Hooowwwl-O-Ween Keeping your pets safe.

 

 

 

"I hate this freaking costume!" ~Cleopatra the Chihuahua

 

 

As much as I love seeing all the cute pictures of dogs in their costumes on facebook and walking around the neighborhood Halloween can be a very scary time for pets.  Even if your pet doesn't mind the silly costume you will put them in please be aware of a few real dangers for you pet tomorrow:

 

 

• Keep your pets inside during trick-or-treating.  It can be overwhelming and scary for a dog to see the crowds of people, running/screaming kids, masks and crazy costumes. 

• Keep your pet away from the door.  Many things could go wrong here, cats or dogs could bolt out of fear.  Dogs could react to a certain costume or a child who reaches out for them while in a costume and scare the dog or the dog may even snap at them.  Cats may get scared and hide, this can lead to them being scared whenever strangers are coming to your home to visit with the family.

• Keep decorations out of reach.  You don't want your pet biting an electrical wire or chewing/swallowing something toxic or something that can be a choking hazard.

• Keep the candy out of reach.  This is a good tip for pets and my boot camp clients ;)!  Pets can easily get sick or even die if they get to much of a "good" thing.  This can also cause a choking hazard for your pet.

 

If you really want to celebrate Halloween with your pet find a pet friendly celebration in your area.  Many animal rescues and pet friendly businesses hold Halloween parties where the animals are the guests of honor, the treats are safe and they can have fun with their other furry friends.

 

"Ok, it's a little better with out the hood but can we just take it off now?"

Your stride is Soooo last year!

Over the past year or two barefoot running and running in "minimal" shoes has taken the general public by storm.  Runners want to be real runners, toss out those stabilizing, heel cushioned shoes and hit the pavement. 
I must say after seeing the guy last year who ran the marathon barefoot with out the slightest scrape on his feet was pretty impressive.

My interest has been piqued but so far trying to transition on my own hasn't really worked.  My daughter is fast but needs some help with her form and stride so last week we both attended a running clinic at Fleet Feet.  The clinic was fairly basic but gave a few pointers.  What I got out of it the most was watching my stride on a video they took of the class.  When we did a lap in our socks I noticed I was "prancing" on the balls of my foot.  Prancing is when you are still trying to reach for a longer stride but almost on tip-toes so you still hit the ball of your feet.

Here are a few pointers they told us to follow:
Form:  Keep your body tall.  Do an overhead stretch to reset your body and alignment.  Feet are hip width apart facing forward with your hips set squarely above them in a neutral position...don't stick your booty out.  Arms bent at 90 degrees but relaxed.
Foot Strike:  You want to strike the ball of your foot, then hit the mid then slightly hit the heel.  You also want your strike to be under your body, not out in front.  This one is taking some getting used to but your cadence will help (we'll get to that).
In Motion:  When you start to run lean your body slightly forward from you ankles, not your hips.  You can get the feel for this by standing a couple of feet away from a wall and fall toward the wall bending at your ankle.  Don't forget to catch yourself, hands up on the wall, not face :)  Your arms shouldn't go out in front of you, very little forward motion, most of the motion in the arms is when they push back.  Every move you make should benefit forward motion only.
Cadence:  This was a new one for me but made a lot of sense.  To become a faster runner you want to pay attention to your cadence or how quickly you are turning over your feet to strike the ground.  They had us do a good exercise with a beeper set at 180, with each beep we hopped foot to foot.  Then they slowed it down to 160, 150, 140.  By 140 you could feel yourself plop side to side and notice how long your foot was resting on the ground.  At 180 you barely had time to get your foot all the way down which is better for the impact on your body and feet as well as improve your speed.  There are apps you can download to your phone and set a cadence to help you learn your new pace.

If and when you decide to transition to a different running style be sure to take your time.  You don't want to go out one morning and decide this is the day you will never strike your heel again.  It takes time to get comfortable with it and your body must adapt.  Changing from a heel strike to a ball strike engages more muscles and like any new routine those muscles will get sore. 
Start out by trying your new form a couple times a week.  You could try running a mile this way then build from there or try doing intervals of new form and old form or new form and walking.  Most of all listen to your body, ice, stretch, use a roller and change back to your old style when pain or soreness set in.  If you over due it all at once you might not be running at all for a while.  Trust me, I started a few minutes at a time yesterday and when I tried it today I could only do a couple of intervals before my calves were way to sore to keep it up.

