Pork Medallions with Cherry Sauce

It’s Food Week here on the BRS Blog, and we have started it off with a bang! My apologies for the late posting, but I’ve been busy today! First at the grocery store, and then in the kitchen, making food and taking photos!

I wanted to mention that I have added a new page to the blog, called Food Log, where you will be able to see our food logs for the day. You can click here, or you can access it by clicking on “Food Log” up to the right of “About Roux.” I have also added a section called “Recipes” in the same area, where you will be able to access the recipes that I feature on this blog.

Now, on with the food!

Breakfast today wasn’t a terribly great one. I was in a rush, so I had a piece of whole wheat bread with peanut butter and an apple (specific amounts available on the Food Log page. It tasted good but it wasn’t as filling and didn’t hold me quite as long as my normal breakfast.

For lunch, we had a simple chicken breast sandwich, with mayo, grainy mustard, tomato, and arugula, on whole wheat bread. I have to admit that having a sandwich for lunch is really unusual for us… of course it would be on the day where I have pledged to report everything to our readers! I blame it on rushing around, poor planning and the simple fact that it’s Monday. We also had some Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies alongside the sandwich.

For snacks this afternoon, I had Babybel Cheddar Cheese (below), an orange, a few more cheddar bunnies (10 grams, to be exact), and half of a Larabar.

Ok, now here’s the part that will interest you the most: Our first recipe!

For dinner we had one of our favorites, and because of it’s simplicity, it’s become one of those staple recipes that I can always count on. Pork Medallions with Cherry Sauce. It is one of those recipes from “The Food You Crave” by Ellie Krieger, and Nick and I both love this recipe.

For Easier Printing
Microsoft Word Version: Pork Medallions with Cherry Sauce Document
PDF Version: Pork Medallions with Cherry Sauce PDF

Click on the above links for the recipe. Here are a few photos of our scrumptious dinner:

Nutritional information for the recipe is available on the recipe page.

Oh, and for dessert? A small square (4 grams) of milk chocolate with cashews. Gotta have a little bit of sweet to end the day.

Hope you all had a great start to the week. Keep sending in those recipes for the mini-challenge!

 

Mini-Challenge #1 & Food Week!

Happy Friday!

We wanted to announce that next week here on the BRS Blog (March 9-13) will be Food Week! What does this mean, exactly? Well, a few things…

First, we have had several people curious, inquiring, and wanting to know what we are eating. So, I thought I would invite you into our kitchen for a week. Yes, you will be having breakfast, snacks, lunch, dinner and… (gasp!) dessert with us! It should be pretty fun, as I will be sharing some of our favorite healthy recipes with you (complete with  nutritional information), as well as our tips and tricks for eating healthily, inexpensively, and WELL!

Second, we are starting our first mini-challenge. It will be a challenge within the challenge, so to speak, and you don’t have to be a part of the main challenge to join this one. Between today (March 6th), and next Friday (March 13th) send in your favorite healthy recipe for us to try! It can be anything, from a main dish to a side dish to a snack… whatever. We will make each recipe and announce a winner as soon as we’re able to make them all (we’re thinking the winner will be announced on Monday, March 16th). The main things we’re looking for are how yummy it is and the calorie content (but of course, we will be taking a glance at other nutritional information as well). If you don’t have the calorie count of the recipe, no worries, Nick and I will figure all of that out.

And the prize? Well, you guys are in for a real treat! The winner of this mini-challenge will receive a copy of my FAVORITE cookbook right now… “The Food You Crave” by Ellie Krieger.

Next week on the blog, you will probably be seeing a recipe or two from this cookbook, as I am in l-u-v with this cookbook and make things from it often. I got it for Christmas (thanks, Tam!), and we’ve been consistently trying recipes from it. The thing I love about this cookbook is that it has amazing, tasteful recipes, simple, not a lot of ingredients, and it has all of the nutritional information for each recipe. You make these recipes and say, “Mmmm,” and not, “Wow, this must be healthy…” These are all things I look for in a cookbook, and to find all of them together in one book is amazingly hard!

So in summary, be looking forward to Food Week, and join our mini-challenge by sending in your favorite healthy recipe!

