Badass Fitness

Turkey Day's over; make lean, mean Badass Buffalo chili

Turkey sandwiches, turkey salad, turkey pot pie, turkey soup. It's all enough to make you sprout feathers and giblets. And if you've been eating your turkey variations with leftover sides of those rich mashed potatoes and stuffing, it's probably time to clean up your eating. Because Christmas, Hannukah, etc. are right around the corner -- not to mention the parade of parties that accompany the holidays.

The Badass strategy is to eat as clean and healthy as possible when you're not holiday partying. It will help ensure you don't wind up in the category of Americans who pack on a few cheese logs this season.

So here we are on Monday, and we get to start anew! Tonight I'll be eating my lean, mean buffalo chili. It's a variation on my mom's "belly burner" chili. Skip the tabasco sauce and use mild turkey or chicken sausage if you prefer your chili not give you the sweats. If you're a spice lover such as myself, be generous with the tabasco sauce.

Badass Buffalo Chili

• 1 pound ground buffalo, aka bison
• 2 large links of turkey or chicken sausage (I prefer the spicy variety)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 green peppers, diced
• 1 medium can (16 to 24 ounces will do) crushed tomatoes
• 1 8-ounce can tomato sauce
• 1 small can sliced mushrooms
• 1 8-ounce package sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 envelope chili seasoning mix
• 1 tsp. tabasco sauce (I used 2 tsp)
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup to 3/4 cup red wine

Remove the sausage from its casing. Brown in a large skillet with the onions and ground buffalo, breaking up the meat as it cooks. Drain the fat off into sink. This can be cooked in the crock pot or simmered on the stove. If using stove, put the meat into a large pot and combine with remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low and simmer on low for about 2 hours, adjusting salt and pepper and tabasco as it cooks. If using crock pot, put the meat into crock pot with remaining ingredients. Cook on low for 6 to 7 hours. Serve with reduced-fat shredded cheese, if desired, and crackers. I use the whole grain Wheat Thins or Triscuits.

Coming up: A Badass routine of lunges, squats, step-ups and sprints.  

That little extra push

It's Sunday evening after a long weekend of excess. Thanksgiving dinner and dessert, more dessert Friday, then tailgate food and drink at the UF-FSU game Saturday.

So of course I had to be all Badass and put my Spinning class through an extra 15 minutes on the bikes this afternoon. We ended up riding for 75 minutes, and then did 15 minutes of abs and core work.

After class, they had that gleeful yet weary look that comes from having pushed a little harder than you thought you could -- and then realizing "I did it! That was awesome!"

As one of my students said, "That was great! I've never stayed on the bike for that long in Spinning. I can't believe I did it." But she did do it, and she's better off for having pushed through that little extra push. My students rock. Total Badasses!

As you continue your journey toward the goal, whatever that goal may be, remember the "little extra push." It is that extra five minutes in your run. It is those extra 3 reps of bicep curls that you do even as your arms are willing you to just stop. It is those extra 15 minutes in a Spinning session. Those are the moments, at the end, that are 90 percent mental.

Of course your body wants you to keep doing the same thing every day, to just hold steady. It's easier that way. But Dara Torres does not win Olympic medals by holding steady. UF quarterback Tim Tebow probably  did not get that strong by benchpressing the same weight he did a year ago. And I see former FSU football player Peter Boulware at my gym in the mornings, pushing himself with weights through his own will -- not because a coach is telling him to do it.

In May I went to this Spinning and fitness conference in Miami, and it kicked off Thursday night with this intense 2-hour ride in a huge ballroom filled with 200-plus riders on brand new bikes. There were several moments during that ride when my quads were screaming and I just wanted to stop. But I decided I had started this thing, and I was GOING to finish it. So I did. And the endorphin high was awesome. Not to mention what it did to firm up my Badass!

So as you set out on a new week and head out for your morning run or your gym, remember "the little extra push." You'll be amazed at what that body of yours can do.

Here's a few ideas for pushing:

Are you a treadmill runner?

