You are what you eat

People often say I write way too much about food- after all, this is supposed to be about creating a better, leaner, stronger, beautiful body right? 

Exactly why I talk about food so much.

Food to me is one of the most pleasurable things in life, I love food and I love to eat. I can power down with the best of them, and could probably be a contentor in one of those eating contest reality shows- if I actually wanted to.


In fact, Saturday I ate a pizza.... all but one piece! Screw the plate, I used the dish it came on. I am enjoying it....

Creating a body that is a work of art does not require just the physical training aspect, it requires the spiritual, emotional and functional health as well. When I say "spiritual" I mean whatever you count on as the higher force to get you through the day. It could be just your own determined mind.

I do not believe that "carbs are bad", in fact, I don't really think that any food group should be eliminated from a diet; and sugar, alcohol and packaged or processed foods are not considered "food groups".

You should eat plenty of vegetables, meats, fish, poultry, fruit, starches and water. At times, when working on changing body composition, of course the amounts of these foods will be changed, and some of the changes may be dramatic- but a figure or bodybuilding competition is not a diet for life, nor is it healthy, it is a diet for an specific event, period. 


I do eat bread- once in a while. I do drink wine, on occasion. I love a good dark chocolate bar, especially one with thick, gooey caramel. But this is not the norm for me nor is it something I even do weekly.


I make a point of buying some of the best food I can get. I am concerned with the source, it's one reason why I don't belong to Costco, and I don't buy a lot at Trader Joe's either. I prefer to get most of my vegetables and meats at Whole Foods and the farmers market.


There is a difference.


Tonight I brought home a crock of grass fed organic butter, made with sea salt for David and Cooper. They loved it on their baguette! Yes, it is more expensive, but we are putting it into our bodies right? Aren't we working hard to transform and/or maintain our bodies into the beautiful work of art that the human form is? If so, then why would anyone consider putting crap into their mouth? 


I work on databases a lot at work and we have a saying: "Garbage in, Garbage out". The same goes for your body, put garbage in it and what you end up with will be just that: garbage.


Below is a very interesting video about the difference between a regular sweet potato, and an organic sweet potato, and the dangers of a pesticide called Chlorprobham, which is used on many foods that we eat everyday. 

ACUTE TOXICITY

Chlorpropham is moderately toxic by ingestion . It may cause irritation of the eyes or skin. Symptoms of poisoning in laboratory animals have included listlessness, incoordination, nose bleeds, protruding eyes, bloody tears, difficulty in breathing, prostration, inability to urinate, high fevers, and death. Autopsies of animals have shown inflammation of the stomach and intestinal lining, congestion of the brain, lungs and other organs, and degenerative changes in the kidneys and liver 

CHRONIC TOXICITY

Chronic exposure of laboratory animals has caused retarded growth, increased liver, kidney and spleen weights, congestion of the spleen and death.

REPRODUCTIVE EFFECTS

Long-term exposure to chlorpropham may cause adverse reproductive effects. Chlorpropham may cross the placenta. 

Do you eat sweet potatoes? Take a look at this video (email subscribers will need to navigate directly to the blog).

Diet Worries

Friday- I met Roy for shoulder training. The usual chit chat and then I told him I had to start a diet soon, for my next competition and I was a bit concerned. "Why" he asked "Are you afraid of losing muscle?"


And, I hope you can see, I have gained quite a bit training with him, quite a bit! Take a look at these shoulders!

The legs? Looking good too! I actually weigh more than I have in ages. I was at 131 pounds this morning, although I was at 133 earlier in the week, it was due to the carbs I ate- I had a blast on Saturday and ate all sorts of goodies as I tasted wine with David. As you know, your body holds onto water when you consume starchy carbs, so the more pizza I ate, the more I would end up weighing a few days down the road.


But back to my conversation with Roy. I explain : "I am not worried about losing all my new muscle, I am wondering how I will be able to diet. I have cut out so much starch already, I am not sure what to cut out now!"


This was necessary to gain all this weight and keep the body fat low. I weigh 13 pounds more than my last competition weight, but it's really not a great deal of fat. I did a good job in the "off season" I think.


His response?


"Yeah, but you have been going out with your family right?"


Bingo!


That's the kind of stuff that gets you into trouble, but the great thing is, it's also the easiest to remedy! Going out and having wine and food at a restaurant is big calories, I mean BIG! And the reason why it tastes so good is all the butter, oil, salt and fat they add to the food. 


Then I admitted I still have a problem with Peanut Butter- I should join PBLA (Peanut Butter Lover's Anonymous), but I am not ready to let go of my addiction.


Luckily, the diet won't start until after my week in Mexico, which is coming up soon, and I shall enjoy it and not worry- the diet will be ready and waiting for me when I get home!

