If that doesn’t keep me honest about the gym over the next five months, I don’t know what will

I love just about everything there is about healthy eating and fitness. That doesn’t mean I don’t also love everything there is about Cheetos and my couch. Because of this unfortunate (and yet totally normal) dichotomy, I find myself often needing to set goals to keep my Cheeto and couch consumption in check.

It took a wee bit of trial and error, but over the last few months I have figured out that my normal gym routine couldn’t work with the increased responsibility of my work life. Taking two hours off in the middle of the day to get to the gym, workout, and shower seriously dipped into productivity. I have learned that if I keep putting of the gym until I’m done working for the day I will not go, and I have learned that despite what my inner-monologue says I am actually capable of getting up at 5:30am and going to the gym.

I’m not saying that I enjoy it, just that I can do it.

And doing it I am, because when I don’t go to the gym I’m a big cranky monster.

If you also struggle with an unfortunate lack of time in the day and night time motivation, here are a few of my less-than-novel ways I get my groggy arse out of bed:

• Put your alarm somewhere you can’t reach it. Getting out of bed is the hardest part of waking up.   This works especially well if you sleep with someone that will be super-duper mad at you if you press snooze over and over again.
• Sign up for things you have to pay for ahead of time OR meet a friend. Nothing motivates me more than having already paid for something or the possibility of disappointing someone else. Convenient? No, but nothing about getting up before the sun rises is convenient. I’ve been signing up for classes in the morning, prepaid classes. If only I could find a friend interested in crack of dawn jaunts around the weight room this whole endeavor would get a bit cheaper.
• Gym clothes at the ready. I used to sleep in my gym clothes when I wanted to get to the gym early, but that wasn’t particularly comfortable. Now I like to keep them where they’re staring me in the face. Guilt, it’s what’s for breakfast.
• Tall glass o’water.  Before bed.  What’s more intimidating: alarm clock or potential for bed wetting.  I down a bottle of Poland Spring before bed each night in case I sleep through the alarm.
• Suck it up and do it daily. The idea that it takes 21-days to form a habit is a really cruel myth. Recent research has shown that it’s more like 66-days. For two months it will really suck getting out of bed every morning, but little by little your body will acclimate to the early mornings. Two months in the grand scheme of things is nothing compared to a lifetime of not worrying about fitting in a run between work and your night out with friends.

Early risers, how do you get out of bed in the AM?

Breakfast

Egg white omelet with mushrooms and lite Swiss cheese
Strawberries

Snack

I finally got one of the many checks I’ve been waiting on and hit up the grocery store. I usually buy Greek yogurt, but this was on sale and I’m trying to learn frugality. After years of eating Greek-style normal yogurt seems so thin!
Vanilla yogurt with trail mix

Lunch

Not my greatest creation: hot and sour soup with egg, tofu, baby corn, water chestnuts, and bamboo

Snack

Mango

Dinner

When in doubt roast a whole bunch of random plants
Zucchini, onion, sweet potatoes, carrot fries, and polenta

Exercise: 4 mile jog

Kim

Fishs Eddy “Intervention-ware”
I don’t support degrading self-talk, but I think these are hilarious

I was the first person in the New York Public Library Saturday morning
(otherwise known as my office–coffee shops get expensive)

Long walks, Brooklyn rose gardens, and summer sun

My first ever Mother’s Day Card
Don’t get any ideas, I’m not preggers–The Fella made a donation in my name to We Can Be Heroes organization and they sent me the acknowledgement in a Mother’s Day card.

I was super-duper touched by this gift.  The best part: DC Comics, the company behind the charity, matches 100% of the donations given.

So where does this money go?  I’m glad you asked, here’s the mission statement from the website:

Countries in the Horn of Africa (Ethiopia, Somalia, and Kenya) are facing the worst drought in 60 years, causing a severe hunger crisis. According to the U.S. government, the crisis is unlike any other in terms of displacement, starvation and death of the population. More than 13 million people are in need of critical assistance. In Somalia alone, more than 250,000 people face starvation. Hundreds of thousands have fled to refugee camps seeking help. The situation is so critical that the United Nations officially declared famine for the first time in 21 years.

