Static Cling, Too Extreme?

by Kris Pitcher

I could have been taking things to extremest measures when at the last minute I put on a slip for my slip. I was running out the door when I realized my dress was clinging to my tights between my knee high boots and the point on my thighs at which my full slip ended.

In the cold dry air I knew that seven inch gap was going to be a big problem. Rushing out to a community breakfast where I would be representing my institution...I needed a slip for my slip. So, I carefully stepped into the second slip boots and all and was out the door.

We often take our exercise or dieting efforts to extreme measures without a second thought. But even those of us who exceed the bounds of moderation can spot a true wacko a mile a way. We see it a lot in this industry. Extremism and wackos that is.

Maybe I'm a skeptic because I'm cautious of someone who's got something to sell me. Or maybe I tend to question someone who is convinced their way is the only way. But I'm certainly wary of the person who is way off to the end of the spectrum on an issue.

There is a lot of information to sift through, and many ways of doing things. Science backs our choices and informs our decisions about which methods we choose. We shouldn't follow extremists, their fads, or their magic "programs", "potions", or "protocols".

Sometimes you need a slip for your slip (when the conditions are just right) and most of the time you don't. Know where you are on the spectrum and watch for extremists trying to get you to drink the cool aid. When you understand the science you can make your own decisions.

Sorry For What?

by Kris Pitcher

You're sorry? Sorry for what?! When I see you out at social engagements...you do not owe me an explanation. I am not the food police. I am also not the cocktail police. I am not counting how many trips you've made to the buffet table or the champagne fountain.

You don't have to explain how you're going to work off what ever you're indulging in, or go into some strange story about how this extra party food fits into your plan. Just. Eat. It.

See, the thing is you are your conscience. Not me. It frankly makes me feel awkward. I smile and nod and tell you to enjoy yourself. I tell you it's all about balance this time of year. Yadda. Yadda.

And the point, there is nothing to apologize for. Nothing. Just enjoy yourself and your choices. Let the guilt go. Stop looking over your shoulder for the party police. They don't exist.

Make your choices, and then enjoy them. Stop feeling like you need to sneak around or apologize. I know you're a normal person. We all are normal people - give or take.

Be your own conscience. Don't put that on any external force. Sure accountability is a great thing. We are all accountable to others in our support system. But mostly, we're accountable to ourselves.

Enjoy yourself in moderation. Eat what you're supposed to eat most of the time. Don't get sideways with your exercise. Make time for yourself. Tis the season! Enjoy it, it's your choice.

In All Fairness

by Kris Pitcher

I was gazing longingly at my husband across the living room as he was about to lick the dripping jam from his peanut butter and jam rice cake sandwich. I leaned toward him and I said, "I want that!"

"You can have it if you want to be 200 pounds too." he said. I laughed out loud. It was EXACTLY what I needed to hear. See, on top of all his required meals of precise macro nutrients...he needs to supplement with extras. PB&J, raisin bread toast, pop corn. You name it. Pretty much what ever he wants.

The point is, he's trying to reach 200 pounds...and quick. Me on the other hand, I'm trying to hold on at 130ish. Our goals are different. The point is in all fairness - there is no fairness in food. Period.

I know a lot of ladies who keep up with the men in their lives in terms of the amount of food they put away. It's no wonder then that they are looking like linebackers is it? It isn't.

So, if I'm sitting there thinking "boy it sure isn't fair that he gets to eat peanut butter sandwiches before bed and I get egg whites" my head is in the wrong place. There is no fairness involved. Our. Goals. Are. Different.

You have to eat what's right for your plan, your goals, and for what is going to fuel your needs. Eating isn't about what's fair. It's simply about what's fuel.

Time To Be A Big Girl

by Kris Pitcher

"Sitting like a big girl," she crooned as her little body rocked on the waiting room chair. Her mother corralled two boys while retrieving the knit cap the baby had thrown from the stroller. I watched from across the room...

The girl's pig-tails bounced back and forth and as her mother was distracted she slid from the chair. Her hands followed its rails, then she crouched on the floor just in front of it. With fingers spread wide she palmed the tile floor, little fingers following the grout lines. She put her hands out in front of her and then made a circle on the floor all around her until they met the rails of the chair.

She scooted back up and smiled and said, "Sitting like a big girl." Mom was having a conversation with the oldest boy who was maybe six. She was explaining that indeed he could not have a cup of coffee, or a capuccino, from the machine in the waiting room of the tire store. She went on to tell him he was the oldest boy there and was acting like a baby.

I listened from across the room...through all this chaos mom had one hand on or near the girl. As she'd sat her down, she had taken her tiny white cane with the red ball on the end and attached it to the baby's stroller.