Antibiotics in Livestock

We all love to eat and we like knowing that our food is safe! Here we are: David, Cooper, me and Derek (my brother) enjoying breakfast at Mijita in San Francisco.


A while ago I posted about the dangers of eating meat- producers use all sorts of dangerous chemicals and antibiotics on a regular basis to ensure better profits. They have no concern about nutrition or our health.


A few weeks ago the federal government took notice and finally made a decision, citing drug resistance, they have restricted more antibiotics in livestock! 

Ranchers must restrict their use of a critical class of antibiotics in cattle, pigs, chickens and turkeys because such practices may have contributed to the growing threat in people of bacterial infections that are resistant to treatment.

Cephalosporins commonly treat humans as well as animals like chickens.

The medicines are known as cephalosporins and include brands like Cefzil and Keflex. They are among the most common antibiotics prescribed to treat pneumonia, strep throat, and skin and urinary tract infections. Surgeons also often use them before surgery, and they are particularly popular among pediatricians.

The drugs’ use in agriculture has, according to many microbiologists, led to the development of bacteria that are resistant to their effects, a development that many doctors say has cost thousands of lives.

The F.D.A. has yet to make final a guideline proposed in 2010 that would edge the agency closer to banning uses of penicillin and tetracycline in feed and water for the sole purpose of promoting the growth of animals or preventing illness that results from unsanitary living conditions. This issue has generated intense controversy among farmers and ranchers who contend that public health officials have exaggerated the danger of agricultural uses of antibiotics to humans.

When asked about the penicillin guideline, Mr. Taylor of the F.D.A. said, “We’re hopeful that in the coming months, we’ll be able to carry forward on that work.”

These are great steps in the right direction, but we aren't there yet, we have a long way to go.


Read my previous post

Back and Bicep Training

Sunday morning, and I haven't trained back in a week. I cut one day out to add in a quad day. You can see things are looking a bit tighter (clothing) all over, more muscle, more fat, more me! Weight is up, I am at 130 pounds.


I don't like the added fat but I will be fine, soon I will start a diet and then we can see how the added muscle looks with no bodyfat covering it.


I was quite surprised at how strong I felt, I guess giving the back a rest helped me recover so I could go really strong.


I started with pull ups, and chin ups, sets of 6, changing my hand position with each set. I did 4 sets and in between I did dips, 10 reps in each set. 


On to the low cable row. 90 pounds, 3 sets of 10 with a wide grip handle, then 2 sets with a triangle. I made sure to count slowly on the eccentric movement, timing each set with only one minute rest between each.


Then the same technique with the lat pull down, 90 pounds again, 5 sets of 10. 


Down to the lower weight room where the power racks are. I will do barbell bent over rows. I warm up with 65 pounds, then go with 95 pounds. 5 sets of 12, 90 second rest in between.


Bicep curls with the e-z bar curl. I like these, I can go fairly heavy. I did 5 sets of 10 with a total of 58 pounds.


Back upstairs and I warm up with a 25 pound dumbbell with single arm dumbbell bent over rows. You really can cheat yourself on these, it is important to maintain a good bent over stance, squeezing the back at the top with each row, lowering slowly down, then pulling up explosively.


After my warm up I grab the 45 pound dumbbell and do 4 sets of 10 on each side.


I am done, I make a note to go up quite a bit on everything next Sunday, except the e-z bar curl, I don't think I can go much heavier there.


Next week I shall change it up a bit, I will add in some skull crushers, T-bar rows and heavier weights all over.

Glutes

Nice huh?

Venus Williams.

My mother in law would cringe, no she would probably shut off the TV. She loved tennis and she also loved the ceremony of it all. I am sure she didn't care much for Venus. But that's OK, they are both two very powerful women in my opinion!


I think Venus is an amazing woman, and she has balls too. I like that. So what do you think makes her wear something like this on a clay tennis court? I am guessing the match doesn't last long, I mean the judges wouldn't stand for this would they?


I would love to be there.


So, if you had a butt like this, wouldn't you flaunt it?  She is actually wearing pants, they just happen to be the same color as her skin, and she happens to have a damn fantastic set of glutes.


I work to have glutes like this too, and they are fairly respectable but compared to Venus, not where they should be.


If there is one body part I can encourage women to focus on, it's the glutes. Not only is it aesthetically pleasing to have a nice, tight, round set of glutes, it is necessary to maintain good health! 


Mine are really popping now, I noticed it recently, the upper glute is especially round, and high, On Monday I asked Roy what exactly is doing this, they really haven't looked so good before! He said it was all the Glute Ham Raises.


I don't think you will see me in a dress like this though...I don't know how to play tennis!

Conditioning Natural Method

Along with resistance training, I do conditioning. Call it cardio if you like, but that's not really what it is. Cardio is the stairmill, the treadmill, bike, some group exercise class.


