Weekend Challenge: Pushups & Lunges

I love the Weekend Challenge idea from Women's Health Magazine for those who eat right and exercise Monday through Friday but let the happy hours and dinners out on weekends wreck their eating and fitness routines. Before every weekend, the Women's Health Facebook page posts a new challenge to do a set of exercise before you eat every meal.

I'm guilty of thawing out the vegan cookies in the freezer and eating more on weekends, so I'm excited to give this challenge a try. When I first saw the challenge, I must have looked at an old one to do three sets of 10 pushups before every meal, so I planned to do that this weekend. Last night before going out for dinner to Mad Mex, I did all the pushups.

But today I saw that this weekend's challenge is actually three sets of lunges on each leg before each meal.

So this weekend I'm planning on doing both pushups and lunges before every meal. Are you in? I am!

Dr. Vonda Wright on Aging with Vitality

Dr. Vonda Wright
(image from http://www.vondawright.com)

When I first saw Dr. Vonda Wright before the talk she gave at Carnegie Mellon University last week as part of the university's Fitness Challenge for staff and faculty, I exclaimed out loud, "Wow, she's young!" With her impressive bio as an orthopedic surgeon, author of multiple books, and a national expert who has given more than 200 media interviews in the past two years, I expected her to look, well, older. Turns out that Dr. Wright is the poster child for the subject she's passionate about: healthy aging. 

Specializing in fitness over 40, Dr. Wright herself is fit, vibrant, and radiant--and she's 45 (or will be soon, I think she said). Some of the highlights from her inspiring talk are:

• We can die from not being physically active! Sedentary death syndrome accounts for some 33 diseases that can kill people, like heart disease and diabetes. Just 30 minutes of exercise a day can decrease the risk of many of these diseases.
• When polled, 70% of people said that physical activity is important; only 30% of people exercise regularly, though.
• 70% of what determines how we age is due to our lifestyle. Only 30% is genetic.
• Research shows that a 60-year-old man is equally as strong as an 85-year-old man who does resistance training.
• A good indicator of how healthy your weight is (better than BMI) is your waist-to-hip ratio. Divide your hip measurement (around the biggest part of your butt) by your waist measurement (right below the belly button). You should be under .8. If you're over 1, you're "a disaster!"
• One 30-minute exercise session can provide feel-good feelings for up to 12 hours.
• Strive for an intense physical exercise (high-impact exercise like running and plyometrics that "bash your bones") every other day.

Dr. Wright explained that previous research on how people age (think of a frail, shuffling old man using a walker) is based on those people being sedentary. Her research proves that physically active people can look and feel youthful as they age. She gave many examples of people in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s who are living with vitality because they incorporate fitness into their lives. One amazing photo showed a 92-year-old patient she works with--who regularly windsurfs!

Her message was clear. It's our choice: we can choose to be frail, weak, and unhealthy as we grow older, or we be can be strong, fit, and healthy and live our golden years to the fullest. I choose fitness. I choose vitality!

Exercise for the Health of It

I first heard the term skinny-fat in this Women's Health Magazine article about type 2 diabetes in young, slim women. Another term is "TOFI—thin outside, fat inside. Nearly undetectable from a person's appearance, TOFI happens when fat that would normally build up under your skin (hello, thunder thighs!) gloms onto your abdominal organs instead. This visceral fat is way worse than any muffin-top chub—it can cause inflammatory substances to affect your liver and pancreas, and lower your insulin sensitivity, putting you at risk for type 2. With TOFI, you might look slim, but your insides are behaving as if you are obese."

Yikes! The article goes on to say, "A big skinny-fat risk factor? Neglecting exercise and regulating weight through food choices alone, a behavior plenty of young women in our diet-obsessed, desk-strapped culture are prone to. Turns out, breaking a sweat is key in lowering blood sugar, because even moderate exercise causes muscles to suck up glucose at 20 times the normal rate (regular workouts are also the only way to shed visceral fat)."

If that's not enough motivation for those who don't exercise regularly, consider these statistics from the January 2012 issue of Shape Magazine:

• Get moving for just 15 minutes six days a week and you'll increase your lifespan by three years, according to a Taiwanese study.
• Working out boosts your energy and reduces stress. Plus a Duke University study found that 45 minutes of cardio three days a week may be as effective as prescription drugs for treating depression.
• Research published in Circulation found that 2.5 hours of exercise lowers a woman's risk of heart disease by 14 percent.

