Accidentally Delicious

All of my favorite recipes are either things I adapted out of laziness or lack of ingredients, or have been mistakes I have made on other recipes. This one is one I did on accident.
 
I sauteed some kale in olive oil and garlic one night, and sprinkled it with some cheese. I stuck it in a casserole dish to brown the cheese a bit under the broiler and wait for everything else I was cooking to finish up. I’m awful at getting everything to finish cooking at the same time, so something always suffers.
 
I forgot about the kale, and when I pulled it out it was completely crispy. I decided to just eat it anyway because it didn’t actually burn and turns out it was delicious. It tasted just like potato chips.
 
I had a bunch of kale last night so I decided to make some for the boy and I to munch on. We both wanted something sweet, so I put a little bit of Johnny’s seasoning (great on everything) and drizzled the kale with some honey.

 
I threw it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 10-12 minutes until it was all crispy, no signs of moisture. They turned out really good, except the honey made the kale stick to the baking sheet a little bit more, which just meant a little more effort to peel them off.

 
Great way to get your greens.
 
I went for a run yesterday and got lost again.   As you get closer to the water in my neighborhood, a lot of the streets start to wind and dont always go through. Its good for me, because then I get some extra running in against my will, but sucks when it makes you miss Degrassi. Paige got raped, and I missed the beginning, so I dont know who did it. I blame Spinner.
 
Lower body day today at the gym, with a little treadmill running. Its a light day cause I gotta get rolling on this seminar. I have to get the power point done by the end of the week. Which is tomorrow. I will be in front of the computer for a long while.

Would you rather get stung by a bee the size of your head, or have your head be the size of a bee?

In case you needed any more proof that trainers aren’t perfect, I was so busy yesterday, I went to the gym and forgot to eat before. About half way through I felt like I got punched in the stomach and thought I might vom. I ended up leaving early so i could get some food in me. EAT before you work out. I should have had something in my bag for just such an occassion, but I tend to not ever really be prepared for anything.
  
I was blog hopping this morning and stumbled upon The Weighting Game which posed the question: “Would you rather be 40 pounds over weight and smart, or skinny and stupid?”
 
They say there are no stupid questions, but I would like to nominate this one as the exception.
 
Don’t get me started on the use of the word “skinny.” Does that imply health? or just small? Who says thats better?
 
I mainly take exception with the fact that it makes being overweight sound like something that just happens to you. Whoops, Im over weight. Whoops, Im blind. Not the same thing. 
 
While it may seem that you just woke up overweight, you know that it is under your control. You know if you move more and eat less you will lose weight. Everyone knows that. Shouldn’t we be past this, and spending our time discussing how to get people moving and healthier?
 
And who says that being overweight is such a horrible thing, especially of the same caliber as being stupid? You can be over weight and healthy; most likely healthier than a “skinny” person. Skinny is not better than overweight, why can’t anyone ever be in the happy middle? The healthy middle?
 
Thankfully, the poll shows, when I last checked, that 70% would prefer to be overweight and smart. In a world where everything must be SO extreme, I guess thats a good sign.
 
I would also like to point out that the blogger thought it was a no brainer as well.
 
I, however, rufe to choose either one. I would prefer to be of moderate intellegence and healthy. Atleast that way I could learn and better myself. 
 
Oops, I forgot the intellengence part wasn’t the issue. Its how I look.
 
Whoever thought of this question must be very, very skinny.

