Encyclopedia Kimtanica

What we have here is the North American Kimberly.  She is by observation a nomadic creature; oft seen carrying the entirety of her personal possessions with her from one location (usually Brooklyn) to another (the Upper West Side of Manhattan).

While it would appear that her natural habitat is anywhere that serves coffee and has free wi-fi, she has been seen of late taking conference calls in her boyfriend’s bathtub, the feminine products aisle of Duane Reade, in the gym locker room, and in the lobby of random office buildings.

Thrice daily this confusing specimen will stop to ingest some sort of overpriced food item, and will oft come forth with what can only be deemed a baby computer: a contraption she appears to be able to babble nonsensically into for hours–perhaps this is some sort of tribal ritual.

It can be concluded that the North American Kimberly runs around the wilds of New York City like vagabond crazypants in search of food, Internet, and a place to make a phone call.

The North American Kimberly is very tired and would like a nap.

Here is what she ate:

Breakfast

Her very favorite UWS diner happens to have amazing egg white  and vegetable omelets, Internet, and very patient waitresses who will let her sit there until it gets super crowded and they need to turn the table.

Lunch

The cashier at a prime lunch-time cafe apologized to her for ‘not remembering her name’ for her order.  It has become evident that she eats there far too often.

Dinner

At 10:30 pm it was brought to the creature’s attention that she had yet to eat dinner.  Faux ice cream seemed like as nutritious a meal as any.  This particular flavor: Snickers

Exercise: 45-minute Bosu bootcamp, 30-minute stairmill

Kim

Recipe: Pseudo-Starbucks Cinnamon Swirl Loaf

I’m going to go ahead and assume that I’m not the only person that needs a whole boatload of willpower to walk away from the pastry display at Starbucks.

Seriously, it’s just cruel!

Here I am, minding my own bee’s wax, fantasizing about an Americano with soy milk and cinnamon, when BAM my eyes wander to the banana nut loaf or the cinnamon coffee cake. Those sure would go down nice with my caffeine fix.

Grrr, expletive, grumble, foot stomp, drool.

Even the reduced-calorie goodies they sell are total calorie bombs. And, if you’re like me and still trying to do holiday season damage control, they can be serious motivation killers.

That’s why I made this: A low-calorie/high protein (gluten-free) cinnamon cake that tastes just as good as anything you’ll find in a display case, but with a whole lot less self-loathing.

It’s not my genius idea, I tweaked one of Jamie Eason’s bodybuilding.com recipes (again! That woman is brilliant). My version uses Splenda instead of Xylitol; plain instead of vanilla yogurt, a couple of added extracts, and slightly different measurements for a couple of ingredients.

Cinnamon Swirl Protein Bread
Makes 8 slices

Pre heat oven to 350.

Step 1:

In small bowl combine:

• 1/3 cup Baking Splenda
• 1.5 tsp. cinnamon

Mix and set aside

Step 2:

In a large bowl combine:

• 1 1/2 cups oat flour (not all oat flours are gluten-free, so you have to check the label if this is important to you. If not, no worries)
• 2 scoops vanilla whey protein (I use Designer Whey brand)
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup Baking Splenda

Step 3:

In a medium bowl combine:

• 2 egg whites or a half cup of liquid whites
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• ½ cup unsweetened apple sauce
• ¼ cup non fat plain yogurt
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ tsp. almond extract

Whisk wet ingredients together and add to dry. Whisk together.

Step 4:

Spray a loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. Proceed to pour a small amount of batter on the bottom. Just enough to cover the bottom. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon/Splenda mixture from Step 1 over batter. Pour the rest of the batter into loaf pan and sprinkle remaining cinnamon/Splenda mix on top. Draw a knife through the batter to marble.

Bake for about 45 minutes. Let cool and enjoy with latte. Mmmm. Latte.

Kim

Diet Diva

Over the last few days I have learned a lot about myself. For starters, I’m easily swayed by peer pressure. I learned this important lesson when I went to use the leg press machine yesterday at the gym, and I had to de-weight the machine of plates.  The woman using it before me pressed about 80lbs more than I usually do. We had about the same build and visible muscle tone; therefore I immediately felt jealous and inadequate. I raised my weight level by 50lbs. I am SOOOOOOOOORE today. Luckily it’s just muscle soreness, not any sort of joint pain; which means I can probably handle the increase—I’m just a weeny.

