DEC 30: UPDATE ON MY COOKING CHALLENGE

I must say cooking is a lot more fun than I thought it would be.  The part that isn't fun is realizing that you don't have all the right ingredients in your cupboards and refrigerator.
I decided to treat the family today to some Atlantic Salmon with honey glaze.  A recipe i've tweaked originally taught to me by Gordon Ramsey.  From one of his cookbooks that is.

In total this recipe provided a filling meal at just over 800 calories.
It consisted of a marinade which I baked into the salmon,  made up of
3 tbsp of honey, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, 2 tbsp of light soy sauce, 1 tsp of dijon mustard and some grated ginerroot.  Mix all these ingredients in a bowl and coat the salmon with the marinade.

Preheat at 350-375 F.

In a pot i took my sliced carrots and celery and blanched them by boiling them in water for about 2-3 minutes, then dunking them in a bowl full of ice to stop them from cooking further.  I added these to the salmon in a glass casserole dish.

Depending on the thickness of the salmon your time will vary.  My salmon which was about 1" thick took about
15 minutes to cook. Now, this is a bit more than you should probably cook salmon as the rule of thumb is about 10 minutes per 1" of thickness.  This will obviously vary by oven, cookware etc.  For me, it was probably because I baked it with the skin on.  At the 10 minute mark I checked to see if the salmon was an opaque pink and realized it needed a bit more cooking time.  It should be slightly springy when pressed and should flake nicely with a fork.

While this baked I prepared the dressing which was made up of grated gingerroot, 3 tbsp of rice wine vinegar, 2 tbsp light soy sauce, 2 tbsp of sesame oil (i know...bad) and if you'd like for some richness add a few tbsp's of tahini sauce (sesame paste).  The dressing is whisked together and drizzled on top of the salmon after it is baked.
I can tell you first hand this recipe is not only healthy but delicious!

Only bad...I ran out of brown rice and had to use white.  Otherwise the fiber count could have been a bit higher.  All in all a delicious dinner which the whole family ate.  And that is a challenge with a successful ending.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Presentation time: 5 minutes

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After the meal the family and I decided to go downstairs for a work out.  Mom and Sophia hit the treadmill while Georgia did her routine on the ball and free weights.  I took this opportunity to diversify my workout.
I was interested in trying out a few new things as with anything in life, repetition can get boring.

3 sets of standing one arm dumbbell curls,
2 sets of lunges (ouch...first time in years)
2 sets of standing calf raises (see above)
2 sets of ab crunches
2 sets of triceps french presses

Tomorrow I'll hit the treadmill and, weather permitting, go for a nice long walk with the girls as we prepare for 2011!

Cheers

DEC 28: NEW MEMBER OF THE FAMILY

After much consideration my wife and I decided to add another member to our family.  Feeling as though there was something missing in our lives we took a good long look at ourselves and realized we weren't getting any younger. It was the perfect time to expand our family so we headed to Fitness Town in Burnaby and sought the advice of a professional.
There we met My5.
What's My5?  Well...it's a vibration machine.
Now, before you even begin venturing down that road let me clarify.  It's a vibration plate machine made by a company called Power Plate.  Vibration technology has been around for years so it didn't take me long to get a
plethora of information on the web.  Interesting to note that there are still a lot of skeptics out there.  I had to try it out myself.  Vibration plates "transmit waves of energy throughout the body, activating muscle contractions between 25 and 50 times per second, enhancing overall performance in sessions as short as 15 minutes a day, 3 times a week" says Power Plates website.  Well, that was enough to intrigue me.

After a very short workout at FT I was definitely feeling spent.  My muscles were tingling and it felt as though I had been through a good half hour work out.  Errr...but it was only 5 minutes according to my watch.  And that included several breaks in between.  My wife followed up a week or so later with a visit last night.  She too was convinced.  In fact, Patrick signed her up for the 21 day challenge and despite my hesitance on whether she was going to be receptive of it, she jumped right in!  Sorta...she's going to start as soon as the MY5 gets delivered which is unfortunately first week of January :(

Is this going to replace all equipment?  No.  I see this as a very good compliment to our ever so slowly growing gym.  Cardio and heavier weight training will still form part of my repertoire. Although, many say this can be done effectively on a vibration plate machine.  More to come on this!

