FitFeat

where daily feats & eats can be adventures in themselves

Posts Tagged dog walk

Get Your Green Drink On

Mar 17

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 6 Comments

Hi friends!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  Mother Nature is giving us plenty of green to look at this week for the holiday!  We’re having a little burst of spring!  It was over 60 degrees out and we get two more days of this!  Wahoo!

So you know what that meant for yesterday’s exercise right?  OUTDOOR RUN!  4.88 miles. It was glorious.  Then in the evening before dinner we took the dogs out for a walk which came to about 2.7 miles.  If Riley didn’t need to stop THREE times for No. 2 every time we walk her we’d be able to get more mileage in!  (I’m promise I’m not exaggerating about that!) Between Rascal’s one stop and Riley’s three stops, not only do we use a lot of pick-up bags (biodegradable, of course!) but it takes forever to complete a loop of less than 3 miles.  :) This is why I stopped running with them!

The best part of walking them is this:

Love it when they are tuckered out in the house and CALM!

So in honor of the GREEN holiday, I challenge you to drink a GREEN SMOOTHIE today in addition to wearing green (or I might have to pinch you!)  ;)

If you need a recipe, check out the Build-A-Meal tab to pick one and get started!

I am adding Sweet Clover sprouts to my smoothies (and wraps) this week, since they had them at the store, which is a fun change from my usual alfalfa sprouts and quite fitting for St. Patty’s Day!

What is your favorite GREEN food to add to smoothies or sandwiches? I think mine is probably avocado.  I get pretty excited when I slice open an avocado and it is perfectly green with no brown spots.  I love it smeared on things (in place of mayo or butter), I love it chopped and added into a salad, and I especially LOVE the creamy texture that avocado adds to my green smoothies!

Off to get the crazy day of the week started!  Wednesdays are bananas!

Have a FUN & SAFE St. Patty’s Day everyone!  Let me know if you had a green smoothie today!

– Shari B. =)

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Can’t Every Day Be Sunday?

Jan 18

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 4 Comments

Hello blog buds!  Happy Monday to you!

I hope that you all had a marvelous weekend.  Ours was absolutely LOVELY.

Saturday MSP and I met up with a friend for a run at our favorite hilly trail where we did a two-loop route for a total of 5.48 miles, which included almost 1000′ of elevation gain.  It rocked. My pre-run fuel of two pieces of Ezekial toast with a light smear of organic raw almond butter and a sprinkle of coconut completely did the trick.  I felt perfectly energized for the run.

After we got back and did some deep stretching, I made a delicious post-run green smoothie.  Something about putting my smoothie in this container makes it look like some sort of chemistry class experiment!

At lunchtime I was in the mood for some of the baby bellas I’d purchased so I lightly sauteed them and added some spinach.

Then I wrapped them up in a whole wheat tortilla with some tomato, hummus, pepitas and very light sprinkle of shredded raw goat cheddar.  And an umeboshi plum on the side with some extra spinach.  I came back for more mushrooms after I finished the wrap and polished off almost the entire batch!

On Sunday we wanted to get outside again and include the dogs, so we mapped out a route to a Starbucks and set out first thing in the morning.  We we able to access it almost directly using the bike trail, but we thought it would be a much longer route than it was.  We ended up only getting in 3.8 miles roundtrip.  But the dogs LOVED it and the trail has hills (because there is no place near us that DOESN’T have hills it seems) so we felt our calves and glutes as the day went on.

Some of the highlights from Sunday’s eats included some brown rice veggie rolls from Whole Foods:

A new vegan burrito (from the frozen section) that wasn’t too shabby for a good “lazy girl meal”…

To which I added my own salsa and avocado after heating:

And for some snackage during the football game, some homemade microwave popcorn with soy-free Earth Balance vegan spread, sea salt and nutritional yeast:

Our weekend felt like a perfect balance of exercise with healthy food, plus some relaxation and snacks.

***

How about you?  Did you have a FIT-filled weekend?

Those of you who are back at your desks today who may have missed the Saturday post, check out this reminder to Stop, Drop and Roll (Your Shoulders) while you are at your desks.

Thank you for all of your comments over the weekend – I’ll be replying to each of them as soon as I click the publish button on this post so don’t think I forgot about ya!  And coming up this week on FitFeat, I’ve got a few FitFeatures relating to prescription meds as well as tracking your exercise.

Have a magnificent Monday!

