One of the books that helped us make it through was the “What to Expect” series. So I guess we are talking books not just one. My wife bought the What to Expect When Expecting as soon as we found out she was pregnant. I can remember sitting in bed at night with her, reading each week what crazy things were going on inside of her body. We loved the comparisons to the size of our growing baby each week. She got much of her needed information about pregnancy from this book; it became her bible.

Weeks before her due date, she ordered What to Expect the First Year. I say ordered because at that point, she was laying in bed with her ankles raised and doing all of her shopping online. Again, she found another winner and cherished this book. It still sits by her bedside where she keeps it to use as reference for our other daughter

As our youngest has now grown older we missed the opportunity to utilize the information in the newest edition, What to Expect: The Second Year, but having been given an advanced copy the information is “priceless” to a parent.

Now here is the existing part! What to Expect.com has generously teamed up with me to host a giveaway to celebrate this wonderful book series. In honor of us graduating into the next phase of our kids lives, I am giving away the first three books in this series; the same ones we have used and rave about!

One lucky follower will receive:

• What to Expect When Expecting
• What to Expect the First Year
• What to Expect the Second Year

To enter this giveaway you must follow Working Mom Workouts publicly, and leave a comment telling me which book you will enjoy the most. Please include your email. You must do this before you complete any of the extra entries! Even if you are entering for yourself and your little one is almost a year, remember, all working moms know someone who is expecting. Enter for yourself and an expecting working mom!

Extra entries – leave a comment telling me you have done each of these:

-Like Working Mom Workouts on Facebook

-Follow Working Mom Workouts on Twitter

-Follow What to Expect on Twitter

-Follow Working Mom Workouts on Networked Blogs

-Tweet about this giveaway up to once a day (leave the link in your comment)

-Post this giveaway on your blog (leave the link to your post)

This giveaway will end Monday, July 23rd  at 9 PST. Good luck to everyone!

I am happy to announce that the preview to my new exercise workbook is now available. If you want to take a look inside of what you can expect from this exercise workbook all you have to do is follow this link https://www.createspace.com/Preview/1100047

Please let me know your thoughts by commenting below!

Coach Dave

1.) Understand the Benefit – I can stress this point enough. I hear all the time that I have so many things I have to get done I just don’t have  time to workout. First of all, let me be brutally honest with you, unless you have great genetics the chances of you being able to get through life without working out and staying healthy are slim. The body was actually made to have physical demands put on it and without putting those physical demands on it the body begins to weaken and that is when we are more susceptible to illnesses and diseases. Exercise strengthens the body and the mind to allow you to have more energy and live a more quality lifestyle as you get older.

Plus, you may have heard  this before about how exercise speeds up metabolism and burns calories, but what you may not have heard is that by exercising you can decrease your biological age. What do I mean by biological age? Well, doctors can measure certain organs and blood levels to determine what age a person might be from a health stand point. I have heard of people in their 50′s having a biological age in their 30′s shaving off some 20 years just because they exercise and live a healthy lifestyle.

As Stephen Covey says in his famous book  7 Habits of highly Effective People “Begin with the end in mind.” Knowing the benefits of exercise and visualizing yourself living a more productive and functioning life as you get older will help you keep the motivation to exercise daily.

2.) Just get Started – The other day I was reading an email from some guy I follow and he was talking about how he was training to run an ultra marathon. He explained that he is not some freak of nature athlete that has always been able to run long distances but told his story of how one day he decided that being overweight was something he wanted to change. He then went on to say that he did not plan on running marathons but just decided to lace up his tennis shoes and start running!

How many times have we gotten caught up in the “Paralysis by Analysis Syndrome.” There are a lot of us that don’t get past the planning stage of doing something because we are too busy trying to figure out well what time is it going to work for me or I am going to need to get new workout clothes but I am not sure what to wear. You just need to get started. Sure if you have no clue what you are doing you should seek some professional advice but don’t keep putting off working out because you have not figured out all the logistics to it.

3.) Develop a set time – Because we are such a “Time” oriented society a critical factor in making exercise a daily habit is to make a set time in your calendar that you are going to exercise. I remember one of my old clients use to tell me that if she did not make that 6 am appointment with me then she would just hit the snooze on the alarm clock and skip the workout. Having that appointment with me forced her to get up so that she did not stand me up

I always tell people that if you can exercise in the morning then set that as your daily appointment because if you put it in the afternoon everyone knows as the day goes on that little voice in our heads starts talking to us and justifies the fact that we can’t stop doing what we  are doing to go exercise. If you can’t do mornings then set an evening time and hold yourself accountable to that by either making an appointment with a personal trainer or with a friend.

