Building Your Dream Body on a BUDGET!

It's been a few days....but don't worry, I have still been hitting the pavement running almost every day, and walking inevitably).  I started out wanting to hone in on one thing for this blog only to realize how random I am, and how random life is in general!

I'm training for my first fitness competition this fall, may be October, November, or the spring..I'm in no rush as long as I do it the right way and meet my goals.  My training experience thus far has been one big uplifting adrenaline rush, and then there were the costs.... I want to be realistic, I'm not a millionaire and I have financial obligations outside of leisure activities, but I also want to get it done.  I have noticed that since my transition to a healthier lifestyle I haven't been sick once, my previous injuries are virtually history, and I feel better in general, so I'm trading the post workout soreness for prescriptions and I like it, my wallet likes it, and my employer likes it :) wins all around!

Enough of the small talk. I'm working on out to train for this competition on an extremely tight budget as well as working on ways to motivate my close friends and family to challenge themselves and get active.  It's draining and hard, but I find comfort in knowing that there are tons of other people who empathize and agree that a healthy, clean lifestyle is best for everyone :)

I've recently done a 5k (www.thecolorrun.com), signed up for North America's LARGEST walking race (www.newalbanywalkingclassic.com)  I can't afford 3-4 sessions a week of personal training so I have resorted to Pinterest, Instagram, and the Internet to help me out! I will post recipes and workouts from my Twitter and Pinterest pages so do follow!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/MinOURityReport
Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/minourityreport/
90 Day Challenge: www.ashleylove.bodybyvi.com
Running Group: www.blackgirlsrun.com

You all should already know about my 90 Day Challenge and my weight lost has almost doubled in just three weeks.  This is the 21st day of my Body By Vi Challenge and I weighed in this morning 13lbs lighter!!!!  I have a long way to go to meet my goal, and I am realistic, I don't want to hurry and lose it all this challenge, I just want to be healthy and lose mos of it, which I have a fair shot at doing. It's a win-win with the shakes, one for breakfast, one for lunch or dinner, and then just protein snacks such as chicken and turkey, then almonds and or fruits and veggies.  The 13lbs was practically effortless.  I also went to bodybuilding.com and found a 12 week plan, and it's been great so far!  I have also hit the ground running, literally, I have laced up my running shoes and jogged up stairs nearby, gone to the track, found any hill to run up, and didn't pay one cent.  Cardio is essential when you have 30+ pounds to lose, and you don't need a fancy gym or personal trainer to move your body, that is free!  I even invited all of my friends and family over for a swap (which I will blog about tomorrow) and we traded fitness videos!  Check out MinOURityreports' post tomorrow for more information.  Back the free goodies, I joined a local running group promoting running and activity for black women, www.blackgirlsrun.com AND  walking group to get more active, and I found a small local gym willing to trade me great fitness classes for a few hours of work a week.  Black Girls Run!, or BGR is great because you have a large group in tons of cities you can link up with and run with.  Everyone runs at different paces, so there is always someone with you, and something to work up to.  Most of the local races with BGR chapters will have teams, so you can train and run as a group.

Don't say you can't afford to get healthy and in shape, there are ways around spending a fortune, and my ultimate goal of being sponsored isn't far away using ALL of the free methods I have just listed.  That being said, I am working toward a fitness competition goal...if you are simply working toward better health and losing a few pounds you have options... walking, jogging outside or at a track, park, driveway hill, trail, the opportunities for free workouts are endless, and the Internet provides great workouts too!! I've mentioned Bodyrock.tv and Exercise TV made the recent switch to HULU (http://www.hulu.com/exercisetv/) check your listings for workouts On Demand.  To put it plainly, no one has ANY excuse not to go after the body they want and so many minority women are really capitalizing on opportunities to beat genetics and make a healthier life for themselves.  I believe in myself, and I believe in you too.

I Used to Think Cakes Were Made in the Kitchen....

Greetings!!!  Just a moment ago I had a good conversation about workouts, alternating days and all of that good stuff, prompting me to post and share with everyone...weight training is tricky...the soreness sneaks up on you, but your body is sore for a reason (it's tired and needs a break)...another enthusiastic fellow BBV Challenge member (www.ashleylove.bodybyvi.com) and I had a great conversation about ABs and working out various parts of the body every OTHER day to maintain balance and give your body (parts) time to recover in between workouts.

I think this is standard practice...I'm no expert and perhaps some day I will get there, but for now, I keep it basic. Most of us, even those of us who are training for competitions and overall muscle building know that you probably want to switch up the workout routine and alternate the muscle groups you work throughout your week.

That being said, the topic of abdominal muscles surfaced...

Abs are tricky because we all could (probably) push ourselves to do sit ups and ab work daily, but even parts of the body that recover faster than others such as your abs, need rest too!

