Double Standard

One of the most often things I hear from others that have lost weight is that friends and coworkers will say, "Don't lose too much weight now!". This drives me crazy. Whose business is it anyway except maybe those closest to us, like our family? And who decides what losing too much weight is? Making the comment like "You're getting too skinny!" is the same as "You're getting too fat!" Neither is nice. And I find it especially insulting coming from someone who's never been fat.

Of course no one wants anyone to go anorexic, but no one wants anyone to go "obese" either. What kind of person comments to someone else that they are getting fat...."Gee, you've gained some weight, don't gain too much now." In fact, rarely, if ever, does anyone comment about weight gain, but it's complimentary to notice weightloss. My favorite is "Wow, you've lost a ton of weight". Does anyone know what a backhanded compliment this is? Why can't we just say, "You look great!" Or, "What have you been doing, you look better than ever!"

Is it more rude to notice and comment on someones weight gain or is it more rude not to say something? Is there a nice way to show concern? I can't think of a comment that would come across as caring and not insulting or embarrassing. So many times when I notice someone significant weight gain I do feel as if I want to say something, but only to try and help....is it ever appropriate? Where's Dear Abbey when I need her?

Twelve Weeks that Changed My Entire Life

I consider cooking one of my hobbies. I'm always interested in learning all I can about it, so I do it often and I do it alot! In fact I'd do it more if I could eat more! If I had the time, or if my life was different, I'd think about going to culinary school, not because I want a career in the food industry, in fact I never want to work in the food industry, but it's always been a dream of mine to immerse myself in that kind of learning situation as a way to hone my skills and improve at a greater pace. Going to culinary school in another country would be off the charts cool too!

I didn't always have an interest in cooking. I wanted to be a good cook but it never occured to me how one becomes a good cook. My mother didn't have a mother that cooked, and my grandmother's mother didn't teach her to cook, and so on and so on. Growing up my definition of a good cook was anyone that could cook a turkey! (I now know the proper term is "roast" a turkey) Thanksgiving and Xmas, which was the same menu, was the only time I was ever exposed to "real food".....looking back now what I defined as "real food", besides the turkey, was green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, a jello mold, and cranberry sauce from a can.....but I do have to give credit for the stuffing recipe and gravy that I still use every year....killer! (but I learned how to make it better!) Thanksgiving turkey dinner would be my motivation, my driving force to learn how to cook.

Nearing my 32nd birthday I had a client/friend that started working in a gourmet kitchen store called Home Chef and told me about the cooking classes they offered. One program of 12 lessons particularly interested me, it was called "The Essentials". "The Essentials" was a 12 class series, one 2 hour class a week that focuses on cooking methods, principles and techniques, not just recipes. Each week we learned and practiced a cooking method, were shown a few recipes that incorporated that method, went home and practiced it on our own for 1 week and then we moved on to another the following week. The "progression" went like this, and in this order.... (goodness...I just realized I learned how to cook using my favorite way of learning...progressions! No wonder I was so successful!)

Stocks and Broths

Sauces (white and brown)

Braising and Poaching (wet heat)

Main dish and Desert Pastries

Grilling and Broiling (direct heat)

Bread and Pizza

Roasting and Baking (dry heat)

Souffles

Soups

Quick and Easy Sauces (dressing, salsas etc.)

Sauteing and Frying

Cakes

Twelve weeks that changed my entire life.

For my birthday that year Mark bought me the series of classes for $330 which was a discount from the $389 if you agreed to assist. Assisting meant that you had to come 2 hours early and help the teacher prep for the recipes, serve the students samples, and then stay to clean up afterwards. Even with the discount $300 bucks was a ton of money at the time.

I had so many "firsts" during these classes, in fact practically everything was a "first"!. The first time I had ever touched a pork tenderloin, the first time I saw a raw shrimp (I thought shrimp was always pink!), the first time I saw parsley used for anything but garnish! I had no idea what "stock" was or what to do with it. And never in a million, gazillion years could I ever predict I would make and use my own stocks on a regular daily/weekly basis. (lucky me!)

Having an obsessive personality I applied for a part time job at the store just to be able to attend all of the cooking classes I could find time for, or make the spare time for. As an employee one of the perks was free classes and I took full advantage of it.

This went on for about 2 years until one evening while sitting in a class I realized my time would be better spent at home actually cooking instead of trying to learn more! I knew enough and it was time to apply it! I figured I had spent 10 hours a week working in the store, and at least 6 hours attending classes....16 hours I could spend cooking my own foods! This is also the same reason why I don't spend too much time watching cooking shows. The 30 minutes it takes to watch Rachel Ray I could be putting dinner on my own table! I've not attended another cooking class since.

