Cold temps, stiff joints, tired - Getting old! Nah!

I woke up this morning and it was still dark and the temp was 30 degrees out. WTF! What happen to the nice weather we did have. I was ready to go back to bed, but oh wait! I can't, I have to meet the girls for our weekend "longer run". So out of bed and get ready. Where are those long running pants? Where is my hat? Where are my gloves? After taking all my allergy meds and antibiotics - cup of coffee, some toast, off I go.

On my way to the greenway, my body was still sore and still from training last night and now this morning, my hamstrings and hips and IT band was stiff. Gee, I must be getting old, I got arthritis. Don't you feel like at times? Then when we met up and started our run. We were talking how slow we run, that we are a bunch of old ladies. Then it hit me and I said "Well, yes, we are a bunch of old ladies, but we are doing more than of the people our age and even younger. So even though my joints were still, I continue thinking as long as I am doing this, I am not getting old!

So after that, I went to Kettlebell pump class and we were talking about health, nutriton and it was mentioned that we, NC, rank second for fattest state.

Gee, I aint doing too bad!

So whatever it is you are not doing, go out and do it and feel better and be healthy, until next time!

Have a good day,

Swim is hard work for me but I am going to keep trying

I had always wanted to learn how to swim but was very scared of water that is over my head. My parents would not let us sign up for swim lessons besides that they did not have money for us to do us. Tragedy had struck relatives when my cousin mysteriously drown and he was an expert swimmer. So for years, I did not know how and was to afraid to do so.

So here I am, a hefty 200lb I said I am going to fight my fears. I enrolled at adult swim lessons at the Gypsy Divers Aquatic Center. It was pretty scary but Mr. Ed there just knew exactly how to deal with fears. In no time, he had us moving along. I realize that I floated real good so it was like I did not have to work too hard to stay afloat.

Well, I am no longer 200lb and with the weight training, I gained more muscle weight and I never believe this but muscle weights more than fat. Now how can that be? 100 lbs of muscle is the same as 100 lbs of fat - it is still 100 lbs but it is the distribution and density of it. I guess I am just more dense now :-)

So now when I go to swim class, Mr. Ed said I sink now so we got a new challenge ahead of us and the challenge of learning my strokes.

So wish me luck in my endeavors

Sue

Do I count calories?

Some people from work have been asking me what my eating food choices are, how much I eat and do I count calories? And to their surprise, I told them NO I don't. Her nutritionist told her to count calories. So she told me once she can lose her weight, she can be in the average weight range. So I asked her "So once you lose your weight and then what? She did not have an answer.

I really think that is why the diet industry and drugs and is so successful. They tell people the only way to lose weight is to count calories but they don't tell them once you reach your goal, then what?

The reason why I don't count calories is that if I eat the proper foods, it is already low in calories and nutritional and healthy. It is all the processed foods, the junk food and snacks that people consumed without thinking about it and then they eat too much of it and that is the weight gain. So calorie deficit is a good start to lose weight but a calorie is not a calorie.

Take for instance: an apple or banana say is 100 calorie but so are those 100 calorie snacks. What would be better for you?

Say for lunch you have one of those frozen cuisine and it is 350 calories and my lunch is a huge salad with tuna, beans, fruit and a oil and vinegar salad dressing and say it is 350 calories, what seems more appealing and fills you up?

So do I count calories? Nope

Until next time,

Sue

Why do I get up early monring and it is raining out

This morning, I got up at 5AM, got dressed, drank coffee and had a slice of toast and it was raining where I was. To go or not to go to Shelley was the question. I almost turned back, but what if my buddy was waiting there and it is not raining - so off I go and sure nuf, Mel was waiting - other group members must have opted out. Since it was wet and we did not know how the roads were - we trotted our 3+ miles - nice and quiet and we got to chit chat...so all in all it was a nice time out.

Now, after taking my allergy med and ingesting my asthma meds- I am banging my head on my desk. I hate this pollen -

Enjoy your day

Sue

Tree pollen, run and trip to Costo - quinioa recipes

So Friday night, it was training and the girls all wanted to learn how to run. So guess what Trainer Kamilah had us do. Yup, you guess that, we ran laps and laps around the gym - 100 to be exact and then she took our time. It is our baseline.

Then Sat morning, I went out again and ran with the running group. Since Norma is doing her half at the ATT Sunday, she took rest. So we did a slower interval. We all did 4 miles and then Jean and I continue on and we wind up doing 6.8 miles and it took us 1hr 42 mins or so. We never care about the time, just the distance. Like the group run description says - We are slow and steady.

After that, it was a little rest and something to eat and off to Kettlebell Pump class which is a killer workout, supposedly set for 30 mins but Trainer Kamilah usually gives us more than that.

