FitFeat

where daily feats & eats can be adventures in themselves

Posts Tagged Green Smoothie

Why You Might Want to ADD a Pound

Jul 8

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 2 Comments

Well hello there FitFeat friends!  Happy Friday EVE!  Gotta love short holiday weeks!

This morning started with a fantastic 5 mile client run in some unusually humid weather.  Wow, I thought I’d been transported back to Ohio for a minute with the low cloud cover and muggy air.  I left the house with nice straight hair and when I came home, MSP said I looked like I’d showered and let my hair air dry (which is to say:  NOT a pretty sight!)  Humidity and my hair do not play nicely together.  Crazy waves and cowlicks all over!

I do feel for folks who have to run in humidity ALL the time.  We are lucky here to typically have very dry air.

I wore my VFFs again today – still love running in them and still finding it to be pain free.  My knees are happy these days.  Maybe I’ll get the itch to go longer than 8 or 9 in them, but right now I’m back to just enjoying runs as they come.

After my run, I was so craving something fresh.  I couldn’t decide between a cantaloupe or a green smoothie.  So I did both.  Ate a few bites of the cantaloupe:

And then put the rest into a rocking smoothie:

  • 1/2 Cantaloupe
  • 1 small orange
  • kale
  • spinach
  • flaxseed oil
  • pepitas
  • 1/2 scoop vanilla plant protein powder
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • water

It was so refreshing post-run.

Rascal couldn’t even wait for me to stop pouring some into his bowl.

He kept trying to get his face in there before I was done.  My pups LOVE when I share my green smoothies with them.

Ready for seconds!

***

Have you ever ready any of Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s work?  I own his “Eat to Live” book and have borrowed his “Eat for Health” books from the library a few times.  Dr. Fuhrman uses the term “nutritarian” as opposed to vegetarian, flexitarian, vegan, etc. because he promotes eating foods based on their nutrient value.  For example on a scale of 1 to 1000, KALE scores 1000.  From a nutrient density standpoint, it’s the gold standard.  (Another great reason to make yourself a batch of kale chips!)

In the “Eat for Health” series he suggests to his clients that rather than making huge changes right off the bat when trying to lose weight or get healthier one should just ADD in a pound of raw green veggies a day to what they already eat.  And then over time you will find that because you are eating a pound of filling green food, you won’t need as much of the other less healthy foods you might have been eating. (As the program progresses, one then aims to eat at least 1 pound of raw greens vegetables and 1 pound of cooked veggies and at least 1 cup of legumes.)

I know that when I measure out my greens for my smoothies I typically end up with about 9 oz with the cucumber, celery, sprouts, leafy greens and occasional avocado.  I was curious what one pound of raw greens would look like all in one bowl so that I could gauge whether I was anywhere near the 1 to 2 pound mark.

For the sake of pure volume rather than variety, I just threw some veggies into a bowl to weigh.   One full head of romaine, a large stalk of celery and a medium cucumber fit the bill.

On one hand it didn’t seem like as much as I thought it would.  But then on the other hand, this bowl is way bigger than my head.

Because I’m known to have a pinhead, I’ll show you the bowl next to my iPhone for better sizing reference.  ;)

After weighing out the pound, I took out some of the greens to save for later, and then “prettied up” my salad with some dulse, avocado, red and yellow pepper – and weighed again.  I’m over a pound, wahoo!

Then I added 1/2 cup of navy beans.

And called it lunch!

How about you?  Do you think you are getting 2 pounds of veggies in each day? Are you a fledgling nutritarian or a full-on card carrying member of the club?  I think that between my large lunch salads and my green smoothies, I’m somewhere in the middle!

Have a great day friends!

– Shari B. =)

***

Shari Becht is a Fit Living Coach and an ACE Certified Personal Trainer offering online/phone coaching services to people across the U.S.  She is extremely passionate about teaching her clients how to start making small changes every day to their own lives, built around steps customized to fit their needs.

If you or someone you know could benefit from Shari’s coaching, please feel free to email her at shari [at] fitfeat  [dot] com.  For more information, click here.

