2012 Goals - Dream Big, Appreciate the Little Things

Every December I get thinking about my goals and plans for the coming year.  It’s also a particularly special time for me because I have a birthday in early January.  Oh thanks, you’re so sweet! You don’t have to get my anything… But if you really want to I have an Amazon Wishlist under my name (Roxy Richardson) :D

Anyways, every year I make a goals list and tack it to my fridge so I can see it everyday.  The point of the goals list is not to beat myself up if I fall short of a goal.  The point is to keep me motivated and focused through the year. My aim is to align my actions everyday with my goals. Some goals are big some are small but they are all important.

I often find at the end of the year that I have hit a few of my goals, but not all of them.  What’s more interesting to me is that sometimes I change and what was important to me at the beginning of last year is not as important to me at the end.  My priorities have shifted and I’m okay with that. I think about it deeply, make sure I’m not having a case of sour grapes, which most of the time I am not and I simply greet my new shift of perspective warmly and move forward.

This year I hit only 2 of 9 – but the ones I nailed were big ones.  #1 I opened a new gym and made it financially successful within a year. #2 I had 1 more professional Muay Thai fight before I retired.  I came up a little short on my read one book a month goal.  I think I read about 6 books last year. I didn’t get to take up ceramic again like I wanted to and I definitely didn’t manage to save $ and travel to 3 new places. I also didn’t hit my physical goals of a new clean and jerk PR or a new 1 mile sprint time or breaking 300 on my fight gone bad score. But when I look back on 2011 I don’t see all the ways I failed I only see all the accomplishments I made and the new ways I have grown.

My 2011 goal list was ambitious to say the least. My new business took up the majority of my time and energy. I was surprised I kept up with my relationship, my social life, my continuing education and even managed to be a professional athlete. It was a crazy year and the single thing that I realized is I don’t want my life to be that crazy anymore.

I still love Muay Thai and I still love lifting and I still love adrenalin pumping workouts and putting in hard work into my gym and other projects.  But I don’t want to spend 15-20 hours working out a week anymore and I certainly don’t care what my fight gone bad score is.  I will always workout, but with more of an emphasis on health and longevity rather than proving how insanely bad-ass I am. In short - I’ve grown up, and more importantly I’m saving my adrenal glands. I’m okay with leaving the intense workloads to the younger athletes and letting them carry the “bad-ass” torch. Hopefully I can help them learn though my mistakes and maybe later when they are turning 34 they will be able to continue their careers as professional athletes more financially stable and with more fuel in the tank should they desire to do so. Today I am content to simply focus on running my business, helping people, being healthy and having new adventures. 

My goal list this year may appear less ambitious than last’s, but many of the goals will take effort and disciple for me to make happen. Besides I like my list and when I think about my goals, I smile at the potential outcomes… and that’s really what it’s all about!

So without further ado, here are my 2012 goals:

• Take a 15 minute walk outside in the sun each day without my cell phone or iPod
• Read one book a month
• Get two new fitness certifications (one will be the RKC in February) 
• Save $ and travel to at least three new places
• Keep BF below 10% (I run lean so this is not as crazy as it sounds) last I got measured with the BF Truck I was 9.6% and this was post Muay Thai fight, after 3 weeks of indulgence and less than optimal food choices… hey I’m only human.
  
• Keep a modest workout routine: At least 2 strength sessions, 1 sprint or met-con session and 1 Muay Thai session a week
• Increase Function 5 Fitness’ class membership by 30%
• Take up ceramics again I’ve been doing this on and off since I was a kid and I love it!
• Spent at least 1 hour a week on creative writing.  A little known fact about me is that I have been a writer since high school. Besides Muay Thai it’s my biggest passion. I plan to write a book in the future but for 2012 my goal is to start a writing routine again.  That’s how these things work.  Take small steps and those steps lead to bigger goals!
• Write 1 blog and 1 fitness & health article a month – this type of writing is easier for me, I think of it as exercise for the harder creative stuff. Keeps my gears oiled.
• Hold monthly staff meetings to educate staff and cultivate excellent trainers
• Have one date night per week with bf… where I actually get dressed up fancy and do my make up lol
• Go on at least 1 new or different outing/activity per month
• Write my 98 year old grandmother once a month because she prefers letters to phone calls.
• Get 8 hours of sleep most nights. I’ve been good about this lately, but I always want to remind myself of this.  It’s sooooo important!

