80% Diet: 20% Exercise

Nobody's lying when they give you a stat somewhere around there. I'm living proof. Since I've completely turned my life around and been an exercise fanatic AND spinning instructor, I've discovered some interesting things. I still have super-pudgy sections after over 10 MONTHS of regularly, and vigorously, exercising 4-7 times per week. At first, I lost about 15 lb, then gained back a few (probably muscle), and I've now plateaued around about 10lbs lower from starting weight. The old me would say, "Great, my body doesn't want to lose any more and I'm stuck here because of genetics and such..." W. R. O. N. G.

"As a good rule of thumb: for optimal health and longevity, a man should not have more than one-half inch of skin that he can pinch near his umbilicus (belly button) and a woman should not have more than one inch. Almost any fat on the body over this minimum is a health risk." 

-Eat to Live

I have beyond that^, and that is what scares me. I think there is a lot that goes into it for me, so I'm going on a structured 6-week plan/experiment to see what I can do to that inner-tube around my mid-section. I don't think this will be too difficult for me, because throughout Lent, I did do a lot of this (fruits and veggies), but I still included whatever I wanted on many occasions... however, when I was on a total Eat to Live day, I felt AMAZING. I just think I need some structure and a goal to really commit to developing the good habits. I'm in this for longevity and quality of life, and to adopt healthy habits NOW, as opposed to my 40's and on when I'll truly be paying for all that pizza and sugar.

6 Clean Weeks Start TODAY:
-As many fruit & vegetables as I can possibly consume
-No animal products (meat or dairy)
-NO BEER.

I think my new-found taste for beer has something to do with this too, so if I do want a drink, I'm gonna stick to my old-fave, red wine, but I'm still not drinking very much AT ALL on this. I have a lot to say about all of this, but I clearly have time to share (42 days!). For now, if you'd like to understand what it is I'm so adamant about, you can begin by watching this:

It's easier than asking you to read a whole book because... it's 90 minutes on Netflix instant. Just watch it to understand some things about food, I promise I'm not trying to make anyone into a crazy health-nut (unless you want to be), but I do think everyone deserves to know the truth about how these daily decisions affect your life and your health. It will give you the gist, so if you do become super-interested in this stuff like me, you can head on over to Eat to Live (and/or numerous other books) and read your little heart out!

More to come on my food journey...

♥AshPiece 

Back to the Blog with a Book!

I wrote an entire new blog post with all of my New Years resolutions, but didn't post it. I don't think it's that interesting... but I will say that goal-setting has served me well! I have a whole new set and just keep working at it here in NYC!

Something I am starting is eating HEALTHIER throughout lent. I have been reading this book:

...and it is seriously rocking my WORLD. I've grown up so confused and frustrated with nutrition because as a young ballerina, I became aware of my body at a young age, and never truly understood it all... there are so many LIES out there that we are taught by the media and even in SCHOOL. No wonder we are one of the least-healthy countries in the world. I have tried the stupidest things to get my body to where I know it should be. Dr. Fuhrman explains why diets fail, and why there's only one way out that makes your body lean, healthy, and defensive against illnesses and cancer. This is the real deal. No really... don't be fooled by the flashy phrases on the cover; this is a knowledgeable, scientific book all about nutrition (in depth). My scientist sister-in-law suggested it to me so there ya go. :) My biggest goal with this is not to focus on superficial gains, but that I am fueling my body in a way that it can function the way that God designed it to. I'm eating as much as I possibly can, and just making sure that most of it is all natural fruits and vegetables.. my biggest hurdle here is cutting back on cheese and grains. I love them.. AH! Here we go....!

♥AshPiece  

How to Love Moe?

My journey has continued a great deal, and I've been learning a lot... so why haven't I been blogging?? I have no idea...

