Life Lessons: Reflections

Day 31 of the 100 Reps Challenge

We did it! Today is the last day of December and therefore the last day of the 100 Reps Challenge. The exercises I've chosen today are good for the core and whole body. As I've said before, I love abs, so I couldn't resist the knee tucks. Downward facing dog is a yoga/Pilates pose and that seems appropriate for this time of year because of the association with self-reflection and inner peace. Have fun!

20 stability ball knee tucks (do bicycle crunches, regular crunches, and reverse crunches if you don't have a stability ball)
20 downward facing dog

Complete this set 5 times for a total of 100 stability ball knee tucks and 100 downward facing dogs!

Fitness Tip: Go slow. You have all day to complete these exercises so really concentrate on taking your time and feeling your body working. Relax, breathe, and congratulate yourself for having made it through this challenge (doesn't matter if you did every day of the challenge, half of the days, or one day; moving and pushing yourself is definitely reason to be proud! And if you didn't do any of the challenge, then thanks for putting up with me and my challenge every day for the past month:)).

Happy New Years Eve!

There's a lot of talk about resolutions at this time of year. I think that I used to make resolutions years ago, but I haven't the faintest idea what they would have been about. Partway through high school I decided it made more sense to make resolutions in September rather than January because it's the start of the school year, so I did that for several years. One of the resolutions, I remember, was to be able to do the splits by the end of the year. That was, oh, four years ago? Still have yet to achieve that goal!

This year has been a lot about independence for me. Within a few days of the start of 2008 my heart got broken, so I spent the better half of the year trying to mend that and deal with the depression (and mild orthorexia) that came along with it. I began this blog and have learned more about health in the past year than I possibly ever did in all the rest of my years combined. I experimented with different kinds of fitness and improved my strength immensely and had a lot of fun cooking and baking. Then there was the traveling and moving out of my parents place and rediscovering my passion for writing. I certainly have had a lot of assistance and tons of support, but ultimately I found my way by doing things on my own and figuring out what I want.

While I was belly dancing and enjoying boot camp and taking up fitness challenges and overcoming the orthorexia and going through life in general, I was always working towards goals. I'd decide I wanted to do something and then somehow would find myself following through with it. I've always thought of myself as the kind of person who would say they're going to do something, but then wouldn't bother to do it. But after looking back over this year, I think that my problem in past years has been that the things I would say that I would do were things that other people wanted me to do, or things I thought I should do, or things that I only half-heartedly wanted to do.

This year was different because of all that self-growth and other cliche things we're all supposed to go through when we've been around for a couple decades (and which we actually do go through- there's a reason that they're cliches, after all). I have been listening to more of what all of me wants and from that have been able to find something like a direction, and from there, have made my little goals and resolutions.

It's for that reason that I do not make resolutions at New Years. Some of us need monumental occassions to get a jump-start on our goals; others of us find them too intimidating or obligatory and don't follow through with the goals because of that. I'm one of the latter. I think that if I were to make a resolution at New Years, it would only be because I'm supposed to make a resolution, because its expected. I'd only be making a resolution for the sake of making a resolution, rather than making a resolution for the resolution itself.

Throughout the year I am confident that I'll make lots more mini resolutions and goals, and that's what works for me. I'll be making them because I'm ready to make them and follow through and because I really want to do them.

What about you? Do you make resolutions? If you do, do you usually stick with them? What are your resolutions this year? And if you don't make them, is there any reason for it? I'm curious about your thoughts on this. Enjoy the last day of 2008- here's to another year passing and a wonderful year unfolding before us!

Day 30 of the 100 Reps Challenge

20 stability ball reverse extensions (if you don't have a stability ball, try using a bench or chair instead)
20 standing dumbbell shrugs

Do this set 5 times for a total of 100 stability ball reverse extensions and 100 standing dumbbell shrugs!

Fitness Tip: Stretching every day is great for energizing and limbering up the body- do some shoulder shrugs (with or without the dumbbells), reach down and touch your toes, and stretch your arms high over your head while standing on your tiptoes. It's rejuvenating!

Juliet mentioned yesterday that she doesn't know how to do jumping lunges, and I realize that my explanation of them was an especially poor one. I'd do an exercise video of it for you all, but I attempted that once and it was just sillyridiculousbad, so I'll spare you that. However! I did manage to find this excellent video (thank you, YouTube!), so if you're confused by the jumping lunges, just check out the link and you'll see a very good demonstration of them. Enjoy.

Life Lessons: Feel Good

Day 29 of the 100 Reps Challenge

20 jumping lunges (20 for each side): sink down into a lunge, then jump up and switch leg positions. If you start with the right leg forward and bent, left leg stretched back, then when you jump your left leg should land in the front at a 90 degree angle with the right leg stretched back.
20 overhead presses with twist: hold dumbbells at shoulder height, palms facing shoulders. As you press up and lift them over your head, twist your hands so that your palms are facing away from you.

Do this set 5 times for 100 jumping lunges and 100 overhead presses with twist!

Fitness Tip: Use a lot of power in those jumping lunges but maintain control the whole time. You might need to pause between each lunge to correct form and regain balance.

Remembering the Past (and A Clumsy Little Christmas)



Among an array of many fantastic Christmas gifts, I received a rather special recipe book from my mum. It is her mum's recipe book from 1952, complete with newspaper clippings and handwritten notes. We've talked about the recipe book before but hadn't seen it in years; we just figured it was somewhere in the storage unit from having moved from house to condo a couple years ago. Her mum died when I was very young and the only real memory I have of her is of her standing at the door with a plate of her amazing peanut butter cookies. And smiling. Having this book passed down to me unexpectedly was so precious that I broke down and started crying when I realized just what it was. It's such a treasure.



I have since been looking in the book and I've found two peanut butter cookie recipes; one is for regular cookies but the oven temperature and time is omitted, and the other is for molasses peanut butter cookies. I think I'll wait a while before I make these cookies, seeing as we've still got huge mounds of other kinds, but I am so looking forward to trying her recipes.

Aside from those tears, Christmas came and went mostly without a hitch. Although there was one moment when I was moving the 3-plate cookie stand from one table to another and about 2 seconds after I was warned to "be careful, those plates are really slippery", somehow I managed to let every single one of those plates slide right off the stand to come crashing down all over the table, chairs, walls, and floor. There were cookies everywhere! Butter tarts are amazingly resilient; those things are as strong as a Nalgene bottle.

Luckily my clumsiness did not result in any broken plates (just some broken cookies), and it was nothing that a broom and dustpan couldn't sweep up. I opted to not hold my baby cousins after that, just to be safe, and managed to pawn off the plate of cheesecake and apple pie for the sister to carry- better not to trust these butterfingers of mine!

Know your body

Although I have yet to get on the river and go skating this year, yesterday I found myself out jogging for the first time in a long time. I have discovered that one of the best ways to fit in exercise is to not think about it and just do it. Rather than let myself think about how bored I get from running and my dislike for it, I was putting my running shoes on and locking the door behind me before I even knew quite what I was doing.

Similar to breaking down large chunks of something (say, for example, 100 reps of an exercise) into more manageable amounts (sets of 20 or 25 reps), when we listen to our bodies and let them do the work for us, it's amazing how much sheer strength and endurance we have! Sometimes its good to let your brain shut down or get distracted and have your body take over.

Don't think, don't dread, just do it! It feels good.

Day 28 of the 100 Reps Challenge

We're putting the stability ball and dumbbells away for today; let's work with our body weight!

