Week 2, Day 1 (Listen to Your Body)

7:15 Breakfast

I was absolutely spent from the weekend. Mother’s Day on Sunday beyond wore me out. As a gift to my mom, I drove my sister to her volleyball in Parma while Mother rode in the back seat. It was a long as stressful drive. Moral of the story is: I slept in Monday morning. When I woke up, I went straight down for breakfast:

Cinnamon Pecan Special K (I need to mix it up a little more, as the Special K mornings are getting redundant.)

Clementine

2% Milk (I have been flying through the milk like it’s my job, so my mom finally sprung for the gallon jug.)

**By the way, my right arm, specifically my bicep and joints in my elbow are KILLING ME. It was weird, when I was lifting with Nurse Gali my right arm, which is usually my strong side, just couldn’t keep up with my left. The next morning I woke up and couldn’t straighten it. Over the next few days it got better, but it still was feeling kind of funky.

10:15 Pilates-
I decided to try yet another new class. I had heard a lot about Pilates and wanted to see what they were all about. It was also a nice change of pace to go to a class in the morning rather than at night. I felt a lot less stressed, exhausted, and agitated than I had at the previous couple evening classes. Also, my mommy came with me! It was nice to have a buddy in the class—someone that I could feel comfortable and talk to. It really put me at ease. One thing I might look into at Cinci is bringing friends to classes with me to add some fun and familiarity to my exercise routine.

Now, let me tell you something about my mother. She is little, but oh, she is mighty. That woman whipped my butt with balance and core strength. Granted, neither of those things have ever been my specialty, but hey, that’s why I was there. We used a small balance beam, mats, and weights to focus on our cores, flexibility, stretching, and balance. Well, as far as flexibility goes, I am a beast (my mom swears it’s the fact that as a baby I was strapped in a leg brace that held my little legs in the splits to fix a dislocated hip) I have always been able to go far and beyond the norm as far as that goes. Due to my insane flexibility, stretching was a breeze. The issue came mostly with balance. First of all, I had a lot of trouble when balancing on my right leg because the ankle strength is not quite there yet, so I was very wobbly. Beyond that, I have always been called the baby giraffe, among other nicknames to signify the fact that I have very long legs that don’t always stay under me. As far as core strength goes, it has been coming to me more as the years have passed, but it’s still not my strongest area. This class had my abs shaking from the strangest things that I never would have thought would even hurt a little bit. One of my favorite and most challenging moves (at least for me) of the day was a squat off the balance beam. We started with our right foot in front of our left, stepped off to one side, squatted, and touched back to the middle, then repeated to the other side. It was very basic, but I really felt it and also had to find a balance.

**Progress!
By the way, I must say that after the first week, I have already noticed some significant change in my body. My quad muscles were the first thing that I really noticed start to tone up. It is amazing to me that in only one week, they have gone from being extremely squishy and week to very, very solid. I will not call them rock hard yet, because there are still a few areas I need to work on, but they are getting close. My butt is the next area where I have noticed significant improvement. This is most interesting and exciting because it is one area that I have kind of allowed to do its own thing. It has always been out there, often being referred to as a “donk,”(or big, round booty, for those of you who aren’t familiar with the Soulja Boy song) and I never really cared much about muscle building in that area. But now that I am working on it, I can see a clear lift, as well as a definite tightness that was not there before. My abs feel tighter and more defined. And it could just be an optical illusion, but I feel as though I definitely notice the little “lady pouch” (as some of my friends call my very feminine roundness right at my belly button) getting smaller. As far as my arms go, they are always the fastest things to tone back up when you start working out. My biceps and forearms feel GREAT—tight and strong. Oh, how I missed that feeling. The tricep area still has a little flab hanging out, so I need to keep working to tone that up.

12:30 Lunch, Café 56

Stir Fry With:

Vegetables

Chicken

Asian Noodles

Soft Pretzel Roll

At first, I only ate the vegetables, the chicken, and the roll. Because that would typically be an acceptable lunch for me. But then about 10 minutes later, my stomach was screaming at me. I knew I needed more fuel, so I quickly ate the big bowl of noodles and felt satisfied. Also, with lunch I tried a new drink for me called FUZE Slenderize. Honestly, I cannot say enough good about it. It tasted like a big bottle of juice, yet was only ten calories. Also, the first two ingredients were filtered water and juice concentrate, not some weird colors and flavors that I can’t pronounce. Honestly, after eating all of that food, I felt a bit uneasy, like I had over eaten. But I had to remember that my body asked for it, and my body is the one that knows what’s right.

