Clean Eats, Fast Feets

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You Better Work

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Does this title make anyone else think of RuPaul?

Before Tim Gunn coined the phrase, “Make it Work,” RuPaul used to sing “You! Better! Work! Work it girl. Do your thing!” Am I aging myself again?

I just started and already I’ve digressed.

Today’s post is going to be all about Fast Feets. I’m aware of the grammatical inconsistencies, but it’s catchy, no?

I’m always rambling on about the Clean Eats, so I think it’s high time we bust into the Fast Feets. Don’t worry (you were concerned, weren’t you), I’m not going to break down every exercise I did in the gym with accompanying weights and reps. That’s not my style, but I do want to get my fitness on.

eat clean, train dirty.

For those of you who are new to this blog (hey, thanks for stopping by, stick around, say hi), I really like to work out, and I like to work out hard. Really hard.

Oh yeah, I’m one of those. The reason I work out is to make my jiggly bits a little less jiggly and because it’s really good for my mental health. I don’t go to a shrink; I go to the gym, which is substantially cheaper than therapy. Despite being all about unicorns and rainbows, I must have a lot of pent up aggression because when I’m at the gym, it’s balls to the wall the entire time. If I’m not working it, I might as well pack it up and go home.

TRUE

I’m not one of those pretty girls at the gym either. You know what I mean; the kind who work outs, but still look perfectly polished when they’re done, like they’re ready to go clubbing (do people still say clubbing?). Nope, that’s not me. I’m generally red-faced and sweaty; a hot mess, and not in an attractive way. My hair, what little I have, is sticking up and out in all kinds of wayward directions, and my sports bra is starting to chaff in places you don’t want chaffing. It doesn’t matter; I’m ok with it. In fact, I’m more than ok with it. I like my gym nastiness. It makes me kind of proud. The more I sweat, the more I feel like I worked out hard. Or maybe I just drank a ton of water beforehand.

cute - sweat like a pig to look like a fox

In any event, I got really dirty, nasty, sweaty on Tuesday. My gym started offering a new lunch time class in January, and I missed it last week because I was feeling a tiny bit under the weather. Well, I checked it out this week and Mama like (am I allowed to use this phrase if I’m not a mama; are there rules to these things?).

Let me set the scene. The class was Mixed Martial Arts (yes, as in the crazy people who fight each other in the middle of the ring and sometimes on the side of the ring and sometimes on the floor) and Bobby was the instructor. This class wasn’t about fighting each other (or else I would have won or maybe just ran away with my tail between my legs because I don’t like actual violence) but more about the endurance training MMA fighters employ.

Bobby (we’re on a first name basis now…or at least I am, not sure about him) sounds like such a nice name, but it wasn’t the case here. He was a big burly dude and former military (I might have made up the last part) so it was no surprise when he started barking out commands for an hour straight: Run, Push Ups, Squats, Lunges, Run, Side Run, Push Ups, Sit Ups, Kicks, Punches, Run, Push Ups, Plank, Run, Run, Run, Run, Run. Move, move, move, move, don’t stop….and here I told you I wasn’t going to go into every detail…oops, I lied.

The short version (too late): it was intense.

The long version (Part Two): he joked about his ability to make people puke. No one hurled, but a lot of people left class early. I was not one of those people though. In fact, I did every exercise he requested with a bounce in my step and glean in my eye. Every time, he called out push ups, I dropped and gave him Boy Push Ups; no more girly push ups for me. While I didn’t keep track of the actual number, I’m pretty sure I blew my previous record away (forty in one day; phew that’s for babies now). There was also a “pretty girl” in the class who was a show off and kept trying to one up me (or maybe she was just really good, and I’m competitive). She was obviously a regular from his other classes, but I kept up (at least in my mind). There was another regular and another pretty girl (where does he find these people?) who kept playing with the radio every five minutes. I think it was a ploy to get out of the exercises, and I’m totally on to her. Or maybe, I’m just competitive. Hmm, the common factor here seems to be me….whatever.

