Doctor Designed Fun & Effective Fitness

Ok Power Girl.

We are well into January.

The great and exciting days of Christmas are past and are now just memories.

Last week I encouraged you to get back into motion.  Get your body moving!

Along with regular exercise you also need to get back into healthy eating.

Get into a rhythm with how you eat and how you exercise.

Create a schedule and stick to it.

PLAN at the beginning of every week WHEN you are going to EXERCISE and WHEN you are going to EAT.

Organize yourself and create great habits.

A habit is something you do over and over again.

Habits can be good or bad.

The cool thing is that the types of habits you create are entirely up to YOU!!!

So YOU get to choose.

Will you have good habits or bad ones?

You should also create a habit of eating snacks BETWEEN your meals EVERY DAY.

Healthy snacks should contain some protein and some carbs.

I often will have the high-protein greek yogurt with some fruit as a snack.

Hummous and crackers is another great snack.

I also like a banana boat.

I take a banana, cut it in half length wise and add some natural peanut butter or almond butter, to one half and then add the other half back on top.

That makes it like a ‘sandwich.’

Another really good snack is a hard boiled egg with some veggies.

Even a boiled egg made into a sandwich, half a sandwich (1 piece of bread) is all you need for a snack.

Tuna and a few crackers is another snack that I really like.

The key is to make a habit of HEALTHY snacking.

How?  Do it over and over and over again.

It is such a habit for me that my stomach grumbles at 10:00 every morning and at 2:00 every afternoon.

I dance late at night, so I even have a snack after dance.

So I actually have the habit of EATING 6 TIMES A DAY – 3 meals and 3 snacks.

EVERY 3 HOURS I’m putting some good food in my body.

That way I’m never really too hungry.

When people wait till they really hungry  – they overeat and make bad food choices.

Has this ever happened to you?  You skip a meal and then eat and eat whatever you can get ahold of (sometimes Fast Food) and you eat until you’re STUFFED!

Then how do you feel – GROSS!

So, AVOID THIS and start to create the habit of  PLANNING AHEAD and pack your food and snacks.

This means you need to be organized.

If you know you will be away from your house for school, shopping, dancing, sports, and you know you will miss a meal or snack, PACK ONE!!!!

This is the ONLY way you can really stick to your routine and avoid bad choices and overeating.

Once you do things over and over and over again, you will create a habit for yourself too and then your body will get programmed to be hungry and want food at those times same times everyday.

The same is true for exercise.

If you schedule in regular exercise to your day and do it over and over and over again, not only will exercise become easier, but your

body will also crave it!

Imagine your body WANTING to exercise.  Your body was BORN TO MOVE.

Now that is a GOOD habit.

I make it EASY for your too! 😉

I just released another exercise video this week called  TIME CRUNCH -LEGS (CLICK HERE TO TRY IT).

I also filmed another  2 videos this week, one called TIME CRUNCH – TOTAL BODY (a great workout in only 10 minutes) and another one called POWER STRETCH – Flexibility for Power, Speed and Control.

They will be released over the next couple of months.

I want to make it EASY and FUN to help you make better choices for yourself and help you to create great habits.

My new workouts will add variety into your exercising and keep it interesting.

Stick with me and I’ll help you BE the VERY BEST that you can be.

So just to remind you about the goal of this week’s blog…

Create good eating and exercising habits by MAKING SMART CHOICES over and over and over again.

Be organized and follow a schedule – and you will soon be a shining example of a Power Girl with GREAT habits!

I am DEDICATED to YOUR SUCCESS!

Your Friend and Coach,

Jessy Lipke

Happy New Year!  I’ve missed you over the past couple of weeks.  I had the best Christmas and New Year!

I spent lots of time with my family and that always makes me happy.

Over Christmas many people take a break from their healthy habits.  They exercise less, eat more and don’t get the right amount of sleep.

When January comes and they get back to their routine they find it is hard because they have already gotten a bit out of shape.  This is true for kids and adults.