Then it was off to Costco to get my mainly foods to cook, to prepare for the week. I had a bag of Quinoa and suprisingly or maybe not, couple of people were asking me for recipes. I rattle off 3 recipes for the lady in front and then another on the other aisle came listening.

Breakfast - cooked quinoa, add some fruit, fresh fruit, nut butter, sweetner and milk(almond, soy, regular) - heat it up -

Lunch - cooked quinoa, mixed with stir fried veggies with meat or tofu or a summer salad of cukes, tomatoes, onions, sugar and vinegar

Dinner- quinoa - mixed with mushrooms, chicken or some meat and serve with side salad.

The tree pollen was killing me - so after my run outside, I was suffering that I would cough everytime I talk.

Someone got any remedies for the itchy cough?

So today Sunday, I woke up late - about 9am - I guess this tree pollen was making me have sleepless nights and prior to day, a bad cold - so today - cooking and then later on heading to YOGA class

Have a good day,

Sue

Snacks for People/Moms on the go -their kids too

My friend and co-worker Leslie said she likes some ideas of what snacks to pack -because she is always trucking her 4 kids from one place to another. It seems this is the way it is for the busy moms. So I was thinking about this topic so therefore I will append more recipes of mine in a little while longer.

Now, prior to me today, I ate all sorts of junk food, fried foods and too much of anything. So I made some big sacrifices in my food choice and at first, I hated eating things that were low calorie, low fat, no fat, sugar free- the food tasted like cardboard though I do not know what carboard tasted like. For instance, those rice cakes - they got no taste and they taste like styroform - again, I don't know what that taste like. So why subject myself to this since eating and behavoir of it will be a lifetime change for me. So now, I packed my own meals to work and they would always include 2-3 snacks besides my breakfast and lunch. And for the On the Go people - you certainly can pack these same snacks. I am not talking about just carrots and celery sticks, it gets old after a while and you feel like a rabbit munching.

Here are some ideas for snacks. Best to pack them in little zip lock bags. Then it is easily available and you only exercise portion control as well. And when you do have a snack in between your meals, you keep your metabolism going and also makes you feel fuller and not starving at the next meal where you most likely will overeat. I did!

Portable fruit - such as apples, bananas, pears, oranges - those u can just pick up and go
Other fruits - cherries, grapes - put them in ziploc bags - or this is real good- freeze the grapes - seedless - they taste like mini popsicles
Vegetables - baby carrots, celery sticks, cherry tomatoes, cut uo broccili, cauliflower - put those in a zip loc bag and maybe pour a little ranch dressing or buy the ones that is individual size. Now you can choose other veggies - these are the easiest - they transport well.
Pretzels - low in fat
Fig Newtons - low in fat
Animal Crackers - low in fat
Pita Chips - look at the nutritional info - I think the plain ones are less fat, the cinammon ones though real good has lots of sugar
Crackers - Be careful, not all crackers are the same - I think Wheat Thins and Triscuits are OK but Ritz - no, u can pack a little thing of peanut butter or any nut butter and u can just scoop the cracker into the nut butter
PBJ sandwiches- this is a classic - I usually use WW bread or Ezekiel bread which is a sprouted grain -- I like the texture of it
Kashi TLC bars
Nuts in moderation
Sandwiches with good fat - I had made sandwich with avocado slices, alfafa sprouts and low fat soy cheese (I can't do dairy) but u can use low fat cheese or even regular fat if you like
Hard boiled eggs

That is a good start! I am sure I will add to it when I think of what else I eat and what else is good out there
And no, none of foods here are high fat, just make sure u read the ingredients and nutrition info on the crackers and chips

Until next time,
Happy Snacking

Sue

At Shelley this AM, nice and easy

After a week or 2 of feeling miserable, I finally hit the trails. I did not want to go all out bcuz I was still wheezing a little so I took it nice and easy. Cranked down the intervals and was able to complete my 3m run. I am a slow runner so 43 mins is not too bad. I am glad my buddy Melanie was with me. My other buddy is in Cancun.

So short and easy post here!

What foods do you eat to lose weight and how do I get rid of the bulge around my stomach?

Hi again,

These are on a few of the frequently asked questions since I started my weight loss plan almost 2 years ago. There is not a simple solution because it involves more eating. It involves eating the right foods, the right amounts of foods, and when you eat them. It involves doing some exercise and some behavior modification. So you have to look at the big picture.

Let's look at a basic example. Someone who is average weight, say 150 lbs can burn 100 calories for every mile run. So if you do a 5K, that is a little more than 300 calories. And you say "Man, that's it!" You have to look at the whole picture and incorporate good eating habits as well. They go hand in hand.

OK, I am getting off topic. Getting back to what foods I eat. First of all, going on a diet is tragic enough and to not to enjoy the foods you like is equally traumatic. So what do I do? I forgo counting calories and concentrate on the type of foods I eat that are healthy and nutritional. So I thought tuna fish was good for me. I thought turkey was good for me. I thought yogurt was good for me. So why am I not losing weight. Why do I feel so puffy and flabby?

