Alice Waters or eating like you live here....

I love food...my mother was in the vanguard of the Clean eating movement...eating locally,Farmer's Markets, no processed food that was the way I was fed at home. I envied all my friends who had cookie jars with processed cookies inside and Ding Dongs in their pantry. I have grown up enough to realize my mother was right about making healthy food choices.
I have grown up believing in the philosophy of Alice Waters, Eat simple, eat local and clean. Sometimes you just need some chocolate though. These brownies are really rich. dense and a little "mature" the dark chocolate crowd will love them. I prefer them as the base for a brownie sundae with vanilla ice cream, caramel sauce and peanuts.
Brownie LA
6 tablespoons unsalted butter (no substitutes the real stuff)
5 ounces Scharffen Berger unsweetened 99% dark Cacao
2 eggs beaten
1 cup sugar
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup crushed hazelnuts or pecans (I omit this and use 1/2 cup Traders Joe's
Organic creamy peanut butter)
If you are a NO NUTS person...add 1/4 of all purpose flour and forget the nuts. Buy the best baking flour you can, lots of flours are full of gluten and preservatives for longer shelf life not for better taste!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease 8 x 8 glass baking pan
Melt the butter and chocolate in the microwave or in a bowl over hot water and allow to cool slightly. Add the beaten eggs (by hand,not with a hand mixer). Add the beaten eggs, followed by the sugar and flour. Mix together quickly, but gently then add the nut mixture. Pour into the baking pan and bake for 30 minutes. Crisp on top,pulling away from the sides, and soft inside.
Allow to cool in pan @20 minutes before turning out and cutting into squares.
I brought brownies,ice cream,caramel sauce to Sunday dinner and everyone enjoyed the effort.
It is just as easy to cook well with good ingredients than to settle for packaged.

Stand like you are wearing a really great dress

I was working on one legged squats and Eric told me to keep my posture. "Stand like you have on a great dress" I immediately stood straight and looked 100% taller,leaner and was able to execute the exercise perfectly(my version of perfectly,not Eric's).
Standing tall gives you confidence, keeps you engaged in whatever activity you are performing
and makes you look great.
It is such a simple thing...you've heard it your entire life "Stand up tall" be proud of who you are and where you are in life. Mentally and physically standing tall is good for us.
So I am standing in a great dress (Herve Leger naturally)...that's the mental picture of myself I want to visual. Have a great weekend.

Fitness Fashion except for golf...

I received my September Vogue on Friday...it is the most important issue of the year. I have been a Vogue Magazine subscriber since I was thirteen, I read all the old leather bound issues of Vogue in the Michigan State library when I should have been studying, I can tell you what designer dresses are being worn and why...I am the ultimate Vogue student.
Sometimes Vogue does athletic wear...but it is ridiculous (this is where Mike chimes in "and the rest of Vogue isn't") and way to costly to be thrown into the washer after a workout. Lululemon makes the best work out pants in the world. The Lululemon design team should be toasted (and they have been with many cocktails by my girl friends and I) and honored for making a woman's behind smaller,higher and tighter (Please see Jumper's Ass blog). The pant is genius...I own so many pairs I should be embarrassed, but I'm not because good design is good design and I work out like a crazy woman. The store in El Segundo is my favorite Lululemon and I love everyone who works there. If you are also in need of a shot of self esteem...check out www.lululemon.com. The Lululemon Manifesto is perfect(I love a company that has a Manifesto, it is much more inspiring than a Mission Statement), the goal setting ideas are great and the articles are really interesting.
Breathe in Hermosa Beach www.breatheactivewear@blogspot.com is my guilty pleasure. The owner Heidi Roth brings in these fantastic, sexy workout pieces that make you think "Damn, I look great!". My Herve Leger dresses are my best fitting and sexiest, my Breathe wear is the same...yesterday I wore an outfit from Breathe that was perfectly sexy and I ran 5 miles. Check out Breathe, the clothes are great and its good to be sexy!!!
Next I work on the golf attire...I believe this is where my real fortune lies. I can not find any clothes that I love. If you know of any sites where Great golf clothing for women can be purchased let me know...it makes no sense that a sport that is so popular has the least fashionable clothing. For goodness sakes, Vera Wang golfs!!!
Daisy walked another .58 mile today. She was not as excited about walking today...but she did it and now is resting quietly right next to me.

Goal setting is a good thing...

