Total in Ten: Women's Health DVD

Amy Dixon is my new favorite fitness personality. After purchasing her Ultimate Fat Burn workout, which professes to burn 500 calories in one session, I was hooked on her upbeat, but driving style. She's direct and clear in her descriptions of the workouts. I had to get more from her. After reading all of the Amazon.ca reviews of several DVD's I bought Total Workout in Ten. This morning I did the cardio drill (10 minutes) twice for 20 minutes of HIIT.
This DVD is at an intermediate level but there are modifications for those requiring lesser impact, or a slower pace. Divided in to 4 different workouts (Cardio, Upper Body, Lower Body, Flexibility) this DVD delivers the total package. I will do the entire DVD through for total body conditioning, but will use the 10 minute cardio segment in succession up to 3 times for a great cardio workout in 10, 20 or 30 minute intervals. Get this DVD so you have a flexible, customizable workout option in your library. Behind her Ultimate Fat Burn workout, this is currently the best DVD I own.

Epicure Selections: Gluten-free spice mix review

On my sister's birthday I arrived at her home to take her out to dinner, and while I was not looking she cleverly hid 2 gifts for me in my purse- yes she is chronically generous. I love them and thank you lil' sis.
She is conscious of my gluten intolerance and kindly made sure that these did not have any at all- she loves me so.
Curry Dip Mix (Gluten Free)
A mild curry which is perfect for mixing into fat free sour cream, or plain yogurt for a vegetable or chip dip. I've also used this in mashed yams and soup bases already to create a nice compliment between sweet and savory. I highly recommend getting this versatile spice in your cupboard. It's totally free of any processed products or petro by-products. It, like many spices of course, is vegan friendly.

Verde Vinaigrette (Gluten Free)

This is fantastic- flavorful and green (verde)! When mixed with your favorite oil (I use a high-grade olive oil) and balsamic vinegar (again, higher grade is better for salad dressings) it freshens and adds spirit to your greens. I've actually created a little jar to have on hand all the time, using a glass mason jar, I've added this combination of green herbs to my olive oil and vinegar to have on demand. It's that good.
Have both of these ready to dress up your crudites or greens for spring. It's that time of year! Fresh food is always better.

Fresh Weekly: Training

Monday: 20 min Heart Opening Flow yoga from YogaDownload.com, 30min uphill treadmill walk
Tuesday: 20 min Gentle Hatha yoga, 40 minute fitness class (strength and cardio)
Wednesday: 20 min Level 1 of 30 day Shred (Jillian Micheals) DVD, 20 min Power Yoga
Thursday: 20 min Morning Flow yoga, 40 minute fitness class (strength and cardio)
Friday: 20 min Detox yoga, 20 minutes Total Workout in Ten cardio segment
Saturday: 45min Blast Fat Boost Metabolism Cardio/Strength intervals DVD (Jillian Micheals), 20 min yoga of choice
Sunday: 45min Cardio Blast (The Biggest Loser), 60min yoga of choice

30 Day Shred Level 1 Review: This 20 minutes was at a beginner capacity. It felt good for an active session, but at a low enough level to begin to understand what this DVD will deliver. I will alternate between levels 1, 2 and 3 depending on the day and what my body tells me I can do with it on that day. A good workout incorporating strength and cardio intervals. Make sure you have hand weights, and an exercise mat for this one. I would definitely recommend incorporating this into your regular strength and cardio weekly routine. 20 minutes every morning before breakfast will go a long way towards your bikini-ready body fro the summer.

Fresh Weekly: Meals

So my new favourite thing is doing my grains on the stovetop- it's so much easier to watch them bubble and boil while I make our eggs than to keep an eye on both the microwave and the stovetop. The texture is creamier and they are much reduced in size so I don't feel like I'm eating way too much. Not sure why they seem larger with the same measured portions when cooked in the microwave. Anyway, here are what my meals looked like this week:

