Starting somewhere.

Today's workout
4 miles on the TM easy pace
15 minutes weights
Core Work
Stretch
Foam Roll   

First, I have to share with you my exciting news.
I couldn't sleep last night because I was so excited.
I signed up for my first race for the year 2013.
Yay. Finally!! 

 

I am pretty dang excited for this race. It is still 6 months away and the elevation for the start is at 8500 feet.

I feel out of breath just thinking about being up that high, let alone running up there.

But running in the mountains, with a bunch of other crazies, with the crisp, fresh mountain air...you think I am kidding but there really isn't anything better that that.

And who knows, maybe this will be THE race for me.
Still going for that PR this year.
I am going to be using one of Hal Higdon's training schedule, found here.

I am hoping to add at least 1 more half and maybe a couple 5K races my race schedule.
We will see what I can come up with.

 

   A quick look back at my weekend,
My MIL and her husband came to visit.

Oh we just love family.

  

Our weekend was busy but that is how it should be right...

We took in all the sights of Downtown Denver. 

If you come to Denver, you have to go to 16th street.
And the weather was just FAB-U-LOUS! 

Sunny and 65 degrees in January, I'll take it!

We did a little ice skating for free too. 

My kids were pretty excited...about the skating.  Not so much about me taking a bazillion pictures of them.
  I was happy with the courteous smile and staged thumbs-up.

   
And I have to share this gem of all gems.
So special.
 

So that was our weekend.

We ate some good food, enjoyed being outside in the warm weather, getting a little exercise with walking all day, laughed a lot. Good times.

But my tip for today, during this month of "Getting Started"  

is to

START SOMEWHERE and START NOW

  

Set a goal for yourself of what you want to accomplish.  

Whether it be a big goal of loosing 40 lbs or a small goal of getting to bed earlier.  

The only way to get what you want is to set a goal and go for it.

 But you have to start somewhere.

Don't keep saying, I'll start eating better tomorrow or once these cookies I made last night are gone then I will eat better, or I'll run that 5k I have always wanted to after I loose 10 lbs.

Start saying, "Why not now"... "I can do this now". 

Get off the couch and start walking.  Walk over to the counter and throw those cookies away.

Give yourself some importance right now.  There are a million other things that can fill the 24 hours we have each day, but truthfully we only fill those hours with things we think are important or of worth.

Make sure your health and your goals are right up near the top of the list of importance.

Goals and changes are hard.  They are meant to be hard.  All things worth doing require time and effort. 

If everything we did was easy, there wouldn't be any value in it.

But that is where the reward comes from.

I can not tell you how many times I have dreaded a morning run. I am just not one of those people that wake up dying to run EVERY. SINGLE. MORNING.

Some mornings, yes, I crave it. But lots of mornings, it takes convincing.  Especially if I know I am due for a hard long hilly run.  And there are times that I put it off for a few days. I always regret it in the evenings I didn't do my run.

But after it is accomplished, the feeling is awesome. It really makes me proud of myself for putting in the hard work. Again, the reward is totally worth the work.  

And that is the feeling I crave.

So whatever it is that you want to improve on, set a goal and go for it.  As you get comfortable or you reach your goal, set a new one and go from there.

HEALTHY Superbowl Foods.

We all know that "football foods" are usually cheesy, greasy, fried, fatty, but so delicious. But they are major waist-line busters too.  There are ways to modify and healthify... (is that even a word?... oh well. just go with it).  I found these recipes in SELF magazine.  The pictures just speak for themselves.  And then the added bonus of the nutritional facts...I am already drooling thinking of Sunday. And I don't have to think about the dreaded "next-day guilt" on Monday!


This is like a twice baked potato but in mini style!  Helps keep portion size in check.

Stuffed Baby Potatoes

2 lbs (about 20) baby red potatoes
4 slices of center-cut bacon (I am going to use pre-crumbled bacon)
12 oz ground turkey
1/2 cup salsa
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground pepper
1/4 cup whole milk ( I will be using skim milk)
2/3 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar 
vegetable oil cooking spray

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Place potatoes in a large saucepan; fill with cold water to cover. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to simmer and cool until potatoes are fork-tender, 20-22 minutes. Drain and set aside. In a large nonstick skillet, cool bacon over medium-high heat; transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate; let cool and break into small pieces.  In same skillet, add turkey, salsa, chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt and black pepper.  Cook, stirring to break meat into small crumbles, until turkey is browned, 6-7 minutes.  When potatoes are cool enough to handle , cut off 1/4 inch from the top of each. Scoop out inside and place in a bowl; add milk to bowl and mash. Stir in turkey mixture, bacon and 1/3 cup cheddar; spoon evenly into potato skins.  Top with remaining 1/3 cup cheddar.  Coat a backing pan with cooking spray.  Place stuffed potatoes on pan and bake until heated through, 15-17 minutes.  