• Boost the incline from a flat road to a 1.0 or 2.0. Awesome for the glutes and hamstrings!
• Do intervals: 1 minute at a jog, one minute at a fast run. Repeat for 20 minutes. You might feel as whipped, if not more, as you do jogging steady for 40 minutes.
• Mix it up: Do 15 to 20 minutes on the treadmill, then hop onto the stairclimber for 15, and/or the elliptical. It's a great way to beat boredom while working different muscles in your legs.

Lifting weights?

• Add a little weight to what you usually do (5 more pounds on dumbbell curls, 10 extra pounds on those leg extensions, for example) and try to push out the same number of reps as you do with the ligher weight. 
• In between sets, do jumping jacks or mountain climbers.
• Lift slower and release slower -- you'll feel the burn.  
• Find three machines you never use -- and use them. Challenge your body with new challenges. Doing the same circuit at the same weight levels every day is just maintaining, and your body knows it.

Coming up: Turkey leftovers begone! Try lean, mean, Badass Buffalo Chili.

Get funky with your Badass selves - and leftovers!

Happy Day-After Thanksgiving! Some of you might be nursing turkey and stuffing hangovers. Or maybe you put your Badass ferocity to work by hunting down Black Friday deals at 4 a.m.  Maybe you even hit the pavement or the gym to sweat off some of last night's gravy. OK, so now what?

Now, dear bloggies, there are leftovers to be eaten. Yeehaw! And while you can do the typical open-faced turkey sandwich stacked with stuffing, cranberry sauce and gravy, you can also get funky -- and healthier -- by making a Big Badass Salad with the turkey.

So here's the recipe for what I'll be eating tonight with my best friend and her husband and baby (who by the way is sitting on my lap clapping right now to the funk mix on my iPod. Since this little 15-month-old bundle likes the funky tunes, I'll share that, too, below. Because if ever there was a Badass Baby, it's Elise!)

 

 

Big Badass Bird Salad

• 2 cups salad greens
• 1 cup chopped leftover turkey
• 1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup gorgonzola crumbles
• 1/2 cup of craisins or raisins
• 1 apple, peeled and diced (or use a pear - or both!)
• 1/2 cup mandarin oranges
• 1 cup toasted walnuts

Mix everything together in a big bowl. Drizzle with a botlled balsamic or fruity vinaigrette. Or make your own using 1/4 cup of olive oil, 1/2 cup or orange juice, salt and pepper and a  squeeze of lemon juice.

Eat while jamming to this funk mix, then use the mix tomorrow a.m. Because I KNOW you all will be getting yourselves back to the exercise groove, right? Right!

Shannon's Funk Mix

• September -- Earth, Wind and Fire
• Superstition -- Stevie Wonder
• Give it to Me Baby -- Rick James (this one made Elise clap)
• Dance to the Music -- Sly & The Family Stone
• I Want You Back -- Jackson 5
• Love Child -- Diana Ross & The Supremes
• Do I Do -- Stevie Wonder
• Got to Be Real -- Cheryl Lynn
• Funk 'n Bop -- George Clinton & Mutiny
• Steet Life -- Randy Crawford
• Proud Mary -- Ike & Tina Turner
• Across 110th STreet -- Bobby Womack

Coming up: Getting over the time crunch.

Happy Calorie Gobble Day!

Happy Thanksgiving! Better known as "Turkey Day." AKA "Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato souffle, pecan pie Day."

The average Thanksgiving meal weighs in at a hefty 2,000 calories, give or take a turkey slice. And that doesn't include whatever else you snack on during the day, which is probably in the family of cheese and crackers, spinach dip, etc. By the time you're done you might well have consumed a couple days' worth of calories.

Yep, Badasses. Today is totally a Pooch Pants day. And ya know what? That's totally OK. Because it's all about balance.

