Sunday, April 1, 2012

Pelo Fitness, New Classes, CrossFit, Isagenix and Paleo/Zone!

This is a crazy busy quarter for me at my full-time job and I just realized that it has been an entire month since I last hit the blog. It seems like I start this draft and it takes FOREVER to get these posts done.

 Let's catch everyone up on all the changes!
Pelo Cycling & Fitness ~ this fantastic cycling and small group training studio is having its Grand Opening on Saturday, March 31st!  Pelo is in San Rafael in Montecito Plaza ~ great location just off the freeway in Central San Rafael, with parking and right across the street from SR High.  I will be teaching classes on Thursdays @ 11:45(am) and hope to take on other cycling and TRX classes soon.  The website is live http://www.pelofitness.com/ so check it out!!! 

New Classes/Class Changes ~ I am also now teaching @ the Bay Club (SF/Marin) and am going to be adding another outdoor class on Sundays.  Check out the schedule:
  
Time/DayMondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
6:05(am) Marin JCC
Spin (alt tues)
Marin JCC
Total Body
 Marin JCC
Cycle Strength
  
6:30(am)SF Bay Club
BOSU Boot Camp
      
7:45(am)      Small Group training @ Drake Track (5-8 people)  Email for Sign Up Info
8:30(am)   Dojo
Skills & Drills
   
9:30(am)     Private Training available by appt only 9:30-10:30(am) or later in the day by advance request 
11:45(am)   Pelo Cycle  11:15(am) -Outdoor Boot Camp (5-8 people) Starts April 15th.  Email for sign up info]
4(pm)JCC SF
Total Body Conditioning
 JCC SF
Total Body Conditioning
 JCC SF
Total Body Conditioning
  
6:15(pm)Bay Club Marin
Cycle
      


CrossFit.  As you all know, I love CrossFit and I love that I have been able to carve out time just for me to focus on my workouts, pushing through my plateaus and making time to workout with Mark (before kids we did so many of our workouts together - families that exercise today, stay together :o)).  I dislocated my shoulder (long time shoulder injury the pops out easier than I would like) while carrying my uber heavy backpack, another back and holding onto the upper rails when I got pushed while the bus was moving quickly - out pops the shoulder.  While the shoulder heals and I have to modify basically all of my workouts, I realize that the intensity with the modifications cannot be mirrored...which means I have to supplement to compensate.  This really magnifies the need to stay healthy and strong to avoid so many modifications.  It also helps me understand why this time has been so difficult for Mark during his shoulder injury recovery.

On a completely thrilled that I am doing the Level 1 Training this coming weekend with the folks of NorCal CrossFit.  Why so soon into my CrossFit journey?  Two-fold really: (1) it is going to make me a better CrossFitter.  With 14 years in the fitness industry, it is going to help me immensely to have the workouts, exercises, science and breakdown of programming ~ I am empowering myself with the knowledge I really want to have better, more effective and more frequent workouts; (2) I have decided that I really want to work towards being a CrossFit kids coach.  Working with kids is so great in so many ways and this is the time when you have the ability to make a big difference in their lives.  I love how excited my son gets when he talks about going to CrossFit on Saturday mornings.

I will be testing the waters on incorporating exercises into my regular classes and really fine tuning my teaching/coaching skills as well as focusing on my own workouts.  Persistence and dedication are key to success and progression always leads to improvement.  I am excited for this next chapter and even though I know that this is a long journey, it is one worth the wait.

Isagenix ~ if you haven't heard about Isagenix nutritional cleansing...listen up.  There are a lot of folks in the traditional fitness community that do this cleanse seasonally.  I try to do it at least twice a year and am on the tail end of the cleanse (the liquid fasting days).  This is a 9 day cleanse with 2 pre-cleanse shake days to move your body to an alkaline state.  Here is how it works:

2 Pre-Cleanse Days: shake in morning, 400-600 calorie lunch, shake for dinner and isagenix snacks 2 hours post lunch and 1+ hours post dinner.  Lots and lots of water.  Emergency snacks are cucumbers and celery.

Days 1 & 2 are liquid cleanse fasting days.  You drink a liquid amino/vitamin drink 4x a day, you have the isagenix wafer snacks and drink tons of water.  In between all of this you can have emergency celery and cucumbers (which I always have) and 1/4 apple if your blood sugar tanks (I try to avoid this unless the fasting days fall on days when I teach a lot of classes).

Days 3-7 looks just like the pre-cleanse days with 2 shakes and a 400-600 calorie meal.  Depending on my teaching schedule, sometimes I do the 400-600 calorie meal for lunch and sometimes for dinner - just depends.

Days 8 & 9 are liquid cleanse fasting days.  You drink a liquid amino/vitamin drink 4x a day, you have the isagenix wafer snacks and drink tons of water.  In between all of this you can have emergency celery and cucumbers (which I always have) and 1/4 apple if your blood sugar tanks (I try to avoid this unless the fasting days fall on days when I teach a lot of classes).

Typical weight loss for the cleanse is 5-8lbs.  I was shooting for 8, but I will land at around 5/6.  When Mark did the cleanse, he lots 15lbs and my sister-in-law lost 10lbs (they didn't do any of the emergency food/snacks) - what results!  It is a great way to purge toxins, decrease sugar cravings and jump start weight loss.  It is such an easy cleanse to follow - thinking about doing a cleanse?  I strongly suggest Isagenix - check it out: www.isagenix.com

Paleo/Zone Blocks ~ coming off of the cleanse, this seemed like the perfect time to move to the Paleo/Zone block eating.  I've talked about Paleo for awhile now, but using the Paleo diet coupled with the Zone blocks is about to take it to the next level.  During the cleanse, I have been using the Zone Blocks for my 400-600 calorie meal.  Based on my size and activity level (I do a lot of sitting all day long) I am choosing 3 block meals and 1 block snacks. 

What does this mean?  For the meals, I get 3 blocks of protein, 3 blocks of fat and 3 blocks of carbohydrates.  The Zone Block food list has good and negative Carbs and portion sizes for all proteins, fats and carbs.  An example is: 3 oz chicken over 3.75 cups of cooked broccoli and the fat would be 3 tsp of fat - which I easily accomplish by cooking the chicken and broccoli in coconut oil.  If you choose nonfat proteins such as egg whites, you have to double the fat.  For the 1 block snack an example would be: 1 boiled egg, 6 almonds and 1/2 cup strawberries. 

So an example of my entire day would be, Breakfast 3 block meal, Lunch 3 block meal, 1 block snack, Dinner 3 block meal and 1 block snack. 

Surprisingly, even though I was only able to have one 3 block meal Tues-Sat of this past week, I was not overly hungry.  I was more thirsty than usual, but I would expect that during the cleanse.  Many CrossFit gyms have excellent handouts on Paleo/Zone eating and there are many resources online - be sure to check them out....OR email me for more info.   

That is the wrap up for the month.  Looking forward to seeing folks in class and meeting a lot of new people in new classes starting this month.

Have comments or questions?  Send me a message @ basefitmarin@yahoo.com

Want to join us for the Sunday outdoor trainings?  Email me with questions and to reserve a spot.

Happy Sunday Folks!
~ Amy