Is there more to learn? Always. But the lessons learned by doing instead of watching can be of far greater value in my opinion. Finding time, or making time, to practice is the only way to get better.....no matter what interests you. Do I think I have a natural talent for cooking? Not really. Mark has a phrase, and it's one of my favorites, "What you lack in talent you can make up for in willpower and discipline." I had the will to become a good cook and the discipline to practice....that's all.

Eat Less, or Eat Better. Pick One or Both

We all know how to lose weight......eat less. I know the "experts" say to eat less and exercise more, but I don't agree with the last part. Sure you have to exercise but you can't "out-snatch a doughnut", and you shouldn't "use" exercise to try to balance out those binges...but that's a different blogpost. The point of this blogpost is that your current bodyweight is supported by the amount of calories you eat. It's not a mystery. To lower the weight of your body you need to change the amount of calories you are eating. You need to eat less, but how about different? Can you eat more "better" foods and still lose weight?

Are the calories in a bowl of oatmeal better than the calories in a bagel? Are the calories in a bagel better than the calories in a cupcake? Nutritionally some foods are "better" than others, of course.

"Better" more nutritious foods are usually lower in calories so it stands to reason that you can, in fact, eat more of them.....But at the end of the day it's calories in, calories out. Pure science. You can still overeat "better" foods and not lose bodyweight.

You would think that I would be used to the amounts, and the kinds of foods that are so readily available, but everyday I'm amazed at the abundance. You can't drive 1 mile without passing a dozen markets, bakeries, fast food, ice cream/frozen yogurt places. You can't go into a market without being assaulted by shelves of candy or seasonal treats the moment you step in the door or stand next to the cashier. And to be honest, I'm tempted, practically everyday, to buy and eat things I would never normally even think about if they weren't everywhere, God forbid they go "on sale".

All I can say is that it's a good thing I always have "better" food at home, and 99% of the time it's ready for me to just come home and serve it up....coming home to get it is the key! If I'm going to be away from home for an extended period I pack some snacks with me, a piece of fruit, some nuts, lately a couple of slices of meatloaf, but sometimes I let myself be away from home longer than I planned thinking I can wait.....but when you get hungry......

It would be so easy to buy something. (I actually had to quit practicing at one particular yoga studio because it was next to a Subway and the smell of fresh bread at noontime was way too

distracting.) It's rare that I cave in, but I do find myself seriously debating it in my head. If I didn't have good food at home I'm not sure I could resist to be honest. That's why it doesn't surprise me that most people don't. Most people don't give themselves the option of better food.

Calories add up fast and if given the choice of 1/2 cup Hagen Daaz to 2 c yogurt with a tablespoon of brown sugar, I'd chose the yogurt. (Of course I could never eat only 1/2 ice cream...that's just impossible.....) Most often I choose more nutritious foods that are less calorie dense, but lately I haven't been motivated to eat less calories overall. So in the mean time I'll keep eating well and when I can eat less I will.

You can't fool yourself into thinking you can overeat just because a food or meal is "healthy". Take a salad for instance....rule of thumb.....measure out the salad dressing first (up to 200-250 cal), then the protein (3-4 oz = 150-200 cal) and add as many veggies as you can while keeping the flavor of the salad enjoyable. Once you start to add more dressing...well....you are overeating! But a larger salad is way "better" than a cheeseburger and fries (around 600 cal), especially if you don't make either of them yourself.

Eat less when you can, if you want to weigh less. Know the calorie content of the foods you eat to make educated decisions, whether you are eating a bowl of oats or a cupcake. Extra bodyweight doesn't "just happen".

Strength, Speed, Endurance

Strength, speed, endurance....pick one! Sometimes you can pick a couple, or all three, but not every workout, nor do you need to.

Tuesday morning I lead an hour long class and I do make most of that hour challenging for myself. Personally I like to "warm up" so I usually swing light (light for me) for the first 10-15 minutes before I scale up and make the workload more appropriate. Normally after class I keep training for another 30 minutes but lately Mark and I have been training Max and yesterday he let me know that 60 sets were on the schedule this week.....hmmnn....that's 30 minutes of serious cardio endurance.

