Adventures in Spinning and the Nasty Gnomes

There is that saying that you have to hit rock bottom to want to climb back up.  I am currently standing at the bottom of a sheer rock wall with no chinks I can see for hand or foot holds, no ropes to climb, no elevators or escalators.  the only way I can climb this wall is with sheer guts, hard work, sacrifice, commitment and determination. 

I will share, I am 5'3, 38 years old and I weigh a whopping 234!  Gasp!  Awful, terrible, but I am putting it out there for anyone who might be reading this that feels like they have let themselves go to the point that there is no hope left even trying.  I am going to try.  Watch me!  I am so upset and disgusted!  I want that scale to say 134.

SO, I have heard that spinning is a great workout and burns calories.  I need both.  I tried spinning on Tuesday, and OMG talk about humiliation!

The pros:
Fantatic loud music
Dark room
No one looks at me this get Many points
Everyone is sweaty and smelly just like me
I can go at my own pace
Nice intructors that tell you to go at your own pace

The cons:
The Gnomes
It kills
It is so hard you want to cry
The humiliation

Ok so the Pros outweigh the cons because the cons as you can see is just me whining.  There is no whining at rock bottom allowed if you want to climb that wall. 

The Gnomes you might ask what are they?  Well, you may have experienced this, when you try to do a lift on the bike you suddenly feel, or I do, a sharp stabbing pain in your quads as if someone has stabbed a knife into them.  It is the Gnomes, the spinning Gnomes!  They live in the spin room and torture all people that come in there and stab their quads with Gnome knifes when they do a lift.  Ok, maybe not, maybe the Gnomes are just a story, I created to make myself feel better about my pathetic quads.

The short of it, is that there are more pros than cons.  Now I am a pathetic spinner, it is humiliating, but if I want to get out of lumpy state, I have to let myself feel humiliated or I won't try.  I love that it is in a dark room, it really allows you to focus on yourself and get in a sort of spinning zen.  I love that you can do it at your own pace.  Everyone else is doing all the lifts, but I do what I can and it is OK and no one is looking at me, it is in the dark and they are all in too much pain too.  I can adjust my tension my way.  There are no numbers, so you don't feel badly about yourself if your cranking it up is different that the perfect skinny person next to you. 

Does it hurt, yep.  After both classes have I felt like I might puke, collapse and have my legs not be able to walk.  But, it feels good, because it is a workout.  A workout I need.

I highly recommend spinning and I am going to continue it Tuesday and Thursday at 9:30am at the Y.  Come join me!!

Watch out for those Gnomes though, they are nasty and mean! 

This is a lot harder than I thought it would be!

2 years ago, I made a life altering decision.  I realized I was obese, unhealthy, a couch potato.  I had let myself go.  To my credit, it was not like I had nothing to do.  I had had 4 children in 6 years, one who is severely disabled by Autism.  My husband was finishing his residency board requirements and working full time, so I was essentially a single parent. All of this stress and toll led to me being 100 pounds overweight.  I signed up for the Disney 2010 1/2 marathon, joined an amazing running team, Team All Ears Running with Purpose and starting working on changing my life. 

If you had asked me 2 years ago where I would be today, I would have told you that I would be a pixie by now and running sub 10 minutes miles and probably have done about 2 iron mans by now.  Well, I have made incredible progress, lost 40 pounds, gained 20 back, run countless races including 1 marathon and 2 half marathons, changed my family's entire eating habits and gotten us all more active in general. 

Here is the big Question.  Am I a pixie? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  It is very frustrating. 

This is so much harder than I thought it was going to be! 

When I cam up with the blog name  A Journey at that time I really thought it would be more like a quick skip or a run, but it has in fact turned out to be a journey. 

Am I giving up?  No Way!  I am more determined and resolved than ever.  I know that due responsibilities for my children and family and my career, that sometimes, well actually a lot this past year, my exercise has had to take a step back.  However, with spring here and my frustration level high, I am going to continue this journey and focus on my progress and the progress I have made on my journey.

Please keep sending me support and I promise I will be more accountable with consistent training, more weight loss and more blog posts!

