FittieFive

Bad Fittie or Why I Have Been Failing at Being Healthy

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:40:00 -0400

Hey, it’s Delana! How are you all doing?

Okay, so lately I haven’t been working out. I haven’t been eating the right things either. I feel really bad about it. I do.

I’m currently in a very weird place in my life right now. I have a roof over my head, but it’s not my roof. I have a job, but it pays very poorly. My life is extremely subpar and change is overdue. Depression may or may not have set in (okay it has). There are various reasons I’ve gotten to this point but I won’t bore you with those details. Yawn.

The important thing is to get back on track. Being poor is a problem. It’s true, produce and all that healthy stuff costs a lot. Time is also a problem. You get home from work, exhausted and/or you have to do various other things and cooking is an afterthought. I already forgot to talk exercise because I’m thinking about what I want to eat, I’m tired and I have other things to do. Oops, I didn’t make my lunch for tomorrow so I guess I’ll order out. Now it’s time for bed and exercise became something that wasn’t even an afterthought. It was something I didn’t think about at all.

Our bodies don’t like this and can’t deal.

Healthy ingredients do cost more, but there are ways around it. Meal plans! I used to pick out recipes I like, buy my lunch and dinner items and prepare them for the week on Sundays. Make your own take out.

As for exercise. I’m a night person. I feel more comfortable exercising at night around 6PM or 7PM. I don’t like getting up at 6AM, I’d much rather stay up until 6AM. That’s just me. Do what works best for you.

Bad Fittie or Why I Have Been Failing at Being Healthy - This is the title of my blog post because I’ll do everything right for a long time then I’ll start slacking at one thing, then another until I’m not doing anything healthy anymore. There are times I don’t want to prepare my meals ahead of time. There are times I don’t want to exercise.

Now, because I didn’t want to do those things and slacked off I’m tired all the time and eating bad things.

I feel like I’m in this upward/downward spiral trap I can’t get out of. Hmmm….well life is a process and I need to find a healthy process that I can stick with!

And, here I go…

On a path that works best for me. :)

For Fitties who aren’t afraid to really commit to learning...

Tue, 10 Apr 2012 14:47:39 -0400

For Fitties who aren’t afraid to really commit to learning something about the biology of why obesity is such a huge issue for us.

1. Exercising to burn calories from eating is a bit backwards. If you exercise, do it with the focus of lowering stress and strengthening bones, not burning calories.

2. Sugar in nature is balanced by fiber. ALL processed sugar will lead to a cycle that makes your body believe it is literally starving, even when you’re overweight and have plenty of energy for your body to use to function

If you want a starting point on the chemistry side of things, definitely check out CrashCourse on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00jbG_cfGuQ

- Ashley, the elusive fittie who’s lost 10 pounds in as many weeks :)

Devan - Excercising without trying?

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:37:00 -0400

Hey Fitties! Lori chose the following topic for this round, “exercise alternatives: things that burn calories, but aren’t actually considered ‘working out’”.

My most frequent accidental fittie activity is running to and fro at work. On a busy day, I’ll go from the production floor, to the warehouse, to color development, to R&D labs and back again. Sometimes I’m carrying around several gallons of paint or wearing steel-toed shoes, which adds to the amount of physical activity.

My favorite accidental form of exercise is dancing – usually concurrent with a wizard rock or emo concert. The trick to making this a true fittie affair is to stay away from the alcohol, because it doesn’t help to burn calories if you are consuming just as many from drinking. I always try to watch livestreams of big wizard rock shows if I have time, because even though I’m stuck at home I’ll still end up dancing the night away and yelling (a bit crazily) at my computer along with the songs. The last one of these nights I had was the 5^th Annual Hallows and Horcruxes Ball. So much fun. I’m slated to go to a HatP concert IRL in a few weeks.

My least favorite surprise excerise is anything involving cleaning. It can be useful, though. I very purposefully choose to scatter my cleaning tasks to be a break from hours of sedentary activity. This way, not only do I get the benefits of exercise and a clean living space, I also gain mental sharpness from having directed my mind to more mechanical (and less thought intensive) tasks for a few minutes.