Many of my dancer friends know this is true because when they take a couple of weeks off, the first day back in the studio is tough.

In just a couple of weeks we lose some flexibility, strength and endurance.  It just takes one day to get back on track.  One painful day.

Be honest – Did YOU take a break from proper exercise and eating over the holidays? Did you get a little off track?

That is OK.  It’s done and there is no point feeling bad about it now.

My Dad says “It’s not what you eat between Christmas and New Years that counts, but what you eat between New Years and Christmas (the rest of the year)”.

The important thing is that you get back to your Power Girl workouts and healthy eating choices.

Your first day back exercising may be a bit painful and that is ok too.  Fight through the fatigue or pain and you will bounce back in no time.

There is only ONE SOLUTION to a healthy and fit body – and that is REGULAR EXERCISE and HEALTHY EATING.

Anything else is just cheating and is dangerous.

Things like diet pills are just BAD NEWS and can kill you.

I know of a girl that was very active but liked to eat everything (sugary foods, fast foods and junk food).

She thought that diet pills would allow her to eat the wrong foods and still get the body of her dreams.  Well she was wrong, and she is lucky to be alive.

Diet pills and other quick fixes to help people lose weight will weaken your body and put you at risk of disease and even death.

That is a high price to pay for a better body and NOT worth it.

Does that sound like a Better Choice for a Better Body? Or just a SHORTCUT?

Truth is – there are no shortcuts to a better body!

The ONLY solution to a healthy and fit body is regular exercise and healthy eating.

Remember that and never be tempted to try anything else.

If you hear of a different way to get healthy and fit, run it by your parents, phys-ed teacher or doctor first.

Never try anything, even if your BFF swears by it, unless you get permission from someone older who knows better.

The reason I am so committed to Power Girl Fitness and YOU, is because I want to change how girls all over the world take care of their bodies.

I want you to look and feel your very best through a HEALTHY lifestyle.

I want to help you create powerful new habits that you can enjoy for the rest of your life.

My solution is not a quick fix, but it is a healthy one – the ONLY solution to the best YOU ever!

Your friend and coach,

Jessy Lipke

Here is a Christmas pic of me and my sister Brooklyn opening up our Karaoke singing machine.  Boy did we have a blast – singing like rock stars!!

I just finished reading a book for my on-line english class.  The book was called The Silent Boy by Lois Lowry.

I chose this book because many reviews said that it had a mature theme and that made me feel that it would probably be a bit emotional.

I like books that stir up emotions in me.

Boy, did I ever chose a mature book alright!  This book was about a young, kind girl, Katy, who makes friends with a boy who is really different.  Everyone describes this silent boy Jacob, as “touched in the head”, meaning not too smart.

Katy is Jacob’s absolute only friend.  She is the only person who makes an effort to know and understand him.

Well the story goes from being light and playful to heavy and intense.

Jacob’s sister has a baby before she is married and back in the time this story was from (the early 1900’s), that was a big no, no.  The baby is unwanted and this boy who is “touched in the head” is not as dumb as people think, because he knows the baby is unwanted and he tries to save it.

Jacob takes the baby to Katy’s house on a cold, rainy night in a sack, because Katy’s mom has a little baby, and Jacob figures that Katy’s mom will be able to take care of the unwanted baby and feed it with her milk.  Pretty smart for a boy that everyone thinks is “touched in the head.”

Tragedy results when the journey to Katy’s house ends up killing the premature baby who is too small and  too weak to survive.  The sack that the baby is in, is wet from the rain and everyone thinks that Jacob drowned the baby.

Katy is the only one who knows that Jacob didn’t kill the baby on purpose.  She knows that Jacob was trying to help the baby, not harm it.

The problem is that she is just a kid and no one believes her when she says that Jacob was trying to SAVE the baby.

The courts send Jacob to an Asylum (a jail for the mentally ill) for the rest of his life and Katy never sees him again!!!!

Super sad story, don’t you think.

