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Flipping Dogs and Snowy Oats

Dec 16

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 8 Comments

Hola WEDNESDAY!  My crazy overscheduled Monday and Tuesday are over!  Ahhh, I can take a deep breath!  Good thing I got that yoga in on Monday to give me some extra zen to get through!  :)   Thank you to everyone who commented with their favorite yoga poses yesterday!  And if you haven’t yet, please feel free to still comment on that one!  Fallon taught me what “Flipping the dog” was – and apparently it’s nothing like “Flipping the bird“!  (Good thing!)

Tasty, healthful EATS help too when schedules are crazy!  Keep the nutritional stress to a minimum, especially when the mental/physical stress is elevated!

Yesterday just before my early morning client training session, I had half of a Coconut Cream Pie Lärabar.  Have I told you today how much I love thee, Coconut Cream Pie?  You sure go great with coffee, with oatmeal, with exercise!

Then post-session I had a bowl of old fashioned oats (1/3 cup measured dry), topped with a tablespoon of rice protein powder, cinnamon, almond milk, a few raisins, and a dusting of unsweetened coconut.   It looks like it snowed on my breakfast! 

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One of my clients has been making her green smoothies the night before and then taking them to work the next day.  I never let mine sit.  They always get slurped through a straw immediately.  But I’m trying to get a better routine down for my hectic schedule at the moment so I thought I’d take a cue from her and make my smoothie “to-go”.  This one had 8 oz water, one banana, big fist o’ spinach, sprouts, 1/2 peeled cucumber, and 2 celery stalks.  I packed it in a Rubbermaid jug to be shaken up in later.  I “ate” it around 10:45, about 3 hours after blending and it was still quite tasty!  :)   (It was refrigerated in my lunchbox that whole time in case you were wondering!) ;)  

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Also packed up my lunch to be assembled later in the day.  A large spinach salad with HB egg, sundried tomatoes, dulse, and nutritional yeast.  1/4 of the avocado and half the roma tomato were added at 1:00 when I ate it, along with two spoonfuls of the marinated mushrooms. 

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And for dessert, an EXTREMELY dark chocolate, which almost tastes like you are eating right out of the unsweetened cocoa powder tin.  Yowza!

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We had our holiday party at the office from 3:30 on, so my afternoon snack and dinner consisted of pita chips with hummus and two glasses of pinot grigio.  When I got home, I had three crackers with some raw goat cheddar.  That was it on the eats for the day.  I can tell you that I am already hungry for breakfast!!  I didn’t eat enough yesterday!

Yesterdays exercise FEAT was not organized exercise per se, but was heavy duty nonetheless.  We received two PALLETS of marketing materials that we will be stuffing at work today.  In my nice dress and heels, I was moving HEAVY boxes around, getting them sorted and ready to go for today.  It was quite a workout!  I definitely feel it this morning.  And I’m still feeling Monday’s YOGA as well!  (And I made sure to NOT wear heels today!)

Well friends, it’s time for breakfast and then out the door!  Hope your week is going well so far! 

Make it a GREAT day!  Did you fit your FIT in yet??  ;)

– Shari B. =)

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Make Your Old Year(end) Resolution Today!

Dec 1

Posted by Shari B. in Uncategorized | 7 Comments

What’s new FitFeat friends?  Happy December 1st!  Hope your Monday after the long holiday weekend is off to a great start!  I think weeks after a long holiday always tend to go very slowly.

I figured what better way to get back into the full swing of things than to start with a TABATA upper body workout!  

Weight Training:  Tabata Upper Body

  • 5 Minute WarmUp on TM, followed by arm circles and light upper movements
  • DB Bench Press 4 min 
  • Bent DB Row 4 min
  • Side Lateral Raise 4 min
  • Triceps Pushdown 4 min
  • DB Bicep Curl 4 min

This style of workout never fails to do the trick – I end up getting in 80-96 reps of each exercise.  It was a fast and effective and this morning my upper body is feeling the pain love. 

Monday Eats

Post-workout was a green smoothie.  And I do mean GREEN.  I used two fists of spinach this time, so it was extra bright.  I forgot to add my rice protein to this one, but I did remember chia seeds.  ;)   Along with 2 stalks of celery, sprouts, a pear, and a clementine.

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A piece of Ezekial toast with almond butter served as my mid-morning snack.  When one wakes up at 4:00 AM, “mid-morning” is 8:00 AM.  :)  

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I packed my lunch and afternoon snack since I was headed in to work.  In the white container is my leftover Tokyo Joe’s brown rice with tofu and steamed veggies.  I ate the Larabar for an afternoon snack (Tropical Fruit Tart, be still my heart!!)  The apple was neglected unfortunately, so he may become smoothie food later today. 

