Adventures in Clean Eating

Read Part I here.  Yesterdays lessons learned dealt primarily with nutrition.  Today, I’m going to share with you five lessons I’ve learned relating to exercise.

6.  Everyone needs to exercise.  You need to make exercise a part of your routine.  It doesn’t matter if you naturally look like Giselle.  Our bodies are meant to move.  If you’re sedentary, you are unhealthy, regardless of what you look like.  Try to get in the habit of making it to the gym three times a week for about 45 minutes, for a combination of strength and cardio.  If that seems miserable, find something that seems less so.  If you hate running, take up walking.  See if there’s a class at the gym you enjoy.  Netflix, On Demand, and YouTube have countless (basically free) exercise videos.  If there’s a sport you played as a kid, see if there’s an adult league in your area.  I’m sure if you look around, you can find some activity that’s tolerable to you.  If you don’t do it for your physique, do it for your heart.  Your ticker needs to be worked to stay strong.

7.  Everyone needs to strength train. From a health standpoint, strength training will increase your bone density and prevent injury.  This is particularly important as you get older and your bone density naturally decreases with age.  From a weight-loss standpoint, regular strength training will increase your metabolism.  Although 30 minutes of weight lifting won’t burn nearly as many calories as cardio, muscle burns more calories than fat.  So, if you have more muscle mass, your at rest calorie burn will be much higher the more muscle you have.  Basically, you will burn more calories doing lazy things like watching TV or sitting in front of your computer if you have more muscle.  From an aesthetic standpoint, muscles are sexy.  People are finally starting to get that.  Even Victoria’s Secret models have six packs now.  I’m so sick of hearing girls say that they don’t strength train because they don’t want to look like guys.  Ladies, you do not have enough testosterone to bulk up.  Your muscle will stay lean, I promise.  Plus, a little mass isn’t a bad thing.  “Skinny fat” girls look gross.  If you’ve already lost weight through diet, strength training will help that excess skin look more taut.  Yes, muscle weighs more than fat, but you should distance your perception of yourself from that number on the scale.  Real quick, do a Google image search for a pound of muscle versus a pound of fat.  See the difference?  I currently weigh more than I did five years ago, but I’ve dropped two dress sizes in that time, and I’m a hell of a lot healthier to boot.  Such is the power of strength training.

8.  You need to stretch. I never want to stretch after a workout.  I’m usually so beat I just want to go home.  But, stretching will vastly decrease your risk of injury and next day soreness by increasing the blood flow to your muscles.  It will also increase your athletic performance by both helping your muscles grow more quickly and increasing your range of motion.  So, it’s worth it to take a few minutes at the end of your workout to stretch out the muscles you’ve used.  Do not stretch before your workout.  Studies have shown that this actually increases your likelihood of injury, so save the stretching for your cool down.  A good way to warm-up is to do a modified version of whatever workout you plan to do, going through the same motions with a lighter weight or doing your cardio on a lighter setting/more slowly.  When you do stretch, don’t bounce, as this creates small tears in your muscles that will create scar tissue.  You want to go for easy, static stretches.  You should feel the stretch, but it shouldn’t be painful (I wish someone had told this to my dance teachers who used to push me into the splits as a kid…).  I also try to hit up a Vinyasa yoga class at least once a week to get an extra good stretch in case my cool-down didn’t cover it, but that’s just me.

9.  Mix up your workouts. When you first take up exercise, you will probably start to notice changes in your body sooner, rather than later.  The changes will be gradual, but they’ll start showing within a month if you’re working out consistently.  After a couple months, though, you’ll start to plateau.  That’s because if we do the same thing over and over again, our bodies get used to it and stop responding.  This is especially true for weightlifting, but it applies to all exercise.  If you lift weights on your own, make sure you change up your routine every six weeks at a minimum.  Instead of only running as your cardio, work some cross-training in the mix.  This will not only help your progress, but it will also keep you interested in your workouts and prevent injury from over-training.  Personally, I like to mix up my weight-lifting using BodyPump classes, DVDs, and doing my own thing in the weight room.  I also have a variety of cardio exercising I like, like running, swimming, cycling, taking classes at the gym, and doing cardio circuits.  It really helps prevent burnout when you have another workout you can do when the one on your schedule sounds miserable.

