FitnessMovementKe

I’m a health and fitness enthusiast, started this blog to share the gems I’ve learnt and continue to learn on my healthy lifestyle journey. Hope it helps you on yours or inspires you to start. Come on let’s make it a movement ;)

[fitnessmovementke]

FMK Features: Zana Kiragu

Happy New Week!

Hope you are starting off your week on a filled with positive vibes and being the week of valentine’s day love what better way to start off the week than with a post about love….self love.

Today on the 3rd feature of FMK Features, Dr. Zana Kiragu a fitness and public health enthusiast, feminist and all together giver of good vibes when she’s not doing her day job of being a pharmacist in the drug manufacturing industry; shares with us her health and fitness journey and how it has had a role in her journey to body positivist and self love.

Without further ado let’s welcome Zana to the FMK Family!

Journey to Fit: The Good, The Bad & The Beautiful

Fitness and body positivity are a package deal: one influences the other and vice-versa. This relationship is more prominent for those, like me, whose bodies don’t meet conventional standards. I decided to venture into the exciting world of fitness when I first enrolled in university, in September 2011. I had just moved to a new country where being fit was all the rage. I was ready to jump on the bandwagon and embrace the “gym rat” lifestyle too. In retrospect, my goals were completely unrealistic. I ended up developing an unhealthy relationship with food and feeling worse about my body than I ever had.

Several crash diets and failed gym attempts later, I discovered Bikram Yoga. My flat-mate at the time (Hi Melisa J) was trying out a class so I tagged along. I loved that first class, challenging as it was. Thereafter I signed up for the 30-day Bikram Yoga Challenge: 90 minutes of yoga daily for 30 consecutive days. I successfully completed this, one of my proudest accomplishments. Bikram profoundly shifted my perspective because of how introspective it was. It was all about pushing as deeply into the posture as your body allowed. With each class you pushed a little further, until you achieved full expression of the posture. It taught me how to focus on myself, not other people. I was my own reference point; I measured my progress based on my previous performance. I wasworking with my body, not against it. This crucial lesson marked the beginning of my journey to a healthy, fit lifestyle and more importantly, a healthier relationship with my body.

Since then, I’ve incorporated several lifestyle changes, which have gone a long way in transforming my health and overall fitness. I started going to the gym consistently and tried my hand at several classes including spin and pilates. By the time I moved back home, I was working consistently with a trainer. My diet has also undergone several changes. I started by cutting out junk food, and then I cut processed food and white carbs. I went vegan, tried the plant-based lifestyle for just under a year, and have now reverted back to a pescatarian diet.

Though I am still learning and unlearning things, these are key pointsthat I think should be kept in mind, wherever you are on your fitness journey.

1.      There is no formula

The more you workout and eat mindfully, the more you understand your body – what works for it and what doesn’t. Don’t force it, don’t be afraid to experiment, and don’t be afraid to fail. Some things will work for others but not for you. Find what works and go with it. Last year I was strength training consistently and I’ve developed some good muscle tone as a result. However, I wasn’t satisfied with the amount of fat I lost. This year I hope to burn fat as I continue to build muscle, so I’m incorporating running (read slow jogging lol) into my regimen. I’ve reintroduced fish/seafood because I was struggling with getting sufficient protein on my vegan diet. I’ll see how these changes work and switch it up again if I’m not satisfied.

2.      Consistency is key

It’s a lifestyle. Your eating habits and your fitness regimen should have a baseline of consistency. This ensures that you don’t deviate too far from your goals when you cheat (which is allowed). It also saves the effort involved in getting back into the regimen after prolonged periods of zero physical activity.

3.      Celebrate the little wins

I started out hating running and avoiding it at all costs. I’m now running 3 times a week. I don’t love it yet, but I don’t hate it anymore. Little win. Burpees are the bane of my existence, but I don’t almost die when I do them now. Progress. Little wins are still wins. They accumulate and before you know it you have a big win.

4.      Don’t rely on external validation

I can’t lie; those “snatched for the gawds” comments do something for my ego and body image. Who doesn’t want to be snatched! It’s natural to respond positively to praise from others. This, however, cannot be your main driving force. You cannot always rely on people to cheer for you, because they won’t always do it. Be your number one cheerleader.

5.      Be your own body goals

By this I mean set goals that are consistent with your body type/physique. When I first tried to get fit in 2011 my goals were extremely unrealistic; aiming for the thigh gap aesthetic with a pear-shaped physique just would not work. I’ve since embraced the fact that I am, and always will be thick. It’s just a matter of replacing excess body fat with muscle. Find and follow people who have a similar physique/similar goals and work towards that.

