Forget tire flipping, let's do stool presses!
So here I am, letting my body go to waste all of these years for NO reason (because I have absolutely no injuries and can pretty much do any kind of exercise), and there are people out there in agony because they can physically no longer do the thing they love. Their calling. Their precious.
I feel ashamed. I feel like if we were cars, he would be a pristine Aston Martin. I would be a dusty sedan with a messy interior that breaks down every few hundred miles. Why is it SO HARD to just do what needs to be done and take care of our bodies?
Anyway, I'm already sidetracked for this post. I'm going to share a few choice factos that I've been learning from all of the "gymmies" that take their time to help me. Some of them may contradict each other, which is what SERIOUSLY fascinates me about the exercise world.
1.) There is no way you can follow someone else's diet/exercise plan. After two months of totally legit, super-duper sluethy internet research by yours truly, I finally get it. You literally have to know everything about your own body. The outlines that trainers and bodybuilders give you is just that. An outline. A skeleton. YOU have to do the work to tweak things so your body benefits as much as it can.
2.) Buy tupperware. Every trainer I bump into at the gym usually chats with me during a lunch break. They open up their little storage container and I've only seen the following inside; chicken, brown rice, veggies, quinoa. And, repeat.
3.) Buy some isolate protein powder and fish oil supplements.
4.) Figure out what to eat or drink and when. Eat your (healthy) fattiest, carbiest meal about an hour before you do your major workout of the day (um, yeah. Haven't figured that one out yet). After the workout, make a shake that contains oats, egg whites, a spoon of natural peanut butter, your protein powder, and some ice. The when and the what of the eating and the drinking is what really gets my gears turning, because EVERY SINGLE PERSON gives different advice!
Sure you can juice your spinach! Ahh-guh-guh-guh-guh!
5.) You HAVE to give your body 1-2 days of rest during the week.
6.) Have you heard the phrase "My warm-up is harder than your workout?". Yeah, well, it's true. Try doing a fifteen minute warm-up with one of these methods: Elliptical. I set it to random, enter my weight and my level, then the time to fifteen minutes. Go at a normal pace for the first two minutes. After that, every time the little squares on the screen are stacked at one, two, or three, you GO FOR IT. Just kill it. Then go back to the normal pace and repeat this method (better known as HIIT, or high intensity interval training). Bicycle. Ride for the first two minutes at a normal pace, then go thirty seconds of intensity with one and a half minutes of "rest". Treadmill. Set it at a walking pace, then kick up the elevation as high as it goes and walk uphill for ten to fifteen minutes.
She eats my workouts for breakfast.
My disclaimer? I'm obviously not a personal trainer, dietician, or doctor. I'm just the messenger passing along these little tidbits, because I'm really learning as I go.
These are great tips! It really is knowing your own body, and knowing when you can push through it and when you need to stop too. :-) good idea for the Tupperware too!
ReplyDeleteI wrote down the food. I can totally eat that most days. What's your thought on Chobani yogurt and cottage cheese? Both are staples in my diet.
ReplyDeleteI always have a big tub of (plain) Chobani AND cottage cheese in my fridge. I usually add honey, fruit or sugar free Kool-Aid to the yogurt to give it some flavor. I eat the cottage cheese as a snack, also with either nuts or fruit.
ReplyDeleteThis girl has a great outline on what she eats and when! (http://muffintop-less.tumblr.com/MTLCMEALPLAN)
Hope that helps!
Why Isolate Protein powder? Just wondering what your thoughts were.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you asked! After I wrote down my "grocery list" from my ever-so-helpful front desk gym guy, Brandon, I did a search on what the HECK isolate protein actually was. This website (http://www.leehayward.com/whey_protein_isolate.htm) had the best definition!
ReplyDelete"The primary difference between isolate and concentrate is that the isolate is more pure. In other words, isolate contains more protein with less fat and lactose per serving. Based on whose figures you go by, whey isolate usually contains between 90-94% protein while whey concentrate has a protein ratio of 70-85%.
If you are lactose intolerant and you have problems with gas and bloating, then the isolate might be a better choice. But being more "pure" doesn’t necessarily mean tht whey isolate is better or will produce greater muscle growth. Whey protein concentrate is still an excellent source of protein. Besides, isolate does have disadvantages: For one, it is more expensive than concentrate. Isolate has also had some of the valuable immune-boosting protein subfractions such as alpha lactoglobulins and lactoferrins removed in the filtering process."
So, it benefits me because of my lactose thingy, but it seems as though most protein powders are more beneficial than not!
These are some good tips, but I would definitely recommend not drinking anything with uncooked egg whites. They contain a protein called conalbumin which binds to iron making the iron unusable by your body (and you obviously need iron when working out). They also contain avidin which can impair the metabolism of B-vitamins (in particular Biotin). Cooking the egg white reduces/eliminates those affects.
ReplyDelete