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Kettlebell Lunch Break?

Angela C. — Mon, 17 May 2010 23:38:27 +0000

As I sit here on my lunch break, crunching through a tray of vegetables, I wonder- what’s so hard about working out at work?

I mean, it’s taken me, like, 15 minutes to get through lunch, plus the five it took to heat up my organic frozen indian food. I have a whole hour– where is it going?

I know, I do use my lunch hour for personal errands and phone calls, since I don’t mix my business life with my home life.

I’ve thought about leaving a pair of tennis shoes here and doing a 20 minute walk during my lunch break. I even considered bringing my 12kg kb and hiding in the sales office to complete a pre-determined number of swings.

Are there any other closet kettlebell office workers out there? Or anyone else that manages to squeeze a workout in during lunch?

What do you do? How do you do it? I’d be interested in hearing your strategies. Leave a comment!

Using Food to Fill the Void

Angela C. — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:47:29 +0000

Hey, folks!

It’s Sunday, stats day, and I’m behind on the blog. Before I begin, I just want to say thank you to each and every person reading this blog! I know we’re all busy, and I appreciate the time you take to read, comment, Tweet, post, and otherwise engage with me online.

That being said, I could use a little encouragement! Some of you may recall my post in November where I talked about the measuring tape being the most effective way of demonstrating my progress.

Well, today, I barely squeezed my tush into a size 12 bathing suit and went off to a birthday party. Later in the evening, I tried on some size 14 “designer” pants, and was mortified. My hips don’t lie. I’ve fallen of the wagon.

A while back, I was talking to a personal trainer who had lost a huge amount of weight. He mentioned sometimes still feeling and acting like that person carrying all those extra pounds.

It’s hard to imagine myself looking like this:

When right now, I feel that I look like this:

I don’t want to give you the impression that I think there’s anything bad about being my size, and ladies, if you got it, work it!

I’m just struggling with consistency, and that’s likely fueled by my inability to imagine myself anything but where I’m at right now.

To help me visualize a new me, I took a minute to reflect on the old me! In 2003, I left a well-paying job and began a venture in independent sales. Concurrently, I changed my eating habits and made the decision to never again work in a career where I had to sacrifice my personal health and well-being. In 3 months, I lost 30 pounds.

Although the business didn’t work out, I did stay on the renegade track for 2 years. I quit drinking alcohol, and for a while, even stopped drinking coffee! I switched to soy instead of cow’s milk, and began a vegetarian lifestyle.

At the time, I infrequently would take hikes, long walks and the occasional aerobics class. When my car finally gave out, I started walking everywhere, and taking the bus.

The picture on the right is of me, three years into this change (Spring 2006). A little while after this photo was taken, I became pregnant!

As a single working mom of a child with a major developmental delay, my lifestyle since then has completely changed. And I know I’ve resorted to the older habits that got me into trouble in the first place.

I started eating meat again when I was in my 1st term of pregnancy. I started drinking alcohol again when I moved to Honolulu. I’ve been using sugar and caffeine as “uppers” ever since I had a newborn!

But the bigger threat to my health and well-being is comfort food. My vices can be salty or sweet, creamy or crunchy, dark chocolate or milk chocolate. It’s just too easy to ignore the consequences and choose something that feels good in the short term.

I’m filling the void with food!

I suppose I’m jumping on the blog today to reach out, and ask for some encouragement. I didn’t even want to weigh in or take my measurements today. I know I’m back in the 190′s, and I know that my measurements last week were 39, 39, 43. And I’ve had only one workout with kettlebells in the last 9 days.

The first practice that I believe will make a difference is starting my day with an attitude of gratitude. One of my friends exchanges e-mails with me every day. We share one or two sentences answering the question: “What are you grateful for?” This helps me frame my day with positive expectation.

I asked another friend to do the water challenge with me. We’re going to shoot for 64 ounces of water a day (although another friend of mine suggests 1/2 my weight in water, which would be a whopping 95 ounces!)

As for accountability, I may need to ask Dwayne Perkins to do another blog-a-thon with me. I found that when I had to check in here daily, I wanted to report progress!!!