6 egg white omlette with vegetables, 1/8c creamy rice cereal with 1/2 banana, 1 mug hot tea (in this picture it's coffee as I treated myself to one).
My mid-morning meal was the same as ever- 1/2c beans and rice combination (no picture.)
My lunches are fresh and juicy as I'm trying to convince spring to come out, come out, wherever you are!!!
Meal 4 or afternoon snack was my beloved 1/2c cottage cheese sided by fresh vegetables (about 1 1/2c or 6oz).
Finishing off the day with a warm meal is so satisfying. I've also gotten in the habit of making tea the second I walk in the door from work to ward off the post-work anxiety snacking one can do between getting off work and making supper. Supper was a variation of the combination of lean protein (chicken breast or white fish) with vegetables. This time I sauteed my vegetables, and then added soup base to make a bowl of soup, sided by some interesting Kimchai or Chinese broccoli.
That's a fresh summary of what I'm eating, or roundabouts, this week.

Fresh Training: Day 14 Yoga Challenge

Today's training feels so good. My second workout is in jeopardy as my husband, for the first time in the 10 years that I have known him, has the flu. I may have to get home early to care for him (it's fun to play a doting wife when he lets me).
I am thrilled to continue HIIT training. From 530-600am I did the following on the treadmill:
0-5 min: Uphill walk 4.0 speed, slight incline warm up
5-25 min: Intervals between 4.0 speed (walk) 60 seconds and 7.0 speed (sprint) 60 seconds
25-30 min: Flat walk 4.0 speed cool down

I followed up with Core Yoga from YogaDownload.com as part of CarrotsNCake's 31 day Yoga Challenge. This 20 minute session demands a lot from your core, as well as your upper body. I have good upper body strength from years of weight training, and I train abs in my 40min fit class twice a week and still had to push HARD to get through the poses. Really warms up your body; perfect for the morning.

Benefits of 14 days on the 31 day Yoga Challenge:

• My husband commented that my temper has ceased, and he feels like he's "getting his wife back" after being wound tight with stress for weeks
• Greater flexibility during stretching segment of my 40min fitness class
• Heightened awareness of form during weight training sessions; doing lunges yesterday I was keenly aware of my knee positioning over my toes and could adjust to ensure a pain-free training session.
  
• I feel like me again too; I find situations less stressful, and can find myself thinking on the positive end of many situations again. I'm definitely laughing more too.
  

Pumpkin Stovetop Oats

Happy first spring day! It's so nice and sunny; I think that the earth is letting us know that she can still take good care of us.
Fresh Meals:This is my regular break-feast: 6 egg whites scrambled with mushrooms and peppers with a bowl of hot grains. Today my grains were stovetop uncontaminated oats with pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling) and raisins. TiP: Cook 1/2c uncontaminated oats on the stove over medium heat with 2c water. When oats are partially cooked add in the pumpkin, sprinkle in flax and salba. Turn off heat, cover and let sit. This picture really shows the creamy goodness that is stovetop oats.
At 10am I ate my 1/2c beans and rice combo- same as last week. No picture.
Lunches this week have been big green iceberg letter salads with peppers topped with 3oz chicken breast diced. Sticking to about 1Tbsp vinaigrette to top. My post workout snack has been a wonderful collection of mixed fruits, normally with lunch as I eat it after my pm workouts.
Afternoon meal has been brussel sprouts roasted with garlic and balsamic vinegar and 1/2c cottage cheese (1%)-I love this meal. Good veggies, and I love cottage cheese. Suppers have been the standard chicken or white fish with vegetables. Last night I got a little creative because I was feeling lazy. So I had a yellow pepper filled with shredded chicken with bbq sauce and raisins with fresh tomatoe wedges on the side. As spring approaches, I crave more raw vegetables and fresh flavours rather than the rich warm flavours of the winter and autumn.

What flavors do you incorporate more during the spring?

High Intensity Interval Training

This morning marked my first running workout since I dropped out of marathon training to help my metabolism recover from my fitness competition- and it felt freakin' fantastic. Here is my beginning treadmill HIIT training this morning:

0-5 min- warm up at 50% RPE (RPE is your rate of percieved exertion, so warm up at 60% of your full capacity). For me this was a light walk, uphill at 4.0 speed
5-25min- 1 minute intervals alternating between sprints and walks. My walking speed maintained at 4.0 speed, with a slight incline to help avoid shin splints and sprints increased in speed from 75% RPE (about 5.0 speed) to 90% RPE (about 7.0 speed) and then back down to 75% RPE before cooling down
25-30min cool down as warm up

This is a workout to ease me into HIIT training again. There are some great interval workouts here:
30 s interval workout
60 s interval workout
Each workout type has different levels for beginners, intermediate and advanced. Definitely check out IntervalTraining.net if you're looking to start HIIT or are looking for good ideas to mix yours up.