Last year I set a goal to run my first 10K, I chose the Manhattan Beach Hometown run in October and promptly forgot about this goal until ten weeks before the race date. I found a great training program on line http://www.runningabout.com/ and a great site that maps your runs accurately http://www.runningmaps.com/. I chose the "Beginner's How to Train for a 10K"program and I was off. I followed the program and about three weeks into the process, I started to enjoy running.
My neighborhood took on a whole different personality when I ran through it versus driving through with my radio blaring. It was charming and there was so much going on in East Manhattan Beach...Soccer matches, baseball games, churches, families playing and I even saw a man washing his own car! I loved the experience and have run two more 10K's and two 3K 's since I completed my first race.
There were cheerleaders, My friend Ginny came to race and made a sign, my friend Suzanne a fantastic runner was huge with praise and advice, my friend Kimm's daughter Kaylie made a sign and stood on her corner waiting fro me to pass by on race day. I felt great, heroic and athletic(not to shabby for a klutz). I did have naysayers...the neighbor who told me I was headed for injuries...I let her know since I had not run since I was 12 years old technically my knees were still in Junior High . The Finisher's t shirt is as valuable to me as my Cartier watch. The t-shirt means hard work, diligence lead to my accomplishment
It was a simple goal, but it was huge for me. So my advice is ...Take a look around and next time you think something looks interesting... set a goal to do it. It all starts with a goal....and to all the PE instructors who terrorized me in grade school and beyond for my "I'm sorry, but I do not run" policy" Sorry...

Slimming Miss Daisy....

There I was making excuses, blaming my injuries, my lack of time between work, working out and social life...no I haven't gained weight it's worse. Daisy, the most lady like of the Gelsey Goldens is officially morbidly obese.

I am so irresponsible that I let her get so fat on my watch. I blame Bella's old age (she's 14 and doesn't have enough cartilage to handle long walks...so here I sit planning a diet and exercise plan for a eight year old Golden Retriever.

We start this morning, I am using http://www.runningmap.com/ to plot her walks. I am taking a before picture and have promised the Vet and Groomer that next month Daisy will be trimmer. I am a little embarrassed to walk with Miss Fatty...but the troops rally even 14 year old Bella decides that she will walk, Lucky is ready and Daisy has that "Do I have to look?" that she

has always had when it comes to exercise. We did two blocks (I had thought three, but two was all Daisy had in her). Her mileage .58 over a 1/2 mile. She is resting now, dreaming of chicken sausage and treats that aren't going to be happening for awhile. A girl can dream though....

I have my first 5 mile run today. It is the end of my first week of training for the MBHF10K...I slept 10 hours, so obviously the running is making me more tired, soon it will make me stronger.

The Quest for Jumper's Ass

You don't always know what you are searching for...you think you do though. I ate too little, did marathon sessions on the treadmill, worked out with way too much weight (dead lifting and squatting your own weight and beyond is heady, but trust me it wears you out), countless hours in gyms, on tracks, stair climbers and treadmills.
Then you hear it innocently your friend Gretchen says at The Manhattan Beach Six Man Volleyball Tournament "We'll beat that team, they all have flat asses. Everyone on our team has Jumper's Ass".
The heavens open up, the angels sing and I realize that is what I have always wanted a small, firm, solid, separated from my thigh Jumpers Ass. Who knew? The quest begins...
It is a lot of work. More one legged squats than you ever think you can do...legs squat front,leg bent back squats, full squats,Good Mornings,Romanian Dead lifts, swinging ball squats, cables and squats...squats til you can't think clearly. I slowly begin to notice a difference (although since I look at my behind at least ten times a day for changes obviously the change seems even slower). I am on the right path now and I will continue to work harder than I care to because I want Jumper's Ass.
A few great things have come out of my hard work. I injured my ribs running (and falling flat on my face) and I broke a toe (a door got in my way as I rushed into the bathroom after I overslept). I couldn't run for a month...but because I kept to Gretchen's squat schedule (and I do apologize Gretch for all the times I questioned your friendship and humanity) and added more squats on my own time. When I started running last Sunday...I ran a fast 2.42 miles and I was not breathless when I finished my run. I could have run further, but I promised myself and my friends that I will learn to slow down (more about this later). I also spent more time enjoying friends,attending family functions and meeting new people.
So I am committed to exercise, clumsy and searching. I am going to stay committed to the Quest for Jumper's Ass, train for the Manhattan Beach Hometown Fair 10K , golf and keep enjoying this process...of being fit.
I am going to use the real first names of my fantastic friends and family in this blog. I won't give any personal info unless they let me share it with you. The quest for staying fit, working full time, having a social life and enjoying life is time consuming but life and health are intertwined. Let the fun begin....