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Back to the Real World

Jul 20

Posted by Shari B. in Fit on Vacation | 4 Comments

Hi Friends!

Well, it’s back to the ol’ grind this week.  I had a small case of the Sunday blues that night, sad that our wonderful week was already over.  But I will say it ended with a bang!  Our rafting trip was a BLAST!  I don’t have any photos of us personally because I wasn’t about to take my camera along.

There were some very calm float-along times throughout, mixed in with some high-adrenaline moments of pure “hairy”.  My friend Jeff said I broke into a couple sessions of “Panic Paddling”!  I agree!  This was my third time whitewater rafting in Colorado and I think this trip had more excitement (aka FEAR) than my previous trips.

By luck of the draw we were in a boat that had a fairly seasoned guide while some of the other boats in our group got a few guides who were in their first season on the job.  Which translates into all of us staying INSIDE the boat! (woot woot!)

Some of other rafters weren’t so lucky.  Here are some examples of scenes we saw:

At one point while we were waiting for the 6 boats behind us to catch up, we saw a paddle float by.  Then another.  And another.  Four paddles total floated by!  We were all wondering what the heck happened upstream.  After a good long wait even our guides determined that they better leave us there and hike back up to find out if everything was OK.  Luckily at that point the rafts started coming along again – apparently there’d been a flip or two.  Later we watched as a few boats flipped, “dumptrucked” and “wrapped” all in a row.  On the one where the boat was wrapped (when the raft gets stuck against a big rock and the water flow molds the raft around it) they ultimately had to throw two safety lines to shore and get everyone off the boat except the guide so that they could get the raft to move off the rock.

Right toward the end we had one nasty rapid that was really rushing and we got stuck pretty good.  At that time MSP and I both were thinking “Well, guess it’s our turn to get dumped out!”  I was a little scared at that point because looking at the rapids there, I knew it’d be a scary “swim” through them to get to shore.  But our guide was awesome, got us unstuck and we made it!

Phew!

I haven’t had a day of adrenaline like that in a while.  It was awesome!

We hit up a great mexican restaurant after that to refuel and then once home, it was COUCH TIME!  :)

Sunday we caught up on laundry, grocery shopping and general household “chores”.   How was your weekend?  Did it contain any adrenaline?

- Shari B. =)

Twice the Fun or Double the Trouble?

Jul 13

Posted by Shari B. in Fit on Vacation | 2 Comments

Hi friends!  “Staycation” has commenced! Wahooo!

My ‘theme’ for this week off is Wellness Retreat.  (I’m sure this is news to MSP.)  I’ve always wanted to go to a spa retreat like Canyon Ranch, where they feed you full of über-healthy food and you do active things each day.  This week will be my ‘budget friendly’ version of that.  So this morning I started out my day with a Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer and a piece of Ezekial toast with almond butter (gee, sounds like a big departure from how I normally eat, huh?)  ;)

Since it’s going to be hot as Hades around town today, we’ve decided to begin our staycation fun by heading up to the mountains (where it will be a perfect 80 degrees) for the afternoon.  While we are there, we have reservations to rent one of these:

I’m so excited!  I’ve never been on a tandem bike before.  We thought this would be a ton of fun.  I admit I’m a little nervous too – I’ve fallen over on my own mountain bike while literally standing still.  (I’m klutzy like that.  Most of my more painful injuries have occurred while simply taking a breather during activities:  snowboarding and rollerblading are especially hazardous for me when NOT moving.) So this tandem thing could mean falling twice as hard, right?  ;)   I am sure there will be plenty of comedy involved, no matter what happens.

I’ll be sure to report back on the day’s happenings and let you know how it goes.  I’ll toss in a few gorgeous mountain pics too!

***

In other news, my KOMBUCHA STARTER CULTURES arrived last night!  YAY!  I just started my first batch today, so I’ll be letting you know how it goes (or should I say, how it GROWS!)  I can’t wait for 2-3 weeks from now when I can take my first sip!  I miss my “booch”.

Have a TERRIFIC Tuesday!

– Shari B. =)

P.S. Thank you SO MUCH for the feedback on how the site is loading for you.  Sounds like it has more to do with my connection as opposed to a slow host server, so that’s good news!  Thanks ladies!

Vegas Recap – Part III

Apr 26

Posted by Shari B. in Fit on Vacation | 5 Comments

Hey there FitFeat friends!