I’m down four dress sizes since I started, and I am getting stronger and faster by the day. I still haven’t reached my goals, and some days I get frustrated. Nonetheless, I am learning to celebrate where I am, while actively working towards where I want to be. I am happy, comfortable and proud to be in my skin, and that, in my opinion, is the most important thing.

Yours in fitness,

Zana

[fitnessmovementke]

Home-Made

Happy Friday Guys!

What are your workout necessities? Or workout starter pack goals?

Mine look a little bit like this,

 if you go by my muuuultiple pins on pintrest that look very similar. They always have these international well known brands like Nike, Adidas, Puma etc.

But I think this needs to change, there are so many amazing sports brands coming up from Kenyans that deserve a spot on our workout goal starter packs. 

Here are a few I’ve come across that I’m definitely planning on adding to my collection and wish list soon.

Zoezi Sport:

This being the newest addition to the Kenyan owned fitness apparel scene and its safe to say they’re taking over. Founded by Yvonne who is a fitness enthusiast, I don’t even need to say much about it the product speaks for itself.

Trendy and Modern. These will definitely have me motivated to go the gym, cause when you look good you feel good!

Pace Africa: 

Pace Africa brand make amazing and affordable Bluetooth headphones and earphones, that by just looking at them could honestly revival the top dogs in the industry like beatsbydre. Get this, they’re wireless! No annoying detangling of cables to go through.They launched in 2017 by the founder Larry Lui living in Nairobi, you can read more about it’s inception here.

A good pair of earphones is a staple for any workout!

Vivo Active Wear:

 Vivo the clothing line that introduced us to the awesome world of athleisure, comfort and style all wrapped up in to one. They have variety of great fitting and feeling tights, tank tops, sport’s bras and you could pick up a skirt or two while you’re in there. You know, one stone…two birds.

Lornah Sport 

Lornah Sport launched by three time Olympian and record holder Lornah Kiplagat, I don’t know about you but I’d trust the judgment of what an Olympian thinks I should wear to workout. But besides that, Lornah Sport apparel is very trendy and caters for all types of activities so if your into running more than the gym or cycling or hiking is more of your style they’ve got you covered.

Bata:

Now now before you roll your eyes, I think we take Bata products for granted. A case of “familiarity breeding contempt” because most of us pretty much lived in bata shoes for most of our childhood. The Bata Power line has some pretty awesome looking and feeling sneakers at really affordable prices. 

But if you really don’t mind digging deep into your pockets for quality sneakers

Enda might been the brand for you;

You may remember them from season one of Lion’s den, where the founder explained that they are tailored after Kenyan athletes’ style of running. 

They start from around from Ksh. 10,000.

Hope this inspires you to give Kenyan brands a spot on your wish list and in your closet.

Love&Love

[fitnessmovementke]

FMK Features: Vanessa Mukhebi

Last Monday of January guys! Can I get a Hallelujah! This month has been way too long.

Today on the second edition of FMK Features, Vanessa Mukhebi who when she’s not making amazing smoothie bowls that leave us drooling on our timelines,

Is a communication’s associate for The Mediae Company where they use media  to enhance education and social development in Sub-Saharan Africa.

She’s also given an  amazing TEDx talk enlightening us the importance of youth picking up agribusiness and the tech savvy tools they can use to help make it profitable.

So let’s welcome Vanessa to the FMK Family, as she teaches us how to meal prep like pros.

How to meal prep without getting your pantry in a twist

Vanessa Mukhebi

Glass mason jars for birches muesli, pink little tins for nut-based snacks, orange and red containers for lunch and dinner, respectively, and don’t forget those round blue bowls for cut up fruits in the afternoon.

In our own unique ways, we are all creatures of habit. The comfort of routine provides a rhythmic balance to help us navigate our busy schedules.

Whether it’s by colour-coding my various to-do lists and calendars or my mild obsession with sticky notes, I’ve always pegged myself as maintaining some semblance of order in my daily activities. Well…at least with everything except for my eating habits.

Whilst the shelves of my pantry would currently have you calling me the Escobar of a mini superfood cartel (you name it, I’ve got it), developing a healthy eating pattern has always been a hard nut to crack.

Believe it or not, I haven’t always been a meal-prepping maniac. No. If I lick my lips just right, I can taste the delightful sensation of nostalgia slither its way on my tongue and salivate my mouth with memories. Memories of a time when oddly-coloured residue would stain my fingers as I’d ravenously devour a bag of triangular shaped tortillas coated in copious amounts of artificial flavouring. That’s not forgetting the sinfully sweet store-bought chocolate chip-cookies on the side. All of which, would mingle to produce a taste unlike any other and soothe the emotional scars left each Friday night by Shonda Rhimes.

