SmarterFitter Blog Less diet, more brain

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed or sign up for email updates. Thanks for visiting!

I’m not one for “memes”, but the latest thread about vices is kind of interesting. Quick To Fit asks:

What is your biggest health or fitness vice?

I wish I could say I never thought about vices. I wish that moderation were so ingrained into my soul that my indulgence of the odd treat was so rare that it could hardly be termed a “vice”.

The truth is, I think about vices a lot, more than I would say is “healthy”. And even though I’m fairly moderate about my vices, my thinking around them is anything but. But I’m skirting the question. What’s my biggest vice?

My biggest vice falls into two categories, both liquid: diet soda and alcohol.

Diet soda doesn’t trouble me as much as beer. I try not to drink it very often, and when I do, I don’t get too bent out of shape about “failing”.

When it comes to alcohol, however, I definitely have (or at least used to have) a horrible tendency to drink WAY too much. I’m a fast drinker, and can finish a pint at the same pace as my boyfriend. It may not seem like a big deal, but I’m about half his size, and half the size of most people, so it’s an effort not to drink so fast that I basically get drunk immediately.

The trouble is, I really like beer and wine. Especially beer. I think I have pretty good taste in beer, too. I’d like to drink it every day. I know, I know - studies have shown that small amounts of alcohol every day is good for the heart. But screw the research. For someone like me who’s done her time at the college watering holes, drinking every day is simply not healthy no matter how much or how little I drink. I don’t quite have the self control to limit myself to “just one”. So for me, one drink a day just isn’t healthy: I’ll only want more.

I’ve been pretty good in recent years about limiting my alcohol intake. But I still think about it all the time, and I still have to remind myself to slow down, drink water, and be moderate, every time I go to the pub. I miss the days when I drank without reservation - it was much more relaxing! But I don’t miss being a lardo who could never remember her Friday nights. Sometimes I wonder if I should just quit drinking altogether.

One of my favorite bloggers, Sally Parrot Ashbrook, left this comment on Get Fit Slowly, where JD also cited alcohol as a vice:

I was thinking just this morning about how my alcohol consumption has increased lately and maybe isn’t at a healthy point (not just how it relates to calories, but also emotionally). Then I was thinking, when you are utilizing (not necessarily abusing) a glass of wine or whatever to help you chill out a bit, and you decide to cut back or cut out alcohol, you have to figure out how else to offer yourself support for what the alcohol is offering you in your life. I’m intending to try yoga and a couple of other things; I’ve been thinking about it today. . . .

This made me think: If booze causes me more worry than relaxation, maybe I should trade it up for something else? The trouble is, there’s nothing that’s so ingrained in the social culture as alcohol (not in London anyway). And I want my social life to be relaxing. All too often the two collide and I’m left wondering where the happy medium is.

I’m hoping to one day be able to be around alcohol and not worry about this crap. The whole point here is to be healthy, and worry is far less healthy than alcohol (in moderation!).

I am supposed to tag someone else to post on this meme. How about NCN at No Calories Needed and Ali at The Office Diet?

Tim and I have rented a car and at this moment we are packing up for ten days of camping on England’s southwest coast. As opposed to our trip to California, where we crafted the Ultimate Car Camping Checklist, this time we’re trying to keep it pretty light. Lo and behold, the Minimalist Car Camping Checklist was born!

I’m sure I’ll be adding or removing items throughout the following day/week/months as we discover all the obvious things we forgot or realize that we didn’t really need fresh underwear after all (not bloody likely!). I’ll keep the following Google Document published with any updates:

Minimalist Car Camping Checklist

Here’s where we’re at as of 9:19AM. Any obvious omissions? The minimalist car camping checklist is surprisingly long!