The second thing that I have learned is this: the idea of dieting makes me obsess over food. The first few days on the Fresh Diet were awesome. There was no thinking involved—I love not thinking! No cooking. No shopping. Just microwaving and munching. The problem came about five days into the plan The Fella asked if I was “done dieting yet?”

HE SAID THE D-WORD!

All of a sudden I started thinking, “I’m on a diet!” Followed by feelings of longing and self-pity and an appearance by the crazy lady that lives in the back of my brain.

She hasn’t been around for a few years, but I imagine that she wears a super-high-cut leotard over her shiny tights and does a lot of jumping jacks while breathing all porny-like.

When she’s around all I can do is obsess over food and think about how I’ll never really be able to rock bright pink lamé leggings or tease my hair high enough.

Don’t worry if you don’t remember the 1980s. You’re probably better off for it.

It’s all mental. I cannot use the d-word.

To be fair to this experiment, I generally eat around the same caloric intake in day-to-day life, adjusted accordingly on super intense exercise days, but I never feel like I’m dieting. That keeps me sane. While I’m actually eating tasty stuff that is well within my eating norms: I think that I am on a diet and thusly can only think about food all the time.

Friday is my last day of this little experiment. I think if you have a lot of money, very little interest in cooking, and no real interest in calorie counting this is a great idea. I, I have learned, don’t do so well with outside restrictions.

I’m hoping to ditch the diet diva soon—she’s kind of freaking me out.

I have, however, shed two pounds. I should eat dessert in the middle of the day more often.

Do you have a diet alter ego? Crazy thoughts? French-cut leotard?

Breakfast

Breakfast quiche aka: super thick asparagus and cheese omelet-pie-thing
Pineapple
Iced coffee with almond milk

Lunch

Chicken and wild rice soup
Stuffed mushroom caps

Dessert

That’s my cheesecake—it has my name on it.
I was cubiclized today in Magazineland. I brought my last two packages of food to work with me. Dessert made a nice 3pm snack.

Dinner

Office lighting sucks. I swear this stuffed chicken breast, string beans and mushrooms looked way better in person.

Exercise: 60-minute Zumba
I

Kim

Okay, now I’m starving and lonely

Some days I’m hungrier than others. Days like yesterday, when my magical elf meals did not sate a darn thing. Up until yesterday though, I was hunger pang free—so perhaps it was just the day.

I’m a big fan of listening to my body, so I may have snuck in a bit of watermelon after my evening spin class. I ate it while walking home from the gym so the calories don’t count. AND I was standing so any stray calories just fell out. That’s how gravity works right?

Based on The Fresh Diet website my delivered food calorie range is pretty similar to what I eat on my own, yet I feel like I’m usually able to make my food, err, bulkier/filling/more massive in quantity. I would definitely say these delivered meals are slightly more decadent than I usually eat: dessert daily, a lot of meat, and dairy. It’s a good reminder to me how much more I’m generally able to eat when I keep meat, sugar, and dairy to a minimum. Luckily meat and dairy aren’t my favorite things in the world anyway. I’ve definitely increased my meat eating lately because of my new found passion for weight lifting (and by that I mean: my goal to actually see my abs before I turn 30), but I could live without it and never think twice. Sugar, well, I do have a sweet tooth, but I’m generally able to sate it with some homemade baked goods (new obsession: Xylitol for baking—lower in calories than sugar and it whitens your teeth!) or fruit.

Feeling actual hunger is kind of nice after months of holiday eating. I feel like when this is done I may actually have some sense of my natural hunger rhythms again—as opposed to feeling full all the time.

I’m definitely enjoying this little experiment, but I’m really looking forward to being my own meal manager again. That, and seeing my boyfriend. Because I need to be home to get my daily package of food, I haven’t seen him in almost a week. He could come to my place, but this is my first week with a roommate and I’m trying to let the roommie acclimate before I start inviting people over for cuddling.  Meal delivery programs were not made for people in non-cohabiting relationships.

