I am a 44 year old wife, mom and athlete. I started running in high school and have loved it ever since. As I got older, I had to stop running every day so I added in weight training and all sorts of fun work-outs like Insanity, P90X and Turbo Fire. I'm a certified personal trainer and I love all aspects of fitness.
1 lb ground beef (you could use ground turkey or chicken if you prefer)
1/4 c chopped green onions
1 can mushrooms, drained
garlic powder (your preference here)
1 bag of coleslaw mix (or you can cut your own cabbage and carrots – I’m lazy!)
1/4 c soy sauce
1/4 c brown sugar (not packed down unless you want it sweet – I don’t like this too sweet)
1 t white wine vinegar
lettuce leaves (we like butter lettuce)
Brown your meat. Add onions, mushrooms, garlic powder and coleslaw and cook until vegetables are tender. Mix soy sauce, brown sugar and vinegar. Pour sauce mixture over meat and heat through.
For the 43 today, I used my stability ball and did sit-ups with alternating toe touches. Reaching for my toes made this more of a complete sit-up than a crunch.
I counted a right toe touch and a left as 1 rep so I did 86 total sit-ups in order to complete the 43.
Today is a rest day – I might do some more foam rolling later but no working out!!
Sometimes I feel like Frenchie in Grease:
beauty school drop-out
Except I’ve never been to beauty school – I’m talking about nutrition. Don’t get me wrong, we actually eat healthy and nutritious meals the majority of the time. But I also think that everyone has different definitions of what counts as healthy nutrition and according to lots of those ideas I’m a definite drop-out!
Even the national standards change (frequently!).
In the newer version of a healthy plate, fruits & vegetables are the main part with carbs playing a small roll.
But, in the old-school food pyramid – carbs are the biggest group! (And I love carbs – pasta and bread!)
Meat is another area where people have very different opinions. We eat meat at just about every meal in our home. We actually buy 1/2 a side of beef every year:
We eat lots of chicken but we also eat pork, lamb on occasion, seafood and beef. We are definitely carnivores here!
All the different flavored butters on the market and yet this is what we eat:I have never tried any of the MANY different supplements on the market.
And, even on my long runs (like yesterday), I don’t refuel with any of these:
I know I’m going to have to figure out something for my 50-mile race but usually I just drink water while I run. (I know – it goes against everything out there but it works for me.)
The other day I heard someone say, “No margaritas for me – I don’t want to undo the work I’m doing during my workout.” I’m totally supportive of that approach but I’m also the opposite – I work out hard so that I can enjoy the things I like (margaritas, wine, chips…..).
So, even though I fail at nutrition according to many standards, I do what works for me and my family and am perfectly OK with it. Today we will have lettuce wraps at lunch and they will have ground beef in them just the way we like them and I won’t feel at all guilty about it!
What are your views on healthy nutrition?
Happy Sunday!
Kim (not really a nutrition drop-out just one with a different point of view than others!)
My 43 today was a great warm-up for my long run. I did a standing oblique crunch with a knee up to an extended leg.
startknee up – twistextend leg (while still twisted)twist to other kneeand extend the leg!
The whole above series = 1 rep. 43 of these was a great way to fire up my hip flexors and quads in preparation for the big run!
And then I ran!!! For several years, I’ve run my age to celebrate my birthday. Last year I addd in the half birthday celebration run. Of course, the half birthday has to be the # of miles for the upcoming birthday!!!
So, today I ran 22 miles! I ran on my treadmill at 1.0% incline and kept the pace between 8:00 minutes/mile and 7:53 minutes/mile for the first 20 miles. The last 2 miles I increased the speed until I was at a 7:30 minute mile. Total time 2:53:43 (7:54 pace overall) with no stops!!!
The no stops was the best part for me – usually I have to stop to stretch something, tie a shoe, bathroom – something. Not today!!!
I walked an easy 0.5 mile after I finished the run just to get my heart rate down. And then, I foam rolled!
My foam rollers
Today I used the ridged one at the front. I just held it in several tight areas for a bit (hips, quads, calves – basically everywhere!!!). I know I should foam roll more often – but at least today I made a smart choice!
