During quarantine I, like many others, found myself with tons of time. I decided to focus on my fitness, since this was something that, while important in my life, has never really been the main priority. To me, fitness is a lifestyle that is always evolving; what I am doing right now is not perfect, but I think I am closer to figuring out what my body truly needs, and how to properly take care of it. Besides, trying out new things and getting creative with my workouts was a lot of fun!
Here’s the routine I established so far.
Workout
- As much as I dislike it, I do tend to have better workouts right after waking up, before eating anything. Sometimes, I drink a cup of coffee before my workout, but mostly I just get right into it. Most of my workouts were done within half an hour of waking up. My workouts averaged about 30-45 minutes, the longest an hour.
- I had no weights, but I did have bands and a yoga mat, so my workouts focused on simple movements that didn’t require weights or machines. Whenever I could, I added weight by grabbing jugs of water or milk, my heaviest plants, and in one occasion, a huge bag of soil that ended up ripping and made a huge mess, whoops! I divided my workouts by muscle group.
- Some fitness info: Ashleigh Jordan, Whitney Simmons.
- The greatest addition to my routine? JUMP ROPE! Holy cow, jump rope is the most wonderful form of cardio ever. I started out with very basic jump rope for ten minutes, then I made it fun by learning new tricks and pushing myself in various ways. Every Monday was jumprope day; I’d attempt to learn a new trick and then the rest of the week I’d spend the first ten minutes of my workout practicing until I mastered the trick.
- An unexpected side effect of jumping rope: I was beating my own PR’s on the rare instances I’d go running
- Once a week, I’d switch it up by doing a HIIT workout video, or barre, or Zumba. I also started incorporating yoga more and more.
- Honestly, sometimes I worked out more than once a day. Usually the second workout would be a lot lighter on the body, maybe some core exercises, or a series of moves designed to burnout a muscle group.
Diet
- I’ve been a pescatarian for a while, and this didn’t change. However, the biggest change in my diet is that I eliminated most of the processed foods I was consuming. I cut down on pasta, things like veggie sausages or “beyond meat” type foods, eliminated sauces such as ketchup and salad dressings.
- I did cut down massively on bread, and on the few occasions I did eat bread I chose whole grain breads. I did indulge occasionally, however–I’m Colombian; you will pry my pandebonos from my cold dead hands
- I ate foods that could be consumed in their natural/raw state (this was out of practicality, rather than any desire to eat “clean”) I ate tons of leafy greens such as spinach and spring mix, grape tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers, nuts, some cheeses, a lot of fruit… I’m pretty sure I’m leaving quite a few ingredients out of this list. I also ate a lot of seafood, eggs, quinoa, and grains such as beans and lentils, which I’d prepare in large batches using my crock pot.
- Baking became a hobby of sorts, as I attempted to indulge my massive sweet tooth in a healthier way. I never saw myself as a baker, but now I can make a mean batch of healthy-ish biscotti. Yum!
- I complimented all this with protein powder and a few vitamin supplements.
I’m curious to see, anything else I could’ve done better? Any ways other people have prioritized their fitness? let me know!
