Category: Healthy Living

Healthy Living 7/18/16

7/18/2016

Time for some weekly accountability! I will recapping how I have done on the 4 Well Rules over the last week: Eat Well, Sleep Well, Exercise Well and Be Well New Linkup for Monday! I will linking up with MissSippiPiddlin and HoHo Runs to talk about my week recap! Welcome to the 4 well rules that I try to follow as I go through my week! Let's get to it!

EAT WELL
Eating was great! I was able to eat healthy before coming to AZ and since we are in a villa, we have a full kitchen. I went grocery shopping with my mom and was able to buy a ton of discounted veggies and lettuce so I have had veggies every meal which has been great. I can't wait to get back home and stay on track

SLEEP WELL
I slept pretty well all week! My knee was better until I slept next to my little sister and she kicked it multiple times throughout the night-OW! But I have been sleeping at least 8 hours a day which my body appreciates!

EXERCISE WELL
No need to lie: I have not run since last Saturday. I have been going through a lot and have had to spend my mornings dealing with other things. Arizona has been too hot to be running but we have been active in swimming (my little brother told me today after we spent an hour racing-he is just learning to swim-that I wore him out and he needed a nap!).

My true goal is to get back on track. I want to run on Thursday and Saturday. My goal is to get 9-10 miles in on Saturday. hopefully my knee will cooperate. I want to also get in a workout on Friday and Sunday. If I wake up early enough, I would like to go get in a quick workout before heading to the airport.

BE WELL
I have one more edit to do on my dissertation and I should be ready to schedule my defense in the beginning of August! Super exciting but also a bit nerve-wrecking. My plan is to sit down this weekend and get organized so I can practice for my defense.
Being in Arizona with my family has been the best!! The kids are getting older and we have had so much fun together. We went to a Diamondbacks/Dodgers game and I really do love baseball. It was the twins first baseball game and they loved it. We also saw Finding Dory which was just SO CUTE! I love it!
This week I need to get back on track with school (first assignment due and a few group projects are coming up!) and also get in some good workouts.

How was everyones week?

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Healthy Living 7/4/2016

7/3/2016

12 Comments

Time for some weekly accountability! I will recapping how I have done on the 4 Well Rules over the last week: Eat Well, Sleep Well, Exercise Well and Be Well New Linkup for Monday! I will linking up with MissSippiPiddlin and HoHo Runs to talk about my week recap! Welcome to the 4 well rules that I try to follow as I go through my week! Let's get to it!

Happy 4th everyone! I am heading back to Texas in the morning but I had a wonderful time at my friend's wedding and catching up with all of my friends from high school. Seriously #blessed for real

EAT WELL
Eating was fine again. I need to get back into eating more veggies as I have definitely fallen off the 2 veggies per meal rule I had earlier in the year. In Texas, I made the best choices I could but had 3 meals of BBQ and 2 meals of Tex Mex and it was all WORTH IT!! But I can't wait to get home and get back on the healthy eating train.

SLEEP WELL
I slept pretty well all week! My knee has gotten much better so that made sleep so much easier. In Texas, I slept as much as I could. The A/C felt great compared to the heat index between 105-110! crazy!! My goal for this week is to sleep as much as I can. Adjusting to having class on Tuesday after working all day will be a bit rough but I'll manage! I am trying to make sure to put away time for completing final class assignments and dissertation time too.

EXERCISE WELL
Good news: my knee is okay! I went to the orthopedic doctor and got x-rays and I just have a swollen bursae sac which should take 2-3 weeks to completely heal. The doctor said I can do whatever I want and I tried to run on Friday and got in a few 30 second segments at a 10:33 pace. I am trying to ease back into it so we will see how this week goes.

Last week: I was able to go walking on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Wednesday I did a short weight workout. Saturday I walked around the mall with my aunt for an hour, which was great before being at the wedding all afternoon.
My goal for this week is to try and run a bit (short 30 sec segments) to see how my knee does. I would love to get some running on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. I also want to incorporate some weights on Wednesday and Friday but I will of course listen to my body.

