Movin’ On Up….

Greetings!

The time has come that I get my own domain, so, from here on out, all content will be posted at SheddingIt.com. WordPress, it’s been real, but it’s time we go our separate ways. Please update your bookmarks if you want to keep up!

There will be some other changes over the next few months, but I doubt you’ll even notice this one. It’s sort of like when you go to get your hair cut after a break-up and they take off 3/4 of an inch and you feel like a whole new woman. I’m rather excited about it, so head over there for all the goods!

Shed U: Vocab Lesson

Welcome back to Shed U! Today, it’s all about key words. These might not make you a spelling bee champ, but they are good to know….

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love making up new words and new definitions for old words. (“Stumblers” remains my all-time favorite.) This has made me a huge fan of Urban Dictionary. I first got into it sophomore year of college when I used it to explain to the white guy in my dorm why “skeet” is not an appropriate thing to shout in public on a regular basis. I’ve loved it ever since. I was browsing the other day and came across some goodies of the Shed variety. I took my favorites straight from the site. Get ready to make some index cards!

Gym: A holy temple to those who do not have a serious job and are not attending college. A gym usually has free weights, weight machines, benches, and a track or track machines for cardio workouts. Do not be one of the idiots who goes there just to bench press…that is a guido workout and will give you nothing but man boobs.

Workout: Any time a person, place, or thing beats the holy hell out of something.

Exercise: 1. (noun) Something you don’t do because you spend too much time on the Internet. 2.  (verb) To pleasure oneself. Ex: “I’m gonna go home and exercise my penis.”

Fit: The British version of “hot.” Ex: “That girl is fit!”

Muscle: Someone paid or in service to protect and/or do the physical hardships of another. Ex: “Joe’s got a hired muscle outside his bar.”

Steroids: A muscle-enhancing nut shrinker.

Meat head: Usually used when describing a male who frequents the gym obsessively and only is concerned with “getting big”, and who possesses little or no other qualities or personality. He is overenthusiastic about lifting weights and whose thoughts consist of athletics, blondes, and sports cars. Often unaware of the majority of the English language and often communicate with others by using phrases such as “bro”, “dude”, and “sweet”. The dead giveaway of a meathead is if their attire includes a sleeveless muscle shirt, athletic shorts, and a lanyard for their car keys.

Health: 1. the slowest possible rate at which one can die. 2. Word to describe an awesome person/action/situation. Ex: Dude 1: I slammed two bitches last night. Dude 2: Aww man that’s health!

Vegan: someone who slaughters and kills fruits and vegetables.

Granola: An adjective used to describe people who are environmentally aware, open-minded, left-wing, socially aware and active, queer or queer-positive, anti-oppressive/discriminatory (racial, sexual, gender, class, age, etc.) with an organic and natural emphasis on living. Synonym: Crunchy. “I need more crunchy guys in my life. I’m so tired of dating preppy metrosexual assholes.” Attractive female version: Earth muffin.

Fat: According to Hollywood, what you are if you are a female weighing over 100 pounds.

Camel Toe: When a woman’s pants are so tight the actually fabric comes into their vagina, creating the two-mounded image of a camel’s toe. Ex: “The old woman in my Zumba class always wears hot pink spandex pants that give her major camel toe!” Male version: Moose knuckle. Often seen in Spinning class.

Sweat: To like or adore. Ex: “You sweatin’ that guy so hard!”

Badonkadonk: An expression for an extremely curvaceous female behind. Women who possess this feature usually have a small waist that violently explodes into a round and juicy posterior.

Moobs: A combination of the words “man” and “boobs.” This is what happens when fat gathers in a male’s chest area, and gives him the appearance of having breasts. Usually seen in overweight males, but can strangely also occur in men who are not really overweight. Synonym: bitch tits.

Salad: An attractive-looking female that looks as if she is worth having sexual intercourse with. Ex: “She’s a salad, I’d hit it, no questions asked.”

Fruit: Someone who is a flaming flamboyant homosexual.

Ghettorade: Generic or off-brand sports beverages. Ex: “We don’t have any Gatorade, but we’ve got some grape Ghettorade.”

