In fitness and in health.

My tales and tribulations as a fitness professional, fanatic and freak. I look forward to sharing my experiences, challenges, achievements, adventures, anecdotes, ideas, learnings, and more. Note: A few ramblings about social media may also be expressed within these posts and pages.

[gnorbert]

[katyamohsen]

My Christmas tree, it’s a hibiscus from my indoor garden. Dec.24/12

Merry Christmas!

[gnorbert]

[katyamohsen]

My Christmas tree, it’s a hibiscus from my indoor garden. Dec.24/12

Merry Christmas!

[katyamohsen]

So Long LIVESTRONG

Almost three years ago I went and bought a LIVESTRONG bracelet and never took it off until this evening. I can’t wear it anymore. I wore it as a reminder to do just what it said: live strong. I also used it to remind that my health and the health of my loved ones is precious and it’s up to me to care for it and encourage those around me to care for theirs.  

Now my precious gold bracelet, the one to woo us all, will journey into to the darkness it came from, where it belongs.

Now I will look to my bare wrist as a reminder to stay true to myself, to continue to set good examples and to practice what I preach.

Live healthy, live honestly and remember that in fitness and in health, cheating is losing—period. 

[katyamohsen]

My Fitness Elixir

1 pinch of desire

1 cup of fun

2 cups of hard work

3 tablespoons of pain

3 cups of commitment

4 cups of willpower

8 cups of water

Add friends liberally, to taste

Sprinkle with sweat

For best results: make fresh and consume daily

[katyamohsen]

Hi. My name is Katya and I'm a DrawSomethingoholic. Part drew. I mean two

Hi. My name is Katya and I'm still a DrawSomethingoholic.

My plea for help backfired. Instead of finding support and getting help by sharing my addiction problem, I got more draw buddies. it appears that plea was received as an open invitation to all to add me as a draw buddy.  Some have even tried to convince me that it's not addictive, it's just quality time spent with friends and even educational. But I see it in their eyes and hear it in their tone, they too are showing signs of addiction. Since I can't rely on friends for support anymore, I need to get out of it myself and I can maybe help others others recognize the signs of addiction too.

You know your addicted to DrawSomething when:

1) You've started using the word Drawsome to describe any type of excitement. "OMG! that was the most drawsome concert evah!"

2) You've drawn all the words in the game, three times and can now do them with your eyes closed and using your tongue

3-a) You've stopped texting or phoning your friends. You are to busy drawing for them. Besides you can send up to 100 character messages while playing. Two birds with one stone

3-b) You just got a sudden urge to draw a picture of two birds with one stone

3-c) If you do text them, it's to send them a photo of a drawing you are having difficulty guessing and need their help with

4) You haven't watched your favourite late-night tv show for a while. You turn it on, but never look up at the tv or pay attention to it

5) You've ordered a fancy stylus online

6) You choose the coffee shop with the longest line-up so you can draw while you wait to order and wait for your order

7) You dream in cartoons and stick men

8) You catch yourself chanting "Just one more round" without ever stopping

9) You check your phone every minute to see if there's a drawsome drawing waiting for you

10) You pretend to go to the washroom at the office when in reality you go hide in a stall to get your fix. Just one more round.

If you find yourself in any of the above situations, you need help.

[katyamohsen]

Hi. My name is Katya and I'm a DrawSomethingoholic.

Hi. My name is Katya and I'm a DrawSomethingoholic. 

Two days ago, my friend suggested I try it. She said it was all in good, clean fun. I trusted her. Why wouldn't I? She's my friend. I heard other friends talking about it too and saying how much they liked it. They all seemed so happy. That should have been the first sign of trouble. I ignored it. I told myself, "why can't they just be happy?". Besides, it's not like they are taking any mood altering substances or eating too much sugar. 

I decided to look into it. My first thought was "$1.99! Really, do I want to pay that for some silly game I'll probably play twice?" If an app can sell for $1.99, it must have something special. I ignored it and I bought DrawSomething by OMGPOP for my iPhone and missed that there was a free version available. That should have been the second sign of trouble. (FYI it's free for Android too)

I played my first game with my friend who introduced me to it. It was kind of fun. We took turn after turn, after turn, after turn. Then she stopped, she was probably busy. I kept checking and all I got was "Waiting. Their move." beside her avatar. So I waited and waited and longed for her to come back and play. After 10 minutes, I found myself frantically searching for someone else to play with. I broke into a cold sweat as I scrolled through the find friends on Facebook list. Who do I choose? Who will play with me? What if they don't play with me? My heart was beating fast, too fast. So I picked someone and started my turn. As I wiped the sweat from my temples and neck, and armpits (what? I was stressed out and experiencing the first signs of withdrawal), I hoped my new play buddy would play. She did! It was totally DrawSome! Until it got quiet again, and I added another friend, and one added me. DrawSome!

