Guest post by Ayanna Nahmias, the highly acclaimed author of the internationally renowned blog, The Nahmias Cipher Report.

After my traumatic divorce I was faced with raising a child by myself. I was blessed to have the support of my mother and sister. However, the burden of good parenting usually falls upon the shoulders of the individual who has custody. Thus began my quest to return to health and fitness.

Prior to my son’s birth I was an incredible athlete. I ran triathlons, raced roller-blades, rode horses, and worked out two to three times a week with a personal trainer. My body was my temple, and like many people who live in South Beach, Miami, maintaining the perfect physique was not only desired but required. Like many busy professionals, I waited to have children and did not get pregnant until I was nearly forty.

Throughout my pregnancy I continued to exercise, eat a low fat diet, and follow all of my obstetrician’s advice. I talked to other mother’s about postpartum exercise regimes and weight loss techniques. I was wisely advised to breast feed as it usually speeds weight loss. It worked quite well for me, and then when my son was just a few months old my milk dried up and so did the significant weight loss I had experienced. In fact, I noticed, to my chagrin, that I even started to gain weight, despite carefully watching my diet.

I found it increasingly difficult to balance single-motherhood with a workout regime. I paid for several sports club memberships which ended up as a waste of money because I was either too tired or too busy to make it to the gym. Next, I bought a home step machine which I used in the evenings, but after a few weeks I lost my motivation. Then I decided perhaps Pilates, Tai Chi, or Yoga might help me lose weight and reduce my stress.

I managed to make it to several classes before once again the hectic demands of work and motherhood intruded. I promised myself that as soon as my schedule relaxed I would return to the tranquility of the studio. But, this commitment, like previous efforts, remained unrealized. By this time I was very unhappy with my appearance as I had gained over forty pounds and gone from a size 4 to a size 12.

It was then that I decided to join a mother’s group. Theoretically women in this group could understand the challenges of trying to stay fit while raising young kids. I imagined that I could become close to one of these women and we would become workout ‘pals’. The approach seemed sensible; however, I found that it was hard to bond with women who were usually fifteen to twenty years my junior.

During the intervening years I managed to loose some weight and was now wearing a size 8. However, I seemed to hit a plateau and remained unable to achieve my pre-pregnancy weight, despite all efforts. By then my son had grown into a handsome and very active eight year old. He loved animals and wanted to add a dog to his menagerie of frogs, snails and fish. As I already cared for these creatures, despite my son’s promises, the idea of taking care of a puppy seemed overwhelming.

We decided to get a rescue dog and adopted a Labrador Retriever puppy. We brought him home when he was 8 weeks old and it turned out to be the answer to my long pursuit of a return to fitness. Since we live in an apartment building, we have to take the dog out for walks quite often. In the beginning it was every two hours, but now at three months old, he lasts between five to seven hours between outings.

He is a very active puppy with a lot of energy and enjoys walking quite fast. Our ‘power walks’ are so enjoyable that I didn’t even realize how much energy I was expending until one day I had nothing to wear and decided to slip on a pair of size 6 jeans. Imagine my surprise when they fit beautifully. At long last, I had discovered the secret to weight loss and a healthy exercise regime; a puppy named Mr. Fluffy.

Ayanna’s Bio

Ayanna Nahmias was born in 1964 in Florida into a military Christian family, but was subsequently raised Muslim.  The eldest of three children, her father studied and earned his degree in physics and mathematics, while her mother taught English. In 1970 her radical, Islamist father who had a deep hatred for American values and culture moved the family to Ile Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. Three years later they relocated to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania after a grueling three week cross continent journey by car.

Several years later, her mother fled from her husband’s oppressive and tyrannical rule, and returned to the United States with Ayanna and her siblings. Ayanna completed high school in Bethesda, Maryland, and received a Benjamin E. Mays academic scholarship to pursue her tertiary education at Bates College in Maine.

During her third year, she completed a semester abroad at The Centre for Medieval & Renaissance Studies, a Bates College exchange program at Oxford University. Upon her return to the States she was awarded a Bachelors of Arts degree in English Literature.

