A Fitness Boost

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I mentioned the other day I was going to do a TRX class for the first time. Finally. I’ve been watching from the sidelines on this one for what seems to be forever. Finally with my new gym buddy and friend in tow, off I went.

I figured I would either love it, or hate it..and I love it!  I also couldn’t move on Saturday. To be, that is both amazing and terribly tragic. Clear proof of my lack of push at the gym. But amazing because well, it worked me. And did it hard.

Real quick for those of you who aren’t familiar with TRX, it’s a suspension system which hooks to an anchor on the wall usually and requires you to use your own body weight in combination with gravity to work your whole body.

So how it works is there are 2 adjustable straps with 2 foam covered handles at the end of each of them. By moving your body in certain ways you work different muscles. The good news is that there are so many variations of movements that regardless of your fitness level you can find something that works for you. I’m confident a beginner to the exercise world would find a way to modify and make it work, and someone like Lon who is a lot more advanced than most people fitness wise could do the same.

In the class I went to we did our entire body – from our shoulders to our calves. I am not kidding when I say I woke up Saturday and every part of me hurt. My obliques, quads, glutes, shoulders, chest, back, biceps, triceps…everything!  Especially my shoulders and glutes.. which I suspected would probably hurt since I know my glutes and legs are an area I am willingly acknowledging and admitting to slacking on as of late. And it shows. They have gotten visibly less firm and noticeably weaker.

The good news is I know I can fix that quickly enough if I put in the work. And the other good news is that I seem to be back in the swing of classes mode, and the Medicine Hat YMCA has some pretty awesome volunteers who teach a array of classes to suit my mood and wants.

In fact, tonight I am going to go to a kickboxing class. I think that should be pretty good! So we’ll see. I’d also like to start incorporating a class or two (preferably two) of TRX into my routine. And it’s one Lonny would like to try also, so I think he’s going to come on Friday with me.

I’m really looking forward to this change. I’ve mentioned many times that I go through spurts where I’m really into classes, and then times when I much prefer doing my own thing and working on my own routines. I had noticed my solo workouts had been becoming a little repetitious and I have sort of lost my pizazz, so this new introduction to some classes is a welcomed change.

Also, as the husband mentioned this morning, I’m very competitive with myself in classes and push myself extra hard while refusing to stop so this will hopefully also be the kick in the butt I’ve been wanting to amp up my workouts and get rid of the last couple winter pounds I gained.

So wish me good luck that I don’t kick someone in the face tonight.. it’s been years since I did any form of kickboxing…

Spelt and Rye Bread

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After eating the same thing for lunch for..well.. I can’t be certain..but for as long as I’ve known him, the husband decided to switch things up. And decided he’d like to start taking lentil and bean soups (different recipes!) to work. But of course, along with soup he had to have some homemade bread.

For a while now I’ve noticed I get stomach aches after eating pasta or my bread – both whole wheat. So I decided to switch up the flour and try something different.. just to see if it makes a difference for me (it did, by the way).

I personally have never made a rye bread before, and because both rye and spelt flour have less gluten in them than a whole wheat flour does, I wasn’t sure what the texture, baking time, etc etc would be like..but I thought hey! what’s the worse thing that happens? It turns out gross? big deal.

So I thought about what’s in a traditional dark rye bread and created my own little recipe based on tastes and previous fails in other bread baking times. Luckily the main ingredients tend to stay the same in all breads, and then the same within types.

You guys, it turned out tasting deeelicious! In fact, Lon asked if I wrote down what I was putting in it because next time I make it it must be made exactly the same way. 

So being the nice lady I am, I thought I would share!

What You Need:

  • 1 and 1/4 cup of rye flour
  • 2 cups of spelt flour (can easily be swapped for whole wheat if you want! or white flour, or whatever else you’d like)
  • 1/3 cup of molasses (You can use brown sugar instead if you’d prefer. Molasses also helps give the bread the dark coloring typical of rye breads.)
  • 2 cups of warm water
  • 1 tablespoon of yeast
  • 1/2 tablespoon  of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of flax seed (optional if you want it!)
  • 1 and a half tablespoons of caraway seed (again, optional! but caraway is what gives rye breads that distinct smell and taste)

How You Do It:

  1. Turn the oven on at 375
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients together
  3. Add the water
  4. Mix well. If you find it to be a little too sticky, add a wee bit more of flour or if it’s too dry, add a bit more water
  5. Put in a bread pan
  6. Set the bread pan covered with a tea towel on the warm stove (the heat from the oven should make it a wee bit warm) and let it rise for 30-45 minutes. Again, due to the lack of gluten in the flours it won’t rise too, too much..but the yeast does help it rise some!
  7. Stick in the oven! Bake for 45, but you can check it starting around the 35 minute mark.
  8. Cut.
  9. Eat.