In hindsight, I thought that I could out-exercise a bad diet. Don’t lie. We’ve all been there - spending gruelling hours at the gym and convincing ourselves that each bead of perspiration dripping down our face was currency to fuel our binge; #TreatYourself, right?

But when clothes start to feel snug, and you’re all out of excuses for your fitness instructor, it hits you. Something’s got to give!

At first, meal prepping sounded like a foreign concept -  reserved only for those supper-ripped gym freaks that chow celery sticks all day like it’s candy, and that requires a golden key card membership to gain access to this super club.

After a few attempts, I found out that it couldn’t be further from the truth.

So what is it? There’s no magic formula, but in essence, it is the act of preparing some or all of your meals ahead of time. Meal prepping helps you stick to a sustainable healthy diet, through thoughtful food selection, and saving time during the busy week.

It might seem overwhelming at first, but after a couple of trials it will become like second-nature to you, and you will realize that it’s the missing ingredient to attaining your fitness goals.

Now, I am in no way an expert, but here are a few tips that I swear by:

●     Plan ahead:

Organizing a whole week’s worth of meals is a big task and even the best of us can struggle with it. So start off with a manageable load of 3 - 4 days. Once you know the duration you’ll be cooking for, jot down each of your recipes. This will help you formulate your list of ingredients to last over that period.

But how much should you buy? That brings me to my next point.

●     Eat to fuel not to fill

Forget cumbersome calorie counting and food scales, a simple hack to portion control is literally in the palm of your hand. Here’s a guideline! However, depending on your lifestyle and fitness regime, your caloric needs will vary, so it’s vital that you seek advice from a nutritionist. Personally, I like to practice mindful eating by paying attention to hunger and satiety cues. Remember, food should leave you feeling rejuvenated, and not short of breath.

●     Pick a day

Monday is to chest day as Sunday is to meal prepping…so they say. But by all means, break the ‘rule’, to whichever day of the week you can allocate sufficient time to cooking. It’s also advisable to split meal prep into two days, particular if there are meals or snacks that need to be eaten fresh like salads or boiled eggs. This will not only shorten your cooking sessions but it will preserve the quality of your food.

●     Embrace the ‘Farm to fork’ mentality

Whilst kiwi and dragon fruit are all the rage, there are several benefits of eating readily available food. Locally grown fruits and vegetables are often harvested at the peak of their ripeness, in comparison to exported produce which sits in transit or cold storage for days or weeks before it makes its way to your plate. Thus, it is fresher and the nutritional value remains intact. It’s also essential to align your choice in fresh produce with the seasons, so that you eat them when they are most flavoursome, most abundant, and least expensive in the market. Plus, you’ll be supporting millions of local smallholder farmers in the process. Eureka!

●     Minimize processed foods

Rule of thumb, when you pick an item off the shell and you swallow a mouthful trying to spell out a certain ingredient, chances are it is full of preservatives and it doesn’t belong in your body. The only food you should ever struggle pronouncing is quinoa.But don’t forget, frying, boiling or stewing are also forms of processing, which reduce the nutrients in your food. So eat raw carrots, swap fried cashews for dry-roasted one, blanch your spinach, and bake instead of frying your proteins.

The list is never-ending, but if I’m to leave you with one final spoonful - Keep it simple. The point of meal prepping is convenience. You’re not competing on My Kitchen Rules, so there is no need to break bank or swim across the Atlantic just for cured salmon gravlax. It shouldn’t feel like a chore, but seamlessly become part of your lifestyle.

So have fun, play around with recipes, listen to your body, and I assure you…you’ll find yourself moving in tune to the rhythm of a healthier beat.

[fitnessmovementke]

Eat Your Groceries

Happy Monday Guys!

Hope you had a restful weekend and are ready to tackle to week ahead, if you’re like me with the help of little  big cup of the ever reliable Joe

So guys I have a problem, since getting back on this wellness journey post injury I’ve pretty much gotten my fitness levels back or even better than they were but there’s an enemy of progress in my life. My diet!

You really can’t out train a bad diet, I’ve fully tried and proven this theory to capacity and I want out!

The thing is, everything is all good until I decide to have my weekly cheat meal, that turns in to a cheat day….cause you know why not, that then leads to a cheat weekend and before you know it your starting Monday off with a little food baby from the bloat.

So it’s time for a change, I’ve decided to join Jane Mukami’s 21 day transform challenge where you cut out wheat and sugar for 21 days, you can read more about it here.

I’m hoping it’ll give me the jump start I need to get back in the right mindset for improving my nutrition. Wish me luck guys!