I Will Actually Be Spring Cleaning

Work this morning was actually really fun. I usually dont work saturdays, but offered to to give the guys that do a break, so I worked with clients i usually dont work with. I tend to have a lot of older women on my regular shift with a lot of injuries and a lower experience level. Saturday mornings are for heavy hitters and it was a blast. i love my regular clients but I love to also just kick people’s asses and have them love it. It gives me more to do, too. My favorite exercises to do with more advanced clients is I stand up on a block in front of them with a medince ball up over my head. I  have them do squats and tap the bench with their butt then jump up in the air and push the medicine ball as hard as they can. They are always tenative at first but if you keep yelling at them they get mad and really try and shove you off. And then you laugh when they cant. If i did that with my regular clients they would start crying and we would have to have a heart to heart and discuss self esteem and feelings.  
Last night the boy and I went to Talarico’s, famous for their 14″ slices of pizza. Or you can get a whole pizza, 28″ for around 30 bucks. Its ridiculously huge. The boy got a pint of PBR and a giant slice of pizza. I got an Ami’s Fresca (vodka, lemon, lime, grapefruit juice and 7-up) and an arugala and roasted eggplant salad with leeks and basalmic dressing. You can tell who’s the classy one. it was just ok. The drink was good though. it tasted just like a friend of mine’s own creation, Drunk in a Cup, but cost about 8 times more. Last summer a bunch of us went to her cabin for the weekend and we lived off drunk in a cup, doritos, and hot links. That was Friday. Saturday, none of us could move. Good Times.
 
Today is the big cleaning party to help Jerome and his roomates get the place ready to give back to the landlord. It’ll be the 3 boys and me and a girlfriend, who is dating one of the roomates. That sounds like a episode of Degrassi. (They are making a movie! Any one know what i am talking about….?) Anywhoo, our master plan is to get really drunk and then do such a terrible job that they yell at us and tell us to stop trying and they will just do it all themselves. That was how i got out of doing the dishes for my first 16 years of life. i have a feeling that will be a good workout in and of itself, but i will fit in a run later on today also. and stretching. I am so tight, no matter how much I stretch.  I know im losing flexibility because Im not doing gymnastics anymore, but Im not used to it. Its frustrating.
 
My dog hates me.

 
I didn’t know dogs could make facial expressions, let alone one’s of disgust.

 
I caught him secretly working out when I wasn’t supposed to be home. He’s planning his revolt.

Hom Bow Spring Gets Its Butt in Gear

Its snowing. I was wearing shorts last week and now its snowing. In Seattle. It doesnt even snow in winter in Seattle.

Well, its Friday, but I have to work tomorrow so no wild plans. I might get a drink or 2 with the boy before we go our seperate ways: he to clean his house for his move and I to bed so I can get up at 5:30am. i dont mind work so much, so its ok, and its not like i would be doing anything that early in the morning anyway, except sleeping, so I might as well make some money. 
 
I tried my hand at panko last night and it turned out really well. I had some tofu so I covered it in spicy stir fry sauce, dipped it in the panko and pan fried it in a little bit of olive oil.

 
I had it with a baked potato with mozzarella cheese and tapatio, and some kale chips with garlic salt. And the ever present D.C. It was suprisingly fast and easy, and really filling too.

 
As I was looking for recipes to use the panko, i found they have whole wheat panko. I will try and find that next time, but i bet it is really expensive, like all things that are good for you. Especially shoes.
 
I defrosted some fish so Im going to panko that tonight, too. Panko is now a verb. Just like how “hom bow” is now a phrase. “Hom bow we order a lot of asian beer and harrass the waiter with our clever word plays?” I think with the fish I will dredge it in a little bit of egg and flour, see if i can get a nice thick coating on it. If it turns out ok Ill show you guys.
 
I would love to run outside today but the weather hates me so it looks like I will be confined to the gym.  Im starting to feel a little sick, too, and don’t want to exacerbate that by sweating in the cold. Working in a gym is worse than working in an elementry school: theres no way around catching what everyone is sweating everywhere. If its nice tomorrow I will go to Alki, the beach by my house, with the dog for a run/walk, its gorgeous down there and packed when its nice, which makes it more interesting.
 
As I am doing this seminar, it really upsets me how much misinformation is out there. i dont read a lot of hype-oriented fitness articles, but Im sure you guys do. Whats some weird stuff you hear about, that people might fall for. I know the basics: not eating at night, negative calorie foods, etc. What are some you guys have heard of, or maybe some that you arent sure if they are true? Maybe i can put them in my seminar.
 
