One simple improvement that can create lasting change.
Jenn and I struggled attempting the Whole 30 Program a few times, but a great success we had from our attempts was that we started drinking our coffee black, and never looked back since. I used to load my coffee with heavy cream and four sugars!
Far Less Calories - A cup of coffee with cream and sugar can be as much as 110 calories compared with just 5 calories for coffee black. If you drink two cups a day, every day, that is over 6,000 calories in a single month. That's about TWO POUNDS of body weight in calories a month.
Tastes Better - Once you get accustomed to drinking your coffee black, you will truly begin to love the taste of what coffee should taste like. It provides a whole new experience in tasting different blends without the taste being masked by cream or sugar.
Easier and Faster to Make - You don't need to hunt down extra ingredients or get mad when you run out of cream or sugar. Buying coffee on the go is faster without the need to open the lid and make a complete mess adding your extras or waiting for a barista to add your ingredients. Just fill and go.
Anything that is worth it is never easy. The good news is that this lasting, lifelong positive change takes only a few days to get instilled.
Day 1: "Ugh. I'm basically drinking a cup of boiling hot water. This stinks." (Chokes it down)
Day 2: "This is dumb. I actually enjoyed coffee the way I made it before. This is not enjoyable at all. Why am I doing this?" (TWO POUNDS per month in calories, that's why)
Day 3: "At least I can drink the whole thing now." (Don't cheat by adding "just a little" cream or sugar. Stay Strong!
Day 4: "So this is what coffee tastes like? I could get used to this."
Day 5: "Wow, this is great. I think I like this. Maybe I'll try the dark roast tomorrow..."
For those of us that are CrossFitters, The CrossFit Games Open season is here! 18.1 is a great workout. Jenn had an impressive effort and got into the 10th round today. I'm going to do it on Sunday aiming for 11 rounds. Good luck to all of the Pin Up Girls taking part!
Be Strong,
Jenn & Shannon
p.s. - Pin Up Girl Protein is now available as a Single Item Purchase without a subscription. Order Now and have it by Tuesday!
So, what’s one pound of muscle vs fat? A pound of fat is roughly the size of a small grapefruit; whereas one pound of muscle is about the size of a tangerine. In terms of appearance in our bodies, one pound of muscle takes up less space under our skin than the same amount of fat. Multiply the size difference by ten pounds or more, and we see a dramatic effect on our physical appearance.
As we've stated before, the scale is a terrible device for gauging how healthy or fit a person is. As we see in the above comparison, a 140lb woman who is mostly muscle will be much smaller in terms of physical size than a 140lb woman who has a large amount of fat due to the density of pound of fat vs. muscle. We advocate putting the scale away and simply focusing on building muscle and lowering body fat through strength training and exercise.
You can't convert muscle to fat. They are two entirely different substances that cannot be changed from one to the other. This small distinction is important to keep in mind as you continue toward your physical goals. As you burn more calories than you consume, your body will begin to use the energy reserves stored as fat in your body and you will begin to break down the fat tissue. Burning calories by strength training has an additional benefit in that it builds muscle, which further increases your body's daily calorie consumption.
The muscle in a resting state burns roughly 10 calories per day. Fat only burns around 2-3 calories per day. There is a substantial difference between 1 pound of muscle vs 1 pound of fat that can be multiplied by adding pounds of muscle, helping to build up a surplus of calories burned throughout the day even at rest.
The amino acids contained in protein are required to build new muscle, repair it, and maintain existing muscle. Many active women do not get enough protein from their normal food consumption. Women looking to build new muscle should aim for around .8 grams of protein per pound of body weight (150lb woman = 120 grams per day). Supplementing your diet with a protein powder supplement like Pin Up Girl Protein Powder is a great way to make up for the protein deficit in your diet.
]]>Anchor your Goal's Supporting Tasks to your existing activities to build positive habits. Pin Up Girl Protein is in full production!
Production in in Full Swing
Pin Up Girl Protein is in full production and we are still on track for a January 2018 ship date! THANK YOU for making this possible.
Anchor Goal Tasks to Your Existing Habits
As we continue to push ahead into 2018, we need to revisit our New Year Resolutions to make sure we are still on track. If you are not where you want to be in your goal progress, don't fret, it is not for a lack of effort or motivation, it is simply not attaching your goal's supporting tasks to activities you already do each day.
An simple example is someone that wanted to eat an apple each day. One of the main supporting tasks for that goal is to buy apples at the store. Simple, right? Now, suppose you had to make a trip to the store each time you needed more apples, but didn't buy anything else. How long do you think you could keep your goal effort up running out to the store just to buy apples every time you ran out? Not very long I would imagine. The key to success for this example would be to anchor the supporting task of buying apples to your existing food shopping trip. Putting apples in your cart when you are already out food shopping is much easier than making a separate trip. By tying your supporting tasks to things you do already, they become effortless. Attaching your supporting tasks to activities you do each day already is the best way to build positive habits that support your goals.
