<p>Made a good quinoa dish for dinner tonight. Parmesan Garlic Quinoa cooked with chopped broccoli…all in one pot. Perfect with a skewer of grilled shrimp.</p>
<p>Went to post yesterdays workout but somehow posted on the wrong thread. Lets just say I had a good workout.
I even had an extra “workout” benefit in that some landscape work we did resulted in the rain pouring into a window well traveling down the wall and overflowing the drains at the edge of the wall. I got to carry 10-15 buckets full of water from the shop vac up 14 stairs to the laundry room sink.</p>
<p>Ahhh. Suitcase carries! Dan John says that suitcase carries will produce the most immediate gains for almost everyone because we don’t do anything like that. Huge core challenge to hold the weight steady on one side. </p>
<p>I bet you were feeling it after a few trips up the stairs!</p>
<p>Last hard track workout before the race Saturday. Hour deep tissue massage first. Mile warmup. 3x150s, 1x500, 4x150s, 1x250, 10x100s. Mile warmdown. Whew! Tomorrow accupuncture and Thursday chiropractor art treatment.</p>
<p>Felt it more today.</p>
<p>I was able to do a decent workout though. Second of the rules for lifting for life. I am seeing the benefit of his concept. I really like the power exercises. I never really did that type of work before. I moved up to 25 pounds on the kettleball swings for the metabolic. Did 6 minutes @20 work 40 rest. Followed that with jump rope. </p>
<p>So far my favorite exercises are the box jump, kettleball swings, push ups in his style with the pause and several core exercises… I also like the guide he has for doing proper lunges because I always thought I could do front lunges easily but that guide shows me I need to improve my form</p>
<p>NorthMinn, care to share your recipe?? I have a Costco sized bag of quinoa that I need to start using…</p>
<p>Home workout. Helped loosen up the hamstrings which were a little sore after yesterday.</p>
<p>Also weighed myself. 136 ibs. 1 more lb. to reach 135. The key for me was cutting out the snacks and salad dinners for a week. Dropped around 7 lbs in 2 weeks.</p>
<p>abasket… Here you go:</p>
<p>1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 cup water or low sodium chicken broth (I like the broth)
2 tsp jarred minced roasted garlic…or you can use 2 fresh cloves sauteed in EVOO
2 cups broccoli, chopped</p>
<p>Place all in pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until broth is absorbed and quinoa is tender.</p>
<p>Add:
1/2 cup grated Parmesan…can add more if you like it really cheesy.
2 teaspoons dried basil or chopped fresh from garden
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes…if you like spice…I do but my family does not!
Mix and serve after cheese has melted through. Garnish with more Parmesan if desired.</p>
<p>Since D2 isn’t watching what she eats she added some extra Italian cheese blend to hers. She said it was like mac n’cheese. I grilled some shrimp on skewers for H and I and served them over the quinoa.</p>
<p>A little over 12.000 steps today translating to a bit over 5 miles . That’s good for me. 1100 total calories for the day.</p>
<p>Nice recipe NM, I’ll have to email it to myself and try it out!
Kudos on getting some movement on the dial. It’s real enough if you just avoid the wheat, I suspect 
I wouldn’t be surprised if you found the wine didn’t make much of a difference in small quantities if you avoided wheat products. </p>
<p>My problem historically is that if I opened a bottle of wine…I drank a bottle of wine…turning what could have been a 120 cal treat into, well, more cals than cake. Since I’m allergic to red and not entirely fussy about the quality of the wine, I’ve solved this problem by buying those mini-bottles of pinto Grigio. At first, the wine snob within resisted the idea but now I’m glad I did it, because I never feel deprived at a meal.</p>
<p>They’re also very handy to take with you. Last night my girlfriends and I finally did our Tuesday biking-to-concert outing. We were able to set up a little cocktail picnic by the river this way We felt oh so European 
And what a beautiful trail it was!</p>
<p>Best of all, I’ve figured out incentive to get mch on this trail in his new recumbent. There’s a micro-brewery/pub right beside the trail about 12 miles north of our house While I’m sure a couple of stouts will offset the work of getting there, its something he does on Sunday afternoons anyway so I’ve suggested we meet our brew pal there next time.</p>
<p>Btw, MomWC, re
</p>
<p>Naw, it just means you’re the inimitable MomWC leading us geezers on vicarious adventures :)</p>
<p>Woke up to lovely coolness here! Like being at the ocean on vacation. </p>
<p>Then I went in the basement crawl space to find out if there’s any standing water from the recent downpour. There was some, but I still feel good because I had a workout before breakfast from crawling from one end of the house to the other! </p>
<p>Now if I could only figure out where the water is coming from my life would be just perfect…</p>
<p>A beautiful cool morning (finally!) here too - sure wish I could be home to enjoy it! </p>
<p>Def going to try that recipe - wonder if I could do it in the rice cooker???</p>
<p>Felt too tired to get up on time for the planned 4 miles this morning, but managed 2. Maybe more later. It’s still very humid here with showers and off and on clouds. We haven’t had to water the yard once this summer! Electricity here is pretty cheap- water is expensive, so this is a good thing. </p>
<p>Lululemon might have finally gone a little bit off the deep end. They released a “runsie” to the US stores (not online yet so you can’t see it except in email from a store and on some blogs). This is a one piece singlet/shorts thing that you wear over a sports bra. Maybe it’s better in person… Would not make for quick potty stops! </p>
<p>If you want to see it, google Lululemon Runsie. It’s really sort of cute, but not sure about running in it, or being 60 in it for that matter.</p>
<p>Interesting piece. When I have to go after running, I usually have to GO. So I don’t think a one piece would be in MY best interest! I think I’d rather have my shirt able to flap a little in the wind. :)</p>
<p>Our company firewall is driving me crazy!
