Atlanta Fitness Coach: A Blog about Weight-Loss, Nutrition and the T-Tapp Workout

Tammy loses 29 inches in less than 3 Months!!!

Tammy made a decision to lose inches and get her core muscles strong to reduce her back pain.  She was getting married to the love of her life on a tropical island in May and she was motivated! 

Luckily Tammy saw the morning show on FOX TV that Teresa Tapp and I were on in March.  She made the decision to get the DVD's and put T-Tapp to the test.

I was thrilled when I received a call from Tammy asking if she could have private T-Tapp sessions with me two mornings a week before she went to her office. 

Those of you who know me will realize how significant this was for me.  I HATE getting up that early.  But if Tammy was willing to commit, so was I. 

She kept her commitment and we tapped 2 early mornings a week.  Tammy used her T-Tapp DVD's on the days she wasn't with me.  She tapped, on average, 5 days a week.  Tammy lost inches and started to feel better right away.  Listen as Tammy shares her results.

 

The one huge take-away I hope you get is that T-Tapp WORKS!  The only ingredient it is missing to do it's magic is YOU!  And your committment to doing it.  And sticking with it. 

Often you'll hear about someone who lost a lot of inches in the first two weeks.  So you try it for two weeks wanting that quick inch loss.  Yes...you will lose inches that quickly.  But the real benefits come from doing T-Tapp consistently over time.  It doesn't have the same sizzle as the quick inch loss.  But looking and feeling incredible as we age is worth 10 X the amount of time we put into it.

Keep on tapping!

It's All About Body Composition!

When you ask yourself what you want, really give it some thought.  Most women tell me they want to lose weight.  What does that mean?  You can have an organ removed and that will cause you to lose weight.  I know that sounds ridiculous but I'm using that to make a point.

The point is to be very clear about what you want so you can learn how to create that result.  Do you want a trim, firm, healthy body?  If so, then you need to learn how to use your food and your movement plan to burn off your body's excess fat (it's own stored energy source) and increase your lean tissue (muscle).

Have you ever seen one pound of body fat next to one pound of body muscle?  The weight is the same.  The difference you will see is the mass.  The pound of fat is fluffy and large.  The pound of muscle is tight and small. 

The other difference is in their metabolic processes.  Fat is practically inert.  Muscle is very metabolically active.  It is estimated that one pound of muscle burns around 60 calories per day.  One pound of fat, around 5.  If you go on a "diet" and you lose 5 pounds of scale weight but out of that 5 pounds, you lost 3 pounds of muscle and only 2 pounds of fat, you've lost the ability to burn an extra 3 x 60 calories or 180 caolories a day to maintain that lower weight.

You now weigh less, but you are fatter!!!  And that lower weight will be much harder to maintain.

Let's change our thinking and decide to change our body composition.  Let's say we want to burn our excess fat and increases our lean muscle tissue so we look and feel our best.  We are going to do that by making sure we eat our protein!!!

Or more specifically we are going to balance our lean protein with our low glycemic veggies and a moderate amount of good fats in order to balance our blood sugar, lower our insulin levels, increase our phytonutrient levels and increase our fiber. 

That is the prescription for changing body composition using your food choices.  The next part of the prescription is adding and anti-aging movement program to the  mix.

If you want to have a trim, lean, healthy body take a look at the people who you want to emulate.  What are they doing?  They are eating a diet designed to do just that.  Burn body fat and increase lean tissue.

Wishing you a balanced day!

Ask Better Questions! Get Better Answers!

Questions are one of the most valuble tools we have for changing our health.  Why?  Because the right questions allow us to get very clear about what it is we really want.  Once you have clarity about what it is you want, you can set your intention to get it and proceed with taking action.

Once I establish with a new client what it is they want, I proceed to share tools to help them get it.  Let's say it's the Balanced Eating Program.  Almost always, people will tell me it sounds great.  "But I've lost weight with this, that and the other popular program, and when I went off it, I gained it all back...and then some.  What does your program have those didn't to help me keep off the weight???"

HMMMM!  Let me recap what I just heard.  You went on a program and you lost the weight.  In other words, the program worked.  Then you went off the program and you gained it back.  Right? 

Seems to me it wasn't about the program.  When you were "on" the program, you lost weight and felt better.  The better question to ask is "if it was working, why did you go off it?"