I used to use the stairmill quite a bit, and since December I have only used it once, I started taking kickboxing class on Saturday's with Jerome Turcan and have incorporated his conditioning into my routine. I do this conditioning on my own 3 to 4 times a week.


I really have enjoyed it and I like how I can change it. It can also be done anywhere really, as long as you have the space.


Saturday I went into the gym and lifted, it was quad day and I felt good and strong. I was there an hour and 20 minutes then on my way home I started feeling like I was coming down with something, my stomach started churning.


I ate then laid down and fell back asleep. Kickboxing would start at 10:00, hopefully I would feel better by then. 


I don't get sick often, I started thinking maybe it was psychological. I have had a really rough two weeks and not only was I emotionally drained, I was physically exhausted. Perahps I was using this as an excuse to remain curled up in a ball on my bed....That's all I needed to kick start myself, I got out of bed at 9:45 and asked Cooper to wrap my hands, I was in a hurry to get to AKA.


I ran in the door and Jerome was shouting "run Kristy, run!" I pulled off my pants and jacket, grabbed my shin guards and gloves and hit the mat running with everyone else, I was glad I came.


We went through the 30 minutes of conditioning, and this time I was the one creating the pools of sweat on the soft blue mat. It felt good, I felt alive again. I was the leader! Ha, in the past I struggled to keep up with the guys and this time I was done first. Jerome looks at me and says "Where are you Kristy?" I say "10" and he shouts to everyone to stop, come to the center for a change. We went through the floor exercises, and as we transitioned between conditioning and kickboxing I stopped to say hi to the only other female. She said she was just trying to keep up with me, I advised I may not be the best to watch and we both laughed.


Then 30 minutes of kickboxing, Steve volunteered to be my partner- he was at Jerome's on New Year's Eve too, we sat next to each other at dinner. I struggled with the combinations, Steve would smack me with his glove once in a while and say "Can I at least see one part of the combination he asked for?!"


Jerome said they were easy- things like low kick, jab, cross, hook, upper cut, elbow, knee, high kick, hook, low kick. I was having a hard time remembering everything. I need to practice on my own more.


The conditioning is what I love so much, after class I talked with Jerome about it, I asked what made it so different, so special. Jerome explained it was a style of training developed by Georges Hebert called the Natural Method. Hébert was born in Paris. While an officer in the French Navy prior to the First World War, Hébert was stationed in the town of St. Pierre, Martinique. In 1902 the town fell victim to a catastrophic volcanic eruption. Hebert coordinated the escape and rescue of some seven hundred people from this disaster. This experience had a profound effect on him, and reinforced his belief that athletic skill must be combined with courage and altruism. He eventually developed this ethos into his personal motto, "Être fort pour être utile" ("Being strong to be useful").

Contrary to the widespread belief that his approach was exclusively based on his observations of the natural movements of indigenous people, his method is a synthesis of various influences, including but not limited to:

• The work of his predecessor Francisco Amorós, who published in 1847 Nouveau Manuel Complet d'Education Physique, Gymnastique et Morale and which encompasses already the full range of practical movement aptitudes
• The work of German Prussian gymnastics educator Friedrich Ludwig Jahn (August 11, 1778 – October 15, 1852), which has also probably influenced the early physical training of the United States Marine Corps
• The classical representations of the human body in Graeco-Roman statuary and by the ideals of the ancient Greek gymnasia
• The naturist (although strictly rejecting complete nudism) lifestyle principles of his friend Dr. Paul Carton (1875–1947)
• The influence of Georges Demenÿ (1850–1917), a French inventor, chronophotographer, filmmaker, and gymnast who emphasized the progressiveness and the scalability of the training

Hebert's system rejected the sclerosis of remedial gymnastics and of the popular Swedish Method of physical culture, which seemed to him unable to develop the human body harmoniously and especially unable to prepare his students with the practical and moral demands of life.

In the same way, Hébert believed, by concentrating on competition and performance, competitive sport diverted physical education both from its physiological ends and its ability to foster sound moral values.

Here is a great video that shows a bit of what the Natural Method might be if you were to train outdoors. (Email readers will need to navigate directly to the blog to view this video).


Jerome includes most of this in his conditioning, including the jumps and back crawls (I guess our own sweat is the water!)

My first kickboxing experience

Monday Morning Motivation

Our 'mistakes' become our crucial parts, sometimes our best parts, of the lives we have made.

`Ellen Goodman

When I have listened to my mistakes, I have grown.

`Hugh Prather

Mistakes are merely steps up the ladder.

`Paul J. Meyer

If I had to live my life again, I'd make the same mistakes, only sooner.

`Tallulah Bankhead

If you're not making mistakes, then you're not doing anything. I'm positive that a doer makes mistakes.

`John Wooden

The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.

`Elbert Hubbard

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.

`Mahatma Gandhi