St. Waffle Patrick’s Wednesday Day
Happy Waffle Wednesday!! Oh and I suppose St. Patrick’s Day too ;) Any Irish out there? I don’t think I’m actually Irish. I have an Irish name in my family, but I think we discovered it was actually a Norwegian adopted by an Irish family when he came to Canada. Are you out there mom? Can you correct me on this? Anyways, my last name is German, I’ve got a solid Scottish foundation, and a sprinkling of French. Basically, I’m Canadian! :D
Oh yes, we were talking about waffles, weren’t we…
- 1/3 cup rolled oats
- 1/3 cup cottage cheese
- 1/3 cup egg whites
- cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- stevia
All blended up with an immersion blender and poured into my belgian waffle iron.
Topped with almond butter, fresh strawberries and yogurt. I’m all for the toppings, but I found the waffle got lost under all the mess! I’m simple, I think I like it best plain and dipped in syrup :)
Then it was off to woooooork. I don’t know what is up with me lately but I’m in a weird head space. I think it’s because I only have 7 weeks (!!) left at my job, I’m writing my personal trainer exam in 5 weeks, and I have 10 weeks until I move to Toronto. GAH.
At least I still have a constant in my life – exercise! I held off on my workout until after work today because the weather was 12 C, sunny and downright bee-yoo-tiful. Perfect running weather. I was starving per usual after work, so I grabbed a couple dates + AB before heading out.
Best cardio fuel there is. Does nothing strange to my tummy and gets some sugar in me quick.
By 5pm I was out the door! I’m quite proud of myself for actually doing it so late in the day, as I’m notorious for making excuses as each hour passes. In fact, this was my first evening workout since I started my job in January! The stellar weather and Beatles playlist I put on my iPod helped. I was actually looking forward to the fresh air.
I went out with the intention of running for 40 minutes. No speed or mileage goals, just 40 minutes of cardio outdoors. I just mapped it out and I did 4.2 miles in 41 minutes! Perfect! I felt at ease the whole time, so it’s nice to know I was going at a respectable (for me) pace.
Came home and foam rolled, stretched and iced. I am an injury-free zone thankyouverymuch :)
Dinner tonight featured this new-to-me food.
Veggie Patch Garlic Portabella Patties. Stats are okay. Low-ish on protein, but low on carbs too.
Ingredients could definitely be better (and shorter).
You can’t see it, but I am making a face right now looking at those ingredients :P
Luckily, they were quite tasty!
Nothing mind-blowing, but nicely spiced with a firm texture. I ate it on a bed of swiss chard, green beans, onions, mushrooms, green onions and garlic sauteed with some marinara sauce.
This was also my first time trying swiss chard! It was good, the flavour got kind of lost in everything else so I couldn’t pick up anything distinct about it. Cooks just like spinach with a hard stem like kale. Will buy again! (because I ate the whole bunch!)
Thank you for all the great fitness and exercise resource suggestions from my last post! I wanted to make a list of all the extra suggestions I got in the comments:
Runner’s World
Oxygen Magazine
New Rules of Lifting for Women
Muscle and Fitness
Bicycling Magazine
Women’s Health
Men’s Health
Yoga Journal
bodyrock.tv
Fit TV
Shape Magazine
Fitness Magazine
Shape Fit
ACE
ACSM
NASM
Isn’t that amazing!? Thank you so much for chiming in!!
Today’s question is actually going to touch on tomorrow’s topic. I know, I’m getting ahead of myself. But I really want to hear everyone’s opinion on this first!
Okay, so question of the day is: do you honestly enjoy working out? Do you look forward to workouts? Do you enjoy the act of working out just as much as the feeling of accomplishment afterward?
I’m constantly running into people who don’t. I have a hard time talking to them about my passion for exercise, as I love everything about it. For example, I was looking forward to my run today, even though I knew it could potentially be hard. I always cross paths with people who say they exercise because they have to, and don’t seem to find much joy in it. Convincing others that working out is fun is a wall I always hit, and I would like to learn a way over it before I become a trainer. So let me know! I’ll do the usual rambly-rambles on it tomorrow :) See ya then!
Posted on March 17, 2010, in Workouts and tagged running, swiss chard, veggie burger, Veggie Patch, waffle wednesday. Bookmark the permalink. 39 Comments.
The Great Balancing Act 
I do know that I don’t look at it as something that I do because I binged or that I need to do to get skinny for my boyfriend.
Yes, I look forward to working out. I admit that I used to look forward to it more a year or so ago because it was new again with getting back into more intense routines after pregnancy. Now, I still truly enjoy it, but not as much since I can’t push myself as hard. And when I was training for my figure competition – I HATED it…because I HAD to.