25 mountain climbers (25 for each leg)
25 side planks (25 for each side): hold for 20-60 seconds

Do this set four times for a total of 100 mountain climbers and 100 side planks.

Fitness Tip: Move your legs quickly with the mountain climbers to get your heart rate up. Try to hold the side plank until exhaustion hits- push yourself to the limit!

Day 27 of the 100 Reps Challenge

20 bent over dumbbell rows (20 for each side)
20 stability ball hamstring curls

Do this set 5 times for a total of 100 bent over dumbbell rows and 100 stability ball hamstring curls!

Fitness Tip: Don't have a stability ball? Just do hamstring curls in a standing position, one leg at a time. Move quickly in a jumping motion to get the most out of this exercise if you are doing it without the stability ball. With the bent over dumbbell rows, lower the weights at the same slow speed in which you lifted them; you use slightly different muscles in raising and lowering the weights and you want to make sure that all of them are getting worked!

Day 26 of the 100 Reps Challenge

Looks as though its going to be a beautiful day out today so it's definitely walking weather! Also am dying for some cardio and a chance to move after the wonderfully relaxing and food-filled day that was yesterday. If you care to join me...

100 passe
100 minutes walking

No, you don't have to do all the passes in a row, nor all of that walking, but over the course of the day it shouldn't be too tricky! Feel like some different cardio? Skating or running or dancing? Perhaps a combination of a few different activities? Let me know what you will be doing today!

Fitness Tip: Wear good shoes out there! Warm boots with solid soles and good traction is essential in the winter for maintaining balance. Pump those arms for some extra calorie burn and to stay warm (and also to provide some entertainment for the people that pass you. Throw in a few lunges at random to really make their day).

Merry Christmas!

Have a wonderful day and enjoy the social gatherings! This year I'm especially grateful for the people in my life because my dad is unable to be with us this holiday season- he's in Cambodia saving the world with the United Nations:) There's a lot of other people I would love to see as well today but am unable to for one reason or another, so I am simply thankful that I do know them and that I am getting to spend time with part of my fantastic family today. The holidays are a time for thinking about and appreciating all the people in our lives, be they near or far (and blogging buddies, major hugs and much love to you all, too!).

I'm all for 100 of any combination of hugs/laughter/kisses/love/smiles/gratitude/good spirits, but if you feel like a little bit of exercise then here you go:

Day 25 of the 100 Reps Challenge

25 push ups
25 frogs

Do this set 4 times for a total of 100 push ups and 100 frogs!

Fitness Tip: Have lots of fun today in everything that you do. Laugh lots- its healthy for you (and it'll strengthen up those abs too)!

T'was the day before Christmas...

...and Sagan still didn't have all her presents wrapped. Anyone else work better under pressure too?

Actually, I can't wrap presents. (There seems to be a trend here with my domestic difficulties... can't cook, can't bake, can't wrap presents...). All of my presents for people wind up in bags or boxes so that I can avoid the disastrous results of wrapping. Not for lack of trying, of course- much wrapping paper and tissue paper has been damaged beyond repair in my efforts to swaddle my gifts in the stuff. Alas, my hand-eye coordination is hopeless, paper gets ripped, tape winds up sticking to all my clothes, and I disappear under a pile of bows and ribbons in the madness that is the few days before Christmas.

Whoever invented the gift bag is my hero. And Squawkfox is too- thank you for your fantastic ideas of how to wrap gifts!

Speaking of domestic difficulties and being unable to cook (soon there will be a book. I shall call it Sagan's Kitchen Misadventures: How Not to Cook. Or perhaps (Don't) Cook with Sagan. Look for it cross-listed under "Cooking Reference" and the "Horror" section in bookstores), yesterday I learned how (not) to make sushi!

I have wanted to make my own sushi for a long time now, so when I found out that my friend has the equipment to make sushi and has made it before, I dug out my sake set and we got together to drink sake and make sushi. Unfortunately I only have brown rice, which is a problem when you're trying to make sushi. However, I succeeded in cooking the rice beautifully (I'm not even being sarcastic there; successfully cooking rice really is a huge accomplishment for me. (Don't) Cook with Sagan indeed. Go find Jamie).

I burned the seaweed in the process of toasting it. Only a little, though. Then we forgot to add the rice vinegar mixture onto the rice in my first roll, oops. That roll fell apart. But it was still fairly tasty with smoked salmon, green pepper, cucumber, and asparagus. I'd bought an avocado too, but when we cut it open it wasn't ripe at all (ever sliced right through the pit? That's a sure sign your avocado is not ready to be eaten).

My friend forgot that the rice vinegar mixture was on the stove and it got weirdly frothy, and then when he added it to the next roll he didn't add quite enough for it to be sticky but even so it was rather too sweet (might have been because we lost count of how many tablespoons of sugar we added- "was that 3 or 4? Oh whatever, dump some more in there, and pass me the sake while you're at it!").

Our last attempt was the best one yet but it still fell apart a little and once more was a bit too sweet. By then we had run out of rice so our adventures had to stop there. But it was fun and entertaining, even if it did not exactly go as planned. And nothing even got set on fire. A good experience all around!

Day 24 of the 100 Reps Challenge

There are a number of challenges to attend to the day before Christmas- cleaning the house, preparing food, trying to figure out how to answer this month's poll, finishing up present-wrapping/bagging/boxing, scrubbing the pot that you made the rice vinegar-sugar-salt mixture in for sushi, and so on and so forth. But the fitness challenges are not to be neglected! Take a couple minutes out of your day to complete this little sequence:

25 lying external rotators (for each side)
25 back leg raises (for each side)

Do this set 4 times for a quick 100 lying external rotators and 100 back leg raises!

Fitness Tip: Keep your body aligned for the lying external rotators and move slowly to control the movement. Form is more important than pumping out 25 in a row! If you need a break, take a break. For the back leg raises, be aware of your posture and stand up as straight as possible; with shoulders relaxed and abs contracted, it will be much easier to keep your balance and carry out the exercise correctly.

Day 23 of the 100 Reps Challenge

25 squat chops (25 for each side)
25 rock the boats

You know that you just are dying to do these exercises because of the names alone.

Complete this set 4 times for a total of 100 squat chops and 100 rock the boats!

Fitness Tip: Focus on your breathing for the rock the boat move especially. It will help you to stay in control and keep your core activated.

Don't forget to answer yesterday's poll!

Poll: Appearances vs. Health

Day 22 of the 100 Reps Challenge

25 calf raises with bicep curls
25 jumping jacks

Do this set 4 times to complete 100 calf raises with 100 bicep curls, plus 100 jumping jacks!

Fitness Tip: Switch up the bicep curls with hammer curls to engage different muscles in the arms. With the jumping jacks, bring your legs out as far as they can go and try to touch your hands together over your head for maximum effect.

Last month's poll

It's been nearly a month since our last poll and the results are once again in! We had three questions regarding health inspections:

1. 87% of us believe that health inspections are under-played in the media and should receive more attention, but 12% don't want to know what's going on in those restaurant kitchens (33 total voters)
2. 39% weren't aware that health inspection information was even available to the public, 35% supposed it was out there but didn't bother to look for it, and 25% were fully aware that the information is out there and check into restaurant inspections before going! (28 total voters)
3. 34% say that the restaurant review is the most important part about choosing a restaurant, 7% say that the health inspection is their priority, 38% are concerned with both the review and the inspection, and 19% don't really care either way (26 total voters).