What do you do automatically in your day to day that counts as exercise?

-Devan

Delana - Exercise Alternative

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 21:25:29 -0400

I don’t always feel like exercising. That’s okay. A lot of people don’t. There are alternatives that we Fittie Five ladies will be sharing with you this week.

One alternative I found very helpful since it kills two birds with one stone is:

Cleaning!

Laundry for instance is very much like a workout, especially if you live in an apartment. To maximize my laundry/workout I tend to save all of my laundry for one day instead of doing bits here and there.

Lifting and carrying your clothes gives you an arm workout, while going up and down the stairs gives you a leg workout. Btw, carry the whole big laundry detergent bottle with you. it’s like a weight. By the time all of your clothes are done you’ll feel it.

If you don’t live in an apartment just cleaning around the house is a workout as well. Vacuum, wash dishes, mop, wash your car, clean your room, etc. It all takes effort! Have you ever cleaned your house and when finished just sat done and breathed heavily like you’ve done a workout? You have.

So, if you don’t feel like doing a workout, give yourself a little time and do some needed cleaning. Two birds!

Need a little motivation? This is what one pound of fat looks...

Tue, 13 Mar 2012 12:04:48 -0400

Need a little motivation? This is what one pound of fat looks like.

-Lori

Delana - Frozen Foods

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 22:12:42 -0400

I like to eat frozen meals, frozen vegetables and frozen fruits. I use the frozen fruit in smoothies, like Lori showed you in her vlog.

I eat frozen vegetables all the time. I use them pretty much every chance I get. My favorites are broccoli, peas and mixed vegetables. Mostly used for side dishes.

Some of my favorite frozen meals are Amy’s meals. They make gluten free, vegetarian, dairy-free, and vegan meals. They’re really good too!

A lot of times frozen meals have a lot of sodium. Amy’s usually have half the amount I find in other products. I also look to see how much fiber any particular product has (whether frozen or not). At least 1 gram for every 100 calories. I read or heard that somewhere. Hmm…

Of course, I have to mention…waffles! My current favorites are Van’s! So tasty. I know this is about frozen foods, but I have to tell you what I use on these waffles. I don’t eat dairy so I use Earth Balance for my “butter” and agave nectar (100% maple syrup if I can’t find agave)!

It’s time to talk about Frozen Foods on the FittieFive!...

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 18:11:11 -0500

It’s time to talk about Frozen Foods on the FittieFive! Lori Starts us off with a Strawberry-Mango Smoothie!

My Strawberry-Mango Smoothie:(all measurements are estimates)

1 1/2 cups of frozen whole strawberries

3/4 cup of frozen mango chunks

1/3 cup Dannon Light and Fit Vanilla Yogurt

2/3 cup of skim milk

Throw it all in a blender and Blend! Add more milk if the blender is having trouble.

Makes 1 ~16oz smoothie (~5 Weight Watchers PointsPlus Values).

Let me know if you have any other great smoothie recipes or if you know anything about adding protein powders to smoothies.

Delana - I love Special Occasions!

Wed, 29 Feb 2012 20:29:21 -0500

Hey Fitties!

How do I deal with special occasions? I don’t deprive myself. That’s number 1! After all it is a special occasion!

I’m not saying eat everything that’s there on the table (that was me back in the day…awww…all right…I still do at times). If you tell yourself you can’t have something you’ll want it even more.

I like to make substitutes! Macaroni and cheese is a staple at our Thanksgiving table. I love macaroni and cheese, but I don’t eat dairy. I make a vegan version that’s tasty and of course ends up being better for you.

Previously, I’ve bought sugar-free sweets but since learning about what sugar substitutes are I have been gradually getting off the sugar-free train. Now I buy sweets with organic, unrefined sugar and they have to be fair trade!

Another thing I do is just eat less of it. Like last week with Fat Tuesday. I wanted my donuts. I ate my donuts. I didn’t eat as nearly as much as I could have or have done in the past. I didn’t drink any alcohol at all either. I’ve cut that down a lot over the years as well.

