Food & The Fitness Equation

So I've been getting my workout on a bit, but I realize that there is a Food & Fitness Equation to consider. You know you have to have more output than input to get fit. One day I was thinking, alright then I need to create a super diet plan that will go with my fitness plan! Yeah...let me tell you a little something about me. I LOVE Food. I love to eat, snack, prepare, go out and eat...all of it. I don't like to restrict when it comes to mi comida!

Moreover, I am a recovering junk food junky, so vegetables, real food that isn't fast food is kind of new to me. Really in the past year, maybe even the past 6 months I have learned how to cook. When I started trying to think of a restricted diet I felt limited in what I can cook; it took the fun out of it. So moving forward I am going to be tranquilo about my eating. I know that the ice cream sandwich I had before bed is not something I should make a habit (and I PROMISE that was the first time I've done that!) and I do figure that making my own food is a healthier option, but most of all what is clear to me is that if I want to get FIT it's going to have to be ALL about activities, movement and burn, burn, burn.

What does that mean? It means, even though the men I live near make it a Nightmare to go running, I gotta get up and do it sometimes, it means practicing salsa cause I love it and that's gets me moving, it means searching then splurging on a bike because I feel if I had one I would ride it. I want to find a surf instructor and play with a girls soccer team. There are lots of fun things I can do to get more active and I need to hone in on those because chewin on celery sticks does NOT seem like it's what I'm tryin to do at this juncture in my life!

How do you resolve your Food & Fitness Equation?

TOP 5 Ways to Insure Success in Your Fitness Program (Before even walking out of the door!)

1) Prep your clothes the night before

This cuts down on that “groggy, snooze” moment when you wake up and think “Will I, or won’t I?”, when you have your tennis shoes and workout gear looking at you all ready to go like a puppy ready to go outside, that might be JUST the extra nudge you need to get up and get out!

2) Vizualize yourself having a kick-butt workout as you drift off to sleep

The Power of visualization! If you see yourself the night before achieving your workout goals the next day, you are MUCH more likely to get up and get to it and there is a great chance that you’ll have one of the best workout days as well!

3) Hydrate

It’s hard to get up and it’s hard to complete a great workout without the proper hydration, so help your body help you and get to guzzlin’ your H20!

4) Vision Board or other Visual that will serve as a constant reminder

You know I’m a fan of a Vision Board, but having something in your home as a constant reminder works. Some people put pictures up on the fridge (way to harsh for me! Lol) or some people just wear a rubberband around their wrist. Whatever works for you have that something that reminds you to get out and move around!

5) Plan your workouts ahead of time, but be flexible.

It’s harder to say “I just didn’t find the time…” when you’ve wedged out time specifically ahead of time when you plan on working out. In life things come up of course, so be flexible, that way an unexpected scheduling conflict won’t have the power to knock you off of your whole plan!

Give these a try and let me know what works best for you! ☺

Feeling Guilty Allllready....

Man, I just did my Fitness Confession, which I knew would be a journey of natural highs and lows, but I've hit a low before I have even started!

This past week I was sick with Dengue Fever, and so needless to say I didn't work out. Well this is now a new week and I thought I was feeling better since the skull crushing headache was gone, the body aches had dissipated and my temperature was back to normal. Well I was wrong, I still have little to no energy nor appetite.

Today I have felt TOTALLY bummed, disappointed and guilty feeling for not following through with my plan. I was super amphed to get in shape and I think I did two days of my proposed program and now nothing. I think more than the thing itself (being sick for a week) I'm afraid what it implies, or what it could imply: I started something and I'm not going to finish.

Well, the solution is really simple now isn't it? Simple don't let that be true right? Let the week "off" be just that, and then jump back on the wagon. FINE! No more pouting, or feeling guilty. Guilt is a learned emotion and it has no value. We were taught to feel guilt and it is a wasted emotion indeed.

Bueno, so tomorrow I will do what I can do, but I will do SOMETHING and I will let me week slump be only that and will give my self props for not giving up completely. Hope your week was a wee bit more productive than mine...but even if it wasn't let's get this thing going THIS week!