Re: races. When I first started running a couple of years ago, races are what kept me motivated. Getting a race t-shirt really made me feel like a runner! I still feel that way, although I hate the time immediately before races (kind of like when I used to be a litigator and would be a wreck waiting for the judge to enter the courtroom). In both instances, I was fine once I got going - it was the waiting that made me so nervous. I’ve gotten a few medals for my age group time in small local races which is fun too. I run with a couple of friends, and our routine is to go out for breakfast after the race. So thinking that all I have to do is get through 30 minutes or so of running to have a yummy breakfast is a great motivator too!</p>
<p>Oh, god, MofWC - I saw that runsie last night at the Santana Row LL! I stared at it in disbelief for a few minutes, then decided that it was not worth it (no way Id be testing my bladder during my trail runs, lol), went around the display and grabbed a pair of prison striped shorts. Added a couple of TaTa tanks and some yoga pants to my Ll collection. Mr B was really disappointed that they were not see-through. 
Anyway, the runsie colors were not that appealing: sky blue, bright red, and horrid yellow. </p>
<p>Managed to run 5 miles on the hotel treadmill last evening. I think most hotel LifeFitness treadmills are lying about the speed/distance, because it feels much easier to run on them than on my home Precor.</p>
<p>MofWC, you are not a loonie, you are an inspiration! :)</p>
<p>Thanks, BB. I can’t believe you saw a Runsie in person already! They have them at my local store, but I’m afraid to go in this week since I’m in a little trouble with the Lulu spending… I’m curious about how you get it on. Agree that it would seem hot to not be able to have airflow, although the dresses are sort of like that in really hot weather.</p>
<p>Idad, you have inspired me. I’ve been more dedicated to adding in weight training and working in heavier weights, and I can see difference in my arms and legs. I’ve never had thin arms, even when I was a young thing – but I definitely have some new bicep definition and even beginning to get some tricep definition. More importantly, I feel that I can wear sleeveless tops / dresses without having to wear a sweater over them. Similarly, I’ve never had thin calves even at my thinnest, but I’ve been confident enough to start to wear summer dresses that end right above the knee. In fact, after today’s workout, I took a picture of myself in a short dress and texted it to H and said, “Look at these legs! This is the closest I will ever come to sexting!” LOL. I think it’s helping me as the weight continues to go down (knock on wood) at a reasonable pace, 0.5 - 1.0 lb per week.</p>
<p>At one point I’ll have to work on serious core moves (I do do core moves in pilates and hot yoga) but I think the stomach will be the last place where I’ll see definition. I’m definitely thinner on the upper part (from bra line down to belly button) but it’s the belly button on down that I think will be the most stubborn place. Thoughts, esp from the women? Has that been your experience?</p>
<p>My Google search last night was “running intervals hamstrings” and it was interesting seeing what came up. It looks like it’s not uncommon to experience sore hamstrings after doing running intervals on a treadmill. Mine were just a touch tight after Monday, but that’s not a spot where I typically experience any soreness, thus the search. Interesting… Any thoughts here on whether it’s preferable to do intervals outside? When I run outdoors, often it’s not on a flat path and there are others on the trails I use – plus I like seeing numbers 
– so I’ve only done intervals on the treadmill so far. Your feedback is appreciated. Thanks!</p>
<p>Pizzagirl- if it makes you feel any better, when I was younger and weighed 102, I still had some lower belly fat. Some of it is just genetic.</p>
<p>Deborah- I am an outside runner, so I prefer outside. Intervals for me work better on a 400 meter track and you can easily see your numbers there on a watch- even without a Garmin. Treadmill does work well, but it just isn’t the same stride as outside, although I think the faster running stride on a treadmill is more “normal” than the slower stride for me. When I was in Dallas at Cooper’s Aerobic Center we had a mile outdoor cushioned path with a quarter mile loop and a half mile loop that was perfect for intervals. Not a perfect oval, and there were trees, but better than roads or trails.</p>