Lose 10 pounds... (Breakfast Edition)

To lose ONE pound, we need a 3500 calorie deficit. If you cut just 100 calories/day, you can lose 10 pounds in a year! Here are some creative ideas on how you can cut 100 calories from your breakfast. Just think, if you do that at breakfast, lunch AND dinner, you could be 30 pounds lighter by the end of the year!

• Ditch the Pop-Tart for a slice of high-fiber toast with strawberry jam.
• Gotta have carbs? Split a bagel with a coworker.
• Drink your two cups of coffee black. Or order a single espresso instead of your usual latte.
• Swap OJ for the real deal—one fresh orange.
• Trade a side of regular sausage for turkey.
• Top your waffles with Reddi-Whip instead of syrup (or use sugar-free).
• Skip the whip on any Caribou Coffee 16-ounce drink.
• Eat your granola from a 4-ounce mug, not an 8-ounce bowl.
• Lose the Yoplait Thick& Creamy and have a Yoplait Fiber 1.
• Order pancakes, but hold the butter.
• Scramble together 4 egg whites instead of 2 whole eggs.

Losing Time........

I have been working so hard to get a faster time on the 1200-step stair climb. Yesterday was my "stair day," so even though my thighs were pretty sore from previous workouts, I decided to still challenge myself.

I knew my time would not be good, but I didn't expect it to slip this far! My last attempt was 16:00, but yesterday I barely eeked it out in 20:00! What gives?

I'm going to have to figure out a way to fit in all my regular workouts (training with Adam, taking my favorite classes at the Y, and regular cardio) while still leaving enough energy to train for my stair challenge. The Race to the Top event is now less than 2 months away... gotta' keep working!

Stairclimb Update!

This week, I got back on the stairmill to challenge my previous best time of 18:00. Remember... the goal is to climb to the top of the Duke Energy building (1194 steps) in less than 16:00.

The GREAT news is that I was able to climb 1200 steps on the Stairmaster in 16:00 exactly! The not so great news is that I was barely breathing by the end, so I obviously need LOTS more training.

Also, during this latest climb attempt, I had a little bit of a "technical difficulty." While climbing, I was getting a little winded and reached for the control to slow down the stairmill. Because this device makes one sweat pretty heavily, I don't wear my glasses, and therefore don't see the controls so well. Evidently, I was pressing the "up" button instead of the "down" button and the stairmill started turning at a FRANTIC pace. I wish you could have seen me panic!

At that point the stairs were coming SO fast that I couldn't climb up high enough to reach the control, and didn't have the mental wherewithall to just hop off! I finally put my feet on the siderails and managed to reach the controls and slow the darn thing down (all the time sliding down the siderails and trying to pull myself back up). I'm sure I was QUITE the sight!!

So... not only do I need a LOT more practice, I also need to pay closer attention to the controls while doing so! Yikes!

Working out and getting healthy has risks that I never experienced when all I did was hold down the sofa! Still... I take those risks... they're SO worth it!

Rest Up... You've Got a Long Way to Go

I read this quote in my daily email from Runners World magazine. Adam (my trainer) has been yelling at me for over training (I haven't been taking rest days), and now Runners World is evidently taking his side, too! Sometimes the universe speaks to us through various "voices," I guess...

I constantly remind myself that resting takes confidence. Anyone can train like a mad man but to embrace rest and to allow all the hard training to come out takes mental strength.

Monday, I was feeling VERY fatigued and achy, so I took Adam's advice and made it a "rest day." It seems like it was just what I needed, because Tuesday night I attempted my 1200 steps and completed them in my best time yet--16 minutes flat!

Tomorrow, I am having metabolic testing done, so today is another mandatory rest day. Also, since my test is at 5:30AM tomorrow, I am not allowed to eat after 5:30PM today. It's gonna be a L-O-N-G night!!

Food to Live By: Snack Your Way to Health

Natural Peanut Butter...it's better for you!

It's mid-January and some people are already starting to fall off the wagon with their New Year's resolutions to eat healthy and/or lose weight. How are you doing? Are you eating healthy meals only to ruin your efforts with junk food from the vending machine? Why not make "snacking" your friend instead of your enemy? That's what I do.


People are often surprised to see how often I eat... not a LOT of food, just FREQUENT meals/snacks. I do that not only because it feels good, but also because it's good science. If our bodies go longer than 2-3 hours without food, they start to worry about the next meal and begin to store fat. That is why I try to eat 5-6 times per day. Since I am busy and don't have time to create gourmet snacks at work or when on the run, I have developed a few "go to" snacks. Here are a few you might enjoy:


1 small apple and 2-3 Baby Bel light cheese rounds
1 oz beef jerkey and 1 oz air-popped potato chips or popcorn
1 container greek yogurt (plain) and 1 small banana (if it's big, eat half... share with a friend)
handful of celery sticks and about 28 raw almonds
1 instand Maple Brown Sugar instant oatmeal and 1 Tbsp natural peanut butter


By the way, don't knock the oatmeal idea until you try it. A triathlete and triathalon trainer I know gave me this idea and I now LOVE it! The PB doesn't work so well in other flavors, though...


Try some of these ideas or share some of your own. With a little effort--and planning--we can snack our way to health!

Stairclimb update!

