Welcome

Welcome to my blog,

My name is Michelle Becker and I am a personal trainer working in the greater Boston area.  In an effort to better understand and motivate my clients, I began a "blog".

Due to the overwhelming positive feedback I have received, I decided to take the blog public.

Below is the first installment.  I hope you will find it helpful in your quest for transformation.

Good afternoon everyone,

I’ve been thinking.
I do that every once in a while and sometimes I actually come up with good ideas and solutions to problems.
Who knew thinking could be so productive?

Anyway, like I said I’ve been thinking, why do some clients do so well?
They just seem to get it, and be able to focus and do what needs to be done to lose weight, while others, although they have the best intentions struggle.  It’s not that one group has more information or different information, it just seems that some people are better able to just flip the switch and keep it on, while others seem to for lack of better word short circuit.  There is a faulty switch that can’t decide if it’s going to stay on or not.

I’ve also been thinking a lot about leadership.  What defines a good leader, why are some leaders
better able to inspire and motivate than others.  What and who inspires and motivates me.

Although a big part of my role is to ensure the smooth running of the studio, the part that I enjoy the most and that gets me up in the morning and puts a smile on my face is working with you, my clients.

I take my position as the leader of your transformation very seriously, and I’m constantly thinking of how, I can best assist you.

So, I’ve been racking my brain to find a way to be a more effective leader, to better motivate and inspire and what I realized is the best leaders are those that have not only walked in the shoes of the people they lead but also share their experiences.

Therefore, I have decided to go public and be transparent in regards to my nutrition and training.

I will be from this day forward, “blogging” my own experiences, sharing with you my statistics, my goals, my daily nutrition as well as daily musings, struggles, realizations and anything else I can think of that may be relevant.
My goal is by getting down in the trenches (I’ve been reading a novel that takes place during WW1)-and let’s face it , in many respects, getting healthy, losing weight, changing a lifetime of bad habits is a form of doing battle.

Unfortunately for some of us, not winning the war could be a life and death situation.) I can better understand your struggles and come up with solutions as well as hopefully providing inspiration and motivation for you.

So without further ado, here are my stats.
Age: 48
Height: 5’ 0”
Weight: 115
Body Fat: 24.5%

Goal:
My weight is fine, I have no issues with that.  However, I am looking to drop my body fat down to 18% which for someone my age is pretty lean.  Ideally I would like to get to 18% without losing too much body weight as I am looking to maintain as much muscle as possible and if possible add some mass.

Training:
I work out 4 times a week. Two upper body workouts and two lower body workouts.  I typically try for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

Nutrition:
I have found for myself, that I do best when I eat higher protein and fat and get my carbs from fruits and vegetables, limiting my ingestion of starchy carbs  to breakfast and ideally to the 2 hour post workout window. OR when I really feel
I need them.

I find eating this way provides me with more energy, helps stabilize my mood and allows me to drop body fat without losing too much muscle.

Food log: Tuesday:
Meal 1: (this is my standard breakfast)
1 slice Ezekiel bread (sprouted grain bread)
2TBLS all natural Almond butter
1 TBLS Polaner all fruit
Protein shake

Work out: Upper body

Meal 2:
Home made Chilli: grass fed beef, tomatoes, black beans, green peppers and cheese
Meal 3:
Elite Gourmet protein bar by Dymatize: these are made by the same company that makes our protein. They had sent a sample. 175 kcals 16 grams of protein
Meal 3:
Plain yogurt with blueberries and ½ scoop protein powder
Meal 4:
Home made chilli: see above
Meal 5: cheat
I did cheat. My husband belongs to a networking group down on the South Shore and one of the members is the owner of Wicked Good To Go.  They make brownies and cupcakes in a jar.
She gave him a sample of their new Triple Chocolate Brownie in a jar.  We shared. It was very yummy.

OBSERVATION of the Day:
When I eat “clean” I am better able to self-regulate and I don’t over eat.  In fact, I noticed I eat until I get bored of what I’m eating which is at the point I feel comfortable.  Not overly full.
That being said, when I eat something like the Brownie in a Jar, that is loaded with sugar and fat.  Although the first few bites are awesome, I am not able to stop when it no longer tastes as awesome.
It’s like a drug and recent studies have proven that sugar has the same effect on our brain as narcotics.  I don’t stop until it is gone.  Even if I am able to stop when I’m full, after a few minutes, I’m back at it until it’s gone.