Humanitarian aid organizations are on the ground working to provide much needed relief to the drought and famine-stricken areas. But they need more help. They need our help.

Join the Justice League and DC Entertainment in raising awareness and funds for our three nonprofit partners, Save the Children, International Rescue Committee and Mercy Corps, who are delivering aid where it is needed most. DC Entertainment will match donations 100%, and 50% of the purchase price from We Can Be Heroes products will go to saving lives.

A small contribution can go along way to feeding the children of this world, especially when matched by super hero makers.

That’s what’s making me smile.  What’s making you happy this weekend?

Kim

Okay, I guess that wasn’t a MAJOR REALIZATION, but it was a realization. I do what I can.  I’m having a major song obsessed moment.  Last night I made The Fella stop at a karaoke bar for the sole purpose of singing this one song.  I also realized I’m no Gotye.

Other realizations: More than three baby corns in a stir fry is too many baby corns in a stir fry, my favorite nail polish color is Lady Like by Essie, and oh yeah I look damn fine in a pair of boxing gloves.

By “damn fine” what I mean is “sweaty disgusting monster.”

The Fella  and I signed up for kickboxing classes, and we went to our first class this week.  The session comes complete with super sore butt and pink boxing gloves (there was a choice between red, black, and pink–I’m a fan of demonstrating my femininity while kicking ass and taking names).

The class was a lot of fun, I can’t wait to go back and get my roundhouse back on.

In the meantime, I’ve had a crazy busy week.

I stopped by my agents office to sign my official book contract!  Hurrah!

One day my book is going to be in the lobby, too!

This is a somewhat hectic week chocked full of work, graduations (The Fella is becoming a Master of Arts from NYU this week.  I’ve decided to call him Master Roy for as long as I can get away with), and a day celebrating my mom.

I’ve had to take a few days off from writing this week,  my mom and I decided to celebrate Mother’s Day a few days early…and hit up a taping of ‘The Chew’ this morning.  In exchange, Sunday I’ll be home typing–but I’ve given my father explicit instructions to do some serious pampering.

The show was a lot of fun, and I am proud to report that the cast was really nice even when the cameras were off (unlike my experience at the ‘Rachael Ray Show’), and made it a point to hang out with the audience, chat, and take pictures.  I was lucky to be asked to sit at the tasting table–which means I got to eat all the yummy things the chefs were making.  Feel free to hate me a little.

I was supposed to ask Clinton Kelly a fashion question too, but the segment ran too long.  Sigh, at least I got some tasty morsels out of the deal.  The episode was all about my favorite food: Buffalo Wings!  It will air on June 21st.  If you’re in NYC, or will be visiting, I would definitely recommend getting tickets for a viewing.

Afterward I took my mom out for a celebratory margarita in her honor.

The woman gave me life, the least I can do is ply her with tequila.

 What are you planning for Mother’s Day?

Kim

The reason for this little misadventure is twofold:

1. I’ll be moving in a couple of months and the idea of packing up a bunch of cans of garbanzo beans, quinoa, and the mountain of organic popping corn I ordered from Amazon seems silly.
2. The second is that I’m broke. Probably broker than I’ve ever been before. Considering the economic downturn I’m guessing quite a few of you have been here. I took some time off from my regularly scheduled freelancing to work on book stuff early this year, but in retrospect that was a bit of a mistake—I burned through my meager savings relatively quickly and also didn’t have those nifty little checks from the powers that be coming in to replenish what I was using. I’m back to writing about celebrities and squat thrusts, but the financial damage is done. As I try to dig my way out of the hole my ideology created I’ll have to pinch a few pennies.

I don’t think this episode in broke dieting is permanent, in fact, I’m relatively sure it will be over in a few weeks. In the meantime I am choosing to see this as an exercise in creative cookery. A project if you will—and we all know how much I love projects. I have a wee bit of fresh produce left, some stockpiles in the freezer, and a whole bunch of egg whites that I apparently buy in bulk. Throw in some bags of lentils and a bouillon cube and this may even end up being a high fiber affair.

