Tales of My Fitness Past – Part 5

When last we left the discussion of my fitness and body history, we were at a nice positive chapter. I was fit and happy. I reveled in my friends, my career and my life. I didn’t care so much about what I was missing. I was enough for myself. I was traveling to see friends who had moved away. I even joined the Maine Outdoor Adventure Club. I’m not much of an outdoor person, or adventuring in the outdoors. I joined it to meet new people and get some new experiences. It was kind of crazy, but I thought, oh well!

 

As it happens often in life, just when you get cozy and comfortable, you get the chance to change things.  I met a guy. And being in a new relationship caused my routine and my normal to drastically change.  I wasn’t cooking or myself anymore, I was cooking for 2.  But it was more like cooking for 3 or 4 because my boyfriend had an appetite.  I was going out to dinner much more. My boyfriend was a great cook and he made really, yummy food. He also introduced me to lots of different foods I hadn’t really had a lot of exposure to.  Thai, Chinese, Indian, BBQ, etc.  There wasn’t very much of the new cuisine that was healthy! And dessert, particularly ice cream, was the rule, not the exception.

A lot of my time in the evening had been spent going to the gym.  I did lots of late night workouts before.  Now, if we weren’t hanging out, we were probably playing computer games.  My workouts were not physical except my hands on the keyboard. and running across virtual worlds, doesn’t really count!  Because playing the game was a huge priority, meals were often delivered so that we didn’t have to waste time cooking.  Sadly, our Chinese food delivery guy ended up getting so comfortable delivering to us that he’d just come on it and sit down and chat.  (I do want to brag that I used to get steamed vegetables!)

I was also in  graduate school, which added another layer of stress, time suck, and being sedentary.  I did try and walk to my classes from my apartment, which allowed me SOME exercise.  It was a few blocks more than comfortable so it was a decent amount of steps.  I made a new friend my second year of graduate school who had a summer job working for 2 of the most addictive men I’ve ever met: Ben and Jerry.

She came to school with a freezer full of ice cream pints.  Some we had never had before, and some that weren’t sold in stores.  She filled our freezer.  She filled a freezer at school.  There was ice cream everywhere and it was all yummy.  In the downtime for school we turned to food. When we studied, there was food.  We discovered the wonderful taste of cookie dough in a tub.  Sure, it wasn’t meant to be eaten with a spoon, but it sure was great.

I don’t mean to throw my grad school friends and boyfriend under the bus.  We also tried to do more workout things. I used to do 3 mile walks with the boyfriend.  My grad school friends and I joined Curves and did water aerobics.  We tried to cook together.  Fajita nights!

Fitness and health were less of a priority than school, relationships and recreation.  Socializing was the norm.  I had no real goals.  At one point I did join Weight Watchers at my work and a good Weight Watchers meeting IS worth it’s weight in gold.  But when we didn’t have enough people to keep it up, and when my grant ended and I was in school full-time, I was back on my own.

Brushes with Celebrities

 

I’m a big fan of Beachbody.  I can’t really hide that.  And of course I wouldn’t want to!  I’m super lucky that I’ve had the chance to meet some Beachbody leaders, Super Trainers, and supplement creators in the last year.

I went to a Super Saturday event in Orange County the beginning of 2016 and got to hear the CEO Carl Daikler speak. He’s amazing. He’s so good at getting everyone excited about life.  I’ve seen him speak in person before, but this time I got to have a photo op with him. Super cool.

Flash forward to Summit 2016. My friend and teammate Angel and I got to get a quick photo with Tony Horton, OG Beachbody Super Trainer, in the hotel room before Summit really kicked off.  Look at that SMIZE!  We were super lucky and he was very nice to accommodate us and use his long arm to take the photo.

I chatted up Dr. Nima Alamdari, the Director of Scientific Affairs at Beachbody when I saw him in the halls.  I had also met him the previous year when the Beachbody Performance line was launched.  I got to talk science stuff with him.  And he let me take a photo.

Randomly, on the street, I got to meet Superfood Hunter Darin Olien, one of the co-creators of Shakeology. I’m a big fan of his philosophy of food, and I love his book Superlife.  I got a photo with him as well and told him that I was having trouble getting my husband to drink his Shakeology daily.  Darin suggested I tie him up and force feed him.  He’s really great!

I won an Instagram contest in October and in December, I got an in-home visit from Autumn Calabrese, the Super Trainer who has brought my favorite programs to life, and her brother Bobby Calabrese.  Together their cooking show Fixate and the Fixate cookbook has helped change how we eat and approach food.  They were honestly just as lovely and wonderful as I could have hoped.  We cooked with them, shopped with them and had some great talks about fitness, food, living in California, and everything else.

