Category: fitness

Colds

by Karen, posted in fitness, health

“The first wealth is health,” said Ralph Waldo Emerson.

You can say that again.

After not catching a cold for years and years, I have had two (this is my second) in one month.

How did this happen? True, my friends have had colds, and my husband and daughter are just getting over colds, but I have been surrounded by sick people every winter, not just this one, and have not gotten sick. At the first sign of a cold, whether it be my own or someone else’s, I took my Airborne and never gave it another thought.

Needless to say, this is not working this winter. (Hmmmm, I wonder if they’ve changed the formulation of Airborne…note to self: check on this!).

Okay, to be honest, the other thing that’s different this winter is that I am not religiously exercising at least 3 times a week as I have during winters gone by.Why not? That’s easy: I just don’t feel like it. In fairness to me, though, it’s also because a lot of the “found time” I’ve used for writing used to be carved out for exercising. Oh, and I’m eating small baked goods (read: sugar) way more often than I was last year. There is a school of thought that says sugar (in addition to feeding one’s soul) feeds one’s germs…

If your best efforts (Airborne, extra Vitamin C, good ol’ fashioned careful hand washing, and not touching your face)  fail to ward off that cold, what do you do? Besides suffer, I mean.

  1. Chicken soup.
  2. Tea with honey (oh heck, even just the honey! A nice, big tablespoon of it!).
  3. Rest in bed (or on the couch) under the comfy blanket with your best pillow (and biggest box of Kleenex).
  4. Okay, who are we kidding? You know that you’re going to end up having to go to work. Get up as late as you can and get back in bad as soon as you can.
  5. Try not to annoy the fam with your coughing (read: try not to be annoyed with the unsympathetic fam).
  6. Use cough drops, DayQuil, NyQuil (save money! buy generic!)…whatever makes you feel better.

Remember that “This too shall pass”. Even if it doesn’t feel like it will anytime soon.

You, Mii, and Wii

by Karen, posted in family, fitness, health, Holidays, tweens

Hate exercise? Mii too.  Well, I do if you are referring to

  1. Going to the gym
  2. Jogging
  3. Stairmaster
  4. Shoveling

If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you are not shocked by this admission. I do to practice yoga and like to hula hoop, but getting exercise is a byproduct (for me) of the activity, not the goal.

Enter Christmas. Enter the Wii. Now, when I used to go to Curves, some of the older (than me) women would talk about how much they enjoyed exercising with their Wii Fit games. I was interested in their stories, but not motivated in finding out any more about it.

Then I went to my brother’s house for Christmas and they were using their Wii and the kids were having so much fun that I thought, “Hey, maybe there is something to this…” When my 12-year-old niece persuaded my brother to get off the couch and dance to “Viva Las Vegas” with her, I made up my mind to get that game for my family.

I’ve never looked back. After I bought the console to play the games, which came with one controller and one nunchuk, I sprang for an additional controller and nunchuk. You need two of each to play against each other in boxing, and my daughter wanted to box with me (should I read anything into that??).

It’s really only me and my tween daughter (and her friends) using the Wii right now, but I’m hopeful that my husband will join in at some point (hey, virtual boxing with your spouse could expel a lot of demons, don’t you think?). I made a “Mii” for him already (and he’s a hunk!) so he’ll be all set to go.

Can’t wait to knock him out.

🙂

Cupcake Bakery in Sanford

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, fitness, friends, local fun, quest for the best, tweens
Coconut Bunny cupcake (one of the "Groupies")

I was returning my books at the library this weekend, two of which happened to be about cake baking, when one of the staffers said, “Have you tried that new cupcake bakery in Sanford?” “There’s a new cupcake bakery in Sanford??” I asked (of course, she had me at “cupcake”). She did a little research for me and discovered Cupcake Fetish Bakery, 883 Main Street in Sanford.

An hour and a half later, we were there. It’s in a little group of stores next to Get Fired Up! The parking lot is just before the shops, and if you see St. Ignatius St. on your right, go back! You’ve just passed it.

