P90 Day 4: Bands vs. Weights

  Today's workout is another circuit training session.  In other words, strength training.  As such, the program calls for a choice of either hand weights or resistance bands.  Both are great tools for building muscle and burning fat.  The decision to use one over the other depends on your own preferences and needs.
   Personally, I like hand weights.  You get a range of motion with hand weights that is not possible with resistance bands.  The weight is also consistent throughout each motion unlike resistance bands which add more resistance the farther they are stretched.  If I had to choose, I would prefer hand weights over resistance bands any day.

   With that said, I actually use is resistance bands.  Why?  Because they really do give nearly as good a workout as free weights.  Most importantly they are much cheaper.  With hand weights you must buy each size as you grow stronger and that money adds up.  However,  Go Fit has a set of bands you can buy at once.  I can progress to a higher weight without spending more money.  Finally, resistance bands are very compact.  I live in a modest apartment without room to store various sized weights, but my resistance bands fit neatly in a small bag in the closet.
   Maybe someday money won't be an issue and I'll have a house big enough to store the extra weights but for now I will stick to my bands.  The important thing is that I am still getting the exercise I need.

   Do you prefer weights or bands?  Why?

P90 Day 2: Adapting to Challenges

   Despite a day of working two jobs and dealing with several unexpected twist and turns I managed to squeeze in my P90 workout.  Today was a cardio abs day and that offered a little challenge in my apartment.  You see I live on the second floor of an older apartment complex.  The result is that sound (including footsteps) pass easily down to the apartment below.  Out of respect for my neighbors I have retired my Dance Dance Revolution game and generally attempt to keep the noise down.  But how can I do that while doing a video that includes jumping jacks and run lunges?
   The answer is, I adapt them.  These exercises also work well for beginners who cannot yet do everything on the video.  Live Strong has an excellent article on alternatives to jumping jacks.  The one I've been doing is a combination of the standard low-impact jack and the squat jack.  The running lunge I convert into regular lunges.  There is also a segment in which you are supposed to jump from side to side.  On the video, Tony Horton offers an alternative of doing a step touch instead.  I did the step touch instead today, but I may be googling different exercises to make it more of a challenge.

  Do you know any exercises that would be a good substitution for jumping?

P90 Day 1- What I'm Doing Different

   I started my P90 challenge this morning and I feel great.  Today was a circuit training day and I put my resistance bands to good use (more on resistance bands later).  I am looking forward to doing cardio abs tomorrow.
   For this 90 day round I am focusing on the workout.  The P90 program also includes a nutritional plan and supplements.  I am ignoring these for the moment because I like what I am already doing in these areas.  In a previous article I wrote about 'Forks Over Knives' a documentary which has greatly influenced how I eat.  For the past eight months I have followed a plant based diet and have no intention of changing.  The P90 nutrition program may be worth a try for any omnivores out there.  The recipes I skimmed looked good and I do occasionally use their recipe for homemade fries, but what little I've seen is not catered to us herbivores.   As for supplements, I  take a multivitamin every day and my plant based diet is rich in vitamins and minerals.

   For anyone interested in P90.  I tried to find a clip of the video on you tube.  The only one I found that had the video itself is a short infomercial.   I do not have all of the extra materials they advertise since I got it second hand, but so far I haven't missed them.

Do you have a favorite workout?  If so what is it?

The P90 Project

  Some time ago a family member gave me a used copy of the P90 workout (not to be confused P90X).  For those who have never heard of it, P90 is a carefully planned workout consisting of two alternating workouts; cardio/abs and strength training designed to give a total body workout.  There are even extra videos as you advance to a higher level.
  According to their website, P90 is supposed to transform my body in 90 days.  I have decided to put them to the test.  Starting tomorrow I plan to commit myself to the workouts for 90 days and see what happens.  I will let you know how I am doing along the way.  Hopefully I will end up with a leaner, stronger body at the end.  Wish me luck.
    What workout programs have you tried, and what were the results?

My Meatless Life

      About six months ago, my husband and I made a radical decision.  We decided to give a whole-food plant-based diet a try.  Forksoverknives.com defines a whole-food, plant-based diet as:

     

    "The program is based on whole or minimally processed plants, primarily fruits, vegetables, whole grains, tubers, and legumes. It excludes or minimizes animal-based foods such as meat (including poultry and fish), dairy, and eggs, as well as refined foods like bleached flour, refined sugar, and oil."

     We made this decision after watching the documentary Forks Over Knives which informed us of the various health benefits of a plant-based diet.  With both of us overweight and family histories that included diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, and cancer we decided that we needed to take action now to avoid these problems in the future.  So we decided to try it for a week and see how it went.  Now six months later we are still following the diet and plan to be in it for the long haul.

     When I tell people about my diet one of the questions I often get is, "How much does it cost?"  This is a difficult question, because like many eating plans that depends on your choices.  I do not have the exact numbers, but I estimate that at the beginning of this journey I was spending $100-$150 a week on groceries.  As I continued and learned more recipes, I managed to get that down to $50-$100 a week for two people.  There are recipes that include expensive ingredients found only at Earthfare or Whole Foods.  However brown rice and beans are full of protein and fiber.  Throw a few veggies and spices in and you have a delicious meal for a fraction of the price.

This is what most people think of when they hear "plant-based" Diet.
There are so many more choices.

