I hate to write this because I like Angelina Jolie. I used to have the biggest girl crush on her about 10 years ago. I’m just alarmed by the current lack of muscle in her upper body. She used to have arms and over the last few years, she her muscle mass has take a nose dive. What happened? Could be one of a number of reasons:
Undisclosed medical condition
Eating disorder
lack of exercise
stress
I’m not sure why she looks the way she looks currently, I just know that it isn’t a good look for her. I suspect that it is not a medical issue, so adding a few more calories to her diet and starting a weight training program might help. Personally, I think she needs to add Zuzka Light into her life. 😉
Both Bodyrock.tv and Zuzka Light put out short HiiT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts on YouTube that you can do for free.
I have been bodyrocking on and off for about 1 year, but I really started getting serious with it around the time that Zuzana Light left. I grew to like Zuzana quite a bit, she has an infectious, positive personality, so it was hard to get into the workouts with the new hosts. The new female face of Bodyrock.tv, Lisa-Marie, took some getting used to. She is definitely has a high energy vibe about her and her workouts are challenging. Some of the workouts are too reliant on special equipment, like the Lebert Equalizer, but they do give you alternative exercises to do – you just feel like you aren’t getting the maximum you can out of the workout (but that is all mental).
One thing I like that Bodyrock has done recently is they have added a beginning, intermediate and advanced workout. I love this because I can the beginner workout to days when I’m running and don’t feel like I can muster the energy for a full on HiiT. I can add the intermediate workout on days I’m not running. The advanced workouts are tough, I can’t do the pull-ups required, but that is something I have to work on.
Bodyrock Turn up The Music! workout:
Zuzana Light came out of hiding last month and we have been treated to weekly ZWOW’s (Zuzana’s Workout of the Week) on her YouTube channel – ZuzkaLight. These are also 10-30 minute HiiT style workouts. What I love about these is that you can see Zuzana doing the whole workout and you can try to keep up with her pace. The workouts don’t require much in the way of equipment – just some hand weights and kettlebells if you have them. They are not as intense as the Bodyrock workouts, but are very effective. You also don’t have that “NSFW” feeling while on Zuzana’s YouTube channel that you sometimes feel when viewing the Bodyrock site.
Zuzka Light’s ZWOW # 6:
I have to say that I enjoy both Bodyrock and ZuzkaLight very much and I’m glad that we have these free workouts to keep us fit and motivated everyday.
Having IBS means that you look up items online that you never thought you would look at before: http://squattypotty.com/
Now I’m wondering if this could help. 🙂
I started looking up squatting vs sitting for pooping and it seems like squatting works better for many people. There is a great write up on this on Mark’s Daily Apple. The photo illustration on the site makes sense too: It does seem like squatting gives you better pooping alignment. Lol! But can I ditch my western sensibilities enough to do this?
This is a Korean dish that we have been enjoying for breakfast lately. My husband usually has the pleasure of making it and I eat it promptly without thinking of taking a picture first, so I have to link to other bloggers for photos.
We use brown rice, shredded carrots, spinach, bean sprouts, corn and ground chicken and eggs to make our bibimbap, but you can add whatever you want and it will taste good in my opinion. 🙂 We like to use lots of gochujang, which is a Korean Red Pepper paste. Sunchang makes a good Gochujang paste and Annie Chun’s also has a milder sauce that is readily available in stores.
Annie Chun's Gochujang
Here are some great bibimbap recipes. It’s a great way to get a healthy start to your day with carbs, veggies and protein. 🙂
My condition has not improved on the Amitiza. Somehow it has actually gotten worse, most likely do to stress and the side effects of the medication. So all this treatment has given me is added nausea. 😦 My GI doctor is perplexed, but he wants me to continue on a higher dosage on Amitiza. I’ve been on a higher dosage for the last couple of days, but still not getting complete bowel movements.The next phase of testing for me is to explore a pelvic floor dysfunction diagnosis. I have a hunch that this might be the root of my problem.
My son this week has been sick and his cough was worrisome enough for me to take him to the doctor. He was diagnosed with walking pneumonia today. My little man is in good spirits and happy to not be in school. I just have to keep my cool and not let this stress me out, especially when I have lots to do in the office and I can’t be there.
