FitFeat

Archive for April, 2010

Sprints and Crows

Apr 10

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 5 Comments

Hi friends!

Just wanted to drop in and say HAPPY SATURDAY!!  I hope that you are having a fabulous day!  Mine has been!  15 sets of sprint intervals this morning (in my VFFs), followed by some yoga.  Bueno!  I’m trying to learn to do the crow pose and not be scared of falling on my noggin. :)   I did it twice but very briefly – now I just need to learn how to stay IN the pose!

We also got two workouts in yesterday as well (lower body in the morning and 80 minutes of hills at night)…. I must be making up for lost time this week since I missed two days and then Thursday’s was a bit on the weak side.  Day 18 and Day 19 are posted now for Spring Slimdown – almost done now!  Good thing too, because I’m running out of room in the dropdown under that tab.  So I might have to figure out someplace else to keep those pages on the blog.

Last night I pulled out the last two Summoning Summer Crab Cakes from the freezer and made little sandwiches out of them, with some steamed asparagus on the side.  What an awesome dinner!  You have to try these salmon cakes — I will definitely be making another batch to have in the freezer because it was great to have them to make a fast meal in a pinch.

Well we are getting ready to settle in for the evening – we rented “The Blind Side” (and I think we are the last two people in the country to see it!)  I’m sure I’ll need a box of tissues, right?

See you next time!

– Shari B. =)

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One for the Ladies…

Apr 8

Posted by Shari B. in FitFeature | 7 Comments

Good morning FitFeat friends!  Happy Friday-Eve!

Has anyone else had a weird week this week?  Mine has been just been “off”.   Is there a full moon or something?

I got some feedback that some of you ladies wanted me to proceed with a “You Know You’re PMS-ing When…” post.  Fellas out there, hope you don’t mind. Maybe this will shed some light on the female(s) in your life.  But if you men want to sign off now for this one, I don’t blame you!  ;)

I’ll tell ya right now, this post falls under the “TMI” category, but I think it will be helpful to create a discussion where we can all feel comfortable sharing our experiences and symptoms.

We all know the standard symptoms like the emotional rollercoaster and chocolate cravings.   But I get some other weird ones in addition.  Here is the list of the “other” PMS symptoms I’ve kept track of and now know to expect.

1.) Digestion and elimination: these slow way down for almost a full week leading up to the first day of my cycle.  The two days before we are talking serious traffic jam.  Almost ZERO movement. Then on the first day of my period, exact opposite.  We’re talking Audobon now in lieu of traffic jam.  Bizarre.  I know now to expect it and that’s a part of why in the Spring Slimdown I haven’t been bothered this past week by the lack of ‘weight loss’ because I knew what the ‘hold-up’ was.

2.) Sleep: usually one or two nights during my PMS I either have trouble falling asleep or trouble staying asleep.

3.) Creativity:I tend to have two or three days prior to my cycle where my mind is just GOING.  Tons of ideas running through my head, many of which seem to come to my during that night that I can’t get to sleep!

4.) Motivation swings: along with the creative juices, I get a HUGE motivation boost where I want to ACT on all those great ideas and I feel like I am superwoman and can conquer the world.  (Hmm, did I agree to marathon training during a PMS phase?)  Unfortunately this boost is followed by a dip where I feel like getting out of bed is just tough, let alone tackling things like exercise, cooking or implementing great ideas.  This usually is a day or two, and doesn’t necessarily always coincide with the night or two of poor sleep.  But I have to be really careful about making decisions during this ‘cycle’.  I think I’ve quit a few jobs during this ‘timeframe’ in the past, not to mention taken on new crazy projects.

5.) Body temperature swings: normally I run really cold anyway but I’m especially cold the day before and 2-3 days into my cycle.  During PMS time though, I experience a few moments where I’m actually WARM (and this month even had a few nights where I woke up REALLY hot and sweaty… which got me wondering if I’m headed toward hot flashes soon.)  I rather like the WARMTH after being so cold all the time.

6.) Hollow-leg syndrome: this is less about cravings and more about just being plain ol’ HUNGRY!  Sometimes during PMS it’s like my ‘full-switch’ is broken.  I can eat a bunch and still not feel hungry.  Hopefully what I’ve heard about the body burning around 100 more calories a day during our periods is true, because I could use the help burning off all the excess calories I must be consuming!

How about you?  I’d love to know if others have some of the same (or different) issues I run into.  If you don’t feel comfortable posting directly to the comments section about this topic, feel free to email me and I’ll put out an “anonymous” post for you. I think we can all benefit from sharing our experiences.

