What is Healthy???

As people flood the gyms and attempt, once again, to kick off their new year's resolution to lose weight, I feel more motivated to educate people on what health is. At work, my coworker and I have started a WELLNESS CHALLENGE instead of a WEIGHTLOSS Challenge. The point is for people to track healthy behaviors for 6 weeks. Each person who participates, WINS. You get points by checking off your daily checklist. Each check = one point. On the daily list, there are tasks like drink 8 glasses of water, eat two fruits, eat three vegetables, engage in 10 minutes of activity (this is a great way to start if you are not already exercising), and take a moment to be thankful for what you have EACH DAY. Our mindset behind this is to help people learn healthy behaviors BEFORE they attempt to lose weight. We want people to reach a healthy weight and MAINTAIN it... Not lose it and gain it back.

While I am on my soap box: CARBOHYDRATES ARE NOT THE DEVIL. WEIGHT WATCHERS, SOUTH BEACH, and other popular diets can be used as tools, but they will not teach you to keep the weight off unless you change the way you view food (as fuel) and portion sizes.

I want people to realize that cleaning up your diet FREES you; it does not TRAP you. Our society is ADDICTED to junk food and ADDICTED to quick fixes.

So HEALTHY is not just a combination between weight and exercise; it is a lifestyle. Stress management, a healthy support system, and sleep are all ALSO a part of health and WEIGHTLOSS.

Speaking of HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS:

I have decided to learn golf. I want to exercise. My husband does not want to go to the gym. I like to run. Clay will NOT run. Clay will golf. I will learn to golf. Do you see my reasoning? I have realized that my own gym schedule will not be worth it in 10 years, unless I get to spend some of it with my husband. Sure, I will be healthy, but I want to be with Clay. Do not get me wrong, I really enjoy my workouts with girlfriends, or by myself in my zone ... but my husband is my best friend. I want to do things with HIM. If golfing with him leads to walking or stretching with him. FABULOUS. Maybe that will lead to doing some shoulder exercises to strengthen our swings... WHO KNOWS.

I am off to finish some cleaning, get in some strength training, and then maybe, JUST MAYBE, I might watch the bachelor. Every year I am disappointed in the human race; however, a preview I saw the other evening about this season sparked my interested. Have a good night!!!!

Wrapping Up 2010

I cannot believe this year has come and gone. Clay and I have been married two years. Both of my sisters have also been married within two years. I have been a nurse for a year. We bought a townhome. We both switched jobs. We both started grad-school.... What were we thinking?!?!?! Clay and I are both pretty busy, high energy individuals. Sometimes we take on too much at one time; however, we have been able to accomplish so much in our first two years of marriage because of our desire to set goals and persevere. God has taught us so much and we owe all we have to HIM. *SIGH* What a year.

Anyways, my last workout of 2010 started this morning at 7:00am with my dear friend, Wendy. I have known Wendy for 10+ years and I cherish our friendship so much. She did an intense cardio circuit on the treadmill, while I walked at an incline (it BURNS!!!). We then completed an ab workout of crunches, bicycles, and side planks (MORE BURNING!!!).

After the workout, I walked home, made breakfast, and woke Clay up. He had a fishing appointment and I had a running date with my new, dear friend Courtney. I am really enjoying getting to know her! We met a few months ago in the gym at our townhome complex. We are training for a half marathon in March and today was our first long run in a while. We were both pretty tired this morning, so our 7 mile run seemed longer than usual.

I am pretty tight today from yesterday's PLYOMETRIC PANDEMONIUM workout from Jill Coleman (@JillFit on Twitter). My legs are pretty strong, but I am trying to get leaner. Plyometric exercises for legs are very beneficial (for strength and cardiovascular endurance) and my body responds quite well.... after my heart rate gets back to normal!

