Badass Fitness

Friday Confessional: Frozen Swiss Rolls, Chocolate Dunkers, and that 'one cookie'

When the e-mail subject line reads like an actual sinner-to-priest confessional, you know it's going to be a doozy. And when another e-mail comes complete with pictures of chicken and dumplings AND blueberry pudding dessert, well, bust out the extra rosaries.

Yes, Badasses, it's baaaaack! The Friday Confessional returns, just in time for the Food Frenzy Season that begins this month with Halloween candy and ends with Christmas dinner leftovers and New Year's Eve hors d'ouvres.

This first week is, appropriately, a fine example of the comforting reality that we ALL "cheat" when it comes to eating healthy or slacking off exercise. And ya know what? That is OK. There is no judging in the Badass Army, so we confess, forgive ourselves and others - and move on to better eats and the next workout.

Moreover, a day off the wagon doesn't doom our efforts. One of this week's most massive - and funniest - confessionals comes from one of my training clients who, through clean eating most of the time and plenty of exercise, is down 20 lbs and counting.

So here goes....

• I will start with myself, and the ugliness that was Saturday. It started strong with bootcamp fueld by a protein-berry smoothie. I stayed on track until my beloved Gators played LSU at 3:30 that afternoon. What ensued was a game-watching party, hosted by LSU fans, at which I drowned my "they are playing like crap" sorrows in gumbo, too much white rice, Gator Picante (yes, yes, the ultimate Orange and Blue sin of eating the mascot....), apple custard pie, and two large cookies. Not even an hour later, at another friend's house, I ate two slices of homemade sausage and pepperoni pizza and later washed it down with wine, a vodka soda, and then an almond tequila shot. Hail Mary, indeed....
• My co-worker Ayla -in between her vegetarian eating trial - has been helping herseflf to the frozen Swiss Rolls her  roommate left behind before recently moving out. "I would never buy those, but since they're there....and they are really good!"
• A bootcamp student, Laura, started a new job two weeks ago and this week has discovered the Hershey's dark chocolate goodness that her co-worker leaves in a dish on her desk. "And she refills it every morning! Dang that evil dark chocolate and my itty bitty co-worker!"
• Tara, a single working mom, managed to down an entire box of Pizza Hut Chocolate Dunkers by herself. "Those things are the devil!" she insists.

Tammy is down a few pounds and into "those jeans" in spite of this stumble: "So I was good ALL WEEK!  And then yesterday I had a lunch date with the ladies at my Mother's house and I fell off the wagon and did a few back flips after I fell.  Though it does not show me consuming the guilty pleasure I consumed, here are the pictures of my indulgence yesterday.  :( 
 
This (at left) would be my Mother's homemade chicken and dumplings and her to die for dessert of Blueberry 4 Layer )at right).
 
On a high note though, I did fit into a pair of jeans that I tried on not more than 2 weeks ago at the store and couldn't even button them and I've lost 3 pounds as of this morning.  Time to get right with myself again.  :)

• Chris, halfway to his #360to30 goal, hit the Heart Attack Trifecta this week: Fried Chicken and Red Velvet Cake Waffles at a local food truck, AND Chik-fil-A, AND happy hour drinks

And now, about Sarah, who is training for Tough Mudder in December and looks like a leaner, more toned woman since we began training 5 months ago. She is down more than 20 pounds, has cuts in her arms, and is back to wearing those smaller-sized clothes she had all but given up on. But this week, there was this cookie, which begat the latte, which begat the motherlode of Triscuit binges. Read on:

Forgive me, Shannon Colavecchio, for I have sinned... Not once, but three times - in one day.
 
It all started Tuesday when the scale showed that I was ahead of my schedule for my regular weight loss goal for the week. VICTORY!!!  I was feeling good. I had a great run Monday night and successfully fended off the cookies the day before. But little did I know that was all about to change...temptations were looming around every corner.
 
When I arrived at work and settled in at my desk, I immediately realized that I forgot to bring my lunch and afternoon snack to work -- #epicfail. This meant I would have to try to find something "badass approved" at one of the nearby restaurants for both. No worries, I thought to myself. I had done this plenty of times before...
 
As I ran downstairs to the cafeteria to try and grab something quickly, I saw it... THE HOLY MOTHER OF COOKIES. You know...the one that is not all the way cooked, but cooked just enough to be safe to consume (or at least we convince ourselves to believe that it is...). I immediately reverted to my inner cookie monster and thought, "NOM! NOM!" but my Badass said "NO! NO!"
 
Thinking that it would not hurt to look, I opened up the case…and then it all went downhill.  I took one look at that perfection, followed by a deep inhale of all its glory and out of nowhere – PUFF! – it was in my hand. There was no going back at that point.
 
Around 3 p.m. when I normally have my afternoon snack, I decided to partake in a Skinny Vanilla Latte. I am now convinced that the cookie at lunch was magical. Now given the opportunity to not make another mistake, something takes a hold of me – code for NONE OF THIS IS MY FAULT.  Instead of ordering the Grande. I do the unthinkable….wait for it... Venti please! Also known as Sin #2... I blame the magical cookie.
 
At this point, one might think that I had enough cheats for one day, but one might also be wrong. When I hit the grocery store after work... I was just getting started. I decide to take “go big or go home” to a whole new level. With my Fooducate App in tow, I loaded up a basket full of healthy fruits, vegetables, lean turkey, etc. poised to redeem myself (again) for my sins of the day. But, as I made my way to the checkout line, all I could think about was something besides veggies to dip my hummus in, so I started to wander to... THE CRACKER AISLE!!!!! D’oh!!!! THE CRACKER AISLE???? What the heck was I thinking? With so much salty goodness at my disposal, I knew I was about to make Sin #3 and fast...