I will miss the cheesecake though. Boyfriend or cheesecake, hard decision. Cuddling wins, but it was a tough race.

Breakfast

Omelet with brie and artichoke hearts
½ slice whole wheat bread (not gluten free)

Snack

Pita w/white bean hummus (also not gluten free)

Lunch

Chef salad

Snacks

Boston cream pie (it was kind of smooshed in the package, so not worthy of photographing)
Watermelon (I stopped at a deli on the way home from the gym for a little snack)

Dinner

Oven “fried” catfish with tartar sauce
Cauliflower and squash

Exercise:
AM: B-day Strength training-triceps, back, glutes, and quads
PM: 45-min spin class

 

Kim

The Elf Diet

One of the coolest parts about having a healthy living blog is that every once in a while I get to try cool new healthy living stuff.

I’m trying a week of a meal delivery program, The Fresh Diet, out. The diet follows The Zone-esque model of 40%, 30% and 30% carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Depending on your age, gender, and activity level your caloric requirements are calculated and all your meals are prepared by magical elves that deliver it to your house while you’re sleeping.

I <3 elves.

Every morning (since last Friday) I’ve woken up, stumbled outside, cursed the Nordic gods and their vengeful winter, and found an insulated bag with ice packs carrying my food for the day. I honestly wasn’t expecting much in regard to taste, but the food is pretty decent. The program touts that it was developed by a Cordon Bleu-trained chef, which is probably true, but I wouldn’t necessarily say this is gourmet stuff. It is however easily edible. I don’t think I would be able to stay on something like this long-term, I like cooking and planning my own meals too much, but this is a great novelty—especially after the holidays.

The major boon to meal delivery (besides not having to do as many dishes or brave the grocery store) is the reminder about how important it is to plan ahead when you’re trying to lose weight. I have always found that when I’m trying to lose weight I have a much easier time of it, and better results, when I plan my meals out ahead of time. Here’s why: As soon as the word “diet” appears in my lexicon all I can think about is food. While my normal non-dieting day can consist of all sorts of thought patterns, my dieting brain only wants to eat and know when it can feast its senses and on what. Pre-planning my daily meals takes the thinking out of it. I already know what I’m going to eat next which means I don’t have to obsess over it. The second reason: I have a game plan for calories, and can plan my workouts accordingly.

The Pros: Easy-peasy think-free dieting. No calorie counting. Easy clean up. Elves!
The Cons: Random cravings must go unanswered. In order to keep it all as low in gluten as possible I’m eating way more meat than I like to. It’s a wee bit on the pricey side:

I’ll give you guys an update on my weeks results this weekend J

 

Breakfast

Breakfast quiche with pineapple

Snack 1

Olive tapenade on crostinis (not gluten-free)

Lunch

Grilled steak salad with horseradish dressing

Snack 2

Roasted Portobello mushroom with tomato, mozzarella, basil and vinaigrette

Dinner

London broil, asparagus, roasted mushrooms

Exercise: AM: Strength Training A Day-Chest, shoulders, biceps and abs; PM: 60-minute spin class

Kim

Guest Post: Instead of a New Year’s Resolution—a New RESOLVE

Get in Shape and Stay in Shape with Simple Principles and Hard Work

Hello. As you may have guessed by the little muscle man icon below, I’m not Kim. So first, introductions are in order. I’m the guy Kim has been referring to as her fella these past few months. And since she invited me to guest-write for The Kim Challenge, I figured the “Fitness Fella” had a nice ring to it. But you can call me Roy.

And why, exactly, did Kim ask me to write here? I’m glad you asked. My quick bio blurb: I’ve been a personal trainer and health & fitness journalist for 11 years now. I’m a vet (boom-boom, not mew-mew), have a B.Sc./B.Ed. in Exercise Physiology with a major in Kinesiology and minor in Performance Nutrition, grad coursework in Physical Therapy and Biomechanics & Ergonomics, and a bunch of eclectic certifications like Pilates, Pre & Post Natal Exercise, Silver & Golden Age Populations, Krav Maga, etc. I’m not a proponent of any one school of thought of exercise or diet; find what works for you, just keep at it.