Still not sold? Consider these 21 other benefits from Fitness Magazine. And remember that exercise doesn't just mean going to the gym. Walking, playing tag with your kids, cranking up the music and dancing around the house, skiing, and playing sports all count. Just get moving--your body (and mind and spirit) will thank you!

Switching It Up: Back to Weight Machines

Probably the single most important thing I did to lose and maintain weight was to focus on strength training. Previously I'd only done cardio...and previously was never successful at losing weight. But research shows that strength training is critical for weight loss and maintenance, according to this article from Women's Health Magazine:

"You'll Lose 40 Percent More Fat
If you think cardio is the key to blasting belly fat, keep reading: When Penn State researchers put dieters into three groups—no exercise, aerobic exercise only, or aerobic exercise and weight training—they all lost around 21 pounds, but the lifters shed six more pounds of fat than those who didn't pump iron. Why? The lifters' loss was almost pure fat; the others lost fat and muscle.

Other research on dieters who don't lift shows that, on average, 75 percent of their weight loss is from fat, while 25 percent is from muscle. Muscle loss may drop your scale weight, but it doesn't improve your reflection in the mirror and it makes you more likely to gain back the flab you lost. However, if you weight train as you diet, you'll protect your hard-earned muscle and burn more fat.

Your Clothes Will Fit Better
Research shows that between the ages of 30 and 50, you'll likely lose 10 percent of your body's total muscle. Worse yet, it's likely to be replaced by fat over time, says a study. And that increases your waist size, because one pound of fat takes up 18 percent more space than one pound of muscle.

You'll Burn More Calories
Lifting increases the number of calories you burn while your butt is parked on the couch. That's because after each strength workout, your muscles need energy to repair their fibers. In fact, researchers found that when people did a total-body workout with just three big-muscle moves, their metabolisms were raised for 39 hours afterward. They also burned a greater percentage of calories from fat compared with those who didn't lift.

Lifting gives you a better burn during exercise too: Doing a circuit of eight moves (which takes about eight minutes) can expend 159 to 231 calories. That's about what you'd burn if you ran at a 10-mile-per-hour pace for the same duration."

Read the full article for more reasons why strength training is key to good health.

When I started working with a personal trainer last year, he explained that when your body becomes used to doing something, you won't progress. I only worked with free weights previously, so Tom showed me how to use the weight machines and created a program for me to ensure I don't plateau. Following this program, I finished a week of rest last week after a few months of free weights. This week is the first of the next six weeks using weight machines again at the gym. It's good to do a new routine, and I'm sore after one day at the gym--a sign that I'm building muscle.

Not only does switching up your routine ensure you continue to progress, but it's also fun to start something new. Doing the same exercises week after week, month after month, can get boring, and that can make people stop altogether. So if you've been doing the same strength training routine for a while, switch it up. If you're not strength training, you should be! Shape Magazine, Fitness Magazine, and Women's Health Magazine all have free strength training routines you can do at home with no or minimal equipment to get started.

I Ran My First 5K!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've never been able to run before in my life. This June I learned how to run using the ChiRunning technique, which has been life changing for me. The technique makes running easier, prevents injuries, and has taught me how to mentally focus.

Back in June I signed up for Run Around the Square (RATS), a fun 5K race in Regent Square on August 27. I've trained for the race by running 3.1 miles or slightly more two days a week on the flat river trail near where I live on the Northside and one day a week doing the actual RATS course, which starts out in the Regent Square residential streets and then goes into Frick Park. Without trying to increase my pace, I've gone from an 11-minute mile to a 10-minute mile because my ChiRunning form has improved. And while the RATS course takes me longer because some of it is uphill, I did the course four times before the race so felt confident and ready.