Again, just trying to get you to do my work for me.
 
Success: its what I achieve through all your hard work.

Pain in the Abs

LisaR asked a great question:

So i commented a few days ago about running and ALWAYS getting side cramps. Would not chewing gum make a difference? I’ve noticed I chew gum alot…everyday but only one piece a day (I chew 1/2 at a time). I know you swallow air when you chew but I don’t know if this would make much a difference!

thx

Side aches are caused my an insufficient warm up.  When you do cardio exercises, your blood flow is shunted from the abdomical area in order to deliver it to the exercising muscles. This results in vasodilation, or increase in diameter, of the arterial blood vessels (the ones that deliver blood to the exercising muscles) and vasocontriction, or decrease in the diameter, of the blood vessels that supply blood to the abdominal area. A nice warm up will give you a gradual redistribution of blood flow, which will eliminate that stitch in your side.

Other benefits of a warm-up:

• Slows the accumulation of lactic acid which will prevent high intensity exercise for long periods, and also cuts back on muscle soreness.
• causes a gradual increase in muscle temperature, which prevents injuries and pulled muscles. Think cold taffy: if you pull it, it snaps, but if its warm, it stretches.
• Increases the elasticity of the connective tissues (ligaments, tendons) preventing injury of those areas.

Your warm up should last about 5 minutes and be a lower intensity form of what you will be doing as your exercise. Stretching comes AFTER your warm up. Remember the taffy analogy.

 Im going to go to the gym tonight, and do some cardio and lower body. I will post lower body exercises, like I did with the upper body yesterday, probably Thursday.

My lunch was delicious today:

• Whole wheat pita
• left over Easter ham
• Part skim mozzerella cheese
• Left over steamed brocolli, cauliflower, and carrots
• Baby spinach
• Onions
• Mustard

I had it with a raspberry cottage cheese double and an orange.

How many of you guys only work out at home? Im trying to get a grasp on my audience here, because if a lot of you guys also go to the gym, i can try and get some gym workout encorporated, too.

Tyra Banks Ain’t Got Nothing On Me

Ok, ok ,ok, my estimates for my meals were low. I usually get around 2000 calories, but you also have to remember i am a little girl (5’6″, 119pounds) so that’s the perfect range for me. As someone who used to suffer from an eating disorder, I can assure you I pay very careful attention to my food and make sure I get enough. By the same token, I don’t count every calorie or restrict in any way, shape or form. I spent way to much time doing that, and refuse to be so preoccupied with my meals or eating habits anymore. I read Eatlikeme and eat a lot like cristin (crap, I forget how she spells her name) I dont count calories and I eat when i am hungry. I pay more attention to the QUALITY of my food and not the QUANTITY. This is something that took me years to do, and now I enjoy not caring so much. Life’s too short, eat to live, don’t live to eat. Lots of fruits, veggies, whole grains, limit saturated fats, sugars and hydrogentaed oils. Eat enough but not too much. These are the guidelines I make sure I follow.

So anyways, Easter was fine. I had some ham, steamed brocolli, cauliflower, carrots and potatoes, and a roll. It was nice to see my mom home, hopefully she will be back with my dad on Tuesday.

I went to the gym and it was deserted, which I prefer. I did 20 minutes on the eliptical, then a lot of upper body free weights. Tomorrow I’m going to post some of my favorite upper body moves with pictures, so I will hold off on explaining them today.

After that I went grocery shopping, and picked up some groceries.

• Kale
• avacado
• 6 cheese sticks
• bananas
• 2 Luna bars
• 1 Cliff bar
• 2 Knudsen’s cottage cheese with fruit mix ins (they have a lot of sugar but I don’t eat much sugar so I get them every once in a while)
• Fat free cream cheese
• oranges
• tofu
• sugar free hot cocoa
• blackberry preserves
• 6 fat free yogurts
• box of 9 Balance bars
• fat free milk
• banana chips
• Kashi TLC cookies
• whole wheat mini bagels

Grand Total: $36.94

I also got some crap for the boy (frozen pizzas, mac and cheese, some Arizona green tea) but i figured that wasnt even worth photographing. So these groceries cost even less than that.

