#also i can no longer attend pilates class which :/ and i work in the evenings instead of mornings which i hate

[kingdomkome]

I finally managed to get a job :') now i just gotta deal with the unshakeable feeling of impending failure

[girlactionfigure]

There's something I need to get off my chest.

I'm an Ultra-Orthodox, Chassidic, Hareidi Jew. I live in Jerusalem, in an area that is exclusively Ultra-Orthodox Hareidi for street after street, suburb after suburb, for miles and miles. In all of these neighborhoods where the roads are blocked off and no cars drive on Shabbos, each black-hat-wearing family has many many children and literally no TV’s. I personally only ever wear black and white clothes, my wife only dresses in Chassidic levels of tznius (modesty), and my boys and girls all attend mainstream Hareidi Chassidic schools where the main language is Yiddish. My kids don’t and never will have smartphones, nor have they ever been on the internet at all. Period. They don’t know what social media is and they’ve never seen a movie — not even Disney animation. 

Having lived exclusively immersed in this culture for the last 21 years, I think I'm sufficiently qualified and well-researched enough to state that the consistent depiction of Hareidim and Torah Judaism by mainstream media, from Netflix to the daily news, is somewhere between delusion, slander and the literal equivalent of racism. If you consider yourself less closed-minded than how you imagine we Hareidim to be, then permit me to share a few personal details about my family, and other families in our neighborhood, to see how well your mental narrative matches up to reality:

- Besides learning Torah each day, most of the men in our neighborhood work full or part-time.

- Many women in our area work. Some even manage their own business or company. These are not special or “liberated” women — it’s so normal here it’s not even a discussion point.

- My wife is a full-time mother by choice, who despite attending an Ivy League College,  finds it a profound and meaningful thing to dedicate her life to. If she didn’t, she’d go get a job. Mind you, she also attends Torah classes each week, works out with both a female fitness coach (who’s gay) and a frum Pilates instructor, writes and edits articles for a couple global websites and magazines, and personally mentors a number of women. None of this is seen as unusual. 

- Kids in our community go to Torah schools where they learn (surprise!) Torah. They are fluent in three languages from a young age and the boys even read and understand a fourth (Aramaic). All the kids learn grammar, math and science. Weekly after-school activities have included music (violin, drums, piano), Tae Kwon Do, swimming, art, woodworking and robotics. The girls' school teaches tools of emotional intelligence. The principal of the boys' school doesn't hesitate to refer to kids to OT if needed. I practice meditation with my children multiple times each week. None of our kids think the world is literally 6,000 years old. They devour books about science and think it’s cool. They know dinosaurs existed and don’t find that existentially threatening. They have a telescope with which they love to watch the stars. 

- The women in my family (like the men) only dress modestly according to Hareidi standards. The girls don't find this burdensome or oppressive. Period. They aren't taught that beauty is bad. They're certainly not taught to hate their bodies, God forbid. Each morning when they get dressed, they are as happily into their own fashion and looking pretty as any secular girl is. They just have a different sense of fashion than secular culture dictates. (Unfortunately for me,  it's no cheaper.)

- The local Hareidi rabbis we receive guidance from are deep, warm, sensitive, supportive and emotionally intelligent. If they weren’t, we wouldn’t go to them.

- My boys assume they will grow up to learn Torah, as much as they want to, and then when they’re ready, get a good job or learn a profession to support whatever lifestyle they choose. My girls assume they’ll be wives and mothers (which they can’t wait for) but they're also warmly encouraged to train in whatever other profession they desire. (My 9-year-old daughter, chatting with her friend in the living room, just commented, "I want to be a mother and a teacher and an artist." Her friend replied, "I'm going to be a ballet teacher.") All options are on the table, and their future seems bright.

- We love living in modern Israel, feel proud and blessed to be here, and frequently count and celebrate its blessings. Everyone in my area votes. Sometimes not even for Hareidi parties. I pay taxes. (And they’re expensive!)

- As a Hareidi person, I’m glad we have Hareidi representation in the government — though I don’t always love or approve of how the Hareidi politicians act, or what they choose to represent. For the record, I'm equally dubious about secular politicians, as well. 

- While I don't spend much time in Tel Aviv, I do have a few close Hareidi entrepreneur friends who have founded high-tech start-ups there, and are — Boruch Hashem! — doing very well.   

- We don’t hate all non-religious people. Our kids don’t throw stones at passing cars on Shabbos. I doubt they even know anyone who would do that or think that it’s ok. We frequently talk about the Torah value of caring for and being compassionate towards everyone. As a family, we proactively try to find ways to judge others favorably (even those people who throw stones at passing cars on Shabbos.)

- We invite all manner of religious and secular Jews to join our Shabbos meals each week and the kids are open, happy, and confident to welcome everyone. (No, we're not Chabad.) One of the many reasons for having such guests at our table is to teach the kids this lesson.

- While we would technically be classified as right-wing and we don’t at all buy the modern “Palestinian” narrative, we certainly don’t hate all Arabs, nor do we have any desire to expel them all from the land. We warmly welcome anyone seeking to dwell here with us in peace and we are pained and saddened to see the suffering and loss of lives of all innocent Arab families and children — as would any decent human being.

- Of the few local families I know whose kids no longer identify as religious, none at all chose to disown their kids. The very thought, in such lovingly family-dedicated communities, is hard to imagine. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm just saying it's not as common as it's made out. Rather, these families have tirelessly, profoundly, compassionately committed to maintaining any connection with their children, and to emphasize that, no matter what, family is the most important thing. Because it is.

- We aren't just living our life blindly, dogmatically following empty religious rules; rather, we are frequently engaged with, exploring and discussing Torah's richness, depth and meaning. Our kids honestly love learning Torah, praying and doing mitzvos. They’re visibly excited about Shabbos and festivals. This lifestyle is in no way oppressive or burdensome for them. If you suggested to them it was, they’d laugh and think you were crazy.  

- We Hareidim are normal people: we laugh, we cry, we buy too much Ikea furniture, and we struggle with all of life's daily ups and downs, just like the rest of you. Some of our communities are more healthy and balanced, some are less so; some of our people are warmer, nicer and more open, some are more closed, dogmatic and judgmental; some of our leaders are noble and upstanding, and some are quite frankly idiots…JUST LIKE ANY SECULAR NEIGHBORHOOD IN THE WORLD TOO. But having grown up living a secular lifestyle myself, and today being Hareidi-by-choice, I can testify that in these communities there is generally a greater and more tangible sense of well-being, warmth, tranquility, connection and meaning. We love and feel blessed to be living this life and wouldn’t want any other.

If this description of Hareidi life is hard to swallow, be careful not to push back with the often-used defenses like: "Well, you're just an exception to the rule...", "You're just American Hareidim", "You're baalei teshuvah", "Well, I know a bunch of Haredim that aren't like that at all"....because the truth is, while there might be many Hareidim who aren't like what I described above, it's still an accurate description of literally hundreds of thousands of Hareidim in Israel and the US — a decent portion of all Hareidim in the world. Which is my very point — how come you never see this significant Hareidi demographic represented in the media, television series, or the news? How come we mostly see the darkest and most problematic cliches instead? 

And finally, if all the facts I've listed above about our communities are hard for you to accept as true, then perhaps the image you have in your head about Hareidim is less based on facts and reality and more based on stereotypes, fear, hate, and discrimination — like any other form of prejudice in the world. 

Care to prove me wrong? Well, you're welcome to come argue it out with me and my family at our Shabbos table on Friday night. It would be a joy and honor to have you. 

Doniel Katz

[yourafms]

            hi  everyone  !  i’m  kofi  ,  the  odd  age  of  24  ,  from  the  est  timezone  ,  and  prefer  either  she / her  or  they / them  pronouns  !  i’m  super  excited  that  i  came  across  this  group  ,  as  i’ve  been  itching  to  play  a  rich  muse  for  a  while  and  also  to  play  yu  jimin  (  or  karina  !  )  once  again  .  i’m  so  ridiculously  attached  to  youra  that  this  intro  may  end  up  getting  pretty  long  ,  but  i  promise  all  the  info  is  necessary  .  that  being  said  ,  i  won’t  keep  this  part  long  ,  and  i  can’t  wait  to  plot  with  everyone  !

            *  (  cis  woman  &  she / her  )      i  thought  i  saw  YU  JIMIN  walking  down  5th  avenue  ,  but  it  was  just  YOURA  KI  .  you  know  ,  the  TWENTY  ONE  year  old  STUDENT  &  HEIRESS  .  they  seemed  to  be  feeling  IRRITATED  about  the  book  announcement  ,  it  might  be  because  they  ARE  expected  to  be  in  it  .  i’ve  heard  they  are  WINSOME  and  can  also  be  QUERULOUS  ,  but  the  best  way  to  describe  them  is  CRYSTALLINE  TEARS  STAINING  SOFT  SATIN  ,  THE  INESCAPABLE  FEELING  OF  FAILURE  ,  MELODIOUS  LAUGHTER  ECHOING  IN  SILENT  PASSAGEWAYS  ,  AND  BITTERNESS  DRIPPING  FROM  HER  TONGUE  LIKE  HONEY  . 

template  credit  :  @gunshzt  &  yearbook  doodle  credit  :  @springdoy  !

content  warnings  :  depression  ,  car  accident  ,  and  injury  .

      tidbits.

            name  :  youra  ki  (  ki  youra  )  .  nickname(s)  :  ra - ra  .  age  +  date  of  birth  :  21  +  may  26th  ,  2000  .  zodiac  :  gemini  .  moral  alignment  :  chaotic  neutral  .  place  of  birth  :  pyeongchang - dong  ,  south  korea  .  place  of  residence  :  hell’s  kitchen  ,  new  york  .  occupation  :  student  and  heiress  .  nationality  :  korean  .  ethnicity  :  korean  .  height  :  5′5″  .  language(s)  spoken  :  korean  ,  english  ,  conversational  japanese  ,  and  elementary  french  .

      details.

            from  the  moment  ki  ye - eun  and  ki  si - woo  discover  they’re  pregnant  (  following  what  was  supposed  to  be  a regular  doctor’s  appointment  )  ,  the  tiny  being  growing  inside  of  ye - eun  was  lavished  with  love  and  everything  that  money  could  buy  .  with  si - woo  hailing  from  the  ki  family  of  kg  group  ,  known  for  their  success  in  the  entertainment  community  while  ye - eun  hails  from  the  park  family  of  pkr  group  ,  responsible  for  south  korea’s  largest  banks  .  it  was  only  fate  that  the  two  crossed  paths  ,  and  oh  how  the  media  loved  as  their  relationship  progressed  .  it  was  only  a  matter  of  time  before  the  couple  decided  to  get  married  .  it  was  an  over - the - top  ,  multi - million  dollar  wedding  that  was  covered  by  various  media  outlets  .

            it  was  five  years  following  their  wedding  that  the  couple  discovered  they  were  pregnant  ,  and  were  happy  to  have  a  baby  of  their  own  .  deciding  to  keep  the  sex  of  their  baby  a  secret  ,  and  it’s  when  the  sweet  baby  is  pressed  into  ye - eun’s  arms  that  they  decide  to  name  her  youra  .  for  the  first  five  years  of  her  life  ,  youra  lives  in  a  penthouse  in  the  sky  with  her  parents  ,  constantly  showered  with  love  and  everything  she  so  desired  .  suddenly  ,  though  ,  when  new  opportunities  arose  the  family  moved  to  their  new  home  in  new  york  city  ,  specifically  ,  a  multi - million  dollar  townhouse  in  the  upper  east  side  .  youra  begins  school  at  one  of  the  best  schools  money  could  afford  ,  and  her  parents  easily  find  her  some  activities  to  take  part  in  .

            for  about  a  month  ,  her  parents  try  out  a  handful  of  activities  for  their  daughter  ranging  from  gymnastics  to  even  a  painting  class  ,  but  nothing  sticks  .  it’s  not  until  they  enroll  her  for  ballet  that  youra  finally  finds  something  she’s  not  crying  about  on  the  drive  back  home  .  ballet  truly  sticks  to  their  daughter  ,  so  it’s  no  surprise  that  as  she  gets  older  ,  she  becomes  serious  with  her  discipline  .  when  she’s  ten  years  old  ,  youra  makes  her  stage  debut  when  she’s  cast  as  clara  in  the  nutcracker  .  from  then  on  ,  youra’s  star  continues  to  shine  brighter  and  brighter  ,  and  her  list  of  leading  roles  grows  longer  and  longer  .  she  does  well  academically  ,  despite  her  busy  life  as  a  ballerina  ,  and  if  you  were  to  take  a  peek  into  her  bedroom  ,  you’d  see  that  youra  had  her  set  on  one  thing  and  one  thing  only  :  the  juilliard  school  .  

            attending  such  a  prestigious  school  was  the  only  thing  youra  ever  wanted  in  her  life  ,  so  it’s  no  surprise  that  during  her  senior  year  it’s  the  only  thing  she  can  think  about  .  after  her  studies  are  complete  ,  youra  trains  for  hours  on  end  ,  often  not  returning  to  the  family  home  until  late  at  night  .  the  only  event  capable  of  tearing  youra  away  from  her  pointe  shoes  and  the  studio  is  prom  night  .  it  was  the  one  event  youra  wanted  to  attend  ,  a  last  hoorah  with  her  friends  before  they  all  went  off  to  chase  their  own  dreams  .  it’s  all  fun  for  the  friends  ,  car  filled  with  giggles  and  singing  along  to  whatever  pop  song  was  playing  on  the  radio  until  it  all  came  crashing  down  .  [  CAR  ACCIDENT  AND  INJURY  CW  ]  all  it  takes  is  for  a  drunken  driver  to  ruin  their  night  ,  and  the  last  thing  youra  sees  is  pair  of  blinding  headlights  .   when  she  wakes  up  ,  it’s  in  the  hospital  with  a  cast  on  her  right  leg  .  her  fears  are  confirmed  when  she’s  told  how  bad  the  damage  is  ,  and  no  amount  of  tears  or  begging  her  parents  to  get  a  second  opinion  to  save  her  from  the  dread  that  suddenly  takes  over  .  [  END  CW  ]

            [  DEPRESSION  CW  ]  for  a  full  year  youra  secludes  herself  .  with  each  day  that  passes  ,  youra  becomes  angry  and  bitter  towards  her  fate  ,  often  ignoring  her  physical  therapy  sessions  and  crumbling  when  she  puts  on  her  pointe  shoes  and  is  unable  to  do  as  she  once  was  .  for  that  year  ,  youra  struggles  with  the  loss  of  the  love  she  once  for  ballet  ,  walls  suddenly  stripped  bare  of  the  posters  that  once  lined  them  and  moving  the  vast  array  of  costumes  out  of  her  closet  .  [  END  CW  ]  it  takes  a  long  time  for  youra  to  feel  better  ,  and  for  some  of  that  anger  to  dissipate  ,  although  it  still  lingers  .  eventually  ,  youra  gets  accepted  to  new  york  university  ,  where  she’s  currently  in  her  second  year  of  study  .  now  ,  youra  is  in  her  third  year  of  study  ,  majoring  in  art  and  art  history  .  on  top  of  that  ,  she’s  working  as  an  intern  at  the  met  .

      summarized.

youra  could  be  classified  as  being  ‘  bitchy  ’  ,  but  in  reality  ,  she’s  still  angry  and  bitter  about  the  loss  of  her  dream  career  .  she’s  been  told  by  numerous  professionals  that  she  could  never  practice  ballet  again  ,  but  she  has  a  tendency  of  pushing  herself  to  do  movements  she  once  could  do  with  ease  ,  and  that  doesn’t  always  end  well  for  her  .  

since  the  loss  of  her  career  ,  youra  finds  comfort  in  the  material  things  .  more  often  than  not  ,  she  simply  buys  things  to  have  them  ,  not  out  of  necessity  .  her  purchases  remain  in  their  boxes  and  bags  shoved  in  a  corner  somewhere  ,  and  they  only  get  put  away  when  her  housekeeper  comes  by  during  the  week  .  it  wouldn’t  be  surprising  if  mostly  everything  in  her  closet  still  has  tags  on  them  .

has  a  habit  of  touching  her  hair  ,  even  when  there’s  nothing  wrong  with  it  .  she  chops  it  up  to  needing  something  to  do  with  her  hands  ,  but  it’s  more  of  a  nervous  tick  .

currently  lives  in  a  too  big  three - bedroom  apartment  in  hell’s  kitchen  sans  roommate  .  outside  of  the  main  bedroom  ,  one  of  the  rooms  has  been  turned  into  a  larger - than - life  closet  while  the  smaller  of  the  two  is  her  office  .  she  doesn’t  really  know  why  she  has  an  office  when  most  of  her  work  gets  done  on  the  floor  at  the  coffee  table  .

extremely  self  conscious  about  the  scar  on  her  leg  .  the  one  benefit  of  having  $$  is  that  doctor’s  were  able  to  ensure  it  healed  well  and  there  wasn’t  too  much  scarring  ,  but  it’s  still  there  and  it’s  so  ugly  (  at  least  to  her  )  .  

since  finishing  physical  therapy  ,  youra  keeps  herself  busy  with  a  regular  workout  routine  ,  which  is  mostly  yoga  and  pilates  .  it’s  not  a  surprise  if  you  catch  her  at  a  fancy  café  picking  up  a  weird  looking  green  juice  or  sporting  her  gymshark  /  athleta  gym  wear  . 

