Gym Wisdom

So, for the past several weeks (months?) I’ve been making an effort to get to the gym more.  My post-baby body has made it clear that it’s happy where it is, and it’s not going down without a fight.  Fine, I’m up for the challenge.  Never in my life have I had to work so hard at losing weight, but if a fight it wants, a fight it will get.

Anyway, after my recent running debacle I thought it best to stick to indoor activities for the time being, so I’ve been making it to my gym fairly regularly.  I have been a member at this particular gym since I was 19.  It’s fascinating to me that even though there have been long stretches of time that I haven’t been back,  I still see a lot of the same people that I did 15+ years ago.  

If I recognize them, I wonder if they recognize me, too?  I am definitely, ahem… curvier since then, and catching those glimpses of myself in the full length mirrors is at times both shocking and distressing.  Are these people wondering what the heck happened to me?  But wait–  a quick look around assures me I’m not alone.  Apparently 15 years of crunches haven’t done that guy much good-  he’s still sporting the spare tire.  And yeah- miss stair climber hasn’t changed a bit, still looks great…  But, whoa– what happened to all of that guy’s hair?   And I see that woman still won’t let the ’80 leotard and sweatbands rest in peace…

As much as I’ve changed from my svelte, karate-kicking days, I have to accept that 15+ years and 3 kids aren’t going to leave me unchanged without some serious effort.  So I’ve stepped up my time & speed on the treadmill.  It’s funny how some things never change.  Like, if a woman is on the treadmill next to a young-ish guy, he will never allow her to run at a faster pace than him.  Even if this means he will be hacking and cramping later, guy pride dominates.   Speaking of treadmills, another unspoken “rule” of which I’ve been recently reminded (the hard way)– never, EVER, under any circumstances, breathe in through your mouth if someone is on the treadmill next to you, or even in your vicinity.  Especially if they look like the type of person who *may* have had burritos for lunch.  (side note, and this probably goes without saying:  Never, ever have burritos for lunch the days you plan on going to the gym.)

Another good rule to live by:  Don’t wear pants in a color that shows your sweat marks if you plan on doing any kind of hip adductor machine (the one that has you spread eagle for the world to see).   Unless you’re into displaying how much your crotch sweats, of course…. which then, by all means, go for it.  However, if you’re not into seeing other people’s crotch sweat (or other fun stuff, if they’re wearing, say, short shorts) then it might be a good idea to look anywhere but in that direction when they’re using this machine or otherwise “thigh mastering”.

So, after a brief plateau, and realizing that those little snacks throughout the day really do add up, I’ve been exercising regularly and keeping a food journal and have started to drop poundage again.  I hated the idea at first of having to log everything I ate, but it really is helpful in so many ways.  Not only am I so much more aware of what and when I eat, tools like the calorie counter on igoogle make it so easy to see how things are adding up throughout the day.  Plus, it gives me the nutritional info for stuff that doesn’t have a label, like fresh fruits & veggies.  And by counting my calories, I’ve also realized that I can still have a lot of things that don’t seem like diet food, like pizza and london broil.  Do I sound like a commercial, or what?

Stretch marks aside, I hope to be fit and MILF-worthy by summer.  In the past month, I’ve shaved a minute off my mile, and I’m even considering doing some local 5Ks.  Take that, baby flab.  Now if I could only do something about the dark circles under my eyes….

Get ‘em to eat their veggies

 

First of all, thanks to everyone for all the baby love!  I’m still digesting the fact that I’m going to be mom to 3 boys, but I think that everything happens for a reason.  It’s funny, the old woman that we bought this house from had 3 boys, so it’s kind of like continuing the legacy.  Poor little Max had his heart set on a baby sister, but he’s already starting to come around.  Wyatt seems excited, too, but I think the jury will still be out until we have actual baby-in-hand.

So I was doing some hormonal baking the other day.  I say hormonal because basically, if it had chocolate in it, I was going to make it.  I think chocolate covered hot dogs would’ve sounded good at the time.  Anyway, whenever I need to make something for dinner, etc. and I have a particular ingredient that I would like to use (or if I’m just looking for ideas in general), one of my favorite sites to go to is allrecipes.com.  I like this site because you can search by ingredient, and, like other similar websites, all of the recipes are rated by people who’ve already tried them.  I also like it when reviewers share what they changed about the recipes, or recommendations for what they would do differently if they made it again. 

So I went on the other day in search of something for dinner, an on the home page was a recipe for chocolate zucchini bread.  Now, I like my veggies & all, but normally this would not make me take pause. I guess the promise of a double dose of chocolate and the five star rating from 277 reviewers is what made my hormonal ass stop in its tracks.  Could it really be that good?

Max has always been a good veggie eater.  He definitely has his dislikes, but I’m happy with what he’ll put in his mouth.  Wyatt, on the other hand, will either flat out refuse it, or he’ll secretly hide his veggies next to him in the booster seat so that by the time we realize what he’s been up to, he’s already free.  He basically likes tomatoes and cucumbers.  That’s it.  I’ve resorted to cooking a pot of veggies & pureeing them in spaghetti sauce just to sneak them in.  (Side note: of course, Wyatt likes red sauce, and Max does not, so this trick only works for half of the little people in this house).  I know a lot of parents aren’t big fans of getting sneaky about it, but I’ve tried the “just putting it in front of them repeatedly” trick, & I still do, but so far it hasn’t worked.

