<p>Fantastic! You inspired me. It’s supposed to be in the single digits here this weekend, so I think I’m gonna make that pot roast, too. I’m going to use up a bottle of cheapo red table wine that’s been in my fridge forever! I’m not as purist as Marcela Hazen with the Barollo wine. Of course, she lived in Italy and probably wasn’t paying $29 a bottle!</p>
<p>BTW, the cookbook that recipe is from is one of the two or three best cookbooks I’ve ever seen. Mine is rat-eared and splattered. She’s like the Julia Child of Italian cooking, but her recipes are much more user-friendly. The eggplant parmessian in the book is incredible and totally unlike what we think of here. I should make that sometime. Alas, the fettincini alfredo with homemade from scratch noodles is also beyond belief, but that’s no longer in my repetoire (sigh). I’ve often said that, if I had to have just one cookbook, this might well be it – because it covers the gamut from quicky meals (like veal marsala) that take 15 minutes to all day extravanganza, like the homemade pasta noodles. Plus, it covers all the basic sauces.</p>
Both green and black teas and chocolate have ample amounts of caffeine, so if those are allowed and coffee is not… I would not call it “cold turkey” approach. It would be more like a “nicotine patch”
approach.
I do agree that going cold turkey on something is the only way to go. Chopping off the cat’s tail piece by piece is more painful than cutting it all at once.
<p>Ran/walked 3 miles today in sunny 75 degree weather :). I ran a mile, walked a quarter, ran a mile, walked a quarter, and ran half a mile. I’m trying to ease back into my training schedule, but I’m really behind, today was supposed to be 5.5 miles. I’m thinking of just jumping back into the original plan, but putting in walk breaks. I have to at least get to the point of running 10k. The intervals I can handle, but the long runs are beyond me right now.</p>
<p>This thread makes me spend money. First a garmin, now I want a scale that can “tare”. I never heard of that before, but now I want one.</p>
<p>Three sets, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, 2 hours. A decent but not tough workout. I’m tempted to run a mile tonight at the Y and do some weights. My opponent is going to have to make some adjustments and step up his game. He made a few more unforced errors than usual and points can turn into sets in a hurry if you’re not careful.</p>
<p>BC, are you a streaker, too? I have to say that if it takes just a mile on non-running days for a streak to live on, it is very tempting.</p>
<p>I ordered my pink socks and will let you know what I think. People at Zappos will soon start to hate me. “Come on, lady, stop ordering cr@p one sock at a time! Do your research and order everything at once!”</p>
<p>blankmind, please go easy on that ankle. Listen to your body and if something is off, let it rest. It is OK to walk in a race, too.</p>
I thought that it was two because MOWC always does at least two but she said that it is one a few days ago. For me, doing a mile is doable, even when I am hurting moderately. One mile is well within blood-sugar territory and it’s only 10 minutes. The PITN about doing only one mile is the laundry cost. I got all of my tech stuff cleaned last night so I’m good to go for five days.
<p>Found a frigid weather deal on the clearance rack at Marshalls next to the grocery store today. A Marmot quarter zip Polartec Power Dry thermal base layer in my size. Solid black. Retail $55. Clearance rack $15.</p>
<p>This is the lightweight version. Probably like Capilene 2. I bought a Marmot one last year and a pair of matching long-john pants from LLBean. I wore it a few times as a baselayer with all that snow-blowing and for some cold walking days. I can’t believe that a LARGE was tight-ish on me just one year ago</p>
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<p>Good workman-like punch the clock workout today. Love the power section (single arm DB snatches and med ball overhead slams).</p>
<p>Core was brutal: Panks and side planks with feet in the straps, pallof press with the TRX straps, and ab wheel roll outs.</p>
<p>Strength was fun. TRX inverted rows with my feet up on my new bench, ValSlide reverse lunges, TRX pushups & pike, and barbell Romanian deadlifts.</p>
<p>Bwahahahaha! Thanks for the laugh, idad! I could not hear the sound, but the slideshow was amazing. Who were the underwater dudes? Could not see the writing on the cap on my crummy iPhone screen.</p>
<p>I do some Tebowing-like exercises every night to stretch my thigh muscles. All I have to do is to bow my head instead of looking into the distance, and it will be 6.0 Tebowing. :)</p>
<p>1.1 miles in the YMCA field house. I tried running in pro combat and it’s good stuff to run in when it is a bit too cold for the sleeveless stuff. The field house was rather chilly tonight so I’m glad I had a bit more protection.</p>
<p>It’s snowing lightly on and off and there are wet spots on the road that will probably freeze over if they don’t salt it regularly. It’s not a good night to be out on the road around here.</p>
Those are great numbers MSPearl - congratulations! You’ve done so well with your efforts - especially considering the holiday season.