Still! I've never been in a race before, and I had no idea what running with 1,500 people would be like. ChiRunning relies so much on mental focus, and I was extremely anxious that I wouldn't be able to focus with so many other people and distractions. When I met my sister, who was running the race with me, yesterday morning we were both so nervous we felt like we were going to be sick. But, we managed to smile at the start line.What a fun experience it was! I couldn't focus like I usually do on my runs, but I had no problem running it because of the energy and festive vibe. Throughout the entire route, people came out to play music for the runners. There were bands, a young girl playing a violin, a man playing a saxophone, and another man playing a bagpipe. And all along the course were the cheerleaders--people who came out to clap for us and encourage us, to tell us how much of the hill we had left and that cold beer was waiting for us at the finish line. I especially loved the fast runners who came back onto the trail after they'd finished to high-five us and tell us how close we were to the finish line. Thanks to everyone who came out to support us--it really, really helped me! I also really appreciated my husband getting up very early to be there with me, putting up with my anxiety-induced pre-race craziness, and taking pictures.

In addition to water stations, there was a beer and champagne station at mile 1. At the end there was cold beer as promised as well as fruit, Italian ice, hot dogs, cookies, and pretzels, with a happy and energetic crowd of more than 1,500 enjoying it all in Frick Park, where the finish line was.

My time was 32:48, which is a 10:35 pace. So, it's not my best run, but an improvement for me over past runs. I ran as part of a big mob the entire run, so it was hard to go my regular pace consistently. My goals were not to walk and not to finish last, and I met both goals. On the uphill parts in Frick Park, about half the people were walking. It was very tempting to join them, but I didn't. Once I got through the uphill section and started on the downhill part, I was able to pick up my pace.

Here is my sister and me, all smiles coming out of the first section of Frick Park.
We got separated going into the next section of Frick Park, and because that part was uphill, I couldn't wait for her without walking, which I didn't want to do. So I finished by myself. Here I am sprinting to the finish line.What a great feeling to cross that finish line! We got flowers and water as soon as we crossed.And we also had beer, which is crazy for both of us. I don't drink beer at all, let alone at 10 in the morning.But after achieving a huge personal accomplishment and participating in such a fun, supportive, fantastic event, the beer hit the spot.

Learning to Run with ChiRunning

I've never been able to run. In grade school, I could never run the mile for the presidential fitness test (do they still do those?). And the running I had to do for high school volleyball was so agonizing, I didn't attempt it again until years later. When I did, I hated it. It took me months to build up to run a mile, and I couldn't run much farther than that, so I soon quit.

Fast forward about 15 years, when I told my personal trainer earlier this year that I can't run. He was quick to encourage me to give it a try...trying new activities would challenge me in new ways, he argued.

So I started running intervals during my walks. I started with a minute, progressed to a minute and a half, and eventually got up to two minutes. But there was no way I could run much longer than two minutes, so I just assumed I'd never be able to run.

But then I realized: my intervals were at a very fast pace, and my heart rate was around 80-90%. What if I slowed my pace down? I got out my Garmin Forerunner and watched to make sure my heart rate didn't get above 70%...and the first time I did that, I ran for 26 minutes with a two-minute walking break! I was stunned. A year ago, I thought it would have been impossible. I did it once more, and the third time I tried, I was able to run 29 minutes continuously. It was really tough for me, and I was panting at the end like crazy and was dead tired, but I was proud of myself.

Then a friend told me about ChiRunning, which is about effortless, injury-free running. Effortless, huh? I got the book the very next day!

I've spent the past week reading it and learning about the technique. The ChiRunning website explains it better than I can, but it's a blend of T'ai Chi and running that focuses on using core strength.

I tried the technique yesterday morning for the first time. WOW! It really was much, much easier than the heavy, plodding running I'd previously done. I had no problem doing 30 minutes continuously and felt like I could have done more. I'm just starting so have a lot more to learn (there are a lot of things to focus on), but I'm thrilled to learn this technique that's making something that's always been so grueling so accessible.

I'm so excited about it, I signed up for my first 5K! It's the Run Around the Square in Regent Square, and I'll be running it with my sister on August 27. Wish me luck!

Protein and Strength Training

Every vegan and vegetarian has been asked how we get enough protein in our diets. The short answer is: It's easy. But for me, protein is especially important because I'm building muscle.