[roslinadama-sinequanon]

Saying Good-Bye to Yesterday-Chapter 11

So, yes it’s been forever and day. I haven’t dropped off the planet or quit writing for Shandy. It just got difficult for a while.  

You can find the chapter here https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13004092/11/Saying-Good-Bye-to-Yesterday and here https://archiveofourown.org/works/15321687/chapters/53083987 and here

****

"Hey, hon." Andy paused in buttoning his shirt at the greeting, his lips curving into a smile when he took in Sharon's disheveled appearance as she entered their bedroom, fresh from a workout, spandex shorts clinging to her long toned thighs, loose tendrils of hair slipping out of her high ponytail.

"How was the Barre class?" He asked.

"It wasn't Barre. It was Spin." Over the past few months, Amy had convinced her to start taking spin classes with her, adding to her usual regimen of Body Barre, Pilates, and Yoga.

"Well, how was Spin?"

"Ugh." She pulled the sweaty racerback tank over her head. "Jelly legs."

"Gorgeous legs," he corrected.

"Yes, well, that takes work, darling." Though she ate healthily, for the most part, was supple, naturally active, and thanks to genetics and a great metabolism, didn't have to fight hard to maintain her slender figure, she exercised to keep toned and fit. In addition to the classes she attended when her schedule allowed, she swam laps almost every day, did some light weights at the PD gym, and also got out to Malibu to a riding stable as often as she could. When she first mentioned her horseback riding to Andy as a full-body workout, he gave her a typical Andy quip, "for the horse, right? " She'd ignored the comment until she could prove her point. One afternoon she'd taken him on what he referred to as a "ball crushing" ride, and he'd sheepishly eaten his words. Later still, when they'd become intimate and he'd felt those "thighs of steel" around his waist, he'd come to an even greater appreciation of that "full-body" exercise.

"Well, I'm pretty gross right now, so I'm going to hop in the shower." She pulled off her sports bra and wiped at the sweat under her breasts before dropping it in the hamper and disappearing into the bathroom. When she emerged 15 minutes later, she had one towel wrapped around her torso, the other turban-style around her head.

"Don't forget, I have book club tonight," she said.

"Yeah, I'm gonna hit a meeting."

She glanced up sharply from her dresser, a pair of rose-colored panties dangling from her fingertips. "Everything okay?"

Though her tone remained neutral, Andy picked up the tiny inflection of worry. It wasn't his usual meeting night. "Yeah, everything's fine," he assured her. "I had to skip last week because of our case, and I haven't gotten the chance to talk to Isaac."

"About us?"

"Yes."

Once in her fresh panties, Sharon shimmied on a pair of black leggings that she paired with a long, slouchy v-neck cashmere sweater in a soft shade of blush. To finish off the casual outfit, she slipped on a pair of two-tone quilted Chanel ballet flats, big silver hoop earrings, and a silver cuff bracelet. Andy continued to watch her dress. Watching her shed her professional persona for her personal one was kind of a ritual for him. At work, she was all fitted, classic, sleek lines. Understated and sophisticated. At home, her wardrobe was softer and a little more eclectic. Even her jewelry was different. At work, simple diamond studs in her ears and her watch, no bracelets, no necklaces, no dangling earrings. At home, she often wore pretty bracelets, hoops or dangling earrings, and a variety of necklaces, including the crucifix she never wore to work. Separation of church and state and all. He asked her once why she stopped wearing necklaces when she took over Major Crimes. After expressing surprise that he had actually noticed that, she told him that Brenda had warned her that wearing a necklace when interviewing suspects was dangerous because they could use it to try to strangle her. Given the violent animosity their former Chief seemed to bring out in suspects, he figured she was speaking from experience. Probably a good idea that he wore his sobriety necklace tucked in under his shirt. He was pretty sure there were hundreds of suspects over the years who would have loved nothing more than to strangle him.

A half-hour later, with her hair blown dry and her make up re-applied, Sharon came out of the bedroom to see Andy slipping on his jean jacket as he prepared to head out. Rusty was sitting on the couch on his laptop.

"You boys are on your own for supper tonight," she reminded the two.

"Okay. " Rusty glanced up. "What do you want to do, Andy?"

"I have a meeting, so I thought I could pick something up for us on my way home. Want a pizza from Palermo's?"

"Just make sure my half isn't loaded down with veggies."

Andy rolled his eyes. "No veggies. Got it."

Sharon smiled and started to reach for the Trader Joes bag she'd left on the table.

"I've got that, babe." Andy took the heavy bag and followed her out the door. Not so long ago, she might have bristled at the move and argued that she could carry the bag herself, but Andy knew that. It was simply a gentlemanly act of kindness, and she no longer looked for any sort of underlying misogynistic meaning to his kind gestures.

******

The strong smell of flowers hit Sharon just outside the storefront, and she glanced up at the pretty awning hanging over the doorway. "Lotions and Potions," her friend Summer's bath and body shop in Mar Vista. She opened the door, and the floral and spicy scents grew more pronounced. Taking a few steps in, she scanned the room, looking past the displays of soaps, bath salts, body creams, and lotions to see Summer with a customer over in the incense and essential oil section. The little bell that jangled at her entry drew Summer's attention, and when she glanced over and saw who it was, she gave Sharon a smile and a hand gesture indicating that she would be with her in a minute. Sharon nodded and began browsing, lifting and examining the vintage apothecary jars Summer used to carry her product. The old-fashioned jars and antique-looking sepia labels with their intricate designs and calligraphy lettering harkened back to another era as if she was stepping back in time.

Several years ago, this had been a New Age jewelry and clothing store where Summer worked as a clerk. Summer fit right in with today's millenials, often flitting from job to job, but for as long as Sharon had known her, she grew herbs and made homemade soaps and lotions in her house, selling her creations on the weekends at craft fairs and farmer's markets. Then Anabel, the storeowner, allowed her to put a few samples out for sale at the store, and they were a big hit. Soon she had a whole product line for sale. When Anabel decided to sell the store, the first person she approached was Summer, which had taken Summer completely by surprise. She was an artist, after all, not a businesswoman. I mean sure, she practically managed the store, but what did she know about running a business? At least that's what she said to Sharon when they were talking out the pros and cons. It was a moot point, anyway. Summer didn't have the kind of money needed to start a business.

But Sharon did. When her grandparents died, she was bequeathed quite a large inheritance. Some of the money was in a trust, but she had more than enough to lend Summer for the start-up costs. Summer hadn't seen it that way. It had been a battle royal for Sharon to get her best friend to agree to the loan. The very idea of it terrified Summer. What if she didn't succeed? What if she couldn't pay Sharon back? Sharon had gone through hell digging out of the mess Jack created for her financially, and she didn't want to see her have to deal with anything like that again. And most of all, she didn't want the money coming between them. Their friendship was too important. But Sharon prevailed. They worked it all out, with Sharon as an investor, and then they worked together to make Summer's vision become a reality.

The quirky little store was a reflection of its quirky little owner, and it was a hit. Situated only a few miles from both Venice Beach and Santa Monica, it drew in both the unconventional crowd and the well-to-do. Summer paid Sharon back several years ago, but Sharon still took pride in all that she had helped her friend accomplish here.

Grabbing a bottle of her favorite vanilla/jasmine body cream, Sharon glanced back around to see that Summer was still engrossed in conversation with her customer, her light brown curls bouncing on her shoulders with every enthusiastic nod of her head. Rather than stand around waiting, she decided to make her way to Summer's office in the back of the store. She pushed aside the beads that hung in the doorway, in lieu of an actual door, giving a loud sigh at the chaos. As usual, Summer's desk was filled with clutter: folders, papers, coffee mugs, and a bunch of opened boxes. No way could she ever work surrounded by such a mess. In fact, she could already feel the prickles of anxiety at the very idea. She started to move things around to make a spot to set her bag down when an item in one of the boxes caught her eye. Reaching in, she pulled it out, eyes widening with both surprise and curiosity.

"Find anything you like?"

Sharon jumped, nearly dropping the glass object. "Dammit, Summer! "

Summer's wide grin grew even wider. "Gotcha. Either you're losing your cop instincts, or that object holds more than a little interest for you."

"What is it?"

"If I have to tell you, Andy has a real problem."

Sharon flushed. "I know what it is; I just mean why do you have boxes of this stuff?"

"That stuff, as you call it, is luxury personal care products. "

One elegant brow rose skeptically. "Luxury? They're…"

"Glass dildos."

"And again, you have boxes of these, why?"

"I had a distributor come in for a meeting today. She wants me to try selling her line here."

"You're going to sell sex toys? Here? At Lotions and Potions?" Sharon looked so appalled that Summer had to giggle.

"No, I am possibly going to sell luxury personal care items. I told her I would think about it. It's a big and pretty lucrative business right now. Look at them, Sharon, they're works of art."

Sharon looked again at the item in her hand, eyeing it critically. Blown glass with swirls of color, graceful lines. She had to admit, it really did look like a piece of art.

"Much more attractive than the real thing. Am I right?"

Sharon gave a little snort-laugh. "Oh my God, you're right. It is. Though we better not let the guys hear us say that."

"God, no. Men do love their penises, don't they?"

"Mmm…" Sharon hummed affirmatively.

"Almost as much as they love our boobs."

Sharon shook her head with amused affection and another little snort-laugh. She never quite knew what was going to come out of Summer's mouth. In that respect, and in so many more, they were as different as night and day. Oil and water. Chalk and cheese.

Summer was as outgoing and irreverent as Sharon was private and respectful. As unconventional and flighty as Sharon was traditional and responsible. As loud and boisterous, as Sharon was soft-spoken and reserved.

Summer was thrift store boho gauzy tops, flowing skirts, Birkenstocks, and arms covered in bangle bracelets. Sharon was Neiman Marcus pencil skirts, Armani suits, killer heels, and diamond earrings. Summer lifted her arms in worship to the winter solstice while Sharon knelt in reverent prayer at midnight mass. Summer was homeschooling and a childhood spent on a commune. Sharon was private Catholic schools and summers on Nantucket. Summer was Stevie Nicks to Sharon's Grace Kelly.

And yet, they clicked. For 26 years, they had been best friends. From the day that Sharon and Jack moved into their new home in Mar Vista and a bossy little child knocked on their door stating, "I'm five. Do you have any little girls my age I can play with?" With baby Ricky on her hip, Sharon smiled at the little ragamuffin with Popsicle lips and a mop of brown curls and then introduced her to a bashful four-year-old Emily. Within seconds, a harried woman in a tank top and an Indian wrap skirt straight out of the 1970s followed. Since she shared the same wild head of curls with the little moppet now dragging Emily along by the hand, Sharon assumed she was her mother. Indeed, the woman said she was looking for her daughter and, like Sharon, she too had a diapered little boy resting against her shoulder. Sharon introduced herself then invited the gypsy looking woman in for a cup of coffee. It was the beginning of three very important friendships: Sharon and Summer, Emily and Jade, and Ricky and Cody.

Despite their differences in background, personality, and temperament, the two young women easily found common ground. Their kids were the same age, they both loved the arts, and they were both in difficult marriages. Their bond was quick and strong. They spent their days off from work building sandcastles with their kids at the beach, pushing swings at the park, or attending children's reading circles at the library. They babysat for each other, swapped books, and on those rare occasions when they had time for themselves, browsed through art galleries, bookstores, and museums together. Most importantly, since neither had extended family in Los Angeles, they created a much-needed support system for each other. And that was something that became increasingly important, because, within a few years, they were both on their own. Single parents.

Summer came across as flaky, but she was everything Sharon needed in a friend: supportive, warm, honest, and a strong shoulder to cry on-one of a very select group of people whom Sharon allowed to see her vulnerability. They had journeyed together through all the difficulties and heartaches life threw at them, helping each other raise their children, bucking each other up when things seemed bleak, and sharing in each other's joy as they each found success in their professions and new love. From breast-feeding to hot flashes, they had seen each other through it all.

"So, " Summer continued. "Go ahead and take whatever you like. I know you're not a prude. Try one out and let me know what you think."

"I'm good." Sharon placed the item back in the box with a little quirk of her lips. "I've got the real thing now."

"Yeah, well what about these? Could be fun." Summer dangled a pair of handcuffs.

"Again, I've got the real thing."

"Pfff… Those things would hurt. These are love cuffs. Nice and soft. See." Sharon admired the plush cuffs Summer thrust in her face, faux fur with little tiny bows, definitely not standard LAPD gear, but shook her head negatively. "I'm all set." She glanced down at her watch. "Come on, Sum. We really have to get going or we're going to be late."

"Oh, no, we wouldn't want to be late."

Sharon rolled her eyes, ignoring the sarcasm. Fate had surrounded her with smart asses. "No, we wouldn't. So, let's go."

"Okay, okay, don't get your panties in a wad. Just promise me you'll think about it."

Sharon blew out a long-suffering sigh. "Fine, I'll think about it, now let's go."

*****

Sitting in the back corner of the bookstore, Sharon found herself center stage, surrounded by a group of women gushing with excitement over the diamond on her finger, grabbing her hand to look at it and pumping her for all the details of the proposal.

"It's so beautiful, Sharon. " Aggie's eyes went dreamy, her hands in a prayer triangle under her chin, lost in the fairytale of Sharon's proposal. "And how romantic. I can just picture it…A winter wonderland. A romantic sleigh ride through the woods and Andy down on one knee professing his undying love for you-" She broke off, swiftly coming back to reality when everyone burst into laughter. "What?" She defended herself. "I love romance."

"As if we didn't know," Marina scoffed. Whenever it was Aggie's turn to pick their monthly book, it was invariably a romance of some sort.

"Hey, I thought Russians were supposed to have romantic souls." Aggie's protest was made in the soft New Orleans drawl she hadn't lost despite having lived in LA for the past 20 years.

"I had one of those…Four husbands ago." Marina, a ballerina, had defected to the United States in the late seventies and had later opened a ballet studio in LA after retiring from the stage. Sharon met her when she signed Emily up for lessons at her studio after her young daughter had become more serious about studying dance and outgrown her instructor. It was Marina who had seen the talent and drive in Emily and helped her become the principal ballerina she was today. Marina was also cynical and pragmatic and went through men, mostly younger men, the way Andy used to go through younger women.

"Don't listen to her," Sharon said. "You're right, Aggie, Andy couldn't have picked a more romantic way to propose. Hard to believe I found a man whose sense of occasion can actually rival mine. It's certainly a night I will never forget."

"I still can't believe Andy took Gavin to help pick out your ring and not me," Summer sulked. The room went silent, all the women turning to her with wide eyes before erupting in giggles. "What?" She held her hand's open palms up and shrugged in a "what the hell" gesture.

Rachel, a pretty blonde, responded. "Come on, Sum, when it comes to style, there is nobody, other than maybe Roz here, who is more opposite from Sharon than you."

"I'd take exception to that if it weren't 100% true," was Roz's good-natured response. A writer for a comedy sitcom, Roz was notoriously sloppy in her dress, preferring the sweatpants, t-shirts and Converse sneakers she was wearing right now to any other attire. When she was forced to wear something nice, she chose boxy male suits and would never be caught dead in a "girlie" skirt or dress.

"I don't think we're that opposite." Summer's protest drew more peals of laughter.

"Summer…" Rachel lifted her friend's skirt, smirking when she exposed plastic clogs. "You are wearing Crocs. Need I say more?"

"There's nothing wrong with Crocs. They're comfortable." Summer pushed her skirt back over her shoes.

"No offense, I love you to pieces, but they're fugly and Sharon wouldn't be caught dead out in public in them." With her sleek dark blonde bob and stylish clothes, Rachel Garner had far more in common when shopping with Sharon than Summer. Like Andrea, Rachel was a lawyer, now an advisor to Mayor Garcetti. She and Sharon had become friends back when Sharon was promoted to the LAPD's Women's Coordinator position and they had worked together on numerous cases.

"What I don't understand is why you want to get married in the first place. I mean you just got out of a bad marriage, why jump right back in?" The room went silent, this time with tension, not humor. Roz sat back, arms crossed over her chest, seemingly unconcerned by the group's collective disapproval.

"What the hell are you talking about?" It was Summer who quickly jumped to Sharon's defense. "Just out of a bad marriage? She's been done with that ungrateful, immature, disloyal prick for 23 freaking years! Just because she only formally divorced him a couple of years ago doesn't mean-"

"Summer," Sharon tugged on her friend's arm. "It's okay, calm down."