Thought I’d also share on tips on getting your eating habits right that have worked for me before:

Get In The Right Mental Head Space

Before starting on any change in life I believe it’s important to get in the right mindset for it so you go at it with full commitment.

”The Body Achieves what the Mind believes”

Fully commit and believe you can do it.

Make small Changes:

You’ll be surprised at how effective just making small gradual changes are; one week maybe switch out  soda for natural juices, the next white bread for sweet potato etc. You’ll see changes in your body before you even get that craving for a fanta baridi.

Know your triggers:

There are certain foods we all have that we have a relationship with where we both can’t sleep in peace under the same roof. One of us has to exit and I’m paying rent so the food has to leave, preferably through my stomach. You know the ones? Be it cake or ice-cream or Nutella, don’t tempt yourself by keeping them in your house. Of course don’t deny yourself a treat once in a while but maybe make it where you have to go out to a restaurant and have it.

Drink Up:

So many times you can think your hungry when it’s really just thirst….for water. Try and get a couple of glasses of water prior to your meal and you’ll see that you’re not really as hungry as you initially thought. Water has so many great benefits for your body one of which is stabilizing your metabolism.

Hope these tips were helpful,

Love&Love.

[fitnessmovementke]

FMK Feature: Loise Machira

Hi Guys:)

Hope you had an amazing week!

Today I’m introducing a new segment in my weekly posts where I’ll feature young inspiring people making amazing moves to positively impact the health&fitness space in Kenya through sharing their own health&fitness journeys.

Our first feature is a 26 year old lawyer running an amazing wellness platform called Tizi  that features inspiring interviews with well known Kenyans who openly advocate for healthier lifestyle.

So without further a due  let’s welcome Loise to the FMK family!

             ***************************************************************

Dear Reader,

My name is Loise Machira and I am the founder of the wellness brand called Tizi which aims to inspire a culture of healthy living and empowerment through fitness. When FitnessMovementKe reached out to me, I was very humbled to hear that she enjoyed reading my wellness buzz articles (as I like to call them). I always appreciate any platform that exists to spread positive energy especially when the goal is to inspire others to invest in their well-being. When she requested me to be a guest feature, I was excited to do it despite not knowing what I would write about. After brainstorming, I decided to start from the beginning of how I started my wellness journey and how it has contributed to the person I am today.

Ever since I was a child, I had always wanted to be a lawyer and indeed this dream came true when I was admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya. I guess it is safe to say that I am a certified wellness advocate!

Although law is my profession, I also have a passion for wellness. When I was pursuing my law degree in university, my housemate introduced me to the gym and ever since, I have never looked back. Discovering fitness at the age of 19 years old exposed me to an in depth appreciation of how our well-being manifests into our everyday life. When I was doing my dissertation, I was beyond stressed and the only way I knew how to deal with it was to hang out with friends who were in the same boat as me.

However, I realised that I wasn’t getting any peace of mind and I started running every morning before I could work on it. I did the same when I was having my final year exams; instead of spending my morning preparing (cramming) for the exam, I would go for a run to clear my head. This turned out to be one of the best decisions in my life at the time because I did really well in that final year of law school. Fitness enabled me to recharge and it helped with my memory. I decided to apply the same routine of fitness when I started working. Every morning I would go to the gym before work and if time didn’t allow it, I would go after work.

Having a healthy outlet enabled me to recharge and look at any daily challenge as simply that- a daily challenge. Fitness has empowered me to look at life’s obstacles with positivity and hope.

Just like everyone else, I have really bad days but being active has enabled me to look at such days as temporary.

We cannot talk about fitness and leave out the most important aspect; nutrition! Back in England, nobody taught me how to eat healthy; unless you could afford spending all your student allowance on nutritional advice. I read ample material on nutrition including magazines and I subscribed to all the possible wellness blogs I could come across! All this information taught me how to balance my meals and I developed a good relationship with food. The minute you eat right and couple it with exercise three times a week, you will immediately start to feel the changes in your body and soon enough, it will show in your physique. I was so inspired to teach others what I learned that I enrolled in a Fitness and Nutrition course.

Embracing this lifestyle for eight years has enabled me to accumulate insightful information that I believe will inspire someone else to start taking care of their health. This is the reason I decided to start my blog called Tizi Talks (www.tizitalks.com). When you go on the website, you will find a wellness bank which has articles that will show you how to manage a healthy lifestyle through simple tips on nutrition and fitness. I recently introduced a segment called Tizi Talks where I feature stories of people on their wellness journey with an aim to inspire and show my readers that fitness is for everyone.

