How I Overcame Lazy This Week: Kegels - Not Just For Women, Y'know!



These men reported that they do their Kegels 3 x/day
to avoid soiling their Speedos



Okay, they are mostly for women, because, although they offer some surprising benefits for men (do your own Google search if you really want to know), I don't see many males jumping on the Kegel bandwagon.

But us women, especially mothers, definitely should.

Here's how it went down this week:

I sneezed.  And I peed.

And it didn't produce just a slight little dampness on my undies.  No, this time, I had to change my underwear AND pants because it'd soaked through.

I say, "this time" because it's happened before.  Several times.  It's happened when I laugh, when I exercise and plenty of times when I sneeze.  Mostly I've been brushing it off after the fleeting thought, "Oh yeah, I should do my Kegels" flits through my head to be quickly replaced with the more pressing thought, "Man, how did I ever think Steven Tyler was hot.  He looks like an aging transvestite!"

However, the fact that it seems to be happening with more frequency, and the result of this latest power sneeze, have made me realize that I need to get serious about making it a part of my daily fitness routine.

The thing is, I've never liked to do them.  They're not hard to do at all.  In fact, you can even do them seated while vegging in front of the TV (a well-earned rest after your rigorous workout, of course) or undetected while in your board meeting (get it? "bored" meeting).  I don't know - to me they just feel weird when I do them, so I don't very often.  Because I don't like feeling weird.



But I've decided to do them daily.  For real, this time.  I figure that for my best chance at longevity, I need to attach them to an activity that I'm already doing on a daily basis so that when I engage in that expected activity, I know that it's also Kegel time.  I plan on doing them while I brush my teeth.  I CAN chew gum and walk (and even run!) at the same time, so I'm thinking I'll be able to pull this off.  I've included some instructional pictures that I hope will be helpful to you:



Warming-up before.



During.



After.



This totally exhausted me.

Whew.  Tough work.

By the by, did you know they're pronouced "KEY-gulls".  A long time ago I thought they were KEH-gulls.  Just FYI.  Anyway, these are important for all women and men who want to maintain strength in their pelvic floor muscles.  These muscles are important because they support the uterus (N/A for men), bladder and bowel. 

Strong pelvic floor muscles = clean underwear.

Weak pelvic floor muscles = Depends for underwear.

Women who have been pregnant and given birth either vaginally or by C-section are particularly vulnerable to this condition and can benefit greatly through the miracle of Kegels.

I think most people know how to do them by now, but here's a great link to the Mayo Clinic for some good instructions.

Do Kegels with me this week (and beyond) and let's whip our lazy pelvic floors into shape!

How I Overcame Lazy This Week: Almond Joy



Sometimes you feel like a nut.



Mmmmmm.  Almond Joy.  Wonderful coconutty, chocolately richness with a happy little nutty prize on top.  Oh, wait, not THAT Almond Joy. 

Since my recent neck drama has rendered my workouts pathetic, I've been forced to concentrate more on the nutritional side of the health equation.  So far, I'm not declaring myself victorious in this regard by any means (thanks a LOT, Easter Bunny), but I've been finding a few things helpful in my quest to lower calories and sugar in my diet while maintaining high nutrient integrity and not compromising the all-important satisfaction and YUM elements.

A while ago I discovered the wonders of Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk from Blue Diamond.  I think it was Hungry Girl who opened my eyes to the existence of this delightful nectar.


I add Fiber One to my awesome healthy homemade granola.
I'll share that recipe soon!



This stuff is rich and creamy and I use it in place of milk whenever I can.  It has 40 calories per cup compared to 90 calories in skim milk (less than half!), 2 grams total carbohydrate and 0 grams sugar compared to skim milk’s 13 grams of total carbs and 12 grams of sugars.  It does fall short of skim’s 8 grams of protein (it has 1 gram) and does have 3.5 grams of fat compared to skim’s 0, but it is the “good” unsaturated fat and has no cholesterol unlike even skim which has 5 mg. It’s even lactose and soy free for those that care about that stuff.

