We're Moving!

My Blog has a new home.

www.njahira.com

Come visit. All the old posts are there, and new ones coming up!

Things you don't think about when you're working out that are totally awesome for your body.....

Sooo....we all know the benefits of exercise....weight loss, improved health, improved everyday functionality...you get to feel superior over everyone who sits on their but the whole day...just kidding on the last part.

1. Have a problem with memory? Regular exercise helps to sharpen memory. The sweaty sessions increases cell production in the hippocampus responsible for memory and learning. This is true for both children and adults. Who doesn't want to have a sharper brain? In the same line, as we age, our brains degenerate. Regular exercise whilst cannot completely stop this process, can help prevent cognitive decline. Forget anti ageing treatments, nature provided us with the best one, just keep moving!

2. Exercise helps manage both physical and mental stress. Not only does going through a sweat session release soothing hormones, research has also shown it to reduce the effects of ageing caused by stress.

3. Are you required to be creative in your day to day activities? Exercise boosts creativity. So you see? Not only for the buffed up guys at the gym, also the artsy types can benefit.

4. The brain releases 'dopamine' during exercise, the "reward hormone"....ever heard of the runners high? Or the fact that some people get addicted to exercise? It is because of this hormone. Therefore, exercise can become a substitute for recovering addicts. Much healthier addiction. (To a certain level of course)

5. You actually get more done than your sedentary colleagues if you exercise. No matter how busy you think you are, making time for exercise actually makes you more productive. Ever wonder how that mom of three young babies does it all? You know the one, Maria Kang? Her exercise regime does help, it is not a punishment, but it gives you energy to do all that you want to do.

6. Exercising landladies give birth to smarter former tenants. Let me rephrase that, exercising pregnant ladies give birth to smarter babies. Not only is exercise good for the body it is also good for the developing baby inside you. Brisk walking will do. You don't have to go all ninja looking for a baby with an IQ of 200.

7. Constipation, gas, ....regular bowel movement. I had to add this because of my current pregnancy. I pity whomever is behind me when I'm jogging or working out, that's when all the gas decides to come out. It's a "side effect" of being a baby making machine, my digestive tract is slow because of hormones. Many women suffer from constipation during pregnancy. Because of diet, regular people also may have difficulties in bowel movement. Runners will tell you the first place they run after a run is to the bathroom for a different kind of run....he he he, I am talking from experience. Seriously, try exercise, it works!

Feel good today, get some exercise in.

Keep active!

An "in between" song in my class today...we cool down with this...

Pitbull's Fireball is a favourite in my classes.... 20 weeks along and still dancing!

Week 20....I can still do burpees!

I never thought I could love burpees but now I do....why? Because I can still do them!

You know those exercises you love to hate and you do because you feel so great afterwards but a great sense of apprehension and dread comes over you like a cold blanket when you wake up and realise it's plyometrics today and it's all box jumps and jump squats and burpees? I don't get that anymore....all I wonder is, will I be able to do this? Am I at the point when I have to accept that I have to really cut back and modify my workouts? And each week, I answer myself, I hope not.

My gym membership has ran out, and I have decided to renew it in January. It's holiday season and we are out and about so much that I end up working out at home when I can anyway, the membership is a waste for now. Which means my resistance training has come down to kettle bells and dumbbells the latter of which I do high rep because I do not have heavy weights at home...

But I have had to start modifying. No lying crunches, mostly because I feel they would be a waste of time and promote abdominal separation anyway. I can still lie on my back comfortably.....yay! But do side planks and T stands for abs without the weights :-( booo . I also do standing ab exercises instead, without much of the crunching action. I can still do normal push ups but when I am doing more than total 30 reps in a workout, I end up using a step for the last few sets.


(Dear Santa, I would love to have a home gym for christmas, or a rowing machine, whichever comes first. )

The appetite monster has hit me hard and I have had to satisfy my sweet tooth more often. Which means more trips to the grocery store...thank goodness it's mango season otherwise my fruit budget would hit the roof. Hubby doesn't understand the amount of fruit I can eat in a day....I do most of the fruit shopping thank goodness, he has no idea how much fruit I really can eat :-P Living in a tropical country rocks! Farmers markets, good prices, and all year round fresh local produce means you never run out.

About half way through and I can bet I have been twice as active as I was in my first pregnancy already at this point! The plan is to keep going as long as my body allows me to.

Have an active holiday!

So, I got some some kefir starter on Friday evening and I've been a busy girl

Let's play catch up first. I live in Kenya "hence ...miss fit kenya" born and raised here. Sometimes it's difficult finding some ingredients here, the last few years, it's become better. However, speciality stores haven't come up and things like cultures are not yet commercially available...which is why Kefir is a big deal to me.....Can't find it in stores....

I got some milk kefir starter from a friend of mine Friday evening. I have never met her, she sent the office messenger, but I know her because she is a fitness friend, and we share that online bond (Thanks Judy aka Nimo Mimo). The origin of the kefir is Cyprus, through another fitness and health friend (thanks Daisy!), who brought the Kefir to Kenya, and now our little Kefir community is growing.