So in the grand scheme of our efforts toward being healthy, we're allowed to have a day in which we count our blessings in scoops of stuffing and ladles of gravy. (I'll be counting mine in scoops of green bean casserole, which is to my mouth as is a moth to a flame. I would eat the whole friggin' casserole if not for the line of friends and loved ones behind me waiting for their servings...) I'll also be eating a slice of this Milk Chocolate Toffe Pie I made. Yeah, I know you want some!  

But if you are trying to lose, or not be the "average American" who points on a few or several pounds between now and New Year's, there are choices to be made right through Thanksgiving dessert. If all you want today is to stretch your pooch pants, enjoy that and the loved ones who share the meal. You're still a Badass!

If you want to keep the calories to less than a freezer of ice cream, however, here are a few tips:

Turkey: Make this the focus of your plate. It's lean, the breast meat especially, and packed with muscle-building protein. And don't drown it in gravy. A few drizzles will do.

Stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes: Depending how the stuffing is made, it might be loaded up with bacon or sausage fat. Then again it might have all kinds of good stuff in there like diced apples, nuts, etc. So have a scoop, but don't have three. And if you want to keep the carbs under pre-marathon load levels, pick just one of the potato dishes -- sweet potatoes being the nutritional superior. Then again, if it's a casserole loaded with sugar and marshmallows, you might be better off saving the sweets for dessert and picking the mashed white potatoes.

Peas, green bean casserole, veggies: Have at 'em, and hope the cook didn't drench them in butter. Sure, the green bean casserole has those fried onion things. But it's also got mushroom soup and milk in it. And it's more green beans than anything else.

Cranberry sauce: Lots of sugar, but basically fat free. And cranberries are full of vitamins and good stuff! have a hearty scoop.

Bread, rolls: Have just one if you must. There's lots of bread in your stuffing anyway.

Dessert: If you have a choice between apple or pecan, go with the apple and don't eat all the crust. You'll save yourself fat and calories (a pecan slice can have as much as 500 calories). Pumpkin or sweet potato pie is also a better choice than pecan.

And check out this nifty Thanksgiving calorie counter, which also calculates how to help walk/run it off later.

Coming up: I don't even know. I'm just thinking about green bean casserole and chocolate pie...

Boredom is no good for your Badass

Are you a fitness drone? A gym zombie? You know what I'm talking about: You come to the gym every day and do the same machine for 20 to 30 minutes, then use the same machines and do the same set of crunches. Or you run the same route every morning, at the same pace.

You are getting through your workout routine every day, but you're bored. Disengaged. You are sleepwalking through your exercise. After awhile, who could be surprised when you call it quits? And even if you keep at it, you're likely to hit a plateau where you stop seeing changes in your body and strength.

Humans tend to avoid change, but you Badasses should embrace it. Try new classes. If you are a treadmill junkie, spend 15 minutes there but move to the elliptical for another 15. Try the row machine. Hop on a bike. That forces your body to engage different muscles and build strength and stamina in new ways.

The same holds true for weight routines. Mix them up. Find a few upper body and lower-body series that you like, and try one for 4 to 6 weeks, then switch to a different one. Or do the same routine, but instead of 12 reps for three sets, add weight and do 6 reps for three sets at the heavier weight. It forces you and your muscles to adapt, to be engaged and alert. No sleepwalking allowed!

With that, I give you a 30-minute treadmill hill interval routine (find hills outside if you're in a place where hills exist) and an abs series:

Treadmill:

• Warm up -- Slowly jog for 5 minutes (aim for pace of 3.5 to 5 mph).
• Hill Interval -- 2 minutes steady pace (aim for 5 to 7 mph, depending on fitness level) at 2% incline
• Rest Interval -- Recover (easier pace) for 2 minutes.
• Hill Interval -- 2 minutes steady pace at 4% incline
• Rest Interval -- Recover for 2 minutes.
• Hill Interval -- 2 minutes steady pace at 6% incline
• Rest Interval -- Recover for 2 minutes.
• Hill Interval -- 2 minutes steady pace at 4% incline
• Rest Interval -- Recover for 2 minutes.
• Hill Interval -- 2 minutes steady pace at 2% incline
• Rest Interval -- Recover for 2 minutes.
• Cool down -- Slowly jog for 5 minutes.

