Whole Foods & Cleanses: What’s the Big Deal?!

How are you guys doing with “bouncing back from the holidays”? Me? I have been exhausted this first full week in January. Last week was my first week back to work after two weeks of partying and traveling, and by Thursday, I was experiencing full-on physical and mental fatigue.

I have still been pretty busy. My holiday decorations are still up, I’m still munching on leftover Christmas treats, and I have not gotten back into my house-cleaning habits that I grew to love before the holiday season hit. I am very ready to start “getting back to normal” this week.

And now that I think I’ve finally cleared the holiday food from my fridge, I’m sitting here thinking about what I’m going to eat this week. I have a fitness goal in my mind for myself for 2015 that goes along with my resolution to have more “PRIDE” in myself, and I’m thinking of all the ways I can be the fittest, healthiest “ME” this year.

I just texted Erik–who is at the grocery store–to pick me up a spaghetti squash and a low-sugar pasta sauce to go with some ground turkey I’ve got in the fridge. I already have some cottage cheese, eggs, bacon, frozen veggies, and protein powder…I think I should be set for a few days at least. What are your favorite “go-to” healthy items to keep on hand? Let me know in the comments below. 

A Quick Health Rant

Many people keep posting on social media about doing cleanses and challenges right now. I love that January is the month that encourages more than most to really get a grip on health and I love how so many people are inspired to purge the bad foods and cleanse the systems.

And it’s pretty interesting to me to see a lot of the responses to these posts. So many people are against cleanses and challenges and then so many more are out there encouraging us all to hop on board and join the movement. Here’s what I think:

• If you want to do a quick cleanse to clean out your gut and jump start your whole foods/healthy eating, DO IT.
• If you’re going to do a whole foods challenge in order to help kick your butt into eating this way for LIFE, then DO IT.

BUT

• If you’re going to pay gobs of money for someone to tell you how to eat whole foods for a certain number of days and sell you expensive vitamins, I DON’T THINK THAT’S VERY SMART.
• If you’re going to do a clean eating challenge and then go back to eating “crap” foods when you’re done, WHY BOTHER?
• And if you’re going to do a low-calorie juice cleanse to drop a few quick pounds so that you can re-gain it later when you up your calories again, IS THERE A METHOD TO THIS MADNESS?

I guess my way of thinking is that you shouldn’t be “sold” a host of pills and mixes that you don’t understand in order to drop a few pounds, and I really don’t think putting yourself in the mindset of a diet is smart either. “Diets” either fail or come to an end when you meet a goal. A great goal is eating healthy for life…not dropping 20 lbs in order to regain 30 later. And “cleanses” are kind of the same. They’re low calorie and you might lose 5 lbs but you’re going to find it again as soon as you start eating.

Why not just eat for your goals? If you want to look smaller, make smarter food choices. If you want to lift heavier, eat the foods that will help you lift. Want to just be and stay healthy for life? Eat clean foods consistently. Your body will respond the way it’s designed to and the way it needs to in order to lift more, drop fat, or do whatever it is you’re working on. That should be your ultimate goal.

There is a healthy way to cleanse and jump start your healthy nutrition habits!

If you’re hell-bent on doing a cleanse…like, you just feel gross after the holidays…there’s one cleanse that I’m a big fan of. I’ve done it several times just to help myself feel really good on the inside after a long holiday vacation of some sort. It’s about 1200 calories and recommended for three days–if I were you, I’d pick three days you aren’t working out and just give your body a chance to cleanse, rest, and recover. The most important part of cleansing is that when you come off your cleanse, you EAT HEALTHY WHOLE FOODS. The purpose of a cleanse is to jump start healthier habits–not cleanse to eat crap again. So once you’re done with the cleanse, buy plenty of vegetables, organically raised meats, fresh fruits, nuts, seeds, berries, and a few whole grains to get back on track. I know that’s one of my big goals–healthy eating, for life.

You can find the one and only cleanse that I’m a fan of, right here on my Pinterest page. 

This week’s Strong Figure Conditioning Workouts

I just watched this video of Lauren Brooks doing this CrossFit workout, and I REALLY want to try it this week.

I think that your first workout for the week should be inspired by this workout as well!

Workout 1:

Choose an upper body exercise (such as push-ups) and a lower body exercise (such as squats) to complete the challenge just like Lauren does. If you’re limited on time and you don’t want to do two different exercise, do burpees instead! Remember, you complete one rep the first minute, two the second minute, three the third, until you can’t complete the number of reps within the designated minute.

Workout 2: 

Every minute on the  minute for 12 minutes:

• 8 Kettlebell swings
• As many burpees as possible for the remainder of the minute

My bootcamp class did this one Friday morning and one person ended up doing over 120 burpees. That’s one hell of a workout for only 12 minutes! If you don’t have any equipment, substitute push-ups, sit-ups, hollow rocks, lunges, squats, pistol squats, handstand push-ups, etc. for the swings. Pick an exercise you need the most work on!

Workout 3:

3 Rounds for time:

• 500 meter row or run
• 21 KB swings
• 12 Pull-ups (or ring rows, or KB rows)

If you choose the KB rows, row each arm (from a bent over position) 12 times. And if you don’t have any equipment, you get to do 21 hollow rocks, and 12 shoulder taps–each side. If you have some smaller dumbbells or even some resistant bands, add some Ts and Ys and band pulls to your workout so that you can hit those back muscles! You don’t have to have the best equipment or even a gym membership to get a great total-body workout done–you just need some dedication, will power, and drive! 🙂

What are your thoughts on cleanses, detoxes, and challenges? I’d love to hear your thoughts–pros or cons–below! 

I’m doing some supplement shopping for the New Year and I noticed Muscle and Strength has some pretty great deals right now! Click here.