It’s back to work week for me….not sure if I am excited or drained, honestly. Next week the kids come back and I’ll be faciliating one more job as of next week- organizing games for the playground. Obviously up my alley, however, it is right smack in the middle of lunch. What to do?!

Just call me the “baggie girl”!

Pre-cooked chicken in 3 ounce servings are ready to go in my fridge.

Then, I’ll have a choice of delicious fruits or vegetables that I feel like eating that day such as apples, fresh salsa, strawberries, blueberries or a combination of all three.

For desert, I’ll have either a selection of cashews or an avocado.

Simple,easy and can be eaten anytime, anywhere.

The only thing is that all the teachers see me eat all the time, ha ha ha!! Maybe, I’ll rub off on them and they’ll ditch the Ritz crackers for an apple, heh?!

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Going through the drive through at Starbucks with your kids?! How many of you buy chocolate milk for your kids?   Kids love chocolate milk!  Something about the brown cow and 50 grams (?!!) of sugar will make any kid jump in circles!

My kids and I have had the amazing pleasure of sampling X Balance Total Nutrition Drink Mix!! It’s quoted as saying “The Healthiest Chocolate Milk on Earth!”   After mixing 1 scoop of powder with 1-2 ounces of water and then adding 4-9 ounces of milk, this drink tastes AS GOOD AS CHOCOLATE MILK!!  The skeptic that I am (and after reading the long ingredient list) my workout buddy and I had to test it first.  Then, we gave it to our kids – all four of them under the age of 6.  Of the four, three loved it!  My youngest, who is the serious chocolate milk drinker,  in the family wasn’t fooled and didn’t like it.   However, when I mix it up and add it to sippy cup, it goes down just fine.  There is no chance that my children get 5-10 servings of fruits and veggies each day and this drink mix can do just that.

The ingredient list is quite lengthy but truly amazing especially since there is no added sugar in the drink...Read the ingredient list here. Bottom line is that this is a superfood drink containing things like carrot juice, spirulina, chlorella, organic grass juice powder, and organic beet juice powder…How many of you can say you’ve feed these superfoods to your kids lately?

I can honestly say this product rocks!  It’d be a great product to have on camping trips as a special after dinner treat instead of a s’more or in addition to…and I  highly recommend.

You can read more about X Balance and SGN Nutrition here.

X Balance retails for $38.95

P. S. This product was provided to us for purposes of review and the above opinions are my own.

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Apologies now, for a lack of a before photo, but, I have been working hard to convert my garage to use able space!

A few years back, (2008) I posted about changing my garage to be cycling ready…however, new years, new bikes, and more kids create more stuff in the garage to be moved around!

2 years ago, my sole focus was either cycling or running and as you can see there was VERY little room to move around.

And, now, as you can see, we have the same number {if not more} bikes in our garage, but, we now have space to move around!

The most vital piece of equipment you can use for your home gym is your body weight! There are thousands of exercises and workouts you can do using only your weight. If you want to get technical, you can buy a jump rope, a PVC pipe (for the kids) and a yoga mat.

Today’s Workout was simply 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 of both jump rope and sit-ups.  On jump rope, the requirement is to do Double Unders but if you can’t do those, then just double the number of jumps and do single unders.

Another Idea (from CrossFit CDR) is to do a Tabata Style workout of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds of rest. Each exercise should get a total of 8 intervals. Squats, Flutterkicks, Tricep Dips and Push-ups is one example.


Click here for more ideas on body weight exercises and workouts you can do at home. I will plan on posting more about creating a home gym and the equipment required on a budget.

New Post on Read Breathe Today: A Family Style Workout!

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I’ll admit to drinking at least one protein smoothie per day and sometimes two. It is just a fast, quick way to get calories in! There are days when I don’t sit down until dinner- literally. My favorite brand has always been Hammer Nutrition’s Vanilla Whey. It tastes great and I can obtain it easily by going to my local bike shop and buying it. However, there are LOTS of other protein brands and mixes out there that you can pick up at GNC or even your local grocery store.