After the Vegas Recap Part II post yesterday, I started looking online for recipes for that delicious vegan minestrone I had at Canaletto, and realized that I was looking for the wrong recipe!  The “alla Genovese” apparently means soup “from Genoa” and has linguine and lots of basil in it.  Now I know that I had a glass of wine (or two) with my meal but I’m SURE there was no basil in it (or noodles for that matter.)  :)   Upon closer inspection of the Canaletto menu, I realized I actually had Minestrone di Verdura.

If you enter Minestrone di Verdura into Google Translate, it translates it to “vegetable soup”.  HA!  Isn’t it funny how foreign words make foods sound so much more fancy and special?! (Or at least it does for goofballs like me!)

That gave me a chuckle – because if I were at an American-food restaurant and I saw “Vegetable Soup” on the menu, I probably would have thought “how boring” and kept right on scanning down the menu!  And I’d have missed out on the best soup ever!

***

To finish off my Vegas trip recap, I wanted to share a couple of really cool attractions we were fortunate enough to see while we were there.  Now for any new readers who have happened upon FitFeat in the last week, I promise you this blog is NOT a travelogue!  :D   It really is a fit living blog!  But luckily these two attractions tie in nicely with fitness and health.

BODIES: The Exhibition

I have always been absolutely fascinated by the human body.  I think it all started back in high school Physiology.  The Bodies exhibit came to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science a few years back and I went through it at the time.  And it was AWESOME!  But because it was a ‘traveling & temporary exhibit’ it was jam packed full of people.  So many people were crammed around each display that it was tough to thoroughly look things over without feeling like you were holding up the line.

When I saw that it was on PERMANENT display at the Luxor in Las Vegas, I knew I HAD to go through it again.  And this time, there were just a few people wandering through at the same time.  I was in ANATOMY heaven!

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You could get up close and personal with these displays.  This visit was so much better than the first time around.  It is AMAZING to be able to take such a detailed look inside the human body (and without having to elbow my way to the front to get a better look).  We were actually really surprised that they didn’t have them roped off or SOMETHING to keep them from accidentally getting touched or knocked over.   In one of the rooms, a mom had a toddler who wanted to push his own stroller and he took off running straight at one of the full body displays.   I thought for SURE there was going to be a collision!  Fortunately he stopped just short of impact!  Phew!  Crisis averted!

If you ever have an opportunity to see one of these exhibits in your own town or in Vegas, DO IT!  They show things like healthy lungs next to a smoker’s lungs, a whole body’s worth of veins and arteries without the rest of the body (!!!) and much much more.  This exhibit had 9 rooms, each with a different topic.

I spent most of my time looking at muscles and their attachments.  (They showed a lot of the bodies ‘locked’ in motion, like a sports movement.) And then a LOT of time on the digestive tract, since as you know, digestion is a topic of high interest to me!

I could have stayed there all day.

But then I would have missed the next fun thing…

Cirque du Soleil:  Mystère

MSP and I have been to many Cirque shows over the 10+ years we’ve been together.  Dralion, Zumanity, Ka, O, Kooza, Allegria… I’m sure I’m missing a few.   And we figured since Mystère might go away someday we better see it while we can – it’s been running in Vegas since ’93 I think.  And you know hotels don’t last that long in Vegas – Treasure Islands days have to be numbered.

Every time I go to a Cirque show, I feel the need to go home and do pushups or handstands or something.  All of the cast of these shows take the word “athletic” to a whole other level.  Like this:

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I always feel like I could be doing SO MUCH MORE with my own body when I watch the sheer STRENGTH displayed in any Cirque show.  :)   There just aren’t any words to express how truly incredible and awe-inspiring Cirque du Soleil attractions are.  And Mystère did not disappoint.

You can find Cirque on YouTube so if you’ve never seen one of their shows, take a look online.  Then RUN (or walk on your hands) to the nearest ticket counter so you can see it for yourself.  The tickets are worth every penny!

Have you ever been to see Cirque du Soleil?  If so which one is your favorite? I’d have to say that I have a tie for my two favorites:  Kooza and O.  I loved O because it was done IN WATER! 

How about BODIES? Have you ever seen one of their exhibits?  How do you feel about the displays? I know there is a lot of controversy over them.

Hope you’ve had a MAGNIFICENT Monday friends!  See you next time!

