Love, Sweat, and Beers

February 10th, 2012

How to…

1. … creep out women in the gym.

Tell a woman her form is like art because it’s so perfect. Ugh. He told me this while leaving only 2 feet of distance between us. Talk about “too close for comfort!” ***Bonus points if you’re the same age or older than the woman’s father

2. … blow you hard earned cash.

Try to be responsible by ordering a small soy cappuccino instead of a small skinny cappuccino, which costs $2. 69. Do not consider a possible price difference. Fork over $3.69 for the same size beverage. It was ‘soy’ expensive.

3. … poorly manage carb cravings when training for an endurance event.

Don’t step on the scale for weeks. When your pants fit differently, tell yourself it’s muscle.

4. … make yourself feel better about major fashion crimes.

Make your hair really big, and wear eye-catching jewelry. These distract from the cross trainers that you wore to work. (Yes, I changed after being at work a few hours, but I did get some significant wear out of these before my boss arrived.)

5. … whine about things that aren’t your fault but are still totally your fault.

Sign up for a race in February, and complain about the cold now that Old Man Winter has decided to show his ugly face. Seriously, what was I thinking???

• Got any great “how to” tips for me?
• Don’t forget to enter my giveaway! I announce TWO winners tomorrow morning.

Tags: cappuccino, coffee, creep, gym, work

February 9th, 2012

My Twitter followers know how much I can’t stand #cubelife.  Regular blog readers know I live for the weekend – usually an active weekend.  But what’s a girl to do when the corporate jungle tells you to sit at a desk for 8-9 hours a day?

Well, you can’t do much, but you can at least move a little at your desk.  I get my sweat session in before work, and I try to take 1 or 2 daily 10-minute walk breaks while at the office.  However, there are times when you just need a little something extra.

Harbinger kindly sent me a couple goodies.  The company said a lot of their workout equipment could be taken to the office to make cube fitness easier.  The moves I’ve demonstrated below are also discrete since you can do them sitting in your chair.

Resistance Band Curl: I guess this one’s pretty self-explanatory.  Be sure to keep your wrist firm.  *Best with lighter band.

Overhead Triceps Press: Sit with feet on the floor and the band hanging from your upper hand. Reach up with your other hand behind your back, and grab the hanging end.  Extend the upper arm above your head.  *Best with lighter band.

Reverse Band Fly: Sit tall in your chair with your arms extended out at shoulder height holding the resistance 8 cable. Begin to separate your arms so they move away from each other and stop when they are fully out to the side before slowly returning to the start position.

Balance Trainer: Sit on your chair with the balance disc under you.  Placing your hands behind your head, lift your right knee up as you bring your left elbow across to meet your right knee.  Switch sides. (My favorite of the moves!)

Of course, if you leave it at home, you can get even more creative…

 

Important: I recommend using one of their regular resistance bands for most of these moves.  I couldn’t perform them with the “medium resistance” band I received (I’m a weakling!).  I highly recommend buying the “light resistance 8 cable” instead.

Enough of my smiling, happy face.  Now it’s your turn to smile.  Harbinger is generously giving away 1 resistance 8 cable to 2 winners.  I will announce a winner on Saturday morning.  Here’s how to enter:

Leave a comment letting me know which of these you did.  You can enter up to 4 times.  

1. Leave a comment telling me how you squeeze in extra bits of movement.
2. Follow me on Twitter @ LoveSweatBeers (Leave a comment with your twitter handle.)
3. Tweet something along the lines of “I entered to win @HarbingerFit gear from @LoveSweatBeers at wp.me/p1U59D-Oj.”
4. Follow Harbinger on Twitter @HarbingerFit (Leave a comment with your twitter handle.)

 

Tags: cubicle, desk job, exercise at work, fitness, harbinger, resistance

February 8th, 2012

Well that was a very snackalicious Tuesday.  I have been good about only eating when I’m hungry, but dang have I been huuuungry!  I’m not sure if it’s the running, the stress, the drop in protein, or a combination thereof, but my belly wants food, food, and quite a bit more food.  Here were the eats from yesterday…

First Breakfast = rice cake, Second Breakfast = gala apple on wheat English muffin with 1 TBS pb

First Snack = 10 almonds (not pictured)

Lunch = salad (romaine, sunflower seeds, broccoli, onion, bell pepper, lite Asian dressing) and butternut squash soup

Second Snack = Eat.Think.Smile bar and a banana an hour or two later

Dinner = quinoa, steamed cauliflower + broccoli, baked tofu, 2 TBS soy sauce

Third + Fourth Snack = pumpernickle pretzels while cooking and some ginger thins with my decaf spice tea (amazing combo)

Wow.  Told ya that was a lot of food.  It sure was delicious though!  Be sure to check out Peas & Crayons for other awesome eats.

