Apr 29, 2013

Burning It Off: Week of April 21

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Last week was kind of a write off. I came down with a cold on Tuesday, which didn’t get too bad until the weekend. The worst of it hit me on Friday night so instead of going out, Josh and I got take out and watched back to back episodes of Homeland. It was actually kind of fun, save for the fact that my head felt like it was about to explode.

I also happened to have a lot of social events last week – baby shower, multiple celebrations for Josh’s birthday – so I had a fun time trying to smile and make small talk with people, all the while willing my nose not to run. Bleh.

Anyway, since I was feeling okay-ish up until Friday, I was still able to get to the gym:

Sunday – Climbing

This was a great session – I finally finished a route I’d been struggling with for weeks.

Monday – Off

Tuesday – BodyPump

I thought it might be a release class but no such luck. Still got a great workout.

Wednesday – Off

Thursday – BodyCombat

Finally, a release class! The class was team-taught by three instructors and a lot of the regulars from each of their classes joined us so it was a full house, which I love. The release itself was good – I’d have to do it a few more times before I get into specifics but the class flew by, which is always a sign of a fun workout.

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Friday – BodyPump

This wasn’t a release class but we got a sneak peek at the new lunge track – holy shit! For those who haven’t done it yet, after a set of squats and lunges with the bar, you do two back to back sets of plyo jumps off and on your bench. This spiked my heart rate like crazy. I’m excited to see the rest of this release.

Saturday – Off

I felt like death in the morning so working out was out of the question. Luckily, I felt a little better by noon (thank you Advil!) when we had to go for lunch at Josh’s dad’s. In the evening, we went to Ballroom, an upscale bowling alley and bar in Toronto’s entertainment district, for Josh’s birthday. I’m a pretty pitiful bowler – I got the second lowest score of the group (I choose to blame my cold).

I’m feeling much better now so hopefully I’ll get to try a few more new Les Mills releases this week. I’m also making an effort to eat healthier – I’ve been feeling run down and feel like I need to take better care of myself. I picked some really nutritious recipes with lots of vegetables to cook this week so hopefully that will give me the energy boost I need.

Enjoy your week.

Filed Under: Dining Out, Week in Review ·
Feb 20, 2013

What I Ate in San Francisco

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Hey there!

It’s been months since I last participated in a WIAW post but thought I would do one in honor of all of the yummy food I ate during my trip to San Francisco last week.

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Before I get into the food porn good stuff, I want to share a few thoughts about vacations and diets. As you know, I’m all about indulging from time to time but what happens when you visit a city known for its amazing food and you’re there for 7 days straight? Should you try to eat mostly healthy and only indulge in moderation (as per usual) or just say eff it and eat whatever you want?

My original plan was to do the moderation thing but I ended up ditching that approach shortly into our trip. I think I ate pastries for breakfast every single day, had dessert, bread and wine with every dinner and ate at restaurants for every single meal. I didn’t do any formal exercise other than a yoga class, a bike ride through Golden Gate Park and a rock climbing session but those were more for fun than exercise.

So basically, I pigged out and didn’t exercise much for a week. Want to know what happened?

Nothing.

I really thought I would gain weight as this was the longest I’d gone without exercising or eating healthy but after a few days (I blame water retention for a slight uptick), I’m the same weight as I was before I left. I think it’s because of all the walking we did while we were there. I’m usually sitting at a desk all day so even though I didn’t do any formal workouts, I was probably more active overall last week than I am usually. I guess all the activity outweighed all of the refined carbs and alcohol. Woo hoo!

So the moral of the story – if you’re visiting an awesome city, please don’t ruin your trip by worrying about calories and exercise. Enjoy all that the city has to offer, including its cuisine and especially its junk food, and get back to your routine when you get home.

Rant over. Here are some of the things I ate in San Fran.

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Tea leaf salad and lamb curry at Burma Superstar

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Burrata salad, cheese and cured meats at Uva Enoteca

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Clam chowder and a deep fried crab sandwich at Boudin (this was a shared meal… I wasn’t that gluttonous!)

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Spring rolls and grilled lemongrass pork shoulder at The Slanted Door

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Dahi vada (a lentil dumpling topped with yogurt, tamarind and mint) and dosa masala (a lentil crepe filled with potatoes) at Dosa

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Almond croissant, bread pudding and a morning bun from Tartine (breakfast of champions).

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Salted caramel and roasted coconut ice cream from Bi Rite.

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Sushi at Ebisu.

And these are only some of the highlights (we also went to Napa for a day so I’ll have to devote a separate post entirely to that).

Hope you’re not drooling too hard!

Happy WIAW and thanks as always to Jenn @ Peas & Crayons for hosting.

Filed Under: Daily Eats, Dining Out, Moderation ·
Oct 15, 2012

Weekend Balance

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So remember how last weekend was all pigging out and not a ton of, well, burning it off? I’m happy to say this past weekend was a nice balance of both.

On Friday morning, I made it out to BodyPump. These days, I’m trying to do one pre-work workout per week and my Friday morning Pump class is the one I find easiest to stick to. It’s always full of eager regulars so it’s not as depressing as other 6 a.m. classes I’ve been to. The instructor has been teaching for a long time so he mixes up the releases a lot, plus it’s just easier to get out of bed on Friday morning knowing the weekend is so close.

After work on Friday, Josh and I went to Wvrst for a friend’s birthday. A “sausage hall” with an impressive selection of meats (kangaroo, anyone?) and beers, Wvrst is the latest trendy place to eat in Toronto. I ordered a bison sausage and Josh and I split an order of duck fat fries. Both were delicious.

I also drank a lot of beer but can’t remember which varieties I tried (I’m not what you’d call a beer connoisseur). All I know is I drank a little too much and consequently struggled to get out of bed for my kickboxing date with my sister on Saturday morning.

But being the trooper that I am, I dragged myself out of bed and headed over to my sister’s to pick her up… and then locked my keys in my car and we ended up missing the kickboxing class. Awesome.

After that, I was tired and in a bad mood so I decided to go for an easy run around my neighbourhood. It was a gorgeous day outside, which kind of cheered me up.

Post-run, Josh and I went to the Green Bean for lunch. I was craving their apple and brie sandwich and a latte.

Hit the spot.

After lunch, we did some window shopping, stocked up on groceries for the week and went home, where I proceeded to take a nap that lasted for about an hour longer than I intended it to (those are usually the best kind).

For dinner, I cooked a polenta bake from my Canadian Living One Dish cook book.

It’s kind of like an upside down shepherd’s pie but with polenta instead of potatoes for the crust. Great comfort food dish for fall. We also drank up the last of our Homegrown Riesling from Thanksgiving.

On Sunday morning, I went back to my sister’s for another gym date and this time did not lock my keys in the car – success! We did a 30-minute BodyPump Express class followed by 30 minutes of CXWORX. The rest of the day, I did housework mixed with some freelance writing stuff.

In other news, I was debating over two fitness Groupons – one for spin and one for hot yoga – and decided to buy them both (I’m a great problem solver, clearly). I figure I have a few months to use both of them so what the heck? As always, I’m looking forward to adding some new classes to my routine.

Did you eat anything amazing over the weekend? Please share!

Anyone know any good corn meal recipes? I have a bunch leftover from Saturday’s dinner – I’m thinking of making some corn bread.

Have a good week! :)

Filed Under: Dining Out, Moderation, Week in Review ·
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