Vita Boot Camp guests working out at the park.

VITA BOOT CAMP RECAP – WEEK OF AUGUST 13

It occurred to me during last week’s Vita Boot Camp that it might be a good idea for me to recap each week. We have great discussions during each week and some of those discussions pack information that everyone would want to have – even if you’re not at a retreat. So while I won’t give away every single thing we talk about (you’ll have to attend a retreat to get ALL of the juicy info), I thought that recapping each week with the most important topics and inspiration would benefit many of you. So here goes writing my first retreat recap – hope you enjoy!

RETREAT RECAP TOPIC 1: CHEAT MEALS

The question came up as to whether or not I personally have a cheat meal and whether or not they should be part of one’s weekly nutrition.

The short answer is yes I have them and yes I believe in them. Honestly, I don’t really love the term, “cheat meal”. Why do we have to be cheating? I don’t get it – but I get it. Consider this though – food is food. Of course there is better food than some food but in all reality, food is nourishment, which is a good thing. I honestly just prefer to grab something that I really enjoy once or twice per week that might not be part of my “normal” nutritional regimen. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it and I hope that you all are comfortable doing the same of you so choose to. Relax about what you eat. Enjoy what you eat. Food is necessary for life.

RETREAT RECAP TOPIC 2: CALORIE COUNTING

There wasn’t a question about calorie counting but the conversation of “how many calories are in this, how many calories are in that” was a large part of conversation. Tracking every calorie and matching it against what was burned was also discussed. So what’s the scoop?

Please don’t be CONSUMED with counting calories. I understand that some of you are math people and some of you like to track information. I totally get it. I’ve been there myself but the truth is that there is no 100% fail proof way to determine exactly how many calories are in a certain food. Calories can be off by up to 25%. Now, take into consideration that you also don’t absorb every single part of the food you take in. So now we really can’t make an accurate guess as to how many calories are actually working for you as far as energy is concerned.

So how do you judge how much food you should take in? The answer is portion control, balancing protein, carbs and fat and paying attention to your hunger cues. I’m not going to go into detail in this post about either of those 3 because there’s too much to write. The basics are that you should have around a palm size of protein, a fist size of carbs and a thumb size of fat at each meal. If you’re hungry an hour or two after you’ve eaten, you might not have eaten enough. If you’re still full 3 – 4 hours after a meal, you might have eaten too much. Learning to pay attention to what your body is telling you is the ultimate key to unlocking what works for you.

RETREAT RECAP TOPIC 3: INTENSITY

I swear I talk about Intensity every single week! Intensity is one of the biggest factors missing from the majority of people’s workouts.

If you aren’t challenged by your workouts (or at least some of your workouts) then you mostly likely won’t change. Obviously, this does not apply to certain movement disciplines including active recovery and intentional lighter workouts, stretch, etc.

On a scale of 1 – 10 (1 being not challenged at all and 10 meaning you couldn’t work any harder) how would you describe the majority of your workouts? You should have some moments of 7, 8 and even a 9 here and there in some of your workouts to make sure you’re getting that intensity factor in.

Are you just going through the motions? Are you getting your heart rate up? Are you muscles burning? Do you feel taxed? These are all questions to consider in terms of ramping up the intensity. Don’t just go through the motions. Make your workouts work for you!

I hope this retreat recap helps answer some questions people might have. Feel free to reach out or leave a comment with questions!

Best,

Margot + The Vita Vie Retreat Team