I have 3 girlfriends that go way back to my years of living in San Diego, CA that I chat with almost weekly via group text.  We joke about our past, vent about parenting and marital frustrations, share dating horrors (2 are married and the other 2 of us are still single), gossip about current events in our lives, and tell inappropriate stories that are hilarious to us but would probably shock and horrify anyone else who doesn't get our sense of humor.  Recently, one of them had major surgery, and as part of her recovery her Doctor suggested she start incorporating collagen into her diet.  So, every day she made bone broth and added scoops of collagen.  Within weeks, she not only noticed a huge difference in how she felt and looked, but other people started noticing as well.  Needless to say, during one of group texts when I was complaining about my ever-growing list of aging woes, she quickly jumped in the conversation just to rave about her new age-reversing obsession and all its benefits.

All of us ended up ordering our own collagen after that group text.  I've now gotten others on the collagen bandwagon.  Results differ for everyone.  Some say they notice their hair is thicker and shinier, others say their nails and skin are healthier, others claim it reverses the effects of aging or cleared up their acne ... as for me, I notice the difference in my joints, which is why I am posting about it on my running blog.  I had knee and back stiffness that I honestly could not seem to beat.  If I sat too long, my knee would tighten up, and my back was always sore when I got up in the mornings or after long runs.  I swear that since I started taking collagen (I mix it in my coffee every morning) - the stiffness and aching/soreness is gone.  I recover quicker from my workouts and just feel better overall. I am telling you, I tried everything - from joint creams to heating pads and KT-tape.  This stuff is miracle powder!  I love that it has no flavor.  I am super sensitive to smells and flavors - most protein powders I simply cannot stomach because of the odor or because they just taste too much like powder or chalk.  But this stuff is odorless and tasteless. Oh!  And, yes - this stuff is pure protein :)

So, what are collagen peptides exactly?  Collagen is the most abundant protein in the body. It’s found in muscles, bones, skin, blood vessels, digestive system and tendons. It’s what helps give our skin strength and elasticity, along with replacing dead skin cells, and is essentially for mobility.  It's basically the glue that holds the whole body together.  As we age, we start producing less collagen.  The obvious tell-tale signs are wrinkles, sagging skins, muscle and joint pain, and so on.  Poor nutrition, smoking, too much sun exposure, excess sugar in our diet and other factors can speed the depletion of collagen.  But the good news is that by consuming collagen we can reverse or slow some of these effects, revitalizing our skin, nails, hair, bones, tendons, cartilage, muscles, vital organs and joints.

There are 2 brands I alternate between and I like them both equally.  The only difference is the price.  Below are links to both products.  I recommend that you take the time to read the reviews - I think you will be impressed.  I hope that if you try collagen, it works wonders for you as well.  :)

Vital Proteins Pasture-Raised, Grass-Fed Collagen Peptides

Sports Research Pure Hydrolyzed Collagen Peptides

​

​

As a runner and a running coach, I am always looking for the newest and best products for runners on the market.  I am going to start posting more about those products that I love, have tested myself, and think are a good investment for any runner.  
So let's begin with TriggerPoint!  Admittedly, I am a TriggerPoint ambassador, so I may be a bit biased, but I can attest that their products are amazing and can make a huge difference in any athlete's life.  
What is TriggerPoint exactly and why TP over other rollers?  
​TriggerPoint therapy is a form of self-care and self-massage for athletes through the use of foam rollers, massage balls and the like.  Foam-rolling helps circulate healthy oxygenated blood back into your unhealthy fascia  - it may be unhealthy from overuse, injury, etc.  Fascia is what connects the muscles and surrounds all structures in your body (tissue, nerves, organs, etc.).  The healthier the fascia, the better you will move. 
Foam-rolling can help with the following: it can diminish aches and pains, enhance performance, increase flexibility and range of motion, and accelerate recovery.  I can promise you that these products make a difference - they certainly have for me!  There are products and collections geared towards wellness, foundation and performance - including rollers, balls, cold rollers, the STK and other handheld products.  What makes their Grid roller different from others is that they come in different sizes and intensities, but they also have patterns, called Distrodensity Zones, which are designed to elicit a variation of blood flow. The multi-surface areas provide a variant of pressures as one rolls across. The blood brings fresh oxygen and nutrients to tissues helping speed up healing and recovery. Rolling will hurt but remember, foam-rolling isn't causing the pain, it is removing it.  
If you ever buy Trigger Point, use my 20% discount: TEAMTPCHERIE20  
#TeamTriggerPoint #TriggerPoint #TPTherapy #foamrolling #howiroll #selfcare #runningcare #runnerproducts #rollout #selfmassage #healthyfascia #nopainnogain 