More Recipies

Here are some more recipes, that we have made. I try to cook with all the kids since they are more likely to try it of they have helped to make it.


Zuchinni Pancakes

2-3 zuchinnis shredded
low fat cheese
a few tablespoons of whole wheat flour
olive oil
salt and pepper
scoop of flax and wheat germ
2 eggs

You can really make this with lots of veggies and sweet potatoes, summer squash, eggplant, broccoli, cauliflower, ect.


Shred the zucchinis and press out extra moisture, mix with flour, cheese, salt and pepper, flour, flax and wheat germ and eggs, mix all together. In a pan on medium high heat, put is a swirl of olive oil, they do not need to deep fry. Form small pancakes and fry on either side until brown.


Easy sauce that is good for dipping meat, veggies and pancakes in.
Plain greek yogurt
Fresh basil
Fresh minced garlic
Lemon juice
salt and pepper

Chop basil and minced garlic and mix with a few scoops of greek yogurt to make a delicious side sauce.

You can also substitute herbs, for example if you grill peaches or pineapple for a dessert you could mix with fresh mint and a squirt of honey instead for a delicious topping.

Crunchy Chicken

Chicken tenders
Whole Wheat Panko Crumbs
Eggs
Whole Wheat Flour
salt and pepper

Set up the dipping station, fill one container with whole wheat Flour seasoned with salt and pepper, one with two beaten eggs and one with panko crumbs

Take eat chicken tender and dip in the flour to coat, then the egg, then the panko crumbs. The kids love to do this!!!

Then bake on a sheet in a 375 oven for 20-30 minutes and you have crunchy chicken!!


Sliders

The possibilities are endless for sliders, you can use ground bison, beef, sirloin, chicken or turkey. You can add spinach, onions, peppers, cheeses, tomatoes, shredded broccoli, really anything. This is what we made and they were delicious!

Ground beef 90%
scoop of wheat germ and flax
1 egg
low fat shredded cheddar
spinach


Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and using a slider make press the tiny burgers into shape. Then grill on a grill pan and serve, easy, simple and yummy.

Get creative!

Home made Mac and Cheese

Cooked whole wheat pasta of your choice.
small pat of kates butter
low fat shredded cheddar cheese
salt and pepper
nutmeg
skim milk

Put the cooked pasta in a baking dish and preheat oven to 375.
In a saucepan, melt the butter, cheese and milk together and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper. When all melted together pour over the pasta, you can top with panko crumbs for a crunchy top and bake for 20 minutes.


Spinach salad and grilled shrimp

shrimp
seasoning of choice, some ideas, old bay, cajun, salt and peppper, ect.
lemon

Spinach
walnuts
dried cranberries
red onions
garlic
olive oil
balsamic

Coast the shrimp in seasoning of choice and grill in a grill pan until cooked and then squeeze fresh lemon juice at the end.

Toss spinach leaves, walnuts, diced red onion and dried cranberries with minced garlic, olive oil and balsamic. Top with the grilled shrimp and enjoy!

The first shot at the Revolution

How do you start a Food Revolution for your family?

First you have to empower yourself with knowledge. My empowerment had started with Jamie Oliver and with the Juice Plus presentation. Next, you have to resolve yourself to change. I hear so many people saying, "Oh, I don't have time" or "Oh it is too much work" and I understand, I used to be like that. However, our children don't have a voice or the power to make the change, they are told to eat what we serve them and we usually do not give them a choice. I decided that I needed to work harder to make those choices real food and healthy options for them.

It has not been easy so far, but it has been rewarding. My kids are enjoying cooking and trying new foods they never have before. Yes, there has been a lot of whining about McDonald's and such, but I have told them we will make our own healthy version of a McDonald's happy meal together!

How did I actually go through the process in my house?
I went to the book store looking for some books about nutrition and cooking books for healthy whole food eating and I found The Eating Clean Diet by Tosca Rena. This book has become an incredible resource for me on everything from supplements, to ideas for feeding your family, to what to put in your pantry. It provides shopping lists and recipe ideas and motivation. I have also found her web pages and facebook pages and she is providing the fresh ideas and support you need to change.

