fighting against the food

This weekend was a concert weekend, so I wasn't able to cook. Sunday supper was at the Polish place on Bedford Ave. with Mom, Gene, Olivia, and J-Cat. I spent most of the meal really jealous of what Gene and Mom ordered - Hungarian Goulash with Potato Pancakes. So freaking good. But J-Cat made me really happy when he ordered cheese blintzes with plum butter. I could not stop eating them. And, unfortunately, that's the way I've been with a lot of food lately - I CAN'T. STOP. EATING. I could blame it on the cold weather, I suppose. In any case, I am trying to eat much healthier, at least on the weekdays. I'm basically giving myself a pass on Sunday Suppers, though. I can't enforce any restrictions on those.

In an effort to counteract some of the eating, I have started a new strength workout that I'm really enjoying. They are called "Kettlebells", and are a traditional Russian cast iron ball weight with a handle. Here's a picture of kettlebells very similar to the one I got:



It has - dare I say - some personality, no? Or am I just a sucker for exercise equipment? Kettlebells seem to have a long tradition of being a macho guy sort of exercise, but I guess they're becoming more and more popular with the ladies. What I love about them is that they're simple, functional exercises that require little space and little time. Plus, although they are mostly a strength exercise, your heartrate shoots up and you get your cardio without feeling like you're doing cardio. That's great for me because I hate cardio. And my absolute favorite thing about them - you do the workout barefoot, my much preferred way. I've only done 3 workouts so far, with my 20-lb Kettlebell, and already I feel like I could bump up several pounds on a couple of the moves. Maybe one of these days I'll actually get buff. But I'd settle for simply not jiggly...

If you're curious about what Kettlebell moves look like, take a look at this video of the foundation move, two-arm swings.