Monthly Archives: April 2014

Trying a New Exercise Regimen: Focus T25

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I love to run. L.O.V.E. it. But with my hip arthritis its been a challenge to run consistently. I’ve been trying several different activities, seeking an alternative to running that’s easier on my joints but gives me as much satisfaction as running has in the past. Also trying to find an exercise regimen that will get me in shape for powwow season. Although I enjoy biking, it hasn’t really clicked with me yet, and walking for too long bothers my hip. I can’t always get to the stadium to walk the stairs either. I miss being able to just run out my door and around the neighborhood when I find myself with a spare 20-45 minutes. P90X is very time-intensive. I love to swim but getting to the pool is proving daunting as well. And even though I L.O.V.E. Bikram yoga, I can’t afford to go as often as I would like. I tend to have some “All or None” tendencies, so finding a healthy balance is also a challenge.

So….at a powwow in Ann Arbor, MI recently, I noticed that I am struggling to carry my old school flat-fringe shawl and my new beloved floral beadwork through 2 contest songs. The shawl and beadwork are both surprisingly heavy, and I need to get stronger just to wear them for contests. At the powwow I also noticed how in shape one of my shawl dance sisters appeared to be. So I complimented her on her conditioning at the end of the powwow. She immediately recommended Sean T’s Focus T25. She said she tried Insanity the year prior but as a busy mom and studio owner, she didn’t have the time to do an hour per day, and she said she felt tired all the time. She liked T25, said it didn’t bother the knee that she has trouble with, and said I would notice a difference after 1 week.  She had been doing the workouts for 10 days and said she felt alot better dancing during contest. So I came home and promtly ordered the workout series. Lol.

I am going to blog about my T25 experience because I think I need to share my struggles with wellness, with the challenges I have been presented with in terms of physical limitations, time, children, work, and finances. A few of my friends believe that I’ve never had a weight problem and that’s it’s “easy” for me to maintain my weight. It’s work, like everything else in life is. I’m concerned about maintaining lean muscle mass as I get older (I just turned 46 a few weeks ago) especially with not being able to train like I did 10-12 years ago. And if I can bring my weight lower it will ease some of the stress on my joints and make my arthritis easier to manage without getting cortisone shots. I have alot of reasons for wanting to do this, all of them for me and wanting to feel better and be able to continue to do the things I love to do….and modeling the behavior I want my children to emulate.

Focus T25 is a 10-week program. 5 workouts per week, the first 5 weeks is the “Alpha” series, the 2nd 5 weeks is the “Beta” series. And it’s just 25 intense minutes per day. That’s the draw for me. I received a nutrition guide and it looks as though I will need 1600 calories per day. The 5-Day Fast Track has a more limited calorie amount to get fast results in the first 5 days. All whole foods, except that they push BeachBody’s “Shakeology”. I am not going to buy into the Shakeology, I feel I can come up with plenty of good things to eat without the powdered meal supplement. Plus it’s too expensive….but I really just want to do this with my own whole foods. I had to take a “Before” picture and am promised a free t-shirt if I follow the program and submit my “Before” and “After” photos.

I just finished Day 2 of Focus T25. Yesterday was Core Cardio and today was Speed 1.0. Both workouts were very intense…but I was able to do almost all the exercises right along with Sean T and company. I had to modify 1 exercise yesterday and 1 exercise today because I couldn’t do them with my hip…but they have a lady that shows the modifications throughout the entire workout. Speed 1.0 actually had some moves similar to fancy shawl dancing…lol. That similarity is what helped me power through the tough parts of the workouts though.

The first workout, although intense, left me feeling energized. I was very sore yesterday, but not sore enough to avoid today’s workout. I experienced the same feeling of having energy. I still have that energy….I just feel good today. And I was so happy to discover that the exercises do NOT bother my hip!!