The concept is simple, you eat food. Not processed food, not prepackaged food, not chemical filled, food dyed and colored food, just food. Ok, I hear the groans, "that is impossible right"? Not really. "Oh, it is way more expensive, we can't afford that!" You can with planning. I used to go out and shop and then never plan and throw away tons of food that went bad before I had a chance to cook it. Now I am planning my meals and making more trips to the grocery store and buying only what we need, not what I think we need.

I will be honest there was a bit of an expense getting started. I had to buy some new cooking pans and storage containers from Marshalls and I have been slowly replacing my pantry items. However, this is being offset by the fact that last week we did not order out food three nights like we used too. I did not stop for an egg and cheese sandwich five days a week, I made my own. I also fed the kids lunch at home and packed their lunches. With those changes, I think I paid it off.

We will still go out to eat. This past Saturday we went to the Barnacle and it was very easy to eat clean for me. I let the kids order off the kids menu and have a dessert as treat, I have told them that when we are out to dinner or at friends houses they can make their own choices. Hopefully by eating 99% of the time at home, they will eventually start to make the right choices when out. Anyway, I had steamed crab legs for an appetizer, no butter, I squeezed fresh lemon instead and for an entree I had grilled salmon over greens with balsamic vinegar.

Back to the process. I started by going through my pantry and removing anything that had ingredients that included corn syrup, fructose, words I did not understand, food coloring, white flour, trans fats, and anything partially hydrogenated. I FILLED UP 8 BAGS!!! You would not believe what corn syrup is in!

Ritz crackers
microwave popcorn
pretzels
ketchup
BBQ sauce
granola bars
cake mixes
frostings
apple sauce
peanut butter
Jelly
bread
kids smoothies and yogurts

Just to name a few things, before you pay $$$ for something in a store, READ THE INGREDIENTS!!!

I spent a few hours in Trader Joes and Whole Foods, looking for healthier replacement options. For example, I replaced Ritz crackers with Whole Foods brand made with whole wheat flour. My kids did not notice the difference! The kids were so used to seeing certain labels and boxes, so I bought a bunch of clear containers to store the food, so they just see the food, not the packaging.

I replaced our mustards and ketchups and some marinades, I found new healthier replacement options for most items and bought whole wheat pasta and bread and wheat flour.

The most important resource so far has been sharing this journey with friends on facebook, because I have been learning from other people who have gone through this and our living healthier lives.

More to come....

I found

Food Revolution

April 2009, I learned I was clinically obese, 100 pounds overweight. I had been a college athlete, a field hockey national team member in my teens, how could this happen? I had let the stress and the demands of having four young children, one with a severe disability and a husband who works in a demanding career overshadow my health. I had let myself go and suddenly I was told by my doctor how serious a problem this was.

I had a choice to make. Do I continue on this path of self destruction and obesity leading me to diabetes, heart disease and cancer and a promise of an early death? Or, do I dig down deep, fight hard to lose weight and get fit?

I Chose the fight. That is when I registered for the Disney 1/2 marathon, joined the most incredible and supportive running team, Team Allears and began to exercise and run.

April 2010, one 1/2 marathon, one full marathon and several 5k's, a 10k and other races later, I went back to see my Doctor for my yearly physical. I felt fit and wonderful, but recognized the little voice on my shoulder that had been nagging at me mile 18 to 26.2 during the Boston Marathon. The voice had been saying in an annoyingly naggy voice similar to the way mothers say, "I told you so". "You are carrying all this extra weight and it is slowing you down because you did not eat properly"

I had worked out frequently the past year, changed my eating habits slightly, but had not lost a significant amount of weight. If I was lighter, I would run faster, it would be easier, I would be healthier. In my mind I thought I had lost around 40 pounds and was slapped in the face when I realized I had only lost 20 pounds.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME???????

How could this be possible? I run hard 3-4 times a week, I run for hours at a time. My doctor was proud of me and told me not to give up and to keep working, he told me, "You have the exercise part down, now you need to work on the diet. He told me to really think about what I was feeding my body. Keep fighting.