Still getting my workouts in! I’ve done a rotation of running/jogging 3 miles, going to the gym and doing a cardio/sculpt or Zumba class and doing Zumba Workout II on the Wii. Today I did Zuzka Light’s ZWOW #4
I did great! I was able to keep up with Zuzana and was a little faster than her on the burpees. I struggled with push-up twists – I had to do push ups on my knees during the last round, but I did it. 🙂 My son commented that she just better than me at jumping rope, but I told him that that just makes me try harder in order to get better. 😉
I think I mentioned a few posts ago that have been wearing a bodymedia fit armband. This little gizmo has been great. I bought an older model off of eBay and saved myself a ton of money. A new one costs $180+. The sensor keeps track of your calories burned, step taken and your sleep. I was really curious about the sleep part. Here you can see my graph for the day.I have not uploaded any data since I woke up this morning, so the rest of the data is incomplete. However, I want you to look the “Sleep Duration” row. I got 5:46 minutes of sleep last night. My son was coughing and hacking most of the night, but between 5-6 hours is what I have been averaging since I started tracking with the armband. That is horrible. Not not sure why I am a giant FAIL when it comes to sleep. I know part of it is that my husband works nights and I think subliminally I want to stay up to see him (He gets home around midnight usually). It’s tough when you work a different schedule from your partner. Another part of my problem is my couch potato tendencies. Once I get my son to bed, I don’t feel right just getting a yoga or Zumba session in and going to bed. I have to fart around on Pinterest or Facebook and then catch up on my DVR. By the time I do all that, my husband is home and then I’m chatting with him and my sleep is ruined. I will need to actively work to fix this.
I am still struggling with very severe constipation. My usual cocktail of laxatives is not helping and neither is the added exercise and water. There is nothing more uncomfortable than working out or running while constipated.
I paid a visit to my Gastroenterologist on Thursday and he decided to prescribe me Amitiza. It is a drug that helps to coat your intestines so that you can go. I’ve been taking it for 2 days and the only change is that I have nausea. That makes me eat less, which means less stool. Lol.
So my regiment is:
-probiotic daily
-psyllium husk mixed with water and lemon daily
-peppermint tea daily
-1 capful of Miralax daily (2 capfuls once a week
– 1 tablet of Amitiza daily
-dulcolax once a week, on the weekend.
I’ve been “training” for the Irvine Lake Mud Run which is coming up this March. My training so far has consisted in running at the beach for 3 miles the last couple of Saturdays and running 3 miles during the week at least once a week. Suffice to say, I’m slow. It takes me about 35-40 minutes to run three miles, but I’m doing it. One of my friends is a regular runner, so I try to keep pace with her as best as I can when we train on Saturday.
All I can say right now is that I’m tired. I slept like 9 hours yesterday. And I’m hungry, so I have to make sure I don’t make bad choices. I had to run to the mall for lunch today and I got myself a bowl of Chicken Pho instead of all the other junky choices there are at the mall. I just had to restrain myself with the sriracha. I love that stuff, but I don’t think my stomach loves it as much as my taste buds.
This week has been one of those weeks where my insides just seem freaking bi-polar. At the beginning of the week, I just couldn’t. go number two. Not at all. Then out of the blue, while driving my son & I home for the day, I had to go. BAD. Thankfully, for some miraculous reason, the 405 freeway was open during rush hour. I was able to channel my inner yogi enough to relax myself while simultaneously thinking about where the nearest restroom was (and driving too). I actually made it home without sharting myself, which I thought was a real possibility, and was able to use the toilet at home. That was such a relief.
Now I’m back to my first problem. Since that explosive incident, I can’t go. I drink water, I eat fiber, I work out, I take Miralax, but I can’t go to the bathroom. Instead of stressing out about this, I’m trying to take it easy. I’m hoping that peppermint tea will help alleviate the problem.
It sucks that my bodymedia fit armband is telling me that I have had 800+ calorie deficits everyday this week and I’ve actually gained weight on the scale. I know that it’s not “fat” and the scale lies, but it’s still a bummer. Nevertheless, I have to focus on the positive and keep up with my goals (my sleeping is a disaster).
blog, blog, blog .... 