Potentials and Partners

Today's juice: celery, kale stems, and apple, with chia seeds mixed in and left to gel. Not the most pleasant drink. I don't think I'm a fan of celery. It seems oddly... peppery? I'd like to get used to the chia part, however. Once my mind and body have gotten used to juicing (at least another week, if not two, I should think), I'd like to grit my teeth and try a 10 -Day "ReBoot," or juice fast, as seen in Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead. Because I will be working out quite a bit during that time, I want to make absolutely certain I am getting enough oomph in my diet to continue progressing. I have heard that mixing in chia seeds is a popular method of accomplishing that.

Started P90X with Katie today (though she had to leave early because it is her mother's birthday, so we didn't get to AbRipperX). For now, we are doing it three times a week- her idea- but today she expressed some interest in maybe bumping it up to the full schedule! And, added incentive to keep up with it: one of her roommates will start joining us several times a week. So now there are three people all poking at each other to stay on track.

I've been keeping up with my running schedule, but I'm still experiencing a lot of tightness and sometimes a little pain in my lower-calf/Achilles area. Looking into strengthening exercises and stretches to try and alleviate that, and trying to monitor my runs to not push it to the point of injury. I do think that my endurance is already improving, however. Tomorrow pushes the running up to 90 seconds a shot. I'm interested to see how it goes.

The Inaugural Green Monster

I JUST HAD MY FIRST GREEN MONSTER!!!! The most basic one, just chia, spinach, banana, almond milk, and ice. It was absolutely terrifying- I actually made my mom come and make it with me because I was wigging out about it so much. We only made a half recipe, and then we split that, but that's still more spinach than my body has seen in... pretty much ever.

In other news:

On the sad side: my go-to decently healthy ballpark meal is not being served this year, I found out this afternoon. I liked to get the little microwave things of brown rice and put teriyaki sauce on it. In the future I should be able to work around this sad development by bringing in my own sauce (probably Emily's healthy peanut sauce, since teriyaki sauce might infringe upon the no-liquids/beverages rule), because a different Asian place finally offers brown rice this year, but only plain soy sauce. I cannot abide plain soy sauce.

On the happy side: We unexpectedly got out of the Mariners game in time to hit Superfit, so I jumped headfirst back into working out! Wasn't expecting to start until Friday. Hurriedly located my workout clothing in my as-of-yet unpacked suitcases, went, and nearly killed myself. It was awesome. We started out with mat abs, which is always the scariest, and he had us doing a round of minute long holds: static leg raise, side bridges on both sides, static push-ups, regular forearm bridge. He told us the 30 and 45 second marks and said we could stop at those if we needed. I probably should have, and will regret my decision tomorrow, but I somehow managed to eek out the full minute each time. Which of course shocked my little out-of-shape body and it wasn't the happiest for the rest of the time, but I managed. Doing interval bursts at level 17 on the elliptical during one cardio break probably didn't help either. But instead of progressing up to medium and heavy weights, I stayed at light weight for all three sets. I need to be able to move on Friday when I go back in!


But main point being: I just had my first Green Monster, people. This is highly momentous. My plan is to try and have them at least three times a week (likely as a pre-workout drink, maybe an hour before? Thoughts on the timing of that?). I'm actually really excited to try the Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Bomb one and the Pumpkin Pie Protein Power one. The regular one was good, and is probably the one I will drink the most of, long-haul, but my mental game is still pretty shaky with regard to vegetables, so I think smoothing the way with chocolate and peanut butter is wise.

Cold Food is Good Food

I didn't get the fridge, unfortunately, but I decided that I just plain need some form of refrigeration, so I've ordered this funky electric cooler off of Amazon. It should help things last for a few days. It's pretty small, so I'm planning on prioritizing:

• Almond milk
• Emmental cheese
• Opened cans of beans
• Bulk batches of quinoa
• Opened cans of coconut milk
• And finally, overnight oats made in Tupperware

I want to get back on the Five Factor diet (affiliate link) idea. I haven't found any corn tortillas here, which is unfortunate, but I can make my standard burritos sans the tortilla, and still cover my bases. It means I won't have my olive oil for the healthy fat, but there are healthy fats in the beans and the chia, so it should still work out. And I can always eat a few almonds. Maybe if I run through this quinoa fast I might try millet as well. Emily at Daily Garnish speaks highly of it. But, when you factor in Spring Break, I'll actually only be eating in this room another two months, so I shouldn't go out buying anything else just yet!