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Like It Was The Summer of 2009

Jun 17

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 9 Comments

Holy moly, I spent a few days away from the blog and I come back to find 96 spam messages!  Yowza!  I hope they at least count as page views toward my FoodBuzz account!  Haha!  Thank you Akismet for catching all that spam and keeping it from hitting my comments area!  You are a godsend of a plug-in!

So glad you guys liked the post about the crazy ingredients in our food.  I had a good time writing that one. Garbage in my food gets me all riled up!  :)

Today I’m having flashbacks of last summer.  I started the morning with a run, enjoyed half a cantaloupe when I got home, then got busy doing some ‘doody duty’ and YARDIO and followed it all up with a delicious smoothie.

Love it when the yard is freshly mowed:

And love it when I can enjoy my smoothie on the back patio in the sunshine:

(BTW, this smoothie was a keeper:  small banana, handful of frozen blackberries, vanilla brown rice protein, 1/2 a cucumber, spinach, romaine, flaxseed oil with 8 oz water — SO SO GOOD!)

Ahhh, just like the good ‘ol days of 2009.  ;)   Last year at this time I’d left my high stress no-fun job about 6 weeks prior and was taking the summer ‘off’ to enjoy life a little more and get some projects done around the house that I’d been putting off.  It was fantastic!

Fast forward one year and this summer is definitely on the BUSY BEE side of the coin.  Last year I didn’t have the ops admin job, the fit living business or the blog.  In the battle for where my time is spent sometimes the blog wins, some weeks the training wins, and this week (plus the next two weeks) the admin job will win because we are gearing up to relocate the office.  If FitFeat seems oddly quiet off and on between now and July 4th, you’ll know why!

***

Today’s run was with a client and it was a PERFECT morning.  Warm with blue skies and a light breeze.  We hit up my (and her) favorite hilly trail.  (And she was rockin’ her new pair of Vibram FiveFingers, woot woot!) It was a good thing I had her appointment on the books, because if not I think I may have hit the snooze button a few times.  It was a bit of a rough night of sleep thanks to a certain little dog who likes to howl and bark like mad when his dad comes home from softball late at night.  Picture me sleeping soundly one second, then needing to be peeled off the ceiling in the next. Instant adrenaline rush and impossible to sleep after that.

He looks so innocent doesn’t he?

It’s a good thing he’s so darn cute.

***

You have to check out the delicious dinner than Cindy posted on her blog.  It looks fantastic, and yes I do want to earn a parade (even if my parade would be quite short seeing how it’s only one person) so I might have to make something in a puff pastry for my hubs!  I’m sure he would love it.  I did make him a Bison BBQ Meatloaf with roasted sweet potatoes Tuesday night.  I think the parade was postponed due to inclement weather.  ;)

My meals have been a little on the boring side as of late.  Green smoothies, big salads, oatmeal, grilled goat cheese sandwiches with tomato soup, you know the usual SHARI FARE. Nothing exciting enough to share.  But I have a great new apron (five bucks, SCORE!) so I am sure the inspiration will start flowing now.  Isn’t it the apron that makes one a good cook?

Have a great day friends!

– Shari B. =)

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Cooking Out, FitFeat Style

Jun 1

Posted by Shari B. in Cooking | 14 Comments

Good morning blog buds!  I hope that you all had an amazing holiday weekend!

Ours was absolutely gorgeous.  We had PERFECT weather all weekend long.

Saturday morning we got in an hour of Bob’s yoga, followed by a good long dog walk.  Sunday I went on a wonderful hike in the foothills with my good friend Keri of Om of the Rockies.  Monday was another dog walking session in the morning with a long strolling hike in the evening.  We got a ton done around the house and yard and STILL had time to relax.  Every weekend should be a three day weekend, don’t you agree?  I feel refreshed today and ready to take on the new month.

Wahoo it’s finally JUNE!  Love the summer months like you can’t even imagine.

Speaking of June:  in this month’s issue of Women’s Health magazine, they had an article on ‘bikini-friendly burgers’.

I thought the vegetarian Lentil-Quinoa Burger with Sauteed Mushrooms sounded interesting and would be perfect for some outdoor grilling, so I gave it a shot.

