Banish Fat and Boost Metabolism for your Temple

Hey Health-Nuts!

 I haven't updated you on my workout schedule and how that's all going because I've actually been really sick. I started off strong with my Zumba video (which some of you guys tried!), and then with the 60-minuet strength training DVD Slim and Lean, but then was kind of knocked out for a few days with an awful cold.

I am still recovering my voice, and my students tell me I sound like an old smoker, but hey!- I got through today's cardio workout without hacking all over, so I think I'm in pretty good shape.

I mentioned before that I have been off and on with Jillian Michaels; well, today I'm on. 

Check out her video:

I can safely say that I am drenched with sweat and feel pretty good after completing this. She also does some ab workouts, so you'll get that tummy toned up too.

My plans for the night: make a nice dinner and start on Romans again. I just finished Acts all the way through for the first time (can you believe it? I had never read it straight through!) I tweeted about this last week, but I totally think Acts would make a fantastic movie. Seriously; someone has to do it. I only wish there was a really good woman's role so I could play it.... Lydia maybe? Oh well :-)

Romans is a BEAST of a letter by the way! So it's a good one to start after a BEAST of a workout.

Your body is Christ's Temple, so treat it like the beautiful creation it is! Have a great night!

Workout Attention Span: New Plans

Hello again!

So far this has been a strictly cooking blog, but I since fitness is a huge part of my life, and a huge part in keeping our bodies a temple, I thought I'd share these thoughts on fitness with you...

First of all, I am a former Group Fitness Instructor. I worked at ISU's Student Fitness Center for almost 3 years and taught yoga, cycle, group strength, boxing body sculpt, water aerobics, and pilates. I also worked for Gold's Gym for a short time and taught an H20 Challenge class for strength conditioning in water (I must admit I added a little Aqua Zumba in there sometimes too!).


Now that I do not have a job that conveniently allows me to work out and get paid, my working routine is going through a lot of.... transitions.

At the end of my student teaching I had suddenly had a lot of free time on my hands before starting my job with STEP-UP, and so I decided I would do the P90X Challenge. (Tony Horton is actually not too obnoxious) I had my schedule all set and I knew exactly which muscles I was going to work on which days. It was perfect. Just get up, look on the calendar, and do the work.

Only then I got a nannying job that I had to take due to financial reasons, and I was up to my eyeballs in screaming children for a week. My workouts didn't happen... and then STEP-UP started, and as did my frantic job-hunt and interview process. Then we went on our anniversary vacation, then on to a family trip to Colorado, then I got my job, and we house-hunted for about three very hectic days, then BAM! pack, move, get ready to start teaching!

It all happened so fast and we were constantly moving around and going different directions that I couldn't follow any schedule whatsoever- not even a sleep schedule!

So then I started my job and a week later we went on strike. Things just got crazier from there.

Anyway, my point in all of this is I had a hard time finding a solid work-out routine that works for my lifestyle and schedule. I often stay up late to work on projects and I live in a neighborhood where it's not exactly safe to go outside running in the dark (early morning or late evening). Truth be told, I have never been one of those people who can do the same yoga tape everyday and run the same course everyday (cough*mymother*cough). I have to change it up and make things interesting, other wise, I totally loose motivation.

I started off on a great track working with Jillian Michaels on her Ripped in 30 video, which was pretty cool for a 20 minuet workout! But to be honest, Jillian kind of gets on my nerves sometimes: she acts tougher than she is and I'm all like "You know Jill, you really don't need to put on a show, I just wanna sweat and listen to the music". So I got board of her quick. Her 3-2-1 workout intervals get old...

Then I got on this kick of running in the morning, despite the craziness of my neighborhood. I did that for a while, but then it got super cold, and I'm sort of a wimp when it comes to the cold. And there was a shooting at around 5:30am not too long ago that sort of scared me....

Quite honestly, I wanted to go to a gym. I don't workout as well at home. I don't have a lot of equipment and I like actually carving out the time and going someplace else. And to be even more honest, I really really really (like really) wanted to go to a Cross-Fit Gym. I love the concept of fitness classes (since I was an instructor for 3 years), and I love Cross-Fit's philosophy on personal training, camaraderie and pushing yourself past what limits you think exist.

But let's face it: I don't have $180 a month to spend on a gym membership, no matter how insanely ripped I get from it. So I found some resources for doing a Cross-Fit-style workout at home! This has been going well for me. It only takes about 15 minuets a day, and I time myself and record my weights each time I do a set. (Not gunna lie, it took me a while to do 100 pushups...).

But I've run into a problem... I'm bored of it. Also I've been sleeping in late... well, till 6am. In order to workout and have my Bible time, I usually need to get up right at 5, but staying up late grading papers and working on student data (or writing blogs...) will make that difficult.

So I just got this dvd by Jari Love called "Slim and Lean", which is part of her "Get Ripped!" series. Quite honestly, when it came in the mail, I was kind of hesitant. I didn't think I would like it. But I do!

Jari is just the kind of Fitness Instructor I was: clam, simple, intense, but still friendly. A lot of my co-workers were those happy, cheesy, peppy types like Denise Austin or Richard Simmons. But Jari is encouraging, but not over-talkative like Rich. She's tough, but not putting on a show like Jillian. And she's no-nonsense; she doesn't smile incessantly like Denise.

