Mindful Snacking

Offices can be traps for mindless snacking.

"Hey look, a stressful email I don't want to deal with, let's go to the vending machine to procrastinate."
"I just had to talk to the meanest person in the office, let's go find something to munch on."

Even healthy snacks like almonds can be eaten mindlessly (and cause detriment to all of our hard work at the gym). Lately, I've become irresponsible with my snacks and find myself reaching for a nibble when I am not hungry at all. I decided to recommitt to being mindful and while day one was difficult, I feel like I am back in the saddle. What is the statistic? It takes about 21 days to form a habit. I'm on my way! I'm also being more diligent with hydrating and keeping my water cup filled!

Exercise line up for the week is:

Monday: 500 Calorie Work Out
Tuesday: Strength Boxing
Wednesday: Strength Yoga
Thursday: Cardio Soaked
Friday: Off (seeing a play)

In a perfect world, I would prefer not to have more than two days off in a row since it makes the return to class so much harder, but we do what we can.

The 500 Calorie Workout is a new one at the gym. Obviously it promises a 500 calorie or more burn per workout. One girl wore a monitor to class and she clocked over 500 calories, so it definitely held true to its promise. Of course, every one's calorie burn will be different and depends on height, weight, muscle, and number of other things. The class was made up of cardio (calisthenics, a little kick boxing), weight lifting (5lbs and 8lbs dumbbells) and some ab work. A good total body workout. Half of it was done tabata-style. (20 seconds of activity on, 10 seconds off for eight reps.) It makes my least favorite things like burpees and mountain climbers slightly more tolerable. I try not to let myself get caught up calories and numbers, it makes me crazy and crazy is not effective or healthy, but kudos to the instructor for good marketing with this title. The class was packed!

Today in gratitude: I am thankful for fall colors. Growing up in Texas, I never really had true seasons. In Chicago, I definitely do. I am thankful for all the beautiful natural colors that have come out over the past few weeks and the chance to kick fall leaves. For as rough as October has been emotionally (lots of blahs this month-more them later), the weather has gifted me with some lovely days and chances to take some big deep breaths of fresh fall air.

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Pumpkins and Workouts and Gym Etiquette

First things first. Last week's sweaty line up included:

Monday: Off I had to work late since in the morning I saw a taping of The Rosie Show!!! I'm still giddy!
Tuesday: Strength Boxing followed by Abs and Butt Blast
Wednesday: Strength Yoga
Thursday: Cardio Soaked

Friday I was scheduled for Pilates Sculpting, but during Thursday's Cardio Soaked class my knee popped. That's the only way to describe it. It felt weird. I was able to finish class at a Level One intensity, but the instructor told me to be very careful and lay off for a few days. So I did just that.

Last week I noticed that my tolerance for bad gym etiquette was quite low. While I love my fitness center, they tend to allow too many people into classes and it gets very crowded. In the world of Bikram Yoga, crowds are fine. The practice is designed so that you only need the area of your mat. While it's not awesome to be in a jammed Bikram class mat to mat with a giant sweaty half naked 50 year old man with oodles of chest hair, it's manageable. In classes where there is punching and kicking it is dangerous. Both Bikram and traditional classes of most kinds involve the need for proper form and thus, a view of yourself in the mirror. Enter the concept of "windows." I learned about "windows" at age nine when I took my first dance class. This is the simple act of not standing directly in front of another person. Look at these cheerleaders. They are standing in "windows."

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Easy, right? Apparently this concept blows the minds of some of the women at my gym. Walking in late and standing directly in front of someone in a class is bad form. Don't do it people. I went to the interwebs and found several articles that agreed. "Mirror hogging" falls under the same no-no category as not wiping down your machines or stealing extra time on coveted equipment. It can be awkward to speak up about these things and I really feel like instructors could take some advice from the world of Bikram and make a little announcement prior to class starting or even mark the floor with the proper places to stand. A bit like kindergarten? Yes. Necessary? Totally.

In other news, last week I practiced a simple pumpkin soup (canned pumpkin, veggie broth salt, pepper, curry powder, garlic powder, onion powder and cinnamon), and it just doesn't work for me. I need fresh ingredients and a little butternut squash. I think for Thanksgiving I'll just be sending a recipe to my mom and having her freeze it and bring it. I like to manage my own cooking, but I think in this case I must relinquish control. Look at that there personal growth.

I realized that the main reason I don't update more is because I don't upload my personal pictures enough and I feel picture posts are always more effective. Then I sit on a recipe, event, or musing I want to write about and it never gets published. So in the spirit of trying to commit to updating more, here is a picture of some pumpkin and sweet potato soup that I didn't make (but sounds AMAZING):

Source and link to recipe at Susan's Food For Thought

Maybe one day I will get my act together and post the picture of my Halloween Pumpkin. She had hair.

