Month: February 2018

Humor, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

My Confession – Part II

Cruz2Lose

This is not my first rodeo.  I have been losing weight, gaining and losing again for almost 30 years, kind of like a career poker player minus the smell of bourbon and cigarettes. The only difference is that if I gamble with my health,  it won’t be Guido coming to break my legs, instead, I may be at the mercy of a cardiologist. I simply refuse to give up because at some point I know I am going to have an ace in the hole and win this game.

During my times of weight loss success, there was one thing in particular that was always the constant no matter the variable:

MINDSET

This is truly where it all begins.  Not only do you need to want to be successful, you have to believe that you WILL BE successful. Whether you only have a few pounds to lose or several pounds to lose, it really is about having the mindset to achieve those goals.

I looked out the window today and it was gently snowing.  It really wasn’t sticking at this point but I almost used it as an excuse not to head to Planet Fitness for my workout.  I sat at my computer for a moment and ran through a few more reasons why perhaps I shouldn’t go. What if the road conditions deteriorated?  Hmmm…I grew up driving in Michigan, I can pretty much drive in any road condition; I even specialize in maneuvering my way around plowed snow, potholes and tractors. At that moment I felt the need to explain to my dog that there was really not a legitimate excuse for me not to go to the gym and that she would have to hold the fort down while I was gone. Not certain I am playing with a full deck of cards…

playing-cards-1776295_1280

Humor, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

IP Ribs and Other Tales

Cruz2Lose

Last night I decided to get adventurous and stuff a slab of Costco pre-seasoned ribs into my Instant Pot.  I say “stuffed” because I packed the ribs in so tightly that it reminded me of trying to stuff myself into my jeans. That moment you realize that you were able to do it but if anything expands it is not going to be pretty….yeah, same with the ribs. Admittedly, I have never made ribs before but since I have been getting comfortable with using this fabulous cooking tool, I figured they would either be undercooked, overcooked or come out perfect, and in any case, I was fairly confident that they wouldn’t be rendered inedible. I had read somewhere to throw in 1 1/2 cups of apple juice, 1 cup of apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of liquid smoke before putting
the ribs on the inside trivet.  I set my Instant Pot on high pressure for 40 minutes. I am not certain how healthy this all was but I steamed some green beans for good measure. When the timer went off and the IP finished a 15-20 minute natural release, I opened the lid and went to pull the ribs out; the meat was falling off of the bone. I was told that I fullsizeoutput_2072should have pulled them out, slathered them in BBQ sauce and then broiled them for a few minutes, however, they already had a wonderful flavor and I didn’t want extra calories and/or high fructose corn syrup that is in my favorite BBQ sauce.  These ribs may not look like much, however, they were amazing with very little effort.

Today was day two of getting back into the groove of working out. So far I have only tackled the treadmill as I ease into my new lifestyle.  At some point I will add weight training into my workout but for now I am perfectly content with a gentle start.  Halfway through my cardio workout, I had the realization that I would not be a good candidate for a Fifty Shades of Gray type of relationship since I felt spanked hard enough going 3.0 mph on the treadmill. The highlight of my trip to the gym was that Planet Fitness has these incredible hydrotherapy lounge chairs that you can program to focus on a certain part of your back, neck or legs and, additionally, you can adjust the pressure. This after workout delight makes the pain a little more pleasurable. Just a little.

 

Humor, Low Sodium Cooking, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

Threshold of Hell

Cruz2Lose

Today was my first day back to Planet Fitness in three years in my attempts to lead a healthy lifestyle.  After my workout, I was reminded of a post I had once written regarding that iconic scene in Flash Dance where Jennifer Beals is dancing, sits down onThresholdofhell a chair, arches her back and pulls on a cord that dumps water all over her body.  I experienced the same thing after my workout except I was in a chair, hunched over with sweat pouring down me as though I was at the threshold of hell.

As I continued my journey into the abyss, I came home from my workout and threw a whole chicken in the Instant Pot and a second one was in line to be cooked, shredded and frozen. Once the Instant Pot finished its ‘natural release’ with the first chicken, I pulled that baby right out of the pot and the meat was falling off the bone. I began to slice into the chicken and then noticed that it wasn’t completely cooked all the way through. Perhaps the issue is that I usually cook with wine, but this time I hadn’t poured a glass….

Situation rectified. Happy National Wine Day!

~Cheers

Humor, Uncategorized, Weight Loss

My Confession – Part I

Cruz2Lose

My confession:

I have had a Planet Fitness Black Card membership for almost two years.  Initially, I worked out on a regular basis, and then one day something came up and I didn’t go to work out and, before I knew it, missing one day turned to weeks, weeks turned to months and months has turned into two years.  I can recall the first time that I showed up eager to get my workout started and was impressed that were several treadmills not in use.  I looked around, chose the treadmill near the least amount of people, put on my workout music playlist and hit start.  As I began to warm up and was getting comfortable on my machine, my eyes gazed up to the television screen in front of me. dumbbells-2465478_1280That was my first encounter with the reality survival series Naked and Afraid.  My first thought was, “Whoa! What is happening?!” If you haven’t seen or heard about this series, these contestants are dropped off in the wilderness butt naked and have to fend for themselves.  There I am trying to workout and keep my focus but with my music playing Timberlake’s Carry Out on my ear buds and somebody’s bare behind on the screen, it seemed like a banned MTV video.  So here I am almost three years later from my Naked and Afraid moment. This weekend will begin with planning healthy meals for the coming week using my Instant Pot, grocery shopping and heading to the gym.  I have packed the weight back on and might be ready for another episode of Naked and Afraid now that I am afraid of being naked.