Week of July 27- GOALS

I think I need to set clearer goals each week, so here I go.

I'll update the post as I move along during the week.

Remember- Your weekly goals should be the actions, not the results!!

General:

- plan out dinners each night of the week to avoid take-out/ unplanned crap! Also helps with not wasting food & keeping shopping to a minimum! >> DONE on Sunday!

Monday

Lightning Intervals >>Done!

Fresh Tuna Burgers (no bun) with Light Waldorf Salad >> Done YUM!

Tuesday

Circuit for Time (BW Intermediate- 4 rounds fast as possible)>> Done (kinda) managed 45min interval cardio

Chicken & Navy Bean Soup >> Done

Wednesday

Pulse Pyramid (BW Intermediate) >>FAIL (2hrs of sleep = HORRIBLE)

Left over chicken & Navy Bean Soup >>DONE for LUNCH

Dinner: Quinoa w/ Beef & Veggie Stirfry>> Done with normal portion size!

Thursday

Lightning Intervals >>DONE @ the pool!

Sushi Cheat Meal>> FAIL

Friday-

No workout (leaving for Vegas) >>didn't leave for Vegas and didn't work out. (I don't wanna talk about it :( )

Eat Clean all day - could have laid off the carbs, but mostly ate clean

Saturday-

Week of July 20, 2009 - Eating Local in BC

Firstly... I must hang my head in shame. My fellow challengers... I have not done a whole lot this week... I could try and make excuses, but I won't. It wasn't a complete write off, but then again, weigh-in Sunday hasn't come around yet :)

Monday- mmm... I'm still getting over my birthday.

Day off.

Tuesday- mmm... rode my bike to/ from work/ to run some errands, all together about 20km. Does that count? LOL - didn't think so.

Wednesday- umm.... DH and I rode our bikes to/ from the fireworks. Suuuuuuuuuuper easy ride about 25km I think. Better than complete inactivity right?!

Thursday- I had the very important task of wedding dress shopping with JP. I did not plan ahead so I didn't do anything today either.

Friday- 5km RUN! YAY for some type of activity! GO ME!

I'm not justifying my lack of workouts but LOOK AT THESE STATS!!

Same run as my "measuring stick" run on July 2, 2009

30:38min

399cals

Max HR 192/ 180 avg

This is a PR for me, so I'm pretty excited! I cut almost 6min off my time!! How does that happen? I'm checked my watch over and over and still can't see how I could have messed it up, so I'm chalking it up to: 1- slacking on first try and 2- improvements due to my "Rest" Week?

I was/ am pretty fried after today's run. Felt good to push through. I was feeling kind of blue today, maybe that helped propell me forward? I know all about the importance of HIIT but sometimes, all I really need is a run, you know?

On another note- LOL- I shared with my twitter fam my little power mantra. It's what I say in my head when I need to keep going/ pushing. "ZOOM ZOOM!" Yes, I actually say this! Over and over and in time with whatever music is on my itouch at the time :) And it really does help!

I would love to hear what your Power Mantra is! Share! Share! Share! :)

Saturday- Cath & the Kettlebell Part II

So because I'm a total noob and because Trish's intro class didn't cover all the moves, I signed up for another Intro class at a local gym (is it fate that there just happened to be one today? Perhaps). I still have yet to get my kettlebells! AAAAH!! I want them now! (Patience young grasshopper, there will be plenty of time for practice and more pain!! )

Because I was still flying high from my 6min improvement on my run yesterday I decided I would bike there from home. It's about 8.5miles one way. Getting there was ok, arrived a little sweaty, but it was ok. :)

Class was 2hours of solid instruction. I learned ALOT and really think it was worth the time and money to learn more. Honestly, if you're thinking of taking up kettlebells proper instruction is a MUST. The instructor is an RKC that follow's Pavel's methods very closely. There was lots of opportunity to ask questions and practice proper form. Tried out the TGU for the first time. That is one tough exercise! So much to remember! We tried the shoe on the fist and I'm proud to say I didn't drop it on my head :)

We didn't really work too much on the snatch since it's more of an advanced move, so will need to work on my swing and strength prior to tackling that beast.