The past few days has been great.  The kids, wife, dog and I went for another nice long walk as we re- acquainted ourselves with the neighbors. It felt like a beautiful fall day.  Sky's were clearing and the air was slightly chilled.  It was a bit too much for little Sophia so 3/4 of the way through the walk I looked back and saw her on Jodie's back.

The workouts with the girls consisted of LOTS of crunches, presses, curls and two new ones called Stir the Pot and Turkish Get-ups.  Both take a lot of co-ordination and I would encourage anyone to try them and add them to their workouts.  Both great for core stabilization.

Anyways, it's almost 7:30 and the Canucks are on TV!  Gonna add a quick 10 minute weight routine in between periods.  Wish me luck!

Two Christmases

Not quite the excitement as the movie Four Christmases but having a Greek and Scottish family does make for exciting times.  On the 24th the family packed up and headed over to mom and dads for Christmas Eve dinner.  As usual my mom and sister prepared dinner and the men did their best to stay out of the way.  Dinner was spectacular as always with the main hit (sorry mom) being my sisters boiled and baked carrots.  Yes...carrots.  I don't know if I've become sensitized to healthy foods but these tasted amazing.  I'll get this simple recipe from her and post it up...or, Maria if you read this please post it up!

There was no workout on the 24th :(  I had to work the day and the moment I got home it was shower, change, load the presents and out the door!
As mentioned in a previous post eating in moderation with my family has always been difficult.  The foods are always so tasty and with good company you sometimes loose track of what you've popped in your mouth.
After dinner the girls tore their Christmas gifts apart!  I think the highlight of the night was the giant doll house that my parents got them.  The downside to this was that I spent two hours putting it together and never finished!
It would have been quicker for me to build a real house then to put this thing together.

Christmas Day was spent at our house.  I had my mother and father in law come in from Langley as well as my parents show up.
First off though it was time for the girls to get us up and go see if Santa showed up.
I quickly grabbed the camera and took a short video but it's too big to post here.  So, here are a few pics:

slacking today though.  I did get time for a quick workout although it was tough getting the girls motivated with all the presents around.  BUT they did join me with enthusiasm for two things.  First off we did a stair climb.  450 stairs to be exact.  Georgia joined me for each and every one.  Sophia made it about half way before she collapsed on the couch from exhaustion. If you are wondering why we are doing stair climbs it's because I'm seriously considering doing the:

The 10th Annual Stairclimb for Clean Air

http://www.bc.lung.ca/campaigns_and_events/stairclimb_for_cleanair.html

Why: A sky-scraping 48 storeys high, participants make their way all the way to the top of the Wall Centre to help raise funds in support of lung health and air quality research, education, and lung patient support programs across the province.

I've never done anything like this before.  I have so much respect for my friend Darren who has been riding the past few years in the Ride to Conquer Cancer to help raise money for cancer research and programs.

I've always wanted to do something like this but it's always been one excuse after another.

If all goes well...i'm hoping one or all of my family members will try this.  

Back to the workout.  I also was able to get in 2 sets x 50 crunches, and a quick set of heavy dumbbell presses.  The fun part of my workout was performing 35 sets of Sophia presses:

And 25 sets of Georgia presses:

All in all dinner was successful.  I didn't calorie count.  I had 2 glasses of wine.  Ate balanced and didn't over indulge.  Best part was I got to spend 2 full days with my family....couldn't have been any better :)

DEC 23RD: BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

2 days before the big day and the feasts begin with a dinner at my good friends the Rockells.
It was a beautiful catered event with lots of good foods and even greater people.  Unfortunately for us only half the crew came.  Georgia was still sick and Jodie not fairing much better.
So Sophia the beautiful and I had our workout together while the others did their best to rest and take plenty of fluids.  I worked out on some heavy arm curls as well as shrugs and crunches, Sophia worked crunches and arm curls as well as some funky exercise using the rubber band.  Can't really describe it but I wasn't about to deflate her enthusiasm and tell her she wasn't really benefiting from it :)

We had only 20 minutes so we pretty much blasted through the workout and got changed.
The Beauty:

The Beast:

LOL..ok.  I have a funny look on my face.  Probably cuz I felt like a teenager taking a shot for facebook.

