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Fitness center frustrations and workouts

May 31, 2009 By 5 Comments

Today we got some news that just put us in a pretty bad mood.  We are more disappointed in the way everything happened but whatcha going to do?  Our fitness center has decided to cut many classes from the schedule, two being spin classes that we attend (Sunday AM and Monday PM).  This was just dropped on us this morning by our spin instructor who was totally surprised that we were not already informed.  This comes after the fitness center gave us one week notice that they were closing for TWO weeks to get stuff done.  Big mess!  We totally understand having to make wise business decisions but they aren’t doing anything about it.  I can’t see paying the current rate for them cutting the classes we attend in HALF.  We are just annoyed and I’m off to check out pricing and classes at another gym nearby.  We don’t have a lot of choices so it’s a bummer.

Kev and I would ultimately like to set up a home gym in our garage.  Would love to start with upright and recumbent bikes (or even a spin bike), an elliptical and treadmill plus maybe the ab roller or things like that.  This would be the ultimate way for us so we could work out at home AND save on the gym membership fee.  But in the meantime, I’m off to go check out Anytime Fitness to see what they have to offer.

Hey, thanks for listening to my rant LOL  We just want to be treated right and I want my 4 spin classes a week back waa waa.  Hope ya’ll had a great weekend!

Workout stats for the week of May 25-31, 2009

Monday-

Day off

Tuesday-

*Walk outside
Time: 30 min.

Wednesday-

*Walk outside
Time: 20 min

*Elliptical
Time: 15 min.
Calories burned: 206

*Spin & Core class
Time: 60 min.
Calories burned: 566

Thursday-

*Walk outside
Time: 20 min.

Friday-

*Walk Away the Pounds, The Big Burn 2 mile
Time: 31 min.
Calories burned: 312

Saturday-

*Spin class
Time: 1 hour 6 min.
Calories burned: 651

Sunday-

*Elliptical
Time: 11 min.
Miles: 1.0
Calories burned: 111

*Spin class
Time: 51 min.
Calories burned: 557

*Mowing the lawn
Time: 1 hour 7 min.
Calories burned: 754

Overall, I would say it was a pretty good workout week.  I’m not sure how this coming week will play out but I’ll do as much in-home workouts and outdoor walking as I can and I want to start doing 3 sets of 10 leg bicycles and 3 sets of 10 clamshell crunches with exercise ball every day.  The 30 Day Shred will wait until July.

How were  your workouts this past week and what do you have planned for the coming week?

 
Filed Under: Daily Exercise Log Tagged With: ,

Too much salt in your diet?

May 29, 2009 By 4 Comments

We are consuming a lot more sodium than we should these days.  It is recommended that we consume at least 500 but less than 2400 milligrams a day.  According to the Mayo Clinic, sodium is essential in small amounts to help maintain the right balance of fluids in your body.

Most processed foods are high in sodium so we need to keep a close eye on our food and drink choices.  Do you realize that many of the foods eaten these days are very high in sodium?  Here is a list of foods that you should really watch out for next time you’re choosing what to eat.

  1. Frozen meals
  2. Lunch meats
  3. Hot dogs
  4. Salad dressings
  5. Canned soup
  6. Crackers & cookies
    and
  7. Condiments (ketchup, mustard, relish, etc.)

YIKES!  I have to really work on changing my diet as I still eat some of those listed above.

Today’s Tip: How to cut down on your daily sodium intake

There are many ways for you to start cutting down on your salt intake.

  • Take a closer look at and read food labels to see how much sodium is in each serving.
  • Don’t add salt to foods even when a recipe calls for it with the exception of baking.
  • Choose less processed foods and eat more fresh fruit, vegetables and cooked cereal.
  • Rinse canned beans and veggies.
  • Skip fast food.
  • Look for low sodium food varieties and choose unsalted nuts.

By being more aware of your daily sodium intake, you can really make a difference towards a much healthier lifestyle.

I’m going to challenge myself to really take a closer look at my food choices as far as high sodium goes.  I found some great healthy meal ideas, tips and recipes in Tosca Reno’s Eat-Clean Diet book.  She also has a book dedicated to clean eating recipes.

Are you aware of how much sodium you consume in a day? If you have any other tips on how to cut down on daily sodium intake, we are all ears.

