Fitness Friday Fitbit Goals

It’s been almost a month since the start of the New Year and all those resolutions. One of mine was to walk more miles in 2024 than I did in 2023! According to Fitbit, I walked over 2000 miles and so I set a goal of 2500 for 2024. Unfortunately, I’ve had a rocky start due to travel and a cold that’s kept me out of the gym. Did I mention the cold and rain that have made walking outdoors impossible? Anyway, hoping to get back on track and work toward that goal. How about you? Did you make any resolutions? Have you made any progress on them?

June 9, 2023July 14, 2023

Losing Weight and Improving Health

When I first started this journey, I could barely do half an hour at 2 MPH on the treadmill. Made me sad considering how much better I had been doing pre-pandemic. I started off slowly to build speed and distance and yesterday I was able to do 2.6 MPH for an extended period of time. Normally I just do a 3-mile walk on the boardwalk but the smoke from the Canadian wildfires made that impossible so I had to hit the treadmill. I’m glad since it reinforced how much progress I’ve made on my journey to be healthier and lose weight. Speaking of losing weight, I’ve hit 30 pounds lost finally. The last month has been an up and down of the same two pounds but I’m hoping I finally broke through that plateau!
weight loss

March 12, 2020March 12, 2020

#FashionFriday #FitnessFriday – What’s a Girl to do?

Yesterday I started packing for the upcoming BookLovers Con and ended up doing a cleanse and pack of my closet for our upcoming move! I donated several bags of clothing and luggage and only kept a small number of items for the future. Business suits: mostly gone. Button-downs: Just kept a few. The one thing I didn’t realize was that I had been able to move from my “Big” clothes to my “Skinny” ones. That included two “promesa” pants. What’s a “promesa?” It’s a promise and I had promised myself that I would one day be able to fit into those pants. Well, I was finally able to keep that promesa and fit into both pairs. One pair was way too long and just didn’t look all that good so I donated it, but I kept the other pair!

As I mentioned, I had to decide what to keep and what to trash, which raised this following decision: Which Mets Jersey to keep?
Mets Piazza Wright Tebow

LOL! You know I kept them all!! I’m a die-hard fan and will totally wear each of these depending on the game and my mood.

The NEVER A BRIDE blog tour continues and for a chance to win a $25 Gift Card, leave the comment “Caridad sent me!” at any of the blogs on the tour. You can find the tour stops at http://bit.ly/NeverABrideBlogTour and for now, here are today’s blog stops:

Anna del C. Dye Official Page
Sweet ‘n Sassy
Authors & Readers Book Corner

January 10, 2020February 17, 2021

#FitnessFriday – Trying Out New Workouts

One of the things I’ve been doing in my new retired life, besides writing, is trying out new fitness regimens so I can maintain the same activity level I used to have when I was working. When I was working, I used to walk to and from Penn Station to my office and I’d also take a short walk around the office to drop off files and correspondence every hour or so. That added up to a lot of steps and now I don’t have that routine.

This past week I tried out a number of different classes. First up a Boxfit class that was a lot of fun and quite a workout. I liked it because I think it will improve my upper body strength.

Next up was a HIIT class – High-Intensity Interval Training. I also liked it, but there were a lot of routines with squats and my one knee was aching a little so the verdict is out on this one.

Finally, I tried a chair yoga class. My sister is a yogi and I plan on going to her classes as soon as I can, but the chair yoga was an interesting alternative. I got to do stretching which I really need and I was familiar with many of the poses since I’d done yoga on the beach a few years back (also on the list to do this year!).

I’ll keep you posted about what’s happening with these classes and I’d love to hear if you’re taking any fitness classes and what you like!

