Big News and a Swim Workout

I have been in limbo for almost a year now. No place I've lived in since I've been married has been permanent, nowhere seems like home. And I haven't even thought about applying for jobs anywhere because no job I would enjoy would only employ me for 6 months.

Limbo is drawing to a close. I have exactly 49 days until we leave Lawton and head to the land of milk and honey (as they called California in Steinbeck's Grapes of Wrath). I've been looking at houses online and suddenly I have the need to find a place that feels homey. But the daunting task that lies ahead of me of finding a job is looming. I can't be a housewife forever. I would go crazy, and if we live in the type of house I want, I would have to work to make ends meet. It's a little scary thinking about it. I mean, sure, I could be an "administrative assistant" with no problem, I did that all the way through college. But it's so BORING. I need to feel like I'm making a difference.

Teaching is out of the question for the next year. Even if there were social science teaching jobs in southern California, I would be getting there too late in the school year to teach. So what can I possibly do? An idea popped in my head when, ironically enough, I was on my way to the gym.

I should be a personal trainer! I love to exercise, I love to teach people, and I need to feel like I'm making a difference. It would be a great source for my blog and give me the chance to share more workouts with you! So I am currently on the hunt for a personal training certification course, and I think I've found one. I just need to buckle down and do it! I wanted to share it with all of you because I'm excited!

Now, I'm pretty sure I have shared with you my hatred of running. Let me reiterate. I. Hate. Running. Even after 20 minutes, I want more than anything to quit and even throw away my running shoes so I have an excuse to never do it again. But I push through it, because running is a great source of cardio.

I usually run about once or twice a week, because I find other ways to get cardio in without the dreaded run. After all, this blog is about getting fit WITHOUT torturing yourself. I want people to realize that working out can be fun, not torture. So I'm constantly seeking new ways to get people interested in working out. One of my favorites, particularly in the hot summer, is swimming. Swimming is great cardio work and it's great for toning too. It's low impact, so if you have shin splints or arthritis, you can still get a great workout in. I researched a few swim workouts so I'm not just running laps, and I came across a sprint workout I really fell in love with on active.com.

Warm-up: 500 Freestyle at your own pace

Get out of the pool and stretch your legs, arms, and shoulders

8 sets of 50 yards/meters at a slow/medium pace at 1 minute intervals. (Time yourself, when you finish your 50 yds, you have the remainder of the minute to rest)

8 sets of 50 yd/m at a medium/fast pace at 1 minute intervals

8 sets of 100 yd/m at a descending pace (Each set should be faster than the last, so start slow and speed up each set)

8 sets of 100 yd/m - 75 yd/m fast, 10 second rest, then 25 sprint

8 sets of 50 yd/m - 25 fast, 10 second rest, 25 sprint

Cool down: 300 yards

Now, I realize this is a lot. In fact, you have to work up to this workout. If you're not a really strong swimmer, it's nearly impossible to complete this workout full out the first time. I greatly modified this workout and added a bit more each time. My first time looked like this:

Warm-up: 300 yards

Stretch

4 sets of 50 yards at a slow/med pace at 1:15 intervals

4 sets of 50 yards at a med/fast pace at 1:15 intervals

4 sets of 50 yards at a descending pace

4 sets of 100 yards - 75 fast, 10 second rest, 25 sprint

4 sets of 50 yards - 25 fast, 10 second rest, 25 sprint

Cool down - 150 yards

Each week I did the workout, I added one set to each drill. So in 4 weeks you can do the full workout!

If you haven't been formally trained to swim, seek a lifeguard or swim instructor to learn the correct method of freestyle. It makes a HUGE difference. Doing freestyle correctly will help you swim more efficiently and get more out of your workout.

Answers and Awesome Stuffed Zucchini

My dear friend Sonya at Sonya Ruth Photography left a comment the other day, asking if it's ok to work out twice a day. After some research, I finally have an answer.

You can work out twice a day, as long as you pace yourself and it's not every day. Your body will be too worn out for you to effectively exercise if you keep it up for too long. According to Kristie Leong, M.D., and Jeff Bayer, fitness specialist, if you work out twice in one day, you should take the next day off. If you don't, your muscles won't have enough time to rebuild themselves to get an effective workout. Leong also recommends doing a 20-30 minute cardio session in the morning and 20-30 min resistance training/weights/toning in the afternoon or evening. For more on twice-a-day workouts, see askmen.com or ehow.com

Now! Onto my super yummy stuffed zucchini recipe. I got the idea for this recipe when I went to the farmers market a few weeks ago; someone I bought some zucchini from handed out recipes, and they handed me one for stuffed zucchini. This recipe, in my opinion, looked bland and boring, but it put the idea in my head that I could stuff zucchini with something wonderful! Then I checked allrecipes.com and found a recipe that had some more elements to it I could use. The one major flaw with this recipe is that it didn't use and herbs or seasonings, which can make it quite boring. So after reading what some people did to spice up the recipe, I came up with my own version of stuffed zucchini. One of my favorite things about this recipe is that you can make it super healthy if you want, or you can make it a little indulgent. Enjoy!

Ingredients

One very large zucchini

1.5 lbs of ground meat - I like to do half 93% lean ground beef and half spicy italian sausage. You can still get the flavor of the sausage if you do less, and be more healthy

Two fresh tomatoes, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

Fresh Parsley, thoroughly chopped

Fresh Basil, roughly chopped

1 egg

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

Parmesan cheese

Mozzarella cheese

Breadcrumbs

Preheat the oven to 350

1. Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise. Take a spoon and scoop out the seeds. DO NOT DISCARD THE SEEDS!