I felt a bit awkward asking my wife to take a picture of me so I didn't.  If you knew my wife you'd understand.  The reason I took it wasn't to show off my new shirt....it was to show off my belt.  I lost a complete belt notch in 3 weeks!  I'm proud of myself.  I am down 9 pounds in just over 3 weeks.  The greatest thing about the loss in weight is that it was done in a healthy and safe way.  Eating properly and exercising have definitely been the keys.

Throughout the party it was difficult not to pass up all the good foods.  I think for the most part I was good only delving into the sushi a bit more than I probably should have.  But all the other yummy foods I did taste, just didn't over indulge.  I think that's the key to still enjoying yourself without feeling guilty and calorie counting.

Tis the season to enjoy good foods, great friends and being with the ones you love.  And if that includes sharing the odd sinful food then I say open wide.

DEC 22ND: Dr. Mom and Nurse Dad

The title pretty much says it all.  My two girls are sick.  Georgia more-so than Sophia but this meant a quiet day and night lounging around in their PJ's

Sophia upstairs with mom making tea

Georgia downstairs with dad getting ready to jump on the treadmill

The poor things....I felt awful as we had planned a a busy night which never materialized.  Georgia's cough won't stop but she's determined to get better as we have many family and friends visiting over the next few days.  Georgia being the one who has made sure that I get my exercise time in decided to join me downstairs and chill out while I ran.

Here is a view of what I was looking at while running.  Keep in mind the quality is horrible due to the fact that I'm running and using an Iphone camera:

Jodie's been coughing for 5 days now.  Everyone but myself has caught it.  Could it be the exercising?

Now, I know I mentioned that I was going to start my 14 day cooking challenge today but I'm calling in the excuse card today.  The girls needed soup, juices and nourishment to fight off their colds so I had to make the staples that every sick child wants: chicken noodle soup.

For Jodie and I, I made spaghetti with a rosee sauce.  All in all fairly healthy.

For a serving of 3 it came out to 1300 calories, 21 grams of fat (6 saturated, .3 trans), 90 mg cholesterol, 1240 mg sodium, 234g of carbs, 18g fiber, 22g sugar and finally 41g of protein. 

The good, the bad and the ugly the way I see it.

Keep in mind these figures below were divided by three in order to compare it to recommended daily intake (RDI).  As well...keep in mind that I'm drawing conclusions based on 30 minutes of experience looking up nutritional values and recommended allowances from the internet.  I haven't a clue how relevant any of these numbers are...but I can promise I'll find out!

The good:  Calories at 433 vs my RDI of 2900. 

                 Fat at 7g vs my RDI of 78g

                 Saturated fats at 2g vs my RDI of 30g

                 Cholesterol at 30 mg vs my RDI of 300    

The bad:    Trans fat at .1 vs my RDI of 0 (really?  zero?)

                 Sodium at 413 mg vs RDI of 2400 

                       Sodium makes me thirsty which might make me more likely to have a beer :)

                 Carbs at 78g vs my RDI of 300 (ok...this wasn't really that bad)

                 Fiber at 6 g vs my RDI of up to 35.  This is bad because I need to increase my 

                       fiber intake as I know it's laking in the other foods I eat throughout the day

                 Sugar at 7g vs my RDI of 40.  I love sugar therefore I'm placing this under "the bad"

The unsure about:                 

                 Protein at 14g vs my RDI of 50.  

The ugly:   The sodium in my children's chicken noodle soup

As I learn more about nutritional values and RDI's I'll adjust my rating system to suit.  For now humor me and pretend I know what I'm talking about.

Next healthy dinner I'll be preparing will be Sunday.  Till then it's good food and libations prepared by someone else.  Have a fantastic holiday! 

DAY 22: I FEEL GOOD

Day 22 was of great interest to me.  Why?  Because it was 1 day after my 21 day challenge ended.  Would my kids still want to continue? 