There is a very valuable lesson in this story though.

Be kind to everyone.

Treat everyone as YOU would want to be treated.

It is easy to be friends with the cool kids, or the popular kids or the kids most like you.

What about others though?  What about the kids who are “different.”

They need friends too.

Everyone needs a friend. Have you ever felt lonely? or unloved?  We all have at times.

If only more people loved Jacob and got to know him the way Katy did, perhaps the courts would have realized that the dead baby was not his fault.

If only others had made the effort to be Jacob’s friend, they would have known his heart and he wouldn’t have been misunderstood and sent to the Asylum.

Lesson time here – Make a decision to be kind to EVERYONE!

You never know exactly what difference you will make in that person’s life.

With the spirit of Christmas just around the corner, remember that the best gift you can give someone is YOURSELF, and your friendship!!!

Be great!         By being great to others!

Your friend and coach,

Jessy Lipke

“If you are not making someone else’s life better, then you are wasting your time.  Your life will become better by making other people’s lives better”

Will Smith

So it has been a week since Halloween.

As a Power Girl I still love trick or treating.  I think I love designing my costume more than anything.

This year for Halloween I was a cowgirl.  I had a glittery, sparkly pink cowgirl hat and I tied my hair into 2 low pony tails.  My mom let me wear big hoop earrings which barely poked through my low ponies.

I put a crop top on and my favourite plaid shirt.  I tied my shirt into a knot right around my belly button, put some heavy denim blue jeans on and to make it look really authentic, I put on my brown cowgirl boots.  The boots are at least 1 size too small but it was worth the pain because it just completed the costume.

Out the door with my siblings I went.  We went to every house in my neighbourhood and then we went to see my uncle and aunt in their neighbourhood and went trick or treating there too.

Guess who had a ton of candy?  That is right, Power Girl Jessy (and Power Girl Brooklyn too).  Between my siblings bags and my own, we could have honestly filled a wheel barrow.  We had every type of chocolate bar, candy, gum and potato chip on the market.  Some were bite size and others were full size.

Let the feast begin!

My mom and dad don’t encourage candy and sugary treats ever, but they let us dig in on Halloween.

The important thing is that after Halloween, the treats are gone.  That’s right GONE!

You see, as a Power Girl you have to create new and healthy habits.  Habits are ways of acting that become fixed by repeating often.  Eating sugar is NOT a Power Girl habit!

Many people will create bad unhealthy habits by snacking on a little Halloween candy every day.

The “every day” becomes the problem because it allows you to “repeat often” that unhealthy snacking – creating a habit.

This is why my parents let us eat whatever we want on Halloween night and then GET RID OF IT!

First of all it is not difficult to get a tummy ache with even one too many sugary treats.  Who wants to get a tummy ache over and over again.

The next thing is that by getting rid of the candy the next day (or within a few days), prevents a bad habit from forming.

A dentist that I read about, also agrees that you should just eat the candy to your hearts content and then GET RID OF IT!  He says that when kids do this they have less damage to their teeth because bathing your teeth in sugar once is far better then having just a little sugar everyday.

It makes sense to me, because I know that the BEST way to CREATE A HABIT is to repeat the same POSITIVE thing everyday.

If you want to become more flexible then you should stretch everyday.

If you want to get fit, than you should get your body moving everyday.

If you want to become a beautiful singer, then you need to practice singing everyday.

Do something everyday and it will soon become a habit whether you want it to or not.

I guess what I’m trying to say, is don’t let things like Halloween, or Christmas (which is coming up), or other holidays that mean more chocolate or sweets around the house, cause you to create bad habits.

Enjoy the sweets on the day and then GET RID OF IT!

Keep being the beautiful Power Girl you are!

Your Friend and Coach,

Jessy Lipke

Hey Power Girls, boy have I been busy!  I’ve gone through a lot of changes over the past month and have had to re-organize my life!

Let me tell you what I have been up to.

