Sore?!

After 2 days back in boot camp I find myself just a bit sore (yay for Wednesday off). I have 2nd day soreness (the worst)  from arm and abs and the day after soreness from legs and shoulders. Here are a few things I do when i'm sore, one of these may just be in my head but I swear it works. Let me point out the things that we all know you should do...but you probably don't. You probably moan and groan and walk around like normal till the pain goes away?!? That's what I thought.

*HYDRATION!!!sweat off all that water you drink before your workout so you need to replenish after! I kinda think of it like my gas tank, use all the gas and it wont run but all you have to do is fill it up to get going again! :)

 *POTASSIUM!!! I don't know about you guys but when I hear potassium I immediately think Banana's, thank you Honey i shrunk the kids!! You lose these electrolytes and potassium doing lots of thing like sweating or from being dehydrated (again with the water!). Bananas and any other food or drinks with potassium or electrolytes will help ease your muscle pains!

*PROTEINS!!! Proteins are the ultimate step to building up and renewing your muscles! Weather you drink a recovery shake after a workout or just eat high protein foods like fish and chicken. These will help your muscles bounce back quickly by using the protein to heal themselves. 

*FOAM ROLLING!!! Well as this hurt almost as bad, if not worse than your soreness it will help for sure. My sister and her husband swear by it (I knew if I didn't put it in here she would comment about it ...here you go Ash!). These foam rollers just basically give you a "deep tissue/muscle message" that's helps with the soreness, they are great for stretching and they help with balance! (Hurts like hell...but it's worth the "hurt good" pain)

*REDBULL!!! this is the one that might just be in my head... I worked for redbull for a few years and nothing helped my sore muscles after mascoting a game like a redbull. I decided to look into this theory a little more so i didn't sound so crazy :) supposedly the taurine in the redbulls increases the amount of potassium in your body and it helps with muscle fatigue. BAM! I knew I wasn't crazy!




Well, those are the things I know I do ...or think about doing while i'm trying to sluggishly climb the 3 stairs to my office after leg day...YES 3!!! 3 Painful steps of soreness (don't judge)!!! I hope this helps you guys out when you're having those 2nd day pains! <3

FOOD!

A question has been asked!!! What do I eat?!? To start off I am really basic when it comes to eating I could eat the same thing everyday, i'm sorry I don't have much variety. I normally just cook my basic meal or I Google or Pintrest something to cook when i'm feeling adventurous! I already posted my basic shopping list in my first post these are the things I always purchase when i go shopping. My "basic" quick meal is chicken or fish with sauteed belle peppers and onions it's Pretty simple. Most of you probably know i'm not a huge cook, i'm still learning how to be domestic.


Here is my routine:

BREAKFAST: Coffee!!! I'm not a huge breakfast person... I KNOW, I KNOW it's the most important meal of the day!!! We never really ate breakfast when I was a kid and I would rather sleep 30 more minuets (I seriously value my sleep) than make a mess in the kitchen before i go to work. IF I eat breakfast it will most likely consist of greek yogurt and some berry's,  a bowl of a whole grain (no fun) cereal, or oatmeal with fruit.

SNACK:  I keep a bag of veggies, blueberries, and cut celery in the fridge and a container of almonds by my desk. I snack on those when I feel hungry!

LUNCH:  Lunch is normally odd since I don't cook a ton I normally don't have leftover SOOOO I by pass all the fast food joints and hit up the rouses or winn dixie right by my office. I will grab one of 2 things: A salad from the salad bar (no dressing... i'm a weirdo!) or a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread. If I go anywhere else its Subway (6" turkey on wheat) or smoothie king if i'm not super hungry.

SNACK: Again I snack at my desk on the things I bring from home!

DINNER: This is when I just cook up some chicken or fish with my bell peppers and onions. I said before I am not a cook, Kevin and I tend to go out to eat a good bit :/ when we go out I  don't even look at the menu and I order a grilled chicken salad no dressing or if they have it, a spinach salad (except for Mexican, I splurge for the chips, queso, a margarita, and a quesadilla with a side of beans...oops!!)

