Tiny Victories

I am a woman of my word. Just completed a 45 minute run before my second cup of coffee.

Doesn’t that entitle me to strut a smug sense of superiority for the remainder of the day?

OK, I might be taking this “runner’s high” thing a bit too far. Let’s face it, I’m not breaking any records here. But here are some tiny victories I achieved during today’s run that I thought I would share:

• I did not break any ankles on broken sidewalks.

• I did not get run over by a passing delivery truck or an old person when said broken sidewalks forced me into the street.

• I only got the life scared out of me once by a yapping dog behind a fence.

• I finally conquered my nemesis, the hill, without my heart exploding out of my chest.

• The sliver of life on my iPod battery did not run out.

• I persevered, despite it being garbage day. That stench can really mess with your breathing.

Maybe I’m setting the bar a little low? It did feel good to finally make it up that hill though. Baby steps.

That’s right, walk away 😉

~Silvana

Hitting the Weights 8-11-12

Once the girls were settled in at karate, I needed to decide what workout I would tackle. I have been doing quite a lot of cardio, which I need to get the pounds off, but today I was in the mood to lift. I decided to hit the LifeFitness weight machines in the teen center of our gym. The teen center is fairly new, and is open to all during the day, teens after school. I like the equipment down there because it’s newer, simpler to use and the machines are smaller. It’s also less crowded down there. You won’t catch me in the stinky free weight room with all the gorillas grunting and chucking their weights around.

Here’s a quick rundown of today’s workout:

• Bicep curls
• Tricep press
• Chest press
• Chest fly
• Shoulder press
• Row rear deltoid
• Seated leg press (with calf raises between sets)
• Hip abductor
• Hip adductor
• Seated leg extension
• Seated leg curl
• Weighted abdominal crunch

I completed the whole circuit in about 30 minutes, and it was a nice head to toe workout.  No lolly-gagging between sets for me- I’m all business in the gym. I use heavy weights for my lower body, but lighter for upper body. I definitely don’t want to bulk up my arms like last summer when I was doing P90X. Sorry, Tony, you know I love you, but it’s true!

Also, here’s my head-banging playlist for today :

• “Crazy Train,” Ozzy Osbourne
• “Breaking the Law,” Judas Priest
• “Long Road to Ruin,” Foo Fighters
• “Breakout,” Foo Fighters
• “Best of You,” Foo Fighters (love them)
• “Run to the Hills,” Iron Maiden
• “Mr. Brightside,” The Killers
• “Somebody Told Me,” The Killers
• “Rearviewmirror,” Pearl Jam

After that, I took a quick jaunt on the treadmill. 100 calories in 15 minutes flat and I was outta there!

I usually try to burn about 300 calories on the treadmill if I’m doing only cardio, but today was all about the weights. I also don’t like sitting on the weight machines sweaty from cardio, so I did weights first. Worked out well for me.

I decided to forgo carbs at breakfast, and opted for a plate of eggs covered in salsa. Tasted better than it looks.

Not a lot of other pics for today, lest I look like a pervert or a stalker snapping away in the gym.

Have a great weekend!

~Silvana

Five Things I Love About Zumba

Let me preface this post with some pics of today’s food. We had a big cousins pool party at our house today, and quite frankly, I’m a little tired of barbecue, especially since I don’t eat meat. And since many of our guests were in the single digit age range, I decided to go with kid pleasing pizza. I usually make my own pizza once a week in the cooler months (oven + summer = no thank you) but it had been a while and it wasn’t too warm today anyway.

I made the kids’ fave with black olives (no silly, it’s not in jail, that’s the oven).

My husband’s fave, three cheese white pizza (shredded mozzarella, fresh ricotta and grated romano). My husband does not like tomatoes, and tomatoes do not like him, so no sauce for him. Kind of a bummer, because for an Italian like me, a good sauce is almost as important as oxygen. I also went a little crooked with the wheel, just like in the pizzeria!

And a “grown up” pizza with vodka sauce, fresh mozzarella and roasted peppers (before and after):

   

So, as you can see, after the festivities, I had plenty of calories to burn. Tired and hot as I was, I somehow summoned the energy and motivation to make it to Zumba. What is it about Zumba that keeps me coming back, unlike other group fitness classes that quickly grow repetitive and boring? Cue the list:

Five Things I Love About Zumba

1. The music- A good Zumba class is all about the music. After all, the workout is one dance after another, even the warm-up and cool-down. The intensity and tempo varies from song to song. Funky Latin-inspired beats get you moving and shaking like you’re three drinks in at the hottest night club. Substitute excessive sweat for overpriced drinks and a sore booty for a hangover and you’ve got Zumba.

