my hat goes off to MS150 (150 mile bike ride from houston to austin, tx) participants and pretty much cyclist EVERYWHERE as i barely got through the 1.5 hr. spinning class i took this afternoon. and don’t even let me get started on that bike seat, my goodness. once you get past that (it really shouldn’t bother you anymore after the first few times) the positives totally outweigh the negatives and the benefits of cycling are pretty awesome. i don’t own a performance bike yet, but i do a cycle class (also referred to as spin) 3 or 4 times a month to shock my body, change up my workout, and to keep from plateauing. also, it’s:
- easy on the joints vs. running and still burns tons of calories
- builds stamina and muscular endurance. really tones and sculpts your glutes, calves, upper thighs and hamstrings which makes for awesome, shapely legs
- heart healthy! improves overall cardiovascular fitness
- http://www.livestrong.com/article/381796-what-are-the-benefits-of-spinning-workout-classes/
i don’t know any unicyclers, but i love how this chart shows various body weights and different types of cycling. the more detail, the better.
|
Activity (1 hour)
|
130 lb
|
155 lb
|
180 lb
|
205 lb
|
| Cycling, mountain bike, bmx |
502
|
598
|
695
|
791
|
| Cycling, <10 mph, leisure bicycling |
236
|
281
|
327
|
372
|
| Cycling, >20 mph, racing |
944
|
1126
|
1308
|
1489
|
| Cycling, 10-11.9 mph, light |
354
|
422
|
490
|
558
|
| Cycling, 12-13.9 mph, moderate |
472
|
563
|
654
|
745
|
| Cycling, 14-15.9 mph, vigorous |
590
|
704
|
817
|
931
|
| Cycling, 16-19 mph, very fast, racing |
708
|
844
|
981
|
1117
|
| Unicycling |
295
|
352
|
409
|
465
|
| Stationary cycling, very light |
177
|
211
|
245
|
279
|
| Stationary cycling, light |
325
|
387
|
449
|
512
|
| Stationary cycling, moderate |
413
|
493
|
572
|
651
|
| Stationary cycling, vigorous |
620
|
739
|
858
|
977
|
| Stationary cycling, very vigorous |
738
|
880
|
1022
|
1163
|
looking to slim down overall? mix up your workouts and try spinning as your cardio component sometimes. don’t worry, you don’t have to go buy those special cycling shoes if you don’t want to.
most gyms have the bikes with the dual pedal, so you can’t use that excuse. just go try the class!
i went grocery shopping with my mom and aunt yesterday (hey, it’s what we do) so i have a fridge full of goodies. this morning before church i had a small bowl of yogurt with some blackberries, almonds, pumpkin flax granola from WF, and my prenatal vitamin. didn’t need any honey as the granola was sweet enough.
but back to our grocery shopping trip yesterday- HEB had this awesome soup we sampled and i snagged the recipe card for it:
it was so, so good. creamy, cheesy, all that. after actually reading the recipe card tho, i see why. velveeta cheese and 1 WHOLE pint of heavy cream!!! i love you regardless, but really HEB? since they didn’t supply the nutritional stats, i did them myself.
8oz of velveeta – 672 cals
1 jar of tortilla soup – 280 cals
1 can black beans – 300 cals
1 pint heavy cream – 1642 <—-WOW
i haven’t even added the darn chicken yet and we are already at 2894 calories. i knew i could do better, so you know i did. i used just two chicken breasts instead of an entire bag of fajita chicken thighs (284 cals vs. 720). i threw them in the crock pot and sprinkled them with just a little of my ranch dressing mix. they were cooking while i was suffering in that cycle class. after about 4 hours or so on high they were good to go as white meat normally cooks faster than dark.
i took them out and let them cool before shredding. please know you can also pop them in a 350 deg. oven for about 45 mins or even grill them until they are cooked through evenly if you are short on time.
there’s the jar of soup (280 cals), the sodium-less black beans (about 300 cals), and the half and half (71 cals for 1/2 cup).
pay no attention to that expiration date- i tasted it first L O L. i discarded all the leftover liquid from the chicken breasts, but i didn’t wipe the crock pot clean. no need, as those flavor bits help to enhance the soup. i added all the ingredients back in, including the 5 laughing cow cheese wedges (175 cals total) i forgot to include in the pic. then, i dumped in green onion and fresh cilantro.
i let it cook on high for just 1 hour so the wedges could melt- turned out as creamy and as fabulous as HEB’s version, and i saved us over 600 calories a bowl. 903 vs. 277 to be exact.
topped it with some tortilla strips and pow. (you get a free bag of strips when you buy the jarred soup.)
this will be our lunch for tomorrow- if we don’t finish it all tonight!
le
fit foodie le 
This is cooking right now as I type!!!
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i know you’ll love it!! my hubby sent me back to HEB for another jar- i might even go back for a third before the sale is over;)
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