Another development lately is my healthy being all over the place. I feel like a hypocrite being all healthy and fitnessy right now because I really haven’t exercised in a month or so.  But I have reasons!! Let me explain.

I’ve been having whacked out girly problems, I know you male readers really don’t want to know about it and you can skip this whole paragraph. Long periods, heavy periods, headaches, and just all around not fun girly stuff. I really don’t want to be jumping around doing plyometerics or such when I have been bleeding for 3 weeks straight. Ya know? I don’t want to slip and bust my ass in a puddle of red. As horrifying as that picture is, that is how I feel.

I’m switching birth control pills to see if we can regulate this disaster of female hormones.

Another development is hypoglycemia. Two days where I woke up before my appetite and had to do inventory at 6:30 in the morning I crashed. I felt like passing out, nauseous, weak and a little confused.

Now I’ve had a hard time with food lately being sick and being a cranky woman on her period for a month, so I will admit I haven’t been eating enough. And when I feel like I need to be mopped up off the floor from low blood sugar, I don’t feel like working out. Hell, I don’t think I can work out!

I’ve talked to my doctor about it and she said it’s just the transition to work, waking up early and the fact I am almost 40 lbs less than I was the last time I worked. She told me to take a protein shake as soon as I wake up and to graze all day.

So I have been. I swear I am eating around 3000 calories a day!! It’s ridiculous! But… I feel better. I am thinking about starting up p90x again in the mornings. I wake up about 2 hours before I have to be to work on most non-inventory days because I gotta rouse my kid up and that takes some time. So I think I’ll bust out a quick p90x and skip through a lot of tony talking in the morning.

So mostly, I’ve just been a big mess of a lady lately. But I’m on the right track to fixing everything.

On another note, I just found out from fitsugar while trying to find images to use for my post, that Nicole Richie has hypoglycemia too. Hmm.

I’ll cover these from top left to right, then bottom left to right.

• Arnold Schwarzenegger – Of COURSE, who isn’t inspired by Ah-nold? He was one of many who made body building the explosive sport that it is! Arnold started out young, and was such a success in his endeavors that he become and action movie star. I have an encyclopedia focused on body building that is BY Arnold. It’s an awesome book I recommend it to anyone interested in beefing up.
• Ava Cowan-  Team Gaspari IFBB Figure professional and a 5 x Overall Figure Champion! Ava looks great whether she’s blonde or brunette. I love her arms and legs. They just look fantastic.
• Tony Horton- If you’ve watched enough TV you’ve seen Tony Horton in his P90X infomercial that airs almost constantly over the cable channel line ups. You can find it almost any time of the day. The part about Tony that I find the most inspirational isn’t that he created P90X, or that he’s a famous personal trainer- It’s that he looks that damn amazing at his age. I hope I can look that fantastic at 52 years of age!
• Cameron Diaz- Cameron has always been a hotty in the movie business but lately she’s been a little more my style with her physically fit appearance. Her arms look fabulous.
• Jessica Biel- I remember watching Jessica on 7th Heaven. Everyone back in Jr High went home to watch that show. Since then she has appeared in many movies and one that transformed her physique into the kick ass woman she is now! I absolutely LOVED her in Blade: Trinity. She trained really hard to get to where she is and she looks amazing.
• Hugh Jackman- Who doesn’t love Hugh Jackman?! He can sing, dance and play a badass Marvel Character! His transformation for that movie was amazing.
• Jennifer Nicole Lee- This woman lost 70lbs after having two kids and is making bank on it now! She looks fantastic. For other moms that is a big inspiration. She came back big time!
• Ryan Reynolds – What’s not to love? He looks fabulous and has kept it up since getting that way.

Now I’m not only inspired by celebrities, there are many other people out there to inspire me to better myself.

• Tiny from http://www.lessofaman.com/. Go check him out! He’s an amazing guy.
• Barbie Decker, a beachbody coach that just looks great. She’s a big inspiration and she’s got her head on right about it all.
• Charlie from Operation Shrink Charlie’s Big Butt. She’s a mom, wife and a song writer. She’s doing a fantastic job at her goals and thats an inspiration.

Join in on Fitblogs’ Fit Point weekly at: FitBlogs.info!

So I have been pretty busy learning how to do everything there. I basically do… EVERYTHING in the office on the side I am. Which brings me to where I work…

I work at a coffeee/Lube shop! Ya know how whenever you go get your oil changed you have to sit in one of those dirty little offices and wait on it. Not at this place. There is a cafe attached! You can go have lunch while you wait!

So I am the girl that comes out, scans your VIN barcode, gets your mileage and your license plate number, then your information. I also take your money and sell you anything else you might need. Or don’t direly need and I just want to up sales!