– Shari B. =)

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Chili and Ice

Jan 12

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 5 Comments

Hi blog buds!  How’s your Tuesday treating ya?  I hope I’m not throwing off your reading schedule by posting in the afternoon the last couple of days.  I thought I’d play with my schedule a bit to see which I like better.  What I’m coming up with is post when it fits, instead on a SCHEDULE! :)   Hopefully it doesn’t matter if it’s morning or afternoon!

Well Monday turned out to be a fun exercise day.  First I did 25 minutes of intervals on the treadmill in the morning.  I really do get bored on the treadmill and have to vary my speed and/or incline constantly just to stay interested.  After a quick warm-up I did 1 minute intervals of 6.0, 6.5, 7.0, 7.5 mph running then walk one minute, then increase the incline a notch and do it again.  The time goes by so much faster that way.

Then when I pulled in the driveway after work, our street had been plowed again!  Which is good on one hand because at least they were moving all of the big ice chunks onto the sunny side of the street.  Unfortunately that also meant our ‘ice trench’ was covered up AGAIN!!!  So I put on my grubbies and some waterproof boots and went out there to dig yet another trench.  It was 50 degrees yesterday so things were just starting to melt a bit in the shaded part of our street.

This ice issue in front of our house has become the neighborhood comedy – neighbors sure like to chuckle at me every day as they drive by, thinking “Suckers!  You got stuck with the worst lot on the street!”  :)   I appreciate that it at least provides a neverending workout, that’s for sure.

But THEN the exercise gets better … because it was so nice out, I couldn’t resist getting the dogs out for a some WOGGING!  It’s been so long I think they forgot what WOGGING is (and you readers may have as well!)  I can’t keep a steady pace with my crazy pups because they like to stop every two seconds to sniff something, then run, then sniff.   So we’re walking AND jogging:  WOGGING.  They had a blast and actually didn’t drive me insane this time.  I think it had something to do with the treats I stashed in my pocket.  ;)   It was perfect weather for a walk.  Now THIS is the Colorado winter weather I love and miss!

***

Every weekend, usually on Sunday, I sit down to come up with food ideas for the week for his dinners (mine are much easier because I always have veggies on hand and as such always have a salad, wrap, sandwich, soup, etc.)  This time MSP said he wanted me to make my mom’s chili during the week, but make it VEGETARIAN.  I’m sorry, say that again? Did you just tell me to make VEGETARIAN chili?  By George, he did!  He said he’d be fine if I used a meat substitute for the beef so that we could both eat it.  (When I made it last time, I just made two pots side by side, mine without beef, his with.) He’s the best, huh?  No wonder I love him to pieces.  :)

So I picked up some Gimme Lean “Ground Beef Style Veggie Protein” and used that in place of the beef.  My mom’s chili is awesome.  We love it.  And it’s very easy and we had it last night for dinner.

I always seem to change the recipe around in some way.  Here’s what I did this time:

Brown 1 package Gimme Lean “ground beef” veggie product in the bottom of  a large soup pot.  If you like onions, you can brown it with that.  I just added a little onion powder, since MSP doesn’t like onions.

After browning, add the following to the pot:

  • 46 oz can of tomato juice
  • 15 oz can organic azuki beans (rinsed & drained)
  • 15 oz can organic kidney beans (rinsed & drained)
  • 1/4 tsp celery salt
  • 1/2 to 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 2 Tbsp chili powder

Simmer for a few hours.

I plated my helping over some spiralized zucchini (just for Cindy, since she wants a spiralizer) and then topped it with some nutritional yeast (in place of cheese).  Mmmm my mom’s home cooking, with a twist!

What are your favorite beans to use in chili?  Are you a WHITE BEAN chili lover or a RED BEAN chili lover? I like ALL chili colors!  :)   I don’t think I could pick a favorite.  I just love BEANS, period!

– Shari B.  =)

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Perfect Ending, Perfect Beginning

Jan 2

Posted by Shari B. in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Hi friends!  Thank you so much for all of the congratulatory messages yesterday for our anniversary.  We had a GREAT day!

We got to eat some Chinese food for lunch:

Miso Soup

Spicy Shrimp & Veggies

We finally got the pups out for a WOG (it’s been a long time!) 

We “visited” Wii Resort for an activity-filled afternoon:  canoeing, skydiving, wakeboarding, archery, swordfighting, frisbee, ping-pong, tandem cycling and jet-skiing.  I think we played EVERY game that comes on this disc.

