This is a fitness post...

...because having a nice behind is pretty.

My friend told me the other day : "You should  blog about fitness and healthy recipes instead of fashion".  


Well, I will not do that because  although I am a serious fitness junkie, I don't feel certified to have a blog about health and fitness. Plus, I feel really strong about this subject and I tend to get really preachy about it, and I do not want to do that because it is really annoying. Also, because I blog for fun. Fashion and the arts are my fun. I take fitness very seriously, it is how I try to live my life.


So just for this once, I will share my errr... good habits with you, if you will.

Enter the preachyness: 


It really bothers me when people that are not at a body type they feel comfortable with hate on other body types.  Like when people say "Oh my God, she's so skinny she looks sick". Sometimes yeah (like when Nicole Richie weighed a pound) but most of the time its a hot model and people are just jealous they don't look that way (get your ass to the gym and stop hating).  
The other thing that bothers me, is when people are like "Well no, a hot body is Sofia Vergara and that's that". Yeah she is hot, but that is not the ONLY hot body type either. 


I am never going to have a Victoria's Secret model body or a Sofia Vergara body. I will also never be skinny again. I say again, because I used to be really, really skinny and honestly although I loved the way I looked (which I did, even though people would tell me I looked "sick") I made the decision in the past couple of years to be fit.  


Being fit means my body will now forever look... athletic. This may not be the most feminine look, but when I look at what I have turned my body into, I would never go back. Don't get me wrong, I am still very petite, at 5 foot 1 and 1/2 inches I only weigh 109 pounds. I am still a size zero, but I can lift more than most boys and that is empowering. I am actually leaner then I have ever been and I have gained 6 pounds... of muscle. 

this is exaggerated, I only look that big when I flex.

I have always done some form exercise and always "watched" what I ate. But I was never fit. Since I was 7 and through my first year of high school I did gymnastics, then I did horseback riding and cheer-leading until I graduated high school. When I started university I joined a regular gym. 

About two years ago I started doing Crossfit and a year later I switched to training at a hybrid gym.  
Hybrid gyms are usually owned and operated by people who have Masters and PHDs in nutrition, Kinetics, Anatomical Sciences etc...and the best way I can describe what we do is: sort of like CrossFit, P90X and Insanity all mashed into one. 

@ Taylored Training Fitness Studio

270 pound sled.

What have I learned in the past 2 years? In a nutshell:

1. I am not a dog, so I will not reward myself with food. Instead, I will "eat clean" because what you eat has a massive amount of influence on how tired you feel, how much you can improve your lifting, your speed and basically your over all performance. Also, eating clean is the ONLY way you will have a washboard stomach. Basic rule for eating clean: If it comes in a box or a bag and is made or processed by a human don't eat it.
2. Food is fuel for your body, and if used properly you can reap its maximum benefits. 
3. Stick to perishable foods. Fruits, Vegetables, and protein and have equal portions of protein and veggies (steamed, not with a stick of butter) for each meal.
4. Cut out sugar, alcohol and non-complex carbs (i.e. bread, potatoes, rice, wheat, peas and carrots) - when you ingest these things they are the first thing you burn, when you don't ingest these things the first thing you burn is your fat...
5. Lift heavy: Think bench pressing your weight, Squatting more than your weight, and ditching the 10 pound dumbell for a 35 pound kettlebell - and boys go heavier.  This will not make you bulky. It will trim you, and make you oh so strong.
6. Push, Pull, climb and throw things (heavy tires, sledge hammers, battle ropes, medicine balls, sleds, prowlers etc...)
7. Stick to the basics: Squats, Push ups, pull ups, presses...
8. Don't use fancy equipment. Use free weight.
10. Do something different every day, if you repeat your work out your body will adapt in a week.  Our bodies are resilient and adaptable machines!
11. If you want to gain weight you still eat clean except you eat more protein and more veggies...
12. OH! And train barefoot! Or with those hideous VIBRAM shoes. It will improve your balance. We were meant to walk around barefoot! Nike Free's are also good. I have also heard New Balance makes some good ones.

The "eating clean" part was the hardest part for me because I really enjoy cooking gourmet and making desserts. I have compromised by making gourmet food and desserts for everyone else while I stick to my diet. So below I will give you a "clean" breakfast recipe and a gourmet one (which is also really "clean" actually). I don't usually follow recipes therefore the measurements will be missing on these:

Ana's breakfast staple:

• PAM
• half an onion
• slices of deli turkey (substitute with tomatoes and/or mushrooms)
• 1/2 a cup of egg whites
• 2 huge hand fulls of spinach
• the best Italian hot chili you can find.

** Pam up a nonstick pan and throw in the onion and turkey until onion is wilted and turkey is browned. Mix in everything else. Voila!

Man's Omelet

• olive oil
• diced up pancetta
• different color cherry tomatoes
• mushrooms
• eggs
• arugula
• thyme

**  Throw some pancetta in a nonstick pan until it looks nice and crispy. Remove the pancetta (leave the oil it generated). Dice up the cherry tomatoes and the mushroom, saute in the left over pancetta oil. Set aside. Pour some olive oil in pan, and put in the eggs (make them sunny side up, or over easy). sprinkle with salt and pepper (I use Nature's seasoning). When eggs are done, throw on pancetta, mushrooms and tomatoes. Top with Arugula, decorate with thyme. Sprinkle some olive oil and natures seasoning on top. Serve rustic out of the pan, with rustic toasted bread :)

Thoughts? I really want to know!

Also, I am ALWAYS open to suggestions. Let me know what else you would like to see on this blog :)

Lucky Jeans Tee, Ann-Taylor skirt, Zara shoes