I’m probably the cheapest person you will ever meet, so I’m the greatest grocery shopper ever. I have about 3 stores I go to, 2 of them discount, the other Safeway for things like yogurt and milk. It takes more effort but saves loads of money, which really adds up. If something is on my list, and its too expensive, I don’t get it. Simple as that.

Finds of the Day

Kashi TLC Happy Trail Mix Cookies: $2.00

Box of 9 Organic Balance Bars: $3.00

I am off to soak in the tub and read my new Fitness magazine. I like Fitness, too, in addition to Muscle and Fitness Hers. They do a little to much on makeup and clothes, but their workouts are pretty good. Back to exercise tomorrow, I feel like I’ve been spending too much time on food lately.

Man, I didn’t even get a Cadbury egg this year. I think this is the first year I haven’t had one.

Happy Jelly Bean Day!

Just wanted to post really fast and wish everyone a happy Easter! My family isn’t too big on the holiday, but we are using it as an excuse to get my mom out of the hospital for a few hours, so we are having a ham crockpot lunch/dinner (linner? lupper?) I usually get a basket of fruit, but I don’t think I’ll be getting one this year. After how much the price of produce has gone up, I don’t blame them. I actually bought light canned strawberries yesterday because they were so cheap compared to the real ones.

I over did it on ice cream last night. I blame Chandra for her subliminal internet trickery. But I am going to go for a short run before dunch (that’s my favorite) and then hit the gym on the way back, plus a trip to the grocery store. I’ll show you guys my loot, and share my workout.

I have been asked about my work schedule, and how I eat if I get up for work at 4:15am. So here it is

• BREAKFAST- 4:30am: approx. 300 calories
• SNACK- 10:00am: approx. 200 calories
• LUNCH- 3:00pm: approx. 500 calories
• DINNER- 7:00pm: approx. 500 calories
• SNACK: 9:00pm: approx. 200 calories

All of that is just what usually happens. Sometimes I eat more, rarely less calories and times, especially the morning ones, vary due to when I have sessions and what not.  I eat a lot of fiber so I don’t have much of a problem not eating for 5+ hours. Work gets hectic and the time flies so most of the time I don’t even notice I need to stop and eat, but I always do. I eat more by the clock than by my body because I dont know when I will have a chance next if I have 3 or 4 sessions back to back and won’t be able to take a break for a few hours.

Have fun celebrating the crucifixtion by eating your weight in marshmallow chicks! They should make marshmallow zombies because thats what happened right? A little more historically accurate?

 I’m gunna get yelled at for that. It was bound to happen eventually.

Because I Do Everything People Tell Me To

A lot of people have asked me to post my food, and while I won’t do it everyday because I eat boring and this is an exercise blog, I will post it when it is relevant because nutrition is a huge part of living a healthy lifestyle.

I think everyone should have a go-to meal. Something thats easy to make and they always have all the ingredients on hand, so they dont have to think too much when things get hectic. Or when you just don’t want to think. You lazies.

So here’s my dish, because I am in a huge rush and could throw this together super fast.

I started some pasta on the stove. In the mean time, I chopped up a bit of white onion, a quarter of an avacado, 1 1/2 roma tomatoes, 2 tbsp extra vrigin olive oil, some red pepper flakes, garlic salt and some basil. 

Then I just drained the pasta, tossed it with the mixture and topped it with some black pepper. I got the idea from an italian restraunt I love, where I used to order the penne insalata. Its served room temp, but unfortunately they stopped serving it so I decided to make it on my own, and added some avacado for fat for satiety. Viola. Its now my favorite and my go to meal.

Here’s my dinner next to my planner full of the crap i need to get done tonight/this weekend:

So tonight I am off to celebrate a friend’s birthday and get some nutrition seminar junk done. I was going to visit my mom in the hospital but they found some woman murdered and stuffed in her trunk in the parking lot. I know. So my mom won’t let me visit her when its dark out. My moms pretty over protective, always shielding me from murderous trunk stuffers. She never lets me do anything fun.