Shannon's Goals from 2017
Just to update you on some of my own personal goals, I set three athletic goals for the end of year 2017 (I set goals each quarter for three month periods). The goals were: An unbroken set of ten chest to bar pull ups, An unbroken set of twenty pistols (one legged squats), and a body-weight snatch (Olympic Lift). While I was only able to achieve the ten chest-to-bar pull-up goal, I can happily say that I gained a twenty pound personal best in my snatch lift, and can now do consecutive pistol squats in a workout. We don't always hit our goals square in the bullseye, but the process of setting them and working towards them help make us better.
Take a moment and see what small habits you can attach to the things you do each day to help you make progress with your goals. Putting a scoop of Pin Up Girl protein powder into a shaker bottle and throwing it in your gym bag as you head out the door is an easy way to anchor your goal of increasing your daily protein intake :)
Be Strong and Follow Us
For daily inspiration and health tips, be sure to follow us on Instagram and facebook:
Pin Up Girl on Facebook
Pin Up Girl on Instagram
Thank you kindly for your support, it means more than we can express,
Shannon & Jenn
Start off the New Year with the proper mindset and goals.
We also have updates for Pin Up Girl Protein production.
Don't DIEt this Year
We hate diets. The word literally has "die" in it. Diets have been completely debunked as a method to achieve long-lasting weight loss. The only true way to achieve a healthy looking and feeling body is to create a series of healthy habits in your life. Weight loss and a strong, toned body are simply by-products of that lifestye.
Gain Weight Instead
A much more effective and mentally stimulating goal for the New Year would be to increase the amount of weight you can lift. If you need a movement to choose for your weight gain goal, then we suggest the Back Squat. When done properly, it is a full body exercise that has a huge impact on your overall strength. If you only had two do two movements in your life, it should be Back Squats and Burpees!
Make a SMART Goal
"SMART" stands for Specific, Measureable, Achieveable, Realistic, and Timed. An example of a SMART goal is: "A Back Squat of 160lbs by March 1". It has a specific number to achieve, a due date, and is realistic. WRITE THE GOAL DOWN. Look at it every day.
Don't Be A Dreamer
A goal without a plan is just a dream. The above goal is great, but it won't just happen magically. You need a plan to hit those numbers and a timeline for milestones along the way. If your Back Squat is currently 140lbs and you are targeting 160lbs by March1, then your milestones may look like: January 15: 145lbs, February 1: 150lbs, February 15: 155, March 1: 160lbs. The second part of your plan are your supporting tasks. These are the tasks you perform along the way to ensure you reach your goal. For our Back Squat goal, a supporting task will likely be, perform Back Squat training twice per week on Monday and Thursday. For an untrained person, that may be enough to help you reach that goal. People who have been back squatting for a long time, may need to add other supporting tasks, like box jumps, deadlifts, and range of motion training to help break through to a new Personal Best Back Squat.
KISS Yourself
Keep It Stupid Simple. Don't overly complicate your goals. Small, incremental changes and developing good habits (like supplementing protein every day) are the keys to long lasting physiological change in your body and mentally in your life. Achieving a goal of becoming strong, like a Back Squat PR, is much more rewarding (and addicting) than simply a few numbers less when you get on a scale (we think scales are dumb and in no way an indicator of your fitness).
Be Strong and Follow Us
For daily inspiration and health tips, be sure to follow us on Instagram and facebook:
Pin Up Girl on Facebook
Pin Up Girl on Instagram
Happy New Year!
Be Strong.
Shannon & Jenn
Just a quick note on what is going on here behind the scenes with launching our Pin Up Girl Protein brand and some alternatives for you in the meantime.
We are working very hard to bring you the best product that we can and are finalizing the selection of our suppliers. We've tested samples and have the packaging finalized, we just need to connect the dots and get everything to the point where we can scale up production. We are still shooting for our early 2018 launch. Don't worry, you will be the first to know and as a reward for your placement as our early adopters, we will be giving you deep discounts over anyone else.
Our goal is to help build stronger women and girls. With that said, we know that many of you have relationships with charitable organizations that we'd like to partner with. Let us know by dropping us a line. For now, we have selected SheLift and Girls on the Run as our first two charities we are going to contribute a portion of our sales to.
Some Protein Alternatives
We believe that the path to success starts with actions you take today. With that said, we want to encourage you to start enjoying the benefits of an increased protein intake in your daily diet. We encourage you to try and add a few of these high-protein foods to your shopping list to help make up the deficient in protein that most women suffer from with average diets:
For daily inspiration and health tips, be sure to follow us on Instagram and facebook:
Pin Up Girl on Facebook
Pin Up Girl on Instagram
Thank you kindly for your support, it means much more than you can possibly know. Have a safe and happy holiday season.
Be Strong.
Shannon & Jenn