Haterade: 1. A figurative drink representing a modality of thought. those who consume it are themselves consumed by the negativity which with they speak. Ex: “Suzy was hating on Jeromiah, so I asked, ‘Suzy, have you been sippin on that Haterade?’” 2. A trace vitamin that restores your ability to continue hating long after most people would give it up. Ex: “I had no more energy for hating the deserving bastard. So I bought a six pack of Haterade and continued all thru the night.”

iPod: The world’s smallest form of penis compensation. Ex: “Make sure you wear your iPod and white headphones everywhere you go while strutting around in your tight pants and white belt while listening to the latest Hawthorne Heights song.”

Study hard, Shedders!

Hump Day Treat: Bounce O Meter

If you’ve got boobs and feet, you probably know that working out in a sports bra is crucial. The makers of the Shock Absorber sports bra want you to know exactly how crucial. So click on this video and check out what happens to boobs in motion!

[Warning: NSFW.]

[Also if you just want shock/awe, start with running and the bigger sizes.]

The Bounce-O-Meter

On the day I was supposed to run the mile in ninth grade gym class, I forgot my sports bra. This is why there’s probably still some record sitting in a dusty file cabinet saying I run a 15-minute-mile. No. It’s because my chest was doing that.

Let’s Go Halfsies: 9/1/09

Well it’s LOVELY weather for the first day of September and I couldn’t be happier about that. After running around all morning, I had to get it together for today’s Half Marathon Delight: a seven mile run! This is a mini milestone in training because this is the point at which I got hurt and had to stop running last winter. So…wooo! I had planned to do it at the gym because Grand Blanc is just not runner-friendly, but a day like today is made for running. So I sat down and figures out a route that goes right around my gym/hospital. It’s a beautiful area; it’s not seven miles though, so a little looping was required.

I always get anxiety before a long run. I don’t know why! It never seems so much different from the week before, I am not going fast, and I never quit. But still, I get that queasy feeling in my stomach every time! Also, I am pretty sure odd-number runs freak me out for some reason…I can’t explain it, but something about it throws me off.

I started the day with another English muffin/PB/chocolate-banana smoothie meal. (Didn’t go for the Nutella this time; I don’t think that should be a major habit.) I think this is a good combo for me on my workout days–I stay so full and energized! My pre-run lunch was Wendy’s chili, Food Should Taste Good olive chips, sliced peppers, cucumbers, baby carrots, and an organic nectarine.

After lunch, I made a new playlist. Today I needed something upbeat, but I don’t know….with more of an edge. So I took the faster songs from the Electric Feel mix and then added lots of Eminiem. He’s just such a dick and something about his mean, arrogant intensity keeps me going.

So…I set out! The first half was easy, but the second half, when I basically redid the route, was hard. Way hard. I was hot, sweaty, thirsty, crampy; also, strength training the day before a long run is not a good idea for me. My already pissed quads had had enough. When I made it to the last song “Til I Collapse,” I really wanted to. But….I did it. This is my longest outdoor run in my life! That crossed my mind as I was pretty hobbling around to cool-down.

I didn’t have time to do a major stretch-a-thon, so I will have to do more later. Right now I am downing a chocolate banana smoothie and hopping in the shower. I have a sushi date with my sorority sisters and I am so excited for it–I hope the shower and the food get me going again. Thank goodness tomorrow is a rest day….I have a feeling I am going to sleep like a rock tonight.

Have a great night!

Taste Testing: Kashi Honey Sunshine Cereal

When it comes to ballers on the healthy food front, Kashi is definitely a P.I.M.P. They are well-known and the products are widely available. They are popular because they are made with whole grains, organic ingredients, and…they are pretty damn tasty. Earlier this summer, after experiencing the delight that is their pilaf, I ended up becoming a member of their Web site community to get coupons and other goodies on occasion. This weekend I got a mini box of their newest cereal, Honey Sunshine!

First and foremost, they had me at “honey sunshine.” As a morning person, I’m a sucker for anything that invites me to “wake up to tasty goodness.” But, all good marketing aside, I had to give it a try and see how it actually tasted.