My last brush with a Beachbody celebrity was Mr. Tony Horton again.  He spoke at our local Super Saturday and I got a photo op!  Sadly, I couldn’t do his workout because I had an injured shoulder.  But he gave a great Q&A and really brought a lot of things into perspective that I was missing.  Our photo time was brief, but he called me Sweetheart, and can you really ask for anything else?

One of my wildest dreams is to be Beachbody famous myself.  I want to be a top coach, have an incredible result to share, and keep inspiring  other people to go for it.  I want to talk on the National Wake Up Call, and in front of the crowd at a Super Saturday. Until I’m legit famous, I’ll have out with the elite when I can.

Welcome to Your Life

Okay, so it’s the first day of the year, so it’s obviously time to take a big old stab at doing things the way you want them done, right?

I’m looking at the next year and I’m really wanting to take action steps. I’ll start with this blog.

• Blog more.
• Have a more concrete voice on my blog.
• Move the blog over to a new site.
• Integrate it better with the rest of my social media life.
• Have better ways to connect with new people.

Now let’s talk about my health and stuff.

• Bust the plateau.
• Get some serious weight loss results.
• Get certified to be a personal trainer.
• Get paid to teach PiYo.
• Go to Summit like a #GirlBoss.

Personal life?

• Spent more time with people.
• Travel.
• Have meaningful relationships.
• Enjoy life.

Happy 2017.

Revisiting the 21 Day Fix

I’ve done a few rounds of the 21 Day Fix.  I’ve always loved the length of the program because I can totally schedule 21 days of workouts in the life.  3 weeks is a really achievable time frame.  When you finish, you feel accomplished.  Some time last year I decided that I was beyond 21 Day Fix.  I could go Extreme.  So I did!  I finished a few rounds of 21 Day Fix Extreme and THEN Autumn’s program – The Master’s Hammer & Chisel (twice).  I felt like I was a pro or something.

Haha.

Isn’t that always what happens?  You get cocky.

 

I’m doing a new challenge with Autumn – Your Fit Journey.  It started earlier this month and in it you do ALL 4 of her programs, back to back.  I have done all the programs so I thought, no problem.  And we started with 21 Day Fix.  I definitely  thought I’d be golden.

Coming off another program, I was ready.  I even had to overlap the two for a couple days.  No problem.  This was just 21 Day Fix.  I was ALL. OVER. THIS.

And then, the first move on the first day.  Surrenders.  Ugh.  The worst exercise for someone with hip flexor weakness.  Let me tell you something true.  This is not an easy program.  Sure it is approachable for beginners and I usually recommend it for beginners, but it is as tough as you want to make it.  And even though I think I’m badass, I’m modifying.  I’m pausing for a drink because it is GO time for 30 min.

It was totally hubris to think I outgrew this program. I was familiar with the program and probably ready for a change and a challenge.  But it was never EASY.  I was never BEYOND it.  So to everyone I’ve recommended the program to: it’s really great isn’t it? I’m right there with you and I have so much respect for ALL of us that finish each round.

10 Reasons You Shouldn’t Work Out at Home.

You can only get a good workout at a gym.

Home is supposed to be relaxing.

Unless you have a team of professionals monitoring you, you’ll never get fit.

Paying a club fee keeps you accountable.

No one ever got a good workout on their own.

You don’t have a DVD player anymore anyway.

There’s no way you can actually stop watching Netflix long enough to throw in a workout.

You have no equipment to do any of those fancy moves.

There’s no way you can sweat without someone yelling at you.

Your pet/spouse/child won’t leave you alone long enough to have time to yourself to work out.

Does any of this sound familiar? It should.  We are continually sabotaging ourselves from any of the healthy choices we need to make by the voices we listen to.  Sometimes they are in our head, from experiences we’ve had.  And sometimes they are from people in our lives.  They can even be from society and culture in general!  It can get pretty overwhelming and I have to admit that I’ve listened to them, too.

I have done lots of things in my fitness life.  I’ve been a member of gyms.  I’ve been gone regularly!  I’ve taken classes in a devotional fashion.  I’ve run on the streets, in traffic, where everyone can see me.  I’ve worked with personal trainers.  I’ve been in small group circuit training classes.  I’ve met up with friends to do fit stuff out in the world.  I’ve even run a fitness class outside of my house!

But I ALSO workout at home.

Getting PUMPED up at home.

 

I used to think that the act of getting dressed and getting in the car was what I needed to make sure I didn’t drop out of my workout routine.  I admit, I’ve never turned around on my way to a gym. I also get dressed and head downstairs, fire up my Apple TV and drink my pre workout Energize.  That’s my NEW ritual to get going.  I’ve bagged gym workouts when I pushed too hard.  I’ve surrendered during home workouts when I haven’t had it in me.