10.  Drink coconut water! My whole life, I’ve had really bad issues with cramping.  You know what’s not fun?  When your toes cramp up when you’re wearing pointe shoes.  Even after workouts that aren’t particularly strenuous, like a three mile run, I can develop really painful cramps in my legs and feet.  A couple months ago, when after a boot camp class I got a Charlie horse so bad that I couldn’t stand up (much less drive home from the gym) for 20 minutes, I decided I needed to take control of this problem.  Based on my research, the problem could be caused by dehydration, potassium deficiency, or a need to replenish electrolytes.  I drink a lot of water, so I figured it wasn’t dehydration.  I also eat two bananas a day, so I doubt it’s my potassium.  That left my electrolytes.  Adding a little salt to my water wasn’t working (and it was gross).  I could drink Gatorade, but I didn’t want to take in all the sugar when I wasn’t burning enough calories during my workout to counteract it, and my stomach can’t handle artificial sweeteners so G2 was out.  Once I tried coconut water, I was sold, and I haven’t cramped up since!  This stuff is yummy, low-calorie, and really works.  As an added bonus, it’s a pretty great hangover cure, too.  I buy mine in bulk from Costco to cut cost, and save them for after particularly sweaty workouts.  I’ve also seen them at the grocery store in re-sealable larger bottles, so drinking half and then saving the rest of a different workout is a good option, too.

On Monday, I turned 25.  I think it’s a good age.  It feels older and somewhat accomplished.  A quarter of a century.  I’m officially in my “mid-twenties”, but I also have a long life ahead of me.  It’s old enough to have experienced some pretty substantial things and learned a lot, but it’s also young enough to still have a wealth of opportunities in front of me.

Turning 25 has caused me to reflect a lot on some of the lessons I’ve learned over the years.  There are a lot of them, although I have a feeling that one day I’ll look back on this point of my life and marvel at how naïve I was, just as I do when I reminisce now.  That being said, I believe  there are lessons to be learned in everything we do, in all the mistakes we make, and I’d like to share some of the things I’ve learned with you.  Since this is primarily a health blog, and that is what my readers are here for (hi mom!), that is what I’ll focus on in this series.

I am not a health professional (duh..), but I have spent over half my life trying to lose weight and improve my fitness.  I’m an eager researcher and learner, and have at some point in my life tried every popular diet out there, have read countless books on weight loss and nutrition, and have at some point or another had a subscription to every popular fitness magazine there is.  There are no citations here; this is all just conjured from my memory.  If you want more information on anything, feel free to reach out in the comments.  Based on everything I’ve learned, and everything I’ve tried, these are the 25 health lessons that have served me well.

1.  There is no one size fits all answer to weight loss. Wouldn’t it be easy if we all knew exactly what to do to lose weight?  Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.  We’re all individuals.  What works for one person may not work for another.  Plus, nothing will work if you can’t stick to it.  You have to chose something that your body responds to that you can maintain for a long time.  Even if it works, if you feel deprived and end up splurging too often, you won’t lose weight.  Choose something that fits your lifestyle and specific needs.  Generally, a low-calorie diet consisting of foods that only came from the ground or a mother, combined with regular exercise, will work for most people.  However, where the majority of your calories come from will differ from person to person and our bodies will respond differently to various forms of exercise.  My husband and I are very good examples of this theory.  Pete stays in shape by eating a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, and looks great.  I, however, respond better when I eat a minimal amount of animal products, and eat mainly vegetables/vegetable proteins and healthy fats.

2.  Eat your vegetables. There are many, many different diets and nutritional theories out there.  Out of the ones that are respected by the educated nutritional community, they all have at least one thing in common: they include lots of vegetables.  When I’m eating enough vegetables I not only feel and look better, but it’s much easier to stick to my diet.  Vegetables are great because they have tons of nutrients, have a lot of filling fiber, and are practically calorie-free.  As long as you make sure you eat a full serving of vegetables with every meal, you will naturally eat less of everything else.  This one small change will make a huge difference.  I always keep a few steam-in-the-bag frozen vegetable packs in the freezer to beef up leftovers and take-out.  I also try to include them into my cheat meals (on pizza, in mac-and-cheese, etc).  If nothing else, it keeps the meal from just being empty calories.  There are a multitude of ways to sneak vegetables into your diet if you don’t like them raw or steamed.  Try roasting them (my vegetable-hating husband loves roasted broccoli).  Add them to soups, chili, and pasta-sauce.  Try them with different dips.  Mix spinach into your morning smoothie (I promise you can’t taste it!).  Vegetables can be way more exciting than just in salad form.