Now, in my defense, I did select the Reduced Fat Triscuits that were rated a B+ on the Fooducate app. #patontheback However, the fact that I opted for the Family-Size box of these B+ Triscuits probably won't earn me any brownie points. Mmmm…brownies. But buying the box wasn't the sin... it is what I chose to do with this box that lands me in the "Badass Doghouse." My not-so-badass shoved 30 (Muahahaha) of these Family-Size Triscuits with red pepper hummus into my mouth around 9:30 p.m. -- A double sin if you ask me!
 
So, with that - I confess! May my cookie-eating, latte-drinking, family-size-Triscuit-eating self redeem her Badass status STAT! PLEASE!

Sarah and everyone: Drop, give me 50 pushups, and all is forgiven. Here's to a new day, a new start! Have a great weekend!

Coming next week: Chris is halfway to that #360to30, a guide to eating for 2(a-days), and a cycle mix plus profile.

Full Friday Confessional and disclosure from the Badass CEO

 My Friday Confessional: I have not been practicing what I preach.

I have been eating like crap. Too many handfuls of chips (Have I mentioned I can eat my weight in Cheetos if given the chance?!), bites of brownies, and not enough good stuff like fish. My (biased) friends tell me it doesn't show in my Badass, but the fact is I FEEL like crap. More lame-ass and Doritos-ass than Badass. Ugh.

So I am turning to you, the Badass Army, for support. In the same way that many of you have turned to me for advice and motivation.

The best way to be accountable is to be open and honest. And this blog is as much about support and acceptance as it is about drill-sergeant pushing. So I'm turning to this forum, to all of you, for support mixed with plenty of "Why the hell are you eating that?!? Put.It. Down!"

I'm going to, starting today and throughout next week, be totally honest about everything I put in my mouth. The eyes of all you Badasses will serve as my daily food "diary."

My hope is that after a couple of days of very publicly airing my dirty snacking laundry, so to speak, the accountability will get me eating cleaner - if only to spare myself the humiliation of the entire Badass Army learning how much I like candy. I also hope it serves as a reminder that no matter how Badass we are, we all have weaknesses. But it doesn't make us weak. It makes us real.

Ok, here is the rundown of my Wednesday and Thursday. It's kinda ugly, but it's me. It's real. And I AM going to clean it up! 'Cuz that's how Badasses DO!

Wednesday

Exercise: Taught 45-minute cycling class at 5:45 am, plus 15 minutes of abs.

• 5:30 a.m.: Smoothie (1 cup almond milk, 1/4 avocado, 1 scoop protein powder, 1/2 cup raspberries, 1 Tbsp. flax seed). Coffee
• 8:30 a.m.: Green tea with a no-bake protein bar
• 10 a.m.: Coffee with Splenda, fat-free creamer
• 10:45 a.m.: 15 honey-roasted almonds
• 11 a.m.: 2 Baked Sour Cream Lay's Chips
• 12: Butterscotch candy
• 12:45 p.m.: Big green salad with grilled chicken, light balsamic dressing
• 1:30 p.m.: 5 gumballs (Seriously!?! Eff.)
• 3:15 p.m. 2 hardboiled egg whites, handful of trail mix
• 3:30 p.m.: DumDum lollipop, 5 more gumballs (Argh....)
• 5 p.m.: Handful of trail mix
• 6:30 p.m.: (Work happy hour) Vodka soda with lime, 15 sweet potato fries, 1 cube cheese, 2 thin apple slices, 1/4 slice flatbread, 3 bites filet mignon.
• 9 p.m.: 10 Annie's Organics Cinnamon Bunnies

Thursday

Exercise: 30 minutes of weight training (shoulders, cardio bursts) and 45-minute RealRyder class followed by 15 mins of abs at 6:45 a.m./Another 60-minute RealRyder and abs class at 5:45 p.m.

• 6 a.m.: Almond milk smoothie (same as Wednesday). Coffee
• 9 a.m.: 1 hardboiled egg, 1 egg white
• 10 a.m.: 1 sugar-free Coffee Nip, hot tea, 5 cherries
• 10:30 a.m.: 5 gumballs
• 11:30 a.m.: 6 oz fat free Greek yogurt mixed with 1/2 scoop Muscle Milk light protein powder
• 1 p.m.: Big green salad with grilled chicken, light balsamic. 15 almonds.
• 2 p.m.: 5 gumballs (Clearly, these are going in the trash!!!)
• 3:30 p.m.: 1 stick string cheese, 5 cherries
• 5 p.m.: 1 EAS Myoplex chocolate protein shake, 5 mini chocolate rice cakes (they just looked tasty!)
• 7 p.m.: 2 pieces of Mom's homemade beef jerky,  6 Annie's Organics Cinnamon Bunnies (don't ask!)
• 8 p.m.: 3 small triangles of pita bread with hummus, 1/2 of Chicken Shawarma salad from local Lebanese restaurant
• 9 p.m.: 6 yogurt raisins

Man, that hurt! But ya know what? It's out, and it was sort of therapeutic. Now excuse me while I clean out my pantry of those friggin' gumballs!

TGIF! Go enjoy your weekends.

Reaffirmation Friday...

I am drained, exhausted. From my triceps to my quads -- and into my soul.

I won't bore you with the details, but this past week has been one of those emotional rollercoasters filled with extreme highs, tearful lows, and lots of self-reflection and second-guessing in between.

There were days when the last thing I wanted to do, frankly, is write this Badass Fitness blog. There were mornings when my heart was too preoccupied or bruised to put my heart into a cycling class. But I kept writing, and I kept teaching, because they were the surest and most stable things on any given day. They were my constants. My anchors.