When you enter the shop, the counter is on the right, but if you look to the left, you’ll see Amy the baker through the window, plying her craft. Jennifer will take your cupcake order, which you can get boxed up to go, or you might choose to sit at one of the cute little tables (as my daughter Izzy and her friend Madi did)  in the shop.

Our choices today were a Chocolate Dream Warrior cupcake with pink vanilla bean frosting, a MegaDough cupcake (complete with chocolate chip cookie on the top and cookie dough hidden inside!), and a red velvet whoopie pie. We took a Coconut Bunny cupcake and a traditional chocolate whoopie pie home with us. All were excellent.

There are different items every day, but not all of the menu items are available every day, so check out their Facebook Page to find out what they are offering the day that you are going. They categorize the cupcakes as “Groupies”  and “Rock Stars”… hmmm…wonder what that’s about?

Note: the menu states that they will close early if they sell out!

After the bakery? An hour of Wii Just Dance 2 to work off the goodies. 🙂

Verdict: worth the trip.

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Snow day top 10 fun things to do (Part 2)!

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, fitness, local fun, tweens

Can you believe that we’re (possibly) getting (yet) another storm tomorrow? Just in case you exhausted your personal Top 10 list of things to do, here’s another bunch of ideas.

  1. Go sledding. By now, you (most likely) have piles of snow that are plenty big enough for the kids to sled on right in your yard.
  2. Go snowshoeing and/or  ice skating (if it’s possible to get to a rink).
  3. Have a snowball fight. Better yet, suggest it to the kids and you (mom or dad) stay safely in the house and watch from the window.
  4. Go swimming…if only to break up the monotony. Lots of hotels/inns offer off-season (read: cheap) passes you can buy to use their pool.
  5. Send them outside with their hula hoop. Really.
  6. Have a “P” picnic (not that kind of “P”! Been spending too much time with the pre-schoolers??). Pizza, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pancakes, popcorn, pretzels, pineapple chunks…have it INDOORS. Spread out an old quilt/blanket/sheet on the living room floor (move the coffee table, or whatever ou of the way) and have your picnic supper in front of the TV for a treat.
  7. Wii Just Dance 2…this is worth the effort for mom and/or dad to get up off the couch to play.
  8. Make cocoa. This make some planning to make sure you have some in the house before it snows. Swiss Miss is good enough (per Consumer Reports), especially if  you top it off with mini-marshmallows, whipped cream, cool whip (or all of the above)…Fluff will also do the job very nicely (careful that the volume of Fluff doesn’t outstrip the portion of cocoa. 🙂 )
  9. Pretend it’s still summer. Send the kids out to play with their sand pails and shovels (or kitchen utensils and plastic Tupperware bowls) to dig (or “cook”) in the snow.
  10. Make snow angels. Take pictures for the scrapbook.

Finally: avoid keeping the TV on those news programs that just spew an endless loop of doom and gloom and have some fun instead!

Re-entry; it’s a…(well, YOU know)

by Karen, posted in fitness, friends, health, Life in the cube

So, first day back to work after a few (or many) days off is always difficult, right? Add to that being sick and having major dental work the day before, and you’ve just added a heap of insult to injury.

The sound of that alarm going off for the first time in days was a rude awakening.

Here’s what I did to ease my transition back to Real (working) Life:

  1. I skipped the gym. I am always looking for excuses to back out of my Tuesday workout but today I got permission from an impartial bystander (my husband!) whose advice was, “I wouldn’t go; why look for trouble?” Point well taken. I didn’t go.
  2. Instead of woofing my usual Tuesday Vitatop and cold coffee for breakfast as I ran out the door, I made some scrambled (fresh!) eggs and packaged it up with my leftover home fries from The Good Table in Cape Elizabeth (the portions are so big that this is the third meal I’ve made with them!) and even was slowed down enough to remember to bring a little container of ketchup (what are eggs without ketchup? I ask you) to accompany them.  When I got to work (early!) I discovered they had my (current) favorite coffee, Spicy Eggnog. I had a good book, good food, and good coffee. Things were looking (somewhat) up.
  3. Reminded myself: Go slow!!! It will all still be there tomorrow (and the day after that, and after that…).
  4. Look for any positive things you can find in your day. Look hard. They’re there somewhere. I had a nice ‘thank you’ phone message from someone for a Christmas gift waiting on my voicemail at work, which totally gave me a positive energy boost.
  5. Coffee. Make sure you have plenty to get you through the day.