I am not a big cereal with milk person (one: milk gives me a stomachache; two: it’s too easy to go for a bedtime snack and eat an entire box), so I decided to try this with yogurt for a snack. A 3/4-cup serving has 100 calories. OK fine, whatever. So does Kix. But then I saw that it also has six grams of fiber and three grams of protein. OK, Kashi, you’ve got my attention….

So, into my bowl went the lil-bits-o-sunshine, which, on their own are pretty much delicious. They are lightly sweetened, toasty…very Cap’n Crunchish. Think Cap’n Crunch if Mrs. Crunch made him go on a diet after his doctor said his blood pressure was getting a little high. Then I added a half cup of plain yogurt and some bluebs to make it into a good snack.

And…it was really good! Satisfying, carby, creamy–but not overly sweet, which is a big thing for me. And six grams of fiber in a hundred calories is pretty solid–plus that serving size felt like a lot. As a topping, you could probably downside to a quarter cup and not feel deprived.

If you’re a cereal girl, I definitely recommend giving this a try with milk! I don’t think you’ll be disappointed. But don’t limit yourself to cereal; it would also be really good in homemade trail mix with some almonds, pretzel Goldfish, and raisins. I will definitely use the coupon to get a big box to go with yogurt (or frozen yogurt, as the case may be). Nice work, Kashi.

Shed U: Strength Training 101

Good morning and welcome back to Shed U! Today we will be discussing…strength training!

Strength training is usually not women’s favorite thing on the menu. We like to spend all our time doing cardio and way less time pumping iron. Not a good decision! Building muscular strength is so important to health, fitness, and weight loss. Here are some key things to know about it.

• Regular strength training results in more physical capacity, a more toned appearance, higher metabolic function (i.e.  more calories burned at rest), and decreased injury risk (both in exercise and in everyday life).
• When designing a strength training program, it’s important to select at least one exercise for each major muscle group: quads, hamstrings, hips, lower back, abs, chest, upper back, biceps, triceps, shoulders, and neck
• You should do the moves in order from the larger muscle groups to the smaller muscle groups (i.e. legs to abs, to arms) because you need more energy for the more demanding muscle groups.
• Lifting at a fast pace puts a high level of stress on the muscles and tisses so 1-2 seconds for lifting and 3-4 seconds for lowering (or releasing, in some cases) is ideal.
• Each time you perform a move, it’s called a repetition. An exercise set is a number of successive reps performed without resting; studies show strength gains from one, two, and three sets, so it’s really a matter of personal preference.
• The number of reps varies based on your goal, but in general, you should aim for 8-12 reps with a weight that makes the last two reps very difficult.
• Many women underestimate their strength, so it’s important to lift weights that wear you out in 8-12 reps. You’re probably stronger than you think you are.
  
• Lifting weights will not make you bulk up. It just won’t!
• You should add reps before adding more weight, so after you can perform 12 reps comfortably, the resistance should be increased (by around 5 percent) and the reps should be taken back down to 8
• A rest day between training sessions is very important; during the recovery period, the muscles build higher levels of strength. An every-other-day schedule is a good way to go!
• One type of muscle soreness–delayed onset muscle soreness–is usually experienced 24-48 hours after strength training. This always happens to me! (Right now as a matter of fact.) I love it because I know I did something and it’s working but I hate it because I have to ease into a position to pee. It can be really tempting to skip your next workout session when this happens, but light aerobic activity like jogging or using the elliptical, combined with stretching, will usually help.
• Two full-body strength sessions per week is a good amount to see a significant increase in strength; even if you lift three times per week, most of the strength gains will come in the first two sessions
• If you want to lift four days a week, break it up and do different muscle groups on alternating days (like legs and back on Monday and Wednesday and abs and arms on Tuesday and Thursday)
• If you decide to do strength training and cardio on the same day, do the strength training first!! I can’t suggest this enough; it’s so tempting to skip strength training when you’re pressed for time or you’re exhausted from your cardio routine, so just get it done right away.
• Circuit training is a great way to strength train because it saves time; you go from move to move with less resting between each. You can also do bursts of cardio in between the strength moves for a super efficient workout (think 60 seconds of jumping jacks, jogging, etc.) If you’re not circuit training, 30 seconds to two minutes of rest is good between sets.
• You should do a little lower-body cardio after strength training to keep blood from pooling there. Cycling or walking for 5-10 minutes is a good way to cool down.
• It’s super important to record your sessions! Keep track of reps, sets, and weight. Otherwise you won’t be able to remember what you did last time (Did I lift ten pounds? Fifteen? Do I do bicep curls or hammer curls? Oh fuck it…) and it will be harder to improve. Take a little notebook if you have to–so worth it!