The thing I had to change was my mindset.  I had to question the truth of all of those 10 statements.  The funny thing is, there’s a little truth in them, but there’s also a whole lot of excuses and fear.

The gym isn’t the answer, running isn’t the answer, and working out along to a program at home isn’t the answer.  You are the answer.  You have to find what’s going to work FOR YOU.  And what that is will change.  You will change.  Tomorrow’s solutions aren’t the same as yesterday’s – otherwise we would just be doing the same thing over and over again  until things were perfect.  Shit happens. Conditions will change.  Your metabolism will change.  What you like will change.  What challenges you, will change.  You may have a physical set back, which will change what you need.  You will get stronger, better, faster, more awesome.  You’ll have to seek out new mountains to conquer.  That’s the greatest part about being a human!

The at-home thing works for me now.  I get to pick from a bunch of programs.  I’m close to my own shower, which I know doesn’t have plantar warts growing in it.  I can even access them when I’m traveling. (Like the time I did the line dancing workout in a tiny hotel room.)  But I can ALSO go swim some laps, go for a run, go the the gym and lift some weights.

I can do anything I want, and that’s totally okay.  But I DO stuff.  It’s often easier to START at home.  The gym is scary.  People driving by you when you are trying to run on the street, that’s intimidating.  If I need the people portion, I can workout with a friend at home or find the friends on Facebook who are also doing the same thing as I am.  That way, I have a gym buddy, anytime, anyplace, anywhere.

So forget what you think about working out at home.  It’s as awesome as you want to make it.  And it’s pretty great when you let it.

My First Half Marathon

**This post has sat unfinished in my drafts for over 2 months.  But as I told my friend recently, published is better than perfection, I’m pushing it out.**

When I started this blog I had this crazy idea that I was going to be a triathlete.  Even though I was overweight and out of shape.  Even though I hadn’t ridden a bike since I was in high school and I hadn’t run a whole mile since 10th grade.  I swam for fun, I didn’t swim for distance and time.

I still haven’t done my triathlon, but I have ridden a bike.  (Admittedly, I need to do that more.) I have swam laps in the pool until I was exhausted.

But the running part?  Ha! That, I can absolutely tell you I progressed on!

On June 5th I ran my first half marathon!  It was the third one I’ve signed up for – so I guess it was third time – the charm.  I ran the San Diego Rock n Roll Half Marathon!

I started my training late.  I started my long runs in April.  Because my work schedule is a little erratic I could always depend on Sundays being free for long runs.  My idea was to increase my mileage by 1 mile each week.  I was in the middle of a round of 21 Day Fix Extreme and it got more difficult to balance that schedule with running and rest.  (And work which also got a little crazy.) For the most part this approach worked and I ended up completing my 10 miler the week before my event.  That really helped my confidence in knowing I could do 13.1  I had accidentally done a 9.5 on my 10K in Las Vegas.

It was really helpful that a friend let us stay at her place that was conveniently situated within walking distance of the start and the finish.  I did the requisite preparations.  Carbohydrates the night before.  Plenty of hydration.  I stood in line for the bathroom until it was time to start.  I had my gels and salt twists.  I didn’t get a playlist together but I have Apple Music on my phone.

It really was the hardest thing I have ever done.  I just kept moving forward.  I ran as much as I could, which ended up being a lot more than I anticipated.  My calve cramps were the only things I stopped for.  They didn’t really start until after mile 8 and I did a brief stretch out on the curb a couple of times to get through.  I drank water at the water stations, Gatorade when it was offered.  I used 1 gel and it was probably not the best idea.  It really made my stomach hurt after about a mile after taking it. The end of the course had some downhills, which I appreciated.  I finished stronger than I thought I would.

Afterward I kind of felt drunk.  I could only move slow and my thinking wasn’t really where it should have been.  I had recovery food (banana) and waited for my friend to finish the full marathon.  Stopping was the hardest part.  Sitting was awful until it was time to get up and then THAT was awful.  I did get to enjoy Gavin DeGraw as the headliner though!

The walk back up to my friend’s house was SLOW.  Everything hurt.  All 3 of us were beat up and miserable.  I don’t really remember what we did or what we ate that day, but I do remember that the next day was NOT as awful as I thought it would be.  I went to Bloom and got Traumeel in my shot.  I used my plantar fasciitis braces.  I was more okay than I expected to be.

So from thinking that I’d be “one and done” I’m actually considering doing this race again next year.  I don’t think that RnR Las Vegas in November is in the cards.  I still think that with better conditioning and with less weight to run with I could actually have a much better time at this.