That seems like an awful lot of us who weren't aware that all of this information is available to us and can easily be found on the Internet, yet nearly all of us want to see the health inspections having more attention. But even though we want to see that information, it won't necessarily sway our judgments and deter us from going to those restaurants that don't pass inspection. Bottom line, for the majority of us, it seems that we want to be aware, regardless of whether that information will have an affect on our decision in which restaurant we go to.

This month's poll

The holiday season, a time when we are surrounded by loved ones but also a stressful time of year in which we are likely to let our good exercise and eating habits slide, is when we really start thinking about what matters to us and why we do the things we do. Physical appearance is prized very highly in our society and it is something that we are all, I think, often working to improve- after all, why else would we spend so much money on the fashion and beauty industry?

This article shows where women's priorities in particular lie between our health and our looks. What drives us to make lifestyle changes? Is it to ward off cancer that we eat certain foods, or is it to hopefully clear up our skin? Do we exercise to make ourselves stronger and build up our immune systems, or do we do it to tone our trouble spots? Are we trying to lose weight to prevent health problems in the future or are we doing it in an attempt to achieve a supermodel body? And is there anything wrong with placing a certain value on our appearance- especially if it causes us to become healthier in the process?

I'd love to hear your thoughts on all this. Don't forget to answer the poll!

Day 21 of the 100 Reps Challenge

With my body shape I have an almost non-existent waist, so I love doing side crunches and side planks. They always make me feel as though they're defining my waist, and looking in the mirror I can usually see a difference from when I don't do them regularly. Besides eating right (that's code for healthywholenaturalreal food!), I've found that walking a lot and doing plenty of side crunches are the most effective way to tone, shape, and define the body. It's a simple formula and it's especially handy in the holiday season!

20 squat jumps
20 side crunches (20 for each side): lying on your right side, place your hands behind your head and keep your right leg bent, lying flat on the floor. Crunch at the waist, lifting your shoulder as well as your left leg off the ground. Do 20 on that side, then switch to do 20 on the other side.

Complete this set 5 times for a total of 100 squat jumps and 100 side crunches!

Fitness Tip: For the squat jumps, squat down as low as you can and then jump up by pressing through your heels. Jump as high as you can, and land back down with your feet flat on the ground in the same squat position, knees never going over your toes, back straight and abs contracted. Jump up again as soon as you are balanced and steady.

Day 20 of the 100 Reps Challenge

Last Saturday before Christmas! All done your shopping? I'm not. Eek. This little workout will hopefully receive some pre-holiday tension. Enjoy your weekend and the anticipation of the festivities! Also take the time to check out the 100 Best Natural Wellness Blogs- yours truly is very excited to be listed among them:)

25 punches (25 each side)
25 stability ball abdominal leg raises (if you don't have a stability ball, you can do regular leg raises instead)

Do this set 4 times for a total of 100 front punches and 100 abdominal leg raises!

Fitness Tip: Squat down as low as you can without letting your knees go past your toes when you're punching to work the legs. With the abdominal leg raises, it might be more comfortable to place your hands in the small of your back rather than stretched out to a T at your sides- do whatever works for you!

Resorting to Strange Exercise Patterns

Day 19 of the 100 Reps Challenge

20 deadlifts
20 knee lifts (that's 20 for each side)

Do this set 5 times for a total of 100 deadlifts and 100 knee lifts!

Fitness Tip: There are two ways to perform knee lifts: do them all in a slow and controlled movement to work the abs a little more by doing all the reps on one leg first before switching to the other leg, or alternate back and forth between each leg quickly to get the heart rate up for a cardio burst. Your choice!


Please someone somewhere make the cold go away

I'm a wimp. And I'm open about being a wimp, too; I don't mind admitting it. But even if you aren't a wimp, -40 is really really cold weather. A few days ago I was outside for 10 minutes, and when I came up to my apartment and saw my reflection in the door my first thought was, "I don't remember putting on white mascara this morning. Wait a minute, I don't even own white mascara. Holy crap that's frost on my eyelashes."

I hate the cold, like just about every other sane person. But what I hate even more about these freezing temperatures is that they are really obstructing my ability to go outside! I'm used to walking a couple hours each day; some days, even one hour of walking isn't enough. I get restless. Walking is my passion, my therapy, my favorite form of exercise.

As bundled up as I can get with scarves and hats and gloves and mittens and long underwear and boots and tons of layers, the cold is just too much for me right now (see note above: I am a wimp). This is how I found myself at 11pm on Monday night popping the 30 Day Shred dvd into the dvd player and giving that workout my all.

I never exercise late at night. I imagine it would mess up my schedule among a host of other problems that could potentially occur. But I'm going crazy here. I couldn't imagine going to bed with so much energy in me struggling to get out! That's also why, on the days when its too cold for me to walk the hour it takes me to get to work, I'm now doing 1,000 jumping jacks to somewhat compensate. I've got to move my body somehow to release the tension and be able to relax. I could start going to the gym again, but unless I can drag someone off there with me, I have a feeling I'd get on a treadmill, run for a few minutes and then get bored of the machine. 100-200 jumping jacks here and there throughout the day prevents me from getting bored.

Another very unusual thing I've noticed is that I have begun waking up in the middle of the night, around 4am, being incredibly hungry. This makes absolutely no sense, because I am certainly eating plenty and not getting enough exercise. And my roommate/sister has said the same thing is happening to her! (We figure it means our bodies are telling us we need more fat on us to ward off the cold. Bring on the cookies).

All I want for Christmas this year is some reasonable weather! Is that so much to ask for?

What are your exercising patterns like? Have you found yourself exercising at unusual times because you're getting restless (or have you experimented with late-night exercising like this blogger)? This is also your opportunity to join in on complaining about the weather:)

PS Check out MizFit's post today- leave a comment on her post and she'll generously donate 10 cents (for each comment) to the domestic violence center Safeplace. Or leave 20 comments hehe. Every bit counts, people!

Day 18 of the 100 Reps Challenge

20 overhead triceps extensions (if you don't have a stability ball, you can also do these either sitting down in a chair or standing)
20 split lunges (do 20 for each side; again, if you don't have a stability ball, just use a chair or low bench)

Do this set 5 times for a total of 100 tricep extensions and 100 split lunges!

Fitness Tip: Keep your back straight to prevent it from arching as you do the overhead extensions. If you're using the ball, move slowly for the split lunges so you don't overbalance!

The Obsession with Food Escalates

Day 17 of the 100 Reps Challenge

20 chest flies (if you don't have a stability ball, just use a table or the floor instead)
20 cat-camels (this is also a great stretch to do anytime if you feel tension in your back)

Do this set 5 times for 100 chest flies and 100 cat-camels! And the answer is yes. Yes, I did choose cat-camels just because of the name.

Fitness Tip: Don't let your body sag if you are using a stability ball for the chest flies. Keep your back flat and level with your knees.

Of Eating Disorders and Children

I was shocked to open the paper the other day and see this article staring back at me: Doctors are seeing binging, purging in five-year-olds.

If a headline like that doesn't stop you in your tracks, I don't know what will. The binging part doesn't come as a surprise to me; we are all well aware that children today, just as much as adults, are very inactive and munching their way through all the processed food that surrounds us. If it's on the shelf, I'm likely to wander over and start a munch-fest.

But it's the purging part that comes as a real shock. Mindless eating is second nature to most of us. Purging is a deliberate decision. You can shovel half a dozen cookies into your mouth without noticing. But getting rid of it? That's a conscious choice.

