Much to discuss!

 Good morning Lovebugs! FRIDAY IS HEEERRREEEEE 

SO on the agenda this morning (discussion-wise) is the following (so I don't miss anything!):

-Bender Ball + Commercial

- Seasun Zieger

- Paper Plates!

- Hydration Talk

- Feet Talk

- Passover Pecan Bars or Matzot ButternutCrunch?

- Lust/Caution

The Bender Ball: 

Yes, the infamous Bender Ball, by Lesley Bender.  First of all, I would like to discuss the commercial for the DoubleB.  EW.  I do not like this commercial.  I feel so bad saying this, but it's all because of that girl who goes, "I love my belly, I love my abdominalZZZ."  Ew. Ew. Ew. Something about her is so odd.  Do you agree?  I mean, when I first saw this commercial I nearly DIED laughing... At, um, her.  But now I'm just feeling downright sorry for her!  Do odd, and my friends and I have discussed this girl.  Am I insane here?!  Do you guys watch the commercial and think to yourselves, 'Is this girl for real?'  Anyways, I really hope she's not reading this! Who knows, right?! If she is, well, I'm sorry.  No hard feelings 

Now, onto the Bender Ball, itself!  I don't know if I've discussed this before, but our Step Classes last 75 minutes, the first 60 being step and the last 15 being weights/core work and then stretching for the last minute or so (we usually go a little over).  Recently, however, our club purchased Bender Balls and this past week and a half we have been trying them out.  When I tell you that you can do anything with these guys, it's so true.  We did regular sit-ups, planks, push ups, everything.  And everything that we did with them was awesome!  If you're looking for something that's small, portable, and unlimited in its use, go for the Bender Ball!

Seasun Zieger:

Yes, this is my fabulous Step Instructor I am speaking of here.  But guess what I so recently discovered about her... She has workout videos, her first of which "Rock Steady Step" won "Best Workout Video for Step Routine" by Fitness Magazine?!?! She released her first video in 2005 and she has three out so far.  She has also had 3 kids!! You can see her live classes on YouTube also.  I was so shocked to hear that she had these videos out because she's so low-key and is as sweet as the day is long!  Anyways, isn't this so cool!  Surprisingly enough, I don't think of her any differently.  She never discussed any of this with us, but one of the girls who comes to class sometimes asked her if she'd released anything since her core Bosu video.  Apparently, everyone else knew!  But then again, most of them have known Seasun since she was 13! My mom's even known her that long... Sheesh! Anyways, I thought I'd share and thought that some of you, including Robs may want to look at her videos!  If you don't know, the beautiful Robin, from Hungry, Happy, Informed, and Fit is also a Step Instructor!  So cool =)

Paper Plates= Breakfast Party?!

Ehh, not quite.  Last week Seasun told us that she was bringing in Paper Plates for our Thursday Step Class.  "Get Excited Girls!"  She exclaimed to us as we were heading out the door.  We all looked at each other, quite puzzled, but definitely excited!  We thought a breakfast party was goin down! Yum!  In the back of our minds, however, we knew that Seasun had other plans in mind. 48 hours later and we came face to face with the "paper plates."  Seasun used these plates as if they were Gliding Discs, which if you have not used before, are incredible.  The moves that you can do are, like the DoubleB, endless, and they kicked my butt.  I am no "buff" by any means, and I am not very strong, but Seasun and her sister-in law Heather are S.T.R.O.N.G. and they were screamin.  Haha.  Don't be afraid of these though.  And in my opinion, don't buy the discs.  The paper plates worked perfectly.  I can't really explain what you can do with them, but check out the link!  Lunges, Squats, Push-ups, Abs, etc.  They're awesome!

Hydration Talk:

So I've been meaning to discuss this for a little while now.  But I'm a big fan of hydration.  I try to drink as much water as I can, for the obvious reasons that we all know of... ESSENTIAL for life? Yes, that's a big one.  However, I really don't like that feeling that I get between 10-11 where I feel so dehydrated, it's nauseating.  This happens to me when I don't work out first thing in the mornings (Fridays).  All of a sudden, I get slammed by this very ill feeling.  My body telling me it needs something, and that something always happens to be water.  Ironically, however, I do not feel this way when I workout in the mornings.  I feel so much less dehydrated throughout the day after I've sweat a lot.  Isn't that so weird!?  Does anyone else ever get this way?  It's so uncomfortable !  But I suppose if my body can tell me it needs something and I can recognize what that need is, I should be happy.  And for that, I am.

