Feel Good Friday

Good morning, babes!
Thanks for all your great commenting this week.
Wanted to share something I've been musing on lately & hear if you've had any experience with it. 

Like with anything, if we can clear away the noise and the static, we can have a clearer reception to the message.  Think about radio communications, TVs, our daily stress, anything chaotic, etc.  But what if we could do the same thing with our bodies?  I just think our bodies are designed so amazingly, so intricately, and so sophisticatedly that we can't even comprehend its awesomeness.  I think our bodies are the best guide for each of us, because our bodies are unique.  If you're thirsty or craving something salty, maybe it's your body saying you're dehyrated.  If you're craving pasta or bread, maybe it's your body saying it doesn't have enough fuel-source to run off of.  If you're fatigued, maybe it's your body saying you're pushing too hard or you're not getting the amount of sleep it needs.  These are the signals and messages I'm talking about.  But we ourselves put static and noise between us and these messages.  When we toss addictive substances in our body, caffeine, artificial sweeteners, highly processed junkfoods, things that make us bloated, things that make our digestion not process optimally, things that maybe we're mildly allergic to and don't know it, things that stuff us beyond comfort, etc.  all these things are static and noise that mess up our ability to be in tune with our bodies and to hear/understand our body's messages.  If we can eat as high-octane-fuel-like as possible (like Erianne's post last week), won't that make our bodies act as optimally as possible and won't we be able to pick up on our body's subtle messages & cravings and respond in a healthy way?  Now, you know I'm not preaching, b/c I love me some 7-11 nachos piled high with extra jalapenos and a big side of diet Mountain Dew, BUT, it's the concept, it's something that's been on my mind a lot lately and encouraging me to make SLIGHTLY healthier decisions :)  Which is what this blog is all about- that slowly, gradually, bit by bit, we're becoming healthier people, more like what we know we have the potential to become, revealing the true, confident selves inside each of us.  So, those are the ramblings in my mind today.

Do you have anything to add or share?  Has there been anything health-related on your minds lately?  Do you have anything fun and active going on this weekend?

Feel the Burn Thursday

Helloooooo, ladies :)
Hope you're all making it a great day!
I had a very involved anatomy & physiology lecture last night for my yoga teacher training class, and then I have a cadaver lab for it this Saturday, and so I've got muscles on my mind!  You all probably know this, but I liked it:

• Stretching muscles is actually a misnomer.  Your muscles don't ever become longer.  Through stretching and movement, you're showing your muscles their full, normal range of motion with the purpose of them memorizing that full motion and becoming more fully utilized to their full potential.  Kind of a fun way of looking at it.
• Cartiledge doesn't have any blood cells in it like muscles do, so for it to "heal" when damaged, it has to pull its nutrients and healing materials from the bones it's connected to.  Hence it takes a LONG time for cartiledge injuries to heal.  Muscles have blood cells in them and the healing blood courses through them, so muscles heal pretty quickly.  Hang in there, Meghan!
• Ligaments (connect bone to bone, like ankles), once stretched out can't ever be stretched back.  So if you've rolled your foot (this is for you, Mini Me!) once, you're very likely to keep rolling it over and over again your whole life.  Same w/ sprains.  So be gentle on your ligaments and be careful to not over-extend joints when stretching, standing, doing yoga, sports, etc.  Always avoid "locking" your knees, but put a small "microbend' in it so that it's solid, straight, strong, but non-damaging and gentle.
• All workouts and physical activity should cause you to "feel the burn & strength" in the "belly" of the muscle, never the ends of the muscle where they connect to other things.  So when in a lunge for instance, you should never feel the burn in the leg muscles close to the knee or close to the hip.  You should be properly aligned so that you feel the burn in the belly of the thigh muscle, the center of the thigh, it's meatiest part.  If you do feel it towards the ends/connective areas of the muscles, you're going too far for it to be beneficial for you and you're likely to do damage and cause undue stress/tension.
• An issue somewhere in your body could very likely be caused elsewhere.  For instance, last fall when I was running crazy mileage, I'd get sore hips when I hit about 15 miles.  My running shoe sales guy (an ironman) told me that it most likely was due to tight hamstrings pulling down on my hips.  Extra stretching & yoga cured the dull hip pain like a charm.  And then we talked about just this last night in yoga.  If someone has sore knees, it COULD be because they're quads, hamstrings, etc. are really really tight and are tugging funny on the knee ligaments/tendons.  If someone has a lot of tension in their low back, it could be b/c tight legs are tugging on the hips which are tugging on the low back or just tight hips tugging on the low back.  Everything's so interconnected- it's crazy!  Just another fun way to think of things.

So what great workouts have you been up to this week????  Anybody do anything fun & active over the long holiday weekend?

Whatcha Eatin' Wednesday

Hey, beautiful ladies!  I hope you're doing great.  I'm sure some of you are still traveling back from summer vacation over the holiday weekend.  Whenever you're back, check in to say hey to everybody!  The cheering each other on is one of the things that makes this group work for everyone. 

