Winter workouts

Well, i'm back after a few weeks of dillydallying..

I was worried that working out was harming my poor torn rectus abdominus and still weak pelvis, so i took time off - but it ends up that aches and pains are just part of being my age (39 - how'd that happen?), and I'd rather be working out and feeling great than not working out and still being achy.

So, because our family motto is "We Do Things The Hard Way" (no seriously, it is...), i woke up early and met Coach at the gym in town before he went to work.

Baby is five months old now, and sleeps like a dolly - so her teenaged sister said she'd listen for her, and twice this week now i've gone in the early hours (today we left closer to five than to six... yikes!) and gotten back to a quiet, peaceful household and a soft, warm little baby still cuddled in her cradle.  So in love....

Anyway, about working out.

Our home gym is pretty chilly now that the snow has come - up North where we live, it's come with a vengeance and i'm shovelling snow (it counts for exercise!) as well as enjoying the warmth and community spirit at the local gym.

We scrape off the cars, drive out to the Multiplex, take off our boots, get our wristbands, and walk upstairs to the gym.  It's warm, music is playing, and even right at 5:30 there are already dozens of people in there - warming up in the calisthenics area, on the treadmills and elliptical machines, on the free weights and weight machines.

I'm choosing to do simple exercises, but i'm having to learn gym etiquette.  At home, we set up our weights and then work a circuit, usually.  But at the gym,  it's considered inconsiderate to set up three machines with your weight and go between them.

Sigh.

So, the smith machine for squats got a lot of work from me today, and the bench press station, but also a neat inverted ab stand (since i can't do jack knife movements), a seated cable row machine, and some kettlebells in the calisthenics area.

I'm even planning to join a friend for a class one of these days!

I think this will be a good way to workout through the winter.  We have the family pass for the pool, but the gym is included, and why not make the most of it?  I'm especially looking forward to the indoor running track, one of these days...

Paleo Hospitality

I have been wanting to work on hospitality, to be better at it.  But it honestly is one of the hardest parts of eating paleo.

Eating paleo makes me feel so good, it is a really hard thing to eat something that i know will make me feel bloated, tired, and draggy.

But it is hard at public gatherings to go through the buffet line and ignore all the pasta, breads, and just grab all the "good things" - meats, salads, nuts :) and leave the rest.

and it's equally hard to invite someone over and serve just meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts.  It's not crazy, it's not bad, and it can be delicious.  But your choices are much more restricted, and i've had trouble feeling okay about hospitality, paleo style.

http://www.betterlivingdiary.com/cranberry-almond-and-coconut-bliss-balls-for-a-healthy-sweet-treat-and-energy-kick/

My friend Terry sent me a link to a blog that detailed a woman's "hospitality pantry" and it made me think.

 That it's not as simple as popping a frozen lasagne in the oven to "reheat" - it takes about 45 min to cook...

Same with chicken pies etc..  Although they are only about 30 min i guess...

Coach T does have a weakness for treats!!!  So, out of love for him, i do not buy packaged cookies/treats/sweets.  If i do, i buy them planning to use them immediately (i.e. that day or the next day at the latest), and if i buy, say, a bag of Oreos for the children - they get the whole bag at once.  (There are seven who can eat Oreos, so it's not like anyone is dying of sugar poison!)  And then there are none left to tempt  me or Coach T.

That makes the idea of a hospitality pantry problematic.  I did a lot of these ideas (which my friend Amanda shared with me, too!) - and they are great - but for me, hospitality does mean either a last minute dash to the store, or picking things up the day before, things we would not usually eat.

I AM planning to do a hospitality pantry in my own food language - which would mean, having treat balls made and hidden (sesame seeds, a little honey and a little oil,  or ground almonds, a little maple syrup, and a little oil - possibly dipped in very high cocoa chocolate), having salted nuts, keeping a few fancier cheeses (brie, that Irish one from Costco, the one with all the tiny holes, maybe some fresh goat cheese.. and meats on hand - sliced and ready to roll or serve. (i really really could use a meat/cheese slicer!  It would help make this diet so much more *beautiful* :), having fruits on hand (i have been buying those boxes of 20 lb of peaches - thinking i will can them, but 20 lbs of peaches last two days in my house, and that's in addition to the ~20 lbs or so of fruits and snacky veggies (carrots, cucumbers, celery that children will eat raw for a snack).  Crackers don't work for us, but jerky is a nice treat for us, although not too nice looking for guests.  Dehydrated apples are nice "chips", and kale chips are yummy, but again, weird looking to serve to people...  Salad can be a nice thing to serve, if it's full of fruits or cheese or meat and a yummy dressing.

