Health Q&As
All of Milla's recent workout videos can be seen here or on her YouTube channel!
- People ask me lots of questions while I'm training live in the morning and I wanted to take some time to answer some questions I've seen come up a lot. I'm so happy that people have been motivated and inspired by my daily live streams, it's exactly what I most wanted! To share this incredible change I've seen since I changed my lifestyle. One year ago, I started a journey to become happier and have more energy. I was also tired of depending on some new skin cream or treatment to make myself look good. When I began working out everyday, I never imagined the cumulative effect it would have, not only on my moods and looks, but my energy levels as well. Now I usually "wake up on the right side of the bed" and it's my normal state. Not something special I achieve when I'm on vacation or something.
So a big question is: am I training for a new film?
I mean, that's how this started, i was training for Monster Hunter, but it ended up inspiring a complete lifestyle change. I now truly believe that physical exercise and activity is an essential component to human happiness and staving off depression. I don't look at it as a temporary thing you do to let's say, get ready for summer. To me, exercise is like showering or brushing my teeth. Its an essential part of my day. It's just what humans need to do every day to feel amazing. When we don't get our heart rates up, we actually become more tired. When our blood isn't pumping hard everyday, our bodies decline. Our skin, hair and nails. Our brains and our mental well being. Weight loss is a cherry on top that makes us feel even better and stronger.
Why do you do this 5 days a week?
You know, every morning is the opportunity to do something incredible for yourself. To set small goals and achieve them. I believe that's what confidence and happiness is based on. People can judge you and people can talk smack, but no one can take your hard work away from you. Training gives us that confidence. It gives us a chance to really challenge ourselves, our endurance. It truly makes us stronger in body and soul.
What are my goals with these workouts and is it really worth it?
Well there are a few different goals. Number one for me is mood and energy levels. Being a mom of two girls, I found that with time and age, I wasn't able to keep up with their insane energy levels and my mood was suffering. I was always feeling guilty. I'm not playing with them enough, I'm always wanting to binge watch tv or quietly read. I found myself forcing things that should be a pleasure and I got tired of always being tired! I was also dealing with personal issues that threw me into a deep depression that I had no clue how to escape from. I thought about taking anti-depressants because I just wanted to feel better. I found myself feeling "overwhelmed" all the time and excusing it by saying "Oh my work is crazy. Oh I'm jet lagged. Oh this has been a tough year." After working out 5 days a week for a few weeks, that all changed. I felt in control for one of the first times in my life. Having that discipline and commitment made me feel more confident about myself. Finally I wasn't just playing a super hero in my movies! I was living the super hero lifestyle and earning my happiness on a daily basis!
Another big question I get a lot is about my diet. Let me get into the nitty gritty.
Diet is one of the most important elements to feeling great. It just is. But don't let that scare you! It just takes a little bit of organization. The most important dietary changes I made was cutting out processed foods during the week and eating a lot of raw/cooked vegetables and protein on a daily basis.
Now there's loads of ways to add veggies into our day. I like to quickly saute them in olive oil (remember, anything we can eat raw doesn't need much cooking) add some salt and pepper to taste and throw a couple of fried eggs over the top. That's an amazing breakfast! I love smoothies as well. Drinking them is the easiest way to get all your veggies in, fast. Mine don't taste really great, but I just put my big girl pants on and drink them. When they taste sweet and lovely, they probably have too much fruit in them I've found. I guess you could add stevia or something if you need sweet.
But I fill like half the blender with greens i.e. spinach, kale, collards etc... i love to throw cucumbers in to fight inflammation and an avocado for brain health and then throw a bunch of frozen blueberries and other berries. Put a little water in and if you want some protein, a few spoons of plain Greek yogurt.
I mean, recipes are great, but you can make smoothies by feel too. It's just mostly greens (which makes up most of the smoothie and then whatever else you want to add for its nutritional value.) I look online for the nutritional content of different foods! It makes eating smoothies and salads much more interesting that way. ;)
Protein: I eat loads of whole eggs, and organic chicken and fish. It's quick and easy to prepare. I love Japanese food, so sashimi is a wonderful way to get fish into your weekly diet. Meat I have rarely. Nice little play on words there. :) I mean once every few weeks if I really think about it.
And here's a few things to remember:
- Any meat can go on top of a salad.
- A colorful meal is a nutritious one. The more color you have on your plate the better.
- Make 80% of your plate vegetables. They have the most color!
- Limit your grain intake during the week. Grains are some of my favorite foods! Bread, pasta, rice etc... they should be treated as what they are! Yummy, delicious treats!
- Good carbs: Yes there is a thing as "good carbs"! Sweet potatoes are great carbs. Quinoa and barley are also great carbs. Just if you're trying to lose weight, limit them until you reach your goal.
I don't ever want to cut out the foods that I love. Now that I'm in a place of maintaining my body, I allow myself to eat whatever I want. Just not every, single day. The foods I love the most just are super bad! :D And the thing is, though they taste amazing and I can't live without them, they make me feel bad after I eat them. Once the whole enjoying the moment of eating is done, I'm left with low energy, feeling stuffed and yucky. And because the food has almost no nutritional content I'm starving again an hour later. So I limit those kinds of foods i.e. cheeseburgers and chili fries, donuts and bread pudding and make them really special by having them only on the weekends.
Anyway, sorry for the long winded answers, but I'm very passionate about this subject and I do take your questions very seriously. I truly believe I've discovered some amazing "secret" about life and it's very exciting. Sending you all so much love! Keep moving!