2. The instructors– Zumba instructors really love their jobs! They get right in the middle of the crowd and work right along with the group. They use facial cues and hand gestures only to guide their participants. No barking out orders, no doing three measly reps, then walking around the room the entire time. Even my beloved Tony Horton is guilty of this. “Gotta check on the kids,” he always says. Even though it’s obvious he pays his dues, I like an instructor who takes what they dish out- all of it.

3. The people- I’m not saying I go to Zumba to socialize. I don’t. I meet my friend, we dance, we sweat, we leave. But looking around the room, you can see the people here are different. People of all ages, ethnicities and fitness levels converge, both regulars and newbies. They show up. They’re committed. They smile. And they’re having fun. No baggy t-shirts or athletic gray in this class; Zumba people break out the Sunday best of workout apparel. Fitted spandex, coordinating tank tops in bright colors, and super cute neon sneakers are all the rage. Which reminds me, I need new sneakers 🙂

4. The results- One look around the room, and you can see the results. You can see that the regulars, the ones who can probably do the moves with their eyes closed, are toned and fit. Zumba is a very effective core workout, but a good instructor will incorporate whole body moves that will even leave your shoulders, back and arms burning. Since doing Zumba, I am proud to announce that I have rediscovered my waist! Buh-bye muffin top!

5. Ok, so I really only have 4 reasons, solid ones at that, but I think 5 is a nice friendly number. So instead of gushing any further about how much I love Zumba, I’ll just leave you with something to laugh at:

So, what kind of workouts get you all warm and fuzzy, er, hot and sweaty? I’d love to know.

~Silvana

Is It Made or Saved?

This query was Lily’s way of communicating her dislike of leftovers. Meaning, did I make it fresh or was it saved in the refrigerator? She has a very unique way of expressing herself, which I love. Well, I am actually not a big fan of leftovers either, especially things like pasta, which are so easy to make fresh and taste so much better. But I dislike wasting perfectly good food, and we don’t have a dog so…time to get creative with leftovers. I had two waffles left over from yesterday’s breakfast that I knew Lily would not want to eat as is, so I came up with a fun, filling way to reinvent them.

I took each waffle and cut into 9 pieces with a pizza wheel.

Then I cut up a banana into “coins” and grabbed two skewers. You can probably guess where this is going.

Stick a banana onto the end of one skewer. Then put a small shmear of peanut butter (or nut butter of your choice), on each piece of waffle and banana and alternately thread them onto the skewer until it is filled.

 

This literally took mere minutes to assemble, since the waffles were “saved, not made.” The girls take a two hour karate on class on Saturday mornings, so I like them to have a substantial breakfast to keep them energized, and this was perfect. I shall dub thee Waffle Kebabs!

My breakfast would have to wait since I had to rush the girls to karate. Phoebe started karate at four years old, and is already a black belt. Lily is not far behind, a blue belt at the ripe old age of 5 3/4! I decided to jog on the track while they were in class. I didn’t keep track of my speed or pace or anything, just did a steady jog for a solid 30 minutes, with 5 minutes of walking before and 10 minutes after, and I felt strong the whole time.

I came home starving, so I whipped up a breakfast burrito: a couple of scrambled eggs in a whole wheat wrap with some salsa. Although I do not eat meat, I recently started eating eggs and a little fish again. For a while I was a strict vegetarian, no dairy, cheese, eggs, fish or anything. I didn’t consider myself vegan, but I ate mostly vegan food. I recently added in the eggs and fish, and eat cheese in moderation. With all my obligations, it was getting harder for me to eat right and was becoming a carbitarian, and now that I am working out the added protein is helping. But I did learn a lot about where my food comes from, how it is prepared,  or grown, and I am always conscious of that when I shop, choosing organic, humane and sustainable options. Even now, most of my favorite meals are completely vegan. I am building up a collection of tried and true vegan meals that the whole family loves, like my lentil soup, black bean soup, and tacos, and am always trying out new ones on the fam. I give them a lot of credit for playing along and being honest taste-testers!

Overheard from my kids:

Last night, the girls were brushing their teeth, and Lily was a little too tired to do a good job. I heard Phoebe tell her, “Lily, the cavity creeps are nocturnal. They come out at night and eat tiny holes in your teeth.” 😀

Overcoming Fitness Obstacles

This morning, the girls were at camp and John was still at work, so I had a rare block of time to my myself. I was trying to decide which workout dvd I would pop in, but the bathtub needed scrubbing, and the laundry…when I decided it was too nice out not to get in a fresh air workout. Summers in New York are notorious for being too hot, too humid, too buggy, too sticky for anything but basking in the AC. But today was perfect, so I donned my running garb and headed out the door.

