Mar 31, 2012

A Worthy Salad

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I made a real effort to increase my vegetable intake this week and that involved eating a lot of salad. This led me to conclude that I am the laziest salad maker in the world. I put no effort into it, which leads to some pretty sucky salads. Today, I set out to change that and totally nailed it with the following:

Ingredients:
1.5 cups kale
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp hemp seeds
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
100 grams grilled chicken

Mix together and serve with rye toast. Check out the nutritional information (excluding the toast):

Not too shabby and it was actually good!

Now on to Sweat It Out Saturday. Here’s what my week of workouts looked like:

Sunday: RPM

We did RPM 36 and I loved it. The instructor pointed out that newer RPM releases focus more on speed while older releases focus more on strength. I wonder if this is why I haven’t been loving the newer releases. When it comes to RPM, I definitely prefer climbs to speed work.

Monday: Power Sweat 75

On Monday, I broke in my one month pass at Power Yoga Canada with a 75 minute Power Sweat class. I really enjoyed this one. The instructor took the time to demonstrate proper form and also encouraged us to lighten up and let loose (apparently, we were giving off bad energy… oops!). It was a cool vibe but far from an easy workout. In fact, this was the first yoga class I’ve ever done that had me seriously sore the next day. In the past, only lifting has made me feel that way the day after so this was a new phenomenon. It definitely has me thinking twice about my definition of strength training.

Tuesday: Unplanned Rest Day

The plan was to do BodyAttack in the evening but I ended up having to work late. I technically got home in time for class but  I was also starving by then. My options were a) attend BodyAttack without eating a full meal and pass out b) eat really quickly and risk the possibility of my dinner making a return in the middle of class or c) cut my losses and call it a rest day. I went with the last option. Sure, I could have gone to the gym later in the evening and hit the treadmill or some other mind numbing activity, but I figured I’d rather save my energy for a good workout the next day.

Wednesday: BodyAttack

After work, I went to the GoodLife near my office for BodyAttack. This is not my usual BodyAttack venue and probably my least favourite GoodLife location. The instructor was cool but some of the participants were… interesting. One lady did the class in what appeared to be her work pants and flats.  Maybe she forgot her gym clothes/shoes at home? I’m not sure whether to give her props for her dedication or shake my head at her for doing something so ridiculous/potentially dangerous. Sometimes, you’ve just gotta accept that your workout wasn’t meant to be (see above).

Thursday: Power Sweat 60

Man, there were some skilled yogis in this class. As in, people standing on their heads and shit. I’m so used to being advanced in all of my fitness classes, it’s definitely humbling being one of the weakest people there but I’m enjoying the challenge. One girl was asked to demonstrate going from crow pose to head stand and back and it was truly inspiring. My goal is to own crow pose (just the balancing on my arms part, not the standing on my head part – let’s not get too ambitious here) in 30 days. I actually managed to prop myself up for like half a second. Using a block. Baby steps, people!

Friday: Rest

I spent some quality time with the foam roller on Friday. Heavenly! 

Saturday: BodyAttack

Thanks to Friday’s foam rolling session, my legs were fresh and ready to go this morning. Unfortunately, I had a major case of the grumpies and didn’t feel like going to the gym or doing much of anything. Now, I’m all for taking a rest when you need it, but in this case I did not need it. I was just in a blah mood and I knew that a gym session, even though I didn’t feel like going initially, would get me out of it. Mission accomplished. Within ten minutes of class, I already felt better and I was in a great mood driving home.

The rest of the day involved reading the last book in The Hunger Games trilogy and napping (it’s been awhile since I took a quality nap – felt so good!). Tonight, Josh and I are going out for a fancy dinner (also been awhile), and I’m really looking forward to it.

Enjoy your weekend!

Filed Under: Cardio, Recipes, Yoga ·
Mar 29, 2012

Slow and Steady

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There’s really nothing sexy or sensational about my weight loss story. It took me almost a year to lose 15 pounds. Even when you consider that I wasn’t large to begin with, that’s still a pretty long time. Especially with headlines like this constantly flashing at us from newsstands:

So why did it take me 10 months to do what Jennifer Love Hewitt supposedly did in 10 weeks? (I won’t even address the Jessica Simpson headline since that is scientifically impossible!)

