The Green Diva

Health & Fitness January 2010 update

As I discussed in 2010 Health & Fitness goals, my focus this year is health and fitness. For me that involves gaining a little weight, adding a little muscle and feeling great. I am excited about this and am taking it all one step at a time.

In the words of Albert Einstein ‘you cannot solve a problem by using the same level of thinking that created it’. To me this means you need to change your perspective and way of thinking. I’m guessing that my inner progress will impact outward results. Often our minds are our worst enemies and I believe thoughts become things. So I’m choosing positive ones and am expecting great things this year.

After looking into vegan bodybuilding I noticed that Hemp protein has had a lot of positive feedback. I have ordered some and cannot wait to incorporate it into my diet. Last week I worked out that I need to greatly increase my intake of food to put weight on as a modest increase (approximately 300 calories per day) hasn’t really worked as much as I anticipated. I can see that getting this right is going to involve a lot of trial and error.

I am using the Wii Fit Plus to track my results and my average BMI is 17.36, this is encouraging though I would like it to be at least around 17.5 by the next update. In terms of exercise I am focusing on strength and am enjoying three 20 minute weekly kettlebell sessions. I still do some cardio and yoga too which seem to minimise any of the tightness that I assumed would come.

Diet is going to be one of the harder things, as I have a high metabolism I need to consume more calories. However I am finding that all the food I like and want to eat are naturally low in calories. I did eat half an avocado yesterday purely because it is high in good fats however I am not a big fan of eating in this way. I naturally veer towards foods in their raw state so I am eating more nuts and seeds. One of my not so healthy favourite snacks are the sugary dried fruit packs (Holland & Barratt do an incredibly tasty Caribbean one which has pineapple, mango, melon, papaya and coconut). I did polish off a whole bag in no time so I think I’ll limit myself to two bags a month, otherwise I will have no teeth left.

One of the most satisfying gains this month has been that I feel a lot stronger. I have been carrying heavy things with less effort now and I like being able to lift things myself. I suspect that once I step up to a heavier kettlebell this will increase with time. I look forward to getting more toned triceps!

On future updates I plan to post photographs to keep a visual track of progress. This will also keep me motivated. Overall I think January has been a month to research and plan how I will achieve my aims of increasing strength and weight. I am pleased that I have implemented the exercise into my week quite easily, and really enjoy it. The real test is to make everything into a permanent habit to sustain results. I am looking forward to this challenge!