I don't run as often as I would like to. I used to dislike running, but it became a very enjoyable part of my fitness routine. After training indoors for so long, the freedom of just running is addictive.
The baby keeps me indoors, I cannot leave her alone to go out and run. So I end up doing a lot of cardio at home. I try to keep it interesting, never do the same workout two days in a row, from kickboxing, to tae bo, to free style calisthenics, to weighted cardio routines, it depends on how strong I am feeling, how much time I have, and how much 'sinning' I have done.
My usual run is about 7 kms. I have a set route, and I keep to it.
But today, I found out I would have ran further if I had the time. I ran the distance faster and still wanted more when I walked into my door, but the sun was going down, and I hadn't planned for a longer run.
I learnt an important lesson, all the cardio conditioning in the house does contribute to how fast and for how long I run. I killed my cardio machines long ago with overuse, so I don't have a treadmill or cross trainer anymore. However, whatever I do helped me increase my endurance and speed.
Perhaps this year I can finally do that half marathon I've been wanting to do, if I can find a baby sitter.
Have an active day people!
Saturday, 16 February 2013
Friday, 8 February 2013
Post Workout photos
Thursday, 7 February 2013
Bless the broken road....
Here is my "shame on me for not knowing better post".
I haven't always been a fitness enthusiast. In fact, most of my life was spent enjoying the taste of all types of food, I love food, food that tastes good. When I have time, and a good kitchen, I enjoy cooking, presentation of food matters a lot to me, perhaps I should start a cooking blog, but that is for another day....
I love fried foods, no one could believe I actually bought potatoes to make into fries at home, thinking it too much work for a single person (those were my single days). So one of the things I did was limit fried foods to once a week. I also cooked in ways that added a lot of fat onto my food. So as opposed to frying an egg where it absorbs most of the oil you put onto the pan, I begun boiling eggs. I also begun mashing my potatoes and adding a little milk instead of butter or cream to them. It's the small things like these that count when you begin your journey.
I gave up sugar. This I did a long time ago, I was 18, overweight, with a low self esteem and decided enough is enough. Since then, I have dropped off the wagon a few times regarding exercise and other types of foods but I have retained my distaste for sugar. I do not sweeten my tea, or coffee (when I take it), I prefer natural yoghurt, I don't do fanta orange anymore (I loved fanta orange, people have a love for cola drinks but for me, it was fanta orange). I also eat ice cream once in a long while. It is difficult to keep to this as my husband has a sweet tooth but I do try.
Alcohol - no I didn't give this up completely but my intake has reduced to a couple of glasses of red wine a month. I loved the taste of a cold beer after work, a habit I acquired while working in pretty bad conditions in very hot climates. Even though in my nights out I used to dance until my clothes were soaked with sweat, I over compensated with calories from alcoholic drinks including beer. Of course there was also the snacking on unhealthy food. This habits had to stop completely. On the odd night out, I sip on one glass of wine and a whole lot of water. This is also to ensure I do not wake up groggy and destroy whatever I had planned for the day. It's called growing up...I never thought it would happen :-)
Late mornings, unplanned meals and mealtimes, disorganised living - Being a mother has taught a lot about being organised. The first three months taught me that I can survive (just barely) with a lot less sleep. Grabbing a snack on the go is the norm for a lot of us. Many a time, these on the go snacks are calorie bursting unhealthy bites with little added nutritional value. Shopping in such a way that the number of meals and portions are taken into account aids in planning. For example, if we consider meat portions, buying by the kilo doesn't make sense. Calculating for example 200 grams per adult per meal we can save a lot of waste and plan our meals better. It has got to a point I know what kind of servings and sizes i have in my fridge save for pulses and legumes. Sounds like work but it isn't. Once it becomes habit, it saves time AND money.
On that note, it's bed time. I will probably go back to this again sometime, I haven't exhausted this particular issue, I am just exhausted.
Have an active day!
I haven't always been a fitness enthusiast. In fact, most of my life was spent enjoying the taste of all types of food, I love food, food that tastes good. When I have time, and a good kitchen, I enjoy cooking, presentation of food matters a lot to me, perhaps I should start a cooking blog, but that is for another day....
I love fried foods, no one could believe I actually bought potatoes to make into fries at home, thinking it too much work for a single person (those were my single days). So one of the things I did was limit fried foods to once a week. I also cooked in ways that added a lot of fat onto my food. So as opposed to frying an egg where it absorbs most of the oil you put onto the pan, I begun boiling eggs. I also begun mashing my potatoes and adding a little milk instead of butter or cream to them. It's the small things like these that count when you begin your journey.