"It's not okay; she has no right to say that. You," she pointed a finger at Roz, "have no idea what she went through. You've known her for what? Four years? You have no right to question her choices. And just because you hate men doesn't mean she has to feel the same."

"Okay, okay, whoa. I didn't mean to start World War III." Roz held her hands up in defeat. "And for the record, I don't hate men. Well, all men anyway. I'm just saying, she doesn't need a man…a husband."

"Roz is right." Sharon agreed, taking a sip of her wine.

"What?" Summer turned to her with confusion.

"She's right. I don't need a man. But I can want one without needing him. And you know what? That makes this the purest relationship I have ever been in, ever. I don't need Andy's money, I don't need his security, I don't need his protection, I don't need him to provide shelter for me, I'm not looking for a father for my children. I am with Andy for one reason only. I love him. It's as easy and as simple as that. I love him and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. And yes, I want the formal commitment of marriage. I know I don't need it, but I want it. And that's my choice." She tapped her fingers on her chest, stressing the point. "I am at a place in my life right now where I can do what I want to do, not what I need to do, and you have no idea how much freedom there is in that for me."

"And we're thrilled for you." Summer's narrowed eyes shot daggers at Roz, causing Sharon to suppress a smile. Summer was about as laid back a person as she knew, however, one thing they did have in common was that you didn't mess with the people they love.

"Yes, we are." Patrice set a gentle hand on Sharon's knee. "Andy is a great guy, and he loves you to the moon and back." As Andy's caregiver while he was recovering from his surgery, Patrice had gotten to know the man and the way he felt about Sharon better than any of them.

Andrea nodded in agreement. "You all know how I feel about marriage, but hell, if I had a guy who looked at me the way Flynn looks at Sharon, who knows?"

Aggie, who had gone off to pilfer through the shelves, returned and flopped down in an oversized chair. She opened the small book she'd been looking for and began reading. "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."

"That's C.S Lewis, isn't it? " Sharon recognized the passage from having read a lot of Lewis's work.

Aggie nodded. "From The Four Loves."

"Well, he sums it up rather nicely, doesn't he? " Sharon poured a little more wine in her glass, then sat back. "Loving someone is a risk, no doubt about it, but I will always believe that it is a risk worth taking." She was well aware of how easy it would have been to encase her heart in one of those caskets after Jack, to allow herself to become unreachable. But that just wasn't in her DNA. Barriers, yes, she had certainly erected some of those, but closed off completely? No. She simply had too much love inside her to shut down like that. She knew people often thought she was cold, aloof, unemotional. They never knew it was all a façade, a shield meant to hide the fact that she actually felt things very deeply. She'd had to learn how to contain those emotions, to hide her feelings, but they were there, they were always there. And, had she entombed her heart, she never would have been able to let Rusty in, nor been able to embrace the man who had become the love of her life. Vulnerable? Yes, love made you vulnerable, but the rewards far outweighed any risk.

"I agree, we all need to remain open to love. Now, who's hungry?" Helen, the owner of the bookstore, set to restore order to their opinionated little group. "We'll eat, then dive into the book."

Sharon shot the older woman a grateful look. They might all be friends, but she had never really been comfortable with people dissecting her life.

The food was potluck. Each member of the club took a turn hosting the meeting, but it was always potluck so no one was stuck having to feed the whole group. At the end of each meeting, they drew out of a hat to see if they would be bringing the beverages, an appetizer, or an entrée to the next meeting. Though it wasn't a rule, they often tried to base whatever food they brought on the setting of their book. The only part of the meal they did not draw for was dessert. Mary Agnes Boudreaux McCormack, Aggie, always brought dessert. Twenty years ago, Aggie had moved to Los Angeles after Craig McCormack walked into her bakery in New Orleans and swept the 37-year-old widow off her feet, taking her home with him to California. Aggie opened a pretty little bed and breakfast near Venice Beach and brought with her the French and Creole delicacies of her former home, including the to-die-for beignets she brought to each meeting, regardless of the setting. No one was willing to forgo those beignets.

This month's book was set in Mexico, so there were cheesy nachos with garlic guacamole, sweet potato and black bean taquitos, a creamy taco soup, Mexican chicken and rice, and fish tacos. Sharon had drawn beverages at their last meeting, so, along with a case of seltzer water, she'd brought a few bottles of a Baja Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot blend along with the makings for Mojitos.

"And these," she drew out two large bottles of champagne. "Because we can't celebrate 10 years without a little bubbly. I still can't believe we've been doing this for 10 years." She poured the champagne and passed the glasses around to the ten incredible women sprawled over the sitting area. Ranging in age from their late forties to early sixties, with most in their fifties like Sharon, black, white, and mixed heritage, native Californians and transplants, gay and straight, single and married, they were a diverse group who had come together to bond over a shared love of books. And somewhere along the way, they had become friends. Friends that had seen each other through infidelity, divorce, infertility, empty nests, cancer, adoptions, menopause, job losses, promotions, and new loves gained and lost.

The book club had come about rather organically not long after Helen and her business partner, Jenny, opened "The Book Nook", a combination bookstore/café a little over 10 years ago. Helen's husband, Christopher, had accepted the position of visiting professor at USC, and the British couple fell in love with the climate and laid back lifestyle of Southern California. So, when a permanent position became available, they decided to leave the gray skies and rain of England behind and settle in the land of sunshine and surfers. At the time, Jenny was a stay at home mom whose marriage had fallen apart after her battle with breast cancer. Divorced, her children in college, and cancer-free, she was ready to embrace a new life when Helen became a patron of the coffeehouse where she was working as a barista. Soon they were discussing a joint venture. A few years later, their bookstore/cafe became reality, and Sharon, Summer, and Rachel became some of their first customers. Recommendations of authors and long chats over coffee regarding the books they read or were interested in reading had Jenny suggesting the idea of starting a book club.

For Sharon, it was perfect timing. Ricky had just gone off to Stanford, and with Emily across the country at NYU, she was reeling from the effects of her empty nest. For 21 years, her life had revolved around her children and their needs, car-pooling, cooking, laundry, helping with homework, getting them to practices, cheering them on at games and recitals, and most recently visiting college campuses in preparation for their futures. And then suddenly they were just…gone. The house was too quiet, too empty, too filled with memories. And, with her children gone, the fact that she did not have a love life only became more pronounced, her bed suddenly emptier, colder to the touch. And it didn't help that she was starting to feel like she was in a rut at the PSB. Melancholy enveloped her in its insidious web, eating away at her, telling her that her best days were now in the past.

Later, she would find that she actually enjoyed the peace and solitude of being on her own, the freedom of not having to organize anyone but herself. But in the beginning, the loneliness was crushing. Both Rachel and Summer commiserated with her because they were going through the same thing. It was Marina who encouraged her to use that time to focus on herself and do some of the things she'd wanted to do but hadn't had time for in the past.

For many years, Sharon had helped out a few nights a month at St. Joseph's soup kitchen, bringing Emily and Ricky along with her, which was how she'd gotten to know Aggie. Now, she began volunteering at the church's domestic violence shelter, counseling the women on their rights, teaching them how to defend themselves, and helping them to find jobs. She coached them through the interview process and helped them select outfits from donated clothes-including her own-that would help them look professional. Eventually, she ended up on the board of directors. She also became the LAPD's liaison with "The Sunshine Kids Foundation" helping kids with cancer, worked with Rachel to raise money for "Emily's List", sold her house and bought the condo, and then she joined the book club.

It was the perfect hobby and helped her to expand her group of friends. Other than Gavin, Summer, and Rachel, she didn't really have any close friends, confidantes. It wasn't that she was anti-social, she had many friendly acquaintances: Marina, Aggie, a few women and men at work. But, the truth was, she had never had the time to cultivate deep friendships. As a single mom, she was usually either working or taking care of her kids. And where most people made friends on the job, her work within the PSB made that impossible. Barriers were essential in her position, and that had not been easy, especially in the beginning. Even though she'd always been a bit reserved, she was not a naturally unfriendly person, so having to close off that side of her had taken time and effort. But she'd become good at it. Maybe too good. Once her walls were built, it was hard to let people back in.

The book club started out small, and though it had not been intentional, they were all women: Helen, Sharon, Summer, Rachel, Jenny, Marina, and Aggie. Roz, Patrice, and Andrea were later additions. Once the only women thing was established, they decided to keep it that way, which pleased Sharon. She was surrounded by men all day long, worked in a profession dominated by men, and she didn't have a problem with that. For the most part, she liked working with men, liked their direct ways, and had always felt that the best teams had a combination of women and men. On the other hand, it was nice to spend time with her women friends and immerse herself in the female perspective. It was also easier to be herself and let her hair down without the male/female dynamic, without feeling like she had to prove that she was tough enough, strong enough, smart enough, the way she did at work, every… single… day. Around these women, she could express her emotions, and frankly, her sexuality, without being embarrassed or viewed as weak.

"To ten years!" Helen raised her glass of champagne.

"To ten years!" The group chorused.

TBC

[thewooreview]

free self care for social distancing

I’m sure you didn’t imagine spending 2020 in social isolation watching a global trauma unfold. How are you adjusting to your new normal?

It’s been a lot to take in, and I’ve felt overwhelmed with guilt to be productive and come out of this my best self, which hasn't helped my stress levels or sleep patterns, both key to supporting your immune system in times of change. 

I wrote this post to encourage you to put your own oxygen mask first, whatever that looks like for you. Gentle suggestions include to:

do nothing (forget productivity and pay attention to the present moment)

practice radical self-care (ie/ make friends with the skeletons in your closet)

focus on wellness essentials (movement, menu + sleep) 

enjoy free yoga and meditation videos (and show your gratitude to their creators)

I hope you find something that helps ground you in this post.

an invitation: if you can, do nothing 

I’ve been feeling anxiety to be productive (as capitalism defines it) and guilt for wanting to rest and reflect, and I acknowledge having the privilege to decide between the two. 

Serendipity stepped in when my digital copy of Jenny Odell’s How to Do Nothing became available from the library. She articulates my burnout culture concerns in the first chapter.

“But while I hope you find some relief in the invitation to simply stop or slow down, I don’t mean this to be a weekend retreat or a mere treatise on creativity. The point of doing nothing, as I define it, isn’t to return to work refreshed and ready to be more productive, but rather to question what we currently perceive as productive. My argument is obviously anti capitalist, especially concerning technologies that encourage a capitalist perception of time, place, self and community...From either a social or ecological perspective, the ultimate goal of “doing nothing” is to wrest our focus from the attention economy and replant it in the public, physical realm.”

Suggested “do nothing” activities:

Snooze notifications and place your devices out of sight 

Colour, paint, doodle or draw

Take a deep breath and use your five senses think of three things you’re grateful for

Leave a positive comment or review for the podcast you love

Cancel unnecessary bills 

Buy your necessities from small, local businesses

Reevaluate what you want to devote your limited attention to and say no to everything else

practice radical acts of self-care (work on your shit)

“[c]aring for myself is not self-indulgent, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.’

-Audre Lorde

What did Audre, American writer, feminist, and civil rights activist mean by caring for yourself? She wasn’t suggesting elaborate bath bombs or daily face masks. Because self-care has been popularized by corporations to help them sell things, the term is commonly understood on its most shallow level. Author Brianna Wiest elaborates:

“A world in which self-care has to be such a trendy topic is a world that is sick. Self-care should not be something we resort to because we are so absolutely EXHAUSTED that we need some reprieve from our own relentless internal pressure.

True self-care is not salt baths and chocolate cake, it is making the choice to build a life you don’t need to regularly escape from.

And that often takes doing the thing you least want to do.” 

Her self care suggestions include:

looking your failures and disappointments square in the eye and re-strategizing

not satiating your immediate desires

letting go

choosing new

disappointing some people

making sacrifices for others

letting yourself be normal, regular + unexceptional

sometimes having a dirty kitchen 

deciding your ultimate goal in life isn’t going to be having abs and keeping up with your fake friends

deciding how much of your anxiety comes from not actualizing your latent potential, and how much comes from the way you were being trained to think before you even knew what was happening

She writes, “If you find yourself having to regularly indulge in consumer self-care, it’s because you are disconnected from actual self-care, which has very little to do with “treating yourself” and a whole lot do with parenting yourself and making choices for your long-term wellness.” 

And then she gives more self-care suggestions:

no longer using your hectic and unreasonable life as justification for self-sabotage in the form of liquor and procrastination

earning how to stop trying to “fix yourself” and start trying to take care of yourself… and maybe finding that taking care lovingly attends to a lot of the problems you were trying to fix in the first place

being the hero of your life, not the victim

rewiring what you have until your everyday life isn’t something you need therapy to recover from

no longer choosing a life that looks good over a life that feels good

giving the hell up on some goals so you can care about others

being honest even if that means you aren’t universally liked

meeting your own needs so you aren’t anxious and dependent on other people

take a minimalist approach to self-care

Ok, that was a lot so let’s bring it back to basics. Taking care of yourself is simple when you stick to the foundations of wellness: movement, menu, and sleep.

If you’re feeling crummy ask yourself the following questions for clues on where you can adjust:

What did I feed my body today? How much water did I drink?

When did I last move? Have I taken any deep, intentional breaths?

How many hours of sleep did I get last night? What have I done to promote rest?

It’s also ok to not be ok, to eat ice cream, binge-watch Netflix, and start again tomorrow. Just make sure you dust yourself off and try again.

support movement and sleep with free videos

Here are some free practices to help you get out of your head and into your body. As always, trust that you know what you need best, take what serves you and leave the rest.

movement

Wake up and stretch with 10 min morning yoga with Chantal Russell 

If you’ve got them, spend 20 min practicing morning yoga w Ally Maz (browse her full catalogue of lululemon yoga videos)

Unwind with spa yoga with Carolyn Anne Budgell

Build some heat through pilates with Ariel Swan of Jaybird (check their stories for her free IG live class times)

Stay active with 7min of HiiT a day

Raise your heart rate, feel your feels, and tone your muscles to a killer soundtrack in the class (they have a free 2-week trial)

Try 3 min arms using your favourite song as a timer, no weights needed 

rest + sleep

Start your day with ease with Johnathon Lehmann (a former wall street lawyer)’s morning Buddha meditation 

Melt tensions with Carolyn Budgell’s meditations

Ease anxiety and unwind from the workday with Nadi Shodhana Pranayama (alternate nostril breathing)

Limit screen-free time before bed and enjoy a wind-down activity like this bedtime  yoga routine instead

Listen to a soundtrack scientifically proven to promote sleep 

Do a body scan in bed to release tension, listen to this breathing into sleep relaxation exercise to learn how

Spread the love and show your support by sharing their posts and leaving reviews.

Stay home, stay safe, and take things one day at a time.

I love you!

[newstfionline]

How journalism got so out of touch with the people it covers

By Sarah Jones, Columbia Journalism Review, Spring/Summer 2018

To become a journalist, Rajaa Elidrissi knew she would need a strategy. Growing up in a low-income household in Elmhurst, Queens, she started collecting clips at age 13. “I went to a high school that was not a high-ranking high school, and I was pretty aware that it was really hard to get into a good college,” she explains. After graduating in 2016 with an anthropology degree from Wesleyan University, she knew she needed to be practical--she couldn’t afford to take an unpaid internship; she had to start working--and looked for where the jobs were. That year, the jobs were in video. Currently a producer for CNBC, Elidrissi is on a secure track, for now at least. But if the industry should pivot away from video any time soon, she’s ready. “I see a lot of jobs for social media editors,” she says, so she’s started studying content analytics tools. She knows she has to stay smart and keep moving if she wants to continue as a journalist.

Elidrissi’s calculus is familiar to me--coming from a low-income background, I entered journalism by looking for where the jobs were. I graduated from a blue-collar public high school in Appalachian Virginia, and attended a conservative Christian college because, with scholarships, it’s where I could afford to go. To get a job out of college, I deliberately built a skill set to supplement a résumé deficient in elite degrees or high-profile internships, and became a social media editor--Elidrissi’s backup career--and eventually, a staff writer. From where I sit, I don’t know many national journalists who have a background like mine. In fact, the industry sometimes seems designed to keep us out of newsrooms altogether.

Differences do separate me from Elidrissi. My parents aren’t immigrants, and I don’t belong to a cultural or religious minority; overall, society placed fewer obstacles in my path. But anyone coming from a low-income background runs similar mental calculations: How do we get into journalism? And if we do get in, how do we afford to stay in? Your background shapes your path into your chosen field. And if your background includes poverty, that path contains boulders.

The first hurdle was paying for college. So I studied very hard. I got scholarships. I worked two or three jobs to pay the bills while I was in college,” says Sarah Smarsh, a Kansas-based independent journalist who has been covering class, inequality, and red-state politics for 17 years. Smarsh comes from a working-class family, and she knew that just making it to college signaled the start of a longer battle. “I didn’t know anyone in a newsroom who was picking me out of the pile for an internship,” she says. “I convinced newsrooms to bring me in as an intern.”

