Archive for September, 2009
I’d like to make a little introduction…
Before the weekend hits (a time that is easy to be super healthy or super unhealthy) I wanted to make a little introduction to Trainer Momma.
Trainer Momma is a woman that I’ve gotten to know a little bit since moving to TX and who is downright amazing. She’s like so many of us who grew up with ‘normal’ habits, but has since realized that they weren’t the healthiest and has made a huge lifestyle change. Not only is she a mom, she’s a personal trainer, a whiz at healthy cooking, and a BLOGGER! She’s putting out all kinds of tips to help the rest of us be a little better, a little healthier, and I love what I’ve read so far. Her kids are older than Cee, but are frequently included on the blog to show how being healthy can be for everyone (and it’s even fun too).
The first post I read on her site was about Water back in Aug. Applying her perspective has really made a big difference in my mornings.
I hope you’ll check her out for everything from recipes, work out tips, and good healthy info.
Making Spinach Delicious
Spinach is a power food – it’s full of Vitamin A, some Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Folic Acid, Vitamin K, fiber, it’s great. The problem is that power foods only work when you eat them and not when they just turn to mush in your fridge.
But eating Spinach is hard.
Raw, naked Spinach tastes bitter. Dumping a gallon of sweet yummy Poppy Seed salad dressing on it makes it delicious, but kind of kills the healthy factor that we were going for.
Boiled Spinach has the color and consistency of sea kelp stuck on the rocks at low tide. In the NW we call those rocks ‘Snot Rocks’. No one wants to eat snot veggies.
This is where I had my stroke of genius – finding the happy place between crisp and snot, bitter and flavorful…
You know the steam veggie packs that I talk up so much? I steamed my veggies, ripped up some baby spinach, then dumped the flavored veggie right on top. The warm steam from the veggies just begins to wilt the spinach to a wonderful consistency, and the flavor from the pack coves the spinach’s bitterness. You get all of the nutrients of your spinach with the same calories as you would have already eaten (did you know that one serving of spinach only has 20 calories, and we’re talking a pretty big serving). That means you can pair this with a fabulous nectarine (that’s what I just did), an apple, mango, more veggies, or even a small cookie.
A win-win situation!
I hope you’ll give it a try, I’ve been loving this all week! It you think my example plate looks good, here’s the box I used:
Green Giant Pearled Barley, Sugar Snap Peas and Julienne Carrots – 140 calories per box.
It’s still a fairly new product in my area, so check for it at your stores, and if you don’t have it yet, don’t worry, there are lots of great options out there to try.
Nectarine is Seriously the New Apple
Can you believe that back in my college days I would go to the grocery store and completely bypass the produce section. Nutri-Grain bars and fruits snacks were all the fruit I needed to get by and veggies come frozen, I was set!
What was I thinking?!
Now going to the produce section is my favorite part of shopping. It’s a celebration as I glide, skip, and frolic through the bins of lovely things that Mother Nature made to delight me and keep me healthy. It’s an experience of pure joy.
Is anyone else out there loving nectarine season this year? I’ve got to throw some love out there for these amazing fruit. They’re as easy as an apple but a tangy sweet depature from the boring old standby (sorry apple, I still love you too). Best of all, they’re only 60 calories (medium sized)!
Wait until they’re firm, but slightly squishy under the skin, wash them up, slice them open and enjoy as a snack, side, or with low-cal yogurt and toast for breakfast.
Amazing!
A Few Set Backs Can’t Stop a Health Train!
I’m back, well, sort of. I’m almost walking like a totally normal person, which means I have to head back to reality and start acting like my normal self. I’m slowly getting through the chores that have been waiting for me (I was actually thrilled to vacuum this morning, can you believe it?) and I’m even back on my exercise bike. Last night I rode for over 80 minutes – partly as punishment, partly for fun, and partly because the movie I was watching was so darn good I kind of forgot about the time.
What I really need to focus on now is kicking the candy habit. Being home all day with nothing to do that first week after foot surgery sent me into a candy spiral. I asked Jay to buy my favorites and I used them to entertain myself during the days when I had no entertainment. Now that I’m mobile again and Cee is back with me, I’m no longer bored, but the candy crave is still there.
This is a set back, and yes it’s a little discouraging, but this is no time to forget how far I have come, and it certainly isn’t worth throwing away my future health for. I got a great comment this week from my friend Annalise, she said:
I had the same feelings and concerns when I was laid up flat on my back when my neck went out. I had just enough time to run to the kitchen, grab the nearest box and run back to bed. I definitely did not eat well that week and didn’t get a lick of exercise either. But you know what? The next week when I returned to my normal routine it was only a day or two before I felt like myself again. A week or so of unhealthy eating and lack of exercise cannot undo months of hard work. So stop fretting, you’ll recover just as I did and the squishiness will disappear as quickly as it came!