BUSTED!!!  Don't you hate that it always comes back to us.  NOT from a blame or fault-finding mission.  But simply to pay attention to our thought processes and emotional sabateurs that get in our way just as we are looking success in the face.

Here are some of the answers I typically get: "I get bored with the food"; "I got stressed out and ate my way through the refridgerator"; "Life got in the way".  Here's another common answer: "I was only losing about a pound a week. I got impatient and figured it wasn't working so why bother."

Do any of these sound familiar?  What could my program offer that can counteract all these things? 

Guess What???  There are tools and techniques that help you deal effectively with all these things. If you have any interest in finally gaining back control over these unconscious habits keeping you from achieving your long-term weight loss success, please let me know. 

But first ask yourself what you really want.  Are you ready to shift into a healthy lifestyle in a soft, easy way?  Can you do it by being really gentle and loving with yourself or does it have to be hard and painful?"  WOW!  Powerful questions, huh?

Chosen as a Top 50 Best Health Coaching Blog!

I started this blog because I wanted a place to share my thoughts, tools, ideas and tips.  I love writing it!  I hope it is helpful to those of you looking for tools that actually WORK!  Not just information that has "clinical" data to say it is "truth".

The things I choose to write about come from experience gained by working with people everyday on their weight loss and health issues.  There is so much information out there.  Much of it is conflicting.  The cases made on both sides of an issue sounds so "right".

I like to say your body is your most perfect feedback mechanism.  Instead of giving some "authority figure" the power to make decisions about your health for you, if something sounds reasonable, try it and let your body tell you whether it's correct for you...or NOT. 

The key is to ask and LISTEN to what your body is saying to you.  If you chose to follow a specific nutrition program, allow your body to tell you if it's right for you.  Follow it for 2 weeks.  Listen to your body.  If you find you're always physically hungry, you don't have the right balance (protein/carb/fat) for your metabolic type.  You'll need to tweak the balance.

Are you tired, cranky, shaky, having food cravings a few hours after you eat?  These are all signs the program isn't quite right for you.  Even if your friend lost a ton of weight on it or your doctor told you to go on it.

Okay...I got off on a completely different tangent.  I really just wanted to thank the writers of this nursing school blog for including my blog as one of their top 50 health coach blog picks.  I'm so incredibly flattered.  I went to the link and took a look at some of the other sites chosen and they were terrific.  I love being in their "company".

Thanks so much for including my blog.  I hope some of my posts will be inspirational to your readers!

One Inch Lost Around Each Thigh in One Week!!!

The power of T-Tapp continues to amaze me!

I have a client who was referred to me by a wonderful OB/GYN.  This client has PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome).  Women with PCOS have a difficult time losing weight because they tend to be very insulin resistant.

This women was so determined not to let her diagnosis keep her from gaining back control over her weight and her health.  She followed my balanced nutrition program to the letter!  She's lost over 20 pounds in two months. 

After 2 weeks on the program, she began walking 45 minutes 5 days a week on her treadmill.  When her weight loss slowed down, I recommended doing more of a "PACE" workout.  So she did.  She did more interval training.  That got her weight moving down again.

At this point, I hadn't ever actually met this wonderful women.  I needed to bring her a book so I went to where she was working.  How cool to meet a person who has been positively impacted by balanced nutrition. 

I'm so glad I met her.  She looked fantastic.  I saw she was a classic "combo bordering on long torso" and her area of concern was her thighs and derriere.  Oh my gosh!  I knew what T-Tapp could do for her.  "I have the perfect workout for you" I told her.  It's only 15 minutes a day and if you'll follow the instructions Teresa has laid out for your bootcamp just like you followed the nutrition plan, you will be blown away with your results". 

I'm sure she was thinking "NO way I can workout for just 15 minutes doing these silly looking moves and lose inches!!!" but by now she trusted me enough to give it a whirl.

Last night she called me.  "You aren't going to believe it" she told me.  I had a big grin on my face.  "SHARE!"  I yelled into the phone. 

In one week, "I lost 1/2 to 1 inch on EVERY measurement except my pecs!"  And I lost 1 inch on each thigh!  I can't believe I got these results just doing those moves!!!"