I’m looking forward to the next 3 days of my Week 1. I’m also hoping that blogging about it will help keep me accountable and help keep me consistent. I have no excuses, it’s only 25 minutes per day!! I did it the past 2 mornings before my kids got up for school, tomorrow I have the day off and can relax a little and do it after my kids go to school. I’m optimistic and excited about this.

So stay tuned for progress reports…..lol.

Need your daily fruits and veggies? Make smoothies!!

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We are doing our Nutrition unit in my diabetes class and we discussed the number of fruit and vegetable servings that people need each day (5-7). A smoothie can be a really good meal/snack and a very efficient way to get your fruits and veggies in. I prefer making a smoothie to “juicing” because when you juice fruits and veggies it just extracts the liquid and the fructose, leaving you with a simple carbohydrate (read “sugar”). The pulp is left in the bottom tray of the juice machine and discarded, but that’s the important part….the pulp contains the fiber of the fruits and veggies. Whole fruits and veggies have a high water content, fructose, nutrients, and FIBER which is important to heart health, colon health, and keeping your digestive system running like a well-oiled machine. Your body has to work harder to break down whole fruits and veggies due to the fiber so it slows down the blood sugar spike that can occur when you drink fruit juice alone. Smoothies are the way to go. Although the blender breaks down some of the food for you, smoothies are still a healthier alternative to any kind of juice.

I have four “go-to” smoothie recipes. My kids like some of them, Joe B likes all of them, except for the new one I came up with this morning because he hasn’t tried it yet. One of them I got online and the others are variations of recipes I’ve seen on-line. Easy to make and I love the fact that I can get a couple of servings of fruit and vegetables consumed in one shot.

Green Monster Smoothie (courtesy of “Fit Mama” and motivational speaker Erin Brown): 1 Cup of milk (I use unsweetened almond milk for myself, 1% organic milk for the Swirlies), 1 banana, 2 Cups of Spinach. Optional: I will add half a scoop of organic whey vanilla flavored protein powder to give it smoother, more creamy texture. Feel free to add a little bit of maple syrup or stevia if it’s not sweet enough (although the bananas add plenty of sweetness). Make sure the put the spinach on the bottom of the blender and the rest of the ingredients on top so it doesn’t fly up and stick to the lid. And add some ice, it will feel like a milkshake. Shelby’s favorite smoothie to date. Makes 1 large serving or 2 Swirlie sized servings. http://www.fitmamatraining.com

Green Kale/Cucumber/Apple/Pineapple Smoothie (2 Servings): 2 Cups Kale (or spinach), 1 cup peeled diced cucumber (i use seedless cucumbers), 1 diced apple (leave the peel on, use any apple of choice), 1 C diced pineapple, 1 C water, 1 C ice, 1-2 packets of Stevia. Optional: 2 tsp. Omega-3-oil supplement. Put the leafy greens at the bottom of the blender and layer the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth. Joe B’s favorite smoothie. Even some of my students have tried this and like it, bright green color and all. 🙂 I didn’t see a recipe for this, I just used what I thought sounded good.

Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie (serves 1):  1 C unsweetened Almond Milk, 2 Tbs natural peanut butter, 1 scoop organic chocolate whey protein powder (make sure there are no more than 2 g of carbs per serving), handful of ice. I take this smoothie on the road with us to powwows and this is mine and Joe B’s breakfast in the morning. I bring my Magic Bullet and my protein powder. I usually find the milk and PB when I get there, or I bring it in a cooler. Good power protein breakfast and this also makes a good workout recovery drink.

Cherry Almond Smoothie (serves 1): Just tried this out this morning. Modified a recipe I saw on Pinterest. 1 C frozen cherries, 1 handful of spinach, 1/2 C unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 C greek yogurt (I use regular, full-fat greek yogurt), I threw in some sliced almonds and a little dab of maple syrup. It was delicious! The recipe I saw on Sweet Peas and Saffron’s website (www.sweatpeasandsaffron) called for almond extract instead of the sliced almonds (I didn’t have any extract) and omitted the spinach. I added so I could get the leafy greens. And it called for 1/2 tsp of honey but I just added a very small drizzle of maple syrup, I knew the cherries would make it very sweet.