Here are the stats from my workout

2:01hr

843cals

Max HR 179/ 132avg

Link of the week- www.EatBC.com

We've been trying to source our food locally and I found this great website! There's a restaurant, farm & distibutor finder and a complete list of foods that are in season. Very useful!! :)

@greeanteagirl's blueberry pie!

With all the yummy Blueberries we picked on Sunday I decided to make a pie. Julie had posted a great recipe for BB pie that I used for the filling. Though... I didn't have any fancy sugar cane juice, so I used brown sugar instead.

Here's a link to her pie recipe:

http://greenteagrl.wordpress.com/2009/07/19/recipe-blueberry-pie/

And here's yours truely picking the berries :)

None of the pie crusts at Safeway looked appealing so I decided to make my own. We actually had ALOT of graham crackers left over from camping so I used those! :)

Found a recipe on allrecipes.com for a "healthier" version of a crust. It worked! Soooo good.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Healthier-Graham-Cracker-Crust/Detail.aspx

Here's a pic of the pie crust pressed into the bottom, prior to the 5min bake.

I plugged all these ingredients into the Dailyburn.com and came out with about 206cals per serving (based on 8 clices).

Results were... delicious!! Though I think I'd call my blueberry pie more of a torte :) Because there aren't alot of fillers/ gelatinous pie insides, it's a little flat. I might add even more BBs next time. But still really good. The crust was a hit!

Week of July 13, 2009 - turning 33 :)

Monday- camping day 6

Time to head home!!! Packing up all our gear was a pain again, but another good workout! Eating was, not horrible during the day, but then we decided to finish off our week with sushi dinner!! Mmmm! Sashimi & dynamite rolls @ gyoza! Mmm... ok, I'll stop!

Tuesday- VERY little sleep feeling hoooooorrible :/
I took today off (bad!) but much needed!

We went to see Harry Potter @ midnight! YAY!! Probably not a great idea since I was already super tired, but it was sooo worth it! Luved it!

Wednesday- Kettlebell Class!!!

Yaaaaa! See my post HERE, for details on that awesomeness!

Thursday- BW Circuits X4 + skipping Tabatas (60sec ON/ 30sec OFF) *5

No 10min of cardio as prescribed... oops! It was just too freakin' hot in the park.

I loved doing my workout in the park though!! Awesome!

Friday- FLAB Lightning Intervals

Jeeeeeeez! Decided to run my intervals outside, as my run home from work. In the blazing sun... 30C (in the SHADE!!!) Hola hannah, never been so close to yakking. 60seconds is a long time!

But anyway, I made it.

Saturday- Bday Pub Crawl on bikes

Today I was a shining example of what unhealthy people do alot of

-drink lots of beer and eat lots of greasy food

Ah well! It was fun! 8hours of alot of strange looks from people, 4 pubs, too much beer and lots of laughs. We had to be in costume for this so DH and a friend went as the Bob Ross twins (anyone remember him?) and I was their groupie, stuck in the 70s.

Here's a pic from the day: A little fuzzy, but then again, so was the whole day. LOL!

Sunday- Turning 33

Yesterday was a GREAT day to be me! Thanks to my all my twitter and blogging fam who sent well wishes and did killer workouts in my honour! :) I am truely blessed in every way imaginable!

Check out Mr. Gunner's workout! WOAH! (thanks Fred- you rock!)

http://luckisforrabbits.blogspot.com/2009/07/mr-funner-and-2nd-amendment.html

Without boring you all with details about the fabulous day I had (the birthday Santa brought 2 kettlebells!! MUA!! love you DH)... I did have some time to reflect on my 33years on the planet.

I've loved hard, played hard, worked hard, and traveled hard, have no regrets and I'm so ready to tackled the next 33! Life is what you make of it as many of my friends have taught and continue to teach me. This next year is gonna bring amazing things, I can feel it. I'm gonna make my own luck! (wise words from a wise guy HA HA!)

LOL- that having been said... I'm up 1.2lbs this week! (had to pay for all that fun I had) But NO REGRETS!!

July weight loss = -1.8lbs

As soon as I get my KBs... you'll see more workouts with KBs! :) For now... FLAB here I come! I think I'll hit up Fred's workout today too!