And then came this e-mail from Heather L. in Indiana, a reader I have never met:

Hi Shannon!

I just wanted to send a little happy fan letter to thank you so much for the Badass Fitness blog. I discovered it early this year when Cathy Zielske linked to it, sharing Jenn's story, and it was like finding a perfect virtual fitness buddy at exactly the time I needed it. One week later, I joined my workplace's 12-week wellness program (Which is awesome: I work at a college with an exercise science program, and they pair their students up with faculty and staff and we are their personal training clients and lab rats for an entire semester) and my last (formal) day of it was today. The verdict so far? 17 pounds lost, 3 BMI points gone, and a super improved glucose score (No longer pre-diabetic! Yeah!). So, thank you thank you thank you for your awesome blog!

Cheers, Heather

Heather's e-mail made me cry, in a good way. It was, for me, a reaffirmation.

It reminded me that I write this blog, even when it means late nights or early mornings or writing after an emotionally draining day, because it is what some of you read every day for motivation. Heather's e-mail reminded me that I teach those early cycling classes -- even when it would be nice to hide under the covers and hit the alarm -- because I enjoy seeing my students get stronger.

And along the way, their feedback and progress make me stronger. Strong enough to push through a week like this past one and emerge with renewed energy and a smile, and a better sense of where I need to go.

The day after Heather's e-mail, I got one from my friend Danielle. She and her boyfriend had seen me walking past Five Guys Burgers & Fries, where they were eating lunch. They hid inside until I left.

"The employee cleaning the door asked who we were hiding from, we answered out fitness guru," Danielle wrote. "I didn’t eat the fries and I signed up for your spin class tomorrow morning and Saturday morning."

Her e-mail made me laugh for its utter honesty, and because I can just picture them inside hiding. It also made me happy to know that, somehow, this blog and my classes are making an impact. They are making you all re-think those fries. They are making you sign up for extra classes. They are making you move forward on your Badass journeys, even after a greasy hamburger back-shuffle.

So as we head into the weekend, I just want to say thank you for reading. Thank you for being the Badass Army. I know that most of the time I'm the one pushing all of you to keep going. But this week, you pushed me through.

My gift to you? Music, of course. Because it heals...

Shannon's Reaffirmation/Reflection Mix

• Breathe, Sia
• Lost Without U, Robin Thicke
• Take Off Your Cool, Outkast & Norah Jones
• Transatlanticism, Death Cab for Cutie
• Fighter, Christina Aguilera
• Amazing Grace, Ani DiFranco
• I Feel it All, Feist
• Is This Love, Bob Marley
• Your Song, Kate Walsh
• I'm Yours, Jason Mraz
• Tomorrow Morning, Jack Johnson
• Stay, Sugarland
• Superhero, Ani DiFranco

Have a great weekend, Badasses!

Coming next week: Come back and see! Surprises are fun...

Friday Confessional: Mom made me do it!

It's all Mom's fault. I was having a pretty innocent, clean-eating, post-vacation week when the little car  package came in the mail. From Mom to me, her eldest.

This is what moms and grandmas do, right? They love us with food. But here I was trying to detox after a vacation in London that was heavy on fish and chips, scones, beer. The box came Wednesday, halfway through what was to be a virtuous week.

I took half to the office to share with my co-workers. The rest stayed on my kitchen counter, wrapped in foil. Tempting. Taunting. Whispering "Try me. I am tasty!" I managed to ignore the talking Friendship Bread for, oh, half a day.

I gave in Wednesday night after what turned out to be a totally crappy day. One of those "Eff You All!" days. The cake currender came AFTER soothing my bad mood with frozen yogurt and not-so-healthy toppings for "dinner."

Well, ya know what? It. Was. Awesome. Besides, cinnamon is great for keeping blood sugar levels even, right? And I was just replenishing any sugar I had sweated out teaching Spinning, right?! (Oh, the way we can justify these things...)

So there you have it: Forgive me, Badasses, for I enjoyed the company of an Amish Friend(ship Bread) and soothed my wounded mood with frozen yogurt and Oreos topping. But it was all Mom's fault, and I love her for it! 

I wasn't the only one who ate sweets and reveled in it. Cathleen got surprised by co-workers with a cake to celebrate her promotion.

The cake was awesome and since it was mine,what was left came home with me. I gave quite a bit of it away to others but..... so I guess I need to confess the Friday cake fest. However, truth is I'm not feeling so bad...it was a celebration for me and you know what? I deserve it and I am touched that I have co-workers who would do that for me and want to share in my happiness. Besides, I have been logging some really good runs at the gym this week so....sinner maybe, but I'm over it and moving on.

That's Badass, Cathleen! Why? Because it is more than OK to celebrate life with cake -- just not everyday! And keep up those runs -- your Badass will be tighter than the sheets on an Army recruit's bed in no time!

Speaking of cake, Stacey in Tallahassee got all creative with the Mister and topped hers with organic yogurt and strawberries. As she put it: The yogurt might be organic and strawberries fresh from FL but the cake -- well, let's just say it ain't light by any stretch of the imagination ;)

Those Girl Scout cookies didn't trip up as many of you as I had expected (or maybe you're just holding back on me....) But Jennifer in Atlanta ended up buying two boxes and eating "a whole row of Samoas" on Thursday afternoon. That was after "cookies after school every day this week... but then I ran 4 miles to make up for it each day... but I am having such a sweet tooth lately! ugh!"

Well, even the toughest of Badasses gets a sweet craving and gives in now and then. But we pick ourselves up and move on. Cuz' we're Badass and that's how we do.

