Frank and Golds

This is Frank ... after Day 2 of a Gold's workout weekend ...

The 27th of the month is 42 days from surgery. Frank is not looking so hot. Just sayin'. He's not feeling 100 percent either. I'd put him at 75 percent. I go back to see the evil dr on the May 4th. I think I'll be 100 percent by then !

This weekend... soooo thrilled. Went to to the gym on both Saturday and Sunday. Managed to get a killer arm / ab work out in. AND then another decent leg workout with some more abs and a few arm things for good measure the next day. Felt good to be back ! I forgot how much I like weight training !

That being said... I'm up to my usual scheming... www.napa2sonoma.com 1/2 marathon in July of 2011. Anyone interested ?? could be fun !

Interesting workout plan based on your body type.. check it out here :

http://www.womenshealthmag.com/fitness/best-workout-for-your-body-type

We had a beautiful day last weekend that included homemade sangria and a par-tay with friends on the roof... and in that spirit... of sun and an occasional libation:

Coconut-Lime Chicken & Snow Peas

From: EatingWell

Double the flavor, halve the work--simply by using the same tangy combination of coconut milk, lime juice and brown sugar for both poaching the chicken and dressing the salad. Crisp romaine lettuce, cabbage and snow peas add freshness and an irresistible crunch.

Servings: 2 servings

Prep: 35 mins

Total: 35 mins

INGREDIENTS

1 cup "lite" coconut milk , (see Tips for Two)

1/4 cup lime juice

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

8 ounces chicken tenders

4 cups shredded romaine lettuce

1 cup shredded red cabbage

1 cup sliced snow peas

3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro

2 tablespoons minced red onion

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F . 2 . Whisk coconut milk, lime juice, sugar and salt in an 8-by-8-inch glass baking dish. Transfer 1/4 cup of the dressing to a large bowl; set aside. Place chicken in the baking dish; bake until cooked through, about 20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, add lettuce, cabbage, snow peas, cilantro and onion to the large bowl with the dressing; toss to coat. Divide between 2 plates.

3. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board and thinly slice. Arrange the chicken slices on top of the salads. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of the coconut cooking liquid over each of the salads.

Tips:
Tips for Two: Refrigerate leftover coconut milk for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 2 months. Use to make extra Coconut-Lime Dressing; drizzle on sliced fresh fruit; use as some of the liquid for cooking rice; make a Pineapple-Coconut Frappe.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: The dressing (Step 2) will keep for up to 2 days.

NUTRITION FACTS

Calories 186, Total Fat 3 g, Saturated Fat 1 g, Cholesterol 67 mg, Sodium 191 mg, Carbohydrate 14 g, Fiber 4 g, Protein 29 g, Potassium 473 mg. Daily Values: Vitamin A 140%, Vitamin C 120%, Iron 15%. Exchanges: Vegetable 2,Lean Meat 4.
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Yum, fiber and a new name :)

Alrighty then, I found Frosted Mini Wheats Chocolate "mini bites". Love 'em ! And I totally don't pay attention to fiber count... what with calories and protein and my total lack of math skills, no fiber counting too. However, the other day the vet suggested feeding green beans to the dog. Low in calories and tons of fiber = the dog thinks she's full. Hmmm... does that work on people too ? Anyway, I started thinking about fiber. And hey, we actually need the stuff ! From Harvard :

Daily Fiber Requirements

The Institute of Medicine recommends that children and adults consume 14 grams of fiber for every 1,000 calories of food they eat each day. That means a person who eats 2,500 calories each day should get at least 35 grams of fiber daily, while a person who eats 1,700 calories each day needs somewhat less fiber—about 24 grams. A toddler who eats only 1,300 calories each day needs about 18 grams of fiber.

They say that women between the ages of 31-50 who consume around 1700 calories on average a day should have 25 grams of fiber. Good to know ! I found the snazzy chocolate mini wheats, and while I wasn't thinking about fiber when I picked them up, as I was munching on them I realized that hey... I'm eating fiber !