So, I say don’t make yourself go crazy. We’re exercising! It’s okay to go against your normal eating habits every now and again. Just don’t over indulge. That’s where the trouble starts. That should be with everything in your life as well though.

Review Time!!!

Don’t deny your cravings!

Find substitutes!

Exercise!

That’s all! :)

Especially Fatty

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 21:52:32 -0500

Having just come off a weekend where my mom was up to visit me, I can tell you that I am not a fittie at all when it comes to special occasions. My mom doesn’t like to (read: won’t) eat home cooked meals when she is visiting, so this means 100% dining out. I’m certain I could have made a lot healthier choices throughout the weekend, both in terms of food and drink, but instead I chose to indulge to the maximum possible.

It seems the only benefit to a weekend like this one is fittie guilt after fatty fail. Tonight, I worked out when I normally would not have considering how tired I was, and I had zero temptation to open up a bottle of beer despite having made a $100 beer purchase this weekend (of really fancy schtuff). I’m also endeavoring to get the proper amount of sleep this evening. (I find I am much less hungry the next day when I’m actually rested.) For me, this guilt will likely last the duration of the week and then I’ll be back to my normal (still fittie, but not super fittie) routine.

Although boom/bust cycles like this are not a great thing to do, as long as the indulgence is really only occasionally, I see nothing wrong with it.

~ Devan

Lori - Happy Mardi Gras!!!

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:20:00 -0500

Lori - Happy Mardi Gras!!!

Addie has been ROCKIN’ IT

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 20:48:00 -0500

Addie has been ROCKIN’ IT

Lori-Fitting in Exercise

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:15:34 -0500

Hi fitties!

It seems a bit odd to be talking about how I am fitting in exercise when I haven’t actually exercised in the past week. However, that is because I was sick all week and I’m just starting to get my energy back. But I am going to talk about what I try to do on a regular basis.

I have been trying to exercise 3 to 4 days each week. My routine consists mostly of running. I am up to about 3 miles now and I try to run three days each week. I am very fortunate that I recently moved into a new apartment in an area of town where I am able to step out my front door and go for a run around the neighborhood. It makes it so much easier to fit in a run because I don’t have to spend any time getting to the park or a place that I can run. It is probably one of my favorite things about my new apartment. I have also been trying to take at least one class at the gym each week. By taking a class I get in some “cross-training” and work different muscles than I do while I am running. I also find the classes fun and challenging.

I have also started keeping a set of hand weights on my coffee table. This way they are staring at me while I am watching tv and I try to make sure that I do a few sets of exercises during the commercial breaks.

If you guys have any suggestions for fitting in exercise, please let us know! We always look forward to feedback.

Stay fit!! Hopefully you will see me in video form next time!

Lori

Delana: Fitting in Exercise

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 15:45:55 -0500

Hey Fitties! I want to share how I fit in my exercise during the week.

In the past I would exercise and eventually I would stop for a variety of reasons. I don’t want to exercise just because I should be. I want to exercise because I want to. I don’t want to say I didn’t want to exercise before but eventually, yes, I didn’t want to anymore and stopped. So I’m slowly going to incorporate these exercises in my daily routine.

1. Walking

I don’t live too far away from where I work, and this winter has been really mild so I starting to walk again. I don’t do it every day, but only when I feel like it. Eventually, as I add in other exercises I’ve been wanting to walk more and more. It doesn’t hurt that spring will be here soon either!

2. Video Games

I use Xbox Kinect and Wii games to work out with sometimes. Actually, I was up late last night playing Wipe Out on Xbox. I’ve also played The Black Eyed Peas Experience. With the Wii my favorite is the Wii Fit Plus. They have a variety of games that you can choose from and they have yoga! I also have a couple of Jillian Michaels games.

3. Weights

Weights. I love them. I have 1 - 5 lb weights and while watching TV or a movie I’ll just lift them.

