Merry Christmas To All

I don't have a healthy tip or recipe or anything fun and exciting like that. I just wanted to take a moment, while in the Minneapolis Airport at 6:30 pm on Christmas night, to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! I hope your day was filled with family and good cheer! (And maybe a workout or healthy meal) 

Surgery is this Friday so I will see you all on the other side of that with ore words of fitdom for you. Until then, HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

BE BOLD!  BE YOU! 

Get Through the Holidays Without Gaining Weight

‘Twas a week before Christmas and all through the land, the annual struggle to maintain weight was readily at hand. 

Let’s face it.  We eat during the holidays.  It’s what we do.  It’s part of tradition, right?  So how can you eat during the holidays and not gain weight?  I’m not going to lie to you.  It’s not easy.  In fact, it’s probably more difficult than we even realize.  I mean, it’s just one piece of pie.  That can’t hurt anything.  And it probably wouldn’t.  That is, unless, you say that at every meal and then sit on the couch and do nothing.  That’s when it becomes an issue.  Trust me, I have a huge sweet tooth!  I had a holiday cookie exchange last week and have more cookies in my house than I’ve had in a really long time.   And it’s like crack, or at least what I would assume crack is like.  Once I have one, it’s hard to walk away.  WALK AWAY MARY KAY!! JUST WALK AWAY!  Sound familiar? 

Here’s what I recommend.  You can treat yourself to a cookie or a piece of pie.  Don’t deny yourself because that’s just going to lead to binge eating and that is worse than if you let yourself have a treat.  So have that treat but stand up while eating it.  Better yet, walk around while eating it.  It may sound weird and your family may think you’ve lost your mind but you can burn twice as many calories walking rather than sitting.  If you weigh 150 lbs and sit while eating, you will burn roughly 12 calories in 10 minutes.  If you walk while eating, you can burn up to 30 calories.  And 10 minutes isn’t that long!  So if you are eating a piece of pie that has 300 calories in it, you are automatically burning off 30 of those calories by walking around.  Yes, you read that right.  A piece of pie can have more than 300 calories in it.  Think about that…300 calories.  If you are trying to maintain your weight, you typically can eat about 1800 calories (depending on your height, weight and age).  300 of your 1800 calories (or 1/6) coming from one item! YIKES!!  That means that between breakfast, lunch and dinner that day, you only have 1500 calories left!  Walking around while you eat doesn’t sound so bad now does it?  That 30 calories you are burning means one more bite of turkey. 

The other concept behind walking while you eat is that you eat slower and eating slower means you get full faster so you inherently EAT LESS!    Perfect! 

Now don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that you should eat all your meals while walking around.  That would be ridiculous.  What I am suggesting is that you look doing things differently.   Going to a holiday party?  That’s the perfect opportunity to do what I’m describing.  Don’t just sit in one spot while you are talking with people.  Move around.  Find various people to talk with.  MINGLE! You can eat while you are doing this and POOF!  You are burning more calories and are less likely to eat too much.  

Are you cooking dinner for your family this year?  That's a great opportunity to burn additional calories.  You are bending to perhaps get something from a lower cupboard, right?  Guess what?  You just did a squat!  Waiting for the water to boil for the potatoes?  Excellent!  Do some leg raises while you are standing there.  Listening to music while you cook?  Great!  Put on some faster tempo Christmas songs and dance while cooking.  I do it all the time.  I make dinner, burn calories and entertain myself all at the same time.  Who knew it was this easy!

In short...it's okay to treat yourself.  lf once or twice this holiday season.  Just don't go overboard and find ways to burn a few extra calories.

BE BOLD!  BE YOU!

Quick and Easy Burrito Recipe

For those of you who know me well, you know I don’t cook.  I’m the queen of PB&J sammiches and cold cereal.  Or at least I was.  Turns out, eating healthy sometimes requires cooking.  Unless, of course, you want salad every day for lunch and dinner.  Yeah, that doesn’t sound appealing at all does it?  So I decided a while back that I probably should start cooking more.  As it turns out, there are quick and easy recipes that even I can make (and generally they turn out pretty good).  One of my recent recipe discoveries that is super easy and super quick is Corn and Black Bean Burritos.  I actually added some chicken as well for a little more protein and I left out the avocado because I don’t do avocado. 