The weekend is here, I've got a Boot Camp to teach, and I hope all of you will get out there and move those Badasses into gear! Get on a bike. Go for a run. Chill out with yoga. Try cooking something new. Show the world what this Badass thing is all about!

Coming up next week: I'll give you a great 5K and 10K training program, a map for navigating airport and travel eating, and reason #189 for exercising: It makes you smarter. Literally.

About those Girl Scout Cookies...Badass or bad for your ass?

So, how many boxes have you Badasses gone through so far? One? Five? All in one sitting or spread out over the past week or so?

You know what I'm talking about: Girl Scout Cookies!  

Yes, it's that time of year again when sweet little girls set up shop outside grocery stores and Wal-Marts and Targets and plead with us to buy just one box.

They mean well, right? But those Girl Scouts are threatening to really mess up our 2010 resolutions for clean eating and fewer sweets.

So what's a Badass to do? We could abstain altogether, but what would 2010 be without a few Thin Mints plucked from the freezer (This Badass Fitness CEO believes the Thin Mints are best served 'frozen')? So once again, surviving Girl Scout Cookie season is all about making the better choices, and making them in moderation.

Some cookies are less disastrous to your calorie counts than others, and consider it a character-builder to control how many you eat. C'mon, Badasses! Two cookies a day, not 10.

To help you navigate the many choices offered by those sweet little Girl Scouts, I've studied the nutrition labels to scout out the varieties' pros and cons. Some are not so bad for your Badasses, when you eat the recommended serving size or half of it.

This isn't a fruit salad by any stretch, but read on because you might be surprised at how the cookies stack up:

Best Bet for Your Badass: Do-Si-Dos, aka Peanut Butter Creams (label at left)

You figured anything with peanut butter must be the worst, right? Wrong! The peanut butter sandwich cookies are just 50 calories each, meaning you can have two and not break the calorie bank. These are a better choice when you crave peanut butter than the Tagalongs, which have 70 calories per cookie and almost 5 grams of fat each (half of that saturated). Heck, have a Do-Si-Do with a short glass of skim milk or a skinny latte and call it afternoon tea, American-style! You're still under 200 calories.

Even better, these cookies have only 2.5 grams of fat each, and less than 10 percent of that is saturated fat. Many of the other Girl Scout cookies are 18 to 30 percent saturated fat. They're also fairly low in sugar: just 16 carbs and 7 grams of sugar for two cookies.

Best Chocolate Fix: Thin Mints beat Samoas (Thin Mints label at right)

Thin Mints are probably one of the most popular varieties, so if they're your favorite, take heart: These are just 40 calories each, and each cookie is richly packed with that awesome combo of chocolate and mint.

The Samoas, with their coconut and chocolate drizzle, have 75 calories each. So you can eat four Thin Mints for about the same calories as a two-cookie serving of Samoas.

Nutritionally, the Thin Mints are also slightly superior, with less sugar and saturated fat than the Samoas (8 grams of fat, 5 saturated, and 10 grams of sugar, for 4 Thin Mints compared to 8 grams of fat, 6 saturated, and 11 grams of sugar, for 2 Samoas).

Plus, Thin Mints freeze better!

Just Plain Badass: Trefoils, aka Shortbreads

The recipe for a shortbread cookie is simple: Flour, butter, sugar. Not exactly fruit and skim milk, but the simplicity of the Plain Jane cookie also ends up making it a better option when you have a craving for something slightly sweet and buttery.

The Girl Scouts Trefoils are 160 calories for 5 cookies. Five! That's like permission for a shortbread cookie splurge! And for those five cookies, you get just 8 grams of fat, including 2.5 grams saturated, and 7 grams of sugar. Not bad compared to some of the other varieties. That's less calories, fat and sugar than a lot of the "healthy" granola bars out there. So have a Badass British high tea one afternoon with a cup of Earl Gray, a few Trefoils and a friend.

Honorable Mention Newcomer: Thank U Berry Munch (label at left)

This is the new cookie for 2010, and I was intrigued so I ordered a box (along with Thin Mints and Do-Si-Dos, I confess).

The box brags about these cookies being made with "real cranberries," but don't go thinking you can count this as one of your daily 5 fruits and veggies, OK?

That said, these weigh in at a decent 120 calories for two cookies, and only 5 grams of fat and 7 grams of sugar. They don't taste as good as Thin Mints or Peanut Butter Cremes in my humble opinion, but I did like the combination of tart cranberries with a sprinkle of white chocolate chips in each cookie.

So there you have it: The unofficial, not really scientific Badass Fitness breakdown of the 2010 Girl Scout Cookies. Next time you go to the grocery store and find yourself face-to-face with the little girls asking you to buy a box, shop accordingly!

And when you reach for a third or fourth cookie, remember: Spring is right around the corner, and that means swimsuit/beach season is here before we can say 'Do-Si-Do!' The suggested serving size is worth heeding!

Coming tomorrow: Speaking of cookies, the Friday Confessional! Now we'll find out how many Thin Mints the Badass Army consumed!

Friday Confessional, London edition: Pints and chips!

I sinned, and I sinned again. The next day, I kept at it. The best part: This Badass Fitness CEO enjoyed every minute!
I was on vacation in London, bloody hell, and I was reveling in the gluttony!

Being a Badass is about health and fitness, but it's also about enjoying life. Moderation is the rule of thumb for everyday eating, but on a vacation abroad? Pffft! Pour me another pint, mate!

So I'm going to use this week's Friday Confessional to lay out all my London indulgences. Maybe mine will make yours seem like a week of carrots and hummus by comparison. Maybe you had an "off week," too, and it will remind you that you're not alone.