A kettlebell NOB Noob or Cath & the kettlebell (soon to be a best selling children's book) :)

Kettlebells... if you haven't heard of them... have you been living under a rock?! :) Anyway, my own personal experience with KBs is quite limited, I've swung a couple times as part of a circuit, but that's it. No instruction, just some swings. However, I would say that a good 80% of my twitter family either workout daily with KBs, are training for the RKC or have atleast mentioned them in some blog or another. Reading about them on your blogs/ tweets really made me curious. So, I've been researching, reading and absorbing everything I can about them, I love the idea of an all in one workout! I'm ALL OVER efficiency! :)

After some searching, I found an RKC in my area who set up an intro class for me and some of my co-workers. Well worth the time and $ invested! Finding her was actually a little challenging... I can count on one hand the number of RKC there are in my city. Bizarre? Yeah, I think so too. It's just not as popular here up North. Anyway, I rounded up 4 of my fitness buddies at work (me and 4 guys) to come try this out with me.

Tricia was a great instructor! She is one tough cookie! Super strong! She did her RKC snatch test with a 16kg! Did I mention that she's about 5'4? Anyway, she did a great job of teaching us some very basic moves, and of course proper alignment/ posture.

We started with the basic swing, emphasis on the hip snap and some swing variations. Then we moved on to the press, thrusters, high pulls and then pulled all our drills together for a killer circuit, repeated 3 times.

I was one big jello mess after this short hour! Check out these stats:
52:22min
545cals
HR Max 190/ 156cals

WOW! Luvin' it! Expect to see more kettlebell posts here too. All from the perspective of a KB NOB Noob! (thanks Smoke for the acronym - North of Border)

Week of July 6, 2009 - FLAB be gone!

Ahhh! I didn't have my post set up for last week, so this will be a little shoddy, but here goes.

Monday- FLAB beginner BW workout

Tuesday- Max rounds in 20min (beginner BW)
13.25 rounds
I didn't feel like I was going at snail pace, but apparently I was. This workout totally kicked my butt! Literally!
34:29min
387cals
HR max 187/ 169avg

Wednesday- Day 1 camping
I was cursing Fred's name today- my hamstrings and glutes were sooo sore! (Just kidding Fred!!) Signs of a good workout for sure!
Anyway, we arrive at camp only to find ourselves 12inches deep in MUD. I'm talking woodstock kind of mud! Good thing I had my red rain boots :) We had to carry ALL our stuff (food and water included) atleast 1km into the campsite X3 trips back to the trip to get all our gear = Workout!!

Thursday- Day 2 camping
Pretty mellow day. No strenuous exercising, unless you call making smores a chore. :)

Friday- Day 3 camping
As this was a music festival... I danced till my feet couldn't take it anymore. Fun times!!

Saturday- Day 4 camping
Repeat Friday (Eating... not so great)

Sunday- Day 5 camping
Repeat Friday (eating... really not so great. I don't think Marshmellows count as a fruit or veggie- though we did bring lots of fruits)

I've discovered exactly how sensitive I am to starchy carbs. They're baaaaaaaaad! Must stay away. Staying away from them had me down another 2lbs this week.
Total for July = 3lbs!

Week of June 29 & the challenge!

Monday- TT workout A
Final TT workout for June! YAY!
No stats :/

Tuesday- Nature's Stair Climber - Grouse Grind.
3km STRAIGHT UP!
I hadn't done this in over a year and my time sucked but I just wanted to go and do it on my own. I'm glad I did.

Check the stats!
1:35hr
1094cals
Max HR192/ 177 Avg

Wednesday- HAPPY CANADA DAY! (Rest & rented scooters)
Managed to keep my eating CLEAN! Yaaa!

Thursday- 5k run
36:01min
434cals
Max HR 186/ 167 avg

This run will serve as my measuring stick. I went running at Central Park and loved it! There's a well marked trail (Terry Fox Run Trail) that goes all through the park. No chance to overheat cause you're running through the forest. I'll be doing this more often!

Friday- tight hipflexors from my run yesterday. Resting up for tomorrow's first workout of the month!

If you read my blog, chances are, you have one too and I don't need to explain all the great things about it. In response my my bla post last week, friends encouraged switching it up, resting a bit and adding something new.


