Happy Saturday! I’m going to spend the remainder of the weekend in yoga teacher training (I wish there was wi-fi there—then I could be like my nutrition students and pretend I’m listening, but really be chatting and playing on the Internet…just kidding, I wouldn’t do that!).
I want to tell you a few random things today.
1. The randomly chosen giveaway winner is: jtones (I’ve sent an email, and she’s busy picking out which coffee bean/herb combo she wants!). Thank you to everyone who entered—I met some new bloggy friends as a result, and that is just awesome. I plan to keep doing the same type of giveaway thing (next one when I reach 1000 “Likes” on fb maybe?)—collect stuff I love over time, and then when I have enough, I’ll put it in a giveaway. Note: Since I’ve been SO uncreative in the kitchen lately, the next giveaway might just be the exact same stuff… but it sounds like you’d be ok with that!
2. I found an AMAZING blog to follow: Maria’s Nutritious and Delicious Journal. Somehow I found her facebook page, and her posts are really interesting and informative. She and I share eating/food philosophies, and she has several books out too (I just ordered all of them from her Amazon store). No, I’m not stalking her—even though she has no idea who I am.
Two interesting things I just learned from Maria in this post, which I’ll be reading more about, are this:
- “Oranges are not very high in vitamin C which is why juice is fortified with vitamin C. We know that glucose and vitamin C have similar chemical structures, so what happens when the sugar levels go up? They compete for one another when entering the cells. And the thing that mediates the entry of glucose into the cells is the same thing that mediates the entry of vitamin C into the cells. If there is more glucose around, there is going to be less vitamin C allowed into the cell. It doesn’t take much: a blood sugar value of 120 reduces the phagocytic index by 75%. So when you eat sugar, think of your immune system slowing down to a crawl. Sage is also filled with vitamin C!”
- “Birth control pills deplete our cells of zinc and getting pregnant too soon before having healthy zinc levels can cause birth defects, such as cleft palates. My suggestion is to take zinc for 6 months after going off birth control before trying to conceive.”
3. My Keurig broke today. I am taking this as a sign from the universe that I need to quit my regular coffee habit (ok, or maybe it’s just telling me to cut down to making it optional instead of necessary). Coffee is acidic. I have more reading to do about this too–I know cold brewed coffee is less acidic–anyone have the Williams Sonoma cold brew thingy? Maybe I’ll buy that (you can warm the coffee after you brew it if you like).
4. Brief Intermittent Fasting Update: I’m still doing it. There have been three days when I did not do it (once due to stress, and twice due to schedule—and I intend to eat before I go to yoga teacher training today/tomorrow since I’ll be there for 7 hours and don’t want to pack my lunch. Yes, I’m lazy like that, and I feel more focused if I just drink water while I’m there and have a few snacks–almonds, etc.). My body fat is lower by about one percent, but my weight is the same. My calorie intake is the same (the time of intake changed, but the quantity didn’t). I’ve stopped feeling ravenous at my first meal. I can super duper focus all morning when all I’ve had is a cup of coffee and water (sometimes with lemon). I’ve been eating my first meal between 12-2, depending on the day, and my last before 8pm.
5. Traditional Fitness Plan: I’m still doing my several-times-a-day activity plan, on most days. Probably 2-3 days a week it doesn’t turn out like I want—due to scheduling, workload, or excessive numbers of student emails. I do WAY more low level activity than intense workouts (walking mostly, some moderate cardio time on my beloved AMT at the gym). My interval timer training with the Ugi (primarily) and sand bag (secondarily, since I haven’t gotten organized enough to work this one in adequately) happens for about 15-22 minutes at a time several times a week. It’s a new way for me to look at workouts—I’m used to thinking I should spend a lot of time at once during the day! The result so far: I’m guessing I’m about 1 week from having a kick-ass six pack (sorry, I’m not showing it—it feels inappropriate since I’m a teacher). My arms are more sculpted, and I’m trying not to be annoyed that my thighs are bigger (less jiggly, more muscular—from past experience when I did P90X, I know the tables will turn soon and they’ll be less tree-trunky).
So, there you have it—a lot of words and no pictures! I’m having a photo-block, so I’m deciding not to fight it…
Have you changed the way you work out or eat lately?
What are you weekend plans?! I always work just as much on the weekends as during the week, but the weekend feels more relaxing anyway…
happy weekend, lisa! and i hope you enjoy the yoga training. man, if you had wifi, you sure could multi-task!
love the random updates today – and no photos – not a prob! i’d rather read what you have to share than look at photos!
you can offer those same goodies as a giveaway anytime. how many blog posts are you at? you could do a giveaway for reaching x number? (guess where i got that idea from…)!
i think it’s a sign to make sure you get to s’bux at least once per day. keep coffee in your life.
i have been strength training consistently for a couple months – a new record, i believe!
this weekend, i’d really like to go see “the ides of march” – maybe i can make that happen tomorrow.
Great info! Thanks for sharing your updates as well!!! I’ve definitely started to incorporate more strength training circuit style workouts into my routines, and have really noticed a difference!!! 😀
Not much going on this weekend, mostly just hanging out here at home.
Thanks for your update on the intermittent fasting! That is so fascinating to me. I just think eating on a regular schedule works better for my body. But I love hearing about it! I will definitely have to check out Maria’s website as well. I don’t mind no photos, I love reading what you have to say! Hope the training goes well — have a great weekend!