I haven't stepped on a scale in over 20 years. True story. My drivers license says I weigh 135. I have no idea if that's true. When I go to the doctor and they weigh me, I close my eyes and won't let them tell me my weight. I even did this while pregnant. I just asked that they let me know if I was underweight or gaining appropriately. I gained 20 lbs - no idea what that ultimately put me at, but my doctor told me I was healthy and I managed to give birth to an 8 lb. 5 oz. child. :)

I really hate scales. I think they are evil. How many times did you do everything right - worked out, watched your calories, and then got on the scale and went - WTF!?! Was I visited by the pound fairy last night? Nothing could ruin my day faster than getting on a scale and realizing I was up five pounds from the day before. How does that even happen!?

In my teens and early twenties, I would read magazines that always had celebrities saying they weighted 120-125 lbs., so I decided that weight was ideal for me as well. I never took my height or body type into account. I became obsessed with my weight. Any day I weighed in too heavy, I'd spend the rest of it trying to eat under 500 calories, doing a 2 hour workout and then sitting in a sauna and sweating off the "pounds". Then, like some cruel joke, the next day my scale would say I'd gained a pound.  WHAT?!  Seriously - is my scale broken!? It HAS to be broken!!! I was ridiculous.  I won't lie - there was little that I didn't try to stay thin...from diuretics, to fasting, purging, etc.  I tried it all.  Maybe that's a lot to share, but I always believe in being open and honest about my truths as you never know who might be able to relate and need to know they aren't alone ;)

But I digress.  So, needless to say, my obsession with my weight was not a healthy one. Something had to change.  Educating myself about fitness, weight and how to be healthy changed my life. So let me share what I learned and why breaking up with my scale was one of the greatest things I ever did.  Now, I don't care about a stupid number on a scale - what matters is how I feel and how I think I look - and that has made all the difference.

1)  Your weight fluctuates.  Over the course of a day or even several hours, your weight can fluctuate by as much as 5 lbs.  Food and beverage intake, physical activity levels, clothing, time of day, going to the bathroom - all those things average into what the number on the scale may reflect at any given time.  

It's important to remember that fluctuations are not representative of body fat lost or gained.  Also keep in mind that water makes up approximately 65 – 90 percent of a person’s weight - any variation in water content in the body can move the scale up or down on any given day.

2) The number on the scale does not represent your level of health.  You can weigh less, but be what I like to call, "Skinny-Fat."  In other words, too little muscle and too much fat.  This is not healthy, and can even be deadly.  Believe it or not, it is healthier to be fat and fit than skinny and out of shape.  A recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association claimed that nearly 1 in 4 skinny people have pre-diabetes and are "metabolically obese."  Also, skinny fat people with diabetes have twice the risk of death than their overweight counterparts.

3)  Muscle weight versus fat weight. The more muscle you build, the more fat you will burn throughout the day.  This is a fact.  The more muscle owned, the more fat burned. For every extra 1lb of muscle you have, your body uses around an extra 50 calories a day. Thus, an extra 10lb of muscle will burn almost an extra 500 calories a day without you doing a thing - and that's enough to lose 1lb in a week!

