I'm Switching.

 

I am officially switching to Tumblr.

I have discovered the 'Fitblr' community and I like Tumblr's layouts better...

Just click the link below to be redirected. 

Thank you and sorry for any inconvenience.

http://www.Health4Happiness.Tumblr.com

First Cross Fit Class

I don't feel like I ever truly understood Cross Fit. My teachers and many classmates of mine at the school I went to for personal training (NPTI) were all super into it and a lot of it was incorporated into our workouts throughout those 24 weeks, yet I did not truly understand it until I took my boss' Cross Fit class last night at the gym I am interning at.

Above is the work out we did. Between each round we ran a lap around the outside of the gym.
I came in second each time, in this particular class, and a female came in first every round. There were three ladies in this particular seven person class.

I'm starting to realize more and more about the comments people, usually men, automatically make regarding fitness levels. I will give them benefit of the doubt and say it's out of habit or something, but for example referring to modifications of exercises, many refer to weak/incapable females.

"And for the ladies in the class you can use this band to help you do a pull-up if you can't do one on your own."
 

Ahem...first of all I feel for the men who can't do a pull-up on their own and now they're being compared to a women, in a negative light...which is also pretty twisted and I don't agree with that at all...

Secondly, this gives me hard core motivation to be the [lady] that does not need those modifications. (for the record I cannot do one single pull-up on my own, I need a band!)

I am not a feminist by any means. I just happen to strongly believe that both sexes should be treated equally. I don't think because you are a male you are automatically stronger than I am and I do not think because I am a female I deserve more of anything...

For the record, I want to say my boss at the gym I am interning at is very, very polite & respectful and made a point to address both men and women who might need modifications.

Anyway, now I'm starting to rant and I will let you go on with your merry way.

Stay positive :)

Morning vs. Afternoon

 

Yesterday, when I said I walked up to the Nansen Summit by my house, this is where I walk to. This picture does not do it justice but it is a lovely little park-ish space in the midst of very fancy houses, and it portrays a lovely view of suburbia.  It is only about point seven miles from my house so the round trip comes out to about a mile and a half walk. Although it is a very steep walk up to the summit and therefore, some days, feels a little longer.

I have decided to add an April resolution to the list. 

The wake-early-and-walk-if-it's-nice rule.

It will be a challenge.

I do not like waking early. 

I love my bed. 

It is so comfy and so not easy to get out of in the morning. 

Even if I wake from my slumber and I feel rested and ready for my day the coziness keeps me drawn in and eventually I want to go back to sleep. However I know if I do I will not feel awesome when I awake the next time, instead I will feel even more weighted and it will be even harder to get out of bed. Similar to the feeling of being shook from a REM sleep cycle by your alarm going off. Just grogginess and no clear thoughts for the first few minutes.

I am not a morning person, but waking early does not mean I am getting up at the crack of dawn. Today I am going to go into work at noon. So I got up at 9:30 this morning. 9:30 really is not that early. I was thinking to myself on the way up to the summit this morning that the morning air smells different than the afternoon air and how it is easier for me to get up and look out the window and say it's nice out now, I'm going. Rather than saying I hope it's nice out later, if it is I'll do it when I get home. There is so much room for error in that sentence. At least for myself, I know me too well. I will get home from work and I will be tired and I will not feel like going for a walk.

In the book I am reading called Happier by Tal Ben-Shahar, Ph.D. it is suggested to make rituals out of new routines. I like this idea, it's kind of a psychological trick. If we do not ritualize activities, whether working out in the gym, spending time with our family, or reading for pleasure, we often don't get to them and rather then being spontaneous, we become reactive, to others' demands on our time and energy.

Just a little something for you to think about today.
What have you done for you lately?

I am slowly trying to add more 'rituals' into my life.

Like this, wake-early-and-walk-if-its-nice, rule.

You know, the last two mornings, these walks really refresh me and get me ready for my day.

A nice way to break the routine.

What will you do?

Hold Yourself to It

Yesterday was absolutely gorgeous here in Portland Oregon.

It literally felt like a day of Summer. The wind was blowing slightly but the sun kept the air warm enough that it did not make us cold. The air was nice and crisp. I cannot wait until I can plan a week in advance to go to the beach and know that the weather will probably be nice, not grey, not wet, not cold. 

I enjoyed being out in the weather so much yesterday that I told myself I'm going to wake up at 8am tomorrow morning; if it is nice outside I will get up, stretch my joints awake and hike up to the Nansen Summit.

This morning I woke up. I looked outside. I could see the sun rising up and peaking into my neighbors windows across the street, the sky was already a clear blue. 