The morning started off as usual with my healthy serving of skim milk/banana/plant protein and vanilla smoothie.  I'm actually getting use to the taste of the powder.  The bag says "great tasting".  I think that's a stretch... The morning snack consisted of a sliced pear and some rice crackers.  I'm addicted to the cheese flavoured ones and can easily polish off a bag in one sitting.  But I ration as I'm not sure of the nutritional value of rice crackers.  They seem a bit high in sodium so we'll see if they stay in my diet.
In the afternoon I had my usual salad with peas, carrots and tomatoes drizzled with a balsamic dressing.
I remember being introduced to balsamic years ago when I went to a restaurant in Coquitlam.  I can't recall if it was Earles or Joey Tomatoes...nevertheless, mixed with olive oil and a bit of seasoning I thought this was the best thing I'd ever tasted.  Since then I've been fascinated with balsamic's and good quality olive oils.
If you're ever in Vancouver go to the Gourmet Warehouse on Hastings.  Amazing selection. 

Jodie had the afternoon off so she took the girls to their TaeKwonDo lesson.  The went through their curriculum and prepared for their test on Thursday.  I'm a bit nervous as this is Sophia's first test in the advanced class.  I know she'll do well though...she always surprises me :)
I took this time to clean the house and get a quick workout in.
3 sets of curls, 3 sets of crunches, 2 sets of weighted lunges, and 3 sets of overhead dumbbell presses followed by 20 minutes on the treadmill.

I wonder if it's more beneficial to go on the treadmill before or after lifting weights?  I'll dig around and get an answer to this!

By the time I was done the girls arrived home.  Sophia was in the mood for pancakes, Georgia in the mood for cereal, I wanted another smoothie and Jodie wasn't overly hungry (which means she ate something beforehand and didn't want to tell me).  This is typical in my household.  Everyone wants something different.
I think my next challenge will be to make one thing that everyone will eat....at the same time.  How bout we try this for 14 days and see how it goes? 
Here are the ground rules....

• it doesn't have to be on consecutive days BUT there has to be a valid event preventing me from cooking for the family
• I have to cook using healthy habits and ingredients
• I have to be creative and try different things
• Everyone has to sit down and eat as a family (assuming Jodie isn't working nights/graveyards)

On a final note...once again Georgia hounded me to workout with her.  Unfortunately it was past their bedtime so I came to an agreement with her and Sophia that we'd double it up tomorrow!

till next time cheers and thanks for reading!

DAY 21: THE DAY THAT ALMOST WASN'T

Stan Karras said...

Posted 4 min 2 sec ago

DAY 21: THE DAY THAT ALMOST WASN'T
After 20 days of seeing this journey through I was finally at Day 21. The funny thing is I didn't need 21 days to form a healthy habbit. I would say mid way through the second week I was into this thing for good. My daughters took all but one day to commit. To them, this was playing with their Dad. I couldn't have asked for anything better to come out of this than to have them want to spend this time with me. There will come a day that they'll be all grown up and I'll be looking back wondering where the time has gone and hopefully, with memories that we're forming now, have no regrets.
Onto the workout. Day 21 was going to go out with a bang with one of the more intense workouts that i've had in three weeks. The Canucks were playing so after work I picked up the girls (wife was on night shift) and we headed home. Feeling a bit lazy I reheated some of the leftover food from our dinner at The Keg from the night before. I decided to test out my new blender so for dinner I mixed up a cup of skim milk, one banana, a drop or two of vanilla, frozen blueberries and a small handfull of mixed berries, topped off with a scoop of plant protien. So far no problems, it tasted great and the kids were happy with the leftovers. About half hour into watching the game I started getting stomach pains. By the end of the first period I was reclined on our LazyBoy in the fetal position clutching my stomach.
I was done. My two caring girls did their best to comfort me and make sure I was comfortable. But still...Georgia kept reminding me "we have to have our workout today". Not once, twice...but probably 10 times in the course of the night. What caused the stomach ache? Well....after looking at the mixed berry bag I notice (don't know why I didn't see them) Rasberries which I am severly allergic to. I was so disapointed. Here I am on my 21st day and I was all ready for my celebratory work out. Conditions were perfect. The Canucks kicked butt, I made it throught 20 days and more importantly my daughters not only made it through this with me but they wanted to keep going! It was late at night at this point when my oldest asked again if they could please go down and work out and if I wasn't feeling well, "is it ok if you come down and mark the book" (the Fitbook). How could I not? Georgia & Sophia both performed 2 sets of overhead presses, 2 sets of dumbbell curls, Georgia performed 2 sets of crunches and Sophia 3 sets of situps. At this point it was 9PM and I was not only feeling better but inspired watching them workout on their own accord. What about the Ipad, PS3, the 3 DS's, my Iphone and YTV? Not interested :)_
My workout consisted of 3 heavy sets of dumbell chest presses on the workout ball, 3 long sets of crunches, 3 sets of lateral arm raises and 3 sets of weighted calf raises.
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I will continue my workouts and will also continue updating everyone through a blog.
I'm assuming I won't be able to put up comments after tonight so check back in a bit as I'm trying to find a site to host my new blog!
I cannot begin to thank everyone that has supported me over the past 21 days. I'm shocked at the amount of support and well wishes I've received from people I havent seen in years and I would like to thank each and everyone. To my family you guys have been incredible! Without your support and understanding (as a Greek it's difficult saying 'no' to seconds and thirds) I would have had a difficult time.
Finally a HUGE thank you to Patrick and Fitness Town! Your help and support group has made this journey possible and I cannot thank you enough for everything you've done for my family.
Stan, Georgia, Sophia and Jodie

