Green Beans & Working Toward Lean Jeans

Bruno scolded me this morning for eating all the green beans he picked yesterday. Hey, it was only about half a cup. Those garden fresh beans are sweet and delicious. We ate them raw. We've got a lot of cilantro, chives, basil, and more beans to harvest this weekend.

Weight this morning 118 pounds, body fat 22.0 percent.

Yesterday's workouts went as planned despite the fact there was still thick smoke in the air. I did my 30 sets of biceps / triceps / shoulders while watching Wipeout! on TiVo. That show's fun, lot's of action. It has a lot of really challenging obstacle courses and a few of the contestants are very athletic.

I watched part of the San Francisco news this morning (our Reno Fox 11 doesn't have a news crew and broadcasts San Francisco's channel 2 news instead) and the smoke there is even worse than here. Most of it is coming from a fire in Big Sur. The channel 2 anchor warned everyone to try to stay inside and not to exercise. Ha! I pool jogged and swam under a smoke filled sky for the last several days. Guess my lungs are pretty healthy though my throat's still burning.

Not much else going on in Bardelli World. We're looking forward to the weekend and two relaxing days at home. Tonight we'll start our "cheat day" with pizza and wine. Tomorrow I'll eat a few more carbs - just some Orowheat Double Fiber English Muffins with lean meats and veggies for breakfast, lunch, and snacks, then pizza and wine again at dinner. Sunday morning I'm back on plan with another round of low carb. I'll see where I'm at next Friday and adjust my diet accordingly. Saturday will include a pool workout and Sunday will be weight lifting and hit the pool again (it's supposed to get to 97 degrees this weekend).

Today's plan looks like this:

Meal one - 4 ounces grilled salmon, 1 teaspoon butter, 1/2 cup green beans (canned unfortunately), 1 teaspoon walnut oil

Meal two - protein shake, 1/2 cup mixed berries

Meal three - 3 ounces chicken, salad greens, 1 teaspoon flax oil

Meal four - protein shake

Meal five - three slices of pizza, 1/2 bottle of wine

Meal six - optional, if I wake up hungry in the middle of the night I'll have a protein shake

Beverages - 2 cups black coffee, 1 gallon water with lime, 1/2 bottle of merlot

Supplements - same as yesterday

Workout one - Leg Day number two, pretty much a repeat of Tuesday's workout

Workout two 1 hour of pool aerobics / jogging / tag

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Guess What I Bought & Win A Prize

Win a Sealed Denise Austin's Wellness Workout on VHS,
a Sealed Leslie Sansone's Walk Away The Pounds on DVD,
and Sealed Cellulite Get Fit Stay Trim Workout on VHS.
















I'm having too freaky a Friday. I'm in the mood to give something away.

I got up early enough, 6:30 am, but can't seem to find enough time to do everything I need to...people, namely my husband and son, keep throwing new things on my to-do list.

The good news is that I checked my bank balance and gasped. Our tax return was deposited today. Yeah! "Going shopping, I'm going shopping." ...does a little happy dance.

I went online and bought a piece of fitness equipment I've coveted since I first saw one of the first consumer models at (High End Retail Store Name Here.) But the original model sold at a price I'd never pay. I would not pay that much for a vehicle or a horse, for heaven's sake. Keep in mind I'm a cheap son of a shop-a-holic. (Other good news...we got two free pasture gates off of Craig's List today. We're expanding our fenced area in the front yard because of midget marauders but that's another story).

After about a year passed I found an affordable version of this coveted exercise equipment made by a brand I know and trust. Found by accident, this exercise Holy Grail was eligible for a discount I received by email. The online store who had it is one I trust and deal with often, but I held off buying it until I could research the technology to my satisfaction. After the verdict was in, all I could think was "I WANT THAT!"

So when the tax money came I pounced. I got a deal on this with a $200 markdown on the retail price AND I had a 15 percent off coupon AND I got FREE shipping at a retailer that doesn't offer free shipping often. Am I a wheeler-dealer bargain hunting shop-a-holic or what.

Here's the deal. If you read my ramblings this far you qualify to win a prize. IF you can guess what I bought. The prize package is all three of the sealed exercise videos and DVD pictured above. If you win I'll need a mailing address to send them to.

Here's your 10 clues:

Elite

Madonna

Brookstone

Home Shopping Network

Marked Down $200

Vibration

Proform

Jane Fonda

Today Show

Video Demonstration

If nobody guesses the right answer I'll default to saving the prize for another contest. Contest ends as soon as somebody answers correctly by email or commenting or I receive my new equipment and post a review about it.

Use It Or Lose It

I'm too busy using it to do more than a brief update here. Seems the minute Thanksgiving was over I was in the midst of Christmas preparations. Lots of shopping, decorating and list making going on. And I'm excitedly awaiting the December release of Power 90X Plus! I can't wait! Talk about a kid excited about Christmas.

If you're curious about my current nutrition and fitness check out "My Program This Month" on the sidebar. I update it daily. I'm visualizing my muscles growing even as I hang the lights and holly.

I should be updating again soon. We're planning on making a video this weekend.
Happy Holidays, Carol

Use It Or Lose It: Physical Activity In Middle Age

ScienceDaily (Nov. 29, 2007) — Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School in Exeter, UK, have concluded a study that proves a direct link between levels of physical activity in middle age and physical ability later in life -- regardless of body weight.

Dr. Iain Lang headed the research team from the Epidemiology and Public Health Group at the Peninsula Medical School. The team found that middle-aged people who maintained a reasonable level of physical activity were less likely to become unable to walk distances, climb stairs, maintain their sense of balance, stand from a seated position with their arms folded, or sustain their hand grip as they get older.

Research showed that, among men and women aged 50 to 69 years and across all weight ranges, the rate of decreased physical ability later in life was twice as high among those who were less physically active.

The research team studied 8,702 participants in the US Health and Retirement Study and 1,507 people taking part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Each subject was followed for up to six years.

Findings showed that being overweight or obese was associated with an overall increased risk of physical impairment but that, regardless of weight, people who engaged in heavy housework or gardening, who played sport or who had a physically active job, were more likely to remain mobile later in life. Read More.

Quickie Update

Bruno and I at the Nevada Day Parade before the crowd gathered.















Just a quick update. My weight this morning was 114.5 pounds, my body fat is 18.7 percent, and my total body fat is 21.5 pounds. Yeah!

Jerry filming the Nevada Day Parade

















My son's home today with allergies (I think, it might be a cold), a 1 degree fever and a cough. He did the exact same thing last year, was home sick the day before Halloween then managed to go to school for the Halloween carnival. I'm hoping he'll be well enough this year too.

Nevada Day Parade
















Bruno's making Halloween decorations and I'm getting all our store bought decorations out of storage and dusted off. We'll be decorating tomorrow. We started Sunday but it's been raining a lot so we had to put the outdoor stuff on hold. I'll be videotaping Halloween night and hopefully we'll have some fun footage to post.

Now excuse me, I have birthday Belgium chocolates to eat. (I'm doling out three a day to myself at 190 calories a serving). These are the good kind that make your eyes roll back in your head. Oh! Yes!