That is all.

Now for some terrible food photography:

Apparently my bread cutting skills are about as desirable as my photography skills

Anyways…you get the gist of it! Make it. If you find you don’t like the taste of something, modify it. That’s the joys of cooking… nothing is set in stone and everything can be tailored to your taste buds.

What’s Exciting Me These Days…

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I get it. I’ve been a naughty blogger and my daily posts have turned into 3 posts a week..but you know, sometimes life gets busy. And the sun starts to shine. And road trips for concerts are to be taken. And our home is filled with visitors. And certain addicting books are to be read. And watching our new favorite show, Deadwood. Seriously, me and westerns were meant to be. And umm well, we’ve been watching a lot of these guys:

I’ll admit I’m a Sharks fan..followed by a Bruins fan…and once they were both out I could care a less really..but the same cannot be said for the man I’m married to. And It’s true. I caved to the mad craze of the Hunger Games trilogy and read them. I blame my new job and my fellow employees who continuously talk about how super amazing awesome they are. So I read them. And so did Lonny. I enjoyed them greatly, he felt they were made for 15 years old. I informed him they were.

What else? OH!…THESE:

Nothing beats delicious, fresh and locally grown produce. With the exception of my own grown vegetables from my own garden, which I have yet to plant. Next year?  Here in Medicine Hat we’re ridiculously lucky to have Redcliff, the greenhouse capital of the prairies (or so their sign says!) a mere 5 minutes away. Even the local Superstore and Costco sell some of their stuff. I bought ours at a local market – because I whole heartedly believe in supporting the local community and business’.

We also got a huge bag of celery, some peppers in various colors, kale, corn on the cob, onion and a few other things.. and yes, believe it or not we do eat it all before it goes bad. We eat a TON of vegetables around these parts. And fruit, which we also stocked up on. You guys, everything tastes so fresh and crisp!  I was concerned about the carrots because um..they’re huge.. but surprisingly they have the fresh, sweet taste of much, much smaller ones. Also? The butter lettuce (the plastic container) is divine. Yes. I used the word divine while gushing about fruits and vegetables.

I was also at a concert this week. I’ll admit it was Nickelback concert, and I’ll also confess that I didn’t really like them before we went, and I’m still not a huge fan. BUT Seether, who I do love, and Bush (With the still beautiful Gavin Rossdale) were 2 of the opening bands. Can’t go wrong there!

Hmm I’ve made some delicious bread, and made the recipe myself…I’ll share it tomorrow! it’s divine tasting.

I also went to my first fitness class today, and I have a TRX class in the works tomorrow! I made friends with a coworker and it’s like a built in gym buddy all in one! Double bonus. So I’m sure I’ll either rave about the TRX class or totally rip it apart sometime this weekend also..

Food and fitness, that’s what it’s all about, right?

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to a orthopedic surgeon appointment for my knee. Which I’m sure he’ll tell me is just fine, since I have switched physiotherapists and FINALLY feel like we’re getting somewhere..but that’s another rant for another day.

Happy Thursday kids! I promise to be more diligent in my writing. I miss it.

Sunshine, Sunscreen and your Skin

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While it’s true that genetics have been kind to my face in terms of aging, the reality is that good genetics only take you so far. Whether it’s the size of your hips, predispositions to diseases or the aging process, what often plays an even bigger role in how things turn out is your choices.

I get it, a glowing, radiant tan is very appealing. I used to joke that my fat looked better golden. But that was 10 years ago when thoughts of aging, wrinkles, hell – even cancer, were not prominent in my mind. Blame it on age, lack of knowledge and know how, or downright ignorance and stupidity but none of that mattered. Much like it doesn’t matter to most teenagers around. Okay, let’s be real. And grown up, adult women who know better.

But the thing is, your skin tells all your secrets. It’s the largest organ of the body, plays a huge role in detoxification and well..there’s really no way to hide it when it starts to look crappy. And fixing it? well..we’ve all seen the disasters that often come out of that!

So why not take care of it from the get go? And I think right now is the perfect time to start if you’re not already…what with summer around the corner and the temptation to lay in the sun and bake your body brown running high.

I think the most obvious thing here is to sunscreen! Lather your skin up like a mother bugger.

Sidenote: my in-laws calls me pottymouth ..or Auntie Pottymouth because I say the “F” word, even though they all have the mouths of sailors also..they just don’t use that word. My mama-in-law  always corrects me and say’s “mother bugger” when I say “mother fucker” and well..I’m sure she’d be pleased to know it’s sticking!