1/4 cup scallions, rinsed and sliced into 1/4-inch wide circles including green tops
1/4 cup celery, rinsed and finely diced
1 1/4 cup frozen yellow corn
1/2 ripe avocado, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
1 can (15 1/2 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup reduced-fat shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup salsa or taco sauce (look for lowest sodium version)
12 (9-inch) whole wheat tortillas

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Combine scallions, celery and corn in a small saucepan.  Add just enough water to cover.
3. Cover, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium.  Simmer for 5 minutes, until vegetables soften.  Drain and set aside to cool.
4. Combine avocado, cilantro and beans in a large mixing bowl.  Add cheese and salsa and mix.
5. When corn mixture has cooled slightly, add to avocado mixture.
6. In a large nonstick pan over medium heat, warm each tortilla for about 15 seconds on each side.  Place each tortilla on a flat surface.  Spoon 1/3 cup of the mixture in the center of the tortilla.  Fold the top and bottom of the tortilla over the filling.  Fold in the sides to make a closed packet. 
7. Repeat with remaining tortillas. 
8.  When all tortillas are wrapped, continue heating in the oven 5 minutes, until all are warm and cheese is melted.

12 servings
each serving provides:
calories: 189
total fat: 3 g
saturated fat: 0 g
cholesterol: 0 mg
sodium: 257 mg
total fiber: 3 g
protein: 8 g
carbohydrates: 34 g
potassium: 204 mg

 

If you try the recipe, comment and let me know what you think. 

BE BOLD! BE YOU!

Flabby Arm Remover

Don’t you wish you had the arms you had when you were in your 20s?  I sure do.  It’s amazing how quickly such a small body part becomes flabby.  I never thought it would happen to me.  And then at a baseball game in Memphis, one of my rather straightforward friends poked my arm fat and said “You should do something about that.”  I kind of wanted to punch him but I knew he was right.  It’s not pretty and I hide it well; unless I’m in a sleeveless shirt and waving my arms about.   But I limit that as much as I possibly can because no one wants to see that. 

Here’s an arm workout I recently put together.  If you are just starting out, I recommend trying it with exercise bands rather than weights.  If you don’t have exercise bands, you can use soda cans/bottles or light weights (2-5 pounds).  As the exercises get easier, increase your weights.  I will caution you that you will not use the same amount of weight/same exercise band for each exercise.  You are working different muscles and each muscle may have a different maximum weight it can work.  That’s okay.  Just listen to your body and don’t overdo it, or you won’t be able to hold a pencil the next day.  REMEMBER: FORM IS EVERYTHING!  If you lose your form, decrease your weight. Each exercise has a hyperlink to show you the correct form.  Go through every exercise for Set 1 before you move on to Set 2 and Set 3. 

Warm Up: 5 minute jog

Exercise (10-12 reps)	Set 1 (weight/reps)	Set 2 (weight/reps)	Set 3 (weight/reps)
Biceps Curl
Overhead Triceps Extension (Seated or Standing)
Bent Over Flys
Triceps Kickback
Side to Side Pushup
Plank(hold 30-60 seconds)
Pushup With Rotation
Plank Row

Cool down: 5 minute jog

Do this workout 2-3 times a week (but not back to back days).  You should start seeing results in a few weeks.

Feel free to post comments on how your workout went!

BE BOLD! BE YOU!

A Few More of My Favorite Things

It’s been a while since I’ve gone running outside.  That’s what happens when you live in the frozen tundra.    

And I despise the dreadmill so it really limits my running this time of year.  I will say, though, one nice thing about the treadmill is you can change up your running a bit and only look foolish to yourself or anyone else at home (or the gym).  What I mean by changing it up a bit is walking backwards for 5-10 minutes or doing carioca on both sides.  Here are some other options… http://www.shape.com/blogs/shape-your-life/5-unique-ways-make-most-your-treadmill  Of course, you will be going MUCH slower than you normally do but it’s a good challenge.  And for even more of a challenge, raise the incline some.  One of my fitness groups thought I was a badass for going backwards.  I like to think I am but I really was not going very fast. 

