Get Trimmer... Naija Style (Week Seven)

Hi Ladies,

How are you doing? It's just over FOUR weeks to Christmas - this year went by super fast!

Set yourselves a target.... a realistic one for christmas parties. Work hard these next few weeks so you can relax and indulge on Christmas day.


My friend Keris of Fitter London says she will indulge on Christmas and Boxing Day and get back to healthy eating right after. I love that and I think I will be doing the same thing :)

What are your eating plans for the festive period? Do you plan to have a week off? Or a few days off? You need to think about all the hard work you've put in, you don't want to cancel most of it out in a week.

Please keep sharing your progress and experience here... people are inspired by your progress, including me :)

I understand you're busy... I'm part of a challenge on another blog and I forget to update regularly. Life gets in the way... I've promised to check in at least once a week.

So.., Ladies, please please check in once a week. Just to let us all know you're ok :)

We have a new addition to the group:


Amaka:
Bust - 44"

Hips - 45"

Thighs - 26"

Arms - 14"

Waist - 39"

Weight - 209lbs

Height - 5ft 7"
 

Welcome!!! :)

THIS WEEK: We're going to take a close look at food diaries for a whole day this week... so please enter your food diary for any day this week in the comment section and I will reply (within a day, I promise) with my feedback and suggestions (if needed). Log every single thing you ingest, even if it's a couple of sips of Coke.

I will update this post later... promise :)

Get Trimmer... Naija Style (Week Six)

Hi Ladies!

How are you *all* doing? Haven't heard/read from some you in a while... Please share your news - be it good or just ok. If you had any setbacks, let's know what your weakness is and how you plan to avoid the same thing happening again.

You'd be surprised other ladies will be able to relate to what you're going through and you'll be able to support each other :) It's not going to be a walk in the park but will be worth all the hard work :) I promise!

This week will be focusing on Strength Training, which I blogged about a couple of months ago: HERE

Ladies - You will not get muscular, you will not get big (like a man). You have to work really hard to gain muscle mass like a man because we don't have anywhere as much testosterone as men.

Direct quote from my strength training post: "Studies have shown that regular strength training results in lean muscle gain and close to twice the fat loss in weight (exactly what you’d like to hear).

Health benefits of strength training include increasing bone density, reduces the risk of health issues including diabetes and heart disease, lowers blood pressure and more. "

I usually have 2 heavy weights sessions a week and I'm reaping the benefits :) Come over to the weights side ;-)

Strength training tips:

• If you have access to a fitness professional or a friend who is very experienced, ask for help (my vids are being worked on...)
• Aim for at least 1 session a week, as a beginner and slowly increase to between 2 and 3.
• 2-3 sets of 10-12 repitions (reps) each.
• Choosing resistance/weights: You want a weight that you are barely able to do 10 reps... your last few reps (10-12) should be a struggle. Start light and gauge what workd for you.
• Start with isolated movements (focusing on one muscle group each exercise eg bicep curls) to master technique and to condition your body before you try the more effective compound (more than one muscle group) exercises. Some compound exercises can be done if you're a beginner eg squats
• Warming Up before the session, cooling down and stretching after are very important.

Please let me know if you have any questions or would like me to add anything else to this post.

Keep Up The Good Work!

Wanna Run? Pt II

Ms Zee asked me to post the next few weeks of the running program I followed when I started running, as a comp0lete beginner, in 2006.

If you're completely new to running or haven't read the previous post, Read it HERE.

This plan is good for a complete beginner but be aware that there are other important components needed if you decide to take up running. These include strength training, interval training and a lot of stretching... I'll go into more detail on these topics in the next few weeks.

Week Two

• Day 1 Rest
• Day 2 Run 3 mins, walk 3 mins. Do 4 times
• Day 3 Rest
• Day 4 Run 3 mins, walk 3 mins.Do 4 times
• Day 5 Rest
• Day 6 Rest
• Day 7 Run 5 mins, walk 3 mins. Do 3 times

Week Three

• Day 1 Rest
• Day 2 Run 7 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times
• Day 3 Rest
• Day 4 Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times
• Day 5 Rest
• Day 6 Rest
• Day 7 Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times

Week Four

• Day 1 Rest
• Day 2 Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times
• Day 3 Rest
• Day 4 Run 12 mins, walk 2 mins. Do twice
• Day 5 Rest
• Day 6 Rest
• Day 7 Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times

Week Five

• Day 1 Rest
• Day 2 Run 9 mins, walk 1 min. Do 3 times
• Day 3 Rest
• Day 4 Run 14 mins, walk 2 mins. Do twice
• Day 5 Rest
• Day 6 Rest
• Day 7 Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times

Week Six

• Day 1 Rest
• Day 2 Run 15 mins, walk 1 min. Do twice
• Day 3 Rest
• Day 4 Run 8 mins, walk 2 mins. Do 3 times
• Day 5 Rest
• Day 6 Rest
• Day 7 From this point onwards, you should be able to jog for 20 - 30 minutes
  
  

Feel free to ask any questions... :)

Get Trimmer... Naija Style (Week Five)

Hi Ladies!