I was working so hard playing I needed a protein-shake break!  This one turned out SOOOO yummy!  Half a scoop of my new Life’s Basics protein, half a scoop of chocolate Vega, almond milk and carob powder.  Can’t beat a protein shake that mimics a chocolate milkshake.

We had a delicious dinner of salad and pita pizza:

This particular pita pizza turned out to be KNOCK-YER-SOX-OFF good.  I cut half of the pita off like so:

Added a light smear of olive oil, nutritional yeast, sliced romas, olives, a very LIGHT sprinkle of shredded raw goat cheddar.  Then I lightly sauteed one whole portabella, 1/3 zucchini, and a big handful of spinach to add on top.  Baked at 425 for about 10 minutes and then devoured. It was tastebud heaven.

Then we enjoyed a little anniversary treat:  MSP and I shared a piece of white cake (to give the ‘illusion’ of wedding cake ;) – but wedding cake always tastes so much better – must be all the LOVE surrounding it at receptions!)

It was the perfect day – hanging out together and having a lot of laughs.

Today is ‘back to business’ day:  get out for a run, some blog work, take down the Christmas tree and decorations, housecleaning, write thank-you notes, etc.  A “to-do list” kind of day!

But before I get busy on ‘chores’, I have to rewind a bit back to new Year’s Eve.  Talk about another fun-filled day!

I woke up at 4:00 AM as you may recall from my post that morning, worried that I would NEVER be able to make it until midnight.  I got in 45 minutes of cardio (treadmill/boogie combo) so that was good.  The work day flew by and then I came home to start getting my stuff organized to take to the dinner we were invited to that evening.

I took a huge salad, the sweet cashew cheese with crackers, hummus and baked pita chips, a big veggie tray and some marinated mushrooms:

Even MSP liked the cashew cheese (be sure to serve it with a slightly sweet cracker – I think it makes a big difference.  We used Carr’s Whole Wheat cracker which almost has a shortbread texture.)

The dinner our friends made was AMAZING.  I enjoyed two HUGE crab legs while MSP had steak (he’s the Turf to my Surf.)  We all played Wii “Band Hero” (which I must admit I am TERRIBLE at) right up until it was time to see the ball drop.  And at about 12:20, it was time for us to scoot so we could get home and to sleep.  I was awake until 1:00 (which meant by that time I’d been up for 21 hours straight).  I was out cold the minute my head hit the pillow.

The last few days have been filled with such good times, great friends, fun healthy food, games that require movement – the perfect ending to the year Thursday night and the perfect start to the new year yesterday.

Here’s to 364 more days just like it!

Have a SWELL Saturday, FitFeat friends!

– Shari B. =)

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Ice Ice Baby, Dance Dance Lady

Dec 11

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 8 Comments

Well hello there FitFeat friends!  Happy Friday to you!  Second-to-last shopping weekend before Christmas – are you on schedule? 

I’d say it’s beginning to look a little TOO much like Christmas inside our house.  I present exhibit A.

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No, that is not a freezer in dire need of defrosting.  Look very closely – zoom in!  That would be the INSIDE of our guest bedroom window.  This next photo might make a pretty postcard if only the ICE were on the OUTSIDE!! 

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This is apparently what a few days of below-zero nights and days in the single digits does to our windows.  We’ve lived in this house for 4 years and have never seen this happen – it was 1/4″ thick at the bottom, at least!  Need new windows much?  (Know any blogs giving away windows instead of VitaMix blenders?)  You’d think we lived in a house that was 100  years old.  It’s only 12 years old!  

I am showing you these pictures so you have proof of why I haven’t been outside running.  Or dog-wogging. 

(And as a side note for the record, yes it is true – Heather is giving away a VitaMix - you have until Sunday so get on over there and enter!)

Speaking of blending, someone is anxiously awaiting their green smoothie … and it’s NOT me!

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Rascal now knows that when he hears the sound of the blender, he gets a little green smoothie poured into his bowl.  (And judging from that roll of pudge behind his neck,  you can see that he could use a few green smoothies in place of his “lean” dog food… I think I want our money back.  It’s making them FATTER!)

26 ounces for me… 3 oz for each of the pups! 

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Lunch at work today was a vegan Sunshine burger patty topped with 1/4 avocado, a slice of tomato and a drizzle of peppercorn ranch.  It was perfect.  If I can’t SEE sunshine, at least I can eat some.

1 burger

A tall soy steamer on my way home.

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A quick-n-easy veggie wrap for dinner (Nasoya FF mayo, 1/4 avocado, tomato, spinach, sea salt & pepper on a whole wheat tortilla. 

