It's Hot! Ya Need a Drink!

So, I belong to Bally Total Fitness but you all know that I never go. I'll get there....I really will.

Anyway, since I have a membership, I get emails every now and then. Which, of course, I never read. But I decided to open one up today. One of the short feature articles is about beer. They list out the calorie counts of most beers in order of least to most. Here it is:

Amstel Light®: 95
Michelob Ultra®: 95
Natural Light®: 95
Miller Lite®: 96
Heineken Light®: 99
Coors Light®: 102
Corona Light®: 109
Bud Light®: 110
Sam Adams Light®: 119
Michelob Light®: 123
Stella Artois®: 135
Miller High Life®: 143
Budweiser®: 145
Corona Extra®: 148
Heineken®: 166
Samuel Adams Boston Lager®: 170
Blue Moon®: 171
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale®: 175

I find it odd that they didn't mention Beck's Light - which is our favorite these days. In fact, I think we've got some. But I don't think anyone put them in the fridge. Drat!

Ya Need Inspiration!

Mootiv8tion comes in many forms, like this picture of the spin bike area of the Oasis of the Seas. The Allure of the Seas will be slightly different, but when I saw this picture, I imagined being with my girls, lights flashing, music a-pumpin', and me sweating up a river! We are 6 months away, so let's get to it!

Ya Need a Buddy

So...for the last three days my walking buddy has been Meesa, the family dog. She gets all excited when I say, "wanna go ousside?" Then she patiently stands still so I can put on her leash.

Yeah, to get and stay mootiv8ed, I definitely need a buddy. Someone to get and keep me going...who doesn't take breaks. Well..okay...Meesa takes short breaks here and there to sniff some litter, pee, poop (good girl, Meesa...outside...not in the house!) and pose with fire hydrants.

So as we walk the neighborhood, in her silent dog language, she says, "let's go this way!" "what's down that road?" Then between trots, she'll look back and up at me as it to say, "keep up, Trace!" I think she may actually be a bit disappointed when we round the corner and head back to the homestead. For her, it's an adventurous jaunt through the neighborhood. For me, it's my road to achieving goals and losing a bit of weight in the process.

But she's done her job and done it well. She's spurred me on yet one more day to get out there and move - despite the heat and the is-it-going-to-rain-today? weather.

She's a good dog. She's a great mootiv8tor.

Our First Recipe!

Djfleesh here, Tracey's partner in Mootiv8-tion. I'll be posting little tidbits here and there to help in the fight. Here's a little something that might be good for summer, I came across it on the Cooking Light website.

Grilled Shrimp Spinich Salad

Dressing:
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1-1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp honey
1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1/2 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper

Shrimp:
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Cooking spray

Salad:
8 cups fresh baby spinich (about 8 ounces)
2 cups of thinly sliced shiitake mushroom caps (about 4 ounces), or sliced
button mushrooms
3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion

Preparation:

Prepare the grill. Starting with the dressing, combine the first 8 ingredients in a large bowl stirring well with a whisk. Set aside. Prepare the shrimp by combining 2 teaspoons of olive oil, and the next 6 ingredients (through to the shrimp), in a large bowl, tossing well. Thread about 5 shrimp onto each of 6 (8-inch) skewers. Place the skewers on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 3 minutes or until done.

To prepare the salad, add the spinich, mushrooms, and onion to the vinegar mixture, tossing gently to coat. Serve with the shrimp skewers.

Calories: 181 (29% from fat)
Fat: 5.9g
Protien: 24.8g
Carbohydrate: 6.9g
Fiber 1.3g
Cholesterol: 172mg
Iron: 3/9mg
Sodium 478mg
Calcium: 96mg

If you don't like mushrooms, you might try an English cucumber (that will change the calorie info a bit, but I think it will still taste great).

So this is just a start, if you have any requests (like maybe a good quick breakfast suggestion, a take along lunch, or snackie) just let me know, and I'll get on it.

Mootiv8-tion Loves Company!

What better way to get mootiv8-ted than to have some buddies along for the ride?

So, I've invited a few along (hopefully they'll respond).

Felicia, Christine, and Laurie....let's see what they do and to stay Mootiv8-ted!!

Start with small, reasonable goals

That's my key phrase for the day.

1. Drink water. I won't aim for the recommended 102-whatever ounces a day. I just plan on "drinking water" What do you think? Reasonable?

2. Get 10 minutes of movement - today - I'm not worrying about tomorrow. Just today. Movement? Well, yesterday I walked the dog. I'll shoot for that today or some other thing. We'll see how it goes tomorrow.

First Day of Summer

We have a beautiful first day of summer here on Long Island.

Just what I needed...sun...breeze...vitamin D.

I'm feeling like I'd like to play some tennis.

This is a plus - I'm **wanting** to exercise!