That’s me (my grandma taught me a gentleman introduces himself first). You are, naturally, the adoring fans of the effervescent Ms. Miller. Aren’t we all. [editor's note: aww, blushing]

Now, on to business. If you’re a Kim reader, it’s a safe bet you know the basics; salad good, donut bad. Water good, Coke bad. Walking good, TV zombie bad. So I want to go a step further here, and focus less on the what and more on the how. It’s the difference between results and great results. Being result-oriented in your diet and exercise sounds obvious, right? But how many times have you hit the gym and spin classes for weeks on end, only to lose five meager pounds? Or watched what you ate, avoided temptations, and did lose some weight—but then gained it all back? Many times it’s because a lot of your energy is wasted in the wrong direction, and not enough is channeled in the right direction. So atten-hut, soldier! I’m going to debrief you on the winning strategy for strength training, cardio, diet, and their reciprocation.

 

First Things First: Correctly Defining Your Goals

Read more »

 Roy

Happy Place Landing

I spent last night volunteering at a women’s shelter in New York. I think the warm ooey-gooey feelings from the night carried over into today, because I was happy all day.

Coming from someone who has spent a good deal of their professional career working in the non-profit world I’m embarrassed to say that I don’t volunteer as often as I’d like to. Strangely, I always have a hard time finding volunteer opportunities that I mesh with. I meshed with this one. In fact, I really hope I’m invited back. I have a friend who volunteers regularly with this organization and asked if I’d like to take along. The shelter is a pretty amazing, it’s a standard New York City apartment building, like any other, but this one is dedicated to helping homeless single parent families get off the streets and into a supportive community. While there the residents receive housing; job training; health benefits; education on nutrition, budgeting, and literacy if needed. They also have counseling and community activities at their disposal, activities like the reading night we went to last night.

Every Wednesday night volunteers come and read with the kids of the community. It was such a truly inspiring night: the kids were so excited to read, the parents really prioritized education, and the volunteers were all just happy to be a part of it. If they’ll have me back, I really hope to make this a regular part of my schedule.

So, I woke up with a hop in my step. I spent the morning doing chores, running errands, and moving furniture (the new roomie moves in this weekend). Then, this afternoon I met up with my aunt for a deep tissue massage (she didn’t give it to me, but she paid someone else to J) some wine, and a Panini.

And…if the day couldn’t be any more perfect I ended it by having tea with one of my favorite friends, a friend I don’t see nearly enough but never ceases to brighten my day when I do see her.

There’s something about these sorts of days that make me all sappy and philosophical. I can’t help but think that people are awesome. It’s easy to forget that in a world of sensationalist media (of which I admit to being a part). Sure, there are a few bad apples out there, but as a whole people are good. And more often than not, they’re just looking to connect with other people. There’s a reason we evolved from our cave dwelling days: we’re certainly not the toughest animal on the block, and we can only give the opposable thumb so much credit. I think it all has to do with our innate ability to create a posse with whomever we got lying around.  People like people, even if you don’t really like people chances are you kinda do. There’s something so amazing about the way we live: having a community, a family, and friends to fill your life (and sometimes, when you’re lucky, your day). Even in a digital age, we’re all just looking to connect, create a new sort of community. I’m going to keep this feeling in mind next time I’m sitting on the couch feeling lonely.

Of course, now that I’ll have a roommate perhaps I won’t have too many of those couch moments. Roommate=instacommunity. Okay, I’ll stop now. This is too Pollyanna, even for me.

Do you volunteer? How do you participate in your community?

Breakfast

Pumpkin protein pancakes with walnuts and sugar-free syrup
Scrambled egg whites

Lunch

Smoothie made with sugar-free chocolate almond milk, banana, peanut butter, chocolate protein powder

Dinner

I stopped for an early dinner with my aunt. A grilled zucchini panini with mozzarella and parsley
Mixed greens with vinaigrette
Yummy wine (probably should not be drinking that after a teeth whitening)

Exercise: Rest Day

Kim

Winner and Brighter Smile

I was so inspired (and motivated to get my own booty to the gym) by your giveaway responses! I really wish I could give you all a box of exercise DVDS. It did remind me that I should do these giveaways more often; I smell a new 2012 goal! So, if you were not the winner of this giveaway, don’t feel sad, there are more presents from the Internet in the future J

Oh, right, you probably want to know who won.

