Category: Fitness

Martial Arts 12/10/2019: If you want to hit the face hit the belly!

I am so lucky to have such great teachers/trainers. They often talk about counter attacks, movement, and also how best to get your strikes in. One of the things we hear often and it is very true. If you want to hit the face hit the belly, and vice versa. Changing levels allows you to control the fight. Often times when you hit low people will instinctively cover that area, then the face is open. If you hit the face or even go for the face they will keep their hands up and leave their torso open.

Tuesday 12/10/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Today begins my martial arts training for the week. It was a great day of class.

Lots of elbows in class, and conditioning training for Muay Thai.

  1. lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #3/downward diagonal elbow, rear #7/inside out elbow
  2. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #2/upward diagonal elbow, rear #7/inside out elbow
  3. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #2/upward diagonal elbow, to lead #9/spinning back elbow

In Kali we worked on several different combos. They were all flowing very well, then of course changing just one thing made my brain melt again like Kali does. We did all 48 combos, and then asymmetrically trained with one person doing two sticks, and one drilling partner doing dos manos hold (two hand hold like a Japanese sword).

I felt so tethered keeping both hands on the blade. It feels like I don’t have as much reach, and you have to move your body in a completely different way to meet your partners blows, and avoid getting hit. You have to execute a lot of abaniko moves when holding a sword to keep from getting hit.

Abaniko – means fan

It was a fun class, but it really did melt my brain. Just when I think I am getting everything. I am learning the moves and flowing well. We change one thing, and my brain melts. That is one of the things I love about Kali.

Thursday 12/12/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Thai
Elbows, clenches and knees oh my!

We worked on elbows to clench, and knee transitions today.

  1. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, rear #6/side in elbow, rear #7/side out elbow, rear roll to clench, full plumb, and run 3 knees, spin out opponent, and kick
  2. Lead #1/horizontal elbow, lead #7/side out elbow, rear #8/tach malak or lady putting flower in her hair elbow, clench to full plumb, spin out opponent, and double kick

Kali
48 strike drill
Dos Manos Brain melting asymmetrical sparring.

Friday 12/13/2019 – 1 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Today Tony kicked my booty. But that was a great thing. I want to get stronger and stronger.

  1. Jumping Rope for 3 minutes
  2. conditioning: 3 x 3 minutes of foot shuffle, and hopping hurdles
  3. mountain climber with a punch on bag and skip knee number 2 x 1 minute 3 minutes alternating between
  4. lead teep, shuffle into lead body hook, rear upper cut, lead head hook, immediately double kick wi
  5. thout taking a step.
  6. rear torso kick, to rear hop double kick
  7. Then I did 200 kicks to the bag, and 200 teeps to the bag.

I am exhausted. But the good kind of exhausted… you know? I am about to go pass out in my bed. I hope you have a great weekend. Thanks for reading.

Progress Pictures Jan 21/2019 – Dec 11/2019

So I debated long and hard about posting this. But I told myself I would be honest and show all the progress I made. Even though when I look at the pictures all I see are the negatives.


When I see the pictures I see that areas are thicker. I am not as far along as I would like to be.


What the rational side of me is saying there are internal changes:

1) I have increased my training since the beginning of the year.

2) My stamina has increased and my strength has increased

3) My form has improved in my martial arts

4) It looks like I have more muscle mass in my legs, more definition.

5) My abs are stronger, and I can do more sit ups than before, so I have muscle under all that ick.

6) I noticed the other days, when working out, sprawls and getting explosive exercises, that require jumping up, plyometrics are much better than before.

But here are progress pictures… as good or as bad as they are. I put them here to have a record of it.

Spicy Mango Fruit Bowl

Ok this may seem strange to you, but this is such a tasty snack and healthy to boot. Its full of fiber, vitamins, good fats, and protein. It is gluten free, vegan, and did I mention it is tasty.

Cayenne pepper is so good on tropical fruits. I love the sweet and spicy mixture. My mango was a little under ripe so it was a little more acidic. But just as tasty.