I encourage you all to make your 2012 goals list. Dream big, take steps to get there everyday and enjoy the ride  :)

15 December 2011 ·

• Tags
• goals

Post Fight Thoughts & New Beginnings

The week after a fight is always interesting. A bit sore and bruised on the outside and a sort of calmness inside that can only come from accomplishing something difficult that you worked hard for.

If you missed the action you can read the recap here.

Or you can catch the Replay of the Event on video here.

Elaina as I expected was a tough girl, but I trained hard and under the good direction of Kru Mark Komuro and Joe Schilling at The Yard and I was prepared for a battle. A big thank you to my trainers for believing in me and helping me believe in myself. You guys rock!

I also owe a big thanks to Revgear and Esaan  - A Taste of Thai for their support for this fight.  Thanks for supporting Muay Thai! :)

Thank you to all my friends, the F5 family, fans and of course my awesome boyfriend Dustin. He is my rock, I couldn’t do this without him.

I am home from Vegas now and happy to be back teaching and working at my gym. I am always amazed after my fights when I take a week off training and realize how much free time I have. I used to be so excited about training that you’d see me back in the gym the Wednesday after a Saturday fight - all ramped up and ready to take on the world.

During this training camp I had several revelations. First I realized that owning my own gym and training for a fight was more challenging than I expected. I opened Function 5 Fitness in Feb 2012 - I had an easier time preparing for fights when I was working independently as a personal trainer and renting space inside of a bigger gym for my small group women’s classes… and it was easier still when I just bar-tended 4 nights a week like I did when I first started fighting.

But it wasn’t just the time and responsibility that made this fight camp challenging it was something bigger. I’d fought through all sorts of personal and professional turmoil before.  I took fights when I had no gym and even no coach.  I’ve fought through broken hearts and moving houses and not once did I loose focus.

However, this time I felt myself resenting my training schedule, staying late at work at my gym and showing up to training late. I was tired all the time and I looked shitty in sparring and even shitter (is that a word?) was my cardio. I know what it takes to be a professional so I made sure I did enough, but I didn’t want to do anymore than “just enough” - and I felt like I was trudging though mud to get there.  This was so far from my A type personality I know I have that I had to examine where the behavior was coming from. “But I love Muay Thai!” I thought to myself… and it’s true.  I do - with all my heart. But I did not have the same drive and hunger training to fight as before.

I’d catch myself staring at some random girl at Starbucks, thinking “She doesn’t have to train 3 hours a day and go fight some beast in the ring next month - lucky girl.” I normally even like the sacrifice, giving things up: social life, sugar, alcohol, and time all because I wanted to excel so badly. But I found myself resenting fighting for taking away time from other things that are important to me: friends, family, work, hobbies. I love Muay Thai too much to ever want to resent it, so I had to consider what I think my mind had already decided for me: I wanted to retire.

When I finally said it out-loud to my boyfriend, friends and coaches I felt instantly better, like a weight had been lifted.  I started to think about all the new challenges I wanted to do in 2012 and all the work I wanted to put into my gym. I stayed as focused as I could for this training camp and relied on my experience to pull me through, but if I am honest with myself, my heart was elsewhere.

I started getting sick the last couple weeks of the training camp and had to take more time off training than I wanted too. I used that time to really get my mental game tight. I read Sam Sheridan’s book The Fighter’s Mind.  It was awesome. I highly recommend it.  I also did some EFT sessions with Jon Boyd Barrett which is a great way to get over mental road blocks. Honestly I was kind of a mess for a few weeks, but I pulled through in the last couple of days when I spent some time alone and realized some important things, mainly about why I fight.