Today in gratitude: I am thankful for my husband's generous leg and foot rubs. Many evenings Mr. BB30 devotes time to my aching muscles, because he know it makes me feel comforted and happy. I'm lucky.

Oh October

October has gotten off to a rough start. My Paw Paw passed away last week and we said goodbye to him on Friday, his 89th birthday. He was an avid farmer and no doubt my need to garden comes from him.

Tuesday when I got the news I opted to work from home and chose a nice long fall walk over my scheduled workout.

Last weeks workouts included:

Monday: Ultimate Conditioning Class (30 Minutes of cardio, strength, cross-conditioning exercises) and Zumba
Tuesday: Walk
Wednesday: Strength Yoga

This week's plan is:

Monday: Zumba and Cardio Barre Sculpting
Tuesday: Strength Boxing and Abs & Butt Blast
Wednesday: Strength Yoga
Thursday: Off (I have a fundraiser to attend- It's a costume party-I'm going as a disco queen!)
Friday: Pilates and 100s Cardio

Over the past few weeks I've noticed that my bum is really shaping up. I've always been in the Flat and Wide Club, but these seven months or so of hitting the gym regularly are starting to give me some tone back there. I'm happy because those kind of curves are hot!

Ain't no shame in that game Scarlett!!

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It's time to start thinking over Thanksgiving menu options. This year I will be traveling home and will need something easy to assemble at my aunt's house. My plan as of now is to have my mom bring her crock pot and I will do a simplified pumpkin soup (pumpkin, veg broth, whatever seasoning is available, frozen pre-minced onion). It will be really flavorful, easy, and a great dish to share and show my family how deliciously I eat. I think they were all worried about me when all I ate at the post-funeral dinner was grapes. (Trust me-afterward I had a huge veggie sandwich, a big salad, and some cashews.) My mom is also going to bring some veggie sides as well. I plan to do a trial run of my soup soon and will be sure to share.
Are you planning your Thanksgiving dinner yet?

This Week in Workouts

This week's line up includes:

Monday: Tabata Kickboxing
Tuesday: Off. I have too much on my mind and was wide awake from 2-5am this morning. Must sleep.
Wednesday: Strength Yoga
Thursday: Cardio Soaked followed by seeing a friend's play
Friday: 100s Cardio

Today in gratitude I am thankful for the lovely Penny who has shown me some amazing generosity. I will be sure to pay it forward however I can!

Now, hit me with your best tips for visiting LasVegas!

Bells of the Garden Ball

Look at what I harvested yesterday morning:

Look at the color on these red bell peppers! Mr. BB30 and I have decided we will enjoy them in delicious simplicity and have plans to roast them and enjoy them as a bruchetta atop some toasty bread with garlic, olive oil and sea salt. Drool.....We have one more that is almost ready, but that'll be it for this summer's bells.

Other than our massive basil plants (helloooo winter pesto!), our garden has not been abundant. We've gotten several small tomatoes that are delicious, but they're just kind of puny, and many of them are still green and waiting to turn. Much to my dismay, my squash plant died. I think with such a little space and THREE different small plots going from different units in my building, we just depleted the soil of everything it had. I have always been drawn to planting. Not flowers. Vegetable gardening. Near the theater where I was performing there was a house overgrown with vines and the coolest sort of sunken garden space that the owners have let die and become infested with weeds. I have nothing against an ivy-covered house-it can be totally charming, but I wanted to issue them a personal citation for wasting such a wonderful plot. Next to it sits the most tragic garden travesty though. There is a lot next to the house that is completely unkept. It is in fact so overgrown that had I not looked closer I would have missed seeing a once beautiful wooden atrium with a bench sitting there abandoned and whispering, "Save me BB30!" Perhaps the owners of the house are not the owners of the lot, but rest assured if there was an AMAZING untouched, unused, uncared for lot next door to my apartment, I would absolutely volunteer my maintenance services in exchange for growing a lush summer garden there. I could grow and grow and then can and preserve! Oh the soups! Oh the herbs! I wish I had taken a picture to show you. Why hello, Google Maps Street View, won't you be my helper today? Oh yes, I am so passionate about this abused space that I have found a dark but useful picture of it for you.

Sigh.

My show has closed. What a fast but wonderful ride. I am so grateful for having worked on such a wonderful piece and the opportunity it provided me to stretch my actor muscles. I am bummed that it is over. However, in a wonderful coming-full-circle moment, during my final performance a message was left on my phone that I booked another show. Kind of softens the blow. I will begin rehearsals December 1st. It's so great to know I will have a little break but with another project lined up (a project where I play a ghost-eeep!). I anticipate that the time will fly with a wedding and several plays I need to attend as well as my trip to LasVegas and the Thanksgiving holiday. I plan to use it wisely and return to a nice full fitness schedule.

