For my last blog post for my free inquiry I would like to recap my health and fitness journey. From the beginning of my journey, I set out to improve my health and fitness. I made this broad goal before knowing much about working out and what eating healthy was. I made a goal, to work out three times a week at Henderson Recreation Centre for an hour and a half each time. I also stated that I would focus my workouts on all parts of the body as I tried to strengthen my muscles and loose body fat. Over the past weeks and semester, I was able to stay true to my original goals and I made sure to go to the gym three times a week for the most part, except for one week, where I had a family emergency. However, to ensure I was sticking to my schedule the next week, I made it up by adding in more fitness. Throughout this journey, I did quite a bit of research, used a variety of resources and branched out of my comfort zone to accomplish my set fitness goal. I was able to learn a vast amount of different workout exercises, by researching different fitness influencers, by asking friends and by observing those around me, as I worked out. I also learned, that it does not matter how long you workout for, it is the quality of the workout that matters. If you are rushing your workouts to keep them under a certain amount of time, you are rushing your exercises and portraying quantity over quality. Ultimately, something I have discussed multiple times in my blog posts is breaking up workouts and dividing the part of your body, in which you are working out. Although this change was a bit difficult for me to make, I have learned and observed that I will further benefit from doing so. Ultimately, I can now happily say, that throughout this journey I have lost 8 pounds in body fat and I have turned some of my fat into muscles by strengthening them.

In regard to my goals to improve my health, I set out to change my diet and focus on eating healthy. As I stated in my first blog post of my free inquiry, I will begin my mornings by having a smoothie with a protein bar. Throughout my journey, I also stated that I will adapt and change how lunches and dinners into healthier options. At the beginning of my journey, I stated that I would like to eat healthy, however I never defined what healthy was. Here is a definition of what eating healthy means to me: Healthy eating means eating a variety of foods that give you the nutrients you need to maintain your health, feel good, and have energy. These nutrients include protein, carbohydrates, fat, water, vitamins, and minerals. Throughout my journey, I have stayed constant with starting my mornings off with having a smoothie and a protein bar. By changing my diet from starting my mornings off with having coffee to smoothies, I have really seen a change in my mood and attitude, not only in my health. Throughout my journey I have also adapted and changed my lunches from eating sandwiches to eating salads. By taking away a carbohydrate (bread) and adding in a protein (chicken breasts) has made a big difference. In regard to dinners, I cut out pasta from my diet again eliminating a carbohydrate also made a big difference. Ultimately, throughout my journey I did include a bit of research on different types of diets, however due to assumptions and biases I have decided to create a more achievable diet plan. However, I did use my research to accompany my changes.

Advice

• If someone was starting the same inquiry as me, my advice would be to use Trello consecutively, and updated it as soon as you finish/complete something. This type of inquiry can get a bit confusing, thus to be organized and on top of your workouts and diets and having a weekly plan will really help throughout the process.

Finally, as some of you have asked what I put in my smoothies. I have decided to include a video clip of what I put in my smoothies, therefore you may use the same recipe. Check out the link below!

Link: IMG_0448

This week, I worked out three different times/days and had a main focus for each of the workouts. For Wednesday’s workout, my main focus was booty (butt). For Saturday’s workout, my main focus was legs. For Sunday’s workout, my main focus was Arms. By separating my workouts and focusing on one specific area each, I was able to portray quality over quantity very well. With each separate workout, I was also able to do 20 minutes of cardio on the treadmill. Below is a description of what I did during each workout, focusing on the established area.

Wednesday’s workout: Booty (Butt)

• Kneeling leg pulses 3×10
• Hip thrusts 3×10
• Squat/leg raise 3×10
• Split squat 3×10
• Leg curl machine 3×10
• Kneel to squat 4×10
• Kickback pulses 3×10
• Glute raises 3×10

Saturday’s workout: Legs

• Side lunges 4×10 each leg
• Squat jumps 3×10
• Dumbbell front squats 3×10
• Reverse lunges 3×15
• Single leg squat variation 3×10 each leg
• Alternating platform jumps 3×10
• Squats 4×10
• Leg extension variation 4×10
• Static lunge 4×10

Sunday’s workout: Arms

• Diagonal pull down 3×10
• Standing overhead extensions 4×10
• Reverse grip pulls down 3×10
• Lateral raises 3×10
• Front raise/ upright row 3×10
• Bicep curl variation 4×10
• Triceps pull down 3×10

Alternatively, this week I continued on with smoothies and a protein bar for breakfast. For lunches, I stayed constant with salads and chick pea and chicken breasts for the protein. For dinner, I mixed up having rice with vegetables, stake with vegetables, mushroom salad and other pre-made salads. I tried to avoid drinking juice and I also avoided snacking as much as I would regularly, therefore I had fruit if I was hungry for a snack.

This week I will continue to discuss a variety of different types of diets. As this is a continued post from last week. I will further focus on the weight watchers diet and the Mediterranean diet only for this blog post. 

The Weight Watchers Diet:

Link: https://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=64058

Weight Watchers is a diet plan first developed in the 1960s that encourage weight loss by making healthy food and lifestyle choices. The Weight Watchers plan is based upon the idea that dieting is only one part of a healthy lifestyle. The program stresses the importance of overall mental and physical health and well-being. Weight Watchers does not forbid specific foods or tell people what to eat. There are also no pre-prepared meals or foods to purchase. Instead, people are encouraged to make healthier eating choices and to increase physical activity. Weight Watchers sponsors group meetings in locations throughout the world where members can offer each other encouragement, support, and tips for making healthier lifestyle choices. Weight Watchers offers two diet plans:

• The Points Plan: In the points plan, foods are assigned a certain number of points based on the food’s calorie, total fat, and dietary fibercontent. Participants are allowed to eat any foods they choose and are allotted a certain number of points each day.

• The Core (no-counting) Plan: The core plan is based on the consumption of wholesome foods from all the food groups, including fruits and vegetables, grains and starches, lean meats and poultry, and eggs and dairy products.

The Mediterranean Diet:

Link:  https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mediterranean-diet-meal-plan

The Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional foods that people used to eat in countries like Italy and Greece back in 1960. Researchers noted that these people were exceptionally healthy compared to Americans and had a low risk of many lifestyle diseases. Numerous studies have now shown that the Mediterranean diet can cause weight loss and help prevent heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes and premature death. There is no one right way to follow the Mediterranean diet, as there are many countries around the Mediterranean Sea and people in different areas may have eaten different foods.

• Eat: Vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, legumes, potatoes, whole grains, breads, herbs, spices, fish, seafood and extra virgin olive oil.
• Eat in moderation: Poultry, eggs cheese and yogurt.
• Eat only rarely: Red meat
• Don’t eat: Sugar-sweetened beverages, added sugars processed meat, refined grains, refined oils and other highly processed foods.

Avoid These Unhealthy Foods–You should avoid these unhealthy foods and ingredients:

• 
• Added sugar: Soda, candies, ice cream, table sugar and many others.
• Refined grains: White bread, pasta made with refined wheat, etc.
• Trans fats: Found in margarine and various processed foods.
• Refined oils: Soybean oil, canola oil, cottonseed oil and others.
• Processed meat: Processed sausages, hot dogs, etc.
• Highly processed foods: Anything labeled “low-fat” or “diet” or which looks like it was made in a factory.