What is it about a rest day that makes you feel like you're cheating your workout schedule? Even if it's well-deserved, I feel really bad about myself when I have to lay off for my body to keep up.
This after noon I woke up with a full intention of getting my lifting in. I was dressed, had my water bottles together, and made it out the door to find the temperature around 50 degrees and rain that was coming in sideways. I made it about 10 steps before the reasons for staying home started entering my mind. The gym is going to be packed, it's too nasty to be out and about, I haven't had a rest in 5 days, and so on. Before I got to the car I turned around and went back in to catch up on my DVR list. I know if I could have made it inside the car, I definitely would have worked out today. I need to force myself to get there next time.
However, the rest was deserved, after my 5 mile run yesterday my knee was feeling a bit weak and my calves were sore. And I did get to see a pretty incredible episode of "Life" that I had saved my a week or so. Also, I got my "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" fix in for the week. Memo to all: if you aren't watching that show, which is on Starz as well as streamed on Netflix, you are missing the best show on television. I started watching it thinking it would be a lame ripoff of 300, and the first couple of episodes definitely seemed that I was correct, but it really picks up. Great action, even though some parts are full of the kitschy 300-like blood effects and slow motion, and the plot-lines are superb. You really should check it out.
To close out today, I thought I'd post a great dinner idea that I will be making for dinner tonight. I bought some wooden skewers and plan to make kabobs, which should be low-fat and healthy, served with roasted vegetable of some sort.
Soak the skewers in water for 1 hour. Mix together various herbs. I choose oregano, sea salt, pepper, and thyme. Drizzle the breast with 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp Worcester sauce and sift the herbs on top of the meat and let sit for 30 minutes.
Cut up 1 large chicken breast, or 2 if you are feeding multiple people, into 2 ounce chunks. Cut up 1 green or red pepper into smaller wedge chunks and set aside. Cut up one small yellow or vidalia onion in similar fashion and set aside. You can add any vegetable or fruit that you choose, I generally choose a russet potato and pineapple, but feel free to experiment.
Put the ingredients on the skewer in alternating fashion. Make sure the ends are vegetable, so the chicken doesn't slide off. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes then flip over the skewers and cook for about 5-10 more minutes, until chicken is fully cooked and vegetables look well roasted.
Serve with either rice or couscous and a roasted vegetable. I usually cook the couscous in chicken broth and roast asparagus or Brussels sprouts to go with this dish. Send me a message if you would like to know how to roast Brussels sprouts correctly until they are crispy and sweet. Seriously, best vegetable ever.
Anyhow, guess that's it for now. I'll be running about 3-4 miles on the boardwalk this morning as soon as I get off work, so absolutely no chance of dodging my workout. Talk at you later.
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
This is awkward
I'm not good at introductions, and even less informative on starting blogs, so please understand that this may seem choppy and slightly terrible.
Our dedication to fitness started 2 years ago, around my 28th birthday. Jasmine and I weren't much for exercising. It always seemed too hard, took up too much time that we didn't have, was too hot or cold, etc. We could always find a reason not to do it. On top of that, we were caught up pretty deeply in numerous hobbies and extra-curricular activities that killed any desire to get outside and run around, and basically anything else in our lives. Our health began failing, our energy levels dipped, and our relationship was nearly effectively strangled.
Our eating habits were atrocious as well. We would eat out 4-5 times a week, and I'm not talking Subway or take out salads. McDonald's and various pizza places were our go-to dinners. When we would cook our dinner it was usually something like corn dogs, hamburger helper-esque box dinners, macaroni and cheese, and so on. Vegetables were a rarity, and we didn't know how to cook them even if we wanted to eat them.
One day I stepped on the scale and found my weight to be 335 pounds. This was a shock to me, as just 5 years ago I weight 270 pounds. Now, I know the 270 is big in itself, but I went to college weighing 255 and played football there. Still, 65 extra pounds was not something I was expecting. I had only saw myself adding on maybe 10-15 pounds over the years, even though my clothes stopped fitting long ago. I was seriously out of touch with my health.
Immediately that night, I began feeling very sick and run down. I had to leave work and go home. I mad a promise to myself to start working out, to do anything I can to start dropping weight. I started running the next day. I could only make it about 100 yards before I had to walk, and even then my shins and sides would kill me for days after wards. I pushed through it and eventually started increasing my time running and decreasing my time walking. Long story short ( I know, too late, right?) I ended up running an 8K last March and finished under 1 hour. (barely)
This was the farthest I have ever run in my life and aim to run the half marathon coming up this summer. I couldn't participate in it this year because I jacked my knee up ( another by product of my weight and bad pacing/stride length). However, that has resolved itself, and I'm back in better shape than ever. I am wearing smaller sizes than I did in high school, and things are going well. I'm currently sitting at 265 pounds. I only recently started incorporating weight training in my schedule, and I can see definite results that started literally the first week.
