Workouts - Balance & Spice

The Speedwork That Wasn’t

So, that speed work I wrote about last night?

Not so much.

Workout

After our weights in the morning and a long day, our legs just didn’t have a need for speed.

So, we switched our “long run” and “speed work” this week (same distance) and went for a gorgeous four mile run along the beach.

Sandgate moon

Not a bad view for a nighttime run, right? It was pretty spectacular. Our average pace was 11:00 (20 seconds per mile faster than we were supposed to, but that was mostly because we decided to race the last 10th of a mile. Anthony won by a long shot.)

After our run, we were famished, so head out to the nearby fish and chips place for some grubba.

Dinner

We started with a glass of “champers” for me and a bourbon and coke for Ant. Tres chic, no? Jacob's creek pinot noir

Then, I indulged in half a dozen oysters, partly because they were so fresh, and partly because they were so cheap. They were absolutely delicious – and right from Tasmania, so they’re practically “local.” oysters

Then, in keeping with the Australasian theme, I ordered grilled hoki from New Zealand with a side salad.

It was only ok, though the salad was really good.

After dinner, I still felt famished, so I had a rice cake with some almond butter, and called it a night.

It’s so fun to be house-sitting here – it’s like a free vacation!

QOTD: Have you ever wussed out of a workout? Did you make it up or just skip it?

Filed Under: Balance & Spice, Workouts Tagged With: running

Not Your Grandma’s Meatballs

16 Jan By Kat Reiner Leave a Comment

Because they’re my grandma’s meatballs, of course!

Daily Jab:

Our first full day in Rotunda, Florida started out with a bang and a smile.

Breakfast:

A Real Happy Meal!

Two rice cakes with hummus, and egg whites with a ketchup smile. Because I like it when my food smiles back.

After breakfast, we headed to the local YMCA for my first real workout in a week, and it was FABULOUS. It was also so adorable to work out as a family – all of us did our own thing, but kept meeting up midway and checking in. My workout consisted entirely of moves I wanted to do. I refused to do anything “because I should.” Luckily for me, I really enjoy planks and tough intervals, or it would have been a waste!

Do What I Wanna Workout:

30 minutes elliptical – 2 minute warm-up, 1 minute level 45, 30 seconds level 70
- 2 minute warm-up
- 1 minute level 45 (out of 100)
- 30 seconds level 70
- Repeat for 27 minutes
- 4 minutes at level 45
100 squats (50 with 12 lb bar, 50 with 18 lb bar)
1 minute plank
Reverse crunches (20)
1 minute plank
Reverse crunches (20)
Seated up-right row (60 lbs, 15 reps)
Side lunges (20 lbs, 15 reps each side)
Seated up-right row (65 lbs, 15 reps)
Side lunges (24 lbs., 15 reps each side)
Stretches

To be honest, I could have worked a lot harder and taken less breaks, but it was a fine way to ease back into working out, and work up a solid sweat!

After doing a bit of food shopping (I swear, when Ant and I go food shopping, we think we’re moving into a place permanently – who needs nine bottles of seltzer, I ask you, even if they are on sale?!) and a few random errands, it was time for lunch!

Lunch:

I saved my lobster tail as a treat for today, so I made a massive salad that would have a gazillion dollars in a restaurant, for mere pennies! (Well, less dollars.)

Fresh lobster-tail salad

Into the mix went:

1 lobster tail
Spring lettuce mix
roasted red peppers
cherry tomatoes
cucumbers
a few olives
1 tbsp black bean salsa
1 tbsp hummus

It was creamy, delicious, and filling.

So, after a lot of wheedling and begging, I got my grandma to teach me how to make the meatballs. These are the meatballs I have lusted after since I was about two years old, and what I always ask my grandma to make when she comes to New York or I visit Florida. When I had my wisdom teeth out, she flew up to New York, made a batch of these meatballs, and threw them in the blender. They kept me alive for about a week!

Recipe: Perfect Turkey Meatballs

Grandma’s meatballs are truly perfect – fluffy, light, moist and just so tasty. Although not the potato pancake mix is not marked as gluten free, there are no gluten ingredients. If you are from a place where you can’t find potato pancake mix, you could great some potato and onions, but I can’t guarantee the results.

Meatballs over broccoli

Serves: Makes about 24 large meatballs

Hands-on time: 15 minutes

Cooking-time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:

3 pounds of chopped turkey, divided
3 ounces of potato pancake mix (we used Manischewitz), divided
5 Tbs ketchup, divided
20 shakes of worcestershire sauce
1/2 ice water, divided
1-2 jars tomato sauce (or homemade tomato sauce)*

Make it:

1) Put tomato sauce in a large pot and heat

2) Wash your hands. Grandma says.