I know.  It defies logic.  But I've given up trying to figure it out.  One of my favorite sayings is "the body is the perfect feedback machanism."  It will tell you what works for you and what doesn't.  And T-Tapp just plain WORKS!!!!

T-Tapp Brought Down Blood Sugar Levels 38 Points!!!

If you want to burn belly fat and get healthy, you MUST learn how to balance your blood sugar and get your insulin level down!  It is THE KEY to weight loss! 

I don't say this because I read it in some book. It is wisdom gained from experience. I'm so excited to share Donna's experience with you that highlights exactly what I've been talking about.

Donna has been a client and T-Tapper for several years.  She first came to a T-Tapp class about 7 years ago and could barely make it through the first 10 minutes.  Quite frankly, I was shocked she came back.  But she did.  And she sweat and groaned through the next few months.  And she kept coming back.

I can't imagine the amount of courage it took for Donna to continue to come back to class.  Her perseverance is a testament to the fact that Donna "was ready!!!"  She was ready to do whatever it took to change her life and her health. 

This past week, an interesting thing happened.  Donna was the only one in class on Tuesday.  I'm sure she was petrified about having my eagle eye on her every move!  But having Donna all to myself was perfect because we were able to work on her ability to really activate her muscles on each move.  Once again, the sweat poured from her. 

When you've been doing T-Tapp for a while, it's easy to go through the moves without really engaging all your muscles.  Especially if you are a person who prefers to be "out of your body".  You will still get results.  But when you go inside and allow yourself to feel your strong muscles engage and then get the feedback of internal heat that's generated from muscle engagement, it can be very powerful.

This is what happened to Donna.  Before we began our class, she told me she's been having difficulty getting her blood sugar back under control.  Donna is diabetic and takes her sugar levels daily.  Donna realizes intellectually that when her blood sugar is higher than it should be, her insulin level is high and she can't lose weight.  But taking that from her head into her body isn't always a straight line.

I asked Donna to go home after class and check her sugars.  Then check them throughout the day and let me know what affect our T-Tapp session had.  The next day a beaming Donna showed up with her food and health journal.  She was kind enough to share her experience.

Tuesday when she woke up, blood sugar was at 132.  After class, 102.  She ate a sandwich, piece of meat and a medifast product at 11:00.  At 3:00 she had a fish sandwich.  At 4:25pm, her sugars were 123!

7:00pm she had a "lean and green meal" of roast and asparagus.  8:43pm she did a set of hoe downs and then took her blood sugar.  94!!!

The next day, she had lost 2 pounds!  Prior to our workout, she hadn't been able to get the scale to budge for weeks!

This experience is so telling.  It shows the power of T-Tapp and what muscle activation will do to reduce blood sugar levels.  I purposely also gave you her food consumption because there are clues there too.  Notice after she had a "lean and green" meal with no refined carbs and did a set of hoe downs, the sugar finally got below 100. 

It's the combination of low glycemic load meals and muscle activating activity like T-Tapp that WILL allow the body to heal and rebalance itself.

The next day, Donna brought in pictures of herself before she began her healing journey.  We were all blown away!!!!  She is down close to 40 pounds and is a different person.

Thank you so much Donna for allowing me to share your experience.  Healing is so personal and yet your courage and grace is an inspiration for others to follow your path to health.  I love you!!!!

Healing from the Heart!

Yesterday I held a Health Coach training for my Take Shape For Life team.  It was so inspiring and energizing.  I love to pay attention to the faces and energy of people when they first walk into the room.  Coaches who have been to these trainings already know they will be welcomed into a positive experience. 

New Coaches don't know what to expect.  Or maybe more accurately, they have an expectation already and they are coming to see if it will be met.

When I schedule a training, I set a loosely held agenda of information I think is important to impart.  But I have learned to begin the session and allow it to go where it needs to go.  This always happens because the people I have purposefully aligned myself with have high, positive intentions for themselves, their clients and their business. 

A dear friend and Health Coach agreed to talk about the power of writing down what she wanted,setting time frames along with the action steps needed to receive what she wanted.  Everyone in the room was mesmerized by her talk.  Was it because we haven't heard about the power of written goal setting?  Absolutely NOT!!!  It was her heart-filled delivery of the positive effect it had on her and her business.  It was apparent she wanted to share this to help others also realize their dreams and goals.