Enough of my jabbering here is the recipe.

Spicy Mango Fruit Bowl

Ingredients:

  1. 1 mango diced
  2. 1 banana
  3. 1/4 cup or 24 grams of roasted almonds
  4. 10 grams of unsweetened tasted coconut
  5. Cayenne pepper to taste (beware the pepper packs a kick)

Directions:

  1. Dice mango up, slice banana, add roasted almonds, sprinkle on the cayenne, sprinkle on the tasted coconut.
  2. Mix together and enjoy

Stats:

Calories 371, Fat 12.9 g, Fiber 8.6 g, Carbs 63.7 g, Sodium 13.5 mg, Protein 8 g

I hope you get a chance to try this. It is one of my favorite snacks. Its a whole food snack, spicy, and tasty. Did I mention that it is easy to make. All you have to do is cut up the fruit. You could make it ahead of time and put it in a reusable container and take it to work with you.

Weight Lifting Workout 12/11/2019

So changing up the workout my coach gave me. I added two things, and took out one thing.

It is one of those days I know I need to get cardio in, but I also know my body does not want to. So I just did a mile run so I could get warmed up and get some cardio in.

Workout:
Perform each set with only 30 seconds rest between sets, then 1 minute rest between each different exercise.

  1. 1 mile run
  2. 40 lat pull downs. ( 50 lbs for me)
  3. Bench press with as heavy as you can go for 8 to 9 reps, x 5 sets (85 lbs for me)
  4. Back squats with as heavy as you can go for 8 to 9 reps, x 5 sets ( 135 lbs for me)
  5. Kettlebell swings 40 reps ( 25 lbs for me)

I really feel doing something is better than doing nothing at all.

So if you can get out there and get a workout in, do it, next time try to do more reps or go heavier.

Martial Arts 12/03/2019: Back At Training After Holiday Shenanigans

Yup back in the saddle again. We had a holiday here. It is called Thanksgiving over here in the U.S. of A.

What this meant is decreased classes due to gym being closed, and trainers wanting to spend time with family. Sheesh… *I am kidding, I kid*.

Also my daughter brought home some lovely germs. We all seemed to have caught during the holiday week a small version of the flu.

So due to all of that above, I attended a total of 1 count it one day of martial arts training this last week. I did do a weight lifting workout on Sunday, but its not the same.

Well we are back after the holiday shenanigans and starting a new week of martial arts training. To be perfectly honest, I really needed the break. Not only did I feel like death for a few days, due to the cold/flu. My body needed a break.

Tuesday 12/03/2019 – 2 hours… Muay Thai and Kali

Tony kicked our butts again today. He had us doing 5 minutes of ladder drills, and 5 minutes of jumping rope. Then 3 minutes of shadow boxing jab and cross.

Today we worked on jab, foot movement, and keeping our hands up for blocking,

We worked on jab, cross, again focusing on extension and foot movement.

Then we worked on a lead side teep to, lead kick, followed by rear kick.

It was a great day of class. I also got to help two new people in class. I hope they come back.

Kali- Lock Flow Drill 1-12

Ok so I have been taking Kali for 2 years. I have known about this drill for just about that long. It has taken me all this time for it to finally sink in. I understand the drill. I know it is not how you were disarm, and or use all of this in a fight, however, I understand the drill.

When I first started out, trying to remember all 12 moves was daunting. I could only get 1 or 2 down. Over the years it seems to have been building up. I got it today. I got it and I remember all 12. Now do I do it perfectly. NOPE! But can I repeat the drill at home… YESSSS! I am so excited. When I finally realize I can do something, I have been working on. It seems to sneak up on me. I don’t go into class going… yup been here done that… I know it. No I go into class, and when we start moving, and drilling I seem to understand the flow.

Here is a video of me doing just that. I start and stop, and I chopped up this video so that you did not have to see such a repetitive process.

https://youtu.be/Awx6AdmLlkY

I got a really nice compliment from my teacher today. He said my control was great. I was controlling the assailants knife, and his actions and using his force/momentum to turn it back around onto him.