Starting to worry that my chia might have gone bad. The last few batches of overnight oats I have made have tasted pretty sketchy, like something has spoiled, but the mixture I've been making of oats, crushed cashews, and agave syrup has been fine. I hope my chia hasn't died! It's probably really expensive to ship over here, and I didn't see any in Naturalia.

Push-ups were harder today, but still doable. Also about to go add in some ab work.

As far as actually getting out to run goes, I'm still being a weeny about it. A blog I stumbled across but can't for the life of me remember the name of collected some motivational exercise quotes from her readers, and I noted down a few:

• Pain is weakness leaving the body
• You are just one workout away from a good mood!
• Obsessed is a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated
• I've never regretted a workout
• You know your limit, and this is NOT it!

Hopefully making these a mantra will get me out the door. 

Accidental Thriving

Note to Self: Even if not kept in a warm place, chia seeds left soaking will start to sprout in 2-3 days. I know Thrive talks about the benefits of eating sprouts, but I want to eat chia gel, not chia pets. So, in future, will only make as much chia gel as I will be eating in a day- and then committing to actually eating it all in a day!

Another Note to Self: Should actually read Thrive. NoMeatAthlete is obsessed, and a few other bloggers have mentioned it as well. If they don't need to be refrigerated, this could be a way for me to actually get in some real, whole foods while I'm living in France without a refrigerator.

They don't refrigerate as many things in France, I am finding, even without all of the preservatives that Americans use, and people lived for thousands of years without fridges, so I'm probably actually able to use a lot more than I think I can. But then I remember that people also died a lot earlier for thousands of years, and I worry that it has a lot to do with food poisoning....

I Hope They Have Ice in Paris....

Had my last Superfit session today before I leave for France. It was an early morning one, and my alarm went off in the middle of an REM cycle (I can tell because I was solidly in the middle of a dream), so I couldn't really eat much because my stomach was upset, so I couldn't go all out. But I didn't wimp out, either, which I think is good. I got up when I didn't want to, and I went in when I didn't feel like I could do a good workout, and even though I couldn't kill it, I put forth a worthy workout. I feel like this bodes well for future marathon running- I imagine there will be many days when running 8 or 15 or 26 miles won't sound like anything I want to be doing.

And I listened to my body, and sometimes stopped a few reps short if I could tell it wasn't going to end well. I only moved up to Red (Yellow-Green-Blue-Red-Silver-Black 1-3) on Thursday, so that would have been acceptable even if I was feeling quite chipper.

Read a very interesting chapter on using temperature to help shed fat and build lean muscle, in The 4-Hour Body: An Uncommon Guide to Rapid Fat-Loss, Incredible Sex, and Becoming Superhuman (full disclosure: links to books and products are associate links, but I honestly just link them so you can see what I'm talking about, not as a prod to buy them. Though I would generally recommend them). We tend to think of weight gain or loss as a simple connection between calories eaten and calories burned through exercise. But we forget that they body spends energy in other ways, including heat. So if you cool your body, especially with water and/or around the neck and upper chest/back area, your body works to heat it up, as well as immediately resorting to fat stores for energy rather than sugar reserves. And if you do a cold shower or an ice bath, which will result in shivering, it activates some sort of upper muscle layer, and all test subjects showed an increase in lean muscle mass. So, as I write this, I'm sitting in a recliner with an ice pack perched under by upper back/lower neck, with the Green Bay-Atlanta game on behind my laptop screen. And apparently I'm burning fat and calories. The science seems to all check out, so this could be an excellent addition to my diet and exercise changes in my quest to be at a better running weight. We shall see how my body responds.

Thought I'd toss out a quick snack that I use sometimes:

• Brown rice cake (I prefer mine w/ sesame seeds on the top, but this variety is surprisingly hard to find
• Peanut butter (Jif types work better than the natural kind, unfortunately)
• Chia

Just take one or two rice cakes, but a thin but not too thin layer of pb (less fat with less pb, but it's also pretty much the only flavor this gets), then liberally cover the top with chia. Nom away.

Talk to you from France!

Weddings in Barns and Paris in the Springtime

I've become suddenly taken with cooking and preparing healthy, raw, etc. meals. I think this is a result of becoming hooked on several foodie blogs (OhSheGlows, EatingBirdFood predominately, also Fitnessista and Eat.Run.DoYoga.). It's probably a good thing! It means I am spending my time getting excited about all of the awesome fuel I can give my body, rather than the random junk I can stuff my face with. And the goal is to make it all taste good, which is a HUGE bonus.

