W.O.W.: Running

I like to run. Scratch that. I love to run.

Well, most days.

In the past two and a half years, I went from someone who huffed and puffed after a quarter-mile to someone who has ran a handful of 5ks and 10ks, three half-marathons, a 10.5-mile trail race and a 16-mile trail race. I'm someone who's training for a fourth half-marathon and looking toward a full.

And despite thousands of miles logged, I'll be the first to admit that I am not an expert.

Just wanted to put that out there before I answer your running questions.

Robyn asked: I am planning my training schedule, and for the first timehave a speed goal, not just "survive a marathon without dying." Ihave the long, slow run thing pretty much down. But how fast are you doing yourweekly short runs, intervals and tempos, relative to your goal pace?

I am sort of ashamed to admit this but I totally wing it when it comes to running on a pace. For tempos, I run comfortably hard and for intervals, I do almost all out. Wouldn't recommend it. 

What would I recommend? McMillan Running Calculator. The site allows you to input your best time, and it will give you paces for different workouts. It's best to have a race, such as a 5K to use, to give you numbers but you can also use a goal time.

For example, I'm training for the Martian Half-Marathon in April. I could put in my best half time (1:54:12) but I was at peak fitness and had trained to go sub-2. I will not be going sub-2 this time, not 9 months after a baby. I think my realistic goal will be 2:10, 2:05 if I'm having a good day. For a 2:10 half, I should be doing long runs at a 10:58 to 11:58 pace; weekly short runs at 9:56 to 10:13; tempo intervals at 9:31 to 9:56; and 400 repeats at 2:03.5 to 2:10.6.

Notice I said should.

When I was training for my sub-2 half, I did most of my long runs far faster than I should have because I was doing them with Mark. Also, my intervals were far faster than dictated because I was so nervous about meeting my goal. Most coaches would not suggest this, and I'm pretty lucky that my body held up and I didn't get injured.

Anonymous asked: I started training for a 5K on December 1st (Istarted the Couch to 5K program). Just this past week I started jogging for 25minutes...straight! Albeit at a 3.8 mph pace. But that's okay. I've only joggedoutside once though (on a trail by my house). The rest of the time I've been ona treadmill. To be honest, I'm scared to death to run"in the real world" (on the roads). I'm so self-conscious. Did youfeel that way when you started running/jogging? Do you have any tips for me toovercome this feeling?

Yay for you! It doesn't matter how fast you go as long as you go. Twenty-five minutes is no joke.

I was definitely self conscious when I first started running. Even as a more experienced runner I wondered what people thought. I wondered how much my butt jiggled or how slow I looked.I wondered if I had the right form or had the right clothes. One day, when I was running at the track in 900 degree weather, I stripped down to sports bra and shorts. I was so self conscious because I have extra skin and not flat abs. After spending one too many minutes worrying, I decided that people could snark if they wanted but I was the one out there. I was the one running and doing the best I could do.

No matter what you do, people will judge you. Let them judge you for doing something good for yourself.

Leah asked: This is slightly off topic, but, have you ever had any issues with your knees that prevented you from running when you first began this journey? Or did you wait to run until after you'd lost some of the weight?

People are going to hate me but I have been very lucky to run pain free. Sure, I've had my fair share of  aches but nothing crazy. My biggest problem was shin splints and runner-up was knee pain. I noticed that things got better as the weight came off (I didn't start running till I was in the 180s) and after getting good shoes. 

It's so important to invest in yourself and go to a specialty store where they can fit you for shoes. Good support and cushion, in my opinion, are vital for a beginner, and shoes from Kohl's or even Dick's won't provide those.

Don't know (flap)jack

I don't run with music.

It's not so much a "I'm better than you, and I don't need it" thing. It's more of a safety thing as most of my runs are with the dog and the stroller, and I need to be aware of cars in the event their drivers aren't aware of me.

When people hear that I run "naked" so to speak, the question I most often get asked is: What do you think about? Things. I think about things. Sometimes it's the day ahead or how beautiful the day is (today was a gorgeous "warm" 28). I sometimes write my grocery list or, if I'm lucky, I completely zone out.

