livestrong and calorie counting

Livestrong.com's calorie tracker, which takes
into account your physical activity in
an easy-to-read format.

I just ate a Minute Maid frozen lemonade tube even though I'm a tad over my recommended caloric intake for the day...

As evidenced by this statement, I am by no means an overly obsessive calorie counter.  However, I feel like the ability to track my meals and view my nutrition totals for the entire day, week, or month has been an extremely helpful tool for me to make better choices about what I'm putting into my body.

Like most of my fitness journey, my love affair with Livestrong.com, the Lance Armstrong Foundation's "healthy lifestyle destination," began while I was trying to figure out just what I should be eating after spending four months in the land of Mystery Meat (aka Russia).  I was toying with vegetarianism, and wanted to be sure that my meals included enough protein.  I was also curious how tracking my meals would be helpful in terms of my weight loss goals.

I don't know much about Lance Armstrong (besides the whole Tour de France + Cancer + possible performance-enhancing drug abuse deal), and I don't particularly care to, but I'm a big supporter of his meal and fitness tracker, which allows users to search for brand name foods and track all their nutritional info. For numerically challenged people like myself, it even can multiply serving sizes, which saves a lot of time. My favorite thing about using it has been that I will sometimes consider eating a below-average food in terms of nutritional content, but after searching it on Livestrong's MyPlate and getting the facts, I look around in the fridge for something healthier. It's a good deterrent.

One of my breakfasts, tracked, and all its nutritional info,
as presented on Livestrong.com.

However, I wouldn't recommend the site to those who are preoccupied with weight or have been overly involved in counting calories in the past; tracking your calories takes a thick skin, I think.  If I had more "at stake" in this process, I think I would beat myself up a lot more every time I had to track a Frozen Lemonade, piece of chocolate cake, or renegade can of Coke.

It also is probably not as helpful for someone in the process of cultivating better willpower; rather than making healthy choices to lead to my 1693 recommended calories a day, I could drink seven bottles of Coke and deprive myself of real nutrients, and still get by with Livestrong.  Instead, for someone who needs a little more structure, I would recommend Self's "Drop 10" meal plan and calorie tracker. They provide tasty choices within the plan, while giving participants a little leeway so that they don't feel totally entrapped.

Overall, I would say tracking my meals has been a huge help in beginning to make healthier choices. For those of you not interested in weight loss or gain but still want to eat healthier, I would suggest keeping a little diary of your eats- you might be surprised at how little nutritious food you're putting into your body, and you might just have to do something about it!

What online tools do you use to help reach your health and fitness goals?

fitness instructorian 101

I've been to a bunch of group fitness classes since I started taking an interest in my health about a year and a half ago. They range from Belly Dancing in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to Pilates mat geared toward college women for PE credit at school, to the intense, full-body "Power" class I've been attending lately (along with the Greater Princeton area's middle-aged moms and college kids, all way fitter than me).

Having sampled so many classes, I can usually tell fairly quickly if an instructor is for me or not. That is, I'm fluent in the language of Fitness Instructorian.

Fitness Instructorian a la Nina*

The Perky Pixie- It is readily apparent that this fitness instructor, weighing in at about 5'2", 100 lbs, is a veritable ball of energy. She smiles all the time, even when leading you through squats in the bottom half of your range.  Her butt-length hair bounces around after her while she tells you, in crazy fitness language, to "walk the curb," or "clean and press," leaving the noobs of the class confused. And she doesn't hesitate to put the cheese on when she peeps, "Alright! Memorial Day Sunday! You are here for YOU! Not anybody else! This is the only time of the week you can say that! Let's all cheer! WHEEEEEEEEEE!"

The Untouchable- Not that any fitness instructor has a less-than-enviable body, but the Untouchables are just pure Gods and Goddesses. You notice their lack of sweat while concurrently being aware of every drop beading on your own forehead or seeping through your clothing in embarrassing locales.  They might poke a little good-hearted fun at those who try to take a stealthy break. Untouchables use extra risers. Extra weights. Do the tougher variation the whole time. Sure, they're fitness instructors, but they're superhuman. You consider voicing your admiration after class, but you just can't seem to get near them without choking up. Or maybe you're just embarrassed about how broken you are after their class.

The Cool Sibling- Yeah, this instructor rocks the bod and walks the walk, but does she talk the (fitness) talk? Sort of. Usually you find yourself laughing when taking a class with the cool sibling, because she'll be making jokes about the difficulty of a track, "happy ankles," or the techno version of "Bridge Over Troubled Water" that accompanies your lateral lunges. You don't feel as self-conscious in this class, because you can imagine your instructor was a fitness misfit like you once, but somehow this often translates to not working as hard... so you facebook stalk your instructor when you get home to show your devotion and mask your guilt.