The toe is surviving. It's not pretty. But I'm in big girl shoes again :) And... I went to the gym on Saturday morning. Did upper body and a few ab moves and my arms are killing me today ! I need to remember that I cannot lift the weight I was doing two years ago when I was in the gym 4 days a week ! HA ! Lower weight , same reps. Makes sense :) I walked to the gym, meandered thru the downtown shopping area, walked home. And on Sunday it was down to the Market, wander down 5th, thru a few stores and back home. My toe was NOT pleased. It tends to swell, quickly, and somewhat painfully. I need to have a little more patience with the newly named "Frank" toe. Frank... short for frankfurter (when it's all swollen up !) or Frankenstein, when it just isn't looking so healthy. But again, I don't care about looks, I wanna be able to run without ouching. It'll get there... And I TOTALLY got busted the other day. I was looking at the Napa to Sonoma Wine Country Half Marathon... sounds kinda fun. And Rob walks by, sees the computer and says "I thought we weren't doing half marathons anymore"... ooopppsss A girl can dream right ?

THE PIN IS OUT !

wahoooo ! Still in the boot for one more week... that was unexpected. I took my lonely right foot Asic in hoping hoping hoping. But oh well. One more week... I can survive. (toe pic at the bottom... nice hole in the top... and be nice, I know I know, I need a pedicure, but hey... it's been wrapped up in bandages for 4 weeks ! blech)

The Boston Marathon is this weekend. Amazing. Just FYI - per the Boston Marathon website, while frowned upon, you can in fact use your iPod, unless you are an athlete eligible for prize money. Alrighty then... most runners will have their iPods blaring !

Totally been wanting pasta lately... check out this recipe. I might try this one day this weekend :

	Mac 'n cheese doesn't need to be a fluorescent shade of orange to stand up to the competition. It tastes AMAZING, and it's as simple as A-B-C, 1-2-3, Do-Re-Mi. (P.S. The cheesy cauliflower works perfectly here -- trust us!) Ingredients: 1 package Green Giant Family Size Cauliflower & Three Cheese Sauce (freezer aisle) 2 cups uncooked Ronzoni Healthy Harvest Whole Wheat Blend Rotini Pasta (or another whole-wheat or whole-wheat-blend pasta) 3 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss cheese Optional: salt and black pepper, to taste Directions: Prepare pasta according to the instructions on the box, and then drain well and set aside. While pasta is cooking, place contents of the cauliflower & sauce package in a large microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave for 12 - 16 minutes, until sauce has melted and cauliflower is hot. Once the bowl is cool enough to handle, remove it from the microwave and add cooked pasta. Set aside. Unwrap cheese wedges and place in a small microwave-safe dish. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir until smooth, and then add to the bowl. Mix thoroughly, ensuring that the Laughing Cow cheese is evenly distributed and the pasta and cauliflower are coated in cheese sauce. If you like, season to taste with salt and pepper. Enjoy! MAKES 4 SERVINGs
	Serving Size: 1 cup Calories: 202 Fat: 4.5g Sodium: 825mg Carbs: 36g Fiber: 5g Sugars: 6g Protein: 8.5g

Crab meister... and it's my diet and I'll drink if I want to !

Been a 'lil crabby the last few days. Tired of the foot ouch, crabby with walking limpy, frustrated with waking up in the middle of the night about 2 dozen times. Wow... whiner. But, hopefully, I only have a couple of days left and all will be right again.

Check out the article in Self magazine with Chelsea Handler. She cracks me up... and this is a good article as she is like most of us, fairly busy, doesn't jump for joy to work out (but knows you have to), and doesn't want a restrictive diet. I think she's found a good balance. ahhhh... if all of us could be so lucky.... xoxox

By Claire Connors

Wearing her blond hair in sexy waves and simple white skinny jeans that show off her toned legs, Chelsea Handler looks much younger-and slimmer- then she does on her talk show, Chelsea Lately. Did she lose weight, or is she a victim of the dreaded camera-adds-10-pounds syndrome? "Well, TV does make you look 10 times fatter, you know," she says over a lunch of sushi, steamed clams, and a cucumber salad. "I went home to visit my family after my show first started, and my sister said tome, 'Oh you look good! We were going to say something about your weight because you look so big on TV! And then I looked at their TV, and I realized they had it on wide-screen! I'm like, 'Oh of course I look big! Take it off wide-screen, you losers.'"

