Full Body Rotation

I like to do quick workouts where I get the most possible out of them in the least possible time. I got faster, leaner, and more fit this last year by running less and adding in short strength training at home.  (I am at the point if I want to continue to get faster I will have to up my game.) You just have to make sure every workout counts.

You want to start working out start with something easy. I started by doing this once a week. It takes me 15 to 20 minutes or even faster if I don't dawdle.

    3 sets of push-ups
    3 sets of bicycle crunches
    3 sets of squats
  Rotating through the exercises.

So what's a set? Go to fatigue, meaning you cant do anymore. That's something that took me a little while to learn. (Still learning!)

Let's take push-ups. Don't start on your knees, it's not easy to build up from there. Start with your hands shoulder width apart and go down as far as you can and come back up. You should be able to maintain that for at least 4 push-ups.

If you only do 1 don't go down as far. Once it becomes easy and routine to do 12, not being able to continue after 12, you should go down further and faster. Try to keep where you fatigue at between 6 and 12 reps. With weights that easier to do because you can add weight but when my body is the resistance I sometimes get up to between 20 and 25 before I figure out how to go deeper and faster and fatigue out sooner. Learning the form of a new exercise can take awhile.

Increase difficulty by going down deeper and faster. If it becomes too easy put your feet up on a chair to increase difficulty.

You should be sore the next day! Every workout should leave you feeling it a little bit.

Fruit at Work

I love sweets and I could eat them any and all the time if I let me myself. So to try to curb my sweet snacking and increase my healthy eating one of the first places I started was by adding fruit. DON'T RESTRICT ADD! I found its easier to start by adding good food than cutting not so good foods. 

If I say "Self, you cant have a donut." What do I do? I think about donuts, day dream about donuts and binge eat other junk and still really just wanting a donut. So that is not how I like to create change in myself.

I instead added fruit to my day. This requires some planning ahead on my part but I try to go to the grocery store Saturday or Monday and buy the fruits I will eat each day at work. Then when I get hungry and in particular really want something sweet I think "Self, there is an apple in the drawer you need to eat that." Sometimes I am hesitant but it usually tastes good and I am pretty satisfied after.

If I'm not satisfied then I still have a banana and some raisins that need to be eaten as well. Then later if I still really want it I will get the donut but by then I've eating 2 cups of fruit so i'm in a better place than if I just ate the donut. Plus sometimes I lose the donut craving.

Extra awesome tip: Keep a apple slicer in your desk at work. It makes eating that apple so much easier and more enticing. 

Laren Fleshman Ab Workout

Here is one of my favorite ab workouts. When I am really on my game I do this every other week and every time my abs ache!

Lauren Fleshman is a crazy fast 5k runner and she says this workout helped her get her abs back after having a baby. I've never had a baby but it sure did kick my abs in gear!

It ususally takes me 15 minutes or less as long as I keep my rest time down, which it should be short!

3 sets of spider-mans (elbow plant and reach out and touch in front of you, switching arms)
3 sets of side planks (a set includes both sides)
3 sets of bridge (laying on your back, lift your pelvis up and slowly lower on vertebrae at a time)

Don't Sit, Move!

I read this article about the negatives of sitting, when it came out in August from Runner's World and it has stuck with me. I sit most of my day at work so even though I exercise I am still at risk. I think most jobs require long periods of sitting.

What have I done about it?

1. I set a calendar appoint for the end of the day that reminds me to move once I have been at work for an hour. I move and then I snooze it for another hour. Silly but it helps me a lot. It's easy to get caught up in a project and not know how much time has gone by.

2. I print to a far away printer.

3. I always use the stairs.

4. A lady I work with always uses the bathroom two floors down (she takes the stairs) so that she moves more. I have been too lazy to incorporate this thus far but maybe it's time to step up my game.

Old job, but still me sitting.

Speaking of, I have been sitting at this computer awhile. I better move!

I have heard about the risks of sitting multiples places so I looked it up and there are quite a few studies reporting on sitting and health. Here are a few:

Sitting Time and Mortality from All Causes, Cardiovascular Disease, and Cancer

Too Much Sitting: The Population-Health Science of Sedentary Behavior

Too much sitting: a novel and important predictor of chronic disease risk?

Intro

Knowledge is power. I really believe that . I have found though that in this information age we live in there is a lot of information out there that is untrue making hard to feel powerful and more often with the more we learn the more confused and helpless we end up filling. The seems to be especially true with health and nutrition.

I studied nutrition in college getting a bachelors and masters degree in nutritional science so I learned biochemistry of the body and where and what nutrients do inside of us. When I hear of a new fad diet or trend I go back to the science. Does it make sense biochemically? I also try to look at the research. By that I don't mean what are the bloggers and book sellers saying. I look at the peer reviewed research and see what the scientific community is saying. Even among scientist there is bias so I like to hear things from a few different places before I rely on it.

I try to follow the science but I also like to look at what seems natural. I believe our bodies are the pinnacle of creation and earth evolved with everything we need to survive and thrive. I think unless we are sick, we should be able to get the nutrition we need from nature without much alteration. I believe we all have a responsibility to respect and take care of our bodies to the best of our abilities. 

No matter what you believe we all have our reasons to be healthy and sometimes that is more complicated than it should be. This blog is going to be a compilation of all the little things I do to keep healthy. Reminders for me of goals I have set and hopefully ideas for other people too.

I am not one for sweeping change. I like to make little changes that I feel I can maintain in the long haul. Being healthy comes naturally so some people they crave veggies and exercise. If that's you my philosophy may not make sense to you. I have a sweet tooth and every vegetable I like I had to learn to like. I love to run now but that was something I also had to learn. I understand what it's like to feel I will never be "one of those fit people." But I have seen my progress over that last few years and I believe others can do the same.

Too much writing.