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By kilax, February 16, 2011 5:32 am

I decided I would like to try some protein powder, so I ordered sample packs of the Vega Sport brand in vanilla and berry. Each serving contains 20g of protein (nutritional info here).

I haven’t tried them yet, but wanted to ask you guys a few questions!

Have you ever tried/do you use protein powder? Do you notice any benefit from using it? When do you use it and how (in a shake, just with water, etc.)?

I am anxious to see how this stuff tastes, and if I notice any effect from using it.

Comments (30)

By kilax, February 14, 2011 12:34 pm

Don’t mind if I do.

My awesome coworker made vegan peanut butter cups to bring to the office for Valentine’s Day. How sweet is she?!

I kind of mentioned before that I am trying to shed some weight, and one of the ways I do that is by cutting back on my “sweets” consumption. Because, yeah. I can really eat a lot of sweets. Like, an obscene amount – what most people consume in a month, I could probably consume in a day. What can I say? I have a major sweet tooth!

But I’ve been trying to control it, by having tea instead of sweets. And it’s working. But today?* I think I may have a peanut butter cup. Or two. Or three.

Do you have a sweet tooth? Do you try to not eat too many sweets?

Do you think you’ll have any sweets today?

*And I am TOTALLY going to Babycakes in NYC with Gina!!!

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By kilax, February 12, 2011 5:42 am

Awhile ago, when I wrote about being too distracted for yoga, Lauren told me she finds it much easier to focus in a yoga studio, and invited me to join her at a session! We had it all planned out, but then the snowpocalypse hit, I was trapped in my house, and had to cancel.

When I was asked Lauren what to bring to class, one of the things she mentioned was my yoga mat. Then I realized I didn’t have a yoga mat bag. What the hell was I going to carry my yoga mat downtown in?! Duh, Kim, duh.

So I ordered a yoga mat from amazon. Voila:

And I ordered an extra one, in dark blue, to giveaway! Because maybe someone else is like me – has a yoga mat, but no bag.

It’s mesh, with a zipper down the side, fits a typical 24″ wide mat, and has a little pocket inside. But is dark blue.

Yoga Mat Bag Giveaway Rules

1. To enter the giveaway, leave a comment telling me your favorite exercise move to do on a yoga mat.
2. This giveaway is open until 5:00 PM CST on Monday February 14. I will use random.org to select the winner. I will announce the winner on Tuesday February 15.
3. This giveaway is open to all readers.

Comments (36)

By kilax, February 3, 2011 5:15 am

And that’s “balance” in both the literal and figurative sense.

I was nervous about publishing this post for some reason. I think because it has a lot of anxious energy in it, and I don’t always feel like that needs to be shared. So, read ahead if you want!

Ah, stupid end of the month revelations. After my Sunday race I was thinking about how good I was feeling and what a great month I had, and then, the thought struck me:

Oh sh*t. I am doing it again – putting all of my eggs in one basket.

That would be the running basket. The “I feel great and happy when I can run” basket. That is a nice basket to put your eggs in, until the basket gets a stress fracture, you can no longer run and you end up eating your weight in Oreos.

Okay, so I am not making any sense. Plain and simple, I did have a great month, with a lot of running and running socials as well as other fun get-togethers (a birthday party and baking day), but I am worried about how good of a month it was. Worried that my happiness will be thwarted by another stress fracture and I will have to stop running again. Worried that letting so much of my happiness rely on whether or not I can run is dangerous. It is. It’s way out of balance.

And I am not sure how to fix that. I had stress fractures in August of 2009 and May of 2010 and each time, I kind of… wallowed in self-pity. And ate those Oreos.

What a dumb thing to worry about. Moving right along…

Do you feel like your personal interests are well-balanced? Or is there one interest that kind of takes center stage in your life?

This next part is about body weight, so please skip if it will make you feel uncomfortable.

Continue reading 'Lacking balance'»

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By kilax, January 24, 2011 8:37 pm

Is it possible to focus solely on yoga while doing yoga, and not think of anything else?

Me attempting some yoga move

Seriously – anyone? Any advice?

My mind never turns off. I am constantly thinking of the next thing I have to do, all day long, almost every day. I try to relax. Sometimes I can, but it’s hard for me. I have to really be in the moment. I can relax when I am with friends, running and sometimes when I am watching a movie.

Anyway, during yoga (which I do at home), I find myself trying to focus on my breathing, and being in the moment, but my mind wanders. I think of the things I need to get done before the day is over. My mind slips. I am still doing the moves and following the motion, but I am not finding that inner relaxation that yoga brings to so many.

How do I just “be”?

Comments (28)

By kilax, January 5, 2011 5:13 am

What comes in a box this size?

Not something for Data!

My new snowshoes!!!

Or shall I say, air guitar?

One more:

It looks like this outside:

But I know (sadly) we will get more snow. And I am going to embrace it!

I just hope that snow comes in time for the Frozen Zucchini Snowshoe Adventure I signed up to “run” on January 30th.

Okay, enough photos. I have two interesting stories to tell about these snowshoes. The first is when I tried to buy them. My brother-in-law, Andrew, gave me a Sports Authority giftcard for Christmas, and took me to Sports Authority in Kansas City to look at snowshoes. I though they sold them there, since the Sports Authority in our town does. So…

Sales Dude: Can I help you find something?
Me: Hi, where are your snowshoes?
Sales Dude (with sarcasm): Do you mean boots for walking on the snow?
Me: No, I mean snowshoes for snowshoeing.
Sales Dude (being a d-bag): We don’t sell those here! You have to be close to the mountains to use those! Muah ha ha. (Chuckles at me) I think there is another place that sells them… (tries to remember)
Me (the bitch comes out): That’s okay. You DO sell them online, so I will buy them THERE.

