NTHS 21 Day Challenge : All the Deets : Workout Plan

Alright, now that we've got the eating plan figured out, let's get down to the fun part.  Seriously, because unlike the food situation, the next three weeks of workouts will be all about having a good time and discovering new moves!

Download the image and print to keep track of your progress during the challenge!

Above is very generic calendar for you to follow for the 21 day challenge.
Cardio HIIT = High Intensity Interval Training (30 min or less of all-out interval training)
Strength Training = No gym required! I'll try to find unique, free at-home options
Something NEW = Something you've never tried (dance, spinning, kickboxing, basketball)
Cardio Endurance = Do your favorite cardio for 45 min or more at a mostly steady pace
Something FUN = Your favorite activity (walking the dog, soccer with friends, bench-press competition with your husband)
Stretch/Rest = Active recovery with pilates, yoga, or any low-intensity movement (or sleeping late)

Along the way, I'll post workouts that I find to be fun and unique.  Feel free to reach out for advice :)

You ready for this?!  I am!

(If you haven't already, be sure to check out my post about the Food portion of the NTHS 21 Day Challenge!  You'll want to be nice and prepared for Monday.)

bgt

NTHS 21 Day Challenge : All the Deets : Food

"Not This Holiday Season!"
Unfortunately, that phrase is the all-too-familiar battle cry that falls quiet once I've sedated my enthusiasm with piles of cake, stuffing, gravy, cookies, candy, hot chocolate...
I spoke yesterday about the importance of forgiving ourselves for the holiday indulgences, but that doesn't mean we can't be proactive about preventing holiday weight-gain.

So in that spirit, I'm challenging myself - and by extension you - to 21 days of no-sugar-added paleo and mixing up my workout routine.  We start December 2nd, so we'll be wrapping up the challenge days before Christmas.  Hopefully this'll give us all a bit of wiggle room in our Santa pajamas for plenty of hot cocoa and cookies on Christmas Eve.

The challenge has two parts: Eat + Move
This post will outline the first part, and a second post will talk a bit about the workout plan.

FOOD
If you're like me, the thought of 21 days without added sugars or sweeteners seems nearly impossible.  Preparation gives you the best chance for success, so clear out your fridge and stock up for the next 3 weeks based on the foods listed below:

Eat Me
Beverages: almond milk, coconut milk, coffee, tea, seltzer
All meat, seafood, eggs
Full fat dairy
Green Veggies, Squash, Cabbage, Leafy greens, Tomatoes, etc (basically all veggies)
Fruit: lemon/lime, avocado
All nuts and nut butters except peanuts and cashews
Other: cocoa, chia, coconut flour, seeds, coconut oil, broth, mustard, yeast, spices, herbs, vinegar

Limit Me
Veggies: acorn squash, beets, butternut squash, green peas, pumpkin
Fruit: green bananas, grapefruit, green apples
Grains/Legumes: Amaranth, beans and chickpeas,  Quinoa, Rice
Coconut water/juice

Don't Eat Me
Breads, brownies, cakes, candy, cereal, granola, chips, couscous, crackers, oats, orzo, pasta, pita, rice cakes, popcorn, tortillas, corn, plantains, soy beans, sweet potatoes, barley, flour (spelt, wheat, etc), sweet fruit, cashews and peanuts, condiments/canned stuff
Aaaaand, the real kicker: no alcohol

Now, you can use the lists above to create your own meals based around the foods you love, but if you need some specific ideas, here are links to recipes created by the 21DSD author (click the picture):

Breakfast

 

Beef, Pork, Lamb

 

Poultry

Miscellaneous

That about covers the food portion.  I'll follow-up with some ideas for easy and quick meals.  I'm a little overwhelmed with the meal plan and recipes that accompany the 21DSD book, so I know I'll be making some stripped-down versions.

Here's a sample meal plan for Week 1:
M:  Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffins (make ahead on Sunday, freeze extra)
       Chicken (bake extra from making muffins) salad with favorite veggies, dressed with oil + vinegar
       Mexi-Meatloaf with brussels sprouts
T:   Leftover meatloaf crumbled into omelet with 1 or 2 eggs
       Chicken and leftover brussels sprouts
       Salmon Cakes and green salad
W:  Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffin
       Leftover salmon cake, sliced avocado
       Leftover Mexi-Meatloaf crumbled over salad greens with Avocado Ranch
R:   Sausage and scrambled eggs with sliced green apple
       Turkey and Bacon Cobb Salad
       Spaghetti Squash with the 21DSD Spaghetti Sauce and crumbled sausage
F:   Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffin
       Leftover spaghetti sauce and sausage over steamed veggies
       Smoky Mexican Tortilla-less Soup
Sa:  Zucchini Pancakes
       Leftover soup
       Steak and Veggie Kabobs with garlic butter mashed cauliflower
Su:  Buffalo Chicken Egg Muffin or leftover pancakes, sausage, etc
        Leftover luncheon (clean out the fridge)
        Slow Cooker Roast Chicken and green veggies

Snacks: Throughout the week, keep some seasoned, roasted nuts (no sugar), jerky or green apples handy for between-meal snacking.

