Sofia Alejandra: Fitness

I have to be honest, my sleep patterns have drastically evolved these past few weeks. I used to be a morning person, but now I am more of a zombie. I do not sleep. So while I continue to awaken at 7:30 a.m., I also go to be at 2 a.m. This is incredibly unhealthy I realize that, but I am working on it.

Believe me the headaches and developing coffee addiction is not worth it.

Either way, I speak to all you sleep-sane individuals who happen to also be morning people. (P.S. my definition of a morning person is someone who wakes up early regardless of whether they are chirpy or grouchy). If you are waking up early either by choice or not and find yourself wasting away the hours, listen up:

YOU SHOULD BE WORKING OUT.

Yes, lets mix some heart pumping cardio into the morning grudge. Trust me exercise will instantaneously make you feel alive and full of energy.

Speaking from personal experience, I have listed below some of the benefits I have found to working out in the morning.

Numero one: get up, work out, be done. One of the greatest benefits to working out in the morning is that you are done with it early and can continue your day without that burden and constant battle of whether to workout or not. We have all been there, your gym shoes, gym clothes and clock are staring at you. They whisper for you to go and workout, yet your body is telling you "no." It's kinda like the usually a procrastinators' secret to not procrastinating working out.

Numero two: apparently you burn more calories. If you workout first thing in the morning before breakfast, your body uses its stored fat as energy. So you are burning dem jiggles away.

Numero three: it literally wakes you up. Yes it takes a tad bit more will power to get up, but afterwards you will feel amazing. Incredibly energized and ready to tackle the day. So instead of using a bucket of cold water to wake up just exercise. Simple.

Numero four: you'll be a loner. Being a loner, in my opinion, is only great if its at the gym. When there are crowds of people it is uncomfortable AND there is probably someone already on your machine. Annoying I used to know, I do not anymore because I workout in the morning.

So get out of bed sexy loser, and go workout!

Let's do something productive in the a.m.

By Unknown

I have to be honest, my sleep patterns have drastically evolved these past few weeks. I used to be a morning person, but now I am more of a ...

This morning I woke up sore, I could barely make it down the stairs without having to twist my legs into an awkward position that would at least ease the pain a little. Admittingly, it has been a while since my I have woken up with aching muscles after a hard workout, and while I like knowing that I have worked out hard, I would avoid such discomforts.

A wise cross country coach once told me that the number one remedy to prevent soreness is to stretch. And boy do I hate to stretch. Its the tedious task that one must do after working out because we have been told to repetitively during P.E. class. But lets be honest, it takes time, and after a hard workout that last thing anyone wants to do is sit around in weird positions and stretch! Rather, us gym junkies want to hop in the shower or grab a post workout smoothie.

Unfortunately, stretching is inevitable, and perhaps its many benefits will help you appreciate this seemingly mundane task, and encourage you to get bendy!

In Q&A fashion, lets talk all about stretching?

1. Stretching is important, I get it, but why exactly?

To put it simply, stretching = increase flexibility. Flexibility allows for a greater range of motion in the joints,keeping your muscles healthy and strong, and helping you to move better through the various exercises. Stretching is also great for improving balance.

2. Okay, but I'm tired, can't I just skip the stretching?

Without stretching, your muscles will stay tight and weak, and will be unable to extend when you do an activity. So when your muscles suddenly have to more while running or playing football, they can become strained and put you at risk of joint pain, strains and muscle damage^1.

3. So which should I do: Dynamic or static stretching?

Dynamic stretching is when you perform various exercises before working out like skipping, high knees, walking lunges etc. This is essentially the "warm up." According to Alex hutchinson, author of 'Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?,' "Warming up with 'dynamic' stretching exercises raises the temperature of muscles and prepares them for exertion but doesn't decrease strength, power, speed, or endurance." Dynamic stretching is a great way to "prep" your body before you start your workout. Try adding a 5 minute, 5 moves circuit before you start a workout routing. An example would be 1 minute of jumping jacks, high knees, walking lunges, butt kicks and mummy kicks.

Static Stretching is the traditional stretching of the muscles when the body is at rest. These include hamstring stretches, back twists, child's pose etc. Static stretches should be performed after a workout.

4. Should I stretch before or after working out?

Dynamic stretching should be done before a workout as a warm up. Static stretching should be performed after every workout, during recovery.