What are some of your favorite budget friendly meals?

Breakfast

Scrambled egg whites
Oatmeal with lite sour cream

Snack

Hard-boiled egg and kiwi

Lunch

Roast your own tomato sauce: I had some tomatoes that were starting to turn so I roasted them with a zucchini, onion, and mushrooms. Once they were done cooking I crushed the tomatoes and mixed in the rest of the vegetables, then I tossed it all with brown rice pasta and shrimp

Dinner

Leftover turkey chili, brown rice, and lite sour cream

Kim

I came home to a hand-altered card from The Fella!
Insert Awww here

Frozen fruit soft serve.  Forget froyo–this is my new obsession.  The chocolate is made with pureed banana and cocoa powder.  I topped it with a bit of shredded coconut.  Something tells me this is a summer obsession in the making.

Errr, where exactly was I trying to go?

Cinco de Mayo Margarita Binge. I threw in some veggie fajitas for good measure.

What’s making you happy this weekend?

Kim

Congratulations Janine!  Expect an email from me asking for your mailing info.

I wish I had enough to give everyone, but I love doing giveaways, so if you come back often enough you’re bound to get some swag sent your way

I don’t know about you, but I’m psyched it’s Friday.  I’ll be splitting my day between:

and

Part of my May resolutions focused on balancing work and play.  A little manuscript writing and editing in the am, a little super hero adventure in the pm.  Sounds like a well rounded day to me.  I may even sneak in a personal training session with The Fella.

Speaking of, we have a wee bit of a box office bet going for the summer.  He is a die-hard Avengers fan, and says that ‘The Avengers’ will be the summer’s largest grossing superhero film.  I think Spider-man has more one-on-one appeal, and is more of a household name.  He has a client who says Batman will steal the summer.

Winner buys dinner.

Who do you think will be the super hero of summer 2012?

Breakfast

French toast made with gluten free cinnamon raisin bread, egg whites/vanilla/Truvia/cinnamon wash, strawberries, and syrup

Lunch

Turkey chili and brown rice

Dinner

Pizza and a movie .  I’m sure it will be the epitome of healthy living

Exercise: strength C-Day, 3-mile run

Kim

It’s that time of year again!

What time of year? You may ask.

Oh right,  it’s the time of year to get simultaneously sweaty, pretty, and well-fed in a park.

I go to the Self Workout in the Park almost every year. It combines a few of my favorite things: exercise (instruction provided by my favorite chain of gyms: Crunch), beauty and fashion swag, and snacks.

This year the magic will by Dolvett Quince (the super-hot trainer from The Biggest Loser—Swoon!) and Louis Van Amstel (dance coach on Dancing with the Stars—I don’t watch Dancing with the Stars so I have no idea who this is). Tickets are on-sale right now for $20 at www.SELFWorkoutinthePark.com.

Now, I don’t plug just anything on my blog—but I LOVE the workout in the park, and highly recommend hitting it up if you live near one of the three locations hosting one this year:

San Francisco (Little Marina Green): May 5, 2012
New York (Rumsey Playfield, Central Park): May 12, 2012
Chicago (Butler Field, Grant Park): June 2, 2012

To make it even more awesome, SELF will be donating a portion of proceeds from the event to participating charities: Cancer and Careers and The Conservation Fund.

AND they’re donating a super awesome Fit Kit to one lucky Kim Challenge reader. The Fit Kit includes ear buds, an official WIP water bottle, fitness DVDs, month-long membership to CRUNCH and all sorts of freebees from event sponsors like: Garnier, Calvin Klein, La Roche-Posay, and lucy.

To win all you need to do is head to the comments section and tell me your favorite way to keep fit in the summer months. I’ll be choosing a winner by random number generator on Friday at noon (EST)!

Kim

Hello May.

Welcome to my life. I have been waiting a long time for you come around with your warm days and cool evenings, blooming flowers, and subtle reminders that life is better spent under the shade of trees than just about anywhere else.