I gave up sugar. This I did a long time ago, I was 18, overweight, with a low self esteem and decided enough is enough. Since then, I have dropped off the wagon a few times regarding exercise and other types of foods but I have retained my distaste for sugar. I do not sweeten my tea, or coffee (when I take it), I prefer natural yoghurt, I don't do fanta orange anymore (I loved fanta orange, people have a love for cola drinks but for me, it was fanta orange). I also eat ice cream once in a long while. It is difficult to keep to this as my husband has a sweet tooth but I do try.
Alcohol - no I didn't give this up completely but my intake has reduced to a couple of glasses of red wine a month. I loved the taste of a cold beer after work, a habit I acquired while working in pretty bad conditions in very hot climates. Even though in my nights out I used to dance until my clothes were soaked with sweat, I over compensated with calories from alcoholic drinks including beer. Of course there was also the snacking on unhealthy food. This habits had to stop completely. On the odd night out, I sip on one glass of wine and a whole lot of water. This is also to ensure I do not wake up groggy and destroy whatever I had planned for the day. It's called growing up...I never thought it would happen :-)
Late mornings, unplanned meals and mealtimes, disorganised living - Being a mother has taught a lot about being organised. The first three months taught me that I can survive (just barely) with a lot less sleep. Grabbing a snack on the go is the norm for a lot of us. Many a time, these on the go snacks are calorie bursting unhealthy bites with little added nutritional value. Shopping in such a way that the number of meals and portions are taken into account aids in planning. For example, if we consider meat portions, buying by the kilo doesn't make sense. Calculating for example 200 grams per adult per meal we can save a lot of waste and plan our meals better. It has got to a point I know what kind of servings and sizes i have in my fridge save for pulses and legumes. Sounds like work but it isn't. Once it becomes habit, it saves time AND money.
On that note, it's bed time. I will probably go back to this again sometime, I haven't exhausted this particular issue, I am just exhausted.
Have an active day!
Monday, 4 February 2013
Trying 'gym' and it's not working? Here is the probable reason why
We Kenyans have a unique language, we swear our English is Queens English but the closest it comes to that is the spelling of colour and every other word Americans chose to adulterate (ha ha ha...I'm Kenyan after all).
This is not a post on English, though I am picking on one of the phrases often used by women here.
"I have tried gym, it doesn't work"....
What does "gym" entail? Unfortunately, I am not privy to what activities exactly went on in the gym, at what intensity and for how long. For some, it is simply "exercise". In my opinion, unless there is a serious underlying medical condition we don't know about, which happens in a very small percentage, the probable reasons that "gym" didn't work are....
1. You were not honest with yourself....
I have never been to an AA meeting but I imagine that the reason behind the phrase "hello, I'm soandso, and I'm an alcoholic" is recognising that one has a problem. <<<<< Did you notice the non-american spelling right there? :-)
Being honest has to go along with being realistic. This means knowing how much you burned in the gym. It takes an unbelievably long time to burn a double cheese burger. Or a doughnut, that is, comparative to the time it takes to eat it. So passing by a fast food place right after "doing gym" just doesn't work.
2. You were not patient
When we watch "the biggest loser" or the Kenyan equivalent "slimpossible" we see large amounts of weight lost in a short period of time. We tend to forget these people have sacrificed other activities in order to become a part of our entertainment menu for a chance to change their lives and win money or some other prizes. Most of us do not have that luxury.
We also did not put on that weight in a day, or a week or a month. It will therefore take more than a month to lose it. When I was eighteen, it took me a year to lose about twenty kilos on my own without a trainer. After having my little girl, it took me about half as much time to lose that weight. Remember though, I was breast feeding as well as exercising. Half the effort needed right there.
If we are patient, we will start seeing results. It takes time to see visible results, but your body begins to adapt and change from day one. It's like those ads which we see on quitting smoking or the articles that show what happens one hour, one day, one month, and several years into quitting smoking. Day one, your body begins to change, your muscles break down in order to rebuild themselves into stronger versions, your heart begins to get stronger, your lungs begin to get stronger as well. Your bone density begins to get better, your mind begins to work better, your concentration levels improve, all this begins on day one, but the changes happen a little everyday. Keeping at it is key.