Today, though, my thoughts were not focused on any of those things. I had just one focus: Pancakes.

 Lots and lots of pancakes.

I normally like to eat a protein-rich breakfast because it holds me best. However, Mark will be out tonight and I'm going to take advantage, eating a dinner he won't - breakfast. Seeing as I didn't want eggs twice in a day, pancakes seemed an appropriate way to end a 4-mile run.

I thought I would make my favorite, banana pancakes. Heck, I could go crazy and add some chocolate chips to the recipe ... until I discovered that Mark ate the last one. Jerk.

So I made the next best thing*: Oatmeal Applesauce Pancake for One.

*Note: This excludes any pancake with pecans because those are on a whole other level of awesomeness.

Source - I don't have a photo of my actual pancake because ... well, let's just say it was a little crispy.

Oatmeal Applesauce Pancake for One

1 egg white
1/4 cup no-sugar added applesauce
2 tablespoons skim milk
Scant 1/4 teaspoon maple extract
1 pouch instant plain oatmeal
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1/2 packet Truvia
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
Pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

In a bowl, beat egg white until foamy. Whisk in applesauce, milk and extract. In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. Gently add dry ingredients to wet, mixing until just combined. Spoon batter onto a hot skillet sprayed with non-stick spray or coated with canola oil. Cook like a pancake. Serve with toppings of choice - I had light I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and Sugar-Free Hungry Jack syrup.

If you don't like the texture of rolled oats, you could pulse them in a coffee grinder or food processor to achieve a finer, more palatable consistency. 

Nutrition (without toppings): 205 calories, 2 grams fat, 41 grams carbohydrates and 10 grams of protein.

Reader Email: Dry hair, Detangling and Hair Journey Struggles

I love the emails I receive from readers sharing their progress, asking questions, or from folks reaching out just to say hello. In one email in particular, the reader had several great questions. I thought to myself that maybe someone else could also get value from the responses so I've decided to share them with you today in the form of a blog post.


What are the symptoms of dry hair?
To me dry hair is simply hair that looks and feels brittle to the touch. Dry hair may also appear frizzy. Dry hair will generally not feel as soft and will not have much elasticity. Compare a tree branch on the ground with one still on the tree. The one on the ground has dried out and will snap easier if you tried breaking it in two. The branch on the tree will take a little more effort before you can break it. Hair that snaps too easily can signify a protein issue but it could also mean the hair is suffering from extreme dryness.

How should I change my regimen if it's dry or greasy?
When my hair is too dry, I amp up my deep conditioning to level 10. I take no short cuts. Instead of letting the conditioner stay in my hair for an hour, I may deep condition overnight. I also take my time applying the conditioner so every strand is coated. This has helped me tremendously. Every product I use on wash days, from my shampoo to conditioner, to leave-in is working is one magnificent team to create moisture for my hair.

Is there a way to wrap the hair incorrectly and if so, what is the right way to wrap my hair?
Honestly, I was never that efficient at wrapping my hair. The process created a little too much over-manipulation for my taste. Wrapping is one of those techniques that, when done right, creates beautiful results. If I were a person that wrapped my hair regularly, I would invest in quality brushes/combs that are extra gentle on the hair since the brushes/combs are the main component of proper wrapping. Prepare the hair for the wrapping process by making sure the hair is properly conditioned and moisturized. Never wrap hair that is feeling too dry or fragile and breaking. Another piece of advice I would give you is to switch up from wrapping to other techniques from time to time. Too much wrapping in one direction can lead to thinning. It's kinda like if someone walks on the same path in the grass, eventually, that area will no be as healthy as the other areas.

How do you know if you have 4B or 4C or both?
Chances are you might have more than 1 texture. So you can be 4B & 4C or you could have 4B and 4A hair (or all three). I don't expand much about texture because my philosophy is more about giving the hair what it needs based on what it's telling you (not necessarily the texture). Meaning I look for signs of dryness, breakage, shedding, dullness, etc and address those issues one by one. This is the reason why people of different textures are able to receive value from the blog.

