Age: 23 years-old
Hometown: São Paulo (SP)
Sign: Capricorn
Major: Public Relations (senior)
The Public Relations senior student Priscila Albuquerque has a hectic schedule: gym early in the morning to begin the day, college, internship in the afternoons and on Mondays, Cásper Líbero’s volleyball team waits for her from 11 PM to 1 AM.
She tells us why this busy life is the synonymous of well being.
Since when did you adopt a healthy routine? And what was the reason for this decision? If there was a routine change, what was the most difficult “bad habit” for you to quit?
I have adopted a healthy routine since when I was little, but more in the sports aspects because both my father and my mother did physical education and they are super active, they always put the importance of it in my routine and my siblings. So since I was little I do swimming, handball, volleyball and others activities. But healthy routine as a whole – sports and diet – I began in 2015. I think I went to the beach and noticed that I got fat in bikini pictures. It was the time (Gabriela) Pugliesi was rising in social media, those things started to interest me more and I adopted the first new eating habits. But gym and sport I have always done. The bad habit most difficult to drop is the chocolate, which in fact until today I have not discovered how wide. Sweet in general is very difficult, I am really addicted.
Tell us a little about the running marathons you participate: How and why did you begin this practice? How many times a week do you have practice?
I actually used to hate running, I thought it was really boring, I had no breath. But my father organizes some street races and every time he organizes one, he calls me and the whole family to participate. I used to go, but to walk instead of run. In 2015 I decided to vary between running and walking. I completed the 5 km of race and that day I thought “well, next year I’ll be here in this race, only to complete it all running”. But in 2016, I only trained on the treadmill a week before the test. In the treadmill I could not run for more than 5 minutes, and yet I did the test. I determined myself to finish it anyway. I went there and finished it in 36 minutes running without stopping. That’s how I started to enjoy it, you know? I thought, “how cool, I was able to complete an entire 5 km race just by running.” I admired the people who were running. I never understood why they liked it, but I always found it cool that it was all about racing. Why does anyone who runs like it so much? I wanted to understand where that came from.
I discovered the NRS – which is a Nike’s race group – and started to participate in their training, so I was improving very fast. I was going almost every week to their training and enjoying it more and more. I really like the routine that involves the race. Now I do not have an exact training frequency, I started to feel pain in my legs because of the running, then sometimes I run and stay resting for a month and I run again and spend another month without practicing, it is very variable now because I need to do physiotherapy and go to the orthopedist.
So besides running, do you have any other physical activity?
Besides the race I do bodybuilding three times a week and once a week I do functional exercises in Villa Lobos Park, so it varies a lot because on some weekends I do not have anything scheduled, but I end up riding the bike in the cycle-track. So, I can say my week is basically: three times bodybuilding, once a functional exercise and on the weekend aerobics exercises.
How is your weekly food routine? Do you usually get away from your diet?
My weekly food routine is set with dishes that I see on the internet from what is good to eat. At breakfast I drink a juice, tapioca and an egg. Alternatively, a fruit, tapioca and egg. Or scrambled egg and fruit. Sometimes I also have green juice and rice cracker. That’s basically it. At lunch and dinner I usually eat a salad, some kind of healthy carbohydrate, a protein and vegetables. But I try to vary among black rice, coarse rice, sweet potatoes, cassava, chicken, ground beef and salmon.
I have the habit of going off the diet and that is why I do not achieve my goals so much. I eat a lot of bullshit. I do not give up on going out with my friends, ordering a pizza or going to the hamburger. So I do this a lot, but I guess I just do not end up getting fat as much as I eat because I’m always exercising.
What food did you not give up?
The food that I do not give up is sweet. I cannot, I’ve already tried it and I could only stand without candy for four days. And now I went back to eating every day.
Do you drink alcohol? How often?
I drink alcohol every weekend, just some weekend or another that I decide to stay at home and do not drink. But I usually drink beer every weekend.
How do you keep your pace when you travel? Do you totally disconnected from exercise and healthy eating in these occasions?
When I travel I try not to totally turn myself off. Breakfast is a meal that I always eat right because if I eat right at breakfast automatically I will want to eat well at other meals. And because breakfast is one thing I like to eat healthy. So I do not mind eating the good things for breakfast. But also lunch and dinner depends of where I am, if I am in a different city with my parents for example and they will eat in a restaurant I end up asking for something off the healthy diet. And about the exercises: sometimes I put a sneaker in my backpack to run if I go to the beach or do some functional exercises at home with app’s help.
For you, what is the real importance of exercise and balanced eating? Health, aesthetics or a bit of both
For me the real importance of practicing physical exercise and healthy eating is well being. Because it helps a lot in everything you do, if you keep a balance between these two points, your routine gets better, you get lighter, less stressed, your body works better, and your sleep gets better. For me that is the fundamental part, we feel a lot better when we eat well and exercise, I feel it very clear. If I do not exercise I get stressed out or a lot more tired. If I eat badly I also feel bad and sleepy. Of course everybody also does in the end because of aesthetics, everyone wants a good body. Still, well-being is definitely the key.