3. The intensity was wrong, the time actually spent exercising was too short, form was wrong...
Everybody became a professor once Dr. Google came to being. There is a lot of information out there. A lot of it good, but in same measure, a lot of it wrong and even harmful. If you're keen, you must have read a few stories of diet scams and the like. Following wrong advice (especially advice that makes it seem easier than it should be) could also harm your fitness and weight loss efforts.
I do not advocate for hours and hours spent working out. Instead, I advocate for making good use of the little time available. I usually exercise for a maximum of one hour but usually between half an hour and fourty-five minutes aiming for five hours a week. I have found this to be effective in losing weight in a challenging (but not impossibly so) way and also sustainable. I do not chit chat when working out and usually put my phone on silent. This is because it is such a short period that even a phone call can take me off course and cut into my time such that I don't exercise. We live in busy times.
Also, intensity counts. You have to challenge yourself. If you find that toning with body weight has become too easy, add weights. Our bodies adapt and if we don't surprise them every so often, the gains we make will plateau. Don't be afraid to break a sweat by jogging if you have been walking (unless the physician says you shouldn't). You'll be surprised what happens if you just work a little harder.
Wow, this is one of the longest posts I've ever typed out....still here? Great! That's it for tonight!
Have an active day!
This is not a post on English, though I am picking on one of the phrases often used by women here.
"I have tried gym, it doesn't work"....
What does "gym" entail? Unfortunately, I am not privy to what activities exactly went on in the gym, at what intensity and for how long. For some, it is simply "exercise". In my opinion, unless there is a serious underlying medical condition we don't know about, which happens in a very small percentage, the probable reasons that "gym" didn't work are....
1. You were not honest with yourself....
I have never been to an AA meeting but I imagine that the reason behind the phrase "hello, I'm soandso, and I'm an alcoholic" is recognising that one has a problem. <<<<< Did you notice the non-american spelling right there? :-)
Being honest has to go along with being realistic. This means knowing how much you burned in the gym. It takes an unbelievably long time to burn a double cheese burger. Or a doughnut, that is, comparative to the time it takes to eat it. So passing by a fast food place right after "doing gym" just doesn't work.
2. You were not patient
When we watch "the biggest loser" or the Kenyan equivalent "slimpossible" we see large amounts of weight lost in a short period of time. We tend to forget these people have sacrificed other activities in order to become a part of our entertainment menu for a chance to change their lives and win money or some other prizes. Most of us do not have that luxury.
We also did not put on that weight in a day, or a week or a month. It will therefore take more than a month to lose it. When I was eighteen, it took me a year to lose about twenty kilos on my own without a trainer. After having my little girl, it took me about half as much time to lose that weight. Remember though, I was breast feeding as well as exercising. Half the effort needed right there.
If we are patient, we will start seeing results. It takes time to see visible results, but your body begins to adapt and change from day one. It's like those ads which we see on quitting smoking or the articles that show what happens one hour, one day, one month, and several years into quitting smoking. Day one, your body begins to change, your muscles break down in order to rebuild themselves into stronger versions, your heart begins to get stronger, your lungs begin to get stronger as well. Your bone density begins to get better, your mind begins to work better, your concentration levels improve, all this begins on day one, but the changes happen a little everyday. Keeping at it is key.
3. The intensity was wrong, the time actually spent exercising was too short, form was wrong...
Everybody became a professor once Dr. Google came to being. There is a lot of information out there. A lot of it good, but in same measure, a lot of it wrong and even harmful. If you're keen, you must have read a few stories of diet scams and the like. Following wrong advice (especially advice that makes it seem easier than it should be) could also harm your fitness and weight loss efforts.
I do not advocate for hours and hours spent working out. Instead, I advocate for making good use of the little time available. I usually exercise for a maximum of one hour but usually between half an hour and fourty-five minutes aiming for five hours a week. I have found this to be effective in losing weight in a challenging (but not impossibly so) way and also sustainable. I do not chit chat when working out and usually put my phone on silent. This is because it is such a short period that even a phone call can take me off course and cut into my time such that I don't exercise. We live in busy times.
Also, intensity counts. You have to challenge yourself. If you find that toning with body weight has become too easy, add weights. Our bodies adapt and if we don't surprise them every so often, the gains we make will plateau. Don't be afraid to break a sweat by jogging if you have been walking (unless the physician says you shouldn't). You'll be surprised what happens if you just work a little harder.
Wow, this is one of the longest posts I've ever typed out....still here? Great! That's it for tonight!
Have an active day!
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