The Random Number Generator chose a winner for me and it chose:

Comment #16 came from Tracy, who said her 2012 resolution was:

Tracy good luck with the “slutty jeans.” I’d like a full report when they’re in full on slutty form

Having said all that—I’m not posting my food today. I ate very little and slept most of the day. My day started with a dental exam and a teeth whitening procedure. I drink A LOT of coffee and my teeth are super stained. Lately I’ve been noticing how discolored they are in photographs and it’s made me super self-conscious about smiling. So, when I saw a Living Social deal for a dental exam (I don’t have dental insurance) and a Zoom! ® whitening treatment a few weeks ago, I bought in.

The difference in my teeth is amazing. The whole procedure consists of four 15-minute light treatments, but the dental assistant that did the procedure told me that most people are happy after three and the longer you do it the more sensitive my teeth would be later. I only did three treatments and I’m so glad, not only are my teeth kind of achy (something I’ve been told will dissipate in the next 24-hours), but my teeth are really white. I’m really happy with the shade, but think if I’d gone with the fourth treatment I would have looked creepy and bleached.

So instead of eating and exercising I’ve been napping the ache away.  Hopefully I’ll be back in full form tomorrow.

Have you ever had your teeth whitened? Done something not-so-good for you for the sake of your appearance?

 

Kim

Win a Box O’Fitness

One of my personal resolutions this year, one that I didn’t post in my New Year’s Resolutions post, is to get back to reviewing DVDs regularly.  My life has been all sorts of hectic lately, but I really do have a passion for home fitness.  I think exercise DVDs are the bomb-diggity, and a great option for people who don’t have a gym at their disposal.

Having said that: I have hundreds of DVDs, and I need to weed down my collection a wee bit.  I want to give someone a whole box of exercise swag. Yay for free stuff!!!!

Be forewarned, some of these DVDs I can’t vouch for because I haven’t done them, and some I have done, but probably only a few times.  I’m also throwing in DD Fitness yoga wedges for a less painful practice (if you’re like me and always end up with bruised knees and hip bones after a yoga class), and some resistance bands.

I’ll pick a winner via random number generator next Tuesday (January 10^th), so to enter all you have to do is leave a comment telling me what your 2012 fitness goals are.

Kim

Enter Roommate

For the sake of my bank account, and my New Year’s resolution to get out of debt, I am about to do something I swore I would never do again…get a roommate.

My love for my apartment and living alone in it borders on pathological.

I’m a big “personal space” girl, and I’ve worked pretty hard over the years to carve out a little space of my own in the world that feels like home.  Under normal financial circumstances I could afford my lifestyle, but after losing my main jobby-job, and spending months in accounting limbo with some of my freelance  employers I’ve decided to make the grown-up decision to have a roommate again.

Now the question is: What do I do with all my stuff?

I’m sort of a clutter-phobe.  My mother likes to joke around that it’s silly to buy me anything because I’m just going to throw it out anyway.  Which isn’t true–more than likely I’ll donate it.  I sense a trip (or six) to Goodwill in my future, as I attempt to transition out of my “office” and into cohabitation.

Over the holidays I networked my way through parties, asking anyone nice that I met if they would like to move in with me.  No dice, but I lucked out last week when a friend emailed me asking if I would consider roommatedom.  He didn’t know I’d already been on the hunt for a bunkmate.  I love it when things work out.  I’m not really a wander around naked kind of person, but in the next few weeks (the weeks before the new roommate enters the picture) I plan on taking full advantage of my privacy.

Sigh, being mature is so lame.

Brunch

Upon waking up The Fella informed me that he’d stocked up on gluten free fare for me.
So cute.
Hard boiled eggs, tabouli salad, carrots, and seaweed snacks

Snacks

I spent a good four hours at the eye doctor today.  I’m not quite sure why getting my retina poked at is a day long experience, but I knew enough to pack a snack this time.  Banana and Trader Joe’s Omega Mix.

Dinner

Brown rice pasta, broccoli, ground turkey, and pasta sauce

Exercise: I had to do a short workout today.  35-minutes in-and-out of the gym.  Strength training: Shoulders, chest, biceps

Kim

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