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Dinner was a colorful salad of spinach, red cabbage, zucchini disks, sun dried tomatoes, and home-roasted seeds (from the acorn squash you see on the side there.)  This was my first acorn squash… WOW!  Love it!  It has a wonderful nutty flavor.  The serving shown here is about 1/4 acorn squash.

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Evening snack was a cup of decaf coffee and a Nana’s NO’s cookie bite:

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And then I was having trouble keeping my eyes open during “House” which airs here from 7:00 to 8:00.  Again, waking at 4:00 AM means “bedtime” often wants to come at 7:30 PM!

***

As mentioned above, yep, it’s DECEMBER!  Can you believe it?  I’ve been blogging since August!  Time flies when you are having fun! 

Today’s challenge is to make your “Old Year(end) Resolutions“.  If you are someone who starts resolutions on January 1, why not move it up a month to December 1 and get a head-start?  Just think of what you can accomplish in 30 days when you put your mind to it.  If weight loss is your goal, you can easily be 5 pounds down in the next 30 days, rather than 5 pounds UP like many will experience over the holidays.  If you want to quit smoking, DO IT NOW!  Why wait?  (And if you DO smoke, please please quit.  You know how bad it is for you!) 

The time is now!  Drop me a comment and let me know what your “Old Year(end) Resolution” will be for the next 30 days!

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One of my resolutions for the next 30 days is to get some of the exercise instruction posts put out here, as Cindy had suggested back when I asked for reader input.  Cindy, I haven’t forgotten you!  I actually have had one in the works since then, just have had other topics taking over it seems!  :)

Enjoy your Tuesday friends!  See you next time!

– Shari B. =)

***

If you know someone embarking on their own fitness journey for the new year, please feel free to send them my way. I offer fitness consulting by phone nationwide.  Visit my Coaching/Training and About Shari pages for more info.

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Plenty of Green on Black Friday

Nov 28

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 9 Comments

Where is the long weekend going?  It’s FLYING by way too fast!  So much to accomplish this weekend, so little time left…

We did get this done yesterday:

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And the outside lights are done too, along with the wreath and lighted door swag.   Wahooo for the 68 degree weather in which to hang outdoor decorations – Mother Nature if you could do that again on January 2 I’d be ever so grateful! 

We attempted to hit up Kohl’s at about 11:00 AM thinking some of the crowds would be gone (ha!! not so much!)  Getting in and around was the easy part.  But once we saw the LINES for the checkout … LITERALLY WRAPPED AROUND the inside of the store … I told MSP there was no amount of money we could save that would make it worth standing in THAT line for the next hour or more.   Someone else can get 50% off the $10 Barbie, thank you very much.

Apparently I am more motivated by FREE TIME than I am by MONEY!  :)

In which case, let’s go waste some at Starbucks:

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I was craving some green other than money so post-workout I had a big green smoothie:

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And for dinner a big green salad: 
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Salad ‘fixins’ included spinach, dulse, yellow corn, nutritional yeast, one cooked egg, tomato, chia seeds, a drizzle of Annie’s Goddess dressing, and half an avocado. 

I also attempted taking Rascal out with me for a run but (much like the Kohl’s visit) I turned around shortly into it because he was all over the place and messing with my running mojo!  He got a short 1.5 miles – then I went back out to finish an additional 2.5 miles ALONE (and in a nice, neat straight line).   Riley was NONE too happy to be left home – but knowing her, she’ll cause us to end up at the emergency vet and that would put a serious dent into my already limited xmas shopping budget.  Her exercise will have to be limited to chasing her ball around the back yard until she can find a way to pay for her own healthcare!  ;)

Have a SUPER Saturday!  I’m considering another Kohl’s attempt… if I don’t put up a new blog post for the next 3 days you’ll know I’m stuck in the neverending checkout line! 

– Shari B. =)

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Nifty Ninety

Nov 18

Posted by Shari B. in Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Well what do you know??  I didn’t crash my blog while doing the WordPress upgrade!  I saw a tweet from a blogger yesterday that mentioned someone had tried to hack into her site and had failed, luckily!  Which lit a bit of a fire under my you-know-what to get cracking on getting my upgrade completed.  Reading through the 14 step process had kept me a bit intimidated, because I was petrified something would end up ‘breaking’ on the blog.  And my IT department for the blog is … ME!  (OK, and sometimes MSP – but I try not to bother him with blog stuff since this is MY baby.)