I don’t love it. I don’t hate it either. I find it a lot easier to scare myself into exercising, which is why I keep signing up for triathlons/half-marathons, etc. I race to train instead of training to race!
Ok, why have I never participated in waffle Wednesday before?? *Noted*
I genuinly love running. I think if someone doesn’t enjoy exercise, then they haven’t found the right one for them. Exercise is part of our nature- we’re supposed to enjoy it! I don’t associate the feeling of my heart pounding with pain. Two separate things!
That waffle does look amazing but I agree with you that i like my waffles with just a little syrup or some fruit like blueberries or strawberries.
I do genuinely enjoy working out. However, I do find it hard sometimes to work out on really busy days. If I had no work/other commitments I would happily work out every single day, it’s just fitting it in that gets difficult. Though, I’d WAY rather work out than go to work, it just doesn’t pay the bills hha
I don’t really enjoy working out all that much, but I enjoy the results and that’s what makes going to the gym not so painful. It’s a simple cost-benefit analysis in my head: cost=30-90 minutes of time, 4-6 days a week, versus benefit=good health, finishing awesome races, looking hot, living longer…the list goes on. Totally worth it!
I absolutely love working out! And if I didn’t love what I currently do as a career more, I would definitely seek out a job in the fitness field.
Being at the gym is like my “me time” I love every minute of it, from sweating out cardio, to pumping through those last 3 reps.
The fitter I get the more I enjoy it. Makes sense though :-) If it’s fun like badminton I really enjoy it
I have a love/hate relationship with it. Sometimes I do love it so much, but other times I just can’t wait for it to be over. One thing remains constant though….when i get in the grove I love it, and that feeling you have when your workout is done….priceless.
I have to tell you, we had crustless meatloaf pizza tonight for supper, you were right, it was good. Thanks for your tip!
I love, love, love lifting and biking. I look really forward to those days and love the workout itself! Running I like more when I am done. I have tried a lot of different exercises to find ones I love. I tried Tae Bo (uncoordinated), Kickboxing (really wanted to love, but didn’t), Pilates (like, and should do more), Core Rhythms (I dance like Elaine Bettis, so no good there), and many others. The key was trying all of them a few times to make sure I did or did not like them. Why spend several hours a week doing something you don’t enjoy?
But I think you also have to learn to enjoy it, and have a mindset that you will. If you go in dreading, you are going to be dreading while doing.
On a side note, I think it would be so awesome to meet up later this year!
I’ve had those portabella burgers but our’s aren’t “garlic” ones – that sounds even better than the kind we have!
When I was in my sport, I loved “working out” in terms of practice but as far as busting booty in the gym? Hated it! I liked lifting weights but the cardio stuff I could do without.
I do enjoy exercising! Sometimes I lack the motivation to get off the couch, but as I like to say to myself “I’ve never REGRETTED going to the gym.”
I am slowly finding that I enjoy exercising. I sometimes look forward to it, though most times about half way through a workout I can’t say I’m enjoying it (and can be found talking back to/yelling at the “trainer” on my workout DVDs). I like the feeling of accomplishment I get from it too.
I will say that if I do not get some sort of enjoyment out of a type of workout I will stop doing it. I can’t keep going if I’m hating every second of it.
90 percent of the time I love it. 10 percent of time I hate it. I’d say those are pretty good percentages!!
I love working out. I love running outside. I love going to the gym and watching the Today Show while I elliptical my little heart out. I’m trying to make myself love strength training…
Hey Susan! Looking at your burger, even Xanthan gum makes an appearance (as does Locust bean gum, which I’m desperate to find as an experiment).
I’m with you- pancakes are better dipped- otherwise they get all soggy.
Exercise? Try taking it away and you may as well take a lung, or two for that matter. The way I see it- I love it love it love it. Then on a day that I say “Ack, no way”-that’s my body telling me I need a rest day. Then it’s back to loving it again. I also have a hard time relating to peeps who hate exercising, but I should very well empathize as that was ME when I was *ahem* rounder of face :-) It was awful and I hated it more than anything.
Can’t wait to read that upcoming post!
Yes, I genuinely LOVE working out. Not all workouts. If you told me I had to get on the rowing machine for 60 minutes, I’d definitely dread that. But I am super duper excited for Body Attack. Every class!
Hi Susan!
Now, it seems like I am in the minority here….but a lot of the time, I really don’t enjoy what I’m doing! Likely this is because I am a new exerciser, which seems to make a difference….and also because I am (again, in the minority) working out at night.
In general, I really enjoy weights. Cardio…not so much. Running is my white whale….my mount everest….my mission to the moon, if you will. I have always been horrible at it, I remember taking those fitness tests in middle school, and I could never do less than a 13 minute mile! I am working on it, mostly on being able to run without walking for extended periods of time.