Wyatt also likes soup (Max does not- BIG SURPRISE!)  so the other week I tried this really yummy, fast & easy zucchini soup recipe hoping he would be all over it.  He wasn’t.  The grown ups ate it, but I did have a good amount of zucchini left over (gotta love Produce Junction) so this bread was worth a shot.  Let me tell you–decadent is not the word.  If you are having a chocolate attack, this bread is for you.  I made it for the kids, but I think Bill & I ended up eating most of it.  And the zucchini?  No sign of it– you would never know it was in there. 

Because of the state of my hormones, and a previous bout of extremely dry muffins, I took one reviewer’s advice and added a cup of lite sour cream to the recipe, along with 3 extra tablespoons of cocoa to the dry mix.  I also increased the chocolate chips to one cup, and sprinkled some on top as well.  Finally, since fat content was so obviously an issue (chocolate chips are fat-free, did you know that? REALLY!), I replaced half of the oil with applesauce. 

I also learned that if you throw your chocolate chips into the dry mix (instead of at the very end, like most recipes), it prevents them from all sinking to the bottom. It worked!

So, without further ado, I give you….

 

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

INGREDIENTS

• 2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate until melted. Stir occasionally until chocolate is smooth.
2. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil, grated zucchini, vanilla and chocolate; beat well. Stir in the flour baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean.

 

** In addition to the changes noted above, I also used cocoa and shortening instead of baking squares ( 3T cocoa + 1T shortening = 1 chocolate baking square).

For the Calorie-Conscious

I finished these last night:

All of the fun, but none of the calories!  These pincushions were made using this tutorial, by Schmaltzy Craftsy.  Check out here site, her things are amazing!  I put my own spin on them with the cupcake theme.  They are made from old soda bottle caps & are only about 2″ tall.  I like the fact that these could also be used as play food for a child (or an adult, if you’re like me!).  My blanket stitch still needs some work, but I’m not hating the hand sewing as much as I used to.  I think I just may have to make several dozen more!

I also finished this baby quilt top last night:

It took me way longer to decide on the fabrics than it did to sew it all together.  It’s only about 2 months late… and still not finished!

While I was putting together this post, I noticed things in the other room got really quiet, which, anyone knows with kids, is almost never a good thing.  I entered the kitchen to this:

Wyatt on the window sill.  Notice the big ol’ pincushion full of very sharp pins?  This little guy never ceases to keep me on my toes!  Now, would you please excuse my while I go pull him out of the toilet?

Feelin’ Blobby

A couple times a year I think my body goes through a cycle where it just wants to hold onto all of the bad stuff I’ve been putting into it.  Conversely, I think there are also times of the year where it seems I can eat whatever I want with pretty much no consequences.   Right now, I’m experiencing the former.  Despite my efforts to eat more fresh veggies & salad, as well as trying to make it to the gym more often, etc.  I’ve still managed to put on 6 pounds!  True, I have been a little bit (ok, A LOT bit) on a sugar kick lately, but 6 pounds???  C’mon!!  When this happens, I know it’s time to tweak my habits.

Yesterday, my belly was so bloated, I looked like I was 6 months pregnant.  I was uncomfortable all weekend,  and just feeling the need to “cleanse”.   I am past the stage in my life where I am interested in dieting,  but I do think there is something to detoxifying your system every now and then.   A couple of years ago, I tried the Fat Flush Plan,  and I did lose weight, but it was so strict, and I gave up so many things cold turkey (like caffeine, among others) that I got so sick I had to stop.  I think the eating plan does have merit, it’s just a little extreme to jump into all at once. 

But I do think I can take away a few things from that experience that would help me now.  This is what I’m willing to do:

1.)   Drink more water.

2.)   Eat more raw foods and less processed foods.

3.)    Stop the mindless snacking in between meals.

4.)    Cut out the processed sugar for a while.

5.)    Exercise more.

There are a few things I am not willing to give up.  These include my morning coffee (complete with sugar and powdered creamer),  whatever kind of fruit i feel like having (a lot of diets restrict certain fruits because of the sugar content),  meat, salt, and bread & pasta (although I probably will cut back a bit & try to use whole grain versions wherever possible).

I heard somewhere (Oprah, maybe?)  that it takes 21 days to break a habit.  I’m not sure if I can break my sugar habit while still enjoying it in my morning coffee, but I’m willing to give it a go… something’s better than nothing, right?  I do also see benefits to preparing more meatless meals, although I am by no means going veggie. 

Yesterday, I had an almost meatless day, using only about half a baked chicken breast on my salad at dinner.  I used this recipe to make a delicious hummus spread for lunch (Wyatt is also a big fan of hummus).  I did add a little garlic salt and extra water to the recipe.  The only processed sugar I had all day (other than my coffee) was a couple of small bites of Wyatt’s water ice.  For me, that’s really good!!

I’m not sure how long I’ll manage, but the goal is breaking the bad habits, and forming new, good habits in order to feel better.  Wish me luck!