A couple things: First of all, there shouldn't be anything scary about a reduced caloric intake....unless you're not eating what you're burning.   If you're at too much of a caloric deficit, then you'll experience scary things like weakness or lightheadedness, not to mention you won't be losing weight to keep it off, AND your body will enter "starvation mode" and your metabolism will hit the floor in an effort to keep you alive and your organs pumping.  Here's an example of how the "calorie counting" thing should be going:

• Enter in your age/gender/current weight/goal weight/activity level, etc. to My Fitness Pal (or other sites you prefer, like Daily Burn, etc.)
• It will then spit out that you should aim for (for example only) 1300 calories a day NET. 
• Then you start keeping track of what you eat.  So if I eat 300 calories for breakfast, 100 calorie late morning snack, 500 calories for lunch, 200 calories for afternoon snack, 300 calories for dinner, and 200 calories for an evening snack, then that totals 1600 caloiries consumed for the day. 
• But you're also tracking what workouts you do.  So if I went for a jog for 3 miles and burned 300 calories, that's subtracted from my total calories consumed for the day of 1600, so then my NET calories consumed is 1300, which is right on target. 
• So if I don't have time to get in a workout that day, then I'm going to be extra careful w/ my food intake and stay at 1300 calories consumed. 
• On the other hand, if it's a Saturday and I go on a 4 hour bike ride and burn 1000 calories, I'd better be consuming 2300 calories that day total (1000 calories above my net goal b/c I'm burning 1000 calories), b/c if not, my body is going to be burning muscle for energy instead of the fat & food I want it to burn, I'd feel weak, drained, exhausted, & have a really crappy workout.
• I can't emphasize enough how VERY VERY important it is that you're "eating what you burn" for workouts. 
• After you've got that figured out, then you can work on improving the quality of your diet, being sure that what you're consuming is the highest quality, highest-octane fuel possible.  Try to hit your protein intake goal, your fiber intake, etc.  Try to stay under your sodium limit.  Try to get in enough water.  Try to limit sodas, etc.  Your My Fitness Pal food diary will  tell you the protein amount you should be aiming for based on your current weight, gender, activity level, etc.  But if you're doing really hard strength training or race training, you should be aiming for way more protein, as close to your body weight as possible.  So if you weigh 160 lbs, you should be aiming for 160 grams of protein.  I know that seems like a TON, but just get in as much as you can up to that amount.  Most everything I've heard on the subject goes off this basic guideline.  And if you're not that active, don't worry about that much protein.  Just if you're really pushing it and really building muscle.  And eating every few hours is going to keep your metabolism roaring for you all day long- I like the mini meal method.  Keeps you feeling fuller longer, too.

There is lots and lots of medical advice out there for this being the healthiest way to lose weight.  Yes, it's really gradual weight loss, a pound here & there, but it's the best way to lose if you want to keep it off.  Ask any dietician for advise specific to your body and your circumstances- be sure to consult a physician for a good way to modify your diet if you have health concerns like hypo/hyper-thyroidism, hypoglycemia, diabetes, etc.  This is the principle behind Weight Watchers, too---you gain extra points by working out.

Ok, then SECOND of all, it's our day to swap recipe and snack ideas!  Please help; I'm in desperate need of fresh new ideas.  This past weekend I made a favorite, Summer Salsa.  Which I've posted before on here, but YUM YUM YUM!

Summer Salsa

• 1 can corn, drained
• 3 tomatoes, diced
• 1 can chickpeas or garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 can blackeyed peas, drained
• 3 avocados, diced
• 1 package of dry italian dressing mix (prepared as directed on package, so w/ the oil & vinegar & water)
• Mix it all together
• Enjoy w/ whole wheat pita chips, blue corn chips, etc.

Tuesday Motivation

Good morning, girls!  I like this message about stick-to-it-ness:   http://www.nashvillecyclist.com/coaching/coaching-articles/164-rewards-of-stick-to-it-ness

"Ultimately our success is more greatly impacted by our response to failure.  How you get up off the mat, dust yourself off and get back into the ring says more about you than any other successful strength you possess.  Take the knowledge learned from your disappointments and avoid repeating the same mistakes.  Failures help us to determine strategies that do not work in order to learn successful ones that do.  Nobody can argue with truthful outcomes can they?  Despite setbacks, disappointment and failures those athletes who repeatedly get off the mat, get back in the batter's box and pin on a race bib number possess a character trait I like to call "stick-to-it-ness." 

Some athletes are born with stick-to-it-ness while others must learn it the hard way.  If stick-to-it-ness is never learned then I'll show you someone who either complains a lot or wrongly believes life should come easier to them without hard work.  Sure, they may be there to compete and give you the impression they've got a high level of stick-to-it-ness, but their lack of commitment when you aren't watching is the determining factor in their compounding failures.  Another impacting attitude on one's stick-to-it-ness is unjustified expectations in relationship to where their ability is in the moment.  Rewards do come at a personal cost.  If you aren't willing to invest the patience and hard work to achieve rewards then you should not expect to achieve your full potential.  

What got you here won't get you there.  I challenge you to challenge yourself to aim higher, put yourself into difficult situations, get slightly in over your head, and find out what you're truly made of – not just as a bicyclist but more importantly as a person.  It does not matter if you're 20 or 60 years old because we are forever evolving as people.  Bicycle racing is the perfect opportunity to learn about yourself while simultaneously stretching your boundaries of personal growth.  I attempt to do this in nearly everything I do and strongly believe I am a better man because of it."

I like that. Really perfect for me right now. What got me here won't get me there. 

What do you all think?

Monday Morning Check-In

Hey, girls!
It's our half way point in this challenge-the end of 3 weeks! Check
in here and let us all know how you're doing!!!
What's your game plan for this week???