-------

I can't say that any one group is my favorite, though I do tend to stay away from Perky Pixies. Somehow, anyone who smiles their way through a track consisting entirely of push-ups seems a tad masochistic to me. But some perkiness is definitely in order; it's feels great to be praised after the end of a  long workout when you've put in the effort. I definitely appreciate instructors who are "real" and who show their sense of humor to the class, breaking down that superhuman aura they exude.  I guess this means that to me, the perfect instructor exhibits qualities of each group; The Goldilocks of instructors, if you will.

What's important to note is that an instructor who isn't hip to your fitness jive shouldn't reflect on your overall group fitness experience. Group fitness classes were how I was introduced to working out, and I still rely on them to give me extra motivation (and fun!) a couple times a week.

What's your ideal group fitness instructor like?

*If you're a fitness instructor, don't worry, I'm only stereotyping you for the amusement of my readers. You rock my world!... no matter which group you fall in ;)

go big or go home: summer 2011

In late August I'm moving to Washington DC to start grad school; I'll be living on my own, in my own apartment, preparing my own food and making all sorts of healthy life decisions for myself... that's the plan, anyway.

My dress rehearsal for my new life, which is what I hope this summer will be, is shaping up to be pretty busy. For the next few weeks I'll be at home, taking little trips before I leave for my summer program at Indiana University in mid-June.  I'll be living in the IU dorms and eating mostly out of a micro-fridge- it will certainly be a challenge to maintain a healthy diet, but I think I'm up for it! I'll also have access to IU's awesome fitness center for free, which includes classes, weight training and cardio machines, as well as an indoor track (perfect for 5k prep!)¹.

I've been enjoying the gym and classes available at my home gym, Princeton Fitness and Wellness Center, for the past couple of weeks, but around the time I caught the finale of The Biggest Loser when I was waiting for The Voice to come on, something dawned on me: I've been exercising regularly for the past year, and I've definitely seen some positive change, but in order for me to really dig deep into this whole fitness thing, I'm going to need a new mantra: go big or go home.

Why should I get on the elliptical if my go-to cardio workout is no longer challenging? Why should I go to my "Power" class (which focuses on working every part of the body) if I'm going to use the lightest weights of any of the women in the class, even those who are half my height and weight or twice my age? Why should I even bother going to the gym (especially now, when I'm paying for my membership) if I'm going to half-ass my workout?

This realization made me pay more attention to varying my workout; today on the elliptical I tried upping the resistance and shortening the time of my intervals. I burned more calories, sweat more, and felt better afterward! Tomorrow, I will return to my Power class for the second time this week, up my weight, and sink into each and every one of those grueling squats.

On a lighter note, at least I'll be squatting in beautiful new workout clothes; as a treat to myself for my hard work so far this year and what will certainly be a healthy summer, I spent a bunch of money on some Nike apparel. I look pretty cute in it, if I do say so myself, and now I won't have to deal with the pesky ass-crack sweat that plagued me in my old digs².

Let's hear it for summer, when we all have a little more time and energy to make some positive changes in our routine! What are your plans?

¹I also intend to get exercise at IU running to the basement for tornado warnings. On Wednesday, IU had FIVE. No tornado actually ended up hitting campus, but 80 trees were uprooted...
² I should add that to date, I have been working out in light grey leggings, purchased (from Walmart, in honor of their ugliness) to appear in this music video.

ocean city, maryland, or how i dropped a pound on vacation

Mike and I wanted to go on a cheap, fun, vacation before embarking on our busy summer plans, so we decided to hang in Ocean City, Maryland for a few days. We had spent a few days in OC a couple years ago, when we were a much younger couple and much younger people. We gorged ourselves on the Boardwalk, baked on the beach, and took a high-speed dolphin watching cruise. This time around, we wanted a different experience.

Since I'm in the second week of my summer vacation, which I hope will be my dress rehearsal for my ever-encroaching adult life beginning in August, I'm trying my hardest to eat healthy and exercise as much as possible. I didn't want to go to Ocean City, catch a whiff of Thrasher's fries and have my whole workout regimen and all the work I'd done to go down the toilet. So, I informed Mike we would be going on a health-cation.

The Food
If we were going to be feeling healthy on this vacation, we certainly weren't going to be eating out every day, but we also didn't want to be stuck nibbling on nothingness in the name of our cause. Here's how we noshed in OC.

Breakfast- Any combination of: organic yogurt with fresh blueberries, honey, or Kashi Go Lean Toasted Berry Crunch; eggs; English Muffins with apricot preserves. Lots of protein for post workout boosts and lots to keep us full until lunch!

The salad was served with a delicious and easy to make
balsamic-dijon dressing... mmm. 