THE SKINNY: 77 calories per potato, 3 g fat  (1 g saturated), 8 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 6 g protein

**What I love about this recipe is that it uses ground turkey (which I cook with all the time).  Ground turkey is an awesome healthy substitute.  It is a little more expensive than ground beef, but a whole lot more healthy! And this recipe still has my favorite combination: bacon and cheese, which I can enjoy, but just not overindulge.



This next recipe is one of our favorite sandwiches to eat. Oh how I love a good Cheesesteak.  I found this other recipe on pinterest and it is so good too.  And I have been making it about once a week.  But I am going to step out of my comfort zone and try out something different.  The picture that was next to the recipe was calling my name. So I am going to test out this new recipe and see which one we like better.

Cheesesteak Sliders

1 tbsp oil
1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onion
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 green pepper, thinly sliced
12 oz top round beef, cut into thin strips
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
4 oz reduced-fat provolone, cut into thin strips
1 whole wheat baguette, 9 to10 inches, split and sliced into 6 portions

In a large nonstick pan, heat oil over medium high heat.  Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until soft, 2-3 minutes.  Add bell pepper; cook until crisp-tender, 3 minutes.  Move veggies to side of pan.  Season beef with salt and black pepper; add to pan.  Add Worcestershire and cook beef through, 3 minutes.  Remove pan from heat; stir in cheese, mixing beef and veggies together.  Evenly fill baguettes with mixture.

THE SKINNY:  249 calories per serving.  11 g fat (4g saturated), 18 g carbs, 2 g fiber, 20 g protein

Along with these 2 recipes I will also have a bunch of fresh veggies to snack on, you know the usual, carrot and celery sticks, green and red peppers, olives, cucumbers with ranch dressing (low-fat)...it helps my kids eat them better.  We will also have a fruit salad covered in Chobani yogurt, cut up apples, strawberries, bananas and peaches.  Yumm-o.

Kyle is also happy to know that I did buy some hot and spicy wings for him to enjoy too.  I knew that if I got the boneless wings, oh I would be popping those things like crazy, but it is all about preparing in advance.  Wings with bones= too much work, not enough enjoyment.

So now invite your friends over, flip on the game (or let's be honest...catch up on Nashville, Vampire Diaries, Downton Abbey) and chow down on some good HEALTHY food.  If only the Broncos were playing...if only!

oh and make sure you get a good workout in before the eat-fest.  Just a little tip.  Better prepare than regret.

Ravens or 49ers?? Favorite Superbowl food?

Anyone else loving Nashville?  What show are you addicted to right now?
I just barely got on the Downton Abbey bandwagon (I know, where have I been??!!) and I am addicted! Sleep has been sacrificed this last week because of it.

Saturday workout plans?
I am taking today off, enjoying family in town, but tomorrow I will be going on a long run...at least 10 miles (that is long for me right now).

CIRCUIT WORKOUT.

I love love love a good circuit.  But what's not to love.  Pick a bunch of your favorite exercises and then some of your "not-so favorite-but-still-good-for-you" exercises, write them down in a list. Do the exercises and repeat.  SIMPLE.

My main objective for my circuits:
1. Burn a lot of calories in a short amount of time.
2. Get my sweat on.
3. Make it hard enough that by the third set I want to throw in the towel.
4. Keep it fun and interesting.

So here is one of my favorite full body circuits.

Circuit (SO ORIGINAL)

1 MINUTE JUMPING JACKS

20 SQUAT+CURL+PRESS

20 PUSH UPS

1 MINUTE JUMPING JACKS

20 WALKING LUNGES+OVERHEAD EXTENSION

20 BACK ROWS

1 MINUTE JUMPING JACKS

1 MINUTE PLANK HIP TWIST

*REPEAT 3X*

(AT LEAST)

I am off to finish getting my house ready for visitors. Big week planned. Now if only the weather would cooperate with our plans.  It snowed last night. Bummer.  I was kind of loving the 65 degrees and sunny in January. 

Have a great day!

-Janel

PS. I am focusing the posts for the month of February on "Getting Back to the Basics"

A good friend asked if I would help her start running and just what to do to get started.

So that inspired me to base the month on Fitness and Nutrition 101

So if you have ANY questions at all...concerning anything basic, whether it is looking at a food label, to what is the proper way to do a squat, to how do I start running, to how do I do a food journal...anything at all

I WANT TO KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO KNOW.

