to that session?’ If you think out of ten… was it a 5 or a 7? For how much time are you ‘resting’ between sets, whilst chatting to your mates or looking at Instagram… You don’t necessarily have to give it a 10 every single time and be a quivering exhausted wreck plastered to the gym floor, but if you’re leaving every time and haven’t really broken a sweat then maybe it’s worth stepping the intensity up a notch. I have had a lot of female clients throughout the years coming to me with huge goals and aspirations to be followed by the comment ‘by the way I really don’t like and want to sweat’. Some people naturally don’t sweat very much but the likelihood is that if you don’t train hard enough, you won’t see the results you want. Intensity is key, and only you’ll really know how hard you’re pushing it.
- DON’T OVERTRAIN
This is something many people overlook; overtraining is often caused by repetitive overuse or overstretching. Muscles and tendons have an elastic limit at a point whereby an elastic structure cannot stretch any further and is likely to rupture. It’s the combination of training the muscle incorrectly in the sense that it’s pushing it too farwhereby the body cannot adapt to the stresses or demands placed upon it and is not receiving enough rest and recovery in between training sessions. When you train hard, fitness levels will naturally increase but fatigue will also increase, which can reduce your preparedness for the next session. My view is that you want to step into the gym (or to approach whichever form of training you’re about to do) full of energy, not feeling mentally and physically depleted. For me, a minimum of 7 hours sleep, enough recovery between each training session and the occasional sports massage does the trick nicely. There should be no guilt about taking a break when it would be detrimental not to do so.
- HOW’S MY FORM?
Form & Technique – possibly the most important point I can make in this post. If you’re not performing the exercise correctly, you’re not targeting the right muscles and it may be your doing more harm than good. There’s a chance you’re compensating for your poor form by engaging the wrong muscles in the wrong plane; so, before you start loading your squat with too many plates (machismo alert!) ensure you’re doing the exercises correctly, so you don’t end up damaging your back instead. Once you sustain a back injury from squat, there’s a decent chance that will haunt you for a long time to come. My preference is always to go slightly lighter, but to ensure my form is right. Use the mirrors to help you gauge body planes and angles, and don’t be afraid to ask a PT at the gym to help show you an exercise if you’re not sure.
That’s not by any means an exhaustive list, and there are of course countless considerations such as nutrition, supplementation, sequencing of training load (etc…) but I thought we’d start there! Hope that’s given you something to bite into for now. Best of luck for 2019 and once again, a very happy new year!
Faya x
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