Plus the picture was drool-worthy:

So I followed the instructions and busted out six patties:

(it’s not cooking unless you drip stuff on the recipe, right?)

And here is my final product, bunless of course, because I’m already getting plenty of grain/carbs in the burger, so no need to add on a big huge bun.  Just a side of baked kale and a sprinkle of raw goat cheese.

My thoughts on the recipe as it was written:

1.) there was no way that these patties were going to survive the grate of our BBQ grill as they didn’t hold together that well when they were first pressed.  Refrigerating the raw patties helped somewhat but I still ended up ‘grilling’ them on my George Foreman.

2.) there wasn’t a lot of “oomph” to the flavor, even with the cumin and the fresh cilantro.  Add some of your favorite spices if you try this recipe to give it a little pizazz.  I think the burger recipe is a great canvas to play with the flavors – add some Old Bay and dried sea veggies to give it a crab cake feel or some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce for some Tex-Mex heat.   I topped my leftovers with spicy hummus and avocado and it was delicious that way too.

3.) the texture reminded me of the Sunshine burgers, if you are a fan of them (I am!) and they reheated nicely without becoming little hockey pucks.

Definitely give these patties a try – just add your own flair to make them your own!

And no “cookout” is complete without a cocktail, right?  How refreshing does this look:

Guess what it was?

Gingerade KOMBUCHA TEA – that’s all!!  Mmmm so good!  And tastes even better when you drink it out of a wine glass!

Did you try any new recipes or healthy foods over the holiday weekend? Drop me a comment!

***

June is a great month to lay off the heavier foods and cleanse the body!  If you feel the need to do some ‘spring cleaning’ of your temple, you could sign up to take Brendan Brazier’s Thrive in 30 Challenge. I’ve done this in the past and really enjoyed watching the video lessons that arrived in my mailbox.

If the idea of a challenge sends you running for the hills, how about making it simple:  get in a green smoothie (blended salad) at least a few times a week as well as a LARGE salad for lunch or dinner.  Up it to doing these two things every day and you’ll be well on your way to a ‘cleaner’, lighter body!

Have a GREAT day friends!

– Shari B.

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My Belated Shout Out to Jay Robb

May 27

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 3 Comments

Hey hey blog buds!  It’s Friday-EVE!

The sun is shining today in Colorado and (for at least a few hours) we’ll have the weather I moved here for.  Mid-80s, gorgeous blue skies, light breeze.  A far cry from the weather that hit the northern part of the city yesterday – a hailstorm like one I’ve never SEEN!  Absolutely crazy!  I won’t even try to describe it in words, but if you live outside of Colorado, you have to go check out this set of photos of damaged cars, damaged homes, people shoveling hail like we’d just had a blizzard.  I feel very fortunate that it did not hit our end of the city, and feel terrible for those it did.  Not to mention the livestock and wildlife that had to endure the pounding.

So wherever you live, if it’s nice outside today try to pop your head out, smile, and give thanks!

***

Rewinding all the way prior to my San Diego / Vegas trip, I received a terrific package in the mail.

When they agreed to send me a ‘sample’ of their sprouted brown rice protein powder, I had no idea the treat I’d be in for!

I have two of Jay’s books from way back when.  And used to add his lactose-free hormone-free Vanilla Whey protein to my post-workout shakes regularly.  When I chose to remove as much dairy from my diet as possible, whey protein went along with it.

Their brown rice protein doesn’t have the sweetness of the mixed plant protein powder that I also use – which is OK by me because with the Jay Robb powder I know I can add it to things without a change to the flavor, like my green smoothies.

I tried Strawberry, Chocolate and Vanilla. 

I wasn’t as big a fan of the strawberry – I’m just not a berry flavored protein lover.  But if you blend it with a banana, it’s super tasty. :)

The chocolate flavored sample seemed very similar to the vanilla in taste to me, so when I wanted to boost the chocolate samples I added a few teaspoons of carob powder.

My favorite of the three is definitely the vanilla, both in flavor and versatility.  So much so, that I finally tracked down a canister locally.  (At my regular grocery store, can you believe it?  Go, King Soopers!  Yeah!)