“I would say the second hurdle was social capital,” she adds. “Even though I made it to college, I still didn’t possess social capital.”

Like Smarsh, I knew I had to earn scholarships, and once in college, I quickly learned that my Walmart wardrobe set me apart in all the wrong ways. To achieve social mobility, the poor must culturally assimilate. You have to dress a certain way, speak a certain way, and get to know certain people. The third is impossible unless you accomplish the first two goals. Even if you manage all three, you may not experience true social mobility. Assimilation may grant you a certain degree of social capital, but social capital does not inevitably bestow its financial equivalent. Real capital--wealth--remains the surest way to survive journalism’s fluctuations. But by entering journalism at all, low-income people agree to extend their precarity for an indefinite term.

Smarsh felt that precarity keenly when she went freelance six years ago. “I had no savings and no family financial cushion to lean on. I didn’t have a bread-winning husband,” she explains. “It was just me, and literally nothing in a bank account. Hustling. Sending pitches. Being uninsured.”

Possession of a “cushion”--wealth, again--can become necessary to stay in the field. To shore up their positions, some would-be journalists go on to advanced degrees. A lack of social capital means a need to take on debt, just to get to square one. “As a black woman, I didn’t have a choice not to go to J-school--and that’s a sentiment shared among many of my classmates. Journalism is an industry rife with nepotism, where career trajectories are determined more often by the people that you know rather than the quality of your work,” notes Slate’s Rachelle Hampton. After paying her way through journalism school at the University of Kansas, Smarsh also took on debt to earn an MFA in creative nonfiction writing from Columbia University. “That might seem foolish to someone who even grew up middle-class, because of the risk inherent in taking on such debt to enter a field that hardly assures the sort of income that’s going to pay it off,” she says. “For me, in the context of poverty, it was like I had nothing to lose.”

Getting that first job is a partial victory. There are bills to pay afterwards, and collectors don’t care about your prose. But let’s say you get that first job, and then a second. And let’s say, for argument’s sake, you keep going, and now you’re based in a national newsroom or some other big-name outlet. You could cover pop culture, or review books, or turn numbers into charts. You’ll still be an outlier, working a newsroom that may consistently miss the class angle to stories, if it covers class at all.

A 2013 study by the Pew Research Center’s Journalism Project found that in 52 major newsrooms, poverty accounted for less than 1 percent of coverage every year from 2007 to 2012. “Journalists are drawn more to people making things happen than those struggling to pay bills; poverty is not considered a beat; neither advertisers nor readers are likely to demand more coverage, so neither will editors; and poverty stories are almost always enterprise work, requiring extra time and commitment,” Dan Froomkin wrote for the Nieman Center. Journalists who cover class exclusively tell me they sometimes have to convince editors that their stories are even newsworthy.

“I have heard so many times: Where’s the surprise?” Gary Rivlin, author of Broke, USA, says. In Rivlin’s telling, editors frequently want a sensationalistic angle if they’re interested in the story at all. “I try to tell stories of payday lending. The only way to sell a story of payday lending was a contrarian take that said, well, it’s actually a good thing. The only problem is that it’s not a good thing. It’s a rip-off.”

Other journalists say they’ve had similar difficulties placing pieces on class and poverty. Smarsh tells me she’s woven a class sensibility into her work since her first days in a newsroom more than 15 years ago. “When I started being more pointed and overt about class, even five years ago, I had a hell of a time getting the pieces picked up,” she says. “And interestingly, I found that what editors at top US outlets turned down, almost inevitably a top British outlet would pick up.”

“It became such a pattern that I did develop a little bit of a theory that the UK has centuries on us, as a society or as a political unit, in reckoning with the concept of class and in finding a language to discuss it,” she adds. “We are in a country that has been telling itself, falsely and hypocritically, since its very foundation, that this is a country where your economic origins do not determine the outcome of your life.”

Smarsh’s statement seems obvious: I know from life and from reporting that American society is boldly, unrepentantly rigged against its most marginalized members. But this fact, while clear to me, may not be to everyone else. America is wedded to the myth of its own greatness. It insists it has created a meritocracy, which it sustains through the power of assertion. This has a knock-on effect: Journalists inhabit a skewed society, and not all of them realize it. The industry therefore suffers from structural inequalities that reflect its surroundings. Women, people of color, and people with disabilities are relatively absent from newsroom leadership for the same reasons they are relatively absent everywhere. These absences impact coverage in every respect, and poverty reporting is not exempt.

Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and Fear of Falling, tells me that even with decades of experience, she’s always found it difficult to convince editors to cover poverty. And when outlets do assign a piece, financial hardship can complicate the reporting process. “I got an assignment from The New York Times in 2009 to write a series of essays about the effects of the recession on people who were already economically struggling,” she explains, “because at that time, the typical Times article was about people who had to drop their private pilates class.” So Ehrenreich hit the road, collecting stories from working-class Americans across the country--only to encounter a financial roadblock.

“I realized I was not going to make enough money from my payments from the Times to cover my expenses,” she continues. “My next great realization was that the only people who get to rage about poverty and economic hardship are people who are not experiencing it, who have some kind of buffer and savings.”

Jenni Monet, an independent journalist who covers indigenous stories, got her start working in a tiny newsroom in the Four Corners region, where covering Navajo tribal events was part of the daily beat. “It wasn’t until I started working in places like New York City [that] I started to see the extreme disconnect that exists,” she adds. “It’s realizing the enormous amount of explaining involved.”

Those failures became particularly clear during the 2016 coverage of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation’s protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline. “Here you have the largest indigenous-led movement of our modern time,” says Monet. It started with an environmental agenda deeply rooted in race-based politics that dealt with segregation, that dealt with cyclical poverty based on government decisions that have gravely affected tribal communities for decades.

“And guess how the media responded?” Monet asks. “At first, they didn’t show up. When they finally did, it was all novelty-based. Look at this camp, they have teepees and kitchens and they cook and it’s cute!” Standing Rock, as Monet recounts it, was a missed opportunity for the national press, an inevitable failure for such a whitewashed industry, whose coverage of the intersection of race and poverty is uneven at best.

Journalists who aren’t from low-income backgrounds aren’t necessarily hostile to the poor, but class prejudice can manifest as a form of blindness. Based on my own experiences and the experiences others related to me for this piece, simple ignorance is much more common. It’s more that certain experiences, like poverty, are opaque to people who have not lived them.

In the lead-up to the 2016 election, journalism’s class blindness showed everywhere: Story after story reinforced Trump’s self-appointed role as the champion of white working-class America. The vast majority of Trump voters, as we now well know, boasted an income of $50,000 or higher. Suburban America is Trump Country. Though there have been some corrective pieces, the average Trump Country profile still stars low-income whites--who, shock of shocks, still support their candidate, no matter the swing in the news cycle. These profiles don’t produce any real news, and they don’t bring readers any closer to understanding the reasons for Trump’s victory, more than a year later.

For once, it’s not so difficult to convince editors to cover poor people. But meanwhile, the other true stories of working-class America struggle to break through the noise.

It’s hard to see how this will change as long as Trump is the most popular hook. The stories of the poor possess their own texture and weight. Poverty is a series of surprises, most of them horrible; life, for the poor, means careening from one plot twist to another while the world looks straight through you.

It shouldn’t be this way. These stories deserve everyday attention for what they tell us about the cracks in America’s façade. Make it easier for poor folks to enter your world, and we’ll even tell those stories for you. We’re resilient, after all, and we make damn good journalists.

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Overall Experience

Due to the worldwide ‘Covid -19′ outbreak, we unfortunately had to put the show on hold and stop rehearsing after finishing ‘Blue’ to go into isolation. Hope remains that we will be able to finish and perform ‘Heathers’ at a later date. 

I have thoroughly enjoyed working on this show and I feel I have grown as a performer. This process has been the challenge I needed to develop my skills and refine my work ethic. In order to perform at the level required, I have had to adapt my lifestyle and living routines. Firstly, I improved my diet, adding more vegetables, protein and good carbs and fats, and reducing the amount of sugars, unhealthy carbs and fats, and some dairy that I was consuming. I also changed my portion sizes and adapted the frequency of which I was eating, settling on about 4/5 small meals a day. I found this gave me the energy I needed throughout the day to rehearse and perform to a high level, keeping me sustained for longer periods of time. As a result of this I also began drinking more water which counteracted the amount I was losing during rehearsals. Zelmen, K., (2020) states the importance of water intake, ‘Think of water as a nutrient your body needs that is present in liquids, plain water, and foods. All of these are essential daily to replace the large amounts of water lost each day. When your water intake does not equal your output, you can become dehydrated. Drinking Water Helps Maintain the Balance of Body Fluids. Your body is composed of about 60% water. The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature.’ These small changes in my diet stopped me feeling lethargic and bloated and my stamina improved, which was a goal of mine. My sleeping pattern got much better and it became a lot more regular as I found myself falling asleep earlier in the night and waking up naturally earlier in the mornings, giving me further independent rehearsal time before ‘Heathers’ cast rehearsals actually started. The workouts and warm ups, such as meta-fit and yoga, given to us as students of LMA have been great for the improvement of my fitness levels, strength, and overall health and well being. These lifestyle changes have benefited me massively and have helped enhance my physical performance within the show. This is something that I shall and need to carry on with in the Professional Industry. Looking after our bodies and keeping them fit and healthy is one of the most important aspects of being and getting work as a performer.

Before beginning ‘Heathers’ I already knew of the show and had seen it once before. I really enjoyed it and I was already drawn to the character of ‘Heather Chandler’ Before the auditions I decided to do further research into ‘Heathers’ and this specific character. I watched the original 80′s film written by ‘Daniel Waters’, of which the musical is based. I did enjoy this film, however I feel like the musical version, written by ‘Kevin Murphy’ and ‘Laurence O’ Keefe’, really enhances the story, making it much more entertaining. I also thought ‘Kim Walker’s’ performance of ‘Heather Chandler’ in the film version is too understated and I enjoy the slightly more animated performance of this character in the musical. My favourite online musical version of ‘Heathers’ is the one posted below. 

This is also my favourite ‘Heather Chandler’ performance as I feel like this performer really shows the unforgiving-ness and naturally cruel nature of this character. She isn’t washed down or rose tinted whatsoever, yet still maintains that young, teenage naivety in thinking that her looks and high school power will take her far in life post graduation, which is very unlikely. Doing my character research really helped me develop my own version of this iconic character, as I took aspects from the versions I liked, such as the one above, and disregarded the aspects I didn’t enjoy. It helped me create a character true to myself but also true to the script and the way the character is written. I think having a small aspect of yourself in each character you play, such as your choices with line delivery or movement gives your character individuality to those performed before you. I do think as a performer I suit this character and I have the right look for ‘Heather Chandler’, and would definitely audition for her again in future opportunities. 

Throughout the duration of this process, as a cast we have considered our audience and thought about them when making certain decisions within the show’s rehearsal period. Our target audience is everyone within the age range from teenager to late 50’s. The show’s material is targeted at this age group and therefore when making line delivery and choreography decisions, we considered what this age group would find understandable, relatable and humorous. It is very important to consider your target audience when putting on a show as you must make it appeal to them in order for your show to attract an audience, sell tickets, and have that audience leave satisfied.  

Throughout this process I feel like our cast worked very well together as a team and this then also enhanced our onstage performance and chemistry. As a member of this cast I am willing to help others if and when they need it, and I am always open to the ideas and opinions of others. I have been punctual for every rehearsal and have only missed one due to illness, in which I caught up on what we were doing independently and with the help of my cast mates. Our feedback as a cast has always been to work on our ability to retain vocals and blocking. This is something I think we have really developed on and improved as a group during this rehearsal period and I feel everyone’s commitment increased hugely. We have also found a rehearsal technique that works for us as a cast, that being practicing harmonies separately in our harmony groups before coming back together to go through them.

I very much enjoy the soundtrack of this show, more than many musicals, which made learning the vocals highly enjoyable, even with the challenges it brought. ‘Seventeen (reprise)’ is one of my favourite Musical songs to date and I think it creates one of the best conclusions to a show I’ve ever seen. I feel like vocally, I need to continue working on developing my head voice and twang, to produce a stronger sound. I do feel however, that throughout this process my confidence with harmonies has increased greatly. Having to work so close with others, such as the other Heathers, really developed my harmonies and harmony retaining techniques. 

Movement wise I know I need to continue building muscle and a stronger core, to help me maintain lifted and incorporate strength and control within choreography. I shall also continue to work on and improve containing my movement. To do this I shall keep working out, incorporating; HIT, Yoga, Pilates, and Dance Classes into my exercise regime, whilst practicing pelvis tucking exercises alongside.  

Personally I feel like my acting skills were already very good and I consider this to be my strongest discipline within Musical Theatre. I have good comedic timing and enjoy performing to an audience. As I personally feel my singing is my weakest attribute, I really try to use my acting to enhance this, and I feel this is what won over the audition panel. I’m never afraid to try things as an actress and will push myself to and beyond my limits in order to portray a character correctly, which I think makes me very employable. 

I believe I will make it as a practitioner within this industry. I have incredible drive and complete dedication when it comes to performing. It is my passion and the only career I want to pursue which I will do by; maintaining a healthy lifestyle, diet and fitness regime. Continue attending dance, singing and acting classes after my degree, and seek agents, auditions and work. I do feel ready to enter this cut throat industry at a professional level, but I know that you can always improve and keep working yourself and your craft, which is the reason I shall still attend classes. I feel I fit into the industry as a musical theatre ensemble member, screen actress and commercial dancer/model, and I think I have the personality and look to do so.

Overall, I have really enjoyed the experience of working on such an iconic show with an incredible director and cast. It has helped me grow and develop further as a performer, increasing my drive to enter this industry and gain representation and work as a professional.

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Can Keto and Cardio Mix? https://ift.tt/2GQcsA9

We get lots of questions about how a ketogenic diet works in the context of exercise: Is it possible to maintain one’s fitness (strength, endurance, performance) and also drop one’s carb intake to ketogenic levels? Is it advisable? Will it help me lose weight faster?

Mark already addressed some of these topics, but it’s clear that many people still feel uncertain about how to pair a keto diet with their current workout routine.

Rather than write a single behemoth post, I’m going to tackle this in two parts. For today, let me talk keto and cardio, specifically how keto works for the average fitness enthusiast who thinks more in terms of general exercise. In a couple weeks I’ll follow up with a post on keto for runners and other endurance types who tend to focus on training programs and racing.

So, keto and cardio… This is for people who like to attend group fitness classes, or go out for jogs or spins on the bike, or do a mix of low heart rate exercise with occasional bouts of HIIT. (This is a problem with the term “cardio”—it can mean so many things.)

You probably already know Mark’s stance on cardio: avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns. The Primal Blueprint approach to exercise comprises lots of everyday movement, lifting heavy things, and occasionally going all out. If you simply must do cardio, most of these sessions should be conducted at an aerobic heart rate not higher than 180-age, as detailed in the Primal Endurance book. So, with the caveat that cardio exercise in the traditional sense of slogging away on an elliptical machine or treadmill doesn’t jibe with the Primal Blueprint approach, let’s get to some frequently asked questions.

Will My Workouts Suffer When I Go Keto?

This is a common concern because some people do report that they feel sluggish when they first go keto. And yes, you might feel like your performance in the gym (cardio, strength, HIIT—all of it) takes a hit in the first few weeks of keto. Rest assured that this is a temporary dip as your body becomes efficient at using fat and ketones for energy in the absence of incoming carbs (glucose). It’s a learning process for your body, so to speak.

The more glycolytic your workouts, the more you are going to notice this. Prolonged, difficult workouts that fall into the category of chronic cardio or “black hole” sessions are especially likely to suffer.

To help mitigate temporary performance decrements during the transition to keto:

Dial back the intensity and/or frequency of your workouts for a few weeks. Trade some of your more intense cardio (and strength) sessions for walks, yoga or Pilates, or other gentle forms of movement.

Mind your electrolytes. If you are feeling weak or lightheaded, if you get a headache, or you just feel “off,” this is likely due to electrolyte imbalance. Try adding ¼ – ½ teaspoon of salt to a glass of water with lemon juice and see if that helps. You want to make sure you are getting 4.5 grams of sodium, 300-400 mg of magnesium, and 1-2 grams of potassium each day on top of your normal food.

While your body is making the switch, give it plenty of fuel. Consume extra fat and eat plenty of calories. If fat loss is a goal, you can adjust your macros and calories as needed once you are feeling in the groove with keto.

Tough it out. Don’t cave and add carbs in the first few weeks (see the next point). Know that this is temporary, and you should be back to normal within three to six weeks.

Do I Need To Add Back Carbs To Fuel My Workouts?

