Shin Splints hurt

This past weekend I went running with my brother and my boyfriend Thomas. I am still fairly new to running and I am planning on running in a 5km race in June. It was beautiful outside and I needed to get outside since I was cooking all day (Orthodox Easter). The beginning of our run went fairly well and I was enjoying the weather, getting a bit of exercise and just being outside.

About halfway through our run, it started to go downhill. What I mean by that: I got shin splints. When you start out running, it is a common injury that affects athletes in running sports or any physical activity. It is usually characterized by pain the lower part of the leg between the knee and the ankle.

My brother has been running for a few years now and he doesn't get them anymore. He did get them for quite some time in the beginning.

All I know is that as soon as it started, my running slowed down and I had to stop more frequently. My legs felt like lead weight and it was a lot harder to run. Running backwards helped a bit, although that was a temporary fix. I finished the run but I’m in a lot of pain right now. L

Luckily the pain does go away from what I have read. You can also do a few things to make it more bearable if you are in a lot of pain. You can:

• Take painfillers (i.e. aspirin, ibuprofen, etc).
• Do physical therapy      
• Buy arch support to help with flat feet
• Get proper running shoes
• Put ice on the shin for 20-30 minutes a day for a few days or until the pain goes away.

I will probably wait a few days for it to go away before running once more. It is a bit frustrating though because just when you start something, you have to stop.

Have you ever had shin splints? What have you done to get rid of them fast?

Financial Musings and Side Hustles

I've been reading a lot of person finance blogs lately to get some motivation among other reasons. I randomly came across Girl Meets Debt when I was searching on ways to pay debt off faster. You see, I currently have a student loan that I really want to get rid of by the end of this year (the earlier the better).

The average student debt from both public and private loans after a four year degree is around $37, 000 depending on the field of study that you go into and whether or not you reside on campus. Luckily my debt load isn't as bad as that. However, even with all the cutting back and budgeting, there is only so much you can save and put away into debt repayment on a modest income. Along with reading personal finance blogs and doing further research, I've stumbled upon something that will make my goal to be debt free by December 2013 possible. It's called the side hustle, aka extra income. 

There are quite a few things that you can do to make extra income, one of which is getting a second job. I'm not really a fan of that (at one point I've held down 3 jobs and worked anywhere from 60-70 hrs). That isn't an experience I want to repeat. I don't want to always come home exhausted, have no social life and just eat and sleep for existence. :(

These side hustles seem to be more doable: blogging, helping people by running their errands, creating websites (if you're web savvy- which I'm not), selling things online if you have extra clothing/junk that you don't need anymore, landscaping or any other skills that one might have, and the list goes on and on. 

I've been on a debt repayment plan for quite a while as well as a budget, and some times I just get tired of seeing all my money go to the government. As many have said, if you don't pay it off as soon as possible, you eventually get debt fatigue and just live with it. I don't want to become one of those people. 

I think one of the hardest things is not the availability of ideas for extra income, but just getting started and making the time. Everyone is always busy and running around so it is hard to find those extra few hours in a day or a week to get something done. I know that I could do a million things, if only I  had the time. To start I think I will just start with one or two things and get good at those before taking on more. I know that the faster I pay off that debt, the sooner I can put that money towards something better. (traveling, down payment, etc).

Do any of you have side jobs that you currently do to pay off a debt or just have extra income? How did you come about to getting that side hustle?  

Week 1: Getting those Calories in Check!

SO FitFam, it’s been a week.

How’re your calories doing? Any surprises? I know I had a few when I did this last year. Even now, when I struggle with temptation, I know that one cupcake in the course of a week isn’t going to kill my path to my goals. What I do know, however, is sometimes that one cupcake or even on some days that one square of dark chocolate, is going to send me on a sugar/carb spiral and will totally kill my day and sometimes, my week.  So on some days, when I’m uber stressed, I’ve learned to just steer clear of anything sugary or carb intense because I know that in certain situations, that one little concession leads me to binge on a whole lot of crap.

So I choose and plan my moments for indulgence carefully. I have also been known to throw out treats that are in the house when my boyfriend goes on holidays (sorry sweetie!) and pour dishwashing soap over them. Sound a little excessive? Nah. Hey, if Jillian Michaels can own up to doing the same damn thing, I think I’m in good company!

This week, I want you to suss out what your caloric intake SHOULD be. Do you exercise? If so, how often and how intensely? What kind of job do you have? Are you at a desk all day, or do you walk around and stand on your feet all day? These things are important to figuring out how many calories you should be taking in to form a calorie deficit.

FACT: a pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories.

FACT: if you want to lose weight at the recommended maximum of 2lbs a week, you should be aiming for 1000 caloric deficit/day.