Here is a link I found, it helps lay out in more detail the info above.  I have also had a couple of people recommend the book, Born to Run.  I haven't read it but I've heard it's very good.

http://www.runningplanet.com/training/running-form.html

Happy Running

Burning off the Halloween C-A-N-D-Y!

Who's already gotten into their bags of Halloween candy?  C'mon admit it!  If it's already in your house you've probably already snuck a piece or two and if you haven't bought it yet, you will, and you'll eat some.

That's ok, everyone needs a treat but those mini, snack size treats can add up quickly. 
Last week I had my boot campers do a Halloween workout to learn more about the calories in the snack size candy and just what it would take to burn it off. 

Below are all mini/snack size servings:

• Kit-Kat = 67 kcal. = 11 minutes of circuit training
• Baby Ruth = 50 kcal. = 10 minutes of push ups
• Twix = 80 kcal. = 4 minutes run @ 10 mph
• M&Ms = 88 kcal. = 8 minutes of jump rope
• Snickers = 72 kcal. = 8 minutes of jumping jacks w/ weights
• 3 Pieces of strawberry licorice = 120 kcal. = 24 minutes of crunches
• Milky Way = 30 kcal. (these are the tiny squares) = 5 minutes of vigorous weight lifting
• 2 Laffy Taffy = 64 kcal. = 16 minutes of moderate weight lifting

Of course these values may change depending on how hard you are actually working and what website you use to do the calculations but it gives you an idea that those minis aren't "free" foods and having a few a day or a few an hour can add up over the next couple weeks.

Be sure you don't drop your workout schedule.  Now is a very important time to keep it up and be extra dedicated as we work and eat our way through Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year.

Happy Haunting

Halloween in the City

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays.
Living in the city, it's always nice get out to the "burbs" or a pumpkin farm but this year it just didn't happen. Between work, soccer, school, fundraisers... the suburban pumpkin trip just wasn't happening.

So, we decided to go super city!  Our usual parking lot pumpkin patch was gone.  In it's place is construction of a new building :(  Where to go??

Nightmare on Clark St. ended up being the perfect city-style spot to grab a pumpkin and get some fun pics of our outing.  I expected a parking garage with pumpkins tossed around the floor but little did we know we were in for an experience or as my co-pumpkin picker would say...a "magical" experience.

As we entered the garage we were pleasantly surprised to see stacks of hay bails, tons and tons of pumpkins, gourds, corn stalks and plenty of picture opps.  For a city garage they really did a great job and we had a great time.

Don't underestimate those city lots, the experience is all what you make of it :)
Happy Halloween!!

Pumpkin Muffins

Is anything better than pumpkin flavored anything this time of year?
Here is a recipe for Pumpkin Muffins.  Ok, it's not my recipe, another ABC coach had posted it but it looked good so wanted to share.

Enjoy!

1 C. Whole Wheat Flour
1 C. Oats
1 t. baking powder
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/4 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
1 egg lightly beaten
1 cup plain nonfat yogurt
4 T. butter, melted
1/2 C. brown sugar
1 C. Sugar
1 C. canned pumpkin
1/4 C. finely chopped walnuts
Preheat 350. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder & soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make a well in the center.

In a separate bowl, beat together the egg, yogurt, butter, sugar, pumpkin, and walnuts. Pour into the well of the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Evenly distribute among muffin cups. Bake 15-20 minutes.

 

***Can use bran cereal instead of oats & walnuts are optional.

Facebook...WTF?

Majority of us are on facebook, obsessed with facebook or at least have a facebook account.  I won't put everyone because the second I do someone will pipe up saying they are not on facebook...sure.