I remembered that I fight because it’s hard.  I fight because it’s not easy for me.  I was not a likely candidate to be a pro fighter. In high school I was voted “most likely to be a professional club kid” - I’m not joking. But my life changed when I found Muay Thai. It grounded me and pushed me. It gave me self confidence and discipline. Muay Thai helped me grow into a real adult, but most of all it gave me a purpose and with that focus my life changed.

By choosing to accept that this training camp was hard for me, mentally more than physically - (but I felt physically affected). I was not fighting myself anymore.   I accepted all the fears and doubts and negativity that kept coming up and just remembered that I love Muay Thai and that love gives me an abundance of strength…all the strength I need to carry me to victory.

Once I got into the ring I felt at home. I knew I had struggled more than usual to get there, but every fight camp is different and as my good friend Robb Wolf assured me, sometimes the shittiest training camps have the best outcomes. Maybe it is the adversity that makes the victory come easier. 

I love fighting, I always will and I will always have Muay Thai in my heart.  I will teach and train and push the sport forward to the best of my ability, but I knew that the decision I made to retire was the right one and it was time to step down and put my focus on my new passions: teaching, educating people on health and nutrition, running my gym, and training the new crop of young fighters.

I was very happy to go out with a win. I am satisfied with all my accomplishments. Sure I could have fought more often, gone after bigger fights, traveled the world fighting -but I chose to follow my heart and build my dream gym. I don’t regret a thing.

Even though you won’t see me in the ring again. I will still be around. I want to help Muay Thai grow in popularity and of course I want to help people be healthy and fit and live lives filled with passion and purpose.

Thank you all for your support!

21 November 2011 ·

• Tags
• muay thai

Is rice healthy? What’s the deal with white vs brown?

I get asked about rice a lot.

Clients tell me they make good choices and choose brown rice with meals.  I shake my head and tell them that actually white is better than brown… then they get REALLY confused - and I don’t blame them.  I was confused once too - and to make things more confusing I then say: I don’t recommend white rice to most people even if it is “healthier” than brown. Let’s clear this up…

Here are my 10 bullet points on the deal with rice. I’ll try to sum this us as best I can without getting to “science-y”:

1) we as human beings have not evolved to tolerate grain and legumes. in our evolutionary history they are a relatively new addition to the diet and since the agricultural revolution when grain became a staple of our diet we have seen a decline in health. If you want to argue this fine - I’ll help people who really want help instead - but watch this first if you need convincing.

2) all grains (and legumes) have inflammatory and gut irritating properties - aka humans do not tolerate them well. We can soak them, cook them, even ferment grains, but those negative properties still remain and if eaten in excess or even small amounts can cause varying degrees of health problems depending on how grain intolerant the individual is (we are all intolerant to some degree).

3) Some grains are worse than others: Wheat (gluten) is the very worst for our bodies. Everyone should avoid wheat/gluten containing products. For a list of gluten containing properties go here. Wheat and gluten containing grains serve no health benefit and cause a bunch of health problems. Going down the spectrum is oat, corn and rice is probably the least problematic of the grains, but it is still a grain.

4) the reason why white rice is not as problematic as brown is that white rice is stripped of all it’s nutrients and fiber in the husk therefor leaving it as just a plain and simple starch.  Is it the best starch? No, cause it has no nutrition and it will if eaten cause insulin spikes and rise blood sugar.

5) the reason I recommend white rice to athletes is because after INTENSE exercise glucose stores need to be repleted. In the Post-Workout meal a starch does a good job of this.  But a better starch would be a sweet potato or squash cause it is way more nutritious than white rice.

6) not everyone should eat white rice.  people that are trying to lose weight or those who are inactive or only moderately active have no business mainlining such an insulin driving food if they care about their health.

7) Will it kill you to have white rice once in a while?  No.  Is it the worst thing?  No. There are worse sources of carbs: sugar and bread are definitely worse - but eating rice as a staple part of a diet is not good for optimal health.