How do you properly detangle the hair?
I start with proper tools. Then I make sure I have enough time so I'm not tempted to rush during the process. This weekend, I filed and painted my nails before detangling. The I began removing the tangles while standing in front of a mirror. I'm not sure why but doing this made me present during the process and I believe I was more careful overall and took more care not to loose as much hair. Start detangling from the bottom of the hair up. I also hold on to sections within sections while I'm detangling. Meaning, if I'm detangling the ends, I hold the section with one hand (exposing the ends), and detangle with the other hand, this allows me to minimize the tension along the length of the strand from the combing process.

(see pic below)

What kind of flat iron should I be getting?
I wrote a post on flat irons a while back. The good news is that flat irons are getting better in regards to quality and the protection offered to the hair from excessive damage. My tip would be to save up and invest in a quality iron, especially if you plan on using it at least monthly. Also, look for quality heat protectants. If you can find a quality heat protectant that can give you superior results, go for it. The little bit of extra money you spend on heat protectancts will help keep you from having to spend the money later on fighting the heat damage.

Do you know of very simple recipe for Deep Conditioning?
I like to mix my deep conditioners for greater results. You'll often find me mixing oils like olive oil or coconut oil into the mix. I've also added honey, and even powdered nutrients to make my deep conditioners even more effective. The sky is the limit. Check out this post on how to take your deep conditioner even deeper.

What was the hardest part of your hair journey? What keeps you motivated?
My journey has been a long, difficult one. I don't protective style much so retaining length has been an uphill battle. Plus I've suffered from extreme shedding caused by my seborrhic dermatitis, I could never find a moisturizer I liked so I battled dryness until Gleau came into my life. The worse part of my journey has been the setbacks cause by my own behaviors. For the last couple of years, I've been nursing damaged areas back to health slowly and surely. I've learned so much from that experience. I don't write these posts because I have perfect hair, I do it to learn on how I can improve my hair. I'm still battling even now but I see some progress and I've never been happier. I've come to learn that what I do today will create results for me tomorrow so I keep going even when I do see results right away, I keep going.

What keeps me motivated is the fact that my hair keeps growing no matter what. It's doing it's job. My job is now to help it remain healthy and adapt my behaviors accordingly. If I see even just a little bit of progess, I get excited. Progress isn't just about length for me, it's about less dryness or less breakage or less of anything that negatively impacts my hair. If I focus on tiny improvements on a consistent basis, I know it'll add up to greater progress in the long run.

Frugal Healthy Simple + 1 - and my 600th post!

Well, if you were wondering why I had a string of months where I just wasn't posting that often and my meals seemed uninspired...there was a reason.

We are adding to our family this summer, and our dear kindergartener is getting a baby brother.  The first trimester really takes it out of you.  The second trimester has been MUCH better.  But now I have a cold.  Ah well.

Yikes!  Hold on tight, it's gonna be a crazy ride!

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Stillwater/Mikkeller "Our Side" Gypsy Ale

2. Stillwater/Hof ten Dormaal Collaboration: "Bronze Age"

3. Stillwater Folklore Belgian Stout

4. Stillwater Premium Saison

5. Midnight Sun Monk's Mistress

cheers,

dave hauslein
beer manager
415-255-0610

Grasshopper Vegan Overnight Oats and the Premiere of Fat Chef on The Food Network

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I rediscovered the Chia Seed and along with it, the Internet recipe sensation Vegan Overnight Oats. With the help and guidance of my new friend Lani Muelrath, I quickly saw that Vegan Overnight Oats cannot become an everyday breakfast option for me (too high in calories) but as a treat on the weekend, maybe even lunch on Saturday, well, they're perfect! 

This version combines my some of my all time favorite flavors--mint and chocolate--with the creamy, chewy taste sensation that is VOO. Plus, with the addition of 1 cup of frozen spinach, we can get more greens in our bodies. It's a win-win situation!

