betsyschow

Full Body: Get Over It

This last week I went to REI for a new pair of pants to hike in. I tried on a pair. It fit perfectly around the waist. Not so much around the thighs. Yikes.
I’m long waisted, so my sides dart in a good bit. That part’s nice. But I have tree trunk legs. They drive me nuts when I try stuff on.

I complained to my husband who promptly said, “Get over it.” He then told me that I looked great and so what if THOSE pants wouldn’t fit right.

Upon further reflection, I think we often take a very micro look at our flaws or instances where one article of clothing or one photo doesn’t look right. So what? Is that the whole of our image? That one photo? That one body part?

So I will keep trying to “Get over it” and focus on the whole presentation. I suggest you do the same.

Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Snack Smart: Add Some Caliente

A little heat can go a long way. It also serves as stopper from eating to much. This week I made Huancaina sauce (Peruvian cheese sauce) for a class presentation. It has a lot of cheese, but it also has aji amarillo, yellow chile paste. It really keeps you from using way to much, but it’s so flavorful. Traditionally it’s served on potatoes, but you can use it as a dip for veggies too.

I don’t use a recipe per se, its largely to taste. But this is how I made it

Mix together equal parts cream cheese, cottage cheese, and queso fresco.
Add evaportated milk to make the mixture sauce like.
Add seasoning: Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste.
Add the aji amarillo paste a spoonful at a time until you reach your desired spiciness.

Blend together until a thick and creamy. If it’s too thick, add more milk. Too liquidy, add more cream cheese.
Tada! So easy, even I can do it.

Bien Proveche

Fitness Tip: Don’t Overlook Yoga

In an effort to burn the most calories in our workouts, yoga and other stretching often gets overlooked. It’s true, that unless you do hot yoga, or power yoga, you won’t burn a lot of calories in an hour. But physical fitness needs to go beyond the calorie count. Yoga is great for body and mind. It improves flexibility and aids in injury prevention.

One thing I hear a lot of is, “I can’t do yoga. I’m just not very flexible.” Well, duh. That’s why you go to yoga. It’s not about putting your feet behind your ears. It’s about being in tune with your muscles and making progress. Egos get left at the door. I teach yoga and I can’t reach my toes in forward fold with a flat back. It’s all about the process.

So keep in mind that while yoga is low calorie burn, it creates those long and lean beautiful muscles we all want.

A Case of the Eeyores

I just realized that I have a serious case of the Eeyores. I’ve got this little black cloud following me. It’s not actually raining on me yet, but I am flinching, waiting for that first drop to fall. If someone says they want to talk to me, it’s like being called to the principal’s office. I’m sure they are going to tell me they’re mad, or that I’ve done something wrong.

Do you do that? Wait for the proverbial shoe to drop? Sure that you will end up the bug squished under said shoe.

I’m not sure why I think the universe has a nasty surprise in store for me. But I’m pretty sure if I keep expecting it, the world won’t disappoint.

If I’ve gotta be Eeyore, maybe I should focus on one of my favorite sayings by the morose donkey, “Some days look better upside down.”

The Plight of the Scale

The weight was dropping off. I had just dipped below the 148 mark. Then the scale read 160 the next day. Then 5 minutes later 135. then 170 on the third try. Finally it gave up the ghost and read Err.

I was freaking out. Which number was right? I was hoping it was closer to the second try, but I knew that couldn’t be right. The scale was busted, I mean how you feel if someone stood on you day in and day out, asking if they were fat. The poor scale. It has deserved its rest.

In the meantime, I have an opportunity to gain perspective. How easy is it to depend, even obsess on those little blinking numbers? It is a decent way to track your weight, but it can’t tell us how we feel. Have you ever woken, feeling great in you skinny jeans, ready to conquer the world. Then you hop on the scale and find out that you have an extra pound or two of water weight today. Suddenly, you feel like a schlump.

The scale is a tool to be used sparingly. Not five times a day, or even once every day. Today, say thank you for your scale’s service and give it a vacation. Focus on getting more in tune with how your body is feeling so you can let that be your barometer.

Snack Smart: Dried Fruit

Need a yummy low cal snack on the go?
Try dried fruit. Its portable and much easier to stuff in a purse or backpack than squishing and bruising that real banana or apple.

A word to the wise though, watch the label. A lot of dehydrated fruits are candied. All that sugar adds up to big calories that you don’t need. The fruit is sweet enough on its own. Bananas and apricots are notorious for this. Look at the ingredient list, if they add sugar, pass it by.

My favorite is the Kirkland brand freeze dried fruit. Just apples in a bag. 35 calories. The perfect snack in between class. Great for lunchboxes for the kiddos too.

Fitness Tip: Breaking it up

Is your morning workout the only time you are active during the day? Do you feel like you are stuck in a rut? Trying breaking your workout in two. Do half in the morning and half in the evening. Give your body two chances to rev your metabolic engine. You’ll also get that nice flood of endorphins twice too. If nothing else, try adding a light walk in the evening. Great for stress relief and a great way to keep your body moving and burning.

walking dog by johnny_automatic - cartoon of a girl walking a dog from http://www.usda.gov/cnpp/KidsPyra/ National Agricultural Library, Agricultural Research Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture

I Spy with my little eye…

Camera phones are one of my most favorite inventions in life. I love taking snapshots of seemingly random things. I decided to start doing this for the blog as well. Here’s my picture of the day.

Without the context of the scenery, you might think this is an aerial view of the ocean, with whitecaps dotting the water. Nope, it’s the clouds in the sky. Today they look like cottage cheese, or the crumble with whipped cream on a blueberry tart. Hmmm, most of the my thoughts are leaning towards food. I think that means I haven’t had breakfast yet.

What does this look like to you?

Definition of Failure

Every makes mistakes. Every one eats too much some days. I had one of those a few days ago. I made the mistake of getting into a BBQ wing eating competition with my husband. The place we were lunching at had bottomless wings.

A side note to dieters. Heck, to all people. Stay well away from the words from hell. Bottomless, unlimited, all-you-can-eat, etc.

Anyway, I got wrapped up in this wing competition and forgot my husband has hollow legs or something that he can stuff with food. He soundly beat me. But not before I had 20 wings. At 100 calories a piece. Ouch.

I regretted it for the rest of the day and well into the next. But while the belly ache served as a reminder to watch my portions, I can’t beat myself up about it. Learn from the experience, don’t do it again and let it go. Yes it means that I probably won’t lose any weight this week. But it says nothing else about me. The occasional screw up does NOT make you a failure my diet friends. It makes you human.

We are not failures when we slip and fall. It is only failure if we refuse to get back up.

The Game of Life

Back in the day, I used to love playing “Life”. I even own the Pirates of the Caribbean edition. But the game isn’t so fun when you’re playing it for keeps. The “Real Life” where stock markets can crash and send the value of the house card you picked into the toilet. And whose little plastic kids from the game scream, whine, and throw temper tantrums.

Oddly, my real life is echoing the game a bit. Only the stakes are higher than just a bad spin. Remember the go to college card so you can get a higher paying job? Well, my husband lost his job in February. We decided that it was in the best interest of the family and future jobs to send him back to school to get a degree. He should be done in another 10 months. So until then, we are living on our savings and a sandal budget (we passed the shoestring point).

As I watch the saving deplete, I can’t help but wonder, did we make the right choice? I think so, and time will tell. But I still feel I am moving around the board waiting for one of those bad opportunity cards to smack me with a penalty.

Have you ever had to gamble a bit with your future, and did it pay off? How did you know you were doing the right thing?