4.) Have Fun – Most people think exercise is as painful as going to the dentist. It does not have to be painful and miserable. When I used to teach indoor cycling classes the thing I tried to do the most was make sure the class was having fun. If working out is not enjoyable for you and you just can’t allow yourself to have fun then make yourself smile. If you have ever tried this then you know that it is nearly impossible to stay unhappy if you put a smile on your face.

Also, choose activities that you enjoy. If you know you don’t like doing something than don’t force yourself to do it because there are numerous activities that you can do to accomplish the same goal.

5.) Use for personal growth - There are many ways that you can use exercise as format for personal growth. Simply by developing the habit of daily exercise and achieving your goal of improved health and well being you are demonstrating to yourself that you have what it takes to be successful.

You can also use the time for personal growth by listening to podcasts, motivational lectures, sermons, or audio-books. Not only are these activities a wise use of your time, they will inspire you to continue exercising and pushing on towards your goals.

Personally, I alternate between “fun” activities while I exercise (such as watching my favorite television show while I work out on our elliptical trainer), and personal growth activities. Both inspire me to keep exercising and help me to be more productive with the rest of my activities.

6.) Get Support – Getting support is crucial to making daily exercise a habit. I know that for me if it wasn’t for my wife also on board with working out regularly it would be difficult for me, so get your significant other or friend to commit to daily exercise. Also, one of the reasons Weight Watchers is so successful is the support system they have. When people have other people go through the same struggles or challenges having someone their to encourage and motivate you goes a long way.

If you need a support group you can join us on the Facebook Fanpage www.facebook.com/workingmomworkouts 

7.) Reward Yourself – And the final tip to making daily exercise a habit is to reward yourself. I used to have my female clients go to the mall before they started working with me an find an outfit that they wanted and then once they hit their goal they had  to buy it as a reward for staying committed and reaching there  goal.

Find little ways to reward yourself for staying disciplined and it will actually make working out rewarding!

I hope you find these 7 tips beneficial for developing the habit of daily exercise. If you would like to receive my Free report on “How to Speed Up Your Metabolism without doing endless cardio” then fill in the info below and I will email it to you. Plus, joining my list you will continue to get tips on fitness and weightless.

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• A brief intro to who I am
• What Working Mom Workouts is all about
• What services Working Mom Workouts provides
• What to expect from future podcasts

Working Mom Workouts Podcast

1.) The first big announcement is that the content for my upcoming exercise workbook is complete!! I am so excited to bring this step by step comprehensive fitness workout book to you but before I can complete the process I need to come up with a title, which is where you come in. I am asking fans of Working Mom Workouts to help name the title of my book. If I choose your title I will give you a complimentary copy plus 6 months access to my personal coaching membership site! To be considered all you need to do is leave a comment below and suggest the title! The book is geared towards busy and working moms with emphasis on nutrition. Plus, it is a step by step exercise workbook that goes from week #1 to Week #24 (6 months). What would you name it?

2.) My second big announcement is I am entering into a 90 day challenge to lose the rest of the weight I set out to lose at the beginning of the year. (15 lbs). If you are interested in joining me on your own 90 day challenge let me know and I will include you into the private group. Just so you know I have my 20 year high school reunion coming up this summer so I need to get back to the weight I was in high school, which requires me to lose another 12 lbs. I will be dedicated an entire post to this so stay tuned later this week for more info!

Coach Dave

What have you accomplished?

Where are the promises you made yourself on January 1st?

Imagine the little camera at the top of your computer screen was ON every one of the 89 days this year. If little green light was ON all along… what would it see? (It was there that whole time. What DID it see?)

Did it see you mapping out your action plan every day and executing it?

Did it see you deciding what you need to change, and changing it?

Did it see you making real investments in whatever area of health you lack?

Did it see you putting new changes into action?

Or does it mostly see you frittering away your life, your opportunities, squandering your health, disappointing those who depend on you?

How about that microphone in your laptop?

How many excuses does it hear?

How much rationalizations? How much victim talk?

Does it listen to you shortchanging your future, telling yourself you’re too busy, too overloaded, too confused? Does it hear you complaining that life’s too hard?

If you wanna sit in a stupor dreaming about by-and-by in-the-sky…. if you want to punt on this life with dreams of reincarnation for the next…. hey, it’s a free country. But as far as I’m concerned you get ONE life. And this is it.

Now.

The worst thing you can EVER do is lie to yourself.

“I don’t really need to do that.”

“I already know how to do that.”

“I’ll do that tomorrow.”

“I will invest in my health when the economy picks up.”

“Those trainings are too expensive.”

“Things always manage to work out OK.”

“Maybe I can negotiate the price of success just a little bit. For a little while, anyway.”

People who think that way always end up with the man’s boot on their dead neck. At their funerals, their friends talk about how well-intended they were, instead of celebrating what they actually DID.

If you think this is too harsh, unsubscribe.