When you first start out, it is not unheard of to drop a crapton more than 2lbs/week. This is water weight for the most part, and something that helps to keep you motivated during the early stages of your weight loss journey. Eventually however, you will find the pounds getting more difficult to drop off. If you’re exercising and lifting weights, some of that is actually you losing fat, but building muscle. To help keep you motivated, I strongly suggest measuring yourself around your chest (under bust for women), at your waist, your hips, thighs, calves and measure them every week. Take pictures as well so you can visually see the differences. Listen to your body and how it fits in your clothes.

The nitty gritty. Go to:

http://caloriecount.about.com/tools/calories-goal

I like this calculator because it gives some good advice on how much weight you should lose per week and what a realistic time frame to lose that weight is. Currently, I’m at 190lbs, my goal is somewhere around 135ish. It tells me I should be eating 1750 calories a day to lose 1.5 lbs a week.  If I want to lose 2lbs a week, I just subtract 250 from 1750, giving me a daily allowance of 1500 calories (where I’m eating at right now!) At this point, it’s telling me that I should reach my goal sometime in early January. This is a realistic and healthy goal.

Women should not eat less than 1200 calories/day EVER. If you want a kickstart week, eat at 1200 calories/day for ONE WEEK and ONE WEEK ONLY! After that, up your intake to the caloric level the calculator gave you.

So this week is going to be a challenge. Plan out your meals in advance. Use myfitnesspal.com to help you plan out your week. Down to every nitty gritty morsel you pop in your mouth! Make sure you eat about every 3 hrs. For me, I wake up, have a protein shake (6am), bike to the gym; work out, go to work, eat breakfast @ 9am(that I make/bring from home), lunch is around noon, snack around 3 or 4pm, dinner around 6:30ish, and I’ll have a half scoop of casein protein sometime around 7:30. I stop eating for the day at 8pm. 

It takes time and commitment to yourself to really plan out your meals and precook a lot of them for the week. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Making sure you have no excuses for eating unhealthily or well past your caloric intake take premeditation. Throwing an apple into your purse or backpack in case you need an energy boost at 3pm. Having a big glass of water before you eat your meals and any time you feel “hungry”.

Remember that thirst sometimes disguises itself as hunger. Aim for 64oz of water a day. Don’t know how much that is? Get a water bottle (BPA free!) that has a measurement side to it so you can keep track. Or get a glass that is exactly 8oz and make sure you drink 8 full glasses of that a day.

So this week lets get those calories in check! Also, get MOVING!! If you’re really out of shape, just go for a 30 minute walk 6 out of 7 days this week. That’s right, 6 days this week. HALF AN HOUR. You can totally do it, MAKE the time for yourself. 

If you’re eager for a challenge, try out this circuit and do as many reps as possible in 20 minutes.

5 Burpees

5 forward lunges (each leg, total 10 lunges)

5 pushups (off toes or off knees)

10 crunches

5 tuck jumps (that’s jumping, bringing your knees up as high as they can go, trying to get your arms to be able to “hug” them when they’re at the top)

Keep doing the circuit as many times as you can, for 20 full minutes. Stop when you NEED to, but get back going as soon as you can! Set a timer for 20 minutes. Once the timer goes off, you’re done for the day. If you have the time, go for a walk later. The idea here is to just get MOVING!

Remember; a physique like Jamie Eason's is TOTALLY attainable and WORTH it, but it's gonna take time. Rome wasn't built in a day, and your fantastic physique won't be either. Just stick with it, take a deep breath, and take the PLUNGE!

BeFit. BeHealthy. BeHappy.

Fitspiration!

The First Step to A Healthier You!

The First Step.

This is going to seem slightly anti-climactic for all you gung-ho folks out there who are like “Lose weight? YEAH! Let’s DO THIS!” But, keep in mind, every journey starts with a single step. I’ve tried a few different ways of eating in the last year, but none have gotten me as far as the plain old calorie counting.

I even tried the Metabolic Effect diet for a month, and it really didn’t do anything to break the plateau I had been suffering through for months. That’s right, months. What it really got down to was this: I wasn’t keeping as strict a count on my calories. The good news? I’m going to be okay when it comes to maintenance. Because I maintained the same weight-within 5lbs- for four months. Then I went back to the tried and true method of calorie counting.

With that being said, the first step is this:

Go to www.myfitnesspal.com


Sign up, get an account. For the next week I want you to log EVERYTHING you eat. Do not change your eating habits for this week. This is a week of you becoming aware of just how much you ACTUALLY eat. Every handful of peanuts, almonds, m&ms, craisins, raisins, Jos Louis, apples, chocolate bars, etc. The good, the bad and the downright ugly!

