The Courage to NOT Exercise (this is an experiment)

My workouts have been super tough lately. Tougher than ever, actually. And now I really need a break. My fitness progress this past month has been epic, but my body is tired and my mind has become a wee bit weary.

So I’ve decided to do a little experiment.

For the next 7 days (starting today), I will do NO Beastmode workouts. I will do NO plyometrics, NO strength training, NO Speed Rope, NO burpees. Nothing like that at all. YIKES! Do you see where this is going?

What will I do instead? I will continue to climb Corcovado Mountain, bask in bendy-flowy Yoga-ish moves set to relaxing music, and enjoy luxurious walks through the park on my lunch breaks. More personal prayer time is also on the menu.

I will also hide under my bed so the Greedy Family can’t terrorize me. I’ll have a filled-up wine glass with me, of course.

Ahhhh. I can feel myself becoming rejuvenated already.

I’ve never done this before — never refrained for such a long stretch of time. It’s going to take courage to NOT exercise as usual (weird, huh?). I’m taking cues from my body and will honor what it’s asking of me.

Restoration! Relaxation! Renewed strength! I’m all about that life, yo.

((drops mic and crawls under bed))

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Is It Safe To Drink My Own Pee? (The Experiment)

‘Twas around this same time last year that I posed the question, Is It Safe To Drink My Own Pee?

Welp, how can I confess to you that I did in fact see for myself if it was safe. Would you call me crazy? Would you call me Filthy McNasty? Would you change your opinion of me if I did a little pee-pee drinking experiment of my own?

I blame it on the handful of athletes who do it for athletic performance (mostly boxers and MMA fighters) and others who encourage urine therapy in alternative medicine for homeopathic purposes. Urine therapy dates back thousands of years. It’s believed to prevent and cure certain ailments, and even treat external woes, like wound sterilization and calluses. Madonna has been known to piss on her feet to cure her athlete’s foot. This all made me very curious.

As for urea, that’s the chemical compound found in urine that is widely used in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products.

Although I still have a lot of research to do (I’m currently reading through the webpage on Urine Therapy Testimonials with an open mind), I did learn that urine is sterile right out the body. It’s when it comes into contact with bacteria and other outside exposures that it gets all foul and pissy-smelling like a baby’s overdue diaper.

So yes, I did in fact try it. Uh huh. And you know what? It didn’t really taste like anything. It wasn’t even salty. It was just liquid with no real taste. It didn’t gross me out. It was literally only a few fresh drops (maybe two or three at a time) on several different occasions.

These experiments were non-scary enough that I decided if I ever do get some type of major sickness (God forbid) I would, in fact, try urine therapy. I’m VERY big on homeopathic treatments for medicinal purposes because it’s worked for me and my family (I’ve got lots to share on that subject), so I would not rule out pee-drinking in the future, no matter how extreme or taboo it is.

Now lemme get back to my research. I hope you don’t change my name to Miss Pissy now.

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Final Results of my Shakeology Experiment (fashion photo included)

Greenberry Shakeology fashion photo shoot.

I started the 90-day experiment with the basic idea that I would just lose some weight and report back to you on how I did it. I had no idea that I would end up feeling differently, thinking differently, and loving myself more than ever. This is what happened….(err, besides the fashion photo, of course).

Weight Loss and Body Composition

I lost 7.4 pounds during the experiment. That may not seem like impressive poundage until you consider that I barely did any cardio. My workouts consisted of about 25% pure cardio. For the remaining 75% of my workouts, I stuck to what I love most: Yoga, Pilates and weight training (including body weight exercises).

Although I didn’t purposely avoid cardio for the sake of the experiment, a 7.4 pound weight loss in the virtual absence of cardio is beyond not too shabby. I started at 172.8 pounds and have been holding steady at 165.4 for the past two weeks. This non-movement in the scale does NOT bother me, because in these past two weeks my body composition continues to take shape. The lean-slimming of my body has not stalled at all. Sure, there are those notable areas in my arms and stomach, but what really sticks out is my thighs and knees.

First off, I didn’t even know my knee-area put on weight until I noticed the fatty parts disappearing in these last 90-days. I freaking LOVE my knees! As for my thighs, the slimming and definition is almost scary. I feel like my body is morphing into what it was before I had children – but only better, because now there is a true focus on fitness like there was NOT in my early twenties.

The final seal of sexy-body approval came from Health-hater husband. He gave me a “you’re looking good, honey!” body compliment while I was getting dressed in the morning (chicka-bow-wow!).