Yesterday, I challenged the 1200 steps again. This is my 3rd attempt at the full climb, and I am making progress:

1st attempt: 27:00
2nd attempt: 21:30
3rd attempt: 18:11

The goal is under 16:00, so I'm thinking I would like to be able to do it on the Stairmaster in 15:00 just to be on the safe side. I wonder if the ACTUAL stairs (which include a landing and turns every 1/2 floor) will be harder or easier than the stairmill. Also, the ACTUAL stairs have a railing that you can use to pull yourself up with... something NOT doable on the Stairmaster!

Ooooohhhhh... my legs are S-O-R-E!!

Race to the Top - Training Update (01-03)

Monday, January 2


This was a "rest day" for stair climbing training, so I went to Cardio Strength class at the Morrison YMCA. This class is an "upgrade" from the "Strength Light" class that I used to take, so it was a little tougher. To keep things easy on the knees, I made adjustments to a couple of the moves, but this was a REALLY good class that worked my muscles AND got my heart rate up. Since this was the last day of the YMCA Fitness Challenge, I even swung by the Ballantyne Village Y (my home base) to log my minutes in the book. I feel good about finishing the challenge strong by adding points for my team.


Tuesday, January 3


Stair Climbing training day...

Crazy night! Met Mom and Aunt Jill for dinner, raced home, changed, and zipped over to the Y just in time. Got my 1200 steps done in 21:30 today--GREAT improvement! I finished up with 30 minutes on the bike, shutting the place down at EXACTLY 9:00! I don't know which was more strenuous--the workout itself or just getting there!

Food to Live By -- What's Round, Crispy and Delicious?

Roasted Brussels Sprouts on the Food Network

Costco had some nice looking bags of FRESH Brussels sprouts, so I bought them and then searched the web for what in the heck to do with them. Thanks to Ina Garten (love that name), here is a really simple recipe. Even if you think you don't like Brussels sprouts, you should check this out (click on the link under the photo). These aren't your mom's frozen, over-cooked, mushy lumps...these are crispy, flavorful and fresh.


The second time I made these, I added a little garlic salt, and when they were halfway cooked, I threw a salmon filet on the baking sheet. In about 30 minutes, I had a complete meal! Healthy food CAN be delicious! 


Fresh Brussels sprouts aren't always available, and this recipe won't work with frozen, but it works really well with fresh broccoli florets, too. 

Race to the "Race to the Top"

So...last year Ken and I participated in the inaugural "Race to the Top" event. This challenge is a race to the top of the Duke Energy building--50 floors made up of 1194 steps.


My chip time in 2011 was an unimpressive 16:37, so my goal this year is to at least beat that (I want to be under 16 minutes). The problem is, since I've been having trouble with my left knee, I haven't been able to run or do serious cardio lately.


The knee is feeling so-so now, and with the race less than 3 months away (March 24), I figured it was time to start training. I've seen the Stairmasters at the "Y" and the crazy looking people that use them, and figured I'd give it a try, too. The machines look pretty intimidating (like a clutz like me could easily hurt myself), so I had one of the staff members show me how to work the controls. Let me just say that before you step on, you better have your act together (i.e. headphones in, water bottle already in the holder, towel draped on the bar), because even when the machine is "off," once you get on, the steps start rolling down! Yikes!


For my first try (this Friday), I managed a pitiful 10 minutes and only climbed about 450 steps. I was sweating like no other cardio machine has made me do before, and I was totally out of breath. This is a totally different beast than the other stuff I usually do.


I came home and told Shin about my Stairmaster adventure and we discussed how I was going to go from 10 minutes/450 steps to 16 minutes/1200 steps. I wondered out loud whether I should gradually increase my time, but keep my pace or set my pace (about 75 steps/minute) and then work on increasing my time. Shin's input was that I should climb the 1200 steps each time (regardless of pace), since that is what I would need to do on March 24.


With that "advice" in my back pocket, I wandered into the "Y" again on Saturday. The Stairmaster only counts "stories," and each story is 16 steps, so doing the math, I will need to climb 75 stories in the Stairmaster world to equal the 50 stories in the Duke Energy building. I hopped on and accepted the machine's default pace of 43 steps/minute. After about 12 minutes, I was ready to give up! But... I told myself, you can make it to at least 15 minutes...get there and we'll re-evaluate.


Well, I made it to 15 minutes, which put me at 40 stories...more than halfway. So, I convinced myself to try to make it to 50 stories... and so on, and so on...until I had tricked myself into finishing all 75 stories. So much for beating my time... this effort took me 27 minutes! Boy, do I have a lot of work to do!!


Today, I went back to the "Y" for my usual 60 minutes of cardio. My thighs were burning, but I decided to hop on the Stairmaster again. Let's just say that my legs were not happy about seeing that machine 3 days in a row. I increased my pace, but only managed to stay on for 10 minutes. 530 steps--not even halfway up the Duke Energy Building! Again... I have a LOT of work to do!


Tomorrow is the day for my "Total Strength" class, so I will give the Stairmaster a rest day. Let's see if I can come back strong on Tuesday!


Today is the first day of 2012...a time when a lot of us are making "resolutions." I'm not a fan of resolutions, but I think we can all appreciate and rise to meet a challenge. This is my challenge to myself...what is your challenge for 2012? Whatever it is, tell others about it...make it public... your more likely to achieve your goal!