Day 20

Stan Karras said...

Posted 20 hours 18 min ago

DAY 20: Well today was suppose to be our day off but it seems as though there is nothing stopping us from our workouts! Ok...i did take it easier than normal though. My workout today consisted of a nice 35 minute walk with Georgia, Sophia and out little dog Maxie. Later on that evening, after a nice dinner at the Keg with my family, Georgia, Sophia and I decided to hit the basement for a quick 20 minute workout.
Mine consisted of: 2 sets of oblique crunches and 2 sets of standard crunches,
3 sets, high weight low rep dumbell curls, 3 sets of lateral arm raises and finally 5 minutes of stretching.
Sophia, feeling better than yesterday was on the treadmill for 10 minutes, followed by a set of dumbell curls (3 lbs x 20 reps) and 2 sets of arm raises using 3 lb balls x 10 reps. At age 6 I wasn't expecting her to do much more considering it was 8:30 at night :). Georgia seems determined to work out for hours straight trying to develop different strength training techniques. Future gym owner possibly? She hit the treadmill for 12 minutes including 5 minutes worth of arm curls using the 2lb weights while walking, 2 sets x 20 reps of lateral arm raises using 2lb bals, and finally 2 sets of crunches at 50 reps each. This wasn't enough for her but I needed them to wind down for the night and considering it was our "day off" I think we did well.
Cheers!

Day 19

DAY 19: First off, Hi Lilia! Great hearing from you. Lilia was my Grad date wayyyy back in 86. Wow how time flies :( Sorry for aging us Lilia but you look fantastic!
Day 19 consisted of (take a guess) another Christmas dinner! My diet today consisted of 2 egg yokes with sprinkled feta (yes i know...sodium) then followed by a salad with greens, carrots, cheese, cauli, broc and olive oil/balsamic dressing. Dinner was at another Greek restaurant in Langley along with Jodie's entire family. I won't post the name of the place but I have to say it is one of the best I have ever been to! Contact me if you'd like to know. I had chicken souvlaki, greek salad and rice. I was only able to eat half of it partially because the plates are huge & because my appetite seems to be shrinking.
The work out today was split in half but I'll give you the coles notes on the entire workout. 3 sets of dumbbell curls x 20, 26 & 26 reps. 3 sets of crunches x 40, 50 & 60 reps. 3 sets of lateral arm raises x 20, 15 & 17 reps. 2 sets of dumbbell shrugs x 10 & 15 reps (high weight). Even though this wasn't a cardio day I still felt as though I needed to at least walk so I set up the treadmill for a 23 minute speedwalk to try and burn off some of the calories gained from another festive day.
Sophia was feeling a bit under the weather so Georgia joined me after dinner for the second half of my workout. She did 2 sets of dumbbell curls at 20 and 20 reps, 110 reps of seated rows using a rubber workout band (i think we'll need to make this one a bit tougher for her) followed by 8 minutes on the treadmill.
Thanks for reading up!

Day 18

Stan Karras said...