Above all, I hope it drives away any notion that we must always be perfect on the road to Badass. We do not have to stick at all times to egg whites, grilled chicken and oatmeal. That's just existing. It's not living.

We are real people. We have social events, mood swings, and wicked cravings. We are allowed to treat ourselves and sometimes let the cravings have their moment. (There's me, below right, providing cover to this sculpture of "Victorian Athlete," 50 A.D., housed in the British Museum.)

Which I did this week, in full force. See for yourselves:

Forgive me, Badass Blokes, for I have eaten and imbibed a bloody lot! Every day was more calories than usual, and far less exercise beyond the walking about the city. I ate buttered toast and eggs for breakfast most mornings from Sunday through Wednesday, which would prove to be the cleanest and healthiest meal each day. Then: deliciously downhill!

For lunch one day after seeing the Tower of London I ate a big burger and "chips," fries doused with vinegar and salt. Then chocolates and shortbread cookies in the afternoon, and a big Thai meal for dinner (in my defense, there was a papaya salad as part of the meal). And chocolate and cookies again after.

The previous day? Well, I was in the Harrod's "food hall," a Harry Potter-esque dining hall where you can buy everything from cupcakes,  gourmet truffles and gelato to pizza, falafels, sushi, cheeses, and huge sandwiches filled with all sorts of Confessional-worthy ingredients.

I did not stop at the moist banana cream cupcake from Lulu's. Nope. I just moved onto a few chocolates and then a cup of gelato during our hours in the luxury megastore. That was AFTER the lunch of a meat kafta and lamb from the Lebanese counter. I did at least get a blood orange salad with manchego cheese - my daily fruit??? Sorta??? Ok, not really.

Dinner that night was Indian, one of the best little holes in the wall I've ever found in the U.S. or abroad. I fully engaged the taste buds and stomach here -- lots of naan bread with raita sauce, and papadom with chutney and this other spicy eggplant spread.

Then I cleaned my plate, a chicken tikka-like dish that came on a sizzling plate with onions and peppers and tomatoes -- and a whole lotta cooking fat/oil. It was so so good. Dessert? Hard cider at a nearby pub. Roll me back to the hotel, please!

Sooooo do I regret any of this? NOT. AT. ALL. It was a great time, and why go to London and eat like a frugal spinster!? Boooriing. 

Speaking of, I did at least go to one Spin class in London (just to say I've done Spinning in London!) and walked everywhere. Fave destinations: The Tower of London (top picture) and St. Paul's Cathedral (at left) where I walked up nearly 600 stairs to the top and back down. Amazing view of the city! And yes, all those Spinning classes and stadium workouts helped!

Now I;m back, and vacation and play time is over. Like all of you Badasses, I know how to get back on the right eating track even after veering so far off.

I'll start this morning with a protein fruit smoothie made with almond milk.  And yes, there will be many salads and lean fish and poultry meals this coming week. Oh well! The gluttony of London is worth a few days of eating strictly green and clean.

Remember the formula, Badasses: Moderation and balance. Clean eating most of the time "balanced" with the indulgences that give us great memories and put smiles on our tastebuds.

Now, I know you all think you've escaped the Friday Confessional. Not so fast. I still want to know yours. I was simply away from my computer until last night, so there wasn't time for me to beg you Badasses for your confessionals earlier in the week.

Don't leave me hanging and feeling like a total solo glutton! Write your confessions, thoughts, and comments in the comment section below. Or e-mail me at [email protected] and I'll include it in the Monday Mailbag.

Tell me about this week's eating and exercise, tell me about your best past vacation "sin." Beignets in New Orleans? Biscuits and gravy in Savannah? Six pints a night in Ireland?

Coming next week: A Badass indoor cycling routine, with one of my class mixes; how exercise grows your brain; a 10k training regimen; and another treat from the Badass Foodie!

Friday Confessional: Post-Super Bowl. 'Nuff said!

When I was in Catholic school, every First Friday we attended mass and then stood in line waiting to confess. Depending where we ended up in line, some of us got the relief of being able to confess in those phone booth-like deals with the privacy screen. Every time I landed in the booth, I felt this relief of anonymity -- even though the priest of course knew it was me.

Some of us had to walk right into the priest's room behind the altar and confess face to face. It always seemed to me like the face to face called for a deeper confessional somehow. Like, "Here I am. I am laying it all out, unscreened."

Well, this week I need to be right there in the priest's room for an honest, this-ain't-pretty Friday Confessional. Yes, Super Bowl week was that bad. Here goes:

Forgive me, Badasses, for I have eaten excessive amounts of fatty, high-salt junk. Sunday's Super Bowl Spread included pulled pork nachos covered in cheese and sour cream and guacamole, plus many many dips of tortilla chips into my feta-guacamole dip, and then BBQ sliders, grilled shrimp, a couple of glasses of wine, and a fudge-filled cookie. Monday should have been a clean eating day, but alas, no. A dinner at Ted's Montana Grill included 3 giant onion rings, chips and ranch dip, both of which negated the "light" of my salad and lean bison entree. And Tuesday? I got the urge to bake cinnamon walnut brownies, and unfortunately could not resist the urge to eat two before packing them away for a friend's Valentine's surprise. But hey, I did keep up my daily smoothies and snacked on blueberries and roasted almonds. And by Wednesday, I was thankfully on a better track. But I still feel like those nachos are sitting in my stomach. Blah. Now excuse me while I go bust out a challenging treadmill workout!

Ok, now what about all of you Badasses? As always, you didn't shy away from confessing the nitty gritty. But some of the food was, um, more impressive in its "gritty" than others. Like cookies with bacon?!

