Monday Madness

I don’t know about you but this whole Corona pandemic is creeping me out. I know we are doing our best to stay healthy and keeping our distance of people when we go out to run errands. It kind of makes us wonder what people did before this happened. Did people not wash their hands? It’s mind-boggling. The officials say it’s going to get worse before it gets better. It’s probably true. Whatever you can do to keep yourself healthy I implore you to do it. It is never too late to start.

We mixed up our schedule again. It’s always good to change direction and not get too comfortable with a routine. Your body will adapt to what you are doing, so in order to make it continue to build muscle and lose pounds, you may need to adjust the program a little. Instead of walking in the evening, get up a little earlier and start your day with a morning walk. Bring lunch instead of buying that “make your own 5lb. salad” at the grocery store. Ditch the cream and sugar… start drinking your coffee black. There are a number of different things you can do to mix things up a bit.

Write things down that help. Write things down that cause you stress. Write things down that make you want to eat. All of these little documentations will come in handy later. We are on week #7. How’s every one doing? Are you still with us? I hope so.  Later this week look for some new recipes.

Keep hydrating. Stay healthy.

Until next time.

Friday the 13th

Happy Friday the 13th and we have made it to another day to step up to the scale. In response to the pandemic COVD19 spreading throughout communities, delaying activities, cancelling events, even closing Disney World, the road to fitness will continue. If your road takes you to a gym or fitness center, you may want to consider the great outdoors. There is nothing quite like a breath of fresh air.

Today is weigh in day. Step up and see what you got. Make sure to document it in your healthy fitness journal. Take a peek back to day one. Aren’t you proud of yourself? You should be. We’re proud of you.

This epidemic has people concerned. It’s a real sickness that will effect a lot of people. In all due respect, it’s not something the world has never seen: Ebola, Zika, and H1N1 influenza. It’s an unfortunate plague that the media and social media have exploited. For COVD19, prevention is half the battle: wash your hands, keep yourself healthy, recognize the symptoms and counteract accordingly. Be educated and don’t believe everything you see or hear. Research it on your own. This is a great place to find the truth about COVD19.

I hope everyone stays healthy. That’s a big part of this journey!  Getting fit and making a life style of staying healthy.

Hope you see you next time.

Walk the Talk

Are you a doer or a raconteur? Before we started this 9 week journey I used to tell Joe all the time I would get on the machine. I promised I would do it three times a week. I knew I needed to exercise. Working at home has benefits, but it also can proliferate bad habits. I wanted to exercise but I just didn’t have the motivation to do it.

Joe was adamant. Every day he would spend an hour or more on that machine. He had a personal trainer. Dr. Tommy Rivers Puzey took him on runs through Costa Rica. Quite honestly, I was beginning to get jealous. I wanted to see what was so special about this Tommy dude. One day I did what I said I was going to do, and stepped up to the machine. I started to spend a little time with Dr. Tommy. Not much, a couple days a week. It got me moving a little more than what I was (which was none). He’s a very personable guy. I started looking forward to seeing him three days a week. He has some good training videos if you have an elliptical, Nordic-track, or other form of training equipment with video. But, all good things come to an end, and I don’t know if I jinxed it or not, but, the machine broke. That was JANUARY 10TH. Machine is still down. (Gotta hand it to Nordic Track customer service…they are expedient — NOT).

That was when we decided to put on our running shoes and get out there and do it the old fashion way. Mother Nature. There is nothing quite like fresh air. It does a body good. Hence came the blog and the road to fitness. Here we are, 9 weeks later and 10 pounds less. Making the talk reality, makes the walk turn into something you can be proud of. When we first started walking, I could barely keep up with Joe. I know I was slowing him down. It was taking me 18-20 minutes to do a mile. We’re doing them in about 16 minutes now, depending on the terrain (if it’s wet and slippery, takes a little longer).

Don’t be a talker. Don’t procrastinate and say you’ll do it tomorrow. That machine breaking down was the best thing that happened for me. With a machine most people (me for one) think that we can do it whenever we want and procrastination sets in. Joe was not like that. He’s disciplined and that’s a rare trait in most people.

Walk the talk don’t just talk the walk. Whatever it takes to move more — MOVE! Be it a machine, be it a video (remember Sweating to the Oldies with Richard Simmons?), whatever it is that you enjoy doing, do it. I promise you will feel better about yourself. You will notices changes.

Little things consistently turn into big changes permanently.

Later, 

Monday Motivation

Every day there is a new struggle to beat. The calves hurt, new blisters have appeared in places you didn’t know you had. The television continually shows commercials of juicy hamburgers, fried chicken and all the chocolate covered rabbits for upcoming Easter baskets. Even the scent of bacon and eggs finds way to your nostrils when you get out there for the morning walk.

Does it ever get easy? No! Every day brings a new challenge to face. Every day is a new chance to change your life. If it’s not challenging you, it’s not changing you. It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop.  “…let us run with endurance, the race that is set before us…” The secret to succeeding is changing daily routines. Eventually the hard part will be your warm up. You can do this. 

Just a little Monday motivational speech. It’s a brand new week. Let’s do it!

Until next time, 

Choose Healthy

Build it and they will come, write it and they will read, cook it and they will eat…ya-da, ya-da, ya-da. Not always the case. It’s like leading a horse to water. He is only going to drink if he’s thirsty. We are only going to get what we put in. Effort. Believe you can do it and accept the fact that it is not going to happen overnight.

It’s weigh-in day. Hop on and take a gander. Unfortunately and fortunately I stayed the same. Unfortunate because I really was hoping to see a loss on the scale. Fortunate because I did not see a plus on the scale. Take the good with the bad and move forward. I will get geared up to work a little harder in the next week.

I used to joke all the time that I worked hard to keep this full-figure body full. Joe used to eat a dozen donuts or two or three bagels a day and not gain a pound. As we age, our metabolism slows down, and changes need to be made accordingly. We don’t have to eat less, we just need to eat different.

Every little thing that you can do to make changes helps. You know that big plate of spaghetti you are craving? Instead of pasta, invest in a spiralizer and make veggie pasta. You can purchase them already spiralized in grocery stores, but it is a heck of a lot cheaper to do it yourself.

Chicken Parmesan with Sweet Potato Noodles
12 oz. chicken breast, flattened and cut into equal portions
12 oz. jar prepared pasta sauce
1 egg, beaten
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 sweet potato, spiralized
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
½ tsp. onion powder

Combine parmesan cheese with Italian seasoning and onion powder. Dip chicken cutlets in egg and roll in parmesan cheese. Sauté in copper chef fry pan until golden brown on both sides and internal temperature is 165º. Steam the sweet potato noodles for 3-5 minutes until al dente. Top with prepared pasta sauce and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Add a side of non-fat cottage cheese and you have yourself a nice little pasta free din-din. One sweet potato equal 114 calories verses one serving of pasta equal 210 calories. You figure it out.

Until next time,