Category: weight loss

#34: Small Steps Forward

New Year’s resolutions are oh-so cliché. And yet…

There’s something about the new year, the clean slate, that motivates us to make positive changes. I see it maybe more than a lot of people because of my business, since starting a new workout routine ranks pretty high on the list of all-time-most-cited resolutions. I get it, I really do. It’s more “me” to use every new month—or even week—as a chance to start fresh, but how wonderful it must be to be able to put something you really don’t want to do off for months at a time! I’ll start next year! Really! In 2012 I’ll be ready!

Maybe one of your resolutions this year can be this: Resolve to use each new day—each new hour!—as a jumping-off point for those things you’d really like to see yourself do. Resolve to start now. When you take baby steps—walk just 10 minutes on the treadmill; eat out just one less time a week—your stride gets stronger fast. Soon you’ll be walking 20 minutes and buying new cookbooks. But you can’t rush to the end result. You have to be patient and see those baby steps as part of the entire picture. Without them, you’ll never get to the long strides. The baby steps are all part of the plan. That weight won’t just fall off because you worked out really hard one time. But you’re better off than you were before that one workout.

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Wish for a Workout?

Add fitness to your wish list.

OMG. Did you know you can add Karen the Fitness Girl classes and training to your Amazon wish list? It’s true!! Amazon lets you add items from outside the Amazon world now. You have to install an add-on button through Amazon, and thereafter, anytime you see something you’d like to add to your wish list, you just click on the button. For classes or sessions with me, you just go to karenthefitnessgirl.com, click on the Amazon button, and input the amount of moolah you’d like to see go toward precious moments with the Fitness Girl! Giving the gift of “you” time (or should I say “me” time?) just got even easier. I love it!

#32: Morning Pages

Write it down.

I was just in the shower thinking about writing, and how I love to write, need to write a blog post, but don’t know what to write about. I was thinking about how I used to do “morning pages,” the daily ritual writing prescribed by Julia Cameron in The Artist’s Way. There was no “I don’t have anything to say,” because there was no choice. I had to write. Every morning. It was so good for me, as a writer in training and as an evolving person. So just now, in the shower, I thought, what if I do that again? My morning pages? It might not be done in the morning, but if I could sneak in a few paragraphs every couple of days, I might just rediscover the therapy of writing.

It’s totally facing a demon, isn’t it? If you’ve ever tried to write before (without particularly having anything to say), you know just what I mean. It makes me nervous, a little nauseous, forcing myself to face a blinking cursor. What is so valuable about it makes it worth it, though. It’s a purging of sorts, and also, wondrously, the written word tends to hold us accountable. In that way it can be hugely therapeutic.

Case in point: One thing I suggest frequently to people frustrated by their inability to lose weight is to chronicle their eating and/or exercise habits. Whether for my eyes, a public blog or just their own private use, writing it down is surprisingly effective. You might think you eat healthfully, but when you look back at a week’s worth of brought-in lunches you ate standing up in the conference room, you realize that extra roll on your tush might just be made of mozzarella.

Logging your workouts can also be tremendously eye-opening. It doesn’t have to be fancy; just a note penciled into the corner of a box on your calendar will do. Look back at two weeks of exercise notes and you might find that you’re neglecting your weight training and running a bit more often than your knees would prefer. Or you might see that you’re never finding more than 30 minutes at the time you go to the gym…maybe an earlier arrival is necessary to get in a more worthwhile workout.

So…let’s write it down. Frustrations, successes, big dreams and letdowns. Whether you share yours with me is up to you. I’ll continue to share my journey with you!

#30: Staying Motivated in the Colder Months

When the thought of taking a shower gives you the chills

Lovely fall, magical end to the heat of summer. Smells of burning wood seem to come out of nowhere. And thoughts of warm bowls of chili, oversized sweatshirts, and couch time start sneaking in.

So how can you stay motivated to exercise in the chillier months? Usually when you are leaving for your exercise class the sun is still up, but now it’s getting dark and your sofa is beckoning. It is hard to keep it up! It is! But you must! Here are some ideas to help you make it through the colder months:

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#29: Another Meatless Monday Dish! Pasta e Fagioli

Hearty, easy, and perfect for the fall.

Pasta e Fagioli

  • 1 T olive oil
  • 2 links Tofurkey sausage
  • 1 ½ T bottled minced garlic
  • 1 c water
  • 16 oz vegetable broth
  • 1 8 oz can no-salt tomato sauce
  • 1 c uncooked seashell pasta (about 4 oz)
  • 1 ½ t dried oregano
  • ¼ t salt
  • ¼ t white pepper
  • 2 15-oz cans cannellini (or other white) beans
  • Crushed red pepper (optional)

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the sausage and garlic and cook till brown. Remove from saucepan and set aside.

