A Trip Home and Such

My quick trip south went pretty well. I felt like I ate way too much cereal, but it was such a simple and easy go-to. The night I got in my folks and my dear pal Hilde went to a Chinese buffet. Luckily this place had a make-your-own stir fry set up so I was able to feast on some yummy (yet overly soy sauced) veggies and steamed rice. Saturday was the day of my professor's retirement party and between running around doing errands, getting lost on the way to rehearsal and starting my period (read: I was so tired and weak I couldn't think straight) I was glad to survive. Somewhere along the way we ended up at a mom and pop Chipotle type place so I was able to make a little burrito bowl with rice, black beans and mushrooms and peppers they sauteed in oil only just for me. I am so thankful for that burrito bowl because I was left with only salad to eat at the event (cut to BB30 eating peanut butter crackers in the car at 10pm in a dress and heels). On Sunday night I had the opportunity to cook and served up my version of the PPK's Chickpea Picatta. It was weird not to cook in my own kitchen, but it was a hit (Although would Mom and Dad BB30 actually tell me if they hated it? Doubtful).

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Returning to work last week without a day of rest made for a tough week, but I knew I needed to make the most of my week with workouts:

Tuesday 5/10: Strength Boxing and Abs/Butt Blast
Wednesday 5/11: Yoga Sculpt and Turbo Kick
Thursday: Off (I had several errands to run after day jobbin')
Friday 5/13: Kwando Kickboxing

Stay tuned for some great recipes I've tested lately and how I am bringin' the vegan to some recipe smack downs!!

Also, be sure to Dish for Dana!

First Week of a New Year

Wow. I began the THIRD year of this journey this week. Hard to believe. Bring on the sleek bod! It's gonna hurt, but it's gonna be s'good!

This week I knew I needed to put in more effort at the gym because with Tuesday being devoted to birthday festivities and Friday through Monday being devoted to a quick trip home to the south.

Here is what I did this week:

Monday: Tabata Boxing, Cardio Barre Blast (toning), and Hustle (a dance based workout I hadn't tried yet. Less quirky than Zumba, still not as bad ass as WERQ)

Wednesday: Yoga Sculpt, Turbokick, Chizle Fo' Shizzle (dumbbell toning, and it's actual name)

Thursday: Barre Burn, Hustle

Other than some pieces of birthday cake this week, I really stayed on track. I've only made one trip to the south as a vegan and I managed due to some preparation. I think this trip may prove a bit more challenging since I am attending an actual event. My guess is that I'll eat something before hand, bring a baggie of almonds in case all I can have at the event is salad, and then have a snack later. Should be just fine. We shall see.

I will also drink one of these:

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Cherry Vanilla Diet Coke from Sonic is the Drink of the Gods and there is one very close to the airport parking lot at my destination. Yeehaw!

Happy weekends y'all!

(cue Oprah) IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!

It's my birthday y'all! Last year at this time I sported my new bikini friendly body, got a fabulous surprise visit by my NYC besties, and marveled at how far I'd come emotionally and physically over the past year. I knew I could relax a smidge but that my battle would never truly be over.

My focus was on incorporating exercise however I could, finding the motivation to get in gear and cutting back on calories. This past year has been more about a discovery of being active and what it does for me. When I lost On Demand Exercise TV in the summer (ComCast was awful and HAD to go to save my wallet!) I turned to Bikram Yoga (thank you Groupon). Because of some stellar discounts I was able to party with Bikram for about five months. Then I got bored with the monotony and busy and stressed with two huge projects at my day job. I found I missed exercise and felt myself longing for movement and actually run down and lethargic without it. At the end of January (thanks to another Groupon) I was able to start working out at a new fitness place. I was snobby about it at first which I now realize was my way of trying to get out of exercising. I love it so much now. I get such a wide variety of classes from yoga, to kick boxing to dance to traditional calisthenics. It's great. Not easy in any way, but great. I work out four times a week and am slowly adding more. It's become my routine to walk over after work and 'get my sweat on' (the place's motto). I love planning out my classes for the week. I feel so strong and have noticed some definition that I've never had before. It's so motivating.

I'm almost 17 months in to switching to a vegan diet and I still love it. I know it helped me through my recent Plague. Food is medicine people. I still feel so clean and energized and happy eating this way. I never feel weighed down after I eat. I always just feel nourished and content. I stay on top of getting all of nutrients, but it's so second hand at this point. With my more active lifestyle the past few months I think I need some guidance with the best way to eat while building muscle and trying to continue slimming down, so I am hoping to meet with a vegan nutritionist soon to make sure I am doing the right things.

Oh, would you like to see comparison shots? It never gets easier to put myself out thee, but here are the stats and pics:

May 3, 2010 Waist (at belly button): 29
May 3, 2011 Waist (at belly button): 28
An inch!