Let's take yogurt, it is not all created equally. Take Greek yogurt, one that I looked at was 6oz. 250 calories. Not bad! But wait, look at fat calories, it is 130. That is more than half of the calories that is fat - that is like 50%. Some people would tell me, that yes it is fried food but it is fried in olive oil, so it is OK. Oil is oil, fat is fat! So a little tidbit, next time before you buy something, look at the label of some of the items you buy, you will be surprise how much fat you have been eating. I am not saying you should totally eliminate fat, you need that. Concentrate on 1/3 or 33% should be from fat and if you are going to have fat - eat the good fat, like avocados, coconut oil.

So what do I eat? A sample of what I eat is quinoa with nuts, dried fruit, fresh fruit, granola with some agave nectar and I pour some almond milk and heat in the microwave. A change over eating oatmeal. That is breakfast and it changes daily. It is whatever I got in the fridge or what I feel like eating.
So if you look at the ingredients that I eat, none of it is high fat.

Now the million dollar question, how do I get rid of that bulge in my stomach? Situps? Crunches? Abs machine? No, no and no - liposuction - well, yeah, that'll work but who got all that money. This is the most difficult area to lose fat and weight. And doing these stomach exercise will only strenghten the stomach muscle but bulge still there. So what should you do? Eat low fat!

That is the reason why I combined these 2 questions because the answer is the same!

Until next time!

Sue

Don't forget to end off your workout with some yoga stretches

Very soon at least I hope. I would like to show the gym some yoga poses that will benefit them and make them stronger and more flexible. Also it will reduce injuries and they will be able to do more next class.

After class, make sure to do some sort of stretching so to not have muscle stiffness.

There are 2 stretches I always do after class, the butterfly and the hurdle stretch followed by plow pose to shoulder stand. OK I lied, that is 4 poses. If you just do those 4, it will help u become more flexible

Stay tuned for more

Sue

Vegetarian Chili - my version

My friends asked what do I eat! I tell them I do vegetarian twice a week. This does not mean just eating vegetables. It means eating a wholesome meal that is compose of protein, fiber, carbs. So at times, I would make a big batch of vegetarian chili good for a a couple of days. Here are the ingredients:

1 package of texturized protein - u can get this in the aisle with the soy cheese- it looks like chopped meat, already cooked
1 can diced or stewed tomatoes
1 onion sliced or chopped
1 pepper sliced or chopped
2 gloves garlic minced

Heat the pot, then add the oil, and then add garlic and stir until u smell the aroma, then add ur onions, peppers, stewed tomatoes and then your protein

You may need to add a little water. Add whatever beans you like,

I used a package of the 2alarm chili - there should be 4 different powders in it - however spicy is however amount you add. This u and the mazo flour u add towards the end. THe package should have instructions.

With the veggies, u can add more - since I don't have numbers for you, I am just speculating.

You can add salt and pepper for taste.

Pretty easy, in 20 mins or so, you got some good chili

I serve it with brown rice, or quinoa or even corn bread and a good slice of whole wheat bread.

Ciao,

Enjoy

Sue

Did I tell you I did karate too?

This was another low in my life when I found karate! Life in general was not happy and going downhill until one day my husband told me try a karate class. It was very intimidating at first with all these big people, I mean tall and robust and mostly guys and rought looking girls. This was back in 1984 when I started my training in Vestal, NY under Master Hidy Ochiai. I merely looked at the classes as ways to improve myself and to once again get my self confidence and self esteem back which was destroyed along the way. I looked martial arts as my savoir to what I have become. Not that I am a loud person but I was once very timid and never voice an opinion. I would never go to a gym without a friend and I would do things out of place. Karate has taught me to be more confident with myself and that tackling a hard project to look at it as being rewarding than being a chore. I am thankful for all my senseis who have taught me many things.

I still love the art but unfortunately, my bad knees gave out and I could no longer stay in these stances without being in excruitiating pain. So what do I do, go from one torture chamber to another. Now, I am at the boxing gym. But all kidding aside, my first love is the martial arts.

Quinoa and what I do with it

What is quinoa? It looks like a grain but I read that it is a fruit. Nevertheless it looks like couscous and it is a complete protein. I was looking for a starch alternative to rice and potatoes and bread since my trainer wanted to me to limit on white starches. Quinoa is high in fiber, high in protein and got lots of essential vitamins. So what do you do with it? I would make a big batch - take 1 C uncooked quinoa, rinsed it and add 2 C water and bring to boil, then simmer for 20 mins or so until water is absorbed. It's ready. You can use vegetable broth or chicken broth too, but I kept it neutral because I am making different dishes such as:

Quinoa for Breakfast: throw in 3/4c cooked quinoa, add nuts, raisins, peanut butter, flaxseed, wheat germ, fresh fruit and some milk or for me it is soymilk or almond milk- heat it - add some agave nectar, or brown sugar or honey

Quinoa for lunch: you can mixed it with any meat, any vegetable and add your sauce, sorta like fried rice instead it is quinoa

Quinoa for the summer- I added chopped tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and feta cheese and add some vinegar and sugar to it

Just a head start - I may invent some more recipes

Happy eating!