One of the biggest misconceptions of fitness in Kenya is that it’s for gym instructors or athletes. Tizi Talks aims to show you that fitness is for everyone in every field from corporate to the creative sector! The sooner you invest in setting aside time for exercise, the sooner the results will start to pour in every aspect of your life.

One of my favourite quotes that I live by was given by John F Kennedy; he said that physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body but it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity. I hope to catch you on my blog where you can subscribe and receive all the articles directly to your email. Wishing you a great year!

Yours in Wellness, Loise Machira, Founder of TIZI.

[fitnessmovementke]

Bodied

Happy New Week Guys!

On the 50th day of January we’re all looking for ways to save money and paying for your gym membership might just not be in your budget for this month so today I wanted to share a little bit about my favorite type of exercises because they require ZERO equipment and NO gym membership!

Body-weight Exercises, where your equipment is literally just your body weight, even though there’s no equipment used they are pretty effective and as intense as any gym routine. 

Here are a couple of my favorites:

Burpees

These are pretty full body engaging and you feel it! You can always switch it up by coming from a push up or plank into the jump. Pace yourself with these, quality over quantity for the best injury free results.

Explosive Squats

These are just like your standard squat, which is a good body weight exercise as well actually, but with these you jump out of it hence the explosion lol.

Planks

Planks are a great body weight exercise as well as help you in breathing and endurance training, Wrote a post previously about them here.

Double Leg Lift

I have a funny experience with these, when I first started out in 2013 and I’d go to gym one of trainers tried to make me do these and at the time my core strength was Nil! Zero! not to mention I have a pear shaped body so my lower body is heavier than my top. So when I’d try to do it my upper body would just move forward and my legs would barely budge :D :D, glad to say I’ve slayed this dragon since. I think the gif adequately shows how to do it. 

Mountain Climbers

These are such a power house of an exercise, they help tone your arms, legs and core all at once!

These are just a few of my favorites, they are many many more equipment free exercises so njaanuary can’t stop us from reaching our body goals.

Hope this was helpful,

Love & Love

[fitnessmovementke]

MCM

Happy New Year!!!!!

Hope you all had an amazing holiday season. 

I’m so excited about the endless possibilities of this year, I don’t really believe in new year resolutions cause issa lie, issa scam lol but new beginnings are always great, a clean slate!

Let’s get into the first post of 2018, what better way to start the year than with a little eye candy. Today’s post is a focus on the handsome, inspiring, motivating man who most of us have a love-hate relationship with if you’ve tried out his workouts....Shaun T.

He’s the man behind the workout program that changed the face of the fitness community, the Insanity: Asylum workouts, the name is very fitting because they look  brutal. I’ve personally never tried insanity but I recently started his Max 30 workouts and lemme tell you I’ve never been drenched in sweat like that before.....drenched. He’s come up with so many popular workouts that I’ll link here.

What I like about them is that they may be intense but they’re only 30 mins long for the Max 30 and 25 mins for the T25, so before you know it its over and you’ve gotten an amazing workout in plus the adrenaline rush after is worth it all. They are also mostly body weight exercises so no equipment needed!!

Aside from his skills in helping us get our bodies together he’s such an amazing motivator and giver of good vibes, he has a podcast, where he gives amazing inspirational talks.

Plus his relationship with his husband is pure relationship goals

Yup, sorry ladies he doesn’t play for our team, but I mean could they be any cuter.

For all those reasons he’s definitely worthy of being 2018′s first MCM.

If you haven’t tried any of his programs before, please do they are so worth it and let me know if they are your kind of workouts.

Love & Love 

[fitnessmovementke]

Keeping It Fitstive

The Holiday season is fully upon us guys! I can already smell that nyama choma that’s about to be a staple at almost all the holiday plans.

As we indulge we don’t want to lose all the hard work we’ve put in thus far so thought I’d share a few tips on how to enjoy the holiday season and still keep the waist line.

Be mindful of those sneaky liquid calories: The most common secret I-haven’t-even-eaten-that-much-why don’t-my-pants-button-up killer of  summer bodies come in liquid form. Mostly because you’re less conscious that your having them, like lets say if you were to have 2 slices of decadent chocolate fudge cake you’d be aware that uuhhh maybe you should skip the ice cream but what if I told you drinking 1.5l of coke with that meal is about equal to those 2 slice of cake. So as much as you can stick to water, juices and clear alcohol.         

Leave the carbs for desert: For your main meals pile on your plate with vegetables and lean proteins, leave out the boring rice,chapatis and breads so you can guiltlessly indulge in that desert station (with moderation ofcourse ;)). 

Pre-Game: You know that saying never go grocery shopping hungry? Well that applies too if your going out to eat and don’t want to over indulge, have a healthy snack before hand; fruit, nuts are a great option. So you don’t end up demolishing 3 servings because the hunger was that real.

