Monday, August 31, 2009

Menu Plan Monday - August 31 - September 6

Yes, it's that time again, Menu Plan Monday!



We do so much better about eating things that are at least halfway good for us, and about having ingredients on hand, when I do a menu plan, so here I go once more.

Monday – Spaghetti squash with meat sauce, garlic bread, green salad

Tuesday – MaMa’s Supper Club Tilapia Parmesan, Piccadilly Cafeteria Carrot Souffle

Wednesday – Chicken Delicious, Zucchini They Will Eat!

Thursday – Roast, rice and gravy, steamed broccoli

Friday – Clean out the fridge!

Saturday – Ground Beef Sukiyaki

Sunday – Bourbon Chicken, Awesome Egg Rolls

Go on over to Organizing Junkie and share your own menu plan!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Enter the kettlebell!

My sweetie (whose blog can be found here) has talked me into starting a kettlebell workout.



This should be interesting, as my body strength probably closely approximates that of the proverbial 97-pound weakling, except that I weigh a whole lot more than 97 pounds. Go to YouTube and search for "kettlebell workout" if you want to get an idea of what I'm talking about. This apparently has the potential to make me toned and stronger than I ever thought I could be. Heck, if it shrinks my butt a good bit and helps my upper arms not flap in a strong breeze, I'll call it a success.

I'm starting out with a 15-pound kettlebell (the little red one in the picture - the other two are Brian's).



One of the exercises I'm supposed to do is called a Turkish get-up. It involves lying on the ground holding the kettlebell over my head and working my way up to a standing position, holding the kettlebell over my head the whole time. Well, right now my arms are nowhere near strong enough to hold a 15-pound hunk of metal over my head and get up off the ground from a prone position at the same time, so I'm doing it as a body weight exercise. It's still quite the challenge for this short, rotund woman, I'll tell you that.

I guess at some point I should take my measurements. I have an idea, but still - the actual numbers will probably be a bit depressing. But I'm starting the process of changing those numbers for the better, so that's encouraging. Julian was quite enthused to hear that I plan on becoming a hot mama. LOL I'll catalog my progress here, small and slow though it may be.

Tonight's workout: five minutes of around-the-backs (just what it sounds like - passing the kettlebell from hand to hand around my body) and halos (holding the kettlebell and rotating it around my head without getting my arms too far away from my body). It's a start!