So many girls are cardio queens and never want to hit the weights; it’s a hard mentality to overcome, but it’s so worth it!

Have a great day!

Meatless Monday: Vegetarian Lite

Another new week, another Meatless Monday!

So, people-hating animal rights group PETA made headlines last week with their rude billboard ad that basically said that going vegetarian is a great way to lose weight and that meat makes people fatties. (You can see the ad here.) PETA kind of sucks in general, so this was not a major surprise. (They did eventually pull the billboard, but ugh–they just love stunts like that.) But, since they brought it up, let’s talk about the whole vegetarian thing in terms of weight loss.

Vegetarians do tend to weigh less than meat-eaters. Is this a rule? No. And it’s not a good “diet” if by “diet” you mean “oh shit I need to fit in my dress this Friday.” If you do decide to go vegetarian, you need to be smart. You can use it as a jumping off point to make your diet healthier, or you can just use it as an excuse to eat all the Doritos and cake your heart desires. Cause hey, they don’t have meat, right? WRONG. Try again.

• If you want to lose weight and counting calories is your preferred method, don’t abandon that approach once you take out the meat. If you usually take in 400 calories from protein a day, and that works for you, try to keep that number consistent.
• One thing that’s nice about frozen meat-replacement products (like veggie burgers and “chik’n” nuggets) is they have nutritional info on them. Easy-peasy if you’re doing the calorie thing! Still, too many processed foods isn’t a good idea, so don’t completely rely on them.
• Always put the “veg” in “vegetarian!” Vegetables are a big part of any healthy diet, but vegetarians have sort of a civic duty to eat more of them. And eating vegetables is going to keep your diet filling and full of essential vitamins and minerals.
• Being mindful of protein is important on any diet. It helps you feel full, which is important whenever you’re cutting calories.
• Know how much protein you need. A simple formula is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight. To find your body weight in kilograms, divide your body weight in pounds by 2.2 And then multiply that by 0.8. The number may be lower than you think! It’s really not that hard to get enough protein if you eat a balanced vegetarian diet, but it’s good to have a ballpark number in mind.
• Egg whites pack a baller amount of protein for very few calories! Either hard-boiled or scrambled, this is a great way to up your intake.
• Light tofu is another lovely source of vegetarian protein. Put silken tofu in smoothies and learn to cook firm tofu for stir-frys or main courses. It’s not hard, but it’s worth a little effort to know how to prepare it well.
• If you let refined carbs make up the bulk of your diet (white pasta, white bread), you’re going to regret it. Grains that have protein are a better bet. Swap Kix for like Kashi Go Lean! Crunch and penne for quinoa.
• Sprouted grain bagels are one of my favorite sources of vegetarian protein! (You can find them in the frozen section at health food stores.) Top with some hummus or avocado and a stack of colorful veggies for an under-400 calorie lunch that packs 15 grams of protein. You won’t miss the turkey, I promise.
• Low-fat soups were a major way I got enough protein when I cut meat. I love beans, but when it comes to lunch, I’d just rather eat a cup of black bean soup than a cup of black beans. Bean, lentil, vegetarian chili, and split pea soups all pack impressive amounts of protein. Amy’s Organics has a lot of good options, including No-Chicken Noodle.
• Don’t rely on cheese for protein. Cheese has 100 calories and 8 grams of protein per ounce, along with a hefty serving of saturated fat. If you do turn to dairy for protein, low-fat Greek yogurt and cottage cheese will give you way more per serving.
• Keep an eye on that iron!
• Vegetarian and vegan snacks and sweets are still snacks and sweets! Just because it’s animal-free or packaged in a natural-looking container does not mean you should start stuffing your face.

