swim, swam, swum

I love to swim, I've been swimming for as long as I can remember, everyone in my family swims, we all went to summer camp for swimming, swim, swim, swim! So you can imagine how happy SUPER EXCITED! I was when my gym moved into a new location and installed a pool. 

Well guess what, swimming around a lake all sumer is a bit different than swimming laps for fitness. Swimming in a lap pool can exhaust you after one length if you don't know technique, it really can. And because I'm the kind of person who likes to get a whole bunch of books on a subject once it captures my interest I went straight to the interweb to find out what's what with swimming these days.

What I discovered was Total Immersion.

Total Immersion is a swimming technique developed by Terry Laughlin, a former competitive swimmer and current swim coach.
He breaks down the process of swimming freestyle, or crawl as many of us call it, into simple parts, imprinting them into your muscle/body memory and then putting them all together to have  a super efficient and smooth swim movement.

I started reading the book and then found out there was a DVD which goes with it. The DVD is great because you can see the whole thing in action which is super helpful as reading about how a swim drill works doesn't always make sense.

So I went to the gym today and tried to implement the ideas I learned in Lesson One and I have to say it really works. I did several of the beginning drills and the next thing I knew I had been swimming for an hour. I think swimming, and trying to swim well, will make a nice addition to my current routine.

I have found that if I can exercise with a point, a goal or destination I can stick to it better. Just like the DJSW, I haven't wanted to stop doing it because I want to hit that 1 month mark and check my progress. I need to give myself little challenges in order to keep going and trying to accomplish all of the Total Immersion technique drills will definitely keep me busy for a couple of months.

More later.

martha

NEXT UP--->FIBER

gracias a dios it's friday!

Whew! I woke up late and sore and had to rush around with The Son to get him to the bus on time but I pulled it off and then went for my walk which made all my muscles feel super fantastico and not all tight anymore.

Yesterday I worked out pretty hard. Yoga in the a.m., morning walk, Crunch Boot Camp DVD then, you know it...Drop A Jeans Size Workout, then evening yoga and a huge flop onto the bed.

I think the DJSW is what got me, I wasn't going to add the 3rd set to it until next week but I was feeling strong and went for it and since I just upped it to 5lbs. it was an ass kicker.

The other day I went to this great class at the gym, it's called GAP, glutes, abs and piernas, which is glutes, abs and legs in Spanish. It was one of those classes where you use ankle weights, hand weights, tons of squats and the ball for WAY too many crunches.

So The Son's school does this Fun Run every year, it's a 5k/1k race that he ran last year. He came in 4th for his age group on the 1k and this year he says he wants to run the 5k with me so I think I'm going to have to start training for that. Perhaps that's the next challenge after I finish the DJSW. I'm a bit nervous however. I have never been a runner, haven't raced anyone since I was a kid but I have some training ideas and a few friends who are runners so I'm going to ask them how to get this started.

Okay, got to run, ha ha, more later.

xoxo

martha.

fabulous fats!

Fat is an annoying word. We all hear it and cringe a little. It's the main thing we think of when we discuss what we don't like about our bodies. "Oh, I'm too fat here" or " I'm eating a low fat diet"

But what is fat and how does it work. 

Well there are a gazzilion references for fats. Fats can be saturated, un-saturated, mono-unsaturated, trans and hydrogenated. It can get pretty confusing and involve a lot of big words that don't seem to explain anything at face value.

To put it simply it breaks down like this. Fats are made up of fatty acids, many of which are essential to good health. Fats can be categorized as SATURATED or UNSATURATED, which in easier terms can be remembered as ANIMAL FAT = SATURATED = BAD and VEGETABLE FAT = UNSATURATED = BETTER THAN BAD. 

I say "Better Than Bad" because FAT is FAT and though vegetable fat is better for you than animal fat, it still has a lot of FAT in it. So use all fats, even unsaturated ones sparingly. TRANS FATS, the big buzz word these days, means the fat has been processed or hydrogenated and the process makes it SUPER YUCKY for you so stay away from those.

Now why do we need FAT in our bodies if it is the very thing we are always trying to eliminate? Well, a certain amount of fat is necessary. Fat acts as an insulator in our body. It insulates nerves and cushions organs. It helps us digest Vitamins A, D, E, and K, all very important. Fat also helps us to have healthy skin and hair and it promotes proper cell function.

There are also some essential fatty acids which the body does not produce and so it is important to get them from our diets

So how to get the BETTER FATS? Start by dumping the butter. I know this totally stinks. I love to cook and I love how butter makes everything taste but save it for special cooking occasions. 

Switch to Extra Virgin Olive Oil and cut the required amount for recipes by 1/2. I have found, for most recipes, if I turn down the heat a little and use 1/2 the oil I get the same results.

Use cold pressed, unrefined oils like sunflower and sesame for dressings. A few other delicious and Better For You oils are Canola, Macadamia, Soybean and Walnut. 

More later.

xoxo

martha

sunny tuesday morning

It is a beautiful morning here today. I didn't think I would get a walk in this morning becasue it was raining when I go tup but it cleared off enough to make the sloshy couple of miles do-able.

I went swimming at the gym yesterday, GOD was that hard. I had forgotten how strenuous lap swimming is, I did about 1o laps, different strokes, breast, crawl, back, then some water jogging to cool down. I'm going to add that and make it a weekly thing, Monday is swim day.

The Drop a Jean Size Workout is still going strong. This week I should be adding a set of reps but instead I added more weight. I was using 3 lb. hand weights and now I have switched up to 5 lb. which is what the workout actually is based on. I also added ankle weights. Next week I will add another set.

All this exercise is definitely having an effect on me. I feel really good, I think I am starting to notice a visible difference here and there, my shoulders seem more defined and my waist, some of my clothes feel loose. I don't feel ready to post new pictures yet though. I'm going to wait until it's been a full 31 days since the start of this challenge and do a side-by-side.

All for now.

xoxo

martha.

NEXT UP----> FATS!