And so here I am with the 90th FitFeat blog post!  This feels important to me because a few years back, I started a personal blog and just didn’t follow through.  Truly I think I made it to about the third blog post (if that) and fell off the wagon. 

When I first started the FitFeat blog, I did so on the free platform of WordPress.com.  I wanted to see how dedicated I’d be before moving to the self-hosted platform.  One, because self-hosting costs MONEY and two, because self-hosting requires a lot more administrative work.  You are in charge of your own backups, spam blocking, upgrades, etc.  The effort I put into blogging during my RV trip with mom and g-ma was what allowed me to realize that I would be blogging long-term.  Not only was I thoroughly enjoying it, but I was actually a bit obsessed.  (Who?  ME?  Obsessed?  … never!)  ;)

Thank you to everyone who has been following along, and a special thanks to those who have been here from the beginning!  I appreciate you all so much!  It would be very discouraging to put “pen to paper” (so to speak) if it seemed like no one was reading.  

Today’s question:  Since this blog is FOR YOU, are there any topics you would you like to see covered in a future blog post?  I’d love your input!  Drop me a comment!

***

On to the Tuesday recap… Tuesday was a ‘feat-less’ day (meaning no exercise) unless you count the effort expended in keeping my eyelids open.  I’m not sure what’s going on with our dogs lately, but they have been really active at night which has been interrupting MSP’s and my sleep.   We were out cold Monday night by 9:30 and at 9:50 Rascal was standing in the upstairs hallway barking his head off like he was facing off with the BoogeyMan.  We went from dead sleep to being doused in adrenaline in about 5 milliseconds.

After finally getting back to sleep again, Riley was up around 2:00 trotting laps on the hardwood floor downstairs, clickety-click-click-clickety.  She’s put on a bit of weight recently, and as a result is now eating ’lean’ food.  So she scavenges in the middle of the night around and around and around the kitchen island hoping we forgot to put away our dinner, I guess.  (You’d think she’d figure out in one lap that there is NO food to be found.  Why she keeps going around is beyond me.  Unless maybe she’s trying to work off some of that flab so that she can get back to eating real food again!)

I think she covets my gigantic salads.

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If you look closely you will see my homegrown sprouts in the salad!  They were interesting because they were all different seeds and some still had the seed attached, so they had a great crunch!  SO FUN! 

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The other items in my salad were:

  • HB egg
  • spinach
  • nutritional yeast
  • sundried tomatoes
  • spiralized zucchini
  • sunflower seeds
  • 1/4 avocado
  • 1/2 tbsp Annie’s Goddess dressing
  • dulse

And I ate it at 10:30 am.  That was lunch.  I was hungry!!  :)  

We had a wonderful time at our friends’ house last night!  (Thank you Lynn and Jim!  Sorry we caused you to miss DWTS!)  I ate steamed veggies with garlic sauce and some perfect edamame.  With a little white wine tasting.  It was a GREAT time! 

Well friends, off get busy with the Wednesday list.  AND get in some exercise.  Have a WONDERFUL Wednesday!  And don’t forget to leave a comment about topics you’d like to see on FitFeat! 

– Shari B.  =)

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Tabata Time!

Nov 3

Posted by Shari B. in Keeping Fit | 11 Comments

Hi friends!

Happy Tuesday…!  I hope your week is getting off to a lovely start.

In case you didn’t see it, there was a comment made to yesterday’s post by reader Tray about a FLEX IT FRIDAY this week – saying that if I post a flex shot (biceps) she’ll post one to her blog too.  This totally put a smile on my face (mostly because I have pretty tiny ‘guns’) and I thought it might be a fun way for you all to join in too!  Send me an email with your best BICEP flex shot shari@fitfeat.com by midnight Thursday and I’ll add it to Friday’s post with mine.  Don’t leave me hanging, now!

Monday was a great day for feeling on track again.  After the morning joe, it started with some Tabata-style weight training, which really becomes more a game of muscular endurance than strength.  Originally designed for sprint intervals to increase VO2 max, you see it used for many other types of training now.  You alternate 20 seconds of high intensity with 10 seconds of low intensity and repeat for 4 minutes.   When you do this for sprints, the goal is that your high intensity segments are so tough that truly by the end of the 4 minutes you are wiped.  Full-body exercises are a great use of this training style as well.

Well you know I love any exercise that alternates intensity with rest so when I first read about Tabata last year I was excited to try it out.  I later downloaded a Tabata timer on my iPhone and use it to turn pretty much any exercise into an interval session.  And of course, I like to make up my own rules, so instead of things like pushups and pullups, I like to do a full Tabata round for each muscle group.  Here’s how Monday’s workout went down.