Like other rice proteins I have tried, on its own it can be a little chalky in texture.  However, when I mixed it in a shaker cup with just some almond milk added in, the chalkiness was gone, so I wonder if that has something to do with the fat in the almond milk helping to emulsify the drink.

Because it blends so easily in a shaker cup, this is a great protein choice for when you are on-the-go or traveling.

You get 24g of protein per serving, 4g carbs, 2g fiber and only half a gram of fat.  Great to add to oatmeal or your smoothie when you are looking to boost your protein intake.  Personally, I supplement my green smoothies with a protein booster after weight training sessions.

green smoothie

If you are looking for a great protein powder that doesn’t break the bank and comes from a stand-up company, definitely give Jay Robb a try.

tank top from Jay Robb

And I totally dig my sparkling Jay Robb tank top!  :)

A BIG thanks to the generous folks over at Jay Robb for the allowing me the opportunity to sample their products before I buy!

***

I’ve tried some new recipes (yes, again with the trying recipes, apparently I haven’t learned my lesson!)  So on tap for a near-future post will be my thoughts on some Lentil Quinoa burgers I made from a magazine recipe.

My blog time has been very limited lately, as you’ve noticed with the schedule of posting about 3 times per week, in lieu of the 5-6 I used to aim for.  It’s in small part due to spring being here and trying to get outside whenever possible for some WOGGING ;) and YARDIO, but also because I have been working on a business-related project that has required a lot of reading, research and time.   Hope you guys don’t think I’ve fallen off the blogging wagon!

Any big plans for Memorial Day Weekend? I’m hoping to get a good hike in with my beautiful friend KERI, of “Om of the Rockies”.  And plenty of outdoor play time with our pups!  It’s looking like we might be blessed with a perfect weekend!

Have a beautiful Thursday!  Hope you can get outside this evening and play!  Now that most of the TV shows are over for the summer and there is still daylight at 8:00 pm we can all get off the couch and get moving!

– Shari B. =)

p.s. are you following me on Twitter yet?  Click “Feat Tweets” on the right side of this window to follow me!

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The Beet Smoothie

May 15

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 7 Comments

Hey there blog buds!  Happy Saturday!  I hope that you are having an wonderful weekend so far.  Mine has been delightful!  You know that Saturdays are my favorite day of the week!

I especially love when they start with a 4+ mile run outside in the sunshine.  It feels like FOREVER since I’ve gone for a sunny run!

Yesterday morning we were indoors doing an Insanity session, which left me red-faced and panting.

A little like this:

(Image Source)

I’d like to say I was kidding about that, but that’s pretty much how I look and feel during those workouts!  :)

***

In my previous blog post, The BEET of My Own Drum, I mentioned that one of my clients asked me if I had ever tried putting beets in my smoothies.  Which I hadn’t.  But I told you all that I would consider it.

Consider it done!

Into the blender went the following items:

  • 8 oz water + 4 small ice cubes
  • 2 cutie clementines
  • 3/4 roasted beet (without skin)
  • 1/2 small banana
  • large handful of spinach
  • 1 large kale leaf (stalk removed)
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • small handful of alfalfa sprouts
  • a squeeze of flaxseed oil (approx 1/2 TBS)

You just can’t BEET the color of this beautiful veggie!  Ha ha!  (Sorry, that was bad.  Couldn’t resist!)

Into the glass for taste testing (I must admit, I was a little nervous that it would taste like dirt and I’d have wasted all those veggies):

The verdict:  Actually quite good!  I could definitely taste the ‘earthiness’ of the beet from it being a root vegetable, but I get that same effect sometimes from the celery and sprouts in my regular green smoothies.

Probably the only downside to beet smoothies?  Teeth like Angela’s….

(Image Source)

I’m just kidding, it didn’t stain my teeth!  But if you didn’t catch The Office this week, click HERE and scroll to the 4:58 mark.  I thought it was funny that I’d just been talking about beets in smoothies earlier that day!

So your challenge is to throw something new into your next smoothie!  I dare you! ;)   Then come back and let me know how it was!

– Shari B. =)

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The BEET of My Own Drum

May 13

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 8 Comments

Hi friends!  It’s Friday-EVE!  Wahoo!

