Friday, October 29th, 2010
If ModelPer4mance was having a Halloween costume party this weekend I’d show up as The Wizard of OZ. And I do mean The Wizard himself because this is my last post before I disappear behind the curtain.
But before I go, I wanted to tell you it has been my pleasure spotlighting all of the fine MP4 Athletes of the Week over the last few months. You all have a lot of HEART and COURAGE.
If you’re looking for me, you can find me (and my little dog Toto) hard at work at my business Fitness & Spice Marketing where I help healthy businesses like MP4 with their marketing and public relations strategies. And when I’m not at work or at the gym, you can find me blogging at my personal site www.fitnessandpsice.com.
In the meantime, continue to fill your BRAINS with all sorts of wit and wisdom from the MP4 team as you ease on down wherever your YELLOW BRICK road takes you. I’ll be cheering you on!
Thursday, October 28th, 2010
I am coming off of a high.
Why you say? Because Heather was here and for a moment I had all my girls here at one time. It was awesome and we do not do it often enough. We’ll have to fix that next year.
In the mean time I want to know what you are holding onto right now and why? Is it worth it to you or no?
The cool thing about having Heather come up, for me, is she brings with her a barrel of laughs. If you can just imagine, we all get along really well and we laugh alot when we’re together and I treasure that. While Heather is here she stays with me which means I have the honor of driving her all over the city as we go on our daily jaunts about town. This means she is subject to Whippy–my go-cart with a trunk. I LOOOOOOOOVE Whippy. She is my car and she is rightfully and frightfully named.
Whippy is quick. She’s fast, too, but more importantly she’s quick. She is faithful and she is true. She is also as comfortable as a too small shoe on a foot with bunions. I’m just puttin’ that out there for you. Get the visual.
Whippy is an 8 year old Mazda Protege with 200,000 miles on her. There is nothing fancy about Whippy. I have 3 kids and I pack them in the back like an extra outfit packed in a too full suitcase and the sad thing is…they are used to it! I think if I bought a newer car with more space, they’d bounce around the back like germs in a petri dish. Poor things. May be scarred for life. 
But I wouldn’t part with Whippy if you paid me $100 (although I’m not saying that if you paid me more I wouldn’t consider it…). She is everything I want and need in a car and I couldn’t ask for more. Well, I could ask for suspension so that Heather didn’t whip from side to side when we take turns but that’s neither here nor there. My point is: I don’t need more than what I have. What I find with people is that are always wanting and needing something new because what they currently have “isn’t working for them” when that simply isn’t the case. Most likely what you have has either lost its ‘new’ appeal or now you are into the hard part and you want to change. Stop looking for the latest diet, the newest exercise technique, a new goal, a new race, a new outfit (hmmm…wait…got a bit excited there. There is always room for a new outfit.), a new food and so on. Accept what you have because many times it is the right thing to have at that time and you are either being impatient with a situation or blind to the benefits.
What prompts us to go on a search many times is stress otherwise known as loss of control. Feeling helpless at work suddenly makes your weight loss goals more important. If you can’t keep the drama at bay at your workplace, maybe a new excerise plan will help. The problem with that is that it’s not the problem so you never come to a “solution” doing that. You just keep bouncing around further adding to your stress. Ask yourself:
Am I getting results?
Have I given this plan enough time?
Am I really following it or am I going through the motions because I am already convinced it’s not for me?
Do I really need to switch and if so, am I doing it for the right reasons?
The offseason is here for many of us and this is when we find ourselves all over the place. We have some time off and we immediately find ourselves refreshed and wanting to be back out there without finishing our commitment to our offseason plan. And it’s only been a month! This is normal and happens to so many folks that it should be a documented phenomenom. All I can say is stay focused. You will love what you accomplish over the long haul if you stay focused and engaged. Don’t give up on your offseason plan because you are bored, anxious or just wanting the newest trend. Slow and steady wins the race–like Whippy! She’s taken many a folk out on the Audobon. Let me tell ya!