Anyways! lather your skin up.. I can honestly say I don’t leave the house without sunscreen on my face, even in the winter. I buy a tinted moisturizer with an SPF 30 in it. In the summer I love being outside. I love sitting in the sun, riding my bike, walking, hiking, doing whatever..but I also prefer to not look 45 when I’m 30 and make it through my life without skin cancer so in comes my bottle of regular, SPF 30 sunscreen which gets lathered on my body.  And you know what? Even with the sunscreen on, I still manage to end up a light shade of brown. So I guess you could say it’s win-win.

But beyond the sunscreen there are a many other things which are ‘healthy skin promoting’. The first is water. Yup, that wonderful thing people always tell you to drink lots of because it’s a weight loss aid, helps with your bowels and a million other things is also good for your skin! Keeping your body and your skin hydrated allows your body to keep up with cell production which in turn gets rid of all the old crap and helps your body produce new skin cells…and in turn keeps you looking bright and refreshed.

Obviously if you’re a smoker, quit. In case you didn’t need another reason, that shit is nasty and isn’t too nice in terms of slowing the aging process either. Enough said about that one! I really shouldn’t have to convince you that it’s bad.

Vitamin A has forever been known as the eye vitamin. But did you know it’s needed for the growth and maintenance of the skin as well?  Beta-carotene is often lumped together with vitamin A as it is a compound which can be found in many foods and your body can easily convert it into vitamin A.  Anyways, beta carotene appears to also protect the skin from skin cancer and age associated damage (like sun spots, wrinkles etc). Vitamin A and beta carotene supplements can actually also improve acne and one’s prone ability to breakouts.   Vitamin A is only found in meat sources – fish like cod, halibut and salmon as well as beef and chicken and in eggs and dairy products. Beta-carotene on the other hand, is in green and yellow-orange fruits and vegetables like carrots (everyone knows to eat carrots for better eyesight! Well, add it to your list of ‘skin friendly’ foods also), kale, parsley, spinach, apricots, cantaloupe and tomato paste.

I think the most well recognized skin friendly vitamin is the vitamin E..and with good reason! Vitamin E is powerful antioxidant and anticarcinogen, and thus is often used in anti-aging face creams. Vitamin E actually improves the quality of our cells in all of our body, including our skin, and in tern prolongs the aging process. Vitamin E can be found naturally in the fats of vegetable foods (like vegetable oil, safflower and cottonseed). It can also be found in whole grains, dark green leafy vegetables, nuts (esp walnuts and pecans) and legumes.

And just in case you’re still in the group of people who are still hating on fats, essential fatty acids (the good kind) are… well, essential! Not only are they essential to the maintenance of your body in everything from the reproductive, immune, cardiovascular and nervous systems, but consuming enough of them can also have a positive effect on your skin.  They help to keep the skin tight and strongGood fats can be found in fish and seafood, nuts, legumes, eggs from chickens fed diets high in omega 3 (one of the EFA’s), and oils.  Fish oil pills and EFA’s capsules can also be bought.

And of course, adequate sleep is important. Exercise also helps because it amps up oxygen flow, and that’s important for healthy skin as well. Taking care of your skin – keeping it clean, moisturized and exfoliating dead skin doesn’t  hurt either!

If you are an unfortunate soul who happens to get a bit of a sunburn like I did last week when I somehow managed to miss one side of my nose and above my eyebrow when applying my sunscreen, milk does wonders in not only calming the red, but soothing the sting and if applied to your whole face (I used a cotton baby facecloth and dabbed it in the milk), even on a regular basis, actually helps smooth it, and moisturize it because of an ingredient found in milk called lactic acid.. Yogurt has the same effects.  Black tea bags also help reduce the redness.

Coconut oil – yes! the stuff used for cooking, is a quite excellent as a skin butter also..and um..smells like sweet, sweet heaven!

You can also make your own face scrubs with honey and lemon juice.. OR milk and honey for a double whammy moisturizing and exfoliating scrub.

That’s right, I have just told you..repeatedly..to rub milk on your face. Before you roll your eyes, do it. I promise you’ll be impressed. AND it’s a lot cheaper than your face cream I bet. Don’t worry –  I have incredibly sensitive skin and my face didn’t do anything crazy.

I was once told that nice skin is the best accessory.. and the older I get, the more and more I realize this to be true! So from not only a health standpoint but a vanity one, take care of yours.

My House

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Last Night Lon was sniffling on the couch due to his sore throat – and obviously it was the worst case of a sore throat EVER. He was a little big whiny, I’ll admit.  And despite the fact that my throat too is a little scratchy and I had just walked in the door from work, ate supper, did dishes and was finally sitting down I asked him if he would like anything..