If you think I’m self serving and I don’t have a right to be, unsubscribe.

If you know I’m speaking the truth, get busy.

If you need a plan of action, then don’t hesitate to call and get the training you need. Phone number is 214-394-7360. I am not gonna shove anything down your throat. But if something I have is going to help you, I will make sure you know.

And…. if you put off thinking about this until someday, you’ve still made a decision.

Time is ticking. Ticking. Ticking. Once gone, it never comes back.

Dave McGarry

What To Eat In Order To Increase Your Metabolism

Losing weight can be hard work, but one way to make it a little easier is to boost your metabolism.   Contrary to what you may think, you don’t have to be stuck with a ìslowî metabolism and there are little things you can do to help speed it up and, therefore, burn more calories during the day.

You’ve probably heard that one of those things is to build more muscle mass since it takes more energy to fuel muscle and fat and the way to do this is by beefing up your weightlifting program.  However, you can also help give your metabolism of boost by eating certain types of foods and making sure you eat several small meals a day.

Your metabolism is the furnace for your body and when you starve yourself by skipping breakfast or any other meal, it goes into conservation mode and burns less calories overall.  So, what you want to do is eat several small meals during the day which will keep your metabolism burning at a steady rate.  If you do this, plus watch what you eat, you’ll actually be able to eat more while burning more calories

The foods you want to stick to include fruits and vegetables along with legumes and whole grains.  You have to be careful with the fruits though because if you eat them in between meals your body will probably just turn them into fat as they are easy to digest.  Eating foods that are high in fiber will help you to lose weight and several ways because they are digested slowly and therefore reduce your sugar cravings.  High fiber foods will also actually encourage your body to absorb less fat because they bind with fat and help to escort it out of the body before your body can store it on your hips.

There are actually some foods that take more calories to digest than are actually in the food itself.  These are great foods for weight loss since eating lots of them will help to boost your metabolism and can go a long way to helping you burn more than you ingest.  Some of these foods include broccoli, zucchini, asparagus and cauliflower.

It’s best to avoid saturated fats because they are just too easy for your body to turn into fat.  In fact, for every 100 calories of fat you eat, your body only needs to use 2 calories to store it.  On the other hand, for every 100 calories of complex carbohydrates are proteins you eat, your body needs to use 25 calories to store it.  So, you can see why most diet plans have you reduce fat, it’s not just because fat has a lot of calories but also because  your body needs to burn less calories to process it.

Now there is one kind of fat that you do want to eat and that is omega-3 fatty acids.  These can be found in cold water fish like salmon as well as flax seeds.  Most people like to get their omega 3s from flax seed oil because almost all the salmon you find today is tainted with mercury and the flax seeds themselves need to be ground up in order to be useful so buying the oil is an easier and less toxic way to make sure you get enough of this important fat.

There are also some herbs and spices that can help boost your metabolism.  Ginseng and Gotu Kola are two of these and you’ve probably heard of ephedra which is actually a combination of herbs and is said to help boost metabolism.  In addition, a lot of the “hot” spices like ginger and cayenne pepper are said to speed up your metabolism when eaten.

Generally, eating a nutritious diet and making sure to eat steadily throughout the day will help give your metabolism a little boost which can make your weight loss efforts a lot easier.

You have probably heard a lot about the importance of positive thinking in weight loss. If you keep harboring negative thoughts, you will never be able to lose weight. On the other hand, if you become a positive thinker, weight loss will become easy for you. Let me give you an example.

Believe it or not, you are unable to lose weight because you believe that you are fat; chances are that, you even hate yourself for the same reason. Now, if you believe yourself to be thin instead. can you imagine the positive impact it can have on your weight loss goals? Your mindset and attitude can make or break your weight loss goals. In this article I will tell you how to develop a positive mindset.

Remember though that just as you cannot lose weight overnight, you also cannot transform your negative thoughts into positive ones within a very short time. So be patient with yourself and try to incorporate these changes slowly into your life

1. The reason behind your weight loss: What is the big reason behind your weight loss efforts? Why is it that you want to lose weight? Is it simply because you are unable to bear with the taunts you receive from your office colleagues, or is it because you keep getting turned down for dates, or is it simply because you want a figure like your favorite celebrity whose photo you recently saw in a magazine? Whatever it is, write them all down on a piece of paper. Note down all the reasons behind your weight loss endeavors, no matter how small or big they are!

For best results, buy some Post–It-Notes(r) stickers and write down everything on such a sticker, and make copies of it on other stickers. Then stick those stickers at every corner of your house so that you are reminded of your weight loss goals everyday. Don’t forget to stick them on your kitchen and refrigerator as well: those are the places where you are most likely to be tempted to eat the ‘forbidden foods’ or ‘cheat’ on your diet program!

