It's Sunday Funday!

Between August and February, I give myself a "pass" to drink high calorie, delicious, dark beer, eat chicken wings and the occassional pizza on Sunday's.  Hey, if I have to watch the Buffalo Bills lose, I might as well do it in style! 

Here are a few tricks (he,he, it's Halloween, get it?) to keeping your treats a little more healthy this football season.  I have become and expert on shaving off a few calories here and there to my favorite recipes.

Instead of going to a sports bar and ordering your favorite deep fried wings covered in buttery, spicy sauce and accompanied by creamy blue cheese dressing, why not try to make them at home?  My fabulous husband makes our wings on our grill outside.  Simply season them with pepper and some garlic powder, throw them on the grill over medium heat, turn a few times and in about 20 minutes they should be done.  Toss them in your favorite sauce (we have been in love with Brooks BBQ's medium wing sauce http://www.brooksbbq.com/product_p/4050.htm ) and make your own blue cheese dip using lowfat plain yogurt, some blue cheese crumbles and some black pepper.  Serve them up with lots of celery and carrot sticks for dipping.

Sports Bar Wings - could be well over 1200 calories for 6 wings.
My Wings - around 600 calories for 6 wings. 

Make your own nachos using whole grain tortilla chips, turkey chili (I use the very lean ground turkey), lowfat cheddar and tons of veggies on top (I like lettuce, tomato, olives, onions and red pepper). 

Nachos from Applebee's - if you shared with 3 friends - 500 calories!!!
My nachos - about 200 calories per portion. 

I don't really have any way that you can save calories on beer except if you decide to switch to one of the "ultra" light brands.  Michelob Ultra makes an Amber beer that is pretty tasty and only 90 or so calories.  I have been drinking Samuel Adams Oktoberfest, about 165 calories.  I try to have one glass of water with every beer, that way I don't drink as many and I stay hydrated.

You can still eat your favorite things and with just a few adjustments, you can save yourself from the Sunday Funday guilt!

Cheers!

My class got an honorable mention!!

The studio where I teach was in a local publication!!  I teach "Core Revolution" and as you can see, it made the cut!!

Enjoy!

http://www.cnweekly.com/articles/2010/10/29/news/doc4cc9cf89f0567367295909.txt

TGIF! I say that today is "pay it forward Friday"!

My friend Allison is going to be riding in a charity event in NYC called, Cycle for Survival.  This event raises money for research at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.  Please click on the following link to read about a little girl named Princess Warrior Stefani that is close to Allison's heart who has been diagnosed with brain cancer.

Any donations would be greatly appreciated!!

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmskcc.convio.net%2Fsite%2FTR%3Fpg%3Dpersonal%26fr_id%3D1423%26px%3D1793551&h=2f28cJbaL3S7z_VPSkqj5XCjhEg

I entered a contest yesterday!

I have a "spin membership" and I frequently get emails about new profiles, song ideas, etc. and this month they were featuring a contest.  I entered one last year and won, so I gave it another shot this year.  You basically have to submit a kick ass profile for them to feature in their "spinning newsletter".

Here is the link if you are an instructor and want to give it a try:


http://www.spinning.com/spinning-instructors/profile-builder.asp

Wish me luck!

Core Revolution Ride, 10-25-10

I thought I would start posting my profiles along with the songs and artists.  I get a lot of comments like, "I love that song!  Who was that?!", so here you go!  I will update this after each class I teach.  I don't use the fancy spinning symbols, but I do use some of the terminology.

Enjoy!

This is an interval ride, about 50 minutes from warm up to cool down.

Warm Up - Intensity: 50-65% mhr, Cadence: 60-80 rpm.
Dynamite - Taio Cruz

Hills - Intensity: 75-80% mhr, Cadence: 60-80 rpm, seated, 2 and 3, gradually increasing resistance about every 30 seconds.
Don't Fear the Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

Hills - Intensity: 75-80% mhr, Cadence: 80-90 rpm, seated, surges at 3 about every 40 seconds.
Memories - David Guetta (featuring Kid Cudi)

Jumps - Intensity: 75-80% mhr, Cadence: 60-75 rpm, slow and controlled, 4 count.
I can Transform You - Lil Wayne

Seated and Standing Climb - Intensity: 80-85% mhr, Cadence: 60-80 rpm.
Hot Tottie - Usher (featuring Jay-Z) - This song was so great!!!!