Tuesday 12/04/2019 – 3 hours… Running, Weight lifting, BJJ and Muay Thai

Today was a great day. I was able to get a run in, I did the weight lifting workout that my trainer sent me and that I did before on Sunday.

BJJ:
I got a chance to go to my BJJ class. That is the class that suffers the most to my time crunch, and juggling our life. But today was great we worked on:

  1. Taking the back
  2. What to do if you lose control or your choke, you move to mount
  3. Choking/choke hold from the back, under hooks, and seat belt grip
  4. Arm bar from behind
  5. Taking the back, control with choke, flipping opponent, and forcing their face into the mat/ground, while choking them.

It was a lot of fun. But so hard to do well. BJJ is an art that takes time and patience to do.

Muay Thai:

Today was great… I got to do a bunch of cool things. One of which was the alligator crawls. Whew that was a whole body burner. I am going to do more of those.

This is what an alligator crawl is:

Tony my trainer had us doing:

  1. we did a full body conditioning warm up
  2. jab, cross, leg kicks
  3. jab, cross, body hook, face hook, leg kick, face hook, cross
  4. shield kick then kick round house
  5. shield kick then double round house
  6. we worked on hooks on the bag
  7. we worked on lead shield then double lead kick, then rear kick
  8. Then we did abs

I made a video of me doing some of the bag work.

https://youtu.be/USyKD1jAGgk

Tuesday 12/05/2019 – 1 hours… Muay Thai

Today was a great day in Muay Thai training. I learned and grew some.

It started out frustrating so I took a negative and made it a positive.

I really dislike when some of the new guys, I say guys cause I have never run into a girl doing this. I am sure it can happen but from my experience it’s young new guys. They have something to prove. So they hit way to hard in drills, and sometimes don’t take feedback/pointers from me. This one did not know how to hold Thai pads to boot. I was frustrated and annoyed. But I took a second to steel myself and turned it around, I got to know him a bit and tried to make it a teaching platform. I kept reminding him on how to hold the pads and let him know if he did not hold well he could get hurt and I could get hurt. He says he is having a good time and likes Muay Thai class.

It will take a while for him to get our gyms culture. He has been with us for a few months already. He says he came from a Krav back round.

I am going to continue to try to come at working with this individual this way. Here’s hoping he gets it.

Friday 12/06/2019 – 1 hour… Muay Thai

We did conditioning training again today. We worked the ladder, and hurdles. Tony my trainer wants us to focus on fast feet. I know I need to work on my footwork and getting it faster. The faster my footwork the faster I will get in and out of the pocket. The faster I will be able to dodge incoming strikes. Etc.

It was super fun. I had a great time, and I am pooped.

This week was a great week of training, and I am so glad to be back after a holiday break. I do really miss training when I don’t get a chance to do it. Or when I am restricted from doing it cause work gets in the way.

I got 7 hours in, and other extra curricular training. =)

Have a great night. Thank you for reading, and let me know if you have any questions.

Onigiri Rice Bowl – Spicy Salmon Mayo

I am half Japanese and I tend to have cravings that sometimes are hard to fulfill. Sometimes it is just a lot of extra work to form them into balls. So I just made it into a bowl.

I would normally add seaweed to it, but I ran out. I know… I know… I am going to loose my Asian card cause I don’t have seaweed in my house.

So when I don’t have time between my job, and dealing with my kids, and the rest of the household chores I just made it in to a bowl.

In Japan there is a thing that is famous around the world. Used for lunch boxes all over the country. I remember getting them in my lunch box and I would get so excited. Onigiri! Onigiri is what we call rice balls. There are many kinds of onigiri with many kinds of fillings. I love many of these flavors/combos, Umeboshi (pickled plumb, a favorite of mine), Tuna Mayo, kombu (simmered seaweed), shrimp, just to name a few. Another one of my favorite is spicy salmon mayo or Shake Mayo (pronounced sha kay mah yo).