3:00 pm- Ann Marie, Anytime Fitness

Ann Marie and I focused on triceps and chest today before doing yoga, stretching, and breathing. I warned her about my ultra sore bicep and she said we could work around it no problem. I began with chest presses with 15 pound dumbbells. To my surprise, after the second set, the bicep muscle that was bothering me actually loosened up significantly. It was weird but felt wonderful. We also used a machine for chest fly, and I learned different ways to position myself to work different little areas. The thing I like about working with Ann Marie is the fact that I’m not lifting to become huge and jacked. I’m actually relaxing as I’m lifting, and I can feel the muscles building, but the tone of the workout and the way we do things is not intense at all. Ann Marie Told me she thought I had enough intensity in my life. True that, sister. We then moved to abs on the magic ball. The slower I do abs, the more I feel them. Actually, that is how it is with all strength training. On the first day, I took off at the speed of light. But once I slowed down, I actually began to feel it, be a lot safer, and relax a lot more. So I did crunches in reverse table top position on the ball. I also did leg raises and pelvic thrusts, which were actually really fun and I could feel my body squeezing together. She really stressed deep breathing and inhaling as I tensed, followed by exhaling as I released. Sometimes, the timing would be funky and I’d take too big of a breath so I would have to hold it at the top until I was allowed to release. But eventually, I figured it out. I left the session feeling extremely relaxed and focused. To be honest, I attribute that to two things. 1) The exercises we did and our focus on deep breathing 2) Ann Marie’s voice is extremely calming. I don’t know if anybody remembers watching Bob Ross on “The Joy of Painting,” but something about the combination of his voice and watching the brush strokes on the television relaxed me beyond belief. This is much the same thing. When looking for a yoga instructor or class that I like when I’m in college, one of the main criteria will be the energy of the teacher and his or her ability to help enhance the yoga by relaxing and calming with the voice.

5:30- Surprise Dinner

I was on my way to Urban Active for kickboxing, when all of a sudden I was overcome by hungry. Because I’m practicing listening to my body and doing what it tells me, I turned right around and went home to get some dinner. I know that for me personally, I cannot perform athletically if I’m hungry. I feel weak and can’t bring myself to fully participate in the activity. Therefore, I needed some grub. When I walked through the door, my mom scolded me about never eating with my family. She likes to control at least one of my meals, usually dinner, to make sure I’m getting what I need, which is annoying for me, because I want to be in control. When I go to college, she won’t be there to make me eat what she wants. I had:

Small, leftover piece lasagna

Small bowl butter pecan ice cream (when I have ice cream, I always try to get a small container and fill it up until it’s a little bit over full, rather than getting a big bowl and forgetting what a serving size looks like.)

Clementine

Kashi Protein Bar

I have always been the kind of person who can eat 10 minutes before a sporting event and play like nothing happened. But I was a little bit concerned about all of that sitting like a rock in my stomach because I had never done a kickboxing class before and didn’t really know what it entailed.

6:20 Kickboxing at Urban Active

I walked in about 7 minutes late because of my little dinner detour. The class was packed. I slunk in and found myself a little spot in the back where I could kind of see myself in both the side and front mirrors. The instructor was a woman—about 6 foot 2 inches and absolutely ripped. Her Muscles bulged out her back and arms and she was screaming “PUNCH! PUNCH!” with intensity that reminded me of Tracy Williams.

**As a side note, and I don’t know if I’ve commented on this before, but at both gyms I’m at, there is an excessive amount of tanning. And once you hit a certain age, it really starts to show on your skin—it looks like leather. I will admit, I went tanning a couple times before prom because my dress was melon colored and I needed to be a little darker or it would have looked funny. But I know it’s horrible for me and I don’t plan on ever doing it again. I don’t understand why fitness is still associated with something as unhealthy as tanning.

What I will say about kickboxing is that I didn’t like it as much as ZUMBA!, RetroRobics. I think this is because although the music was fun and upbeat, and I felt powerful, the fun was sucked out of this class by the “no dance. ever.” rule. It felt very flat footed to me, and I wanted to put a little bounce in my step but the teacher wouldn’t have it. That is understandable because the class is supposed to be mimicking a fight situation, and no one would be dancing around during a fight. The basic moves were punches and kicks, with a couple knee lifts in there as well. It was amazing to me how silly I felt punching the air at first. I felt like such a sissy, limply thrusting my fist out at nothing in particular. Then I kind of thought back to the days where I used to watch my mom take these very same classes, and the attitude she took when fake knocking out a punching bag. She owned it. She looked powerful. So I began to try to harness that same feeling. To my dismay, I really started to get into it. I tried to punch with power and precision—not being floppy or weak. I left the class feeling strong, but very tired. I was tired from Pilates to begin with, then went to Ann Marie and moved on to exhausted, then, after leaving Urban for the second time, I was absolutely spent.

7:20 Yoga…Nope

I was supposed to take a class called “Urban Yoga” after kickboxing, but my body
told me that it was a bad idea. I was exhausted, had already done yoga that day, and wanted to go home. So I listened and decided to skip it.

