February challenge completed!

I'd been thinking about a snowshoeing challenge for the month of February, but then the weather derailed my plans. Rain, sleet, freezing rain, and the ever-popular ice pellets were more prevalent than snow this year in southwestern Vermont.

Friday we finally got 2-3 inches of white, fluffy snow. Yes, it was on top of ice, but it was still snow, and with snow comes snowshoeing. Mike agreed to snowshoe with me to Lye Brook Falls, a gorgeous hike within the Lye Brook Wilderness area in Manchester. The falls are about 160 feet tall, and used to be transversed by a railroad used for logging in the early 1900's.

The hike to the Falls is 2.5 miles according to the Forest Service sign. It took us 1 hour and 15 minutes , and we were the first ones to walk through the fresh snow for most of the way. Much of the path follows the old railroad bed, but there were many small yet fast-moving streams we crossed, and one particularly treacherous section that dropped off steeply just to the edge of the trail. I felt like a mountain goat for the last 30 minutes of the hike up to the Falls.

Usually you can hear the roar of the water as you approach the Falls, but yesterday it was eerily silent. We found out why when we reached the end of the trail: the Falls were frozen! Some water was running under all the ice, but not enough that you could see or hear. The frozen water was spectacular, and it made me wonder about the power that will be unleashed when it melts.

On the hike back down to the car we passed a couple snowshoeing up. They were the only people we saw the entire way on this usually popular hike. It was peaceful snowshoeing through the pine tree forest, stepping over downed trees, and looking for animal tracks in the fresh snow.

Challenges so far to celebrate turning 50 in June, 2008:

June 2007 - Green Mountain Relay (200 miles, 12 people, 2 vans, about 34 hours)

July 2007 - Rutland 5K trail race (with Mike!)

August 2007 - Olympic distance triathlon at Lake Dunmore, part of the Vermont Sun series

September 2007 - bike century in Saratoga (very rainy)

October 2007 - Cape Cod Marathon (no rain)

November 2007 - hike to the top of Mt. Equinox (again with Mike)

December 2007 - I love Woodford 4 mile snowshoe race (yep, running on snowshoes)

January 2008 - Chevron Houston marathon with my sister, Diane

I don't have anything specifc planned yet for March, but there are a few ideas perculating. I'm running the More Half-Marathon in NYC in April with my training team, and then don't have anything scheduled for May or June. I'm thinking about a possible marathon in June.....

If you have ideas or suggestions for a challenge, let me know!

Fast food equals fast weight gain

This is sad but true: researchers had a group of 18 healthy adults eat 2 fast food meals per week and limit their daily steps to less than 5000 for 4 weeks. Guess how much weight they gained:

14 pounds. 14 pounds! That's a lot of extra food.

We all know that traditional fast food isn't good for us. Many of us watched the movie Supersize Me and saw Morgan Sperling eat nothing but fast food while he gained weight and felt like a slug. But fast food continues to be a part of our lives and our culture.

What to do? Here are five ways to beat the fat trap at fast food restaurants:

1. Get the smallest portion available: a regular size sandwich, a small serving of fries, a small drink. You'll save money AND avoid weight gain.


2. Go for grilled, not crispy or fried. Enjoy a grilled chicken sandwich or grilled chicken on your salad, and erase the words "fish sandwich" from your vocabulary (hint: it's fried).


3. Drink something without added sugar. Some places offer bottled water or even skim milk. Skip the soda and milkshakes because liquid calories are more easily absorbed.


4. Skip the cheese. Cheese just adds fat and calories, and very little nutrition. Ditto for any type of special sauce - all fat. Ask for mustard or even ketchup instead.


5. A salad with grilled chicken, or a baked potato with vegetables, or even fresh-sliced apples with yogurt are sensible options. Ignore the traditional and much-hyped burgers and sandwiches, and choose something with fruit and vegetables.

How much do you spend on food?

Most people I know complain that they spend far too much money on food. They may be talking about what they spend at the grocery store - although that may also include non-food items such as toilet paper and cleaning supplies. Or they may be thinking about the amount they spend on lunches or dinners eating out, or on vending machines.

A recent report shows that Americans actually spend $189/week on food, but the USDA says we can do even better by using some of their tips. Want to shave $20/week off your food bill? That adds up to over $1000 per year; count me in!

To start saving money today, check out these helpful resources:

The USDA National Agricultural Library maintains the Recipe Finder database at http://recipefinder.nal.usda.gov/. This website allows searching for recipes by cost, menu item (soup, side dish, main dish, etc.), audience (older adults, parents of young children, Hispanic, etc), cooking equipment needed, and cooking/preparation time.

I searched for recipes that cost less than $2/serving, and the site came back with over 400 options. Then I narrowed the search to main dish items for families with teens, and the site gave me 9 options. Very cool!

I'm always looking both for ways to save money as well as new recipes for my family. This website makes searching for both simple!