I’ve been getting lots of requests from girls, just like you, who love training with me and keep asking “Jessy when are you going to do more fitness videos?”

Good News!!  I just filmed another TWO Power Girl Fitness workouts, and the first one will be ready next month, just in time for Christmas!   It’s my Christmas present to you and you’re gonna love it!

It is a new workout style called Sprint Training and is perfect for when you only have a short time to exercise because each workout is only 10 minutes long!

Now you can get a great workout in anytime, no matter how busy you are, because everyone has 10 minutes they can spare.  Right?

Ok so let me tell you more about the changes I have been through.  I changed dance studios.  That was a really big change.  I miss all my old dance friends and my teachers a lot.  At first I was afraid to change but my parents have always told me that change is good and it is necessary to grow.

I hate to admit it, but they are usually right.  I have learned so much from every dance teacher I have ever had and I grow so much because of all of them.

The biggest change for me is school.  I don’t go anymore!

Don’t worry I still am getting an education but not the usual one.  I had to do something different because all the work I do for Power Girl Fitness, and my training in the arts has meant too many late nights and too many hours of school missed.

Now I do all my learning on-line!  It is really intense and cool. But the best thing about it is that I can make time for everything that is important to me, including YOU!   Writing letters to help YOU make better choices, working with my Dad to design cool new workouts for YOU, and getting my Mom’s help to put together the best nutrition tips and recipes for YOU!

Did you know that I am writing a recipe book right now – Just for YOU!  It’s called The Power Girl Nutrition Revolution.

The reason I wanted to share this with you is because I want to admit that I have been a bit nervous.  It can be really scary to make small changes, and even scarier to make BIG ones!  Have you ever felt scared about changing something you are comfortable with?  I bet you have.

My mom felt the same way I did too.  It made me feel so normal to know that my mom felt scared, because I thought that maybe I wasn’t being strong, or maybe I was lacking some Power, Passion and Performance.

My mom is one of the strongest women I know and it meant a lot to me knowing that even she was a bit scared of me doing school on-line.

She said that it is totally normal to feel scared or nervous about change, but that you should never let those feelings stop you from changing to a better way of doing things.

Those butterflies that you feel when you’re scared of change are actually good.  You know what I mean about butterflies, that little fluttering you feel in your tummy when you’re excited or nervous.  Like before you have to say a speech or tell someone something and you’re not sure what they will think.

Those little butterflies are GOOD, they are telling you that you are growing, you’re trying new things and changing into something great!

So the next time you feel a flutter in your tummy, and feel nervous or out of breath remember……

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take, but by the moments that take your breath away”

….then take a big breath, step up, face your fears and CHASE THE BUTTERFLIES!

You have Greatness in you, look inside to find it!

The butterflies will show you the way.

Follow them.

Your Friend and Coach,

Jessy Lipke

Hi girlfriend!

We just celebrated Thanksgiving here in Canada.  I love Thanksgiving because I love eating turkey and all the special foods that go with the holiday.  What I love most about Thanksgiving is thinking about all the wonderful things in my life that I am grateful for.

It’s really the MOST important time of the year, because my Dad says that “what you focus on you get more of”.  So when you focus on the things in your life that are GREAT, you get even MORE great things in your life!

Have you ever heard of the expression “the glass is half FULL” or “the glass is half EMPTY”?  My parents talk about this expression all the time.  People often have the “half EMPTY” attitude about life.  On Thanksgiving we get a chance to have the “half FULL” attitude.

When you look at your life and think about what you are grateful for, you are focusing on the glass being half-FULL.  How do you feel when you think about everything that makes you so happy?  I feel great.

I want to feel great all the time!  I think I should pretend that Thanksgiving is everyday, and everyday focus on everything that brings me joy.  Most of the time what brings me joy are not even things, but people!  I love my family, my friends, and my Power Girls and I wouldn’t want to live without ANY of them!

Just imagine how different your life would be if you imagined that you may only have one more day with your mom, or dad, or your best friend?  Would you be more patient, more kind, more giving?  I bet you would!  You would live every moment of that day being thank-FULL for all the great times you had together.