5. How long should I hold a stretch for?

One mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi……up to 30 mississippi! You should hold the stretch long enough, which is between 20 to 30 seconds. Remember not to bounce and just hold the stretch! It won't hurt I promise! If it does…. get a doctor!

Also remember to breath deeply while you stretch. Don't hold your breath.

6. 30 seconds? Got that, but now, for how long?

You only need to reserve 5 to 10 minutes for stretching. Don't think of it as a chore, instead think of it as a reward for having worked hard! Your muscles will definitely feel that way! Also you can stretch anywhere and at anytime, so while you watch TV, get bendy! While you cook, get bendy! While you talk on the phone… you guessed it, get bendy!

7. How many stretches should I do in total?

I honestly have no answer for this question. What I typically do though is just stretch all the major muscle groups that I have used.

Below is an example stretching sequence that I may do after boxing:

time: 5 minutes, each stretch held for 30 seconds
sequence:

upper body:

shoulder stretch
triceps stretch

back and core

cobra
lower back stretch

legs:

hamstring stretch

middle
left
right

quadricep stretch

hips:

hip opener
inner thigh stretch

There are thousands of different kinds of stretches that you can try to keep each stretch routine interesting. I understand, believe me, that stretching can be tedious, but it is essential to staying healthy and strong on your journey to fitness. You can also always try a Yoga or Pilates class, which have shown to have many benefits beyond the ones mentioned above!

Stay on the lookout for an upcoming stretching sequence guide that I will be making soon, featuring pictures and stretching sequences!

I hope you learnt something today, and that you begin to incorporate stretching into your workouts!

Works cited:
1) "The Importance Of Stretching." Harvard Health Letter 38.11 (2013): 4. Academic Search Complete. Web. 22 May 2014.
2)Hutchinson, Alex. Which comes first, cardio or weights?: fitness myths, training truths, and other surprising discoveries from the science of exercise. New York: HarperCollins, 2011. Print.

Stretching 101

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So you've washed your hair in the morning and it looks great, smells nice. But now you have to go to the gym, and you begin to wonder whether it's worth sacrificing your fabulous do, for sweat.

Ill be the first to admit, this was always my excuse for not exercising. But now, I have become a sort of expert on how to keep my hair looking fab, and still sweat.

(Sometimes, I even prefer my post workout hair!)

There are two techniques I use, each interchangeably depending on time and how I am feeling. Now just keep in mind that these are techniques for your hair, and just because your hair looks great and doesn't smell so bad, it does not mean the rest of you does too. In other words, this is not an excuse for not showering!

1. The High Bun

This is my no. 1 secret for keeping the sweat away, and all it requires is a hair tie (you can also wear a headband, but it is optional!). The rule of thumb here is, the higher the bun, the easier it is to keep the sweat away and maintain your do. Also, to prevent hairband marks on your hair, use a scrunchy. I know, old school, but everything old recycles itself, so pull out your 90s hair accessories because those scrunchies are your hairdo superheroes!

Step 1: Tie your hair into a high and tight ponytail.

Step 2: With another hair tie, twist the hair around into a bun and secure with the elastic!

Optional step: Add a headband to keep bangs and loose hairs out of the way!

TA DAAA! A super easy, cute, and sweat free hairstyle!

2. The Dry Shampoo

If you have not discovered dry shampoo, its time to take a trip to the nearest drug store ASAP! This is a must have in your gym bag. Dry shampoo saves you from oily hair on rushed or even lazy mornings. This is the ultimate secret weapon for us girls.

Now theres one important rule of thumb here. Not all dry shampoos were created equal, so you must choose wisely young grasshopper. Lucky for you, I have found the most amazing product. Furthermore, it used to be only available in the UK, but now its being imported here!

Readers, meet Batiste Dry Shampoo! They come in all different flavors and it is amazing, smells fantastic, and quite honestly, I feel it leaves my hair looking better! All you have to do is shake (&dance will your at it) and spray. I leave it on for a couple of minutes and massage it into my hair. Then I use a towel to wipe it, and finally brush it.

Warning: Make sure to get all the white out of your hair so that you are not walking around with white powder and getting weird looks!

My only suggestion for dry shampoo, is to not use it too often. It is not as effective as washing your hair, so I opt to use it every other day, twice a week.

You can find Batiste online, at urban outfitters, and I have even seen it at TJ Maxx! It can be pricey, but it is worth it. Beauty cost bucks honey.

3. The blow dry

While I have only tried this once, I have a friend who swears by this technique. Judging from her post workout hair, it works! All you need it a blowdryer and a towel!

