OK2010A! Challenge #3 - Squat Challenge

Let's skip to #4. Since March is now over, it's official, the squat challenge was a failure. But here's the blog post I SHOULD have put up.


Operation Kick 2010's Ass is commencing part III. Every month gives you another chance to start fresh.

For the third challenge I want you to sit your way to success. We'll be taking on the 200 Squat Challenge. It's well documented at http://www.twohundredsquats.com. There's even an iPhone & iPod Touch app.

Your commitment to the Squat challenge will count toward the 30 minutes of activity a day you're doing for the January challenge. The recommend time for you to a lot to the program is 30 min week over 3 days/week.

Why squats?

1. They're a functional exercise. They develop muscles and motions that we use ever day.
   
2. You can attempt the challenge to suit yourself. If 200 is too easy you can ramp it up with bicep curls. Too hard and you can repeat a week.
   
3. Squats don't require a special place. You can do them anywhere. No need to find a piece of floor to lay on. If need be you can lock yourself in a bathroom to get your squats done!
   
4. Low cost. The only costs for the squat challenge is your time. No need to buy equipment or join a gym.
   
5. Long-term commitment to health and fitness. The challenge will take as long as 6 weeks, taking us into the middle or April.
   
6. Long-term success. Next time you take a core class, stability ball class or other fitness class you'll be laughing at the request for two sets of 12 squats. That's just over 10% of what you can do!
   

To recap:
January was about doing 30 minutes of activity everyday. You're still committed to getting'er done.
February created the habit of writing down your food each day. Keep it up!
March is about adding a functional exercise to make us all stronger at everyday tasks.

On your mark, get set, SQUAT!

Singapore Noodles Recipe

A go-to meal for me and the husband. Add in wonton soup and dumplings and sauce for the kids and it's a take-out cooked at home.

Singapore Noodles
Ingredients

• 1 T sesame oil
  
• 1 T peanut or canola or vegetable oil
  
• 4-6 tsp minced garlic
  
• 2 T slivered fresh ginger
  
  
• 1 cup cooked match stick sliced protein of choice (chicken, pork, egg white)
  
• 1 slivered onion
  
• 1 slivered green pepper
  
• 1 slivered red pepper
  
• 2-3 carrots turned into strips with peeler
  
• 1 sm zucchini turned into strips with peeler
  
• add other veggies as desired peas, beans, green onions, etc
  
  
• 1/4 cup oyster sauce
  
• 3 T curry powder
  
• 2 tsp soy sauce
  
  
• package of rice vermicelli
  
• boiling water
  

Instructions

1. Heat cooking oil in wok. Cook garlic, ginger and onion until tender.
   
2. Start water boiling.
   
3. Stir fry protein until hot. Add veggies as desired and cooked to desired tenderness.
   
4. Make sauce with oyster sauce, curry powder, soy sauce. Add to veggies and protein.
   
5. Follow directions for rice vermicelli. Add cooked vermicelli to wok with sauce and protein. Stir.
   
6. Sit back and enjoy!
   

Would spaghetti squash noodles work instead of rice noodles? Let me know if you try it.

Slow Cooker Challenge

Taking on more than reasonable seems to be my regular plan. School, sick kids, running and the gym keep me pretty busy. But a desire to be a real 'blogger' had me jumping up yelling, "Pick me! Pick me!" when Ali of Fat to Fit was looking for volunteers for the Health Slow Cooker Challenge. (She even has a pretty image that I don't know how to include.)

I did it! I did! My day was Sunday and I cranked up the crockpot just after midnight with my oatmeal for breakfast. But my excuses are almost as good for exercise as they are for blogging. It's almost the end of Wednesday and I'm just writing it up now.

So breakfast was a grand success. Inspired by Steve Dinn's success at losing 101 lbs in less than a year I have followed his breakfast habit of steel cut oats.




Guess what? Steel cut oats are even better in the crockpot. I threw in a cup of PC steel cut oats and 3 1/2 cups of water and let it go all night. In the morning I dressed it up with a bit of sweetened cocoa and milk. Delicious!

Following that success I tackled an evening meal. I made my famous refrigerator soup. The recipe has many steps. Enough to write them in a loop.

if fridge is not empty:
---remove item from fridge
---if item is a soup ingredient
------put item in pot
---else place item on counter


Sundays soup was the result of a full fridge. It was full of wonderful health goodness. The ingredients included:
8 cup turkey stock
1 cup diced turkey
1/2 bag of frozen thai veggies
thinly cut spinach
onion
celery
salt
pepper
roasted herbs
OXO beef package
prosciutto
left over roast veggies (onion, carrots, celery potato & sweet potato)
summer savory
bay leaves

It was delicious. From the one spoonful I ate I can tell you that.

But I'm tired. And stupid. And I make mistakes. So I tasted it. We went out for supper. I came back and FORGOT TO PUT IT IN THE FRIDGE. Found it the next morning. So it's deliciousness is now hanging out in my compost. So sad.


Thank you to Ali for letting me take part in the Slow Cooker Challenge. You can find more great Slow Cooker Challenge recipes at:
One Day at a Time
Fat to Fit
La Fuji Mama
Happiness is a Journey for Janna
Shari Rocks a Lot
Embracing Balance

OK2010A! Challenge #2 - Bite it and write it!

Operation Kick 2010's Ass is commencing part II. It's time for you to jump onboard.