Also how long does your PMS last?  Mine is a whopping 9 days like clockwork!  Luckily my actual cycle is MUCH shorter – usually only 3-4 days.

Thanks for giving me the green light to run this post!  I really appreciate the input I receive from you all!

Let the conversation begin!

***

Spring Slimdown is updated with Day 16 and Day 17.  Check out the yummy vegan burrito MSP brought home for me last night!  And the weight is finally past the 2 lb loss mark!  YAY!

Have a TERRIFIC Thursday!  See you next time!

– Shari B.  =)

PS:  Have you watched FOOD REVOLUTION yet?  Signed Jamie’s petition for better school lunches?



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Its Like Christmas All Over Again!

Apr 6

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit, Spring Slimdown 2010 | 5 Comments

Hi blog buds!

First, wanted to let you know that I’m up to date on the Spring Slimdown tab, through Day 15 which was yesterday (it seems to take me a day or two after to get each one out there!)   I admit the scale isn’t cooperating QUITE as nicely as I’d like, but again I’m not concerned.  (Gentlemen readers, you may want to just scroll on down to the first picture at this point…!) ;)   I have a post in my head that I may write called “You Know You’re PMS-ing When…” I just have to find the time to sit down and compose it – maybe this weekend.  I have a lot of interesting things that happen to me during that time that I’d be curious to know if any of you ladies also experience something similar (outside of the typical “moods & cravings”.  My apologies to any of my “fellas” out there reading! But it’s a valid topic that definitely affects weight & fitness!)  While we’re on the topic of female things, I had my mammogram today.  Oh joy.  Thank goodness that is done for another year!  Your comedy for the day is to imagine a radiology tech trying to figure out how to give a mammogram to a 12 year old boy — because that’s pretty much what it’s like for me when I go!  ;)    HA!  Poor tech, I felt bad for her.  It was really awkward and at one point I apologized for “not having much to work with!”

All kidding aside I am thankful that my doc orders them for me because typically my insurance wouldn’t kick in for them until after I turn 40.  It’s nice to know I’m a few years early and getting a good baseline for later.

***

Speaking of getting TO things, if I seem offline more than usual this week don’t be alarmed and think I’m giving up on the blog or anything crazy like that!  The next few weeks are going to be exceptionally busy and so my posting schedule may be a little sporadic.  But know that I’m thinking about you guys EVERY day even if I don’t have an official post.  I’ll still be getting the daily Spring Slimdown posts out though.

***

Now, for FUN things!  I feel like an official blogger as I received TWO BOXES of goodies to sample and review!  Finally!  It only took 8 months of blogging nearly every day to get some cool stuff to show up at my door … ;)   Maybe someday I’ll be able to give away a blender like some of those big-time bloggies.  (cough **BlendTec** cough)

First, a box arrived from the folks over at Pop Culture Probiotics who contacted me via Twitter after I blogged about the probiotics I use and offered up some of their samples to try.   I figured I’d get two or three – I was in for quite the surprise:

Two of their probiotic oatmeals and a BOX full of their probiotic bars!

Then yesterday when I got home from work I had another big box waiting for me:

Jay Robb very graciously sent me their brown rice protein powders to sample since I used to love their Vanilla Whey protein, but no longer use it since I try to keep cow’s dairy out of my daily eats.  But they didn’t stop at samples!  They also included an adorable sparkly tank top, a shaker cup and a reusable cloth grocery bag!

Thank you so much to Pop Culture and to Jay Robb.  I’m very excited to try all the samples and post my thoughts here on the FitFeat blog.

So in the near future you’ll be seeing my reviews but possibly during or after vacation.  The brown rice protein samples & probiotic bars will come in very handy for travel so I might take advantage of trying them out at that time!

Hope that you are all having a beautiful day!

– Shari B. =)

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Welcome to My Chapel

Apr 5

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 7 Comments

Good morning blog buds and happy Monday!  I can’t believe my extra-long holiday weekend is over already!  Wow, did that ever fly by!

I hope that you had a beautiful weekend.  It was a gorgeous day in Colorado for our Easter Sunday.  So MSP and I figured it would be a perfect morning to get in our first hike of the season.

Welcome to my chapel:

I always seem to be doing something outdoors with friends or MSP on Sundays.  I don’t belong to a particular religious denomination, so I always like to say that my outdoor jaunts are my “churchtime”.  :)

We had a great hike.  We’d initially intended to wear our VFF barefoot shoes – but it was a good thing we brought our trail runners along too because we ran into a lot of this:

Saw some neat things:

And posed for some pics :

We were out for a little over two hours and had a blast.  I’m so excited that hiking season is here again!  Maybe one of these years I’ll invest in some snowshoes so that hiking season can last all year long.

