Posts from — August 2010

I am hurting.  This body may not be meant for dancing.  The Bollywood video did me in.  I think Masala Bhangra means mess up your backa alotta. 

My lower back is really stiff and strained.  I haven’t had this issue in a long time.  It’s not horrible, just uncomfortable and reminiscent of pain I used to feel often. 

I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned it on the blog, but back in 2001, I was diagnosed with Degenerative Disc Disease.  I used to suffer greatly from it, however since I lost the weight, the pain I used to feel is pretty much non-existent.  Exercise hasn’t bothered it;  even running has been okay.  But this dancing, jumping and gyrating has unleashed the beast!  I decided to be smart and take a break from the groovin’ today.

I kinda missed it though.

I gimped down to breakfast which was waiting in the fridge.  Another try at Overnight Oats.  It was icky.  I need to stick with hot oats;  cold doesn’t do it for me!

I warmed it up and it was much better…

• 1/3 cup oats
• 1/3 cup lite coconut milk
• 1/3 cup water
• dash salt
• banana
• almond butter
• unsweetened shredded coconut

I spruced up breakfast with frothy coffee…

I broke out this guy hanging out in my cabinet…

The tool…

In action…

Coffee saves the day

I met up with my SILs, MIL and niece for lunch at America Bar & Grill…

I decided on the Fish Tacos -pan fried salmon, pico de gallo, lettuce, sriracha and avocado …

served with a mixed greens salad…

Very delicious! 

When dinner time rolled around, I wasn’t extremely hungry.  I opted for leftover Harvest Grains Salad with the addition of chickpeas …

and a side of carrots for some veg…

Me and my achy breaky butt are off to relax and, hopefully, repair! 

Blogworld Biz:

Healthy Living Blogs is a new resource for the health blogging community. Created by Lindsey of Sound Eats, HLB is a site designed to enhance the positive community of the healthy living blog world. Bloggers and readers can explore the site and find more blogs to love, bloggers in their area, and forums to deepen healthy discussion and support. I love being able to search by area!  Great for blogger meet-ups.  Sadly, not as many in my area Helllllloooooo, Philly peeps…get bloggin’!

Also, my friend, Jenn at Watch My Butt Shrink made the jump over to Wordpress and got lost in the Google Reader shuffle!  If you’re missing Jenn’s posts hop on over and re-subscribe.  You don’t want to miss her baby bump

Have a great day, everyone!

I’m having a little too much fun with Exercise TV !  This morning’s workout was the Bollywood Dance video again , along with another Bolly-style video and Cardioke.  Yes, Cardioke!!! LOL!  Thanks to Diane for suggesting it.  It is the brainchild of Billy Blanks, Jr., son of Billy Blanks of the infamous Tae Bo.  This video is no kickboxing, though.  It’s all about dance moves and sing-alongs!  I KNOW!  I can’t stop laughing every time I think about it.  His idea is that singing while doing the dance moves helps to build endurance and burn more calories.  Although, it’s a bit gimmicky ( I would liken it to a modern day Richard Simmons-type video), it is loads of fun!  I did not feel like it was a workout in the sense that I wasn’t constantly wishing that it was over soon.  All total, I got in an hour of sweaty fun and believe it or not, I already feel muscle soreness!  I guess I’m working some different muscles with the dance moves.

I’m likin’ it

After I got my groove on, I got my breakfast on…

Clean Eating Brownie Waffles with PB2 and banana…

This is such a filling AND amazing breakfast!

As promised, I got to work in the kitchen today.  First up was another creation from  The Gracious Pantry – Garam Masala Red Lentil Stew…

I halved the recipe and it still made a ton!  I didn’t have any Garam Masala, so I just used a little extra curry powder.  It looked a little different than the original recipe but was still delicious! 

Served with some pita chips for scooping…

A munched on a few extra pita chips later in the afternoon, but thankfully the bag remains intact.  I have been known to annihilate a bag of those suckers!

I left India for a taste of Greece at dinner – grilled Greek shrimp with tzatziki sauce…

along with Harvest Grains Salad with Roasted Peppers and Feta…

I’ve been wanting to use this bag of Harvest Grains Blend from Trader Joe’s but wasn’t quite sure how… until I came up with this salad tonight!

Harvest Grains Salad with Roasted Peppers and Feta

• 3 cups cooked Harvest Grains Blend
• 1 cup roasted peppers, diced
• 2 oz. lite feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped red onion
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
• 6 large pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
• 1 small garlic clove, minced
• 1 tbsp. evoo
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar

Combine ingredients and serve! 

A simple side salad rounded out this tasty meal…

Not bad for a day’s work

Have a great day, everyone!

How many times a week do you try a new recipe?

Hey, Everyone!!  I took some time to unplug this weekend after coming back from the shore.  I’ve been playing catch-up on house stuff and finally got a chance to make the blog rounds.  Seems like many of you are unplugged, too!  Hope you all are enjoying life!

So, I’ve been at a bit of a crossroads as to what to do about the gym.  My membership expired in July and I didn’t immediately renew because I was waiting to see if I could get the same deal as before which was $99 for the year!  However, that deal isn’t back and the newest offer is for $199.  Overall, it’s not a bad value, but I’m thinking that I can do without the gym.  When I began my weight loss journey and started exercising, I did it from home.  I would walk, do DVDs or use my dingy basement equipment.  It worked, so I know I can do it again.

And now, I have even more options!  Heather turned me on to Exercise TV!!!  The other day she tried a Bollywood Dance video and it looked like so much fun.  I checked out my On Demand and it was there;  free for the taking!  I turned it on and got moving…

It was a blast!  The moves were not complicated, so my klutzy self was able to follow along.  It was only 20 minutes, but I was seriously sweaty and my arms were burning.  That move pictured above is pretty much how your arms are the entire 20 minutes.  Burn, baby, burn!

I flipped through the other videos offered and was surprised at the variety- dance fitness, strength training, yoga, personal trainers, timed workouts, specific area toning (butt, abs, arms).  There really is something for everyone.   And for FREE!  I can mix and match different videos to do equal a full workout.  This will give me plenty of  choices on the days that I’m not running.  Half marathon training starts September 1st!  Wheeeeeee!

Who needs a gym?!

After my Bollywood dancing, I dug into my breakfast of Overnight Oats…

• 1/3 cup old fashioned oats
• 2/3 cup nonfat milk
• dash cinnamon
• 1 banana
• 1 tbsp. almond butter

I don’t like overnight oats as well as cooked.  The consistency is a bit chalky for me.  Maybe it will grow on me like the cooked kind finally did?!

Lunch and dinner were pretty non-descript.  I’ve been struggling with cooking inspiration lately…

Boring old sandwich of leftover chicken, guacamole and spinach on Ezekiel bread…

with carrots…

oh, and some lite havarti cheese was in there, too…

Snore.

Dinner was a Black Bean Chipotle Cheddar Burger on the last of Trader Joe’s Country Potatoes with Mushrooms and Haricot Verts…

Could that be a weirder combo?

I think not.

Okay, I’m off to rifle through my ginormous “Recipes To Try” file so that I can find some inspiration!  Exciting times in the kitchen await

Have a great day, everyone!

Do you belong to a gym or workout at home?  What’s your favorite home workout?