I am not eschewing skim milk by any means.  I still love to drink it straight with my meals, but I’ve found that Almond Breeze is a fantastic way to get the yumminess of milk in my snacks and recipes for less than half the calories and way less sugar.  My favorite ways to use it is on my cereal*, in my oatmeal and in my shakes/smoothies.  But I use it in just about any recipe.  The 40-calorie unsweetened comes in Vanilla and Original.  I’ll use the Vanilla for sweeter dishes and the Original for the more savory kind. 



Just as much Vitamin D and even more Calcium than milk.
Great for the kiddos.



I’m not gonna lie:  my daughters get plenty of sugar in their diet.  More than they should.  I try to ensure they eat healthily but, in my opinion, it is so hard to avoid excess sugar without being a cruel and unusual parent.  So any chance I get to consciously control their sugar intake in sneaky ways, I do it!  One way is using it in their pancakes and waffles (I love Trader Joe’s Multi-Grain Baking Mix!) I’ll use Almond Breeze as the liquid.  They’re also on a chocolate milk kick lately and even the Nesquick with no added sugar still has plenty of it, so I’ll mix it with the Almond Breeze and they’re none the wiser!  It at least helps cut some of the sugar.

Not all stores carry it (the Albertson’s that I shop at finally keeps it in stock) and it’s not as cheap as cow’s milk but it is so worth it.  I find that a little goes a long way when I use it in conjunction with regular milk.



One scoop for a low-cal snack; two scoops and banana
for an occasional meal replacement.



One of my favorite treats is soggifying Nilla Wafers or Graham Crackers in milk and, while I try not to indulge too frequently, I can feel a little less guilty when I do by using the Almond Milk.  It’s INCREDIBLE!  I swear, my protein shakes and smoothies taste like ice cream shakes when I use this.



I just had to share my love of this good stuff.  Almond Breeze is my new Almond Joy… most of the time, anyway!

*I used to not eat a lot of cold cereal because the small amount in a serving never satisfied me, so now I add a serving of Fiber One original cereal to a serving of my favorite cereals because it’s low cal, high fiber and makes my bowl a lot fuller for far fewer calories, sugar and fat.  Add some fruit to the bowl and it helps even more!  Yum!

How I Overcame Lazy This Week: One Word: Funslides!

Okay, a coupla quick updates:  my neck still hurts like a mutha (I'm writing this on a bad day) but the great thing is that I'm actually having "better" days - whereas I wasn't before.  So it does seem to be changing slooooowwwwly for the better.  It gives me hope.  Yeehaw.

Next update:  Alas, I am not a Fila "real woman" representative.  I guess they thought there'd just be way too much airbrushing necessary!  I'm totally fine with it.  Totally.  Uh huh.  In fact, it seemed rather bothersome, actually.  I mean, probably after hearing about the $1000 prize money, I'd likely have relatives coming out of the woodwork to start asking me for money.  I'd have to arrange childcare and find a nursery subsitute before the disruptive trip to New York.  See - a million things I'd have to organize before I left.  And now I don't have to worry about over-fatiguing my facial and abdominal muscles from fake-smiling and sucking in my gut for hours on end during the photo shoot.  Whew.  The pressure if off!  And, anyway, where would I put all the free clothes I'd get?  I do NOT have a walk-in closet. 

I did actually win a free workout tank top just for submitting a video!  So, "winner, winner chicken dinner", after all!  I think I have just enough drawer space for that.

Well, it was potentially a great week for me to be lazy:  I discovered my neck's still not ready to let me run.  I tried to sneak in running a few hills during our family jaunt to the park yesterday and I'm pretty sure that's why I'm having a bad pain day today.  So, instead of crawling under the covers in defeat (which actually doesn't offer any escape anyway since I'm just as uncofortable horizontally as I am vertically) I'm sticking with low-impact cardio for now and while that's not pain-free, it's my only option and it doesn't seem to aggravate nearly as much as my cherished running does.