Ayanna was recently interviewed about her life in Africa and what it was like to survive cerebral malaria and to successfully conquer many other life challenges. She was featured on Radio Netherlands Worldwide program titled, “The State We’re In”, a show that highlights “first-person stories from around the world about human rights, human wrongs and how we treat each other.” The interview broadcast on 21 August 2010 in the US on an NPR affiliate stations and will be available for download on the net.

Ayanna currently resides in Arlington, Virginia where she publishes an internationally followed, highly rated blog titled The Nahmias Cipher Report. In addition to writing her memoir titled “Memoirs of a Cipher,” she also cares for her mother, an ordained Baptist Minister; and she is raising her son as an Orthodox Jew. Because of her unique history she adheres to and instills in her son a deep and abiding respect for his biracial heritage and for all People of the Book.

Clean Up

Straightening up your living area is a great way to turn up your heart rate and burn calories. 23 minutes of high intensity cleaning is all you need to burn 200 calories. Get creative and move with purpose.

Go For a Swim

Beat the summer heat and go to your local swimming pool. 27 minutes of wading in the water will do the trick. Just remember to pack the sun block SPF 15

Play With Your Kids

16 minutes of running around the yard, friendly wrestling, and other great activities with your kids is a perfect way to get the blood flowing and spending time with the most important people in your life.

Go Grocery Shopping

Pushing the cart around the store for almost 43 minutes is just the start. If you can manage to carry your own bags to your car, into the house, and put the food away you can add another 200 calories or more to your daily total!

Go Bowling

44 minutes of bowling with family and friends is another great way to burn calories and have fun at the same time. A 49 minute game can scorch 200 calories.

There are literally dozens of other ideas to get exercise without going to the gym. You can make even the most mundane activities fun and a little more exciting by doing them with more oomph. The point is, just do it!

The fact that NYC is crowded is no secret.

There isn’t a single place in this city where you can get away from the crowds and not feel as if another person is “in your space”.

Worse yet, the fact that New Yorkers don’t pride themselves on their common courtesy, patience, and politeness is another well known fact.

So, whether you’re riding in a taxi, running to catch the Metro train, standing in the grocery store line, simply walking down the street or running on a treadmill you are bound to have someone else “in your space” and more often than none it wont be a pleasant encounter.

Unfortunately, most New Yorkers are just as obnoxious at the gym as they are in the streets. Note my use of the word “most” as this does not apply to all New Yorkers.

The Following is a New Yorker’s Guide to Being Obnoxious at the Gym

• Do Wear Spandex….Yes, we all know you’re a supermodel with an ass that can shame JLo and Lady Gaga so why not squeeze that baby into a pair of yellow spandex tights two sizes too small and leave nothing to the imagination?

• Do Call Your Baby-Mama/Baby-Daddy and Drop the F-Bomb on Them…After all you have a right to express your frustrations anywhere you wish. As for the people working out on the treadmill beside you….Well, shouldn’t everyone know just how that cheating B%$ch/N0-Good Deadbeat mistreats you?

• Do Leave Little Bits and Pieces of Sweat Soaked, Wadded Up Tissue Everywhere…In the gyms of this urban jungle it helps to leave a trail of sweat-soaked tissue to help you find your way around.

• Do Rock That Boombox….Your music is incredibly pleasurable to all the people at the gym. So, why waste money on an IPod or Sansa Clip when you can just borrow the Boombox your grandma bought in the 80′s and totally rock the gym.

• Do Sweat on Everything….Why invest in a towel and deprive the ladies of all the pheromones?

• Do Grunt….You’re a pumped-up sexy beast! The alpha male of the gym….All the ladies swoon in the presence of your manliness as you grunt out those 5 extra reps on the squat thrust.

• Do Help Yourself to All the Freeweights….WTF is she doing in the weightroom? Taking a man’s weights nonetheless!

