Since one doesn’t usually get presents for a blog-birthday, I figured I would give some out.  Sadly,  I don’t have enough to share with the class, so I’m going to have to do this giveaway style.

The giveaway is the Rockin’ Body collection, which consists of 2-DVDs that have 7 workouts and a booklet.  I don’t think the booklet seems all that useful, but the DVDs are.  The collection is new and covered in shiny plastic shrink wrap. Ooh, shrink wrap.

I’ll be drawing a winner on Monday, February 22nd, which gives you ample time to decide if you want a rockin’ body and enter.

To enter, leave a message in the comments about your best tip for making (a) comfort food healthier.

**US Mailing Addresses Only Please

Kim

Whoops, my bad, sometimes life just gets away from me.  I promise to get back to real blogging tonight, but I figure I’d do a quick rundown of the last couple of days!

Wednesday Breakfast

Whole wheat bagel with lite cream cheese
Strawberries

Wednesday Lunch

You’ll notice that this is the same picture I used on Monday.  Same lunch different day, and this was a better picture.
Whole wheat wrap with roast beef, lettuce, tomato, lite mayo
Pineapple

Wednesday Snack

Can you tell I’m diggin’ fruit?

Wednesday Workout

After work I went to Achilles’ apartment, which just happens to have a private gym that no one ever uses.  I couldn’t pass that up, so I hit the treadmill for a little while after work.

Wednesday Dinner

Post workout Achilles made me dinner, which was Trader Joe’s Chicken Tikki Masala. It was really good but I’m on a mission to teach him the awesomeness that is food that isn’t frozen.

Thursday Breakfast

2 eggs and 1 slice of turkey bacon

Thursday Lunch

Whole wheat wrap with roast beef, avocado, tomato
Peach yogurt

Thursday Dinner

I met up with some girlfriends at a Cuban restaurant for dinner.  Yum.

We started out by sharing some appetizers of calamari and croquettes

Rice and Chicken, I couldn’t eat all of this, but what I did manage was delicious!

Kim

This was the first time ever having a male stylist.  His name was Starr, and he was way cooler than I; totally punk-rock-y with tattoos and black nail polish, and plaid pants.  I was a little nervous he would think I was the lamest with my cardigan, commuter shoes, and hair that hasn’t been cut in over a year.  He was great.  Turns out, he loves long hair, and therefore was not quite as scissor happy as some stylists are when they see locks past the shoulders.  I gave him free reign to cut what he thought needed to go, and he took off 3-inches, which doesn’t make much of a dent when your hair is almost waist length.  He said I have Barbie hair (apparently a good thing), and that I need to change shampoo (apparently a bad thing).  All in all, I left feeling pretty and more knowledgable.

Also, he wasn’t a talker, which honestly I really appreciate.  I never know what to say during haircut banter.  It’s always awkward.  I kind of preferred the silence and quiet satisfaction that he was paying more attention to my split ends than idle chatter.

Isn’t it weird how little things like cutting your hair or wearing matching underwear make you want to take care of yourself more?  I came home, did some work, made a healthy dinner and resolved to get more than four hours of sleep tonight.  I should do this taking care of myself thing more often.  Little things really do make a big difference.  Hopefully my new fangled dedication to my well-being will last longer than my blow-out.

Breakfast

Oatmeal with banana and almond butter
Coffee with 1% milk

Lunch

For lunch, I met up with my aunt to get in one more Restaurant Week meal.  It’s hard to not take advantage of affordable food at some of NYC’s most expensive restaurants.  Today we went Greek:

Mediterranean Spreads

Grilled lamb chop and steamed broccoli & caulliflower
I had a couple of fries, but left most of them.

There was a dessert too, but I didn’t eat it.  For the record cardimum ice cream is weird.

Dinner

Since lunch was on the heavier side I decided to go light for dinner.
This was my first adventure in spaghetti squash (which I tried because Lara raves about it on her blog).  It does not in fact taste like spaghetti, it’s a bit crunchier, but pleasantly mild and a good vehicle for shoveling sauce into your face.

Spaghetti squash with Newman’s Own sauce, steamed asparagus and shrimp

Kim

The bad news is that I didn’t get home from said yoga class till 10:30 pm; which meant an 11 pm dinner; which means a pretty late night–I have some work to do before bed time.