3) Put 1.5lbs turkey, 1 oz of potato pancake mix, about 2.5 tbsp. ketchup, 10 shakes of worcestershire sauce, and 1/4 cup ice water in a food processor. Pulse mix for 30 seconds or so, until combined but not over mixed.

4) Spoon into a mixing bowl, and repeat with the second half of ingredients.

5) When all ingredients are mixed, rinse hands with cold water.

6) Make meatballs by using a large spoon to scoop the mixture into your hands, rolling into even balls that are about the size of 2/3rds of a tennis ball.

7) Put into sauce. When all are “balled” cover and cook for an hour or so, until done. Eat hot over pasta or veggies, in a sandwich, or freeze.

*When grandma doesn’t make her own sauce, she uses classico sauce, adds about half a jar’s worth of water, 1/4-1/2 cup dry red wine, and garlic powder. Trust me – red wine makes any boring old jarred sauce so much better.

I hope you enjoy this wonderful recipe as much as I’ve enjoyed it (quite literally for breakfast, lunch, and dinner since I was about 2 years old!) and share it with your family.

Question: What’s your favorite family recipe? Is it sharable?

Filed Under: Food, Recipes, and More!, Travel, Workouts Tagged With: gluten-free, recipes, Travel, workouts

30…60…90…death.

5 Jan By Kat Reiner 2 Comments

I am walking around like a person who has no joints. Simply one bone attached to another bone, with no lubrication for bending or grabbing.

That is how freakin’ sore I am after yesterday’s workout and today’s 30/60/90.

I swear, I dropped a piece of sweet potato while cooking dinner and yelled out from the delicious soreness.

How did I get so sore? What did I do that was so lactic-acid build-up inducing?

I took a 30/60/90 class with my angelic sister.

She's so cute.

We met up at Starbucks before class, and then headed in to Equinox Greenwich (Such a fancy gym – they have Estheticians on call. No joke. After you work out, you can call someone to do your make-up.)

Equinox Greenwich

30/60/90, created and owned by Kristi Molinero, is a combination of cardio, strength training, plyometrics, and static holds that are designed to burn calories, fat, ad increase cardiovascular endurance and strength. It’s a group fitness version of a H.I.I.T workout, and certainly lived up to the high intensity name.

We “rocked up” to class (<—- Australian expression) at 11:00 for the first half-hour, which was solely core. It was basically a pilates mat class, and it was quite challenging, but nothing revolutionary. The 30/60/90 class itself, however, was another story.

I snapped this at the end of class, so this in no way reflects how freakin' hard the class was

From 11:30 to 12:15, I have not sweated, panted, or smiled as much in a long time. The class was basically a series of plyometric moves combined with repetative strength exercises without breaks or pauses. The moves, while basic, include so much changing and jumping that they stay exciting, fun, and exhillarating. Jumping lunges, squats, and my favorites, chattarunga burpees, I certainly felt the burn! (And the shaky limbs, and the sweat dripping in places I didn’t know had sweat glands.) I highly recommend this class at an Equinox near you.

For a quick snack, I grabbed vegan sushi from the Equinox cafe that was quite yummy. Made of carrots, red peppers, seaweed, and cashew paste instead of rice, it was delicious, though not quite filling enough considering the intensity of the class.

Vegan sushi

An hour later, I was still downtown and famished, so grabbed some more sushi from a nearby place called Myagi with a good lunch special. Ever had burdock root sushi? It’s neat. I also had a yellow tail jalepeno roll that was scrumptious.

Sushi from Myagi

All in all, a great day!

Filed Under: Balance & Spice, Food, Recipes, and More!, Life in NYC, Workouts Tagged With: sushi, workout

Attune Yourself

5 Jan By Kat Reiner Leave a Comment

Daily Jab:

After teaching a yoga student this morning, I’m headed off to 30/60/90 with my sister.

30/60/90 is an intense cardio interval workout that my sister raves about, so I can’t wait to sweat it up with Alysia!

I knew I needed to fuel myself for the workout, so I made a breakfast that rocked my socks.