Tabata Full Body

  • TM Warmup 5 minutes
  • Chest: DB Bench Press 4 minutes
  • Back: Seated Rows 4 minutes
  • Shoulders: Side Lateral Raises 4 minutes
  • Biceps: Seated DB Curls 4 minutes (2 min palms up, 2 min palms in)
  • Triceps: Tricep Pushdowns 4 minutes
  • Core: Planks 4 minutes
  • Legs: Static Ball Squats 4 minutes
  • Legs: VS Rear Lunges 4 min (alt legs every interval)

This is a quick and efficient training method, less than 40 minutes.  My bis, tris, and shoulders are definitely ‘vocal’ today!

By then, my bod was ready for a post-workout shake:  chocolate Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer with 1/2 banana.

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Then a mid-morning Lemon Larabar while working at the computer:

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At lunchtime I wanted to use up a couple of veggies that were looking a little wilty, so I cut up an orange pepper, roma tomato, baby bellas, and zucchini, tossed them with a drizzle of olive oil and some sea salt and roasted them in my toaster oven for about 25 minutes.

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During the last few minutes I sprinkled nutritional yeast on them to give them a ‘cheesy’ feel and made an avocado/sprout sandwich for the side:

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Veggie-licious!

Midafternoon called for another Larabar, this time Cashew Cookie flavor.  And a cup of herbal tea.  Mmmm, tea and “cookies”.  I feel so PROPER!  ;)

Dinner was a special treat because MSP’s brother happened to be passing through town and we hadn’t seen him since June.  So we went to one of our local favorites, Via Baci, where I would normally order a pizza (oh do they ever have great pizza!!) but since I have been making so many pita pizzas at home, I opted for the seared tuna salad with lemon vinaigrette on the side.  It was SCRUMPTIOUS and I even have a little leftover for today.  (Caution:  fuzzy iPhone pic ahead, view at your own risk!)  :)

via baci

A few pieces of candy corn for dessert at home while chatting with family – it was a great end to a fabulous day.

***

Today’s questions:  Do you prefer intervals or steady-state exercise?  Have you tried Tabata for your cardio or weights?  How did you like it? Drop a comment to let me know your thoughts.

And then drop me an email with your BICEP FLEX!!!  We’ll all have a reason to pump up our biceps with some exercise beforehand ;)   and I know some of you are jokesters so it could be comical!

Have a TERRIFIC TUESDAY!

– 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 Great Debate: Pre-Workout Fuel

Oct 16

Posted by in Keeping Fit | 10 Comments

TGIF! TGIF!

Good morning FitFeat friends!  Are you so excited that the weekend is upon us once more?  I am ESPECIALLY excited because this weekend they are forecasting some 70+ degree weather and sunshine!  More chances for me to get some Vitamin D action!  ;)

What a week it has been.  Have you noticed what’s been missing this week?  WOGGING!  My poor dogs.  They haven’t been out on a walk since Monday evening.  I’m a bad puppy-mommy this week!  I’ve had daily “social-cizing” plans and the rest of the time I’ve been glued to my PC in preparation for the upcoming blog move. 

Maybe yet today I’ll be able to get them out.   

Check out my new breakfast creation:

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Now I know what you’re thinking:  “OMG what IS that?  It looks disgusting!”  But let me tell you this was one delicious little pre-workout fuel!  It is toasted Ezekial smeared with coconut oil (in lieu of vegan butter) and then smeared again with a MEDJOOL DATE!  Mmmm coconutty-datey sweetness!  Brendan Brazier (professional Ironman triathlete) says that coconut oil and dates are great exercise fuel:  the coconut oil has MCTs (medium chain triglycerides) that are more easily converted to energy by the body, not to mention easily-digested simple carbs in the form of the date. 

I often will eat half of a Coconut Cream Pie Larabar for pre-running fuel thanks to Brendan’s info.  That particular Larabar contains dates, coconut and coconut oil. 

I met up with my friend (and fellow personal trainer) at The Bluffs yesterday morning for a hilly run.  Wendy is a serious running pro, let me tell you.  She’s a multi-time marathoner (including the BOSTON which one must qualify to enter).  The only reason I’m able to run with her currently is because she is nursing a foot injury.  Notice I’m not saying “keep up with her currently” — because she still could have TOTALLY left me in the dust yesterday, I know it.  :)  

We got in 3.62 miles of hills and dales.  It was a BEAUTY of a morning!  And I felt fantastic afterward.  Wendy, thanks for a great time – I’m looking forward to going again soon!