Posted 3 days 11 hours ago

DAY 18: Day 18 consisted of, once again, a Christmas lunch from one of our very good vendors. Luckily we went to a Greek restaurant so I knew chicken souvlaki would be on the menu. Stathy was there to keep me in check but to my surprise after handing out the platters of all the yummy greek fried foods (sigh...calamari my favorite was on there) I was lucky enough to have 3...count them 3 different types of salads at my disposal. So I decided to load up on the greens. Didn't take much and I was almost full so the small portion of souvlaki was perfect.
On to the workout. Today's workout consisted of more cardio work. 45 minutes of killer TaeKwonDo to be exact. If that wasn't enough I stayed for another 1/2 hour to join the Sparring class. It's amazing the amount of energy it takes to spar for 30 minutes straight. I had a tough time making it through the class:)
I got home about an hour ago and there were my two girls Georgia and Sophia waiting for me with their PJ's and running shoes on. I promised them I would blog about their workout. I was impressed! We used 2lb dumbbells for all exercises.
Georgia: 10min 40 second on the treadmill at 3-5 intensity
Lying dumbbell presses 2 sets of 20 reps
Crunches 1 set of 30 reps
Dumbbell curls 2 sets of 50 reps. YES 50!
Lateral arm raises 1 set of 10 reps.
Sophia 5 minutes at 2-3 intensity
Lying dumbbell presses 1 set of 30 reps
Crunches 2 sets of 20 reps then 30 reps
Dumbbell Curls 1 set of 20 reps
Dumbbell shrugs 1 set of 20 reps
Talk to you tomorrow!

Day 17

Stan Karras said...

Posted 3 days 23 hours ago

DAY 17: First off, thank you once again for your well wishes. Nice hearing from you Amanda and Anthy!
MANY of you have asked me "ok....there are four of you in your family yet you are only talking about yourself and your two daughters..." Where is the fourth you ask? Unfortunately through all of this my wife, due to being in the food industry, has been working nights and graveyards. With that said she is still participating. She has kept our diets in line by doing all the grocery shops and preparing our lunches and outlining our dinner plans for the girls. Yesterday was her day off and since I was running late at work she took both our girls to their TaeKwonDo class. During this time I made it home and decided to go for a 10 minute cat nap, then strap on the running shoes and hit the treadmill for a 25 minute run. Once again I cycled between hard runs and fast walks taking my heartrate from 120 up to about 158 bpm. Just as I was finishing I heard the door open and not 30 seconds later my oldest daughter Georgia comes flying downstairs and yells "hey you are suppose to wait for us!".
Sophia was exhausted after her TKD class so she sat upstairs with mom preparing dinner while Georgia and I worked on our core by performing crunches with the big ball. While lying beside her, crunching, I explained to her what a set and a rep is. She was determined to do 30 sets of 3 reps...not trying to deflate her enthusiasm I said "how bout we try 3 sets of 30 reps instead" :)
Since it was my day of rest from weights I continued with the crunches & leg raises and set her up on the treadmill for a 10 minute run and a 5 minute cooldown.
I think it's time for Santa to buy her a nice pair of running shoes :)
I'll be posting day 18 tonight. Till then keep on moving!

Day 15 and 16

Stan Karras said...

Posted 5 days 11 hours ago

DAY 15 & 16: Day 15 was rest day for me (sort of). My two girls had their TaeKwonDo class today and I sat and watched. A bit of running to warm them up followed by some punching and kicking exercises got them nice and ready to learn some of their curriculum. Universal form, followed by Knife Hand sets, Self Defense, Grappling and topped off with stick work. I felt as though I couldn't sit and rest so I decided to go our later with my girls for a nice 1 hour walk...outside! Day 15 diet was absolutely superb. Banana and yogurt for breakfast followed by carrots for snacks. Leftover chicken for lunch with peas. For dinner I made "the big salad". Went to bed feeling fine!
Day 16 was workout day: Warmup consisted of a nice 15 minute treadmill with my heartrate going from 120 to 150 as I cycled the speed up and down. From there
3 sets x 15, 18 and 10 reps of chest presses, 40 reps, 50 reps, 40 reps of lying crunches, 3 sets x 15 reps of static lunges and finally 3 sets x 10 reps of bicep curls. The program I followed today was Fitness Towns 21 minute workout #1 which I received when I signed up for this challenge in a nice handbook (this handbook is well worth the price of this challenge). The only thing I didn't do was the seated row as I don't have any resistance bands. Guess what Patrick, I'm coming back again! The girls decided to take Day 16 off to concentrate on decorating our boston terrier like a reindeer.
Day 16 diet was also great. Yogurt and oats in the morning followed by a tomato, carrot and snow pea salad. For lunch I decided to be lazy and pick up some California Rolls for the local Japanese eatery. Now...for dinner I had reason to celebrate as I received some great news at work. So my wife and I decided to take the girls out to celebrate. I had a chicken and vegetable medley along with 1 (one) light beer. My treat for the week :)
Stay posted!