Maintaining a positive attitude is where you come in. Sometimes I’ll just spend a minute looking at Facebook or reading other people’s tweets to see what good news they might bring.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you, and I promise, there will be blogs with more “action” to come! Please take a moment and give me a shout out! I appreciate it in advance!

Sunday Stats – The Holidays are Here!

Angela C. — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 09:09:30 +0000

Aloha, kettlecousins!

We celebrated Thanksgiving with a 20+ person party at our house – and that was just the immediate family! I hope that this past weekend was joyous for you as well, and that you embraced the spirit of gratitude, whether you are in the United States or not.

I definitely indulged in family, fun and food. I had stopped counting calories along the way, and unfortunately, it shows:

In this month that I haven’t been training at FitPro, I steadily lost the gains (or gained back the losses?) I had over a month ago! Talk about disappointing.

I can’t give up– I just can’t!

I’ve found a new training partner, and also renewed my joy for walking up mountains.

I also got a kelty carrier for my toddler to join me and see the world from outside of a stroller.

My holiday job has me on my feet for 6 – 8 hours a day, away from the computer, cell phone and other time wasters. This holiday season, I’ve also decided to give up diet soda, and drink plain, refreshing H2O.

My workout partner challenged me to hit 179.0 pounds by Christmas. It’s an ambitious goal. I started to reaffirm myself, and the latest quote I have posted in my room is:

“179 pounds tastes better than any dessert!”

I don’t think dessert in general is horrible, and I’m not a fan of deprivation (obviously).

Since I love desserts so much, including a recent affair with pumpkin-themed sweets, I decided that I will focus on making a clear choice to eat dessert, or any other sugary food choice.

I can allow myself to consciously choose to eat a sweet, rather than having it and pretending I didn’t by not counting it. I just need to factor it in with the other food I’ve eaten, and weigh it out.

If I’m just having a craving (or an emotional desire to eat a particular thing rather than a physical need for it) I can focus on the success I will achieve by working through it. If I just can’t pass on the dessert, I’ll have a small amount, and count it.

Each food choice, big and small, has affected my weight. Combine that with a total lack of kettlebell training in the four weeks preceding this one, and I’m disheartened, but not surprised at the results.

I could go on and on about what I haven’t done that’s led me to this point, but instead, I’ll make a list of what I can do now that will propel me towards my goal:

Kettlebell training, minimum 20 minutes, five times a week before work
Cardio with Kai in the kelty carrier, five times a week when I get home from work
A salad a day (or other mix of healthful vegetables)
Daily multivitamin
8 glasses of water a day
Pause and think before I choose to eat a sweet
Track everything on the blackberry

That about covers it. If I can manage to do even 70% of what’s on this list, I’ll see good results. If I do everything on this list– consistently– I’ll see great results.

Who else is with me? Leave me a comment! Mahalo!

A Pound A Week… Or Else!

Angela C. — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 09:15:51 +0000

I’ve been politely questioned, rudely asked, and even teased about my weight. None of that really made a difference in terms of motivating me to get healthy, in fact, it may have had the opposite effect.

My trainer is taking a different approach — a financial consequence.

Liz and I have agreed. If we don’t come in weighing one pound less consistently every week, our hourly rate will increase by a dollar… permanently!

A pound is a comfortable goal. I’m confident I won’t go into the poor house, and can maintain weight loss of a pound a week. Two pounds a week, however, is my actual goal.

My exercise plan can certainly be improved since I have not been consistent in that regard. Some weeks I’ve had 5 workouts, and most weeks, just three. So, that can be easily fixed.

Healthy eating has not been a priority for me in weeks. Now, this is a touchy area for me. In my word, I say I want to eat healthy, but in deed, I’m not. My healthy integrity has gone out the door!

I’ve recommitted to eating well, one day at a time. I like my food journal on my phone, even if I don’t like its name. I’m always going to be a nerd, so I like seeing the calculations.

Here’s the part that takes real commitment, though– measuring everything– and I mean EVERYTHING I put in my mouth!

