Yes, You Can

First of all, a little shout out to our friends, Katie and Corey, who became parents to a beautiful little girl on Saturday. They are going to be incredible parents!!! Congratulations, you two! (And thanks for reading my little blog!)

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Today, on the treadmill, I got halfway through my planned workout and just about gave up. It was my first "regular" workout in about a week, and I just wasn't feeling it. The TV wasn't working on my treadmill, my music wasn't pumping me up, and my legs were like lead. I considered switching over to the elliptical, mostly because I felt like continuing to run would be too hard.

But something clicked in my head before I clicked off the machine: This is the whole point. Pushing myself, sweating a lot, feeling uncomfortable, hurting a little bit (within reason)--that's all part of the deal. Working out isn't supposed to feel like a spa day. As Jillian says...

(Source)

So I launched into the second half of my cardio and pushed a little harder. Rather than increasing only the speed, I kicked up the incline, too. It SUCKED. Seriously, by the time I was at 8.0 mph and 3.0 incline, I felt ready to hop off the machine and curl up on the couch. But when I finally reached the end and completed my strength workout, too, I couldn't help smiling. Honestly, nothing beats a tough workout for making me feel accomplished in an hour or less.

We need to give our bodies more credit. We are capable of so much more than we even know, but we can only figure out our limits by pushing past the usual barriers. Most of the time, those obstacles are simply mental blocks--telling ourselves we can't. But we can! Whatever your fitness level, consider pushing yourself just a little harder during one workout per week. See what your body can do! Of course, stay safe and know your limits (heart rate monitors are a great way to track your stress level during a workout), but bumping your weights up by 5 pounds for that last set or increasing the speed on the treadmill by 0.5 mph are simple ways to push yourself. And you'll feel so great afterward!

So here's today's cardio workout, inspired by Tina's Best Body Boot Camp.

The first time through, I skipped all the inclines, so you could try that, or you can push it and climb those hills! To make it easier, slow the pace (you can even walk!) and/or only increase each speed interval by 0.1 or 0.2 mph. To make it tougher, increase the speed and/or the incline. Remember that you should feel at least a little uncomfortable!

I also wanted to share some pretty awesome articles from around the Interwebs:

• Fitnessista: How Much Cardio Do You Need?
• Tina Reale: Find Your "Happy Weight"
• PBFingers: Exercise Obstacles
• Buzzfeed: 20 Reasons Why Going to the Gym is a Huge Waste of Time (hilarious)

What's your favorite way to push yourself in a workout?

Hope you have a great day today! 

Walking in the Workplace

Yesterday, when Fay was here, she mentioned that she works at a stand-up desk in her D.C. office. I've always known Fay to be an active person--when we get together, we almost always go for a long walk together while we catch up. But I was still impressed to hear that she requested a stand-up desk. The best part: After Fay got her desk, she noticed other people in the office requesting the same thing! Health is contagious. Like the plague.

We got to chatting about how much our jobs can affect our health. Since I'm a teacher, I can easily spend almost the entire day standing and walking. Terry, on the other hand, finds himself sitting at a computer or sitting in meetings nine to ten hours per day. Even an intense, hour-long workout can't undo all that sitting.


This article from The New York Times outlines some of the recent health concerns about sitting, "even for people who are quite active when they’re not sitting down." Check out the full article, "Taking a Stand for Office Ergonomics," by Steve Lohr. 

Today I asked Terry to take my FitBit to work, just to see exactly how much (or how little?) he moves. The result? 

1,475 steps. Yikes! (Note: This total does not include our workout.)

If your job is considered a sedentary one, consider the following options for increasing your movement and improving your health.

Sit less at work.

• Request a stand-up desk. Your office might even have policies in place already that make the transition super simple. Plus, like Fay, you could be responsible for setting an office trend, and then you'll be a hero, and they might give you an award. But at the very least you'll be sitting less.
• Find excuses to get up: walk to your coworker's cubicle instead of e-mailing him, get in some face time with your boss by lingering outside her office like a creeper, set a timer to go off every 15 minutes and force yourself to get up each time (bonus: you'll annoy your annoying cubicle neighbor). Be creative.
• Any time you don't have to be sitting, stand. If you're reading over some documents, talking on the phone, or writing with a pen/pencil (for those born after 1995, here is the definition of pen and pencil), stand or walk while you do it. It's more fun to walk, because if you run into things you'll draw attention to yourself (see first bullet point for possible outcomes). 