• What are you go-to after dinner snacks (if you snack after dinner)?
• Come back tomorrow to enter my giveaway and to get new fitness tips.

Tags: eat.think.smile, peanut butter, quinoa, tofu, vegetarian, what I ate Wednesday, WIAW

February 7th, 2012

Today is a special day for a special person.

 

Yup, it’s my dad’s birthday.  Happy birthday to a know-er of all things, the silliest of goofballs, and an all-around great daddy!

I wish I could be there to celebrate, and yes, that’s partially because I want cake.  Don’t let the pics fool you; we do more than attend beerfests together.

And now for something completely different…

Vegetarian February is still going strong.  I made Better Homes & Garden’s slow curry veggie curry Sunday  night, and I enjoyed the leftovers last night.  (leftovers + slow cookers = lifesavers)

I’m about to go for an easy 30-minute run today, which will follow with upper-body strength training.  Yesterday I stuck to my tried-and-true, easy-but-still-worth-my-time cardio DVD.  (Denise Austin’s Power Zone)

I followed that with this pilates video.  It’s not the hardest thing ever, but it’s not for the faint of abs.

What are your workouts like this week?

Tags: birthday, curry, dad, free workout, pilates, vegetarian

February 6th, 2012

This weekend’s long run was very educational.  Here’s what I learned:

 

1. Running with water isn’t nearly as hard as I expected.  Running with Gu on your water is even easier, especially if you make your own pull fold in the tape.  (I recommend removing the bottle label before taping.  Live n’ Learn)

2. Runners are super friendly.  Almost everyone I passed said “Hello” or “Good Morning.”

3. Not all runners are super friendly.  Two groups of runners wouldn’t scoot over and nearly ran me off the path.

4. Weekend breakfasts taste even better when you earn them.

5. Ice baths are awful yet beneficial.  I think the ice bath helped my hips a teeny bit, and it definitely helped the muscles in my feet.

6. I learned Garmin watches are okay in rain.  Thank goodness!  That was my first rain run.

7. I am fit enough to run a half marathon… at least, I think so.  I finished all 11 of my miles at an average pace of 9:20 per mile.  That sounds good enough for me!

I finally registered for my first half.  I race on February 19, which is in less than 2 weeks. Wish me luck!

Tags: Garmin, gu, half marathon, race, run, running

February 4th, 2012

Good Morning!  Today’s the day of my last long run… I hope.  If today’s 11-miler goes well, I will finally register for a half marathon and book a hotel room.

No, I’m not doing Disney.  It would cost a lot of money to fly both Kevin and I there.  I currently have my heart set on the Locomotive Half Marathon in Kennesaw, GA.  So if you Atlanta ladies need something to do on Sunday, 2/19, please come cheer me on, or better yet, run with me!

I’m cutting my training plan a few weeks short because of my hip pain.  More long runs would only mean a greater chance of injury right now.I’ll fill you all in on how the run went on Monday.

 

*~*~*~*~*

Later today, I’m off to get my hair done.  Yup, I’m going back blonde.  Kevin finally spoke up, and since I’m always asking for his opinion, I figure I better listen.  There will be no more of this…

And I’ll go back to looking something a bit more like this.

I’ll probably be changing my blog headshot, my Twitter picture, and my Gravatar image.  There, I warned ya.  Oh, and Leia wanted to get her hair done too.  Now I know why my sink is always getting clogged.

 

• Got any workout scheduled this weekend?  Other big weekend plans?

Tags: blonde, hair, half marathon, injury, locomotive half, run

February 3rd, 2012

First up, here are a couple of my eats from yesterday.  A birthday in the office lead to specialty cupcakes.  I grabbed a banana’s foster one.  Mmmmmm…  Good thing I squeezed in a run before work.  Yikes!