8) Why are high carb foods bad for me?  Well first off I’m not a carb hater.  As an athlete I need some good carbs in my diet, but I get my carbs mostly from veggies and sweet potatoes only occasionally treating myself to white rice and corn tortillas. But let’s be honest most of America is NOT that active we sit all day and are lucky to get in 3 workouts a week… that is NOT active.  So unless you are a very physical person, chances are your carb requirements are low.

9) To understand why high carb foods can make you fat read this: http://www.diabeteshealth.com/read/2007/04/24/5143/why-eating-too-many-carbs-makes-you-fat/

10) Above all I’d like to re-stress that avoiding wheat/gluten is the VERY best thing you can do for you health. Of course there is room for improvement after being gluten free, but if you choose to do just ONE thing, that is the best choice - and yes rice, white or brown is gluten free.

11 November 2011 ·

• Tags
• paleo diet

Whole Food Cooking Part I: Hunt, Gather, & Save

Those of you who are Function 5 Fitness members know that nutrition is a big part of what we do.  We believe that it’s the most important pillar of all aspects of fitness and health, because without good nutrition you have no foundation to build on.

Nutrition is really very simple.  We like to call it real food. That’s right - real, not that packaged food bar in you’ve had in your glove compartment for 2 weeks now that has a list of things you can’t pronounce on the label.

You may have heard the term “Paleo” to describe how we eat, which means a diet based on the way our Paleolithic ancestors ate. To me though, it just means real food: meat, fish poultry, eggs, veggies, fruit and some nuts – just the way nature intended them to be.

I want to help you all live healthy lives and much of that starts in the kitchen.  If you are not much of a cook that’s okay, let’s break this down into steps. First, you’ll need to hunt and gather your food a.k.a. shopping.

One of the main complaints that clients make when switching to a real food diet is that it costs them more money than they’re used to. But eating healthy can be inexpensive and is very worth it. Think of your grocery bill as an investment in your health, a retirement plan that is going to make sure you live a vibrant, strong life well into your 80’s and beyond. Getting cancer is expensive, open heart surgery is expensive, that grass-fed steak and some organic broccoli are not that expensive when you look at the big picture.

Here are 10 ways, to Hunt, Gather and $ave!

1. Know your Dirty Dozen - These are 12 fruits and veggies that are loaded with chemicals and pesticides. Try to buy these organic when possible to avoid nasty chemicals. This leaves tons of produce that doesn’t have to be bought organically, but if you can that’s good too.

• Peaches
• Apples
• Sweet Bell Peppers
• Celery
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Pears
• Grapes (Imported)
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Potatoes

2. Be a planner.  Make a list and stay within a set budget. This is a good way to dodge buying unwanted items that may go bad before they get eaten.  If you are like me that chocolate chip trail mix at the end of the counter always seems like a good idea at the time. But if you have a list you are more prepared to turn it down.

Here are some staples that are always on my list are:

Ground beef, frozen fish, steaks, eggs, a variety of veggies, sweet potatoes, coconut oil, natural sausages, natural turkey breast slices, olive oil, avocados, garlic and onions (easy flavor for stir-fries) grab and go fruits like apples, oranges, pear and bananas, almond or sun flower butter.

3. Freeze it! Always have frozen fish, poultry and meat in the fridge – and remember to defrost it the day before you want it to cook.  Produce you need to plan to buy fresh twice a week, but you can get some frozen items.  Fresh is better, but I’d rather see you eat veggies than none at all. So if buying frozen veggies helps you eat them, go for it.

4. Where Smart Modern Peeps go to Hunt and Gather:

Here is a list of places you can go and what to expect:

Trader Joes: Great for wild caught frozen fish (just read labels), grass-fed ground beef, organic nuts, organic olive oil, some organic produce and the delicious organic 85% chocolate.

Whole Foods:  Good for those hard to find items: coconut oil, coconut milk, pastured eggs and poultry, any organic produce you can’t find at Trader Joes.

Famers Markets: Get to know your local organic farmers, ask questions – and even go late to barter for the real deals ;)

USWellnessMeats.Com  - The best online store for grass-fed meat – they ship it to you fresh frozen, it’s easy, convenient and delicious!