Slow and Steady: Doesn’t food just taste better with bomb conversation? But most times the conversation is so lit you don’t even realize when you get full. Try and be mindful as you’re eating, pace yourself so you can listen to your bodies cues telling you you’ve had enough.

Hope these tips were helpful, Happy Holidays!!!

Love & Love

[fitnessmovementke]

Bend It

Hi Guys,

Happy Friday again I’m loving how the days are flying by…2018 can’t get here any sooner if you ask me.

Today I’m talking about the power in the stretch. 

For the longest time I was that person who never saw the importance of stretching before or after working out, it just seemed like a waste of time but now I’m a convert.

So what led me to stumble upon the amazing benefits of stretching is that after like 2 or 3 days of consistent working out I’d get serious muscle fatigue. Where everything just aches and you have knots in your shoulder and calves, it really wasn’t fun times and was messing up my consistence. So I asked Dr. Google what I can do to avoid it and the answer was STRETCHING.

When you exercise lactic acid builds up in your muscles and this leads to muscle soreness and fatigue stretching helps rid the body of this acid, as well as straightness out your muscles again because when your working out they’re contracting and shortening which causes that knot and tightness feeling. 

Here are a couple more benefits of stretching:

Improves blood circulation.

Reduces risk of injury.

Improves flexibility.

Tones muscles leaving you looking nice and lean.

Improves posture.

So yah, you can see why a quickly became a believer. Most stretching techniques are very yoga-esk is what I came to find, here are a couple of video tutorials that helped me with understanding the different techniques.

This one from Gabriel Martinez here

This one from Extreme Fitness pro here.

Hope this was helpful.

Love&Love

[fitnessmovementke]

Fit Hacks

Hey Guys,

I previously did a post on fitness hacks here but I’ve come across a couple since then so I thought I’d share a little on my tips and tricks.

So lets get in to it:)

1. Give it 25 mins: You know those days you’d rather be run over by a truck multiple times than go to the gym because you feel like you’ve been run over by a truck?

I found out that on those days if I push my self to do it for about 25 mins, I’m basically really really really not feeling it for the first 24 mins but by the 25th I’m so in to it. My speed gets better my form is on point. Studies actually show that in takes about 20 to 30 mins for endorphins to be released when you’re working out, those are those feel good hormones that boost your energy. So yah, just push through the first 25 mins and you’ll be good to go!

2. Bandanna it up: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been killing it in a set of bur-pees or mountain climbers and a strand of hair decides it set itself free from my ponytail and land on my face. This throws me off so much, so since I really don’t have any headbands and find them a little too tight on my hair line I’ve found tying a bandanna in the shape of a head band really helps with those pesky stray hairs and I can adjust the tightness to my liking. This can work with any sort of small scarf or head-wrap.

3.Get Lost In the Music: I may have mentioned it in a previous post but having a bomb playlist is the best way to get the most out of your workout  and makes time fly by too. So if your into maybe podcasts or audio books instead that can work too, loose yourself in something you enjoy so you’re not so conscious that you have 5 more sets of lunges to do.

Love & Love

[fitnessmovementke]

Supplements

Happy Friday!!

Today wanted to share a little on supplements, when I was first starting out on this health journey supplements was something I never bothered looking into because I associated them with body builders. But I’ve come to realize they’re actually more to supplements than just Whey Protein which I saw most all body builders using; and they have amazing benefits.

Supplements are used to make up for what you’re not getting in your normal diet that you need; that’s why people use whey to hit their protein goals for the day because they’re not getting all they need from their regular meals. 

I’m relatively new to this supplement life but I thought I’d share on the ones I’m currently using:

Fish Oil: You remember being forced to down those Scott’s emulsion by our parents when we were kids?

 They were actually on to something, aside from being thought to make you smarter it has other amazing benefits.  It’s been proven to lower your risk of heart disease, improve recovery from exercise and potentially lower your risk of diabetes. No one likes the taste or smell of fish oil so I opt for the capsules, I believe you can find them in any pharmacy, healthy U or even the health section of most supermarkets.

Calcium: Picked this one up after my injury, and the brand I take combines it with vitamin D3. Used together they prevent in the softening of bones, prevents against osteoporosis, prevention of blood clots and helps the performance of your nerves.  You can find these in most pharmacies and healthy U.

Apple Cider Vinegar: I think this qualifies as a supplement, guys guys my life has never been the same since I discovered this. It has so many benefits I don’t even know where to start. It reduces blood sugar levels, increases satiety, lowers cholesterol and reduces risk of heart disease and boosts gut health(this is really important when it comes to maintaining a healthy weight and fighting that bloat). I had a HUUUUGE sweet tooth before I started adding it to my diet now its just a medium sweet tooth.