Of course, don’t underestimate the value of support from friends,  in person or even via email. Sometimes, a bit of empathy from a friend is really all you need. 🙂

My New Year’s Word

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, fitness, Holidays

I’m sorry, but I have to ask: is there a more thankless job than deconstructing Christmas? I mean, touring the house, scavenging all the nooks and crannies for the little Santas, Nutcrackers, and whatnots that have been stashed hither and yon, all in the name of festivity, inevitably finding one or two refugees after all of the boxes have been packed away in the closet, back under other things?

Does anyone like taking the decorations off the tree?

And then there’s the back of your mind, New Year’s Resolution thing lurking, lurking… I don’t typically make New Year’s resolutions, actually. I make birthday resolutions, a plan for the coming year that begins and ends with, you know, me (as in, “it’s all about me”). When I heard about a twist on the resolution thing, choosing just one word, rather than making one list, to focus on in 2011, I was interested. One word? That seems much easier to remember and actually do than one list. But what word? “Focus” was the first one that came to mind…then about a billion other words joined it. It wasn’t pretty.

One of my goals for 2011 is “REDUCE” … as in CLUTTER (and WEIGHT, too, come to think of it, and TIME-WASTING…). Hmmm, I guess that might be a good word…it just sounds so negative, though.  Guess I’ll think about it some more, maybe try on a few of those billion other words on for size to see which one is the best fit…maybe “DECIDE” should be my word? 🙂

If you’re interested in doing this too, here’s the website: myoneword.org.

I’d love to hear what words any of you choose if you decide to try it this year.

The best yoga class ever!

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, fitness, friends, quest for the best, yoga
Kathy, Alexis, Kristen (our teacher!), Janna, Me, Jeannie
Last night was a special yoga class at Windsong Yoga Studio in South Berwick. My friend Kristen (right in the center) is the instructor, and she teaches nice blend of many different styles of yoga. She has studied with some of the top teachers in the United States,  including Doug Keller, Desiree Rumbaugh, Sianna Sherman, and Judith Lasater, to name just a few. A bonus: she teaches women (no men allowed!). 🙂
She planned a special class to celebrate the winter solstice (the shortest day of the year).
After this excellent class, we were treated to an excellent meal, prepared for us by Kristen. A Tempeh Wreath was the main course, accompanied by a side salad of mixed greens, lightly dressed. Dessert was partially by way of Whole Foods  (and may I just say, OMG! Especially the chocolate covered figs? Unbelievable!). There were also some delicious Christmas cookies made for us by Janna, because, after all, what is Christmas without the cut outs? I ask  you.
Now, if you are someone who practices yoga, and midway through most classes you start thinking about pizza and/or assorted baked goods, this was like a class made in heaven. Thank you, Kristen! Put that Tempeh Wreath recipe in your cookbook!
What holiday celebrations are you participating in this year?

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Slowing down, turning inward

by Karen, posted in fitness, health

I am finding that as it gets colder and darker outside, I also am getting colder and darker (of mood). I am going at a much slower pace than I have been used to, and the less I do, the less I want to do.
For example, take exercise–please. I mean, I’ve never liked it, but I would still go and do it. Now, I must have long battles with my inner couch potato to get myself to go to the gym even once a week.

  • ME: Got to the gym!
  • INNER COUCH POTATO: No! I don’t wanna go!
  • ME: You have to go! You haven’t been in a whole week!
  • INNER C.P.: No! I don’t wanna go! You can’t make me! It’s only 24 degrees out there! It’s too cold! It’s still dark out! I don’t have enough time! I’m too tired! What I really need is another hour of sleep!

