Saturday, May 21, 2011

It's the end of the world as we know it....

No rapture yet? Wow, I'm shocked....

Now on to real things. The last few days have been an up and down of success and less-than-success stories. I had a fantastic workout on Wednesday - it really kicked my butt and gave me a good list of things that I can do at home as well, including crazy things called groiners that are seriously ass-kicking. A sequence that I will likely be doing at home as much as I can: 20 cross-leg mountain climbers, 15 pushups, 10 groiners, and 5 burpees. Also, around the world lunges with a kettle bell was another great one that I'll work into my workouts at home/gym.

I was grump last night so the wife and I went to a cheap Mexican restaurant for margaritas. Two margaritas, camaron diablos with corn tortillas, and some chips and salsa later I was overly-stuffed and a bit tipsy. Not the best for a diet, but also not the worst in the end.

I just attempted to recreate a favorite sandwich from a local eatery - a tempeh bacon BLT. It was good, but the tempeh bacon I got from Whole Foods was not nearly as good as the bacon at the restaurant where I got this sandwich originally. Ezekiel bread, olive oil mayo, 1/2 avocado, fresh cracked pepper, tomato, romaine, and tempeh bacon is a nice filling lunch though, paired with a few more slices of tomato on the side, because come on, I'm southern. We always love sliced tomatoes just eaten by themselves. I made the wifey a falafel salad with romaine, tomato, 1/2 avocado, 3 frozen falafel balls from Trader Joes, and a bit of a french vinaigrette. I'll likely eat a blueberry, watermelon, and mango popsicle in a bit while I watch this week's episode of Doctor Who.

We got our bikes back from the shop yesterday, decked out with new back racks and water bottle holders. Got them home and immediately attached our milk crates to the back, then I realized that getting on and off my bike was now a complete ordeal b/c of the crates. Because I'm so short (5'5) I have to throw my leg over the back of the bike to mount it, and with the crate, it's taller back there than I'm comfortable with, so I'll likely take the crate off for regular rides and just bungee tie my bag down to the rack directly. The crate will be great if I need to run to the store though on the bike for something, so I'll keep it around. I think I want to invest in some night-time lights for the bike so I can also bike at dusk/dawn and occasionally at night a bit more safely.

Tonight, I'll be going to a BBQ with some friends and then down to a huge neighborhood block party. I'm going to try to limit my unhealthy food and beer intake, but I'm sure I'll at least have 3-4 beers. I need to take a dish, so I've got to figure that out this afternoon. Hopefully I can figure out something I can make with stuff at home, or just run by Trader Joes and pick up something decently healthy.

Until next time guys!

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Gym time!

Today's been a good day so far for me. Started off with a bowl of muesli, a green smoothie (made of avocado, strawberries, blueberries, and almond milk) and a cup of coffee. Had veggies and hummus for lunch with a few pita crisps, and just had a snack of pistachios. Now, for the gym with my gym buddy (who happens to also blog @ The PCOS Ninja) for some laps around the track and a game of racquetball.

Edit: Did a mile around the gym, 2 sets of a racquetball game, then came home and mowed and edged the lawn. Good lord I was tired after all that, so I took a nice shower (with a beer... yes, in the shower... don't judge me) and went to dinner with my wife after her class got out. I also started reading Neil Gaiman's The Sandman comic book series today. I told myself I wouldn't let my geeky/scifi stuff leak over into this blog, but oh well, it just happened.

Monday, May 16, 2011

Fail Monday

The vietnamese vegetable salad I made last night is pretty much a disaster. That's what happens when you don't read the directions completely and mess up a recipe. So I went to the Student Center and got a salad  for lunch today.

I also didn't ride my bike in today as I was worried about getting in on time to get things ready for my first day of class. The first day always stresses me out to a degree, so I took the lazy way out and drove. I really do plan to ride tomorrow...

Update: Can't ride tomorrow either. Having the rear rack installed at Trek bike shop and there's a 72 hour install period. :-/ Will go to the gym tomorrow though! Hoping my racquetball buddy is up for a game!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Blueberry, Watermelon, and Mango Popsicles, pre freezing

http://instagr.am/p/ETrht/

Put the remains in a little tumbler and drinking it now, these are going to be awesome deserts!