Seated and Standing Climb - Intensity: 80-85% mhr, Cadence: 70-85 rpm, gradually increase the resistance to the maximum, then sit and push.
Rhinestone Eyes - Gorillaz

Seated Hills, Standing Run, Standing (out to 3) run, Seated Run, Seated Hills - Intensity: 80-90% mhr, Cadence: 80-100 rpm.
Not sure of the exact name, but its a DJ Lobsterdust mix with Smashing Pumpkins and Chemical Brothers.

Seated and Standing Run (out to 2)- Intensity: 85-90% mhr, Cadence: 80-100 rpm.  Gradually increase the resistance every 30 seconds while maintaining the same pace.
Move for Me - Kaskade & Deadmau 5

Sprints - Intensity: 85-92% mhr, Cadence: 80-110 rpm.  The key is to load on the resistance super heavy while pushing in the saddle.  We did 3 sets of 15 seconds each.  Last 2 minutes of the song was for recovery.
Propane Nightmares - Pendulum.

Running Hills - Intensity: 80-85% mhr, Cadence: 80-100 rpm.  Keep a fast pace while creating a big hill under your wheel.  Push and pull using the entire leg.  Should leave you breathless.
Indestructible - Disturbed

Seated and Standing Climb (out to 3). Intensity: 80-85% mhr, Cadence: 60-80 rpm.  Heaviest gear throughout the whole song.
Hello Good Morning - Diddy

Cool Down - Intensity: 50-65% mhr, Cadence: 60-80 rpm.  Stretch, breathe, slow down the heart rate gradually.
Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears for Fears

Its time for my first entry!

I have been thinking about starting this blog for about a year, so here we go!  I guess I will start off by telling you how I got started with spinning/indoor cycling. 

In late 2006, I had found myself about 25lbs overweight, single and ready to give my life a jump start.  I started working out at the little "gym" that we had in my apartment complex.  About 3 weeks later, I met my soon-to-be husband who was in great shape and loved working out.  Soon thereafter, I joined his gym and really started to get passionate about fitness. 

After about a month of listening to all the fun going on upstairs in the spinning room, I decided to sign up for my first class.  Tuesday came and went, I did not go to class because I was scared, itimidated and didn't think I was capable of "doing it".  Next Tuesday came around, I signed up and showed up this time!  The instructor was this little, perky, ripped woman who was more than happy to introduce herself, get me set up and kick my ass.  The room was very, very dark, the music was very, very loud (it was awesome!) and I was very, very sweaty.  I could barely keep up and I think I may have stayed seated for 99% of the class, as I was not strong enough to do anything else.

The next day, my "lady bits" and bum were so sore!!!  I thought that sitting on that hard seat was the worst part of class.  As I had been told, that pain does go away, so I went the following Tuesday and pretty much every Tuesday after that for about a year.  At one point, I was taking class four times a week and loving every sweaty minute of it!

That little, perky, ripped instructor and I had become friends after all of that time.  I had become a "regular" in her class and slowly made my way from the very back of the room to front and center!  I even got my fiance (we were engaged in March of 2007) to join me and converted him into a cycling psycho too!  Through cycling and cleaning up my nutition, I managed to lose about 25-30lbs.

The next thing I know, that little, perky, ripped instructor had been prompting me to think about getting certified to teach a spin class.  My first thoughts were; "oh my gosh! No one is going to want to watch my chubby ass pedal for an hour!",  "I haven't taught anything in my life!", "How the heck would I talk and spin at the same time??". 

A few months had gone by and that darn instructor brought it up again, so I started to do some research on how to get certified.  Although I already had a full time office job, I thought it would be nice to have some extra "fun" money and also to get to do something that I absolutely love. 

That instructor ended up putting in her notice and leaving us for another gym.  This is what pushed me to my spinning orientation to get certified to teach.  We were without an instructor and I knew that I could do it.  I was taught by the best and I knew with some practice, I could do it! 

Less than two weeks after my certification, I was teaching my first class.  It was June of 2009 by this time and my husband (we were married September 6, 2008) was my best cheerleader.  He would be my guinea pig, give me feedback, help me find great music and generally just encouraged me along the way.

That pretty much sums up how I got here today!  I got a fantastic opportunity to teach at a very elite spin/indoor cycling facility one day a week, so I had put in my notice at the original gym.  Most of my "regulars" have found me and followed me to the new place.  Its been so great to meet new people and also to see familiar faces in the crowd.

I am so lucky to have such a great job with such professional, wonderful people around me.

I still work my full time job, but I am truly a cycle psycho underneath it all!