Let me know if you have any questions about this post.  Keep an eye out for a post detailing the exercise portion of the "Not This Holiday Season" 21 Day Challenge!

bgt

Your Health: Goals, Disappointment, and Forgiveness

Well, it's Black Friday...a day for shopping and digesting.  If you're like me, you may be feeling a bit of the "why did I eat all that pie?" tummy doldrums.  Today is like an annual walk-of-shame after a day of near-painful gluttony.  It can be tough to fight the urge to step on the scale and assess the damage or to give yourself some leeway if you're out trying on clothes in the madness of shopping today's sales.  So let's all spend a minute taking a couple deep breaths and letting go of all that emotion.  Yesterday was great, wasn't it?  You got to see your family and friends.  You got the day off work.  You took some time to nourish your soul.  You also got to enjoy some great food!  There is no reason to feel guilty for the indulgence.

I'd like to start a discussion on why we put so much emotion into our eating, our fitness, our lifestyle.  It seems like each of these areas has become yet another arena in which we can Fail.  And Failure is inevitable because we set perfection as our goal.  And when we believe we have Failed, it becomes another opportunity to feel Less.  But really, food, fitness and lifestyle should be opportunities to feel good about who we are and to allow ourselves the freedom to experience new things.  Not being perfect should be an opportunity to practice forgiving ourselves.

I'll try to recruit your input for a series of posts about these issues.

I want to talk about #Fitspiration.  I want to talk about health and fitness magazines who employ fitness models with 10% body fat.  I want to talk about how we've moved from idealizing bodies that look like Kate Moss to trying to emulate bodies that look like they never take a day off from the gym.  I want to talk about the promotion of total self-control and junk-food abstinence as some kind of ultimate virtue.  And most importantly I want to listen to what you have to say about striving for health in today's "Health & Fitness" environment.

Really? Still looks like <15% body fat to me...

I'm sure this reflects a totally, 100% healthy attitude about fitness...

If you don't see any harm in the above, I encourage you to read this post.

Now, for those of you who are interested in joining me for 21 days of breaking the sugar habit and exploring new and exciting workouts - keep an eye out for a post tomorrow that'll walk you through some necessary prep!

Go enjoy your leftovers :-)
bgt

The Skinny on Supplements

I am sitting in the locker room at my gym getting ready to unleash a day’s frustration of work out on the unexpecting dumbbells waiting for me.  While trying to separate my work thoughts and get ready to enjoy working out, I can’t help but over hear a guy, younger than me, talk about his laundry list of supplements he takes.  Like most people he has forgotten the definition of the word supplement.  As he talks he lists of small meals with insane amounts of supplements in which he hopes to use to become captain swoll.

Since listening in on this conversation, I have been paying more and more attention to the supplement industry and all the items they offer and their results; or “possible” results.  I love nothing more than when I flick through social media to see some Arnold Schwarzenegger look alike that is advertising a pill can make you big and strong and 0% body fat.  In the wise words of Arnold, “you cannot get muscle from a little pill”.

The supplement industry is booming.  Make me bigger, smaller, thinner, wider, etc.  I am not going to stand in front of the class and tell you which supplements you should take and how much/often.  Supplements are meant to SUPPLEMENT your diet.  For example, I generally have trouble reaching my desired protein intake and thus utilize whey protein twice a day.  I also can preach about a multi vitamin as well as the benefits of fish oil and creatine, but I won’t and many references online can do a much better job.  As you well know, everybody is different, as well as their workout routines and nutrition, so a person’s supplement usage should also differ.  It is important to base your supplements around your personal nutrition plan which should be setup to maximize your gains and/or loss.  Don’t go dropping tons of money into the supplement industry without at least taking the time to understand each supplement and their benefits.  No matter what supplements you are taking, chances are you won’t be able to out-do your horrible diet.  So wise up in the kitchen before splashing the cash on supplements.

The "Not This Holiday Season" 21 Day Challenge

Alright guys,

I sincerely apologize for the 6 weeks of radio silence.  I was busy with pregnant women, learning all about obstetrics and other lady business.  So much fun...

But anywho, I want to take this post to invite anyone (and everyone) to join me on a 21 day challenge that will bridge Thanksgiving and Christmas and help you prep your body for the piles of deliciousness that each holiday brings.