BE WELL
One class down and one more to go! My cohort decided to switch classes so now I have a nice week off in between the classes which will be much appreciated! I start my final class of graduate school on Tuesday! eek!
The wedding I went to this weekend was beyond incredible-just the best! Don't we look so cute?

How was your week? Any fun 4th of July weekend plans?

all of the HS friends with the bride (the hand sign is an E, it was our high school sign!)

next morning to meet up with the sweetest toddler!

12 Comments

Healthy Living 5/2/2016

5/1/2016

8 Comments

Monday: short weight workout
Tuesday: 2.2 miles + weights
Wednesday: Running strength abs
Thursday: did 4x800s (was supposed to do 8 x800s but needed to get to work since I had to leave early)
Friday: rest day as I will be heading to my uncle's wedding
Saturday: rest day but lots of walking
Sunday: 4 miles

THIS WEEK:

Monday: Yoga in the morning before flying back to LA
Tuesday: 3 miles + weights
Wednesday: Biggest Loser Weight workout
Thursday: Rest Day
Friday: Tinkerbell 5k
Saturday: Tinkerbell 10k
Sunday: Tinkerbell Half Marathon

BE WELL
It has really been a great week! I am writing this sitting on the couch next to my dad and eating ice cream! School is wrapping up which has been more than time consuming. I did work on my dissertation the whole flight to Dallas, most of the car ride from Dallas to Galveston and basically on and off all of Sunday. However I turned in my section of my dissertation due tomorrow (51 pages with 130 references!! insanity!!). My group project and paper is due in a few hours and basically all done-woo-hoo! There is no rest so on the plane ride tomorrow I will get to edit my last paper due for the semester along with writing my next section of my dissertation due on May 23rd. so crazy! I just need to get through the summer (more dissertation writing, a dissertation proposal, and 2 classes: creativity is one and assessment is the other) and then just writing.

The reason I am in Texas is because my uncle got married which just makes me so happy! I love getting to see my family and I will be back to Texas in July for another wedding.

Coming up? Well a mini-break from school if you want to call it that. I have to pack tomororw when I get back for Tinkerbell Half weekend (driving down on Thursday after I grade the finals for the class I am TAing) and excited to do the 5k, 10k, and half and hopefully get good sleep. Even better, on Sunday, I will be flying to Orlando to surprise my siblings! They are getting told on Friday that are going to Orlando to go to Universal. When I found out flights were 195 roundtrip from LA, I decided to go to! I land on Sunday night while they are sleeping so when they wake up, I will be there! I fly back to LA on Wednesday!

How was your week?

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Healthy Living 3/28/16

3/28/2016

2 Comments

Monday: Yoga recovery
Tuesday: 3 miles +weights
Wednesday: Cize abs
Thursday: 4x400s
Friday: rest day
Saturday: 5 miles-2 miles at 5k/10k (9:30 pace or less). I'm going to try a 1:30/30 pace to see how it goes.
Sunday: rest day-my piriformis is acting up so I thought an extra day would help

This week:

Monday: Short weights and yoga
Tuesday: 3 miles + weights
Wednesday: Running strength + core
Thursday: 3 mile run +weights
Friday: rest day
Saturday: Carlsbad5000-1 mile race
Sunday: Carlsbad 5000 All Day 20k/Disneyland for Food and Wine

BE WELL

Post spring break is always tough for students but I think it went well!
I got a lot of dissertation work done this week and I'm almost to a point where I'm mostly done writing which is a miracle! I'm going to keep working ahead so during Dark Side I can actually take a break.
Celebrating Easter was also so fun including a great bday party we went to and a big family brunch.
This week I'm going to keep chugging away on the dissertation so I can have a bit of a break this weekend which will be greatly appreciated!

How was your week?

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Introduction to Chi Running

3/25/2016

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Back in 2014, Chi Running was introduced to me by a podcast on Abel James' Fat Burning Man Podcast and I decided to order the Chi Running book and the Chi Marathoning Book and they have greatly improved my running technique and my general stress around running. It is making running effortless and makes me crave my runs and my injuries have gone to non-existent. It is the greatest right now.

