How Much Can One Person Eat?

That is going to be my challenge for the next month. At my last active assessment a week ago, my trainer was perturbed by my weigh in. I was gaining muscle, but not losing fat … so I was gaining weight.

So, today, I did a resting assessment that calculates how many calories I should be eating. According to the assessment on days I do no activity, I should be eating close to 1500 calories. On days where I run or do strength training, I should be eating closer to 1950 calories. The sad fact of the matter, I was starving myself and not eating enough.

So, now she has me on a plan where I have to eat a lot of protein and make sure I consume enough calories. It’s so much food … but we’ll see what it does from a results standpoint. The kicker for me is the weekend, because I probably really do starve myself running errands, etc.

She also amped up my cardio … longer workouts and gave me two bonus runs if I can fit them in. (It will be rare that I can fit them in, but I’ll try on occasion …)

Here’s to trying to be healthy.

Souffle?

I am not quite sure why I wanted to attempt making a cheese souffle before I turned 50, but for some reason I did. Today is the day I tackled that goal.

If you’re going to try and tackle making a souffle, you might as well go big and follow Julia Child’s recipe. Which is what I did. As you can see from the photo above, my souffle did not rise up enough to topple over the sides of the dish. I am not sure if this is due to some error in my creation of it, or as a result that I have two wild boys running around in my kitchen jumping around and creating miniature earthquakes. Regardless, it did not tower of the sides as I was hoping.

In the end, it tasted fine. It looked okay (well, okay, no it didn’t look good once I tried to scoop it out. To be fair, the site I was following the recipe did not have any pictures of it being served, they just showed it in the dish and then the empty dish.

The best part of the endeavor was that I had K by my side throughout the ordeal. I enjoy those moments where we share some type of achievement. And bless him, he ate it and said it tasted good, and that he was proud of our accomplishment.

And that is better than anything I could ask for, spending time and trying something new with one of my little men. Of course, I can cross this off my 50 x 50 list. Thankfully. I don’t think I’ll try it again. Frankly, it had too many steps, used too many dishes and the ROI just wasn’t there for me. I’ll just make cheesy scrambled eggs the next time I’m hankering for some cheesy egg food.

Sore, Sore Days

At the beginning of the year, they shake up the group fitness class schedule at the club. What used to be a 5:45 a.m. Friday Pilates class is now Barbell Strength. I have successfully gone to the last two classes. I am consistently sore for two days after.

I am often the youngest person in this class – and I don’t know if I can really get away with calling myself a young person anymore. I’ve taken Barbell Strenght during a weekday evening, and it was jam-packed and the participants were a diverse bunch. I think this has to do with the early start time, that I’m the youngest.

It’s quite humbling to see the weights others use … I am definitely not one of the strongest in the class. It feels good to have a little soreness, but it makes me wonder if I am not pushing myself hard enough on my individual workouts. So, today, I am going to tackle my strength routine and give it my all.

Our first race of the year is less than a month away, and I am hoping that this dedication to muscle building and toning will demonstrate that it’s all worth it. I still haven’t made up my mind on what distance I want to tackle this year … I’m nervous to do anything longer than a 10-mile, but trying to decide if that’s what I need to tackle again to make sure i can do it in less than 2 hours.

Or do I just focus on shorter distances and go faster?

Time to Face the Music

Or the show of the moment. Which happens to be Westworld. But I’ve only got three episodes left and I’ll need to find something else to watch while I am running.

I love running outside with K. It makes my Saturday run a true treat … but I also really have learned to look forward to my speed and interval workouts on the treadmill … because I am able to watch a television show that only I am interested in. Of course, one could question how effective that makes my workout, and I would admit, I couldn’t do a slow and steady long run and watch a show. That’s when I need to either have a conversation partner or just face the music and listen to a strong beat.

Speaking of a strong beat, I am now on the search for new headphones. I had put a pair on my list for Christmas but didn’t get them (D totally got his, though …) and so now I need to re-do my research to make sure they are the ones I really want before I invest in them. (I’d say they fall in the mid-price range, they aren’t ridiculous, but they are not an impulse buy either.)

I’m mentally gearing up for my run tonight because I’m feeling a little rundown. D has had a horrible cool for the last two days (so much so that he canceled his personal training session this morning) and I’m afraid it’s crept its way over to me. So, I made a big pot of soothing chicken soup with healing broth and ate a bowl (I also gave him a bowl) and I have enough for the rest of the week.

A friend of mine is also looking at starting a monthly meetup for freezer meals. I’m thinking that could be a wonderful new way to introduce some less stress on our meal planning. Yes, 2017 is already off to a busy but blessed beginning.

Nice to Meet You

It’s a new year. People are making resolutions, drafting goals and sending out happy wishes into the universe. Hopefully, in 2017 those wishes can last the whole year and not be quickly forgotten in a week.

As for me, it’s January which means it’s time to reset the eating habits that joyfully go to the wayside during the holidays. I’m trying something new this year called gut.fix. It’s the typically eating whole foods (meat and veggies, mainly) but adds a couple of supplements that are supposed to help heal your gut and aid in digestion. Lunch today was a burger and zucchini – which I love.