The database on the site is extensive and you yourself can add foods to it if you can’t find it. Look at
the labels, document how many calories you have eaten. While I’m emphasizing calories, you’re also
going to want to take note of carbs, protein, fats and sodium intake. Right now, don’t worry about what
myfitnesspal wants you to eat, we’ll discuss how to figure out what needs your body is going to tell you
it has, and how to make myfitnesspal work for you.

Please, post questions, comments, post your daily caloric intake if you like! And please, remember, only positive comments. No hate-bashing, criticism here. Also please note that I am not a fitness or health professional. All information I am sharing here, I found through researching online, fitness magazines, asking OTHER fitness professionals and also from personal real life testing. Every body is different, every one’s needs are different. When embarking on a health and fitness overhaul, PLEASE talk to your doctor, and above all listen to your body. Exercises should be challenging and you will feel the “burn”, but you should not feel the “OUCH!” If it is painful in a bad way, STOP.

BeFit. BeHealthy. BeHappy

30 Day Shred... not a walk in the park

The last few months I have been actually getting serious about getting fit and eating healthier. I know that every year people make resolutions to get healthy and fit but it never lasts. I am never one of those that make those promises because I know from past experiences that I wont follow it so what's the point of misleading me.

Recently, however, for some reason (it is still a mystery to me) I did a little test and it seemed to be a catalyst for me. In March I challenged myself to be a vegetarian  and it was a success. Now I'm not saying that it was a walk in a park, but it did open my eyes to what vegetarians and vegans have to go through on a daily basis. After my month was over, I decided to stick to it aside from having meat or fish once in a while. It seems that I prefer to eat more fruits and veggies instead of meat/fish, which has been good for my health.

In late March I went to meet up with a friend of mine for a coffee and to catch up. We ended up talking about fitness and she recommended I try 30 Day Shred by Jillian Michaels. If you have ever watched The Biggest Loser, she  is one of the trainers. I've been meaning to get more cardio in my workouts so I decided to try it. The basic concept is that you do this workout for 30 days. There are three levels and you do each level for 10 days straight. The best/worst part? You can't take any breaks in between, although people have take days off due to work, being sick, and other reasons.

So far I am on level two, day two.  Although I got used to level one and was starting to think it was easy, level two is a lot harder. I have had to skip a few days due to a bad cold/cough, but other than that I have been doing it every day and it is working. I am starting to see my abs peeking out, and I am getting more muscle in my arms. Even though I am mainly staying at the same weight I know that I am losing inches and getting toned at the same time. :)

If you have been stuck with a workout routine, I suggest you give this workout a try. It is only 20 minutes, but those 20 minutes are killer! You don't even have to buy it since it is available on YouTube. Depending on the day, some will be hard while others will actually be fun.  

Have any of you tried the 30 Day Shred or any other workouts by Jillian Michaels? If so, what were your results? Did you stick to the whole 30 days or did you have to take breaks?

What do you do when you are in a workout rut and have no motivation?

   

Well, hello there!

So many people ask “How did you do it?”

The “it” they’re referring to is losing 65lbs and transforming my physique…which is actually still a work in progress.

The answer is simple. I decided to change, and I stuck with it. It’s easy to find the answers when you really want to change.

In this series of posts, I’m going to give you the tips and tricks I’ve learned in my journey to become FIT!

SPOILERS!

It’s not going to be easy. It’s going to be Hard.

There’s going to be days when you trip up. Pick yourself up, and move on.

There’s going to be workouts when you phone it in. Next one, do more, try harder.

You’ll be amazed by how much your body can actually do, and how much it LOVES being challenged. How your body will transform as it adapts to changes and challenges.

“Pain is just fear leaving the body”

“You can do ANYTHING for 30 minutes a day”

“An hour long workout is only 4% of your day.”

“YOU ARE SO WORTH IT”

But, if you truly commit to the change, you’ll see that you are going to change. Take progress pictures every few weeks, at least every month. Then you’ll be able to do something nifty, like this:

Hey, if *I* can do it, so can you!

Stay tuned for Post #1: The First Step

BeFit. BeHealthy. BeHappy.

Pinterest wedding tips: tested!

If you're a woman who's getting married (or even if you're not!), chances are, you have a board on Pinterest to plan out the perfect wedding.  There are a lot of fun tips to be found - things you never would have known on your own.  One of my favourite things that I found on Pinterest was if you mail a wedding invitation to Mickey and Minnie Mouse, they will send you back a congratulatory card in the mail.

Tried & Tested... TRUE!

My groom and I just received this sweet postcard in the mail today and it totally made me smile.  

We also sent invitations to Cinderella and Prince Charming, as well as President Obama - I will update if we receive anything back from either of them.  

I am definitely planning an update post with my handmade invitations soon, but I currently have 6 weeks to the wedding and a list of craft projects about a mile long - so that post may have to wait until after the wedding - or whenever I have time to breathe! Whichever option comes first.