Alana's Page

Alana's Page

Easier, Finally....

So at the end of last week I reviewed my progress with returning to the gym after finishing a step class. (and) For the first time, I finished the class and surprised that it was over so fast.

When I decided to return to working out.... I realized that I was plumb out of shape after my first "BodyStep" class. Typically speaking I have always been the energetic person working out, (that I think annoys many people) :). To bad I don't care too much. When I work out.... It is all about me, me, me. Needless to say, when I began coming back to body step I was working out in the back... just a huffing and puffing. My legs felt like cast-iron tankers and the step seemed like it was about a foot off of the ground. No matter the energy that was being spread throughout the room, I just couldn't get it together and the minutes seemed to creep by.

I was becoming ever so frustrated.

Then..... Friday hit..... It was like I was standing on the atop a mountain and enjoying the fresh air and scenery around me. I was jumping when I was told to do so. I was able to lift my arms up to propel my body off of the ground. I was laughing and yelling along with the class.

I was having fun.

You know they say that when you look for a job... you should do something that you enjoy doing. When this happens.... every day seems like you are having fun and it no longer feels like work. So I asked myself..... WHY CAN'T I HAVE FUN WORKING OUT? ..... I AM finding fun.... FINALLY!!!!

So now the CHANGE begins. When I have fun working out, I can work out harder. I will now be able to incorporate more complex workouts to my regimen. Once I get myself to a place that I feel healthy, I will be able to bring more people along with me.

In time, I am hoping to make the world healthier.... One person at a time, starting with ME.

Golden is Ambition when Ambition is Golden.

Yummy Food

I think that it is important to be able to eat whatever food one desires as long as they don't do it "weely-neely." As I am looking closer at the food that I eat, I try to think of ways to enjoy the things that I like without ALL of the fat and calories. Today, I became very excited to be able to be home on a Friday afternoon and able to watch some television. In watching "The Revolution" on ABC, I was confronted with a yummy recipe to try. Since I know that I may misplace it I decided to share it on my site.

I'll share how it tastes when I get to make it myself. In the meantime... here it is below:

This recipe is found at http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-revolution/blog/diet-and-exercise/Carla-Hall-Garlicky-Oven-Fried-Chicken. The recipe is as follows:

Comfort-food queen Carla Hall stopped by to whip up a healthier version of that feel-good Southern staple: fried chicken. See how she does it! Full recipe below:

Carla Hall's Garlicky Oven Fried Chicken

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. skinless chicken thighs, bone-in

1 1/2 lbs. skinless chicken breasts, cut in half crosswise

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon garlic, smashed to a paste

1 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 teaspoon paprika

3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 egg whites

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1/2 cup low fat yogurt

olive oil cooking spray

baking sheet

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spray baking sheet with olive oil spray.

Rinse chicken pieces and pat to dry, and then rub them with 1/2 teaspoon salt, pepper and garlic paste. Let sit for at least 15 minutes. (This step may be done ahead up to 6 hours or overnight.)

In a shallow dish, combine panko bread crumbs and spices. Set aside.

Combine egg whites, dijon and yogurt in a bowl, and toss chicken in to coat.

Coat chicken pieces in breadcrumb mixture and place the pieces on prepared baking sheet.

Spray the pieces lightly with the cooking spray.

Bake the chicken for 35 to 45 minutes or until the juices run clear when pierced with a paring knife. The thighs will take longer to cook.

This recipe makes 4 to 6 servings.

Hump Day, Hump Day

Man, Today was a good day.....for exercise?

So, I am keeping track of calories in an effort to make good decisions about the food that I am putting into my body. The problem is that it was so hard today to get enough food to meet sustain a good "energy."

I have been trying to maintain a diet of 1200 calories a day.... but today I don't know what happened. I packed my breakfast(lean shake/orange), morning snack (stick of cheese), lunch (salad with baked chicken), afternoon snack (carrots), and later snack of cabbage. I was not able to get in my dinner shake or my late afternoon (yet before my workout) snack of almonds.

After an hour of cycling and an hour of zumba, all this food left me earning less than 1,000 calories. This is not good for two reasons. The first is that it made it tremendously hard to get through my workouts because I didn't have enough energy. Secondly, it means that I can put my body into "starvation mode" due to having two few calories. If my body goes into starvation mode all this hard work of working out and counting calories will be of no use because my body will hang onto the fat for fear that it will not get the nutrition that it needs in the future.

I am lucky, today is only "Hump Day," making tomorrow Thursday. Thursday will be a day to try harder to get the fuel that I need to sustain a healthy lifestyle.

So this is it..... I hope it helps.

Ambition is Golden, when Golden is Ambition.

Counting my ENERGY one at time.

So it is a new year and time for new perspectives for the year ahead, (I'm told). In reality it is time for me to just reflect on previous experiences and note the new year as the point in time that I mark my reflection. In the past year(s) I have realized that mistakes to my fitness and overall health have been made, and now is the time to stop make excuses. This year, and every year beyond, I am looking at making good health, meaningful decisions in most all things that I do.

What does this have to do with my ENERGY? For today's reflection, this means that I am back to counting calories and making sure that every calorie counts. I have counted calories before with programs like Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, etc.... but those were just diets. I just counted the calories/points to take in the required calories, regardless of the taste or look of the food. I was doing things like eating the same frozen meal every day with Jenny Craig to meet the calorie requirement. OR, I would eat the same few cans of soup to meet my overall point total for the day. WHAT IS THE FUN IN THAT? The Answer is that there is not any fun in that.

The difference now.

In planning ahead, I have found that I really do like to make and experiment with cooking. WHY? Because food tastes good, and I like to eat. I find that during the week, I enjoy coming home after a workout to make something fresh and tasty to take to work for lunch the next day. Due to my hectic day at work during the week, I find that lunch is the one meal that I am able to really take in and enjoy. Over the weekend, I look forward to planning and cooking something yummy and nearly nutritious for lunch AND dinner. All the while, I am learning the best way to get the food I need to keep me going and help me to be more healthy.

At this point I continue to use the term "healthy" as my goal. My "healthy" goal is being measured by my weight until that goal is met, but overall I'd like to consider myself as working towards being more healthy.

I hope that others out there are finding some ways to be more healthy. My thought for the day (really the week) is that "I am in control of the ENERGY that I allow in my life, and the cleaner the ENERGY the farther I'll be able to go."

Until next time.