Ahhh I feel so relaxed at the moment.  I just got done with an hour-long yoga session and let me tell you … I have MISSED yoga.  (Gosh, a year ago I don’t think those words would have ever crossed my lips.)  I haven’t had a yoga sesh since before we left on vacation because when we got back we started into the Insanity routine (that I was lucky enough to borrow from a friend).  It’s definitely fun and different, and I sweat more doing this than I do in 100-degree Bikram studio.  However, 2 weeks in and I’m already a little bored.  Although you are changing DVDs daily, there is so much of each day’s routine that is just like the previous day, and the day before that, and the day before that, so all of a sudden I find myself not looking forward to the workouts.

So like everything else in my ‘fitness’ life, it will be mixed in when I need a good sweaty cardio/plyo routine or want to change things up. But it will no longer be a 6-day Insanity week.

This is one of the biggest reasons I think personal trainers can be a HUGE benefit (OK yes being a trainer, you may think I’m a bit biased ;) ) Because most of them will listen to your likes and dislikes.  I strive to find out what my clients really enjoy and incorporate it.  If you tell your trainer there are certain exercises you REALLY don’t like to do, they should adjust the program.  Because otherwise you may start to DREAD the session.  And that’s the fastest way to see your client list dropping like the stock market of 5-6-10!

This is also why you see on the blog that I’m always reading new fitness/nutrition books and trying new DVD workout programs.  Gotta keep it fresh for both MY workouts and my CLIENTS’ workouts!  I don’t like to be bored with exercise.  And I never give clients an exercise that I haven’t done myself so I am always trying my programs first, as I design them.  I want to know how much weight feels right, how sore it might make me afterward, if anything feels “off’ about a new movement.

One thing that I find myself NOT bored with still, after all this time is TABATA!!!  So quick, so intense, and then it’s done.  LOVE THAT!  Monday I did the following routine using my Tabata timer:

  • Straight-Arm Planks
  • Seated Row
  • Overhead Shoulder Presses (standing on one leg for increased balance work, alternate legs each set)
  • Tricep Kickback + Straight Arm Tricep Pulses
  • DB Bicep Curls
  • Boat Pose for Abs

I felt it for the 2 days following.  I really don’t think I will ever get bored with this style of training. It speaks to my short attention span. :D

On the food front, beets have also been speaking to me this week.  I roasted three of them on Sunday and have been adding them to a lot of my salads.  If you missed it, I talked about my salmon, beet and goat cheese salad earlier in the week.  This time I made a “deconstructed” salad with beets along one side, sauteed kale and a bit of herbed goat cheese in the middle and sliced pears on the other.  This was another flavor winner.  The sweetness of the pear and beets meshed perfectly with the lightly salted kale and goat cheese.

Beets are an amazing veggie health-wise.  Beets are very high in folate, manganese, potassium and rich in compounds that are found to help reduce inflammation, fight heart disease, and colon cancer.  While higher in natural sugars than other vegetables, they are still only 74 calories per cup, plus very high in fiber.

During a kitchen session with a client this week, she asked if I put beets in my smoothies.  I haven’t tried that yet.  But I’m considering it.  So I’ll keep you posted.  :)

Drop a comment on any one of the topics above!  Got any favorite ways to eat BEETS? Have you had a personal trainer that made you do exercises you hated?  Any workouts that you’ve been CRAVING lately, but just haven’t gotten to?

Have a TERRIFIC Thursday friends!

– Shari B. =)

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Can I Harness Some of that Excitement?

May 6

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 6 Comments

Hi friends!

Can someone tell me where the heck the weeks are disappearing to?  I can’t even believe it’s already Thursday and I haven’t had a post out here since Monday!  Spring is finally starting to act like it’s REALLY here for good so I’ve been trying to get outside whenever the weather (and job schedule) cooperate.

For example, a little off-leash dog park action:

I wish I’d captured on “film” the huge grin on Riley’s face as she scampered all over the place.   (If you have dogs, you know they SMILE!)  It’s been awhile since we’ve been to the BIG off-leash park over at the reservoir where there are acres and acres for them to run around in the woods and by the water.   The crazy beasts ran themselves silly and then came home and crashed out on the floor in the sunshine.