I plan to alternate between 30s and 60s intervals in the future to keep my body in a state of gentle shock to accelerate fat loss.

Fresh Weekly

So I'll be back with pictures as soon as I put batteries in my camera; I know-lame excuse. But that's ok because I am totally lame (really- ask all my friends).
My meals for the last three days have been as follows:

• 6 egg whites, 1/8c creamy rice cereal, 2T salba, 2T ground flax, 2T agave nectar, 2c mate tea
• 1/2c brown rice mixed with black beans topped with 2T salsa
• 2c mixed salad greens with peppers and tomatoes, 3 oz chicken
• 1.5c mixed fruit salad with berries, bananas, melon and apples
• 6oz vegetables (mixed raw or cooked) with 1/2c 1% cottage cheese
• 3oz chicken breast with vegetables
• I also went off my meal plan last night and had one chocolate pumpkin muffin from the batch I made for my husband's office. Bad choice as they were not gluten free and I feel sick to my stomach today for it.
  

My training for this week is going on as planned:
Sunday: 45 plyo/strength training and 60 minutes power yoga
Monday: Off
Tuesday: 20 minutes Power Yoga, 40 min strength/cardio class
Wednesday: 20 min HIIT with 5 min warm up and cool down, 20 min morning flow yoga
Thursday: 20 min Core Yoga, 40 minute strength/cardio class
Friday: 20 min HIIT with 5 min warm up and cool down, 20 min detox yoga, 30 min uphill walk
Saturday: 45 min plyo/strength training, 20 min yoga
Sunday: 20 min HIIT, 60 min yoga

8 to Great Success

Ran across this from Chris Morgan at Learn2Develop; he posted this great video from TED. It's Richard St. John's 3 min vid about what makes success- from years of research and thousands of interviews with successful people.



The weekend went very well with 2 training sessions, and sticking to my yoga challenge. Yesterday's yoga was a 90 minute power session which left my legs really sore today.
My meals were the same as every other day, but I indulged in some treats over the course of Friday to Sunday. These included
-1/2c trail mix
-Haagen Daaz coffee ice cream
-3 cadbury creme eggs (yes, they are my favourite candy-ever! so I went overboard)

Presto Pesto!

Just finished my 40 min fitness class- today we did everything from aerobic drills, weighted upper and lower body work, including handweights, bosu balls and elastic tubing. We get a lot done in 40 minutes! Lunch greeted me when I returned to the office: Balsamic glazed salmon (about 3oz) and 1.5c Pesto'd Squash, and cantaloupe for my post-workout glucose. This was a pesto week because I had a ton of fresh basil and garlic to use up. So I grabbed Choppy (my food processor) and stuffed it full of basil leave, 4 cloves of garlic, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, 1/2c pecans (I don't like pine-nuts) and 1/2c light parmesean cheese. After several go-rounds I had about 1.5c fresh pesto to use on everything this week.Breakfast after my 20 min Morning Flow from YogaDownload.com was the regular omlette/fritatta and creamy rice + grains spread.
At about 1000am I got to my beans/rice combo topped with salsa today. Have to keep eating at regular intervals to hopefully convince my metabolism to begin working again (after a long long 10 months of recovery from my fitness competition).
This afternoon will feature my lovely crisp crudites starring tomatoes, broccoli, carrots and yellow peppers with balsamic vinaigrette for flavour. Sided by my cottage cheese (1/2c) sprinkled with cinnamon.
No pictures of supper tonight- it was the same as last night- squash, mushrooms, chicken and pesto!
So the standard 5 meals, between 200-300 calories with the exception of breakfast being more. No snacking at night; fill that need with hot tea or diet soda instead. Making sure I get at least 4L of water in me. I'm feeling good and didn't hate my reflection in the mirror at class today.