Minimalist Car Camping Checklist

Cooking Supplies

* Knife
* Pots and pans
* Cup
* Plates
* Cutting board
* Cutlery
* Baggies
* Wet wipes
* Sponge and soap for washing up
* Dish towels (2)
* Camp stove (we like the MSR Pocket Rocket)
* Gas for camp stove
* Lighter

Clothing

* Wind/waterproof wear
* Thermal underwear
* Wool socks
* Bathing suit
* Towel
* Warm hat, gloves, scarf
* Warm fleece
* Underwear
* Sunhat
* Gaiters

Camping Gear

* Tent
* Sleeping bags
* Thermarest air mattress

Campsite Accouterments

* Headlamps
* Flashlight
* Lighter
* Platapus water bag
* Garbage bags
* Picnic blanket (preferably with a waterproof bottom)
* Bugspray/Insect Repellent

Personal Items

* Toilet Paper
* Sunglasses
* First aid kit
* Toothbrush/toothpaste
* Nail clippers
* Lip balm
* Face wash
* Hand/body soap
* Sunscreen
* Camera
* Diary/pen
* Field/travel guides
* Maps
* Vitamins
* A good book

Extra stuff for off-campsite activities

* Camelback
* Daypack
* Mountain/Road bike and cycling kit
* Hiking boots/shoes
* GPS

Car Stuff

* Inverter
* Road atlas
* Campsite Directory
* Emergency Car Kit

Thank you, Lifehacker, for introducing me to The Bicycle Tutor, a website that shows you how to fix just about any kind of bike problem.

Run by a photography enthusiast and serious bike geek, the site offers plain-English tutorials in both hi-res video and full text. The streaming videos are free to watch on the site, but you can buy QuickTime videos for a buck or two to load on your iPod and bring out to where the work is. It’s a good bookmark for everything from changing a flat to replacing your chain rings.

I so need to watch the How To Tune Up Your Bike video.

The Bicycle Tutor [via Lifehacker]

This is a guest post by Heather Ashare. Heather has been a dedicated practitioner and instructor of Ashtanga yoga for the past six years and is a staff member of the website, Diets in Review. Read her previous guest blog about the 5 things beginners should know about yoga.

There is a misnomer that in order to do yoga, you have to be able to touch your toes. Feeling that you have to be flexible in order to take a yoga class is on par to feeling like you have to be an Indy 500 winner to drive a car. It is just simply not true.

If your stiff joints are keeping you from doing yoga, here are three tips to quell your fears:

1. Yoga practitioners come in all shapes, sizes and ranges of motion. I’ve often heard that those who are the least flexible are open to gaining the most in yoga. Their bodies will respond so well to the opening of the joints and the extension of the muscles and ligaments that yoga requests of each student.
2. You can only improve. By not doing yoga and not stretching your muscles, you will only continue to develop more rigidity. Even if those first few classes have your hamstrings feeling like sore taffy the next day, over time, you will create more length in your body and that will make the postures easier to do.
3. No one is looking anyway! In yoga, rather than looking at the person next to you, you focus on what is called the drishti or focal point. Each posture has a drishti point whether it is your nose, your navel or your toes. The idea behind having this set gaze is to keep your attention focused and not distracted by what your neighbor is doing or even by what you may look like as you stay in a posture. A drishti quiets the mind and prevents your thoughts from racing which happens when we start to flick our eyes back and forth at things and people. So remember, no one is looking at you.

The main idea behind any yoga class is to have fun and set your fears aside. When you tune out what is going on around you and tune into your own body, you might be amazed at what you discover.

You can read more from Heather at the DietsInReview.com Diet Blog.

Best cycling tattoo ever: the classic chain ring smudge on the inner calf.*

The always useful tredz blog shares ten great tips for summer cycling. Most of the tips are great advice all year round, such as staying hydrated and carrying a quality bicycle lock, but they do point out one thing that I always manage to forget when the sun is out: SUNBLOCK! Very important stuff for keeping your skin happy and your tattoos bright.

Talking of sunburn, and I will be for the next three months being ‘strawberry blonde’, don’t forget to slap on plenty of sunblock. Cycling not only makes the rider vulnerable due to the typically long periods of exposure, but also the sweat on your skin will increase the effect of the sun. And of course you’ll look like a wally with the tan lines from your cycling gear.

