To that I say…”hmph!”

I’ve been super busy lately with grad school and work and I’m looking forward to the holidays and things temporarily slowing down. My hectic schedule often leaves me tired and unfocused. It’s been super difficult to hit the gym for a “meaningful” workout.  I usually only end up working out once or twice a week, hence the lack of posts. You can’t write a fitness blog if you’re not being fit that often!  Since I’m not spending hours in the gym on a daily basis, it’s important for me to take lil “breaks” where I can check my instagram, facebook, tumblr, twitter, stretch, or take a quick walk around my office.  It helps me be more productive and shakes off my fatigue.

I was sent this lovely infographic, from onlinebusinessdegree.com, that lays out, quite convincingly, how important breaks are to your mental and physical health.

I’m heading off for my lunch “break” right now! How do you guys break? And, how often?

I plan on cashing it in immediately and going to happy hour after work.  Copious amounts of wine will be consumed. I’ll make up for it later

Have a great day!

When I’m not complaining about eating right and working out, I can usually be found watching trash TV or reading. Reading is one of my favorite past-times. I love to read blogs, magazines, books, anything really.  This week’s Three for Friday is a collection of the three health related books I’ve been reading recently.  Let’s jump right into it!

I read this book recently and it I was surprised at how funny and charming it was.  It didn’t make me trade in watching Love and Hip Hop for running a 5k but it did give me some insight on how to get started. My neighbor currently has me on a walk/run plan that he swears is going to have me prepared for a half marathon by March (he’s sweet, but delusional), much of the plan mimics some of the tips the author, Dawn Dais gives you.

I picked up this book after seeing the author on The View one random day.  His approach to health is similar to Tri-Anything Fitness’, do a bunch of random stuff, see what works and what sticks and try not to kill yourself during the process. This approach to health has led me to try kettlebell workouts, spin, zumba, vegetarianism, juicing,  and now veganism.

I started reading this book about three weeks ago. I had been toying with the idea of adopting a more plant based lifestyle but hesitated on fully commiting. After reading Dr. Barnard’s book, I decided to take the 21 day challange. The recipes are good, the advice isn’t too preachy, and the results of the plan are almost immediate.  I’m on day 20 and things are going very well. I’ll probably continue on the plan well past day 21.

Health related or not, are you guys reading anything good?

I really need someone to find this fat ass dog and bring it to me.

Yesterday, Sheri sent me a link to this amazing little creature, and I’ve been enamored with it ever since. I really, really, really want a dog and this one seems like a kindred spirit! We can work out together and eat well. My love is the only thing that’s stopping lil Obie from reaching his fitness potential!

I’m aware that Obie has a new mom but she seems unfit (no, I don’t have anything to support this charge). Also, nobody yelled at Madonna when she adopted an orphan with parents so I’m not sure why Obie can’t be adopted by me!

I enjoy laying down in bed too Obie! TWINSIES!

I’ll let Erikia, a real life, legit blogger, who posts on a regular basis tell you why having a dog is the best thing for your wellness since the Vitamixer.

More action! More activity! What I eventually learned the hard way was that all dogs aren’t simply “lap dogs.” Dogs have varying levels of energy, and you, as their owner, have to ensure that they’re getting activity that meets or exceeds their needs.

Excerpted from Friday 5: 5 Reasons Why Adopting A Dog Will Keep You Fit | A Black Girl’s Guide To Weight Loss

Do you know what this means? It means if I get Obie, I get more exercise, and he gets smaller. We get healthy! Together! At the same damn time!

I’m off to go stalk Obie’s facebook page. Do any of you have a dog? Has the dog helped you reach your fitness goals?

I’m sure you were wondering (or not wondering: RUDENESS) where we’ve all been. I’m not sure where the hell Sheri and Tha Mgmt have been (I’m lying I know exactly where they are) but I’ve been around, working harder than I like and enjoying DC restaurant week.  I don’t know what city you reside in dear reader but if that city has a restaurant week I encourage you to partake.  You get to go to super fancy restaurants for about $35 for three courses!  Here are a few snapshots of the terrible and terribly delicious things I’ve been indulging in:

As you can see, copious amounts of wine and chocolate were consumed. At least I got a deal on all those calories right?

The problem with gorging yourself on truly decadent food is that afterwards you aren’t really in the mood to workout.  The weird thing about being a fitness blogger is that when you’re not being fit you don’t have much to write about.  Then you look up and realize you haven’t updated your beloved WordPress in over a week.

