Taking Care of a Cold

Being sidelined from exercise can be frustrating. I'd rather be wiping sweat from my face than blowing my nose, but getting a cold can happen to the best of us. Working out and eating well both help to keep the body healthy but those nasty germs are lurking everywhere and it only takes forgetting to wash your hands once and your defenses are compromised. Resting up, drinking tea and continuing to eat healthful foods will get you back to life before the cold. Be patient, I know it's hard. Unfortunately I haven't been able to continue on the 30-day shred, but hope to get back to it in no time. In the meantime I've watched the Olympics keeping the exercise spirit alive and reading interesting articles such as this one about The Biggest Loser.

http://www.livescience.com/health/biggest-loser-weight-loss-100221.html

It questions the lengths the show goes to have the obese contestants lose large amounts of weight. Losing that kind of weight in such a short amount of time for people who haven't been active at all, may not be as good as it sounds. The contestants have medical staff, trainers and nutritionists assisting them, however many have had injuries and health issues. Many have also gained back much or all the weight they lost once they return home. I've often wondered about this. It makes sense. Although I may not agree with much about the show, I still think that it's good that there is a show that talks about obesity and shows what you can do about it. The one thing I was disheartened but not surprised to read about was the contestants gaining back the weight. It's sad to think they don't stay motivated or have the support to help them continue down the healthy path. Everyone has those days that they don't feel like working out or decide to eat whatever they want, but it's important to get back on track. I'm thankful to have both motivation and support I wish that for everyone.

Now for the road to recovery.

Post Day 1 of the 30 Day Shred and Beledi

I think the 30 day shred is going to be a good workout. I woke up this morning a bit sore. Only 29 days to go. I can do it. Tonight was beledi dance class. Here is an interesting article http://www.hossamramzy.com/dance/dance_zeinab1.htm.

It's been fun to learn this style of Middle Eastern Dance. Lots of varying styles this semester. It was great to be in the new Sahara Dance studio. Beautiful. After yesterday's shred however and classes tonight, my muscles are feeling it. No time to rest however so tomorrow night day 2 of the shred.

More Olympics now.

30-Day Shred

Seems that with every new post I have a new follower. I like that!

I hope everyone has been enjoying the Olympics! Watching the men's 30k pursuit in cross-country and if you want the best workout ever, try cross-country skiing. It works everything, arms, abs and legs!

It sounds ghastly, but you are supposed to get results so I'm trying it. The 30-day shred is a DVD from Jillian Michaels. I know I sound like a Jillian Michaels groupie but it's just that she seems to know what she is doing to have gotten where she is. There are other fitness people I like, Tosca Reno for clean-eating and Jackie Warner for fitness exercises as well.

Anyhow back to the shred. It's expected you can complete in 30 days with great results.I should mention all you need are a mat and dumbbell pair. There are 3 levels. I completed level one today. Level one consisted of a 20-minute workout from warm-up (2-min) to cool-down. It doesn't sound long, like the podcast circuit training I'm also doing, but believe me you will feel like you've done twice as long. There are 3 circuits in level one. Each circuit has 3 min of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs. Strength is using weights and doing a combo move, so a static lunge with a bicept curl, or a squat with a shoulder press. Cardio is pretty basic, jumping jacks, jump rope, minus the rope and abs are simple as well, crunch, reverse crunch or a bicycle crunch. My dumbbells are 12 pounds each and that was hard for me, (normally it isn't) so I suggest starting with lower weights, but as high as you can stand it. So I'd probably change depending on each exercise. 12 pound for a lying flye but 8 pounds for the squat with the shoulder press. The strategy is to stay at each level until you feel you can move on, so I'm aiming to stay at level one for maybe 10 days (10 workout days as I won't be doing consecutively) and so on. I think this will be a good workout to throw into the week when you don't have a lot of time but want to make the best of the time you do have. My proposed weekly workout will be as follows: Sun, dance classes, Mon; 30-day shred or the gym, Tues: dance practice, Wed, gym, Thu: dance classes, Fri: rest and Sat: gym,workout outside, dance practice or just up in the air.

Try it, it really is easy to follow and is not about set/reps but what you can do in 3, 2 or 1 minute. You can do at home and don't need much equipment. Will let you know each time I do the workout what kind of progress I've made.

Back to the Olympics and off to make dinner.

Tonight it looks to be cod in a coconut milk curry.

