::Work it Out::

Happy Friday! I figured it had been a while since my last fitness post, that it was time.

So what have I been doing lately? Maintenance.

Maintenance is the least exciting type of fitness. In my opinion, anyway. You aren't trying to lose any weight, you aren't really trying to build anything. You're just...maintaining. Which is a lot harder than it sounds! The goal of maintenance is staying the same. Not losing the muscle you've built, not gaining weight, just working on keeping yourself at a place that you have arbitrarily decided is 'good'.

I have always had trouble with this stage, and mostly because everyone has something to say about how to 'stay' at your shape. If I have learned anything since I first started my fitness journey back in 2002, it is that everyone has an answer, and no one has any idea what they are talking about. So here's me. I don't eat until noon everyday. I drink one cup of coffee. I eat basically the same couple things every day, every week. Either a Goddess Bowl or a some rice noodle lemongrass soup for lunch with a romaine salad, and a gluten free/protein/pumpkin/yummy homemade muffin for breakfast. (the recipe IS forthcoming. I promise), and then some version of  healthy casserole or roasted veggies for dinner. I run everyday. I lift a little and yoga a little and I write a lot.

When I do lift though, one of my favorite exercises for my lower body is The Box Squat. I usually put a seat in the gym on the setting that is lowest to the ground, grab some weights, and get to work. I do 3-4 sets of 40. The beauty of the box squat is that you are coming to a full sitting position, so you are not "bouncing upward" and you can get to the depth of the squat you are looking for without sacrificing form. Try it out.

Besides that, lots of working on my flexibility in yoga, and doing round offs and cartwheels in the gym to build upper body strength. (might sound silly, but I swear it's working!)

At any rate, if you made any kind of fitness resolution this year, PLEASE, do what feels right for your body. Listen to what your body needs and give it that. Don't scarf down 150 grams of protein if your body doesn't like it. Don't quit eating grains if they make you feel healthy and full. Don't start a regimen of lifting if you don't like weights. Find something that you do like...because then you won't mind sticking with it!

Be healthy, be well, be happy!
xx