WHAT IS CHI RUNNING? (all taken from the Chi Running website)

Since 1999, ChiRunning has helped thousands of runners transform their technique - reducing, preventing and recovering from injuries. Runners of all ages and levels have improved their efficiency and performance, and now find running to be pain-free, easier, and enjoyable. The main principles of ChiRunning include:

Relaxation
Correct alignment and posture
Landing with a midfoot strike
Using a "gravity-assisted" forward lean
Engaging core strength for propulsion
Connecting the mind and body to prevent injury

WHAT MAKES UP CHI RUNNING?

Flexibility: You need to have it, not only in your muscles, but in your tendons, ligaments, and joints. They all work better when they move with flexibility and any restrictions in your muscles, ligaments, or tendons will limit your range of motion, period. As we get older we tend to become less active. A good axiom that best describes this is: "Use it or lose it." If you don't use your muscles and joints they will begin to stiffen and then, if you still don't do anything, atrophy. Flexibility doesn't just happen, you have to work at it. Even stretching a few minutes a day is enough for most people to maintain a good range of motion and decrease their chances of injury due to muscle pulls.

Good posture: Your running technique is totally dependent on your posture. The efficiency of your running technique is directly proportional to the quality of your posture. What is good posture? According to Yoga teachers, along with many other mainstream body movement disciplines, good posture involves having a reasonably straight spine with not too much straightness and not too much bend. The more you slump, the more your body's muscles need to work to hold you upright. Poor posture not only restricts the circulation of blood to your muscles and organs but also inhibits the oxygen supply to your brain.

Good leg motion: Having too long of a stride, or "over-striding," is a major cause of both hamstring and knee injuries. This is when you land with your feet in front of you instead of under you. Not bending your knees when you run will create stiffness and poor circulation in your legs. Your knees should be bent at a 90º angle when you are warmed up and running at a good, medium pace.

Cadence: Most people have a low cadence, or the number of strides you take per minute. When you run, you want to spend the least amount of time on your legs as possible. The longer you take with each stride, the more time your foot spends on the ground, and the more energy your legs have to expend to support your body weight. Even if it's a split second during each stride, it adds up quickly when you're talking about 1200 steps per mile. Strive to maintain a cadence of 85-90 strides per minute with each leg. Using a metronome is a great way to regulate your cadence - try it and you'll be amazed. It can truly transform your running.

Body Sensing: Listening to your body is key to preventing injuries. ChiRunning helps you understand why you're feeling sore, tight, or in pain and teaches you how to solve the problem.

Good mental focus: Making changes takes mental focus. If you want to run faster, farther, and injury-free, you'll need to use your brain to re-educate your body. When you determine the right adjustments to make to your running form, your mind can tell your body what to do until it becomes part of your muscle memory. Not only can this save you some pain (and a few trips to the physical therapist), it can also be meditative to become deeply attuned to your body’s sensations.

Good upper body/lower body coordination: The general rule is that your upper body and lower body should be doing equal amounts of work. For most runners, this 50/50 ratio is tilted one way or the other. When your upper body and lower body are working in unison rather than against each other, it spreads the work of running over the whole body and takes the load off of any single muscle group. It's similar to the principle that work is best done if the responsibility is spread out over many workers.

Good breathing habits: Watch a baby breathing sometime. You won't see his chest rise and fall with each breath. You'll see his abdominal area expand and contract like someone breathing in and out of a balloon. It's called "belly breathing", and it's how we should breathe all the time. When your breath is shallow, you only use the very upper part of your lungs and don't take advantage of your total lung capacity. Oxygen is what your muscles use to convert stored fuels into usable energy, and any reduction in your oxygen uptake will effect your ability to burn glycogen.

Proper bend in your knees and elbows: The less you bend your arms and legs, the more work your muscles have to do when you're running. An arm or leg that is bent at the knee or elbow will swing much easier than one that is straight. As you approach your "cruising" speed, your forearms and shins should both be parallel to the ground in mid-swing.

Staying relaxed: This includes having a good sense of humor, observing what's going on within you and around you, and responding wisely to those observations. When I'm relaxed I reduce my chances of straining a tight muscle. Tense muscles restrict the range of motion in my arms and legs, making it hard to run faster. A relaxed runner will spend less time recovering from a race than an inefficient runner who is burning more fuel for the same amount of distance.

WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN?
By learning to adapt your body in new ways, you can learn to move your body to move more effortlessly and also reduce the chance of injury

I have been following this off and on for 2 years so when Danny finally made his way to LA for a clinic, I knew I had to do it!! It was an all-day running clinic where we were grouped with an instructor and 4 other people for the day. We learned the basics and then moved outside to get in some running. I got assistance from Danny himself as well as the other instructors and it was so incredibly helpful! Here were my main takeaways:

The app-chi running has many videos and such built into it for use
3 gears of running: 1st: warmup/easy, 2nd: close to tempo 3rd: speedwork
Feet face straigth ahead- easier to say but this was one of the first things I worked on. if youa re moving forward, everything needs to move in the same direction
Tripod on foot-metatarsal points and heels. You want to land on the ball of your foot to help with the midfoot strik
Form focus-feet/lift from crown/relaxed knees, see shoelaces to align hips- this how your posture should be. I have been working on this so much it has helped my every day posture
Dantian is located in the middle of the stomach on your belly button. Can move it around (like tai chi). Move it more forward to go forward.
Relaxed ankle : You want to make sure that you are lifting your ankle limp versus focusing/forcing it up
SHORT STRIDE - this is so hard for me because I have long legs. a shorter stride is more economic
relaxed shoulders- I keep my stress in my shoulders so I have to focus on relaxing them
Arms are in a V- arms stay close to you but arent so close to your body that they are touching
Arms don't cross mid point- as you swing your arms, they dont cross over your body.
Small lean- the more you lean forward, the more gravity will help you move forward
Swing left arm the same way as right- this is personal to me-I swing my right arm more which is probably what has caused my shoulder pain in the past
Hit the ball of your foot at bottom of the tripod- the tripod from earlier should hit at the same time first, no heel striking
Keep hips and legs relaxed- by loosing your body, you can move it more efficently
Pelvic twist to help with hip rotation- this is something I can do! By adding in a pelvic twist, it helps with hip rotation and turning
Dantian to pull you forward- use your Dantian to move you forward (think of it like spidermans web from his arms)
BREATHING: 5 (out 2, in 3) in second gear and 3( out 1, in 2) in third gear- this is great. Everyone always says to focus on breathing but this is a techinque so you arent always breathing in and out in the same foot
Dantian is the axis of the body-upper half is ahead and legs are behind- its the middle of the body. the upper and lower half are in sync but are doing different things. Your feet should land behind you and your upper body using gravity can pull you ahead
Speed comes from strong core and more lean: I have been focusing on my core and will continue. When I want to go faster, I need to just lean more forward (the lean is so hard for me to get!)

This is definitely a work in progress but I got the steps to help me out. I was able to test some of it out the next day at the Coaster Run 10k and I definitely can see how I get better.I did great in the Pacific Half Marathon using the techniques as well! I am working on relaxing my shoulders, having a midfoot strike by focusing on hitting the ball of my foot, keeping my arm swings level, my pelvic twist/hip rotation and adding in my lean to move forward. A lot to think about but I am focusing on different things on different intervals which helps.

Anyone else follow Chi Running?

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Healthy Living 3/21/16

3/21/2016

2 Comments

Time for some weekly accountability! I will recapping how I have done on the 4 Well Rules over the last week: Eat Well, Sleep Well, Exercise Well and Be Well New Linkup for Monday! I will linking up with MissSippiPiddlin and HoHo Runs to talk about my week recap! Welcome to the 4 well rules that I try to follow as I go through my week! Let's get to it!

EAT WELL
I had a great food week of more food. I made corned beef on Thursday and it was delicious and I have tons of leftovers.
This week is going to be heavy on leftovers and a new meal thrown in at some point-I have zucchini noodles and cauliflower rice to make
Carb loading went well-I focused on rice and felt great.

SLEEP WELL
I got great sleep all week and even got close to 8 hours the night before the race averaging out to about 7:50 for the week. Last night I didn't get to sleep until after midnight, so I decided to sleep in and feel better but not great.
This week I'm aiming for 8 hours to help with recovery from the race and also feel rested for work.