 
Filed Under: Friday Fit and Healthy Lifestyle Tips Tagged With: , , , ,

I survived my second green smoothie

May 28, 2009 By 7 Comments

Oh yes I did, I survived my 2nd green smoothie!  YEA! It’s a lot of fun trying different varieties and I have a list of others I’ll be putting to the test over the next few weeks.

I made today’s green smoothie in a Back to Basics smoothie maker.  This smoothie was very tasty but the kale didn’t grind up as well in the actual smoothie maker as the spinach did in the Magic Bullet® Blender/Mixer
(love, love, love the Magic Bullet).  Plus it took longer to prepare in the smoothie maker BUT since the smoothie maker is larger than the Magic Bullet, it was much easier to throw the ingredients together and much less messy.

Green smoothie #2 ingredients:

1 kale leaf, 1 c. unsweetened almond milk, 1 tbsp flax, 1 ripe banana, 1/4 c. frozen blueberries, 1 tbsp peanut butter (almond butter is recommended), 4-6 ice cubes and 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder (not pictured).

I decided at the last minute to add the ice and protein powder.

Sorry for the messy glass, I dumped it back in the smoothie maker when I decided to add ice and protein powder ha ha.  OK, the picture did not turn out too well either bummer.

It’s been fun trying out these two green smoothies.  I’ll share more as soon as I make them and will probably put the recipes together on my main website so you can find them all in one place.  These smoothies seem to hold me over fine until lunch time which is great.

I would love to own one of those Vita Mix blenders that I hear so many great things about.  Imagine what you could make with one of those!  Have you seen the Vita Mix blender?  Own one?

Happy Thursday!  Make it a great day.

PS.  Read about my very first green smoothie experience.

 
Filed Under: Healthy Smoothies Tagged With: , , , ,

Weekly Weigh In: May 27

May 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

I’m choosing not to weigh in this week just because I don’t feel like it ha ha.  I know actual weight should not matter anyway so I’m going to go with how I feel this week and it’s 50/50.  I am easing back in to my workouts finally and going to be more mindful of my portions and water intake.  I did overeat this weekend a bit which was not fun.

So for this week the stats will stay the same as last week

Stats for the week:

Current weight: 220
Goal weight: 140
Pounds left to go: 80

How did you do this week?  Check in!  Stay accountable.

 
Filed Under: Weekly Weigh In Tagged With:

My first Green Monster Smoothie

May 26, 2009 By 10 Comments

I had my very first green smoothie for breakfast this morning.  I have seen so many varieties of this green monster smoothie, I wanted to try it out for myself.  To be honest my first impressions before even whipping up the green smoothie up was to gag ha ha.  But I was really quite surprised that it turned out quite yummy.  It didn’t turn out a pretty green like the many I have seen on food blogs around the web but it had it’s own unique mix of colors.  It looked like it would go nice with the Christmas holidays.  Hints of green and red to it.

Want to see?

Here are the ingredients

1 banana, 5 frozen strawberries, 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder, 1 cup baby spinach, approx. 1 cup almond milk and 2 tsp. flax

I just guessed on the ingredient amounts and it turned out well to me.  I used my Magic Bullet® blender/mixer so the cups are small (but as you see below it filled a full glass and there was a tiny bit extra) and most green smoothies I saw I’m pretty sure were made in an actual smoothie maker or full size blender.  If you have any tips on the amounts or ingredients feel free to share!

Here’s the final product (can you see the colored specs?), yum.

I have a list of other green smoothie ingredients I would like to try so you’ll be seeing more of my concoctions on the blog.  It should be fun!

If you have made green monster green smoothies, please feel free to link to your blog or share with us here.


Green Smooth Book

Read about my 2nd green monster smoothie here.

 
Filed Under: Healthy Smoothies Tagged With: , , ,

Menu Plan Monday: May 25

May 25, 2009 By 3 Comments

It’s time for Menu Plan Monday!  Hope your holiday weekend was fabulous.  We have company and will go play miniature golf today.  Can’t wait!

Monday-
Happy Memorial Day-Ribs, a very special treat, veggie and grilled pineapple

Tuesday-
Tabouli stuffed peppers

Wednesday-
Pasta w/turkey sausage and veggie sauce

Thursday-
Balsamic/Basil or Jerk chicken and shrimp spinach wraps

Friday-
Steak, potato and veggie

I’m also going to try my hand at making some green smoothies this week.  I sure hope I like them and I’ll be sure to tell you all about them.

 
Filed Under: Healthy Meal Plan/Menu Plan Monday Tagged With: , ,
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