Reason To Be Fit #0602

I loved the class, and I can’t wait to do it again, although I did have to soak in a long hot bath twice this week, with some dead sea salts to cure my aching muscles. I wish they’d consider changing the name on this; nobody wants to bath with anything dead, regardless of the amazing health benefits. Sure, they weren’t exactly thinking about marketing when they named the Dead Sea, but c’mon people a little foresight here would have proved invaluable.

In any event, it was a kick ass workout and while Bobby and RuPaul have nothing in common, they both say “You! Better! Work!”

What’s the last workout you did this week (I’m off to another spinning class today)? What’s your favorite type of workout? And why do you actually do it (sanity, jiggly bits, stress relief, weight loss)?

Comments

  1. This post made me laugh! Not too hard though as my roommate is still asleep 😀

    Way to go! You sound like one of those hard-core fitnessistas that I LOVE to HATE. Lol. Don’t worry though, I don’t hate you. I admire you.

    Because I pretty much hate exercising and getting sweaty. Which is terrible. If I was forced to workout though I would choose dance cardio and weight lifting. Both are A-Okay in my book. I get my exercise in from walking to and from all of my classes, probably an hour a day on average.

    Reply

    • I’m glad you got a laugh out of it. That always makes me happy to hear.
      It’s weird because I’m definitely hard core, but I don’t look good doing it, and if you are new, I will go out of my way to make you feel included, and I’ll give you a pat on the back when you’re done. I’m all about encouraging and supporting others, which is also why I want to be a spinning instructor, instead of a mere student.
      Dance cardio sounds like it’d be a lot of fun. I sort of do that in my kitchen every weekend. 🙂

      Reply

  2. Haven’t said it in a while so thought I’d remind you…I fricken love you….HAPPY FRIDAY! Keep doin what you do–you inspire me so much! 🙂

    Reply

  3. My goal is to be in the best shape of my life come my birthday this August. To do that I’m only drinking 2x a week and more importantly am boxing 3-5 times a week. It’s a killer workout, goes really quickly, and is never boring. I love all these sayings and pictures you’ve got in this post. Only trouble is, I want to make t-shirts out of all of them!

    Reply

    • Boxing is the bomb. I’ve done kickboxing classes before and they are no joke. That will absolutely get you in great shape, and kudos to you for planning ahead. If you really want to be in great shape, it’s a slow and gradual process (not like a two week crash diet). I’m glad you like the sayings; I found them all on Pinterest; it’s great for inspirational quotes.

      Reply

  6. I did about 5.5 miles at the gym yesterday and I was a sweaty mess. I don’t look pretty at the gym, ever. I work out hard and I’m at the gym for a reason. I don’t care what I look like at the gym, but I have a few brief moments when I do wish I could look like one of the women who are perfectly put together with not even one hair out of place, but then I think that sweating a sexy!

    Reply

    • Five and a half miles is a very nice number, and you’re right. Sweaty is sexy because it shows how hard we’re working.

      Reply

  9. Haha! Forget the short version, the long version ROCKS! And you are as always every bit of hilarious when you go on your little tangents! Love it! I tried the Body Combat class at my gym when they first started it…it has a lot of MMA type moves and I thought it was pretty intense, but from the sound of it, my class was like Kindergarten compared to yours! Although I have to say I was surprised as hell when I woke up the next day and had lost the ability to move my arms! I was like, “What?! I didn’t even use weights?!” Haha!

    The last workout I managed to do was last Tuesday…my knee started feeling better so I did a slow walk on the treadmill at the gym followed by some leg exercises that my doctor told me about to try to help support my knee joint. The next day, my knee buckled on me and I haven’t been back since. I’m not usually one to complain, but it REALLY sucks not being able to do what you want to do. Exercise has always been my outlet…a way to reduce stress and stay sane and well, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t do it for the anti-jiggle benefits. It’s seriously killing me to be out of it right now! Do me a favor? Next time you go balls-to-the-wall, take out a little aggression for me too?

    Reply

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