New workout and a Raaaant
Did you have your waffles today??
It’s Waffle Wednesday!!!
Wait wait wait. I’m getting ahead of myself here. There was a wonderful weight workout before all of this. (so many w’s!)
Those of you who’ve done New Rules of Lifting for Women probably know that the bulk of the moves in my lifting workouts come from that program. While I absolutely loved that program, I’ve been really trying to focus on lifting moves that will help strengthen my running and cycling.
Enter my cycling guru (besides Chris) the Fit Chick, aka Selene Yeager. She’s a columnist for Bicycling Magazine but also wrote a wonderful book called Every Woman’s Guide to Cycling (which I reviewed here). Much of today’s workout was taken from a video she did for the Bicycling website, featuring moves that will help strengthen your cycling. You can watch it here! http://www.bicycling.com/fitcore/
Warm-up: 15 minutes intervals on the elliptical
A1 – Hip hinge (aka single-leg romanian deadlift)
3 sets @ 30 lbs x 6 each leg
A2 – Cross lunge
3 sets @ 20 lbs x 16
B1 – Push-up
3 sets x 8 reps (on knees – I suck at push-ups)
B2 – Speed skater
3 sets x 12 reps each leg
C1 – Tricep tip
3 sets x 8 reps
C2 – Reverse hyperextension
3 sets x 12 reps
D1 – Prone jackknife
3 sets x 8 reps
D2 – Hip bridge
3 sets x 12 reps
E1 – Plank
2 sets @ 60 sec
E2 – Side plank
2 sets @ 30 sec each side
E3 – Prone cobra
1 set @ 90 sec
I had to cut the planks short because I wanted time to stretch before I had to leave. A lot of these moves focused on hip strengthening, which I love. They will definitely be making their way into my routine on a regular basis – and I hope to keep trying out new moves :)
Okay, okay, then I came home and had waffles.
These were two Nature’s Path maple cinnamon waffles with almond butter, yogurt, strawberries and blueberries. I also had my usual PVL whey cooler with it.
I’m also very happy that I made lunch last night and didn’t have to opt for soup again.
- hummus
- raita dip
- chickpeas
- sliced chicken
- onion
- zucchini
- green pepper
- mushrooms
- broccoli sprouts
- spinach
Would you believe this didn’t keep me full for that long? My appetite has been out of control lately!
As promised, dinner featured no beef and lots of tofu instead.
I had a mini eggplant that needed to be used up, so I made little eggplant sandwiches! The filling is sautéed pieces of vegetable tofu, a mushroom slice, goat cheese and a little sundried tomato dressing. The eggplant is raw, I just patted them dry with a paper towel to soak up some of the bitter juices. Quite delish!!
Raaaaaant
Okay, I’m going to do a little ramble here. I feel like it’s something I need to get off my chest!
Yesterday, I stumbled across this website: http://www.eatrealeatlocal.ca/ It’s a marketing campaign by Hellman’s Canada to eat local food. They’ve been airing commercials in Canada lately boasting their “real,” local ingredients, and have apparently now developed this huge campaign to get people eating locally. There’s also a video full of stats about how much food we import that was actually a little surprising to me.
But for some reason it just rubbed me the wrong way. Beyond the fact that it’s a marketing campaign by a large company. I’m all for campaigns that mean well, even if they’re biggest interest is their bottom line.
The video evoked the same emotions from me as the trailers for Food Inc did. While, I haven’t seen this movie yet, I know it’s meant to send a powerful message to be more conscious of what you eat.
There are a slew of other books, documentaries, articles, etc, that I’ve come across that all send similar messages in a similar way. I also keep reacting to them in the same way. They don’t make me want to change the way I eat. If anything I feel annoyed by it. Which I never understood, because I want to be a conscious consumer.
It finally hit me today what my issue is. I’m tired of being made to feel guilty about what I eat. And that’s exactly what these videos, documentaries, books are doing. They’re not opening my eyes, or teaching me things I don’t deep down already know. They’re making me feel bad about my current way of life, and telling me I should change it.
And you know what? I’ve spent years feeling guilty about what I put in my body. There was hardly ever a bagel, cookie or bowl of cereal I never felt guilty about. Until now. Now, I’ve finally learned how to be at peace with what I eat. I’ve finally opened myself up to foods like red meat and I don’t want to be made to feel guilty about it anymore.
So I guess that is the source of my annoyance. I’m pretty sure Hellman’s isn’t purposely trying to make people like me feel guilty about gorging on oranges from South Africa. But it does. I can’t let my eating be swayed by others anymore. I just want to eat what makes me feel happy and healthy, no matter what it is and where it comes from.
And sometimes that does add up to local food! Our strawberries around here are killer ;)
I dunno, I guess I don’t have any specific question to ask you on this. But feel free to chime in, whether you agree or disagree. Am I the only one who feels this way? I always love to hear your thoughts! :)
Posted on August 5, 2009, in Workouts and tagged bicyling, eggplant, Food Inc, goat cheese, Hellman's, pita, tofu, waffles, Weight Lifting. Bookmark the permalink. 21 Comments.
