Hiking for Fitness

I have set a goal to climb the Barr Trail as far as Barr Camp in May.  In order to prepare for that, I am trying to hike 4 times a week.  On weekdays, I have been hiking 3 short trails and then on the weekends, his Lordship and I take a longer hike.

So todays hike was through the Garden of the Gods.  It was an unusually warm day - I think it set a record high.  I started on the Strausenback Trail.

 

It was quite pretty and the first time I actually hiked that particular route.  Here are some pictures.

 

I then hiked the Scotsman trail to the central garden trail.  I always try to hit the central garden 1/2 way through my hike as they have that most important of features - a flush toilet. 

 

I then took the Palmer trail around the west side of the park.  Here are a few picture of the central garden from the Palmer trail.

After out walking a group of very pokey trail horses, I ended up on the Siamese Twin trail and back at the car.  Total steps was 10771.  Aerobic step were 8282.  Mileage was 3.39. Tomorrow his Lordship takes me up a mountain so I hope I have the energy for that!

The Siamese Twins

Gumbo!!!!

We have Canivale coming up in our little community of Manitou Springs.  As part of the festivities there is the Mumbo Jumbo Gumbo cook off.  Unfortunately, I have a previous engagement and will not be able to attend.  However, I thought I would share my Gumbo recipe with everyone as it is a low fat version that is pretty darn tasty.  This recipe is not for Dr. Theda, however, as he is allergic to bell peppers. 


Yum Gumbo -let me share my recipe

Ingredients List:

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 large onion chopped

4 ribs of celery chopped

1 red bell pepper chopped

1 green bell pepper chopped

2 gloves of garlic minced or mashed

1-2 tsp. hot pepper sauce

1 lrg. can of tomato sauce

1 bottle clam juice

2 cups chicken broth

1 lb. of shrimp

2 chicken Andouille sausage

3 Tbsp. file'

 

Spice mix:

11/2 teas. sweet paprika

1 teas. salt

1 teas. cayenne pepper

1/2 teas. ground black pepper

1/2 teas. ground white pepper

1/2 teas. thyme

1/2 teas. oregano

2 bay leaves

 Saute' onions in veg. oil for about 5 minutes.  Add celery and peppers and cook 10 more minutes.  Combine the spice mixture in a bowl and set aside.  Stir the file' into the veggies and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.  Add dry spice mixture, hot sauce, garlic and cook another 5 minutes, stirring often. Add tomato sauce, clam juice, chicken broth, sausage and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for about an hour stirring occasionally.  Add shrimp and simmer for 2 minutes.  Serve over rice.

Saute' veggies in oil

Mix spices

Add as much chicken sausage as you wish - I like two

Add Tomato sauce, chicken broth, clam juice and sausage, bring to a boil and let simmer for an hour

 

Ready to eat over rice - yum

 

 

It's the end of January

So how are the resolutions going??  January has been a fairly successful month with some healthy eating, and a accelerated workout schedule.  How close am I to my goal of hiking the Barr trail? Still frightfully distant I am afraid.  I am gonna need to kick it up to get there by May.

However my little weight workout has been manageable.  I performed this activity 12 times this month - which is about 3 times a week not 4 like I intended.  However, the week I was away I did not do it once so I guess it was four the other weeks of the month. 

I am getting fairly proficient so it is time to bump it up to something harder - more reps., more sets and new exercises.  I will keep the lunges the same as I am taking those slow so as to not hurt my knees as suggested by Jackie.
My new routine will be:

16 stationary lunges each leg with 5 lb weight
16 stationary lunges each leg with bicep curls -5 lb

bicep curls 15 reps each arm - 2 sets 8lb
overhead triceps 15 reps - 2 sets 8 lb
sit ups with 8lb weights - 8 reps - 3 sets
sit up with twist - 8 reps - 2 sets
bench press - 15 reps - 3 sets - 10 lb

My new exercises will be
single leg dumbbell row - 15 reps - 2 sets - 8 lb

squat to overhead press 15 reps - 2 sets 5 lb

I will set a goal again of 4 times a week - hope I can manage! How are your New Years resolutions shaping up?  Let me know!

Namaste Yoga

I have owned this disc for years and use to do this workout regularly in the early 2000's.  But for about the last 5 years, my Namaste Yoga has been gathering dust in a forgotten corner.  I recently pulled it from the cobwebs as my daughter complained that the new yoga I was trying did not feature enough soothing music.

Anyhow, I had forgotten how much I like these workouts.  They are done by Kate Potter and they feature soothing music.   Each workout contains a 5 minute warm up, a 12 minute flow series and a 5 minute cool down.  What I love about this flow yoga is that it really flows .  It is easy to follow the rhythm of the poses hence the breath comes effortlessly.  It is almost like dancing through the yoga.


Season 1 and 2

I have been rediscovering my flexibility. Moving to Colorado, I swapped hiking for yoga.  My cardio improved but with recurring soft tissue injuries.   Tendonitis plagues my elbows, shoulders, knees, hips and low back. As a result of my New Years resolutions, I have put regular yoga (versus every now and again, once in awhile yoga) back into my life and my achy joints are getting better.  Plus the Dr. told me at my physical today that I had excellent range of motion.  I shouldn't get to excited about that though because judging from the folks in his waiting room, the average age of his patient load is about 80.

I highly recommend this yoga as an easy to follow workout that fits into any schedule.

Sushi

Making homemade sushi is fun and easy but does require some specialized equipment.  Start by cutting all ingredients into long strips.  We like tuna, cucumber, carrots and avocado.  The sushi tuna comes from Costco.

 

You will also need Nori, a bamboo sushi tool like the one pictured below and a very sharp knife.