Think about your brothers or sisters, if you have any.  If you woke up every day grateful that they were in your life, how would you treat them?  I’m sure you wouldn’t get as mad with them or tease them, as much.

When you live your life with an “attitude of gratitude”, every situation is more positive because you force yourself to see the good in it.  Your heart will be happy all the time and you will more easily feel your Power, Passion and Performance and be the BEST YOU ever!

Well that’s all for today.  I’m really thirsty and need a drink – MY glass is definitely half-FULL!

Be Blessed!

Your Friend and Coach,

Jessy Lipke

Have you ever had to make a MAJOR change in your life?

Maybe it was even a change for the better, but if you’re like me, you were still scared of what might happen.

Change can be really hard.  When we think of change we can feel nervous, scared, happy or even excited.  I felt ALL of these feelings lately!

Now the only thing I love more than fitness, is DANCE!   I LOVE to dance, and I LIVE to dance.  So the dance studio that I go to REALLY matters to me. Well, for several reasons I just changed dance studios.

It is really hard to leave your friends and what you know for something that is new.  Sometimes we will avoid change because we are so afraid.  Afraid of failure, afraid of rejection, afraid of what MIGHT happen.

So we stay with what we know and where we are COMFORTABLE and we end up not growing to our full potential.  So by “playing it safe” we end up staying small.   Well, I want to tell you that fear of change is the wrong reason for not trying something new.

Last week when I walked into my new studio (Canadian Dance Company), I thought that I’d have no friends and that I may not fit in!  That fear could have STOPPED me from going there.

Boy am I glad I walked through those doors!  I had friends INSTANTLY and was welcomed with HUGS and SMILES from the kids I’d be dancing with and my teachers!

In less than a week I feel like I was MEANT to be there!  I learned that it is so important to give new things a try because that is the only way you can truly grow and become better.

My dad showed me a You Tube video called LIFE=RISK and it shows how famous people through history had to FACE FEAR and RISK FAILURE in order to achieve GREAT things!

Talking about giving new things a try…I want to encourage you to try some NEW things that can help YOU become the Power Girl you are meant to be!

Last week I told you about sugar and that we eat too much of it.  As Power Girls we need to CHANGE how we eat and make better choices.  I know that change can be scary, but change is how we grow and become better.

Let’s change how we eat.  Don’t be scared.  Remember what I always say in my videos – Better CHOICES mean a Better BODY and a Better LIFE!   It is actually EASY and you’ll love how great you feel!

Here’s an example……

Let’s have a look at my ‘old’ favourite cereal bar

So this bar is super yummy because, IF YOU READ THE LABEL,  it has 13 grams of sugar.  That is a lot!   Too bad it only has 2 grams of protein.  If there was a BETTER cereal bar with LESS sugar and MORE protein, wouldn’t you agree that we should CHOOSE that?

Well there IS a better choice for us Power Girls, and to be honest, I was AFRAID to ‘make the change’ because I love sugar.  I was comfortable with my ‘old’ bar, but I had learned about sugar and protein and was looking for a smarter choice.

Well I gave the healthier bar a chance and now I’m hooked!

Now this bar may not be quite as sweet but it still is yummy!  Let’s compare the labels.  This bar has 6 grams of sugar, that is about HALF of the sugar in the other bar!  Now remember what happens to extra sugar our body doesn’t use for energy, it gets stored in our bodies as fat.

Also notice that there are 6 grams of protein which is TRIPLE  the protein!   That extra protein builds strong healthy muscle.  I think the clear Power Girl choice here is obviously the second bar!

So you see, CHANGE is really a big part of becoming a Power Girl!  Don’t be afraid, you’re not alone, you and I, we’re in this together!

I DOUBLE-DOG DARE you to change just one thing in your life this week.  You can do it!  I BELIEVE in you!

Write back to me with the changes you’ve made and I’ll post them with a picture of you as a Power Girl on my Success Page.