Ellen: Seriously. Bacon Butterscotch cookies at the Super Bowl party. Bacon. Butterscotch. Cookies. And I ate two of them. Half the butter in the recipe was replaced with bacon fat. I did an extra 5k Monday morning to try to atone for that and the rest of what I shouldn't have eaten that night. But I don't think that quite makes up for it.

WOW. I feel like Ellen should get props for cookie creativity. And I admit, I kind of want that recipe!

Carrie's athlete husband is out of town this week, so she's been eating "pizza and beer" and "the worst possible foods."

Ashley: Ugh, my week has consisted of eating my body weight in cheese dip while watching the game, and giving in to the refried beans and guac at La Rumba tonight after kickboxing...However, both were totally worth it since I worked my behind off this week....

Hey, at least Ashley and Ellen did the Badass thing and got right back to exercise. That's exactly what the Badass Journey is about -- we don't "fail," we don't give up. If we stumble, we get right back on the trail and keep moving. Literally. And with carrots and almonds in hand.

Sometimes our stumbles are dealt to us by schedule snafus and travel. As Bob said to me, "Imagine the confessional you'll have next week after going to London and eating all those meat pies or whatever it is they eat." Amen.

Amber and Rachel know all about travel eating.

Amber: I just got back from 3 days in New Orleans...land of jambalaya, hurricanes and beignets. Need I say more?

Rachel: Well, I drove to Titusville from Naples in the middle of the night to see the shuttle launch (on the road from 11 p.m. to 4 a.m.). I was fueled on a combination of coffee and sugar (a donut) I honestly can't remember the last time I had a donut. OK, I had not just one but two glazed donuts from Dunkin Donuts. I got it at the service plaza on the Florida Turnpike.

When you're traveling for pleasure, I think it's important to enjoy it -- and that means eating the beignets in the city of beignets and allowing yourself a donut for the road. Fear not, ladies. A beignet or donut will not make your thighs explode. Moderation and balance, moderation and balance. So just make up for it this week with good eating and good workouts!

Some of you didn't let the Super Bowl mess with your fitness. And to that, I say: Badass Fist Bump!

Paula: First of all, for the post confessional good news.  The "carrots" tip is still paying off.  No more crap in the afternoons.  THANK YOU!!  As far as confessionals.....it has actually been a pretty good week, but I am about to go run 3.2 miles on a stomach full of Red Elephant pizza.  I think I'll be about as fast as an elephant under that arrangement.  :-)

Angel: I have nothing to confess woohoo!

Go, Angel!

And to all of us who had lots to confess, guess what? The week is over, and that means a chance to start anew. There is no football this weekend, and that gives you plenty of time to stock your pantry and fridge with healthy foods for the week. You can get in a great workout this weekend, and you can start a brand new page in that food and exercise log.

Have a Badass weekend, and check in tomorrow and Sunday for Valentine's Day treats!

Friday Confessional: M&Ms, Reese's ice cream, and workout fibs!

Holy Friday Confessional! Forgive me, Badasses, because this week, I put a whole lotta junk in my trunk, OK? For real. It began with a bag of chips and continued through half a chocolate bar for "dinner" one night, plus wine. I snacked on honey roasted nuts and sesame sticks to excess -- a reminder that even healthy food purchased at the organic local grocer isn't great for you when consumed in all-you-can-eat quantities. Sigh. And now I am headed into Super Bowl weekend, to be kicked off with Happy Hour tonight with my Badass Trio?! Yikes! Good thing I am teaching a new Happy Hour Spin tonight, and a few more classes this weekend, huh?

My Sunday started out so virtuous, so Badass. I had a smoothie of almond milk, banana, Amazing Grass powder and protein powder and then a couple of egg whites and a homemade oatmeal protein bar. I ate an orange, drank coconut water and taught a Badass 75-minute cycling and ab class. Awesome, right?

But then I went to the 7th birthday party of a friend's daughter, and it all went downhill faster than a fried chicken wing. I scarfed down half a bag of potato chips. They were baked, but the quantity I consumed negated any "baked not fried" healthy points. Then I had a couple of glasses of wine, cheese, and a double serving of Greek nachos -- followed by a piece of triple chocolate cake.  

The pattern continued through the week. But here's the upside: I sent a call out Wednesday morning to all of you, asking for your confessionals. "Please, please. Tell me I am not alone," I wrote to the members of the Badass Fitness Facebook group. You responded with gusto, reminding me that we are all real, and we are all in this together. I heart the Badass Army!

Mia: "I ate a low fat fudge sickle for dinner, which wasn't horrible caloriewise -- until I ate 3! Other transgressions: A real Coke and stealing bites from my daughter's dinner, which is my biggest weight loss hurdle. But that mac and cheese is soooo good! So, you are not alone."

Kendra, winning the award for blatant honesty and comic timing: "I'm totally eating Oreos as I read your message."

Tamara said she slept in Wednesday morning, but she was back at it Thursday morning -- her attempt to give herself some wiggle room for a bit of Super Bowl Sunday gluttony.

Layne, running for a local judge post, admitted he ate a plate of fried seafood on the campaign trail. Kevin worked out Wednesday morning, had "some godforsaken Great Grains cereal," and then gave in to the donuts someone brought to work. It was, he said, a little taste of "serenity."

Chris ate a bag of peanut M&Ms. Not the small bag. One of those big one-pound bags. His sister-in-law downed a pint of Ben and Jerry's. Ashley said ice cream for dinner "seems to be becoming a routine." Oh, I've been in that routine, sister!

