Lululemon's The Mat is awesome!

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This past weekend I went ahead and took the plunge and purchased Lululemon's "The Mat" on Isis Hargrave's (of Lululemon FW and The Running Couple fame) suggestion. Well that's not all I bought. I also bought a few tops and a cute run skirt but I digress. Buying the mat I thought would be good incentive for me to commit to a yoga practice. For various reasons I feel I need a change in my training. Yoga fits the bill. I've been to a few classes before and not being a experienced yogi I didn't bring yogi  toes or any type of towel to go over my mat. NO BUENO when you are sweating like no nobody's business and you find yourself sliding from downward facing dog into "lazy dog, sprawling on the ground". Isis promised I wouldn't have to use anything other than "The Mat" and so I figured I try it out. Plus, it's PINK. What's not to like about that?

So, I went to Indigo Yoga yesterday afternoon and brought along my brand new mat with me to give it a test run. I was hopeful if not a little but skeptical about it's ability to keep me from slipping all over the place. Wow. I am impressed. midway into the class I was pouring buckets of sweat. Literally, it was dripping off of me and forming little dark stains all over the mat. Did I slip? Not once. I am loving it. Thanks, Isis and Kelsey for the suggestion. The mat is well worrth the money. ;-)

See the mat here:
http://shop.lululemon.com/The_Mat/pd/c/630/np/630/p/2108.html

"Naturally Thin": What I think so far...

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So, I finished "Naturally Thin" and I must say  I found it refreshing. If you've been a dieter for too many years to count and you're so used to eating what you're "supposed"to that you don't even know what you actually like to eat anymore this is probably a really, really good read for you. You see, Bethenny has her own issues with food. She spent years binging, restricting, going on every diet imaginable, exercising compulsively and listening to a running inner dialogue she refers to as her "food noise". And despite all that she was 15-20lnbs heavier than she is now (well, ok she just had a baby but you know what I mean) after applying her "Skinny Girl" rules (see below). This "food noise" constantly told her things like "No, don't eat that. It's bad for you. I'm going to get fat.", I'm disgusting. I can't believe I ate that.", "You have no discipline.", "If you don't workout you're a lazy, fat girl.", etc. etc. ". I don't know about everyone else but yeah... I've got my own "food noise" and it sounds a lot like that. A lot. And I'm pretty aware of it but I guess I always thought it was a good thing. That "noise"  keeps me in check. It controls me to some degree. But, when I think about it... maybe it hasn't helped me at all. I listen to it in most cases... I eat what I'm supposed to eat. Egg whites, broccoli, chicken breast, almonds.. you know all the "good stuff". Stuffing it down like a good girl whether I was hungry or not. I ate on a schedule, every 3-4 hours to keep my metabolism up. Then I tried intermittent fasting where I starved all day and then ate a days worth of calories all in a small amount of time to enhance insulin sensitivity. I didn't always do that. I have my own history of undereating but for the past few years I have been trying to eat what I'm "supposed to". Enough calories, enough protein, enough fat (which varies dramatically according to different nutrition camps).  I've tried every marconutrient split. I've dropped out entire food groups. I've eaten more fat than I ever though I would eat in a day. Then  I tried eating more starchy carbs. I tried the Zone, Atkins, the Anabolic Diet, and everything you could ever think of. All to no avail. I might lose a few pounds at first but usually just ended up gaining weight. Yep, I gained weight. I even had one fitness professional/dietician who basically told me I was lying to her because she had never had anyone gain weight on 1500 calories/day. Oops. I did. Sorry to ruin your track record. So all of this had led to immense frustration and self loathing.  I felt like I was somehow flawed. I wondered what I was doing wrong. I had lost weight before. I ate carbs, I ate things that weren't "ideal" but I was thin. I didn't eat on a schedule or make myself wait 16 hours before I could eat again. Why couldn't I do that now? Why is that when I eat what all these other fit, lean people eat I just get bigger? Well, Bethenney's book may have helped me step back and reevaluate what I have really been doing (I'll get to that in a bit).
 Bethenny's outlook on  food changed when she took a vacation to Italy where she swore she would not miss out on any of the wonderful food due to any food issues she had. She tasted everything but avoided eating large quantities of everything, applied some simple rules by which to eat that allowed her enjoy food without overindulging. When she got back home, she had gained no weight and found a brand new way of eating.

Watch and Listen as Bethenny explains her rules:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt1APHMvIxY

Or you can just read them here:

1.Your diet is a bank account: It's all about balancing your calories for the day.

2.You can have it all, just not all at once: Keep the bulk of your food light and simple to make room for something you really want.

3.Taste everything, eat nothing: Mooch a bite off your friends; don't order the whole enchilada.

4.Pay attention: No mindless eating.

5.Downsize now: Shrink the size of your plates, bowls and cups and remember portion control.

6.Cancel your membership in the Clean-Plate Club: Doggie bag it or share; you don't have to clean your plate.

7.Check yourself before you wreck yourself: Be in the moment and stop binge eating.

8.Know thyself: Customize your eating to who you are.

9.Get real: The more unprocessed, whole, local foods, the better.
10.Good for you: Be good to yourself and let your choices come from a place of love for yourself.
 
 
* As you can see, it's not all about eating whatever the heck you want and praying for the best. It's a sensible, common sense type of approach to eating. Makes you wonder why you haven't tried this before huh? Well, if you're like me I always though there was some magic solution or combination of food that would work for me.
 