May is probably one of my favorite times of year, it’s not quite hot but it’s not cold either, which to me means one simple truth: dresses and cardigans.

I love dresses, dresses are like pajamas you can wear outside. Can we all just agree that the world would be a better place if we could all just wear pajamas all the time?

Cardigans are like a security blanket you can wear.

Put them together and instant comfort.

I’m also excited about May and hoping that this will be the month that I finally find a balance between work-me and life-me.

To say the past few months have been demanding would be an understatement, but I think I’m finally burgeoning on a place where I can balance being a human being and work. So that’s what my resolutions for May are about.

1. Blog. I miss blogging on a daily basis, but I’ve often ended my days feeling like there are just no more words left in me. So, I’m going to make it a point to blog more (although I’m reticent to define what “more” means just yet), even if it’s just one meal, workout, or life philosophy at a time. I’m starting this goal out with a giveaway so you should come back tomorrow for the opportunity to get swaggy stuff!
2. Take time to live in the present each day. A manicure, pedicure, hour with a book (that I’m not writing), or dinner out with friends—go a long way to take the pressure off. I’ve been pretty hard on myself lately, a habit that has probably done more harm than good to my work. I’m going to trust myself to work hard during the hours I set aside for working, but also take a moment or two to veg. Chilling out is an important part of life, a part that I often feel guilty about.
3. Cut out the processed, but don’t count calories. I have a trip to Israel coming up. I would love to look fan-friggin-tastic in my bikini, but right now I can’t handle the pressure watch everything I eat and log countless hours of cardio. So instead, I’m cutting out the processed foods in my diet—many of which are the fake meats I keep around for meals with The Fella. And trusting my body to know when and how much to eat if fueled with the stuff it would find in nature anyway.
4. Set a sleep schedule. I have not been sleeping well and this has become a huge problem. When I was a kid and couldn’t sleep my dad would say, “If you can’t sleep, don’t sleep—but rest and sleep will come.” I’m going to channel that advice, even when my mind is buzzing under the covers and I’m itching to get out of bed and start scribbling my thoughts, I will trust that resting will do my body good, and perhaps even lead to some sleep.

That’s it, my resolutions for May are about not being perfect, but being good. I will trust in myself to do the best I can, but not worry about doing everything perfectly. Sometimes good enough is the perfect goal.

What are you resolving for May?

Kim

Hey Ya’ll,

I am still alive and well and wholly overwhelmed by life…but I’m back on the Internet, and I hope I’m here to stay.

You know where else I’m back?

The weight room.

There’s nothing like a really tiny deadline to turn your entire life upside down, and I have sort of let my daily devotional to the gym fall by the wayside while I have instead devoted myself to my keyboard.

Not only are my pants feeling a wee bit tight, but I’m really missing the daily stress release that lifting heavy things provides me.

I asked The Fella to whip me up a new training routine (one of the perks of dating a personal trainer), which I have pasted below in case anyone is interested in mooching.  But, being back in the weight room after a hiatus reminded me how totally intimidating it can be if you don’t have a plan of action.

I think one of the things that keeps people from seriously strength training is simply not knowing what to do with the equipment once they’re inside the confines of the matted area.

If you’re interested in muscle-making and not quite sure what to do, I would suggest checking out the personal training services your gym provides.  Most gyms have an introductory package, even giving a free session to members to acquaint them with machines.  Working with a personal trainer has been really motivating for me in the past, but it’s also way too expensive for me to continue with.

When I’m not squeezing routines out of my boyfriend, there are places I go to look for challenging weight-room tutorials.  One of my favs is Bodybuilding.com.  Now, the site is first and foremost designed to sell supplements, but there’s a lot of amazing resources within its pages.  Including a whole bunch of routines and video tutorials of almost any exercise you can think of.  They’re currently running a 12-week program that’s very beginner friendly, that I think is really well laid out.

