Marcellus Wallace Was Right. Pride Only Hurts.

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Marcellus understands how pride never helps you...it only hurts!

Marcellus understands how pride never helps you…it only hurts!

I just finished up the long run part of my 5K interval training, and I completely screwed the pooch by not pacing myself.

I started off great – a nice slow pace – for the first ½ mile. My intervals are set for a 20 second run and 40 second walk. Am I going to set records at that pace? No, but I am a newb when it comes to running.

For some reason, I started thinking (first bad sign) that it was too easy and I wasn’t pushing myself.  I could go faster. And I did.

By the half way point I felt great and I wasn’t out of breath.  Then I turned the corner and realized my mistake.

The rest of the way home was uphill.

That, my friend, is pride screwing with me.  I didn’t think about the back half of the trail. I used all my energy and reserves before I hit the hill.

During the climb my legs felt like lead. I was huffing and puffing. Each 20-second run felt more like 20 minutes.

At the top of the incline I hit a wall.

Exhausted and desperately trying to catch my breath, I ended up walking during the last 3 20-second intervals.

Marcellus Wallace was right — “Pride only hurts. It never helps. You fight through that sh#%.”

Spinning Monkey On My Back

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spinning class, fitness

Don’t think I’m addicted to cycling? Well I just picked up a pair of cycling shoes. Tomorrow I’m installing the cleats so i can clamp my shoe on the pedal. Oh, the spinning addiction is real!

Well my November Fitness Challenge – 2 spin classes/week – may be over, but I can’t stop spinning! It’s official. I’m addicted to that damn cycling class.

How bad is it? After the first two weeks of my challenge, it was clear those 2 classes per week weren’t enough. To get my fix I’m now doing 4 classes a week.  Heck, I did back-to-back classes Sunday morning.

I leave each class feeling exhausted and amazing.  No other exercise – weight training, yoga, walking/running – makes me feel the way I do after spinning.  There are five things that make spinning awesomely great.

1. I’m In Control
Yes, I follow the instructor. But I’m in complete control when it comes to setting pace or the resistance levels. I’m pushing myself as much as possible, but when fatigue hits (and it does) then I can slow my speed or my tension until I’m able to catch up. Sure I’m in a class, but it’s my own personal workout.

2. I Feel The Difference In My Runs
Since I started cycling, I’ve noticed a difference in my 5k-interval training. I’m a little faster, I’m not as winded after a session, my legs feel stronger and my knees recover much faster.

3. Spinning Kicks Everyone’s A$$
Doesn’t matter if you are overweight or buff, spinning is an equal opportunity destroyer. When I walked into my first spin class, I felt self-conscious. I found a bike in a corner in the back of the room. For some bizarre reason I thought people would watch the fat chick trying to pedal. Ha! When spinning, folks are doing their own thing. You have no idea what resistance levels your classmates are using. Plus everyone gets fatigued and lightens the tension settings…everyone, including the instructors.

4. I Love The Group Environment
Most group exercises I can do without. I find them boring.  I’ve had the complete opposite experience with my spin classes. There’s so much excitement and energy in the class it feeds your workout.

5. Awesome Music
I know nothing about newer music. With few exceptions, if it’s after 1995 I won’t have a clue. Spin class has introduced me to some great new music like…well, I can’t name the artists, but I’ve liked what I’ve heard. Occasionally my ears bleed from the catwallering of a Katy Perry song.  For those, I tune out the “singing” and focus on the beat. My weekend spin classes find me singing along at the top of my lungs to the best classic rock mixes – Zeppelin, Rush, Skynyrd, U2, Motown. Just brilliant.

What’s your workout addiction?

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Final Fish Challenge – Sushi!

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sushi, weight loss, eating healthy

This life-long member of the Fish Hater Club decided to give sushi a try the day after Thanksgiving. It was awesome.

November is coming to a close, which means my fish challenge is ending. I’d thought I’d go out with a bang and try some sushi. What could be more challenging for a non-fish eater than eating raw fish?

Yesterday the hubby took me to a little restaurant called Kumo Sushi. When looking at the menu, it was clear I’m no sushi connoisseur. I couldn’t tell you the difference between Nigiri, Maki or Sashimi.

So I went for simplicity. I ordered the Sushi Lunch – 5 pieces of sushi and 1 California roll.

When my order arrived, I mixed all the wasabi with some soy sauce, placed the ginger on top of each piece of fish and began dipping.

Wow!

Everything was delicious. Nothing tasted fishy – except that blasted California roll…more on that in a sec.

Sushi

Sushi….Yummmmm. Yes, I’m a sushi convert. I loved every bite (well, I could lose the California Roll).