Chicken carbs and sleep

Chicken, carbs and sleep? What on earth do they have to do with one another? More than you think, actually. In the new issue of Oxygen Magazine there is an article about melting fat and your workouts. Turns out you won't build muscle on salad alone, you need carbs, fiber and protein. It's all about maintaining blood glucose levels. Carbs will help keep you going, combat fatigue and recover from hard exercise. Of course everything in moderation. There are three recipes in this issue: Protein packed chicken and brown rice wraps, microwave risotto and carb-friendly fettuccini with fibrous veggies.(Sorry, you need to get the hard copy for these) Tonight I took a combo of the different recipes to make my meal. Garlic, onion,chicken, tomatoes, cucumber, rice and a little cheddar. It was good and I'm convinced it helps with fatigue as I was tired all day before having dinner and now I'm more awake. Actually, I don't know, but it sounds good. Now speaking of sleep, this week there was a recent article from The Huffington Post:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-goetz/the-science-of-sleep-5-te_b_425272.html called The Science Of Sleep: 5 Tech Tools To Track And Improve Your Sleep.

These sound a little interesting. Check it out.

This weekend it will be time to try Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred video will post on how it goes.

Shamadan

First for anyone who tried to leave a comment, I think I figured out the settings so anyone can comment without signing in. Please let me know if you still have trouble.

Tonight I had bellydance classes. I thought I'd be really sore after the gym yesterday and walking what I think is close to 2 miles each day for work. Thankfully all was feeling well. You might be wondering about the title to tonight's posting; shamadan. What is it and what do you do with it? Well, it's a candleabra for your head. This should give you an idea:

http://www.orientaldancer.net/articles/shemadan.shtml

Looks daunting but I'm always up for a challenge and the one time I've seen it done, it got applause like crazy, why wouldn't it? This falls under the fun portion of this blog. Or at least I think it will be fun. As I've gotten older I've decided not to take life too seriously, just roll with it. It probably also falls under the fitness category as well, just think having to move with something on your head has got to work muscles you never knew you had. My neck and abs should be stronger after this. This is going to be a short post tonight as it's late, I'm tired and have an early start tomorrow. I want you to do one thing for me, try something new, different, silly or fun just to say you have. This is one more way to stay healthy and happy and that is what it is all about!

Circuit Training

Thanks to those who have visited this blog. It's appreciated.

I thought tonight I would explain circuit training. The basic idea is to do high-intensity resistance aerobic exercises in a circuit without resting in between each exercise. This keeps your heart-rate up and targets fat loss and building muscle. I did the first two circuits again today of the Jillian Michaels circuit training and the muscles still screamed but not as loudly. Each circuit consisted of four moves: squat w/dumbbell swing, pushups, plank, wide-arm row with weights. Three sets, 10-15 reps each. Second circuit: alternating lunges w/shoulder press,w/wts, tricept dip, plank row w/wts and bicycle crunch, three sets, 20 reps each. It's killer! I hope to move onto circuit three next week.

Many women love magazines such as Vogue and Glamour, but every month I actually get excited when my new issue of Oxygen Magazine shows up in the mail. I also enjoy Fitness RX for Women. They have great exercise ideas and recipes.

Try the circuits, even just one and let me know how it goes.

Tomorrow night is bellydance at Sahara Dance. This semester it's all about shamadan, zills and cane. Props galore!

Welcome!

Welcome to Fitness, Food and Fun. I never thought I would want to blog. I watched Julie and Julia and thought, huh, I should start a blog. Wasn't sure what I would write about, but sounded like fun, I have things to share. What will you find here? Fitness ideas and progress, healthy recipes and lots of fun stuff.

I've always been into fitness, but as one gets older (near forty, EEK) one wants to stave off aging. I've done a pretty good job but I also love food and that is a bit of an issue, not a problem, an issue. 2004 was my best year ever, but "training" for climbing Kilimanjaro was the main reason for that. Since then I've continued with hiking, cycling, kayaking and going to the gym, but am not where I want to be. In 2009 after being laid off from work due to the economy, I had a lot of time to workout, so I did. Now I've decided to take it one step further and train a little harder and eat-clean, somewhat. :-) I mean let's be realistic. I want to share what I do and if it works and hopefully inspire.

Yesterday afternoon I did the first two circuits of Jillian Michael's Beach Ready Boot Camp circuit training podcast (Found on iTunes) and my muscles went into shock. I had changed my usual routine and that woke them up. Everything hurt. Of course my dance class at Sahara Dance the night before might have been a factor. Both kicked butt and was just what I needed.

Rested tonight, but will be back at it tomorrow in some form.

Stay tuned.