Today I made a spicy salmon mayo onigiri bowl.

I really recommend you try it if you can. Luckily it is super easy. I added other fresh veggies to it cause I wanted some more veggies.

Spicy Salmon Mayo Onigiri Bowl

Ingredients:

  1. 1 cup of cooked rice
  2. 1/2 cup shredded raw carrots
  3. 1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms raw
  4. 1 green onion sliced raw
  5. 2 radishes sliced raw
  6. 2.5 oz of salmon in a pouch/can
  7. 1 tbs of mayo
  8. Sriracha to taste
  9. salt and pepper to taste
  10. seaweed (optional but so tasty)

Directions:

  1. Cook rice to direction on package
  2. Mix together salmon, mayo, sriracha, salt and pepper.
  3. Add salmon mixture to rice, add veggies to rice, and enjoy.
  4. (alternate toppings to add, seaweed, sesame seeds, umeboshi)
This is not my image. It is just the product I use.

Stats for the lunch:
Calories 401, Fat 12.9 g, Fiber 3.4 g, Carbs 51.5 g, Sodium 536.3 mg, Protein 17.9 g

The salmon mixture is what you may find in a spicy salmon mayo onigiri. I just put it on the outside, because I don’t have time to mold the rice into balls. But you know what it tastes phenomenal and looks beautiful to boot. Is it in the cute shape of a rice ball with seaweed? Nope but it is just as good.

Its also healthy, full of fresh veggies, low in fat, full of protein, and oh so tasty.

Like I said I would have added seaweed, but I did not have any.

I love this kind of lunch. I thought you all might. So I thought I would share it with you. I hope you get a chance to try this. Let me know what you think. Thanks for reading this.

Weight Lifting Workout from my trainer Tony 1

Today I did a weight lifting workout that my trainer for Muay Thai gave me and my team mates.

I was very taxing and he said it was going to make me sore for a few days and laughed. I accepted the challenge and did it. I also filmed it so that I could keep record of my progress.

Using weights that make it hard for you to complete 8 to 9 reps. You want to do 40 reps total for each weight.

Weight Lifting Workout:
60 second rest between each different exercise

  1. Barbell back squats 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 seconds rest between each 8 to 9
  2. Barbell bench press 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 seconds rest between.
  3. Barbell row 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 second rest between
  4. Kettle Bell swing 8 to 9 reps for a total of 40, 30 second rest between
https://youtu.be/M5HwSt1QWRM

It was hard to get a picture of me today, I felt like I looked terrible in all of them.

If I can work on my fitness, any of you can do it too. I am not the normal fitness model. I am as far from it as one could get. I just try to do my best. That is why if I can do it I truly believe you all can do it too.

Keep working on make yourself the best you that you can be. Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a great day.

What Should I Do During The Holiday? Fitness Angst…

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! If you are from the U.S. or live in the U.S. there is a small holiday called Thanksgiving. (pssstt… its not small, its a huge food and family holiday for us) Where we use it as an excuse to get together with family and friends and give thanks for what we have. We cook gigantic birds called turkeys, and share food. It stems from, we are told as young Americans, the first meal shared by the colonists and the Native Americans who were here before them.

These things are good to keep in mind for any holiday, anywhere.

Just so you know this is an opinion piece. I have read so many differing opinions. TLDR -If you don’t have time to read the whys… here is the gist of my post. Do what is good for you. But there are some pros and cons for different approaches depending on where you are in your journey.

Part of me wants to just say, have fun eat what you want in the holidays. Time with your family is not infinite live it up. But that is not necessarily the case.

