Being Tired is Not an Excuse

If it was, I would literally never do anything. You can go back to being tired after working out and relax then. Just get your workout done and then you can do whatever else you feel like. Or a whole bunch of nothing, whatever you want to do. Just harness a little bit of energy and put it into a workout and you'll feel so much better than if you hadn't. Don't fight me on this one, try it out. This new 7 minute workout is perfect for providing a quick burst of energy...

7 minute cardio kettlebell workout with 2 rounds of:
5 burpees with pushup
10 kettlebell squats
5 burpees with pushup
5 knees to feet
5 burpees with pushup
10 kettlebell lunge pass through

There are modifications for if you don't have a kettlebell or if you have no weights whatsoever. Never skip a workout, make it work for you. It's only 7 minutes, try it out with me! Maybe you'll do it even faster than I could, let me know.

I'm continuing to challenge myself with the burpees with pushup in an effort to keep working on pushups and my upper body strength. I'm never giving up on doing pushups more easily; I'll get there. Let's work on it together. 

​We're told you can only get protein from meat, iron from red meat, calcium from dairy, and omega 3 fatty acids from fish; but animals (and their byproducts) weren't born containing these nutrients, they get them from what they eat. So cut out the middleman and eat what they eat instead of relying solely on meat and animal products as the only sources. Eating some meat and dairy is ok, but it's important to be aware that they aren't the only, or even the best sources for many necessary nutrients. You have choices; and variety's always a good thing. Cows especially get much of their iron and calcium from eating grass. Of course it's not realistic to say ok we should all eat grass to be as healthy as cows (our digestive tracts can't break it down the way theirs can even if you wanted to try), but it is realistic to say we can get many of the same nutrients from other vegetables and do just fine eating less or even no meat at all.

My whole philosophy is to eat what you want, whichever diet works for you, but just to be informed about all nutrient sources across foods and food groups. I would hate for you to think you're forced to drink milk or eat dairy products because it's the only place you can obtain sufficient quantities of calcium, because that just isn't true. Dark green leafy vegetables (kale's my favorite, and one of the most popular and versatile) especially are a very rich source of calcium, and it's actually more bioavailable (able to be used in our bodies) than the calcium in dairy. This is something the dairy council has done very well to hide from us. Got milk was a huge campaign growing up, so many different celebrities modeled that milk moustache. I'm not going to go on a tirade against dairy, the decision is ultimately up to you, but if you have trouble digesting dairy, it might be worth considering switching to non dairy forms of milk products; or even if you want to eat lots of dairy, you should still have some kale too at least a couple times a week. You could try a big salad, sauteing it with garlic and a little olive oil,  or cram a handful into a fruit smoothie or protein shake, there's so many possibilities.

I'll talk more about protein, iron, and omega 3s in another post (or posts) soon, but in the meantime I just want you to be aware that if you've ever considered decreasing your meat and animal product consumption, but were afraid to because you didn't know how you'd get sufficient protein or other nutrients, please don't worry. If anyone wants more information, please contact me and I'll help you out; or if you're super shy, the internet has so much information on which foods are the best sources of nutrients, how to incorporate more plant based foods into your meals, and amazing plant based recipes showing you exactly how to do that. I myself am learning every day and I've been vegan for years and have a degree in nutrition. Never stop learning and doing research, always stay informed. I just want you to have all of the information possible about different foods so you can make informed choices, instead of only accepting what society has erroneously and narrowmindedly drilled into our heads all our lives. That's my biggest goal, to inform. After learning, the choice is yours to do what you will with the information I provide. The only lifestyle I push is keeping an open mind and being receptive to new information.