Feet Talk:

No, this is not going to be about smelly feet.  LOL.  I've never had that problem.  This is, however, going to be regarding blisters and other painful feel problemos.  Athletes, Dancers, or anyone who works out!  HELP ME!  I have amazing sneaks: Asics GEL-Nimbus 9.  

I love Asics and have worn them for about 3 years now.  HOWEVER, my feet always have blisters (on the bottoms, especially) and they always hurt so bad!  I don't know why!  My sneakers are amazing and there isn't a shoe out there with more cushioning!  I tried Mizuno, New Balance, Brooks, etc.  You name it!  So here's my conclusion, but I'm asking for EVERYONE'S advice.  If you read the blog, or even if you're just passing through... Please leave me a comment.  (Have I ever mentioned how much I love getting every single comment from you guys?! It makes my entire day, I'm not kidding.  I adore them all. *Blogsphere Hug*)  Back to my conclusion: Socks.  Could this be possible?  I wear good socks, but I definitely don't wear any type of marathoner-esque ones.  Should I be?  Someone help me out here, please!  My feets hurt 

OK, enough workout talk.  So funny, I'm totally not a workout-aholic, but it probably seems that way from my blog.  I'm not at all.  I don't know how to use half of the machines in the gym, it's not common that I'm actually in one (maybe on Fridays?) and other than working out, I sit on my tush all day.  Actually, at work I'm standing the entire time, but other than that! (lol)

Anyways, if I have been coming off that way, it's not how I am.  O.K! Done! Phew!

Passover Pecan Bars or Matzo ButternutCrunch??

What to do?! What to do?!  As previously mentioned, I don't like Matzot.  I really don't.  My digestive tract and I both agree with that! (If ya catch my drifty...) But it's a given that it needs to be substituted for ingredients that leaven, here.  Whatever, this is dessert we're speaking of here!  I'm thinking at this moment that the Passover Pecan Bars are going to be it, but don't fret, I have been known to do two recipes!  I'm so intrigued by the Matzo ButternutCrunch.  Hmph! Oh, gee, I don't know, I mean I guess I can do both!  I wanted to ask all of you EXPERT bakers out there (Yes, Liz, I'm BIG TIME referring to you! Jenna, you're the baking professional! Help!) how do sugar substitutes work? I DO NOT MEAN ARTIFICIAL SWEETENERS.  I'm talking, maple syrup, agave, honey, applesauce, etc.  I want to make these healthier so that they are especially delicious, and I am going to try and make them today because I know I need to give them a trial run (or a few) before I make them for the offical Pasach dinner!  I'm not against using Brown Sugar at all, but I'd prefer to cut down on it due to the fact that there is, in total, 2, 1/3 cups in the recipe!  I'm sorry, but that's insane.  I want to taste the pecans in these (I'm totally toasting them pre-baking... If this is allowed?) as I adore them.  I am planning on substituting Earth Balance for regular Butter as I am Lactose Intolerant.  I was pleased to see that the recipe called for mostly Egg Whites which is so much better than most of the other Pecan-Pie-esque recipes out there! Kudos to Cooking Light!  You can view the recipes here, and I hope that you all do!  I need all the help I can get!

I was going to post about a movie we saw last night in my Advanced Japanese Cinema class: Lust/Caution.  It was incredible.  I urge all of you to see it.  It has an NC-17 rating, but it is in no way a porno of any sort, and every smidgen of the sex is 100% essential to the entirety of the film.  It was directed by Ang Lee (Crouching Tiger, Brokeback Mountain, etc).  I don't have too much time to discuss it right now, as I am about to run to Target because I want to see if they have Seasun's videos!  I'm so excited!  And I'm intrigued by this Turbo Jam talk that I'm hearing from Chandra's blog and others', as well, so I may look at them too!  The sun is trying to peak through the clouds, and I may go for a run, although I'm feeling like I really want to do step!  Hmm... I don't have my own, are there any ways to make an imitation step? LOL.  I'm such a dork.  OK, I'm out! I hope everyone's enjoying their Fridays! See you all later <3