“You Win or Lose, by the Way you Choose!”

Choose wisely

Your Friend and Coach,

Jessy Lipke

Hey ladies!  Today we’re talking about SWEETNESS.  Now the ONLY thing sweeter than today’s topic, is of course my Power Girls, who I totally LOVE !!

For all of you who have read my Nutrition Ebook you know I love SUGAR.

In that book I talked about the dangers of too much sugar causing us to be sick and over weight.

Today I’m going to let you in on a little secret……

Even if you’re skipping the candy and chocolate and trying to eat healthier,

There is sugar HIDDEN in what you’re eating everyday!

Did you know that the average kid eats 53 teaspoons of sugar EVERY single DAY?  That equals a 5 pound bag of sugar every 10 days!

Don’t believe me?  Well I’ll give you the facts and you can decide for yourself.

Most girls our age drink 10-15 % of their daily calories as pop (or soda) which is LOADED with sugar.  The average girl drinks 76 litres (20 gallons) of juice a year.  Did you know that juice has more sugar than pop?

Let’s have a peek at how much sugar is in things that we drink everyday.

Ok, so now we can see how much sugar is in some popular drinks.  Wow that is alot!  One sugar cube is equal to 1 teaspoon (tsp) of sugar, so in a can of Coke there are about 10 tsp of sugar.  In that small glass of lemonade there are 7 tsp of sugar!

Let’s have a look at some other drinks that girls our age love to have.

It is amazing that these pictures really can change how we feel about some of our favourite drinks.  Chocolate milk is an good way to get calcium which our bodies need for our bones and muscles to be healthy, but 7 1/2 tsp of sugar in one little glass!  Crazy!  This yummy drink from Starbucks may taste good but almost 12 tsp of sugar?  No thanks, this Power Girl body can choose something better.

This is the picture that surprised me the most.  I always thought juice was good for you?  A glass of juice has 6 tsp of sugar in it.  This is definitely a better choice than pop, but still really high in sugar.

Are you starting to believe that we really do take in 53 tsp of sugar a day?  It adds up quickly.

I want to show you a couple more pictures to help you become more aware of the amount of sugar you eat when you choose certain foods.

Even yogurt or a cereal bar, which seem like healthy choices, taste yummy but that is because of all the sugar they have in them.

There is sugar (and a lot of it) in everything!  So what’s the problem with sugar?  Well too much is just not good for you.

Too much sugar increases the chances that you’ll get sick, get cavities and gain bad weight.  As a Power Girl, you should be trying to cut down on sugar.

Some suggestions are to choose your drinks wisely.  What’s wrong with water!  No sugar in that!  White milk will give you as much calcium as chocolate milk and there is far less sugar in it!  Remember how your mom would give you watered down juice?  Well that was a great thing and you should continue with that habit!

Yogurt is so good for you.  Why not choose a yogurt that is plain and add your own sweet touch!  I love greek yogurt with a sprinkle of nutty granola and a few berries.  Still very yummy and there is far less sugar then in the sweetened yogurt in the above picture.

I really hope that all this information I give you will help you choose wisely.  God only gives us one body, so we better treat it right!

Since there is so much to learn about how to eat healthy, I’ll be teaching you more about food next week too.  You’ll really like the book that I’m working on with my mom too “The Power Girl Nutrition Revolution”  It will be available soon and it will make choosing the right foods super easy.

I also just released my new Total Body “Jump Training” workout on You Tube.  So click this link and check it out for a new style of workout where you actually “jump” into a whole new level of fitness.

Keep those comments coming and let me know what you love, and what you need help with.  Then I’ll do my best to find nutrition and fitness solutions for your health goals.

Your Friend and Coach,

Jessy Lipke

Like I promised last week, here is my basic nutrition advice for all you Power Girls!

My mom was a dietitian for many years and she knows so much about foods: what to eat, how much to eat and that ‘You are what you Eat’.