It’s honestly cut down my sugar cravings so much. Make sure you go for the organic kind with ‘the mother’, you can find some at healthy U for Ksh. 995 also Tuskys started stocking some that goes for about Ksh. 870.

Hope this is demystified the world of supplements a little,

Love&Love

[fitnessmovementke]

The Truth About Super Foods

So lets have a little talk about what they don’t tell you about superfoods, when I say super-foods I mean the types of foods that have been getting a lot of hype lately; that’s your chia seeds, avocados, bananas, nut butters, shaved coconut etc basically all the things you’ll find on those beautiful acai bowls.

How good are they for you, really? There’s no doubt each of them are packed with amazing micro-nutrients and having amazing benefits. Chia seeds with  amazing antioxidants, omega 3, bananas with potassium, B6 and magnesium and so on. 

The problem comes in with the perception that having these foods will magically make the weight melt away, and because of this people tend to go over board with the portioning of these foods; and there’s this feeling you get after you’ve eaten what you think is really healthy that makes you want to have cheat meal because I mean you deserve it right?

But these super-foods could actually be sabotaging you’re diet. I’ve seen Acai bowls packed to the brim with chia seeds and nut butters while only 2 tablespoons of chia seeds having 140 calories 50% of which are fats and 2 tablespoons of standard peanut butter has  about 188 calories again 24% of which are fats (to put that into perspective that’s more calories than 2 slices of bread and a 2 fried eggs) and we haven’t even gotten to the other contents of that bowl.

When it comes to weight loss the theory is standard;at the end of the day you should be at a calorie deficient, you should be burning more calories than you’ve eaten. Your body doesn’t really care about how supernatural your food is.

Even though these foods are good for you, you still need to practice moderation and also do a little homework on the appropriate portions. Here are a few images that help a little with that:

Hope this helped a little,

Love&Love

[fitnessmovementke]

FORMATION

“OK ladies now lets get into formation,prove to me you got some coordination, slayyyyyy tri..“ sorry got side tracked by that gif. 

Hey Guys, toady I wanna talk a little bit about proper form/technique when it comes to different exercises. Poor form leads to about 70% of exercise related injuries, this was actually the cause of my foot fracture, I had been having poor running form for ages and didn’t even realize it.

Poor technique when it comes to whatever exercise be it running, squats, dead lifts(be particularly careful about this) puts continued unnecessary strain on your bones,soft tissue and tendons which if continued will lead to injury. Aside from the possibility of injury, not having the correct technique makes the exercise less effective so you won’t see the results you’re working so hard for.

10 reps in proper form is worth more than 50 reps with poor form. 

Work smarter not harder, I’ve actually found that having improper form makes the exercise harder than it should be. 

Here are few clips I found really helpful on how to have the correct technique when doing these exercises:

> Running:  Matt Cama explains it really well here

> Squats: Poposugar has a short and to the point tutorial here

>Ab Workouts: Ask Men give some useful tips here

>Skipping: Mr. London gives great tips on skipping techniques and common mistakes to avoid here (this one may be a little distracting ladies :))

Hope this was helpful, when starting out a new exercise or workout routine do a little homework on how to do it correctly to ensure you see those gains and stay injury free.

Love&Love

[fitnessmovementke]

#NewPost We all need a reset once in a while to come back even better. I talk a little bit about that in this new post and give a few tips on how to get back on your fitness and healthly living journey. Link in bio #FitnessMovementKe #FitnessBlogger #healthylivingnairobi #HealthBlogger #Reset #Realign #Restart #FitmasDay1

[fitnessmovementke]

The Reset

*Loooooong Hug*

Hi Guys I’ve missed this blog-verse, so that hug is an ‘I’ve missed you-please forgive me-and take me back’ hug :-).

I took a break from blogging not intentionally really but life happened, got too busy, got into a fitness rut, got out of the fitness rut but sorta fell out of love with fitness, fractured my foot, healed and now have fallen back in deep deep love with fitness. But will get into all that later in my upcoming posts and all the lessons I’ve learnt on the way.

All those are excuses though, I’m sorry, lets forget the past and start over shall we. In this posts I’d like to talk a little about my “fitness reset”, like I mentioned just before I fractured my foot I had fallen out of love with fitness and it had just become a routine part of my day not something I looked forward to doing or felt great after doing. So in that way I suppose my injury came at the best time, allowing me to sit and rethink and reevaluate the reason I started working out and why I no longer feel the way I did initially.