– Shari B. =)

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Vegas Recap – Part II

Apr 25

Posted by Shari B. in Fit on Vacation | 6 Comments

Happy Sunday FitFeat friends!

Welcome to the continuation of my Vegas trip recap – Part II will cover the remainder of the food highlights.

We had breakfast in one of the restaurants I was most excited to visit on our trip:  The Canyon Ranch Grill, located in our hotel.  I was happy to know that there was at least one place I could count on getting fresh and healthy foods in a pinch.  I especially appreciated how their menu listed calorie counts, fat grams and fiber for each selection.

I chose the organic omelet chock full of tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, peppers and artichoke hearts, with a side of fruit and potatoes.  It was the perfect start to the day.

Another restaurant in our hotel that we wanted to try was First Food & Bar.  I ordered what I thought looked like a somewhat healthy appetizer as my lunch because it listed the ingredients as raw tuna, plaintain chips and pineapple mango salsa.

However when it was placed in front of me, here’s what it looked like:

Not sure what the spicy sauce was so I tried to eat around and under it as best I could.  I can’t give this dish any thumbs up, unfortunately.  But the Riesling I drank with it was light and fresh!

There was yet another place located in our hotel that I had to try while we were there: Espressamente Illy which was an Italian coffee shop with gelato and crêpes.   We actually ate crêpes for dinner one night.  Mine were apple cinnamon and then I had this decadent espresso with chocolate in it:

I think this is the first real espresso I’ve had where it’s in a little shot glass (excluding all the shots that go into my lattes at Starbucks!)  It was VERY rich but worth every little sip.

Another night for dinner we visited Canaletto along the Canal in the Venetian.


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It was probably one of my favorite meals during our trip even though I only had a bowl of soup and an appetizer salad, but I think it was more because of the ambiance.  You sit “outdoors” on a patio along the Venetian’s St. Marks Square, and there’s none of the loud hustle & bustle that you typically feel while you are in Vegas.  I had the Minestrone Alla Genovese which had tons of chopped vegetables in a very light broth.  It was PERFECTO!  And somehow I have to track down a recipe that was similar to try at home.  Loved it!

Last but not least one more meal along the Canal, at the Taquiera Canonita (I wasn’t kidding when I told you the Canal is my favorite place!  We truly spent most of our time in the Venetian/Palazzo complex.)  This is where I had those fabulous PEPITA CRUSTED Crab Cakes:

And a lip-smackin’-good margarita:

So now you see why it was necessary for me to do the Spring Slimdown prior to heading on our CA and LV trip – because I literally ate my way through both cities!  :D But it was worth every bite and I walked around SO much in Vegas, that I know at least SOME of it burned back off.  It’s hard NOT to walk a lot when  you are in Vegas, because all of the hotels are so sprawling and big, that it feels like half a mile just to get out of your OWN hotel and out onto the Strip!

I’ll have one more recap segment for the Vegas trip coming at ya!

If you’ve been to Vegas, what is your favorite hotel and/or restaurant?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

– Shari B. =)

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Vegas Recap – Part I

Apr 24

Posted by Shari B. in Fit on Vacation | 2 Comments

Hi blog buds!

How is your Saturday going?  I can’t believe my vacation is over already.  I’m always shocked by how fast time flies.  That said, it’s also great to be home (although I could have done without the SNOW!)

Thought I’d recap some of the highlights from the Vegas portion of our trip for you!

First off let me just say the hotel rocked.  MSP was attending a conference there for work, and the hotel was part of the conference package (otherwise, we’d not have the opportunity to stay in such a swanky place.)

The pillowtop mattress was SO comfy and I LOVED the velvet settees at the foot of each bed:

The bathroom had a seated vanity area:

A separate room for the “water closet”  :)

A sunken living room with a sectional, coffee table, TV unit, desk and dining table:

This room had THREE flat screen TVs in it.  One in the bathroom, one in the living room and one in the bedroom.  I was in TV heaven!  They make the rooms so snazzy, you don’t want to leave to see anything else in Vegas!