Grasshopper Vegan Overnight Oats
serves 1

Print me!

layer A:

1/3 cup regular oats (not steel cut)

1 Tbsp chia seeds

<1 cup alternative milk, like almond or soy

1/2 scoop Amazing Grass Green Superfood Chocolate Drink Powder or 1/2 Tbsp raw cacao

1 tsp maple syrup

1/8 tsp peppermint extract

layer B:

1 large frozen banana or 1 1/2 small frozen bananas

1 cup frozen spinach

splash of alternative milk

1/8 tsp peppermint extract

In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients for layer A and refrigerate overnight or for 1 hour.

In the morning, prepare layer B by placing all of the ingredients into the canister of a high speed blender or the bowl of a food processor fitted with the S blade. If using the blender, blend the ingredients and tamp them down until the mixture is even and creamy. (This takes a few minutes as the spinach is more difficult to blend than banana alone.)  If using a food processor, process and stop to scrape down the sides often until the mixture is even and creamy.

Layer the overnight oats mixture with the banana soft serve and eat immediately.

Did anyone catch the premiere of Fat Chef on The Food Network?

Ironically, the first episode took place in Cleveland, OH (where I live). In my opinion, it was pretty painful to watch. First, my heart was bleeding for the two "contestants" who were totally out of control with their diets. Fried food, fast food, candy and cookies, day in and day out. The male chef, Rocco Whalen, owner of Farenheit Restaurant, was consuming 8000 calories per day. The female, Kimberly McCune Gibson, 5000. Of pure garbage.

But the worst was the diet recommendations that the trainer on the show gave them. IMHO, they were totally unsustainable in the long run and only set people up for ultimate failure at keeping weight off. And it's not just about the two chefs on the show, it's about all of the thousands of people watching the show and hoping to discover the key to being healthy.

What were the weight loss recommendations on Fat Chef? Eat small meals of lean (ie animal) protein and  vegetables every four hours. Oh, that, and exercise ridiculous amounts every week, which is totally unsustainable in real life (like when the cameras stop following you 12 weeks later).

Sure, a person being followed by cameras can stick to this plan for 12 weeks, and they would pretty much guarantee a major weight loss, but WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THEIR LIVES? Do the producers of the show even care?

No mention of high volumes of low calorie plant foods like salads, smoothies (not talking about the fruit laden ones here, just the truly green ones), soups, sauteed greens, beans or whole grains. Just some pork and steamed cauliflower with a side of celery sticks.

In Rocco's own words, "Thanksgiving sucked," he says bluntly, "but it put me to the test at the hardest time of year. And the carefree side of things, carefree in eating whatever I like. I miss that, too. Being able to eat a poached pear with softly melting blue cheese over it, topped with a port wine drizzle, and being able to enjoy some whenever I wanted to . . . "

That is no way to live!

Thanksgiving shouldn't "suck!" Come to my house for a plant based, no-oil Thanksgiving!

You don't need to be hungry all of the time in order to lose weight. You don't need to punish your body with exercise.

It's unsustainable (Rocco says he's now working out two hours a day. Holy sh!#.). Why is the real knowledge about these issues being kept from people?

And what about the customers that these two unhealthy chefs serve their disease promoting food to day in and day out? Are they changing their menus as a result of this intervention? Do they see food in a different way? If they did, they would certainly want to share that knowledge with their customers. Outrageously delicious, healthy, low calorie food does not have to come in small packages, but I don't think that either of the chefs learned that from their experience on the show.

I'd like to follow up with these two chefs and see how they are doing maintaining their weight loss after the taping was over. Oh, I live in Cleveland, I guess I can hunt them down!

W.O.W.: Getting started

Time.

It's amazing how it just slips away.

One minute, you're looking at a day (off) full of possibilities and the next minute you realize it's time to pick up the behb from day care. You aren't any more rested, the house isn't any cleaner and dinner isn't made. In fact, it seems that the only thing you have to show for yourself is a stack of homemade baby invitations.

