Riot and Frolic

I recently picked up a Self Magazine (it was between that and OK Magazine , and the cashier looked a little judge-y to me, so the celebrity gossip will have to wait) and was pleased to find it was the Self Challenge issue.  

The Self Challenge was this three month program designed to get you in "bikini form" before the summer… and sell more magazines.  It's worked on me several times over the years.

This year, it seems the editor Lucy Danzinger threw a monkey in the wrench (thanks Mrs. Gordon, for ruining that phrase for me forever) with her new book launch, The Drop 10 Diet.  Being the editor and all, her book's philosophies trumped the ol' 3 month plan and they somehow condensed her seemingly-sound program into a nifty five week booty camp.

5 weeks!

Guess who's in?

Now, I have to tell you, I'm not a big fan of "diets".  "Diet" as a verb, totally sucks:

to regulate the food of, especially in order to improve the physical condition

"Diet" as a noun?  Not so bad:

the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group

I am a fan of eating healthfully and not limiting what you can or can't consume.  Because that makes me crazy, yo.

Back to the whole Drop 10 deal, there's an outline of some "superfoods" you should add to your diet:

1. salmon
2. apples
3. quinoa
4. lentils
5. olive oil
6. eggs
7. yogurt 
8. sweet potatoes
9. kiwi
10. edamame

No real surprises, but maybe a few things I wouldn't usually pick up at the grocery store.  

On the food front, I'm going to add them into my meals regularly, but I blow at following meal plans.

Then, there's a sweet workout and training plan that has you moving 5 times a week.  It includes:

• running intervals (HIIT or High-Intensity Interval Training) that are totally kicking my lungs in half
• long runs up to 10K (it's kind of like a C25K program, but supersized [miniaturized?])
• and some fun "toning moves" led by these beautiful California girls, Katrina Hodgson and Karena Dawn

Here's where I really got hooked.  I've wanted to increase my pace lately, and my friend (the former running coach) told me intervals were the way to go.  While that's great and all, most intervals are written out like this:

6 x 880s
5K-10K pace

4 x Mile
5K-10K pace

Gah.  Too many numbers.  And I have no idea what they're talking about.  

Self's language is much easier to follow:

Take care of business with this 27-minute quickie. Sprint your patootie off at level 8 for 90 seconds. Then back off for 3 minutes at level 4 while you contemplate your awesomeness. Repeat 6 times total before cooling down. Oh, yeah!

Vector?  Anyone?  Anyone?

I have to warn you, if this business sounds interesting to you at all, DON'T visit the Self website for it.  Although they tout "fun tools", that website is a tool.  It's confusing to navigate, slow to load, and the logs are difficult to use.  Go buy the magazine and use a pen.  I think they still exist.