After we settled into the room, we hit up a great open air restaurant on the strip called El Segundo Sol for a late lunch/early dinner.  MSP and I shared fajitas:  he ate the chicken, rice and cheese off the platter, while I ate the grilled veggies, beans and guac.  If only all meals had the meats and veggies separated like that – we’d save a fortune whenever we eat out!  :D

Tuesday was our only WARM day in Vegas because the forecast was calling for cold and rain the rest of our visit.  (I TOLD you cold follows me wherever I go!)  I made sure to take full advantage of that sunshine while I could.  MSP’s conference started at 8:30 AM so we were up and at ‘em early to get some walking/sightseeing in while the Vegas Strip was quiet.  We put on our tennis shoes, walked to a nearby Starbucks, and sipped all the way down the strip toward the Stratosphere.  That morning on the news, we saw that they were broadcasting from a new ‘attraction’ opening that very day called “Sky Jump“ where you literally free fall 855′ from the top of the Stratosphere to the bottom (attached to some cables, of course!) so we thought we’d see if we could see anyone jumping.  If you’ve never been to Vegas, this is the Stratosphere:

I may have given it a shot, if it wasn’t $100 per person!  Too steep for my checkbook… It looked pretty darn fun though!  I’m typically very scared of heights, but for some reason don’t mind some things where I’m attached to cables and harnesses.

We got back to the hotel at 7:30 AM.  After MSP left to hit up his conference, I decided to go for a run down to the other end of the Strip.  I got in a fun 4 miles, running from The Palazzo down to the MGM Grand, crossing over and then back.  It was so GORGEOUS out!  By that time there were a zillion people out on the Strip, so trying to run was a bit of an obstacle course, which made it even more fun.

When I got back to the room, I enjoyed a perfect post-run orange (that was hand picked from the tree in my cousin’s backyard in El Cajon, CA while we were there.) Kevin, those oranges are perfect!

I met MSP during his lunch break at another open air place called “Stripburger” where I had the world’s tiniest mixed greens salad:

And a delicious brown rice veggie burger that made up for the small salad.  Hidden under the burger are lettuce and tomato, and I told them to hold the bun since I wouldn’t eat it anyway.

MSP was off to the afternoon sessions and I did some more wandering around through Treasure Island and through the Canal Shoppes at the Venetian.  To this day after MANY trips to Vegas, the Canal in the Venetian is still my favorite.

I hit up a coffee shop for a soy chai and a Godiva for my chocolate fix:

Later that night we went to a Dueling Piano bar located in the Palazzo, had some cocktails, and sang along with the crowd.  We liked it so much we went back there a second time.

This lounge is located right next to the entrance to the Jersey Boys theater in the Palazzo hotel, in case you are ever there!  So much stuff in Vegas costs a fortune and/or has a cover charge.  This didn’t cost you anything, unless you wanted to have a drink.  I had a BLAST and swear I still have Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” stuck in my head…

***

Well, I feel like I’ve taken a lot of your time with the size of this one, PLUS I’m aiming to make a dent in the MOUNTAIN of laundry that came back with us from the trip so I’ll leave you with this PART ONE recap and be back again soon with PART TWO.

See you soon!

– Shari B. =)

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Blogger Meet-Ups and Beachside Running

Apr 20

Posted by Shari B. in Fit on Vacation | 5 Comments

Hi blog buds! 

Wow, do I ever feel like I have been neglecting you guys!  I have lots of blog reading AND writing to catch up on.  I’m trying to be a little more “present to the moment” on this vacation, because I’m usually pretty bad at that.  I’ve apparently done well so far as I’ve just NOT been online at all.

So to rewind a bit, we got into San Diego Saturday afternoon around lunchtime and hung out with my cousin Kevin at his oceanside condo for the weekend.  And do I mean OCEANSIDE. 

Look to the left:

 

And look to the right:

All you see is sandy beaches.  It was absolutely gorgeous. 

Saturday evening we met up with another cousin that you all know as reader Carrie D. in downtown SD for dinner.  Carrie’s the gorgeous blonde on the left.  :)  

We’ve only had a chance to see each other twice in the 20 years since I moved to Denver, so it was so fun to get to see her and hang out!  We loved seeing her and meeting her boyfriend, and I look forward to hopefully having them come to Denver someday for a visit.  Carrie and Dan are the kind of people who just fit in wherever they go and always have great stories to tell.  I could have chatted with them for hours, and the night went by way too fast!

Then on Sunday morning it was up and at ‘em bright and early for my first ever blogger meet-up.  Cindy and her hubs drove from an hour away at the crack of dawn so that Cindy and I could meet and run together.  I don’t know if I have the right words to express how great this experience was for me.  I feel that she and I are kindred spirits, like ‘sistas from anotha mister’.  ;)   I loved her!  And I loved her hubs just as much. 

