Happy Halloween!

I promised earlier today on LITE 104.1 that I would post pictures from our Halloween Potluck.  The first one is me as a cowgirl.  The second is my hugely creative friend Calvin as a sock monkey!  This is the same guy that made a complete replica of Floppy as a costume two years ago.  We want to drag him to bars and win money with him, but he won't let us. ;)  The final shot is all but three of the people who dressed up today, missing are Tom Selleck, another cowgirl and a deviled egg.

You can see I have lost weight too!

Calvin is so cool, I want to be him when I don't grow up.

Most of our motley crew.

Bonus picture: My current Facebook profile picture
featuring my very own Obi-Wan Kenobi.
If you are a fan of LOL Cats, you understand the meaning.

Also, I am still working on finding an example of that killer move from Gwyn at the YMCA Healthy Living Center.  Maybe by tomorrow.

Yours in Health,
Kate

Halloween

This is one of those holidays that has everything to do with food. Now, before you say they all do, I have never gotten the urge for miniature candy bars on Presidents Day.

And there it is - miniature candy. By its' very name it sounds harmless, heck it starts with "mini".

However, as I spent most of the past two days reminding myself (as I was constantly plied with candy), it's only a miniature if you eat just one. When you pack along three of its friends, it could just as well be a full size candy bar or bigger.

Example: 1 Baby Ruth Miniature (what I decided to have one of on Beggar's Night): 83 calories, 4 grams of fat. Not bad, certainly better than a full size bar: 275 calories and 13 grams of fat. Or, worse yet, that urge to eat three more, because the first one was "just a taste": 332 calories, 16 grams of fat.

So remember, when I say everything in moderation - one miniature is moderation. Instead savor it and don't invite its friends, the party always gets out of control.

Yours in moderation, Kate

Weekend Wrap-up

I had a very busy weekend.

Friday night I went out to celebrate Halloween for work. I dressed in a costume I created, as autumn. I took a nice brown party dress and put silk fall colored leaves on it and then had a crown of berries and fall foliage woven into my hair. People actually 'got it'. I took a couple of pictures, I will add them as soon as I upload them.

I had to go out for work to search for cavemen to give away tickets to the one-man show, "Defending the Caveman" coming to the Temple for Performing Arts. I found a couple, they were surprised to just randomly win tickets, so that was fun.

I came away with a couple of observations after our outing though. 1. All of those costumes that I thought, "That is so cute, but my body is not ready yet; maybe next year..." LOL. Uh, no. I saw women running around in them and frankly, some of them would have been wearing more if they are just gone out in panties and a bra. I may someday be that comfortable with my body, but I will never be that shameless. By the way, a note to those ladies - if you are dressed as a naughty nurse with your frilly panties sticking out of the back of your dress - do NOT be shocked when men fain illness and beg for your care mercilessly.

Saturday - I started my day at the Farmer's Market. It was very chilly, but then, the last one of the year always is. I did end up with a pastry, but I only ate half of it. I realized all of that sugar and fat just isn't what I need to put in my body. I prefer to 'spend' 300 calories on something else. But the half I had was very yummy. It was a vanilla/almond pastry from Strudel Haus. I highly recommend it as a splurge for you next summer.

I went to the gym after the appearance. I missed out on pilates, so I ran and did some weights instead. Then I went to lunch with my family. I introduced them to Wok in Motion at West Glen Town Center. They got a first hand lesson in healthier food choices when eating out. They even tried one of my favorites, steamed edamame straight from the pods. Protein, fiber, potassium and more, all in little pods.

Sunday - I tried a new class at Fitness World West. It is a core ball workout. You do almost your entire workout with the ball. From abs to hamstring to balance, you include the ball. It was very interesting. It is not, realistically for beginners. But if you have been working out for a while and have trained your abs over the past couple of months, this would be an interesting step up.

After the workout I went to my mom's for Sunday dinner. She made a Cooking Light version of paella. She even hunted down vegan chorizo to cut fat and calories. It was really good, she did a great job.

Well, I am going to go eat dinner now - talapia, broccoli, corn and other veggies.

Yours in fitness, Kate