Mind Games: Where the Brain Goes While Working Out

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Kelli

I enjoy working out. It’s become a little hobby of mine. Knitting and scrapbooking make me feel like there’s a fork poking me in the eye, but to each his own and I’m happy I found something I like! BUT, there are times when I’m in the middle of “5 rounds of x amount of these five exercises” and I’m sweating and my legs are about to give out and I’m like, oh my word, I just want iced tea and I want to QUIT! Here are my tricks to Gettin’ It Done:

1 – Think things like, “No blood pressure meds, no blood pressure meds” and keep going, knowing that I’m changing my health for the better. Just a reminder, the reason I am trying really hard to be consistent in working out is because just a couple years ago, my doctor said we might have to up my bp meds (I was already on two). I’m not on any now. And my mind made the switch to realizing that what I eat and DO affects my health. It’s not vanity, it’s not stupid, it’s changing my health.

2 – Start counting. I literally just blank out the mind and start counting. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5… Depending on my mood, sometimes I think it’s funny to keep tempo with the dance music that’s playing (at the kettlebell place – I would never choose dance music, trust me.), other times, I get totally annoyed and angry when I realize I can’t stop working out to tempo. This might be more because I am a piano player and have played music all my life, but I cannot ignore the music in the background. Yesterday, in fact, I literally stopped working out when a remix of that stupid song “Friday, Friday” came on. My friend is the leader of that class, so I made a face at her until she changed it… ha.

3 – Once? There was a guy who walked into the gym like he owned the place and I was like, dude, you are going DOWN. When she said the men could use two kettlebells and the women could opt to use only one, I picked up two. I picked up the same weight he did and started the 8 minute cycle of exercise we were doing. Guess who faltered first? That’s right… him. Take that, mister. If I’m with a friend who isn’t competitive, I don’t compete, because I’m nice (and I’m not always in this super freak mode). But if I know I’m with ~~my brother~~ someone who can handle it, I go for it. Compete with others and don’t let them win.

4 – Once? No… A zillion times? I was alone when working out. Those are actually the hardest, because you are on your own for motivation! yikes. Then, I compete with myself. I tell myself mean things like, “you’re a loser if you stop before 20 minutes is up.” Or “You don’t deserve nice things in life because you totally quit before P90X Tony did.”

5 – I make lists and goals and cross things off. It motivates. During the workout, I envision myself putting a gold star on my chart. Lame, but it works.

6 – I text my cousin. “I worked out!!!” Checking in with others makes me motivated. I tell Trainer Friend about what I did against Mr Jerk (see #3) and share in my little victory. Knowing I get to tell her I finished helps!

7 – When worse comes to worse, I just stare at my water bottle, which I place strategically right in front of me. “Finish this, you get water.” The brain clears out. Focus on the water. Get… that…. water.

7 – But mostly, I just do it. The health and energy and the actual enjoyment of it is all worth it in the end.

Are you a competitive person? How do you motivate yourself?

Cubs Game

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Kelli

A couple weeks ago I announced to my husband we were going to a Cubs game for our anniversary. Since we only go about once every 4 or 5 years, I spend the money to get good seats – the ones we got were about 13 rows behind home plate. It was chilly and while I had thought to wear a sweatshirt, I also had thought to wear shorts and flip flops. Guess who owns a Cubs blanket now, courtesy of her awesome husband?? heh, heh.

The game wasn’t totally exciting. One bad send by the third base coach pretty much ruined the Cubs chance of tying it… and they lost 3-2. But we had a great time at the game because the other awesome bonus of this game was that there was nobody sitting around us – we had one or two seats on every side. Oh, I love that. Usually I’m all excited to get out of the house and have some time not worrying about kids and stuff? And the Universe sits me by some two-year-old who bangs his sippy cup on the back of my seat the ENTIRE time. Annoying.

Points if you can tell me who Henry Melton is without Google telling you! He threw out the first pitch and I decided I was fan based entirely on the fact that 1) he had an adorable baby and 2) his wife and mother (I’m guessing…) were there and I liked how he talked to them and seemed like an affable fellow. I love the word affable. And affable he was.