*sniffle sniffle*… maybe some throat tea…

Up I get to make it.

“Will you put some honey in it too?” *cough cough*

SIGH. Yes darling, I will.

Needless to say, this commercial cracks me up every single time I see it!

The best part? He was tucked into bed long before I was, and when I came up he looked pretty much just like that. Sounded like that too.

 

 

Cooking Date! Homemade Meatless Burgers with Tzatziki

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Yesterday morning was my sleep in day. What that means is “leave me the hell alone until 7″.  Lonny of course is up way before that time, and quietly leaves the bedroom, shutting the door behind him, returning when he feels it’s safe aka a time which is acceptable to wake me up.

Normally he comes bouncing back up the stairs with questions like, “what are we going to do today?!” as he pounces back on the bed – much like a 5 year old. Yesterday, however, he came back up to bed with the cookbook in his hands and plopped down beside me.

I thought I was dreaming.

This man hates to cook. In fact, I have asked him many times over the years to look through my cookbooks and see if anything catches his eye – sometimes it’s hard being the only creative force in the kitchen. Of course he never does. So when he does it willingly, on his own?

Instead of the usual questions, he tells me he was looking through the cookbook and found some recipes he thought we could make. The weather was windy and gloomy and any outdoor activities were ruled out. He thought we could go to the grocery store, buy the ingredients and come home and make it together.

You guys, I damn near cried. Are you kidding me? Possibly the sweetest thing ever. Besides the fact that he has no patience in the kitchen, he does know how much I love to cook… the mere thought that he took an initiative to plan an activity and date dinner was just so lovely.  It’s the little things, people!

ANYWAYS. One of the recipes he picked out was meatless burgers… Well, the actual name was Chickpea, Flaxseed and Oatmeal burgers with Tzatziki.  Now, before you wrinkle your nose take my word for it – DIVINE TASTING! I only share wonderful tasting recipes with you guys, you know that. So here it is.

Chickpea, Flaxseed and Oatmeal Burgers With Tzatziki

prep time: approx 20 minutes. Cook time: approx 15 minutes

What You Need:

For the Tzatziki:

  • 1/3 of a medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and grated
  • 1/4 cup of fat free plain yogurt
  • 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (I used 2 cloves to mince 1/2 tsp)
  • pinch of salt
  • ground pepper to taste

For the Burgers:

  • 6 tablespoons of flaxseed
  • 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (rinse excessively to remove as much of the packing salt as possible!)
  • 1/4 and 1/8 a cup of rolled oats
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 2 tablespoons of water
  • 1/4 cup of chopped mint
  • 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 2 teaspoons of ground cumin
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup of panko
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil
  • burger buns (obviously)
  • tomato (optional)
  • alfalfa sprouts (optional)

How you do it:

For Tzatziki: Mix everything in a bowl, stick it in the fridge to cool a bit. The end.

For the Burgers:

*you can use a food processor, coffee grinder, spice grinder, hand egg beater or any other tool you have to grind shit up!

  1. grind up 5 tablespoons of flaxseed
  2. in a bowl (if using a hand mixer) or in a food processor combine the chickpeas, oats, garlic and water. Pulse until mixture is coarsely chopped.
  3. Add the mint, lemon juice, cumin, salt, pepper and flaxseed and mix until it’s all combined
  4. Divide the mixture into 4burgers (umm.. only ifyou’re STARVING! Next time we’ll be doing 6  burgers. Or Cutting the recipe in half)
  5. Put the panko crumbs and remaining tablespoon of flaxseed in a plate.
  6. Dip the burgers in the egg, and then in the panko mixture.
  7. Heat your olive oil in a pan.
  8. Throw the burgers on. Cook for 5-7 minutes on eachside.
  9. On a bun put the tzatziki and your other toppings, and stick a burger on there too.

I ended up only eating half a burger and a corn on the cob. Lonny made himself refried beans and 2 burgers. He ate 1 and a half burgers and no beans. Haha. SUPER filling, and full of delicious nutritients.

This is a very, very fiber filled meal! Chickpeas contain 7 grams of fiber per halfcup and are also a source of protein!. Flaxseed is not only full of fiber, but also a good source of omega-3 fatty acids (the good fat!).

Proof: He cooked with a smile! …might have been cursing on the inside though….

Are Compliments A Dying Art?… And Why I Give Them, Freely

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Once, years ago, someone told me I compliment people too much. She said I was too nice and it came across like I was “trying too hard”.  Wowzers.  At the time it caused me to become extremely self conscious about what came out of my mouth. It never occurred to me not to tell someone when I thought they looked nice, gave a really good presentation, brightened my day or whatever it may be. The mere thought of not sharing the happiness they brought to me in that moment never crossed my mind.

