switch and real women eat

First of all, hooray for the end of the man hunt! I knew they’d catch him! If you haven’t seen THIS video of people celebrating you need to. Makes me so dang proud to be an American. (I tried to embed it but for some reason I couldn’t get it to work. so just click on the link). I just watched it again and it still makes me tear up.

A couple of days ago my friend Megan was telling me about this class that’s taught at our gym called Switch. I had never heard of it (so I don’t know if it’s taught other places…I mean I’m sure some version of it is) so I decided to give it a try this morning. Saturdays are my long run days but since right now my schedule only has me doing 7 today I thought, “yeah, I’ll go to Switch and then do my run afterward. No big deal. I’ll just run a little slower if I’m tired”. BAHA! Looking back it’s really adorable how optimistic I was about my body’s abilities.

Switch was THE HARDEST workout class I have ever been to! It was awesome! The way it works is every song you “switch” (get it?) to a different type of workout. We did arms with weights, we did entire songs of just variations on jumping jacks, we did Ballates (ballet+pilates), we did dance, we did core, we did kick boxing…I’m sure there was more I just can’t think of it all right now. Holy.COW! It was amazing. Every part of my body hurts right now and it’s awesome. Afterward, I knew I was dead tired but thought maybe I could get in a couple of slow miles. 1/4 of a mile in I knew that wasn’t going to happen, so I just had a nice, brisk 15 minute walk to cool down. If your gym has a class like this I highly recommend it.

It’s now WELLNESS chat time!!

Wellness Factor #5: Nutrition

Andrea: The key to nutrition I have found, is to be HONEST with yourself about any underlying emotions and to have an open communication with someone in your life (whomever) that you trust and who loves you and wants the best for you! You need a cheerleader no matter what your “nutrition” goals are… Going at anything alone is a looong journey. Even my new Blog Friends have been an AMAZING source of support– more than I ever thought!!

Rachel: Nutrition: To me, nutrition means feeding your body what makes it happy, makes it strong, and makes it feel good. I am a vegetarian (for health, moral, and environmental reasons, if you’re interested, feel free to ask!) and I noticed a marked improvement in how my body felt when I stopped eating meat 4 years ago. However, even though I was not eating meat, I still wasn’t eating “the best” foods. When I got into my healthy living routine three years ago and started cleaning up my diet, I felt AMAZING! I eat ice cream or desserts still, but if I eat something that’s out of the ordinary for me (something fried or something like that), I feel really gross. I like feeding my body food that’s going to fuel it and keep me satisfied!

Let’s take a moment and think about all the reasons that we (or at lease I) eat. Note: not all of these are good reasons:

• Fuel my body
• Bored (really bad reason)
• Dehydrated (yes sometimes it’s that you need WATER, not food!)
• Social (friends, parties, other celebrations…I feel like people always have food at their events to entice you to go)
• Stress/emotional eating (guilty)
• Cravings (I think these are mostly emotional or hormonal)

Let’s be completely honest here. The only real, true reason that eating is something we do is to fuel our bodies so they can perform the tasks they need to perform (both voluntary and involuntary). Your body is not going to function properly if you’re not eating enough and it’s not going to function to its ability if you’re eating the wrong kinds of food too much. You want to make sure you’re getting your grains, your dairy, your fruits and veggies and your lean proteins (of course this depends on any allergies or eating choices). We’ve all heard these guidelines many times but I think the most important thing to do when it comes to nutrition is to learn to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. Let me give you some personal examples:

I am a little lactose intolerant, so while I do still eat dairy, I try to limit my cheese intake (because that’s what makes me feel the yuckiest) and have switched over to almond milk because I feel better when I use that rather than regular milk. I still eat ice cream or frozen yogurt but I try not to over do it.

A while back I stopped drinking soda as part of my training because I could tell a huge difference in my running when I would drink it. I am not usually an advocate for completely cutting something out of your diet just because, but now when I try to drink soda it really makes me sick. So I stick to water and I feel great. Simple. I think it tastes great and wouldn’t mind having some now and then but it really just makes me feel gross. and who wants to feel gross?!

I try to include protein in each of my meals and my snacks so that I stay more full, longer. I’ve noticed it reduces my cravings when I’m being really good about this.

I love, love carbs. I just want to get that out there first. But I learned very quickly when I left home that my body cannot handle them very well. Every bite I take is transferred right to my tummy and I gain weight super easily. So I have been learning how to take it easy on the carbs. Again, I don’t cut them out, but I try to have at least one meal without them each day and then don’t over do it the rest of the day. That doesn’t mean that now and then I don’t have a nice bowl of pasta. Cause you bet I do! I just don’t do it often.

Now I don’t you want you to think I am this awesome person when it comes to nutrition. I am not! I have an outrageous sweet tooth and I am still learning to manage it. Baby steps.

Anyway, you probably are getting sick of reading about me but my point is, figure out what works for you! You know what is healthy, you know what isn’t. For me the key is MODERATION! You can drink soda, just don’t have 5 cans a day. You can eat ice cream, just don’t go overboard. Have the pasta! But eat some veggies with it.

You know your own body. Figure out what works for you. I am not a fan of “going on diets” because they seem to be temporary fixes. If afterward you go back to eating exactly how you ate before, you won’t see last changes! Learn how to eat healthy, learn how to fuel your body, make it a lifestyle change! That’s what this is all about. Creating a healthy lifestyle, not a temporary fix.

What helps you to eat healthier? (I like to use My Fitness Pal now and then to make me more aware of what I’m eating. Helps me get back on track.)

What’s your favorite healthy snack? (I love packing healthy snacks to work so I have things to eat during the day. I would love more ideas!)

What’s the hardest work out class you’ve been to?

I know I’ve already posted this picture before but it’s just too good not to share again.