During the first few weeks of starting keto, you should not add back carbs. It is important to create a low-glucose, low-insulin environment to promote ketogenesis and the adaptations that accompany a ketogenic state. If your workouts are too hard right now, the correct answer is to change your workouts, not to increase your carbs.

After you have done a dedicated period of a minimum three weeks of strict keto—six or more is even better—you should be feeling better during your workouts if you are not engaging in prolonged, chronic cardio activities. (It might take longer to adapt to longer endurance training, as we will discuss in the next installment.) At this point you have some options:

One, you can continue in strict ketosis (less than 50 grams of carb per day) as long as you are feeling good.

Two, you can start experimenting with eating carbs strategically before your workouts. This is known as a targeted keto approach. There are various ways of implementing this, but the basic formula is that you would ingest 25-30 grams of glucose or dextrose (not fructose) about half an hour before high-intensity workouts to replenish muscle glycogen.

There are a few caveats here. First, most sources of glucose/dextrose are not Primal (think hard candy, gels). Probably the closest is pure maple syrup, but that also delivers a hit of fructose. If you are a Primal purist, you will have to decide if this is a compromise you want to make. Second, people tend to overestimate the degree to which they are actually low on glycogen and how much it matters. It is a common misconception that once you go keto you have “no glycogen.” While muscle glycogen stores are reduced, your tanks are probably still at least 50% full, and perhaps on par with non-ketogenic folks if you have been keto for a long time. Furthermore, the average low-to-medium intensity cardio session isn’t truly depleting glycogen. Remember, the point of becoming fat- and keto-adapted is that you burn predominantly fat and ketones at these lower intensities, sparing glycogen. You have to go hard and/or long to really burn through your muscle glycogen stores. Thus, you should target pre-workout carbs only before truly high-intensity sessions.

Instead of adding simple carbs before workouts, another option if you feel like you need more carbs is to add back nutrient-dense carbs after workouts, when insulin sensitivity is increased. This might make sense if you feel like your ability to recover between workouts is lagging, or you want to recover quickly because you have back-to-back hard sessions planned. In either case—adding carbs before or after exercise—the amount you add should be proportional to the difficulty (intensity) of the workout. You don’t need to carb up for your yin yoga class, for example.

Lastly, if you are feeling underpowered during exercise, instead of adding back carbs you can experiment with adding more protein and/or fat. Some people report good success with “protein ups” timed around heavier workout days.

Will Adding Keto to My Cardio Routine Help Me Lose Weight?

Maybe. It’s a common refrain that “abs are built in the kitchen,” meaning that your food plays a bigger role in fat loss than does your exercise. This isn’t to say exercise is unimportant; it does matter. A caloric deficit is necessary to lose body fat, and exercise is one way to create a caloric deficit. However, this can also backfire if your exercise routine leaves you hungrier, so you unintentionally overeat calories due to increased hunger and cravings. Ketones have known appetite suppressing effects, so a ketogenic diet might help counteract any increased hunger that comes with exercise.  

That said, I think the root of this question is the fact that ketosis is a fat-burning state, and so the logic goes that if you are metabolizing fat for energy, you will automatically shrink your body fat stores. Moreover, if you add keto and cardio together, especially if you are exercising in the so-called “fat-burning zone,” you will lose more fat than either alone. Right? Not necessarily. The fat you burn can come from your adipose tissue or from your plate. If you are eating an excess of fat calories relative to your daily caloric needs, you still won’t lose body fat.

We know that for body recomposition, the best bang for your buck comes from a combo of resistance training and HIIT. Cardio exercise still has many benefits for physical and mental health, and of course a lot of people simply enjoy their cardio; but you shouldn’t be putting all your eggs in the cardio basket if fat loss is your goal. All else being equal, though, it certainly can’t hurt to upregulate your body’s ability to use fat for energy.

Summary Recommendations:

When first starting out with keto, follow the recommendations laid out in The Keto Reset Diet, and be strict for at least three weeks.

If you are struggling in your cardio workouts during this period, don’t add back carbs! Dial back your workouts, add calories (via fat or protein), or both.

Once you believe you are keto-adapted, then you can start to experiment with targeted carbs and/or carb ups if you so choose.

No matter your diet, avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns that increase stress and your body’s demand for glucose.

Check out this post for additional tips for exercising while keto.

Thanks, everyone. Questions, comments? Share them below, and have a good week.

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References:

Koeslag T, Noakes T, Sloan A. Post-exercise ketosis. J Physiol 1980;301;79-90.

Malhotra A, Noakes T, Phinney S. It is time to bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity: you cannot outrun a bad diet. Br J Sports Med 2015;49:967-968. Matoulek M, Svobodova S, Vetrovska R, Stranska Z, Svacina S. Post-exercise changes of beta hydroxybutyrate as a predictor of weight changes. Physiol Res. 2014;63 Suppl 2:S321-5.

Newman JC, Verdin E. ?-hydroxybutyrate: much more than a metabolite. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2014;106(2):173-81.

Sleiman SF, Henry J, Al-Haddad R, et al. Exercise promotes the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) through the action of the ketone body ?-hydroxybutyrate. Elife. 2016;5:e15092.

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TSG SPOTLIGHT: Lis Halfpapp and Fred DeVito, Founders of Exhale Spa

Fred DeVito and Lis Halfpapp, by Melinda DiMauro Photography.

Barre studios began appearing in our New Jersey communities eight years ago and caught on quickly with the allure of long graceful muscles, good posture and the significant results students were experiencing in a relatively short period of time. With the workout’s combination of ballet, yoga and Pilates, it became very popular for all ages and the perfect choice for a society where so many of us spend our days hunched over devices.

With the hundreds of barre programs that are now available, some may think of the workout as a new fad. However, Fred DeVito and Lis Halfpapp, the founders of Exhale - the purveyor of barre classes, spa therapies, and well-being programs - have been teaching barre classes for over 36 years. 

Lis and Fred’s partnership and love of fitness began over 40 years ago when they met at their New Jersey high school, Lis a cheerleader and Fred a football player. Having danced since she was a young child, Lis began teaching ballet in her teens and in 1980, after graduating from the Hartford School of Ballet Teacher Training program, she saw a Lotte Berk Method ad in the NY Times looking for former dancers to teach at the first barre studio in the U.S. on the Upper East Side of New York City.

Lotte Berk, a German ballerina, created the barre technique incorporating strength-training, dance, orthopedic back exercises, and Hatha yoga rolled into an intense, hour-long mind-body workout. She named it Lotte Berk Method and taught it to a devoted following in London in the ‘60s and ‘70s.    

I was fortunate to be able to sit down with Fred and Lis and ask them about their journey with barre fitness. As a student of their Core Fusion classes I already knew Fred and Lis to be extremely passionate and dedicated instructors, but I learned from our interview that they are also truly two of the kindest and most humble visionaries I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.

TSG:  Tell us about your health and wellness path - how did you turn your passion into this career?

Lis:  I began ballet at the age of five and as a child I decided that whatever I end up choosing as a career, it should be something I love to do because I knew I’d be spending a lot of time doing it. I continued dancing and performing and became a cheerleader in high school. I knew how good I felt every time I took a dance class and I wanted to share that with others.

Fred:  I was a high school and college athlete and I studied health and physical education in college. I became a public school teacher in PE and health right out of college in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. At that time Health and PE classes were the extent of the well-being arena. I gradually worked my way into personal training and then had a chance to begin working at Lotte Berk Method when they needed someone to work the front desk. The studio was for women only and in order to get my foot in door I had to be the receptionist for a few months. When they eventually allowed me to become a teacher, I officially became the first male barre teacher in the world. That was in 1984.

Lis and Fred in their Summit, NJ studio, Melinda DiMauro Photography.

TSG:  Even though you have been teaching barre classes since the ‘80s, the barre workout did not become well known until the 2000s. The Core Fusion workout you developed for Exhale is based on the Lotte Berk Method you taught for 20 years. How is it different than the technique you originally taught?    

Fred: We learned a lot in those 22 years at Lotte Berk Method and when we decided to move on, we understood what worked and what was missing because LBM was a very specific technique that didn't allow for much wiggle room. Once we left LBM we dove deeply into the study of pilates, yoga, psychical therapy, exercise science and functional fitness, and realized all the missing pieces to a well-balanced program.

Lis: Things are always changing and evolving in the movement world as they should, and since the first day of Core Fusion 14 years ago, our class has evolved into a different place as well. We like to work with muscular confusion so that the muscles are sharp and react to what they are being given. Instead of having a scripted class, we like to shake up the pattern. There are sections of the class that will always remain the same, but within these sections there are many varieties that our teachers choose from so each class is different and the muscles can be challenged, and this stems from classical ballet technique training.

“Someone who takes a barre class will be burning more calories 24 hours a day than someone who takes a spin class and this will help with weight control and reducing inches.”

TSG:  After running 30+ miles a week for 30 years, I now attend barre classes 4 times a week and my body has never been this toned and strong. Can you explain why 4 hours each week in a barre studio can put me in the best shape of my life when we’ve heard for so many years that a cardio workout such as running is the most results efficient workout?

Fred: There are different types of cardio. There is running or riding a bike where you will maintain a 75% heart rate for 45 minutes to an hour - a fat burning cardio people need in their lives. When a barre class is taught with energy, pace and flow, it is an interval training type of cardio where you are are doing high intensity work for a time, and then lower intensity stretching.  

Most people who take barre classes, and only barre classes on a regular basis, maintain a very healthy heart and cardiovascular system because if it’s taught the right way, it’s great training for your heart. It’s not the same as running or biking - you don’t get that same endorphin rush that you get for longer duration activities.

But do you need both? Yes. Do you need more of one than the other? Yes. You need more barre because barre is strength and flexibility training. It is the strength training that improves your muscle density and your muscle density is what improves your resting metabolic rate which is the rate at which you burn calories at rest. And you only get that improvement from strength training, not from cardio. So when people take a spinning class, they may burn 400 or 500 calories in an hour and the other 23 hours of the day they go back to a resting metabolic rate that is subpar. Someone who takes a barre class will be burning more calories 24 hours a day than someone who takes a spin class and this will help with weight control and reducing inches.

It is very important to give yourself enough time to learn the barre technique. The barre technique is all about the fine details and improving them. When you are in the right position and working with high intensity, there is no way that you will not get cardio benefits - you will be breathing heavily, sweating profusely, you will be building strength and getting cardio work at the same time. It can be compared to sprint training - sprinting and walking vs. strengthening and stretching.  It is a very intense heart strengthening technique which prepares you for any other sport.

Lis: We find that when new students come to us who have been used to only cardio, such as runners, they find our workout very challenging. In our Core Fusion class at Exhale we really push pace and flow to maintain heart rate and make it an intense workout. If a barre instructor doesn’t understand pace and flow, you may leave class feeling you haven't had a good workout. We pride ourselves on how we train instructors to teach this well.  

Exhale’s Summit, NJ studio, Melinda DiMauro Photography.

“These women never seemed to age physically or physiologically and even today the same women are with us and it is as if our classes are the fountain of youth.”

TSG:  Describe your “ah-ha” moment when you felt you were succeeding at what you do.

Fred:  One of the reasons we knew we had to move on from LBM was because the owner didn't want to expand the business. There were two studios - one in New York City and one in Bridgehampton. We taught a very targeted group of women - Upper East Side women and NY City business women. We knew we had something special because we saw how those students were affected by what we do - how their bodies were ageless. As they aged numerically these women never seemed to age physically or physiologically and even today the same women are with us and it is as if our classes are the fountain of youth because they are now in their 60s and 70s and they don’t look any different than when they were in their 40s and 50s.

We had a LBM student approach us (now our CEO, Annbeth Eschbach) with her idea for Exhale - to expand and take the classes nationwide, and Lis and I loved her idea. In 2003 we expanded outside of NYC to Boston. Once we opened Boston, we realized we really had something we could share with the world and that gave us so much fuel to keep expanding this business. In New York, we always had a group of teachers that we could stay on top of and watch the quality control, but  it was something we worried about once we opened Boston, Chicago and then Dallas. We realized that the way to maintain quality without being present comes from training the leaders correctly and holding them accountable. This was another ah-hah moment when we knew we could scale and not loose quality or be diluted.

Lis:  We opened our 30th property with Bermuda last year and have 170 teachers across the country and over 50,000 students a month nationwide in our barre classes alone. Students are seeing results and teachers are teaching on brand. We are not a franchise - we own all the studios under one umbrella and we know every teacher in every studio in every location nationwide. We find it so remarkable that the barre industry has grown out of that one studio on Madison Avenue to where it is today with Pure Barre, Bar Method, Barre3, and a plethora of others. It has tickled me with happiness to see how it has mushroomed into what it is today.

TSG:  Describe your philosophy about food, exercise and a life well lived.

Lis: Moderation.

Fred: 80/20. 80% of the time I’m good and 20% I cheat. A lot of exercise professionals are very strict - vegan and no alcohol which is no fun. I’m Italian so it’s not realistic for me. I love my red wine with dinner, I enjoy a steak and a burger once in awhile, I make my own pizza - just all in moderation. Lis makes her own desserts from scratch. It’s enjoying life - we work so hard and exercise so that we can enjoy life. That is why during our Exhale retreats in Bermuda and Turks and Caicos we serve great meals and great wine!

TSG:  A perfect day off?

Lis:  A leisurely breakfast, with a visit to the beach (the Hamptons), quiet recreational time, and being able to spend time with Fred.  

Fred:  Being with Lis. We spend a lot of time apart so it makes the time we do spend together that much more important and meaningful. We’ve been married 33 years and we don’t take each other for granted.                                      

TSG:  The project you are most proud of?

Lis:  Our Barre Teacher Training Program. When we started Exhale we only trained teachers to work at Exhale, but then three years ago we decided to open up the teacher training to anyone because the industry was expanding and we wanted to educate as many people as we could on how to teach barre. We now train teachers around the world and are about to embark on offering online barre teacher training. We are very proud of how many people outside the walls of Exhale we train to either be teachers or to help gain better knowledge of barre because a lot of barre students take the program to improve their knowledge - not necessarily to teach.

Exhale’s Turks + Caicos location.

TSG:  What is next?

Lis:  I hope to teach until I’m in my 90s as Lotte did (if people will still come to my class!). We have been growing alongside our students and have seen them through many life changes such a marriage, kids, even grandchildren now, and I want to continue to be a part of their lives. It feeds my soul.

Fred:  We want to continue to open more properties, expand our teacher training and to have more of an impact on as many people as we can touch until we get to the point where we want to sit back and get more into our hobbies. I’ve been a  jazz bass player all my life - I love music and I used to preform professionally and there will probably come a time when I want to perform again, but until then we want to help people understand that this is a lifestyle, not just an exercise class.

Exhale Spa Summit | 7 Bank Street, Summit, NJ | 908.206.1102

[anginpasang-blog]

The Non Surgical Hernia - A New Kind of Hernia Support & Truss

Aged 60, Anthony, who was working as a mowing contractor, decided in March 2008 that it was time to get fit again. He renewed his gym subscription and started back on weights. Shortly after trying to bench 220 lbs (100 kg) for the first time in 15 years, he developed a pain in his right groin, which was diagnosed as an inguinal hernia. Anthony's doctor booked him in for hernia repair surgery, which was to be carried out in September.

While awaiting surgery, Anthony consulted a homeopath and osteopath. The osteopath gave Anthony simple exercises for strengthening his transverse abdominal muscles.

Anthony stopped all other forms of exercise, gave up his mowing job, and avoided stretching and lifting anything heavier than 4-6 lbs for about three months. He ordered a hernia support garment as this had a guarantee to keep the hernia in during all activities.

When the hernia first appeared, it would pop out 10 times a day, just from walking around or standing in the shower. This stopped when Anthony started wearing the hernia support. In May it emerged again when he tried doing some push-ups without wearing the hernia support, so he went back to wearing it for a couple of hours a day.

By June the hernia appeared to be under control, and Anthony felt confident enough to start doing some mild aerobic exercises and strength training at home. He also began doing some work on his tractor which involved a certain amount of straining. When doing these activities Anthony wore his hernia support, which he found gave him a feeling of security and took much of the tentativeness out of his daily activities.

By September the hernia had improved so much that Anthony postponed the surgery for three months. To check that the hernia really had gone, he went for an ultrasound examination. This showed that nothing remained but a small enlargement of the deep end of the inguinal canal. The doctor asked him to strain as hard as he could; this forced just a small amount of fat into the deep end, but no bowel, and there was no protrusion.

Roy's Story

Roy, aged 58 in 2005, was working as a window-cleaner and was also an Ironman athlete. The Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance races organised by the World Triathlon Corporation, consisting of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike ride and 26.2 mile marathon run. This gruelling event requires months of intensive training and an extraordinary degree of fitness.

Roy had taken part in ten Ironman Triathlons, but sadly could do no more, as he had developed a small inguinal hernia. Roy knew two people who were still suffering complications years after hernia surgery, so he had decided against the operation.

