7 Down
Between getting up early and riding for 7 hours I’m a bit tired tonight and don’t have the attention span to write a post.
I must say though, I felt really good energy-wise eating Primally while doing all of that cardio! I didn’t even add in potatoes or anything. Just a bit of dark chocolate after dinner and some fruit during the day.
Here is a wonderful photo of me and Candy from before the 7 hours. Later I’ll post some sweaty photos taken during the event!
My bicep says “Bigger” because I always tease Dave that my bicep is bigger than his! Also, that is definitely my game face!
Death by Cardio
Tomorrow, Friday and Saturday I will suffer death by cardio – 16 hours of spin. At least my suffering is for a good cause!
A few of the riders from last year!
I have three comments to make about this death by cardio though.
One….
BLEHHHHHHHHH! Have I mentioned before I hate cardio?!?
Two…
I’m prepared for my body to hurt after all of the hours. Not my muscles necessarily, but my butt and my knees. Because I knew I would be in enough pain, I didn’t want to be sitting on the bike super sore from heavy lifts this week.
I did lift heavy Monday (my butt and hamstrings are still sore) and I did lift yesterday (my shoulders, triceps and chest were brutalized), but today I chose to do a short and killer cardio bodyweight workout. It is bad enough being sore when I teach two classes let alone ride for 16 hours!!!
So if you are looking for a great cardio, bodyweight workout, try this workout of the week!
10 rounds:
10 Ab roller
20 Box Jumps
30 Double Unders
Shoot for under 20 minutes!
Three….
Mark Sisson had an interesting post the other day about trying your own little self experiment.
I’m going to be trying my own little experiment the next couple of days. I’m going to prove that you don’t need to eat all those crap gels and simple carbohydrates to survive such an intense workout session.
While everyone else will be drinking Gatorade and chowing down on crap carbs, I will be eating my delicious Primal meals and snacks. Nuts, fruits, all sorts of protein and some veggies. I may even throw in some potatoes on Friday after 7 hours of spinning tomorrow. BUT we will see!
I’m betting I will feel better than everyone else…What do you think?
Also, thank you to all of those who donated! A special thanks goes out to our mystery donor who made our day today!!!
Thank you all! Wish the Man Bicep Team good luck! I hope my butt survives!!!
Go figure…Conventional wisdom I hate
Ok so the phrase/sentiment I hate below isn’t really conventional wisdom BUT it is uttered all too frequently!
Don’t be fooled by this picture. It doesn’t have that much to do with the post. I just like it.
So yesterday I hopped on the treadmill at the end of my workout to jog a mile. I’ve been trying to casually run occasionally because I want to be good at it even if I don’t enjoy it. (Also, I think I’m hoping I’ll learn to love it…not working yet…)
While I was jogging on the treadmill, and drenched in sweat from my workout, one of the trainers at my gym said to me,”Feeling guilty about the weekend, huh?” He then smiled and laughed.
I think the first emotion that registered across my face was shock. And then I got defensive.
Yes, I did go to New York this past week. And yes, I did eat all of the delicious foods that I know are bad for me.
But, did I feel guilty about it?
HARDLY.
I had throughly enjoyed myself. Why would I feel guilty?
After I got defensive, I got angry.
WHAT THE HECK KIND OF COMMENT WAS THAT?!?
I’ve never understood that attitude – the attitude of “if I eat badly I’ll just go on the treadmill and sweat it off and then I’ll be skinny again.”
Do people actually really think that works?
Unfortunately they do…
But it doesn’t work like that. You can’t just eat whatever you want and then just go and work it off. That doesn’t make you healthy!!!
I honestly believe it is actually the worst mentality to have.
It places all the importance on calories in vs. calories. Also, maintaining a healthy weight doesn’t mean you are healthy!
And most importantly you can’t exercise off a bad meal!!!
If you really want to “make up” for a bad meal or weekend, eat well for the next few weeks!!!
Have you ever been guilty of thinking a workout will make up for poor eating choices? If so, WHY!?!