Marriage-Facebook Tag

I was tagged in a friend's Marriage survey; I'm only going to do this once and so will post it here:
Marriage (From facebook tag)
What are your middle names? Jade and Chadsey
How long have you been together? 5 years, married for 2.5
How long did you know each other before you started dating? 8 years
Who asked who out? He asked me
Whose siblings do you see the most? We're lucky, we see both
Do you have any children together? No, and will not
What about pets? No, and will not. We are one another's pets.
Did you go to the same school? Same high school, different Uni's
Who is the most sensitive? Me, by far
Where do you eat out most as a couple? We're limited; he kyboshes a lot of my choices to help me avoid gluten.
Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Mayan Riviera, Mexico
Who has the craziest exes? Neither of us. Our exes are fine people and are not crazy- sincerely.
Who has the worst temper? Me- red hot hot temper.
Who does the cooking? Me, 6 meals a day, 7 days a week.
Who is more social? He is very energized through other people; I tend to hide
Who is the neat freak? He is.
Who is the most stubborn? He is. But by answering that way, I think I indicate that I am.
Who hogs the bed? He does. But he can't help it- he's a big, muscle-y guy.
Who wakes up earlier? Me. It's my time; and I think he would die if he awoke before 6am.
Where was your first date? Movie theater, watching "Finding Nemo"
Who has the bigger family? He definitely does- a big Dutch family.
Do you get flowers often? Yes, right now I have some lovely purple ones
Who eats more? He does, but I'm close behind him. Him more meat, me more veggies
Who sings better? He is a great singer, very few people know that.
Who does the laundry? He does, and is great at it.
Who’s better with the computer? He is- it's his job. You would not believe our home office- two huge screens, and more computing power than his network at work. And, he's paranoid, so it's super secure.
Who drives when you are together? He does, but hates it as the car is too small. When we get the new one he won't let me I'm sure.
Who picks where you go to dinner? I pick one, he says no and chooses another. For my own good I'm sure.
Who is the first one to admit when they’re wrong? Me, but I don't do it often enough. I'm wrong a lot.
Who wears the pants in the relationship? He does. A woman is more powerful in a hot skirt- and I wear a lot of skirts.
Who has more tattoos? I do
Who eats more sweets? I do, biggest sweet tooth I know of.

Red Break-Feast

The Lunar flow last night from YogaDownload.com as part of Trina's 31 Day Yoga Challenge was a boon in a time I needed it. After getting testy with my husband, I turned on the 20 minute session and chilled right out- he appreciated that. Even after snapping his head off before the session, he sat watching me twist and unwind and said "You look so beautiful doing that"...how awesome is he?
My break-feast (like my new word?) this morning ran along my favourite color theme-Red! Color of passion, boldness, and the Chinese flag (word to my homeland- hahaha). My nails are even bright red right now. Break-feast was a 6 egg white omlette with red peppers and tomato, sauteed with Lee Kum Kee's chili garlic sauce and a little ketchup to top. Followed by my bowl of grains including ground rice, flax and Chia flour (I'll review the flour soon). I also had a mug of my favourite Guyaki Choclate Mate tea.
My mid-morning snack was a 1/2c beans and rice topped with bbq sauce; you can see a little frost in the picture because it came out of the freezer before making it into my lunch.
A butter-lettuce salad with ground turkey and salsa, with an apple for dessert was lunch.
I love cottage cheese! My dad used to put Kraft's onion soup mix into it as a cracker dip when we were young. Now I can't have the crackers or the dip mix, but the cottage cheese still brings back memories of Dad and us kids. I also enjoyed the crunch of my fresh vegetable medley (about 6oz of combined carrots, broccoli and tomaotoes).
Almost-Chicken, Mushroom Alfredo was for supper. Spaghetti squash tossed with pesto, garlic sauteed with chicken and mushrooms. Add a couple tablespoons of fat free plain yogurt for a creamy texture.
Fresh Today: Training
20 minutes core yoga from YogaDownload.com: a beginner level class that requires one to use a lot of upper body and core strength, combined with leg lengthening and toning expansions. The back bends at the end really stretch your spine. I will purchase their 90 minute class to use as strength training in the future.
What healthy food brings back childhood memories or feelings for you?