Next thing I knew, I couldn't keep up with all the games anymore. They were coming in too fast. I was confused. My mind was a blur; all my thoughts looked like they'd been painted by Monet, yet the people looked like stick men. 

"What is wrong with me?", I asked. I went out for some air, to try to clear my mind. Instead I imagined how I would draw the trees, the street, the cars, the squirrels... I had to go back and draw something, anything! I also realized that maybe of my draw buddies was waiting for me. Oh the horror! What kind of draw buddy am I? As I ran home, I wept. When I got home my iphone battery had died, Damn game sucked the life out of my battery again! So I showered to wash away the shame of abandoning my draw buddies and to calm down the anger of my battery running out again. That's when it dawned on me that something was very wrong, like the game was also sucking the life out of me. I stepped out of the shower, feeling cleansed. I noticed my dog looking at me with worried and sad eyes. For a moment, he looked like Brian Griffin and spoke "you have a problem, we need to get you to rehab. Snap out of it!" before returning to his real dog self and walking me here.

So here I am, addicted, wanting to stop but not knowing if I can... Help

[katyamohsen]

Gym Etiquette 101

Read my Gym Etiquette Guide on Slice.ca. 

[katyamohsen]

3 Fitness Apps Reviewed

I tried and tested 3 fitness and wellness apps for Slice.ca Read my reviews on Slice.ca

1) Workout routines: Nike Training Club (aka NTC) 2) Calorie and fitness tracker: MyPlate by Livestrong 3) Running and adventure game: Zombies, run! 

[katyamohsen]

Spring Clean Your Workout Routine

Read my tips on Slice.ca on how to Spring Clean Your Workout Routine.

[katyamohsen]

Are you sabotaging your workout efforts?

Read my 5 workout Dos & Don'ts on Slice.ca to find out what you may be doing that work against your fitness and health efforts versus the ones that set you on the right path.

[gtx-d-deactivated20190913]

I really enjoy teaching this program! #CXWORX (Taken with instagram)

[katyamohsen]

I enjoy teaching it too!

[katyamohsen]

Seriously? I don't think so.

I was browsing the web for interesting health and fitness content and came across this link: Now Ashley Weaver Shows You Fitness-Tricept-extensons workout.  I had a bad feeling about it based on the initial frame I could see, but I decided not to judge by its cover. So I watched it. My initial reaction was correct.

There’s more footage of a hot girl in ultra-mini shorts and ultra-low cut top strutting about and flipping her hair than there is of her demonstrating the exercise move. He form, isn’t terrible at first. Then she flips around to show ass-view (watch it and you’ll know what I mean) where we can barely see past her ass, but can see just enough to see she is swinging her arm.

Oh! It gets better. Read the blurb underneath, it’s filled with mistakes and the blurb, title and URL say “tricept extensons.” Learn to spell for goodness sake! Use a spell checker before you post. I know I’m queen of typos, but the letters the P & T are nowhere near each other on the keyboard.  As fitness professional should know how to spell basic muscles names and exercise moves. 

Between the strutting and writing, how can anyone possibly take this type of video and the people involved in producing it seriously?

Rant done.

[katyamohsen]

Months 2-3 Update Re: My 2012 Fitness & Health Goals

At the start of January I set my 2012 fitness and health goals.

I've fallen behind on my progress reports but not on my progress! I've been away on business and vacation travels for most of March which has slowed down my blogging, but I'm happy to stay that despite eating out way more than normal in March, due to my travels, it didn't have a negative effect on my results!

Here's the round up.

1) Eat clean. 

I've been doing my best on this front.Held strong in February but had a more difficult time in March being away for 2 weeks. When you travel and live off restaurant food, you can try to choose better restaurant options and menu options, but it's not as easy as when you prepare your own foods. While in the UK it was easier than while at an all-inclusive resort on vacation. At the buffet, I avoided mystery food. On the flip side to having to eat out so much, it also meant snacking a lot less, especially at night. That made up for rest :)  

  2) Live gluten free. 

I feel really great! I've now been gluten free for 4 months and I don't plan or have any desire to go back.  I will admit that I did have a wee bit of a slip at the all inclusive. I didn't have access to any gluten free breads, crackers, pasta, cookies; it forced me to cut back more than normal on my carbs. Not a terrible compromise but by the end of the week I was feeling the effects of a low fiber diet (vegetable options were quite scarce too) and also I just wanting something sweet. So I broke  and had a bite on two separate days of this doughnut like thing they had at breakfast. I figured that just one bite wouldn't kill me. It tasted good and was too little to bother me. In hind sight, I should have thought to pack some gluten free crackers. I normally do, but for some reason it didn't occur to me for this trip. 