Original Image by Khusen Rustamov from Pixabay

June 29, 2018November 7, 2018

#FitnessFriday #FoodieFriday – Cashew & Date Caramels

Is there something perverse about working out while watching the Food Network? Seriously? Yep, I do it. Ironic much, but I get lots of ideas for new recipes and ways to make what I’m eating tastier and healthier. I’ve lost 25 pounds so far and it’s been with a balance of sound nutrition and exercise. The thing is, if you feel deprived all the time, you won’t maintain your new lifestyle. I’ve been at it for 6 months with this new regimen and I can honestly say I don’t feel deprived. Anyway, one of the things I came across was vegan caramels. VEGAN! you say. Well, I have tried vegan food recently and found it quite tasty, not that I’m giving up the meat. But variety is nice. Plus, caramels are so fattening but these recipes use mostly three ingredients: dates, cashews, and chocolate. Three tasty things. So take a moment to check out these recipes!

https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/paleo-vegan-cashew-caramel-clusters/

https://nadialim.com/recipe/healthy-date-cashew-caramel-chocolate-slice/

https://www.veganosity.com/3-ingredient-date-caramel-vegan-and-gluten-free/

Fitness Friday Foodie Friday

April 20, 2018

Eggplant Un-Parm #FoodieFriday #FitnessFriday

One of the things about changing up how I eat is to keep food fresh and flavorful, but healthier. After all, the only way to lose weight and keep it off is to create a lifestyle that you can live with every day.

I always watch a lot of cooking shows and one of the things the chefs mention is building layers of flavor. With that in mind, I tackled an update to one of my favorite meals: Eggplant parmigiana.

Eggplant is tough on several levels. It can be bitter although that doesn’t normally bother me. It sucks up oil like there’s no tomorrow. Plus there’s the frying in the parmagiana essential. So I decided to change it up by grilling and also, by not going heavy with sauce and instead also grilling the tomatoes. The grilling added a great smokiness to the dish that was offset by the tang of the goat cheese I used. I think you’ll love this!

Ingredients

2 medium eggplant sliced into rounds about 1/2 inch thick (I had about 20 rounds when I finished)
5 tomatoes sliced into rounds about 1/2 inch thick (I had about 10 rounds when I finished)
5-6 ounces of goat cheese
6 ounces of a mix of shredded provolone & mozzarella (Bought this pre-shredded and mixed)
4 garlic gloves
3/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/8 cup fresh parsley
1 cup fresh basil

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. Preheat your grill on high and brush/spray with oil.

Place 1/2 olive oil, garlic cloves, vinegar, parsley and basil into either a blender or food processor. Blend until you have a sauce (kind of like pesto).

Place eggplants in a tray and put about 3/4 of the pesto mixture over the rounds. Toss to coat each one. Place on hot grill and cook for about 3-4 minutes a side. Don’t worry about cooking all the way as you’ll finish this dish in the oven, but don’t undercook. Eggplant is squeaky and unappealing when not totally cooked!

Remove eggplant rounds and place on a tray. You can put two on top of each other for now if you’d like. I used a greased cookie sheet that I later used to bake everything. Why wash more than you have to?

Place tomatoes in the tray and put remaining pesto mixture on them along with remaining 1/4 cup oil. Tomatoes stick a lot more hence the extra oil. Coat well with the mixture and place on hot grill. Cook for maybe 1-2 minutes a side. Don’t worry if they break. Place tomatoes in another bowl and let cool until you can handle.

Put one eggplant round on the greased cookie sheet and top with one tomato round. Add a sprinkle of the shredded cheese mix. Top with another eggplant round. Place 1 teaspoon or so of goat cheese on this layer and top with a little more shredded cheese mix. Enough to cover the goat cheese.

Repeat until all rounds are done.

Cook in 400 degree oven for 20 minutes. Broil for 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese on top.

Serve with a little grated parmesan cheese on top and a side salad! It sounds like a lot of work, but it really only took about 20 minutes of prep time and it was DELICOUS!

April 13, 2018

Chia Seed Pudding #fitnessFriday #foodieFriday

Today’s post both helps you get fit and hopefully has you trying a new food. Chia seeds are one of the hot new super foods! They are packed with fiber, protein, anit-oxidants, omega 3 fatty acids and iron. For more on the benefits of chia seeds, you can visit http://bit.ly/2IRcyVd.

Today’s recipes are for chia seed puddings, but I also sprinkle dry chia seeds on salad for some added texture and taste. I make my chia seed pudding with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and I don’t add sugar or honey because I usually mix it up with fruit and sometimes a little yogurt. The recipes below show you just how versatile you can be with this superfood! Chia seed pudding will last for about 5 days in the fridge so one batch is enough to last you for an entire week of breakfasts or desserts.

Recipes

Chia Seed Pudding Recipes