Colin’s Corner-Week Two

Week 2 has got off to a good start, I have to say. Monica (my wife!) and I attended a birthday party on Friday night. While there were some very tempting not so low calorie treats there, we managed to keep our appetites in check. A few beers that night, and no alcohol for the rest of the weekend. Phew! Did I just say that?!

Diet

Monica is very keen on eating salads every day. Like, a lot of salad. Which I know is really good for me, but if I eat a large salad for lunch, I’m not always going to want to eat another salad for dinner. Even a side salad can test my resolve to eat healthier. But, I soldier on. When I’m feeling and looking trim, I’ll have all the salad to thank for it, won’t I? My only weak point came on Monday night when I got hungry before bed. I knew there were some healthy options in the kitchen cupboards, (a handful of nuts and seeds, a piece of fruit), but I also knew that we had a tin of cookies lingering from the holiday season. I’m ashamed to say, the cookies won out. 3 cookies = 140 calories. I was so sure I could stop at 3 cookies! Okay, how many calories are in 5 cookies? I guess about 225. That’s like eating a full meal before bed. A full meal full of carbs and fat. Need to work on the bedtime cookie habit.

Exercise

I got out to play some hockey on Sunday morning for about an hour, which left me feeling energized and exquisitely fatigued.

Mondays I teach a Cardio Strength Circuit, and I’ve been making sure to stay involved and perform most of the exercises. So I count that as a 30 minute workout. I play in a hockey league on Monday nights, so I count that as a 20 – 25 minute workout.

Tuesday’s workout consisted of a total body circuit. I performed 20 repetitions of each of the following exercises: (feel free to email me any exercise questions – alternatively, you can google the exercise names)

Up & Down plank

Swimmers Press

Bulgarian Lunge (20 each leg)

Burpees

Wood Chop (20 each side)

Tornado Press – chest press on a ball using only one dumbbell

After this workout, I ate lunch (another salad!) and then attended Eliana’s yoga class. I really felt the muscles in my neck start to give way from some of the yoga stretches. This feels very good to me.

Wednesday I did 20 minutes of cardio on the AMT machine. I really like this machine – I can really feel my legs and lungs working away as I pedal.

Thursday was Power Yoga with Janet. Phew! What a workout. This week I made it to two yoga classes, in keeping with my New Year’s resolution. Feeling good…

Hockey on Saturday morning (a 2 hour skate; I’m probably on the ice for about 40 minutes), and then a smorgasbord of non-healthy options at my sister’s Super Bowl party. My brother-in-law Stephen made two kinds of chili, and 3 kinds of chicken wings. I made a taco salad to bring to the party (recipe to follow). I ate a decent sized portion of the offerings, but I didn’t go overboard.

Taco Salad

2 heads Romaine lettuce

1 tin organic black beans

1 tin peaches and cream corn

1 bunch green onions finely diced

1 red pepper finely diced

1 yellow pepper finely diced

1 large or 2 medium tomatoes roughly chopped

2 avocadoes medium dice

4 – 5 tostadas broken into medium sized pieces

½ cup grated skim milk mozzarella cheese

1tsp cumin

Juice of 2 limes

2 tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

In a bowl, add corn, beans, green onions, and red and yellow peppers, cumin, lime juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper. The lime juice and the salt will start to break down the vegetables and soften them, blending their flavours. Wash the Romaine lettuce, spin or pat it dry, and chop into small pieces. Just before serving the salad, mix all remaining ingredients (tomatoes, lettuce, avocadoes, and cheese) together in the bowl, and enjoy!