Jasmine has a similar story with her health, that I'll let her explain if she wants. She bought an elliptical machine and several workout DVDs and has been pretty good about keeping up with them, and has lost a considerable amount of weight too, probably as much as I have. She has just started running with me within the last week, and like I did, has to start off slow and low mileage. We will get there eventually though.
As far as eating habits, we have almost turned a 180 degree shift. Fried foods are almost absolutely banished from our house, except and occasional french fry or Chinese meal. This happens maybe once every 2 weeks, and pizza is called for even less. I haven't eaten a hamburger in months, and rice or couscous is in almost every meal. I also started experimenting with vegetables, and quickly found out that I love asparagus and roasted Brussels sprouts, which are two things I have never tried before because of the stigma of nastiness that comes along with them. They are incredible. The only meat we really eat is a roasted chicken breast or tuna. these meats are so versatile, they can be used in any millions of ways. We can tell a definite energy increase since we began limiting the fatty and fried food and began eating the vegetables. It is amazing.
Well, I suppose I have went on way too long in this introductory blog. Stay tuned for updates on our progress, and if you have any questions for us please don't hesitate to drop a line. We've been where you are right now, and trust us, it can be done, if you put your mind to it. Thanks for following, I'm headed to knock out 5 miles around town. Bye!
Our dedication to fitness started 2 years ago, around my 28th birthday. Jasmine and I weren't much for exercising. It always seemed too hard, took up too much time that we didn't have, was too hot or cold, etc. We could always find a reason not to do it. On top of that, we were caught up pretty deeply in numerous hobbies and extra-curricular activities that killed any desire to get outside and run around, and basically anything else in our lives. Our health began failing, our energy levels dipped, and our relationship was nearly effectively strangled.
Our eating habits were atrocious as well. We would eat out 4-5 times a week, and I'm not talking Subway or take out salads. McDonald's and various pizza places were our go-to dinners. When we would cook our dinner it was usually something like corn dogs, hamburger helper-esque box dinners, macaroni and cheese, and so on. Vegetables were a rarity, and we didn't know how to cook them even if we wanted to eat them.
One day I stepped on the scale and found my weight to be 335 pounds. This was a shock to me, as just 5 years ago I weight 270 pounds. Now, I know the 270 is big in itself, but I went to college weighing 255 and played football there. Still, 65 extra pounds was not something I was expecting. I had only saw myself adding on maybe 10-15 pounds over the years, even though my clothes stopped fitting long ago. I was seriously out of touch with my health.
Immediately that night, I began feeling very sick and run down. I had to leave work and go home. I mad a promise to myself to start working out, to do anything I can to start dropping weight. I started running the next day. I could only make it about 100 yards before I had to walk, and even then my shins and sides would kill me for days after wards. I pushed through it and eventually started increasing my time running and decreasing my time walking. Long story short ( I know, too late, right?) I ended up running an 8K last March and finished under 1 hour. (barely)
This was the farthest I have ever run in my life and aim to run the half marathon coming up this summer. I couldn't participate in it this year because I jacked my knee up ( another by product of my weight and bad pacing/stride length). However, that has resolved itself, and I'm back in better shape than ever. I am wearing smaller sizes than I did in high school, and things are going well. I'm currently sitting at 265 pounds. I only recently started incorporating weight training in my schedule, and I can see definite results that started literally the first week.
Jasmine has a similar story with her health, that I'll let her explain if she wants. She bought an elliptical machine and several workout DVDs and has been pretty good about keeping up with them, and has lost a considerable amount of weight too, probably as much as I have. She has just started running with me within the last week, and like I did, has to start off slow and low mileage. We will get there eventually though.
As far as eating habits, we have almost turned a 180 degree shift. Fried foods are almost absolutely banished from our house, except and occasional french fry or Chinese meal. This happens maybe once every 2 weeks, and pizza is called for even less. I haven't eaten a hamburger in months, and rice or couscous is in almost every meal. I also started experimenting with vegetables, and quickly found out that I love asparagus and roasted Brussels sprouts, which are two things I have never tried before because of the stigma of nastiness that comes along with them. They are incredible. The only meat we really eat is a roasted chicken breast or tuna. these meats are so versatile, they can be used in any millions of ways. We can tell a definite energy increase since we began limiting the fatty and fried food and began eating the vegetables. It is amazing.
Well, I suppose I have went on way too long in this introductory blog. Stay tuned for updates on our progress, and if you have any questions for us please don't hesitate to drop a line. We've been where you are right now, and trust us, it can be done, if you put your mind to it. Thanks for following, I'm headed to knock out 5 miles around town. Bye!
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