If you do not have an offseason plan or really know that the one you have is not effective, hit us up at info@modelper4mance.com. We have a myriad of new plans coming out that are not listed, yet, and they can truly get you from point A to B. Or, I can pick you up in W
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
A while back Jodi and I had a ton of fun (and a several belly laughs at the eyelash bar) at a huge Sephora in West Palm Beach. We were there for so long that we ran out of time before we even finished oohing and aahing over all the make up lines. I’m ashamed to admit how much cash I dropped that afternoon, but I will tell you more than half of the items I purchased contained glitter.
Cosmetics stores and counters are great for a lot of reasons, but for today’s purposes they’re great because you can test out absolutely everything.
You and everyone else. Think about it. Any one of the hundreds of people who were there before you could have contaiminated any of the testers with pink eye, herpes or e coli. Grossed out yet?
Ok, that’s nasty, so I’ll stop with the dramatics. But make up and skin care products need to be right for you, your coloring, skin types, style, needs, etc., and the right product is out there so it’s only prudent to try out colors and formulas before you buy.
What’s a girl to do?
My favorite beauty blog listed the following tips surviving the cosmetics counter:
Eye shadow, blush, pressed and loose powders – these have the least risk of containing microbes because they contain ingredients resistant to bacteria, molds and fungus, so they are the safest for you to play with. Have a salesperson scrape off the top layer of eye shadows to expose fresh product before applying to your eyes.
Lipstick and gloss – play it safe here. Twist up a lipstick and take a little product from the bottom using a new tester brush. Or use alcohol spray right on the lipstick or gloss applicator tip before trying it on. Be sure to allow several seconds for the alcohol to go to work.
Mascara – just don’t, not even with a single use brush applicator.
Eye liner – try these on the back of your hand instead of your eyes. This includes liquid liners, which usually being water based are breeding grounds for bacteria.
Foundation – swipe a bit on the side of your face away from the eyes and mouth. Dispense the foundation onto a new disposable sponge (rather than fingers) and then apply to your face.
Concealer – squeeze out a small amount on a tissue then throw away, as the product at the top of the tube is the most likely to be contaminated. Now, squeeze out some more on a new tissue or swab to test.
Skin care products – you can test a bit on your hand for texture but should ask for a sample to try out on your face more than once to get a better idea of it’s efficacy.
Brushes should be sprayed with alcohol before you use them. Give the alcohol time to disinfect! They’ll be a little damp when you go to use them but at least they’re clean.
Products in airless pump containers are much safer than jars. Avoid jars that you have to dip your fingers into whenever possible.
I wish I could say I always did these things, but honestly, I didn’t think about some of them until now. Oh well, now I know and won’t be that person who sticks her finger in the eye shadow pan anymore. I’ll use a q-tip from now on, I promise
Sources:
beautypedia.com
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
What does it take to effectuate change? What must you do to cause a change? This is really the crux of any athlete’s goals be it weight loss, weight gain, increased speed, longer distance running, faster swim….you name it. What we really seek is a change.
If a change is what we seek, what must we do make it happen? I had been mulling that over for quite some time when I struck up a conversation with Jodi. We were discussing my current goal and how I felt like I did not know what to do to reach it. She sat for a minute and then simply said, add another day of lifting. That was it – one additional day.
I responded with a million “shouldn’t I also do X” or “should I add on Y” and finally, “is that all?” This is when she told me something I already knew, but somehow had forgotten. Always start with less and add on more. Why would I go from zero to sixty without first stopping at ten, twenty, thirty and so on? First of all, if I jump all the way to sixty, when I plateau, I will have nowhere else to go. Second of all, who wants to jump from zero to sixty?
This conversation, so simply and fast, really resonated with me. I’ve worked with Jodi for years now, on both diet and training, and have always slowly increased or decreased my activity depending on the desired goal. But I must admit, all of those times I was listening to her advice and following her plan. Now that I’ve been putting together my own nutrition/training I forgot the beauty of incrementally increasing/decreasing. I became scared that if I did not go to the extreme, I wouldn’t get where I need to be.