I agree with you. I’m a grad student living on student loans, and as much as I want to buy everything organic I just can’t afford it right now.
Wow, I totally agree with you too.. I’m a wayyy poor student here, and no way can I afford driving out of my way to farmers markets when kroger is right around the corner and much cheaper.
Also, organic food is an amazing concept, but when its more affordable over “regular” food items…then, maybe people will start buying into it.
Super fab workout though! Sounds killer :)
I think you are 100% right! I would LOVE to afford or be able to always eat locally, but to be honest…that’s HARD to do! I go to a farmer’s market by my house every Saturday and get a little local produce and fresh bread, and while I LOVE this idea, it’s so expensive! I’m all for supporting your local markets if you can, but don’t chastise everyone who can’t for one reason or another. Choosing to eat as healthfully as we can is sometimes the best we can do, and it should be (and is!) enough. :)
Very thought provoking!!
I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. I eat meat. I like meat. I don’t have a problem with people eating meat. The slaughter process just isn’t pretty, no matter how humanely it is done. With that said, as I mentioned the other day in your comments, we do try to stay away from corporate meat. It’s hard not to feel guilty, but we really try hard to eat consciously and relish what we do eat.
I do not like being manipulated by film makers. And this is not just documentaries (Steven Spielberg does this annoyingly).
I don’t think people should ever feel guilty about what they eat, even if it is something off plan. If you feel guilty about it, the food has been wasted and the time you spent eating it was wasted. Not to mention how you feel about yourself.
If guilty feelings really start to overwhelm you, there may be some smaller aspect that you could act on (whether it is buying local or organic,donating to a cause or whatever), and take comfort in whatever way you are able to.
I always put my own needs first nutritionally. While we do try to only eat local meat, sometimes if I really need protein, or if the only protein I want on the menu that is cooked as I need isn’t local, I will eat it. But that is a conscious decision that I will make and not feel bad about it.
Guess I have rambled on a bit. Not sure if it made any sense LOL!
I’m a grad student living on student loans as well! There should be some sort of support group for us! ha.
What I mean through this is that I can’t afford expensive foods but articles that led to your rant are some of why I understand more the importance of supporting local farmers/economy and trying to lessen the gas costs, travel, etc. of imported foods that can often be seen as cheaper. Nonetheless, I totally agree with you- eat what you want, what you can afford, what you like. I hate feeling guilty or others feeling guilty about food!
I like to think the movement efforts for local/organic/vegetarian etc. are to educate those who are completely oblivious i.e eating sausage biscuits, big macs, pizza, and beer every single day on a consistent basis thinking its healthy.
Your sandwichs are so cute! And , I cannot believe that wrap didn’t fill you up- it seemed so packed with healthy ingredients and fiber and protein! yum- sometimes we just need to eat more!
yes i had mine! i think every wednesday should be waffle wednesday :) i am digging the alliteration! hey i have a new rules of lifting for women book~got it for christmas but havent gotten into it much.. i need to go find it actually. thanks for the reminder.
single leg DLs are HARD. for me at least. but so good for balance. i love that you based your workout off things that will help you be a better cyclist. that is awesome.
dude! i love that the pita had garbanzos AND hummus!
so food inc did make me feel guilty a bit, but more so uninformed because i found out a lot i did not know. but i still feel ok with buying stuff that isn’t local~i just hated the stuff that was treating animals like crap and the stuff that was being grown with the wrong methods and animals being force fed corn and all this other stuff. but i agree with you, as long as what i eat makes me happy and healthy i am set.
loved the rant, great insight!
Your waffles look fantastic! Your eggplant sandwiches are so cute, too. What a great idea :)
I hear you. Food Inc. made me feel a little guilty about not eating totally local, and sometimes I feel bad about not eating all organic and shopping solely at local stores. But it’s REALLY hard to do that. I buy local when I can, and attempt to make it to the Farmer’s Market. And I think that should be good enough for me. I can’t spend the time agonizing about not being able to eat bananas because they’re not grown within 100 miles of me, or not eating tomatoes in my salad when they’re not in season. My foods make me happy and pretty healthy, and I still try to be conscious about buying local + organic when I can. I think that’s good enough for me right now.
I try to keep everything in perspective. I buy local when I can. I am conscious of where things come from and how they are brought to my table. I do think it’s important to hae balance in my food choices. If there is a food I really love that has a shady journey to my table, I take that into consideration. But, that doesn’t necessarily lead me to cut that food from my diet completely.
Honestly, I think most of us could stand to feel a little guilty now and then. I don’t think you should actually get down on yourself for not eating what people say you should, but at the same time a little guilt is exactly what is needed before change can happen.