I want to answer questions and make my posts as relevant and as informative as possible.

oh and PSS (or is it PPS?)

 Kristin H. One post I will talk about stretching and flexibility and my take on yoga and pilates.

and Jessica N. I am one day soon going to talk about how I feed my army my family healthy.

I do love all your comments. I especially enjoy answering questions. So please ask!

Cleaning vs. Working Out

I spent the weekend cleaning my house. My wonderful MIL and her husband 

are coming to visit on Wednesday. We are all pretty excited. 

The last time we have seen Grandma Nana and Grandpa Jim was back in September when we spent a week at Lake Powell.

(Looking through these pictures while sitting in my sweats and a sweatshirt and my house heater running, yeah kindof depressing.)

But anyways, back to getting ready for visitors.

Having people come stay at our home gives me an excuse to get some

deep cleaning done and pack my fridge full of good fresh food.

There are few things that I love more than then a clean house and an organized fridge.

And the smell of Clorox through my house is my favorite.

So my weekend energy was spent doing just that.

(As well as a quick sweaty morning run on Saturday.)

I definitely accomplished the glistening look during this run.

(And are we tired of the same self portrait of me on my treadmill? 

Winter sure is a bore!)

So let's quickly talk about the benefits of cleaning in regards to weight loss.

Because burning extra calories without even knowing you are burning them, really that is what we all want!

Here are some tips that will help you maximize your burn during our all-too-favorite house chores.

Increase the Intensity.  You won't get much benefit from a casual stroll around the house with a feather duster. The more effort and work you put into your cleaning, the more your body and muscles are working, resulting in more calories burned.  

Ways that I add more "intensity" to my cleaning (...which sounds funny. "Adding intensity to cleaning". I think my sister and mom and husband would say I am intense in pretty much everything I do.)

But here are some things I like to do.

• Turn the music up!  Either I will dance along with the music or the beat will make me speed up my cleaning. Music makes everything more fun. And it gets your heart rate going!

•  Get down and dirty! I leave my Swiffer mop in the closet. Scrubbing the floors on my hands and knees is tough work. But I enjoy it. Besides I think I clean it better than my Swiffer could. Scrubbing uses your arms and shoulder muscles like crazy.

• Carrying loads of laundry up and down the stairs.  I usually have Fridays designated as my laundry day, and with 4 kids (3 of them boys) and all my workout clothes, I usually have loads to do! Adding my laundry jobs in with my cleaning on Friday, burned a few extra calories quickly! Stairs and an extra 15 pounds of laundry added to a good booty workout.

• Pull the Core in!  I say this all the time to my clients. So why should it be any different when doing household exercises. Tighten those abs. Give yourself a nice core work.

Shoot for 30 minutes of cleaning.  Though it's not likely to give you the body of a

swimsuit model, doing some sort of moderate activity for 30 minutes every day 

can help in weight loss goals. Every little bit of extra added activity helps. 

The more you are active through the day (cleaning) the easier it is to get 

moving in more intense activities.

Don't hang up your running shoes just yet.  If you add 30 minutes of chores to

a 30-minute session of a more traditional fitness activity (like walking or biking), 

you end up with a full hour of exercise -- the amount experts recommend 

for people trying to lose weight. That can be easier on your schedule than 

trying to fit in a 60-minute workout all at once.

But if you make your kids to do your job, it doesn't count as your calorie burn.

They did a pretty good job though. I was proud of them.

 

Lastly, the number of calories you burn  in your favorite chore

will in depend on your fitness level, your weight, 

and the time you spend cleaning.

But here are some estimates, 

based on a person weighing 150 pounds doing 30 minutes of chores:

General cleaning: 127 calories

Cooking: 92 calories

Trimming shrubs: 157 calories

Laundry: 133 calories

Vacuuming: 123 calories

Grocery shopping: 45 calories

 source

Compare those calorie burns with walking for 30 minutes which burns about 155 calories.

Those are some pretty good numbers in comparison.

There are websites on the web and different apps you

can access that will help calculate daily activity calorie burn.

And I can't help but mention the feeling of satisfaction

I get when I walk into a nice clean smelling bathroom

or see the awesome vacuum lines on the carpet.

Pure happiness I tell you.

So get up from your computer and off the couch and get some cleaning done.

What house chore do you love? What one do you hate?

I love vacuuming! I hate cleaning our master shower. I make Kyle do it. That's love I tell you.

Do you listen to music while you clean?

Who else is dreaming of summer and time at the pool or the beach?

It is a daily thing for me.