Check-in: March 18, 2017

I weigh 147.6 pounds. I’ve had to talk myself out of cheating several times, but it’s well worth it. I went a bit over my calories on Friday (beer!) and yesterday (food!) but I’m not too worried. I was still at a deficit those days, just not as dramatic as I had planned.

I don’t know why I’m too incompetent to actually start lifting as I had planned to. I’m no longer seeing my trainer, which I think was a good decision on my part. He wasn’t a good fit for me. But I’m still keeping up with my yoga and cardio about 4x every week.

Group exercise review: Zumba

Zumba is a fairly new exercise activity taking the world by storm. Basically, it’s dancing for fitness in a real party atmosphere. The music played during classes is a mix of hip hop, reggaeton, salsa, and basically any energetic and super upbeat music you can think of. Not usually my style, which you know if you read my review of black yoga, but I don’t think I could get an effective cardio workout to drone metal.

So I decided to finally try out the Zumba class at my gym. Figured it would be a break from my elliptical/treadmill/bike routine. The instructor announced at the very beginning she wanted everyone to have fun. It was one hour long with a break between every few songs, and I could tell all the regulars were super into it.

Confession: I am just about the worst dancer. I literally have no idea how I performed in musicals back in high school. Something about me makes it impossible for me to move more than two limbs at the same time with any kind of control. But I did my best. We weren’t performing, we were just there to have fun, sweat, and burn some calories.

Now as for the fat-burning value of the class: some of the websites I checked claim that an hour of Zumba can burn up to 1000 calories, but I would be very skeptical of that claim. I would assume I burned about 300, because it honestly didn’t feel like I worked too hard and I definitely could have kept going after the hour. I would really like to find some modifications that make it a little more challenging. But I had a really good time and I’m sure I’ll go back. It’s a great way for me to mix up my cardio routine. Also my mom wants me to.

So I have really good news if you’re shy or on house arrest but want to check out Zumba: there are several free videos for you to check out online and get your dance on at home.

And if you really loved that, you can use the official website to find classes near you.

Group exercise review: BLACK YO)))GA

I wonder if some people scoff at yoga because they associate it with granolaheads, man buns, and Far Eastern woo. Or possibly the newer stereotype of the basic white girl getting spiritual and Instagramming a bunch of pictures of herself in very flattering yoga pants.

Black yoga shows us it can be neither. As a lifelong metalhead, I was thrilled to hear that this yoga class originated and was only taught in my city. Huge shoutout to Kimee, the inventor/instructor. When you think of metal, you might think of Metallica and Ozzy Osbourne, or if you’re younger, a skinny kid with swoopy hair and eyeliner alternately shrieking and whining into a microphone. But black yoga utilizes a few less mainstream subgenres of metal. Space doom, stoner doom, and drone to name a few. They can “dark” but are surprisingly slow and relaxing, and suit meditative practice quite well in my humble opinion. Mixes for the class include bands such as Windhand and SunnO))). That’s just pronounced “sun,” buy the way. And that’s why the stylized spelling of black yoga looks like that.

So there are several bands that play this mind-melting music, but what about something specifically made for the practice? Yep, it exists. For the instructional DVD, all of the songs are original compositions of The Black Yoga Meditation Ensemble, which aims to create “a heavy meditative space.” I proudly bear the Ensemble’s sticker on my desk at work.

Black yoga doesn’t just attract metalheads and weirdos like me. I’ve been attending the class for over a year with my mom, who refers to the soundtrack as “Halloween music.”      -___- I’ve been in classes with men and women of varying ages, people of all sizes and from all walks of life. You don’t have to be a hippie or a 22-year-old white girl in Uggs to do yoga.

I had never set foot in a yoga class before I started going to black yoga. I had every intention of doing so, and I drove around with an unused yoga mat in the trunk of my car for about a year, because intentions take a long time to manifest. The uniqueness of this class and the prospect of meeting some like-minded people finally got me started.

So what’s my assessment? Perfect 5/7. The best thing ever. I’d marry it if I could. I surprised myself with how flexible I’d become after just a few weeks of practicing. I slept better. I got to listen to awesome music for an hour with no one to interrupt me! Kimee emits positive vibes galore and goes to lengths to make the class accessible and relaxing for all. If you can’t do a pose, there’s usually a modification. If you can’t do that, you can rest. I don’t have an easy time clearing my mind and getting into that meditative woo, but that’s just another goal to work towards.

If you like the idea of black hyoga, check their Facebook page for the class schedule. If you’re not in the Pittsburgh area but you really want to try it, you can always pick up the instructional DVD.

This week’s meal plan

I admitted to slacking. Now I’m proving that I’m getting right back up. Here’s what I plan on eating Monday-Friday this week. You will recognize this format if you are a LoseIt user!