Purging is not an easy thing to do. I learned this lesson once a couple years ago when I was rather inebriated (okay, reeling drunk) at a bar, to the point that many people were getting alarmed (I would advise against trying to match your boyfriend drink for drink if you're a foot shorter than him. Just a suggestion). A friend took me to the bathroom and told me that I had to throw up because it was the only way I'd feel better and stop worrying people that I had gotten alcohol poisoning. She tried to explain to me how to make myself throw up, and it took the better part of half an hour before I finally was successful. My body was not pleased the next day.

Bottom line, you can't accidentally purge. And it seems as though it's something that you have to "learn". So how the hell are these kids having eating disorders at the age of 5? And who is teaching them this? This article gives all the more reason to develop good relationships ourselves with eating and body image so that we can pass that on to younger generations.

On the other hand, the other day I met someone involved in the ballet school in my city, and he informed me that very few of the dancers have eating disorders. Apparently the instructors are very concerned about their students getting proper nutrition and such. Thank goodness we are making progress in some places!

What's your take on all this? Surprised? Is there some hope that we can turn this situation around and create a more positive environment?

If you want to see more of my thoughts on the obsession our culture has with food and eating, check out my most recent Living Well column at The Uniter. Enjoy!

Day 16 of the 100 Reps Challenge

Only 2 weeks left before our challenge is complete! So exciting:-)

25 fire hydrants: knees and hands shoulder width apart, raise and lower one leg for all 25 reps before switching and doing the second leg for the same number of reps. You will feel this especially in your butt and thighs. Keep your back flat and move with control.
25 tuck crunches: adding a pelvic tilt works more muscles in the abdomen. Crunch upwards using your abs to pull you through the motion, and then return to the starting position with slow deliberation. Use your abs to move you throughout this entire exercise and make sure that you aren't just rocking back and forth with the momentum; that will undermine your workout!

Do this set 4 times for a total of 100 fire hydrants and 100 tuck crunches!

Fitness Tip: Make the fire hydrant that much more challenging by adding a kick when your leg is in the air- push out through your heel as you kick back.

Tips and Tricks for Staying On Track

Day 15 of the 100 Reps Challenge

20 dumbbell step-ups
20 dumbbell presses (if you don't have access to a stability ball, just use any bench or even the floor for this exercise)

Do this set 5 times all at once or spread it out during the day for a total of 100 dumbbell step-ups and 100 dumbbell presses!

Fitness Tip: When you lower your arms to the starting position for the dumbbell presses, keep them at a 90 degree angle and make sure that your elbows don't go past your shoulders.

Tips and Tricks to Stay Healthy

It is really cold outside. The cupboard is also packed full of nuts and bolts. And now that I'm on holidays and only working part time, every Tuesday and Thursday I am at home all day by myself. This is dangerous! A kitchen full of food and no obligation for me to get outside for some exercise? We're looking at a disaster just waiting to happen right there.

So that's why I've been taking measures to ensure I don't fall off track, which have manifested themselves into a nice little list of useful tips and tricks. Figured I might share them with you just in case there's something new here for you, and if you have anything to add, please leave a comment! We can all benefit.

- turn the kitchen light off. Don't even go in there!
- clean: dust, vacuum, tidy the living room, get rid of the recycling, make your bed, wash the bathroom mirror, do the dishes or laundry; just do anything to keep your hands occupied and mind comfortably busy. You get to be productive, get in some exercise, and distract yourself from mindless munching all at the same time!
- brush your teeth. Food tastes a lot worse when you're all minty.
- put on some bouncy music to make you move and dance.
- write. MizFit mentioned the "Manuscript Many" (the equivalent of the Freshman 15), but I find that writing actually distracts me from food. I lose track of time when I write.
- sew/knit/insert other hobby here
- drink water or tea
- read blogs (I'm serious. Maybe avoid the food blogs though;)).
- primp. Applying makeup, shaving legs, and putting on jewelry can take up a surprisingly long amount of time. And when you look really good, it's not much incentive to then go and stuff your body with unhealthy food. If months have gone by since your last hair cut (crap when did I become a brunette?), then go get that done!
- take a photo of everything you eat when no one else is around
- do an exercise dvd or complete your 100 reps challenge!
- remember that list of things that you were so happy you'd be able to do once you had some time? Cross some of those things off your list (by which I mean, actually do them- don't just erase them for the fun of it).
- perform step-ups while reading a book or do strength training exercises while watching tv. Be prepared to get weird looks from your roommate for this one. Try not to walk into a wall while reading the book and doing the step-ups
- decorate for the holidays!
- cook something. Maybe a healthy food so you won't overload on sugar or something. Or you can just burn the entire batch of cookies like I did yesterday. That's also a great way to prevent you from gobbling them all up (there goes my contribution to the potluck...)

Ideas? Suggestions? Leave them in the comments!

Day 14 of the 100 Reps Challenge

Remember that during this challenge, on any day you can decide to break these exercises down into smaller sets. Keeping good form is essential here so if you find that you are able to do 10 of the reps with good form but your form starts to weaken after that, then do them in sets of 10 instead of 20. Likewise, if you happen to be particularly strong with certain muscles, feel free to modify the exercise and do more reps all in a row if you are up for it! This challenge is a great learning experience for understanding our strengths and weaknesses and improving upon that.

20 leg raises (not to be confused with yesterday's side leg raises- these ones target the abs)
20 burpees (jump in the air between each burpee to get that heart rate up)

Do this set 5 times all at once or spread across the course of the day for a total of 100 leg raises and 100 burpees!

Fitness Tip: When you get into the push up position in the burpee, do a push up before jumping back up to starting position. Work your body just that little bit extra to feel it that much more and really push yourself to your limits. You are strong and absolutely capable of adding in the push up!

Day 13 of the 100 Reps Challenge

How we all doing? Another week completed! Moving right along with a focus on arms and legs today:

20 tricep dips (for the advanced: you can also do these with your legs elevated)
20 side leg raises (20 on each side)

Do this set 5 times, all at once or spread across the day, for a total of 100 tricep dips and 100 side leg raises!

Fitness Tip: Try doing the tricep dips with only your heels touching the ground rather than having the feet flat for a slightly more challenging workout- this is a good segue between the regular tricep dip and the tricep dip with legs elevated. And for all forms of tricep dips, don't let your shoulders hunch as you lower your body; keep them away from your ears!

Life Lessons: Understand what you are getting yourself into

Day 12 of the 100 Reps Challenge

- 25 goblet squats (regular squat but holding a dumbbell in both hands at chest height)
- 25 crunches

Do this set 4 times (all at once or spread across the day) for a total of 100 goblet squats and 100 crunches! Mix up the crunches each time: do regular crunches, reverse crunches, crunches using the stability ball, and bicycle crunches.

Fitness Tip: When doing the squats, don't let your knees go over your toes, and keep your back straight! Stay as upright as possible; move slowly until you get the technique right and watch yourself in a mirror to confirm that you are performing the correct technique.

Hair Removal

Let's face it, it's something we all have to deal with (even if there seems to be a woeful lack of information about the subject out there), and depending on what form you use, it can be a painful process. More than that, the form that we choose can also affect the health of our bodies, as the professional sugarer (I have no idea what they are really called) who I see regularly tells me enthusiastically every time I see her.

Plucking and shaving are easily the most often-used, usually because of ease and convenience. It's something that can be done at home without the bother and expense of booking an appointment at a spa. They are also two of the safest options in regards to how good they are for the body; as long as you are plucking and shaving in the right direction, you can prevent any redness, and remove the hair with little pain or harm to your skin.