Find ways to be active throughout the day.

• Be one of those people who brings tennis shoes to work and walks for 30 minutes at lunch. Extra points if you wear scrunch socks and polka dot tights like Melanie Griffith in Working Girl. 

(Source)

• Take the stairs. Even if you work on the 31st floor. (You'll look super professional all sweaty in your 9 am meeting. Trust me.)
• Go to the bathroom/water fountain/fax machine/copier that's farthest away from you. My husband used to walk down four flights of stairs to use the restroom. I'm so proud. 
• Walk or bike to and from work. In LA, dodging cars adds an extra workout and improves reflexes.
• Walk to lunch. Even if you brought your lunch, walk to a park to eat it. Or walk while you eat it. Again, be creative.
• Do laps during meetings. Especially if you aren't the one speaking, I'm sure no one will mind if you just walk/run/bike in circles around the conference table. (BLWB is not responsible for demotions or firings that may take place as a result of these suggestions.)

(Just FYI, I was totally sitting on the couch like a hypocrite when I wrote the first half of this post. Now I'm standing up at the kitchen counter. Let's proceed.)

Sit less once you get home.

• If you have a treadmill, walk on it at a slow pace while you watch TV. (If you're like Liz Lemon on 30 Rock, you could eat pudding while you walk on the treadmill. No judgment here.)
• Walk or bike to the grocery store and to complete your other errands.
• In addition to your usual exercise, take a walk before or after work.
• Instead of board games and TV, take your kids or your dog (or yourself) to the park in the afternoon.

Any tips for ways to stand or walk more at work?

If all else fails, get a box that's too small to be your desk, and then perhaps you'll be encouraged to get up more often.

Feeling It

Happy Tuesday! Some exciting stuff is in the works here at BLWB, and I can't wait to share it all with you later this week. Today, though, I have a new cardio workout and some great articles from around the web.

I knew I wanted a long cardio session (no way would I be able to lift weights after yesterday's killer tabata workout), and I made up a little routine that I hoped would beat boredom. The idea was to walk 3 minutes, jog 3 minutes, run 3 minutes, then run 3 minutes, jog 3 minutes, walk 3 minutes--and repeat the same pattern with 2 minutes and then 1 minute. Confusing enough for you?

Forget it. I'm going to sleep.

I figured focusing on the times and speeds would entertain me, but no need! For some reason, I was totally in the zone today. In fact, when I was supposed to drop my speed down to 6 mph, I stayed at 7.5 for at least an extra minute each time. Was it my awesome half marathon playlist? Was it watching the Giants game while running? (Go Giants!) Was it that I read Molly's inspirational marathon recap right before I hit the treadmill? (Congrats, Molly!)

Doesn't matter. I was feeling it, and I rolled right on through those 45 minutes. Even when my treadmill shut down in the middle of that last set, I shrugged, switched to the next machine, and kept right on truckin'. 

I think this workout gets you to just over 4 miles. (Since my treadmill shut off around 3.4 miles, I can't be too sure, but let's go with it.) Anyway, the workout felt fantastic - give it a try!

Dinner tonight was comfort food to the max: whole wheat waffles with a fried egg. (You'll notice we switched around our original menu plan for the week.)

Maybe tomorrow I'll squeeze in a vegetable with dinner? Or is that asking too much? (<--sarcasm alert)

I leave you tonight with some fantastic posts and articles that I highly recommend:

• Gina's post, "Finding Your Zen" - how stress affects your body
• From NPR, "Instead of Surgery, Man Pedals off the Pounds"
• Colleen's post, "I'm Hooked: Why I'm Lovin' Yoga" - for those who might be against trying yoga
• Food Babe Investigates: What to Watch Out for at Whole Foods

Enjoy!

Mix It Up and Kick It Up Killer Cardio + WIAW

Today's meals, finally, feel worthy of a WIAW post. Much more so than recent WIAWs on here, anyway. I told you on Monday that I'm getting back on track after a few weeks of taking it easy (well, that's what I called it when I didn't feel like doing cardio for two weeks after our half marathon) and far too much comfort food. I'm still craving comfort foods, but there's no rule that says comfort food has to be unhealthy. Er, maybe there is, but I'm changing the rule!