I'm going to illustrate my thoughts today by telling a fictitious example story, because when imagining how to describe with he/she/them's I got really overwhelmed... :)

I have been friends, acquaintances, and even in deeply-close relationships with people like "Moe." Moe continuously goes through life expecting the worst to happen to him. Every day, saying that something awful will happen, and surprisingly (though not so much), it does! With these low expectations in life, one would expect Moe to be prepared and handle the hardships he asks the universe for well, however this is not the case. Moe is extremely shocked whenever life throws him a curve-ball, and *get this* blames everyone around him for his misfortune. It is a truly tragic story. Moe is unhappy. Moe chooses to stay unhappy. Moe makes everyone around him, strangers and loved ones alike, unhappy, and Moe cannot figure out why he returns, time and time again, to this miserable state of being.

Those who care about Moe can see this, but are completely helpless, because conditions like these can ONLY be truly resolved from within. Moe may find a good day, week, or few months in a new distraction, but the lack of true self-awareness, realization, and understanding will make any sense of happiness fleeting and unstable. The worst part about this is that in the process of hurting himself, Moe also hurts and pushes away all of the people near and dear to him. He lives a life of constant destruction, like the Tasmanian Devil, tearing through people (even innocent strangers) haphazardly, and ending up standing alone, in the middle of the bloody rubble, angry at his victims, and still completely clueless to his true problems.

We all have a little Moe in us from time to time, and I know we all know or have known and loved a Moe before in our journey. I haven't quite figured out how to handle the Moe's in my life yet. I truly believe that this is a lot of what I am meant to be exploring right now. The only conclusion I have right now is to continue to express love to them as best I can, without subjecting myself to their abuse. Unfortunately, I have a complete set of issues that directly clash with true Moe's, so I have a really hard time knowing how to handle them. One thing I do know is that everybody needs, deserves and desires love, and although Moe's don't express love well at all, they still need it. Love is about giving, and not expecting anything in return. When it is returned, that is true beauty, but even when it is not... it is good and right to love.

This is something I have to train and re-train myself over and over. It is so easy to get self-righteous and give up on people because they have wronged you and what-not, but true character is shown in the difficult times, not the easy.

love. love. LOVE.

♥AshPiece 

MY AFAA Group Fitness Certification Experience

It's official today! I am a Certified Group Fitness Instructor, and I'm so thrilled! I've been waiting until I received a yay or nay to draft this post. I'd like to share my AFAA experience to help others considering a certification!

So first of all, I read the ENTIRE text book... and that, I recommend. Whether or not you need it all in the exam, surely you want to be a good teacher, and it's all important information to know to embark on a fitness career. A couple months before the date, I made a commitment, signed up, and ordered the study materials. I wanted plenty of time to study thoroughly. You MUST push yourself though... it is a lot of material. Just ask my friends and family that watched me tote around a giant text book and study guide and read it at the pool and wherever we went all summer. :D

In the weeks leading up to the exam, I also did research on the practical portion and how the big day was going to go. I found some beautiful blogs that traced the entire experience from studying to receiving the certification in the mail, which helped put my mind and heart at ease, and really know what I was getting into. Here are a few of the blogs I found:

The Chic Life
Groupfit Power -most in-depth... but old so some of the links are broken, but this takes you to the main pg for all of the posts. There are quite a few going through everything.
Jackie's Health and Fitness

I found a few more too, and was picking them all apart to figure out exactly how to prepare and what was going to happen. The practical exam was the biggest area of anxiety for me... I knew I could do it, but I wanted to be prepared, and AFAA gives only basic info on what that portion entails. If I had to say one thing as advice for the entire day it would be: KNOW your muscle groups! I'd read this in the blogs, and glanced at the labeled guy in the study guide more often than the rest of it, but a LOT rides on that knowledge. I'd say a good 30-40% of the written exam questions stem around the muscles/science of the body, and there's that entire section of the practical, where they call a muscle group (10 total) and you are to demonstrate 2 strength moves and 1 stretch for that muscle group. Sounds easy but I got a little confused in the lower half and had to resort to squats - they work quads, hamstrings, and calves!