P.S. Is anyone else amused by this article?!
Strength grows from vulnerability
Sometimes it is hard for me to want to do things that I know I’m bad at.
I don’t like failing.
But if I don’t make myself vulnerable to failure, if I don’t attempt the things I’m bad at, I will never grow stronger.
It sucks, but it is the hard truth.
And I want to be strong. AND you are only as strong as your weakest point.
So I work on my weak points. Sometimes I want to cry or puke. Sometimes I just want to give up.
But every time I push through, I get stronger.
Not only do I get stronger physically, but I also get stronger mentally. I become more empowered every time I make myself vulnerable and overcome an obstacle.
I actually think sometimes we focus too much on the physical obstacle without realizing how much pushing ourselves to do something will make us grow and become empowered as a person.
And honestly, isn’t growing stronger as a person really the most important part? I mean who really cares if you lift 45lbs or 300lbs?
No one.
The point is to OVERCOME something CHALLENGING to you. The numbers don’t matter. The exercise doesn’t matter.
All the matters is that you take on the challenge and make yourself vulnerable.
That in and of itself is success.
And sometimes that success is very hard-won and comes about in a form in which you didn’t necessarily intend. But that success is strength.
You made yourself vulnerable.
You took the risk.
You got stronger.
Why would you want to lift heavy?
So last night I met with one of my clients, Juliana, who also does my lifting class.
Juliana has gotten super into the lifting and has grown by leaps and bounds. Her movement patterns have improved and she is now lifting human beings! 🙂
She seems to enjoy the lifting and seems to like the way she looks!
But then this week, a situation that has happened to almost all of us female lifters, occurred. It is a conversation that can scare off many beginning female lifters.
The “you don’t want to get bulky do you” conversation. Juliana had two people start-up that conversation.
Luckily I didn’t even have to convince her that they were wrong! She already knew what she was doing was right!
Lifting heavy won’t make you bulky people!!!!! COME ON!
Having extra fat is what makes you “bulky.” Eating crap so that you have bad body composition is what makes you “bulky.”
Not leaned toned muscle mass!
I’ve gained about 17 pounds in the last two years. I still wear the same clothes I wore when I was 17 pounds lighter. Actually some don’t fit as well now because I’ve shrunk in certain areas…like my waist. I’ve shrunk because I’ve lost FAT. I haven’t become any bigger by adding muscle because I cut off the fat that was previously holding its spot!
If you don’t believe me because you know I’m biased, take a look at this Women’s Health Magazine article! Mainstream media even agrees that lifting heavy is good for you! (Of course as I go to post this and click on their link from Facebook it says “Page not found”….Maybe I shouldn’t yet think so highly of mainstream media!)
BUT here is a quote from what was up there.
Lift Heavier Weights! A recent study showed that women who lifted a challenging weight for eight reps burned nearly twice as many calories as women who knocked out 15 reps with lighter dumbbells.
See burn more fat and look LESS bulky by lifting heavy weights!
I wish I could workout twice in one day!
Trust me…you don’t want to.
Yesterday I did my lift and circuit and then last minute had to sub a cardio kicks class (cardio kickboxing).
I don’t teach cardio kickboxing so it was definitely a different experience.
I also wasn’t planning to teach and was more than fatigued from my workout earlier.
In the locker room, I was talking to one of my clients about the fact that I was sweating more than anyone else in the class and that I was super tired after two workouts.
One of my other clients and her friend said, “I wish I could workout twice in one day.”
My response to them was, “No you don’t.”
I’m not saying that it can’t be fun to have a super active day, but honestly there is never any reason that you need TWO workouts in one day.
If you workout intensely for 30 minutes, that can be more than enough for one day!
Workouts don’t have to be super long to get results. A lot of times shorter, more intense workouts are truly better!!!
WOW..I can’t believe it’s not peanut butter…
Actually I CAN believe it’s not peanut butter.
EW!
SchoolSafe WOWButter is a peanut free soy butter that supposedly tastes like peanut butter and is safe for school since it won’t set off anyone’s nut allergies.