After that I hit up Starbucks to catch up with another friend and her adorable son, where I had a grande SOY STEAMER.  (Essentially that means I have Starbucks heat me up a nice cup of soy milk, with no coffee or flavoring, and then pay them probably 3 times what a whole container of soy milk would cost!)  Ahhh gotta love th SBUX.  (Thank you Magen for treating — that was very sweet of you!)

Riley never gets any photo love since Rascal is the ham of the family, so I had to get her in the shot.  See what she’s saying with her eyes?  It’s “why haven’t you walked me today, ya big jerk!”  :)

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Lunchtime meant it was time for me to get my major veggie fix.  I still don’t think photos do this salad bowl justice.  It is HUGE.  I measured yesterday and it is 11″ in diameter.  :)   This one was chock full of spinach, heirloom tomatoes, yellow pepper, dulse, avocado, zucchini ribbons, kalamata olives, nutritional yeast, and pepper.  Dressed with extra virgin olive oil.  I ate every last bite and had a few baked potato chips on the side. 

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A little Pecan Pie snack in the afternoon: 

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And leftover “Lazy Girl Dinner“ from the other night whenI had Amy’s Organic Southwestern Vegetable soup.  I had it in a mug with a  little raw goat cheddar and Mary’s Gone Crackers on the side.  Right back to the PC I went…  MSP had his last softball game of the season, so I was right back to the PC to get some more blog work done.

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I did need an evening snack since my soup didn’t keep me full very long, so I made a bag of homemade microwave popcorn (1/4 cup of plain popcorn kernels in a brown lunch bag, fold up the top, microwave for up to two-and-a-half minutes or until the popping sounds are far apart).  No fake butter flavor, no crazy chemicals, no fumes that allegedly cause lung cancer.  Sprinkle with some sea salt and/or nutritional yeast, and munch away!  

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I fell asleep while watching “The Office”.  Lame.  All the social activity of the day combined with a whole lot of sitting at the computer made Shari very sleepy…

***

So for today’s discussion, I’d love to hear how you fuel your workouts. 
Are you an “empty stomach exerciser” or a “fully fueled exerciser“? 

I definitely vary, depending on the situation.  For running, ideally I get it done first thing in the morning after just a cup of coffee (and maybe a bite or two of Larabar at the most).  I feel lighter on my feet and don’t experience ‘side stitches’ when I don’t have food in the system. 

But sometimes when I meet up with running buddies, it’s usually a little later in the day and I don’t like to go that long without food.  So I’ll try to eat something about 90 minutes prior to the outing (usually anything sooner and I get severe side cramps during the run).  Yesterday’s toast with the coconut oil and date worked perfectly.  I had some simple carbs, some complex carbs and the coconut oil.  The date gave me some quick energy and the sprouted grain toast gave me some sustained energy.  It was plenty for my run and held me over for about 3 hours until it was time for SBUX. 

Other forms of exercise (like my weight training and hiking) don’t cause me to have to overthink the food situation as much.  Weight training is usually first thing on an empty stomach.  For hiking I eat about 90 minutes for hitting the trail, then bring a Larabar in case I need it on the trail.

There are a lot of schools of thought as to whether you should work out on an empty stomach vs. being ‘properly’ fueled.  Some say that if you exercise on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, you’ll burn more fat (still burning the same number of calories, but because your glycogen stores will be lower first thing in the a.m. you potentially dig into fat stores sooner.)  On the other hand, there are those that say if you exercise without properly fueling for it, you will be causing a bit of catabolism of the precious muscle tissue we all work so hard to keep.

My opinion is this is highly individualized from one person to the next.   Feeling crampy or nauseous during a workout from a belly full of food isn’t something that will keep you coming back for more.  But feeling lightheaded or dizzy from not eating enough and hence lacking energy isn’t good either.   Base it off of how long or how intense the workout will be.  Common sense applies here.  Listen to your body and take note of how you feel so that next time you can make the right ‘tweaks’ to feel FANTASTIC during your workouts. 

Isn’t that really what it’s all about anyway?  :)   I’d rather feel great during my workouts (which means I’ll be more inclined to do it again tomorrow, and the day after that, etc.) than be too focused on what percentage of the calories burned are from fat.  (Been there, done that…!)   Overall if you are moving your body regularly and eating nutritious foods, you’ll get where you want to go.

Let us know which side of the fence you’re on — drop a comment!

Alrighty friends, I’ve got a LOT on the plate today so I’m gonna get cracking!  Have a FAB FRIDAY! 

If all goes as planned today I may be back later on with the last notice before the blog moves.  If not, you’ll know I hit an speed bump… ;)   

See ya next time! 