Did you do anything fun and fitness related over the holiday weekend?

***

The Spring Slimdown continues to creep along with the lowest weigh-in so far at a loss of 1.8 lbs over 13 days.  Getting there slowly and could make it faster if I was willing to be a bit more obsessive.  But right now, I’m not!

Make a great day!

– Shari B. =)



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You Say You Want a Revolution

Apr 3

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 2 Comments

“We-e-ll you know…  We all want to change the world”  (That’s the closest I get to singing!)

Happy Saturday friends!

So yesterday on my day off I spent some time catching up on recorded TV shows.  “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution” was what I watched.  I knew I would get into this show from the first time I saw the previews because you all know I’m a little passionate about healthy eating.  What I didn’t count on was how deeply it would touch me.  One word: WOW.

I cried a few times.

In a nutshell, Jamie is on a mission to change our eating habits from processed crap to REAL food, and ESPECIALLY in our schools.  I don’t have kids, so I don’t really have a lot of visibility to what they are being served (or I didn’t until I saw this show.) I know even when I was in grade school (and milk cost 20 cents then, wow I’m getting old!) we didn’t eat the best stuff.  I was very fortunate to have a mom who packed my lunch most of the time.

A few of the things that struck me while watching this show:

  • how negative and/or resistant the school system employees were to Jamie when he was trying to do something GOOD for the kids.  Especially from “Rhonda” who was in charge of all the nutrition for the school district.
  • how much red tape is involved in getting an item onto a school lunch
  • the classroom of little kids who could easily identify french fries, chicken nuggets and pizza, but had NO CLUE what a TOMATO was when it was held in front of them (or any other vegetable for that matter)

Kids don’t KNOW what’s good for them or not good for them and when they are young they have to rely on adults to feed them the right foods to be healthy.  It kills me to see some of these kids heading to obesity and chronic disease when they don’t know any better and they don’t have a choice what’s served in their home or their schools.  But it’s hard to blame the parents completely either when people just don’t realize that even what they think is plain  ‘ol frozen chicken is pumped full of fillers, preservatives and other chemicals.  It took me a long time to learn about healthy eating, something I still am learning new things about every day.  Even 15 years ago when I first started paying closer attention to my food from a ‘diet’ perspective I was more focused on the protein/fat/carbs info on the label than I was the actual list of ingredients, so I was probably in the same boat.

This is a topic where I really want to hear your thoughts! Did the show move you in some way?  If you have kids, do you know what kind of food is being served at their school?  Is it a similar situation or different?  I’m so curious to know how the food is at other schools.  Or if you work at a school and have some insight, please share your thoughts as well!  Let’s discuss this!

Have a great Saturday!

– Shari B. =)

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BAM and LAMB

Apr 2

Posted by Shari B. in Spring Slimdown 2010 | 5 Comments

Happy Good Friday, blog buds!  And if you have the day off for the holiday, then happy GREAT Friday!  I’m not sure I’ve ever worked somewhere before now where we had Good Friday off so this is quite a treat for me to have this as a holiday today.

Day 11 of the Spring Slimdown is posted.  I only have 2 weeks left, and seem to be holding steady in the 1.2 – 1.4 pound loss range.  It’s time to give it the Emeril treatment and “kick it up a notch”, as he would say.  (BAM!!)  :)   I need to boost my nutrient dense veggies and maybe back off on grains a smidge.  Not to mention trade out some evening snacks for some herbal tea.

I was hoping to have a final Cadbury Caramel Cream egg to celebrate the end of the season, but I might have to save it for when I break the 2 lb mark.  I’ll be glad when the take the Easter candy off of the shelves.  Those pastel colors are hard to resist.  ;)

This is a bit off-topic for the blog, but a book I had requested at the library came available yesterday for me, appropriately in time for Easter weekend reading. (Or maybe it will turn out to be inappropriately!)  It’s called “Lamb:  The Gospel According to Biff, Christ’s Childhood Pal” by Christopher Moore.  It came highly recommended by a coworker as being a very funny read.  I have had a string of more serious books lately, and am looking forward to some laughs for a change.  At Amazon, this book has 4.5 of 5 stars with 615 great ratings.  So it has to be good, right?

Have you ever read anything by Christopher Moore?  I’d love to hear your opinion. – I’m always looking for new authors to try.  What are you reading right now?

Have a fabulous Friday, my friends!  Don’t forget to enter Joan’s contest for her new garden pot, if you haven’t already!

– Shari B.  =)