My advice: keep a small container of sunblock with you. My sis gave me a stick of SPF 18 Hemp Tattoo Balm that I keep in my bag. It’s pretty good and the stick makes it easy to apply without getting my hands all nasty.

Top ten summer cycling tips [Tredzblog]

* This groovy tat belongs to my buddy, Michael. I was there when he had it done, using a picture of my real-life chain ring smudge as a template. I felt honored.

A little over a week ago, JD at Get Fit Slowly announced that he was starting the “one hundred pushups” training program. Loads of people have followed his lead and I think I’m inspired to join them.

It’s been a while since I’ve done any resistance exercise, over a year, in fact. Since I I quit the gym, I’ve been swimming, cycling and walking up a storm. And though I’ve been meaning to work in some sit-ups and pushups, I never quite got around to it. I optimistically hoped that swimming would keep my upper body strength up to snuff, but this morning I learned otherwise.

I set off to do my first pushup, body raised off the ground, straight as a board. I lowered myself down and encountered a bit of a surprise: it was really hard to push myself back up. I was shocked by how difficult it was.

I know I have more pushups in me. I’m not sure about 100 - this isn’t a numbers game, after all. I’d rather be able to do a few pushups with good form than a whole bunch of jerky, pointless excuses for pushups. The “one hundred pushups” program seems like a good place to start. So why not?

More blogging about 100 pushups:

• MizFit, who has a great video that demonstrates how to do a pushup
• Dave at Geek-Fitness
• Shauna The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl

Anyone else got pushup fever?

Whenever I go to Clissold Park for a walk or a run, I always mentally prepare myself for the distance. It really helps, but also limits me at the same time. For example, say I tell myself “Monica, get out of bed and go do a lap around the park!” By the end of that first lap, I usually feel like I can’t go any further. And yet, I know I can!

Last Monday I was finally feeling well enough to go for a run. I decided to do three laps, walking the first, then run/walking the second two. I knew I could do it and I did. It felt incredible! And once again, I marveled at the power of mental preparation (and a good podcast).

Consequently, my friend, Stu, was also at the park that day on his run. He later wrote a wonderful post about motivation that I want to share with you now. He talks about his first run at Clissold Park and his struggle to make it around once.

The hardest thing wasn’t the physical challenge. I was pretty sure I could do it, but I had a real mental block and in that first lap I really did think ‘I can’t do this’ and lo, at the end of one lap had to walk. But summoning up the courage I did go a bit further, slowly and at my own pace. I felt OK and did manage to keep going. And at first that’s all you have to do.

All you have to do is keep going. Get over that first hurdle and keep at it.

I hope Stu doesn’t mind me sharing so much of his post, but his closing words really struck a chord for me. Maybe they will for you too.

Fundamentally, if you’re reading this and thinking you’re interested in running but ‘there’s no way I could do that’ then all I can say is I was once like you, not that long ago and I managed it. The guy who likes to stay out late, enjoy more than the odd beer and who until 5 years ago didn’t look after themselves properly physically or eat the right food. It doesn’t take much to change your habits to get started and give it a good crack. You’ll be surprised. But definitely, I understand its a mental challenge, but stick to it. The rewards are great and you don’t have to push yourself too hard to get up to a good level of fitness or be able to enter competitions where you don’t disgrace yourself.

Getting Motivated by Stu

Last Friday, Heather was kind enough to share some tips for yoga beginners. Today, JD at Get Fit Slowly posted about another great yoga resource: Yoga Today.

Yoga Today delivers new classes daily through streaming video and they have classes for beginners and advanced yoga practitioners. All of the classes are set outdoors near the zen-like Rocky Mountains. Can you say “ommmm”?.

I just watched a Yoga Today video about yoga for snowboarders. The instructor is Sara Kline and Dude is she HARD. Even her voice sounds muscular. I liked it. Mind you, I didn’t actually DO the practice, but I would like to. Times like these I wish I didn’t live in a flat in London on a main thoroughfare for drunks, schoolchildren and taxi cabs. The Rockies might look serene on video, but there’s no breaking the illusion that I’m stuck in noisy ol’ London. Beep beep.