First of all, let me just tell you Cindy is absolutely BEAUTIFUL, inside and out.  She’s very photogenic but even her pics don’t do her justice to how pretty she is in person.  And as sweet and kind as she comes across on her blog, getting to know her face to face now I am blown away by what a great person she is.  And generous – she made me a jar of HOMEMADE crystallized ginger, which is probably one of my FAVORITE treats ever!  It was so delicious and it’s almost gone already.  She even brought a can of coconut water for me to drink after our run. 

Second, a HUGE congrats to her for running her first 5 mile route!  Wahooo!  She did it!  Way to go, girl!  Truly we had so much to chat about I think we hardly noticed that our feet were moving.  I think we could have run another 5 without even noticing.

After the run, the three of us hit up Starbucks and continued chatting.  The conversation was varied and deep – and I loved EVERY minute! 

I could have stayed all day hanging out with them both.  I feel that I’ve made some lifelong friends.  I was so touched by these two and in such a great mood after they dropped me off that when I got back to the condo, I was on cloud 9 and talking a mile a minute to MSP about how much fun I had.

Cindy and Mr. Cindy… ;)   Thank you SO much for taking so much time out of your weekend to come down and spend some time!  I had a fantastic time and can’t wait till the next time! 

She has a good recap and more photos over at her blog too if you’d like to read more:  A Sparkle a Day. Go check it out!

***

Alright friends, I better get back into vacation mode.  Today is going to be my only chance to get out in some warm weather in Vegas, because a storm is moving in that will bring rain and a HIGH temp of 59 degrees tomorrow and Thursday.  (I told you that cold weather follows me wherever I go!)

I hope that your week is off to a great start!  Have a TERRIFIC TUESDAY!

– Shari B. =)

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Happy Homecoming!

Sep 29

Posted by in Fit on Vacation | 3 Comments

Hey there FitFeat friends! 

I’m blogging today from my own desk again!  YAY!  It sure feels good to be home. 

My dogs were SO excited to see me last night, which I truly wasn’t expecting.  Here’s why:  When we take them to their favorite dogsitter’s house (Auntie Tricia’s) and then we get back to pick them up, they act like we’re chopped liver.  They have such a great time at her house that I think they are like “aw, darn – now we have to go home!”  So I figured that since they were already home with MSP, I’d walk in the door and they’d act as if I was just coming in from the grocery story.  But they actually went nuts, especially my Weimaraner, Riley.  And she kept it up most of the evening!  She dropped her ball in my lap repeatedly and she had ‘crazy eyes’ going on (where her pupils are so dilated they are solid black) and she was panting like she’d just been sprinting.  I love that my dogs love me so much.  :)  

They are going to get one heck of a wog today for sure!

Here’s the recap of my travel day Monday.  I started the morning early again, this time at 4:30 AM.  I read my Kindle in bed for an hour before getting out of the warm bed.  I went downstairs after my mom was awake and had my coffee and a piece of Ezekial toast with a side of more Kindle.  :)   I’m still trying to finish the new Dan Brown book.  If anyone had told me that I’d go on a 12-day vacation and NOT finish one whole book, I’d tell them they were crazy and must not know me very well.  I thought I’d read at least 3 while I was gone.  But I just didn’t have a lot of time to read during this trip. 

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After the sun tried (and failed) to peek out, Mom and I did a couple of miles on this trail in a forest park near her house:

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We interrupted the breakfast of these deer:

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It was FREEZING outside so by the time we got back I was ready for some oatmeal to warm me from the inside out.

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Later, we ate a quick lunch before we had to head out for the Detroit airport.  I used all of my leftover veggies and made a HUGE salad (spinach, cucumber, HB egg, carrots, pepitas, sundried tomatoes, celery, a Gardenburger, pepper and a drizzle of bleu cheese dressing.)  On the side, I had a couple slices of homemade pickled beets.  I really think I am a little burned out on Gardenburgers for awhile. 

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I knew that the minute I was checked in at the airport I’d be hunting down a latte since I was once again near a large city.  I thought for sure they had a Starbucks in this airport, but no such luck.  Caribou Coffee would have to suffice.  This was my first soy latte in over 2 weeks.  I enjoyed every last sip and might have licked the foam out of the lid had I not been in a public place!

