FitFeat

Posts Tagged cheat treat

Some Fridays Are Made for Margaritas

Dec 5

Posted by Shari B. in Exercise Instruction, FitFeature | 3 Comments

And last night was one of those nights.  It felt like a long week and I was starvin’ Marvin when MSP got home from work.  So off to the Rio we went for dinner. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this margarita that was about the size of my head.  (Caution:  grainy photos ahead, courtesy of my iPhone!)

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I also thoroughly enjoyed not only chips and salsa, but a “half-order” of their veggie quesadilla.  I asked them to go as light as possible on the cheese since I prefer not to ingest cow’s dairy whenever possible, and they TOTALLY delivered!  To be honest I couldn’t even SEE any cheese on there where I opened it up!  Thanks RIO, you guys rock!  I ate the dollop of guac that didn’t make it into the pic (but not the sour cream that did!)  I also enjoyed the steamed veggies they made for me on the side:  carrots, spinach, squash and red pepper.   It’s been a LONG time since we’ve been to the RIO and it did not disappoint.  I enjoyed every last bite. 

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And then proceeded to fall asleep on the couch the minute I sat down (at about 7:45!)  It was much-needed sleep though!

I’ll work backwards through the rest of my Friday.  When I left the office at 2:15 I had an unpictured decaf soy latte (no chai this time, just coffee) as my afternoon snack.  It was FREEZING outside still and totally hit the spot.

My ‘quickly consumable at my desk’ lunch was half a can of Amy’s Low Sodium Lentil soup with a slice of Ezekial bread and a BUBBLY!!!  (The bubbly always makes me happy!)

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Mid-morning was a Larabar!

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And my breakfast was oatmeal with half of a crumbled Coconut Cream Pie Larabar and a splash of almond milk.  I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again:  crumbled Coconut Cream Pie Larabars are seriously the tastiest topping ever for oatmeal!  TRY IT!

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My Friday morning exercise was 40 minutes of treadmill time (incline intervals) while catching up on this week’s episode of mindless television known as “Melrose Place”.  Even the return of Heather Locklear as Amanda Woodward is in no way making this show better.  I expect a cancellation soon.  If they can cancel great shows like “Lipstick Jungle”  I’m curious how garbage like this revamped version of MP can stay on.  (Yes, it’s been over a year since they cancelled my beloved “Lipstick Jungle” and YES I am still bitter!)

I also owe you my Thursday workout.  It was leg day and I did TABATA!!!  And here were are on Saturday and I’m STILL feeling it!  I’m starting to think I will designate days of the week that start with ”T” as Tabata days!  :)  

Weight Training:  Tabata Legs

  • TM warmup
  • Smith Squats  4 minutes, 74 reps
  • VS Rear Lunges 4 minutes, 44 reps per leg
  • Leg Extensions (machine) 4 minutes, 88 reps
  • Leg Curls (ball) 4 minutes, 80 reps
  • Straight Planks 2 minutes
  • Side Planks 1 minute left, 1 minute right

FitFEATure tip:  If you don’t  have a Tabata interval timer but would like to try Tabata-style weight training, do this:

Do a set of 10-12 reps of an exercise of your choice.  Stop and count to 10.  Then do another set of 10-12 reps.  Stop and count to 10.  Repeat this until you have completed 8 sets of that exercise.  Then move on to the next exercise on your list.  If I’m doing Upper Body, I’ll do one  Tabata round for chest, one for back, for shoulders, then triceps, then biceps. 

Have a SWELL Saturday, friends! 

= Shari B. =)

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The Case of the Rogue Kombucha?

Oct 12

Posted by in Hiking, Keeping Fit | 9 Comments

Good Monday morning to you!

Hope you had a very nice weekend!  Mine was very relaxing due to the chilly weather … there was a lot of indoor lounging going on in my house Saturday and Sunday!  We did get out quite a bit too, but it was so nice each time to come home, get our “comfies” on and relax by the fire with some football on TV.

