I had recently decided to go beast mode on my fitness and health. Doing my normal daily lifting and plyo workouts, teaching Zumba 5 days a week, hitting derby practice 3 times a week, and incorporating my dear friend Audrey's Body Blast class and hot yoga into my weekly routine.
... and then came das boot.
Minor set-back.
I was directed to wear this anti-party boot by my doctor until a second round of x-rays could be done to confirm its not a stress fracture from a random impact injury to my foot in roller derby. Needless to say besides throwing my hips and back off, and getting asked by 100 people a day what I did, it hasn't inhibited me too much.
Here's a word of advice: Don't mock your trainer when she tries to perform an exercise for you in a boot, because you will be issued burpees. Suck it.
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Along with going beast-mode on my fitness, I recently took up a "lifestyle" (cliche I know) change in my eating. I'm learning more and more daily on the Paleo and Primal diet. At this juncture it's basically a science experiment for me and transitioning into a full on change as I study it more in depth.
This little vegetarian (pescotarian) / carb fiend has not eaten a single grain in 2 weeks.
2 WEEKS with no bread, muffins, pastries, granola, my morning oatmeal, brown rice or dun dun dun.... alcohol.
Now don't get me wrong - Audrey and I (my soon to be super roommate who has her Masters in Exercise and Sports Science... stud.) have indulged in some red wine and hard cider.... it was our treat day (notice I didn't say cheat). And who needs alcohol anyway? Those dastardly unwanted and toxic extra sugars in your body - boo. But god, I miss beer.
My first noticeable change with this lifestyle is that by choosing options that don't have those high number of carbohydrates as well as without grains, I don't ever feel like I'm making a bad nutrition choice. Seafood, fish, LOTS of veggies, healthy fats, fruit and nuts have been my main sustenance. And I feel effing fantastic.
Food obsession is a horrible horrible thing. By choosing a way of healthy eating, whether it be Paleo, vegetarianism, whole foods, clean eating or what have you... Choosing something you can stick to, and know that what you are putting into your body is nutritious and unprocessed is a great feeling of self-control. In conjunction with fitness, this transition allows you to love your body and health more - as opposed to stuffing your face with things that are blatantly horrible for your body, regretting it and obsessing over it, and then "punishing" yourself on a treadmill (blehk) for 5 hours.
Exercise bulimia is a real issue. I see women straddling the line of having this condition everyday. Trying to work off every exact calorie they consumed or "cheated" with instead of just feeding their body what it needs and will utilize to get them through their workouts and daily activity. Instead of using self-discipline to do something imperative to their health they turn exercising into this arduous task. Which makes me a very very sad Echo :( Wamp wamp.
The one thing I try to instill in all my clients is this:
Exercise is not punishment. It's your time to do something positive for yourself. You don't have to deal with any other life problems, put in your head phones and just sweat your ass off. A point in your day where you can push yourself to your limits, and finishing with knowing that you just made yourself that much closer to being the best person you can be.
... and then I usually yell "GO BEAST MODE!" at them. That works too.
Now who wants to do some drop sets and eat like a squirrel?
Get it,
The booted Echo.
Ps. If you want to read more on "Going Primal" here is a GREAT website I have been doing a lot of my reading from:
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my first workout back after just doing upper body and abdominals because of my bum foot -
DAS BOOT WORKOUT:
Narrow grip pull-ups: To failure / no rest
Curtsy squats with rear leg raise - 15lb DB's : 12 reps each side / no rest
Squat presses with 45lb olympic bar: 12 reps
REST
Wide grip pull-ups: To failure / no rest
Single leg squat on step with knee pull-up: 12 reps each side / no rest
Squat presses with 45lb olympic bar: 12 reps
REST
Decline pushups: 20 reps / no rest
Smith machine inverted row: 20 reps / no rest
Pulsing lunges with 30lb kettlebell: 12 reps each side / no rest
Squat presses with 45lb olympic bar: 12 reps
REST
Mat work: 20 Straight legged dirty dogs each side, 20 glute kickbacks each side, 20 one legged bridges on step: 2 sets
Boom. Your ass will thank me.