So, Ha! Laziness, I spit in your general direction.



They ain't called FUNslides for nothin'!

 
Here's my plan of action:  I can't currently get my running mileage in on foot so I'm going to do it by biking - out on the road and on our stationary bike.  I'm also increasing my intimacy with one of my favorite fitness gadgets of all time:  my Funslides!!!  Some of you already know of my affinity for these profoundly simple, yet astonishingly effective, devices.  You can't even call them devices:  they're just simple, plastic sliding thingies.  And, truthfully, sturdy paper plates are an even cheaper and quite effective subsitute. 



These work great on carpet or tile.
Just throw 'em out when they're beat up and go to your
pantry for a new pair!



I'm attaching a video to demonstrate some of the lower-body moves I'm doing lately with them.  They're great because you glide through your exercises yet you can still be intense and explosive without the impact.  Plus they add an extra element of difficulty because you've constantly got friction you're working against.  So it's a killer cardio AND toning AND calorie-blasting workout all in one!  Miracle workers, those Funslides.  Sure you kinda have to get over the I-feel-like-the-most-awkward-doofus-in-the-world factor but no one sees you in your own living room! And this is just a fraction of the cool moves you can pull with these bad boys.  I will be demonstrating more as my injury status allows. 

Often, I will just dedicate an entire workout to staying on these and just repeat the sequence of exercises several times.  Sometimes I'll combine them with the bike or treadmill for some variety and to ramp up the intensity.  For example, I'll do several minutes on the bike, then hop off to do a sliding circuit and get back on the bike to repeat that sequence several times.

DO try this at home!  You'll quickly see why I chose this song accompaniment.

How I Overcame Lazy This Week - I Counted My Blessings



Gloomy ol' Eeyore



Chronic pain is an optimist’s worst enemy.  I know I am a blessed person.  I know that I do not have the worst situation in the world at all.  But, boy, when you’re a person who has mostly experienced a pain-free and healthy existence, a bout with chronic pain can really fog up those rose-colored glasses, if ya know what I mean.

 

My serious neck pain has been going on for about a month.  Now, that doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but when there’s no escape it feels like an eternity.  It’s there with me 24/7, whether I’m moving or still, awake or asleep (Sleep? Ha!), drug-free or medicated… it’s always there.  It feels like a white-hot poker is inserted deep into my neck emanating a constant, searing, painful heat with a sharp knife close by that stabs at me sending frequent and shocking zings of pain.  All this is accompanied by an almost constant tingling down my arm, chest and back.  I have not been sleeping well; my workouts – especially running – have been torture lately; I’m often grumpy with my family and I’m finding it really hard to see the bright side of things.

There, have I made anyone feel bad for me yet?  Probably not because most likely you’re all saying, “Oh yeah, big whoop.  Try dealing with ______!”  (Filling in your own equally - if not more - torturous scenario.)

I’ve dealt with pain and injuries before but they’ve always been the kind that I’ve known will get better with time.  This pain, so far, hasn’t shown signs of improving.  And that’s a bummer.  It has been such a drain on my energy and my emotional health as well because I just feel like there’s a little black cloud hovering over me constantly.  I want my sunshine back!



Although it’s been tough to be my chipper, optimistic self, my current perspective has made me acutely more aware of my blessings.  I mean, although currently there’s no end in sight, I’m pretty confident that this will not become a life-long or life-threatening condition.  Many people out there ARE in fact dealing with such grave permanency in their afflictions.  Although some of my activities and movements have been affected, I’m (so far!) not having to deal with braces, casts, wheelchairs, prosthetics or any other things with which so many others are encumbered.  I have a loving, supportive family that is helping me stay positive and focused on the other enriching aspects of my life so it’s not always about the pain-PAIN-PAIN as it can so easily become in such circumstances.  And I have a really good heating pad.