A few explanations:

• I take about 10 minutes to walk at work. Just a nice midday break from sitting. I think it burns slightly more than 14 calories, but whatever. I also do yoga for 1 hour, but I think the app tends to overestimate calories burned so I adjusted a bit.
• The items listed for breakfast are the ingredients in today’s smoothie. It was amazing.
• The vanilla protein balls recipe can be found here. I had to order plant protein especially to make them. They are not the tastiest thing I’ve ever eaten, but it’s kind of like eating cookie dough at no risk, so that’s fun. Since I have so much protein powder around, I’ll definitely be looking into more recipes for protein cookies and truffles.

And here’s the macronutrient breakdown of my day:

See, it’s definitely possible to be vegetarian, low cal, and high protein!

Sorry, I’m back now

So, I’ve been slacking. And not blogging made me slack even more. And slacking even more made me not want to blog. I’ll be completely honest here: I have not lost weight. I think I actually overate for five days straight due to laziness/birthdays.

But I’m back. Hopping right back up on that horse. Hitting yoga sculpt at the gym today and I have a 1400 calorie meal plan set up for this week and should have ample time for 4 or 5 workouts.

The one dish I really wanted to share is the one that I prepped last week: lemon lentil rice.

And don’t worry, I have plenty of content in the works that isn’t just meal preps or my progress reports.

Sunday meal prep: Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

This is not a recipe for the faint of heart or for those who like to let the slow cooker do all the work. It is labor intensive, so I hope you have like two hours to spare. You will chop, you will rinse, you will roast and boil and steam. You will use the oven, the range top, the microwave, and the blender/food processor. You will have to set multiple different timers for the cooking of the components of this meal. You’ll basically just RUIN YOUR KITCHEN. You will combine two epic recipes to come together to make this vegan, gluten-free shepherd’s pie.

Well, might as well move out.

I grew up in a suburban community with a ton of farms sprinkled throughout, but have never actually met a shepherd. I never actually had a traditional meat-and-potatoes shepherd’s pie. My mom was more of a Bisquick chicken pot pie lady. Mmm, chicken pot pie. My three favorite things.

I followed Radiant Rachel’s roasted garlic mashed cauliflower recipe and her vegan lentil shepherd’s pie recipe.

Admittedly, I just eliminated the coconut sugar. I don’t have coconut sugar, and I didn’t feel like going on the hunt for it. I went to five different stores looking for something as simple as tahini for this recipe. The good news is that I finally found it at Giant Eagle. The bad news is that I basically had to take out a loan to pay for it. (It was imported and cost $9.00.) And somehow, this came to 6 servings at only 140 calories each!

I also prepared these components for the salads I’ll eat this week. They’ll go with spinach, radicchio, and romaine lettuce. It doesn’t really comprise a full meal, so I’ll have some Greek yogurt and fruit on the side.

Snacks for the week are hardboiled eggs (~75 cal), dried edamame (140 cal, 12g protein in just 1/4 cup!), trail mix, and red grapes.

Anyway, here’s a picture from Cupid’s Undie Run yesterday. I raised just over $100 for the Children’s Tumor Foundation and I definitely want to run again next year!

Check-in: February 11, 2017

Today, I weigh 151.2 lbs. I don’t care. The scale is stupid. Up and down with all these 1 lb gains and losses.

Last night I had the cantina power bowl at Taco Bell for dinner, with over 1,000mg of sodium, and then went to hot yoga to sweat my ass off. It was pretty challenging, but I felt amazing afterwards, as usual. Over the week, I had two yoga classes, one strength training session with Martez, one cardio day, and today will be a bit more cardio at the Undie Run in just a few hours.

My plank is up to 50 seconds. I’m well on my way.

So about Cupid’s Undie Run. I’ve raised over $100 for the Children’s Tumor Foundation for this run! Admittedly I will be wearing clothes for the run. We’ve got about 6 inches of snow on the ground right now, but it might be about 50 degrees F in the afternoon if The Weather Channel is to be believed. That’s actually fairly decent underwear weather if you’re a Pennsylvania native.

What drives you?

It’s okay to want to look good, and it’s okay to work out and monitor your diet for that reason. Yeah. I said it.

Personally, I do want to look good. Who doesn’t? To me, looking good means being thinner than I am now. Can you be too thin? Of course. But right now I’m on the other side of a good-looking weight.

Many people have their appearance as motivation because it’s observable. You can see the changes right before my eyes. Others can see them too, and of course it makes me feel good when others comment that I look like I’ve lost weight. Hey, I’m not just imagining things – I’m doing it!