Still, it could have easily gone the other way. To get her fit, healthy body, the New Jersey-born comedian overcame bad family health history (after a long battle with cancer, her mom died four years ago, her dad has had quadruple-bypass surgery); a deep affection for high-calorie cocktails, fast food, and salty snacks; and a longtime inability to stick to an exercise routine.

Chelsea knew she needed to make some lifestyle changes. So she hired a nutritionist and revved up her workout plan-and is in better shape now than she was when she was a teenager. "I just turned 35, and it feels like a brand-new year for me," says Chelsea, whose third book, Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang, was just released. "Not only am I fitter, I feel more energized and focused too."

"I was born with a french fry in my mouth"

"My parents were not the healthiest eaters." Says Chelsea, who, growing up, was allowed to nibble on Yodels and Doritos between meals. "My mom was a great cook, but her idea of light after-school snack was mac' and cheese and brownies. So of course I was like, 'Why am I 15 and struggling with my weight?' It took me a long time to deprogram myself after I moved to L.A." For eight years, she went from one extreme to another, eating junk food and then starving herself to lose the weight. "Even when I thought I was making healthy choices, I wasn't." she says. "I didn't know, for example, that a salad with 3 pounds of dressing isn't a good thing!" When she got fed up with yo-yo dieting, she found a nutritionist who taught her to make healthier food choices and to eat more often during the day. "I love food," says Chelsea, as she digs into a bowl of edamame. "I need to eat! I could never do juice cleanses or not cheat once in a while!"

"It's my diet, and I'll drink if I want to!"

While Chelsea was ready to commit to a new health plan, there was one thing she wasn't willing to give up. "I told my nutritionist, 'I'm not going to quit drinking. I love to hang out with my girlfriends and have cocktails and dinner, it's how I relax,'" she says. "He explained that calorie-wise vodka isn't so bad, as long as you drink it with soda. Knowing I could have drink made it easier to stick to the program."

For the most part, Chelsea eats fresh wholesome foods-avoiding anything processed-whenever possible. Her day typically begins with a bowl of oatmeal mixed with a scoop of protein powder and a spoonful of ground flax seeds. Turkey and an arugula salad with shaved Parmesan-no dressing-is always her midmorning snack, and for lunch, she usually has sushi. Her brother, who's a chef, often cooks for her-favorites include grilled sea bass, chicken, and green salad with turkey meat loaf. Even her indulgences make sense: For a quick on-set snack, she'll open a small bag of Doritos (old habits die hard!), have two or three, and throw the rest away. But her all-time favorite splurge is, luckily 3,000 miles from home. "There's a diner in New Jersey that makes steak fries with melted mozzarella that you dip in gravy," she says, eyes glazing over at the memory. "Every time I eat there, I'm like, "Can I move in here, please?' Seriously, why would I ever leave?"

"I was a fitness fiasco—until I found Pilates"

Although she's always been active, Chelsea says finding a workout she loves-and can commit to-has been a huge challenge. "I've tried them all," she admits. "But I'd usually end up quitting because I'd get bored. Or, as with yoga, after months of doing it, I'd still have belly flab.

"And doing cardio at the gym can be so annoying! I hate it when there are 50 treadmills and I'm the only one there, but then someone just hops on the machine right next to me! Hello!"

Pilates, however, is just the right fit. "It's been the most gentle on my body," says Chelsea. "I'm longer and leaner and much more graceful. I can honestly say it's changed my body-and my life."

hey ! even I can do this !

Not that I want to be uber-speedy... 'cause that'll never happen... but it'd be nice to be a bit faster than my usual manatee pace of 11 minute miles :) This is a simple to follow training plan to have faster 5ks... hhhmmmm .... once I get a running shoe back on my right foot, I'm IN !

Good stuff

This is the start of week 4 of foot confinement. I'm tolerating... one more week 'till the pin comes out. And HOPEFULLY I'll be able to wear a normal shoe on THAT day. I'm taking one with me to the Dr. Just in case. If that goes as planned, two weeks of no impact stuff, and then... TA DA ... back on the road ! I'm hoping hoping hoping to be able to get a short, slow, easy run by Saturday May 1st. That's what I'm shootin' for.