Me and my current BFF



I am so lucky and so blessed.  Yes, unfortunately my workout frequency has reduced but I celebrate the ones I do get in.  And my marathon training runs have had to be put on hold as I modify to lower impact activities.  I’m an emotional eater, so it’s been tough to fight the urge to comfort binge, but I’ve been somewhat successful in compromising with myself (Okay, you can have 5 Cadbury mini eggs AFTER you munch on an apple).  I haven’t been perfect, but, again, I’m celebrating my small successes.  I’m trying to take control in some of the situations that I actually CAN control which is important to me when I’ve been rendered so powerless in this one major issue right now.

I’m a whiner, so I’m always going to complain about my problems, but I feel it’s a total cop-out if we allow them to overwhelm anything positive we can still squeeze out of life.  Count your blessings… because they’re there, and they’re plentiful.

How I Overcame Lazy This Week - I Dreamed Big

A spray tan, good lighting and not getting too close
to the camera all make for a pretty good picture!

I’ve always wanted to be a model.  After all, I have the height – all six feet of it.  However, I also have the big schnoz, the buck teeth, the bad skin and a few (okay… several) other things that don’t exactly scream “NEXT HEIDI KLUM - RIGHT HERE!”  I’ve always wanted to be a professional athlete.  I definitely have the love of sports.  But there’s that whole lack-of-stellar-genetics-and-superior-talent issue.  I’ve always wanted to be a writer.  I have great ideas for all kinds of stories swimming around in my head, but without a publishing deal it’s hard to legitimately consider yourself a “writer” without sounding like an unemployed loser.  I’ve always wanted to be a multi-millionaire.  I certainly have the spending habits for it but that darn “having no money” thing is really getting in the way.

Although the chances of any of the above scenarios actually occurring are pretty much notgunnahappen, it doesn’t stop me from putting effort into seeing how far I can get. 

For example, I knew I’d never make it to the Olympics in track and field like I dreamed, but after high school I wasn’t quite ready to hang up my spikes just yet.  I didn’t let the fact that I wasn’t offered a scholarship stop me from walking on to the college track team.  If I hadn’t I would’ve never known that I excelled at a completely different event that I’d never tried before and I ended up doing better than many of the scholarship athletes!  I also developed a deeper love for fitness during this time that has since defined a large part of my life.

I have pretty low hopes of ever becoming a published writer.  Not that it couldn’t happen but I feel the odds are quite stacked against me.   But again, I haven’t let that keep me from pursuing that interest.  I joined a writing group which has lead me to start my fitness blog and my Golden Sneakers family fitness challenge, both of which have sparked even more ideas for future projects that are currently percolating in my noggin.  I also have actually put some of my stories onto paper, which I have found to be a very enriching and rewarding process.  Even if no one but my family and I read them, I at least got the story out into the open for someone to enjoy.



I'm pretty - yeah!!!



And as far as the modeling thing… well, despite my cellulite, spider veins, crooked smile, wrinkles (somebody stop me!) I decided to enter a contest anyway.  Those of you on Facebook know I submitted a video to Fila for their search for the next “Face of Fila Toning.”  I know that, again, my chances of winning are skinny to nada (although they say they are searching for “real” women – and it don’t get any real-er than me!) I did it anyway!  It gave me something fun to focus on and amped up my motivation level.  Sometimes that’s just what we need to keep our fitness endeavors fresh.

As far as the millionaire (heck, let’s make it billionaire) dream, that’s the one I feel is most likely to happen . . . as soon as spider monkeys fly out of Heidi Klum's butt.

How I Overcame Laziness Today

I vegged-out!

No, this is not another “I laid around all week” post.  It’s a “how I’ve made vegetables an easy and plentiful part of our family’s daily menu” type post. (And just so you know, I’ve actually had a pretty good few days of workouts, so “ppfffffttttthhhhhtt!”).

