Diet and Exercise

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I re-started my Lifetime Gym Membership. Figure Skating has become my motivation for the gym. I am also really lucky to have my best friend right by my side, pushing me to do my absolute best.

A few years ago I lost a ton of weight and dropped 3 dress sizes, I was comfortable wearing a bikini on the beach and I felt great. My motivation back then? To impress and feel my best. Unfortunately, in the last couple years I’ve gained the weight back. Between school and work I had little time to exercise and frankly I lost my motivation. As soon as I began skating I knew that if I wanted to get better (and do jumps) I had to get in shape. Slowly I began making changes in my diet and I restarted my gym membership. In the early stages, I had many cheat days: pizza, soda, and chocolate! Who knew I’d join the “chocolate club” as soon as I started to care? I hated chocolate before and now it’s like a delicacy. When I learned the waltz jump I knew that I couldn’t cheat anymore. I didn’t think that I would start jumping on the ice for at least another year so I had time to get in shape, little did I know that it was go time. Things got serious quickly.

I had been doing exercises at home, but I wanted to get on my magic machine [basically what I refer to as an elliptical on steroids (Precor: Adaptive Motion Trainer with Open Stride)]. I call it the magic machine because it’s a cardio workout I can do without feeling like crap, I can get my heart rate up where I need it to be comfortably and for long periods of time for maximum gain. In addition there’s a good amount of resistance that I can add which makes the movements more strenuous. When I am at the gym I usually start out by doing 15 minutes of cardio, as I continue going to the gym this time usually increases in increments of five. After Cardio, I move on to weights. I work on my arms (100 reps total, between 40-50 pounds to start), then my quads (25 reps x 2), abs (100 reps total, 50 at 60 lbs, 50 at home), then I get back to legs (100 reps total on 3 different machines).  If I have extra time I work on my calves and glutes, then to arms again). After weights I head back to cardio on my magic machine, 10 minutes to start, then as I continue going I usually bump up the time in increments of five. Finally, I stretch. Sometimes I’ll throw in a couple 30 second planks and yoga, it really depends on time.

As far as my diet goes, it is really difficult. Like I said, now that I’m in the early stages of jumping I feel like I need to lose weight and get stronger very quickly. I can’t make the jumps I want to be doing...like flips and loops until I lose some weight. This means that soda needs to be completely eliminated from my diet… for good. Soda has been my most difficult challenge in this endeavor. It is like the outlier in my life, I try to eat foods that aren’t processed often, I tend to overcome pain and the common cold using natural remedies like elderberry and essential oils...but then I drink soda? I know it is by far one of the very worst things you can put in your body, I am aware, yet it continues to challenge me.

The diet itself isn’t anything specific, motto “don’t put crap in your body”. I am eating lots of protein, mostly grilled chicken. Less carbs. More vegetables (aka lovely salads). Lucky for me I don’t like cheese very much and I don’t eat red meat more than once every two weeks, so they aren’t really a problem for me. I definately make choices that others might avoid on a diet, such as butter and real sugar. I’d rather have the “real” thing in both cases rather than the processed alternatives.

I don’t eat late at night and I try to have a light dinner (heavier lunch). If I eat most of my protein during lunch I have more energy later in the day and I have time to burn it off while exercising. Lighter dinners are great for nighttime workouts and good sleep. I hate snacking, but sometimes when I am dieting I make myself snack so that my meals are more frequent. I choose to either have yogurt or vegetables (usually carrots & celery).

I’ve posted the specifics of my diet and exercise plan for a few reasons. First and foremost I need it as a reference. In a few months I’ll update it and get to see my progress. Second, those who want to use it as a reference can! I’ve had a lot of success with this plan in the past, I know that it works for my body, hopefully it will for you too - should you choose to take this step.