Kefir is cultured from milk. Whilst one can confuse it with yoghurt, it isn't yoghurt. The difference being in the micro organisms present in each and the fermentation process. Kefir contains beneficial bacteria and fungi while yoghurt is cultured from bacteria. Kefir has a tart taste while yoghurt is mild, the former is also fermented at room temperature which means it takes longer to ferment than yoghurt which is made in a warm, controlled environment. Both have health benefits which I won't go through right now.

I have been a busy girl.


I make yoghurt at home, so on receiving the kefir, I knew it needed to be fed so that I don't compromise the bacteria and yeast in it. I fermented my first batch that very night.

The next morning, (Saturday) I fed my kefir to bulk it up a bit because I intended to try out kefir sour dough bread and I needed more. The days are warm so by evening, I had a decent amount of which half I used to make a kefir starter dough. Unfortunately I didn't take a photo of that, I was in a hurry, it was date night with hubby and this pregnancy has made me an ugly duckling, it takes much longer to get ready (and pretty).

The starter is made by making a dough of flour with the kefir. I used white flour, which I don't mind using because the culturing process transforms the dough eating away the gluten and adding all sorts of good nutrition in it.

This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find my starter bubbling with life, it had doubled in size (or more) and was definitely ready for use. Please refer to my blog on sour dough bread of which you will find it takes much longer for that kind of starter to be ready.

http://missfitkenya.blogspot.com/2013/06/how-to-do-your-own-sour-dough-bread.html

As I write I am waiting for the final rise in my dough and to put it in the oven. Here is the process.....

1. Take your kefir starter, add bread flour, salt, honey, durum flour or rye flour, water, some yeast....I usually eyeball my quantities which my husband hates....he's very precise, I was brought up using my hands and eyes to measure in the kitchen. If you want I can approximate the amount.

Mix these into a dough, cover with a wet cloth or cling film, leave to rise to double the size... (about one hour or slightly more)

(Note: Rye flour and durum flour are heavy flours and tend to produce very dense breads. For beginners and those who like lighter breads, I would advice you use wholemeal bread flour instead or spelt. We like dense breads and have grown accustomed to them )

Kefir starter made into a dough with addition of other ingredients

And the dough has doubled in size....

Now, knead the dough and divide it, putting it into oiled bread tins according to how much bread you have made. Cover with oiled cling film which makes it easier to remove if the bread rises above this. This second rise should also take about an hour. 

Just put the dough, now waiting for it to rise.....

And what did I do with the remaining Kefir? I took some, put in a jar and into the freezer so that I don't lose starter, and the rest I "fed" and put in the fridge to use in some recipe or another (smoothie, pancake mix, as a drink on it's own...)

This batch was going into the fridge

Now waiting for the rise after which I should bake it for about 45 minutes....Since this is a first, lets hope the results are edible :-)

The result was good.  The loaf turned yellow becaise of tge durum and had a characteristic dour taste of sour dough bread blended in with durum which also has it's own peculiar taste.  A dense bread great for open sandwiches.

And by request....here are two videos, 17 weeks pregnant, leading private zumba class

All the ladies of the group "Operation Lose that Pot Belly" :-) Here's a little Operation losing that pot belly at work. Everyone is at ease in my class, the instructor has the biggest belly of all!

Keep active!

You are now 17 weeks pregnant....

I wish I was past half way. People say...enjoy the journey, but I like the one woman I met with a one month old baby at a play ground where I had taken my toddler out to play....she was honest....she said....I don't envy you in this journey....that's honesty for you! Pregnancy can be a trial, but the results are so worth it...just like doing legs twice a week. The chicken walk is so worth it.

So, my inbox this week has a few e-mails reminding me I am 17 weeks along....I do also subscribe to pregnancy news, I'm not all sweat and buff you know! And I spoke to my mother this morning. I told her I wanted to come over for a cup of tea after my workout....because my next class was late in the afternoon...her first response? You're still having class?

Part 2 - Training techniques - Why failing to plan is planning to fail

4. Being stagnant - Nothing ever grows by being stagnant - Yes, you may not realise it but you stagnate. I see it many times. The same program is followed every month with the same repetitions and the same weight, the same intensity and duration for cardio. In the beginning, you saw progress. Your body adapted pretty well too. You developed strength and became fitter, the weight started falling off. But at some  point, you hit a plateau and became frustrated.
Why isn't this working? Why should I bother?
Your body is a pretty efficient machine, it adapts pretty fast to new stresses you put on it. Which means you're now better at doing what you do and you need to change the kind of stress you put on it in order to get more gains.
Talk to your trainer about varying your program every 6 - 8 weeks. If you're training by yourself, read and research ways to break a plateau. A change is as good as a rest. Usually, this is enough to begin showing progress again.

5. Diet - Yes, diet.
You see, there are so many people who believe that exercising will improve their health and will read and research a lot on exercise forgetting that only 20% of the battle is won with physical activity. You cannot outrun what you eat.