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I also had a GINGER cookie that has been taunting me since Sunday.  Just had to do it.  :)

Thursday’s exercise was a TOTAL BLAST.  As usual I bored of the treadmill after 32 minutes and had to move on to a little BOOGIE session!  And the songs that were coming from Pandora.com were so good I couldn’t stop!  So I got another 40 minutes of DANCE  DANCE CARDIO in my basement.  Too .. much .. fun .. to actually be counted as exercise!  But my heart rate stayed in the 150′s so heck yeah it counts!

During my training client’s session Thursday morning, we saw an ad for the new Wii game called “Just Dance”.  Have you seen this???  I am SO going to rent it.  It looks silly yet insanely fun!  Now I won’t have to hide in the basement to get my dance on … I’ll be able to do it right in front of the TV!

If this is the only way I can get MSP to dance with me, I’ll take it!  :)

Have a FANTASTIC Friday, friends!  Make it a FEATful day!

– Shari B =)

 

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Thai-hini Stir Fry

Nov 12

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 12 Comments

That would be pronounced “tie-heenie” not “hiney” – this is a family friendly blog and I see you over there giggling like a 12-year old boy…  ;)  

So “Thai-hini StirFry” was dinner last night!  I used to make a Spicy Thai Peanut Stirfry developed by Stella’s Kitchen.  But I have tweaked it so much that now it’s not even remotely like the original.  I finally gave into HEAB’s subliminal tahini messages and bought jar yesterday.  

For the sauce:

  • 1/4 c tahini
  • 2 tsp thai red curry paste
  • 1 tbsp lite soy sauce
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 3/4 tsp honey
  • 1/2 tsp lime juice
  • 1 tbsp pineapple juice (my stirfry had a few chunks of pineapple in it, but you can omit the juice if you aren’t adding pineapple)

Mix all ingredients with a fork until smooth and creamy.

This was a double batch of sauce because I needed to make one stir-fry pan for MSP (with meat) and one for moi (without meat).  If you like more spicy HEAT in your food, add more of the red curry paste, and maybe a pinch of cayenne & red pepper flakes.

My pan had carrot, celery, broccoli, zucchini, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, and about 6 bite-sized pieces of pineapple.  Stirfried for about 5 minutes in a smidge of coconut oil.  Once the veggies are done, add the “thai-hini” sauce, mix around to coat veggies (adding water a few tablespoons at a time if you like a thinner consistency.)  Serve.

For a meat version, I stirfried one large chicken breast cut into bite-sized pieces until close to done, then added in some bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and whole baby corn cobs.  Continue stirfrying until the veggies are heated through, then add the “thai-hini” sauce, coat well (again adding a little water if you like it thinner).  I served his on a bed of brown rice and sprinkled both plates with toasted sesame seeds.  

The final products:

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We sat down last evening ready to enjoy “Modern Family” as I had mentioned in yesterday’s post, only to find that it WASN’T ON thanks to the CMA’s.  Noooooo!  I had been looking forward to it all day.  I must admit I was a little crushed.  :(   Recorded “Mad Men” would have to suffice.

To recap the rest of the Tuesday eats, I started the morning post-yoga and post-dog wogging with a scoop of Amazing Meal (green food drink).  A green smoothie was still sounding a little to bone-chilling, and this mixture was room temperature. 

Mid-morning I had the usual piece of toasted Ezekial with raw almond butter and raw honey drizzle.  I almost ALWAYS forget the photo before taking the first bite.  A little green tea on the side:

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Lunch was a good sized salad that somehow looks small when shown below.  Spinach, zucchini ribbons, carrot shavings, dulse, sundried tomatoes, with about 1/2 tbsp of Goddess dressing and the leftover half of a Sunshine burger.   New lesson learned:  reheated sunshine burgers become sunshine rocks.   And not “rocks” like “dude that rocks” but rocks like this:

missing tooth

And a bubbly on the side!  Gingerberry flavor!  Gotta keep pumping those probiotics in me to fight off all the flu bugs out there!

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The salad was so tasty, I thought you’d like a close-up!

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Dessert was a large spoonfull of mashed sweet potato and cinnamon.

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How ’bout  my fortune with a side of Ginger Snap Larabar? 

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Why thank you fortune, I agree!