I honestly thought this website was a joke when Francine sent it to me yesterday.
BUT NOPE!
I honestly don’t even know which part of this to start ranting about.
So here are the ingredients, which speak for themselves (all of which are things I despise).
Ingredients:
Non GMO Toasted Soy, Soy Oil, Granulated Cane Sugar, Monoglyceride (from vegetable oil, prevents oil separation) and Sea Salt.
Ok so I don’t hate sea salt, but soy oil? Sugar? Vegetable oil? UHMMMMM…
I think I would rather just not give my kid peanut butter than to give them that crap.
Actually, I wouldn’t give my kids peanut butter since it actually isn’t a nut! And I definitely wouldn’t give them this even more processed crap!
I mean did someone ACTUALLY think this was a good solution for peanut allergies?!?
Also, PLEASE DONATE TO THE MAN BICEP TEAM! All three of us are cycling for 16 hours and would appreciate any help we can get to reach our fundraising goal!!!! Click on this link to donate! Put Man Bicep in the notes section and leave a comment on this post!!!!
THANK YOU!
What works for YOU!?!
Today Lois and I were talking about her daughter trying to change her diet and how difficult that can be.
Lois didn’t think that her daughter could make the transition to Primal like she did.
But I told her that her daughter most definitely could.
Everyone goes about starting a healthy diet in a different way. And even once we’ve settled on a healthy diet, we are constantly editing it – we are constantly changing it to fit our lifestyle better, make us healthier, help us reach a fitness goal….
No one’s diet is exactly the same as anyone elses.
For some people, making a drastic diet change is simply impossible. They have to ease themselves into it.
That is exactly what Lois’s daughter will have to do.
It may start with cutting out soda. Then vegetable oils. Then gluten until she finds a diet that not only makes her healthy but allows her to reach her goals and enjoy life.
Yes that’s right…ENJOY LIFE.
Most people don’t consider “enjoying life” when they start a new diet.
You have to create a diet that works for you! And you won’t stick to a diet that you don’t enjoy!
While you want to eat what’s healthy, you also have to allow yourself foods that you enjoy.
While you don’t want to eat a ton of bacon or a ton of cheese, if you enjoy those foods ALLOW yourself to have them. If you deprive yourself for too long, you will just fall off the wagon and have the hardest time getting back on.
If you enjoy pizza, while you don’t want to eat it every day, you can give yourself meals to eat pizza at…and I’m not talking about some Paleo/Primal pizza…I’m talking about the real thing.
I think that all out cheats once a week really work for some people.
There are just so many things that can work. You just need to find out what you enjoy the most while staying in line with what is healthy.
Only if you enjoy the diet will it really work for you!
And if a diet doesn’t work for you? You won’t stick to it no matter how healthy it is!
The good, the bad and the simply stupid
The Good
- Vin Goat is a wonderful little shop that carries artisan and farmstead cheese and cupboard essentials. They also host lectures each weekend about their products. The other weekend Ryan’s parents went to a lecture by Anne Willan, a founder of a famous French cooking school among other culinary achievements. In her talk, Anne Willan supported the use of raw milk to make cheese (saying it made the cheese better!) AND talked about cooking with butter or lard NOT vegetable oil. All in all her lecture was apparently a Primal/Paleo eaters dream. Glad to know there are people out there supporting the consumption of raw milk and fat!
- Here is a little preview of a jump rope video Ryan is helping me making for the Under Armour Challenge. It was also part of my “do something new” workout challenge for this weekend. I’m by no means an awesome jump rope-er so this was definitely a challenge! If you want to do your own jump rope slide and send it to me, I’ll add it to the video!
- Coconut oil is about as close to a magical health pill as you get. Fat-a-phobs shy away from this oil because it contains saturated fat, but what they don’t realize is that the “saturated fat” in coconut oil is a form known as lauric acid, which has been proven to protect your heart by reducing total cholesterol and enhancing HDL cholesterol levels. Even Dr. Oz says so….WOW something he is right about!