Going vegetarian can help you cut unnecessary saturated fat or excess calories from your diet, but it’s not a sure thing. The right mix of vegetables, healthy carbs, and low-fat protein are crucial to any healthy diet for weight loss. If you’re hoping to lose weight on a vegetarian diet, large amounts of mac and cheese is not the way to do it.

Lemme Work It: 8/31/09

Afternoon! How’s it going?

Today is off to a wonderful start. It is both cool and sunny, so I’m pretty happy. I got up this morning and studied for 20 minutes (hey, little bits count) and had a very chocolately pre-gym breakfast: chocolate banana smoothie and a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter and Nutella. I haven’t had Nutella since we used it on crepes for French Club in high school but my mom saw a commercial for it last week, and was sort of like, “What is this exotic nut spread that combines my two favorite foods that I have somehow never heard of??” Next thing I knew, there was Nutella in the pantry. So this morning, I was going to have peanut butter…and the Nutella was right next to it…and the nutrition facts weren’t horrible…and it’s a Monday…so yeah. Nutella for breakfast. Can’t say I won’t do that more regularly.

Then it was off to the gym! I am very committed to strength training and stretching as my runs are getting longer. Normally I sort of just do whatever I feel like when it comes to these two areas, but I think a set routine is going to help me a lot. On Saturday I tested my strength training plan. And now that I know what to do, I was actually really excited to do it. It was great! I made a few minor changes for today (yesterday was a rest day). So that was the plan, plus some cardio and stretching. Long morning!

I started with a 1.5 mile run, and I felt great the whole time. I think the sun just did wonders for my outlook. I was bopping along, adding enough speed to keep it fun and challenging, but not so much that I wouldn’t be able to finish my workout. Then I did the strength routine again. Can someone please tell me why lunges are the best/worst thing ever? God bless ‘em. After doing the full body routine, I ran another half mile on the treadmill and then spent 10 minutes on the elliptical. And then I stretched. A lot. It felt really good; lunges and squats make me sore like nothing else, so stretching those muscles felt amazing.

By the time I got home (Preston was with me, in the Kids’ Corner, and we hit the cafe for a snack), it was lunchtime! Perfect timing, I guess. Today’s lunch was a wrap with garlic chive hummus and cracked black pepper deli turkey (I have a love affair for pepper). I topped it with a green-but-turning-red pepper, red onion, tomato, and some leaves, and then had mixed veggies on the side with salsa. And an apple!

Yummy but I can’t decide if I’m full enough–I might grab a snack in a few. First though, I must shower and then I am heading back out–to the gym actualy! I’m just there as a buddy though…I am all done for the day. After that, it’s back to the books. Next up: exercise and pregnant women. Excitinggggg!

Have a great afternoon!

Shed U: Heart Rate 101

Gooood morning! I spent this past week and weekend doing a lot of studying for my upcoming exam (four weeks from today), and I actually feel like I am starting to learn quite interesting things! A lot of it is common sense (Warm up and cool down? Oh really??) but the more I get into it, the more I realize I didn’t know before. So since it’s back-to-school time, I thought I’d spend this week sharing some of the basics behind the major aspects of a fitness program. A lot of us work out without knowing what we should do or why we should do it, so hopefully this little series answers some of those questions and helps you find ways to get more out of your workout. So…welcome to Shed U!

And the first lesson is… heart rate! Since cardio makes up the bulk of “working out” for so many people, I figured I’d start there. But really understanding cardio means understanding heart rate–a term tossed around a lot, often without explanation. Here are some facts.