 

I digress…so I went running yesterday for the first time in a while (see aforementioned frozen tundra).  It was a balmy 30 degrees here about 10:30am so I layered up and went out.  I will admit it was a wee bit chilly at first.  I did a short warm up jog and then decided I should do hill repeats.  If you are not familiar with those, it’s when you run your max up a hill and then jog back down.  You are supposed to do this general 8-10 times.  However, when you haven’t done hill repeats in eons of time, you only make it through 4 before you decide maybe you should just go for a regular run.  I certainly warmed up though.  While on my run, I began thinking about what other gifts I could suggest to you, my dear readers, for this holiday season.  I came up with a few, though I will say that most of them are running-related.  I was, after all, on a run.   

Before I go into the gift ideas, I do want to tell you about a great app that is a must for runners/walkers in locations that tend to have 4 actual seasons.  It’s an app called “What Should I Wear Running” and I love it!  You can select your preference for how you like to run.  Do you like to be warm during winter or a little cooler?  Additionally, it automatically identifies your location and the current weather.  Based on that and your preferences, it provides you a list of what to wear for your run that day.  There is also a manual setting where you can provide the weather input.  Have I mentioned I love this app?  I highly recommend it.  I did a search for other apps similar to this and there is one for cycling, as well.  However, it’s not free so I don’t know much about it.  If you test out the app, comment here and let me know what you think.  Do you know of a better app?  Let me know that, too.  I’m certainly open to other options.

Now for other gift ideas for the runner in your life:

v  Asics hat ($25) – by now you know how I feel about Asics.  If I could wear all Asics, all the time I would.  Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find Asics apparel in the stores up here.  Most of my apparel from Asics was purchased on-line www.asicsamerica.com but there’s something to be said for being able to try on your workout clothes.  I will say, though, that the Asics running hat I have is great!  There are several hats on the Asics website but I recommend the fleece beanie.  This has a hole for a ponytail which is wonderful.  It does cover the ears but I also put a headband around it to keep it (and my headphones) in place. 

v  Asics running mittens ($20) – I know, I know.  You are shocked to see another Asics recommendation.  These mittens/gloves are wonderful for cold weather running.  They are actually fingerless gloves that have a mitten component that you can use when you are cold and it folds back and velcros if you want to give your fingers a little air. 

My favorite part of them, though, is the fleece thumb that you can use to wipe your nose when it starts running too.  Unfortunately, when I was on the Asics website recently, they no longer offer those gloves on their site.  I did however, find them on Amazon.com .  I highly recommend these.  If they keep my hands warm up here in the bitter cold, I’m sure they will work for you!

v  Petzl E91 PF Tikkina 2 Headlamp ($15-$50) – I bought a head lamp this year because when the sun starts setting early, I still want to be able to run.  I bought this particular one and really like having it.  It has two settings for the lights and provides about 10-15 feet of light in front of you.  It secures nicely to the head and has an adjustable strap.  There are various styles and prices but really this basic one is all I need.  Most of the time, I forget it’s there.  Oh, and it comes in handy when your power goes out and all you have to do is read but need light by which to read.  On that, I am speaking from experience and you can take that to the bank.  J

v  Compression socks/sleeves ($10-$50) – I haven’t had as much success with these as other runners I know but I thought I’d list them anyway.  I’m pretty sure it has to do with the quality of the socks (I may have purchased the cheap ones) so I recommend spending a little more to get more benefit from them.  I did, however, purchases compression sleeves for my calves during the Brussels Half-Marathon and really like them.  They not only kept my calves warm without causing me to overheat but my legs felt loose the majority of the race. 

v  P90X ($125) – Beachbody is on their 3^rd version of this workout program.  I’ve only done the original and let me tell ya, you definitely sweat with this!  It’s been several years since I’ve done the whole program but periodically, I will do the Kenpo X workout just for something different.  Each time, I forget (then quickly realize) how tough it is.  I have several friends who have done other Beachbody series workouts and have seen great results.  As a personal trainer, I try to come up with my own workouts but I have seen the value in these.  If you do decide to buy anything from Beachbody, please go through my dear friend Jessica Proctor at jesswolf.jp@gmail.com.  She is a Beachbody coach and can help you find the workout to fit your needs (or whomever you are purchasing for). 

That wraps up my list of my favorite things.  Just call me Oprah.  No, don’t do that because then I would have to give you all these things for free.  That’s not going to happen. Sorry.  Happy shopping to you all! 

BE BOLD!  BE YOU!!