I've just completed the fourth week of the routine my personal trainer created for me. (If you've read my previous posts here and here, you'll know that last year I lost 30+ pounds and wanted help from a personal trainer to learn how to maintain it.) In this first phase, I'm using weight machines instead of the free weights I've been using. My schedule is something like this with 160 minutes of strength training, 130 minutes of cardio, one yoga class a week, plus short, daily walks.

• Sunday: Upper body and core; 40 minutes cardio
• Monday: Lower body and core
• Tuesday: 30 minutes cardio
• Wednesday: Rest or active rest with yoga
• Thursday: Upper body and core
• Friday: Lower body and core
• Saturday: Spinning class (60 minutes)

After four weeks, I've really noticed a difference. My upper body and core had definition from all my strength training last year, but I've noticed even more definition. And now I'm seeing a lot of definition in my lower body. I'd never done calf exercises before, and now my calves have a lot of definition. My quads have gotten more definition, and my legs in general are leaner and more firm. Even my butt, whose shapelessness runs in my family, now has shape (on a recent trip to visit my family, I said, "Look Mom--I have a butt!") And I've lost a half-inch from both my hips and waist.

I'm getting the firming results I wanted, but that's not the only reason I love strength training. Because muscle burns more calories than fat, even at rest, it's easier to maintain my weight loss the more muscle I have.

Muscle building requires protein. And while it's true that excessive protein can actually be harmful (see this and this), I do need to make sure I'm getting all the protein I should be, which is about 51 grams a day for me, and try to eat slightly more. Here's how I typically do it:

Breakfast
Pre-workout:

• 1 banana: 1 g protein

After workout:

• Smoothie with 1 cup soymilk (6 g), 2 tbsp flax seed (3 g), 1 banana (1 g), 1 cup strawberries (1 g): total 11 g
• Homemade whole-wheat toast: 5 g
• 1 tbsp peanut butter: 3 g
  
• 2 slices Quiche with Greens: 13 g

Total: 32 grams protein (Note that a big benefit of eating so much protein at breakfast is that it keeps me full and satisfied all morning, and I'm less likely to be hungry and want to snack all through the day.)

Lunch

• Mediterranean Bowl with 1 cup cauliflower (2.5 g), 1/2 cup chickpeas (6g), 1/2 cup brown rice (2.5)
• Salad with romaine, spinach, tomatoes & small handful of walnuts (4 g)
  

Total: 15 g

Dinner

• 1/2 cup mexican-style black beans (7.5 g)
• whole-wheat tortilla (3 g)
• 2 cups steamed kale (4 g)
• vegan cheese sauce made with soymilk and nutritional yeast (3 g)

Total: 17.5

Daily Total: 64.5 grams protein

And that doesn't include fruit, veggies, and nuts I eat throughout the day as snacks. Another typical snack is a slice of wheat toast (5 g) and peanut butter (3 g). So I'm easily getting about 10 more grams of protein in addition to these meals.

Even though I'm strength training four times a week and building muscle, I easily meet my protein needs every day and then some. Here are some other good resources for good vegan protein sources:

• Protein in the Vegan Diet
• How Can I Get Enough Protein? The Protein Myth

Workout Clothes I Love

I'm a little obsessed with workout clothes. At this point, I may have spent more on my workout wardrobe than my regular one. But why not? I work out six or seven days a week, so why shouldn't I wear cute clothes when I'm exercising? Here are my top picks by activity.

Yoga and Strength Training
I love Athleta's Chaturanga Pant and its close cousin Kickbooty Pant when I'm doing yoga, pilates, or strength training at the gym. They're both made with Athleta's Pilayo fabric that's soft, comfortable, stretchy, breathable, and wicking. These pants are so comfortable, I also wear them just around the house. I wouldn't wear these for jogging or long walks, though, because the wide legs might trip me up. I've washed them a ton, and they hold up well--no pilling, and I've had one pair for a year now.

Note that these go on sale pretty frequently as they get new colors in. XS and XSS are always on sale.