Peace, Love & Motivation :)

Fitness Confession

So it's stupid o'clock in the morning, and I'm awake because I pretty much laid around all day and now have woken up in the middle of the night. Argh! Sure today was going to be a Harry Potter-a-thon Day. My first day to just rest and chill and clean up the house. Instead it was taken to new levels of laziness and turned into, in bed all day, eating a quiche I made in the morning, then sunflower seeds all day and then a late night bowl of lentils and beans. There were some jellybeans and chocolate covered almonds in there somewhere too.


What's my point? My point is that I actually have a Fitness Confession to make. It turns out maybe in the past few months I've been feeling like I need to get healthy and into shape. The quick run down of THAT feeling goes a little something like this: Went to the States in January ATE like there was no tomorrow and LOVED it, then every month since then I have continued to eat the same way saying, well I just got back and so I'll get back "on it" soon. Well in JUNE I was like, "girl you didn't just get back that was half a year ago!". That was kind of my first wake up call. Also, when I got in the mood to make a vision board THIS is what came to be...a subconscious desire to be fit, healthy and active.

The feelings that came up when it was time to put my Health Vision Board on the wall were actually feelings of guilt and hesitation.

I am super "I Am Woman, Here Me Roar" in my beliefs. I know that we are all beautiful in our individual packages, I know that I am beautiful inside and out and I abhor these images and messages that we get from the media so much it makes me want to pull my hair out. I haven't owned a TV for YEARS for that specific reason and I just can't enjoy a magazine because the message that "you're not good enough" is so blatant... especially, in my opinion, against women!

SO as of late, being with my sweetie, who loves movies, I have been taking in way more visual media than normal and I wondered did that have something to do with my "motivation". I mean, if I am know that I am perfectly made in God's image why would I want to change? There is no perfect ideal, so what am I striving for?

One thing I have noticed is when I sit, I slouch and when I straighten up, it takes a conscious and physical effort to stay erect. I literally feel like I can't hold my body up! That means I def need to get my core stronger. Also, going up stairs, running after the bus and feeling winded is something new for me! All of these warning signs and more is what set the alarm off for me, that I need to get fit and strong again.

The thing about me and "working out" is that I don't do it. I just happen to be an active person, so my lifestyle and activities would lend themselves to me moving around. I went to dance class, yoga class, hiked, would ride my bike to work etc. Never have I been a skinny minny, and really never have I been super buff, but also I have never really been that concerned with my body like that. Like on FB when people post old pics, I'm like MAN I was kinda chubby in that pic and others I'm like man I was fit! I am never conscious of it at the time and I don't really mind the fluctuations, which is all the more reason why I'm so not used to actually being Aware of my body concerns.

So here I am wanting to get fit and kinda lost at how. Food. My fav thing. I am sure has to change. I was enjoying all the natural fruits and veggies of Ecuador, but then I sent a request for Cheezits, Goldfish, chocolate covered everything and more fav junk food from the States and my sweetie totally brought them so the apartment right now is like Willy Wonkas (oh I should have taken a picture of my shelf when we first unpacked everything!) I tell myself that once it's gone, I will go back to healthy eating, the thing is, I don't monitor at.all. what goes in my mouth and here, there is fried everything, ice cream all the time my thought is always "hey what's one ice cream sandwich!!?".

The other thing is activities. I am trying to get into running, but with the Machismo men here it's hard. A gringa running around just for fun is really asking for it, but I know it's a great way to get in shape. I also could do workouts at home, but that sounds Soooo boring and I get bored quick. What I need is an activity that just gets me up and moving. I am hoping to work out with the girl's soccer team the two days a week I am free to, and maybe just suck it up and run in the mornings and put in headphones to block out the whistles, hoots, and hisses from my admirers :0/, I am also actively looking for a surf instructor, I think THAT could be life changing!

The main obstacle I have to battle is the voice in my head that says "why are you doing this anyway, you're fine, no go lay down and take some jelly beans with you!" I need a new mantra, and a new healthy outlook so I can get on the path to my own Personal Best.

Any suggestions from my health gurus, workout gurus, and foodies out there!!?? (or anyone really!)

Peace, Love & Cheezits!!...I mean, Carrots :o)

(picture from FB that I saw and thought...huh, I was kinda fit then...I was hiking a lot then...)