But to be honest, it wouldn’t be enough. I would never be able to push myself as hard as I have if it were just about, ahem, vanity.

So my other motivation is my health, obviously. I feel awesome after a good workout. I never believed I would be one of those people. Exercising to relieve stress? Inconceivable, said 200 lb me, only cookies and alcohol relieve stress! I feel good when I eat well too. I know that sounds made up, but it’s true. Healthy food makes you feel good. Ice cream and fried foods make me feel good, but only while they’re in my mouth. The benefits of a healthy meal made up of whole foods and macronutrients go a long, long way.

Health is somewhat quantifiable. I can measure my resting heart rate to see how efficiently my heart works, or run the numbers on my blood pressure and cholesterol. But I don’t know any of those numbers (except heart rate – a pretty healthy 62 BPM most of the time!) and I can’t visually notice myself getting healthier. Of course I know about all the risks of being sedentary or overweight, but sometimes diabetes and heart disease seem so abstract and distant to me. Too easy to say “meh, I’ll deal with my health later” until one day I wake up and I’m middle aged and wishing I’d started worrying about all of this twenty years earlier. That’s why I need to see my appearance change – if I were to put in all this work for better fitness and not be able to see any of it, I don’t know if I could keep going.

I need both these goals to drive me. I need to feel healthier, and I need to see myself looking thinner. Maybe your drive is different. The only other reason I can think of at the moment is competitiveness – if you’re an athlete and you compete, you’ll obviously be exercising and eating with your goals in mind. Tell me in the comments!

You know, I’m a freelance writer, and I’m cringing/turning into James Brown for how often I used the phrase “feel good” in this post. Every English teacher I’ve had is coming to smack me. Except the one who passed away and the one who’s in prison.

Group Exercise Review: Yoga Sculpt

I joined Crunch Fitness about a month ago but only signed up for classes just recently. The main reason was that my mom wanted to go to a yoga class and the yoga sculpt offered at Crunch was convenient for both of us.

We’re getting stretchier!

Yoga sculpt wasn’t too much different from the hot yoga class I took. There were several sun salutations, and I still struggled with good form for chaturanga. Some of the other poses were challenging as well, such as Warrior III and Plow. I did manage to get my legs behind my head with only a slight bend in my knee for plow though. My mom was kind of in awe that I could do it. And with a name like Plow for that position, the potential for jokes is endless.

https://www.clickhealthtips.com/halasana-plow-pose

 

I don’t know how much sculpting was really happening, though. We did a few crunchesa nd seemed to work the glutes a bit, but it all seemed very minimal. I’m no expert, but I’m sure there are better classes for sculpting/toning/strengthening muscles. The music wasn’t terribly memorable, just set the background. That being said, the class was fun and challenging and Chelsea, our instructor, was attentive. I will definitely go again even if I have to drag my mom.

Sunday meal prep: West African Peanut Stew

West Africa is a really big and really diverse place, so I don’t really like generalizing it so much for this recipe. But good luck finding out what part of what country it originated in. But it’s another slow cooker meal, so you can just throw all the ingredients in and let it cook while you watch the Puppy Bowl!

• 1 can (15 oz) diced tomatoes
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 can ( 15 oz) black beans or kidney beans
• 1 onion, minced
• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces
• 3 cups spinach, arugula, or kale
• 1/3 cup peanut butter, or 2 tbsp PB2
• 1 tsp powdered ginger, or 1 inch minced fresh ginger
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes

If you are using regular peanut butter, you will want to melt this with a little bit of the vegetable broth before adding it to the slow cooker. If you add it in its more solid form, it won’t melt into the stew for some reason and you’ll be finding chunks of it. Keep this in the slow cooker until the sweet potatoes are soft. There’s your healthy vegan lunch for the week! 6 servings at 260 calories and 15g protein per serving. (If you used PB2, it’s 180 cal, 12g protein – wow!) This freezes pretty well, too.

Another cooking tip: I’ve always had a hard time cutting onions. I’m particularly sensitive to them. So today, I remembered an old tip that you should chew gum while cutting onions so the fumes won’t get to you as much. I had some Altoids lying around so I used those. I didn’t feel a thing! Totally pain-free onion cutting.

Snacks this week are 1/2 cup of lowfat cottage cheese (90 cals, 12g protein), hardboiled eggs (80 cal each, 6g protein), oranges (62 cal each) and an assortment of trail mix, nuts, and edamame. I’m trying to make sure I get enough protein for when I start lifting seriously, and I’m doing this by making sure I have a good source of it at every meal. A little challenging for someone who doesn’t eat much be

Sorry, there’s no new smoothie recipe this week. I’m doing the pineapple green again because the shredded coconut in my fridge was calling my name.