Why does Husband leave me alone with a camera? Cuz this is what happens: I take lots of pictures of my current Cub crush. (Note: He has not replaced Mark DeRosa or Reed Johnson in my Cub heart.) (Bonus Round – can you name Kelli’s Original Cub Crush??) (Reeeeeed! Miss you. I had hoped we’d all be friends.) This is my current crush: David DeJesus. He is the current lead-off hitter… he’s good in this spot because he takes his time and makes the pitcher actually make some pitches. Points if you can tell me WHY this is important as a lead-off hitter? Because in the not-too-distant past, the stupid Cub lead-off hitter didn’t even know this!!!! Annoying.

DSCN1714 DSCN1701

All in all, a GREAT day downtown with my Husband. We drove down and parked, but then took the red line to the park. After the game, we walked about a block to the Goose Island Brewery, where I sampled their pub chips recommended by a friend. They were good! Then we took the red line back downtown and stopped at a store we like and then walked to Rick Bayless’ restaurant, Xoco, where I was sooooo excited to try the churros and Aztec chocolate. So good. All three of his restaurants are together – be sure to try one or all sometime! Delicious! BONUS BONUS ROUND: Can you tell me who Rick Bayless’ sport biz brother is?

Gardening for SAS*

Posted on May 18, 2013 by Kelli

(* SAS stands for Short Attention Span)

Today’s wrap-up for the Week o’ Me involves the fact that I picked my first batch of spinach and lettuce from my garden this morning. What could be healthier eating than that?? *wink*

My dad had a green thumb. When I was younger, I remember him having pretty amazing gardens and there were always plants in the house, too. He and I were actually pretty good at growing African Violets and for some reason, the fact that my violets stay in bloom pretty much year round, is a thing of pride for me. It’s too bad having the laundry done isn’t a thing of pride with me…. but I digress. (This is what’s in front of my front window. African violets and two Christmas cactus plants – grown from a sad looking plant I rescued for 25 cents)

So, a few years ago, I insisted we build a raised garden in our backyard. A couple years later, we expanded it and doubled it in size. It’s still not huge, but it’s just big enough for 1) my gardening talents and 2) my short attention span.

My experience in growing veggies was pretty limited, because even if your amazing dad has amazing gardening talents, you still make yourself VERY very interested in something inside the house when he is out weeding. (Although trust me, I served my time. Oh, I have stories.)

(week 3ish after planting)

So to get my new garden going, I just experimented. Because I feel like that’s the way to learn to do anything: Just jump in and try it. And because my SAS gets too bogged down with details. So, meh, just try it! I got tomatoes and cucumbers and green peppers. When something went wrong with them that year, I asked my gardening mother-in-law for tips and I also used a little something I like to call Google. All the answers in the world are right there for you. And problems were solved and food was grown. And eaten.

(week 4 or 5 after planting)

Since then, my gardening repertoire has grown to include early spring veggies like green peas and spinach and butter lettuce. (Plant after first frost – which is around mid/late March here) I actually have kept track this year (just for fun): It took me and my boy ten minutes to plant the rows of seeds. I’ve been out there maybe three times a week, weeding and watching over my little cute plants and talking to them… I mean, uh, who would talk to spinach?? Not me…. ahem. Anyway, I spend maybe 5-10 minutes each time. A time investment of maybe an hour and voila: look what happened today: I got a little harvest! I’m encouraging you that after the initial setup of the garden, it does NOT take a lot of work to grow a garden. And this year, I’ve spent maybe a total of $10 so far. Go, Fight, Win! You can do it! There is NOTHING in this world better than tasting some of your fresh grown spinach.

(this morning – probably planted about 6 weeks ago)

New to gardening? Try tomatoes in a container on the patio (just be sure to water frequently. Herbs are another great thing to start out with – basil is a favorite of mine. Add it to loads of things when you’re cooking and yum….

(first harvest of the year!)

Are you a gardener newbie? Or are you an ol’ pro? What do you grow?