     So how does the food taste?  Many people think that following a plant-based diet means eating salad all the time.  While you can do that if you like, I found many delicious meals from chili and sloppy joes to cookies and cakes.  It took a lot of trial and error to find recipes we like, but with a little research you can find delicious recipes to satisfy even picky eaters.  You can not keep any meal plan going if you do not find food you like.  

    Do I miss my old diet?  Sometimes.  My husband occasionally misses chicken.  For me the hardest thing to give up was dairy.  I didn't realize how much I liked cheese and ice cream until I stopped eating them.  However there are substitutes that while not exactly the same, still help with those cravings.  I found a delicious burger recipe to replace meat.  For cheese I can use cashews or nutritional yeast.  (Warning:  For those suffering from gout, nutritional yeast in high in purines and can lead to an attack)   As for ice cream I make smoothies or blend frozen bananas, berries, almond milk and vanilla in the blender for a fake soft serve.

     Has a plant-based diet improved my health?  Some of this remains to be seen.  It is supposed to help prevent heart trouble, stroke, diabetes, and perhaps some cancers.  I will not know for years to come if this worked.  What I have noticed is my weight.  Lately I have not exercised as much as I should.  This time of year is my busiest plus we have had a major change in our schedules recently.  Normally when I didn't get to the gym as much the weight would start creeping back.  Now without restricting calories or working out I am still maintaining the weight I've lost and even lost a couple of more pounds.  I have never been able to keep the weight off with so little effort.

      Giving up meat and dairy was one of the best decisions I made.  I realize it is not for everyone, but it works for me.  I am getting trimmer without feeling deprived or hungry.  Now to make myself some beans and rice for lunch.

What is your favorite plant-based meal?

What's For Dinner? July 22

    Many people think that eating healthy means giving up all tasty foods.  In my "What's for Dinner" series I hope to show that eating healthy can be delicious too.  

 

   Today's dinner is "Meatball" Soup from Quick and Easy Low-Cal Vegan Comfort Food, tossed salad with added blackberries and roasted chickpeas, home made bread from The Cheapskate Cook, and lemon infused water.  To make it even healthier, I took out the oil.  For the soup I fried the vegetables in water instead of oil.  The roasted chickpeas taste just as good if I skip the oil and cut the salt in half.  Even the bread is oil free.  When baking unsweetened applesauce works just as well as oil with a fraction of the calories.  Even with all the changes, I had a delicious dinner.

How do you make your dinners healthier?

It's All in Your Head

   Does this scenario sound familiar?  You have been good all week, avoiding carbs and counting calories.  Then you go to a party and they serve chocolate cake (your favorite).  "One slice won't hurt," you tell yourself.  The next day you had a busy day and forgot to calculate you calories.  "Oh well I'll do it tomorrow."  Before you know it your diet is ruined and you are wallowing in self loathing.
    If you are like me, you have been on dozens of diets over the years.  (I was on Slimfast in junior high.)  With all of them I lost some weight for a month or two and then gained it all back with interest.  I don't think I could stick with any of them for more than a few months.  The most important lesson I learned from all these attempts is DIETS DON'T WORK.
    So how do we loose weight if diets don't work?  We change our lifestyle, so that the way we eat is not a diet, it is just what we eat and it is healthy.  These past two years I have dramatically changed the way I eat and made exercise a big part of my life.  However, I could not have kept it up if I had not first changed the way I think.

Our memories of food, good or bad can affect what we want to eat.

    Whether we realize it or not, our thoughts about food and our memories of food are powerful.  My sister, for example, would not eat spaghetti sauce for years after she had a stomach bug.  In the same way, the sights and smells of food with good associations can cause cravings.   We can resist these cravings for a time (willpower), but few if any of us can resist them forever.  However, if we change our gut reaction to the food, we may be able to reduce cravings and make it easier to resist temptation.  Now I have little trouble resisting the chocolate cake even if others around me are eating it.
    How did I do it?  I did not follow a specific program.  I don't know if one like this exists.  I did not even make a conscious decision to do this.  Rather as I journeyed to a greater understanding of what it was to live a healthy life, I observed the change within myself.
    First, I had to have the proper motivation.  For myself, I found that when I wanted to loose weight to look good, I would get discouraged the slow progress and give up.  However, when my focus shifted to health, the slowness of my progress mattered less and I was less likely to get discouraged.
    Second, I made a commitment to learn as much as I could about getting healthy.  I watched every video I could find on Netflix and YouTube.  Then I watched them again.  I still watch them periodically for two reasons.  1) It keeps the information fresh in my thoughts.  2) When a lot of information is conveyed, it is difficult to remember all of it with one or sometimes even two viewings.
    Third, I reminded myself of what I learned in the face of temptation.  In the case of the chocolate cake, my first reaction on viewing it would be to remember other chocolate cakes I ate in the past.  I would think about how sweet and chocolaty  and I would want to eat it.  To combat this I reminded myself of a video I saw on You Tube Sugar the Bitter Truth in which Dr. Robert Lustig makes the scientific argument that sugar is poison.  I can also remember a scene from America the Beautiful 2 (Netflix) where Dr. Howard Shapiro showed how much sugar and butter it took to make an average slice of carrot cake.  Keeping this in mind made it much easier to say no to the cake.  I also found that the more I did this the easier it became to resist tempting food.
    This process is ongoing and I am far from perfect.  However, I am finally on the right track and slow or fast I am going to reach my goals.

What food tempts you most?