2. Brown the meat in a frying pan. I also sprinkle some dried parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, and salt and pepper over the meat as it's browning. Especially do this if you are using more ground beef than sausage.

3. Transfer the meat to a large mixing bowl. If you used sausage, make sure to drain the fat off the meat in a strainer or with a slotted spoon before transferring it.

4. Saute the onion and garlic in a small amount of vegetable oil until the onion starts to become translucent, then transfer to the bowl as well.

5. Chop the zucchini insides you saved in step one. Transfer to bowl along with the tomatoes, basil, and parsley.

in this picture, you can see (starting at the top and going clockwise) the chopped zucchini insides, minced garlic, red onion, and chopped tomato.

6. Add the egg and tomato sauce to the bowl, along with some salt and pepper, and a few dashes of the parmesan cheese. (If you are going healthier, you can omit the cheese from this step)

7. Mix everything up until all the ingredients are covered in the tomato sauce and egg, and everything is thoroughly mixed together.

8. Place the zucchini halves onto a baking sheet covered in foil. Scoop the contents of the bowl into the zucchini halves. It will probably run over onto the foil.

9. Sprinkle some mozzarella, parmesan, and breadcrumbs on top.

10. Place in oven and cook for 35-40 minutes, until zucchini is soft and cheese starts to brown. Be sure to let it cool for a few minutes before eating it!

This is big enough to feed 4 people. I hope you try this one, it's my favorite recipe I've posted so far!

Eating and Working Out

I don't know about you all, but I sure love to EAT, especially after working out!! In fact, it's a tradition of mine to come home from the gym, pig out, and veg on the couch for at least an hour. Ahh, the upsides of being a housewife... (the downside? 3 words: dirty. toilet. bowl.)

Anyway, the timing of eating and working out is VERY important. Your body needs ample energy both before and after your workout to maximize its effects. I've done a little research (as in, while stuffing my face after hitting the gym today, I needed some justification for my 4th lunch course) and came up with some tips for eating to maximize your workout.

#1 - You ABSOLUTELY need to eat before you work out, especially if you do so in the morning. According to Martica Heaner, a Health and Fitness columnist for MSN, the average person burns about 100 calories per hour just by being alive. Which means that between dinner and breakfast, you've burned up to 1200 calories. You need to replenish yourself if you are going to do a strenuous workout (which, in my opinion, is the only kind you should do under normal circumstances. Why waste your time?). If you don't, you can force your body into starvation mode, which actually stores more food in your body, and makes you feel less hungry. This can lead to binge eating later, which will completely undo everything you did at the gym.

#2 - Don't stuff yourself, and give yourself enough time between eating and working out. The timing is something you can play with; some people I know can eat a good-sized breakfast and then go on a run an hour later. I need at least an hour and a half, and two hours is better, with a light breakfast. Now, what to eat? Pop Tarts are not acceptable. (hah) A light, healthy breakfast can be just as easy as sticking a pop tart in the toaster. Here are few ideas:

• My favorite: vanilla yogurt with strawberries and bananas mixed in. Sometimes I crumble up half of a Nature Valley granola bar for an extra crunch
• Smoothies - ice, and any kind of fruit you have on hand. Strawberries, bananas, blueberries, blackberries, cantaloupe, and peaches have all been a part of my smoothie at one time! Add a little bit of juice (my favorite is Dole's Orange Strawberry Banana) and a scoop of yogurt to make it creamy. Yum!
• Toast with peanut butter. Good source of protein!
• Milk and cereal. I tend to avoid this because it makes my tummy uncomfortable.
• Eggs - but I like to save those for after the workout
• Lots of water! Be hydrated!

Try to stay away from greasy breakfast meats and big meals. You know your body, if there is something that upsets your stomach or takes long for you to digest, don't eat it!

#3 - Eat after working out, but eat healthy! You need to eat foods that are high in carbs and protein. Within one hour after working out, your body needs to replenish your muscles with carbs and protein. That means everything you eat will automatically go to that instead of storing it as fat. According to Heaner, it's called a "metabolic window", where your body replenishes with carbs 50% faster, and with protein 80% faster.

#4 - Don't eat fatty foods! Foods such as cheeseburgers, potato chips, and sweets will slow down your digestive system and actually prevent the carbs and protein from getting to your muscles, meaning you could miss that crucial "metabolic window."

#5 - So what do you eat? Foods that are high in protein and carbs! Here are a few:

• Eggs - I like mine hard-boiled
• Peanut butter sandwich... I skip the jelly to cut down on the sugar
• Low fat chocolate milk
• Salads
• Rice cakes

My post-exercise lunch includes 2 hard boiled eggs, a slice of wheat bread with peanut butter on it, a salad with tomatoes, cucumbers (both of which I buy from farmers market!!), and black olives (my favorite) topped with some balsamic vinegar and a little olive oil, and whatever fruit I have in the fridge. Sometimes I snack on Sun Chips and later in the day I like to indulge in something sweet! If I was actually trying to lose a large amount of weight, I would cut out the snacking for sure, just as a disclaimer to those of you who are trying to slim down.

So, to recap.

Step 1: Eat breakfast.

Step 2: Work out like crazy.

Step 3: Pig out!!