 

 We buy sushi rice from our local grocer and then cook it in a rice cooker.  I find it comes out better than if it is cooked on a stove.  It gets seasoned with rice wine vinegar, sugar, and salt while still warm. Here is a recipe if you need one.

Once the rice cools, spread it on a piece of nori.  Then lay all your stuff in lengthwise.

Begin to roll up from the end holding the fillings with your fingers and pushing with your thumbs.  There is an easy tutorial here.

 

 

Cut your sushi roll with a very sharp knife that you wash often.  Serve with ginger, soy sauce and wasabi.  We cut some tuna into sashimi.  Also, we scraped the tuna off the membranes and make spicy tuna by adding a little mayo and hot sauce.  Enjoy your sushi!

 





 

 

 

 

 

Aerobic Snow Workout

No need to hike yesterday - snow fell overnight and since his Lordship goes to work, the task of snow removal falls on me.  We have a steep driveway, so it is a tricky job.  Yesterday, I wore hiking spikes on my shoes just to navigate the icy base under the snow.  Our driveway is so steep that without the spikes, one just slides all the way down.  According to Spark People, a person of my weight shoveling for 40 minutes burned 223 calories. This is of course, without the aid of a snow blower. So lets here it for household chores that also count as exercise!!!

A lot of snow to remove

Making Marinated Peppers

I love marinated sweet bell peppers on salad.  They pair deliciously with pine nuts and add so much flavor that I barely need any dressing.  The other day the grocery had a sale on damage produced and I picked up 3 peppers for 99 cents.  I gave them a good wash.  I usually soak in vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to remove pesticides but can't find a shred of research to back this up online.  The only research I can find is that washing in tap water for 30 seconds is as effective as any veggie wash or pesticide soak to remove pesticides.  I will await further comments on this subject.


Anyhow to make marinated sweet bell peppers, roast them under the broiler until the skins turn black.  When cool enough to handle, peel the skins off.  Slice them into long thin strips.  I put them in some recycled jam jars and added a sherry vinegar, pressed garlic, a little salt and some olive oil.  I store in the fridge.  They will be yummy on my big salads at lunch time.  They will keep about 5 days.


Cut into strips

Store in jars in fridge.  Eat  within 5 days.

Perfect in a big salad with stilton cheese and roasted pine nuts - yum. yum.

Health Drinks

This year I scored big with presents in the health department - His Lordship gave me both a pedometer and a Vitamix.  Do you think he is hinting at something?

Anyhow, the vitamix is a swell contraption that can take the place of a food processor and a blender.  So far I have used it to make peanut butter and apple sauce, grind wheat berries into whole wheat flour for bread, and concoct health drinks. 

The health drinks are easy and make a fine breakfast.  They can be savory with lots of veggies or sweet with fruits like smoothies.  Unlike juicing, the vitamix grinds everything up so one gets the benefit of the fiber.  Less waste and cleaning is super easy. In contrast to the juicer which has about 8 part to wash, just fill the container with soapy water and run it for 45 seconds.

During the past week I have made a health drink daily.  Here are some of  the things I have put in:

pomegranate arils
bananas
mangos
pineapple
spinach
mixed greens - chard, kale and spinach
hemp hearts
ground flax
almonds
strawberries
blueberries
bell pepper - this overwhelms fruit drinks so I won't use it again
beets
green tea
orange juice
peaches
persimmons
kiwi
tangerine juice
apples
pureed pumpkin

I use organic produce when possible.  I peel things with skins I do not wish to eat like kiwis, bananas, pineapples but leave the skin on the apples for the fiber. I add enough water to liquefy it.  They have all come out pretty good. My least favorite had the bell pepper.  My favorite was beets, green tea, tangerine juice, strawberries, spinach, pomegranates, pureed pumpkin and blueberries.  My daughter likes them too!

Health drink in the making.  I added additional water to cover produce 1/2 way

Finished drink

The Little Pedometer that Could

His Lordship, my spouse, got me a pedometer for Christmas.  It is made by Omron and displays the number of steps taken in a day, miles walked, aerobic steps, calories burned, and the time.  My first day wearing it I went on a long hike and managed about 12,000 steps.  But yesterday, I only got a little walk in and by 8:45 pm, I was still 1,500 steps short of my 10,000 step goal.  So bring on the steps - up and down the stairs 5 times, pacing while I brushed my teeth, doing lots of little chores etc.  In fact,  continuous motion for 15 minutes and I had my 10,000.  His Lordship was pleased as he hoped it would motivate me to move more and spend less time in front of this computer.  I think it is working.  So if you need a little motivation, try a pedometer.

Housebound Health

So my New Years resolution is to get healthy - and I started Twisted Sisters' Café as one of the ways I intend to meet this goal.  Yesterday I got out and walked but today I just got a call from the hubby - freezing rain, fog and ice.  Treacherous roads to say the least.  Semis in the ditch. So I'm feel that it would be safest to stay inside and not risk falling on an icy sidewalk.

Foggy icy morning - probably shouldn't go walking lest I fall down and can't get up

One thing I have been planning is to start lifting weights.  The last time I bothered to do this activity was May 30, 2014.  Since I have let it slide for half a year, I should start at the beginning gently.  Why?  Because if not I will cripple myself resulting in 4 days in bed and perhaps an expensive visit to the doctor.  So I will take it slow.

Here is my list of beginning exercises:

Start standing:
15 standing lunges each leg with 5lb in each hand
15 standing lunges with bicep curls - 5 lb in each hand
24 bicep curls 8lb

 

 16 tricep 8lb
24 rows each arm 8lb

Get down on the mat:
24 chest 8 lb
16 sits ups each R and L leg with 8 lbs
8 sits ups with twist 8 lbs


So do you have any favorite exercises??? Any suggestions on what I should be doing?  I am thinking 4 times a week would be acceptable to engage in an activity such as this.