The Bad
- I like dried fruit as a treat on occasion. BUT you have to be very careful when purchasing dried fruit as many have added ingredients. Actually I was surprised by how many WEREN’T simply dried fruit when I was at Trader Joe’s. It actually is more difficult than you think to find pure dried fruit. Next time you buy dried fruit make sure you are getting exactly what you want! Read the ingredients list!
- Just another reason to take medicine! NOT! Common painkillers tied to lower skin cancer risk! Ok but to get the benefit you must take these medicines in large quantities. BUT the large quantities have proven health risks. “The drugs have also been linked to an increased risk of kidney cancer and come with known bleeding risks.” So here we have an article telling our population to take painkillers to reduce their risk of skin cancer but we still don’t know if the benefits of taking large quantities of the medicine are worth the risks that have already been linked to the drugs…Hmmm…I think I’ll pass on the painkillers…
- Every time I think Paleo/Primal is becoming more accepted I see stupid articles like this one on IndyStar.com. I can’t believe a dietitian claimed that the diet is not only low carb but also lacking in some vitamins and minerals. Uhm hello!?! When you stop wasting calories on grains, you eat more fruits and vegetables…So how can the diet be “lacking?” If it is lacking in vitamins and minerals, than what word do we use to describe the average American’s diet…Non-existant in vitamins and minerals!?! (Ok I know that doesn’t work…but hopefully you get my point.)
The Simply Stupid
- Dennis, Ryan’s brother, sent this to him. Definitely a healthy breakfast…NOT!
The back of a Nutella jar.
Ok this isn’t simply stupid…It is actually awesome…
Diet books – BLEH!
Don’t waste your money on diet books. Go buy some grass-fed beef!
So yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble to get a Paleo/Primal diet book for one of my clients to read. After seeing the Crossfit games, and my long lectures, she finally decided to give the whole “caveman eating thing” a shot.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
But when I got to the store I was overwhelmed by a whole lot of crap. All of the “advertised” books were fad, low-fat diets!
The book that I wanted, that they CLAIMED to have in stock was nowhere to be found.
I was overwhelmed by all of the conventional wisdom/fad diets lining the shelves.
I had the desire to run through the diet aisles knocking every book off the shelves and then sprint out of the store.
Or I wanted to grab an armful of the stupid books and throw them in the trash.
Either one would have felt really satisfying.
Of course I probably would have gotten arrested or something, but still….It would have felt good!
I didn’t do it though. Instead I managed to focus enough to find one of the HEALTHY DIET books I was looking for.
With that huge load of diet crap out there though, no wonder Americans are confused about what the right diet is!
Actually it is almost kind of depressing that we turn to brightly colored books with neon words stating “Lose 15 lbs in 2 day!” instead of just eating the foods that come naturally from the earth!
I mean honestly it is simple. Just do an experiment. Eat all the crap they recommend for 30 days and then go eat all of the natural foods that I recommend for 30 days.
Which makes you feel better? Which do you think you can maintain for longer than the 30 days?
I think I know the answer….
Actually I’ve lived the answer. Heck I used to buy diet books and read every article in all of the women’s health magazines looking for some secret new trick.
BUT IT DOESN’T EXIST!
Anyway, don’t take my word for it. Try an experiment yourself. You’ll see.
Oh and just a random side note…
While I complain about all of the crap diet books there were lining the shelves, there definitely were more Paleo/Primal/Caveman books out there than ever before.
I could make a very cynical comment about how there are now books being published about this healthy diet because there is now a market to make money off of….but I’ll keep my mouth shut.
What is next though? A Caveman Lifestyles magazine? Or maybe even a Caveman Vogue?
Hey I’m not saying I don’t get it. But I just think everyone needs to realize that everyone out there who is pushing something has an agenda.
Even me.
I obviously want you to believe that eating my way and lifting heavy weights is the BEST way.
And of course it is…. 🙂
Man Bicep 