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A slice of pie goes great with a latte, so I had a Pecan Pie Larabar as I sipped my beloved elixir.  :)

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Then I boarded the plane and was headed toward beautiful Denver.  It was nice and warm when I got off the plane.  I practically ran to baggage claim because I could not wait one minute longer to see MSP.  I missed him so much.  I got a little choked up when I saw him waiting for me – he didn’t see me because I’d missed a turn, so I got to sneak up behind him with a bear hug. 

Since I knew I didn’t have any veggies in the fridge at home, we swung by his favorite place (Chipotle) on the way to pick up some din-din.  I ordered a veggie bowl.  Once home, I portioned out half of it, and added some baked Tostito Scoops with which to eat my guac.   

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Then we settled in for some serious couch potato time, since I’d been missing all of the season premieres while I was gone.  We watched Hell’s Kitchen, The Office, and Community.  It was the perfect homecoming.

Eating Chipotle always requires a taste-change afterward, so I had a little chocolate.

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Well kids, now I’m off to tackle this mess: 

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Then do some sort of workout, then grocery shop, then catch up on some blog reading and what feels like a million other things on my list of playing “catch-up”. 

When I grocery shop today I’m going to look for some new and interesting veggies to try.  I’ve missed my kitchen and am really ready to try some new recipes.  Do you have a favorite vegetable?  Or one that you’ve wanted to try but haven’t?  Drop me a comment – I’d love to hear what veggies you are eating as inspiration for my shopping!

Have a TERRIFIC TUESDAY!  I’ve got a LIST of topics that I want to cover this week, so keep checking back for new posts!

– Shari B. =)

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Bittersweet Departure

Sep 28

Posted by in Fit on Vacation | 1 Comment

Hi everyone! 

It’s a blustery start to the week here – I’m looking forward to getting back to the dry, warmer climate of Denver.  Here in Ohio it’s 55 degrees, very windy and it just started to rain.  I looked at the forecast back home and it will be 75 today and 85 tomorrow.  Thank you Denver for giving me some warm weather to come home to, because I’ve been freezing my hiney off here this vacation.  :)

Sunday was a good day.  It started early at 5:00 AM while still staying at my brother’s house – and as is typical for me, I was up hours before everyone else.  I made a cup of coffee with a side of Ezekial toast with agave. 

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I spent some time that morning with my little niece, reading her “The Three Little Pigs”.  Then I packed up and drove back to my mom’s.  On the way I ate a part of Banana Bread Larabar.  Here’s what was left: 

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At lunchtime, I had another Gardenburger in an effort to continue cleaning up all of the food I bought when I first arrived.  (I still have one more burger to go, which may or may not be today’s lunch, because I also want to get a green smoothie in today too.  I may have to take the smoothie in a to-go cup for the drive to the airport!   I am looking forward to getting some more variety back in my diet – I’ve been eating essentially the same foods day in and day out while I’ve been here because I only made one trip to the store, and it certainly doesn’t make for exciting blog reading!)

I topped my burger with a slice of tomato, some chopped Walla Walla onion and some spicy mustard.  I had “fries” on the side (my baby carrots) and a spinach salad with pepitas, sundried tomatoes, red peppers, nutritional yeast and my last two pieces of dulse. 

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My mid-afternoon snack was the other half of the Larabar from the morning.

Then for dinner it was time for the Lake Erie Walleye broil.  My brother, sister-in-law and niece came over for our last family supper together, probably for the next year or more.  I was so excited to eat this dinner that I forgot to take picture of the fish!  I got a pic of my huge salad that I ate while the fish was broiling, but then I was at the dinner table chatting away with the family and I completely missed the photo op!  (It looked a lot like the broiled whitefish I ate on Lake Superior.)  No batter – just topped with with a squeeze of fresh lemon.  It was REALLY good!  I expected it to be really ‘fishy-tasting’ for some reason, but it was very mild and very tender.

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We didn’t end up watching TV or football.  For some reason I had forgotten that morning & afternoon NFL games are shown in their local areas, so when I thought I’d be seeing the Broncos, they were airing the Cincinnati game.  We were all too busy enjoying our last family evening together though, so even had the Broncos been on here, I now realize I wouldn’t have ended up paying much attention. 

I said my goodbyes to my brother and his family, and  of course I cried. 