I was very fortunate to have an instructor that gave lots of information. She let us know that basically they are looking to see that you won't injure anyone, and know how to do everything correctly with safe alignment and progressions. She also went through the entire practical with us, so that I'd done my planned cardio routine a few times before the testing, and also the muscle groups and teaching portion once before. That helped me relax a bit! She also went through the study guide, and highlighted the important things to remember, which I think helped me ace the test, but I think that was only possible because of how thoroughly I'd studied the material. People who just walked in with blank study guides were the last to leave the exam room, scratching their heads and rocking back and forth.

Walking out of the exam, I couldn't imagine that I didn't pass. I felt extremely confident in my written, and besides a personal hiccup in my plan for the muscle part of the practical, I felt pretty confident that I'd met all of the requirements and performed everything well. 4 long weeks later, I opened the letter to find a brand new card for my wallet!!! YAY! My manager at the yoga studio/gym has expressed that as soon as I get the cert, he wants to start training me to substitute for his kickboxing class. So now begins the true adventure, the actual teaching part...


♥AshPiece

Being a "Yes-Man"

Street Team. That is my new title at Club H as a second job for free membership. It works out wonderfully! My days are full and I basically just stay an extra hour at the gym 4 days a week to hand out promo flyers. Little did I know that I would learn some valuable life lessons standing on the sidewalk in a screen wife-beater and shorts...

This job really heightens my people-watching skills. I notice trends: Most people have a knee-jerk reaction to say "no!" when, often times, they haven't even listened to what is being offered. These people seem angry generally, and inconvenienced that I'm offering them a free workout in 5 words or less.

This makes me think about my own life. When I've gone through patterns of constant knee-jerk "no," I tend to be living in a state of drowning and not asking for help/acknowledging that I want any help in my life. The thing is, we always need help! We can't do it alone! And who knows where something as silly as a flyer can take us??

I've now revised my methods and am trying to retrain my knee-jerk. I'm choosing to take the flyer/advice/assistance/whatever with a smile, then to decide what it's worth to me. If I really don't need it, I throw it away at the next bin and helped that person have a good flyer day (they are truly bi-polar). I mean seriously, people who say "oh I've already got a gym," why not try out another one for FREE? At worst, you take a fit class for free, then head back to your home gym with another style of teaching/learning under your belt and, oh yeah... A WORKOUT! Yeah... I hate it when I do good things for my body; please don't give me a coupon for a free workout. Really?

It's all perspective.. And I'm so thankful to be gaining a new one! Since then, I accepted a handout and had no clue what it was because the guy just kinda grumbled at me, although I understood the "thank you!" when I took it. It was a take-home menu and $2 giftcard for Blockheads! SCORE. All it takes is opening myself to the world and what it has to offer... And I've had a beautiful day all-around today. Giggled at a crazy-hilarious dog walking it's owner, took an awesome Zumba class, smiled at songs on my iPod, gave up my seat on the subway to a woman... I feel so FULL! Do yourself the favor: open up, and be a "yes!-man" You'll be glad you did!


♥AshPiece

Retail Therapy

I LOVE to shop. Right now, with my intense fitness kick, I'm in the market for quality fitness-wear and a good gym bag. All of the women in my family love to shop... and the September issue of Women's Health took away that tiny bit of guilt, and explains a little as to why we're so drawn to the activity. The little blurb on the health page of the issue says:

"Frequent trips to any kind of store could actually extend your life. In a new study, women who went shopping daily for 10 years--even if they didn't end up buying anything--were 23% less likely to die during that time period than those who browsed less often."

Women's Health Source: Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health

So grab your purse and hit the pavement! Just still be mindful of your personal finances (I know I am!!)... the best way to do that is to create quests. Shop around and do research for your important purchases. It will eliminate buyer's remorse, lessen your likelihood to make impulse purchases, help be sure that you get exactly what you want, and helps log those shopping hours for your HEALTH! Right now I'm doing that with the fitness gear and I've also had a few-month-long quest for the perfect pair of flat boots. I know that I can get along without these things for a while, so it makes the quest a fun shopping game! 

Shoppers: take your mark, get set.... GO!