I had dinner company again last night.  I cooked a vegan meal, and I think the guests were pleased.  I made a spicy garam masala, which was almost too spicy for me.  It’s a good thing I was cooking for two guys who could take the heat!

Okay, now moving on to those super bowl snack ideas.  Here are some links to a few great ideas, including two of my own recipes:

• FitSugar’s Healthy Dip Recipes
• The Skinny Confidential’s Healthy Super Bowl Snacks
• 10 Healthy Recipes from Happy Healthy Mama
• My Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken
• My Easy Vegetarian Chili

And here’s what I made for the LSU vs Bama bowl game earlier this year.  If you couldn’t tell, I was rooting for LSU.

The kids and the adults liked my festive skewers.  If it were a Clemson game, I think purple grapes and orange-ish cantaloupe would have been good choices.  I loved adding color to the table…

but not as much as I loved eating it.

• Are you watching the super bowl?  If so, are you making any snacks?

 

Tags: cupcake, food, link love, snacks, super bowl

February 2nd, 2012

The alcohol-free challenge is going pretty well.  This is the most stressful work week ever, so relaxing at home with a beer would be nice.  But I can’t say I’ve missed it terribly, at least not yet.  Here’s what is getting me through it.

Hot tea is so comforting at night.  I’ve also had an Izze soda, which I generally avoid due to the calories and sugar.

The main attraction are these.  (Buckler NA Beers)  Kevin and I brought  a few to a party last weekend. They taste like Heineken, so I still get to enjoy a beer without breaking my rules.

I’ve gotta run.  I’m running a wee bit late for the gym today.  I was surprised how sore I was after my workout on Tuesday, and I’m actually still feeling it.  I think a nice recovery run will be just what I need.

Before heading out the door, I wanted to share last night’s dinner with you.  I didn’t even use all that much cheese, so you could probably substitute or omit it easily to make this veggie dish vegan.

You can find the recipe on the Eat Better America website.  We paired the dinner with a romaine salad.

 

• Have your workouts left you sore lately?  Ouchies!

Tags: alcohol-free, beer, Ratatouille, tea, vegetarian, workout

February 1st, 2012

Happy February Friends!  If you read yesterday’s post, you know I’m going vegetarian for the month.  (It’s really not that different from my normal diet, but I’m still excited to get creative with some veggies.)  With that said… this What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW) post highlights what I ate yesterday, so it isn’t actually vegetarian.  For me, January went out with a bang!

I had half a banana before my workout.  By the way, the workout was excellent!  Then afterwards, I had the other half of the banana in a wheat English muffin with 1 TBS peanut butter.

Snack = 7 almonds

Lunch = broccoli slaw in homemade tahini sauce + 7 Reduced Fat Triscuits

Snack = small apple + plain, fat-free Greek yogurt

Dinner = BANG!  That’s a lotta’ food!  my first Malaysian meal

I forgot the name of the dish, but it was something with noodles and chicken.  I shouldn’t have eaten it all, but I totally did.  I’ll be chugging water today to try and ditch the bloat from all that sodium.  I wish it had more veggies, but you win some, you lose some.

As you may have noticed, Kevin and I don’t go out to eat much.  We had a dinner guest last night who was in from out of town, so it was sort of a special occasion.  Both Kevin and I stuck with our no-alcohol challenge though, so at least I showed an wee bit of willpower.

 

• How often do you go out to eat?  Do you eat out during the week, or only weekends?

Tags: broccoli slaw, malaysian, meal, tahini, what I ate Wednesday, WIAW

January 31st, 2012

February is nearly upon us.  Pink & red adorn our calendars.  Hearts decorate the stores, and love is definitely in the air.  Right now, I’m feeling the love, but I’ve really been feeling it toward our furry (and feathered/scaled/naked) companions.

It’s no secret that I love animals.  The problem is, I love them out roaming forests of the wild, but I also love them on the grill.  I know, I know… please don’t hate me.

In an effort to show animals some love, I’m going vegetarian for February.  I will also try and limit my consumption of other animal products, but I’m mainly focusing on meat.  I did this last February (before I began blogging), and it went so well that I have decided to do it again.

I’m not doing this for weight loss.  (Though if a few pounds decided to fall off, it wouldn’t break my heart…)  In fact, i