Starting Flexibility Training as an Adult

Hey everyone, it's been a long while since I posted here and since this is a fitness related personal blog, I would like to share my experience with flexibility along with some pictures of me dressed as a mime doing some bendy poses.  

When it comes to stretching, I was a late bloomer and didn't start stretching up until I was in my mid-twenties (I was never a dancer or a gymnast during my school years) and I absolutely love it.  At age 25, I started taking ballet lessons at a wonderful school nearby that offers serious lessons to adults (where you must wear a leotard, tights, and ballet shoes...and where you perform once a year).  I was doing ballet twice a week for two years and I was stretching at home during the remaining days.  After two years of ballet, I've been taking up some hot yoga classes and burlesque classes...and I am completely in love with them!  My burlesque teacher was a contortionist and after seeing an amazing performance by her, I decided that I would stretch myself to be as bendy as I can!  Now, I can do my splits on all sides, lots of deep back bends, the standing scorpion pose, the king pigeon pose, and so much more.  

People often think that the reason why I'm so bendy is because I was in gymnastics or ballet as a child and/or teenager.  That is not true at all and I'll repeat that I didn't start stretching up until I was 25 years old.  The only physical activities I did as a child and teenager were walking, bike riding, and swimming.  Other than that, I solely focused on art and making comic books (which I still do by the way).  I was never a sedentary person though.        

If you want to get super bendy as an adult, you need to start slow and have patience.  You should start off by stretching 2-3 times a week and slowly work to stretching 5 days a week.  The more you stretch, the better...but don't overdue your stretches or stress out your body too much.  There were times I pulled a hamstring muscle on my left leg by overstretching it and it always took forever to heel so it is very important to listen to your body.  If you are a total beginner, you will get frustrated because mastering some poses will take a lot of time, especially if you don't have much natural flexibility to begin with.  Don't get discouraged and give up though.  As cliche as it sounds, practice does make perfect!

So, here is my current daily routine: I do cardio (walking, running, treadmill, etc) for about 45 minutes to an hour to warm up my body.  After that, I do strength training to toughen up my arms (my arms are definitely the weakest part of my body).  Strength training exercises include any arm workouts at the gym, push-ups, planks, bench dips, etc.  I probably do strength training for about 30 minutes or so.  I also work my core by doing some sit-ups and crunches.  Then, I begin my stretch routine for an hour.  I think I read that in order to be a contortionist, that you need to train 3 hours a day, but an hour is enough for me and I don't feel I need to go over that (at this moment).  My stretch routine is working on my splits, front bends, back bends, and stretchy standing and laying poses.  YouTube has some great stretching tutorials for people of all levels so definitely check those out!

There are so many benefits to daily stretching and being flexible that I honestly never experience low back pain or any sorts of strains or discomfort.  My posture has gotten better and I can sit for long periods of time and feel perfectly fine.  Also, I just love how good I feel.  Anyways, here are a few of my bendy mime pictures.  These pictures were taken a year and a half ago when I had just mastered the splits.  I've come so far in my flexibility since and I can't wait to do another mime/clown shoot (or shoot in general) with even crazier poses :).

Fat Acceptance Movement

In this post, I would like to simply share my opinions on the Fat Acceptance Movement.  I would like to start off by saying that I completely get it that not everyone cares or is looking to be a fitness model and that's okay!  You can obviously be a completely healthy person without having abs or looking like a super model as long as you stay within a normal weight range for your height.  Trust me, I get all of this and I'm not trying to pressure anyone into working on looking like they belong on the cover of fitness magazines if that's not what they want.

What I like about the Fat Acceptance Movement is that it tells you to love yourself as you are today and that bullying someone solely for how he/she looks like is wrong.  I agree with both of those statements.  Just because you are not at your ideal weight at this moment, it doesn't mean that you can't love and respect yourself as you are today.  However, loving yourself also means progressing and taking care of yourself.  Complacency is not good because it keeps you ignorant to the dangers that come with being grossly overweight or obese and then you do nothing at all to change your lifestyle for the better.