Chaturanga Pant
Kickbooty Pant ("The most flattering pant we make to turn your backside into your best side.")
I also love Athleta's Bra-Cup Tops. There's an actual bra built into the top (you order in your bra size), not some flimsy "internal shelf bra" that does nothing. They are comfortable, wicking, and look great. I like them so much I ordered four pairs, in these styles:

Cutout Cami
Empire Vee Neck TankCardio and Spinning
My new favorite workout pant is Lululemon's Wunder Under Crop. I hemmed and hawed over buying them--could a pair of plain black crops really be worth the hefty $68 price tag? The answer is YES! They're made with Lululemon's Luon signature fabric: breathable, cotton-feel, wicking, and very comfortable. They're a medium rise, so they hit perfectly--not too high or low. They're extremely flattering and, because they're plain black and don't scream "I'm a workout pant," I'll wear these under tunics or dresses too.I just bought Lucy's Hatha Capri Leggings (the blue color was on sale). I haven't worn them to work out yet, but they're flattering and fit well. They're made with Lucy's Powermax compressive, wicking fabric, so they'll be good when I'm moving around and sweating a lot. Lucy's stuff also goes on sale frequently, so be sure to check for sales. Note that all Lucy products (that I've bought anyway) run very big--you'll likely need to order a size down from what you usually order.I also just ordered Athleta's Spin Knicker that has a chamois pad built in. The pair I got seemed defective (there was a bunch of extra fabric in the crotch), so they're sending me a new pair. I have yet to test these in spinning, but there is rubber at the bottom to hold them in place, and they seem like they'll work well.

I have a ton of wicking tees for cardio (I usually buy them on sale at Dick's), but here are two I just got and like.

Lucy's Action Tank (currently on sale)Athleta's Seamless Shivali Tank (also currently on sale) feels almost like a knit, so it's super soft but still wicking and breathable. Note that this is the only top I've gotten from Athleta that ran a tad bit small, so consider sizing up unless you want it very form fitting. If You Only Have $25...
I bought a pair of gray compressive capris at Old Navy. The quality and fit don't even come close to Athleta, Lululemon, or Lucy (they were a bit baggy at the waist and knees; material is not great), but I do think think they're a tad better than the Champion line that Target carries. I'll wear them out walking this summer.

Athleta's Shipping & Exchanges
I buy from Athleta all the time (more than I should). Orders over $50 always have free shipping, and exchanges are free (returns are $6). Because shopping there is nearly risk-free, and because their stuff goes on sale a lot, it's a great place to shop for quality workout clothes that fit great.

Where do you shop for workout clothes? Any place I'm missing here?

Lessons from Week 1 Personal Training & 21 Benefits of Exercise

I'm no newbie to exercise. For the majority of the past 12 years, I've woken up before the crack of dawn and exercised before work. But in all that time exercise always meant cardio.

Just last year I started to really get into strength training. It completely changed my body shape, enabling me to drop five pants sizes even though I only lost about 33 pounds. The general rule is you drop one size for every 10 pounds you lose; that I was able to lose so many sizes is a clear indication of the benefits of strength training. Muscle takes up less room in your body than fat, so as I replaced fat with muscle, my body changed. See the link below for a really excellent article on other great benefits of exercise.

Now I'm at the point--for the first time in my adult life!--that losing weight is no longer my goal. Instead, I want to maintain while continuing to work on firming and toning. I had no idea how much exercise I needed to do--how much cardio, how much strength training, and how much rest--so I'm participating in a program through work where I can work with a personal trainer for free for a month. One week in, here's what I've learned.

1. Over training is bad. In our first assessment session, Tom, a student graduating from Pitt's exercise science program and my personal trainer for a month, told me that I could be over training. He said only trainers, professional athletes, and people training for an endurance event like a marathon should be exercising as much as I'd been to maintain weight (150 minutes of high-intensity cardio, 160 minutes of low to moderate intensity walking, and 150 minutes of strength training a week). He thought I could see the results I wanted and maintain my weight while reducing my exercise time, so this is one of our goals.
2. Yoga is good. Tom encouraged me to try yoga because it would work my body differently than what I was used to. I'd always previously thought of yoga as glorified stretching and, sweating it out on the elliptical, snubbed the people who sat on mats working on their breathing. Unfortunately, the first class I took reinforced that idea; it mainly focused on relaxing and stretching, and afterward I felt I'd wasted an hour better spent doing cardio. But on Tom's advice, I tried another class. It was tough! And the next day, my muscles were sore! Tom was right--it worked different muscles in my body. And...I liked it! I've done it a few times since and plan to continue doing it.
3. Trying new things is key. I told Tom that I didn't like running. Our very first session, he had me jogging in between strength training sets. He also introduced me to the weight room. Last year I saw huge results with my own equipment at home--dumbbells, resistance bands, stability, medicine, and Bosu balls, step, and bar--but then I stopped progressing. Tom pointed out that introducing your body to new exercises is key to progression. And, he pointed out, that's especially true for lower body. You can do squats until the cows come home, but adding more weight is important to progression, and it's difficult to do that without weight machines.