Fresh Tuesday: Meals and Training

The 'spring ahead' time change, combined with about -24C weather forced me to remain asleep this morning and I missed my morning yoga flow- so tonight I'll use YogaDownload.com's Lunar flow instead- a good opportunity to try it out (lookin' on the sunny side- always on the sunny side).
I began today with my biggest meal of the day; a bowl of grains including ground rice, salba and flax (homemade), a 6 egg white omlette with red pepper, mushrooms and tomatoes with salsa and a cup of mate tea.
Mid day I was hosting a conference call and felt self-concious pulling out my beans and rice with bbq sauce while hosting corporate guests for a province-wide meeting. So I pulled out my apple chunks which I had saved for my post-workout instead, and ever the hostess, I sheepishly offered my guests some apple from my ziploc container (urgh! I know). But that just opened the door for my guests to pull out their protein shakes and bars to eat comfortably with me. They packed their own snacks but were waiting for an appropriate time to have them. I'm so glad I created a space where we could all get our nutrition in, while discussing business.
Next was my 40 minute fitness class- an excellent workout. I returned to the office ravenous and ate my lunch which included 3oz grilled balsamic glazed salmon and garlic roasted brussel sprouts and mushrooms with my rice and beans from earlier. I hestitated and almost didn't eat my rice- but I have to be careful to eat all my calories for the day. I cannot begin starving myself or straying from my planned meals again. Straying means both not eating all the food I have planned, as well as eating food that's not on it. Lastly at work I finished my afternoon snack after my meetings; 1/2c 1% cottage cheese, 6oz mixed raw vegetables (tomatoes, broccoli, carrots).
Supper was grilled chicken breast with fresh pesto and chili-sauteed green beans. I also grabbed 2 medjool dates on my way in the door before supper was ready. I was starved.
Fresh Today: Training
40 min fitness class (strength and cardio)
20 min lunar yoga flow from YogaDownload.com

Goodnight- finishing an episode of Desperate Housewives with my husband!

Fresh Today: Meals and Training

Welcome this week! I'm so glad to see you.
I started the morning off by sleeping in an extra 20 mins, so I just about forwent my yoga for the day but reconsidered when I realized I won't be home until 9pm tonight. urgh. So I did the 20 minute Heart Opening flow (intermediate level 2-3). I really liked it and think I will purchase the longer versions of both this one, and the morning flow since I want to support YogaDownload.com as much as possible.
For breakfast it was super pancakes as they are quicker to make and eat than my omlette and hot rice cereal. No pics, but you can see them here from last week.
Post workout I had my balancing Kitcheree (rice and mung beans) and a gala apple.
I was out for a client meeting over lunch, so I didn't get to photograph the house side salad and grilled chicken breast with oil and vinegar.
For my afternoon snack I enjoyed 1/2c 1% cottage cheese and about 6oz of fresh crudites (broccoli, cherry tomatoes, carrots, peppers) with 1Tbsp salad dressing for dip.
Supper was at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant, "A Touch of Ginger" in Kensington; we used to live in this hip little artsy area and would go without fail every Thursday night just me and my husband. They got to know our names and our order never changed, so they had it hot for us just about immediately after we got in. We go less now since we bought in another area of the city, but they still know our names and we're happy to catch up with them whenever we get to.
When we got home from a meeting last night at around 930pm I was hungry and so had 1/2c plain non-fat Astro BioBest yogurt with 2Tbsp vanilla protein powder and a dash of cinnamon.
Training Summary:
20 min Heart Opening flow yoga (Ashtanga)
30 min uphill treadmill light jog

Oh and another note to my awesome husband- thanks darling for the new suit! Definitely helped hit the client meeting out of the park today- I'm so grateful. Love.

