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workout

Blogs I love, Fitness, Health

Sunday Summary

February 9, 2014

Well, this weekend was incredibly slooooow which was in direct contrast to my very busy and hectic week. I really should’ve expected this (I am a grad student after all) but after having that month long holiday it was just a big reality check for me.

To deal with the weekday hectic-ness that is now my life, I have had to start making meal preps at the very start of the week. During the holidays I was kinda lazy and was like, eh I don’t need to meal prep because I have all the time in the world. Hah, that was nice while it lasted … last Monday morning I made a huge pot of beef chili with chickpeas and plenty of fresh veggie which was basically lunch for the entire week which was awesome. This week I am planning on making a huge pot of Thai chicken curry 🙂

My yoga program has been going well and I am so happy to say that I am getting much more flexible. And my arm strength has improved too!!!! I two sets of 6 negative chin ups now, which is a huge accomplishment for me. I incorporated a variety of resistance band and cable machine moves this week to challenge my upper body from the usual weights and machines. I haven’t been able to go to the gym at the same time as any of my friends, so sorry I cannot show you photos of any of the moves I did.

Untitled

Okay onto a more serious topic now .. have any of you heard of the 80:10:10 diet? I heard about it a while ago, but I recently came across an article on www.fiterazzi.com that talked about the dangers of it. Fiterazzi is fast becoming a favorite new health and fitness website of mine because unlike other websites that just talk about ‘losing 10 pounds fast’, they talk about issues tend not to get talked about, or which are hard to talk about. I recommend you check them out and the specific article I am talking about. I would love to know your thoughts about the diet, and whether you know anyone who is attempting it.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Honestly yours,
Alice

Blogs I love

Sunday Summary

February 2, 2014

Another Sunday has arrived, and another week has passed by. Time flies so quickly, I really cannot keep up sometimes! And then sometimes it just doesn’t … like during finals week haha.

The spring 2014 semester at SF State began this week so I have been pretty busy with classes. I am hoping I will still be able to stick with my plan of going to the gym 4x a week, but we will see. Some weeks I probably won’t be able too, so it is good to be realistic about things. So because I am so busy, what did I decide to do? Make myself even busier by starting a 6 week program that will help me move from being an intermediate yogi to an advanced one! I found it online on a website called www.doyogawithme.com and it is such a fantastic resource. All of the video’s are free, although they encourage you to donate since this is their primary method of raising money. They have several programs which you can download which give you specific videos to practice to help you reach your goals. It is just such a breath of fresh air to find a way to do yoga where you do not have to pay a fortune, as I am sure you all know if you have ever gone to a yoga class before. I recommend you all check them out, and I will keep you updated on my progress! I started practicing yoga seriously (as in every day) about a month and a half ago although I have been doing yoga on and off for the past 8 years. My Dad is really into yoga so he introduced me to it at a young age (thanks Dad!).

do yoga with me

Sticking with the progress theme, my goal for 2014 (as you may, or may not know) is to be able to do 10 consecutive pull ups and chin ups. I am still in the negatives stage (where you hold yourself up and then slowly yourself yourself down), but it is still progress. I have definitely noticed that my upper body has gotten stronger so I am excited to see what I can do at the end of February.

I have also been in the works of experimenting with several sugar free treats for you all. In terms of taste, it is going well, but I am definitely having trouble with keeping the texture of the things I am making nice and moist. Are any of you expert bakers (or even just relatively knowledgeable bakers)? If so, please leave me a comment or email me so I can get in touch with you! I am thinking I need to add butter … and guys, butter is good for you every now and again although it is high in calories!

So that’s a summary of my busy week! What have you guys been up too? Have you set any goals for February? I want to know, so leave a comment below or feel free to get in touch with me via the many social network channels I am on (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest).

Honestly yours,
Alice

Fitness

Elevate Fitness: Ele_Sculpt

January 30, 2014

Last week, I tried out a new workout class called Ele_sculpt at a workout studio called Elevate Group Fitness. Although I love the gym and all of the workouts I do, I walk past this place on my way to the gym and it made me wonder what it was. There are two locations, one in Hayes Valley and one on Ocean Avenue; I walk past the one on Ocean Avenue. I was really curious about what they had to offer (yoga? pilates?) and I like to try new things to shake things up and keep my body challenged. Wonderfully enough, if you have never been to a class there, your first class is free!

Elevate Fitness

review of Elevate Fitness in San Francisco

review of Elevate Fitness in San Francisco

It was really sunny that day so apologies for the shadows .. isn’t the exterior cute though? So friendly and welcoming.

Anyway, I decided to go to an Ele_sculpt class although there are a total of three classes to go to: Ele_sculpt, Ele_barre and Ele_yoga. I was told is that Ele_sculpt is a more all over body workout so you hit your arms, core and legs. Ele_barre is more focused on giving you long and lean dancers legs (you can’t elongate your legs by the way folks, but you can give the illusion of length). Ele_yoga is a yoga practice but incorporating elements of aerial yoga (something I really, really want to try)!

review of Elevate Fitness in San Francisco

review of Elevate Fitness in San Francisco

review of Elevate Fitness in San Francisco

I walked into the studio and … I saw the amazing pieces of equipment that you are seeing above!! I absolutely love using bands to workout with so by this point I was about to die at how excited I was. The demographic was definitely older than I thought. I don’t know why but I thought everyone would be 20 year olds or something. Everyone was very nice and friendly though, they all obviously knew each other and there was a great sense of community.

The next hour was intense .. I consider myself to be a pretty fit person but geez, I was disgustingly sweaty in the first 20 minutes .. We started out with some yoga, and a cute little motivational speech which was a nice touch and then we dove straight into it. Core work, cardio, leg work, arm work … it covered it all. We used the barre for the leg work and I was embarassed at how much I had to stop haha, but I was a lot better when it came to the arm work. My current goal for this year is to do 10 consecutive pull ups AND chin ups so I have been working my upper body a laaaht.

review of Elevate Fitness in San Francisco

This is Amanda, the lovely and informative instructor who taught the class that day! Ignore me though lol. I loved her energy and the fact that she made sure to walk around and check everyone’s form.

All in all I really enjoyed the class! Although I am quite a gym junkie (I repeat, building upper body strength …) I would definitely go again and I recommend you all give it a go 🙂

Honestly yours,
Alice