– Shari B. =)

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To Sprout or Not To Sprout?

Oct 14

Posted by in Keeping Fit | 4 Comments

Good morning blogosphere! 

Thank you so much to those who shared their own sprouting experiences – I appreciate hearing from all of you! 

Upon reading some of the comments as well as websites discussing the toxins and bacteria potentially in sprouts, I will confess I’m torn. On one hand I hear experts touting sprouts as being the king of nutrients and digestability.  Then at the other end of the spectrum you have experts telling you to pretty much avoid them (especially alfalfa).  And I’ve been eating alfalfa sprouts EVERY day for months now, in smoothies, sandwiches, wraps. 

I feel at this point I’ll continue to eat sprouts in moderation.  I think, at least for me personally, the benefits outweigh the risks.  That may change as I continue to read up on the topic.

Therefore, my sprouting (ad)venture has commenced… but I think this first attempt isn’t going to go all that well.  We’ll see.  Not that I’m trying to send negative vibes out into the universe or anything ;)  I am starting with millet because that is what I happened to have on hand.  Reading into the instructions of sprouting millet, I learned that tray-style works better for this particular grain using 100% cotton cloth above and below it, as I’ve done here.

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The issue I think I will run into is the rinsing and draining.  Once you get little shoots they say to be very careful because they can break easily.  Not sure how I’m going to manage rinsing and draining from this pie plate without moving the little buggers around!  I also read that some of the millet might ferment rather than sprout.  Plus I’m not even sure if what I have is hulled or unhulled millet.  And I’m quickly realizing in this dry climate that my cloth dries out CRAZY-FAST so I think I need something thicker like a washcloth. (Overthink things much, Shari??)  :)

Time will tell!

What I DO know is that the sprouts I PURCHASE cost me about $1.99… so if I spend too much time on this experiment, I’ll be sticking with store-bought!  :)

On the subject of millet, I did cook up a big batch of it to keep in the fridge.  So for breakfast yesterday I had a bowl of warm millet with almond milk, some raw honey and raisins.  It was a nice change from oatmeal.

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It made for a perfect post-run meal after a chilly and VERY dark outdoor run.  MSP and I went out for three miles at about 6:20 and it was still pitch black out when we left.  I can be wide awake when I leave the house and then get out into that darkness and it’s like my body floods my system with melatonin because I get really sleepy again until the sun comes up.  Thank goodness for electricity or I’d be sleeping 16 hours a day during winters!

Midmorning I had half of a Cashew Cookie Larabar.  

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I’ve had a small box of Sunshine Falafel ‘burgers’ in my freezer waiting for me to try.  Since I bought a huge tub of roasted red pepper hummus, I decided I’d break out the falafel burger for lunch before the hummus is gone!  (It doesn’t last long in this house!)  I used half of a sandwich thin as the base, with a schmear of hummus topped by a slice of heirloom tomato.   The Sunshine burger acted as the bun lid.  For some reason this picture makes it look like an Egg McMuffin, doesn’t it? 

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It was definitely tasty.  A little drier than I imagined but that worked perfectly for a TOPLESS sandwich!  :)

And of course, my large salad to go with my meal!

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I spent most of Tuesday glued to the computer, working on and reading about taking my blog self-hosted this weekend.  I needed a snack that would allow me to still type, so just a quick handful of Mary’s Gone Crackers and the rest of the morning’s Larabar.

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I made a hamburger potato casserole for MSP’s dinner which did require a little kitchen time, so when it came time to decide what to make for moi, I wasn’t feeling in the mood to cook anything.  Lazy Girl Dinner would have to suffice.  A can of Amy’s Organic soup.  Folks, let me tell you that these soups are pretty much the reason I have yet to actively seek out recipes for soup.  Amy make’s a kick-a$$ soup!!  Look at how chunky this soup is!  This one was Southwest Vegetable.  Even the little pieces of corn had grill markings on them.  :) I will definitely be stocking up on cans of this particular ‘flavor’.  I almost ate both servings, but decided to save some for another meal.  On the side was a piece of toasted Ezekial, with Earth Balance vegan butter and a sprinkle of garlic salt.

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Sometimes cooking is just overrated when you can heat up an insanely quick dinner like this.  :)

And last, my evening dessert:  in concept I thought this would be such a cute photo.  It SO did not turn out that way.  In my mind I was thinking “banana sushi rolls” with almond butter as my ‘wasabi’.  It didn’t plate up that well though and I got quite a laugh out of it.  For any South Park fans out there, I’ll just say that this picture brought to mind Mr. Hanky and leave it at that!

