Fitness Safari

Wine is making me fat. It's true and I couldn't be more hesitant to admit it. But the time has come for me to face the facts. There is nothing I love more than coming home from work on a cold, winter day and sipping a nice Pinot Noir while I make dinner. This in and of itself isn't necessarily bad. The problem lies somewhere between sipping a glass and downing the entire bottle - by myself. Turns out, a bottle of an average red has more than 550 calories! To make things worse, once you consume any kind of alcohol, your body stops doing anything but trying to get rid of it - that means no metabolization of protein, carbs and, yes, even fat! If you like to drink beer or wine while noshing on fatty snacks - even cheese and crackers - this is bad news. So for all of you drinkers out there trying, like I am, to find your abs, be wary of booze. Consume it at your own risk, preferably on an empty stomach while on the treadmill.

Took quite the hiatus the past 6 months, but I have returned. And, I am happy to report, I am still working out - though I've changed things up a bit. Inspired by my brother who is running the New York Marathon in November, I've started running as well. When he's in town on some weekends, we try to go for a long Saturday morning run. His marathon training is really working, so that means I have to keep training to keep up with him! My longest run to date was on Wednesday - in the rain. I went for about 72 minutes and covered about 7.5 miles. I did intervals, which kicked my butt, but it felt great when I was done. Aside from that, I took a month-long trial at my daughter's kickboxing gym and have been surfing again! Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted on my continued search for my 6-pack.