1. Pat your hair with a dry towel to dry the sweat. (sorry it sounds gross but I had no other way of phrasing that!)

2. Take a blowdryer, and on medium to low speed and heat, begin to dry your hair. You can even try it with cold air which will do less damage!

And thats it!

Make sure your hair isn't too wet when you dry it, so that it doesn't smell like sweat! The contrast of sweaty hair with heat, does something funky to the smell of your hair!

Well friends, I hope these suggestions were helpful. Now, like me, you no longer have the excuse of not going to the gym because you washed your hair. Power through them burpees fearlessly and worry free!

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The road to change can sometimes be frustrating. For me the biggest problem is the transition. I like to see results and get things done right away. I am an all or nothing type of gal. So when I cave in to a double fudge sunday or a dulce de leche cheesecake, I feel so disappointed and diverge further from the road to healthy and happy.

Warning long discussion of change up ahead, scroll down to see my 5 top tips if you are not interested. No feelings hurt I promise :)

Truthfully, change goes hand in hand with patience. If change were easy, everybody would be changing every day. It is definitely more rewarding achieving change from having to go through many trials and tribulations.

So, what I have found works best for me is to start slow. Yes its frustrating making little changes at first as apposed to just diving into whatever your ultimate goal is, but if we really think about it, each time we progress with our little goals, we are moving forward down the same path, without having major setbacks.

To make this a little clear I shall compare this to my path to getting healthy. There were certain foods I needed to eliminate in order to keep myself working optimally. For example, milk, because unfortunately, I am allergic to it. If you know me well, you know that these things are severely unpleasant. But milk is contained in a lot of my favorite foods like cake, ice cream and chocolate. So yes it was hard, and because I wanted to go full throttle on eliminating milk, every time so milk happened to splash into my life, I went out like a maniac trying to eat all the milk products out there since I had been depriving myself of them and since I "ruined my progress."

Lesson learned: A little of some of something isn't bad, and I shouldn't let that get me down.

So what I started to do was use lactose aid pills to enjoy the foods with milk I liked, and slowly I started changing from mozzarella cheese to goat cheese (because it does not affect me as bad as the cow cheese) or almond cheese, and from ice cream to coconut ice cream or homemade banana ice cream without milk.

Taking it slow really helped me to avoid that catastrophic collision. But now to the main point of this post. Today I would like to share 5 easy changes that you can make in your daily life to burn fat, live healthier, and function better! So lets get started

5 Tips for A Healthier and Happier Life

1. Drink water, constantly.

Yes, we have heard water is important our whole lives, we get it! But honestly, it is very underestimated. Water helps to detoxify the body. This is really great! We want to constantly detox. Water helps us to clean our livers and other organs. It helps with digestion and the uptake of nutrients. (Sometimes we are just hydrated not hungry.) Water is a major tool in weight loss. If you drink more water, you will lose the water weight because your body will know that it does not need to retain water. Honestly, there are countless fantastic benefits of water. Add a splash of lemon for added detox benefits to your body. I recommend drinking 2 big glasses right after you wake up. Its also really great for digestion to drink an hour before each meal, but limit liquid intake to 8oz while eating your meal to help with digestion. The thing is good digestion = weight loss and healthier body.

Tip: drink half your weight in ounces of water a day, more depending on how active you are. So if you weigh 120 lbs drink 60 ounces.

2. Add some Apple Cider Vinegar to your life

Apple cider vinegar is a super food. Apple cider vinegar, like water, helps to increase your metabolism, improve your skin, and improve digestion. Now that is just SOME of the benefits of this amazing vinegar. It has powers to improve your life from the inside out or outside in. An article by readers digest says that taking a tspoon of apple cider vinegar can stop hiccups. Research also shows that it can improve indigestion, cure sore throats, and give you energy. But you have to make sure that the apple cider vinegar you reach for is organic, raw and unfiltered. This is the purest form with the best benefits. Briggs makes an amazing bottle of vinegarness! :) Now for benefits outside the body, meaning ones that you do not have to consume, The Huffington post reports that you can use this liquid as a toner for your face, deodorant, mouthwash and sunburn soother.