I think it’s important that people be made to understand exactly what harm we are doing our bodies and, almost more importantly, our environment by not acknowledging the horrible practices our society promotes. If they don’t know, and a lot of people don’t, then it’s important that films like Food Inc get made to try to inform them. And if people are aware, then I’m sorry, but they should feel guilty. We all should. We might not be directly responsible but as consumers we are still decision makers and we are screwing up big-time. I think it’s a selfish trait of our culture to believe that we should get everything we want as quick and cheap as possible. We have to try to be better than that.
Sorry to rant at you. I understand your point and I agree that it shouldn’t be about feeling badly about everything we eat. I just think people should appreciate how important their actions are and take power in that.
wow, well done for making that realization on why these sort of things were making you so annoyed. I think isometimes these “movements” or campaigns work on our emotions and guilt and purposly try to make us feel guilty in order to change our eating ways. But you know what, lifes too damn short to spend the entire time feeling bad about what we eat…the most important thing is health and what we believe in….I completely agree with everything you said about spenidng long enough feeling guilty so as long as our health is good, nothing else matters really.
Those waffles look delicious :) and i love how much you really pack so much yummy goodness into those pittas!
i didnt know that you could eat eggplant raw……im really going to try this! have you ever had japanes eggplant? its long and narrow? its like butter if you saute it!
I stumbled upon this blog and I have to agree with Jessica’s comment….sometimes its good to feel guilty. I am less convinced about the value of buying organic (as you’ll often find “certified organic” is not always what you think it is), but I strongly believe in buying local when you can. Not only does it support local farmers (who make more money buy selling directly to the customer, who often will pay similar prices to what’s available at the grocery and receive a higher quality product), but you’re able to have more information on how your food is being produced. For example, a lot of people don’t realize how much salt water the chickens you get at a grocery store are fed (which is why the meat reduces down so much when you cook it). I think it’s a bit ignorant to just turn your back on something because it makes you feel bad about your current habits; how would there be any positive change in the world if everyone did that? Just because you don’t like how the message is being conveyed doesn’t mean the message is wrong.
I completely understand the guilt feelings. Yes, I want information, but I feel like sometimes the people passing it along are being righteous and judgemental. That’s what I’m trying to move away from in my meals lately. I eat meat, I eat carbs, I often have dessert and/or wine. That’s OK!
Bravo, love! I agree 100% with your rant! But I think that we are more informed than the average Joe Schmoe. And Joe Schmoe isn’t informed b/c he doesn’t give two shits and he isn’t moved by those kinds of campaigns and movies. I guess I feel less guilty than you do. I’ve struck a good balance b/w indulging and being good. And by indulging, I don’t mean eating crap. I indulge in certain organic and local produce, but not everything. My pocketbook and sanity wouldn’t be able to handle it. ;)
I live in a fairly small town in WV. There is no local meat in this area. A couple of weekends a year there may be a farmer’s market to go to. If I want to eat I have to shop at Krogers, Wal-mart, or Food Lion. The organic/natural food section is seriously like one small corner of Krogers. I really can’t change my situation so I really hate hearing people get all judgemental on me about my food choices. Also we are I believe the 3rd poorest state in the union. Salaries are crap here. Our only industry is coal and we’ve had Daryl Hannah here protesting that (though she thought she was in Kentucky **eyeroll** )! So yeah, I totally wish organic local food was here and that we could afford it. I’m just sick of being made to feel guilty.
Those little eggplant sandwiches are adorable!!
I totally agree with you! I don’t really have the money to buy everything organic and sometimes I feel guilty about it.. but that’s really not fair! We all do what we can right?
Those waffles look awesome!! I love everything about them!
I completely understand where you’re coming from with the guilt trip. I always say ‘eat what you want.’ Personally, I eat gala apples year round whether they come from the US, Canada, or New Zealand. I know that the NZ ones may not be the best choice in terms of affecting the planet, etc. but that’s what I want. I also eat white bread! Part of the guilty feeling comes from these videos and campaigns but another part, in my opinion, comes from what other people that we know eat. On the blogs for example white bread is taboo it seems but you know what, sometimes that’s what I want and I’m not going to deny myself :)
In a nutshell: no guilt, eat what you’d like! Whatever makes you happy is what you should do/eat!
i am new to your blog (found it from the lovely janetha!) and am so glad i found it. i agree 100% with your rant – sometimes we become SO obsessed with food, you start feeling bad/paranoid/etc. there is so much more to life than food, and even though we write food blogs, we need to keep perspective!
Oh I totally agree! But I do feel guilty about not being able to buy organic all the time, and not being able to afford meat/dairy. I do what I can (the biggest being belonging to a CSA) but I eat so much yogurt these days that I need the cheapest Greek yogurt I can find!
You know, I fight with my bf about this becuase he really don’t “get” why I want to spend more money on organic stuff or why I care where the bell peppers are grown…so maybe I need to work on being less judgemental of him and his opinions, huh?
Those are one of my FAVE waffles! I love how you can really taste the maple flavor in them.
I completely agree about the whole organic/local thing. As much as I understand it’s a GOOD thing, I have to buy what I can afford. Sorry people!
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