Mom had some of that AMAZING cake leftover from my aunt’s anniversary party (it tastes like wedding cake and is seriously one of the best cakes I’ve ever had.)  So this little piece of heaven turned my frown upside down:

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I’m sad to be heading home today because I know it’s going to be a long time before I get to see my family again.  But on the flip-side, I am REALLY missing MSP and my pups.  I’ll have to tell that Frontier pilot to put the pedal to the metal and get me home in a jiffy!

I’m also really looking forward to getting back to my normal blogging pattern – I haven’t had a lot of time to spend on writing while I’ve been here so the FitFeatures have been few and far-between.  Thanks for joining my on my trip and when I post tomorrow I’ll be back at my own desk again and ready to get busy!

Did any of you do a ‘commercial break’ exercise last night? 

Hope your week is off to a great start!

– Shari B.  =)

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A Challenge for Football Fans

Sep 27

Posted by in Fit on Vacation | 1 Comment

Hi blog buds!

Ahh, relaxing Sunday.  It’s my last full day of vacation visiting my family and it sounds like we might spend some time this afternoon watching football and enjoying some of the fish they caught locally over the summer.  It’s been so long since I’ve eaten walleye that I don’t remember what it tastes like or whether I like it — but I’m looking forward to trying it tonight!

In yesterday’s post I covered the Guest Room Workout and run that I did for the day’s activity.  Let me be the first to tell you, IT WORKS!  Oh boy do I feel my hamstrings and chest muscles today! 

Before yesterday’s workout, look what I found in my brother’s kitchen cabinets:

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 A Starbucks mug!  It felt just like being at home :)

Then before my run, I fueled up with a Coconut Cream Pie Larabar. 

After the run, I was craving a green smoothie.  This time around I used 8 oz of water, a big fist o’ spinach, frozen mangos & peaches, 1/3 apple, 1/2 cucumber and 2 stalks of celery.  I was also feeling the need for some protein, so I threw in a heaping spoon of vanilla rice protein.

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I love the cups my sister-in-law has – they make a green smoothie look so pretty! 

Later in the morning we were getting ready to head to the anniversary party and I knew I’d be eating a variety of things there, so I just munched on a few handfuls of pepitas.

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Then came the party food!  I think my mom gave my aunt a heads up on my eating style, because when I got there my aunt told me she had all my bases covered on the healthy food.  It was very thoughtful! 

My aunt’s kitchen was ENTIRELY covered with food.  I asked her if she had been cooking all week!   Since we did a lot of grazing through the day and I never really made a plate, I’ll just show you the spread:

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(As I uploaded the photo I just realized my adorable niece snuck into the picture too!  Isn’t she a cutie-patootie??)

This layout of food had swedish meatballs, hot chicken sandwiches, a cabbage-n-noodles dish, baked beans, BBQ pork sandwiches, veggie trays, jello salads, shrimp cocktail, assortments of cheeses and crackers, a huge fruit tray, a fruit salad, lil’ smokies, chips & dips, deviled eggs.  Every table in and out had bowls of peanuts, mints or chocolates.  I am SURE I am forgetting plenty of what was there.   My family members all know how to throw a good shindig.

After we got there, I started with the shrimp cocktail and a lot of veggies (cucumbers, celery, red pepper) so that I could fill up on lighter foods and not overdo it on a lot of the denser treats later.

Next, I ate a few crackers, and tried the noodles-n-cabbage dish.

Later in the day, they had a champagne toast and cut the cake.  I first had a half-piece of the white cake filled with raspberry, and then tried a sliver of the chocolate side (because I needed to compare you know…!  ;) )

My cousin’s toast to the Happy Couple of 40 years brought tears to everyone’s eyes - it was truly touching.  40 years of marriage is remarkable these days! 

On into the evening there were backyard games of frisbee with Wii games inside – by then I’d worked up an appetite.  My ‘dinner’ was a bowl of baked beans along with couple of deviled egg halves.  The recipe my mom and aunt use for baked beans has always been one of my favorite ‘comfort food’ dishes -  a trip home to visit the fam would not be complete if I didn’t have those beans!

None of what I ate was a full meal per se so when we made the hour+ trip back to my brother’s house, we were hungry again.  I had a few bites of leftover Cappellini Pomodoro from Olive Garden.  Then we put on our pj’s and stayed up chatting into the night.  :)   It was a great day, seeing a lot of people I hadn’t seen in years and just having some good family time.

