It’s a beautiful morning at the Beach – Yes!  We had quite a bit of rain thru Tuesday, but all of us have managed to be outside – a lot – and prove the odd fact that burning is possible on cloudy days:)

I got a question about my workouts when I’m on vacation, actually, it was a comment that I must take a “vacation” from working out when I’m on vacation.  NEVER!  I LOVE to workout!  I feel stressed when I DON’T workout, and I’m lucky to have a husband who feels the same way, so when we travel, we workout together.  And when we Don’t travel together, we STILL workout.

By the way, have you seen how cute my husband is?

This week has been a “normal” workout-vacation/weekend away- workout routine:  lift every morning, do sprints a few times, ride bike and walk EVERYWHERE.  I rarely waste a moment on a cardio machine when I’m away, as I’m a huge sightseer and bike riding, walking enthusiast.  Seems like a more efficient use of gym time this way.

I haven’t talked too much about exercise, because I’m trying to drill in that when it come to health and weight, FOOD RULES.  All these years of Main Stream advice about  “burning calories through exercise”?  It’s not true.  Trust me.  Not only does science show this, but as of this date, July, 2013, I’ve worked in gyms for 26 years.  Exercise does not make you skinny, or cover up bad eating. Exercise can make you HEATLHY, and if you do the right things, it can give you a great shape, but you’ll never Out-Exercise a Bad Diet.  Ever.  What’s the typical calorie burn of an hour or so of exercise?  Maybe 400 calories?  There’s 3600 calories in a pound.  You won’t even access much fat for fuel if you have lots of sugar/glucose and insulin in your bloodstream (as in, you just ate a big bowl of cereal or oatmeal and then went to the gym).

That being said, I think Exercise is maybe one of the best, most fun things in the whole world! It’s a blessing and a gift from God.  I love my classes, I love my gym, I love my clients, I love to train, I love to move;  it all feels good to me.  When my kids were little, it was my escape.  Now that they’re older, it’s still my escape!  By the way, here’s a picture of me and girls from a couple months ago-

Want to know what I’ve been doing this week? Here’s the scoop:

Sunday – 13 sets of squats w dumbbells, 13 sets of chest (press from different angles) 4 sets of abs, biked almost an hour in the morning, and again after dinner

Monday – 13 sets of hamstrings (deadlifts and ham curls), 13 sets of biceps, 4 sets of abs, 8 driveway sprints (we’ve got a STEEP, but short hill) , biked almost an hour in the morning, and again after dinner

Tuesday – 13 sets of leg extensions/quads, 13 sets of shoulders (overhead presses, lat lifts, front delts, push ups),  4 sets planks,  bike rides in AM and PM

Wednesday – 10 sets of glutes (warrior 3 weighted squats, deadlifts, weighted glut squeezes), 14 sets of triceps (OH extensions, french presses, tricep pushups), 10 hill sprints, AM and PM bike rides

All my gym workouts have lasted between 30 and 40 minutes, short and sweet.

No great water workouts, because the water’s AWFUL!  We tried to paddle board yesterday, but between the wind and the waves, there’s not much fun to be had in the ocean.  It’s one of those years where almost no one’s in the water:(   Thank goodness for the pool:)

So that’s it in a nutshell.  Next week I have 4 days of a Nutritional Therapy Workshop in a hotel, I’ll be sure to post my food and workouts then too.

ps – have you checked out my What I’m Eating page?  I’m updating that every day I’m on vacation.

I’m looking forward to meeting new friends and seeing old friends at the workshop today.  Topics will be Digestion, Blood Sugar Regulation, Stress/Cortisol, and some really good questions I’ve received on Paleo/Primal/WestonAPrice particulars.   And yes, this has everything to do with our weight and our health.

Please feel free to drop in if you haven’t registered, it’s a big room with plenty of chairs.

