Whew, 3 straight days of tennis and it's definitely HOT! With all this hot tennis, I have to make sure I am staying in shape. Unclean food and water deficiency has no place in my world. I cannot afford to let a lack of endurance impact my game. If I lose it will NOT be because an opponent out hustled me! I will leave it all on the court. This is A MUST!
This week was a really busy work week, and I let my clean eating food guard down a bit. This week is a new week. I am refocused and redetermined. I am proud that I am maintaining my weight since the challenge, but I'm overdue for stepping it up a notch.
I have my sights set on a winning 3.5 season (we're 2-1 right now), winning 3.0 Women's Sectionals in Birmingham in July, and winning 7.0 Mixed Doubles States in Augusta in August. Hot will not even begin to express the conditions to come. With my renewed focus, I will be ready!
I am Shay Shay. I am Fit. I am Hot, but I am Ready!
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
I Need to Catch Up!
Whew, it's been over a week since I posted! Not Good! But, this time it doesn't mean that I have detoured off the journey again. I've just been a tad busy and not feeling all that well. I'm good now, so where do I start first? Oh, my much anticipated weekend from my last post:
Friday: After about a two hour rain delay, my Mixed Doubles Team took the courts in the USTA Atlanta City Finals. It was a tough night for our team. My partner and I played well together and got an individual victory, but our team fell just short of taking it all. NO WORRIES!
WE STILL GOT A BERTH TO THE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN AUGUSTA IN AUGUST! Sweet! I can't wait--State Twice in One Year!
Saturday: Oh what a wonderful time I had with the Race&Relax crew! My tennis bud and Blog Queen Wifey posted two great recaps--much better than I could do. Here are the links with photos! Can't wait for the next race!
Sunday: The McGhee Super Slammers won our FIRST match at 3.5! And guess what? WE DID IT AGAIN this past Sunday! Let's Keep the Momentum Going, Team!
The week after all the fun: After all of that action, my body decided to do a little number on me and I wasn't feeling well. I slowed down a bit and rested and got myself together in time for the JILL SCOTT and MAXWELL concert this past Saturday. Oh, Sweetie and I had such a great time! Check me out in my gold sequin skirt. Yeah, I thought I was cute! LOL!
Friday, June 4, 2010
A Big Weekend of Play Ahead! Rain Stay Away!!
This weekend is a really jammed pack weekend of playtime. It feels really good to have a weekend full of activities that require me to be fit!
I NEED the rain to hold off and LET ME PLAY!
Today: USTA Mixed Doubles City Championship! Team McGhee is the #1 seed and ready to TAKE IT ALL THE WAY TO STATE in Augusta! I am in the line-up and READY TO PLAY and WIN! Let's Go McGhee! Rain, Rain, Stay Away!
Saturday: Race&Relax. The Blogrollers (www.blogrollers.com) have a fun filled morning starting with a 5k in the beautiful Virginia-Highlands area and then Brunch at Einstein's (NOT the BAGEL PLACE!). I can't wait to meet all the race participants and of course to get the goody bag either! I'll will be drinking my Cherry Juice (Go Red!) in the morning with some Ezekiel Bread English Muffins I've been saving until a day when I'm going to really need the carbs! Rain, Rain, Stay Away!
After all the fun with the Race&Relax crew, I have tennis practice (because our normal day was rained out) to get me ready for . . .
Sunday: First match at USTA 3.5! After the success I've had at 3.0, USTA has bumped me up a level. I will definitely have to play smarter and not harder and find the open court at this level. I am ready for the challenge! Rain, Rain, Stay Away!
I am Shay Shay Fit and Ready to Play!
I NEED the rain to hold off and LET ME PLAY!
Today: USTA Mixed Doubles City Championship! Team McGhee is the #1 seed and ready to TAKE IT ALL THE WAY TO STATE in Augusta! I am in the line-up and READY TO PLAY and WIN! Let's Go McGhee! Rain, Rain, Stay Away!