Numbers

Now for the moment we all wait for each week. Yes, today is that wonderful day where you all get a peek at our bathroom scale. Oh the things we do for our readers…

Nick’s Numbers
Weight starting challenge: 220.0
Weight last week (2/27): 217.4
Weight today (3/6): 215.0

Weight lost during the challenge: 5.0
Weight lost this week: 2.4

Food Journal: Kept every day

Exercise:

• Monday: Elliptical Trainer 1 hour
• Tuesday:  Ran 3.57 miles; Weights/strength training 50 minutes
• Wednesday:  Elliptical 1 hour
• Thursday:  Rest day
• Friday: Running at lunch ~3.5 miles

Overall, this week I start very strong, but was worn out on Thursday so I moved my rest day (usually Friday).

Rebecca’s Numbers
Weight starting challenge: 193.8
Weight last week (2/27): 192.0
Weight today (3/6): 189.0

Weight lost during challenge: 4.8
Weight lost this week: 3.0

Food Journal: Kept every day

Exercise: Went ok this week. I kept up the elliptical routine that I established last week and added in running, but have not added weights yet. My main goal was to make sure to do some exercise each day and to increase the intensity a little bit to increase the number of calories I was burning. I succeeded at that for the most part this week.

Happy weekend, everyone!

 

TIART: Common mistakes and cardinal sins of running

TIART: Common mistakes and cardinal sins of running

That is this week’s theme over at the Runners’ Lounge for Take it and Run Thursday. This month I have celebrated my one year anniversary of running; from Couch to 5k to a marathon. I have learned a lot in the past year, mostly things about myself that I have been trying to share piecemeal on this blog. I do have some general running wisdom, though, that I can share.

To be consistent with the theme I offer you a “sin” of running: running without variety.

I recognize that there are those among us who do this, and have for many years. So, we’ll call this is a venial sin, not a mortal one. But every time I hear someone say “I run [X # of miles] everyday,” my first reaction is “why?” or “how?” And I have often noticed that there is a “used to” in this sentence, usually followed by an explanation of how the person’s knees are now too bad to run or how they got burned out with their running regimen.

Running, to me, needs variety: different distances, different routes, different intensities. Running the same distance everyday at the same intensity level limits progression. And, running everyday can lead to overuse injuries or burnout. A running plan that varies the distances and intensity levels helps keep running interesting, helps us become better runners and avoid injury or burnout.

Part of that variety also includes not running everyday (or even most days) for many of us. I suggest supplementing running with cross-training. My personal workouts include running, weight lifting, plyometrics, swimming, elliptical trainer, hiking, and biking. Cross-training helps build overall fitness and strength, and importantly prevents common muscle imbalances that come from just running and that can lead to injury.

I hope this post is helpful. There are countless “do’s and don’ts” of running, but I have enjoyed running more and have run injury free thanks largely to the collective wisdom of the running-blogging community.

 

This & That

Update
Monday is here again, and I am happy to report that we had a great weekend! Busy, but great. We were able to sneak in some exercise, which was really awesome. We had most of the day Saturday free, so we got a few things done around the house that had been put off for awhile and needed to be taken care of. We planned ahead for most of our meals. We saw a great band on Friday night, had a fun dinner with friends on Saturday night, saw Nick’s cousin in a musical on Sunday afternoon, and celebrated her birthday with her that evening. A full, but fun weekend.

Now it is a new week, and with that comes new resolve. I had a pleasant surprise on the scale this morning (Nick and I both weigh, unofficially, almost every day), but I will wait until Friday, and the official weigh-in to reveal it. Can you stand the suspense?

I’m excited to add in a few new things this week to my exercise routine (namely reintroducing my running program and weights), and will let you know how that goes as the week progresses.

Challenge
In the last several days, we have had five more people join our challenge! How exciting is that? I’d like to welcome the newest challengers by introducing each one to you, and the goals they have set out to achieve.

Amy C.

• Stay in a routine of exercising at least 4 times a week for at least 40 minutes
• Eat healthy, mostly organic with lots of raw every 4 hours
• Take all of my vitamins everyday
• Do a run/walk with Becca sometime this spring

Paul S.

• Lose 25 lbs.

RobFitness

• Lose 40 pounds
• Run my first sprint triathlon which I am really scared of doing.

Tigerlilly

• Get to 170 lbs!!!

Aaron C.