Stay tuned for next month when I go over cooking tips, until then feel free to use this easy method that The Paleo Solution Author Robb Wolf recommends and me and the F5 peeps use all the time:

•  Put some oil in a pan. (coconut oil is best)
• Brown some meat in that oil for a minute
• If you are using a hearty herb/spice like ginger, add it before the meat, if it’s delicate like basil, add it when the dish is almost done.
• Add veggies – your choice!
• Stir it a time or two, cover and set a timer for 5-10 min.
• If it’s done, eat! If not, set a timer again.
  

Hey, now wasn’t that simple???

You’re welcome. ;)

 - Natalie Morgan & Roxy Richardson

3 October 2011 ·

• Tags
• nutrition
• food
• cooking
• organic foods
• grass-fed beef

Time is on My Side

Excellent tips on planning meals and workouts in a busy schedule by Function 5 Fitness instructor Lauren Schuchman.

FITNESS & TIME
“For every minute spent in organizing an hour is earned.”
“Yeah, that’s great but I’ve got a million things to do and just don’t have the time.”  Actually, you do have time - just one of many perks of being alive.  It’s how we delegate that time that establishes what we do and don’t accomplish.   Still, “I don’t have time” is the only excuse I hear to explain one’s lack of exercise or proper eating.  I did hear a woman once shout “I like my budonkadonk!” but she was an anomaly.
Let me preface by saying I do not have children.  I’m a ‘free agent’ as they say, which I will not deny makes a big difference in how I schedule things as opposed to a parent or spouse.  That said, we all have various responsibilities and commitments that make up our daily lives.  When I’m not training or teaching Muay Thai I work in production, often characterized by insane hours, early morning calls, late night prep, sometimes night or weekend shoots.  And there are lots of professions that go beyond the 9 to 5.  I dated a fireman once (yes, I am totally bragging) whose shifts ended at 6am, at which time he immediately hit the gym to get it out of the way, then caught up on all the rest – eat, sleep, etc.  Point is you make do with what you’ve got.  You find those nooks and crannies of time before, after or in between priorities to fit in exercise and proper eating and doing so consistently is what ultimately makes health a priority too.
EXERCISE:
First, find a fitness regimen you actually look forward to doing.  If flying solo through a gym is mind numbing, don’t do it.  If you’re bored you’re probably not reaping any benefit from it anyway.  I much prefer working out in a group.  Explore martial arts, circuit training, swimming, dance, something you can imagine bragging to your friends about, then immediately get a local schedule and see where it could fit into your life. 
But alas, life throws us curveballs!  If I plan to train in the morning and I instead find myself in a karaoke bar at 3am with a crowd of construction workers egging me on for one more rendition of Eye of the Tiger (a purely hypothetical situation), I acknowledge that the morning workout idea is defunct.  I therefore toss gym clothes into my bag before passing out to ensure I head straight to the gym after work the next day.
I generally get an idea of what my week looks like and at the risk of sounding anal-retentive (forgive me I’m a Virgo) add exercise to the calendar as I would any other commitment.  When I add an evening plan to my schedule, I then add “train” for that morning.  If I know the morning is out, I find my afternoon or evening alternative, whether it be a quick run or a class, and add that to the schedule allowing time to shower/change, then move onto whatever dinner or social plans follow.  If exercise is not an option, fine.  Lucky me, it’s my day off.  For the following day, I get all the necessities together to make it as easy as possible to actually get there.  And that’s key, especially if morning exercise is your best option- making it as seamless as possible to get yourself up and going.  I set aside clothes, set two alarms, and place a light snack in my purse to get my blood sugar up on the drive there.  One good trick is to make iced coffee or tea the night before and store in the fridge overnight so I can just grab my caffeine fix in the morning, no preparation needed.