* just a note: I try not to eat after 8pm and I mostly only drink water.

This will all be changing soon, YAY!!! Kevin and I just started a budget, as much fun as this doesn't sound we are so excited to start it! Hopefully I will be cooking more and finding all kinds of healthy recipes and food choices! When I am looking for something new to cook I do a Google search for paleo recipes. I like the theory and premise of the primal diet, you cant go wrong with all natural and fresh food!

 I hope this helps you guys out when it comes to making choices on what to eat! Even though I don't have much of a repertoire of things I eat, just be smart when making choices, we are all wise enough to be able to tell the differences from good and bad food! You need to make the choice that you probably don't want to make, if you eliminate the option to choose bad and you wont be able to make a bad choice!

My Favorite Exercises!

         I have compiled a list of some of my favorite exercises!!!! The way I decided what exercise's are my favorite is by the ones that I really feel like they are working and mostly if I enjoy doing them...I also have a feeling that statement will be uses against me at some point while i'm groaning in boot camp. I may post more randomly in other post,  but these are the first to come to mind today.

LEGS!!!!!!! I LOVE LEGS!!!! They are by far my favorite night of workouts. As much as it hurts to do walking and jumping lunges and squats up hill I secretly love legs (after the fact of course)! Here are my favorite leg exercises:

*Jumping squats
*Lunges - Walking... stationary...With weights... I love any kind of lunges!!
*Wall sits! They suck but its always a good challenge and it works your abs too :)

Arms...a little less enthusiastic about my arms. My arms were pretty weak when I started working out...in fact I would aim to say they were the weakest part of my body. Here are SOME arm workouts I like though:

* TRICEPS DIPS!!! These are my all time favorite arm exerciser! I'm not sure why i just think they are fun.

* Overhead press. 

* Overhead extensions.

* Curls... you cant go wrong!

ABS!! Abs are my second favorite to legs. I'm not a "crunch" fan as i wouldn't suspect most people are?!?. Here are a few of my favorite abs exercises:

* PLANKS. I really love planking :)
* Leg lifts.
* Crunches... When I do crunches I normally go center, right, left, and then back down. Get it all in there while i'm up...

Back and shoulders!

* Fly's
* Dumbbell Rows
* Lateral raises
* Super girl

Well there they are!! I hope you guys enjoy these as much as I do! If you don't have a gym or classes and what to workout pick out 3 or 4 exercises add some cardio and stretching and do it at home... Heck, do lunges and squats to and from the laundry room! There is always time for a workout!


 *If you don't know what something is Look it up or ask me, i'm posting these by what I call them and hope everyone else knows what i'm talking about :)

ABSolutely

Well then, sorry I have been gone for a week. I was super busy last week with a wedding to end it all this past weekend, now its back to the grind and my somewhat "normal" life!


Let's talk about my favorite body part!!!! ABS!!! These are my favorite body part when they are not mine and insanely ripped...hints the not mine part. Who doesn't want a nice stomach raise your hand?! Exactly! I'm sure you have heard this saying before "abs are made in the kitchen not in the gym!"

 Well as many of you might think this is BS you're wrong. Abs are ABSolutly made mostly in the kitchen.  The abdominal exercises you are doing are definitely helping, because they are building up the muscle under the layers of "excess fat". Since I brought up the topic of excess fat, let it be know that you can't lose fat in just one place. You need to have an overall fat loss you can't just target your stomach!!! Have you ever seen someone with a six pack and fat arms and legs ?!? NO! Diet will be your main key to a nice stomach. Eat healthy and you will start losing weight, your body will be storing all the right kinds of protein things it needs and you will start burning off all that stored fat. Little do you know you already have a six pack, you just need to change your eating habits to see it!! Don't get me wrong all the abdominal exercises will help chisel away at them, but if you don't eat right you will never see them at their full potential! 