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It did TASTE great though, with cinnamon, raw honey drizzle and the almond butter.  ;)

If you are in the mood for a giveaway, hop on over to The Fitnessista’s blog where you can enter to win free VEGA Sport items.  She will announce the winner on Thursday morning so you have all day today to get your entries in.  You know I love my Vega products, so I’ve used up all of my three ways to enter that contest! 

OK, blog buds I have plenty more to say today but feel like I’ve borrowed enough of your time as it is so I’ll save it for another post!  I’m heading out to get my HIKE ON. 

****

Just another reminder for those who may not get to read daily:  FitFeat will be going self-hosted over this coming weekend (provided all goes well when it comes time to ‘flip the switch’!)  If everything goes as planned you should be able to find me at the same address I can be found at now which is www.fitfeat.com.  Currently that redirects you to this wordpress dot com blog location.  Over the weekend it should redirect you to the new location.  If you have any trouble finding the blog or notice something that doesn’t seem right, please email me at shari@fitfeat.com.

– Shari B. =)

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Save Our Soles!

Oct 13

Posted by in Product Review | 4 Comments

Holy moly FitFeat Friends… there was an explosion of activity on the blog yesterday!  Wow!  A record number of hits to the FitFeat site.  Whatever you guys are doing to spread the word, THANK YOU!  And please keep it up – you’re AWESOME!

So I thought I’d take some time today to talk about another one of my favorite “tools” - but this one is not related to the kitchen.  It’s for our feet. 

Back when I was running half-marathons more often and putting a lot of miles on my feet, I was getting blisters left and right. 

Two friends / running buddies each recommended that I try a particular brand of sock called the Wrightsock Coolmesh.   What’s special about these socks is that they are made of two thin layers.  Instead of your sock and foot rubbing together, the two layers of material rub together and the friction stays within the layers as opposed to on your skin.  

I wasn't kidding when I said I have SMALL FEET...!

I wasn't kidding when I said I have SMALL FEET...!

These socks were lifesavers (well, OK that might be an overstatment :) at the very least they were sole-savers!)  They are a small investment early on, but worth every penny.  I now own about 8 pair and I wear them every day:  running, hiking, walking.  Anytime my sneakers go on, so do these socks.

If you’re a runner, walker, hiker or just someone who is prone to blistered feet, you should look into trying out these socks.

I am grateful to have learned about these socks at a time when I really needed them (thanks Scott!  thanks Lori!) and wanted to pay it forward, so to speak.

In light of the recent FTC ruling about product reviews and blogs, I thought I’d make a note for the record that all of the products I have reviewed and/or recommended to date on this blog are offered up solely because I use and like the products, not because I am being paid to do so or offered any sort of kickback.

On to Monday’s eats:

After the nice Back/Trap workout I detailed in yesterday’s post, I wanted a quick influx of carbs.  So I opted for a bowl of mango-licious.  This one should have been given over to the green smoothie gods though, because it wasn’t as ripe as it should have been.  That’s what I get for being impatient and dying to eat my yummy mango taunting me from the fruit basket on my counter!
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Shortly thereafter it was time for my real breakfast so I had a bowl of OATSMILE:

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Lunch was yet another leftover serving of Veggie Enchilasagna with a side of spanish rice.  There’s one more sliver of this still in the fridge, but I’m pretty sure at this point that I’ve had my FILL of this particular food for awhile.

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I also had a side salad with lunch (spinach, tomato, dulse,  pepitas, hemp oil, balsamic vinegar, nutritional yeast):

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Followed by a little dessert!  Endangered Species brand 72% dark chocolate… mmmm chocolate!

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Afternoon snack time came up FAST!  I was busy on blog hosting study… I decided to forego the standard Larabar for some hummus, Wasa, raw goat cheddar and baby carrots.  Tasty and fiber-rich!

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When MSP got home, we still had some daylight and it wasn’t completely freezing outside, so we decided to take the dogs out for their wog:  a quick 2-miler to work up a little appetite before dinner: another set of leftovers that I tried to make into something different.  I had some of Friday night’s “Warm Asian Thai-Fry” left, so I warmed it up, then wrapped it into red chard leaves.  The ‘dipping sauce’ is just a generic version of Annie’s “Gingerly Vinaigrette” from a bottle. 

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It wasn’t bad at all for a meal that only took about 90 seconds to build!  But I was still a little hungry after so I had a few Mary’s Gone Crackers with some slivers of the raw goat cheddar. 

OK, friends, I’m off to get Tuesday started!  Have a fantastic Tuesday!  If you’re located in the Colorado are, KEEP WARM!  If you’re located someplace outside of Colorado that is warm, please send some heat our direction!