The Beattles and I

Stan Karras said...

Posted 1 week 24 min ago

WEEK 2: OH I GET BY WITH A LITTLE HELP OF MY FRIENDS(and family!). Cheezy title yes? But very true! After 2 weeks partaking in the 21 day challenge my results are pretty much the same as what they were 7 days ago EXCEPT for the fact that I've lost a complete belt size!, my energy level has increased tremendously and more importantly my awareness for the important things in life keeps growing! I wanted to take this time to thank a few people that are making this a reality:
My wife and children; if it weren't for their support I don't think I would have made it this far. Having the little ones join me in work outs, taekwondo, dog walks makes this truly rewarding. My man Stathy who is like the little man that sits on my shoulder. I'm fortunate enough to work and live with him (most of the time) so he keeps me in check and makes sure that I behave during work lunch hours :) My sisters Maria and Dimitria who continue to inspire me through their support. My crazy cousins who seem to be binding the family through there support all the way from Millwakee, California, Greece and of course Burnaby. My entire support group of friends who are too many to list but you guys know who you are thank you! BTW Hi Joanne! My unofficial advisor Patrick from Fitness Town for all your advice and support. Wow, I feel like I'm making a speech for the Acadamy Awards.
Over the next week I expect to see some gradual increases in my strength and endurance as I slowly increase weights and frequencies.
As always, stay posted and thank you!

Good advice from a good guy

Posted 1 week 13 hours ago

Hey Stan, it's Patrick from Fitness Town Burnaby. Great to see you updating your "blog" and telling everyone about your 21 day journey. You are two weeks in, keep this up for 1 more week and you will make fitness a habit! There's a lot of good information that I wrote on the Fitness Town blog so be sure to continually check up on that. Also, don't be afraid of the sausages and wings. Conventional wisdom says fat makes you fat, but the data and science says otherwise. Keep away from muffins, scones, cakes, anything with sugar! If you need any more help, please call me and drop by the store anytime. We are here to help you get in shape. In the meantime, no matter what, always keep moving!

Day 13 and 14

Stan Karras said...

Posted 1 week 13 hours ago

DAY 13 & 14: Sunday was clean up day after "the party". The aftermath was a workout in itself but the kids and I figured we'd pass the time away while mom slept after her brutal graveyard shift. 2 sets of crunches at 45 and 30 reps, followed by 2 sets of light dumbell curls 30 lbs @ 30 reps followed by 30 and 35 pushups. Why the pushups? You see, I need to be able to perform 75 pushups x 3 in order to complete my conditional black belt next year. I might as well start now! Stretching using the ball was a chore as the girls were adamant that they use the ball to do their crunches. 2 sets each...i was impressed!
Day 14 was exciting because I finally got a heart rate monitor! Patrick from Fitness Town in Burnaby was kind enough to spend the time explaining the benefits of target heart rates so I kicked off the workout with a 25 minute treadmill at my target rate followed by a 5 minute cooldown. From there it was back to crunches but this time it was myself flat on the ground and my legs on the ball (3 sets) mixed in with 3 sets of chest presses using the adjustable dumbbells. Thanks for tuning in!

How Christmas and UFC go hand in hand

Stan Karras said...