But when you first start working out and begin to see your gains in muscle, and then look at the scale - you may find that statement to be misleading.  The fact is that while a pound of fat and a pound of muscle weigh the same - the volume of muscle is denser and thus, heavier.  More importantly though, while it may be heavier, muscle takes up a lot less room than fat - so while the number on the scale may be higher, the number of your pant-size will be going down.  














4)  Your Ideal Weight. While you may have an ideal weight in mind, it is important to remember that a healthy weight is different for each person, depending on body type, bone structure, muscle composition, etc.  It is much more important how healthy you are in all aspects than what the scale reads.

When your organs work better, your muscles are toned, and your body is getting nutritious fuel to work your muscles and metabolism correctly, you will start looking and feeling better, and YOUR body will transform towards ITS own optimal shape and weight. Please keep in mind that no change ever happens immediately.  It will take time and patience  - but I promise, that once you SEE and FEEL the change - it will have been worth the work and wait.

5)  And, last but not least - Diet.  As discussed above, unhealthy weight loss can be even more damaging to your body and mind than having a few extra pounds.  Being too scale-focused can lead many people to try starvation and fad diets, or worse, diet pills, laxatives, diuretics, etc. While these may help with short-term weight loss, they can hurt your health, body and weight over the long term.  Let me explain something - QUICK-FIXES DON'T LAST! When you restrict calories - your body goes into "Starvation Mode" which is the body's natural defense against starvation - meaning, the metabolism slows way down in order to make the most of the reduced calories you are providing it.  In doing so, it is protecting its fat stores and instead using lean tissue or muscle tissues as a fuel source for the body in order to keep it functioning.  So, what does this mean? It means that when you go back to eating what you like (and most of you will) your metabolism is still going to be operating at that decreased speed and you're going to put those pounds back on faster than you lost them.  Also - a hard working body NEEDS fuel - if you are working out - do not deprive it of the energy it needs or it will steal it from your muscle and nobody wants that!

The sad truth is that most of us regain the weight we lose.  Why?  Because sticking to liquid diets or popping diet pills every day is unrealistic.  Most of us cannot sustain a diet that restricts all the things we love as a permanent lifestyle.  Understand - food is about QUALITY not QUANTITY.  So many diets come with pre-packaged, processed foods that lack essential nutrients and are terrible for you.  Not all fats are bad, not all carbs are bad either - stop believing everything you read!  

When you eat food, your body digests it and pulls the nutrients from the food to feed the cells in your body. If your cells aren’t getting what they need, they will send signals to your brain to eat more food.  If you deprive your body of what it needs, you are setting yourself up for failure.   I'm not a dietician, so I can't recommend any diet or system to follow.  But there is plenty of information out there.  Mostly, just try to eat healthy, eat clean, eat LOCAL (farmer's markets are my FAVORITE!), look for healthy alternatives to the things you love, allow yourself to cheat once in a while but don't overdo it, and get your vitamins and nutrients from the foods you eat versus pills you swallow.  And don't obsess over the scale!  If you feel good and think you look good - let that be enough.  Don't let a little number spoil how you feel about yourself!

Anyway, I hope this helps.  I'm not a nutritionist or a doctor, but I've learned a lot over the years through personal experience, trial and error, and just doing a lot of research and reading. I encourage meeting with a nutritionist if you need a healthy meal plan to follow and nutritional guidance and tips.  A doctor will also help you monitor overall progress in your health. 

And congratulations if you are setting off on a journey towards a healthier and fitter you. I wish you strength on the days you need it, determination and motivation to stay the course, support from your peers and loved ones, and much success with all your goals. Please remember to go easy on yourself.  No one is perfect and there will always be set-backs and challenges; but remember that tomorrow is a new day and another day to get it right.  Never stop trying and don't ever give up on yourself.  I believe in you :)

xxoo - Cherie