Angelina's decision: How does it effect you?

It's been a while since we all read about Angelina Jolie's extreme measures to prevent cancer. I have intentionally waited a while to post this just to see if my feelings on the topic changed.

AJ  underwent a double mastectomy because she has a "bad gene". After we heard that, it came out that she had her ovaries removed as well. I didn't follow this closely, but I did follow it enough to have some serious thoughts on it. She disclosed that she carries a precursor gene for cancer. Considering her mom died at 56 from breast cancer, her aunt since passed away, and she has a brood of kids, I think she's smart for getting tested for the gene.

But it leads me back to a number of questions. "How far do we go for our health?" Once you have this information about yourself, What do you do with it?  Once you know... does it mean you have to do something about it or live in fear of the possibility? Just embrace the fact that you're just built this way genetically? Or do you just ignore it, not get tested and just see what life deals you.

From www.usmagazine.com

Angelina and I are the same age. I don't have as many kids as she does, but it does make me think about what would I do. Her fear is one I think all moms have... Is they won't be around for their kids.

My family has a history.  My grandma had breast cancer. It was caught early, treated, and she hasn't had a problem since. My mom and her sister both have an issue with fibroid tissue, and I started my mammograms early. It is recommended for people with a family history, and I generally follow these recommendations. My theory is they are recommendations for a reason. So far, I don't have anything that would cause me to worry or have concerns. So I'm not in the arena of doing anything as drastic as what Angelina has done. It still begs the question, how much information is enough information?

Melissa Etheridge, a breast cancer survivor, provided a counterpoint to AJ. Stating in US Magazine, "My belief is that cancer comes from inside you, and so much of it has to do with the environment of your body. It's the stress that will turn that gene on or not. Plenty of people have the gene mutation and everything, but it never comes to cancer.."

AJ did what she felt was right for her and her family, and fortunately for us, she decided to share the experience. It puts these issues back in our thoughts and minds to think about our health and how it relates to our families. This can be the significant, like AJ, or it can be the everyday of getting active and eating better.

What she does may be right for her, but what does her courage do for the rest of us?

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Happy Wednesday!

Don't get discouraged because it doesn't happen over night. There's lots of little steps along the way.

 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Beginnings and Middles - Because there's never really an end

I always get a little upset when people compare themselves to others. Often times, it sets them up for failure. For example, I've been practicing yoga for about 4 years, and I absolutely love it. Anything you love, you spend time on and I have become pretty good at a few poses. By no means am I an expert, I'm just proficient at a few things. When new people come to class they share the room with others of us that have been practicing for some time, and they tend to compare. (I know this because some of them tell me in the locker room)

In the first few classes they attend, they somehow expect to be able to hold poses in the same shape and time frame that those of us who have done it for years. When comparing yourself to others that puts undue pressure on a person for "success" when in reality, I think it just sets them up for disappointment.

Newbies to any athletic/fitness regimen should be proud to be there. You've started down the path; you're learning something new about the practice and yourself. There are lots of positives in that. Don't diminish the positives because you're "not as good" as the person next to you.  I don't think anyone will ever be at the "end" we're all learning. Some of us are at the beginning, and some of us are somewhere in the middle.

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Happy Thursday!

Here's to non-traditional workouts!

 

HAPPY THURSDAY!

 

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Recipe Share - Shrimp Scampi

Here's another great recipe for Pinch of Yum.

15 Minute Shrimp Scampi

Author: Pinch of Yum

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 lb. raw shrimp, shells and tails removed (see notes)
• 4 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon butter (can add more to taste)
• 2 tablespoons white wine
• ¼ cup minced lemon pieces*
• 8 ounces uncooked capellini noodles (I used Jovial gluten free)
• a handful of fresh chopped parsley
• salt and pepper to taste
• Parmesan cheese for topping

Instructions

1. First five minutes: shrimp. Start a pot of boiling water for the noodles. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat in a small skillet. Press the excess moisture out of the shrimp (especially if they were originally frozen) and place them in the hot skillet. Don’t move them around right away – let them cook for 1-2 minutes before flipping them over to cook on the other side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper while still in the pan. When the shrimp are cooked through, remove from heat and set aside.
2. Second five minutes: sauce and noodles. Put the noodles in the boiling water and cook as directed on the package. In the skillet used earlier, add the garlic and butter and reduce the heat to medium. Saute for 3 minutes, stirring continuously, until the garlic is soft and fragrant. The garlic will taste bad if it gets burned so be careful! Add the wine and allow to cook down (simmer until there is less liquid) for a few minutes. Add the lemon pieces and saute for another 1-2 minutes. Finally, add the shrimp back to the skillet just to warm it up again.
3. Last five minutes: assemble. Drain the noodles and return to the saucepan. Add the shrimp/lemon/garlic mixture and the fresh parsley. Toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper and top with a tiny bit of Parmesan cheese.