Here’s a few examples:

Coffee with 1 tbsp creamer

Examining the Nutrition Facts on Every Single Item

Note to self: a cup of spaghetti is not enough for a cup of sauce

Once I have everything entered in my journal, I’ll be able to recall it without trouble. This week, I find myself spending a lot of time looking up and then entering stats for things like “Organic Veggie Straws” and “BBQ Chicken.”

I’m also keeping track of my workouts on the exercise journal. Does anyone out there know how many kcals are burned in a 30 minute kettlebell workout? I don’t want to use the “weight lifting” stats, because that just doesn’t seem to capture the entire workout.

That just about sums it up. (Get it? SUMS it up? Aw, forget it.) Of course, I’d love to hear from you… it keeps me motivated! Please leave a comment below in the “reply” box. I look forward to reading it!

Mahalo!

Amazing Saturday

Angela C. — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 09:37:20 +0000

Hey, you guys!

I hit a wall, slid down, and picked myself back up. (No, I didn’t hit the wall that hard… I’m sure that’s coming later.) But you know what I noticed?

Things seem to work better after I plateau. I’m not saying that all of a sudden, I’m this super woman competitive kettlebell lifter or anything, but I do sense that my workout is not as arduous, and after exercising I feel much more satisfied.

With my cold in remission, I started my Saturday morning bright and early with Lia, my Power Partner. This time, we decided to do something different and head to the East side of ‘Oahu for a walk up Makapu’u.

(For those who don’t know, the English translation of Hawaiian includes the ‘ mark — a guttural stop between vowels or at the beginning of a vowel sound. So, Hawaii is really Hawai’i… Ask me later.)

Lia informed me that new experiences activate the prefrontal cortex of the brain. It sounded good to me, so I did my best to notice new things along my usual route. We found a black and yellow striped spider in the middle of an intricately spun web between two lava rocks. I counted at least 12 dogs.

Since I wasn’t pushing a baby stroller, I strayed onto the road less traveled to check out a bunker and a different view of the whale watching spot. I stopped to stretch and appreciate the different climates on each side of the mountain.

I know that my weekly workouts are making a significant impact on my cardiovascular health, for sure! I think I chatted the whole way up the mountain. (Poor Lia.)

A few hours later, I headed to see Bill, my trainer, and Liz, my workout buddy, for a kettlebell training session. Thankfully, we didn’t do any drills. I mean- this time, we focused on foundations so that we can really get into swings and then I can learn the snatch.

After some painfully slow deadlifts with the 12kg kettlebell (aaaaaah!) we did thrusters with two 8kg kettlebells. Then, I did something new- half swings with one 8kg kettlebell in each hand. I have a hard time with the math still, but google tells me that’s 35.2739619 pounds.

We creeped our way up to larger swings, and that’s when I noticed it. Although only incremental, when I’m on the downswing, my right hip wants to move into place a millisecond before my left hip. Not only that, I seem to be placing more weight on the left side of my body.

How do I know that? I can tap my right foot when in position to swing, but can barely lift my left foot. More of this weak right hip adductor issue, I bet.

So, rather than torture Liz (who was having pain in her heels from working) and I, Bill had us slow our roll… or swing, as it were. We learned how to assess our balance with two poses that challenge your strength on your opposing sides.

Column Assessment

The first was pretty cool– it’s called a “column.” In essence, you’re making yourself into a column supporting the weight of the kettlebell.

Taking the kettlebell in your right hand, press it overhead. Next, take your right leg, and push it out away from center. Balance your right arm above your left leg so that it appears to be in a straight line, or column. Slowly lower your leg and rack your kettlebell, then repeat with the opposing arm and leg.

That’s it! It was pretty easy for me, since I like movements that remind me of my high school dance class. What I did learn, however, is that my left leg seems stronger than my right, and my right arm seems to get fatigued more quickly than my left.

The final assessment we did was my least favorite. Of course, I don’t prefer to do things that are difficult for me! I’m calling it a diagonal plank, although that may be a misnomer.

