Why Do You Exercise?

Hey y'all! Happy Humpday! I hope it's a good one for you. Thank you so much for your words of support in my quest to go gluten free. Lets hope it works :)

I started my day with a half hour of power walking outside. It was COLD! I wore a hat and gloves so I was fine, but I wasn't expecting it to be as cold as it was. I plan on doing either Core Fusion Pure Abs & Arms or my own strength training routine after work. It depends on what I'm in the mood for.

Last night's dinner was a usual suspect.


Baked sweet potato and chicken stuffed with Garlic & Herb Laughing Cow and pickles. Steamed brussels on the side for a veggie. I had originally planned to have vegetarian baked beans not chicken, but I realized after reading the label on the beans that the sauce they were in contained gluten. Oh well, dinner was still delicious, but I'm sick of the chicken stuffed with Laughing Cow and pickles. Do you believe it? I never get sick of foods, but I think I've worn this one out.

I came across this interesting article yesterday about what really motivates people to exercise. It turns out, a lot of people aren't motivated by weight loss or even their health. The author of the article found that some people workout to spend time with their significant other, to spend time with friends, and some just to get out of the house. Personally, I exercise for my health first, but it's also the only way I can relieve stress from work and life. It's also my "me" time. What motivates you to exercise?

Fibromyalgia Linked To Gluten Intolerance?

Hi everyone! I hope your start to the week is going well. My day began with a 5 mile run outside. I wasn't planning on going 5 miles, but I was lost in my thoughts and realized I had passed my original turn around point and decided to just keep going to the 5 mile turn around. It was nice to take advantage of the great weather we've been having the past few days. If you live in New England, you know that this will probably be short-lived :)

Yesterday was an insane day. Work is crazy right now and not in a good way. Oh well, everything's temporary and this situation will pass. When I got home, I didn't feel like cooking so I whipped up a lazy dinner of baked chickend and broccoli slaw "pasta".



I stuffed the chicken with Garlic & Herb Laughing Cow and mixed the slaw with a tiny bit of tomato sauce. It was tasty as usual.

If you're a new reader, you may not know that I suffer from Fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is a chronic condition characterized by widespread pain in your muscles, ligaments and tendons, as well as fatigue and multiple tender points — places on your body where slight pressure causes pain.

A MelissaNibbles reader, Candice, emailed me information she came across regarding studies that link fibromyalgia with a gluten intolerance. I was hesitant to believe the hype because it seems that a lot of people have been jumping on the "gluten free" train lately and I didn't want to be one of them. However, I respect my readers suggestions and looked over the information. What I found linking fibromyalgia to gluten sensitivity was interesting. All of the studies showed that fibromyalgia and celiac disease share many of the same symptoms (gas, bloating, acid reflux, irritability, joint pain, fatigue...). I researched further on my own and found that many other chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue, rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disorder, and diabetes have also been associated with gluten intolerance. All of these illnesses share the same symptoms as fibromyalgia, then I read in The Food Intolerant Consumer that new evidence suggests that 1 in 7 fibromyalgia sufferers are gluten sensitive. At this point, my curiosity was peaked, but I wanted the opinion of someone who would be "candid" and had experience dealing with fibromyalgia sufferers and is knowledgeable about gluten free diets. I only knew one person...The Candid RD! I knew Gina would give it to me straight and she did. She's actually working with her mom on cutting out gluten and suggested I give it a try.

At this point, my pain levels are only decreased when I'm sleeping, working out, or taking a bath. I can't do those things all day long and I'm willing to try anything to help deal with my fibromyalgia (except drugs). I've decided to go gluten free for a month and see what happens. I think it will be tough, but not as tough as I originally thought. I hardly eat any processed foods and I've noticed that a lot of the foods I eat now (cottage cheese, yogurt, fruits, veggies) are gluten free. I'll have to replace things like pasta and wraps with gluten free versions, but those are readily available in my grocery store. I'm pretty good about reading food labels, now I'll just have to be extra vigilant. I've bookmarked recipes and tips on dining out gluten free (a lot of restaurants offer an alternative gluten free menu if you ask!), so I'm armed and ready. If you see me eat something on here with gluten, don't be afraid to let me know as I'm still figuring the whole thing out and can use all the help I can get. This month will be challenging, but I'm excited to see if this change brings me any relief. Stay tuned!

*Thanks to Gina and Shannon who went above and beyond helping me in my research :)

Nibble DVD Review: Core Fusion Abs & Arms

After proclaiming my love for all things Core Fusion, I decided to order another dvd from the series to nibble on. Core Fusion Pure Abs & Arms. As the title says, the dvd focuses on abs and arms and comes with a free resistance band! I had never used a resistance band in my strength training and was looking forward to trying something new.