I've been going heavier in previous weeks using the 16kg for 5's and the 14g for 7's but I just wasn't feelin' the heavier bells yesterday. Straight up 15/15 Max w/12kg is not really a challenge so I thought about adding swings into the rest period (work into rest for those of you that know my method of training that), but to be honest I had done enough swings earlier (I can't believe I just said that, lol).

Traditional Max for me would be 8 reps per 15 sec, but I wasn't feelin' like going that fast....

How could I make 7's with the 12kg challenging? I know, do two 15 sec sets back to back (switching hands) and take only one 15 sec rest period. Perfect. The best part was that I didn't have to keep track set by set and the time flew by like crazy! Max can get plenty boring after 40 sets....

10 sets of 7 reps (5 R, 5 L) 15/15

32 sets of 7/7, 30/15

518 snatches, 29 min.

Mark snatches at an 8 rep pace although he was training 7 reps yesterday, so it was a bit of a challenge for me to keep up with him....I love being in sync when we train.

Tracyrif"s "3 x 3" Swing Workout

Here is, in it's entirety, my latest workout I've titled "3 x 3" Because every rotation includes 3 sets of 10 reps, and 3 sets of 40 reps. There are a total of 150 swing reps per rotation.

Depending on how much rest you take between sets and between rotations will determine the level of cardio endurance required. The first two rotations are what I would consider a Beginning level, the last two I would consider an Intermediate level. I posted the advanced a couple of days ago which I demonstrated the shortest rest periods (rotaion #4, all 15 sec) and with a heavier bell.

You could do all of this workout with two hand swings, but I don't consider a set of 40 2 hd swing reps a "beginning" level....40 continuous two hand swings is hard! Another way to change this workout for a beginner/inter is to do all 10 reps swing sets at the beginning of each rotation with 2 hds, heavier bell or not.

"3 x 3"

rotation #1

10 2 hd sw x 3 sets (15/15)

40 tr x 3 sets (1 min/1 min)

150 swings 7.5 min

rotation #2

10 tr x 3 sets (15/15) (or 10 2 hd sw)

1 / 2 swing ladder x 4 x 3 sets (1 min/45 sec)

150 swings 6 min. 45 sec.

rotation #3

1 /2 sw ld x 3 sets (15/15) (or 10 2 hd sw)

5/5 x 4 x 3 sets (1 min/30 sec)

150 swings 6 min.

rotation #4

5/5 x 3 sets (15/15 (or 10 2 hd sw)

40 2 hd sw x 3 sets (1 min/15 sec)

150 swings 5.25 min

Total

600 swings, 25.5 min

These 4 videos demonstrate the complet 25.5 minute workout, so essentially it's a free class! Enjoy!

You May, or You May Never Lose weight....

.....but you do have to exercise. You have to get in the habit of moving your body in some way, shape or form. Let's forget body weight for a minute.....

#1 regular exercise makes you stronger for just about every part of your everyday life no matter what you weigh, how old you are, or how deconditioned you've let yourself get. I'm not talking about getting "weightlifting" strong, I'm talking about not getting winded by walking up a flight of stairs. Forget about running a marathon, how about getting up off of the floor?

#2 regular exercise may be what motivates you to start eating less, or eating better by reconnecting you with your body. It becomes more clear when you start to exercise that it doesn't feel nice when your body feels heavy, and it doesn't feel nice when your body feels weak....this is why we avoid exercise in the first place.

#3 regular exercise changes you physically. Even if you don't see it right away, you feel it. You will eventually see it, but not if you quit, and for sure if you never start. Moving our bodies makes our muscles work, which in turn activates our muscle giving our muscles shape. No muscle, no shape = blob. Big blob, or small blob, no one wants to be a blob.

During these last 3 years my bodyweight has fluctuated as much as 20 lbs. Twenty pounds, although ridiculously nothing compared to 120lbs, is quite a bit of weight. It's enough bodyweight to take you up a clothing size. No matter what you weigh, going up a size and not fitting into your clothes sucks. Regular exercise helps you to "live in your body", it can help to stop 20lbs from turning into so much more.

The hardest part of being heavier for me was my Bikram's yoga practice. It sucked having to squeeze into Lycra tights that had become too small, physically and mentally. Losing parts of my practice because my thighs had become too large to wrap around eachother or getting more winded from having to move more bodymass around in the extreme heat was a little depressing too. Even feeling as if everybody in class could see I had gained weight and was judging me. But I kept going, I never quit. I wanted to run away, I wanted to hide, but what would be my excuse? To be honest

I think I didn't quit because it had become so much a part of my life it was not a choice, it's what I did.