For today’s discussion, do you have any tips/tricks/tools that have helped any of your outdoor activities, in the way that the Wrightsocks have helped with my blisters?  You FitFeat readers are very FIT-SAVVY, and have lots of great info to share!  Thanks for doing so and keep it coming!  We are ALL learning and benefiting from each other!

See you tomorrow!

– Shari B. =)

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The One Thing You Can Do Now to Improve Your Fitness Journey

Oct 7

Posted by in Cooking, FitFeature | 2 Comments

Good morning FitFeat friends!!  Happy Wednesday to you!  Friday is getting closer!  It’s supposed to be mid-70s today and then SNOW tomorrow!  So I better get outside while I can (‘scoop-n-squats’ anyone?)

While I was out on yesterday’s 3 mile dog wog, I was listening to a Tony Robbins recording on my iPod. 

Right off the bat I’ll confess that there is something about Tony Robbins that just gets me going!  Sadly I don’t do the written exercises that he suggests.  And I rarely get past day 1 or 2 in a 7-, 10-, or 30-day set.  But just hearing him speak lights a fire under my tail like nobody’s business.  Yes, I am a self-help junkie.  :)

One question I’ve noticed he poses in most of his programs is: 
What is your “camera lens” focused on?

This is something I think about often in terms of personal training clients looking to improve their fitness and/or their body composition, so I thought I’d touch on it today for a FitFeature.

In your own fitness journey, are you focusing on negative or self-defeating points like “I’m on a diet”, “I have to work out”, or “I can’t believe I can’t eat such-and-such”? 

Sometimes the best path to getting fit is more about making the mental shift than it is about what program you choose to follow.  Wouldn’t you rather focus on the positive things like “I feel so energized after working out”, “The foods I’m eating are making me healthier by the day”, or “I choose not to eat [insert fave junk food here] because it makes me sluggish and I’d rather feel vibrant.”  Once you do, you will be amazed at how easy your journey becomes.  Focusing on the negative wastes a lot of energy.

I’ve stated this before but in my early “dieting” days if someone had recommended to me that I follow a nutrition plan similar to the way I eat now, I think I may have felt it REALLY restrictive.  Mentally it would have been a huge jump for me.  (What? No chicken?  Minimal dairy?  How will I survive if I can’t mix cottage cheese into everything?)  But now?  I feel such a sense of freedom from dieting because one, I don’t consider what I do ‘dieting’ now, and two, that’s not what my “lens is focused on”.  Now I am focused on all the great things I DO eat, all the energy those foods provide me, how I no longer have digestive issues.   The fact that I’ve lost body fat is just icing on the cake.

About 6 years ago I participated in a fat loss program where one of the requirements was to eat 4 cups of veggies every day.  As I hadn’t yet made the shift, getting ‘those veggies in’ was a huge struggle for me.  Which is funny because these days, I pretty much meet that ‘requirement’ in one green smoothie, and that’s just the start of my day!  Add in one of my crazy big salads, and that’s probably another three cups more!

How hard or easy something feels is simply a matter of where you choose to aim your focus. 

***

Speaking of all that healthy food… :)   Tuesday started with a Vega chocolate whole food health optimizer, with some added vanilla rice protein powder, shaken violently with some almond milk!  Greens, probiotics and maca, oh my!

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Someone (known on the comment board as MSP Buddy) gave MSP a BABY LARABAR to give to me!  Thanks MSP Buddy!  That was so sweet… and my little pecan pie snacky is so cute!

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At lunchtime I tweaked another recipe, this time for a tuna burger.  But my tweaking actually made it worse, so I won’t be adding it to the “Build A Meal” section!  I made it into an open-faced sammy, with the “top lid” as a piece of lettuce.

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Oh my afternoon snack was total bliss …. I am hopelessly addicted to mango.  Do you think I could make a mango tree survive in the Colorado climate??  I kid you not, when I finished cutting this thing, I gnawed all the extra ‘mango meat’ from the core.  I did not want to miss one bite…

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Tuesday is Hell’s Kitchen night (w/Gordon Ramsay) so I felt all “chef-like” setting out my ingredients to prep for dinner.  :)

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 And voila!  Pesto Gnocchi with Zucchini, Asparagus & Sun-dried Tomatoes (with an unpictured side salad)

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Well folks, I’m off to stock up on enough sunshine to get me through the next few days!  :)

Keep your ’camera lens’ in mind today and look for areas where you can ‘adjust your focus’!  Make it a great day!

– Shari B. =)

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