This, of course, means I’ve had the  resolution to put sleep before work for less than 24 hours and I’ve already put it on the back burner.  Old habits die hard…tomorrow is a new day, full of the promise of sleep.

The yoga was great.  I’m trying really hard to find alternative forms of toning that do not revolve around waiting on line in the weight room.  Now that the only time I can get to the gym is after work it makes strength training seriously frustrating.  Yoga has always been bizarrely hard for me; much harder than it seems to be for everyone else in the history of humanity, therefore I’m giving it a shot.  I’m even doing it in yoga studios and not my apartment, that’s dedication if you ask me.

Yoga: 1; Sleep: 0.

Breakfast

Omelet with 1 egg, 2 egg whites, mushrooms, onion, goat cheese and avocado

Lunch

Roast beef, tomato, cucumber and lite mayo on a whole wheat wrap
Pineapple.  No, it’s not in season, but I saw those individual serving size cans (actually it’s 2 servings) and couldn’t resist.

Snack

I tried peach Activia at a hotel a few months ago, as part of the continental breakfast.  It was really good.  I don’t usually like flavored yogurt, but this one was pleasantly surprising, enough so that I bought some in real life.

Dinner

Broiled tuna steak, topped with avocado, tomato, yellow pepper in lemon juice and olive oil.
Steamed asparagus.

Kim

My Fitness Plan for the week

January is over and done with and I can already tell that 2010 is going to be a better year than 2009 was.  I’m really making headway with my New Year’s Resolutions; which I of course will keep on keepin’ on with all year, but got an enthusiastic start with last month.  So far I:

• Redesigned The Kim Challenge
• Raised money for City Harvest, and am now fundraising for the Colon Cancer Challenge Foundation.
• Planned a vacation (okay, I didn’t plan the vacay, but I’m going on it and that’s all that counts).
• I haven’t been counting calories, and am trying to get more intuitive with my eating.
• I could probably throw a few more pictures of me on the blog, but I’ve got a year to perfect this resolution.

The one I’m still having the most trouble with is work/life management.

So, what’s on the docket for February?

I’m glad you asked.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, this month is all about showing my body some love.

I have some much needed resolutions in store for this month.  Most of which are diet and fitness related.  I try to make both of those things priorities in my life anyway and therefore cut out the need to make monthly resolutions revolving around them but we all lose our way sometimes and right now I need for those two things to take the forefront of my mental space.  So, here’s February:

• Up my mileage.  I have a race in slightly less than two-months.  While four miles shouldn’t be life altering, I usually cap out at three, AND I’m not really an apt outdoor runner.  It’s too cold for me to brave the wilds right now, so I’m going to have to up the mileage and incline in my treadmill training.  I can do this, but I have to DO it, ifyaknowhatImean.
• Cut the sugar.  You may not see my sugar intake here, but it’s there.  I’m not really much of a snacker in general, I like big meals three times a day, but lately (since I started my jobby-job) my sugar intake has sky rocketed, there’s all these stray candies/cookies/cakes that find their way into my mouth (and somehow I mysteriously forget to photograph them).  I need to just say no to sugar, it’s not doing me any favors and just makes me sleepier than I already am.
• Up my protein.  I’m not one for a high protein diet, but I do think I need to change my diet based on my current schedule.  I’ve talked to nutritionists about my crazy work schedule and my all-encompassing exhaustion most days; they have suggested upping my lean protein levels to keep me from crashing.  That does not mean I’m getting all Atkinsy, it just means I’m playing around with my egg/bean/cheese/meat levels to see what works best.  (You may have already noticed I’ve been eating meat more than usual lately).
• Sleep.  I need to get more sleep; I am literally killing myself with my lack of shut eye.  I need to prioritize my body’s needs over the needs of editors, paychecks, and Bones re-runs.  Jobs come and go, but this is the only body I’m going to get.

All in all, February to me is about prioritizing my body and its needs.  I think we all lose track of how important our health is sometimes and I’ve been feeling awfully hypocritical lately when I preach about loving oneself and taking care of our bodies when I’m physically about to fall apart.  Hopefully by the time March resolutions roll around I’ll be feeling in tip-top condition.

What are you resolving for February?

Kim

Chances are I will eat, I just can’t imagine that reality right now.

It’s restaurant week here in NYC.  For some reason I thought it would be a brilliant idea to schedule two three-course meals for one day.  Why?  Because if I’m going to indulge I may as well get it all over with in one fell swoop.