What I dislike about the Fat Acceptance Movement is that it says that an overweight or obese person can be 100% healthy with no medical problems whatsoever.  No, obesity is not healthy.  You may not have any weight related problems today, but you will get them in the future.  Not only is it strenuous to be holding that much extra weight in the first place, but the human body isn't even meant to be that big.  Look at the animals in the wild.  Are any of them grossly overweight or obese?  No.  Extra fat puts stress on your organs and raises your risk of high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, strokes, reproductive problems, and so on.  By simply losing weight, you are decreasing those dangerous risks by a long shot.

So please, don't delude yourself.  Take the (good) advice of the Fat Acceptance Movement and love yourself as you are today, but love yourself enough to do what's right and take care of your body.  Your body is your temple.  Respect it, nurture it with healthy food and exercise, and work towards being in a healthy weight range for your height.  It takes a lot of work and discipline but you will feel a hundred times better when you get to your goal and your health will improve big time!

Don't Diet. Just Learn to eat Healthy!

As I've stated in my previous post, I simply don't believe in diets.  From what I've seen and experienced, diets (especially crash diets!) have been nothing more than a temporary fix and a waste of time.  Basically, you go on a crash starvation diet, you lose a bunch of weight, you look good for a bit, and then you start pigging out due to depriving yourself for so long that you end up gaining more weight than you started with in the first place.  That's not good and you simply can't go through life like this.  Instead, you need to make it a lifestyle to eat healthy for the most part and eat your junk food in moderation.  Here are my tips:

Avoid fast food places 

Places such as McDonald’s, KFC, Burger King, Taco Bell, and so on are absolute garbage foods with the poorest quality of food products imaginable and filled with various chemicals that humans shouldn’t even be consuming in the first place. I refuse to ever eat at any of those places and haven’t touched any of them in more than a decade. You don’t have to go to my extreme though. I admit that I also have a very sensitive stomach.  If you really like to eat fast food, just have it once in a great while. Make it an actual treat for yourself. Don’t make it a part of your daily diet.  You can always make hamburgers and tacos at home if need be.  It's a healthier alternative (and much more tasty!).

Learn to cook at home

The best thing about home cooking is that it’s cheaper and that you have absolute control as to what ingredients you choose to put in your meals and how healthy you want to make them. This also helps if you have a food allergy because you can then avoid putting certain foods inside your meal that you're body can't handle.  I make amazingly delicious salads, soups, pastas, and seafood dishes without adding any oils or sodium in them…and I get complimented a lot on them! If you’re not a master at cooking, just look up “healthy easy recipes” online and you’ll find an endless amount of fun healthy meals you can make by yourself. Nothing tastes or feels as good as home cooking!

Learn to eat healthy and enjoy it

If you can afford to buy organic produce, that’s great! If not, then just buy healthy foods you can afford. Keep a primary diet of lean meats, fresh vegetables & fruits, and some dairy/whole grains. Sugars are fine if you’re big on sugar (such as myself!) but don’t overdue it on them. If anything, have your sugars during breakfast.  Your heaviest meal should either be breakfast or lunch. Your lightest meal should be dinner, about 3 hours before you go to bed, and it should be a protein-based meal with little to no carbohydrates. Don’t eat out of boredom, don’t spend your day sipping on sugary lattes, and don’t be snacking on junk food all day. Only eat when you’re really hungry.

In conclusion, you have to eat foods you may not necessarily like in order to get the results that you want.  Along with that, you should more than likely learn to make your food at home.  No, microwavable dishes and processed foods that come in boxes don't count.  I'm talking about making fresh food from scratch.  Remember, don't starve yourself or use any diet pills.  Just learn to enjoy eating healthy and get used to making junk food a treat, not a daily meal.  Your body and health will thank you for it in the long run.  

No Excuses: My Feelings on America's Obesity Crisis

It is no lie that America is turning into a land of excuses. As someone who has lived abroad, I noticed right away how much noticeably slimmer, better dressed, and happier people in Europe and other places abroad are compared to Americans. In Europe, most people can handle the truth and don’t need a trophy for things they don’t deserve or have worked to earn. You can tell someone in Asia or Europe that they are gaining weight (in a polite way of course) or heading towards a dangerous path and it’s not demonized. Instead, they appreciate you for telling them the truth so that they can take care of their health and work towards a better quality of life. Here in America, a lot of people simply don’t want to hear the truth and prefer a sugarcoated white lie instead in order to avoid changing their lifestyle for the better.

