Fitness Safari

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 ...