I also steal ideas from fitness magazines.  Mags like Shape, Self, and Women’s Health all provide very accessible workouts–most of which don’t require a gym membership.  Magazines like Oxygen, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Fitness RX for Women don’t always have the best editorial (in my humble opinion, and I hope I don’t blog myself out of future work here) but they usually provide really comprehensive workouts for serious gym rats.  Not only do they provide the routines, but there’s usually an accompanying spread to explain how to properly do each exercise.

And, when in doubt of how to perform an exercise correctly, one word: YouTube.  Whenever I’m not entirely sure if I understand a workout I either hit up  BodyBuilding.com’s video database or YouTube–more often than not I check both.

Personal trainers are great, but they’re expensive and not entirely necessary.  Consider yourself your own personal trainer…with a little help from the Internet.  To help out, I’ll try to remember to keep posting my new strength training routines as I badger The Fella to make them (usually once every 4-6 weeks).

So, here’s what I’m up to.  I alternate A,B, and C days.  I tend to strength train five days a week, with two days off.  Optimally I like to separate my cardio and my strength.  My goal is to be so wiped after one that the other seems impossible.  This often means strength training in the middle of the day and hitting up the gym for some cardio at the end of the day for a class or a post-dinner run.  I also use this as a way to clear my head between writing assignments.

A

• Rest btwn. sets 60 secs. / btwn. exercises 60-90 secs.
• Specific warmup before large muscle groups (1-3 sets before first exercise).

B

• Rest btwn. sets 60 secs. / btwn. exercises 60-90 secs.
• Specific warmup before large muscle groups (1-3 sets before first exercise).

C

• Rest btwn. sets 60 secs. / btwn. exercises 60-90 secs.
• Specific warmup before large muscle groups (1-3 sets before first exercise).

Cardio 20 miles/wk. accumulative.

And, now for some food…

Breakfast

Smoothie with low-fat kefir, banana, spinach, and chocolate protein powder

Snack

Chobani mango yogurt with trail mix

Lunch 

Brown rice pasta with broccolini, and grilled chicken

Dinner

Salad with lettuce, carrot, onion, Mandarin oranges, cucumber, grilled chicken and lite sesame ginger dressing

Exercise: (am) B-day, (pm) 4-mile run

Kim

I’ve made a whole lot of excuses as this resolution fell off it’s rightful bandwagon:

G-free is expensive
I can’t expect The Fella to stock up on G-free foods at his place.
I eat out a lot.
I like bread.
I forgot I was cutting out gluten.
It’s Passover and I have to eat Matzo (okay, this only counts for this week)

Despite my expertly crafted excuses, the proof is in the bloating.  As I’ve slacked, my stomach (and skin–that’s another thing for another time, but let’s just say my skin appears to react to gluten in a way that I find less than stellar) has reminded me of why I made this resolution in the first place.

One of my favorite diet books (what, like you don’t read diet books for fun?!  Oh, you don’t?  That’s just me.  Awkward) is called The Jungle Effect.  I may have been one of three people that actually read this book, but I love it.  It’s not traditional in that it’s not really about losing weight, it’s more of a road map of world diets.  One of the main points the author, Dr. Daphne Miller (no relation), makes is that indigenous diets develop via trial and error.  Long before frozen pizzas became a staple of our diet, people thought about what they ate after they ate it–and not in a “Crap, I feel really guilty now” kind of way, but in a “How does this make me feel?” kind of way.

When a food made someone feel good, they kept eating it.  When a food caused discomfort, it was ditched from the hunting-gathering list.

Somewhere along the way I think we ditched this very useful habit, but I’m trying to bring it back by taking stock of the way I feel after I eat–and stop making excuses to eat food that are obviously making me feel craptacular…after Passover ends (okay, one last excuse).

Breakfast

Smoothie with almond milk, spinach, banana, chocolate protein powder, and almond butter

Lunch

Matzo brie (It’s Passover tradition, kind of like giant-cracker French toast. Better than it sounds.)
Vegetables soup

Dinner

Grilled asparagus
Grilled chicken and BBQ sauce

Exercise: 45-min strength training with trainer, 15-minute varied cardio (running, box jumps, jump squats, burpees)

Kim