Fresh Week: Training

Here's my workout plan for the week:
Monday: am- 20 min Core Yoga download from YogaDownload.com for the Yoga Challenge/ 30min treadmill walk
Tuesday: am- 20 min Heart Opening Yoga/ pm-40 min fitness class
Wednesday: am- 20 min yoga (TBD)/ 30 min treadmill walk
Thursday: am- 20 min yoga (TBD)/ pm-40 min fitness class
Friday: am- 20 min yoga (TBD), 45 min cardio/strength intervals dvd (TBD)
Saturday: am- 20 min yoga (TBD), 45 min cardio/strength intervals dvd (TBD)
Sunday: am- 60min detox yoga

Fresh Today: Meals
Late Breakfast: 1/2c uncontaminated oats, 2T raisins, 2T ground flax, 2T salba, 2c coffee with almond milk and splenda, 6 egg white omlette with spinach, tomato, red pepper and mushrooms, 2T ketchup
Lunch: Crudites with 3T hummus, 1/2c cottage cheese
Mid-afternoon Snack: lettuce salad, 3oz ground turkey, 2T salad dressing
Supper: 4oz grilled salmon, roasted brussel sprouts
Treat: 1 fresh fruit when I like

Can't wait to get my camera back to post pics.

31 Day Yoga Challenge

Trina at CarrotsNCake has started a yoga revolution online; what a brilliant way to bring healthy minded persons together and promote well being. Her 31 Day Yoga Challenge is being promoted by YogaDownload.com too, offering a 50% discount off purchased yoga downloads for the month of March (enter promo code CarrotsNCake at checkout). Even better news, you can try all of their 20 minute sessions for free-anytime! Their classes are printable pose guides, accompanied by well-created audio guides and slide shows (optional).
I'm hopping on the bandwagon a week late, so my challenge will be a 25 Day Yoga Challenge and I'm committing to 20 minutes of yoga a day until March 31, 2009.
Saturday, March 7, 2009- 20 minutes Power Yoga- challenge level 3-4 (intermediate). A great, challenging class to really create some heat in your body. This was invigorating, and challenged my upper body strength right off the top. My shoulders are sore today for just the 20 minutes.
Sunday, March 8, 2009- 20 minutes Morning Flow- challenge level 2-3 (beginner-intermediate). Focusing on back bends, this really sets a pure-posture standard for your day if you do it in the morning. Opening and strengthening the spine supports a tall posture, and open chest for your long days in front of the computer or hunched over a steering wheel.

Oh- and where are those food pics for the weekend? In my ambition to get all my meals documented on Friday, I forgot the camera in the office. Oh well. Here's a breakdown in text:
Friday finished with a Playstation Scene It get together at our place. I indulged in multiple glasses of a Piesporter with my friends, a brownie with cream cheese icing, salad with pears and goat cheese topped with barbeque beef (everyone else had beef on a bun). So this was my treat meal for the week.
Saturday was a great clean day; I love the feeling of accomplishment and internal purity from a clean day:
Breakfast: 1/8c creamy rice with 2T flax, 2T salba seeds/ 6 egg white omlette with spinach, tomato, red pepper and mushroom, 2c coffee with almond milk and splenda
Mid-morning snack: 10 almonds
Lunch: 2c leftover butter-lettuce, pear and pecan salad with 3oz ground turkey and 1T sesame orange dressing
Supper: 2c iceberg lettuce salad with 3oz ground turkey and 1T sundried tomato & oregano dressing, 1 bowl fresh fruit including banana, strawberries, and kiwi

Mid-day Eats

Hmmm...I think I will try to take pics and then do one big post each day of my food- it's getting tedious posting everytime I eat. I don't know how fab bloggers like Kaneil and Trina do it.
Anyway...here are my mid-morning meal and my lunch. The first is a 1/2c of brown rice and kidney bean mixture. I mix the two for the texture and balancing nature of the combination.
And around 100 I had a 2c measure of last night's supper: chicken pineapple curry. Sorry about the disgusting food photography- I remember my new initiative to post pics of my food halfway into said food- so it's not pretty.
So what could possibly be left to eat after all this? Well, I have 1 c cottage cheese (1%), and about 6 oz organic carrots to eat around 330. This evenings supper is a mystery- what to serve 8 people at a spur of the moment Wii and Xbox party? Keeping it healthy, but still filling? Any ideas out there?

