Saturday, October 3, 2009

An Explanation of Whittling Down

I had a work-related function to host yesterday. Bosnian pita is one of my weaknesses. I try not to eat too much bread these days but, honestly, after gathering the food and putting it out, I didn't have much of an appetite until it was time to clean up. Neither the pita nor the sweets ended up tempting me too much.



As we were clearing the table, I grabbed some tortilla chips and dipped them in salsa and hummus. I always think that I want an olive until I toss it in my mouth and I'm shocked by the saltiness. I chased the olive with a grape and was surprised by how good the combination of olive and grape tasted.

I was standing next to one of the attendees and explaining my method of whittling down and she wasn't on board with my exiling things like fried foods. She believes that once you exile a food it becomes more tempting. I see her point but, for right now, exiling certain foods works for me. I should probably try banning a few more foods. In addition to Bosnian pita, we also had sambosa from Meskerem, an Ethiopian restaurant and we had some fried vegetable situation from Taste of India.

Fried vegetables crack me up; they're like a backhanded compliment, if you ask me. My family used to tease me about not eating greens; they insisted that they had picked up the wrong baby from the hospital but I would rather not eat them that eat them with, say, sugar like one of my aunts used to eat them. As a matter of fact, I had to break myself (long time ago) of seasoning my rice with sugar. Oh, the things that I/we used to do.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Month-End Review, September

September will go down as the month in which my workouts were more varied. I was flipping through an old journal and was reminded about how I used to hit the workout DVDs much more. I got out my kickbox bootcamp DVD and it was just what I needed for, at least, one day this month to be reminded that it's not just about working out but also how much effort you put into the workout.

10 Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workouts (Upper Body), 7 x's

10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp (Basic Training), 1 x

10 Minute Solution: Kickbox Bootcamp (Fat Burning Blast), 1 x

Adaptive Motion Trainer, 2 x's

Army Crawls with Weights, 5 x's

Bicycling, 8 x's

Elliptical Trainer, 1 x

Mowing Lawn, 1 x

Rock Climbing, 1 x

Shooting Hoops, 1 x

Squats, 1 x

StairMaster, 4 x's

Swimming, 8 x's

Treadmill, 5 x's

Walking (Outdoors), 7 x's

Yard Work, 1 x

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Today's Journey

I went to check out The Sam Vadalabene Bike Trail. I stopped by the Alton Visitors Center to ask about a good starting point and the woman in the office suggested that I go to Piasa Park which has plenty of parking and one tough looking creature, The Piasa Bird.




I enjoyed the scenery and intended to bike from Alton to Grafton but I didn't quite make it. Oh well, there's always next time.





A Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels' Motivational Moment

Jillian:

Who are you going after?

Bob:

Julio.

Jillian:

Go get him. That Julio -- he is not doing work. Every time I turn my back, he stops moving. Kill him.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Food Wit

Overheard while actively or, well, passively watching the box.


How am I supposed to eat without a television?
Homer Simpson


You need to talk to a trained professional about why you live life as a raccoon in a dumpster.
Carrie to Doug on The King of Queens


I don't want to die tomorrow knowing that I could have had a piece of cake tonight.
Gabriel Iglesias in Hot and Fluffy


You mind if I watch you eat that?
Jack, post-heart attack on 30 Rock

Sunday, September 27, 2009

'Drea's Top Ten List

I'm usually happy to see the Arch come into view when I'm on the St. Louis Riverfront Trail.



When I see this scrawled, homemade sign, I'm relieved especially when it's been a rough ride because the finish line really is just a heartbeat away when I see this graffiti.



I saw lots of tailgaters but was surprised to see so many Packers' fans who ended up with plenty of reasons to celebrate since the Packers beat, with a capital B, the St. Louis Rams.

I didn't think that I would have a place to park but the football fans left the trail parking to the bikers. Thank you. In honor of my bicycle jones, here is 'Drea's Top Ten list of why she enjoys bicycling:

10). Throwing leg over bike frame at the start line.

9). The open trail.

8). The scenery/nature.

7). The wild turkeys, frogs, cardinals etc.

6). Flying down hills.

5). Leaning into curves.

4). The feeling of balance.

3). The feeling of movement.

2). The workout of lifting the bike before the bike ride.

And the number one reason?


1). The calories burned.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

'Drea Vs 'Drea

After waiting for the rumbling to dissipate, I headed to the pool. There are instructors, especially on Saturday, giving lessons to kids while parents sit on the sidelines. There are also some parents who take on the role of swimming instructor and teach their kids the finer points of diving etc.

At one point, I watched as this pre-teen girl (sans instructor) did lap after lap. While she was doing the front crawl, she did bilateral breathing which made me wish that I had learned to swim much sooner. It also got me to thinking about taking another swimming class or semi-private class so that I'll feel more comfortable in the water.

I found myself watching Shaq Vs Michael Phelps. You know, anything to get some swimming tips. Watching Shaq Vs just made me want a personal trainer and swimming coach though. At one point, Phelps' coach gives Shaq some tips on the freestyle (20:50). There's a medley relay in this episode and three women (two Olympians) join Shaq. The women are not slouches and it was a joy to watch them swim against Phelps (34:47).