Sunday, June 20, 2010

It is honestly hot out there!

My goodness....the humidity is high....not just affecting those of us that exercise outside but those who work hard inside as well....
it's hot, plain and simple.

What's important now is to DRINK LOTS OF WATER! I've said it before and I'll say it again.....water is your friend.

According to the Food Guide Pyramid (www.mypyramid.gov) you should consume 2-3 quart of water PER DAY......that's EVERYDAY, people.

There are also guidelines concerning the amount of water you should drink before during and after your workouts. The most important one, I believe is after your workout water consumption. This is important for several reasons.
The first one being that I do believe people will listen to their bodies and drink water when they need to during their workout sessions.....the rule here happens to be 7-10 oz every 10-20 minutes.

However, after your workout it might be fun for some of you to see the dramatic weight loss you achieved after a good sweat....well....that water needs to be replaced. Losing water weight is not the goal of exercise, the goal of exercise to to get strong muscles, challenge your heart and perhaps fat loss for some....
Water loss will occur, but for a fully functioning body, you need to replace it....16-24 oz of water for every pound of weight loss after exercise.

Hydration is key....



Sunday, June 13, 2010

my first "injury"

Well I am not the type of person that gets injured. I really believe in listening to my body and how I am feeling each day and building my workout around that. If at the beginning of the week I think I could run 5 files 3 days that week and on the second day of this running escapade, I feel heavy and sore and like this could be the longest 5 miles of my life, I might only run 3, better yet, I might just do a yoga class instead.

I never want to be hurt or feel bad....I exercise to feel good.

So last week I got injured....and took 3 days off from working out. I was a little bit upset about the whole thing, but knew I would do myself no good if I injured myself even further.

Let me tell you how it all began.... So I have been studying for this ACE personal trainers fitness exam pretty intensely for the last week. During day 2 or 3 of this intense study session, I was at a local coffee shop and thinking about how small the table was and how that caused me to really crunch up my body and hunch over, but I just kept right on studying....taking notes, making note cards...
Fast forward to Tuesday and I have the worst pain in the right side of my neck which radiates down to my right shoulder... which affects my ability to turn my head, lift my arm or even sleep comfortably. This was not good. So I rested. I didn't even run, which I thought I could probably do except I do have the tendency to tighten my shoulders when I run....and I just didn't want to risk it.
So I rested....and still studied, just more mindfully, and watched a little bit more TV....for healing purposes, of course.

Cut to Saturday and a friend invites me to coffee....so I decide to run to her house (about .5 miles) and then we walk about 2 miles to the Roasterie with me sometimes carrying an approx 20 lb baby and I am feeling good. I can still feel a little pull with certain activities.....but not like Wednesday. We walk 2 miles home and then I run the .5 to my house and feel renewed....like I can workout again.

And I will.

Watch out, Monday.



image from www.weheartit.com

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Rule #19

If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don't.

Food Rules
Michael Pollan