They have really good food in the cafe… which brings me to my next point… THE FIT POINT!

I like to eat out anywhere I can get something clean and healthy. But occasionally I will eat junk food when I can’t eat healthy. Most places have some sort of healthy option. And even if they don’t there are always ways to make something healthy. Order a hamburger with no mayo or bacon, add some veggies.

One thing I love about where I work, is they have very health conscious options for food! They are all freshly made paninis, wraps and sandwiches. And oh man are they delicious! I eat there daily while I am working. I am glad it’s healthy food while I am running my butt off chasing cars all over the shop.

Join in on Fit Blog’s Fit Point!

This week is all about eating out!

So I randomly find amusing things on the internet. Donny tweeted me this so I had to check it out. I mean, how do you not when you get an @ sign?! So of course, I want to share it.

Donny D-Fine is the creator of the facebook and twitter workouts. They’re awesome. Or maybe I find them funnier than other people? I think they are great.

ANYWAYS, if you’re addicted, get in some exercise while you do your Farmville farming or tweeting to all the keywords you can think of that relate to your topic in every tweet possible!

Go give Donny D-Fine some love! He’s awesome!

I’ve tried a few videos. I’m not afraid to try a new one. And some I have been really entertained with but didn’t feel all that into it. It takes a lot to make me absolutely love a workout routine. Especially when it is cardio. I hate Cardio Workouts. With a passion. I am not a cardio person. Which may be slightly amusing to some people who have known me long enough. I ran long distance back in Jr High. I like to say I ran all the passion for cardiovascular activity out of myself back then. So many are hit of miss.

Here’s my reviews of the videos I have tried:

Mom and Toddler Fitness
I got this one at Target right after my daughter was born, well not right after. She was about 9 months I think.  She didn’t have the attention span to sit and do the exercises with me. And I lsot interest pretty quickly because it was so slow paced. Much like Yoga. And if you have followed for me for any bit of time you know I hate yoga.

So it was sub-par.

Rating: 2/5

Carmen Electra’s Aerobic Striptease
My husband actually got me this one. I think we all know his ulterior motives behind this, and I don’t think fitness was his main concern.
The videos are okay. It seems like Carmen wasn’t even in shape enough to do her own videos. I found that amusing. The one real workout video in the series has a really short guy who’s in pretty good shape. Nice eye candy for the ladies. It’s not that much of a workout though.

Rating: 3/5

Wii’s EA Active
I have a Wii and I don’t actually play it that much. My husband and daughter have played it more than I have. So I got Wii Active to try and do some more exercise. I hate that game.
The Wii-mote is not sensitive enough for a lot of the exercises it  makes you perform and you end up doing 5 times as many. So it gets really old really fast.

Rating: 2/5

P90X
Oh yes, THAT one. The home video fitness revolution leader.  I really enjoyed p90X. I got in pretty good shape doing it and I know many others who have as well. And if you can stick through it for a few cycles you’ll definitely be one ripped machine.
It really does work! I’ll suggest it to anyone who wants to get in shape and can commit to it seriously for a few months.
However, as a Personal Trainer student- I’ve found a little of Tony Horton’s approach is over kill. I won’t do consecutive cycles of P90X, I don’t need to kill myself like that. I’m more interested in bulk and building up great strength rather than lean muscle.

Rating: 5/5

Insanity
Another Beachbody product. It’s intense. And it will kill you. I feel like hacking up a lung every time I do one of these videos.
If you keep with this you’ll lean down fast. It’s a very fast paced high intensity video. It’s definitely not for beginners.
However, this is the video I found out I have Plantar Fasciitis with! It’s very hard on your feet, even with good shoes!

Rating: 4/5

ZUMBA!
I just recently started with this video and oh man I absolutely LOVE IT. I love Zumba! It’s so fun! I hate cardio so anyway to make it fun is how to do it!
I also like to just wiggle around and dance in my living room.
I did however throw out my “zumba bone” as my mom said. I think I put too much hip into my zumbaing! That’s okay, I still enjoyed it.

Rating: 5/5

Brazil Butt Lift
Bry, over at Embrace Fire, added this on her review list and I remember I had tried it as well. So here’s a new addition that wasn’t in the original post.
BBB was’t that exciting to me. It seemed to fast paced. They didn’t break down all the moves easily enough. To be honest I gave up on this workout program after a couple days. 
It really bored me. And while Leandro was pretty amusing, the content just wasn’t enthralling enough.

Rating: 2/5

Get in on this week’s Fit Point! Visit fitblogs.info! Or leave me a comment on what your favorite workout video has been!

What began as a national youth fitness test has grown up. In a big way. Today, the President’s Challenge takes staying active beyond the school gym, and into everyday life.

