Worst Food Ever

I'm back on my diet and exercise regimen after falling off the wagon last October. Sadly I've gained back the few pounds I lost last spring, and if I don't get busy being healthy again I will have to buy a new summer wardrobe in a larger size. No thanks.

I do think 25 years of on and off smoking whacked out my metabolism, so combined with my age, this equates to very little food for me and daily exercise just to lose a pound or two a week. Fortunately I don't smoke anymore, but all the weight I gained after I quit over 2 years ago remains a stubborn problem area for me. I get so tired of trying to come up with healthy and tasty food. They should be a package deal in my opinion. I'm tired of "grilled this or that" with a salad or steamed broccoli....again. I need some fresh ideas. Unfortunately I won't find them here:


Sonic Minute Maid Cranberry Juice Slush (“Route 44”–extra large)
616 calories
165 g sugars


Taco Bell Grilled Stuffed Beef Burrito
680 calories
30 g fat (10 g saturated fat)
2,120 mg sodium

McDonald's Large Triple Thick Chocolate Milkshake
1,160 calories
27 g fat (16 g saturated fat)
168 g sugar
510 mg sodium


P.F. Changs Wonton Soup Bowl
693 calories
24 g fat (3 g saturated)
5,328 mg sodium
49 g carbs


Red Lobster Seafood Shrimp Trio
1,030 calories
58 g fat (13 g saturated)
3,490 mg sodium


IHOP Garden Omelet
1,150 calories


Ruby Tuesday Avocado Turkey Burger
1,088 calories
63 g fat
62 g carbs


Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll
813 calories
32 g fat (5 g trans fat)
117 g carbs


Dairy Queen Large Strawberry CheeseQuake Blizzard
990 calories
39 g fat (24 g saturated fat)
114 g sugars


Dunkin' Donuts Reduced Fat Blueberry Muffin
450 Calories


Macaroni Grill Spaghetti & Meatballs with Tomato Basil Sauce
1,500 Calories



Coldstone Creamery Small Shakes (all)
Min. 1,000 Calories
Min 92 grams of sugar
1.5 grams of transfat
Large shakes have nearly double the calories.

Chevy Chase Has Got To Go

I think I've mentioned before that I do Taebo workouts as my main form of exercise. The music, if you can call it that, is awful on the videos, so I mute it and create a play list on my MP3 player and listen to that instead. I recently created a new play list, 'cause I get tired of the same 'ole thing all the time. My new playlist has the song, "You Can Call Me Al" by Paul Simon. Every day when I get to that song I'm immediately conjuring up images of the 1986 music video of Paul Simon and Chevy Chase, who lip syncs the entire song. Sort of a strange thing to think about when you're exercising, maybe even a little distracting. I found the same problem when I had the song, "Savin' Me" by Nickelback - kept thinking of the video while working out. I think I need to avoid watching any sort of music video of songs I might want to have on an exercise play list.

Because I don't want to be alone in my imagination, I'm going to share the imagery of Chevy Chase with you (tip: First hit the stop button on the play list off to your right). While you're doing that, I'm off to create a new play list.

The VCR Ate My Tae Bo Tape

I started doing Tae Bo last year, and I actually enjoy doing it. I can do it early in the morning while the kids are sleeping, and most importantly, I don't have to leave the house to do it. I started out with Tae Bo Basic, a 25 minute workout. After a couple months of doing that, I added on the 8 minute work out(like 8 minutes of the advanced workout) to give my basic workout a boost. I knew I was avoiding the advanced workout (like the plague). A couple months ago I thought I was finally "up for it" because even the basic plus 8 minute work out was starting to get old; even though I'd be sweating, I felt like I could work out longer. So I popped in the advanced tape to just take a peek at what it was all about. Oh. My. It's 55+ minutes of bodily punishment is what it is. I quickly popped that baby out of the VCR and returned it to it's place on the shelf, and continued on with my Basic plus 8, thank you very much.

Well about 10 days ago I got up early to do my work out and popped the tape into the VCR like I always do while I'm busily putting on my MP3 player (I mute these videos and listen to my own music. The music in exercise tapes is lame at best.) The VCR started making some interesting noises, and I thought that maybe I had forgotten to rewind it, so I went to pop it out to check, but it wouldn't come out. The VCR was eating the tape! It wouldn't give it up, so I unplugged it and did weights instead. Not the work out I had prepared myself for, but it was better than nothing.

Fortunately Mike was able to extract the tape from the VCR, and the VCR is fine; it was just the tape that had finally wore out. Last night I finally got around to ordering a new Tae Bo workout (DVD, lol), but meanwhile, I need to still get in some exercise. It's in the 90's right now with a heat index over a 100, so outside activities are a no-go for this woman. I'm a wimp; pool or lake is the only thing I'll consider doing outside in this heat. So I looked over at the entertainment center and saw that Advanced Tae Bo tape staring me down, daring me to try it. Well, what have I got to lose while I wait on the new work outs to arrive, I thought? For anyone who's done the Advanced workout, you'll know what I mean when I ask, "Where's the warm-up?" Good grief, the man takes about 30 seconds to give me whip-lash, and BAM! You're doing kick boxing with all your might! I told myself before starting that I would hang in there for at least 20 minutes. I'm proud to say I made it 28 minutes. I was dripping sweat (perspiring is not an adequate adjective here), thighs were burning (they're still feeling it 4+ hours later), but I made it half way through! And I guess I'll keep trying to beat that time till my Get Ripped DVDs show up in the mail.

If you're patient (and interested) enough, wait to see what the 8 minute workout is all about (the 8 minute workout is like doing 8 minutes of the ADVANCED workout, so you can understand that making it 28 minutes is no easy feat and why I'm thoroughly impressed with my sorry self.)