Rugrat Sandwich

As I mentioned in an earlier blog post I have joint custody, during the Holidays, of the Rugrats, Willy and Nilly (aka, the redheaded stepchildren, lol.....no offense to red heads....but I guess it is offensive....sorry....yikes!). Here is, from the top down, Petunia (aka,Tuna), Nilly (aka Purr Monster), and Sexy (don't ask!).

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul....and recipe for kettlecorn

I love that phrase, because it applies to so many area of my life....good God, I've been robbing "Peter to pay Paul" for as long as I can remember! (and it's not necessarily a good thing....lol, kind of). I was never taught by my parents to be responsible....in a "mature" kind of way. And by that I mean, paying bills, building credit, being punctual (I have Mark to thank for teaching me to be on time), or actually doing what I say I will.... and following through......I'm not going to blame my parenting, but.......

Anyway, I'm talking about something else right now......I'm talking about robbing "Peter Calorie" to pay "Junk Food Paul"! In a perfect world, I truly believe that it doesn't matter what I eat, or how much I eat, it's how I feel about what I eat, and how I feel about myself....hence the first part of the blog title, Transforming Thought.......but that's another, long ass, blogpost......

In the mean time, as I juggle calories....whether or not I do it consciously, or subconsciously, I have to make choices.....what motivates those choices, is again, another "long ass" blog post....(PS it's a good thing I'm spending more time around my precious granddaughter, Sophie, because it has to cure me of my "sailor"mouth!)

So here's the deal.....I trained my freakin', frackin', ass off today, (Meg and I did 80 sets of Max Vo2 w/12kg earlier), and all I could think about was how I "deserved" whatever I wanted....and that may be true.....and what I "deserved" was a big ass batch of kettlecorn....yum, freakin' yum! (When I visited our friend Jen and Greg in Santa Barbara, I was sure to bring the ingredients for a big batch! ), and I was willing to not eat a "regular" meal in exchange, but......the more I thought about eating the good food I was going to make for dinner, the less attractive it was to trade off. There are just too many food choices, good food choices.....not that kettlecorn isn't "good".

Sometimes it isn't even about the calories. I can fit a small batch of kettlecorn into my calorie count for the day (I don't formally count calories anymore, but I know basically what I'm eating), it's about how I'm going to feel the next day if I make and eat a big batch, which is why I don't drink a bottle of wine everynight, lol! It's not like I never eat sweets, I eat something sweet practically everyday, but it's usually early in the day, and it's rare that I overeat them these days.

Robbing Peter Calorie, to pay Junk Food Paul has always worked for me, especially back in the days where I had my once a week "Cheat Day" (Sat.), followed by a fasting day (Sun.), so it's nothing new. It's when you rob Peter, and never pay back Paul......now, that's just not nice.

Mark and I met Dawn Jarrell at dinner in St. Paul when we were there for the HKC this past

Sept. Dawn shared with me her recipe for old fashioned home made popcorn using coconut oil. Coconut oil is a different type of fat, it's a medium chain triglyceride. That means that our bodies don't store it as bodyfat as easily, instead our bodies treat it more like a carbohydrate.....it doesn't taste like coconut! There are many other benefits of coconut oil. http://www.organicfacts.net/organic-oils/organic-coconut-

oil/health-benefits-of-coconut-oil.html

Basic kettlecorn recipe

1 part oil

2 parts sugar

3 parts popcorn

salt, of course (I use kosher)

For a "big batch" I use 3 tbl coconut oil. 6 tbl sugar. 9 tbl popcorn.

Method

Melt oil in a pot big enough to hold the corn once it starts to pop (I use an 8 qt pot). Add in 3 kernels of popcorn, put the lid on and listen for all 3 to pop......at this time the oil is the right temp and you can go ahead and add in all of your popcorn and sugar. Shake the pot to make sure everything is coated, replace the lid and give it a good shake every 30 seconds or so,until you hear the "popping" slow down, or stop.

