The sound of silence
We enjoyed last night’s taco dinner sans the usual background music of the TV.
Our satellite provider was having some issues, so we turned the TV off for the night. I can’t believe how peaceful it was without it.. but I will be excited to catch up on Giuliana and Bill later today 🙂
Work yesterday was an easier day for me –which is nice because today is going to be intense!- and we had a TRX workshop. I don’t teach TRX, so it was fun to learn more about using the suspension trainers in a functional way and some new tricks. They’re a great option for at-home workouts, too.
Some eats:
an oat bake
(I’d share the recipe but it tasted like death and sadness. I ate it anyway since time was of the essence)
Quinoa-lentil salad (greens topped with this red and green salad), Larabar, apple
and I also made a batch of egg salad.
Hard-boiled eggs, mayo, Dijon, dill, paprika, garlic, chopped onion, celery, salt and pepper
Mom left some of the eggs we colored over here, and I had to laugh as I cracked them open to make the salad.
Kyle’s work of art:
complete with a ponytail.
Today is a little bit of a marathon so I’ve gotta run and get my snacks, meals, music and clothes together, but I wanted to ask ya’ll about body comp testing. Have you ever had yours taken?
Checking body fat percentage is a much more effective way to measure progress than weight, because it’s possible to gain weight and actually be “shrinking” as muscle is more dense than fat. I haven’t had mine checked since we lived in Valdosta, and thought it would be fun to get it done at work today so I have an idea of where I’m at. I’m to the point where I feel like I’m ready to start working towards decreasing my body fat percentage and building lean muscle back, so it will be good to know what my starting point is and get it checked again in a few months.
My favorite method is the bod pod, but at work, I’m pretty sure they use calipers. I guess we’ll find out and I’ll let ya know how it goes!
Hope you have a wonderful day and I’ll see you later <3
xoxo
Gina
Today’s tip:
If you haven’t seen these yet, I love Zuzana’s ZWOW workouts:
They’re short –less than 20 minutes- and will make you SWEAT. My only recommendation is to avoid doing them on consecutive days, since they spike the heart rate up extremely fast- it’s a good idea to alternate workout intensities.
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I love the ZWOWs too, often with no equipment! I thought I’d be sick of eggs for days after Easter, but that egg salad looks pretty tasty right now!
Hahaha, that egg is hilarious – I love the ponytail! I’ve been thinking about making egg salad, too; must be all of the hard-boiled eggs around this time of year. After reading about your experiences with the Bod Pod awhile ago I looked to see if there are any around where I live, and I did find one. I haven’t made an appointment yet but really want to – I’ve never had my body fat percentage checked, and I’m really curious about it. Good luck with work today!
Is there a specific body fat percentage women should strive for as ideal?
For females 14-20% is “Athletic” 21-24% is “Fit” and 25-31% is “Acceptable” according to one website I pulled up on Google.
i wouldn’t go below 18% to protect reproductive abilities, but think that 20-25% is a great range
I LOVE TRX. I need to get some bands for home, but they’re pretty expensive, I think!
I’d also love to do a body comp test; I think it would give me a much better idea of where I’m at—and where I could be. Have fun!
I am definitely doing a ZWOW workout this weekend! I kinda forgot about them but have limited time on Saturday so she’s going to be my go-to! As for TRX, I’m glad you enjoyed it! I don’t teach it either but have worked with the straps for a while and they’re definitely challenging. Not sure I’d want it to replace my other workouts but I guess it’s nice as a once-in-a-while change. Lovely looking flowers! 🙂
My gym uses the handheld steering wheel-ish things by Omron. When I joined ~14 months ago they took my BF% for me, and I’m so glad they did because after 9 months of training I lost 3% body fat, even though my overall weight hadn’t changed much. so motivating! I’d been doing Bootcamp-style high intensity workouts with a trainer once a week, which I’d never done before. Now I’m up to 2x/week training, down 6 pounds as well, and I can’t wait to check my progress again!
Your dinner from last night looks SO GOOD! I have been craving tacos. The egg salad looks yummy, too. I need to make some homemade mayo, I’ve been trying to cut down on the store-bought but it’s sooo hard because I love it. 🙂
Cute eggs…Lol
The sound of silence is absolutely delicious! I think most of us are so overstimulated; the internet, radio, smartphones glued to our hands that to eat in total peace and quiet is just such a gift. 🙂
I just checked out that ZWOW workout the other day…didn’t actually do it, but plan to do it haha!! I love the style of her video’s too. You can actually do it with her!
Mmmm now I really want some egg salad! Definitely need to put that on the menu for sometime this week! Looks so good!