My cousin’s husband and I traded green smoothie stories (yay, a health food ally in the family – I’m very happy I’m not the only one).  He uses broccoli and kale often in his mixture. I haven’t tried broccoli in mine, so maybe that will have to be in one of my upcoming concoctions!

OK, so here’s your FitFeat Challenge if you are a fan of football and watching today:  do something active during every commercial (and I don’t mean 12 oz curls… !)    NFL football shows a LOT of commercials!  Pick a couple of body parts and go to town.  In one commercial break, do some ab work with bicycles or crunches.  In another commercial break, try to hold in the squat position for the entire commercial break.  In the next one, do pushups.  You get the idea.  Drop me a comment with what you did during the commercials – maybe we’ll all learn a few new moves!  Add the team you support too!  I support the Denver Broncos (who will be playing the Raiders at 4:15 EDT today) but because I am also a Jay Cutler fan, I now keep an eye on Da Bears here and there. 

If you won’t be watching football, do this with your TV show of choice.  It’s a good way to fit in some movement without feeling like a couch potato.

Have a beautiful Sunday everyone!   See you again tomorrow!

– Shari B. =)

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The Guest Room Workout

Sep 26

Posted by Shari B. in Fit on Vacation, FitFeature | 1 Comment

Good morning and happy Saturday!

I hope that you all had a fabulous Friday yesterday!  Mine was full of fun with my niece and family.  Originally the plan was that I would be Friday’s daycare, but as it turned out I got the whole family instead so that was a BONUS for sure!  We ended up taking a trip to the Toledo Zoo and had a really fun time.

There wasn’t any ‘organized’ exercise on Thursday and Friday to speak of but I was exhausted at the end of each day — I definitely got activity but in a ‘running around’ sort of way.

I tried to make up for it a bit this morning by doing some strength work AND a run.  I present to you the Guest Room Workout for today’s FitFeature (or “Shhhh, Everyone’s Still Sleeping”):

I woke up this morning at 4:48 AM (yes, very early.  I SO wish I could sleep in!)  I had my usual coffee and it was too dark out to head out for a run.  I realized that I hadn’t done any strength work since last Sunday while on the road in the RV so I decided to see if I could very quietly get a workout in while waiting for the rest of the household to wake up.

I had packed my exercise bands to bring along with me, as they are lightweight and take up no room at all in my suitcase and knew they wouldn’t make any noise.

  • Warmup with BW Squats and arm circles
  • 20 Modified Pushups
  • 15 Stationary Lunges (per leg)
  • 20 Modified Pushups
  • 15 Stationary Lunges (per leg)
  • 20 Modified Pushups
  • 15 Stationary Lunges (per leg)
  • 20 Tubing Single Arm Rows (per arm)
  • 20 Glute Raises (per leg)
  • 20 Tubing Single Arm Rows (per arm)
  • 20 Glute Raises (per leg)
  • 20 Tubing Single Arm Rows (per arm)
  • 20 Glute Raises (per leg)
  • 20 Overhead Shoulder Presses w/ Tubing
  • 12 Side Laterals w/ Tubing
  • 20 Overhead Shoulder Presses w/ Tubing
  • 12 Side Laterals w/ Tubing
  • 20 Crunches
  • 20 Overhead Shoulder Presses w/ Tubing
  • 12 Side Laterals w/ Tubing
  • 20 Crunches

While this wasn’t a heavy strength workout by any means, I did get my heartrate up fairly high by performing it as a circuit without rest.  I went with higher reps to aim for some semblance of muscular fatigue without having the heavier weights I usually use.  Had I been outside, I would have liked to include some step-ups or explosive lunges to really work my legs but because I didn’t want to wake the 2 year old sleeping in the next room, this was what I went with.  It’s definitely better than NOT doing anything, and it will hold my muscles over until I get home next week and can get back to working them harder as I usually do.

The moral here is that if you WANT to workout when you travel but don’t have access to a gym or equipment, there’s always something you can do to improvise a program to stay fit.  This can also be said for someone who would prefer not to work out in a gym setting and wants to get started at home without a lot of expense.

So there you have it:  my Guest Room Workout.  :)

After it finally got light outside, I then went out to jog around this great small town on foot.   It was a very enjoyable 3.5 miles and I feel ready to tackle the day!  It will be another busy one, as we are headed off to a big family gathering.

– Shari B. =)

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