Hi fellow food and fitness fans,
(how's that for alliteration?)
One week ago, we all ate ourselves into oblivion, right? I know I did. Now's the time to buckle down so we can move that buckle down (belt buckle...did you get the pun? did ya? did ya?) I don't know about you, but I officially have approximately 1 month to look awesome in my New Year's Eve outfit, and I don't believe in waiting until a new year to start a resolution.
Boston is a big running city, and those hard-core runners keep it up during the winter. But I have a specific problem of which I'm sure many people share: I'm allergic to the cold. Okay, allergic is a strong word...I strongly dislike being cold. And newsflash: Winters in Boston = @#$)*@%$ cold! (That was my way of saying an obscene word without actually saying the obscene word.) As one of the non-hardcore runners, I will not run until it's warm again. So what do we, as cold-fearing active people, do?
Here are some things I do that do not require venturing out into the arctic. Let's stay warm and cozy. Health benefit to this--Less chance for injury!
1st: STRETCH.
Do. not. forget. to. stretch. This is especially important during the winter months to reduce the risk of injury. The cold makes your muscles tight so warm them up BEFORE you stretch. Just walk around a bit, do 20 easy jumping jacks, or jog in place for a minute. That brief little warm up of your muscles before stretching is important to avoid pulling or overstretching during the cold weather.
2nd: INSANITY.
See my previous blog on this program here: Insanity: No word is more accurate. It's pretty Bee-Ay.**
3rd: AB ROUTINES.
Go to almost any fitness magazine and you will find a 10-15 minute ab routine. I'm working on testing the effectiveness of one I found. Research is in progress and blog will follow... (dot dot dot)
4th: YOGA.
Hot or cold. We all know I prefer Hell Yoga as I so blatantly explained in my blog Yoga on Fire.
5th: DANCE!
Dancing is done indoors so there's no need to be fearful of the cold. And it's common knowledge that dancing is my favorite thing evah! Just remember to warm up first!
Some good ideas that don't require a gym membership! New Year's Eve outfit, here I come!! 1 month and counting...now to just find the dress ;)
**Bee-Ay=phonetic way to say the letters B and A which together stand for a cuss word. If you don't get it, go away. just kidding. sort of.
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Beer Bread Deliciousness
Beer!
Bread!
...Just naming 2 of most 20-somethings' favorite things. Alright, let's not lie...2 of most Americans' favorite things.
I don't remember who taught me this recipe, but I will attribute it to someone I met in college. So thank you whoever taught me this.
This is the second recipe in a row I'm providing because it's the season of eating (and giving gifts and being thankful...so they say). Well I'm going to GIVE you this beer bread recipe as a gift and am THANKFUL to whoever gave it to me. Done and done.
Ready? Set? Go!
1. Preheat oven to 375. (degrees that is...375 degrees)
2. Mix the following ingredients:
4. Melt 1/4 cup of fake butter or margarine and pour it over the mixture
5. Bake for 1 hour and cool for ~15 minutes.
This tastes great with butter spray or low fat cream cheese on it.
Of course if you don't want to go the healthy route, useregular white flour, regular sugar, regular butter, etc. (See what I did there? I used the strike-out tool to deter you from using unhealthy ingredients and encourage you to use healthy ones...brainwashing...no bigs.)
**Good choices for beer are fruity beers and pumpkin beers. One time I used Wachusett Blueberry Ale and put fresh blueberries in the mixture before baking. OMG. delish!
Enjoy ;)
...and your welcome
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Bread!
...Just naming 2 of most 20-somethings' favorite things. Alright, let's not lie...2 of most Americans' favorite things.
I don't remember who taught me this recipe, but I will attribute it to someone I met in college. So thank you whoever taught me this.
This is the second recipe in a row I'm providing because it's the season of eating (and giving gifts and being thankful...so they say). Well I'm going to GIVE you this beer bread recipe as a gift and am THANKFUL to whoever gave it to me. Done and done.
Ready? Set? Go!
