Feel The (Realistic) Burn
It’s easy, once you’re done being active for the day, to think you’ve burned enough calories to merit that extra scoop of ice cream on top of dessert. The frustrating truth is, you probably haven’t. Most people grossly overestimate how many calories they’ve burned while moving their bodies. But all hope is not lost: You can come pretty close to an estimate of what you’ve actually burned with sites like Fitness Jumpsite, which uses your weight and length of time you’d like to be active to generate a list of 222 activities and how many calories you can burn doing them. For instance, I found that a 45-minute run (at my weight) knocks off about 550 calories. Woohoo! And 45 minutes of gardening, if I actually had a garden, would burn around 250. However, all of the plants would die due to my black thumb, and then I’d burn even fewer calories tending to them.
Find out how many calories you burn (remember, it’s just a ballpark number; intensity counts for a lot) for the activities you do on a regular basis. How do they stack up? More than you thought? Less? Leave a comment and let us know!
Don’t I Look H-h-hot?
The good news: A few new studies show that adults may be able to reactivate the kind of fat that burns calories and could possibly reduce obesity. The bad news: You have to be really freaking cold in order for this “brown fat” to do its thing. “In addition to eating less and exercising more, people may one day be able to stimulate their bodies to get rid of stored energy — in the form of ordinary fat — purely as heat,” David Brown (no relation to the fat) writes in today’s Washington Post.
Before you run over to turn down your thermostat, you should know that “the only safe way to activate brown fat is to stay chilly, right at the verge of shivering, for prolonged periods. That reproduces the conditions that led to the evolution of brown fat — namely, life-threatening cold in babies and small furry animals that cannot put on clothes to keep themselves warm,” Brown writes.
So what’s it going to be, chicas? Thin or warm?
Fuel Yourself: Passover cake
This one is straight from Weight Watchers. I made it last year and it was a big hit at The Boyfriend’s parents’ house. It’s pretty easy and really moist, plus it’s relatively good for you! Tastes really good with fruit. It’s great for Passover or any time you’ve got dinner guests. Happy Passover to anyone celebrating!
3/4 cup(s) matzo cake meal
1/4 cup(s) Manischewitz Potato Starch, or other brand
12 large egg(s), separated
1 1/2 cup(s) sugar
1/4 cup(s) fresh orange juice
2 tsp orange zest, finely chopped
1/3 cup(s) preserves, raspberry-variety
1 cup(s) unsweetened frozen raspberries, or fresh raspberries
Preheat oven to 350°F. Sift matzo cake meal with potato starch over a large bowl; sift again and set aside. In a large bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer on high power, whip egg whites until stiff and glossy; set aside. In a large bowl with a whisk or an electric mixer on high power, whip egg yolks with sugar until light and satiny; add orange juice and zest and blend well. Fold egg whites into yolk mixture until just blended. Sift in matzo cake meal mixture; fold delicately to combine. Carefully pour batter into a 10-inch, 2-piece ungreased angel food cake pan with feet or a sponge cake pan. Bake until center of cake springs back to the touch, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and immediately invert pan onto a wire rack; cool cake completely in pan. (If you do not have a pan with feet, invert pan over a wine or beer bottle.) Meanwhile, to make topping, heat raspberry preserves in a small saucepan over low heat and toss in raspberries; mix well. When cake is completely cool, run a sharp knife around the outside and inside rings of the tube pan to loosen cake; transfer to a serving plate. Slice into 16 pieces and drizzle each slice with sauce just before serving. Yields 1 slice of cake and about 1 tablespoon of sauce per serving.
You’ll need 1 large orange to yield the zest and juice for this cake.
Cooking Tip: Cooling the cake upside down is one of the tricks of making a sponge cake light and tall. Invert the cake immediately upon removing it from the oven. Cool completely in the inverted position.
This light-as-a-feather Passover cake can be made in a variety of flavors. You can substitute lemon or lime zest and juice for the orange zest and juice. Or forget the citrus juice and zest altogether and use two teaspoons of vanilla extract or 1 teaspoon of almond extract instead.
Not Passover? You can use 1 cup of flour instead of the matzo cake meal and potato starch, if desired.
Your Vote Counts!
I’m thinking about what small group training we’re going to do next. What would you like to see?
Ooh, Racy!
Here’s another upcoming race for those of you with the itch to run or walk with a crowd of others and get a free tee shirt for your troubles: The Diabetes Foundation’s 5K Run/Walk in Cliffside Park, N.J. The 3.1-mile course begins at Cliffside Park High School at 10 a.m. Sunday, May 17. For more information, click here. To sign up, click here. And let us know if you’re going to participate!
The Tweet Life
Now you can keep up with Haul Buns on Twitter. If you love to tweet and you love the Buns, look for us there. Just sign up to follow http://twitter.com/HaulBuns!
Where’s Kim?
Here’s my schedule for this week:
Monday: 6 a.m. Spin at Fitness Factory; 6:15 p.m. Arm Strength, 7 p.m. AbSolution, 7:45 Step at Palisades Sports and Fitness
Tuesday: 6:30 p.m. Cardio Mix at ExCel
Wednesday: Yvonne covers Step I at Feminine Fitness (thanks Yvonne!)
Thursday: 6:30 a.m. Step Blast at Feminine Fitness
I know the spring holidays are upon us, but remember to make time to take care of yourself. So… will I see you there?
Haul Buns, Bergen County!
Walk with -- or away from -- your co-workers!
This Wednesday is Walk At Work Day in Bergen County. It’s sponsored by the good people at the Bergen County Health Department, who basically just want us to get off our keisters and move around. You don’t have to raise money or do anything other than be active for 30 minutes, but you can register here. If you get a big enough group of walkers, you might get a prize!
Make Your Mat Matter
Yoga mats are awesome things: What else in your life allows you to lay on it, sweat on it, walk all over it with your stinky bare feet and then roll it up and stash it away until you’re ready to use it again? (If you have another answer for that question, it’s probably best kept to yourself, yes?) But the beating that our foamy friends take — especially if you’re a Pilates and/or yoga regular — means you’ll eventually need to replace them. If you’re thinking about tossing an old yoga mat, take a look at these creative, out-of-the-gym uses for mats past their prime. (I particularly love the coaster idea. Just think of the possibilities! When you’re hosting cocktails with friends, you can point to the coaster under your friend’s mojito and casually say, “Oh that old thing? Yeah, I was so hard-core about my fitness regimen that I wore out a yoga mat. Anyone’s drink need freshening up?”)
If being all Martha Stewart-ish doesn’t interest you, how about donating your mat to charity? This one takes mats made from all materials and either recycles them or gives them to community programs that need them — making you, as a donator, one of the coolest downward dogs around.
Haulin’ All Over The World
Hey everyone! I’m back from vacation in Costa Rica, which was every bit as awesome and fun as everyone told me it would be. The Boyfriend and I did a lot of hiking, nature-communing and delicious food-consuming on the Osa Peninsula. The photo is of me (on my birthday!) after we climbed down 500 feet from the rainforest to some tidal pools along the beach. Good times!
- But those good times also meant that I came back to a higher number on the scale than when I left. Boo! So this week I’m focusing on getting back into the groove: resuming my workouts, filling the house with healthy groceries and (most importantly) posting on Haul Buns! But first I want to hear from you: When you’ve been a little too lax on vacation, how do YOU pull yourself back on track once you’re back in the real world?
Photo credit: The Boyfriend
Haul Buns 