4. Boxer’s Sit Ups

Actually looking for a sample video of them online I’ve found there are different versions. The one I used to do is simple. You get into a sit up position and raise your back to a 45° angle. Then you turn to the left and then you turn to the right to the beat of whatever song you’re listening to (or a song in your head). Sometimes I’d incorporate my arms and do a few jabs.

5. Isometrics

Believe it or not the easiest and the hardest exercise I do is having my back against the wall and being in a sitting position. Wall Sits! I can do up to a minute right now. One day I might do a vlog while I’m wall sitting. Will I be able to last? :D

Push ups. I suck at them. I’m going to add some isometrics to them. Instead of doing a full push up, stop halfway up and hold for about a minute.

I’m starting with these two and then I’ll incorporate more isometrics into my daily routine.

Wall Sits:

So, I don’t do any of these every day. Sometimes I don’t do them at all. We do need to rest now and again. Adding them in slowly to my daily routine is what works for me. This week I’m going to add the sit ups. I don’t know what time of day or what day, but I’ll do it three times in the next week.

So, that’s how I fit in exercise. I have odd hours at times so I either am up early or sleep in late, work in the morning, work at night, etc. This is what works best for me. :)

Hopefully you can find out what works best for you. Whatever it is my tip is to make it fun!

Jump Jump! This round we talk about how we are fitting in...

Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:57:46 -0500

Jump Jump! This round we talk about how we are fitting in exercise.

"The skinny nut"

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:50:12 -0500

I was just watching last night’s The Biggest Loser and I heard a great tip that I thought I would share.

If you like to snack on nuts, you have to be careful because it is really easy to go overboard. Nuts are high in fat, while it is good fat, it is still not good to eat too many. Have you ever looked at the serving size for any type of nut? It’s typically about a quarter cup for almost 200 calories worth of almonds. That is only about 15-20 nuts.

The tip that I wanted to share is to choose pistachios as your nut of choice. The nutritionist on TBL called them “the skinny nut”. You can have ~30 nuts for around 100 calories. Another plus side to pistachios, you have to shell them before you eat them so it will take you longer and seem more filling because you can’t just mindlessly eat them.

Happy snacking!

-Lori

Hope takes a turn introducing herself as a new member! Very...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:57:23 -0500

Hope takes a turn introducing herself as a new member! Very exciting stuff!

Promises and Consequences

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 10:26:00 -0500

Hey, Fitties! Kimmers here with a quick post about reaching your goals.

I read the following this morning in a blog post from The Daily Love, and I hope it gives you another mental tool to help you keep yourself in check (emphasis mine):

3) Promises and Consequences. None of my yoga or spiritual teachers ever asked me to promise something or held me to account to do anything I was inspired to do. In the Handel Method®, we teach the alignment of heart, mind and body. This means we connect you to your soul’s deepest longings, help you make a plan to go after them and then hold you to taking the right (creative) actions to make your dreams happen. Spiritual practices can do a great job at connecting heart and mind. And action on the mat absolutely improves life, but we’ve only scratched the surface when it comes to actions off the mat. In every area in which a person is weak at having their dream come true, they must make promises (not just set intentions!) and then be held accountable to keeping them by a person (someone who cares a lot, like a coach) and a consequence. There are consequences to every choice; we know this because we understand energy (cause and effect). However, we are still complacent if negative consequences haven’t become unbearable and so we continue to make bad choices with food, cigarettes, alcohol, not listening, flying off the handle, ignoring important deadlines or relationships. Promises and artificial/creative consequences interrupt this pattern completely. Have date night with your spouse or lose TV and internet until you do. Eat only whole foods or lose your wine on the weekend. Do your daily yoga practice or owe 100 pushups the next day. You get the idea. You’ve got to train your mind on each and every dream you care about and train it OFF its fabulous flow of excuses. This has to become part of your spiritual practice for the spiritual realm to expand into all areas of your life.

Be well, Fitties! <3

FITTEO! Watch, reblog, etc. Sorry if it’s not as tight as...

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 22:47:59 -0500

FITTEO! Watch, reblog, etc. Sorry if it’s not as tight as the other fitties’ vids. I’m insane.

Video

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:44:53 -0500

Video

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 23:33:39 -0500