We’ve expanded the President’s Challenge into a whole series of programs designed to help improve anyone’s activity level. Young or old. It’s about choosing to live healthier – and finding things you really like to do.

-https://www.presidentschallenge.org/

I love the idea of a challenge like this. It could really help get America’s youth and adult population in better shape. The tests you can take basically compare you to the rest of America. Are you better?

I took the Adult Challenge. The requirements are not really that hard, and you can get all the test stuff done in under an hour.

Here are my results:

I was above average on 5/5 of the requirements.  And I am extremely surprised when it comes to the flexibility test. I was the least flexible person every in school. Heck, I bet the PE teachers were laughing at me during the sit and reach tests.

So go check it out, find out how fit you are compared to the rest of America.

Share your results here in my comments, I would LOVE to see what you’re capable of. GOOD LUCK!!

Fit Point this week asks about your gear wear. Here’s my input…

Considering the gym I normally go to when I do go to a gym is private…. my under armor shorts, nike sports bra, running shorts over top of my spandexy shorts and a tank top. I also use lifting gloves. Though I usually end up removing the tank top in the gym when I am getting too hot. Usually it’s just my husband in there with me.
At home, my spandexy shorts and a sports bra!
Of course tennis shoes too!

Some women might complain that my shorts are skimpy but I really don’t give a crap, I am at the gym with my husband and I am dressed to cool off. I’m not going to overheat just to be modest in a gym. If some freaker wants to hit on me, then they can deal with the husband who’s standing only 10 feet from me. It really bothers me when dudes try to scam on women while they workout. We don’t go to the gym to be your eye candy, dudes. We go there to workout unlike what most of the  men seem to be doing.

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Sometimes you can lose weight by just changing how you eat. Of course, exercise always increases the rate of weight loss, but I like to say it all starts in the kitchen. There are a few little changes you can make to promote weight loss and it’s easy!

1. Whole wheat. Switch from white breads, regular pastas, and flour tortillas. You can find all of these things in whole wheat.
   See, when you eat white bread you’re eating bleached grains. Bread isn’t supposed to be that white. It’s not naturally that white. In the bleaching process you lose essential vitamins your body requires, such as the vitamin E antioxidant, the essential wheat germ and bran, and leaves the fattening starches and poor quality proteins.
   You might as well eat cardboard.
2. Switch to Skim or 1% Milk. Anything else has more fat in it.. Most children drink a lot of milk, and they are filling themselves up on it. Many mothers have a hard time getting their children to eat food when they’ve had milk all day.
   If you do drink 2% or whole milk you need to watch your fat intake elsewhere in your diet. Otherwise you’ll be overloading on it. It’s easiest to switch milks.
3. Cut back on the snacks. I know everyone says it, but it’s true. Even the 100 calories packs of cookies are still cheating a healthy diet. It’s still a cookie. It still has sugars and cholesterol in it. Same for potato chips, you don’t need those! They have way too much saturated fat and sodium in them.
4. Stop drinking soda. This is a big one. Its empty calories! Of course you can have one every now and then but most Americans drink WAY too much soda pop. (Ignore the alcohol in my fridge that sits there for months before being opened lol.)
   To elaborate how much soda can cause weight gain I’ll give you some stats:
   My husband used to drink 6 cans or more of soda a day and moderately exercise. He got up to 180lbs and 22% body fat. When he quit drinking it and started exercising more he dropped to 165lbs and 9% body fat. It makes a huge difference!
5. Leaner meat. When you buy your meat from the store check the label. Try and buy the leaner beef. Also chicken and fish are a great way to lower your fat intake and give some more variety to your weekly menu.
6. Calcium-Rich Foods. Calcium promotes fat loss. So eat foods such as yogurt, milk, low-fat nonprocessed cheeses.
7. Eat more often. This is probably the easiest and biggest change you can make. Your body isn’t made to eat only 2 or 3 times a day. When you eat like this you eat more in one sitting, and your body cannot process it all. So it stores it as fat. Try eating smaller portions five to six times a day.
   What I occasionally do is just split my meal in half, then put one half in the fridge and eat it two hours later.

A lot of people have the excuse that they don’t have any gear to workout with! Well, you don’t need it! Here are a few easy exercises you can do in your living room! Or in my case, your sister in law’s living room!

The Four-Point Plank

This exercise will increase your strength and endurance drastically if you perform it often enough, as well as help that core area we all worry about! This is a core and almost all over exercise!

Start with your stomach on the floor. Prop yourself up on your elbows making to keep them in line with your shoulders. You should be on your twos with your feet should be shoulder width apart. Lift your hips off the flor and try and keep your shoulder, back and hips aligned. Concentrate on holding your core tight, doing this by pressing the navel into the spine. Remember to breathe!

