But it's not me!
I had a great start to my day with a good workout; I felt really strong today. I got on the elliptical and tore it up, barely dropping below 6.5 mph as my speed for my 20 minutes :-) It felt great!
When I use the elliptical, I opt for one with moving arms on it, even though these seem to be the most popular at my gym:
I don't really like them because I like to have my arms pumping when I work out. Also, I have noticed that it is not very good for form. I see a lot of people grabbing onto the bars, and hunching over as they work out. I can see the bracing as helpful for speed, but what about your back? Out of the 20 or so people on those guys today, only an handful were either standing/leaning with their backs straightened out.
I prefer something like this guy right here:
I have noticed in the past three weeks that my back feels better after using this machine 4-5 times a week. When I use it, I feel my body needing to be straight and tall because as I am working my lower body, I am also pulling back on the moveable arms. I feel my shoulder blades opening as I work out now, and I also notice my overall posture to be improving.
After my usual 20 minutes on the elliptical, I turn to the bike for another 20 (sans TV):
I really like stationary bikes, mostly because I can't read while I'm on any other gym equipment! The constant bouncing paired with needing to turn pages while trying to hold on is too much. So, I usually rock out the iPod and then switch to a book or magazine on the bike.
So, after my GREAT workout, I took a nice, long, hot shower and headed home. I was RAVENOUS because I only had one of these pre-work out:
We have an almost bare fridge and cupboard, so I had to break into frozen stuff for lunch!
I had a lean cuisine quesadilla with steamed veggies for lunch. I do NOT advocate eating frozen "healthy" dinners often, but this was an emergency!
Sure, the packaging LOOKS nice, but check out the nutrition. They lure you in with 280 calories, and 8 grams of fat only. However, this is a tiny little guy of a quesadilla, so you'll be begging for more when you're done. ALSO, look at the sodium content: 29% of your daily value. This is exactly why these meals are a bad idea; despite being low in fat and calories, they are still loaded with preservatives because they are cheap, frozen food products that need to be preserved and flavored as cheaply as possible. Hello, salt!
I honestly hardly eat these things, but when it's all you got, it's all you got! It would seriously be healthier to make your own quesadilla with fresh veggies, part-skim cheese, and a whole wheat tortilla. Your cholesterol levels will thank you.
In addition to my sodium full lunch, I had a side of steamed veggies. They were plain veggies, as in no sauce and no seasoning. I bought those instead of the tempting asian seasoned veggies, or the lightly sauced ones because it is the same problem as the lean cuisine dinners... sodium, sodium, sodium!
But, I didn't want them to be bland, so I mixed up my own asian dressing of 2 tsp Mirin, 1 tsp low sodium soy sauce, and 2 tsp rice wine vinegar:
I love this simple little sauce; to make it sweeter add more mirin, to sour it add more rice wine vinegar. I added a little soy sauce, but once again, we know that is a sodium gold mine!
Considering my long, sweaty workout this am, this is a tiny little lunch. That is a salad size plate, which shows just how tiny that quesadilla is! After 30 minutes, I can already tell I'll need a snack soon. Definitely not a satisfying lunch :-(
New Thing--> WEEKLY CHALLENGE!
I've decided that every week I am going to give myself a weekly diet-based challenge.
This week, I have decided to:
Eat Two Servings of Fruit a Day
I hate fruit, but I can't deny that it's good for you. This past week I had a banana or apple a day, so now I'm ready to try and go for two.
Wish me luck!
Alright, well I am off to get a ton of reading done before I pick up Kyle and head to the store.
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