The 2.7 mile “social-cizing” session yesterday with my good friend Jen was great!  It was definitely cold out, but I bundled up in my down jacket, mittens, earband and new trail runners.  It was like hiking on little pillows.  Perfect!

Sunday eats were rather random, as they often are.  Mainly because we aren’t on any kind of regular schedule and we are usually running errands or out and about.

MSP made me a wonderful breakfast of cage-free eggs with Ezekial toast (and Earth Balance vegan ‘butter’).

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On the side was a small glass of my BUBBLY but for some reason this one wasn’t!  (bubbly that is)  Which freaked me out a little… kombucha tea is made of live cultures.  If it’s not fizzy, does that mean the seal was broken?  Does that mean bad bacteria gets in with the good bacteria? Or do the good live bacteria go all rogue in there and end up bad for you?  AAAAACCCKKK!  So I had a few sips then just had to dump the rest because I was scared!  Additionally, I don’t think Mystic Mango is a flavor I’ll have again.  Odd, I know – seeing how I’m the MANGO-HOLIC.  I’ll stick with my go-tos:  Gingerberry and Divine Grape

During errands out I had a Lemon Larabar.  And a goodie from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (a dark chocolate dipped Oreo).  MSP had a milk chocolate dipped s’more.    Love our Sunday treats!

After the chilly chat session with Jen I came home to watch the remainder of the Broncos game with this plate of goodies:  kale chips, a big plop of hummus, baby carrots and baked pita chips.  Then I went back for seconds on the kale chips and have used up the whole batch I made Saturday.  I’ll have to make some more today!

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When dinnertime rolled around I felt I was really lacking in greens for the day, so I made a supersized green smoothie.  This one had cucumber, kale, green leaf lettuce, spinach, alfalfa sprouts, celery, pepitas, half a banana and half a pear.  Plus about a tablespoon of hemp oil.

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It made two huge glasses … and I couldn’t finish it all!  I got about halfway through the second glass and cried uncle.

I was apparently quite tired because I was out like a light at 8:30.  Which meant I woke up rested and ready for this morning’s workout:

Weight Training (Back/Traps):

  • TM Warmup 5 minutes, followed by arm circles
  • DB Rows 4 working sets of 12, 12, 12, 11 reps
  • Upright Rows 4 working sets of 15, 11, 11, 11 reps
  • DB Shrugs 3 working sets of 16, 15, 15 reps
  • Lower Trap Pulls 3 working sets of 20, 15, 15 reps
  • Rear Delt Flyes 3 sets of 15 reps
  • Tricep Dips 3 sets of 12 reps
  • Ball Crunches 3 sets of 20 reps

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I have another crazy-long list of Monday To-Dos as usual, one of which may be to get started on my “sprouting experiment“.  I bought some cheesecloth yesterday and I have one glass jar set aside and want to try to sprout something.  I happen to have some millet on-hand and have heard that can be sprouted, so that might be my first try.

Do you do any of your own sprouting?  Have you had success?  Any tips you’d like to share with the FitFeat readers? Please drop a comment in the comments section!  We’d love to hear from you!

Also just another quick reminder that FitFeat will soon be going self-hosted, so the web address may change a bit.  I hope to ‘flip the switch’ this coming weekend but will plan to put out a post just prior to the move so you’ll know where to find me!

Thanks again for reading and commenting!  Have a great day and I’ll see ya tomorrow!

– Shari B. =)

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Chillin' with Mr. Bill

Sep 14

Posted by in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Here we are at Monday again already!  And I’m up exceptionally early this morning.  As I begin this post it’s 4:32 a.m. so I’ll apologize now for any potential goofiness or typos!  (Or at least any goofiness BEYOND my normal level!)

My Sunday was so fun because it was nice and simple.  MSP and I wanted to just have a really nice ‘quality time’ kind of day together since I will be away from home for the next two weekends.  It was our planned ‘rest day’ for the week and a planned day to have a treat or two.  We visited a new outdoor mall area, admired a lot of architecture and landscaping, and soaked up some sunshine while strolling along.