EXERCISE WELL
Last week:
Monday: Running Strength + Core
Tuesday: 3 miles + weights
Wednesday: Rest Day
Thursday: 3 mile run +weights
Friday: rest day
Saturday: Pacific Half Marathon-a really great race. Once we get our free pics I will post my recap
Sunday: Stretching/Disneyland

This week:
Monday: Yoga recovery
Tuesday: 3 miles +weights
Wednesday: Cize abs
Thursday: 4x400s
Friday: Cize abs + Piyo upper body
Saturday: 5 miles-2 miles at 5k/10k (9:30 pace or less). I'm going to try a 1:30/30 pace to see how it goes.
Sunday: rest day/Disneyland

BE WELL
it was a great week on spring break. I got SO much done for work and the class I TA and got through a lot of my dissertation! I'm even a bit ahead now so I just need to plan out my schedule to stay ahead.
Ralph's sister and niece are here so we took her to Disneyland yesterday. There are few things I love more than taking a kid to Disneyland!
This week Im going to work on getting ahead on classwork. I also need to do some last minute costume prep for Dark Side:it'll be here before you know it!

How was your week?

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Healthy Living 3/14/16

3/14/2016

3 Comments

Monday: Yoga recovery
Tuesday: 3 miles +weights
Wednesday: Cize abs
Thursday: 4x800 (4:44/4:19/4:17/4:00) + weights
Friday: Cize abs + Piyo upper body
Saturday: 5 miles-2 miles at half marathon tempo (10:14/10:05)
Sunday: rest day/Disneyland

This week:

Monday: Running Strength-Core
Tuesday: 3 miles + weights
Wednesday: Cize abs + Piyo
Thursday: 3 mile run +weights
Friday: rest day
Saturday: Pacific Half Marathon (sign ups are online through tomorrow here!-5k, 10k and half still available! Agoura Hills,CA)
Sunday: Yoga recovery/Disneyland

BE WELL

This week has been great. I spent yesterday celebrating Mallorys bday at Disneyland with an amazing afternoon tea at the Disneyland hotel(expect a review soon!). We also experienced our last Mad T party and it was as awesome as ever
It's Spring Break: meaning no student meetings but also I don't have class! I definitely have things to keep me busy but it will be nice to work done uninterrupted.
I'm also going to get a ton of stuff done on my dissertation- things are going well !
I'm excited about my half marathon this weekend. I'm getting stronger and can see improvements in my running and want to see what I can really do. I will write about my goals later this week.

How was your week?

Afternoon Tea!

3 Comments

Healthy Living 3/7/2016

3/7/2016

2 Comments

EAT WELL
I was able to lower my carb intake until the weekend when I had the Chi Running clinic and the Coaster Run 10k. Now back to lower carb intake and just focusing on eating right until my half marathon in two weeks.

SLEEP WELL
I was able to average 8 hours of sleep a night which has me feeling great. With Spring Break on the horizon next week, i should be able to sleep a good amount this week as I don't have any final school projects.

EXERCISE WELL
Last week:
Monday: Cize abs-which kicked my butt-wow
Tuesday: 3 miles testing out 60/15 and it was a bit much. I'm going to stick with 30 sec recovery but work on upping to 1:15
Wednesday: Cize abs + weights
Thursday: 3 mile run +weights
Friday: rest day
Saturday: Chi Running clinic
Sunday: Coaster Run 10k

This Week:
Monday: Yoga recovery
Tuesday: 3 miles +weights
Wednesday: Cize abs + running strength
Thursday: 3 miles + weights
Friday: Cize abs + Piyo upper body
Saturday: 5 miles-2 miles at half marathon tempo
Sunday: rest day/Disneyland
BE WELL
I had a great week! I loved my Chi Running clinic (and will discuss it this week!) and had a pretty good Coaster Run 10k. I got a great amount of my dissertation done on Friday and had a great quick stop at Disneyland.
This week I need to get some more dissertation work done and keep getting in my workouts. I feel like I'm getting stronger so I want to keep getting better.

How was your week?