FOOD & YOUR BUSY SCHEDULE
Everyone knows that cooking at home is both more cost effective and healthier than dining out.  It is impossible to shop and cook every night so planning ahead is therefore crucial.  Some people prefer the weekend to do their grocery shopping but as I’m already in “work mode” during the week, I’ll sometimes take a weeknight or lunch break to get it done.
Between work, training and maintaining some semblance of a social life, I am not home every night.  Therefore what I find to be a HUGE help is buying healthy foods with the longest shelf lives possible.  Often we stock up all those great meats, fruits and vegetables only to wind up being stuck at work every night and just watching them go bad.  #Fail.  As I try to adhere to a Paleo diet (notice I say “try” – nobody’s perfect and accepting that makes life a lot easier) of lean proteins, tons of veggies and healthy fats, I need to find grocery items I know will be fine if I don’t get around to them immediately.  Some good protein ideas are:
-Whole cooked rotisserie chickens (take the meat off the bone and they last even longer.  Create a fat base for sautéing vegetables by browning the skin and some dark meat in your pan first, then discarding.  Your mouth will be very happy, trust me.)
-Frozen cooked chicken breasts, turkey or beef patties, or any items that only require a quick thaw (frozen uncooked shrimp just need to be placed under warm water for a few minutes and is much tastier than frozen cooked.)
-Upon purchasing any fresh proteins, place them in Tupperware in a little marinade - the sodium will help preserve and they’ll taste amazing.
Make sure frozen items have NO additives like stock or solutions, just the real deal on ice, which you may need to go to higher end markets for, like Whole Foods.  As always, have extremely clean hands when handling your meats – bacteria gets in and it’s automatic game over.  I find thawed steak and fish pales in comparison to fresh so I’ll only buy if I know I’ll be home to cook it within days.  And I often don’t know that!
Produce is a bit trickier as it’s so delicate.  The shorter shelf-life culprits are salad greens like lettuce or spinach, tomatoes, anything very soft.  There are instead fresh vegetables that can last well over a week in the fridge:
-broccoli or cauliflower
-carrots or parsnips (the root vegetables tend to be thicker and therefore live longer)
-green or red cabbage (this will survive nuclear war – I sauté with some sesame oil, tamari, scallion and a touch of hoisin sauce for an Asian sensation)
-onions and garlic (two gods of flavor who also last weeks)
-dark, leafy greens like collard or chard, or my favorite, kale: a form of cabbage, this super food is nutrient dense with extremely powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties and same as cabbage, I eat raw or sauté with a smashed garlic clove in olive oil for a few minutes until crisp/tender and call it a day.  A f’ing delicious day.
If I foresee not having time to prepare anything at all, I have a ready-made meal on hand in the fridge I’ll enjoy cold, like sushi or salad.  I want to feel good about what I eat during the week, not only to perform at my best in the office and gym, but also to make those weekend rewards that much sweeter :)

OFF THE CLOCK
This brings me to my next point: taking time off.  It is imperative to take rest days not only for the physical reasons- avoiding over-training and over-stress that leads to injuries, recovery, etc.   It is just as much a mental break.  Sunday is the traditional day of rest and the day I don’t plan…anything.  I don’t plan meals.  I make very little if no commitments.   And I do not hit the gym.  Occasionally, if I’m not preparing to fight and have spent five solid days training hard, eating right and sticking to a schedule, I will take Saturday and Sunday off – take a small weekend trip, turn off the phone, log off the social networks and just BE, burger in hand.  Living life on a constant schedule will drive anyone nuts and I find it’s only after those sufficient breaks that I feel inspired to get back on the wagon on Monday.
These are a few things I find help to keep me on track.  You train your body to do things like squat properly or lift heavy things, why not train your mind to make healthy eating and exercise part of your day?  Take stock of your current work, living and social situation and design the best way for you to get health and fitness on the slate.  My personal goal in life is to work hard and play hard, and I think it is a valuable guideline. Make yourself proud and have fun doing it.

 - Lauren Schuchman

 To learn more about training with Lauren go to function5fitness.com

26 August 2011 ·

• Tags
• nutrition
• fitness
• meals
• play
• paleo diet