I've been so busy (good news though: I had an exam on Sunday which I passed, woohoo!!!).

Ok enough about me ;) How are you all doing? Yemisi and MsZee - Huge WELL DONE to you both:

Yemisi has lost 8.5 inches in total - bust (2 inches), waist (4 inches), thigh (2.5 inches) and she has lost 12 pounds!
Ms zee has been kind to share her youtube channel where she tracks her progress: http://www.youtube.com/user/mszeee

This week I'll answer any specific questions you have, ask in the comment section and I will answer by editing this post :)

MsZee: Adura please can you post the remaining learn to run schedules?
A: I'll do that this week :)

Toyin: Adura, what do you eat your efo with...at times I put lotsa meat and eat it alone...what do you do? Also where's the line between a lot of mean and just plain overdoing it?
A: I do the same - I eat it on it's own :)
What kind of meat do you use? I remember Vickii asking about goat meat last week... ie "isn't it too fatty?" The solution to that is to trim the fat off the meat before cooking.
It's best to eat lean meat (it still contains fat but less than fatty meat). Chicken and Turkey are great examples of lean meat. The leanest part of chicken/turkey is the breast but that doesn't mean you shouldn't eat wings, drumsticks and thighs. It just means you can get away with eating more of the breast...
Last week I bought minced beef (not lean!), cooked it and put it in the fridge. The next day... there was an INCH of yellow congealed fat on top of the meat!!! I didn't use any oil! (That's proof that there's more fat in beef, goat meat, pork than in chicken and turkey.)I always buy lean minced beef and will stick to that.
Don't forget fish, it's very good for you and contains omega-3 :)

Ms Zee: What tips do you have for women who eat a whole lot more during their period (I tend to over do it even with the healthy fruit and veggie juices) so any tips please what classes of foods should one eat more or less thanks
A: You're just like me, my appetite is unbelievable at this time too! I'll admit - I struggle too. Try not do overdo it with the fruit (yes it is healthy but avoid having more than 3 pieces of fruit a day). Eat slightly bigger portions of the healthy parts of your meals - chicken, vegetables, fish. It's at times like this that you want to eat meals that satisfy you so make sure you season your food nicely (Ms Zee I know you've cut out salt/maggi but a teeny weeny bit of maggi can't hurt).

Toyin: I remember you once said you don't look at the scale anymore because with weight training, you appear heavier on the scale even though you are fitter and smaller in person.... could you please explain more about this....
I am losing weight with counting calories, cardio and weight training but even though i am fitting my clothes better (I am wearing my "goal pants" as we speak! Hurrah!) and am having more muscle definition, the scale is just creeping by...it is SOOO fustrating.
Since I am doing weight training, should I rely more on clothes and how I feel than the scale?
Thank you sooo much for your dedication
A: Hi Toyin, this was the blog post (for more information than I'll give in my answer here): http://www.adura-odesanya.co.uk/2010/09/scale-adura-friends.html
Muscle is denser than fat i.e. if you weigh equal volumes of fat and muscle, the muscle will weigh more than the fat. If you stayed exactly the same size as when you started but some of your fat was replaced by muscle, you'd definitely be heavier but you are seeing a difference on the scale in the right direction, however small... your measurements are decreasing both in dimensions and weight :)
Like you said, your clothes are fitting better and you're wearing your "goal pants" so that's the proof - your hard work IS paying off.
I'd suggest - keep measuring both, weight every 2 weeks and you can check your dimensions (tape measure) every week.
Keep up the good work Toyin :)

Haircare Tips for Relaxed Hair.

I'm sure you can tell, from my pictures - My hair's natural (i.e. relaxer free):

But before I made the decision to grow out my natural hair, I had healthy, relaxed hair :)

In this post, I'll share some tips on taking care of relaxed hair and some product recommendations.