I made a “quick trip” to the grocery store to pick up a few things to make dinner.  And it turned into this:

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I can never make it out of the grocery store for less than $40.  I could go EVERY day and still end up with $40 worth of stuff each time.  The same thing happens with Costco only those visits are always $100.  What is this strange phenomenon??  MSP is having lunch with a coworker today at Whole Foods and invited me along, but I’m scared that another $40 will mysteriously fly out of my wallet if I step through their front doors!

But look at all the goodies I got!  Spinach, sprouts, broccoli, clementines, apples, grapefruit, avocado, mango, tomato, squash, bananas, pear and even some cranberries courtesy of all of Cindy’s cranberry creations.  I too would like a facemask that I nibble on while applying! ;)

Today’s discussion:

Does this happen to you at the grocery store?  Do you avoid going often because you suffer from this odd affliction that I too have?  :)   Drop me a comment – I need to know if I’m alone in this or not! 

Random note:

Can you believe Thanksgiving is only 2 weeks away???  What?  I’ll be putting up my Christmas tree and decorations two weeks from tomorrow?  (I always do this on the day after Thanksgiving.)  I better break out my Harry Connick Jr. holiday CD and start baking some healthy cookies, so I can force myself into the holiday mood!  I love this time of year – it’s just that this year it seems to have really snuck up on me.

Bday Wishes:

Also, I’d like to give a bday shout-out to Gina the Fitnessista.  Enjoy YOUR day!!   

Have a TERRIFIC Thursday everyone!

– Shari B. =)

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Wii Wii, Chocomole

Nov 7

Posted by Shari B. in Recipes | 2 Comments

Happy Saturday friends!

Hope you are all having a lovely weekend.  I’m checking in with a quick Feats & Eats recap from Friday.

I did a Tabata-style workout for legs.  It was short, burned like FIRE and has me crazy sore today:

Tabata Legs:

  • TM Warmup 5 minutes
  • Smith Machine Squats 4 minutes
  • Leg Extensions 4 minutes
  • Lying Leg Curls 4 minutes

Afterward I had intended on doing an Iron Yoga session, but the DVR was acting up and after fighting with it for 15 minutes,  it definitely put me in an anti-zen mood so I threw in the towel. :)

A dog wogging session would have to suffice.  Just a quick 25 minute outing in the unseasonably warm weather.

One of my snacks during the day was this bite-sized Tropical Fruit Tart Larabar that my friend Beth gave to me  (thanks Beth!)  Mmmm so good:

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Lunch was with a great friend at a local asian cafe, so I had steamed veggies with a bowl of miso soup (and the greasy egg roll that came with it).

On the way home I picked up a Gingerade BUBBLY!  Which I am slowly savoring.  I had half and saved the rest for later.  Those darn bubbly drinks make me happy!

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MSP and I skipped a ‘regular’ dinner and had cereal instead, mine being Kashi Go Lean.  We had friends coming over at 7:00 for some WII NIGHT fun.  I was in the mood to try some new food to put out for snacks yet still stay on the healthy side.

First off I made some marinated mushrooms.

I started with the inspiration from a recipe at Allrecipes.com but made a few modifications. Here’s how I made them:

  • 1/3 cup filled with half rice wine vinegar and half balsamic vinegar
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 small onion, thinly sliced
  • 3/4 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons dried parsley
  • 1/2 teaspoon prepared spicy mustard
  • 3/4 tablespoon agave nectar
  • 2 cloves minced garlic (from jar)
  • 1 pound small fresh button mushrooms

All ingredients except the mushrooms went into a saucepan and brought to a boil.  Add mushrooms, simmer for 12 minutes, stirring often.  Transfer to glass dish for chilling before serving.  Use slotted spoon to drain mushrooms for serving presentation. Don’t forget to set out some toothpicks!

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They turned out really tasty and more elegant than my other usual appetizers (which I still served) and included:

Carrots with homemade hummus:

img 649Brown-bag popcorn sprinkled with sea salt and chili powder:

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And some unpictured Baked Tostito Scoops with salsa.

Last but not least, I FINALLY tried making Gena’s Chocomole for the evening’s dessert.  I’ve been wanting to try this recipe since the first time I saw it.  And I needed to do it sneakily so that MSP wouldn’t know that it was made of avocados before he actually ate it.

I used 2 avocados, 1/2 smashed banana, 10 pitted dates, 1 tsp vanilla extract, 2 tbsp carob powder, water to drizzle as needed.