After the run, I had to run to the grocery store to buy food for tonight's NYE party. I made a recipe from my favorite blog, PBFingers, and cannot wait for C

lay to try it. I just combined goat cheese and honey to make a dip (for pretzels, pita chips, graham crackers...) and I followed Julie's recommendation to use vanilla wafers (yes, these are a simple carb snack and not usually something I purchase, but it is NYE and I wanted to make something for Clay.... to distract him from all the vegetables and healthy foods I bought ;)

I actually did not use as much cheese as PBFingers suggested, but I want to see how Clay likes it first. Right now, it is sweet and creamy. I think I would like it more if it was thicker. The recipe calls for 10 oz. I used a 5 oz. package.... again, trying to make sure Clay likes it.

After I set the dip in the refrigerator, I made myself a spinach salad with goat cheese (see the trend???), red wine vinaigrette, and left over flank steak slices..... YUMMY!

I now have a date with a cup of coffee and a book =) I am enjoying my lazy day. Have a safe, fun evening tonight!!!!

Date night, condensed

Clay and I try to have a date night once a week. We have been really busy with my sister's wedding, family visiting, and Christmas, so we have not been as consistent. We went shopping, grabbed dinner, and rented a movie. I wore my new pumps and regretted it once that last minute decision was made to go shopping at the mall. We were looking for a new jacket for Clay. First at Macy's, then at Dillards.... OPPOSITE ENDS OF THE MALL! I am a "running shoes" girl.... I was not prepared to walk 1.5miles.

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Not quite a pump, not quite a boot..... But super cute and great with my trouser pants.

We got a few gift cards for Christmas so we went to Longhorn. I have not been there in YEARS. They have a grilled rainbow trout that has lemon and olive oil on it. It actually tasted pretty fresh and it was seasoned well.... Not loaded with buttah!!!!

We had ever intention of going "out on the town," (and by that I mean, actually going to a movie that is not an early matinée showing. This did not happen. We ended up visiting our friend Blue Box in our local Publix. I love renting movies. I can stay in my PJ's, under my covers, and I can ask Clay all the questions I want, without disturbing ANYONE =) Well, sometimes he has to hit "pause" so that he can actually pay attention to my question, but he listens, nevertheless. Date night this week was relaxing. Work was very busy this week, so I enjoyed being out of the house with Clay.

This morning, I am training two friends of mine at the gym. We are going to do a cardio circuit, followed by a core circuit. I have a long run today at 9:00am, so I plan on hitting the stationary bike or working upper body. Today's long run is 7-8miles. My friend Courtney and I are going to see how we feel. Both of us had a race in November and have slacked off, or "taken a break," in December.... TIME TO KICK IT INTO GEAR!!! I have a half marathon in March, in which, I am hoping to qualify for NYC Marathon in November. I need to go map out my run for today, so I must go.... But I leave you with this.... To help myself get out of bed in the morning to run, I sleep in my running shorts =) Getting ready is half way finished.... Not the most attractive PJ's, but lingerie is over rated sometimes!!!!

(I purposefully cut off my toes... this "frigged winter" that is hitting Florida right now KILLS my motivation to keep cute feet).

QUESTION: What are you guys doing for New Year's Eve tonight????

*Desk Goodies*

Do you ever feel rushed before a meeting, but you know you are absolutely going to pass out if you do not get a bite to eat??? I do!!! I keep a fork, oats, and peanut butter on hand at all times. Sometimes, I make it more complicated and heat it all up with protein powder, but most of the time it is simple.

Fork into PB.... Scoop into oats.... Instant energy =)

Just thought I would drop in =)

Pumpkin Protein Bread

I have recently discovered oat flour. If you are unfamiliar with the difference between complex and refined carbohydrates, I will briefly explain. Complex carbohydrates take longer for your body to digest. They do not cause your blood sugar to spike as quickly as refined. That is the difference between wheat bread and white; sweet potatoes and regular potatoes. Oat flour has the same consistency of flour, but it is ground oats. Oats are complex and have soluble fiber; there are studies that show this magic grain helps decrease cholesterol. I LOVE OATS. Ok, I digress....