• Do Pull Your Gym Shorts Down to Your Thighs….It’s a well known fact that nothing turns a woman on more than watching the sweat pour down a man’s back and soak his tighty-whiteys as he grunts through his workout.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcsvL_oyRHE

The Warrior Dash is an elite athletic event held at various regions throughout the United States.  This 3.7 mile long race is held on some of the most difficult terrain in the United States and encompasses 13 intense challenges.  Every year hundreds of athletes spend endless hours training to participate in events such as fire leaping and mud crawling. of course, they each have their own unique reason for participating.

Some participate for the free beer and comradeship. Others prefer the thrill of such events. Whatever their reasons may be, these athletes enter the race at the peak of their physical fitness and come out of it with the pride of knowing they’ve participated in something few would dare to participate in.

Josh Boxer, a friend of mine, is currently amongst the hundreds of  men and women throughout the country training to participate in this year’s Warrior Dash race. The following is the story of Josh’s journey, told in his own words………

“Having grown up in the Hawaiian Islands on Maui, I have always had a very active lifestyle from a very young age. From BMX at age 7 to learning how to surf by age 9, I learned at a very early age that you can’t jump into the jungle without training your body.

In 1983 we had moved from upcountry Maui down to Maalaea Bay, which boasts some of the fastest waves in the world.  We had private beach access and I could paddle from my back yard out to the Maalaea Pipeline in which broke 20 plus foot waves in about 2 feet of water.

Being that I had started surfing several years earlier, I had trained my body to be able to withstand a wipeout and sometimes be held underwater for 20-30 seconds while being tumbled out.  Then I had to paddle back out beyond the break past monster waves coming for me.  A normal surfing session usually lasted anywhere from 3-6 hours, so as you can imagine, fatigue can set in multiple times throughout the day.  Over the course of time, your muscles develop in places you didn’t even know existed and every day you surf you are able to do it better, harder and longer.

Fast forward a bunch of years, I had moved from the Hawaiian Islands to upstate New York and found myself in the gym 5-6 days a week.  I have been training for 22 years, however never really trained for a specific event.  Just about a year ago, I became tired of the same old workouts and started working out with a trainer doingHigh Intensity Interval training or Metabolic Conditioning. This challenges not only your cardiovascular system, but your muscle groups as well.  You will reach your max heart rate during these workouts and yes, you can get sick and you can pass out.

This was all new to me and forced me to change a lot of things to train successfully.  I had to start running more often to handle the ½ hour of constant, intense work that is involved in a metabolic workout.

Just last week, the group of guys that I currently work out with were approached by our trainer to compete in “The Warrior Dash”.

Warrior Dash is the ultimate event for thrill-seeking athletes. This running series is held on some of the nation’s most demanding and unique terrain. Participants conquer extreme obstacles and celebrate their feat with music, beer, warrior helmets and muddy shorts. This is navy seal kind of stuff. 3.2-4 miles of some of the roughest terrain on the planet.

Being that this event is on May 22^nd of this year, I knew that I had about 3 months and change to train for this event.  I have never ran a marathon, triathlon or any other sport event other than wrestling and surfing.

The cool thing is, I have been training for the past 22 years and this is going to be the pinnacle of everything I have been working towards over the past couple of decades. I train 6 days a week.

Monday

I do 40 minutes of Cardio (10 minutes on stair climber/10 minutes on elliptical and Treadmill for 20 minutes.) Then It’s 45 minutes of a heart wrenching leg workout with abs.

Tuesday

1/2 hour of Cardio and ½ hour of high intensity interval training (Upper Body and abs)

Wednesday

45 minutes of Biceps, Triceps and Abs and then 45 minutes of RPM (Spinning)

Thursday

½ hour of Metabolic Conditioning. Very High Intensity 30 second breaks between work for ½ hour.

Friday

45 minutes of upper body and abs and then 45 minutes of RPM

Saturday

40 minutes of Cardio and then Biceps and Triceps Training.

Sunday is a day of rest.

Mind you that my day starts at 4:45am and workouts at 5 Monday thru Friday and On Saturday 7:30.  No guts no glory.

My gym partners and I plan on finishing in the top 20 of the Warrior Dash out of thousands of people.  To some we are crazy, to us, this is just life…

Josh Boxer
http://www.JoshBoxer.com