Abs are made in the kitchen, and this article tells you the 10 best foods...so devise a plan...ab work three days a week and make sure you are eating right while they recover on your rest days :)  I also attached a cool picture to accompany my point and this article!  Not sure how accurate the percentages are, but I will sign off with this note.  In the past 6 months my activity has increased and no weight was lost.  In the past three weeks my diet has changed and I will be at my 10lbs lost in the next day or so!  Diet matters, and the right, healthy diet contributes to the ability to visually see your hard work!

http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/weight-loss/plans/diets/foods-for-flat-abs/ 

Put some COLOR back in your RUN

So.... after many months of being sad that The Color Run was sold out in virtually EVERY city on the schedule, I received an email from the organizers pleading for what I call the "running rejects" to volunteer in exchange for a bib in The Color Run.  Ironic... a run is a fafillion people filtering through a town, and there is a maximum capacity?!?! Doesn't make much sense to me, but I don't make the rules, I just follow them...

So at any rate...I get happy just looking at the Color Run's website... I'm either a cornball or this is really the happiest race on the planet.  I will let you see for yourselves what I have to look forward to in the near future. I will probably post later on this afternoon because I am going strong on my 90 day challenge and just found out about Vi-Defy, which is a new product and I think I need it in my life...yup, I think I do.

Anyway, feast your eyes on the images courtesy of the Color Run and watch the videos too! Try not to be jealous...just go register for the Color Run closest to you: www.thecolorrun.com

Use Your Resources and of course, Rock It!

I was told I needed to start posting pictures of my workouts, so I will be on target to do so tomorrow!!! Today's workout was inspired by the hardbodies of bodyrock.tv !  The exact link is http://www.bodyrock.tv/2012/07/09/hot-mom-moves-bodyrock-lite-workout-with-lish/  I pretty much just opened all of the You Tube videos I saw and did them all :)  This workout was challenging, free, and I didn't have to have a gym membership or personal trainer!  I may look into the interval clock-- Gymboss, but until then, I have an iPhone that has a stopwatch/timer so it will do!

Today is also the 8th day of my Body By Vi Challenge (ashleylove.bodybyvi.com) and I am down 7lbs-- which is 3lbs less than I weighed in this past Sunday (July 15th)!!! I am super excited to see the results after 90days.  It isn't hype, it's real, and I'm not starving, I take a shake for breakfast and one after I work out with healthy snacks such as almonds, a chicken breast stripped seasoned with Mrs. Dash, and a corn tortilla with ground turkey.  I also drank PLENTY of water...I am up to almost one and a half gallons!

All of what I am doing is a healthy plan designed by a team of enlisted help-  personal trainers who happened to be friends of mine (some of whom are trained professional athletes), a dietitian provided by work place, and a health coach also provided by my employer.  Use your resources.  I have visited the dietitian and have regularly scheduled calls with my health coach and they cost me NOTHING.  I get up to three appointments with the dietitian each year, and my calls with the health coach are free until...whenever!  You can't beat that!  Often I find that when I rely upon my friends and family for support, they let me down.  Not because they want to or are intentionally doing so, but because they lack the know-how, and they too need a support network.  It is great to have friends who hold you accountable but everyone isn't privileged enough to be the sibling or spouse of a body builder or personal trainer.  That being said, the dietitian and health coach are the best support system I could ask for.  Ask your human resources department about health coaching and weight management counseling and see what your low to no cost options are!  Doesn't hurt to ask!!!


Today, for instance, we had a discussion about calcium and iron.  I was then provided with the following information from the Harvard School of Public Health-- Enjoy!!!:

Are we getting enough calcium?

Recommendations for women:

·         1,000 milligrams/day for those age 19 to 50

·         1,200 milligrams/day for those age 50 or over

An important nutrient that us ladies need, especially in our later years to ward of osteoporosis is calcium which also has numerous other functions, including building and maintaining bones and teeth, blood clotting, the transmission of nerve impulses, and the regulation of the heart's rhythm.  The body gets the calcium it needs in two ways: by eating foods that contain calcium, and/or by taking calcium supplements and from pulling it from our bones. This happens when blood levels of calcium drop too low, usually when it's been awhile since having eaten a meal containing calcium.

People typically lose bone as they age, despite consuming the recommended intake of calcium necessary to maintain optimal bone health. An estimated 10 million Americans—8 million women and 2 million men—have osteoporosis. Postmenopausal women account for 80 percent of all cases of osteoporosis because estrogen production declines rapidly at menopause.

There are a number of lifestyle factors that can help increase calcium into your lifestyle:

·                Getting regular exercise, especially weight-bearing and muscle strengthening exercise.

·                Getting adequate vitamin D through diet, exposure to sunshine, and/or supplements. Look for a multivitamin that supplies 1,000 IU of vitamin D per day. If your multi only has 400 IU of vitamin D, consider taking an extra supplement to get you up to 1,000 IU or 2,000 IU per day

·         Consuming enough calcium to reduce the amount the body has to borrow from bone.

·         Consuming adequate vitamin K, found in green, leafy vegetables.