1. Preheat oven to 375. (degrees that is...375 degrees)
2. Mix the following ingredients:
- 3 cups of whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup of Splenda (I always add a wee bit more than that)
- 1 tsp of salt (unless it is self-rising flour)
- 3 tsp of baking powder (unless it is self-rising flour)
- 1 bottle/can of beer of your choice**
4. Melt 1/4 cup of fake butter or margarine and pour it over the mixture
5. Bake for 1 hour and cool for ~15 minutes.
This tastes great with butter spray or low fat cream cheese on it.
Of course if you don't want to go the healthy route, use
**Good choices for beer are fruity beers and pumpkin beers. One time I used Wachusett Blueberry Ale and put fresh blueberries in the mixture before baking. OMG. delish!
Enjoy ;)
...and your welcome
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!
Thursday, November 15, 2012
This year I will eat healthy on Thanksgiving...
...said and did no one ever.
As people start planning their gluttonous feasts for next week, take a look at this Livestrong article. It gives ideas for 5 healthy side dishes and a reason for what makes them healthy.
1. Kale with pomegranate molasses and seeds
2. Mashed celery root and potatoes
3. Wheat berries with roasted acorn squash
4. Polenta with goat cheese and sage
5. Quinoa pilaf with pumpkin seeds
This is quite possibly the only list of dishes I will ever provide that I haven't tried first. Just throwin out some ideas for you folks.
Don't forget to work out extra and eat nothing for the next week in preparation for the day that we chow down on all that is in our presence! (That's a joke...don't do it...it won't work...just be normal.)
As people start planning their gluttonous feasts for next week, take a look at this Livestrong article. It gives ideas for 5 healthy side dishes and a reason for what makes them healthy.
1. Kale with pomegranate molasses and seeds
2. Mashed celery root and potatoes
3. Wheat berries with roasted acorn squash
4. Polenta with goat cheese and sage
5. Quinoa pilaf with pumpkin seeds
This is quite possibly the only list of dishes I will ever provide that I haven't tried first. Just throwin out some ideas for you folks.
Don't forget to work out extra and eat nothing for the next week in preparation for the day that we chow down on all that is in our presence! (That's a joke...don't do it...it won't work...just be normal.)
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Who doesn't love a delicious piece of meat?
First, get your minds out of the gutter. Second, I'll get my mind out of the gutter. Sooooooo wrong. Okay, I'll say it because it would be unlike me NOT to say it: That's what she said. Done. Now let's move on to the real stuff.
Okay health-savy people, we are all well aware that steak is not the healthiest option for a protein source. Even lean steak is not nearly as healthy as chicken or turkey. But sometimes, you just gotta have a steak.
Give this Eating Well Steak Recipe a try. I had it last week and it was Ooooo-so-delicious.
If you buy a nice lean piece of steak, it's excellent. It was listed as 8 points on the Weight Watchers system, but I chose to go light on the Bleu cheese and to use Splenda brown sugar rather than regular brown sugar to take off a few points. This was so delicious, I could've eaten a second piece had I had one. It's not a steak you would get at a steakhouse or anything, but it certainly takes care of a craving for steak if you have one.
A nice side to go with this was the following: fresh spinach cooked with olive oil, minced garlic, and a freshly squeezed lemon.....mmmmmmm.
Bon appetite!
Okay health-savy people, we are all well aware that steak is not the healthiest option for a protein source. Even lean steak is not nearly as healthy as chicken or turkey. But sometimes, you just gotta have a steak.
Give this Eating Well Steak Recipe a try. I had it last week and it was Ooooo-so-delicious.
If you buy a nice lean piece of steak, it's excellent. It was listed as 8 points on the Weight Watchers system, but I chose to go light on the Bleu cheese and to use Splenda brown sugar rather than regular brown sugar to take off a few points. This was so delicious, I could've eaten a second piece had I had one. It's not a steak you would get at a steakhouse or anything, but it certainly takes care of a craving for steak if you have one.
A nice side to go with this was the following: fresh spinach cooked with olive oil, minced garlic, and a freshly squeezed lemon.....mmmmmmm.
Bon appetite!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Skin Health
The protector from alien substances. The keratinized-shield of the body. The superhero we rely on--your skin.