Rocky "confessed" that he ate blue cheese potato salad from Fresh Market after doing 31 Bikram yoga classes over 28 days. But I'm thinking he could have eaten a whole cow and the cheese and still been technically sin-free after all that sweaty intense yoga...

Emma cracked me up with this double whammy:  "I indulged in not one, but TWO, yes, dos: double scoop, waffle cone, Reeses peanut butter cup ice cream cones.Temptation, thy name is Reeses ;-)"

But Emma, being a total Badass, did the Badass follow-through. She created her own healthier substitute smoothie for the next time a craving hits: "8oz chocolate soy milk + 1 scoop vanilla protein powder+ 2 teaspoons of all natural peanut butter+ 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Add 6 ice cubes, turn the blender on high and voila!!!! Reeses peanut butter protein shake!!!!!! "

All you ice cream-for-dinner Badasses should whip that puppy up next time instead of sticking a spoon into a pint. Yum!

This week I also got the first-ever Friday Confessional of fabricated workouts. Hey, guys, there's a first time for everything. And there is zero judging in this Badass Army! In fact, I bet Sharon isn't the only one who has padded her exercise resume. Check it out:

 

"Ok. You finally made me feel like I should admit my big nasty fitness sin. I have an extreme fitness co-worker. He is religous about not only his food intake, but the timing of his intake in order to maximize his 2 hour daily workout sessions. I try (emphasis on try) to work out in the morning before work. But often fail. I find myself lying to him on the mornings I don't make it to the gym (and during the legislative session it's more often than I'm proud of). I feel guilty- but hate looking like a slacker. More importantly- Catholics do not have the corner market on guilt. This Southern Baptist experiences healthy doses of it with each false admission of fitness and I have no Hail Mary to absolve me. :-) "

 

Well, Sharon, the Badass Army absolves you! And I, Badass CEO, absolve all of you! But only if you get in a good workout this weekend -- including you Tallahassee Badasses, who I hope to see at Doak Campbell Saturday morning for the first of many Badass Fitness Boot Camps! Just bring your water, your towel, $10, and your Badass selves to the main front entrance at 11 a.m. I'll take care of things from there. Hoo-ah!

 

Coming next week: Finally, the skinny on protein bars -- plus healthy, fit gift ideas for your beloved Badasses. And a Badass Pyramid Treadmill workout!

Friday Confessional: Fro-yo for dinner, Whataburger for breakfast!

Break out your penance beads and rosaries, Badass Army. This Friday Confessional is a doozy. Whataburger for breakfast, wine and frozen yogurt for dinner, and hidden stashes of cookie dough!

Yep. You read right. You and your fellow Badasses put a lot of crap into your Badass temples this past week, and it's time to air this out and remind ourselves we are human. Sometimes, we really fall off the clean eating, strong living wagon. It tastes good going down but it feels like crap soon after. Life can be a real you know what, right?!?

I'll go first, being Badass CEO and all:

Forgive me, Badass Army, for I have sinned. It has been a week since my last confession. I, CEO of Badass, resisted the rich chocolate cake that called "Shannon! Shannon!" as it sat in the newsroom on Tuesday. But I gave in to cookies at a work luncheon the next day, then got greedy at a free wine tasting that night. (But it was free!!!)

Well, at least I'm not alone! Kathleen gave in to an office birthday cake. My co-worker Lucy polished off a bottle of wine on football Sunday. Phyllis took advantage of the all-you-can eat Thai buffet, and promptly regretted it. Kris ate Mexican after cutting his workout short.

My friend Sandra from high school, a new mama, confessed to stashing cookie dough (which reminded me of many late nights eating junk after theater rehearsals together): "I had my nephews in town and I made them cookies. I didn't have one, but when they left I had three cookie dough pieces I saved for myself. Soooo good."

Myra can empathize: "I am still chipping away at the cookie dough this week still... but here is something even more shameful than cookie dough. "Dinner" on Monday and Tuesday night, post gym classes of course, was a handful of pecans, wine and a little frozen yogurt, not in that order. Bad girl."

I also got a few confessions couched with promises for reform. Like from Gino in Tampa, who violated the Michael Pollan rule of never fueling body with food bought in the place where you get fuel for your car:

 

"So I had a nice, healthy turkey sandwich on whole wheat in the fridge for lunch today, but I wanted to try one of those throwback Pepsi's that are now out (real sugar instead of corn syrup) and while I was at 7-11, I gave into one of my all time weaknesses -- the 1/4 Big Bite with chili and cheese. So needless to say, I was bad. But it was oh, so good. Hey, at least I didn't also grab a donut. I'll be hitting up the treadmill later though and will most likely have a salad for dinner to attempt to balance it out."

 

The Big Bite? That really sounds like indigestion waiting to happen...Pepto Bismol, anyone?!

 

Paula gave in to her daughter's fast food leftovers: "UGH!!! I took my daughter to a soccer game, and she asked for McDonald's french fries on the way (large). Once she got out of the car, I ate everything that was left (cold and soggy) on the way to pickup my son. GROSS. I'll be going running now......"

 

Some of you got a reminder of what happens when you don't stock your fridges and pantries properly. Rita sent me a note that began with "*heavy sigh*" -- never a good sign: "I confess .. I have had Whataburger for breakfast for the last two days because i have not been to the grocery store to replenish my breakfast foods."

Many of us gave in to the workplace and family-occasion temptations. The more of these I read, the more I thought, "Well if we just could avoid work and family birthdays we'd all look like Jessica Biehl!"

Friday Confessional: Carrot cake, 'Wii fatigue,' and fried chicken

Well, it's official: The first inaugural Badass Fitness Friday Confessional is here. A big shoutout to Badass Danielle for coming up with the idea! 