How many of you have fallen prey to this fear? You might be the marathon runner who increased her mileage too fast only to suffer an injury or burn out and have to take time off. You might be the dieter who restricted too much to fast only to either lose all energy at an important moment in a game/tournament or to blow it and eat too much when you have your cheat meal. Or you might by trying to get stronger, lift too much too often and hit a wall. Whatever yours was, I know you have been there.
The reason I wanted to push it to the extreme was fear that if I did not, I would not reach my goal. Lack of trust in the process that has worked for me for many, many, years. It took someone else to remind me of that fact. It then took the courage to set aside my fear and trust in the process. I know I don’t have to tell you that the process worked and worked like a charm. We all know that it does. But having the courage to trust the process is where the work really lies.
Be it your athletic/physique goal or any other aspect in your life, I challenge all of you to trust in the process. Slow down, move intentionally step by step and trust!
Monday, October 25th, 2010
(Excerpt from last week’s review of a natural deodorant): “There are two categories of natural products within which I have long-struggled to find something effective. One is deodorant, the other is sunscreen. Let the record show that 2010 was the Year the Struggle Ended. “
Yep. So today is the day I talk up the first sun protection product that meets all of my current parameters—ingredients, ethical production, texture, and effectiveness. I know, you’re thinking: “Gee, it’s just sunscreen, Heath”. But when you keep in mind that your skin is the largest organ you have, and that everything you put ON it can eventually end up IN it, you might think a little differently about your choice of products. Unless, of course, you’re willing to clog up and pollute your liver, lymph glands, and other important elements of your body system all just to prevent some brown spots and wrinkles. What’s that? “But what about skin cancer?” Of course we want to prevent that too, while we navigate the balance between getting enough exposure for Vitamin D production and all of its bennies (which include the prevention of many cancers—search my “Vitamin D Gets an A+” post). But it just doesn’t seem right to potentially bring on some ills via the use of toxin-containing products. Thus my dilemma. And thus my post on this dilemma-demolishing item. Without further ado…
My new sunny day BFF.
The Product: Solar Body Block, SPF 30+ “Luxury Solar Body Lotion” by DeVita
The Site: www.devita.net (their whole line of products—there’s a SPF 30+ moisturizer I also use)
The Ingredients (vegan, gluten sensitive safe, certified organic, no GMOs, paraben-free): ACTIVE INGREDIENT: Zinc oxide 19% INACTIVE INGREDIENTS: Aloe barbadensis* (aloe vera gel), Water (purified), Camellia sinensis (Japanese green tea) leaf extract, Capric/caprylic triglycerides (derived from coconut oil), Glycerin (vegetable), Butyrospermum parkii (shea butter), Olea europaea (olive) oil, Lecithin phospholipid, Hyaluronic acid (vegan source), Simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) seed oil*, Squalane (olive), Panthenol (vitamin B5), Tocopherol (vitamin E), NaPCA, Rosa moschata (rose hips) oil, Retinol (vitamin A), Centella asiatica (goto kola), Copper gluconate, Magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, Fucus vesiculosis (seaweed) extract, Allantoin, Sodium riboflavin phosphate, Chondrus crispus (Irish moss), Lavandula officinalis (lavender) essential oil, Anthemis nobilis (chamomile) flower essential oil, Vitis vinifera (grape) seed extract. Ingredient labeling adheres to international INCI standards.
The Ups:
The Rub:
The Obligatory Caveat:
Lucky Vitamin link to DeVita Solar Body Block: http://www.luckyvitamin.com/p-30350-devita-natural-skin-care-solar-body-block-30-spf-6-oz
Lucky Vitamin link to all Devita products they offer (I use and recommend several now): http://www.luckyvitamin.com/search.aspx?search=1&SearchTerm=devita&x=0&y=0
Vitacost link to all DeVita products they offer: http://www.vitacost.com/productResults.aspx?ss=1&Ntk=products&x=0&y=0&Ntt=devita