Hopefully if I put my new compression socks on for the rest of the day I will be ready for the next big challenge tomorrow!!
Part of the idea for today’s 43 came from Marcia who said curtsey lunges were one of her favorite exercises. I paired the curtsey lunge up with a couple of other moves and got a nice little 43.
I did the curtsey lunge and while holding the lunge did a bicep curl (I used 10 pound DBs today) then I stood and lifted the back leg while squeezing my butt = 1 rep.
Besides the fact that I nearly lost my balance during the demo – it was great! This 43 was pretty challenging – my quads were burning and I got my heart rate up since it was upper and lower body combined!!! 43 on the 2nd leg was the real kicker!
At one point I stopped for a second to stretch and told Hunter that this was a hard one. He said, “You can do it. You’ve done all of them so far.” So sweet!! Of course, he didn’t look up from what he was doing at the time. (This is one of his favorite morning activities before I take him to school – not filming me or even watching me sweat – learning new techniques with his cubes!!)
learning yet another method to solve one of the cubes!
Thanks to Hunter and his encouragement, I made it through another 43!
Today I decided to do a low-impact type workout (especially after yesterday’s crazy Tabata madness!) since I have a super long run planned for tomorrow. I pulled out an oldie – Denise Austin: Fat-Blasing Yoga. I don’t do yoga often but I have found a few DVDs that I really enjoy. Angela just did a great post about the benefits of yoga for runners so I figured today was a good day for it.
I actually have a # of Denise Austin’s DVDs – sometimes I just follow along without the sound but she does have some really great workouts. The yoga one is a nice mix of strength work and stretching. At the end there is a 15 minute section that is primarily core using a stability ball. It was a nice break from running, jumping….
real clothes don’t happen often anymore!
Yesterday I actually put on non-workout clothes!!! Sad part was that it was to go to a funeral (a friend of mine lost her Dad this week). Her dad served in the Navy during World War II and so at the cemetery they had the military service – 2 Navy men – salute as casket is carried up, Taps and the flag (unfold, refold then present it). Military services always sort-of get to me. I told Chris that I never want someone to hand me that flag – so do what you need to do to make sure that doesn’t happen, OK?
Well, it is going to be Fun Friday! Even though it is still in the 30s right now, we are supposed to get up to 80!!! I can’t wait.
Chris is off today and the boys will be on Spring Break when they get home this afternoon. I have a friend who is just starting to sell Origami Owl jewelry so I’m going to her party this afternoon. And, it’s basketball tournament time!!!! (Even though my teamis already out – still love the tournament!)
Today is my 180th consecutive day of the daily 43!!! I’m enjoying my daily adventures and have so many ideas but I’m always looking for new things – please share any moves or exercises that you think would make a fun 43. Thanks!!
For the 43 today I did a front-kick and back-kick combo. (I already did a similar move except last time it was the same leg that kicked front & back.) So, today I did a right front kick and a left back kick for the first set of 43 and then switched and did a left front kick and right back kick for another 43.
This was a good 43 after yesterday’s brutal one!!!
Today I tried another Cathe DVD – XTrain – Tabatacise!! I did all 5 of the Tabatas and Bonus Core #1. This workout is on my list of favorites (I know it’s a longish list but….)! Even though the Tabatas are intense, the time flies by (especially the 10 second recovery!!). If you like to jump – this workout is definitely for you!!!
(Tabata training is a form of HIIT – high intensity interval training. It is a 4 minute segment consisting of 20 seconds of super high intensity followed by 10 seconds of recovery.)
Yesterday afternoon I convinced Chris and Jordan to try the 3 ball push-up. Hunter was going to try but once he put his hands on the ball he realized that his wrist (he broke it the end of July) still wasn’t quite strong enough.
OK – I’m balanced – now what?nice
Chris did 10 (without falling off in between any of them!).
pretty good
I think Jordan did 2 but he may have just done 1. Either way – Good job, guys!!!
I really am open to ideas/suggestions for exercises – I love to try new moves or a classic move in a different way. Feel free to send me links to some of your favorites!
Serve warm!