Eating Habits: I love, love, love not being hungry all the damn time. My days no longer center around how to manage hunger with mastermind plots of 5-6 small meal a day or lack of concentration because I’m hungry like the wolf. Sure, I still get hungry (that’s my cue that it’s time to eat), but it’s a controlled, non-ravenous kind of hunger. I recently chatted with a reader about what a typical eating day looks like for me. This is what I shared with her based on what I was eating that particular weekday:

8:45am Breakfast: Greenberry Shakeology (made with almond milk and frozen strawberries)Optional mid-morning snacktime: Clementine. I’m not necessarily hungry mid-morning, but fruit is still important.1:30 pm Lunch: Grilled Veggie sammich with pesto, plus side of sweet potato fries.4:00 pm Snack: Green tea or half of a P90X protein bar (But not everyday. Some days I’m still full from lunch, so I pass on the snack. I only eat midday snack if I’m truly hungry.)6:30pm Dinner: Whatever hubby makes – tonight it’s roasted chicken with broccoli.10:00pm Night snack: Chobani Greek Yogurt or bowl of healthy cereal.

On most weekdays I do skip the morning snack, so I go from 8:45am to 1:30pm without the dire need to chew. This obviously limits my calorie intake for the day. I typically use Shakeology 5 days per week, not 7 days, so my monthly supply actually lasts longer than 30-days.

Gung-ho, Postive Attitude: My Shakeology Experiment page details key info on two Shakeology ingredients for boosting mood and combating depression: Camu Camu and Sacha Inchi. Although information on these natural Peruvian ingredients is interesting, I didn’t feel it pertained to me too much, because I’m already a happy person. But then something happened. I felt compelled to start lifting up others. It was like a motivational fire lit inside that I had to share with the world – and it’s still burning right now. This is evidenced by the non-typical Yum Yucky stuff I started posting about, like It’s Time to Crawl Out of Your Cocoon Now and Do You Have the Balls to Take Action.

Feedback From Peeps About Shakeology

Throughout these 90 days I shared my enthusiasm for Shakeology with a ton of fantastic people via Email, Facebook and Twitter. I also gave out samples. It’s been a fabulous time that will no doubt continue. There are a handful of people (about 15%) who sampled Shakeology and did not like it. But that is totally okay! Is there any food in this world that 100% of all people enjoy? Nope – not one, so I do not that that personally. Some gave feedback of a colon cleansing affect. Many loved the taste, but most prefer Chocolate over Greenberry flavor. Some are now Beachbody coaches on Team Yum Yucky, enjoying their own monthly supplies.

Product pricing is a thorny area with some folks. A 30-day supply is $119.95 for non-coaches and $89.96 for coaches. When I became a Beachbody Coach the pricing felt thorny, indeed. It took me five long weeks to embrace the cost and actually make my first purchase. Yet now, considering the price breakdown, it’s really not all that expensive. Non-coach pricing breaks down to $4/shake. Coach pricing breaks down to $3/shake. It’s so easy to spend that kind of money (or even more) on a crappy meal or Starbucks slurping-fest.

The overall feedback suggests that Shakeology is NOT for everyone, and I do agree. It’s all about deciding what’s right for you, what your needs are and the actions you’re willing to take. Based on the results of my experiment, if you primarily need to lose weight or take control of your eating habits, you need to be doing your own Shakeology experiment. Other areas Shakeology will help with is mood, menopause, sexual dysfunction and cholesterol, to name a few. What’s wonderful about Beachbody is that you can use Shakeology for a full 30 days (use up the ENTIRE bag!) and then request a refund if you aren’t happy with the results. How’s THAT for a money back guarantee?

But as for me? Shakeology is no longer an experiment. It is a lifestyle.

Links to Explore:

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The great fitness experiment (giveaway/video)

OK.

Before we launch into the the grown-up portion of this post I must share with you a blooper.

Thirteen seconds which indicate how truly frickin tired this misfit it Ren Man (AKA my cameraman) & I laughed about for AGES.

ONWARD.

The video below began as my FTC disclaimer and, well, you can see what it turned into:

(extra points if you spotted my ‘error’/second indication of how this misfit needs her child to sleep! rest.)

Yes a purely & unadulterated ode of love.

At which point I decided it might be better to just turn the proverbial reigns to the woman about whom I yammer: Charlotte.

Please to enjoy:

Every health expert tells you to do it. It requires zero equipment.  You don’t even have to be “fit” to try it.  Practitioners swear it does everything from curing chronic pain to aiding in weight loss to nuclear disarmament (Ahmadinejad clearly is not a devotee.)  And yet, when was the last time you meditated?  Yeah, me neither.  What is it about meditation that is so &%*$ hard?!?
I think the problem is that it is too easy.