Any fear I had disappeared with the first bite. The fish melted in my mouth and I quickly gobbled up each piece. I kicked myself for not trying this delectable delight sooner.

Will I have sushi again?

Hell yeah!

I’m officially a sushi lover.  I’m thinking of making it a weekly treat – Sushi Friday’s has a nice ring to it.

Although I think the next time I’ll go light on the wasabi.  While I love the heat, I used all of it in my soy sauce expecting horrible tasting food. And at times the wasabi heat overpowered the fish as it melted my eyes into the back of my head.  I learned quickly to lightly dip the sushi into the soy sauce-wasabi mixture.

Sushi — tasty and educational.

What’s Up With That California Roll?
As for the California Roll…it was…OK. The unseasoned nori (or seaweed) gave it a fishy taste and was off-putting. And what’s with the imitation crab? Keep it fresh or don’t serve it.

It all comes down to one question.  Would I order a California Roll again? If I really wanted sushi and nothing else is around, then sure I could eat a California Roll if I was starving.

Now that’s what I call a ringing endorsement. Heh.

Sushi Challenge
My friend Elizabeth did her best to get me to try sushi for ages. I should have listened sooner. She sent me a note today and urged me to try Unagi.

Challenge accepted!

Make Sure To Use Your Dingle-Dangle!

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OK, I know Thanksgiving is over, but this can’t wait for next year. I mean, it’s Shatner after all!

Fire, metal, oil, turkey and Shatner are glorious when in harmony.

Thanksgiving Pledge – My Plate

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My healthy, low carb Thanksgiving plate: Turkey, broccoli casserole, cauliflower mash with chives and garlic and stuffing with sage and chives.

My healthy, low carb Thanksgiving plate: Turkey, broccoli casserole, cauliflower mash with chives and garlic and stuffing with sage and chives.

Last night the hubby and I celebrated our Thanksgiving. And in honoring the Thanksgiving Pledge I took a photo of my plate and didn’t have any seconds. Not that I had time anyway. I still had to bake 2 pies for the real Thanksgiving dinner we’re having at our friends home.

So far so good. While the stuffing was low-fat, both the broccoli casserole and the cauliflower mash were low carb. Everything was filling and thankfully I ended up only going with half servings of each side dish.

The real test comes today. But my strategy is the same — load up on turkey and small portions of everything else.

Stuffing with Sage & Chives

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I ended up modifying this Weight Watchers recipe. Sorry, but to call a dish stuffing and not cubed bread, moisture is key. The recipe called for 2 cups of chicken broth and no eggs. I ended up using 3 cups of broth, 2 eggs and 1 tbsp of fresh parsley.

Perfect…almost. If I make this next year, I would add 1 cup of diced granny smith apple and fresh sage. Talk about yum! I had an apple left over from the pie and I’m kicking myself for not adding it. Oh well.

With my changes the stuffing tasted yummy.  I know my changes add 1 point, but you can probably skip the eggs and still have a tasty 3-point serving of stuffing.  I ended up only eating ½ a serving anyway — very filling.

Stuffing with Sage & Chives
Net Carbs: 19g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 4 (3 points w/o eggs)
Serves: 8

Ingredients

  • Cooking Spray
  • 12 slices whole wheat bread, cubed*
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp light butter
  • 1 C uncooked onions, diced
  • 3 rib(s) uncooked celery, diced
  • 2 tsp dried sage
  • 2 tsp dried thyme
  • ½ tsp table salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • 3 chicken bouillon cubes
  • 3 C water
  • 1 Tbsp parsley, fresh chopped
  • 2 Tbsp chives, fresh, chopped

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 and coat a 4-quart shallow baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
  • Arrange bread cubes on a large ungreased baking sheet in a single layer (use 2 baking sheets if necessary). Bake until lightly toasted, about 8-10 minutes. Remove bread from oven and set aside. Leave oven at 350.
  • Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil and butter together for 1-2 minutes. Add onion and celery and sauté until soft, about 3 minutes. Add thyme, sage, salt and pepper; stir to coat. Cook until herbs are fragrant, about 1 minute.
  • In a saucepan, bring 3 cups of water to boil. Add in bouillon cubes and parsley; stir until cubes dissolve. Remove pan from heat.
  • Transfer onion mixture to a large mixing bowl. Add bread and chives. Slowly add in broth, mixing as you go.  You want mixture moist, but no liquid forming at the bottom of your bowl. Be sure to mix well to absorb liquid.
  • Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish and cover with foil; bake 20 minutes. Uncover and bake until top is golden brown, about 15 minutes more.
  • Divide into 8 pieces and serve. Yields 1 piece per serving.

* Leave the bread bag open and somewhat uncovered for 1-2 days at room temperature before making recipe.  