3.  Take a multi-vitamin. Even if you are eating lots of fruits and vegetables, you still may be missing some important nutrients in your diet, especially if you are cutting calories or exercising heavily.  Vitamins will not replace nutrients from food, but they will serve as a safe-guard to make sure you’re getting everything you need.  Take one with food to improve absorption of the nutrients.  Depending on your dietary regimen, you may need to take other vitamins in addition to your multi. Since I eat a mainly vegan diet, I also take vitamin D, calcium, and probiotic supplements.  When I’m training for a race, I take a glucosamine supplement to keep my joints healthy.  Whatever you decide to take, do not take all your vitamins at the same time as your multi.  You body can only handle so many additional nutrients at one time, so most of that will just be wasted if you take it all together.  Try taking them throughout the day.  I take my calcium supplement in the morning, my multi after lunch, and my vitamin D at night.  I leave my probiotics and glucosamine at work to take after snacks.  Yes, this means I don’t take them when I’m not in the office, but based on my own experience, I forget vitamins on weekends a lot anyway so I’m bound to take them more regularly this way.  On a more vain note, multi vitamins make your hair and nails look awesome.  Sure you want to pass it up now?

4.  You might not be eating enough calories. If you feel like you’re doing everything right, but the number on the scale won’t budge, your body could be in starvation mode.  That’s bad, not just because it’s keeping you from losing weight, but because your body also may be using muscle instead of fat for fuel!  Calculate how many calories you would need to eat per day to maintain your weight.  Now, take an assessment of how many calories you’re eating for one day.  You should be eating about 500 calories below your calculated number, including calories burned during exercise.  If the number is too much lower, you aren’t eating enough to both lose weight and maintain your muscle.  Unless you are extremely short/small boned, you definitely should not be eating below 1200 calories a day.

5.  Red wine is not good for you. Every now and then some new study will be released about the health benefits of some seemingly unhealthy food, like red wine, beer, dark chocolate, coffee, butter, etc.  Blanket statements like “coffee is good for runners” are misleading.  While I’m not trying to dispute the benefits of antioxidants, I am saying that you shouldn’t use that as an excuse to drink as much red wine as you want.  The benefits of a food don’t counteract the negative effects.  So, use discretion when eating these things.  A good way to apply this information?  How about, when you do cheat, eat these foods.  Sub out milk chocolate for dark.  Trade in your sugary cocktail for a glass of red wine.  I eat all of these foods (hell… I’m not sure what I’d do without my morning coffee…), but I don’t fool myself into thinking I’m eating something healthy.  Be honest with yourself, and treat these foods like you would any other indulgence so you don’t go overboard.

While I hate the meaning behind Columbus Day… I definitely enjoyed having the day off yesterday.  Not gonna lie.

Not that I did anything that exciting.  I slept in a bit, went to 9:30 AM BodyPump (which in and of itself was a luxury), went to Costco (I LOVE COSTCO), and then studied for the rest of the day until I went to class from 6:00-9:30.  Womp womp…

I’ll shut up.  It was still better than having to go to work.  Plus I got to make my favorite banana bread!

I got this recipe from an old issue of Clean Eating and make it every time my bananas start to go bad.  It is delicious yet so healthy.  Every time I make a loaf I eat it for breakfast, lunchtime dessert, AND evening dessert until it’s gone… and I don’t even feel bad about it!  1/12 of this loaf is 182 calories and full of good-for-you nutrients.  Plus it’s super easy to make.  Observe…

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

Lifted from the July 2011 Clean Eating Magazine

Serves 12.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed (I substituted wheat germ)
• Pinch of sea salt (I use kosher)
• 3 ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
• 2 egg whites
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup raw honey (I only had 1/4 cup left so I used half brown sugar- still worked great!)
• 1/4 cup flaxseed oil
• 1/3 cup chopped dark chocolate
• Olive oil cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, flaxseed, and salt.
2. In a large bowl, with a hand mixer, beat bananas until smooth.  Add egg whites and beat until combined.  Gradually mix in applesauce, honey, and flaxseed oil.
3. Mix dry ingredients into banana mixture; stir in chocolate.
4. Mist a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.  Pour batter into pan and bake for 25 minutes, or until browned on top. (I usually leave it in for 28-30 minutes.  25 minutes leaves the bread a little too under-cooked for my taste.)