Having the summer off has been a huge advantage to getting my workout routine back on track. I can pretty much work out whenever I feel like it, and I’ve been getting in a good variety of workouts as well. But I know when I go back to work, it will be a challenge to stay on track. Life gets in the way, whether it be work, family, outside obligations, or just fatigue. Who hasn’t had a workout spoiled by something as minor as an iPod snafu? There will always be obstacles blocking us from our goals, much like this sidewalk I encountered during my run, that was swallowed up by the overgrowth, blocking my path.

Obstacles like this, both literal and figurative, are what caused me to get so out of shape in the first place. When I first met my husband, 14 years ago, I was super-fit. I often refer to that time as my “first life,” the life before marriage, kids and career. I was a regular at the gym, and could pretty much eat whatever I wanted because I would burn it right off. But it wasn’t always that way.

Growing up in an Italian family meant food was all-important; an abundance of it meant you were happy, healthy and loved. So as I grew up, I also started growing out, and was on the chubby side for most of my school years. In high school, I went through an unhealthy skinny phase, barely eating and exercising compulsively. In the college days, I tried my share of questionable diet aids. It wasn’t until I first moved out that I started cooking for myself. I discovered the meaning of “clean eating”, joined a real gym, and discovered weight lifting and running. When I met John a few years later, I had just begun teaching, and was probably at my healthiest and in the best shape of my life. I began spending more time with him, and less time at the gym. But I still made time for exercise. Many times I would jog from my house to John’s apartment, hang out and have dinner, then have him drive me back home at night. I also began collecting workout dvds and fell in love with yoga and pilates. Even after we were married and had Phoebe, we decided to join the YMCA so Phoebe could attend early childhood classes and we could work out. Fast forward to today, and as the years have crept by, the pounds started piling on. I retained 10 pounds from each of my two pregnancies, and gained another ten over the past two years, since I went back to work full time. I felt like I barely recognized myself anymore, and grew increasingly frustrated as my clothes grew increasingly tighter. I vowed that I would get back in shape in time for my birthday in November. It’s a big one this year. I won’t tell, but they say it’s the new thirty 😉 Since April, I have lost about 12 pounds, and I feel stronger and more energetic than I have in a long time.

Here is a short list of strategies I use to overcome fitness obstacles. These ideas are not my own; they are tried and true and I’m sure we’ve heard them all before. I just want to validate that this is what is working for me:

1. Keep track of everything-In April, I started using the app Lose It! on my my Nook Tablet. It gives you a calorie budget, based on your weight, age, and your goal. It has really helped me keep my portions in check, and to realize that if I make the right choices, I can have 3 meals and a snack and still lose weight. I also log my exercise, which then gives me more calories in my budget. It is very easy to see that if I indulge in that cupcake from little Johnny’s birthday, then I will have to spend 30 minutes on the stepper to burn it off. Although I stick to a plant-based, whole food diet, I don’t deprive myself of anything, I just make it fit into my budget through exercise or smaller portions. And it really only takes a few minutes a day to log everything.
2. Divide and Conquer-When I am working, I don’t always have the time or energy to spend an hour at the gym or doing a dvd. I have found that if I work out for 10 or 15 minutes at a time, 2 or 3 times a day, I can still get in a decent workout. Some of the best exercises can be done without any equipment at all, like pushups, crunches, burpees, squats, lunges and jumping jacks. Add in some basic inexpensive equipment, like a few light dumbbells or an exercise ball for variety. Sometimes I get up a few minutes early to do 10-15 minutes in the morning, maybe take a walk at lunch if the weather permits, and another 10-15 at night. Anyone can find 15 minutes; it’s almost no effort at all.
3. Make it a family affair–Instead of going around my family, sometimes I try to include them. We take walks together, go bike riding, do yoga and go to the Y together. I try to get them excited about being active so they just see it as having fun.
4. Grab a partner-Once a week, I take a class at the gym with a friend, usually on Sunday mornings. Our favorites are Zumba and Kickboxing, which are both mega calorie burners. I look forward to these workouts, knowing I will start the week off right, I get to catch up with my friend, and we keep each other motivated.
5. Exercise everyday-This sounds a lot harder than it actually is. If I tell myself that I’m going to work out every day, then I never have to have the “will I or won’t I today?” debate, it just becomes, “how much?” Some days I work out hard and some days I take it easy. But even the littlest bit of exercise is better than none. Doing it every day becomes just like sleeping, eating, breathing, it just becomes part of the fabric of your day.

So when obstacles arise, and we know they will, try to find a way around them, and know that you are on the “right” path!

~Silvana