See, all of my previous Experiments (that’s what I do – try out a new fitness program every month!) have required real effort to do them. I had to go places, schedule classes, read books, get equipment, print workouts, e-mail (read: pester) various experts and talk things over ad nauseum with the Gym Buddies. Sometimes I even had to convert kilograms to pounds. You know a workout is serious business if it requires math. But with meditation it’s so simple – just sitting quietly and consciously for 15 minutes a day – that I push it aside to make room for the more complicated things.

Determined to make meditation work, at first I tried to remedy this problem by making meditation more complicated. I decided to read books and research papers about it, ask questions of Zen masters and explore different types of meditation. All of which I faithfully did… instead of meditating.

Obviously this wasn’t working. I decided to bring in the big guns. Sensei Don told me at the beginning of my Karate Experiment that meditation was a big part of Karate; that eventually you get so good at Karate you can meditate while killing people. Those may not have been his exact words but I’m sure that’s what he meant. So at my last lesson I asked him about how to meditate Karate style. Of course I asked this at the end of a long, sweaty class when it was late and everyone was tired, not to mention sitting on their heels which meant that our legs were also falling asleep.

“Well, it’s called Zazen meditation,” he politely started. “And it’s complicated, so I don’t really have time to go into tonight.”

Complicated? Requires explanation? Fancy name? I was thrilled! I raced home and fired up Google to check out this special form of meditation. Here is what I learned: “The aim of zazen is just sitting.”

Um, what?

Well if you want to be techinical about it, “The aim of zazen is just sitting and opening the hand of thought.” Okay then.

Anyone who knows me in real life knows one thing about me: I am very bad at sitting. Very very bad. For instance, I don’t watch TV or movies. I haven’t seen a television show or movie, other than the rare BBC or PBS documentary, in over two years. Most people assume that I avoid television because I am some kind of cultural ascetic. The truth is that I just can’t sit still through them.  All I can think about while sitting in a movie theater is all the other things I could be doing and how contrived the plot is and I wonder if I could knit in the dark, I mean they say that Helen Keller could knit so it must be possible and I would love a new soft sweater and WHEN IS THIS SHOW GOING TO BE OVER ALREADY I HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO KNIT WITH MY EYES CLOSED! (Reading the above just made me realize I probably need meditation more than the average person.)

I was going to have to make this a priority. I would have to schedule it. At first it felt onerous. Why am I just sitting here? I could be… blogging about sitting here! But I did it anyhow. And then yesterday happened. I won’t go into all the details but it was a rotten awful day. Bad news from many fronts, obnoxious children (mine, of course) and frustration on every level. My normal coping technique when things go very badly is to go work out. But I had already used up all my gym hours in the morning and my husband wasn’t home and the weather was too cold to go outside. I couldn’t exercise. I felt the panic start rising – my stomach clenched, I felt nauseous and my heart raced.

I locked myself in my room (Mommy’s in time out! Go eat cookies or something!), said a quick prayer and then meditated. At first it was a real struggle. I actually cried with the effort of calming myself down – anyone who has had a panic attack knows exactly what I’m talking about. My thoughts were such a cacaphony that I tasted blood before I realized I’d just chewed a hole in my lip. But then all my practice started to kick in. Since I’m only at the beginning level of meditation, I focused on breathing deeply in and out while picturing a serene lake nearby where I grew up. I just sat there and breathed.

My effort was rewarded with an overwhelming sense of calm and peace. A couple of times I opened my eyes but the feelings threatened to overwhelm me again and so I returned to my zen state until at last I could open my eyes and continue to feel safe. And that’s really what it was – a deep, sure feeling of safety. My panic was gone, my calm restored and none of my children were beaten. I didn’t even need to eat half a bag of chocolate chips like I normally do when I’m feeling that frazzled! Success on every front!

I’m officially a convert. Meditation is a powerful tool. Hopefully I can remember this and stick with it. It’s not about being perfect at it or even knowing everything about it. It’s just about doing it.

Where do you fall on the meditation spectrum? Do it every day religiously? Can sit still as long as there is no trickling fountains nearby to make you have to pee? Hate it?? Got any tips for me?

Enjoyed this? Want more? Check out my blog The Great Fitness Experiment (c) 2010.

Want a free copy of the book The Great Fitness Experiment: One Year of Trying Everything ? It’s yours (well, one of yours) for the low low price of a comment!

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