Stretching Before Bed

Remember when I talked about Balance Athletica's Elevate U Challenge and said that "two of the habits I found surprisingly pleasant and beneficial"? One of them was the morning routine, and the other is "10 minutes of stretching before bed."

At first, this was the habit I completely forgot about or ignored, for a few reasons.

1) My entire nighttime routine didn't take 10 whole minutes; no way was I adding in something that long.

2) I didn't think stretching cold muscles could possibly have any effect.

3) 10 minutes sounded so long and boring.

But one night I decided to try it.

I started with my neck and shoulders, moved to arms, to lotsssss of legs and hips, then back up through everything, ending with neck and shoulders.

The first three minutes felt like an eternity. The last seven went by surprisingly quickly. I found that if I took my time, breathed deeply, and stretch thoroughly, I could easily use up 10 minutes.

I felt fresh and relaxed when I laid down and went to sleep. I might've slept better.

I discovered that 10 minutes of stretching didn't feel like "too long" at all. I liked the way it centered me. And then one day, I discovered a shocking change:

I'm getting more flexible.

To be honest, I'd assumed that I had maxed out my flexibility. As a dancer, I'd always been flexible, and I'd kept that by teaching dance and stretching after workouts. I wasn't trying to get any more flexible.

But one night, I breathed in, breathed out, and reached...and kept reaching...and was shocked at how comfortable I felt in the position I landed in.

Now, I don't stretch every night. For whatever reason it stopped relaxing me the way it did in the beginning, and in an effort to be kind, I don't force myself to keep up a nightly stretching streak. I still do it often though, and am so interested and encouraged by the increasing flexibility.

If you have trouble relaxing, want to grow in flexibility, or have joint pain/tightness, try stretching for 10 minutes before bed. It took me a couple of weeks to feel a difference, but I think it was a worthy experiment :)

~Stephanie

Supplement Suggestions

Before we dive in, let me be clear, lest my employers think they pay me too much:

Do I love and recommend all of these supplements? Yes.

Do I buy them all regularly? Absolutely not.

But here are the supplements that I've really enjoyed over the course of my amateur fitness journey, in case you're looking to try something new.

Bowmar Nutrition
Protein powders in this order: Blueberry Cheesecake, Birthday Cake, Frosted Cookie. (Those are the only three flavors I've tried.)
Price: 1lb tub is $35; 5lb tub is $70 (If anyone ever wants to go halfsies on one of these, lemme know.)

Collagen: Good for joints, hair, skin, and nails, and it's a little extra protein for you.
Price: $35 per tub

Pros: The Bowmars are SERIOUS about their quality. (I follow them on social media.) They will not put out anything they're not completely satisfied with, and they have incredibly high standards. The products aren't cheap, but they are not overpriced. They also have really creative-but-still-appealing flavors, including Key Lime Pie, Caramel Apple, Dulce De Leche.

Cons: The products are very expensive, and Sarah Bowmar's personality is really abrasive and hard to take. I think maybe she's one of those people who are shy so they come off really nasty and sarcastic to avoid getting hurt? Or maybe she's just a Yankee (sorry, Yankees)? She swears that she's actually nice, and also a Christian, but I gotta say, she would not win me over for Jesus.

Random Recipe: 3-Ingredient Protein Pancakes:
- 1/2 tsp. of baking powder
- 1 egg
- 1 scoop of protein powder

Scivation
Blue Raspberry BCAAs: To be fair, these are the only BCAAs (branched-chain amino acids, which help with muscle recovery) I've ever tried.
Price: $20, on Amazon.

Pros: Insanely delicious. Makes working out more enjoyable because you get to drink this between sets.

Cons: Honestly, I don't know if these help me with muscle recovery or not, but I also don't take the "recommended dose" (one scoop's worth drunk during your workout, one scoop's worth drunk after your workout) because I'm too cheap to go through the tub that quickly.

1st Phorm
Opti-Greens 50: Opti-Greens has 11 servings of vegetables per serving. Gabe and I only do half a serving each because we're poor, and honestly 11 servings a day seems like overkill.

Price: $60 a tub

Pros:
1) Tastes pretty good for powdered grass. I'd say it tastes like unsweet green tea with a hint of berry.
2) This is also THE ONLY SUPPLEMENT GABE WILL TAKE. He says all protein powders "taste like protein" (what does that even mean?) and even declared the BCAAs above were "too sweet." Are you kidding me?
3) Works beautiful voodoo on bloating and digestion.

Cons: Extremely expensive.

Let me know if you try any and like them, or have other suggestions to share!

~Stephanie

Fitness Journey: From Aesthetics to Kindness

When I started my fitness journey in August of 2017 I had two goals: 1) to lose weight, and 2) to grow my glutes. Today, I continue my fitness journey for one reason: I love it.

While I've never been overweight (I think I was slightly in college, but more in a "skinny-fat" way), my fitness goals until recently have been completely aesthetically motivated.

In August of 2017, I finally got an Instagram and began following fitness influencers like Emily Skye, Anna Victoria, Meggan Grubb, and Whitney Simmons. Obviously you have to be careful of who you follow, but Instagram has actually served as a surprisingly healthy source of inspiration and motivation for me.

I began doing workouts that influencers posted, gradually learning more about physical health, from BCAAs to progressive overload to macro counting.

For almost two years, this is the zone I lived in, very happily. My body made awesome changes that still make me happy when I see them. I'll never forget the look of shock on Gabe's face when I flexed a bicep one day and said, "Hey, look at this!" I'll never forget how shocked I was when I moved an amount of weight I thought would be utterly immovable for me. I eat 500–700 more calories a day now than I did a few years ago, and I'm not looking any heavier. Weight lifting is AWESOME on every level.