Note: As this gets easier, kick up the incline. Start at 4% for the first interval, then 6% and 8% for the next two. Then come back down, 6% and 4% for the last two.

Abs:

• 50 crunches with knees bent, feet planted on floor and up near your glutes. Crunch straight up toward a spot on the ceiling, hands behind head and elbows back,. Let the work come from your abs, not your head or neck.
• 50 crunches with legs in the air, bent at a 90-degree angle. Again, crunch straight up, hands behind head and elbows back.
• 50 crunches like the first set, knees bent and feet planted on floor and up near your glutes.
• 25 side oblique crunches -- let your legs drop over to the right side, touching the floor, but keep your torso/upper body straight. Crunch straight up toward that same spot on the ceiling, hands behind head and elbows back.
• 25 side oblique crunches -- same thing, but switch sides, legs dropped over to the left side.

And to end it all: Stretch!

Coming up: The 4,500-calorie Thanksgiving?!?

Navigating calorie catastrophes

Airports can be a real shot in the ass for your Badass. A shot of fat, sugar, sodium and junk, to be specific. Mall food courts have just as many muffin-top landmines, if not more.

This morning I walked through Chicago O'Hare airport for the first leg of my return home, in what would turn out to be a 15-hour travel day from hell. So all day I was faced with the task of finding healthier food options among a sea of cinnamon buns, french fries, hamburgers, buttery hot pretzels and soft-serve ice cream.

The good news: Today more than ever, airports have a better variety of food that will not sit like lead in your stomach or make your sugar levels jump to levels that make you want to take a Valium to calm down. The bad news: The junk food still outnumbers the good stuff.

So be a Badass traveler, and make the right choices. As the holiday season begins and so many of you find your weekends spent traipsing through airports or shopping in malls, I offer a little nutritional guidance. Consider it an early holiday gift:

Big-city sightseeing means sore feet, but a better Badass

This Badass' stylin' suede boots are not made for walkin'. Well, maybe for walkin' from car to office or car to bar. But not for walkin' a big city like Chicago.

After an afternoon spent trekking from my hotel to Millennium Park (there's me at left inside The Bean thingy that draws so many visitors, and a shot below of the skyline as seen through Bean's reflection), and through various stores and neighborhoods, my feet are screaming at me.

But I am telling them to just suck it up, because we're in this place for a limited time so we're going to actively soak it up. Key word: Actively.

Vacations and work trips away from home do not have to be lazy and sloth-like. In fact, they're likely to be more memorable and enjoyable if you DO something.

Go hiking, rent a kayak. Walk through a landmark park. Find a restaurant on foot. Walk those extra blocks to the ice cream parlor -- you can say you've earned the treat when you get there. Go rock climbing, ice skating, whatever. Even cruise ships are equipped with amazing fitness centers and classes these days -- a requirement, really, given all the food they serve.

After the conference ended today at noon, I went into active vacation mode. I walked and walked. I explored historic buildings and their amazing architecture. I walked some more. I stopped at a bakery and fueled myself with a skim milk latte. And then I walked some more. I've abandoned my clean eating for the weekend, but I feel great. You'd be amazed how a 15-minute walk after lunch helps a burger go down.

It's easy to hail a cab or drive yourself, but when you're in a place like Chicago or any cool new destination, why see it from behind the wheel of a car? You're likely to miss a lot of amazing things.

Last night after dinner, I went for a walk and heard the sounds of a jazz saxophone spilling onto the sidewalk. I let my ears guide me to the source, and ended up inside a little jazz club. I stayed for an hour, resting my feet and feeding my soul with great music. It was better than any cab ride.

So next time you're planning a vacation or a weekend getaway, think "active." Your legs and glutes will be better for it.

Oh, but abandon stylish boots for more comfortable shoes...Did I mention my feet really hurt?

A Badass traveler blogs from the Windy City...

Yesterday afternoon I checked into my hotel in Chicago, for this weekend work conference, and guess where my first stop was? Yep, the hotel gym.