Anyway, I just did this workout and it's exactly like a strength and conditioning class that I might take at the Rec. Jari counts your reps by sets of 8 just like Group Fitness Instructors do in Fitness Classes. It's kind of like taking a fitness class in your home!

My workout attention span seems to be extremely short... but currently I am loving this dvd. I hope it lasts...

What I'm thinking is that I just need to do a different dvd/Cross-Fit workout/yoga routine/running route everyday so as not to get board. So, over the next few days, I'm going to be designing my own at-home workout schedule consisting of Cross-Fit, P90X, running (yes, in the cold), group fitness-style classes, Jillian's 3-2-1 series, power yoga, Pilates, and something I found a few weeks ago called Blogilates.

So. My thought is this: I will design this workout plan for myself, then post it (for accountability's sake and incase you all want to join me in this experiment). Sound good?

Good.

Oh, and please comment if you have any tips for keeping your workout routine fun and interesting. I'm sure we all could use a little of that :-)

Saturday Brunch: Triple-B Pancakes

Today was a wonderful Saturday!

I always love Saturdays because it's usually the only day of the week I get to sleep in. With my workout schedule and work schedule, I wake up at 5am every weekday morning, and I usually stay at work until about 5pm. During college, I always worked on Saturdays, and sometimes I would have to get up at 7am to work at 8 or teach yoga or cycle at the gym around 9am.

Sundays are now filled with Church, and then getting things ready for the week ahead of me, so usually Sundays don't feel a free or relaxing. Don't get me wrong though!-- I love Sundays as well... just for different reasons entirely.

Needless to say, I love--and I mean like- Loooourve- the fact that Saturdays are now my day off! I don't have to do anything, which means I get to do what I want to do on Saturdays, which is usually a treat!

Today, Saturday, I woke up at around 8am, then went back to sleep until 10:30. Dennis left to meet up with someone at our church to catch up on our new members class, and then I did my usual Jillian Michaels' workout DVD (she's crazy btw), then went on a run using my new phone app Mapmyrun Gps Running which tracks how far I go, how fast I go, and my improvement from last time (can you tell I really like my new iphone?).

Anyway, it was a great start to the day, but when I came back from my run, I really was craving some pancakes.

Now, last night I made some awesome Roasted Chickpea Taco Salad (which I'll post about later), which included something I have never had before: Kasha. Basically, it's whole grain buckwheat, which I also have never had before. The directions for making this are on the box, so I won't go into details about how to make it, but the point is, I had a TON of this stuff leftover.

So, I made my own recipe to satisfy my craving. 

I call them Triple-B Pancakes: Blueberry-Banana-Buckwheat!

Here's how to make them:

First, make a bunch of pancake mix. I store mine in a recycled oatmeal container (those big cardboard cylinders), but you can use tupperware. Just store it in your pantry.

Ingredients for Claire's Pancake Mix:

5 cups of whole wheat flour

1 cup of regular or all-purpose flour

2 cups of oats (I use steel cut oats, not quick oats)*

1/2 cup of sugar (you can use stevia if you want to)

2 1/2 tablespoons of baking powder

4 tablespoons of baking soda

4 teaspoons salt

*NOTE: The recipe I followed called for 5 cups of whole wheat flour and 3 cups of all-purpose. I changed it because I wanted to use oats in my pancake mix. 

1. Whisk or stir all ingredients together in a bowl.
2. Store in container of choice, or use right away to make Triple-B Pancakes!

Ingredients for Triple B-Pancakes:

1/2 cup Claire's Pancake Mix (see above)

1/2 cup buckwheat*

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt*

1/2 cup soy milk (you can use regular milk if you like)

2-3 tablespoons of apple butter or apple sauce* 

A handful of blueberries (I used frozen ones)

3/4ths of a banana, sliced

*Notes: the recipe that I (didn't really) follow did not call for the yogurt, but did call for an egg. I wanted to see if the thick yogurt would hold it together like the egg would (Dennis eats soft-boiled eggs everyday so I didn't want to use them in my pancakes). It also did not call for the buckwheat, but instead, for a full cup of pancake mix. And apple butter/sauce is my substitute for a tablespoon of oil-- it makes it much healthier and tastier!

1. Stir all the dry ingredients in a bowl, add the yogurt and the milk and the apple butter/sauce.
2. Stir again. Toss in the blueberries, then slice up the banana. Stir loosely.
3. Heat a large pan on the stove and spray lightly with cooking spray.
4. Allow the pan to get hot, then scoop a large spoonful of the mixture onto the pan.
5. Cook for about 2 minutes on each side, or flip once you see the mix bubbling in the center.

Wha-la! Triple-B Pancakes!

So, how'd they turn out, you ask?

The pancakes were a little gloppy because of the buckwheat, blueberries and banana slices; it wasn't your typical smooth pancake mix. I did not mind it at all, but I was worried that it would make it difficult to flip over because I didn't use an egg. And yes, once they were on and off the griddle, the pancakes did struggle slightly to stay together. 

However, they tasted excellent! I liked the texture and the heartiness that the buckwheat added, yet the fruitiness that the, well, the fruit gave these tasty cakes. Next time, I will try adding that egg (which will hold the pancakes together and make them easier to flip), but I enjoyed the vanilla taste from the yogurt, so I'll keep that ingredient in along with it.

I ate five little ones for brunch and refrigerated the others for later. Dennis ended up snacking on them cold later during the day, so no leftovers for us! He enjoyed them as well, so I would call this recipe a success!

All in all, a successful Saturday as well :-)