• Lose 10 lbs.
• Be able to pass pushup component of Army PFT again. (42 pushups in 2 minutes)
• Be able to pass situp component of Army PFT again. (42 situps in 2 minutes)
• Be able to do at least 1 deadhang pullup
• Get sodium consumption down into normal range (< 2400mg)
• Increase Protein percentage to 25% of daily consumption consistently
• Have completed 2-3 50 mile weeks

If anyone else is considering joining the challenge and hasn’t yet, please do so! Again, there is no cut-off date to join, but really, the sooner you join, the better. Why miss out on all the fun?

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend, and that your week has gotten off to a good start. Happy Monday!

 

Numbers.

Well it is Friday, Day 5 of our challenge, and I thought it would be nice to check in with you all and let you know how our week went!

Nick
Food Journal: Kept Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Exercise:

• Monday: Ran 2 miles @ 10:30 min/mi pace
• Tuesday: Elliptical Trainer 45 minutes
• Wednesday: Strength Training 45 minutes;  Ran 3 miles @ 9:15 min/mi pace
• Thursday: Elliptical 1 hour

Weight: 217.4 (a loss of 2.6 pounds this week!)

Rebecca
Food Journal: Kept Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday (a bit obsessively)

Exercise:

• Tuesday: 1 hour on Elliptical
• Wednesday: 1 hour on Elliptical
• Friday: 1 hour on Elliptical

Weight: 192.0 (a loss of 1.8 lbs this week)

Notes: This week had some interesting challenges. One is that on Monday, I drove down to Albuquerque for a dentist appointment, so I was gone for a large chunk of the day. I brought snacks with me and made the best choices I could, food-wise, so even though I wasn’t able to exercise, I still had a successful day.

You might notice that for exercise, I did nothing but elliptical this week. That was my intention, as I am easing back into exercising and plan to begin adding other things next week. I’ll be starting my run/walk program on Monday, and starting back to lifting weights on Tuesday. That will probably be the only changes I make next week, and the following week, I would like to add in other kinds of exercise just so I’m using a variety of muscles, and so I don’t get bored.

This weekend should have a few challenges, in that we have a busy weekend coming up! Tonight, we are going out for dinner and to see a band with my parents, brother, and cousin. Tomorrow night, we are going out for dinner with a few friends, and Sunday evening we are seeing Nick’s cousin’s play, and then going out for dinner to celebrate a birthday. My plan for the weekend is to add in exercise as much as I’m able to, and do the best I can for each meal out. Because that’s life!

Happy weekend to you all, I hope you are able to get outside and enjoy the subtle previews of spring! It’s definitely on it’s way, and I am excited!

 

Challenges.

I am self-contradictory this week. On one hand, I am riding a fitness high after the marathon; on the other, I am not physically capable to resume my pre-marathon activity level. The rule of thumb is that it takes one day for every mile run to fully recover from a marathon. I enjoyed taking last week off, but now that the Challenge has started and I am setting new goals I am mentally ready to get back in the game.

Because I cannot waste 26.2 days of the Challenge, I have been supplementing running with cross-training (other forms of activity). So far this week I have run five easy miles; done a cumulative amount of 105 minutes on the elliptical trainer; and 45 minutes of strength training. Along with eating well, I think I am starting out this Challenge on the right foot despite being limited by the tightness and soreness in my legs. Tomorrow I will post some official numbers.

In other news, there is a new study out, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, concluding that when it comes to eating for weight loss, low-fat, low-carb, low-protein are not factors in losing weight. The only real factor is calories in, calories out.

Here are two links to articles about the study:

• http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/health/nutrition/26diet.html
• http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,500565,00.html

One thing you may notice is that weight loss in the study was modest: After two years the participants maintained only about a 9 pound weight loss after losing 13 pounds in the first six months. However, a very important note is that participants were only asked to exercise 90 minutes a week.

Where calories in vs. calories out is the basic rule for weight loss, exercise becomes the “X” factor. The only way to burn more calories in a day is to get up and move. Federal health guidelines recommend one-hour to 90 minutes per day of exercise for your average adult for weight loss. Therefore, a good weight-loss plan combines good eating and good exercising habits. It may not be “easy” but it is not complicated.

Rebecca has detailed our plan for weight loss here: The Formula (clicking on this link will begin to download a Microsoft Word document detailing the plan we use for weight loss), and it has worked great for us. I suggest trying different things and finding what works best for you. If you are really stuck, though, try keeping a food journal and really counting calories. When all else fails, this works.

 

Challenge, Day 3.

