Unlike the song, I DO want to be all by myself. I get like this in the summer when my house has a revolving door of people coming and going. Don’t get me wrong, I love entertaining and I love my family and friends. But when it is almost constant, I start to feel the strain. This week we threw a party on Saturday and I haven’t had alone, all by myself, downtime since. If I keep to the schedule that is on the calendar, I won’t until September. It’ll piss people off if I don’t want to do the things that are planned, but if I keep at this pace, I will snap, and that will be a bigger problem. So, a warning: if I disappear for a day, it’s just to get my bearings back. :-)

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effects of late nights…

Just because you’re going to work out, doesn’t mean you have to look sloppy.  Look better, feel better.  Feel better, look better.  Hand-in-hand.

The “war” between sneaker giants Nike and Reebok has been waging for years.  Decades even.  It’s been a while since I’ve thought of this feud since I’ve been too busy prancing about in ballet slippers or barefootsies for my workouts.  The only kicks I had were Converse Chuck Taylors, Vans, and my slew of “toning” sneakers by MBT.

Recently, however, I’ve started incorporating Turbo Jam and ChaLEAN Extreme and Brazil Butt Lift into my figure building repertoire.  It seems as though everyone, but everyone, who is involved in Turbo Jam and ChaLEAN Extreme are Nike fans.  More like Nike Shox fanatics.  Are they THAT good?

Well, they sure look good.  My step-daughter has a pair.  A personalized pair.  Preppy green and pink with her initials on the heel.  Super cute.  But she tells me that they hurt her feet.

And so, before I went and got myself a personalized pair of Shox, I thought back on my own experience with Nike.  Twenty years ago I had a pair.  After going through boxes of band-aids and days of numb toes, I finally threw them out. 

Did I ever have to do that with my Reebok Freestyles?  Those I had in white AND black.  I had pair after pair of Reeboks in my aerobics-filled 1980s.  Comfort from the get-go.

More memories hit me.  Sneaker shopping with my cousin from California.  I headed straight for the Reeboks and he went for the Nikes.  I didn’t know then that Nike was based out of Portland, OR and that Reebok was a relatively local Canton, MA.  West Coast/East Coast. 

My workout buddies who Turbo are also West Coast peeps.  Nike Shox peeps.

I’m still a New England girl.  Who is lusting after the new Reebok Zig Pulse.  Which I will personalize- just like you can do with the Shox.

Which do you prefer and where are you from?  Discuss.

No wonder I’m not losing weight.  OK, I really just want to keep it under 120.  And I am under 120 by Thursday.  However, by Monday morning, I’m back at 121.  I knew I was bad on the weekends, but seeing it in front of me, in black and white, it’s super apparent.  Even more apparent than the scale’s been showing me.

Look at my average this month.  It’s no wonder I’m, basically, holding steady.  My average shows my calorie in to my calorie out (food v. exercise) to be almost exactly the same. 

So, how to view this?  I could look at it as being really good during the week and then rewarding myself on Friday and Saturday nights.  Or, I could see it as sabotaging all of my hard work.

Either way, if I want to see a change in the scale, it’s going to mean changing my Friday and Saturday night indulgences and swaying that average.

For the most part, I don’t watch TV.  I’ve had years of my adult life when I didn’t own a TV.  Music and books have been enough to entertain me.  Growing up, we only had one black & white TV in the house, and that was just so my dad could watch Walter Cronkite, then Peter Jennings, on the news at night.  Oh, and for dad to watch cartoons on Saturday mornings. 

When my sister and I got a little older, we would watch TV at friends’ houses, but 30-40 years ago, there wasn’t much of that, either.  We’d be running around outside- no matter the season.  Sledding and building snowmen in winter, making mud pies in the spring, riding our bikes and playing kickball all summer long, and taking walks and raking leaves in the fall.  At night, we did homework and read books.

If there was a particular program that we wanted to watch because we heard people talking about it, we’d have to ask permission.  Then, after our homework was finished, we would be allowed to watch.  Sometimes, by the time the show was coming on, we’d have lost interest anyway.

Most of the men I’ve lived with as an adult have loved the TV.  It gets turned on and then they look for something to watch.  I don’t get it.  And a TV that’s on with no one watching?!?  Makes me nuts!

So, one day a week, while the Man is at cards, it’s No TV Tuesday. Quiet.  Ah.

It’s been No Meat Monday for a while now.  Dinner tonight will be quinoa with goat cheese, avocado, olives and asparagus, served over a bed of arugula and other mixed baby greens.  At least one night of no meat makes sense in so many ways!

Now, it’s also No Excuses Monday.  I woke up at 5:00 AM and it was really dark outside, raining, I was tired.  The usual.  I contemplated skipping the 30-minute Turbo Jam Fat Blaster workout.  But, I had no excuse to miss it.  So I was tired.  So what!  No excuses meant that I burned 500 calories before I even got into the office!

I have a few staples that I use to make “diet” food more exciting.  Healthy food so does not have to be boring or bland!

My favorite, hands down, is salsa.  I looooovve salsa.  All kinds.  And my favorite favorite is Santa Barbara Salsa (and not just because I’m a huge Santa Barbara, CA fan).  The Mango & Peach Salsa is to die for.  So good!  http://www.sbsalsa.com/  I put it on everything.  Wraps, salads, potatoes and omelets.  I use it in casseroles and slow-cook recipes.  I’m so glad that Costco sells it by the bucket.  (OK, maybe not a bucket, but it’s a big ol’ container.)

Another must-have is hot sauce.  Again, it can be used on and in almost everything.  http://www.franksredhot.com/  Maybe not ice cream. 

Spices.  I have all of the standard spices (cumin, cinnamon, celery seed, oregano, black pepper, red pepper and so on), but I love using what I call “international” spices.  Sweet Hungarian paprika, Madras Curry, Garam Masala, Herbes de Provence.  http://www.spiceislands.com/  It’s amazing what a little lemon pepper can do to a tilapia filet, and what a little Montreal Steak Seasoning can do to a filet mignon.

Who ever said you needed to add salt and fat to make food taste good?

In general, I’m not much of a planner.  However, when it comes to food and fitness, I plan.  I plan big-time.  Workouts are scheduled days in advance.  Dinner menus for the week are posted on the refridgerator.  And I record it all on www.fatsecret.com and in my www.getfitbook.com. 

Yesterday, I was upset because there were no eggs left for me to make my egg white breakfast.  So, I had a Shakeology (www.myshakeology.com/yolarates) instead.  Well, I did it again today, even though there were two eggs left for me.

Why?  Because I’m planning.  Planning on having chicken with dumplings for dinner tonight.  To accomodate this, I’ll redistribute my caloric intake for the day.  Simple.

Just like how I moved some of my workouts around to let my freshly tattooed arm recover before jumping back into going heavy with weights for my biceps & triceps. Instead of Burn Circuit 3 today, I just hopped on the treadmill for 30 and then did an abs workout.

Planning.