After being yelled at and berated by lovingly chided by my trainer, I realized that I not only need to stop drowning myself in chocolate, wine, and other delicacies that are supposed to be enjoyed in infrequently,  but that I need to get more serious about sticking to a gym schedule.  Graduate school starts back up next week and my time will only get tighter.  Having a workout plan in place will, hopefully, keep me far more focused than I’ve been. My goals are to workout five times a week and have a variety of classes/routines. Here’s what I’ve got planned:

Sunday: Wild Card-I know starting off the week without a plan sounds counterproductive, but Sundays I catch up on sleep or go to church or go to book club or some other activity that makes it difficult to nail down a specific time to take a class/go workout. I do have lots of time on Sunday so whatever I choose will be 60-90 minutes in length and will probably be a strengthening routine.

Monday @ 7:30 pm: Yoga and 30 minutes of cardio (cardio minutes are dependent on whether or not the metro screws me over and holds me up, which it’s prone to do because DC Metro sucks.)

Tuesday @ 7:00 am: Jogging intervals on the treadmill for 30 minutes 15 minutes of abs/floor work

Wednesday: REST

Thursday @ 7:00 am: Spin class – I actually haven’t taken this instructor before but if she sucks anywhere as much as the Tuesday at 7 am instructor I’ll be filling this slot with another exercise

Friday @ 6:00 pm: Training session with my trainer-This will guarantee that I get into the gym on Fridays and miss happy hour (and the additional calories that come with it).

Saturday: REST (unless I don’t want to, but I’ll probably want to, or a replacement day if I’ve somehow managed to sleep through Tuesday or Thursday’s workout)

So there’s the plan! I was pretty generous with myself so I think I should be able to stick with it.  Tell me what you think!

~Donda

What a fail.

Anyway better late than never right? Right! For brevity’s sake (since I’m running late and all) let’s get into it with some lists.

PROS:

1.  Energy- on days I juiced my energy was through the roof! Forget caffeine, vegetables are what stifle mid-morning yawns. Vegetables also help you clear your dresser. I wish I had a before to show you the clusterf*ck it was before the juice.

2. Skin- Did I tell you I cured my own eczema? No? Well I did! With juicing!

[BRIEF ASIDE: I may or may not  have had eczema.  There was a dry and rough patch of skin on my chin that was annoying me.  My friend who works at a dermatologists office and who's also an event planner, told me, one evening over margaritas, that I probably had eczema.  I took his untrained, half drunk diagnosis as fact.  That's beside's the point, it's gone now and my skin glows. This aside is no longer brief, so look at me glow!]

Glowing in crappy office lighting.

3. Nails- My nails are stronger and longer. A month’s worth of mani’s for proof.

CONS:

1. The Hungries- I don’t know how folks do juice fasts and not kick small animals.  Juices are not meal replacements, they’re more of a meal supplement.  As a supplement they can add additional calories, so if you’re trying to lose weight, you might want to watch which fruits and veggies you select to juice.

2. Pulp- What does one do with pulp? It makes me feel very wasteful throwing all that good stuff down the drain.

3. Storage- I want to juice every day but i’m lazy.  I’d love to be able to make juice in bulk for the week and drink it at my leisure. I haven’t quite figured out how to make that happen.

All in all I’m pleased with my juicer and the effects juicing has had on my life. I intend to juice often and regularly and I encourage you to do the same!

Do you juice? What are your favorite combos?

I once visited the home of my friend, whose house has stairs leading down to the door without any rails and asked him how he managed to get down the stairs. He quizzically looked at me and said he walked down them. “Without falling?” I asked hesitantly.  He affirmatively replied and waited for me to begin my walk down the steps. “What about when you have groceries?” I further inquired, “still no falling?” Now he was getting impatient and said “there are people who aren’t as clumsy as you are!” I had no doubt of this but still wasn’t convinced that his doorway wasn’t a death trap. “What about when it’s raining or when it’s icy? You don’t fall down the steps?” I incredulously asked again this time slowly taking the steps one by one that lead into his house. He didn’t even answer me he just shook his head.

Steps, along with untied shoe laces, wet surfaces, uneven pavement, and rapid movements are a real cause for concern for me. They are genuine danger zones for a person like me. I have terrible balance and a weak core a combination that has made doing anything but walking in a straight line (and even that comes with its own sets of problems) extremely difficult for me.  I have a genuine fear that I will be pulled over and be perfectly sober and asked to walk one foot in front of the other and be hauled off to jail because I’ll be sure to stumble down the line.

When I had my first training session, my trainer asked if there was anything he should know about me.  I told him I can’t do burpees and pushups and I have terrible balance.  He ignored the first two comments and made me do what seemed like thousands of burpees and pushups but he spent the last 15 minutes of the class working on my balance. I have a feeling he doubted how truly ungraceful I am but he learned quickly enough that for once, I wasn’t exaggerating.  We worked on a BOSU ball (which he took great pains to explain isn’t a ball and hates when it is referred as such but whatever) and a wobble board.  He told me I had weak ankles, a criticism that I never heard but that was easy to believe as I’ve rolled/sprained the same ankle no less than six times in my short 21 27 year life.  He shook his head knowingly and instructed me to do balance exercise every day for five minutes a day.