I didn't linger there. Hello!! I'm in Chicago and there is too much to see, eat, and take in during the few free hours this conference allows. But by the time you read this, I will have visited that gym for about 45 minutes this morning to get my blood flowing before a day filled with workshops, snack breaks, catered lunch, and large doses of sitting around on my Badass.

Some of you might have work assignments that require you to travel away from home often. And this is the time of year when many of us leave our homes -- and our gyms or biking and running trails -- to see family for the food-filled holidays. 

So be balanced about fitness vs. pleasure and gluttony. Have fun. Eat a hot dog while you watch the Bears play. But don't let a few days on the road or in and out of planes turn you into a Slack-ass.

Yes, being a Badass traveler will take some creativity and planning. But I know you are all up for the challenge. You're reading this blog, after all....

So what's a traveler to do?

• Stake out the hotel fitness offerings: If it stinks or doesn't exist, ask the staff whether the hotel offers guest passes to nearby gyms. My gym in Tallahassee, for example, gives free passes to guests of the nearby Hilton. And most gyms have daily guest passes for what it would cost you to take in the all-you-can-eat buffet. Are you a swimmer? Try to book hotels with good pools for your daily laps. Even Gov. Charlie Crist famously managed his morning swim while on the campaign trail, always staying in hotels with pools.
• Take it to the curb: What better way to see a new place than by foot? Walk, run, jog, whatever. Just get out there. I won't be running another marathon while I'm here, but a fellow conference-goer and I are planning to run along the lake after our workshops end this weekend. Maybe 3 or 4 miles instead of 26.2. Hey, it's better than nothing!
• Your body is your Smith machine: Pushups and tricep dips using an ottoman or chair are great ways to build your Michelle Obama arms. From your hotel room you can do pushups, tricep dips, wide-leg squats, regular and reverse lunges, jumping lunges, and a mean set of crunches.
• Beware a cruise ship approach to food: Just because the food is there doesn't mean you have to eat it. If your conference or meeting or family gathering is in a city like Chicago with lots of great food, make choices. I ate strawberries and grapes instead of brownies and muffins at the introduction coffee Friday because I wanted to do my indulging at Il Mulino for dinner. It was worth it. The Italian restaurant, in a former Chicago mansion, had amazing bruschetta, fried zucchini and this tiramisu and rich, delicious chocolate cake that I kind of wanted to rub my face in. So skipping the afternoon brownies was so worth it. 'Cuz they had nothin' on that cake, OK? Not even close.

Today, depending how that gym treated me this morning, maybe I'll say yes to the afternoon brownies. And then I'll walk it off while exploring the streets of Chicago in search of good shopping...and some more Windy City grub. (If you have suggestions, by the way, send them my way!)

Build up your Bootylicious

It's almost Friday again, Badasses! And you need to get your Badasses in gear for happy hour.

You know what I'm talkin' about: Whether you are guy or gal, you don't want to look like a Sag-Ass in your happy hour couture. I mean, why spend money on a pair of Citizens jeans if your butt looks like it belongs in "Mom Jeans?"

So before you get your Happy Hour on this weekend, get the blood pumping and the muscles popping in your legs and glutes. 'Cuz the Badass doesn't create itself, dear blog readers. Nope. I'll bet you a vodka soda with lime (lower-cal alternative to vodka tonic with lime, hint hint....) that even J.Lo and Beyonce are friends of squats and lunges.