Basically, from December 2nd to December 22nd, I am going to be following the 21 Day Sugar Detox plan and attempting to fit in 6 diverse workouts each week.  The idea is to break my sugar addiction, learn about some new fitness routines, and give myself a little extra room for guilt-free indulgence over the holidays. I would be really excited if you would join me!

I want to make this FREE for you to participate - but I also don't want to reproduce protected material from the 21DSD book.  I'll post the recipes that are already available online and general information to help you fill out the rest of your meal plans.  Additionally, I hope to post 3 or more FREE workouts each week.  Excited yet?

Keep an eye out over the following days for more details about the Challenge (I'm flying by the seat of my pants on this one, so we'll be learning by doing) and also a post about Guilt, Forgiveness, Priorities as they pertain to your health and fitness goals (it'll be like an episode "Deep Thoughts").

If you want to take part, you can subscribe to the blog to get notified of updates OR send me your email address and I'll let you know when I'm posting about the challenge.

Peace be with you,
bgt

Crossroads - Crossfit on the fly! Free and Convenient WODs!

 One fact that is most likely universally true for everyone is that life can get crazy, sometimes unpredictable, and even occasionally uncontrollable. So how do you make sure you get your crossfit WOD in when traveling, away from home, or just too busy to make it to your home box (crossfit term for gym). There are tons of options and online resources to help ensure that you get that fitness fix for the day. Some of these are also great alternatives if affording the expensive box membership is an issue. In this post I'll just talk about one of these great resources, but never fear there's more where this comes from and will continue to share soon.

            In this last year, life for me has become significantly more insane and I have often found myself away from my home box, out of state with limited free time, and out in the middle of a third world country. This past summer I went on a medical mission trip to Cambodia for three weeks and of course one of the first things to come to my mind was….”Are there crossfit boxes in Cambodia?” For those of you racking your brain over this question, the answer is NO, there are definitely no crossfit gyms in Cambodia, not where we were anyways, which was out in makeshift clinics in churches in the middle of rice patties. Panic ensued….three weeks of no crossfit, no sticking to my paleo diet, and eating rice and French baguettes with every meal. Just thinking about the deconditioning, losing all the strength I had built back up after my back injury, and of course the potential weight gain were all subjects contributing to my angst. Luckily I found the solution I was looking for…The Traveling WOD! This site is great because it has TONS of workouts posted that you can pick and choose from, making it easy to get a quick workout in when you happen find yourself somewhere with no or limited workout equipment, like at your home/apartment, at a hotel, or at a bungalow in the middle of Kampot, Cambodia. They post daily WODs if this is something that you want to follow long-term at home or for extended travel, but personally I just used their travel WOD library so that I could make my workout fit my environment each day. Of course having the most amazing boyfriend who knew and understood my concern for going three weeks with not being able to adhere to my current workout and diet regimen surprised me with my very own workout care package for my trip, which only increased my workout options even more.

            

I would highly recommend slowly (or all at once) investing in at least some of these items just because of the variety it could add to your WODs and strength building movements that can apply to your Oly (Olympic) lifts and gymnastic skills when you are able to make it to a box. Some ideas include: an abmat for sit-ups and handstand pushups, rings and straps for ring dips, ring pull ups/ring rows, ring pushups, muscle-up progressions, muscle-ups themselves, and toes to rings, a jump rope for a good cardio alternative to running, and of course resistance bands and a roller for mobility and recovery. There are obviously other accessories that could be useful for traveling by road, but all of the things I named were able to fit in my gym bag and were not too cumbersome to take with me to the other side of the planet. Where there’s a will, there’s a way so check out this link and make fitness and crossfit work for you and whatever life throws your way!   

http://www.thetravelingwod.com/p/traveling-wods.html

Rings hanging from the second story railing at the Natural Bungalows, our home for the 2 1/2 weeks we stayed in Kampot, Cambodia....they also look great hanging from rafters!  The resistance band can be used to assist in ring dips until you build enough strength to do multiple ring dips in a row.

Handstand pushups with an abmat at the resort we visited one weekend in Kep, Cambodia. Definitely had to rearrange the furniture to get the space we needed, but you do what you gotta do!

Don't forget that you can use nature, which is always free, to get a good workout. While in Kep we hiked several miles of mountainous terrain to see the temples that had been built at the top. Very awesome and obviously lots of hard work and sweat went into to this adventure. 

On Rabbit Island in Kep, Cambodia getting ready to kayak in the Gulf of Thailand. Kayaking is an awesome core and upper body workout as much as it is cardio and renting kayaks are usually fairly inexpensive.

Until next time, keep calm and crossfit! hnh