I am not good at re-telling stories, and Andrew may remember the exact words better than me, but basically this guy was MAKING FUN OF ME for asking him if they sold snowshoes. And being a dick by saying you can only use them near the mountain…? It was weird.

BAD SALESMANSHIP!!!

Do you have any bad salesmanship stories?

The second interesting story – I immediately went back to the house to order snowshoes. I was bummed to have to order the 8×25 Women’s Version:

because the Men’s was not available online. At all. I wasn’t digging the flowers. Well, guess what? The Men’s ones were what I received in the mail! Schweet! That is one mistake I am happy with.

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By kilax, December 17, 2010 3:30 pm

I was checking the 10-day forecast on weather.com and noticed their “Fitness Comfort” scale, and that is listed a number next to each day of the week. I haven’t seen this before.

Um… apparently it is going to be “Uncomfortable” to work out all week in Round Lake? I was thinking Tuesday looked pretty good!

I decided to search another zip code to see where I need to be for it to be comfortable.

The ratings are high for Phoenix, but that seems too hot for me!

I guess it’s all relative?

Relative to how crazy you are?

Where do you check the weather?

Comments (35)

By kilax, November 18, 2010 11:48 am

The company I work for is really big on allowing employees to telework (work from home). In my particular group, most employees work from home at least one day a week. I will be eligible to participate in that program in the end of December! YAY!

This morning, I learned about a teleworking pilot program where an entire division (about 40 people) of an orgranization worked from home for 3 months, every day of the week. The pilot was a huge success, and my company’s leader wants to push for people to work from home more than one day a week.

Here is what I thought was really interesting about the pilot program – the employees were required to spend the time they weren’t commuting on a wellness initiative. That could be walking, yoga, biking, running… you get the idea – some sort of physical activity.

When I heard that, I thought “holy crap – that would be a lot of exercise for me!” My door-to-door one-way commute is an hour and 45 minutes. That is three and a half hours of commuting in a day! Imagine how much I could work out. Ha.

Metra, I love you and all, but we spend TOO much time together!

I think that is a really cool idea, to encourage wellness in employees. After I heard it though, it just reminded me how depressing it is that I spend that much time a day commuting. Blah.

How long is your commute (to school/work/wherever you go)? What would you do with that time if you didn’t have to spend it commuting?

Comments (46)

By kilax, November 4, 2010 5:01 am

There was a health fair at work this week, and I went to get my body fat percentage tested. It’s something I’ve always wanted to know. Unfortunately, they were using the bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) method, which isn’t very reliable (or so I hear – the guy doing it said it’s accurate within a range of 3%). It sends a small electric current through your body, and the faster it goes through your body, the less body fat you have (the current travels faster through water/muscle than fat). But the results can be all skewed depending on what you drink, eat, etc. Anyway –

I held this device with my arms out in front of me:

The result? 31.7% body fat. Whoa. And, I am at a “high” risk with a BMI* of 28.5. Here is what wikipedia thinks my body fat percentage should be:

Are you calling me obese, wikipedia? Really?! Really?!?!?!!?

Honestly, I am not surprised. I know I have fat on me. Hello. I can grab my stomach. Check out my left arm, and the left side of my stomach in the photo below.

Buah ha ha. Jiggle jiggle! I was really hoping they would just take out one of those calipers and grab my arm or stomach. I wonder if my health insurance would cover a real body fat analysis test. I am curious to see how accurate the 31.7 number is. It’s probably pretty accurate. I am jiggly.

I would like to do this test in a year, to see if anything has changed. The optimistic person in me hopes that I can get down to a healthy weight, but the realistic person knows that the weight I am at now has kind of been my body’s setting point. I am athletic, I feel comfortable with my body… so there is no rush to lose weight. I’ll get there when I get there.

The good news is, I also had my blood pressure tested, and it was 120/80 (and that was after I found out I am at “high risk” for… something).

Have you ever had your body fat percentage tested? What was your percentage? Did the results make you want to change anything about your current lifestyle?

*I have never really taken BMI seriously.

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By kilax, October 23, 2010 5:24 am

The November issue of SELF magazine features a “bold, modern logo and update of their design” (quote from the magazine) and I noticed they have renamed some of the sections of their magazine. Do you notice when magazines update their look? I always seem to notice.

Anyway, one of the new sections is called “Diet Insiders” and features two new contributing registered dietians  who “are ready to solve your toughest diet dilemmas.” Honestly, I usually skim over crap like that, but the first question caught my eye!

I’m training for a marathon and eating all the time! How can I adjust my diet after the race to stay slim?

Stay slim? For me it’s “How can I adjust my diet after the race as to not pile on the pounds?” I had a hard time cutting back my eating after our first half marathon, and again after the second (and it didn’t help that I was injured and couldn’t run).

My hunger was different during marathon training than during half marathon training though. For the half marathons, I felt extra hungry throughout most of training and ate A LOT more.  But for the full marathon, it didn’t really hit me until the last week or two, when I was tapering. I ate more throughout, but did not feel that intense hunger.

Either way, if I do not keep my mileage up, I need to cut back on eating, like they are talking about in this article.

And that is really, really hard for me to do.

So my plan is to try to keep my mileage up, and not eat mindlessly. Basically – avoid having to change my eating habits.

Have you ever trained for something that actively affected your hunger? How did you change your eating habits after the event was over?