Wellness Wednesday

Is winter weather getting you down?  Stopping you from getting your exercises in?  If you're looking out your window at a snowy mess, like I am in Milwaukee.... Get out in it!  This Wellness Wednesday, I encourage you to park the snowblower, and pick up the shovel.  Not only will you get a great workout in, but you'll help the environment too.  Just think, for 20 minutes of shoveling, you can burn over 100 calories... Compare that to walking behind your snowblower for 20 minutes, you'll only burn 70 calories.   So, this Wednesday, get out and play in the snow, shovel your walk way, and maybe build a snowman!  Stay Warm & Well, my friends!

Mrs. Thayer's Famous Croquettes

Mrs. Thayer, is me, yes... But in this case, it's my mother in law, and I am going to share my "healthy" spin on her famous Croquettes.  You can use chicken or turkey, or a chicken substitute. I will be honest, this is not a go to meal, if you're looking for a fast dinner. It takes some time to assemble, but overall the recipe is still pretty easy.  The original recipe calls for the croquettes to be fried, I opted to bake them (like this week's Wellness Wednesday tip), and you can make them vegetarian or vegan if you would like.  My entire family enjoyed them, I hope you do too!

Mrs. Thayers' Croquettes
Makes 10-12 balls, serves 4

Ingredients
3 tbsp Butter (non-dairy butter substitute if you would like)
1/4 cup flour (g-free or whole wheat works well too)
1/2 cup milk (skim or unflavored almond/rice/soy milk)
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth (or veggie broth for my vegan friends)
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp onion, finely chopped
1 tbsp celery, finely chopped
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp fresh cracked pepper
Dash of paprika, nutmeg, poultry seasoning
1 1/2 cup finely chopped, cooked chicken or turkey (chicken substitute for my vegan friends)
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs (i mixed panko & whole wheat, you can use g-free crumbs too)
1 egg (egg substitute)
2 tbsp water
Cooking spray (I used olive oil mister)
-if you want to fry, use canola oil

Directions
Preheat oven 425.
Melt butter in medium saucepan. Blend in flour. Add milk and broth to mixture. Cook and stir until mixture thickens and bubbles.  Add parsley, lemon juice, onion, celery, salt, pepper, and seasonings.  Let mixture cool. Then stir in meat, chill throughly.
With wet hands, shape mixture into 10-12 balls.  In 2 dishes, place breadcrumbs in one, and beat egg & water in the other (season egg mixture).  Roll each ball in breadcrumbs, then in egg mixture, then back in breadcrumbs.  Place on a non-stick baking sheet, sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake for 10-15 minutes, until crispy. If you want to fry, fry for 2-3 min, and drain on a paper towel.

I served ours with steamed green beans, and the kids had homemade Mac & cheese, blueberries, and strawberries.  Sorry, kids plates are the only pictures I took... Totally forgot to snap the adult plates.

Training for Half Craziness #1

 
I decided with the new year, I would run another half marathon... Crazy?  I like to think I am only half crazy, lol!  Last year, I finished my first half marathon (13.1 miles), in the Delaware Marathon Running Festival, with a time of 2:42:31 (really 13.46 GPS miles).  This year, I set a goal to try the same race again, and improve my time.  I am using the Runners World Smart Coach app, by Runners World Magazine.  You can set your desired training time frame, distance goal, race time/distance, current weekly distance, and how aggressive you want to train.  I love this app it's great even if you want to maintain or improve your current running ability, and not train for an actual race.

Ok, on to my training.... I have completed the first 4 weeks of a 16 week long training program.  This Training Thursday, I'm going to recap my last 4 weeks of running.  I will recap every 4 weeks or so, until the big race day.
This month was quite interesting as far as my training went.  The auto show season kicked into full gear, as did my training.  All of my training was done in hotel gyms, and on treadmills... for two main reasons, 1: I consider myself a fair weather runner (I hate running in the super cold) 2: I have been traveling to cold, snowy cities... enough said!  The first week's goal was 6 miles total, I actually finished the week with 7.5 mi.  I ran good easy runs on my run days, and did cross-training or yoga on my non-run days.  It was an easy first week.

Week 2 was just as easy, mileage goal of 7 mi, I finished with 8.3 miles.  We had some abnormally warm weather on east coast, so I ran outside at Glasgow park for my first run, then the rest of the runs were in a DC hotel gym.  I implemented a new cross-training routine, I found on Pinterest... 5-4-3-2-1.  It seemed easy and fast, boy was I wrong!  However, with yoga I really felt stronger heading into week 3.

Stronger... Yes... Crazy... Yes!  This week's (3) mileage goal was 9 miles... I finished the week with 12.5 miles. I increased my mileage too much too fast.  I have to learn to stick with the training program, because nothing good comes from increasing your miles too much too soon.  I continued including 5-4-3-2-1 and yoga as my cross-trainers.  In DC, I also walked a 5 mile sight-seeing tour of some of the monuments.  Which was awesome, until I went for my run the next day. All of the miles caught up with me, and my body hurt, especially my shins!