You have to schedule in some sort of exercise. I know it seems hard, we are all so busy, everyone of us. And maybe we all do it in our own time, and maybe we have to experience our bodies failing in some way....I did. So I'm not here judging. I should have done it myself a long time ago!

Don't wait for something to go wrong. Don't wait to lose weight. You can start moving your body now, just pick something, anything, and do it consistently until you start feeling better....you will start feeling better. Start to change your life right now, it's changing whether you want it to or not anyway. You can chose to get weaker, sicker and older.....or stronger, healthier and feel more alive and younger than ever before, even if you never weigh 125lbs!

Checking My Ego at the Door, and "Tracyrif's 3 x 3 Swing workout"

I always expect that I will be able to do any of the crazy ass kettlebell workouts that I come up with for myself...doesn't the phrase go, "whatever your mind can conceive and believe it can acheive"...well whoever said that has never done one of my workouts, and today I had to check my ego at the door!

I started out the morning with 600 swings in 25 min with my Intermediate class (only one brave person this morning!), and a few swing/snatch combinations to finish out the first 45 minutes. Then it was time for my own personal workout....if you ever wnat to know what I do for my own personal workout then here it is......

Starting out with 12kg snatches while the hands are fresh.....

I paced this workout "per 15 second intervals" The goal of the warm up was to get to 1 minute snatch sets with no hand switch at a Max Vo2 pace! Starting with:

8/8 x 1 (8 reps R, 15 sec rest, 8 snatch L, 15 sec rest)

16/16 (16 reps R, 30/30 sec work/rest, 16 snatch L, 30/30 work/ rest)

24/24 (24 snatch R, 45/30 sec work/rest, 24 snatch L, 45/30 work/rest)

set #1, 32/32 (32 snatch R, 1 min/30 sec work/rest, 32 snatch L, 1 min/30 work rest)

The plan was to repeat this last set, which was 1 min long, six times on both right and left hands....that was the plan....this is what actually happened....

sets # 2, 31/31 (8/8/8/7, reps per 15 sec)

sets #3, 30/30 (8/8/7/7, reps er 15 sec)

sets #4, 29/29 (8/7/7/7, reps per 15 sec)

sets #5, 27/27 (7/7/7/6, reps per 15 sec)

sets # 6, 26/26 (7/7/6/6, reps per 15 sec)

Good God! the last 3 sets on my right hand side hit the floor straight down after the last snatch...grip was gone and I had to really dig deep....but I did it! So much for 6 sets of 32/32! I knew during the second 1 minute snatch sets that I would have to give in and check my ego at the door!

So this was the first 30 minutes of my own workout, on to the next 15 minutes. Meg and I trained "I go, you go" style w/two 12kg's

1-5 short cycle dbl press
5-1 long cyle dbl press

1-5 short cycle dbl push press
5-1 long cycle dbl pu press

1-5 short cycle dbl jerk
5-1 long cycle dbl jerk

much to my delight this took about 15 minutes as I knew how I wanted to finish the workout....the same way I started the morning only much, much harder!

Tracyrif's 3 x 3 swing workout



I love my new workout! I call it "3 x 3". It consists of 3 sets of 10 reps and 3 sets of 40 reps, which equal 150 swing reps! Two rotations = 300 swing reps. You can scale it in three differnt ways. #1, rest periods, #2 bell weight, and #3 one hand or two had swings. I will post video of all levels, but here is the super advanced! All swings are 2 handed and with a heavier bell (Meg and I used the 16kg)

This workout is based on my "progressive rest period" workout I posted in August, after I came home from Hungary, in which the rest periods increase as the full rotation progresses. http://tracysfoodandthought.blogspot.com/2011/08/progressive-rest-ladder-my-new-favorite.html

10 2 hd swings x 3 (15/15)
40 2 hd swings, 1 min work, 15 sec rest
40 2 hd swings, 1 min work, 30 sec rest
40 2 hd swings 1 min work, 45 sec rest

150 swings, 6 min.

repeat with

10 2 hd swings x 3 (15/15)
40 2 hd swings, 1 min work, 15 sec rest
40 2 hd swings, 1 min work, 30 sec rest
40 2 hd swings 1 min work, 45 sec rest

total 300 swings, 12 min.

Each rotation has 150 swings....I love this workout! I will post the Beginner and Intermediate version tomorrow. (video is coming...)

So, there you go! You want to know what my own personal workouts are like....there it is. A solid 60 minutes of snatches, cleans/presses and swings. Life is good!