Another Health Coach shared a new way she is working with and training her Health Coaches to share this amazing program and opportunity.  She introduced a very innovative, yet simple thing she is doing and the explosion she is seeing in her business because of it.  Once again, while the information was fantastic and helpful, it was her heart-filled desire to help that came through so much more than her words.

Each Coach shared their own weight loss and/or health benefit success and with each success there was sincere applause.  One new Health Coach has lost 61 pounds in 13 weeks and her tears of joy and gratitude were inspirational to people down the street!

When people left the room, their faces were different.  Where there might have been apprehension and trepidation about coming into a room with people they don't know (especially when it has to do with a very potentially emotional issue like weight), there was now a strong knowing they had just been in a room of people truly dedicated to helping us all heal. 

We go through life with so much negativity surrounding us.  Coming into a room where people are welcoming of you regardless of where you are in your program (or if you aren't even planning on going on the program!) and sharing from their heart in a positive and healing way is simply balm for your soul.

Wishing you balm on this magnificent Sunday.

Why I Was Drawn to Balance Walking!

The word "balance" comes up in my life consistently.  Enough that I'm finally paying attention.  Fifteen years ago when I was setting up my company, I called it Balance For Health.  I don't even know why.  It just came to me and felt right so I went with it.

That name has proven to be a blueprint for my business.  We don't have optimal health when our lives and bodies aren't in balance.  It's the balance between the yin and the yang.  The masculine and the feminine.  Working and playing.  Activity and rest.  Taking care of everyone else and taking care of ourselves.

In nutrition, I've found the key is in balancing your blood sugar.  Balancing both your macro-nutrients (protein, carbs and fats) and balancing your micro-nutrients (vitamins/minerals...). 

In movement, the key is balancing your periods of activity (including the intensity) and periods of rest. 

In T-Tapp, Teresa even has a whole section of the workout dedicated to improving your balance.  Which works on your CORE!  Do you get the connection?  Balance is CORE to a healthy life.

In life, balancing the amount of time spent working and time spent being with my family and friends.

When I was presented with the opportunity to share a new way of life called Balance Walking, I was instantly intrigued.  I had studied many different walking techniques and had done Nordic Walking and Exerstriding for years.  What made me excited about Balance Walking was it's emphasis on the lifestyle associated with it. 

I read the book Balance Walking - Turn Back The Clock! by Ray Margiano.  Ray is the President of Foot Solutions and he started this new term.  He wrapped a whole balanced lifestyle concept around this program, including eating whole, healthy balanced foods, muscle toning and meditation/relaxation.  It truly is a lifestyle dedicated to bringing balance into your life.

Balance Walking is a program for everyone.  Even if you've never "exercised", you can use the walking poles with this simple technique and feel the positive difference it makes in your health and in your life.

Check out my new blog on balance walking!  It's http://www.balancewalkingcoach.com.

Get a Killer Lean Body in Just Minutes a Day!!!

You know I am a rabid T-Tapper. I've been doing T-Tapp for 9 years now and in that time I've seen people achieve the most amazing physical and emotional transformations.

Yet I'm always researching and keeping up with the newest studies so I can bring you cutting edge new products and services all designed to enhance your life. My research has led me to a Physician named Al Sears,MD. Dr. Sears has credentials as long as my arm. He is a true humanitarian who walks his talk. His nutritionals are second to none. More on that in another post.

What I wanted to share today is his PACE Workout. PACE stands for Progressive Accelerating Cardio-pulmonary Exertion. YIKES!!! Fancy way of saying interval training. But there is a little more to it than that.

I've been incorporating many of his principles into our T-Tapp routine and the results are evident. Many of us are wearing heart rate monitors and are finding that, by making sure to do two sets of hoe downs throughout the workout we are able to get our heart rate into the super zone. This is allowing us to get the muscle sculpting, lymph pumping benefits of t-tapp with the heart rate training and subsequent fat blasting of the PACE.

What do I mean by "results are evident"? Well, in two weeks of incorporating more PACE into my T-Tapp, I've lost an additional 1.5% body fat!!!   And I haven't changed anything else. The Tappers in class are telling me they are getting stronger and their pants are getting looser!!!

Gotta love it. Remember the Doublemint Twins?? Two Two Two workout in ONE!!! With triple the results. If you'd like more info on PACE, click HERE.