But there are other options too; everything from sugaring, waxing, laser removal, electrolysis, and threading, among I'm sure a number of others that scare me too much to want to pay attention to. Waxing is a fairly common process, but it is not nearly as gentle on the skin as sugaring is. If you have the option of sugaring over waxing, choose the sugar! If I've got to have the hair ripped off my body anyways, I'd rather have it done by something like sugar rather than wax. Sugar just sounds nicer, and to be honest, it feels way better.

Although laser hair removal seems to be promoted by a lot of experts (of which I most certainly am not), the idea of it isn't something which I would think of as being particularly healthy. Any time a laser is being put near my body, I'm going to be mildly concerned. But electrolysis is even more frightening; the process sounds similar to being electrocuted. I'll pass on that one.

Personally I have only experienced four basic kinds of hair removal: plucking, shaving, waxing, and sugaring. And it's surprising that I've even gone through all of those, considering my somewhat traumatizing experiences (ah, this explains why laser and electrolysis freaks me out..):

The first time I ever decided it was necessary to start plucking my eyebrows was in junior high. My friends all had their eyebrows plucked, all the magazines I was reading gave tips about how to pluck eyebrows, and it was time for me to jump on the bandwagon. But at this point I didn't even know how to apply makeup, so using tweezers would have been like handing me a power tool now (or operating any kind of kitchen appliance. Bottom line, it's a dangerous idea to let me play with those things). My friends kindly agreed to shape my eyebrows for me.

Thus, I found myself lying down on the hotel bed on our band trip (clearly I was a wild child), surrounded by six of my nearest and dearest friends, 2 of them armed with tweezers as the rest of them crowded around to give advice. It was as painful as getting my ears pierced had been, but it carried on for a very long time, and was punctuated with casually cheerful remarks such as "hm, that hair seems to be on your eyelid, don't blink!".

And so it resulted that by the end of the trip I proudly returned home with my eyebrows plucked (although slightly uneven). Naturally, the experience had been too painful for me to keep up with, so several months (okay, about a year) down the road I found myself with an appointment booked to get my eyebrows "done" by a professional. Key word here being "done"; how my eyebrows would be "done" was not specified.

The professional who did it was very sweet, chatting as she put some kind of warm creamy substance on my eyebrows- I thought it was maybe a moisturizing cream- and then without warning she ripped off much of my eyebrows with hot wax. I gotta be honest. I had thought she would be using tweezers to shape them. I had absolutely no idea that she would be using wax.

Needless to say, I have only ever tried using wax once since then, when I was in Costa Rica and thought it would be easier to use wax strips than a razor. It wasn't, the wax didn't work, and I had to wheedle a razor from my best friend. Later on when I started getting sugared regularly, I bought myself an at-home kit to try sugaring myself. I got as far as opening the box and reading the instructions. I've still got the kit, but have learned from experience that this is something I want to leave up to the experts (after, that is, they very thoroughly explain to me exactly what they are going to do).

Have you had any traumatizing experiences? Amusing anecdotes? Comments on your preferences or the health benefits of these different forms? You know where to leave them!

Day Eleven of the 100 Reps Challenge

Shoulder presses just about kill me, but they are fantastic for increasing strength! Definitely do some shoulder rolls between each exercise to relieve any tightness in the muscles.

20 shoulder presses
20 standing torso twists (stand with you feet hip width apart and twist your torso to one side, pause, return to the center, pause, and turn to the other side. Pause and return to center. This is one rep).

Complete this set 5 times for a total of 100 shoulder presses and 100 standing torso twists!

Fitness Tip: Maintain a good posture and keep your abs tight, feet hip width apart, knees slightly bent and shoulders square throughout this sequence. Perform the shoulder presses in front of a mirror to ensure that you have the technique right and are bringing your elbows just to shoulder height before pressing above your head.

Life Lessons: Food Photo Diary

Day Ten of the 100 Reps Challenge

wall squat: hold for 20-60 seconds (don't let your knees extend past your toes!)
20 superman's

Do this set 5 times for a total of 100 superman's and a long-ass time of sitting against the wall.

Fitness Tip: Stretching with yoga positions- try the child's pose and the cobra- before and after doing the superman will alleviate any pain you might feel if your body isn't used to moving in that way.

Experimental Food Photo Diary

There are a lot of bloggers out there who keep track of what they eat and photograph it every single day. Every single day! And these are quality drool-worthy photos, too. I have kept my own food diary multiple times over the past few years, but I no longer do it because the past couple times I started diligently writing everything down, I went overboard and became far too obsessive about it for my liking. So now I just don't do it.

That being said, the food-blogging-with-photos thing really intrigues me and I had never done it before, so I decided that I would give it a shot, just for one day, to see what the life of a food blogger is like. This is from Wednesday of last week:

7:30am 1 glass skim milk


11:00 am 1 mug of green tea


Oh who am I kidding. Over the course of the day, I drank virtually this entire thing by myself:


11:00 am 1 bowl oatmeal (1/3 cup oats, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 banana, lots of cinnamon)


12:30 pm 1 apple


2:00 pm 1/2 banana, 1 orange


4:00 pm 1 granola bar (one of the treats that I won in Kelly's giveaway!)


5:30 pm salad with spinach, cucumber, and carrots


7:45 pm 2 mini oranges!


8:15 pm cannelloni with healthed-up Caesar salad


...and then some more Caesar salad


8:45 pm chocolate PB2


So, what's it like to live a day in the life of a food blogger?

This day was interesting for me. I usually eat nearly twice as much as this (at the very least, normally I would have had 2 bowls of oatmeal and 2 bananas, as well as twice as much cannelloni, plus some fruit at breakfast), and there was a couple of important reasons as to why I ate so little:

1. I was sick all last week. Seems like everyone's been sick. Wednesday was the worst day of it for me, and it was completely unintentional that I happened to be carrying out this experiment at the same time. My throat was sore so I couldn't swallow all that easily, and my stomach wasn't very pleased every time I ate. So even though I was hungry, I wasn't particularly interested in eating because eating didn't make me feel good.
2. I was at work during the day and in the evening, so I always eat slightly less than usual on those 10-11 hour days (I don't like to come home at 8pm and have a big meal if I'm just going to fall asleep in a couple hours anyways)
3. I was lazy. I'd consider eating something, remember I had to take a photo of it, and decide I couldn't be bothered to snack.
4. I became incredibly aware of absolutely everything I was putting in my mouth and felt that if I ate my normal amount it would simply be too much. The normal amount I eat, is a lot of food for someone who's only 5 feet tall. And I felt a bit embarrassed when I thought about just how much I can pack away.

A food photo diary is not something I could keep up*. That's a lot of work! As well, I know that I'd get very obsessive. I'd start to feel shame or guilt, so I would probably choose to go hungry rather than eat. Or, alternatively, I'd over-eat and feel bad about it, and maybe even though I'd admit to it I wouldn't take a photo.

We all have different ways to keep ourselves on track and it seems as though food diaries can really work for a lot of people. And they would be very useful if you are just curious to know about your eating habits, or if you are looking for a way to stop yourself from grabbing a couple of almonds or a handful of cereal every time you walk in the kitchen.

I have been thinking a lot about the pros and cons of keeping a food diary, and yesterday I tried out a different experiment. I photographed all of the food that I ate when no one else was around. This way, I wasn't getting strange looks from people from taking photos of all the food I was eating, I wasn't forced to write down everything, and I also didn't need to measure portions. The condition was that when no one was around and I was eating, I had to take a photo of what I ate. The results? I didn't deprive myself by letting myself be hungry, and I didn't mindlessly munch. Taking a photo, even though I knew no one else would be seeing these photos, allowed me to be more aware of what I ate but also to be flexible in not being anxious about what others might think about my food choices. If you're struggling with deciding whether or not a food diary is right for you, I strongly recommend you try doing this! It's the perfect medium.