Notes

*I used frozen raw shrimp that still had the shell on so I had to spend a few minutes peeling the shells off. I also chose to remove the tails which was nice because then we didn’t have to worry about removing the tails while we were eating.
*I used pieces from the leftover blender lemonade. You could recreate this by finely chopping a little bit of lemon (rind and everything) or just use ½ tablespoons lemon juice and a spoon full of zest. You can easily adjust this depending on how lemony you want it to taste.

Fourth of July craziness

I have to say my 4-day July 4th weekend was a bit nuts even for me. If you're a single mom and your kids are gone for 4 days... well, sometimes you just don't know what to do with yourself. I knew I would find my normal workout routines and maybe do some stuff around the house, but it turned into an overachiever weekend. Needless to say by Sunday, all I wanted was a nap.

 

Thursday was 18 holes of golf on Wildcat. This has to be the hardest course I have ever played. I really suck at golf, so all of them are pretty hard for me. I played with my brother who is really laid back and isn't always trying to correct my swing; it was a really comfortable round. I was WAY excited when I got a legit par on #10. I don't do the beer drinking thing on the course, so I can't blame my sucky golf on beer drinking. Plus, it's so blazing hot, who needs another reason to be dehydrated.

 

I cleared it. Oh yeah!

 

I had planned on running on Friday morning. We took off at 6am for a 6 mile run through one of my favorite parks. It was a great run with good company. We were done before the sun was up, and there was not a dry thread on me. It was still pretty hot at 7am, but I did 6 miles in under an hour. That doesn't suck. (Not sure why I keep mentioning it was hot; its Houston in the summer. It's basically the surface of the sun)

 

Favorite running park

Friday night the brother and I wanted to go C&W dancing. Who can pass that up?? Not me! Dancing is one of my favorite things to do. So off we went to shake a leg with all the other folks. I needed to be home early (if you call midnight early) to be up and run the bridge. On Friday after the 6 mile run, my friend said "why don't we run the bridge tomorrow." Since the kids were gone, and I had never done it, I said SURE! Its quite possible I'm an idiot.

 

The bridge is a beast. I'm pretty sure only the insane wake up and say, "hey, why don't we go run the bridge a few times." And now, I'm officially one of them.

 

By 7am Saturday morning we were at the water front stretching for the bridge run with a lot of other crazy people. (there's actually a lot of bridge running crazy people) You have seen my weekend. By this time, I had NO CLUE if my legs were going to hold up. Running the bridge twice actually meant we had to go over it 4 times and run a total of 4 miles! The fourth time I was sucking wind. My legs might as well have been jello. But I finished, and at a slightly faster pace than my 6 mile run the day before. Go me!  

This is the Bridge of Insanity

I made it home by 11am and pretty much slept the rest of the day. Sunday, I had one yoga class and tried to get stuff done around the house. It needed to be a low key day. I told mom that I needed to go back to work to get some rest. Her response.... "well that's when you know you're old!" Are you kidding me!?

I regurgitated my crazy weekend to a co-worker.  Her response was " man, you're hard core." Pretty sure I'm more of an idiot than hard core.  Whatever she wants to think is fine with me.

When you have 4 days, and you're not sure what to do... cram it full of crazy, off the wall fitness stuff. It was actually really fun!

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Top 5 things to get you through the heat

It's so freaking hot. Houston is just an oven this time of year; that's not a revelation to anyone in the south. By now, I usually have eased into the heat, but for some reason it's taking me longer to get in the heat groove this summer.

The biggest problem I have is that I HATE running on treadmills, so it's imperative I acclimate to running in the heat. When I do not have a babysitter and I go to the gym for my workout, I'm on the  treadmill. I do admit that I would rather have a treadmill workout than no work out at all.

Since I am so treadmill averse, I have a regimen I follow when it starts getting blistering hot. So to acclimate to the heat, these are top 5 things I try to do.