I’ve always wanted to have my body composition tested! I remember your post about the Bod Pod and it sounded so cool! I wasn’t able to find one near me, but hopefully someday!
That egg is really funny! Egg salad sounds yummy, too. I’ve only worked with TRX’s a little, but I enjoy it when it is a part of, but not the whole workout.
I’ve had my body fat taken quite a few times. When I’ve worked out with trainers that is usually a part of tracking progress. I always really like doing it, because on the scale I’m always at the very top of what is considered a healthy weight for my height, but my body fat is usually in the athletic category. I’m sure at the moment it isn’t since I took time off from weight lifting while training for some 1/2 marathons, & now I’m pregnant. 🙂 But after I give birth this fall I want to go back to working with my trainer, & having my body fat checked will motivate me again!
I love that you prefer the bod pod for body fat testing!!! I’m a fitness and nutrition coach and we use the Bod Pod to test all of our training and nutrition clients! It’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? Our members get a steal of a deal by having it IN house and the price is insanely cheap compared to what I’ve heard at other locations. It’s by far the highlight of my job, testing people and seeing the reaction on their faces when the scale has only budged a pound but they lose 5lbs of fat and gained 5lbs of lean muscle, SO freaking cool! It’s a great reminder to throw away your scale, because it knows no difference between losing muscle or fat!!!!!!!!!
that’s why i’ve never bought a scale- that number is pretty worthless to me
bod pod ftw
Shame about the oat bake- it looks like it would have been yummy!
I usually try various options with the body composition- it’s interesting to see the difference in percentages between different methods like calipers and body comp scales- even the different results you can get between different brands of scales! I’d love to try the bod pod some time.
Good luck with the calipers!
Favorite quote of the day? “It tasted like death and sadness”. That coconut cream pie Larabar looks good though!
I loved that quote too! 🙂
I think you should call the HAWK at DM and make an appointment to use their Pod. I did it right before my husband separated (this past summer). I did everything, you know, as a way of getting the last bit of value of my useless Tricare coverage.
While you’re on the phone with them, you can also make an appointment to test your resting metabolic rate (maybe get them done back to back and have hubby or your mom watch the wee one?)
wait it’s HAWC, it’s by the Pima CC building next to the BX. I think. It might be next to the newer gym. Alright, so I avoided going on base like the plague, so everything looked the same to me and I always ended up having to Google it right before driving there.
I had a bad experience once.
I didn’t know dm has one! Thank you!
you’re welcome 🙂 get everything you can out of those guys, it’s part of your benefits!!!
My naturopath tests my body fat with sensors taped to my feet and hands – she said it’s the same kind of technology as the BOD POD but more accessible obviously. I love it because it gives a total body comp so it reads intracellular water, muscle tissue, dehydration levels etc. Very handy!
That workout looked absolutely killer! I’m not sure I’d be able to take on something that leaves Zuzanna out of breath by the end of it but I could give it a try and just take it slower haha!
Ooooh thanks for reminding me about the bod pod! I wa intrigued the first time you wrote about it and found out I can get one done on the university campus nearby for $40… I really want to try it! I hate using the scale to gauge progress so an accurate read would be awesome.
Thanks for sharing the ZWOW workouts! i’ve never heard of them before and always love to learn new workouts, esp ones I can do at home with little to no equipment. Very cool!
They used to have “fat Tuesdays” at my gym in New Orleans where they’d test your body fat % using the little scale thingy. I know it’s not super accurate but my number was always disappointing. It was always acceptable but given how much I work out and eat healthy stuff, I always hoped it would be better. Grr…
I’ve gotten body comp tests done before but the kind I had was electronic. You layed on the floor and they attached sensors to your feet and hands I think. It’s cool to see how much body fat, muscle and water you are made up of. Definitely a way better measurement than the scale.
Oh that egg is hilarious! I missed out on egg painting this year so I was excited to see some pics of the fun! Too bad your oatmeal bake didn’t turn out…maybe you can perfect it and share it with us soon:)
I’ve had lots of body fat testing done. Calipers, hydrostatic weighing, converting tape measurements into body fat percentages and of course the easily fooled bioelectric impedance. I’ve also done the testing on others thousands of times. I am trying to locate a pod bod within a reasonable drive from where I live so I can try that out as well. I know that currently I am part of the skinny obese, the phenomenon where your BMI is in the “normal” range but your actual body fat percentage is in the obese range. There just hasn’t been much I could do about it lately as I needed to let my body recover and heal from an accident. I’m ready to get back to it even though I still don’t have full range of motion back, functional range of motion will become full again with use.