Turn off the heat, remove the pot, being careful of the steam when you take off the lid. Add a few good pinches of salt and stir using a long wooden spoon, or long metal tongs.....because there's "hot" sugar on the corn you can not use your hands! Let cool for a minute or two and dump into a big bowl....I mean several small bowls because you will be sharing this...won't you?

Always trying to make my junk food more nutritious, I add in about 2 t. flax seeds to my kettlecorn! I've also tried to make kettlecorn with honey, and brown sugar instead of white sugar. Both of those substitutions tasted a little "burnt", and I didn't think the tradeoff was worth it.

PS Don't think I'm smart enough to know anything about coconut oil, I got my information from my brilliant husband Mark....he knows everything! Seriously, he does!

Perfect Again

I had an incredibly lazy day yesterday. I missed yoga (on pupose), I did get, kind of, a workout doing a few Get-ups at Girya w/Mark coaching me.....I ate a big peice of chocolate cake......and a scone.....I haven't done that in forever. Got in back in bed around 12noon, and there I stayed. I thought I would feel better today with all of that rest, but no. I want to cancel my morning, call in sick, and bail.

But I won't.

I missed 6:00am Spin....again, for maybe the 3rd or 4th time in a row. Because I didn't even get the dishes done yesterday, so I had to, basically, do all of my housework first thing this morning. We are babysitting the two Rugrats, Willy & Nilly during the Holidays, so I've got 7 freakin' cats again and 2 litterboxes......Oh, and one fat cat that I'm trying to keep on a diet....oh, and another that's got some kind of skin allergy so I have to medicate her twice a day.....good Lord, cats have some big sharp teeth....yikes!

I'm not in any kind of mood. I'm spoiled, that's the problem. In my perfect days I get to Spin, KB, Yoga, walk, cook, eat, nap, start over and repeat......

One of the thoughts I had this morning was of my blogpost I wrote a couple of weeks ago about losing momentum.....that's all this is. I lost a little momentum yesterday, when my whole day fell apart....and then this morning continued to fall.....

It's 6:12am. I've got to get some gas in my car to make it to Palo Alto this morning, and then in about 45 minutes I'll do my first 2 hand KB swing.....and then it'll all be perfect again.....

Just in case.....

Just in case you don't read some of the comments made.....here is one from my last blogpost....

kettlebells_n_sunshine said...

Tracy, I had the pleasure of meeting you at dinner at the first HKC in MN. You are a beautiful, funny and vibrant person - so full of life. And I actually did hear Mark say that it was easier "when you were fat".

I have always been a fat girl, still I am thick in the middle. I have finally gotten past the scale and the irrational need to be a size 2 because someone says that I should be. The kb was handed to me by my boyfriend a year and a half ago and it changed my life in more ways than imaginable, it even took me into a new career path.

Its hard to let go of images society wants us to embrace for women, but I can look around at the women I train with and see such beauty that it overwhelms me.I continue to pick up my kb and practice and share it with others so that they too can know the beauty of being strong.

Bret & Gray did the video on the TGU (my favorite move) and they remind us of the kalos sthenos or beautiful strength that we all possess. What I think we need to do more often is to embrace it.

I find you inspiring...love yourself they way that others love you... keep up the inspiration...Happy Holidays to you and yours!

Tracy Reifkind said...

Hi Jennifer!

Talk about the KB changing someones life more than ever! I can relate...and talk about new career paths....who knew we'd both be teaching, and preaching, to others the miracle that has come into our lives.

I spent my teen years in the late 70's, and early 80's, when a totally flat tummy....good Lord, a "concave" stomach was the ideal, not to mention pencil thin thighs....not a good thing for a "pear shaped" girl, lol......it was the beginning of the "Super Model". I remember turning sideways in the mirror, daily, to see if I had a flat tummy....thinking by some miracle, during the night, God would grant me this perfect body.....(which my sister had BTW....damn her).