So, what have I gathered so far? How does this relate to me? Well, I'm not completely sure yet but I think in my attempts to eat only clean food (except for the occasional cheat meal reserved for one day a week) I have been eating more than what I need. How could that be if I was eating all these healthy foods right?  Let me explain. In order to avoid craving things I really want I'd eat bigger portions of the "good" stuff or I'd just have a taste of this and that and still eat my large portion of healthy stuff. I'd also eat when I wasn't really hungry because I was "supposed" to. If I hadn't met my daily calorie or protein requirements I'd down a shake at 10:00 at night whether I wanted it or not. I was missing out on all kinds of tasty foods not to mention memories and social events because I couldn't possibly eat THAT food and be fit, lean, skinny. etc.. No, I am cursed with a crappy metabolism and I'd be a cow if I ate all that.... well, maybe not. I've been applying the rules for several days now and I can tell a difference. I don't feel overlly full. I'm not forcing myself to eat anything I don't want to. Eating is less stressful cause I know I can eat whatever I want as long as balance it and I eat in moderation. AND I swear I already feel a little lighter. So... I'm going to give this a go. I'll keep you updated. I may fall on my face and you can all tell my you told me so but I don't think that is where this is going.

Wednesday's Wod and thoughts about food....

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Couldn't get my hiney out of the bed this morning. So I arrived at GSX a little later than normal. Did a quick:


20lb weighted ring pushups:
5,7,5,7,7
These are getting easier!


Then joined the 8:30 class for:


7 rounds of:
5 Sumo Deadlift High pulls
5 Power Cleans
5 Pushjerks
at 75lbs
Time: 6:16.


Skinned my neck a little. I'm sure that looks attractive.


Ok, so picked up the book "Naturally Thin" by Bethenney Frankel who you may have seen on "The Real Housewives of NYC". Yeah, yeah laugh it up. But, I was curious as to what she had to say about food. She's pretty antidiet and well, she's thin. Having been on a diet for the last 15 years to say I am really tired of dieting is... well, it's a major understatement. I want to one of seemingly effortlessly thin people damn it! Well, I'm a couple of chapters in a this point and it's making we wonder about a lot of things concerning food. Mainly, I am questioning my constant counting and calculating and eating based on what I should be eating and eating. Wouldn't it be nice to go back to the days when you just ate what you wanted. You stopped when you were ready to and you didn't obsess over every detail. I swear I did this once many many years ago. I wasn't scrawny but I was probably about the same weight I am now... with a lot less anxiety and fear regarding food. So, that' all I've got for now... I'll keep you updated as I work my way through the book.

Really? My legs are still sore!

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Yikes! My legs are still feeling the workout from Saturday!

So, I just did a 3 mile easy run in the afternoon and then went to visit Chuck at GSX. He's spending a ton of time of there helping to get GSX ready for the regional.

Monday 5/17/10-ouch

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WOW! So sore from this past weekends workout with Chance and Jenny Williams (of Women's TriFitness Fame). I'm going to compete next year in the WTF so I'm starting training NOW. This stuff is no joke. This past weekends workout was 2 hours of some of the hardest training I've ever done. And I am STILL sore. So Monday was a little less intense than normal.

Bench:
85lbsx5, 95lbsx5, 105lbsX4, 105x5

5 rounds:
15 1 pood swings
outside rope climb (It's important-it's taller than the one inside ;-) although I was too scared to go all the way to the top! LOL!)
10 pushups
70 meter run

Then rest. No sprints that afternoon. WAY too sore.

Update! Long time no blog.

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So, it's been a while. Let's just say I got really busy with school. But I'm going to try to be more on top of this is for no other reason than to track my workouts and food intake.

So, I'm trying out some new training lately and some new nutrition strategies (mainly just more calories). Seems I have been chronically undereating for...years. I knew this already and while it may not LOOK like I undereat apprently that's why my body clings to body fat for dear life.

So, the new strategy looks like this:

Monday:




AM:

Resistance training

Bench press at 60% of body weight.

3 sets. Max reps for each set.



Metabolic Conditioning workout: These workouts will contain strength, power lifting, and Olympic lifting, agility and speed work as well as plyometric moves to build power, strength, and to enhance metabolic condition and facilitate added caloric expenditure directly and through EPOC. These will be chosen from a pool of movements listed below. Each varies in reps, weight used, and time taken to complete the workout (i.e. an undulating model).



Movements:






Monday:

AM:

Bench Press

5 sets for 3-5 reps of 80-90% of max

Metabolic Conditioning workout: These workouts will contain strength, power lifting, and Olympic lifting, agility and speed work as well as plyometric moves to build power, strength, and to enhance metabolic condition and facilitate added caloric expenditure directly and through EPOC. These will be chosen from a pool of workouts listed below. Each varies in reps, weight used, and time taken to complete the workout (i.e. an undulating model).

PM: Sprint work if none included in AM workout.



Tuesday:

Recovery work: 3-4 mile jog, stretching (yoga if I have the time and moolah)

Routine practice, stretching (Not this year. But next’s years plan will include this).



Wednesday:

Weighted ring dips

5 sets of max reps with a 20lb weighted vest. Increase weight when greater than 10 reps can be completed.



Metabolic Conditioning workout as described above.



PM: Sprint work if none included in AM workout.





Thursday:

Rest/Yoga





Friday:

Strength training:

Press or Push press:

5 sets for 3-5 reps of 80-90% of max



Metabolic conditioning as described above.



PM: Rest in anticipation of Saturday’s longer workout.



Saturday:

Team training: Obstacle course work plus a variety of metabolic conditioning and skill specific training. This is programmed by a trainer and I don’t have any control over what I’ll be doing when I go. However, it works well with the undulating program I do during the week.
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