What everyone should do no matter where they are on their fitness journey:

  1. Keep working out…Even if you are traveling and away from home. Find ways to get your workout in. Make it an adventure. If you love running, take your running shoes and some gym clothes with you and run around where ever you land. Its a great way to learn about the place you have to spend your holiday.
  2. Learn simple exercises that you can do without a lot of equipment. Stick to things like squats, sit ups, planks, lunges, jumping jacks, push ups, bear crawling, etc.
    • Write these down on a piece of paper and pack that with you so that you have something you can look at and perform in a hotel room, or even your sister in laws brother house that you have to be at for the family gathering.
  3. Make a holiday game plan, and stick to it. Or lets be honest stick to it as best you can. If you had one extra piece of chocolate don’t let it derail your entire holiday game plan.
  4. Check out the local gym if you need weights. They sometimes have day pass you can purchase, and some gyms will let you try out the gym for free if you ask. You can also purchase month to month memberships at gyms.
  5. Keep drinking your water
  6. Buy your own snacks, and monitor your snacking

If you are new to this journey:

If you are new to the fitness journey then I would say being strict about your routine, and food intake is super important. You are still learning how your body works, and reacts to exercise and food. It takes about 21 days to form a habit, and if you are in the middle of that 21 days, or just a few months into your journey, now is a critical time to stick to the plan.

  1. Stick to your routine as close as possible. If you cannot do your workout, make sure to stick working out at the same time of day, and same days.
  2. Keep counting your Macros. If you are counting your macros and calories, keep doing so. Think ahead of time, and figure out what amount of Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and green beans you can have.
  3. Keep making good decisions and aiming to add new habits that are conducive to you fitness goals. Remember this is a journey not a race.
    • Avoid that extra cookie, or that piece of pie, choose fruit or naturally sweet items instead.
    • Avoid sweetened drinks (there are a lot of hidden calories in those, like juice, and eggnog)
    • Avoid alcohol if you can
    • Avoid sauces (there are a lot of hidden calories)
    • Choose lean cuts of meat
    • Chose veggies that are not covered in sauce
    • Chose to snack on raw veggies instead of the pretzels, chips or other appetizers.
  4. Don’t let other people make you feel bad, don’t let your family make you feel bad for your decisions. You are doing this for you, not for them. You are trying to make yourself better.
  5. Plan to get back to your normal schedule when you get back home, or after the holidays. Stick to your plan.

If you are established in your fitness routine:

If you are seasoned and established in your fitness routine I feel you know your body better. You know how it responds to exercise, and you know it responds to different kinds of food. You have been counting calories/macros for a while. You have been practicing intermittent fasting for a while. You know what you have been doing. You have your routine.

  1. First of all taking a few days of will not set you back. You know how to get back to it and you will. You don’t have to be as strict. You know what you have done, and how to do it.
  2. Keep in mind what your body needs to function. You understand portion control. You know what your plate looks like.
  3. Keep up your workout. However, it does not hurt to change it up. As a matter of fact it is good for you and your body. Your body gets used to a type of physical exertion so the holidays are a good way to change it up for a short time to get out of the rut.
  4. Look up cool need things to do in the area you are going to be at. If going to an area that has snow. Take the time to go skiing, snow shoeing, hiking, and sledding. If you are going some where there is sand and water, swim, run on the sand, wake board, and try surfing.
  5. Don’t let one meal or one mistake derail your entire holiday.
  6. Get back on track after the holiday. You have to make sure you get back to it. Most likely if you are like me. You will feel like something is missing because you it is such a part of your life. You will want to get back to it as soon as possible.

The holidays are a tricky course to run. Spend time with your family. Enjoy the company. Enjoy the food sensibly. You can over indulge and that might set you back, but if you keep nutrition and exercise in mind you should be alright. Do what is right for you, and don’t let anyone guilt you into eating or doing anything you don’t want to do. Remember you are working to make yourself better. Keep working to make the best you that you can be. You do you… everyone else will see your dedication and hard work.

Thank you for reading. Please feel free to comment.

Kettlebell Workout 11/13/2019

We are working on conditioning getting ready for a level 1 test at my gym. My husband and friend wanted to get more strength training in and asked me to come up with something we could do at the gym. They have kettlebells and very few weights. So I put together something that we could do there with little problem.