2. Motivation and realistic goals: Now it is time to set some realistic goals for yourself. To do that, you need to know your ideal body weight, and then subtract that from your current body weight. The resulting figure you now get is the amount of body weight you got to lose to acquire the kind of figure you want.

Now, realistically, you cannot lose more than 2 pounds per week. Do the math and find out how many pounds you can lose a year from now. Again, be realistic in your goals, as unrealistic goals serve no purpose. If you weigh 100 pounds or more, don’t expect to gain a svelte figure like Jessica Alba within a month!

Once you have set your goals, you now need some motivation that will help you achieve your weight loss goals. What you will use to motivate yourself will depend on the reason behind your weight loss. If you want to be like your favorite celebrity, hang the pictures of that celebrity all around your house. Side by side, also hang your picture with your current body weight! That would be more than enough to keep you motivated!

The way you eat can have just as much to do with your weight gain or weight loss as what you eat. By changing a few things regarding how you eat, you can actually save calories and feel fuller. These techniques are easy to follow and will not draw a lot of attention to your weight loss process.

1. Chew your food slower. Many times you eat fast and hurriedly. This can cause you to eat more calories than you actually think you are eating. My chewing your food slower and taking smaller bites, you can make yourself feel fuller and lose more weight.

2. Eat off a dark colored plate. Yep, even the color of your plate can make you hungrier or fuller. Use a cool or dark colored plate to cause your mind to relax and enjoy the food better, hence causing you to eat less and slower.

3. Relax and de-stress before you eat. Many people are emotional eaters and stress will cause them to eat more. Relaxing will allow you to eat less and enjoy your food more.

4. Have some water with your meal. Feel free to drink water between bites and before your meal. This will make you feel fuller and be better hydrated.

5. Leave the room that you are eating in after eating. This way you can feel completely done eating. Dishes and leftovers can wait for a few minutes while you relax and begin to digest your food.

6. Focus on one thing at a time. Yes, it can be tempting to read the paper or watch television while eating, but this can distract you from your portion control and can even create a habit. This can cause you to want to eat every time you watch television, rather than watch television while you eat, causing you to eat more calories.

7. Designate areas of the house in which food is allowed. Not only will this keep the house cleaner, but it will also teach you to only want to eat while in those designated area. This can help to keep cravings and temptations at bay.

8. Buy salad plates and use these instead of dinner plates. These are smaller and will make whatever you put on them look bigger. This will trick your mind into thinking that you have eaten more and therefore are not hungry for more.

These little changes are simple and easy to implement but are also very effective for controlling your appetite. Such simple techniques can help you to retrain your brain and body, causing further weight loss. With such simple techniques, there is no reason not to be able to stick to your diet plan, provided it is balanced and reasonable.

Metabolism is a very complicated process within your body, but to describe it simply, it is the process by which your body breaks down food and converts it into energy that your body then uses for all of your vital functions.

So, if you think about this the old adage “You are what you eat” is really true since the foods you eat are metabolized and used to provide the energy that makes the new cells, that make up you! When the metabolic process is going on in your body, the energy produced can be used right away or stored for later use. If it is stored, it becomes fat so, as you can see, if you are taking in more energy than you need, you are going to be putting on some extra weight. While the process is a lot more complex that that and involves hormones and other factors, the simple fact is that taking in more energy (or food) than your body needs to burn to maintain itself is going to result in excess pounds.

Your body needs a certain amount of energy in order to keep everything running smoothly. This is usually measured as the amount of energy your body needs to maintain itself while at rest and is called your Basal Metabolic Rate or BMR. If you have a high BMR, consider yourself lucky as you will be able to eat a bit more food without gaining weight. If you have a low BMR, then every thing you eat might seem to go right to your hips. While genetics has a lot to do with your metabolic rate, there are some things you can do to speed it up. The calories you burn while doing any activity, including doing nothing, is directly affected by the amount of muscle you have on your body.

So, if you build muscle, you will raise your metabolism and since you are burning more calories doing the same things you did before you will be able to eat more – or, If you want to lose weight, eat the same and the extra energy your body needs will be taken from your fat stores. Eating smaller meals and more of them is another way to boost your metabolism. You see, your body is designed to eat like a caveman and back then it was feast or famine. There would be a plethora of food available after a hunt, but then you could go days without anything but a few berries. In order to survive, nature made our bodies so that the metabolism would slow down when food is not plentiful.

So, eating many smaller meals will give your body the signal that there is plenty of food so it can feel free to rev up the engines. The other advantage is that it also takes energy to digest food so by eating more meals, you will actually be expending more energy and there will be less left over to store as fat. So, as you can see, metabolism is a critical process in our survival and is actually programmed to work in a way that isnít necessarily the best for modern times. However, if you understand how to eat so that your body makes the best use of the energy then you will have an important weapon for battling those extra pounds.