First off, I had to use my Eudaemonic Starbucks mug because not only was I happy about our upcoming day together, but the scale gave me excellent feedback on this morning!  I have been aiming to maintain my weight, not necessarily lose.  But by making just a few subtle changes to my eating style, my body has really responded without any effort.  I can see the visual change in my body composition & in the way the clothes are fitting, so I decided to hop on the scale.   It was definitely an eudaemonic moment!   :)   I’ll make a future FitFeature about my philosphy on weighing oneself.

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So naturally I had to thank my bod by giving it more of what it loves!  An ENORMOUS green smoothie.  This one started with the usual 8 oz of water, to which I added 1/2 a cantaloupe, 1/2 pear, 1/4 cucumber, big fist o’ spinach, the last of my sprouts, and a celery stalk.)  No protein powder in this one.  MMMMMMmmmmmm the cantaloupe was a nice touch…  

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When I was ready for something a bit more substantial, I made some oatmeal (about 1/3 cup dry) topped with some almond milk, raisins, a drizzle of raw honey and a few crumbles from a Coconut Cream Pie Larabar.  I can’t even tell you how GOOD that Larabar makes the oatmeal – you need to try it!  I break off about 1/4 to 1/3 of the bar.  This is seriously like dessert. 

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MSP and I went to a few home goods stores in search of something decorative to put on top of the living room project that is underway so at lunchtime we decided to hit up the brand new Whole Foods over in another part of town.  I had a ‘build your own Asian stirfry’ with shrimp, shitake mushrooms, snow peas, asparagus, broccoli, tomatoes, rice noodles, thai peppers, edamame, water chestnust and Thai Lime sauce.  It was fabulous and SO HUGE that I will probably be eating from this all week. 

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We then wandered through every aisle of this Whole Foods.  It is SO MUCH BIGGER than the one by our house!  I’m so jealous!  I was “oooing and ahhing” all over that store.  I picked up some Sunshine falafel ‘burgers’ while I was there because our store doesn’t carry that flavor.  I’ll definitely go out of my way to shop at this one more often. 

The bakery at this particular Whole Foods was amazing as well.  So we couldn’t resist picking out some treats to take home for a mid-afternoon snack/dessert.  This little guy reminded me of Mr. Bill!  He’s almost too cute to eat!

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See the resemblance? 

Mr Bill

 OHHHHH NOOOOOOO! 

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I also had this green mini-cutie.  I really think they should put some more frosting on their cupcakes.  ;)

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The rest of the afternoon and evening were spent in a sugar-induced fog.  My tummy was a bit unhappy with me for the blast of sugar, so all I really wanted was something light to snack on.  I had some Baked Scoops while I watched some football and later polished off my manchego sheep’s cheese.  
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It was a great way to finish out the weekend! 

Today’s questions:  If you are one who is normally a healthy eater, do you eat occasional treats?  Or do you find it easier to just exclude them altogether?  Personally I like to treat myself to something sugary that I consider ‘fun’ every once in a while – in part because I usually feel not so great after and it reinforces why I choose to eat nutritious food the rest of the time.  Drop me a comment! 

Hope your week is off to a great start!  See you next time!

– Shari B. =)

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Don't Finish What You Start (dessert, that is!)

Sep 7

Posted by in FitFeature | 2 Comments

Hi fit peeps!  Hopefully you have the day off for the Labor Day holiday!  Mondays are great when you don’t have to head in to the office, right?  ;)

So my Sunday was delightful.  It was a planned rest day from exercise so I was pretty much a ‘lump on a log’ most of the day.  I did a little painting project and then finished a book I’d been reading on the Kindle.  (Hey speaking of Kindle, if you happen to own one:  Amazon seems to regularly offer a few books for free to drum up some buzz for authors.  The one I just finished was called “Raising Jake” which I originally got for free and is now out there for $9.60.   They also have a lot of classics for free download as well, like “Pride & Prejudice”.  Thought I’d share, since we all love to save some money!)