“Self delusion is pulling in your stomach when you step on the scales.”
- Paul Sweeney

Haha, this quote cracks me up! I read it a few days ago and was reminded of it this morning as I stepped on the scale. I’m sure you’ve done something like this, too. Don’t lie!

Well, I just wanted to check in with all of the challengers. How are you all doing? It’s Day 3, and I’m hoping that you’re finding a good groove and getting into it, as well as seeing some results!

(…and those of you who are still pondering whether or not to join, what are you waiting for?? Go for it!!)

It’s been going pretty well here at our house. I have been easing back into the routine, which hasn’t been as hard as I expected. It has felt good to be exercising again. Good to sweat, good to use muscles that haven’t been used much in the last few months. Challenging, certainly, but a good challenge!

We have also been getting back into weighing all of our food, keeping our food journals, and have been thrilled to rediscover the absolute non-mystery of losing weight. I have no doubt that other plans work just as well, but I am very much enthralled with the plan we’re using. Based on my figures the evening before, I am usually able to predict my weight that morning with precision! How cool is that?

Challenge Contestants

I thought I’d introduce the current contestants and their goals. If any of you are not comfortable having your goals on here for the world to see, PLEASE say something and I’ll take them off immediately!

Rebecca S.
Can be read here.

Nicholas S.
Can be read here.

Amy A.

• Lose 30 pounds.  I think this is an obtainable yet challenging goal for myself since I am a larger girl.  Larger people tend to lose weight a little faster in the beginning.  That being said, it’s also enough of a challenge that I will have to stay on track.
• I have already joined Weight Watchers as of one month ago, so my plan is to journal my food intake on a daily basis.  It’s so easy to do but it’s such a struggle to actually write it down!  Along with journaling, I will be making more of an effort to get in more veg and less red meat.  I’ve been reading the blogs on this site and am so enthusiastic about trying more vegetarian dishes.
• Exercise.  I am committing to working out at least three 20 minute workouts each week.  Right now I am concentrating on the act of being active whether it’s walking around the block or around the perimeter of WalMart before I check out.  Eventually I would like to add some kind of cardio to my workout but I’ll add that in and update you at a later date.

Susan A.

• Lose 20 lbs

Lucy S.

• Healthy eating / portion control
• Cut back, or out, caffeine, alcohol and medication that isn’t absolutely necessary
• Move everyday, this will include pilates 2 days a week, Zumba 2 days a week and doing the walk/run program from Running for Mortals.  I would like to walk/run a 5k at the end of 100 days.
• Take the time to plan and record food.
• Drink 1 gallon of water daily.
• Lose 20 lbs.

Tamarind S.

• Be able to walk 3 miles/ day, 3 days a week
• Lose 20 lbs
• Lose one dress size
• Be able to do 200 stomach crunches/day
• Reduce alcohol use to weekends only
  

Jenny T.

• Get back into the routine that I had, before my life became a soap opera… which would include
  • strength training with weights (3x week)
  • yoga (at LEAST 3x week)
  • cardio, using different things 5x week (videos, the treadmill, walking longer and faster, swimming and hiking).
• Walk the Bolder Boulder 10K on May 25
• Nutrition: getting together a month’s worth of inexpensive, nutritious menu ideas
• Giving up Dr. Pepper

I can’t tell you how thrilled I am at all of your goals! All of you have put some serious consideration into this, and with a little bit of work, I have no doubt that you will be reaching these goals (and possibly exceeding them!) by the time this 100 days is up. It is exciting because I know all of you personally, and I am so proud of you!

Oh, and each Friday, Nick and I plan to post our challenge updates for the week (current weight, amount of weight lost during the challenge, what we’ve been up to during the week, etc.), so you can be looking forward to that! …Nothing like a public weigh-in to keep me working hard throughout the week, huh?

Happy Wednesday to you all!

 

Goals.

The new challenge has officially begun, people have been signing up and sending their goals in, and I must say that I am impressed!!! So far we have three people who have sent in their goals, and about 5 that have expressed their interest and are still working on those goals.

There is absolutely no cut-off for joining the challenge, so if you’re interested, please feel free to still join!

I have also been thinking about my goals, and have come up with the following:

• Lose 20 more lbs.
• Begin keeping my food journal again and keep it for the full 100 days.
• Keep tabs on the amount of water I am drinking and make sure it is enough
• Add a little variety to my exercise (some things I am interested in: biking, going back to spin class, pilates, hiking, climbing, anything else!!!)
• Include weights, push-ups, pull-ups, and core training in my exercise regimen
• Improve my posture
• Train for and run the Bolder Boulder 10K on May 25th, with Ryan! I have to work up a training plan for this one, and see if I have enough time to train for it. If I don’t have enough time, I will train for running a 5K and then walk or run/walk the 10K.