**Please note: Reasoning behind my tips/suggestions will be explained later - really busy but wanted to put up this post as I promised to a while back :) **

• Wash and deep condition your hair at least once a week
  
• Moisturise your hair at least once a day
• Stretch out the time between your relaxers to at least every three months
• Avoid constant direct heat to your hair. If you need to blowdry once a week, please invest in a good heat protectant. Also invest in a ceramic flat iron, stove curling tongs/irons should be avoided.
• Try rollersetting your hair, you don't have to blowdry and flat iron/tong your hair to achieve silky results. Tip: Make sure a heat protectant is applied to your damp hair before rolling. A dome hairdryer is direct heat just not as concentrated as drying with a blowdryer and a brush/comb. You can roll your hair with the largest rollers for your length of hair, when dry, wrap your hair, lay down with a scarf for a few hours and you'll have straight hair. There are other ways to achieve straight hair which I'll share at another time.
• The best way to avoid direct heat often is to air dry (ie not using a blow/hair dryer) your hair... next week I'll go through the steps to achieve nice results from airdrying.

• After a few days of getting your hair done, it usually doesn't look as cute as when you initialy got it styled. Buy loads of hair accessories and pin your hair up, pull back with a headband, etc on days like this.

• Try hairstyles that don't require heat e.g braidouts and twistouts (Let me know if you're interested in how to achieve this style)

                                                      

•  Very important - Buy a satin/silk scarf and if you can also get a satin/silk pillowcase. Cotton literally sucks out the moisture from our naturally dry hair.

Product Suggestions

We all have different hair, what works for me won't neccessarily work for you. I'll share products I use and products others have used that I know worked for their hair.

• Shampoo:
  Main thing you're looking for in shampoos is 'moisturising' in it's description. We need as much moisture as we can get. There are a couple of ingredients that most shampoos have that strip *all* moisture from the hair. Because of this, my main shampoo advice is to wash your hair once and not - wet, shampoo, rinse, shampoo and rinse again. The 1st time you shampoo, it might not lather as much but that doesn't mean your hair is not clean. - Keracare Hydrating Detangling Shampoo
  - Nexxus Therappe Luxorious Moisturising Shampoo
  - Giovanni Smooth as Silk Shampoo
  I'll add more to this list later.
• Moisturiser:
  The main thing to look out for in your moisturisers is paraffin (paraffinum liquidum) and mineral oil. the shouldn't be in the top 5 ingredients in your moisturiser. I prefer using buttery moisturisers because oil helps seal in moisture.
  - Elasta QP Mango Butter
  - Cantu Shea Butter
  - Neutrogena Triple Moisture
  - Raw shea butter ('ori') whipped with some oils (I use coconut and castor oil) and some aloe vera
  
• Deep conditioner:
  This should be moisturising and also contain some protein. You can have 2 seperate conditioners, one moisture, one protein.
  Try mixing your deep conditioner with oils (olive, castor, jojoba, coconut, almond, etc)
  - Organic Root Stimulator Olive Oil Replenishing Conditioner (protein + moisturising)
  - Lustrasilk Shea butter Cholesterol (protein + moisturising)
  - Keracare Humecto Creme Conditioner (as this is very moisturising, you need to deep condition with protein at least once a month. I'm not sure if Keracare still produce Keracare Super Reconstructor)
  - Nexxus Humectress (this can also be used as a leave in conditioner)
  - Honey, Eggs and Olive Oil mixture - moisturising *and* protein!
  
• Leave-in Conditioner:
  This should always be applied to damp hair before styling
  - Giovanni Direct Leave In
  - Nexxus Humectress
  - Nexxus Headress
  - Carol's Daughter Flowers & Herbs Leave-In Conditioner
  - Neutrogena Triple Moisture Silk Touch Leave In Cream

Please let me know me if you need any more info, I put this together in a bit of a hurry.

Photo credit: Me ;-) The reason I have sooo many pictures of my hair is I have an online hair album (yep, it's more than a hobby! I'm a hair geek :p )

Get Trimmer... Naija Style (Week Four)

How are you all doing? Didn't get much feedback from you ladies last week.  I was so busy last week - I didn't have the post up till mid week. So let's interact more this week.... deal? :)

I'm very proud to say, I wasn't as lazy as usual last week - I walked from the station home instead of taking the bus and I walked as much as I could instead of taking the bus in other situations :) Are you being a little less lazy?


This week we'll address home workouts, more snack ideas and a few recipes.

