The ELFF Diet

Music To Run By

Check it out.  You guys know that I like to run, love to walk long distances, and swear by my iPod.  But creating a great playlist can sometimes be a hit or miss thing.  I was really inspired to find complete audio or video workouts at both iTrain and PumpOne.  The ready to download musical sets are great for going the extra distance.  Also a great program - BeatScanner, found at bestworkoutmusic. The free PC compatible program searches your music library for upbeat tunes so you can create your own great exercise sets.

One more freebie - MotionTraxx has free (yes, FREE) 60 minute podcasts of music 140-160 beats per minute updated every two weeks. 

Now you have NO excuse not to lace up your shoes and get outside!

Weight Loss Tips

You know what is the absolute worst thing for me?  When I spend an hour or more on cardio - seriously, pre Boot, that was easy to do - and then blow it in one glorious meal.  One gourmet coffee can be 500 (or more!) calories.  Kind of offsets the entire workout, doesn't it?  So, there are things you can do tocut your calories pretty painlessly. 

• split a bagel from Panera - seriously, those things are HUGE - with a coworker.  Enjoy it with a fruit salad.
• Don't use mayonnaise - I know, I know, you've heard it before.  Some brands have more than 100 calories PER TEASPOON, and often I'd use 2-3 teaspoons per sandwich.  Instead, try mustard.
• On the salad bar, skip any thing mayo based, any bread products, and all the dressing.  Load up on fresh veggies and fruits.
• Drain the heavy syrup off of canned fruit and then rinse it before you eat it. 
  
• Lay in a supply of sugar free jello cups, Skinny cow ice cream bars and Fudgsicles.  That way, you have a treat when you are desperate, and you won't blow it.

What's your best weight loss secret?

Chicken with Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

First seen in Real Simple magazine, February 2009

Heat oven to 425.  On a rimmed baking sheet, toss 2 sweet potatoes (peeled and cut into wedges), 1 thinly sliced red onion, 2 T olive oil, 1/2 t salt, and 1/4 t pepper.  Roast until tender, 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 T oil in a skillet over medium high heat.  Season 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts with 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper and cooked until browned and cooked through, 5-6 minutes per side. 

In a large bowl, toss the warm potato mixture with 1 bunch spinach (thick stems removed), 2 T fresh lime juice and 1/4 t salt.  Serve with the chicken.

In place of sweet potatoes, you can use butternut squash, rutabaga, carrots or parsnips.

Hints From Print

Print magazines, that is.  Here's some common sense, no nonsense tips that most of us know, but some of us (ahem, I'm looking myself DEAD in the mirror when I say this!) might need to be reminded of.

• Stop drinking soda, Regular OR diet. I've been really good with this - three years ago, I drank more than a 2 liter a day of soda, gradually moved to less of this, moved to diet, and now, I'm proud to say, I rarely drink any of it.
• Serve more vegetables during lunch and dinner.  Maybe start the meal with a salad.
• Eat more fiber.  (If I eat a salad every day, this is pretty easy, otherwise, an area that I struggle with.)
• Don't be a human garbage disposal - leave a little bit on your plate - you don't need to finish every.single.bite.  Especially cleaning off your KID'S plates.
• Don't drink too much alcohol - oh, how I can struggle with this one.  One thing I've done is try to limit myself to once a week, if I go out with my husband for a special dinner.  I've got to consciously keep from rewarding myself with a nightly drink, just for getting through the day.  Ahem.
• Look in the mirror nude every day.  I never did this when I was heavy - I walked past the mirror with eyes averted every time I got in the shower.  Now, I'm not staring into my own eyes - or other anatomical parts/places - but at least I don't flinch.
• Eat protein foods for breakfast. YES. This makes SUCH a difference in how I feel during the morning.  Even if I'm not hungry, I try to at least down some smoothie with protein powder.  My moods are more stable and I can often avoid a headache.

Make Your Own Protein Bars

While off work due to my injury, I surfed the internet and sat on my butt.  These are really pretty good - I was pleasantly surprised.



Ingredients:

Strawberry Cheesecake:

1 (4-serving) box instant cheesecake pudding
1 cup rolled oats
2T natural peanut butter
1 + 3/4 cup (6 scoops) strawberry whey protein
2/3 - 3/4 cup skim milk, as needed
wheat bran

Vanilla Butterscotch :

1 (4-serving) box instant butterscotch pudding
1 cup rolled oats
2T natural peanut butter
1 + 3/4 cup (6 scoops) vanilla whey protein
2/3 - 3/4 cup skim milk, as needed
wheat bran

Instructions:

1. Line the inside of a 6 x 6 glass baking dish with wax paper (9×13 dish works but you may want to double the recipe or they will be very thin). Coat the wax paper with cooking spray.

2. Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Cut in the peanut butter and mix well. Slowly add the milk and stir until well mixed and the batter is moist and very sticky, making it almost impossible to stir (the stickier, the better).

3. Spread into the dish and try to flatten as best possible. Use another sheet of wax paper coated in cooking spray as a glove to fit the mixture to the dish. Cover the top with wheat bran and press it into the mixture until there are no sticky spots (excess wheat bran is fine). Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or pop in the freezer for 15 minutes.

4. Now, pick the mixture out of the dish by lifting the sides of the wax paper and turn it upside-down into the dish so the wheat bran covered side is on the bottom. Slowly remove the wax paper. If this is too difficult, place the dish in the freezer for a little while longer. Cover the new top with wheat bran and press it into the mixture. Cut into 12 pieces and use the extra wheat bran in the dish to coat all sides of the bars.