Errand Boy

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Kelli

Yesterday’s wrap-up:

Workout: It was kettlebell bootcamp day and currently their theme is Superheroes – so yesterday’s was Spiderman. It involved wall climbs, Spiderman pushups, inch worms, burpees, 360jump squats, and pushups with crunches on the TRX system thingies which I never know what to call them exactly… but they’re tough. At the very end we had to do two rounds which included 2 handed heavy heavy swings – this was basically use the heaviest bell you could and swing! I managed to use a 28 kg (62 lb) bell.

Food: Breakfast was a Zone bar before class (finding that’s the only thing I can handle that early in the morning as I prepare to go die of workoutitis), then 3 eggs and avocado. Lunch was a Protein Berry Workout Smoothie from Jamba Juice (Whey protein included, 390 calories). Dinner was steak and green beans and my final snack of the day was string cheese and almonds. Grade for my day is B+.

Mainly yesterday also included a marathon shopping trip with my 9 year old son. We had a good time. The discussions we get into are amazingly diverse: books, spiders, the girl he’s going to marry, how uncomfortable he feels in Charming Charlie’s. He makes me laugh. We bought my husband this as a surprise:

It’s a hose that expands! As Seen on TV! (yes, it works!

All in all, a good day:

fashion smashion

Posted on May 16, 2013 by Kelli

Today’s Week O’ Me Topic: workout clothes. On the one hand, I don’t care what I look like when I’m working out. On the other hand, I do care what I look like when I’m working out. And then when you’re doing wall climbs – like I did this morning -you would really appreciate it if that shirt stayed in place.

So here are my Rules All My Workout Clothes Must Follow:

- You must not bother me on my arms when I am working out. I HATE the feeling of clothes on my upper arms when I am trying to lift weights. Personal preference. But a firm preference. Therefore, I tend to dress in tank tops. This one is going to come home with me today:

Here’s where to get it. (Old Navy $12.94).

-You must last. I workout 5-6 days a week. I also never ever ever in my whole entire life would ever dream of not washing my workout clothes between workouts. So that means my workout clothes go through a lot of washing. And if I’m going to dole out money for you? You better last. That’s why for pants, I tend to buy from Athleta – they are a sister company of Gap. And, yes, their pants are more expensive. But I save up my points, watch for end of season sales and usually can buy them around $40. Their lengths are perfect for my height (5’7″) and they fit great – tight (again, you don’t want the legs riding up when you’re doing handstand/jumping/etc), but not super super tight. I love the capris the best. Here’s an example:

Here’s where to find them.

-You must be cute. Yep. It’s true. There is a certain level of “presentable” that goes into dressing for a workout. I mean, come on, there you are all sweaty and redfaced, why not make yourself at least feel presentable? I clean my table off before dinner… I scrubbed my kitchen floor yesterday… I like things to look neat and put together. Why not treat myself the same way? So, go for cute (and try to ignore the giant sweat stain…). Here are some ideas:

I have this in black/grey striped and love it – because see that little tie down there? Tie it up! It doesn’t fly up when you’re doing pushups or burpees or puking in the toilet – wait, what? Just kidding. You’d never puke after a workout. Here’s where to get it.

Old Navy version for much less money HERE(which I have a version of and love):

I can’t find an example online, but Target also sometimes has good compression fit tops -which I love because they never ride up and they give good support. Look for these on sale!

-I would do all my workouts barefoot if I could. (I hate shoes) So when I do have to wear them, I like shoes to fit comfortably! Take time to shop in-store for good fit. You’re going to be jumping around, running around, walking…. whatever you’re doing, find a good fit! And remember, thinner soles are better. These are my current shoes which you can find HERE (and use those $10 off coupons!!):

Wrap Up: I spend money on workout clothes. Yes, indeed. So when I have more money to spend, I buy from Athleta. Other options include Title Nine and Reebok.

