Wednesday WOOT! Factor!!

 

 Welcome to the Jungle people! ;-) Happy Wednesday!! Today, as promised last week, I am happy to feature my friend Kristin, who I also call Amazon Woman, or just plain OMG. Her blogs posts have blown my mind, all of them and especially this one (CLICK HERE TO READ) on "Warped Beauty Standards and Embracing the Buff". Blew me away. I am in awe of this woman and so proud to call her my friend. I won't lie, I am incredibly jealous that she is about 6'7 as well. Tall.com. 

Enjoy today's Wednesday WOOT! Factor, brought to you by the Sears(R) Fit Club! If you haven't joined us on Facebook, COME ON OVER! We are building a fabulous chatty community about all things fitness- especially on how to get fit outside of a gym! Werd. Go to Facebook.com/SearsFitClub to join the party. 

When did you first start working out and why?

I started running in elementary school – grade 1 to be precise.  We’d run laps around the school every day from 3 till 3:30.  I did it mostly because I was in love with this skinny blonde kid named Jeremy C; he had toothpick legs and huge eyes and could run like the wind.  But I got addicted to running, and started doing it competitively and continued into my teenage years.

I never lost my love for running in adulthood, but timing was sometimes hard.  I felt like I needed to mix it up a bit to fight the mid thirties bulge.  I started Crossfitting in February of 2010, and haven’t looked back.

Are you at your “Happy Place” right now – meaning more of a maintenance mode, or are you still in a weight loss mode?

I have actually stopped thinking about weight.  I threw out my scale last year.  I am now more focused on muscle and strength development and have stopped caring about my weight.  I know I have actually gained weight in the last year, but I also know from the way my clothes fit that those gains are all muscle mass.

If you are in maintenance mode, do you feel that you work just as hard to maintain your level of fitness as you did to lose it?

See above.  For the first time in my life, I really like my body.  I’m strong, lean, and un-self conscious.  I work super hard, but I also enjoy it.

What does your current workout “routine” look like now?

I CrossFit 5-6 days a week, and scatter 1 or 2 5-10 runs in there as well.  CrossFit takes less than an hour a day; most of that is spent warming and stretching and usually the actual workouts only last 10-25 minutes.

What do you do for cardio? How often?

There is some cardio built into CrossFit.  For example, last week one of our workouts included one called “Whitten”.  It’s a 400m run, 22 Kettlebell swings (1.5 pood), 22 box jumps, 22 wall ball shots, and 22 burpees – times 5 rounds.  It’s a killer cardio workout while also developing muscles, awesome.

Do you workout at home or the gym?

I workout at our local CrossFit box,.  I’m lucky it’s just down the street.

What do you say to those that haven’t gotten fit and complain that they don’t because they “can’t get motivated”?

I think we all have the same amount of motivation inside us, it’s just about whether we choose to extract it or not.  It’s all about priorities.  For years, building my career was my number one priority.  And then it was caring for my son.  For a while before that, I was into booze and partying.  I’m now at a time in my life where things are pretty good on the career, kid and man front, and I can afford to focus a bit on me.

What about any/all of the excuses like “No time”, “No money”, “no gym”, “no support”?

I’ve heard them all over at Aqufit.  And I’ve taken crap before for my response that the excuses are a lot of bull.

No money?  You can get a skip rope and do hill sprints down the road for pennies.

No gym?  Crossfit.com has free workouts everyday.  Many of them you can do In your garage, and if not you can scale them.

No support?  I understand that.  When I was a single mom, balancing a career and kid – I barely had enough time even to sleep.  But you can find 15 minutes in the morning, or before bed.  That’s really all it takes.  Find a friend to look after the kids on weekends, do the same for hers.  Innovate.  It’s worth it.

What does your “diet” look like i.e. how you eat, what is your Philosophy?

My fiancé and I follow the Paleo diet about 80% of the time.  The premise of the diet is vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and meat and that’s about it.  No dairy, salt, sugar or gluten.  We eat pretty clean 5 or 6 days a week and occasionally cheat with some cheese in our eggs or a special Saturday sandwich.  But, my abs became visible when I made the switch to Paleo and I don’t think it’s a coincidence.  I also have more energy and a lot less bloat.  The food is pretty good too…I think it’s a sustainable way to eat.

When we do binge – as we may have done in Vegas this last week – we feel pretty gross – lethargic, puffy, deflated.  Paleo was a challenge at first but now I really enjoy eating this way.

What changes have you made over the past several years in your diet and/or workout approach and why?

I’ve gone from running only to doing a variety of different exercises, thanks to Crossfit.  I lift heavy weights and for the first time, I focus on my strength rather than my waist size.  The best part is?  While I’m focusing on all the heavy lifting and time improvements – my waist has shrunk and my muscles have toned.

What is your food weakness?

Kozy Shack rice pudding, my God.  Cheesecake, brownies, sandwiches with crusty bread and lots of mayonnaise.  Cheese fondue.  Rich, sweet food.  I allow myself once in a while but I don always feel shiteous afterward.

What is your favorite healthy breakfast?

We eat quite a few eggs.  I’m partial to these little meals we call Gus Pots – they are mashed yam on the bottom, unsalted canned tomatoes on top of that, and then a layer of scrambled eggs with pepper and chopped chives.  Cook it in the oven for 10 or 15 minutes and you have an awesome, totally healthy soufflé.

When did you start blogging and why?

I’m old school.  I started a personal blog in 2003, and then continued it when I found myself unexpectedly pregnant.  That blog was a lifeline, and helped me kickstart a career that revolves around selling and writing blogs.  I blog personally at www.betternow.typepad.com and www.blog.aqufit.com . One for fun and one for fitness.

How has blogging enhanced your fitness efforts?

The positive reinforcement is awesome.  I didn’t even realize how much fat I was losing and how much muscle mass I’d gained until I posted pictures and got a whackload of feedback in the comments.  Also hearing other people’s tips and tricks helps a lot.  Actually…it was a reader who told me to try CrossFit after I’d posted that I was super bored at the gym.

What is your Twitter/FB/Email?

Twitter: lucky_kristin  Facebook: Kristin Darguzas

What haven’t you done (fitness wise) that you’d like to try?

I want to try it all!   New lifts.  Mastering a handstand push-ups, doing a muscle up, scaling a new mountain.  Rock climbing.  I think the key for me is to keep changing it up.  I’m easily bored.

What motivates you to keep at it?

My very fit fiancé.  My continued improvement.  The fact that I can see my muscles and I don’t want them to go away.  I like cruising around in my bathing suit, unworried about muffin tops.  I like feeling good in my own skin too much to ever go back.

Are you a morning workout person or evening or lunchtime?    I work out at noon everyday except Saturday, when I go in the morning at 9:30.

What is YOUR biggest excuse that you find yourself battling in not wanting to workout a certain day?

Sometimes I will have an important call or some work stuff that needs immediate attention and I’ll find myself garnering excuses.  But then I remind myself that I work better after a workout; my attention span is more crisp.  After about a year of pushing myself to go work out, I actually don’t find that it’s a chore at all anymore.

Do you weigh yourself or measure yourself?  

No

More from Kristin:

We’re given one life and one body.  We never know when we’re going to get hit by a bus,  get sick, become old.  Everything in life happens at crazy, unfathomable speeds and we have this time now to be our best: our strongest, fittest, healthiest selves.  I think we all have this monumental power inside of us, wanting to escape and flourish.  And I think we should  exploit the hell out of it.

The time is never better than now, and the only thing stopping you is you.  Go do it!