I’m remembering back to the start of my decision to be healthy. I said, “Being an adult doesn’t mean just eating whatever you want, whenever you want. It’s about making a good choice to get good benefits.”
I’m resolved, I’m reborn, and I’m going to get back to good. I would report here on my weight, but I’m not quite sure what it is. Having a sick kid has thrown off my morning routine, but I will weigh in soon and let you know how I’m doing.
If you’re working on making a healthier life for yourself, you CAN do it! Set backs happen – something small like foot surgery, or something monumental like recovering from having a baby. The point is that everyday is a new day to start with and every choice is up to you. Do your best, remember that you aren’t a lost cause, and be healthy in whatever way that you need – the world needs you in it!
Experimenting in Footless Exercises
It’s been over a week – nine days of sitting and eating.
You know something? It’s a lot easier to throw a fun size bag of Doritos to the couch then it is to throw a plate of broccoli.
Sitting and being bored makes me want to eat: candy, chips, ice cream, chocolate (which could get lumped in with candy, but is so important that it deserves its own category), and all other bad things that I love.
One week, and though the scale hasn’t changed much (155.8 this morning) I feel like the 211 pound woman that started this healthy lifestyle journey.
What was becoming firm is now squishy.
Now it sags – at least in my mind.
So, I’ve been experimenting, trying to find ways to exercise without using my feet that will counteract some of the bad eating and try to get me mentally back to a healthy gal.
The first fabulous foot-free exercise is Office Chair Crunches:
- Put calves and feet up on the seat of a swivel office chair (about shoulder width apart if the seat is wide enough).
- Do a set of normal crunches (15-20 or more if your abs can take it)
- Do a set of twisting crunches when you bring your right elbow to your left knee – use the swivel in the chair to twist your abs as you make this motion.
- Do another set of twisting crunches on the other side.
- Do pelvis lifts – using your calves and shoulders to support you, lift up your bum/pelvis until your body is straight, keep abs (or core muscles) tight during the exercise.
- Repeat the whole series until you are pooped.
I’ve also been using my weights for my arms whenever I get the chance, but if you don’t have weights, I did come up with another mom-friendly resistance exercise:
The Ball Squeeze
- Find one of your child’s balls with lots of resistance, but that isn’t un-squishable.
- Hold the ball between your hands in front of your chest with your elbows sticking out at 90 degree angles from your body.
- Push your hands together as though trying to push them through the ball.
- When you feel resistance in your arm and chest muscles hold the squeeze for a few seconds and then release.
- Repeat for a set of 10-15, rest, then do more sets.
Weight Update from the Couch
The day of my foot surgery I weighed in at a new personal best: 152.8! I wanted to know where I was before starting this whole ordeal so I could track how I’m doing. After 3 straight days of sitting on my couch and cramming my face with whatever food I could throw from my kitchen to the couch I was starting to worry, so this morning I hopped on the scale.
Some people say that they ‘hop on the scale’ when really they gingerly step on it, awaiting the dastardly verdict. I literally hopped on my scale – one foot crashing down right in the middle. My darn toe hit the person setting button, which made it go into some odd mode which didn’t actually weigh. So I hopped again, up and down right on it.
I don’t think I’ll be doing this again until I can step, I don’t know how much of a beating my scale can take and I really don’t want to have to replace it.
Anyway, to my shock and horror, 3 days of trash eating and inactivity = 3 pounds on me. I’m back to 155.4, a weight that I know well, my plateau right down to those 4/10ths of a pound.
I had just barely beaten 155.4 and now this. That’s ok. I’m determined to do my best, and I even flamingo-footed it in the kitchen this morning in order to make a nice healthy breakfast for myself.
My goal now is at least to maintain this weight until I can return to regular activity.
A Little Something I Call Chinese Coleslaw
Here’s a easy, healthy, and yummy snack that I adore.
To make:
- Buy a bag of pre-made coleslaw mix veggies (these bags can be found with the bagged salad mixes in the grocery store).
- Dump about half of the bag into a frying pan.
- Shred in extra veggies if desired (there is some extra zucchini in the pictured dish).
- Put about 1 tbs of your favorite teryaki sauce in with the veggies and 2 tbs of water. Mix until combined.
- Cook over med-high heat until veggies are tender-crisp – this won’t take very long.
Go as light as you can with the sauce and you will have a very low-cal, but flavorful snack/side dish. Be warned however, that for bodies that aren’t used to lots of veggies this much cabbage at once can make for some serious…. uh, how do I put this delicately? There really isn’t way – it’ll make you fart… maybe a lot, so give it a try on days when you are free to do so.