I admit that I enjoy running and hiking and other exercise, but I wish I could just be GIDDY with excitement to run around the way my dogs are!  I think kids are the same way.  Exercise is PLAY to them.  I try to make it that way by choosing things I like instead of things I dread, but I can’t say “giddy” is a word that describes it.  :D   However, if you are doing exercise that you don’t look forward to at least a little, then my friend you should look for other options!

I also got in a visit to the Bluffs this week for a 3.71 mile hilly run, which included 8 sets of 15 sec hill run repeats at the end of the session.

And I have to admit that as much as I love vacations, it’s still awesome to be home and eating MY OWN FOOD again!

Green smoothies:

Huge salads chock full of veggies:

Ezekial toast with coconut butter and raw honey:

Open-faced sandwiches:

Spinach salads topped with a some Chipotle vegetarian “burrito bowls” (because Chipotle is MSP’s all-time fave, and he could literally eat there everyday!)

Baked yams with vegan, soy-free Earth Balance:

And even a few new creation attempts here and there, like this roasted portobello mushroom topped with spinach and herbed goat cheese:

The mushroom was good, but not yet “GREAT”.  I think it needs some pre-cooking marinade.  When I get it feeling like it’s recipe worthy, I promise to share it!

How about you?  Any new food creations lately?  Any springtime outings to enjoy the weather?

– Shari B. =)

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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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Meat Mallet Muscles

Mar 6

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 11 Comments

Happy Saturday fit friends!  I started a post Thursday night to put out here on Friday and then when Friday actually arrived the day took off like Seabiscuit and flew by so fast that I never had a chance to get back out here.

Have you been picking a few of the 10 Commandments of FitFeat to try on for size?  (not the religious ones.. see Thursday’s post!)

Commandment #2 is an easy one for me… this girl loves her greens and this smoothie was PERFECT.  Red grapes, 1/2 banana, 2 clementines, spinach, cucumber, celery, sprouts, hemp protein powder and flaxseed oil.  I could feel this silly cold dissipating as I sipped on my smoothie!

A BEET salad for lunch:

A raw and natural afternoon snack – a banana-phone!  :)

We made an old favorite for dinner this week that we “spiffed up” a bit, CINDY style.  Whole wheat and sweet potato gnocchi, that was lightly pan fried in coconut oil before serving to give it a slight crunch.  Oh Cindy, MSP and I BOTH loved this…!  The pan frying made an AMAZING difference!  Thanks for the great idea!  We also added some of our homegrown basil to the saute pan.  I served mine over sauteed mushrooms and spiralized zucchini topped with Muir Glen organic marinara and nutritional yeast.  It was delicious!

Since I’m getting back to my basics in the food area, I figured why not do the same with some of my training.  So yesterday’s workout was a more traditional weight-lifting session, as opposed to doing something like Tabata or Physique 57.   All I can say is OUCH.  But this is the “good ouch” — I really love to feel a little muscle soreness after a good strength workout.

Friday Chest, Back, Shoulder Workout

  • Upper Body warmup with arm circles, light stretching, moving light weights around
  • DB Bench Press 2 warm-up sets + 4 working sets of 12
  • DB Incline Chest Flyes 1 warm-up set + 4 working sets of 12
  • Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns 1 warm-up set + 4 working sets of 12
  • One-Arm DB Rows 4 working sets of 12
  • Seated Overhead DB Press 1 warm-up set + 4 working sets of 12
  • Side Lateral Raises 4 working sets of 12

Today, my chest muscles feel like someone took a meat mallet to them – I’m talking Tender with a capital T.  :)   The change back to my usual style of training felt good.  I wonder how long it will take me to get bored and switch it up again!

Then this morning I did a 10-mile jog, which I’ll be recapping in the next Marathon Monday post.  No hints as to how it went!  :)

Anyone have big plans for the weekend? I’d LOVE to go see the new Alice in Wonderland, in 3-D!  However, the sun is shining and it’s around 60 degrees, so I don’t want to waste any of it holed away in a movie theater so I’ll either save it for a late show or wait for the next rainy day.