I’m sure I’ll add more blog entries like this when I try different smoothie combinations. Drinking fruit and veggie smoothies consistently does wonders for your energy, your mood, your skin, etc. You will be surprised how your body responds to really nutritious foods on the regular.

Some of the “Rules” I Go By

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I just came home from a trip to a powwow in Michigan. Drove all night to get there, danced all weekend, drove all night traveling home. I am exhausted. When I am this tired I have the most trouble trying to stick to my healthy eating and exercise. I have many many times that I don’t feel like working out, many times that I actually don’t. As for healthy eating 24/7….lol. That doesn’t happen in my house. But we try. And I have found a few things that help me push through the times that I feel like I’m failing at my healthy habits and doing healthy things for my family.

It feels like there are a million different “rules” that govern healthy eating and activity. Don’t eat this, make sure you eat that….etc. People tend to give up on any eating plan when they encounter difficulty sticking to the rules or guidelines of the plan. They get frustrated with having to start over, or wonder why they can’t stick to it 100% of the time. Same with working out. If they can’t get their workouts in everyday as planned they tend to give up. So here are two of my “Rules” that help me persist in my search for good health.

“80/20 Rule”:  I don’t remember the exact place where I read this rule, I did not come up with this on my own. It basically says to strive to adhere to your plan of eating and/or exercise 80% of the time. 80% shows consistency and persistence. It is much better than 0% and also far preferable to 50%. Strive to stay on-plan 80% of the time and then you have 20% for incidentals…such as a time crunch that leaves you little-to-no opportunity to get a health meal or workout, fatigue, stress-induced cravings or naps, or to just treat yourself. 80% is your goal and you can relax with the remaining 20%. This helps me feel accomplished on the days that I feel like I’m falling off of everything. If I can eat really good and healthy 80% out of my day or week, I feel ok about letting myself have a little indulgence for the 20% of the day/week.

“!5-Minute Rule”. Again, I don’t remember the exact place I read this, I know it was years ago. The 15-Minute Rule is put in use during times of procrastination…when you don’t feel like doing something you need to do. Such as workout, study for school, or write a new blog entry. 🙂 If I am feeling very tired but I have a run planned for after work, instead of heading for the couch (which is what I want more than anything at that moment), I tell myself, “If I start my run right NOW, I will only run for 15 minutes then I’ll stop.”  Or, “If I start to study/write this paper right NOW, I’ll only study/write for 15 minutes then I’ll stop.” See a pattern here?  The idea behind committing to 15 minutes immediately is this….once you get going on your run, studying, writing, 9 times out of 10 you will complete your task.

I’ve put the 15-Minute Rule into effect many, many times. Sometimes I do feel like quitting my run after 15 minutes. I’ll tell myself then, “Ok, I think I can do another 10 minutes.” Then ten minutes later if I’m still not feeling it, “Ok, I’ll try another 5 minutes.” I kept giving myself small increments of time to run and pretty soon I had completed my entire workout.

Now, here is the beauty of the Rule…sometimes you won’t be able to talk yourself past 15 minutes of anything…sometimes you are done. Fork stuck in…just D.O.N.E. If that is the case, then BE DONE. You told yourself you will stop after 15 minutes, so by all means, stop. Even if you stop, you still will have gotten in 15 minutes of activity, which is far preferable, and much more beneficial to your body then zero minutes of activity.

Both rules encourage and promote consistency. Research has shown that the workouts you do consistently, even if they are mild to moderate, are more beneficial to your health than a vigorous workout only done occasionally. Walking for 30 minutes 6 times a week will bring more health benefits than running 5 miles 1-2 times per week.

So now, even though I am still recovering from my travels and I just want to lay down on the couch, I just told the Swirlies I would take them for a short bike ride….a 15 minute bike ride and then we are coming home. We’ll see how far we end up going. 🙂