This week's line up includes:

Monday      Tabata Kick Boxing

Tuesday      Strength Boxing

Wednesday Strength Yoga

Thursday     Off (My day job BFF is leaving to pursue her art and we are celebrating her jail break)

Friday         100s Strength (Calisthetics) followed by SUSHI!!!

Happy Fall y'all!

What are you going to be for Halloween?

Vegas, Baby

And it came to pass that Mr. BB30, his bestie and I would embark on a trip to LasVegas, which (because I am a dork) quickly became known as The Three Best Friends Trip.

Thus, new motivation was born. Since I do not gamble, my time will be spent walking about The Strip, window shopping, taking advantage of the hotel fitness center, and most importantly lounging poolside. While I know that most of my fellow Vegas tourists will be normal people and not super models, the notion that I will be required to sport a bikini again in just one month provides good incentive to get back on track. Additionally, The Three Best Friends Trip has expanded to include Mr. BB30s Bestie's new girlfriend type person who happens to be very young and painfully hot. Great. Awesome. Kill me. So hopefully knowing that I have to sport beach wear next to sexy youngster will keep me going to the gym when I can and keeping my eating and cocktailing in check. Hopefully.

This week I have shows Thursday-Sun so week day work outs are limited:

Tuesday: Strength Boxing followed by Abs and Butt Blast
Wednesday: Strength Yoga followed by a Cubs Game
Saturday: Zumba

As you know, I hate going all the way to my gym on the weekends. Due to the holiday on Monday I simply have no choice. I originally chose some type of calisthenics class for Saturday, but I am 99.34% sure I would cancel that in the end. I decided to go with Zumba because I think I can muster up the strength to get out the door if I can tell myself, "It's just a dance class, it's just a dance class." I definitely wouldn't go if I had to tell myself, "Go do planks and push ups, it will be so fun." Know thyself.

I've been a Snacky Snackerson lately. I think the issue lies with a couple of things:
1. My body is feeling the reduction in exercise and is trying to gain energy
2. I am tired, so my body wants to eat to gain energy
3. I am not getting in good regular meals and sometimes skip dinner on show nights and end up starving and snacking extra the next day.
4. I am already super sad my show is in its final two weeks. I am having the best theatrical experience I've had in a while and I know it could be a long time before I have this again. Makes me very sad. Thus, snacks.

I know what I need to do to get back on track, but it's sometimes easier said than done:

Water water water
Good balanced meals
No alcohol on the weekdays
Exercise any chance I get

Hmmm...I don't think they have kale at Wrigley Field. First challenge. Make sure to eat something between yoga and the ball game tonight...

Today's gratitude: I am thankful for the cool weather that's come to Chicago this week and the opportunity to wear some of my awesome newly thrifted fall clothes!

She Emerges

Hustle Bustle!

I've been busy. After four performances last weekend, I took off on a jet plane Sunday night to visit Bestieface in sunny Los Angeles for a few days.

LA is not a walking city for sure. I had high hopes of going to one of my fave places, Griffith Park, for soulful hiking, but alas, apparently when it's really warm and smoggy there are advisories to stay away from big hikes like that. Frown. However, we managed to fit in two great hilly walks around the Silverlake Reservoir, and I did some light work with hand weights one morning, so I snuck in some fitness. It was really important to me since I won't be back in an exercise class until Tuesday. Oy. Can't my fitness center open a location next door to my apartment so I can go to class anytime I want? Is that too much to ask? :) So it goes with a day job, a career and a life. However, Bestie said I had Michelle Obama arms which is one of the greatest compliments I've ever gotten. Michelle is such a fit sexy lady!

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On Tuesday we lunched at Flore and as always with vegan restaurants it is so nice and somewhat overwhelming to be able to choose from ANYTHING on the menu. I had the tempeh meatloaf burger. It didn't taste like meatloaf at all, but it was SO GOOD. It was definitely house made and not overly processed, and full of protein packed tempeh and veggie goodness. I felt so satiated and content, but not weighed down or stuffed. There is a restaurant in the building of my day job that I often catch whiffs of and it mostly smells like melty monterrey jack chicken sandwiches. I always think it smells good, then I think about how sluggish and weighed down I would feel if I ate it. I know from experience that it would make me feel so overly full and short of breath and wanting to lay down. Ew. No thank you. Nothing tastes good enough to do that to myself. Ah personal growth. When I eat a nice clean meal I don't feel that way. Even if it's a caloric match to a melty chicken sandwich I feel so much more fueled and recharged. I have more energy after I eat instead of feeling zapped of energy by eating.

I also met my first bowl of Pho, a Vietnamese Noodle Soup. I think it's magical.

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Here is a delightful recipe for Pho I want to try:

http://www.elliemay.com/soups/VegetarianPho.html

I wish you all the happiest and safest of Labor Days. I am off for some grilling with my in laws. 

Do you eat Pho?