I’ll continue to recommitting myself to sticking to my strength and running plan. I think it’s do-able and I really want to achieve some running goals this year. Break the 30-minute 5K and make my mind up on what is the longest race I want to run. I’m feeling like the “run a marathon” goal may change to run a Ragnar. It’s a little more my style and involves a team … so all around it may be the better choice. But we shall see.

I hope to tackle a few more items off my 50 x 50 list. I admit I slacked a bit this past year, so I have some things in mind to cross some more off the list.

Here’s to another great adventure in the year ahead.

That Time I Took the Month Off

I took most of the month of December off from blogging. No particular reason, just consumed with the many activities of life. Orchestra concerts, meet-ups with friends I hadn’t seen in a while, the hustle and bustle of the holidays.

And now we are at the end of the year. A year that saw the passing of many artistic greats, the political landscape shift in a way I would never have predicted, a year of significant change all around. A lot of people are hoping 2017 will bring many good and new things to the forefront to make up for the disappointment of 2016. But, a lot of good things happened this year, too. People were married, babies were born, dreams were realized at a global-scale (Olympics, anyone?). So, while it was a year of much sadness, it was also a year that brought significant beauty.

In the end, what will we remember? The bad things will help us appreciate the good even more in the future. The good will become bright-colored memories that we will hold on to for as long as we need to. Me, I am going to try to enjoy as much of this short winter break with my boys and cannot wait to live more dreams in the new year ahead.

Quite the Week

I won’t get into politics, but it has definitely been quite the week. I think DreamWorks may have known it was going to be a rough one … because they released the perfect antidote to the week. Trolls. 

I took my little boys to this movie with no real expectations. The message of the movie: love, unity, happiness. It couldn’t have been better timed. I left feeling uplifted and inspired. Nice job, DreamWorks, nice job indeed.

In addition to the adorable storyline, the soundtrack left you dancing (and if you were O, that is literally dancing in your seat.) So, if you haven’t seen it and you need a pick me up, I encourage you to go.

Plankin’ It

One indicator that all my strength training is working is my core. I’ve lost a significant amount of belly (I still have plenty left to lose) and I’m getting a much stronger core. This is particularly evident of my ability to cross number 18 off my list. Today, I am happy to say I held a plank for two minutes. I went into the living room and had K turn on a timer for me.

Just when I was about to give up, I asked him how much time I had left … he started a countdown at eight. I was like, “really, am I really that close.” He gave me some cheering and when the timer went off I collapsed. A two-minute plank might not seem like much, but there was a time when a 20-second plank was a feat of strength for me.

So, here’s to the day that I accomplished another item on my list and also took another step toward being the healthiest me that I can be.

Running Toward a Historic Moment

The weather right now cannot be more amazing. It’s November in Minnesota and it’s in the 70s. K and I tackled the state park again for our longer Saturday run. We did 3.5 miles together. It was a little painful for him at the beginning, but then I decided to start talking about Pokemon (and we turned on the Pokemon app so that we could hatch an egg). It’s amazing what a little distraction can do.

I cannot believe Thanksgiving is a mere three weeks away. I am both excited because I love this time of year and a bit overwhelmed because time seems to be going so quickly these days and I feel like I cannot accomplish everything on my to-do lists.

One thing on my to-do list though I knew I couldn’t ignore is voting in this year’s election. Fortunately, we live in a state that makes early voting super easy. So, D and I waited in line for just under an hour on Saturday a.m. and we voted:

In addition to the presidential election, we have quite a few important items on our ballot this year, a city mayor, a state supreme court justice, and a levy for a community center. We did our homework because we wanted to make sure we were making the right decisions for us. Now, we just have to wait until Tuesday night, Wednesday morning to find out the results. I don’t know about you, but it’s going to be a long night on Tuesday.

I’ve also started a new strength training routine this week, my training added another day. So, now I’m trying to fit in four days. It’s tough and I may just have to make one day long to be realistic. But oy, if it drives results, I guess I’ll be all for it.

Number 6

It’s been a while since I’ve been on here, but for good reason! The boys and I crossed number six off my 50 x 50 list! We took a much-needed family vacation to Seattle last week.

Just spending focused time with my family is truly the greatest gift. It’s easier on vacation, because you can slip into a frame of mind that you don’t have to worry about things like getting laundry done, raking leaves, or other tedious tasks.

We did all the touristy things that one could think of, and it was fun just seeing the sights through the boys eyes. We walked quite a bit, but not as much as we walked last year when we went to Chicago. The first day, we went to the aquarium, took a ferry-boat and ventured around Pike Place Market.

Here’s our adorable hotel room – the boys loved it and it was located within decent walking distance of most of our planned activities.

Day one had us at the aquarium and we even tackled the Ferris wheel.

The second day we did a lot in the Seattle Center, including checking out the EMP, Chihuly and eating in the Space Needle.

The third day, we took an underground tour and walked around Pike Place more. It was a good, less structured day to wrap our trip and get to bed at a decent time so that we could make sure we got to the airport for our morning flight.

It was fantastic and I am so glad we took the time to enjoy each other in a new city.

In other news, I was assigned my I Run 4 buddy. So, now when I race, I’ll be doing it for a little girl named Ryleigh in Texas. It’s nice to know that each step I take will be for someone else. It gives a little more meaning and purpose to my personal running goals.

Now, that I’ve returned from vacation it’s time to get back on the fitness path. With a new workout from my trainer coming on Monday, I’m hoping to continue to drive for personal results.