Check out this link for all kinds of fitness calculators... http://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/bodyfat/

Everything from from BMI to pace to Target Heart Rate. Love that !

And on the calculator / number front, this is fantastic news. Here in Seattle this is already mandatory, and honestly, for most places, I look on-line at their website to see the nutritional data, but to have it visible will be STELLAR ! From the NY Times:

Calorie Data to Be Posted at Most Chains

By STEPHANIE ROSENBLOOM

Buried deep in the health care legislation that President Obama signed on Tuesday is a new requirement that will affect any American who walks into a McDonald’s, Starbucks or Burger King. Every big restaurant chain in the nation will now be required to put calorie information on their menus and drive-through signs.

In other words, as soon as 2011 it will be impossible to chomp down on a Big Mac without knowing that it contains over 500 calories, more than a quarter of the Agriculture Department’s 2,000-calorie daily guideline.

The legislation also requires labels on food items in vending machines, meaning that anybody tempted by a king-size Snickers bar will know up front that it packs 440 calories.

The measure is intended to create a national policy modeled on a requirement that has already taken effect in New York City and was to go into effect in 2011 in places like California and Oregon. The new federal law requires restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to disclose calorie counts on their food items and supply information on how many calories a healthy person should eat in a day.

“I think it is an historic development,” said Kelly D. Brownell, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale. Consumers spend more than half their food dollars outside of the home, he said, “and when people eat away from home they eat more and they eat worse. And part of the reason may be because they don’t know what’s in fast foods, and they’re often shocked to find out.”

While Mr. Brownell acknowledged that some consumers will ignore the nutritional information, he said labeling would affect the decisions of enough people to create a public health benefit.

“The broader issue is that this firmly establishes the government’s role in improving the nation’s nutrition,” he said.

The measure was approved by Congress with little public discussion, in part because restaurant chains supported it. They had spent years fighting such requirements, but they were slowly losing the battle. Confronting a potential patchwork of conflicting requirements adopted by states and cities, they finally asked Congress to create a single national standard.

“We have been strong advocates and supporters in trying to ensure this provision became law, and are extremely pleased that it was signed into law today,” Sue Hensley, a spokeswoman for the National Restaurant Association, said on Tuesday. “The association and the industry were supportive because consumers will see the same types of information in more than 200,000 restaurant locations across the country.”

Exactly when consumers will see that information is unclear, however. The legislation requires the Food and Drug Administration to propose specific regulations no later than a year from now, but completing the rules could take longer. If a legal battle ensues, as often happens with new federal regulations, the effective date could conceivably be years away.

Passage of the measure provoked aggravation among some free-enterprise groups, who saw it as another unnecessary government intrusion into private decision-making. Critics of the new law also contend that there is little evidence to show that menu labeling leads people to eat better.

“Frankly, it seems to me that whether I’m buying an apple or a Big Mac from McDonald’s, if they want to sell it to me without any information, I have a perfect right to buy it,” said Sam Kazman, general counsel for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market advocacy group. “This simply is not a federal issue.”

Under the new legislation, restaurants will be required to display calorie information for standard menu items as well as calories for each serving of food at a salad bar or a buffet line. The chains will not have to post calorie information for daily specials and limited-time items.

More than a dozen states have been considering labeling measures or have already passed them, though many have not yet taken effect. The new legislation overrides many existing laws, though some localities will be able to continue enforcing rules that are more stringent than the federal requirements. New York City, for instance, is expected to continue requiring chains with 15 or more outlets to post nutritional data, compared with the standard of 20 outlets in the federal law.

Supporters of the legislation say that even if menu labeling does not inspire consumers to eat better, they should be told what they are putting in their mouths.

“You don’t need a study that proves anything,” Mr. Brownell said. “You just have a right to know.”

Mr. Kazman said that consumers who want that information could look it up on the Internet. And he added that he was concerned that if Americans did not slim down as a result of menu labeling, the government might require restaurants to take further action.

“They’ll decide the font’s not big enough or the words are not scary enough and they’ll push for more,” he said. “I don’t think this is taking us down a very appetizing course.”