Fitness Safari

The 950' vertical climb at Jamaica's Dunns River Falls was  a piece of cake for this 40-something. I have always considered myself an athlete. I was a three-sport child excelling in basketball, softball and soccer. I dabbled in track & field and spent many afternoons scrambling up trees or playing football with my big brother or my bff. As an adult, distracted by marriage and motherhood, I floundered sport-less for nearly a decade until I discovered surfing at age 30. Still, despite traveling often in pursuit of perfect waves, I wasn't particularly strong or healthy. I was skinny fat, unable to complete a single unassisted pull-up or chin-up and had no idea what a deadlift even was. Almost exactly two years ago, I made a discovery that would change my life forever and start me on a new path of self-discovery that continues to teach me new lessons almost daily. It was Martin Berkhan's  Leangains  website. I couldn't tell if it was a diet or a tr...

I know I just posted yesterday, and don't get used to daily postings from me either, but "<<<<<" This is how  this is how I felt today in the gym. I think my 9-10 days off for vacation were just what I needed to recharge because I just couldn't get tired during my workout. I started with 10 1-minute sprint intervals /  2 min rest and followed with flat bench. I had recently been struggling with my bench because I stopped doing it regularly, but it still felt pretty light after 5 sets of 6-8 reps as I continued increasing the weight. After bench, I did 12 bodyweight neutral-grip chin ups for the hell of it and they were easy - and I'm about 5 lbs heavier than I was pre-vacay. Go figure! Must have been all of that good food in New Orleans and on my cruise coupled with tons of R&R because I've been low carb since I got back five days ago and I feel amazing. So I wanted to post to remind you all that rest and a bit of a refeed can be a...

One of my FB friends posted this photo the other day and it got me thinking about daily habits.  We all have dozens of habits that have been ingrained in us over the years; some good - rising early each day and making the bed, brushing our teeth, showering (optional but highly recommended), getting dressed (not optional), eating our veggies, etc. And there are the not so good habits: not getting enough sleep - which ultimately leads to bad habit #2, hitting snooze six times before getting out of bed, not returning phone calls or emails, arriving late to work, etc. In addition to the daily habits related to our personal hygiene and grooming, what we put in our bodies every day and how much we move are also habits. Do you grab a muffin or donut on your way out the door in the morning or do you chug down a protein shake? Do you pack a healthy lunch or hit the drive thru at lunch? Do you opt for a cheap sugar rush from the vending machine when your energy wanes at 3 pm, or do...

It's been too long since my last post and, while I have a myriad of excuses, I'm not going to list them here. For all intensive purposes, I'm back. What's going on in my life? Hmmmm. Lots actually. I'm still training, but have mixed things up to include some Kettelbell / bodyweight circuit type stuff as well as some heavy days with my old friends, The Big 3. As for diet, I still IF anywhere from 14-16 hours a day. It's just a habit now. I'm also taking a dip in the Carb Nite pool. For those of you not familiar with Carb Nite, it's a power diet protocol developed by a really smart dude - John Kiefer, known simply as "Kiefer." Seriously, the guy's a physicist and he's got a smokin' bod to boot. But his chiseled abs weren't handed to him. They've been sculpted by the years of trial-and-error that led to Carb Nite and his other gaining protocol, Carb Backloading. For Carb Nite, you start with a 9.5 day ultra-low carb period ...

I was recently going through some Precision Nutrition materials when I was struck by one of the most profound questions I have yet to consider.  Do your behaviors match your goals?   Such a simple idea, really. If you want to be strong, fit and healthy, then 90% of the decisions you make every day should in fact reinforce these goals. I know this isn't rocket science, but I think in the frenzy to calculate calories, the appropriate macro-composition of your diet, get to the gym on a regular basis all the while devouring pages and pages of fitness blogs and websites, we almost lose sight of this simple fact. If you want to find your abs (I know I do), all you have to do is ask yourself, every day, "What am I going to do that will get me closer to my goal?" For me this has meant less sitting on the couch and more walking my dog, riding my bike, surfing and training. It also means that, before I eat, I ask myself if what I am about to consume is going to f...

An innocent bystander in my search for Tarpon in the Florida Keys! I know, it's been forever since I updated. It's been a busy couple of months. As some of you already know, my boyfriend's colorectal cancer returned in April - I probably found out right after my last post, hence the hiatus. He had surgery to remove 20% of his liver in early June (will regenerate) and spent the rest of the month recovering. Just as he was feeling better from the surgery, he started chemo and an IV infusion of a protein-based medication.  Naturally, as we were preparing for our vacation to Key West (planned pre-recurrence), he broke out in a horrible rash that only got worse and worse while we were away. Now we're home and he's healing. The trip is over and my fall from the training wagon has come to an end. My IF lifestyle has been so good for me that my endocrinologist lowered my Synthroid dose twice last year. I had actually become clinically hyperactive b/c my body was usi...

Weight is just a number. Read more on the FFF blog page .

What looks like ice cream and tastes like ice cream, but has 12g protein, 19g carbs, a paltry 2.5g fat and just 150 calories packed in a 1.5-cup serving? It's not frozen yogurt, it's not fat free ice cream and it's not sugar free ice cream. What you see in the above photo is my newest creation and the clear front runner for my evening dessert choice for the foreseeable future. Meet Strawberry Cottage Delight.  To whip up your own bowl of this delectable must-try, you will need the following: 1/2 cup 2% lowfat cottage cheese ~1cup or 5-6 large frozen strawberries - no syrup, chopped (could prolly sub other chunky frozen fruits) 1/2 - 1 tsp Truvia or your favorite zero-calorie sweetener to taste Add all ingredients to a food processor and puree until it reaches your desired consistency. I personally enjoy some strawberry chunks in mine. I plan on experimenting with canned coconut milk, bananas and nut butters in my next attempts.  In comparison, an ide...