I have never had an outright eating disorder. But I do know the consequences of obsession with food and I have absolutely felt the effects of it before (the term "disordered eating" would fit perfectly in here for some of my past eating habits). For those of us who have mild cases of disordered eating (and most of us have a mild case of some kind of disorder!), I think that as long as we're aware of it we can control it and be able to be healthy without obsessing.

This post is fantastic and really sums up my own personal struggles with this issue, and I'm sure it speaks to just about anyone who has ever had "issues" with food or health. The difference between the physical and mental aspects. And I am so glad that I have figured out by this point that food diaries aren't for me, because this way I can avoid any such trigger. And just be.

*My food choices are, for one thing, too boring for people to want to read about/look at. Ditto with my photography skills. Especially when you look at some of those fantastic bowls of oats with the creamy peanut butter melting on top and sparkling pomegranate seeds sprinkled over it... dammit, just thinking about all those great food blogs makes me want to get a snack! :)

Day Nine of the 100 Reps Challenge

This is why I love The New York Times (well, this, too)*. Just because something is being touted as coming from a "healthier" restaurant, brand, or menu line, doesn't mean that it is healthy. Just look at Kashi cereal!

We are so easily tricked and fooled into thinking that things are much better than they are because they have this "health halo"- so the best thing we can do is become as informed as possible and be really aware of what we are eating. Rather than make assumptions, we need to take the initiative to inform ourselves.

Today's Challenge

10 push ups with rows (that's 10 each side)
10 crunches
20 leg swing/speed skaters: shift your weight from one leg to the next, swinging the opposite leg behind while using your arms for momentum (20 each side)

Do this set 5 times throughout the day or all at once to complete 50 push ups with rows, 50 crunches, and 100 leg swing/speed skaters!

Fitness Tip: Switch it up with different types of crunches for each set. Do regular crunches, bicycle crunches, and reverse crunches, or anything else that you can think of to make it more interesting and to target a variety of muscles. If you have a stability ball, feel free to make it even more challenging by using it to perform your crunches!

*Can't be bothered to click on the link? The first one is "Health Halo can Hide Calories" and is discussing how easily we're duped into thinking something is far better than it actually is because it has health claims stamped across it or because it has a reputation for being more nutritious. The second link, "Quest for the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie", will take you to an extensive history of the chocolate chip cookie, complete with baking tips and a recipe. Bet you're clicking on that link now!

Every day is a Skinny Jeans day!

Day Eight of the 100 Reps Challenge

For the trunk rotations, the suggestion is to use a medicine ball but because I don't have one I use an 8 lbs dumbbell and that works just fine as well. You can even use two to step it up a notch! With those side lunges, feel free to hold a dumbbell (or medicine ball) at chest height for added resistance.

20 Trunk Rotations (do 20 on each side)
20 Side lunges (do 20 on each side)

Repeat 5 times for a total of 100 trunk rotations and 100 side lunges!

Fitness Tip: Between each lunge, pause at the starting position to regain your balance and ensure that you are maintaining good posture throughout. Otherwise you might overbalance and fall over. Take my word for it.

Maintain that Healthy Weight

I have found that over the past couple months, I have become stronger and my weight on the scale hasn't changed, but my waist measurements have- by going up! I find this a strange sort of paradox. If I'm gaining strength, and muscle weighs more than fat, and the scale isn't budging, you'd think that my measurements wouldn't change either, right? At least, if they're going to go anywhere, they'd go down. Apparently not.

I don't have too much of an issue with the fact that my body fat must be increasing because right now my body image is doing pretty good, and it wasn't as though I was actively trying to lose inches anyways (even if the intention sure wasn't to gain!) But it does lead me to wonder, have these positive changes in my outlook been the cause of the higher waist measurements? The other day I sat down with a good body image book, and was so filled with a "ra ra let's love ourselves" moment that I proceeded to eat a large amount of popcorn and cookies because "I want to and I shouldn't feel as though I need to deprive myself to achieve a ridiculous societal ideal."

It reminded me of how in junior high and high school I "defied" social standards of perfection by indulging when I chose to prove that our ideals are stupid and that we need to have a good time. (Then a couple years later I shed a good 20 lbs of salted sunflower seeds, Aero bars, lemonade, and hot chocolate. Hm, perhaps that super positive outlook wasn't doing my body good after all?)

I think that this post is an interesting one. It suggests the possibility that waist-to-hip ratios aren't all they're cracked up to be. My math is pretty terrible, but every time I've ever calculated my own waist-to-hip ratio, it's been about 0.8. Everything I've ever read has suggested that this is the absolute highest a person should be; otherwise, they'll be at an increased risk of health problems. But at a 19-something BMI, with a respectable amount of muscle, I know that I'm at a healthy weight. It's just fact that I've got no hips and very little waist. Some of us happen to have boyish figures, that's all! So I was pleased to have found this over at Elastic Waist, as it really confirms what I think we can all agree with: most of those health tools- the scale, the BMI system, the waist-to-hip ratio etc- they all have their own inconsistencies and problems. The definition of a "healthy weight" is different for everyone. Having that coveted hourglass figure doesn't necessarily correlate to being at a healthy weight.

Anyway, waist measurements aside, I am buckling down and taking charge so that my healthy body image doesn't sabotage my healthy weight. It's time to pull out the skinny jeans and turn every day into a skinny jeans day. Those pants won't let me munch mindlessly because they, at least, are painfully aware when I get lazy, don't exercise enough, and am filling my belly with too much good food. To maintain a healthy weight, I really believe that clothes play a big part of it. If you are wearing clothes that are fitted, you are going to be more aware of your body. This has two very positive aspects: 1) the awareness of your body will lead to being more understanding of it, and thereby the comfort level between you and your body increases and your love and respect for it will increase; and 2) those clothes are going to be a wonderful signal to stop the mindless munching and do those 100 reps!

Besides all that, I look best in my skinny jeans. So why wouldn't I want to wear them every day?

Make every day a skinny jeans day. It feels damn good.

Have you also found a paradoxical correlation between body image and waist measurements? Got any other tips to maintain that weight in a similarly sneaky fashion of just changing the clothes you wear? Voice your thoughts!

Day Seven of the 100 Reps Challenge

We've completed the first week! How exciting is that? I've found it to be pretty challenging so far but easy enough to fit into my day, which is exactly what I was aiming for. How are you all finding it? Not difficult enough? Too difficult? Any exercises you want to see in the future? Just let me know and I'll try to accommodate.

The focus today is on shoulders and butt/hips. Look closely- the abduction and adduction are two different exercises. We did these all the time in our cool down at boot camp and they feel really great.

10 front raises
10 lateral raises
10 side lying hip abduction (10 for each side)
10 side lying hip adduction (10 for each side)

Repeat this set 5 times to complete 50 front raises, 50 lateral raises, 50 abductions and 50 adductions! 100 reps of shoulder exercise and 100 reps of butt/hip exercises. If you can do that entire set all in one go you're some kind of super hero.

Fitness Tip: If you aren't sure what weights to use, start with heavier ones and as the exercise goes on and you physically are unable to raise your arms, exchange the dumbbells for lighter ones. You will be surprised at how much energy is left in your reserves and how much easier the exercise will seem!

Day Six of the 100 Reps Challenge

Core workout with cardio bursts!