My body has been sore pretty much we started personal training; I can't remember the last time I was ever sore! I've also loved the new exercises--weight machines, yoga, and even adding jogging sprints to my walks. Clearly something is working.

Power Surge: The Hidden Benefits of Exercise
I really love this article from Fitness Magazine. It summarizes many studies that show the instant, post-workout, and long-term benefits of exercise. Below is a sample. Read the full article.

As You Work Out...
Your lungs are getting stronger. When you do cardio, your brain sends signals to them to help you breathe faster and deeper, delivering extra oxygen to your muscles.

Within One Hour of Exercise...
You're protecting yourself against colds, flu, you name it. Exercise elevates your level of immunoglobulins, which are proteins that help bolster your immune system and ward off infection. "Every sweat session you do can help strengthen your immune function for about 24 hours," says Cedric Bryant, PhD, chief science officer for the American Council on Exercise.

Within One Day of Exercise...
You're adding lean muscle. If you did a strength-training routine, your muscles are now starting to rebuild themselves and repair the microscopic tears that come with lifting weights, says Paul Gordon, PhD, director of the Laboratory for Physical Activity at the University of Michigan School of Medicine in Ann Arbor. Preliminary research shows that women respond to and recover from resistance training faster than men.

Within One Week of Regular Exercise...
Your risk of diabetes goes down. The more you work out, the greater your sensitivity to insulin. That, in turn, lowers your blood sugar levels, reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes.

Within One Month of Regular Exercise...
You're blasting belly fat. After four weeks of regular workouts, your body is ditching flab and gaining muscle. Overweight people who took part in a four-week program of moderate aerobic exercise in an Australian study reduced ab fat by 12 percent.

Within One Year of Regular Exercise...
You've cut your cancer risk. In a study of more than 14,800 women, those who had the highest levels of aerobic fitness were 55 percent less likely to die from breast cancer than those who were sedentary. Women considered moderately fit had about a 33 percent lower risk of developing the disease. Exercise may also help protect against endometrial, lung, and ovarian cancer, researchers say.

5 Great, Quick Workouts

I read a lot of fitness magazines. Near the holidays, most featured quick workouts for when time's tight. These are my top picks. I do them either for a second workout in the evening, in lieu of my regular workout if I'm short on time, or before strength training. Note that you should do at least five minutes warm-up (light cardio: walking or jogging in place, step, jumping jacks, or just dancing around) before any workout and five minutes stretching afterwards to prevent injury.

1. Total Body Recharge: Energy-Boosting, Muscle-Burning Workout from Fitness Magazine
Video | Slideshow
This takes about 20 minutes, requires no equipment, and really does boost your energy. You can do it anywhere, even in a hotel room while traveling. Image from one of the exercises at right.

2. Crush More Calories: 15-Minute Workout from Women's Health Magazine
This is the best, quick workout for a serious shot of cardio. The moves also sculpt, so your muscles work hard while you blast fat.

3. 10-Minute Sculpting Blast from Shape Magazine
This is a really good, quick cardio workout, and you only need a weighted ball (or dumbbell). I don't use a jump rope--just my hands.

4. Your Do Anywhere Workout from Shape Magazine
Circuit 1: Melt Fat Fast | Circuit 2: Firm & Burn | Circuit 3: Total Body Sculpt
This workout features three five-minute circuits. You can do them all at once, or break them up if you really only have five minutes to spare.

5. Two-Minute Sexy Arm Exercise from Shape Magazine
This exercise actually works your back, biceps, shoulders, abs, and legs. If you have time for only one strength training move, this should be it.