I know, I know, it's super good for you, Judi. Blagh! Too strong, too much, enough already. G's son wasn't able to come out for her dinner and I was bummed about that. He travels a lot for work ya see. But lo and behold, who came walking in as we were about to be seated but the great W. himself. I haven't heard her squeal like that ever. Very, very cool.
Then I went to a friends' birthday bash Fri. night. Lots o fun. Met a number of new folks and got to chat with a few others that I knew. I made a corn casserole for that and of course I dropped in a few diced jalapenos. Yum. I just love the extra little kick they give. I grated some cheddar cheese on 1/2 the top only. That way, if they don't want cheese, they needn't eat cheese. HA! see how nice I can be.
I just finished making a lemon meringue pie for sis. She doesn't know it yet. We went to brunch and I was so afraid she'd grab a slice that they had at the restaurant but she didn't. Whew! We had talked about maybe a movie but I think I'm gonna go into a food coma soon. I need to deliver it to her soon, but it has to cool some more 1st.
I'm always scared it won't set. I think I have the meringue down now but the filling can make me crazy. Oh well, whether it does set or not, I know it'll taste great, as pie or soup.
Feels so good to bake again. I feel as though it's been forever since my last endeavor. My kitchen has been a little crazy with the new butcher block counters and lights. I still haven't done the back-splash yet, but soon, Virginia, soon.
Sis' trainings are going well. It's cooled down this last week a little so we've been walking outside instead of her getting on the treadmill.
I had her doing 2 bouts of 15 min. on the treadmill, which is up from the 3 bouts of 10 min. she started with. Sometimes she couldn't even finish the treadmill and we had to switch to a bike to finish.
Now we've got her doing 30 min. outside straight and doing a few stairs too. She doesn't know it yet but she's gonna be doing more stair work soon. More on that later though.
She mentioned that it seemed harder to walk outside than on the treadmill and I told her for her, it was. First of all, she often held on to the handrails, side and front and would close her eyes. Seriously, she would, even when I told her she was losing about 25% of her caloric burn doing that. AND, that she was changing her hip action by holding on. "My back hurts, my knee hurts." Well, duh. There was also the very noticeable sound variance in her foot strike while holding on. Much louder thunking sound. I also mentioned that it was more work for her body to move through space than to step in place and have the belt move for her.
Now, she isn't holding on to anything but her water bottle while walking. It is more work.
Do you hold onto the handrails? If you don't have any balance/gait issues, try not holding on. If you're on an incline and you need to hold on, try lowering your speed some. Make your body do its job! If you lose your balance or concentration, by all means, hold on and then let go when your back in control.
Think of your body like a manual transmission vehicle ( the only kind I like to drive by the way). You can't go uphill in 5th gear, you'll stall out. You need to downshift depending on the elevation or incline you're on. You should be fine up to about 6 or maybe 8% but after that, most folks will need to drop the speed a couple of 10ths per % of incline increase.
Doesn't make you a bad person or lazy, just is.
I told you I'd chat later about about why I'm going to begin adding more stair work to her workouts now. She'd going on a 2 week vacation to Australia with her son, the great W. Yes, I'm green right now.
Anyways, they're going to to a 3-3.5 hour step climb there so she needs to be ready. I think she'll do great now that she's been preparing herself. And they'll be at sea level and we are at around 2600'. That alone will work in her favor. More O2 to breathe in.
Well, it has been quite some time since I wrote on this blog and I apologise for it to you. I've been a little cazy with my kitchen work and my clients but I'm back and ready to continue my chats with you all.
I hope everyone had a fabulous and health holiday season and that we have a splendid 2017.
Peace out and keep dancin'