Apparently invitations take 55 hours to do, and they are the precise reason I didn't write my W.O.W. post on my motivation at the start of my weight loss journey. I hope you don't mind if I give it to you now. (#twss)

If you have read my weight loss story, you know that I didn't just decide to lose weight and - BAM! - x amount of time later, I weighed 122 pounds. No. It took a long time, with a lot of up and downs. Along the way, there were a lot of things that motivated me to start, restart and to get serious. I'm going to talk about the moment (moments, really) that helped me get to the track in August 2009 and stay there.

My mom's death. As I've shared in the Woman's Day/Yahoo! story, watching my mom die - not just the moment she took her last breath - but the years of seeing her destroy herself, made me look at the way I was treating my body and myself. I was so mad at her for not caring enough about herself (and me to be honest) to do something. As I worked through those feelings, I realized that I had no right to them if I wasn't willing to do something.

However, as a commenter pointed out, having someone in your life to be an example of what NOT to do is not enough. If it was, I probably would have never let myself get to 245 pounds. There were other things - almost a perfect storm, if you will - to get me going.

Getting the picture. In my weight loss journey, I lost 50 pounds then another 25. Those 25 pounds were lost and regained through three cycles, the last loss cycle just before my wedding in December 2008.

When my mom died, I was under the delusion that I was looking good and far better off than she ever was.

And then I saw photos from a girls' weekend in Chicago. Not only did I not look good, I looked big. I tried to blame it on camera angles and unflattering clothes but there's no denying that my weight had crept up. I had to ask myself whether the person in those photos was who I wanted to be.

Buddy system. I mentioned it in my previous post by my BFF joined Weight Watchers just before I did. The program really clicked for her, and she was able to give me an example of what to do and what I could be.

Support system. Also, in that vein, it's important to surround yourself with people who will encourage the changes you make. I mean no offense by the following but you tend to surround yourself with people most like you. If you are fit and active, your friends are fit and active. If you are sedentary and unhealthy, your friends are more than likely the same. It's important to reach out to those - without alienating your friends - who will encourage you. Mark, a lifelong runner, joined me for my Couch to 5K runs and never grumbled about going slow with me.

Again, with the dog. Mark and I inherited Denali so to speak from my mom, and we brought him home in late July. I wanted so desperately to be a good dog owner, and I knew a key to that was exercising our Siberian husky. I also knew that it couldn't be just something I did when it was nice. Come rain, come sun, come snow - Denali would want to go out. I made it my goal to be able to run a 5K by winter as I knew running 3 miles would be less painful than walking 3.

Breaking it down. I never looked at the big picture when I started. With Weight Watchers, it was about losing 5 percent, then 10 percent. I then looked to getting in the 160s, where I had never been, and down "decade" by "decade." It would have been hard for me to be successful otherwise because I would have felt overwhelmed.

Exploring. It can feel limiting to take on a new lifestyle/diet. The things you like to eat might not fit into your program. I really went outside my comfort zone and tried things like vegetarian patties, faux sausage and low-carb tortillas. I searched for WW friendly recipes and heeded suggestions from members. Slowly, I began to find new tastes and textures that appealed to me and helped to bring excitement to planning my menu.

Splurge. Living healthfully can be expensive, and it was easy for me not to buy the things I needed to be successful. However, if you want to order a crap ton of VitaTops to help you stay on track, do it. If you need Laughing Cow wedges for a wrap but they aren't on sale, buy them anyway. You'll be motivated to eat better if you have not only what you need but what you want.

In it to win it. I am not sure how or why but so much of my success is because I decided that I was worth it and made the changes. I would no longer accept that I was just meant to be overweight. I would no longer sell myself short. I would treat myself how I wanted to be treated - with love and respect - and take action to do so.

Are you a weight loss success? What can you share with others?

Healthy Spirits: New Arrivals

1. Courage Russian Imperial Stout (!!!!!)

2. Almanac Winter 2012 Wit

3. Sierra Nevada Bigfoot

4. Dogfish Head Tweason'ale (gluten free)

5. Dogfish Head Ta Henket

6. Ommegang Seduction

7. Marston's Oyster Stout

cheers,

dave hauslein
beer manager
415-255-0610