The workout is broken down into 5 ten minute sections:

• Upper Body Weights & Resistance Band
• Upper Body Resistance Band
• Abdominals
  
• Abdominals With Leg Variations
• Upper Body, Back & Hip Stretches

All of the workouts started with the traditional Core Fusion warmup of lifting your arms and legs, and a back stretch of swinging your arms side to side. I like that the warmup is in each section because if you only choose to do one or two of the workouts on a particular day, you'll still get a warmup in.

The weights portion of the upper body workout consisted of shoulder presses, upright rows, bicep curls, and tricep exercises that are KILLER. I don't know the names of them because I've only ever done them in Core Fusion, but they are tough! The resistance band portion consisted of more bicep and tricep exercises with different variations using the band. I liked using the resistance band a lot. I found it easier to use than the weights in this workout because you can control the resistance simply by using less or more of the band. You don't have to pause to change your dumbbells, you just move your hands. The resistance band was also a lot tougher than I expected...in a good way.

The first ab routine consisted of the traditional C-Curve and using the resistance band to add in some oblique exercises. I'm still using the modified version of the C-Curve (holding on to my thighs), but I let go more often so I think I'm getting better. The second ab routine with leg variations was really tough for me. Lifting my legs for every ab exercise while maintaining a C-Curve was very difficult. I was cursing at the television. I think that's a sign of a good workout though. If you're not being challenged, you're not going to see results right?

The last segment was stretching so that was my favorite. It was just different stretches using the resistance band.

Overall, I loved this workout. I prefer it over the Body Sculpt Core Fusion dvd, but only because I'm not trying to lean my lower body out right now so I don't do the lower body workouts on that dvd. Core Fusion Abs & Arms is more tailored to my current training goals. I'm definitely going to be adding Pure Abs & Arms to my workout schedule. 5 out of 5 Jersey Shore Fist Pumps!!

You can read my Core Fusion Body Sculpt Review here.

It's OK!

It's officially the weekend! I hope you do something fun and even naughty! Inspired by Glamour Magazine's "It's OK..." feature where they assure us that our weird little habits are completely normal, I'm dedicating this post to assuring you it's okay to do the following this weekend:

It's okay...

• to get a free dinner at your parents house.
• and to do all your laundry there!
• to pretend to be text-messaging to get out of talking to some rando in a bar.
• to ask that sweaty dude at the gym to wipe off the equipment when he's done.
• to have both Pizza Hut and IHOP in one day.
• to bail on plans because Labyrinth is on.
• to "mark all as read" on your Google Reader and start over.

Live it up people! I'm nursing my dry sockets and look like crap, but I'm imagining myself in more glamorous times like this:


Have a great weekend!!

Toothy Friday

Hi everyone and happy Friday! What a morning I've had! I just returned from my new second home...the dentist's office! I have bone sticking out around my dry socket and the dentist just went to town on my mouth removing part of the sucker. I am in so much pain! I popped a pain killer, but with my fibromyalgia, the pills don't do much to help. Waaaaahhh!!! *in Snooki's voice* Before the dentist, I ran 4 miles on the treadmill and performed a few quick ab exercises of crunches, stability ball crunches, weighted Russian twists, and planks. It was a great workout to end the week with!

I'm not sure if or when I'll be able to eat my lunch today (because of my teeth), but I snapped a few pictures before I packed it up to bring to work with me. So here's what I might be eating for lunch:


Turkey, plain Greek yogurt, spinach, pickles, and spinach & artichoke hummus on a whole wheat wrap.


Yummy strawberries for dessert!

I'm planning on using Friday's posts for guest bloggers. I have a few lined up to share their stories about their struggles with disordered eating at various phases from being in recovery to post recovery. I think the different perspectives would be interesting and something we could learn from. I don't have a guest blogger lined up for today, but wanted to bring your attention to this article. The article says that experts are reporting a rise in women in their 30s, 40s, and 50s seeking treatment for eating disorders. The National Eating Disorder Assocation reports that one-fourth of hospital stays in 2005-2006 were for people 30-45 years old and 15% were for those 45-64 years old. The main reason given was once their kids were out of the house, they no longer felt distracted with parenting and focused on food instead. This makes sense to me because eating disorders are all about controlling something in your life when you feel like your life is out of control. I imagine a mother would feel worried about their child going off to college or starting a family of their own and cope those feelings by developing or relapsing back into an eating disorder. I wonder if today's economy has also had an effect on the rise in numbers. What are your thoughts on this article?