Here's a routine that will take 45 minutes to an hour, based on 3 sets of each exercise, 10-15 reps, with about 30 seconds of rest in between. If you are short on time, do 2 sets of 10-15 reps. Warm up for 5 to 15 minutes, depending how much time you've got, and then get to work:

• Step-ups on a bench, with 5 or 10-pound dumbbells. Do 10 to 15 reps with the right foot on the bench, pressing through the heel as you step up on the bench. Then switch to the left side. That's one rep.
• Reverse lunges. Same as a regular lunge, but step that foot back instead of forward and drop into a lunge. Again, right side first. Then left. Extra challenge: Hold dumbbells in each hand as you lunge. Ouch - in a good way!
• Leg extensions (on the machine). Pause at the top. Come down slowly. Repeat. These never get easier for me, but they have changed the cut and shape of my upper legs.
• Standing hamstring curl (machine). Want that definitive little nook between the glutes and the back of your legs when you're wearing tight jeans? This is the way to get it.
• Deadlifts (holding a weighted bar or heavy dumbbells). Like the hamstring curl, this will make you Bootylicious in your jeans.
• Low-pulley leg kickbacks (This is where you attach those leg cuffs around your ankles. Attach the cuff to the low pulley and kick the legs back.)
• Leg press (machine)
• Calf raises (machine or using the leg press or a bench)

Make sure to stretch when you finish this muscle burner. And if you're feeling tight the next day, walk or jog out the kinks. You'll feel better.

Coming up: I'm in Chicago this weekend! Woo hoo. So I'll be blogging about how to fit fitness into a busy travel schedule.

Seeking motivation? Check your iPod

Have you ever forgotten to bring your iPod to a workout? It makes it sort of unbearable. You're forced to listen to the guy on the treadmill who is mixing cardio with a cell phone business transaction. "So I think we should (huff) call the investors (cough) and tell them this is the deal, take it or leave it ( huff)." All those weightlifting grunters seem that much louder. And you simply lack the beat to get that workout rush going.

Even worse is a cycling or aerobics class with bad music. Please, just pop me in the head with a 10-pound dumbbell and end the misery. I mean, is he really playing this mix for the fifth class in a row? And did she really just turn up the volume to Julio Iglesias!?! Please, poke my eardrums out.

Music is kind of like food and water when it comes to workouts. Without it, and without the right kind, I have trouble mustering my badass mojo.

So here's a couple of playlists. I use these for my Spinning classes, but they can be used for any workout. And if you don't like all the songs, I hope you can at least use a few to add to your music library. And please share your playlists with us in the comment box!

A Badass can never have too many good tunes...

Playlist 1 (1.3 hours)

• Celebration, Madonna, 3:35
• Workin' Day and Night, Michael Jackson, 5:14
• Dimples, John Lee Hooker, 4:01
• Sex On Fire, Kings of Leon, 3:23
• Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, SHAPE Cardio Workout Remix, 4:57
• Manteca, Dizzy Gillespie & Funky Lowlives, 6:53
• Freedom, George Michael, 6:31
• Could You Be Loved, Bob Marley, 3:57
• Transatlanticism, Death Cab for Cutie, 7:55
• Into the Hollywood Groove, Madonna feat. Missy Elliott, 3:44
• I'm Really Hot, Missy Elliott, 3:31
• Make Me, Janet Jackson, 3:38
• Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough, Michael Jackson, 5:51
• Breathe Me, Sia, 4:37
• Lose Yourself, Eminem, 5:26
• Rock With You, Michael Jackson, 3:23
• Stronger, Power Music Workout Remix, 5:00

Playlist 2, (1.1 hours)

• Uptight (Everything's Alright), Stevie Wonder, 2:53
• Lisztomania (Alex Metric Remix), Phoenix, 5:08
• 3, Britney Spears, 3:33
• Black Cat, Janet Jackson, 4:51
• Moth's Wings, Passion Pit, 4:16
• Your Movement, The Shackletons, 4:12
• American Woman, Lenny Kravitz, 4:22
• What You Waiting For?, Gwen Stefani, 3:44
• I'm In Miami Trick, LMFAO, 3:48
• Run This Town (feat. Rihanna & Kanye West), Jay-Z, 4:27
• The Beautiful People, Marilyn Manson, 3:39
• Mr. Brightside, The Killers, 3:43
• Vertigo, U2, 3:15
• Funny the Way It Is, Dave Matthews Band, 4:27
• Lose Yourself, Eminem, 5:26
• Take Off Your Cool, OutKast & Norah Jones, 2:38