It’s interesting about your focus in the morning — my husband, who is back in school full time, finds that he can’t focus after a cooked meal in the morning — he either needs to eat raw or just have some tea. So strange how food affects the brain! I’m glad you’re still posting, even w/o photos — sometimes just reading is nice, too. Thanks for sharing that blog, too…I’m interested in her adoption story!
Well after surgery I changed the way I was eating, began having like 10 small snack meals a day. I’ve always been a snacky eater, but not to that extreme. Since then, I’ve gotten a bit more back to my old type of eating, and feeling okay with it.
Hmmm, I did know that about vitamin C, but I didn’t know the zinc information. That’s weird that they don’t talk about zinc very much when it comes to birthda control and birth defects. Why wouldn’t they? It sounds like something we should hear about more often, don’t you think?
As for the vitamin C information, I think it really only has to do with eating oranges by themselves. IF you eat something else with them, like nuts or something with fiber, then it shouldn’t be as bad (the blood sugars won’t spike as much). Also, be sure to eat the whites (pulp) of the orange because it’s loaded with fiber and I think even more vitamin C.
I hope you are enjoying your weekend. Mine is being spent….at work. Ugh.
That’s a great point—when I read that info, I was just picturing how people sometimes think they should drink a bunch of orange juice in order to ward off a cold, when maybe there’s a better way to do it. However, you’re right, most people don’t just drink orange juice or eat an orange alone! The website I got the info from also talked about veg alternative for getting high amounts of vitamin C—that would solve some of the issue too… Thanks for the thoughts. I’m going to do a little research on the zinc and see what I come up with!
Hope your weekend-workday goes super quickly…. 🙂
I love reading your updates, especially about the exercise! I’ve been intrigued by your approach to exercise ever since you first posted about it. I find it inspiring, and I’ve tried to incorporate some of the philosophy into my own day. I’ve spent a lot of time on the computer the past few weeks, so I”m trying to remember to take breaks and move around more often. I’m so glad to hear that you’re getting such good results! (I have great abs too. But I keep them safe beneath a protective layer of fat. Ha!)
I am really interested in Maria’s adoption story too! I read some past posts, but haven’t connected all the dots yet…
Ahhhhh! Love I miss you. I am home Friday. Let’s do something before I leave for New Jersey next Wednesday!
First of all, I am sad that I didn’t win. Second of all, that is a baller blog and it is going on my reader. Third of all, coffee should NEVER be bumped down to optional 😉 kidding, we can probably all tone it down a little but I think this is a sign from the universe for you to buy a french press and do it the old-fashioned way. 😉 I’ve definitely been doing more “natural” exercise, not as much in the gym which sucks but is also kind of good because I don’t stress about “getting to the gym” every day. I haven’t been fasting, except maybe when I drink too much and pass out before I can eat — it’s true, but bad. I’m always eating. Like always. To me, I’ve noticed that I’m only eating when I’m truly hungry — I’m becoming more of an intuitive eater than eating by time of convenience or because that’s when I’m “supposed to eat”.
Love you!!! Have a happy Monday chica. <3
Hi Lisa! Maria here!
You are SOOO sweet! I really appreciate the shout out! All of the proceeds from my books go to help bring home our sons. We leave this THURSDAY to get them! YAHOO
Here is a video of when we met them: http://mariahealth.blogspot.com/2011/05/adoption-first-video-of-our-family.html
Thank you so much for your support. I feel like such a tiny voice in this confused world of nutrition.
I am trying so hard to decrease my coffee intake but like you said before, the keurig makes it wayyy too easy to drink a cup or two or three a day yikes! This weekend I completely relaxed with my family. We had a faux-Thanksgiving since we will be out of town on the actual date.
That stinks about your keurig! I’ve been trying to eat better lately, but I also seem to slack around that time of the month 🙁
Okay, guess what I got my hands on!! PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter… found it in a health food store in Cali and HAD to have it! It was $10… is that normal? They had a chocolate flavor too but I just got the regular stuff. Can’t wait to toss it into some greek yogurt 🙂
Loved your comment about the trail mix nut butter – seriously you HAVE to try it! You’ll never want to buy the store bought PB again, I promise…
Thanks so much for that site and all the info! Good luck in your teacher training this week!! Can’t wait to hear back from you again!
I totally found kelp noodles yesterday and bought a couple packs… I can’t wait to try them, thanks for the inspiration! 🙂
Thanks for sharing your new blog find with us! I had no idea about oj and Vit C. About cold-brewed coffee, I don’t know how pricey the WS maker is, but I make mine in my French press and it’s amazing. (I let it sit overnight at room temp to “brew” and then double filter it in the morning.)
ooo, loving her blog – i’m glad you shared the link.
i’ve been trying to include more fat (avocados, almond butter) and i seem to be less snacky. we’ll see if it lasts!
Glad your new philosophies are working out. I recently moved to Hollywood so I’m walking a lot more — 1-2 hours a day. I’m loving it!
this is an interesting post! thanks for all the information about vitC, Zinc, birth control pills etc. My eating habits change in every country I travel to and as much as I try to be healthy I still catch stomach infections here and there. ITs awful but just a sign that I need to settle down for a while. Too bad we are not able to see photos of you, I would definitely love to see how you progress and change physically while trying out new diets, workouts etc.