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This recipe ROCKED!  I loved it.  And I especially loved knowing that it wasn’t chock full of hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup or chemicals. It was SUPER rich and creamy.  Next time I will be sure to soak my dates, as they didn’t come out quite as smoothly in the food processor as I would have liked, (and Gena does mention that dates may need to be soaked prior) but it was still FAB.  Next time I think I will get a tart or pie crust of some sort and use it as a filling.  When I served it to our guests, I topped it with a little all-natural egg nog ice cream.  My serving was sans ice cream but I did add a few sprinkles of coconut.

Heavenly is what that dessert was.  And MSP ate AVOCADO!!! (muah-ha-ha! <insert evil grin>) He liked it, and wasn’t totally horrified when I told him what was in it.  But he did say he’d really have been fine with just NOT knowing that it was avocado.

We love Wii Night with friends!  Thanks J & G for hanging with us!!  It was fun!

Well blog buds, it’s a gorgeous Saturday and none of us should be sitting indoors on a computer, so I’m gonna skeedaddle and get outside!

Make it a SPECTACULAR Saturday!

– Shari B. =)

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All That and a Bag of (Kale) Chips

Nov 4

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking, Product Review | 4 Comments

Hello FitFeat Friends!

Whew, what a busy bee kind of morning it’s been so far, and it’s only 8:47 as I begin to type this.  I’ve had a lot of blog-related catch up to do this morning, emails to reply to, made a pancake b-fast for MSP today, am still in my PJs and have yet to finish my post!  What’s weird is my coffee this morning seemed to be UBER-caffeinated! I used the same single-serve pod brand that I’ve used every day for years, and today it hit me like a truck for some reason.  I am having a hard time sitting still, my fingers are going faster than my brain and I feel almost shaky!  Crazy java!  Maybe the dogs slipped a”wog ruffie” into my mug, in hopes that I’d take them out to burn off this extra energy ;)

Speaking of dogs… yesterday’s exercise included a 30 minute WOG for the pups.  Poor Riley hadn’t been out for a real wog since her cone-inducing incident.  And you could sure tell.  She was a maniac!  I spent most of that 30 minutes snapping her leash, shouting “Riley, BACK”.  I think she has stubborn mule syndrome short term memory problems because she only follows commands now for about a millisecond and then goes right back to whatever she was doing before I corrected her.   She thinks she can get away with anything now that she’s OLD, but I’m on to her little scheme.  :)

Since the wog was more for them than for me, I then hopped on the treadmill afterward, while watching an episode of “Eastwick” on Hulu.  It was 40 minutes of interval fun!  Speedwork this time:  I focused on including intervals of 9+ mph.  It was definitely a sweat-maker!  I might have to do it again today!  :)

Yesterday’s eats included a quick bite before my a.m. client, Ezekial toast (which looks to be drowing in vegan ‘non-butter’ but really it just doesn’t melt well!)

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Later a PUMPKINY green smoothie…

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This one had:

  • 1/2 cucumber
  • sweet clover sprouts
  • 1/2 banana
  • about 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
  • palmful of raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
  • BIG fist o’spinach
  • 1/2 cantaloupe

I felt like NOT having a salad for lunch, so how ’bout a salad in a can?  Amy’s Organic Minestrone, mmm warm and veggie-ful.

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Late afternoon while I was prepping dinner stuff, I made a little batch of kale chips, this time with a good dash of nutritional yeast… and ate the whole batch.

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We’ve been craving a visit to Garbanzo’s lately and just haven’t made it up there, so I decided we’d make our own homemade version.  I finally tried this box of Falafel mix I had in my pantry.  I wanted to see if it was easier better than the ones I’d made from scratch.  The answer:  NO WAY.  Not that the ones I made at home were all that and a bag of kale chips, but these were SO flipping dry you felt like you needed to load them up on some sort of sauce, which we did not have.

In their defense, I did follow their “broiling” instructions rather than frying them in oil.  They obviously wouldn’t be so dry if they were sopping around in a pan of olive oil before eating.  But that would defeat the purpose of them being a bit healthier than the charred deepfried version we get when eating at Garbanzo.  Sorry “Fantastic World Foods”, this one won’t make it into my grocery basket again anytime soon.

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Here’s how my plate turned out:  smeared with my  homemade hummus, topped with a little rice pilaf, some roasted zucchini & baby bellas,  a rooster tail of romaine and 1/4 whole wheat pita.  Oddly, the broiled falafel look like GINGER COOKIES!!