One of my number one meals right now is pretty simply and very good for you. I came up with it after reading Born to Run. It's pretty simple:

• Small corn tortilla (high in fiber, whole grain)
• Thin layer of cheddar/jack grated cheese blend
• Generous layer of quinoa (high in fiber, high in protein- a complete protein, whole grain)
• Layer of refried beans (fiber, high in protein, good for processing fats)
• Second layer of quinoa
• Layer of chia seeds (high in fiber, protein, high in omega-3 fatty acids, high in antioxidants)
• Smallest dash of ground sea salt (for taste)

If I have the time and inclination, I like to prepare the tortilla with a dash of olive oil on the stove, then melt the cheese onto it, and preheat the quinoa and beans in the microwave, assuming I haven't just made the quinoa fresh. However, the tortillas I have right now, combined with a very enthusiastic stove, tend to create solid shells that don't wrap nicely, so I've taken to just loading everything up and popping it in the microwave. A little less gourmet, but still tasty, and very convenient! If I was super snazzy I would layer in some grilled pepper chunks or strips of kale, but I'm just not that hopped up on vegetables yet.

I've restarted my intensive circuit training three days a week at Superfit. It's my first week back, and I've made it in all three days this week. Actually holding up fairly well. I'm on significantly lower weights than I would like, but I've been able to make it through each work out and be functional the next day. While it's cold out and we are still without treadmill, I'm using jumping jacks and a funky stair regimen to work on my cardio, in lieu of actually going out running. I know, I should just lady up and do it, but it turns out that jumping jacks are actually a lot more work than I remembered. Seriously. Get up and do a hundred. Right around 40, you will start to realize it's not just kids play.

I read about the stair thing somewhere online, I think. I don't remember where, or I would link it. It's a way to get in a crazy stair workout, without having to go find stadium stairs or anything in your city. All you need is a standard flight of stairs that can be found in any house.

1. Climb up one stair, then go back down.
2. Climb up two stairs, then go back down.
3. Climb up one stair, then go back down.
4. Climb up two stairs, then go back down.
5. Climb up three stairs, then go back down.
6. Climb up two stairs, then go back down.
7. Climb up one stair, then go back down.
8. Climb up two stairs, then go back down.
9. Climb up three stairs, then go back down.
10. Climb up four stairs, then go back down.
11. Climb up three stairs, then go back down.
12. Climb up two stairs, then go back down.
13. Climb up one stair, then go back down.

Are you starting to get it? The first couple of times you do this, making it to six stairs is a real accomplishment (if you are cardio-challenged like me, at least). The goal is to make it to ten stairs (and then obviously work it down, with 9 stairs, then 8, then 7, etc.).

Stairs are really an excellent workout. It is NOT a gentle one. It lands a body blow to your heart and lungs if you aren't careful. I try to mix it up, whether or not I work to the gasping state (usually if I'm climbing actual stairs and I'm late for something) or slow down when my heart really starts to pound.

I'm going to be in Paris spring semester, which has me a little worried as far as keeping up my eating regimen, not to mention solid workouts. Apparently, in Europe, people don't go out jogging on the streets. I'll have to see if that is still true. My current plan as far as workouts go is to get P90x to use in my dorm room, and then just walk everywhere. When I get back for the summer, I'll start training in earnest for the San Antonio Rock'n'Roll Marathon that will be held in the fall of my senior year. Fortunately, I have a more firm goal than an as of yet un-signed-up-for marathon: one of my oldest, best friends is getting married this August, and she wants to go on an overnight backpacking trip for her bachelorette party! I don't want to be the stick in the mud that slows the whole group down, so I want to be in tip top shape this coming August.

I'm really glad about that last part, actually. I do genuinely want to be healthier and in better shape for what it will do for me, but I can't deny that the largest part of my desire is to lose weight and look good. And while that is perfectly valid, any fitness guru will tell you that looks aren't enough motivation to get you out of a nice warm bed on a chilly day. So, wanting to look good in my bridesmaid dress wasn't going to get the job done. But I legitimately want to be able to keep up with the bride-to-be on her bachelorette hike, and not slow anything down. And she is a freakishly fit person. So it's going to take some doing, but I'm feeling motivated and confident.