Quick anatomy lesson: Skin is made up of a type of tissue called stratified squamous epithelium, which is a fancy way of saying many layers of thin, pancake-shaped cells. There is an excellent reason that the skin has this type of tissue as opposed to another type of tissue. This tissue is typically found in parts of the body that need the ability to undergo abrasions and recover rapidly. What better part of the body to have this capability than the skin? This superhero power makes your skin more durable in the sense that if you get a cut or a burn or a little scratch, and lose a few cells, you've got more layers with more cells!! Good job skin.
Your skin is pretty smart. It heals relatively quickly. It let's you know when it needs more or less of something: sun, moisture, soap, heat, cold, a towel...pretty smart stuff. But it's soooooooo easy to neglect. Or is it really neglecting? I honestly think the answer to this question is different for every person. Some people (myself) included just have normal skin...no acne problems to speak of, no major burns, no major dryness problems, not prone to sunburns. So if people with normal skin don't do the same things that people with oily or dry skin do, is it really neglecting?
This is how my internal monologue became intrigued with skin care:
I was given a facial as one of my birthday presents this year :) I had never had one before. First thing the esthetician does is shine this weird light on my face and say, "Wow, you have healthy skin, but it's extremely dehydrated". My brain thought, 'well of course it is, I didn't put on my Equate brand face moisturizer because I just rolled out of bed.' She asked what face wash and skin routine I used. My very blunt answer that I'm not sure she appreciated was, "the shampoo that runs down my face in the shower." True story.
I rarely wash my face and this is why. (Cue the nostalgic background melody.) In high school when everyone was getting acne, I got 1 pimple and decided I had acne too and needed to wash my face. So of course I got some Neutrogena cause that's what all the cool kids did. Well, the more I washed my face with that stuff, the more pimples I would get. Some people would say it was because the facewash was bringing out the impurities in my skin. I called a b.s. on that and stopped washing my face. To no surprise, I didn't get any more pimples. Now a pimple is my body's way of telling me I have too much on my plate--I'm stressed out! So I pop it, decrease my stress, and move on.
Speaking of popping pimples, should you? I pop them for 2 reasons:
1. to make them go away quicker
2. to make them stop hurting.
But is it really healthy to pop pimples? According to this Huffington Post article, it's not safe to pop them. The main reason is that the act of popping a pimple is forcing the skin to rip. Most often, you are forcing the skin to rip using your fingers that inevitably have dirt and germs on them. This gives a huge risk for those germs to get in the open wound you created. There's also the potential to force some of the gunky pus junk farther into the skin because of the pressure you are applying. Never thought of it that way, huh? Think about it next time you go to pop one of those suckers into the next millennium.
So my theory is, not everybody's skin needs a set routine. So why do they keep pushing it? Why waste money on products that just give me more pimples and make me need to buy more products? ohhhhh nice marketing scheme skin care industry!
To wrap this show up, I'll leave you with 5 tips that this Mayo Clinic article gives for skin care:
1. Protect yourself from the sun. Wear SPF and don't be okay with burns. Melanoma is not something you should tempt.
2. Don't smoke. You shouldn't do this anyway, but the fact that smoking decreases the amount of oxygen and nutrients that get to your skin should be reason enough to quit and not start.
3. Treat your skin gently. This is talking about washing and moisturizing amongst other things. They are saying do it, but do it gently and in moderation. My favorite moisturizer that I've used is a Cetaphil daily moisturizer with SPF in it. It's thin and not greasy at all. Another way to treat your skin gently is to wear gentle make-up. I wear Bare Minerals, an all-natural mineral-based powder make-up with SPF. It is so light that you don't even feel it when it is on. It blends with your skin for excellent coverage for those who like the "natural" look.
4. Eat a healthy diet. A balanced diet can surely promote healthy skin.
5. Manage stress. This is definitely my acne trigger as I'm sure it is other people's acne trigger as well.
So take care of your skin people, but remember, it's YOUR skin. Do what's best for it, not what's best for other people's. Healthy skin increases those superhero powers. So take care of it and then you'll have... Superhero skin to the rescue!!