After such a tough week 3, I decided to treat myself to a new pair of running sneakers, as I do every year! Another treat was a much needed rest day.  I picked up my training after I flew to Syracuse, and finished the week with another 7 miles, even though my weekly goal was 10.  I was not feeling stronger... I was feeling sore (still) in my right shin and my right foot.... Great!  I kept my runs slow and easy, and continued to cross-train with 5-4-3-2-1.

Now, here's the thing, I've got 2 choices heading into week 5... Rest my leg/foot or forge through and bang out the weekly goal of 13 miles... What do you think?

Wellness Wednesday

Baked not fried! Tonight, I made my mother in law's "famous" turkey croquettes, but instead of frying them, I baked them!  And the turned out yummy!  When looking at traditionally fried foods, swap out the hot oil for a hot oven.  French fries, bake 'em... Fried chicken, bake it... Fried fish, bread & bake them... Fried shrimp, taste awesome without all of the greasy oil... You can even bake bacon, the grease just drains off!  Cut the oil, cut the grease, and lower the calories of your favorite fried foods by baking them!  Stay well this Wednesday!

Stretch and Improve your Flexibility!

Have you ever wondered why you feel tight or stiff in the mornings, after a workout, or after a long day at work (stay-at-home parents you're included in this)... It's your level of flexibility, and it needs to be improved!  Now, I'm not saying we all should be able to slide into a split at a moment's notice, but we all should have good flexibility that fits with our lifestyle.  Gymnasts clearly have more flexibility than football players, but they each have the appropriate amount of flexibility for their jobs, and you can too.  Stretching, fortunately, doesn't require special equipment or a special gym, you can do it in your bedroom every morning or before bedtime.  However, be sure to always stretch after every workout,  no matter how easy or hard.  Yoga (you know, I had to plug my favorite) is also a great workout that focuses on stretching the body! Here are my tips for improving and increasing your flexibility levels, also some great stretches from Real Simple magazine's The Ultimate Daily Stretch.

Tips for Increasing your flexibility 

• Commit to your flexibility routine, whether its a few stretches every morning or joining a yoga class, commit and stay dedicated.  Ideally, you should stretch for 10-20 minutes everyday.  Continuous, repetitive stretching will lend itself to great flexibility improvement.
• Breathe Deeply, when stretching breathe deeply and slowly. It is crucial in stretching,it also calms the body during uncomfortable poses.  Deep breathing also oxygenates the muscles and allows blood to flow more freely helping to remove the lactic acid.
• Breathe into your Muscles, this is something we do in yoga... It sounds more complicated then it really is... As you inhale, imagine the breath moving through your body down to the muscle you are focusing on.  As you exhale, watch the muscle relax and move deeper into your stretch.
• Contract & Release, while in a stretch, contract (tighten) your muscle for 20 seconds, then release and move deeper into your stretch.  As the muscle is forced to hold a contraction it has the ability to relax greater during the release, which will help increase your flexibility. 
• Repeat your Stretches, repetition is the key to increasing your flexibility. Repeat your stretch routine 2-3 times for optimal flexibility.

Here's a great stretch routine from Real Simple Magazine...
The Ultimate Daily Stretch 
For Your Upper Body -helpful if you sit at a desk all day, need to work on your posture, or carry tension in your upper body.
1. Place your hands on the back of your head and gently push it forward with your chin tucked. Hold for five seconds.
2. Now place the heels of your hands on your chin, fingers pointing toward your ears. Gently push your head back. Hold for five seconds.
3. Rest your right hand on the top of your head and gently press your right ear toward your right shoulder. Hold for five seconds. Repeat on the other side.
4. Raise your arms and clasp your hands above your head; imagine lifting and lengthening your spine. As you bend to the left, release your hands. Grasp your right elbow with your left hand and pull it to the left. Hold for five seconds. Come back to the center and repeat on the right side.

For Your Back -helpful if you are prone to lower-back pain or like to run for a workout.
1. Lie on your stomach, legs straight and feet shoulder-width apart.
2. Place your hands on the floor under your shoulders and slowly lift your chest up. Hold for 10 seconds.
3. Come to a standing position with feet shoulder-width apart and pointed to the right. Lift the toes of your right foot off the ground, bend at the hip, and fold your body over. Hold for 10 seconds.
4. Come back to a standing position and repeat on the left side with toes pointing to the left.

For Your Lower Body -helpful if you wear high heels or like to run, walk, bicycle, or use an elliptical machine.
1. Sit on the floor with your legs straight out in front of you.
2. Lift your right leg off the floor, holding it with both hands. Flex your foot and hold for five seconds. Lower and switch legs.
3. While still seated, bend your right knee and lift your leg. Pull your knee to your chest. Flex your foot and hold for five seconds. Lower your right leg and repeat with the left.