Location:  Marshall Community Center

Address: 4311A Rectortown Rd, Marshall Va 20115

Time:  6 -8pm

Cost: $30/person

I’m looking forward to meeting new friends and seeing old friends at the workshop today.  Topics will be Digestion, Blood Sugar Regulation, Stress/Cortisol, and some really good questions I’ve received on Paleo/Primal/WestonAPrice particulars.   And yes, this has everything to do with our weight and our health.

Please feel free to drop in if you haven’t registered, it’s a big room with plenty of chairs.

Location:  Marshall Community Center

Address: 4311A Rectortown Rd, Marshall Va 20115

Time:  1-3pm

Cost: $30/person

I’ll be presenting the same information, same place, next week,  Wednesday, June 5th, 6-8pm.

I’m writing this blog on a Saturday, so I’ve got weekend plans on my mind.  Who thinks about Power Cooking on the weekends?   And what the heck is Power Cooking?   It’s a great idea to take advantage of any spare hour or two, whether it’s over the weekend, or any week day, to prep and cook for several meals.

Power Cooking is when you’ve made a menu idea of foods that could last you a week or longer between the fridge and freezer; and you get them “table ready” in a a couple of hours. These foods can be for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.   Here’s an example:

pulled chicken, pulled roast, pesto, giant salad, roasted potatoes, hardboiled eggs.

If these were my menu ideas, I’d make an ingredient list, shop, and PLAN/write down in my to-do book an appointment for myself  to spend a couple of hours cooking.  Sometimes this is Sunday afternoon, sometimes it’s a weekday.  It depends on my work schedule, and my kids sports/school schedule.  But I always schedule it.   If I didn’t schedule it, I wouldn’t get to it.

If any kids are home and available, I get them to scrub vegetables/chop.  Usually, I do this alone, because for me, I’ve trained myself to think of Power Cooking as Me Time.  I prop a TV up on the counter, I pop in a DVD to a great series (right now I’m on season 3 of Justified), and I go to town.   Sometimes I listen to lectures or Podcasts instead.  Other friends I know listen to music and drink wine when they cook – whatever makes you happy and in-the-moment!

I ALWAYS have a PLAN Written down and Displayed on my counter, something like this:

-chicken in pot to boil ( this cooks/simmers for hours, till it’s shreddable)

-S&P roast, wrap in foil, pop in oven at 200* for 24 Hours – set timer

(shred tomorrow, freeze half immediately)

-hard boil a dozen eggs to keep in fridge

-wash and cook 8 potatoes, 4 sweet, 4 white   (these last forever – I either

cut/dice/saute in butter, or split, fill, and twice bake)

-make basic salad to fill largest plastic container ( all my girls, and I, eat a lot of salad;  in the winter, I tend to cut and roast a lot of vegetables instead)

-make a favorite pesto recipe,  to be used on potatoes, or meat, or on eggs, or in salad

Sometimes I’ll make a actual recipe (casserole, dish), pop that in the fridge, and reheat on a particular night.  I was doing that a LOT for a while when all my kids were home.  I’ve learned from the Food Channel that flavors actually intensify over a few days in the fridge.  So night’s we’d get in late from a practice or game, all I’d have to do is pull the pan/pot from the fridge and warm it up.

Why all the effort?  Why’d I spend Focus Time on thinking of cooking as enjoyable, and Me Time?  Because food is that important to my health, my weight, and my families health – and their MOODS! I’ve got 4 daughters;  the amount of estrogen in this house is huge.  The last thing I need is to stoke any emotional fires by feeding my kids a diet of sugar, refined carbs, and chemicals.  Seriously.  And that goes for me too.

Looking for some fun recipes?  Try www.civilizedcavemancooking.com, PaleoOMG.com, primal palate.com, or any one of hundreds of sites on the web.   IMPORTANT:  if your time is limited, set a timer as to how long you let yourself browse recipe sites, because it can be quite additive.

Feed your body the nutrients it wants to build your brain, your muscles, your immune system, your hormones, ……. your health.   What we eat matters.  Eating – and cooking – Real Whole Foods,  is important.