Why is this titled WTF?  Well, FB has become so many things, a fun place to share pictures, post what's going on in your day, a political platform, a business marketing tool, a place to post your own agenda to the masses (if you have masses of "friends"), share stories or just bitch about what everyone else on FB is doing.

I'm sure if I asked 100 people what FB should be used for I will get 100 different answers.  It's becoming another format for people to complain about the thoughts and actions of others...just what we need, right?

Here's the thing, if you post something silly like what you had for dinner or that you are at Whole Foods for the 5th time this week people say "Who cares.", if you post an opinion about the current Presidential race you will have some people slamming you for it, maybe even un-friending you...NOT THAT!!!!! 

I personally have 4 FB pages (yeah, I know), 2 are for business, 1 is to share support for my daughter and her charitable work for wildlife and the last is just my personal page.  I keep the biz pages and my daughters page focused on only things that pertain to the topic. My personal page (like every one's) can go any which way. 
I'm sure I have annoyed people with the sharing of multiple vacation albums but it's the best way for my family in other states to see them.  I'm sure I've made comments that are not the same view as my "friends" but if we had a conversation face-to-face I would say the same thing.  No, I'm not one way on FB and another in person.
I share a lot about animal rescue which can be cute, sad and sometimes hard to take (and believe me, I edit and do not share the wort I see).

Still, many times when I go to post something I think twice about it because I have to remember how my FB friends are... will they be offended, will they block me, will they get mad.  Really, should I even care?  It's MY FB page, right?

So, who knows what FB is supposed to be.  I figure the only thing it really is, is a bazillion dollar idea for the owner and investors.  Good for them, wish I was a computer whiz and thought of it myself.  For everyone else, it's your page so post whatever the hell you want and own it :)

Happy posting, liking, commenting, blocking, sharing....

Well...Hello there!

I've just met my new love for the season.
It's a beautiful fall color, great to snuggle up on the couch with, so easy going and tastes great!

Just when I thought I would have to give up my tequila with the colder weather a tequila-cider combo came along. 
I found this easy recipe on-line, wasn't so sure how it would taste but I really think it's great.

Tequila in the Fall:

• 1.5 oz silver tequila (or whatever you prefer)
• 1.5 oz apple cider
• splash of diet tonic

Two ways to make:
Martini:  In a shaker pour tequila and cider over ice, shake and strain into martini glass.  Top with a splash of tonic.
Rocks: Same thing as above but pour over ice in a rocks glass instead of straining into a martini glass.

This is a great dish we tried this week in the crock pot. A bit different from the Mexican Chicken I posted earlier and  it's a nice match with the cocktail above:
Crock Pot Mexican Pulled Pork:

• 3lb. pork shoulder (ask your butcher what the best cut for the crock pot will be, mine suggested a shoulder roast).
• 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth (I used a 1/2 cup because I thought it would be dry)
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• Packet of low sodium taco seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can diced green chilies

1. Cut pork roast in half and place in crock pot.
2. In a bowl mix chicken broth, garlic, taco seasoning, salt and pepper.
3. Pour over pork and cook on 8 or 10 hour setting.
4. Once pork is done, shred the meat, stir in beans and chilies and let it heat through.

Serve in lettuce wraps, whole grain wrap, over nachos....
Top with your favorite toppings, shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, plain low-fat Greek yogurt (instead of sour cream)....

Great fall combo, perfect for easy entertaining or a day of football.

Bow~Wow Boot Camp at the Mutt Strut Chicago

Bow~ Wow Boot Camp had a great opportunity this past weekend to help run the Doggy Olympic area at our Local Mutt Strut.

Check out the link below to see fun pics of dogs trying hurdles, tunnel crawls and balancing on a Bosu.

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.459783737392976.101436.410215622349788&type=1&l=fd43c97220

The Mutt Strut was a fundraiser to help a local shelter, Chicago Canine Rescue, raise funds to help more dogs and puppies in need.

Please be sure to check your local shelter when looking for the next addition to your family.  If you don't find them there and decide to get one from a breeder please be sure to only use a responsible breeder, one you can visit to make sure the conditions the parents are kept in and environment is safe and healthy for the dogs.  Please do not buy from a pet shop.
Thank you