This meme made me laugh...pretty sexist, but still funny. Enjoy! (If you don't...well, i'm sorry you don't have a since of humor.)

Back in Action!

           Well, its been a few days since I have made a post, I'm not adventurous enough to "blog" from my smartphone and I went off on a work/vacation/birthday event for my wonderful husband!!! Lets begin on that note, I ATE COMPLETE CRAP FOR 4 DAYS,  :( Not good, So now its back to the grind so i don't look and feel like complete crap too. I made the MAJOR mistakes on this trip from getting food at gas stations (I spent 14 bucks on candy and check mix) , having pizza ordered to the hotel (twice), BEER (lots of beer),  and BIRTHDAY CAKE (Lots of birthday cake...Drunk eating birthday cake)! I was going to compile a list of ways you can healthy eat on vacation but then I  realized you should just not do what I did  (oops).  Just stick to the smart choices salads, grilled meats, and veggies and BAM you ate healthy on vacation! No ones perfect so now you see i'm not always a crazy health freak :) although i did keep talking about how awesome lunges in the smokey mountains would be! Killer, RIGHT?!?

           Lets get back on track! I want to talk to you guys about lifting weights, one of my favorites. There is a HUGE misconceptions in ever girls brain...Maybe not so much a misconception but an excuse! LIFTING WEIGHTS WILL NOT MAKE YOU BULKY!  Get over yourself, you're not going to look like a body builder after lifting weights for a week... and most girls could never look like that anyways! I have been doing boot camp since October and we lift weights, Mostly they are small weights for high reps but i have also done heavy weights with my lovely sister! I wouldn't say i am "BULKY" anywhere?!

       I wouldn't mind having those abs of the girl on the right?! Who wouldn't! Fact is women don't have the muscle building hormones like men do. These images of HUGE women are the results of steroids and/or artificial testosterone supplements! It also has to do a lot with diet,  If you are also eating healthy and lean with greens, veggies, and the right proteins you couldn't look like that if you tried! Now, get off your butt and go lift some heavy things! NO MORE EXCUSES!

weight watching.

    Most people hate getting on that small object in your bathroom with the numbers up top... the scale, stares me in the face every time i go to the bathroom. If you're like me you weight yourself every morning, THIS MUST STOP!!! Out of all the bad habits I acquired trying to lose weight and stay in shape this is the one that I am still struggling to break. We have to come to the realization the muscle weighs more than fat. Even though we hear this over and over the minute the scale goes up a few pounds we get worried.

Here is a comparison of muscle vs. fat:

   IT'S JUST A NUMBER!! If you are eating right and working out your body will take care of the rest. Lets start going off looks and feel,  if you are looking better and feeling better then whats a number on the scale to tell you you're not making progress?! The scale will fluctuate so much, it's not a very accurate way to tack your progress. just by drinking a few glasses of water you will gain, Every one knows water weighs 8lbs per gallon, if you drink the recommended and then get on the scale at the end of the day you will be highly discouraged, trust me! What we should be looking at are inches lost and BMI. Invest in tape measure and get your body fat tested, this will give you a more accurate reading of the weight you have lost and where you have lost it from! Lets move from this unhealthy obsession of watching the scale to an accurate reading of our progress!! Don't take that number to heart, take a look in the mirror to really see what you have accomplished

   

Let's Begin Where I Began.

             There was a point when I looked in the mirror and almost never recognized myself, I wasn't "FAT", I wasn't "skinny", I just wasn't who i knew I could be. I was overweight in MY eyes and I put this out there because I by no means "obese", I just wasn't happy with myself and Being happy with yourself is the most important thing you can do.  