I hope you are having a FIT and HAPPY weekend!

– Shari B. =)

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The 10 Commandments of FitFeat

Mar 4

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 7 Comments

Hi Fit Peeps!  It’s Friday-EVE!

The sun is shining and supposedly it’s going to hit 60 degrees today.  I can’t even describe how happy that makes me!  Spring is just around the corner! You all know I run on solar power, right?  ;)

I took the day off from working out yesterday.  I want to get past this mini-bug as quickly as possible, so I’m saving my body’s energy for immunity rather than for recovering from exercise.  I’ll have to take a trip to Whole Foods today and pick up some Kombucha tea and maybe some of the other cool supplement ideas you all suggested for me this week!  (Thank you for all the great ideas!)

As I mentioned in the last post, since I started training for the marathon a little over 6 weeks ago, my appetite has been a bear and I’ve also allowed more sugary items to creep back in.  Part of that is thanks to the season of Cadbury Caramel Cream Eggs which I love, love, love!  Part of it is the increased expenditure of energy from the long runs, yes, but not nearly as much as you may think.  (The rest of my week has LESS exercise in it than it used to because I spend a day or two ‘recovering’ from the long runs and then minimize leg work as I gear up for the next run.)  So my weekly calorie expenditure isn’t that much more than it was when I wasn’t training for this event.

I’ve been working at such a high heart rate in every run that I’ve been burning mostly sugar as fuel and not much fat.  This leads to a cycle of craving carbs, burning carbs, craving carbs, etc.   When our bodies feel wiped, we crave foods that will give us instant bursts of energy.  And unless you are planning to be running sprints in the next couple of hours, you know right where that sugar’s gonna go:  to your trouble spots!

I eat for weight maintenance.  Over the course of a lot of trials and many errors, I found what works best for me to feel healthy and satisfied, with the added bonus of fitting into my skinny jeans! :)   Enter an endurance sport, and my ‘natural rhythm’ gets thrown a bit off balance.

From a speed perspective I have a target weight in mind that I would like to race at on May 16.  For every 5% of weight you lose, you gain about 5% in speed.  If I want to increase my speed by 30 seconds per mile, I’ll need to get a bit lower than what my ‘summer maintenance weight’ is.

Here’s what I’m NOT going to do:  be obsessive or restrictive about it.  If I make it, great.  If not, I’ll just be 14 minutes slower over the 26 miles.

Here’s what I AM going to do:  get back to the basics of what I know works for me, both from a nutrition standpoint and an exercise standpoint.

With that said I thought I’d share the basics I follow (and coach my clients on) for losing (or maintaining weight) and healthy living in general:

10 Commandments of FitFeat

1.) Eat when hungry, stop when full. Never walk away from a meal feeling stuffed.

2.) Eat a green smoothie every day.

3.) If hungry between meals, choose natural (and preferrably raw) snacks.

4.) Eat a HUGE salad every day, chock full of veggies and fun things like dulse, nutritional yeast and healthy fats.

5.) Chew every bite until it’s practically liquefied – good digestion starts in the mouth!

6.) Eliminate (or greatly reduce) foods that cause nutritional stress (primarily refined flours, refined sugars, trans-fatty acids, artificial chemical additives).

7.) Plan, plan and plan some more.  If you don’t have the right foods within your reach, it’s much to easy to grab the WRONG ones.

8.) Save and Savor: SAVE the once-in-a-blue-moon foods for special occasions (like birthday cake and wedding cake) and when you do treat yourself to these indulgences, SAVOR it. And maybe have some fun with it.  ;)   For the not-so-special occasions where you need a treat, pick those that have some nutritional value like red wine and dairy-free dark chocolate.

9.) Choose exercise that energizes you and that you enjoy doing.  Let each workout leave you wanting to come back again the next time.

10.) Love yourself and your body.  Appreciate what it does for you and treat it with respect.  When you put that thought first, the choices you make will come naturally.

***

Today’s discussion:  how many of these 10 commandments do you already ‘obey’?  If there are some you don’t, which will you implement first?

– Shari B. =)

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