Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Psychology: Exercise

Since as long as I can remember, hubby has been craving a treadmill.  But not just any treadmill.  Nay verily, the treadmill that he coveted is the biggest, baddest, and most feature-laden treadmill on the market.  Oh, excuse me --it's not a treadmill; it's an incline trainer.  At first I laughed at him for it - who in the world would want to treadmill-ize uphill and downhill?  But then he explained the features to me and its benefits, and so guess what?

We got one.

And I gotta admit, it is one sexy piece of exercise machinery.  It has Google Maps built into its built-in Wifi connection so you can literally "hike" anywhere in the world.  I could jog in Paris if I wanted to.  All on a treadmill.  It has trainers built into it.  It will automatically incline and decline according to the "terrain" you've selected.  It has regimens built in for weight loss, competition, marathon training, and probably a whole heck of a lot of other things I can't even begin to fathom.

I'm addicted.  No, seriously.  I actually have used the thing, of my own free will and voluntarily and all that stuff.  Twice in one day, in fact (yesterday).  I am becoming an exercise addict, despite my processed-couch-potato nature.  Determination has set in to get rid of my belly (it's significant) and get some definition to my cankles.

Yesterday I got one-third of the way through one of the trainer workouts, and then just alternated between jogging and walking at 3 mph until I had burned 350 calories.  I was proud.  Today, I got to 126 calories and had to stop.  But I did go for 3 of the 4 miles of the dog-walk today (each lap around our dwelling area is a mile).

And my legs?  Oh, they hurt.  They gloriously ache, burn, throb, and protest against this amazing activity.  But I discovered something that I never really believed existed until I experienced it for myself:

endorphins.

Sunday, March 25, 2012

food: quick dinner

When I don't feel like cooking, I usually make the same old chicken with pasta and spinach.  Always.  It has garlic in it, and chicken, and pasta, and spinach.  With a touch of butter or olive oil, depending on my mood. Today, I altered it and did the following vegetarian option:


  • 1/2 pound pasta, uncooked
  • 5 ounces raw spinach
  • 1 jar Alfredo sauce (I used Classico roasted garlic)
  • a whole bunch of garlic powder (because I am out of fresh garlic)
I cooked the pasta, then drained it except for about an ounce of the water.  Then I threw in the spinach and let it cook in the water for a bit (not a lot of water, just enough to "steam" the spinach).  Once the spinach was almost-cooked, I threw in the pasta and stirred.  Then I poured over the jar of Alfredo sauce and garlic powder and stirred.  It was delicious.

And no, I didn't take pictures because hubby's plate was the prettiest, and right before I could take a picture, he unscrewed the top of the crushed red pepper and poured the entire jar over his pasta before he realized that you flip up the top of the lid to sprinkle it on.  Since this happened to him at a restaurant once also, this was hilarious and amazing and I nearly squirted seltzer out my nose.

In other news, I started running on a treadmill today.  I am immensely proud of myself and plan to lose the 45 pounds I wish to lose by doing this, assuming my knees and shins can handle it.  Grrr.  Hear me roar.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Dogs: Noah

Meet Noah.  We are dog-sitting him while his owner is at Crufts Dog Show in England.
He is a very regal-looking boy... 

 who loves taking naps on couches...

and even more loves just plain sitting around on a couch. 

 Here he is with Winston (left) and husband (middle)

I can't get enough of him while he's sleeping because he is so darn cute 

He also loves looking at things outside like crows and other birds. 

What a gorgeous fellow!

Now that he has adjusted to staying here with us, he is a happy camper who hardly ever stops wagging.  He's not as playful as Oliver and Winston, but he is very loving and always cheerful.  I think I'm in love.

Oh yeah, and he's a Rhodesian Ridgeback, from Kaskazini Rhodesian Ridgebacks.  He has sired two litters of beautiful puppies thusfar, and I hope several more.  I'd like him to be the dad of a pup of mine someday.  If you're interested in getting a Ridgeback, I'd highly recommend this breeder. :)