Here is a photo of me in July of 2011: 

           I couldn't look at myself without feeling angry, upset, or depressed. Every year in August I help teach one of the largest Collegiate mascot camps in the US. 3 weeks before I hardly fit into my staff uniform, that's when it hit me! I started cutting out my carbohydrates almost completely, I was losing weight but i was tired, sluggish, and most of all HUNGRY. I knew that cutting my carbs would be a "quick fix" I knew this because I cut carbs for my wedding and lost 11lbs and I gained it all back along with 15 more. I lost 6 lbs just to fit into my staff uniforms and continued to eat "low carb" till October, when i started boot camp. Boot camp was one of the best things I have ever done for myself (thanks Brigette)! I felt better, my body was looking better, and most of all i had a support system, someone to push me to be better! Watching my body completely change and being able to make right eating choices without a so called "diet" was amazing.

This is after about 6 or 7 months of boot camp and 25-27lbs lost:

       Many of you probably know I am NOT a gym person!! I pay for a membership and I never go (thank god our 2 year contract just ended)! if you're like me classes are a great option, you can pay per class and it's only at a specific time so you cant say "I will go tomorrow". There are tons of classes and boot camps out there, Here is a link to my boot camp: http://www.campsweatnola.com/. This is the only boot camp I have used and I swear by it! These classes are also great if you get bored of the same routine, the classes are never the same! If you don't have the spare cash or time for this, workout at home, find a good workout video or go online and find a workout (I do abs while i watch TV)! There are so many different ways to get in shape you have no excuse, if you can get on Facebook for a few hours a night or watch your favorite TV shows after work, you have time to workout! There is something for everyone!

           I said before that the most important thing is to be happy with yourself, but you shouldn't settle! Work and strive for what you want and who you want to be. It's so much better to be able to say I worked for this and no one can take that away. Hard work makes you healthy and happy. These i'm beautiful the way I am campaigns are kinda right...YES, you are beautiful the way you are!! Everyone is beautiful in some way shape or form but are you healthy, are you happy, and are you in control?! You only get one shot at life, make the best of it! Get in shape, take care of yourself, and know what you're putting into your body and what it's going to do. Dont you want to be able to look in the mirror and see what you've accomplished?!? Once you do, you will realize it's the best reward and feeling in the world!

     

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Here goes nothing...well, technically it's something.

Hello all, welcome to my random blog and my first post! I am so excited to start this blog not only for you guys but for myself. I feel like this is just one more way to keep myself focused and motivated to accomplish anything and everything that comes my way! I also hope to keep others motivated and inspired to take on the world so to speak. There will be all kinds of post coming your way from my shopping list to my cheat list (food of course...and maybe some celebs ::cough cough Johnny Depp::) If you guys have any question or something specific you want me to touch on just let me know!


SINCE I mentioned shopping list and it's on the brain, I will share my basic list and tips that I TRY (no one's perfect) to live by when I enter the abyss known as the grocery store. These are the 3 major things that I do to keep myself on track.


1. NEVER GO SHOPPING HUNGRY!! Sadly, this happens to the best of us. Every time I do this I end up with a buggy full of oreo's, goldfish, Little Debbie's, and beer. It's just bad all around!

2. SHOP THE OUTSIDE OF THE STORE!! No, I don't literally mean the outside of the store but the outside "loop" of the store. This is where you will find all your fresh produce and such, these are the items that will be best for your body. Most everything in the inner aisle  , with the exception of spices and basic household items, will be man made with lots of preservatives and non natural items.

3. STICK TO THE LIST!! Make a logical shopping list of the exact things you need and the things you should be buying! This keeps you from grabbing the random bags of chips and cookies off the shelf that are crying out to be a part of your love handles!


Here is my BASIC shopping list, these are things I get almost every time I go shopping:


* Chicken
* Lean beef
* Bell peppers
* Onion
* Avocado
* Fruits (lots of berries)
* Asparagus
* Celery
* Milk (skim)
* Whole wheat bread
* Kale
* Baby Spinach
* Greek yogurt
* Egg Whites


Like I said, this is MY basic shopping list. It's a good thing to prep and plan out your meals for the week as well, I always cut up my celery so it's an easy to grab snack if you're on the go. It makes it much easier to be healthy when it's your only choice :).