Fresh fruit will not make you fat. I don't know about you, but my favorite part of any food store is the produce department. I love the rainbow of colors, shapes and sizes on display. The playful misting of the lettuces, the exotic vegetables I've never heard of from parts of the world I've only read about. I can't imagine anyone getting fat by eating a variety of any combination of the foods you find here. So why do people think fruit will make them fat? It's the F-Word - Fructose Fructose, or fruit sugar, is a simple monosaccharide and one  of three dietary monosaccharides, along with glucose and galactose, that are absorbed directly into the bloodstream during digestion. Unlike glucose which can be immediately available to the muscles, however, fructose must first be processed in the liver, giving it the lowest glycemic index of all sugars. Naturally, fructose is fou nd in fruit, many plants and some vegetables, but not in very high concentrations....

Last night when I was finished my bench/pull-up/dip routine, I had some extra energy - and time. I hopped on the treadmill and just started walking. I like walking. Whether it's around the neighborhood with my dog or on a treadmill in the gym, I find that when I'm walking is pretty much the only time my mind is totally free to meander wherever it wants to. I started thinking... Despite the fact that I'm fighting a cold and hadn't slept well in a day or two, I felt really, really great. I wanted to run or even maybe do some HIIT intervals to help ignite my fat burning furnace. But then the voice of my coach echoed in my head, "When on a cut, don't be stupid and do too much." My coach, Andy . Well, maybe those weren't his exact words, but the general idea is spot on. Regardless of how good I feel or how impatient I'm getting with the snail's pace of fat loss I'm experiencing, too much training volume or intensity will only be counterp...

Ever hear the expression, "Too many cooks spoil the broth?"  Put simply it means, when trying to cook something - even something as simple as broth - too many conflicting ideas will ruin it. If you have too many people adding this and that, with no cohesive plan or recipe, your broth will taste more like dishwater than anything palatable when you're done. Training and fitness are the same. I never really put it together until Andy commented on a crazy bench press pyramid routine I tried the other day that I posted on Fitocracy. It's not that he was against the routine, per se, but he did point out that I'm on a pretty strict cut and the volume was way too high and will likely affect recovery and progress at this point. He warned me not to fall prey to the "too many cooks" trap. He's right, of course. But I was frustrated with my RPT bench routine which has stalled at 110 lbs. x 4 reps and was looking to do something different to break through ...

I've been getting dizzy. For the past few days, whenever I sit up too fast from lying down or if I move too quickly, I get that odd out-of-balance feeling and feel like I may fall over - just for a second or two. Curious as to whether this phenomenon was diet or life-threatening-malady related, I did what anyone would do: I Googled it.  "dizzy, low carb diet" yielded the following diagnosis: Orthostatic hypotension, also known as posutral hypotention, orthostasis, and colloquially as head rush or dizzy spell, is a form of hypotension in which a person's blood pressure suddenly falls when the person stands up or stretches. - Wikipedia. I also found a number of forum discussions on various low-carb diet websites discussing this very problem. Some say it's sodium related. Some say it's calorie related. Some say it's fat related...and so on. But the idea that this has something to do with a lack of sodium makes the most sense to me - and it fi...

Yesterday I went to my new gym for my first Saturday workout with a group of men - and one woman - who meet each week to squat, deadlift and bench press. The most helpful of these folks was Jack (#1). Age 77, Jack #1 is a former team USA powerlifter who deadlifts around 440 lbs. Did i mention, he probably weigh 150 lbs soaking wet? He helped me rack and unrack the weights and set up for each person we were working with. He also followed me at the end of each set to ensure I got it racked correctly and safely. Also in the mix was Jack #2 (nicknamed 'the old Russian'). Aged 60-something, in his day, Jack #2 held 14 powerlifting records. I'm not sure if they were state, National or International - I will find out and get back to you. Anyway, the two Jacks were quite helpful and I found it very motivating to work in with them. Since the rack we were using was not adjustable, I had to step outside of it to get ATG in my squats. They all said my form was spot-on and, if any...

Just a quick look back at, well, at my back...to remind me that I am making progress. The cut diet is hard and I'm struggling, but I'm trying to stay positive and stick to it. Every now and again I like to look back to find the motivation I need to stay the course. The harsher flash in the second pic washes out what I believe are my improving back muscles...anyway, here's today's inspiration: January 2011 - 129 lbs of 'skinny fat'  January 2012 - 119 lbs; goodbye 'skinny fat'

This is me Jan 3 - before I started the cut. Ok, I'm on day 7 of my 12-week cut with Andy Morgan and I'm feeling good. Days 1-3 were pretty brutal as I adjusted to the wakeup call of very low calories. My first workout, which fell on Day 3, was absolutely horrid - and it wasn't even fasted. My lack of energy and poor performance was probably related to a number of factors - diet, sleep, stress, etc - but I was weaker than I had been in months. Then, just two days later I headed to the gym for what would end up being my best squat workout to date - this time fasted and on hour 17 with only BCAAs and 200mg caffeine on board.  Those of you who have been following my journey know I only began squatting a couple of months ago due to a knee injury, so my weights aren't all that impressive. At about 119.6 lbs, my back squat on Sunday was 135 x 5 (top set) - still a new record for me. And I went below parallel for each - super low. I also added a third drop set to eac...