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And MSP made his into a pita pocket (sadly lacking any veggie action) :)

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I need to make a good cucumber dill sauce to put on our leftovers to combat the dryness, so I’ll be on the hunt for a good (read:  EASY) recipe that I can use MimicCreme in.  :)   If you  have one, please feel free to share in the comments section!  Or if you  have a homemade healthy falafel recipe that you love, please share that too!

OK, fit peeps, I need to get this party started moving on my Wednesday.  Don’t forget to email me a pic of your awesome bicep flexing for FLEX IT FRIDAY before midnight Thursday!  If you have a blog, be sure to include your blog address in the email so that I can mention it!

Have a brilliant day and I’ll see ya next time!

– Shari B. =)

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Look Ma, No Hands!

Oct 26

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 7 Comments

Hi friends!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!  I took Sunday “off” from blogging to be with my cousins, since one of them already has to fly home this afternoon.   I’ll rewind way back to Saturday morning for a few updates.

MSP and I wanted to get out for a run before our guests arrived, since we knew it’d be a little tough to break away for a workout after that. We had a BEAUTIFUL run along Willow Creek for 4.4 miles.  The weatherman said it was 55 out… and you’d think by now I’d know better than to trust him!  But I left my mittens at home anyway because I DID trust him!  And boy was I sorry!  We both thought it felt a little more like 25 than 55.  My little hands were red and freezing the whole time.

Have you ever tried to run with your hands stuffed in your pockets?  One word:  AWKWARD!  Imagine someone running with their hands plastered to their sides and think of how funny that looks.  Then put me in that vision.. that was me.  Maybe this was an instance of “you just had to be there” for it to be funny, but for some reason it cracks me up! 

I am a little TOO energetic first thing in the morning...

Sometimes I'm TOO energetic first thing in the morning!

I’ve never been one of those runners who can go outside in shorts when it’s cold out.  I see people wearing tiny running shorts and a long-sleeved shirt with maybe hat and gloves when it’s below freezing.  And then there’s me with insulated running pants, dry-wicking shirt, fleece pullover and down running jacket.  Usually with an earband AND a scarf.  I’d rather tie all those layers around my waist once I get warm than freeze my A$$ off for the first 20 minutes of my run. 

After our run we came home to finish up the remaining items on my housecleaning to-do list, including some Doodie Duty (aka:  squat-n-scoops) so at least I got a little leg training in.  ;)   Then zipped off to the airport.  Later in the afternoon we set up a “snack buffet” of pita chips with hummus, baked tostito scoops with salsa, and carrot sticks with my homemade navy bean dip.  We watched the Cincinnati Bearcats game and just chilled inside while it was chilly outside.

That evening we ordered some gluten-free veggie pizza delivery from Garlic Jim’s so I had a piece of that with my usual extra-large ‘side salad’. 

Sunday brought snow AGAIN, two rounds.  One first thing in the morning then another one at about 2:30.  It’s not even winter yet, and I’m already ready for spring!  ;)   We all bundled up and took the dogs out for a walk… about 3 miles.

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Post-walk nutrients:

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Look what my cousin Lisa brought me from Ohio!  A PLETHORA of PISTACHIO…!

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(Wahooo!  Thank you Lisa!)  You know I had to gobble one up almost immediately.

We had a little “burrito/taco bar” action for lunch:

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Here’s mine (whole wheat tortilla, Tofutti, mashed avocado, homemade blackbean dip, spinach and chunky salsa).  My “burrito” looks suspiciously like a “wrap”.  :)

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We did a little sightseeing at Red Rocks Amphitheater before the snow REALLY kicked in.

Once home again we were feeling “snacky” so I made some baked purple kale:

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I ate almost the whole batch myself!

And some baked sweet potato chips sprinkled with cinnamon – these went over better with my guests than the kale did…

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We played a little Wii and watched a couple of movies while snacking on the above chips (and some Halloween TWIX). 

It is supposed to be sunny today so I’m crossing my fingers that maybe we can get out for a hike before noon when we have to head back to the airport.  I’m hoping that I’ll have a few great scenery shots to share with you in the next post.

Have an excellent Monday, friends! 

– Shari B. =)

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The Lunge: Love to Hate It

Oct 20

Posted by Shari B. in Exercise Instruction, FitFeature | 6 Comments

Hello there friends! 