Recipes/Meal Ideas

Last week I cooked chicken with steamed baby carrots (explains what looks like an excessive amount of carrots as I just steamed the carrots in the chicken stock and added to the chicken in the tupperware), turkey chunks cooked with broccoli...

Nothing too long winded with these - Both the carrots and broccoli were steamed in the chicken and turkey stock respectively.


Speaking of carrots, Suzanne of Eight and Weights, recommended peeled carrots as a snack option - I love carrots :) Try them!

This week, I cooked three different things on Sunday night. Efo (with goat meat), Chicken with peas and Minced meat with carrots and broccoli. Yes there is a mix of Nigerian staple food and just... food :)

EFO
Ingredients: Spinach, goat meat, tomatoes (I used tinned chopped tomatoes but ideally you should use fresh tomatoes), peppers, onions


1. Chop one onion. Clean the goat meat, add to a pot with the onions, a couple of maggi cubes, curry, thyme (or whatever seasonings you like) and a cup of water
2. While the meat's cooking, rinse and seperate the spinach leaves from the stalks. Chop the leaves, make sure not too fine or too chunky. Blend the tomatoes, peppers and onions.
3. After 20/25 minutes, (the meat will be a little more than half cooked)
This is where it's different to how you'd normally cook Efo.
4. Add the blended tomatoes/peppers to the meat (you should have very little stock, if it's a lot, drain some out) and leave to cook for at least 10 minutes.
5. Add the spinach and leave to simmer for another 5-10 minutes.

It tastes just as good :) If you have melon seeds (egusi), definitely include - I would have but I didn't have any at home.

Home Workout Ideas

I know, I know... I promised videos but as always, I have a valid excuse ;) I've been so busy (which I'm pleased about) that the only thing I did at home last week & weekend was sleep, relax and watch some TV. This is still on my to-do list - PROMISE!

Ayo asked me if jogging on the spot would be enough to replace running outside or on a treadmill, the answer's no (sorry, lol)

Here's an idea of a home workout:

To make your workout fun, play some up tempo music - works for me all the time.

• Warm Up for at least 5 minutes - 1 minute of jogging on the spot, 1 minute of jumping jacks, 1 minute of jogging on the spot (picking up your pace), 30 seconds of squats, 30 seconds of lunges (alternating legs each time) and another minute of jumping jacks. When you're done, swing your arms, do some shoulder rolls back and forth and shake your legs and arms.
  If you own free weights e.g. dumbells, that's good. If not, you can replace with something heavy at home e.g. 2L *plastic* bottles of water
• Perform 1 minute of bicep curls (keep your elbows stuck to your sides the whole time, starting with your arms straight, bend your elbows completely and return to your starting position - arms straight, that's one repitition. Do this continuously for 1 minute)
• Next minute (to give your arms a break), let them hang straight by your sides with your weights still in your hands. Perform one minute of squats (your shoulders should not be slumped forward, keep them back... best way to do this is to almost stick your chest out but not too exagerrated. Always look straight ahead. Starting from standing position, push your bum back a little and mimick how you'd sit back on a chair, when you get to a point where you can't go any lower, slowly come back to standing position and contract (squeeze) your glutes (bum) as you get to standing position. Continue for a minute.
• 1 minute of shoulder presses (See picture below for starting position. Straighten out your arms, your arms will be overhead. Slowly bring back to the start.). Continue for a minute.

•  1 minute of lunges. (I'll get a picture to illustrate soon).
• 1 minute of side (lateral) raises. (Start with arms by your sides, and slowly raise them till there's a 90 degree angle between your arm and your body. Think of the crucifix stance. Return your arms to your side.
• 1 minute of tempo squats (drop your weights and squat as fast as you can)

Repeat the above. Total of 12 minutes.

Grab a chair (dining table one is perfect) for this next bit

• 1 minute of tricep dips
• 1 minute of step ups (hopefully your chair's not too high), if it is use a staircase - use 2 steps. Step up and stap back down, leading with your right foot for 30 seconds and switching to the left foot for the next 30s
• 1 minute of step ups with your hands (starting on the floor in pressup/plank position in front of the stairs. Walk up one step with your hands *only* and walk back down.)
• Another minute of step ups

Repeat the above. Total of 8 minutes.

I haven't included any ab exercises as I'd prefer to include videos for those... sorry :)

• Stretch (yes I owe you vids)

I'll update this later in the week... promise!

Keep the updates coming ladies...