Best of luck to all of you starting the challenge today!!! I am proud of all of you and can’t wait to hear how it’s going!

 

Fitness Challenge Goals

Well it’s that time again. . .

For me his new challenge falls at a perfect time.  For so long my focus has been on running a marathon, that I almost do not know what to do with myself now that I’ve done it.  That kind of stasis can lead to “Post Marathon Syndrome”:  eat more, drink more, sleep more . . . run less.  According to John “The Penguin” Bingham, the key to overcoming this kind of let-down is to “find a new challenge and set a new goal.”

With that in mind, here are my goals:

• Get trim:  I want to lose at least 20lbs.  This will put me under 200lbs.
• Get faster:  I want to run a 10k in under 50 minutes; and a 5k in 24 minutes or less.
• Get  Stronger:  I am going to try and complete the hundred pushups challenge, maintain a consistent weight training program, and do some pull-ups (not sure how many yet)
• Diversify:  I want to try as many new activities as possible.  To me getting fit is wasted if I don’t use my new-found fitness to try new things.  These activities may take many different forms: cycling, hiking, white water rafting . . . who knows?

Let the challenge begin!

 

Our 2nd 100-Day Fitness Challenge

Are you up for a new challenge?

We have had many requests for a new fitness challenge, and we are happy to announce that we will be kicking off the new challenge on Monday, February 23rd!

…it was going to begin today (Friday), but there was a bit of an outcry that we needed to have a weekend to live it up …ahem… articulate our goals, first!

About the challenge.

For the next 100 days, we challenge any who read this blog to consider a few things that you would like to accomplish and make some serious progress!* For the purpose of our challenge only fitness-related goals apply, but if you’d like to clean out your closets too, go right ahead! We hope that you will regularly post comments or email us to let us know how you are progressing. On June 2nd, report back to us and tell us how you did. It’s that simple!

We will choose three people who have done an extraordinary job and award them special prizes.

How is this challenge different from the last challenge?

Although the main challenge is 100-Days long and will be largely the same as the last challenge, we thought it might keep things fresh and interesting to include small, mini-challenges within the 100-Days. We have a few fun things up our sleeves, but one example is for you to submit your favorite healthy recipe. Nick and I will make each of the recipes and try them all over the course of a week (or so), and there will be a winner. Any ideas you may have for mini-challenges are welcome.  The winner of each of these mini-challenges will receive a prize as well (a mini-prize, of course!), and all of the fame and recognition that comes with being featured on this blog!

How to begin.

To sign up for the challenge, either post a comment on one of our blog posts or send us an email with the following information:

• Name
• Your goals for the challenge

Need some ideas?

Here are a few ideas of possible challenges (but like we said, it really could be anything):

• Running (We highly recommend the training plans outlined in the book “Running for Mortals” by John Bingham and Jenny Hadfield. It has plans for walking, walk/run, run/walk, and running. And yes, there is a difference between walk/run and run/walk!)
• Swimming (Swim a mile)
• Hundred Pushups (hundredpushups.com)
• Crunches/Abs/Core Challenge
• Walk/Run/Jog in, around or to a specific area.
• Lose _____ pounds.
• BMI Goal (BMI Calculator)
• Go from size _____ to size _____.
• Fit in your skinny jeans!
• Keep tabs on water intake (and drink more water!)
• Try a new fitness class (Yoga, Pilates, Nia)
• Keep a food journal/fitness log.

We will also be participating in the challenge (though again, we are ineligible to win), and we will update you as to our progress. We will each post over the weekend to let you know what our goals are.

We would love to hear from you as often as you would like, letting us know how your challenge is going. You can post a comment on our updates, or you can send us an email. Though we are far from experts, we are happy to field any questions you may have. If we don’t know the answer, maybe we can help you find it.

Are you in?

It is our hope that through our blog, through this challenge, but most importantly through our relationship with you, we can encourage you and help you toward your goals, whatever they may be.

Good Luck!

*Note: We hope that any and all will join our challenge ASAP. But, if you are new to our blog or are just reading this for the first time (and it’s after February 23rd), feel free to join the challenge.