I’m looking forward to trying running again. I used to really enjoy running but stopped in my late 30s and I really can’t remember why! I think I am close to the weight now where I dare to try it out again. I did try running about a year ago and promptly injured my hip and it took quite a lot of yoga and swimming to get rid of the stiffness. I started out very modestly but obviously something was not right. I am quite a bit lighter now so hopefully that will help.
I am planning to go to a running store to get fitted with decent shoes. One question I have relates to running style. What is most natural to me is a toe heel strike (the balls of my feet hitting the ground first). I used to think this was all wrong and tried to change it to no avail. Is it true that this style of running is now recommended? Also, how would I know if I am a good candidate for the more minimalist shoes bunsenburner has been talking about?
On the wheat thing, I read the entire Wheat Belly book last night. I won’t comment on all of it but one point I found really interesting was the appetite stimulant qualities of wheat. The author claims that wheat, to a higher degree than other carbs, works to stimulate appetite. This certainly is my observation. If I eat a small bowl or rice, I’m done and really don’t want any more. A bowl of pasta or dumplings on the other hand makes me want more and I can easily overeat. The author is not saying other carbs in high quantities are good - just that wheat is in many ways worse. Reading this book also made me realize I eat a lot less wheat than most Americans so perhaps eliminating wheat will not have much of an effect on me.
<p>What is hard to tell is whether there is something inherently problematic with wheat or whether most of the problems result from the fact that wheat is the dominant grain in the US and, thus, the backbone of a very high carbohydrate diet? With all the gluten-intolerance stuff, maybe it’s a little bit of both?</p>
<p>Bread is such a ubiquitous staple in so many diets from around the globe that I have a hard time believing that wheat, in and of itself, is unhealthy for everyone. It just doesn’t seem logical.</p>
Slept for 12 hours last night. I will get in another mile this afternoon and that will be seven straight days of running with a total of 27 miles. I want to give it a try for a week - basically it is very hard to do if you’re a busy person and it’s tough on the body, especially when you’re trying to also do strength-training, and flexibility and you have a tough tennis match once a week.
I received an invitation for doubles this morning yesterday afternoon and I just thought that I’d be asking for trouble playing consecutively. The match yesterday was relatively easy but it still wore me out and did some damage. Lately it’s been the toes - need to carefully trim them for running and tennis, and my left ankle was a tad sore.
I’m cutting back on the running for next week, and will try to up the weights and stretching and rest. I might be spending the week in a different home which would completely wreck my workout plans.
<p>It explains what good running form involves much better than I possibly could. I signed up for a couple of running lessons, and the trainer, a hard-core marathoner, who worked with me taught the same principles. Additionally, you also need to learn to utilize the power of your glutes to propel you forward. That butt is designed not just for sittin’! :)</p>
<p>Be careful when transitioning to lighter shoes and if you do go this route, do it very gradually. I would not recommend running “barefoot” or in minimalist shoes if you are not used to it. New Balance does not recommend running more than 10% of your typical distance in their minimalist shoe at first.</p>
<p>I hope MOfWC will add some of her thoughts - she is the running pro!</p>
