Week 2, Day 3 (The Teacher Makes the Class)

7:45 am- Breakfast

I slept in! I was pretty hungry when I woke up and was looking for another alternative to Special K, so I opted for two small pancakes with peanut butter and jelly in the middle like a sandwich. It was delicious and filling.

2 small pancakes
1 tablespoon peanut butter
Jelly
2% milk

10:00 am- RetroRobics
This was the second RetroRobics class I have taken, and it was a different teacher, who had an immediately clear new style. First of all, we used steps for about half the class. I used the step platform with two additional risers on each side, and I found it to be the perfect height for me. It was challenging—for the first few sets of jumping exercises especially, I forgot how high the step was and my foot kind of caught on the front. This class in comparison to the last RetroRobics class was much more contained as far as space used, and also was a lot more squatting versus jumping. We began on the floor—doing high and low jabs, hooks and upper cuts, as well as kicks. It was sort of the beginnings of kickboxing. I liked this version of kickboxing because I could incorporate my bounce into it, rather than having to stay flat footed like I did at Urban Warrior (the first time, the second Urban Warrior was completely different, as you will read below). This class I was very focused on what to do with my arms—I didn’t want them hanging awkwardly as they did last week. The instructor kept a constant swinging motion with hers, so I tried to mimic her movements. To my relief, that not only made me look like I knew what I was doing, but it also intensified the workout and gave me momentum. After a half hour, we switched to abs. I have decided I LOVE abs in combination with weights. I go nice and slow so I feel the burn and the weight really intensifies the workout. I also liked the elevation of doing abs on the step. The only complaint I have is that the class was too short. It was only 45 minutes long, and I would have loved another 15 minutes of abs or work with weights.

11:30 am- Lunch

Whole grain white bun (what exactly is that??)
Slice American cheese
4 Market Day Meatballs
2 Light Jellos with Light Whipped Cream
Clementine
1:00 pm- Snack
Small slice chocolate chip cake from Market Day
2% Milk (Tara Harwood told me I should be drinking more glasses of milk in my day)

**Lately, I have been eating snack and lunch really close together. I eat my lunch, go upstairs for an hour, and realize I am hungry again. The milk in the snack really helps me to make it through til dinner, while the chocolate cake is a nice, individually portioned treat that makes me feel like I’m not deprived of my favorite sweet foods like cake.

3:00 pm- Meeting with Anne Marie
I arrived at Anytime Fitness and Ann Marie realized I hadn’t signed the waiver necessary for me to be working out at the gym…oops. There was a questionnaire involved, and one of the questions was how much soda do you drink in a day.

**Cough** at least 32 ounces **Cough** Anne Marie was mortified. I told her the pop was diet, in an effort to save myself. AND I hadn’t had any all week because I gave it up for my project. I explained that it is really difficult for me because it’s all that’s in my house. She said bluntly, “Well, you might as well be drinking paint.” Yikes, that is a pretty picture. Anne Marie explained how everything in pop, especially diet pop, is a chemical never meant to be processed by our bodies. It causes inflammation in the body and gets stuck places like the liver. Now, there is really no more denying how bad pop is for the body. Especially in the quantities that I am used to drinking it. But there is hope! Anne Marie gave me a list of healthy and easy alternatives. I will share them with you here:

1) Make your own tea—boil a big pot of water, and use about 1 bag per cup of water you boil. She said white tea and green tea are great, but also red tea. I had never heard of red tea, but she suggested checking Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods (which she calls “Whole Paycheck”). She said it is spicier than white and green. Sounds interesting.

2) She suggested sweetening the tea with Raw Honey (which has a TON less sugar than processed honey, and still tastes as sweet.) or Agave Nectar. I also asked about Stevia—sugar that comes from a plant of the same name. Its extracts have about 300 times the sweetness of sugar. It is low calorie and low carb. She said that was ok as well. I also asked her about Splenda. She said it was 1 part sugar and 3 parts chlorine. I might as well open my mouth and drink out of a baby pool. Good to know.