But eventually, I noticed that while my body had definitely changed, it hadn't changed enough to sustain my motivation/dedication. I worked really hard to be fit. I worked out, I ate intentionally. With the amount of effort I put in, shouldn't I look...better?

But then, both gradually and all of a sudden, I didn't care anymore. I think it was a slow-sudden culmination of growing in Christ, and—I'm serious—paying more attention to mentally/spiritually/physically healthy Instagram influencers.

I began to rest in the fact that my body is strong and healthy, and I actually really like working out. My motivation can simply be that I enjoy it.

I also started thinking about what Mik Zazon says: "What is the kindest thing I can do for my body right now?"

Sometimes, the honest answer is to eat some spinach and do a HIIT workout.

But sometimes, the honest answer is to watch Netflix and eat a candy bar.

Thinking about how to be kind to myself has radically changed the way I make choices about my body. I never realized it before, but sometimes I had sort of a creepy mindset where I would think things like, "You're disgusting. That's right, eat ten cookies, because you're already gross."

Whereas if I think about being kind to myself, I think things like, "You have a great body. Let's be respectful and not feed it trash."

Being kind to your body means you don't do things to it out of spite, whether that's eat spinach or cookies.

Letting go of my aesthetic goals has meant incorporating different kinds of exercise to see what I enjoy and what makes me feel good. I don't have to resign myself to heavy hip thrusts because they're the best booty-builders; I can do a HIIT session instead because the endorphins are insane. I can go for a walk.

Will I ever stop weight lifting? I don't think so, but not because I'm afraid of getting fat. Because I want to be kind to myself.

~Stephanie

Balance Athletica

How can an athletic wear brand be part of "becoming myself"?

Meh. Maybe it isn't. But this is where I'm documenting all the changes that are going on, and favoring this activewear brand is one of them.

For a while I was almost exclusively a Gymshark girl. I still love some of their leggings, but they shifted in three ways that made me fall out of love with them as a company.

1) Many of my favorite athletes stopped working with them. No big bad reasons for this, but it made me care about the company a little less.

2) Their prices rose while their quality didn't. Totally their prerogative to do this. The demand for their products is big enough that they can raise prices and still have enough customers to succeed. #AllAboutThatFreeMarket

3) They are an impersonal kind of brand. This doesn't bother me, but when a small business came along with their own activewear, I was happy to ditch Gymshark.

That small business is Balance Athletica, and I am a loyal fan for four reasons.
1) The company was recently founded by two Christian sisters. While Taylor and Chloe don't seem like the MOST mature Christians in some ways, they make a point to attribute their success to following God's plan, and do their best to remind people to love and trust him. On a platform that can be judgmental toward Christians (Instagram), they do a fair job of balancing their faith with not alienating people before they can be a light, if that makes sense.

2) The theme of Balance Athletica is--you guessed it--balance. Their message about HEALTH, not "fitness." Powerlifting, but also enjoying a gentle walk. Eating nutrient-dense food, but also having ice cream sometimes. This is the bullet point that most qualifies Balance Athletica as part of my "becoming" journey.

3) Inclusivity is legitimately important to them. They don't just occasionally post a photo of a "bigger girl" or a person of color just to keep people off their backs. They have sponsored athletes/models that range from size extra small to double XL, and their clothes look amazing on all of them. Balance isn't faking this. They're for real.

4) I really like the clothes. Obviously this is a huge plus XD They've released three collections as I write this (the Harmony Collection is coming September 6 at 2pm EDT, and another is launching sometime later in September). One of their collections is THE BEST ACTIVEWEAR I'VE EVER TRIED AND I WOULD BUY IT IN EVERY COLOR AND HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT. Unfortunately, because the company is still small, everything in this collection (Kingdom 2.0) is sold out. You can sometimes find it on the Poshmark app though.

At the end of this post I'll go into more detail on the collections if you're interested.

"Cons" of Balance Athletica
1) They're not cheap. My favorite leggings from them are $75.

2) Their sizing is inconsistent. However, they do have size charts on their website that are very accurate and helpful. I wear a small in one collection and a medium in the other two. A little nerve-wracking to buy online.

3) Their stuff sells out in a couple of hours. If you're interested in buying, you'll need to follow them on Instagram to find out their launch times and then be sure to order as soon as things launch.

Details on My Favorite Pieces
The Ascend Pant - My absolute favorite leggings of all time. I wear a size Small. These pants are completely squat proof, the most comfortable leggings I've ever worn, and super flattering. These will be in the Harmony Collection launching on September 6.

The Ascend Top - One of my favorite workout bras ever. I wear a size Small. It's very supportive. It's a cross between a crop top and a sports bra, and I've worn it as a shirt on two occasions.

The OG Pant - My second favorite leggings from Balance. I wear a size Medium. Completely squat proof, very comfortable, and very flattering. Thicker and less stretchy than the Ascend Pant.

The Energy Pant - Insanely comfortable, like your own skin once you get them on, but SO COMPRESSIVE. I wear a size Medium and they feel great once they're on, but you have to put them on like actual dance tights, whatever that means to you.

Still like, but don't LOVE...
The OG Top - Same shape as the Ascend Top, but much tighter. I can wear a size Small, but could probably wear a Medium too.

The Energy Top - Very cute, very soft, shockingly unsupportive. I wear a size Small, but maybe I should've sized down...?

The Flow Bra - So cute, intentionally light support. I would LOVE it if you couldn't see the bra pads through the fabric in the color I have (light topaz). Sigh. I wear a size Small.

If you're looking for a high quality activewear brand and want to support a small business run by Christian sisters, check out Balance :)

~Stephanie