What’s cookin’?
 I gotta come clean: I’ve been in a cooking rut for a while now. Oh sure, I cook pretty healthy meals and snacks for my family and myself, but my repertoire of recipes has started to seem ho hum lately.
Typically we start eating heavier dishes in the colder months – often with more calories. But I don’t want to fall into that trap. In the eight years since my weight loss journey began I’ve learned that food can be extremely satisfying and still be healthy. So to keep things fresh, healthy and satisfying I decided to take a cooking class to spice things up a bit. A local natural food market near me offers a wide variety of cooking classes that run the gamut from standards (yeast breads and knife skills classes) to “food as medicine” classes with titles as intriguing as “Healing Your Gut,” “Anti-Inflammatory Eating” and “Good Mood Foods.” I browsed the brochure like a kid looking through a toy catalog. My mouth watered when I read the description of a class called “The Portuguese Table.” Our culinary travel plan is to start with a sardine and cracker appetizer, followed by Caldo Verde (Potato and Kale Soup topped with Chorizo), and finally Arroz Doce (Creamy Portuguese Sweet Rice with Cinnamon). Wowzers! I signed up on the spot. There’s nothing like a little culinary adventure to get us out of a cooking rut! It may seem counterintuitive, but I’ve learned that I get so much pleasure out of really high-quality food that I need significantly less of it. So here’s to high-quality food, culinary adventure and living every moment (and every bite!) to the fullest! Have a happy, healthy week! -Marilyn PS: The dish in the photo above is Shakshuka, believed to have originated in Tunisia. It’s a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers, and onions, often spiced with cumin. It looks positively fab and I plan to make it as soon as possible! Here’s the recipe if you’re interested.
|
 Book Excerpt: Chapter Four “Digging Out of Emotional Eating and Reclaiming Ourselves”When I look at this book in its entirety, it strikes me how every single strategy I’ve learned—really, every single point I make— is about putting yourself… |
 Media Interview: Barb Adams “Amerika Now Radio”On September 12, 2015 I had the pleasure of talking with radio personality and truth seeker, Barb Adams. Listen in as Barb and I discuss how healthy living is… |
 12-minute workout that will rock your world!A friend shared a recent New York Times article about an interval workout I’d never heard of before. The article cites a study that followed runners who improved… |
 Podcast: Decoding the mystery of yogaThere’s a special place in heaven for yoga teachers, in my opinion. Roll out your mat and listen in as I talk to one of my favorite yoga teachers about some of… |
What Clients Are Saying
Just here doing my thing: personal training, weight loss coaching, mindset coaching. Message me or comment below if I can help you find your inner badass. Link in bio. #personaltrainer #fitness #fitnessover50 #weightlosscoach #mindsetcoach #badasscoach
I’ve been experiencing foot pain recently—and I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me to turn my shoes over to look at the tread!!! When I did, I was horrified. No wonder I was having foot pain; my tread was worn thin. Yikes!!! And now tomorrow’s run gets a brand new pair of (my favorite!) @brooksrunning shoes! 🏃🏼♀️💜👊🏼 #runhappy #running #runningshoes #newshoes #mindthetread #personaltrainer #fitnessover50
Bottoming out is a good thing … the only place you can go is up! 🍑 💫 #rockbottom #personaltrainer #glutes #legday #neverskiplegday #gogetit
How believable are the numbers you see on cardio machines??
In a word (okay, two words), not very!
BUT WAIT!! There is a way to improve the accuracy and trust the numbers from one workout to the next.
How??
I’m so glad you asked! 😂
Use the same machine each time you workout. That is, try to use the same treadmill, the same elliptical, or in my case today, the same blasted stair stepper that I used last week.
Why? Because they’re notoriously wrong. But even more so if you’re using the machine on the end one day and the sixth one down the next time. These machines get A LOT of use, and the don’t get calibrated often (or ever!), so the numbers aren’t particularly reliable.
But using the same machine each time at least allows you to assume that the numbers from that machine will give you a reasonably accurate, apples-to-apples comparison from one workout to the next.
So, last time I tortured myself on this exact stair stepper I did 99 floors in 30 minutes, today I did 101. Progress! 👊🏼💖 #personaltrainer #gymtips #cardio #healthylifecoach