I also look for deals. Most of my deals are found at Target (they sell C9 by Champion for men and women – and last pretty well) and Old Navy. Gap also sells a version called GapFit – I find these pants to be too short, but do own some shorts they had for a while. This is a place to wait for end of season sales. I have bought workout clothes for around $10-$15 and been happy with them.

Kohl’s also sells workout clothes and they sell larger sized, looser tops.

How about you? Got any tips on where to find good, comfy workout clothes? Do you have workout clothes rules, or is that just me?

_________________________________________________________________________

To keep with the plan of telling you what I ate this week and what I did for workout, here’s Wednesday’s wrap-up:

Workout: I didn’t. The end. It was my rest day! My body recovered from two days of tough workouts. It was happy.

Food: Since it was a rest day, I avoided carbs. Breakfast was eggs. Snack was banana (yes, some carbs, but I eat one a day for blood pressure reasons) and almond butter. Lunch was a delicioso salad of shrimp and spinach and mushrooms. (wait, that sounds weird. but it was good!) I use a little Panera Balsamic Vinaigrette. Dinner was Jimmy John’s sub (with a little bread. Therein lies my carb sin.), with turkey, guacamole, lettuce, cucumber, bacon and tomato.

Wednesday is Food Day!

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Kelli

Week o’ Me Tuesday Wrap-up:
Tuesday’s Food included: oatmeal from Starbucks, leftover chicken and half of a chopped salad; grilled salmon (my first time grilling salmon!), sweet potato and some corn; strawberries and whipped cream because my daughter made dessert for us. Yum. If you’re judging, no, that is not a great day of eating – I’d give it a C+

Tuesday’s Workout: Kettlebell class. 8 am class taught by my friend, Ashley. The warm up was: 20 bodyweight squats; 100x jumping jacks; 60x kb swings; something else…and 10x pull-ups (assisted). The workout itself included three rounds of three exercises (10x window wipers; 60x mountain climbers r/l and 60x prison squats) and then on to 5 rounds of a series: 10x kb cleans; 10x kb one-armed swings; 10x tuck jumps; 10x jungle gym (basically bands hanging from ceiling) rows; 10x handstand pushups (modified by feet on box – NOT a full handstand – as if!); 10x pullups.

Good workout!

On to Wednesday’s Topic: I love waking up to a meal plan delivered to my email!

Emeals is a menu planning service online. You pay for a subscription (anywhere from $7-$5 a month, depending on length of subscription), choose the number of people you’re feeding and pick a plan. And there’s lots of plans to choose from – Paleo, Clean Eating, Slow Cooker, Low Carb, Classic, Gluten Free, etc. You can even just choose “Aldi” or whatever store you frequently shop at. You get 7 simple recipes and directions for how to make them – and then a shopping list that breaks it down into categories for quick and easy grocery shopping!

Awesome idea – easy to implement – and here’s how I adapt it to my life:

I don’t use it! Well, sort of I do and sort of I don’t. Here’s what I do: I print out the meal ideas and the shopping list and stick them in a binder. Then I go through and pick out meals I’d like to try and write up my shopping list from that. I am making it way harder than it has to be – only because my family won’t like some of the recipes they suggest, sometimes I prefer to use a healthy dinner idea for my lunch and have leftovers for myself for a couple lunches a week and because I actually like to cook and have quite a few go-to meals I’d miss making if I did exactly as they planned.

But that’s me. And I love having a binder full of ideas to try. And have always been a fan of Emeals. There’s a Swiss Chicken recipe I have from them that has become a family staple. Good stuff.

I highly recommend their service and you can sign up here: (this is my referral link)

A Day in the Life

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Kelli

So basically for Monday, I just carried my phone with me everywhere I went and snapped shots of everything I ate and what I did. I thought I’d give an example of what I typically eat. The only different thing was that I had a dessert (which I try to make a rare-ish occasion), which I will show you below. Otherwise, I try to stick to protein, veggies and nuts.

This is my breakfast, which I ate at about 11 am. I include the first picture, because after I made my eggs, I realized what exactly was sitting on my counter – leftover Giordano’s and cupcakes leftover from Mother’s Day. I don’t even like cake, but when it’s sitting there next to your scrambled eggs? Oh, bless their little hearts, I want to eat them right up.