Add water, broth, and tomato sauce to saucepan; bring to a boil. Stir in pasta, oregano, salt, pepper, and beans; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 8 minutes or until pasta is done. Add cooked sausage. Let stand 5 minutes. Garnish with red pepper if desired.

(Adapted from a Cooking Light recipe.)

#28: Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

A kid- and skeptical partner-friendly meatless Monday meal

Vegetarian Sloppy Joes

  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 small onion, finely chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 bag Morningstar Farms or Quorn crumbles
  • 1 6-oz can tomato paste
  • 1 ½ t chili powder
  • 1 t cumin
  • 1/8 t cinnamon
  • 1 t kosher salt
  • 1/8 t freshly ground black pepper
  • Burger buns (we love the new sandwich thins)
  • ½ c grated cheddar cheese (Trader Joe’s has great grated soy cheese)
  • ½ c sour cream (try Tofutti!)

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and red pepper. Saute until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the crumbles and brown. Stir in the tomato paste, chili powder, cumin, cinnamon, salt, and pepper. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened slightly. Spoon onto the buns, sprinkle with cheese, and top with a dollop of sour cream. We like to eat ours open-faced!

(Adapted from a recipe in Real Simple eons ago.)

#27: Vegan Pancakes

So good, you’ll never go back to your old pancake recipe!

5 Minute Vegan Pancakes

These are SO GOOD. You seriously may never go back to your old pancake recipe.

  • 1 c flour
  • 1 T sugar (organic cane works for us)
  • 2 T baking powder
  • 1/8 t salt
  • 1 c soy milk
  • 2 T vegetable oil (as you might imagine, I use about half, and even olive sometimes!)

1. Combine all ingredients and whisk until smooth.
2. Spray a pan with a little Pam if you used less oil in the recipe, then heat on medium high heat.
3. Spoon batter onto pan and flip when the middle gets bubbly.
4. Add chocolate chips, flax seeds, cinnamon, or anything else that touches your fancy!
5. Repeat until batter is gone!

(Adapted from Food.com)

#26: Eggplant Meat(less)balls for Meatless Monday

Grab some locally grown eggplant before it’s gone for the season!

Eggplant Meat(less)balls

  • 1 large eggplant
  • 2 beaten eggs
  • 1/3 c parmesan or romano cheese
  • 1 t mixed Italian herbs
  • 1 t garlic powder
  • 1 t onion powder
  • Black pepper & sea salt to taste
  • 1 c breadcrumbs

1. Slice eggplant and sprinkle with salt.
2. Let sit 10 minutes to draw out water.
3. Rinse and pat dry.
4. Saute with a splash of olive oil and about ¼ cup of water until eggplant is soft.
5. Remove and chop finely. (We used the food processor.)
6. When eggplant has cooled, mix everything but the breadcrumbs.
7. Add breadcrumbs and mix until you get the consistency you want to form the balls.
8. Place in a generously olive-oiled pan (but remembering that less is more) about 1 inch apart and bake at 400 until golden brown, about 40-60 minutes, turning halfway through to ensure even browning.

We added a thick, organic marinara sauce. The combination is perfect—the texture of meatballs without an overwhelming eggplant taste. Serve over linguini for a fancy-looking dish! Even Bella loved it!

Thanks, Food.com!

#25: If You Are What You Eat, Then….

Is your body the temple it should be?

My mom asked me once again if I’m vegetarian because it’s healthier or because of the animal cruelty. I said both, and more. Environmental issues are a huge part of it. But when I simply said, “and yes, the way the animals are treated is horrible—beyond horrible,” her response was, “I just don’t want to think about it.”

That is exactly what the farming industry wants. The whole business depends on people not thinking about it. You pick up your perfect-sized Perdue cutlets and they look nothing like the bird they used to be. They’re all the same size, same color, no mess, no muss, sizzle and serve. And thank goodness for that, because if you saw how it really went down, you would NOT want to eat that chicken.

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#24: How the Garden Grows

Imagine: me, an urban gardener!

I love being an urban gardener. It’s taking a while for us to figure it all out—how to keep out the squirrels, for instance—but we’re getting it, and our dinner plates are feeling the bounty.

We’re growing lots of different things this year, and even rotating “crops” a bit. The most beautiful surprise is the okra plants that tower like small trees and flower the most gorgeous blooms. The biggest surprise in general was the butternut squash, which taught us that seeds never go in the compost. We let some of the squash grow, though if we hadn’t trimmed it back, it would have taken over the whole garden, and maybe a good part of our yard, too. Anyway, we have two stunning squash now. Who knew? And broccoli! It takes its time growing into the huge plant it becomes, but then the crowns begin to form, and voila! We eat broccoli from our own backyard. Amazing!

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