She's a fitspiration: Rachelle Que

 

No one messes with this chick ;p

Hello everyone! I'm back! Let me start by giving you fresh motivation to get fit and healthy this week! Meet Rachelle Que, "Rache" to close friends - a freelance stylist slash Creative Director at brideandbreakfast.ph slash bona fide CrossFit junkie! We may sometimes get the notion that extreme fitness ain't for girls - but Rache begs to differ. Here she shares her passion for the workout and why it simply works for her.

What is your fitness activity/workout of choice? How did you get into this? How does it fit into your schedule?

CrossFit. I started doing CrossFit last year when a friend invited me to do a trial workout. I died! But I also liked the challenge and signed up for bootcamp classes–that's how I got started. The other thing that I liked about it is that workouts only last 15-20mins. Everyday it's a different workout, but it usually does not last longer than 30mins. It was so easy to work into my schedule since I can be in and out of the box (what we call our gym) in an hour, warm up and post-wod showering included!

 

What's your diet like? Give specific dishes you consume daily, brands you love, restaurants you frequent, and where you shop for food.

Oh wow. My diet is... still a work in progress. I have never been one to diet, since I enjoy food too much. I initially liked CrossFit because I thought it allowed me to still eat what I wanted. I ate like a guy, so I had to workout like a guy. But the more I got into it, the more I learned about eating clean. The recommended diet for CrossFitters is Paleo-the cavemen diet. Basically it's a diet that encourages a lot of meat, veggies, some nuts and fruits, and no wheat, grains, starch, and sugar. I die at the thought of giving up pasta! But I also learned that consuming more meat and veggies gave me more energy. I tried it for a week and really saw and felt the benefits! Now I'm balancing my diet with a mix of minimal whole wheat consumption, meat (except pork), and fruits and veggies. I avoid sugar, but of course I have my cheat days! The secret lies in moderation. 

I now enjoy eggs (cooked any way), steak, roast beef, grilled chicken, burgers, the occasional pasta/ ramen, and the weekend cheat meal of pancakes! I love the Steak and Eggs in Wildflour, but I make sure I get in a good program of cardio/ met-con (metabolic conditioning) that day! I also love the roast chicken in Kenny Roger's, that's easiest to get when I'm busy. I just skip the rice and get veggies for my side orders. I recently discovered a roast beef stall in Rustan's Power Plant, the beef is so juicy and I've been craving it a lot since! I just buy my food in local groceries. The specialty supplementary foods like Paleo brownies or chia seeds I order from different suppliers. I also love that stall in Rockwell that sells imported fruit, that's where I get my sweet potatoes. Every once in a while I visit organic markets like the pop-up Balik Bukid–they're great for new discoveries!

Part of my diet now is also recovery supplements. I take recovery whey protein and fish oil on top of my daily multivitamin intake. SFH has really good (if not the best) variants of whey protein and fish oil.

Top 3 fitness/health lessons you can share with us?

1 - Don't be afraid to try "intense" workouts. The most important thing is finding a regimen that you enjoy enough and challenge you enough to make you want to keep going back. Everyone starts from somewhere and you just have to try to decide whether it's for you or not. 

2 - It's okay to eat! As long as you eat the right things and in moderate amounts, you should be fine. Key things to avoid are deep fried, processed, and sugar. I used to think that didn't leave me with much, but there are still so many kinds of food you can enjoy! A lot of people have gotten creative with their healthy meals, and so can you. Flavors are not limited to junk food. Instead of deep frying chicken, why not marinate a chicken with rosemary and garlic and stick it in the turbo griller? It gives you juicy meat and crunchy chicken skin (if you want to eat that) without the extra oil!

3 - Listen to your body. Some people get so addicted to working out that they go extremes and forget about rest days to the point of muscle strains and injury. When the muscles are too tight or inflamed, it limits performance and efficiency of movements. That just sets you back in the long run. Our muscles need time to recover and it's important to set rest days within the week. During those days you can do active recovery like swimming, yoga, light jogging, or even get a massage. Complete the cycle: train hard, eat clean, get recovery. Oh, and most important–hydrate, hydrate, hydrate!

What's on your workout playlist?

I'm really just at the mercy of the coaches. Our playlist is a mix of hiphop, rock, and more recently, good old boy bands. Personally I love working out to upbeat songs where you can half dance, half sing, and get into your groove. Haha!

Workout gear must-haves? You can give specific brands again.

Good support! I wear Nike and Reebok sports bras. Since our team qualified to the regionals round of the CrossFit Games, I also got myself Reebok Olys. These are shoes specifically designed to support the body with stability and good posture for olympic weight lifting. I just ordered high socks from Reebok CrossFit since my legs have been getting its share of scratches and bruises from the bars! They don't just protect, they're cute too! My gloves are a kind of security blanket when it comes to gymnastics bar movements. It lessens the risk of blisters and ripped skin!

Whose body do you dream of achieving? Fitness idols? 

Of course I still drool over the Victoria's Secret models' bodies. But I have learned to love my proportions (lack of height, haha!) and appreciate others' for theirs. It's not really about achieving someone else's body, but getting my body to be in its best shape. My fitness goal changed from wanting to lose weight to getting stronger, more fit, and toned. My fitness idols are CrossFit girls and other female athletes who really push themselves to train hard and overcome doubts, fears, and weaknesses.

The girls of CrossFit Libis (Rache, 2nd from left)

Share some of the blogs/websites/Instagram accounts, etc. you frequent for fitspiration!

Every once in a while I check out tabatatimes.com and I follow the instagram accounts of Andrea Ager (@ager_bomb), @Crossfit_girls, Christmas Abbott (@christmasabbott), and Carl Paoli (@carlpaoli). But most times I just rely on the articles our coaches and community post on the CrossFit MNL groups! Haha!