But instead, I ate about a cup and a half of broccoli and three eggs, scrambled.
oh, yum <—sarcasm.

I taught my three kids in the morning, and then a friend stopped by. And by that time, it was time to leave for the gym – so I had a quick snack of a banana and 2 Tablespoons of almond butter.

On Mondays, I workout with my personal trainer at his gym. He’s really a good friend in real life, which I’m not sure if that makes it harder to listen to him tell me what to do or not…. Anyway, we discussed every topic under the sun while I worked out outside under the sun (ha! see what I did there?) – some tricep dips, some step-ups onto a bench, a little running, sprinting up a little incline, lunges, crunches etc. The last half of the workout was inside – chest presses and deadlifts and bicep curls and, I don’t know… just stuff.

After my workout I had this. Yum. I get them at Costco.

And then, to motivate myself to go grocery shopping, I treated myself to an (unsweetened!) iced tea from Portillo’s. Double yum.

I was raised to dress properly when grocery shopping. It took me a long time to allow myself to enter a store dressed in workout clothes and not looking particularly uh… cute… after a workout. But now I do it. Because I don’t even care anymore. And on the days I don’t care anymore? Oh, for sure, I see someone I know. That’s just the Law of Fashion, man.

My son was my sous chef. This picture pretty much describes the fun that is.

Dinner was this really good paleo recipe for Mustard Glazed Chicken Thighs. I love it and always make enough for leftovers to eat cold for lunch the next day. I also ate half of a Portillo’s chopped salad. I made rice and green beans for the family as their sides to the chicken.

My treadmill died about two weeks ago and we have been dreading carrying that beast up the stairs and out for the garbage. My husband broke it up into two pieces. The first piece – the belt and motor – was sooooo heavy. There was a moment on the steps when I was sure that thing was going to slip back and kill me. And death by treadmill is NOT how I want to go. And that would be typical of me – to not die from running on the treadmill, no, no, die by getting flattened by it. Horrible! Getting that thing out of our house was a workout in itself. I have no idea how we did that. I also have no idea how we didn’t fight while doing this stupid task. Yay, marriage win! (Our hoarder of a neighbor had it in his garage within about twenty minutes.)

In the evening, I watched the Cubs and enjoyed one of my friend’s delicious chocolate filled croissants – oh, it was such a treat for her to stop by and drop them off. And I made myself only have one. I… I wish I could give you all one, because they were crazy good!

I’m not much of a calorie counter, but if you’re keeping tabs, I believe I was around 1700 for the day. Plus a good circuit workout. (And a “move the beast out of the basement” special bonus workout!)

And that’s a day in the life of moi!

Monday Morning

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Kelli

I, of course, enjoyed watching the Mayweather vs Guerrero fight – Mayweather had it all under control, but Guerrero was pretty cool sticking with it and not giving up. It would be nice if I liked Mayweather as a person, because he is an amazing boxer. (After the fight, I looked up old footage of Frazier vs Ali… so awesome.)

Much was made about Guerrero’s faith prior to the fight (friends told me they heard him interviewed on KLOVE) and after the fight. That’s all well and good, and good for him for taking airtime – which most athletes spend discussing themselves – and talking about faith. My only thing is… maybe, just maybe, if you’re going to be giving all the praise to Jesus and so forth? Maybe shut your loud mouth jerk of a dad up who is literally standing right behind you being a total bad word of a person. It just seemed a little incongruous.

I can’t believe I just used the word incongruous on a Monday morning. Ugh. So this week on the blog? Is going to be about me. Oh, yes, indeed! Me, me, me. I’m going to update you about what I’m eating lately and what I’m doing for workouts. Just because maybe it will give you ideas as to what you could look into for food ideas or workout ideas. Summer’s coming up and I always feel a burst of energy looking forward to these coming months. Opens up a whole new realm of possibilities for working out and grilling out!

Are you so excited about a week of me? I am!