The bad news: There was a whole lotta fried food sin and sloth happenin' this past week. The good news: It's a reminder that we're all human, and we cannot always muster the moxie to get to the gym or resist the allure of a great apple cobbler.  And guess what? We can be human and still be Badasses.

So first, I will confess my sins, just like I used to do every First Friday in Catholic school:

Forgive me, Badass Army, for I have sinned. I ate my weight in guacamole and chips Sunday night. I had ice cream as 'dinner' one night, totally violating the wholesome meal rule. I drank too much coffee and not enough tea. I ate too many Jawbreakers candies over a couple of days. And I chomped too much gum that was NOT sugar-free. (Proof of my guac binge is there at left, in the now-mostly-empty Tupperware of my homemade guacamole. Avocadoes are great for you, but probably not in the quantities I consumed...) 

Whew, it felt good to get all that off my Badass! Now, onto the rest of you. Some of you cracked me up, others made me think, "Oh I have totally been there!" And I give all of you props for fessing up. It takes moxie.

• Matt wrote to say that he played Wii for the first time and got "Wii sore," which apparently made him feel guilty because it was a reminder he needs to work on his fitness.
• Angel had a hot dog for dinner.
• Norma skipped breakfast and bike rides all week.
• Joshua worked out five days this week -- only to give in to the alluring smell of fried chicken one day. 
• Tamara brought a salad to work for lunch but ate pizza instead, and she didn't resist the cookies and chocolate her co-workers brought to the office.

"This Badass is going to have to swim a few extra laps at the pool," Tamara lamented.

• Myra ate Hot Tamales candies (why are those such awesomeness in a gooey capsule shape!?) for breakfast. The nutritional horror!

"I also might have taken some FROZEN cookie dough, (broke a knife to chip it off) and put it in the microwave on a plate," Myra confessed further. "A mini cookie delight but a most desparate way to cheat!"

• Stacey, a lobbyist, confessed her only exercise this week was the 'countless steps' she walks at the Capitol in Tallahassee this time of year:  "UGH. I really intended to get something done by now, but it just hasn't happened yet! Work, family, work, family....must make time for a quick workout or yoga for ME!!!"

I actually think Stacey's is more like a "half sin," because she didn't exactly sloth around watching TV all day. And having worked in the Capitol for a few years myself, I also know you can log a lot of miles running around that place! Plus, over the weekend she made that healthy Italian Vegetable Stew of my Grandma's and even sent me an iPhone picture of the beautiful results.

• A half-sin also goes to Tracy, who said he got run-down with the flu and made it worse by eating all wrong. The result: He gained 3 pounds and is struggling to muster the energy for his return to the gym. But hey, he had the flu! You get a Badass pass right there.
• I loved Julie's confession of her almond butter splurge, proof that too much of even a good food like almond butter can be, well, too much (says the hypocritical Guac-monger!): 

"Have been totally motivated this week, yay," Julie wrote. "But last week? Mmmm not so much. Ate almond butter, like, right out of the jar on the spoon, standing at the fridge, many MANY times thruout the day. Then I spied my kids' uneaten breakfast pancakes and thought 'Oh yeah,' spread it on there and rolled it up like a burrito. Not telling you how many I ate like that."

• Sarah got a hankering for this chocolate carrot cake her mother in law made years ago. And, after not eating dessert other than those Weight Watchers fudge pops for two months, she gave in.

"I baked a perfect cake, had a huge piece and then a smaller one yesterday. Froze most of the rest (not much left, after the husband had a go at it.) ...This was my first real dessert in over two months and it was GOOD. And I survived to tell about it."

Sarah weighed herself Thursday morning, and she was still at her lowest weight since she began eating healthy and losing weight a few months back. So you see? You can 'sin' and still be Badass. 

• Kevin offered insight into what he called "not as much a confession as an attitude" that has him living healthier than before, but allowing himself some splurges. And ya know what? That might just be a virtue, not a sin, because it's all about moderation.

"I've worked out every morning this week -- core exercises one day, cardio the next and so on," Kevin said. "And I drink water all day at work and eat a sensible lunch. And I'm having one Super Big Gulp of regular Coca-Cola on Sundays with pro football  (as opposed to two Super Big Gulps A DAY). But I still eat some chocolate every day."

• My friend Jenn, a teacher in Atlanta, has been using the exercise and eating plan I mapped out for her to get in SexyBadass shape for her sister's wedding. But:

"I had a coke and chips Tuesday, chips and a piece of cake today," she confessed. "And who knows what could happen tomorrow!"

 

• Even Badass Kim Bibeau, whose recent story of getting to the Tour de France after years of being overweight served as inspiration, had something to confess.

"Thursday, I ordered the apple cobbler crisp at Ted's (Montana Grill)," she said. "I was with two other people, but I got real greedy with that cobbler!"

Be greedy, Kim! Sometimes, a Badass needs an indulgence. And I have not ever known someone's Badass to suddenly expand by like eight inches or even one after one piece of cake or cobbler or a meal of fried chicken.

Just practice moderation, Badasses. Be honest with yourselves. And now, every week, you can be honest with the Badass Army and feel the relief that comes with knowing that there is always another Badass out there who also went for the ice cream!

This Confessional is about finding comfort in our own "stumbles" and those of fellow Badasses. This whole fitness and healthy eating thing is not a walk in the park. It doesn't come in a pill. You can't inject it. It takes work. And sometimes, we stumble before we get stronger.

So keep at it, and remember: An apple cobbler doesn't get you kicked out of the Badass Army.

Coming next week: Get your SexyShoulders, SexyBack. Let's All Hail Greek Yogurt! And recruit your kiddies to the Badass Army!