This is especially delicious when eaten with ice cream, particularly when watching Biggest Loser for maximum irony.

Enjoy

The other night I was doing group work in class with a few full-time students. One commented on how tired she was since she had to be at her internship at 10 AM that morning and hadn’t been home since (it was an 8 PM class). I couldn’t help but scoff at this. That would have been sleeping in for me! I could tell she felt a little bad since she knows I work full time, which made me feel bad, too. Just because someone has it “worse” than you doesn’t mean your own situation doesn’t suck, too. So, I began to clarify…

“Well, you get used to it when your schedule is consistent. Plus, last year was a lot worse for me. There were days when I’d be out of the house at 5:30 AM to get to the gym before work, and not be back until after 11 that night!”

Her response:

“I’m surprised you made it to the gym!”

I wasn’t really sure how to respond to this. Whether or not I still worked out while in law school was never really a question for me. Granted, I couldn’t maintain the schedule I did before law school, working out six days a week, sometimes twice a day. That was a luxury I couldn’t afford anymore. However, I’ve been pretty consistent in making it to the gym at least four days a week since school started. My goal isn’t really to look hot anymore (although I wouldn’t hate it…), it’s to stay healthy. Regardless of what you want to look like, cardio keeps your heart healthy and weight training improves bone density. Everyone should fit some exercise into their routine, no matter what they look like or what their schedule is.

In short, running marathons and working out with a goal of looking my absolute best is optional, but maintaining a basic workout schedule is mandatory. This revelation made me think of other ways I’ve had to cut back since school started, and I realized that the things I did in my pre-law school life vs. in my current situation can be grouped into two basic categories: the “optional” and the “mandatory”. This accurately characterizes how I view balance. I’ve had to make a lot of choices over the past year and a half; there’s only so much I can fit into the day without going crazy. Deciding what is too important to let go of has helped me stay happy and balanced. Here are some examples of the mandatory vs. optional decisions I’ve made.

Optional: Getting straight A’s.
Mandatory: Getting grades I can be proud of.

I know I’m at a disadvantage to students who have lots of time during their day to study. I usually have to get all of my homework for the week done on the weekends (when I also have to do all the other errands/chores that I don’t have time for during the week). I’ve accepted that in curved grading, there will always be people who have more time to study and will keep me from the A. But, that doesn’t mean I can’t do well. I still work my hardest within my own time constraints, and for the most part get all of my reading done. I can’t tell you definitively what grade I want, but it usually depends on my situation at the time, and thus far, I’ve always been proud of my performance.

Optional: Making all my meals from scratch.
Mandatory: Choosing healthy convenience foods and keeping eating out to a minimum.

Gone are the days when I made everything from pizza dough to almond butter from scratch. I’ve come to rely on convenience foods a lot more than I used to. However, I try to buy lunch and dinner as rarely as possible so I don’t go broke, even if that means eating a frozen dinner every now and then. I still choose healthier options and eat a balanced diet, but well… you won’t see me roasting a whole chicken anytime soon.

Optional: Volunteering to stay late at work/come in on the weekends.
Mandatory: Getting my work done in a timely fashion and to the best of my abilities.

I am very fortunate that I have an employer who is so understanding of my situation. My bosses have always been ok with me adjusting my schedule for class or taking a few days off around exams. I’m very careful not to take advantage of that, so I make extra sure that I’m on top of things during the hours I am in the office.

Optional: Weekly happy hours and nights out.
Mandatory: Maintaining relationships with my husband, family, and good friends.

I’m definitely jealous when coworkers head to happy hour after work, when I have to head to class. I miss all that social time, but I value school more. However, school isn’t an excuse to ignore the people I love. I try to set aside a little time every day for Pete, and give a call to friends and family when I realize I’m falling out of touch.

Optional: Wearing a carefully chosen outfit, with perfect hair and make-up.
Mandatory: Looking competent and put together every day.