Overall I would say love/oh-I-need-to-be-somewhere-else ratios are 50/50.
I guess it depends on the exercise. I enjoy most classes: the music, the movement… I also love yoga, it is very relaxing to me. And of course you can’t beat bicycling on a nice day. :) I don’t enjoy treadmills/running/elliptical, so I don’t do it.
I truly love physical fitness and being active, not just “working out” but being active and fit. And strong and healthy, all goes hand in hand for me! If i didnt love it, i wouldnt do it. And for ppl who don’t get i, i just say they havent found their calling or the right thing for them…yet. They need to come to yoga with me then :)
I second what Averie says about people not having found what is right for them. I love many different ways of being active. My absolute favorite is hiking and I even moved to the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. from the Midwest to be closer to great hiking.
And to answer your first question, yes I got some Irish in me; Irish, Scottish, English, Belgium, German and French by way of Canada :)
Initially i used to DREAD getting out of bed in the morning to go to the gym..but i think it’s because i was just running to burn cals and lose weight..
Now that i’m running because i want to build up my strength and stamina both mentally and physically i look forward to and ENJOY working out..
I don’t even look at the distance/cals burned counter anymore..
I never thought i’d be able to enjoy running as much as something so oviously therapeutic like yoga…but i really am…It’s my greatest discovery so far!
:)
I run 3.5 miles each day and it’s the best anti-depressant i’ve ever been on! hehe..
Hope you have a wonderful day love..
Side note: im so jealous of the fact that you live in Canada..I’d give my right hand to live somewhere where the info on food packaging was in both French and English…Your French must be pretty good (particularly on food) if you’re bombarded with it on everything you eat…am i right?..or just being wishful in my thinking?
xox
My french is so-so. I did all my classes in French up until grade 9 (what we call an “immersion” program for English students), but I haven’t used it much since, so I’ve lost a lot of my conversational skills. Although, if I find myself stuck in France, I could probably find my way around ;)
Sus like many on your list I am mixed. I used to hate running and I still don’t feel as happy running as I do doing other activities, though it is now what I do the most. I find I am increasingly craving it and just ‘feeling like a run’. Like someone else posted I sign up for races to motivate my training not the other way around.
But I’ve always loved cycling, and I find myself often starting to bike and going for an hour without even having planned to do a workout. So it really is the right activity with me. This is the same with dancing, or any dancing-like activity (socaramba or zumba) – I go because I enjoy every part of it and though dancing is not always an intense workout it keeps me active in the downtimes.
As for swimming, I love it once I’m in the water but I hate the prep and the post cleanup. But once I’m in the water I usually stay in the water for lots longer than I planned.
Two winters ago I discovered crosscountry skiing and realized I’d found my winter activity. It requires lots of prep (hauling your skis) but I’ve developed a system to help me with this (bought a 50$ bag that holds all my things that’s right at my door so I can just pick up that bag and go!) like cycling I get to be outside breathing fresh air and I never know what kind of challenges I’m going to face (hills, etc). This winter I found myself coming home from work, making dinner, and then just feeling like skiing, so sneaking out to the track at 9pm just because.
Weights and other gym stuff I do to build stamina for the other activities I enjoy…so I don’t actually like it as much while doing it, but I like the results and that’s what motivates met. It’s always the first to go when I hit a lazy streak…I never give up on biking though!!
So generally I think people need to experiment and not feel bad if they aren’t loving every minute of it…and to make the investments they need to (like buying bags) to help them do the things they really enjoy.
Great post!
ps- I’ve chard and green beans in my fridge right now too :) xoxo
WOW portabella burgers! YUMMM I love my ‘shrooms ;)
I DO like working out- but only certain types. And it took me a loooonnng time to learn that I should be working out because I enjoy it first, and because it will keep me fit second. I love to walk, run, hike, do yoga, swim and do full body workouts. I like to strength train, but I HATE cardio machines… no gyms for me!
xo
K
I enjoy strength training but I do not enjoy cardio. I like how I feel afterwards but honestly I don’t have fun doing it. I’m pretty sure other than hiking there is no cardio activity I enjoy. I do force myself to kickboxing and spinning each week.
I despise going to the gym. The actual going. I’m usually ok when I get there, but not 100% “enjoying” the experience. What I do enjoy is walks, hikes, bike rides, playing a game of soccer or volleyball, doing yardwork, that sort of exercise I enjoy because I don’t think of it as primarily exercise I suppose. I was a gym nazi for awhile while I was doing NROL and I love the way I felt afterwards but the entire time I was cursing it. I’d rather be sitting on my ass watching a movie or somethin. ;)
Well, it is just a pleasure to catch up on your blog after being away! I think you pose a really interesting question, Ms S. To be honest, I did not used to enjoy exercising. I would go to the gym and use the machines because I felt I should and because I thought if I didn’t then I might have to stop eating burgers….and that’s never going to happen!