Am I wrong when I say we’re all victims of lazy eating?  Junk food, eating out, easy-prep, low-nutrient processed foods, etc.  I like to THINK my family has a healthy diet.  In reality, we probably fall into the camp of eaters who eat better than many others but worse than plenty others.  For every good nutritional habit I can pat myself on the back for, I have a bad one that is probably negating any benefit derived from that good habit! 

Truthfully, the benefits from eating healthily and sensibly are undeniable and noticeable which is why I continue to make the effort.

This week brought a focus on green veggies to my family.  I issued a St. Patrick’s Day challenge of eating one green vegetable that day to celebrate.  It was fun to see what everyone ate.  (Note to family:  the green spinach smoothie really wasn’t bad; in fact, I want to make one again, but with a better recipe).



Steamed and ready to chop!



I’ve found that fruits are pretty easy to get into the diet.  They’re sweet and yummy and require very little prep.  Vegetables have been a bit more of challenge but my world changed when I became acquainted with two things:  The book, Deceptively Delicious by Jessica Seinfeld and my wonderful Kitchen Aid Chef Series Food Chopper (look how affordable it is!). 



Please note, I do not give the mentioned book a glowing review.  In fact, after initially trying out a few of the recipes, I haven’t pulled it out since.  BUT, it made me aware that finely chopped vegetables can be added to virtually any dish and taste great!  In the book, she suggests making vegetable purees so it’s not noticeable.  But I like the texture of finely chopped ones plus I figure it gets my girls used to the taste of vegetables and so far it’s worked:  they never complain.

My go-to vegetables are carrots, zucchini and yellow squash.  I usually buy those every week.  Cauliflower and broccoli are common as well.  But I add them to everything:  mashed potatoes become a “veggie mash”, ground beef/turkey for any kind of dish will always have some onion and the chopped veggies in it.  Spaghetti sauce, soups, stews, beans and rice dishes are all made better with the extra veggies.  You can add them to almost anything.  It’s so easy and takes such minimal time and effort!

Beautiful confetti, huh?
You can pulse a few more times to chop even more finely.

I usually lightly steam some chopped squash, zucchini and the pre-sliced carrots (I like these better than baby ones) all together in a zip-lock steam bag and then throw them in the mini-chopper, pulse a few times and then toss them into the prepared dish. 



That’s it.  And it guarantees at least one serving of vegetables with that meal.  Sometimes we’ll have more if I make a salad of other veggie side. 

Vegetables really are delicious.  We just need to give them a chance!

I figure this is the best way I can be “green,” since I’m not what could be considered an environmentalist’s BFF… not to mention all the methane I emit thanks to my vegetable-laden diet!  Ironic, isn’t it?

How I Overcame Laziness Today



Yay, Spring!



I embraced Springtime today. 

It is mid-March and we are in the throes of Spring here in Vegas.  The weather has been just gorgeous lately and I'm realizing that I will be committing a sin if I don't get out and take advantage of our glorious outdoors during these glorious conditions.  I'm serious about the sinning thing... I think anyone not spending a significant amount of time outdoors right now will have to answer for it at the judgment bar in our day of reckoning.

I had to do my run on the treadmill today since I chose to do it during the girls' nap/quiet time.  But being that our treadmill is in the garage, I opened that door and let the sunshine and fresh air stream in, blasted some music, added in some boxing/kickboxing on the heavy bag between miles to make things interesting and... I felt fantastic. 

And it didn't end there:  After that workout, I got the girls ready so we could head to the park and play, play, play.

We indulged in some of our favorite activities on the way to and from the park as well:


Enjoying the "beautiful" dandelions.
I didn't have the heart to tell them they're actually weeds.



Berry stomping:  they LOVE this!



Singing "Popcorn Popping" under the apricot(?) tree!

I doubt it's an apricot tree, actually.

The girls got filthy dirty and wore themselves out.  They could barely keep their eyes open during dinner.  And, boy, did they earn their bath!



Sheer joy!



Ahhh, my kind of day!  I did NOT feel lazy today!