Lunch- Since we knew we'd be hankering to stay on the beach a full day, we took some cooler ready food: turkey breast, cheese, rolls, and light versions of condiments. Our lunch triumphant was a salad of baby lettuce, baked goat cheese buttons and rosemary walnuts from my beloved goat cheese cookbook.

Dinner- is where we really got cookin'. Our first night we made a delicious meal of Bon Appetit's Slow-Baked Salmon with Lemon and Thyme served with baked sweet potato fries and fresh greens in balsamic vinaigrette. We shared the meal with our hosts as a thank you for their hospitality, and it caused one of them to remark, "I'm not just saying this... this is the best salmon I've ever had." 

Slow-baked salmon with sweet potato fries, which are
so easy to make- just toss some sweet potato slivers
in a bit of olive oil, salt them, and throw 'em in the oven!

Our second evening we ate at the much-famed Grove Market, a tiny shack across the bay, about a 15 minute drive from OC. We made an exception on our eating out rule for this place because (a) we had heard a lot about it from our hosts, who are regulars there, and (b) they use local ingredients, and the menu is truly based on what is fresh and in season at the time. We ate: Shrimp Bisque, Smoked Bluefish Pate, and a Beet and Goat Cheese salad with a Mustard Vinaigrette for our appetizers. Mike enjoyed Shrimp Creole and I ate a delicious duck (my first ever)... I understood why the duck was their house specialty. Overall, The Grove Market comes highly recommended! 

Our last evening we made a simple recipe of my mom's creation: "Cold Spaghetti." It's a delicious, light, healthy, and easy-to-prepare dinner that keeps in the fridge for a couple days. 

Not the prettiest, but it sure is tasty!

Ingredients:
1/2 pound linguine
1 bell pepper (pick your favorite color!)
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
1/2 small can chickpeas
1 can artichoke hearts (if desired)
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil
grated parmesan cheese

Cook pasta.  Meanwhile, halve tomatoes and cube bell pepper.  Drain chickpeas. Combine, then add balsamic vinegar and olive oil and mix.  Top with parmesan. Yum!

Desserts and Snacks: We had a lemon merengue pie on hand, I ate some Kohr's Frozen Custard at the Boardwalk, and we made some smoothies. 

The Workouts
We didn't really do anything particularly inventive or crazy, but we had fun.  Every morning we went running on the beach.  Sometimes we saw beach creatures, including horseshoe crabs, but other than them the beaches were pretty empty in the mornings, which was lovely. On Monday we went kayaking around Assateague Island and saw some wild ponies, which was difficult since it was a tad stormy that day, but delightful overall. The goal for the vacation was to have fun while getting some fitness in, and we did. Mission accomplished.

The Skinny
Barring our meal at The Grove, which I was unable to track, every day of our trip I was somewhere between 200 and 400 calories under my recommended intake, thanks to exercise and healthy eating choices.  This all amounted to my dropping a pound over the four days. This was never the goal of our trip, but hey, I'll take it. I didn't feel hungry or like I was denying myself foods I wanted (except maybe some Thrasher's fries...), and I thoroughly enjoyed our health-cation.

5k, here i come!

I've never been much of a runner. In fact, I think that running itself is what kept me from exercising in earnest for so long.  Until I figured out that ellipticals existed, I thought that all exercise included the pain of  cramped muscles and the immediate fatigue I get after the first few strides of a run. Ellipticals were my savior, really- no shin splints, possible to work your arms during your cardio, no embarrassing incidents of falling off the machine*...

That said, it may come as a surprise that I've signed up for my first ever 5k.  Granted, this race (which totals about 3.125 miles) is not a marathon by any stretch, but it's still going to be tough for me. In addition to hoping that training for it keeps me in shape as I transition to life as a graduate student, the race is being held as a fundraiser for a cause close to my heart: Multiple Myeloma (Bone Marrow Cancer), from which my dad suffered.

To prepare for the race, I'll be following the Couch to 5k Running Plan, a series of interval workouts meant to train you to run a 5k in just two months. Lucky for me, I have until November, because the first workout was HARD for me.  Running is a totally different workout than cardio on the elliptical; it really is a full body workout and can get intense very quickly. By the end of my first workout, I was not only huffing and puffing so loudly I could have blown any of the three little pigs' houses down, but I couldn't stop salivating and I was sweating my ass off. The next day, I was more sore than I have been in a lonnnng time.

That was Saturday. Today (Tuesday) the workout was a lot easier, for some reason. I've been using an app for my Palm Pre Plus that times my intervals (and even applauds me when I finish!), and that has made the workout a lot easier and more enjoyable!

I'll be updating you as the weeks go by- let me know if you have any running tips for a novice like me! And if you want to sponsor my race, you can click here

*...very few, anyway...