Enter... THE CHALLENGE! ("Summer Bipolar Smoked Chaquita Rabbit Trifecta")

The Challengers: One of my dear blogging buddies Mr. Fred Funner (check out his blog re. his workouts! he's a madman!)
And MikeZ, aka Smoke D. Blowfish http://smoketheblowfish.blogspot.com/ (whom I've never actually had the pleasure of "speaking" with but judging from his posts... another madman who constantly challenges and pushes Fred to new levels of fitness fun! :)

A little friendly competition between friends... boys vs. girls... beasts vs. wannabe (that's me)!
LOL- In anycase, it'll be fun, and it's the motivation I was lacking!

The goal : Most weight lost by the Aug 31, 2009
With a split down the middle: Most weight lost in July and in August seperately.

I did my first two workouts for our challenge over the weekend.
Saturday- Beginner BW Pulse Pyramids. (Smoke does a great job of explaining them on his blog HERE)
This was tough but manageable... I was a big sweaty mess after finishing. Great workout followed by 10min of steady state cardio. (5.5mph @ 2%incline)

Sunday- Lightning Intervals
Similar to HIIT sprints but a taaaaaad more intense! I was sucking wind at the end of each of the 9 intervals I did.
1min sprint @7.4mph - 2%incline
2min active rest (walking)
For a full 27min worth. WOW... amazing how an extra 30 seconds can totally kick your arse!
32:18min
311cals
HR Max 196/ 149avg

So guys, look for our regular posts where we'll share the workouts, sweat and arse kickin's!
Excited, but NERVOUS!!

Eggplant Zucchini Gratin- A-la ME!

We've been trying to eat less meat and in doing such, I've been getting creative. (We can only eat so much tofu and stir fry!! LOL)

Here's my healthy version of this recipe. Click HERE to see the original.

Yield 10 servings (made in a big lasagna pyrex)

Time 1 hour 15 minutes



Ingredients

• medium eggplant
• salt
• ½ c Fibre 1 cereal (swapped out breadcrumbs, to add fibre :) )
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1.5 T parsley
• 2 t olive oil (one is to oil your baking dish)
• 4 oz LIGHT Philly cream cheese
• 1 c Fat Free Cottage Cheese
• 1 egg
• 2 t cornstarch or flour (I used cornstarch)
• ½ c milk (I used 1%) (I would use 1/4cup next time. Came out a little runny)
• nutmeg
• salt
• pepper
• medium zucchini, sliced
• 1½ c tomato sauce
• 2 oz low fat feta cheese, crumbled
• 2 oz Parmesan cheese, grated
• 2 oz sun dried tomatoes (not in oil) sliced

Directions Cut eggplant into .5" thick slices. Original recipe then asks you to salt, drain and pat dry your eggplant. Frankly... who has time for that? I sure don't. I put them to grill on my hamilton grill for about 5 min. Seasoned with a little souvlaki seasoning (no salt). This worked GREAT and is much less work. While these are grilling you can move to other steps.

Place Fibre 1 cereal, garlic, parsley, and oil in the food processor and process until minced and well blended.** Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.

Place cream cheese, cottage cheese, egg, cornstarch, and a couple tablespoons of milk in the processor and blend. Scrape down the side, then start processing again as you gradually add the rest of the milk. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

Oil the baking dish, and place eggplant in the bottom. Top with tomato sauce, then the zucchini, then the sun-dried tomatoes. Spread the custard on top, then sprinkle with feta, then Parmesan, then bread crumbs.

Here's a pic of the gratin half built

And here it is ready to go in the oven:

Bake about 30 minutes, until golden brown. Let sit for a couple of minutes before slicing. (Watch your oven on this one. Mine is a little on the hot side, so I baked for 25min the first time... then again @ 200 for 15min to try and get rid of some of the moisture- worked only to a certain degree)

Here's the final yumminess. It was really good. Little on the watery side, but that's ok. Next time will be better. The custard layer was awesome! Mmmm...

Notes *There are two ways to do this. One is to use a medium-sized baking dish, about 9x9, which will give you a taller/thicker gratin. The other is to use a very large baking dish (I used my lasagna pan, which is 11x15), which will give you a thin gratin. The taste is the same; it's just the appearance that changes.

And finally... the best part about this dish... the nutritional values! Only 165cals/ serving! Subbing the cottage cheese upped the protein value to 9.5g/ serving. NICE! Not sure what the original recipe was, but surely over my 165cals! YAY!

Here's a link to the recipe on The Daily Burn in case you use it.

Give it a try and let me know how it turns out! :)