fitness and food frustration

So, I’m going to throw in a few random updates since I haven’t said much in a while.  Winter ball hockey has wrapped up and the summer sessions are in full swing.  Playing Wed. and Sun. nights and have found adding jump lunges and mountain climbers to my regular workouts has very possible helped my speed and agility running the larger summer hockey surface.  I’ve also added a run or two back into my week now that the weather has finally turned more favorable.  It would have been better if I had tossed this back in earlier leading up to the 5km run at the Toronto Marathon, but it is what it is!  :p  I survived 😀  Finished the run in 27 min and change, coming in 16/128 in my category.  Not my best time ever, but more than 2 1/2 minutes faster than last year so I’m ok with that.

This past Tuesday, my love-hate relationship with box jumps lost any remaining love.  I did my first set of 10 reps like a champ, then half way through the second set… I ATE IT.  HARD.  Gashed my toe pretty deep, cut/bruised my shin and bruised my knee.  I’ve decided I’m done with box jumps in the gym.  :p  At least in the privacy of my own apartment I can wear my shin pads!  haha…

Now here comes the NUTRITION part of my ramblings…  Listen, I get it.  When it’s a physical change you are after in terms of losing weight or building muscle, nutrition is way more than half the battle.  I know that it won’t matter how many hours of grunting through even the toughest of workouts I do if I don’t hold up the nutrition end of the deal.  I get it… well the concept side of it anyway.  I thought I was doing everything right.  I eat well.  I’ve been following a Paleo life for more than a year now which is full of plenty of fresh veggies, meats, eggs and healthy fats.  My diet is FREE of legumes, grains and dairy.  My diet is relatively FREE of the processed, pre-prepared, “convenience” foods.  With the exception of the odd protein bar (only the Quest variety, which is the cleanest thing I can find…).  I eat REAL food.  I prepare my own meals and have gotten used to the time it takes to do so.  So where am I going wrong?  April 21st I finished a 100 day transformation challenge with a goal to gain muscle.  Five-six times per week, I did the work.  I went to the gym and followed my “recipe” of heavy lifting for an hour or more.  But at the end of the 100 days, while I can say I noticed a fairly impressive improvement in how much I can lift, the muscle building I was looking for fell a bit short.  Don’t get me wrong, I know that females have a harder time building muscle than males.  Bla, bla, bla…  Two days ago, I was chatting with a friend at a local nutrition store and he told me a few things that led me to believe I had possibly been looking at things a little backwards.  My mind had only considered the importance of eating more protein to build muscle, but in actual fact I’m told that carbs are just as important (if not more so).  Carb cutting not the best way to go?  Based on my height, age, weight and fitness level I should be consuming 2200 calories a day (without workout calories) to build lean muscle mass is the goal.  2200 calories?  That thought seems crazy to me!  That’s a LOT of Brussels sprouts!  That also would have been good to know back in January…

I need to go back to school…  Nutrition is a topic I find absolutely fascinating, but really feel there is so many elements I know NOTHING about…

bridge the gap…

The gender gap still exists, and is painfully obvious at times…  I’ve been formulating this post in my head for a few days now and the hurdle I’ve struggled to overcome is the one that governs how to say what I’m feeling without offending anyone.  Today I decided, ‘F IT. 

A coworker of mine got involved in a fitness program called “man camp” at a local gym along the same timeline as my own 100 day challenge at my gym.  We both are huge fitness enthusiasts who swap new exercise ideas and share workout tips.  After finishing my challenge, I was not overly impressed with the program I was involved in and looking for something new.  When I asked about the programs available at Dave’s gym he offered to check it out for me.  The response I got was not impressive.  “Sorry, man camp is for dudes.”  Was the response Dave got from his trainer.  “There’s a bootcamp that’s just for chicks.”  Let’s clarify for a minute…  I may be only 5’4” (on a tall day) and weigh in at 120lb (ish), but I am no “chick”.  I was looking to play with the boys as my goals are along the same lines as theirs, to gain strength and build muscle.  I can already squat/deadlift more than my body weight.  I just wanted a new challenge to help push myself to do more…  I won’t give up though.  I’ll just continue to look for somewhere that appreciates a woman who is stronger than the average “chick”