3) Sparkling water with a splash of 100 percent pure juice, or squeezed lemons and limes with some of the sweeteners above. I might try the sparkling water with a splash of pomegranate juice. She said to make sure that the sparkling water is purely water with bubbles and doesn’t have any funky other chemicals in it.

Dinner - 4:45 pm

Can Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup
1 Large Red Apple

6:20 pm- Urban Warrior

My mom came again! I’m so glad she is getting motivated to get back to her old, active self by watching me do this project. Also, there was yet another new teacher from the last Urban Warrior I took. One thing I’ve learned from my experiences today is that the teacher sets the tone of the entire class. This instructor opted for lots of bouncing, jumping, and kicking—just my specialty. We did a lot of adding on. We did a combination—say, jab, cross, jab, cross—then we added a kick front, lunge back. Then, we put the combination together. At first, it was confusing, but when I got it, it felt great. My mom was frustrated with herself, but again, from my end, she looked great. I left with my calved and quads burning. But I still must say, the best workout I’ve had yet was the first round of RetroRobics.

Dessert- 8:30 pm

Before I left, I put 2 light peach yogurts in the freezer because we were out of ice cream. When I got back, they were perfectly frozen. With freezing light yogurt, it is usually either a hit or a miss. There is a lot of water in these things, so sometimes it will crystallize and be like icy yogurt which definitely is not as appealing as regular frozen yogurt. My first one was absolutely perfect and delicious. There were even little peach chunks that I loved. The second one had the crystal effect. But I ate it anyway.

2 Frozen Yoplait Yougurt Lights

11:00 pm- I was getting ready to turn out my lights when I felt a really burning hunger. I quickly jumped up from my bed and went to the kitchen. A little quick math in my head told me I definitely had not had enough to eat today. I got out some left over nachos with baked tortilla chips, cheese and chicken and heated those up in the toaster. I also made myself a little baby cup of a mix of the snacks in the cupboard, because they had been looking good all day. Finally, I had a fun-sized crunch bar. This doenst sound like a super healthy meal, but I got in more calories and also gave myself food that I had been wanting all day, but in moderate portions.

Reading Material

First of all, today for lunch I ate “whole grain white bread.” How in the world can something be both whole grain and white? I looked it up in www.mayoclinic.com. They said,

“White whole-wheat bread looks and tastes like white bread but has the nutritional benefits of whole-wheat bread — such as increased fiber and nutrients. If you don't like the taste or texture of regular whole-wheat bread, white whole-wheat bread may make it easier to add whole grains to your diet.
Regular white bread is made with refined grains, which go through a process that strips out certain parts of the grain. But white whole-wheat bread — like regular whole-wheat bread — is made with the whole grain.
The difference between white whole-wheat bread and regular whole-wheat bread is in the type of wheat used. Regular whole-wheat bread is made with red wheat, which is dark in color and has a slightly bitter taste. White whole-wheat bread is made with an albino variety of wheat, which is lighter in color and has a sweeter, milder flavor.
When you're selecting bread, read product labels to make sure you know what you're buying. Look for breads that list the "whole" grain as the first ingredient, such as whole wheat, white whole wheat or whole oats. If the label doesn't say "whole" first, it isn't a whole-grain product.”

Hmmm, interesting. I almost didn’t want to eat it because I thought it lacked nutritional value. I’m glad I’m now informed on the subject.

On the subject of nutritional value and carbohydrates, in the book, Nutrition for Life, there are two whole pages dedicated to what carbs are the right ones to be eating. Here is a list of bad carbs that most of us eat every day, and a healthy, “good carb” alternative.

Bad: White Bread Good: 7-grain or whole wheat bread
Bad: white Rice Good: Brown Rice
Bad: Croissant Good: Whole Wheat English Muffin
Bad: Carrot Cake Good: Angel Food Cake with Fresh Fruit***(angel food cake over carrot cake? Who knew?)

There are more, less obvious ones. Look for them tomorrow!