Plank: hold for 20-60 seconds
20 tuck jumps

Repeat 5 times to complete 100 tuck jumps and get in a good abs workout. Do it all together or spread it out over the course of the day.

Fitness Tip: For the more advanced, extend the opposite arm and leg while holding the plank position. Keep your arm and leg in the air for 10-20 seconds, and then switch to the other arm and leg. Remember to keep your back straight and tummy tight!

Product Review: Kashi High Fibre Flakes & Granola Cereal

Day Five of the 100 Reps Challenge

20 calf raises
20 tricep kickbacks

Repeat this set 5 times (your choice: do them all at once or spread them across the day) for a total of 100 calf raises and 100 tricep kickbacks!

Fitness Tip: Hold a dumbbell or two at chest height while performing the calf raises for a more advanced exercise.

This week I received this in the mail:

The giveaway I won from Kelly at Grounded Fitness! It includes 11 boxes of cereal/granola, 2 boxes granola bars, 1 box pancake mix, 1 box variety pack instant oatmeal, 13 assorted granola bars, and 1 cloth bag. It's all made with natural ingredients and real food, and these are organic products. Thank you Kelly! (You've probably already been there because we all know and love Kelly, but if you haven't already done so then be sure to go on over and check out this week's giveaway, everyone!)


Basically, we're not buying any groceries for the next month except for milk to go with the cereal. The dried fruit in the granola will ward off scurvy, right? Right?!

I am super excited about all of this and I will be doing lots of reviews on these products as I try them! Today I have another review for you, though, on a product that wasn't included in this care package. In regards to health I'm not super big on products such as cereal and bars etc, but taste is of course another matter entirely, and I do approve of the all-natural part of these products. Anyway, shortly before I received this package, a different cereal found its way into my pantry, so here's what I think of a cereal from a product line you have very likely heard of and know much more about than I do:

Product Review: Kashi High Fibre Flakes & Granola Cereal

I like the packaging of this cereal. The photo on the front is very appealing, showing a bunch of differently shaped grains with varying textures. The back of the box is very informative as it briefly describes each of the seven grains in the cereal, and a cute little haiku is included near the bottom of the box! "A breath of fresh air/For growth and new beginnings/Kashi is for life".

So much for the packaging, let's move onto nutritional information. Ingredients: Wheat bran, granola (whole grain oats, whole grain wheat, brown rice syrup, evaporated cane juice, crisp rice [rice flour, evaporated cane juice, malt extract, salt], evaporated cane juice syrup, expeller pressed canola oil, waxy maize starch, salt, honey, natural flavours, mixed tocopherols [natural vitamin E] added for freshness), evaporated cane juice syrup, yellow corn meal, con flour, seven grain and sesame flour (whole grain oats, hard red winter wheat, rye, brown rice, triticale, barley buckwheat, sesame seeds), corn bran, oat fibre, wheat bran, soy protein concentrate, expeller pressed canola oil, salt, natural flavours, annatto colour.

That is a long list. And although all of these are natural ingredients (although I'm uncertain about that last ingredient- colour? Usually that is not a good thing in any food product. I'll have to look into that one; if anyone has any knowledge about it please do inform us about this particular ingredient!), various forms of sugar is listed at least half a dozen times. That's a lot of added sugar! Granted, this is a cereal, and compared to other cereals, it's pretty decent. That being said, I view cereal as something of a treat. Eating cereal every day isn't what I would consider a particularly "healthy" thing to do. Healthier than many other options, yes. But not necessarily healthy.

The nutrition facts table shows 210 calories per cup (a little high), and 10g sugar (far too high), but also 7g fibre (very decent). The nutrition claims state "very high source of fibre" (check), "low fat" (not so impressive; cereal will be low fat unless there's lots of nuts in there), "low saturated fat" (see note for "low fat"), "trans fat free" (not very impressive at all- everything should be trans fat free), "low sodium" (check), source of 10 essential nutrients (half check- why not go all the way and try to be a good or excellent source of some of those nutrients?), "no artificial sweetener" (why do we need to use artificial sweeteners when there's so many other forms of sugar?). I think it's ridiculous the way you can now find fibre in just about any food product, but at least it makes sense to find it in a product like cereal. All grains offer different nutritional benefits, as well, so I do like the variety of grains in this product.

I might seem overly critical in my judgment right off the top, but that's because Kashi is always viewed as the angelic cousin in the grocery store. It seems to me that most people believe Kashi can do no wrong, so because I've heard so much about it I have high expectations. And from all the raving that Kashi gets from everyone (particularly as being a healthier choice), I do expect quite a lot from it, health-wise. So while I do agree that it's got some things going for it, and that it is better by leaps and bounds than most other cereals (including many which have misleading health claims), I still would be reluctant to call this a health food and would certainly not eat it as often as I eat fruit/vegetables/milk/oats etc.

On to the taste!

This cereal tastes fantastic. And it is also very filling. A small amount, mixed in with some plain yogurt and frozen berries, makes an incredibly filling and decently well-rounded breakfast. I also experimented with having a full serving size with milk, which also tastes good but would only be necessary if you're really hungry. Otherwise, a full bowlful is too much! I guess it's all that good fibre in there. This really is a granola, but in cereal form, and I like that. It's also incredibly crunchy and has very tasty clusters of oats (held together by all that honey, I suppose).

This cereal is expensive, but it tastes great and it contains all-natural ingredients*, so if I was having people over for breakfast I would get this again as a healthier option. I can also see getting this in the future for myself as a treat, because I really did enjoy it but I don't think I can justify it as a healthy option to have every day.

Have you tried this cereal? What is your opinion of it? And what do you think of the entire Kashi line- are their products healthy or healthier?

*will still have to check up on that annatto colour, though! I must point out that the box says "all-natural" as opposed to "all natural", which also gives me reason to be suspicious of this particular ingredient. "All-natural" implies it includes (but may not be limited to) natural ingredients, whereas "all natural" certainly would suggest encompassing all ingredients- that all of the ingredients are natural. Marketing can be a very sneaky thing!

Day Four of the 100 Reps Challenge

How was yesterday's challenge for all of you? I found it to be much more challenging than Day Two was! Much as I love what lunges can do for the body, they do not make the list of the top 10 exercises that I enjoy the most. They can be tough- and that's what we're after! The results are well worth the effort.

A difficulty that I knew I'd run into when starting this challenge is finding a way to convey what exercise I'm talking about. Some exercises have about a half a dozen different names, and others I have no idea if they even have a name. Most of the exercises I post about you will likely recognize, but might not know the name of, either. I also want to make sure that we all understand the correct way to perform them. So I looked around the Internet for examples of the exercises I want to use, and found this great website- I will likely be using it (among others) in the future to explain and demonstrate the exercises in our daily challenges.

The explanations might appear long-winded over at that particular website, but once you read them through you'll realize that the exercises themselves are very simple. So don't be intimidated!

Today's sequence:

25 glute bridges
25 bird-dogs (do 25 all on one side before switching and doing 25 on the next side- for example: 25 with right arm and left leg, then 25 with left arm and right leg).

Repeat this set 4 times to complete 100 glute bridges and 100 bird-dogs! Depending on your fitness level and how comfortable you feel with the exercise, do it all at once or spread it across the day.

Fitness Tip: For the bird-dog, when you bring the opposite arm and leg in after completing each rep, contract your abs to make it more challenging! Try to touch your elbow to your knee for the best effect.

Money fears are great for our health and the environment

Now that everyone is getting all worked up over the state of the economy, it seems as though we're much more willing to pay attention to things that we weren't concerned about before. For example, the costs of food waste. Really tells you where our priorities lie, doesn't it? Rather than cut back on portion sizes for health reasons, it takes a severe hit to the economy for us to start getting stingy about how much food we want to waste.