·         Not getting too much preformed vitamin A.

Food	Amount	Calcium (mg)
Yogurt, plain, low fat	8 oz	415
Collard greens, frozen, boiled	1 cup	357
Skim milk	1 cup	306
Spinach, frozen, boiled	1 cup	291
Yogurt, plain, whole milk	8 oz	275
Black-eyed peas, boiled	1 cup	211
Canned salmon	3 oz	181
Calcium-set tofu	3 oz (¼ block)	163
Cheese food, pasteurized American	1 oz	162
Trail mix (nuts, seeds, chocolate chips)	1 cup	159
Baked beans, canned	1 cup	154
Cottage cheese, 1% milk fat	1 cup	138
Iceberg lettuce	1 head	97
Green peas, boiled	1 cup	94
Soy milk	1 cup	93
Oranges	1 cup	72
Almonds	1 oz (24 nuts)	70

Harvard, School of Public Health

Table 1: Calcium Content of Selected Vegan Foods
Food	Amount	Calcium (mg)
Blackstrap molasses	2 Tbsp	400
Collard greens, cooked	1 cup	357
Tofu, processed with    calcium sulfate*	4 ounces	200-330
Calcium-fortified orange juice	8 ounces	300
Soy or ricemilk, commercial,     calcium-fortified, plain	8 ounces	200-300
Commercial soy yogurt, plain	6 ounces	80-250
Turnip greens, cooked	1 cup	249
Tofu, processed with nigari*	4 ounces	80-230
Tempeh	1 cup	215
Kale, cooked	1 cup	179
Soybeans, cooked	1 cup	175
Okra, cooked	1 cup	172
Bok choy, cooked	1 cup	158
Mustard greens, cooked	1 cup	152
Tahini	2 Tbsp	128
Broccoli, cooked	1 cup	94
Almonds	1/4 cup	89
Almond butter	2 Tbsp	86
Soy milk, commercial, plain	8 ounces	80

Sexy Legs...At Home

This summer has been one of unprecedented HEAT!  The weather can play into one's motivation to work out as well.  I completely get it... if the weather is too cold or hot you can lose all motivation to get out there and get at it. I saw a few cool workouts easy enough to do at home, outside or even at the gym in a clear space!  The workout below,"Sexy Leg Workout", I found on Pinterest!  I love going to Pinterest to find motivational pictures and quotes, recipes, and workouts.  Blogs and websites such as Min{OUR}ity Report and Pinterest provide readers with enough shared information to never need a gym.  A few readers have asked me to blog about gyms, and so I shall (in a later post).  Today I wanted to give readers an idea of how easy it is to put the body in motion-- for free, in the privacy of your own home or with a group of friends, and anywhere.  Nothing is keeping anyone from doing the "Sexy Leg Workout", anywhere!  

Don't knock it til you try it--free blogs and websites eliminate the convenience and/or expense factors that most other fitness opportunities may entail.  I have been researching free/home workout

 programs.  One of my all time favorite blogs is http://www.bodyrock.tv/ so the today's homework is the "Sexy Leg Workout" and visit Body Rock to see what free at home workouts can do for you.

Fish Out of Water

So today was my first day of my new 90 day challenge and I get to the gym only to discover a lack of headphones. Awesome. I get onto the treadmill and pressed start anyway...I stared at the headphone jack for almost an entire minute, wondering what I would do to fill the void of hearing every machine pulley, every foot hit the treadmill, along with any random gym conversations...?! Lucky for me the gym offered an easy compromise. On Demand TV.

My original feeling, like a fish out of water, was gone within seconds, but then it happened. I looked around and EVERYONE else had headphones. Great. I tried to focus on what had the potential to be the longest workout ever and decided to read lips of the people on tv. My timer went off 40 minutes later, cardio was over!

It seems like an insignificant post but small positive thoughts make all the difference. I can think back to at least one other time, a while ago, that I actually got up and left the gym because I had forgotten headphones and I just wasn't in the mood to face the gym noise and couldn't focus without them. Reading lips was something small but made all the difference in my success for the day. I was even able to scope out what kind of new headphones I may want to purchase to keep me on top of my game but people watching!

The moral of today's story is simple; getting into shape and being healthier-- be it eating better or working out, may have times where we feel like a fish out of water, it's how we jump back in and "swim" that counts. My self motivation even called for a reward--a protein shake (Body By Vi) with peanut butter and banana!! So let's get and keep out heads in the game today!

Min{OUR}ity Report Welcome

This marks a new and exciting day!  The first step was naming the blog and truly refining its purpose.  I am on a personal quest for physical and spiritual well being and I would be remiss if I did not share this journey with my community and the world.  This blog is a reflection of my world travels and my multicultural experience(s).  I will include exercises, historical references, and recipes from all corners of our globe.  There are many fitness and (health) food related blogs many people could be viewing, but I sincerely thank you for following Min{OUR}rity Report.  


Ashley