The turning point for me, and I think for a lot of people, is finding something they enjoy! I think a lot of people forget that sport exists and just focus on the gym when there is so much to be gained from team participation. One of my best friends plays netball three times a week and that is all she does – she stays fit and happy and never dreads a “work out”. I think we could all learn a lot from focusing on the other aspects of exercising this way (team work! competition! fun!)….as a side note, I run and practice yoga at the moment as those are the things that make me tick!
Yes, working out is now just part of something I do. I feel wierd and restless if I don’t do it. I even find rest days hard. It took me a while to get here, but I love it.
By the way, I reference your blog on my blog this week, as I salute food bloggers!
Happy Belated St. Patty’s Day, Susan! I am not Irish, either, but that didn’t stop me from celebrating ;)
Short answer to your question: NO.
Long answer: I always kind of say, I love the way I feel after exercising, but the actual act of exercising, hell, no. I really don’t. I do it purely for aesthetic, vain, superficial reasons only. There, I said it!
ahaha i liked your heritage rambles that ended with “basically, im canadian” well put! mmm.. waffles… wednesday… it is the best tradition ever :) i have never tried swiss chard. i was talking about that the other day! i have also never tried broccoli raab, but that is another story. anyway.. i look forward to your next post! i honestly DO enjoy working out, but i can’t say that i ALWAYS enjoy it. there are days when i just dont want to work out. i would rather curl up with the dogs and eat cereal. but those arent the same days as my rest days. sometimes i just loathe the gym and honestly have to MAKE myself go, because i know i need to. and guess what? 110% of the time, i am glad that i went. i feel good after. but for the most part, i do like working out, especially weights! cardio.. not so much..
XOXO
Nice job on the outdoor run! I would have done the exact same thing had I not had to train after work. Alas, the run was on a treadmill.
I think you’ll know my answer to your question ;) YES I love to workout! And I have a hard time when other people hate it or do it solely for vanity purposes. I pretty much test the waters to see if they’re open to my opinion on exercise, and if they are, I’ll ramble, and if they’re stuck in their ways, I consider it not my place.
As far as clients go, encourge, encourage, encourage!
HOLY YUM! those waffles look SO SO SO GOOD! i may just have to make those soon! I love topping them with fun ingredients too!
YES I lov working out, I went to college for exercise science and am a personal trainer so I really really love everything about it, the anatomy, muscles, tendons and hard work :)
i have days where i love my workout, hate the feeling after. there are days i hate the workout, love the feeling after. and yes, there are those lovely days where i enjoy both. so i guess its just kind of a toss up in my world what kind of day it is going to be :)
yay for waffles – i want to luck the screen. i ate lunch and am still majorly hungry. WTF?!?
I really do like it, but I honestly think if I was one of those “naturally thin” gals I would not work out as much…so it’s probably good that I’m not, since exercise is so much more than that…it’s also a HUGE source of stress and depression/anxiety relief for me, so I love that.
I have friends that don’t like working out because they don’t like sweating…really, they hate it. I can’t relate because I adore a good sweat, but that might be something you’d encounter with clients. And short of suggesting they take up swimming, I don’t know how you’d get around that!
This week I keep waiting for a day to come when I really don’t want to go to the gym. Or I am waiting for a moment at the gym when I go, “screw this” and leave. It hasn’t happened which really surprises me- sure I get tired or bored if I am on one machine for a long time, but I pretty mch love the idea of going, being there, moving onto different equipment…I have so much more energy after and my mood has been SO much better this week. Deep down, I am convinced that I am really lazy (I have nothing to base this on BTW) and am always amazed how much fun I DO have working out. I think that different stuff suits different people though and if someone says they hate exercise, they just haven’t found a kind that is right for them…people think of swimming, running and gyms, but there are SO many sports/exercises to stay fit- everything from rockclimbing to ice skating. I definitely think that human beings are designed to be active and it’s just a matter of trying new things until you find something your body and mind can enjoy. Working out doesn’t have to be “work” :)
I love to work out which is why the last couple of months have been a bit of nightmare but little by little I’m getting stronger so I look forward to getting completely better and pain free bring on the uber workouts! I so long to spin! x x
If “working out” means running out in the sun for a few miles, or walking, then YES I love to work out! But if it means holed up in the gym pumping my legs yet not going anywhere, breathing in the sweat of other people, having people stare rudely at me waiting for me to get off the machine….NO! Haha.
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