I made pumpkin protein bread today with oat flour. I modified Jamie Eason's recipe, and used pumpkin... honestly, this was because I forgot apple

sauce, but nonetheless, I LOVE PUMPKIN and have some left over from Thanksgiving. The calories in mine might be a little different than hers because of the pumpkin and walnuts, but not by much. This is still a very clean breakfast option. I feel like I am cheating, but I am not. After all, muffins are just an excuse to have cake for breakfast.....

Preheat oven to 350. Spray loaf pan with non-stick spray.

In small bowl combine: (set aside)

1/3 cup Ideal (Truvia) or Splenda

2 tsp cinnamon

In a large bowl combine: (whisk together)

1 1/2 cups oat flour + 2 scoops vanilla whey protein

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup Ideal (Truvia) or Splenda

In a medium bowl combine: (whisk together & add to large bowl)

2 egg whites or 1 whole egg

1 cup unsweetened almond milk (Almond Breeze)

1/3 cup of canned pumpkin

1/4 cup of chopped walnuts

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Picture

Hello Readers. I have had a whirlwind of change the past few weeks and have missed blogging. However, I have been keeping notes and doing research on "blog worthy" topics so BRACE YOURSELVES. Today, I want to address High Fructose Corn Syrup.

Recently, I saw a very disturbing commercial. A woman was pouring "fruit punch" for kids at a party. One mom stated, "Oh, I guess you do not care what you feed the kids...you are feeding them High Fructose Corn Syrup... you know what they say..." Mom #2 replies, "No, what do they say?" Dumbfounded, and unable to answer, the "fruit punch" mom won the argument. Well, I do not want any of us to be left speechless like this good intentioned mom.

According to a study by Princeton University, HFCS leads to more weight gain than normal table sugar when ingested on a regular basis (THINK SODAS!). Rats were fed rat chow infused with sugar, and a second group was fed chow infused with HFCS. The HFCS group gained more weight. In a similar study, not only did the HFCS rat group gain more weight, but the rats' triglyceride levels were increased as well. Proportionately, some rats gained the equivalent of a man gaining 96 pounds during the study!!! Continual fructose intake, just like continual alcohol intake, will eventually lead to fatty liver syndrome and cirrhosis.... just like an alcoholic.

So my question is this: Why are commercials being made that say HFCS is ok? The food industry must be getting nervous as our population is getting more educated on clean eating. I think we should have the freedom to buy and eat whatever we want; however, we should be informed consumers and eat these poisons in moderation..... well, when I say it like that, I think I would rather stay away from it completely.

*B*

Change

There has been a lot of change in my life lately. I have missed numerous workouts, healthy meals, family events, and opportunities to post blogs (I know... priorities). Howerver, I have accumulated outstanding amounts of usefull facts and tips that will change your lives; not really, but hopefully they will help you develop a healthy lifestyle and aid in your ability to make good choices.

My first wors of advice would be to not decide/commit to do P90X before you change jobs (my husband and myself), move living quarters, and renovate the new living quarters.

Second, gray, tight pants look awful on anyone. Please do not wear them to work with a tight shirt... I almost posted a picture of this lady at the gas station; however, maybe she just moved and all of her clothes are still packed like me. I should not judge.

Third, insulin resistance (this develops when you continually ingest too much sugar) increases your risk for heart disease as much as smoking does. Choose your foods wisely.

Fourth, give your loved ones the benefit of the doubt and try to not be easily offended. Stress and unnecessary anxiety actually increases the release of cortisol in your body. Drink water, laugh, and love.

Fifth. Do not judge me for any type-oes or misspellings. I most definitely typed this on my phone. I have no internet in my new place. I will get back on soon. Eat clean and make time to exercise with a loved one this week. My motto is that life is too short to work out alone... not really, but it helps multi tasking relationships and fitness :)

*B*