Saturday: Race&Relax. The Blogrollers (www.blogrollers.com) have a fun filled morning starting with a 5k in the beautiful Virginia-Highlands area and then Brunch at Einstein's (NOT the BAGEL PLACE!). I can't wait to meet all the race participants and of course to get the goody bag either! I'll will be drinking my Cherry Juice (Go Red!) in the morning with some Ezekiel Bread English Muffins I've been saving until a day when I'm going to really need the carbs! Rain, Rain, Stay Away!
After all the fun with the Race&Relax crew, I have tennis practice (because our normal day was rained out) to get me ready for . . .
Sunday: First match at USTA 3.5! After the success I've had at 3.0, USTA has bumped me up a level. I will definitely have to play smarter and not harder and find the open court at this level. I am ready for the challenge! Rain, Rain, Stay Away!
I am Shay Shay Fit and Ready to Play!
Thursday, June 3, 2010
So What's Up with this Zumba?
For a few months Sweetie's Mom and my BFF Mona Lisa have been telling me about the great and pretty new to the US fitness craze- Zumba (it's been around since 2001)! Then every infomercial channel seems to have Zumba Dance videos in the rotation.
Shay Shay is always looking for ways to diversify my fitness portfolio, so I wanted to check out Zumba. As of yet, Zumba is not readily available in ATL (what's up?!), but thanks to the "what did we do before we had the" Internet, I found a couple instructors.
Today, I tried a class at The Latin American Association. The class was small (a slight let down becasue on TV there are tons of high energy folks in classes) with only three people . The teacher, however, was really good and conducted the class as if she had 20 people.
Zumba is not that different from the Latin Impact class I have taken at my home gym. I'm sure Latin Impact borrowed from it, but Zumba's move were more high energy. I was much more sweaty and felt like I exerted much more in Zumba.
So, I'll try Zumba again. I hope to find a class with a little more convenient location.
Time for me to get ready for bed. I have cycling tomorrow morning and a big weekend ahead (stay tuned).
I am Shay Shay Fit and Tired.
Shay Shay is always looking for ways to diversify my fitness portfolio, so I wanted to check out Zumba. As of yet, Zumba is not readily available in ATL (what's up?!), but thanks to the "what did we do before we had the" Internet, I found a couple instructors.
Today, I tried a class at The Latin American Association. The class was small (a slight let down becasue on TV there are tons of high energy folks in classes) with only three people . The teacher, however, was really good and conducted the class as if she had 20 people.
Zumba is not that different from the Latin Impact class I have taken at my home gym. I'm sure Latin Impact borrowed from it, but Zumba's move were more high energy. I was much more sweaty and felt like I exerted much more in Zumba.
So, I'll try Zumba again. I hope to find a class with a little more convenient location.
Time for me to get ready for bed. I have cycling tomorrow morning and a big weekend ahead (stay tuned).
I am Shay Shay Fit and Tired.
The Great Popcorn Search
Yesterday I mentioned my hungry feeling that I attributed to insufficient water intake. Well it hit again today, and I had plenty water. Now I'm thinking I need to increase my whole grain, non-veggie carbs a little as I'm training harder these days and going pretty light on the whole grain carbs.
Anyhoo, microwave popcorn has become one of my new favorite snacks because it typically satisfies my hunger/late afternoon desire to snack just because that's what late afternoons at your desk are for, right? Also, because you pretty much eat popcorn the way you eat chips, I feel like I'm eating something bad for me when really the brands I buy really don't interfere with my diet.
Moving on: I didn't have any popcorn with me at work, so I went to the grocery store nearby to pick up some. My trainer Anna Mae knows I'm trying to limit my salt intake so she mentioned to me that Smart Balance had a lot less sodium than than "natural" 50% less salt brand I had been using.
When I got to the grocery store, the Smart Balance Smart & Healthy was right there. But, I still decided to scan all the options. BANG! My head started hurting. Those darn nutrition labels on microwave popcorn are insane with all the unclear information.
What's up with "One serving = 3 tablespoons; calories when unpopped, calories when popped, serving is 5.5 cups, but 1 cup has x calories" etc, etc? Ghee whiz! Why can't popcorn companies just say, "X calories per bag; X servings per bag". Really, who the heck eats unpopped popcorn!