5. Individually wrap each bar in wax paper and store in the fridge or freezer.

A Treadmill Workout To Try

I saw this workout in a magazine recently.  I think it may have been Shape, but it could have been Fitness.  I had, let's see, eight or nine exercise magazines of various types sitting on the counter, guilting me with their mere presence.  Not now!  Sitting around recuperating means lots and lots of time for reading.  So, I found a treadmill workout that looks pretty inspiring and I cut it out, planning to add it to my fitness regimen as soon as I'm medically cleared for take-off. My only beef with the entire article was the picture of the athlete participating in said workout has her very long, thick hair hanging down her back - so not realistic for a cardio workout - at least not for me - I always feel like I'm suffocating if my hair is on my neck, and it's not even THAT long yet. (And, yes, my formatting is screwy below - sorry!)

LOWER BODY SCULPTOR


Time                             What to do                                            Incline               

0-2                                warm up at 3 mph                               0%
2-4                                Increase to 3.3                                    3%
4-6                                Increase to 3.6                                    5%
6-9                                Increase to 4                                       8%
9-10                              Jog at 4.5                                           8%
10-14                            Decrease to 1.5,
                                    do walking lunges (lift
                                    back leg after each step)                      10%
14-16                           walk at 4 mph                                       10%
16-17                           Jog at 5 mph                                        10%
17-20                            Decrease to 1.5 for lunges                    10%
20-23                            Walk at 4                                             10%
23-25                            Jog at 5                                               10%
25-26                            Walk at 4                                             10%
26-27                            Jog at 5 - 5.5                                       10%
27-28                            Walk at 3.5                                           4%
28-30                            Cool down at 3 mph                                1%

Light Blueberry Muffins

Being home from work and on my butt for the vast majority of the day, I surfed blogs quite a bit.  I found this recipe somewhere online, and they were delish.

From The America's Test Kitchen Family Baking Book,

Vegetable oil spray
2 cups (10 oz) plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup (4 oz) cake flour
1 cup (7 oz) sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for sprinkling (I used coarse sugar for sprinkling)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons fresh lemon Juice
1 teaspoon grated fresh lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups plain low-fat yogurt (Use low-fat yogurt here; nonfat yogurt will make dry, tasteless muffins)
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (ATK prefers frozen wild blueberries)

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with vegetable oil spray.

2. Whisk 2 cups of the all-purpose flour, cake flour, 1/4 cup of the sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a medium bowl. In a large bowl, beat 3/4 cup more sugar and butter together with an electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until combined, about 30 seconds. Beat in the lemon juice, lemon zest, and vanilla until incorporated, scraping down the bowl and beaters as needed.

3. Reduce the mixer speed to low. Beat in one-third of the flour mixture and half of the yogurt. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the remaining yogurt. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated. Do not overmix.

4. Toss the blueberries with the remaining tablespoon of all-purpose flour, then gently fold them into the batter with a rubber spatula. Using a 1/3-cup measuring cup sprayed with vegetable oil spray, portion the batter into each muffin cup, then portion any remaining batter evenly among the cups using a small spoon (My cups were almost completely full). Sprinkle the tops with the remaining tablespoon sugar. Bake until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out with just a few crumbs attached, 25 to 30 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking.

This recipe made 12 regular and 24 mini.  Exactly. :)

Smashed Sweet Potatoes

I've never made a secret of the fact that I love sweet potatoes.  Before I began a healthier way of eating, I loved them with tons of butter and brown sugar.  Every holiday, I made them mashed with butter and sugar and topped with either marshmallows or bourbon- pecan topping. 

Now, I pretty much just eat them plain.  Or with a bit of sea salt.

I was given this dish when I went away on a blogger event in January, and I loved it so much that I snagged the recipe.  I made it tonight to go with pot roast, and it was just as yummy as I remember. 

Status Report

It's been three weeks.  Three long, tiring weeks of hobbling around on one leg, frequently using crutches, wearing a ginormous black boot on my leg.  I've only done upper body work, no cardio at all, and it's been killing me. I've been looking forward to the day when I can remove the boot, walk into the gym, and take a muay thai class that I've SO MISSED.

It's been three long weeks.

And, my leg - it's really not getting any better.

Tomorrow, I plan to call the doctor to talk about this.  I'm irritable with it - it's affecting my mood again - I'm ready to be finished with this already.

So, tomorrow, I call.  I call and check and talk about it and see what the doctor says.

Sigh.

Life Sometimes Gets In The Way

Ok, well, huh. It's been 14 days since I last posted here.  Sorry about that.  Life, in the form of injuries, has a funny way of happening. 

I'm pretty sure that a) not many people read here and b) those that do also read my main blog. But just in case you missed it, I hosed my leg.  Tore the gastrocnemius muscle with some accompanying tendon mess and frou-frou.  So my beloved martial arts classes are gone for at least another month. Walking?  Gone.  Runnng?  No way, no how.  The only exercise that I'm allowed to do right now is swimming, and um, hello, it's 19 degrees tonight.  And I don't have money to join the Y.

I'm also sad because I wanted to join the 30 day Shred group.  You all know how much I adore Jillian Michaels. 

So, now the only thing I can do is upper body work, and I really need to do that.  I'm going to Mexico next month.  With no cardio, and no martial arts, and DEFINITELY no Crossfit, how will I be able to get into that bathing suit?  The lack of exercise has been bad for my attitude - must change that.

So, daily upper body work for me.  Anything else you can think of, add it here.