She does not believe in nagging us (my brothers and sister), about eating.  She figures that she’ll teach us what she knows and give us the information so that we can make better choices.

My dad’s favourite saying is “You win or lose by the way you choose.”  My goal this week is to give you some information that my mom has shared with me and hope that you will make better choices on your own.

The foods you put into your body will either help you or prevent you from having a Power Girl body!

The reality is that many people are completely unaware of what they are putting into their bodies at any one time.  Often people eat too much, not only of the wrong thing, but the right thing too.

I need to start by telling you about the 3 types of foods that our body needs.  Our body needs proteins, carbohydrates and fats every day.  Let’s learn a bit more about each of these foods.

Carbohydrates (carbs), are foods that give us energy.  These foods get broken down into sugars, like bread, cereals, pastas, rice, potatoes, peas, corn, carrots, fruit and of course anything that is sweet.

If the body can break them down easily, they are called ‘simple’ carbs and if the body has to work harder to break them down into sugar they are called ‘complex’ carbs.

As Power Girls we need carbs for energy because we get our bodies moving and we are active.  Since carbs get broken down into sugar and our body uses sugar for energy we need to make sure we eat carbs so that we have enough energy.

Does this make sense so far?

Okay now the next really important thing to know is that too many carbs will make more sugar than our body needs. Do you know what happens if we have too much sugar in us?  Our body has to store it.  Too many carbs (sugar) will get stored as fat.

Let’s talk about proteins next.  Protein are things like meat, chicken and eggs, and are needed to help build and repair a strong and healthy body.  Power Girls want strong bodies and nice lean muscle so we need to make sure we eat enough protein.

My mom told me that the body breaks protein down into building blocks called amino acids that the body uses to make muscle.  If our body doesn’t have enough building blocks, then it can’t build muscle.

Fats are the last group that I want to talk about.  Fats are very important and many people avoid fats because they think that eating any fat will make you fat.  This is NOT true!

Too much of any food can make you fat, but totally avoiding fats will cause a weak body.  Fats are needed to make hormones, prevent disease, and burn fat.

Wow, am I glad that my mom told me that not all fats are bad and that I should eat them to be healthy and to burn fat.  She convinced me that this was true when she showed me how so many people are on a ‘low fat’ diet or eat ‘low fat’ foods, and yet they don’t have Power Girl bodies.

My mom also taught me to read labels and that a lot of low fat foods are high in sugar.  Too much sugar is the real problem!  Sugar makes you fat!

Not all fats are good for you though.  Eating fried foods, like french fries, chips, or donuts will not help you build a Power Girl body.

Good fats are raw nuts, seeds, avocado, coconuts, olives and the oils from all of these foods.  I make sure that I do eat these foods but in small amounts.

The other day I saw a friend snacking on almonds.  That’s a great choice as almonds contain healthy fats.  The problem is that she just had too many of them.  She had a whole container of them!  Sometimes too much of a good thing is not good for the body.  It is important to know how much is too much, or how much is enough.

Snacking on almonds is great, but 6-12 almonds, is the amount you should be aiming for.  Fats get broken down into fatty acids and these are used to make the body healthy, but like sugar, the body will take the fatty acids and store them as fat if you eat too much.

So now that you know the 3 main food groups, I want to make sure  that all of you know what healthy portions are.

Examine the plate below.  This is what you are aiming for.

So let’s get specific.  On your lunch or dinner plate, have a lean protein (meat, fish, chicken, eggs) about the size of the palm of your hand (the size of 1-2 decks of cards).  Your carbs (bread, rice, pasta, potatoes), should be about the size of your fist (3/4 – 1 cup).

My mom recommends going for whole grains or sweet potatoes instead of anything white.

The rest of your plate should be LOADED with veggies.  Notice HALF of the plate is full of veggies 😉

Remember that you need good fats too, so a bit of olive oil on your veggies is a good idea.  You can also have your veggies plain and just snack on a few nuts during the day.