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Healthy Living 12/7/2015

12/7/2015

7 Comments

Time for some weekly accountability! I will recapping how I have done on the 4 Well Rules over the last week: Eat Well, Sleep Well, Exercise Well and Be Well New Linkup for Monday! I will linking up with MissSippiPiddlin and HoHo Runs to talk about my week recap! Welcome to the 4 well rules that I try to follow as I go through my week! Let's get to it!

EAT WELL
Last week I went back to eating low carb and with a car, I finally started cooking real meals again! I also had 2 potlucks and one work dinner so my eating definitely was not as gluten free as it should be. I'm still feeling the effects today-eek!
I have a few more potlucks and bday celebrations coming up so I need to be mindful of that.
SLEEP WELL
I did well on sleep this week-averaging about 7:20 which is great with the final week of classes and 75% of my assignments due.

EXERCISE WELL
Last week:
Monday: rest day
Tuesday: 1 mile tempo run with warmup and cool down (9:26 pace)
Wednesday: running strength workout
Thursday: super short
Friday: rest day
Saturday: Santa Monica-Venice Christmas run (9:24 pace and so close to a PR)
Sunday: rest day
This week:
Monday: 8 min abs
Tuesday: 5k with cadence and form drills
Wednesday: Piyo
Thursday: run with acceleration and cadence drills
Friday: Runners world yoga if the dvd comes in this week
Saturday: 20 mile run split-6 miles,1 hour break, 14 miles (prep for New Years race)
Sunday: Disneyland day!
BE WELL
Meeting with my dissertation chair went well-so crazy this process is starting! Not so good: we will be meeting one Sunday morning a month! Gah! I was up front with her about my running schedule and sent her dates that cannot work so we will see how this goes!
All I have to do is turn in one more group paper on weds and the semester is over! However I will need to start researching for my dissertation chapter 2 (lit review section) and my goal is to do 30 min a day after work until I leave for winter break. That should be enough time to find and review articles.
This week I need to start prepping for the holidays-planning out my final Christmas presents, prepping to go home, Etc. and I'll get to hit up some Christmas parties too!

How was your week?

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Healthy Living 11/30/15

12/1/2015

5 Comments

Time for some weekly accountability! I will recapping how I have done on the 4 Well Rules over the last week: Eat Well, Sleep Well, Exercise Well and Be Well New Linkup for Monday! I will linking up with MissSippiPiddlin and HoHo Runs to talk about my week recap! Welcome to the 4 well rules that I try to follow as I go through my week! Let's get to it!

EAT WELL
Last week I never felt totally full or out of control which was awesome! I felt like I indulged enough on thanksgiving and then enjoyed my leftovers the rest of the weekend. It was pretty chilly the whole weekend so I had a lot of water and coffee while doing my schoolwork.
This week my plan is to finish the leftovers and start really cooking again! I can't wait to go grocery shopping again!

SLEEP WELL
I did well on sleep this week-averaging about 7.5. I basically woke up every morning around 6:30 so I stayed in bed for a bit before just getting up.
With my final race of 2015 on Sunday, I am hoping to get good sleep this week but all my final assignments May throw a kink in it.

EXERCISE WELL
Last week:
Monday: rest day
Tuesday: run with 4x400 that did not work well-I tried a new area and it was too hard to run 400 repeats
Wednesday: rest day
Thursday: LA Turkey Trot 5k and 10k (recap coming!)
Friday: rest day
Saturday: stretching while watching Star Wars
Sunday: 5 mile recovery run at 12:30 pace

This week:
Monday: Rest day
Tuesday: tempo run for my race on Saturday
Wednesday: Running Strength DVD
Thursday: run with acceleration and cadence drills
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: Santa Monica Christmas Run 10k plus stretching
Sunday: weights and walking around Disneyland

BE WELL
I am so thankful for the mini break we had to be able to prep for the final push of the semester!
I got a new car and I am so in love! It's a white Toyota Camry and I love it so far. I dont drive often (as my mom said-you drive to the grocery store, your friends house, and Disneyland haha) and it came with low mileage so it will definitely work for me for a long time.
This week I am just focusing on finishing up all my schoolwork and start work on my dissertation! I have my first meeting with my chair on Friday :)

How was your week?

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