The obesity crisis in America is absolutely sickening and it's only getting worse. No, this doesn’t mean that every single American person is overweight or obese, but a huge majority of our country is. As a matter of fact, 30% of Americans are now considered obese and childhood obesity rates have more than tripled since 1980. It has been said that this generation is going to be the first generation that will have a shorter life span than the previous one…and that’s just sad.

So, what is causing this obesity crisis? Our lifestyle of course! We have greasy fattening fast food places at every corner, our food quality sucks (most of it is overly processed, filled with hidden sugars, and filled with genetically modified organisms), a lot of people here aren’t taught how to cook healthy at home, and a lot of us live a sedentary lifestyle. On top of that, we are stressed out and overworked because we are the only country that doesn’t require paid vacation time or paid leave to our workers. Come on America! I thought we were better than that.

Most people work office jobs that keep them sitting down all day (which of course leads to snacking on junk food and sugary coffees due to boredom), and spend way too much time watching television. Here in America, it’s all about convenience. Many people seem to want to do everything in their nature to avoid walking and I’ve seen people drive their cars to places so close to them that they can easily walk there in 15 minutes. These people use the excuse of having “no time” to work out or eat healthy, yet they have plenty of time (hours even!) to sit down and watch Netflix all night while gorging on soda and chips.

It’s interesting because when you watch television, you see a lot of commercials advertising greasy fattening super size fast food restaurants and at the same time, you see commercials advertising diet pills to obviously lose the weight you gained from eating at those fast food places. This is all done for the sake of money with little to no care for the health of the people, so it’s really on you to take matters into your own hands by educating yourself when it comes to healthy eating and healthy living. 

You can easily avoid lots of future health issues by eating properly and exercising (or simply keeping active!) but it takes effort. Here are some of my tips:

If you work at an office job, avoid sugary drinks and prepare healthy meals to eat at lunch. Don’t snack on junk throughout your day. If you’re craving something sweet, bring some fruit or make a mixed fruit salad. Also, drink lots of water. If you want coffee or tea, that’s fine but don’t add sugar. Don’t fret if you really want your sugary drinks though.  It's all about moderation.  You can have your sugary drinks and junk food, but don’t have them more than once or twice a week. Before you go to work, set up your alarm clock half an hour early and do a quick run or a quick workout at home. During lunch, use some of that time to stretch or go outside for a walk or run. After work, go to the gym for 30-60 minutes a day or enroll yourself in an activity such as a dance class or yoga. If you can’t afford any of those, then do your workouts at home. YouTube has many free workout videos that will keep you sweating. Doing house chores such as cleaning and cooking also keeps you on your feet as well, so that’s always good.

With all that said, this doesn’t mean that people who are working a more active job are necessarily healthier than those who's jobs are more sedentary. When I worked in retail, I had a lot of overweight and obese coworkers and of course, they were eating junk food outside of working hours which had kept them fat. It mostly comes down to your eating habits and as stated before, you need to keep active.  Keeping active is good for the body because we as humans aren’t built to be sitting down all day. By stretching and exercising, you can avoid a lot of issues in the future such as high blood pressure, osteoporosis, anxiety, back pain, neck pain, and more. By (mostly) avoiding junk food, you can avoid heart disease, strokes, type 2 diabetes, depression, kidney disease, liver damage, an increased risk of getting cancer, and more.

Yes, I understand that we all have different metabolisms and that it may be harder for one person to lose weight as opposed to another person with a faster metabolism, but no one is “genetically” fat. Seriously, I don’t want to hear that excuse. It’s easy to maintain a healthy weight if you know proper nutrition and make the effort to make health one of your top priorities in your life. You don’t need to starve yourself and I strongly don’t recommend fad diets because they don’t work in the long run. Just learn to incorporate healthy meals in your daily life and exercise for a good 30-60 minutes a day and you will see the weight drop. I’ll post about things to eat another time :).

Thanks for reading!