fitness 5 on friday

June marks the beginning of the “Fitness 5 on Friday” over at JVKom Chronicles!

I’m super excited because the hospital I’m going to for my rotations next year, which I chose partially on the fact that it had a free affiliated gym attached to it (yes, I definitely have my priorities straight ._.)…offers free classes (yoga, pilates, circuit training, spin, ballroom dancing)! :D! I’m going to assume that I will never (or very, very rarely) be able to take the weekday classes, but hooray for yoga/Zumba/boot camp on the weekends?!

1. How many minutes of Cardio did you do this week? (Anything that got your heart pumping counts!)

If we’re counting since Tuesday, I did something along the lines of 150-ish minutes! :O

2. What is your favorite physical activity?

It’s impossible to choose just one (I’m sorry!)…lifting weights or pole dancing are my top two.

This was from back in 2011, when I was just starting out. :]

When I feel the need to change things up, I really like BJJ (even though I kinda suck at it) and hula/Tahitian. :D The one I really, really wish I could do more of (yes, on top of everything else), but don’t have the opportunity to pursue would be aerial silks.

I wish there were a studio here! :'( And that I had free time.

3. How much water do you drink on a daily basis?

I am absolutely horrible with this one, which is why it always remains as a consistent goal on my 101 in 1001. The period of my life where I was the most well-hydrated was last June, when I was training for my first powerlifting competition and attempting to cut weight for the first time in my life. My body is great at equilibrating, but not so wonderful for gaining or losing. My main issue is really that I lack self-control when it comes to food (and would also much rather eat than drink).

4. What is your favorite healthy snack?

These days, it’s been a variation of this! To be honest, I tried cottage cheese for the first time somewhere during my first year of med school (by way of my favorite neighbor, who figured I should try a little first before I went out for an entire tub). I hated it, but it has such a great nutritional breakdown, I figured I could learn to like it (as I did with plain Greek yogurt). These days, I dress it up with the aforementioned ingredients and add in hemp seeds, chia seeds and diced dried mangoes. :]

5. What’s your favorite athletic shoe?

Back in June of 2009, I went to Fleet Feet in Davis to have them check out how I walked/ran, measured my feet, and from there, they figured out whether or not I had any biomechanical considerations to factor in. My feet don’t invert/or evert all that much when I’m running and I’m actually not flat-footed, so they said I could probably get the most average/normal shoes out there.

Nike Air Pegasus +26

I decided on these because they made me feel like I’m walking around on clouds. :D! I wore them for my half marathon in 2010 and they made life suck a little bit less. I’ve since obtained a light blue pair that I adore as well, although if we’re going to be honest here, I haven’t really gone running since said half marathon.

My favorite pair of shoes for weightlifting is right here! (I shop in the kids’ section because it’s usually anywhere from $10-30 cheaper. That and the fact that you would not be able to find blinged out shoes like these in the adult section. ._. )

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If you’d like to join in on the linkup, answer the following questions and link up your post on Friday (it goes live at 7 a.m. EST!). (On social media, the hashtag will be #F5onF. :)

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Ti Leaf Hip Hei

With the help of this and this, we successfully made hip heis (belts) for our Tahitian costumes! :]

Ti Leaf Hip Hei

Supplies:
-6 1-inch longgggggg strips of black fabric (long enough to go around where you’d like the belt to sit, aka hip-level ~1.5 times)
-2 bunches of silk ti leaves
-a good amount of patience
-the ability to braid

Instructions:
1) Cut the ti leaves diagonally into parallelogram shapes. The longer and fatter ones will make the belt puff up more, but you can definitely throw in some smaller/shorter pieces for variety!

For the record, I mostly cut mine like this (sometimes fatter though, for variety).

2) Tie a knot on the end of the fabric. I usually like to make a loop and then knot it so that you can hang it off your big toe (or a chair leg) to give it some tension as you braid. (The tighter the braid, the better it’ll look!)
3) Divide the fabric into 3 2-strip sections and start braiding! Give yourself about 8 inches so that you can use the braid to tie it around your hips.
4) Tie a knot just to make sure the braid will stay put.
5) Fold a ti leaf piece in half (hot dog style/whichever way makes the piece longer) and add it to the braid.
6) Cross over the leaf with your left hand and pull it tight! Then add another piece of leaf* and cross over with your right hand and pull it tight. You’re pretty much still just doing a regular braid, but adding a piece of leaf each time.
7) Keep braiding until it’s long enough to go around your hips.
8) When you’re done adding leaves, knot it off again, then braid the rest and tie it off.

*If you want a fuller belt, you can add multiple leaves per braid, but I was afraid of running out, so I didn’t. I ended up having enough to make a full belt though (I originally thought we’d only have enough to make half of one)! :]

And…just for kicks, here’s the close-ish-up of the armband and headpiece we made!

See what they look like on people! <3