 

Turkey Tip – Trussing A Turkey

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This is my favorite video showing you how to truss your turkey.  Do you have to truss a turkey? No. I truss my bird to make it more attractive and for a more compact shape.

I started trussing the turkey a couple of years ago. Sure I’d always tie the legs together, but the wings always went cockeyed when it was time for the turkey to come out of the oven.

I’d seen trussed turkeys, but never could figure out how to tie the bird properly. Enter Good Eats, one of the greatest cooking shows of all time. I happened to come across a Thanksgiving episode and lo and behold, I learned how to truss a turkey.  Well thanks to the magic of YouTube, that video is online.

Also if you cook your turkey in a bag (don’t laugh, it’s easy and makes a very juicy bird!), trussing the bird makes it easier getting it into the bag.

 

 

 

 

 

All I Want For Christmas Is…Awesome Fitness Gear

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weight loss gift ideas, fitness gear ideas for christmas

What will Santa bring me this year? I just hope it helps me lose weight (Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono and FreeDigitalPhotos.net).

Last night as I watched Chopped, I decided to work on my list for Santa. When I finished, I realized everything on the list focuses on fitness — either to help me workout, eat right or stay motivated. Hopefully I’m not on the naughty list and some of these items will make it down the chimney to me.

10. New Workout Shoes – This is a tough gift since I need to try on any shoes with my Thorlos (padded socks).  Speaking of Thorlos…

9. Socks! Yoga (toe socks, please!) and Running (padded)

8. Fleece Headband – It’s 39 degrees out and snowing…’nuff said.

7. Camcorder – A bit too pricey for this Christmas, but it is my WISH list.  Good for cooking and workout videos.

6. Gymboss Interval Timer – Need something smaller than my phone that is easy to read.

5. Heart Rate Monitor – I can’t believe I’ve gone this long without one.

4. Biker Shorts – I only have one and it has to be washed after each session. I need another to slow wear and tear.

3. Paleo Comfort Foods: Homestyle Cooking for a Gluten-Free Kitchen – I’m not gluten-free (the hubby might be), but the recipes look yummy!

2. Touch Screen Friendly Gloves – One of my cold weather wish list items that allows me to easily use my iPhone.

1. Cold Weather, Waterproof Jacket

The jacket is top on my list, but also the most difficult, and not because I’ll need to try it on before buying it (sort of ruins Christmas morning). I’ve avoided buying jackets since I’m losing the weight. As the fat keeps coming off, any jacket will only be used for a few months before being replaced next season. But I need something for winter workouts that’s low-cost. This is the toughie.

I’m not expecting to find all 10 items under my Christmas tree, but hopefully this points Santa in the right direction.

What’s on your wish list?

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Cycling Challenge Week 4: Big Wheel Keeps On Turning

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weight loss cycling, spinning class for beginners

Yes, the class kicked my butt — literally and figuratively!

I don’t know if I was preparing for Thanksgiving dinner, but I went all out during my spinning class today. For my first few classes, I went at my pace as I knew I couldn’t keep up with everyone else. Well today I wanted to do everything the instructor threw at me.

Resistance Is Everything
Cycling is pretty easy to understand. Increase your resistance, the tougher it is to peddle, making you work harder. Easy peasy.

My first week, I bounced between resistance levels 1 and 2 (the lowest). Since then, I’ve increased my resistance each week to challenge myself.

Last week 6 was my top-level of resistance. Today I wanted to really push myself, so I upped my max resistance to 8.  Clearly I didn’t want to just sweat. Nope, I wanted to wring every ounce of water out of my body.

Climbing Hills and Screaming Calves
If there is one thing in my spin class I absolutely hate, it’s the hill climbs. While I love getting my butt off that saddle, this is without a doubt the toughest part of the class for me. My hamstrings and calves scream at me. And sure enough, when I hit the half way point of the climb, I always sit down.

Not today!

I don’t know what happened, but for seven solid minutes, at level 8 resistance, I tackled that blasted hill.  My legs turned to jello while I huffed and puffed.  But I never sat down for a rest. I did each position the instructor called out with a fierce determination.

When it came time to sit back in the saddle I was drenched in sweat, exhausted and wanted to crawl up into a ball…just in time for sprints! Oh joy.

Normally I love sprints, but today it was much harder than usual. I thought I pushed myself too hard on the hill climb. I still hit 90 RPM. It wasn’t until the end of the sprint before I realized I increased my resistance to level 9 instead of dropping down to 6.

D’oh!

I was so excited when the instructor yelled, “Time for cool down!”

At the end of the workout, my bike’s monitor indicated I burned more than 800 calories.

I should be excited, but I just want a nap.

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