Sunday started much like every other day, with my favorite liquid, this time presented for your viewing pleasure in my DENVER mug (from Starbucks, of course!):

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And then (drum roll please……) my chocolate chip MUFFIN!

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(with a cup of almond milk in my “thumb mug”)  Oh wow has it been a long time since I’ve had one of these.  It was DEEE-LISH!  I ate about 2/3 and then realized I’d had my fill.  At that point, I noticed that I was eating it just because it tasted so good and no longer because I was hungry, so I stopped and the rest went to MSP, who gladly finished it off for me!

Throughout the morning I had a few leftover chickpeanuts, but the muffin was so filling I didn’t need anything substantial again until lunch.   When I finally did get hungry I had some of my leftover tofu chili with a side of veggies and hummus (there’s one of those wonky carrots again!):

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Shortly after I felt mostly full but could use a bite of something ‘desserty’ to change the taste some, so I broke off a piece of a Chocolate Coconut Larabar (about a third of the bar):

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Later we had a few errands to run and MSP treated me to one of my favorite ‘fast food’ places ever, Tokyo Joe’s! I use fast food lightly because it’s really a great place to get a quick healthy meal.  I chose the Hookipa Salad which has grilled salmon, ginger, greens, edamame, dried cranberries, pecans and a side of soy ginger dressing.   It comes stuffed to the brim in a huge bowl:

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So I cut the salmon in half and dished out half the salad onto a plate so that I have some for another time:

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Oh this salad is SOOOO good.  I just love it.  Tokyo Joe’s rocks.  If you have one nearby, you should go there today :)

MSP was craving rice krispy treats while we’d been out and about so we picked him up the goods to get it made in the evening.  He also wanted them to have chocolate topping, so he also bought a bag of chocolate chips to melt down and smear on top of his creation.  After they cooled he enjoyed his evening snack, while I munched on a few of the leftover chocolate chips.  Here’s something I was was surprised to learn:   Can you believe that Rice Krispies have high fructose corn syrup in them??? I mean really – it’s puffed rice for crying out loud!  What’s the point of ruining it with HFCS?  I don’t know why it surprised me so, but it did in this particular cereal.

Right at bedtime at 9:30 (yes, 9:30 on a weekend night – and that’s LATE for me!  I tell ya, my sleep is important to me!) I got really hungry, so I stirred a quick scoop of Amazing Grass “Amazing Meal” since I hadn’t had my green smoothie for the day.  This would have to suffice. :)   This is one of the few powdered green drinks I actually like.  It’s meant to be a meal replacement shake, as it’s balanced with protein, carbs and fat.  I like it because it’s easily portable – it doesn’t require a blender and it mixes really well with water.

AM_Original_Large140x257 Image from amazinggrass.com

So the FitFeature that I’d like to touch on today, especially as many of you may be heading to Labor Day BBQs and parties:  as I mentioned above, while I was enjoying my ‘planned cheat treat’ chocolate chip muffin, once I’d had my fill it was time to stop eating it.  If you are trying to lose weight or be fitter/healthier, this is a healthy habit to learn!  One of my personal training clients who then became one of my closest friends was great at this and I always admired her resolve.  When we’d meet for drinks or dinner, she would always order dessert.  She would have a few bites and then she was DONE.  She tasted it and had enough to enjoy it,  which kept her from feeling deprived of great foods and kept her from feeling like she was dieting.  So many foods taste GREAT in the first few bites, but then the ‘magic’ disappears.  Bethenny Frankel calls it “The Point of Diminishing Return”.

Don’t just continue to eat something because it tastes good – when  you are full, STOP EATING IT. :)   With high calorie decadent food, don’t finish what you start!

Alrighty friends, I’m off to start my day!  Have a sunny and safe Labor Day!  See ya next time!

– Shari B. =)

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