To do this, get into the plank position, with your shoulders stacked above your palms and your body in a straight, plank-like line (think– push up position). Begin by lifting your right leg using your hamstrings (not pushing it off the floor). Now you have your right leg comfortably in the air.

Take your left hand off the floor and wrap it around your waist. Yup, that’s right. You are balancing, using your right hand and the sole of your left foot. I have no pictures of this, because I can’t do it for longer than 2 seconds!

That’s okay, though, that’s definitely enough time to see which side and groups of muscles are weaker than the other. I promise, when I’m able to do this skillfully, I will post pictures HERE!

The rest of my Saturday was equally amazing. I got to check out the really heavy kettlebells at Warrior Hardware, and pretended I could lift them. I can’t. Later that night, my son slept in my arms while I played Stratego with my oldest nephew. He won.

I can’t wait for the next action packed day!

The Healthy Eating Equation

Angela C. — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 03:51:15 +0000

“Food is an important part of a balanced diet.” Fran Lebowitz

I don’t want y’all to think that all I eat is chocolate cake. I mean, I do get some great stuff in between, so I thought I’d dedicate this blog entirely to my current eating plan.

Although I’m still getting it together, for the most part, I’m following the old Points system created by Weight Watchers. Simply put, I eat according to a specific amount of points daily and a few “extra” points weekly.

Points vary based on gender, age, height, weight and activity level, and using point system is only appropriate for adults. Any change in your diet should be cleared with your doctor. I’m not a physician, physical trainer, pharmacist, Ph.D., or anything else starting with a “ph,” so please double check everything I say with your health professional.

The formula to determine your points is copyrighted by WW, but regardless, span 18 – 44 points per day. The person with the most points potential is a nurrsing mom! Second to that, it would be a tall, younger, heavyset, physcially active male. Since I’m neither nursing nor LeBron James, my starting points target was 29.

Beyond the daily points target, I also allow myself an extra 35 points a week. This can be broken down to 5 extra points a day or, used once for a humongous slice of chocolate layered cake and vanilla bean ice cream.

So, how are these points for food calculated? Thank you for asking, inquisitive reader! I’m sure you’re already familiar with low fat diets. This isn’t a low fat diet, per se. Three pieces of information about the foods you eat are key: calories, fat grams and dietary fiber grams. The higher in calories and fat a food is, the higher in points it will be. The higher in fiber it is, the lower in points it will be.

It’s pretty intuitive, which is why I like it. The other reason I like this program (besides the fact that I’m a big nerd and like collecting random information) is that there are a TON of “zero points” foods and condiments. Here’s a brief list (vegetables servings are 1 cup):

* asparagus * bean sprouts * broccoli * cabbage * uncooked carrots * cauliflower * celery *cucumber *daikon * eggplant * garlic * green beans * greens * kim chee * lettuce * mushrooms * okra * uncooked onion * peppers * pumpkin * spinach * squash * taro leaves *watercress * all herbs * lemon juice *lime juice * mustard * nonstick cooking spray * relish * salsa * shoyu (soy sauce) * steak sauce * sugar substitute *taco sauce * teriyaki sauce * vinegar * worcestershire sauce

The other tenets of the Weight Watchers program are simple:

Eat at least 5 servings of vegetables and fruits a day (and 9 servings if you weigh more than 350 pounds)
Avocado. Fruit serving + Healthy Fat = Happiness
Choose whole-grain foods, such as brown rice, multigrain bread, and whole wheat pasta
Include at least 2 servings of calcium-rich foods a day (8 oz of milk = 1 serving)
Drink at least 6 glasses of water a day
Eat lean, protein-rich foods
Ensure that you are getting healthy oils, such as olive, canola, safflower, sunflower or flaxseed, as well as mono- and poly-unsaturated fats from fish, nuts and seeds
Limit refined sugar and alcohol intake
Take a daily vitamin-mineral supplement

So, let’s do some math on some of the meals I’ve eaten recently. (I’m NOT suggesting this is excellent eating, I’m just showing you how I honestly calculate my points!)

