Is It The Shoes?

In the 90's, Mars Blackmon made the phrase "maybe it's the shoes!" famous. The Spike Lee character, appearing with the incomparable Michael Jordan in a series of Nike commercials, delivered the line repeatedly.

And now I, too am a believer.

I've been slacking off from running. I haven't had a proper run since October of last year. Five months ago.

I had planned to turn that around this morning, but when I woke up, the knee and foot pain I've been a costumed to over the last few months was especially bad, and so I blew it off. Again.

I've long suspected my current shoes (a two-year-old pair of NB's with hundreds of miles on them and a pair of Asics that never felt broken in) were a contributing factor in my ever-present, nagging injuries.

So I finally broke down and bought a new pair of NB trail runners, the same model that I was wearing when I fell in love with running two summers ago:

 

And I've been pain-free all afternoon.

I'm about to head out for a walk downtown while my son is in music lessons, and I'm planning another two or three mile walk with Zeus this evening, and if all goes well...

But I don't want to get ahead of myself. Still, it's a good sign. 

Maybe it IS the shoes.

The Great Bean Brownie Trick

There's a recipe for black bean chocolate brownies floating around the internet, and as I enjoy using my kids as guinea pigs, I thought I'd give it a try.

After yoga this morning, my wife and I were shopping in Aldi when I saw the brownie mixes, which reminded me of the recipe, so I threw the box into our cart.

Once we got home, I decided to make them then and there. I started with two very basic ingredients - a 15oz can of black beans and the box of brownie mix:

Since Aldi didn't have the low-sodium (or sodium-free) black beans, I first drained and rinsed the beans:

Once drained, I added them and half a can of water to the Ninja and pureed the heck out of 'em:

...then added the puree to the dry mix...

But how did it taste at this point? A taste test was in order:

Then into the 350-degree oven they went for 30 minutes:

And after an appropriate amount of cooling (5-10 minutes), the verdict was in: "It tastes like the trampoline-y top of chocolate pudding!" I just don't have the heart to tell them what the secret ingredient was...

Give it a try and let me know how they go over at your house!

Here's the original post I got the idea from: http://greenlitebites.com/2012/07/05/the-black-bean-brownie-trick/

March 5, 2014 Accountability Check

Today's accountability check:

Stairs: three flights, four up and three down

Fiber: 23g

Lunch: Cobb salad and apple slices, 490 cal.

Weakness: 5 Cadbury mini creme eggs, 200 cal.

Creme eggs...yum!

Workout: 2.2 miles on the treadmill at the gym - 30 minutes total. Sweated like a stuck pig - felt so out-of-shape afterwards!

 

Sweating like crazy!

Additional nonsense: In honor of Wig Wednesday, wondered what I'd look like with Jared Leto's hair. It's not pretty:

And now that you've seen it, you can't unsee it - bwahahahahah!

Sweet dreams.

Shh - It's A Secret!

So, I've joined a secret group. And you can join to - I'll tell you how in a minute.

But first, a little backstory:

I stream RadioBDC at work frequently, and last week Dr. Sherry Pagoto, Ph.D., from the UMass Medical School, was the featured guest, talking about making better dietary and exercise choices. She mentioned a private Facebook group she had started, and before the interview was over I had emailed her, asking for an invite to the group.

As I write this, there are 44 of us, committed to making positive changes in our diet and exercise routines. Big changes or small, they all matter.

This week's challenge is a pretty simple, straightforward one: Home Improvement. Sherry has challenged the group to make one change at home, one change at work and one change in our exercise routine. The trick is that it needs to be something that, in the past, we haven't had the willpower to overcome. So, for instance, if you are unable to resist a handful of Nilla Wafers before going to bed, the idea is to get them out of the house so that the temptation is no longer there.

Here are my goals for the week (and longer, I hope):

The building I work in recently added a keypad at the top of the enclosed stairwell, making it possible to take the stairs UP to the third floor now. So that is what I'll be doing every time I enter the building as well as every time I leave it. I'll be taking the stairs. This is what will greet me every weekday morning:

Once in the office, my next goal is to avoid the kitchen. The well-stocked kitchen. The as-long-as-I'm-here-getting-coffee-I-might-as-well-grab-a-PopTart kitchen. Here is a small part of what I'm giving up:

However, making it until noon without SOMETHING is a torture I can't endure, so I brought something a little healthier from home:

So, Home Improvement Week begins now for me. Wish me luck!

And if you're interested in joining Sherry's secret Facebook group, drop her a line at sherry.pagoto (at) umassmed.edu.