I made a bowl of frozen cherries with greek yogurt, topped with Erewhon corn flakes. The wonderful people at Attune contacted me to review their Uncle Sam’s cereal. Unfortunately, as I’m gluten intolerant and don’t eat sugar, I had to turn them down. Instead of taking no for an answer, Annelies at Attune wrote me to tell me about their gluten-free, unsweetened, organic, non-GMO corn flakes with the following ingredients list: Corn, salt.

I am actually not a big cereal fan. I generally believe in big bang for the caloric buck, in terms of nutrition. I like a lot of protein, fiber, and nutrients in each meal, and cereal doesn’t usually make the cut. However, because Annelies was so lovely and eager to educate me on the virtues of the cereal, I made an exception.

Wow, am I glad I did. These corn flakes were easily the best cereal I’ve had since I was a kid (and the cereal then was the super-sugary, so-bad-it’s-good kind.) Anthony, who has a much stronger sweet tooth than I do, also deeply enjoying it, proclaiming it “crispy and light.” The flakes were crispy, firm, flavorful, and actually tasted like corn!

I also really appreciate that Attune foods doesn’t only want to feed you, they want to educate you. Instead of a simple “gluten-free” label, on the back of the box is a description of celiacs disease and what the dietary requirements are. As a gluten-allergic person who realizes that my gluten allergy has nothing to do with having an “iron stomach” or not, I really appreciate Attune taking a step to do the work for me, and letting consumers know more about Celiacs disease.

All in all, I highly recommend Erewhon’s corn flakes for a treat. I haven’t changed my mind about cereal, but if I’m going to give in to a bowl, these corn flakes are the one’s I’d have.

Disclaimer: Attune foods contacted me to review their cereal. I was not compensated for the review, but was provided with the box of cereal. All the opinions are my own. (And Anthony’s, of course!)

Filed Under: Balance & Spice, Food, Recipes, and More!, Workouts Tagged With: breakfast, gluten-free, NYC, reviews, snacks, workouts

You Can’t Solve the Worlds Problems

5 Jan By Kat Reiner Leave a Comment

Daily Jab:

Woofty, what a morning!

Screen shot 2012-01-04 at 9.35.20 AM.png

Um...that should be illegal.

In case you are from Australia and have never experienced -9 degrees Celsius, let’s just say…it’s uncomfortable. As in, feels like your lips will burn off your face from the bitterness of the air uncomfortable. It’s a day to stay bundled up, sipping a hot tea, and watching movies.

Luckily, Ant and I got our workout in early this morning, so we get to spend most of the day doing just that.

Since our flight home, I’ve had an awful stitch in my right side that just won’t go away. While it’s not getting worse, for some reason, this morning, it made cardio feel unbearable, so I just did around 10 minutes, and then rocked a PBfingers inspired leg workout.

Workout of the Day:

5 minutes walking (4.5mph)
2 minutes elliptical
3 minutes walking (yah, fabulous cardio workout. I know.)
100 squats (bodyweight)
3 sets of the following:
- One-legged leg press (70/85/100lbs per leg)
- Deadlifts (50 lbs)
- Lunges (30 lbs)
- Exercise ball squats (bw/bw/25 lbs)
- Exercise ball hamstring curls (bw)

I can’t tell you how amazing it felt to get the workout in before breakfast! I was actually singing on the elliptical because I was so happy to be doing it. (We were the only ones in the gym, thankfully.

Breakfast:

Was definitively random…and nibbly. Left over chinese seafood soup and a very small bowl of corn flakes. A rice cake with a bit of almond butter. Left over mixed greens doused in cocktail sauce. Done yet?

I Can’t Fix The World.

Much of today will be spent at a dear friend and student’s husbands funeral. My student is an amazingly strong woman, and asked me to teach her yesterday and tomorrow. She requested a restorative session for her and a friend, which I taught to the best of my ability.

That being said, I felt as if I was supposed to do something more. My ego was so wrapped up in wanting to “help” her, that I almost forgot to let the yoga speak for itself. Fortunately, I remembered that it is not my job to “teach” yoga (I’m still truly a beginner!) but instead, to simply carry the message. I did what I could, and surrendered the rest, which is what the sutras tell me to do.

Sometimes, it’s quite a challenge to accept the fact that I can’t actually fix anyone, myself included. I also can’t make anyone feel what they don’t, or get healthy when they’re not. People don’t change for other people, they only change for themselves. I have to remember that everyone has their own path, and if I don’t agree with their choices, I am not allowing their higher power to do it’s job. Everyone, absolutely everyone, has their own path. If I can support them on it, all the better. But that doesn’t mean I get to decide what their path is, and guide them on it, even when it’s so tempting.

And on that note…