Breakfast: 24 oz Iced Latte with No Sugar Added Vanilla Powder and nonfat milk = 5 points Wrap with Flat Out Multigrain Bread, 1 egg, 2 oz avocado, salsa = 5 points

Snack: 1 oz cashews = 4 points

Lunch: 1/2 cup cooked brown rice = 2 points 1 regular sized Zippy’s chili = 6 points

Snack:
Baby Carrots = o points
100 calories Hummus Dippers = 1 point

Dinner: Entree size salad (mixed baby lettuce) with cucumber, mandarin oranges (no syrup) and miso dressing = 3 points
1 grilled skinless chicken breast with teriyaki sauce = 3 points Broccoli spears and asparagus (cooked without butter) = 0 points

If you added everything together, it equals 29 points! Yay, me!

Here’s another cool thing about the point system– you can EARN points back! The formula is based on intensity of activity, minutes of activity and body weight.

Guess what’s even COOLER? The workouts that we do with kettlebells are considered HIGH intensity. Woo hoo! So for me, even 15 minutes of a good workout give me back 3 points for the day.

I decided not to add these extra points, but as I lose weight, it’s nice to know that they’re there. I actually can’t wait for my points to decrease!

Oooh, my trainer’s calling! We’re going to discuss my eating plan! Have a great week, and please, share with me how you’re eating!

Chocolate Cake, White Wine and a Workout

Angela C. — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 06:25:51 +0000

I just thought I’d put it all out there. I celebrated my nephew’s birthday at an Italian (-American) chain restaurant last night. I’m sure that other women can relate- I had a MEAN chocolate craving. The kind that won’t be resolved without… chocolate.

Now, I’ve been eating fairly well for the last 6 weeks. I’ve cut down carbs, focused on drinking water, have taken my vitamins and supplements, increased the amount of raw vegetables I’m eating, decreased the amount of red meat I’m eating. You know the drill.

To satisfy my hunger and chocolate cravings, I experimented with an organic food bar recommended by my trainer. I thought I’d like it since it’s made with organic dark chocolate. Yum! I think it tastes good because one of the ingredients is “lots of love!“

But last night… my chocolate bar just wasn’t going to cut it. In fact, I went into the restaurant planning to eat chocolate cake.

When happy birthday was sung, and the presents unwrapped, I dove into my 1/4 of this decadent cake. I know, I shouldn’t glorify something that can be detrimental to my healthy lifestyle. Especially since I had a glass of white wine at dinner. My child seemed to be a little too interested in the white wine, as well. Uh oh.

It’s no surprise, then, that I felt a little lethargic heading into today’s morning workout.

It turns out that when Bill asks me, “How are you doing?” and I respond, “Tired,” it’s not a request to stop, but rather, an invitation for him to try something new with me. I’m learning.

So, instead of warming up with a jump rope or even punching, Bill had Liz and I sweatin’ to the oldies. Seriously. For some reason, the eighties music was playing, and I found myself doing the “white boy’s dance.” My apologies to the white boys- I’m sure you don’t dance like this:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=stbfTIric0g

[ad]

Okay, it was nothing like that, but the laughter helped ease me into the workout.

The hardest thing I learned today was the modified burpee. This isn’t the kind of thing that I do after feeding my child. No. This is like a military or football drill: jump up, bend down with your hands in front of you, get down in the plank position (my old friend), get back into your squat, and jump up. Repeat.

Our set was five modified burpees, 20 swings (8kg). I did THREE. In 6 minutes and 12 seconds. I think I’d rather sweat to the oldies.

The last thing I learned today was the kettlebell hang clean. Mine looked dirty. I mean, it wasn’t both fluid and crisp, and I kept wanting to use my arms to lift the kettlebell into the rack position, which fatigued my biceps quickly. Note to self: “Put your mind in your hips.”

I can’t wait until I have something solid to show y’all. I appreciate you following my progress and leaving me comments. It’s already been a whole month since I started this blog, and I’m overwhelmed by the twitter, facebook and youtube folks tracking me!