Oh my goodness, where to start today.  I always seem to have more words than time!  :)

Let’s start with the FEATS recap:

Weight Training  (Legs/Abs):

  • TM Warmup 5 min
  • High Step Ups 3 sets of 15 reps per leg
  • Plie Squat with Pulses 3 sets of 40 reps
  • Side Step Ups 3 sets of 15 reps per leg
  • V-Ups for Abs 3 sets of 20 reps
  • VS Snow Angels 3 sets of 20 reps

Afterward, I left the conehead at home with MSP (to save her the ridicule from all the other doggies out on wogs), grabbed Rascal and we went for a quick 2.11 mile run.  Just enough to get him a little activity for the day.  Why are my dogs so good when they are taken out by themselves and such little freak-monsters when they go together?  Are kids like that?  It was a great little run – felt so good after working the legs.

A scoop of Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer mixed with almond milk and a banana served as my post-workout meal, with a little fall view in the background.

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Mid-morning brought about the urge for apple pie, a la Larabar.  For some reason I felt the need to include more fall foilage in the shot since apple pie feels so very “autumn” to me…

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I was so hungry at lunch I completely forgot to take a photo.  I had the leftover shrimp & scallops takeout with a single “Simply…Cookie” for dessert.

I had a doc appointment after lunchtime way out east of where I live.  My ‘health food store radar’ went off like crazy over there  – they have a very new & much bigger Vitamin Cottage that I had to visit.  This is where I did some of the shopping for the giveaway.

And lookie what I found….
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A tropical fruit tart Larabar!!!  I’ve been trying to track one of these new flavors down for a couple of MONTHS!!!  (Apparently I wasn’t trying hard enough, guess it was in Parker CO all this time!)  I was so excited to try it! 

Friends, this is like a Hawaiian mini-vacation in a wrapper.  OH. SO. YUMMY.  Wow.  I need to order a box online PRONTO!  And there will be one in the giveaway schwag.  (shwag? swag?  I’m schticking with schwag…)  :)

By dinnertime I was feeling a bit lacking in the green department, so I made an extra-green (read: not really any fruit to speak of) smoothie.  Extra cucumber, sprouts, frozen spinach, extra celery, 1/2 avocado, and only 1/3 apple.  It was THICK.  And kind of ‘savory’ rather than sweet.  But as a side dish to my open-faced Gardenburger, it worked!

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One thing I meant to mention in yesterday’s post –and somehow didn’t– was a SPECIAL THANKS to Alison of Mama’s Weeds.   I found my new hosting company through her site, and she very kindly and graciously answered all the questions I’d emailed her before I made up my mind on which company to use.  Alison, thanks so much for all of your help and encouragement!  You’re awesome! 

***

It’s about time for a FitFeature, don’t you think?  So today I’d like to talk about one of my favorite exercise moves:  the LUNGE.

If you don’t have a lot of time to get in a full workout (or maybe don’t really have access to exercise equipment) the lunge is an excellent move to employ. 

1. It utilizes pretty much the entire lower half of the body and your core, so you get a lot of ‘bang for your buck’ as far as hitting a lot of muscles in a short period of time.

2. It gets your heart rate up so you can also get an effective cardio workout.

3. There are more variations than you can imagine to constantly change it up.  Here are just a few:

4. You can easily turn it into a full body exercise by adding upper body movements WHILE lunging (bicep curls, side shoulder raises, overhead shoulder presses).

In any lunge you perform, draw an imaginary line straight upward from your big toe on the forward foot and be sure your forward knee does not cross that line.  You are exercising to strengthen and protect your knees… letting your knee travel past that line is asking for pain and trouble in the long run.

If you are just starting out, try a couple sets of however many you can comfortably perform with GOOD FORM.  As you get better, go for the burn.  Out on a walk or run, pick an object in the distance and do some walking lunges (alternating legs) as far as you can go.  Get those legs burning like crazy, watch that knee/toe line, keep your front heel DOWN and GO FOR IT!  This is a fabulous leg/butt shaper. 

Or do some uphill lunges.  Ouchie.  :)  

Squats and Deadlifts are two other EXCELLENT exercises that essentially utilize the whole body, especially when done with heavier weights (as long as the form is impeccable).  But they will have to wait their turn for the spotlight on the FitFeat blog.  ;)

Today’s question:  do you incorporate lunges into your leg routine?  Do you love them?  Hate them?  Have a love/hate relationship with them?  Drop a comment!

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Quick note about an update to the blog:  there is a new tab in the navigation bar at the top called “Favorite Things” — check it out!

OK, now I’m off to write the next post, which is the one with the giveaway!!!  So check back again yet today!

Have a GREAT Tuesday!

– Shari B. =)

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