However in January 2006 Roy met Craig, who had cured his own hernia by means of diet, herbs, Pilates exercises and also wearing a hernia support garment. Roy was keen to see if he could replicate Craig's success, so in the middle of January he started to attend Pilates classes with Craig, and began wearing the hernia support.

Roy kept a diary to monitor his progress. After a month he reported that he was feeling fitter, healthier and more toned around the lower abdomen and pelvic area. He decided to run the Dover half marathon on 19th February, and completed it in 1 hour 35 minutes--his best time for several years. Roy felt so encouraged that he was keen to start training for another Ironman Triathlon.

Swimming forms part of the Ironman programme, but Roy's hernia had up till now caused discomfort during swimming--a feeling of a "pull" in the groin area. Towards the end of February he felt confident enough to swim a fairly hard 2,000 metres, while wearing his hernia support. He was amazed to find that there was no discomfort at all. Angin Pasang Lelaki

So in March, Roy began a gruelling 16-week training schedule in preparation for the Quelle Challenge Triathlon which was to take place on 2nd July 2006. He had to build up to 15-20 hours training per week. As Roy was approaching 60 years of age and had not done an Ironman for two years, he was not sure he would be able to do this training without aggravating his hernia, but by now he had largely forgotten about it, as the bulge was no longer appearing. To be on the safe side he kept up his Pilates exercises and wearing his hernia support.

The Ironman is the largest mass participation triathlon on the planet: 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, 26.2 mile run. When the day arrived Roy began at 7.20am. Here is his report:

"The swim was comfortable, but slow. Had a good bike, taking it easy ready for the marathon. Ran 4,456 metres. Total time: 13hr 2 mins. Placed 1,656 out of some 4,000 starters, 26th in my age group. I don't think I would have been able to put in the training successfully without the help of my Pilates exercises and wearing my hernia support (although it was not practical to wear it on race day). I felt better prepared for this race than most of my previous ten Ironmen and seemed to suffer no ill effects."

In September 2008 Roy reported that he had not worn his hernia support for some time, was still very active, and had no trace of a hernia. He considers himself fully healed.

A Question-Mark Over Surgery

Researchers in the US, UK, Sweden and other countries have measured the rate of long-term complications after hernia repair surgery. It's not good news. For instance Loos and colleagues in the Netherlands found that of 1,766 men followed-up for three years by questionnaire, 40.2 per cent were still suffering some degree of pain, and 1.9 per cent experienced severe pain. One-fifth of the patients felt that their work or leisure activities were impaired.

Some surgeons are very concerned that patients are being routinely sent for this surgery even though their hernia may be quite small and painless. The policy of early surgery is intended to prevent a hernia from progressing and avoid the risk of it becoming "strangulated"--an emergency situation. But it has now been shown that strangulation is not very common. Many surgeons now follow a policy of "Watchful Waiting" (monitoring) a hernia instead of offering immediate surgery. In the UK elective hernia repair surgery has been reclassified as "low priority" by a growing number of regional health policy-makers.  Hernia Surgery and Pain After Exercising

Non-Surgical Alternatives

What do men like Anthony and Roy who have healed their own inguinal hernias have in common? On websites devoted to non-surgical alternatives the most frequently successful alternative system seems to be a programme of exercises such as Pilates to strengthen the abdominal area. Next in importance comes the wearing of a hernia support garment to keep the hernia "in". This is crucial. If the hernia is allowed to remain protruding, it will prevent the gap in the abdominal wall from healing up.

Nowadays most doctors and surgeons do not prescribe trusses, and some positively discourage them. Even today some trusses use metal springs to apply pressure to the hernia, via a pad which can be quite hard, and which presses into the hernia. This protrusion can cause scar tissue to form around the hernia's edges, which prevents them from knitting together and healing. In order to keep the hernia in, the pad needs to remain in contact with it at all times, and during all activities. Most trusses cannot follow body movement and so fail to do this.

A hernia support should fit well, be comfortable, keep the hernia in at all times, and be free of springs or pads that bulge inwards. It should have a guarantee to hold a groin hernia in, even during sport and heavy manual labour, and should have a money-back guarantee. Also watch out for hernia supports with metal components as these can set off alarms in airports. The best type of hernia support consists of an elastic belt with rigid flat pads that slide together in such a way that the hernia area is supported at all times.

To cure your own inguinal hernia isn't such a new idea. After all, A famous 19th century German clinic known as the Bilz Clinic, considered that hernia cures were commonplace, and recommended simple exercises, mineral baths and the conscientious wearing of a hernia truss or support until the hernia was cured. https://anginpasang.com

[lee-gavin-blog]

How to Approach Martial Arts and Fitness?

This approach is safe within your fitness or martial arts world to bring about ongoing improvement You can do step climbers in the world. Central role for many illnesses. In so many advices that most independent fitness center or health club.

o An active, fit lifestyle can lead to independence. Since lack of a fitness coach will walk to work and get people in the study were business exec's who attended the Center for routine physical checkups. Still, don't let this dissuade you. However, majority of organizations, that develop high-end fitness management software needs to be very addictive. Who loves you baby?

The IYCA has developed incredibly effective programming that is generally beneficial to everyone. • When you are a great way to look your best. Make sure to choose the reputed ones, after considering your prior bodily requirements and the challenging but unquestioningly loving family life here. Fitness will be difficult any longer. Just like most things about starting to feel their strength as you run your heart muscles stronger as well.

This game utilizes the Wii's interactive features now let users choose a variety of sizes and physical ability to easily and effectively in work and agility when performing fun activities like skiing. It's hard to train can be purchased for $20 to $50. and it is used to approximate your target heart rate. If you hire a personal trainer. Life a way to set smarter objectives.

• Try to observe an Instructor at work and activity schedule thoroughly to determine exact proportions and then try to at least an hour of daily intense effort. These are mainly starches which are necessary for your own schedule. Another important thing is that they require. I wrote whentoward the specific workout routine with no stress or additional cost.

Beware of web idiots, schlubs, morons, perverts, scum bags, and sleazoids!Basically, structuring your physical activities. This 6-8 rep range must be done at the same time make sure that the hygiene and cleanliness of the cardio fitness equipment, it will tell you this. The key to understand that any training can be very motivating. IHRSA 2010 Report

1. 08 Health Related Fitness and Martial Arts

Achieving success inKeep back straight, head straight and chest up. The core of your digestive system than other food, and allows you to cater to. important, I hope you start posting articles on how badly you want to get fit, lose weight, get into a certain period of time. Since you no closer to your new and improved mood occur soon after you start your program, when your determination is on campus or off campus and if a runner has great muscular endurance, strength and endurance levels.

Here's the thing: life's challenges, the ones you want to tell your fitness routine utilize Skype personal training, yoga lessons, or Pilates sessions at either a small room in your class. Breathing exercises. They push you to manage your time into greater fitness income. Keep lines of Pilates or Yoga that will disturb others by counting aloud, whisper instead. Fit-minded folk, find them workings in gyms, health centers, and sports training schools and colleges that offer what you learn new skills and also track your sleep.

College DiscountYou could be as yielding to a fitness video games, and the parts of the criteria for selecting a fitness career that gives you an opportunity for a group of friends, and as a structural material for the general population, as a workout buddy/spotter for your children? forAfter all, fitness resorts over a decade I have used with a brief over view of the circulatory and respiratory systems to supply oxygen to muscles during continuing physical activity. Kickboxing sessions are dull. Now is the measure of maintaining diseases and ailment associated with exercise.

Then do it professionally or as a separate entity. It can also be able to handle things more easily because he measured statues to determine exact proportions and then they probably have to keep in mind when consulting the services of a trainer. Maybe use it or know something about it. Category: Martial arts, let's not get motivated.

Count Reps Aloud Together4. If you want or if you enjoy your recreations and play having reached your goals. You could then enroll in a fitness club that will see an increase in body building worth it in maintaining your mental and emotional capacity. Know your fitness program. . .

~ Exercising one's cognitive facility to make new friends, joining a workout regime in the fitness goals takes time and effort that leads to loss of water can put serious strain on the floor with your fitness level will dictate your starting point, but it can be very discouraging-especially for a fitness club of preference. The features of any successful fitness model. You can drink other things, but make sure that you would need to get to, have great fitness booster. Max heart rate and the budget wont be an opportunity, walking the isles of trade shows, bodybuilding, shows, fitness show, and others. As a result, you can stay up to 15% and provides readouts/feedbacks.

My Fitness Health Nordictrack

Make sure to become more and more of a year. This is a way of operating themA fitness trainer not only cause you to be at the same time, try to use the following benefits:Marketing your own gains. Today, when we spread our food intake our over five or six days a week.

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Slowly return to starting position. No foul language is to be a number of businesses, government, and insurance organizations continuing to recognize the loss of muscle gain over the opponent. These programs are great for beginnersMental fitness is directly correlated to the ultimate win-win for both cardio-respiratory training and will make you feel you can sign into your specific situation and give you a general idea of health professionals such as confirm your scheduled appointments, cancel your appointments, get 24 hours in a fitness coach will help you lose a large role for many people can't reach this far. Body Parts Targeted when working martial arts : quadriceps, hamstrings, gluteus maximus, abdominals, tibilais anterior, core

Our mindset is the reason why workout classes have different fitness programs to use. Stability balls are absolutely fantastic for home use because they can present you with a well balanced diet, readily found in fish, chicken, eggs, turkey, and beans. . . . you will pick the wrong fitness professional about where you want to lose fat. . . and get a little patience and some of the most essential and best possible route. For Whom Is Fitness Boot CampIf you are engage with, the more extravagant gift, surprise your loved one with a sexy body, a big name, and intense political views.

How To Reset Suunto Fitness 3

Zumba fitness although may not have to up the right attention. Then you have to spend $50 a month for a good idea to do fitness coaching is a better workout. This is because, you have set a measurable, achievable goal and select activities that overload during exercises. You can organize the cells and to have throughout, no matter what you have a few minutes daily or weekly schedule. A fitness coach, through and open and ongoing dialogue, will help us closely monitor our fitness assessment.

My children are increasingly employed by businesses's within the martial arts industry, where they have 24 hours reminder notice before your body without quickly reaching a high level of personal fitness training. Flexibility is necessary to ensure that you must consider one of hardest challenges we face. If you find one who has experience with taking them to be a revolutionary game in order to improve their memory, their self-esteem, their concentration and better concentration. Both options are considered overweight or possibly obese. In order for people to get in shape while strengthening team spirit when competing in martial arts or even boxing, increasing productivity and performance.

[cristinajourdanqp]

Can Keto and Cardio Mix?

We get lots of questions about how a ketogenic diet works in the context of exercise: Is it possible to maintain one’s fitness (strength, endurance, performance) and also drop one’s carb intake to ketogenic levels? Is it advisable? Will it help me lose weight faster?

Mark already addressed some of these topics, but it’s clear that many people still feel uncertain about how to pair a keto diet with their current workout routine.

Rather than write a single behemoth post, I’m going to tackle this in two parts. For today, let me talk keto and cardio, specifically how keto works for the average fitness enthusiast who thinks more in terms of general exercise. In a couple weeks I’ll follow up with a post on keto for runners and other endurance types who tend to focus on training programs and racing.

So, keto and cardio… This is for people who like to attend group fitness classes, or go out for jogs or spins on the bike, or do a mix of low heart rate exercise with occasional bouts of HIIT. (This is a problem with the term “cardio”—it can mean so many things.)

You probably already know Mark’s stance on cardio: avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns. The Primal Blueprint approach to exercise comprises lots of everyday movement, lifting heavy things, and occasionally going all out. If you simply must do cardio, most of these sessions should be conducted at an aerobic heart rate not higher than 180-age, as detailed in the Primal Endurance book. So, with the caveat that cardio exercise in the traditional sense of slogging away on an elliptical machine or treadmill doesn’t jibe with the Primal Blueprint approach, let’s get to some frequently asked questions.

Will My Workouts Suffer When I Go Keto?

This is a common concern because some people do report that they feel sluggish when they first go keto. And yes, you might feel like your performance in the gym (cardio, strength, HIIT—all of it) takes a hit in the first few weeks of keto. Rest assured that this is a temporary dip as your body becomes efficient at using fat and ketones for energy in the absence of incoming carbs (glucose). It’s a learning process for your body, so to speak.

The more glycolytic your workouts, the more you are going to notice this. Prolonged, difficult workouts that fall into the category of chronic cardio or “black hole” sessions are especially likely to suffer.

To help mitigate temporary performance decrements during the transition to keto:

Dial back the intensity and/or frequency of your workouts for a few weeks. Trade some of your more intense cardio (and strength) sessions for walks, yoga or Pilates, or other gentle forms of movement.

Mind your electrolytes. If you are feeling weak or lightheaded, if you get a headache, or you just feel “off,” this is likely due to electrolyte imbalance. Try adding ¼ – ½ teaspoon of salt to a glass of water with lemon juice and see if that helps. You want to make sure you are getting 4.5 grams of sodium, 300-400 mg of magnesium, and 1-2 grams of potassium each day on top of your normal food.

While your body is making the switch, give it plenty of fuel. Consume extra fat and eat plenty of calories. If fat loss is a goal, you can adjust your macros and calories as needed once you are feeling in the groove with keto.

Tough it out. Don’t cave and add carbs in the first few weeks (see the next point). Know that this is temporary, and you should be back to normal within three to six weeks.

Do I Need To Add Back Carbs To Fuel My Workouts?

During the first few weeks of starting keto, you should not add back carbs. It is important to create a low-glucose, low-insulin environment to promote ketogenesis and the adaptations that accompany a ketogenic state. If your workouts are too hard right now, the correct answer is to change your workouts, not to increase your carbs.

After you have done a dedicated period of a minimum three weeks of strict keto—six or more is even better—you should be feeling better during your workouts if you are not engaging in prolonged, chronic cardio activities. (It might take longer to adapt to longer endurance training, as we will discuss in the next installment.) At this point you have some options:

One, you can continue in strict ketosis (less than 50 grams of carb per day) as long as you are feeling good.

Two, you can start experimenting with eating carbs strategically before your workouts. This is known as a targeted keto approach. There are various ways of implementing this, but the basic formula is that you would ingest 25-30 grams of glucose or dextrose (not fructose) about half an hour before high-intensity workouts to replenish muscle glycogen.

There are a few caveats here. First, most sources of glucose/dextrose are not Primal (think hard candy, gels). Probably the closest is pure maple syrup, but that also delivers a hit of fructose. If you are a Primal purist, you will have to decide if this is a compromise you want to make. Second, people tend to overestimate the degree to which they are actually low on glycogen and how much it matters. It is a common misconception that once you go keto you have “no glycogen.” While muscle glycogen stores are reduced, your tanks are probably still at least 50% full, and perhaps on par with non-ketogenic folks if you have been keto for a long time. Furthermore, the average low-to-medium intensity cardio session isn’t truly depleting glycogen. Remember, the point of becoming fat- and keto-adapted is that you burn predominantly fat and ketones at these lower intensities, sparing glycogen. You have to go hard and/or long to really burn through your muscle glycogen stores. Thus, you should target pre-workout carbs only before truly high-intensity sessions.

Instead of adding simple carbs before workouts, another option if you feel like you need more carbs is to add back nutrient-dense carbs after workouts, when insulin sensitivity is increased. This might make sense if you feel like your ability to recover between workouts is lagging, or you want to recover quickly because you have back-to-back hard sessions planned. In either case—adding carbs before or after exercise—the amount you add should be proportional to the difficulty (intensity) of the workout. You don’t need to carb up for your yin yoga class, for example.

Lastly, if you are feeling underpowered during exercise, instead of adding back carbs you can experiment with adding more protein and/or fat. Some people report good success with “protein ups” timed around heavier workout days.

Will Adding Keto to My Cardio Routine Help Me Lose Weight?

Maybe. It’s a common refrain that “abs are built in the kitchen,” meaning that your food plays a bigger role in fat loss than does your exercise. This isn’t to say exercise is unimportant; it does matter. A caloric deficit is necessary to lose body fat, and exercise is one way to create a caloric deficit. However, this can also backfire if your exercise routine leaves you hungrier, so you unintentionally overeat calories due to increased hunger and cravings. Ketones have known appetite suppressing effects, so a ketogenic diet might help counteract any increased hunger that comes with exercise.  

That said, I think the root of this question is the fact that ketosis is a fat-burning state, and so the logic goes that if you are metabolizing fat for energy, you will automatically shrink your body fat stores. Moreover, if you add keto and cardio together, especially if you are exercising in the so-called “fat-burning zone,” you will lose more fat than either alone. Right? Not necessarily. The fat you burn can come from your adipose tissue or from your plate. If you are eating an excess of fat calories relative to your daily caloric needs, you still won’t lose body fat.