Tip: Drink one tablespoon of Apple cider vinegar in the morning to jump start your metabolism. Mix with some water or honey to reduce the acidity. If you prefer not to try that, just add it to your salad dressings! Here is the most delicious dressing by one of my favorite blogs called My New Roots (mynewroots.blogspot.com):

Vinaigrette:

1/3 cup cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. maple syrup

1 Tbsp. strong mustard

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pepper

1 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

½ tsp ground cardamom

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

¼ tsp. ground cloves

1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

This recipe is part of her amazing lentil salad recipe found here: http://www.mynewroots.org/site/2010/06/the-best-lentil-salad-ever-2/

3. Start your day with a green smoothie
Find yourself rushing so much in the morning that breakfast is near to impossible to fit in? Well how about you try a smoothie? Its portable and does not require any sitting around ritual to eat! Greens smoothies are filled with fiber, and the right combination of ingredients can really create an amazing meal replacement. By starting your day with a nutritious smoothie, you are setting yourself up for success by motivating you to stay on track in your healthy life throughout the day. Furthermore, smoothie are easy for your body to digest, so its kindoff like a detox. If you are looking for the perfect detox smoothie for breakfast why not try Kimberly Snyders famous and delicious green smoothie for breakfast? Its filled with fiber and you wont taste the greens, I promise! And if you do not like it, you can always just experiment yourself. Add avocado for creaminess, add berries for flavor, add a handful of spinach for iron, fiber, and lots of other nutrients! Add almond milk for creaminess and added calcium. You can even add a good quality, plant based protein powder if you are eating after working out, or just want to feel more satisfied.
Tip: Add greens to your kids smoothies, they wont taste the wonderful spinach of sexy kale! I promise!! You can add more berries to mask the colour of green or just tell them its a hulk smoothie :)

Kimberly Snyder’s Glowing Green Smoothie

Author: Kimberly Snyder

Recipe type: Green Smoothie

Serves: 5-6 cups

Ingredients

12-16 oz Filtered Water
1 head Romaine Lettuce
1 cup Spinach
3 Celery Stalks
1 Apple (cored)
1 Pear
1 Banana
Juice ½ Lemon
1 cup Ice

Instructions

Place all ingredients in the jar in order listed

4. Eat Fruits on an empty stomach

This is something I learned from a life changing book called "The Beauty Detox Solution." Fruits, digest faster then any other food. Therefore, if we consume fruits after a meal, they will ferment in our stomachs. Gross right? Thats why it is best to eat them early in the day and on an empty stomach, because it will improve our digestion and help us shed fat faster. Usually after dinner, I would eat a banana. I realized that I would become gassy (im sorry if this is to much information for some people. I am still a lady, promise. I keep that gas to myself! haha okay Sofia stopping now) and feel really unpleasant. Thats because the fruit was fermenting. Ew. so by eating it first you are not depriving yourself of the wonderful benefits of fruit, instead you are improving your digestion and living healthier. You are also fully absorbing all the benefits that fruit has to offer.

Tip: try to wait 20 minutes after consuming your fruit before consuming anything else because that is how long it takes for your body to digest the fruit!

5. Lift weights!

Yes I am saying to walk over to the intimidating male side of the gym with all the weights and join them. Trust me, you will not get bulky. You will not become a female hulk. Instead you will be creating lean, toned muscle that will help you burn more fat. Muscle may weigh more then fat, but it does not take up more space then fat. Muscle is essential for functioning. Toning that muscle will lower you chances or developing osteoporosis or other diseases that can really weaken us. Try to weight train 3 times a week, spacing it out by a day. Do it before cardio, but make sure to warm up a little bit before lifting them weights. Increase your weights, or repetitions every 2 weeks to keep your muscle guessing. Make sure to have some protein and carbs (4g of carb for every 1 gram of protein, rough equation for how much you should be having) within an hour after your exercise. This is the time when your muscles are ready to take in nutrients. This will help to repair your muscles and increase your recovery time. Try a protein shake of: 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup mixed frozen berries and 1 scoop of protein powder.

Tip: If you get to a machine and do not know how to use it, do not be afraid to ask that cute hunk next to you how to use it! ;)

So slowly incorporate these tips and I guarantee you will start feeling better. They are easy changes to your already beautiful daily life!

Live long and prosper,

Sofia

Sources:

Image: http://www.onemorebite-weightloss.com/muscle-to-fat.html

Articles: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/16/apple-cider-vinegar-beauty-benefits_n_3589264.html, http://www.rd.com/slideshows/8-health-benefits-of-apple-cider-vinegar/

Books: The Beauty Detox Solution by Kymberly Snyder