I also did some research over the past few weeks at food intolerance tests that are offered here in Canada. I've decided to take the Hemocode test via Rexall/PharmaPlus pharmacies. They test 250 different foods. I'm going tomorrow morning for the test and should have results back within 7-10 days. I'm looking forward to learn what foods I need to avoid. I know wheat is one which is I've eliminated it already but I feel there are some others. I'll report back on those results and experience when I've got news. [FYI, more to come on this in a future post]

Last but not least, I purchased a quinoa cookbook and I'm looking forward to trying some recipes this week.

3) Plan weekly menus.

This has been very bad, in March. Clearly because I've been away and eating out. But February was good, especially for breakfasts and lunches!

4) Drink 8 glasses of water (with fresh lemon) a day

I was doing so well here. I drank lots of water while I travelled too. Then I cam back and it was like I'd never picked up the habit. I think it's because I didn't have any lemon on hand. 

Less than two weeks ago, I learned that I have a high intolerance to lemon, and all citrus fruits, so I won't be able to enjoy lemon water anymore. Maybe I'll try cucumber slices to add fresh flavour.

5) Sleep 6-7 hrs per night

February was ok'ish. March was great! I was averaging 7 hours per night and waking up refreshed. Went back to work and fell back into my bad sleepless routine. I need to focus more on this one. I really felt a difference in my wellness, my focus and my overall health when I was sleeping more.

6) Exercise 2-3 times/week (on top of the fitness classes I teach)

7) Lose the 1-1.5 inches around my waist that I gained over the past 2 years. 

8) Execute 5 unassisted chin-ups.

Goals 6-7-8 being so closely related, I’ll address them in one.

I'm going strong here! I've been practicing holding 5-minute planks several times a week and I started running using my new favourite app Zombies, RUN!

I've also been team teaching more classes with my friends as I've been training to be a CXWORX instructor.

I've lost a few more pounds with my weight down to 157.7! My waistline is under 32 inches. I felt especially fantastic 2 weeks ago, but I feel like I've gained a couple of pounds back but my waistline is still in check, just under 32"! Now I'm extra determined to keep at it! There's nothing like positive results to motivate me

Chin-ups are still a huge challenge. But I'm not giving up!

Other general goals:  Read more books & write more, Continue to educate myself in fitness & health matters.

I've been doing more online research than actual reading lately, but it's all in an effort to find the best fitness continuing education I can find and in preparation for some big changes coming up in my life. I know what you're thinking and the answer is: no I'm not pregnant! But you will find out soon enough.

I’ll be back in a month with more news. How are your 2012 goals doing? If you haven’t set any, it’s never too late. You can get some goal setting and keeping tips in a post a I wrote for Slice.ca: How to Keep Your 2012 Fitness Goals. Even though it’s a more fitness goal oriented post, the principles can be applied to all types of goals.

[katyamohsen]

What I learned on my 37th birthday

"You are stronger than you think!" That's what I tell my class participants over and over again. It's also what I know and believe and practice every chance I get. 

This week, I challenged myself to do a 7-minute plank (on elbows and toes). I knew I could do 5 and I did 6 last week, so I thought if I try and believe I can do more,I will. On Wednesday March 28, I set it up and told my husband I would do at least 7 minutes and keep going as long as I could. How strong am I? How long did I hold it, on my toes?  10 minutes!  

How did I do it? Determination, self-motivation and support from my husband who was watching me and from my friends who cheering me on for taking a challenge and who knew I was committed and were counting on me not to disappoint. Getting through the first 6 minutes were fine, I already knew I had it in me. When I reached 7 I felt better than expected so kept pushing through. At 8, I still had some steam left so I kept going. When I got to 9, I simply couldn't give up being so close to 10 minutes, the number my great friend & colleague challenged me to do. Mind over matter 100%!

Determination and will power goes a long way when it comes to pushing your fitness limits. Fear and negative thoughts can easily hold us back from taking challenges and reaching new goals. 

My best advice is to just go for it! Push yourself! Don't be afraid to overdo it, listen to your body, it will tell you when/if you reach a point that is unsafe. Don't be afraid to fail at the challenge. No matter what, you will only finish stronger! You will come out a better person too; better to commit to a challenge and trying it wholeheartedly than giving up without even trying.  