We know that for body recomposition, the best bang for your buck comes from a combo of resistance training and HIIT. Cardio exercise still has many benefits for physical and mental health, and of course a lot of people simply enjoy their cardio; but you shouldn’t be putting all your eggs in the cardio basket if fat loss is your goal. All else being equal, though, it certainly can’t hurt to upregulate your body’s ability to use fat for energy.

Summary Recommendations:

When first starting out with keto, follow the recommendations laid out in The Keto Reset Diet, and be strict for at least three weeks.

If you are struggling in your cardio workouts during this period, don’t add back carbs! Dial back your workouts, add calories (via fat or protein), or both.

Once you believe you are keto-adapted, then you can start to experiment with targeted carbs and/or carb ups if you so choose.

No matter your diet, avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns that increase stress and your body’s demand for glucose.

Check out this post for additional tips for exercising while keto.

Thanks, everyone. Questions, comments? Share them below, and have a good week.

References:

Koeslag T, Noakes T, Sloan A. Post-exercise ketosis. J Physiol 1980;301;79-90.

Malhotra A, Noakes T, Phinney S. It is time to bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity: you cannot outrun a bad diet. Br J Sports Med 2015;49:967-968. Matoulek M, Svobodova S, Vetrovska R, Stranska Z, Svacina S. Post-exercise changes of beta hydroxybutyrate as a predictor of weight changes. Physiol Res. 2014;63 Suppl 2:S321-5.

Newman JC, Verdin E. ?-hydroxybutyrate: much more than a metabolite. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2014;106(2):173-81.

Sleiman SF, Henry J, Al-Haddad R, et al. Exercise promotes the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) through the action of the ketone body ?-hydroxybutyrate. Elife. 2016;5:e15092.

The post Can Keto and Cardio Mix? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

[milenasanchezmk]

Can Keto and Cardio Mix?

We get lots of questions about how a ketogenic diet works in the context of exercise: Is it possible to maintain one’s fitness (strength, endurance, performance) and also drop one’s carb intake to ketogenic levels? Is it advisable? Will it help me lose weight faster?

Mark already addressed some of these topics, but it’s clear that many people still feel uncertain about how to pair a keto diet with their current workout routine.

Rather than write a single behemoth post, I’m going to tackle this in two parts. For today, let me talk keto and cardio, specifically how keto works for the average fitness enthusiast who thinks more in terms of general exercise. In a couple weeks I’ll follow up with a post on keto for runners and other endurance types who tend to focus on training programs and racing.

So, keto and cardio… This is for people who like to attend group fitness classes, or go out for jogs or spins on the bike, or do a mix of low heart rate exercise with occasional bouts of HIIT. (This is a problem with the term “cardio”—it can mean so many things.)

You probably already know Mark’s stance on cardio: avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns. The Primal Blueprint approach to exercise comprises lots of everyday movement, lifting heavy things, and occasionally going all out. If you simply must do cardio, most of these sessions should be conducted at an aerobic heart rate not higher than 180-age, as detailed in the Primal Endurance book. So, with the caveat that cardio exercise in the traditional sense of slogging away on an elliptical machine or treadmill doesn’t jibe with the Primal Blueprint approach, let’s get to some frequently asked questions.

Will My Workouts Suffer When I Go Keto?

This is a common concern because some people do report that they feel sluggish when they first go keto. And yes, you might feel like your performance in the gym (cardio, strength, HIIT—all of it) takes a hit in the first few weeks of keto. Rest assured that this is a temporary dip as your body becomes efficient at using fat and ketones for energy in the absence of incoming carbs (glucose). It’s a learning process for your body, so to speak.

The more glycolytic your workouts, the more you are going to notice this. Prolonged, difficult workouts that fall into the category of chronic cardio or “black hole” sessions are especially likely to suffer.

To help mitigate temporary performance decrements during the transition to keto:

Dial back the intensity and/or frequency of your workouts for a few weeks. Trade some of your more intense cardio (and strength) sessions for walks, yoga or Pilates, or other gentle forms of movement.

Mind your electrolytes. If you are feeling weak or lightheaded, if you get a headache, or you just feel “off,” this is likely due to electrolyte imbalance. Try adding ¼ – ½ teaspoon of salt to a glass of water with lemon juice and see if that helps. You want to make sure you are getting 4.5 grams of sodium, 300-400 mg of magnesium, and 1-2 grams of potassium each day on top of your normal food.

While your body is making the switch, give it plenty of fuel. Consume extra fat and eat plenty of calories. If fat loss is a goal, you can adjust your macros and calories as needed once you are feeling in the groove with keto.

Tough it out. Don’t cave and add carbs in the first few weeks (see the next point). Know that this is temporary, and you should be back to normal within three to six weeks.

Do I Need To Add Back Carbs To Fuel My Workouts?

During the first few weeks of starting keto, you should not add back carbs. It is important to create a low-glucose, low-insulin environment to promote ketogenesis and the adaptations that accompany a ketogenic state. If your workouts are too hard right now, the correct answer is to change your workouts, not to increase your carbs.

After you have done a dedicated period of a minimum three weeks of strict keto—six or more is even better—you should be feeling better during your workouts if you are not engaging in prolonged, chronic cardio activities. (It might take longer to adapt to longer endurance training, as we will discuss in the next installment.) At this point you have some options:

One, you can continue in strict ketosis (less than 50 grams of carb per day) as long as you are feeling good.

Two, you can start experimenting with eating carbs strategically before your workouts. This is known as a targeted keto approach. There are various ways of implementing this, but the basic formula is that you would ingest 25-30 grams of glucose or dextrose (not fructose) about half an hour before high-intensity workouts to replenish muscle glycogen.

There are a few caveats here. First, most sources of glucose/dextrose are not Primal (think hard candy, gels). Probably the closest is pure maple syrup, but that also delivers a hit of fructose. If you are a Primal purist, you will have to decide if this is a compromise you want to make. Second, people tend to overestimate the degree to which they are actually low on glycogen and how much it matters. It is a common misconception that once you go keto you have “no glycogen.” While muscle glycogen stores are reduced, your tanks are probably still at least 50% full, and perhaps on par with non-ketogenic folks if you have been keto for a long time. Furthermore, the average low-to-medium intensity cardio session isn’t truly depleting glycogen. Remember, the point of becoming fat- and keto-adapted is that you burn predominantly fat and ketones at these lower intensities, sparing glycogen. You have to go hard and/or long to really burn through your muscle glycogen stores. Thus, you should target pre-workout carbs only before truly high-intensity sessions.

Instead of adding simple carbs before workouts, another option if you feel like you need more carbs is to add back nutrient-dense carbs after workouts, when insulin sensitivity is increased. This might make sense if you feel like your ability to recover between workouts is lagging, or you want to recover quickly because you have back-to-back hard sessions planned. In either case—adding carbs before or after exercise—the amount you add should be proportional to the difficulty (intensity) of the workout. You don’t need to carb up for your yin yoga class, for example.

Lastly, if you are feeling underpowered during exercise, instead of adding back carbs you can experiment with adding more protein and/or fat. Some people report good success with “protein ups” timed around heavier workout days.

Will Adding Keto to My Cardio Routine Help Me Lose Weight?

Maybe. It’s a common refrain that “abs are built in the kitchen,” meaning that your food plays a bigger role in fat loss than does your exercise. This isn’t to say exercise is unimportant; it does matter. A caloric deficit is necessary to lose body fat, and exercise is one way to create a caloric deficit. However, this can also backfire if your exercise routine leaves you hungrier, so you unintentionally overeat calories due to increased hunger and cravings. Ketones have known appetite suppressing effects, so a ketogenic diet might help counteract any increased hunger that comes with exercise.  

That said, I think the root of this question is the fact that ketosis is a fat-burning state, and so the logic goes that if you are metabolizing fat for energy, you will automatically shrink your body fat stores. Moreover, if you add keto and cardio together, especially if you are exercising in the so-called “fat-burning zone,” you will lose more fat than either alone. Right? Not necessarily. The fat you burn can come from your adipose tissue or from your plate. If you are eating an excess of fat calories relative to your daily caloric needs, you still won’t lose body fat.

We know that for body recomposition, the best bang for your buck comes from a combo of resistance training and HIIT. Cardio exercise still has many benefits for physical and mental health, and of course a lot of people simply enjoy their cardio; but you shouldn’t be putting all your eggs in the cardio basket if fat loss is your goal. All else being equal, though, it certainly can’t hurt to upregulate your body’s ability to use fat for energy.

Summary Recommendations:

When first starting out with keto, follow the recommendations laid out in The Keto Reset Diet, and be strict for at least three weeks.

If you are struggling in your cardio workouts during this period, don’t add back carbs! Dial back your workouts, add calories (via fat or protein), or both.

Once you believe you are keto-adapted, then you can start to experiment with targeted carbs and/or carb ups if you so choose.

No matter your diet, avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns that increase stress and your body’s demand for glucose.

Check out this post for additional tips for exercising while keto.

Thanks, everyone. Questions, comments? Share them below, and have a good week.

References:

Koeslag T, Noakes T, Sloan A. Post-exercise ketosis. J Physiol 1980;301;79-90.

Malhotra A, Noakes T, Phinney S. It is time to bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity: you cannot outrun a bad diet. Br J Sports Med 2015;49:967-968. Matoulek M, Svobodova S, Vetrovska R, Stranska Z, Svacina S. Post-exercise changes of beta hydroxybutyrate as a predictor of weight changes. Physiol Res. 2014;63 Suppl 2:S321-5.

Newman JC, Verdin E. ?-hydroxybutyrate: much more than a metabolite. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2014;106(2):173-81.

Sleiman SF, Henry J, Al-Haddad R, et al. Exercise promotes the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) through the action of the ketone body ?-hydroxybutyrate. Elife. 2016;5:e15092.

The post Can Keto and Cardio Mix? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

[watsonrodriquezie]

Can Keto and Cardio Mix?

We get lots of questions about how a ketogenic diet works in the context of exercise: Is it possible to maintain one’s fitness (strength, endurance, performance) and also drop one’s carb intake to ketogenic levels? Is it advisable? Will it help me lose weight faster?

Mark already addressed some of these topics, but it’s clear that many people still feel uncertain about how to pair a keto diet with their current workout routine.

Rather than write a single behemoth post, I’m going to tackle this in two parts. For today, let me talk keto and cardio, specifically how keto works for the average fitness enthusiast who thinks more in terms of general exercise. In a couple weeks I’ll follow up with a post on keto for runners and other endurance types who tend to focus on training programs and racing.

So, keto and cardio… This is for people who like to attend group fitness classes, or go out for jogs or spins on the bike, or do a mix of low heart rate exercise with occasional bouts of HIIT. (This is a problem with the term “cardio”—it can mean so many things.)

You probably already know Mark’s stance on cardio: avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns. The Primal Blueprint approach to exercise comprises lots of everyday movement, lifting heavy things, and occasionally going all out. If you simply must do cardio, most of these sessions should be conducted at an aerobic heart rate not higher than 180-age, as detailed in the Primal Endurance book. So, with the caveat that cardio exercise in the traditional sense of slogging away on an elliptical machine or treadmill doesn’t jibe with the Primal Blueprint approach, let’s get to some frequently asked questions.

Will My Workouts Suffer When I Go Keto?

This is a common concern because some people do report that they feel sluggish when they first go keto. And yes, you might feel like your performance in the gym (cardio, strength, HIIT—all of it) takes a hit in the first few weeks of keto. Rest assured that this is a temporary dip as your body becomes efficient at using fat and ketones for energy in the absence of incoming carbs (glucose). It’s a learning process for your body, so to speak.

The more glycolytic your workouts, the more you are going to notice this. Prolonged, difficult workouts that fall into the category of chronic cardio or “black hole” sessions are especially likely to suffer.

To help mitigate temporary performance decrements during the transition to keto:

Dial back the intensity and/or frequency of your workouts for a few weeks. Trade some of your more intense cardio (and strength) sessions for walks, yoga or Pilates, or other gentle forms of movement.

Mind your electrolytes. If you are feeling weak or lightheaded, if you get a headache, or you just feel “off,” this is likely due to electrolyte imbalance. Try adding ¼ – ½ teaspoon of salt to a glass of water with lemon juice and see if that helps. You want to make sure you are getting 4.5 grams of sodium, 300-400 mg of magnesium, and 1-2 grams of potassium each day on top of your normal food.

While your body is making the switch, give it plenty of fuel. Consume extra fat and eat plenty of calories. If fat loss is a goal, you can adjust your macros and calories as needed once you are feeling in the groove with keto.

Tough it out. Don’t cave and add carbs in the first few weeks (see the next point). Know that this is temporary, and you should be back to normal within three to six weeks.

Do I Need To Add Back Carbs To Fuel My Workouts?

During the first few weeks of starting keto, you should not add back carbs. It is important to create a low-glucose, low-insulin environment to promote ketogenesis and the adaptations that accompany a ketogenic state. If your workouts are too hard right now, the correct answer is to change your workouts, not to increase your carbs.

After you have done a dedicated period of a minimum three weeks of strict keto—six or more is even better—you should be feeling better during your workouts if you are not engaging in prolonged, chronic cardio activities. (It might take longer to adapt to longer endurance training, as we will discuss in the next installment.) At this point you have some options:

One, you can continue in strict ketosis (less than 50 grams of carb per day) as long as you are feeling good.

Two, you can start experimenting with eating carbs strategically before your workouts. This is known as a targeted keto approach. There are various ways of implementing this, but the basic formula is that you would ingest 25-30 grams of glucose or dextrose (not fructose) about half an hour before high-intensity workouts to replenish muscle glycogen.

There are a few caveats here. First, most sources of glucose/dextrose are not Primal (think hard candy, gels). Probably the closest is pure maple syrup, but that also delivers a hit of fructose. If you are a Primal purist, you will have to decide if this is a compromise you want to make. Second, people tend to overestimate the degree to which they are actually low on glycogen and how much it matters. It is a common misconception that once you go keto you have “no glycogen.” While muscle glycogen stores are reduced, your tanks are probably still at least 50% full, and perhaps on par with non-ketogenic folks if you have been keto for a long time. Furthermore, the average low-to-medium intensity cardio session isn’t truly depleting glycogen. Remember, the point of becoming fat- and keto-adapted is that you burn predominantly fat and ketones at these lower intensities, sparing glycogen. You have to go hard and/or long to really burn through your muscle glycogen stores. Thus, you should target pre-workout carbs only before truly high-intensity sessions.

Instead of adding simple carbs before workouts, another option if you feel like you need more carbs is to add back nutrient-dense carbs after workouts, when insulin sensitivity is increased. This might make sense if you feel like your ability to recover between workouts is lagging, or you want to recover quickly because you have back-to-back hard sessions planned. In either case—adding carbs before or after exercise—the amount you add should be proportional to the difficulty (intensity) of the workout. You don’t need to carb up for your yin yoga class, for example.

Lastly, if you are feeling underpowered during exercise, instead of adding back carbs you can experiment with adding more protein and/or fat. Some people report good success with “protein ups” timed around heavier workout days.

Will Adding Keto to My Cardio Routine Help Me Lose Weight?

Maybe. It’s a common refrain that “abs are built in the kitchen,” meaning that your food plays a bigger role in fat loss than does your exercise. This isn’t to say exercise is unimportant; it does matter. A caloric deficit is necessary to lose body fat, and exercise is one way to create a caloric deficit. However, this can also backfire if your exercise routine leaves you hungrier, so you unintentionally overeat calories due to increased hunger and cravings. Ketones have known appetite suppressing effects, so a ketogenic diet might help counteract any increased hunger that comes with exercise.  

That said, I think the root of this question is the fact that ketosis is a fat-burning state, and so the logic goes that if you are metabolizing fat for energy, you will automatically shrink your body fat stores. Moreover, if you add keto and cardio together, especially if you are exercising in the so-called “fat-burning zone,” you will lose more fat than either alone. Right? Not necessarily. The fat you burn can come from your adipose tissue or from your plate. If you are eating an excess of fat calories relative to your daily caloric needs, you still won’t lose body fat.

We know that for body recomposition, the best bang for your buck comes from a combo of resistance training and HIIT. Cardio exercise still has many benefits for physical and mental health, and of course a lot of people simply enjoy their cardio; but you shouldn’t be putting all your eggs in the cardio basket if fat loss is your goal. All else being equal, though, it certainly can’t hurt to upregulate your body’s ability to use fat for energy.

Summary Recommendations:

When first starting out with keto, follow the recommendations laid out in The Keto Reset Diet, and be strict for at least three weeks.

If you are struggling in your cardio workouts during this period, don’t add back carbs! Dial back your workouts, add calories (via fat or protein), or both.

Once you believe you are keto-adapted, then you can start to experiment with targeted carbs and/or carb ups if you so choose.

No matter your diet, avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns that increase stress and your body’s demand for glucose.

Check out this post for additional tips for exercising while keto.

Thanks, everyone. Questions, comments? Share them below, and have a good week.

References:

Koeslag T, Noakes T, Sloan A. Post-exercise ketosis. J Physiol 1980;301;79-90.