Recipe from the fabulous Dianne Cook!

Slow Sunday

Today was a pretty lazy day. I woke up to rain most of the morning, which meant no bike ride for me. I did drive my route that I'll likely be taking to work tomorrow on my bike, so I'm a bit more comfortable with the idea of hoping on two wheels to take my fat ass to the office. I start teaching my summer class tomorrow as well and I need to pull some lecture material together in the morning for that, but it's a course I've taught a bunch now so I'm not too concerned.

What I am concerned about is my dog. She is a mini dachshund and chihuahua mix and we think she's hurt her back. My partner is taking her in to work with her tonight (yay for being married to a vet tech) to get her checked out. She's my first ever animal so I'm a bit worried about her. Dachshunds are notorious for having bad backs, and I hope we're not up with the decision of back surgery for her already. She's only about 7-8 years old...

But tonight I've got some other things to get done. I'll be prepping some foods for the beginning of this week while jamming out to some good tunes (starting off with Ryan Adams, who knows what'll happen after that). Here's to a beginning of a reluctantly healthy week.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

And you may ask yourself, how did I get here?!

Welcome to my first blog post. I'm not necessarily new to blogging - I was on some teenage angst filled diary site back in 2001 (think black backgounds with pink font - very emo before emo was mainstream) and still have a LiveJournal account that I barely use. This is my first time on an actual blog site, so we'll see how this whole thing goes...

Long story short, what I'm hoping to do in this space is discuss my attempts at becoming a healthier, leaner, stronger me. You may have noticed the title of this blog - Reluctantly Healthy - and though, what the hell is that all about? I truly want to be healthy, but also really love the unhealthy practices that are apart of my typical lifestyle. I mean, come on, who DOESN'T love bacon? Well, besides those who do not eat it for religious reasons, vegetarians/vegans, etc... Growing up in the South (Birmingham, AL), I've been raised on all things tasty and unhealthy - cornbread cooked in bacon grease and covered in butter, biscuits and gravy, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, country ham, casseroles full of cheese and cream, and all kinds of pie. Things foods are home - they are comforting and flat out make me happy. That's a common theme in my life - using food as a source of happiness. But I'm trying to change that, reluctantly as I still love all those unhealthy things, but I know I really have to take care of myself in order to live a long healthy life.

I'm definitely over weight and have been my whole life - but not quite to the degree I am now. I'm on high blood pressure meds, had back surgery at 20, grew up with pretty bad asthma and allergies (asthma is mostly gone, my eyes are currently watering like mad, so not so lucky on the allergy front...), have normal bad cholesterol scores but less-than optimal good cholesterol scores. So it's not just about weight loss with me, it's more so about getting healthy and feeling better. My partner and I have been going to a personal trainer 3 times a week (she's been there for a couple months, I've only been going for about a month). We're dropping to once a week this coming week, but adding biking to work (I work about 2.5 miles from my office) and working out more frequently at the gym where I work. I especially like to play racquetball, but working with our trainer has given me lots of great work outs to do with medicine balls, kettlebells, the bosu ball (I really enjoy that thing!), and resistance bands. We've also been working with a nutrition-minded friend of ours on planning better meals to avoid all of my food pitfalls. Last, but not least, are supplements - including udo oil (a vegetarian DHA omega 3 source), greens supplement via pill, probiotics, and other multivitamins.

A little bit more about me, in case you're interested (look, I'm writing like people will read this!): Name's Jay, married with two dogs (+one foster dog) and a cat and live in Omaha, NE. I teach university students Sociology and love science fiction and music. I'm going to try to keep this blog updated pretty regularly, so come back by if you want to see how things are going for me.

My confession for the day: Ate IHOP for breakfast and had chicken fried steak and gravy, eggs, and pancakes. Though I only ate half my hashbrowns and had sugar free syrup. 'Cause that makes it better... right?!

On my plan for tomorrow: a bike ride to campus to map out my route, making a few recipes for the week (low cal oatmeal-cranberry pancakes, vietnamese vegetable salad, and all-fruit popsicles for deserts), and getting everything ready for the start of my summer course.