The other day I received a very nice, short message from a gal I know. I don’t know her well, mainly through a large amount of mutual friends and acquaintances and yet she did something that was so out of the ordinary these days it seems. She just wanted to let me know she really enjoys my blog, and felt people don’t tell each other enough when they do positive things.

This simple, few sentenced message made me want to jump for joy. Not only because her words alone made my day that much brighter, but because it made me feel like, YES!  Free compliments and positive communication is still alive.

I say ‘free’ because I feel more and more compliments are handed out to people with attachments. An expectation from the giver, or even worse, it’s given out of obligation or comes from a place of jealousy as opposed to a genuine enjoyment.

A while back I wrote a post about being put down and what it’s like to be given backhanded compliments full of excuses which not only validate why the givers themselves has not accomplished whatever it is, but how easy it is for me, the receiver, to take it in a way which belittles my hard work due to whatever circumstances may vary between me and them.

I’m big on compliments, and even more so on simple recognition and acknowledgement. A “thank you” goes so far in terms of the way it can make someone feel. Hell, even a simple “hello” can easily brighten a day. It doesn’t even have to be praise towards something someone did, just some kind of awareness of their general existence can mean such a difference.

A couple years ago I was walking in downtown Regina, where I worked, one summer day. I was strolling along, minding my own business and I noticed an old fella walking towards me with a grin on his face. I assumed he was smiling at someone behind me, but smiled anyhow. I like to smile when I walk past people, I feel it’s a nice and often unexpected surprise, especially for me when they smile back. Anyhow, this old man reached out and touched my arm when he was beside me. I stopped walking and turned to him, assuming he would have a question or need some help or whatever it may be. Instead he said he just wanted to tell me that I was like a ray of sunshine and was such a pretty little breath of fresh air.  It honestly and truly made me want to cry.  To me it was such an amazing thing to be told.

I feel that you can dress someone up, do their hair, put on all the right make-up and clothes and who they are inside will still shine through.  Whether it’s mean, spiteful, friendly, helpful, positive, negative..whoever they are inside is painfully obvious. But maybe that’s just me. So for someone to not only take the time from their day to stop me on the street to give me a compliment, but for it to be such a positive one, was something I will probably never forget.

I have noticed from my experience working with the public that the older generations of people have such manners, and a way about recognizing and complementing other people and their achievements with pure awe.  The other day, two of our regular fellas were leaving at the same time – one who is in fitness competitions, and the other who is about 75. The younger guy left, and the older chap and myself were chatting, and it was genuinely amazing to me how freely he praised all the hard work “these young fellas do to look so beautiful”.   Yet I have never heard two young folks praise each other so publicly like that.

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel that women are even less likely to give genuine compliments then men. I suppose you can’t blame us either. Society and the media has such a huge influence on how we feel about ourselves, it’s only natural it also effects how we view other people also.  I think a lot of the time we feel that by giving someone else a compliment is somehow degrading to ourselves. Like we are saying we’re not good enough by acknowledging that someone else has done something very positive.

I think our own self conscious behaviors negatively effect our relationships with each other. Hell, even more than our own self conscious behaviors our own egos effect us even more. It’s like we assume everyone is concerned about our lives, so by recognizing the excellence in someone else’s the focus is instantly going to go to areas of our lives we’re self conscious about.

I think there is a huge misconception that by complimenting someone else we are also saying we find fault in ourselves. Or that we need to actually say that. How many times have you said, or heard someone else say, something like “you’re so funny.. I wish I were funny..” or “you’re legs are so nice, I wish I had long legs”.. Since when does a compliment to someone else automatically go hand in hand with a put down towards ourselves?  The whole thought process behind that is completely lost on me. Not only does it take the emphasis off the positive tone to what you’re saying and takes the attention away from the person you’re saying it too, but it puts the negative attention on to yourself, which not only will make you feel crappy about yourself but will make the other person feel very uncomfortable. And then what happens? they start to compliment you, reassure you that you’re fine, yadda yadda yadda, and well..it’s not about you.

Complimenting or giving encouraging words make me feel good, and it should make you feel good too. I love seeing the look on someone’s face when they receive an unexpected compliment or words of encouragement. No different than smiling at strangers. The concept of thinking something nice about someone and not telling them is bizarre. Why wouldn’t I want to share that thought with them?

So I guess my words of wisdom today are this: Quit being so darn prudish with the positive words! Oh, and when you do give them? Don’t make it a backhanded insult to yourself in the process.