Well, for one thing, I always maintained a fairly conservative calorie deficit. I knew with my high activity level, I needed to keep my body fuelled, so I refused to drop my calories below a certain level, even if it would have expedited the weight loss process. Basically, I refused to let myself go hungry, Scarlett O’Hara style.

Second, I allowed myself “cheats.” Lots of ‘em. At least once a week, I enjoyed a decadent restaurant meal, dessert or alcohol, or occasionally some combination of all three. As a result, I never felt deprived or like I was neglecting my social life because I still enjoyed empty calories in moderation.

Finally, I took a few “maintenance” breaks during those 10 months – weeks where I didn’t feel like being so meticulous about calorie counting and just gave it a rest before fully committing again.

Of course, I would have lost weight a lot faster with a stricter approach (assuming I could have stuck to a rigid diet long enough to actually see results) but I would have gained it all back by now. And what would have been the point of that?

If you want to maintain your weight loss in the long-term, lose weight at a slow and steady rate in a way that doesn’t make you hate your life. If you’re miserable the entire time you’re losing weight, you’re not going to have much success with maintenance because guess what? Life doesn’t change all that much when you switch from weight loss to maintenance. If you’re currently trying to lose weight, ask yourself, can you commit to how you’re currently eating and exercising for the rest of your life? If not, make some changes.

In my case, the lifestyle I followed while losing weight was great.  I ate cake, partied with friends, consumed a decent amount of cheese. I also learned to cook healthy meals, discovered portion control and developed a genuine love for fitness. Now as a maintainer, my life really isn’t all that different and you know what? That’s fine by me because to be perfectly honest, at the end of the day, I kinda had fun losing weight… yeah, I said it.

That’s why it’s so important to learn to love the process of becoming fit and healthy instead of being too preoccupied with the end result. Learn to love the feeling of strengthening your body and improving your fitness through exercise. Appreciate healthy food and all of the wonderful nourishment it provides you.

At the same time, don’t force yourself to eat food you dislike or do workouts you hate just because you think they’ll help you with your weight loss goals. Instead, find healthy foods and activities you actually enjoy and your life will be so much better, both as a “loser” and a “maintainer.”

And, most importantly, don’t let your weight loss goals interfere with your ability to enjoy life. Go out with friends, have a drink or two, eat dessert – just do it in moderation. It will most definitely slow down your weight loss but, in the long-term, you’ll be more successful at keeping it off.

Have you ever followed a strict diet or exercise regime that made you miserable? What were the long-term results?

Filed Under: Maintenance, Motivation ·
Mar 28, 2012

What I Ate Wednesday: Mix ‘n’ Match Edition

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Happy What I Ate Wednesday! Once again, big thanks to Jenn @ Peas and Crayons for hosting.

Some weeks I find I’m all gung-ho about finding new recipes and planning elaborate meals. Other weeks, however, I can’t be bothered. This week is one of those weeks so instead of searching the web for new recipes over the weekend, I took a simpler approach to meal planning - I bought enough meat, carbs and vegetables to make enough servings to last me all week and played mix and match at each meal. Here are some of the improvised meals I put together:

- Pre-seasoned salmon with steamed butternut squash and broccoli
- Breaded pork chops with mixed vegetables and brown rice
- Breaded pork chops with baked sweet potatoes and kale salad
- Turkey meatball muffins with sweet potatoes and kale salad   
- Falafel pita with kale salad

Using this approach, here’s what I ate on Monday:

Breakfast

Almond butter on 2 slices of P28 toast and 1/2 cup mixed berries

Lunch

Leftover turkey meatloaf muffins with kale and tomato salad

Dinner

Breaded pork chop with brown rice and mixed vegetables cooked in olive oil

Snacks

Apple slices with peanut butter, yogurt and granola and a banana

What’s your approach to weekly meals? Do you improvise, plan ahead or a little bit of both (let’s call it improvised planning)?

Filed Under: Daily Eats ·
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