So, be sure to sign up on the e-mail list (in the upper right corner), so we can keep in touch. Who knows? Maybe we’ll become BFFs!

Kettlelove?

Angela C. — Wed, 13 May 2009 04:00:19 +0000

You know, I might be falling in love. Oh, I always get this way. I am totally infatuated with kettlebells after our first date… I mean, training session.

I went to BodyVox in Kapahulu to train with Bill Maeda. My friend Liz had trained with him in the past, so she and I decided to workout together.

Today was really just a getting to know you meeting. We discussed my goals (overall more healthy and 55 pounds lighter), my current fitness routine (none), and my weaknesses (chocolate. daily.) We even took my weight and measurements, which I am proud to display right here:

Age 35
Height 5′ 4″
Weight 210.2
Bust 44
Waist 42 1/2
Hips 49

I’m pretty excited that these last 6 days of stressing out about working out have caused me to lose 2 pounds and 1 1/2 inches! Woo hoo!

Back to my newfound infatuation. As you know, I met the kettlebell through a friend and I wasn’t interested… at first. But today, I got to actually put my hands on a 8kg kettlebell and learn how to properly hold it.

Isn't it cuuuuute?

We assessed what I’ll need to work on. Now, those of you who have tons of experience holding a kettlebell may have forgotten just how unwieldy it is. Even the word unwieldy sounds unwieldy; that’s how strange it was to carry a 17 pound round weight with my small hand wrapped around the solid metal handle, and try to avoid breaking my wrist. I think I held the kettlebell pretty well in the “racked” position.

We practiced some squats, holding the kettlebell upside down, also known as “bottom up,” and then holding it in the right-side-up position, also known as… you guessed it… “bottom down.”

Next, I did a few squats with the kettlebell in the racked position. Hello!? Anyone ever try to sit their butt down on a chair while balancing 17 pounds on their left side? And then stand up and repeat until fatigued? Well, that’s exactly what I did. Four times is a challenge — five times is where I had to draw the line.

Oh, I forgot to mention the “press!” How can I forget? This consists of you pushing your “racked” kettlebell up, such that your elbow is locked and the kettlebell is almost perpendicular to the ceiling. I’m making it sound a lot more complicated than it was. As difficult as it was for me, I enjoyed it!

As for stamina? I will definitely need to build my stamina up, but I was able to complete each exercise without hurting myself.

So, that’s the quick and dirty synopsis of my very first workout with an 8kg kettlebell. I felt great!

When I got home to start writing this blog, I was still in the clouds, feeling quite accomplished. I had to pause to run some errands, which is when I started to feel the effects of today’s session. My lower back, my sides, my calves, and muscles in my arm I didn’t even know existed started to ache.

The real test happened when I tried to pick up my little guy, and almost fell over. I couldn’t carry my 30 pound child!

I got out my salonpas patches for my back and legs, and rubbed my now-aching neck. And that’s when I realized…

SOMETIMES LOVE HURTS!

Thanks for tuning in! Join my e-mail list- we’re planning some interesting things here on kettletell!

Energy Balancing Act

Angela C. — Sat, 09 May 2009 22:00:41 +0000

Lack of action leads to lethargy. Put another way, the more you rest, the more rest you need. Your body– and any living thing– regulates itself to maintain equilibrium, a process called homeostasis.

On the one hand, it’s great to know that your body does everything on its own to protect itself. However, this isn’t necessarily a good thing.

I’m sure you know that if you starve yourself, your body will start storing fat. If you’re inactive, then your body readjusts itself to only maintain that level of activity.

I keep re-learning this, having not seriously worked out in over 2 years. Every time I push my child in his stroller over a long distance, the muscles in my calves cramp up. Today, hauling all of our picnic supplies into the car, I broke out into a full-fledged workout sweat. After four hours of fun in the sun, I was so drained, I had to take a nap!

I look forward to the day that I can play with my child without feeling pain or fatigue, and still have the energy to finish my day without needing a break. I’m sure, with the right amount of motivation and some awesome kettlebell training, I’ll be able to strike the right balance!