May 3rd, 2010 Hips: 35.5
May 3rd, 2011 Hips: 34.5
An inch!

May 3rd, 2010 Thigh: 21.5
May 3rd, 2011 Thigh: 20.5
An inch!

May 3rd, 2010 Arm: 10.50
May 3rd, 2011 Arm: 10.25
1/4 of an inch!

Again this year I think the back shots are the most telling.

While maintenance was the overall goal of the year I've realized that I have some strengthening work to do (especially if I am going to have kids one day). While I am sad that acting isn't working out for me, I am looking at the bright side that it's given me time to tend to my health. I love that I am starting to see some muscles and want to look fierce and athletic and healthy! I hope to kick some serious fitness arse over the next year!

Look, I have some little guns now!

Now for a fabulous birthday dinner, but first, thanks to all of you who have stuck with me. Knowing you're out there makes all the difference. Truly. We can do this!

What A Week

The past couple of weeks week have been strange and fragile.

Two weeks ago in the drizzling spring chill of Chicago, Mr. BB30 and his entire cast had been sniffling and one of my co-workers decided it would be brilliant to come to work with The Plague and breathe it all over me.  Despite preventative measures of EmergenC and positive thinking, it was no use. Two weeks ago today I starting feeling awful, and by the next evening I was shaking and crying in a hot shower like a baby. I am the worst sick person. Maybe it's because I am the baby of the family. Maybe it's just because I am a baby. Nonetheless I am a bad sick person. What was crazy is how furious I was. I was not furious so much because I was sick (sadly, I am still without show prospects), but I was furious that it meant I couldn't go to fitness class. Unreasonably furious. Perhaps I am obsessing? Perhaps I wasn't so off when I mentioned exchanging emotional eating for emotional exercise. Going to class after work has become my release, my meditation time, my endorphin rush. I was so achy and miserable and my throat was raw.

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The days that followed were tough. Tuesday I stayed home sick from work and also accompanied Mr. BB30 to the wake for his sweet Grandpa. Seriously, I am so privileged to have known Grandpa Hohs and I cherish the wonderful speech he gave at our wedding and the beautiful picture of him we have of it. He was the mayor his town for 8 years and was loved by so many people. Wednesday was the funeral. I came home and starved for movement I did Jillian Michaels Shred level 1 then 2. Thursday I went back to work, still wrecked, but forced myself to go to Kicklates, a new class the fitness place created combining (you guessed it) Kick Boxing and Pilates. Friday was Good Friday and I was still a mess. I stayed home from my standard Friday night Kwando Kickboxing class. I felt like an uber failure (which is lame, I know, I was really under the weather!). I was getting tired of this. I was exhausted with being sick. I was so drained (and snotty) I couldn't do much over the weekend, but I got nice and (medicinally) drugged up and did get some time on Easter to canoodle with my insanely cute baby nephew. The next day I was still a coughing snotty nightmare and went to the doctor. EIGHT DAYS? This was some kind of mutant super cold. I couldn't lay down (which is all I wanted to do) without coughing. He assured me that I was only contagious the first couple of days (so I ran no risk of getting my nephew sick), and gave me some prescription strength cough suppressant and antibiotics. Today is day 14 and I am still a little clogged and drippy, but much better. I feel like I have been in a snotty haze for two weeks.

My best friend:

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I know this was a mutant super cold because 1) I never get actual coughs 2) It lasted two weeks (obviously) 3) I lost my appetite. I simply don't do that. I would wake up hungry-ish and eat some cereal. For several days the only things I wanted were salty brothy soups and oatmeal.

Let this be your public service announcement to wash your hands and cover your mouths people!

This week I made it to my classes. Most exercises in the non dance based classes have levels for each move. The instructors had mercy when I had to dropped to a level one since it was clear that I was about to lose my lung. Nonetheless, I prevailed.

Monday-Tabata Boxing followed by Cardio Barre Sculpting
Tuesday-Off
Wednesday- Cardio Barre Sculpting followed by Cardio Blast (old skool calisthenics)
Thursday-Kicklates followed by WERQ (my FAVE)
Friday-Kwando Kickboxing

Tabata Boxing is the same TaeBo style of boxing, but it moves in intervals (a fellow named Tabata came up with the theory of interval training it's based on). For example, one tabata might be jab-cross-jab-uppercut. So, for twenty seconds we do as many reps of that as we can (everyone at their own pace) - then rest 10 seconds. You do eight sets of each exercise and we do about twelve tabatas over one hour (including a few minutes at the top and bottom for warm up and cool down). Supposedly you increase your post workout calorie burn by about 14 percent. I'll take it. The instructor told us on Monday that the class was a bit tougher that night. No wonder I was coughing like mad.