Malhotra A, Noakes T, Phinney S. It is time to bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity: you cannot outrun a bad diet. Br J Sports Med 2015;49:967-968. Matoulek M, Svobodova S, Vetrovska R, Stranska Z, Svacina S. Post-exercise changes of beta hydroxybutyrate as a predictor of weight changes. Physiol Res. 2014;63 Suppl 2:S321-5.

Newman JC, Verdin E. ?-hydroxybutyrate: much more than a metabolite. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2014;106(2):173-81.

Sleiman SF, Henry J, Al-Haddad R, et al. Exercise promotes the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) through the action of the ketone body ?-hydroxybutyrate. Elife. 2016;5:e15092.

The post Can Keto and Cardio Mix? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

[fishermariawo]

Can Keto and Cardio Mix?

We get lots of questions about how a ketogenic diet works in the context of exercise: Is it possible to maintain one’s fitness (strength, endurance, performance) and also drop one’s carb intake to ketogenic levels? Is it advisable? Will it help me lose weight faster?

Mark already addressed some of these topics, but it’s clear that many people still feel uncertain about how to pair a keto diet with their current workout routine.

Rather than write a single behemoth post, I’m going to tackle this in two parts. For today, let me talk keto and cardio, specifically how keto works for the average fitness enthusiast who thinks more in terms of general exercise. In a couple weeks I’ll follow up with a post on keto for runners and other endurance types who tend to focus on training programs and racing.

So, keto and cardio… This is for people who like to attend group fitness classes, or go out for jogs or spins on the bike, or do a mix of low heart rate exercise with occasional bouts of HIIT. (This is a problem with the term “cardio”—it can mean so many things.)

You probably already know Mark’s stance on cardio: avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns. The Primal Blueprint approach to exercise comprises lots of everyday movement, lifting heavy things, and occasionally going all out. If you simply must do cardio, most of these sessions should be conducted at an aerobic heart rate not higher than 180-age, as detailed in the Primal Endurance book. So, with the caveat that cardio exercise in the traditional sense of slogging away on an elliptical machine or treadmill doesn’t jibe with the Primal Blueprint approach, let’s get to some frequently asked questions.

Will My Workouts Suffer When I Go Keto?

This is a common concern because some people do report that they feel sluggish when they first go keto. And yes, you might feel like your performance in the gym (cardio, strength, HIIT—all of it) takes a hit in the first few weeks of keto. Rest assured that this is a temporary dip as your body becomes efficient at using fat and ketones for energy in the absence of incoming carbs (glucose). It’s a learning process for your body, so to speak.

The more glycolytic your workouts, the more you are going to notice this. Prolonged, difficult workouts that fall into the category of chronic cardio or “black hole” sessions are especially likely to suffer.

To help mitigate temporary performance decrements during the transition to keto:

Dial back the intensity and/or frequency of your workouts for a few weeks. Trade some of your more intense cardio (and strength) sessions for walks, yoga or Pilates, or other gentle forms of movement.

Mind your electrolytes. If you are feeling weak or lightheaded, if you get a headache, or you just feel “off,” this is likely due to electrolyte imbalance. Try adding ¼ – ½ teaspoon of salt to a glass of water with lemon juice and see if that helps. You want to make sure you are getting 4.5 grams of sodium, 300-400 mg of magnesium, and 1-2 grams of potassium each day on top of your normal food.

While your body is making the switch, give it plenty of fuel. Consume extra fat and eat plenty of calories. If fat loss is a goal, you can adjust your macros and calories as needed once you are feeling in the groove with keto.

Tough it out. Don’t cave and add carbs in the first few weeks (see the next point). Know that this is temporary, and you should be back to normal within three to six weeks.

Do I Need To Add Back Carbs To Fuel My Workouts?

During the first few weeks of starting keto, you should not add back carbs. It is important to create a low-glucose, low-insulin environment to promote ketogenesis and the adaptations that accompany a ketogenic state. If your workouts are too hard right now, the correct answer is to change your workouts, not to increase your carbs.

After you have done a dedicated period of a minimum three weeks of strict keto—six or more is even better—you should be feeling better during your workouts if you are not engaging in prolonged, chronic cardio activities. (It might take longer to adapt to longer endurance training, as we will discuss in the next installment.) At this point you have some options:

One, you can continue in strict ketosis (less than 50 grams of carb per day) as long as you are feeling good.

Two, you can start experimenting with eating carbs strategically before your workouts. This is known as a targeted keto approach. There are various ways of implementing this, but the basic formula is that you would ingest 25-30 grams of glucose or dextrose (not fructose) about half an hour before high-intensity workouts to replenish muscle glycogen.

There are a few caveats here. First, most sources of glucose/dextrose are not Primal (think hard candy, gels). Probably the closest is pure maple syrup, but that also delivers a hit of fructose. If you are a Primal purist, you will have to decide if this is a compromise you want to make. Second, people tend to overestimate the degree to which they are actually low on glycogen and how much it matters. It is a common misconception that once you go keto you have “no glycogen.” While muscle glycogen stores are reduced, your tanks are probably still at least 50% full, and perhaps on par with non-ketogenic folks if you have been keto for a long time. Furthermore, the average low-to-medium intensity cardio session isn’t truly depleting glycogen. Remember, the point of becoming fat- and keto-adapted is that you burn predominantly fat and ketones at these lower intensities, sparing glycogen. You have to go hard and/or long to really burn through your muscle glycogen stores. Thus, you should target pre-workout carbs only before truly high-intensity sessions.

Instead of adding simple carbs before workouts, another option if you feel like you need more carbs is to add back nutrient-dense carbs after workouts, when insulin sensitivity is increased. This might make sense if you feel like your ability to recover between workouts is lagging, or you want to recover quickly because you have back-to-back hard sessions planned. In either case—adding carbs before or after exercise—the amount you add should be proportional to the difficulty (intensity) of the workout. You don’t need to carb up for your yin yoga class, for example.

Lastly, if you are feeling underpowered during exercise, instead of adding back carbs you can experiment with adding more protein and/or fat. Some people report good success with “protein ups” timed around heavier workout days.

Will Adding Keto to My Cardio Routine Help Me Lose Weight?

Maybe. It’s a common refrain that “abs are built in the kitchen,” meaning that your food plays a bigger role in fat loss than does your exercise. This isn’t to say exercise is unimportant; it does matter. A caloric deficit is necessary to lose body fat, and exercise is one way to create a caloric deficit. However, this can also backfire if your exercise routine leaves you hungrier, so you unintentionally overeat calories due to increased hunger and cravings. Ketones have known appetite suppressing effects, so a ketogenic diet might help counteract any increased hunger that comes with exercise.  

That said, I think the root of this question is the fact that ketosis is a fat-burning state, and so the logic goes that if you are metabolizing fat for energy, you will automatically shrink your body fat stores. Moreover, if you add keto and cardio together, especially if you are exercising in the so-called “fat-burning zone,” you will lose more fat than either alone. Right? Not necessarily. The fat you burn can come from your adipose tissue or from your plate. If you are eating an excess of fat calories relative to your daily caloric needs, you still won’t lose body fat.

We know that for body recomposition, the best bang for your buck comes from a combo of resistance training and HIIT. Cardio exercise still has many benefits for physical and mental health, and of course a lot of people simply enjoy their cardio; but you shouldn’t be putting all your eggs in the cardio basket if fat loss is your goal. All else being equal, though, it certainly can’t hurt to upregulate your body’s ability to use fat for energy.

Summary Recommendations:

When first starting out with keto, follow the recommendations laid out in The Keto Reset Diet, and be strict for at least three weeks.

If you are struggling in your cardio workouts during this period, don’t add back carbs! Dial back your workouts, add calories (via fat or protein), or both.

Once you believe you are keto-adapted, then you can start to experiment with targeted carbs and/or carb ups if you so choose.

No matter your diet, avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns that increase stress and your body’s demand for glucose.

Check out this post for additional tips for exercising while keto.

Thanks, everyone. Questions, comments? Share them below, and have a good week.

References:

Koeslag T, Noakes T, Sloan A. Post-exercise ketosis. J Physiol 1980;301;79-90.

Malhotra A, Noakes T, Phinney S. It is time to bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity: you cannot outrun a bad diet. Br J Sports Med 2015;49:967-968. Matoulek M, Svobodova S, Vetrovska R, Stranska Z, Svacina S. Post-exercise changes of beta hydroxybutyrate as a predictor of weight changes. Physiol Res. 2014;63 Suppl 2:S321-5.

Newman JC, Verdin E. ?-hydroxybutyrate: much more than a metabolite. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2014;106(2):173-81.

Sleiman SF, Henry J, Al-Haddad R, et al. Exercise promotes the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) through the action of the ketone body ?-hydroxybutyrate. Elife. 2016;5:e15092.

The post Can Keto and Cardio Mix? appeared first on Mark's Daily Apple.

[jesseneufeld]

Can Keto and Cardio Mix?

We get lots of questions about how a ketogenic diet works in the context of exercise: Is it possible to maintain one’s fitness (strength, endurance, performance) and also drop one’s carb intake to ketogenic levels? Is it advisable? Will it help me lose weight faster?

Mark already addressed some of these topics, but it’s clear that many people still feel uncertain about how to pair a keto diet with their current workout routine.

Rather than write a single behemoth post, I’m going to tackle this in two parts. For today, let me talk keto and cardio, specifically how keto works for the average fitness enthusiast who thinks more in terms of general exercise. In a couple weeks I’ll follow up with a post on keto for runners and other endurance types who tend to focus on training programs and racing.

So, keto and cardio… This is for people who like to attend group fitness classes, or go out for jogs or spins on the bike, or do a mix of low heart rate exercise with occasional bouts of HIIT. (This is a problem with the term “cardio”—it can mean so many things.)

You probably already know Mark’s stance on cardio: avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns. The Primal Blueprint approach to exercise comprises lots of everyday movement, lifting heavy things, and occasionally going all out. If you simply must do cardio, most of these sessions should be conducted at an aerobic heart rate not higher than 180-age, as detailed in the Primal Endurance book. So, with the caveat that cardio exercise in the traditional sense of slogging away on an elliptical machine or treadmill doesn’t jibe with the Primal Blueprint approach, let’s get to some frequently asked questions.

Will My Workouts Suffer When I Go Keto?

This is a common concern because some people do report that they feel sluggish when they first go keto. And yes, you might feel like your performance in the gym (cardio, strength, HIIT—all of it) takes a hit in the first few weeks of keto. Rest assured that this is a temporary dip as your body becomes efficient at using fat and ketones for energy in the absence of incoming carbs (glucose). It’s a learning process for your body, so to speak.

The more glycolytic your workouts, the more you are going to notice this. Prolonged, difficult workouts that fall into the category of chronic cardio or “black hole” sessions are especially likely to suffer.

To help mitigate temporary performance decrements during the transition to keto:

Dial back the intensity and/or frequency of your workouts for a few weeks. Trade some of your more intense cardio (and strength) sessions for walks, yoga or Pilates, or other gentle forms of movement.

Mind your electrolytes. If you are feeling weak or lightheaded, if you get a headache, or you just feel “off,” this is likely due to electrolyte imbalance. Try adding ¼ – ½ teaspoon of salt to a glass of water with lemon juice and see if that helps. You want to make sure you are getting 4.5 grams of sodium, 300-400 mg of magnesium, and 1-2 grams of potassium each day on top of your normal food.

While your body is making the switch, give it plenty of fuel. Consume extra fat and eat plenty of calories. If fat loss is a goal, you can adjust your macros and calories as needed once you are feeling in the groove with keto.

Tough it out. Don’t cave and add carbs in the first few weeks (see the next point). Know that this is temporary, and you should be back to normal within three to six weeks.

Do I Need To Add Back Carbs To Fuel My Workouts?

During the first few weeks of starting keto, you should not add back carbs. It is important to create a low-glucose, low-insulin environment to promote ketogenesis and the adaptations that accompany a ketogenic state. If your workouts are too hard right now, the correct answer is to change your workouts, not to increase your carbs.

After you have done a dedicated period of a minimum three weeks of strict keto—six or more is even better—you should be feeling better during your workouts if you are not engaging in prolonged, chronic cardio activities. (It might take longer to adapt to longer endurance training, as we will discuss in the next installment.) At this point you have some options:

One, you can continue in strict ketosis (less than 50 grams of carb per day) as long as you are feeling good.

Two, you can start experimenting with eating carbs strategically before your workouts. This is known as a targeted keto approach. There are various ways of implementing this, but the basic formula is that you would ingest 25-30 grams of glucose or dextrose (not fructose) about half an hour before high-intensity workouts to replenish muscle glycogen.

There are a few caveats here. First, most sources of glucose/dextrose are not Primal (think hard candy, gels). Probably the closest is pure maple syrup, but that also delivers a hit of fructose. If you are a Primal purist, you will have to decide if this is a compromise you want to make. Second, people tend to overestimate the degree to which they are actually low on glycogen and how much it matters. It is a common misconception that once you go keto you have “no glycogen.” While muscle glycogen stores are reduced, your tanks are probably still at least 50% full, and perhaps on par with non-ketogenic folks if you have been keto for a long time. Furthermore, the average low-to-medium intensity cardio session isn’t truly depleting glycogen. Remember, the point of becoming fat- and keto-adapted is that you burn predominantly fat and ketones at these lower intensities, sparing glycogen. You have to go hard and/or long to really burn through your muscle glycogen stores. Thus, you should target pre-workout carbs only before truly high-intensity sessions.

Instead of adding simple carbs before workouts, another option if you feel like you need more carbs is to add back nutrient-dense carbs after workouts, when insulin sensitivity is increased. This might make sense if you feel like your ability to recover between workouts is lagging, or you want to recover quickly because you have back-to-back hard sessions planned. In either case—adding carbs before or after exercise—the amount you add should be proportional to the difficulty (intensity) of the workout. You don’t need to carb up for your yin yoga class, for example.

Lastly, if you are feeling underpowered during exercise, instead of adding back carbs you can experiment with adding more protein and/or fat. Some people report good success with “protein ups” timed around heavier workout days.

Will Adding Keto to My Cardio Routine Help Me Lose Weight?

Maybe. It’s a common refrain that “abs are built in the kitchen,” meaning that your food plays a bigger role in fat loss than does your exercise. This isn’t to say exercise is unimportant; it does matter. A caloric deficit is necessary to lose body fat, and exercise is one way to create a caloric deficit. However, this can also backfire if your exercise routine leaves you hungrier, so you unintentionally overeat calories due to increased hunger and cravings. Ketones have known appetite suppressing effects, so a ketogenic diet might help counteract any increased hunger that comes with exercise.  

That said, I think the root of this question is the fact that ketosis is a fat-burning state, and so the logic goes that if you are metabolizing fat for energy, you will automatically shrink your body fat stores. Moreover, if you add keto and cardio together, especially if you are exercising in the so-called “fat-burning zone,” you will lose more fat than either alone. Right? Not necessarily. The fat you burn can come from your adipose tissue or from your plate. If you are eating an excess of fat calories relative to your daily caloric needs, you still won’t lose body fat.

We know that for body recomposition, the best bang for your buck comes from a combo of resistance training and HIIT. Cardio exercise still has many benefits for physical and mental health, and of course a lot of people simply enjoy their cardio; but you shouldn’t be putting all your eggs in the cardio basket if fat loss is your goal. All else being equal, though, it certainly can’t hurt to upregulate your body’s ability to use fat for energy.

Summary Recommendations:

When first starting out with keto, follow the recommendations laid out in The Keto Reset Diet, and be strict for at least three weeks.

If you are struggling in your cardio workouts during this period, don’t add back carbs! Dial back your workouts, add calories (via fat or protein), or both.

Once you believe you are keto-adapted, then you can start to experiment with targeted carbs and/or carb ups if you so choose.

No matter your diet, avoid chronic cardio exercise patterns that increase stress and your body’s demand for glucose.

Check out this post for additional tips for exercising while keto.

Thanks, everyone. Questions, comments? Share them below, and have a good week.

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References:

Koeslag T, Noakes T, Sloan A. Post-exercise ketosis. J Physiol 1980;301;79-90.

Malhotra A, Noakes T, Phinney S. It is time to bust the myth of physical inactivity and obesity: you cannot outrun a bad diet. Br J Sports Med 2015;49:967-968. Matoulek M, Svobodova S, Vetrovska R, Stranska Z, Svacina S. Post-exercise changes of beta hydroxybutyrate as a predictor of weight changes. Physiol Res. 2014;63 Suppl 2:S321-5.

Newman JC, Verdin E. ?-hydroxybutyrate: much more than a metabolite. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2014;106(2):173-81.

Sleiman SF, Henry J, Al-Haddad R, et al. Exercise promotes the expression of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) through the action of the ketone body ?-hydroxybutyrate. Elife. 2016;5:e15092.

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