1.  Be up early

I learned this one when I was training for my first Houston marathon back in 2005. I ran with a running club that used the motto, "be done before 8am." At the time, I thought they were insane because when you're on a 18 mile training run you have to start at 5am. But what I soon realized is that by 8:30-9am, the atmosphere starts to heat up. As soon as the sun peaks over the horizon, the temps start soaring. Our goal was to be done before the sun was up over the buildings. Pretty rough, but pretty smart.

2. Hydrate

This is such a key piece of any activity in the heat. I cannot stress it enough. Just the effort it takes to breathe in the summer makes us lose water. Hydrating is imperative. Water helps flush out toxins, it helps regulate body temperature, it regulates bodily functions; it does so many key things.

It's not always the best tasting source of fluids, but it is the best hydrator. When it comes to the summer heat, you have to use this one.

3. Sunscreen

For the days that I do not make it out before 8am, the sun is up and bright. When I run, my wardrobe consists of speed shorts, sports bra, and running shoes - That's it! By the time June came around you could already see the tan lines from my sports bra. So, engage a helper and get your sunscreen out. You need it if you aren't going to run in the dark.

If you're not a fan of sunscreen because it runs in your eyes or makes you smell funny for the rest of the day, there are alternatives. Lots of runners wear hats to keep the sun off their face. This is a good idea for blocking the sun; but if you choose this one, be sure it's a loose fitting hat. You lose a substantial amount of heat from your head in the winter, so you wear a hat. So if you're wearing a hat in the summer, you're keeping a substantial amount of heat in your body. A fitted hat won't let you cool off as efficiently, so find a loose one.

They also make shirts with UPF. I have several light weight, long sleeved UPF 50 shirts that I use around the pool. As I mentioned before, I run in a sports bra, so I have never worn one for running. They are effective for blocking the sun when I do wear them poolside, and I assume they would do the same if you wore one running.

4. Take it easy

Summer is not the time of year I work on PRs; this is my maintenance time of year. Back in May when it first started heating up we were out for an afternoon run (5p) at my typical pace and I got so over heated I had to vomit. Lucky for me I had a compassionate running partner who stopped for me and walked back in. The last couple of years I have spent the winter decreasing my pace (I'm down to an average 9-9:30 min/mile) and the summer time just trying to maintain it. Every one's body is different. For me, if I push too hard in the heat, I just make myself sick. I use the winter months to push my PR and limits.

5. Eat clean

Summer is the time of year everyone is looking to have the beach body. To get that body, requires strict attention to your diet. But if you're a runner, there's also another reason to pay attention to your diet- strong performance. When your diet is clean, there are less toxins to interfere with the ever so popular GI issues that creep up on runners occasionally. When you're eating lean meats, fruits and vegetables, you're also hydrating. These make you feel better and have a better performance. If you currently don't eat very clean, it will take your body a while to adjust. But when you do, you'll notice the difference.

Hopefully these actions will help you get into the groove of the summer running season. If you are able to embrace these 5 things, I bet you'll see your summer performance improve.

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Happy Wednesday

It's not just about losing weight. It's about being the healthiest version of you.

 

When you have that perspective, it becomes your lifestyle. 

 

HAPPY WEDNESDAY!

Recipe Share - Salad Time!

Pinch of Yum is still one of my favorite food blogs. This time of year, I try to eat my weight in salad. I need all the help with light food and hydration I can get.

I was browsing looking for a recipe share (since it's been a while) and I found this one. This one is on my list for the weekend. So if you try it out before me, share how you like it!

Chicken and Nectarine Poppy Seed Salad

Author: Pinch of Yum Serves: 4

 

Ingredients

• 2 large chicken breasts (plus salt, pepper, olive oil for seasoning)
• 1 cup blueberries
• 2 ripe nectarines
• 6-8 cups baby spinach
• ¼ cup chopped toasted almonds
• homemade poppy seed dressing (or store-bought)

Instructions

1. Sprinkle the chicken with salt, pepper, olive oil, and any other seasonings you like. I happened to have a random raspberry chipotle seasoning blend in my cupboard, so I rubbed a little bit into the chicken breasts before grilling – it was SO good! Just use whatever seasonings you like and/or have on hand to give the chicken a little extra flavor.
2. Grill the chicken – I used my panini press to get those really nice browned lines. It worked like a charm. Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces or strips.
3. Assemble individual salads or toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Top with poppy seed dressing.

Try it out. See what you think

 

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