Hmm, now that I see it written that’s a pretty silly theory.  I will admit that I cannot always trust my own judgement…either way, yesterday was a delicious day.  A filling day, and based on my normal three-square-meals a day lifestyle I’ve eaten enough for 2 whole days (plus some).  Yes, I am an overachiever.

I spent my lunch hour (ahem, hour +) noshing with my aunt.  She took me to Brasserie 8 1/2, it was goodish.  I thought the ambiance was a bit “upscale airport lounge”-ish, not really the type of restaurant that makes you feel comfortable and at ease.  The dessert was a bit too sweet for my taste, but the lamb was lovely and the cauliflower soup that started the meal was good.  I’ve never been so thankful for small portions.

For dinner, I met up with Anna.  I met Anna through my blog!  Hi Anna! We work in the same area so we decided to meet up for dinner at Dawat, a “fine-dining” Indian restaurant.  Quotations because that’s what they call themselves, it was a nice restaurant but I hardly felt out of place which is how I usually feel at fine dining joints.

The company was lovely and so was the food.  By the end though, I was struggling to stay awake (no reflection on you Anna), and hailed a cab which I promptly napped all the way home in.

I ate sooooo much yesterday, and now I’m feeling more motivated than ever to get back to my happy weight.  I’ve gained quite a bit of weight this year, and honestly I think I’ve had enough indulging for a while.

Achilles lives in a building with a gym so I told him I may start using him for his treadmill.  Tomorrow morning we’re going on a joint indoor run.  Yeah, we’re romantic like that.

Here’s the food…all of it:

Breakfast

Oatmeal with reduced fat sour cream
Coffee with soy milk

Lunch

Passion fruit lemonade

Cauliflower soup

Morrocan lamb stew over quinoa

Pear tart, I didn’t eat most of it

Dinner

Happy hour Harp pre-dinner

Rioja with dinner

Saag Pakoras

Shrimp tikki masala with basmati rice

Golub jamon

Kim

Up I woke up many hours before dawn to finish transcribing an interview, and eventually working on my writing assignments due today.  This is crazy…I need to figure out a better way to function in my life.

Don’t even get me started on the gym!  Race day is exactly two months from today and I don’t even remember where my running shoes are.  That’s not true, but they are collecting a wee bit of dust.  Sigh, I just need more hours in the day, or toothpicks for my eyelids.

Breakfast

Smoothie with 1% milk, protein powder, banana, strawberries and raspberries

Lunch

As per usual for me, I haven’t had time to get to the grocery store.  Now that my vegetable soup is finished off I had no other choice but to buy lunch.  Whole Foods it was.  I have forgiven them for Satan’s salad.
Chicken & Rice Soup
1/2 Sandwich: Ham & Brie

Dinner

Salad with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, olives, avocado, red onion and grilled chicken in a homemade lemon vinaigrette

Kim

Last night was fun, I was part of a sketch comedy  competition.  I was a little tentative going in because we’d basically re-written our sketch last week and hadn’t rehearsed it since, but it turned out really well and we were actually a finalist at the end.  The scene that won was better, but I was pretty proud of our performance.  We’re performing it again this Sunday at a cabaret type show.

Dinner was comedy club salad, but honestly as far as comedy clubs go, the food wasn’t that bad…I was surprised.  With each purchase people got a ticket and there was a raffle at the end of the show and I won!

I never win anything, but this wasn’t my thing, so I just remained sitting.  You see, the winner(s) have to get on stage and play flip-cup for a chance to win money.  It may sound strange, seeing as how I’m an actor and get on stage all the time, but when I’m not performing I would rather not be up in front of a room full of people.  Achilles took my place, even though he’d never played before.  I appreciated that, I’d had enough limelight for the day.

After the show we went to a hookah bar.  I’m not a huge fan of smoking things, so I mostly just hung out and sipped a soda.  Yeah, I’m a wild one.  Can’t tame me!

Breakfast

Egg white omelet with mushrooms, onion, and goat cheese.  Topped with avocado.
Coffee with soy milk

Lunch

The last of the vegetable soup
Whole wheat pita with hummus
Grapefruit

Dinner

Sorry about the glaring flash, the club was dark.  I couldn’t even see the salad while eating it.

Salad with walnuts, chicken, blue cheese, tomato, lettuce, apple, and some sort of vinaigrette

Kim

Kim