GO GO GO GO GO

Hello all!

I'm sitting here at the firm (back to the grind, finally), and since I have a couple of hours to spare while working hard at reception (hah), I figured I'd post something.

Recently I've been on a health and fitness kick, pun definitely intended. This isn't a I-want-to-be-skinny campaign, or a crash diet kind of thing. This is just that I want to lead a healthier life style and include smart eating with exercise EVERY day. It's been actually fairly successful so far, and I already feel so different. I don't need my caffeine in the morning any more (got hooked on that stuff in London - bad for you AND expensive), and I find that I rarely need my usual afternoon nap. I also generally feel better and my skin is behaving itself, which is a constant struggle for me. So, since you're obviously all so interested in every aspect of my life, let me tell you all what I've been doing.

For one, this all started in London. For those of you who have been there, or for those who have read some of my previous posts, food in London is less than awesome. It's usually very greasy or deep friend or coated in sugar and what not. And in my travels to Venice and Paris, all we ate were carbs on carbs on carbs on carbs which make you feel so bloated and full all the time. So, after about four weeks of eating like I constantly had the munchies, I decided enough was enough. Well, that, and my bank account was begging for less spending. So, I started to hit up fruit stands instead of the grocery store, where you can get pretty much any kind of fruit, be it apples, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, watermelon, or even pineapple, in various serving sizes for about a pound. It was an awesome deal.
I couldn't just eat fruit though, and I knew I needed my protein, so I also picked up some low fat greek yogurt to mix with my fruit in the mornings. That, along with a slice of whole wheat toast topped with peanut butter, was pretty much always my breakfast, and has stuck consistently with me as I've come back home. With the exception of today of course, I have no food in my apartment and forgot to pick up breakfast on my way to work, soooo I'm eating one of the bagels that was conveniently offered for free breakfast at the firm today. I am eating it slowly and will probably eat half of it for lunch too, if it's any consolation.
Lunch consists of pretty much anything I can find, but it's usually something like salad, soup, cottage cheese, etc. I've been staying away from sandwiches as of late not only because they're usually chock-full of carbs and sugars, depending on the kind of sandwich, but also because ALL THEY EAT IN LONDON ARE SANDWICHES and quite frankly, I am sick of them. Lunch is my cut off for carbs, and I try to stay away from them for the rest of the day. Dinner is usually the meal I'm more lenient on, simply because my family likes to go out to what we call "family dinners" at restaurants. With two full time working parents, having consistent meals at home is difficult, so we get our family time when we go out to eat. It can be difficult to stick to any sort of health regimen when you're hitting up Chancery or Olive Garden, but I find that most restaurants have some sort of "this is a healthy option" symbol (OG's is an olive leaf, I believe), so I usually opt for those kinds of things. I also try to have the waiter or waitress immediately box up half of my meal, so I'm less tempted to eat more than I need to.
As for snacks, protein is the way to go. Celery with peanut butter, almonds, any sort of fruit, and a hard boiled egg have been my go-to snacks as of late. They're great because they fill you up without the unnecessary calories and sugars, plus they help build muscle for your workouts.
Speaking of workouts...I do them. A lot. I have been working out consistently once a day for the past nine days. I know it doesn't seem like much, but this is coming from a girl who went from never working out, ever, to working out 2-3 times a week. What I do on each day varies, usually dependent on time and resources. For example, today, since I had to work 7:30AM-5:30PM and then I have plans tonight, I got up at 6 this morning and did a 20 minute workout, courtesy of Jillian Michaels. Her workouts are great because they really focus on being well-rounded, with 3 minutes of strength, 2 of cardio, and 1 of abs, repeated three times. And, while they may be short, they cover all bases and keep your heart rate up the whole time, which is rule number one for building lean muscle. I also have a hard time staying focused if I'm working out by myself, and something about having a bitchy woman "looking" at you and telling you what to do helps. They're all available on YouTube as well, so they're free! I eat breakfast after I do one of these, since they're only 20 minutes and easy to do without breakfast.
On days when I have access to a gym and ample time, I usually spend at least an hour there. I start off with interval training on the treadmill (30 seconds sprinting at 8+mph, 1 minute at 3.5-4mph, etc) for about a mile, and then run the second mile. Then go to the machinery, doing rows, benches, etc and generally working on my arms. Following those I go to one of the inverse ab bench things and do 100+ crunches there. After that, I go to the stair-master for five minutes, just to get my heart rate going again. That's followed by free weight arm work, more abs, legs (using ballet exercises), and finally finishing with planks. If I have time after I usually like to do one last mile of cardio. It usually takes me about an hour and a half to two hours, depending how many reps of each I feel up to. I've done this three times now, Saturday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and after each time I've felt better and stronger than the last. I always follow up my workouts with proteins, and depending on the time of day that could be anything from a salad to eggs to just a small bag of almonds, but it's important to eat after you work out since your body is still burning calories at a higher rate and you need to replenish your muscles after such a long work out. It's also important to eat before these kinds of workouts too, so I usually try to go mid morning once my breakfast has digested.
I've also been drinking a LOT of water and/or tea. The past week I've been using Jillian Michael's detox tea, which consists of one tablespoon of cranberry juice, two of lemon juice, and a dandelion root tea bag for every 60 oz. of distilled (or regular, as I'm too cheap to go buy distilled) water. I usually just make a gallon at a time and roughly double the recipe. The dandelion root cleanses your colon and digestive track. To be honest, it makes you have to go to the bathroom a LOT, but it keeps you feeling light throughout the day. I combine that with water to make sure I get my 8 glasses of water a day.
Now the most important thing -  I allow myself one "day off" a week. This isn't a day off from working out or a day off from eating healthy, it's more of a day where, if I want to go to say, BWW for my boneless Thursdays (cough, cough), I can without feeling guilty. There's no point in punishing yourself for hard work, so why not reward yourself with one of your favorite foods! \

All-in-all, this has left me feeling not only physically much stronger and more energized, but also much more alert, focused, and just generally feeling better about myself. The real test will be keeping this up as I start to work every day and especially once the semester starts, but I am up to the challenge. Hopefully this will help any of you who are looking to get in shape or just generally feeling lethargic and want a little pick-me-up for your LIFE. A bit extreme, yes, but awesome nonetheless.

Until next time!!

PS - Pinterest "Health and Fitness" has awesome inspiration to get into shape. Check it out!