My nutrition book, The Power Girl Nutrition Revolution -Cookbook and “Done For You” Meal Plan Guide will be coming soon and it will make it so easy to understand how to make better choices for what and how much to eat.  Stay tuned for that!

So if you really want to get a healthy Power Girl body, you will!  You just have to get your body moving and make healthy food choices.  The meals and snacks you choose for yourself will help you to build a healthy body quickly or slowly.  The choice is yours.

Choose well and remember it is not a race to the finish line.  The important thing is that you treat your body well and make the best choices possible because your body deserves it!

Happy (healthy) eating!

Your Friend and Coach,

Jessy Lipke

Here is a fun picture I forgot to give you from our Disney trip.  See if you see anyone you know 😉

Well, I already feel like I’ve been back to school F-O-R-E-V-E-R!  I’m sure you do too.  The toughest thing about going back to school is getting back into routine.  All Power Girls should have a routine!  Good routines = Power, Passion and Performance.

How do you start off your day?  Do you slowly roll out of bed and just make it to school on time without doing anything special?  Do you eat breakfast before you leave the house?  Do any of you get your body woken up with a quick Power Girl work out?

Well I want to tell you what I do.  If you do what I do, then you will wake up productive and stay that way all day long!  I get up early because I have a date with my bus driver every morning at 7:40.  Most of you won’t have such an early morning, so adjust your schedule to make it work for you.

So I get up at 6:00 and spend at least 5 minutes with Jesus every morning.  Sometimes I listen to Christian music on my iPod, other times I pray and other mornings I read a devotion or my bible.  Now I know lots of you have different beliefs so whatever your beliefs are spend 5 minutes thinking about them.  If you don’t have any beliefs then you could read an inspiring quote every morning.

The next thing I do is get out of bed, make it (my mom likes me to make it so tight that she can bounce a quarter off it) and get my clothes for the day all laid out.  I put workout clothes on first thing in the morning and by 6:30 I’m downstairs and ready to workout.  I workout, get dressed into my school clothes and am ready for a Power Girl breakfast by 7:00.

My mom and dad make my breakfast for me and it always has protein and carbs.  For those of you that don’t know what protein and carbs are, make sure you read my next post and I’ll tell you all about them and how much to eat of them too.  My breakfasts are not fancy, don’t take too much time to prepare and I can eat them up fast.

I am the slowest eater in my family so by the time I’m done, I don’t have to fight for the bathroom to brush and floss my teeth.  That’s right, floss teeth.  If you only brush you are missing at least a third of your tooth.  That’s just nasty!  I make sure my hair is pulled back nicely, (I always have it in a pony tail because I don’t want head lice and it is harder for those critters to get into hair that is pulled back), I wash my face, do a once over in the mirror to make sure I didn’t miss anything, and then I leave.  I need to be out of the house by 7:30 so I can catch my bus.

My mornings go by fast, but they are productive.  I’ve connected with God, exercised my body, fed it too, cleaned myself up and made it to the bus stop with 5 minutes to spare.  Power, Passion and Performance are mine for the rest of the day!   Watch how great you’ll feel if you follow the same routine!  It’s like you can breathe deeper!

I will be filming some shorter workouts over the next month to be released in time for Christmas, called Time Crunched, and they involve a totally new workout style called ‘Sprint training’.  Super intense and super results in half of the time.  They will be more intense but will only take 10 MINUTES!  Now come on, anyone can find just 10 minutes to work out!  I want to make sure that I have a workout for everyone!  If you can’t start your day with a Power Girl workout make sure you fit it in some where in your day.  I want YOU to be the BEST that you can be!

Start your day off productive.  Make a routine by yourself or with the help of your parents and follow it!  No excuses, YOU CAN DO IT and you are creating great habits for the rest of your life.  Remember: Better Choices =  A Better Body and a Better Life!

Find a way or make a way!

Your Friend and Coach,

Jessy Lipke

Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments – Jim Rohn

MAKE it a GREAT Day!