In a recent article in Consumer Reports, a study found at least one sample of 15 different brands of protein to have unhealthful levels of arsenic, mercury, cadmium and lead. Combined with the large serving suggestions and if you were to drink 3 shakes a day- you might be exposing yourself to unhealthful levels of crap!

Obviously, I am no expert here…so, really not too sure what to think, but they do make a valid point that eating REAL food is cheaper and likely healthier…???
Please check out the article and let me know what you think!

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What I love most about being a mom!

My Mother’s Day Hike

Zone Foods for on the Go!

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12 Days from now I will be competing in my first EVER Cross Fit Invitational as an intermediate female. Thankfully, with the help of my trainers, I am feeling strong in the areas of lifting- not all that confident in the Olympic lifts such as the Hang Clean or Snatch- but I at least have the strength to be competing as an intermediate female.

However, food is the problem. Yes, I am on the ZONE diet. But, coming off a huge weekend of “special events” has lead me to believe that my diet needs to be CLEANED up massively before I can feel strong, confident and prepared.

I have pink post – it notes all over my house with the words “50 Double Unders” {A jump rope skill that requires two turns of the rope for every one jump}. But, now I need to add one note to the other one…”Make every meal REAL”. Must come from real sources, have an ingredient of one- protein, veggies, fruits and or nuts. That’s it. 12 Days and Counting down to more REAL food in my diet- less chocolate, less dairy (can I give up dairy???), no alcohol and eat strictly real food…

Encouraging words are welcomed.

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Sickness.  It seems to be rampant around here lately.  We get over one cold and the next one hits within three months.  Argh.  This time, it struck both my kids on the same day- fever, cough, sore throat…you name it.    I have been coughed on, kissed,  or shared toilet seats..with two feverish kids and amazingly have NOT YET GOTTEN SICK.

3 Months Ago, Whole Foods sent me a press release on immune building products for the flu season.  Our flu season seems to by cyclical- every few months, we have a new viral infection.  And, you know, it sucks.  I hate seeing my kids sick.  The weird thing is that I have not gotten sick at all.  Between my Whole Foods press release and my Facebook account, I ran a series of questions yesterday on what to take in case of sickness or even possible sickness.  The answers I got ranged from eating whole garlic cloves to Zirmac to 2000 miligrams of Vitamin C (Emergen C) to tumeric to cayenne pepper to kale and the list goes on…..I am no expert on this subject, but, the products below are the ones that have been working for me – as I have not been sick!

Wellness Formula manufactured by Source Naturals. Basically, it’s a herbal defense complex with garlic, echinacea, elderberry extract, and a bunch of other herbs that I can’t pronounce.  I take it as soon as I feel any scratchy throat, head ache or in times of the kids being sick!

Emergen – C, 1000 miligrams per packet.

Fish Oil- Your choice on brand.

SLEEP.  Try to get an extra hour in bed.  I know that has a lot to do with everything!

The ZONE diet.

What do you all take in the event of sickness or preventing sickness?

P.S. Whole Foods provided me with an 8 day supply of the Welless Formula and I have since repurchased at my local health food store.

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As you read this, I will officially be on DAY 1 of the Zone Diet.  For the last two weeks, I have fiddled around with it, but, tomorrow is my official start date.  I bet you are all wondering WHY would I be starting any kind of diet whatsoever, right??? I eat healthy, or so I think, and yet, I am still carrying around excess fat.  Seriously.

I started cross fit workouts back in November and since then have already seen a large loss of body fat.  I don’t have any numbers for you but, I can tell you I dropped at least one dress size without changing my diet at all- and that includes wine, dark chocolate and iced americano’s regularly!!

Cross Fit, across the board recommends a diet high in protein, vegetables, nuts, some fruits and no sugar, and, depending on the affiliate, will depend on what diet they recommend.  To my knowledge there are only two- the Paleo Diet and the Zone Diet.  Yesterday, I was lucky enough to hear a lecture given by my trainers on the ZONE diet and that was the final icing on the cake for me.

Most importantly, I heard that for every 3 workouts, you drop 1 (like in the trash) if your diet sucks.