9:45 Listen to Your Body

So I was completely planning on going straight to bed when I got home. I went upstairs, but at about 9:45, my stomach started to yell at me again. On this project, I have really been making an effort to listen to what my body tells me. If it’s hungry, I try to feed it promptly and adequately. If it’s tired, I try to give it a rest. I got hungry at almost 10 pm, so I marched downstairs, got myself a very small bowl of ice cream, a Heinen’s Double Chocolate cookie, and this other little cookie that looked like an oreo, except with ginger-snaps for cookies and lemon cream in the middle. After eating that, I felt great, and I went up to bed no problem.

Reading Material

Today I wanted to share some recipes given to me in The Diet for Teenagers Only that I thought were quick and easy, very doable at college, and sound totally delicious for when I don’t want to eat the sometimes yucky pre-made cafeteria food at Cincinnati.

1) Banana Butter Waffles- Toast a frozen, whole grain waffle. Mash a banana with a fork until it’s gooey. Spread the banana on the waffle like butter….Ok, so for some of you that might sound a little weird. But for me, that sounds perfect. It is a great way to get a fruit in, and also eliminates butter or syrup from the table. The meal is quick, easy to eat, and doesn’t require a lot of prep of clean up.

2) Super Smoothie- Mix together in a blender: ½ cup unfiltered apple juice, ¼ cup ice, ½ cup plain non-fat yogurt, ½ cup cubed papaya, ½ cup slices strawberries, 1 tablespoon toasted wheat germ, ½ scoop whey protein powder…I have grown up with smoothies. My mom got a blender when I was in about seventh grade and for two straight years I had a smoothie every single morning with my breakfast. So this food is familiar for me. Also, it incorporates extra protein to keep me energized and full, and not wanting to snack. I need to find ways to plan getting fresh fruit while I’m at school so I can make this rather than go to a smoothie bar, where they add lots of sugar and artificial ingredients.

3) Turkey Burgers- (If I’m ever in a position where I can come up with all this stuff—maybe a special occasion/trip to the grocery store) In a large bowl, mix 1 pound ground turkey breast, ½ cup sourdough bread crumbs, ¼ cup low fat buttermilk, ¼ cup minced green onion, ¼ cup chopped parsley, ½ teaspoon Dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, and a dash of black pepper. Divide into four patties. Grill or broil for 15 minutes until brown and cooked thoroughly…Now I know this doesn’t sound super realistic for a college campus, but hey, a girl can dream. These sound absolutely delicious, and exactly like what my parents make at my house. I figured, if I ever found myself home sick, these might be a nice little treat to get me through it.

4) V8 Soup- Place 3 quarts V8 juice, 2 cans low fat/low sodium chicken broth, and 1 medium quartered onion in a large stock pot. Cook on medium heat for approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add 2 stalks cut-up celery, 3 cups chopped broccoli, 2 cups string beans, 2 cups cut-up zucchini, and 10 ounces frozen peas. Simmer for an additional 15 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked through. Add 1 tablespoon dry or fresh thyme, and 1 tablespoon dry or fresh basil, and serve…Now, I am a big soup eater. By big I mean like every day. This recipe is great because it makes 12 servings, so I can put it in a big container and save it, using a bit every day. I know this seems like a lot of vegetables and cooking, but once I get a hold of the vegetables I need, the work is very simple. This would be a dish I would need to do some planning before I cooked, but the end result is worth it.

5) Chocolate Crème Dessert- In a medium bowl, blend together 2 ounces light cream cheese, 1 tablespoon powdered fructose, and 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder on medium speed for 1 minute or until smooth. Scrape the bowl and add 15 ounces fat free ricotta cheese. Whip with a wire whisk to remove lumps. Mix for another minute to fully blend. Chill for 1 hour. Serve with raspberries on top…I am a major dessert junkie. I love chocolate, and ice cream, and all the rest of it, as you can tell from reading my blog. This dessert is light, and super easy to make. It would be a great alternative to cake or ice cream or Starbuck’s when I’m craving something sweet at school.

6) POM Tea-

The Diet for Teenagers Only says this about POM Tea:

“The Buddhists believe that the pomegranate is one of the most blessed and sacred fruits. The health benefits include a powerful blend of antioxidants that work together to prevent certain cancers, heart disease, and premature aging. It also acts as a hormone balancer, which is essential for women—especially teenagers. The best part of this elixir is that it contains compounds that work with your metabolism to increase fat burning. You can drink up to 16 ounces per day, ideally after breakfast and again in the afternoon. If you prefer it to be sweeter, you can use a small amount of stevia, a natural sweetener made from chickory plant extracts that you’ll find at most health food stores.”

Add 5 bags of green tea with chamomile to 4 cups of boiling water. Steep for about 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags and add 8 ounces pure pomegranate juice. ..I want to try this. I think over the next few days, I’ll ask my mom to buy some pomegranate juice from the grocery store. Also, you can make a lot of this and store the extra in a refrigerator. It is super simple to make and not a big mess. Sounds perfect for college. Let’s see if it works.