It is a challenge to think "hospitality" without wheat or flour.  Maybe you all have some ideas for me?

stephanie

Fuel : Lunchtime salad

Coach T says that if i'm still hungry, it's because i need more fat in my diet.

I love chicken skin and bacon as much as the next guy, but I've got eight children and there just plain isn't enough skin to go around :)...

Other great ways to increase your fat intake is: olive oil dressings, butter slathered on roasted meat, nuts (salted or not) and nut butters, coconut oil.

But one of my favourite fat sources is avocado.  It's full of minerals, has a delicious, smooth taste, can be added to eggs, sandwiches or salads, and fills you up!

Plus, I find that as mom i can either feed me or feed the troops, and eight little mouths certainly outvote my paleo tummy...  So i end up making carby foods for their breakfast, and grabbing quick whatever i can find to fill my tummy as they get going.  This morning (and lunch) it was a peach and some leftover ham!

This salad is super easy to make with leftover salad, taco fixings, or to just make up for a one person salad bowl.  A plain oil and vinegar dressing is great, but add in some mashed avocado, and a little dab of dijon mustard, and it's a whole 'nother world.

One more delicious trick is grinding up sesame seeds into a paste in the blender, and using the pea sized chunks as "croutons"...

Fast and easy!

Workout : Getting Complicated

Okay, i will be posting less now that school is officially back in session.  The last two weeks my Coach has been back to work, not full time, but more and more, and now this Tuesday marks the beginning of real school for him, students and all...  So our workouts will be less, his workouts at the big gym will be happening more, but hopefully i will still get both workouts and clean food...  My goal is two posts a week - one workout and one fuel idea!

Our last workout i posted on fitocracy, and i honestly don't even know how to begin to title it.  But i will try to describe it.

First of all, squats (i just used the bar, which weighs 45 lbs).  Coach T is trying to get me to squat LOW - and lighter weight makes this easier for now, for me to learn the proper mechanics.

I did 20 low bar squats.

THEN,

barbell presses - i started with two barbells each weighing 15 lbs, but Coach moved me up to 20 lbs each.  I guess i am getting stronger.

I did "as many reps as i could" per set - four sets.

THEN,

a ladder - this time, ring pull ups and then to the mat for pushups - i did ten of each, then nine of each, then eight, 76,5,4,3,2 and finally a set of one and one.

I am really liking Fitocracy.com for the intangible encouragement.  I know it's basically like a robot telling you you're awesome (okay, it *is* a robot telling you you're awesome...) but somehow the random allotment of "points" that might push you to the next "level" seem to be a motivating factor for me...

And now, to get back to my workout!

Workout : Buns o' Steel

Coach T asked me what exercises i wanted to do.  As if i know!  That's why he's the coach.

But i told him i wanted buns of steel :) and he promises i will feel this workout tomorrow every time i sit down!

21-15-9

This means, three sets - the first will have 21 reps of each exercises
The second will have 15 of each exercise.  And the last set will have nine reps of each  exercise.

Coach T's exercises were:

~Ring pullups (video)

~hanging knees to elbows (KTE) (video)

~handstand pushups (video)

My exercises were:

~low bar squats (video)

~jumps (video)

~pushups (video)

Here's a website with info on ladies squatting that might encourage/help, too! (****warning**** bad language)

http://www.stumptuous.com/

Workout : Rowing combination

Tonight's workout:

4 sets of

Row 500m

20 pull ups

20 crunches

Instead of pull ups, I do bodyweight rows.  Which I've mentioned here.  (All of those exercises are links to videos that show proper form!)  And instead of crunches, tonight i did TTapp's "Putting Organs in  Place" followed by "Half Frog Sequence".

It's funny - i felt so fat Saturday - went shopping and most things looked depressing on me.  But once i just put on my shorts and shoes and got down to the workout, my *body* felt happier :).

Try it!