Number 2, the ZONE diet’s function is primarily to reduce inflammation in the body.  (Like for example, the chronic diseases that are associated with inflammation- heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer, asthma, allergies, and anything that ends in -itis- TENDENITIS {me!!!}

Number 3, My trainers are my hero’s! Both of them.  And, so, it’s kind of like if they are doing it and are successful and completely ripped, then, I can do it too.

I also wrote to the PR person for the ZONE Diet and they were excited to provide me with samples of a few of the books and bars that the ZONE diet offers.  I will discuss this more in detail later, but, I wanted you to know that I am READING all the material I can get my hands on and honestly, the only thing that’s hard to figure out is how much food I am expected to eat DAILY!?!?!?!

Questions/Comments/Concerns…let us hear them below.

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On the subject of weight training:

Back in the days of Shawn Phillips, I used to do three sets at the same weight and thought that was the workout!

My general warm-up consists of 5-7 exercises for a total of 10-25 repetitions and that follows a 500 meter row + dynamic stretches.   The general warm-up includes (this week) 30 second handstands, twisting push-ups, ring dips, overhead squats, double unders (with a rope), hip extensions, sit-ups…

Lunges & squats were to be done with no weight.

5 repeat opportunities to build strength by experimenting with my max load. (Such as Overhead Squats, Front Squats, Squat Cleans)

I thought 30 repetitions of anything was a workout!

On the subject of food: {This area is under big consideration at the moment- due to dizzy spells post workout, while teaching in triangle pose or any balance pose… I must be deficient in something- possibly fat?! Thoughts?

Big bowl of oatmeal every single day.

I used to drink 350 calorie Iced Mocha’s DAILY!

I used to drink a daily dose of diet coke.

No Soda, and only iced americano’s with 2 raw sugars (I know I know…still have my vices.)

Eggs with peppers for breakfast if time allows.

I drink a smoothie every day.

I read all menu plans in every single magazine.  (more on this in a few days)

No rice, pasta or bread unless it’s a weekend or a special occasion.

On the subject of recovery:

Foam Roller and Yoga

Hot, muscle relaxing baths, yoga, and bed at 9. REST.  1  full day off between 2-3 hard days.  And, I have to force myself to take days off.

On the subject of mental toughness:

Still need to develop.

Still learning lots and have tons of questions- mainly on the subject of food.  I’d like for my abs to make an appearance this year and also like to eliminate the dizzy spells and really feel strong and fit!

Let’s get ready for 2010!?! Anybody set any big goals yet? I’m still formulating mine.

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There is a huge division on this subject- either you eat or you don’t.  And, I’ve found people are pretty adamant on the subject.  Because I have been both a marathon runner, bike racer, yoga goer, and now cross fitter, I can honestly tell you that on ALL occasions, I do not ever EAT before a workout.  My general rule of thumb is 2+ hours is the minimum amount of time that needs to be between me and my sweat.  Hammer Nutrition’s site says three hours prior to a workout.  On marathon day, yes, I ate oatmeal prior to the race, but, still I stayed within my two hour window.

I will give you two main reasons:

1. The Puke Factor.  Most of my workouts lately are completed within one hour and the intensity is HIGH.  I do not want to puke my breakfast at the end of a hard workout.  Period.

2.  Burping.  Nor, do I wish to taste my food again while out swinging a kettlebell, running, rowing …whatever. No, thank you.

3.  Timing.  All of my workouts are in the early morning.  I wake up, drink my required half cup of coffee and off I go! I have no time to eat, nor am I even remotely hungry at 5am.

What if I get hungry during a workout?

1.  If I feel any tummy rumbling, I will take a Hammer Gel.  Or, there will be HEED in my bottle.  While at cross fit, I am generally not hungry during those workouts, but, I’ve found that I do on most occassions need a little something to get me throught the whole hour.  Hammer’s Heed is my first choice.

2.  If the workout is two hours or longer, I will have both a Hammer Gel and HEED mixed with Perpetuem in my bottles.

Where do you stand on the food + workout issue?

Questions/Comments, please share!

You can read more on this subject on Hammer’s site.  The Pre-Race Meal & The Pre-Race Meal expanded.

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