My learnings: I too truly am stronger than I think. I'm getting stronger and fitter with age.  My body is mine to take care of, to nurture and to love as it is. Trying something new, something outside of my comfort zone is not as scary or difficult as thinking about trying.

My last words, as unoriginal as they are, really say it all. Just do it! (Thanks for that Nike you knew it all along.)

[katyamohsen]

Join me this Valentine's week for a 5 day challenge. It's short and sweet and super easy to follow. You'll thank yourself for doing it. 

[katyamohsen]

Month 1 Update Re: My 2012 Fitness & Health Goals

At the start of January I set my 2012 fitness and health goals.

I will report on them at least once a month, possibly more often when I have exciting news to share. Here's my one month update:

1) Eat clean. 

So far so clean! I'm not 100% perfectly clean, but I'm making the effort and trying very hard to make clean choices, if some of the choices aren't clean but are necessary, I choose the cleanest. I'm happy to say that it's not been too difficult to date. I also noticed that my eating wasn't all that unclean to begin with. I also got a digital subscription to Clean Eating mag which has delicious recipes and interesting articles and stories.

2) Live gluten free. 

This is working out really well and I feel great. This also hasn't been as difficult as I imagined it might be. It can be a little tricky at lunch time if I haven't packed a lunch. On the flip side, it's been a great motivator to pack lunch and also to avoid things like cake and cookies. Now when I say no to cake, no one can argue "I can't eat gluten".

I've also tried some great gluten free products that taste GREAT and don't crumble to pieces. A couple of the ones I love are Udi's Gluten Free pizza crusts (found them at Metro) and Bounce Energy balls almond flavour (found these at Superstore and online (note some of their flavours only wheat free)). 

3) Plan weekly menus.

This one has been so-so. Started off well then started to slip. Rather than planning weekly, it's been a little more like 1-2 days at a time. I need to work on this. I downloaded Food by evernote for my iphone to help me keep notes on foods and meals.

4) Drink 8 glasses of water (with fresh lemon) a day

The past week was pretty bad. I bought lemons and kept them at the office, which made things much simpler and the lemon made my water very tasty. I started with warm water and lemon (juiced) first thing in the morning and then kept cut up lemon in my water bottle all day. I was drinking a lot. Last week, I forgot to buy lemons and kept forgetting and barely drank anything at all. Lesson learned, keep lemons handy! It tasted good and really helps increase water intake.

5) Sleep 6-7 hrs per night

A dismal... I'm ashamed. A part from waking up exhausted in the mornings after a late night (often working) and saying to myself "tonight I am going to bed early, in bed by 11:30" I can't say I made a real effort. Now that some of my freelance work is complete and release week at the gym is over, I won't be as stressed or having to work late. I don't have any more excuses.

I just had the idea of setting one of the alarms on my wristwatch for 11pm. That will be my "shut everything down and get ready for bed NOW" reminder. Let's see if it helps.

6) Exercise 2-3 times/week (on top of the fitness classes I teach)

7) Lose the 1-1.5 inches around my waist that I gained over the past 2 years. 

8) Execute 5 unassisted chin-ups.

Goals 6-7-8 being so closely related,I'll address them in one. Once again I started off pretty well with 6 & 8. Then work got busy and I had a hard time making time. Instead of using it as an excuse to not exercise more, I used it as a reason to hire my own personal trainer. I started training two weeks ago. I'll be training with Anderson at GoodLifeFitness Bloor Park (I work there too) for 36 sessions. Those will last at least 3 months,  longer if I change from 3 times a week to 2 times a week after my first month. Goals are set for 5 unassisted chin-ups, stronger triceps and 7% body fat loss. First month goals: 2% body fat loss and 2.5lbs and 1.5 inches off my waist. These were set by my trainer and I don't plan on disappointing him.

Other general goals:  Read more books & write more, Continue to educate myself in fitness & health matters.

Reading more has been limited, due once again to my recent workload; now that rush is over. My husband bought me a Kobo eReader Touch; it'll be great for my commute on the subway, lightweight and small to easily fit in my heavy and super stuffed gym bag.

I'll be back in a month with more news. How are your 2012 goals doing? If you haven't set any, it's never too late. You can get some goal setting and keeping tips in a post a I wrote for Slice.ca: How to Keep Your 2012 Fitness Goals. Even though it's a more fitness goal oriented post, the principles can be applied to all types of goals.

[katyamohsen]

Stuck in a workout rut?

For tips on how to keep your workouts fresh, interesting and fun, check out my latest post for Slice.ca: 8 ways to get out of a workout rut. Do you have tips to share?