‘Mom’ Version of the 30-Day Shred

Let me break down the Mom version of the 30-Day Shred.  First, yes, I’m embracing Jillian again to shred it out for 30 days.  I have a partner, too.  Poor girl! Today rounds out the last day of Level 1.  This is how we get through the 20 23 minutes of “intensity”.

1. Get home from work; change clothes; potty.
2. Get kids situated with play dates upstairs and away from the workout area.
3. Complete warm-up (including jumping jacks).
4. Start Circuit 1.  Get through first set of jumping jacks.  Press pause just before second set of jumping jacks to go potty.
5. Resume jumping jacks and jump rope.
6. Finish video and cool down.
7. Potty.

How many of you can relate?!

Going Bananas!

No evidence of green in this beauty!

We had some bananas that needed to be eaten.  Well, they weren’t quite to the point where my mother likes to eat them (almost black), but they were very ripe.  You should never run bananas through your juicer (too soft), so I juiced a recipe and then added the juice mixture to the blender with the banana and a cup of ice.

This is my third time adding banana and each time I think to myself, “Mmm, this is nice!”.

So – today’s breakfast was as follows:

Cranberry-Citrus-Banana Juice

• 1 cup cranberries
• 2 clementines, peels removed
• 1 apple, cored and cubed
• 1 cup cubed sweet potato
• 1 cup packed chopped kale leaves
• 1 banana
• 1 cup ice

Juice the cranberries (careful, they’re jumpers!), clementines, apple, sweet potato, and kale.

Put banana and ice in the blender.  Pour in juice.  Liquify.

Delicious and satisfying.  If it produces more juice than you care to drink, stick it in the fridge with a lid on it and save it for later.  I’m also going to try to freeze some juices so I can pull them out the next day and have them ready at lunch time.

Today’s Juicing Pictorial

My Juicer Set-Up

From start-to-finish, it takes me 15 minutes to make a juice and completely clean up my mess.

Step 1:  Gather your ingredients.

 Step 2: Leafy Greens in first.

Two handfuls of spinach

Smash it down.

Here it comes!

2 handfuls of collards

It takes a lot of leafy greens to make a little bit of juice.  Don’t worry, when you put something else in, more of the leafy greens will juice out!

Step 3:  Add in some cucumbers to push through the leafy greens.  Cucumbers press a lot of juice!

Green goodness!

Step 4:  Time for some orange.  Peel and cube the squash; top and tail the carrots.

Butternut Squash

Here comes the squash!

I don’t peel the carrots.

Splash! Carrots juice a lot, so it might splatter.

Step 5: Fruit

Watch out! Apples are jumpers! Put a few pieces in at a time and cover them up quickly!

Peel the outer layer of rind from your citrus so it won’t taste bitter.

In go the oranges from the Resolution Run on January 1. Thanks!

Beautiful!

Step 6:  Stir your concoction.

The squash makes it creamy. The color is not too bad here. Sometimes it’s a yucky brownish color…

Step 7: Pour your juice over ice and enjoy!

Step 8: Clean Up

(everything but the motor can go into the dishwasher and the pulp rinses very easily off of the plastic parts in the sink!

Pulp in the bag…and on the strainer.

 

Parts rinsed off in the sink. It all fits in the dishwasher and voila – done!

I should have taken a picture of the clock before and after, but I timed my process yesterday (without the camera interruption) and it was 15 minutes from start-to-finish.  Can you say ‘doable’???

Drink Your Vegetables? Why, I think I will.

This is the exact juicer I received for my birthday.

I got a Jack LaLanne’s Power Juicer Deluxe for my birthday.  I had recently watched the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead and wanted to give juicing a try.  I thought I wanted to try a 3-day juice cleansing (consuming nothing but juice – no solid food) until I realized that I didn’t…  What I decided to do in reality was use a juice concoction for at least one replacement meal per day.  Wow, what a difference!

You see, I don’t eat my vegetables.  The list of what I don’t like far exceeds the list of what I do like.  I like raw carrots, raw cauliflower, raw broccoli, corn, peas, green beans, and lettuce. Yep, that about covers it.  I like almost all fruits.  The bottom line is that I was not getting enough fruits and vegetables in my diet.  I felt like such a hypocrite making my children eat their 3-5 servings each day when I was lucky to get even one serving per day.

My advice to you is to go to Netflix, Hulu, YouTube – wherever – and watch Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.  Afterwards, decide if you would like to try juicing as a supplement to your diet. You could also consume such nutrients through blending your fruits and vegetables to make smoothies.  Of course, I continue to eat raw fruits and vegetables.