Anyway, I think we also have to be careful of what defines "strong". As I mentioned to Laura Sacks (above), to her comment on Marks blog, I've been posting videos and, of course, my training routines and workouts for a few years now, also watching and reading what others are doing, and sometimes we get caught up in the competition of who can lift, swing, snatch, press, squat the biggest bell for the most times, in the shortest amount of time......goodness I'm tired of the comparisons!

I just want everyone to show up and train regularly! To share one of my favorite "Rifism's", I may not out lift them, but I'll outlast them!".....don't give up.....show up.

"Skinny" is Making the Whole World Miserable

This is the cover of a Hallmark Shoebox Greeting Card that my friend Sabina gave me last week....isn't it hilarious?

What's not hilarious is how miserable the quest to be considered "skinny" in these current times, in our culture, in many cultures, is.

Mark has said to me, more than once...."It was better (easier) when you were fat."

Good Lord.

Am I that miserable of a person? Sometimes.

He didn't mean any harm, that I know. I also know what he meant by saying something like that. It must be hard to live with someone who insists on torturing themselves by defining their worth by the number on the scale. Not just me, but Mark has been working one-on-one as a personal trainer for many, many years, and alot of his clients have been women who have had the same self torture of, not only the number on the scale, but how big their thighs measured, and how many calories they can eat without getting fat...fat-ter, etc.....

Trying to be, trying to feel, skinny is making us, and the people who love us, miserable.

What is Skinny anyway? Skinny is skinny! Seriously, who wants to be skinny? Anorexics, that's who! OK, I admit to having feelings of being jealous of anorexics...how messed up am I? I'm not anymore messed up than anyone else.....if I truly believed it....but I don't...not really.

I happen to know some skinny people....guess what? They hate themselves just as much as anyone for not being skinny enough....is that justice? I'll humor myself and say, "Yes!"

Listen to happy music and be light with yourself......sing this to yourself......this is for you.....this is about you....

The Last Reps....USSST....PR for Tracy, 211, and Megs first attempt, 210!

Well......I love training Russian Kettlebells.... What better is there to do? I mean, really, what else do you have going on? Training takes up so little time....OK I admit it takes alot of energy and commitment, but after you put in...what...about and hour or so? What the hell?

Meg earned her HKC last weekend at Girya, so we did not get to train our Max Vo2 w/16kg workout.....her, learning and training, and me, helping assist and coach.....what better time to test the 10 minute snatch test w/16kg, then after over a week off from heavy snatches? One of things that I like about having Meg as a training partner (besides her fierce competitveness...which she denies, lol), is her willingness to just do as I say! She'll show up....that's the trained, competitve athlete in her...she's taken away the choice of whether or not she "feels" like it! Bravo!

So, I decided now was as good a time as any to test the 16kg snatch. Afterall, we had just done Max training, 2 weeks ago, with the 16kg for what? 70 sets? Oh yes, 70 freakin' sets....and 42-44 sets of 8 reps.....we had already done over 500 snatches with the 16kg....what's a couple hundred in 10 minutes? LOL

Tracys 211



Megs 210



Although we taped video of the full 10 minutes....for now, here is the last minutes of both of our USSST. I went first and then Meg. Neither one of us talked to the other about any strategy other than Meg asking me, just before I started, if I had a goal number....which, I told her was 200. When I have more time and energy I'll post the complete 10 minute sets, and talk about the strategy I went in with, based on my last test....BTW I did this test, probably, 2 years ago and managed 171 reps in the 10 minutes, so todays 211 total was a 40 rep PR, for me!

Looking back at the video I can see lots of room for improvement, which I'll share in the next blogpost about this....I can't wait to retest this, and retesting the SSST (10 minutes w/12kg) will also be interesting.....that will happen after we get our Max 80 sets w/16kg.

PS After my last blogpost, I was tempted to title this one something like "Grandmother snatches the 16kg 211 reps in 10 minutes!" LOL

So Much Fun

I can't help it.......my little Sophia is so cute...and she's so sweet....seriously, she's such a good baby!

I can see her Mommy in her eyes and nose, but her cheeks and forehead are all my son Richard's! This is so much fun.