Boxing Distraction

Posted on May 10, 2013 by Kelli

It’s Friday. Which means it’s been exactly SIX days since I’ve read my favorite sports sites on the Internetz. It’s been a very un-fun week. I’m left with two fashion blogs, one craft blog (I don’t even craft) and People.com. There’s probably all sorts of Best Trick Shot You’ll Ever See!!! videos and posts out there that I haven’t even seen now! Maddening.

I’m avoiding sport sites because last Saturday was the awesome fight between “I Beat People Up Even Outside of the Ring” Mayweather and “Oops! Is Carrying Guns on Planes Not Allowed, Say What?” Guerrero. I still don’t know the results. I intend to keep it that way until tomorrow night when Showtime re-airs it.

Pathetic steps I took this week to make sure I didn’t see the results:

- Made my husband google when the fight would re-air.
-Blocked Showtime Boxing from my Facebook feed.
-Watched no sports television and read no sports blogs or sites this week.
-Texted my husband about three more times to doublecheck when the fight would re-air.
-Preempted every conversation with fellow boxing fans with, “Don’t tell me who won!!”
-Texted husband again, just to make super super sure when the fight was re-airing. Got this back:

Boxing has clearly become my latest obsession. I’ve always liked it – as I discussed in this post – but lately? Obsesssssion. This is being fed by the fact that I -in a fit of winter doldrums – subscribed to basically every channel on the planet, which means I now can watch boxing on HBO and Showtime. It’s also being fed by my friend who is a trainer, who knows I like boxing and let me put on the gloves. I loved trying it and was super proud of the fact that doing this messed up my manicure. I mean, what mom wouldn’t wear that as a badge of pride. “Oh, this? That nail is messed up because I was throwing some punches. Yeah, no biggie.”

Tonight I get to go see a musical in downtown Chicago. I’ll be all presentably dressed up and trying to act all ladylike. Tomorrow I get to spend time with my best friend downtown, eating breakfast al fresco. But then? Saturday night. Me and the telly. Two men enter the ring. One wins. One loses. Both get to throw some punches. Sweet.

Here’s to tomorrow night!

Workout Quiz

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Kelli

OH, I’d love to know your answers to these questions. Will you answer them in the comments or email me at iruinsports@att.net Thank you!

1. Do you actively try to get some workout time during the week? How many times a week and for how long? If you don’t consistently get workout time in, why not?

2. Why do you workout?

3. A certain person I love dearly in my house says working out hard (beyond just walking/staying active) is pointless as it doesn’t add any time to your life. Do you agree or disagree? Discuss.

4. If you’re working out consistently and doing some rawwwwther hard workouts, you’re going to start seeing results on your body – like toning up and muscles. How do you balance taking confidence in how you look and yet not being all wrapped up in wanting to look good? Does it just get weird because it’s a physical thing and we get all weird about that – because, like, if you were a scrapbooker, wouldn’t you want people to say, oh, nice layout? Well… doesn’t that apply to those tough, athletic calves too?

5. Do you follow any sort of diet or eating plan? Or are you more a “Just be balanced and stop freaking out about it” kinda person? Have you ever successfully lost more than 20 pounds? How’d you do it?

6. If you could join in on any professional sport to try it, what sport would it be and why?

7. Do you like my partially albino robin I spotted in my yard yesterday? (And thank you to my awesome fruncle Roger who helped me id it.)

I Ruin Sports

Sports: how they've ruined us and how we've ruined them

Mind Games: Where the Brain Goes While Working Out

Cubs Game

Gardening for SAS*

Errand Boy

fashion smashion

Wednesday is Food Day!

A Day in the Life

Monday Morning

Boxing Distraction

Workout Quiz

Follow “I Ruin Sports”

Go Team!

Like this:

Go Team!

Like this:

Go Team!

Like this:

Go Team!

Like this:

Go Team!

Like this:

Go Team!

Like this:

Go Team!

Like this:

Go Team!

Like this:

Go Team!

Like this:

Go Team!

Like this:

Follow “I Ruin Sports”