I was actually just looking for somewhere to get my body composition tested on Tuesday! A Hydrostatic testing place has a mobile test station that used to come to the local crossfit gym, I’m not sure if they still do though, their website only shows their calendar for this month and they aren’t on it!
I’ve been loving the ZWOW’s as well, can’t get enough of them!
All of this food looks so yummy!
I just did the bod pod two weeks ago, AWESOME! Another thing is those online RMR calculators are pretty darn accurate, as they were within 20 calories of each other.
I cut off my cable when I bought my condo, just because I live literally 1/2 block from Piedmont Park in Atlanta and I didn’t want the siren call of E! to deprive me of park-ing it up every day. I don’t miss it at all, except I miss cable news and the weather channel. I am a talk-radio/wall street journal/current events gal so not listening to WC or CNN/FOX News as I cook or read a magazine at night is a bummer.
I am totally a ZWOW fan. I do them alternate days, with Zumba usually on days between.
I would love to get air displaced in a Bod Pod, but there is only ONE in the whole of NZ! It is at the university I attend, and I’m in the right department to access it, but it resides at the part of the campus that is at the far end of NZ and I can’t justify a flight. However, I have used a 7 site skinfold analysis on someone that had been Bod Podd’d and the result was just 0.5% different, so I think an experienced skinfold taker can be almost as accurate. Also, the Bod Pod works on assumed densities, which are usually correct but could be a bit off if you are especially dense (athlete) or especially not dense (old). Haha.
Gina, can you please tell me how you made those beans? Canned? Thanks!
amy’s made them 😉
baha that egg is funny. i miss colouring eggs for Easter, maybe next year I will do it with my niece (un-born yet, but will be almost 1year at that point)
I love ZWOW’s. Can’t wait to get back to them and all exercise. Being injured really puts a bummer on everything. I will live my workouts through you. Gonna make that Quinoa salad this weekend, hopefully I can find the lentils.
Have a great evening.
I used to do workouts on bodyrock.tv with Zuzana a lot last year. When I moved I forgot all about the website when I went to the new gym. I pulled up the website today and no more Zuzana.. What happened?
i guess she and freddy broke up, and they said she was still going to be involved with bodyrock, but it didn’t happen. it bums me out because as cute as the new host is, i LOVE zuzana. so glad she’s doing her own thing!
I’ve never had my body comp tested in a bod pod before, but I’d love to try it! We have one in a research lab at my school, but they charge $50 to use it… and I don’t know if I care to find out THAT much. 😛
I need to try the coconut cream pie Larabar AND I need to make egg salad cause I eat so many eggs but it’s always dull.
Such a cute egg artwork it is! Silence at night is truly relaxing and makes me feel so calm as I ate dinner together with my kids.
“I’d share the recipe but it tasted like death and sadness.”
ROFL.
Also, I wish there were a simpler standard of progress measurement. I just want to go from “a bit lumpy” to “smooth.”
Mmm, I have a hankering for egg salad now.
I got my body comp tested in college with calipers. I would love to do the bod pod thing, but since I kinda know I have more fat right now post-baby, I’ll wait until I fit into my clothes a bit better. No sense in spending the time and expense to find out what I already know!
Thanks for the Zuzana link; I need to use YouTube more as a source of workout variety!
I have been hearing about the zuzana workouts lately around the blog world. Would you say one of her workouts is enough for a day’s workout? Or should I be adding some more to it as they are on the shorter side? I love short but hard workouts so I’m putting these on the top of my list to try next 🙂
one a day is plenty but i like to add some strength training or 20 min of steady state cardio after
does this mean I should not being doing bodyrock workouts every day? I was trying to do the 30 day challenge but got sick & now can’t get rid of it. I’m wondering if the daily exercises were too much for my body. I have a history of heart issues in my family (although I am very young & fairly fit) so I want to be extra careful. I would love your insight.
yeah, i wouldn’t recommend doing them everyday. 2-3 times a week max
We didn’t decorate any eggs for Easter this year but I wish we did, an egg salad sandwich sounds super tasty right now!
P.S. Those flowers are beautiful 🙂
Ooh, what do you put in your tacos?
Ground turkey, guacamole, salsa and greens
I love Zuzana! But I’ve always wondered since her workouts are so high intensity that all you need are those 10-15 minutes of her exercises and you’re set for the day. My nutrition “teacher” (I honestly don’t think he was as qualified as he needed to be) said that you can decrease your workout time if you increase your intensity. What’s your take? I know it’s always good to be movin’ and groovin’ for at least 30 minutes a day regardless, but I was wondering if the aforementioned logic…works?
Oops, I think you already answered the question! Neva mind ^_^
Does Zuzana have a website? Where does one start with the workouts (do you just pick one and do it)?