So I proceeded to do what I told myself I would do if I saw such a sight.
What would I have done if it was rainy, grey, or cold looking outside? Well, then, I would have just gone right back to sleep. 

It felt absolutely amazing hiking up there this morning. I got to the top and I did lunges around the giant circle then walked back down. Not a lot, enough to get some of that PNW air flowing through my lungs and break a bit of a sweat down my back. 

I've always enjoyed the great outdoors but I think this might be the year I fall a bit head over heels for it.

Now for breakfast then off to work. 

Beautiful start to hopefully an amazing day.

I hope you enjoy your day as well.

Oh, Sunshiney Day

Alrighty,

It is April. That means its time for another resolution and maybe some catch up time with you readers. 

Life is good. Spring is here this year and it is very exciting! Summer is just around the corner...

I have started interning at a gym that I am very excited about.

This weekend I am going to practice my sales speech on my friends and try to blow my boss away on Monday. Firstly, it is intimidating having to pretend-sell training packages to your boss, but on the other hand I just don't know a lot about the selling aspect. There is a whole psychology behind the right types of words to use. I am happy that I must sell something I truly do believe people will benefit from though. Makes things much easier.

Last month one of my resolutions was to be signed up to take the NASM test by the end of March. That didn't happen, but it is because I am waiting for my diploma to come in the mail, then I can call someone and they can help me get set-up with the sweet discount through my school. So I didn't accomplish that resolution, but I'm not necessarily at fault.

So for April I have three things I am going to aim for, two that are just reiterations.

1. Sign up for the NASM test & start studying

2. Meditate more regularly throughout this month.
Even if it is as simple as slowly down enough to concentrate on my breathing. (I'm hoping to incorporate more yoga as well, this will go hand in hand)

3. Get back into a good diet.
Lately I have been snacking a ton! Muffins, cookies, chocolate, pizza. Just bits and pieces here and there but I need to put a hold on that stuff again. It comes in waives, I know, but I want to get back to eating so regularly that I keep myself from getting snack-hungry. Along with eating more regularly/healthy I want to try doing gluten free again. For the last few months I have been buying my own GF stuff for my kitchen but when I go out to eat I am not picky at all and often times eat bread. Since I do have 1 loaf of bread in my house right now and probably a couple other non-GF things I am going to give myself until April 12th to get the kitchen put back together --this means time to eat those things so they are not in the kitchen anymore and they are not going to waste by just being thrown away.

On a very separate note I need to tell all you cat lovers out there about this litter I found!! It is seriously amazing.
If you didn't know, cat's noses are insanely more sensitive than people's noses are. If you can smell the cat box, think about how your cats feel...I read an article once about closed cat boxes. It said to stick your head inside the cat box and see how it was. My first thought was no way, that's nasty and extremely stinky! The article suggested taking off the lid to the litter box. It gives your cats more room in general to go about their business and it doesn't lock the smell in so much. This can be a pro for your cats but sounds like a con for you, yeah? Well I found that taking the lid off of my closed litter box actually makes me clean the litter box more, so that definitely makes it stink less. I also just got to thinking more about how often I use the bathroom myself and what if I had a box I had to go in and my nasty bits didn't just get flushed away to never see again. What if I had to step over my own shit just to shit again? Sounds nasty...that's how your cat feels! We all know cats are very clean animals. So I made a rule for myself that seems to be working out for the most part. Every time I go to the bathroom I also scoop the litter box. In my house the litter box is right next to the toilet so this is pretty easy. 

MOVING ON though, I need to tell you about this litter and why it is so amazing!! All typical commercial litters I have ever used do not smell good. They don't smell bad...but when I pour that litter into the cat box and all the loose dusty bits fly everywhere I am holding my breath if not coughing. When I scoop the litter box using the typical Tidy Step, Arm & Hammer, or whatever it may be, I think it smells like flavored ammonia/baking soda/shit. I'm still holding my breath, there's not way I want to inhale any piece of that stuff and I feel bad for my cats because if I don't like the smell of it I know there is no way their tiny noses are liking it either. SOOO I found this litter by magic at Costco. It comes in a 35# jug there. The logo brags about a natural lemongrass essence the litter gives off and I would agree, when I scoop that box it does not smell bad. I don't want to say it smells good, but the smell is absolutely tolerable and not displeasing to the nose. Be warned though...I guess some cats have been known to eat their Litter Purrrfect and get very sick from it, so just keep our eye out. So far it is working out great for me and we have two cats in our house hold. 

Enjoy the sun everybody!!