Wobble board-not sure if this is a technical name

Here’s a few of the exercises I’ve been doing, no equipment needed!

Knee raises-while standing on one leg, lift your knee towards your chest. The higher you raise your knee the more it works on your balance and core. I do 10 seconds on each side, three times a side.

There’s far more wobbling when I do it.

Tree Pose – this is the pose pictured above, made popular by yoga. Stand on one leg with your other leg resting on your lower calf. Place your hands in front of your chest pressed together as if you’re praying, or for an added challenge, above your head

Grab a friend (or a little sister) and have them throw a ball at you to catch (this is actually taking me a while to master because my first instinct when a ball is thrown at me is to duck), while you’re on one leg and then throw the ball back to your friend.  I do 10 throws and catches on each leg. Again, the higher the leg the better the workout!

Planks – bad balance is actually indicative of a weak core. Planks are supposedly the best exercise for strengthening your core.

I’m not sure when I’ll start seeing results but at the very least I hope these exercises prevent me from falling frequently. At the very most I hope to be able to do this:

#TeamGabby

No? Oh okay.

How’s your balance? Do you do anything to improve it?

When I purchased my membership, I also purchased 4 personal training sessions.  As The Management discussed, personal training helps you figure out how to go about reaching your goals.  I’ve never been comfortable with weight training outside of group exercise classes.  I’m sure that my form and muscle growth has suffered as a result of my ignorance.  It is my hope that within these four sessions I would have become more familiar with my body mechanics, how to build a workout, and how to use the machines in the gym.

I met for with my trainer for the first time yesterday.  He was in an awfully good mood for someone who was in the gym on Monday night at 8 pm.  I figured it was because he didn’t know there was quality television programming to watch at that hour, such as Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta.  Once we got started, I realized that he was a sadist and he was in a chipper mood because he was well aware of the pain he was going to inflict on me. Remember this contraption that I saw when I went to visit XSport Fitness?

Torture device or fitness equipment?

Gold’s has one and the question has been answered: it is in fact a torture device.   My trainer had me do a quick warm-up and then headed over to the device and had me do squats, followed by pushups, followed by burpees, followed by some weird rope thingy that made my shoulders and back burn, followed by some other weird rope thingy that made my shoulders and back burn in a completely new way, followed by planks.  I did that once and was proud of myself, I was smiling, and I even high fived him at the end of the circuit! It was super difficult but I finished! Go Me! Then he told me that we’d be doing that three more times.  There were no more smiles; there were no more high fives.

After the last circuit I collapsed onto the mat, barely managing to hold my last plank.  “Finally,” I thought, “I can lay in a pool of my own sweat on this mat and rest peacefully” Unfortunately there was still 15 minutes left our session and he had this odd notion of giving me what I paid for. So I got up and we spent the remainder of the session working on some balancing exercises (which were terrible in their own separate way but I’ll discuss that another time).  We finally finished and I must have been delirious or something because I told him I’d meet him at the gym next week Monday at 8 pm again. I also heard myself promising him that I’d be working on the exercises he showed me during the week.

I complain a lot but I am happy that I’m a member of a gym. I think.

Where do you get your workouts in? Are you considering joining a gym or getting a trainer?

~Donda

With all the produce that I now buy, I’ve been tempted to buy those vegetable and fruit wash sprays.  Not all of my produce is organic or locally grown. I also buy most of it from an international supermarket where people are picking over the produce and handling it.  So, properly washing off dirt and bacteria is important to me, which is why I’m happy I stumbled across this homemade concoction on tumblr.

 

Homemade Fruit and Veggie Wash

1 cup Water
1 cup Vinegar
2 Tbsp Baking Soda
Juice of 1 Lemon (2-3 Tbsp)

Mix water and vinegar in a large bowl. Add baking soda (the baking soda will react to the vinegar, creating lots of bubbles!). Stir in lemon juice and add mixture to a spray bottle. Rinse fruits or veggies with water and then spray well with your homemade wash. Allow the produce to sit for a few minutes and then rinse again with water.

Easy enough right? This recipe is not only cost effective but it’s green! I’ll be trying it out on all the new produce I buy this weekend when I go grocery shopping.

Try it out and tell me how it goes!

I saw this floating across my twitter timeline this weekend (Brief Aside: Do you follow me on twitter? You should be!). It seems like an intense workout that you can try anywhere: a gym or at home! Head to YouTube if you’re not sure what any of the exercises look like.

~Donda