When the dad came into the store the young mother looked at him with eyes that could only say, "help me". Three kids in diapers, a six year old who wants to drink coffee and a darling little pig-tailed girl trying to navigate the world without her sight.

And I thought my life was complicated...I think about this young mother on the days when I don't want to drag myself out of bed to do my cardio. I think about her when I'm sitting on the couch trying to decide if I want to wait until the commercial to pack my gym bag for the next day, or just do it in the morning.

We all juggle a lot, some juggle a lot more. Look around you and think of the last excuse you made...silly isn't it? Be a big girl!

Raise Your Empty Cup!

by Kris Pitcher

I don't mind washing the laundry, or folding it for that matter. But when it comes to putting the laundry away...I'm at a standoff. I can easily put my husband's laundry away. Socks in this drawer, t-shirts over here etc. Yet somehow when I look at my own drawers I don't like what I see.

First of all my drawers are already full. I can hardly stuff another thing in there. Second, I don't even like what's in there. I just kind of wear the same things that fit in the 3 loads of laundry I do each week. Hmm?

And things are rubbing me the wrong way. I mean, the season is changing, and it's also off-season...so I'm changing. And I just feel like everything is strangling me. So, I thought of a solution.

It's time to empty my cup. My cup? That's right, it's time to empty my cup. It's too full. Literally! When our cup is too full, we can't make room for other things in our life. There is no room for new opportunities, or for new experiences.

If our cup is always full we aren't open to new ideas, to new ways of doing things or to new paths in our lives. Empty your cup. What is keeping you from allowing new possibilities into your life? What is filling up your "drawers" with stuff you don't like? Taking up space in your life?

So, I'm going to empty my cup, and my drawers. I'm going to change out the seasons - that's dieting vs. off-season, so I don't have to look at those size four pants which won't fit for awhile. Tiny tank tops...outta there! I need to make room for new possibilities.

This is a great time of year to empty your cup both literally and figuratively. Give to those in need and allow for opportunity to come into your life. Make room for a new way of doing things, or for a new path to take its course. Raise your empty cup!

Mind Muscle Connection

by Kris Pitcher

There is great benefit to slower and lower when it comes to pushing the weights. It's tough on the psyche...we want the big numbers. But depending on what our goal is it just might be to our advantage to lighten up.

Making the mind muscle connection is very powerful. Putting your mental focus on your working muscle through the eccentric (lengthening) and concentric (contracting) phases of the lift is very beneficial.

But in order to do that we have to sacrifice a little bit of weight in order to slow things down and control the movement. Often when we're pushing the big numbers we've got momentum and gravity on our side. The big problem with that is propensity for injury.

Feeling the full contraction and squeezing through each repetition is the mind muscle connection in action. Controlling the movement and feeling each contraction allows you to actually recruit more fibers and work harder than just pushing more weight.

What's the benefit? Better recruitment means better symmetry, it also means greater growth. We also take out the involvement of our antagonist muscles when we work slow and controlled. For instance the antagonist to the biceps are the triceps. When we're flinging the weights around doing curls our triceps are working to slow things down. They're trying to put on the breaks.

But by reducing the weight and controlling the movement our biceps can take on all the resistance, and we benefit from making the mind muscle connection. We can execute the full contraction, feel the squeeze and recruit more fibers. Yeah! Bigger biceps!

So, put your ego in the locker and try controlling the entire movement with lighter weights. Feel the contraction and squeeze. Focus your mental energy on the movement and experience the improvements the mind muscle connection will bring you.

Get EXACTLY the Results You Want

by Kris Pitcher

Holy smokes people let me give you a tip! When you are submitting your resume for a job...write your resume to the specific skill set sought after for that job. Seems simple doesn't it? I have the great fortune to sit on a search committee for a position within the university and let me tell you, I am lucky to not have poked my own eyes out.

Specificity people! But instead of poking my eyes out...I've come to you to relate my life experience to what matters. Our workouts. Same goes for our workouts. You remember the law of specificity?

You don't get great pecs by doing the leg press. You get great pecs by directly working the chest. We need to enact the law of specificity to our weight training, to our cardio, and even to our nutrition. Especially our nutrition!

As you are thinking about your goals it's helpful to think in terms of specificity. Successfully meeting your goals will require using the laws of specificity to your advantage. If your actions, or training, toward your goals aren't specific...you'll never get there. Make sense?

Specificity means training actions that will directly effect the muscle or system you intend to improve. It means overload to the muscle you want to enact a response in. We can do that in a variety of ways, angles, etc. to keep things progressive.

To become a better runner you...run. You don't swim. That is specificity. When our plan incorporates the law of specificity we more quickly meet our goals. Then what? Well, then we reassess and make new goals! Don't forget the law of specificity in your training. It's what will get you exactly the results you want.