Posted 1 week 1 day ago

HOW TO HOST A CHRISTMAS PARTY AND NOT OVER INDULGE: Day 12 has been the most challenging of all days for me. My wife and I decided to have a Chritmas / UFC party for all our friends and cousins. Knowing that I'm turning a new leaf my wife was kind enough to prepare all the foods with a few exceptions. As this wasn't a sit down dinner but finger food appies, it allowed her to prepare many types of foods. I just had to be careful as to which ones I chose. Veggie platters, fruit medleys, barbequed chicken topped the "healthy" portion of the menu. Fresh breads and cold cuts were a great idea as throughout the night as "the men" got their second and third wind it provided them a quick snack. On the naughty side we had barbequed sausages, prepared wings, home made tarts and cakes and a handful of other foods. Choosing my foods was easy although I did have to cheat and have a peice of cake as it was Cheryl's birthday :). No UFC party is complete withought beverages (remember to have designated drivers!). Since I've pretty much cut this out of my diet my wife gave me the responsibility of making sure all my guests were served. Here is where my cardio workout of the day comes into play. Our bar is setup in the basement and everyone else was two flights up. As silly as it sounded I, by design left all the beverages downstairs. I should have had a pedometer to count the amount of steps I ran up and down last night! Who would have thought I can incorporate a workout while serving?
Today I'll be back on track with a nice weight and treadmill routine.
Cheers!

Food and the soon to be fit forties father

Stan Karras said...

Posted 1 week 3 days ago

I'm currently updating my "food log" in the fitbook that I received from *Patrick* at FT and I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to post some info on COPING WITH ALL THE HOLIDAY WORK LUNCHES! (I couldn't find any sign of the Fitness Town Facebook Page otherwise I'd be posting there). With the holiday season here it's been tough trying to avoid all the fatty foods made available to me at all the Seasons events. How am I coping? My problem in the past was not eating any breakfast or snacks and then gorging at lunch. Now I'm eating smaller meals throughout the day and this has been a HUGE help. I feel full most of the time (which is a nice change :). Morning meals usually start out with whole wheat English muffins, grains and mid morning I'll mix up a protein shake with skim milk. It might not sound like much but it makes a huge difference when lunch time comes and I'm able to get away with eating half the meal that i'm use to. Such a simple concept yet I'd never thought of it before. Cheers!

Week 1 done!

Stan Karras said...

Posted 1 week 4 days ago

Well week one is now officially over and it went out with a bang.
I celebrated by going to the hockey game last night :)
So here are the results so far. I'm down 2.8 lbs and lost 1% body fat.
Am I dissapointed? Yes and no. Even though the stats aren't impressive what doesn't show is the fact that my stomach is shrinking but more importantly my heart is getting healthier! Exercising with the girls has been fun also. They definately enjoy the work out ball that I picked up from Fitness Town although the dog doesn't appreciate it being thrown at them :) This has proven to be quite usefull in my crunch and weight routine. I picked up a set of adjustable dumbbells from FT also. Quite affordable and extremely usefull due to their balance and quick change pin system. The best part is they take up no floor space. The girls have also enjoyed running up and down our 3 flights of stairs. The Karras's version of a stair climber. Talk to you all soon and thank you for the support!

Day 7

Stan Karras said...

Posted 1 week 6 days ago

Stretch stretch stretch. This has been one of the more interesting activities my first week. Getting into TKD has definitely helped with my flexibility but I'm no where near where I was in my late teens. Static and dynamic stretching has been accomplished anywhere with the help of my sensai's as well as my two girls. Whenever I need a bit of extra help they're quick to push my body just a bit further than it wants to :) I'll post my first weeks result tomorrow!

Day 6 of Fitness Town's 21 Day Challenge

Stan Karras said...

Posted 2 weeks 12 hours ago

Hi all, here is where i'm at after 6 days; it's hard to really measure weight drop and fat loss as it's a bit too early but i'm down a couple of pounds and down 1% in BF. Not where I was hoping to be but that's alright because it's my eating habit's that i'm most proud of. Fruit and veggie intake has been huge, as well as a balance of protein and dairy products (mostly eggs and a some skim milk) along with grains has balanced out my diet. People say I'm crazy to do it during the holiday season but I thought why the heck not? No sense waiting till January first?
Cheers
Stan

21 Day Challenge is complete!

Hi Everyone!  If you've found your way here then you know that I've completed my 21 day challenge from Fitness Town and am going to continue updates on my own.
This is my second blog for those of you keeping track.  My first blog, http://www.1968stang.com/ is still up and running even though there havent been any updates since February 2010.  That will all change.
Over the next day or so I'll be updating this blog with posting from the Fitness Town 21 day challenge site.
Please stay posted!  Pics to follow :)