This is a guest post by Heather Ashare. Heather has been a dedicated practitioner and instructor of Ashtanga yoga for the past six years and is a staff member of the website, Diets in Review. You can read more of her work on their Diet Blog.

Look around these days and everyone seems to be toting around a yoga mat. Yes, we can thank the Indian sages for the brilliant boom in yoga fanatics here in the West but we can also thank celebrities like Sting, Madonna, Christy Turlington and Gwyneth Paltrow who have helped take the hippie-crunchiness out of yoga and replaced it with more than just acceptability: It’s THE thing to do.

In addition to participating in one of the largest health crazes in the past ten years, did you know that yoga has caught the attention of the medical community? From treating chronic low back pain, asthma, depression, multiple sclerosis and joint pain, yoga is maybe one of the great panaceas we Westerners have “discovered” since antibiotics. Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration but doctors are writing out Rx slips for yoga and researchers are busy studying how performing these age-old postures is helping to prevent or reduce a multitude of conditions and their symptoms.

So if you’re new to downward-dogging here are five things you should know before you roll out your yoga mat:

1. Look for a qualified instructor. Any teacher with the initials R.Y.T. (Registered Yoga Trainer) behind their name is a good bet that they have clocked some serious yoga training hours learning the basics of this ancient practice.
2. Start out slow. Even if you’re in a great shape, yoga is a different kind of work-out that you are probably not used to. Don’t try and stand on your head the first day in class.
3. Refrain from eating 2-3 hours before you take a class. Even though you may nosh on a piece of fruit or granola bar before you hit the gym, a pre-yoga snack will backfire on you. Save it for after class.
4. Be proactive and let your teacher know about your aches, pains and injuries.

   Back pain, knee pain, sciatica, all of these conditions and countless others should be brought to the attention of your instructor before class, even if he or she doesn’t ask.

5. Go with an open mind. Your first time taking a yoga class may introduce you to postures, movements, and feelings that you have never before experienced. Just remember to keep breathing.

Read more articles and tips from Heather over at the Diet Blog on dietsinreview.com.

Monica at age 10:
a budding coke addict

It’s been over four weeks since I first felt the tickle in my throat that turned into the weirdest, worstest cold-like lurgee that I’ve ever had. The theory is I have whooping cough, an illness charactarised by severe coughing attacks that often end in difficulty to breath in air (hence the “whoop” sound). All the signs listed at the Mayo Clinic suggest whooping cough:

• Severe coughing attacks that bring up thick phlegm
• Coughing attacks that end with a high-pitched “whoop” sound during the next breath of air
• You may even bruise or break a rib if your coughing episodes are severe.
• Coughing may be worse at night.
• Over-the-counter cough medicines have little effect
• A case of whooping cough usually resolves in six weeks but may last longer.

I’m heading into week five of this bullshit and things are finally starting to look up. My energy is coming back and the coughs are far fewer and far between. Best of all, the strain in my ribs has eased up and I’m swimming again.

But what does this have to do with soda??

I don’t know about you guys, but when I’m sick, I lose all will to better any part of myself except my immune system. I’ve been trying to lay off the diet soda for a while now, but when I started whooping, my mind instantly went “screw it, I want soda, and I want lots of it.” I even started buying 2L bottles of Diet 7-UP and Coke Zero instead of 500mL bottles (at least I haven’t stopped being economical).

Then, a few days ago, No Calories Needed announced that he had consumed his “last Diet Mountain Dew.” His reasons made total sense:

I’m tired of wasting money on soda when tap water is free.

I’m tired of dealing with sugar and caffeine highs.

I need to drink water - and when I drink sodas, I don’t feel like drinking water.

This must have inspired me because I haven’t bought a diet soda since. And since I’m feeling better (whoop, there it is), why not draw a real line in the sand: I’m not drinking any more diet soda from this point forward. “PERIOD!”