(See what I’m up against?)

Then I have to wonder: is once a week doing even one bit of good? It’s a short walk (hey! would that count as exercise?) from one to none, which is what is keeping me going at all at this point, I think.

Well, that, and Bagel Tuesday*.

I think of all of the things that I’d rather be doing than going to the gym.

  1. Sleeping for an extra hour
  2. Cooking and eating breakfast in my kitchen with my family
  3. Getting started writing my 2000 words
  4. Sleeping for an extra hour (See how tired I am! I’m repeating myself!)

All right, so the bottom line is… guess! Did I go to the gym or not?

*Planet Fitness puts out free bagels, cream cheese, and coffee from Dunkin Donuts on the second Tuesday of every month. Can you guess what my one day a week at the gym is? Heh, heh, heh.

Garden update: November

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, fitness, gardening, raising chickens, tweens
Pumpkins gone wild!

Remember the (multiple) posts I’ve written about how much chickens love pumpkins? Well my husband did a wild and crazy thing: he bartered with the local Walmart and struck a world-class deal to help rid them of all of their end of season pumpkins. (After all, as soon as Halloween is over they have to make room for those Christmas decorations! 🙂 )

He came home with is 4-Runner stuffed to the gills with pumpkins of every size, shape, color, and some even with painted features (one had a frog!). The chickens are now in pumpkin heaven, and as a side benefit, our yard is very extravagantly decorated for fall. 🙂

Since we were having a warm day in November, I decided that would be relatively painless to check out what was left of the garden. I was thinking I’d harvest the dregs of the carrots and beets and check on the lettuce.

Well, the lettuce is not growing very much yet; maybe we got it into the ground a couple of weeks later than we should have (totally my fault). Hopefully there will be some that is harvestable and edible before the snow comes. The carrots were a big surprise though. Since I wasn’t having much luck pulling them up by the green above-ground fronds, I gave up and started to harvest them like potatoes: I dug into the ground under them and pushed them up through the soil. I couldn’t believe how many of them were lurking under there, just minding their own business. Had I not gone in after them, regardless of the presence of waving fronds, I would have missed at least half of them.

Up for next weekend: carrot soup.

P.S. Chickens also love carrot tops and beet greens.

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Conscious eating, Part 3

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, books, fitness, restaurants

So, now that more weeks have passed and I have totally not given the Women, Food, and God  (by Geneen Roth) approach a passing thought until today, I decided to recommit to some of the strategies I have learned along the weight loss way.

  1. Drink 16 oz of water before every meal. This can be excessive, and at times make you feel like tossing your cookies before you even get to eat them, so modify accordingly. If you can only choke down a half a cup, go for it! It’s better than nothing. The theory is that it will make you feel fuller sooner, thereby displacing some of the food that you presumably would have consumed if not for the presence of the water in your gut. Seems like it’s worth a shot.
  2. Green tea. I am down to only a cup per day, two at most. Green tea is tricky because it has caffeine, and blood thinning properties (just to mention, there are other side effects as well)… it may interact with aspirin, the NSAIDs, coumadin, and so forth. . . but just in case it does contribute to weight loss, a little may be better than none.
  3. Throw out the first bite of your cookie/cupcake/whoopie pie/muffin/miscellaneous baked good of your choice. This is from One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way by Robert Maurer. I’m definitely still trying to work up the courage to try this one.
  4. Check online before you go out to eat to scope out the menu; get tips from WebMD or Weight Watchers on healthy (or at least less bad) choices.
  5. Oh, yeah: that smaller plate thing. Ever hear the saying that “work expands to fill the allotted time”? Well, I think that this rule applies to food too: the amount of food you (think it’s reasonable to) consume will expand to fill the allotted plate/bowl size.

Question to ponder: Does doing the Happy Dance (a la Snoopy) burn off the equivalent of whoopie pie that I just ate?