This is not a repetition exercise, its endurance. Start this exercise with 15-second sets and gradually add 10 seconds per week.

The Three and Two-Point Plank

In the three-point plank you assume plank position and lift one leg off the ground. To increase the difficulty, leave both feet on the floor but lift one arm up straight in front.  For both exercises alternate limbs every 10 seconds.

The two-point plank is considerably harder. It combines a leg raise and opposite arm rise while in the plank position. Alternate limbs every 10 seconds.

Windshield Wiper

Lie with your back on the floor and arms spread to each side. Lift your feet off the ground with your knees at a 90 degree angle. Rotate your thighs to the right until the outer thigh touches the ground and then rotate to the left in similar fashion. Keep your knees together the entire time. This exercise works the outer thighs and abdominals.

There are three levels of difficulty for this exercise:  Thighs straight and knees bent at a 90 degree angle, thighs straight and knees bent at a 30 degree angle, and legs extended fully.

Supine Hip Extension

Lying flat on the floor place your heels on a bench, chair, couch, child, dog, whatever so that your hips are on the floor and your legs raised. Place your arms out to your sides for support. Contract your posterior, or bum, muscles to raise your hips to full extension. Pause for a count, then lower back down. This exercise focuses on the back and core as well as the bum.

To increase the difficulty of this exercise you can move to a One-Leg Supine Hip Extension, by lifting one leg 6 inches over your bench, chair, couch, child or dog.

Squat Jump

So everyone knows how to do a normal squat, sit back till your butt is level with the ground with your knees shoulder width apart. In the Squat Jump you place your hands behind your head during the whole routine. When you come up from your squat, you explode up with a jump. You may pause in between jumps for a breath or you can do them continuously. Imagine a spring. This is a lower body exercise.

]]> http://www.sushi-cookie.net/2010/08/5-easy-exercises-you-can-do-in-your-living-room/feed/ 4 http://www.sushi-cookie.net/2010/08/supplements-and-me/ http://www.sushi-cookie.net/2010/08/supplements-and-me/#comments Sun, 01 Aug 2010 19:26:27 +0000 Sushicookie http://www.sushi-cookie.net/?p=918 This week’s fit point explores supplements, and its actually something I’ve been having issue with lately.

I have tried a few things. We’ve (me and Mr. Sushicookie) done the energy boosters, the N.O Products, the fat burners, the protein shakes, the vitamins, and I can’t say I’m overly impressed with much of them.

I do enjoy a protein shake because right down to anatomical science- it’s basic and we need it. Protein is easy, protein works. I add a little bit of glutamine to my protein shakes after a resistance workout to help repair the muscles. But if you’re female you don’t really need much glutamine.

As for the science made products, I’m sometimes iffy on those. When you start mixing all kinds of stuff and generating products to improve health or fitness levels, it starts to get a little confusing. A lot of people really worry about what they put in their bodies. That’s great, but sometimes it’s a lil overboard on the worry. I just research what I am looking at taking, the good and the bad. You can’t just google “negative effects of X” you should look at it overall. Sometimes people will say anything about a body building product if they don’t believe in it’s effectiveness or it’s health value.

I’ve tried a fat burner, caffeine based and no ephedrine. I won’t use an ephedrine based product just because it has it’s risks. They do work, but you can usually burn just as much fat with a little more effort the old fashioned way. In my opinion they are really only good for people in that have hit a plateau or they are preparing for a competition. And not for long periods of use. I had issue with taking them because I’m on Zoloft for my PMDD (not depression, I am not depressed!) and it gives me a sensitivity to caffeine. So this kind of hinders how much of any kind of supplement I can take anymore. I did however drop about 3-4% of body-fat while on them.

As for the Zoloft, I take it to calm my raging PMDD. My PMDD doesn’t come with the intense cramps like some women. It comes with raging pms and cranky attitude. I’m either frustrated or just plain ol’ pissed off for about 3 weeks out of a month. I’ve tried birth control to help regulate it but it only helps soo much. If you’ve known me for any bit of time you probably know I was always kinda bitchy when I got irritated. The zoloft has helped me with it. I’m not as moody as I was before.

Before I went on Zoloft I used N.O.Xplode and it was a great producte for some extra pump and boost before a resistance workout. But your body can get used to it and it looses it’s effectiveness. I felt it was never as good as the first jug I took even after I cycled out of it. I have also tried Jack3d. Just thinking about that stuff gives me a shudder of disgust. It tastes horrible. Really, not even the new flavor is very appetizing. It kept me up all night, I was at a racing heart rate and I just didn’t feel good on that stuff.

Overall, I’ve tried a few things, but I’m not super impressed enough to keep taking anything besides my protein shakes. I’m actually about to just give up on trying the industries products and go all natural. I’m tired of wasting time and money on these products.

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