Today is one of those very rare days where I’m not going to have time to fit in a workout. But Im going to try and find something fun to do tomorrow for a workout so you guys don’t get bored with me. We shall see.

Laziness is the Mother of Invention

Just a reminder that trainers aren’t perfect when it comes to fitness: I CANNOT do the stairstepper. I always trip. Its one of those revolving ones and i always miss judge and clip my toes.  And you better believe people notice. Its hard for them not to because the machines are about 8 feet tall so Im up on this pedestal, stumbling away. I still do it though. I must be a glutton for public humiliation.

So i did 20 minutes on the stair thing at the gym today,  stretched then did a ton of abs and a lot of arm work with free weights. Then I went on the elliptical for about 10 minutes, some stability ball work and then went home.

So I know everyone is on this oatmeal kick (thanks Kath!) and it just so happens I need to restock my breakfast supply, so here’s my spin.

 I wake up every morning at 4:15 am.  Suffice it to say, I’m rarely in the mood, or have the time, to cook breakfast. The breakfast is even too much work for me. Oatmeal holds me over glamorously, so I needed a way to get it in unless I want lunch at 9:00 am.  I love oatmeal cookies, so i thought I’d spin that ion to something portable I could have for breakfast.

Its nothing fancy, i just make oatmeal like I normally would,  then bake it on a cookie sheet.

I use:

• 2 cups oats
• 1 large banana
• 2 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tbsp honey

You can use anything really: apples, cinnamon, any kind of nuts, etc. I put everything in a bowl and pour boiling water from the kettle over it until it looks like enough. Sorry, i cant be more specific than that. You want the resulting oatmeal pretty dry, but still able to stay together when you mix it all up.

Then you just plop them onto a baking sheet, and put them in the oven for 30ish minutes at 350 degrees. You can fit a lot on a plan because the size they are when you put them in is the same size as they are when they come out.

And then the finished product:

You can just put them in a tupperware and eat them as you want them.

And just for fun, here’s a video of my dog, Porkchop, attacking my stability ball.  His arms do this weird T-Rex thing that gets me every time. Video featuring The Boyfriend’s Feet.

Dome of Genius

If I could recommend one piece of home workout equiptment, it would be the BOSU. 

Bosus are like the top quart of a stability ball with a flat plastic base. Their function is to provide a consistantly unstable surface for you to work on so your core and whatever muscle group you are working is constantly engaged.  So not only can you do the same exercises you would on a stability ball, but you can also stand on it to do squats, lunges, plyometrics, holds, or you can stand on it while doing upper body exercises, too.  You can also flip it over, and use the black flat side to hold onto for pushups, burpees (aka. squat thrusts) or mountain climbers.

They are about $90, which is kind of pricey, but its uses are unlimited.  They have a lot of them on ebay, so you could probably find on for cheaper. And while you are there, you can also pick up your very own velvet jesus portrait.  Oh, how I love the ebay.

 No gym today.  Its the boy and I’s anniversaryso we are soon taking Seattle by storm.  And by that, I mean going to an all you can eat Japanese buffet, drinking our weight in sake (which by the 4th bottle is pronounce sock-AYYY!) and wandering downtown trying not to step on degenerates or their urine.  Romantic.

So in preparation for the night, I adjusted my cals accordingly, but still remainede balanced.

Breakfast: 1 banana, 1 tbsp honey, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 organic cliff bar

Snack: 1 light yogurt with 1 packet Bear Naked granola

Lunch: Subway 6 inch turkey on wheat with veggies, no mayo or oil, diet coke

Dinner: TBA but I know it will involve sushi, crab legs and tempura. And sake.

Yesterday’s steps: 11089. My pedometer fell off around 7 which I didnt notice until later, so I’m sure I hit 12,000.

Happy Friday. Do something fun. Kiala, do your crunches.