After too much time had passed for me to be thinking about popcorn, it occurred to me--I eat clean; I don't count calories, so I don't really care how many calories are in a bag. I care about the list of ingredients and how much sodium is in a bag. It there aren't a lot of ingredients and ingredients heavy on the fat and salt, then I'm good. Popcorn without anything added is a pretty healthy snack. So no real worries if I watch the ingredients.
It also dawned on me that the sodium content is what it is--popped or unpopped.
Whew! Search concluded. Smart Balance Smart & Healthy with 85 mg of sodium (compared to 220+ in most brands) was the way to go. I mean, who doesn't want to be Smart & Healthy? Note, this popcorn doesn't have a lot of taste, but I need it to satisfy my hunger more than my taste buds. I'm not a big salt or butter person anyway--they get in the way of the food--so it's all good for me!
Anyhoo, microwave popcorn has become one of my new favorite snacks because it typically satisfies my hunger/late afternoon desire to snack just because that's what late afternoons at your desk are for, right? Also, because you pretty much eat popcorn the way you eat chips, I feel like I'm eating something bad for me when really the brands I buy really don't interfere with my diet.
Moving on: I didn't have any popcorn with me at work, so I went to the grocery store nearby to pick up some. My trainer Anna Mae knows I'm trying to limit my salt intake so she mentioned to me that Smart Balance had a lot less sodium than than "natural" 50% less salt brand I had been using.
When I got to the grocery store, the Smart Balance Smart & Healthy was right there. But, I still decided to scan all the options. BANG! My head started hurting. Those darn nutrition labels on microwave popcorn are insane with all the unclear information.
What's up with "One serving = 3 tablespoons; calories when unpopped, calories when popped, serving is 5.5 cups, but 1 cup has x calories" etc, etc? Ghee whiz! Why can't popcorn companies just say, "X calories per bag; X servings per bag". Really, who the heck eats unpopped popcorn!
After too much time had passed for me to be thinking about popcorn, it occurred to me--I eat clean; I don't count calories, so I don't really care how many calories are in a bag. I care about the list of ingredients and how much sodium is in a bag. It there aren't a lot of ingredients and ingredients heavy on the fat and salt, then I'm good. Popcorn without anything added is a pretty healthy snack. So no real worries if I watch the ingredients.
It also dawned on me that the sodium content is what it is--popped or unpopped.
Whew! Search concluded. Smart Balance Smart & Healthy with 85 mg of sodium (compared to 220+ in most brands) was the way to go. I mean, who doesn't want to be Smart & Healthy? Note, this popcorn doesn't have a lot of taste, but I need it to satisfy my hunger more than my taste buds. I'm not a big salt or butter person anyway--they get in the way of the food--so it's all good for me!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Oh No! My Water (Jug) Broke!
It is well known by my family, friends, and colleagues that I am a firm believer in sufficient water intake (at least 80 oz a day) and am not ashamed to carry a 50+ oz mug or jug around. The most notorious of my mugs is The 7-11 X-treme Gulp. If I had a dime for everyone that has said, "I hope that's water in there."
Yesterday, my new favorite jug--holds 64 oz with a sports cap, cracked. I know this doesn't sound like a huge deal, but my water intake is a serious thing! I typically fill my jug first thing in the morning--before my day gets too busy--and drink away all day (this is on top of the water I drink at the gym and for tennis and my 3 cups of green tea). Well, when my jug cracked, it was just before my day got crazy with back to back meetings. So, I didn't get a chance to fill my
X-treme Gulp.
The lack of sufficient water was evident! I felt hungry all day although I ate my regular meals. It had to be dehydration. I had clearly eaten enough for the day.
Today is a new day and I will be filling my X-treme Gulp as soon as I hit the office and will be picking up a replacement of my favorite jug today!
Have a great Hump Day! Drink up!