Thursday was tough. I paired two very high energy classes together, but I think that in order to keep on sliding down the scale I need to up the ante and double up on classes.

I get to work from home tomorrow (bliss!) and then Tuesday is my birthday and I have the day off! Yay! Although it never gets easier to post pics, I will post some comparison shots and bust out the tape measure. Wednesday and Thursday it's back to work then Friday it's off to Texas for the retirement party of one of my dear professors.

I wish you all happy, healthy weeks!

Dance Kick Dance Kick

This week's workouts will go like this:

Monday: Zumba
Tuesday off: They switched up class schedules AGAIN and Barre Burn was too brutal for my arm injuries
Wednesday: Turbo Kick (haven't done this one exactly before, but seems similar to Kwando)
Thursday: WERQ (hip hop)
Friday: Kwando Kickboxing

At the fitness place I've been going to there is online sign up for classes that helps them determine what room to put the class in (there is a large, medium and small room). Yesterday, apparently half the Zumba class didn't show up on time so we got moved to the small room...then more showed late. It was cramped. Lame. When you have long arms and legs kicking and big arm movements is not possible in a tiny room.

The Way Eye See It

I write about being healthy and trying to be the best me I can be inside and out. Yes, a lifelong battle with weight and food is tough, but manageable. Imagine not being able to rely on one of your most valued physical needs, your eyes. My bestiekins, The Broke-Ass Bride, has been living with an auto immune disease in her eyes for over nine years. From implants to glaucoma to steroid drops to needles in her eyeballs, she's been through it all. Sadly, she will soon have to go through her 12th eye surgery. Between old school loans, expensive treatments and general tough times with finances, the bills keep racking up with no end in sight. Not feeling comfortable with a traditional fundraiser, but in need of help, Dana and her husband Hunter have created Dishing For Dana, an online recipe share project that will help raise funds to bring down her pile of medical debt as well as raise money for the American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association.

Read all about it here.

Nubbins

Happy April. I can't believe it. Time flies.

My birthday is one month from last Sunday.

The weekend brought on some harsh realizations and tough stuff. All three of my very promising auditions fell through. With having inside connections for two of them and the other just feeling outstanding, I am shocked. I got a very nice personal email from one of the places (personal emails are rare-they typically form "thanksbut no thanks" emails). There are so many factors that weigh in on casting decisions from height to age to union vs. non union. I always thought I would outlast everyone and finally make it, but my stamina is starting to truly waver for the first time. One day at a time, one step at a time.

Thank God for my fitness classes. Friday's Kwando Kickboxing class was my sweatiest most intense yet. I pounded out my frustrations and air-punched several nameless people in the face. I was spent. I looked like I had been in a Bikram class. Monday I tried Tabata Boxing which is a similar Taebo-style class, but the moves are done in fast repetitive circuits (tabatas). Round house kicks are my favorite. I just really enjoy kicking, and bonus, it's great for saddle bags! I love air-round house kicking wrong-doers in their bellies. I'm such a lady. This is how you do one:

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Tuesday night I went to a new class, Barre Burn. This was ballerina/bar, pilates/yoga mix of a class all about toning up. There were many planks in the beginning with really irritate my crazy arm injuries.I know I just need to get my behind back to accupuncture. It's a phone call and a nice walk away, I don't know why I am procrastinating. I know it would help calm my racing mind and all of my anxiety as well.

Wednesday was my day off of exercise, but I still really wanted to move. So, I took a nice mile long walk to one of my favorite thrift stores to look around and get some inspiration. Do you all read New Dress A Day? Marissa is brilliant and inspires me to bust out the sewing machine I got for Christmas but haven't devoted a weekend to playing with. Two miles total. The walk felt good. Dare I say my body craves movement now?

Oh hey, let's make soup!

Like I mentioned last week I've come upon several sales on fresh brocoli lately. There was so much leftover stalk-age (or nubbins) that I decided I would start making soup from it. I've done this a couple of times. I call it Nubbin Soup.

I chop up the nubbins (approx 2 cups) and steamed them until they were soft.

Then I added one cup of florets to my second steamer tower and steamed everything for seven more minutes.

I cooked up one cup of chopped onions and six grated cloves of garlic with just a kiss of olive oil.

Then I let everyone get friendly in the pot for five minutes.

Then I added in four cups of vegetable broth, one additional cup of water and blended away with my trusty Cuisinart immersion blender. Her name is "Cusi Jefferson". Move it on up, girl!

I like to swirl in some shredded Daiya Cheese in my bowl before eating it and/or add in some cooked brown rice. Either way it's mega comforting and DELISH!

Go forth and get yo' Nubbin on!

What "use it all up" creations have you made lately?