For breakfast, we both woke up early because Terry had to drive all the way to San Diego for work today. Half asleep, I stumbled to the kitchen and somehow managed to find the leftover batter from last night's banana and macadamia nut pancakes. Cooking at 5:30 am isn't my strong suit, but you really can't mess up pancakes when the batter is already mixed and ready to go.

With some blueberries and tea on the side.

I feel super lucky that, as a teacher, I've always had third period for my conference period (an hour without students to prep/grade/plan/attend meetings). For me, it's the perfect time to sit down, reorganize, and have a snack. Today I enjoyed an apple while entering grades.

(I cut up the apple before I get to school; it never turns brown!)

For lunch, I had students in my classroom making up a quiz, so I didn't have time to microwave my meal. No problem! Turns out chilled stir fry is just as delicious as the hot version!

After work and a quick stop at the store, I treated myself to a banana with honey-cinnamon peanut butter (I microwaved about two tablespoons of peanut butter and one teaspoon of honey, then stirred in a sprinkle of cinnamon), plus a small glass of milk.

Plus about 5 of these

Then I got to work on making pizza dough and roasting vegetables for tonight's meal.

While the dough was rising and the veggie were cooling, I headed to the gym for a hardcore cardio workout. I told you I need to get my butt back in gear, and I know that pushing myself a bit works wonders for my motivation.

Notice I used fall colors? Someone's getting excited about leaves changing...

Here's how I looked after the workout:

A few notes...

• If I hadn't already made the graphic above that said "Repeat 3-4 times", I would have stopped after one round. Seriously. I completed three total, so you could argue that I still lied, but DAMN, this thing is HARD.
• I wanted to cry during the burpees.
• I was disgustingly sweaty afterward and worried a little that I would sweat into my pizza crust. TMI?
• I'm already sore. It hurts to get up.

For dinner, I tried out a new recipe that I saw on Courtney's blog a few weeks ago and have been SO excited to test for myself. I'm not so sure about the name "Garbage Bread"--but it looked delicious. The only difference? I opted for a pizza version of the meal!

Roasted veggies (eggplant, zucchini, squash, onion), marinara sauce, mozzarella, and pepperoni.

All rolled up

Baked at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes.

Phenomenal.

With some Chimay (not New Belgium - I realize it's confusing) 

And for dessert, an extra special treat: Trader Joe's Truffle Brownie mix (cut into 16 squares, one square each, plus a scoop of ice cream).

It's been a great day of eating delicious foods! 

Check out the other WIAWs! Of Possible Interest:

• Tina's post about whether to do cardio or weight training first
• Lisa's post: "Why are Americans so concerned about protein?"
• Sign up for Best Body Boot Camp!
• Another Tina post: "I have to stop for fast food"

Work Those Arms

Last night, in my excitement about the treadmill pyramid workout, I forgot to mention my arm workout that made me super sore today! 

Organizing a workout into supersets works opposing muscles together. To complete this workout, You do Superset A (set 1 of each exercise, then set 2, then set 3) before moving on to Supersets B and C. One reason I really like supersets is that I'm completely done with an exercise very quickly. In regular circuit workouts, I tend to drag because I know I'll just be repeating the same moves I just did. In this case, however, I know I'll be switching to something completely new soon. Hope that makes sense.

For explanations of the exercises:

• Biceps Curls
• Triceps Kickbacks
• Dumbbell Bent Over Row
• Triceps Extension
• Dumbbell Bench Press
• Reverse Flys

I kept the workout very short because I was using heavier weights than usual and because I had just completed a long cardio workout. Obviously, I added some chest and back work in there for good measure. You could easily expand this workout to include push ups, tricep pull downs, upright rows, or hammer curls.

Tonight, after a hair cut, I took a long walk with Terry. It's been a while since we took a walk because we've been busy and working out separately. We actually used to walk almost every night, and Terry even proposed to me on a walk! Tonight we just took the chance to see what restaurants are new near us and stopped into one to ask about their menu. Looks like we'll be trying some new burgers soon!