I walked out of the office and starting thinking about what I eat. I usually ate scrambled eggs with cheese and coffee for breakfast, a sandwich of some some sort for lunch, and for dinner takeout, often. I really had not been eating well or making smart choices, I would eat off the kids plates, I would regularly eat chips and salsa, Chinese food at night or pizza with my husband was typical.

On a side note he never gains weight. GRRRRRRRR

Ok focus back to me.

A friend of mine had been telling me about Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution after I had inquired online about what the school lunch Maxi Cheese Stick was all about. I started watching his show and it changed the way I look at food. As a family we have not been eating food, we have been eating processed crap. We have been drinking milk with hormones, we have been eating meat and eggs treated with hormones and antibiotics, we eat too much sugar, too little food.

A few nights later, I attended a presentation given by Juice Plus. A supplement you can take as adults and give to your children. They pick the fruits and vegetables straight from the vine and flash freeze and compound them and put them into gummies for the children and capsules for the adults. When you take them it ensures that you and your children are getting the 7 servings of fruits and vegetables daily that your body requires. It is FDA approved and endorsed by Dr. Sears and countless others.

A few things stuck in my head as I listened to this presentation.

1. I have not only been doing this to myself, I have been feeding my children in an inappropriate way, by serving processed food at home with too much sugar and corn syrup. I though we had been eating healthy since they did not have sugar cereals and pop tarts, but you would not believe what corn syrup is in.

2. This present generation of children have a shorter length life expectancy due to improper nutrition resulting in earlier onset of diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

3. The number of Young children being diagnosed with Diabetes under age 10 and obesity by age 12 is alarming.

4. An enormous amount of money is spent every year trying to find ways to cure cancer when in fact the only way to really cure cancer is to work on prevention.

5. I learned that corn syrup is a processed form of sugar that is dangerous to the body and that since the body does not know how to digest it, it stores it as fat. White flour has no nutritional value. Anything with hydrogenated and trans fat is unhealthy.

I decided at that point that I needed to start my own personal food revolution. It is no wonder why I have not lost more weight, I had been exercising, but that is only one small part 80% of weight loss is what you feed your body, your nutrition.

When I decide to do something I usually go hard core, I came back that night determined to make some serious lifestyle changes.

Hitting the Wall

The past eight years have been a whirlwind of time for me consisting mainly of pregnancy, nursing, sleepless nights, changing diapers, and agonizing decisions of parenthood. I find myself at age 36 incredibly out of shape and many pounds overweight.

There are the upsides, I have four beautiful children; Dear Son 7 who has autism, a topic for another post, Dear Daughter 6, a slave to fashion, Dear Daughter 4, a princess and Dear Daughter 1 well, trouble.

They bring joy to my life every minute of everyday. I love nurturing their needs and helping to shape them into thoughtful, caring, imaginative and intelligent individuals. Then there are the downsides, in the past eight years, my body has been put to the test; ripped apart by four pregnancies, four bouts of nursing and a general lack of overall care and attention. I stopped looking in the mirror about three years ago and refuse to be in any pictures. I still was wearing pregnancy size clothing and stopped being able to fit into my husbands clothing about three years ago.

On April 20, I looked in the mirror and sobbed. That was not me staring back. Who was that Heffalump I was looking at? I was always a pixie. A field hockey and lacrosse player, a coach, a runner, a gregarious, athletic, fun person. I hit the wall and decided to take action.

Everything Disney has always motovated me, so I started searching for a challenge and I found the Disney 1/2 marathon. I used to be an avid runner, that was my euphoric release from life's challenges. Without hesitation, I registered and enrolled in a team for support and guidance and began my Journey from Heffalump to Pixie Hollow.

I am on day 10 of this journey and have lost 10 pounds so far, many to go, and have been starting the slow and painful hobble back to fitness. I know it will not be easy and there will be many challenges, but I am committed to doing this I am inspired by all who have fought their battles with breast cancer and other forms of cancer and know that if they can take on that battle, I can take on my own battle and decrease my chances of cancer knocking on my door in the future. Come and follow me in my journey. I am raising money for breast cancer with my run in the 1/2 marathon.