Fresh: Breakfast

This is how it begins...super pancakes. In the mix this morning was 3/4c egg whites, 1/2 c uncontaminated oats, 2T ground flax, 2T salba seeds, dash cinnamon, 2T psyllium fibre husk. Mix this together and don't wait too long to get it on the warmed pan- these grains suck up moisture pronto!
This mix made 6 good sized pancakes (a lot to eat, but so satisfying for hours).
And accompanying these super guys were the condiments. Bali Sun coconut oil (about 1tsp) to non-stick the pan, a spray of becel after cooked and about 1T no sugar added ED Smith Apricot jam and about 1T agave nectar. A little sweetness to the fiber and protein rich breakfast pancakes.
See you back in a bit for lunch and mid-morning snack.
Fresh Today: Workout
After 2 days off because of flu-y feelings I felt restless this morning at 545am. So I got up and did 35min Fat Burning (cardio) pilates dvd and when she started the abs work I put in the pick-your-spot pilates dvd for 10 min each of butt and thigh work. ouch! Not a lot of repetitions, but a lot of small-muscle fiber work makes my legs shake and feel worked. The cardio was lighter as I'm still feeling flu-y. Better than nothing? I disagree- I should have slept in a bit more and allowed myself to feel icky. I'm not going to get over this unless I relax.

Comfort Food in your Environment

While lifting weights to Jari Love's "Get Ripped" fitness DVD, I was stunned into thinking. You know those moments when the incoherent stream of life is interrupted in a moment of clarity and meaning. One could say a moment of 'understanding'. Yeah, I got one watching a weight lifting video?? What happened to brains and muscle being exclusive?
Anyway- she said she truly believes our environment controls us, so get that junk food out of your house. It hit me- I'm disappointed in myself day after day for not having iron-clad will power over that jar of peanut butter in the fridge. So, the pb really is controlling me.
Don't argue with me about will power- I've dieted for a fitness competition and understand what will-power is. Just take a look at what is around you which is contolling you- a candy dish at work, a fridge full of 'junk food' your spouse can eat but you 'can't'. Or is it even a person whose negativitiy and own struggle with healthy, clean eating bringing you down? Figure it out, and get rid of it. Tonight, the peanut butter, and all baking supplies are going in the trash.

A Letter from Generation Y

A letter by Kathleen Argonza at Brazen Careerist:

To the older Generations,

My name is Kat Argonza and I am a Milennial.

You call us lazy, distractable and disloyal. We don’t understand good old fashioned traditions. We don’t pay our dues. We demand too much leeway, such as time off, flexibility and high pay. According to Cashmere Mafia “Generation X made way for Generation ID… I deserve”. If my generation exhibits a sense of entitlement, then previous generations exhibit a false sense of Accomplishment.

How about a Social Security system that we won’t benefit from, but will lose a lot of money to? What about the cost of education and the cost of living driven sky high, the system of credit? Try Health Care? Gen-Y inherited this from old generations. How about the FUBAR in the Middle East where old ways of thinking dominated and prolonged a war that we could have and can still win if new ideas could be accepted. General Patreus is a true rarity - he knew that if somethings not working you don’t keep doing the same thing. You change. You adapt. You try new ways of thinking until you find something that works. It’s a new concept to swallow, but just because it’s new and different doesn’t mean it’s bad. Just because something worked before, doesn’t mean it’s working now.

Want to know the kicker? We have a credit problem in this country. So what are we doing? We’re throwing money we do not have at it! We’re driving our country into more debt. So thanks a lot for putting that debt on our shoulders. Thanks for not adapting and doing the exact same thing over and over again even though it obviously doesn’t work. We have a debt problem? Let’s make more debt!

Who’s going to have to fix this mess? Generation Y, or the generations that come after us. So for all the criticism we recieve, we’d hope you’d have a little faith in us, or else why would you be placing this huge burden upon our shoulders? So maybe instead of criticizing us maybe you should try to help us solve the problems that were created before most of us were even able to walk.

We’re inheriting an uncertain world and we need guidance, not judgment. We need mentors who understand that just because we have new ideas doesn’t mean we’re disrespecting your way of doing it. My generation needs to end this curse, but we can’t do it without the help of the Generation that is currently holding power. Don’t make it worse and fix what you can. Invest in us, teach us. It’s the only way we can stop digging our own grave, financially speaking.

Respectfully,

Gen-Y