And finally, more real food news to share with you. While at my hair cut appointment, I was reading Glamour magazine, and I came upon a page titled, "7 Foods Nutritionists Wouldn't Touch with a 10-Foot Pole" (read it here). I'm always eager to see if they'll agree with my philosophy that whole foods are best, and this time they did! On the list:

• bottled salad dressings
• packaged cheese slices
• light yogurt
• high protein cereals
• sodas or fruit juices (except all natural, 100% pure, freshly squeezed juice)
• processed deli meat
• coffee creamers

I also recommend this article from Lisa, who shines a light on and suggests alternatives for some unhealthy foods that might be fooling you!

Happy Friday, everyone!

Health Articles for Your Consideration

Tonight I want to share some articles that have sparked my interest around the interwebs. I always enjoy finding little nuggets of wisdom or food for thought, especially regarding health, food, and exercise. I hope you find these interesting! I've included a few questions and would love to hear what you think. Comment below or e-mail me!

• YouTube video: A little girl conducts an experiment comparing the toxins in regular, supermarket organic, and truly organic sweet potatoes.

Does this video inspire you to do more research on organic foods? What did you think about the fact that the chlorpropham is tested on animals - and kills them?

• Weight Watchers stamps their approval on McDonald's Chicken McNuggets.

Do you feel this move undermines Weight Watchers as a leading weight loss brand? Does it make you feel as though McNuggets are a healthy choice?

• Paula Deen comes forward about her Type 2 diabetes. 

At the end, the article quotes Deen saying, “Honey I’m your cook, not your doctor. You are going to have to be responsible for yourself.” Do you feel her cooking show - or any cooking show, for that matter - is right to have an attitude where they claim no responsibility for health? Should cooking shows make a more conscious effort to encourage good health?

• Obesity rates are unchanged in America.

Should we be celebrating reaching a plateau in obesity? Do you agree with Dr. Rice's assertion that we shouldn't get too excited about this finding?

Let us all know what you think!

No Excuses

I am so excited about this season of The Biggest Loser. Their theme for the year is No Excuses. I can already tell that it'll get a little obnoxious to hear the trainers, contestants, and host repeat the phrase every five minutes, but I love the idea behind it.

Isn't that one of the biggest obstacles for living a better, healthier life? It's so easy to make excuses.

For not working out: Too busy, too tired, out of shape, don't belong to a gym, can't afford to go to a gym, injured myself, don't want to get sweaty and then have to take a shower, just ate a cookie.

For not eating healthy: Can't afford to buy healthier foods, don't have time to cook, too tired to go to the grocery store, don't know how to cook, don't know what food is healthy and what isn't, I just eat whatever's easiest, I don't like the taste of healthy food.

It's easy to make excuses. It's much harder to stop the excuses, get up, work out, and then cook a healthy, homemade meal. But harder is better. (That's what she said.)

So I'm thrilled that this season's Biggest Loser is highlighting common excuses and showing the world that there is no excuse for poor health. And they've timed it perfectly for the new year! (Coincidence? Yeah, right.)

Let's stop making excuses and start making positive, effective changes in our lives. We can all improve in some way - that's the point of this blog. Each of us can live a better life, whether it means health and fitness goals, work goals, or other personal goals. But it all starts with proactively creating change.

My excuse today was that I'm sick. I have a bad cough, and I could have easily skipped the workout without feeling too guilty. But, even though I'm not ready for an intense cardio workout, I knew I could still complete some strength training without upsetting my lungs too much.

I also did about 100 crunches in a variety of positions and my daily 10 minutes of stretching, one of my 2012 goals. Coincidentally, my former massage therapist and fellow health nut, Chris Hallford, posted a great set of videos about stretching. Chris runs a health-focused website called Hallford Health, and it is a fantastic resource for all your health needs. If your excuse is being too sore or if you, like me, want to increase your stretching ability, check out his videos!

Health Links Galore

During my sick day yesterday, I found some interesting health articles. In lieu of a post today, I hope you find something informative, entertaining, or thought-provoking. Enjoy!

Articles from Health.com:

• 25 Surprisingly Salty Processed Foods
• 10 Best Foods for Your Heart

(Do you notice that the first article focuses on processed foods and their health problems, but the heart-healthy foods are all whole, natural, real foods. Coincidence? I think not.)

• 10 Natural Ways to Lower Blood Pressure
• Happiness Linked to Longer Life

Article from CNN.com:

• Are school soda bans effective?