This article from the Washington Post states that somewhere between 30 and 50% of all food in the United States is wasted. This means that when people are eating all that delicious tasting processed chemicals masquerading as actual food, they toss much of it aside (well, do you blame them? Who wants to eat something that tastes artificial? I know that I throw that stuff out). Into the garbage all that precious "food" goes. Unfortunately we are now so accustomed to this kind of food that we can't recognize good taste when it's right in front of us, so we throw out real food, too. And on top of that, we have forgotten how much food we really need. So once our bellies are bloated beyond their capacity, all that extra food that we were sure we would need also gets chucked. And it costs the United States about $48 billion a year.

A head chef at one hotel reports that most of the food that was going to waste was from sauces and dressings. Remember, that's where a lot of hidden calories lurk in our food. Much of our food is already swimming in the stuff when it's served to us, and there's still a large amount of it going to waste? Boggling.

But there is hope! The same chef reduced portion sizes (for health matters? What's that? No no, this was for saving money. Obviously). He found that the consumers "weren't bothered by the switch", which I take to mean that they didn't actually notice. And he's managed to save on wasting food by 15-20% in this way.

At least having a bad economy is good for getting our act together to help both the environment and our health by cutting back on how much food we make and eat. Who says being cheap is a bad thing?

100 Reps Challenge

How are you all doing on our challenge so far? Yesterday I did the entire sequence in one go without any problems, which tells me that it wasn't quite challenging enough. If you find that you are able to easily complete all 100 reps without feeling too burnt out, try repeating the sequence and shoot for 200 reps instead! Maybe wait a little while before you do the whole thing all over again, though. We want to make sure that we're maintaining proper form throughout! I did the first 100 reps in the morning and in the evening I did the challenge all over again.

We're all at different levels of strength and we are all strong in different ways, so bear that in mind when you are trying to decide whether or not you are capable of another 100 reps later on in the day. The strongest part of my body is my core and for the challenges that work the core I will likely always do those twice, myself. But personally I can feel the burn after doing just 10 shoulder presses, so I can't see myself being eager to complete 200 of those in one day! Listen to your body to determine what strength level you're at and which muscles are your strongest and weakest to figure out each day if doing the challenge twice is something that would be appropriate for you.

Day Three

20 push ups
20 static lunges (for each leg)
Repeat 5 times for a total of 100 push ups and 100 static lunges! Do it all together at once or space it across the day; it's up to you.

Fitness Tip: Even if you have only ever done modified push ups, try doing push ups on your toes. Do at least the first couple of each set on your toes before dropping down to modified. Push ups on the toes work more of your entire core than the modified push ups, so you're going to get more out of your workout!

100 Reps Challenge: Day Two

We're looking at abs and a little cardio today, seeing as yesterday was mainly arms and legs. I'll try to make sure that the workouts will balance out so that we won't be doing 100 push ups one day and 100 shoulder presses the next- arms might turn to jelly if we do that! At least, if we do that this early on in the challenge...

Also would like to mention that most of these exercises are going to be either using your own body weight or else just needing dumbbells (use soup cans or similar if you don't have free weights), because
a) fancy equipment isn't something everyone has access to,
b) I am one of those people who doesn't have said fancy equipment, and
c) part of the point of this challenge is to show that we can become stronger and stay in shape no matter how little equipment, time, and space we've got!

Today's sequence:

25 regular crunches
25 jumping jacks
25 reverse crunches
25 jumping jacks
25 bicycle crunches
25 jumping jacks
25 full vertical crunches
25 jumping jacks

For a total of 100 crunches and 100 jumping jacks! Again, if you want to do them all at once or if you want to space them out across the day (I'd suggest breaking them into sets of 2 or 4), both are great. It's just to achieve 100 reps within that 24 hour period that we're aiming for.

Fitness Tip: Keep your abs tight throughout this entire sequence, while doing both the crunches as well as the jumping jacks. You will have better control and improve your form and posture if you contract your abs.

100 Reps Challenge

Boot camp finished the Friday before last for me- and this time (unlike back in the summer months, when I took my first hiatus from boot camp), I did not freak out. Instead I have been enjoying a week of doing virtually no exercise, which frankly is starting to get me a little tense. It's cold out so I don't want to spend much time outdoors walking, and the weather is the kind that is meant for curling up in bed or making baked goodies. That's the point of bulky winter clothes, right? So that we feel more comfortable about eating more and exercising less?

Hm. Not sure that I entirely like that idea. I didn't do two months straight of boot camp to now just let all of my hard-earned strength go to waste! So it's time to kick it up a notch and challenge myself.

Remember how I was doing the 20 pull ups challenge? Well, I got through week 3 no problem- 9 consecutive chin ups!- but then it was too tough to do both it as well as boot camp, so I decided to put it off until boot camp was done. The issue that I'm facing now is that I do my chin ups on the monkey bars at playgrounds, but it's a hell of a lot colder than it was before. It is also incredibly slippery. So at the moment the pull up challenge is on hold. Until the play structure gets less slippery/I man-up and deal with being cold for all of 10 minutes.

Anyways, if that's on hold and boot camp is over, what's a girl to do for the month of December? Begin a brand new fitness challenge, of course! I present to you...

The 100 Reps Challenge for the Month of December!

(please imagine confetti and streamers blossoming from your computer screen).

The idea has come from this website, which has circled a number of people's blogs over the past few months- I think I have mentioned it before, as well. Basic idea is, that you do 100 reps of any exercise over the course of the day. And for every day this December, we'll be doing 100 reps of a different exercise each day! Unless I run out of ideas for exercises. Some may be repeats.

Also, doing 100 reps of just one exercise can potentially be boring, and also might not be challenging enough- we're stronger than that, right? Right. So, most days we'll do a combination of a couple exercises (this way we can work several different muscle groups; for example, both arms and legs).

And now you're asking yourself, who is this "we" she speaks of? I am opening this challenge up for anyone else who wants to join in. I'll be posting for the month what exercise I'm doing each day and I would love it if other people are interested in participating! I welcome anyone and everyone to take up this challenge with me (especially because challenges are a lot more fun the more people that are involved). If you only want to do it a couple of days a week or if you modify the exercise that's absolutely fine too.

The reason that I've chosen this for the challenge is that it doesn't take that long to complete, it can be done anywhere, and if it's too tough to do all at once you can just do it throughout the day in sets. When you break down 100 reps into 4 or 5 parts, it's really not that difficult at all.

The point of this challenge is just to have fun and get a little bit of exercise in during this month- I imagine that most people will be so busy through the holidays that they won't be able to get to the gym or do a regular workout, so this is a nice way to just keep up with some exercising. Side effects of this challenge are that you may get stronger and realize just how capable you are when you put your mind to something, as well as potentially discover an increased motivation to exercise. I'll toast to that.

So, let's get to it! Let me know if you are going to partake in some or all of the challenge, and please do tell me if there's any exercises you'd like to be included! Suggestions would be fantastic.

Today's Challenge (Day One):
10 bicep curls, 10 hammer curls, 20 squats: repeat this sequence 5 times. You can do it all at once if you're especially hardcore or you can spread it out across the course of the day to complete 50 bicep curls, 50 hammer curls, and 100 squats for our first day of the challenge! I'm using 8lbs weights but you can use whatever feels best for you.

Fitness Tip: Check out some advice from a personal trainer about doing squats by going to Jay's site.