If you BITE IT, WRITE IT. For the month of February you are challenged to WRITE IT DOWN. You'll be recording your food everyday. Good days and bad days don't have anything to do with your calories, fat or choices. The only choice that is a bad choice is not writing it down (or lying to yourself about writing it all down).

It's pretty easy to do. You can make your own log book. Use a notebook. Log on to a site like SparkPeople. I'm planning to use an iPod Touch app called "Lose it!". Weight Watchers online or in person requires that you write it down (for some plans). As someone who has done this task before, here are my tips.

1. Have a back up plan. If you forget your iPod, you're not on your computer, or your notebook was left behind find someplace to write it down. It's easy to forget what you've eaten. I used to keep notepads in my bag, my diaper bag, and on the counter. At the end of the day I'd enter them all on the computer.
   
2. Be conscience of serving sizes and note that you had 3 servings of X or 1/2 a serving of Y.
   
3. Looking ahead to future challenges it's worth noting your water intake, fibre and a count of fruits & veggie servings.
   

Don't forget your 30 minutes a day of exercise is still expected. That was the new habit for January. This is the new habit for February.

The midway: 30 for 30

Just a quick update on the 30 for 30 challenge. I challenged a few friends to 30 minutes of activity everyday for 30 days. It's been enough to get us all moving more. Some are more successful than others. It's a reminder that life does get in the way. For me, that life is a reminder of why I want to get healthy.

So what does 30 for 30 look like when you're 225lbs+? It looks really inconsistent! Here's a glimpse at my log.

---

Day 30 - I did 31 minutes of Wii games. Not the best workout, but something.
Also dragged the baby around in the carrier at the mall & grocery store for over an hour. Slow pace but holding an extra 15lbs.

Day 29 - I did my 30 minutes. Mostly stretching and the other exercises I'm supposed to do everyday for physio. Unfortunately I was too sore to do much else. Physio hurts.
Haven't logged on to Biggest Loser on the Wii in a few days. (Did I tell you it sucks and not to buy it? The interface is horrible).

Day 28 - Got my Wii time in today. 30 minutes of step, and step related all while wearing the baby (extra 15lbs).
Now I need someone to strip a turkey carcass for me.

Day 27 - 35 min on the treadmill courtesy of Dinosaur Train & the exersaucer

Day 26 - Squeezing it in! 38 minutes on Wii, with only 45 min left in the day

Day 25 - 20 min on the treadmill followed with 10 minutes of core and 5 min of stretching.

Day 24 - Does 2 hrs on my feet wearing the baby & prepping for a 3-year-olds birthday party count?
later that night 30 minutes of stretching done! I'm tired.
As for falling off the food wagon? There is no food wagon. There's just paying attention. (But I totally get the shoveling in of things that I *think* are going to taste good and when they don't? I keep shoveling).

Day 23 - Thirty minutes of the treadmill! Done. Love the exersaucer and TV. But I'm sad that my Nike+ appears to have died from disuse.

Day 22 - I did a mixed work out at the gym. 15 minutes on the elliptical. 5 minutes on the stepper. 15-20 minutes of stretching and the physio I was assigned.

Day 21 - Finally got my 35 minutes on the Wii

Day 20 - Today was at the gym. First measured day on my new begin to run program. An aggressive paced 15 min walk after 15 min warm-up on elliptical and about 15 minutes of stretching & back/butt strength moves.

Day 19 - I've got 25 minutes done. 18 min walk plus stretching.
much later Finished off with 15 minutes of Wii

Day 18 - Got 15 minutes on the treadmill done before 10am. Not sure what else is on for today, but it won't involve using my shins much!
much later I did some Wii Fit+

Day 17 - 34min on the Wii - strength & yoga

Day 16 - I got it done. 25 min walk. 14 min elliptical and my regular stretching & strengthening

Day 15 - Today was a quick gym day. About 20 min on learn to run program and 10 min on elliptical. I am tired.

---

You know how grateful I am to have access to and resources for a gym? and a Wii? and my own in-home high-end treadmill? It's great. I do appreciate it.

What are you doing? Want to get in on the end of the challenge? Or better yet, start your own.

OK2010A!

This year has a theme for me.  It's about embracing the whole of my life and living large.

My theme for the year, Operation Kick 2010's Ass (OK2010A!), started January 4, 2010.

You're welcome to be part of it. You're welcome to ignore it. This is part of how I'm going to face 2010, because 2010 is about generally maximizing fun for me, my husband and the kids.

Want to join me?  You are officially challenged to 30 minutes of new activity every day for 30 days.

We're all busy. Some of us are parenting a number of kids, some of us have stressful jobs, some of us are in the middle of profound life changes. But your goal is to take on another 30 minutes of activity. Include your kids, do it at your desk, on the Wii, 3 sets of 10 minutes, 6 sets of 5 minutes; whatever it takes to get it done.

Walks, squats at the bus stop, a class, a swim, a run, a video... if you're struggling with how to get it done, ask for help. We've all got ideas and we've all got excuses. (I can help with coming up with excuses, too!)

There is no weigh-in. No need to point to a before and after. This is about feeling better and having more energy. About creating good habits and modeling good behaviour for others in our lives. The pride of accomplishment is your reward.

The Sound of Silence

The silence is frustration. I'm bored of writing about excuses.

My treadmill has been as idle as my blog.
I hurt my back (again) and am just back to walking for fitness today.

But the blog, and my running, are both working on the same assumption:
I'm just going to have to start one more time then I stop.