I am in the infancy stage in my juicing experience, but so far, so very good!

Some tips:

1. Buy your veggies in bulk.
2. Put a plastic grocery bag in your pulp container.
3. Peel your citrus.
4. Lemon balances strong-tasting leafy greens.
5. Pineapples and clementines are very sweet.
6. Put kale and/or collard greens in every juice!
7. Serve over ice and stir well.
8. If you can’t stand the look (or smell), use an opaque cup and put a lid on it.

My favorite recipe:

Green Lemonade

• Apples – 2

• Cucumber – 1

• Kale – 1 Bunch

• Lemon – 1

• Spinach – 2 Handfuls

Process all ingredients in a juicer, shake or stir and serve over ice.

I have more juice recipes on Pinterest.

More information can be found on the following websites:

1. Reboot with Joe
2. Dr. Joel Fuhrman – How to Live for Life
3. Food Score Chart (scroll down)

 

Stride Length Versus Stride Frequency

I  may be over thinking this…

Recently, I have read countless articles recommending that I strive for a cadence of 180 beats per minute while running.

When I run without thinking, I’m not sure what my cadence is (it’s on my to-do list to figure that out on my Garmin), but I’m here to tell you–180 beats per minute makes me feel like I’m tripping over my feet!

When comparing the two strategies for running faster, my comfort level lies in stride length.  I have attempted a shorter stride at an increased tempo, but it requires a lot of effort on my part.  Maybe that’s the point…

Speed= Stride length X Stride frequency¹

A detailed article was posted on a blog entitled, “Science of Running“.  It basically concluded that you can run at the same speed using various and individualized methods.

At first, I understood this to mean that I should work on my turnover to be able to incorporate stride frequency into my already comfortable stride length strategy.  What the author actually recommended, however, is that stride length dependent athletes (like myself) might need to do more strength/power work, while stride frequency athletes might need to do more turnover work/neuromuscular work.  Strengthen what you already do naturally.

So, now that I feel better that I don’t have to forcibly change my running style, I want to figure out what my cadence actually is and go from there.

Did I bore you with this technical stuff?  Does anyone else wonder if they are “doing it right” when they get bombarded with running suggestions?

What kind of runner are you?  One who uses stride length or stride frequency?

PS: I’ve been watching my little running group when we set out for runs and I know at least what I think two of them prefer!

¹Steve Magness. (n.d.). Understanding Stride Rate and Stride Length. Science of Running. Retrieved October 10, 2012. From http://www.scienceofrunning.com/2010/11/speed-stride-length-x-stride-frequency.html.

October Challenge

Note: I’m stealing this challenge from another source.

You know, if we started a new challenge each month and kept it doable, with the last day of the month the finish line, so to speak, we might be more successful following through with our “resolutions”.

Yes, I realize that it is October and now I decide to start a monthly challenge!  Ever the procrastinator by nature, I also realize that when the idea hits, I should jump on it immediately instead of waiting for a better or more opportune time (which is never).

I got a text this morning containing this image:

The sender of the text said that she was going break up her crunches throughout the day, completing 25-50 at a time until she reaches her goal number of crunches for each day.

She also told me to take a “BEFORE” picture…

I took my picture and then laid on the floor.  I thought I would only be capable of completing about 25 crunches.  I ROCKED OUT 100 CRUNCHES!  So, that’s my baseline.  Tomorrow, I will complete 105, etc. until October 31.  I will then take an “AFTER” picture.

So, will you join me?  This month is crunches and next month will be push-ups.  I like to look ahead…

Sweat

sweat¹

verb (used without object)

1.  to perspire, especially freely or profusely.

2.  to exude moisture, as green plants piled in a heap or cheese.

3.  to gather moisture from the surrounding air by condensation.

4.  (of moisture or liquid) to ooze or be exuded.

5.  Informal: to work hard.

As sweat poured down my forehead this afternoon during a run, I started thinking about why sweat really is liquid awesome.  It inspired me to write this post showcasing quotes² and sayings³ pertaining to sweat that caught my attention.  Perhaps you have a few favorites…

“Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts.” 
-Dan Gable

“Success is dependent upon the glands – sweat glands.” -Zig Ziglar

  

Sources:

¹http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sweat

²http://www.sweatblock.com/sweat-quotes/

³Pinterest Search Results for Sweat