I personally love kettlebells for several reasons:

  1. It helps you work multiple muscles at one time saving you time. This makes your workout time shorter by half or more. When you work multiple muscles at once you don’t have to do as many isolation moves which takes a long time.
  2. Swinging the kettlebell requires strength and power to generate force. You also have to focus on your dexterity to keep from dropping or throwing the kettlebell away from you.
  3. It is a full body workout. You use your legs, hips, back, and arms to control, throw and keep from dropping that kettle bell.
  4. Easy to learn and execute if you just focus on form.

These two have never done a kettle bell workout before. So I wanted to make it easy. =)

The thing they hated the most was the bulgarian split squats the most. Then our awesome teacher Tony for Muay Thai killed us in conditioning. It was a good killing. It was hard, and I needed him to push me past my own original workout, cause I was done. So Yay!

Kettle bell workout:
Use the kettle bell weight you can swing around and control but still taxes your muscles.
This is a Super Set no rest between two exercises, one set is two exercises, repeat for three sets, 30 second rest between each set

Bulgarian Split squats 10 reps
Lunge and curl 10 to 12 reps

Bent over row 10 reps each arm
Squat and press 10 reps each arm

Around the World 1 minute 30 seconds one way 30 seconds the other way
Figure 8s 1 minute 30 seconds one way 30 seconds the other way

Kettle bell swings as many as you can do for 1 minute

I thought you guys would want to see it. So here it is. Let me know what you think. I hope you get a chance to try it.

Thanks for reading. Have a great night.

Healthy Shrimp Poke Bowl

I had an early morning. I woke at 4:30 am, and had a fru fru coffee, but forgot to eat breakfast. So I was pretty hungry getting home.

I decided to make a poke bowl for lunch. I took a short cut and bought pre poached shrimp from the super market. I had rice cooked from dinner last night. Chopped up some veggies, shredded a carrot, and made a simple sriracha mayo.

It turned out fantastic. It was so delicious, and I only used half of the sauce mixtures. This is a great lunch with a rainbow of colors and flavors. This dish has lots of vitamins, gluten free, and great source of protein.

I have noticed the poke bowl has become a thing. At least in America. However, this is something I would eat normally. I have also done this with just some eggs, or egg whites.

Ingredients:

  1. 1 1/2 cup of cooked rice.
  2. 1 carrot shredded
  3. 1/3 of a cucumber sliced
  4. 1 green onion sliced on a bias
  5. 5 poached shrimp or about 3 oz
  6. 1/2 cup of sweet peppers sliced
  7. 1 cup of spinach

Directions: Makes 1 serving

  1. Cook the rice per instructions on the package
  2. Shred one carrot
  3. Slice up 1/3 of a cucumber
  4. Cut up 1 green onion, and sweet peppers
  5. Add spinach to rice in bowl, add all other veggies.
  6. Poaching shrimp – Clean and de-vein shrimp, in a pot of boiling water add salt enough so that you can taste the salt and it tastes like the ocean. Add shrimp and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes depending on size of your shrimp. Transfer to an ice bath to stop cooking.
  7. Place shrimp on your veggies.

Ingredients Directions Sauce: Makes 2 servings

  1. 1 tbs of mayo
  2. 1 tbs of sriracha ( go less if you like less spicy)
  3. 2 tsp of lemon juice
  4. mix all above together and top on the poke bowl.

Stats just for rice veggies and shrimp

Calories 500, Fat 6.8 g, Fiber 5.3 g, Carbs 85.9 g, Sodium 1515.5 mg,
Protein 27.6 g

Stats for sauce

Calories 105, Fat 16g, Fiber 0g, Carbs 3g, Sodium 370mg, Protein 3g

I hope you all get a chance to try this. It is delicious. You can opt not to use the mayo, and just put some wasabi and soy sauce on it. That would be delicious too. You can also make this vegan by removing the shrimp and mayo.

Let me know what you think. Thank you for reading this. As always keep working to be the best you that you can be. My respects to you and yours.