• Heart rate is the number of times your heart beats per minute.
• Resting heart rate can be measured by placing your fingertips on the artery in your neck, just to the side of your larynx. (Don’t push too hard.) Count the beats for 30 seconds and multiply by two, or just count for a full minute. It is most accurately measured first thing in the morning, before you get out of bed.
• Maximal heart rate is the highest heart rate a person can obtain. A trainer can help you determine your max heart rate to get an accurate number.
• If you don’t want to go that route, subtracting your age from 220 is the standard method for estimating max heart rate. But keep in mind it is only an estimate and can be off by as many as 10-12 beats per minute!
• To get the most benefits out of cardio exercise, you need to be working out at the right intensity—and exercise “intensity” is very much dependent on your heart rate.
• Optimal exercise intensity for health benefits and weight loss is about 60 to 90 percent of maximum heart rate. Therefore, you can find your target heart rate for exercise by multiplying your desired intensity (0.60 if it’s 60 percent, 0.85 if it’s 85 percent) by your max heart rate. Again, this method is prone to error, but it can give you a rough estimate. It’s good to have that range in mind—“I don’t want to go lower than X or higher than Y.”
• So, using this method, a 21-year-old woman would roughly want to keep her heart rate between 120 and 180. This is a huge range! Where you fall on that scale seriously depends on your fitness level. Just because your upper level is 180 does not mean it should be. And just because 120 is “enough” does not mean it is going to challenge you. It might take some time experimenting to determine what heart rate in that range you can sustain for 30 minutes. When figuring this out, be conservative.
• Once you have determined an appropriate target heart rate for exercise, you can monitor your heart rate during your workout to keep your intensity where it should be to hit your goals.
• Many cardio machines come equipped with HR monitors. These are notoriously inaccurate! It is not worthwhile to use these! Grabbing the handles is just not going to do the trick—sorry.
• A very accurate and easy way to monitor your heart rate is to use an electronic monitor. It contains a chest strap that picks up your heart rate and a wrist receiver that tells you what the number is. There are many on the market, at all different price points, with all sorts of bells and whistles. My little Timex cost $40 and I absolutely love it. (Read more about that here.) And when coupled with the HR monitor on the machines, they are accurate.
• Not knowing what intensity/heart rate is right for you could lead to problems. Working out too hard will lead to burning out or injuring yourself, while working out at too low of an intensity could be why you aren’t seeing results or meeting your goals.
• Intensity also affects the duration of your exercise. Working out at a lower intensity means you should be able to do it for longer; working out at a high intensity means you won’t be able to sustain it for as long.
• A lot of times we feel like our workouts are more intense than they actually are! It could be very hot so we’re sweating a lot, or we could be huffing and puffing (we’ve all seen that guy at the gym), when in reality, our heart rates aren’t all that high and our workouts are not that intense. So monitoring it holds you accountable.
• As you get in better shape, it will take more effort to reach your target heart rate. You might start a walking program, and, a month in, notice your heart rate is lower while walking at your standard speed. Time to pick up the pace!
• Many things can affect your resting heart rate so it is not completely indicative of fitness; however, a decreased in resting heart rate usually comes with an improvement in cardiovascular fitness–so that’s a good thing. And a chronically elevated resting heart rate can be a sign of overtraining in a vigorous exerciser.

I hope that little lesson inspires you to get your heart rate up today!

Hey Friends: Let’s Shed in September!

Sorry to anyone reading this who does not live in the great Mitten state, but this first thing is just for the MI readers…

My New Year’s resolution was to run races for charity, and since the Crim was great, I’d like to keep that momentum going. So I signed up for the Bank of America Run Wild for the Detroit Zoo race September 20th! It’s a good cause and sounds like a fun event overall. I recruited Leah from Nutritionista to run it with me, and we’re trying to make a day out of it with more Michigan people. We are doing the 10K, but there is a 5K that morning as well, which is a good distance for many people! If you don’t think you can…ummm, you might surprise yourself! Seriously, whether you’re training for something bigger or if you’ve been “kind of running” all summer, this could be great for you. Either way, e-mail me (ShedItAndGetIt@gmail.com) or Facebook me (no worries if we aren’t friends) and get it on the action!

Next up: September is National Yoga Month. I have an I-love-you-but-I-can-never-commit-to-you relationship with yoga (weird! I have a lot of relationships like that!!) but when I found out that tons of yoga studios are giving away a week of free yoga, I couldn’t resist. Go to the Web site to get your free pass and then select a studio where you’d like to take your free week. I have always wanted to try Bikram (aka “hot yoga”) but have always been afraid to; luckily, I found a studio that offers it for beginners. It’s at Bikram Yoga Grosse Pointe. So, if anyone would like to get seriously steamy and/or laugh at me as I slide to the floor in a pool of my own sweat, holler at me. And if you’re not in MI or if you’d prefer to keep it under 100 degrees, you can still print the coupon and take a class on your own!

OK great, see you out there!