Training at the boxing gym was tortuous and painful

So you see the title! Why do I subject myself to this? Because it is indeed true no pain, no gain or rather, no loss, no tone. I joined the BOX-2B-Fit boxing gym in 2008to find myself and to lose weight. I've been on a whole bunch of diet plans, gyms plans, milk shake - I mean soy milk shake plans - they work and then boom you gain it all back. My thoughts at first - here I go again! And it was like that for a while until the gym had this weight loss challenge. So just to workout with my friend, I did it and I never look back. I truly believe this was the best thing I did to get my life back together. I hate exercise, I hate working out and I love to eat but now, I still love to eat but I like to exercise and I like the painful workouts.

So last night was no exceptional! Trainer K put us to the test to challenge ourselves and see if we would cave in. We were all pretty tired and I was sucking wind but we did it - a sense of accomplishment.

Wednesday, more punishment.

I promise I will be putting info about nutrition and recipes.

C YA

Why do I do this? Get up at such a forsaken hour!

So every Tues/Thurs, I get up at 5AM to be out the door to meet my buddies at 5:50AM at Shelley Lake for a short run before heading home for shower and then work. Why do I do this? Because I love my buddies. We called oursevles the SAGgers - Slow Ass Group. When we joined the NCRC Women Begineer's Running Group, we were in the the slowest group and ya know we did not care. We had fun running at our pace, at our stride and chuckling and having a good time. When the program ended, we continued with a great leader Jean who leads this group. Pam, Mel and I would always be together and we had lot of fun even though we are either freezing or hurting. So for a while Pam could not come because she had knee surgery and then Mel hurt her ankle.

So I went running with Norma and Jean. Both of them taught me a lot about running and pacing myself.

This past week, I got real sick so I had to ease back into running. It was great fun this morning to be joining Pam and Mel again.

So looking forward to running again with them on Thurs.

Oh did I say Sat AM as well? That is usually our longer runs.

Take care til next time

My trip to Hong Kong

Besides exercising and eating right, I love my friends and I love to eat. In 2007, I visited my friends in Hong Kong along with my friends from NYC, Singapore, San Francisco, Cananda. We had a great time. I saw a lot of the sites during my visit but never everything. It was not the sights that made the trip, it was the passion of these newly made friends in Hong Kong.

This time in 2010, I once again visited Hong Kong. I am a smaller round now and when I first met up with my friend in NYC, she could not recognize me. She said she is very proud of me. And then arriving at the Hong Kong airport, we met up with our friend in Hong Kong - her first thought was who is this person and ask if I was OK, in good health. I assure her I was. As the other friends got together, I was sitting next to one met in 2007 and she kept asking "where is Sue, I thought she was coming" And the other said "there she is, right next to you" A total shock to her.

Say it this way, when I was carrying all that weight, it was tough getting around in Hong Kong - people hustle and bustle everywhere, walk fast, to everything. No wonder they are thin. And yes, they do eat a high carb diet but I do notice one thing, their portion size per meal is 1/3 of what we eat...So are carbs bad for you? No! It is how much and what you put on it that makes it bad. Even good fruit eat in abunance is bad for you. Us Americans just eat too much.

Check the picture of me in 2007 with my buddies at the Hong Kong airport and the recent posting of me in 2010.

What my friends been asking me

My friends and co-workers have been frustrated with the weight loss and they have been asking me what is it that I am doing that they are not doing. They had wanted to eat exactly what I eat and how much. Well, we all have different tastes and what I like is not what you like. So this took time on my part and my friends. I had asked each of them to create a food journal of what they ate for the week. Then I would evaluate the food choices and come up with suggestions and/or recommendations. I do not try to change their food choices but play with them. The most important thing about weight loss is the amount of fat you eat.

So for instance take a cup of yogurt, we all feel it is very healthy and low calorie, one would think. But look carefully at the nutrition label - yes, I actually read it...Look at the total calories, it would be like 200 - not bad! Now, look at the total calories from fat - Gotcha! I will tell more later why this is important...

My first blog

This is my first attempt at creating this blog. Here I will be adding information about nutrition and my travels and whatever comes to mind. My friends, co-workers have been asking me what I eat to lose weight. I have been coming up with different plans for each of them to help them. So, why not create a blog to help others. When people are successful I smile!