Its a weird place to be in to be honest, to loose connection with something you saw as an intricate part of yourself, but I’v realized it happens. The more I looked around I saw that many fitness influencers actually do intentional resets, one of them being @fitkenyangirl  cause the routine can get you to slacking. Especially if you achieve your goal and don’t know where to go from there.

So here are some gems I learnt through my reset:

> It’s OK. It’s just OK to not want to do what your supposed to do and what you’ve been consistently doing for weeks, months, years. Maybe you just need a break or maybe you’re evolving and have no desire to do it ever again. It’s OK, it’s OK to change it’s OK to want something different.

>Nutrition for the win. There’s a saying “You can’t out train a poor diet”, I’ve learnt that first hand through this process. Eating healthy through my injury period and the healing worked wonders, I thought and was prepared to be a lot more juicy after I was done sitting on the couch for 6 weeks but I surprisingly just maintained the weight I had pre-injury. 

>There’s no formula to getting back. Just start, it won’t be easy to fall perfectly back into your old discipline. They’ll be days you just want to eat a tub of ice cream with cookies as spoons. It’s normal, your mind and body needs to be retrained back into healthy living. I think this goes for anything in life as well, there’s no perfect time to start and when you do start they’ll be days you fall off from your goal but the key is in getting up and pressing on.

>Keep setting new goals, once you achieve your initial goals set new ones. Keep challenging yourself; mentally, physically, spiritually. It keeps things exciting so you don’t fall into a rut plus you get even better than you initially thought was possible.  

>Love yourself through the process. You may not be where you want to be but your making steps to get there and that’s significant. 

I hope this has helped anyone going through something similar in any aspect of life.

Love & Love 😊😊

[fitnessmovementke]

Happy Friday! #NewPostAlert sharing a few of my health and fitness check it out. fitnessmovementke.tumblr.com #FitnesHacks #FitnessMovementKe #HealthHacks #InstaFitSociety #FitFam #EatCleanTrainDirty #FitnessBlogger #Health #Fitness

[fitnessmovementke]

FMK Hacks

They’ve been quite a few life hacks post going around for a while and I’ve actually found them very helpful... so I thought I’d do one on some of the health & fitness hacks I’ve learnt on my trial and error health and fitness journey (isn’t that the best way to learn though? There’s no fun in knowing exactly how to do something, especially when it comes to healthy living, what works great for you may not work for me and vice versa as our bodies react differently to different things, it’s like with naturalists each person’s hair regime is different depending on their hair type, or so I hear I’m still one of the conformists with relaxed hair mostly because I’m just lazing. Sorry I digress; here are a couple of my hacks: · Mountain Climber hack: when I first started doing mountain climbers I found it easier to put pieces of cloth or towels under each of my feet than lifting my feet up. It’s a great way to start as you build up your endurance. · Faux Salt & Vinegar Crisps: my absolute favourite types of crisps is salt and vinegar, and if they’re Lays...forget about it, I can down those hug packs in one sitting. Obviously potatoes crisps aren’t a healthy snacking choice but I’m convinced I’ve found the next best thing, cut up some cucumbers and put them in a container add a tablespoon of vinegar(for half a cucumber) and put in the fridge for at least 30 mins. This instantly satisfies my salt & vinegar cravings, you can also add lettuce and red/yellow capsicum. · Supersize your plank: The exercise that makes you painfully aware of every 60 seconds in 1 minute does a great job of strengthening your core, if you want your plank to pack more a punch for better results; as you do the plank clench your abdominal muscles, remembering to inhale and exhale appropriately (exhale when contracting, inhale when realising). I also find that this distracts me so the plank ends faster than I’d expect plus d.e.f.i.n.i.t.i.o.n on those abs. Win win! · Walk: walk, just walk! Can we please stop this bodaboda obsession, honestly the distances people use bodabodas for are getting a bit ridiculous, you won’t die from walking from Sarit to the mall honestly you won’t, you can quote me on that. Let’s just walk. I’ve personally found that walking even the seemingly small distances can make a huge difference without you even realising it. Let’s just walk. · Ginger tea for the win: you know those cheat meals that turn into entire cheat days? Ginger tea is the saving grace for them. After a day of indulgent eating end it with a cup of ginger tea before you head to bed, it will help with that sickly feeling that often comes the next day, you’ll feel as good as new. It’s actually been scientifically proven to help with nausea and improve digestion and reduce bloating. Add a slice of lemon to add extra flavour. So there you go, grab a cuppa! · Let the music lead you: if you find having to pause to check the timing of your workout disrupts you and throws you off your momentum set up your workout playlist to the duration you want your workout to last; now you can completely focus and go into full beast mode. I’d love to hear some of the health and fitness hacks you’ve learnt too:)