When I was in undergrad and pulled all-nighters, I would show up in class the next day unshowered, wearing sweats. Unfortunately, that doesn’t fly when you have to meet with customers and represent your organization. So, although I don’t have energy to straighten my hair every morning, I can at least take a few extra minutes to put on some basic make-up and throw my hair into a bun. And really, it doesn’t take any longer to put on slacks and a button-down than it does to pull on sweatpants and a t-shirt.

When you’re super busy, what becomes optional and what stays mandatory?

Now that triathlon training is over for the year, I’ve transitioned into a different workout routine with fitness rather than performance goals.  While training, I mostly let weight lifting slide to focus on swimming/biking/running.  I feel like a hypocrite since I normally profess the virtues of strength training, and admonish my female friends who don’t lift weights because they’re afraid of getting “bulky”.  Strength training has made weight loss so much easier for me and has really helped my running, but I still put it on the back burner this summer.  Well, lo and behold, I’ve gone up a size since training started, despite the fact that I burned more calories than normal during my workouts.  So, until I start training for whatever major race I sign up for next, I’m going to make weight lifting the focus of my workout schedule.

Because my life is so hectic, I create a different workout schedule every week based on my personal schedule.  For those of you just tuning in, I work full time and go to law school at night.  This semester is easier than last semester, but still pretty time consuming.  Since I started my new job in July, my new hours are 7:30-5, with every other Friday off (the earlier hours have made morning workouts less of an option).  Lucky me works a short walk from my apartment, so I don’t deal with commuting (except about an hour to class at night to deal with DC traffic).  My class hours are:

Monday:         6:00-9:20 PM
Tuesday:        OFF
Wednesday:    6:00-9:20 PM
Thursday:       8:00-9:50 PM

So, my prime time to work out is during my lunch breaks.  My apartment gym is pretty decent.  We have some good cardio machines (with TVs!), resistance machines, dumbbells, a cables machine, Pilates balls, Pilates mats, adjustable benches, and medicine balls.  With some planning (putting out my gym stuff and packing a lunch to bring back to the office with me ahead of time), I can head home, get in a decent 30 minute strength workout, and be back to the office all within my hour lunch break. So, in a normal week I’ll get in my strength workouts at noon, and then fit in some cardio after workon the weekends.  I also do most of my strength workouts as circuits to get my heart rate up.  With that in mind, this week’s planned workout schedule looks like this:

Monday:         Lower Body Workout (Noon)
Tuesday:         Sports Conditioning Class (6 PM)
Wednesday:   Upper Body Workout (Noon)
Thursday:       Lower Body Workout (Noon)/30 minutes cardio of choice (5 PM)
Friday:             Upper Body Workout/Core Workout (Whenever-it’s my day off)
Saturday or Sunday:   Run up to 60 minutes

Note: I’ve made a rule for myself that if I’m not training for a race, I don’t work out for more than 60 minutes a day, either combined or dispersed throughout.  That was a luxury I enjoyed before I started school, but now if I try that I just get burned out.  I also take at least one day off a week, but since I have to do all of my school work on the weekends that’s not really a “choice” I make.

My schedule is constantly changing, so I can’t stick to a consistent workout plan every week.  For instance, I’m going to Richmond for a wedding this weekend and will be staying with my parents, who don’t have a gym membership.  I’m aiming to go for a run one of those days, but won’t exactly know what I’ll be doing so I’m keeping my options open as to when it happens.  If it ends up happening neither day, NBD.  Working out six days a week is a goal, but if I don’t reach it, it’s usually for a good reason.  School/family/work are more important to me.  Anyway, my workout priority is to fit in two lower body and two upper body workouts per week, along with two core workouts- either on their own or incorporated into other workouts.  I know I need to keep doing cardio, but I just don’t have time to do both in equal amounts.  Last week was my first week back to intense strength training, and I was definitely sore.  I’m feeling better this week (so far, at least), and hope I start to see some results soon.  Just judging by what I’ve experienced before, the decreased amount of cardio should work in my favor, but if I see otherwise in a few weeks I’ll reevaluate.

On a different note, everybody enjoying football season?  I was, until my two teams (UVA and the Redskins) lost this week.  My cousin came to her first UVA football game with us this weekend, and it was a bummer that the boys didn’t put up a win for her!  At least my fantasy team is still doing well… Despite the loss, it was a fun day in Charlottesville.  Lots of Starr Hill beer and Mellow Mushroom pizza always make for a great day!