Quick anatomy lesson: Skin is made up of a type of tissue called stratified squamous epithelium, which is a fancy way of saying many layers of thin, pancake-shaped cells. There is an excellent reason that the skin has this type of tissue as opposed to another type of tissue. This tissue is typically found in parts of the body that need the ability to undergo abrasions and recover rapidly. What better part of the body to have this capability than the skin? This superhero power makes your skin more durable in the sense that if you get a cut or a burn or a little scratch, and lose a few cells, you've got more layers with more cells!! Good job skin.
Your skin is pretty smart. It heals relatively quickly. It let's you know when it needs more or less of something: sun, moisture, soap, heat, cold, a towel...pretty smart stuff. But it's soooooooo easy to neglect. Or is it really neglecting? I honestly think the answer to this question is different for every person. Some people (myself) included just have normal skin...no acne problems to speak of, no major burns, no major dryness problems, not prone to sunburns. So if people with normal skin don't do the same things that people with oily or dry skin do, is it really neglecting?
This is how my internal monologue became intrigued with skin care:
I was given a facial as one of my birthday presents this year :) I had never had one before. First thing the esthetician does is shine this weird light on my face and say, "Wow, you have healthy skin, but it's extremely dehydrated". My brain thought, 'well of course it is, I didn't put on my Equate brand face moisturizer because I just rolled out of bed.' She asked what face wash and skin routine I used. My very blunt answer that I'm not sure she appreciated was, "the shampoo that runs down my face in the shower." True story.
I rarely wash my face and this is why. (Cue the nostalgic background melody.) In high school when everyone was getting acne, I got 1 pimple and decided I had acne too and needed to wash my face. So of course I got some Neutrogena cause that's what all the cool kids did. Well, the more I washed my face with that stuff, the more pimples I would get. Some people would say it was because the facewash was bringing out the impurities in my skin. I called a b.s. on that and stopped washing my face. To no surprise, I didn't get any more pimples. Now a pimple is my body's way of telling me I have too much on my plate--I'm stressed out! So I pop it, decrease my stress, and move on.
Speaking of popping pimples, should you? I pop them for 2 reasons:
1. to make them go away quicker
2. to make them stop hurting.
But is it really healthy to pop pimples? According to this Huffington Post article, it's not safe to pop them. The main reason is that the act of popping a pimple is forcing the skin to rip. Most often, you are forcing the skin to rip using your fingers that inevitably have dirt and germs on them. This gives a huge risk for those germs to get in the open wound you created. There's also the potential to force some of the gunky pus junk farther into the skin because of the pressure you are applying. Never thought of it that way, huh? Think about it next time you go to pop one of those suckers into the next millennium.
So my theory is, not everybody's skin needs a set routine. So why do they keep pushing it? Why waste money on products that just give me more pimples and make me need to buy more products? ohhhhh nice marketing scheme skin care industry!
To wrap this show up, I'll leave you with 5 tips that this Mayo Clinic article gives for skin care:
1. Protect yourself from the sun. Wear SPF and don't be okay with burns. Melanoma is not something you should tempt.
2. Don't smoke. You shouldn't do this anyway, but the fact that smoking decreases the amount of oxygen and nutrients that get to your skin should be reason enough to quit and not start.
3. Treat your skin gently. This is talking about washing and moisturizing amongst other things. They are saying do it, but do it gently and in moderation. My favorite moisturizer that I've used is a Cetaphil daily moisturizer with SPF in it. It's thin and not greasy at all. Another way to treat your skin gently is to wear gentle make-up. I wear Bare Minerals, an all-natural mineral-based powder make-up with SPF. It is so light that you don't even feel it when it is on. It blends with your skin for excellent coverage for those who like the "natural" look.
4. Eat a healthy diet. A balanced diet can surely promote healthy skin.
5. Manage stress. This is definitely my acne trigger as I'm sure it is other people's acne trigger as well.
So take care of your skin people, but remember, it's YOUR skin. Do what's best for it, not what's best for other people's. Healthy skin increases those superhero powers. So take care of it and then you'll have... Superhero skin to the rescue!!
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