Yesterday, my new favorite jug--holds 64 oz with a sports cap, cracked. I know this doesn't sound like a huge deal, but my water intake is a serious thing! I typically fill my jug first thing in the morning--before my day gets too busy--and drink away all day (this is on top of the water I drink at the gym and for tennis and my 3 cups of green tea). Well, when my jug cracked, it was just before my day got crazy with back to back meetings. So, I didn't get a chance to fill my
X-treme Gulp.
The lack of sufficient water was evident! I felt hungry all day although I ate my regular meals. It had to be dehydration. I had clearly eaten enough for the day.
Today is a new day and I will be filling my X-treme Gulp as soon as I hit the office and will be picking up a replacement of my favorite jug today!
Have a great Hump Day! Drink up!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Always Room for Improvement
A few weeks from now will mark three weeks since I started the Eat-Clean journey. I have encountered some bumps in the road, took a couple detours that ended at dead ends, but I always manage to find my way back to the right Eat-Clean road.
Overall, I have been successful. I am content with my progress. But, I know I can do better. I know that I can finally shed these last 10+ lbs once and for all. I know I can improve my Eat-Clean diet.
What's next: working harder to minimize my sodium intake even more. I have been hearing quite a bit on health shows about how awful Americans are with salt. I watch family members and friends add salt to everything before even tasting it.
I am actually pretty good about limiting my salt intake. Something has to have virtually no taste at all (like the disappointing she-crab soup I had in Williamsburg recently) before I add salt now. I use to seasoned salt all the time thinking it to be better, but it has quite a bit of sodium too. So, I focus on garlic and onion powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper.
However, I realized yesterday morning that I was overlooking a pretty high sodium intake with one of my favorite Eat-Clean at home breakfasts: egg whites, veggies, salsa on Light Flat Out wrap. What's the culprit? Salsa!
My usual brand of salsa has about 250 mg of sodium. I could certainly eliminate the sodium in salsa altogether by making my own, but I am realistic. I KNOW I don't have time or the desire to make my own when there are really so many options out there.
In the produce section of the grocery store, there is a nice selection of low sodium (75mg/serving) options. It really is true that the outside perimeter of the grocery store is the best place to shop. I bought medium, regular and roasted garlic (YUM!).
I was also looking for some new low sodium seasonings. I have rediscovered an longstanding brand--Mrs. Dash. NO SALT! I got the Table and Chipotle varieties and can wait to season my chicken and fish and throw some on the grill.
I am looking forward to seeing how this modification will improve my physique.
I am Shay Shay Fit-Improved!
Overall, I have been successful. I am content with my progress. But, I know I can do better. I know that I can finally shed these last 10+ lbs once and for all. I know I can improve my Eat-Clean diet.
What's next: working harder to minimize my sodium intake even more. I have been hearing quite a bit on health shows about how awful Americans are with salt. I watch family members and friends add salt to everything before even tasting it.
I am actually pretty good about limiting my salt intake. Something has to have virtually no taste at all (like the disappointing she-crab soup I had in Williamsburg recently) before I add salt now. I use to seasoned salt all the time thinking it to be better, but it has quite a bit of sodium too. So, I focus on garlic and onion powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper.
However, I realized yesterday morning that I was overlooking a pretty high sodium intake with one of my favorite Eat-Clean at home breakfasts: egg whites, veggies, salsa on Light Flat Out wrap. What's the culprit? Salsa!
My usual brand of salsa has about 250 mg of sodium. I could certainly eliminate the sodium in salsa altogether by making my own, but I am realistic. I KNOW I don't have time or the desire to make my own when there are really so many options out there.
In the produce section of the grocery store, there is a nice selection of low sodium (75mg/serving) options. It really is true that the outside perimeter of the grocery store is the best place to shop. I bought medium, regular and roasted garlic (YUM!).
I was also looking for some new low sodium seasonings. I have rediscovered an longstanding brand--Mrs. Dash. NO SALT! I got the Table and Chipotle varieties and can wait to season my chicken and fish and throw some on the grill.
I am looking forward to seeing how this modification will improve my physique.
I am Shay Shay Fit-Improved!
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