Day Two of the Sugar Challenge

Welcome to Day Two of not eating added sugars! Yesterday went very well:

– Plain yogurt with frozen mixed berries

– 3 slices homemade banana bread (I omitted the vanilla extract) with a smidgen of almond butter

– Salad with spinach, green pepper, tomato, celery, carrots, chickpeas, corn (yes! I managed to find a can of corn with no added sugar OR salt, victory!), and a few spoonfuls of a garlicky quinoa dish I was making at the time (recipe to follow later in the week!)

– 1 glass of skim milk

– 1 apple

– Roast chicken with roast potatoes and carrots, and some asparagus, radishes, and peas on the side (I love going to the parents place for Sunday dinners :D)

– 1/2 banana

It was a tasty day with lots of real food. I wanted something sweet after dinner but the only thing available was a banana which I had to fight over with someone else (hence why it was only half). But I was very satisfied with my eats! How did you find it?

Feeling the Burn

Now that I’m taking aikido with my friend, we have also become gym buddies and are spending some quality time working out together. It’s a great way to challenge ourselves! The university gym is free for students so it’s convenient to meet up between classes. My gym buddy knows much more about the machines than I do, so on Thursday she demonstrated how to use a few of them. We were running out of time so we only used a couple of arms and legs machines, but on Sunday I was still feeling sore on my inner thighs and the backs of my arms.

I’ve expressed my distaste for gyms before, which is just because I tend to find them boring, but because I haven’t been to the gym in such a long time I have been missing out on important exercises to exert my muscles. I still can’t see myself going to the gym by myself, but going with a gym buddy is tons of fun! I really enjoy the gym when I have someone to go with.

This weekend I didn’t get in much walking, so I tried doing a few jumping jacks to keep my energy up. I managed about 10 on Sunday before I had to stop because my body was still so sore from Thursday! I tend to think of myself as being in fairly decent shape and I have managed upwards of 20,000 jumping jacks in a single day before without problems. It was amazing that only about four machines at the gym- doing about 3 sets of 12-15 reps for each machine- had such an effect on me even several days later. Especially because I was taking it very easy on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. If it weren’t for the fact that I was so elated to have worked my muscles to that point, I would have been embarrassed at how I have clearly been neglecting some essential muscle groups for far too long.

Switching up our workout is essential to keeping all parts of our bodies in good condition. Just because we think that we’re pretty strong or have good endurance doesn’t mean we’re challenging ourselves in other ways, too.

It feels good to be so sore, and to know that my muscles are really being made to work hard. Creating muscle confusion is a good thing.