Three Things Thursday

Good afternoon! I keep thinking today is Friday, but no such luck. It's just Thursday. I faced another battle with the elliptical trainer this morning, but I think I won! It was easier today than the other day. Yay! I warmed up for two minutes at level 8 and then did intervals like this:

Minutes 2-3 Level 10 forward
Minutes 3-5 Level 10 backward
Minutes 5-7 Level 10 forward
Minutes 7-8 Level 12 forward
Minutes 8-9 Level 12 backward
Minutes 9-11 Level 12 forward
Minutes 11-12 Level 15 forward
Minutes 12-13 Level 10 forward
Minutes 13-15 Level backward
Minutes 15-16 Level 10 forward
Minutes 16-17 Level 12 forward
Minutes 17-18 Level 12 backward
Minutes 18-19 Level 12 backward
Minutes 19-20 Level 15 forward at a sprinting speed.

I followed this workout with five minutes of slow walking on the treadmill to cooldown. I have a date with my weights in my living room after work for some strength training.

Once home, I refueled with some oatmeal. I was feeling something different though! No pumpkin oats today my friends!


1/2 cup oats, 1/3 cup cottage cheese, cinnamon, strawberries, white chocolate chips, and a glob of Naturally More PB for dipping. I don't like mixing my peanut butter with oats. I prefer a small taste here and there. I admit to being a double dipper though! It was nice to have such a fresh and fruity breakfast.

Okay, now what you've all been waiting for...Three Things Thursday. This is where I complain about three things that are driving me nuts this week. You get your turn in the comments! Here we go:

1. We're Full! I hate when you're waiting for the T in Boston and when the subway car finally arrives and the doors open, someone inside will yell out, "We're full! We're full!" I can see that it's full you jerk. When this happens, no one even tries to get on the train, but it never fails that five people scream out, "We're full! We're full!" and one of them will be all trying to shut the subway car doors himself. Calm down people. Green line riders I'm looking at you!

2. I'm Sorry You Feel That Way... People who say this are assholes. If you did something that upsets someone, but don't feel you did anything wrong, then say that! Don't be a dismissive jerk handing out fake apologies. It's not even an apology and it's very insulting because you're actually blaming the person you're supposedly apologizing to. A true apology accepts blame and is sincere. If you really don't think you did something wrong, you should still apologize. You might not apologize for what the person is upset for, but you should at least say, "I'm sorry I upset you," "I'm sorry I made you mad," etc...because you did do something to make that person upset. If you take the time to sort things out and accept responsibility for your actions, people will respect you.

3. Online Radio Stations. I loved them at first, but now they just piss me off. The whole purpose is to only hear music you like right? Well, why if I tell it the artists that I like, it never plays them. It plays artists it "thinks I'll enjoy." If I select Mason Jennings, Kate Bush, Iron & Wine, and Prince, I don't want to hear John Mayer, Jessica Simpson, Owl City, and Soulja Boy. That is my worst nightmare of a radio station. I just want to hear music I like, don't pretend you know me you stupid online radio station!

What's bothering you?

Carba-Nada Pasta Review & Giveaway Winner!!

Hi everyone. I hope you had a fabulous day! I had plans to meet up with a friend for dinner tonight, but he ended up getting stuck at work and had to cancel. I thought about getting takeout or going down the street to Subway because nothing in the fridge was jumping out at me and I wasn't craving anything specific. I kept looking though because I HATE wasting money on takeout. I dug around in my pantry and came across a bag of Carba-Nada Pasta I had won in a giveaway from Lisa a while back. I forgot I had it in there! Finding the bags of pasta got the creative juices flowing and I was excited to give them a try. I chose the lemon pepper fettucini flavored pasta to base my dinner around.



I wanted to make a creamy pasta sauce, but wasn't sure if lemon would taste good with a creamy sauce. I consulted the Google and found this recipe which included lemon, pepper, and heavy cream in the ingredients. I figured I'd be okay. I didn't have heavy cream or chicken broth on hand, but figured plain Greek yogurt would work. When doesn't it? I cooked the pasta according to the instructions on the bag, drained and returned it to the pot. After letting it cool for a bit, I added a few spoonfuls of plain Greek yogurt. I seasoned my chicken with Italian seasoning and baked it in the oven. I also steamed some broccoli as a side in order to get my veggies in.


The Carba-Nada Pasta was very good. I couldn't tell it was low carb at all. The zest of the Greek yogurt helped bring out the lemon flavor of the noodles and worked well as a sauce. I'll definitely buy these if I can find them in my grocery store. They were easy to make and delicious!

Thank you to everyone who entered and donated to my fundraiser for the Multiservice Eating Disorder Association. Together we raised $90 for the MEDA. Thank you so much! The winner of the book, Life Without Ed was chosen by random using random.org:

Here are your random numbers:

3

Timestamp: 2010-03-03 17:01:45 UTC

Number 3 was JG. Congratulations JG! Please email me your info. I'm looking forward to having another fundraiser next month. I'd love to do some sort of auction or online bake sale. I'll have to figure out how to coordinate that though. Okay, I'm off to read David Sedaris's "Me Talk Pretty One Day" for the five hundredth time. I never get sick of that book or any of his books really. I do need a new book though...Goodnight friends!